Robert Langdon is back, except this time he’s young(er) and hot(ter)

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Erin Fitzgerald, the prolific voice actor who played Ramlethal Valentine in the Guilty Gear Xrd games, won’t be returning in the upcoming Guilty Gear Strive after stepping down to “support more work for Black actresses behind the mic.”

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As casualties have mounted with the Israeli government's assault on the Gaza Strip, the impact of the violence has had fallout in the world of game development and media. ...

A Diamond Select Toys release! Swinging out of his hit video game, Miles Morales prepares to hurl a Venom Blast at his opponent in this all-new Gallery Diorama! Based on the game’s costume design, Miles leaps over one blast as he charges up another in this sculpture made of high-grade PVC, and featuring translucent materials that catch the light. With detailed sculpting and paint applications, it comes packaged in a full-color window box. Designed by Caesar, sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios.

In celebration of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition release, a big group of the trilogy's voice actors, writers, and producers got together to answer questions from fans and tell old stories over the weekend. Spearheaded by femshep voice Jennifer Hale herself, you can also hear the voices of dudeshep, Tali, Liara, Joker, Samantha and more all together in the same nostalgia-ridden video call.

There's talk of the developers' kids now playing the games for the first time, actors hugging lots of fans, and getting a little emotional in the recording booth. It was honestly just swell to hear the team talk about the joy of working together, whether or not you're planning to jump back in for the remaster.

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New FF14-inspired Fender Stratocaster available IRL and in-game

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miHoYo's Tears of Themis combines crime scene investigations, witness interrogations, courtroom debates, romance, and... card collecting.

The post Preview: Tears of Themis Combines Investigations, Romances, and Card Collecting appeared first on Siliconera.

Razer's Power Up bundle includes a Cynosa Lite keyboard, Viper mouse and Kraken X Lite headset, and right now you can pick it up for $69 / £69 - compared to $159 / £139 if you bought each item separately. That's a great deal, and a perfect budget pickup for anyone new to PC gaming.

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Until Village, I had never played a Resident Evil game in my life because I am a gigantic baby who is ridiculously easy to scare. But I knew as soon as I saw that tall, glamorous, vampire woman that I’d steel my courage and give the venerable horror franchise a try, if only for her.

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Good news, everyone: the Fnatic Streak65, one of the best compact mechanical keyboards, is 20% off at Amazon UK today. It's dropped from its usual price of £110 to just £87.99; for reference that's within £3 of the lowest price that we've ever seen for this model.

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An extra layer of security is coming to Genshin Impact, as miHoYo is rolling out 2FA account verification for players.

The post Genshin Impact 2FA Account Verification Added appeared first on Siliconera.

_{[This is a fun conversation starter from Destructoid reader NinjaSpeed. I can't believe I waited until Kingdom Hearts III of all games to try the series for the first time, and I'm still working through that mental whiplash. -Jordan]}

Are there any beloved video game series that you've completely missed out on?

Resident Evil was one of those series for me. I noticed the positive buzz around Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but didn't pay too much attention to it as someone who'd never touched a survival horror game before. I wasn't interested in those kinds of games... or so I thought. Enter: Resident Evil 2.

Medieval chaos simulator Chivalry 2 is calling up its big 64-player sword battles next month but you can test your mettle for free next week in its big open beta. Torn Banner Studios have released a new trailer to showcase all the things you can get up to during the beta that begins next Thursday, and it does sound like plenty to sink your spear into. There are several game modes to try, character customisation to get stuck in on, duel servers on PC, and it's all cross-platform to boot.

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PJ Studio's 1/4 scale boutique series figure line will include a 54 cm tall Mai Shiranui statue, which will cost over $1,000.

The post New Mai Shiranui Statue Is Almost 2 Feet Tall and Over $1,000 appeared first on Siliconera.

I haven't forgotten about Sludge Life, a wonderfully weird graffiti platformer-adventure game from Terri Vellmann, Doseone, and Devolver Digital, but I had forgotten that it was coming to Nintendo Switch. The day's almost here, too — the Switch version and Steam release are both planned for June 2, 2021.

The first-person / open-world / vandalism-centric SLUDGE LIFE is coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam on June 2!

All SLUDGE LIFE merch comes with a Steam code for a limited time: https://t.co/1hC1IZLYb7 pic.twitter.com/X6tvlYHQIC

— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) May 17, 2021

Over the past year, Sludge Life has been available for free on the Epic Games Store. That's where I messed around with it originally, and the free-to-claim-and-keep deal is still valid until May 28 if you're only hearing about this now. (Normally, the game will cost $14.99, so do what you gotta do.)

If you're someone who can tolerate a bit of the old crude humor and you enjoy exploring lo-fi 3D spaces, especially when just-out-of-reach collectibles are involved, then you're gonna have fun figuring out what's what. There's little to no hand-holding, so poking around the world, chatting with the locals, and figuring out how to get up to that one spot up there that's taunting you is a big part of the experience.

Golf is normally a game about being patient and waiting your turn while wearing awesome pants. In Speed Golf, a new mode coming in next month’s Mario Golf: Super Rush, four players tee off at once and then race across the course to complete the hole first. I’d pay to watch real golfers do that.

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Last week, Ubisoft rolled out title update 4.0 of Watch Dogs: Legion which added a slew of new features including new co-op mission and character abilities. The publisher is already looking ahead to the next patch, update 4.5, which will bring the much-requested 60 fps boost for Legion on new-gen consoles among other improvements.

There’s no word on when 4.5 will go live, but Ubisoft’s blog post provides a sneak peek of what’s to come. In addition to the 60 fps performance mode for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the update will address several bugs revolving around Mina Sidhu, a new Dedsec operative who arrived in 4.0. For fans of Legion’s online multiplayer, 4.5 will introduce a new Tactical Op, Project OMNI. Ubisoft promises to share the full patch notes closer to launch. 

Lady Dimitrescu stole the show when Capcom first revealed Resident Evil Village and now that the game is out, that love hasn't slowed. While other aspects of the game are finally getting their time to shine, that Tall Vampire Lady fervor hasn't slowed one bit. We've previously shared an incredibly accurate cosplay of this particular character, but one fan took the character even further by doing an ASMR Ethan Winters scenario. 

ASMR is a feeling that invokes a tingling sensation from the scalp down through the neck and into the rest of a person's body for a controlled stimulus effect triggered by certain sounds. It's been huge lately, especially in the YouTube community, and for good reason. While skeptical at first, a friend recommended particular ASMR sounds for migraines and it's been a total lifesaver, which has caused me to venture out into the web for more gaming takes on this community. Because I have no chill when going full-on fandom love with games I enjoy, it didn't take me long before I saw a crossover between Lady D and ASMR and you know what? I'm not mad at it at all.

Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against the AR glasses company Nreal, arguing that its name and branding is similar enough to Unreal Engine to warrant copyright infringement case, among other charges. ...

Two Dragalia Lost Fire Emblem summon showcase banners are available in-game and give people a chance to get six crossover characters.

The post Dragalia Lost Fire Emblem Summon Showcase Banners Return appeared first on Siliconera.

Work continues on boom-a-riffic shooter sequel Shadow Warrior 3. Developer Flying Wild Hog and publisher Devolver Digital continue to drop trailers and tidbits pertaining to the cataclysmic sequel, which is scheduled for release on PS4, PC, and Xbox One later this year.

The developers might have outdone themselves this weekend, however, with the reveal of amazing new character Motoko — the last remaining sorceress of the Kumo Brotherhood. Very little has been revealed about this fascinating new villain, but we do know that she holds mastery over electrical elements and that she plays host to an explosive and opulent fighting arena, which is fittingly titled "Motoko's Thunderdome."

We also know that she looks fucking awesome. Look at her...

What would it mean to defund the Normandy?

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Here's 5 talks that game designers should add to their schedule at the all-digital GDC 2021. ...

Move over literally every other game slated to launch this year, because Mario Golf: Super Rush is going for GOTY. Or, it's just going for being a really enjoyable experience, which is all we can ask for as gamers. The latest trailer for the golf-inspired title breaks down more about what this experience will have to offer, including more game modes and what the roster will look like. 

The trailer, seen below, shows off one particular aspect that has us intrigued if for no other reason than the chaos it looks like it spawns. The mode is called Speed Golf. Players will tee off at the same time and whoever gets to the final hole the fastest (easy, internet) takes the win. There's a stamina meter that players will need to be conscious of when using power-ups to get that W, as well as other tools in the proverbial belt like speed dashing and the ability to interrupt an opposing player's progress. 

The below trailer also goes into the Battle Golf event for Speed Golf, pitting players against one another in a battle royale-esque arena environment. Players will have to do whatever it takes to claim holes on the course, with three marking a win. This aspect takes Speed Golf to even bigger heights, letting Nintendo fans get in touch with their competitive side a little more. 

While Bandai Namco Nordics' The Idolmaster Twitter poll is for fun, the account also noted, "I will of course forward all of your great feedback internally."

The post Bandai Namco Nordics Gauging Idolmaster Interest via Informal Twitter Poll appeared first on Siliconera.

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is out now, and contains most of what the original trilogy had to offer. One notable absence, however, is Mass Effect 3's renowned multiplayer. And while it was known it wouldn't make the LE cut, there might still be some hope.

Speaking to CNET, Mass Effect Legendary Edition project director Mac Walters said he would "never say no" to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode coming back in some form. "We want to see what kind of reception the Legendary Edition gets and what the demand for the multiplayer is," said Walters. "And then we'll ask ourselves if we have the resources and time to bring it up to the quality level we and fans want."

It's not much, but it's something. Previously, BioWare has cited the logistical concern of resurrecting the multiplayer mode for why it was absent. But now it seems that if enough people are hungry for it, we could be teaming up to take on the Reapers after all.

Signs point to a launch lining up with the 2022 Masters Tournament

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Chinese augmented reality headset company Nreal is being sued by Epic Games, developer of Fortnite and Unreal Engine.

If you hadn't guessed already, the squabble is over the name Nreal, which Epic Games argues is deliberately similar to its own Unreal (thanks, The Verge).

The two companies have been warring over the name for years, though this latest legal challenge from Epic appears to have been sparked by an Nreal boast it had "big news" - seemingly, that its Nreal smartglasses were being prepped for US launch later this year. I guess that's one way of throwing shades.

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If your first-person shooter is set in a dystopian futurecity and has zippy movement, you need to have fights bouncing and dashing across rooftops. That's just a rule. And thankfully this rule is heeded by Sprawl, an upcoming FPS with inspirations including Ghost In The Shell and Doom Eternal. The devs put out a 15-minute gameplay vid the other day and yes, I will run along these walls and bound across these rooftops and shoot these cyberfaces.

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‘It was shocking to us,’ says producer Osnat Shurer

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There's a fair degree of controversy surrounding this one - does this remaster clash with the original creator's vision, especially when it comes to its lighting and presentation? Are some of the changes to gameplay and content appropriate or indeed desirable? While the discussion plays out, there are some things that are beyond dispute. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a truly colossal undertaking - an ambitious package that updates Bioware's creation for the 4K era, while also making much-needed tweaks to the first game's controls. And for Digital Foundry, the process of looking at this game began with one simple question: what should be the focus for our coverage and how do we begin to cover it?

The developer itself has been very open about exactly how it has approached the remastering process with its visual upgrades, while explaining in-depth how it plans to change and rebalance gameplay aspects. Our focus therefore is to produce more of an overview of the remaster, and to see how it plays out across the new wave of console hardware. And that presents some interesting discussions points: the Legendary Edition is primarily designed for the last generation of console hardware. Enhancements for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles come with 'back compat plus' - which is essentially the last-gen game code running on the new consoles, with minor tweaks in place to define resolution and frame-rate targets.

Creator Isaac Childres issues a statement about themes of race and colonialism

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The snazzy new packaged up and fancied up version of the original Mass Effect trilogy is now out, so I imagine there are plenty of you who clocked double digit hours into it over the weekend. As they do, modders spent the weekend remastering the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition even further. There are a good handful of mods available for the new edition already, utilities and reshade presets and all.

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A new Story of Seasons title is in development for mobile devices.

The post Story of Seasons Mobile Announced by Tencent appeared first on Siliconera.

Local residents in the UK town of Walsall aren’t happy about the 15 giant green planters that have recently been installed in the town center, with many pointing out how they look like the warp pipes found in Mario games.

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As an on-off Arma 3 fan (250 hours seems like nothing in the Arma scheme of things), I generally find the base game not much of a game. Even with all the DLC, it’s still more of a sandbox for you to fill and play, but that’s what it was built to do. Others agree, which is why there are 89,000 mods on the Arma 3 Steam Workshop. Here’s some of the best.

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BioWare updated the infamous Tali bedside photo

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Eleven episodes in and we're not still run out of chat! DF Direct Weekly is where the core team members take a break from their tasks every Thursday to discuss the biggest tech stories of the week. The show goes out on Saturday to members of the Digital Foundry Supporter Program, who also provide excellent source material for our weekly Q+A. The show then gets its public release every Monday, where you shall discover what we think about topics as diverse as The Coalition's announcement that it's working with Unreal Engine 5, to the reveal of the Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti notebook GPU, to the leak of the PSVR2 specifications.

We also like to spend a bit of time talking about the content we're working on and some of the reaction to it, with Alex Battaglia particularly forthright about the reaction to his Resident Evil Village PC breakdown in particular. John Linneman discusses his live stream on the brilliant RetroTink 5X scaler (watch that stream here, it's great!). Meanwhile, we also talk about some of the behind the scenes goodies given away to supporters, including a two-hour retro Q+A, and a look back to God of War 3 way back in 2010 amongst other things via our 'Classic FPS Remastered' series. This is where we dig out library captures from decade-old hard drives, re-analyse the footage with today's tools and sympathetically upscale 720p video for today's 2160p displays.

For those interested in specific segments, here are some time codes for you:

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