Hello, hello, Circlers! Donovan here with this week’s Roundup!
So, I may be a little bit (a lot) late to the party but I just recently picked up Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and I have to say, I can’t get enough of it! Admittedly, this is my first time playing Crash–mainly because I had Spiro instead–so I didn’t get the full blast from the past that many other veteran Crash fans had. However, I still enjoyed the trip back in time to the era of the PlayStation where cartoony mascots ruled the world. Hopefully, this opens doors for another PlayStation character remake (looking at you, Insomniac).
And with that, the Roundup!
Kimari Rennis – Speaking of Crash Bandicoot, our 14 year old intern played the complete trilogy and says it made her feel like a little kid again. She loves the smooth controls and the updated graphics. Check out her impassioned story here.
Samit Sarkar recently discovered that Nintendo may be planning to release another entry into their “Classics” series: the Nintendo 64. The world is still reeling from the quick turnover of NES Classic while getting ready for the SNES. Now, we possibly have something else to throw our wallets at. Then again, who wouldn’t want to relive the glory of Super Mario 64 and Golden Eye 007? Check out the full story here.
Chelsea Stark gives us a review about the sequel to the Wii U’s well- received shooter, Splatoon. Releasing on the Switch, Splatoon 2 seeks to continue Nintendo’s fresh and fun take on first person shooters. See Chelsea’s review here.
Mike Andronico gives us his seven favorite reveals from EVO 2017. Fighter fans, like me, will be excited to see what what we have in store for the future, especially if you missed the tournament. I’m particularly excited about the Dragon Ball FighterZ reveal (with Piccolo and Trillin!). Take a look here.
Heather Alexandra and Kotaku video producer Chris Person recently took a crack at The End Is Nigh, a Super Meat Boy-esque indie 2-D platformer developed by two-person team Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel. Check out the 40-minute video of hilarious deaths and great commentary here.
Jordan Minor delivers another update on the Nintendo Switch. This time, Nintendo releases the Switch Online app with Splatoon 2. The app is required for some online features, such as voice chat. Although it’s off to a rocky start, there is still hope for improvement when the Switch’s full online capabilities come in 2018. See more details here.
Now for news from outside of the Circle!
The most popular gaming event going on this week is the Destiny 2 Beta. From July 18th-23rd, players that pre-ordered have a chance to play the opening story mission as well as the Crucible. The beta is open to everyone else on consoles from the 21st to the 23rd. With Destiny 2, Bungie is looking to further redeem themselves for the mistakes they made at the launch of the first Destiny. If you didn’t know (or just successfully blocked it from your mind), Destiny, at launch, was a huge disappointment for fans due to repetitive gameplay and lack of a coherent story. They learned from their mistakes and tried to fix it through the expansion DLC. But it was to little too late. From the looks of the gameplay, it seems like they are well on their way to a strong start with the sequel. Paul Tassi, Forbes contributor, gives us his full impressions on the beta here.
Another year, another EVO in the books. As the world’s largest and longest running fighting game tournament, EVO is home to some of the most exciting moments in eSports, like the historic Moment 37. Upsets, taunting, and moments of pure domination are regular occurrences that one would argue are much more gratifying in fighting games. EVO 2017 continues that trend, of course. Check out the five best moments here.
Bethesda has rolled out a major update for the critically acclaimed demon-shooter, Doom. The update, cleverly labeled 6.66, unlocks all multiplayer DLC and makes a few other changes. Check out the full details on PC gamer here.
Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve Corporation, recently held an “Ask Me Anything” event on Reddit. During the event, Newell confirmed that Valve is, in fact, still working on new IP’s. This is a surprising reveal because it’s thought by the gaming world that Valve wasn’t working on single player games anymore and focusing on support for DOTA, Team Fortress 2, and Steam (although we all still held hope for Half-Life 3). Check out all the info, including other questions he answered here.
Call of Duty’s most popular game mode has been announced at San Diego Comic Con. Fans haven’t experienced Nazi Zombies since the game mode was first introduced with COD: World at War. Hopefully, this iteration can instill the same fear in fans as the original once did. See the ghoulish reveal trailer here.
That’s it for this week’s news! Tune in next week for the next Roundup!
