Who needs a rivalry when you have friends?

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After numerous delays, it looks like we'll finally have the chance to watch Marvel Studios' Black Widow on July 9, either in theaters or on Disney+. This new chapter in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow), who becomes the central player in a conspiracy that has ties to her past life. Black Widow's origin story will be explored fully in this story, and there's a good chance that we'll learn more about the current developments of the MCU as this tale potentially bounces between timelines.

Exploring a future or current timeframe with Black Widow would obviously take a lot of setup and some crazy plot twists, but these movies have taught us to expect anything, even half of the world disappearing and reappearing in a flash.

Fans of Stranger Things will see David Harbour is now a part of the MCU, stepping in as Red Guardian, a Soviet super-soldier who ends up becoming a father figure to Natasha and Yelena Belova (who is brought to life by Florence Pugh). This film is directed by Cate Shortland, with a script penned by Jac Shaeffer, Eric Pearson, and Ned Benson.

We think this is it. After a year of delays, July 9 seems to be the day Black Widow will be released, in theaters and on Disney+. And though there was a “Final Trailer” last year, Marvel has cut a “New Trailer” for the new release date, and this one feels much more epic.

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There are dozens of survival games now, but DayZ still feels like lightning in a bottle. No game before or since has done such a good job of creating tension among players, where the occasional sighting of another human seemed filled with possibility and threat.

It's for this reason alone that I'm interested in Icarus, a scifi survival game from RocketWerkz and Dean Hall, DayZ's designer. An eight minute in-fiction 'documentary' did not give me a second reason.

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Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno will continue his streak of rebooting classic tokusatsu franchises with Shin Kamen Rider.

The post Shin Kamen Rider Will Be Made by Evangelion’s Hideaki Anno appeared first on Siliconera.

Walking down the street to check the mail at my hometown’s post office is an eerily different journey today than it was a year ago. I still pass the local pizza joint on the town square—a literal cornerstone of a small town community—but time has changed more than just ourselves. Despite the marks near the building’s roof acting as a reminder of its survival from the fire years before, the restaurant is still there, but not really. It’s hollowed out. Empty. It’s closed, for good, thrown to the void of to-be-forgotten establishments from before the pandemic.

As I walk by, memories of being a kid in that restaurant come flooding back: playing Dig Dug and Streets of Rage and some random bowling game with a physical ball to spin that controlled the virtual ball on-screen. Head down, wandering forward and lost in thought, I watched the sidewalk pass me by—square by square—and found myself thinking about Loop Hero.

On its face, Loop Hero is a curious amalgamation. Tower defense mechanics fuse naturally into a roguelite framework with a deck-building aspect, and if that sounds like a lot of bullshit, it’s because it is. At some point, diluting a game down to the cogs that construct it removes its identity as much as it informs it. Loop Hero is so much more than the sum of its parts, and its story ties together a patchwork only possible in the video game medium.

Plunging the depths of Loop Hero’s lore wasn’t only worth my time—it gave me my sense of time back.

Most folks don’t love Doom 3, often citing how much slower the game feels compared to old Doom titles. But that slower speed plus its focus on creating a dark, scary atmosphere means that nearly 17 years after its release, Doom 3 ends up being a great VR game. It might even be a better game in VR.

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Resident Evil Village has a photo mode, new footage has confirmed.

IGN published our first look at the promising horror game running on a PlayStation 4 Pro, and in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen we see you can press the Options button for skip / photo mode (Resident Evil 7 does not have either feature). The cutscene in question stars Lady Dimitrescu.

Unless you've been living under a rock this year you'll know the internet is... enjoying Resident Evil Village's extremely tall vampire lady.

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Square Enix has shown off Final Fantasy 14 running on a PlayStation 5 for the first time.

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida revealed 16 minutes of footage of the PS5 version during Square Enix's latest Letter from the Producer livestream (thanks, Gematsu).

You can check the footage out in the video below (skip to the one hour and 19 minutes mark):

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This week on Morning Checkpoint we watch a very rich person forget to pay their bills, learn how valuable your old Pokemon cards might be, find out which games will be free on PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold next month, and learn about more delays.

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Fight your way through Balduq in 4k with the latest version update for Ys IX: Monstrum NOX.

The post Ys IX: Monstrum NOX Can Run at 4k on PS5 appeared first on Siliconera.

Shrek 2, a film with layers, is now available to stream on Hulu

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A pair of JVC AE wireless earbuds with running coaching and a set of solar-powered outdoor torches lead Saturday’s best deals.

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This week's release from the good folks over at Hamster returns to the formative years of one of gaming's most-loved franchises, as Konami's whip-crackin' adventure Haunted Castle joins the Nintendo Switch Arcade Archives range.

Released in arcades back in 1988, Haunted Castle was the first Castlevania title developed specifically for the coin-op market, following the home console success of 1986's Castlevania and Vampire Killer, and 1987's Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. A hodge-podge of lore and features from the monster-hunting series, Haunted Castle sees Simon Belmont battle through six stages in order to rescue his wife Serena from the evil Count Dracula. Oh, we also get to see our boy Simon getting married in a slick white tuxedo... during the middle ages.

Check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber NintendoComplete.

Outriders has launched big, although tech issues are hampering its release.

People Can Fly's looter shooter hit over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, where it is currently the top-selling game at £49.99.

As a point of comparison, Square Enix's high-profile flop Marvel's The Avengers hit a peak concurrent player count of 28,145 on Steam when it launched in September. It's currently averaging 1000 concurrent players over the last 30 days.

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A New Legacy gets new graphics

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Can the Beautiful Boy give Tomie a run for her money?

The post Junji Ito’s Lovesickness Is an Infectious Read appeared first on Siliconera.

People have basically been talking about a Space Jam sequel with Lebron James for as long as Lebron James has been in the NBA. Slowly but surely that finally came together and now, 25 years after the first film was released, there’s a trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy.

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JACHS NY Sweater Cleanup Sale | $24 - 29 | CLEANUP

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Cblogs of 3/27 to 4/2/2021

-NinjaSpeed celebrates the 10th anniversary of the excellent Nintendo 3DS.

-Shoggoth2588 introduces April's Band of Bloggers prompt regarding games that Subverted Your Expectations.

-Black Red Gaming continues ranking games in the Wolfenstein series with this blog about Wolfenstein 3D.

-Gamingnerd sheds a light on key digital-only PS3 games on account of the PS3 store closing out this year.

-Startyde sheds a light on some PS3 and Vita storefront recommendations.

-Pacario shares his thoughts on the downsized arcade version of Bubble Bobble.

-BRAV0 F1VE discusses the seasonal association in the video game industry.

-Aurachad reviews Star Wars: Squadron.

-Kerrik52 reviews Tales of Xilia 2 as part of his Traveler in Playtime review blogging series.

-Humantofu shares his thoughts on the "adorable" Nintendo DS Goldeneye version.

-GoofierBrute talks about Pokemon Stadium 2 as part of this blogging series focusing on games time forgot.

ZOEMO Bed Rest Reading Pillow | $72 | Amazon

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In 2023, a new Kamen Rider film will be released. Called Shin Kamen Rider, it will be the latest reimagining of one of Japan’s most iconic heroes. Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno will be at the helm.

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Call of Duty: Warzone's enormous mid-season update was hotly-anticipated by fans, but unfortunately it has suffered from a number of serious issues since launch.

Shockingly, the long-standing invisibility bug, which has plagued Warzone for months now, returned with the update. This awful bug, which allows entire squads to turn invisible during a match, was linked to this week's return of the mini-gun variant of the helicopter. In response, Warzone developer Raven Software pulled the mini-gun chopper entirely from the game to investigate.

This is not the first time this has happened. Attack helicopters hit Warzone in December but were quickly pulled because they were used as part of an exploit that made players invisible. Nearly four months later, the attack helicopters returned to Warzone and, again, were quickly pulled because of the same exploit.

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It’s impossible to understate the impact Ghostbusters has had on my life. I was fanatical about it when I was a child, and then I rediscovered it in my adolescent years and became fanatical all over again. I still carry a massive torch for it, dressing up in the costume I built in my teenage years, rewatching the cartoons and movies frequently, and pretending that no movies have been released since Ghostbusters 2, and none will ever be released again. Nope.

It’s just unfortunate that video games have treated the franchise so badly. I’m still waiting on my Ghostbusters business tycoon game. I own both the best and worst games released under the franchise, but I don’t think any have hurt me as badly as the NES release. It was first released on 8-bit home computers in 1984, the Atari 2600 in 1985, the Famicom in 1986, and finally the Sega Master System in 1987. Since that wasn’t bad enough, North America would get their NES version in 1988. Thanks, Activision.

New research has "robustly verified" a link between loot boxes and problem gambling.

Researchers at the universities of Plymouth and Wolverhampton said loot boxes "are structurally and psychologically akin to gambling".

It also found that large numbers of children are opening loot boxes.

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Platinum Games just released an Apple Arcade-exclusive called World of Demons.

World of Demons is an action game, which comes as no surprise given Platinum is the developer of some of the best action games in the business, such as Bayonetta and NieR:Automata. The trailer is below:

This one's set in a fantastical world full of yokai - a class of supernatural monsters and spirits from Japanese folklore. (Ewan Wilson wrote a fascinating article for Eurogamer about the yōkai in From Software's Sekiro, which is well worth a read if you want to know more.)

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Warner Bros. has delayed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga again.

Developer TT Games said it needed more time to make Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which was due out spring 2021 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, "the biggest and best ever Lego game."

The Skywalker Saga was first revealed at E3 2019 and was initially expected to come out in late 2020, but in August it was delayed to spring 2021. It is an all-new retelling of all nine films, with the goal of being the definitive Lego Star Wars game.

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PlayStation Studios' MLB The Show 21 launches on Xbox Game Pass day one, Microsoft has announced.

MLB The Show 21 is the first PlayStation Studios game to launch on Xbox Game Pass. The deal also means PlayStation owners have to pay £60 for the Sony-developed MLB The Show 21, while Xbox owners can get it as part of their Game Pass subscription when it comes out on 20th April.

If you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can get MLB The Show 21 on your Android phone via the cloud.

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Disco Elysium opens with you on the floor. Your character, whoever they are or whatever might be left of them, is face-down in a nondescript hotel room. You are surfacing, breaching the plane between the void and the living only to find yourself harboring the grand-daddy of all hangovers.

This is the introduction to the character you'll inhabit through Disco Elysium. They are many things, and can become even more: calculating, feeling, thinking, judging, determined or remorseful. But in this moment, you are at a low, possibly the lowest of low.

Moments later, you can die trying to get your tie off the ceiling fan. The headline reads "Cop Suffers Final Heart Attack," and boy, does the word "Final" do a lot of work.

It's the weekend once again, and I'd be lying if I said the days and weeks hadn't long blurred together to make one long day. Time seems simultaneously too fast and too slow, and I'm definitely struggling with the separation of day-to-day activities and events. Still, I have friends, I have games, I have movies, and I have you. Until we can get matters back to a state of normalcy, that will be enough for many of us. I hope this weekend finds you and yours well, and I hope you're keeping your mind exercised and occupied as we push through this particularly tricky period.

A big part of my week has revolved around just grabbing short bursts of gaming wherever I'm able, which hasn't been too often, to be frank. I've mostly resorted to hitting Capcom Arcade Stadium for small, cathartic breaks playing familiar favorites. While many of the games featured on that compendium are titles I've played to death, I'm still finding some new loves, such as Cave's excellent 2001 shmup Progear, which has a gorgeous aesthetic and challenging, satisfying gameplay. That's the great thing about video games, there's always new gems to discover, whatever your generation.

But this morning it's your time to talk gems. I appreciate you taking time out of your weekend to visit Destructoid, and I'm looking forward to reading about all the titles old and new that are occupying your free time, whether you have hours or even just minutes to play with. Jump into the comments below and let us know what you've been hitting this week. Hope it was a rad one.

Have a safe and pleasant weekend, from all of us at Destructoid.

One of the elements that makes FromSoftware's Demon's Souls so utterly engaging is its epic score, composed by the brilliant Shinsuke Kida. If you're both a Demon's Souls fan and one of those "It has a much 'fuller' sound" types, then you'll definitely be pleased to hear that the grim adventure's OST is now available to pre-order in sleek, double-LP vinyl format.

Star Wars fans looking to get their fix in the form of Lego games are set to be disappointed yet again. Following several delays, TT Games has once again pushed back its latest project. The Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga latest delay now puts the game from its spring release window into the unknown.

The news came via an announcement from the development team via Twitter. The team explained that while they were still working hard, but they require more time to make “the biggest and best-ever Lego game.”

More details will be shared following this latest delay for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

Koei Tecmo introduced a new girl to the endlessly-growing free-to-play game Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation.

Her name is Nanami, and she is Misaki’s former classmate. She’s voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro, whom you may know for lending her voice to Lulua in Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland.

You can check her out in the video below.

Do keep in mind that Nanami’s introduction doesn’t mean that you can unlock her immediately unless you’re willing to pay cold hard cash for the opportunity.

The new character is already available exclusively via a paid gacha. While the SSR rate is the usual 1.10%, Koei Tecmo pretty much cheats by throwing in a bunch of unrelated SSR outfits reducing the percentage to a ridiculously low 0.78% to actually get Nanami. She likely won’t be available in non-paid gacha for several months.

On the plus side, this means that the previous addition, Lobelia, should be available in free gachas soon.

I’m having a problem playing Fantasian, the new turn-based RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker released today on Apple Arcade. I can’t stop pausing to look at how gorgeous the game’s real-life miniature diorama sets are. I didn’t say it was a bad problem.

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Today third-party developers have continued to release new airports and reveal new goodies for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Pyreegue released Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (UKLL) in Lviv, Ukraine.

It’s currently available on Orbx Direct for approximately $17. Below you can check out a gallery of screenshots and a features list.

If you enjoyed Demon’s Souls’ updated score on PlayStation 5 and want to be able to listen to it in high fidelity, you’re in luck: Sony and Milan Records are partnering to produce a two-disc vinyl set of 21 tracks from the remastered classic for release on June 18.

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Celebrity Deathmatch: Godzilla Vs. Kong edition

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