The original Hotline Miami is one of my favourite games of all time. Its pounding soundtrack and tense encounters spawned tons of clones, but few that ever captured the magic of the first top-down murderfest. While not a flawless sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number comes close enough to its predecessor's blood-soaked beauty.
A few days ago, Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs developer Pixelated Milk took to Kickstarter seeking funding for its JRPG-inspired game Sacrifire. Just a few minutes ago, the funding goal was achieved.
Pixelated Milk asked €82,000 to the fans, and those were provided in a little more than a week by 2,165 backers, that have pledged €82,171 at the moment of this writing.
Sacrifire is coming for PC via Steam (a listing is already up) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch in 2022.
One of the crown jewels of the prioject and potrentially quite tempting for JRPG fans, is that composer Motoi Sakuraba (Tales of Arise, Star Ocean series, Valkyrie Profile series, and many more) will help creating the soundtrack.
If you’re unfamiliar with Sacrifire, you can read the official description below. If you’d like to contribute, there are still 21 days left, and you can do so at the game’s Kickstarter page.
“SacriFire is an upcoming RPG, inspired by the 90s titles that began our love affair with gaming. For as long as we have worked on SacriFire, we’ve held to one simple but ambitious concept: to take the best of the games we grew up with (Vagrant Story and Xenogears amongst them) and to combine those elements with contemporary storytelling and QoL improvements in order to create an RPG experience that feels simultaneously nostalgic and modern.”
Microsoft's recent Xbox & Bethesda showcase at E3 gave a glimpse into the company's publishing strategy, with its broad mix of big titles, new games, ports, and varied indie games. A new interview with Xbox Game Studios head of publishing Peter Wyse by Polygon has given further insight into those plans--with the exec pointing to diversity as one of the company's biggest goals.
Xbox Game Studios has spent years getting to where it's at now, building a strategy that transcends the Xbox console itself. As well as its many studio acquisitions, including the mammoth Bethesda purchase, Xbox has also been investing a lot into the Xbox Game Pass and Cloud Gaming, increasing the number of ways its games can be played.
Wyse says Xbox is also prioritising diversity in the traditional sense, drawing attention to some of the company's initiatives around inclusivity. "You can see this come to focus in a game like Tell Me Why," Wyse told Polygon. "We're super proud of that game. It speaks to our values around LGBTQIA+ representation, mental health awareness, and more."
These practices extend to both Xbox's third-party partnerships and internal recruiting processes, Wyse says, citing Microsoft's relationship with non-profit Gameheads, a mentorship program for people of color and low-income people aged 15 to 25 who are looking to get into the games industry.
Kadokawa Games has released a new video, a new picture and new details about its upcoming strategy simulation JRPG Relayer.
Thanks to this new set of assets, we learn more about Jupiter and we see the introduction of his voice actor, Yuto Suzuki.
The image you can see below shows Jupiter and his Stella Gear mecha, while the video has Suzuki-san introduce himself and his character to the fans. You may be familiar with him due to his roles as Nagi Shiraishi in Uppers, Krugne in Granblue Fantasy, and Honebami Toushirou in Touken Ranbu.
The tweets reveal that Jupiter is Saturn’s older brother and a former mercenary. Currently, he’s a test pilot for GT Labo’s technology division. His personality is multifaceted, rough around the edges but caring for her sister, and able to provide excellent insight.
Fans are threatening to boycott the Supanova pop-culture convention, where a vendor openly displayed fascist flags and merchandise at Supanova’s most recent Sydney show.
Square Enix is about to release another Final Fantasy XIV Eorzea Collection in Japan.
The popular recurring mook (a publication similar to a magazine but intended to be sold in libraries like a book) will be released in Japan on August 3 and pre-orders are already open.
The price is 2,200 yen including taxes (which translates approximately into $20) and if you’re interested, Amazon Japan ships it to quite a few international destinations.
It’s basically a big catalog of all the equipment and outfits released in the game since July 2019 and all of the furniture items.
Basically, if you want to see all the outfits that your character can wear and all the ways you can decorate your house (which is the true endgame), this is the publication for you.
Eorzea Collection 2021 will also include images of outfits and interior decoration assembled by selected players.
Below you can see the cover and a sample of pages. With 256 pages, it’s pretty thick.
The newest launch trailer shows off the release date for Sky, which was delayed due to pandemic reasons.
The post Sky: Children of the Light Nintendo Switch Port Will Arrive in Late June appeared first on Siliconera.
Warzone is the latest game to get new Pride month-related content, with eight new Pride flags being added as Calling Cards. The new flags join six other Pride flags that were added as part of last year's celebration, bringing the total to 14 flags representing varied LGBTQIA+ identities.
The newly added flags include designs representing the genderqueer, agender, aromantic, intersex, genderfluid, and pansexual communities. The new flags also include one specific to gay men, as well as the Progress Pride flag, which combines the rainbow Pride flag with the colors of the trans Pride flag.
The Calling Cards will go live with this weeks #Warzone update on Wednesday evening. They will be added to player's inventories by default and are completely free for everyone. pic.twitter.com/mBpVgflJRm
— Raven Software (@RavenSoftware) June 15, 2021
The Pride Calling Cards added last year are also still available, consisting of the standard rainbow flag, the bisexual flag, the lesbian flag, the asexual flag, the transgender flag, and the nonbinary flag.
The Yakuza games have long featured playable versions of classic Sega games, but they’ve normally come in the form of arcade classics. The upcoming Lost Judgment, though, is taking things back a little further in time.
A brilliant little concept in need of more content Phantom Abyss is out today on Steam Early Access, and while...
The post Phantom Abyss hasn’t hooked me yet, but I’m rooting for it appeared first on Destructoid.
Abandoned developer Blue Box Game Studios has found itself once more in the crosshairs of speculation as of late, with some alleging that the game is actually a new Silent Hill by Hideo Kojima.
The developer already mentioned there was no such association when the game was teased back in April, but apparently, that was not enough.
Today, Blue Box once more took to Twitter to explain that it’s a small indie studio formed by real people are simply working on their own game, and promising a livetsreamed Q&A.
“We wanted to answer the rumours one last time. We are a small indie studio with actual real people. Working on a passionate game. We want to do a Livestream with a Q & A in were you can ask all your questions to clarify every confusion & rumours. We just want to set expectations.”
A few hours later, the studio posted a video with director Hasan Kahraman in order to show that he’s a real person, reiterating once more that he’s not associated with Hideo Kojima and he’s not an actor.
You can see the relevant tweets below.
Finally time to lay this one to rest(?) [Update: It looks like hopes may not be dead after all. Harada...
The post (Update) Tekken producer Harada says Tekken X Street Fighter development was about 30 percent done, but it’s shelved appeared first on Destructoid.
If it weren’t for the global Covid pandemic, DOTA 2's big championship, The International, would have been held in Sweden in 2020. Now, in 2021, it’s not going to be held in Sweden again, but this time for more administrative reasons.
When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit last year, Pokémon Go—a game built entirely around the idea of moving freely around outside—had to undergo some changes As people around the world faced lockdowns and movement restrictions, the game had to adapt.
SLIGHT SPOILER: A world of trouble is teased within Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's final moments. Director Colin Trevorrow shows us what happens next in the little-known short film Battle at Big Rock, which gives the thunder lizards new territory to explore. We’ll have to wait until next June to see how this story concludes in Jurassic World: Dominion, but can soon play through another of this story’s chapters within the video game, Jurassic World Evolution 2.
Frontier Developments says that this sequel will have more of an authentic story that shows us what is happening within the United States. This isn’t just a theme park building experience. You’ll be pushed to contain dinosaur threats in different ways as this narrative unfolds.
The galaxy is at skeletal chaos E3 2021 is done. Kinda. Maybe. It was mostly streams and some will probably...
The post The totally unbiased Destructoid community response to who “won” E3 appeared first on Destructoid.
EA is reportedly reviving Dead Space, with Motive Studio developing the game. As reported by Gematsu, Motive is supposedly developing a "reimagining" of the original Dead Space games and EA plans to reveal the game during EA Play Live on July 22.
The rumor originated from GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, who said on the GamesBeat Decides podcast that Motive Studios is working on a dormant EA IP to be revealed at that presentation in July. After that, the story was picked up by VGC, and Eurogamer reported hearing similar rumors. According to Gematsu, the Dead Space revival is being developed by Motive Studios, which previously made Star Wars: Squadrons. EA Motive had previously been working on a project codenamed "Gaia" but it was canceled after six years in development. The new Dead Space is set to be a reimagining of the story and not a direct sequel to the original trilogy.
Amazon Prime Day is live now through Tuesday, June 22, and Prime Day's gaming chair deals include a handful of discounted high-end and budget gaming chairs. The deal that stands out the most is on the Razer Iskur, which has dropped to its lowest price yet for Prime Day, but there's a range of cheaper options that are all well-rated by users on Amazon. If you're looking to upgrade your gaming setup with a nicer chair, you'll likely find one on sale that fits your needs during Prime Day. Every gaming chair we've highlighted here has an ergonomic racing design with different adjustments and features, but you can check out the full range of Prime Day gaming chair deals at Amazon below. Plus, check out more of the best Prime Day deals available across tech and gaming.
Spinal is the Killer Instinct franchise’s resident bone daddy, so when it came time to lay down his theme for the 2013 reboot, composer Mick Gordon naturally procured an instrument made from an actual human bone to round out the track.
Whether you're in it for movies, electronics, or kitchen gear, Amazon Prime Day 2021 is stacked with deals. With services like Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Streaming and Amazon's upcoming Luna service growing in popularity, we have more ways than ever to get gaming on our phones.
Thankfully, the Razer Kishi Mobile Game Controller is on sale for 35% off its usual price as part of Amazon Prime Day 2021--that's $53 for the Android version and $67 for the iPhone and Xbox-specific versions. The Kishi for Android is compatible with a wide variety of phones, including Google Pixel phones, many Samsung Galaxy phones, and of course Razer's own phones, as well as many other Android phones with center-mounted USB-C ports, while the Kishi or iPhone is compatible with a most iPhones 11 and later. In addition, it was our pick for best phone controller.
The next game from the folks behind tactical war sim Radio Commander looks like a wild ride. Whereas Serious Sim's last game pointedly kept you out of the action, coordinating from the tactical tent, Heading Out will put you in the driver's seat. Their upcoming cross-country adventure is about driving a muscle car through the American west like the anti-hero of an old movie. Serious Sim have just announced this one to hit the road sometime next year but its announcement trailer makes it look worth watching for.
Following the reveal of Battlefield 2042, it seems that a decent number of players have hopped back into 2013's Battlefield 4. In response, EA is firing up some extra servers just to serve the eight-year-old game's bolstering population.
In a post on the EA Answers page, an EA community manager addressed the need for more Battlefield 4 servers, saying "We've been monitoring your experience and notice queue times in the US West region were far longer than in other regions. Good news, we've increased server capacity for this region--you can expect less waiting, and more playing."
While only the US West region needed extra servers to accommodate more players, it seems that EA has plans in case those issues continue to grow. "We'll continue monitoring queue times and will make further adjustments as necessary," continued the community manager.
It should be no surprise that Battlefield 4 has seen a resurgence, considering how much of that game has been channeled in Battlefield 2042. Besides the upcoming game's modern setting, its reveal trailer even included a jet stunt from Battlefield 3, exciting older fans of the franchise.
Part of Battlefield 4's resurgence could also be chalked up to a recent Prime Gaming deal. From June 2 to June 20, Amazon Prime members could claim a free copy of the game for Origin. The version of the game that was given away excluded its five DLC expansions.
The only way forward is down, way down If you’re anything like me, the first thing that grabs you about...
The post Signalis preview: Sci-fi pixel horror goes supernatural appeared first on Destructoid.
Some gameplay bonuses are going away, but new bonuses are inbound
Amazon Prime Day 2021 is ongoing and bringing in more fantastic deals across great gaming tech products. Whether you pick up a Prime Day gaming laptop deal today or are just looking for a better audio setup for your consoles, you're probably going to want a headset--and the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, which is currently our pick for the best PS5 headset, has a great discount on Amazon right now. While we like it for the PS5, it's also fantastic for Nintendo Switch and PS4 owners, too.
Amazon Prime Day is undoubtedly the main sales event this week, but it's far from the only sale you can shop right now. The size and popularity of Prime Day has driven Amazon's biggest competitors to launch their own competing sales at the same time, and Best Buy is always one of the biggest players in the anti-Prime Day space. Right on schedule, Best Buy has kicked off a major sale just ahead of Prime Day, called "The Bigger Deal" savings event--which feels like a playful jab at Walmart's "Deals for Days" and Target's "Deal Days" sales.
Best Buy's The Bigger Deal savings event is a series of 24-hour flash deals that end at 10 PM PT / 1 AM ET each night through June 22. Monday's main deals focus on "High-Tech" products, including MacBooks, the iPad Air, gaming laptops, monitors, PC gaming peripherals, and more.
We've rounded up the best flash deals in Best Buy's The Bigger Deal savings event. Make sure to check back tomorrow for the final round of deals.
People selling emblem codes online is nothing new but with Bungie Day right around the corner, there is a small warning from the studio to try to save Destiny 2 players a couple of bucks. The long and short of it? Don't buy the Spicy Ramen Coupon emblem. It's not a scam in relation to phishing info, it's just a crappy thing to do with a gift that's meant to be free for the community.
The senior community manager for Bungie took to Twitter to do two things: warn players against paying money for something that is going to be free, and to ask dataminers to please — for the millionth time — stop spoiling surprise content.
Don't buy the Spicy Ramen Coupon emblem.
It's meant to be a free gift on Bungie Day, from us to you.
Dataminers - please stop spoiling content, whether it be story or emblem codes. I know it can be exciting to be the first person with cool info, but please respect the fun.
Jumping cold into the latest entry of a long-running series is often a daunting proposition. Catching up with dozens of characters across decades of games? Checking out Wikipedia pages between missions? No thanks! An exception to this rule is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, released earlier this month for PS5, which…
Coming this year to PC, Xbox One, and Switch I realize that Steam Next Fest is wrapping up tomorrow, but...
The post Unsighted ticks a lot of action-RPG boxes for me appeared first on Destructoid.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a massive package full of content, which shouldn’t surprise, considering that it features the while world. Yet, Xbox users will be able to enjoy even more content at launch than PC users did.
While the simulator includes over 37,000 airports, most of them are procedurally-generated based on Bing Maps, so they’re not as “true-to-life” as you would expect from bespoke airport created manually by artists.
Most are not terrible, but the experience of taking-off and landing at an enhanced airport is much more immersive.
If you look at the official lists, the $59.99 Standard Edition includes 30 of those hand-crafted airports. The $89.99 Deluxe Edition grants 35, and the $119.99 Premium Deluxe Edition includes 40.
Yet, those lists date back to the PC release and are now outdated. In reality, you’ll get 53 hand-crafted airports with the Standard Edition, 58 with the Deluxe Edition, and 63 with the premium edition, which is a lot more.
The reason behind this is in the bi-monthly World Updates that Microsoft has been releasing for the PC version, adding better details, many points of interest, enhanced cities, and more hand-crafted airports to specific nations or regions. The good news is that Xbox users will be able to enjoy all that additional content from the get-go.
Respawn Games design director Jason McCord discusses why Apex Legends players were so excited to return to Skull Town after months away. ...
It's no secret that Microsoft won E3 2021 with its games-focused presentation, especially when you look at the slate of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in the near future. And with Amazon Prime Day underway, there's no better time to top off on your subscription than with three months for $30.
One month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $15 alone, so you're getting an additional month for free at the price of a two-month subscription through this deal. Of course, new Xbox Game Pass subscribers should take advantage of Microsoft's limited-time 3 months for $1 offer prior to buying this membership through Amazon Prime Day. But once that's done, you can essentially double-up.
Xbox Game Pass has become quite the powerhouse of entertainment, especially following Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its high-profile subsidiaries. And with the company's commitment to bring first-party titles to the service, Xbox Game Pass has tons to offer to every type of gamer. You might even discover you next favorite indie, which are plentiful on Xbox Game Pass.
It's worth mentioning that because this is the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you also get access to online play via Xbox Live Gold, as well as a variety of EA titles through its EA Play catalog.
Today Innomen Team and Sekai Project released the second episode of its space opera visual novel with RTS Elements Sierra Ops.
You can find it on PC via Steam for $9.99 with a 10% discount during the launch week. A “Season Pass” which also includes the upcoming chapters 3 and 4 costs $17.99.
You can watch the trailer below, alongside quite a few screenshots. Incidentally, the first chapter is free, so you can check it out and see if you like it. The second episode is five times longer and keeps track of all your previous choices.
The time is now. Amazon Prime Day is upon us. In addition to bringing some of the best Prime Day gaming deals and the best Prime Day TV deals--and of course, massive markdowns on computers. If you're in the market for a new laptop, you're in luck. This year, Prime Day is showing us the biggest discount on 2020 MacBook Pro computers with M1 chips, knocking the prices down by a couple hundred dollars.
You've got two different options to choose from in this particular sale. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage has been marked down from $1299 to $1099. Alternatively, the 512GB SSD version has been marked down from $1499 to $1299.
Introduced in 2020, the M1 chip boasts Apple's most impressive speed and power boosts with up to 5x the graphics performance and 2.8x the CPU performance of past models. In addition to the impressive processing specs, this generation of MacBook has up to 20-hours of battery life per charge, the longest of any MacBook Pro to date.
The M1 chip also improves the performance of the camera, making sure your Zoom meetings and facetime calls will be coming in with crystal clarity.
My favourite mouse of all time is the Logitech G Pro Wireless. I've owned one since it came out in 2018, I still use it almost every day and I recommend it wherever possible - but normally, I have to say "I know it's expensive, but it's worth it."
Today, I don't need to say the second part, as this legendary Logitech mouse has dropped from its normal retail price of £110 (!) to something a little more reasonable. It's now £62 at Currys PC World when you use the code FNDDGAMING at the checkout. That's the lowest price we've ever seen for this model, and a great deal for anyone looking for a high performance wireless mouse for work or gaming.
Long-time Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick eked out another lucrative victory today at the company’s annual shareholder meeting with a narrow vote of 54% in favor of maintaining his generous salary and millions in annual bonuses. The win comes after a year-long campaign by CtW Investor Group to rein in what it…
So many games are getting movie and television adaptations, and one more just got added to that growing list. Final Fantasy 9 is the latest gaming adventure to get its own animated series. The company in charge of production promises that it will be a kid-friendly adventure that fans will love.
The Final Fantasy 9 animated series is being developed by French Cyber Group Studios alongside Square Enix. The goal for the studio is to begin production at the end of 2021, or the beginning of 2022 at the latest. “The games have a strong co-viewing potential,” said Pierre Sissmann, the CEO of Cyber Group Studios, to Kidscreen. He added that this series will appeal to both those familiar with Final Fantasy and for those just coming to it, giving both a chance to immerse themselves within a beloved universe.
Amazon Prime Day 2021 is continuing to deliver some of the best tech deals imaginable. Whether you're piecing together your perfect gaming PC or looking for the best Prime Day gaming laptop deal, chances are you're going to need a mouse--and why look any further than the Razer Basilisk Ultimate mouse, which GameSpot has picked as the best wired/wireless hybrid mouse on the market right now?
Currently, thanks to Prime Day, the Basilisk Ultimate is available for only $76, marked down from $150--that's a 49% price drop. This particular mouse includes a charging dock, 11 programmable buttons, and a battery that can last up to 100 hours before needing a charge--and that's only if you use it wirelessly. Keep it plugging in and you'll never have to slow down.
That’s both an accurate analogy and the plot of the game I don’t know about you, but my memory for...
The post Earthworm Jim 3D put the series on life support appeared first on Destructoid.
Genvid Technologies is looking to hire a Senior Producer. ...