News by Lindsay M. and Matt S.
Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Senran Kagura pinball is coming to the West
By Lindsay M., News Editor
Senran Kagura: Peach Ball will be coming to Nintendo Switch in North America and Europe this (Northern) summer, courtesy of XSEED and Marvelous, respectively. North America will see a limited physical release as well as a digital launch, whereas European countries will only receive a digital release.
There’s a long backstory to the title. A mad scientist name Haruka is up to her usual tricks again, creating experiments with unknown effects. The local arcade is her laboratory, and she stores her gear in the bathroom. She accidentally infects five of her friends, causing them to mentally become animals.
The one way to prevent these human animals from going cuckoo is to whack them repeatedly with the Peach Ball. Which happens to fit in a pinball table. You see where I’m going with this. Let’s be real, the story doesn’t really matter too much. They had us at Senran Kagura + pinball.
Mortal Kombat XI has a brand new character. A… tax collector?
By Matt S., Editor-in-Chief
Well, there’s certainly nothing more horrific than a tax collector, so the newest Mortal Kombat XI character, Kollector, makes a great deal of sense, I guess. A fierce ally of Shao Khan, the Kollector was so corrupt that on Shao Khan’s death, he found himself on the wrong side of Kotal Kahn, and his solution to avoiding being executed is to… rip the innards out of everything that he comes across.
Warner Bros. has released a trailer for this new character – a four-armed monstrosity that makes good use of all four arms. As usual, the trailer also features one of the character fatalities, and as usual, this Kollector looks like he’s competing with the others for the most brutally effective fatality.
A scrappy little fighter, this dude. MK XI is going to be absolutely gruesome, and releases on April 23 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC (Via Steam), and Nintendo Switch.
Here’s a trailer for Life Is Strange 2, Episode 3
By Lindsay M., News Editor
Titled “Wastelands,” the third episode of Life Is Strange 2 is set to launch next month. Square Enix and Dontnod, the publisher and the developer, have released a teaser trailer for the episode:
Wastelands picks up a few months after the events of Episode 2. Sean and Daniel are living on the fringes of society, befriending drifters and runaways before becoming embroiled in the illegal California cannabis trade. Eep.
Episode 3: Wastelands will release on May 9. The fourth episode is due out August 22, and the fifth and final on December 3. Life Is Strange 2 is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The newest chapter in the Samurai Shodown lands on June 27
By Matt S., Editor-in-Chief
June 27 is the day that people in Japan will get to play Samurai Shodown – the newest entry in SNK’s popular fighting game series. That release will be for PS4 and Xbox One only, with arcade, PC and Nintendo Switch ports to come at later dates. Out here in the west, the only release date we have is “June”, but I wouldn’t expect to be playing the game before the Japanese, so assume that the English release will come some time around the 27nd.
Samurai Shodown will have three fighters new to the series, as well as plenty of returning favourites. I must admit that I’m not entirely sold on the use of 3D models for the characters – earlier Samurai Shodown titles used the most beautifully animated sprites – but the game’s backgrounds are gorgeous, in keeping with tradition.
If you’ve never played a Samurai Shodown before, expect this one to be the most accessible and interesting in the series to date. It’s always been a series that has flown under the radar, but with this latest title, it does look like SNK is pushing for it to have the same prestige as the likes of King of Fighters.
