After nearly a month offline, crossplay between PC and Mac is now back online for Civilization VI. If you’re still having trouble connecting, remember to disable all DLC from the set-up page.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered is coming in August, and when it releases you won't necessarily need a copy of the game to start dungeon-crawling with your friends. Square Enix has announced that a free demo for the game that will give you access to a handful of dungeons, as well as let you play with those who have purchased the full game.
The demo will be called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered "Lite." As explained by a new trailer, Lite players will be able to play three dungeons, and since the game is based on co-op, you can team up with up to three other Lite players. If a player with the full game hosts by inviting others to their caravan, Lite players can join in all 13 dungeons for free.
Both the full game and the Lite demo will have cross-platform play across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and mobile devices. Plus any progress you make in the Lite version will carry over to the full game.
Continue Reading at GameSpotToday Square Enix released a new trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered.
We get to see both the features that were already in the original game and a slew of new ones that will bring in new ways to play the game and new quality of life improvements.
You can check it out below.
Here’s how Square Enix itself describes the new features:
With HD graphics, English voiceovers for the first time, an updated soundtrack with new recordings, UI improvements, online multiplayer, and more, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition offers RPG fans of all ages new experiences to discover.
Play through the first three dungeons with the free-to-download demo version, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition Lite! Coming to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android mobile devices, this trial version will allow players to enjoy the first three dungeons of the game, take part in online cross-play in those dungeons, or join in with a player who has purchased the full game to play together in up to 13 dungeons – all for free.
How often will we see our own genitalia in Cyberpunk 2077, a first-person shooter role-playing game? I don't know, CD Projekt Red sure put a lot of thought into what our bushes look like.
As importantly reported on by Kotaku Australia (and importantly re-reported on here), there are five types of pubic hair in Cyberpunk 2077. However, it stops short of saying what those options are. Are these just hairstyles for your nether region? Are we talking landing strip, a V (as homage to the protagonist), and a giant wiry unkempt fur coat?
Surely, Cyberpunk 2077 gives us the option to take a laser beam to our junk. A laser beam is the only way to completely obliterate the follicle so that it's like a turtle shell down there. It's like that scene in Dead Space 2 but lower.
Here's the full breakdown of customizables by the numbers: "6 skin types, 35 hairstyles, 17 eyes, 8 eyebrows, 17 eyes, 17 mouths, 17 jaws, 17 ears, 8 bits of 'cyberware' (as well as no cyberware), 9 types of scars plus off, 6 types of tatts plus off, 11 piercings plus off, 5 types of teeth, 8 bits of eye makeup, 5 bits of lip makeup plus off, 3 blemishes, 3 types of nipples, 5 types of body tatts, 2 types of body scars, 2 dick types, 1 vagina option, dick size options, and 5 types of pubic hairs."
All those cool options and like half of you are just gonna pick a default-lookin' dude with a low-hangin' dick.
Everything You Need To Know About Cyberpunk 2077's Customisation [Kotaku AU]
The weekend is for probably getting to the work I didn’t get to during the week, goddammit. But some of that work is video games, so that’s something.
In sales data revealed on PlayStation Blog, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II is now the fastest-selling fist-party PlayStation 4 game to date, selling more than four million copies as of June 21. The game officially released on June 19, so this impressive number is accounting for roughly just three days of sales.
Most game sales data is not made public, so we have no clear idea of how these numbers stack up against other games released in 2020, but as of 2018, The Last of Us sold over 17 million copies. Needless to say, it's one of Sony's biggest first-party franchises, and yet another hit for Naughty Dog, the studio behind the Uncharted, Jak & Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot series.
Game Informer's editor-in-chief Andy McNamara gave The Last of Us Part II a review rating of 10 out of 10, calling it "the best narrative game I have played."
So much for testing out VR headsets and consoles in-store. Almost every Microsoft Store worldwide will close.
The post Almost All Microsoft Stores Are Permanently Closing appeared first on Siliconera.
If you’re after a gaming monitor that’s got a big screen, lots of hertz and doesn’t cost the earth, have we got some great [cms-block] for you today. There are two monitors that caught my eye today – AOC’s 32in CQ32G1 and Gigabyte’s 165Hz Aorus CV27F-EK – and the best thing is that neither of them cost more than £300 at the moment.
Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Pictures
Christopher Nolan’s time-thriller is now set for August
People download and delete apps at a dizzying pace, ravenous for new games. Let's figure out why your idea deserves to exist, and how you can make it matter to today's mobile users. ...
Keywords Studios has acquired specialized game development company Coconut Lizard for a fee that could rise to $2.47 million. ...
When Graham told me that Curious Expedition 2 was a lot like Curious Expedition 1, I immediately told him that was fine. Curious Expedition 1 was great! It’s a roguelike about managing parties of adventurers as they explore mysterious islands, making friends with the natives while desecrating their shrines and spreading calamity throughout their lands. (I think it was self-aware enough to get away with this, for the most part.) You wind up with stories about how your party nearly starved to death, but just about managed to tide themselves over by feasting on their donkey. I was psyched to see my people starve once more.
Playing the latest early access build has left me thoroughly de-psyched, because the new events are thin and far between and the combat I liked has been dumbed down. It’s a curious step back.
A couple of weeks into its Steam Early Access run, Torchlight III is readying its first big update.
On June 30, Echtra plans to add Torchlight III's "third and final act" (Echonok mountains), the Contracts system (and Fame), and a nasty flock of "bird-machine hybrid scavengers" called the Voltura.
"These features will be accompanied by a vast list of fixes and updates to other areas of the game," CEO Max Schaefer said in a post on Steam. "Last I looked the patch notes are 18 pages long."
"It is at a time like this that I am thankful that we created a flexible game architecture that allows us to make profound changes in a relatively short amount of time. You're about to get the first taste."
From what little we know, the team is raising the "aggro range" for pets so they'll be more active in battle, dropping the Gold fee for the Reliquary to encourage players to craft and experiment with more Relics, and Lifebound is getting "a big update" and it'll be an "opt-in system as opposed to an opt-out."
Currently, some of the best weapons and gear pieces you'll earn for slaying baddies can have a Lifebound attribute. It's a trade-off – Lifebound loot is lost when you die. There's a rare-ish item to remove the effect, and I get the idea of making player death feel high-stakes, but in practice, it's unfun.
I still feel like Torchlight III has a long way to go, but it seems like Echtra is open to big reworks.
I play Minecraft to build pleasing little houses, and so new block types are the most exciting things that can be added to the game, as far as I’m concerned. I’m pretty happy, then, as the new 1.16 “nether” update, which launched this week, has added loads. What’s more, they’re almost all found in the titular nether – Minecraft’s weirdo hell dimension, which was pretty underwhelming for the first nine and a half years of its existence – so I can now build pleasing little houses IN HELL. The new nether is a grim and varied wonderland, containing everything you need to do the sort of wholesome homesteading you’d do in the regular world, only with eerie-looking materials, in an unsettling wasteland. It’s brilliant. And so, to show you everything you can do in Minecraft 1.16, I’ve built a special house using only blocks that can be found in the nether, and recorded a relaxing, mid-2000s-MTV-style video tour around it. Please, come and join me:
Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City Wire video series kicked off yesterday and delivered an impressive trailer showing off the dystopian world and some new gameplay footage showcasing Braindance (ooh). But the real star of the show here was Hollie Bennett (UK Head of Communication at CD Projekt Red) and her dope Cyberpunk 2077 gaming chair that she was sitting on while she was hosting the event.
And if you’re one of the many that could not stop gawking at the yellow and black-colored chair, then we have good news for you. Secretlab announced today that the OMEGA 2020 Cyberpunk 2020 Edition can now be purchased from its shop online, but you need to be fast, as quantities are limited.
The price starts at $449 and features full-metal 3D armrests for maximum elbow and wrist support, a snug-fit seatbase to keep you nice and comfortable during long gaming sessions, memory foam head, and lumbar pillow, and a full-length backrest recline to cradle your shoulders.
You can view some more pictures of the chair down below:
Animal Crossing folks in the Northern Hemisphere will get to participate in their first Bug-Off. It's Flick's dream and Blathers' nightmare!
The post Don’t Forget to Catch Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ First Bug-Off appeared first on Siliconera.
In May, Geoff Keighley announced the showing of a Christopher Nolan movie at Fortnite’s Party Royale island. At eight this morning, I gathered with a handful of other avatars to watch the psychological thriller Inception. It wasn’t the best movie-going experience I’ve had, but it basically worked. Maybe Christopher…
Premium gaming chair manufacturer Secretlab has revealed its latest special edition chair, and it's themed around Cyberpunk 2077. The Cyberpunk 2077 Secretlab gaming chair is available to purchase now in both Titan and Omega series models. If you're looking forward to the upcoming CD Projekt Red game and are in the market for a new gaming chair, this may be hard to pass up.
The front of the Cyberpunk 2077 chair matches the neon yellow theme that we've seen with most of the game's products and marketing. The back of the chair is black and is emblazoned with a large Samurai logo. Samurai is the rock band led by Keanu Reeves' character Johnny Silverhand.
Limited quantities of the Titan and Omega models are available now, and orders ship same day. However, once they sell out, you'll have to wait until November for a restock. So if you want to have the chair in the months leading up to Cyberpunk's release, you'll probably need to place your order fairly quickly.
Continue Reading at GameSpotAfter closing its retail stores in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft has announced that it will permanently shutter the majority of its retail spaces, with only a handful staying open across the globe.
Microsoft's retail stores have been home to its hardware, including Xbox consoles, Surface laptops and tablets, and numerous peripherals. As the company was forced to shift to an entirely remote and online shopping experience and its products have shifted largely to digital goods, it's decided that the cost of retail stores isn't worthwhile any longer.
"Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location," said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porterin in a statement. "We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations."
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Last of Us Part II’s superb critical reception was matched by equally impressive sales over its launch weekend. As of June 21, just three days after its June 19 release, the game had already notched up 4 million sales.
In doing so, it’s become the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive from a Sony first-party studio ever. The previous holder of said title was Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, which sold 3.1 million over the same number of days.
In a celebratory message to the game’s fans, Naughty Dog VP and game director Neil Druckman wrote a statement over on the PS Blog today:
We are so immensely grateful to the millions of fans around the world that have played The Last of Us Part II and shared their experiences with us over the last week. We set out to tell a new kind of story, one that deals with difficult themes and would challenge you in unexpected ways. Hearing how the experience has resonated with so many of you and witnessing the type of thoughtful discussions it has sparked has been so incredible. We’ve also been so inspired by your creativity — whether it’s your gorgeous Photo Mode shots, jaw-dropping gameplay GIFs, or the songs you’ve recorded using Ellie’s guitar.
The Last of Us Part II was made possible thanks to the efforts of the hundreds of talented and passionate developers here at Naughty Dog. We can imagine no greater honor than seeing that same passion mirrored by the people playing it. Thank you for helping us reach this amazing milestone.
Bandai Namco has announced that the next entry in its driving simulation series, Project CARS 3, will launch August 28 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. The publisher has released a sleek new trailer for all you speed demons out there, which you can check out below.
Project CARS 3 sees developer Slightly Mad Studios dial-down on the "simulation" aspect - just a tad - to allow for a more accessible "arcade" experience. That isn't to that say series fans shouldn't expect the beautiful visual style and precise mechanics that the franchise is renowned for, but that players who find the complexities of "real-world" racing titles a little over-bearing will appreciate Project CARS 3's more streamlined approach to burning rubber.
PC folk may be having a great time spending hours looking for savings in the latest Steam Summer Sale, but that doesn't mean anyone with a console should miss out of a bargain. With that in mind, here are some of the best console game deals out there right now.
First up is a game we've watched steadily tumble down in price over the past few months. It's Borderlands 3. The erratic and bombastic FPS/RPG from Gearbox is now just £10 on PS4 and Xbox One at Tesco. I'm sure this is the biting point for a lot of people who can't stand a barrage of poop jokes but love a good looter-shooter.
Next is a shooter that doesn't have time for your meme culture: it's Doom Eternal. The follow-up to 2016's face-melting and demon-shredding masterpiece is - basically - more of the same again. And I was quite happy with that thank you very much. If you've been waiting for it to get a bit cheaper, it's now under £30 at The Game Collection.
‘s a weird one. The card game itself is solid yet unexciting (at least once you’ve played it for a dozen hours), but for me (and unusually for me) that’s made up for by charming presentation. More thoughts like that can be found in my Legends Of Runeterra review, but my less outdated thoughts are: yeah, I got bored. I just had a quick go with the new Gauntlet mode, though, and I can see how it might bring me back. Every week, you get to enter a special competition where you try to win seven games without losing two in a row, in which case you get knocked out. The twist is that the rules dramatically change every week. Right now it’s just a straight up ‘see how well you can do with your favourite constructed deck’, but future plans sound more interesting.
This is part of Patch 1.4, which also brings big changes to a whole bunch of cards and introduces the new ranked season. But I’m still thinking ’bout Gauntlets.
Been keeping up with Udon's Persona 4 manga releases? By October 2020, you should have the final three volumes in English!
The post Persona 4 Manga’s Last 3 Volumes Will Be Released in English in 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.
Marvel's Avengers just got a fresh look during Crystal Dynamics' debut War Table event, but studio head Scot Amos shared more details with GameSpot during an interview for Play For All. Amos said that his combat director's experience on the recent God of War would have made Thor a natural fit to tackle first, but instead he started with the hardest of all: Black Widow.
"We actually went out and pulled in some amazing talent like Vince Napoli, our combat director. Vince was on God of War, the most recent one. Looking at how certain games play, it's like, that weapon looks a lot like what Thor's hammer should be like, that would be cool. The idea of having him come on-board and say, 'great, I'm going to start attacking this, which one should I do first?' Do Black Widow first. And he's like, 'What? But this is the hardest one to make her feel super.'"
But Amos says that Napoli's Player Enemy Traversal (or "PET") team tackled the challenge and planned Black Widow from the core of what makes her an Avenger. That started with the skill trees, then branched out into the perks and gear that fit those skill trees, and on from there. This made the heroes differentiated from each other. Widow controls like a third-person shooter with melee abilities, while Iron Man is akin to a jet fighter. The protagonist Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, uses her Embiggen ability to snatch enemies with her enormous hands.
Continue Reading at GameSpot
Today in a new trailer Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition Lite, which will be free-to-play for the first three dungeons.
In this article we discuss our experiences with enabling custom RGB highlights in our games, X-Morph: Defense and The Riftbreaker. ...
Ninjala just launched on the Switch eShop, and the CEO of GungHo online is already looking ahead.
Speaking to Eurogamer, CEO Kazuki Morishita says the game was born out of the idea of kids hitting each other with sticks outside (chanbara - you've probably heard the term before). Yes, sticks: while Ninjala seems like it could even be a Splatoon spinoff, it's actually its own thing centered around melee combat and literal ninja maneuvers akin to Naruto or Kingdom Hearts.
Morishita has even acknowledged the numerous Splatoon comparisons, noting that "the coloring and the style does look at lot like Splatoon," though he believes that it's "very different." Morishita focuses on the melee system first and foremost, while noting that Ninjala has a free-for-all battle royale mode.
Yet, he "admires" Splatoon, and wouldn't mind doing a collaboration one day with Nintendo. While it may seem like a pipe dream on paper, GungHo is veritable royalty when it comes to crossovers, and the current Switch exclusivity could get them in the door.
Gumplay - GungHo on the launch of the Switch exclusive [Eurogamer]
Smoothie demonstrates her Wring-Wring Fruit abilities in the latest One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 trailer.
The post One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Gets an Introduction Trailer for Charlotte Smoothie appeared first on Siliconera.
The Call Of Duty: Warzone map is enormous. Larger even than the colossal locales of PUBG, Verdansk is home to many hundreds of unique buildings, thousands of loot drops, and up to 150 players at once. Our Warzone map guide will offer you an extremely detailed look at Verdansk and all its locations, even going so far as to rank the very best loot locations across the map.
PlayStation has announced spectacular sales for The Last Us Part 2.
Naughty Dog's sequel shifted 4m copies during its opening weekend, making it the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive ever worldwide.
Earlier this week, UK sales figures pegged the game as the biggest video game release of the year so far. It also pipped fellow Naughty Dog exclusive Uncharted 4 to be the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive here in the UK.
The best way around a shouting match to promote your game? Avoid it altogether. Rather, embrace that game design is part of the marketing equation and embed discoverability directly into the game itself. ...
The Last of Us Part II has become the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive in history after selling over 4 million copies in three days. ...
Taito has released a brief update regarding the upcoming shmup compendium Darius Cozmic Revelation. Regarding western localisation, the legendary publisher has announced that the title will be winging its way west on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch this winter.
Darius Cozmic Revelation is the follow-up to Darius Cozmic Collection and contains two more "modern" releases from the interstellar series' history: 1997's G-Darius (in all-new HD form), and 2010's Dariusburst EX: Another Chronicle +. Both titles will be revamped with new features, with more details to be revealed at a later date.
In the meantime, you can check out the new video below, which features a chat with Taito's Yuichi Toyama, who officially introduces Darius Cozmic Revelation while wearing a frankly amazing shirt. Darius Cozmic Revelation launches this winter on PS4 and Switch.
