Legend of Zelda-Based Crypt of the Necrodancer Sequel Announced
Nintendo closed its Nindies Showcase at GDC 2019 with a surprise The Legend of Zelda partnership: Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer feat. The Legend of Zelda.
Cadence of Hyrule is a full, new game based on both Nintendo's historic franchise and beloved roguelike dungeon exploration/rhythm game Crypt of the NecroDancer. Set for release this spring (in North America), Cadence of Hyrule includes Link and Zelda as playable characters in a quest populated by familiar Hyrule creatures, items, and, naturally for a rhythm-based game, sounds.
The decision to license Zelda out to an indie developer certainly falls in line with Nintendo's initiative to expand its franchises in new ways.
Next Yakuza Game’s Protagonist Confirmed
The next game in the Yakuza series, tentatively titled Shin Ryu ga Gotoku in Japan, will feature Ichiban Kasuga as its protagonist, and Sega has opened auditions for a female lead.
This news comes from the official Ryu ga Gotoku website (via Gematsu). Kasuga, who debuted in Yakzua Online, is a former member of the Tojo clan's Arakawa family who has been in prison for 17 years for a crime he didn’t commit. A new protagonist in the Yakuza series is notable (and entirely expected) as Kazuma Kiryu held that role for the majority of the franchise.
Cuphead for Nintendo Switch Announced
Nintendo announced during its Nindies Showcase for GDC 2019 that former Xbox One-console exclusive Cuphead is coming to the Nintendo Switch.
Cuphead will be available for the Switch on April 18, and is currently available for pre-purchase. Nintendo specifically thanked Studio MDHR and Microsoft for allowing it to come to Nintendo's console. (Cuphead also previously came to PC.)
Cuphead's reveal opened the Nindies Showcase with an amusing old-fashioned tutorial regarding milk before highlighting the frantic gameplay of Studio MDHR's platform shooter.
Originally released in 2017, Cuphead earned an 8.8 from IGN. In our Cuphead review, we said " Rather than simply offering the player what they want, Cuphead makes them earn that right – the rewards, if you can hack the tests, are absolutely worth it."
John Wick 3: Check Out 10 Exclusive New Character Posters
John Wick might be the title character of Lionsgate's action-packed franchise, but the marketing for this movie certainly seems to be pushing that John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is an ensemble affair.
Coming off IGN's exclusive announcement that the second trailer for Parabellum will debut Thursday, March 21, today's IGN Premiere has us debuting 10 new character posters featuring the main cast featured in the third installment of this story.
Unlike the eight John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum teaser videos we posted yesterday, these posters feature two characters who weren't previously spotlighted: Jason Mantzoukas as Tick Tock Man and Saïd Taghmaoui as The Elder. They have their own posters alongside fellow Wick newcomers Halle Berry as Sofia, Angelica Huston as The Director, Asia Kate Dillon as The Adjudicator and Mark Dacascos as Zero.
Angel Star Suggests There May Be a Reunion for the Buffy Spin-Off
The lead star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel, David Boreanaz, has teased that a reunion may be in the works for the show’s 20th anniversary.
As reported by Deadline, Boreanaz appeared on CBS chat show The Talk on Tuesday, where he dropped hints that something special would be happening to celebrate 20 years of the moody vampire show.
While discussing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast reunion that happened last month at the Wizard World convention in Portland, Boreanaz said: “We’re coming up on 20 years. I mean, that’s amazing to have been blessed with a show like that and that’s where I really started my gig — this acting world.”
Oculus Rift S Announced, Priced, and Detailed
Facebook and Oculus have announced the Oculus Rift S, a follow-up to 2016's Oculus Rift. The Rift S will be available this Spring for $399 and include two new Oculus Touch controllers.
The Rift S will run everything the original Rift did. It includes built-in Insight tech, similar to the standalone Oculus Quest – which was also just confirmed for a Spring release at a $399 price point – which means the Rift S will not need room sensors. Just one wire runs from the headset to a USB port. When asked about where wireless fits into their plans, Oculus Studios boss Jason Rubin told IGN that no official first-party wireless adapter is currently in the works, and that if they had chosen to go wireless, it would've either driven the price up – Oculus calls $399 the "sweet spot" – or they would've had to sacrifice screen resolution. The Rift S indeed has a higher resolution than either the Rift or the Quest, noticeably reducing the "screen door effect." It weighs a tad more than the original Rift but is "better balanced," weight-wise, according to Oculus. The headband was designed in partnership with Lenovo. The Rift S also sports increased visual clarity, improved lenses, and a fifth camera. "Passthrough+" allows you to see the real world through the Rift S's camera without taking the headset off, allowing you to better virtually draw your play space during setup.
Examining Jordan Peele’s Us Homework
Ever since his film Get Out became a critically-acclaimed blockbuster, writer-director Jordan Peele has been on the radar of movie fans and critics alike. And now, his second time at bat is the horror-thriller Us, which follows a family tormented by a group of people that look and think exactly like them. (Read our review of Us.)
Lupita Nyong'o, who stars in the film as the mother of the family, told Entertainment Weekly that Peele set her up with 10 movies to watch as prep work for the film. So with Us about to hit theaters on March 22, let’s shine a light on Peele’s homework and speculate a bit about what these 10 films may mean for the story and themes of his latest offering.
Google Stadia Recommends a 25 Megabit Internet Connection
Google Stadia, the newly-revealed games streaming service, recommends a 25 megabits per second internet connection to provide 1080p, 60 frames per second gameplay.
The requirements for the service are detailed in an interview Kotaku conducted with Google Stadia boss Phil Harrison.
“To get 1080p, 60 frames per second, required approximately 25 megabits per second,” Harrison said of the tests they conducted last October. “In fact, we use less than that, but that’s where we put our recommended limit at.”
Since those tests, Google has been able to innovate and refine their streaming and compression technology, which will allow for stronger results. “When we launch, we will be able to get to 4K but only raise that bandwidth to about 30 megabits per second,” Harrison said. He did not clarify if 4K resolution will still run at 60 frames per second with that 30mbs connection speed.
New Apex Legends Character Might Be a Reference to a Titanfall 2 Speedrun
The newly-released Octane, Apex Legends' ninth character, could be an in-joke about a series of famous Titanfall 2 speedruns.
As pointed out by Steve Kim on Twitter, Octane's intro video explains that he rode "a grenade blast to beat the Gauntlet speed record" – that's pretty similar to some incredible Titanfall 2 speedruns in that game's Pilot's Gauntlet tutorial area.
YouTuber Cash Mayo currently holds the world record time for the Gauntlet (under the name Rbrite). Only this month, he beat the Gauntlet in a frankly absurd 12 seconds. And he's repeatedly beaten that record by, you guessed it, riding grenade blasts.
Watch the New Trailer for Stranger Things Season 3
The first full trailer for Stranger Things Season 3 has finally arrived and, thankfully, it features a ton of new footage to scrutinize, break down, and wildly theorize about.
We already know that Season 3 will take place in the summer of 1985, coinciding with the opening of the long-awaited Starcourt Mall that was hinted at in the season's first teaser trailer.
Not only do we get a better look at the mall in the new trailer (plus Steve Harrington's dorky new job), we also see the discontent that its arrival has brought to Hawkins, with many members of the town protesting its opening.