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It's time, once again, for a news roundup of all the latest announcements from the past few weeks in gaming. We've got a lot of stuff to cover this time, so let's see what's going on in the gaming news world. Are you ready?

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Industry News

Nintendo To Debut A 3 Part "Making Of" Documentary For Breath Of The Wild

Tomorrow at 6 AM PT, we’ll be debuting a three-part series called The Making of The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild! pic.twitter.com/bTDROEZ8i0

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 13, 2017

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Tomorrow, at 6AM PT, Nintendo will be releasing a 3 part video series, which goes into detail about how the company created The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The trailer showcases concept art, music sheets, and gameplay videos. GBAtemp's @Tom Bombadildo reviewed the game, and you can read what he thought, here.

SOURCE

PlayStation Store To Start Charging Tax On Purchases (State Dependant)
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On April 1st, Sony of America will be charging taxes on any digital purchases from their store, from music, to movies and TV shows, to video games. Services like PS Vue, PS Now, and PS Plus will also be subjected to tax as well. The following states will have to pay taxes next month: Alabama, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It is unknown at this time if the rest of North America will be forced to pay tax, or if this is purely a United States thing.

We are writing to inform you that PlayStation Store, including all services such as PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and PlayStation Music, will start collecting tax in your state starting April 1, 2017. The sales tax charged on each order is determined by your state, county and city tax rates.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox (Check your own email to see if you have an email from Sony regarding this)

Steam To Add 10% GST To All Game Purchases In Certain Countries
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Following the above news, it appears Sony won't be the only one imposing a new tax on digital goods. Starting this month, Steam will be adding a tax rate according to where you live, and it will be rolling out for the following countries: Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, South Africa, and India. Australia will be hit the hardest, with a 10% tax to each purchase.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox

Colin Moriarty Leaves Kinda Funny Week After Controversial Joke​

For anyone that consumes podcasts in the gaming realm, you may have heard of PSILOVEYOUXOXO or the Kinda Funny Games cast or a variety of other podcasts that have featured former IGN Head Writer Colin Moriarty. Moriarty was known for his contrite and polarizing views on politics and gaming and the blend of the two mediums. The podcast he co-hosted with Greg Miller, also formerly of IGN, was a large success and go-to for many a PlayStation fan.

Following the week of Women’s remembrance day, Moriarty came under fire after making a controversial tweet using the hashtag, A Day Without Women, and tweeting, “Ah, Finally, Peace and Quiet.” Hours after posting it, Greg Miller tweeted an apology and that he did not agree with the tweet, and subsequently announced Moriarty would not be attending PAX EAST with the rest of the Kinda Funny crew.

And now, nearly a week later, Moriarty has left the company to, “Pursue a career in the political spectrum and venture into philosophy.” There is much speculation around the event, with many citing the real reason that the company was being too protectionist and was going out of its way to censor Moriarty. Whatever the reason, Moriarty will be missed, and he is sure to continue his career and assert his opinions elsewhere.

Thanks to @chavosaur for writing the above.

General News

Ex-Burnout Developers Are Working On A Spiritual Successor To The Series​

You might remember the Burnout franchise, a racing series from the mid-2000s, which had 5 mainline entries and 3 spinoffs, before the company went on to pitch a failed F-Zero concept game to Nintendo, and from there on focused on making Need For Speed games thereafter. The series' lead director, Alex Ward, is currently working on making a spiritual successor for the Burnout series, codenamed Project Idaho. The Tweet above shows off a teaser image for the upcoming game.

SOURCE​

de Blob Coming To PC
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de Blob, a popular puzzle/platformer game, initially released for the Nintendo Wii in 2008, will be getting a PC port, thanks to THQ Nordic, in 2017. There is no specific release date at this time.

SOURCE

Superbeat XONiC Coming to Consoles
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Rhythm game Superbeat XONiC will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this June, both physical and digitally. In North America, the PS4 physical copy will retail for $39.99 and will come with the game's soundtrack, which includes over 50 songs. Europe won't be getting this edition, though. All the PS Vita version's DLC will also be coming to the home console version of the game as well. GBAtemp reviewed this game back when it initially launched, and you can read what I thought about the game HERE.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox

NieR Automata Comes to Steam on March 17
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After a ton of confusion from Platinum Games regarding the PC release of Nier Automata, the game finally gets confirmed for a Steam release on March 17, 2017.

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SOURCE

Kickstarted ToeJam & Earl Game Coming To Nintendo Switch
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Back in late 2015, Humanature Studios created a Kickstarted to fund a fourth ToeJam & Earl game, receiving a little over $500,000 (100k more than their goal). The game is set to launch this year, and it has just been announced that the game will be getting a Nintendo Switch version. The game was shown off at PAX-East, letting players see a small demo of what the game will look like. Backers of the title will also be getting a private demo as well, later on.

SOURCE

Rocket League Getting New Dropshot Mode
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Rocket League is getting a brand new game mode coming out on March 22, according to developer Psyonix. This new mode focuses on players trying to break the arena floor apart, and then dunking the electrified ball downwards in order to score a goal. The longer you keep the ball in the air without touching the ground, the more powerful it becomes, allowing for easier goals. Psyonix also states that there will be more changes coming to the game, like more achievements, rocket trails, and car body paint, as well as a brand new competitive season, and a focus on eSports content.

SOURCE

Zero Escape Developer Teases New Project
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Kotaro Uchikoshi, the man behind the Zero Escape series, was at GDC 2017 in order to reveal that he's working on a new game, codenamed Project: Psync. There is nothing else known about the game at the time of writing, only that it was possible due to the success of his Zero Escape series.

SOURCE

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds Launches This May
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Idea Factory International will be bringing the remastered version of their visual novel Hakouki to the west this year. The game will release on May 16 in North America, and May 19 in Europe, for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV. Hakuoki is an otome visual novel about romance and samurai, which originally launched in 2008 for the PlayStation 2.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox

Rumor: Crash N.Sane Trilogy Might Be Coming To PC
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Previously reported by @Ericzander that a Tweet from PlayStation Ireland stated that the upcoming Crash Bandicoot remake "would be coming to PS4 first", leaving the door open for other platforms, we now get another reiteration of this, thanks to a recording at PAX. The video showcases a Sony representative saying that the N.Sane Trilogy will run at 60FPS on PlayStation 4...and PC. Of course, it's not a confirmation, but just more information that hints at the game being a multiplatform title after a timed exclusivity period.

SOURCE

Resogun Getting Spiritual Sequel​

Developer Housemarque has teamed up with Resogun's lead developer, Eugene Jarvis, to create a follow up to Resogun, titled Nex Machina. The game is a twin-stick shooter, which is heavily inspired by classic games such as Robotron and Smash TV. The game is set to release sometime in 2017 for PS4 and PC.

Housemarque, the creators of Resogun, and Eugene Jarvis invite you on a trip back to the age of arcades and play Nex Machina, the twinstick shooter of this generation. Destroy the evil robots, free the humans and defeat your friends' high scores along with their dreams of success. Do you have what it takes to make it to the top?

SOURCE

Fan Projects

Super Mario Sunshine Multiplayer Mod Beta Released
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Blastoff Studios, some indie developers known for making simple script editors, have now released a mod that allows you to play Super Mario Sunshine with 2 players at once. The mod is still early in development, as it's currently just a beta, but it certainly works well, from what I've personally tested so far. The second player gets to play as Shadow Mario, and players can pick each other up and throw one another, resulting in amusing stunts, and being able to make insanely short work of the game's bosses.

SOURCE

Tear Ring Saga Gets English Patch
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Aethin, a member of Fire Emblem focused forum Serenes Forest, has released a full translation patch for the Japanese-only title Tear Ring Saga. The title is a PS1 exclusive game, which released in the year 2000, coming from some ex-Nintendo staff, including most notably, Shouzou Kaga, the creator of the Fire Emblem series. Tear Ring Saga plays nearly identical to classic Fire Emblem games, and now, for the first time, is available to play fully in English thanks to the translation team's efforts.

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SOURCE

Metal Gear Online Gets Revived For PS3 Users
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SaveMGO, a website dedicated to trying to preserve Metal Gear Online, has announced that soon, PS3 users will be allowed to once again play the game, even on the latest firmware. The team has re-written the server's code, and will trying to add in Survival and Tournament modes as well, later on. For those with jailbroken consoles, the game's jailbroken method will still continue to work as usual.

SOURCE

Fan-Made Mother 4 Project Rebrands Itself to Prevent DMCA
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Mother 4, a fan-made sequel to Nintendo's Mother/Earthbound franchise, will soon be getting a complete re-haul, in order to remove any Nintendo related things from their fan-game. The game has been in the works for over 5 years, but will stop being a fan-game in order to prevent a DMCA from Nintendo. The game itself will continue development, but it will lose any and all relations to the Mother series.

SOURCE

RPCS3 Progress: Demon's Souls
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The developers of RPCS3 have made a great amount of progress, because as of last week, they've released a build of the emulator that can not only boot PS3 exclusive title Demon's Souls, but one that can actually run the game, albeit in a stuttering manner. At the source below, you can read a detailed blog of how the developers managed to get the game running.

Meanwhile it became obvious that much more work was still needed. The game makes use of many of the features the platform provides, and thanks to this many imperfections in the graphics implementation surfaced. Lead graphics developer kd-11 immediately started debugging and soon enough fixed the videos and the main menu:

SOURCE

Breath Of The Wild Is Already Running In CEMU
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It didn't take long for Nintendo's latest Zelda game to run in CEMU, the Wii U emulator. The 1.7.3 build of the program can manage to run the game in open world sections in a juttery manner, while also getting a full 30FPS during dungeons. The above video even shows the game being rendered in 4K/2160p as well, so there's some clear progress being shown off!

Citra Progress: Super Mario 3D Land

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Game Trailers

Spoiler

Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns


Mass Effect: Andromeda Gameplay Part 3


Sonic Mania Green Hill Act 2


Nier Automata Launch Trailer


Monster Hunter XX Opening Movie (JP)


16 Minutes of Mordor: Shadow Of War

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Release Calendar

April 4
Persona 5 (PS3, PS4)

April 11
Yooka-Laylee (PC, PS4, XB1)
Stardew Valley Collector's Edition (PS4)

April 18
The Silver Case Remastered (PS4)
Voodoo Vince Remastered (PC, XB1)
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PS4, XB1, NS)

April 20
Syberia 3 (PC, PS4, NS, XB1)

April 25
Dragon Quest Heroes 2 (PC, PS4)
Puyo Puyo Tetris (PS4, NS)
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 (PC, PS4, XB1)

April 27
Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness (PC)
Warhammer 40,000
Dawn of War 3 (PC)

April 28
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS)
Little Nightmares (PC, PS4, XB1)
Constructor HD (PC, PS4, XB1, NS)
Portal Knights (PC, PS4, XB1)

April TBA
Locke's Quest (PC, PS4, XB1)

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Two things

1. WONDERBOY MAKES A COMEBACK
2. TOEJAM & EARL ON SWITCH
3. @Chary (No nothing important, just felt like tagging you) But thank you for this though.

 

[Deleted-379826]

Persona 5 is up first on the release list. Please, please stay there.

 

[Chary]

Persona 5 is up first on the release list. Please, please stay there.

Sites such as IGN/Gamespot/Etc already have the game in-hand. No more delays, the game is finally at the home stretch.

 

[Deleted-379826]

Sites such as IGN/Gamespot/Etc already have the game in-hand. No more delays, the game is finally at the home stretch.

Our prayers have been answered! now just give us the game slightly early and it'll be all the better.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Sites such as IGN/Gamespot/Etc already have the game in-hand. No more delays, the game is finally at the home stretch.

Sega force delay for sonic mania hype.

Just know if that happens you may die a little inside.

 

[Armadillo]

NieR Automata Comes to Steam on March 17
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After a ton of confusion from Platinum Games regarding the PC release of Nier Automata, the game finally gets confirmed for a Steam release on March 17, 2017.

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SOURCE

. Have this ordered. GMG done a good deal for uk (£32)

Rocket League Getting New Dropshot Mode
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Rocket League is getting a brand new game mode coming out on March 22, according to developer Psyonix. This new mode focuses on players trying to break the arena floor apart, and then dunking the electrified ball downwards in order to score a goal. The longer you keep the ball in the air without touching the ground, the more powerful it becomes, allowing for easier goals. Psyonix also states that there will be more changes coming to the game, like more achievements, rocket trails, and car body paint, as well as a brand new competitive season, and a focus on eSports content.

SOURCE

Aww yiss.

Give me them wheels.


5 days between nier and rocket league...... That's tough, but I think I can get through it before Rocket League calls me again .

 

[HaloEffect17]

Nice news week, @Chary!

 

[Stephano]

DEMON SOULS ON PC HYPE..... I'm really excited

 

[Hells Malice]

That'll be epic once Demon's Souls is playable on PC. I really, really want to play through it again but it's such a pain to set my PS3 up and try find my copy of Demon's Souls.

 

[Deleted User]

Next off PS4 emulation

In 25 years

 

[ov3rkill]

Looking forward to Shadow of War and English release of Monster Hunter XX.

Great news about the emulators. It has come so far.

 

[leon315]

FUCKomani is going to take down MGO IN 3...2...1

 

[RevPokemon]

Great reporting @Chary !

Anyway I am most interested in the idea of Sunshine being multiplayer since it was a game that me and my sister used to put a ton of time into back in the day and would love to see it being multiplayer as that really would change the gameplay.

 

[supergamer368]

yOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOka lAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAylEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE hype

 

[Xabring]

It's gonna be a good month for PC an PS4 I see.

 

[Armadillo]

@Chary

Psyonix added another blog post with extra details on the changes.

http://www.rocketleague.com/news/changes-coming-with-competitive-season-4/

Seems the whiners got their way, Neo Tokyo is going because shit players can't handle the ramps and also because of lack of use in pro play. Really disapointing from Psyonix. Tailoring stuff around the small minority of pro players. Already bad enough with the keys only benefiting them, but now this as well.

 

[Darkdawn665]

Can't wait for that Personal 5 release!

 

[azzarod]

Steam To Add 10% GST To All Game Purchases In Certain Countries
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Following the above news, it appears Sony won't be the only one imposing a new tax on digital goods. Starting this month, Steam will be adding a tax rate according to where you live, and it will be rolling out for the following countries: Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, South Africa, and India. Australia will be hit the hardest, with a 10% tax to each purchase.

SOURCE: GBAtemp Press Inbox

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I can confirm this item in Australia, at least - the Parliment recently passed legislation requiring GST (a 10% tax on everything not deemed by gov't to be essential to life) to be applied on all digital content - games, movies, music, apps, everything.​

 

[Qtis]

Steam To Add 10% GST To All Game Purchases In Certain Countries​

PlayStation Store To Start Charging Tax On Purchases (State Dependant)

So basically the EU way of taxing is coming around. I've been a bit surprised it's taken so long considering all the geolocation options available. 10% is still mild as many countries have VAT at more than 20% for everything