Put your new hardware through its paces with this week’s gaming releases

By Will Fulton April 7, 2015

twig april 10 2015 xenobladechronicles3d — Image used with permission by copyright holder

This week’s releases are all about getting the most out of their hardware platforms. Put your New 3DS through its paces this week with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, the first exclusive game for the latest iteration of Nintendo’s handheld. Affordable Space Adventures is one of the best utilizations of the Wii U GamePad yet. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin updates From Software’s brutal action RPG for the newest consoles and PCs. StarDrive 2 provides the kind of deep, 4X strategy sandbox you can only find on PC.

What will you be playing?

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

New 3DS (April 10)
Originally released in Japan for the Wii in 2010 Xenoblade Chronicles is an epic sci-fi RPG in classic Japanese form. Nintendo fans will recognize its protagonist, Shulk, as one of the newest brawlers in the latest Super Smash Bros. game, along with his sword, the Monado, which features prominently in the game. Only coming to American gamers with little fanfare in 2012, it has become something of a cult classic.

Nintendo 3DS - Xenoblade Chronicles 3D Trailer

This new port is the first game released exclusively for the New 3DS XL, Nintendo’s latest iteration of its two-screen handheld. While recent releases like Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate make good use of the system’s new capabilities, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is the first game to explicitly require them.

Affordable Space Adventures

Wii U (April 9)
Explore the dangerous depths of space with friends in this co-op exploration puzzler. With a small, reasonably priced spaceship from Uexplore, you and up to two friends are ready to go and find what the universe has to offer in (relative) safety. It looks a little like FTL if it were a 2D puzzle platformer instead of a strategy roguelike.

Affordable Space Adventures Launch Trailer

A true console exclusive, the game makes full use of the Wii U’s unique capabilities by placing the ship’s system controls on the GamePad, while you see the ship and its environment on the television. One player can single-handedly manage all of the ship’s systems, but with friends that responsibility can be spread out between a Science Officer, Pilot, and Engineer.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Edition

PS4/XB1 (April 7)
If Bloodborne got you hooked on the Souls games’ particular brand of masochism, then you should check out this definitive edition of its immediate predecessor. Scholar of the First Sin comes packed with all of Dark Souls II‘s DLC, including all three parts of the Lost Crowns trilogy.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin - Announcement Trailer | PS4

In addition to the previously released content and updated visuals, sound, and performance, Scholars introduces new enemy and item placements and a higher cap on the number of online players allowed in a single session.

PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Steam

StarDrive 2

Linux/Mac/Windows (April 9)
Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate in this game of galactic diplomacy and warfare. Tactical real-time battles let you feel like an admiral, while high-level strategic and economic management will make you feel like an emperor. Take to the stars as one of nine pre-set alien races, each with its own special properties.

StarDrive 2 Trailer

Every element of the game offers deep customization for players that want to delve into its systems, with presets available for the micromanagement-averse. Customize your own species with traits like “High-G Homeworld” or “Repulsive,” and design every ship in your fleet by choosing components and their layout.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

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

Gaming

Ubisoft confirms Assassin’s Creed remakes are in the works

Basim perched on a ledge overlooking Baghdad

In a company interview with CEO Yves Guillemot posted on the Ubisoft website Thursday, the executive reveals that there are remakes of Assassin's Creed games in the works, although he doesn't specify which ones.

"Players can be excited about some remakes, which will allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernize them," he says, implying that it could pertain to games made before Odyssey. "There are worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich."

Gaming

Surfaced patent shows what an Xbox streaming console would’ve looked like

An Xbox Series X sits next to both Series S models.

There have been a few Xbox devices that have never come to fruition, one of which was Keystone, a prototype for an affordable game streaming device you could hook up to your TV or monitor. Thanks to a surfaced patent, we've gotten an even closer look at what it would've potentially looked like.

The patent, first spotted by Windows Central, gives us a more complete view of the device. We've previously seen the Keystone in the flesh. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer is known for hiding teases and interesting collectibles on the shelf in his office. In a 2022 X (formerly Twitter) post congratulating Bethesda on Fallout's 25th anniversary, you can see a small white device on the top shelf that's actually a Keystone prototype. Xbox told Digital Trends that it was a version of the device made before it decided to "refocus our efforts on a new approach.”

Gaming

Wordle Today: Wordle answer and hints for June 28

Someone playing Wordle on a smartphone.

We have the solution to Wordle on June 28, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We've placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don't ruin the surprise before you've had a chance to work through the clues. So let's dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday's answer.
Yesterday's Wordle answer
Let's start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday's Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don't play it daily, which was "ORDER." So we can say that the Wordle answer today definitely isn't that. Now, with that in mind, perhaps take another stab at it using one of these Wordle starting words and circle back if you have no luck.
Hints for today's Wordle
Still can't figure it out? We have today's Wordle answer right here, below. But first, one more thing: Let's take a look at three hints that could help you find the solution, without giving it away, so there's no need to feel guilty about keeping your streak alive -- you put in some work, after all! Or just keep scrolling for the answer.

Today’s Wordle includes the letter D.
Today’s Wordle uses two vowels.
Today's Wordle can refer to a large number of animals, particularly livestock like cattle or sheep, that are moving together in a group.