We've seen some pretty great discounts on Nintendo Switch exclusives this week, but GameStop's deal of the day offers a stellar discount on one of the best Nintendo Switch games: Super Mario Odyssey. The brilliant 3D platformer is on sale for just $30 today only at GameStop. This is a price we very rarely see, even during the holidays. As such, it's possible Super Mario Odyssey will sell out before the deal expires tonight.

Odyssey is one of the most inventive Mario games in franchise history thanks to its level of freedom and expanded bag of platforming tricks for the plumber to employ. The lavish open-world kingdoms are littered with great platforming sequences, clever puzzles, and a bevy of secrets. Though primarily thought of as a solo experience, Super Mario Odyssey also has a fun co-op mode where one player controls Mario's sentient hat Cappy. It earned a rare 10/10 in our Super Mario Odyssey review.

The PS2/Xbox classic is coming to modern consoles

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Deals on first-party accessories are few and far between now that we're in a new console generation, but Xbox Series X and Series S owners can take advantage of a rare deal over at Newegg today. Through the rest of the day, you can pick up an extra Xbox Wireless Controller for $53, down from its $60 list price, with promo code 93XQY47 at checkout. This "Shell Shocker" deal is only available for the Carbon Black shade.

This is the new Xbox Wireless Controller that released alongside the Xbox Series X|S, but thanks to Microsoft's backwards compatibility, it'll work great with Xbox One as well. So even if you haven't upgraded to the newer consoles, you can snag this controller to take advantage of its improved features, knowing it'll work with your next console when you do upgrade. The new Xbox Wireless Controller features textured hand grips and triggers, a clickier, circle-shaped D-pad, and, of course, a new Share button that makes taking screenshots and recording video easier than ever.

Back in March, Assassin's Creed co-creator Jade Raymond started up Haven Studios, an independent Canadian developer with plans to make a new PlayStation game. She had previously been the head of Stadia Games and Entertainment, but left after Google started shutting down its development studios earlier this year. Now it seems Raymond has tempted some other Google alums over for her new project, who also all happen to be former Ubisoft developers too.

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This week's GTA Online update pays tribute to the military-industrial war machine, with events and discounted vehicles all themed around mobile army action. All this and more was detailed in a new Rockstar blog post, which you can read the highlights of below.

Double Rewards On Mobile Operations Missions

Players who own a Mobile Operations Center can launch new missions that will reward them with double the usual cash and reputation points until May 12. As an added bonus, any completed Mobile Operations mission also tops up in-game bank accounts with an extra GTA $100,000, research speeds on cutting-edge technology such as ballistic equipment has been tripled, and supplies have been discounted by 50%.

The Scarlet Nexus opening movie is now online, and it shows off multiple members of the cast as the Oral Cigarettes theme song plays.

The post Watch the Scarlet Nexus Opening Movie appeared first on Siliconera.

Sometimes we touch on the realm of tabletop here at Destructoid, and this bit of news is definitely worth hitting.

Marvel United, a joint effort between Spin Master and CMON, made some waves with their initial (now "Season 1") Kickstarter for their miniature/card game hybrid project. The gist is that each player picks whatever hero they choose (who comes with an accompanying deck of 12 action cards), then battle it out against an automated villain who has their own deck in a co-op format.

The combination of the hobby-level chibi minis and the easy to learn card game style took off, as the Kickstarter soared to $2.8 million in funding, and a positive word of mouth following the launch of various expansions: like the addition of Thanos, Sinister Six, and Guardians of the Galaxy to the game.

Just a few weeks ago they launched their "Season 2" springboard, catapulting them into a funding effort that closed last night to the tune of $5,988,089 in funding. That puts them as the 10th overall most-funded gaming Kickstarter of all time, including all video games and general "gaming" categories.

For reference, Season 2 opens up from the "core set" (due in September) with familiar X-faces like Wolverine, Cyclops, and Magneto, followed by expansions for Apocalypse, First Class, Blue vs. Gold Team, X-Force, Phoenix Five, Deadpool, Days of Future Past, and a surprise-last-minute Fantastic Four addition.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday as the Apple vs. Epic trial continues

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Call of Duty: Warzone is getting a surprise guest character: Rambo.

The official Call of Duty Twitter account published a not so subtle tease for the iconic soldier joining Warzone, referencing "SURVIVORJOHN#1009062".

And then:

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The ESA announced 10 more companies that will be at E3 2021, and Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Sega, and XSEED are among them.

The post Bandai Namco, Sega, Square Enix, and XSEED Will Be at E3 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

It seems like there's a fair bit in store for the universe of Tom Clancy's The Division. Today, Ubisoft announced a free-to-play game set in The Division universe, and provided a few other updates on other projects as well.

In today's blog post, Ubisoft announced that its Red Storm studio is working on a free-to-play game called The Division Heartland. Red Storm has worked on various Tom Clancy video games stretching back to 1997, and Heartland will be a standalone game that will "provide an all new perspective on the universe in a new setting." It's currently set for a 2021-2022 window for PC, consoles, and the cloud.

Ubisoft also confirmed that The Division will be coming to mobile as well, with more details to come later. There's also more The Division 2 content on the way from Ubisoft Massive, including a new game mode, set for a late 2021 release and a Division Netflix film on the way as well.

That's a lot on the way if you're a fan of Tom Clancy's The Division. Even if not, a free-to-play version certainly sounds fairly interesting. And given the sheer flood video game adaptations coming to Netflix as of late, sure, I'll watch a movie starring Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal. I hope there's a montage of them grinding a raid for loot.

Ubisoft will have more news this summer, as its next Forward is currently planned for the all-digital E3 2021. 

After I lived and breathed NieR Replicant for review, I looked back on my play time with a mixture of fondness and pain. The payoff of the fifth and final ending was worth the effort, but good lord was it a test of resolve. It was brilliance nestled in multiple layers of gift wrap, and I was happy to call it a day once I'd seen the final (x5) credits.

But one thing I haven't stopped thinking about is the menu sounds. NieR Replicant has excellent noises for its start menu and inventory management, both of which aided that sense of being transported to another world of monsters and emotion.

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Whoever said "nothing is certain but death and taxes" never played Eve Online. The space-faring MMORPG has no central government to shake you down for road money, and space pilots are cloned anew after every ignoble death. After 18 years and countless updates, Eve is one of the longest-running MMOs in the industry. It predates World of Warcraft by over a year. It is older than Facebook. Alongside long-toothed MMOs like Runescape, it has survived where others have fallen. But surely even this infamous generator of sci-fi skulduggery must pay the final toll some time. Well, not according to Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of the game's developer, CCP.

"It's never going to die," he says.

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It’s Nintendo Download day, the day when we get a look at the *checks list* 30 new games coming to the Switch eShop over the coming week. This week’s activities include chilling on a skateboard and playing poker with those boom anime babes that make you think the wrong thing.

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The PC’s never-ending march to add ray tracing to everything has now made it onto other platforms. Super Mario 64 RT (or 'SMT64RT' if you're pressed for time) is the latest, albeit unofficial version of the Nintendo 64 classic for PC, grafting a lighting system onto the 24-year-old console game. Digital Foundry took a look at the mod and cried fully dynamic and simulated tears of joy.

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Zynga has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire mobile monetization and advertising platform Chartboost for $250 million in cash.  ...

Eleven, are you listening?

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A class action lawsuit against Sony has been opened by consumers for the distribution of PlayStation games.

The post Consumers Open Lawsuit Against Sony for Restricting Sales of Digital Games appeared first on Siliconera.

June is just around the corner, and with it comes this year's all-digital E3. Today, several more companies confirmed their participation in the all-digital event.

In a press release, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed that Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Gearbox Entertainment, Verizon, XSEED Games / Marvelous USA, Freedom Games, Devious Eye Entertainment, Turtle Beach, Verizon, and Binge.com are all participating in E3 2021. The ESA says these companies are preparing to bring "major announcements and reveals" to E3.

Square Enix already confirmed its participation last month, but today's announcement bumps up the count of those attending with some pretty notable companies. Others like Nintendo, Capcom, and Microsoft have already confirmed their participation in E3, and Ubisoft has announced its next Forward will be during E3 2021. (Konami, however, will not be participating.)

John Krasinski makes an appearance in the sequel trailer

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Amidst the turmoil of Mega-MAU M& As, privacy changes and the uncertainty on re-targeting, studios may benefit from well-planned and executed community and retention strategies. ...

Switch hardware sales increased by 37.1 percent year on year to 28.83 million units, pushing the console to 84.59 million lifetime sales. ...

Rogue Lords is an upcoming gothic fantasy roguelike being developed by Cyanide Studio (the creators of Blood Bowl and Styx) and Leikir, and it's set to release this year. It caught my eye when it was first announced amidst the notE3 celebrations last year, mostly due to the eerie aesthetic and cool concept art shown during publisher Nacon's announce-a-thon stream. But today, the devs released a new gameplay trailer that's piqued my interest once more, because it shows that players can kind of cheat to win runs.

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Resident Evil Village is almost here and if you couldn't tell already from our glowing review, we loved our time with the latest horror adventure from Capcom. To celebrate the coming launch, we're going to be playing the first two hours of Resident Evil Village. So come hang out, join the fun, and don't judge us when you realize how big of weenies we really are here at Game Informer. 

The two-hour Resident Evil live stream event will be kicking off at 9 a.m. Central on the Game Informer YouTube and Twitch channels. We'll be diving in as Ethan Winters as he embarks on his journey to find his daughter Rose after she's taken by Chris Redfield following the murder of his wife Mia. 

Revenue for the Evangelion movie surpassed Shin Godzilla after almost 2 months in Japanese theaters.

The post Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Has Become Hideaki Anno’s Most Grossing Movie appeared first on Siliconera.

If you need a tubular tune to help push you into the back half of Thursday, then Bandai Namco has you covered. The publisher has released the opening anime to its intergalactic alien fighter Scarlet Nexus, which is set to launch on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox June 25.

E3 2021 has confirmed even more companies that will be attending this year's digital showcase, including names like Square Enix, Sega, and more. The virtual event is set to take place next month, offering new looks, fresh reveals, and a celebration of the gaming community. 

Even though E3 2021 will be digital this year due to lingering COVID-19 concerns, that doesn't mean that there won't be a few surprises to be had. ESA has confirmed even more companies that are joining the E3 lineup this year, including the following companies: 

• Square Enix
• Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Gearbox Entertainment
• Verizon, Freedom Games
• Devious Eye Entertainment
• Turtle Beach
• Verizon
• Binge
• XSEED Games

Already confirmed companies include Nintendo, Xbox, Take-Two Entertainment, Ubisoft, Capcom, and Warner Bros. Games. Sony and Electronic Arts are once more sitting E3 out, opting in to their own showcases instead. Konami has also confirmed it won't be in attendance despite having several "notable" projects in the works. 

10 more gaming and tech companies are headed to E3

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This new version puts a spin on a classic Vocaloid song.

The post Project Sekai Music Video Features Collaboration with Megurine Luka appeared first on Siliconera.

There's a bit of cross-media marketing going on right now between DC Comics and Fornite, and Batman is no stranger to that whole process!

As you may recall, the "Zero Point" comic series debuted recently: which thrusts Bruce Wayne into the Fortnite universe, and forces the World's Greatest Detective to figure out why he has to relive a blood sport battle royale contest every day whilst losing his memory. Of course, there are skins and stuff to earn and buy as a result.

There's sort of two things going on here. Zero Point readers (either physically or through the DC Unlimited service) are getting one code per issue to input for free stuff (first issue was a Harley Quinn skin, the second issue is the Zero Wing bat glider), and Epic, in true Epic fashion, is just letting you buy the stuff over scattered increments.

That's where Batman comes in. Just yesterday Epic unleashed his bundle into the storefront, which is going for 2,100 V-Bucks (roughly $20) and includes the Batman Zero skin, his tattered cape, a grappling axe harvesting tool, the aforementioned Zero Wing glider that's sort of a double-up reward, and the "Batman From Zero" loading screen that's seen in the header in this very story. You can find the full schedule of reveals here, with eventual updates for when you can buy them on the store (Harley is in June, for example).

That's basically it for now: Issue #2 is out, and you can buy some skins and make Batman do the Naruto run and/or dab.

It looked pretty good, didn't it? The Mortal Kombat movie made all the right noises ahead of release. Ultra gore - check! Fatalities from the games - check! Loads of characters from the convoluted Mortal Kombat universe - check! Unfortunately the finished article - out today to rent in the UK priced £15.99 - fails to live up to the hype.

Mortal Kombat starts strong, with a fantastic fight starring Joe Taslim's Bi-Han - a ninja who goes on to become the frosty Sub-Zero - and Hiroyuki Sanada's Hanzo Hasashi - a ninja who goes on to become the fiery Scorpion. There's wonderful fight choreography to be seen as Hasashi flings a kunai attached to a rope (a cool origin story for one of the most iconic video game weapons of all time) through the heads of Bi-Han's goons. It's a fast, fresh action scene, and you can watch it in the video below:

And Mortal Kombat finishes strong, too, with a decent fight to bring the conflict to an end (for now - a sequel seems certain). But everything in between the top and tail of Mortal Kombat's gory innards is a badly-paced snore-fest.

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The perfect pocket companion for your desk!

The post Re-Ment Pokemon Bonsai Figures Fit in Your Palm appeared first on Siliconera.

From the beginning of its inception, Yakuza was a game made for the adult male audience in Japan. It’s a point that its creators have previously brought up when interviewed about the games.

Yet, as the entire mainline series is finally available on PC, Yakuza has become an international hit for Sega, and I’m thrilled that many new converts and some of the most vocal cheerleaders are women. Coming to the latest entry, Yakuza: Like A Dragon (LAD for short), there are a lot of drastic changes to the formula, from new protagonist Ichiban to a turn-based JRPG battle system - but one notable shift is its relationship with women.

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The Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit is impacting the gaming industry dramatically as the topic of what constitutes as a monopoly comes center stage. Earlier this morning, we shared how Sony is being sued over PlayStation Store exclusivity, and now Valve is being sued for the same regarding Steam. 

The Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit's epicenter is antitrust violations. Antitrust laws are in place to protect consumers from companies owning a monopoly over their given market, as well as protection against predatory financial practices. The court proceedings have the interest of the entire gaming community, and now Valve is the latest to get swept into the bigger conversation about its placement in the gaming "hierarchy." 

As reported by Ars Technica, “Valve abuses its market power to ensure game publishers have no choice but to sell most of their games through the Steam Store, where they are subject to Valve’s 30 percent toll,” said indie game developer and Humble Bundle creator Wolfire Games, in the lawsuit against Valve.