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With Call Of Duty 2020 Rumors Swirling, Modern Warfare 3 Co-Dev Opens Office In Australia

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Sledgehammer Games, which made Call of Duty: World War II most recently and is said to be part of a big development shakeup at Activision, has opened an office in Melbourne, Australia.

Developer Alayna Cole announced the news during the New Zealand Game Developers Conference. Cole is the first hire at Sledgehammer’s Melbourne office, and she is slated to start as a producer this coming Monday. It appears Sledgehammer’s office in Melbourne is only just getting started, given Cole is the first hire.

It is unknown what Sledgehammer’s Melbourne office will work on. The main studio was founded in 2009 by Dead Space developers Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, both of whom have since left the company. Sledgehammer, which is owned by Activision, co-developed 2011’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward as its first title, before making Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) and then Call of Duty: WWII (2017).

The Call of Duty series was known to be on a three-year, three-studio cycle, but this appears to be changing. According to Kotaku, Activision originally planned for 2020’s Call of Duty game to be led by Raven Software with Sledgehammer assigned as a co-developer on a title said to be set during the Cold War. However, Activision reportedly changed plans and decided to put Treyarch on Call of Duty: Black Ops 5, said to release in 2020.

According to the report, Raven and Sledgehammer will work on Black Ops 5 as support studios. They will reportedly take what they already made for their own single-player campaigns, and adapt them for Black Ops 5, which is also said to take place during the Cold War.

The announcement of Sledgehammer’s Australian studio comes just a month before PAX Australia comes to Melbourne in October.

Sledgehammer appears to be the first, or among the first, of Activision’s Call of Duty studios to open a sister location. It’s a win for the Australian game development scene, as Sledgehammer will be looking to hire staff. Earlier this year, Electronic Arts announced massive layoffs for its own Melbourne studio, FireMonkeys.

A job posting for Sledgehammer Melbourne that has since expired called for a software engineer to join the team. The job ad states that Sledgehammer Melbourne is a “start up studio.” The ad also describes the studio as a “small but mighty team,” which suggests it won’t staff up to the level of Sledgehammer’s main office in California that reportedly counts more than 200 on its staff.

The next Call of Duty game is the Modern Warfare reboot from Infinity Ward. It launches on October 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/with-call-of-duty-2020-rumors-swirling-modern-warf/1100-6469654/

Nintendo Direct: Smash Bros. Ultimate Banjo-Kazooie Details – Moves, Music, New Stage

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In a presentation following the September 2019 Nintendo Direct, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai detailed the game’s newest fighter: Banjo and Kazooie. The bird-and-bear pair, which are arriving in Ultimate today, bring with them a new stage, 10 music tracks, and a moveset that’s been faithfully adapted from the original Banjo games.

Sakurai gave a full rundown of Banjo and Kazooie’s moves and some strategies associated with them, which you can watch above. Highlights include their Down Special, a grenade egg that Kazooie can fire from behind (inspired by Banjo-Tooie’s egg selection); their sprint, which is a direct adaptation of the pair’s Talon Trot move, in which Kazooie comes out of the backpack to walk; and their Side Special, a Wonder Wing attack with limited uses per stock. Banjo and Kazooie’s Final Smash, the Final Jinjonator, is taken directly from the final boss fight in Banjo-Kazooie.

Their new stage is Spiral Mountain as it was in Banjo-Kazooie, complete with honeycomb pieces, the intact entrance to Grunty’s Lair, and Banjo’s house in the background. The stage rotates around the top of Spiral Mountain, and platforms will appear periodically. You can also spot a number of characters in the stage, including Bottles the mole, Banjo’s sister Tooty, the shaman Mumbo Jumbo, Jinjos, and Grunty herself.

As for music, Ultimate is getting 10 Banjo-inspired tracks, seven of which are new arrangements. Grant Kirkhope, who composed music for the original Banjo games, contributed to the arrangements. They include a number of tracks from Banjo-Kazooie–Mumbo’s Mountain, Gobi’s Valley, and Treasure Trove Cove, for example–as well as mini-boss themes from Banjo-Tooie, including Vs. Klungo.

Banjo and Kazooie will be available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from today. The bear and bird were first announced during Nintendo’s E3 2019 presentation.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-direct-smash-bros-ultimate-banjo-kazooie-/1100-6469649/

Divinity: Original Sin 2 Has Cross-Saves Between Switch And PC–That’s A Big Deal

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Nintendo and Larian Studios announced and surprise-released Divinity: Original Sin 2 on Nintendo Switch today, September 4, and it includes what could be the first instance of a particular feature.

The game supports cross-saves between Nintendo Switch and Steam on PC. That is a big deal because it appears to be the first, or among the first Switch games, to allow that.

With cross-saves, people can play at home on PC and then pick up where they left off on Switch when they’re out and about. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a very long game, so those who started on PC but didn’t finish, and now want to play on Switch, can do so as well keeping their saves.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is out now on Switch, so players can start taking advantage of the cross-save functionality right away. For now, Divinity: Original Sin 2 only supports cross-saves between Switch and PC; there is no cross-save support with PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

All Divinity: Original Sin 2 players are getting a special treat, as Larian Studios is handing out a “Gift Bag” of free DLC on every platform. The new gift bag, which follows a previous release earlier this year, comes with new recipes and items to craft, a new icon on the hotbar that lets you toggle sprint on and off, and an “Animal Empathy” feature that lets you talk to animals without spending talent points to do. Also new in the DLC is a Magic Mirror, located in the Arena of Fort Joy, that lets you respect before moving to a new act of the game. On top of this, Larian is giving everyone an increase to their base maximum action points to 8. Finally, there is now a herb garden in the game that players can use to grow plants.

For more on the September Nintendo Direct, check out all the big news in our recap.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/divinity-original-sin-2-has-cross-saves-between-sw/1100-6469650/

Sans From Undertale Is A Mii Fighter For Smash Ultimate; Megalovania Makes The Tracklist

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It’s about time, Sans from Undertale has made it to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, sort of. During the latest Nintendo Direct, it was announced that Sans would be available as a Mii fighter. Sans gets his own custom outfit and uses the Gunner moveset. You also get a new arrangement of the iconic song “Megalovania” by Undertale creator himself, Toby Fox.

Along with several other Mii fighters (Team Rocket, Zero from Mega Man, and others), Sans will be available for $0.75 USD later today.

According to Smash Ultimate director and designer Masahiro Sakurai, Toby Fox visited his house and was able to keep up with him competitively; Sakurai admitted that they split matches with an even 50/50 win-loss ratio, being the best guest he has played.

For all the biggest Switch news from today, be sure to catch up with our Nintendo Direct news roundup or read up on all our stories below.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sans-from-undertale-is-a-mii-fighter-for-smash-ult/1100-6469646/

Nintendo Direct: All The New Trailers In One Place

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September’s Nintendo Direct was a long one. At 40 minutes, the video presentation packed in a lot of news and reveals, including the announcement of Overwatch for Switch, Deadly Premonition 2, SNES games coming to Nintendo Switch Online, and lots more.

Plenty of new trailers, too, debuted during the Nintendo Direct. We’ve collected them all into one place here so you get a quick look at all the big new trailers from the show. We’ll keep adding more to this roundup as they become available.

Pokemon Sword & Shield

The new Sword & Shield trailer showed off more of the Galar region, Pokemon Camp, and the Surprise Trade feature for the upcoming Nintendo Switch role-playing game.

Overwatch Legendary Edition For Switch

Blizzard’s popular team-based shooter Overwatch is headed to Nintendo Switch in October. The Switch version comes with a special “Noire” skin for Widowmaker, as well as three months of Nintendo Switch Online (which you need to play the game). Overwatch comes to Switch on October 15.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Terry Bogard

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s newest character, Terry Bogard, was announced during the September Nintendo Direct. He comes from SNK’s Fatal Fury series. A fighter himself, Terry appears to be a good match for the Smash series. He launches in November through the Fighters Pass.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Nintendo showcased the new Animal Crossing game for Nintendo Switch in a trailer show highlighted some of the things you can do in the new game. New Horizons invites players to enjoy the deserted island life, where they can fish, camp, and manage their gardens. It seems very tranquil. New Horizons launches on March 20, 2020.

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

The original Xenoblade Chronicles from developer Monolith Soft is being remade with a definitive edition launching in 2020. Check out the brand-new trailer below.

For lots more on the September Nintendo Direct, check out all the news stories linked below.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-direct-all-the-new-trailers-in-one-place/1100-6469647/

Nintendo Direct: New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Mode Announced

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As Nintendo’s Direct presentation came to a close, game director Masahiro Sakurai announced a new–and pretty much final–mode for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Home Run Contest will make its return to the party-fighter in the newest software update, which is available today.

Sakurai said Home Run Contest has been “powered up in various ways compared to previous” iterations of the mode, but he didn’t clarify what these improvements are. This time, though, Home Run Contest can be played with two players, making the home run even more impressive.

In other Super Smash Bros. Ultimate news, the game’s third DLC character, Banjo-Kazooie, will be available later today. The fourth DLC character of the game’s Fighter Pass, Fatal Fury‘s Terry Bogard, is slated to join the roster this November. Though the Fighter Pass now has only one unannounced character left, Sakurai confirmed that more DLC characters outside of the Fighter Pass are on the way. Additionally, you can grab a new Spirit Board freebie for the party-fighter if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and it comes with a smorgasbord of helpful items for the game’s Spirit Board mode.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-direct-new-super-smash-bros-ultimate-mode/1100-6469645/

Nintendo Switch Is Getting Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

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Nintendo capped off its Direct presentation by announcing a remaster for the critically acclaimed Wii RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles. The upcoming remaster builds upon the original with completely redone graphics across both the game’s characters and world.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

$60

Pre-order at Best Buy

Aside from brief glimpses of a few in-game cutscenes, not much else was shown. But what little was revealed was enough to confirm a definite bump in visuals. Characters and environments both seem to have been given a facelift that’s quite a step up in graphical fidelity from the original.

Xenoblade Chronicles released on Wii in 2010; though, it took the game quite a while to release in the west, coming out in 2011 and 2012 in Europe and North America respectively. At launch, GameSpot reviewer Ashton Raze scored the game a 9/10, saying in his review: “Xenoblade Chronicles is a remarkable game. It drags the JRPG into the 21st century, modernising many of the genre’s traits and nailing a pace that outclasses the majority of its peers…It retains the traditions it wants to and modernises the aspects it needs to. It’s not only one of the best JRPGs in years; it’s also one of the best RPGs regardless of subgenre. Xenoblade Chronicles is a captivating, magical game which deserves to be hailed as the revolution it is.”

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is launching on Nintendo Switch sometime in 2020. Nintendo confirmed that more announcements concerning the game will be unveiled in the coming months.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-switch-is-getting-xenoblade-chronicles-de/1100-6469644/

Nintendo Direct: A Beloved Star Wars Game Is Coming To Switch This Month

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During the September 2019 Nintendo Direct, the company announced that Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is coming to Switch this September. Though no longer canon, Jedi Outcast is one of the most beloved games amongst the Star Wars community.

First releasing in 2002, Jedi Outcast puts you in the shoes of Kyle Katarn, who finds himself facing off against dark Jedi Desann. Though a first-person shooter, Jedi Outcast does eventually give you the opportunity to play around with a lightsaber and use Force powers. The game was critically acclaimed for both its well-written single-player campaign and popular multiplayer. Unfortunately, only the single-player is being ported to the Switch version.

In GameSpot’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast review, Amer Ajami wrote, “[Jedi Outcast’s] strong points–especially its combat–overshadow whatever problems Jedi Outcast may have early on. It’s a very slick game that borrows the best elements from past shooters, introduces a number of its own great twists, and then combines these elements to make something that will be highly enjoyable both for those who like shooters and those who simply like Star Wars. And if you happen to like both, then you’ll be especially impressed. Jedi Outcast certainly becomes tough later on, but once you learn to master all your force powers and get a good grip on your lightsaber, you’ll feel unstoppable–the sight of Katarn effortlessly cutting through, leaping over, and pushing back crowds of enemies is a sight to behold. And once you finish the single-player game, the many multiplayer options will keep you coming back for more.”

Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast is coming to Nintendo Switch on September 24.

Though not announced on the Direct, StarWars.com reports that Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is coming to Nintendo Switch too. Another beloved Star Wars game, Jedi Academy won’t be coming to Switch until early 2020. Another shooter, Jedi Academy sees you take on the role of Kyle’s apprentice, Jaden Korr, who’s assigned to complete missions across the galaxy for both his master and Luke Skywalker.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-direct-a-beloved-star-wars-game-is-coming/1100-6469643/

All 20 SNES Games Coming To Nintendo Switch Online Tomorrow

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During the latest Nintendo Direct livestream, it was announced that a library of Super Nintendo games will be available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers at no additional cost tomorrow, September 5. There will also be local co-op and competitive multiplayer features for some games and a rewind function built-in. The initial list of games that launch tomorrow is as follows.

Nintendo Switch Online Super Nintendo Games

  • Brawl Brothers
  • Breath Of Fire
  • Demon’s Crest
  • F-Zero
  • Joe And Mac 2: Lost In The Tropics
  • Kirby’s Dream Course
  • Kirby’s Dream Land 3
  • Pilotwings
  • Star Fox
  • Stunt Race FX
  • Super EDF: Earth Defense Force
  • Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
  • Super Mario Kart
  • Super Mario World
  • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
  • Super Metroid
  • Super Puyo Puyo 2
  • Super Soccer
  • Super Tennis
  • The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

A version of the original SNES controller for the Switch will also be available for $30 USD. This will only be available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, but it isn’t required to play the games above. Even more titles are on the way, though we don’t yet know if they’ll arrive monthly, as has been the trend with NES Online games.

For all the big Switch announcements, be sure to catch up on our Nintendo Direct livestream roundup or check out all the stories below.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/all-20-snes-games-coming-to-nintendo-switch-online/1100-6469642/

Nintendo Direct: Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag And Rogue Come To Switch This Year

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During the September 2019 Nintendo Direct, the company announced both Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue are coming out in a single collection aptly titled Assassins Creed: Rebel Collection. Both games originally launched for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC before being released again on Xbox One and PS4.

Rebel Collection will also include the two single-player DLC expansions for Black Flag: Aveline and Freedom’s Cry. Previously exclusive to the PS3, PS4, and PC version of Black Flag, the Aveline DLC sees Assassin’s Creed Liberation protagonist Aveline de Grandpré travel to Rhode Island to undergo an undercover mission that Assassin’s Creed III protagonist Connor was unable to. Freedom’s Cry continues the story of Adéwalé, a character introduced in Black Flag who would become one of the most brutal but honorable members of the Assassin Brotherhood.

Both Black Flag and Rogue are a turning point in the Assassin’s Creed series, existing in conjunction with Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed Liberation as a series of stories that primarily take place within the same time period. Though Liberation follows Aveline and Rogue is about Shay Patrick Cormac, the four games primarily focus on the saga of the Kenway family–namely Edward, his son Haytham, and his grandson Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor. Additionally, these four games mark the point in the series where Ubisoft began writing the Assassins and Templars with more nuance. Their conflict was less good vs. evil and more just two ancient organizations that have been at war with one another for many millennia.

In Black Flag, you play as a nameless Abstergo employee who joins the Assassins after living through the early life of Edward Kenway, a selfish and ambitious pirate who ultimately finds a higher calling by using his exceptional talents to safeguard human freedom as a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. In Rogue, you play as a different but still nameless Abstergo employee, this time living through the experiences of Shay, an Irish-born Assassin who betrays the Brotherhood and joins the Templars after being convinced the latter are doing more for the American Colonies than the former.

In GameSpot’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag review, Shaun McInnis wrote, “Black Flag presents a world full of adventure and opportunity, where treasures scavenged in a remote jungle can be used to turn the tide in a massive naval battle against mighty Spanish warships. It’s a game where you can sail the seas for hours at a time, either hunting great white sharks or simply listening to your crew sing one infectious sea shanty after the next. There’s an incredible scope to what you can do in Black Flag, with a level of harmony between its component parts that encourages you to try it all, and a story that keeps you invested throughout the whole thing.”

Our review for Rogue is somewhat positive as well, but the game isn’t nearly as good as Black Flag. In GameSpot’s Assassin’s Creed Rogue review, Mark Walton wrote, “Outside of a few additions like an air rifle and grenade launcher (which is used exactly one for mission), there’s next to nothing in Rogue that moves the franchise forward. And even if you simply wanted more of Black Flag, that the missions are so sparse makes it difficult to want to drag yourself across the vast expanse of Rogue’s oceans. Instead of a rich, fleshed-out game, Rogue is a short, mildly entertaining adventure that’s thin on core content, but thick with information. It’s intriguing information though, particularly if you’re a series fan, just don’t expect the best of adventures while you’re taking it all in.”

The Rebel Collection releases for Nintendo Switch on December 6.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-direct-assassins-creed-4-black-flag-and-r/1100-6469623/