FromSoftware showed off 15 minutes of Elden Ring gameplay this morning, and also revealed a pair of snazzy special editions at the presentation's conclusion. Those who want more swag for their buck can pre-order these bad boys now. 

First up is the Collector’s Edition, which includes the following goodies:

• Elden Ring game
• Malenia – Blade of Miquella statue (23 cm)
• Exclusive steelbook
• 40-page hardback artbook
• Digital soundtrack

The Premium Collector’s Edition includes everything in the Collector’s Edition but tosses in a 1:1 replica of Malenia’s helmet, which may or may not be big enough to wear. Check it out below. 

In addition to a gameplay reveal, Bandai Namco shared the Elden Ring pre-order bonus and went over what's in the Premium Collector's Edition.

The post Elden Ring Pre-Order Bonus and Premium Collector’s Edition Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

Total War: Warhammer 3 will launch on 17th February via Steam, Epic Games Store and more - or you'll be able to play it day one via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

Sega announced the news today, alongside details of the Ogre Kingdoms Race Pack, which comes free for those who pre-order the game ahead of time or pick up a copy during its launch week. Notably, you'll need to buy this separately if playing via Game Pass.

Read more

Let's get the shameful business out of the way first. Every year on Football Manager, I choose to manage Manchester United. United - or, ahem, Man UFC - are the team I support here in the real world, and that's about as far as my thought process goes when starting up a new FM save. There are two philosophies, basically: the fashionable, hipster choice of managing somewhere a little trendy, a little half-step out of the limelight, an AS Saint-Étienne, maybe, or for a greater challenge someone like AFC Wimbledon or your local ultra-underdogs of choice; or, you manage the team you support. There is technically a third way which we don't speak about (PSG), but broadly speaking, those are your options.

The reason I like Manchester United is because they straddle a bit of both. I know the club inside out, I'm desperate for us to win and loathe to see City win the race for another five attacking midfielders ahead of us, and frankly I just like having all my dreams fulfilled. At the same time Manchester United is a god awful mess of a club, and it brings me immeasurable joy to step into the breach every year and be the hero who comes and fixes it. So, like I said, best of both: favourite-team fantasy plus the pleasure of mending that which is fundamentally broken.

Read more

They say that variety is the spice of life, so why not add a little golfing to your RPG adventure, eh? Well, hold that thought, as developer ArticNet has done just that with its latest title, RPGolf Legends.

That’s right, the Osaka-based studio is working on a rather unique gameplay experience that blends isometric 16-bit RPG mechanics with Tiger Woods’ favorite sport.

Yes, RPGolf Legends has today been confirmed to be coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on Jan. 20, 2022.

Accompanying the news is a brand new trailer showcasing the golf-RPG hybrid in all its glory. Go ahead and check it out down below:

With its charming pixellated aesthetic and its light and breezy RPG vibe, RPGolf Legends looks like an intriguing title to keep an eye on.

Of course, you’ll not only be spending a lot of your time putting balls on fairways, but you’ll also be busy taking care of a dastardly monster threat that is trying to conquer the world. That ol’ chestnut!

FromSoftware has finally revealed a detailed gameplay overview of its highly anticipated upcoming action-RPG Elden Ring, and fans of the Dark Souls on which the studio built its esteemed reputation will be pleased to discover it’s an open-world experience built around a similar blueprint as that beloved franchise.

Although, the scope of the gameplay and overall design is, of course, has been expanded substantially, incorporating new ideas and some of the features seen in FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Today’s trailer showcases free-world exploration across a vast and beautiful dark-fantasty-themed sandbox that appears to offer all sorts of emergent gameplay, from epic boss encounters to quirky and bizarre NPC encounters.

While there are some obvious differences between Elden Ring and Dark Souls that suggest the development team has evolved its signature gameplay in clever ways –such as an increased focus on traversal, crafting systems, and much more–, the signature combat remains a key part of its overall design.

One interesting feature also detailed in today’s trailer is the map of the world itself, which highlights not only the enormous size and scale of Elden Ring but the progression system that governs exploration. Map fragments are collectible items that reveal sections of the map to make navigation easier — there appear to be no waypoints or handholding as is typical in many conventional open-world experiences.

Later in the trailer, you’ll also get a brief look at Spirits, a feature that allows players to summon NPCs to help them in combat, as well as the first glimpse at co-operative multiplayer and an example of the dungeons that are scattered around The Lands Between.

Among the many additions in the big new Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update are ordinances. These return from previous entries in the series, and like in those games, they allow you to exert some additional control over the way your island works. While they still have some restrictions like only being able to use one at a time, they can help you to earn some extra money, make your island look nicer, or improve the odds that stuff will be happening at the time of day that you usually play.

But how do you enact ordinances, and which ones are available? Read on for a full breakdown of how they work and how to get started.

How do you enact an ordinance?

Putting an ordinance into effect is a fairly simple process, although there are some rules around them that you should be aware of. To get started, talk to Isabelle at the Resident Services building and select the "review island features" dialogue option. From there, you can choose "discuss ordinances" and then select the one you want to enact. It's as simple as that.

However, enacting an ordinance will cost you a fee of 20,000 bells, and it'll take a day for it to go into effect. You can also only have one active at a time, and once you start the process, you can't change your mind. Presumably, once the ordinance goes into effect, you'll then be able to shift to another if you so wish; we're working to verify that and will report back once we know more.

Call of Duty: Warzone's new Caldera map has been revealed for the first time, though not in the way anyone might have expected. Activision Blizzard's chief creative officer Pelle Sjoenell wore a jacket during a recent livestream that had Caldera's map layout printed on it.

Zooming in on the image, various named locations can be seen. These include Beach Defenses, Submarine Base, Ore Processing Docks, Naval Shipyard, Ancient Structures, Fishing Village, City Capital, Taro Farms, Air Port, and Phosphor Mines. The map image, which includes topographical details to illustrate elevation, also displays a very tall volcano near the center of the map.

The new Warzone Pacific map, Caldera, appears to be the biggest shakeup to the game since it launched in March 2020. It is a completely new map that takes players back to World War II to match the experience of Call of Duty: Vanguard. It launches in early December, and it will feature weapons and content from Vanguard and Black Ops Cold War, all sharing unified progression.

FromSoftware has released 15 minutes of Elden Ring gameplay and it features some of its open-world traversal in The Land Between, Souls-like combat, a healthy amount of death, and a look at some of the dungeons that await players within. 

The entire showcase heavily emphasizes player choice when navigating the world of Elden Ring. Unlike previous FromSoftware games which are more akin to wide-open, interconnected areas rather than a full-on open-world, Elden Ring’s world is completely open, allowing players to tackle objectives how they see fit. 

Maybe you open the main gate to proceed through the castle? Perhaps you’re worried about a secret archer that might snipe you down when you walk through the gates so you take a side route instead? The choice is seemingly yours and that seems to be a running theme through Elden Ring – do what you want, when you want. 

Now, that’s not to say that Elden Ring will allow you to do that easily. Something tells us the game will have its own way of telling players, “no, not yet,” but only time will tell for now. In fact, Elden Ring has a guiding light that seems to nudge players in a suggested direction, but as the gameplay showcase narrator notes, players don’t have to choose to follow it. 

Viewers were given a firsthand look at gameplay just ahead of the scheduled network test.

The post Elden Ring Gameplay Preview Reveals Crafting and Multiplayer appeared first on Siliconera.

In the liminal period between Animal Crossing: New Horizons offering nothing new to do and Animal Crossing: New Horizons offering arguably too much new stuff to do, Nintendo released a new Switch model complete with a bigger screen and a 0 percent increase to battery life. Perhaps you were lucky enough to snag one.…

Read more...

From Software's hugely-anticipated Elden Ring was shown off again today in nearly 20 minutes of new gameplay footage, which revealed the open world Souls-like in new detail.

We saw glimpses of the game's Breath of the Wild-like open world, including a ubiquitous shot stood on a cliff. There was also combat against a giant dragon, and a friendlier encounter with a creature that looked like a giant cooking pot.

Read more

Take-Two's president has commented on the company's philosophy around remasters, saying it all comes down to the money. As part of Take-Two's latest earnings report, Karl Slatoff outlined Take-Two's position on remasters ahead of the launch of GTA The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition and amid rumors of a Red Dead Redemption remaster.

"It purely is an economic decision. And the economic decision's based on what we believe that the fan base to be, how much is it going to cost for the game to be remastered, are we going to make other changes to the game to enhance the experience..." he said (via SeekingAlpha).

Slatoff pointed out that remasters that are simple ports without much new added don't typically sell as well as a game that is "truly remaster or truly enhanced."

Slatoff also said Take-Two factors in elements like whether or not it can develop a remaster in-house or if it needs to look to a third-party. Slatoff said selecting a third-party to handle a remaster has its own set of challenges, too, due to a competition for resources with so many companies these days pursuing remaster projects. For GTA The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition, Rockstar tapped Grove Street Games, the outfit formerly known as War Drum Studios.

But at the end of the day, whether or not Take-Two releases a remaster comes down to if it is a sound financial decision. "In the end, it is an economic decision and it is a resource allocation decision. And that's just math that we do," Slatoff said.

Shin Megami Tensei V could do for the mainline SMT series what Persona 3 did for Persona. It's an incredible and memorable JRPG.

The post Review: Shin Megami Tensei V is Powerful appeared first on Siliconera.

More Than 5 million copies of Grand Theft Auto V – you know, the game released nearly a decade ago – were sold just last quarter, bringing its total units sold up to a whopping 155 million units. 

This news comes by way of VentureBeat, which reports that the Rockstar-developed open-world game has generated more than $6 billion in revenue since its 2013 release. GTAV became the most profitable entertainment product of all time three years ago in 2018, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, and it seems like the game has no plans to give up that title anytime soon. 

These new GTAV numbers come from Take-Two Interactive’s latest financial report, which details the second fiscal quarter’s earnings. That quarter ended on September 30. According to VentureBeat, the company beat not only Wall Street’s expectations but its own as well after netting $984.9 million. That’s up 3% from last year, too, which was an especially great year for video games due to increased purchases as a result of pandemic-related quarantines. 

For nearly as long as video games have existed, the racing game has stood as a monument to state-of-the-art technology - an opportunity to dazzle audiences with vividly realized automobiles gliding across virtual highways. As this technology evolved so too did the representation of driving - more advanced physics enabled more realistic simulations while more powerful graphics architecture enabled increasingly vivid recreations of the world around you. As new consoles launched, new racing games would inevitably appear to demonstrate why you needed that new machine. From Project Gotham Racing to Forza Motorsport to Forza Horizon, Microsoft has understood this - and with Forza Horizon 5, Playground Games has delivered an exceptional system showcase.

The defining structure of Forza Horizon is the marriage of driving and open world exploration. Players are plunged into an expansive map packed full of races and events - participation in or simply reaching these events allows players to drive a wide range of powerful cars along the way. To make this work effectively, the game needs to render large open areas that are both visually striking yet completely legible while also retaining near-field detail capable of showcasing both the cars and the environment. Oh, and it needs to do all of this at 200 miles per hour.

Read more

Shin Megami Tensei V on Switch

If you’ve ever played an SMT game, the setup of Shin Megami Tensei V should feel instantly familiar. You take control of a teenage boy, and you quickly find out that he has the power to summon demons and control them in battle. Then, you explore a warped version of modern-day Tokyo. And by “warped” I mean it’s a totally screwed up and wrecked, apocalyptic version of Tokyo filled with angels and demons trying to kill you.

You then plow through the story and make decisions that will ultimately lock you into one of (at least) three endings: Lawful, Chaotic, and Neutral.

Despite featuring new characters and story beats, the premise is always largely the same, but don’t take that as a criticism of the game. Shin Megami Tensei V knows the kind of story it wants to tell and it sticks to it with confidence, and hey, if you couldn’t care less about the narrative, maybe the crushing difficulty of the combat encounters will convince you to stick around.

As far as introductions go, Shin Megami Tensei V feels the most Persona-like out of all the mainline games in the series. Whereas in past games, your companions were mostly all robots with zero-depth to them and only served to push one of the game’s three main alignments and ideologies on you, SMT V’s characters make more of an effort to come off like actual people.

The classic and punishing Shin Megami Tensei franchise is back with a new mainline entry, and it’s full of everything we’ve come to expect from the series: challenging battles, intense demon negotiations, and philosophical conundrums about the state of the world. I’ve been playing Shin Megami Tensei V, already clocking close to 40 hours, but I haven’t reached the end to deliver my final verdict. Until then, I’ll say: Shin Megami Tensei sticks close to its roots – for better or worse. This means common series complaints, such as poor navigation and obtuse instructions, remain, but Atlus has also enhanced certain aspects, with more expansive areas, more skill customization, and stellar demon designs. If you’re an SMT fan, you should feel at home with the long, hard-fought journey that awaits. If you’re a newcomer, some of the game’s more archaic and arduous ways might turn you off.

At this point—and you’re well within your rights to still have reservations—it’s becoming pretty difficult to refute that Elden Ring...is real? Today, during a digital showcase, publisher Bandai Namco shows off 15 minutes of the next action-adventure game from FromSoftware. (Update, 10:20 a.m. ET: It’s over, and it…

Read more...

Devolver Digital became a publicly-traded company today, floating across the pond here in the UK on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of $950m.

Fitting with the culture of the company, employees of Devolver Digital are still the majority owners, though NetEase and Sony now own eight and five per cent stakes, respectively.

Read more

Well, this is a nice surprise. Folks have been exploring the big new Animal Crossing update since last night, as the patch went up early. Already, the community has struck gold. As it turns out, you can now visit a type of island that contains a special, never-before-seen type of rock.

Read more...

Developer Ghost Ship Games’ popular multiplayer co-op shooter Deep Rock Galactic is launching a huge new content drop today called Rival Incursion, and it marks the first of its kind as a themed seasonal update.

The trailer synopsis outlines the developer’s intent and some of the more general features of Rival Incursions, which we’ve included below. The full patch notes, though, which are extensive, can be found here.

“We are proud to announce our BIGGEST update thus far – Season 01: Rival Incursion. Yes, that’s right – we are, for now, moving to do themed seasons instead of just updates. Season 01 includes four new primary weapons, a new challenging boss-fight mission, and our take on a 100% FREE battle pass called a Performance Pass that will reward you with a truckload of new unique cosmetics during Season 01.“

Today’s update has been hyped in a new trailer that offers players a first glimpse of what’s new:

Ghost Ship Games’ continued support of Deep Rock Galactic comes as no surprise given what a tremendous success the game has been since its launch. At last count, it had sold a whopping 2 million copies.

Right on schedule, Bandai Namco has released 15 minutes of new gameplay footage for From Software's highly anticipated RPG Elden Ring. The video shows off more of the game's dark and mysterious world, also providing a new look at the combat mechanics and other gameplay systems. Check out the footage in the video below and let us know what you think, including the look at a boss with far too many arms.

In the footage, which was taken from the PC version of the game, we are taken to the "Lands Between." Immediately, the player sees a Site of Grace, which is the games' version of a bonfire. A suggestion shows where the player can go next from the site, but it's up to them to determine if they want to do this or go somewhere else.

After a few seconds, a huge dragon comes crashing down, roaring as the player strafes it on a horse before taking to the sky and breathing fire down below. After sending it back down to the ground and wounding it, the player delivers a devastating blow at a weak point on its neck.

There are odd NPCs to find, of course, including one named Alexander who has become stuck inside a giant cauldron... or rather, he is the giant cauldron and was just stuck in the ground. That's From Software for you.

Unlike other From Software games, Elden Ring will have a map, but you must create it yourself from different fragments. You can use the map icons and beacons to help you locate things you've found previously, taking some influence from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and "Spirit Springs" will let you take your horse soaring into the air as you traverse new areas. Spirits can also be summoned to assist in battle. And, of course, there are PvP invaders to make things more difficult.

Because of the more open-ended structure, dungeons can sometimes be found simply by exploring the world, and they contain their own treasure and bosses.

Ahead of the Elden Ring first gameplay stream, Twitch supposedly already started sharing ads showing off the Collector's Edition.

The post Elden Ring Collector’s Edition Apparently Includes a Malenia Figure appeared first on Siliconera.

The new wireless Nintendo 64 controller sold out almost immediately and it’s now not expected to be available for sale again until 2022, but if you’re one of the lucky people that nabbed one, you can now play Super Mario 64 on Switch with it. 

This news comes by way of Nintendo, which announced that Version 1.1.1 is out for Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which is the collection released last year that features Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. Before this new update, you could only play these three games using Joy-Con or the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

Nintendo Switchソフト『スーパーマリオ ３Ｄコレクション』の更新データVer.1.1.1の配信を開始しました。更新することで『スーパーマリオ64』を「NINTENDO 64 コントローラー」（Nintendo Switch Online加入者限定商品）でプレイすることができます。 https://t.co/UmrwP6e8C6 pic.twitter.com/RHKN7g0tLo

Elden Ring is getting a collector's edition, it appears, as an image of that has leaked on Twitch on the same day that Bandai Namco will release new gameplay footage. [Update: Bandai Namco has now confirmed the collector's edition, which is exclusive to the publisher's store]

The original story follows below.

The leaked artwork reveals that Elden Ring's collector's edition comes with the game, a digital soundtrack, a steelbook case, and a 40-page hardcover artbook. The centerpiece of the collector's edition, however, appears to be a nine-inch Malenia Blade of Miquella statue.

A listing on Best Buy reveals the collector's edition will cost $190.

The upcoming mobile game will let users interact with an AI-controlled virtual boyfriend.

The post Pre-registration for Sokubaku Kareshi Otome Game Open appeared first on Siliconera.

It's that time of year again. A new entry in the Call of Duty series is nearly here, and with its release comes the familiar questions of whether or not fans should pick up the latest entry in the annualized series. We set out to answer that question on these fresh episodes of New Gameplay Today, focused on Call of Duty: Vanguard's zombie and campaign modes!

Intel's 12th-gen desktop processors promise a dramatic leap forward, courtesy of the long-awaited shift to a modern 10nm process, dubbed Intel 7, and a radical new hybrid design that echoes Apple's powerful M1 chips. It's the most exciting Intel release for years, and it comes at the perfect time: just as AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors prised the gaming crown (and significant market share) from Team Blue.

We've been testing the $589 Core i9 12900K and $289 Core i5 12600K for the past week against their 11th-gen predecessors and AMD's Ryzen 5000 processors, and have come away impressed with what Intel has accomplished here. However, all this horsepower comes with a cost - and we're not sure that 12th-gen makes sense for everyone just yet. In this review, we'll explain the gaming performance you can expect, explore the new features of the Z690 platform and everything else you need to know.

Read more

Yacht Club Games has announced that Shovel Knight Dig will be released in 2022. 

Dig was announced way back in August of 2019 as a new take on the massively popular Shovel Knight character. It still features the Shovel Knight millions have come to love over the years, but Dig drops the classic 2D platformer feel for a more unique style of gameplay that draws on titles like Mr. Driller and Dig Dug. 

While a release date for Dig was never announced, it seems Yacht Club had 2021 in mind considering they announced today that Dig needs more time and will be released next year. 

“With 2021 coming to a close, we wanted to provide an update regarding Shovel Knight Dig,” a blog post from Yacht Club reads. “Development is going great, but we need a little more time than our initial projected release window. We look forward to delving into Dig with you in 2022.” 

To ease the pain of today’s news, though, Yacht Club also revealed a new character in Dig: Scrap Knight. 

Nothing beats waking up and unwrapping a cool tech gadget gift that was left under the Christmas tree. Technology makes the world go round, plus it can earn you some major points when it's given to a friend, loved one, or family member. Or even to yourself. Fortunately, cool hardware doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg, and whether your shopping list has iPads and AirPods or air fryers and coffee makers on it, there'll be something worth having.

If you're trying to impress, you don't want to give a family member or friend a simple gift card to Best Buy, so to help you out, we've rounded up some of the best tech gift ideas for 2020. Keep in mind that all prices listed below indicate the product's regular price and don't reflect any fluctuations or discounts. Amazon regularly slashes the prices on its products, so you may find a sweet deal on your gift item when you click through.

Best video game consoles

One of the best gifts to give and get is a video game console. Not only is it a deluxe item they'll never forget; they'll also be able to get a ton of use out of it. Below we've collected the best video game consoles that are readily available. Of course, the PS5 and Xbox Series X are nearly here, but with preorders selling out quickly, there's no guarantee you'll be able to lock one of the new consoles down in time for the holidays.

As part of Nintendo's latest earnings release, the company updated its list of the best-selling Nintendo Switch games of all time. There are no surprises anywhere, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe topping the charts on its way to becoming the highest-selling Mario Kart game of all time.

As for games released during the past six months, Skyward Sword HD moved 3.60 million units, while New Pokemon Snap sold 2.19 million copies. Mario Golf: Super Rush shifted 1.94 million copies. None of these games cracked the top 10, however.

After Mario Kart 8 and New Horizons, the rest of the top five best-selling Switch games of all time includes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (25.71 million), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (24.13 million), and Pokemon Sword/Shield (22.64 million). All of these figures count games sold through September 30.

The Switch has now sold nearly 93 million units, with game sales climbing to 681 million. Looking ahead, Nintendo said there is "continued uncertainty" in the market due to COVID-19 and the semiconductor shortage, and it now expects to produce fewer Switch units than it expected.

Top 10 Best-Selling Switch Games

(As of September 30, 2021)

Activision and Sledgehammer Games‘ latest military shooter, Call of Duty: Vanguard, is on the precipice of its Nov. 5 launch day tomorrow, and to celebrate, the companies have dropped an epic cinematic trailer showcasing the story of their much-anticipated Zombies mode.

Feel free to take a gander at the freshly cut “Der Anfang” footage down below:

Opening with that distinctive jingle that tolls at the beginning of a wave, the new video pulls back the curtain on the nazi origin story of how the zombies came to be in Call of Duty: Vanguard.

On the brink of defeat, the nazis unleash a mysterious supernatural force that – you guessed it! – raise an army of undead soldiers that’ll need to be defeated. That ol’ chestnut!