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It's been a while! Although the title may not be weekly, I'm back again for a news-roundup of all things gaming. We'll be taking a look at some of the things that have been announced this past month, and checking out what upcoming games are on the horizon.

Industry News

Pokemon Red and Green (And Other Finalists) Get Nominated For the Video Game Hall of Fame
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The first Pokemon games are getting a shot at being inducted to the Video Game Hall of Fame. This year's finalists have been picked, ranging from classic titles like Final Fantasy VII, Halo, Donkey Kong, Portal, Resident Evil 1, Street Fighter II, Wii Sports, Tomb Raider, Myst, Mortal Kombat, Pokemon Red & Green, and Windows Solitaire. The results of which games will get awarded will be announced at the Strong Museum world video game exhibit, on May 4, 2017.

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US Federal Trade Commision Warns People About Switch Emulators
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Now here's something interesting: The FTC has made an official statement, about none other than...Nintendo Switch emulators. The American government claims that all Switch emulators are scams, and that emulator sites should be treated with caution. Of course, while this is common knowledge to most of us, it is a good reminder for those who aren't as adept to the homebrew and hacking scene. The FTC also offers an amusing solution to those who want a Switch emulator...turn on automatic updates to your PC, and go play a Nintendo Switch at your friend's house instead!

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The ESA Publishes Sales And Demographic Results for 2016
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The Entertainment Software Association has published their yearly review of the video game industry for 2016. Titled 'Essential Facts', there's a ton of information included in the report, such as the fact that video games were a 20.4 billion dollar industry, the average "gamer" is 35 years old, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the bestselling game of 2016, and more. You can read the full document in the source.

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Bandai Namco Files Trademark for "Pac-Man Maker"
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It looks like Bandai Namco might be planning something, as a trademark for a Pac-Man related game has shown up on EUIPO (the Eurpean Union trademark database). Titled 'Pac-Man Maker', there's no other information known at this time, but it does make one wonder, with such a similar name as that of Mario Maker.

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Crytek Shanghai Shuts Down Doors
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A month ago, a Crytek Shanghai employee made a Reddit post, trying to get attention to the fact that the studio has not paid any of its members since September 2016. This event was covered in a previous edition of This Week In Gaming, and it seems as of today, there's more information to the story. Industry worker Daniel Ahmad has made claims that the Shanghai branch of Crytek has shut its doors, due to not being able to pay rent, as well as confirming that employees have indeed not been paid since September of last year, while continuing to work until the company's closure. It is not known if the workers will receive compensation at this time. Crytek Shanghai was created in 2012 in order for Crytek to dedicate a studio to purely VR related game development, but nothing has come from that.

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Microsoft To Offer Self-Service Refunds For Digital Purchases
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Microsoft is following in Steam's footsteps, in terms of digital refunds, it appears, as the company is now in the process of rolling out the ability to refund digital game purchases. According to early testers, this is an instant, no-questions-asked refund process. Can we hope that Sony will follow suit as well?

General News

Hey! Pikmin! Isn't Being Developed By Nintendo​

The latest Nintendo Direct shed a bit more light on Nintendo's upcoming Pikmin spinoff title coming to the 3DS. What it didn't show, however, was that the game won't be made by Nintendo's internal development teams. According to a filing with the Australian Ratings Board, Hey! Pikmin! will be developed by Arzest, known for 2014's Yoshi's New Island and 2016's Mario & Sonic and the Rio Games. Shigeru Miyamoto has overseen all prior Pikmin games, but he will not be involved with this specific title.

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PlayStation 4 Slim To Get New 1TB Model
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Although it's a bit late to the game, Sony is now pushing a new 1TB model of the PS4 Slim for North America. Amazon has already cut the old 500GB HDD PS4 Slim down to around $250, while this new model will retail for $300.

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Bandai Namco Announces Code Vein​

Previously teased earlier this week in a promotional video, Bandai Namco has unvielded the name of one of their upcoming games. Titled Code Vein, the game is set to be a "dungeon exploration" type of RPG, coming from the makers of the God Eater series. You play as a vampire, where you can fight alongside an AI partner, and absorb the abilities of your enemies. It's slated for release in 2018, with no platforms mentioned.

BlazBlue Central Fiction Coming To PC
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Aksys Games will be bringing another one of Arc System Works' fighting games to PC, in the form of BlazBlue Central Fiction. It'll be hitting Steam on April 26, and although there is no price on the Steam page, customers will get 10% off for buying within launch week.

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Saints Row 2 Free On PC For A Limited Time
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Digital game retailer, Good Old Games, GOG, is currently offering Saints Row 2 for free for a set amount of time. You need an account to get it, but as a bonus, the game itself is DRM-free! Snag it before time runs out!

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StarCraft Is Permanently Free Now
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Classic strategy game, StarCraft, and it's expansion pack, Brood War have just received a patch, allowing for widescreen support, better Windows 10 compatibility, Mac support, and other modernizations. They both are now free to keep, as a promotion from Blizzard, to draw in interest for their upcoming StarCraft Remastered.

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Syberia 2 Is Free Too!
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EA Origin's 'On The House' deal is back, letting players claim a new game each month for free. If you have an Origin account, just follow the link below to grab the game for yourself. Syberia 2 is free to promote today's launch of Syberia 3, so get it while you can, so you can prepare for its sequel!

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Layton's Mystery Journey Heads West
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Level-5 will be bringing their follow-up series to the Professor Layton series to the west, this fall. Previously titled as "Lady Layton", this new title features a new cast of characters, and new puzzles to solve. It'll be releasing worldwide on July 20, 2017 for mobile devices, with a Japan-only 3DS release sometime in the fall. Interestingly enough, the Japanese 3DS release, though region-locked, will feature a full english localization.

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days Gets Release Date
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Back in March, it was announced that Reservoir Dogs, an old movie, would be getting a video game adaptation. Lionsgate Pictures and Big Star Games would be partnering up to create a "loyal" video game prequel to the movie. The game now has a 30 second cinematic trailer, with a few snippets of gameplay. It looks like the title will be a strategic isometric shooter, with a mechanic that will let you rewind time. Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is slated for release for May 18. You can view the trailer down below.

Emulation & Hacking/Homebrew News

PlayStation Vita Gets 3.65 FW Update
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Though the Vita is a "legacy" console, it seems Sony is fully aware of the attempts on cracking its system, and to combat that, they've pushed out another update for the handheld. If you're on 3.60, get your things in order ASAP, before the spoof stops working.

TheFl0w Updates Adrenaline to V4, Takes Extended Break From Vita Scene
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After releasing Adrenaline-3 to the public, allowing for PS1 game backup loading, a few days later, Vita scene hacker TheFl0w updates Adrenaline to revision 4, letting PS1 games be played in full/widescreen. With this, Fl0w will be taking a long break from Vita related matters, according to his Twitter.

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2Dark Devs Remove Denuvo From Their Game...After It Gets Cracked​

Well, this is certainly a confusing turn of events. Developer Gloomywood's latest game, 2Dark, initially ran a crowdfunding campaign in order to help get the game funded. As a promise to backers, Gloomywood promised that there would be no DRM included once 2Dark released. However, once the game did release, not only did the game have DRM, but it had Denuvo, the high-cost nigh-uncrackable type of DRM, to boot. Cracking team CPY wasted no time in mocking Gloomywood, however, as they cracked the game less than a month after release. Now, the devs have removed Denuvo from their game entirely, trying to frame it as them doing a favor to their customers.

Enter Nintaco: The New NES Emulator
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It looks like there's a new NES Emulator in town, in the form of Nintaco, a cycle-accurate Nintendo Entertainment System emulator. It boasts features such as being written in JAva, and therefore being cross-platform, netplay, a TAS editor, as well as having a rewind function to let players go back and fix mistakes. You can check it out below!

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Fan Games and Projects

Sonic Fan Game Releases After 12 Years of Development
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The Sonic series is known for having copious amounts of fangames and romhacks, all with varying levels of quality. However, this fangame stands out a bit more than the rest. Sonic Time Twisted is a game created by indie devs Overbound Game Studios, and has been in development for 12 years, and looks like a cross between Sonic 3 and Sonic CD's styles. Their project is now finally released, featuring 28 different acts, and a custom soundtrack as well. This might just satiate those who are getting antsy for Sonic Mania's upcoming release. The download link is in the source.

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Trailers

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology Opening Animation


Reservoir Dogs Cinematic Trailer


Fire Emblem Echoes


Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality Launch Trailer


Syberia 3 Launch Trailer


Prey 'Talos' Exploration

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Release Dates

May 2​

The Caligula Effect (PSV)

May 3​

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd (PC)

May 5​

Prey (PS4, XBO, PC)
Dreamfall Chapters (PS4, XBO)

May 9​

Birthdays: The Beginning (PS4, PC)
LocoRoco Remastered (PS4)
Strafe (PC)

May 16​

Injustice 2 (PS4, XBO, PC)
The Surge (PS4, XBO, PC)

May 18​

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days (PC)

May 19​

Fire Emblem: Echoes - Shadows of Valentia (3DS)
Endless Space 2 (PC)

May 23​

Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada (PS4, PC)
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception (PS4, PSV)
Darksiders: Warmastered (Wii U)
Disgaea 5 Complete (NS)

May 26​

Ultra Street Fighter II (NS)
Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2 (PS4, PS3)
Rime (PS4, XBO, PC)

May 30​

Ys: Origins (PSV)

 

[Hells Malice]

Pretty cool opening cinematic for Radiant Historia. Really hyped for that release.

 

[LuigiXHero]

The Wonderboy 3: The Dragon's Trap remake came out Tuesday for PS4, Xbone, Switch. Will come to PC later.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

The Wonderboy 3: The Dragon's Trap remake came out Tuesday for PS4, Xbone, Switch. Will come to PC later.

Kinda cost more than i was hoping for, i didn't even know it was a thing, and by dotemu. But $20? The original master system/game gear pce version wasn't that long, now i dunno if i wanna buy it at that price for a less than hour game.

Still is like now when konami will make adventure island game to retaliate

 

[Deleted User]

Pacman maker, interesting indeed

 

[ov3rkill]

Crytek Shanghai Shuts Down Doors

That is just sad and they didn't even get paid since last year.
Anyway, good news for those free games. Those are great games by the way. Classic I'd say.

 

[grossaffe]

Red and Blue for Hall of Fame? Hearing that makes me happy.

Green, not Blue. Blue was an updated version of Gen 1 and was used as the basis for the Red & Blue we got in the West.

 

[LuigiXHero]

Kinda cost more than i was hoping for, i didn't even know it was a thing, and by dotemu. But $20? The original master system/game gear pce version wasn't that long, now i dunno if i wanna buy it at that price for a less than hour game.

Still is like now when konami will make adventure island game to retaliate

Less then a hour? That's speedrunning time. The average time to beat is 4.5 to 7 hours.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Less then a hour? That's speedrunning time. The average time to beat is 4.5 to 7 hours.

Sorry, my basis of the claim was on skill and how good i am, not speed running. The game even if you was bad, wouldn't take longer than 5 hours. Is only 5 bosses in the game and getting to them takes about 15 minutes each, unless you dunno where to go, get hit and die a lot, the game would be longer.

 

[LuigiXHero]

Sorry, my basis of the claim was on skill and how good i am, not speed running. The game even if you was bad, wouldn't take longer than 5 hours. Is only 5 bosses in the game and getting to them takes about 15 minutes each, unless you dunno where to go, get hit and die a lot, the game would be longer.

I should probably mention they added a new area for each transformation (including hu-man form) that is challenging, though I dunno if that'd make it better or not for ya.