Update Patch | Summer Showcase Spectacular
It's been a while! We took a break recently from the Update Patch, for two reasons. One, I needed to adequately celebrate Nottingham Forest staying in the Premier League for another year at my shrine dedicated to footballing legend Taiwo Awoniyi. Two, we have a gigantic period of non-E3 to cover, with more advertising than the NCAA tournament and hype for everything from big announcements to announcements of announcements, to announcements that there will so be announcements to announce and announcement! So this month's Update Patch will cover the numerous showcases over the last month and a half, starting with the early risers at Sony.
PlayStation Showcase
Sony began the showcase season with a 70-minute presentation in May headlined by a full gameplay demo of Marvel's Spiderman 2. The demo showed an extended sequence which features the player switching between Spider-Man, Peter Parker, and Spider-Man, Miles Morales Notably during the demo, Peter was wearing the infamous/iconic Venom suit with new combat abilities as he looked to take down the main antagonist, Kraven The Hunter.
Oh, he a big boy!
However, the show wasn’t just sequels to the blockbuster, cinematic games we’ve grown accustomed to. The showcase exemplified Sony's recent change in strategy to invest in multiplayer live service games. Nowhere was this more clear than in the show’s first trailer for Jade Raymond’s much rumoured next game which turned out to be a CGI trailer for a multiplayer heist game called Fairgame$. Following this up was the trailer for the quietly leaked months ago, Helldivers 2, a sequel to the cult classic squad shooter Helldivers. Even third-party publishers got in on the multiplayer action, with Square Enix announcing a foam-based take on Splatoon entitled Foamstars. Bungie also had a new announcement for a multiplayer game, in a reimagining of its 1994 shooter Marathon, and Firewalk Studios announced Concord, a new PvP multiplayer FPS.
Editors note: Finally a game for Failgirls like me.
Other highlights included an extended gameplay look at the stunning third-person action game Phantom Blade 0, a better look at the long-awaited sequel, Alan Wake II, and a surprise announcement of The Talos Principle II.
Xbox Games Showcase
Microsoft held its own hour-long showcase followed by a 50 minute presentation dedicated entirely to Bethesda's Starfield.
Oh, he a bigger boy.
The Xbox Games Showcase certainly had a plentiful first-party offering. The show opened with a trailer for Playground Games’ Fable, a gameplay trailer from Obsidian was shown for Avowed (a first-person fantasy RPG set within the Pillars of Eternity universe), another trailer with a sprinkling gameplay for Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga from Ninja Theory. Additionally, two trailers marked new IP from Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, Contrast) and InXile Entertainment (Wasteland series). For the former was South of Midnight, a game very light on details but with more than enough of a moody atmosphere to capture everyone’s attention. The latter was Clockwork Revolution, an intriguing steampunk time-bending action shooter. Other big reveals included Ubisoft Massive’s Star Wars: Outlaws, an update on the major expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 entitled Phantom Liberty with Keanu Reeves, and another Dontnod game, this time a climbing game called Jusant.
Have you heard the internet is horny for the droid in this? Of course the internet is horny for the droid in this.
The Starfield Direct covered plenty of elements of the game. The presentation ranged from a deep dive into the world and the varying factions to the combat, ship customisation, space gameplay and technical elements. The showcase had plenty to offer and had further details on the special editions which will include a special watch in a similar vein to the Pip-Boy edition of Fallout 4.
The showcase was generally well received and came at a crucial time given the poor launch of Arkane’s Redfall amidst middling reviews.
Nintendo Direct
Nintendo may have been fashionably late to the party, but it also had plenty to offer in a Direct held on the 21st of June. Nintendo’s main mascot Mario was the star of the show. The show finished with a full gameplay presentation of the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The game features the return of the side-scrolling classic gameplay, multiple playable characters and some bizarre worlds. The game will be released on the 20th of - a very busy - October 2023. Additionally, remakes of SNES’s Super Mario RPG and 3DS’s Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon were showcased in full, and an announcement was made that a new Princess Peach game was in development.
Yep, the internet is horny for elephant Mario too. Don’t act surprised.
The Direct also heavily featured the Pikmin franchise. Ahead of its release in July 2023, Pikmin 4 received an extended gameplay trailer and remasters were announced for the first and second entries in the series. As well as Pikmin, Pokemon also got plenty of time on stage with expansions announced for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, and a brand new detective game entitled Detective Pikachu Returns.
Of course, no announcements were made with regard to hardware or any potential new devices.
Summer Games Fest
Hideo Kojima’s best friend, son of the guy that invented the IMAX camera and general enigma, Geoff Keighley, was back to host a 2 hour Summer Games Fest that somehow had advertising breaks during a show full of adverts for video games.
This new game looks great, but it really is going to be impossible to find info on the actual first Mortal Kombat now, huh?
The show stretched over 2 hours and definitely wasn’t short on announcements. The show certainly had some big hitters, including the first look at Mortal Kombat 1 in all its fatal glory, a gameplay walkthrough of Alan Wake II showing a fight with a deerman/mandeer/man with antlers on his head (HAPPY DEERFEST EVERYONE!). The big finish was a trailer for the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, entitled Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Most notably, the game will be released in 2024 and will be on two Blu-ray discs. The undisputed best game on the show was Sonic Superstars, featuring a 2D Sonic returning with a 4-player local co-op and new abilities (editor’s note: this claim is very disputed, mainly by me). Oh also, Nicolas Cage was present, because his kid plays Dead By Daylight.
Summer Games Fest’s show also had perhaps the strangest trailer for the game Palworld, where players control a human in a world of definitely-not Pokemon creatures and battle enemies with M16s. The trailer’s best moment was the line of definitely-not Wooloos with a bunker and a series of mounted LMGs.
Keighley’s show was criticised for the fact that no women appeared on stage at all during the presentation. In response, Keighley said it was a “fair flag” for criticism and that one woman, Melanie Liburd who is to star in Alan Wake 2, was scheduled but unable to appear at the show.
Highlights From Other Shows
There were plenty of other showcases on.
Day of the Devs took place immediately after the Summer Games Fest show. The show had plenty of highlights, including a further gameplay update on Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Breaker. The update had plenty of frenetic combat and the return of the familiar colour palette. Sad Owl Studios provided more on the genius upcoming photo-based puzzler Viewfinder which showed even more ways its basic concept can be evolved in the late game. Adventure game Cocoon also had an excellent extended gameplay walkthrough, showcasing the boss battles and the world system where players move between worlds trapped in orbs.
Ubisoft Forward saw the company delivering plenty of gameplay, a rather uncharacteristic approach for most of the publishers this summer. Following its initial reveal at the Summer Game Fest, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown received a full walkthrough of its gameplay with plenty of platforming and bosses shown in the trailer with a return to the series's roots on the card. Assassin's Creed: Mirage followed the trend with a walkthrough of an assassination with plenty of blending into crowds and platforming mixed with newer elements such as the multi-assassination system where players pick targets to take in one set of moves, and a new bird companion to be eyes in the sky. The show concluded with a long gameplay slice from 2024's Star Wars: Outlaws and certainly caught the eye with stealth mechanics, space combat, a GTA-style Wanted system and more on show. Oh, there was also an Avatar game.
Oh hey, yeah, you exist… I guess.
Annapurna Interactive also had a showcase late in the day with a number of intriguing games on offer. The big shocker was Annapurna developing the first in-house game based on the Blade Runner franchise, entitled Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth. Other big announcements included a fascinating trailer for Simogo's next game, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, a new game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi where you play as a kid stuck in a T-pose, entitled To A T, and plenty more.to peruse.
Patch Notes:
Yeaaaah, it’s been a weird few weeks.
A court hearing has commenced following the filing of an injunction by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to halt the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King by Microsoft.
Microsoft itself announced a price increase of the Xbox Series X console and Game Pass subscription costs in a number of markets including the U.K.
Following the collapse of a $2bn acquisition and a massive drop in share price, The Embracer Group has announced a restructuring that will see jobs lost.
Acclaimed 2018 rogue-lite Dead Cells will be receiving an animated limited series with the French Studio who made the trailers, Bobbypills, behind the project.
Excellent rhythm shooter Metal: Hellsinger has launched a new DLC featuring a number of tremendous songs with bands such as Paramore, Disturbed, Muse, Depeche Mode and more.
Finally, another new studio has been formed in Absurd Ventures. The studio is founded by Rockstar Studios co-founder, Dan Houser.
