Gamezine17, 03-06-2022: MultiVersus & Steam Dock, gm918238

MultiVersus Does What Smash Brosn't 

Video Credit: evo2kvids

Nintendo’s Smash Bros has been a staple of the Evolution Championship Series since 2007. Any Nintendo player could duke it out with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Samus… all of Nintendo’s characters, plus some guest characters from other IPs. But because this is Nintendo, the players (and the organisers) were at odds with the company, until now.
For EVO 2022 (the first tournament since 2019, for obvious reasons), Smash Bros won’t come back, with no explanation from Nintendo. Likely reasons are that Nintendo partnered with Panda Global to make the first officially licensed circuit for Smash Bros in America, or because half of EVO’s ownership is Sony. Whatever the case, a new game will happily fill that void: WB’s MultiVersus! WB Games will host a 2v2 tournament at EVO 2022 with a top 32 team payout. Those who want to ace the tournament as Batman, Shaggy, Bugs Bunny or Tom & Jerry can register on MultiVersus’s website. This should help boost MultiVersus’s fortunes!
As I already stated previously, this is a game I’ll definitely love to play. Of course it’s not gonna make me blind to the game’s potential shortcomings, but since it’s free-to-play, I can only hope it can grow from there and put Nickelodeon’s offering to shame.

MultiVersus's Legendary Voice Cast

Video Credit: MultiVersus

The biggest shortcoming Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has? No voiced dialogue for any of the playable characters! As a game we have to buy, why couldn’t they use the actors or at least some archived audio as stand-ins? This isn’t the first game where the playable characters are mute, but it’s jarring nevertheless. Warner Bros will take care of that, big time.
As stated in the game’s trailer, the game, which will be free-to-play, will feature voice acting for the playable roster. Here’s who’s returning and who’s new:
George Newbern - Superman (debut: the 2001 Justice League cartoon)
Kevin Conroy - Batman (debut: Batman the Animated Series)
Abby Trott - Wonder Woman
Tara Strong - Harley Quinn (debut: Batman Arkham City)
Eric Bauza - Bugs Bunny (debut: Looney Tunes World of Mayhem), Tom & Jerry (additional vocal effects by William Hanna through archived audio)
Jim Cummings - Taz (debut: Taz-Mania)
Jeremy Shada - Finn the Human (debut: Adventure Time, minus the pilot)
John DiMaggio - Jake the Dog (debut: Adventure Time)
Estelle - Garnet (debut: Steven Universe)
Daniel DiVenere - Steven Universe
Maisie Williams - Arya Stark (debut: Game of Thrones)
Matthew Lilliard - Shaggy Rogers (debut: the 2002 Scooby-Doo film)
Kate Micucci - Velma Dinkley (debut: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!)
Jonathan Lipow - Iron Giant
Andrew Frankel - Reindog
Of course, more characters will appear down the line and while not everyone may be voiced by their actor, we can still duke it out with our childhood stars! The fun begins this summer!

The First Two SoulCalibur Games Are Missing

Video Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment

While it doesn’t have the wide appeal of Street Fighter or the power of Tekken, SoulCalibur was still a great series in its own right. The first game practically helped the Sega Dreamcast as a launch title for America… until the console was stomped by Sony’s PS2. The second game introduced guest characters from different IPs, with a different guest depending on the console (Link for GameCube, Tekken’s Heihachi for PS2 and Spawn for Xbox). The updated HD port featured Heihachi and Spawn for both PS3 and Xbox 360! But…
Out of nowhere and without explanation, the games SoulCalibur I and SoulCalibur II HD were delisted from the Microsoft Store, though they continue to be available on Xbox 360. Bandai Namco has yet to say anything, but it’s very likely because they are subpar. For II HD, it’s because of Spawn. Whether or not he’ll be patched out remains to be seen.
Prior to playing SoulCalibur VI, I never experienced any of the SoulCalibur games. But I understand that players who were looking forward to duking it out with Spawn, which was his first outing in a fighting game (later joining Mortal Kombat 11). Whether remastered, patched, these games deserve to be enjoyed.

Xbox Outsells PlayStation in Japan

Video Credit: Microsoft

Since the first Xbox, Microsoft could never reach the Japanese market. Which is because the console is too large, the controller’s too fat and there weren’t enough games by Japanese developers and publishers. Well, Sega tried to help by offering their games on the console, but it wasn’t enough. The fortunes reversed with the Xbox 360, which did get Japanese games, most notably Tales of Vesperia. And then bad luck struck with the Xbox One, leading those who had the Xbox 360 to refrain from upgrading. What about the Xbox Series?
The Xbox Series S is doing great, even better than the PS5! Due to component shortages, the PS5 is suffering a bit, but the Series S remains available, alongside the Nintendo Switch. Those Xbox 360 owners? They’re upgrading to the Series S! In spite of memory constraints hampering the developers, the console continues to sell to the point of dethroning the PlayStation consoles for the first time in a decade! The PS5 may still loom over the market, but for now, Microsoft scored a victory in Japan!
The shortages are holding the game companies back, but they’re still able to surprise. The Xbox Series X is beautiful, but if you don’t have a great TV, is there a point in owning it? Well, sure, the small storage capacity and lack of an optical drive sucks, but unless you want Series X as a DVD and the game discs are just keys to unlock the game from the store, which you have to download, again, is there a point in owning and using the disc? The Steam Deck is on my radar, but I’ll also look forward to getting the Series S at some point.

Steam Deck's Dock Delayed... Again

Video Credit: Blaze2K

The Steam Deck is a great piece of hardware, except a screen this small may not be convenient for some. But just like the Switch, the Steam Deck will get a dock… separately. At least the Deck is compatible with most third-party USB-C docks and external displays. But it's better to use official stuff, right?
Unfortunately for Deck owners, the dock - which already missed the Deck’s launch and was previously rescheduled to late Spring - was once again delayed to an unknown date. This won’t impact Deck production, since the dock uses different parts from different factories, which is why it had to be delayed again due to the ongoing pandemic and chip shortages. On the bright side, to soothe disgruntled owners, Valve is working to improve compatibility with third-party USB-C docks and external displays.
Since I’m not ordering the Steam Deck at the moment, I’m not too distraught over this. If anything, it should help Valve to iron out any further problems with the dock. But hey, good luck with your third-party docks!

New Game - Card Shark

Not everybody is a great liar or a trickster. But what if you had cards and learned some tricks? In 18th century France, a young man somehow gets under the wing of Comte de Saint-Germain (based on this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain), who teaches him various card tricks and cheats to scam people out of money.
The cheats start small, but by the game’s end, you’ll be stringing together multiple techniques in a row in complex schemes to win the round. Don’t take too long or the person you’re trying to scam will become suspicious (represented by a bar that fills up over time), so think and act quickly. Do you have what it takes to scam your way to a fortune?
If you want this game, it’s now available on Nintendo Switch and PC through Steam.