This Week in the Nintendo eShop
While Advance Wars 2's re-release on Wii U Virtual Console might turn some heads, the biggest games this week are Nindie games on the Wii U eShop. The Bridge is a crazy logic puzzle game with an enchanting black-and-white hand-drawn art style and mind-bending challenges. Woah Dave, which is also out on 3DS, hits Wii U as well, bringing its arcade style to Nintendo's home console. The 3DS is boosted by two robotic games. Little Battlers eXperience launches tomorrow, bringing the TV series to 3DS with robot customization and battling. Also, 3D Gunstar Heroes adds another 3D remake notch to Sega's belt.
LBX: Little Battle eXperience ($39.99)
The first retail release from Nintendo in a while, Little Battlers eXperience is the North American debut of the popular Japanese series. The hook is robot customization in a similar way as the GameCube/DS Custom Robo games. It features a story mode that includes familiar characters from the TV show, as well as six-player local multiplayer with friends.
Scalebound: You and Your Dragon Will Be Like Han and Chewie
For PlatinumGames, a studio with an impressive resume of expertly crafted action games like Bayonetta and Vanquish, Scalebound, isn’t just a step out of its comfort zone as game makers. The studio’s first action-RPG is also where the creators plan to take larger strides as storytellers.
Alienation is a core theme of Scalebound and a feeling shared between protagonists Drew and his dragon companion Thuban. Platinum made it clear to us that this isn’t the story between a master and a pet. It’s one where the characters start out in a similar situation and both grow and learn from their relationship. Creative producer Jean Pierre Kellams describes the eventual relationship between the two as one of mutual respect, like the kind of camaraderie you’d expect between Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars.
Mad Catz Explains Rock Band 4 Price Outside the US
Rock Band 4 pre-order prices are a lot more expensive in Europe and Australia than they are in the US. Distributor Mad Catz has explained why.
In the UK, the pre-order price for the game plus a guitar and drum kit is £220 ($345), compared to $250 in the US. Alex Verrey, global communications director for Mad Catz has told Kotaku that the company is "not out to make more money out of any particular territory."
He points out the differences in VAT and sales tax between the UK and US (UK VAT is included in the total price, while US sales tax is added on to the price at the point of purchase), and adds that shipping "is also costly, especially with big-box items like Rock Band."
Cities Skylines Expansion Release Date Announced
Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have announced the release date for After Dark, Cities Skylines' first expansion.
Cities Skylines: After Dark will be available on PC, Mac, and Linux on September 24 for $15.
Cities Skylines: After Dark was announced earlier this month after being teased in July, and we found out that it will be introducing a day / night cycle, as well as new services, transportation systems, and graphical enhancements.
The base game sold 1,000,000 copies in its first month, and IGN's review said that it's a "really impressive and often beautiful simulation."
Comic Book Reviews for August 19, 2015
Welcome to the latest round of IGN Comics' reviews. This proved to be a pretty great week all around for comics, with DC releasing the latest chapter of Justice League, Marvel kicking off one of their final Secret Wars tie-ins with House of M #1 and debuting a new artist on Star Wars, Boom! Studios launching the promising new indie series Welcome Back, and Archie Comics dropping the second chapter of their fantastic Archie relaunch.
Scroll down to see reviews for those and many other new comics, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
DC COMICS
American McGee: Alice Would be ‘Amazing’ With Virtual Reality’
American McGee, creator of the macabre Alice series, has explained why he's promoting a petition to convince Electronic Arts to greenlight a third installment of the horror-adventure franchise.
The petition, which rose from within the fan community, has almost succeeded in realizing its 15,000 signatory goal.
In an interview with IGN McGee admitted surprise at the response to the petition, and told us he'd put his weight behind the campaign as "signing the petition is as good a place to start as any
to help our Alice fans at EA make the case that the world is ready for another game."
Nintendo 2DS Gets a Price Cut in the US
Nintendo has announced its dropping the price of its Nintendo 2DS in North America from $129.99 to $99.99.
The new pricing, which comes into effect on August 30, also includes the console bundle that puts the handheld together with a digital copy of Mario Kart 7.
Nintendo's recent financial results revealed the 3DS family of consoles are continuing to do incredibly well for the company, with the hardware family selling 1.01 million units in Q1 compared with 820,000 in the same window last year.
In terms of the year ahead, Nintendo highlights new Amiibo releases as well as big games including Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon for the 3DS as a reason why you may want to pick up its cheaper cousin at the new price.
Street Fighter 5 Beta Returns Today to Europe
The Street Fighter V beta returns today to Europe.
Fighters will be able to test out the returning beta later today from 16:00 – 00:00, then again on Friday at the same time.
The plan moving forward, Capcom explains, is to perform individual, regional stress tests. Europe is up first, then at a later date, North America and Asia. Once the regional stress tests are complete, Capcom will launch the Global Beta Test, which is still set to run for five days.
Capcom goes on to note that although this time the beta should be a smoother experience, it’s still a beta, so expect problems.
No PC Pre-Load For MGS 5: The Phantom Pain
Konami has confirmed that there will be no pre-load option for players purchasing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on PC.
In a Twitter exchange with fans, online community manager Robert Allen Peeler stated that it was "pretty common practice for PC/Steam users", but didn't have "a specific reason".
"Unfortunately PC Steam will not have a preload option," said Peeler on Twitter. "However players will be able to preload on console."
You'll be able to commence your PC download when the game goes live at midnight on September 1.
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Could Extend to Original Xbox
Microsoft's head of Xbox has revealed making games from the company's original Xbox console playable on Xbox One is something he's actively investigating.
Taking to Twitter, Phil Spencer responded to a fan asking about the possibility of such a feature to say: "I don't think it's silly. I ask the BC team this question a lot. Need to finish 360 BC for now."
While far from a concrete promise, it certainly sounds like Microsoft is keen to see such a feature implemented at some stage in the future. With Backwards Compatibility for Xbox 360 titles due to launch to every Xbox One in November, hopefully we'll have news to share on this before too long.