When Shovel Knight came to Kickstarter it's amazing retro graphics and fun premise catapulted it to much success. So much so that they hit each stretch goal they set. Yacht Club Games decided to ship the main base game and after the initial launch bring a lot of the stretch goal features later. The in-game stretch goals were the ability to play as 3 bosses, gender swap mode, challenge mode, 4 player battle mode, ability to play all bosses in battle mode & the Linux & Mac ports (already released).

From what I imagine is the first of the playable boss modes, Plague of Shadows is coming as a free update and it looks to be a entirely separate story and play experience than the base Shovel Knight game.

"Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows is a free expansion for Shovel Knight, a sweeping classic action adventure game that won over 70 Game of the Year Awards in 2014. You play as Plague Knight, the villainous master of alchemy, in a quest all his own. Using his maniacal scientific mind, Plague Knight is seeking to concoct Serum Supernus, the Ultimate Potion. However, to retrieve these ingredients, he must extract them from his former allies… the villainous knights of the Order of No Quarter! World class platforming, music, storytelling, and art all return in Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows; an explosive quest with a new play style, new story, new bosses, and more!"

http://yachtclubgames.com/plague-of-shadows/

Blizzard isn't stopping the Diablo 3 update train post Reaper of Souls for a very interesting patch 2.3.0. I'll clip out the more interesting bits we've been talking about in the run up to the patch drop.

"The Ruins of Sescheron
The frozen wasteland that is the Ruins of Sescheron are now open for exploration! Filled with new enemies, traps, and environmental hazards, you'll be able to explore the region and learn more about what befell the barbarians of Mount Arreat. Explore the Immortal Throne and obtain the ultimate treasure: Kanai's Cube.

New Feature: Kanai's Cube
Kanai's Cube is a new artisan that offers a slew of new recipes to fully customize your items and catalogue your Legendary powers. Several recipes are available to players immediately upon acquiring Kanai's Cube.

New Feature: Season Journey
Each player approaches a new Season a little differently and we wanted to celebrate individual player successes. Beginning in Season 4, you'll be able to track your personal progress through the Season Journey interface.

Torment VII-X difficulty levels have been added to the game"

For the lowdown on the new armor sets and full blog post and patch notes check the links below. I think this patch will bring me back to the game to check out the new zone and Cube.

New armor sets in this patch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq-SFJ-eG4M

Full patch blog and notes:

http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/19859662

If you played a few NES platformers you've more than likely played a Mega Man game. Capcom just released Mega Man Legacy Collection for $15 containing the original Mega Man through Mega Man 6! Capcom is advertising these to be faithful reproductions of the originals and to that they are not joking. They seem to be using some kind of NES emulation and like modern emulators offer very nice upscaled 8-bit graphics and original sound.

• Six classic games in one – Play a piece of video game history with the original six Mega Man games and experience the origins of the classic series.


• 8-bit style with HD flair – The games retain their retro 8-bit style with an added HD finish, giving a crisp, clean look to the charming, classic sprites.


• Challenge remix mode for new and veteran players – The robust new Challenge Mode remixes gameplay from all six games for a new type of challenge. It provides both increasingly difficult trials for experienced players and also teaches newcomers to become familiar with the style of the games and tackle some of the trickier areas.


• Museum of the era – The Museum Mode features a massive repository of history and art collected from the era of the games in this collection. Take a look back at the history of Mega Man with loads of information, high-res art, concept pieces, sketches and more in the Museum.


• Developed with an all-new engine – Using the newly developed Eclipse Engine, Capcom and Digital Eclipse are able to archive these six pieces of video game history with faithful reproductions of the originals for a new generation of gamers.


• Leaderboards and video replays – Fans will be able to watch video replays of the top players on the leaderboards, showcasing a whole new generation of Mega Man talent!

$15 dollars for all 6 games ain't bad and if you are looking at capping off your collection this might be the way to do it. Let me know if you plan on picking this up or if you are sticking with your ol' NES carts. The Mega Man Legacy Collection is out on PC, XBox One and PS4.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/363440/

When Adam and I heard there was a new Hearthstone release we started hoarding our daily quest gold. When the Grand Tournament launched today I had enough gold saved for 28 packs and he had 27. Adam had the idea that we stream our opening of our packs and the video linked above turned out way better than I expected.

We start the stream talking about some of the more interesting Grand Tournament cards then proceed to the main event, opening packs. I'd say Adam drew a much larger spread of cards than I did but I ended up pulling Justicar Trueheart. He also pulled two balls of spiders to which I pulled none.

http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/22276-justicar-trueheart

I've been spending the last month plus saving up my gold to open Grand Tournament packs and I can't wait for tonight to open them. One of my friends is coming over and we plan to open the packs together and stream it for anyone interested. Please let me know in the comments what cards you've pulled and any new decks you are playing with.

"Joyous fanfare fills the air of taverns everywhere today, which can only mean one thing—Hearthstone’s second expansion, The Grand Tournament, has arrived! Experience all The Grand Tournament has to offer: 132 new cards add a cavalry of noble knights, powerful steeds, potent spells, and more to your collection. A new keyword, Inspire, rallies minions to perform great acts of courage as they fight in your honor for a hard-earned victory!"

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19843158/the-grand-tournament%E2%84%A2-now-available-8-24-2015

Do you love Half-life AND Hotline Miami and ever wonder what a mashup between them would be like? If you are like me then then answer is whaaaa? but that doesn't mean that Thomas Kole's latest game isn't something worth checking out. Half-line Miami is available to download on PC for free, just hit the link below. Or should you bludgeon the link below with a crowbar? It's up to you.

http://stabberthomas.itch.io/hlm

YouTuber The iBook Guy posted a two-part video outlining how developers of retro video games side stepped the hardware limitations. iBook Guy talks about old hardware RAM limitations of 16k, 32k and 64k and how the developers used certain spriting techniques to give us the awesome games we grew up with. In many cases I didn't know they had those limitations to work with so after watching the video I have a new appreciation for how difficult old games were to make.

Disney/ILM is researching new forms of entertainment with VR and it's pretty interesting to see how they utilize the hardware. The thought of a VR Star Wars film is interesting but I am not entirely certain of how awesome it would be. I imagine someday I might be reading this and thinking my fears quaint but I don't know if it's obvious to anyone how a traditional film would work in VR. Not to say I wouldn't want to experience that at some point. Perhaps they will offer a 2D and VR experience for future films so you can watch it as you'd like?

Being active in the Portland Indie Game scene is pretty incredible as you get to meet a ton of great people and can see games from an early form to final release. One game you might see shown at any upcoming PDX event is being made by my friends over at SleepNinja Games called Super Splataclysm. Splataclysm is a multiplayer arena that focuses on violent fast paced combat reminiscent of Smash TV or Thunderdome. Even in a very early stage the game is great and watching people enjoy the carnage is quite a bit of fun. A few moons back I asked Justin Baldwin over at SleepNinja games if I could talk to him about the game and how the studio was doing in a post Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake world.

jdodson: I played an early alpha version of Super Splataclysm that was really great. What kind of game do you envision making and what things do you plan on adding to the game in the coming months?

Justin Baldwin: Thanks. We really want to make a multiplayer game that is just fun, chaotic and ridiculous. We really want to bring back the vibe from classic multiplayer and sports games like Mutant League Football, Super Bomber Man, and Smash TV. Our goal with Super Splataclysm is revisit overlooked game design choices of early era couch multiplayer games will still adding our own twists. Focusing on an experience that is fun regardless of the mix of player skill levels. Basically trying to capture the feel of Mario Kart, but in the form of a top-down sports brawler. We also chose to have the general presentation be a satire of the mid to late 90s "edgy" culture. We drew a lot from 80s-90s post-apocalyptic action films, games like Killer Instinct and Smash TV, as well as a lot from Nintendo and Sega's edgy advertising stint during this period.

As far as what we plan on adding... A lot. Special abilities for characters, a bunch of different weapons, more characters, more arenas, more enemies, huge boss like enemies, the list goes on.

jdodson: What platforms will you release Super Splataclysm on?

Justin Baldwin: We are still working the logistics of that out, so nothing is set in stone quite yet, but the goal is PC, Mac, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One.

jdodson: How are things going for Sleep Ninja Games as a new game studio?

Justin Baldwin: Things are going well right now, we are at least able to survive for a little while, haha. We have a few projects going and are staying busy. We are having do some contract work to pay the bills, but thankfully it’s still fun work.

jdodson: Portland is becoming a bigger tech hub and I see more and more people making games here. Is there anything Portland could do to help the growing games industry?

Justin Baldwin: Tax incentives, which I know things are happening now there, so it’s taking steps in the right direction. I also think we need rent control, the influx of people in the tech industry is letting rental companies sky rocket rent and it’s really screwing over people that rent here. I’d rather not push the talent that we do have here already out because they can’t afford to live here anymore.

jdodson: Now that Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake has shipped and people have played it what do you think about it and how everything went?

Justin Baldwin: Overall it went pretty well for our first game as a studio. There were a few major headaches and hurdles but overall it went well. It’s interesting to see how everyone that plays it reacts to it. Our goal was to make something more engaging than just action. One thing that we didn’t realize going in is how it’s engaging peoples kids. I always hear how they play the game and read the story with their kids and how the funny writing keeps them engaged. It’s also really cool to hear that these parents realize how bright their kids are with their problem solving skills with the puzzles.

jdodson: With that, is there anything you might have changed about the game or how you made it?

Justin Baldwin: There are some things I would have liked to have added. I’m sure every dev says it, but I also would have liked to have added some more polish in places. More butt jokes too maybe?

jdodson: I really enjoyed the Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake Christmas update. Are there any other plans to add content to the game or DLC?

Justin Baldwin: Thanks! Currently there is no plans to do any content updates, to be honest we are too busy with new projects. We also just needed a break from the close to 3 year meat grinder of literal blood, sweet, and tears creating it. Don’t get me wrong, we still love Monsters and plan on doing more with the property in the future.

jdodson: Super Splataclysm seems to be inspired with classic post apocalyptic fiction like Mad Max. What do you think of the classic Trilogy? Have you had a chance to see the Fury Road yet?

Justin Baldwin: Yeah it’s pretty heavily inspired but lots of 80s and 90s post-apocalyptic and action films and games. Mad Max is definitely an inspiration, I’ve always had a place in my heart for the films, Road Warrior being my favorite. And yes, I caught Fury Road, and I thought it was incredible. So many approaches to film that you don’t see much of anymore, it was a breath of fresh air in the action movie genre. Was nice to see Miller show the newer directors how it’s done, hopefully they learn something.

jdodson: What did you all pick up in the last Steam Sale? Somehow I made it through this latest sale with my credit card intact.

Justin Baldwin: Hmm. I didn’t go too crazy, mostly because I just don’t have the time to play as much stuff as I would like. I picked up Banner Saga, Sunless Sea, Legend of Grimrock 2, Ori and the Blind Forest, System Shock 2, Ziggurat, The Wolf Among Us, Hand of Fate... Okay, maybe I did buy quite a few things.

I want to thank Justin for taking the time to get back to me about the game and we all wish SleepNinja Games the best on the launch of Super Splataclysm. If you want to see more gameplay screens and art from Splataclysm check the imgur album below.

http://imgur.com/a/D4Lqr
http://sleepninjagames.com/

Classic game Final Fantasy dropped on iOS a few days ago and so far is getting good reviews. Pricing in at $15 this is one of the more expensive iOS titles but for as beloved as this is and as much time as people have dedicated to it, it doesn't seem to bad. Final Fantasy VII may be a beloved classic but it's a game that came out on a system I never owned. Because of my lack of access to a Playstation I never picked this up and have no nostalgic love for it. I wonder if I play this now how I will take it compared to how I would have appreciated it back then?

It seems like a perfect fit for a phone or tablet so if you pick this up let me know what you think of it.