This week in video games: June 6, 2016

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      This week, Rocket League gets cross-platform play support; drop down, down, down with Downwell; a list of free games coming to Games With Gold this June; and a live-action trailer for the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. But first, the new Skylanders game will let players create their own heroes.

      Create your own Skylanders with Imaginators

      It shouldn't come as a surprise that since the first Skylanders game, 2011's Spyro's Adventure, players (mostly kids) have been dreaming of their own characters.

      Well, the sixth game in the toys-to-life franchise from Activision, Skylanders Imaginators, is going to let you do just that.

      Last week, the publisher revealed that players will be able to imagine and create their own heroic protagonists. Your personal Skylander will be able to appear in the game thanks to Creation Crystals, which are a new type of toy figure coming with Imaginators.

      Activision, which has had problems in the past with information about games being leaked, is having some fun with the idea.

      The new game has a Snapchat account, where details were first released as part of a feigned infiltration.

      The exploits of some sneaky kids are being shared on YouTube:

      Kids infiltrate Skylanders HQ

      Discovery of Imaginators game

      Skylanders Imaginators is scheduled to release on October 16 for PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

      Play Rocket League across systems, except PS4

      Rocket League, the fast and frantic mashup of car-racing and soccer, just got a big update. And it means that if you like playing the game on your Windows computer, you can take on Xbox One players, too.

      Left out of the mix are PS4 players, who can only play with other PS4 players.

      Originally developed for Windows and distributed through Steam, Rocket League arrived on Xbox One in February.

      Cross-network play between Windows and Xbox One is available now.

      Drop down, down, down with Downwell

      Downhill is a curious thing. It’s like a sidescroller, but instead of the environment moving from side to side, it moves up and down. Mostly down.

      Originally developed as a mobile game (for Android, iOS), it was released in late May for PS4 and PSVita.

      The game starts with your character dropping into a well, after which you fall through caves, controlling your descent by moving horizontally and using your boots to slow your fall.

      How can boots possibly slow your fall? Because they are gun boots, of course. So you shoot bullets out of the boots, and the recoil pushes you up a bit, slowing the speed of your descent.

      When you land on solid ground, you can move left and right and jump, and after you have collected all the treasure from an area and killed the enemies, you drop off another ledge and fall down the well some more.

      Games with Gold for June

      A new month means more games available for free to Xbox Live Gold members.

      This month, Xbox One games include the whacky Goat Simulator (available from June 1 to June 30) and Ubisoft open-world car game The Crew (June 16 through July 15).

      Xbox 360 games, which are playable on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility, are the crazy difficult Super Meat Boy (June 1 to June 15) and the excellent strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, from 2K (June 16 to June 30).

      Live action trailer for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

      Later this summer, the sequel to Eidos Montreal’s Deux Ex game gets its release. The game is set in an era when technology has progressed to the point where people can augment themselves with cybernetic implants and bionic limbs.

      The first game, 2011’s Human Revolution, detailed the rise of the human-augmentation movement and the cultural and social tensions that were the result.

      The new Mankind Divided takes place in 2027, when people with augmentations are being ostracized and even segregated.

      Publisher Square Enix has produced a live-action trailer, setting the stage for the game. Mankind Divided is scheduled to release for PS4, Windows, and Xbox One on August 23.

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