March 2020

The rumors were true. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is real and it's now available for the PlayStation 4 as a timed exclusive. The game, remastered by the developers at Beenox, recreates the once controversial campaign from the original Modern Warfare 2 with updated resolution, animation, audio, textures, and more.

Anyone who purchases the game will receive the Underwater Demo Team Classic Ghost Bundle that can be used in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer and special ops, and in Call of Duty: Warfighter. This bundle includes the UDT Ghost Operator Skin, weapon blueprints, a weapon charm, calling card, finishing move, emblem, two Battle Pass tier skips, and a voice clip for Ghost.

Fans awaiting a western localisation announcement for Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers will be pleased to hear that it's apparently at the forefront of Atlus' minds. A new survey, directed at Persona 5 Royal players, features a question asking fans if they'd have any interest in said localisation, which feels surprisingly rhetorical.

Already available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan, Persona 5 Scramble sees The Phantom Thieves go on a cross-country jaunt through Japan, stopping off at various cities to right wrongs and steal hearts. Persona 5 Scramble takes a more action-oriented approach over Persona 5 JRPG stylings, as Joker and the gang physically carve their way through hordes of shadows and boss characters, en route to battle with shady elitist types.

In case you missed it, Borderlands 3 welcomed its second DLC campaign this past week, Guns, Love, and Tentacles.

But in typical Gearbox fashion they've also delivered a huge patch, which impacts the entire game beyond the scope of the add-on. The big takeaway from the newest patch is easily the level cap increase, which now involves a max level of 57, as well as three new guardian rank skills and a guardian rank increase across the board.

Gearbox is touting the "C'mon and Slam" skill as a huge breakthrough, as it allows players to slam (a downward thrust melee attack) at any height, which "should make slam gear a lot more interesting." There's also "Too Angry to Die," which extends your second win meter through damage. You can also start the DLC with an "auto-leveled character" if you want (games like Destiny sometimes charge for this) and "Moxxtail events" can convert Twitch Bits into in-game buffing beverages for streamers (man 2020 is weird).

The team also crammed in a ton of bug fixes and stability alterations, which you can read below. One step closer to fully optimizing the game on PC, which actually runs a lot better now after all this time (I swapped to Steam when the opportunity presented itself, and brought my characters along for the ride).

One of the most revered campaigns in the Call of Duty series is back in remastered form, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign being released today on PlayStation 4 - coming to other platforms a little later. Infinity Ward's title has been remastered by Beenox with new visuals, improved animations, audio enhancements, and supports up to 4K resolution (and will have uncapped framerate when it arrives on PC!).

Even if you haven't thought much of some CoD campaigns (Don't sleep on Infinite Warfare!), Modern Warfare 2 is one of the iconic ones, featuring memorable characters and missions and of course, the infamous "No Russian" level.

Players that purchase the remaster also get some cosmetics that they can use in Modern Warfare and Warzone.

As well as creating the Unreal Engine, making Fortnite, running their own games store, and publishing games, Epic Games apparently also own a group video chat programme named Houseparty? I too had missed their purchase announcement last year, until current events dragged it into headlines. Houseparty are currently offering a $1,000,000 (£790k) bounty if someone can prove “a paid commercial smear campaign” is behind recent rumours that the software is hacking other apps on people’s phones. Everyone’s getting on video party chat now, y’know, and the battle to dominate it might be a dirty one.

(more…)

Risk of Rain 2 is trying to keep us all busy, rolling out the Artifact 2.0 update today on PC. This update is filled with new content to keep players occupied during quarantine, and if you don’t have it yet, the game will both be on sale and have a free trial weekend in the coming weeks.

On top of the new content, developer Hopoo Games launched a poll today on the Risk of Rain 2 Discord to let the community chose the new Survivor that will be playable in the game when it launches in 1.0 this Spring. The winner will be announced on April 8.

In terms of the update, Artifact 2.0 is bringing a lot to the table. A whole new stage was added alongside new enemies, items, challenges, skills, and more. The artifacts themselves are a big return addition; artifacts are sixteen unique items that can be equipped to add variety or mayhem to Risk of Rain 2.

For full notes on all addition, read up on Hopoo’s Development Thoughts. Check out the new update’s trailer here as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s remastered campaign is official and it’s announced today with an explosive trailer typical of the franchise. The sequence reminds us of the story’s high stakes, as Soap, Shepherd, Ghost and other familiar faces fight back against Vladimir Makarov and the inner circle.

The remaster comes somewhat out of the blue after rumors of its release came thick and fast over the past few days. Now the details are out and its release set in stone — available first on PS4 from today, while other platforms launch later on April 30 (pre-purchase is available from today).

The remaster is set to feature improved graphics and performance; presumably, that includes tweaks to its lighting, frame rate, and sharpened textures as is typical. Full details are yet to be disclosed by Activision.

Notably, No Russian, the controversial level in which players walk through an airport massacring civilians, is reportedly still in the game.

You can check out the launch trailer below.

With the Coronavirus pandemic continuing to spread, relevant gaming events are being canceled across the words. Today Bethesda announced that QuakeCon 2020 has been canceled.

The notice was delivered via the official Twitter account of the event, citing logistical challenges and uncertainties due to the pandemic. 

While August is still far, Bethesda mentions that it would not be possible to complete the work and planning involving partners, vendors, and volunteers required to make the event a success. 

That being said, the note ends with a hopeful note as it mentions that the developer hopes to come up with other ways to celebrate the spirit of QuakeCon in August.

Of course, no details have been provided, so we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully, Bethesda and id Software will manage to organize an online event that their fans will be able to enjoy.

You can read the full announcement in its original Tweet below. 

Handy Games, the German studio behind the mobile game Rebel Cops, has dropped an announcement trailer for Airhead, a new Metroidvania-style platformer where two parts of a whole person have to save each other as they try to solve their way through the bleak yet beautiful world of cold-hearted machines and air tanks.

A symbiotic being named Head is left to die after a machine of unknown origin steals its air supply. Body, another being, witnesses its breath literally being taken away, and it decides to help by carrying the weight of Head’s fate on its shoulders, thus becoming Airhead.

As Airhead searches far and wide for the machine that stole Head’s air-giving heart and rendered it asthmatic, deflating and reliant on air tanks along the way, they’ll come to discover that the machine and Head may be two small pieces connected to a far grander scheme than either Body or Head could’ve ever imagined.

Throughout your journey, the game will give you puzzles that make you determine whether to use Head and Body separately or together, exploring the unique mechanics of Head’s detachability. You will also encounter other machines and creatures that will serve as roadblocks delaying Head’s survival or allies aiding you along the caverns to uncover the secrets behind the connection of Head, the air tanks that it must consume like candy — this, as well as the game’s title, is a clever callback to the colorful taffy we were all addicted to back in the 1990s and early 2000s — and the technology that comprises the world in which they live in so that Body can save Head’s life even if it may have to sacrifice itself in the process.

Check out the mind-blowing announcement trailer below.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster

The first great 2020 game on our list is The Suicide of Rachel Foster, a story-driven walking simulator. After discovering that her father was having an affair with a woman named Rachel Foster who was the same age as his daughter, a young woman and her mother leave to live out a better life somewhere else.

Ten years later and with both of her parents dead, the young woman returns to the family hotel to sort out its property. However, a storm strands her in the hotel and she is forced to explore the building and discover some pretty dark secrets.

People of the Moon puts two players on teeter totters that guide a ship through the night sky, using both of their movements to capture the lights that glimmer in the dark. ...

It's Tuesday, which means Destiny 2's weekly reset is now in full effect. Aside from rotating in a couple of Crucible game modes and giving you the chance to earn extra Infamy in Gambit, there's also a new hotfix update to download.

The headline change in Hotfix 2.8.0.2 fixes an issue in Trials of Osiris where challenges were not being reset properly. Now everyone should receive their rewards as intended, allowing you to hop back into the hardcore PvP event without worrying about your hard-earned loot not dropping.

Bungie's patch notes list other changes, ranging from fixing an issue where players weren't getting the correct amount of planetary materials from Seraph Bunker upgrades, to fixing an issue with Raiju's Harness that allowed players to hold Whirlwind Guard indefinitely. Due to an issue, however, there are two fixes that aren't included in today's hotfix and have instead been pushed back: a fix where bunker upgrades on the Season Pass are only unlocked on one character, and a fix where the first weekly clear of a Legendary Lost Sector won't award a powerful drop.

Ninja Theory has released a new update for Bleeding Edge, and it addresses a few of the major problems that the MOBA-like game faced at launch. The update is now live for both Xbox One and PC; the full patch notes are listed below.

Of note, the update addresses a rather annoying bug that allowed enemy players to still see you while you were invisible. At launch, if you were in stealth and an enemy player managed to ping in your direction, Bleeding Edge's ping system would still register that as a hit--pinpointing your location to the entire enemy team. Thanks to this update, that should no longer be the case.

Additionally, this update addresses the issue that's preventing players from grabbing all of Bleeding Edge's Achievements. Since launch, several of the updates that are progression-based (kill a certain number of players, for example) have bugged out and thus haven't been tracking what a player has been doing accurately. The patch notes for the update list that this issue has been fixed, and noted that the Steam version of the game now supports Achievements as well.

Following a series of leaks, the remastered campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is out now on PS4 for $20. There was no advanced official word from Activision; this was seemingly meant to be a surprise release, but that was spoiled in a number of ways--including the full campaign being published on YouTube before the game went live. It's available first on PS4 and will release for Xbox One and PC on April 30.

As noted above, this remaster consists solely of the campaign--there's no multiplayer functionality, presumably in part to avoid siphoning players away from the likes of 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Similar to other scheduled events like E3 and WonderCon, the organizers behind Combo Breaker confirmed that this year's tournament has been canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The organization announced in a detailed blog post that the fighting tournament will return in 2021 with help from its sponsor Astro Gaming, and refunds for competitor and community passes will begin on April 20. Instead of the scheduled tournament from May 22-24, "a three-day retrospective broadcast featuring marquee matches, special moments, and stories from past attendees covering Combo Breaker's five-year history" will air in its place. The organization didn't specify where the Combo Break Retrospective will livestream.

For those who managed to grab a hotel room at the Schaumburg Renaissance Marriott in Illinois, the tournament's organizers said these rooms have been transferred to Combo Breaker 2021 to avoid any hassle. However, they can also be canceled by calling the hotel directly starting April 3, and deposits will be returned in full should rooms be canceled.

Half-Life: Alyx has only been out for a week, and the Alyx-specific version of Valve’s “Hammer” mapping tool isn’t yet available. That, however, has not stopped one enterprising modder from cracking open the dystopian destination VRcation, scooping out its insides, and replacing them with Half-Life 2's.

Read more...

Toy Story Four-Film Collection (4K UHD) | $22 | Microsoft Store

Read more...

While time travel carries a great deal of reward, it’ll also cause major issues in the game. Here’s what you need to know about Animal Crossing’s time travel function.

Read more...

This year’s highly anticipated Combo Breaker fighting game tournament, originally scheduled for May 22-24, has been canceled according to an announcement released this morning by organizers. The annual competition is the latest such event to skip 2020 due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic caused by a novel strain of…

Read more...

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker already had so much going on, but our exclusive look at some of the concept art behind making it reveals the film could’ve had even more, including something truly delightful. Three words, my friends: BB-8. Battle. Tank.

Read more...

Using amiibo cards, you can replace your villagers

Continue reading…

That’s what they get for ... being ugly?

Continue reading…

This may be the ONLY good kind of prank

Continue reading…

One of Call of Duty’s best single-player campaigns is back

Continue reading…

HAL Laboratory revealed BoxBoy: Final Box! and Real Kame Sanpo, a game and update which make cutesy characters more realistic.

The post BoxBoy: Final Box! Beats ’em Up and Real Kame Sanpo Goes Realistic for April Fools’ Day appeared first on Siliconera.

The new take on Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, will be heading to consoles on May 26, 2020. It will also be on Xbox Game Pass.

The post Delve Into Minecraft Dungeons on May 26, 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Once you reach Christmas Eve (in-game) in Persona 5 Royal, you won't be able to keep capturing and streaming.

The post Persona 5 Royal Streaming Restrictions Won’t Let People Share Events After December 24th appeared first on Siliconera.

Tongue-in-cheek management title Tropico 6 is coming to Switch. A new partnership deal between franchise publisher Kalypso Media and Koch Games will see El Presidente's latest schemes arrive on the Nintendo platform at some undisclosed point in the future.

Alongside Tropico 6, the new deal will also see other titles from the Kalypso catalogue arrive on the Switch platform in the future. This includes train management sim Railway Empire and the upcoming Commandos 2: HD Remaster.

Tropico 6 is the latest entry in the cult series that tasks players with building, managing, and maintaining a luscious island paradise, while painting over the dastardly corruption and under-the-table shenanigans that keep the cogs turning and the vaults full. So if Animal Crossing: New Horizons seems a little goody-two-shoes for you, maybe Tropico 6 will scratch your dictatorial itch.

Tropico 6 is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Tropico 6 confirmed for Nintendo Switch [Nintendo Life]

With Resident Evil 3, Final Fantasy 7, and the rumor mill spinning about the return of the 3D Mario games, 2020 appears to be the year of classics taking the modern stage. The same goes for Infinity Ward's controversial, yet beloved, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 campaign. Join us as we examine how the classic tale of modern military might has aged with a new coat of paint.

We went live earlier, but you can catch the full archive above. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

COVID-19's impact on the game industry pushes another game date back, as InXile's Wasteland 3 has been pushed to August 28 (Be sure to check out an awesome feature on Wasteland 3 in the current issue of Game Informer!}. Studio head Brian Fargo issued a statement via Twitter, commenting that a shift to work-from-home procedures had impacted development. Wasteland 3 was previously expected to land on May 19 on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

We have an important update on Wasteland 3’s release date. pic.twitter.com/hiX1CygcUk

— Wasteland ☢️ (@Wasteland) March 31, 2020

Delays due to a rapidly changing world are becoming commonplace, and I'm looking forward to sliding around an ice-cold Denver when Wasteland arrives. And hanging out with robo-Reagan, he's a cool president.

The infamous Phantom Thieves of Hearts are made up of some of the greatest team members the Persona series have ever seen.

Whether you run track, turn into a van, or are obsessed with pancakes, you are an important member of the leather-clad crew.

The question is: which one? Take this Persona 5 quiz to find out!

Humble Bundle is offering a new bundle with all proceeds going to organizations currently fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Humble Conquer COVID-19 Bundle contains 44 PC games, the Double Fine Adventure documentary series, Music Maker EDM Edition software, and 23 eBooks including graphic novels and nonfiction titles.

The entire package is pay what you want with a minimum of $30. Humble Bundle said that 100% of all proceeds from the bundle will go to organizations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: Direct Relief, Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, and Partners In Health.

Like previous bundles, those buying can choose how the money from the sale is split, but the only options with this bundle are the four organizations. The bundle begins today and will be available for one week.

The 44 games in the bundle can all be redeemed on Steam with three titles offering DRM-free versions. Only one game, Zombotron, has a set number of keys remaining. Here is the full list of games available in the bundle:

Nintendo has released a new video onto its YouTube channel that highlights some of the biggest moments and highlights of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The video showcases the DLC fighter reveal trailers and some reactions from popular Twitch streamers and YouTubers alike such as The Completionist and RogersBase.

Ever since the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch back in 2018, every new fighter announcement has been met with a considerable amount of hype and attention such as Joker’s reveal at The Game Awards 2018 and Banjo Kazooie’s at E3 2019.

You can watch the video down below:

Niantic has acquired 6D.ai, a move meant to further the Pokemon Go-maker†™s goals of developing a robust, developer friendly augmented reality platform and enabling planet-scale AR experiences. ...

In this 2020 GDC virtual talk Butterscotch Shenanigans' Seth Coster examines forgiveness mechanics, game systems that allow the player to be 'off' in their inputs but still get desirable results. ...