Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga
- Thread starter RySenkari
- Start date
And the very next day we're getting Sonic in Minecraft. Be on the lookout for the MCU to give us Nicolas Cage as Norman Osborne next!
July 2017 - Buddies And Bots
Linkin Park Returns With New Album, Will Feature Band's “Classic Sound”
Linkin Park will be releasing a new album sometime next year, according to bandmember Mike Shinoda, who recently stated in an interview with Pitchfork that the band has been working on an album titled Black Hole for the past two months. This information was confirmed by lead singer Chester Bennington, who recently told All Access Pass that the band has “some real killer songs coming together”, and that there will also be a world tour to promote the album beginning next year as well.
The band has been in hiatus for the past eight years, as numerous members have worked on collaborations or on personal projects. Bennington has been battling depression for the past several years, and told All Access Pass that he'd been treated for substance abuse as well, but that working with the band again has given him “a lot to live for”. Best known for albums such as Hybrid Theory and Meteora, both of which sold millions of copies when they were released in 2000 and 2003 respectively, Linkin Park is known as a revolutionary nu-metal band with millions of fans around the world. Though nu-metal has fallen out of favor in recent years, Linkin Park's music remains popular on streaming services, and has been featured in many film, television, and video game soundtracks.
According to Shinoda, the new album will have “our classic sound”, but will also reflect changes in the musical landscape, with influence from the numerous Asian performers who have grown in popularity in the West over the past decade. Fans who think the music will be vastly different from the band's previous material shouldn't be worried, as Shinoda then went on to say “It won't be a K-Pop album.”
-from an article on Blender, posted on July 22, 2017
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Jacqueline Nguyen Confirmed To Supreme Court 69-31, Will Be First Asian-American Supreme Court Justice
In a mostly uncontroversial confirmation process, 52-year-old Jacqueline Nguyen was confirmed to the Supreme Court yesterday by the Senate, replacing the retiring David Souter and becoming the first ever Asian-American appointed to the nation's highest court. Nguyen had been serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since she was nominated to the position by President Gore in 2007. Nguyen becomes the first Supreme Court justice appointed by President John F. Kennedy Jr., and also becomes the second confirmation to the Supreme Court in thirteen months, after the appointment of Neil Gorsuch in June 2016 to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch was confirmed 75-25 by a Democratic majority Senate which had been slightly hesitant to confirm Scalia's replacement in an election year, but did so in similar fashion to Merrick Garland's confirmation in 2008, when John Paul Stevens was forced to retire due to health reasons and President Gore was allowed to nominate and confirm his replacement despite having to work with a Republican-controlled Senate. Though there were some objections by Republican senators to Nguyen's nomination, and a majority of Republican senators voted against confirmation, this confirmation went relatively smoothly. Nguyen's confirmation maintains the Supreme Court's 5-4 split in favor of conservatives, though justices Garland, Kennedy, and Kozinski are considered to be moderates, and have made both left-leaning and right-leaning rulings during their time on the bench.
There has been some speculation about the potential retirement of Justice Kennedy, which would allow President Kennedy to nominate his replacement. Though many analysts believe Kennedy is unlikely to retire during the current administration, as he is considered to be a conservative-leaning justice despite his centrist stances, his advanced age and occasional statements that his time as a justice may be wrapping up have led many to consider it a serious possibility, even during a Democratic presidency. If Justice Kennedy were to step down, it would give the president a chance to flip the Court's ideological lean for the first time since 2010, when former president Huntsman replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Maureen Mahoney, who has become a solid conservative on the bench. Some figures on the left are pushing for Justice Breyer to join Souter in retirement, before the upcoming 2018 midterm elections. However, even if a Republican majority were to take back the Senate, it's likely they would allow Kennedy to appoint a potential Souter replacement. Most analysts believe that Democrats avoided holding up the Gorsuch nomination in 2016 because it would've bolstered Nikki Haley's supporters in an election she was otherwise favored to lose, and Republicans are expected to avoid potential confirmation fights for the same reason: to keep from boosting Kennedy's 2020 re-election bid.
-from an article on Yahoo! News, posted on July 28, 2017
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We likely won't see another Rare title until 2019, as the company is putting a significant amount of its manpower on its Battle Buddies battle royale game. Battle Buddies has proven to be an extremely popular title for Rare, having sold more than eight million copies thus far, with hundreds of thousands of new players joining the fray ever single month. Rare has so far released six DLC packs for the game, and though only four more have been planned, it's said that Rare is now likely to announce several more DLC packs during an upcoming Nintendo Direct presentation. The game also continues to get lots of free content, including skins of classic Rare characters and other characters from various Nintendo games. The company is still working on the third title in the Slaughtered Planet series, though that game is "years" away according to a company insider, while another new IP isn't expected to even be announced until sometime next year. There is a new platformer coming to the Connect next month called Scary Mary, though that game was in the works long before the release of Battle Buddies, and the team that produced that game did not contribute to Battle Buddies or any of the DLC. According to sources at Rare, the game has been "far more successful" than even Rare's expectations, surpassing even Elemancers in terms of the number of regular players, with online streaming being a major part of the game's success. Rare is planning a Battle Buddies league set to launch in the fall of 2017, with the support of Nintendo, with both teams and individuals competing for prizes expected to top out in the hundreds of thousands. Battle Buddies remains one of the hottest selling Reality titles, and a handheld version of the game could be in the works as well, either for the Nintendo Connect or even for its potential successor.
-from an article on IGN.com, posted on July 18, 2017
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Game Spotlight: Recore
Recore is an action/adventure title exclusive to the Google Nexus, developed by Capcom and published by Capcom in conjunction with Google. Like OTL's title, the game was imagined by Keiji Inafune, who took slightly more of a hands-on role with the game than he took IOTL. The game shares much of the OTL development team, though without the involvement of Retro Studios (which continues to work on the Frenzy series and other games for Nintendo ITTL, though it hasn't developed a title worth mentioning in the timeline in some time, becoming more of a smaller indie-esque studio since 2010). Much of OTL's Retro personnel instead gravitated to Google ITTL, and came together with Inafune to work on this project. It still features a young woman named Joule, who has landed on a mysterious alien world and must help to make it safe for human settlement by battling robots and other deadly foes. It takes a lot more influence from the Metroid series ITTL, particularly the recent titles such as Starfall and Gravity. It features open-world gameplay but Metroidvania-esque progression and design, in which the player must explore the mysterious world of Far Eden and gather upgrades that will allow them to battle stronger enemies, open up more of the world, and progress to more difficult challenges. Joule comes across different characters than she does IOTL, including a rival-turned-ally named Tanara who has some similarities with Samus Aran (and is even voiced by Jennifer Hale), a cyborg named Astron who doesn't know if he's human or machine, and a core vendor named Dr. Roggus who serves as both comic relief and a sort of "friendly uncle" figure to Joule. Though corebots still play a heavy role in the game's story, the primary antagonist of Recore is a grizzled human settler named Eastworth who came to the planet some decades earlier and who has been attempting to establish civilization on his terms. He tortures corebots to bend them to his will, and does the same to any humans who don't bow to his rule. There are some antagonistic corebots still, and the main conflict is a three way war between Joule and her ragtag allies (which include both friendly humans and friendly corebots), Eastworth's army, and the unfriendly corebots who want to wipe out all humans, both Eastworth and Joule's groups included. Though the game progresses much like a Metroidvania, and there are plenty of sequences of open exploration, Joule is rarely alone as much as Samus is, and she gets help from lots of people along the way (giving the game somewhat of a Beyond Good And Evil feel to it as well). Combat includes both close-up and ranged weaponry, but ranged combat is actually the predominant form of fighting in the game, usually at speed with Joule either running or fighting from some type of vehicle.
Recore is released on July 24, 2017. It's quite a bit better received than the OTL Xbox One title was, with the exploration and combat much more refined, and praise also going to the worldbuilding and voice acting. It pushes the Nexus rather far in terms of graphics, and looks absolutely gorgeous on the Nexus Pro, with immense draw distances and detailed environments. Thanks to the game being hyped as one of the Nexus' big exclusives of the year, it sells quite well, and overall is much more of a success ITTL than it was IOTL, launching Recore as a significant new IP on the Nexus. It would get a sequel on the Nexus' successor, and plenty of DLC for the original game, giving Joule new dungeons to explore, people to meet, and weapons to wield. Ultimately, it would prove to be yet another major success for the Nexus in 2017, a solidly fun game for both hardcore players and casual youngsters alike.
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Other Significant Titles For July 2017:
Joanna Dark: Twin Calamity: Rare's major title for 2017, and their last major title for at least a couple of years while the company focuses on Battle Buddies, Joanna Dark : Twin Calamity is an FPS that continues the popular Velvet Dark saga. It sees Joanna called into service to battle a dangerous AI-driven assassination squad created by a small European nation, while her AI-based sister Velvet has been recruited to this squad but is actually an undercover agent set to infiltrate it and hunt down a rogue AI that has taken the organization over. The plot is a bit of a confusing mess, and the missions themselves are somewhat cookie cutter compared to those of previous games in the series. For those reasons, it's the first game in the series to garner reviews below an 8/10 (averaging around the 7/10 mark, with a 68 on Metacritic). It's still a decent entry in the series, but it definitely doesn't live up to the standards of previous titles. Its conclusion is somewhat of a cliffhanger as well, with Velvet having fled somewhere on Earth and Joanna trying to find her, but it doesn't seem we'll get the resolution to this cliffhanger anytime soon, as Rare has put the series somewhat on the backburner to focus on Battle Buddies and develop new IPs. Eventually, a third and final game in the trilogy, and a proper finale for the series as a whole that sees the sisters reunite and get their happy ending, would be released in 2023 for the Reality's successor, beyond the scope of this timeline.
Arcadia 3: The third game in the Arcadia series, a series of retro beat 'em up games in which four nerds must team up and save the world in a series of game-inspired levels and challenges, is released for the Reality in July 2017. It's based mostly on 16-bit titles. featuring homages to 90s memes and games. It's rather fun, and continues the gameplay of the previous two games, but isn't as big of a commercial success, and only gets decent review scores. The series would continue, but not as full console titles: instead, as a series of smaller-scale indie-like games and at least one handheld title.
Digital Demons: A game making unique use of the Connect's functionality, this title has players literally exterminating the digital “gremlins” from malfunctioning electronics, and uses the Connect's functionality to create levels and challenges from the electronics the Connect interacts with. One of the more unique titles on the system, and though it's nothing too special in terms of gameplay, it makes great use of the unique features of the device and earns good reviews and solid sales.
Grim Little Creatures: A Gemini exclusive title, and a spinoff of the Grim Little Girls series, Grim Little Creatures has some of the girl characters from the previous games hunting down and collecting various creatures, some original and some from classic fairytale lore, and battling across the world on a grand adventure. Monster-hunting spinoff titles have the potential to be as popular as the IP that spawned them, and that's sort of the case here: the game sells well, especially in Japan, and is one of the Gemini's best reviewed games of 2017, but doesn't make too much of a splash otherwise.
Nexus Pets 2: The original Nexus Pets proved to be one of the system's most popular IPs, and a sequel was inevitable, getting released in July 2017. Like the original Nexus Pets, the game uses the console game in conjunction with the player's Android mobile device, though this time around, more of the game is played on the Nexus itself. There's a bigger world to explore, more things to do, and more pets, with the game's graphics and functionality fine-tuned for the Nexus Pro (but still quite playable on the original console). Though it's not quite as popular as Recore, and a significant number of players stick to the original, it's still a strong success in terms of sales and reviews.
Linkin Park will be releasing a new album sometime next year, according to bandmember Mike Shinoda, who recently stated in an interview with Pitchfork that the band has been working on an album titled Black Hole for the past two months. This information was confirmed by lead singer Chester Bennington, who recently told All Access Pass that the band has “some real killer songs coming together”, and that there will also be a world tour to promote the album beginning next year as well.
The band has been in hiatus for the past eight years, as numerous members have worked on collaborations or on personal projects. Bennington has been battling depression for the past several years, and told All Access Pass that he'd been treated for substance abuse as well, but that working with the band again has given him “a lot to live for”. Best known for albums such as Hybrid Theory and Meteora, both of which sold millions of copies when they were released in 2000 and 2003 respectively, Linkin Park is known as a revolutionary nu-metal band with millions of fans around the world. Though nu-metal has fallen out of favor in recent years, Linkin Park's music remains popular on streaming services, and has been featured in many film, television, and video game soundtracks.
According to Shinoda, the new album will have “our classic sound”, but will also reflect changes in the musical landscape, with influence from the numerous Asian performers who have grown in popularity in the West over the past decade. Fans who think the music will be vastly different from the band's previous material shouldn't be worried, as Shinoda then went on to say “It won't be a K-Pop album.”
-from an article on Blender, posted on July 22, 2017
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Jacqueline Nguyen Confirmed To Supreme Court 69-31, Will Be First Asian-American Supreme Court Justice
In a mostly uncontroversial confirmation process, 52-year-old Jacqueline Nguyen was confirmed to the Supreme Court yesterday by the Senate, replacing the retiring David Souter and becoming the first ever Asian-American appointed to the nation's highest court. Nguyen had been serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since she was nominated to the position by President Gore in 2007. Nguyen becomes the first Supreme Court justice appointed by President John F. Kennedy Jr., and also becomes the second confirmation to the Supreme Court in thirteen months, after the appointment of Neil Gorsuch in June 2016 to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch was confirmed 75-25 by a Democratic majority Senate which had been slightly hesitant to confirm Scalia's replacement in an election year, but did so in similar fashion to Merrick Garland's confirmation in 2008, when John Paul Stevens was forced to retire due to health reasons and President Gore was allowed to nominate and confirm his replacement despite having to work with a Republican-controlled Senate. Though there were some objections by Republican senators to Nguyen's nomination, and a majority of Republican senators voted against confirmation, this confirmation went relatively smoothly. Nguyen's confirmation maintains the Supreme Court's 5-4 split in favor of conservatives, though justices Garland, Kennedy, and Kozinski are considered to be moderates, and have made both left-leaning and right-leaning rulings during their time on the bench.
There has been some speculation about the potential retirement of Justice Kennedy, which would allow President Kennedy to nominate his replacement. Though many analysts believe Kennedy is unlikely to retire during the current administration, as he is considered to be a conservative-leaning justice despite his centrist stances, his advanced age and occasional statements that his time as a justice may be wrapping up have led many to consider it a serious possibility, even during a Democratic presidency. If Justice Kennedy were to step down, it would give the president a chance to flip the Court's ideological lean for the first time since 2010, when former president Huntsman replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Maureen Mahoney, who has become a solid conservative on the bench. Some figures on the left are pushing for Justice Breyer to join Souter in retirement, before the upcoming 2018 midterm elections. However, even if a Republican majority were to take back the Senate, it's likely they would allow Kennedy to appoint a potential Souter replacement. Most analysts believe that Democrats avoided holding up the Gorsuch nomination in 2016 because it would've bolstered Nikki Haley's supporters in an election she was otherwise favored to lose, and Republicans are expected to avoid potential confirmation fights for the same reason: to keep from boosting Kennedy's 2020 re-election bid.
-from an article on Yahoo! News, posted on July 28, 2017
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We likely won't see another Rare title until 2019, as the company is putting a significant amount of its manpower on its Battle Buddies battle royale game. Battle Buddies has proven to be an extremely popular title for Rare, having sold more than eight million copies thus far, with hundreds of thousands of new players joining the fray ever single month. Rare has so far released six DLC packs for the game, and though only four more have been planned, it's said that Rare is now likely to announce several more DLC packs during an upcoming Nintendo Direct presentation. The game also continues to get lots of free content, including skins of classic Rare characters and other characters from various Nintendo games. The company is still working on the third title in the Slaughtered Planet series, though that game is "years" away according to a company insider, while another new IP isn't expected to even be announced until sometime next year. There is a new platformer coming to the Connect next month called Scary Mary, though that game was in the works long before the release of Battle Buddies, and the team that produced that game did not contribute to Battle Buddies or any of the DLC. According to sources at Rare, the game has been "far more successful" than even Rare's expectations, surpassing even Elemancers in terms of the number of regular players, with online streaming being a major part of the game's success. Rare is planning a Battle Buddies league set to launch in the fall of 2017, with the support of Nintendo, with both teams and individuals competing for prizes expected to top out in the hundreds of thousands. Battle Buddies remains one of the hottest selling Reality titles, and a handheld version of the game could be in the works as well, either for the Nintendo Connect or even for its potential successor.
-from an article on IGN.com, posted on July 18, 2017
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Game Spotlight: Recore
Recore is an action/adventure title exclusive to the Google Nexus, developed by Capcom and published by Capcom in conjunction with Google. Like OTL's title, the game was imagined by Keiji Inafune, who took slightly more of a hands-on role with the game than he took IOTL. The game shares much of the OTL development team, though without the involvement of Retro Studios (which continues to work on the Frenzy series and other games for Nintendo ITTL, though it hasn't developed a title worth mentioning in the timeline in some time, becoming more of a smaller indie-esque studio since 2010). Much of OTL's Retro personnel instead gravitated to Google ITTL, and came together with Inafune to work on this project. It still features a young woman named Joule, who has landed on a mysterious alien world and must help to make it safe for human settlement by battling robots and other deadly foes. It takes a lot more influence from the Metroid series ITTL, particularly the recent titles such as Starfall and Gravity. It features open-world gameplay but Metroidvania-esque progression and design, in which the player must explore the mysterious world of Far Eden and gather upgrades that will allow them to battle stronger enemies, open up more of the world, and progress to more difficult challenges. Joule comes across different characters than she does IOTL, including a rival-turned-ally named Tanara who has some similarities with Samus Aran (and is even voiced by Jennifer Hale), a cyborg named Astron who doesn't know if he's human or machine, and a core vendor named Dr. Roggus who serves as both comic relief and a sort of "friendly uncle" figure to Joule. Though corebots still play a heavy role in the game's story, the primary antagonist of Recore is a grizzled human settler named Eastworth who came to the planet some decades earlier and who has been attempting to establish civilization on his terms. He tortures corebots to bend them to his will, and does the same to any humans who don't bow to his rule. There are some antagonistic corebots still, and the main conflict is a three way war between Joule and her ragtag allies (which include both friendly humans and friendly corebots), Eastworth's army, and the unfriendly corebots who want to wipe out all humans, both Eastworth and Joule's groups included. Though the game progresses much like a Metroidvania, and there are plenty of sequences of open exploration, Joule is rarely alone as much as Samus is, and she gets help from lots of people along the way (giving the game somewhat of a Beyond Good And Evil feel to it as well). Combat includes both close-up and ranged weaponry, but ranged combat is actually the predominant form of fighting in the game, usually at speed with Joule either running or fighting from some type of vehicle.
Recore is released on July 24, 2017. It's quite a bit better received than the OTL Xbox One title was, with the exploration and combat much more refined, and praise also going to the worldbuilding and voice acting. It pushes the Nexus rather far in terms of graphics, and looks absolutely gorgeous on the Nexus Pro, with immense draw distances and detailed environments. Thanks to the game being hyped as one of the Nexus' big exclusives of the year, it sells quite well, and overall is much more of a success ITTL than it was IOTL, launching Recore as a significant new IP on the Nexus. It would get a sequel on the Nexus' successor, and plenty of DLC for the original game, giving Joule new dungeons to explore, people to meet, and weapons to wield. Ultimately, it would prove to be yet another major success for the Nexus in 2017, a solidly fun game for both hardcore players and casual youngsters alike.
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Other Significant Titles For July 2017:
Joanna Dark: Twin Calamity: Rare's major title for 2017, and their last major title for at least a couple of years while the company focuses on Battle Buddies, Joanna Dark : Twin Calamity is an FPS that continues the popular Velvet Dark saga. It sees Joanna called into service to battle a dangerous AI-driven assassination squad created by a small European nation, while her AI-based sister Velvet has been recruited to this squad but is actually an undercover agent set to infiltrate it and hunt down a rogue AI that has taken the organization over. The plot is a bit of a confusing mess, and the missions themselves are somewhat cookie cutter compared to those of previous games in the series. For those reasons, it's the first game in the series to garner reviews below an 8/10 (averaging around the 7/10 mark, with a 68 on Metacritic). It's still a decent entry in the series, but it definitely doesn't live up to the standards of previous titles. Its conclusion is somewhat of a cliffhanger as well, with Velvet having fled somewhere on Earth and Joanna trying to find her, but it doesn't seem we'll get the resolution to this cliffhanger anytime soon, as Rare has put the series somewhat on the backburner to focus on Battle Buddies and develop new IPs. Eventually, a third and final game in the trilogy, and a proper finale for the series as a whole that sees the sisters reunite and get their happy ending, would be released in 2023 for the Reality's successor, beyond the scope of this timeline.
Arcadia 3: The third game in the Arcadia series, a series of retro beat 'em up games in which four nerds must team up and save the world in a series of game-inspired levels and challenges, is released for the Reality in July 2017. It's based mostly on 16-bit titles. featuring homages to 90s memes and games. It's rather fun, and continues the gameplay of the previous two games, but isn't as big of a commercial success, and only gets decent review scores. The series would continue, but not as full console titles: instead, as a series of smaller-scale indie-like games and at least one handheld title.
Digital Demons: A game making unique use of the Connect's functionality, this title has players literally exterminating the digital “gremlins” from malfunctioning electronics, and uses the Connect's functionality to create levels and challenges from the electronics the Connect interacts with. One of the more unique titles on the system, and though it's nothing too special in terms of gameplay, it makes great use of the unique features of the device and earns good reviews and solid sales.
Grim Little Creatures: A Gemini exclusive title, and a spinoff of the Grim Little Girls series, Grim Little Creatures has some of the girl characters from the previous games hunting down and collecting various creatures, some original and some from classic fairytale lore, and battling across the world on a grand adventure. Monster-hunting spinoff titles have the potential to be as popular as the IP that spawned them, and that's sort of the case here: the game sells well, especially in Japan, and is one of the Gemini's best reviewed games of 2017, but doesn't make too much of a splash otherwise.
Nexus Pets 2: The original Nexus Pets proved to be one of the system's most popular IPs, and a sequel was inevitable, getting released in July 2017. Like the original Nexus Pets, the game uses the console game in conjunction with the player's Android mobile device, though this time around, more of the game is played on the Nexus itself. There's a bigger world to explore, more things to do, and more pets, with the game's graphics and functionality fine-tuned for the Nexus Pro (but still quite playable on the original console). Though it's not quite as popular as Recore, and a significant number of players stick to the original, it's still a strong success in terms of sales and reviews.
I have a question about Battle Buddies from Rare: How much of its content was based on the games of Nintendo and their own past selves? We know how popular the game is, but I want to know how many crossovers said popularity allowed.
Most of the crossover content is based on Rare properties (Killer Instinct, Velvet Dark, etc.) Nintendo did allow for a few crossovers (Donkey Kong, Squad Four, F-Zero), but not every Nintendo property is in there.
Okay. So, we have Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong, Squad Four, and F-Zero as far as crossovers go.
I'm willing to assume that Battletoads, Star Fox, and whatever the franchise where Edison is the protagonist of is called are also included in this?
I was just making educated guesses as to which other franchises could fit the mold. Turns out I was 100% right on all of them. Neat!
August 2017: The Disappointing Days Of Summer
Austin Watson: I'm going to go with a 4 out of 5 for Mission: Impossible on the Nexus. It's no Goldeneye, but it definitely delivered where it needed to in terms of cinematic action and excellent play controls. The biggest problem I had was that it lacked the epic scale of some of the other great FPS titles like Call of Duty or the Joanna Dark series, so while the setpieces were nice, I just didn't quite get a sense of the stakes being all that high in the game's campaign mode. Multiplayer was plenty fun, but again, it's nothing we haven't seen before. If you've got a Nexus and love shooters though, you should definitely check it out.
Avan Jogia: I'm going to give this one a 3.5 out of 5, I just wasn't quite feeling the controls the same way that you were, even though it is a really fun game at times. I actually had a lot of fun with the multiplayer at first, but it lacks the stages and modes to really make it an experience worth playing for hours on end. You'll play it in short bursts and have a lot of fun, but you won't be pulling all-nighters with it, which is the hallmark of a great multiplayer FPS.
Austin: You want a game that will cost you sleep, and Mission: Impossible wasn't it for you?
Avan: That's right, I got a good night's sleep after playing it and I can't in good conscience give a 4 or higher to a game that doesn't ruin my sleep patterns for at least one night. Still a beautiful game, especially on the Nexus Pro, so yeah, if you really like FPS titles, it is one of the better exclusive ones available on the Nexus, but MAYBE you'll want to wait for Cyberwar 5.
Austin: Well, now that our reviews are wrapped up for this week, we're gonna wrap up this Nexus-themed episode by seeing who managed to win the Cuphead Cup... who got through Cuphead with the least amount of deaths? Avan, unfortunately you came in last place, you died 105 times before managing to complete the game.
Avan: I still had a lot of fun, but yeah, it's brutally hard.
Austin: Mari, just barely ahead of Avan with 104 deaths!
Mari Takahashi: That last King Dice battle is brutal! Kept messing up the timing on the dice rolls, I would've had it otherwise!
Austin: Well, I gotta say, I came in third with 89 deaths, and uh, (bleep) you, Dr. Kahl's Robot, you suck.
Avan: Yeah, I hate that guy too.
Austin: Bryce, you got second, 82 deaths, good job!
Bryce Papenbrook: I got stuck on Rumor, that fight was rough, no joke.
Austin: Which means our big winner with just 58 deaths throughout the whole game... Christina, you are the Cuphead Cup champion!
Christina Grimmie: WOOOHOOOO! All those hours and hours of old-school NES games paid off, baby!
Austin: Which is really impressive considering that you weren't even born when they stopped making games for the NES.
Christina: What can I say, I love the classics.
Austin: As a reminder, Cuphead, perfect 5 from Mari, perfect 5 from Christina, Hall of Fame game, check it out, you'll die a ton but you'll have fun doing it, and that'll do it for this week's GameTV!
-from the August 17, 2017 episode of GameTV
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"Blockchain, by design, has a massive environmental impact. When Michelle and I initially conceptualized blockchain, we were running our code at a scale that wasn't going to generate the enormous amounts of energy that proof-of-work blockchain requires. As we started using it more, and as the technology started popping up elsewhere, it quickly became apparent that running these programs to generate blockchain code was going to utilize massive amounts of electrical energy, because of the processing power required to authenticate the generated solutions. So that's where most of our work has been going, primarily toward making blockchain significantly more efficient while also maintaining the security of the generated code. Moving forward, all of our projects utilizing blockchain will use proof-of-stake rather than proof-of-work, which is going to allow us to do so much more with the technology.
(...)
....and so what this allows us to do is to create different kinds of blockchain products such as authenticated imagery, which would have applications in biosecurity, allowing for much more secure personal authentication... we could allow for signing of user-generated imagery to prevent forgeries, allowing digital art to be traded like physical art, for example. We're going to be rolling this out gradually, running tests, trials, betas... we're planning on having it available for business applications in 2018 and user-level applications in 2019. What this unique form of blockchain technology will also allow us to do is to more easily detect people violating our patents, which of course we're still filing lawsuits against unauthorized blockchain applications several times a week. We've even been putting pressure on the current presidential administration to go after foreign blockchain piracy.... we'd really like sanctions to be issued, but progress on that has been really slow unfortunately. Not only are these... pirates, stealing our technology, but because proof-of-work is so energy intensive, they're damaging the environment as well."
-Mitsuko Ariyama (net worth $58.7 billion), in a speech at a Veritsu shareholder meeting on August 21, 2017
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The Gatherer failed for many reasons, and Acclaim alone can't be entirely blamed for how much of a disappointment the final product ended up being. Still, when you consider that Eidos' team had been working on the project for a number of years, and likely needed at least another year to finish their vision, it's clear the game would've been better had it not been for the executive meddling that resulted from the takeover. The final product was released with numerous major bugs, the campaign was significantly truncated, and what could have been a memorable open-world RPG that distinguished itself by having a massive amount of space to explore, what we ended up getting was a game oversaturated with landmarks and hand-holding, far too similar to the other open world titles of its day. It lacked a compelling story, and the gameplay itself left much to be desired, though, as mentioned before, the combat was still quite good, and one of the game's few redeeming factors. Acclaim took what had been one of the most intriguing concepts of the 2010s, what had started as the mysterious "Project Virgin Earth", and had turned it into a cookie cutter open world sandbox game with few if any survival elements and nothing to do for fun but go around and pick fights with megafauna. While some did enjoy what had essentially become a "Sabretooth Tiger Fighting Simulator", and its 61 on Metacritic indicates a game that many critics at least believed had some redeeming value, most people who'd been looking forward to The Gatherer lamented what it ultimately became, and viewed it as a bad omen of things to come for Acclaim, the company most people blamed for ruining the concept that could've saved Eidos' independence had they just held on for a bit longer.
With Doggerland having released last month to enormous critical acclaim and commercial success, it's easy to see what Acclaim feared when they rushed The Gatherer out the door. But maybe, with a bit more confidence in Eidos' team and original vision, The Gatherer could've been seen as a true rival to Rockstar's masterpiece rather than a sad and almost forgotten pretender. Maybe we'd be talking about Acclaim's best game since Sepulchre, rather than their biggest mistake in years. Maybe "Project Virgin Earth" could've been worth the hype and waiting, instead of being remembered as one of this generation's biggest gaming disappointments.
-from "One Year Later: A Post-Mortem Of The Gatherer", posted on Games Over Matter on August 21, 2018
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Lester Holt: Corruption is down, Nigeria has consistently seen its position on the Index of Freedom In The World rise for the last six years... but there are still challenges.
Ahmad Lawan: There are, yes.
Holt: You recently announced the complete elimination of the terrorist organization Boko Haram within Nigeria's borders, which is being touted as an enormous success against terrorism in the region, but there are still other militant groups that your military is currently engaged with.
Lawan: In a country facing problems with poverty, problems with access to education, problems with crime, and yes, there is still corruption in certain segments of the government, we will have to face these challenges.
Holt: And you've been very forthcoming about these challenges, which a lot of recent leaders of your country haven't been.
Lawan: The people of Nigeria deserve a leader with integrity. There are nearly 200 million people living in this country, and in order for us to face these challenges, we all have to be honest with each other.
Holt: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing your country as you head into the next decade?
Lawan: We've seen an increase in economic activity. All of the region has seen an increase in economic activity, new roads are being built, new businesses are forming, and the biggest challenge that I think Nigeria is going to be facing is making sure that the new economic activity benefits everyone, that we avoid bringing in more corruption and crime and that all the different groups that live here together work together for our country's future.
Holt: Your country was praised for its role in helping to end the 2014 Ebola outbreak which killed thousands in West Africa, including numerous people in Nigeria. Do you worry that the increased economic activity, things such as the Gibraltar Bridge expected to be completed in 2021 and expected to bring enormous amounts of new economic activity to West Africa, will increase the risk for future outbreaks of diseases like Ebola?
Lawan: It will definitely bring more risk, which is why I've made education and health care a major part of my administration's policies in the coming years. The good work we did in 2014 must continue, we must emphasize educating our country's youth, boys and girls, in all parts of Nigeria. We've been building modern schools and universities in some of the most economically disadvantaged regions of the country, we've worked to push militants out of those areas who would interfere with building those schools, and we've pushed to make education compulsory for all children in Nigeria. We want to bring in people from other parts of Africa to educate them here and then have them return to their countries and improve health care in those countries. We worked hard to stop Ebola in 2014 and we don't want it returning. We know the risk for the spread of dangerous diseases increases as economic activity increases, but with more economic activity there's also more opportunities to bring education and training to underserved groups of people. We're making that our focus, absolutely.
Holt: Do you think that what's starting to become known as the "West African Miracle" can be replicated across the continent, to all African countries in the coming decades?
Lawan: My focus as president of Nigeria is to serve the people of Nigeria first and foremost, but, through trade, through education, through cultural exchange, absolutely I believe it's possible. It will take lots of work and dedication, but yes, it's absolutely possible and I would love to see it happen.
-from Lester Holt's interview with Nigerian president Ahmad Lawan, from the August 26, 2017 episode of MSNBC's Meet The World with Lester Holt
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Game Spotlight: Resident Evil 8
Resident Evil 8 is an action/survival horror game published and developed by Capcom. It's the first game in the series since Resident Evil 5 that has launched as a multiplatform title, with the sixth and seventh mainline games being exclusive to the iTwin and Virtua respectively (though later being ported to other consoles in 2016, once Capcom stopped publishing games exclusively for Apple). It's a more action-based title than Resident Evil 7, focusing heavily on gun battles with more intelligent zombies infected with the L-Virus, a virus designed to bring the dead to life with their intelligence intact, but which is in reality being used to control the bodies and minds of those revived with it, via a controlling agent who must be tracked down and stopped before they can use their infected army to conquer the world. Battles in the game have a more Call of Duty vibe to them than they do to anything resembling prior Resident Evil titles, though there are still some mutated foes that must be killed, and both the T-Virus and P-Virus are also present within the game in some fashion. The game's primary protagonists are Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon Kennedy, with Claire as the game's main protagonist seeking to restore her brother's mind from the L-Virus' control. Players will alternate between the three protagonists at various points within the game, though it is possible to have multiplayer missions in which all three are utilized by a group of players in the same online party. The game also has some enhanced melee combat from previous games, with Claire, Jill, and Leon each having their own unique set of melee attacks. Resident Evil 8, with its emphasis on fast-paced combat and large action set pieces, has more in common with OTL's Resident Evil 6 than it does with OTL's Resident Evil: Village (OTL's Resident Evil games have had longer development times, allowing them to progress in a significantly different direction). This game is intended as a "culmination" title of sorts, with throwbacks to previous series games and lots of twists and turns for longtime fans.
Much of the plot revolves around the conflict between Claire/Jill/Leon's remnant S.T.A.R.S. organization, and the new S.T.A.R.S. which consists of L-Virus infected agents led by Chris Redfield. The game picks up right where Resident Evil 7 left off, with Chris and his squad attacking a military facility in search of a special new prototype weapon, and Jill forced to go in alone to try and stop them. As Jill hunts them, she's forced to contend with experimental T-Virus creatures while hiding from Chris' squad. Eventually, she's forced to confront two of them and manages to kill them before confronting Chris himself, who wounds her and is about to kill her when Claire shows up and interrupts him. Though Claire isn't able to get through to Chris, he seems to be disturbed by the encounter, and leaves. Claire and Jill eventually make their way to another large facility, where they eventually encounter Leon, who is attempting to free one of the infected L-Virus agents, an old friend of his named Ariel. The three manage to subdue Ariel, but they're unable to free her mind from the virus, making it increasingly clear to Claire that her brother will have to be killed again. She becomes extremely disturbed by this, and Jill decides to go with Claire somewhere away from the action for a while, giving the player control of Leon, who must stop an attack on a major city, which is being overrun by all sorts of infected: P-Virus, T-Virus, and L-Virus. While Leon is dealing with this situation, Claire and Jill learn of a government agent who may be the one holding the strings of the L-Virus victims, including Chris. Claire goes off by herself to confront him, getting herself into trouble and needing to be rescued by Jill. The two find out that the agent they suspected isn't the one in control: instead, it's Wesker, who was seemingly killed off in Resident Evil 6 but who has returned as a government sleeper agent and Patient Zero for the L-Virus. He's become a sort of "Alpha" carrier and is using that to control the other infected, including Chris. Once Wesker is revealed as the game's primary antagonist, the rest of the action goes fairly quickly: a series of missions at increasingly dangerous locales, including a confrontation between Jill and Chris that goes somewhat similar to OTL's Chris and Jill battle in Resident Evil 5 but with the roles reversed and Chris as the brainwashed one instead of Jill. The final boss fight involves a battle against Wesker in the Capitol Rotunda in which he transforms into a hideous mutated creature and must be taken down by Claire, Jill, Leon, and eventually, a newly un-brainwashed Chris, who ends up landing the final blow. Wesker (and, consequently, the Capitol) is destroyed in spectacular fashion, the world is saved, Chris is revived and reunited with Claire and Jill, and the L-Virus is eradicated, with Chris the only "survivor" via a procedure in which the healing properties of the virus remain while its negative effects are purged from his body. There are still a few small loose ends to set up a potential ninth game in the series, but this Resident Evil has one of the series' "happier" endings, concluding on somewhat of an action movie-esque note.
Resident Evil 8 is, needless to say, somewhat polarizing amongst critics. Amongst fans, it actually gets a somewhat better reception than OTL's Resident Evil 6, mostly because of the gameplay and also because of some genuinely inspired level and creature designs. It's still somewhat controversial, with some longtime fans criticizing it for being "silly" and "fanservicey", but it gets extremely good sales regardless, and does bring in some new fans to the series. Released in late August of 2017, it becomes one of the summer's most popular games, and though it's a multiplatform title, it still does slightly better on the Virtua than it does on the Reality, thanks to the bigger fanbase for the game on that console.
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Other Significant Titles For August 2017:
Donkey Kong Wreckers: The follow-up game to Donkey Kong Krew, Donkey Kong Wreckers is a Reality exclusive title that sees Donkey, Diddy, and friends return to Bigshot City to battle a group of new foes. While ostensibly a 3-D platforming title, it's focused more on environmental destruction, with the characters usually having to smash a certain amount of buildings or enemies to complete missions and progress to the next area. It's a lot of fun, though fans of previous Donkey Kong titles might be a bit turned off by the shift in gameplay. Sales are about average for a mid-tier Nintendo first party game, while reviews track slightly behind those of Donkey Kong Krew. It's a success, but definitely one of the least notable Donkey Kong games to be released in the last 25 years.
Scary Mary: A horror-themed 3-D Rare platformer for the Connect, filled with goofy creatures and wacky humor. It's a bit on the short side, but it's a laugh riot and doesn't lean on the old collectathon cliches, instead giving players different objectives to complete, usually involving reaching a certain area or defeating an enemy. Rare's pedigree helps this game become a fairly strong seller, and critical reviews average a solid 8/10.
Coalescence: A motion-shooter game for the Virtua in which the player uses hand movements to destroy incoming enemy ships. Features beautiful graphics and music, and while simplistic, is also a budget-priced game, at just $19.99 for the digital version and $29.99 for the physical retail version, which includes a sampler music CD. One of the best examples of what the Virtua is uniquely capable of, it would become a digital best seller on the console and inspire more motion control games in the console's later days.
Virtua Fighter Break: A spinoff game in the series for the Gemini, it features a cast made up of 15 classic fighters and 15 new fighters, and features a unique "break" combat system centered around breaking an opponent's holds and defenses. It's an interesting detour for the series, and despite a comparative lack of modes, it's one of the best looking and best playing portable fighting games of its generation. It also has a strong online gameplay component, though finding people to play with can be a bit of a challenge after the first few months of release due to slightly lower than expected sales.
Everyday Magic 2: The Nexus gets a sequel to the popular 2014 magic-themed RPG, coming on the heels of a bunch of ancillary material including comics and cartoons. It plays mostly similar to the original, but introduces lots of new characters and new adventures, and of course new graphics for Nexus Pro players. Outside of the game's sizable fandom, it doesn't make too much of a splash. Reviews average a solid 7.5/10, and sales are good, but not great and not quite as much as those for the original game. It's one of those IPs that Nexus players and members of the fandom talk about quite a lot, but that passes by the wider gaming world mostly unnoticed. In some ways, it can be considered the Amphibia to Miraculous Ladybug's Owl House.
For Honor: Ubisoft's combat-themed action title comes to TTL and is mostly the same game as OTL's, with, of course, a few differences, most notably the fact that there's a Pirate faction DLC that replaces the Wu Lin faction from OTL. It actually sees a bit more popularity than OTL's game thanks to the improved online functionality, and the game becomes especially popular on the Virtua version, which features excellent motion controls and even some exclusive content (the Nexus version also has some exclusive content, but the graphics, even on the Nexus Pro, hold the game back a bit).
Avan Jogia: I'm going to give this one a 3.5 out of 5, I just wasn't quite feeling the controls the same way that you were, even though it is a really fun game at times. I actually had a lot of fun with the multiplayer at first, but it lacks the stages and modes to really make it an experience worth playing for hours on end. You'll play it in short bursts and have a lot of fun, but you won't be pulling all-nighters with it, which is the hallmark of a great multiplayer FPS.
Austin: You want a game that will cost you sleep, and Mission: Impossible wasn't it for you?
Avan: That's right, I got a good night's sleep after playing it and I can't in good conscience give a 4 or higher to a game that doesn't ruin my sleep patterns for at least one night. Still a beautiful game, especially on the Nexus Pro, so yeah, if you really like FPS titles, it is one of the better exclusive ones available on the Nexus, but MAYBE you'll want to wait for Cyberwar 5.
Austin: Well, now that our reviews are wrapped up for this week, we're gonna wrap up this Nexus-themed episode by seeing who managed to win the Cuphead Cup... who got through Cuphead with the least amount of deaths? Avan, unfortunately you came in last place, you died 105 times before managing to complete the game.
Avan: I still had a lot of fun, but yeah, it's brutally hard.
Austin: Mari, just barely ahead of Avan with 104 deaths!
Mari Takahashi: That last King Dice battle is brutal! Kept messing up the timing on the dice rolls, I would've had it otherwise!
Austin: Well, I gotta say, I came in third with 89 deaths, and uh, (bleep) you, Dr. Kahl's Robot, you suck.
Avan: Yeah, I hate that guy too.
Austin: Bryce, you got second, 82 deaths, good job!
Bryce Papenbrook: I got stuck on Rumor, that fight was rough, no joke.
Austin: Which means our big winner with just 58 deaths throughout the whole game... Christina, you are the Cuphead Cup champion!
Christina Grimmie: WOOOHOOOO! All those hours and hours of old-school NES games paid off, baby!
Austin: Which is really impressive considering that you weren't even born when they stopped making games for the NES.
Christina: What can I say, I love the classics.
Austin: As a reminder, Cuphead, perfect 5 from Mari, perfect 5 from Christina, Hall of Fame game, check it out, you'll die a ton but you'll have fun doing it, and that'll do it for this week's GameTV!
-from the August 17, 2017 episode of GameTV
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"Blockchain, by design, has a massive environmental impact. When Michelle and I initially conceptualized blockchain, we were running our code at a scale that wasn't going to generate the enormous amounts of energy that proof-of-work blockchain requires. As we started using it more, and as the technology started popping up elsewhere, it quickly became apparent that running these programs to generate blockchain code was going to utilize massive amounts of electrical energy, because of the processing power required to authenticate the generated solutions. So that's where most of our work has been going, primarily toward making blockchain significantly more efficient while also maintaining the security of the generated code. Moving forward, all of our projects utilizing blockchain will use proof-of-stake rather than proof-of-work, which is going to allow us to do so much more with the technology.
(...)
....and so what this allows us to do is to create different kinds of blockchain products such as authenticated imagery, which would have applications in biosecurity, allowing for much more secure personal authentication... we could allow for signing of user-generated imagery to prevent forgeries, allowing digital art to be traded like physical art, for example. We're going to be rolling this out gradually, running tests, trials, betas... we're planning on having it available for business applications in 2018 and user-level applications in 2019. What this unique form of blockchain technology will also allow us to do is to more easily detect people violating our patents, which of course we're still filing lawsuits against unauthorized blockchain applications several times a week. We've even been putting pressure on the current presidential administration to go after foreign blockchain piracy.... we'd really like sanctions to be issued, but progress on that has been really slow unfortunately. Not only are these... pirates, stealing our technology, but because proof-of-work is so energy intensive, they're damaging the environment as well."
-Mitsuko Ariyama (net worth $58.7 billion), in a speech at a Veritsu shareholder meeting on August 21, 2017
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The Gatherer failed for many reasons, and Acclaim alone can't be entirely blamed for how much of a disappointment the final product ended up being. Still, when you consider that Eidos' team had been working on the project for a number of years, and likely needed at least another year to finish their vision, it's clear the game would've been better had it not been for the executive meddling that resulted from the takeover. The final product was released with numerous major bugs, the campaign was significantly truncated, and what could have been a memorable open-world RPG that distinguished itself by having a massive amount of space to explore, what we ended up getting was a game oversaturated with landmarks and hand-holding, far too similar to the other open world titles of its day. It lacked a compelling story, and the gameplay itself left much to be desired, though, as mentioned before, the combat was still quite good, and one of the game's few redeeming factors. Acclaim took what had been one of the most intriguing concepts of the 2010s, what had started as the mysterious "Project Virgin Earth", and had turned it into a cookie cutter open world sandbox game with few if any survival elements and nothing to do for fun but go around and pick fights with megafauna. While some did enjoy what had essentially become a "Sabretooth Tiger Fighting Simulator", and its 61 on Metacritic indicates a game that many critics at least believed had some redeeming value, most people who'd been looking forward to The Gatherer lamented what it ultimately became, and viewed it as a bad omen of things to come for Acclaim, the company most people blamed for ruining the concept that could've saved Eidos' independence had they just held on for a bit longer.
With Doggerland having released last month to enormous critical acclaim and commercial success, it's easy to see what Acclaim feared when they rushed The Gatherer out the door. But maybe, with a bit more confidence in Eidos' team and original vision, The Gatherer could've been seen as a true rival to Rockstar's masterpiece rather than a sad and almost forgotten pretender. Maybe we'd be talking about Acclaim's best game since Sepulchre, rather than their biggest mistake in years. Maybe "Project Virgin Earth" could've been worth the hype and waiting, instead of being remembered as one of this generation's biggest gaming disappointments.
-from "One Year Later: A Post-Mortem Of The Gatherer", posted on Games Over Matter on August 21, 2018
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Lester Holt: Corruption is down, Nigeria has consistently seen its position on the Index of Freedom In The World rise for the last six years... but there are still challenges.
Ahmad Lawan: There are, yes.
Holt: You recently announced the complete elimination of the terrorist organization Boko Haram within Nigeria's borders, which is being touted as an enormous success against terrorism in the region, but there are still other militant groups that your military is currently engaged with.
Lawan: In a country facing problems with poverty, problems with access to education, problems with crime, and yes, there is still corruption in certain segments of the government, we will have to face these challenges.
Holt: And you've been very forthcoming about these challenges, which a lot of recent leaders of your country haven't been.
Lawan: The people of Nigeria deserve a leader with integrity. There are nearly 200 million people living in this country, and in order for us to face these challenges, we all have to be honest with each other.
Holt: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing your country as you head into the next decade?
Lawan: We've seen an increase in economic activity. All of the region has seen an increase in economic activity, new roads are being built, new businesses are forming, and the biggest challenge that I think Nigeria is going to be facing is making sure that the new economic activity benefits everyone, that we avoid bringing in more corruption and crime and that all the different groups that live here together work together for our country's future.
Holt: Your country was praised for its role in helping to end the 2014 Ebola outbreak which killed thousands in West Africa, including numerous people in Nigeria. Do you worry that the increased economic activity, things such as the Gibraltar Bridge expected to be completed in 2021 and expected to bring enormous amounts of new economic activity to West Africa, will increase the risk for future outbreaks of diseases like Ebola?
Lawan: It will definitely bring more risk, which is why I've made education and health care a major part of my administration's policies in the coming years. The good work we did in 2014 must continue, we must emphasize educating our country's youth, boys and girls, in all parts of Nigeria. We've been building modern schools and universities in some of the most economically disadvantaged regions of the country, we've worked to push militants out of those areas who would interfere with building those schools, and we've pushed to make education compulsory for all children in Nigeria. We want to bring in people from other parts of Africa to educate them here and then have them return to their countries and improve health care in those countries. We worked hard to stop Ebola in 2014 and we don't want it returning. We know the risk for the spread of dangerous diseases increases as economic activity increases, but with more economic activity there's also more opportunities to bring education and training to underserved groups of people. We're making that our focus, absolutely.
Holt: Do you think that what's starting to become known as the "West African Miracle" can be replicated across the continent, to all African countries in the coming decades?
Lawan: My focus as president of Nigeria is to serve the people of Nigeria first and foremost, but, through trade, through education, through cultural exchange, absolutely I believe it's possible. It will take lots of work and dedication, but yes, it's absolutely possible and I would love to see it happen.
-from Lester Holt's interview with Nigerian president Ahmad Lawan, from the August 26, 2017 episode of MSNBC's Meet The World with Lester Holt
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Game Spotlight: Resident Evil 8
Resident Evil 8 is an action/survival horror game published and developed by Capcom. It's the first game in the series since Resident Evil 5 that has launched as a multiplatform title, with the sixth and seventh mainline games being exclusive to the iTwin and Virtua respectively (though later being ported to other consoles in 2016, once Capcom stopped publishing games exclusively for Apple). It's a more action-based title than Resident Evil 7, focusing heavily on gun battles with more intelligent zombies infected with the L-Virus, a virus designed to bring the dead to life with their intelligence intact, but which is in reality being used to control the bodies and minds of those revived with it, via a controlling agent who must be tracked down and stopped before they can use their infected army to conquer the world. Battles in the game have a more Call of Duty vibe to them than they do to anything resembling prior Resident Evil titles, though there are still some mutated foes that must be killed, and both the T-Virus and P-Virus are also present within the game in some fashion. The game's primary protagonists are Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon Kennedy, with Claire as the game's main protagonist seeking to restore her brother's mind from the L-Virus' control. Players will alternate between the three protagonists at various points within the game, though it is possible to have multiplayer missions in which all three are utilized by a group of players in the same online party. The game also has some enhanced melee combat from previous games, with Claire, Jill, and Leon each having their own unique set of melee attacks. Resident Evil 8, with its emphasis on fast-paced combat and large action set pieces, has more in common with OTL's Resident Evil 6 than it does with OTL's Resident Evil: Village (OTL's Resident Evil games have had longer development times, allowing them to progress in a significantly different direction). This game is intended as a "culmination" title of sorts, with throwbacks to previous series games and lots of twists and turns for longtime fans.
Much of the plot revolves around the conflict between Claire/Jill/Leon's remnant S.T.A.R.S. organization, and the new S.T.A.R.S. which consists of L-Virus infected agents led by Chris Redfield. The game picks up right where Resident Evil 7 left off, with Chris and his squad attacking a military facility in search of a special new prototype weapon, and Jill forced to go in alone to try and stop them. As Jill hunts them, she's forced to contend with experimental T-Virus creatures while hiding from Chris' squad. Eventually, she's forced to confront two of them and manages to kill them before confronting Chris himself, who wounds her and is about to kill her when Claire shows up and interrupts him. Though Claire isn't able to get through to Chris, he seems to be disturbed by the encounter, and leaves. Claire and Jill eventually make their way to another large facility, where they eventually encounter Leon, who is attempting to free one of the infected L-Virus agents, an old friend of his named Ariel. The three manage to subdue Ariel, but they're unable to free her mind from the virus, making it increasingly clear to Claire that her brother will have to be killed again. She becomes extremely disturbed by this, and Jill decides to go with Claire somewhere away from the action for a while, giving the player control of Leon, who must stop an attack on a major city, which is being overrun by all sorts of infected: P-Virus, T-Virus, and L-Virus. While Leon is dealing with this situation, Claire and Jill learn of a government agent who may be the one holding the strings of the L-Virus victims, including Chris. Claire goes off by herself to confront him, getting herself into trouble and needing to be rescued by Jill. The two find out that the agent they suspected isn't the one in control: instead, it's Wesker, who was seemingly killed off in Resident Evil 6 but who has returned as a government sleeper agent and Patient Zero for the L-Virus. He's become a sort of "Alpha" carrier and is using that to control the other infected, including Chris. Once Wesker is revealed as the game's primary antagonist, the rest of the action goes fairly quickly: a series of missions at increasingly dangerous locales, including a confrontation between Jill and Chris that goes somewhat similar to OTL's Chris and Jill battle in Resident Evil 5 but with the roles reversed and Chris as the brainwashed one instead of Jill. The final boss fight involves a battle against Wesker in the Capitol Rotunda in which he transforms into a hideous mutated creature and must be taken down by Claire, Jill, Leon, and eventually, a newly un-brainwashed Chris, who ends up landing the final blow. Wesker (and, consequently, the Capitol) is destroyed in spectacular fashion, the world is saved, Chris is revived and reunited with Claire and Jill, and the L-Virus is eradicated, with Chris the only "survivor" via a procedure in which the healing properties of the virus remain while its negative effects are purged from his body. There are still a few small loose ends to set up a potential ninth game in the series, but this Resident Evil has one of the series' "happier" endings, concluding on somewhat of an action movie-esque note.
Resident Evil 8 is, needless to say, somewhat polarizing amongst critics. Amongst fans, it actually gets a somewhat better reception than OTL's Resident Evil 6, mostly because of the gameplay and also because of some genuinely inspired level and creature designs. It's still somewhat controversial, with some longtime fans criticizing it for being "silly" and "fanservicey", but it gets extremely good sales regardless, and does bring in some new fans to the series. Released in late August of 2017, it becomes one of the summer's most popular games, and though it's a multiplatform title, it still does slightly better on the Virtua than it does on the Reality, thanks to the bigger fanbase for the game on that console.
-
Other Significant Titles For August 2017:
Donkey Kong Wreckers: The follow-up game to Donkey Kong Krew, Donkey Kong Wreckers is a Reality exclusive title that sees Donkey, Diddy, and friends return to Bigshot City to battle a group of new foes. While ostensibly a 3-D platforming title, it's focused more on environmental destruction, with the characters usually having to smash a certain amount of buildings or enemies to complete missions and progress to the next area. It's a lot of fun, though fans of previous Donkey Kong titles might be a bit turned off by the shift in gameplay. Sales are about average for a mid-tier Nintendo first party game, while reviews track slightly behind those of Donkey Kong Krew. It's a success, but definitely one of the least notable Donkey Kong games to be released in the last 25 years.
Scary Mary: A horror-themed 3-D Rare platformer for the Connect, filled with goofy creatures and wacky humor. It's a bit on the short side, but it's a laugh riot and doesn't lean on the old collectathon cliches, instead giving players different objectives to complete, usually involving reaching a certain area or defeating an enemy. Rare's pedigree helps this game become a fairly strong seller, and critical reviews average a solid 8/10.
Coalescence: A motion-shooter game for the Virtua in which the player uses hand movements to destroy incoming enemy ships. Features beautiful graphics and music, and while simplistic, is also a budget-priced game, at just $19.99 for the digital version and $29.99 for the physical retail version, which includes a sampler music CD. One of the best examples of what the Virtua is uniquely capable of, it would become a digital best seller on the console and inspire more motion control games in the console's later days.
Virtua Fighter Break: A spinoff game in the series for the Gemini, it features a cast made up of 15 classic fighters and 15 new fighters, and features a unique "break" combat system centered around breaking an opponent's holds and defenses. It's an interesting detour for the series, and despite a comparative lack of modes, it's one of the best looking and best playing portable fighting games of its generation. It also has a strong online gameplay component, though finding people to play with can be a bit of a challenge after the first few months of release due to slightly lower than expected sales.
Everyday Magic 2: The Nexus gets a sequel to the popular 2014 magic-themed RPG, coming on the heels of a bunch of ancillary material including comics and cartoons. It plays mostly similar to the original, but introduces lots of new characters and new adventures, and of course new graphics for Nexus Pro players. Outside of the game's sizable fandom, it doesn't make too much of a splash. Reviews average a solid 7.5/10, and sales are good, but not great and not quite as much as those for the original game. It's one of those IPs that Nexus players and members of the fandom talk about quite a lot, but that passes by the wider gaming world mostly unnoticed. In some ways, it can be considered the Amphibia to Miraculous Ladybug's Owl House.
For Honor: Ubisoft's combat-themed action title comes to TTL and is mostly the same game as OTL's, with, of course, a few differences, most notably the fact that there's a Pirate faction DLC that replaces the Wu Lin faction from OTL. It actually sees a bit more popularity than OTL's game thanks to the improved online functionality, and the game becomes especially popular on the Virtua version, which features excellent motion controls and even some exclusive content (the Nexus version also has some exclusive content, but the graphics, even on the Nexus Pro, hold the game back a bit).
At least, blockchain pollutes less than cryptocurrency mining... that doesn't seem to be a thing here at all.
Cryptocurrency mining is still a thing, especially in Russia where Ariyama's patents are only loosely enforced, but with Ariyama owning a monopoly on blockchain and aggressively suing anyone else who tries to use it, mining is rare in the West.
Apparently Resident Evil 8 is a disappointment compared to OTL's village. Wack.
If they had beeg vampire lady that would have salvaged it
Good. Let's butterfly the 2017 Will & Grace revival away, and instead we got a new romantic comedy Houseromancers, that features Lisa Kudrow, Debra Messing and Lea Thompson, to air on NBC this fall. Stay tuned.
That's not a real idea. That's a ITTL television show idea for a NBC romantic comedy (IOTL we got the 2017 Will & Grace revival).
DM us them, if Ry and I like it, for a moment I thought was a failed pitch or pilot
I do have some TV-related stuff planned for the October update, but broadcast TV won't be included, as I'll be focused mostly on cable and streaming. Your idea COULD potentially come to Blockbuster or Netflix, though I'm mostly planning to discuss sci-fi and fantasy related shows, maybe some dramas.
I DO have a sitcom planned for the October update as well, but it's not this one... it's actually a show that was mentioned WAY back.