Today: Microsoft is taking indie games seriously on Xbox Game Pass — Balan Wonderworld’s final boss could trigger epileptic seizures — Blizzard will no longer offer 30, 90 or 180 day game time coupons
Issue Contents
TOP STORY
Future Games Show Spring highlights
GamesRadar+’s second Future Games Show event was broadcast last week, featuring news, announcements and trailers for a slew of upcoming titles. The show featured over 40 games, and was hosted by Jeff Schine and Nicole Tompkins, the leads from Resident Evil 3 Remake.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Trailer
August 24, 2021 (PC, PS4, PS5)
DAILY QUIZ
What was Square’s first North American PlayStation 2 release?
a) Chocobo Racing
b) Kingdom Hearts
c) The Bouncer
d) Final Fantasy X
The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.
FACT OF THE DAY
Get thee behind me, Satan
Nintendo’s cute yet satanic Devil World is the only Shigeru Miyamoto game that never made it to North America, thanks to Nintendo of America’s strict policy against religious imagery (or really any sort of potentially controversial content).
It was released in Europe, and eventually re-appeared on the Wii Virtual Console. The main character Tamagon was a trophy in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but was removed from the North American and European versions.
Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.
NEWS
ID@Xbox Showcase indie round-up
The ID@Xbox Showcase showed off a load of indie games coming to PC and Xbox and the three-hour show revealed that over 20 upcoming indie games will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. Over 60 new indie games are coming to Xbox, and you can see most of them in this spiffy montage.
Art of the Rally(Funselektor Labs Inc.) – (Cloud and Console)
Astria Ascending(Plug in Digital, Artisan Studios) – (Cloud and Console)
Backbone (Raw Fury, EggNut) – (Cloud and Console)
Boyfriend Dungeon(Kitfox Games) – (Console and PC)
Craftopia(Pocketpair) – (Console and PC)
Dead Static Drive(Team Fanclub) – (Console and PC)
Edge of Eternity(Dear Villagers, Midgar Studio) – (Cloud and Console)
Hello Neighbor 2(tinyBuild Games, Dynamic Pixels) – (Cloud and Console)
Library of Ruina(Project Moon) – (Cloud and Console)
Little Witch in the Woods(SKT, Sunny Side Up) – (Cloud and Console)
Moonglow Bay(Coatsink Software, Bunnyhug) – (Cloud and Console)
Narita Boy(Team17, Studio Koba) – (Cloud and Console)
Nobody Saves the World(Drinkbox Studios) – (Cloud and Console)
Omno(Studio Inkyfox) – (Cloud and Console)
Recompile(Dear Villagers, Phigames) – (Cloud, Console and PC)
Sable(Raw Fury, Shedworks) – (Console and PC)
She Dreams Elsewhere(Studio Zevere) – (Console and PC)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2(GSC Game World) – (Cloud and Console)
The Ascent(Curve Digital, Neon Giant) – (Cloud, Console and PC)
Undungeon(tinyBuild Games, Laughing Machines) – (Cloud, Console and PC)
Way to the Woods(One Pixel Dog) – (Cloud and Console)
The Wild at Heart(Humble Bundle, Moonlight Kids) – (Console)
Balan Wonderworld could trigger epilepsy
The initial release of Balan Wonderworld, like the version shipped on the physical copies, could trigger seizures in epileptics.
The final boss fight has a known bug that can cause intense flashes, and Square Enix has issued a warning asking customers to apply the latest update to resolve the problem.
Day one:"Please ensure that you install the Day One Patch before playing Balan Wonderworld," reads the warning. “We have received reports of a photo-sensitive epilepsy risk from a potential flashing bug if playing the game un-patched.”
Early warning: It's not clear if the bug is consistent or only presents in rare cases. CD Projekt RED recently had to change a scene in Cyberpunk 2077 after a reviewer suffered an epileptic seizure. Most games now show an obligatory epilepsy warning at startup.
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WEEKLY REWARDS
Beyond a Steel Sky for the PC
Get ready for some point-and-click cyberpunk from masters of the craft Revolution Software in Beyond a Steel Sky, the long-awaited sequel to 1994 classic Beneath a Steel Sky, and it will also be coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch later on this year.
Thanks to everyone that joined us last week for the Beyond a Steel Sky competition, here's the lucky people who ended up getting sent a code:
Valerie Ceballos
Vincent Siconnelly
Everett Beauregard
Randy LaBorn
Indru Maiorescu
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED TODAY
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla 1.2.0.1 update is out and fixes crashes associated with Ostara Festival
Blizzard Entertainment change game time coupon durations, will only offer 60 day coupons for $29.99 from now on
What was Square’s first North American PlayStation 2 release?
ANSWER: The Bouncer!
Rampage isn't a particularly big name in games any longer, but it took arcades by storm in 1986 and helped the market regain credibility after the Atari crash three years earlier.
Remember The Bouncer? No? Well, you’re not alone. Released early in the PlayStation 2’s life, it was one of Square’s first attempts at 3D brawlers and follows the three bouncers Sion, Koh and Volt on a rescue mission to save their friend Dominique from the Mikado Group.
It was pretty hyped at the time, but critics were merciless when it turned out that the combat was awkward and the game was pretty short. Sure, it looked pretty good, but that couldn’t save it and alongside the ignominious failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Square lost a lot of the momentum it had built with its ground-breaking Final Fantasy games on PlayStation. Fortunately, Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts soon picked them back up.
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Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.
