Re-Spawn: This Week's Video Game News

Welcome back to the latest edition of Re-Spawn where GeekMoms and GeekDads share video gaming news that caught our eye in the last week and let you know what we’ve played recently.

Madden NFL 18 is now available for pre-order and will release on 08/15/17. If you are an EA Access customer you can get early access on the 14th. The teaser trailer below will not only give you a taste of the insanely hot graphics in this version but apparently, Tom Brady is the star of this ~~movie~~ game.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War is now available on iOS and Android. This mobile strategy game will feature the characters and ships from the movie and will allow players to become a pirate and play alongside their favorites while they build ships, train their crew and fight epic open sea battles with their foes.
Blizzard has (sort of) confirmed that Overwatch will have another special event to celebrate the anniversary of the insanely popular first-person shooter game. No date has been announced that I’ve seen but I would guess it will be somewhere around 05/24 since that is when Overwatch launched in 2016. When responding to a fan on Twitter who asked about an event the company said “No timing details yet” which seems to indicate there are details to be had.
Microsoft Xbox‘s latest:
- Current Games with Gold are Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut (05/01 – 05/31), Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (05/16 – 06/15), and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (05/16 – 05/31).
- You can check out the games on sale right now on the Deals With Gold page.
You can always view current and upcoming releases on the Nintendo Games Store page but the highlights are:
- Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition released on 05/11.
- Splatoon 2 (07/21/17) is available for pre-order. It will feature “Salmon Run” which is a four-player co-op mode.
- Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters was announced for a Fall 2017 release and it is on the pre-order page now. For those of us that saw the movie event in theaters last year the origin of the Yokai Watch isn’t new but it will still be fun to see it game form.
- Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop releases 05/18/17. I’ve found all the games in this series fun and a dessert themed version sounds sweet to me.
Playstation has announced several upcoming releases for the PS4 since my last update.
- LocoRoco Remastered is now available on PS4. If you like your 2-D platform games full of color and happiness this game is for you.
- Be sure to bookmark The Drop on the Playstation blog where each week you get a detailed list of synopses of all the games coming out the next week. I recommend you click on the link for Deemo: The Last Recital. It will be available on PS Vita in the US next week and the music is gorgeous.
STEAM has lots of one-day or weekend sales and you should bookmark their News front page so you can keep up on them. Here is a link to the Specials section of the STEAM store as well.
- The new releases page highlights items that have recently become available on STEAM. The one I found most intriguing is Little Nightmares. It is available on other platforms but STEAM seems to be the only one actually plugging it so that’s where I’m plugging it, as well. The artistic style coupled with the original music gave me chills!
- Then the upcoming releases page shows you a list of games coming as far as the eye can see. Well, as far as 30 pages of listing can show you, I guess.
- Check out the trailer for Endless Space 2. I can’t embed it properly but it is so worth the click through. This is one of the sweetest game release videos I’ve ever watched. As you move your mouse back and forth over the video (left and right) you see two different scenes for every part of the narration. This game made my short list for purchase this month and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it as I try it out. Here is a not as cool preview video for those that don’t wish to click through to the game website.

GeekMom and GeekDad often write about video games. Here are the full-length articles on our site from the last week:

Last week we got 5 pointers from Corrina Lawson and this week Z takes us “Hands on With the New Nintendo 2DS XL.”
Michael Kaufman shared the announcement that the “Oculus’ Virtual Reality Content Studio [is] to Be Closed.”

Below are the video games some of the GeekMom and GeekDad crew have been playing lately. Given International Tabletop Day was this week, it isn’t surprising our pixelated versions are a bit light:

Will James: Transformers: Forged to Fight, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and Star Wars Force Arena (iOS)
Anthony Karcz: Hearthstone, Transformers: Forged to Fight, Star Wars Puzzle Droids, and Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS)
Kelly Knox: Star Wars Battlefront (Xbox One)
Z:
- Minecraft (Nintendo Switch)
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (3DS)
Mike LeSauvage: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Dave Banks:
- Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)
- Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (Xbox One)
Samantha Fisher:
- Overwatch (PC)
- Paperback, Boggle with Friends, and Mahjongg (iOS)