Category: Video Games

How one of the greatest visual novels got an English translation because of its fans

You might not know what Muv-Luv is. I hadn’t even heard of it till a few years ago. Which is strange, since Muv-Luv is considered by many to be one of the most greatest visual novels of all time. What begins as a light-hearted slice-of-life high school romantic comedy eventually pulls the rug out from under the player, and transforms into a war epic featuring mechs and aliens with a much darker tone. In Muv-Luv’s original Japanese release, this twist was hidden and only briefly hinted at in the marketing.

Today both Muv-Luv games are easily available on Steam, marketed specifically with this twist, and where they sit fully-translated and with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews. iOS and Android ports are apparently in development, and other Muv-Luv spin-offs continue to get translated. But the first time anyone experienced a complete English language version of Muv-Luv was in July 2010, when a fan translation group called Amaterasu released a patch localising the first game.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Collection Sells 1 Million Copies

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection has sold more than 1 million copies, Konami announced today, an impressive feat in light of it being a retro collection comprised of older games from the 8 and 16-bit era.

Konami revealed the news in a cheeky infographic that also that revealed that six million pizzas were eaten and 350 million foot soldiers defeated.

“We’re thrilled and a little shell-shocked at this morning’s fantastic news!” Digital Eclipse said in a tweet. “Thank you to Konami and Nickelodeon for the opportunity to make [Cowabunga Collection], but most of all, thank you the intensely loyal TMNT fans who loudly supported this project!”

The Cowabunga Collection’s strong sales can be chalked up to the considerable excitement in the run-up to its release last year, which was owed in large part to the lack of availability for many of its core games.

The collection consists of 13 games from the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and arcade, with many of them featuring online play.

Our review was positive on the collection as a whole, but criticized its online play. “The entire TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection has clearly been crafted by a team that loves the TMNT – not just the games, but the shows and comics as well.”

However, “It’s truly unfortunate that the online component makes it so hard to find a match, and when you do get into a game it’s often woefully laggy. The input delay could also be improved.”

Digital Eclipse has since added new features and other enhancements while fixing numerous issues, including multiple enhancements for online play.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is currently available on Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, and Xbox.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Pill Baby successfully fuses surreal drama with monster kicking

There are so many ways to cut this cake. I could call it a weird game, and bang on about those for a bit. I could call it a 2D beat ’em up with your classic heavy/light attacks (actually punch/kick, but whatever), which is important to mention. It’s also tempting to namedrop the things it reminded me of, like Hotline Miami, Beraltors, and a tiny hint of The Cat Lady, but that could get you picturing just about anything, and is unfairly reductive to a game that has the right to stand on its own.

Pill Baby is, obviously, all those things. It’s far better and more coherent than any of those descriptions would make it sound.

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Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 10 to 14

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!

Guardian of Lore - Box Art Asset

Guardian of Lore – April 11
Xbox Play Anywhere

Play as Prince Sayri and save the memory of ancient civilizations from wicked magic that aims to destroy the stories that contain it. Become part of beautifully crafted 2.5D worlds from Native-American folktales, and battle against an evil invader army threatening their disappearance. How much of each story will you be able to preserve for future generations to come? Become a Guardian of Lore and find out!

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened - Box Art Asset

Sherlock Holmes The Awakened – April 11
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Experience a nerve-racking Lovecraftian adventure, rebuilt from the ground up with modern graphics and gameplay. Become Sherlock Holmes and find yourself at the heart of the terrifying Cthulhu Mythos as you investigate a series of mysterious disappearances in Europe and the US.

Hyper-5 - Box Art Asset

Hyper-5 – April 12
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Deep space scout ship Hyper-5 has received a distress signal and heads into battle against an unknown threat. On your own and facing nearly impossible odds, you’ll need to survive more than 40 enemy types and massive boss encounters across the varied land, air, and underwater stages of planet 4GDT.

King of the Arcade – Box Art Asset

King of the Arcade – April 12
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Step into the neon-lit world of King of the Arcade, where the ‘80s never died. Take on the role of Mac McCormick, a former arcade champion who has fallen on hard times, as he fights to save Castle’s Arcade from a hostile takeover by the ruthless landlord Jimmy Joysticks and the seven members of his arcade gang. With over 40 games and multiple genres, you’ll have hours of nostalgic fun.

Murderous Muses - Box Art Asset

Murderous Muses – April 12
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

As a security guard, explore a gallery in the echoing hours to uncover clues about a recent crime. Solve puzzles and use the Eyes of Mordechai to bring the portraits to life, restoring the past to find the killer… From the creators of The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, The Shapeshifting Detective, and Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, Murderous Muses is a supernatural whodunit where choosing how to investigate is an art form.

Ghostwire: Tokyo - Box Art Asset

Ghostwire: Tokyo – April 12
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Game Pass

Tokyo is overrun by deadly supernatural forces as a dangerous occultist causes the city’s population to vanish in an instant. Join forces with a powerful spectral entity on their quest for vengeance and master a powerful arsenal of abilities to unravel the dark truth behind the disappearance as you face the unknown in Ghostwire: Tokyo on April 12, including the new Spider’s Thread update. Playable on Console, Clould, and PC.

Cannon Dancer - Box Art Asset

Cannon Dancer – Osman – April 13
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Set in the near future of the 21st century, the world is controlled by a single corrupt government and under the threat of an evil sorceress, Abdullah the Slaver. Luckily, a lone assassin and top-class agent named Kirin offers his skills as weapons for hire. Kirin must infiltrate the city to defeat several enemies, panic, and terror. But once inside the cult’s main temple, he gets attacked from the police force and left to die…        

Dogfight - A Sausage Bomber Story - Box Art Asset

Dogfight – A Sausage Bomber Story – April 13
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Team up with the entire family for explosive action, signature humor, and thrilling adventure. Join the Sausage Bomber Corps for daring missions to defend the nations of Relishtonia and more against the world-conquering ambitions from the mysterious Vega Nation.

Sokolor - Box Art Asset

Sokolor – April 13

A puzzle game with innovative mechanics. Push the colored cubes into their correct positions; but first you need to paint yourself the same color to be able to push them.

Basketball Pinball – Box Art Asset

Basketball Pinball – April 14
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Jump on the board and prepare to score points to win this match, score slam dunks and three-point shots. Discover all the secrets, complete all the missions, and prove that you’re the number one in the world or the best among your friends, posting your high score on the online leaderboard.

DE-Exit - Box Art Asset

DE-Exit – Eternal Matters – April 14
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Embark on a surrealistic afterlife journey to discover the secrets of the broken and mysterious plane of memory in this atmospheric, light adventure with a hint of stealth. Explore a wonderful voxel world with an intense cinematic approach. Dive into this profound experience, meet the Plane’s inhabitants, and save the day.

Farm Slider - Box Art Asset

Farm Slider – April 14
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

With colorful and minimalistic sliding puzzles, Farm Slider is easy to play, challenging to finish and impossible to put down! Challenge your brain and enjoy several hours of puzzling fun, suited for all ages. Slide your way through and rearrange the pictures until they match the original to complete the levels.

Split – Manipulate Time - Box Art Asset

Split – Manipulate Time – April 14

A first-person puzzle game with the unique mechanics of creating copies of yourself and manipulating time. The gameplay combines many different types of puzzles and takes them to a whole new perspective. The control panel is riddled with numerous traps that will require both good reflexes and composure — you can try to destroy enemies or escape from them by using time manipulation and your own clones to distract them.

Ultra Pixel Survive - Box Art Asset

Ultra Pixel Survive – April 14

Command heroes with unique abilities, harvest natural resources to collect materials, then build and develop your military defenses. Each night the enemy hordes will attack the village and challenge your strategic and tactical prowess to survive. Explore dark underground dungeons and wage battle against gigantic bosses.

Related:
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Minecraft Legends, Loop Hero, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and More
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 3 to 7
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for March 27 to 31

Share of the Week: Resident Evil 4 

Last week, we asked you to share crazy and intense moments from Resident Evil 4 using #PSshare and #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights: 

shitai_ shares a portrait of Leon with his gun drawn surrounded by fire.

kaytanaa shares Major Krauser lurking in the shadows

XxPAGZxX shares a silhouette of chainsaw man

ERI__VP shares a portrait of Luis

Ayghan shares Leon approaching the church village

Rafaelzoiorb92 shares Ashley succumbing to the plaga

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Resident Evil 4 – Leon S. Kennedy
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on April 12, 2023

Next week, we turn the spotlight on the hero of Resident Evil 4, Leon S. Kennedy. Share daring images of Leon using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Resident Evil 4 Remake Sales Top 4 Million Units

Resident Evil 4 remake has now sold over 4 million copies worldwide, Capcom announced today. This comes after Capcom previously revealed last month that the game sold over 3 million copies within its first two days of release.

“In addition to Resident Evil 4 garnering interest and attention from the release of the Chainsaw Demo prior to launch, sales of the title grew steadily following a highly positive reception from customers, driving worldwide sales over 4 million units,” Capcom said in a statement.

Capom continued: “Capcom will continue to focus on growing sales of the title, including with the release of The Mercenaries free additional downloadable content on April 7.”

The Mercenaries mode has players fighting infected enemies in a wave-based assault fashion. These challenges are timed-based ones and so players will need to defeat as many enemies as they can before the clock runs out.

The mode releases today, April 7, and includes four playable characters: Leon, Luis, Krauser, and Hunk. Resident Evil 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. It was already available in some areas as of yesterday, with some fans quickly identifying what seemed like pay-to-win microtransactions.

In IGN’s Resident Evil 4 remake review, we said: “The Resident Evil 4 remake is the series’ most relentlessly exciting adventure rebuilt, refined, and realized to the full extent of its enormous potential.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles Will Sing On Switch In August

Rhapsody II & III make their western debut.

NIS America has revealed that Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is launching on Switch on 29th August 2023 in North America, 1st September 2023 in Europe, and September 9th in Australia and Oceania.

Announced back in January, Marl Kingdom Chronicles marks the first time that Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom have received a western release. Both games will be getting a full English dub with remastered visuals.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Star Wars Finally Looks to Old Republic as James Mangold Confirms Movie About ‘Dawn of the Force’

Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most beloved eras in the extended universe, but it has been left largely untouched by Disney’s movies and television shows. That may be about to change, though, if a timeline shown during Star Wars Celebration is anything to go by.

Shortly before announcing several new Star Wars movies, LucasFilm studio head Kathleen Kennedy took the stage to share her vision for what Star Wars will look like in theaters. That means “broadening the timeline,” Kennedy says, as an image appeared highlighting seven major eras. They include:

The Old Republic: The era first depicted in BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic series. It remains a fan-favorite era, but it has been rarely acknowledged by Disney until now.

The High Republic: The golden age period that has been the focus of many of the books. The first show set in the High Republic will be Star Wars Acolyte, which was fully revealed during Celebration.

Fall of the Jedi: This would be the Prequel era.

Rise of the Empire: This is the era depicted in Star Wars Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi, covering the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

The Age of Rebellion: This is the period covered by the original Star Wars trilogy.

The New Republic: The era following Return of the Jedi, which is currently being covered by The Mandalorian.

Rise of the First Order: The sequel trilogy period starting with The Force Awakens.

Kennedy went on to announce several new movies, including one led by Dave Filoni that will be set roughly during the New Republic era, and a Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy starring Daisy Ridley. Then there’s the movie by Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold, a “Biblical epic” that will tell a story about “the dawning of the Force” set before The Old Republic.

Disney’s explicit nod toward the The Old Republic and promises to “broaden the timeline” would seem to indicate that more projects set in the era are on the way. The fans are certainly excited.

Fan appreciation for the Old Republic era extends back to KOTOR, which was first released back in 2003 for Xbox. Coming during a period in which the prequels were widely disliked, it was seen as a glimmer of light for disaffected Star Wars fans. A sequel would soon follow, then an MMORPG, the latter of which still continues to enjoy a solid following to this day. A remake is also currently in development, though it has experienced dramatic development troubles.

Despite that, Disney has mostly shied away from the KOTOR era, preferring instead to focus on more familiar ground such as the Galactic Civil War. Despite that, the Old Republic has remained broadly popular with Star Wars fans, who have held out hope that Disney might one day explore this era in a live-action setting.

Now, those hopes are starting to be realized. Here’s hoping we’ll see Darth Revan on the big screen soon enough. In the meantime, check out everything that was announced during Star Wars Celebration.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.