It’s always weird when memes break free from the internet and emerge into reality.
In an interesting turn of events, the Bugs Bunny meme “Big Chungus” has been trademarked by Warner Bros.
The character is actually from an old Merrie Melodies episode in which Bug Bunny inflates himself in one of his Elmer Fudd trolling bits. However, the name comes from an unknown GameStop employee in 2018, according to the original meme.
The trademark was filed on August 26th with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, covering the use of “Big Chungus” in video games as well as motion pictures, toys and merch. Alongside Big Chungus, “Chungus Claus” and “Omega Chungus” were also trademarked.
Many believe that this could be an upcoming character in the Warner Bros. crossover fighter MultiVersus, which makes sense, given that developers behind the game obviously have a sense of humour. For example, a joke in the game involves Arya Stark saying to Shaggy, “next match, let’s pit your dog against my dog.” The lines for Bugs Bunny and Big Chungus have the potential to be just as hilarious.
It’s worth noting, though, that Big Chungus is also in the Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem game, so it’s possible that the trademark has something to do with that previous title.
8Bitdo has unveiled new versions of its 8BitDo Ultimate Controller, a Nintendo Switch Pro-esque gamepad, which are set to release on October 28th.
While many previous 8Bitdo Ultimate gamepads feature Bluetooth at default, the Ultimate Controller will come in three variants — one Bluetooth, one 2.4Ghz and one wired.
The Bluetooth and wired models have the most utility, as the can be connected to a Switch, PC or Android/iOS device. The 2.4 Ghz-exclusive controller, meanwhile, can be used with all of those platforms besides the Switch.
All three controllers will be available in black, white and pink and come with their own charging dock. Additionally, they’ll allow you to remap your controls on PC, Android and iOS and save them to three unique profiles that will be saved on the controllers themselves.
The Bluetooth controller will cost $69.99 USD (about $91 CAD), the 2.4Ghz will cost $49.99 USD (about $65 CAD), and the wired will be priced at $34.99 USD (about $46 CAD). Specific Canadian pricing and availability has not yet been revealed, but the controllers are available for pre-order on Amazon U.S.
While the leak has been pulled from Twitter (via a Logitech DMCA), Evan Blass posted several images of the Switch-like handheld. The standard-looking portables features left and right joysticks alongside ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘X,’ ‘Y’ buttons, a home button, shoulder buttons and Logitech’s ‘G’ logo.
Unlike its key competitors in the portable gaming space, Logitech’s handheld seems to be focused on streaming games from cloud services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now, rather than onboard hardware.
Since Android powers the device, it makes sense that it’s also compatible with games from the Google Play Store, Chrome, YouTube and more, though Steam also appears on the home screen alongside a user profile, messages, settings and power.
With this in mind, it seems like Logitech’s portable gaming device will be surprisingly capable and able to run both cloud-powered platforms, Android games and possibly even Steam titles. It’s unclear what hardware is featured in the device, but it could be part of Qualcomm’s G3x platform handheld gaming platform that features an Adreno GPU.
There’s currently no information on the release date or how much it will cost.
It’s likely that given how widespread this leak has become, Logitech will release more information about the mysterious portable soon. You can submit your email to this page to get more information about the device.
PlayStation has acquired German development house Savage Game Studios. In an effort to grow and support a mobile games ecosystem, Savage Game Studios is joining a newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division.
“Today, we announced that we have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Savage Game Studios, a hugely talented team of creatives with many years of experience making some of the most popular mobile games enjoyed by players around the world,” Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios said in a blog post.
Savage Game Studios was established in 2020 by three co-founders, Michail Katkoff, Nadjim Adjir and Michael McManus. Each founder is an industry veteran and brings many years of experience to PlayStation Studios. Independently, each has worked for major mobile developers Rovio, Zynga, and Wargaming. Additionally, the newly established division is said to be operating independently from PlayStation’s console development. PlayStation Studios Mobile Division is focusing on “on-the-go experiences based on new and existing PlayStation IP.”
“We made this deal because we believe that PlayStation Studios’ leadership respects our vision for how we can best operate and succeed, and because they too are not afraid to take chances,” Katkoff says. “All of that, plus the ability to potentially tap into PlayStation’s amazing catalogue of IP and the fact that we will benefit from the kind of support that only they can provide.”
PlayStation has been strategically acquiring studios both big and small in clear preparation for the next phase of PlayStation. Most recently, the company has acquired Destiny 2 developer Bungie, which has knowledge of live-service titles. Additionally, the Nixxes acquisition is being leveraged as PlayStation’s presence on PC expands. Most recently, PlayStation launched Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PC.
Hulst reveals that Savage Game Studios is already working on a “new unannounced AAA mobile live service action game.” In fact, this project will be the first to come from the studio, even prior to the acquisition. However, Hulst notes it’s too early to reveal what the game is.
“We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options. Our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains at $299 (£250, €300) the Xbox Series X is $499 (£450, €500),” a Microsoft representative told Windows Central. In Canada, the disc-less, non-4K Xbox Series S is priced at $379, while the beefy, 4K-capable Series X costs $599.
In an August 25th blog post, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan revealed that the PS5’s price was going up, “effective immediately,” in Canada, Europe, the UK, Japan and other countries due to the “global economic environment, including high inflation rates.” For Canada, this means that the standard disc drive-equipped PS5 now costs $649.99 (previously $629.99), while the more affordable disc-less Digital Edition model is now $519.99 (up from $499.99). However, the console’s cost is remaining the same in the U.S.
Of course, Microsoft’s statement doesn’t mean the price of the Xbox Series X/S won’t eventually go up, but for now, at least, it should remain the same.
Have you ever wanted a curved display for gaming and then a flat display for work? Well, Corsair has a new device that can do both.
This new monitor is called the Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240 and pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but this new monitor is the coolest display to grace a desktop in years. It’s also using an LG OLED panel, so in terms of colour and contrast, it should look phenomenal.
The interesting thing about this monitor is that you have to pull on handles attached to either side of the display and curve it yourself. You can see it in action in the video below, but be warned that they’re playing with prototypes and Corsair claims that the full production version will be less stiff.
One issue with this monitor is that it’s massive. It has a 45-inch 21:9 aspect ratio, making it almost TV-sized on your desk. As it’s a top-of-the-line product, it’s also pushing 240Hz and has a peak brightness of 1,000 nits.
It’s unclear if this product will realease soon, but since it’s coming from Corsair there’s a chance that it will filter into the Canadian market at some point.
Legendary game developer Masahiro Sakurai has started his own gaming-centric YouTube channel.
As the name suggests, “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games” follows the Super Smash Bros. creator as he explores the ins and outs of game development in both Japanese and English (subtitles). He says the channel is intended to be approachable for both game developers and fans alike, and each video will be ad-free and roughly two to five minutes long to offer easily digestible “bite-sized” explainers.
In his videos, Sakurai will draw from his extensive portfolio, including the Smash Bros., Kirby and Kid Icarus series, as well as a slew of other games from across the industry. Notably, Sakurai says he’s been given permission by Nintendo to include design documents from his work on Super Smash Bros., although the Japanese gaming giant is otherwise unaffiliated with the channel.
At the time of writing, Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games has already hit 170,000 subscribers with three published videos. The first introduces the channel, the second unpacks his creative works and the third focuses on the concept of “Hit Stops” (using delays like slow-motion to enhance the impact of specific gameplay moments).
It’s certainly a tantalizing project. Over the past few decades, Sakurai has become a beloved figure in the gaming industry, with fans especially loving his passionate and charming fighter breakdown videos for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With those coming to an end last October with the game’s final DLC character, Kingdom Hearts‘ Sora, Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games offers a new way for fans to engage with the prolific game developer.
Pentiment is the next project from Microsoft studio Obsidian Entertainment, the developer behind the likes of RPG heavyweights Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: Stick of Truth and The Outer Worlds is taking a sliver of its team to focus on a more intimate passion project.
Branching off from working on Grounded, The Outer Worlds 2 and the upcoming Avowed, a small team is focusing on the historically-driven experience known as Pentiment. Rather than lean on its expertise in RPGs, Pentiment exercises the team’s narrative and artistic abilities. Throughout the bulk of development, only 10 developers were working on the title, although that’s risen to 13 in the past year.
Pentiment is set in 16th-century Upper Bavaria during the Holy Roman Empire. The game covers the Reformation, the Revolution of 1525, and the introduction of Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system. Players take on the role of Andreas Maler, who is described as a clever artist. Andreas becomes entangled in a series of murders across a 25-year span. MobileSyrup had the privilege of sitting down with Josh Sawyer, Pentiment’s game director and Hannah Kennedy, the game’s art director to hear more.
While Obsidian Entertainment has a penchant for deep RPG mechanics, Pentiment is instead described as a narrative adventure. As Andreas, players interact with various characters in two core communities. The first is the Keirsau Abbey, which is described as a “secular community,” and Tassing, a “religious community.” Andreas moves between them, navigating relationships and exploring this world.
While not a traditional RPG, Pentiment does feature some light RPG systems, including dialogue options. For example, early on in Pentiment, players are asked about Andreas’ university education. At the time, it is quite unusual for an artist to possess a high level of education. Nonetheless, players are able to choose from a shortlist including Orator, Naturalist, and Astronomer. The choice made in this conversation is not only reflected immediately but also affects Andreas’s decisions moving forward throughout the game. Sawyer explains that players have access to Andreas’ journal. Here, players see a breakdown of the character’s backgrounds that are selected and the ways in which they influence the gameplay.
Obsidian Entertainment aims to make Pentiment a game that is accessible to a wide variety of players. Perhaps the setting and art book-page aesthetic aren’t what will immediately attract a player. However, given that it is launching day one on Xbox Game Pass, the team hopes to accommodate players of all nature. “Our focus with this game was really to make it quite simple and easy to play. It’s not a game that’s really super challenging,” Sawyer tells us.
Pentiment offers a minimalist control scheme and is said to be forgiving. Minigames are implemented for “vibes and immersion” and not to be challenging for the player. For instance, Andreas is asked to arrange a series of paintings. It’s a very simple task where players approach it almost like a point-and-click game. Afterward, Andreas is asked to remove a religious cross from the wall. Players can then choose what to do, accepting any ramifications.
Many fonts in the game are inspired by the historical setting. In a traditional sense, dialogue and other text are directly inspired by handwriting from the 16th century. This extends into the first instance of printed typeface print. The Pentiment team has gone so far into replicating text that each stroke that appears on screen bleeds into the parchment backdrop. This effect simulates the look of ink flowing and drying on a page. Additionally, some characters will make slight errors and those get corrected in real-time during interactions. Depending on the character’s background, their dialogue bubbles reflect different styles of handwriting. Based on the limited gameplay shown, this enhanced level of detail adds to the overall aesthetic. Additionally, it demonstrates the dedication and love Obisian has for the historical setting of Pentiment.
It’s worth noting that from an accessibility standpoint, fancy fonts can be disabled for easier legibility and readability. Pentiment also supports other accessibility features. For instance, the game includes a thorough glossary that includes factoids and terms from the 16th century. Additionally, characters are included in the glossary in case you forget anyone.
The Pentiment team is driven by its passion for the history and art of the 16th century. Sawyer graduated with a history degree and it seems clear that his team shares a similar love of the setting. Pentiment’s “book pages” are inspired by late Medieval illumination and early modern woodcuts. Obsidian Entertainment pulls from examples such as the Guild of Saint Luke and the team looked at art from the era. Obsidian Entertainment used works of art to pull character designs, furnishings, clothes, and how to interact in a 2D plane.
“The Nuremberg Chronicle was a really influential piece, both in identifying how woodblock mark making looked different that we could pull from to reflect in the way that our characters are designed,” Kennedy told us.
Pentiment is a game that Sawyer believes “people who are super into history can get a lot out of, but [they] don’t need to be a history expert to play it.” To maintain a certain amount of accuracy, Obsidian Entertainment worked with a number of researchers including Dr. Christopher De Hamel, Dr. Edmund Kern, and Dr. Winston E. Black. The team also partnered with Alkemie Music, an ensemble musician group focusing on Renaissance music with a modern twist on historical pieces.
Much of what’s gone into Pentiment is brand new for the studio. Thus, there have been challenges to overcome throughout development. “I think that there are some advantages and disadvantages to making something so different,” Sawyer explains. “We are doing a lot of things with animation that is not like what our animators normally have to do. So, we’ve had our animators really flexing muscles they haven’t had to flex in a long time to do a 2D game in this style. I think that having a small team that works within a larger company, which works with a much larger umbrella studio, has been beneficial for us.”
The team also notes how Microsoft has been supportive of the game throughout. Obsidian Entertainment’s acquisition enabled the team to really delve into the development of Pentiment. Also, having the game land on Xbox Game Pass sounds like it provided a huge boost in confidence in the game. “I think [the acquisition] is really what made it possible,” says Sawyer.
“I think that if we had tried to make it like five or 10 years ago, it would have been a lot more difficult because we didn’t really have a platform like this to release a game like this on and it would have been a little more challenging to find funding, and just get support for it.”
Often, it can feel daunting to jump into a series that’s been around for years, especially a few entries in.
That was initially how I felt going into Splatoon 3. The first game came out on Wii U, a system I barely touched, while the sequel dropped on the Switch in its first few months, when I didn’t yet own one, and I just never got around to it later on outside of a brief demo. Therefore, Splatoon has been something of a blind spot for me when it comes to Nintendo franchises.
I say all of that because after playing a little over an hour of Splatoon 3 at a New York City preview event, I’ve come away in love with the experience. Whether you’re someone who’s been with the series from the start (like MobileSyrup‘s Patrick O’Rourke) or a newcomer such as me, there’s so much to dig about the Splatoon threequel.
Extremely approachable
Nintendo has a history of taking long-running genres and making smart twists that open them up to wider audiences, like Super Smash Bros. for fighters and Mario Kart for racers. With Splatoon, the Japanese gaming giant has given similar treatment to third-person shooters. Essentially, Splatoon is all about ink-themed variations on traditional types of guns, like assault rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles. This streamlines the moment-to-moment gameplay, as you don’t have to worry about different ammo types; simply dive into the pools of ink that you’ve sprayed to refill your tank. You can also aim with your Joy-Con/Pro Controller’s analog sticks or with motion controls, but I found the latter extremely intuitive, especially when used in tandem with the sticks. Sure, I’ve heard much of this for years from fans of the ink-themed series, but it’s nonetheless something you don’t fully appreciate until you actually dive in yourself.
To start my demo, I played Splatoon 3‘s first three tutorial levels, but I was wary at first. Often, tutorials can feel tedious as they ever-so-slowly walk you through how to perform every single action. But Splatoon 3‘s tutorial didn’t do that; it gave me non-intrusive on-screen messages on how to do everything from coating the floor in ink and then swimming in it to throwing the Splat Bomb secondary weapon to hit ranged targets. Mercifully, there was hand-holding to be found.
In fact, I was even pleased to discover a little bit of room for experimentation. In one area, I chose to ignore the ascending walkway and coat one small wall in paint, which actually gave me a shortcut to the end of the stage. And for context, I ended up passing one of the other media who skipped the tutorial and had some prior Splatoon experience. I say that not to shame him, though, but rather to illustrate just how little of a learning curve there is.
Going into squid form for added mobility is such a neat and unique element of Splatoon.
The later three single-player levels I played through, meanwhile, were slightly more complex. Here, there were light puzzle elements, like using grind rails (“Ride rails”) and Splat Bombs to visit adjacent platforms to unlock keys to clear a path forward. These were by no means headscratchers, but they change up the pace just enough and come in pleasing, bite-sized packages. It’s easy to imagine picking up and clearing a stage or two in between short periods of downtime.
But the absolute best part of the single-player portion, which is new to the Splatoon series, was the Tri-Stringer. It’s a bow-and-arrow that can fire three shots at once — vertically when standing and horizontally when jumping. That in itself is cool, but it’s even more versatile with its charged shots, which freeze briefly before exploding. In the weapon’s introductory stage, there are several enemy configurations that put all of this to the test, such as turrets with shields that require you to time a charged shot to the moving platforms behind them to work around their defenses. All told, the Tri-Stringer was an absolute joy to use as I alternated between its different firing types.
The Tri-Stringer is incredibly satisfying.
I do still have a fair number of questions about the campaign, though. While trailers indicate a decent variety in locations, I can’t comment on the actual story itself. I’m not expecting a riveting tale, of course, but even still, the levels I played didn’t offer any inklings (pun very much intended) on the plot or characters. Further, the Nintendo Treehouse rep playing beside me couldn’t — or wouldn’t — confirm how long the actual campaign would be. If nothing else, it’s certainly not shaping up to be some lore-heavy affair, which should make it easy to jump into.
An absolute blast with others
With all of that said, I’ve heard that Splatoon‘s single-player content, while by no means bad, is ostensibly training for the multiplayer, and on that front, it more than serves its purpose. Because it’s when we got into said multiplayer that I truly found myself becoming enamoured with Splatoon 3.
Admittedly, it doesn’t seem like a whole lot has changed with Splatoon 3, but I don’t think that’s at all a negative. If anything, the multiplayer landscape has become increasingly saturated in the five years since Splatoon 2, with battle royales, first-person shooters and content-lite live services as a whole dominating the pack. With that in mind, Splatoon 3 doubling down on its mechanically unique blend of co-op and competitive multiplayer offerings feels extremely refreshing. Plus, in a series first, Splatoon 3 finally supports local co-op.
Returning players will no doubt be happy about the ability to throw Golden Eggs in Salmon Run.
After playing a bit of the campaign, we were thrown into Salmon Run, the returning co-op mode from Splatoon 2. To my pleasant surprise, this is the series’ spin on Gears of War‘s popular Horde Mode, in which you and your player-controlled allies must survive against increasingly powerful waves of enemies. This is largely the same as it was in Splatoon 2, which means your team will have to secure a number of Golden Eggs to clear each round. One key quality-of-life improvement, though, is that Splatoon 3 now lets you throw these eggs, which eliminates some back-and-forth frustrations but also feels balanced since it expends a big portion of ink. Thankfully, Salmon Run can also now be played at any time; no longer is it in rotation.
Within moments, I was impressed with how thrillingly frenetic rounds could be, especially as enemies came at me by sea, ground and air. While the stage is fairly simple in its layout, this three-pronged approach adds a welcome layer of verticality, forcing me to go up and down ink-covered walls to defeat enemies, secure eggs and even revive fallen teammates. Our team actually lost one of our Salmon Run attempts when a Nintendo rep upped the difficulty, so it’s good to see that the challenge scales appropriately, particularly when extra tough boss enemies occasionally show up. And as a nice contrast, there’s just something so hilarious and charming about the Salmon Run intro, in which four cartoonish squids get transported to the stage in a helicopter like they’re soldiers dropping into a battlefield.
Things get real messy in Turf War.
I had just as much fun in Turf War, Splatoon‘s signature competitive team multiplayer mode. While you can kill opposing players and cause them to respawn, the real objective of the match is to coat as much of the stage as possible in your ink. Enemies, naturally, can do the same, so this creates a genuinely compelling ‘tug-of-war’ dynamic. (Seeing the post-game results, wherein the game dramatically delays tallying each team’s total percentage of ink, led to much guffawing all around.) Once again, this mode is primarily unchanged from Splatoon 2; instead, it’s the new weapons that shake things up. In the pre-match loadout selections, I perused the delightful assortment of guns, which included, quite endearingly, an ink-powered NES Zapper.
But I adored one of the new weapons, the melee-focused Splatana Wiper. Zigging, zagging, and swimming my way to distant enemies who were shooting at me to get up close and slash my foes was oh-so-satisfying. If that weren’t enough, you can charge the blade to shoot an ink projectile, which gives it some range and makes it an all-around well-rounded weapon. This doesn’t even take into consideration the many Special Weapons (which become available after painting enough turf), with my favourites being the Crab Tank (a powerful mech-like vehicle) and Booyah-Bomb (teammates can hit the D-pad to say the ‘Booyah’ quick message to power it up like some Dragon Ball Z-esque Spirit Bomb). I kept smiling at how the lineup of Special Weapons mixes singular and team-based offensive abilities with more defensive alternatives like the barrier-enacting Big Bubbler. Shooters can live and die by their weapon variety, and Splatoon 3 consistently surprised me with the inventiveness of its guns.
The Splatana Wiper — what’s not to love about a katana that shoots ink?
At the end of our hour-ish preview, I found myself genuinely disappointed that it was over. Amid all of the games I’ve seen and played, Splatoon 3 truly feels like it has its own refreshingly unique sense of identity. As a result, it’s legitimately something that I see myself playing regularly, especially with a friend who just moved far away. Hopefully, the Switch’s notoriously spotty online play will be up to the task. I’m also eager to get more time with everything else that the game will have to offer, including character customization, exploring the Splatsville hub, trying out the card-based Tableturf Battle minigame and more.
I went into my preview with no prior love for Splatoon, and now the series’ third entry is one of my most anticipated games of the fall. Switch owners — keep this one on your radar!
Splatoon 3 will release exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on September 9th. A free limited-time ‘Splatfest’ demo will hit the Switch on August 25th.
