Compared to summers past, this year's E3--er, Not-E3--has been a lot less intense. However, that doesn't mean there's not plenty to be excited about. After a stellar Summer Game Fest Live and a jam-packed Saturday, two conferences are scheduled for Sunday, June 12--and you can expect some big announcements to come out of them.

Luckily, GameSpot will be hosting streams for both the Xbox-Bethesda Gaming Showcase and the PC Gaming Show. Here's some information on how to watch them, as well as a few things we think might be there.

Today third-party developers had plenty of interesting news to share about Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons.

We start with a development update from DC Designs which provided a look at the AV-8B Harrier II and F-4J Phantom II.

With the huge F-15 update done, work now moves on to the new project: the AV-8B Harrier II. This will contain the AV-8B and GR5 Harriers, which will have identical cockpits with the exception of the differing ejection seats. I would have included the earlier GR3 and Sea Harrier variants but the differences between the types are just too great – they’d each require entirely different internal and external models which is too much to do in one project and keep the price sensible.

The main thing about the Harrier is how hard it was to fly in real life. Only the best pilots were / are streamed to Harriers, and many don’t make the grade and are “chopped” from the conversion units. There are other S/VTOL aircraft in MSFS, but they often make use of the sim’s “Slew” function to “hover”, which removes all aerodynamic and meteorological influences. Basically, you’re not flying when using that method. The DC Designs Harrier *is* flying when hovering in MSFS and therefore affected by the wind, weather and all aerodynamic factors, making it a much harder airplane to control, just like real life.

I hate to ruin your Friday right as the weekend is starting, but I bring some troubling news from the land of Hollyweird. It seems the creative folks behind Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid revival, have decided they want to make a movie, a full-length film, based on the once-popular ‘90s first-person shooter character Duke…

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The Quarry is the latest narrative horror game from Supermassive Games, the makers of Until Dawn. The Quarry sees a group of camp counselors enjoy one last night at camp after all the campers have gone home, but something is amiss. Throughout The Quarry you will need to make choices and complete quick-time events to keep the counselor alive. This guide will help you make it through the night without anyone, except for the villains, biting the dust. It's important to follow the guide as closely as possible, as messing up even one choice or QTE can result in a character dying. Spoilers ahead.

Prologue

The prologue opens with Laura and Max in the car together. There is one quick QTE related to the map before you exit the vehicle. Outside the car, head to the trunk and open it, where Laura will find a rejection letter. Laura will speak with Max and you should pick the Compliant option. Laura will briefly walk through the woods, following the main path. After returning to the car a cop, Travis, will approach you and you should pick the following dialogue options; Honest, Honest, Friendly, Compliant, and Relieved.

Despite telling the cop they would go to a motel instead of the camp, Laura and Max head to Hackett's Quarry summer camp. After a brief cutscene, head downstairs and look in the direction the car's headlights are pointing. Laura wants to break in and you should choose Take Wrenches and the Confident dialogue choice. The pair will head down into the bunker and Max will be attacked. Choose the option to help Max and the prologue will end. There will be a brief cutscene with the narrator before the first chapter, choose to Move On.

Today Atlus revealed another of its daily trailers of the upcoming JRPG Soul Hackers 2, focusing on one of the demons that will appear in the game.

This time around it’s a classic, Pixie, that has been part of the Shin Megami Tensei series since basically forever, including the recently-released Shin Megami Tensei V.

The trailer also includes the usual daily horoscope, and this time Leo is at the top of the fortune ranking, while Gemini is at the bottom.

Soul Hackers 2 releases for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (Steam and Windows Store) on August 26, just one day after the Japanese launch on August 25.

The best movies available on streaming and VOD this week

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TodaNippon Ichi Software released another extensive trailer of the upcoming real-time strategy JRPG remaster GrimGrimoire OnceMore.

This time around we get to see the base of the gameplay, spirit magic, which lets you summon plenty of different spirits including elves, fairies, unicorns, and even Titania.

Each of them has different features and skills, like recharging mana or paralyzing enemies.

On top of that, there is a wheel of four elements that makes spirits more or less effective against those belonging to different elements.

You can check it out below.

GrimGrimoire OnceMore will release in Japan on July 28, for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. If you’d like to see more, you can check out the original trailer, another one, a third, and a fourth.

Wario is a cheater. Sure, that’s part of his notorious personality, but in Mario Strikers: Battle League, he literally picks up the ball (with his hands!) and hurls it toward the goal. I won’t profess to be some sort of expert in soccer. I am, however, pretty certain that’s a violation of every rulebook from every…

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Yesterday, as part of Summer Game Fest, Volition released a new free-to-download demo for the upcoming Saints Row reboot out later this year. However, this isn’t a demo of the game’s open-world or its vehicular combat. No, this is just the character creator. But thankfully, it’s a fantastic character creator with a…

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This afternoon, IGN put on its now-yearly Summer of Gaming presentation, which featured an abundance of game trailers covering all genres and tastes. Fellow associate editor Wesley LeBlanc and I watched the show together and picked out a handful of titles we look forward to seeing more of in the future. Now, this list won’t contain the big hitters of the show like Gungrave G.O.R.E., DNF Duel, The Walking Dead, or the newest Aliens: Fireteam Elite expansion, but instead are highlighting some games you may not already know. Check out these great-looking indie titles coming to a gaming machine near you:

Today Entergram revealed the upcoming visual novel titled “Aquarium” starring popular Vtuber Minato Aqua.

The visual novel will release in Japan for PS4 and Nintendo Switch on October 27, with a full reveal coming on June 30. The PS4 version will be sold only on the PSN, while the Switch version will also get a physical release.

Pre-orders will open at the same time as the full reveal on June 30.

At the moment, we don’t have any screenshots or footage besides the key artwork that you can enjoy at the bottom of the post, starring Minato Aqua herself.

If you’re not familiar with Minato Aqua, she’s a virtual YouTuber belonging to the well-established Hololive agency, counting over 1.6 million users on her YouTube channel.

The game apparently doesn’t only feature Minato Aqua as the heroine but she also covered the role of producer.

It’s set in a medieval-like world in which Aqua has lost her memories and works as a maid, and the story is a pure love tale in which she will overcome the difference in status with the hero, who is part of the nobility. All characters will be fully voiced.

At the moment, no western release has been announced, but Hololive Vtubers have a certain following in the west, so you never know. Of course, you can expect further coverage here on Twinfinite as soon as more is revealed.

Increased enthusiasm for tactical role-playing games in recent years is leading to a wealth of fun indie experiences in the genre. Dancing Dragon Games, a small JRPG developer, partnered with Dark Deity publisher Freedom Games for its own entry, Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga. It isn't just an homage, though, offering overlaid tactical systems that make it feel mechanically distinct. The scrappy release isn't much of a looker (though there's some nice sprite work!), but the gameplay is what matters, and there's a lot of thought to it.

The tactical mechanics of Symphony of War are inspired by a lot of classic games, primarily Ogre Battle and Fire Emblem. Instead of individual fighters on the grid-based map, you form squads of up to nine warriors operating as one. These squads essentially auto-battle based on how they’re arranged, so putting together teams that work well is key. There are ranged units, magic units, firearms and more, each with gameplay implications. Squads also have movement based on their aggregate capabilities, like the increased range of cavalry or the minimized terrain penalties of light infantry.

We finally got a glimpse of the legendary vampire hunter, Richter Belmont, in the upcoming Castlevania spin-off series, Castlevania: Nocturne during Netflix Geeked Week.

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Fans of soccer video games will likely enjoy Mario Strikers: Battle League since it has the basics of what makes the sport enjoyable. But of course, there are also those splashes of Mario wackiness that make the game uniquely Nintendo. Shells and Banana Peels only scratch the surface of the items in this title. Here’s all you need to know about every item and what they do in Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Every Item & What They Do in Mario Strikers: Battle League

There are six different items that you can pick up by running through item boxes in Mario Strikers: Battle League. All but one of them can knock opponents out of the way and clear an easy path to the goal. Also, players of Mario Kart will be very familiar with each item since their effects in this game are exactly the same. The table down below

Mushroom

This item will give the player that uses it a temporary boost of speed. But it won’t give you the ability to knock opponents off of the ball. Tackling is still required to take possession.

This week on All Things Nintendo, we come to you live from Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, California for the first-ever in-person recording of the show. Brian and Alex Stadnik chop up all the news out of the last week (including Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest), give the final verdict on Mario Strikers: Battle League, and speculate when Nintendo is going to do its annual summer Direct stream.

If you'd like to follow the people from this episode on Twitter, hit the following links: Brian Shea (@brianpshea), Alex Stadnik (@Studnik76)

The All Things Nintendo podcast is a weekly show where we celebrate, discuss, and break down all the latest games, news, and announcements from the industry's most recognizable name. Each week, Brian is joined by different guests to talk about what's happening in the world of Nintendo. Along the way, they'll share personal stories, uncover hidden gems in the eShop, and even look back on the classics we all grew up with. A new episode hits every Friday!

Be sure to subscribe to All Things Nintendo on your favorite podcast platform. The show is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

The Tribeca Games Spotlight made its debut last year, showing off narratively-lead games like Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Lost in Random, and one of our favorites from 2021, Sable. This year, the presentation continued and was brimming with games that look equally promising. The Spotlight showcased nine unique experiences, with much-anticipated titles like A Plague Tale: Requiem and Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course, and some lesser-known indie games that deserve a spot on players' to-watch list. In case you missed the show, we've rounded up some highlights.

Are you looking for a great game to really test the limits of your Xbox Series X in 2022? Well, we’ve got just the right list for you. From action to RPG to racing, you can check out the best Xbox Series X games as of 2022 right down below. Let us know what your favorites are in the comments section. 

Judgment

Best Xbox Series X Games 2022

Love the Yakuza series, but want something a little different? Maybe a game that has a bit more detective work? Then Judgment is just for you. 

Judgment follows Takayuki Yagami, a former lawyer who has opened up a detective agency in the hopes of finding the truth. The game blends the serious and fun stories known to the Yakuza franchise with some amazing action that looks stellar on the Xbox Series X. 

Today Capcom released two videos related to the upcoming fighting game Street Fighter 6.

This time around we don’t see any gameplay, but we can enjoy the reveal of the music themes dedicated to popular heroine Chun-Li, titled “Not A Little Girl,” and to the new character, Luke, titled “Taking Aim.”

This is the second music reveal made for the game, as yesterday Capcom published the official music video for the main theme, titled Not on the Sidelines.

You can check the track out in the video below.

Chun-Li is one of the most classic fighters in the Street Fighter franchise, having debuted in the second game of the series. She has been a staple of the cast ever since.

In just under two years, Valorant’s competitive scene has provided fans with tons of memorable moments and highlights. Today, we’re going to be focusing on one of Europe’s finest rosters; M3 Champions, and who is on their roster.

Before we break down who is on the M3 Champions roster, it’s important to know the situation behind the team. M3 Champions, or M3c for short, is the Valorant roster that used to compete under Gambit Esports.

Why Are They Called M3 Champions?

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has impacted many aspects of our lives, trickling down to the world of gaming and esports. Gambit Esports is a Russian organization who have been barred from competing in many titles due to members of their organization having ties to the Russian government. Commendations have been made for the players to compete under a neutral banner, provided they split off from Gambit.

While Riot Games did not directly ban Gambit’s roster from competing in Valorant, being under the Gambit organization presented numerous challenges for the players. Gambit formally released their Valorant roster in March 2022 and allowed them to compete under a neutral name. The players chose the name M3 Champions to signify their win in Masters 3 Berlin back in September 2021.

Who Is on the M3 Champions Team in Valorant? Answered

Speaking of the players, here is the M3 Champions roster:

Back in June 2021, Netflix announced a new animated Castlevania show was in development. It noted that series staples Richter Belmont and Maria Renard would be its stars. Now during Netflix Geeked Week 2022, a teaser appeared and revealed the series' name is Castlevania: Nocturne.

The segment is incredibly brief. Initially, we only see Richter from behind. He's wearing a familiar blue coat and carrying his trademark whip. As the camera focuses in on details, like a crest on his back, different characters from the series can be heard speaking to him. After one person says, "We're looking for someone called Belmont," Richter turns around. After that, the show's name and its logo is revealed.

Here's the official announcement tweet. It also mentions "season 1," suggesting there could be more than one season of this show.

a new generation of vampire hunters are here for season 1 of CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE!
　　　　　
¡Llega una nueva generación de cazadores de vampiros para la 1.ª temporada de CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE! pic.twitter.com/X6WHNH51Ae

— Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) June 10, 2022

Once you defeat all the Team Go Rocket Leaders, it’s time to take on their boss. It won’t be an easy task, but here is how to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO.

How to Beat Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni in Pokemon GO

For being the boss of Team Go Rocket, this battle isn’t especially difficult if you have proper counters. In fact, it’s one of the most straightforward of these leader battles since Giovanni’s first and third Pokemon will always be set in stone. Here are all of Giovanni’s possible Pokemon:

• Pokemon 1
  • Persian (Normal)
• Pokemon 2
  • Nidoking (Poison/Ground)
  • Kingler (Water)
  • Rhyperior (Rock/Ground)
• Pokemon 3
  • Latias (Dragon/Psychic)

Giovanni Battle 1

Persian
It makes sense — when it comes to lore — that Persian is Giovanni’s first Pokemon, but you would expect the head of Team GO Rocket to have a stronger mon. Persian isn’t anything special, so overpower it with your Conkeldurr, Lucario, Machamp, etc.

Best Picks: Conkeldurr, Lucario, Machamp, Heracross, Sirfetch’d

Interplay’s formerly console-exclusive action RPG Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is being re-released this summer 18 years after it spawned, marking its first appearance on PC. It’s obviously the follow up to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, which was similarly late in coming to PC (and modern consoles) at the end of last year. Scout the next game’s trailer out below.

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The Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 re-release comes out this summer, Interplay and Wizards of the Coast have announced.

This re-release of the cult classic console action role-playing game launches on PC, all Xbox and PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch, supporting up to 4K resolution.

The new trailer is below:

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Seeing as The Quarry offers a great scary homage to 80’s summer camp slashers, wanting to further fit the mood is a no-brainer. There’s actually a way to even further get in the spirit with what the characters are wearing. Here’s how to get the 80’s outfits in The Quarry.

How to Get the 80’s Outfits in The Quarry

The first thing you need to be aware of is that the 80’s outfits are only available to those who purchase the deluxe edition of The Quarry. Sadly there’s a further wrinkle here. Even if you pre-ordered or bought the deluxe edition on launch, the 80’s outfits will not be available just yet.

The Steam page for the Deluxe Content Bonus Pack gives some detail to this, and it says “the ‘80s Throwback Character Outfits will be automatically delivered in-game on or by 7/8/2022.”

While this is a bummer for those who made sure to purchase the deluxe edition of The Quarry at launch, the outfits are still guaranteed to be coming to you for free.

Once they release, it is likely you will be able to switch them on the fly in the settings menu like you can the special filters. We promise to further update you when they release for real.

That’s all you need to know about how to get the 80’s outfits in The Quarry. If you want to hear how the Quarry stacks up with the Dark Pictures Anthology games, we have five reasons why The Quarry is better.

Play chess with an uncanny CG Anya Taylor-Joy

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I started screaming in Kotaku Slack when my fellow weeb (and staff writer) Isaiah linked a screenshot of Dragon Age: Absolution. My favorite western fantasy RPG is getting an anime adaptation? Sign me up. But then I started watching the trailer, and my enthusiasm deflated immediately. Absolution doesn’t look like a…

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Tim Schafer headed up the introduction of this year’s Day of the Devs event, the long-running indie celebration. Originally a yearly in-person event out in San Francisco, hosted by iam8bit and Double Fine Productions, the indie festival has more recently been a digital event. This year’s celebration was the 10th anniversary of the event, and the teams involved had an impressive selection of titles on offer.

To watch the full presentation, jump ahead to time index 1:55:57 of the Summer Game Fest presentation, and enjoy Schafer’s smashing rendition of Happy Birthday. You can also check out individual trailers for the included games in the descriptions below.

Animal Well

Animal Well is an unusual pixel-art adventure from developer Shared Memory about exploring a labyrinth, solving puzzles, and uncovering what you can in the darkness.

Bear & Breakfast

Bear & Breakfast is all about being a bear and running a bed and breakfast. Developed by Gummy Cat, this is a management sim game where you must help Hank the bear make his little inn as welcoming and happy as possible. We don’t have long to wait on this one; the game has been announced for a release on July 22.

Square Enix and People Can Fly have unveiled more details of the endgame for Worldslayer, the upcoming first paid expansion to their online co-op action RPG Outriders. Outriders’ creative director Bartek Kmita says there’s “hundreds of hours of meaningful progression” in Worldslayer’s endgame, which sounds like a lot, but the focus is mostly on the replayable big new Trial of Tarya Gratar dungeon. Check out the full broadcast below for some shooty footage.

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Netflix has released a teaser trailer for new episodes of The Cuphead Show coming to the subscription service soon. 

This news comes from Day 5 of Netflix's 2022 Geeked Week, which also highlighted various Netflix games and TV shows based on existing video game properties. Netflix originally announced The Cuphead Show way back in 2019, and it finally hit Netflix earlier this year. Shortly after – three weeks later, to be exact – Netflix revealed that it was renewing The Cuphead Show for a second season. Today's teaser doesn't seem to be about that second season but rather additional episodes of Season One. Check it out for yourself below: 

Here's what Netflix has to say about these new episodes: 
"Double down with new episodes of The Cuphead Show, coming soon to Netflix. Based on the award-winning video game, The Cuphead Show follows the unique adventures of loveable, impulsive scamp Cuphead and his cautious but easily swayed brother Mugman." 

A Tekken: Bloodline anime updated appeared as part of Netflix Geeked Week 2022. The show is based on the series and will focus on Jin Kazama’s journey. To help provide more context, Tekken Chief Producer and Team Leader Katsuhiro Harada offered thoughts on the adaptation.

First, Harada explained that the show is designed to offer backstory for Jin people hadn’t seen before. He mentioned how it will show life with Jun Kazama. In the first new clip from the Tekken: Bloodline anime, it shows Jin talking and training with his mother. After that segment, it shows Jin dealing with, then defeating, some bullies.

Harada also joked he would apologize to the Tekken character if he could. He noted, “If Jin Kazama were a real person, the one thing I would say to him is, ‘I’m sorry for always putting you through so many awful things.’”

Here is the new Netflix Tekken: Bloodline video.

This is the second time we've gotten a rather good look at the show. The first was back in March 2022. That's when Netflix announced it would be working on the adaptation. An initial teaser trailer appeared back then.

People will be able to watch the Tekken: Bloodline anime on Netflix in 2022.

Introducing the Trial of Tarya Gratar

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Skateboarding, hot exes, and disappointed parents — this game has it all

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Netflix Geeked Week day five is all about games; who better to have a new trailer on hand for the event than Sonic the Hedgehog. Netflix's Sonic Prime is coming sometime in the future, and after learning a bit about its voice cast a few weeks back and Shadow being revealed during the Sonic anniversary stream the other day, we thought we'd seen the last of the animated show for now. The streaming titan had other plans, of course, with the debut of a brand new clip, which confirmed one of my favorite friends of the speedy hedgehog.

🦔💙meet Big the Cat and Froggy🦔💙
SONIC PRIME coming soon to Netflix #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/997Gq03S5e

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription is about as close to “Netflix for games” as you can get. And just like Netflix, there are ways to get the most bang for your buck. Here are some tips for wringing everything you can out of a Game Pass subscription.

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Netflix's Castlevania series concluded after four successful seasons, but it isn't the last we'll see of Dracula. Today, during the Netflix Geeked livestream, we got our first look at a successor series called Castlevania: Nocturne. Set hundreds of years after the original series, Richter Belmont takes up the whip and will continue the fight of his ancestors. Richter is the protagonist of the 1993 video game, Castlevania Rondo of Blood (also known as Dracula X). He is also of the same bloodline as the Sypha and Trevor from Netflix's first series.

Nocturne is executive produced by Kevin Kolde, with Sam Deats in the director's chair with assistant director Adam Deats. In the show, Richter will be searching for vampires in 1792 in the midst of the French Revolution. He won't be alone in his journey: Maria Renard is also along for this dark ride.

Are you a fan of Netflix's Castlevania work? If so, what do you hope to see from this sequel series and a Belmont rising?

As part of the Summer Game Fest's adjacent livestream events, Epic Games did it's own thing to show off this year, and first on the docket was the reveal of a Lord Of The Rings Game that, as a lapsed fan, I'm actually interested in. The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria is a multiplayer action survival game about the Dwarves trying to reclaim the most cursed mine in all of fantasy canon. It's due out in Spring 2023 and will, of course, be an Epic Games Store exclusive.

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