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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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Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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!

Source

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.

Source

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!

Source

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)

 

[MajinCubyan]

Oh my, Pac-Man Maker? Now that will be an interesting game fur sure.

 

[wurstpistole]

Pokemon red and green, the first pokemon games? Pretty sure it was red and blue.

 

[Xeroyamil]

Pokemon red and green, the first pokemon games? Pretty sure it was red and blue.

Red and Green are the 1st version of Japan. Blue and Red was the second version in Japan, and first in the US

 

[leon315]

gbatemp's best reporter strikes again

thx for Starcraft... and news about 2Dark is just hilarious lul

edit: JUST PREORDERED new FE limited ed. with 2 Amiibos!

 

[Deleted member 371699]

I am definitely looking forward to the Radiant Historia remake, although I hope we hear news of a western localisation soon.

 

[Boured]

But where is Super Burrito Bros.?

But also gen 1 getting into the hall of game, took 21 or 22 years but the games are finally having a chance at becoming a champion.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

@Chary you're welcome for that sonic time twisted video.
*Waits for his credit*

 

[Fusion]

"May 23 - Darksiders: Warmastered (Wii U)"

That's a bit of a fail or oversight is it not? Why not "Switch" consoles or dual release?
I don't have either console but still...

 

[xtheman]

Windows Solitaire.

Who nominated this?

 

[Chary]

@Chary you're welcome for that sonic time twisted video.
*Waits for his credit*

Thank you

"May 23 - Darksiders: Warmastered (Wii U)"

That's a bit of a fail or oversight is it not? Why not "Switch" consoles or dual release?
I don't have either console but still...

Troubled development led to this game getting delayed for a while. It's only just releasing on Wii U, and at this point, I would think the developers don't care to bother with a switch port.

 

[s157]

There's a rick and morty game? Man I hope there's lots of plumbus interaction with it.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Thank you

Did you play it yet? I was trying out somethings first like the other sonic fan games, hope this one has controller support. But that special stage look good. Reminds me of sonic before the sequel or was it after the sequel.


I guess the good part of this is no sega Cease and Desist order.

 

[CeeDee]

Who's the one making the newspapers here?

And why are they all green?

 

[Joe88]

There's a rick and morty game? Man I hope there's lots of plumbus interaction with it.

VR only, like the last rick and morty themed game (VR Accounting)
and yes there is plumbus interaction

 

[s157]

VR only, like the last rick and morty themed game (VR Accounting)
and yes there is plumbus interaction

So I get to interact with a plumbus myself? That's both unsettling and intriguing.

 

[Chary]

Who's the one making the newspapers here?

And why are they all green?

...? Only two out of seven have been varying shades of green so far, haha. I slapped together a newspaper and Tempy logo, while @x65943 tilted the logo and @Shadowfied made it transparent.

 

[CeeDee]

...? Only two out of seven have been varying shades of green so far, haha. I slapped together a newspaper and Tempy logo, while @x65943 tilted the logo and @Shadowfied made it transparent.

'twas a joke. Because, you know, making newspapers green is kind of weird.

 

[John256145]

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

 

[DarthDub]

Thank you for linking StarCraft and the Sonic fangame! I appreciate it.