Indivisible Switch surprise, 2D to 3D like Transition?

The Next-Gen Jump

Can ray-tracing and SSDs be compared to the transition from 2D to 3D?

Xbox big cheese Phil Spencer has taken to Twitter and answered questions about which technologies make the Xbox Series X stand out.

Spencer even made the bold claim that the the transition to the next generation of console hardware will be as dramatic as the mid-90s shift from 2D to 3D.

“I’m very focused on the work we are doing around Dynamic Latency Input (DLI),” said Spencer. “In my view the feel of games this upcoming generation will change as dramatically as any since 2D to 3D given CPU upgrade, DLI, memory bandwidth and SSD.”

• It’s hard to take the claims seriously until we see any next-gen games
• According to Sony, SSD drives will virtually eliminate loading times

Games or GTFO: Spencer has been active on Twitter recently, and let fly some choice buzzwords in response to fans wondering about Microsoft’s plans for Xbox: “I’ve never been more excited about Xbox plans. We’ve heard you, you want transparency/authenticity. We plan to keep showing that way, next step is not too much of a wait (games)”

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Which console was the first Monster Hunter game released on?

• PlayStation Portable
• Sega Saturn
• PlayStation 2
• Nintendo DS

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.

Daily Fact

The Naughty Dog Interactive Universe

The Last of Us was in development for two years before anyone outside Naughty Dog knew about it.

The Last of Us was originally meant to be announced ahead of Uncharted 3’s launch, and a newspaper in the Uncharted 3 intro even references scientists struggling to understand a new and deadly disease.

Of course, The Last of Us also references Uncharted: A scene in a bar is lifted almost directly from Uncharted, and the bar is even named after Nathan Drake’s partner Victor Sullivan.

It seems like the two series take place in the same universe, and carry loads of references to each other. Who knows, maybe you’ll fight a shroomified bandicoot in The Last of Us Part II?

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Indivisible Disguise

Sudden Indivisible launch for Switch

Indivisible, the new RPG from Skullgirls creators Lab Zero, suddenly launched on the Nintendo eShop today. The surprise launch has taken fans aback and even caught out the developers.

Lead designer Mike Zaimont was not pleased with the game’s sudden release: The developers were not made aware of the launch, and the eShop build is still missing a number of features promised at launch, such as co-op and New Game+.

• Fortunately, the game has done well in spite of the missing features
• Indiegogo backers have yet to receive codes for the Switch version, and there’s no word on when they will be sent

Zaimont on the surprise release: “This launch does not represent the quality standards of Lab Zero. It just doesn’t. I’m sorry. It wasn’t us. But hey, it’s 20% off!”. Zaimont can’t say when the co-op and New Game+ features will be patched in.

Destroy All Humans Soon

Destroy All Humans again this summer

Open-world action adventure Destroy All Humans from 2005 has been remastered and will touch down on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on July 28th. Set in late-fifties America, you play an alien collecting human DNA to create a cloning machine.

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back developer Black Forest Games are behind the remake, but don’t let their checkered past discourage you: The trailer actually looks great!

• The original Destroy All Humans has a Metacritic score of 74
• The remake restores content cut from the original game due to lack of development time

Take me back to the old days: THQ Nordic are clearly hoping you’ll go on a nostalgia trip this summer by releasing Destroy All Humans and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom within a month of each other. Preorders are open on Steam.

What Else Happened Today?

• Neil Druckmann heartbroken over The Last of Us leaks according to his Twitter account, both on behalf of the team and the fans
• Brothers In Arms headed to the small screen according to the Hollywood Reporter. The series has yet to enter production, but the team are in the process of finding the right director and broadcasting partner
• Sony’s biggest games finally have launch dates! The Last of Us Part II will be out on June 19th, followed by Ghost of Tsushima on July 17th
• Fourth Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update postponed as production is slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Capcom says the current event quests will remain available until the update is ready to launch
• New PlayStation 5 revelations on the horizon according to the Official PlayStation Magazine team, who expect to unveil new information in their next issue, which hits newsagents on June 2nd

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Which console was the first Monster Hunter game released on?

Answer: The PlayStation 2!

Monster Hunter feels like one of those series that has been around forever, but it didn’t actually show up until midway into the PlayStation 2’s lifetime.

The first game was released in 2004, and established the blueprint for the series: Hunting trips punctuated by gigantic boss fights, bookended by quiet moments of crafting and preparing for the next hunt. It was an online game from the very beginning, and the co-operative design truly found its feet with the release of the PSP version in 2005.

While the first game did well, it didn’t take off until the PSP version became a phenomenon in Japan. The third handheld game sold over four million copies, but even that’s small fry compared to the 15 million copies Monster Hunter World has shifted to date. The series has reached truly dinosaurian proportions!

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Ken McKown, Erlend Grefsrud, Christian Vaz and Jamie Davey.