Monthly Archives: May 2021
Taiko No Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat Review — Drum Solo
Some video game franchises seem destined for the mobile gaming scene, their format ideally suited for touchscreen controls or quick on-the-go gaming sessions. Bandai Namco's drum-pounding rhythm game Taiko no Tatsujin is the latest established franchise to make the jump to mobile, and it's a match made in heaven. Bright, colorful, and full of charm, Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat will have you smiling from ear to ear as you tap tap tap away to its catchy soundtrack. It's just a shame that fun has such a short shelf life.
Pop Tap Beat follows the standard rhythm genre format: notes travel from one side of the screen to the other (in this case right to left), and you tap the screen when each one reaches a circle to score points. The closer to the circle the note is when you tap, the more in rhythm with the song you are and the more points you score. It's a simple system that's easy to understand and pick up even if this is your first time playing a rhythm game, making for a short learning curve and a longer focus on fun.
The gameplay loop offers incremental increases in challenge with each subsequent difficulty level, offering an experience that's challenging without ever feeling impossible. Notes come in two colors: red, which signals tapping the drum, and blue, which signals tapping around the edge of it. Higher difficulties will split the drum in half, meaning you not only have to pay attention to the color of each note but also keep in mind which side of the screen needs to be tapped. Pop Tap Beat mixes things up further with special notes, alleviating any monotony. These special notes include drum rolls with continuous tapping, golden drums for furious tapping, and balloon notes for a different kind of furious tapping.
Continue Reading at GameSpotTaiko No Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat Review — Drum Solo
Some video game franchises seem destined for the mobile gaming scene, their format ideally suited for touchscreen controls or quick on-the-go gaming sessions. Bandai Namco's drum-pounding rhythm game Taiko no Tatsujin is the latest established franchise to make the jump to mobile, and it's a match made in heaven. Bright, colorful, and full of charm, Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat will have you smiling from ear to ear as you tap tap tap away to its catchy soundtrack. It's just a shame that fun has such a short shelf life.
Pop Tap Beat follows the standard rhythm genre format: notes travel from one side of the screen to the other (in this case right to left), and you tap the screen when each one reaches a circle to score points. The closer to the circle the note is when you tap, the more in rhythm with the song you are and the more points you score. It's a simple system that's easy to understand and pick up even if this is your first time playing a rhythm game, making for a short learning curve and a longer focus on fun.
The gameplay loop offers incremental increases in challenge with each subsequent difficulty level, offering an experience that's challenging without ever feeling impossible. Notes come in two colors: red, which signals tapping the drum, and blue, which signals tapping around the edge of it. Higher difficulties will split the drum in half, meaning you not only have to pay attention to the color of each note but also keep in mind which side of the screen needs to be tapped. Pop Tap Beat mixes things up further with special notes, alleviating any monotony. These special notes include drum rolls with continuous tapping, golden drums for furious tapping, and balloon notes for a different kind of furious tapping.
Continue Reading at GameSpotFirst Tribeca Games Official Selection Line-up Revealed
The 2021 Tribeca Festival has announced the Tribeca Games Official Selection; a line-up of eight games joining the festival. This will be the first time multiple video games will be up for consideration for an award at Tribeca in a film festival format.
The official 2021 Tribeca Festival games selection, competing for the inaugural Tribeca Games Award, are:
- Harold Halibut (Slow Bros.)
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
- Lost in Random (Zoink Games / Electronic Arts)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots / Raw Fury)
- Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
- Signalis (rose-engine / Humble Games)
- The Big Con (Mighty Yell)
- Twelve Minutes (Luis Antonio / Annapurna Interactive)
First Tribeca Games Official Selection Line-up Revealed
The 2021 Tribeca Festival has announced the Tribeca Games Official Selection; a line-up of eight games joining the festival. This will be the first time multiple video games will be up for consideration for an award at Tribeca in a film festival format.
The official 2021 Tribeca Festival games selection, competing for the inaugural Tribeca Games Award, are:
- Harold Halibut (Slow Bros.)
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab)
- Lost in Random (Zoink Games / Electronic Arts)
- NORCO (Geography of Robots / Raw Fury)
- Sable (Shedworks / Raw Fury)
- Signalis (rose-engine / Humble Games)
- The Big Con (Mighty Yell)
- Twelve Minutes (Luis Antonio / Annapurna Interactive)
Sony Facing Lawsuit Over PlayStation Store Digital Sales Exclusivity
Sony is facing a lawsuit that claims it is operating an unlawful monopoly by restricting purchases of PlayStation games to the PlayStation Store.
As detailed by a Bloomberg report, the class-action lawsuit, filed by consumers, notes that by restricting digital purchases to the official PlayStation Store, Sony Interactive Entertainment are able to charge up to 175% higher than physical games sold by retailers both online and in-store. With modern games like Returnal commanding $70, you can see why people are trying to find the best deals on their games. Those who want to remain digital, however, are restricted to what Sony charges on the PlayStation Store.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/returnal-review"]
“Sony’s monopoly allows it to charge supracompetitive prices for digital PlayStation games, which are significantly higher than their physical counterparts sold in a competitive retail market, and significantly higher than they would be in a competitive retail market for digital games,” explains the lawsuit.
Sony stopped allowing third party retailers, such as Amazon, from selling digital download codes for PlayStation games back in 2019. Nintendo has also done a similar thing, suspending European retailers from selling first-party digital game codes.
While Sony brought an end to digital download codes being sold by other retailers, those companies are allowed to sell PSN credit. However, this still requires a user to pay Sony’s asking price for a game, rather than being able to pay the often cheaper prices retailers offer for disc-based versions of the same game.
While Sony may be facing legal action, it’s not the big case of the moment. That’s the Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit, which is currently ongoing, and spilling games industry secrets all over the internet.
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Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.
Sony Facing Lawsuit Over PlayStation Store Digital Sales Exclusivity
Sony is facing a lawsuit that claims it is operating an unlawful monopoly by restricting purchases of PlayStation games to the PlayStation Store.
As detailed by a Bloomberg report, the class-action lawsuit, filed by consumers, notes that by restricting digital purchases to the official PlayStation Store, Sony Interactive Entertainment are able to charge up to 175% higher than physical games sold by retailers both online and in-store. With modern games like Returnal commanding $70, you can see why people are trying to find the best deals on their games. Those who want to remain digital, however, are restricted to what Sony charges on the PlayStation Store.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/returnal-review"]
“Sony’s monopoly allows it to charge supracompetitive prices for digital PlayStation games, which are significantly higher than their physical counterparts sold in a competitive retail market, and significantly higher than they would be in a competitive retail market for digital games,” explains the lawsuit.
Sony stopped allowing third party retailers, such as Amazon, from selling digital download codes for PlayStation games back in 2019. Nintendo has also done a similar thing, suspending European retailers from selling first-party digital game codes.
While Sony brought an end to digital download codes being sold by other retailers, those companies are allowed to sell PSN credit. However, this still requires a user to pay Sony’s asking price for a game, rather than being able to pay the often cheaper prices retailers offer for disc-based versions of the same game.
While Sony may be facing legal action, it’s not the big case of the moment. That’s the Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit, which is currently ongoing, and spilling games industry secrets all over the internet.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance Re-Issued for New Consoles
Interplay and Wizards of the Coast have announced that the PS2/original-Xbox-era action-RPG classic Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is being re-released for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on May 7, 2021 – meaning tomorrow. It will be available on digital storefronts only for $29.99. Check out the announcement/launch trailer above.
This is a re-release and not a remaster or remake, so outside of 4K support for Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and their backwards compatibility versions on Xbox Series X and PS5, there aren't a lot of new features. Two-player local cooperative play returns, of course. PC and mobile versions will be released later this year.
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Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was originally released on December 2, 2001, for PS2 and Xbox. It was later ported to GameCube as well. IGN loved it at the time, giving it a 9.4 out of 10 in our review. The developer of Dark Alliance, Snowblind, went on to make an excellent Dark Alliance sequel as well as a fantastic PS2-exclusive EverQuest spinoff in the same vein called Champions of Norrath.
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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance Re-Issued for New Consoles
Interplay and Wizards of the Coast have announced that the PS2/original-Xbox-era action-RPG classic Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is being re-released for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on May 7, 2021 – meaning tomorrow. It will be available on digital storefronts only for $29.99. Check out the announcement/launch trailer above.
This is a re-release and not a remaster or remake, so outside of 4K support for Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and their backwards compatibility versions on Xbox Series X and PS5, there aren't a lot of new features. Two-player local cooperative play returns, of course. PC and mobile versions will be released later this year.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=baldurs-gate-dark-alliance-re-release-screenshots&captions=true"]
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was originally released on December 2, 2001, for PS2 and Xbox. It was later ported to GameCube as well. IGN loved it at the time, giving it a 9.4 out of 10 in our review. The developer of Dark Alliance, Snowblind, went on to make an excellent Dark Alliance sequel as well as a fantastic PS2-exclusive EverQuest spinoff in the same vein called Champions of Norrath.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
Stranger Things Season 4 Trailer Teases More of Eleven’s Backstory
Netflix has released a teaser trailer for Stranger Things Season 4, which seems to suggest that the upcoming episodes will reveal more about Eleven’s backstory.
The minute-long teaser appears to be set in the laboratory in which Eleven was experimented on. Numerous children can be seen playing with toys as they are observed by a scientist through a camera. All are dressed in gowns similar to the one worn by Eleven back in Season 1.
Not among the children is Milly Bobby Brown’s Eleven, but panicked breathing from behind a door marked ‘11’ suggests we’ll be taking a closer look at the horrors she went through. “Eleven, are you listening?” asks an unseen voice. The story of Eleven’s supernatural origin has been an ongoing one across the whole of Stranger Things, but clearly there are still more stories to tell. The name 'Eleven' always suggested that there were more children experimented on than just her, and it seems like season four will at the very least show us some of the other subjects. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/04/netflixs-stranger-things-season-3-review"] Netflix left Stranger Things on a high point with a fantastic third season back in 2019. With a huge cliff-hanger at the end of that season, fans have been eagerly waiting for the fourth season. No release date has been announced for Season 4, but creators the Duffer brothers have said that this will not be the final season for the show. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.Eleven, are you listening? pic.twitter.com/rnPHzYt65d
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) May 6, 2021
Stranger Things Season 4 Trailer Teases More of Eleven’s Backstory
Netflix has released a teaser trailer for Stranger Things Season 4, which seems to suggest that the upcoming episodes will reveal more about Eleven’s backstory.
The minute-long teaser appears to be set in the laboratory in which Eleven was experimented on. Numerous children can be seen playing with toys as they are observed by a scientist through a camera. All are dressed in gowns similar to the one worn by Eleven back in Season 1.
Not among the children is Milly Bobby Brown’s Eleven, but panicked breathing from behind a door marked ‘11’ suggests we’ll be taking a closer look at the horrors she went through. “Eleven, are you listening?” asks an unseen voice. The story of Eleven’s supernatural origin has been an ongoing one across the whole of Stranger Things, but clearly there are still more stories to tell. The name 'Eleven' always suggested that there were more children experimented on than just her, and it seems like season four will at the very least show us some of the other subjects. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/04/netflixs-stranger-things-season-3-review"] Netflix left Stranger Things on a high point with a fantastic third season back in 2019. With a huge cliff-hanger at the end of that season, fans have been eagerly waiting for the fourth season. No release date has been announced for Season 4, but creators the Duffer brothers have said that this will not be the final season for the show. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.Eleven, are you listening? pic.twitter.com/rnPHzYt65d
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) May 6, 2021