EA promised to reveal a trailer for its Star Wars Battlefront sequel on April 15th during the Star Wars Celebration event, but it appears to have popped up online a bit early. The 30-second teaser clip shows "game engine footage," with hints at what we can expect from both its single- and multiplayer experience. It appears that the story mode will have players taking on the role of a young woman fighting on the side of the Empire in a post-Return of the Jedi story line attempting to "avenge your emperor."

Via: NeoGAF, r/Battlefront

Source: Vimeo

The first look at Star Was Battlefront II was supposed to debut on April 15, but you know how these things go. A trailer with "game engine footage," viewable above, has slipped out ahead of schedule.

Battlefront II will feature "multiplayer battles across all eras" and a story campaign that seems to take place right after Return of the Jedi ("Avenge our Emperor!"). As far as hero and villain characters go, consider familiar faces like Darth Maul, Yoda, Rey, and Kylo Ren locked in for this sequel.

There's also a closing mention of pre-orders including "Star Wars: The Last Jedi Heroes."

Bayonetta in 4K anyone? After teasing the notion of a PC release last week, today PlatinumGames stealthily launched the game on Steam. There, you'll current find the Bayonetta Digital Deluxe Edition available for $19.99 as a special promotion (after April 26 the $19.99 price applies to the Standard Edition, which will become available). For gamers interested in the title, we've found the best deal on Bayonetta and it's currently priced at $16.85

Bayonetta Release Week Deals

• GamesPlanet is $16.85 (£13.49)
• DLGamer is $17.99
• Steam Store is $19.99

Note: Prices above are for the current Bayonetta Digital Deluxe Edition, which runs until April 26 at 6PM GMT.

The cheapest place to buy Bayonetta is at GamesPlanet. At the digital retailer, the price is £13.49, which is a 10% discount off the UK RRP of £14.99. They key isn't region restricted to North America though, so after favorable currency conversion you are looking at about $16.85 for a copy of the game.

A good alternative site to pick up your Steam key of Bayonetta is over at DLGamer, were you won't need to deal with currency conversion, but the price is slightly higher at $17.99. Both DLGamer and GamesPlanet are authorized Sega distributors and you'll receive your key instantly after purchase.

GamesPlanet's key can be bought worldwide, but we should note it won't activate in few countries. The key will not activate in South America, most of Asia (Australia and New Zealand are fine though), and Russia.

There have been a lot of video games turned board games recently, and some (XCOM, This War of Mine) have turned out okay. But when I first saw Super Mario: Level Up!, I could only shake my head in disappointment. Granted, I haven't read the rules, but from what I gather from the promotional material it looks pretty dang bad.

It sounds like players try to arrange various characters from the Mario universe in a particular order, using a voting mechanic and special power cards. Ah yes, it's reminiscent of that classic Super Mario World level where you look at a line of the Koopa Kids and vote to tell Ludwig to move forward one spot.

This is being produced by USAopoly, a company best known for taking a hundred-year-old design, pasting different graphics on it, and calling each iteration new. It's not surprising it could take this random thing and plop some Mario characters on it. It's technically a Mario board game now!

Super Mario: Level Up! is releasing in the United States and Canada for $20.

USAopoly Announces Super Mario Level Up! Board Game [Dice Tower News]

For nearly 15 years, Remedy's most well-known titles have been confined to PC and Xbox platforms. It sounds strange but it's true. In that time, Remedy has released Alan Wake, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and Quantum Break. You have to go back to 2003's Max Payne 2 in order to find some semblance of console parity.

Remedy's next big game will buck that trend. In the studio's recent financial report for fiscal year 2016, Remedy tells investors that it wants this next title, which is codenamed P7, to release on "a wider range of platforms." That includes PlayStation 4, as Remedy is adapting Northlight (the Quantum Break engine) for development on Sony's console.

Of course, P7 is most likely a long ways off given the rate at which Remedy releases games. In the more immediate future, the studio is working on the singleplayer campaign aspect of CrossFire 2; the original CrossFire is immensely popular in Asia, and developer Smilegate claims that it's the most-played online first-person shooter in the world.

Remedy also told investors that Quantum Break fueled its "outstanding performance" during the fiscal year. This corroborates Microsoft's claim that the game was Xbox One's best-selling new property. All told, Remedy posted an operating profit of approximately $4.14 million.

But, P7 will probably come with less of a security blanket than Quantum Break did. A multi-platform release likely means that there won't be any lucrative publishing deals in place because no one is securing exclusivity. The audience will be bigger though. We'll see if the PlayStation crowd helps make up that monetary difference. Or, as Remedy's surely hoping, helps exceed it.

Remedy continues a successful year with two new games [Remedy]

Grasshopper Manufacture isn't done with Let it Die.

As announced on-stream yesterday, a number of updates are coming to the free-to-play action-survival game. Among those plans are a challenging new set of floors with a different "atmosphere" and six-star fighters to help us stand a chance of further ascending the inhospitable Tower of Barbs.

"This is the beginning of what the real Let it Die is all about," says director Hideyuki Shin, who expects the update to roll out sometime before August, but "for sure" not in April.

The team also has a more strategic "second version" of the Tokyo Death Metro, Let it Die's base-raiding asynchronous multiplayer feature, in the works. That should also arrive by August at the latest.

Ahhh, you hear that? That's the sweet, sweet silence of folks no longer hounding Microsoft about backward compatibility support for Call of Duty: Black Ops II on Xbox One. Today's the day. It's done.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today and is on sale in the Spring Sale https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ http://pic.twitter.com/rfWNKnfoUU

— Larry Hryb 💬 (@majornelson) April 11, 2017

Naturally, some other beloved Xbox 360 game will fill its void, and new requests will rush in.

Assuming you already own Black Ops II and haven't misplaced your copy, you're good to go here. But if you're curious about that Spring Sale, prepare for some sticker shock: even discounted, the digital version of the game is $20 with an Xbox Live Gold membership, and $25 without. Goodness.

July 29 may as well be a national holiday this year, as that's when the latest Dragon Quest mainline game hits Japan. It will be available then for PlayStation 4 at 8,980 yen and 3DS for 5,980 yen. Although the game is also confirmed for release on the Nintendo Switch, the release date was not revealed. Square Enix told Takashi Mochizuki that there is still a possibility the Switch version will also release on July 29.

Also missing was information on a western release. Since Dragon Quest VII, each entry has taken a year after the initial Japanese release to be available in the West, excluding Dragon Quest X which has yet to be localized at all (if it ever will). There was small hope that it would release by the end of the year. However, on top of precedent there is the added complexity of developing multiple versions of the same game, which is no doubt the cause of delay for the Switch release date.

Every now and then, it's wise to stop and recognize the good things in life. And right now, it doesn't get much better than the video game industry. After dozens of Slack conversations about all of the exciting titles and hardware coming out this year, a handful of Engadget editors got together to formally celebrate the year in gaming so far. Plus, we gazed into the future and offered suggestions on ways to make 2017 even better. So sit back, clear your mind and join us in an appreciation of everything good the video game industry has to offer in 2017.

There are those who will say the Wii U never stood a chance. With its confusing name, poor marketing, and the lack of a blockbuster Nintendo-developed title at launch, it stood no chance of being the success is forbearer was. That’s what they will say, and if you look at sales numbers for it, they’re correct. The Wii U is Nintendo’s poorest selling home console, managing to move just a few million more units than the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast. For those who didn’t own the system, it looked dire. Multiple developers stopped creating games for the Wii U, leaving Nintendo, a company already splitting its resources between the console and its 3DS line, and the bustling indie scene to keep the system afloat. With the announcement and release of the Switch, the Wii U is quietly and slowly being shuffled off this mortal coil with just a few titles remaining in the works for it.

Of course, sales are just one way to judge success and as I am not a stockholder with Nintendo, it’s not the barometer I use. I judge success by the quality of the experience, and the past four and half years have seen some of the highest quality games ever to come out of Nintendo and the industry in general. Were there droughts? Absolutely, but when it finally rained, players found themselves doused in excellence. With the Switch taking off and Nintendo’s last big release for the console in the history books, now is as good a time as any to take a look at our favorite games for the Wii U.

So I asked my fellow Destructoid writers to name their 10 favorites for the system. After giving them a week to reflect on the matter, I tallied up the votes and made this definitive list of Destructoid’s top 10 Wii U games. Many deserving titles failed to make the cut, but the ones that did absolutely earned their spot.

Cross-platform play is a tricky prospect for any competitive multiplayer game. Different platforms have their inherent advantages, and that's hard to reconcile while maintaining a level playing field. For instance, mouse and keyboard is widely considered to be better for shooters than a gamepad controller.

Despite any disparity, Gears of War 4 is introducing cross-platform play between PC and Xbox One in ranked competitive matches. Gears developer The Coalition explains the decision in a post on the game's site. It seems like a move made out of necessity, as PC players currently experience long waits to get into games.

Gears 4 has featured cross-play for a few months now, but only in social playlists. The Coalition says that its testing found closely-matched results in PC and Xbox players of similar skill levels. It's seemingly enough for the developer to feel comfortable co-mingling the two platforms. 

However, Xbox players can remain platform-independent if they choose. There will be a toggle on Xbox One that disables cross-play. That's an easy way to shut down any perceived disadvantage. PC players won't have that option, likely because of the relatively small active user base.

Permanent cross-platform competitive play isn't ready yet. The Coalition hasn't confirmed a date but says the feature will be implemented "in the months to come." In the meantime, PC is getting a shakeup to its modes, as competitive warm-up is cross-play. That seems like an aptly titled playlist given the direction this is headed in the near future.

Windows 10 Ranked Play [Gears of War]

Yesterday, without preamble or rumor, the French trailer for Overwatch's next event leaked. Fans scrambling over the details discovered it would tell the story of mascot character Tracer's first mission in the form of a player-vs-AI horde mode of invading robots. A tenuous silence emanated from studio Blizzard. Was this for real? Yes, the Uprising event is happening -- and it's officially live on PC and console.

Source: Blizzard

I'll spare you the sermon on the wonders and shortcomings of virtual reality this time.

Robo Recall lets you beat robots to death with their own arms to an '80s soundtrack. It also happens to be a touch-based VR game that you need expensive hardware for.

If I had a piggy bank full of Overwatch credits, I'd be fetching a comically oversized hammer right about now. The game's Uprising event begins today, and with it comes character skins, emotes, and other cosmetic rewards I desperately want but can't possibly afford. I'm counting on you, RNG.

Even if the loot boxes end up being a total bust for me -- I'll settle for just the Mercy or Genji skin, honest! -- there's also a playable portion of Uprising that takes us back seven years to Tracer's first mission. She'll defend King's Row from the omnic group Null Sector alongside Reinhardt, Torbjörn, and Mercy. If that scenario sounds familiar, you probably caught the recent web comic.

This event runs until May 1, at which point these unlocks will head into the vault.

Overwatch Uprising [Overwatch]

Ask a Xbox One fan what game they'd most like to see added to the console's backwards compability list and you'll probably get Call of Duty: Black Ops II as an answer. It was the most-requested title on the Xbox Feedback site. Even Xbox boss Phil Spencer once told a fan on Twitter he really wanted to see it come to the Xbox One.

Source: Xbox

Having been there since the start of high-end consumer VR, I've seen many projects and developers come and go. Whereas DLC is the norm for successful games in the traditional space, early on in the game you'd frequently see studios sing from the mountains about how revolutionary their new VR IP is, then a few months later, the crickets would be chirping while the tumbleweeds rolled by.

But CCP didn't stop at the Oculus Rift. They were one of the first developers (and one of the only to date) that released a game on the Oculus, Vive, and PlayStation VR platforms, and delivered cross-play for all three. That game is EVE: Valkyrie, and it's getting its fifth update today.

NVIDIA is quickly making good on its promise to support its latest graphics cards on Macs. The GPU giant has quietly posted beta macOS drivers (direct download) that should support any GeForce 10-series card, whether it's a simple GTX 1050 or an all-out beast like the Titan Xp. It's a big step forward for Mac users who've had to settle for 9-series cards at best. However, the big challenge will be making the most of the cards given the current Mac lineup -- this is as much an investment in the future as anything.

Via: Reddit, 9to5Mac

Source: NVIDIA (direct download)

In theory, a loot and gear system fits a game like Injustice 2. In theory. Games like Super Smash Bros. set the precedent for unlockable, customizable moves and NetherRealm already displayed an ability to create multiple variations of a single character in Mortal Kombat X, so Injustice 2's gear system could be a combination of the two.  

But while this newest trailer explains exactly what the new gear system entails, it still doesn't answer the technical questions. How will the gear be unlocked? The trailer hints at "key moments" for special moves, but that could range anywhere from story mode play to winning like 50 matches in a row or something. If NetherRealm is smart about this, then it'll make a lot of the gear unlockable in story mode. It's where general fans interested in the gear's visual quirks will spend most (and likely all) of their time as the players who choose to get more intense with it will ignore this feature all together as its numerous perks and stats won't be allowed in tournament play. 

But since gear is also tied into character leveling, it's more likely you'll be unlocking bits in arcade mode (presuming Injustice 2 has one, of course), challenges, and online. 

Too bad about those Source Crystals though. 

Injustice 2 is out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One May 16.

This is a review for Crawl. Yes, that Crawl. The one with all the gorgeous pixel art and GIFs you've been seeing on Twitter since God knows when. The one you might remember having played a few years ago, maybe with friends, hanging out on some random night. That's how I remember it, at a New Years party two years ago along with Samurai Gunn and Nidhogg. A dim, distant night that comes back to me as a blur of swords and frantic screams. Even then Crawl was something special.

So, you might be forgiven for thinking Crawl was released a long time ago. However, that doesn't change the fact that despite being one of the most enjoyable party games to grace the PC since 2014, it's still been in a pre-release state all these long years. Until now that is.

A definitive, “full release” version of Crawl has finally hit both PC and consoles. The monster has gestated long enough. It has had its fill of blood, it has supped long and hearty on anguish and tossed controllers, and is finally ready to subjugate the world of man under its terrible, burning gaze. Crawl isn't the great party game you might remember if you played it a few years ago, or even six months ago. It's better.

We've covered Koei Tecmo's huge Warriors crossover, Musou Stars here before with the hopes of an eventual Western release and thankfully they've come through. Featuring characters from franchises like Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, and Nioh, Warriors All-Stars (its Western title) already seems like a blast. 

Although it won't be releasing on PlayStation Vita here in the West, Warriors All-Stars will be available on PlayStation 4 and PC in North America on August 29th and in Europe on September 1st. Pre-order bonuses from certain retailers (which store gets what costume has yet to be announced) can nab you specialty costumes with deeper crossovers like Marie Rose in my dude-a Opoona's outfit. 

Get your game on. Go play. 

Yooka-Laylee just released today and that means anyone who's playing it has a monumental task ahead of them. The progress screen lists a total of 1,202 collectibles and coming across them all is daunting. I should know, I took the time to find each and every one.

But, the progress screen omits five items: The secret pirate treasures. Actually, Yooka-Laylee makes no mention of these skulls. The only place they're listed is in the Achievements/Trophies but the descriptions are hidden until you unlock them. Going online to see the secret Achievements is the only indication you'd have that extra collectibles exist.

Even though the pirate treasures represent the most well-hidden collectibles in Yooka-Laylee, we've already found them all. Embedded above is a video guide that should easily point you toward each world's lone skull. And in doing so, you'll nab the Achievements or Trophies named "Private Pillage," "Secret Salvage," and "Captain's Cache." Now you have the necessary items to lay claim to actually having 100 percent completion in Yooka-Laylee.

AMD wants to break back into desktop CPUs in a big way. After debuting its high-end Ryzen 7 chips last month, which go toe-to-toe with Intel's Core i7 lineup, the company is today releasing its mid-range Ryzen 5 CPUs. As you can imagine, they're a direct competitor to Intel's mainstream Core i5 processors. AMD's big selling point? The Ryzen 5 chips offer a lot more bang for your buck.

Source: AMD

So Nathan Drake's story is done? Okay, onto DLC not starring Drake, then?

Previously announced add-on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy now has a release date of August 23, which is still a ways out and fairly uncharateristic for DLC. That's fine with me though if it has a ton of polish, and especially since it comes with a bonus pack-in of a free digital copy of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for select pre-orders.

Lost Legacy will be priced at $39.99, but you can also get it by way of the Thief's End Digital Deluxe Edition/Explorer's Pack Season Pass.

Uncharted [PlayStation Blog]

Yooka-Laylee delivers on pretty much everything that it promised. It's a throwback Nintendo 64-era mascot platformer with a gazillion collectibles. It feels like a relic in 2017, a product of video game design that the medium has mostly abandoned.

That is to say, Yooka-Laylee will be an extremely divisive game. Anyone who doesn't hold a fondness for this style of play probably won't be likely to look past its glaring (and usually intentional) faults. Hell, I've gotten full Gamerscore and found all the collectibles, and I'm still frustrated by how needlessly obtuse some parts were.

In an effort to cut down on your frustrations, here are some general tips to keep in the back of your mind:

Existing games adding support for PlayStation VR is a nice way to pad out the device's library and save us some money in cases where we already own the title in question. The endless flyer Race the Sun is the latest to embrace that concept with an update scheduled for Tuesday, April 18.

The newfound VR support will function across all modes, including a laid-back new one called Sunrise that just... keeps... going without high scores or an ever-rising difficulty to worry about. On that note, even if you prefer playing on a television instead of in a headset, you'll still have a new first-person option. All players are also getting five fresh destinations accessible through portals.

My PSVR usage as of late has just been coaching my brother through a first playthrough of Resident Evil 7 (even after beating the game several times now myself, it's still a treat to watch someone else experience it) and a couple levels of I Expect You to Die. I'll happily give this update a look.

Race The Sun Update Adds PS VR Support, Sunrise Mode & More April 18th [PlayStation Blog]

Turns out we didn't have to wait for E3 for more news on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. That's because developer Naughty Dog just revealed that the add-on will be released on August 22nd for $40 in the US and $50 in Canada.

Source: Naughty Dog

Bayonetta was a fantastic action game. So fantastic that it's on quite a few "all time great action genre" lists. But at launch, it was a little problematic on consoles at times, especially on PS3. Along with the limited Wii U re-release of the original all of that should theoretically melt away on PC. Yep, PC -- Bayonetta is hitting Steam today. Surprise!

Sega has announced that it will arrive today on Steam, and will support "60fps, at unlocked HD resolutions." They're also putting a little incentive in place for launch, as folks who buy the game will net the Digital Deluxe Edition for free through April 25 -- that includes a five-track soundtrack sampler, and a digital artbook.

With Platinum putting out NieR: Automata on Steam without a hitch and Bayonetta (assuming all goes well), the odds seem to be in our favor for future re-releases of some of their gems. I just hope they never repeat the TMNT locked framerate debacle.

Bayonetta [Steam]

After years of feverish fan demand, PC gamers can now finally play Bayonetta. Arriving on Steam today with 4K support and advanced graphics options, Sega's critically acclaimed action classic now looks better than ever before. In a bid to entice those who already own the game, Sega will also be giving buyers the Digital Deluxe Edition at no extra cost until April 25th. This (normally) pricier edition boasts a five-song soundtrack sampler as well as a digital artbook and exclusive wallpapers and avatars.

You've already seen Nintendo revive the NES and Nokia reintroduce the 3310, so why not resurrect more '90s tech? Bandai certainly doesn't see a problem with it. The company has relaunched the classic Tamagotchi toy in near-original form to mark its 20th anniversary (November 1996 in Japan, May 1997 elsewhere). After years of constant iterations, you're back to simple black-and-white displays and the six initial characters. About the only change is the size -- these eggs are about half as large as the models you might have owned as a kid.

Via: ShortList

Source: Amazon Japan

From the mind of Twisted Metal and God of War designer David Jaffe comes Drawn to Death, a multiplayer-only arena shooter set within the doodle-filled confines of a teenager's notebook.

This is a world in which a shark-headed ninja can grapple-hook her way past a self-destructing cyborg vampire, or a punk rocker can wield a pooping monkey against an invisible chainsaw-toting butcher.

It's as weird as it sounds.