Dark Fantasy Adventure Gord, FF7 Intermission Cast Revealed

Naughty Dog with ‘multiple projects on go’

Naughty Dog co-President Evan Wells has revealed that the studio is working on several projects, but that only one of them is receiving the “lion’s share” at any given time.

Wells was talking to Ted Price from Insomniac Games for Game Maker’s Notebook, published by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, so check out the full chat to learn more about the inner workings of the Uncharted and The Last of Us creators.

Lion’s share: “We definitely have multiple projects, but only one that is getting the lion’s share of focus at any time,” said Evan Wells. As projects emerge from pre-production, they will receive more attention – but until then, they have to ‘wait their turn’.

Remake time: Bloomberg recently reported that Naughty Dog is working on a remake of The Last of Us for PlayStation 5, which will most likely be released alongside the upcoming TV series. No word on what the other projects might be, but it is definitely not a Jak & Daxter revival.

What NES game was hidden on the Switch until firmware update 4.0.0?

a) Shatterhand
b) Ice Climber
c) Golf
d) Wrecking Crew

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.

Easter Egg isle and a hungry belt buckle

Namco’s Tales of the Abyss features a Pac-Man Easter Egg: The yellow chomper adorns Jade’s belt buckle, which is designed so it looks like Pac-Man is wakka-wakkaing the belt.

You can find a cave behind two whirlpools on the Radessian continent, and if you get past them you reach Nam Cobanda Isle. The island is a more or less clever pun on Namco Bandai, and features loads of references to other Tales and Namco games.

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

Get your grim on with Gord

Former CD Projekt RED producer Stan Just has opened a new studio in Poland, and their first project is the dark fantasy adventure strategy game Gord.

The word "gord" is a slavic term for a medieval settlement, and that's the focus of the game. Manage and expand a growing settlement, protect it from the ravages of the wilderness and defeat mythical beasts to earn valour.

Grim City 2000: You need to keep your villagers safe, happy, and moderately sane in the face of untold horrors lurking just outside the palisade walls. As you fortify your village, you will be able to stave off plagues, monster attacks, raids and other inconvenient realities of medieval life.

Customise: Gord is heavily based on procedural generation, and “almost anything” can be customized to shape the experience. You can, for example, tweak the game so you get more of a certain type of quests, or avoid others. If this sounds like your kind of game, you can wishlist it on Steam now.

Yuffie infiltrates Shinra in intermission

Square Enix has revealed more about the next chapter in Final Fantasy VII Remake, including more about gameplay and casting.

The next episode will have the snappy title Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode Intermission, and will follow Yuffie Kisaragi as she infiltrates Shinra to steal a powerful materia. No video yet, but you can see some of her abilities in screenshots.

English casting:

• Yuffie Kisaragi, voiced by Suzie Yeung
• Sonon Kusakabe, voiced by Aleks Le
• Weiss, voiced by Daman Mills
• Zhijie, voiced by Griffin Puatu
• Nayo, voiced by Ashley Boettcher
• Billy Bob, voiced by David Goldstein
• Polk, voiced by Daniel Amerman

Intergrade: Final Fantasy VII Remake will appear on PlayStation 5 as Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, with enhanced graphics. If you already own the PlayStation 4 version, you can upgrade it for free.

• Free PlayStation 5 upgrade for Final Fantasy XIV now available in open beta
• Update coming to NieR:Automata on Steam after more polished Game Pass version inspires review bombing
• Latest PlayStation 5 update adds new features including new storage options and cross-gen Share Play
• Re:Turn 2 – Runaway demo on June 16th, where you explore a haunted train
• Switch Lite turns a pleasing shade of blue on May 21st at the same old $199.99 price point

Oddworld: Soulstorm codes for PC

We have 5 PC codes for Oddworld: Soulstorm to give away. The latest from Oddworld Inhabitants follows Abe's continuing struggle to save his people from becoming tasty snacks.

If you want to help save the mukodons from being cooked and served, you should visit the Oddworld: Soulstorm PC codes giveaway and learn how you can help us share DailyBits!

What NES game was hidden on the Switch until firmware update 4.0.0?

ANSWER: Golf!

Not even console developers can be serious all the time, and Nintendo just added a little Easter egg to Switch in the latest update. The update included an emulator with a single game: Golf. It was only playable on July 11th, the anniversary of former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata’s death. If you mimicked his trademark gesture on that day, you could play the game – which Iwata worked on.

The game was a so-called omamori, a charm that’s supposed to bring luck and safety. You’re not really supposed to open an omamori, and that’s probably why it was removed after it was discovered. It’s both an interesting peek into Japanese culture, and a touching reminder of how much Iwata meant to the company.

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Nick Akerman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!