O trailer também mostrou as animações de recarregamento de armas, mecânicas de salto e até uma câmera para poder tirar fotos em meio ao cenário, que com certeza deverá ser usada para pistas.

O game ainda não tem data anunciada, mas é possível que chegue no próximo ano, até agora sendo anunciado apenas para PC!

Veja o trailer:

Desenvolvido pela Fumi Games e distribuído pela Playside, Junte-se ao detetive particular em MOUSE, um jogo de tiro corajoso e movido a jazz. Com armas em punho e um estilo de animação retrô de mangueira de borracha, lute por uma cidade corrupta cheia de bandidos e perigos. Inspirado em FPS clássicos e filmes noir!

Estamos ansiosos pela chegada do jogo, o que será um diferencial para a indústria!

1. Little Kitty, Big City: A charming simulation where players take on the role of a small cat in a big city, living feline adventures while exploring the urban environment. The game will be released on May 9, with pre-order available today.
2. Yars Rising: An action-adventure game with a futuristic atmosphere, scheduled for release on the Switch later this year.
3. Refind Self: The Personality Self, where players shape their personality based on the choices made throughout the game. It is set for release in the middle of this year.
4. Sticky Business: Players unleash their creativity by creating custom stickers to meet the demands of their customers. The game and its DLC will be released today for the Switch.
5. Antonblast: A temporary exclusive with a demo available today.
6. Valley Peaks: A climbing game with a unique design and various terrain viewing options, promising a relaxing experience. Scheduled for release this year, date to be determined.
7. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes: A dark adventure from the same creator of Sayonara Wild Hearts, coming to the Nintendo Switch on May 16.
8. Europa: A tranquil adventure in a colorful universe, with a demo available today and a release coming soon to the Switch.

In addition to these, other titles featured include TMNT Splintered Fate, Cat Quest III, Stitch, Steamworld Heist II, BZZT, Animal Well, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, and Another Cab's Treasure. 

Players can expect the arrival of these new indie experiences on the Nintendo Switch in the coming months.

Pictures and puzzles in Viewfinder | Review 

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The resurgence of the plague

No Rest for the Wicked, developed by Moon Studios and published by Private Division and Take-Two Interactive, was made available in early access on April 18, 2024, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series S and X, as well as PlayStation 5.

It is an RPG game, set in the year 841, with soulslike elements, using an isometric camera, rich exploration, and extremely punitive combat, where we control a sacred warrior sent to the island of Sacra to investigate the Plague, a terrible disease that transforms humans into demonic creatures. 

 
 

The power of destruction

The story of No Rest for the Wicked, besides being interesting, has a great impact on the game's atmosphere, being a completely dark world plagued by the Plague, the weight that the story carries is much greater, the dialogues with the characters are melancholic and there is always the certainty that everyone is in constant suffering.

As I mentioned before, the story follows a sacred warrior from the Cerim group, who is summoned to investigate and destroy the Plague at all costs. Thus, our journey begins on a ship, during a strong storm, where, after some friction with the crew, who are afraid of you because they think that this storm is always in the place where you are.

Therefore, we explore the ship, talk to various NPCs, breaking MANY boxes for loot, such as treasures and food, until our boat is fatally destroyed and we engage in a very frantic battle. It is worth mentioning that this beginning also serves as a tutorial for exploration and combat.

After the shipwreck of our vessel, we have the true beginning of the game, waking up on the beach, without any equipment or weapons, and it is up to us to explore and continue the story.

The world exploration is done through simple mechanics, but they are made difficult by the adoption of the isometric camera, a detail that I will explain shortly.

The available mechanics are killing enemies and collecting their loot, breaking boxes and barrels that contain everything from food and treasures to equipment, and opening chests scattered throughout the world, which can be easily accessible or even well hidden, leading us to one of the most fun mechanics, similar to a platform game system, we must balance and jump from point to point to gain access to the chests, as well as adopting shortcuts to reach other areas.

In addition, the food and ingredients we collect can be used at the campfires scattered throughout the world to cook recipes that are unlocked as we play.

No Rest for the Wicked has a resource system that functions as money, in the player interface there is an indicator of the amount of this currency that has three variations, each with a certain value, and we can also collect wood and stone, for example, to help in the construction and improvement of items.

In addition, we have a health bar, an energy bar, and breath, which we need to manage, especially in combat, since attacks, defensive movements, and dodges are also factors that must be calculated, and such bars can be restored by using food and special items.

The game also offers checkpoints, called Whispers, these whispers allow you to respawn at the cost of item durability.

As we progress in the game, we also have access to improvements, which function as runes, which can be selected by shortcuts on the keyboard/controller and have an impact on combat, as well as having an attribute menu where we can build our character as we see fit. 

Combat and the soulslike essence

The combat of No Rest for the Wicked is the game's greatest charm, the comparisons to the soulslike genre have become inevitable mainly due to the complexity of the combat, combined with the explorable world full of secrets, treasures, and hidden enemies. There is also a memory of Diablo IV, both in the setting and the camera used, but limited to that, as No Rest for the Wicked adopts a more individualized and intense combat.

The combat, as I mentioned earlier, is influenced by the character's stamina, so the attack, defense, special attacks, dodges, and counterattacks mechanics all have a direct impact on our breath, combined with the fact that enemies are extremely aggressive, the game's combat is really challenging, reminiscent of soulslike titles like Elden Ring.

It is important to point out that the game can be frustrating for some players, as even the most normal enemies can be tough to eliminate, so it is important to know all the available mechanics, including stealth, which, despite being introduced in the tutorial, it is necessary for the player to remember to use it, as the game encourages direct combat.

No Rest for the Wicked is a project with a lot of personality and a stunning setting, being a single-player game, the package offered is very fun (although frustrating at times due to combat and the isometric camera), but it is engaging enough to keep you playing more, with the help of the graphics and art style, the whole organic atmosphere created is truly impressive. 

 
 

A bold release

The release of No Rest for the Wicked is a positive point for the entire industry, as it is noticeable the care taken with the voice acting and cutscenes, especially. The gameplay is good and the game has few bugs, in addition to receiving a lot of attention from the developers, with constant updates and hotfixes in the first days of release.

The tutorial is very comprehensive and manages to build a good narrative and atmosphere and teaches everything that is necessary to survive.

The game is localized in several languages, but only has voice acting in English, which unfortunately is detrimental to some audiences, but the voice acting offered is certainly able to please the vast majority of players. 

 
 

An immersive experience 
 

The experience of No Rest for the Wicked is very good and immersive, the game's optimization leaves something to be desired, as even good machines suffer from frame drops, despite being a heavier game, the optimization could be better worked on, although the game recommends playing with a controller, the experience with mouse and keyboard was tested and proved to be quite inferior, giving the impression of having more stiff and less precise controls, however, with some changes in the controls, it is possible to play more smoothly.

Good mechanics and beautiful graphics are very positive qualities of this game, the story is a shining point and the immersiveness of the created atmosphere is excellent.

The game also offers a good quality of life, with non-intrusive menus, relevant tutorials and tips, as well as good inventory and resource management. 
As the game is in early access, bugs and performance issues should be fixed with its official release. 
 

This content was only made possible thanks to the provision of the access key by Private Division.  
 

• Players will face Legendary Pirate Lords, such as Philippe La Peste and the Hubac Twins, in progressively challenging encounters.
• Strategic ship cargoes and seasonal equipment will be crucial in defeating these threats.
• World events introduced each season will bring new challenges, such as facing merchant convoys, elite warships, and other predators.

Endgame Activities:

• Players will experience the intense endgame of Skull and Bones, facing more dangerous challenges, higher stakes, and turning alliances into rivalries.
• Take control of The Helm, a smuggling colossus, by building a smuggling empire and controlling factories throughout the Indian Ocean.
• Legendary Raids and Hostile Acquisitions introduce new endgame features each season.

PvP:

• Engage in risky PvP activities with high rewards in Cutthroat Cargo and legendary treasure map challenges.
• Participate in limited-time events, collaborate with other pirates, complete community-exclusive events, and climb the leaderboard to earn rewards.

With these ambitious plans, Ubisoft hopes to offer a rich and dynamic experience to Skull and Bones players throughout its first year post-launch.

 

We also took advantage of the freedom that digital-only distribution offered us to create a game with a duration that perfectly suited the intended experience, but that could be sold at a lower price to reflect the shorter duration of our story. Dom Matthews comments in the article published on Xbox Wire

Matthews shared that the game will follow the tradition of the first Hellblade, maintaining a focused narrative and being sold only digitally. He emphasized that players can expect to join protagonist Senua on a journey that involves challenging puzzles, brutal combat, and an immersive gaming experience.

This time, the story will unfold in the stunning and harsh landscapes of 10th century Iceland. He stated that all elements of the game are interconnected to create a unique experience, where immersion, fidelity, and richness will be taken to new heights.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II will be a cinematic and intense experience, focused on Senua's unique story, exploring her experiences of psychosis.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is scheduled to arrive on Xbox consoles and PC on May 21, 2024.

 

#WWE2K24 launches March 8 🤩 https://t.co/ChJ7xr9Uf9

— 2K (@2K) January 22, 2024

Cody Rhodes is featured on the standard cover, while Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley grace the Deluxe edition cover. The special edition "Forty Years of WrestleMania" features exclusive artwork with various WWE stars.

Main Features of WWE 2K24:

1. Enhanced Character Creator: More parts and animations for enhanced customization.
2. Notable Playable Athletes: Including The Undertaker and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, with a selection of over 200 athletes.
3. 2K Showcase of the Immortals: Mode that celebrates WrestleMania with gameplay and interspersed live-action scenes.
4. Season Pass with 5 DLC Packs: Offering additional content to extend the game experience.
5. New Game Types: Special Guest Referee, Ambulance Match, Casket Match, and Gauntlet Match.
6. Return of MyGM, MyFaction, and MyRise Modes: Offering familiar and popular game modes.

Fans can expect an authentic and thrilling wrestling experience with the release of WWE 2K24 in March. The game is available for pre-orders on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC via Steam.

The PlayStation together with the development team, Arrowhead Game Studios, has released a video on YouTube, revealing exclusive information about the highly anticipated Helldivers II.

In Helldivers II, the territories of Super Earth are under siege, facing monstrous threats that seek to annihilate humanity's way of life. On board their ship, players have the opportunity to witness and actively participate in these intergalactic battles. The Galactic War is the main attraction, where every action counts in the fight for freedom and democracy.

The Helldivers, true heroes of Super Earth, are elite soldiers who confront enemies with the full power of Super Earth's arsenal. Using a lethal variety of stratagems and armaments, they defend colonizers and liberate planets from enemy forces.

Players rise through the ranks, taking on increasingly challenging missions to leave their mark on the history of the Helldiver. Even if a Helldiver perishes, another Citizen has the opportunity to fulfill the dream, keeping the flame of prosperity and freedom alive.

Enemy factions, such as robotic automatons and insect-like Terminites, are presented as terrifying threats. Each faction operates in a unique way, requiring specific strategies to confront them. The war is constant, with planets falling into the clutches of the enemy and the Helldivers fighting to reclaim them in an evolving battle.

The video highlights players' involvement in the War Table, where they gather with their squad to choose missions and operations. The War Table offers a strategic view of the conflict, allowing players to choose operations with up to three missions, each with unique objectives.

Embark on various missions, from taking down high-value targets to launching missiles into the heart of enemy fortresses. Keep an eye out for resources and information that may be valuable to Super Earth researchers. Players' progress contributes to the overall war effort, bringing them closer to liberating this sector of the galaxy.

The Galactic War is the focal point of Helldivers II, providing an immersive intergalactic combat experience. The release date is set for February 8th for PlayStation 5 and PC.

The central feature of this free update is the overhaul of the traditional Voyage loop, highlighting the Ship's Mission Table. Now, you can access all available Voyages and Tall Tales directly from your ship, eliminating the need to return to an Outpost.

With the redesigned Discover tab, the choice of activities has received a dynamic approach, allowing you to immediately engage in missions and activities that correspond to your personal progress.

Rewards are now tied not only to treasure delivery, but also to Company reputation, granting a small amount immediately after completing a Voyage.

Cashing in the loot at an Outpost is still necessary for full payment. The traditional experience of sailing through the Sea of Thieves remains a valid option, with enhanced rewards for events such as shipwrecks and Messages in a Bottle.

Trading Company representatives continue to be important destinations. Promotions are now accessible directly from these representatives, who also feature a revamped cosmetic store, offering clothing and Trading Company items in one place.

Trading Companies have undergone significant expansion, allowing established players to progress to level 100 in all Companies except The Hunter's Call. Upon reaching this milestone, earn one of the five new commendations, resetting your reputation with the chosen Company and unlocking a commendation ring for your pirate.

In addition, Raid Voyages have been added to the Mission Table, providing a twist on familiar events. Choose to participate in these themed Company missions to work towards valuable loot and an increase in reputation.

With the start of the new season, new levels of Seasonal Renown await, offering gold, Doubloons, and Ancient Coins, along with clothing, ships, and cosmetics as you progress. Buyers of the Plunder Pass will enjoy additional benefits, including Ancient Coins and the complete collection of Well-Traveled Traders.

The Pirate Emporium and Outpost stores have expanded their inventory, featuring the impressive Boarhunter collection and the Maestro clothing set. More information about these new additions here.

• Swordfighter to wield swords with mastery,
• Kung Fu Peach for martial arts movements,
• Pastry Chef to show off her culinary skills,
•  Detective Peach to solve mysterious cases.

The gameplay varies according to the role played by Peach, promising a diverse and captivating experience. Princess Peach: Showtime! is scheduled to be released on the Nintendo Switch on March 22, 2024.

Get ready for a journey full of transformations and exciting moments with the iconic Princess Peach.

 

Nintendo is preparing a special musical event for fans of The Legend of Zelda. On February 9th, at 5:00 PT / 8:00 ET, the company will present a special concert by The Legend of Zelda Orchestra, which can be watched on YouTube.

This concert, although pre-recorded, promises to offer a unique experience to fans of the beloved game franchise. The performance will feature a full orchestra, bringing to life the iconic music from the entire series of The Legend of Zelda.

 

Regarding the "Zelda Legend Orchestra Concert" scheduled to be held at "Nintendo Live 2024 TOKYO," we will premiere a pre-recorded video on February 9th (Friday) at 20:00. We will perform numerous music from the series with a full orchestra. For more details, please see here.https://t.co/7tn9Mjks2d pic.twitter.com/eLXsOkn4Dq

— The Legend of Zelda (@ZeldaOfficialJP) January 24, 2024

Although more details have not been revealed at this time, it is expected that the concert will provide an immersive musical journey, highlighting some of the most memorable compositions from the series. Fans can expect an exciting atmosphere and a celebration of the rich musical tradition associated with The Legend of Zelda.

It is worth noting that the concert was initially planned as part of the Nintendo Live 2024 TOKYO event, which unfortunately was canceled. However, Nintendo continues to offer fans a unique experience through this online concert.

Stay tuned for more details about this musical celebration that promises to delight the hearts of The Legend of Zelda fans.

To participate, players need to create their own design for a spacesuit, whether hand-drawn, 3D rendered, or in any creative form. Additionally, they must write a text explaining the inspiration behind the suit. The contest is open, and participants have until February 24, 2024 to submit their creations through the Link.

The most creative and original design, with a "unique out-of-this-world style", will be chosen as the winner and will receive an exact replica of the creation. The contest aims to celebrate the expression of players and provide a unique experience by connecting the passion for space with the highly anticipated game Starfield.

Participants will have about a month to think and submit their creations, and the winner will be announced after the contest closes. After the winner is chosen, it will take approximately two months to manufacture the exclusive suit. Interested individuals can take advantage of this period to explore the worlds of Starfield through the Xbox Game Pass.

This initiative aims to involve players in the space experience offered by Starfield, allowing them to express their creativity and passion for the game's universe.

We have received many inquiries about the game from another company launched in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon's intellectual property or assets in this game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe upon intellectual property rights related to Pokémon. Excerpt taken and translated from the statement.

The company reaffirms its commitment to protect the individuality of each Pokémon, take care of its world, and work to connect the world through these adorable creatures.

The message concludes by reiterating the Pokémon Company's intention to value and nurture each Pokémon, as well as its universe, and to continue working to unite the world through these iconic creatures in the future.

Check out the official statement from the Pokémon Company Here.
*This statement was originally published in Japanese and has been translated for international release.

The gaming scene has been growing over the last few years in Brazil. In the last decade in particular, the number of companies in the sector has increased rapidly, and the games made here have attracted attention on the national and international scene.

In 2023, one game that has been attracting attention at gaming events is Horla. The first-person horror game, produced by Mr. Dev Studio, relies on art direction to stand out in the genre.

In October, the Mundo Indie team spoke to Guilherme Heckel, co-founder of Mr. Dev Studio and art director on Horla. Throughout our conversation, Heckel spoke in detail about the game project and what we can expect from it.

Mr. Dev Studio

Since it was founded, Mr. Dev Studio has operated mainly as an outsourcing company, providing services to other game studios or clients in other sectors. Among games, the studio's specialty is the hypercasual genre, smartphone games with simpler user interfaces and gameplay concepts.

Between 'commissioned' and authored projects, Mr. Dev Studio has published several games throughout its history. The vast majority of these projects have been developed for mobile platforms. Some of them, such as Horla, came from public calls for proposals.

With this in mind, Heckel points out that producing Horla has been a new adventure for the studio.

"It's been a new experience for Mr. Dev to be developing this kind of game - both conceptually and mechanically," explains Heckel, "It's been a cool experience."

The conception of Horla

"Horla, romanticizing the story a bit, I like to say it's like a haunting," jokes the developer. "Me and Leandro Michel (a partner at Mr. Dev Studio) were studying Digital Games, and we made a 2D point-and-click adventure game called Horla."

The idea behind the game remains the same as that produced for a college assignment. Mr. Dev Studio's horror game takes its name and some of its concepts from a 19th century horror tale: The Horla, by French author Guy de Maupassant.



The game produced in 2013 already featured elements such as the aesthetic inspired by artist Mike Mignola and certain points of the narrative approach.

Horla's story

In Horla, the player controls Moacir Gonçalo, a World War II veteran who works as a private detective after returning from the conflict. In the game, Gonçalo is hired by a mysterious real estate agency to retrieve certain documents from an abandoned mansion.

In the mansion, the game's protagonist ends up becoming a victim of Horla. The ancient entity, the bridge that connects the game with the French tale, messes with the psyches of its hosts.

"The Horla is an itinerant, migratory spirit and never stays in one specific place. It always looks for a victim and ends up driving that person mad," explains Heckel. "In the original story, it's a rich man who ends up going mad, sets fire to his own house, and then commits suicide."

In the game, Horla brings up the traumas Gonçalo experienced during the war. The detective then discovers the repercussions of these traumas, which come back to haunt him.

Release of the full game

Horla still doesn't have a date set for the release of the full game. Mr. Dev Studio's project is currently in the process of gathering feedback and prospecting possible partnerships with publishers and investors to raise funds for the project's continuation.

Heckel says that the game's story is structured, and the aim is for Horla to be around four and a half hours long. For the game's art director, improving the relationship between narrative and gameplay has been a major challenge.

"We need to deliver the story in a way that feels natural to the player, so they can feel like they're unraveling and exploring," he explains. "We haven't completely solved this problem yet, we're studying ways to improve our gameplay, how to make the game more intuitive, what kind of tools we need."

_________________________________________________________________________

Did you like this content? Want to know more about Mr. Dev Studio?

Click here and check out the company's official platforms!

Haven't checked out the Horla demo yet? It can be downloaded for free from itch.io, and the game's Steam page is now available for you to add Horla to your wishlist.

Mundo Gamer Network's Mundo Indie project aims to support independent game developers, giving visibility to their projects and helping to promote them to a wider audience. Every two weeks, the project highlights a new game and its developers, providing details and curiosities about the creation process. The aim is to allow players to discover different and interesting games that might otherwise go unnoticed, and to support small companies in the sector.

If you're an indie developer or a gamer looking for news, be sure to follow Mundo Indie and discover incredible games that are sure to surprise you.

You can also share this initiative with your friends and help us spread the word about this important project. If you would like to introduce us to your studio or project, send a message to indiegamepress@mundogamer.network.

You can follow this and other projects weekly here on the site and also in our Mundo Indie Newsletter on LinkedIn.

Author: Guilherme Guerreiro

Reviewed and translated by Diego Lourenço

The video first shows that players will start their journey on a central island and can create boats, equipment, items for expeditions, accept contracts for rewards, and interact with other players there.

In this game, the most important mechanic is the reputation of the character, as it will unlock new contracts and consequently new rewards. Reputation can be increased by completing activities such as contracts, exploration, pillaging, treasure hunting, participating in events, and "much more." However, it is warned that it can decrease if the player's ship is destroyed and, probably, other situations may lead to this as well.









The player will also be able to create various types of ships, each with different gameplay to suit each person's taste. In addition to dealing with ship combat and managing resources, the player will also have to worry about the morale of the crew, as neglecting it can lead to mutiny.

Another interesting mechanic that encourages item crafting is resource exploration, which can be done through hunting animals, collecting plants and ores from the island, or plundering other players.

Skull and Bones seems to have a well-defined concept, but it remains to be seen if it will work in practice and be a success. If you want to watch the video from the original source, simply click on the link Resetera or Streamable.

Source: GameVicio

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If you’ve ever wanted to race in a kart racer game by way of propane, Apple Arcade will soon have you covered. 

 

That’s because Warped Kart Racers is a new kart racer coming to the premium iOS service that will let you race as Hank Hill, lover of all things propane, from King Of The Hill. He’ll be joined by other cartoon characters such as Peter Griffin from Family Guy, as well as Stewie, Stan from American Dad, and more, as first reported by Eurogamer. In fact, Warped Kart Racers will feature five characters from Family Guy, five from American Dad, five from King Of The Hill, and five from Solar Opposites. 

 

You can check out the Apple Arcade trailer below:

 

As you can see, it features multiple characters from the TV series mentioned above, and you’ll be able to race around 16 maps as them. It also includes “tons of customizations,” such as different outfits for each character, wheel types, glider types, and more. Plus, you can play with up to eight friends in online multiplayer. 

 

Warped Kart Racers does not yet have a release date, but the trailer says the game is coming to Apple Arcade this month, so it sounds like you won’t have to wait long to play. 

Source: Game informer.

Remember back in March when PlayStation was rumoured to have a huge week of news? And then nothing much happened, aside from the official reveal of the new PS Plus tiers? Well, one of the most prominent rumours was that Sony was preparing an industry-shaking buyout. But once the dust had settled, we never actually found out who the rumoured acquisition was about.
 

It's a good job, then, that talkative games journalist Jeff Grubb has answers. According to Grubb, the rumours referred to Sony snapping up Square Enix, which, as mentioned, would have been a real megaton. This fresh perspective arrives following the official news that Square Enix has sold off a number of its Western studios and properties to Embracer Group for $300 million.
 

As Grubb points out, however, there was no way of knowing whether the rumour was legit. High level business dealings — like mergers or acquisitions — almost never leak because of the potential repercussions, both personal and company-wide. Indeed, mega buyouts like Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, or more recently, Sony's buyout of Bungie, happened out of nowhere — no leaks, no "insiders", no nothing until they were suddenly confirmed by the companies themselves.
 

Of course, with Square Enix selling off a bulk of its Western operations to Embracer Group, there have been mumblings that the Japanese publisher is "streamlining" itself for a potential acquisition. Such a thing would make some sense from a business point of view, but again, it's impossible to know for sure.

Source: PushSquare.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam quis sollicitudin mi, vitae maximus massa. Donec et dolor id justo molestie porttitor ut sit amet nulla. Aenean bibendum vel nunc id viverra. Suspendisse potenti. Ut feugiat vestibulum elit, sit amet suscipit elit malesuada vehicula. Vestibulum pellentesque velit orci, consectetur porta eros imperdiet vitae. Nam non ultrices eros, eu pretium purus. Nunc nec mattis enim.

Nunc luctus turpis sed bibendum eleifend. Nunc efficitur, libero et finibus consequat, neque ante venenatis dui, vitae facilisis urna ex vel tortor. Duis eget nibh faucibus, tincidunt risus in, finibus nisl. Pellentesque velit justo, mattis rutrum congue et, rutrum id dolor. Maecenas ac velit orci. Vivamus at nunc sit amet risus pulvinar laoreet. Mauris eu neque pharetra, pulvinar nisi at, tempor justo. Nunc non augue nibh.

Donec scelerisque lorem nec sem pretium, ut ullamcorper tellus lacinia. Phasellus posuere velit id volutpat ultricies. Vivamus facilisis arcu diam, sollicitudin lacinia diam iaculis et. Suspendisse efficitur nisl vel tellus tempus, nec pellentesque sapien iaculis. Sed molestie dignissim lorem, non vehicula neque luctus non. Quisque quis pretium mi. Maecenas non suscipit mi. Fusce varius fringilla ultricies. Nunc ac commodo ipsum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.

Curabitur sed tortor et nibh maximus maximus in id lorem. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Donec ut mollis lectus. Duis auctor eleifend felis ut pulvinar. Maecenas fermentum dignissim eros, a congue ligula porta vel.

Integer in nibh ut nulla convallis venenatis. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Suspendisse suscipit scelerisque magna, quis molestie lorem luctus eget. Etiam pretium sagittis purus, ac mattis mi accumsan id. 


Source: PushSquare.

One of the most requested GBA localisations is the 2006 cult-hit RPG Mother 3. We heard in February how much the game's producer Shinichi Kameoka would "love to see" this particular entry get a worldwide release, so why hasn't it happened?
 

In the latest episode of the Kit & Krysta Podcast on YouTube, Kameoka was asked during a fan Q&A segment why he thought Mother 3 hadn't been released outside of Japan yet. Here's the full exchange:
 

"Question for Mr Kameoka (that I'm sure a ton of people will ask) - any idea why Mother 3 hasn't released outside of Japan? And what do you think are the chances of it releasing? I'd really love to support it and recommend it to friends"

Shinichi Kameoka: "Personally, I think the biggest selling point of Mother 3 is Shigesatao Itoi's unique writing style; translating the charm and nuances of his writing into other languages is quite a challenge, and maybe that's why it's taken so long to consider international releases of Mother 3."

With no official release locally, fans here in the west have taken matters into their own hands with an outstanding fan-made translation patch. Former Nintendo of America president Reggie has also previously joked about Mother 3's return.
 

Would you like to see Mother 3 make its way across to the west?

One of the best fighting experiences you can have on the Nintendo Switch is the third-party title Dragon Ball FighterZ. Although Bandai Namco is seemingly done with the DLC, it still appears to be releasing some updates for the game.
 

In a post via social media, the official Dragon Ball game and Bandai Namco Esports Twitter account revealed the team behind DBFZ was currently working on a game balance update, which would also cover the recently released DLC - Android 21 (Lab Coat).
 

"[#DBFZ] We’re currently working on the game balance update, including the 'Android 21 (Lab Coat)' DLC which was released on February 24, 2022. The details of the release time will be announced at a later date. We hope for your continued support of DRAGON BALL FighterZ."

The latest DLC addition is equipped with her "blade-like energy and well-rounded skill set". This character will set you back $4.99 USD or your regional equivalent. Hopefully, this next DBFZ update arrives in time for EVO 2022 (5-7 August), which will feature Dragon Ball FighterZ as one of the nine games at the event.
 

Are you still enjoying DBFZ on a regular basis?

Source: Nintendo Life.

The Super Smash Bros. competitive scene has a huge following, but Nintendo's relationship with this part of the community and fighting game tournaments, in general, hasn't always been the best. Now adding to this bumpy history is a new story this time from the famous Twitch Streamer and Fortnite player Ninja.
 

In 2018, Ninja published a tweet about how he was "cooking up" something for the fighting and Smash Bros. community. He revealed what exactly happened behind the scenes during a recent poker stream, hosted by streamer and YouTuber Ludwig.
 

Ninja's plan was to drop an extra $500k of money into the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate prize pool at EVO 2019 to show his support for the game's competitive scene, but Nintendo apparently "ghosted" him, and that was that. Here's exactly what he had to say along with a video (via EventHubs) :
 

Ninja: "That was on Nintendo and not me... It's 100% absolutely the case. All I wanted to do was create a massive tournament and juice Evo like $500K, but I wanted to get Nintendo's permission, and they just ghosted us."

Ninja just revealed the history behind his famous "Smash community" tweet on Ludwig's poker stream

Allegedly, he was planning to add $500,000 to the EVO prize pool until Nintendo shut him down https://t.co/5LJLw4JI63 pic.twitter.com/WjcyDeOt2e— Daniel J. Collette (@DanielJCollette) May 2, 2022

Keep in mind, that this is just Ninja's side of the story. In saying this, it wouldn't be all that surprising if Nintendo did decide to pass on this considering the way the company operates as well as its history with the Smash competitive scene. Most recently, Nintendo ended up partnering with Panda Global for an official Super Smash Bros. tournament.
 

What do you think about Ninja's story?
 

Source: Nintendo Life.

When Valve’s Steam Deck launched back in February, it could only certifiably run a (relative) handful of the platform’s 1000s of titles. The exact number was 399, but now, just a few weeks later, that figure has roughly tripled.
 

On February 25, the day of the Steam Deck’s launch, there were the 399 I just mentioned, plus roughly 300 more that were listed as “playable” but still might have some issues. Note that this list included games that ran fine, but had been designed with a big monitor and mouse in mind, and so maybe weren’t the best experience on a handheld device.
 

Anyone buying the Steam Deck in February (or earlier, really, since to get one then you would have had to pre-order back in 2021) might have been concerned with the size of that list, and the fact that some of the biggest video game series around weren’t going to be playing nice with their new handheld.
 

Now that we’re in early May, things have already vastly improved. There are a number of places you can track the numbers of games playable on the system, but Boiling Steam have been putting them in chart form, so that’s what we’re looking at today.

As you can see, things mostly shot up during March and have slowed down since. But I’m looking at this as more of a “how far things have come since launch” kind of deal, not just an examination of the last couple of weeks. At time of posting, there are now 1,289 games that are fully verified, and a further 1,169 that are playable.
 

In practical terms, let’s apply those figures to my own Steam Library, since that’s how I took an informal look at support back when the system launched. In February, only 59 of my 810 Steam games were fully verified; now 131 of them are. That’s progress!
 

Which leads me to: this doesn’t mean games not on the list don’t work at all. It just means they haven’t been fully tested yet, so you can expect this number to keep on climbing as more results come in. And if you want to keep track of this stuff, Protondb is another great place to bookmark.

"Active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members can now enjoy the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion DLC on the Nintendo Switch system at no additional cost.* It’s a great way to train up before the Splatoon 3 game launches for Nintendo Switch!"

Nintendo normally provides some hints as to what's next in these Expansion Pack trailers, and this latest trailer also seems to reconfirm that Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Pokémon Snap will be the next games added to the N64 library.

This latest trailer follows on from an update to both the Nintendo 64 and Sega Mega Drive / Genesis services recently.

• Mario Golf Now Available On Switch Online's Expansion Pack
• Three Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Games Have Been Added To Switch Online's Expansion Pack

The video game industry is undergoing a tidal wave of consolidation right now, and Swedish holding company Embracer Group is riding it to become one of the newest players in a rapidly shrinking space. A few years ago most people had never heard of it. Now it’s bigger than rivals like Ubisoft and Capcom, and set to get even bigger as it scoops up Square Enix’s Tomb Raider and Marvel’s Avengers studios.
 

I wish there was a succinct way to explain what Embracer is and where it came from, but there’s not. It began as a nesting doll of investment companies that started out in retail. It’s now a sprawling network of independently operating publishing arms and individual studios that make and sell every type of game you could imagine. The brainchild of Swedish businessman Lars Wingefors, Embracer was formed in 2011 and it has been buying up other game companies ever since.
 

It was originally called Nordic Games Holding, and grew out of Wingefors’ prior experience selling excess video game stock on the international market. Instead of selling leftover games from EA, Nordic eventually decided to start selling its own. First it snatched up Austrian publisher JoWooD’s assets (Gothic, SpellForce) in a 2011 bankruptcy, and then notably many of the remains of THQ (Darksiders, Homefront) in 2013, after which it rebranded as THQ Nordic.
 

At the time, it seemed like grave robbing, but possibly even less lucrative. By now it’s clear Nordic Games’ ambition went well beyond just being zombie THQ and giving the world Darksiders III. The holding company went public in 2016, rebranded as Embracer in 2019, and now owns over 100 studios and publishers housing over 10,000 employees, making it bigger than Activision Blizzard in terms of sheer body count.

About the only thing the group has done outside of buying stuff was hold a roundly rebuked 2019 AMA with 8Chan. “I condemn all unethical content this website stands for,” Wingefors later wrote in an apology. “Even if no one within the THQ Nordic Group would ever endorse such content, I realize simply appearing there gave an implicit impression that we did.”
 

Monday’s $300 million agreement to acquire Crystal Dynamics (Deus Ex), Eidos Montreal (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Square Enix Montreal (Hitman Sniper) is one of Embracer’s most high-profile deals yet. In addition to getting the rights to things like Thief, Legacy of Kain, and more than 50 other “back-catalog games” (i.e. Gex), the sale would also see Embracer’s ranks swell by another 1,100 game developers. But in purely monetary terms, it would be one of the smaller checks Embracer’s investors have cut in recent years.
 

Here’s who else it recently bought:

• April 2020: Port house Saber Interactive for $525 million
• February 2021: Borderlands maker Gearbox Entertainment for $1.3 billion
• April 2021: Ad-supported mobile game publisher Easybrain for $640 million
• April 2021: Star Wars remaster machine Aspyr Media for $450 million
• August 2021: 3D Realms and seven other studios for $313 million
• December 2021: French board game and RPG publisher Asmodee for $3 billion

While mega publishers like EA and Activision rely on selling tens of millions of copies of a few annualized franchises, Embracer has been busy buying dozens of baskets and stuffing a few eggs in each. Its subsidiaries publish everything from Biomutant to World War Z. It owns 4A Games, which makes the post-apocalyptic Metro series, as well as Dambuster Studios, which made Homefront: The Revolution, and is the latest studio to be cursed with developing Dead Island 2, a sequel that’s been MIA for eight years. In addition to scooping up THQ’s old properties (it bought Kingdoms of Amalur in 2018), it’s added newer indie studios behind cult-hits like Ghost Simulator and Little Nightmares.
 

If you want to get a sense of just how much of a labyrinth the Embracer acquisition rabbit hole is, consider the mind-bending case of the upcoming Saints Row reboot. The GTA parody series was created by Volition, the storied studio behind Descent, Summoner, and Red Faction. THQ acquired Volition in 2000. When THQ went bust in 2013, Volition was sold to Koch Media became part of Deep Silver. Summoner and Red Faction were sold to Nordic Games. In 2018 Nordic Games finally bought Koch Media too.
 

In addition to reuniting old gaming IPs, Embracer has tried to reform long-gone studios. Free Radical Design was formed by developers who worked on GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. In 2000 it released TimeSplitters. In 2008 it went bankrupt and was sold to Crytek. That went terribly, and eventually whatever was left was sold to Koch Media. Last year, Embracer reformed Free Radical Design with original founders Steve Ellis and David Doak to bring the “much-loved” TimeSplitters IP “back to life.”
 

When THQ went bankrupt, it seemed like a sign that there was no room left for mid-sized publishers in an industry dominated by first-party staples and $100 million blockbusters. Embracer’s strategy seems to bear that out. Instead of trying to be king of the hill it’s going to be king of the rest. It rarely releases major games, but one of its bets occasionally hits big like 2021's viking survival sim, Valheim.  
 

Who knows how that will work out. Hopefully it means developers at Eidos Montreal will get to keep their four-day work week and we’ll eventually get another Deus Ex that doesn’t have the fortunes of an entire company riding on its shoulders.

It’s like we’re back in the 2000s. Cropped cardigans are making a comeback, Biden is still in the White House, and Nintendo dropped a Wii Sports sequel in the form of Switch Sports. The nostalgia is so uncanny that players of Nintendo’s quirky sports simulator are once again flinging controllers from their hands directly into their TVs, smashing their displays.
 

Nintendo Switch Sports is a sports simulator packaging several mini-games together, including bowling, soccer, tennis, and volleyball. Critics have called it a solid return of the company’s remote-waggling classic that will probably continue ruining friendships in its wake. Like its previous entry, 2006's Wii Sports, you use the wireless remote’s built-in motion controls to play, which typically means you gotta get up and be an active participant. And just like Wii Sports, because the Joy-Con is a wireless controller, folks are out here chucking remotes right at their TVs in the middle of games. The result? A busted display.
 

A Twitch streamer named 63man went viral over the weekend after he casually tossed his red Joy-Con at his monitor while playing tennis.

 

We’ve been here before. All throughout the last two decades on YouTube, you couldn’t escape similar face-cracking situations where players were seen throwing the Wii Remote Controller at their TVs while playing Wii Sports. There are entire montages of folks completely destroying their monitors, each time the pang of regret stinging a little more. It even happened during a segment on the Home Shopping Network back in October 2009, in which some dude went so hard when advertising the game and console that he straight-up wrecked the TV…on air. It was great.

Nintendo tried curtailing these accidents yet again by including wrist straps with the Joy-Cons, much like it did with the Wii Remote Controller. But I bet you’ve not seen yours since you first opened the box three years ago. I know I haven’t, and now TVs are once again getting harmed during play, an easily avoidable phenomenon if folks just tied them to their arms.
 

Despite the unfortunate incidents that will likely continue, Nintendo Switch Sports is seeing some success around the world. In particular, according to GamesIndustry.Biz, the game claimed the top spot on the UK boxed charts. It’s hilarious then that TVs are getting smashed just as sales figures are.
 

Nintendo made headlines recently after revelations about terrible working conditions for contractors and Joy-Con repair specialists were brought to light. So, now’s really not the time to be throwing these controllers at the wall.

Apex Legends’ next season, “Saviors,” will double down on the Storm Point map that the hero battle royale introduced just six months earlier, adding a beached kaiju as a new point of interest, and letting everyone fight it out in, on, and around the beast’s carcass.
 

“This thing is kind of like a big, stuffed, loot piñata,” Jeff Shaw, a lead level designer for Respawn Entertainment, said during a media preview last week. “And all the best loot is inside the belly of the beast.”
 

So, no, the monster seen in last week’s launch trailer doesn’t represent some kind of new PvE threat or limited-time game mode. Its rotting and deceased presence is actually an attempt to make Storm Point a more competitive map, Shaw said. “And we really wanted to do this additively, without removing anything that we felt was important.”
 

As seen in last week’s trailer, the jumbo shrimpbeast attacks Storm Point and all the Legends put aside their differences to bring it down, peeled, deveined, tail-on. As far as it concerns the map, the Downed Beast (as the point-of-interest is known) rests between two high-value loot areas — the North Pad and The Mill — and a third, Checkpoint, which is a medium-tier loot location. Players can land atop it (or depart) via gravity cannon, or ziplines, or make their way inside through its mouth or four large wounds. Inside and around the dead hulk, players will find tents and platforms left by the Ecological Cleanup and Hazard Outreach folks (their work has been seen on King’s Canyon), providing both cover and opportunity for gear.
 

“We’re really hoping that this is going to pull some of the action away from Barometer,” a popular, mid-tier loot location on Storm Point, Shaw said.
 

As last week’s trailer hinted, the kaiju’s seismic presence activated a dormant security protocol, which raised three Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation Armories nearby. These are support structures, filled with weapons and gear, put in place long ago. That’s the canonical explanation. In terms of gameplay, these armories are a PvE experience that teams can trigger and plunder for big-time loot. Entering one starts a 60-second fight against waves of Spectre robots awakened to the infiltrators. Importantly, the door to the armory shuts when this PvE fight begins, so that opposing human players can’t get in.
 

“The loot, when it’s provided, is given in these […] new types of bins that are filled with loot based on scanning your current equipment and weapons,” said Samantha Kalman, senior game designer at Respawn. “So that means the loot is always valuable. Either it’s upgrading what you have already, or it’s supplementing your equipment and weapon attachments that you don’t yet have.”
 

Strategically speaking, players “can hot drop to one of these armories for a decent random weapon and a great starting kit,” Kalman suggested, “or you can drop nearby, boot up a little, and then rotate to the armory. And then you’ll get upgraded versions of equipment and attachments that you bring into it.”
 

Elsewhere on Storm Point, developers added a new Prowler den near Cenote Cave, and built up an existing den near The Mill, as part of a “global tuning pass” Respawn designers gave to Storm Point, said Keith Jensen, senior level designer. “Hundreds of smaller QoL updates were done to smooth out the player experience across the map,” he said.
 

“[Storm Point] was built through this lens of looking forward […] and building it with this method really allowed us to be additive with new content rather than destructive,” Shaw said. “With the Downed Beast POI, we didn’t really have to make any sacrifices or remove anything that we thought was critical to the map. And we really, really hope to continue this trend with the future of Apex maps.”
 

Apex Legends season 13, titled “Saviors,” launches May 10 for the game across all platforms — Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. In addition to the reworked Storm Point map, it will bring a new Battle Pass of content, and a new Legend, Newcastle, the long-lost brother of mainstay legend Bangalore.

Forget pay-to-win, because the PS Store has become the home of pay-for-Platinums. Given the addictive nature of Sony’s gongs, it was only a matter of time before cunning companies monetised the popular pots, and we’re beginning to see more and more titles leaning into easy Trophies. In the case of publishers like Ratalaika Games – a pioneer of the concept – releases like SEGA Mega Drive port Gleylancer have value beyond their easily achievable trinkets; others less so.
 

Take the Breakthrough Gaming Arcade series, a long-line of black-and-white titles that apparently peddle Christian values – although the connections are loose. These are extremely simplistic minigames that release every Sunday for pennies, including titles like Rock Paper Scissors. We picked this one up yesterday out of curiosity and were able to achieve the Platinum Trophy in 2 minutes and 31 seconds, earning gongs for “achievements” like losing with a rock.
 

At the time of writing, there are almost 60 games in this series on the PS Store, none more complicated than a Game & Watch handheld from the late 80s. Other series include Breakout clones from Smobile, of which there are almost 150 already released. Each one is a palette swap: Sushi Break, Donut Break, Christmas Break, Independence Day Break – heck, even Taco Break. These take a few more minutes to complete, but are sold primarily for their Platinums.
 

In fact, publishers have learned that if they can game the system, they can maximise their income. Many of these games have multiple lists for PS5 and PS4, as well as different regions. It all encourages Trophy hunters to “double dip” because if they buy the game twice – in both the US and Europe, for example – they can get two Platinums, sometimes even four, for their troubles. Some of these games, according to PSNProfiles, have thousands of players.
 

When you consider that a proper game, like Moss: Book 2, has about 64 players on PSNProfiles, you can see the strategy working. Obviously, the PSNProfiles website doesn’t track all players, and is largely occupied by Trophy hunters, but clearly the tactic is effective. A look at the biggest Trophy cabinets in the world, from players like Hakoom, shows that a large chunk of their 4,346 Platinum Trophies is made up of these kind of games.
 

While many Trophy hunters also beat big titles as well, it’s clear that these effortless Platinums are becoming increasingly popular. The question is: are they diminishing the importance of Trophies in the first place? We’re not advocating curation from Sony, as we think that’s a dangerous path to follow, but as Platinums edge closer to the 60-second mark, is the whole system in jeopardy of losing its importance entirely?

Source: PushSquare.

• Actraiser Renaissance – $20.99 (was $29.99)
• Balan Wonderworld – $11.99 (was $39.99)
• Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! – $15.99 (was $39.99)
• Collection of Mana – $19.99 (was $39.99)
• Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend – $13.99 (was $19.99)
• Dragon Quest – $3.24 (was $4.99)
• Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line – $4.21 (was $6.49)
• Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation – $8.11 (was $12.49)
• Dungeon Encounters – $19.49 (was $29.99)
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition – $11.99 (was $29.99)
• Final Fantasy VII – $7.99 (was $15.99)
• Final Fantasy VIII Remastered – $9.99 (was $19.99)
• Final Fantasy IX – $10.49 (was $20.99)
• Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster – $24.99 (was $49.99)
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age – $24.99 (was $49.99)
• Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD – $11.99 (was $29.99)
• I Am Setsuna – $15.99 (was $39.99)
• Legend of Mana – $20.99 (was $29.99)
• Lost Sphear – $14.99 (was $49.99)
• NEO: The World Ends with You – $29.99 (was $59.99)
• Oninaki – $19.99 (was $49.99)
• Romancing SaGa 2 – $7.49 (was $24.99)
• Romancing SaGa 3 – $8.69 (was $28.99)
• SaGa Frontier Remastered – $17.49 (was $24.99)
• SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions – $8.99 (was $29.99)
• Spelunker Party! – $14.99 (was $29.99)
• Star Ocean: First Departure R – $8.39 (was $20.99)
• Trials of Mana – $24.99 (was $49.99)
• Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden – $23.99 (was $29.99)
• World of Final Fantasy Maxima – $15.99 (was $39.99)

If you need to think about it for a bit, don't fret — the sale is on until 11th May at 11:59pm PDT / 12th May at 2:59am EDT. Some of these games are also already on sale in Europe through the huge Spring Sale, but maybe we'll get even more juicy savings from Square in the coming days.

Source: NintendoLife

Fallen Flag Studio is patching new boss fights, weapons, and locations into its isometric Soulslike title Eldest Souls, all available for free today in the Depths of the Forgotten expansion. The update is said to be around 30 per cent the size of the base game, adding three new bosses, four more weapons, and a new area located behind the door in the Enchanted Forest. There's also a new shard named Empire's Wrath, but how you unlock it is being kept a secret.

 

The Depths of the Forgotten update adds three more boss encounters to the game: The Rejected Daughter, The Rotten Crown, and Zylad, Lord of Steel. All three are pictures below, but the former is "a monstrous outcome of mixing human and godly genes into a single being". You'll also meet a new NPC on your travels called Orenai the Watcher. As for the new weapons, there are the Kingsguard, The Executioner, Wind Dancer, and Saint's Hand.
 

"As a small team of friends who dropped out of university to pursue their dream, this has meant a lot to us. All this new content is our way of saying a big 'thank you' to everyone who has played it," studio co-founder Francesco Barsotti said on the PlayStation Blog.
 

While we didn't review the game, Eldest Souls sits on a Metacritic rating of 79 for the PlayStation 5 version. "Though it wears its overly obvious influences on its sleeve, Eldest Souls is an incredibly satisfying boss rush that still manages to set itself apart," said IGN. "Its brilliant combat is complimented by a smart skill system and some incredible pixel art."
 

This Depths of the Forgotten expansion sounds like more of a good thing, then. The game costs £15.99/$19.99 on the PS Store. Will you be taking it for a spin?

Source: PushSquare.

The Embracer Group, a planet-swallowing mass of video game publishers that already includes the likes of Gearbox and THQ Nordic, tonight announced a deal to purchase a number of storied studios and properties from Square Enix.
 

While the purchase isn’t final—this is just “an agreement to acquire” them until everything is signed off later in the year—the announcement press release says that if approved it will be a USD$300 million deal. For the $300 mil, Embracer will get hold of:
 

• The studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal (the latter of which will presumably be in for a name change), numbering around 1,100 employees worldwide.
• The “catalogue of IPs” owned and/or worked on by those studios, including Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief, Legacy of Kain and “the continued sales and operations of the studios’ more than 50 back-catalogue games.” Also of interest: “Crystal Dynamics is actively working on several AAA projects, including the next mainline Tomb Raider game that will deliver next-generation storytelling and gameplay experiences.”

Square Enix bought Eidos (and Crystal Dynamics along with it) in 2009, and while initially overseeing a number of well-received reboots of series like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, later games in those properties—along with licensed efforts like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy—their ownership became something of a meme in recent years, as no matter how high their review scores ended up being, or how many copies they would sell, Square Enix would always say the games had “under-performed.”

Perhaps knowing that the first question most folks would have following a deal like this would be, “So what’s happening with those series?” Embracer’s press release says:

The acquisition brings a compelling pipeline of new installments from beloved franchises and original IPs, including a new Tomb Raider game. The acquisition builds on Embracer’s mission of creating a leading independent global gaming and entertainment ecosystem. Embracer has been particularly impressed by the studios’ rich portfolio of original IP, housing brands with proven global potential such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, as well as demonstrating the ability to create AAA games with large and growing fan bases. There are compelling opportunities to organically grow the studios to maximize their commercial opportunities.

Which is vague, but still more hopeful for fans of something like Deus Ex than Square Enix’s complete silence and neglect in recent years. The purchase is “expected to be completed during the second quarter of Embracer’s financial year 22/23" (July-September 2022).
 

Note that Embracer spent $1.3 billion just on Gearbox. To get all of this, from the experienced studios to the beloved properties for $1 billion less seems...like a steal.
 

So why sell? Square Enix’s own press release says:
 

The Transaction will assist the Company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources, which will enhance corporate value by accelerating growth in the Company’s core businesses in the digital entertainment domain. In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.

Imagine having to put on your CV that you sold Tomb Raider to at least partially fund some blockchain shit.

The Quarry, developer Supermassive Games’ spiritual successor to PS4 favourite Until Dawn, is finished and ready for manufacturing. The developer confirmed on Twitter that the game has gone gold, which for those who aren’t up-to-date with industry lingo, means a final build has been submitted to platform holders like Sony, ready to be printed on Blu-ray discs and uploaded to the PS Store.

#TheQuarry has officially gone GOLD and we're extremely proud of our team ❤️?

In six weeks, we'll reach the Hackett's Quarry with @2K ?️ pic.twitter.com/qVWcjTG7mO

— Supermassive Games (@SuperMGames) April 29, 2022

The game – which has an incredible 186 endings – will release on 10th June, so you’ll have to sit tight and wait patiently for release day. Fascinatingly, while much of the gameplay in the narrative-driven horror will focus on making decisions, there will be a Movie Mode, which will allow you to enjoy the experience without ever pressing a button – an interesting and unusual addition, for sure.

Source: PushSquare.

Rogue Legacy 2 is finally out, and we know a lot of fans can’t wait to jump straight into the thick of it!  For newcomers though, the beginning can be pretty daunting, so here are a few tips and tricks to help amateur adventurers get into the flow.
 

TIPS AND TRICKS:
 

Get Rich or Die Trying – Manor Gold Upgrades:  Rogue Legacy 2 is a pretty tough game, and the beginning can be overwhelming for some players.  Your Manor has a ton of upgrades to help you overcome these challenges, but there’s a lot to sift through, so here’s a few skills we recommend new players seek out.  The very first upgrade in the Manor gives gold bonuses to the Traits you choose, but it doesn’t stop there.  Skills like the Repurposed Mining Shaft increases Trait gold bonuses, while Offshore Banking allows players to slowly accumulate gold until they can afford more expensive things.  They may seem costly, but purchasing them early will give you a swift advantage.

Mastery XP OP – the Sage Totem:  Purchasing stat upgrades in your Manor isn’t the only way to power up your character.  Unlocking the Sage Totem will grant you access to Mastery XP, which allows each hero class to naturally become stronger the more you play them.  Even better, these strengths are permanent and carried over between classes.  Players that purchase the Sage Totem and diversify the classes they play can get quick and easy bonuses that will really help early on.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All – Heirlooms: We don’t want to spoil too much, but when scouring around the Kingdom, be sure to stay on the lookout for Heirlooms.  They may seem ominous and daunting at first, but remember, fortune favours the bold!  You may not succeed in their challenges the first time, but for the persistent and eventually victorious, you will be given the biggest rewards the game has to offer.

Show Me Your Moves  – Spells and Talents:  Don’t build bad habits!  Try casting every ability you have, even if no enemies are around, just to help you understand your character’s strengths.  Yes, your weapon is strong, but each hero class also has a unique Talent, along with a random Spell, and using them all is the key to success.  Mana is plentiful in RL2, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Another Level to Combat – Skill Crits:  Once you’ve grown accustomed to using all of your abilities, you can start taking things to the next level with Skill Critical Strikes, also known as Skill Crits.  Every Weapon and Spell in the game has a way to deal extra damage, such as dashing while attacking, or hitting enemies at the peak of your blade strike.  Not only are these Skill Crits immensely satisfying, but they become stronger as you become more proficient.  Learning the nuances will ensure you can cut down the most powerful foes in short order.
 

Master Mobility – Spin Kicks:  There’s a reason why we have you Spin Kick so many times in the tutorial.  In Rogue Legacy 2, the Spin Kick is life.  Mastering it adds a new degree to both your platforming and combat repertoire.  In fact, it’s so versatile that you can beat the entire game with that one move alone.  It’s not recommended, but it is possible (yes, someone has done it).

Practice Makes Perfect – The Architect:  We’ve taken great pains to make sure every boss in Rogue Legacy 2 can be beaten without taking a hit.  It takes a ton of practice, but fortunately there’s an easy way to keep trying until you become that good.  Once purchased in the Manor, the Architect will give you the ability to lock down the Kingdom and prevent it from changing.  If you’ve found the boss room already, a locked Kingdom means you can battle the boss over and over, as they are merely a teleporter away.

Pro tip: Spend an heir or two just dodging the boss’s attacks, and see how long you can last.  By focusing purely on defense and not worrying about offense, it’s easier to learn the boss’s attack patterns and timings.  Once they’re all figured out, you can bring the fight to them.

Play Your Way – House Rules: Even after following all these tips, Rogue Legacy 2 still has a steep learning curve and you may still struggle.  Or maybe you don’t want to invest so much time, and instead want to relax on the couch and chill.  Everyone’s different, and House Rules lets you tweak the experience to your own liking.  Raise or lower the difficulty, toggle contact damage, and even slow time down while aiming to let the game run at your pace.

Play however you want, and don’t worry, there is no punishment for using House Rules.

That about covers the basics to help you get started.  Before you even touch the controller, remember that Rogue Legacy 2 is more than just about fast hands and quick reflexes.  Equipping yourself with the right knowledge and the desire to persevere is just as powerful.  This guide is only the tip of the iceberg, so be sure to keep learning new things as you play the game.  There’s a ton more to seek, discover, and most importantly, enjoy.  Thanks for reading, and we hope you have fun with Rogue Legacy 2.

"See a lot of people asking about [Sonic] Frontiers, we don't have news on Frontiers today but don't worry soon. It's still set to come out this holiday, so we will have news for you this year, don't worry."

As also mentioned, it's still also on track for a holiday 2022 release, so there's no need to worry about any delays or anything like that. The game was also apparently meant to be a 2021 release, but Sega wanted to improve the quality of the product.

In the same livestream, it was also reiterated how there are no current plans for a physical version of Sonic Origins, but Sega has been made aware of the demand for one.
 

Fuente: LevelUP

Overwatch had a nontraditional approach to keeping score. Typically, competitive shooters like Apex Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds keep a running list of kills, points, and team ranking on a shared scoreboard. Overwatch, instead, used a less specific system that awarded an individual gold, silver, and bronze medals based on objective kills, objective time, damage done, and healing done.
 

If you weren’t a fan of the medal system, you’ll be happy to hear that Blizzard has completely rearranged scorekeeping for the Overwatch 2 beta tests (which, by the way, you can still gain access to by watching the Overwatch League’s opening weekend) by implementing a more typical scoreboard. Let’s walk through everything you should know about the change so you’ll never have to crouch in a corner crying about how little Overwatch 2 scoreboard knowledge you have. We’ve all been there.

What am I looking at here?

I hope you weren’t attached to little personal trophies sparkling across your screen at the end of a match, because medals have been completely eliminated. They are gone. Goodbye, shiny medals viewable only by me. While we’re committing murder, Overwatch’s fire system—a meter that would fill based on activity and reward your character by framing its icon in Gatorade-blue flames—has also been found dead in the street.
 

According to patch notes Blizzard released on April 28, there is no longer a need for fire and medal systems since the new scoreboard presents “key statistics in real time for all the players in the game, including eliminations and deaths.” The scoreboard also intentionally “mirrors other competitive games and sports,” which is even visible in its current design: It’s a reclining, rectangular layout with sleek navy, pink, and white categories spilling all the gossip-y details of your team’s performance and the enemy team’s performance.
 

So I can’t die 4,500 times in peace anymore?

No, you can’t. The new scoreboard allows everyone in both teams to see each other’s enemy kills, assists, deaths, damage, and healing, though there is still some level of individualized breakdown which shows your character’s weapon accuracy, defensive assists, and kill streaks.
 

Ultimately, according to those patch notes, Blizzard says that the change’s main goal is to provide “a more accurate and easier-to-read view of each player’s performance-related data.” Notably, Blizzard also writes that it plans “on revisiting the Fire system in the future,” and since we’re still very much in beta, you can likely expect changes to the finer details of the board.
 

Is my significant other going to leave me because now they can see that I’m a terrible support player?

God, I hope not. Actually, hopefully they will. Sounds like you’re better off without them. Either way, that brings up an important conversation players are having about the scoreboard and the quality of their Overwatch 2 experience.
 

Again, since we’re still in beta, this is mostly hypothetical, but some players are concerned that the very public scoreboard will encourage aggression in chat. Of course, the existing state of Overwatch’s voice chat wasn’t an idyllic Garden of Gamer, either.
 

Women are well-versed in how frustrating and predatory chat rooms can be, and no matter who you are, strangers online will not hesitate to berate you into the ground. Competitive shooters like League of Legends are notorious for breeding ill will even within your own team—a disappointing side effect of living in a world where people occasionally care more about winning than everyone having fun.
 

Personally, I think it’s possible that the scoreboard will negatively impact Overwatch 2 chatrooms, though existing hostility in competitive gaming tells me the problem is much deeper than whether or not stat count is public or private. As a game mechanic, though, the scoreboard is incredibly useful for players who want to more accurately evaluate their performance. Most beta testers have been seeming to find the board a beneficial and welcome revision, but there is still time for everyone to provide Blizzard with feedback.

Yesterday, Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse announced that the latest update for their open world RPG would be delayed, a first for a live service game that’s been reliably consistent for the past two years. The official Twitter account said that version 2.7 would be postponed because of “project progress,” and that more information about the new date, content adjustments, and compensation would eventually be announced.
 

The studio has managed to abide by every official release date for a remarkable stretch of time, so many fans believe that the delay speaks to the severity of the government-mandated lockdowns in Shanghai, China. Several Genshin players responded to the announcement by linking a tweet about the supply chain issues. The relative patience of the community was notable because Genshin players are known to make controversies out of very small perceived slights such as the low amount of anniversary rewards (which led to no fewer than ten unrelated games being review bombed by angry Genshin players).
 

Most of the response on Twitter has been sympathetic. Several players replied that they were willing to wait. Genshin streamers expressed concerns for the employees’ safety, wished them well, and hoped that their circumstances would improve. Some players reminded the community that the developers wellbeing was more important than banners or compensation currency (HoYoverse has been giving out special currency for temporarily shutting down features in its housing system). Even notorious leakers like Lumie (who had to remake their account to avoid official scrutiny) reminded the community that the company “has no control over real life events.”
 

Reddit was significantly more concerned about how much compensation would result from the delay. Compensation is a common practice in gacha games where companies will distribute free premium currency as an ‘apology’ for regularly scheduled maintenance or emergency fixes. They’re not actual apologies, but currency windfalls that players anticipate in order to build their savings stash. Several players pointed out that content delays meant that they have more time to save up for the gacha characters that they want to pull for. Some Reddit users were sympathetic, however, particularly one commenter who pointed out that Genshin has one of the fastest update cycles compared to other gacha games. Even the players who want a delay seem to believe that HoYoverse will be resuming its regular schedule fairly soon.

Gotham Knights is due to be released later this year and the obligatory game ratings are starting to be negotiated. One of the first of these to crop up is from Taiwan, but here the game has only been rated for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, prompting rumors the last-gen versions of Gotham Knights on PS4 and Xbox One have been canceled.
 

What platforms will Gotham Knights be on?

Gotham Knights was announced for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. However, the latest rating from Taiwan Entertainment Software Rating Information, as spotted by DualShockers, only included PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in its listing. This could mean that the last-gen versions of Gotham Knights on PS4 and Xbox One have been canceled or delayed. Seeing as the PC version was also omitted from the list, though, it’s more likely the rating lists are incomplete or the game isn’t going to be released on those platforms in Taiwan. The game has been given a rating of PG-15 for its violence.
 

The game is due to be released on October 25 after a delay pushed it out of 2021. Strangely, the rating site also listed the release date as “not approved”, although this could be because the game hasn’t been released yet. The open-world action RPG features Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin as the DC Super Heroes tasked with thwarting the expansive criminal underworld that’s sprung up in Gotham City following the death of Batman. The game will be an entirely single-player game with no online co-op or games as a service features.

Unravel one of the biggest mysteries in Warframe by returning to the derelict ship where it all began.

Few places in Warframe are as shrouded in mystery as the Zariman Ten Zero. The events that unfolded aboard this colony ship set in motion the entire story of the Tenno and their quest to save the Origin System. Now, with the release of the free Angels of the Zariman expansion on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, you can return to where it all started to unravel the secrets of what happened on the Zariman Ten Zero so many years ago.

Secrets of the Past

Following the climactic conclusion of last year’s cinematic quest The New War, Angels of the Zariman picks up right where the story left off. A haunting and ethereal song is radiating across the Origin System’s airwaves. Its source? The Zariman Ten Zero. You must return to this forsaken ship and confront your horrifying past in order to stop the song and the cosmic threat it heralds. In doing so, you will get a clearer picture of what actually happened to the Zariman Ten Zero: How did this colony ship end up trapped in The Void? What insidious force drove parents to turn against their children? And, perhaps most importantly of all, what nightmares now haunt its derelict halls, filling them with a divine chorus of song?

Once you complete the new quest, you can take on three challenging new game modes that will test your Warframe and Operator Abilities in new and exciting ways. In Void Flood, you must make the most of your Warframe’s parkour abilities to collect Vitoplast scattered high and low throughout the Zariman, using it to seal Void Ruptures before the debilitating effects of Void Corruption overwhelm you. Seal too many Void Ruptures, however, and you’ll draw the ire of a Thrax Centurion — a powerful and extremely agile new enemy capable of possessing other bodies to continue its assault.

Void Cascade is a new endless mission where you must stabilize the rising levels of Void Contamination by purging special machines known as Exolizers. Stay sharp, though. Each Exolizer your purge spawns a Thrax Centurion that, if not killed quickly, will manifest even more dangerous Void Contamination. The more you cleanse Exolizers, the more chaos you unleash.

Finally, Void Armageddon tasks you with defending the Zariman’s Reliquary Drive from endless waves of enemies. To survive, you’ll need to repurpose old Zariman technology like Exodampers, which weaken nearby enemies but, if destroyed, will instead grant them powerful yet random buffs. As the onslaught intensifies, you can build additional Suppressor Turret defenses, like the Faradon turret that emits bursts of lightning that zap multiple foes.

Enter the Dormizone

Secrets of the past aren’t the only thing you’ll uncover as you prowl the Zariman. In our new social hub, the Chrystalith, you can meet other players and seamlessly start new missions together. Rank up a new Syndicate to unlock powerful Void-mutated Incarnon weapons that evolve and develop new powers as you use them. Or invest in items to decorate and upgrade your own Dormizone apartment — a fully customizable space for you to relax in between excursions into the Zariman’s lower decks. By reaching max rank with the new Syndicate, you can even upgrade your apartment to a Vista Suite complete with its own Vistagraph. This machine lets you further customize your Dormizone by changing its view to overlook stunning, otherworldly landscapes.

There’s so much in the Angels of the Zariman expansion that we can’t wait for players to discover. Once you complete the new quest, you’ll be free to roam the halls of the Zariman, collect powerful new Incarnon weapons, take on new bounty missions, earn new Syndicate rewards, and even craft a brand new Warframe, Gyre. But first, you’ll need to play Warframe now to uncover the dark mystery at the heart of this fabled ship.

Put your battle skills to the test with the first competitive Ladder season within this acclaimed action RPG and experience a world of updates impacting a plethora of gameplay elements. With significant gameplay changes for the first time in a decade, your next trip to Sanctuary might include some new strategies to ready yourself against the Forces of the Burning Hells. From changes across each class, new Horadric Cube Recipes, reworking Mercenary levels and more, use this guide to make sure you return to Sanctuary with ease.
 

Ladder Season 1 Now Live

Dive head-first into the action with this ranked competitive system through a series of available modes with a fresh Ladder-specific character(s). Gain experience as you compete across various modes, each with their own dedicated leaderboard. During the limited timeframe, you can also have access to Ladder-specific content such as new Rune Words and Horadric Cube Recipes. The leaderboard rankings will reset once the Ladder season ends and shift characters to non-ladder mode. This will give you the opportunity to store your hard-earned treasured loot and Ladder-specific items for future Ladder seasons.

Class Changes

For the first time in over eleven years, each class will experience balance updates to significantly improve the gameplay experience. After listening to players’ thoughts, opinions, and survey answers, a plethora of changes have made their way into the game to improve the viability of each class while retaining the class fantasy of our favorite heroes. These balance adjustments were created with a focus on expanding more skill build variety and adding more viable possibilities with playing each class. The game is built around completing the Acts on each difficulty and so these updates should empower players to play their heroes in the ways they prefer and even improve the effectiveness of lesser-used skills.

Uber Diablo Changes

By selling Stone of Jordan rings, you will still be able to summon Uber Diablo in Diablo II: Resurrected the same way as v1.10. In making the experience better for the entire community, the regional database will now hold Uber Diablo progress for each game type. Uber Diablo will spawn for everyone in the same region instead of to those on the same server instance once enough Stone of Jordan rings are sold. The update also tracks Uber Diablo progress per game type, giving a total of 8 progressions being tracked (Classic, Classic Hardcore (HC), Classic Ladder, Classic HC Ladder, Expansion, Expansion HC, Expansion Ladder, Expansion HC Ladder). To allow more preparation amongst players, we added new messaging to help players expect when Uber Diablo may spawn and experience the true terror of Uber Diablo.

New Rune Words, Recipes, Mercenaries Updates, and More

A smattering of new content awaits as you jump into the updates from Patch 2.4.Experience the new Rune Words that can be created and inserted into correlating socketed gear. New Horadric Cube Recipes have been implemented to complement Set items. Mercenaries now match your character’s level upon hiring them, instead of having a randomized Level difference from your character’s Level. Plus, you’ll find updates to Set Item Bonus Changes, New Level Area changes, Item Tooltip changes, and other changes to gameplay.

Players who have a current PS Plus or PS Now subscription are finding they can’t increase the length of that membership since Sony temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers. This has left players wondering what they may be able to do with their vouchers once the new PlayStation Plus tiers are introduced in June. The good news is that they can be converted into any of the three tiers of PS Plus. The bad news is that the PS Plus conversion rates get worse as voucher length increases.

How Will PS Plus and PS Now Vouchers Be Converted?

PlayStation players who have an existing PS Plus membership and a PS Plus voucher will be able to redeem it after the new tiers are introduced in June. Those wanting to extend their newly renamed PS Plus Essential membership will have the simplest time; the 1-month, 3-month, and 12-month vouchers will do exactly what they say. Those wanting to upgrade to PS Plus Extra or PS Plus Premium might be disappointed to find the conversion rates get worse as the length of the voucher increases:

As PlayStation Now subscriptions are more expensive, players will get slightly longer PS Plus memberships from their PS Now vouchers. However, conversion rates for PS Now vouchers are also affected in a similar fashion as they get worse as the length of the voucher increases too. The reason for the conversion rates deteriorating is a bit of a mystery and Sony is yet to comment.

In case you didn't know, Rogue Legacy 2 was recently released on PC and Xbox consoles, and it appears to be a smash hit. Critics are loving the rogue-lite sequel to the dangerously addictive original, praising its wealth of options and possibilities as well as its tight gameplay. The bad news — at least right now — is that the game isn't available on PS5 or PS4. Some fans are obviously asking: is Rogue Legacy 2 coming to Sony's systems?
 

The answer isn't straightforward, as you might expect. However, developer Cellar Door Games has responded to several people on social media, providing an honest answer that leaves things up in the air. Essentially, the team is explaining that it's a tiny studio, and so can only prioritise one thing at a time.
 

So, it isn't ruling anything out, in other words. The game was primarily developed for PC, and was in early access for a long time before reaching its finalised launch version a few days ago. There's no telling what Cellar Door's next steps will be, but the first game had a staggered release across various platforms, so we imagine Rogue Legacy 2 will follow a similar pattern.
 

We sincerely hope it does make the jump to PlayStation; the original is a true delight, and we remember playing for hours on end, especially the Vita version. Anyway, there's nothing concrete for now.
 

Would you like to play Rogue Legacy 2 on PS5 and PS4? Have you played the sequel already on other systems?

Source: PushSquare.

Update: Sony has promptly solved problems with the PS Vita’s PS Store, which worryingly suggested that content was “no longer for sale”. As of the time of reporting, service has been resumed, and is operating as intended again.

Original Story: PS Vita’s built-in PS Store is busted, and there’s been no word from Sony about why. The manufacturer had planned to shut down the storefront before making a dramatic U-turn last year. However, countless reports online – corroborated by our own console – suggest something has gone wrong, as the system is spitting out the error code NP-8099-6. Perhaps most concerning of all, the message reads: “This content may not yet be for sale or is no longer for sale.”
 

You can still access your Download List, and various other parts of the PS Store are still working, although it’s clear something is broken here. We don’t think Sony would close the client without prior communication, especially after the backlash last year – although we also didn’t expect it to block PS Plus subscriptions from being redeemed, but look where we are.
 

We’ve contacted the company, and will update if we receive comment. In the meantime, cross your fingers this is just a glitch that will rectify itself quick.

The new 2.7 update to Genshin Impact, the popular open-world gacha game, has been delayed. The next patch was originally scheduled for May 10. Developer Hoyoverse announced the delay Thursday night on Twitter.
 

The developers did not cite any specific reasons behind the delay, but a press representative from Hoyoverse told Polygon via email that it was “due to project progress.” It’s likely that the setbacks are being caused by lockdowns in Shanghai from Covid-19, where the Hoyoverse offices are located. The city has been in a strict lockdown since early April.
 

Content from Genshin Impact typically unrolls on a very timely schedule, generally speaking, the game will get a new update every week and contain two three-week banners in every patch. The current 2.6 update, “Zephyr of the Violet Garden,” is amidst its second banner and the game was due for an update in on May 10. There have been no official announcements for the characters on the next banner or content in the 2.7 update, but it was likely that Yelan, a new five-star hydro bow user would come since Hoyoverse revealed her official character art at the end of March.
 

Although the game is well known for updating on a regular schedule, fans have suspected a possible delay for weeks because of the lockdowns in Shanghai. Additionally, game features like decorating and building in the Serenita Pot have been under maintenance for several weeks. As for the details of upcoming banners, and how long the delay will last, Hoyoverse said more information is to come.
 

“For detailed information on the date of the new update, content adjustment plan, and compensation, please stay tuned for upcoming announcements,” a representative said. “We will provide the corresponding information to Travelers as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.”

Update: We’ve finally got access to the conversion scheme that Sony’s put in place for active members looking to redeem a pre-paid PS Plus or PS Now voucher they’ve purchased. To reiterate, if you’re already a PS Plus or PS Now member, you won’t be able to redeem this code until 13th June in the US and 22nd June in Europe.
 

If you don’t currently have an active membership but have purchased a pre-paid voucher you will be able to redeem it any time (and we’d recommend you do, because the conversion will be less valuable after the transition, particularly in the case of PS Now).

Here’s how PS Plus subscriptions will convert:
 

And here’s how PS Now memberships will convert:

Just to reiterate, because it’s seriously confusing:
 

• If you’re an active PS Plus member, you’ll be transitioned to PS Plus Essential for the remainder of your active subscription.
• If you’re an active PS Now member, then you’ll be transitioned to PS Plus Premium for the remainder of your active subscription.
• If you’re an active PS Plus and PS Now member, you’ll be transitioned to PS Plus Premium for the remainder of your longest active subscription.
• If you bought a pre-paid PS Plus or PS Now voucher code, you will not be able to redeem it until 13th June in the US and 22nd June in Europe if you're already an active PS Plus or PS Now member. When you do redeem it, your subscription tier will be extended based on the conversion rates listed above.
• If you bought a pre-paid PS Plus or PS Now voucher code but aren’t currently an active PS Plus or PS Now member, you’ll be able to redeem it at any time. If you don’t redeem it until after 13th June in the US and 22nd June in Europe, it will convert as per the conversion rates for new subscribers listed above.

What a mess!

Original Article: Sony has officially confirmed that it has blocked existing PS Plus subscribers from stacking memberships prior to the release of its new tiers. In a sneaky update to an FAQ, the platform holder added the following language: “If you currently have a PS Plus or PS Now membership, due to changes we are making to the service prior to launch, you won't be able to redeem a voucher code for that service until your existing membership expires and deactivates, or after the new PS Plus service launches in your area, whichever happens first.”
 

Earlier this week, it emerged that the manufacturer was preventing existing PS Plus subscribers from extending their membership using both the PS Store and pre-paid vouchers. Some assumed this was a technical glitch, but language from the firm’s support departments suggested this was all intentional – despite no prior communication from the company at all. Members of both PS Plus and PS Now will automatically be upgraded to PS Plus Premium for the duration of their longest subscription, and some were attempting to utilise the loophole to extend their membership to the highest tier.
 

It’s worth reiterating that, despite being a loophole, there had been no prior communication from Sony that PS Plus stacking would be disabled until today.
 

The company says that it will honour any PS Plus vouchers purchased, but active members will not be able to redeem them until the new service launches. Furthermore, they will be converted to an equivalent value for the tier they’re currently in: “The PS Plus or PS Now voucher you redeem will be converted to a length of time on your current PS Plus membership plan equivalent to the monetary value of the voucher you are redeeming. For example, a 1-month PS Plus voucher will provide access to approximately 3 weeks of PS Plus Extra or approximately 2.5 weeks of PS Plus Premium.”
 

The website includes a link to a conversion chart but, as of the time of writing, that points to a blank page. Of course, that’s par for the course for this company’s incompetent communication standards, we suppose.

Source: PushSquare.

Final Fantasy XVI is nearing the end of development, according to producer Naoki Yoshida, but there’s still no word on a release date for the RPG. 
 

Oddly enough, Yoshida’s reveal about the development of FFXVI doesn’t come by way of any usual channels like Twitter, a press release, or a development update video. Instead, it comes by way of a new Yoshida interview in a free magazine currently being given away at Uniqlo stores in Japan, as discovered by Twitter user alverich_ff14 and translated by Video Games Chronicle.
 

The free magazine is meant to tie in with a collaboration between Uniqlo and Square Enix, in which Uniqlo is selling 16 different t-shirts, each based on a one of the 16 mainline Final Fantasy games. 
 

“Development of the latest title, Final Fantasy XVI, is in its final stages,” Yoshida says in the magazine. “Final Fantasy XVI aims to integrate the story and the gaming experience into a single player game. Unlike online, which portrays multiple players simultaneously, Final Fantasy XVI focuses on the individual. This makes the story more immersive. It’s a very dense story. As an adult, I learnt about society and said to myself, ‘reality is not as easy as a video game.’ I hope that those who once left Final Fantasy will remember how exciting their passion for video games was back then.” 
 

As noted by VGC, Yoshida said in October of last year that Square Enix was nearing the final stages of development and during a Tokyo Game Show livestrem earlier that year, he said that FFXVI’s development team was working on finalizing the final side quests for the game. In December of 2021, Yoshida said FFXVI news would be coming in spring of 2022.

That news still hasn’t come yet, unless this free magazine is what he was referring to, but last month, a new Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary website was launched and it teases that we could be getting information on upcoming titles soon. 

Update:

Nintendo of America has launched its own equivalent trailer, above.

Original Article:

The Switch has been in our homes for over five years, but with strong ongoing sales and a potential plan for it to be a relatively long generation, we're still seeing some new strategies from Nintendo to keep fans on board. One is to bring back popular and previously dormant IPs, with the likes Mario Strikers: Battle League and Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp being examples, and another is to position the system as a unifying living room system for all to enjoy.
 

Wii Sports was the ultimate example of a game bringing players of all types together, and Nintendo Switch Sports arrives hoping to replicate some of the magic. Though technology has changed the concept is the same - stand in front of the TV with family and friends while waving a controller about.

 

The 'Out Now' launch trailer taps into this vibe, right down to recreating the feel of all those Wii commercials in 2006. Photogenic people in very nicely decorated living rooms, all having a fun time. To be fair, some of our living rooms will have similar scenes this weekend, albeit without all that advertising polish.
 

It'll be interesting to see how Nintendo Switch Sports performs - will the sizeable Switch userbase be enough to elevate it to success, will it take off in the short term, and can it join the ranks of 'evergreen' games on the system that sell consistently for a number of years?

Source: Nintendo Life.

Remember Skull & Bones? That pirate game Ubisoft announced at E3 2017 which we've seen very little of in the last five years? Well, we've just gotten our best look at how the game is shaping up, and it's arrived via a leaked tutorial video.
 

The multiplayer title that sees players battle each other and AI enemies across an open ocean has been in development limbo for what feels like an eternity. Watching this new clip, it looks like it's shaping up pretty well. Apparently a "technical test build", the video goes over all the basics of gameplay, and it seems to be exactly the game we thought it'd be.

You start off as a no-name pirate looking to gain notoriety on the seven seas, and so you begin your career with a small ship and crew. By taking down other players, plundering treasures, and building up your gear, you'll slowly unlock better ships, more crewmates, and of course, all sorts of cosmetics. A morale system means you need to keep your crew happy with a good supply of food and water, and you can restock and recuperate at various towns and pirate dens.
 

Of course, you can team up with your friends and play together, taking on larger quests with your combined power. Punctuating the game is that core naval combat based primarily on Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and it looks like it'll still be lots of fun firing holes into enemy ships.
 

The video is likely to vanish once Ubisoft catches wind of it, but it shows the game has some potential at least. Given this has come out, we imagine the publisher could be revealing official footage and details soon.

Source: PushSquare.

Sometimes, just moving around in games can be enough to drive the experience. If the mechanics are strong enough, you might find yourself just traversing the world aimlessly, satisfied solely by how the character moves. There are many examples of this, and Exo One looks like it's banking hard on that idea.
 

Announced for a PlayStation 5 and PS4 release this summer, Exo One is a strange, sci-fi adventure that gives you control over an unusual spacecraft fuelled by momentum. Gaining speed on terra firma, you'll use rolling hills, ramps, and loops to reach crazy speeds and then take off, gliding through the skies and even reaching outer space. The ebb and flow of how this works is shown off a little in the above trailer.

 

It looks like it could definitely scratch a particular itch, doesn't it? Just the idea of moving through a game designed to get you rolling at a relentless pace seems appealing, even if there doesn't appear to be much more to it. There does seem to be some underlying story to carry you forward as well, however.
 

As written on the PS Blog, the PS5 version will benefit from the extra features of the DualSense as well as 120 frames-per-second support. There's no concrete release date, but it's confirmed to be crashing onto PS5 and PS4 in the summer.

Source: PushSquare.

The Metroid series famously skipped the Nintendo 64 back in the '90s. The "lost game" Metroid 64 was never in development, with Super Metroid director Yoshio Sakamoto saying that he "couldn't imagine" how Samus would move around a 3D environment with the N64 controller. We only ever got to see and play as Samus in the very first Super Smash Bros. on the console, and that just feels wrong!
 

Despite offering the opportunity to an outside studio, it couldn't come up with an idea for the 64-bit console. Alas, we had to wait until 2002, when we would get two Metroid games within a day of each other — Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion.
 

Fans have long speculated just what a Nintendo 64 iteration of Metroid might've been like, but two fans have taken that one step further and actually created what they would've liked to have seen with Samus back in the day.
 

Twitter user Luto Akino has shared footage of his vision for Metroid 64, which was created using Unity 3D. Using a third-person perspective, you can see Samus running around a purple-ish cave area, shooting at small blocks with her arm cannon.
 

Rather than going for the Prime route and taking on the FPS genre, this version of Metroid 64 looks more like a 3D action platformer, with Samus jumping up a series of small platforms. When she's at the top of the cave, she also rolls into her morph ball form! This is probably what most people thought Metroid in 3D would be like before Prime existed, and, honestly, it looks fantastic.

At last working in #Metroid64 I adjusted small details, and placed a test texture. There is a bug with the beams direction when Samus is flat against the wall that I need to fix #metroid #F2P #n64 #lowpoly #Nintendo64 #Zelda #unity #unity3d #madewithunity #gamedev #3dmodeling #3D pic.twitter.com/sWBYoTbove

— Luto Akino (@LutoAkino) April 26, 2022

Luto says that there's a bug with the arm cannon, where the beams don't shoot in the right direction when Samus is against a wall, and there are no enemies visible yet, but these early insights look promising.
 

Luto has clearly been working on this for a while now, and the developer has been sharing updates across their social media. Some early footage from last December shows Samus' movements much more closely.
 

Luto is working with a friend to bring this vision to life and plans to release it to the public. That's probably still a ways off yet, but if this is just a snippet of what's to come, we can't wait to see more.

Source: Nintendo Life.

Publisher CFK has showcased a brand new trailer for the upcoming remaster of Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony. Originally launched in 2009 for Windows platforms, the game is heavily influenced by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but also injects plenty of 'Touhou' bullet-hell style gameplay for good measure.

 

Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony is due for launch worldwide on July 28th, 2022. Japan will be getting a fancy physical edition, but since the Japanese release will feature English language support, it may well be worth an import if you're a fan of the original release.

Source: Nintendo Life.

If you're a fan of R-Type, you might be interested to know that remakes of the turn-based strategy / tactical RPGs R-Type Tactics I & II have been announced.

R-Type Tactics I & II remakes announced https://t.co/qel8Ya9x9c pic.twitter.com/0dHRRxy9V7

— Gematsu (@gematsu) April 28, 2022

These Irem PSP classics released in 2007 and 2009 will be handled by Granzella (comprised of former Irem team members) and were announced during the company's latest live stream event. These remakes will apparently be made available as a "single release".

The first game, known as R-Type Command in North America was released in the west in 2008. The sequel, however, was never made available outside of Japan.

Source: Nintendo Life.