Video game news: The 2020 announcements you missed
2020 has been quite the year, for sure. With everything going on, video games have been getting pushed back left and right as development teams struggle to get their games worked on at home. Even the Black Lives Matter protests pushed back many video gaming announcements to late June, so we don’t even know the full extent of many popular developers’ catalogs.
What we do know though is a lot of good video game news, and even the next gen console designs have been announced. What you know depends on how tied to the video game community you are though, as many announcements were quickly drowned out by other news.
So, here’s a round up of the top video game news of 2020 so far. These are the big AAA developers people are waiting for, as well as the newest generation of consoles. Spoiler alert: Nintendo is still riding high on the Switch, so don’t expect any next-gen console news from them soon.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Shocker, Ubisoft’s biggest money maker is getting a Playstation 5 game. But those who gave up on the franchise and missed out on Odyssey shouldn’t take this as a joke. After Ubisoft management shifted, they stopped reskinning the same old glitchy games and made something great with their latest entry.
So far, based on the teaser, Valhalla looks like a worthy successor to this new age of Assassin’s Creed. Of course, we need to see more before we 100% get on board, but being a viking is definitely a plus for this.
PS5 vs. Xbox Series X
No surprise, the console wars are continuing as both Sony and Microsoft are getting their next generations of consoles ready to go. Both are set to release in time for the holiday 2020 season, so it’ll be a battle of the consoles.
Xbox has released all the stats for the Series X, including 8k support, disc-less technology, and a memory card system with each holding 1TB of memory. Sony’s announcement for the PS5 is June 11th, so we don’t know a lot yet, but we do know these are going to revolutionize gaming further than ever.
Paper Mario: The Origami King
A long time ago, Nintendo decided to take the traditionally Japanese gaming format of RPGs and Marioized it with the Paper Mario Franchise. But the latest entries have been far from positive, fading further and further from the traditional action RPG elements that led the franchise.
But The Origami King may be the one to change the script. While the game still has a large focus on the paper craft mechanics, the fighting does seem more action based than past games, and the story promises the same comedic energy fans have grown used to. But like the franchise, the new installment was announced with little fanfare, so we’ll see how good it really is in July.
A lot of remasters and remakes
We already know about the long awaited Final Fantasy 7 remake. But a lot of underrated games from the 2000s are getting the remake treatment too, set to hopefully win over a new generation while pleasing older fans. But the variety of games getting remakes varies.
We’ve already seen a Xenoblade Chronicles and Personal 5 remake, and coming later in 2020 are Destroy All Humans, Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 remakes and remasters, just to name a few. 2020 is definitely a year of remakes.
Jackbox Party Pack 7
Let’s be real: everyone and their mother played some Jackbox during quarantine. Everyone being stuck at home isn’t a problem when the game can be played however you need to. Naturally, the franchise has released a new pack every year since 2014, and 2020 is no different.
So far, only two games have been announced as part of the pack: the long awaited Quiplash 3, and a new original game called The Devils and the Details. Along with these, three more original games will await players when the pack gets released in late 2020.
