Here we are folks, just two months left in not only the year, but the entire decade! Looking over my notes, there are really only, like, two or three big games left on the year after this week, so make sure you’re caught up before its time to start putting your personal top ten together. Will Kojima’s big, self indulgent gamble be one of your favorites of 2019? Maybe, depends on how good Garfield Kart: Furious Racing is when it drops Nov. 19th. CAN WE PLEASE GET SOME GARFIELD HYPE IN THE COMMENTS, THANK YOU!??!!

Death Stranding (PS4) – Releases Nov. 8^th

After three years of vague and confusing trailers, we finally know what Hideo Kojima’s latest game, Death Stranding, is all about; delivering packages to a fragmented United States that you must help put back together. YEAH!!! I’ve purposefully been keeping myself away from any in depth reviews/previews of this game as I’d like to go in as unspoiled as possible, but from what I’ve gathered by seeing various headlines and “hot takes” on Twitter, the game is either an unbridled masterpiece or literally the worst video game ever made. Like other auteurs before him, Kojima seems like he is unwilling to compromise his visions, and if that means populating the game with long stretches of boring tedium and (likely) no guns, well then by God it’s going to be that way! Featuring an eclectic cast that features everyone from Mads Mikkelsen, to film director Nicolas Winding Refin, to comedian Conan O’Brien, Death Stranding has more of a “movie” feel than Kojima’s previous titles; and it should come as no surprise to anyone that he just announced that his company will begin production on feature films in the near future. I’m still very excited to play this game and have no doubt that it will elicit a strong reaction from me, either good or bad, but one thing I am not looking forward to is a game feature that Kotaku’s Jason Schreier brought up. Apparantly the baby you carry around throughout the game will occasionally need to be consoled, and you must shake your PS4 controller gently to make the kid stop crying. It is apparently so frequent that it has made him go slightly nuts (he also just became a father, so having to console a real baby, and then a digital one is really getting to him). Yakuza 6 had a similar feature, but thankfully it only happens a couple of times. Again, these are interesting ideas and concepts, but in a practical game play setting it sounds too frustrating to be fun. I haven’t hit the panic button yet, but ask me how I feel in a couple of weeks.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 (Switch) – Releases Nov. 5^th

Since the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, Mario, Sonic and all their pals have been competing to see who is the best…franchise, I guess? After taking a break in 2018, the two rivals are back with a new game to coincide with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and this time you get to play in 8-bit; nice. It’s more Olympics, really, not much else to say, is there?

Planet Zoo (PC) – Releases Nov. 5^th

From the minds behind Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon comes the video game adaptation of the Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous. Think about it and then get back to me.

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San!: A River City Ransom Story (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Nov. 7^th

I’m so confused, how is this the first spin-off of River City Ransom, didn’t we just get River City Girls? Haven’t Kunio and friends appeared in countless sports titles, including one that just came out a couple weeks ago? Nothing makes sense anymore.

Need for Speed: Heat (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Nov. 8^th

The Need for Speed franchise just keeps chugging along, huh? The premise of this game seems like the ultimate twelve year old boy fantasy about riding or dying for your “family”, and like, why won’t the cops get off our backs! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, MOM, THAT ME AND MY CREW ARE IN THIS TOGETHER FOR LIFE!! Yeah we steal cars and stuff, but like, we’re still good people, just trying to get by. Can’t you just let us live our lives in peace, and by peace I mean causing mass destruction with various vehicles? I don’t care if your insurance premiums go up, ugh, this is why I’m voting for Bernie.

 

Ports and Re-releases:

Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC) – Releases Nov. 5^th

Don’t own an Xbox One or PS4? Don’t worry, because now you can play 2018’s best game on the PC! No, not God of War, or Spider-Man, no, not Celeste. Come on, did you even read the title above the picture? You can’t read? Really? Are you messing with me right now? I don’t know what’s going on anymore, and now I have a headache; thanks.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy – Deluxe Edition (Switch) – Releases Nov. 8^th

I knew it, Big Ben did it! You sack of shit, I hope you go away for a long time buddy. Hey, fuck you Big Ben.

New Super Lucky’s Tale (Switch) – Releases Nov. 8^th

From the official Nintendo eShop page, “Run, jump, climb incredible heights, burrow deep underground, overcome enemies, and explore amazing worlds on an epic quest to rescue the Book of Ages from the mysterious Jinx and his nefarious Kitty Litter!“; so the book is trapped in a box of cat piss?

Expansions:

Smash Bros. Ultimate – Terry Bogard DLC (Switch) – Releases Nov. 6th

Fatal Fury star Terry Bogard is joining the Smash Bros. Ultimate roster this week. Yep, that’s a thing that is happening, and I still can’t believe it.

Everything else:

• Conception PLUS: Maidens of the Twelve Stars (PC/PS4) – Releases Nov. 5^th
• Just Dance 2020 (PS4/Switch/Wii/Xbox One) – Releases Nov. 5^th
• Ritual: Crown of Horns (PC/Switch) – Releases Nov. 7^th

• Disney Tsum Tsum Festival (Switch) – Releases Nov. 8^th
• Jumanji: The Video Game (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Nov. 8^th
• Romancing SaGa 3 (Android/iOS/PC/PS4/PS Vita/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Nov. 11^th

 

Notable Releases from 10, 20 and 30 years ago:

Three big games were released this week in year’s past, however only one of them has still not been remade. Which one? Read on to find out ;p

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/Mobilized/Reflex Edition (PC/PS3/Xbox 360 | Nintendo DS | Wii) – Released Nov. 10^th, 2009: Wiki Link

Until the release of PUBG or Fortnite, no other game seemingly had as much influence on mainstream video games than Call of Duty, particularly the Modern Warfare franchise. Obviously team death match modes of gameplay had been around for at least 14 or so years when Doom was released (possibly longer, but let’s just go with this date for now), but in the “Xbox Live” era, it really was Call of Duty (and to some extent Gears of War and I guess Battlefield) that almost all online multiplayer modes modeled themselves after. By the time Modern Warfare 2 came out, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a bona fide cultural phenomenon, and while it hadn’t quite reached “Jonah Hill in the trailer” levels yet (i.e. MW3), it was still big enough that the game trailer debuted during the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

With a solid November release date, just two weeks before Black Friday, Activision and Infinity Ward essentially indicated that they were going to rule the holiday season, and they did, with a staggering (and record breaking) 4.7 million copies sold in the US and UK in just 24 hours. After five days on the market the game had made an astounding $550 million worldwide, shattering the records of other entertainment offerings, including besting the grosses of the sixth Harry Potter movie, which only made a paltry $394 million (snort) in five days. On top of mass commercial appeal, the game was also a hit with critics, giving us a reminder that at one time this series was considered fresh, before long stretches of stagnation and repetition. Despite the mainstream nature of the game (or perhaps because of it), there was a rather large controversy when the game was released based on a level called “No Russians”. Just before the release of the game, footage from the level was leaked to the press in which the player, going undercover, partakes in a terrorist attack on civilians at an airport. While you could go through the entire level without killing innocent civilians, you could murder the various security forces trying to kill you (see, it’s justified…), however the innocent people would still be killed in fairly graphic and horrific ways throughout the level by the terrorist group you had infiltrated. To counter the controversy, Infinity Ward allowed players the option to by pass the stage through a prompt at the beginning of the game. The level was so deemed so violent, however, that it was outright banned in some countries.

In case it wasn’t already clear, Modern Warfare 2 and the franchise in general were a really big deal in 2009; so big, in fact, that versions came out for just about every device on the market at the time of release. Aside from the standard versions for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, a portable version was made for the Nintendo DS called Mobilized, a cute play on words. The game was a fairly well received FPS game for the DS, and even featured online multiplayer for up to six people, which is pretty remarkable in hindsight. Activision also released a Wii port of the first Modern Warfare, subtitling it Reflex Edition, which featured, you guessed it, MOTION CONTROLS! While reviews on the Wii version of CoD4: MW were mixed, mostly due to poor graphics and a lack of features present in the PC/PS3/Xbox 360 version, the motion controls were actually a highlight and were praised for being some of the best on the console. Unless you just don’t follow video games very closely, you probably know that Activision has released a new Call of Duty game every year since 2005, with no indication that they’re going to stop. In fact, the most recent entry in the series was a remake of the original Modern Warfare, so maybe we’ll get a remake of MW2 in 2021. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PlayStation) – Released Nov. 11^th, 1999: Wiki Link

After the monster (heh) success of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, Capcom was more than anxious to get a third RE title on the PlayStation before the console was taken off the market. With the next entry in the series was already in production for the Dreamcast (Code Veronica), and the title after that being given to the GameCube, it was decided to take an already in production spin-off and turn it into a mainline title. Originally conceived as a small story featuring a brand new protagonist trying to escape Raccoon City during the original outbreak, Nemesis was changed into a vehicle for Jill Valentine who was the only protagonist left after Chris, Claire, and Leon had been claimed for the follow-up games. With series creator Shinji Mikami in a supervisor role, the small game was given to a relatively inexperienced team at Capcom, with the game even being written by someone who had no prior knowledge of the series. While Capcom claimed that their RE fact checkers went through the script to make sure it didn’t screw with any established canon or continuity, it seems like because of this and the fact that it didn’t start as an official title in the main series, Resident Evil 3 has a disconnected feel from the rest of the series, making it stick out like a sore thumb. While critics and audiences praised the game for the changes, particularly with the terrifying Nemesis chasing you throughout the game, they were quick to note that the game felt too short and lacked some of the storytelling chops in comparison to the previous entries. This isn’t to say that Nemesis was a bad game, it’s a really fun entry in the series, but it just has an “also ran” quality to it that makes it feel less necessary than what would come later.

Tetris (NES) – Released Nov. 1989: Wiki Link

The history of Tetris is long, complicated, and fascinating, being well documented by people with much more time and patience than I have, so I implore you to seek out the information if you have any interest in learning more about it. However, I know you’re short on time, so a quick recap; Alexi Pajitnov was a mathematician and engineer working for the Soviet government, and in the 1984 he, along with two colleagues, came up with the game we all know and love, Tetris. Due to a slew of fuck ups, screw ups, cluster fucks, espionage, cavorting, gallivanting, and chicanery, the rights to the game were spread all over the world to different people who all thought they had the full claim to the iron throne…I mean console rights to Tetris. The most notable of these was released by Atari subsidiary Tengen (we all remember Tengen, right), who basically put all their chips into the Tetris basket. In a lucky turn of events, a man named Henk Rogers, who was looking to secure the handheld rights to Tetris, discovered that no one legally owned the console rights. Seeing the gold mine in front of him, Rogers quickly snapped the rights up and brought them to Nintendo. With the already wildly successful Game Boy version on the market, Nintendo decided to do a 1-2 punch and get the console version out in time for Christmas. A devastated Tengen would be forced to pull their version from stores, leaving them with warehouses full of unsold product, and nearly bankrupting the company. Tengen would get their revenge, and then subsequently be crushed under the might of the big N, but we’ll talk about that in 2025 or somewhere around then. While the game was a huge success for Nintendo, it is actually not regarded as the best version, with some claiming that Tengen had the best version for featuring a two player mode. With Nintendo now being the console distributor, they would continue to churn out Tetris titles for the next few years until 1996 when the rights reverted to Alexi and Henk’s newly formed The Tetris Company. Even though Nintendo lost the exclusive console rights, to this day they still continue to receive exclusive Tetris titles, like 2019’s Tetris 99, all because of some greed, confusion, and some dragons…I mean a man from the Netherlands.