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Daily Briefing: Friday 24th September
🕑 Added 2021-09-24 14:00:08 +0000 UTCDiablo II: Resurrection is having a pretty rough time with servers
Diablo II: Resurrected released this week and, like any Blizzard game worth its salt, was immediately beset by server issues. Twitter and Reddit were full of reports of crashes, lag, and general connection issues. Blizzard quickly announced that they would be taking the game offline for maintenance but issues seemed to persist for a lot of people even after that.
- These server issues reportedly range from players not being about to see their characters or create new ones, to not being able to play the game at all. Server issues on day one are nothing new for modern games but it's disappointing in this instance and isn't helped by Blizzard being pretty uncommunicative beyond quick confirmations that they're actively working on the problem. But, would it really be a major Blizzard launch without some sort of connectivity issues? They're tradition at this point. In fact, if you search for Diablo II connectivity problems on Google you get official Blizzard connection issue support pages for both Diablo II: Resurrected and the 2000 original.
Bayonetta 3 resurfaces after nearly 1,400 days
Bayonetta 3's surprise reappearance was one of the highlights of this week's Nintendo Direct, not least because it's the first we've seen of the much-anticipated sequel in a whopping 1,386 days. A chunky trailer showed off an impressive mix of cinematic trailers and actual gameplay footage which was very welcome, plus it's headed to Nintendo Switch next year which is even more welcome.
- The startling amount of radio silence going into the Direct meant that the reveal was a genuine surprise. Until then fans had had to make do with a couple developer interviews saying that things were going well, plus an increasingly desperate news countdown over on the Bayonetta subreddit. 2017 was a long time ago after all but roll on 2022 because the game looks ace.
Super Mario movie reveals its...interesting cast
One of the biggest things from last night's Nintendo Direct presentation was Shigeru Miyamoto himself appearing to reveal details on the main voice cast for the Super Mario movie releasing next year. Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation, Guardians of the Galaxy) will play Mario, Anya-Taylor Joy (The Queen's Gambit) will voice Peach, and Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) will play Luigi. Elsewhere, Jack Black will play Bowser, Keegan Michael Key will voice Toad, and Seth Rogan will be Donkey Kong. Longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet will also make an appearance.
- The casting announcement has prompted a, shall we say, passionate response from fans. For the most part, everything seems to have gone over very well. Jack Black as Bowser and Keegan Michael Key as Toad feel like a couple of perfect decisions, while Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day also feel like solid decisions. The sticking point for many people, this writer included, is Chris Pratt as Mario because everyone is pretty sick of him at this stage. He's truly become the James Corden of non-musicals, but maybe he'll do a good job. He's making us wait to hear the voice, at any rate.
