S.C.G

Wait what? Eh? Nintendo Direct Mini just happened and now this? I don't know what to say right now... no time to think anyway, article to post. But... this is a good day.

I'm just now getting around to listening to the podcast on its new schedule, great stuff so far as I'm just over an hour into it and I think I might know what the transition tune is... Looking forward to the scoring a review conversation.

Hypercharge: Unboxed first free content update has just been released Quite a decent-sized update for this unique, toy-based, online FPS. Full details in the main article and the developers have stated that this is the first of many free updates to the game.

Well, if that's the list and if you don't want Doom and/or Turok for whatever reason then the answer seems to be simple for whittling the choices down... Modern Metroidvania Axiom Verge Ori & the Blind Forest SteamWorld Dig I'll go with Axiom Verge because I've been meaning to play it for ages, I've heard good things about it, I've heard a few minor negatives about some aspects but overall it sounds like a game which is something of a labour of love and it's a title which I'd like to make my own mind up on. Plus, the sequel got recently announced. I've already played SteamWorld Dig and I can confidently say that it's one of the most uniquely rewarding games I've played in recent times. I have not played Ori & the Blind Forest though I'm sure I'd probably enjoy it, I have it on the Xbox One, I'd prefer to play it on Switch but alas it's digital only still. Those are my thoughts in the hope that they might help us in choosing a game.

Sam - Gal Da Val - Pears - 7152-7755-3125

I was just reading that there's a version 1.1.0 update, so there's probably a day one download required, though I haven't checked that on my copy to confirm yet.

I went with a Human Hunter named Dark Avenger on Ship 2. Planning on getting on now and playing for a few hours.

Thanks for the heads-up. Also, well played Square-Enix... I've pre-ordered and that really is the last game I'll pre-order for the PS4 for a long time.

No Sega account necessary, all links to your Gamertag, really simplifies it, makes it easier to play with people online. If you already have an Xbox One, you might as well just change your region to US and download it, I've no idea what will happen if/when dedicated EU servers go up. Going by the servers at the moment though, there are eight ships, each ships has 80 blocks and each block can hold a lot of players, it's nowhere near capacity which is good. Still a lot of people playing though and it's just great to have it available, so if anyone has an Xbox One, I wouldn't bother waiting unless you're not that bothered, in which case... I'm enjoying playing PSO2 finally, that's all I know and I'll keep posting updates if anyone is interested, I took a few captures, will see if I can share them at some point.

Yep, seen that and I've been thinking that although that Classic Edition is nice, I'll just get the standalone game, also I don't know why the reversible art isn't the colourful art they've been using for the promotion of the game so far but it's a physical copy of Streets of Rage 4 so I'm not complaining. Interesting that they will be running this pre-order from Friday until a week after the digital release, the date of which isn't confirmed. It's going to be a long wait for this one.

Well, @Gadwin and I finally got to play PSO2 after all these years of waiting. Anyone else who wants to participate in the Open Beta can do so if they have an Xbox One, just remember to set the region to US, download the PSO2 client, change the region back and you're basically ready to go so long as you have Xbox Live Gold membership... which I didn't but as luck would have it, I added £10 credit to my account which I'd bought ages ago and it informed me that my balance was just over £50 which is what a years Live membership is now so I just bought it as I'll surely play enough PSO2 on its own to justify it. Everything is streamlined from how it was when it initially launched, there are quests which explain the basics and you can have a basic grasp on a lot of the mechanics etc in around about an hour or so, which isn't bad considering that there's a fair bit to PSO2, especially with regards to quests, of which there are lots of different types... standard quests, story quests, urgent quests, daily, weekly... even ones for just talking to NPC's net you some kind of reward. The combo system is intuitive, there's a bit more depth to it as it's essentially the best parts of PSO and PSU combined with PSO2's own unique style added in for good measure. Character creation is really in-depth just on its own, I can see where people would end up spending money on customisation as there is plenty of scope for it but fortunately for us, in this region I don't think you can even buy Arkz cash or whatever the currency is due to limitations, but you can enjoy the full game outside of the US region, for free and that's good enough for me as I can see myself playing this on and off for a good while. My Xbox One finally has a purpose again, to play PSO2 and it would take a lot for Microsoft to convince me that I 'need' to upgrade to an Xbox Series X because... unless it runs PSO2 significantly better than the base model Xbox One, there isn't much point for me unless they've got some amazing exclusives lined up.

Nintendo Indie World 17/03/2020 Presentation Roundup Here's N-Europe's usual Indie World presentation roundup. Full press release and link to the original video in the article. Exit the Gungeon easily stole the show for me. (I need to play Enter the Gungeon though...)

Just started downloading it now after changing region on the Xbox One console. Only another 64 GB to go... Current estimate is around 2 and a half hours... I might as well play PSO while I wait. And so we did... @Gadwin and I played PSO on the PC for a bit while waiting for PSO2 to download, it finished installing hours later. Ther servers for the Open Beta aren't live until 1am tomorrow though and I need to get Xbox Live Gold again as it finally ran out, will see if I can get a good deal. I should be able to get a years Gold for £35 or so if I look around, the £1 Gold deal which includes Game Pass etc isn't an option for me.

Awesome news. I went to Xbox.com, signed in, then to the Microsoft store, changed the language region to US at the bottom of the page after previously searching for 'Phantasy Star' and it showed up, so I got it and it now says that I own it although it doesn't say that I have any devices which I can download it on but I'm willing to bet that if I now go onto my Xbox One, check purchase history then I should be able to download the PSO2 client with any luck. Time to start the 1.5GB or however big it is, Xbox One system update so that I can get on and download PSO2 finally. (hopefully)

Well played Dennis. Some well deserved wins there and some very close races, especially in the Flower Cup. I think we both got messed up by the CPU a few times as well, standard Super Mario Kart.

Yep, I'll do my best to get the screen captures as we play, but if you can capture them too, that'd be cool. I'll be there in 5 mins. OK, I'm there now, ready whenever you are. Never set this up before... pass is 444 though.

Just checking if we're still on for 8PM tonight Dennis? I should be OK for 8PM or just after, just uploading a certain review which is on target to be up on the main page for just before 8PM. If not, I'll probably be on at 8:15PM at the latest.

My brothers and I would do the same, I can recall the names of each of our towns from back in the day... Norfair, Hyrule and Subcon.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirits event themed around Ring Fit Adventure has just launched The latest spirit event for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now live, for five days you can get three new spirits from Ring Fit Adventure. But, you probably already knew that.

I heard about split-screen multiplayer Super Mario 64 and I'm really looking forward to hopefully getting to try it out. I'm just waiting for a time when I can sit down and play it with someone else who wants to play it, which will probably be whenever my younger brother next comes down. I was curious to hear about those Mario Party boards as well @Dcubed as those sound like they could be a lot of fun.

Sunday at 8PM it is.

@Vileplume2000 let me know when you'd like to race on Super Mario Kart as I should be able to do most evenings.

Another quality episode. I liked that there was some crossover between N-E Café and A Smashing Cast with the talk about Capcom Beat 'em Up Bundle as that was great fun to play. Really good on the news front, especially consdering it has been a slow news week and I enjoyed the game even though some of the voices I had no idea what they were. Guessed the transition tune within the first few notes, it's one of those ones where you know it if you've played it and probably even if you haven't.

Oh I know, I just wanted to combine Street Fighter, Fatal Fury and Final Fight in one post. Haggar for Smash! (after Rick, of course)

Yep, and on the last battle as well, which made for a heck of a Final Fight. Thanks for the games, everyone.