Toronto-based Visai Games has announced that its narrative cooking game, Venba, will be coming to Xbox consoles (plus Game Pass) and PlayStation 5 this summer in addition to Nintendo Switch and PC as previously announced.
This marks a slight delay from its original spring 2023 release window.
Venba focuses on an Indian mother who moves to Canada with her family in the ’80s. Through minigames, players will prepare authentic South Indian dishes, which help to connect her to her old home. Players will also engage in branching conversations to learn more about the immigrant family.
Last year, I wrote about how the glut of (otherwise quality) game releases early in the year was a bit overwhelming, leading me to take a much-needed break from gaming.
That said, there’s one game that I’ve been enjoying on the side, and it couldn’t have come at a better time: February’s Theatrythm Final Bar Line. Now, I’m not necessarily surprised that I enjoy it; a crossover game featuring music and characters from Final Fantasy, my all-time favourite series, was up my alley. However, I generally can’t get into rhythm games (including previous Theatrythm titles) due to their inherently repetitive nature, so I didn’t know how much of Final Bar Line I’d actually play.
As it turns out — quite a few hours. A big part of that has to do with the fact that this game marks the series’ console debut; I far prefer using a controller to a device like a 3DS with smaller buttons. Beyond that, though, Final Bar Line is just a fundamentally easy game to pick up and play. For uncoordinated people like me who don’t often play these kinds of games, developer ‘indieszero’ has graciously included a ‘Simple’ mode that relegates all inputs to a single button. That, alongside four difficulty options for each song, ensures that players of all levels of experience can jump in.
Because really, the highlight here is the music — some of the greatest in the history of gaming. With 385 songs from across 29 different Final Fantasy games, Final Bar Line is full of nothing but straight bangers. That includes the god-tier work of original FF composer Nobuo Uematsu (the first nine numbered entries and contributions to many others), Masashi Hamauzu (XIII), Masayoshi Soken (XIV) and Yoko Shimomura (XV). It’s almost a cliché to use the term “love letter” at this point, but Final Bar Line absolutely earns it thanks to its far-reaching celebration of 35 years’ worth of incredible music.
In terms of fan favourites, there’s everything from the sensational operatic grandeur of VII‘s “One-Winged Angel” and tear-jerking X ballad “Suteki Da Ne” to the beautiful Celtic woodwinds of XIII‘s “The Archylte Steppe” and majestic XV violin piece, “Valse di Fantastica.” But indieszero and Square Enix have commendably picked deeper cuts, too, like the menacing “Jack’s Theme” from the meme-worthy Strangers of Paradise, a slew of songs from mobile titles like Mobius Final Fantasy and tracks from lesser-known spin-offs like Chocobo’s Dungeon and Crystal Chronicles. Hell, my favourite game of all time, FFVII, has multiple sets of tracks from the OG VII, its stellar Remake, Crisis Core prequel and other ‘Compilation’ spin-offs.
Final Bar Line also sports an extensive lineup of DLC tracks from other Square Enix titles with their own stellar music, like Live A Live, Nier Automata and Chrono Trigger. Admittedly, I wish some of these included remixes; of the four Live A Live songs, only one is an updated version from last year’s amazing remake, and it isn’t the absolute bop that is “Megalomania.” Nitpick aside, though, the music catalogue is so magnificent and vast — in the base game alone, and only more so with DLC — that there really will be something here for everyone, even if you don’t have a history with some of these games.
That’s to say nothing of the plethora of characters. There’s an undeniable highlight in having parties consisting of, say, VII‘s Cloud and Sephiroth, XIV‘s Alphinaud and Tactics‘ Ramza — characters who would pretty much never meet otherwise. Bringing them together in recreations of iconic FF scenes, like VI’‘s Opera House misadventure, the death of Aerith in VII or XV‘s gargantuan Leviathan encounter only sweetens the deal. While I wish we got an actual narrative to unify them all, there’s enough of a mix here between traditional rhythm stages and FMV-filled ones to serve as a satisfying FF ‘Greatest Hits’ collection.
At the same time, the focus on songs means you’ll generally only be playing for a few minutes at a time. This makes it the perfect game to dabble in here and there, especially if you’ve found yourself a bit burnt out on games like me. The fact that I can just boot up my PS5, run through a few songs at my desired difficulty setting for 20 or 30 minutes and then go on with my day is brilliant. Thankfully, it’s not a time-sink like so many games nowadays. On the flip side, there’s a lot of content here if you want to dig into it, which means it’s worth coming back to over and over. Between Series Quests (an arcade-style campaign that takes you through highlights of each game), Music Stages (free play), co-op (where you and a friend split the notes) and Multi Battle (a surprisingly frenetic four-player competitive match), Final Bar Line is chock full of gameplay modes.
There’s also an RPG-lite element that hearkens back to the FF series’ roots. As you play, you’ll unlock new characters, abilities and summons that can be customized to your party of choice. Each character has their own class (Physical, Magic, Defence, Healing, etc.) to distinguish the types of moves they’ll automatically use as you hit notes. For example, the powerful Ulima Blade can only be used by blade-wielders like Cloud and Sephiroth. On the other hand, V‘s Lenna has a character-specific ‘Arise’ spell that can revive your team when your HP hits zero. Overall, this system feels finely tuned enough that mixing-and-matching configurations will provide benefits in stages but can still largely be ignored — especially on lower difficulties — if you just want to use your favourite characters and focus on the music.
Final Bar Line is easily one of my favourite games of the year so far. With some of the best music in the entire medium, a variety of difficulty options and modes and a structure that makes it easy to pick up and drop, indieszero has created an absolutely delightful experience that I keep coming back to even as I’ve put down other games.
Theatrythm Final Bar Line is now available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
It’s March 10th, so that also means it’s MAR10 Day (“Mario Day”).
To celebrate, Nintendo is running a slew of promotions on all things Mario, including deals on a Switch bundle and games. These are offered at a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, The Source and Walmart.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit — $89.99 (regularly $129.99)
Mario Party Superstars — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Nintendo Switch console with red Joy-Cons — $399.99 with your choice of a free $79.99 downloadable game (Super Mario
Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Super Mario Odyssey — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Yoshi’s Crafted World — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
Nintendo eShop deals
If you prefer to buy digital games, there are also deals on the Switch’s eShop. Note: Wave 1 of the promotion runs from March 10th to 23rd, while Wave 2’s offers (which haven’t yet been revealed but include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) will kick off on March 24th.
Microsoft is optimistic that it could overcome the technical limitations of the Nintendo Switch to bring Call of Duty to the platform.
In a filing to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Microsoft outlined what could be done to make good on its 10-year “binding” agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms should its acquisition of Activision Blizzard be approved.
According to Microsoft, the engine powering the popular battle royale series is “mature and has been optimized to run on a wide range of hardware devices.” This includes the Xbox One, a nearly 10-year-old console, and PC GPUs “released as far back as 2015” — both of which predate the Switch’s 2017 launch. Further, Microsoft notes that Activision also offers a (yet-to-be-released) mobile version of Warzone that “runs natively on mobile phones which have much lower performance specifications than the Nintendo Switch.”
More specifically, Microsoft said there are “standard techniques” that have been used for Switch ports of the likes of Apex Legends, Fortnite, Doom Eternal and Crysis 3. On top of that, Microsoft says it’s “confident” in Activision Blizzard’s developers, who have a “long history of optimizing game performance for available hardware capabilities.”
Of course, this is all hypothetical until Microsoft actually owns Activision Blizzard. As it stands, European regulators are still deliberating on the deal, although Reuters reported last week that Microsoft’s deals with the likes of Nintendo and Nvidia have helped stave off governmental anti-competition concerns. Sony, for its part, has staunchly opposed the acquisition, arguing that Call of Duty would give Microsoft an unfair advantage. Most recently, the company expressed concerns that Microsoft might release inferior versions of games on PlayStation.
We’ll know for sure which argument ultimately wins out when the CMA delivers its final ruling on April 26th.
Following that, the second wave will run from March 24th to April 7th and includes savings on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2 and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
Specific savings on each game have yet to be revealed, but more will be available on the eShop starting March 10th at 12am PT/3am ET.
Finally, Nintendo has revealed eight more DLC courses that will be added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on March 9th:
DS Mario Circuit
GBA Riverside Park
GCN Waluigi Stadium
Tour Amsterdam Drift
Tour Bangkok Rush
Tour Singapore Speedway
Wii DK Summit
Yoshi’s Island (Mario Kart debut)
A new racer, Birdo, will also join the game in this DLC.
Nintendo says information on MAR10 Day partnerships with the likes of Lego will be added to this site.
Microsoft has announced that it has signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to the Japanese company’s platforms.
On Twitter, Microsoft president Brad Smith said this is a “binding” agreement that will see Call of Duty games come to Nintendo on the same day as Xbox, “with full feature and content parity.” Given that this is a 10-year deal and we’re nearing the end of the Switch’s life cycle, this would, presumably, primarily apply to the console-handheld hybrid’s yet-to-be-revealed successor.
We’ve now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms. pic.twitter.com/JmO0hzw1BO
In December, Microsoft said it had committed to a 10-year deal with Nintendo, but the February 21st announcement means that it’s now legally binding. Microsoft is making this deal in an effort to help get its pending acquisition of Call of Duty Activision Blizzard approved in the EU.
In his tweet about the Nintendo deal, Smith said “this is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms.” It should also be noted that a similar 10-year agreement has been offered to Sony, although the company has not yet agreed to the deal.
As it stands, it’s unclear if and when the Activision Blizzard acquisition may be approved, although Microsoft is hoping it will close by July. Last month, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer reiterated his confidence that the deal will be approved.
The just-revealed collector’s edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom quickly sold out, so naturally, scalpers are taking advantage of the situation.
Retailing for $174.99 CAD, the package includes a physical copy of the game, an artbook with concept art, a Steelbook case, an Iconoart steel poster and four pin badges. Considering the game has an unusual $90 price tag, this means the extra goodies effectively cost an additional $85.
In addition to the standard version, a collector's edition of The Legend of #Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will launch on 5/12.
However, scalpers are now charging as much as $400 CAD. A quick look at eBay Canada shows multiple listings for around $400, with a few in the $300 to $400 range (before shipping). Of course, it’s not uncommon for collector’s editions to sell out, especially for something as beloved as Zelda, but it’s still unfortunate for those who wanted it.
As previously mentioned, Tears of the Kingdom generated a lot of buzz this week for costing $90, $10 more than any other Switch game. Nintendo didn’t explain why Tears of the Kingdom justifies a higher cost, simply claiming the $90 price tag will only happen on a “case-by-case basis” going forward.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on May 12th, 2023.
It’s a notable move from Nintendo, which has otherwise priced Switch games at the standard $79.99 MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) in Canada. While some publishers have moved towards $90 — like PlayStation, 2K and, starting this year, Xbox — they’ve done so for titles on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Given that the Switch was released nearly six years ago, as well as the fact that Nintendo titles rarely go on sale, there’s been some debate about whether games on such dated hardware warrant the increased cost.
MobileSyrup reached out to Nintendo of Canada for comment, but a response has not yet been received. That said, Game Informer asked why Tears of the Kingdom costs more, to which a Nintendo of America spokesperson said, “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.” When asked whether this sets a trend for future Nintendo games, the representative added, “No. We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”
It should be noted that there has been speculation among industry insiders that Tears of the Kingdom could be the last “significant” exclusive title for the Switch, given that it’s been around for so long. Presumably, any other major games, like another 3D Mario in the vein of Super Mario Odyssey, would release on whatever the Switch’s successor ends up being. To that point, analysts are looking to 2024 for the next Nintendo console. In other words, Nintendo could be testing the waters with $90 games before shifting towards that pricing range in its next-gen system.
For now, though, Nintendo is mostly just talking about the first half of 2023, which was the focus of its February 8th Direct. Some of the highlights of the show include the aforementioned new look at Tears of the Kingdom (reiterating a May 12th release), a new trailer for Pikmin 4 (coming July 21st) and shadow drops for Metroid Prime Remasteredand Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles on Switch Online.
Nintendo finally pulled the curtain back on the long-rumored Metroid Prime: Remastered.
Revealed as a part of today’s Nintendo Direct, the update of Retro Studios GameCube is real and it comes out today. The reveal trailer featured action from Samus’ first first-person adventure with updated graphics and motion controls.
The title is available now on the Nintendo eShop for $49.99 CAD. A physical release was also announced; however, no definitive date was given.
A Metroid Prime remake has been the subject of speculation for years.
Back in 2018, talk of a Prime trilogy remaster hit the web. Over time though it started to become clear that the project had been abandoned in favor of focusing on the first game.
Last year it was rumored the title would be out in time for the series’ 20th anniversary last November. But it seems to have missed it and it is ready now.
This comes as news on the long-in-development Metroid Prime 4 remains scarce.
As expected, Nintendo closed out its latest Direct presentation with a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
While only slightly over two minutes long, we do get a good deal of gameplay footage, including looks at Link riding on horseback through ravaged landscapes, sliding down rails, riding some sort of buggy and flying what appears to be a large drone-like vehicle.
The trailer ends with a glimpse at Zelda. Interestingly, though, it reiterates the May 12th, 2023 release date, which should put some fears of another delay to rest.
Additionally, Nintendo has confirmed that pre-orders for the Breath of the Wild sequel have now gone live while revealing a collector’s edition with an artbook and other goodies. An Amiibo figure based on Link’s appearance in the game is also in the works.
