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Green Day once said “wake me up when September ends”. I on the other hand have been constantly awake thanks to my 6 week old and three-year-old boys. On the bright side, it turns out that you have a lot more time for gaming if you don’t waste time sleeping. I’ve made my way steadily through the back catalogue and made space ready for some more brand-spanking new titles. Here's September's video game news!
But it wasn’t all gaming and sleep deprivation, no. September also brought with it the death of my fiancée’s cat. Alfie was a 6-year-old feral hunting machine. He would hide corpses around the house for me to find like a fuzzy Fred West. He was loud, obnoxious, demanding and blocked TV & computer screens regularly. Alfie will be missed.
I’m currently playing: Hot Wheels Unleashed on PlayStation4 when my son is awake, Mortal Kombat XI when he isn’t and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on Nintendo Switch when a bit of couch co-op is in order.
I’m currently hyped for: Metroid Dread on Switch and Destiny 2: Witch Queen on PlayStation.
New Games
September brought with it a delightful array of video game news and games - The Medium and Deathloop exclusively hit PlayStation 5. The Nintendo Switch, not to be outdone, gave us the fantastic WarioWare: Get it Together. Players on all platforms were treated to Tales of Arise, NBA 2K22, Life is Strange: True Colours, Aragami 2, and Lost Judgement. My personal favourite of the month - Hot Wheels Unleashed - also graced us with presence.
October will be keeping the strong titles coming. Starting with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, which will be rolling out across all platforms on the 5th. This is closely followed by the highly anticipated Far Cry 6. Which is coming out on PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. While Far Cry 6 may not be coming to the Nintendo Switch, it doesn’t mean Switch owners are being forgotten. Console exclusive Metroid Dread comes out on the 8th, the same day as the brand new Nintendo Switch OLED model! And if that wasn’t enough for Switch players, you’ll all be able to get your grubby little hands on Mario Party Superstars on the 29th. Nintendo is looking after us this month!
Going back a bit we’ve also got Demon Slayer - Kimetsu No Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles coming out on the 15th on PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Crysis Remastered Trilogy is out for PS4 and Xbox One on the same day in case you fancy a game with a shorter title. Guardians of the Galaxy hits Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation4 and PlayStation5 on the 26th. And finally PJ Masks: Heroes of the Night hits PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on the 29th, hopefully, my son will still be too busy with Hot Wheels Unleashed to notice.
Announcements
Nintendo Direct Round-up
Another Nintendo Direct has been and gone, bringing with it a slew of trailers and news for us to salivate over. The hottest of all video game news!
First up was Monster Hunter Rise getting a “massive” expansion. Called Sunbreak it will introduce new stories, locations, and monsters, as well as new gameplay mechanics and a new quest rank.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons much-loved pigeon barista Brewster will arrive in a new update later this year. Expect more news later this month.
The fantastic Mario Golf: Super Rush is also getting some new additions as part of its second free post-launch update. Two new courses and two new playable characters in the form of Koopa Trooper and Ninjii are out now.
Mario Party Superstars arrives at the end of the month. Five classic N64 boards are confirmed as returning, these are Space Land, Peach’s Birthday Cake, Woody Woods, Yoshi’s Tropical Islands, and Horror Land.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is making its way to Switch on 12th October. It’ll feature a redesigned user interface experience for portable gaming and a bunch of other improvements.
Final Fantasy themed kart racer Chocobo Racing is getting a sequel next year, which will mark 23 years since the first game. It’s called Chocobo GP.
Nintendo will reveal its final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter on 5th October.
BioWare’s original role-playing masterpiece, Knights of the Old Republic, is coming to Switch. The port is out on 11th November.
Looking forward to next year, Nintendo gave us glimpses at Splatoon 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Platinum Games’ much anticipated Bayonetta 3.
At the end of the presentation, Miyamoto popped up to share new details on Nintendo’s Mario movie. Its star-studded vocal cast is now confirmed to include Anna Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day as Luigi, and Chris Pratt as Mario. There have been a lot of jokes about bad casting since the announcement. I’m guessing that’s from people too young to remember the live-action Super Mario Bros film.
GamesMaster is Back!
The revived GamesMaster will be hosted by Robert “Rab” Florence, esports presenter Frankie Ward and comedian Ty Logan.
All three will also be joined by the floating head of a GamesMaster - although their identity remains under wraps. I really want it to be Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen, but that’s just wishful thinking.
Three 60-minute episodes will premiere on E4’s YouTube channel before the end of the year. All before hitting TV screens via E4.
If you’re old like me, you’ll remember GamesMaster. It ran from 1992 to 1998 and was hosted by Dominik Diamond... there was a short time it wasn’t hosted by him, but we don’t talk about that. The legendary Sir Patrick Moore portrayed its GamesMaster.
The Game Awards Return as an In-Person Event This December
Geoff Keighley’s annual end-of-year spectacular, The Game Awards, is officially returning! Expect fun, frolics and video game reveals on 9th December - we'll be sure to cover this video game news.
In an attempt to return to the glory of the pre-pandemic years - the “full-scale” in-person event and will be held at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theatre. There’ll be a mix of awards, world premieres, and musical performances. The whole thing is being streamed live for the viewing pleasure of all.
Beyond that, there’s little in the way of specifics regarding the 2021 show at present, but more details will be shared “in the weeks ahead”.
Last year’s show brought us news of a brand-new Perfect Dark, fresh teases for the next Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, and more. Roll on 9th December!
And That’s That!
So there you have it, another month of video game news ticks by, bringing us ever closer to Christmas and/or the grave. On a cheerier note, we’ve got plenty of games to look forward to. Let us know on Zatu’s social media pages which games are on your wishlist! I’ll see you next time. Take care.