In this write-up, Northern seasons have been translated to quarters to make the launch windows more applicable worldwide: summer is Q3, fall is Q4. The usual.
Game highlights
Fear Effect
Experimental PlayStation game Fear Effect was received well enough to get two sequels, but not well enough to stop another sequel and a remake from being cancelled. But who needs the remake when you've got the original?! After the daughter of a Hong Kong Triad boss is kidnapped, three mercenaries search for her. Here's the catch: they weren't hired by the girl's father, they actually want to kidnap her from the kidnappers and hold her for ransom to their own benefit. What they don't expect is to start unravelling a supernatural conspiracy… or for gunplay and magic to meet.
Fear Effect will be released physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch during 2025.
GHOSTS
I am so, so excited for GHOSTS. It's a real-time live action horror game – which is a fancy way of saying an FMV horror game. It is also designed to only function at 10 p.m. your time, which is just fascinating to me because it would definitely up the tension with no pauses for decisions. It also means there is nothing to make it accessible for a player with my ability level, unfortunately. Accessibility versus art isn't always an easy path to walk, I'm not overly upset by this… it just means I'm watching secondhand via YouTube and Twitch! Oh, and if you turn off the game before finishing it, everyone dies. It is ruthless.
GHOSTS is written and directed by Jed Shephard, best known for 2020 cult hit quarantine-filmed movie HOST. It stars a bunch of the same actors from HOST, too. The antagonist in GHOSTS is the Long Lady, a creature designed by Siren Head creator (and fellow Canadian) Trevor Henderson and produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. There is an extreme amount of talent behind-the-scenes here and it is really exciting to see for the FMV genre.
Part of the game's description reads, "unlike previous games in this oft-forgotten genre we're creating a horror experience that aims to truly chill your blood and send full motion video games screaming into the modern day." I have never been so happy at the idea of never sleeping properly again.
GHOSTS will be released digitally and physically for PC/Mac and consoles during 2025.
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland
Rugrats anything just screams '90s kid nostalgia, and Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland takes that up a notch. It is developed from the ground up to run on NES, but it also has a contemporary mode. The best part? Swap between them instantly and at any time. When Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil see a commercial for a Reptar video game they decide to pretend they're in their game of an own, created in Tommy's house using a little imagination. The game can be played alone or with a friend.
Rugrats Adventures in Gameland will be released digitally for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox; it will be released physically for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series as standard, VHS, and collector's editions.
Clock Tower: Rewind
How about some more '90s nostalgia with Clock Tower: Rewind? Clock Tower will be available outside of Japan for the first time, supporting Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. It can be played as the game was when originally released in 1995 or using an enhanced mode with extra content and improvements. As a teenaged orphan, explore a family manor to reveal secrets while also evading a murderous, unstoppable, shears-wielding psychopath who goes by the moniker Scissorman.
I love a great Collector's Edition, and Clock Tower: Rewind (formerly known as Clock Tower Port+) definitely has one! It includes the game, game, a soundtrack, a sticker sheet, a clock tower statuette, a Dan Barrows stress ball, two acrylic standees, a Ham Object enamel pink, a Demon Idol keychain, and a double-sided poster.
Clock Tower: Rewind will be released physically for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series as standard and collector's editions during Q4 2024.
Full list of featured games
- Star Wars Dark Forces Remaster – launching physically for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox tomorrow as standard, premium, and master editions
- Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection III – launching physically as standard and collector's editions during Q3 2024
- Rain World – launching physically for Nintendo Switch later this year
- Fighting Force Collection – launching digitally and physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch
- Renaine – launching digitally and physically for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch during Fall 2024
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – launching physically for Nintendo Switch during Q3 2024
- Cosmic Fantasy Collection 2 – launching physically for Nintendo Switch later this year
- G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra – launching physically during 2025
- Assault Suit Leynos 2 Saturn Tribute – launching for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch later this year
- Snow Bros. Wonderland – launching for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch later this year
- Gimmick 2 – launching for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One
- C-Smash VRS + New Dimension – launching physically for PlayStation 5 later this year
- Penny's Big Breakaway – launching physically later this year
- Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition – launching digitally for Luna, PC via Steam/Epic/Ubisoft, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on June 25 // launching physically through Limited Run Games for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox as standard and collector's editions; pre-orders open July 12
- Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch – launching physically later this year
- Toxic Crusaders – launching physically later this year
- Hitman Blood Money — Reprisal – launching physically for Nintendo Switch during Q4 2024
- Fear Effect – launching physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch during 2025
- Starship Troopers: Extermination – launching digitally for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series on October 11 // launching physically as a collector's edition
- Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP – launching physically for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox
- DoubleShake – launching digitally and physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch during 2025
- GHOSTS – launching digitally and physically for PC/Mac and consoles during 2025
- Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland – launching digitally for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox // launching physically for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series as standard, VHS, and collector's editions
- GEX Trilogy – launching physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series; pre-orders open during Q4 2024
- Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution! – launching physically for PC and consoles during 2025
- Ninja Five-O – launching physically for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch as standard and collector's editions; pre-orders open July 5
- Clock Tower: Rewind – launching physically for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series as standard and collector's editions during Q4 2024
- Tomba! Special Edition – launching physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on August 1
- Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return – launching physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch
- Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection – launching digitally and physically for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox during 2025
Watch the showcase
