Every month, Xbox adds new games to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Typically, new titles are rolled out in two waves and now, Xbox has unveiled November’s first batch of new Game Pass games:
Minecraft: Java and Bedrock Editions (PC) — November 2nd
Unpacking (Cloud, Console and PC) — November 2nd
It Takes Two (Cloud, Console and PC) — November 4th
Kill It with Fire (Cloud, Console and PC) — November 4th
Football Manager 2022 (PC) — November 9th
Football Manager 2022: Xbox Edition (Cloud, Console and PC) — November 9th
Forza Horizon 5 (Cloud, Console and PC) — November 9th
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (Console) — November 11th
One Step from Eden (Console and PC) — November 11th
Meanwhile, here’s what’s leaving Game Pass on November 15th:
Final Fantasy VIII HD (Console and PC)
Planet Coaster (Cloud and Console)
Star Renegades (Cloud, Console and PC)
Streets of Rogue (Cloud, Console and PC)
The Gardens Between (Cloud, Console and PC)
River City Girls (Cloud, Console and PC)
As always, members can purchase these or any other Game Pass titles with an exclusive 20 percent discount to keep playing them even after they leave the catalogue.
Finally, Xbox says it’s extended the free 30-day Disney+ trial Perk for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers until January 31st, 2022.
Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $16.99/month and is required for streaming (which Xbox refers to as ‘Cloud’). On top of that, this tier includes Game Pass for both Console and PC, as well as an Xbox Live Gold subscription and access to EA Play.
When the game was first released last year, it suffered from a significant amount of bugs, though CD Projekt Red has worked to fix most of Cyberpunk 2077’s most significant issues through several significant updates.
Patch 1.31 for Cyberpunk 2077 is now available on PC, consoles and Stadia.
According to RedFlagDeals user ‘ donttoewsmebro,’ The Source is only offering the title for $9.99 in-store only on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but you can check Cyberpunk 2077 stock at your local The Source location online via stocktrack.
The sale ends on November 3rd.
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Interactive Ontario has unveiled The Lodgge, a digital hub for all things video games and interactive entertainment in the province.
The not-for-profit industry trade organization’s site features news, events, job listings and more for games that are made in Ontario.
Welcome to The Lodgge, Ontario's Home for Video Games and Interactive Entertainment. Come visit https://t.co/n7eA787nBF to keep up with the latest news, jobs, events, and games from around the province. We have also launched our very own podcast! See you there🏡🔥
There’s also a ‘games library’ to view games by studio, provided that they’re Interactive Ontario members. These include Toronto’s DrinkBox (Guacamelee!), Capy (Grindstone) and Cococucumber (Echo Generation) and London’s Digital Extremes (Warframe).
The Lodgge also has a Twitch channel, which it says will be used to host Ontario developers so they can promote their games. Further, there’s an official Lodgge podcast that will host various guests, with the first episode featuring Digital Extremes’ Danielle Sokolowski.
Sony has sold 13.4 million units of its PlayStation 5 console, the company revealed in its latest earnings report.
3.3 million units were sold during this quarter, compared to the 2.2 million in the previous. While the PS5 is one of many devices that is suffering from supply constraints due to the global chip shortage, that quarter-to-quarter growth at least shows some improvement.
Game sales saw an even larger increase; Sony reported 76.4 million units sold in this quarter, compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter. The company noted this was driven in large part due to third-party titles.
However, sales of first-party titles dropped from 10.5 million to 7.6 million last quarter. This led to operating income coming in at 82.7 billion yen (about $900 million CAD), a drop from last quarter of 3.4 billion yen (about $37 million CAD).
It’s worth noting that Sony said in August that it secured enough components to sell 22.6 million units by March 2022. This means that the company would need to sell 9.2 million consoles between now and March. While the demand is certainly there for that, it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will be able to manufacture enough systems to hit that goal.
Sony has sold 13.4 million units of its PlayStation 5 console, the company revealed in its latest earnings report.
3.3 million units were sold during this quarter, compared to the 2.2 million in the previous. While the PS5 is one of many devices that is suffering from supply constraints due to the global chip shortage, that quarter-to-quarter growth at least shows some improvement.
Game sales saw an even larger increase; Sony reported 76.4 million units sold in this quarter, compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter. The company noted this was driven in large part due to third-party titles.
However, sales of first-party titles dropped from 10.5 million to 7.6 million last quarter. This led to operating income coming in at 82.7 billion yen (about $900 million CAD), a drop from last quarter of 3.4 billion yen (about $37 million CAD).
It’s worth noting that Sony said in August that it secured enough components to sell 22.6 million units by March 2022. This means that the company would need to sell 9.2 million consoles between now and March. While the demand is certainly there for that, it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will be able to manufacture enough systems to hit that goal.
Every month, PlayStation offers a few games at no additional cost to those subscribed to its PlayStation Plus service.
Now, the company has revealed the batch of games that will land on PS Plus in November. This time, there are six free games up for grabs, instead of the usual three, because of the fifth anniversary of PlayStation VR. To celebrate the occasion, PlayStation Plus is offering three free PS Plus games in addition to the trio of PS4/PS5 titles.
To start, there are two PS5 games this month — the dodgeball multiplayer title Knockout City and the social deduction party title First Class Trouble. Notably, both the PS5 and PS4 versions of these games are free with PS Plus; normally, the service only offers one or the other.
Meanwhile, the last of the main three free PS Plus games is the action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning on PS4. All three games will be available to download for free through PlayStation Plus from November 2nd to December 6th.
As for the PS VR freebies, you can claim the procedurally generated horror game The Persistence, first-person shooter survival title The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Standard Edition) and the first-person sword fighter Until You Fall.
The PS VR titles will be free from November 2nd to January 3rd.
If you haven’t claimed them yet, October’s free PS Plus games will remain free until November 1st — read up on those here.
It’s worth noting that products on the list have varying ‘sale end dates. Make sure you check when the sale price is ending if you’re going to sit on the idea of purchasing a device.
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I was one of those kids who got a hole in their hand after playing Mario Party‘s ‘Tug o’ War‘ minigame on the Nintendo 64.
After the lawsuits and the fingerless gloves back in the late ’90s, I assumed the controversial minigame wouldn’t return in Nintendo’s nostalgic celebration of all things Mario Party for the Switch, Mario Party Superstars.
Surprisingly, Tug o’ War is part of the list of 100+ games spanning the long-running series’ 11 titles, along with a cautionary notification that reminds players “to avoid irritation to your skin and/or damage to the control stick, do not rotate it with the palm of your hand.”
With that side anecdote out of the way, Mario Party Superstars doesn’t do a lot to shake up the long-running virtual board game/party series’ formula. Instead, it aims to fix Super Mario Party‘s shortcomings with a collection of some of the best boards and minigames from the series, coupled with surprisingly extensive online play options that I, unfortunately, haven’t been able to test out yet. After I spend time with Mario Party Superstars’ online modes once they go live, I’ll add my impressions to this story.
First off, there are a few changes to the series’ formula in Superstars. For example, Stars now cost 20 coins to purchase again instead of just 10 like in Super Mario Party, and you can also add more turns to a game, allowing you to extend the action if you choose to.
Thankfully, it’s finally possible to save your game and dive back into the experience later, making a 30 turn game more feasible than it was before. While small additions, these quality-of-life changes go a long way towards making Mario Party Superstars feel more modern.
But as with all Mario Party titles, it’s the minigames that truly matter. As someone who has only played the Nintendo 64 titles and a few GameCube entries at friends’ places over the years, I was thrilled to see classics like ‘Bombs Away,’ ‘Shy Guy Says’ (I’ve always been awful at it), ‘Bumper Balls, ‘ ‘Trap Ease Artist’ and more featured in the title. If you’re a fan of the series, or like me, have only played a couple of games in the franchise, your most fondly remembered minigames are likely included in Superstar.
On the game board side of things, classics like Yoshi’s Tropical Island, Space Land, Horror Land and more return. I can’t help but wish more classic boards were included in Mario Party Superstars, especially those not from the N64 entries, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them added to the game at a later date through free DLC.
Along with the standard board game action the series is known for, there’s also a new area called Mt. Minigames. This section of Mario Party Superstars lets you play all 100 minigames in a variety of modes like ‘Freeplay,’ ‘Coin Battle,’ ‘Trio Challenge,’ ‘Daily Challenge’ and more. I’ve always preferred to just play a collection of minigames in Mario Party titles rather than slog across the game board — especially if I’m playing with AI opponents — so I’m glad to see these options included in Superstars. Some minigames also feature selectable stage variations, which is a nice touch on Nintendo’s part.
There are other additions to the series in Superstars, too, including emotive stickers you can make appear on the screen in the middle of matches, and a slew of unlockable music tracks, card designs and more.
It’s also important to mention this is the first Mario Party game for the Switch that can be played entirely in handheld mode. 2018’s Super Mario Party, on the other hand, featured motion controls, making it incompatible with handheld mode. This means the game works with all of Nintendo’s Switch consoles, including the handheld-only Switch Lite.
If you’ve enjoyed Mario Party titles in the past, you’ll likely find a lot to like about Mario Party Superstars, but if you’re expecting the game to shake up the franchise in a significant way, that’s definitely not the case here. However, what does make Superstars unique is that it’s a collection of all of the series’ best courses in one title.
With this in mind, it’s sure to appeal to anyone with a nostalgic connection to the franchise.
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Earlier this month, some PS5 owners had noticed that the music streaming service was popping up for them, but now, Apple and PlayStation have made it official.
With an Apple Music subscription, PS5 users can access more than 90 million songs, as well as tens of thousands of curated playlists, 4K music videos and more.
Functionally, Apple Music on PS5 works just like Spotify. You can either start the Apple Music app before hopping into a game or, if you’re currently playing one, can do so by selecting the ‘Music Function’ card from the Control Center. This will let you listen to music in the background.
However, you can also find and watch music videos from the Apple Music app. Playback will begin in full screen, although it will be reduced to audio-only if you return to your game or go elsewhere on the PS5’s home screen. Returning to the music video will re-open it to continue fullscreen viewing without interruption.
The Apple Music app can be downloaded from the Media space on your PS5. From there, follow the on-screen instructions to link your Apple Music account. PlayStation says more info on this process can be found here.
It’s worth noting that Apple and PlayStation have also partnered on a promotion that gives PS5 owners six months of Apple TV+ for free. Read more on that here.
Interestingly, what they’ve found is listings for numerous N64 and Sega Genesis titles beyond the initial launch lineup, which includes the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Specifically, there’s mention of “at least 38 N64 titles,” as well as “at least” 52 Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games.
Initial datamining from the N64 app is somewhat fruitful. Going by the game IDs there are at least 38 N64 titles planned for NSO. The list is alphabetical so you can fill in some of the gaps already; 37 is Majora, 32 is Smash, 33 is Wave Race, 14-16 is Mario Party, etc. pic.twitter.com/tiVcugmc88
Specific titles aren’t listed, but the chart does have games organized alphabetically, which does help narrow down what they could be.
Of course, it’s important to stress that what’s found in a datamine doesn’t guarantee what will actually be publicly released, but it’s nonetheless an interesting look at what could be to come for Expansion Pack.
As it stands, we know that Nintendo is planning to add new games on a regular basis, including The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, F-Zero X, Banjo-Kazooie and Paper Mario. This also applies to Genesis titles, but specific ones have not yet been confirmed.
It should be noted, however, that it hasn’t exactly been a completely smooth launch for Expansion Pack. Over the past 24 hours, Switch owners have taken to social media to share their frustrations with the technical performance of some of the N64 games. Certain titles, including Ocarina of Time, have reportedly suffered from input lag, odd graphical glitches and inelegant controller layouts.
It remains to be seen whether Nintendo will fix these issues.
