Expanded Universes: The Life Force/Gradius anime

[Editor’s note: Yup, this is forlast month’s Monthly Musingtopic. I’ve been so behind but I’m finally catching up. Expect a few more Expanded Universes promoted blogs to go up through the weekend. For now, check out Mighty Pinto’s promoted piece on theGradiusanime. — CTZ] So I’ve been reading all of this month’s musings, everything from Mega Man learning about Japan to Sonic the Hedgehog’s Saturday morning escapades when I suddenly remembered perusing the Xenocide files on Shmups....

May 15, 2025 · 9 min · 1763 words · Chris Perkins

Firewatch beats Far Cry Primal, Street Fighter V on PSN chart

Best-selling digital PS4 game of February Last week,Firewatchstudio Campo Santo revealed its first game had outsold the team’s, “wildest expectations.” It turns outFirewatchalso outsold a couple of last month’s most high-profile games —Far Cry PrimalandStreet Fighter V— at least on the PlayStation Store. According to Sony, the story-driven adventure game was the best-selling PlayStation 4 title on the market during the month of February. The company did not provide specific sales information, only that it outsold the competition, including Ubisoft and Capcom’s hot new games....

May 15, 2025 · 1 min · 131 words · John Cooley

Full EA FC 26 Gameplay Reveal Countdown

The first full gameplay reveal forEA FC 26is coming soon, and the community can catch all the action live and for free. EA Sports confirmed the cover star for this year’s Ultimate Edition earlier on July 14. Swedish Icon Zlatan Ibrahomic will take to the cover, butwe already knew that. What we still don’t know is how the gameplay will look, the exact release date, and more. To get confirmed information about all those features, our best bet is the upcoming gameplay reveal....

May 15, 2025 · 2 min · 274 words · Steven Guzman

Ghost Song is like Super Metroid, but with ghosts

Creepy little girl with hair covering her face: check There has been a resurgence ofgreatMetroidvaniatitlescoming out in recent times, but none have been quite as, well,heavily inspiredby theMetroidseries asGhost Song: A Journey of Hope. Take a look at the Kickstarter video above and you’ll see it too. Dark, alien planet? Check. Eerie, atmospheric music? Check. Creature that demonstrates an ability? Check. Shooting doors to open them? Gigantic boss monsters? Storytelling without cutscenes?...

May 15, 2025 · 1 min · 151 words · Erin Beltran

Hitman releases digitally this year, on disc in 2016

‘Sizable chunk’ playable at launch Amidst the rush of E3, I missed hearing about IO Interactive’sunusual release planforHitman. In a Q&A today, the studio reiterated some of those points and highlighted new details. To recap: “What we release on December 8th [as a download for PC, PS4, and Xbox One] is not the full game. It’s a sizeable chunk of it. Throughout 2016 we’ll release more locations and missions until the story arc is done and finished....

May 15, 2025 · 2 min · 310 words · Frank Gallagher DDS

How to Read the Game of Thrones Books in Order: Series Reading Guide

A Song of Ice and Fireis considered by many to be one of the best fantasy book series of all-time. Its richly drawn world, iconic characters, and incredible plot twists continue to win over new fans, especially with the continuing release of tie-in TV shows likeGame of Thrones,House of the Dragonand the upcomingKnight of the Seven Kingdoms. However, the length and complexity of the books can be daunting for new readers....

May 15, 2025 · 4 min · 826 words · Alexander Wells

How to unlock all characters in Hyper Light Breaker

Hyper Light Breakeris pretty fun to play, but boy howdy is it obtuse in some ways. Unlocking new weapons, for example, is rather unintuitive at face value. Unlocking new characters is similar in that respect, in that the game doesn’t explain how to do it at all. Of course,Hyper Light Drifterhad its level of obtuseness in place, courtesy of its insistence on speaking to the player inits own fantastical language. The weird bit is thatHyper Light Breakersomehow manages to be even more confusing in some ways, all the while using actual English to communicate its gameplay and systems....

May 15, 2025 · 3 min · 615 words · Zachary Hebert

How to Unlock Turles in Dragon Ball Sparking Zero

A fan-favorite among the franchise’s many antagonists, Turles can also be considered one of the most versatile characters inDragon Ball Sparking Zero, given his solid normals and fast Kill Driver energy blast. But like all of the other movie villains present, he won’t be available from the get-go. Here’s how to unlock Turles inDragon Ball Sparking Zero. How to Unlock Turles in Dragon Ball Sparking Zero you may unlock Turles inDragon Ball Sparking Zeroby either purchasing him from the game’s shop for 60,000 Zeni (only after reaching Player Level 10) or completing the Avenger Returns Bonus Battle....

May 15, 2025 · 2 min · 307 words · Sydney Cooper

Huge PlayStation Store sale highlights Square Enix and Atlus games

And several others Did you think you were going to save money heading into the fall’s onslaught of must-buy games? Hahaha, not if Sony has anything to say about it. There’s a newsale up on the PlayStation Storeand it features some classic Square (Enix) and Atlus games, alongside a whole bunch of others. While the list seems to go on forever, some of the notable titles areChrono CrossandChrono Triggerfor $4.99 each;Final Fantasy VthoughIX,Final Fantasy Origins, andFinal Fantasy Tacticsfor $4....

May 15, 2025 · 1 min · 126 words · Teresa Peterson

I weigh-in on Machinima’s Inside Gaming Awards

Our friends over at Machinima are holding their first ever award show. The Inside Gaming Awards takes place on December 11 and will cover the best game of the year, best trailers, best art and several other award categorizes. Check outthis YouTube videoto see the categories, the full list of nominees and where to vote for the games you think deserve to win. Machinima, in an attempt to get free hits, has been hitting up industry people to get feedback on their nominees....

May 15, 2025 · 1 min · 152 words · Christy West

Impressions: New Super Mario Bros. 2 DLC #2

A golden effort First-party Nintendo DLC is a weird concept indeed, but at this point, I’m starting to get used to it. Despite the fact thatone of the three Coin Packsin the last set ofNew Super Mario Bros. 2add-ons wasn’t up to snuff, Nintendo is back with two more at $2.50 apiece, ready to win your hearts over again. Thankfully in this case, the Big N has made a solid effort providing us with extra optional content to augment our experience, and it’s only getting better over time....

May 15, 2025 · 4 min · 704 words · Patricia Perry

June’s Band of Bloggers: Open Range!

Promoted from our community blogs! [Band of Bloggers, the community-run game club, is back for June. So read up on what the theme is, pick a game, play it, and come back to talk about it. Just like a book club! Just title it Open Range: [your blog title] and show everyone what you were up to! ~Strider] Well, since literally not a single person put forth anything even remotely resembling a suggestion for this month’s BoB in the recent recap we’ll be going with my original idea!...

May 15, 2025 · 2 min · 310 words · Devin Davis

Marvel Snap aiming to fix card acquisition woes with yet another different method, Snap Packs, coming soon

Marvel Snap’spopularity as both a mobile and PC card battler game has waxed and waned over the years, but one issue has remained constant: card acquisition. Whether it be returning players attempting to catch up or new players trying to get new cards without breaking the bank, the method of acquiring cards has been a topic of discussion since launch almost three years ago. Second Dinner is looking to finally fix the problem for good with another iteration of acquisition in an upcoming update in what it’s callingSnap Packs, the devannouncedon March 28....

May 15, 2025 · 2 min · 352 words · Felicia Larson