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No town is complete without a cafe, and now it’s finally time for one to open in Aviary Village. This is a milestone for the village, so we’re holding a grand opening celebration with a collaboration that features a special guest: the beloved Sanrio character Cinnamoroll!
Starting on April 27th (all times PDT), fly over to Aviary to help Tiptoeing Tea-Brewer mark the grand opening of the cafe with a friendly visitor—none other than Cinnamoroll himself. This friendly puppy once had a life in the clouds—not unlike Sky children.
Since his arrival to life on the ground, he’s become an expert in how to make a cafe lively and inviting, and he’ll be in Aviary Village as part of a special three-week collaboration that welcomes Sky kids to the newest gathering place in the kingdom.
Complete themed Daily Quests as Cinnamoroll explores the area, take snapshots with the colorful decor, and of course, stop by the cafe counter to try some of the freshly baked Light pastries that Tiptoeing Tea-Brewer will be preparing for everyone.
Last year as we sat down to plan all the possibilities for Aviary Village, we realized that a cafe would have to be in its future.
But this new, permanent corner of Aviary Village is more than just a place to get a quick recharge (of Light rather than caffeine) before heading on your way.
The cafe is where you can say hello to friendly faces—perhaps a Spirit, perhaps a fellow Child of the Light. It will also be a place for anyone to request or offer help. Interested in advice for navigating the Trial of Fire? Hoping to guide someone past the Dark Dragons in Wasteland? Looking simply for someone to do Daily Quests with? You may find just the person to team up with while waiting for your order at the cafe.
The Aviary Village cafe is more than just a building, and we’re excited to make its opening a memorable and festive celebration!
While you’re spending time with Cinnamoroll and with friends during the three weeks of the cafe’s grand opening, keep an eye out for event currency! Five can be gathered each day through a themed Daily Quest, putting in an order at the cafe, and taking pictures with Cinnamoroll himself.
As part of this collaboration, a selection of special cosmetics will be offered during the event, from accessories to capes, plushies, and more!
The Sky × Cinnamoroll Pop-Up Cafe event begins at 00:00 April 27th and continues until 23:59 May 17th.
A new feature will be heading to Fortnite with the game’s next update (h/t VGC). This feature will allow players to mute certain emotes in the game that might be seen as overly confrontational.
You can see Epic Games’ full statement on the matter below.
Players who choose this will see a player using the Emote standing still, with no Emote sound…The new setting can be found under ‘Social Privacy’ and will default to only show these Emotes from friends in your party. You can change this setting any time, so you can see these Emotes from ANY player or not at all.
As far as which emotes will be impacted, the list is as follows:
This new toggle option will go live with Fortnite’s v29.30 update which is set to launch this Tuesday.
Run-and-gun platformer Schizollama targets Switch release
Llama llama Ding Dong!
Chaosmonger has announced that Schizollama will see the light of day after all. If you don’t recall, this project was put up on Kickstarter but was unable to meet it’s goal but it seems Chaosmonger have found a way to make the project work after all.
The 2D pixel art run-and-gun platformer is now in active development and planned for release on Switch. Featuring procedurally generated levels, upgradable weapons, and lots of humor Choasmonger studios hopes this will be a game that can entertain all ages.
While a specific release date has not been finalized yet we do have an overview for the game that you can read below.
You will fight by choosing one of the three llamas mercenaries, hired by a corporation for a single objective: to once and for all end the feud with the alpacas. How? By exterminating them all, of course.
The game’s visuals are created using pixel art to achieve a retro-arcade look (think late 80s / early 90s games). Overall, the game is inspired by both classic titles such as Metal Slug and Turrican, as well as modern games like Broforce and Pizza Tower.
Filled with tons of funny splatterish elements, fast-paced action, various upgrades, weapons, and a lot of humor, the game promises to entertain all generations of gamers.
A group of highly-trained mercenaries is hired by a wise old llama to join an almost impossible mission. The aim of which is to exterminate every alpaca out there. The reason? Well, first of all, they are disgusting beasts, second, they are often confused with llamas, therefore is better for everybody if only one species survives. Aboard a drilling-machine, the llamas will travel a bizarre journey all around the world, digging their way out, collecting funky substances, and fighting an army of alpacas and their beastie allies.
Key Features
- 9 different areas divided into 40 procedurally generated levels
- 3 main characters to choose from
- 6 kinds of alpaca soldiers
- 7 kinds of alpaca’s heavy machinery
- 9 bosses
- 18 foe beasts
- 6 weapons
- 23 upgrades
If you know your Indie gaming history then you know the Shantae series had a rocky start. The very first game released on Gameboy Color at the very end of it’s lifecycle condemning it to obscurity and it’s sequel on the Gameboy Advance was cancelled when it was nearing completion. Despite the odds, Shantae fought on to not only become WayForward’s mascot but a beloved indie series with several titles under her belt and with that success even her earlier titles are getting the chance to shine again.
Thanks to Wayforward’s partnership with Limited Run Games the original Gameboy Color game was reprinted and the cancelled Gameboy Advance sequel is also getting a shot at redemption under the name Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. While this is all great news for the series a recent Interview with WorthPlaying revealed that these re-releases were even more successful than previously thought.
Below is a snippet of an Interview between WorthPlaying, Shantae’s creator Erin Bozon, Shantae series’ director Matt Bozon, and Limited Run Games’ VP of Marketing Alena Alambeigi.
WorthPlaying: Speaking of the older hardware, obviously we’ve got newer hardware like the Analogue Pocket, but there’s been a resurgence in retro gaming. What’s it like for you guys to see this resurgence, this interest, in your 20-year-old game? People are coming to Limited Run, making pre-orders, saying, “We want to buy this cartridge”, sight unseen?
Erin: You know, ever since the first one, that only did so poorly and only released 10,000 copies, and then hearing people wanting to buy it, complaining about how expensive the first game was, and then having Limited Run come along and say, “Hey, we’ll do a reprint of that first game so more people could play it,” that’s always your dream when you’re making a game. You want the most people to get to play it. We’re just so thankful and happy that more people are able to go back and play the older games, and we love that people are still into them. I mean, for us, it’s like a dream come true.
Matt: I think you said it best. I’m not sure I have anything more I could add to that.
Alena Alambeigi: I wanted to add too, like you said, the first Shantae game came out, and it reviewed very well, but it didn’t sell very much. I think partially, maybe, because it was the end of the life cycle of the handheld, right?
Erin: The time wasn’t great for us.
Alena: Between then and now, the series blew up, and when we sold the original print of Shantae …
WorthPlaying: The Limited Run re-release of the original Game Boy Color Shantae …
Alena: Yeah, it sold more through us than it did back in the day.
WorthPlaying: Wow!
It seems that the re-release of Shantae GBC outsold the 10,000 copies of the original release though it’s not stated by how much. Given the fact that the game released on digital platforms as well as the reprinted cartridges this was not impossible but still surprising. If anything, this news is a testament to how much the series has grown, that it’s obscure first release can break 10,000 copies in the modern day.
WorthPlaying then goes on to ask if WayForward would be interested in making more original Gameboy Advance titles in the future and Matt Bozon says that it’s certainly something he is interested in.
It’s crossed my mind before. I’ll just tell you when we opened everything back up and started playing with the tools and things, it really did bring back like, “Oh, this is actually really fun to do.” It’s so nice when you have a tiny team of just a few people, and you know that you’re working directly on the things that the audience is going to experience. It doesn’t have as many layers of abstraction and other people, but then on the other side, you don’t have as much collaboration. You get a lot of nice collaboration with larger teams, and we don’t have huge teams, I’m talking like a dozen people. If you have several animators, you’re going to get great ideas. Programmers working on different bosses are going to feel differently. It’s pretty nice. You get a lot of benefit from a lot of team members bringing ideas. But boy, it’s fun to make a game. I mean, you guys know if you’ve made any. Anyone out there who does a homebrew project or something kind of like a game jam-type experience, it’s very fun to just work with a small group. So yeah, I miss it. I don’t know. I can see doing it again someday.
Matt then ends the interview by reminding all that the physical release of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution is available for pre-order until April 7th and that anyone interested should pre-order now as there are no plans to reprint the game.
There were some other interesting tidbits that we didn’t mention so we’ll link to WorthPlaying’s full interview down below if you want to check it out for yourself.
MARS 2120 delayed to second half of 2024, documentary on game's development announced
A delayed launch
QUByte Interactive have announced that MARS 2120 has been delayed to the second half of 2024. Originally slated for release on March 28th of this year the game has been pushed back for better optimization.
Alongside the delay a 4-part documentary entitled “Journey to MARS” chronicling the game’s development has also been announced. The first episode of Journey to Mars is coming sometime in April 2024, you can watch the trailer for the series above.
You can read further details on MARS 2120 down below.
In MARS 2120, humanity has successfully colonized several planets in our solar system, allowing people to escape from an increasingly dire situation on Earth. However, this colonization has come with great risks. After the UN receives a distressing call from Mars, it falls to Sergeant Anna “Thirteen” Charlotte and an elite team of space marines to answer the call and rescue the first colony.
To reach them, you’ll have to traverse harsh landscapes, battling formidable and mysterious enemies using a combination of ranged and melee attacks, along with elemental abilities. How you eliminate your enemies is up to you, as the game offers players a nonlinear approach to both combat and exploration. Inspired by genre pioneers such as Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, MARS 2120 is an action-packed metroidvania that delivers satisfying combat alongside a cinematic touch. Will you survive?
EarthBound USA Documentary available for purchase April 5th
A SMAAAASH!!-ing Success!
It’s been announced that Earthbound USA will be available for digital purchase April 5th.
While the beloved independent documentary about EarthBound’s impact on the Western Market was only available for digitally renting or physical purchase those who want a digital copy will be able to get theirs through services like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and VUDU.
EarthBound, USA is a movie about discovering the power of online community, butting heads with corporate goliaths and your own looming adulthood, and dealing with your fan site becoming the cult behind one of the most infamous cult-classic videogames of all time, all set in the Wild West of Web 1.0.
EarthBound USA began life in 2013 as a passion project started by writer & director Jazzy Benson. Inspired by the internet folklore surrounding EarthBound ’s U.S. fanbase, and from hearing the insider stories behind Starmen.Net’s legendary petitions and letter-writing campaigns, Jazzy aimed to create a documentary that evokes the atmosphere and environments of a passionate fan community growing up online from one decade to the next.
This independent feature-length documentary of epic proportions was a featured component of Fangamer’s “You Are Now EarthBound” Kickstarter in 2014. Over the years the production staff grew from one to seven people, and the team worked to track down the story of EarthBound ’s release and revival by speaking with the unique voices that experienced it firsthand. Interviews with the game’s creator, former Nintendo employees, members of the 90s gaming press, and the webmasters and community behind Starmen.Net, have been combined with period-appropriate sets, quirky performances, and fast and surprising narrative techniques to present over 20 years of history and personal connections.
ARK: The Animated Series "Creatures of ARK" Video Feature
Fawn over these Fauna!
Paramount Plus have posted a new video to their YouTube channel promoting ARK: The Animated Series.
Entitled “Creatures of ARK” this 5 minute video discusses some of the wildlife found on the ARK in the style of a nature documentary, you can watch the full video above.
Paramount+ today announced that the first six episodes of ARK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, an all-new original series based on the hit adventure video game ARK: Survival Evolved, are available to stream now exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada. The series will debut in all other Paramount+ international markets starting Friday, April 19. Part two of the season will debut with seven new episodes at a later date.
The animated series voice cast includes Oscar® winners Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)and Russell Crowe (The Loudest Voice), Gerard Butler (Plane), David Tennant (Doctor Who), Oscar nominees Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) and Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy), Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time), and Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious franchise).
An animated adaptation of the hit video game featuring Yeoh, Butler, Crowe and Diesel, ARK: THE ANIMATED SERIES is a sweeping saga spanning eons of human history. When 21st century paleontologist Helena Walker (Madden) finds herself resurrected on a mysterious primeval island populated by prehistoric beasts, she must learn to survive with new allies from throughout time, while trying to uncover the true nature of their strange new world.
A production of Lost Continent Entertainment and Lex + Otis, ARK: THE ANIMATED SERIES is executive produced by Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak, alongside Marc Diana, Doug Kennedy, Jay Oliva, James Baldanzi, Vin Diesel and Samantha Vincent for ONE Race Films; Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel for G-Base Entertainment; and Russell Crowe. Stieglitz, Oliva, David Hartman and Sebastian Montes serve as directors, and the series is co-written by Marguerite Bennett and Kendall Deacon Davis. ARK: Survival Evolved is an original creation of game developer Studio Wildcard.
Hollow Knight: Silksong listing spotted on Xbox store
No April Fools!
Hollow Knight: Silksong has been the white whale of the Indie game scene for quite some time. Every time a Nintendo Direct or some other type of showcase drops fans are always hoping for news on the Hollow Knight sequel and are often left disappointed. Today of all days however, it seems we have new info about Silksong that might suggest new info is coming soon.
As reported by Wario 64, it seems that Hollow Knight: Silksong now has a listing on the Xbox store.
As Wario 64 makes mention of in their post, listings for Silksong already appear in places like the Nintendo eShop or Steam but this listing seems to be brand new.
Adding further fuel to the fire is Xbox Portfolio Sr. Content Planning Manager Nick Zuclich bringing attention to the listing as well. While this could just be Zuclich teasing a highly anticipated game it’s also possible he is teasing news for Silksong may be imminent, but that’s diving into speculation territory.
Whether news on Silksong comes next week or next year you better believe we’ll be here to report on it.
Nintendo Switch 'Cake Time' and 'Bringing The Fun' commercials shared
Bringing the Family Together!
Nintendo of America have posted two more Nintendo Switch commercials to their YouTube Channel.
The First, seen above, focuses on a shy boy bonding with his family over Mario Kart.
The second, focuses on a boy and sister bonding over baking a cake in real life as well as in the newly released Princess Peach: Showtime! You can watch that commercial down below.
The Switch firmware has been updated to Ver. 18.0.0. You can see the patch notes for this update below.
- Added “15 Minutes” as an option for “Auto-sleep when playing on TV” in Sleep Mode Settings.
- Added Korean as a supported language for “Nintendo Switch Parental Controls” introductory video. (When the console language is set to Korean, the video can be accessed from Settings > Parental Controls.)
- General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.
As for the patch notes that Nintendo didn’t list, they’ve once again made more tweaks to the profanity list:
- Blocked some censor-evading death threats in Japanese.
- Blocked all input starting with the word “penis”.
- Blocked “penls” (with a lowercase L).
RUMOR: Sonic Heroes Remake in the works for Switch Successor
WHOA! My head's spinning!
These past few years have been quite busy for Sonic, with multiple games and other multimedia projects in the works one would think the blue blur should be slowing down soon. As we all know though, Sonic is not one to slow down, and if current rumors are true another big project is in the works.
Known insiders Zippo, Necro Felipe, and Midori are now reporting that a Sonic Heroes Remake is in the works for the Switch Successor.
To give a full rundown of the events it all started with Zippo, who initially claimed that SEGA was planning a remake of a “big, important, seminal” 3D Sonic game in Unreal Engine 5.
Furthering corroborating the rumor was Necro Felipe of Universo Nintendo who clarified that the game in question was in fact Sonic Heroes. According to Universo Nintendo’s sources the game is planned for release on all modern consoles including the long-rumored Switch Successor. Necro Felipe also goes on to speculate that the game might release in 2025 but that is purely speculation.
Adding further fuel to the fire was Midori or @MbKKssTBhz5 on Twitter/X who has correctly leaked information on the Persona series in the past. They backed up Zippo and Felipe’s claims and also added that remakes of the Sonic Adventure games are not in the works right now.
While it would seem odd for SEGA to opt for remaking Sonic Heroes over the Adventure titles, given SEGA’s recent initiative to push Sonic’s friends into roles of prominence (Knuckles getting his own streaming series and Shadow receiving a new story in Sonic X Shadow Generations) it would make sense that they would want to highlight a game with a lot of characters like Sonic Heroes.
As with all rumors take this with a grain of salt but we will be sure to keep you posted on any updates on this or other Sonic news as it becomes relevant.
Square Enix posts Interview with Shaun Conde voice of Genesis in CC:FFVII Reunion
The Genesis of Voice Acting!
Square Enix have posted a new interview with Shaun Conde, voice of Genesis in Crisis Core: FInal Fantasy VII Reunion. In it, Conde sits down with Megan and Miguel of Square Enix to discuss his roots as a voice actor and his performance as Genesis.
The full 50-minute interview is posted for your viewing pleasure above.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is available now for Nintendo Switch.
LEGO Fortnite vehicle update Mechanical Mayhem arrives March 26th
LEGO of the wheel!
Ready to start your engines? LEGO Fortnite has announced that the new Mechanical Mayhem update brings vehicles to the game March 26th.
Three free vehicle builds are being added, the Speeder, the Offroader, and the Hauler, you can take a look at these sweet rides down below.
This update also brings new parts and toys to make custom vehicles as well as new LEGO styles and a variety of bug fixes.
If you want a breakdown of everything included in the update as well as learning how to snag these vehicle builds for yourself in game then we recommend checking out LEGO Fortnite’s Blog post which we will link below!
Western Release of Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon comes to Switch June 27th
A once in a blue moon release!
TYPE-MOON and Aniplex have announced that visual novel Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon will release in the west on Switch come June 27th.
The companies have also announced that a $79.99 limited physical edition is now available for Pre-order.
A full overview of the game is available down below.
About
The celebrated visual novel from Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON is born anew…
Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon collects the two tales that make up the “Near Side of the Moon” portion of the original Tsukihime: Arcueid’s scenario, “Moon Princess,” and Ciel’s scenario, “Midnight Rainbow.”
Creator Kinoko Nasu has painstakingly disassembled and rebuilt the story, updating the setting to 2010s Tokyo and expanding the narrative. This reimagined presentation will exhilarate players with its hard-hitting tension and realism.
Featuring beautifully evolved visuals, animations, and music, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon presents a fresh take on TYPE-MOON’s genre-defining classic.
- Scenario, Director: Kinoko Nasu
- Character Design: Takashi Takeuchi
- Art Director: Koyama Hirokazu
- Graphics: Takao Aotuki, Shimokoshi, Shimaudon, Sunadorineko
- Animation and Scripting: BLACK
- Scripting: Urushinohara
- Programming: Kiyobee
- Music: Hideyuki Fukasawa, Keita Haga
- Logo Design: WINFANWORKS
- Main Theme: ReoNa “Seimeisen” (SACRA MUSIC)
- Opening Animation: ufotable
- Planning and Production: TYPE-MOON
Story
Ah… just how beautiful the moon is tonight…
Gravely injured at a young age, Shiki Tohno was practically banished to a distant relative’s home, where he lived a peaceful life until one day, news arrives of his father Makihisa’s death.
Shiki returns home to find his sister Akiha, who has inherited their father’s position, living with two maids.
There, he begins a new chapter as the eldest son of the illustrious Tohno family, finding that a life of luxury doesn’t sit right with him.
As the days pass, familiar sights of the past awaken fragmented memories. Then, one day, he passes by a monster in the shape of a human…
Thus begins the celebrated story of Tsukihime, first created in 1999 as an indie visual novel. See the masterpiece reframed and retold after twenty long years!
Ciel’s Route
After a chance encounter on the morning train with Ciel, a popular upperclassman at school, Shiki finds himself quickly becoming close to Ciel.
His school days are warm and lively thanks to colorful characters such as his best friend Arihiko and the new teacher Noel… However, the idyllic times were not to last.
A sudden string of killings rocks the city. Shiki finds himself in a pit of despair due to a tragedy of his own making.
Amidst it all, someone’s heartfelt words offer him a lifeline in the darkness.
They come from none other than Ciel.
Arc’s Route
High schooler Shiki Tohno has been living with distant relatives since a major accident seven years ago.
He is recalled to his distinguished family home upon news of his father’s death, and begins a new life in an enormous mansion.
Despite the creature comforts, he can’t help but feel an air of disquiet in the house.
One day, while in a haze, Shiki crosses paths with an enigmatic woman who introduces herself as Arcueid, and becomes involved in a battle against inhuman vampires beyond human comprehension.
Late last year Nintendo announced that online support for Wii U and 3DS would be ending in April 2024. The announcement would mean that titles like the original Super Mario Maker would no longer be able to receive new fan made levels.
This announcement encouraged a community known as Team 0 Percent to rise to action and clear every uncleared level in Super Mario Maker. What seemed like an impossible feat soon rallied support from Mario Maker players all around the world and now the final uncleared level has been finished.
“The Last Dance” was the fittingly named final course cleared for Super Mario Maker by @Yamada_SMM2. With this Super Mario Maker can now be officially considered 100% complete!
This isn’t the end of Team 0 Percent’s efforts however, as they also wish to achieve a similar feat for Super Mario Maker 2. If you want to join the cause boot up your copy of Super Mario Maker 2 and try to clear some uncleared levels.
While it’s sad to see Mario Maker 1 ride off into the sunset it’s incredibly touching that the community could come together to give it the sendoff it deserves.