Outriders won’t be out this year after all. The game’s been delayed until February 2, 2021.

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After a morning of shaky login issues, Fall Guys’ medieval-themed second season is officially here. If you’ve fallen off Mediatonic’s free-to-play platformer royale in recent weeks, today’s update might be enough to draw you back in—for a little bit, at least.

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Nick’s animated Trek series brings back the Voyager captain

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Having grown tired of ridding the Epic Games Store of frightened rodents over the past year, first-person bird ’em up Falcon Age is expanding its hunting grounds from the Epic Games Store. Part robot-bashing action and part virtual pet, Outerloop’s feathered debut arrives on Steam today, with 25% off for folks who adopt one of their virtual birds-of-prey for the next week.

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Rail-gun-be-gone

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AMD's latest Ryzen processors are official - and this time, they're gunning for Intel's gaming throne with their new Zen 3 designs. They're doing that with significantly faster single-core speeds, a new eight-core complex and a few more clever tweaks to the winning Ryzen formula. Here's what you need to know about Ryzen 5000.

So first off: Zen 3. AMD's Zen+ and Zen 2 designs each incorporated better single-core performance, allowing subsequent Ryzen processors to narrow the gap in IPC against Intel, and Zen 3 takes that to the next level with the greatest gen-on-gen increase in single-core performance in the series' short history. There's also an architectural change here, as the company shifts from four-core core complexes (CCXs) to eight-core complexes. That means that an eight-core processor will use a single complex, meaning that there's no complex-to-complex latency and all cores can use a single (double-size) cache.

There will be four Zen 3 designs initially: the flagship Ryzen 5950X ($799), the penultimate Ryzen 9 5900X ($549), the high-end Ryzen 7 5800X ($449) and the mid-range Ryzen 5 5600X ($299). These designs have 16, 12, eight and six cores, respectively, with boost clocks of up to 4.9GHz on the 5950X. This is backed with around 70MB of combined L2 and L3 cache on the top two parts, with 35MB on the other models. TDPs are similar to last-gen, with three 105W parts at the upper end and one 65W option for the Ryzen 5. You can see our spec table for the full breakdown.

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Sage has a new healer friend — meet Skye

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With COVID-19 still not contained in certain areas in the world, many aspects of daily life are still in a constant state of disruption. The movie business is just one of the many industries impacted by the pandemic, including the upcoming Minecraft movie. When announced, the Minecraft film was set for 2022. Unfortunately, that date has been rescinded and not replaced with a new projection for launch.

With so many game adaptations coming to film and TV, Minecraft is a smart pick. Since it launched back in 2011, this title has amassed incredible player counts and numerous expansions inspired by other franchises. Minecraft has more than solidified itself as an iconic entry into gaming history with various spin-off games and even books. 

The Minecraft movie is under Warner Bros. with a trailer of directors leaving the project. First, Shawn Levy exited the role of director only to be replaced by Rob McElhenney, who also left. Back in 2018, Warner Bros. recruited Aaron and Adam Nee to come in with a new script, though eventually Allison Schroeder later came in with her own script with Pete Sollett signing on to direct. 

Fall Guys Season 2 has begun. There's the new Battle Pass filled with rewards to get, four new rounds, and a Show Selector.

The post Fall Guys Season 2 Battle Pass and New Stages Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

Big news out of GameStop today. The in-store experience is going to morph from an underpaid employee asking if you'd like to pre-order a game or buy a protection plan from behind a desk, to an underpaid employee asking if you'd like to pre-order a game or buy a protection plan with a Microsoft Surface in their hands.

A new "multi-year strategic partnership" between GameStop and Microsoft will outfit store associates with Surface tablets. A press release from GameStop says "The mobility of Microsoft Surface will allow associates to move freely within the store footprint, meeting the needs of customers faster and more efficiently." There's no escape!

The crux of this deal is far more boring, though. It'll also see GameStop's backend shift to Microsoft's Dynamics 365 which is a series of cloud-based business applications. GameStop will also move to Microsoft 365 and Teams at some point for better internal communication.

Lastly, it's mentioned that Xbox All Access -- the rent-to-own payment plan for next-gen Xbox -- is coming to GameStop. That's nothing special, as All Access is already offered at the other big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. 

Anyway, great news for GameStop employees who want to feel a little more tech savvy. Hopefully no one gets fired for streaming xCloud to their Surface while on the clock.

Infinity Ward has issued an patch addressing two guns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone: the AS Val and the SP-R 208.

Both guns, added to the game with the release of season six, had serious issues. In the case of the Val, it suffered from a bug that meant it could shoot through multiple walls. This, obviously, broke the game as it meant players could kill each other from across maps - ignoring cover along the way.

And then the SP-R 208, deemed by most Call of Duty players to be the most dominant weapon in the game this season. This sniper was so powerful, it was felt pretty much essential not just for Warzone, but for Modern Warfare multiplayer, too.

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It’s a law of the universe: any exceptionally good Spelunky daily run must be followed by an exceptionally poor run. Yesterday was execptionally good, and so…

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Is 8K gaming actually viable with Nvidia's latest Ampere-based GPUs? While a small selection of triple-A titles stand a good chance of hitting decent frame-rates at native 8K, Nvidia has released a new ultra performance mode for its DLSS AI upscaling technology - and its ambition is extraordinary. It aims to boost detail with a 9x multiplier, meaning that a core 1440p image is reconstructed to full 7680x4320 resolution: that's a final render output of 33 million pixels, reconstructed from just 3.7m. There's a whole discussion about whether 8K gaming is actually needed in the here and now - and it's a situation that can only be ascertained by actually giving it a go on a consumer screen, something we still don't have right now. Even so, the tools and techniques are certainly available to get a close-up look at image quality and performance and to draw some initial conclusions.

Before we go on, our contention remains that chasing resolution probably isn't the best use of GPU resources - even at 4K, let alone 8K. Ultra HD rendering is demanding enough, and pushing to 8K actually increases core resolution by 4x - an almost insane workload. We'd rather see higher quality pixels as opposed to more of them, especially as technologies like hardware-accelerated ray tracing are starting to produce some brilliant results. And it's certainly the case that native 8K rendering with RT is a bit of a disaster, even with the RTX 3090 - where Control renders a relatively simple ray traced scene at just nine frames per second. However, engage DLSS's new ultra performance mode and that leaps up to 50fps - a 455 per cent increase. The real question is whether you retain image quality as well and I think that from my perspective, there are promising beginnings here, but the technology isn't quite there yet.

Today Square Enix and People Can Fly announced the release date and more details about the cross-gen game Outriders.

The game will launch on Feb. 2 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.

It will feature full cross-play among all platforms and free upgrades to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S will be offered to those who purchase the PS4 and Xbox One versions respectively.

A new trailer was also released, and you can watch it below.

The press release included a comment by Jon Brooke, co-head of Studio at Square Enix External Studios.

“We’re very happy to announce that we can offer full cross-play support and a free next-gen upgrade plan for OUTRIDERS players. The great thing about this system is that even if you’re not picking up your PS5 or XSX quite yet, we’ve got you covered and there’s no need to wait. If you buy the current-gen version of OUTRIDERS, we’ll give you the next-gen version for free.”

The other co-head, Lee Singleton, also commented.

“We’re taking a little bit longer to ensure players have the best possible experience with OUTRIDERS, we’re also including new features like Cross-Play which will make our game much more accessible on all platforms.”

Wizards and warriors do battle with birds and soda cans as Fall Guys season 2 hits today. With all new courses, new outfits, and new ways to play the party is raging in the battle royale.

4 new medieval maps are available now, with more coming as the season progresses. Players can get wild in Hoopsie Legends, Knight Fever, Egg Siege, and Wall Guys.

An all new battle pass gives players tons of ways to customize their beans, with a big injection of fantasy flavor. A wizard falls off the stage precisely when they mean to!

Check out the launch trailer below.

In the late nineties and early noughties, no video game forum was complete without a ‘post your desktop’ thread, and no desktop screenshot was complete without a snazzy Winamp skin displaying your personality and illicit MP3 collection. What a treat it is to scroll through the tens of thousands of skins on the Winamp Skin Museum and see the exciting, strange, colourful, and horny range of old Winamp skins. It’s a simple website showing off a whopping 65,681 skins as you scroll down, down, ever down through ancient digital artefacts. But which will you admit to using?

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To celebrate the reappearance of Mileena, there are a few more screenshots to see and a voice acting sample to hear.

The post Mortal Kombat’s Mileena Screenshots and Voice Acting Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

May Your Aim Be True

One Epic freebie this week is extremely chill. The other? Extremely not chill. Opposites attract or something. Both are waterlogged.

Abzu and Rising Storm 2: Vietnam are both free on the Epic Games Store this week. Abzu is a mostly-relaxing swim through the sea where you'll marvel at underwater creatures and try to unravel an obscure mystery about civilization's downfall. This promotion comes just one month before Abzu developer Giant Squid debuts its next game, The Pathless, as a PS5 launch game.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is less about taking it easy and soaking in the sights. It's a large-scale multiplayer shooter that recreates battles of the Vietnam War. It's asymmetric in its gameplay, leaving players to execute different roles and operate different machinery. 

Next week's Epic games ramp up the spooky Halloween vibes. At least partially. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is half of the Epic giveaway. The other half is beloved micro-strategy game Kingdom: New Lands.

Abzu, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam [Epic Games Store]

There's no map in The Pathless, no waypoint or fast-travel systems that might make navigating its daringly large fantasy forests and steppes a little easier. I didn't miss that stuff. Not even for a second. These things were taken out, apparently, to ground the player in the world, to make them see these rain-darkened trees and murmuring grasslands as places to be understood and learned on foot rather than just empty stuff employed to space out the set-pieces. I can see that for sure. Beneath louring skies and surrounded by the halted spires of old temples, I did start to get my own bearings. But there's something else, too. The Pathless is an absolute hymn to the pleasures of movement and speed. Forget the plot, the task at hand, the ancient legends and the destruction of the world that looms red and malignant on the horizon. These mythical landscapes are always in danger aren't they? But few are as thrilling to get around in as this one.

More than any game I have played in a while, this one is all about the triggers. You are an archer, a tiny red and black and white figure in a world of greens and greys. The landscape is littered with hanging diamond shapes, luminous little targets that you can lock onto with the right trigger. Hold it down long enough and your arrow will sail straight into it when you release. Thwock! A burst of light rushes into your energy meter which you can then use to dash using the left trigger.

Michael Dorn — yes, Worf — supplies one of three pilot voices

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Can’t stress it enough, the eagle is good

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More stories from the world of Beastars will arrive in January

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Borderlands 3’s Bloody Harvest event has begun, and the latest hotfix for the game aims to optimize players’ experience as much as possible.

In a post to the official Borderlands website made on Oct. 8, developer and publisher Gearbox detailed what players could expect from both the event and the changes being introduced in light of it kicking off. as with last year, the Bloody Harvest will offer new weapons for players to earn from special variants of enemies, and said weapons will offer special buffs and skills to implement in battle.

However, Borderlands 3 players will need to be wary of the Terror status effect, which can be inflicted on them by enemies in the event. Those afflicted with Terror will suffer reduced aim and visibility, though they may also be able to take advantage of special weapon abilities as a result.

As with last year’s Harvest, the event will run until the first week of November; specifically, Nov. 5 at 9 a.m. PST and can be disabled at anytime from the main menu.

In terms of the changes being made to the overall Borderlands 3 experience, a new hotfix offers tweaks and improvements running the gammut. Some fixes will address glitches reported in DLC and other portions of the game, while others will adjust how viable certain weapons and class mods are.

Some of the biggest improvements will come in the form of buffs for those playing as Zane the Operative. Following player feedback, Gearbox has further buffed the character with improvements to their class mods, which will now power Zane up in an attempt to better scale him for end-game content.

Come on in, readers. The water’s free. Giant Squid’s chill dive ’em up Abzû is once again opening its waters for free on the Epic Games Store. Someone must’ve thought it pairs well with the horrors of war, mind, because it’s joined this week by Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. Both will be free to download and keep for the next week, at which point they’ll be replaced by pigs and monarchs.

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Now that Bugsnax has officially gone gold and is confirmed to be a PlayStation 5 launch title, it's time to meet the cast behind the creepily adorable (and slightly cannibalistic) creatures. 

While the full cast has not been revealed, we do have confirmation that Marvel's Spider-Man's Yuri Lowenthal will be included among the talent bringing this adventure to life. Sonic the Hedgehog's Roger Craig Smith, One-Punch Man's Max Mittelman, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's Debra Wilson are also lending their talent. 

For the full cast list revealed so far: 

Currency packs are the core of the monetization of any F2P mobile game. We share some of the key concepts, techniques and ferengi tricks involved with their creation and balancing. ...

We're talkin' 'bout Bugsnax! The game's release date and voice actors have been announced. It's a PS5 launch title.

The post Start Noshing on Bugsnax on November 12, 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

I don't know what it says about Outriders that I feel the need to exhaustively recount the details of this game every time I write about it. Maybe that I think the name is forgettable, maybe that I think it has a forgettable premise. Anyway, here goes:

Outriders is the Square Enix-published shooter from Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly. It looks half Destiny and half Gears of War, and it's billed as one of those infinitely-running games-as-a-service looter shooters. And, it's not launching on time.

Originally scheduled for this holiday season, Outriders has been delayed until February 2, 2021. Whether or not it's still a next-gen launch window title depends on your definition of launch window. Regardless, it won't be around right away when people have new consoles.

People Can Fly also announced that Outriders will have full cross-play support on all platforms. This is important because it's a current- and next-gen game. It'll launch on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. It's also part of the Smart Delivery program on Xbox that detects which console you're playing on and automatically delivers an optimized version.

I look forward to again explaining Outriders the next time I write about Outriders.

The adorably off-putting Bugsnax game (that we're still convinced is secretly a horror game) has officially gone gold and what better way to celebrate than with a release date! 

Bugsnax is releasing on November 12 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC through the Epic Games Store. That means that this is also a PS5 launch title for those that got their next gen system preorders in. 

When Bugsnax was first revealed, it looked wholesome, if not creepy for its cannibalistic nature. Its upbeat themesong that will make you want to drive a spike through your head because you've accidentally listened to it a million times on repeat also added to the game's charm. That being said, the longer we looked at the first reveal, the more something felt off. The conspiracy of it being a horror game began to form. 

Later, the team revealed the actual story of the game and yup; definite potential to be a horror adventure. According to the game's official synopsis: 

Bugsnax takes you on a whimsical adventure to Snaktooth Island, home of the legendary half-bug half-snack creatures, Bugsnax. Invited by intrepid explorer Elizabert Megafig, you arrive to discover your host nowhere to be found, her camp in shambles, and her followers scattered across the island alone... and hungry!

Snaktooth Island is only a few weeks away on PS4 and PC, too

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The doc follows a wonderful group of old men and their dogs

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Bugsnax has officially received a release date, and it has a new voice cast-focused video to celebrate the occasion with.

In a post made to the official PlayStation Blog on Oct. 8, it was revealed that the game would release on Nov. 12 alongside the bevy of PlayStation 5 luanch titles. The game will be available on PS5, PS4 and PC, and is priced at $24.99 according to a press release sent out alongside the announcement.

Also included in the post was a detailed breakdown of the game’s vocal talents and how they were selected. Kevin Zuhn, the creative director at Bugsnax’s developer Young Horses, detailed the recording process for the game’s characters and dialogue, explaining that the game saw a much larger outpouring of interest from the voice acting community, and ended up bringing in both experienced and fresh talents alike.

“It took a lot of restraint not to geek out around so many industry icons gathered into one place!” Zuhn said. “And speaking of, we managed to put them all in a room together for some ensemble recordings (pre-pandemic, thankfully). It turns out this is pretty uncommon for games to do, especially with a cast this large. But that’s one way our naivete can be a strength, because seeing them all play off of each other’s energy was wonderful.”

This energy proved to be a driving force in the performances of the cast, and tied into the overall tone of the game Young Horses was going for.

“I think this sort of collaborative atmosphere really brings home the idea that, however absurd things are, the residents of Snacktooth are a community. As you explore the world of Bugsnax, you’ll meet and befriend these colorful characters, and learn just what it is they’re looking for on Snacktooth Island.”

Eddie Van Halen, song writer and lead guitarist of iconic rock band Van Halen, passed away this week. Across the internet, tributes have poured out for the legendary rocker, including a rather surprising one from Sea Of Thieves developer, Rare. They’ve made a pirate shanty cover of the song Jump. It’s a bit weird, but you know what? It’s really sweet, too.

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The Fall Guys Season 2 update rolled out today on PS4 and PC, and so far, it's a little underwhelming.

If you're the type of dedicated player who maxed out the first battle pass and won't mind doing it again for new outfits (like an orc costume) or other new cosmetics (like fancy nameplates), then you'll be fine.

If you're someone who adored the first few weeks of Fall Guys but quickly fell out of love with the repetition, expect history to repeat itself – if you even manage to rekindle the flame in the first place.

There are four new stages in Season 2 – Knight Fever (a gauntlet race), Egg Siege (a team game with more protected bases), Wall Guys (a stair-building game), and Hoopsie Legends (a solo hoop-diving game) – but there's no consistent way to access them. Instead, they're mixed in with the existing levels.

Gather ye longswords and witchy hats, stumble chums. Ye olde bean-basher Fall Guys just got a whole lot more medieval with the arrival of the game’s second season. Charging into wibbly wobbly battle today, Mediatonic have freshened up their fumble royale with a king’s bounty of new stages, costumes, features and more, each flaunting a frightfully feudal flair.

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