Welcome to our video game news for week 36. Fall is upon us and that means a lot of new video games will be releasing soon so I’ve combed the news over (combed over the news?) to pick out some of the things that tickled my fancy. Let’s dive in!
Video Game News Recap
Catan VR
Just announced, the classic tabletop game that changed the face of tabletop games, Settlers of Catan, is making the leap to virtual reality. Few details of what that means are available but we do know that you’ll be able to play against other players across the world as well as against AI. The announcement also mentions you will feel “immersed” in the world of Catan and that the VR experience will be cross-platform. I’m sure there will be more details available as development progresses on catan.com.
Blizzard’s Latest Video Game News
Overwatch
Animated Shorts
The Overwatch team does a superb job of keeping the lore of the game alive. Last week I shared their latest animated short with “Rise and Shine.” This week they released a behind the scenes video showing how they make these wonderful videos.
Junkertown: Wasted Land Digital Comic
The team doesn’t stop at animated shorts, they also publish periodic digital comic books. The most recent comic takes us to the new map in the game, Junkertown. Roadhog is our main protagonist but other Overwatch characters make appearances.
Xbox’s Latest Video Game News
Killer Instinct Update Introduces Cross-Play
If you recently downloaded the 3.9 release of Killer Instinct and haven’t gone exploring in the settings yet, you’ll want to do so now. This update added cross-play between X-box, Windows 10, and Steam playing platforms. Exciting, right? Another step made toward letting me play my PC games with my Xbox friends and vice versa! There are just some games I prefer on PC and others on a console, usually centered around if I think a mouse/keyboard combo is better or a handheld controller. Alas, I am not a player of Killer Instinct but I like that the option is becoming available and that it is just that, an option. You can toggle it off and play exclusively on your own platform or locally.
There is one little catch. This is a live test of the tooling for cross-play. You should expect things to go wrong for now while they watch how it works in the wild and make tweaks over time.
Want more details? Here is the announcement on the Xbox News blog.
Upcoming Games on Xbox
Xbox has 15 new video games releasing next week, with 5 of those new versions of sports games. You can pick up NBA Live 18, NBA 2K18, EA Sports NHL 18, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, or Nascar Heat 2 in that genre. Sports games not your thing? Let’s take a look at a few other games you could pick up for your Xbox next week:
Maize
Maize was originally released on Windows (and via Steam) in December 2016. This first person adventure style game pairs you with a foul-mouthed bear sidekick who bears a remarkable likeness to Teddy Ruxpin. And let’s not forget the talking, walking, really tired and in need of a nap corn. Sadly, the developer site appears to have been abandoned since the beginning of this year.
Don’t Starve Together: Console Edition
Don’t Starve Together has been a vastly popular game on Steam in the past, and now it makes the move to Xbox with this Console Edition.
Current Games with Gold are Trials Fusion (08/16 – 09/15), Forza Motorsport 5: Racing Game of the Year Edition (09/01 – 09/30), and Hydro Thunder Hurricane (09/01 – 09/15)
You can check out the games on sale right now on the Deals With Gold page.
Nintendo’s Latest Video Game News
Super NES Classic Edition
Preorders for this system appear to have sold out pretty much everywhere, but you can still join in on the fun by watching the six-part developer interview series that Nintendo is hosting here. Each of the six videos will highlight a different development team from the games that are included on the NES Classic.
Nintendo Video Game Releases
You can view all the new releases as well as upcoming ones on this game store page. The only game releasing next week for Nintendo is Monster Hunter Stories.
PlayStation’s Latest Video Game News
This week’s The Drop highlights 22 new releases in the upcoming week. PlayStation has many sports games releasing this week, as well so I’ll highlight other games on the list. Check out the blog entry for the full list but here are a couple that caught my eye:
Tooth and Tail
Real-time strategy meets a menagerie in the Tooth and Tail video game. With single player campaign, online competitive, split screen, and replay options there are many ways to lead your animal troops to victory in this one.
Manifest 99
Creepy and VR seem to be such a natural pairing and Manifest 99 is one of the latest video games to take advantage of that. Solving a mystery on a train isn’t anything new, but in this game, the train is trundling through the afterlife.
Free Video Games With PlayStation Plus Membership for September
- inFamous: Second Son (PS4)
- Strike Vector EX (PS4)
- RIGS Mechanized Combat League (PS VR)
- Truck Racer (PS3)
- Handball 2016 (PS3)
- We Are Doomed (PS Vita/PS4 cross buy)
- Hatoful Boyfriend (PS Vita/PS4 cross buy
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.
Below are the video games some of the Geek Parents have been playing lately.
Samantha Fisher:
- Overwatch (PC)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
Will James:
- Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (iOS)
- Star Wars Force Arena (iOS)
- Transformers Earth Wars (iOS)
- Masquerada (Nintendo Switch and PC)
Michael Harrison:
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Randy Slavey:
- Portal 2 (PC)
- Donkey Kong (Polycade)
- Galaga (Polycade)
- Arkanoid (Polycade)
- Mortal Kombat II (Polycade)
- Double Dragon (Polycade)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
Jonathan Liu:
- West of Loathing (PC)
- Gorogoa (PC)
- Mike Dies (PC)
Anthony Karcz:
- Hearthstone (iOS)
- Marvel Puzzle Quest (iOS)
- Transformers: Forged to Fight (iOS)
Mike LeSauvage:
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PC)
- West of Loathing (PC)
- Where The Water Tastes Like Wine (PC)
- Shoot Shoot Mega Pack (PC)
- Keyboard Sports (PC)
- Tiny Bubbles (PC)
- Celeste (PC)
- Super Slime Arena (PC)
- Gorogoa (PC)
- Light Fingers (PC)
- Putty Pals (Nintendo Switch)
For more gaming news, or to share your love of video games with me, please follow @samanthafisher on Twitter.
