Elden Ring fans have grown increasingly desperate for news of From Software's highly anticipated game, and a leak of what appears to be grainy footage of the game in action has triggered a torrent of memes. On the Elden Ring subreddit, which has become ground zero for the game's increasingly-desperate fans to express their displeasure at From Software's radio silence, the reaction has been divided between unrelenting hype and humorous memes.

The Elden Ring subreddit has become increasingly meta in its sense of humor as the wait for the game has continued. For example, the above meme compares a low-definition screencap of a carriage from the newly revealed footage to the carriages from a photoshopped screenshot of Bloodborne Kart, a non-existent game that has become a meme unto itself in the community.

Other top posts in the subreddit poke fun at the footage's highly questionable video quality. Another popular post compares a tree seen in the footage to an image from the manga Berserk, which Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki often references in his games.

Ever since the retro-style R.B.I. Baseball series returned in 2014, it has benefitted from being the only MLB game in town for multiple platforms. This year, however, that changes, as the critically acclaimed, longtime PlayStation-exclusive series, MLB The Show, is finally making the jump to Xbox consoles for the first time. With added competition, R.B.I. Baseball 21, hopes to double down on the pick-up-and-play sensibilities of its title while expanding the feature set of its on-and-off-the-field suite.

Developer and publisher Major League Baseball Advanced Media has released a first look at gameplay. This year's title features more customization through the Create-a-Player mode, as well as additional options so you can choose the batting controls and camera angles you want. This year also adds industry-standard features like play-by-play commentary and Statcast data for pitchers for the first time in series history.

Kotobukiya is working on SNK Bishoujo figures and said people can expect heroines from KOF '98 and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

The post Kotobukiya SNK Bishoujo KOF 98 and SNK Heroine Figures on the Way appeared first on Siliconera.

Like every massive RPG, Bravely Default 2 features a game within the game. It’s called Bind & Divide, or B&D (yes, yes, like the game). It’s a compelling card game you don’t want to miss, but you could easily roll the credits without ever playing a round.

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We’ve got recommendations from across Disney Plus, Shudder, and Criterion

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In recent years, EA has had difficulty connecting with gamers; with so many studios under its umbrella, that has caused a lot of concern for major franchises. With the recent report that EA is abandoning the live service model for BioWare's anticipated Dragon Age entry (a series known for its single-player adventures) and following the cancellation of Anthem, EA's own Laura Miele has confirmed that the publisher is making a drastic pivot for the foreseeable future.

Miele is currently the chief studios officer for EA and she recently sat down with IGN's Rebekah Valentine to talk more about her work and the future of the company. Within her role, Miele oversees over 6,000 gaming developers from all kinds of backgrounds working on all sorts of projects. Through her work, she tells the site that she's developed an incredibly intricate understanding of the "complexities and sophistication" of game development, and that insight has furthered her love for the craft immensely. 

Twitch has partnered with legendary music publication Rolling Stone to launch a brand-new channel on the streaming platform. Titled Rolling Stone on Twitch, the channel will feature a variety of content for music fans, including news, interviews, and live performances.

Rolling Stone on Twitch goes live Monday through Friday from 1-3 PM PT/ 4-6 PM ET on the publication's new Twitch channel. It will be hosted by Rolling Stone producers Tia Hill and Jon Weigell as a variety show, with original segments and existing franchises happening every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Live musical performances are scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday. This week's guests include Marcus King, Ted Park, and the Russo brothers.

Twitch's vice president of music Tracy Chan said the company believes Twitch is not only the intersection between artist and fan but also the place where the two can create together.

"We believe that the future of music will be defined by a deeper interaction between artists and fans, where they are not only engaging with each other but also creating together," Chan said in a press release. "This happens every day on Twitch, and it's been incredibly exciting to see more and more people find Twitch as the space for this type of interaction to unfold."

Rolling Stone president Gus Wenner echoed Chan's sentiment, saying the publication will use its pedigree to create high-level content.

"We are honored to be a part of Twitch's growing music strategy and will leverage our access, authority and storytelling abilities to create meaningful content at the highest level," Wenner said.

It’s like Groundhog Day but with more murder

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It's a new week and that means Activision is refreshing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and the battle royale game Warzone. Activision ran through all the changes and updates in a blog post, and we're calling out the key takeaways here.

New Operator And Other Store Bundles

The in-game store s welcomes new content this week, the most notable of which is a new Operator. Samantha Maxis will be available to buy starting March 4. She comes with two weapon blueprints as well, the Ultra-rate Z-74u SMG and the Legendary Neutralizer shotgun.

On March 7, the Anime Pilot bundle comes to the in-game store. This include three weapon blueprints, all of which are of the Legendary variety. These include the Fly Boy SMG, the Talon Envy tactical rifle, and the Strafe Run semi-automatic shotgun.

Then on March 9, Activision will bring the Gilded Age III: Pro Pack bundle to the store. It includes two Legendary weapon blueprints--the Carbon Composite and Carbon Steel--along with 2,400 Call of Duty Points.

All of these bundles are available for both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone.

GameStop stock has been rising and falling ever since its initial surge, and that activity may be driven in part by bots on social media sites like Reddit and Twitter. That claim comes from an analysis from the cybersecurity company PiiQ Media, which concluded that organized actors may be working together to fuel the surge.

That analysis found that bots used Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote GameStop and other meme stocks such as AMC. However, it's unclear to what degree these bots actually contributed to the surge itself. PiiQ Media stated that it found similar patterns on GameStop-related posts, with activity on these accounts strongly correlating with the beginning and end of the market trading day. The firm concluded that these patterns indicate bot activity.

"We saw clear patterns of artificial behavior across the other four social media platforms," PiiQ Media's co-founder Aaron Barr told Reuters. "When you think of organic content, it’s variable in the day, variable day-to-day. It doesn't have the exact same pattern every day for a month."

The ongoing GameStop stock controversy has resulted in an SEC investigation and even a hearing in the US Congress. The SEC suspended trading for 15 companies due to unusual trading activity last week, amid apparent attempts to artificially inflate their stock prices. However, Barr stated that it's difficult for firms like PiiQ Media to measure the actual effect of these bot campaigns.

Another month means more new additions to Sony's PlayStation Now subscription service, with March set to bring co-op zombie shooter World War Z, aerial adventure Ace Combat 7, superhero romp Infamous: Second Son, plus time-manipulating FPS Superhot.

World War Z, which released back in 2019, is essentially a modern day spin on Valve's beloved Left 4 Dead series. Developed by Saber Interactive, it tasks teams of up to four players with taking on the zombie hordes, each new mission seeing them step into the shoes of a new group of survivors as the action relocates to another part of the globe - New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Jerusalem, and Marseille. World War Z was a solid enough effort on release, but it's grown considerably since then - it now features five competitive multiplayer modes, for instance - expanding and improving thanks to Saber's extensive post-launch support.

Infamous: Second Son, meanwhile, is the third game in Sucker Punch's open-world superhero series, initially launching on PS4 in 2014. It follows the super-powered adventures of street artist Delsin Rowe across Seattle, and, like earlier games, features a morality system giving players the choice of whether to use their abilities for good or evil. Oli Welsh called it "compact and likeable" in his 7/10 review, while noting, "There's not been much of an attempt to shake up the mission scenarios or structure of the game, leaving you with a very rote open-world adventure".

The multiplayer survival title Rust is officially coming to consoles, as shown by a teaser trailer released by the game’s developer Double Eleven.

Streamed via the developer’s official YouTube channel on Mar. 1, the trailer is a quick highlight reel of the game in action and a confirmation that the ports are in development. The game is currently planned for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but no specific date or release window has been specified.

In the trailer, several players decked out in gear can be seen traversing the game’s world or engaging in combat. Some moments are serene, with a player left to their own devices in the wilderness; others, meanwhile, are chaotic, with bullets flying and each player vying to be the last man standing after a firefight.

It all looks fairly good graphically, boasting a comparable visual fidelity to that of the latest build of the PC version.

Rust enthusiasts and those who have never touched the game alike will want to view the full trailer for themselves down below.

The iPhone 13 could finally be reducing the size of Apple's recognizable notch, with the model in 2022 almost eradicating it entirely.

The latest report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, via The Verge, details plans for Apple's 2021 devices and the small changes they will introduce. Despite poor sales, Apple seems confident sticking with another iPhone mini, which will benefit from a slightly smaller notch along with the rest of the iPhone 13 line. The Pro models of the range will also reportedly be upgraded with 120 fps displays, something which numerous Android devices have had for years.

The report also details future Apple plans regarding iPhone models in 2022 and 2023. The successor to the iPhone 13 might be the first big redesign Apple will implement since the introduction of the iPhone X, with the notch being completely replaced by a punch hole design for the selfie camera. How Apple intends to fit the cameras required for FaceID into this design, if at all, has yet to be seen.

Apple is also reportedly in the early phases of designing its own foldable iPhone, although Kuo warns that this is still years away. The earliest Apple might reveal the product is 2023, with reports that earlier this year the device was still in the design phase of production and not even confirmed for any release in the future.

Apple generally hosts an event near the end of the year to announce its latest suite of iPhones, so it will be a while before any of these reports are confirmed.

Today Polish developer Forever Entertainment published on its investor website a note announcing the signing of a deal with Square Enix.

According to the announcement, the developer (which you may know for Panzer Dragoon: Remake) will create several remakes based on an IP owned by Square Enix Japan.

The name of the IP has not been announced and it will be shared publicly once the global marketing campaign begins.

The remake will feature new graphics, but gameplay and story will remain the same as the original games.

Forever Entertainment will cover the costs of developing (and likely marketing) the remakes and will receive over 50% of the revenue generated by sales.

We also hear that acquiring licenses for classic IPs and creating new games or remakes based on them remains one important direction for Forever Entertainment’s business. The effectiveness of this tactic has been confirmed by the success of Panzer Dragoon: Remake.

If I was to speculate, the conditions of the deal possibly indicate that the IP involved in the deal isn’t a major one. If it was, Square Enix would likely want to retain full control of the remakes by simply hiring an external developer to develop them, instead of letting said developer take point on the initiative.

That being said, this is just my personal speculation, so take it with the customary grain of salt.

[Thanks for the tip: Mateusz Wiśniewski]

Activision's Call of Duty Endowment, a charity that helps soldiers find new jobs in civilian life after leaving the service, had its biggest year ever in 2020 when it comes to job placements.

The organization has announced that its efforts helped to place 15,446 former service members in jobs in 2020, representing the highest yearly job placement number since the Endowment was founded in 2009.

2020 was an important year for a charity like the Call of Duty Endowment, as the Bob Woodruff Foundation projected that there would be higher numbers of soldiers affected by COVID-19 and looking for new positions.

"The Endowment saw an opportunity during the lockdown to inform and engage a growing community of gamers, who were eager to show their support for veterans," Activision said.

In 2020, the Endowment partnered with Activision franchises like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Call of Duty to sell in-game content to benefit the Endowment. The Endowment also held its charity eSports tournament, the C.O.D.E. Bowl, to help raise money and awareness. This event alone--which saw soldiers from all five US military branches and three from the UK--raised $900,000 for the charity.

According to the official PlayStation Blog, four games are coming to PS Now subscribers this month following the reveal of the PS Plus additions revealed last week. From superhuman powers to slow-mo shootouts, the upcoming games coming to PS Now this month include Infamous Second Son, World War Z, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, and Superhot. 

Sucker Punch’s Infamous Second Son follows Delsin Rowe, a Seattle-based street artist turned superhuman power sponge that fights against the sinister Department of Unified Protection (DUP); an all-knowing division of suits committed to putting “conduits” like Delsin behind bars and branding them as bioterrorists. Players will work to take down DUP and its harmful philosophies using Delsin’s array of unique skills that are siphoned from a variety of energy sources including storefront neon signs. 

This past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, and The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, and Nintendo pulled out all the stops to mark the occasion. On top of the announcements of Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (plus a better look at New Pokémon Snap), The Pokémon Company also held a virtual concert starring Post Malone on Saturday night. At the end of the virtual performance, it was revealed that Pokémon is receiving a special star-studded musical album to celebrate its 25th anniversary. 

The Game Boy Advance Robotech game is back again on the Switch as Robotech: The Macross Saga HD Edition.

The post Robotech: The Macross Saga HD Edition Port Appears in eShops appeared first on Siliconera.

Raya and the Last Dragon, WandaVision finale, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere!

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Taxi Chaos is not Crazy Taxi. But it’s trying to be, and it succeeds in some important ways while completely failing in many others. Consider this a warning: Don’t buy Taxi Chaos. But if you do, I can help make the game a bit better.

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Hood: Outlaws & Legends is an intriguing multiplayer project, blending PvP and PvE (or PvPvE) while remixing classic Robin Hood lore. In preparation for its launch this May, developer Sumo Digital has released the first of four videos detailing the game’s four classes. First up: the Ranger.

The Ranger serves as a reimagined proxy for Robin Hood himself. As such, long-ranged bow attacks are this character’s bread and butter. By sniping targets from afar, the Ranger is ideal for stealthier approaches, allowing players to pick off enemies in relatively quiet fashion. Of course, if you need to go in guns, er, I mean bows blazing, the Ranger can provide covering fire for teammates during loud skirmishes, blind enemies, and blow them to bits using explosive arrows. The video below gives a great look at the class in action.  

Deathloop, the latest IP from the developers of Dishonored and Prey, might be a game about planning the perfect string of assassinations, but you'll never be pressured to do them within a time limit.

Deathloop is described by creative director Dinga Bakaba as a murder puzzle, one where you have a single day to figure out how to assassinate eight targets and break the time loop you find yourself trapped in. With so many ways to take them out, distinct districts to investigate, and a rival assassin to evade, Deathloop with give you the freedom to plan without the stress of countdown.

"So this may be a game about time, but you're not on a timer," Babaka explains. "You can figure things out at your own pace and in any order you want to piece together the perfect loop to freedom."

Bakaba also hints at other features to Deathloop that Arkane hasn't detailed yet, including some of the supernatural powers you'll be able to retain between runs and the otherworldly gun augmentations that will play into your planned hits. There are also shots in the footage above suggesting that districts can appear different at different times during each loop, which can play into how you figure out the optimal route.

Deathloop is launching on May 21 for PlayStation 5 and PC. Although Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Arkane through the purchase of Bethesda, there are currently no plans for the game to come to Xbox Series X|S.

Bandai Namco announced today with a press release that it is withdrawing from the the amusement facilities business in North America.

Basically, the company is dropping its North American arcades under Namco USA, since their performance has been impacted heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic and the expectation is that the difficult situation will continue.

As a consequence, Bandai Namco is also reporting reporting an extraordinary losses (which incidentally means it’s a “one-time” loss in financial terms) of approximately 13.0 billion yen as business structural reform costs.

The company will sell the businesses and related fixed assets of 34 directly owned stores, one large directly owned store, and 760 revenue-shared locations to three external companies in the same line of business.

That being said, the withdrawal is only partial as Bandai Namco will still sell arcade machines in North America to other companies.

The decision was taken by the board of directors on Feb. 19 and the agreement with the three buyers was concluded on Feb. 27.

The sale will become effective on March 31. After that date, Namco USA will be merged with Bandai Namco Amusement America, which sells arcade games in the region.

Bandai Namco isn’t the only major publisher that recently made a move to pull back from the arcade business due to the slump caused by the pandemic. Sega completely withdrew from the business in Japan, while it’s keeping its Pachinko & Pachislot business.

Say goodbye to those special Mario games

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From Software fans have been begging for a new look at Elden Ring, and while news has been mum, it looks like a month-old trailer has been circulating online – and a source has confirmed to me that it is real. While not a high-quality video, the internet immediately exploded in excitement over the latest crumb for the new game with the Elden Ring trailer. 

"I can only imagine what drives you to seek the Elden Ring," says an inquiring voice in the video linked at the bottom of the article. "I suppose you can't be talked into turning back. Very well then!" I was able to confirm with one of my sources with close ties to the studio that the trailer is legitimate, though a few of the responding screenshots that have been circulating are fake. 

First spotted by VGC, the trailer first began making its rounds in Discords, showing off a phone recording of the Elden Ring trailer. VGC's Andy Robinson added on Twitter, "I understand Elden Ring's development has (unsurprisingly) been significantly disrupted by the pandemic like so many big-budget games in production right now. It's unclear if it will make it out this year. One source told me they were expecting to release in 2022." 

Find out more about the Scarlet Nexus OSF, a group of superpowered individuals who work together to protect people from monstrous Others:

The post Scarlet Nexus OSF Duties Explained by the Developers appeared first on Siliconera.

A new Max Raid event is underway in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This month, certain Flying- and Fairy-type Pokemon will be appearing more frequently in Max Raid dens across both games, including two hard-to-find Gigantamax forms.

From now until March 31, Corviknight, Cramorant, Braviary, Weezing, Gardevoir, Hatterene, and their pre-evolved forms will be more common in Max Raid dens around the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra. Additionally, you'll have a better chance of finding Gigantamax Corviknight and Gigantamax Hatterene. Gigantamax forms are normally very rare outside of events like this, making this a good opportunity to catch them if you've previously missed them.

To participate in this month's Max Raid event, you'll first need to refresh your Raid dens. You can do this either by connecting your game online or by going into the Mystery Gift menu and selecting Get the Wild Area News. The event will run until 4:59 PM PT / 7:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on March 31.

In other Sword and Shield news, The Pokemon Company is giving away a special Pikachu as part of its Pokemon 25th anniversary celebration. For a limited time, all Sword and Shield players can claim a free Pikachu that knows Sing--a move that it can't normally learn in the games. To claim the free Pokemon, head into Mystery Gift and input the code P25MUS1C.

The next Need for Speed game has been delayed to 2022 as developer Criterion Games has been called in to help DICE with the next Battlefield game.

EA Studios boss Laura Miele told Polygon that the fact that EA just bought racing game studio Codemasters, which will release a new game this year, made it easier to reassign Criterion to Battlefield. [Update: EA has now released a statement with commentary from Miele about the news; you can see it below]

"[Battlefield] is shaping up great, the team has been working incredibly hard, they pushed hard last year, and yes, we have been working from home," she said. "And it's hard; it's hard to make games from home, and the [EA DICE] team is fatigued a bit. We have a great game and some incredible potential with this game. We're playing to win; we're playing to put a great Battlefield game out in the market."

Criterion already has a lot of familiarity with Battlefield, as the studio helped develop Battlefield V's battle royale mode, Firestorm. Additionally, Criterion worked with DICE on Star Wars: Battlefront, so Miele said she sees this as a positive for Criterion.

"I'm really confident that this is going to be a pretty positive win for them," she said.

Miele also teased the new Battlefield game, saying it will be a "love letter to our fans." She also said EA is not holding back when it comes to spending to make sure it's done right.

"We're going to put all the resources we have on this," Miele said.

A Paper Mario speedrunner named JCog has now beaten the game in less than an hour via a new strategy that requires the use of an entirely different game cartridge: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The runner managed this feat on only his second formal attempt, though he streamed for several hours beforehand practicing the strategy.

JCog's time of 54:22 would be a new "any-percent" world record for the game. However, it's not likely to top the official Speedrun.com leaderboards anytime soon, though it may become its own category extension. That's because the strategy requires memory manipulation through the use of a Japanese Ocarina of Time cartridge, which is usually not allowed in vanilla speedruns. As JCog explains in a lengthy Pastebin, the runner uses a series of exploits across both games that allow you to execute save file names as code.

Criterion Games back to working with DICE, will return to racing series in 2022

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In this 2019 GDC talk, Insomniac Games' Sol Brennan provides an overview of what went into animating the iconic final villain of Marvel's Spider-Man. ...

Just one look at last year’s mind-bending reveal trailer for Maquette and I was enthralled. Its recursive twist on a first-person puzzler is immediately exciting – and that’s saying something for a genre that’s seen portal guns, non-euclidian mazes, forced perspective wizardry, and plenty of other oddball ideas. But while Maquette has some undeniably clever tricks up its sleeve and is downright stunning to look at throughout, this brief story doesn’t ever really manage to surpass that initial sense of wonder.

Maquette follows a person revisiting their memories of a past relationship, although it does so in fantastical, metaphorical environments through text written on the walls and the occasional cutesy conversation voiced by actual Hollywood couple Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel. All the while you’ll progress by solving mostly unrelated puzzles using Maquette’s big hook: a recursive world wrapped within infinite identical versions of itself.

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She has a sharp sword, big head, and red magic.

The post Final Fantasy XIV Alisaie Minion Figure Pre-orders Open in March appeared first on Siliconera.

When I first started up Valheim and began chopping down trees and picking up rocks, my immediate reaction was, "Ugh, another one of these, huh?"

That attitude quickly changed once I invited a few friends along, built a simple enough base to call home, and began exploring the tenth realm.

Next thing you know, we'd battled our first boss, explored burial chambers and troll caves, and began hunting said trolls for their skin. The hooks were in deep by this point. Time seemingly slipped away from me altogether, and right when I thought I was ready to take a break, another group of friends started their own server and wanted me to tag along. Before I realized it, I'd clocked in over 11 hours into Valheim on my first day.

So, in today's Impulse episode, your local video dudes (Justin Moore and myself) break down and showcase our experiences within Valheim after spending more than 50 hours with it so far. From the visuals and building mechanics to why we think the progression is so addictive, this episode covers that and so much more.