Top Releases:

• NBA The Run (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 9^th
• The Boys: Trigger Warning (PSVR 2) – Releases Jun. 9^th
• Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker (PC/Switch) – Releases Jun. 9^th
• SPORTAL (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 11^th

It’s another slow week of new game releases. However, a Nintendo Direct is currently running at the same time this article posts and, I’m sure, they’ll shadow drop something interesting. If not, well, we have NBA The Run, an arcade style basketball game that is supposed to harken back to titles like NBA Jam and NBA Street. For all you VR fans out there, The Boys: Trigger Warning is coming to PSVR 2 after releasing for Meta Quest back in March. The rest of our releases are small, indie titles that may appeal to you, depending on your niche interest. To be honest, the most interesting release (to me, at least) is the Switch 2 port of to a T, the bizarre adventure game from Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy.

NBA The Run (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 9^th

Developed by: Play by Play Studios
Published by: Play by Play Studios

The Boys: Trigger Warning (PSVR 2) – Releases Jun. 9^th

Developed by: ARVORE
Published by: Sony Pictures Virtual Reality

Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker (PC/Switch) – Releases Jun. 9^th

Developed by: Gentle Troll Entertainment
Published by: Gentle Troll Entertainment

SPORTAL (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jun. 11^th

Developed by: Sleepwalking Potatoes
Published by: Retrovibe

Ports and Expansions:

• Hearts of Iron IV: Thunder at our Gates (PC) – Releases Jun. 11^th
• to a T (Switch 2) – Releases Jun. 11^th

Everything else:

• Echoes of Sin: Confusion (PC) – Releases Jun. 9^th
• Voidling Bound (PC) – Releases Jun. 9^th
• Crushed In Time (PC) – Releases Jun. 10^th
• Into The Depths (PC) – Releases Jun. 10^th
• Reel it! World Fishing (PC) – Releases Jun. 10^th
• Beastro (PC) – Releases Jun. 11^th
• Bounce 2 (PC) – Releases Jun. 11^th
• Tome of the Damned (PC) – Releases Jun. 11^th

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

Games:

In notable releases, 2016 gave us the game Dead by Daylight, an asymmetric multiplayer game in which four players must work together in an effort to escape the clutches of a single player who is trying to kill them. In order to escape “the trial”, as it is known, the four players must find generators scattered around the game map. As the players attempt to escape, the single player “Killer” is trying to discover their location so that they can impale them on ceremonial hooks, as sacrifices to an evil force known as “The Entity”.

While Dead by Daylight received glowing reviews from GameSpot and IGN, the overall consensus was that the game was “just okay”. A somewhat cumbersome matchmaking experience (or, I should say, lack of matchmaking) hindered the game at launch. Dead by Daylight, initially, work on a Peer-to-Peer basis, with the Killer player hosting the match, with the survivors being guests. This caused issue were the Killer may have an unfair advantage due to a better internet connection or, if they are losing, could rage quit and end the match prematurely. By 2019, developer Behaviour Interactive would transition Dead by Daylight to run off of dedicated servers that all players would log in to when playing a match.

Despite the somewhat clunky matchmaking in the beginning, Dead by Daylight was a massive hit with players, selling over 1 million copies in the first two months of release. By the end of 2017, 3 million copies had been sold, by 2019 that number reached 5 million. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of the game skyrocketed to over 25 million, with the game reaching 50 million by the end of 2022, and 60 million by the end of 2023.

The massive success of Dead by Daylight led to it being ported to every modern console you can imagine (including Google’s short lived Stadia service), and saw the release of a plethora of DLC. Some of the new content was original to the series, giving players new maps, new killers, and new survivors. However, some of the most popular DLC came from licensing agreements with well known horror franchises. Highlights include characters and locations from Saw, Stranger Things, Resident Evil, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street. While some of these DLC items have been removed once the license has expired, that hasn’t seemed to stop the momentum of the game. New content arrives with regular frequency and sales continue to climb, making it one of the biggest money makers in games today.

From 2006, we have the first person shooter Urban Chaos: Riot Response, the debut title from developer Rocksteady Studios, future creators of the Batman Arkham games. Following the dissolution of Argonaut Games, several of its team members left to create their own company Rocksteady, where they would continue work on a game they started at Argonaut, called Roll Call. Eventually, Roll Call would be re-named Zero Tolerance, before the team finally settled on Urban Chaos: Riot Response (after a license holder threatened to sue them as they already owned the name Zero Tolerance).

The general premise of Urban Chaos finds players taking on the role of police officer Nick Mason who has been assigned to a government task force, known as T-Zero. This task force was created to take on the most violent criminals, terrorists, and gangs in America, when the local police force is unable to deal with them on their own. Players will spend most of their time killing these criminals without remorse, though you do have the option to subdue them non-lethally, which you will likely only do in an effort to check off some tasks that will unlock new weapons.

While not quite loved by critics, or audiences, Urban Chaos did well enough to put Rocksteady on the map. When one of their financiers, SCi Entertainment (parent company of publisher Eidos), gained the rights to the Batman license, Rocksteady was tapped to create what would become Arkham Asylum, based on their experience working with the studio on Urban Chaos. From there, Rocksteady was able to gain international notoriety, eventually becoming a subsidiary of Batman license holder, Warner Bros. Games.

From 1996, we have the game Gungriffon, a mech combat game for the Sega Saturn. Developed by the Japanese studio Game Arts and published by Sega, Gungriffon was a welcome surprise to critics, who found it to be far superior to the PlayStation’s lone mech game, Krazy Ivan.

While it wasn’t necessarily a commercial smash in the US, it did sell well enough for the game to get a sequel in Japan (also for the Saturn). Eventually, the series would move on to the PS2, with 2000’s Gungriffon Blaze, with its final entry, Gungriffon Allied Strike, arriving in 2004 on the Xbox.

Movies:

In notable films, 2016 saw the release of Popstar: Never Stop Stopping, from the comedy group The Lonely Island. Despite the high pedigree of comedy stars, including Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Joan Cusack, Bill Hader, and The Lonely Island themselves (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer), it was a box office bomb, earning just $9 million on a budget of $20 million. Critics enjoyed the film, though they didn’t outright love it. While the initial reception from audiences was somewhat muted, Popstar has gained a cult following over the last ten years, as word of mouth spreads, which seems to have delighted The Lonely Island boys, which they revealed in a recent interview with IndieWire.

From 2006, we have the Pixar film Cars, an animated tale about a world populated with living vehicles; no humans, just vehicles. Cars follows the story of Lightning McQueen, a race car that finds himself in trouble with local authorities after he invertedly damages their main highway. While stuck in this small town on the famed Route 66, the fast living McQueen learns to slow down and appreciate life, finding love and happiness in a place overrun with old time-y Americana & nostalgia.

Released the same week as a remake of the 1970’s horror film The Omen, Cars easily trounced it, as well as the previous week’s #1 film, X-Men: The Last Stand. Earning $60 million its opening weekend, Cars would eventually hit $462 million, worldwide, becoming the 6th highest grossing film of the year, and the second highest grossing animated film (behind Ice Age: The Meltdown).

While the film was a smash with audiences, critics weren’t too hot on the movie, calling its story weak and paper thin. They did concede, however, that it was a great diversion for small children, as they adjusted their monocles before taking a large sip of hot tea. Despite the less than positive critical reception, Cars still received two Academy Award nominations, Best Animated Feature and Best Original song, but would lose both (to Happy Feet and The Inconvenient Truth). The success of Cars led Pixar to release two direct sequels in 2011 & 2017, and two spin-off films, 2013’s Planes and 2014’s Planes: Fire & Rescue.

From 1996, we have the movie The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage, and directed by Michael Bay. This was his second film, following the success of 1995’s Bad Boys, and helped solidify him as one of the go-to directors for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Set on Alcatraz Island, the infamous prison turned museum and tourist attraction, The Rock is a by the numbers action film, in which a group of terrorists threaten to annihilate San Francisco with missiles unless the government pays them $100 million dollars.

While Bay is now notorious for making mindless action films for teenage boys that critics hate, The Rock holds a respectable 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics not quite at the “I hate Michael Bay” phase yet. The film was praised for its thrilling set pieces, but knocked for its less than stellar screenwriting. Audiences didn’t mind, though, as it was given a solid “A” rating, coming in at #1 at the box office. It did exceptionally well the entire Summer, grossing $134 million worldwide, good enough to make it the seventh highest grossing film of 1996.

Albums:

In notable albums, 2016 saw the release of Hero by country singer Maren Morris. This was her fourth album, but first for a major label after she earned 2.5 million streams on Spotify from her self-titled EP in 2015. The success of that five-song EP prompted Columbia Nashville to sign the singer, who re-released the EP, and then put those same five songs on Hero, along with six others.

Driven by the hit single “My Church”, Hero peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 and earned Morris a Grammy nomination in the Best Country Album category (losing to Sturgill Simpson). The strong sales of Hero helped propel Morris into the mainstream where she has sat comfortably for the last ten years, release three further hit albums and being seen as one of the biggest names in country music today.

From 2006, we have one of my all-time favorite albums, Under the Iron Sea by the English rock band Keane. Debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200, and at #1 on the UK charts, Under the Iron Sea was another hit album for the band, but it was less well received than their previous outing, Hopes and Fears.

Despite the initial positive sales in the US, the album just didn’t take off here like it would in the UK and Europe. It’s a shame, really, as some of their best songs are found here, like “Crystal Ball”, ” Is It Any Wonder?”, and the song that never fails to make me cry, “Nothing in My Way”. Following their Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in the wake of Hopes and Fears, the band received another nomination for the Under the Iron Sea song “Is It Any Wonder?” in the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, losing to “My Humps”, by The Black Eyed Peas (gimmie a break).

Closing things out, from 1996, we have the album Very Proud of Ya from the punk band AFI. Released before their whole goth-punk phase, Very Proud of Ya has a lot more in common with other punk bands of the era, i.e., The Offspring, Green Day, etc. The album did not chart, did not receive any Grammy nominations, and was generally ignored by much of the music industry and mainstream public.

In the underground scene, though, AFI were cultivating a very loyal following that would help them to explode into the mainstream seven years later when Sing the Sorrow became an international hit. Back to Very Proud of Ya, there were no singles released, not really, though two tracks, “He Who Laughs Last…” and “Wake Up Call”, did appear on a compilation CD put out by their label, Nitro Records, called Go Ahead Punk…Make My Day (other bands on the comp included The Vandals, Guttermouth, Jughead’s Revenge, and The Offspring.

Dead by Daylight (PC) – Released Jun. 14^th, 2016

Urban Chaos: Riot Response (PS2/Xbox) – Released Jun. 13^th, 2006

Gungriffon (Saturn) – Released Jun. 19^th, 1996

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