Digital thumb-wrestling and Just Cause 3 are real: This week's must-know game news

Welcome to a special “Catching up on two weeks of news!” edition of Missing Pieces, courtesy of BlizzCon last week.

This week we have Doritos-flavored Mountain Dew, new Tony Hawk, shaving cream co-marketing, and digital thumb wrestling. Why? Just Cause.

I declare a thumb war

If you’re tired of boring ol’ analog thumb wrestling, you can join the rest of the 21st century with digital thumb wrestling in the form of a new free game, ThumbderDome Wrestling. It’s a local multiplayer game, with each player controlling one analog stick on a controller. Here’s the trailer, which features the phrase “Thumb at me bro” uttered by a luchadore:

Did I mention it’s free? (Story via Kotaku)

Elite: Dangerous Zone

After multiple alphas and multiple betas and a whole lot of confusion, Elite: Dangerous finally has a real release date: December 16, 2014.

Field of dreams

Remember a few weeks back when we got really excited about that Witcher 3 teaser? The one that was just an empty field?

BioWare is getting in on this new emptiness craze, releasing concept art for the upcoming Mass Effect title. Get ready! This is really intense:

So much empty space! And our good friend, the MAKO!

Stealing home

Rockstar reiterated this week that the “Heist” content originally discussed approximately a year ago is still coming “very soon.” Somebody probably misplaced the disc marked “Heist Content” next to the disc marked “Red Dead Redemption PC Port.”

Catching my breath

Ubisoft made good on its promise to take a fan to the top of a Nepalese mountain and force him or her to play Far Cry 4. 23-year-old Will Cruz of Provost, Utah played the upcoming game at a world record elevation of 18,569 feet. Cruz was accompanied by a team of 15 people, who helped carry the generator, TV, and assorted sundries needed to play a video game at the peak of Kala Patthar.

And after all that work, he only played the game for a bit over an hour. Though I assume that has just as much to do with the fact that it was 17 degrees.

Explosions in the sky

Game Informer broke the only story I care about in the entire games industry: Just Cause 3 is on its way in 2015.

Also, my pal Rico “Suave” Rodriguez is still the main character. Hopefully my other friend Bolo Santosi can come back and represent the Ree-pahz.

Hawk Hawk Hawk

Oh wait, did I say Just Cause 3 is the only game announcement I care about? I forgot that Sir Tony Hawk himself announced there’s a brand new Tony Hawk Pro Skater game coming in 2015 also. Like, a real one. Not just that dumb mobile game from earlier this year.

I’m currently working with Activision on a console game for 2015 (along with a new mobile game). I think fans of THPS series will be hyped.
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) November 7, 2014

Dedication

World of WarCraft: Warlords of Draenor just launched yesterday, and already people have hit the new level cap of 100. I can’t decide whether I’m impressed or…

Sony by a nose

Another month, another set of Sony-led NPDs. Despite some high-profile Sony bugs this month, an Xbox One price cut and host of bundles, and some notable Xbox One exclusives, the PlayStation 4 continues to outsell its competition.

Dewritos

I’d like to formally lobby whoever’s in charge of religious texts to add a fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Alongside Famine, War, Pestilence, and Death I’d like to tack on “Doritos-flavored Mountain Dew.”

Reddit user (sigh) joes_nipples spotted Mountain Dew Dewitos at a recent taste-test event, and described the flavor as “Like if you shoved a handful of Doritos in your mouth and chugged some Dew at the same time.” Damn it, Pepsi Co., what hath you wrought?

Poor Patrice

Patrice Desilets, most known for creating Assassin’s Creed, has founded another studio—Panache Digital Games. Considering Ubisoft bought his old studio from THQ in 2013 only to fire him a few months later, I’m just waiting for the same to happen here. Like Third Eye Blind, Ubisoft will never let Patrice go.

Digital thumb-wrestling and Just Cause 3 are real: This week’s must-know game news