Monthly Archives: November 2017
Beyonce Officially Joins The Lion King Live-Action Cast
Disney has announced a host of actors officially joining the live-action The Lion King's cast following previous reports of their involvement.
Beyonce has officially boarded the project as the voice of Nala, after reports back in March named the performer as the top choice for the role.
The Lion King's full cast
Owlboy Coming to Switch, Xbox One, PS4 Next Year
Owlboy is coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on February 13, 2018.
In a video celebrating the one year anniversary of Owlboy's release on PC, developer D-Pad Studios announced the game will be released for consoles digitally first. Details about a forthcoming physical edition will be revealed sometime in the future.
The game features a young mute protagonist owl named Otus in a sprawling 2D Metroid-style world. Otus travels with a number of charming companions that grant him additional skills or access to new areas, even helping him in aerial combat.
Owlboy was released last year on November 1 for PC. In our Owlboy review we called it "an exciting adventure with tons of heart."
Razer Phone Announced
Razer has announced the company's first smartphone, which is coming out November 17 in North America and Europe.
Called the Razer Phone, the device features two phone firsts, according to the company. The smartphone sports a 120Hz Ultramotion display (with a 5.72-inch LCD screen) and Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0+.
The Razer Phone boasts an 8-millimeter-thin aluminum body. The operating system is Android Nougat, with Razer noting that the phone will get the Android Oreo upgrade next year.
On top of that, the Razer Phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 8 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and 64 gigabytes of internal storage. You can expand that to 2 terabytes with a microSD card.
The Best Board Games for Parties
Traditionally most board games worked best for smaller groups. But more and more awesome tabletop experiences are coming out that cleanly and elegantly scale up to 10 or even more players, giving everyone something to do, a specific role to play, keeping people moving and shouting, and just generally having a good time. Not all games are suited for a party atmosphere, however; it would be counterintuitive to break out the hours-long Terra Mystica for a friendly get-together.
If you’re seeking a good game to break out at your next party, these are the best board games for parties and large groups.
Wits and Wagers
Mega Man-Inspired Super Mighty Power Man Announced
A Mega Man-inspired 2D platformer called Super Mighty Power Man has been announced.
The game is being developed by independent studio Box Hedge Games and is coming first to Switch, 3DS, and PC before eventually being released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Box Hedge Games is planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign for the game, but a launch date has yet to be announced.
Super Mighty Power Man is described as a 2D action platformer that takes inspirations from franchises like Castlevania, Contra, Duck Tales, and Shovel Knight, along with Mega Man.
Players take control of a boy named Corey who, with the help from his extraterrestrial dog Robby and a mysterious device called "The Power Grasp," must save the galaxy from the evil General Mok. "The Power Grasp" grants Corey the ability to merge with other lifeforms and become one of the many forms of Super Mighty Power Man.
8 Anime to Watch if You Love Video Games
Overwatch Update Rebalances Ana and Mercy
Blizzard is rebalancing Ana and Mercy in the upcoming Overwatch update.
On PlayOverwatch.com, the Overwatch team has outlined updates coming to fan-favorite characters Ana and Mercy in the next patch, which is currently available on the Public Test region (PTR) on PC.
Ana will receive a buff, with Blizzard increasing her Biotic Rifle damage from 60 to 70. The team explained the reason for the change; "Ana has been outshined by other support heroes lately." the post said. "Boosting her damage will help her defend herself and make her more threatening to the enemy team."
Mercy, who was altered earlier this year as well, will also receive changes in the upcoming patch, revolving around her Resurrection mechanic. Resurrect, which originally was an instant cast ability, will now have a 1.75 second cast time. Mercy's movement speed will be reduced by 75 percent while she is casting, and the cast can be interrupted if Mercy is stunned, hacked, or knocked back during the cast.
PlayStation Plus Lineup for November 2017 Announced
November 2017's lineup of free PlayStation Plus games has been revealed.
Check out the full list of free games, courtesy of PlayStation Blog, as well as their platforms below:
- Worms Battlegrounds (PS4)
- Bound (PS4)
- R-Type Dimensions (PS3)
- Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic (PS3)
- Dungeon Punks (PS Vita, PS4)
- Broken Sword 5: The Serpents Curse Episodes 1 and 2 (PS Vita)
- Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (PS4) - bonus game available November 7-January 2.
Resogun Dev Abandons Shoot ‘Em Up Genre
Finnish studio Housemarque, maker of modern classic shoot 'em ups Resogun and Nex Machina, is moving away from developing arcade games due to poor sales.
Housemarque CEO and co-founder Ilari Kuittinen spoke about the decision to move away from the genre they love, regardless of their games' quality, in a letter to fans.
"Despite critical success and numerous awards, our games just haven’t sold in significant numbers," Kuittinen said. "While some of them have reached a massive audience due to free game offerings across various digital sales channels, this unfortunately doesn’t help pay for development, which gets costly for high production quality."
So the studio is abandoning its arcade shooter roots to move onto new genres.
EA Not Ready to Commit to Making More Switch Games
Following the release of FIFA 18 on Switch, Electronic Arts is not in any rush to bring additional software to Nintendo's platform.
EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen told the Wall Street Journal (via WSJ reporter Takashi Mochizuki on Twitter) the publisher plans to wait until the console has been on the market a full year before deciding whether to make more games for it.
According to Jorgensen, it's too early to judge the success of FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch. As such, EA wants "to fully understand what the demand is" for the platform before committing more development resources to making new games for the platform.