Top Releases:

• Halloween (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Hazard Pay (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• Hot Wheels Infinite Rush (PC/PS5/Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• Shroom and Gloom (PC) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• NHL 27 (PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 11^th

Happy day after Labor Day! Traditionally, this is the week that most kids go back to school and everyone does their last big Summer hurrah before the coming of Fall. As such, it seems that most game publisher have decided to overlook this week, in terms of huge, massive titles. I guess Halloween: The Game is the top release. However, for my money, I’m super stoked for Team Lazerbeam’s Shroom and Gloom coming to early access on Steam this week. I hope you had a nice holiday, I know I did. On that note, we’ll see you next time!

Halloween: The Game (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th

Developed by: IllFonic
Published by: IllFonic Publishing/Gun Interactive

Hazard Pay (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 10^th

Developed by: Smitner Studio
Published by: Smitner Studio/Numskull Games

Hot Wheels Infinite Rush (PC/PS5/Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th

Developed by: Milestone S.r.l.
Published by: Milestone S.r.l.

Shroom and Gloom (PC) – Releases Sep. 10^th

Developed by: Team Lazerbeam
Published by: Devolver Digital

NHL 27 (PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 11^th

Developed by: EA Vancouver
Published by: EA Sports

Ports and Expansions:

• Culdcept The First (PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Mewgenics (PS5/Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Valheim (PC/PS5/Switch 2/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 9^th
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero / Trails to Azure – Deluxe Edition (PS5/Switch 2) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• Surviving Mars: Relaunched – Feeding the Future (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Code of Vein II: Mask of Idris (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 9^th
• Borderlands 4 – Story Pack 2: FL4K and the Last Resort (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th

Everything else:

• Aerial_Knight’s MrFreezy (PC/PS5) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Bus Simulator 27 (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Honeycomb: The World Beyond (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• SPRAWL zero (PC/PS5/Switch 2/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 8^th
• Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 9^th
• The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• BrokenLore: Don’t Lie (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th
• Dumb Ways to Build (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 10^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

With a relentless work schedule, busy social life, and a stacked holiday weekend, I don’t have much time for big write-up’s this week for our notable titles. From 2016, we’ve got ReCore, an action adventure game produced by Keji Inafune, creator of Mega Man. This Xbox console exclusive should have been highly anticipated but I think the failure of Mighty No. 9 kind of kept players expectations as bay. It seems they were right to be wary, as ReCore wasn’t all that well received b critics, who found it a bit boring and a slog to get through. Since then, Inafune has seen his work output slow down significantly in comparison to his early years in the game industry, only releasing four games in the ensuing ten years since the release of ReCore.

From 2006, Sega gave the world Yakuza or, as we now know the series, Like a Dragon. It’s pretty wild to think that we’ve have Kazuma Kiryu in our live for twenty years, and even equally wild to see that the series would be so successful after the god awful trailer that came out for it at launch. Mega64 would do a parody of this some years later, just before the release of Yakuza 3; thank goodness Sega stopped mucking around with it and just gave every region the same game.

From 1996, we’ve got one of my all-time favorite video games, Crash Bandicoot for the Sony PlayStation. This 3D platformer was Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s Mario games, releasing just a few weeks before the Nintendo 64 and its launch title, Super Mario 64. While the franchise, developed by Naughty Dog, would stick to PlayStation hardware through the 1990’s, the character would eventually be sold to Universal, with Sony’s once prominent North American mascot now appearing on every home console.

From 1986, we’ve got what can arguably be called the first beat ’em up video game, Renegade. Released in Japan in May of 1986 as Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, this was the first title in the long running Kunio-kun franchise, which would eventually be known as River City in North America. While the Japanese version of the game stuck to the style and story we know from River City (high school students brawling over inane bullshit), the North American version changed the graphics to make the characters appear to be street thugs, taking heavy inspiration from the film The Warriors.

As for films, I don’t have a ton to say here. Meryl Streep got an Oscar nomination for her role in Florence Foster Jenkins (losing to Emma Stone in La La Land), and Ben Affleck got a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Hollywoodland (losing to Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls). 1996’s A Very Brady Sequel was a very not good sequel (but it still makes me chuckle), while 1986’s Blue Velvet, from master director David Lynch, shocked the film world with its brooding sensuality. Lynch would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director, but lose the award to Oliver Stone for Platoon.

Blue Velvet was somewhat of a comeback for Lynch, having just directed one of the biggest flops of all-time, Dune. With his career rebounding, Lynch would go on to co-create the acclaimed television series Twin Peaks, while writing and directing a string of bizarre and provocative films; Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive, before kind of stepping away from filmmaking for several years, up until the release of Twin Peaks: The Return. Lynch would pass away in 2025 at the age of 78.

I probably have even less to say about the notable albums, 2016 saw the release of Cold World, their fourth studio album and the last to feature original vocalist Austin Carlile; it would peak at #20 on the Billboard Top 200. 2006 gave us FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake; remember “Sexy Back”? YEAH; take it to the chorus! 1996 saw the release of Face to Face, the major label debut by the punk band Face to Face. Personally, I love this album and consider it to be one of the best punk records of the decade.

Their label, A&M, had high hopes, particularly after seeing the success of Green Day and The Offspring. However, Face to Face was not a smash success and you could easily find the album in bargain bins through the 2000’s (I bet you’ll even find it at an FYE right now for ten bucks). Finally, from 1986, Cyndi Lauper put out the album True Colors, featuring the Grammy nominated hit single “True Colors”. The song would peak at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would peak at #4 on the Billboard Top 200.

ReCore (PC/Xbox One) – Released Sep. 13^th, 2016

Yakuza (PS2) – Released Sep. 5^th, 2006

Crash Bandicoot (PlayStation) – Released Sep. 9^th, 1996

Renegade (Arcade) – Released Sep. 1986

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