The wait really is finally over, sort of. As promised Tate Media have today announced that as well as Kao The Kangaroo Round 2 going free on Steam for PCs, there is a whole new adventure on the way.

So for those who missed Kao last time around, or those who want to remember what Kao got up to last time we saw him, now is the perfect chance to give this lovely platformer a try in advance of his next adventure. Unfortunately, what that adventure will be, is currently unknown. It’s not known if Tate Media will bring us Kao back as a console game and if so whether it’ll be for this generation of consoles, or if we’ll be waiting for the Xbox Series X and PS5. There’s also a possibility that the new game is a mobile game,  as other companies have done. Twitter fans are crossing their fingers for a console versionrather than mobile game however, myself included.

What has been promised is that the game will provide players with a new story, with new enemies and challenges and of course graphics. A glance at the new game will be coming soon but, from the logo alone I’m already very excited!

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Fans of the cutest kangaroo in video game history rejoice! Between June 6th and 15th, Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 will be free to download and keep via Steam. Originally released in 2003 for the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC, it was later remastered for the PSP in 2005/2006.

The game has been available on Steam since June 1st 2019 and a year later the company have posted an update with a “Loading…Please wait” animation. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too long to see what the developers – Tate Media – have in store for us as another update was posted on June 4th by the game company.

It’s stated that “The wait is almost over” with a June 9th 2020 accompanying teaser image. Fans (myself included) are hoping for a sequel to the early noughties games. Other fans suggest it may be Kao remastered for the PS4 and Xbox. Which given the popularity of the Crash Bandicoot remaster is a more likely option.

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While no official announcement has been made, the game went up for pre-order on a Hungarian retailer late last week and now, UK retailer Base.com have also put Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy up for pre-order with a release date of December 8th 2017, so just in time for Christmas. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a retailer list a game before being officially announced and it coming to fruition but, as with any news like this, it’s wise to take it with a pinch of salt and with fingers crossed.

If or when it is officially announced, who won’t be able to wait and will play it on PS4, or who will wait for the Xbox One version? As a multi-console gamer with an Xbox preference myself it’s a choice I’ve now to contemplate – if they’d been released at the same time, or even if there was an official announcement before the PS4 release, I would have 100% ordered the Xbox One version but, as an impatient and avid Crash Bandicoot fan I may end up just playing both!

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Previously all we knew was that Sonic Mania would be released in the Summer this year but, we can now confirm the official release date is August 15th 2017, so mark it in your calendars!

Sonic Mania will be a download game rather than disc based. But a collectors edition has been available to pre-order for the Xbox One and PS4. Sega have announced that the Nintendo Switch will also receive the collectors edition.

The collectors edition of the game includes a download code for the game, a SEGA Mega Drive style collector’s box, 12″ Classic Sonic Statue featuring SEGA Mega Drive Base which plays the “SEEGAA” startup audio, and a SEGA cartridge cast with golden ring.

Alternatively the game will be available to buy on consoles for £14.99, while the PC version gives pre-order customers 10% off making it £13.49.

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Alternatively the digital edition is also playable via the Xbox One. Normally the digital edition is priced at £44.99 – quite steep for an older 360 game but, it is currently on offer for those with Xbox Live Gold memberships. Reduced down to just £11.24 if you’re a fan, this is almost a too good of a price to miss out on, as many places selling the disc based version are selling it for at least £15. In fact Amazon has seen a 13,400% increase in sales following the announcement that it was now part of the Microsoft Backwards compatibly program, which has put it at the number 2 spot for hourly sales, with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s end in the top spot and Doom in 3rd.

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Deals like this don’t tend to stay in stock for very long once the deal goes viral so you’ll need to be quick to grab this deal. The Xbox Live Credit can be purchased from the Call of Duty Black Ops III Season Pass page.

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To an extent this whole perception seems pretty accurate. Kids don’t play outside as much anymore, many of us would rather watch TV shows on Hulu or Netflix than read books, and if you remember the last time you sat around the kitchen table for a family board game, you’re doing better than I am. A lot of methods of entertainment that once seemed “traditional” now seem “old fashioned,” and that’s a pretty significant shift. But where gamers are concerned, I’d actually argue that far less has changed than it may seem.

Specifically, think about a few of the most “old fashioned” genres in gaming: tabletop RPGs, traditional board games, and even tabletop casino games. Seeing any of these types of games being played at an actual table almost seems silly in the middle of the 2010s. But the truth is the games themselves are still readily available through different mediums.

Where tabletop RPGs are concerned, I’ll concede that part of the charm has always been the physical nature of the games. The boards and spreads of cards, figures, etc. can get really expansive; the gameplay itself can last a very long time; and there’s almost something club-like about the playing process. But if you can’t find time (or concentration) to make it happen around the table, it’s not as if you necessarily have to move on to Temple Run, Candy Crush Saga, or any of a range of other modern games made for shortened attention spans. Plenty of tabletop RPG and card trading games are available through apps or online in digital forms that closely approximate the original material. For instance, the likes of Shadowrun and Dungeons and Dragons have direct app adaptations available. There are also a number of original RPGs made for mobile devices that mimic the popular formats of tabletop games. Most of these games even allow players to connect with others through online communities.

Where ordinary board games are concerned, the connection to the modern digital world is even clearer and more direct. In fact, if you name pretty much any popular board game, chances are there’s not only an app for it but also a range of online games and arcade interpretations as well. Monopoly, Risk, The Game Of Life, and even games like Candy Land and Stratego all have terrific mobile apps, meaning that we haven’t abandoned these classics so much as brought them along into the 2010s.

And then there are casino games, which in some ways seem like the most old fashioned of all. Actually sitting down at a table to play poker, or visiting a casino to engage in roulette or blackjack, seems to many of us like part of a world that only exists in dated films. However, playing the same games online is perfectly modern, and in fact a staple of a lot of young people’s gaming routines. Furthermore, such activity is no longer limited to individual poker sites, roulette apps, etc. as it may have been a decade or so ago, as we now have pretty comprehensive online casinos available. Users can enjoy pretty much the full casino experience through the table games at Betfair, where there are poker, blackjack, and various arcade titles as well. This sort of platform brings an entire industry onto a single website or app in a way that perfectly preserves the integrity of the games themselves.

Given all of this, I’m not sure it’s fair to include gaming in discussions about the changing nature (and digitalization) of entertainment. Yes, we may play board and tabletop games through a screen now instead of on an actual board or table. But the games are the same, and more importantly the communities that play them remain social and active. And, really, hasn’t that been the point all along?

All of your tabletop games are still available—they’re just in your pocket now.

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Current England Womens team captain Steph Houghton was on hand to celebrate as she will be featured in the game herself: “To be one of the first female players included is something we’ll always be able to look back on. Hopefully it will help raise the profile of the women’s game even further”
With the rise in popularity of Womens Football over the past few years, it’s great to see EA take the initiative and include the girls in a game that is undoubtedly a male dominated sport and game genre. You can take a look at a demo below showing the virtual women players in action:

source: Steph Houghton, England

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The Xbox One console without Kinect is due to go on sale from June 9th. If you are wanting to add Kinect at a later date, Microsoft will begin selling the Kinect unit on it’s own from the Autumn.

Currently the Xbox One with Kinect is available for £400 and quite often with at least one game. This is already £30 cheaper than the launch price but, the Kinect-less Xbox One bundle will drop the price down to £350, making it the same price as Sony’s PS4. Savvy gamers however have picked up the Titanfall bundle, which includes the console, Kinect and a Titanfall download for under £350 so many are waiting to see what deals retailers offer on the stand alone Xbox One.

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‘Virtual reality’ is one of those funny terms that can’t help but sound futuristic. Like hover cars and teleporters, it has long since formed a part of the sci-fi wallpaper, ever regarded as a mere twinkle in the eye of the world’s leading electronic engineers. Where virtual reality differs from hoverboards and teleportation in this day and age however, is that it’s here right now. Here, to get you up to speed, is some of the key information you need to know about virtual reality today, as well as some thoughts on the implications of this technology for our near future:

A household name throws its hat into the ring

At last month’s GDC 2014 event, Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida revealed the prototype for the PS4’s virtual reality headset, dubbed ‘Project Morpheus’. The company revealed a product very much still in the works, and used their platform at the conference to make a call for assistance from the development community.

It appears that Sony’s VR headset could become something of a proving ground for talented independent developers over the coming years. Speaking to Playstation Magazine, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Business Development Manager, Shahid Kamal Ahmad revealed, “I think some of the most exciting new experiences are going to come from independent developers. Yoshida-san [President of Sony Worldwide Studios] has also been very optimistic about this as well because when you have any kind of new technology or transformative technology, any kind of paradigm shift, what happens is it opens up a door for new people to get in. That for me is the great power of paradigm shifts or generational shifts.”

The array of gameplay options which could be made possible by Sony’s new headset is truly vast – we could see anything from a VR Metal Gear Solid to virtual casinos that bring a Gaming Club style experience into a more life-like form.

The social network and the newcomer

Sony are not alone at the head of the race to bring a successful VR product to market – in fact, they may well be lagging behind in second place. The Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 from Oculus VR is widely regarded as the best VR headset prototype currently in existence, and is currently being acquired by Facebook for a sum in the region of $2billion. The social network’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted:

“This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can’t wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.”

Read Zuckerberg’s full post here.

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