Telltale’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ to make gameplay debut at SXSW

By Danny Cowan Published March 9, 2017

telltale guardians of the galaxy cast revealed telltalegotg — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Eager to get your hands on Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series? Developer Telltale Games will offer an exclusive glimpse at its upcoming Marvel-licensed adventure game at PAX East this weekend, followed by an interactive gameplay session to be held as part of a world premiere event at South by Southwest (SXSW).

Telltale Games additionally revealed its cast picks for Guardians of the Galaxy, announcing that an assembly of veteran voice actors and TV stars will play the roles of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and other fan-favorite characters.

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Telltale Games is a studio that specializes in point-and-click adventure games inspired by popular film, TV, and comic book licenses. The company found its first major success with The Walking Dead, an episodic adventure game based on the ongoing TV and comic series. Other recent Telltale games have delivered similar interactive experiences based on Batman, Game of Thrones, Borderlands, Minecraft, and other pop culture franchises.

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Telltale will reveal exclusive details regarding its upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy project at PAX East this weekend in Boston. Marvel Games Creative Director Bill Rosemann will join Telltale developers in a panel discussion scheduled to kick off on March 10 at 6 p.m. (ET) in the Albatross Theater at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The panel will also be broadcast live on Twitch.

Guardians of the Galaxy‘s world-exclusive gameplay premiere will be held on March 17 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. During the event, audience members will vote to determine branching storyline paths as part of Telltale’s Crowd Play initiative.

While players wait for more details surrounding Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, the studio announced its planned lineup of voice talent, giving fans an idea of what to expect from the final product.

“The series will feature a star-studded cast of voice talent,” Telltale said, “including Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series) as Star-Lord, Emily O’Brien (The Young and the Restless, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor) as Gamora, Nolan North (the Uncharted series, Pretty Little Liars) as Rocket, Brandon Paul Eells (Watch Dogs) as Drax, and Adam Harrington (The Wolf Among Us, League of Legends) as Groot.”

A release date for Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is not yet known.

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Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

I can’t wait to go back to Street Fighter 6’s excellent Battle Hub

street fighter 6 battle hub preview arcade cabinet

Fighting games live or die on their online communities. Of course, basic functions like rollback netcode and cross-play are essential to a healthy fighting game, but Street Fighter 6 goes further by creating an online hub that celebrates the series and gives players somewhere to hang out between matches. Call it a metaverse if you must, but in reality, the Battle Hub is one-third of the Street Fighter 6 package and will likely be home to the communities and tournaments that ensure people will play the game for years to come.
It was also the focus of the Closed Beta for Street Fighter 6 this past weekend, which gave me a second chance to go hands-on with the game after falling in love with it at Summer Game Fest Play Days. The core 1-v-1 fights are still a joy to play and the beta’s new characters -- Juri, Kimberly, Guile, and Ken -- all come with the exciting combos and flashy animations. But really, I came away impressed with the groundwork Capcom is laying for Battle Hub and its implications for World Tour mode.
What’s the hubbub about?
The Battle Hub is one of three options players can choose right from the main menu of Street Fighter 6, and when selected, it tasks players with creating a character avatar that will represent them. I didn’t spend too much time with these options, but they seemed quite in-depth for those who enjoy a detailed character creator. After creating a blue-haired and face-tattooed fighter, I was thrust into the Battle Hub’s futuristic arcade.

Multiplayer hubs as a replacement for simple menus aren't a new concept for fighting games (Bandai Namco games like Dragon Ball FighterZ have done this for a while). Still, for Capcom’s first attempt at one, the Battle Hub is full of personality and things to do. Its stark blue colors, a plethora of screens, and many gameplay cabinets make it feel like the high-tech arcade Capcom wants it to be.
As soon as I entered, I could walk around, emote, and perform classic Street Fighter moves the Hadoken with button presses. I was also near two kiosks. At one, I could register and view tournaments and Street Fighter 6 events, although none were available for me during this Closed Beta. The other one was the Hub Goods Shop, where I could buy clothes and other gear to customize my character further with the currency I accrued while playing.
The other kiosks on the main level weren’t available in this Closed Beta outside a screen that showed which player in our server was performing the best. I then headed toward the arcade cabinets, most of which form a circle around the center of the Battle Hub. One person has to sit on each side to initiate a Street Fighter 6 match. While it’s a bit annoying to sit and wait for someone to play with you, I could always find an opponent if I looked around at every cabinet. Hopefully, the final game will have an option to get into fights slightly faster for those who want to simply jump into it.

Gaming

Multiplayer hit Mordhau slashes its way onto consoles later this year

A soldier walks away from a flame in Mordhau.

Mordhau, a visceral multiplayer game set in medieval times that was popular on PC, will finally make its way to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S later this year. In late 2019, Mordhau made the rounds as the hot and trendy new multiplayer game, like Splitgate and MultiVersus have recently. It stood out thanks to its large 64-player battles and combat that isn't afraid to be intricate, methodical, and quite brutal. While its player count dropped following its moment in the spotlight and the release of Chivalry II, Mordhau still has a dedicated fanbase that enjoys its tough but satisfying combat and medieval setting. Now, players on consoles finally have the chance to experience the game and could possibly revitalize general interest in Mordhau.
MORDHAU - Console Announcement
Triterinon, the Slovenian developer behind Mordhau, will still handle developer and publisher duties for the console ports. It will feature the same combat and modes players can find on PC, including the attack-and-defend mode Invasion, the territory-based Frontline, and cooperative Horde mode. The developer also confirmed that these new versions of Mordhau will feature crossplay. However, it is currently only going to work between console platforms, so new players aren't matched up against PC players that mastered the game over the past several years.
Although Triterinon did not share a specific date just yet, players can expect Mordhau to release for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S later this year. If you can't wait to play it, Mordhau is currently available on PC for $30.

Gaming

The best video games of June 2022: TMNT, Fire Emblem, and more

An image of the TMNT in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

Following all of the major summer showcases, there's a general feeling that gaming in 2022 already peaked earlier this year with games like Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. That said, this mindset isn't really that accurate because June contained several of 2022's best games.
From beat 'em ups to simple mobiles games to grand Musou adventures, there were a lot of games to enjoy alongside all of the announcements this month. If you haven't played anything new this month because you thought 2022 gaming couldn't get any better than Elden Ring, we recommend the following six games.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge - Gameplay overview
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge isn’t a super complex game; it’s just almost perfectly executed for what it is. This beat ’em up calls back to classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time while paying respect to the popular franchise with a variety of Easter eggs and beautiful pixel art. Anyone can pick up and enjoy its beat-’em-up combat, and it’s filled with every hero or enemy you’d expect to see in a TMNT game.
We even gave Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge our first five-star review of 2022. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a must-play for both TMNT and beat-’em-up fans alike,” Digital Trends contributor De’Angelo Epps wrote in his review. “It’s a game that takes what worked in the past, but still finds space to innovate beyond its fan service and nostalgia play.”
Surprisingly, the game features six-player co-op, so all of your friends who are TMNT fans can get in on the fun. It’s a near-perfect beat ’em up that succeeds at precisely what it was out to achieve and shouldn’t be overlooked because of that. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It’s even on Xbox Game Pass, so it’s easy to try out if you’re curious.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch
Like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Persona 5 Strikers, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes incorporates enough elements from the game it’s based on and tells a compelling enough story to stand on its own. Fire Emblem mechanics such as permadeath, distinct character classes and abilities, and support conversations combined with the high-octane Musou action players have come to expect from Koei Tecmo’s Musou games to make something special.
“This is a high-effort hack-and-slash that convincingly functions as a full-fledged sequel to Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” gaming editor Giovanni Colantonio wrote in its four-star Digital Trends review. “While its core action gets repetitive due to a lack of overall variety, there are plenty of familiar RPG hooks around it that keep the adventure engaging. For those who want a good reason to revisit the land of Fódlan, Three Hopes is much deeper than a reunion special.”
The game’s narrative, in particular, stands out as Three Houses’ protagonist Byleth is now the villain. Like Three Houses, You can also play Three Hopes multiple times over if you want to see the story from each house’s perspective. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is available now for Nintendo Switch. If you want to try it, a free demo with several hours’ worth of content is available on the eShop.
Poinpy
Poinpy | Official Game Trailer | Netflix
Poinpy is much more obscure than the other games on this list because it’s tucked away as a Netflix exclusive for iOS and Android. If you search for it in the Games tab of your Netflix app on mobile, you’ll be able to jump to the App Store and Google Play Store and download it. If you go through the effort to do all that, you’ll find a simple but enthralling mobile game about collecting fruit to keep a monster at bay as you continuously climb to escape it.
It’s from the creator of the challenging but equally satisfying Downwell. Instead of descending into a dark and dreary well, Poinpy is a much more cute and colorful experience where your focus is on launching your character up to collect fruit and escape. A monster is always chasing you, so you’ll have to collect certain combinations of fruit to feed it and keep it at bay. Once you get the hang of swiping to jump and tapping your phone to stomp into the ground, you won’t want to put Poinpy down.
Netflix’s video game initiative hasn’t quite caught on yet, which is why Poinpy is relatively obscure. If Netflix can keep delivering games of this quality, people will start to notice. Poinpy is available now for iOS and Android via Netflix. Simply get a Netflix subscription, and you’ll be able to access the game without any ads or microtransactions.
Neon White
NEON WHITE | Launch Trailer
Neon White presents itself as a first-person shooter with an edgy story and intense platforming, but it really just wants you to have a good time. This game is about a bunch of criminals trying to earn their place in heaven by competing in a contest to kill the most demons. As you do this, you’ll be platforming around heavenly levels and taking out demons with guns that come from cards strewn about the level. It’s an odd mix of genres, but it works.
“Neon White takes some big swings with its card-shooter/platformer premise and fortunately doesn’t miss,” Giovanni Colantonio wrote in his four-star Neon White review. “Its execution-heavy action is wildly fast and fun, pushing players to complete complex demon-slaying gauntlets that pepper in exciting twists through the game’s last moments.”
Neon White will be up your alley if you love games like Mirror’s Edge and Clustertruck that challenge your first-person platforming skills. Visual novel fans will get a kick out of the game, too, thanks to its compelling story about who deserves forgiveness and gift system that lets the player unlock extra conversations and memories with Neon White’s supporting cast. Neon White is available now for PC and Nintendo Switch.
AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative Gameplay Trailer
A follow-up to a 2019 cult classic mystery adventure game, AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative has been a low-key critical darling this month. Sitting at an 85 on Metacritic, fans of the Danganronpa series or other similar anime-inspired games should check AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative out. In it, you’re trying to track down a serial killer who is literally tearing people in half.
To find out who did this, you must investigate the crime scene to look for evidence and delve into people’s minds to extract more information that could help with the case. Its intense anime stylings and frequent innuendo-filled jokes aren’t for everyone, but if AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative, it could scratch that detective gaming itch and be one of your favorites of the year.
AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative is available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Card Shark
Card Shark - Release Date Trailer - Nintendo Switch
Like Neon White, Card Shark puts a spin on the card game formula. Instead of blending shooting and platforming mechanics, Card Shark is all about cheating at traditional card games with different tactics. It’s also a beautiful game, as Card Shark is styled after the paintings from 18th century France, where the game is set.
“Card Shark is one of the most inventive video games I’ve played this year, completely spinning the concept of genre on its head,” Giovanni Colantonio wrote about the game earlier this month. “Despite having cards, I can’t really call it a 'card game.' It’s an unclassifiable title that’s more about finding a compelling way to turn real-world sleight of hand into engaging gameplay. Whenever I could successfully pull off a trick without arousing too much suspicion, I felt like an overconfident mastermind.”
If you enjoy card games (or maybe want to pick up a few cheating tricks of your own), Card Shark is worth checking out on PC or Nintendo Switch. While it’s been somewhat forgotten as it came out early in the month ahead of Summer Game Fest, it helps show that times of the year that are considered quiet by many gamers can contain some of its best games.