Super Mario, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds and Gran Turismo: the 3 biggest games coming to the biggest consoles this year
Mario free roams in an open world, 100 players face off in a fight to the death, and simulation driving gets more realistic than ever before in these hotly anticipated console games
Everybody's favourite plumber is back, this time in an open-world game with a magical cap as a sidekick.Mario is about to star in his biggest game in years. Forget about that smartphone game. Super Mario Odyssey is a massive, crazy-looking, open-world Mario game. And it's only available on Nintendo's Switch.
Though there are plenty of games coming to all three major game consoles this holiday, a few blockbusters are exclusive to each. Starting with Super Mario Odyssey in October, we've put together the three blockbuster exclusive games for Sony's PlayStation 4, Microsoft's Xbox One, and Nintendo's Switch this holiday season.
1. Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch
Just as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a huge evolution of the long-running, celebrated Legend of Zelda franchise, Super Mario Odyssey appears ready to challenge and evolve the Super Mario formula.
Super Mario Odyssey is an open-world, nonlinear game starring Mario. That means you're not running from a beginning point to, say, a flagpole. We're talking big open worlds that are packed with detail: secret areas to find, puzzles to solve, and even some old-school 2D Mario thrown in for short spells. Seriously!
Instead of reaching an endpoint, your goal in Super Mario Odyssey is to collect moons, and there are many hidden in each world. Based on very limited hands-on playtime in June, the best comparison would be to the superb Super Mario 64 released in 1996 and was the first Mario game to use 3D graphics.
Release date: October 27
2. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on the Xbox One/Xbox One X
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds boasts a bizarre name and a brilliant concept: 100 people on a large island, armed only with their wits and scattered supplies, fighting to the death. Whoever survives at the end of the match wins - and there can only be one.
Each match of Battlegrounds starts the same way: You're in a broken-down aeroplane with 100 other actual people; as you fly over a deserted island you're able to choose where you'll parachute down. Since you're unarmed, if you land near anyone it's up to you to choose whether to run (an attempt to arm yourself and/or escape) or to fight (with your fists!) to death. As the match progresses, the area of the island you're able to occupy shrinks thus forcing you closer and closer to your opponents.
It sounds intense because it is intense. There is no single-player, no campaign mode. Just the terrifying island and 100 actual people.
Beware, this game is an "exclusive" insofar as it's only coming to the Xbox One this holiday season. The game is already available, in beta, on the PC. it will also head to the PlayStation 4 further down the line, though it's not clear when.
Release date: Later this year
3. Gran Turismo Sport on the PlayStation 4/PlayStation 4 Pro
If you like racing, you're probably already thinking pretty seriously about this year's entry in the long-running Gran Turismo series. The franchise is known for its incredible level of detail lavished on the world of cars, racing, and engine tuning. Sport is no different in this respect, but it's planned as the first in a "new generation" of Gran Turismo games.
Notably, there's an "arcade" mode that allows players to have a bit more video-game-esque fun instead of focusing solely on the simulation side of the game a nod, no doubt, to the competition from Microsoft's Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon franchises.
As usual, the newest Gran Turismo is a graphics powerhouse: Gran Turismo Sport may be the best-looking game released this year, and it'll look even better if you have a PlayStation 4 Pro and a 4K TV.
Release date: October 17
This story appeared originally on Business Insider as "The 3 biggest games coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch this holiday season"