Internet sleuths are at it again, and it seems as if Bandai Namco has trademarked a peculiar phrase.

"Bandai Namco Next" was recently approved, and evidently applies to "amusement parks, esports competitions, movies, toys, plays, musical performances, radio programs, computer networks, online publications, animated feature films, and games," according to TheGamer. Given that their prior Bandai Namco event was kind of a bust (consistently mostly of stuff we've already seen, very late at night in the US), I hope they bring it.

So if there is a direct, there's a lot of things they could go for in terms of gaming. The next Dark Pictures Anthology game could use a boost through a presentation like this, for example. We could also get a look at Digimon Survive, Tales of Arise, Scarlet Nexus, and Elden Ring.

The latter has been rumored to get an update for some time now, and this could be the way to do it: on Bandai Namco's own terms.

Bandai Namco Next [WIPO via TheGamer]

The furor surrounding mystery-horror title The Sinking City continues to get uglier with each passing day, as both publisher Nacon (formerly Bigben Interactive) and developer Frogwares continue to dispute ownership rights and numerous other contract issues.

Just before the weekend, Frogwares asked customers not to purchase The Sinking City, which had been recently re-uploaded to Steam, stating that it had no hand in the development of this particular version. Yesterday, the Ukrainian developer went one step further, openly alleging that Nacon had, in fact, hacked a copy of the 2019 title from another digital storefront, altered its code, and submitted it for sale via the Steam platform.

Frogwares has gone as far as to release a detailed video which it claims shows exactly how Nacon "cracked, hacked, changed [the] game's code and content and illegally uploaded" The Sinking City back onto Steam, without Frogwares' knowledge or permission. This accusation, alongside the video in question, can be viewed on Frogwares' website.

"In order to achieve the removal of this protection and checking system, Nacon modified both the game executable and the config files inside the packages," alleges Frogwares in its statement. "We believe Nacon did this to hide the fraudulent exploitation of the game on Steam but also on other portals which they may be planning to send the game to. Nacon wants Frogwares or anyone, including the French Justice, to never know the true scope of their exploitation of the game."

Nacon also released a statement yesterday, responding to Frogwares' earlier complaint.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that, as of August 31, 2021, PlayStation users will no longer be able to purchase or rent movies and TV shows from the PlayStation Store.

Speaking on the official PlayStation blog this morning, SIE noted that all previously purchased films and shows will still be readily available, on-demand, via PlayStation consoles and mobile devices, but said content will no longer be purchasable as of the aforementioned date. You can check out SIE's full statement below.

"At SIE, we strive to provide the best entertainment experience for PlayStation fans, and that means evolving our offerings as customer needs change. We’ve seen tremendous growth from PlayStation fans using subscription-based and ad-based entertainment streaming services on our consoles. With this shift in customer behavior, we have decided to no longer offer movie and TV purchases and rentals through PlayStation Store as of August 31, 2021."

"When this change takes effect, users can still access movie and TV content they have purchased through PlayStation Store for on-demand playback on their PS4, PS5 and mobile devices. We thank our fans for their continued support, and we look forward to further enhancing the entertainment experience on PlayStation."

While raids in Destiny 2 normally cap out with a team of six, players have figured out a way to cram 12 players into a raid team.

The glitch was reported by PCGamer this week, but has been floating around Destiny 2 communities for a while before that. A number of videos from high-profile players showing the exploit have made the rounds recently, however, bringing it to the attention of more of the community and, no doubt, Bungie itself.

Instructions on how to pull off the raid can be found in this Reddit post--all you need is 11 of your closest friends, a voice call, and some pretty spot-on timing.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez has met with lawyers from Apple and Epic Games in order to arrange the specifics of a trial that will seek to decide whether Apple's App Store practices are monopolistic and anti-competitive, as reported by MacRumors. The judge has said that the case is significant enough to be heard in person, with witnesses believed to be less likely to lie when testifying in a physical court.

The trial may be changed to a virtual one taking place over Zoom if COVID-19 numbers are high at the time of the trial, but it is due to start on May 3 no matter what happens. If the current plans go ahead, witnesses will have to travel to Northern California to testify, unless they have valid health reasons not to travel. The trial will be held as a bench trial, meaning there will be no jury.

Epic's lawsuit against Apple alleges that the tech giant is a "behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation," saying that Apple's practices are anti-competitive and monopolistic. Epic's main beef with Apple is over the 30% cut it takes from App Store payments, as well as rules disallowing apps on the App Store from processing microtransactions outside of Apple's payment system.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 is a remaster of the original NieR that released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and this version features a new main character that was only available in the Japanese version of the game, and not the English version. After the success of NieR: Automata, it’s no surprise that Square Enix would greenlight a remaster of the original game so quickly.

The original NieR was known for having a phenomenal soundtrack as well, and it looks like NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139’s soundtrack is set to be released on April 21, and you can now pre-order it over at Square Enix’s store.

In addition to that, the soundtrack will also feature four new tracks that weren’t in the original collection.

Fans of Bandai Namco fighter Tekken 7 had their curiosity piqued by the reveal of an all-new DLC character last week, whose appearance was teased during the Japan Fighting Game Roundtable presentation. Little was revealed about this new warrior, set to step into the ring this spring. We do know, however, that this newest ass-kicker is, in fact, the Prime Minister of Poland.

Further tidbits have been brought to light, courtesy of a leaked (since removed) Microsoft Store page. As reported by Reddit, it appears that our pugilist politician is named "Krystyna", and is entering the King of Iron Fist tournament in order to perform an industrial coup on the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation, claiming it for herself and the people of Poland. It also seems that she has "personal motives" with the Mishima family which, for 80% of Tekken's cast, means one of two things:

1) You're a member of the Mishima family.

2) Someone you loved died at the hands of the Mishima family.

And thus, Prime Minister Krystyna is ready to throw down with Anna, Law, King, Xiayou, and yes, even Lucky Chloe in a bid to get her hands on the Mishima Zaibatsu, breaking the conglomerate's hold over worldwide industrial and militaristic operations while improving the global standing of the nation she steadfastly holds near and dear. As the old saying goes: If you want peace, prepare for war(saw).

After asking players not to buy a version of Lovecraftian horror game The Sinking City that appeared on Steam last week, developer Frogwares has now posted a blog explaining that the Steam upload is a hacked version of the game allegedly stolen by publisher Nacon. The game was originally delisted from Steam in an ongoing dispute between the developer and their contracted publisher on The Sinking City.

As reported by Vice, the studio published an extensive blog post titled "How Nacon Cracked and Pirated The Sinking City," which calls the Steam re-release "corporate bullying, and incompetent hacking, at its finest."

The blog post details how "Alain Falc, Nacon owner and CEO, warned us on December 28th 2020 in writing that 'you have 48 hours to upload a new Steam master otherwise we will use all solutions available within the law and the contract.'" The post alleges that after the 48 hours was up, Nacon aquired a version of the game from DRM-free marketplace Gamesplanet in order to upload it onto Steam.

Bravely Default II is the latest JRPG from Claytechworks and Square Enix that’s just been released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. It features a totally new cast of characters, though the story setup will feel wildly familiar to fans of the genre: four heroes journey across a continent in search of four magical crystals.

The four new characters are Seth, Adelle, Gloria, and Elvis. And while the story setup might seem really familiar and cliched, the characters themselves are fairly well-defined with distinct characteristics that set them apart from your run-of-the-mill heroes. With that in mind, we’ve put together a quiz that will attempt to determine which Bravely Default II character you’re most like.

Without further ado, take the quiz to find out which character you are.

Battle royale block-dropper Tetris 99 is gearing up for its next Maximus Cup event, which is set to take place in-game this coming weekend, allowing players to square off against a horde of fellow Tetris fans in chaotic, non-stop action.

There's also extra incentive to jump into battle for Mario fans, as all players who accumulate 100 event points will receive a free theme, based on smash-selling Switch release Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. As per usual, the theme comes complete with background art, as well as unique sounds and Tetrimino shapes inspired by the Wii-U remake. Launching on Switch in early February, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury saw immediate success, and is currently the best-selling new game of 2021.

The new Tetris Maximus Cup event will begin Thursday, March 4 at 23:00 PT and Friday, March 5 at 02:00 ET / 07:00 GMT and will end at the same time on Monday, March 8 and Tuesday, March 9 as applicable.

Good luck!

Megumi Hayashibara's memoir is available digitally in English, and people can pick up physical copies in August.

The post Megumi Hayashibara’s Book Is Available Digitally Now, Physically in August appeared first on Siliconera.

Face Fury Bowser while playing Tetris with a new Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury Tetris 99 event this weekend.

The post Tetris 99 Super Mario 3D World Event Adds a Bowser’s Fury Theme appeared first on Siliconera.

People will get to learn housekeeping tips from Tatsu, via Netflix, in The Way of the Househusband anime this April.

The post The Way of the Househusband Anime Will Air on Netflix in April appeared first on Siliconera.

What it means if nothing is real

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Developer Ghost Ship Games has revealed the 2021 roadmap for Deep Rock Galactic, including a major update scheduled to go live in April. This will be followed by another update in Q3 2021 (July to October), which, in a blog post, Ghost Ship Games says "will be huge--maybe our biggest update ever."

The update coming in April, called Update 34: Bits n' Pieces, is primarily geared towards adding modding support to Deep Rock Galactic. Update 34 will also add a controller rebinding feature and rebalance the game's weapons and overclocks.

Then in Q3 2021, Update 35 will add a ton of content, including a new mission type, weapons, overclocks, cosmetics, and user interface improvements. "Deep Rock Galactic is here to stay for a long time--there are no signs of fading, quite the opposite--so we need to think further ahead," Ghost Ship Games writes. "Normally, we don’t even plan that far, but we must also admit that getting a bit of breathing room and time to dream feels and sounds really good."

Releasing on PC in early access in 2018, Deep Rock Galactic officially launched for Xbox One and PC in May 2020. The game sees you and up to three friends work together as a group of dwarven miners, tasked with exploring procedurally generated caves that are full of valuables to obtain and hostile aliens to defeat.

A couple weeks back, Netflix announced a new animated series for Dota which is set to make its big debut on the streaming platform later this month. Titled DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, it follows the setting and lore of Dota fairly closely, while also introducing a new spin and some new elements to the story.

A new story trailer has just been released for the series, and you can check it out for yourself down below:

The synopsis of the series is as follows:

‘The sweeping fantasy series tells the story of Davion, a renowned Dragon Knight devoted to wiping the scourge from the face of the world. Following encounters with a powerful, ancient eldwurm as well as the noble Princess Mirana on a secret mission of her own, Davion becomes embroiled in events much larger than he could have ever imagined.’

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood is set to premiere on Netflix on March 25.

The post Netflix’s DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Gets a Story Trailer Ahead of Debut this Month appeared first on Twinfinite.

When WandaVision began its weekly run on Disney+, I enjoyed being reunited with two of the Avengers, but didn't have any idea what I was watching. By the third or fourth episode, it all started to make sense, and it just kept getting better from there. I'm now singing its praises as one of the best shows you can stream; once again cementing my believe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe can do no wrong. Okay, Thor: The Dark World is of a much lower quality than every other MCU film, but it still has some great moments and character development. I recommend watching it to connect all of the MCU tissue.

The one thing you shouldn't do is scroll below if you haven't watched any of WandaVision yet. This is your spoiler warning. The first season of WandaVision hasn't concluded (we're waiting on one more episode that hits this Friday), and yet Funko has already introduced a sizeable line of collectible Pops that give away some of the show's biggest twists and turns.

If you've kept up with the weekly delivery of episodes, take a look at the figures below. Funko has pulled out all of the stops, with a handful of different Wanda and Vision Pops, one for almost every time period they experience. The black-and-white figures for the first two episodes are a nice touch.

The latest mainline Touhou game will the 18th entry in the series and star Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, and Sakuya.

The post Touhou Project Game 18 Will Appear in May 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

The publishing dispute surrounding The Sinking City has practically eclipsed any conversation about the game itself (which is just okay). Developer Frogwares and publisher Nacon have been embroiled in a very nasty battle over, among other things, the distribution rights to the game.  Last week, The Sinking City launched on Steam only for Frogwares to implore players on Twitter not to purchase that version of the game, raising a lot of questions as to why. Frogwares has since posted a lengthy blog post explaining that Nacon allegedly had employees “crack, hack and pirate” a version of The Sinking City to release on Steam.

Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell is a frustratingly thin take on a rap legend’s story

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Several developers have reported that Hardsuit Labs told them today that they would be losing their jobs after the studio was fired from work on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. ...

Gears 5 will begin its sixth season of content tomorrow, March 2 with new characters, a new map, and some changes for multiplayer.

The sixth season, simply titled Operation 6, will add three new playable characters available for multiplayer with Colonel Victor Hoffman, Queen Reyna, and Locust Zealot. Skins for these characters can either be earned in the new Tour of Duty, bought from the in-game store, or purchased in a bundle alongside other cosmetics and boost for $14.99.

The new map will be a remake of Speyer, which was first introduced in Gears of War 4. Gears 5 developer The Coalition announced last week that it will be shortening the length of operations from 16 weeks to 11 weeks, and each operation will have “at least one map and two new characters” at launch and in the middle of the operation.

Competitive multiplayer will receive a new mode tomorrow called Control, which plays similarly to King of the Hill but must stay inside the ring to gain control and score points. Horde mode also receives a twist with the Escape from Kadar playlist, consisting of 10 waves of returning Locust enemies armed with Retro Lancers and pipes.

Operation 6 will also bring other changes listed in the official patch notes when it launches tomorrow in Gears 5 across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

The Navy turned off text chat for today’s ‘Women of Warzone’ boot camp Twitch stream, so some viewers took to spamming the chat with bomb and fire emojis instead.

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Bungie has temporarily removed Trials of Osiris from Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen due to an issue with win-trading. The brutal-yet-satisfying (when not faced with cheaters) PvP event has always been hit or miss with players, but now it's a miss for all players because it has been removed from the game entirely. At least for now. 

Bungie took to Twitter to share the news that Trials has been disabled, though the tweet didn't go into specifics other than "an issue." It was later discovered on a now-removed post on Reddit that the removal had to do with the Hakke emblem. 

Due to an issue, Trials of Osiris has been disabled for the remainder of the weekend.

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) February 28, 2021

Even though the original Reddit post is gone, a responding comment helped fill in the blanks regarding what was taken down. Since then, the post has been locked and no further comments can be added at this time. 

The Wholesome Direct will be back for another year, scheduled to air sometime later in 2021. If you have a game to show off, submissions to be featured in the direct are now open until March 15.

Like last year, Wholesome Direct will be a livestream all about indie games that can be described as cute and/or cozy in terms of their visuals, tone, or story. The stream will feature exclusive trailers and gameplay demonstrations and interviews with developers.

Wholesome Direct 2020 occurred in May so its stands to reason this year's event will as well, but the organizers have not yet confirmed a date.

Can we ever truly know the nature of the sea? Primordial creatures lurk in its depths. It’s powered by outer space. We still don’t understand how eels reproduce. In Valheim, however, it’s a bit simpler: The ocean is a trampoline.

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Sega just revealed another AC Scratch collection for Phantasy Star Online 2 titled “Throwback Collection III.”

As usual, it comes with plenty of costumes, accessories, emotes, CAST parts, hairstyles, and more, including some of those that proved most popular in previous collections.

It’s available Starting on March 3, and it’ll disappear on March 10. As usual, you can take a look at the trailer below to see the main items, while the full catalog is published on the official website.

If you’re unfamiliar with AC Scratch, that’s basically the game’s loot box/gacha-like mechanic that you can get through tickets purchased with Arks Cash.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is available in the west for Xbox One and PC. A few months ago, we heard that the western version enjoyed a “strong start” and that it passed one million players.

The back and forth between Frogwares and Nacon, once known as Bigben Interactive, continues to pick up steam. ...

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, but that didn't stop one Spore player from playing a messed up version of god anyway by recreating Pokémon in terrifying detail. While not exact replicas by any stretch, the Pokémon-ified Spore creations are just too horrifyingly perfect to keep to ourselves. 

Spore is an adorable open-world game that basically lets players live out their godlike fantasies by creating entire universes for some single-player fun. With great power comes great responsibility and apparently great meme-ability, because that's what one player did when they attempted to bring that "gotta catch 'em all" energy into the world of Spore. 

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One of the biggest issues in game funding now is - how on Earth do you get your prototype funded? Can†™t do game discovery if you don†™t have a game. We look into it! ...

Third-party add-on developers are continuing to work around the clock to deliver new scenery and aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simulator users.

First of all, it’s always a joyous occasion when a new developer makes its first steps on the market, and this one hails from Japan. Metropolitan Airport Development Brothers (MADB for short) just released its first airport, and it’s Chofu (RJTF).

It can be purchased on Simmarket for about $18 including VAT.

While Chofu is mostly used for general aviation, it’s well known due to its position within Tokyo metropolitan area, also close to Yokohama.

The package doesn’t just include the airport, but also nearby landmarks like the well-known Ajinomoto Stadium, home of FC Tokyo.

Below you can check out a trailer, a few screenshots, and a features list.

While looking back on season 2, she considers the many other shows she’s worked on

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Most people seem to agree that Super Mario World 3D + Bowser's Fury is a good game. One of the major features of the new Bowser's Fury campaign is that Bowser is now enormous – far bigger than his usual forms. You may think it's neat that Mario must confront a mountain-sized nemesis, but not everyone feels that way. How does former United States President Donald Trump feel about it? Truthfully, he probably doesn't care. But if he did care, and if he decided to go on a rant about it, it would probably sound something like the video below.

Twitter user James Austin Johnson (@shrimpJAJ) has a unique ability to impersonate the former president's voice, which he has used in the past to create a series of videos that approximate unlikely speeches from Trump. The latest one hits close to gamers' hearts, focusing on the Super Mario 3D World re-release on Switch, and the new Bowser's Fury content. You can give it a listen for yourself: 

OMG TRUMP UNLEASHES 'FURY' ON BIDEN ADMIN IN TRIUMPHANT CPAC SPEECH: "UNDER [BIDEN], BOWSER... TOO BIG, [SUPER] MARIO CAN'T KEEP UP!!" pic.twitter.com/cv7lqEkldf