Top Releases:

Hi everyone, and welcome to New Game Releases! You can tell that we’re getting close to prime holiday shopping season because the two major releases this week are sure to be titles that many a kid/tween/teen/sketchy 20 something are going to receive as gifts. What are they? Well it’s Sonic X Shadow Generations and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6!

If the title of Sonic X Shadow Generations sounds familiar, well, that’s because this game is a kinda/sorta reboot/remake/remaster of the 2011 game Sonic Generations. In that game, the “3D” Sonic from the modern era teams up with the “2D” Sonic from the Genesis era, with players moving through a series of 2D and 3D levels. With the inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog, players will get to see the story from Generations told from a different perspective (Shadow’s, duh) as he confronts his arch nemesis, Black Doom.

Sonic X Shadow Generations (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 25^th

Developed by: Sonic Team
Published by: Sega

Meanwhile, the original Sonic Generations, which has been completely removed from all digital storefronts, is included in this new title, with updated graphics and some changes that a few fans are decrying as censorship. Look here, folks, if you can’t jerk off to Rouge the Bat in her new outfit then you just don’t have a good enough imagination; I feel sorry for you.

The other massive release this week is probably far more popular and, somehow far less controversial, than Sonic the Hedgehog; it’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Can you believe we’re already on our sixth entry in this CoD sub series? While Modern Warfare has restarted its numbering, Black Ops is holding firm to its own. Now, I could sit here and tell you all about the different modes and new shit that’s in this game, but would it really matter? You either play Call of Duty or you don’t. It’s got guns, it’s got fuzzy historical moments, it’s got zombies; what else do you need?

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 25^th

Developed by: Treyarch/Raven Software
Published by: Activision

Too cool for Sonic and CoD? Yeah, me too, that’s why I’ve pre-ordered Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven; suck it, nerds. This is a remake of the 1993 Super Famicom title, which wouldn’t arrive in the West until 2016, making me a very sad boy. Well not anymore, this is my Christmas gift to myself and I’m going to love it and pet it and never open it and put it on a shelf and then MAYBE play it in 2029…if the Switch 2 is backwards compatible.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: Square Enix/Xeen Inc.
Published by: Square Enix

That isn’t the only Japanese title coming out this week, hell, we’ve got four more to check out! First up, we’ve got the visual novel SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky, which is a spin-off of the Memories Off series, which began in 1999. Players follow the story of Junya, a young man with a tragic past who helps others in order to keep himself from facing his own grief. Next, we’ve got the tactical RPG Card-en-Ciel. Played on a rectangle shaped grid (not unlike the one in Mega Man Battle Network), players will use cards to direct their units as they attempt to defeat enemies. Why are players doing this? Well, you’re a detective who is investigating some crime which, in turn, leads you to an in-development video game and so you, like, go in the game, or something, and do shit. Look, it’s a tactical RPG, just have fun with it.

SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky (PC/PS4/Switch) – Releases Oct. 23^rd

Developed by: MAGES Inc.
Published by: PQube

Card-en-Ciel (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: Inti Creates
Published by: Inti Creates

Our third Japanese game is one that I’m also very excited for, Ys X: Nordics. I’ve been a big fan of the Ys games since Lacrimosa of Dana came out back in 2017, playing each subsequent entry and going back to see what the older titles have to offer. While I didn’t pre-order this one (there’s just too many RPGs…), I can’t wait to see it show up on the Cheap Ass Gamer Twitter account in a year for $29.99.

Ys X: Nordics (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 25^th

Developed by: Nihon Falcom
Published by: NIS America

Finally, we’ve got a game that I’m not sure needs to exist, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. While this series clearly has fans (they’ve released 14 of these things since 1985), did the world really need a remake of the eight entry? Heck, this isn’t even the most well reviewed RotTK of all time. Why, then? Money, I guess? Anyway, this game is coming out and it’s from a well respected series so I’m highlighting it.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Developed by: Koei Tecmo
Published by: Koei Tecmo

Ports and Re-releases:

Yakuza Kiwami (Switch) – Releases Oct. 24^th

Eight years after it released on the PS3 & PS4 in Japan, and 7 years after it hit North American PS4’s, Yakuza Kiwami is coming to the Nintendo Switch where it will run, eh, probably okay? As far as I can tell, nothing has been removed from the game but nothing new has been added. It’s a straight port of (probably) the PS4 version. While it is only arriving digitally on launch day, Limited Run game is currently taking pre-orders for the game until Nov. 10th. They are also taking preorders for Yakuza 0 (on PC, PS4 & Xbox One) and seem poised to eventually release physical versions of Yakuza 2-6, with various collector’s editions that will contain a slew of goodies. Yippee!!

Everything else:

• The Art Collector (PC) – Releases Oct. 22^nd
• Awaken – Astral Blade (PC/PS4/PS5) – Releases Oct. 22^nd
• Fear the Spotlight (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 22^nd
• Kong: Survivor Instinct (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 22^nd
• While We Wait Here (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 22^nd
• Care Bears: To the Rescue (PC/Switch) – Releases Oct. 24^th
• The Jackbox Survey Scramble (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 24^th
• The Smurfs: Dreams (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 24^th
• Barbie: Project Friendship (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 25^th
• Miraculous: Paris Under Siege (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 25^th
• Reel Fishing: Days of Summer (PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 25^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

It’s time for Notable Releases, folks. Well, what are we waiting for?

From 2014 we’ve got one of the few Xbox One console exclusives, Insomniac’s Sunset Overdrive. Set in the year 2027 which was, at the time, a whopping THIRTEEN years in the future, players take on the role of an unnamed protagonist who is caught up in a conspiracy involving an energy drink that turns people into mutants.

Sunset Overdrive is an open world, action/adventure game where players zip around a post-apocalyptic dystopia, taking out mutants and embarking on missions for various people. Critics enjoyed the game play, setting, humor, combat, and colorful world (particularly after the studio’s dour Resistance series), but didn’t really care for the game’s story or quest design.

Despite the criticisms, Sunset Overdrive still managed to sell nearly 2 million copies which, for an Xbox One game, was pretty dang good (that meant, in 2014, roughly 20% of XBone owners had a copy of the game). The game would receive 14 nominations from various outlets, including Xbox Game of the Year, but did receive a single win. Sunset Overdrive would arrive on PC in 2018 but, unfortunately, there hasn’t been any sequel.

While Insomniac is owned by Sony, a leak of internal documents indicated that Microsoft would have the rights to up to two sequels if Insomniac ever made them. The same leak also indicated that Insomniac was moving forward with a sequel but their new bosses at Sony put a stop to that, giving Insomniac the chance to make Spider-Man which, as you may know, turned out to be one of the best PS4 games ever made. Sorry, Sunset Overdrive.

Our 2004 release is one of the biggest from the year and is, maybe, one of the best PS2 games of all time; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Set in the year 1992, players take on the role of Carl Johnson, or CJ for short, as he works his way up the criminal ladder in the state of San Andreas. While the previous GTA games had been set in single locations (Liberty City and Vice City), San Andreas takes place in three locations, Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), San Fierro (based on San Francisco), and Las Venturas (based on Las Vegas). While each location has quests and storylines associated with them, Los Santos is the main hub of the game, being the most fleshed out and the most important to CJ and his story.

I don’t really have a lot to say about the game play in San Andreas, it’s basically the same as the previous GTA games, though there are some slight modifications & additions (like the stealth kills from Rockstar’s 2003 game Manhunt). If you can believe it, San Andreas was only announced seven months before it was released, a rarity for a game of this magnitude. Continuing with its tradition of Hollywood actors playing the various characters, San Andreas had actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Penn, James Woods, David Cross, Faizon Love, Clifton Collins Jr., and Peter Fonda.

The reception to San Andreas was anything but extraordinary. Critics and players lost their minds when they finally got their hands on the game. With an overwhelmingly positive reception, San Andreas would get perfect scores from multiple outlets, and has a score of 95 on Metacritic. The game would sell 4.5 million copies in the first week, with over 27 million copies sold by 2011. However, GTA is not without its controversy, and this was a big one.

While I plan to cover this in more detail in my Notable Events for both 2004 and 2005, the big thing that got San Andreas in trouble wasn’t all of the violence and language, it was sex. Not the already known issue of having sex with prostitutes, but with a mini-game in which players would engage in sexual intercourse with their various girlfriends. Don’t remember this mini-game? That’s because it never made it into the final version of San Andreas, it was cut, but not before prototypes were made.

These prototypes, dubbed “Hot Coffee”, were left in the game’s source code but completely inaccessible; for most people. In December of 2004, a group of hackers started fiddling around with the game’s code and saw various files that referred to different sex acts. This would eventually lead them to the Hot Coffee mini-game and then, BOOM! The shit hit the fan. We’ll talk more about this, and the fallout, next December.

Heading into 1994, we’ve got another game that could be considered one of the best for its console, Sonic & Knuckles for the Sega Genesis. Initially meant to be included content for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (which released in February of 1994), Sonic & Knuckles (like this week’s Sonic X Shadow Generations) tells a parallel story to Sonic 3 from the perspective of Knuckles. However, as the name implies, players can also choose to play through these new stages as Sonic himself. Sadly, though, Tails is not a part of this game…at the start.

You see, with Sonic & Knuckles, players could attach their copy of Sonic 3 to the Knuckles cartridge itself, allowing them to play the game as Tails or, more importantly, play Sonic 3 as Knuckles (sorry Tails). By attaching Sonic 3, players could also play a remixed version of both games called Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This would combine all of the levels into one title, remix them, changing their layouts. This is also the only way to save your progress in Sonic & Knuckles as the cartridge alone does not have this feature. To make things even more fun, you could also attach a copy of Sonic 2 and play through that game as Knuckles. Sadly, this did not work for the first Sonic game.

Sega put a lot of hope behind the release of Sonic & Knuckles, embarking on a then unheard of $45 million dollar marketing campaign in North America (companies typically spent, at most, $5 million on marketing). This included a massive, nationwide, contest to find the best Sonic & Knuckles players, with the finalists appearing on an MTV special called Rock the Rock, where they played to win a $25,000 dollar cash prize and every Sega product released in 1995. This also fed into the Sega vs. Nintendo storyline, with the SNES title Donkey Kong Country only a few weeks away. Each company was seen as putting out titles with major technological advances and it would be up to consumers to decide the winner (spoiler, it was DKC which sold 9.3 million copies vs. Knuckles 4 million).

Critics loved Sonic & Knuckles, giving it high praise across all metrics, sound, graphics, gameplay, and were particularly impressed with the lock on technology of the cartridge. Digital ee-releases of Sonic & Knuckles over the years have also been big sellers for Sega and, wonderfully, it does feature the lock on technology of its cartridge predecessor, assuming you also own digital copies of Sonic 2 and/or Sonic 3. A little more gritty and a little more hardcore, Sonic & Knuckles is a perfect post script & companion to Sonic 3. It’s so integral to the experience that Sonic 3 feels incomplete without also playing through Knuckles.

Those were great games, but lets move onto notable films, shall we? 2014 saw the release of John Wick, the film that kind of pulled Keanu Reeves out of a career slump that followed his role in The Matrix trilogy. The brutal fight scenes in John Wick led to a glut of high octane action films afterwards (like Bob Odenkirk’s Nobody and Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde), spawned three further Wick sequels, a spin-off television series on Peacock, and two upcoming spin-off films. Not bad for a movie about a guy who just wants to avenge the death of his dog.

2004’s notable film is the Alexander Payne classic Sideways, a comedy/drama about two dudes who go out to the California wine country to get drunk and cut loose before one of them is married. The catch is that the married guy (Thomas Hayden Church) gets a little too wrapped up with another woman (Sandra Oh). His buddy (Paul Giamatti), is a sad sack wine snob who, over the course of the film, begins to fall for a different woman (Virginia Madsen) who doesn’t take kindly to the soon to be groom toying with her friend’s emotions.

Sideways is a brilliant movie with four great performances, though only Church and Madsen would be nominated for Oscars. Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor would win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. This was Payne’s first Oscar win after being nominated twice for his previous films Election and About Schmidt. Sideways would only increase Payne’s notoriety in Hollywood and lead to four more Oscar nominations and one more win for his film The Descendants.

Our notable film from 1994 is the sci-fi epic Stargate which was from a then relatively unknown filmmaking duo named Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. After a career in their home country of Germany, Devlin and Emmerich had a modest hit in 1992 with the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Universal Soldier. Stargate would be their follow-up film, which tells the story of scientist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) being led through an intergalactic rift by a group of soldiers, led by Col. Jack O’Neil.

What they find on the other side of this portal, this…star gate, is a civilization not unlike that of Earth’s ancient Egypt. However, while the common folk of this world live in these conditions, the mighty elite live a life of luxury and keep the low folk under control with their superior technology. It’s a wild, sometimes confusing, sometimes really stupid, sci-fi flick that I loved as a kid and found fairly dull as an adult. Regardless of my later feelings, Stargate was a big hit and spawned a massive television franchise. Emmerich and Devlin would use the success of Stargate to fund their next film, a small movie from 1996 called Independence Day.

Moving to notable albums, 2014 gave us the Taylor Swift album 1989 which, I mean, I don’t care about in the slightest. You might, and that’s great, I hope it was everything and more. Moving on, 2004 saw the release of You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine by the Canadian duo Death From Above 1979 who, in my opinion, have one of the stupidest band names of all time (and I was in a band called I Like Girls). Their song “Romantic Rights” was a big hit for them and certainly solidified them as a “2000’s band”. You might not remember “Romantic Rights” at first thought, but as soon as you click play on the video above you’ll be like, “oh yeah, this one. I kinda remember this“.

Finally, from 1994, we’ve got another killer album, Madonna’s album Bedtime Stories. Attempting to tone down her erotic image that she built up in the early part of the 1990’s, Madonna opted to get a little bit more soft around the edges, get back to the basics of love songs, and embrace a smooth R&B sound. While this was seen on tracks like “Secret” and “Take a Bow”, the harder, more erotic edges were on display with the songs “Human Nature” and the title track “Bedtime Stories” (with a brilliant video directed by Mark Romanek).

While the album debuted and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top 200, losing to Boyz II Men and Snoop Dogg, Bedtime Stories would show incredibly staying power, with 48 weeks on the charts and selling over 1 million copies. The album would be the first stepping stone on Madonna’s return to mainstream success in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, after what critics only a year prior were assuming was the end of her career.

Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One) – Released Oct. 28^th, 2014

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) – Released Oct. 26^th, 2004

Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis) – Released Oct. 18^th, 1994

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