It's been a dry few weeks for games recently, but there's nothing like a Superman vs. Batman punch-up to get you back in the groove for some damn video games. Let's talk about superheroic smackdowns and more in this week's Tuesday Game Room!
What have you been playing this week?
Aside from repeated playthroughs of the Injustice demo (and loudly cursing when being thrashed by the hard mode A.I in said demo), it's been a lean gaming week for me, except for the fact I've gotten back into World of Warcraft for a bit.
Say hi to Maloki, my new Level 23 Troll Shaman. Blizzard's unveiling of 5.3 made me really want to roll a Troll character to 'properly' experience Vol'jin's open rebellion against Garrosh's Horde, and I've never tried a Shaman before, but it's pretty fun so far. Lots of spamming Lightning Bolt till everything's dead.
New Releases!
Oh shit you guys, video games are coming out again! The big release of the week is Netherrealm Studio's Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Mortal Kombat-style DC brawler. I've really been looking forward to this, as I loved Mortal Kombat 9 - especially the story mode, and Injustice's DC civil-war plot just sounds insane (also: Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin play Green Arrow and Green Lantern. That's awesome).
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Also out this week are two Japanese games that were thought lost to US audiences - Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers and Pandora's Tower for the 3DS and Wii respectively, finally make their way to US shores. Soul Hackers is receiving its first ever western release, as the original 1997 version never made it out of Japan, and Pandora's Tower is releasing after a lengthy online campaign known as Operation Rainfall got Nintendo of America to release several high profile JRPGs in the west, having appeared in Europe already last year.
And speaking of cross-continental release disparity - finally, finally, the excellent Fire Emblem: Awakening makes its way to Europe, 2 months after the US release. I'm not picking it up straight away, but I'm really looking forward to finally being able to sit down and play this!
Anyone picking up something new this week, or dipping back into your backlog?
And now, the News
Once again it's time for a few select picks from the last week of Gaming news, via Eurogamer:
- Development on Skyrim winds down as Bethesda's Elder Scrolls team moves onto their next big project - It might be tough for Bethesda to top the overwhelming popularity and success of Skyrim, but who knows what's next from them. Maybe it's Fallout 4?
- UK Government to investigate "aggressive" in-app purchasing elements in mobile and tablet games - We video gamers can be quick to dismiss the lucrative, popular world of tablet and phone games these days, but as they become more and more accessible, and filled with shadier and shadier microtransactions, it's not surprising to see these sorts of cases happen. What it means for the growing market, no one knows yet, but the OFT's actions are something to look for in the future.
- District 9 and Elysium director Neill Blomkamp still wants to make his Halo movie - After the jaw dropping trailer for Elysium was revealed last week, I'm practically begging Microsoft to just give Blomkamp the control he wants. We could get a pretty incredible Halo movie if they do... but it's unlikely it'll happen.
- Details of a canned Megaman FPS are revealed by Armature Studios, the dev team lead by ex-Retro employees - given the pedigree behind this (Retro were the team that took Samus Aran from sidescrolling to FPS in the hugely successful Metroid Prime series), it could've been interesting... but without Inafune at Capcom anymore, as well as Capcom's complete unwillingness to leverage the Megaman IP, this was destined to head to Development Hell.
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Meanwhile on the O-Deck, Eldritch has been wondering about the moments in video games that you just can't get past, despite multiple efforts. Follow the link and let her know your toughest obstacles in games!
We'll be back this time next Tuesday for more gaming discussion, but for now, sound off in the comments with the games you've been playing, and what you're looking forward to this week!
