Tag: gaming

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Nintendo Switch Online is getting awful platformer Earthworm Jim 2

Nintendo’s next set of Switch Online titles include NES classics Dig Dug II and Mappy-Land, but also abysmal SNES platformer, Earthworm Jim 2.

Though the 1995 title featuring a worm named Jim was a graphical achievement of the era, it offers wonky hit detection, confusing level design and humour that just doesn’t land in the same way it did 27 years ago (talking cows aren’t funny anymore).

With this in mind, unless you’re looking for a nostalgic blast from the past, Earthworm Jim 2 is not worth your time. There are much better platformers available on Nintendo’s Switch Online service.

In Japan Harvest Moon is coming to Switch Online instead of Earthworm Jim 2, which seems entirely unfair because it’s arguably the best entry in the long-running faring series. All of these new titles will appear automatically in the SNES or NES app on your Switch if you’re already a Switch Online subscriber.

Switch Online includes a collection of several SNES and NES titles like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Kirby’s Adventure and more.

All three titles hit the subscription service on March 30th.

In Canada, the following Switch Online membership options are available:

  • One month (single account): $4.99
  • Three months (single account): $9.99
  • Twelve months (single account): $24.99
  • Twelve months family membership (supports eight Nintendo accounts): $44.99

Nintendo offers a more expensive Expansion Pack subscription tier that features Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 titles for $63.99 for a 12-month individual membership.

Image credit: Nintendo

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Activision Blizzard to pay $18 million in sexual harassment suit

A California judge has approved an $18 million USD (about $22.5 million CAD) settlement in Activision Blizzard’s sexual harassment suit.

During a virtual hearing on March 29th, Judge Dale S. Fischer signed the agreement with the intent to close the case, although she acknowledged that she couldn’t stop anyone from filing an appeal.

The settlement pertains to a July 2021 lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging a “frat boy” culture at Activision Blizzard. In the lawsuit, there were numerous reports of sexual harassment and other gender-based mistreatment at the Santa Monica-based gaming publisher.

As part of the settlement, anyone who worked at Activision Blizzard between September 1st, 2016 and March 29th, 2022 can submit a claim about sexual harassment, retaliation or pregnancy discrimination. Further, all “supervisory employees” at Activision Blizzard will be required to attend training on harassment and discrimination, while all employees will receive expanded mental health resources.

While A Better ABK, an advocacy group consisting of employees from Activision, Blizzard and King, hasn’t issued an official statement on the settlement, it’s unlikely that anyone who isn’t an executive is happy with this. After all, $18 million USD is absolutely nothing to a company like Activision Blizzard. For context, CEO Bobby Kotick, gaming’s most overpaid executive who was accused of covering up the toxic work culture, could receive more than $400 million USD (about $500 million CAD) once Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been completed.

In the meantime, though, A Better ABK has been calling for unionization to help protect employees in the future. Activision-owned Raven, the developer behind Call of Duty: Warzone, has already announced a union, and A Better ABK has voiced its support for more unionization across both the company and industry writ large. Microsoft, for its part, says it won’t stand in the way should Activision Blizzard decide to recognize any unions.

Source: United States District Court — Central District of California Via: The Verge

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PlayStation’s Spring Sale discounts PS4, PS5 games up to 75 percent off

The PlayStation Store’s Spring Sale is offering a variety of triple-A games and more at a discounted price.

Games like NBA 2K22, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Demon’s Souls are on sale until April 27th.

You can check out the complete list of games, here.

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Here are the free games hitting PlayStation Plus in April 2022

Every month, Sony offers a few PlayStation games at no additional cost to those subscribed to its PlayStation Plus service.

Now, the company has unveiled the three games hitting PS Plus in April.

First off, this month’s PS5 game is the third-person action multiplayer title Hood: Outlaws & Legends. The PS4 version is also free with PS Plus.

Meanwhile, the two free PS4 titles are the platformer SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated and roguelike deck builder Slay the Spire.

All three games will be free through PS Plus from April 5th to May 11th. In the meantime, March’s free PS Plus titles will remain available until April 4th.

A PlayStation Plus subscription costs $69.99/year in Canada.

In related news, PlayStation has finally unveiled its long-awaited expansion to the service, which will retain the PS Plus branding. Launching in June, the updated PS Plus will be broken into three tiers which offer game streaming, classic PS1/PS2/PSP titles, free game trials and more. Read a full breakdown here.

Image credit: THQ Nordic

Source: PlayStation

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Apex Legends’ current-gen Xbox Series X and PS5 update is now available

Apex Legends’ current-generation Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 update has finally arrived.

The update includes 4K visuals HDR and improved shadow/draw distances on current-gen consoles, but unfortunately, no 120hz refresh rate support — that feature is “coming in future updates.”

Support for the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller and its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback is also coming in a later update, alongside more visual improvements on the Series X and PS5. It’s also worth noting that the Xbox Series S version of the game is only updated with HDR support.

The update will arrive on the Xbox Series X/S via ‘Smart Delivery,’ so the latest version of the game should install automatically. On PS5, you need to navigate to ‘Your Collection’ under the Game Library on the console’s dashboard. Next, find Apex Legends, select it and download the next-gen version.

Alongside the update, Apex is also launching a new ‘Control’ limited-time event focused on its 9 vs. 9 game mode that launched back in February.

With Halo Infinite‘s relevance waning due to an extreme lack of new content, I’m strongly considering diving back into Apex, especially now that this new current-gen update has launched.

Image credit: Respawn Entertainment

Source: @PlayApex

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

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

  • Another Sight (regularly $38.99 CAD) — Available April 1st to 30th (Xbox One)
  • Hue (regularly $14.99) — Available April 16th to May 15th (Xbox One)
  • Outpost Kaloki X (regularly $9.99) — Available April 1st to 15th (Xbox 360)
  • MX vs ATV Alive ($19.99) — Available April 16th to 30th (Xbox 360)

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.

Source: Xbox

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Nintendo delays The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 to 2023

Confirming what many have assumed for months, the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been delayed.

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma says the still-untitled Breath of the Wild sequel won’t release until spring 2023. The game was previously scheduled to release in 2022, but wasn’t given a specific date.

Nintendo first announced Breath of the Wild 2 in June 2019 with a brief trailer. The Japanese gaming giant also released a new trailer for the title at E3 2021, but beyond that, has been relatively quiet about the next entry in the Zelda series.

“For those of you who have been looking forward to a release this year, we apologize,” said Aonuma. “As previously announced, the adventure in this sequel will take place not just on the ground as in the previous game, but also in the skies above. However, the expanded world goes beyond that, and there will be an even wider variety of features you can enjoy, including new encounters and gameplay elements. In order to make this game’s experience something special, the entire development team is continuing to work diligently on this game, so please wait a while longer.”

Alongside the delay announcement, a brief new clip of the anticipated game was also shown, revealing Link unsheathing a very different-looking Master Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released back in 2017 for the Switch and the Wii U. Though the game didn’t necessarily reinvent the open-world genre, it marked a significant change in direction for the typically streamlined Zelda series and remains one of my favourite games ever.

Image credit: Nintendo 

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

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Epic Games’ Spring Sale discounts titles up to 75 percent off

Epic Games is offering a variety of games until April 7th where you can save up to 75 percent off.

Some of the games on the list include Red Dead Redemption 2, Deathloop, Cyberpunk 2077 and Far Cry 6. 

You can check out the list of games here.

Via: RedFlagDeals

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PlayStation could reveal its game subscription service next week

A new report indicates that Sony could reveal its Xbox Game Pass-like PlayStation subscription service as early as next week.

According to Bloomberg, PlayStation’s Xbox Game Pass competitor will receive an official reveal soon. The publication was also the first to report that Sony is working on the service under the codename ‘Spartacus.”

Bloomberg’s report says that PlayStation’s game subscription platform will offer a “splashy lineup of hit games” and that it will merge PlayStation Plus (Sony’s online/game subscription platform) and PlayStation Now (game streaming) under one umbrella.

The report indicates that Sony plans to offer multiple subscription tiers. For example, the first tier will include online multiplayer and free monthly games, making it seem nearly identical to the current version of PlayStation Plus. However, more expensive tiers will offer a wider library of games, with the most expensive option featuring a collection of PS1, Ps2, PS3 and PSP titles, and the ability to stream games and play demos.

It’s important to note that unlike Xbox Game Pass, Sony reportedly has no plans to release first-party games on its subscription service on day one. For example, it’s unlikely that Sony Santa Monica’s upcoming God of War Ragnarok won’t be available on the subscription service when it releases.

Source: Bloomberg

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Fully playable fan-made Zelda: Ocarina of Time PC port now available

A group of fan modders has released a PC port of Nintendo’s iconic N64 game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Per developer Harbour Masters, the PC port offers HD graphics, ultra-widescreen resolution, modding support, keyboard support and more. Text-to-speech, 60fps support, twin-stick camera support and other features are also in the works.

The PC port runs on software called ‘Ship of Harkinian,’ which was released on Harbour Master’s Discord server earlier this week. Essentially, Ship of Harkinian takes a legally-sourced N64 ROM of Ocarina of Time and uses those assets to create a native PC version.

It’s this specific process that should, in theory, protect Harbour Masters from Nintendo, which is notorious for taking legal action against fan projects based on its work. As Ship of Harkinian is a reverse engineering project, it’s technically legal, since it doesn’t use any leaked or copyrighted assets from Nintendo.

Outside of the planned updates for the Ocarina of Time PC port, Harbour Masters says work on a PC version of the game’s sequel, Majora’s Mask, is about 45 percent complete.

It’s worth noting that both games are available on the Nintendo Switch through the Switch Online service’s $63.99 CAD/year membership. However, these are the original N64 versions, not the 3DS remakes.

Via: VGC