Top Story
‘Finished but not released’ Star Fox 2 barrel rolls onto Switch Online
More classics have been added to the Nintendo Switch Online library, with Star Fox 2 leading the pack of 4 SNES and 2 NES games.
Star Fox 2 was developed in the final days of the Super Nintendo’s lifetime, and never made it to market since Nintendo shifted their focus to the Nintendo 64. It was finally released in 2017 as an unlockable for the Super NES Classic Edition mini console.
Nintendo Switch Online requires a subscription
Super Punch-Out, Kirby Super Star and Breath of Fire II are also being added to the slowly expanding but already rich SNES, alongside Crystalis and Journey to Silius for NES.
Like the other retro games available on Switch, the new additions support the rewind feature which allows you to cheat death and undo your mistakes. They sure don’t make ’em like they used to.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
In what series do you meet boss character The Nameless King?
- Bloodborne
- Dark Souls
- Dragon’s Dogma
- The Surge
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!
News Bits
Two Point Hospital gets 10ccs of console release February 2020
Two Point Hospital – the most excellent spiritual successor to Theme Hospital from the former Bullfrog devs at Two Point Studios – is finally getting the console treatment on February 25th.
Get ready to build hospitals, hire doctors and keep a variety of silly diseases at bay on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch. Two Point Hospital will also be available on the Xbox Game Pass service.
The Game Festival offers 48 hours of demos following The Game Awards
Geoff Keighley and the rest of the Game Awards crew will try a brand new thing this year: The Game Festival will start shortly after the main event.
Demos for a variety of titles announced during the show will be available on Steam for 48 hours, and if it turns out successful it’ll probably become a permanent staple.
Daily Fact
Horses ‘didn’t make sense’ for Mario’s universe, so we got a reptilian Yoshi
Mario’s proud steed could have been a horse, but Nintendo felt like an equestrian sidekick would be out of place since the Mushroom Kingdom is dominated by reptiles – and thus Yoshi was born. Appearing more like a mix of crocodile and turtle, he’s not the most obvious riding animal but maybe that’s why he’s so iconic.
Mario almost got his turn in the saddle in Super Mario 64 – but the equine extravaganza ended up in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time instead, where Link would befriend the untamed and rather spirited horse Epona.
Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.
Daily News
Turn 10 holds first “studio-wide playtest” for next Forza Motorsport
Turn 10 is busy tuning up the next Forza Motorsport, and they have just completed their first “studio-wide playtest” according to creative director Chris Esaki.
He also listed some new features during a community livestream, although he noted that they “don’t really matter in the larger scheme of things. The overall product, and where we’re going with it, is so vastly a different and an amazing experience”.
“We experienced our new tyre model, we experienced our new tyre pressure model – we have a new way that heat interacts with the tyre pressure and we actually have dynamic track temperatures affecting this all,” he explained.
“We have dynamic rubbering in on the track. We have a new atmospheric pressure system that accurately has pressure affecting things like air density, affecting aerodynamics and power, as well as the tyre pressure. We have an entire new suspension system with new suspension modelling.”
Forza debuted on the original Xbox in May 2005
Those are “just the moment-to-moment, rubber meets the road” mechanics though – there’s still no word on the progression, customization and online features and we will have to wait for next year to hear more about them.
Esaki wouldn’t even confirm the title, which platforms the next Forza is launching on or for that matter a launch date. Could it be a launch title for the next Xbox?
Former Double Fine VP Greg Rice now at PlayStation as indie boss
Former vice president of business development at Psychonauts creator Double Fine has just joined Sony Interactive Entertainment as the global head of indie accounts.
Double Fine was recently acquired by Microsoft Game Studios, and Rice left to continue pushing the indie envelope for PlayStation since it’s uncertain whether Double Fine will keep supporting indie games with Microsoft.
Psychonauts 2 hits PC and consoles in 2020
“I’ll be managing all independent developer and publisher accounts and building new initiatives to support indies big and small from all over the world,” tweeted Greg Rice. “Looking forward to being part of the next generation of great PlayStation games!”
He will be joining former Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida to nurture indie talent for Sony. This hopefully means Sony is gearing up to provide a nice, balanced mix of AAA spectacle and quirky indie fare for PlayStation 5.
