It’s been another week! Kaz has finally finished Persona 4, and is playing some Skyrim and Kirby Star Allies (and talking to kids about cosplay) while looking for the next big thing, William continues moving through Fire Emblem Echoes, and wasn’t impressed by Azure Striker Gunvolt, and Kyle starts to feel the grind in Prey and elects to torture himself with Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. In news section, we talk about Nintendo’s Nindies Showcase, Sonic animation and karting, the Smash Invitational, GDC, the public releasing of assets, and the reception of some recent releases. We also take a look at the current status of Battle Royale games, the changes happening in Star Wars Battlefront 2, and the ending of the relationship between Ubisoft and Vivendi. To finish up, we have an argument about the ‘greatest games of all time’ and consider some candidates. Come pause with us!

Discussion topics

Game Announcements, Rumors, and Upcoming/Recent Stuff

• Nintendo had a little Nindies Showcase, and there was some cool stuff! I’m pumped for Just Shapes and Beats, myself. https://www.destructoid.com/here-are-all-of-the-games-announced-and-dated-from-today-s-spring-nindies-showcase-495141.phtml
• They’re doing a Sonic animated series on Youtube with the animators from the Sonic Mania intro! It looks awesome. https://www.destructoid.com/sonic-mania-adventures-animated-series-coming-to-youtube-494747.phtml
• Sonic is also teasing a new racing game. I can’t help myself, I’m excited. https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/974760424271855617
• Detective Pikachu and A Way Out are out this week. They’re both getting solid reviews!
• Sea of Thieves also came out, and reception has been more mixed. They also had significant server problems on day 1, they had to take it down for several hours to get a fix.

Smash News!

• Nintendo is holding a tournament at E3 for Splatoon 2 and Smash! Also, the Smash tourney starts the day before the E3 event, so maybe we’ll know more about it before then? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpFgh36jb88
• Phil Spencer is still up for having Banjo and Kazooie in Smash https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/976118125891485696
• Even Funimation seems to want Goku in. https://twitter.com/FUNimation/status/973274075580821510

GDC

GDC is going on right now! Kaz misses being there. Check twitter for all the crazy demos and descriptions of panels https://twitter.com/chubigans/status/976933235765665792

Epic is releasing Paragon’s assets for free use in Unreal 4.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/paragon

Battle Royale games are going crazy.

They’re both on mobile now, and it seems like they’re growing every week. Think it’s flavor of the year a la FPSes circa 2008 and MOBAs circa 2012, or is this something more lasting?

Battlefront 2 has revamped how its progression works.

I probably still won’t buy it, though. Fool me once… https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/battlefront/battlefront-2/news/progression-update

Vivendi’s attempted hostile takeover of Ubisoft has been repelled.

They’re selling their shares, and won’t buy any more for 5 years. The Guillemots win!

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/20/ubisoft-fights-off-vivendi-takeover/

We’re back after a small break after Kaz went to Sweden and Kyle to Disneyland.  Kyle plays more games that people don’t know about, Ittle Dew 2+and WonderBoy: The dragon Trap. Kaz get frustrated at Persona 4 and visual novel style games.  William talks about his past week playing Shadows of Valencia.  In the news we get excited over the Nintendo Direct announcements, especially for the new Smash game! We also discuss the odd back and forth of rumors around Diablo 3 on the Switch, Monster Hunter world’s success and bid farewell to the PS Vita.  We wrap up the show with a positive twist on the state of women in games for International Women’s Day, come pause with us!

Game Announcements, Rumors, and Upcoming/Recent Stuff

Nintendo Direct!

• Bowser’s Inside Story remake
• Detective Pikachu
• Luigi’s Mansion port
• Kirby Star Allies
• Okami HD
• Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
• Octopath Traveler 7/13
• Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
• Dark Souls Remastered – Solaire amiibo!
• Mario Tennis Aces. It’s apparently a fighting game? And looks good? And there’s a tournament?
• Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
• Undertale
• Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy
• Little Nightmares Complete Edition
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole
• Japan Exclusive: Phantasy Star Online 2 port
• Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
• ARMS Online Open tourney
• Splatoon 2 3.0. You can get RANK X
• Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion
• SMASHHHHHHHHHHH

Other things

• Rumors are swirling about Diablo 3 coming to the Switch, but Blizzard clarified that they’re just stupid. But then Eurogamer said that Blizzard was wrong about themselves and that it’s actually happening for realsies. So I dunno. https://www.destructoid.com/-update-teasing-blizzard-tweet-features-diablo-and-a-switch–492479.phtml http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-03-06-sources-yes-diablo-3-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch
• Black Ops 4 is official. The logo denotes it as ‘Black Ops IIII’, which is fantastic. https://kotaku.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-4-officially-announced-1823616196
• The Division 2 is official, they’re set to show more at E3 this year https://news.ubisoft.com/article/an-announcement-from-massive-entertainment-on-the-division-2
• There’s a Mega Man Battle Network fan game with online multiplayer that’s dropping soon, and it looks pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AzqNdLl4rc
• ESRB to add “in game purchases” to labels https://kotaku.com/after-months-of-controversy-esrb-will-add-in-game-purc-1823356171

Microsoft is copying Nintendo Directs with Inside Xbox, a monthly show about stuff they’re doing/releasing.

Neat. https://www.destructoid.com/xbox-has-a-new-show-that-s-partially-dedicated-to-revealing-news-492898.phtml

Monster Hunter World is officially Capcom’s best selling game ever.

I can’t wait to see what they can do with a bigger budget and further streamlining. I’m excited for the future of the series!

http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/news/html/e180305.html

Sony is getting rid of PS3 and Vita games in PS+ as of March 2019.

So goodbye Vita!

This week, William talks (again) about Xenoblade as a series in a (vain) attempt to wrap the whole thing up. Kyle manages to 100% Super Lucky’s Tale and grinds out some Heroes of the Storm matches. Kaz gets close to the end of Persona 4, guest stars on other podcasts, and manages to finally grind out a mount in WoW, all while gearing up to go to Sweden! In our news section, we talk about the Burnout Paradise Remaster, Warcraft rumblings, both Sonic racing and movies, Doom’s patch on Switch, and the Megaman Legacy Collection ports. We also take a look at copyright laws for online games and finish up with a small haiku session, where we describe different games via haiku and try to guess what they are. Come pause with us!

Discussion topics

Game Announcements, Rumors, and Upcoming/Recent Stuff

• Burnout Paradise Remastered got announced! It comes out in May. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4JqCmt9hzE
• Warcraft 3 is having a balance patch, widescreen support, and even a tournament. W3 Remastered or Warcraft 4 incoming? https://www.destructoid.com/warcraft-iii-yes-that-one-gets-widescreen-support-a-balance-patch-and-a-dang-tournament-491051.phtml
• Toymakers are hinting at a new Sonic kart racer. https://www.destructoid.com/another-sonic-racing-game-rumor-surfaces-from-another-toy-maker-490716.phtml
• There’s a Sonic movie coming to theaters in 2019 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sonic-hedgehog-movie-sets-2019-release-date-1086760
• Bethesda actually put some effort into the Doom Switch update, adding motion controls. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/big-switch-update-for-doom-adds-new-motion-control/1100-6456887/
• Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 + 2 is coming to Switch, but 2 is a download code. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI949Msniuo&feature=youtu.be

The ESA is fighting against a DMCA exemption for abandoned online games.

Should they be allowed to? What rights does the player/customer have? What about the preservation angle? https://torrentfreak.com/game-companies-oppose-dmca-exemption-for-abandoned-online-games-180217/

Norway is cracking down on Nintendo for not allowing customers to cancel digital preorders.

Hooray consumer rights! Also, why preorder a digital game? https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/norway-accuses-nintendo-of-breaking-european-consumer-laws-w516963

Podcast THING OF THE WEEK

Haiku poetry jam!

Kaz’s

Kyle’s

Having a bad day?
Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind
Yeah! Now I believe.

Hangin’ with my bros
Space is a pretty neat place!
INDOCTRINATION

The law says we’re bad.
But screw the law! Paint it black.
Tokyo-to is ours.

Kxaj wumo nuj rut (This game is bad)
Rik kxo Saurians ceeb douk! (But the Saurians look neat!)
A najx kxaj nuj Zelda. (I wish this was Zelda.)
ALT LINE: Kao Krazoa. (The Krazoa.)

William’s

This week, all three of us have finished some games! Kyle finishes up Monster Hunter and tries out a cutesy platformer, William finally finishes up with Xenoblade 2 (for now), and dives right back into the anime with Steins;Gate, and Kaz completes Shadow of Mordor and closes in on the end of Persona 4. In our news section, we talk about Spyro remasters, Metroid Prime 4, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and a bit about Nintendo’s plans moving forward. To finish up, we have a discussion about the two new bills presented to the Hawaiian legislature, and the regulation of loot boxes and predatory microtransactions. Come pause with us!

Watch PauseScreen Episode 86 from frozenfoxlive on www.twitch.tv

Game Announcements, Rumors, and Upcoming/Recent Stuff

• Rumor: Spyro trilogy remaster to be announced next month for a September release. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2018/02/13/spyro-trilogy-remaster-coming-to-ps4-this-year
• Rumor: It’s possible that Bandai Namco is making Metroid Prime 4 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-02-08-yes-namco-bandai-is-working-on-metroid-prime-4
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance came out this week and is getting solid reviews, despite all the jank

Hawaii has introduced two bills to tackle loot boxes in gaming.

They’re aiming to prohibit sale of games with loot boxes to people under 21 and force companies to publish loot box probabilities. Both bills have several sponsors, so it’ll be interesting to see where these go. https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/7x4uoa/loot_box_legislation_established_in_the_state_of/

Activision Blizzard makes about half of its yearly revenue from microtransactions.

So if you’re wondering why they’re everywhere, it’s because you’re buying them. https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/7w8zph/activision_blizzard_makes_4_billion_usd_in/

Nintendo is aiming to have a longer-than-usual lifecycle with the Switch, wants to have one owned by ‘every single person’.

Think it’ll work? Are we finally unchained from the relentless progress of graphical capabilities? https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-still-wants-a-longer-console-lifecycle-and-everyone-to-own-one-487524.phtml

Both Kaz and Kyle are hopelessly caught up with Shadow of War and Monster Hunter World respectively. William get ever closer to the end of Gacha-blade chronicles 2 (when do we start believing him?) In the News we talk about the rumors of Black ops 4 and a New Crash Bandicoot game, the cheaters of PUBG and the slow crack job on Assasin’s Creed Origins. We finish up with a game coming up with ideas for new Call of Duty games, whos idea will win? Come pause with us!

Watch PauseScreen Episode 86 from frozenfoxlive on www.twitch.tv

Game Announcements, Rumors, and Upcoming Stuff

• Rumor: Call of Duty this year will be Black Ops 4, set in modern day. http://vgculturehq.com/call-of-duty-2018-is-black-ops-4-coming-ps4-xbox-one-pc-nintendo-switch
• Rumor: Crash N Sane Trilogy coming to Switch and PC, new Crash game to come in 2019. https://www.resetera.com/threads/rumor-merch-licensing-company-says-activision-has-five-year-plan-for-crash-bandicoot-games.21097/

Monster Hunter World has overtaken PUBG as the top selling game on the Xbox Store.

What universe are we living in? https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-after-2-months-being-1-top-paid-on-the-xbox-store-pubg-is-finally-overtaken-by-mhw.21038/

Speaking of PUBG, cheating is apparently a huge problem.

They’ve banned over a million cheaters, and say it’s still getting worse. What do you guys think about these economy-based games, like CS:GO, Dota2, and PUBG? https://twitter.com/TheBattlEye/status/960278229566226437

It took 3 months, but Assassin’s Creed Origins finally got cracked.

Crazy long, considering. Think it marks an increase in future security effectiveness? Also, modern piracy is weird. https://kotaku.com/after-three-months-pirates-say-theyve-finally-cracked-1822696106

EVO’s 2018 lineup got announced, and Marvel isn’t in it.

This is the first time it’s ever not been a main game. Too bad, that gameplay looked really fun. https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/6/16983146/evo-2018-lineup-games-street-fighter-5-smash-bros-tekken-7-dragon-ball-fighterz

Podcast THING OF THE WEEK

Call of duty has been around for a long time, they are out of wars to explore, let’s help them  by coming up with some new options

Call of dooties that should/shouldn’t exist:

Kaz- CoD: Saurus warfare. set in caveman era, the sentient dinosaurs rule but their ways are ancient and cruel. The time of man is at hand, dinosaurs are about to become extinct. II

Kyle – CoD: Biological Warfare. You play as a team of scientists shrunk down to combat the strangely-ethnic-looking diseases plaguing the United States of America. 

William – CoD Digital Warfare – You are recruited by the American government to infiltrate Anonymous, the ‘hacking syndicate,’ gameplay is largely ‘coding’ minigames that function like mini CoD setpieces.  The most notable part of the game is the ability to play previous CoD games with your buddies in Anonymous.

Kaz finally gets to play the Darkening of Tristram event in Diablo 3, and has some fun with Monster Hunter World, though not as much fun as Kyle, who struggles to hold himself back from gushing too much, while William makes excuses for why he still hasn’t finished Xenoblade 2. In our news section, William disparages the idea of the Mario movie, we talk about the Switch doing so much better than the Wii U, and we finish up with a discussion about lifestyle games, and why they seem to be struggling to keep hold of people. Come pause with us!

Watch PauseScreen Episode 86 from frozenfoxlive on www.twitch.tv

Game Announcements and Upcoming Stuff

• Red Dead Redemption 2 comes out October 26th
• Nintendo’s paid online service now set for September https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/958872936257019904
• Nintendo’s next mobile game is Mario Kart Tour, coming sometime between now and March 2019. https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/958876622517452801
• The Mario movie with the Despicable Me studio is officially a thing. Should be interesting! https://www.destructoid.com/that-super-mario-animated-film-is-really-happening-with-the-studio-behind-despicable-me-485600.phtml  
• The Shadow of the Colossus remake came out, and was very well received
• Battle for Azeroth pre-orders available! Release date is September 21(still technically summer and Q3)

The Switch has outsold lifetime sales of the Wii U in 10 months.

Wow. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html

Paragon, Epic’s foray into MOBAs, is closing on April 26th.

They’re giving out full refunds, though, so that’s nice. I guess we’re finally done with the age of MOBAs? https://www.epicgames.com/paragon/en-US/news/paragon-to-close-on-april-26

Dota’s going agile.

Speaking of MOBAs, Dota is going to try a biweekly update system for 6 months, is it enough to save the game from its decline? https://www.pcgamer.com/dota-2-is-moving-to-a-bi-weekly-update-schedule/

Podcast THING OF THE WEEK

Discussion about the lifespan of games  

Hype trains, microtransactions, multiplayer. Companies are trying to extend the life of their games as much as they can. Do gamers just have a short attention span, or are there too many games trying to hold our attention for too long?

Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhWGQCzAtl8

Games you wish people were still super hype about?

Watch PauseScreen Episode 85 from frozenfoxlive on www.twitch.tv

William yet again get distracted by the side quests in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Kaz get her murder on and has it backfired in Shadows of Mordor and Kyle gives his lackluster review of For Honor.   In the news we build the hype for Monster Hunter World, learn the true pronunciation for Dragon Ball FighterZ, discuss Nintendo’s mobile strategy (Kaz finally has a breakthrough about mobile games) and mourn for Brazilian Gamers.  At the end we play a game and try to decide on the spot what games we would want to introduce non-gamers to.  Come pause with us!
Game Announcements and Upcoming Stuff

• Beat Saber looks SO GOOD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rIjcRK_BNU
• Dad of War has a release date—it’s coming out on 4/20. Meme city.
• Celeste came out today and looks excellent. Don’t let it slip through the cracks! Destructoid and IGN both gave it 10s and it’s at 93 on Metacritic, for goodness’ sake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iofYDsA2yqg
• Happy Monster Hunter World Eve! (and Dragon Ball FighterZ)
• Official clarification on Dragon Ball FighterZ name pronouciation https://twitter.com/BandaiNamcoUK/status/956503988140232705

Miitomo is shutting down in May

Pretty quick, considering it was Nintendo’s first foray into mobile and came out just two years ago. Nintendo isn’t fond of keeping servers on for a long time, I guess.

http://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-shutting-down-miitomo-in-may/

PS4 Pro coming to Brazil… for $935 USD.

Poor, poor Brazil. No wonder piracy is such a problem down there. https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/954385167908556801

Limited Run is getting into Switch games.

They’ve already announced Saturday Morning RPG, Flinthook, and Mercenary Kings. I’m pretty excited!

We’re back, and for the first time, in video! Kaz plays a bit of Shadow of Mordor and revels in her newly found fame, Kyle finishes up the Crash Trilogy, gets sick, and finally gets around to Resident Evil VII, and William moves forward in Xenoblade 2.  We also discuss Nintendo’s newest crazy idea, Nintendo Labo, Dark Souls Remastered, and talk about our favorite runs of AGDQ 2018. To finish up, we talk the Overwatch League, the changes it’s making to e-sports, and what it could look like moving forward. Come pause with us!

We did a new thing! You can watch us live!

Watch PauseScreen Episode 84 from frozenfoxlive on www.twitch.tv

Dark Souls Remastered

Going to be in 1080p 60fps on PS4 and Xbone, 1080p and 30fps on Switch. Seems like they’re not touching the level design or (probably) the engine; it’s mostly a straight port that they’re charging $40 for.

AGDQ

They raised $2.26 million this year, a new record by about $40k! It was a really great event yet again. Special shoutouts to the Resident Evil 7, Mega Man 1-3 relay, Cloudbuilt, Super Dram World 2, Ori and the Blind Forest race runs, F-Zero GX full speed, DKC reverse boss order, Yooka-Laylee, Hyper Light Drifter, and LttP Randomizer– best run they’ve had in years

Nintendo Labo

Nintendo’s heading back to the toy aisle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Bd3HUMkyU

Overwatch League

Finally, esports gets the production values we deserve. Will you guys be watching? First person games are still so difficult to follow.

Kaz doesn’t know what to do with so much so much spare time on her hands, Kyle has a soft spot for odd little Gamecube-esque 3d platformers, and William gets lost in a book and isn’t excited for Xenoblade chronicles 2.  In the new we discuss the disaster that is Star Wars Battlefront 2-are loot boxes even fun anymore?- Gamestop’s rental system, Skyrim on the Switch and Dota 2.  We also announce a short hiatus where we are going to work on improving the show for you, see you again in 2018! Come pause with us!

News

Skyrim on the switch is actually really good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTAo0v8yFfk

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is absolutely horrifying

More than 10x the most down voted Reddit post of all time

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/video-game-company-ea-now-has-the-most-downvoted-comment-in-reddit-history_us_5a0c68ade4b00a6eece5c0e3

In response, EA is temporarily turning off in game purchases

https://twitter.com/EAStarWars/status/931332890717143040

Gamestop’s rental system -PowerPass- is being delayed

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gamestop-delays-all-you-can-play-used-game-rental-/1100-6454947/

Dota is dying? https://www.esportstales.com/dota-2/playerbase-declining-707-effect-and-source-2