March 2020

Wasteland 3, the post-apocalypse-tinged squad-based RPG from developer InXile, will no longer release in May as originally announced, and is now due to arrive in August.

InXile had originally set a 19th May release date for Wasteland 3 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC, but the developer today announced a new launch date of 28th August, citing the "logistical challenges" arising from coronavirus-related home-working as the reason for the delay.

"As with most companies, we moved to a work-from-home environment some weeks ago," explained studio head Brian Fargo in a statement posted to Twitter, "and that of course introduced challenges that many of us throughout the world have been learning to manage. We've been excited to see the Wasteland 3 Beta so well received, but the reality is that with these new logistical challenges our release was going to be impacted".

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Resident Evil 3 is the big release of the week, followed by the return of Mojipittan in Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan Encore.

The post This Week In Imports: Nemesis Catches Up With You in Resident Evil 3 appeared first on Siliconera.

The Chinese-developed, single player, countryside life sim Komori Life will head to iOS and Android devices in Japan in this summer.

The post Slow Life Smartphone Sim Komori Life Journeys to Japan in Summer 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

We are working with our partners at Microsoft to roll out a firmware update for MixAmp Pro TR, A50 + Base Station and A20 headsets by launch of Xbox Series X. This update will include the ability to deliver game surround sound & voice chat via USB. Stay tuned for future updates. pic.twitter.com/W65AXflRvk

We've got Switch copies of madcap multiplayer game Chapeau up for grabs in today's contest!

You guys know I love weird games, quirky concepts, and strange executions. They're my bread and butter. So when a competitive multiplayer game centering around players being hats hits my desk, I'm going to take notice. I have an MO, for sure.

And this flips all the switches for me. Chapeau is a wacky party game where you play as a hat. A hat. Several hats, really. We've got some Switch copies to give away, so come win one!

Limited time clothing items return in this week’s Red Dead Redemption 2 Online update, with some big bonuses and discounts on in-game items included.

The following limited time release clothing items will be available in general stores in-game until April 13:

• Gator Hat
• Squat Stovepipe Top Hat
• Winter Shotgun Coat
• Benbow Jacket
• Ortega Vest
• Tied Pants
• Strickland Boots
• Calhoun Boots
• Vaquero Baroque Spurs

Along with the re-release of various clothing items to the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. catalogue, an all-new scoring system for kills has been implemented. The new update will reward players for more difficult or trickier kills with more points. All new volatile weapon loadouts, point values, and more explosions have been added, so head over to Fort Mercer, Heartlands Oil Field, and Tall Trees to rack up some serious points.

Sonic the Hedgehog ended up being a good-looking movie thanks to a significant character redesign for the blue blur, but it's hard to forget the haunted eyes and human teeth of the original design. But now a deleted scene from the film has reminded us of just how iterative a process it is creating a CGI film like this--and at a certain point in production, every scene in the film is going to look awful.

To promote the film's early digital release (it's available now), Paramount has shown off an early version of a scene where Sonic arrives on earth, alongside his owl companion Longclaw. Sonic, still a baby, is warned to keep a low profile--and he immediately runs off.

The scene itself isn't anything remarkable, but the extremely early CGI renders of Sonic, Longclaw, and their environment are haunting. While the character models improve dramatically towards the end, this video also gives us some insight into what a bad PS2 tie-in game might have looked like. Check them out below.

One small feature added to Persona 5 Royal is a series of crossword puzzles. Throughout the course of P5R's year, you'll find a book on the table furthest from the entrance door in Leblanc. Interact with the book and you'll then be prompted to solve a crossword. If you're successful in figuring it out, you'll be rewarded with one knowledge point for free, and it's worth doing because it doesn't consume any in-game time.

Note that when you initiate a crossword puzzle, you only need to solve for the line that's highlighted in blue. All other words around it serve as hints by letting you whittle down the number of letters you have left to work with or fill certain letter for the line in blue.

So, here are the solutions for the crossword puzzles we've found in P5R (note that there be more we have yet to discover).

2020 is barely three months in, and it has hit the world with a nonstop stream of surprises, both good and bad. In this perilous time of unpredictability, Atari delivers another haymaker with Pong Quest.

Pong Quest puts the player in the role of what could be the first-ever video game hero, the paddle from Pong, in an epic quest through themed worlds based on classic Atari titles. Players will be able to customize their paddle as they take on the main adventure, multiplayer modes, and a treasure trove of game modes.

This won’t come as a surprise to any of you, but id Software officially cancelled QuakeCon 2020 today, saying, “gathering is the last thing any of us should be doing right now.”

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It would be fair to say that Valve's digital card game, Artifact, failed to make much of an impact following its high-profile launch at the end of 2018. Mere weeks after its arrival, user numbers had tumbled - and now, after a year of silence, Valve has finally announced a radical overhaul for the game, one that even ditches its fundamental monetisation model of selling cards.

Designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, who left Valve last March, Artifact struggled from the off, with players rejecting everything from the game's perceived complexity to balance issues and even its pricing model, which - unlike free-to-play competitors Hearthstone and Gwent - included an upfront cost, alongside payment for additional cards. By the time July came around, Artifact was barely seeing 100 players online in a 24-hour period.

Valve said little about Artifact for almost year, but suddenly, earlier this month, it began to tease new activity for the game, saying it would reveal "more news after the launch of Half-Life: Alyx". Now, with Alyx out the door and basking in the light of rave reviews, Valve has kept its promise, outlining some early changes for what it's calling Artifact 2.0.

It seems like Super Mario's 35th anniversary is going to be a big deal! First a LEGO set, then some wild gaming rumors, and now we're getting a small taste of Nintendo's Super Mario manga, which has run in Japan since 1991.

The post Viz Brings Super Mario Manga Mania Stateside in Late 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Compile Heart released two new videos of the upcoming DLC for Azur Lane: Crosswave. 

To be more precise, we get to see Episode Taihou, which is the first DLC featuring the ultra-yandere aircraft carrier. 

Incidentally, the second video also showcases Saint Louis, who is one of the three support/secretary only shipgirls who will come with Taihou.

We already know that five DLC have been announced: the second DLC will be Formidable, the third will be Roon, the fourth will be Le Malin, and the fifth will be Sirius.

In the video, we get to see both battle gameplay and storytelling similar to the base game. The main difference is that Taihou is the protagonist, but the DLC doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It’ll be released this month, but the precise date is still unknown. Idea Factory International hasn’t provided info about the western release either.

Last month, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was released as a part of the roll out of Halo Master Chief Collection on PC. While there isn’t another main title release this month (apart from the Halo 2 beta test), we did get a big developer blog update with everything going on with the re-release of Halo 2: Anniversary for PC as a part of the collection.

On PC, the MCC is an ever-evolving platform, with titles in the franchise being released over time and updates constantly being reworked in conjunction to community feedback.

The Halo 2: Anniversary beta/flight content is going to be packed with an all-new challenge system, customization options, theater mode, and campaign missions all being revamped for the eventual PC release. Those who have opted in for the early access play sessions, and are selected, will be able to play the beta or “flight” editions of the title releases before the full edition release dates. For more on how to opt in to this program check out the community website.

In March, Halo developer 343 Industries released a gigantic update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The update was 60 GB, which makes it much bigger than some brand-new games. Some people expressed frustration over this. After all, even a blazing-fast internet connection would require quite a while to download such a large update.

The studio has now shared more insight on why that update was so large and what fans can expect in terms of file sizes going forward. Design director Max Szlagor said said in a blog post that the studio is always trying to make file sizes smaller, but it's not always possible.

"With such a large surface area of game, and the scope of changes that need to be made this can make them rather large," Szlagor said. "Whenever core game data files are updated, this usually means a larger update. We manage this process very carefully to minimize the amount of times this happens. But it is one of those things that can come up."

Antonin Kolman is an artist and matte painter who has worked in games and movies.

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Microsoft has begun a contest that will give away one custom Sonic movie Xbox One X. It includes a matching controller.

The post Microsoft’s Giving Away a Custom Sonic Movie Xbox One appeared first on Siliconera.

Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions has sent its developers home to work remotely after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. A March 30 memo from the Japanese developer confirms that the affected staffer was at home since March 20 and had not been in the Kojima Productions office since then.

The developer said it has been working closely with public health officials who informed the studio that because this person did not display symptoms until they were at home, away from the office, the rest of the developers are not labeled as "close contacts." Therefore, officially, Kojima Productions could stay open. However, the studio has itself decided to close down and shift to a work-from-home setup in the interest of keeping its developers and the community safe.

As such, the Kojima Productions office is now closed. Additionally, the company is sanitizing its office. "Kojima Productions will continue working closely with our public health authorities and enact additional precautions as necessary to prevent further spread in any way possible," the developer said.

An Animal Crossing Super Smash Bros Ultimate Spirit Board event will add New Horizons characters like the DAL dodos.

The post Animal Crossing Super Smash Bros Ultimate Spirit Board Event Adds New Horizons Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

Terraria, the 2D construction game that first released in 2011, has just hit a major sales milestone. According to the game's website, Terraria has now sold 30 million copies across PC, consoles, and mobile, with the majority of those sales being on PC.

The game has sold 14 million units on PC, 7.6 on consoles, and 8.7 on mobile. The console number is lower despite the game having been made available on eight different systems since it launched--PS3, Xbox 360, Vita, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch. Terraria hit 20 million sales back in February 2017, and has evidently continued to sell well since then.

The game, which will receive a substantial Journey's End update soon, is currently discounted on Steam to celebrate its huge sales milestone. Until April 3, the game and its soundtrack are discounted by 50%, so you can see what has attracted 30 million prior customers.

The official Rockstar Games Twitter account has announced that they will be donating 5% of all revenue from purchases made in GTA Online and Red Dead Online, the online modes for Grand Theft Auto V and Read Dead Redemption 2 respectively.

The funds will be used to help local communities and businesses who have been affected by the impact of COVID-19. The donations will be contributed to these communities and businesses, as well as to organizations actively helping out those in need during this crisis. The Twitter post did not exactly who the funds will be donated to specifically, just referring to business, communities, and organizations in general.

The post mentions North America, the UK, and India specifically, so there's a chance this will be the main focus on where the donations are sent. These are however where Rockstar's main offices are located.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is out now on PlayStation 4, but it's only the campaign that's received a visual upgrade. There is no multiplayer in the package.

In a blog post, Activision said it decided against releasing Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer as a standalone pack and instead favored the idea of launching additional "classic map experiences" within Modern Warfare over time.

"Rather than release a separate, multiplayer experience as a standalone pack, Activision and Infinity Ward are looking to bring more classic map experiences to new life within the Modern Warfare universe as it continues to grow and build over time," the publisher said.