The XP Drop #7 🕹 Marathon Is Dead (For Now)
Marathon has been delayed indefinitely, Borderlands 4 previews look brilliant and Mindeye... definitely doesn't.
Happy Friday! It’s an absolute scorcher over here in old Blighty. If gaming is on your to-do list this weekend, make sure to keep hydrated. 💦
🗣 The Patch Notes
🚨 ICYMI
🛒 Stock Check
💸 This week’s releases
📽 Clip of the Week
👾 RETROspective
🗣 The Patch Notes
Marathon is dead (for now) - long live Marathon
In a surprise to absolutely no one, Bungie’s Marathon has been delayed indefinitely. After weeks of sucker punches to the face, Bungie announced on its blog that it would be delaying the game to work on features to make it more rewarding, more challenging - and hopefully, more fun.
As we mentioned before, Marathon’s reception was ‘eh’. Paul Tassi, who regularly writes for Forbes, highlighted the game's problems in a YouTube video.
Then came the drama. Alleged art stealing by Bungie along with reports of extremely low morale - Tweaktown has a great insight into what has happened.
In my view, Marathon needed to be delayed - or even cancelled with how negative the public view was. At least something has been done - for now.
Marathon is dead (for now) - long live Marathon.
🃏 Did you know… The original Donkey Kong was originally conceived as a Popeye game, but Nintendo was unable to secure the licensing rights.
🚨 ICYMI
🔫 Borderlands 4 has been getting some previews from members of the media - and it’s looking pretty nice. Luke Stephens has a great preview video here.
👁️ MindsEye reviews are out for the GTA-inspired game… and it’s not looking too good. Eurogamer has a scathing review here.
🥖 Critically acclaimed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 could be getting some extra content in the future. IGN has an article explaining everything here.
🎮 Xbox says it is working on ‘next-gen consoles’ and has partnered up with AMD to power them. The Verge has a great read here.
💍 Elden Ring Nightreign is getting a juicy update with limited-time versions of bosses known as the Everdark Sovereigns. More info from Eurogamer here.
Have I missed a story? Leave a comment.
🛒 Stock Check
The Switch 2 has been hard to get for many Brits - and despite an Argos restock last week, most of the UK still doesn’t seem to have the stock to meet demand.
However, as I noted last week, Nintendo accessories have been just as tough to grab. Specifically: the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller. I’ve been trying to get my hands on one - and I might have found the answer.
HotStock has been helping me with stock updates and even though I haven’t managed to grab one yet, it’s still worth checking out for restocks for consoles as well.
💸 This week’s releases
🦎 GEX Trilogy - PC, PS5, XBOX, SWITCH (June 16)
🤖 TRON: Catalyst - PC, PS5, XBOX, SWITCH (June 17)
🏈 Maximum Football - PC, PS5, XBOX (June 17)
🎲 Lost in Random: The Eternal Die - PC, PS5, XBOX, SWITCH (June 17)
💌 Date Everything - PC, PS5, XBOX, SWITCH (June 17)
⚽ Rematch - PC, PS5, XBOX (June 19)
🎮 What I’m playing this week
I’m still on my own this week. Liam has a newborn to get to know. Meanwhile, I’ve been playing around with the Nintendo Switch 2. This week, Tears of the Kingdom has been preoccupying my time - and it looks and plays brilliantly.
“One thing I was eager to play when I got the Switch 2 was Tears of the Kingdom. Playing through it made me realise just how much of an inferior product we were getting with the original Switch. Gorgeous visuals and 60fps - exactly what I needed with this game".
📽 Clip of the Week
With Mario Kart: World releasing, fans have been having a blast. But Twitch streamer Retrora decided to experiment a bit - and it didn’t go well (you can follow him here).
👾 RETROspective
On this day, the absolute classic Final Fantasy Tactics was released 28 years ago in Japan. 🎲
The PS1 classic shaped the face of the Tactics series when it was released in 1997. It was praised for its story and gameplay, and even today, it holds up more than ever and is considered one of the best games of all time.
So much so that Square Enix is releasing a remake called Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles later this year. That’s going on our shopping lists for sure.
Thanks for reading The XP Drop 007
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