#48: DC Universe Online Comes to Switch

Top Story

New Cooking Mama game in the works

The USK – a German media ratings organisation – has just submitted a rating for Cooking Mama: Cookstar for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

According to the ratings page, the latest entry in the Cooking Mama series will be published by Planet Entertainment, while a classification entry from Australian Department of Communications and the Arts site reveals that the game is developed by 1st Playable Productions, and not original developer Cooking Mama Ltd (formerly known as Office Create).

Will Mama cook up a storm after such a long break?

The previous game in the series – Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop – was released on 3DS back in 2014 in Japan, and took several years to reach foreign shores – where it was not particularly well-received judging by its unimpressive Metacritic score of just 56.

1st Playable Productions is responsible for a big collection of licensed games for GameBoy Advance, DS and Wii, so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle Cooking Mama. The game is yet to be officially announced, but considering the game has already been rated and is presumably ready to launch, it should happen any day now.

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Which of these iconic Batman/Justice League animated series voice actors did NOT reprise their roles for DC Universe Online?

• Mark Hamill as The Joker
• Kevin Conroy as Batman
• Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor
• Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman

The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!

News Bits

Riverbond confirmed for Switch

Cococucumber has announced that hack-and-slash dungeon-crawler Riverbond is headed for Switch later this year. Riverbond’s colourful palette and voxel graphics really make this couch co-op title stand out from the usually brown and grey genre. No need to worry if your friends can’t stick around to play the entire session, since Riverbond supports drop-in, drop-out local co-op for up to four players. The game features crossover characters from games such as Shovel Knight, Guacamelee and Psychonauts.

Riverbond is currently available on Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for $24.99, so we expect the Switch version price to be similar.

FAR: Lone Sails gliding onto Switch

Yesterday, developer Okomotive and publisher Mixtivision announced that FAR: Lone Sails will arrive to Switch on August 18th. Previously launched on Steam and OS X in 2018 and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One earlier this year, this vehicle adventure game revolves around exploring the remnants of a dried-out ocean. During the journey, you’ll encounter a number of hazards while searching for artefacts from a lost civilisation. You can wishlist FAR: Lone Sails on the eShop, or purchase it on Steam, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Daily Fact

DC Universe Online and the Last Laugh of Harley Quinn

To celebrate today’s launch of DC Universe Online for the Nintendo Switch, we are bringing you a lovely fact about Daybreak Game Company’s smash hit MMO. Did you know that DCUO features a certain actor’s last ever appearance in the role they helped make iconic? Specifically, Arleen Sorkin’s last appearance as Harley Quinn?

Arleen Sorkin played Harley from the moment she was created for Batman: The Animated Series, and was such a part of the character that they referenced the actor’s name for Harley’s real one – Harleen. There is a common misconception that Sorkin’s last role as Harley Quinn was in Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Asylum, where she was sadly replaced by Tara Strong from Arkham City onwards, whereas actually Sorkin appeared in DC Universe Online too! You can check out this performance in the game on Switch right now, and it’s free too!

Daily News

Activision, EA and Take Two stocks tumble following remarks by Trump

In the aftermath of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend, President Donald Trump decided to blame – what else? – videogames:

“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grizzly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

The video games and gun violence debate continues

Since Trump delivered this statement, the stock price of several large video games companies have dropped: On Monday, Activision-Blizzard (Call of Duty) declined by 5.96%, Take Two (Grand Theft Auto) by 5.19% and EA (Battlefield) by 4.63%.

This is not the first time opportunistic politicians try to link video games to gun violence and it still remains a controversial issue. This is also the second time that Trump has explicitly called out video games as responsible for a shooting: The first accusation was after a Florida school shooting in February 2018. The Entertainment Software Association responded to Trump’s comment in a statement saying that “there is no causal connection between video games and violence.”

Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum out now

Blizzard are releasing Saviors of Uldum – the second Hearthstone expansion this year – today. Following Rise of Shadows, which reintroduced villains Rafaam, Dr. Boom, Hagatha, Madame Lazul and Heistbaron Togwaggle, the new expansion brings back the League of Explorers: Reno Jackson, Brann Bronzebeard, Elise Starseeker and Sir Finley Mrrgglton.

Saviors of Uldum is Hearthstone’s twelfth expansion, and features 135 new cards as well as introducing a new keyword: Reborn – an ability that enables minions to be resummoned with 1 health after being destroyed for the first time. We’ll also be seeing a new Quest for each class, as well as a small selection of Plague spells that will have an interesting impact on the board. New Lackey cards are also being added to the library.

The Year of the Dragon is shaping up to be the ultimate good vs. evil battle!

In keeping with previous expansions, there are a few treats for players who sign into the game during the opening period of Saviors of Uldum. If you sign into Hearthstone within the first 90 days of the new expansion, you’ll receive a free random Legendary Quest card, in addition to extra Saviors of Uldum quests that reward card packs. There should still be enough time to pre-purchase one of the Saviors of Uldum bundles by the time you’ve read this post.

If you spend money on Hearthstone, these bundles are far and away the best deal you can get – less than £1 per pack. You can find the Mega Bundle (80 packs) and the Pre-purchase (50 packs) options on the store. Both bundles include the Elise Starseeker Druid Hero and a random golden Legendary card.

Here’s hoping that the meta will shift to bring a few classes back into the running: The Druid, Rogue and Priest Quests are looking particularly strong, so hopefully these new cards will give us a bit of a break from the boring, lengthy games against Control Warrior!

News Bits

Corpse Killer returns after 25 years

You may remember Corpse Killer, a Sega CD and Saturn FMV shooter from way back in the early 1990s. Well, twenty-five years later it is finally rising from its grave with Corpse Killer: 25th Anniversary Edition. Originally developed by Digital Pictures, the 25th Anniversary Edition is the work of Screaming Villains, who has completely rebuilt the title for modern platforms.

Corpse Killer is set on an island filled with zombies, and you play as a US Marine tasked with stopping an evil scientist from unleashing his zombie army on the world. Corpse Killer: 25th Anniversary Edition is available on Steam and PlayStation 4, and there’s a trailer here.

Memory issues plague 343 Industries as Halo: Reach on Xbox One gets delayed

Halo: Reach saw an Insider test on PC back in July, but Xbox One players will have to wait a while. Developer 343 Industries explained in their monthly blog post that bringing the entire progression and customisation system to the Master Chief Collection is proving challenging, specifically because of the console’s memory constraints. It appears the Halo: Reach beta will be exclusive to the PC until 343 can find a way to get the game running perfectly on console.

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Which of these iconic Batman/Justice League animated series voice actors did NOT reprise their roles for DC Universe Online?

Answer: Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor!

DC Universe Online finally releases today on the Nintendo Switch for the first time, and it’s been running across various systems such as PC and PS4 since 2011. It features a massive cast of voice actors, many of which are returning to the roles from the iconic and various Animated Series adaptations of Batman, Superman, and Justice League – Kevin Conroy’s Batman, Susan Eisenberg’s Wonder Woman, and Mark Hamill’s Joker to name three great ones.

But there were exceptions. As the game originally came out alongside the DC animated movie Superman Doomsday, a few of the new voice actors from that movie migrated to the game – including Adam Baldwin (Firefly/Serenity) as Superman, and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville) as Lex Luthor. They’re pretty good, but no one can beat Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor – who most recently reprised the role in LEGO DC Super Villains!

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