Hey! Listen!
Welcome back to Press Start to BGN, Laurier’s gaming show by a bunch of Game Design & Development students here at Laurier’s Brantford campus. The program is very new and so is our show, so for those who don’t know Game Design & Development is headed by Dr Scott Nicholson through the Brantford Games Network or BGN, hence the name “Press Start to BGN” which sounds like “begin.” This week Stephan rants and raves about his latest game obsession Night in the Woods. And of course we talk about all the news and game release… but mostly Night in the Woods. Thanks for tuning in!
NEWS!
- Pokémon Go has over 650 million downloads, according to Niantic
- Stardew Valley is now one year old, and has been announced to be coming to the Nintendo Switch this summer with multiplayer features
- Twitch users are now able to change their usernames
- Twitch viewers can now buy games directly from the site, depending on what their streamers are playing; partnered streamers will be receiving 5 per cent of all sales from their channel, while 70 per cent will go to the game’s creator(s)
- Irrational Games has changed their company name to Ghost Story Games, stating that “…our new focus allows us to craft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories.”
- The Bioshock movie was 8 weeks away from shooting, but was dropped
- Runner3 will be coming exclusively to the Switch this fall
- Spry Fox has released an adorable trailer for Beartopia, a cooperative game coming to Google’s Daydream VR platform and PC
- Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the sequel to Shadow of Mordor, has been announced to be released in late August this year for PS4, Xbox One, Steam and Windows 10
- 17 games have been announced for the Nintendo Switch, including Stardew Valley, Yooka-Laylee, Runner3, Overcooked! Special Edition, The Escapist 2 and GoNNER
- Ubisoft has announced that the developers of The Division is in progress of making a game based off of the world within James Cameron’s Avatar
- Owlchemy Labs has made a version of Overwatch within Job Simulator
- A new rumoured Assassin’s Creed image has been leaked, along with the suggested title for the new game, Assassin’s Creed Empire
- Some Switch games has been announced to only work when it is in handheld mode
- Confirmed Nintendo Switch Day One launch titles are including Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Just Dance 2017, 1-2-Switch, Skylanders: Imaginators, Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment and Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
- GameStop has started publishing games with its new division, GameTrust; its first title, Song of the Deep, was a success
- Sony has managed to sell nearly 1 million PlayStation VR headsets within four months, even though their target time for that number was six months
What’s Coming Out Soon!
- Halo Wars 2 (Feb 21, PC, XB1)
- Halo Wars is finally back! This Real-Time Strategy game was a big hit when the first one came out. The second installment continues the story of the Sprit of Fire after waking up from Cryosleep after 28 years. The game includes 6-player multiplayer online, as well as many different game modes. If you played and enjoyed the first one, you’ll enjoy continuing your adventure here!
- Night In The Woods (Feb 21, PC, PS4)
- This Kickstarter-funded (400% of the $50,000 goal), single-player, adventure game that we love. You play as Mae, a college dropout who comes home and discovers a mystery that she and her friends choose to solve. I know Stephan can’t recommend this game enough, considering that he thinks it’s the Game of the Year. I agree. This game is enjoyable, relatable, the characters make you want to listen, and the story is phenomenal. Pick up the game for $20 on Steam or PS4
- Horizon Zero Dawn (Feb 28th, PS4)
- They made the gritty Killzone series. Then they decided, “eh, let’s do a 180.” BOOM. Horizon Zero Dawn is out. This PS4 exclusive released by Guerilla Games is completely out of the blue. This beautiful open-world RPG has you playing in a world full of robots as a hunter named Aloy (the voice of Tiny Tina in Borderlands!), where you must discover the world around you. From what I’ve heard, the conversations make you WANT to listen to them. The gameplay is fun, and the attention to detail is extraordinary. Pick it up for $80 on your PS4!
- Nintendo Switch (March 3rd, 2017, $400) NEW CONSOLE?
- NEW CONSOLE! Nintendo releases their new console-handheld hybrid this week, and pre-orders have already sold out. This means launch titles as well so let’s get to it! Also, side note, what will be the abbreviation? I’m not feeling (NS), it seems too short. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, SnipperClips (I’ve been calling it SnipperClippers… I like that name much better).
- 1, 2, Switch!
- Super Bomberman R
- Fast RMX
- Shovel Knight
- And More!!
I know we here at Press Start to BGN will have the ability to play the Switch when it comes out, so stay tuned for our reactions! And that’s what comes out this week, have fun and play hard!
Topic of the Show:
This week on Press Start to BGN, we talked about the game Night in the Woods. Night in the Woods was released this year in February. You play as Mae a recent college drop out who has returned to her home town Possum Springs. The game has been said to have relatable dialogue and plotlines that can hit you where it hurts, the heart. Highly praised by our very own Stephan Reilly as “…way better than it has any right to be…” so far it has been highly praised so you should go check it out.
What We’ve Been Playing:
Stephan:
- Night in the Woods
- From Kickstarter to reality comes Infinite Fall’s Night in the Woods. In this single player adventure game, players play as a 20-year-old cat named Mae who has just recently dropped out of college and has returned to her hometown of Possum Springs. Reuniting with her old high school friends, Mae begins to settle back into her small-town life but finds things are not going to be the same as they use to be. Play various mini-games, spend time with your friends and create a new chapter in your life in this spectacularly charming game. Available on PC and PlayStation 4.
- Overwatch
- From Blizzard Entertainment comes their 2016 first person shooter, multiplayer game Overwatch. Overwatch contains multiple characters to choose from to battle as with their strengths being linked to four main play categories: offence, defence, tank, and support. Choose your character and fight either one on one or on a team of six against other teams throughout the game’s various game modes and maps. With updates and events coming out throughout the year, Overwatch is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Jelena:
Pokemon Go (see Cassie’s section)
Cassie:
- Pokemon Go
- From Niantic comes the augmented reality, location based game Pokemon Go. Taking the world by storm during its release in the summer of 2016, Pokemon Go allows players to capture Pokemon close to their global location, battle gyms in their area and try their best to catch them all. Now with the release of the Johto Pokedex Pokemon, players can find themselves with more Pokemon to catch in this game available on iOS and Android.
Paris:
- Need for Speed
- From Electronic Arts is their action racing game Need for Speed. Choose and customise your vehicle, race against other players, and do your best to win. Available on several platforms including iOS, PC, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStations 2, 3 and 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Music:
This week we had:
- “Kirby Dream Land”
- Smooth McGroove’s “Green Hill Zone Acapella”
- toby fox’s “Sans”
- “Title (Metroid)” Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- “Super Mario Bros. Medley” Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
WRAP
That’s everything! We’re super excited to be doing this show and we hope you’re enjoying it too 🙂 We’re on every Wednesday at 7 pm on this site and if you have any questions or feedback feel free to tweet Stephan (@StephanReilly) or email reil4130 (at) mylaurier (dot) ca. Thanks again and catch you next week!