Come on in, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair. It’s been a meh-kind of week over here, with lots of rain and grey weather.
Let me give you the news that caught my eye this week. I hope you enjoy it!
Civilization 7 is in Developement
After a long wait since the first release of Civilization 6 in 2016, Firaxis Games has let the world know that Civilization 7 is in development. There’s nothing more known at this time, but as we are fans of Civilization, you can understand we are exited! And I’m guessing more people are exited, as CIV VI has sold 65 million copies to date!
On a side note: if you’ve never played Civilisation VI, it’s now on offer in the eShop. You can save 80% and get the game for € 5,99|$ 5.99|£ 4.99 instead of € 29,99|$ 5.99|£ 24.99. The sale lasts till the 8th of March in Europe and the UK, but is already over after February 26 in the US, so be quick!
SwitchBuddy App
Reviewing games, it’s not always so easy to get screenshots from the Switch to our tablet or pc. Of the social media links, only Twitter works nowadays. But of course, you can tell the Switch to upload the screenshots by scanning the QR codes, which works alright. There’s a much easier way though through SwitchBuddy.
It’s an app that you can download from the iOS and Android app store, and though it’s not official or affiliated with Nintendo, it does work very easy. With it, you just scan the first QR code that appears on your Switch console. The images are there in your app and you can download them to your device with one click. It works for 1 up to 10 images.
Permanent Price Drop for Monster Hunter Stories 2
The AAA games don’t often lower their price, so it must be nice surprise that Capcom, the company behind Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, did. It is now available at the permanently lowered price of $ 39.99 on Switch and PC.
Farming Simulator 23 Announced
Now I love a good farming simulator, so the new that Farming Simulator 23 is announced for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices caught my eye. I’m gonna pass on it personally, as I’m really not good at this first person very realistic farming, but you might be interested. It’s coming on May 23rd, and there will be new gameplay in various production chains, while players produce flour from their harvested wheat to sell bread – or furniture from wood, or even clothes from sheep wool!
Plowing and weeds offer more new activities as additional options to cultivate the fields, and new crops are added, as well as animals. Think about caring for chickens to cows, horses, pigs, and sheep..I must say, it all sounds very enticing! Here’s the website if you want to know more.
Safe in Our World Charity Bundle
Video games mental health charity, Safe In Our World, announced that its biggest ever charity gaming bundle is available to download now.
The charity gaming bundle features a collection of indie hits and hidden gems, totalling over 20 games. The bundle, which is worth over $500 in total, is available to download now on Fanatical for as little as $12, with every single cent in profit going directly to support Safe In Our World’s charitable endeavours.
In the bundle, you will find games like:
- A Little Golf Journey (Playtonic Friends)
- Hue (Curve Games)
- Murder By Numbers (Mediatonic / Irregular Corp)
- Rescue Party Live (505 Games)
- Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
- Teacup (Whitethorn Games)
- The Last Campfire (Hello Games)
- and more
Atelier Ryza 3 Pre-Order is Open
Remember how I told you last week how anyone who purchases a physical or digital copy of Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key within two weeks after launch will be able to download a special set of seven Summer Look costumes?
Well, players who pre-order the game by 23rd March 2023 (a day before release) will receive the digital pre-order bonuses “Straw Hat”, “Summer Flower Crown” and “Great Alchemist’s Staff”. These exclusive accessories can be equipped by Ryza separately from her costume.
Aside from all that, the digital game is available in three versions. The base version for $ 59.99, the Digital DeLuxe Edition that costs $ 10.00 more and the Digital DeLuxe Edition that includes the Season Pass for $ 109.99 that includes additional digital content which will include party character costumes, recipe expansion packs, additional maps, Gust Extra BGM packs, and more.
Digital DeLuxe Edition
- “Another Look” Costume set: includes two costumes in different colours for each of the 11 party characters for a total of 22 costumes.
- “Back to Summer” Costume set: includes two summer outfits based on Ryza’s exclusive costumes from previous titles.
- a Gem Pack: 100,000 Gems that can be used for Item Duplication and other purposes.
- a Key Pack: 20 Pristine Keys that can be used for Key Creation and other purposes. And that’s something new to the game series!
Season Pass
- Gust Collaboration Costume Set: available March 24th 2023
- “Endless Summer Splash!” Costume Set, a set of 11 swimsuits, one for each party member: available March 24th 2023
- “Far East Travelers” Costume Set, a set of 9 Far Eastern-themed costumes, one each for Ryza, Klaudia, Lent, Tao, Patricia, Bos, Federica, Dian, and Kala:
available May 31st 2023 - Recipe Expansion Pack “Alchemy Mysteries”: available May 31st 2023
- Recipe Expansion Pack “Art of Adventure”: available May 31st 2023
- Additional Area “Rosca Island”, adds a new region and World Quests unique to that region. You do have to finish the game first though: available June 30th 2023
- Gust Extra BGM Pack, more than 400 in-game BGM tracks from older Gust titles: available June 30th 2023
Can’t wait to see more? Here’s the newly released clip featuring the ending theme performed by suis, the vocalist of the band Yorushika.
SteamDeck Readily Available
After having to wait some 9 months for my SteamDeck to arrive I’m glad to note that those of you who want to own one as well, don’t have long to wait. If you order one, which you can only do in Steam, straight from Valve, you only have 1 to 2 weeks to wait for delivery.
Want to know more? Find the info here: Ordering a SteamDeck
Click the image for our first time use tips!
Some Last Words
That’s it for this week, dear readers. Let’s meet here for coffee (or tea) next week!
And as we want so spread the word about the survey far and wide, we will keep it open for a little while longer!
Thanks for the lovely roundup, Yvonne! It’s been cold, gray and dreary out in my neck of the woods as well: Brooklyn, New York. I run a bookshop and it’s true that apart from in front of a fire with your feet up and a good book (or Switch game), there’s no finer place to be on such a day. Cheers to you and the crew here for bringing some warmth into all our lives, despite the weather, with your fabulous website!
You’re welcome Davi! So New York is still in the clutches of winter too? A bookshop? Nice! Do you sell speciality books or all kinds of books? And yes, with a book in front of the fire is very nice too, I’ve loved reading books for all my life!
As a matter of fact, winter this year has not so much clutched us as brushed us with its fingertips. It’s been quite mild so far – cold, but nowhere near as cold as it can get, and as a result the bookstore has seen more business than usual. Bad for the planet, but good for business! (There’s a slogan for the human race, if you need one.) We’re a small shop serving a diverse population across all genres, with a strength in fiction and children’s books. But really we’ve got a bit of everything, and the best of everything (if I may be permitted to boast). I’m always happy to offer up book recommendations! Right now I’m reading We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland by Fintan O’Toole. Perhaps you know of it? Brilliant book! I’ve a soft spot for for anything Irish.
That’s indeed a slogan you don’t hear every day, bad for the planet but good for business..though I’m afraid a lot of big corporations do exactly that. I’m happy though for you that your bookstore is doing well. Though I must admit to read on Kindle primarily. So easy when you need reading glasses and plenty of light. But, there is nothing that is better than the smell of books in a store of library, handling the pages, admiring the books in your bookcase….I still have many of them, and they still adorn my living room.