Games

90s and early 2000s sports enthusiasts will fondly remember the Backyard Sports series by Humongous Entertainment as a beloved staple in their gaming experience. Over time, this long-lasting series transformed playground sports into an enjoyable family-oriented gaming sensation, even incorporating kid versions of well-known professional athletes from various leagues like MLB, NFL, NBA, and MLS. However, the series’ progress halted when Humongous Entertainment studio shut down in 2005. Since then, it has seen some less successful releases as ownership changed hands. Now, Playground Productions has announced that they are working on reviving the franchise, with plans to release Backyard Sports again in the upcoming months.

What results when you blend a coming-of-age tale with elements of the supernatural, werewolves, and basketball? That’s exactly what Maverick has delivered in their latest Young Adult original graphic novel, Block’D. Written by Brian Hawkins and illustrated by Ignacio di Meglio, this captivating narrative follows Cam Banter, a star high school basketball player hiding an extraordinary secret. As he navigates the typical struggles of adolescence, Cam also grapples with controlling his unique ability to transform into a werewolf – a challenge that proves to be quite difficult.

Tyrese Gibson shared an engaging account of how he convinced Scott Eastwood to be part of the movie “1992.” Directed by Ariel Vromen, this film is set during the tumultuous period in Los Angeles when the verdict on Rodney King was announced, sparking city-wide riots. Given that Gibson hails from LA, “1992” proved to be an ideal role for the “Fast & Furious” actor. Interestingly, Eastwood’s participation in “1992” wasn’t due to his involvement in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, as he joined that in 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious” and more recently starred alongside Gibson in “Fast X.” Instead, according to Gibson, their shared history played a significant role in Eastwood joining the cast of “1992.”

Following whispers about it last month, Microsoft has officially announced that the game “Atlas Fallen” by Deck13 will join Game Pass during August’s second wave. Starting from August 22nd, action RPG enthusiasts on Xbox Series X/S, cloud, and PC platforms can start playing this game. For more information about its latest Reign of Sand update, check out the details here.

There’s been some apprehension surrounding Nacon’s Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown lately, as the scheduled console beta dates have caused confusion and the original announced open beta seems to have vanished. Moreover, the inclusion of a ‘Quality mode’, which runs at 30 FPS, has raised eyebrows among some players.

The much-anticipated game, Final Fantasy XVI, is set to arrive on PC on September 17th, marking over a year since its initial release on PlayStation 5. Patient fans have endured the wait, but it appears that future installments might not follow the same pattern. In an interview with GamesRadar+, the director of Final Fantasy XVI, Hiroshi Takai, was asked about the possibility of future games launching simultaneously on PC and consoles. Although Takai emphasized that he can’t predict the decisions of development teams for future games in the series, he believes it’s quite probable that Square Enix will opt for simultaneous PC and console releases.