Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey has taken home the top honour at Gamescom’s awards show. The upcoming Switch game won the Best of Gamescom award, organisers have announced. It won four others: the “Most Wanted” Consumer Award, the Best Nintendo Switch Console Game, Best Action Game, and Best Family Game.
Odyssey launches this October exclusively for Switch. The console itself continues to be hard to find, but Nintendo recently promised to “ramp up” production of the console heading into the busy holiday season.
Destiny 2 won Best Multiplayer Game and Best Social/Online Game, while the Xbox One X took home the award for Best Hardware. The award for best sports game went to PES 2018, while Best Racing game went to Forza Motorsport 7.
Since the beginning of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow has been known as the bastard son of Ned Stark. While there have been plenty of theories as to who Jon’s true parents are, including a couple hints last season, there’s been no concrete evidence about where Jon came from, until the Season 7 finale.
Warning: Spoilers are coming.
It was revealed through information between Bran Stark–who can see into the past–and Samwell Tarly–who learned a few things about marriage annulments while at the Citadel–that Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Also, his name isn’t even Jon; it’s Aegon, a popular name in the Targaryen lineage.
Ned changed his name to Jon and claimed him as his own son because Robert Baratheon–the King of Westeros at the time–would kill him, as Aegon would be the true heir to the Iron Throne. This was probably the best kept secret in Westeros. The only person who knew about this–Ned Stark–has been dead since Season 1.
That being said, if Rhaegar is Aegon’s father, that makes Daenerys his aunt, which makes the sex scene between the two during the season finale a whole lot weirder, and somehow, still very Targaryen. However, if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, incest isn’t a new thing, especially within the Lannister family.
The “Jon is a Targaryen” theory has been popular with fans for quite some time, and it’s gotten much more attention the past year, after Bran’s flashbacks in Season 6 and Jon adorably petting Daenerys’ dragon this season. Even crazier is that this hasn’t been revealed in the books yet, so both fans of the novels and television series got the reveal at the same time.
Once fans got past the moment they realized Aegon is engaging in coitus with his aunt, many are probably wondering, “What does this mean for the Iron Throne?” Once Aegon finds out this information for himself, he’ll have a decision to make. He could stay loyal to Daenerys or take his rightful place on the Iron Throne. Or he could rule Westeros together with Daenerys. However, before any of those decisions can be made, there’s an army of the undead to take care of, as well as a long break before Season 8, which will be the final one of the series.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7, up through its finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” below
Game of Thrones has had its ups and downs over the last few seasons. I’ve always been quick to call it out for its failings, like I did after Season 7, Episode 6, “Beyond the Wall,” mangled Westeros’s rules of time and space beyond recognition. I criticize Game of Thrones because I love it, which also makes it a joy for me to point out that the Season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” made up for all its shortcomings so far.
Everything just happened: Cersei, Jon, Jaime, Tyrion, and nearly every other character on the show came face to face; Jaime and Cersei finally split for good; Sansa, Arya, and Bran joined forces and took out Littlefinger; the Wall fell; and Bran and Sam pooled their knowledge and realized that Jon is a trueborn Targaryen–real name Aegon Targaryen, in fact.
(OK, so we didn’t get our Cleganebowl; at least the dog-faced brothers came face to face at last, and it’s definitely coming next season.)
“The Dragon and the Wolf” may have been Game of Thrones‘ single most important episode ever, and it knocked every scene out of the park. A lot of that was thanks to pacing: Just look how much time they spent on that big pow-wow between all the major players, and the subsequent meetings, like Tyrion’s reunion with Cersei. There’s a scene, seasons and years in the making, that needed room to breathe. And it had it.
Cersei’s immediate reaction to seeing the undead with her own eyes was real, not feigned. That must have been the most terror she’d felt since holding the choking, purple Joffrey in her arms. But her longer-term reflex rang even truer: The Cersei who fans have come to know would never throw in with her enemies, cede an iota of power, or back off a single inch. She’s shown that countless times, and this was the Sept of Baelor all over again (R.I.P. the Tyrells). A Cersei who’s appeared to see reason is the most dangerous Cersei of all, as our Stark and Targaryen friends will doubtless learn next season.
In the North, Sansa and Arya turned out to be playing Littlefinger for real, and Bran dropped the knowledge that made it possible, as some predicted would happen. Watching the expression on Littlefinger’s face change as Sansa called him out for his crimes–all his crimes, thanks to Bran’s ability to peer through the veil all the way back to Season 1–was one of the most satisfying things ever seen on this show. Sansa learned well, and she’ll take Baelish’s lessons with her into the future–without him.
The big Jon reveal was one fans have awaited for decades, ever since the first book, A Game of Thrones, was published in 1996. Over 20 years ago, the most eagle-eyed readers picked up on clues that Jon might not be who he seemed–that Lyanna Stark died in a “bed of blood,” and other hints. Throughout the subsequent books, and then the last six seasons of the show, the theory grew firmer and firmer in many fans’ minds.
The currently published books aren’t yet at the point of that reveal, but the show passed the books a long time ago. The most devoted Game of Thrones fans waited long enough, and the Season 7 finale delivered a pulse-racing one-two punch: Yes, Jon is a Targaryen, and yes, he’s a legitimate heir. He belongs on the Iron Throne at least as much as–if not more than–Daenerys does.
Even the simple sight of Rhaegar and Lyanna on-screen together, likely the happiest they’d ever be, was a huge moment for Game of Thrones fans. And the show gave it the time it deserved. That’s not even mentioning the action immediately following–and, in case you’re not aware, getting weird with immediate family members is the most Targaryen thing there is, next to “fire and blood.” Jon and Dany may not know it yet, but Game of Thrones Season 7 left them exactly where they’re supposed to be.
And then, the Wall came crumbling down. It’s fair to wonder what the Night King’s plan was before he got himself a dragon, which is just one of the lingering concerns we’ll cover another time. He has one now, and he used it to answer another decades-old question: What could possibly bring down that mighty Wall? If you answered “undead dragon fire” at any point throughout the series, give yourself a mighty pat on the back, then go and have a good cry. You’ve earned it.
Game of Thrones has six episodes left. The Season 7 finale didn’t tie as neat a bow on it as some viewers might have predicted–Cersei’s still alive, and she’s not backing down, so humanity’s forces aren’t quite united against the rapidly approaching threat. That just leaves more action, drama, and intrigue for Game of Thrones‘ final season, which–it pains the books-lover in me greatly to say–can’t come soon enough.
The Season 7 finale of Game of Thrones offered quite a few shocking revelations, but one that may have been a tad over-shadowed by everything else was the death of a character who first made their debut in Season 1.
Warning: Spoilers are coming.
While the majority of the finale dealt with the whether or not Cersei Lannister would join the fight with the North, there was an incredibly important moment that happened at Winterfell. Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish has been playing Sansa Stark for far too long, trying to turn her against her own family, and presumably turning Arya against her; the conflict between the three characters has been the focus this season in Winterfell.
Sansa has a decision to make about her sister and her family. She has Arya brought to the Great Hall where it seems like Sansa is going to try her sister as a traitor. However, she turns to Lord Baelish to have him answer to the accusations of treason and murder. Sansa calls out Baelish on his years of manipulation, murder, and selling Sansa off. Baelish is thrown off by this and begs to explain the matter to Sansa in private. She thanks Baelish for his “many lessons,” and without hesitation, Arya walks over to him and slices his throat.
For Game of Thrones fans, this is one of the more satisfying deaths on the show, right up there with King Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton. Baelish has really been the one thing in the way of everything running smoothly for House Stark, which has been in a complete nosedive since the tail end of Season 1. His death means that the family will be able to work together again without paranoia and suspicion. Sansa obviously struggled with Baelish dying, as a tear rolled down her face while Arya slashed his throat, but for better or worse (mainly worse), Littlefinger has been the only constant person in her life that wasn’t abusing her or trying to kill her–he just sold her off to a sociopath. It was a horribly toxic relationship, but luckily, Arya has no problem killing off people who have wronged her or the Stark household.
Aidan Gillen, who played Petyr Baelish, appeared in 41 episodes of the series, making his debut as Littlefinger in Season 1, Episode 3. The character started his journey at King’s Landing as a brothel owner, and the Master of Coin on the Small Council of the king. Throughout the series, he spent quite a bit of time manipulating members of the Stark family, trying to put himself in a more powerful position in Westeros. However, his lies finally caught of with him, and he’s dead. Many fans couldn’t be happier.
The team behind Yakuza has announced that it’s working on a game inspired by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara’s Fist of the North Star. The forthcoming title, Hokuto ga Gotoku, is expected to launch for PS4 sometime in 2018 in Japan.
Fist of the North Star was a manga series that initially began in 1983 and ended in 1988. It featured a muscly warrior named Kenshiro in the 1990s after a nuclear war wiped out most of humanity. Kenshiro is the successor to a deadly form of martial arts called Hokuto Shinken, and with this power, he protects the weak and innocent. During its peak, it spurred two anime series, several OVAs, video games, and the like.
This version of the game is presumably after the events of the manga series as Gematsu reports that the story revolves around Kenshiro exacting revenge and searching for his “dead” fiancee, Yuria, in Eden. The rumor of her still living is his only hope as he goes around the world punishing baddies after his own death–and these baddies might just have something to do with the Big Dipper scars on his chest.
With any luck, we’ll be seeing more on this forthcoming title in the near future. At this time, no localization details have been announced. Until then, Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the original Yakuza,is due out later this week. Its sequel is being remade as well.
Divinity: Original Sin II is due out on PC in just a few weeks, and the team at Larian Studios is has announced that the title’s 1,200 different characters will be fully voice acted.
Yes, every single character, from the main cast to every other NPC along the way, will be voiced. To break that down, Divinity: Original Sin II’s scripts feature one million words, 74,000 lines, and 1,200 different characters with 80 actors to do them all. That’s some pretty impressive work to make sure the final title wouldn’t have any of what the team calls “cheese vendoring.”
With so many voices and so many origin stories, the team claims that you won’t be able to hear them all in one playthrough. Get ready to play through this game several times to get every piece of lore and story you can.
Divinity: Original Sin II is the sequel to Divinity: Original Sin and netted over $2 million from 40,000 fans on Kickstarter. The title is available now on Steam’s Early Access and will launch fully for the platform this September 14.
The level cap is now 25. As a result of the level cap increase, players can now unlock things like the Bouncing Betty mine and the Fighter Pilot scorestreak.
Additionally, Sledgehammer Games updated fans on some of the feedback it has received since the beta went live earlier this week on PS4. The studio is working on fixes for a number of crash scenarios, while Sledgehammer also said the final version of the game will have a colorblind setting in the menu.
The first wave of the Call of Duty: WWII “Private Beta” runs until August 28, while a second weekend is coming up September 1-4. Xbox One and PC users will presumably get to play the beta at some point, too.
We love the positive reactions to the new overhead camera esports feature. In response to feedback about visibility of objectives, especially Hardpoints, we are currently working on solutions for launch.
Some players are reporting getting trapped in an update loop after they are prompted to restart their game to complete an update of the client. We have been resolving these through basic troubleshooting and are investigating further steps.
You have asked about a color blind setting in the menu. While not in the Beta, we have been working to have this for launch.
In response to all the requests for bumper jumper configuration, we also plan to support this for launch.
We’ve heard your feedback regarding playlist variety, and have made some adjustments to improve this. You know what else would improve it? More maps and modes.
We’ve heard your feedback on the Paratroopers Scorestreak having some edge case issues. We made some adjustments today, but they didn’t address the core issue in the way we wanted. We’ve got new fixes coming soon.
We are investigating a bug that causes some players to be kicked back to the Main Menu after accepting an invite from the load screen of any map.
There is a bug causing the title to crash when an invitee accepts an invite while entering a match when the inviter is also entering the match.
Some of you have noted that the incendiary shells feel too strong. We’re looking into data to determine if a nerf is needed.
Improvements to Party UI / UX are underway. Implementation date is still TBD, but know that we are actively working on it.
“Obviously we’d have to think about what the meaning and what the significance of bringing this to Switch would be,” he explained. “You know, whether people would want to play it and whether it would be the right thing to do for our team.”
Right now, the Pocket Edition “doesn’t actually have controller support,” Tabata clarified.
Earlier this week during Twitch’s Gamescom livestream, Tabata said Square Enix wants to “move out and do as much as we can with this game.” He went on to tease that a lot of developers at Square Enix are enthusiastic about a console that sounds a lot like Twitch, so you can connect the dots there and get at what he means.
Final Fantasy XV’s Pocket Edition is a mobile adaptation of the RPG, with a cute, chibi-esque art style. Gameplay looks to be in the isometric action RPG style, with “casual touch controls optimized for mobile devices.” The video above shows off Pocket Edition’s recreation of the early scene where Noctis and company have to push the Regalia to a garage after it breaks down. Later, it shows off what navigating the world and combat look like–and we also see that Ignis is still happy to cook the gang a meal.
Pocket Edition will split Final Fantasy XV’s main story into ten separate episodes. These will all be available at the same time later this year, with Episode 1 being a free download.
With over 800,000 concurrent users on Steam, Battlegrounds is well ahead of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Grand Theft Auto V. It’s still behind the No. 1 game on the list, Valve’s free-to-play juggernaut Dota 2, but not by much. The chart below only shows figures for today, but Dota 2 has exceeded 1 million concurrent players before.
As for a sales figure, the game has passed 8 million copies sold, which is incredible when you consider it’s only been out since March and isn’t even finished yet.
Right on schedule, Destiny 2‘s PC beta client is now available to pre-load, at least for some players. People who pre-ordered Destiny 2 on PC can now pre-load so they can start playing precisely when the beta goes live on August 28.
People who pre-ordered a digital copy need only press “Install” in the Battle.net app to pre-load. Retail customers have to go to bungie.net/redeem to redeem their code.
Pre-loading is now available to players with Early Access to the Destiny 2 PC Beta. Open Access downloads will begin on 8/29.
