Gaming Control: ‘Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ Pushed Back To 2021
Kena: Bridge of Spirits - PlayStation
Console: Kena: Bridge of Spirits the PlayStation game’s release date has been pushed to 2021. The game’s production company, The Ember Lab, based in California, released in a tweet that the transition from in-person work to remote work has delayed game development progress. The game was introduced to the public at Sony’s PlayStation event earlier this year in June. In Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the main character Kena (pronounced KAY-nuh) travels to an abandoned village looking for a sacred mountain shrine. On her quest to learn more about the forgotten community, she discovers spirits scattered throughout the forest. Her obstacles include encountering trapped, corrupted spirits. The game was built using Unreal 4. Also, according to an interview, “If you buy it on PS4, you can upgrade the game to PS5 at no additional cost, too.” The game will also be available on PC via the Epic Games Store in later months.
On September 3, during a special Mario-themed Nintendo Direct celebrating their 35th anniversary, Nintendo developers shared that they are bringing Super Mario 3D World to the Switch. The Switch version will arrive on February 12th, 2021, along with extra content. The game includes both online multiplayer and couch co-op. Nintendo also announced Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a collection consisting of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. 3D All-Stars includes gameplay improvements and was made available on September 18th. There is “a limited production” that will be available until around the end of March.
As an American studio creating a game about feudal Japan, Sucker Punch’s fear was coming off as appropriators. Thankfully, the game Ghost of Tsushima has been positively received by gamers everywhere, including Japan. Sucker Punch was nervous developing the game. Because they are an American studio creating a game about feudal Japan, there was fear that they may have come off as appropriators. To avoid this worst-case scenario, Sucker Punch took all the advice they could. In an interview at PAX, producer Brian Fleming shared that Sucker Punch kept the idea for the game on the down-low and seeked advice from Shuhei Yoshida. They did not promote the game as “authentic,” and did not hide the fact that they were Westerners. Instead, Sucker Punch efficiently created a production inspired by a culture other than their own by communicating with Sony Japan and consultants around the world.
On September 16, PlayStation held its official PlayStation 5 showcase livestream. The event depicted many games that were to be released on the new PlayStation console, including Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, developed by Insomniac Games. Miles Morales, voiced by Nadji Jeter, is one of the few video game characters designed to be both Latino and Black. Near the end of the showcase, it was released that there would be two types of PlayStation 5 to be released: the “Digital” Edition and the regular version. The Digital Edition will cost $399 USD and the regular version will cost $499. The main difference between the Digital Edition and the regular version of the console is that the digital one does not have a disk drive and relies entirely on online purchases and in-console downloads in order for the user to play game, whereas the regular console has an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive, so you can buy and insert disks as you would for previous PlayStation consoles.
Pac-Man Geo - Bandai Namco
Mobile: The massively multiplayer online game Black Desert Online has accumulated almost $2 billion in revenue since its launch back in 2014. The brand developed by South Korean Pearl Abyss hit $1 billion as of April 2019. "Black Desert is now one of the most popular MMORPGs in the Asian market," said US CEO Jeonghee Jin. Although Black Desert caters to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 players, it was shared last year that mobile downloads comprised a third of Black Desert’s gross sales. The Black Desert franchise has gained a lifetime revenue of over $1.7 billion.
The Classic Pac-Man has gone mobile with the development of the new Pac-Man Geo. Pac-Man Geo will be similar to one of the most popular apps of 2016, Pokemon Go. Like Pokemon Go, Pac-Man Geo uses a mobile video game format called augmented reality. In augmented reality games, the user has an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects in real life are enhanced by computer-generated design, and they commonly require the user to travel. The game was announced by Bandai Namco as part of its 40th anniversary. Currently, a release date for the game has not been set, but you can pre-register on Google Play, and pre-order on the App Store.
Among Us - InnerSloth
PC: Among Us is the murder-mystery party game first released in 2018 by the three-person development team InnerSloth that has become one of the most popular games this summer. Experts say this is because gamers and gaming novices are looking for new technology that allows them to play group games in a socially distanced way. Among Us is a survival game in which one or three of the players in the lobby are alien "imposters" whose objective is to kill others. For the rest of the players, called crewmates, to win, they must successfully vote to “eject” the imposters out. On August 18, a developer’s blog post shared that the team was working on Among Us 2. Judging off how long it took to create the original mafia-esque game, the earliest possibility for a full Among Us 2 release is August 2021. “Among Us 2 will probably take at least as long to enter open beta, and will probably spend longer there," says the blog post. If the developers roll out an early access version of the game before launch, it's possible that fans and streamers will get to play the sequel even earlier. Some differences between the Among Us and Among Us 2 will include bigger lobbies, new maps, an improved matchmaking system, and other game additions. Among Us is $4.99 on Steam.