Tag: gaming

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Annapurna’s Hindsight looks like a beautifully melancholy meditation on life

It’s not necessarily uncommon for adventure games to follow characters as they reflect on their lives, but Annapurna Interactive’s Hindsight seems to be approaching the concept in some clever and effective ways.

Primarily developed by creator Joel McDonald (Prune) and narrative designer and writer Emma Kidwell (Half), Hindsight tells follows a woman named Mary as she’s clearing out her childhood home. Along the way, she drudges up memories of her mother, who has since passed away.

“How do we make the most of the time we have on Earth?” says McDonald of the game’s premise during a hands-off media preview. By going through her old home, Mary will have to come to terms with her complicated feelings about her past. “How did I lose touch with what was important?” Mary asks herself during the demo. Over the course of Hindsight‘s three-to-four-hour story, you’ll figure out just that.

Right away, it’s easy to see how Hindsight could compare to emotional narrative-driven adventure games like Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch. But the storytelling techniques that McDonald and Kidwell use appear unique and well-executed. During each of the game’s chapters, you’ll see snippets of Mary’s life play out, and in order to progress, you’ll need to find “apertures.” These objects, which can be part of the characters or environment, will directly lead into the next scene through stylish, cinematic transitions.

Hindsight water droplets

According to McDonald, this idea came from taking the concept of mementos, which transport us back in time, and making that literal. As an example, one scene shows a child Mary excitedly asking her mother to spray her with a hose on a warm and sunny day. After her mother enthusiastically obliges, you, the player, must pan the camera around until you can line up another image of Mary through the ensuing water droplets. This segues into a dark and moody scene in which Mary is splashing in a puddle alone in the rain. In another instance, you have to re-arrange broken pieces of a mirror so you can zoom through it into the next segment.

It’s a smart way of creating light “puzzle” mechanics of sorts to engage the player while allowing for smooth jumps between often visually or tonally juxtaposed scenes. McDonald says the goal behind bouncing between these different periods of Mary’s life was to create “that feeling of being in a particular place in time.”

“And just sitting with it,” adds Kidwell, noting that players can their time to just absorb individual moments before moving on. “Because there are going to be a lot of heavy themes that we deal with.” Indeed, without any sort of combat or enemy threat, you’re free to just soak everything in, and it looks to create an appropriately wistful vibe when coupled with the game’s minimalist, painterly aesthetic. Adding to that is the fact that McDonald and Kidwell say Hindsight‘s story draws a lot from their own lives, which should add some authenticity to the subject matter.

Hindsight Mary and mother

On top of Mary dealing with her grief, there’s a larger external narrative at play regarding her job as an accomplished chef. At the start of Hindsight, she’s about to open her own restaurant, so returning home is a way to close one chapter as she’s about to open another. We see this play out during the demo when a phone call in the present day snaps her back to reality as she’s reminiscing. It’s currently unclear how much of a role this side of the story will play, but Kidwell says it serves as “an external force to push the player and remind them why they’re there,” and from that perspective, it seems to be working well.

At the end of each chapter, you’ll also get the chance to keep one object in Mary’s suitcase in what Kidwell says was inspired by an Itch.io game called Packing Up the Rest of Your Stuff on the Last Day at Your Old Apartment. While Hindsight‘s narrative beats won’t change depending on what you pick, McDonald and Kidwell say it’s a chance for the player to reflect on the journey as they go along.

Hindsight horse

“You as the player choose what you want to value — what matters in your own life or what would matter to Mary,” says McDonald. “Player expression was really important to us,” adds Kidwell. “It acknowledges the player’s journey that they’re having with us.”

In the end, I’ve come away quite intrigued by Hindsight. It’s looking to be a tightly crafted and emotional story told through an engaging presentation style. I’m eager to play it for myself when the game releases sometime later this year on Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS.

Image credit: Joel McDonald/Annapurna Interactive

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Mobile Syrup

This crazy nuclear-powered flying hotel is straight out of BioShock

A pair of designers have revealed a concept for a massive luxury “sky hotel” that can hold over 5,000 passengers.

In a YouTube video, Hashem Al-Ghaili and Tony Holmsten outlined their vision for “Sky Cruise: A Futuristic Hotel Above the Clouds.”

The idea is to leverage 20 electric engines that are “powered solely by clean, nuclear energy,” which will enable the ship to “remain in the air for several years without ever touching the ground.”

With that in mind, the Sky Cruise would feature a variety of attractions on top of its swanky individual rooms for guests. These include a 360-degree observation deck, shopping centres, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and playgrounds for children. Further, the sky hotel would offer a fully functional medical bay and fitness centre for all your health-related needs. There’s also a separate section for organizing events like business meetings and even weddings.

To help with continuous flight, the Sky Cruise would be piloted by an AI, which can also predict air turbulence and react accordingly. Meanwhile, passengers and supplies would actually be flown to the ship via electric commercial airliners and private jets. Maintenance and repairs would also be done above the clouds.

All in all, it certainly sounds like a neat concept — for a sci-fi story. Indeed, the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite featured an upper-class floating city-state called “Columbia,” which its leader, the self-proclaimed prophet Zachary Hale Comstock, used to break away from America. Perhaps Al-Ghaili and Holmsten want to make a similar escape? Of course, one could also certainly make comparisons to Bespin’s iconic Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. 

Regardless of inspirations, though, it’s hard to imagine such a “sky hotel” getting made. I’m no scientist, but there are a lot of ideas here that seem difficult — if not impossible — to achieve right now. It’s also unclear whether designers Al-Ghaili and Holmsten possess any sort of aeronautical background or capital to even attempt to execute this vision. That’s to say nothing of the fact that it would undoubtedly cost guests a fortune — certainly much more than, say, the already expensive “immersive” Star Wars cruise.

Assuming this “sky hotel” was even feasible, though, would you want to stay in it?

On a related note, it’s worth mentioning that a mysterious new BioShock game is in development at Cloud Chamber, a developer that’s based, in part, in Montreal.

Image credit: 2K Games, Hashem Al-Ghaili and Tony Holmsten

Via: IGN

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Mobile Syrup

Canadian EA exec on the importance of inclusivity in gaming

Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the biggest publishers in gaming, and Marija Radulovic-Nastic oversees a major part of the company’s global business.

As senior vice-president of development technology and services, she helps EA’s many studios with the technology and other development tools that they need to make their games. This means she actually touches every game that the company puts out.

Marija Radulovic-Nastic EA headshot

Marija Radulovic-Nastic.

All in all, it’s a significant position in the gaming industry, especially as a Belgrade, Serbia native who moved to Vancouver in 1993 with a background in electrical engineering. But she’s always had a passion for games, which encouraged her to eventually break into the industry via EA in 2004. In the nearly 20 years since, she’s held various roles, including director of creative services and senior development director.

With all of that in mind, MobileSyrup sat down with Radulovic-Nastic to talk about her eventful career and her passion for making way for other women to join the industry. Here’s what she had to say.

Question: I see you’re an avid gamer. What were some of your earliest memories of playing games and when did you realize that working in the gaming industry was something you wanted to do professionally? 

Radulovic-Nastic: It’s a beautiful question. So I played games literally all my life. So having the game consoles like [ZX] Spectrum 48[K] and Commodore 64, so early, early days beginning with Pong and so on. And I was always in technology; my background is in engineering. But I joined the gaming industry almost two decades ago [with] EA, and it was, for me, a dream come true, since being a gamer all my life. And really enjoying that beautiful intersection of arts, design, and technology, which is gaming, as well as everything else that gaming and interactive entertainment do for all of us these days. So yeah, I’ve been playing a lot and a career in gaming was a dream come true.

Q: As you said, you’ve been with EA for nearly 20 years, and you’ve held various positions during that time. Can you talk a bit about your journey of working your way up to your current role?

Radulovic-Nastic: The industry has really changed in the last 20 years, and EA, too. So I was actually hired to lead the Central Technology Group, again, almost 20 years ago. And since then, I’ve really had a variety of positions. I actually, at some point, led Creative Service, which was the Central Art team, [and] spent a lot of time with the quality verification team because EA has an interesting structure there with QA, which is centralized. And it’s a large global organization. So I was the one helping centralize that, as well as modernizing the introduction of quality engineering. And then three years ago, I leaned back heavily again on technology, and become a de facto studio head of technology for all EA studios. So yeah, I was really, really privileged, having the opportunity to work with game teams and work on game creation, from a variety of different views and functions, but all anchored in that love of making games.

Q: I saw that you basically oversee a global team of 2,500 employees, which is huge. And one of the notable things about EA is that there are so many Canadian teams — BioWare in Edmonton, EA Vancouver, EA Motive in Montreal, etc. What’s it like for you as someone who’s based in Vancouver, and has lived in Canada for many years to have all these Canadian teams under your purview? What is it that’s so special about these Canadian teams?

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition -- Shepard aims gun at Reaper in distance

The beloved Mass Effect games, developed by BioWare Edmonton, are just some of the many titles made by Canadian EA teams.

Radulovic-Nastic: Yeah, in my role I have those functions, like the portfolio, that work within those studios, so not necessarily all those of those studios are the part of my direct organization. But I love Canada — this is where I choose to stay all my professional life. So it is really interesting looking at the Canadian gaming industry here, especially in Vancouver, as I’m based in Vancouver, as well as other Canadian cities [that are] flourishing, and EA being one of the key players there. Yeah, I have teams all around the world, but I personally am located in Vancouver and a big part of my leadership team is also here in Canada.

Q: You get your hands on every game that EA is making. People in a position such as yours often don’t like to pick favourites, but is there a particular game or even initiative within the company that you’ve worked on in the past nearly 20 years that you’re particularly proud of, and why?

Radulovic-Nastic: [laughs] That’s difficult — many of them I’ve truly enjoyed. But I can tell you that a focus on more representation of women in the gaming industry. There’s a need for becoming a role model for young women entering the industry. Given that the gaming industry is traditionally seen as a tough environment, and more male-dominated — being part of encouraging more diversity for the future of gaming, given that almost 50 percent of gamers today identify a woman, and what we want is for game makers to represent that player base. So I’ve been focusing a lot on that area, and it’s something that’s making me proud — to make this industry a little bit more inclusive and diverse.

Q: To that end, EA introduced the ‘Positive Play’ charter in June 2020. [Per EA, these are guidelines to “help make sure our games and services are an enjoyable experience for all players.” This came about following criticism of EA letting racism run rampant in EA Sports’ online modes.] For people who don’t understand — especially maybe younger gamers — the significance of something like this, why is it important for EA to have a dedicated division to promote this inclusivity and positivity? And how has this initiative evolved in the past two years?

Radulovic-Nastic: Unfortunately, the gaming industry has been seen and perceived as a tough environment — not just by game makers, but also [by] our players. EA has been hard at work within gaming environments to make sure that they’re friendly environments for everybody to play game games. Because we believe if you have a more welcoming environment for diverse players, we will see more women joining the industry, and then that can help create more well-rounded products. So to your point, one of the key elements for us was to actually prove that commitment — not just by publishing the Positive Play charter, but also [by] creating that entire department dedicated to upholding our commitment to positive play. And it’s spearheaded by one of the industry veterans, Rachel Franklin, so we have a senior vice president actually focusing on Positive Play. So the idea is to build those healthy communities championing the zero-tolerance policy for harassment or any kind of harmful behaviors or inappropriate content.

Apex Legends Ping wheel

Apex Legends’ Ping wheel allows players to communicate with others in a non-verbal way.

So a few examples of Positive Play at work… one is the creation of an inclusive design framework. So the idea is to create a framework that we will use as part of our game development framework that will ask game developers and game teams questions like, ‘How often do we speak to seek to tell stories of underrepresented people? Are we portraying people of diverse backgrounds with authenticity? Are we making sure that there are no unconscious biases in our narratives? How diverse and inclusive are our modes, stories, gameplay, themes, and all of that?’ So that’s become a part of the standard way that EA makes games.

Some of the examples [of how] that framework gave us results even five, six years ago… FIFA 2016 was the first AAA sports title that actually included female teams. Just as a comparison, some other AAA sports titles did that way later, like 2020 or so. The other one is the patent pledge that EA made six months ago. We realized that we have some very interesting patterns related to the accessibility of games. And it started with the Ping system that was done by Respawn’s Apex Legends team. The Apex team had heard from players that they were being attacked or targeted over voice and chat communication, particularly female players. So they created the Ping system as a means of communication among players. It’s in context; it doesn’t require the use of voice or text. Because again, they wanted to create a more inclusive, accessible experience. It was a very innovative, clear and well-received feature, and it earned a patent. So then a little bit more than six months ago, EA created that patent pledge system, where we decided to offer, free of any royalties to any game developer, our patents that are based on the accessibility of games, and that Ping system was one of them.

Q: The Entertainment Software Association notes that about 50 percent of Canadian gamers are female, yet women only accounted for 23 percent of the Canadian developer workforce in 2021. From your perspective, why isn’t that number higher, and what can the industry do to welcome more women in?

Radulovic-Nastic: Yeah, 23 percent versus 50 percent… It’s actually really upsetting that bias is contributing to those sexist stereotypes in gaming — they begin as early as childhood. Young gamers are exposed to the narrative that women gamers are not as good, are less capable, in gaming when compared to their male peers. And they also have to navigate the toxic online gaming environment from a young age. So they somehow learn that that’s the norm and that gaming is not a female-friendly space. Thus, they actually decide to [avoid] joining the gaming industry as game makers. So that’s why for us, Positive Play works on the community, as well as all other initiatives that we have internally to promote more women entering and joining the gaming industry.

Q: Another element to that conversation that I’ve heard from other people in the industry is a desire for women to not be pigeonholed into the same types of roles. Sometimes there’s this perception that they should only do communications sorts of jobs, which are obviously important, but that doesn’t open them up to, say, programming or leadership roles like yours. What are some of the ways that you think we can break down these barriers to teach people, especially young girls, that they can be a programmer, or a leader, or whatever role in the industry?

ESAC 2021 industry survey findings on women employment at Canadian game studios

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada’s findings on how many women are employed at game studios across the country. (Image credit: ESAC)

Radulovic-Nastic: Great question and great point. A big part is having role models of women in those kinds of roles — for young women joining the industry to see where their careers can take them. But it’s also making sure that employers have that friendly environment and encouraging women to join and grow their careers in gaming companies. Giving some examples in EA, we have created ERG groups, which is Employee Research Group, and the strongest one is Women’s Ultimate Team, which is like 2,000 members last time I checked. And the focus of all that is to promote women and help them with their careers. And that means a lot — not feeling alone at any point in a career, but feeling that there is a lot of support from every aspect of the company and executive team. And touching a little bit back on role models — I think that around 25 percent, like every fourth global VP in EA, is a woman. And that’s also growing — that’s a lot. That’s the change, generally, in comparison to where this industry was 5, 10, or 15 years ago. So you see more representation on a senior level, as well as to your point in technology.

Q: Having women like you in these prominent roles helps what we’re talking about. With that in mind, who have been some role models for you, personally, either within the industry or outside of it?

Radulovic-Nastic: It’s actually a super interesting question. I have been lucky to work with some great leaders here in EA and have had a really series of fantastic bosses like people that really looked up to. Not being nice because she’s my boss now, but my manager, [EA chief studios officer] Laura Miele, she was recently championed as “the most powerful woman in gaming” [by] Bloomberg and some other [outlets]. And I do believe that her impact on gaming is phenomenal. Her background is not in technology, but she has a profound impact on gaming. So that’s been somebody who I look up to EA for a long, long time, and she’s also a veteran in this industry. Outside of the industry, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say that there is somebody specifically who was my role model that I always look up to. But there were a lot of people that I was lucky to work with — some great leaders in this industry.

Q: Another part of bringing more women into the industry — people I’ve spoken to in the industry have mentioned the importance of starting young and promoting STEM education and things of that nature. From your perspective, how should governments and schools help promote the idea that you can work in games — letting girls know that this is an option?

The Sims female characters

Different women characters in The Sims 4.

Radulovic-Nastic: Yes, absolutely. So I think that absolutely, schools and governments promoting STEM, but also employers. As I mentioned with gaming, making sure that it’s not that toxic environment so that they want to play games and join the industry. But also making sure that we do work with universities and have the opportunity to champion what we do. Universities, but also to your point, even earlier, when young people make a choice about career — like high school, and even before that. So definitely more women in STEM is the future, and then companies like EA should and will continue to play a big role there.

Q: So with all of that said, what advice would you give to women looking to break into the gaming industry?

Radulovic-Nastic: It’s interesting. In 2012, I was privileged to have the [women-focused non-profit] Minerva Foundation [honour me with an award for leadership and excellence in the technology industry]. At that time, I gave an interview for, I think, The Vancouver Sun, and I was encouraging women to join the gaming industry. But now, reflecting on that time, it was just ‘oh, I encourage you to join the gaming industry.’

Now, we have proof that we are hard at work on making this industry more diverse and inclusive — everywhere from, as we discussed, Positive Play to what employers and big gaming companies are doing to welcoming a more diverse workforce. I find interactive entertainment and gaming to have such a profound impact on the way we learn, the way we connect, the way we interact with each other, the way we engage in problem-solving. And it’s an incredibly interesting combination of art and technology. So I would definitely encourage young women to look at the industry. We are hard at work to make it way more inclusive and diverse. And the space is incredibly interesting. It’s a great time to be in gaming, given where gaming is going.

This interview has been edited for language and clarity. 

Images credit: Electronic Arts

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Here are the free games hitting Xbox Games with Gold in July 2022

Xbox has announced the four games that will be offered at no additional cost to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in July.

It’s important to note that Xbox 360 titles offered through Games with Gold can be played on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The Series X/S can also play all of the Xbox One and Xbox 360 games that are made available through the program.

In Canada, an Xbox Live Gold subscription costs $11.99 for one month or $29.99/three months. Additionally, Xbox Live Gold is included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is priced at $16.99/month and also offers Game Pass and PC Game Pass, Cloud Gaming (mobile streaming) and EA Play.

Find out what came to Xbox Games with Gold in June here.

Image credit: Disney

Source: Xbox

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Here’s everything that was shown in June’s Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase

On Tuesday, June 28th, Nintendo aired a new ‘Direct Mini: Partner Showcase,’ a pre-recorded presentation dedicated to third-party games coming to Switch.

Notably, this event was released on-demand, so reveals began hitting the web immediately as people skipped through the video and press releases went out en masse.

With that in mind, we’ve rounded up all of the announcements, in chronological order:

  • Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak — new footage from the expansion launching on June 30th
  • Nier Automata: The End of Yorha Edition — launching on October 6th
  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes — new puzzle adventure game launching in 2023
  • Super Bomberman R 2 — launching in 2023
  • Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection — collection of 10 GBA Mega Man games coming in 2023
  • Pac-Man World: Re-Pac — Pac-Man World remake coming on August 26th
  • Blanc — new narrative adventure game releasing in February 2023
  • Return to Monkey Island — releasing sometime later this year
  • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope — new trailer confirming October 20th release date, special June 29th Ubisoft presentation focused on the game
  • Little Noah: Scion of Paradise — new roguelite game launching on June 28th
  • Railgrade — new railway building sim coming this fall
  • RPG Time: The Legend of Wright — RPG port coming to Switch on August 18th
  • Sonic Frontiers — new trailer for the open-world Sonic game, releasing on Switch and other platforms this holiday
  • Disney Dreamlight Valley — Disney life sim, launching in early access on Switch on September 6th [developed by Canada’s Gameloft Montreal]
  • Live a Live — the RPG remake got a new trailer, confirmation of a free eShop demo releasing June 28th (first three chapters, and progress carries over to the full game, which launches on July 22nd)
  • Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom — farming sim coming this fall
  • Minecraft Legends — Switch trailer for the recently revealed action-strategy game, coming to Switch and other platforms next year
  • Dragon Quest Treasures — RPG spin-off coming to Switch on December 9th
  • Sizzle reel featuring previously announced/released games, including Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (available now), No Man’s Sky (October 7th) and A Plague Tale: Requiem – Cloud Version (October 18th)
  • Portal: Companion Collection — a bundle of Portal and Portal 2 releasing June 28th
  • Harvestella — a new life sim RPG from Square Enix, releasing on November 4th
  • Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal — all confirmed to be coming to Switch, starting with P5R on October 21st (the games were recently confirmed for Xbox, PlayStation and PC)

What are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: Nintendo/Atlus

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Mobile Syrup

AI learns how to play Minecraft by watching 70,000 hours of YouTube videos

After watching 70,000 hours of YouTube videos of Minecraft gameplay, an AI has learned how to play the popular world-building game.

It took me several stressful and painful hours over a few days to figure out how to play the game, while this AI learned to play Minecraft just by watching footage of the title.

OpenAI tweeted a video of its Minecraft AI chopping down wood to make planks and other wooden materials, creating mining tools, and then finding diamonds (creating diamond tools as well) within the game in a matter of a few minutes.

In a blog post, OpenAI said “With fine-tuning, our model can learn to craft diamond tools, a task that usually takes proficient humans over 20 minutes.” It’s worth pointing out that this AI was able to do 2.5 percent of what it learned in a 10-minute video.

However, this is where it gets a little scary. The AI was also able to swim, hunt and cook based on observations from human player actions while also performing popular techniques like “pillar jumping.”

Image credit: OpenAI

Source: OpenAI Via: GamesRadar+

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Valve doesn’t want you to mod your Steam Deck’s internal storage

Valve designer Lawrence Yang says Steam Deck owners shouldn’t mod their handheld to feature a 2242 M.2 NVMe SSD instead of the 2230 SSD it comes with.

According to Yang, this causes the handheld to get “very hot” and creates power consumption issues for the handheld. He goes so far as to say that this mod will “significantly shorten the life of your Deck.”

In other Steam Deck-related news, Valve recently confirmed that it will ship more than double the number of handheld consoles it planned to in Q3. It’s still unclear when the Steam Deck’s docking station will release.

In theory, this means that Valve should be able to move through its Steam Deck order backlog far more quickly than expected.

Since its release, Valve has dropped several notable updates to the handheld, including game compatibility and performance fixes and a lock screen.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out my in-depth look at the handheld.

Source: @lawrenceyang, @OnDeck Via: Eurogamer, IGN

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It looks like PlayStation’s Horizon TV series will shoot in Toronto

Last month, PlayStation confirmed that it’s partnering with Netflix on a live-action series adaptation of its popular Horizon video game franchise.

Now, some early details on the production, including some notable Canadian connections, have seemingly been revealed.

As spotted by VentureBeat journalist Jeff Grubb, a production called “Horizon 2074” has appeared on the Directors Guild of Canada Ontario’s website. This is the same title that Grubb, a reliable industry insider, mentioned a few weeks ago.

What’s more, the page lists dozens of crew members, including those who have worked on such notable Toronto productions as Amazon’s The Boys and The Expanse. This, plus the Directors Guild Ontario listing, suggests the series will shoot in Toronto.

According to Grubb, Horizon 2074 will tell a story that takes place during and before the events of the games. Horizon Zero Dawn, as well as its 2022 sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, are open-world action-adventure games set in a post-apocalypse in which machines have overrun the world. The games follow Aloy, a hunter who fights to liberate the world from these constructs and the mysterious forces who seek to control them.

Per Grubb, Horizon 2074 will not retell Aloy’s story and instead “explain other elements that happened in the game,” including, presumably, the fall of humanity.

It’s currently unclear when PlayStation and Netflix plan to release the series or even begin shooting. That said, this will be PlayStation’s second production in Canada, following HBO’s recently wrapped Calgary-shot The Last of Us series.

Other PlayStation adaptations in the works include God of War, Twisted Metal, Ghost Tsushima and Gran Turismo.

Image credit: PlayStation

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Metroid Prime remaster to hit Nintendo Switch this holiday: report

The long-rumoured Nintendo Switch remaster of Metroid Prime will reportedly release this holiday.

Word comes by way of VentureBeat‘s Jeff Grubb, a reliable industry insider, on Giant Bomb’s ‘Game Mess Mornings’ podcast.

On the show, Grubb said he’s been told “pretty definitively” that the remaster is “one of [Nintendo’s] big holiday games.” He added that this lines up with the 20th anniversary of Metroid Prime in November.

However, as previously rumoured, this remaster is apparently only set to include the first Metroid Prime. According to Grubb, remasters of the second and third games are “pretty much done,” but Nintendo is holding them for release later.

Grubb went on to say that the remaster of the first Prime will be more extensive than what’s being done with the sequels.

“I think that game would be designed in a way by Retro Studios, who’s also making Metroid Prime 4, so that they can communicate to fans what to expect from Metroid Prime 4. To get used to things that might change.”

Some of this, he suspects, will include dual analogue controls and gyro aiming support. The sequels “will probably get updated controls and things like that, but they’re not getting quite the same overhaul as Metroid Prime 1,” Grubb said.

Metroid Prime and Prime 2 were released on the GameCube, with Prime 3 launching on the Wii. While the trilogy was later made available on both the Wii and Wii U, these games have not been playable on the Switch due to the system’s lack of backwards compatibility. Therefore, fans have been hoping that a port or remaster will happen.

Metroid Prime 4, meanwhile, was originally revealed way back in June 2017, reportedly under development at Bandai Namco. However, Nintendo announced in January 2019 that the project “[had] not reached the standards we seek,” and development was therefore being restarted by original Prime studio Retro.

Although the wait for a 3D Metroid on Switch has been quite long, a well-received 2D entry in the series, Metroid Dread, did release on the platform last fall.

In other Nintendo news, the company has confirmed that a ‘Direct Mini’ presentation focused on third-party games will air on June 28th.

Image credit: Nintendo

Source: Giant Bomb Via: GamesRadar+

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Elden Ring studio already has a new game in the ‘final stages’ of development

Beloved developer FromSoftware has confirmed that one of its upcoming games is nearly done.

In an interview with 4Gamer, Hidetaka Miyazaki, president and main director at FromSoftware, was asked about comments he gave to the Japanese outlet in 2018. At the time, Miyazaki said two unannounced games were in the works at FromSoftware — one of which has since been revealed to be this year’s critically-acclaimed Elden Ring.

Now, Miyazaki has said that the second game is “currently in the final stages” of development. However, he didn’t provide any further details, such as its title or general premise. It’s possible that this game might be a new entry in FromSoftware’s Armored Core mech shooter series, following a leak from earlier this year.

That said, FromSoftware likely isn’t in a hurry to reveal this mysterious new title, given how well Elden Ring continues to perform. In the same interview, Miyazaki confirmed that more updates are coming to the game, which will presumably include some form of downloadable content like most of FromSoftware’s other games have received.

Additionally, Miyazaki said he plans to continue to focus on directing games and is already helming his next project. It’s unclear what this might be, although he is pursuing a “more abstract fantasy” concept than what FromSoftware has previously created.

Source: 4Gamer