The past week was eventful, to say the least. Nintendo finally decided to grace us with an announcement of the new and improved Switch console – but not the one many were expecting. Furthermore, some awesome games are getting sequels, unexpected spinoffs, and a bucketload of content to keep us busy for the foreseeable future. Still, there was some bad news with the beloved fighting franchise getting its last bit of new content and the famous battle royale being attacked by hackers. Read on to find out more.
Nintendo announced an OLED Switch Model
Not what many people were hoping for
It’s the moment Nintendo fans have been eagerly waiting on – Nintendo has announced a new model of their Nintendo Switch console. This new revision of the hybrid console will bring a handful of new hardware features to the system. However, it is not the Switch Pro that many speculated that it might be. The main feature of the new and improved Switch will be its larger, 7 inch OLED screen but the system will also sport improved audio, 64GB of internal storage, a LAN port built into the system’s dock, and a more adjustable kickstand.
The internet is ablaze with comments both positive and negative. On one hand, previous Switch owners like the fact that they won’t have to upgrade their system, and potential first-time owners won’t have a significant price jump when compared to the original console. On the other hand, the improvements are somewhat of a disappointment to everyone who expected better battery life and improvements to overall performance which would mean more advanced games coming to the system. Still, Nintendo could have the real “Pro” version with all of that lined up for later. We’ll just have to wait and see. For more information on the OLED Switch, its release date, and more, check out our original news coverage.
Control is getting a multiplayer spinoff
Control is not going away any time soon
Control was one of the best games of 2019 and certainly the best game to come out of Remedy. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that they are looking to capitalize on the success with an announcement of a multiplayer spinoff game. This news comes after Remedy Entertainment and 505 Games agreed to a co-publishing and development deal. In addition to the multiplayer spinoff, the developers revealed news about plans to further the franchise with a “bigger-budget Control-game.”
The multiplayer project is codenamed Condor and will feature a 4-player cooperative PvE (player vs environment) gameplay. According to the report, the game is being developed on Remedy’s Northlight engine which means it will be at least on par with the original Control which was already a beautiful game. The deal between Remedy and 505 includes plans to continue the Control franchise beyond the upcoming multiplayer title. No details were shared on what this entails other than the fact that it will have a larger budget when compared to the first game. For more information and our speculation, check out our original news coverage.
Test Drive Solar Crown is set in Hong Kong
Test Drive vs Forza Horizon is the fight for the ages
The long-dormant Test Drive franchise is making a comeback in 2022. Test Drive Solar Crown is being developed by Kylotonn Racing and published by Nacon and the two seem to be aiming to keep the core of Test Drive games intact. The latest reveal comes in the form of a new CGI trailer that showcases the new setting – Hong Kong. The trailer showed the backdrop of Hong Kong Island, alongside the lavish lifestyle that we’ll seem to partake in this reboot.
The developer still didn’t show any gameplay clips and fans are eager to see how the game will look and feel when compared to its main competitor – the Forza Horizon franchise. After a particularly impressive showcase of Forza Horizon 5, the developers at Kylotonn will hopefully have something equally impressive to showcase in the near future. For the full trailer and more information on the new setting, check out our original news coverage.
Assassin’s Creed reportedly going full-on live service
Ubisoft going all-in on long-term player engagement
According to a report from the website Bloomberg, Assassin’s Creed franchise will do a complete 180 shift and go in a completely different direction in the future. According to the report, Ubisoft is already working on a new title, codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity which is looking to emulate the live service model of games like Call of Duty Warzone and Fortnite. This seems to entail a constant stream of new content, seasons, events, and updates. The game will probably be more multiplayer-focused and will also potentially feature multiple eras and locations at the same time.
The game will essentially be a platform that can be expanded upon with more frequent updates that will keep the players engaged for longer. This is part of the general Ubisoft strategy and definitely something they already experimented with the latest entries in the AC franchise. Infinity is being developed by both Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec with the latter taking the reins of the franchise going forward. No other information is currently known, but it probably won’t be long until we find out more.
Apex Legends Pros call for changes in ranked
Titanfall cheater problem has spilled over to Apex
Someone obviously has a grudge against Respawn as their Titanfall franchise seems to be plagued by evermore imaginative hackers that basically ruin the experience of playing them. Well, this obviously also spilled over to Apex Legends, as over the past few months, the game has come under frequent attacks from cheaters and hackers. In an effort to make Respawn crackdown on hackers, Apex pros call for changes to Ranked. They are using the hashtag #SaveApexRanked on Twitter in an attempt to bring awareness to the problems facing the Battle Royale.
The movement has gathered quite a large number of famous Apex pro players and streamers since the problem is absolutely destroying the competitive integrity of the game’s Ranked mode. The players called for Respawn to add more people that can instantly ban cheaters any time of day since the current report system feels slow and ineffective. Interestingly, not long after the campaign started, Respawn mentioned they’ll be hiring people to manually ban cheaters along with creating additional methods of finding and stopping DDoS attacks. Well done community. Hopefully, it all pans out. For much more information on the hacks used, and the movement to solve the issue, check out our original news coverage.
Netherrealm ends MK11 support
Netherrealm is moving on to new projects
Mortal Kombat 11 has been going strong for over two years now. The game was a smashing success that even spawned a couple of completely unexpected and awesome DLCs along with numerous cool additions to the roster. All of it has made MK11 a completely different beast today compared to what it was when it originally came out. You even have the game’s ultimate version if you want to get it all in one, convenient package.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and Netherrealm Studio has decided to end MK11 support meaning the game won’t receive further content updates. To be clear, the end of support doesn’t mean the game will stop working as you’ll still be able to play and win all the online content that you could while the support switch was still on. The studio is hopefully completely moving on to future, currently unknown projects that will hopefully be just as good as MK11.
