External SSDs such as the excellent Crucial X8 or Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD are great devices for taking your files on the go, especially if you don't want to worry about whether every knock, bump or jostle is going to accidentally break your drive as it rattles round in your bag. They sure are expensive, though, which is why many of us still opt for external hard disk drives (HDDs) when it comes to transporting or backing up our files. They might be slower, but they're much, much cheaper. Indeed, whereas a 2TB Crucial X8 will set you back well over £200 / $270, you can currently pick up a 2TB Seagate Game Drive for Xbox for just £63 / $92.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone received a hefty Season 2 Reloaded update this week. Not only does the mid-season patch reduce the overall file size, but it also includes new maps, new modes, new operators, a new weapon, various balance changes, and a mysterious new area in Zombies.

Specific updates for both titles are already live and available to download. Let’s get into what’s been added in the latest Season 2 Reloaded patch.

March is almost over, which means a new month is on the horizon for gamers to dive right into new adventures. Just like every month, Sony is offering a few free games for PlayStation Plus members. While March's free games are still available for a little longer, here is what the free PS Plus April 2021 lineup looks like. 

Free PS Plus April 2021 Games Revealed

The latest free games lineup includes Oddworld Soulstorm, Days Gone, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War. Personally, I can't recommend Dead War enough. Zombie Army is a hilariously campy zombie co-op adventure that feels satisfying and is super fun to play with friends. If you like games like Left 4 Dead, that is definitely a title worth picking up. 

Days Gone was a PlayStation exclusive that also centered on zombies. While the reception was mixed, the journey was stunning and it was fun riding around on a motorcycle taking out zombies left and right. If you like living out a biker's fantasy with a story that focuses on surviving in a zombie-eat-zombie world after suffering insurmountable loss, it's a solid deal to dry out. Fair warning: the story starts off pretty slow, but the gameplay does eventually pick up if you're willing to stick it out. 

The 2021 PlayStation Store Spring Sale started. The first wave of games includes 13 Sentinels, Atelier Ryza, Disgaea, and Jump Force.

The post PlayStation Store Spring Sale 2021 Includes 13 Sentinels, Atelier Ryza, and Disgaea appeared first on Siliconera.

Well, it's taken a spell, but the Kingdom Hearts series, (or at least its mainline entries) are now available for purchase on PC. Square Enix released the holy trinity of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind on Epic Games Store yesterday, alongside rhythm-action spin-off Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.

It's a fairly contentious release - I believe y'all call it a "Monkey's Paw" - in that while fans have been clamoring for the iconic crossover franchise to make its PC debut for some time, the Epic Games Store exclusivity is making it a bitter pill for some. Not helping are the unsurprising price-tags, with each title running between $50-$60. It's undeniably great to see these excellent adventures finally available on the PC platform but, at full price, you're looking at the best part of $200 for the complete set. Gawrsh.

Regardless, Square Enix is very pleased with the EGS debut of one of its finest franchises. Series producer Ichiro Hazama released a brief message speaking of his happiness that the legendary series could now be experienced by new audiences, adding to the thousands upon thousands of fans who have enjoyed Sora, Donald, and Goofy's adventures through the magical universes of both Walt Disney and Final Fantasy. They're great games, and absolutely worth checking out. But perhaps leave the EGS iterations to Scrooge McDuck.

Earlier today on the PlayStation Blog, a brand-new beer brewing simulator was announced by Auroch Digital‘s Marketing & Community Manager, Jemima Crow. Brewmaster gives players their very own home brewing kit and plenty of space to concoct numerous different styles of beer.

The title is being published by the UK-based Sold Out and aims to give players a realistic brewing experience with, according to Crow, “…authentic brewing techniques in the ultimate celebration of craft beer.”

And just judging based on the Brewmaster trailer released alongside this PlayStation Blog post, Auroch Digital appears to be on the right path. The creation of the wort is spot on with boiling hops in water together with malt extract and then adding in yeast at the end after cooling. There’s even a hydrometer you can use to measure the alcohol content of your brew.

It’s no wonder that the process already looks spot-on since, “Lots of people on the Auroch team are foodies and craft beer fans…” Crow continues, “We’d been exploring brewing in our spare time, so making this game made so much sense to us.”

Crow also talked about the team’s vision while working on this project, “Brewmaster is about the process, not just the end result.” They also aim to make the game accessible to people who aren’t into brewing while having enough depth that experienced homebrewers will want to stick around.

No matter what your level of brewing expertise is, Brewmaster seems like a good way to try out new flavor combinations without having to wait the multiple weeks that it usually takes to brew a batch of beer.

Fortnite got a “performance and resolution boost” on Switch yesterday, developer Epic announced. The game should now look and run better, and the file size is smaller too.

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A selection of Microsoft's backwards compatible Xbox and Xbox 360 catalogue is now available to stream via xCloud.

Banjo-Kazooie, Fable 2, Gears of War 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are among the first 16 back compat games you can stream to Android phones.

Three of these - Jetpac Refuelled, Viva Piñata, and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise - have also had touch controls enabled.

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Just like that, another anime season has come to an end. While it may be bittersweet to see some of our favorite series wrap up another year, there is always something new on the horizon to look forward to. As we looked back at what the winter 2021 anime season had to offer though, we realized something — this was an insanely good season of anime.

Seriously, this season had a ton of standout moments and may just be the best anime season we’ve had in a while, including plenty of debuts that blew expectations out of the water, just like JuJutsu Kaisen.

A new Multiplayer map quietly went live in #ModernWarfare following tonight's update!

A joint operation between Chinese police and Tencent has busted what's being described as the "world's biggest" video game cheating ring. ...

Announced during the PlayStation showcase a while back, Knockout City is a new dodgeball-inspired multiplayer game from Velan Studios and EA. The game looks vibrant and colorful, and it’s getting an open beta on all platforms this weekend.

The beta will run from April 2 to 4, and it’s already available for pre-load on PC and consoles. In addition to that, the beta will also support cross-play and cross-progression across all platforms, so you’ll be able to play on whichever platform you want, and switch between them as you wish.

Here are more details about the beta:

“In the Cross-Play open beta, players will have access to everything they loved from the first beta — the Moon, Cage and Bomb Balls, the Concussion Yard, Rooftop Rumble, and Knockout Roundabout locations and Team KO playlist — with even more new content. This weekend will introduce the Sniper Ball, Back Alley Brawl map, 1v1 Face-Off and Diamond Dash playlists and fresh style options.
With a total of four maps, five playable balls, three playlists and a ton of customization options, this second beta will have dodgebrawlers on their toes all weekend long. Private Matches will also be available to set up custom matches against friends, or some foes.”

Here is the playlist schedule for the upcoming weekend:

The Pokemon Trading Card Game Chilling Reign expansion, which will add Calyrex and Galarian versions of the legendary birds, will appear in June.

The post Pokemon Trading Card Game Chilling Reign Expansion Will Arrive in June appeared first on Siliconera.

Whether it's a game I've played for five minutes or five-hundred hours, I always love hearing about no-brainer tips that are easily overlooked – the kind that are small but impactful over time, and make you do a double-take for failing to notice them. For my fellow Stardew Valley fanatics, here's a big one.

You know how you need to greet/pet your farmyard animals each day to get a little heart and grow your bond so they produce the highest-quality goods? Well, for many of us – especially those of us with more goats, chickens, cows, and pigs than we probably need – the morning ritual can be fussy. The animals can get all bunched-up in close quarters, and it's a little pesky to greet them once (and only once!) so that you don't accidentally bring up their friendship rating menu when you tend to them.

I have painstakingly greeted my animals one by one throughout my hundreds of hours in Stardew Valley. As it turns out, you can just hold the pet/interact button and run up to them – it'll work perfectly. You'll get friendship points with every animal and you won't pull up the dreaded menu.

Here's a demonstration of the trick on PC from Reddit user Boiled_potato8:

Took me ages to realize you could just click and hold the mouse to pet all of the animals from r/StardewValley

How did I not know about this? I could've been more efficient this whole dang time!

A hard drive sale and PlayStation Store gift cards lead Wednesday’s best deals.

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Just family bonding things!

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No Man’s Sky pushes out a big content patch today with the expeditions update, which essentially adds seasonal experiences to the game. In expeditions, everyone starts fresh with a number of milestones to seek. Some are very simple and get you involved in the phase structure, while others are far more advanced. Completed milestones offer rewards to let you speed along your journey, and each completed phase (set of milestones) offers a unique, special reward. Basically, if you’re looking to capture the experience and the essence of playing No Man’s Sky anew, expeditions are exactly the kind of system that you’re looking for. Will you capture that “first time playing” feel over and over again?

The expedition update contains numerous other additions and enhancements, further adding to the story of No Man’s Sky’s redemption arc. The frequency and relevance of the numerous updates since launch is a thing to behold. 

The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 was chaotic, messy, and for so many more reasons than simply bugs. The road leading up to launch was filled with talk centering around "crunch," meaning a work-culture fostered by toxicity and a complete disregard for the developers themselves, and mixed messaging regarding what Cyberpunk 2077 wanted to be. Then it launched, and it was revealed that the demos given to press prior to launch weren't actual representations of the game and that the PC-only review model hid a very broken experience when on consoles. This resulted in Cyberpunk 2077's removal from the PlayStation Store, but as CDPR continues to work hard to make improvements, the team thinks the game is ready to make a comeback. 

Sony removed the game from its store when the number of reports came pouring in about how badly Cyberpunk 2077 played on PS4 systems. Game-breaking bugs around every corner, streets conspicuously devoid of NPCs, and a plethora of other problems that made the final picture not line up with what was marketed all pooled together to justify the removal from the PlayStation Store. Sony said that the game can only return when it has met certain consumer standards. This point was driven home even more when numerous investigations launched in polish regarding the studio. 

The Genshin Impact Contending Tides event is on the way and involves daily challenges with objectives and Primogems as rewards.

The post Genshin Impact Contending Tides Sends You to Dadaupa Gorge appeared first on Siliconera.

The Games Done Quick team has announced that it will once again be hosting its sunny speedrunning event Summer Games Done Quick in July. The event will bring together some of the fastest and... furiousest players from across the globe to compete in a week-long extravaganza of speedrun challenges, tool-assisted chicanery, and fascinating longplays.

As the world remains rocked by the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year's SGDQ will once again be an online affair, with hosts and runners streaming directly from the comfort and safety of their own homes. While GDQ fans are most certainly missing the camaraderie of the event's traditional hotel gathering, the online GDQ events have been no less entertaining and enjoyable in terms of content.

The online setting and difficult world circumstances have also had seemingly no effect on the generosity of the gaming community, who last year donated an amazing $2.3 million USD to non-profit charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. The GDQ team is yet to confirm who will be the beneficiary of SGDQ 2021, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't return to the global medical and healthcare initiative, as has been the case for several years now.

As I've made it known many, many times before, Summer Games Done Quick is one of my favorite times of the year. Chilling in the sun with good drinks and good games, all for a good cause. I haven't missed it in years, and I don't intend to in 2021. You can check out all of the action yourself when SGDQ 2021 kicks off Sunday, July 4, live on the official GDQ Twitch channel.

Take one look at Studio Koba's retro platformer Narita Boy and you could easily mistake it for a new kind of Tron game. It's awash with neon blues and rainbow-coloured light refractions, and the edges of the screen even flicker and bend like you're playing it on a CRT television. But this is no mere nostalgic landgrab for those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s. Narita Boy's retro roots run deep. It's a game that's as much about old tech as it is indebted to it, and anyone who's ever tinkered about with their PC and still reminisces about the 2D action side-scrollers of their youth will find a lot to love here.

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After six years, The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth has finally launched its final expansion (though the previous one was supposed to be its last). Repentance is a huge send-off, adding loads of newness while improving the old too. I cannot tell you how much it is killing me to have to 'work' and write this post rather than sack it off and go play right now.

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Sony and the development team over at miHoYo have announced that the PS5 version of Genshin Impact is almost ready to enjoy with a brand new trailer. The latest video for the game shows off the improved features with the next-gen update, including faster loading times, better resolution, and more. 

"The PlayStation 5 is an ideal platform to enhance the vast open-world featuring in Genshin Impact, allowing the team to incorporate more thoughts and ideas into the game, both now and in the future," said Forrest Liu, President of miHoYo, in a recent press statement. "That's why we've been working to bring the native PlayStation 5 version of the game to our players as soon as we could."

With 4K visuals and fine-tuned performance, this open-world action RPG will create an even better experience for players ready to take on the world of Teyvat. The next-gen update will not change the fact that the game is free-to-play. While there are microtransactions, our own Dan Tack mentioned that their inclusion doesn't impact the way the title can be experienced as many feared. 

The 50 GB patch also includes a few bug fixes

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Developer miHoYo has today pledged to launch an improved version of its popular F2P RPG Genshin Impact for PS5 consoles later this spring.

The announcement comes by way of Tweets from both PlayStation and miHoYo alongside a new trailer teasing the upgrades to come. That includes enhanced visuals, faster loading, and DualSense support. Although, specific details are yet to be confirmed.

Genshin Impact comes to PlayStation 5 with enhanced visuals, fast loading, and DualSense controller support.

Face (and wield) the elements of Teyvat this Spring. pic.twitter.com/y9QQGID8Js

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 31, 2021

As for the trailer, I’ve embedded it below, but there’s not a great deal of information or context as to what we’re seeing. It’s more of the same if you’re a Genshin Impact player. After all, Genshin Impact has long been playable on PS5 via backward compatibility, and the current version already plays substantially better on the new console than it does on PS4.

Still, you can check out what is presumably a glimpse of the new and improved action below.

‘You wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out?’

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The first half of the final season of Attack on Titan has just aired, culminating in another thrill ride of an ending that left fans on the edge of their seats. And while there is still plenty more to come for the anime in the future, with around 16 more episodes planned, fans are giving thanks to the show’s creator, Hajime Isayama, via Twitter to thank him for 11 years of hard work.

Currently, Isayama has two different hashtags trending on Twitter thanking him for his dedication, as he finished the Attack on Titan manga recently with chapter 139. We’ve compiled the best ones for you to take a look at right down below.

(Featured Image Source: KazureishWhite)

Atlus' latest English trailer for SMT III Nocturne HD Remaster offers people a chance to see "The World's Rebirth" and major changes again.

The post SMT III Nocturne HD Remaster Trailer Shows ‘The World’s Rebirth’ appeared first on Siliconera.

It’s either one of the most elaborate April Fool’s brand-o-jokes of all time, or today marks the last day Nintendo will be selling Super Mario All-Stars, either in physical form or via the Switch’s electronic shop. From April 1, they still maintain it’s to be taken behind Miyamoto’s barn and shot.

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Ratchet & Clank is now playable in 60 FPS on PlayStation 5, developer Insomniac Games has announced - a little earlier than scheduled.

Insomniac had previously promised a 60 FPS update for the game in April. Its release now means you can try it out tonight while the 2016 platformer is still available to play for free via Sony's Play at Home initiative.

The Play at Home promotion runs until tomorrow, 1st April, at 4am UK time.

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The Last of Us Part II | $30 | Best Buy

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We speak to a number of developers to talk about the advantages of using Patreon, the challenge that comes from trying to keep a consistent number of subscribers, and whether or not it can be considered a viable option depending on your project. ...

505 Games has acquired the Ghostrunner IP from Polish publisher All In Games for €5 million. ...

‘Enhanced visuals, fast loading, and DualSense controller support’

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Nintendo has finally made the Animal Crossing Sanrio amiibo cards available to pre-order from its official UK site.

In anticipation of high demand, Nintendo is limiting orders to one pack per household. The price is £4.99 and if you're interested, you should act fast - these probably will not last long.

To be fair, one pack should be all you need. The pack's included cards let you summon six villagers (Chai, Chelsea, Étoile, Marty, Rilla and Toby) and unlock a list of themed furniture, including a set of Hello Kitty items.

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