Category: Video Gaming

Get your Joy-Cons ready: Nintendo has announced that a new Indie World showcase will premiere tomorrow, April 19. While some Nintendo streams start in the wee hours of the morning, this one’s not too bad, airing at 9 a.m. on the West Coast and 12 p.m. on the East Coast. The video will be available on YouTube here. After the games are announced, you can see all their eShop listings on the Indie World website. Read the full event announcement below.

Unlike traditional Nintendo Directs, Indie World showcases only show third-party indie titles coming to the Switch, so don’t go in expecting to hear news about Mario or Zelda. Still, there are plenty of games to be excited about. Like clockwork, every time an Indie World showcase is announced, “Silksong” starts trending on Twitter as fans of Hollow Knight eagerly await the follow-up to the 2017 Metroidvania. For a general idea of what to expect, here’s a recap from the last Indie World event, shown in November 2022.

Which games do you hope to see at the showcase tomorrow? Let us know in the comments!

In a blindingly fast world, with so much to keep up with, is there a space to escape where everything slows down and we can sip our favorite beverage in peace? That’s what we, Toge Productions, want to serve in our Coffee Talk series, which soon will have its second game in Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly.

Before I continue, let me introduce myself! My name is Arya, Toge Productions’ PR & Communications Manager, and I’m here to tell you a story about how Coffee Talk came about. How it connects to you – the players, the importance of its diverse fantastical cast of characters, a little scoop on the ever-mysterious barista, and everything in between.

Coffee Talk’s origins came from an internal game jam of Toge Productions crew, and it was first called Project Green Tea Latte. Andrew Jeremy, our Music Producer, said that the premise was to recreate the calm vibe of a coffee shop into a game, where we could listen to lo-fi music, hear people talking, and just enjoy the atmosphere. Following the positive player reception to the early demo we were convinced of the game’s potential and decided to give it a go.

What most people don’t know is that we almost chose other games to develop! A detective game and a shop simulation game… We postponed the detective one because we wanted to take some of Coffee Talk’s mechanics for it, so we decided to go with Coffee Talk first.

And the rest, at least for the original Coffee Talk, is history…

Now let’s talk about the sequel, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly, shall we?

In Hibiscus & Butterfly, we try to create more of the same vibe from its predecessor and progress the story of our beloved characters, but now with a richer narrative and new characters. Our fans wanted a deeper narrative, so we obliged with more branching and impactful storylines. Some branches even have bigger consequences!

To accomplish this, we added two great writers to our menu, Junkipatchi and Anna Winterstein. Junki, as the lead writer, focused on the main arc, while Anna expanded the stories of old characters like Hyde, Gala, Bayleys, and others. We really want to create a deeper and more expansive story in this sequel, while not forgetting the chill vibes of Coffee Talk, we have all adored!

We have two new characters here, Riona and Lucas, who have contrasting personalities. Riona is a banshee who, opposite to her kind’s stereotype (terrifying wails and bad luck), wants to be an opera singer. People on social media bullied her for her aspirations, so she really resents those online platforms. On the other hand, Lucas is a loud, slightly brash, and vivacious satyr-influencer, who may have his own layers that you’ll gradually discover as you play the game. With those personalities, you can imagine the dynamics between them would be interesting!

Talking about characters, Hibiscus & Butterfly still has the same diverse cast, with the return of established favorites plus these new faces.  Dio Mahesa, our Lead Artist and Art Director, said that the designs were inspired by his love for D&D creatures like orcs and elves. We chose to create fantasy-inspired characters so we can explore – and ultimately break – the stereotypes that come with them. Then, we pour some real-life problems into the mix to create relatable stories for many of our players.

The strength of these diverse fantastical characters, for me personally, is they can relate to a broader audience, as players can see the characters as they are, their personality, without the shell of their race… or species even.

And of course, we’ll meet the enigmatic barista again. Who that person is is for you to decide. What we do know, and design, is that the barista is the bond that pulls the characters together, like a neutron in an atom, where the stories and characters circle around. And like a neutron, we designed the barista to be as neutral as possible. The barista is like that because, in Coffee Talk, you are here to listen. So, with that being said, are you ready to enjoy some more Coffee Talk warmth?

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly will land on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 20 April 2023.

In a recent update to the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3, the ray tracing options for the Steam versions of the games were quietly removed.

This led to plenty of players being confused as to why the options were suddenly gone. Capcom did not comment, at the time, on why ray tracing had been removed from both games. This led players to obviously theorise that some sort of bug had occurred, or mistake had been made, considering the console versions of the game retained the option.

Today, Capcom tweeted via the Resident Evil Twitter account to let players know it is aware of the issue, and that it’ll be addressed in a future update. The developer did not share why the issue had occurred, but has at least confirmed that ray tracing options – as well as a missing 3D Audio Option – will be addressed soon.

Those in the tweets replies don’t seem to care, however, with many echoing the same sentiment: where are Ada Wong and Albert Wesker? This is in reference to the Resident Evil 4 Remake’s Mercenaries mode, which launched earlier this month without the two iconic characters, leaving some fans disappointed.

There is one thing we can all be in agreement about, though, and that’s that Resident Evil 4 Remake itself is fantastic. If you’re sat around waiting for the ray tracing options to be added to Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes on Steam again, then now’s a better time than ever to give RE4 a solid chance. I promise it’s worth it!

Pokemon Go developer Niantic and Capcom have announced Monster Hunter Now, a real-world action RPG mobile game that is set to be released in September 2023 on iOS and Android devices that will allow you and your friends to take down iconic monsters like the Rathalos and Great Jagras on your next walk around the neighborhood.

IGN and other members of the press were able to attend a hands-off presentation of Monster Hunter Now and the team made it very clear that they want to keep the best parts of Monster Hunter intact during the transition to the mobile space. Additionally, Monster Hunter Now is meant to be accessible to newcomers and veterans of the franchise alike.

Monster Hunter Now Screenshots