In the 1980s, an abundance of horror movies hit the U.K. shores overnight, all thanks to the affordable invention of the VHS player. The then-British film censor, James Ferman, went on a zero-tolerance crusade against these "video nasties" which Ferman felt were oozing onto his country's shores and slowly corrupting the nation and its youth.

Ferman and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) swiftly and hysterically drew up a list of on-screen elements that the board should always consider taking the scissors to - should they ever crop up in any film under review. Among the material Ferman was convinced posed a risk to British sanity were sexual titillation mixed with violence, Asian/ninja-style weaponry, and, most importantly, "blood appearing on breasts".

Fortunately for Ferman, D3 Publisher's OneChanbara series would not make its debut until 2004, some years after the censor's retirement and passing. Given the stringent bullet points listed above, I can't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, he would not have looked too kindly upon it.

There's a joke among MMO players that every single release in the same space is dubbed a "WoW Killer."

One of the more popular podcasts on the game is even based around that concept! The reality is that although there are plenty of MMOs that have carved out their own audience over the past decade and change, none of them have actually "killed" World of Warcraft. It still reigns as one of the most popular subscription-based MMOs on the planet, and based on a statement from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, that train isn't slowing down.

Speaking on a recent earnings call, Kotick noted that the overall subscriber-base "doubled" since the launch of WoW Classic, and the pre-sales of Shadowlands are "the highest we've seen at this stage ahead of any release." Kotick also explains that this is one of the sole franchises that grants Activision "over a billion" in revenue annually: alongside of Call of Duty and Candy Crush.

For as much talk as there was among some of the playerbase that Battle for Azeroth "ruined" WoW, it seems like Classic was there to pick up the slack, and the hype is present yet again for a new expansion. Will WoW ever die? Well, nothing lasts forever! I've been wondering how Blizzard will approach a potential "WoW 2" for ages now, but it seems like the gravy train is going to keep rolling for years to come.

It really begs the question of whether or not Overwatch needed a sequel (hey, remember Overwatch 2 kind of just exists right now?), and has me curious as to how that project will play out. I can see them scrapping it and just incorporating it into the base game.

Shops are this morning scrambling to work out how to sell next-gen consoles during the impending second lockdown.

The new four-week lockdown comes into force in England from Thursday. The Xbox Series X and S goes on sale on 10th November, with the PlayStation 5 following on 19th.

According to the new rules, non-essential shops must close to the public, but they are allowed to stay open for deliveries and to offer a click-and-collect service.

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This weekend saw the Splatoon 2 community take to the ink-stained arenas once again in a replay of another classic splatfest. Entering into the spirit of the season, players battled it out over the most important Halloween question of all: Trick or Treat?

Once the dust had settled, Marina's Team Treat successfully retained the crown, once again securing the victory over Pearl's Team Trick. While Team Trick won 58% of the public vote, Team Treat captured both Normal and Pro play points for the 2 - 1 victory, cementing - once and for all - that Splatoon players are all about getting hold of those sweet treats.

In addition, Nintendo released some fun new artwork showing Marina and Pearl, along with squid sisters Callie and Marie, chilling at the dining table in what appears to be a spooky mansion. To be frank, it doesn't look like our pals are enjoying themselves, I'd hazard a guess that someone "edgy" brought Cards Against Humanity to the shindig. Regardless, we didn't know how much the planet needed Goth Marina until this very moment.

Times are tough. The world needs inspiration. The world needs a hero. YouTuber Tasty Hoon’s time has come.

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Shiny hunting is a task only the most dedicated Pokémon players dare undertake. Shiny Pokémon are an incredibly rare phenomenon, identical to their regular counterparts in all but colour. In pre-internet times, they were nothing more than a playground myth, but nowadays self-confessed "shiny hunters" spend hundreds of hours hatching eggs to the extent they even have representation in the anime.

As with all things, many dedicated players livestream their hunts to legions of avid fans. Tony Olabode, better known on Twitch and YouTube as Saiyan4414, is one such streamer. He mostly hunts legendary Pokémon, which involves resetting the game after encountering the Pokémon for hours on end, because each time there is a 1/4000 chance for it to be shiny. It's a test of patience for any player, but for Tony, it's also a test of skill. Tony is partially sighted, so while he can see some shapes, he struggles to read the game's text and make out colours - especially when a shiny Pokémon doesn't look that different from its regular counterpart.

So, he shiny hunts by sound. When a shiny Pokémon appears, it sparkles and glows. However, most players won't notice that these sparkles also let out a unique noise. That's what Tony is listening for, and that's how he knows if he's found a shiny Pokémon or not.

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We knew it was coming, but thanks to a recent trailer from Sega, it's more real now.

Phantasy Star Online 2 will be hosting a Senran Kagura crossover this month. Like most of the lighter crossovers that don't involve significant bits of content, this one is mostly cosmetic, offering outfits, emotes, and items. You can get a quick look at the crossover stuff in the first few minutes of the below video. In truth, this month is also a dual-crossover period, featuring scenarios from the kaiju anime SSSS.Gridman.

I kind of love that Sega will go to any lengths to include basically anything even remotely anime related in PSO 2, without letting it completely dominate the tone of the game. These crossovers are generally fleeting, with the exception of having to see some of the more popular out-there outfits regularly in the Ark Ship hub.

But while I'm still enjoying myself, I'm really anxious for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis next year on Series X. Given that the game is nearly eight years old at this point (and still good!), it'll be nice to catch a complete refresh.

In a surprising announcement, Swedish studio Sharkmob has revealed it's currently at work on an all-new battle royale title set within the Vampire: The Masquerade universe. The untitled new project is currently in development for a late-2021 release, although no specific platforms were announced.

"Experience the next thrilling evolution of battle royale multiplayer action games set in the cult classic Vampire: The Masquerade universe where vampire sects are at war across the streets and rooftops of Prague," reads an outline on Sharkmob's website. "Choose your playstyle, go solo or together, battling rivals and the hostile Entity who’s hellbent on exterminating all vampires. Use your supernatural powers, weapons, and blood to become stronger in order to hunt, fight, and survive the night."

This odd endeavor is one of a number of titles set in the Gothic tabletop world of Vampire: The Masquerade. Last month saw the launch of the next chapter in Draw Distance's visual novel series Shadows of New York, while 2021 will also see the long-awaited release of Paradox's open-world RPG Bloodlines 2, which was recently pushed back from its initial winter 2020 release date.

You can check out a teaser trailer for Sharkmob's  new title below.

Perhaps in anticipation of all the Black Friday sales on their way, John Lewis have lowered the price of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch down to a very reasonable £36.99. Considering that New Horizons was one of 2020's biggest games, isn't exactly old, and that Nintendo hates lowering its prices, this might be the best price we see on it for the foreseeable future.

New Horizons took the world by storm back in March with its dependable gameplay and lovable characters, in which players build and maintain their own little island community in real time. If you ever needed a nice escape to get through long holidays or winter nights, this would be it.

John Lewis haven't made it clear how long this deal will last for, but it's worth grabbing because it seems unlikely you'll get a copy for a significantly lower price at any time in the immediate future.

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Sure, you could drop a few hundo on one of those spang new consoles to play all the games coming out in November, but why would you? Every exclusive’s been delayed and all the best November releases are coming to PC anyway.

What’s that? You don’t know what video games are coming out during the penultimate month of this hell year? Well, let me tell you!

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Although Apex Legends isn't quite the streaming-chart-destroyer it once was (overtaking League of Legends at one point), it's still very regularly found on the top 10 Twitch stream list.

EA is riding that gamble all the way to the bank, as it remains one of the more popular battle royale titles in a sea of games that were dragged under the tide. Director Chad Grenier thinks it's here to stay too, noting that the game could even evolve to become more than just a battle royale title.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Grenier explains that Respawn has content planned "all the way up to Season 12," which is a full four seasons ahead of Season 8, which isn't due until 2021 (Season 7 hasn't even started yet). Once Season 8 is shipped, the team will start working on Seasons 13 and 14, he says; giving us a vague idea of how far ahead the team works.

He also clarifies that Respawn does "a lot of things to mitigate data mining," claiming that many other future bits of content could have been uncovered if they weren't actively fighting the practice. With that in mind, the director says that it's "fair game," even if the team is "bummed out" when content is spoiled.

Grenier says that "looking into the future, you're probably going to see the game becoming more than just a battle royale game." While that statement could be foreshadowing drastic change, the example Grenier gives in this context is the addition of more limited time modes "as a starting point" for what might come down the line. An arena battle gametype has been datamined, which might be what he's alluding to.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was a really strange game that came out of nowhere in 2014.

Although many designers hit considerable roadblocks making big changes to Middle-earth source material, Warner Bros. coasted into massive departures from Tolkien's legendarium with ease; both from a practical and thematic standpoint. It was a weird release, made even stranger by a controversy regarding some content creator's failure to disclose that they couldn't disparage the game in exchange for cash. Whatever the case may have been some people enjoyed it; but come December 31 of this year, future generations may enjoy it a bit less.

An ominous message recently apparated on various digital marketplaces for the game, warning that come that date, several features will be removed from the game (presumably because WB doesn't want to keep paying for online features). Those features include the Nemesis Forge mechanic (read: you can't transfer your nemesis enemies into the sequel) and a lack of Vendetta missions (hunting orcs via your friends list) and leaderboards. WBPlay is also being removed, but as a pity prize you're getting "Orc Hunter" and "Gravewalker" epic runes.

I always felt that the nemesis system was half-baked, but come 2021 it'll be even less appealing. You can find the full rundown of the removed features below. For now, the follow-up release Shadow of War is not impacted.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor [Steam]

Can you believe it? We are less than 10 days away from the launch of a brand new generation of gaming. On November 10, Xbox will be first out of the gate with the launch of its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S hardware, promising power and technology like none we have seen from consoles before.

To mark the momentous occasion, Xbox has announced that it will be holding a special live stream to celebrate the new hardware's release. The stream will feature various "behind-the-scenes" segments, developer interviews, fundraising events, and "Let's Plays" with influencers and members of Team Xbox. Xbox has noted that this is not a "reveal show," and as such will not feature any new announcements. The stream is intended more as an online launch party for the Xbox community.

The action kicks off November 10 at 11:00 PT / 14:00 ET / 20:00 BST. You can watch along via the Xbox YouTube and Twitch channels. For more information about the event, check out the announcement over on the official Xbox blog.

The default Fortnite dance is terrible. You move out of time with the music, the music itself is boring, and it wasn’t even stolen from a pop-cultural icon (although to be fair it has become one in itself). No one thinks you’re cool doing the default Fortnite dance.

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Last year, we raised over $60,000 for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare during our Extra Life livestream. This year you can be a part of all the fun by watching or playing with us. 

Starting on November 7 at 8 a.m. CT, we'll stream for 25 hours to raise money for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota! We'll be playing a variety of wild games, auctioning off several game codes, and getting up to a bunch of hijinx. Donate right now for a good cause by clicking here! You can follow along and donate on GameInformer.com, YouTube, and Twitch.

Donate Here 

Schedule

Below is a rough outline of our schedule (in Central time) starting at 8am on Saturday morning. Let us know what you think of these options in the comments below!

While our eyes are collectively on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which we knew would work on the PS5, Ubisoft delivered some bad news (in a now-defunct Ubisoft Connect news post) regarding a few legacy titles last week: noting that they would not be compatible with the PS5.

Now, like several publishers in regards to the mystery of PS5 backward compatibility, it wasn't exactly clear what that meant. Would it boot at all? Are there unsupported bugs? Who knows at this point, as Ubisoft has pulled the list entirely.

Following a bevy of inquiries over the weekend regarding this list, Ubisoft has informed The Verge that they have removed it with the following statement: "We have pulled the Ubisoft Connect article and forum post regarding backwards compatibility for the time being as there may be inaccuracies involving the Ubisoft titles that will be playable on PS5." Allegedly, Ubisoft will have a "correct list of games" this week. So...they don't know right now?

This whole situation is very odd and a lot less black and white than it is on the Xbox ecosystem. While Smart Delivery and "500K+ hours of testing" reign on Xbox, Sony had been far more vague in terms of what will work since backward compatibility was announced.

I think what's happening is that a lot of compatibility checks are coming down to the wire on PS5. Developers seem to be scrambling to try and make sense of it, so hopefully we don't have more of these strange blog posts now that we're roughly a week away from the next-gen launch.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 has given us a number of amazing custom creations from fans building the skate parks of their dreams, from Spyro and Smash Bros to Super Mario Sunshine’s Delfino Plaza. Now, Redditor Skramblez is upping the ante by making Hogwarts Castle from the Harry Potter series into a true skater’s paradise.

Not only did Skramblez recreate the epic-looking magical castle, the THPS fan also created custom skaters resembling some of the characters from the book and film series--though the antics in the video seem more like something the Weasley twins would pull.

While the custom parks in THPS1+2 are limited in the amount of detail or scope that can be included, the Hogwarts park still includes a couple of epic towers, a few of the castle’s courtyards and, of course, the Great Hall, complete with the four house banners on the wall.

Halo 4 is the sixth and final game coming to PC through Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It's available now for testers, but the public release is still a little ways off. While we wait for that, developer 343 Industries has now shared gorgeous new images from Halo 4 on PC and informed fans a little bit more on what to expect when it arrives.

Starting with the images, the screenshots show off a few locations from Halo 4's campaign. The images had to be downscaled for publishing, but 343 tells fans, "trust me, it's glorious in 4K 60."

[Update: Codes for all eight caps are below!]

Today during this morning's special Pokémon stream, The Pokémon Company unveiled a new promo for Sword and Shield. Naturally, it involves Pikachu.

From here on out, special Pikachu will be distributed for Sword and Shield, tailored around the idea of it being "Ash's Pikachu" with eight different hats. The first one is available today, with more coming later "through various means." If history is anything to go by, codes doled out during tournament streams and the like are a safe bet.

To get the first rat, enter "P1KACHUGET" into your copy of the game.

To unlock the second version, use: "1CH00SEY0U."

A third version has been released: "P1KAADVANCE."

As well as a fourth version: "V0LTTACKLEP1KA."

And the fifth version: "P1KABESTW1SH."

And the sixth: "KAL0SP1KA."

Here's the seventh: "ULTRAP1KA."

And the eight: "K1NP1KA1855."

There's even going to be a full website for it! It's not live at the time of publication, but The Pokémon Company says more info will be available here. You can also take a look at the array of hats below.

Windbound will expand with a trio of free major updates over the next few months. The first of three major patches is out now, and it contains some new stat-boosting skins, a photo mode, and and new endless mode for the survival game.

The new Witch Skins are made up of three items--the Witch's Hat, Witch's Outfit, and Witch's Staff--which give you a healthy stat boost when equipped. The hat makes potions last longer, the outfit gives you easier, closer respawns, and the staff is an unbreakable weapon that fires out enemy-seeking orbs after each melee attack.

Photo Mode, meanwhile, lets you pause the game and line up a photo, changing how Kara's posed and adding filters. It lets you change your position, camera orientation, and mess with field of view, exposure, and time, just as in most photo modes. You can also equip Kara with a variety of different hats and accessories, getting some nice shots of your adventures.

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has announced the results of the Imperator election deciding who will lead the United Empire of Earth going forward.

The election allowed players to pick among several candidates and elect the new Imperator, directly influencing the upcoming lore of the game as its timeline continues.

The winner is the independent candidate Laylani Addison, known for her support of education and AI research.

Below you can read her inaugural speech.

“Thank you, Commissioner Salonen. Let me start by thanking my campaign staff all across the Empire. There are too many people to name, right now, but none of this would be possible without your hard work and dedication. Truly, I cannot thank you enough for helping turn our improbable dream into a reality. My love and thanks to my dedicated partner and campaign manager, Jesse. I am here now because of your belief in me. To our daughter Finley, thank you for your patience and the joy you bring me every day. I also want to thank the people of the UEE. Words fail to express the deep sense of pride and gratitude I’m feeling right now. Serving as your Imperator will be the honor of a lifetime, and I promise to dedicate myself to building a better Empire for all.

Make no mistake, I’m under no illusions that this will be easy. For years I was told that the deeply rooted political parties and corporate interests were too powerful, too entrenched, for an independent voice to be heard. Well, we sure proved them wrong and showed everyone where the true power lies in this empire — with the people!

In the midst of another wave of DMCA takedown notices, Twitch recently advised streamers to delete their entire archives of clips or VOD if they couldn’t be sure it didn’t contain copyrighted material. Now, one streamer has shown how difficult that task can be, with increasingly unrealistic copyright claims.

Twitch has had ongoing issues with DMCA this year, with its most recent wave of takedowns seeing the streaming platform sending a one-size-fits-all warning to streamers who had hosted infringing content. Twitch has since returned to sending out regular copyright notices, though they still aren’t helpful for streamers who want a long-term solution.

The issue has been illustrated by streamer Jake’n’Bake, who received a copyright notice over a snippet of a Kanye song appearing in a video from an IRL stream from 2018. As he points out, he never played the song himself, but likely walked past a business or person playing it.

Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine aren't the only Ubisoft games that have been delayed. The French publisher confirmed in its latest report that its new Avatar game based on the James Cameron film franchise has been pushed to a new date further in the future.

This new Avatar game, which is in development at The Division studio Massive Entertainment, will now release during Ubisoft's financial year that begins in April 2022. The first Avatar movie sequel, Avatar 2, is scheduled for release in December 2022 after its own delay. It would make sense that the game will release around that time to capitalize on the hype, but no firm date has been announced yet.

The new delay for the Avatar game was made in response to the delay of the movie, Ubisoft management said on an earnings call.

No word on a western release, yet.

The post Sega Releases New Trailer for Phantasy Star Online 2 Senran Kagura Crossover appeared first on Siliconera.

One of Microsoft's secret weapons for next-gen is Xbox Game Pass, the company's subscription service that already has 15 million members. It could be a big deal in the future, as the subscription model shakes things up in terms of the business of how people consume games.

Todd Howard, a veteran Bethesda executive who recently joined Xbox with ZeniMax's sale to Microsoft, has offered some thoughts on Game Pass--and he is optimistic about its ability to positively impact gaming.

He told GI.biz that Game Pass has the potential to help games succeed where they might not have otherwise.

Today Compile Heart released another trailer of the upcoming dungeon-crawling JRPG Mary Skelter Finale.

The video is titled “Story Trailer” but it actually shows more gameplay than cutscenes.

You can check it out below.

Mary Skelter Finale has been delayed to November 5., 2020, It’ll come for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

The game includes the adventure mode of both Mary Skelter: Nightmares and Mary Skelter 2, on top of the visual novel Love Prison Tower Mary Skelter, which was a pre-order bonus of the second game. This way, those who haven’t played the other games can still get the full experience.

At the moment, no western release has been announced, so we’ll have to wait and see whether Idea Factory international will announce it down the line. 

If it does come west, it’ll also be interesting to see whether it’ll end up losing the PS4 version in the west, as it happened with its predecessor.

Lone Survivor, the hit 2012 2D horror game, is getting an expanded, improved remake in 2021. Super Lone Survivor has been announced for PC and Switch, and developer Super Flat Games has said that it's being totally rebuilt in a new engine.

The game, which has been revealed with a new trailer, will feature a new scenario called "Ascending," which we don't not much about yet. The PC version will now support gamepads and ultrawide, as well as 4K effects. The Switch version will run at 60fps.

The developer says they are "considering difficulty modes," and the Ascending content is being designed because they have no interest in making a sequel, but still want to revisit the game.

You can check out the trailer, made in-engine, below.

Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: More Than Deformed Murder-Poppets: A Higurashi When They Cry Retrospective • TAY’s 2020 Scary Story Contest Winner • TAY Retro: Mega Drive - Daimakaimura (Ghouls ‘n Ghosts) [TV Commercial (JP)]

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The time of elves is over. In December, the time of online features in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor will also be over.

The post Certain Online Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Gameplay Features Will Soon Disappear appeared first on Siliconera.

While Halo Infinite has been delayed to 2021, Halo fans are getting a treat this year when Halo: The Master Chief Collection gets an update to take advantage of the power of the Series X/S consoles.

Producer Matt Hohl has now shared some new insight on the updates, and they sound exciting. In an interview on Halo Waypoint, Hohl first reminded players that the update will land on November 17, so it won't be there at launch, but fans won't have to wait long.

In terms of the upgrades, there is a "raw performance improvement across the board," Hohl said. If you have a supported display, you can play Halo: MCC at up to 120fps/4K on Series X and 1080p on Series S. "

A new Vampire: The Masquerade title has been announced, and it's something a bit different from the others titles. The game, a battle royale set within the universe of the RPG series, has been unveiled by developer Sharkmob on the company's project page.

The currently unnamed game has a teaser trailer and a brief description on Sharkmob's website. It promises a gameplay scenario "where vampire sects are at war across the streets and rooftops of Prague," and that players will be able to either go solo or team up with others. There will also be a hostile "Entity", which is going after all vampires on the map.

You'll have access to supernatural powers and weapons, and can tap into blood reserves to make yourself stronger as you hunt down your foes from other factions.

You can watch the teaser trailer below. It does not contain gameplay footage, however.

As some comments on the video point out, open street warfare goes somewhat against the concept of the "Masquerade" of the game's title, which is meant to keep vampire affairs secret--but perhaps the game will deal with this in some way.

The game is currently tracking for a late 2021 release. Platforms have not been confirmed.

Third-party developer DC Designs provided another update about the development of the F-15 package for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The update shows more exterior and interior shots, showing more progress on the model.

You can check them out below.

A second game in the Dark Pictures series, Little Hope, has revealed a third game with a post-credits trailer. The next game is called House of Ashes, and it’s got some serious “the opening scenes of The Exorcist” vibes.

House of Ashes looks like it'll incorporate elements of Sumerian mythology, and will feature Ashley Tisdale in a major role (presumably not as one of the "Ashes" that the house belongs to, though). It looks likely that she'll be one of the playable--and potentially killable--characters.

The trailer has not been officially released by Bandai Namco yet, but you can watch a capture from the finale of Little Hope below.

This is the same way that Little Hope was revealed, with a trailer shown at the end of Man of Medan. It's unclear which systems House of Ashes will come to, but the two previous games have launched on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

The Dark Pictures films follow on from Supermassive Games' earlier hit Until Dawn, which was a PS4 exclusive. The games that have followed have been shorter and featured multiplayer modes.