Cotton Reboot is a remake of 1993’s frantic “cute ‘em’ up” Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams. Well, cute in a Castlevania kind of way, as you’ll be blasting all kinds of ghouls, zombies, and undead monsters as you try to get a few pieces of candy. And save a kingdom or something. Not exactly a big concern for our lead witch, Nata, who’s only interested in laying waste to hundreds of living creatures if there’s some tasty treat involved. It’s as good a motivation as any for this lighthearted, fun, but challenging shmup. Shmups, to be more precise. This title contains […]

The post Review: Cotton Reboot Offers Two Great Shmups in One Package appeared first on Siliconera.

Epic has confirmed Ariana Grande will headline the Fortnite Rift Tour following weeks of leaks and rumors culminating with her in-game skin appearing online today via a French Fortnite social channel. The Rift Tour kicks off this Friday, August 6, with the first of five showings beginning at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET. Players around the world will have multiple chances to join the interactive concert--and should expect a few in-game rewards and other surprises along the way.

We first heard of a possible Ariana Grande in-game concert when Epic and Apple took their financial battle to court. Some of the same documents revealed during the trial also tipped off the massive Fortnite community to future events such as the NBA crossover and LeBron James skin. Then a leak on Reddit a few weeks ago suggested the concert was happening this summer. Now it's official: Ariana Grande will perform in-game alongside the debut of her very own Icon Series cosmetic set.

Halo Infinite’s first big multiplayer technical preview started this weekend and the main star are the bots. For the first time in the history of the series, there are online multiplayer bots. I wondered how much of a fight they would put up against teams of human players. Now, after being chased, beaten and tricked…

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Third-party developers have released new assets and content for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

We start with IndiaFoxtEcho that provide a new look at the F-35 Lightning II alongside a development update.

“Still VERY preliminary… as the F-35B model is clearly not finished in these pics, but we thought they were too cool not to share them. … so here are the images of the first F-35B sea trials in MSFS!

The USS America is based on the ship we published for P3D in the past, and will either be included in the F-35B package or released as freeware. Currently, it is a static landable scenery object – at the moment it is placed not too far from NAS Point Mugu, but we think to place it in multiple locations around the globe in different configurations (should you have suggestions on where to place the ship let us know!!!)…

As for the F-35 itself, it is moving forward at a steady pace… F-35A external model is now finished (except the emergency tailhook), F-35 is 80% finished (cockpit and weapon bay doors missing) and while we have just started the conversion/improvement of the F-35C model.

The virtual cockpit is experiencing some delays…as we had to remodel a number of parts to achieve the level of detail we wanted. We cannot show it yet, but we are very happy with it.”

She certainly knows how to wield that tongue of hers.

The post SMT V Manananggal Proves to be a Femme Fatale appeared first on Siliconera.

Grand Theft Auto Online is an old game, being released all the way back on Xbox 360 and PS3 in the year 2013. Since then, many people (myself included) have continued to play GTA Online and after nearly a decade of hanging out in the same virtual world, I and others have mostly memorized the map. That’s not super…

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To usher in Black Panther's arrival on 16th August, Marvel's Avengers is having a free trial weekend on Steam, PlayStation, and Stadia. It kicked off on 29th July and ends later today, 1st August, sending interest in the action game on PC soaring.

Looking at SteamDB (thanks, TheGamer), the game usually averages around only a few hundred concurrent users at a time, but the freeplay event has set a 24-hour peak of 10,161 players - with 10,121 online right now at the time of writing.

It doesn't quite hit the heights of its launch period - Marvel's Avengers peaked at almost 32,000 Steam players when it released last September - but it's a considerable spike for a game that had hitherto struggled to get even 1000 simultaneous PC players online.

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Aside from a new Servant, there is also a new system to improve the ones you already have.

The post Fate/Grand Order Sixth Anniversary Banner is Live appeared first on Siliconera.

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games released more videos about the growing space simulator after a short hiatus.

The first video focuses mostly on loot, which is going to be added to the game as a further incentive for exploring, performing missions, and more activities.

The second video showcases how the commercial cinematics for ships are made.

In other Star Citizen news, the crowdfunding total has just passed $378 million today and it’s currently sitting on $378,014,098.

Valve has reportedly sanctioned the release of Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection, a passion-project mod that "completely overhauls" the seminal shooter.

As noted by SteamDB (thanks, PCGN), the collection comes from Filip Victor and is "not Valve related", but Tyler McVicker - who focuses on news about Valve and Steam - reports that the remaster has "Valve's consent".

It's apparently the next iteration of the fantastic mod Half-Life 2: Update, a "completely free and extensive community-developed update for Half-Life 2 featuring beautiful lighting, countless bug fixes, and a brand new Community Commentary Mode". It's available to anyone who owns Half-Life 2 on PC and offers "countless" bug fixes in "one free standalone download".

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If you love Genshin Impact, and specifically the beautiful Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing Ningguang, this one is for you.

MiHoYo itself is releasing a gorgeous figure titled “Gold Leaf and Pearly Jade” portraying her, and she’s currently available for pre-order.

You can find it at Ami Ami for 27,200 yen, which translates approximately into $248.

Sculpted by APEX Toys in 1/7 scale, she even comes with her own lighting for the lantern, on top of a full diorama.

You can check out what she looks like below.

Who would you choose for your free 5-star Servant?

The post Fate/Grand Order Sixth Anniversary Offers Free SSR Servant appeared first on Siliconera.

Microsoft has teamed with Krispy Kreme doughnuts to mark 20 glorious years of Master Chief.

To celebrate Halo's 20th anniversary, the doughnut purveyor has created a special edition Halo Infinite doughnut that boasts blue icing and a familiar helmet. It'll be available between 30th July and 30th September, although right now - I'm very sorry to say - it seems limited to Krispy Kreme Brazil.

That's not the only thing getting Halo fans excited, though. The advertisement has some people speculating that the ad has solidified Halo Infinite's vague "Q4 2021" release window, too, teasing: "Why wait for November?"

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Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon.

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Most of the 2000+ accounts recently banned from playing Apex Legends for "dashboarding" or exploiting matchmaking in Ranked mode had been playing on PS4.

The statistic came courtesy of Conor Ford, who manages Apex security at developer Respawn. They confirmed that of the 2086 players banned on 29th July 2021, 1965 had been playing on PS4, 62 on Xbox, 44 on PC, and 15 on Nintendo Switch.

The ban hammer primarily targeted players caught "dashboarding", players who forcefully shut down the game at the end of a losing match to avoid losing RP. By abusing it, players can erroneously maintain their high-rank status but thankfully, Respawn noticed the trend.

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Today Bandai Namco showcased the upcoming idol management and rhythm game The Idolmaster: Starlit Season in a new livestream.

We learn that the game is getting a demo for PS4 that will be released on August 5. It’ll include a “practice session” with three songs. Another demo with a sample of the rest of the gameplay will be released at a later date and that one will let you transfer data to the final game.

We also get a music video of the song “Aishite no Jubaku ～Je Vous Aime～ ” and a lot of gameplay to enjoy.

On top of that, a teaser video reveals that Leon and Shika from 961 Production will appear as rivals alongside a third mysterious new idol described as Tsundere.

You can watch all the videos below.

Atlus is continuing to release daily trailers focusing on the over 200+ demons of its upcoming JRPG Shin Megami Tensei V. Yet, this time it’s special.

The demon showcased today isn’t a recurring one, but a new entry from Philippino folklore Manananggal.

Fortnite is "a nightmare" for AS Roma manager, José Mourinho.

In a "rapid response" Q&A video shared on the football team's social media channels during which "The boss" gave his opinion on a myriad of things - from life in Italy to his views on Instagram - Mourinho said that his players spent too much time on Epic Games' fan-favourite battle royale, staying up "all night" and implying it affects their performances on the field the following day.

When asked what he thought of the game, he smiled and said: "a nightmare".

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Final Fantasy 14 developer Square Enix has revealed it will redesign the logo for new job sage following fan feedback that for some, it triggered their trypophobia - a phobia of holes.

Taking to the official website to explain the changes, Final Fantasy 14's producer and director Naoki Yoshida said that the team didn't think the job's icon was a "particularly big" deal, but soon "received feedback from players all over the world" that the icon "made them uncomfortable or fearful".

"This aversion is known as trypophobia, and those who have it feel disgust and fear when they see clusters of small holes or bumps," Yoshida explained (thanks, PC Gamer). "The severity of the reaction varies between people, and what triggers it in some may not do so in others.

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A new two-minute trailer gives us a peek at "the small town with a big heart" Haven Springs, the setting for the next Life Is Strange chapter, Life Is Strange: True Colors.

Introducing us to the sights and fine folk of the picturesque town "set beneath breathtaking views of the rocky mountains" in Colorado, the brief teaser is narrated by no other than Before the Storm's Steph Gingrich. Check it out below:

"A bold new era of the award-winning Life is Strange begins, with an all-new playable lead character and a thrilling mystery to solve!" the video description exclaims. "Alex Chen has long suppressed her 'curse': the supernatural ability to experience, absorb and manipulate the strong emotions of others, which she sees as blazing, colored auras.

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Sundays are for becoming best friends with a neighbour's cat. Before you deliver some scritches, let's read this week's best writing about games.

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You've got to give it to Remedy: they know how to start a story off with a bang. As Max Payne opens, our antihero is on the summit of a skyscraper while sirens wail in the gloom below. "They were all dead," Max says with that famous frown. "The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point."

We go back a few years next, to the brutal double murder of Max's wife and newborn child, then follow his revenge mission (guns do the talking, and two wrongs do indeed make a right). By acts two and three, the guns are bigger and the body count has mounted while the web of lies are slowly untangled. The next thing you know, the dénouement comes again - Max back on his perch above the tinny whine of those police cars.

Starting at the end and coming full circle means Max is able to narrate the entire tale: a classic literary trick that more games ought to use. The meat of Max's bone-dry narration overlays graphic novel panels that come at the chapter breaks and during levels as well. I spoke to Kiia Kallio, who was in charge of bringing the panels to life. "Initially there were ideas for doing video cutscenes," Kallio tells me, "but there was no budget for that, so graphic novel panels were used as an alternative method of storytelling."

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Where we dropping, Imperial Combat Revue?

The post PUBG Mobile and Sakura Wars Crossover Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

A new event with the latest announcements.

The post Granblue Fantasy Summer Stream 2021 Will Have a Packed Roster appeared first on Siliconera.

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host as we look back at the best community-created content on the site!

Well... STUFF IS HAPPENING! This week saw the debut of Guilty Treasures, a video series where Danny researches an obscure game that a Giant Bomb staff member loves and learns as much about it as possible. Here's a link to Episode #1: Target Earth!

The site also announced another show for Giant Bomb! Two Minutes To Late Night, the creators of a wild heavy-metal late-night show, are cooking up a new show for Giant Bomb, and it's coming real soon! They've been producing some other-worldly Bedroom Covers during the pandemic, including a now-ledgendary rendition of Rush's song Anthem. You can read more about it here, in a little publication called Rolling Stone.

We also got the first hint of the series Jeff B will be doing with Lucy James, and Tamoor Hussain. With all of this in mind, let's jump into the site-related housekeeping because there's a lot to review!

Japanese developer YuzuSoft is known mostly for its eroge, but it just launched an all-age brand named YuzuSoft Sour, which will soon debut with the first visual novel.

The game is titled Parquet and it’s actually coming right away in English on August 27 for PC via Steam, published by NekoNyan.

Below you can check out the first trailer, screenshots, and an official description from the publisher.

I knew Genshin Impact was a popular game. I also knew it had a ton of active and ravenous players who can’t get enough of the free-to-play online RPG. But I had no idea it was so popular that it was pushing Discord to its limits and forcing the devs to start a second server for everyone.

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The statue is part of a collaborative effort between the government and Shueisha to revitalize the prefecture after a devastating earthquake in 2016.

The post Kumamoto Prefecture Unveils One Piece Bronze Nami Statue as Part of Revitalization Project appeared first on Siliconera.

The Japanese arm of Bandai Namco released a large gallery of screenshots and more information about its upcoming cross-generation JRPG Tales of Arise.

We get to see the new skits in 3D the let you discover different sides of the personality of each character. Not only they will portray any costume and accessories worn by your characters, but we also see how they showcase the time and pace when and where they happen.

Cutscenes are both in-engine and anime-style. The anime cutscenes underline the most important moments of the story.

Then we have the skits mentioned above, and the banter happening both in battle and while exploring. During battles, the banter lines can even provide hints about enemy weak points and how to beat them.

There is also a quest system that will allow players to meet people from all over the game’s world and help them with their concerns.

The camping feature not only lets you recover HP and CP but also deepens the bonds among the party. You can do it at dedicated bonfires around the world. While camping, you can cook and each character has their own specialties. By letting them cook what they like, you can see special skits. Of course, different recipes also grant different special effects for the following day.

You can even take care of a farm, where you can grow many ingredients that will be used for cooking. You can fish, and Kisara is specifically a fishing enthusiast.

You can catch unique fish at different fishing spots and you can keep track of your records.

There are a couple of collecting elements. One prompts you to find all of Hootle’s friends hiding in towns and friends. They will return to Owl Forest and grant you the accessory they carry.

Dohalim’s hobby is collecting artifacts, and when you find one he’ll share information and his thoughts about it.

Halo Infinite launched its multiplayer technical preview this week in limited fashion: all you can do is play against bots - but these bots are no pushover.

Halo Infinite is the franchise's first foray into the world of multiplayer bots, and developer 343 is using the technical preview to gather feedback on bot behaviour and online performance. To that end, the technical preview debuted with the Bot Arena playlist, which puts four players against four bots on arena maps.

The technical preview launched with bots that felt pretty easy, and last night I won every game against them. But while I slept, 343 pushed an update that added ODST difficulty bots and a new map, Recharge. And I am here to report these ODST bots are not messing about.

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Though all the properties are now ninjas and houses and hotels are onigiri and ramen bowls, Naruto Monopoly is fairly traditional.

The post Naruto Monopoly Involves Recruiting (and Feeding) Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

Median XL is one of the oldest and most popular mods for Diablo 2 - and it's still being updated. A trailer was released last night for Sigma 2.0, the mod's "largest engine and content patch." It'll bring new skills, progression changes, endgame content, and quality-of-life features including a revamped UI, colour blind mode, and 4K rescaling.

You can find the trailer below ahead of its August 27th release.

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Today, third-party developers had airport news to share about upcoming add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

First of all, we learn from Axonos that Jackson Hole Airport (KJAC) releases tomorrow at 08:00 AM UTC.

Being the only commercial airport in the United States located within a national park, it’s certainly going to be home to scenic approaches.

You can find a few pictures below to wet your appetite.

The PC cushion armrest can be detached from the plush, and features patterns from various characters in the Demon Slayer series.

The post Demon Slayer Nezuko PC Cushion Can Help You Relax and Focus appeared first on Siliconera.

The only good Sonic game is Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, a fun kart racer which also featured tracks and characters from other Sega games. On PC, that included the unlikely mashup of a Total War shogunate and Football Manager's Manager Man.

I am therefore here for the similarly unlikely mashup of Sonic and Two Point Hospital, a free pack for the hospital management sim that lets you dress your staff as Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles and pepper your hallway with Sonic statues. Watch the trailer below.

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Esports Boxing Club (ESBC) is delayed, its developers have announced.

The impressive-looking boxing game, which we covered in March after its gameplay reveal trailer caught the eye, was set to launch in early access form this summer. This will now not happen.

In a new video, below, Sheffield-based developer Steel City Interactive showed an updated look at gameplay, running through its various mechanics, control system for evasion, combat and combinations, with all the dodging, weaving, blocking and slips you'd expect from a boxing sim.

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An otome dating visual novel? I've nothing against the genre, but it's not for me.

And yet, and yet, I keep re-watching the launch trailer and reading the Steam page for Bustafellows. Murder mystery? I love those. Puzzles and interactive narrative based in part around a time travel mechanic? Sounds neat. Lush art and a jazzy soundtrack? I'm all over it.

I definitely want the game these words make me imagine, but I've been duped before. Check out the trailer below and tell me I'm wrong.

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D3 Publisher has announced that an Earth Defense Force 4.1 Nintendo Switch port will be launching in 2022. The announcement was made at the end of a promotional trailer for the upcoming Earth Defense Force 3 similarly coming to the Nintendo Switch on October 14, 2021. [Thanks, Famitsu!] Originally released as Earth Defense Force 2025 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, D3 Publisher later remastered the game for the PlayStation 4 and PC in 2016. The remastered version, titled Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair, included a new expansion in addition to the original base game. […]

The post Earth Defense Force 4.1 Nintendo Switch Port Aims to Launch in 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

Marvel and Netmarble released a new and extensive video of the upcoming “AAA” open-world mobile game Marvel Future Revolution.

The video focuses on the game’s settings, its open world, its backstory, and its multiple explorable regions inspired by various Marvel properties.

You can watch it below.

Marvel Future Revolution is coming for iOS and Android on August 25, with pre-registration already open. You can also check out the recent big reveal, our interview with the developers, and the first live gameplay featuring Spider-Man.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the game, here’s an official description and a set of bullet points to catch you up with what it’ll offer.

Bungie and Ubisoft recently filed a lawsuit against the people who it claims are running Ring-1, a website that makes and sells cheats for various games like Destiny 2, PUBG, and Rainbow Six Siege. Both companies allege multiple offenses including copyright infringement and are seeking potentially hundreds of…

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