1930’s cartoon platformer Cuphead coming to Xbox One and Steam

By Will Fulton June 16, 2014

Studio MDHR’s upcoming 2D run-and-gun fighting platformer Cuphead is practically on the verge of achieving a retro singularity. Visually the game stands out immediately for its gorgeous, hand-drawn animations in the style of 1920’s and 30’s Disney cartoons. The developers aren’t cutting any corners, creating all sprites with traditional cell animation over watercolor backgrounds with an instrumental jazz soundtrack.

The gameplay, though, appears to be no less studied and lovingly crafted. This new trailer from E3 shows off what it looks like in action:

Cuphead is a classic, side-scrolling run-and-gun, focused on 1-on-1 (or 2-on-1 in multiplayer) boss battles. The two brothers making up up the team behind the game are diligent students of the genre: rather than just cashing in on easy retro appeal skinned with a cool aesthetic, they are passionately into the nitty gritty of fine-tuning hitboxes and developing unpredictably responsive enemy AI.

Inspirations cited include classics like Contra III, Super Mario World, Mega Man X, Street Fighter III, and Gunstar Heroes. Increasing the difficulty gives the bosses new sets of attacks and patterns, and a playable world map full of secrets allows for new weapons and powers to give you plenty of tactical options and replayability.

If everything remains on schedule, Cuphead will be released for PC (via Steam) and Xbox One sometime in late 2014.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Gaming

Baldur’s Gate 3 drops Series S splitscreen support to release on Xbox in 2023

Jaheira in Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios promises to release Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X/S later this year after pushing the game back because of performance problems on Xbox Series S.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PC and will come out for PS5 on September 6, but an Xbox Series X/S version won't be available for a little bit longer. In a July 2023 community update, developer Larian Studios explained that this is because it needed "to ensure that the game is performing without compromise across the entire Xbox X/S ecosystem, in multiplayer and with split-screen. The Xbox Series X version was running fine, but the Xbox Series S version of the game was struggling a lot more. The Xbox versions of Baldur's Gate 3 didn't have a release window until now, when Larian Studios co-founder Swen Vincke took to X to confirm it'd come to Xbox platforms before the end of the year. That said, it will exclude one notable feature.
"Super happy to confirm that after meeting [Phil Spencer] yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time," Vincke wrote. "All improvements will be there, with split-screen coop on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen co-op, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series."
Thankfully, it looks like Xbox players won't have to wait too much longer to play this excellent game, but it will be one of the first games to notably drop a major feature between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions. This follows comments by Head of Xbox Phil Spencer where he said he doesn't believe Microsoft will drop support for Xbox Series S in the foreseeable future. "I want to make sure games are available on both, that's our job as a platform holder and we're committed to that with our partners," Spencer told Eurogamer. "And I think we're gonna get there with Larian. So I'm not overly worried about that, but we've learned some stuff through it. Having an entry-level price point for console, sub-$300, is a good thing for the industry."

Baldur's Gate 3 is available now for PC, launches for PS5 on September 6, and will finally come out for Xbox Series X/S before the end of 2023.

Gaming

Xbox Game Pass gains some great indies, but loses one of 2022’s best games

Marissa Marcel at a gala in Immortality.

Microsoft has announced the games that will join the Xbox Game Pass catalog during the back half of August and earliest days of September. That list includes four solid indie titles, two of which are day-one Xbox Game Pass releases. Unfortunately, the number of games leaving at the end of the month is greater than the number of games coming, and one of the games exiting the service is Immortality, one of Digital Trends' favorite games of 2023.
To start with the positive, all four games coming to the service during the rest of August are pretty solid. Campo Santo's Firewatch and Nomada Studios' Gris are both excellent, emotional indie adventures that garnered critical acclaim in the year since their release. Firewatch hits the service on August 17, while Gris won't be added until September 5. Then there's the day one Xbox Game Pass launches. First up is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game on August 18, which adapts the classic horror series into an asymmetrical multiplayer game, just like what happened to Evil Dead last year. Finally, there's Sea of Stars, a retro-inspired RPG coming out on August 29 that's also launching into the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog on the day it launches.

Sadly, six games will leave Xbox Game Pass on August 31, many of which are very good. The most notable for us is Immortality, a subversive and innovative game from Sam Barlow that has players scrubbing through the footage of three unreleased films to solve a mystery. The less you know about the game going into it, the better, but just know this was one of the best games to come out in 2022 and a must-play if you adore both film and video games.
Tinykin, Surgeon Simulator 2, and Nuclear Throne are all also great indie games that you won't have a bad time playing. Here's the full list of games leaving Xbox Game Pass on August 31:

Gaming

One of 2023’s most anticipated RPGs is coming to PS Plus on day one

The Solstice Warriors stand under a full moon in Sea of Stars' key art.

Sabotage Studio announced that its highly anticipated retro-style RPG Sea of Stars will be available as part of the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog when it releases on August 29.
Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG inspired by classic games like Chrono Trigger, where the main heroes' powers are based around the sun and moon. Sea of Stars' distinct visual style and polished-looking gameplay has allowed this indie game to stand out alongside the liks of Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield, other RPGs that will release around the same time. Clearly, Sabotage wants to get this game in front of as many people as possible during this busy period for games, so it makes sense to put Sea of Stars on game subscription services.

It's in good company as a day one PS Plus Extra and Premium title, as it follows solid indies like Stray, Tchia, and Humanity. Sabotage also released a demo for Sea of Stars on PS4 and PS5 today so people can try a bit of the game early.
PS Plus Extra and Premium actually aren't the only subscription services that Sea of Stars will be on at launch. Previously, Sabotage had confirmed that the Xbox and PC versions of the game are launching on Xbox Game Pass on day one as well. So, if you have either of the major video game subscription services, you'll have ample opportunity to play the game across three platforms without having to pay for it. It will launch on Nintendo Switch, though, and you'll have to pay the full $35 price for it there.
Sea of Stars launches across Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, and Nintendo Switch on August 29.