A few weeks ago, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, all held their annual May/June video presentations to show gamers what titles they can get excited about playing in the coming months and/or years. While these late spring announcements used to coincide with the long-running, world-famous Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, sadly, that event is no more. Thankfully, the video game industry remembers and still carries on the long-standing tradition, with or without a central physical venue to do it from; and as long as they continue do so, we will strive to do our part and cover them. Please read on for some of the highlights.
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Well, another month and incredibly, this year will already be half over. Insanity. But at least it's been filled with some pretty fantastic new games thus far. Why, even this past week saw the release of a sequel to Ninja Theory's award-winning 2017 title, Hellblade, as well as a Switch remake of the absolutely phenomenal 2004 GameCube classic, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In fact, TTYD is widely regarded as one of the better Mario games ever made, Paper or otherwise, so if you've never had the privilege to play it, now is the time. Also out in the last 15 weeks, a pair of fantastic Toaplan arcade shoot 'em ups; and a follow-up to Capcom's somewhat underrated 2012 action RPG, Dragon's Dogma. A comical adventure that pops off the pages! Jump past the break to see more new releases from the last 105 days.
Last month, Microsoft released their 2024 Xbox Partner Preview video presentation, showcasing some of the upcoming titles that gamers can look forward to playing on Xbox (and in some cases, elsewhere as well) in the coming months. Since Sony and Nintendo had both released similar presentationss in the two months prior, it seems only fitting to cover all three. So without further ado, here is a brief synopsis of some of the upcoming standouts that were shown off in those presentations.
After a trial launch in Japan in October of 1982, the compact disc was first released in the West in March, the following year. It was a digital stranger in an analog world. Yet it was able to completely revolutionize the record industry in less than a decade. The compact disc would subsequently go on to do the same for computer software, and shortly thereafter, video game consoles.
The first company to utilize this technology for a game console would be NEC, with their 1989 CD-ROM add-on to the TurboGrafx-16, the TurboGrafx-CD/PC Engine CD-ROM2 (and later Super CD/TurboDuo). They would soon be followed by Sega, who would release a CD add-on for their own Genesis (Mega Drive) console in 1992, known as the Sega (Mega) CD. Several others would also appear in the years that followed, including Sega's Genesis/Sega CD follow-up, the Saturn, as well as Sony's incredibly successful PlayStation console. Eventually, the industry would begin to experiment with other, similar formats, starting in 1999 with what would sadly be Sega's final home console, the GD-ROM equipped Dreamcast. While the formats would continue to evolve over the years, first to DVD, then Blu-ray, and finally Ultra HD Blu-ray, digital disc media use in the video game industry has continued on, right up to the present day. Yet, despite having inferior storage capacity and being more prone to piracy, CDs were always able to offer one thing that none of the disc formats that have followed since could, the ability to double as an audio disc. That being said, not every CD game released came with audio tracks on the disc, and the number of TurboGrafx-CD and PlayStation releases that boasted them was somewhat limited. A pretty significant number of Sega CD and Saturn games all did, however. That specific feature makes all of those consoles a particular boon to both those nostalgic for that era of gaming, and general audiophiles alike. As one who considers himself to be in both of those camps, and as a service to like-minded individuals, I thought I might take it upon myself to compile a list of some of the best CD games to include playable audio tracks on the disc. Continue on after the break to see 12 of the best of these games to appear on these consoles. I'm also including the composer, year of release, and number of audio tracks (not counting blank and/or unplayable data tracks). Welcome to the first notable new releases post of 2024. Since the last post wasn't since late October, I've made sure to round up some of the more prominent releases from the end of 2023, as well as the beginning of this year. This last week saw a very notable release with a GOG version of Toaplan's final shmup, the legendary arcade classic, Batsugun. Aside from arguably being their all-time best shooter, Batsugun is also famous for being the very first manic (aka bullet hell) shoot 'em up game. It may be great, but it's definitely not easy!
Also out in the last 16 weeks, the 8th installment to the long-running and incredibly popular Tekken series; the next entry in the also long-running and popular Yakuza/Like a Dragon series; and the first official sequel to the excellent 2012 Arcade fighter (and it's multiple updated ports), Under Night In-Birth. Take on the final chapter in Toaplan's Shmup saga, then jump past the break to see more new releases from the last 112 days. Well, it's another new year and time, once again, for another retrospective. This time around, we'll be taking a look back at the best games of 2010. As the start of a new decade, it was certainly an important year; and it also happened to be a pretty exceptional year for gaming as well, with some of the biggest releases, well ever. Please read on for a selection of the 12 most notable titles that 2010 had to offer.
Given that the announcement was made weeks ago now, during the 2023 Game Awards presentation, most gaming fanatics will likely already be in the know, but in case you live under a rock or something, or only follow us for some reason (thank you, if so), we'll go ahead and make the obligatory post about it here. It seems that Sega has done the unthinkable and announced multiple sequels to actual fan favorite classic franchises. The ones specifically mentioned in the announcement trailer were Shinobi (screen shot pictured above), Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage, with even more to follow!
Given the relatively recent success of the Wonder Boy: the Dragon's Trap remaster and Streets of Rage 4 by indie studio, Lizardcube (and others), it may be a difficult proposition to contain our excitement. Sadly though, no release date information has been given as of yet. Hopefully, Sega won't make its fans wait too long to start getting their hands on these titles. To those who missed it, or just want to experience the hype again, feel free to follow the link to the pretty awesome announcement trailer, after the break. Well 2023 is drawing to a close and we haven't even released our best games of 2022 list yet. (And you thought last year's was late!) Well, consider that box now officially checked off. It took a long time to get it right. Way longer than it probably should have. We're pretty sure that many out there will still take issue with our choices but, whatever, we're pretty proud of these picks. All we can do at this point is apologize for the extreme tardiness of this article and promise to do our best to at least release our 2023 list in the first half of next year. But in the meantime, please read on for our selections for the 12 best titles that 2022 had to offer:
Well, the holidays are drawing near and that means its about time for the final (and oftentimes, biggest) titles of the year to arrive. Case in point, this week saw the release of two, (Marvel) Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros Wonder. The follow-up to 2018's amazing Spider-Man and 2020's spectacular Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2 represents the next logical step in the franchise by allowing you to swap back and forth between the two main characters from both of those previous entries. It also appears to have upped the ante by bringing in popular comics villains Kraven the Hunter and Venom (undoubtedly among others).
Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros Wonder appears to be bringing the same style of charming family-friendly 4-person multiplayer fun that 2013's outstanding Super Mario 3D World offered, but in a uniquely new, yet tried and true 2D setting. No matter which console you own, a Switch or a PS5 (or both), it seems like you've got something new you're going to want to try out. And for those without either, read on for a list of new hotness for you to play too. Also out in the last 12 weeks, a new Sonic the Hedgehog title that seems to be not entirely unlike the new Super Mario Bros game; the first new Forza Motorsport title in 6 years, and a follow-up to the pretty groovy 2019 strategy title, Wargroove. Be greater. Together. Jump past the break to see more new releases from the last 84 days. |
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