Welcome to our video game news for week 28. We are moving into the heat of summer in my neck of the woods and that means more time outside. That means much less play time than usual. That hasn’t stopped me from keeping up on the latest video game happenings, though. As always I am happy to share what I’ve read or heard about this week. Hope you enjoy reading along with me.
Video Game News Recap
General News Updates
Oculus Rift announces Marvel Powers United VR at D23. The video below and the announcement shared that the first three playable characters will be Captain Marvel, Hulk, and Rocket Raccoon. If you’re attending San Diego Comic-Con you can try out the game at the Marvel booth, so swing by if you’re there. The game itself arrives sometime in 2018. Until then, enjoy this fun little video. “Hulk, SMASH!”
Also announced at D23, 2018 brings Toy Story to Kingdom Hearts III.
Blizzard’s Latest Video Game News
Blizzard has announced their first major global professional esports league with OVERWATCH LEAGUE™. They’ve sold the first seven teams to the following:
Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group and the New England Patriots (Boston)
Jeff Wilpon, Co-Founder and Partner of Sterling.VC and COO of the New York Mets (New York)
Noah Whinston, CEO of Immortals (Los Angeles)
Ben Spoont, CEO and Co-Founder of Misfits Gaming (Miami-Orlando)
Andy Miller, Chairman and Founder of NRG Esports (San Francisco)
NetEase (Shanghai)
Kevin Chou, Co-founder of Kabam (Seoul)
This league will give players a chance to shine in a global arena, get paid to train and compete, and continue to hone their elite skills while building a fan base in their local areas. It is exciting to see that competitive esports is growing and gaining such popularity, but I won’t quit my day job just yet. I’m good, but I’m not that good.
Xbox’s Latest Video Game News
A full list of the new releases coming up next week shows six new games coming out this week can be found on the Xbox news page. Here are a couple highlights from the list:
Moon Hunters is a cooperative adventure style game that takes you through an ever-changing world. Each time you play, the world will be different. Play different classes, develop different stories and upgrade gear with each playthrough. Available 07/19 on Xbox One.
What Remains of Edith Finch is such a cool looking game. For those who play on Xbox, you’ll be happy to hear it is available on 07/19.
Current Games with Gold are Watch Dogs (06/16 – 07/15), Grow Up (07/01 – 07/31), and Kane & Lynch 2 (07/01 – 07/15). Upcoming games are Runbow (07/16 – 08/15) and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (07/16 – 07/31).
You can check out the games on sale right now on the Deals With Gold page.
Nintendo’s Latest Video Game News
Hey! Pikmin and Miitopia launch 07/28 but if you want a preview both have one available now in the Nintendo Games Store. Also, this recent announcement shares that if you pre-order either title you can download them ahead of the launch date so you’re ready to play on the 28th.
As always, you can view current and upcoming releases on the Nintendo Games Store page.
PlayStation’s Latest Video Game News
This week’s The Drop highlights 11 new releases in the upcoming week. Check out the blog entry for the full list but here are a couple that caught my eye:
Children of Zodiarcs from indie development company Cardboard Utopia will be available on PS4 07/18. The game is a single-player RPG that utilizes cards and dice for character skills and progression.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles also drops on 07/18. Set in an open-world concept island realm you’ll farm, cook, fish, craft, and develop relationships across eight environments and seasons.
PlayStation Plus includes free games. Currently available are Until Dawn, Tokyo Jungle, Darkstalkers Resurrection, Don’t Die, Mr. Robot!, Element4, and a whole lot of Game of Thrones games.
STEAM’s Latest Video Game News
New releases and upcoming releases are available on the Steam Games page.
Current pricing specials can be found on the Specials page. This page is updated frequently so check back often.
GeekMom and GeekDad Recent Video Game Articles
GeekMoms and GeekDads often write about video games. Here is a list of all the video gaming related articles from the blogs from this past week:
- Will James shared his latest game on the go with “Commuter Gamer ‘Valerian: City of Alpha’ Comes to Mobile.”
- Z. shows us how to expand our gaming experience with “Seagate’s Game Drive Is The Perfect Way to Expand Your PS4.”
Below are the video games some of the Geek Parents have been playing lately.
Dr. Gerry Tolbert:
- Heroes of the Storm (PC)
- Overwatch (PC)
- Onirim (iOS)
- SmashUp Beta (iOS)
Z.:
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
- Miitopia (3DS)
- Hey! Pikmin (3DS)
Randy Slavey:
- Battlefield 1 (PS4)
Michael Harrison:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch)
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)
- Snipperclips (Nintendo Switch)
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Samantha Fisher:
- Overwatch (PC)
- Potion Explosion (iOS)
Anthony Karcz:
- Hearthstone (iOS)
- Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS)
- Transformers: Forged to Fight (iOS)
- Transformers: Earth Wars (iOS)
Will James:
- Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (iOS)
- Star Wars Force Arena (iOS)
- Transformers Earth Wars (iOS)
- Valerian: City of Alpha (iOS)
For more gaming news, or to share your love of video games with me, please follow @samanthafisher on Twitter.
