This week in video games: PUBG gets an official release date, Mega Man 11 is unveiled, and Nintendo brings Wii games to the Nvidia Shield, sort of. Here’s our roundup of the week’s most soul soothing gaming news.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds news update
Another week, another batch of PUBG news. The game is finally confirmed to be leaving early access, and will receive an official 1.0 PC release on December 20, 2017.
The game’s new Miramar desert map was also officially introduced at Thursday’s Games Awards, and is now available via PUBG‘s test servers. Other additions of note include a revised UI, a tweaked inventory layout, and, of course, vaulting.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds also comes to Xbox One this week via the Game Preview programme. The only downside, its frame rate is locked at 30FPS, even on Xbox One X.
The Game Awards 2017 winners…
Remember The Game Awards 2017? You know, that thing from the other day. Award events often become redundant and forgotten the moment they end, but lets give Geoff Keighley credit, The Games Awards are improving year on year, and this was a genuinely enjoyable show.
This year’s Game of the Year award went to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and deservedly so. Other titles to do well were Nier Automata, Overwatch and Persona 5. Here’s the the full list of winners.
…and the trailers
The games industry always prefers to look forward, and although having an awards ceremony peppered with PR for new titles feels incongruous, we can’t deny that its exciting.
This year saw Bayonetta 3 announced, the next game from Campo Santo, and a nine minute Death Stranding love poem. Here’s our round-up of all the trailers.
And what did FromSoftware tease? Could it be Bloodborne 2, or perhaps, a Tenchu sequel?
PSX 2017
This year’s PlayStation Experience feels slightly low-key, but there are a few interesting announcements to mull over. The most pleasing was news of a remaster for PS1 classic MediEvil.
Elsewhere, The Last Guardian and Wipeout Omega Collection are getting PS VR add-ons, and Mark Cerny confirmed that Death Stranding will make sense when we play it. Which means, we assume, that something playable does exist.
You’ll be telling us that we can change our PSN names next. Oh!
Nintendo games heading to Nvidia
Nintendo has partnered with Nvidia to release a selection of Wii games on the Nvidia Shield set top box in China. Titles include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, all remastered in 1080P.
Further reports suggest that the games will run via Nvidia’s Geforce Now streaming platform. Our own Tom Baines gave that service a whirl, and managed to get PUBG playing on a Mac.
Assassin’s Creed photo competition launched
Have camera, don’t travel? Good news! Ubisoft have launched a photography contest for armchair explorers everywhere. The Assassin’s Creed Origins photo competition runs for the next month, and gives players the chance to win a print of their work.
Stardew Valley multiplayer delayed
Chucklefish have ruined Christmas by confirming that Stardew Valley‘s multiplayer mode has been delayed. In a blog post, the developer says it will now enter beta in Q1 2018. A new water-themed area has also been teased.
Mega Man 11 confirmed
Capcom have announced the return of the Blue Bomber in Mega Man 11, coming to Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC late next year. All eight Mega Man X titles will also get a 2018 reissue, and the Switch will get its own ports of the two Mega Man Legacy Collections.
The Evil Within II gets a demo
Publishers are increasingly using post-release demos to give their games a boost of publicity, and a fresh injection of new players. This week Bethesda announced a free trial for the spooky The Evil Within II. This follows on from the previously announced demo for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
Elsewhere, Destiny 2, and Project Cars 2, have also received demos, and Ubisoft are holding occasional free play weekends for the likes of The Division, Rainbow Six Siege, and For Honor.
Sam Barlow goes to war
Sam Barlow, creator of mobile hit Her Story, is working with MGM and Eko to produce a new game based on the 112th best film of the ’80s, #WarGames. In a press statement, Barlow said:
“With #WarGames I was thrilled to take the questions raised by the original movie and ask them again in a world where technology has fundamentally changed our lives,”
Barlow’s spiritual successor to Her Story remains in development.
New times for Xur in Destiny 2
Update your calendars, Xur’s keeping new hours. Destiny 2‘s much-loved travelling salesman will now arrive at 9AM Pacific, 12PM Eastern and 5PM UK.
PS4 reaches 70m units sold
The PlayStation 4 is still doing very well. How well, you ask? Here are some numbers for you: The PS4 has now sold more than 70.6M units worldwide, with more than 617.8 million games sold digitally and at retail.
PS VR is no slouch either, and has sold more than 2M units, with software sales at 12.2 million.
Lovable Andrew House, chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment, said:
“We are delighted that so many people are enjoying the unique entertainment proposition of PlayStation 4 and that an emerging technology like PlayStation VR continues to gain traction. I cannot thank our fans and partners enough. Their support, since the launch of very first PlayStation in 1994, has helped to make PlayStation one of the biggest console gaming networks in the world.”
Ryan Reynolds to star as Detective Pikachu?
Variety report that Ryan Reynolds has signed on to play the title role in the upcoming live-action Pokémon film, Detective Pikachu. The film will be directed by Rob Letterman, and starts shooting in London in next month.
Worth reading
How does Xbox One back-compat work? “File. Save As”, right? Apparently not. Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter knows better, and details the process in this fascinating article.
More from Thumbsticks
- Xbox One digital releases for December 11–15, 2017
- PlayStation Store releases for December 12, 2017
- DayZ is heading for PS4, after its Xbox One release
