Welcome to our video game news for week 33. I was supposed to head to GenCon 50 this past week but some real-life things got in the way of that. So I did what any sad panda would do when she can’t play tabletop games with all her nerd friends. I played video games with other nerd friends! I also combed the ‘net looking for interesting new gaming news to share with y’all. We’ll take a look at the new Star Wars Battlefront 2 gameplay trailer that dropped and then finishes up with a recap of GeekDad and GeekMom articles written about video gaming as well as what we’ve been playing lately. Oh, and there’s lots of other stuff in between.
Video Game News Recap
General News Updates
Star Wars Battlefront 2
EA dropped a new gameplay trailer over the weekend. This one shows Starfighter Assault mode. Yoda goes PEW! PEW! PEW! Oh, take some motherly advice here and do not read the comments on this video. Apparently, the female pilot voice in this trailer has ticked some dudes off.
Blizzard’s Latest Video Game News
StarCraft: Remastered
StarCraft: Remastered released about a week ago. For $14.99 you can upgrade and modernize your current StarCraft experience. According to a recent press release from Blizzard, the following key features are included in this update:
- Full graphical upgrade of the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War expansion
- Widescreen UHD support for up to 4K resolution
- Matchmaking and leaderboards
- Player profiles that track individual statistics
- Cloud saving for campaign progress, hotkeys, and replays
- Improved high fidelity music and sound
- Ability to switch between Remastered and the original StarCraft with the click of a button
Battle.net Branding Lives!
Blizzard has finally given up on this strange desire to rebrand their online gaming service. In a recent press release, they simply requested when writing about it refer to it as “Blizzard Battle.net.” I’ll do my best. The above heading aside, of course. And here is the logo they loaded into the press kit:
Thank goodness that silliness is over because I can assure any Blizz reps reading this none of us stopped calling it Battle.net.
Xbox’s Latest Video Game News
Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition Preorder
Pre-orders just opened up Sunday for the November 7th, 2017 release of the new One X. You can order it on the Xbox website for a limited time.
Upcoming Games from Xbox
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 of 20 coming out next week:
Knock-Knock
Though this game has been out for a few years, it is just now available on Xbox. Does it get much creepier than an old creaky cabin in the woods at night? Are you as mesmerized by the way they walk in this game as I am?
Battle of the Bulge
Are war games more your style? How about tabletop style games gone digital? This one should be right up your alley. Again, not a new game per se, but new to Xbox this upcoming week.
Current Games with Gold are Trials Fusion (08/16 – 09/15), Red Faction: Armageddon (08/16 – 08/31), and Slime Rancher (08/01 – 08/31)
You can check out the games on sale right now on the Deals With Gold page.
Nintendo’s Latest Video Game News
Minecraft: Story Mode – The Complete Adventure
Minecraft: Story Mode hits the Nintendo Switch 08/22/17. No new features or anything but will now be available to play on Switch. Somehow I’d gone all this time not realizing that Corey Feldman does voice work in this game. Now there’s a blast from my adolescent past.
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon
New details were recently revealed by Nintendo. The game releases in November 2017 but the ever-hungry Pokémon fans have already viewed the video featured in the press release August 18th, 2017 over 1.2 million times. Now you get to watch it, too! You can get all the details on gameplay and characters in the press release if you prefer.
PlayStation’s Latest Video Game News
This week’s The Drop highlights 23 new releases in the upcoming week. Check out the blog entry for the full list but here are a couple that caught my eye:
Soul Dimension
From Keen Vision, check out this artistic puzzle game, available on PS VR this week.
Thimbleweed Park
I’ve heard such great things about this game from my friends. I haven’t tried it yet but seeing this latest release trailer got my attention again and I think I may have to buy it soon. The game will be available on PS4 this week.
PlayStation Plus includes free games. Currently available are Just Cause 3, Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, Super Motherload, Snakeball, Downwell, and Level 22.
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 and related items. Here is a list of all the video gaming related articles from the blogs since I last recapped things:
- GeekMom Mariana Ruiz – “The National Videogame Museum Announces Educational Scholarships“
- GeekDad Z. – “New ‘Splatoon 2’ Switch Bundle Coming to Walmart This September“
Below are the video games some of the Geek Parents have been playing lately.
Z.:
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
- Cave Story + (Nintendo Switch)
- Mass Effect Andromeda (PS4)
- Just Cause 3 (PS4)
- Undertale (PS Vita)
Samantha Fisher:
- Overwatch (PC)
- Diablo 3 (PC)
- Ticket to Ride (Android)
Anthony Karcz:
- Hearthstone (iOS)
- Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS)
- Transformers: Forged to Fight (iOS)
- Pathfinder Adventures (iOS)
- StarCraft: Remastered (Mac)
- Overwatch (Xbox One)
Will James:
- Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (iOS)
- Star Wars Force Arena (iOS)
- Transformers Earth Wars (iOS)
Mike LeSauvage:
- PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PC)
Michael Harrison:
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)
- Sunless Sea (PC)
For more gaming news, or to share your love of video games with me, please follow @samanthafisher on Twitter.
