Dr. Mario World will go offline in November

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Koei Tecmo has announced that Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water will launch just in time for Halloween on October 28 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. It will be a digital-only title.

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water takes place on Hikami Mountain, an infamous place for supernatural occurrences connected with local bodies of water. It follows three protagonists: Yuri Kozukata, Ren Hojo, and Miu Hinasaki. Yuri has the ability to bring people back to the real world from the shadow world, while Ren is a friend who accompanies her in order to research his new book. Miu is the daughter of Miku Hinasaki, who is a recurring protagonist of the series.

This version of the game will include new costumes and a photo mode. Those who purchase the game within two weeks of launch will receive a free Ryza outfit from Atelier Ryza.

Back 4 Blood is essentially the Left 4 Dead 3 experience we've been hoping for. The same team that created Left 4 Dead is back with a new co-op experience (and no, the creator doesn't mind the constant Left 4 Dead tie-ins either, he told us himself!). We know that there are no microtransactions regarding the cards, we know about the PvP element, but now Turtle Rock wants players to dive once more to learn more about the co-op experience. Because of that, an open beta is just around the corner in addition to a brand new trailer. 

The open beta early access period kicks off on August 5 and will run until August 9 for those that pre-ordered the game or registered through this link. The regular open beta will continue on August 12-16 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC players. Take a look at the latest trailer below: 

The next instalment of Hitman 3's Seven Deadly Sins expansion has been released.

Central to the update is a brand new Escalation contract set in the Berlin nightclub map. The Lust Assignation Escalation tasks Agent 47 with collecting intel on a secret admirer. Collect the clues and observe everyone on the dancefloor to identify the secret admirer and the Pretenders. Each time you start the contract, the admirer will be randomly selected to make each playthrough different and put all of your sleuthing skills to the test.

Completing the contract rewards you with three rewards. First, the Scarlet Suit, a red snakeskin suit complemented by matching driving gloves and sunglasses. Second, the Serpent's Bite, a remotely detonated explosive that looks like a snake. Third, the Serpent's Tongue, a unique crossbow loaded with blinding darts.

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Today Koei Tecmo announced the release date of the upcoming remaster of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.

The game, which was announced at E3, will launch in PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on October 28.

To celebrate the announcement, we also get a new trailer and a batch of screenshots.

The third mainline game will follow its predecessor to the popular platform.

The post Earth Defense Force 2017 Switch Will Arrive in Japan This October appeared first on Siliconera.

Bobby Kotick promised company-wide changes in his letter

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PlayStation 5 has now hit an impressive 10m sold, Sony has announced.

It remains the fastest-selling PlayStation ever.

The 10m sales figure was achieved on 18th July, just under a month faster than the PlayStation 4.

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Gardevoir is live on July 28 [Update: Gardevoir is now live in Pokemon Unite. It is a mid-tier cost character, going at...

The post (Update) Gardevoir is coming to Pokemon Unite this week appeared first on Destructoid.

Non-player characters, especially in first-person games, can often be more interesting than the protagonist, and certain games thrive because of the big cast of colorful companions you meet along the way. Xbox and 20th Century Studios are recognizing those characters--sort of--with the first Xbox Game Pass Non-Player Character Awards, hosted by Ryan Reynolds, who also just happens to be nominated. That seems fair.

Ryan Reynolds won't actually get to decide who wins the award, however--that comes down to the fans. Alongside Reynold's character Guy in Free Guy, the other nominees are Samuel Hayden from the two recent Doom games, Parvati Holcomb from The Outer Worlds, and Chief Trader Mollie from Sea of Thieves. Yes, all of those games are from Xbox first-party studios, so we are calling shenanigans.

Oddly, some major Xbox characters aren't included in the poll, like Cortana from Halo, Captain Keyes from Halo, Sergeant Avery Johnson from Halo, 343 Guilty Spark from Halo, Dr. Halsey from Halo, or Thomas Lasky from Halo.

Despite the global semiconductor shortage, Sony's PlayStation 5 has now sold more than 10 million units as of July 18. This makes it the fastest-selling PlayStation console ever over a similar period of time after launch, eclipsing the initial sales of the PS4, PS3, PS2, and every other PlayStation.

Sony made this announcement less than a day after Microsoft also announced that the Xbox Series X|S is the fastest-selling Xbox console platform in the company's history. Microsoft does not share hard sales data for its Xbox consoles, but an estimate from analyst Daniel Ahmad put Series X|S sales at 6.5 million units.

Sony also announced new sales and player data for some of its top recent games:

• Spider-Man: Miles Morales has now sold more than 6.5 million copies.
• MLB The Show 21 has sold more than 2 million copies on all platforms, and it's reached more than 4 million players in total.
• Returnal has sold 560,000 copies.

Of note, MLB The Show 21's total player number is double its sales figure no doubt due to Xbox Game Pass. In a major shakeup for the series, Sony brought the game to Xbox platforms this year, and it's included on Xbox Game Pass.

As for Returnal, Sony recently announced that it acquired its developer, Housemarque, which will now make something "bigger and more ambitious" as it next game.

Introducing a hands-off preview session of upcoming RPG Weird West the other day, creative director Raf Colantonio offered a short, sweet summary of its central design principle: "Say yes to the player". We were to expect no arbitrary canyons disguising linear levels here, he promised, nor quests designed to funnel us into binary decisions. Instead, we were to look forward to a literal wild west of open decision-making; a persistent world with its own internal rhythms, through which we would be free to mosey in whichever style we fancied.

Inevitably, then, when the demo (played by game director Gael Giraudeau) got underway, I glossed over the bleak discovery of the player character's son, shot dead by eerie cowboys, and commanded Giraudeau to pick up a dead wolf. It seemed the right thing to do, given the whole "say yes to the player" thing. And to be fair to Giraudeau, he picked that wolf right up. He carried it around for a bit, dodging a tornado in the process, before finding an egg in a haystack, chucking it in the air, and shooting it with a gun. Not bad, Weird West. Not bad.

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There's a new Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania trailer, and it reintroduces AiAi, Baby, Doctor, GonGon, MeeMee, and YanYan.

The post Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Reintroduces AiAi, GonGon and MeeMee appeared first on Siliconera.

Mortal Shell's next update will be its biggest one to date, as The Virtuous Cycle expansion will add a roguelike element to the game when it launches on August 18. Players will have to adjust their tactics to deal with enemy positions and cycles being reset whenever they die, but a collection of pillars scattered across the land of Fallgrim will allow for more than 100 new abilities to be discovered and combined.

These pillars can unlock anything from exotic weapon enhancements to entirely new combat maneuvers, which developer Cold Symmetry says will have the potential to break the mode if certain abilities are correctly discovered and fused together. In addition to that Mortal Shell's fifth Shell will be the elusive teacher Hadern, who has a unique skill-tree that includes dagger mastery and the ability to soak up punishment.

The Axatana--one of the fabled legendary weapons of Mortal Shell--has also been added and can transform between dual katanas and a supreme heavy axe form that each have their own movesets.

Last month PUBG was given a major update with the introduction of new map Taego and a Gulag-style second chance system, but there are yet more surprises in store - with multi-care packages, a secret room and... burning planes... all being added in the latest update.

The patch notes for update 13.1 for PC are now live, and detail changes for both Taego and the wider game. Possibly the most dramatic addition is a feature called the "emergency landing plane", which will definitely keep players on their toes at the start of a match. Instead of the usual calm flight above the battlegrounds, this plane starts hurtling towards the ground - while on fire - and any players who remain on board until the end of the journey will take 50 percent damage. It travels faster than the normal plane, and has a varied fall height, so you'll need to jump at the start of the journey if you want to glide further across the map.

"Stay alert and pay attention to the flight crew's instructions, as not every flight is an easy one," the patch notes say. You don't have to tell me twice.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator has finally arrived on Xbox Series X and Series S consoles - and it's simply terrific. We like to talk about 'next generation experiences' at Digital Foundry and this is up there with the best. In fact, in many respects, it is simply in a class of its own. When it launched on PC, we described it as the new Crysis in terms of the way it's able to push hardware to the limit, so successfully executing a console port was never going to be easy, no matter how capable the console is. Yes there are some drawbacks, but the takeaway is that Series X is delivering a visual experience up there with PC at its best, while Series S - although compromised - is borderline miraculous to behold bearing in mind this is a $299/£249 console with onerous memory constraints.

But it's all there. Microsoft Flight Simulator literally gives you access to the entire world thanks to its unique world generation systems, backed up by streaming from the cloud. Developer Asobo Studio delivers incredible visuals on multiple fronts: terrain rendering is first class, the sheer density from the cityscapes is still awe-inspiring while atmospheric rendering, cloud simulation and weather characteristics look simply phenomenal. In the past, we've talked about how challenging this game is to run - in fact, we've embedded a library video further on down the page from the RTX 3080 launch showing that even one of the most powerful GPUs on the planet can't deliver 4K60, even with our carefully blended range of optimised settings.

Glitchpunk launches on Steam in Early Access form on 11th August with its first playable city, publisher Daedalic has announced.

The top-down sci-fi action game, which has been described as a cross between Grand Theft Auto 2 and Cyberpunk, launches then with the city of New Baltia playable.

This provides around eight hours of play at launch, developer Dark Lord said, with more to come.

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Donuts and gaming don't often go hand in hand due to the fear of spreading all that sugar all over your controller, but at least you'll be able to dig into a next-generation guilty pleasure treat soon. Krispy Kreme in the UK is teaming up with Xbox and has revealed The Nexus Level Donut, a baked good consisting of injected brownie batter, green icing layered on top, and a white coating used to create the Xbox logo.

Is the donut better than an Xbox Series X console? Technically it is more ergonomic, has better sharing options, and is more edible than Microsoft's current hardware.

Digging into a glazy day treat also comes with a few benefits, as buying a Choose Your Own Dozen selection at Krispy Kreme Stores or Sharer Dozen in grocery or services cabinets will unlock a free month of Game Pass Ultimate.

It's worth noting that the free month promotion is limited to one per customer, so buying a dozen boxes won't result in a year's worth of Game Pass. In addition to that, Xbox Series S consoles will be given away and Krispy Kreme has a few more surprise prizes in August.

Other activities include golf and hanging out at a bar.

The post Lost Judgment Mini-Games to Include Drone Races and Tailing Missions appeared first on Siliconera.

The UK is a weird place, London most of all. For example, Westminster City Council spent £2m commissioning a new hill (no, I'm serious) near Marble Arch that opened on Monday.

For the low price of £8, people with too much money to spend can climb the 25-metre-tall structure to have a prime view of, err, Oxford Street and Hyde Park, I guess.

However, this waste of taxpayer money might just be a money-maker as a Mario-themed attraction. As Nintendo Life points out, people have been comparing the hill for its uncanny resemblance to Super Mario 64's Bob-Omb Battlefield. Others have compared it to Minecraft or a PlayStation One game.

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As part of EA's week-long Madden NFL 22 player ratings reveal, the publisher is revealing the ratings for the game's top players, and the best of the best get a 99 rating. This puts them in the elusive "99 Club," as it's known, and three members have been announced so far.

Davante Adams, a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, was the first player to be announced for the 99 Club. EA Sports surprised Adams with the news while he was playing golf, and it was all documented on video. Every member of the 99 Club gets a special "99" necklace and other goodies, as you can see in the video below.

The second member of the 99 Club is Aaron Donald, who, in addition to his 99 OVR rating, boasts a 99 in the Strength category--this makes him the strongest player in the entire game. "He also has the holy grail of RE skills with absurdly high ratings across all line-penetration attributes and top scores in field awareness," EA said in its announcement.

Beak on through to The Other Side The Old Testament defines to each of us this allotment of years: Three...

The post Review: Death’s Door appeared first on Destructoid.

These slippers will let you walk around like a Gundam. Someone tell Setsuna F. Seiei.

The post Premium Bandai Lets You Wear Gundam Feet as Slippers appeared first on Siliconera.

Netflix has made another big move, scooping up the global rights to a new action movie starring Will Smith that will be directed by John Wick and Deadpool's David Leitch. The movie is called Fast & Loose, as was reported earlier this year.

According to Deadline, "every major player" was in the mix to buy the rights to Fast & Loose, but Netflix won out in the end.

Fast & Loose tells the story of a criminal organization leader John Riley, played by Smith, who suffers memory loss after an attack. He then reunites with his crew but things are not how he remembers. The script was written by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber (Battleship, The Meg).

Here is the rest of the synopsis for the film:

"When John Riley (Smith) wakes up in Tijuana after being left for dead with absolutely no memory, he follows a string of clues to uncover his identity discovering he's been living two different lives: one, as a super-successful crime kingpin, surrounded by beautiful women, expensive toys, and a lavish lifestyle, and the other as an undercover CIA agent, but with a puny salary, no family or home life whatsoever, and zero trappings of success. The problem is, he can't remember which of these two personas is his true identity, and, more importantly, which life he really wants to live."

Professional porters Feral Interactive are no longer working on a native Linux port of A Total War Saga: Troy. Valve’s work on Proton, a game-specific compatibility layer that’ll power their Steam Deck portable, has created “generally less demand for native titles,” according to Feral, meaning the upcoming Steam release will rely on Proton, or other compatibility programs, to run instead.

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Microsoft has revealed that it will also be included in the same initiative through the Indie Game Incubation program.

The post Sony Interactive Entertainment to Support Indie Developers Through Planned Initiative appeared first on Siliconera.

Those who missed out on joining the first Genshin Impact Discord server will now be able to join a second one.

The post miHoYo Opens a Second Genshin Impact Discord Server appeared first on Siliconera.

Dr. Mario World will be shut down by Nintendo this November, after little more than two years of service.

The mobile match-3 puzzler launched in July 2019 and has been kept well updated with new stages and characters. But in-game purchases have now been switched off, and the game will become completely unplayable from 1st November.

After that date, Nintendo says it will memorialise the game and your play history via "Dr. Mario World Memories", a web page it will put up after pulling the game down.

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Last night, BioWare released a fun infographic with stats about player choices in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Most of it is pretty unsurprising, with players mostly choosing to be the good guys, opting into peace and Paragon points. But it also has info about what backgrounds and classes players chose. And I have to know, in a game where you're able to play as techno wizards and space sorcerers, why did 40% of you decide to play the class in which your only special skill is "has several guns"?

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Halo Infinite's first multiplayer technical preview is confirmed for this weekend.

In emails sent out to those invited to take part, developer 343 said the preview runs from tomorrow, 29th July to 1st August.

Instructions on how to download the pre-release build will be sent in the next few days via email and Waypoint message, the invitation reads.

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Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has told staff that the company's initial response to the recently-filed discrimination lawsuit was "tone deaf".

"Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf," Kotick said in an open letter to company staff that was made public last night.

"It is imperative that we acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way. I am sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding."

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Krispy Kreme UK has partnered up with Xbox to create a limited edition doughnut.

Called "The Nexus Level,", it's made with "irresistible light and fluffy dough with a rich and gooey brownie batter, dipped in icing and decorated with the iconic Xbox Nexus design.".

To accompany this, the most significant of all game product launches, Krispy Kreme released a video that parodies Microsoft's Xbox One X reveal trailer.

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UPDATE 28/7/21: The latest Switch Online games are live, and Nintendo has also included an unannounced "SP" version of Super Mario Bros. 3. As with other similar "SP" remixes, this version tweaks the game slightly to give you a different challenge.

As Nintendo Life reported, Super Mario Bros. 3 SP drops you into World 8 with eight powerups to pick and choose between so you can have a go at the game's latter stages with ease. It's something, at least, in an otherwise quiet update.

ORIGINAL STORY 21/7/21: Nintendo has announced the next three SNES games set to join its Switch Online catalogue: Claymates, Jelly Boy and Bombuzal.

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I'm in Microsoft Flight Simulator for the long haul. I've followed its slow taxi up the runway to yesterday's big Xbox Series X/S take-off. I expected a few bumps. I'm sure it will still stick the landing.

But last night's launch was a little turbulent - even with all pre-flight checks complete. I had the game's base installation and additional offline pack all pre-loaded (102GB, ouch, but still about half a Call of Duty: Warzone). Then along came a surprise 27GB day one update. Well, flights do get delayed.

After sitting through all that, surely, everything was sorted. Well, no. If I want to go see London or New York or various other global attractions in detail, you need their corresponding region's additional free content packs. These are accessible from Flight Sim's already bulging in-game store (alongside dozens of paid-for planes and airports). I couldn't see a way of getting these content packs downloaded via the standard Xbox marketplace. I wish there had been a way of pre-loading these too.

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Gardevoir will appear as a Ranged Attacker and utilize Fairy and Psychic attacks.

The post Pokemon Unite to add Gardevoir to Roster of Available Pokemon appeared first on Siliconera.

When US representatives Phillip and Ryan Chew played against Japan in the badminton men’s doubles Olympic tournament, their names were shortened for the country’s TV broadcast.

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