April 2020

In late March, Square-Enix held a lengthy livestream where they revealed Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139, which they're calling an "upgraded version" of the original Nier for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In a recent interview with Famitsu, the developers behind this new Replicant upgrade discussed the changes that the new version will bring to the game.

Nier Replicant will feature an entirely new voiceover cast, as well as original and freshly re-recorded songs from the initial release. While the camera work for the cutscenes will remain the same as the first version, the developers have brought in Takahisa Taura of Platinum Games to refine the game's action to be more in line with what fans of the 2017 sequel, Nier: Automata, expect. There's no word yet on a release date.

The original Nier celebrated its 10th anniversary recently. In Japan, the original Nier came out in two different versions: Gestalt, which cast the titular character as an older father figure, and Replicant, which made him a younger, older-brother type. Currently, the only way to play Nier is to buy an expensive physical copy and haul out an Xbox 360 or PS3, so this remake will make it easier for many Automata fans to check out where the series began.

The latest update to Fortnite is now live, introducing a new limited-time mode, some significant balance changes, and other additions. Several of the changes from the 12.50 patch are already live, while dataminers have been digging up details about what may be coming.

The biggest new addition is Operation Payload, the latest limited-time mode. Like other Payload modes, you need to attack or defend a moving target as it makes its way across the map, and then switch to the other side to do it all over again. Epic teased that you can earn Intel and unlock more spy tech through the mode.

Though not really a mode, per se, Epic is also testing its "Party Royale" mode this week. That mode is non-competitive, taking place on an alternate, smaller map with friendly activities to do with your pals in a less hostile environment. It would also make sense to be the venue for future events like the recent Travis Scott concert, which disabled the normal competitive play.

Possibly a simulacrum?

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A knockoff Demon Slayer game recently released for smartphones but it didn't take long for not-Tanjiro's quest for revenge to end.

The post Knockoff Demon Slayer Game Exposed to Sunlight and Shut Down in 5 Days appeared first on Siliconera.

New prototype images have been released for the upcoming S.H.MonsterArts Nargacuga figure based on the iconic Monster Hunter creature.

The post Get a Better Look at the S.H.MonsterArts Nargacuga Figure appeared first on Siliconera.

As the first season of the Pokemon GO Battle League draws to a close, a fresh one is on the way. We knew the start date of season two back when the first one was announced, but now we know much more about the upcoming competitions.

To start, there will still be a handful of features that get carried over to season two. Here’s a quick list of everything that’s staying the same:

• Walking or PokeCoins aren’t required to participate in battles.
• You can unlock the Pikachu Libre costume items by reaching rank seven.
• You get a Metagross encounter at rank one.
• You get a Pikachu Libre encounter at rank 10.
• You can unlock the Steven Stone costume items by reaching rank 10.
• Different leagues will be available during different dates.

Each league will still be available one at a time with a single week at the end where they’re all available. However, the Great League will last 25 days, the Ultra League is 21 days and the Master League is only 14 days. This is a major change from the last season that featured three 14 day segments.

Season two will also introduce the Premier Cup along with the Master League competitions. This new battle format has no CP limit like the Master League, minus Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. This is a welcome addition since these rare Pokemon currently own the Master League.

At the start of season one, they increased the difficulty of reaching rank seven by changing the number of wins required to reach that mark. Yet again, they’re going to increase the number of wins required to reach seven.

Fortunately, it’s going to be much easier to get the Pokemon encounter reward on the basic track. Now, you only need to win three matches in a set instead of four to get a chance at catching a Pokemon.

During Microsoft’s quarterly financial conference call for investors and analysts, chief executive officer Satya Nadella and chief financial officer Amy Hood talked about the company’s gaming business.

Nadella mentioned that Microsoft saw “all-time record engagement” with 90 million Xbox Live monthly active users in the past quarter.

On top of that, Xbox Game Pass has over 10 million subscribers, driving monetization of in-game content and services.

“Millions of people are turning to gaming to sustain human connection while practicing social distancing and we continue to deliver new exclusive first and third-party content to attract and retain gamers.

We saw all-time record engagement this quarter with nearly 90 million active users of Xbox Live led by the strength on and off consoles.

Xbox Game Pass has more than 10 million subscribers and we’re seeing increased monetization of in-game content and services.

And our project xCloud gaming service now has hundreds of thousands of users in preview across seven countries with eight more launching in the coming weeks.

Hood then mentioned that gaming revenue in the quarter was “better than expected.” There was “strong growth” for both Xbox Game Pass and Minecraft. She also expects this kind of performance to continue in the current quarter (from April to June).

Speaking of the current quarter, the outlook for gaming is revenue growth in the high teens with continued strong user engagement across the platform.

If you want to hear more about Microsoft’s latest financial results and the performance of its gaming business, you can check out our dedicated article from earlier today.

Nature Day

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In the role of Producer, you†™ll drive initiatives to improve our gameplay, visuals, technology, and game features to help make the next iteration of WWE 2K the best ever.  ...

Microsoft says that Xbox content and services revenue increased by $33 million year-over-year during the quarter, thanks in no small part to stay-at-home order-driven jumps in engagement. ...

XCOM: Chimera Squad isn’t your normal kinda XCOM experience, and while in some ways (reduced scale, smaller missions) that’s a bummer, in other ways—namely the new “Breach” system—it has been an absolute pleasure to play.

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From Software’s 2015 PS4 hit Bloodborne captivated at least as much as it frustrated (which is to say a lot). Its main drawback was a mere technical blemish: The game’s framerate meandered around 30, and often felt lower due to poor frame pacing. Enter noted Bloodborne archaeologist Lance McDonald, who just hacked …

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NBA players playing an NBA games, NASCAR drivers racing in NASCAR racing, it’s boring! We don’t want to see folks playing as themselves in lesser versions of the real thing, we want to see some of the world’s finest athletes pick up a controller and play Mario Tennis.

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With people stuck at home and turning to games, a lot of gaming services are seeing record numbers of users. Earlier this week, Xbox head Phil Spencer said it's important companies are "thoughtful and not exploiting [the pandemic]," while noting that he's happy Xbox can "[be] there at a time of need."

Judging by Microsoft's new quarterly data, plenty of people have taken Xbox up on its best value proposition. As a part of its Q3 2020 financials, Microsoft revealed that Xbox Game Pass has more than 10 million subscribers. This milestone is the first time Microsoft has divulged subscriber numbers. It's impossible to tell what kind of revenue that drives though, because there are so many different price points for Xbox Game Pass; first-time subscribers can get a few months for only $1, the average subscription costs $10, and there's an Ultimate version that bundles Game Pass for consoles and PC with Xbox Live Gold for $15.

This hasn't caused some sort of spike in Xbox's overall numbers, however, as they're mostly flat year-over-year. Gaming revenue is down 1% and Xbox content and services revenue is up 2%. COVID-19 sheltering is the cause for the slight rise in the services sector, but it doesn't look better because Fortnite's success has been skewing yearly comparisons for a while now. Elsewhere, hardware revenue was down 20% -- a foreseeable dip as Xbox One sale prices are further discounted and consumers hold out for next-generation consoles.

Microsoft's gaming revenues flat in Q3 2020 [GamesIndustry.biz]

I've been meaning to cover ScourgeBringer, an aerial-centric action roguelite game in Early Access, for months now. The timing just hasn't worked out for one reason another, but today's major update, The Living Walls, is an easy opening. I feel like I need to make you aware of this under-the-radar game.

You might not play it yet – in fact, I'd probably still hold off for now – but you should keep tabs.

ScourgeBringer is cool but content-limited, which is the main reason I've held off. It's to the point where I wouldn't necessarily recommend playing it yet even though I've enjoyed what's here in Early Access and I'm confident that the final version will leave a lasting impression on action-platformer fans.

The Celeste-inspired dash-heavy movement, in particular, deserves a shout-out. I appreciate any game with combat that lets me stay off the floor more often than not. I also really dig ScourgeBringer's enemy designs, even if there aren't enough of 'em. It's fun to work out how to safely deal with them when they're alone and which ones to single out when a room is full of different overlapping threats.

Normalizing things that society tells us are disgusting is the status quo for Edmund McMillen.

Be it Meat Boy's full-body bloody wound or the copious loads of poop in The Binding of Isaac, giving a cute face to signifiers for injury or disease is something Ed can't help but want to do. He's also been drawn away from traditional game development of late, with every other game release in the past few years being card-based as opposed to electronic. 

His latest is an all-new IP called Tapeworm, and it's probably his most accessible project to date. Unlike Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, which is pretty complicated from the outset, it's all about using cards to physically lengthen, cut, and stitch your titular parasites. It's a much more tactile, toy-like experience, requiring minimal pre-reading to dive into, and won't kill you right away either. Anyone with about three square feet of space and at least one other person to share it with can play. 

The game is on Kickstarter now, and to the surprise of no one who's followed McMillen's career, it's already made more than ten times its funding goal. He's also putting together a print-and-play version of the game for backers who are looking to jump in while they're holed up during our ongoing shelter-at-home scenario. It could be the perfect way to pass the time with whoever you cohabitate with as you all wait to be allowed back into your favorite fun park or video arcade. 

A press release hit my inbox this afternoon for a new Jay and Silent Bob video game, which triggered a distant-and-faded memory of writing about a Jay and Silent Bob game once before. "Is this that?" I wondered. "Did that game already happen? Is it all the Mandela Effect and I never wrote about snootchie bootchies?"

I did! It's a co-op beat-em-up called Chronic Blunt Punch that stars Jay and Silent Bob. That's not what this press release was about, though. This is a co-op beat-em-up that stars Jay and Silent bob, but it's called Mall Brawl.

Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl is a retro-tinged brawler in the vein of Double Dragon and River City Ransom. Everyone's favorite never-not-high slackers battle mall punks and rent-a-cops as they tackle their grand ambition of getting from the mall to the Quick Stop. Call it Mallspats or Chasing Maimy. Or Flogma.

Mall Brawl is a precursor to Chronic Blunt Punch, two projects that developer Interabang are concurrently working on. There's no word as to when Chronic Blunt Punch will be ready, but Mall Brawl is open for business on May 7 -- much sooner than real-life Jersey malls. It's coming to PC and Switch with local co-op at a price of $15. Snoogans.

Ubisoft is known for its multi-studio game development, but it appears that Assassin's Creed: Valhalla will set a new record in terms of the number of studios working on it.

Ubisoft Montreal is the game's main developer, and the team has recruited a whopping 14 other co-developers to contribute to the game's development. Ubisoft Montreal announced this massive production effort in an update on Twitter after the game's reveal.

Valhalla will be formally unveiled with its first trailer on Thursday, April 30, so keep checking back with GameSpot for lots more on the game.

Microsoft appears to be in a strong position with the Xbox Series X release coming up this Holiday. As part of the company's latest earnings report for the quarter ended March 31, Microsoft disclosed a number of key statistics about how the Xbox brand is performing.

Microsoft no longer reports Xbox console sales, but the company did provide updates on Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, and more.

New Xbox Stats

• Xbox Live - nearly 90 million monthly active users (across all platforms)
• Xbox Game Pass -- Surpassed 10 million paid subscribers
• Project xCloud -- Has hundreds of thousands of active users in preview

Xbox Game Pass costs $10/month USD for the base package after a $1 introductory offer. With 10 million paying members, the service is generating $1 billion or more per year for Microsoft.

The Brigandine Switch demo is now available via the eShop worldwide, allowing people to go through a free tutorial and trial.

The post Brigandine Switch Demo Makes Its Worldwide Debut appeared first on Siliconera.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix's update tomorrow will add an option to play the rhythm game via touchscreen, arcade-style controls.

The post Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix Adds Touch Play Mode Via Update appeared first on Siliconera.

Minecraft is undeniably one of the most popular games of all time. It’s also certifiably the best-selling game of all time. Thanks to both of those facts just about everyone knows something about this classic. However, it’ll take an expert to pass the hardest Minecraft trivia quiz ever.

If you’ve heard of the game in passing then you might get a few right, but it’ll be tough to even get 50 percent correct. I doubt that even some of the most experienced players will be able to get every question correct. But don’t let that discourage you. Get out there and do your best to earn a perfect score in the hardest Minecraft quiz ever.

Don’t forget to share your results in the comments and on social media to show off your Minecraft knowledge to your friends. And while you’re here at Twinfinite, check out all of our other fantastic quizzes. Even if you can’t get a perfect score on this quiz, then maybe we have something else that you might be able to ace.

Now, I wish you the best of luck. You’re going to need it. If you fail, then feel free to study up and come back. But for now, put away your Enchanted Books and your list of crafting recipes because it’s time for the hardest Minecraft trivia quiz ever.

What is the Overwatch 2 Release Date?

What Does Overwatch 2 Gameplay Look Like?

Andrey Vasilyev is a concept artist and matte painter from Ukraine.

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If you have ever wondered what it’d be like if Doom met Dance Dance Revolution—and maybe you’re out there?—then GUN JAM is that pondering come to life.

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In honor of Final Fantasy III’s 30th anniversary, Square Enix recently published an extensive interview with Hiromichi Tanaka, who worked as a designer on the 1990 Famicom game. While lighthearted, they do touch on some interesting subjects, including the debut of Moogles, how they created a cool attack effect for the…

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Nintendo has pushed out another firmware update for the Nintendo Switch. Don't expect much from the update, however, as it's primarily focused on stability improvements.

Update 10.0.2. introduces "general stability improvements," along with one fix in particular. The update fixes a bug related to how the system sets up a new Pro controller, which could cause "incorrect joystick control." You can see the patch notes below.

Nintendo Switch 10.0.2. Update Patch Notes:

"General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience, including a solution for the following: We have fixed an issue where a Nintendo Switch console with system menu version 10.0.0 or 10.0.1 does not set up a new Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, sometimes causing incorrect joystick control."

Reggie Fils-Aime, the beloved former Nintendo of America president, is getting in on the podcast bandwagon. He is starting a new show alongside games journalist Harold Goldberg that is very appropriately called "Talking Games with Reggie and Harold."

The series features Fils-Aime and Goldberg speaking to "high-profile" executives in the gaming world, as well as developers and students from New York. Video game media veteran Geoff Keighley, who organizes The Game Awards, is the first guest.

The podcast will also serve to help raise money for the New York Video Game Critics Circle, a non-profit charity that provides scholarships and other help to students in New York. Fils-Aime and Goldberg will call on their audience to donate to a GoFundMe campaign that will give games and consoles to young people in homeless shelters.

With more and more people staying home amid the COVID-19 crisis, the gaming industry is experiencing growth as people look for stuff to do. Xbox is seeing an increase in Xbox Live users and Xbox Game Pass subscribers. While the lockdowns are seemingly good for business, it's also a challenging time in the world where people are facing difficulty and hardship related to the pandemic and other factors.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer told Business Insider that Microsoft is trying to avoid "exploiting the situation" for its own gain. Instead of focusing on changing up its business models to leverage the increase in players, the company is primarily trying to keep Xbox Live up and running to meet the increased demand.

"We want to be very thoughtful and not exploiting the situation," Spencer said. "We're not putting in place any different business tactics or other things. We're just trying to keep all the services up, trying to keep the games enjoyable, keeping our networks safe and secure. And being there at a time of need. I'm proud that we can provide this activity for people."

Why are we putting up with bad video game adaptations of the anime we love? That question has been stuck in my head, so think of this as my attempt to untangle some thoughts, vent a bit, and maybe come to an understanding. Because anime games are bad, and it's really, really frustrating.

I think what rubs me the wrong way the most is the frequent reliance on arena fighters, and because of that, I guess what I'm saying is that the shounen genre deserves better--though other genres aren't entirely free from shoddy adaptations. The arena fighter is, I think, a poisonous gameplay template when it comes to anime and manga adaptations. It emaciates its source material, reducing intricate stories, nuanced characters, fascinating worlds, and emotionally resonant themes into button-mashy pugilism.

I'll say up front that, no, I'm not saying every game based on a shounen property is bad. Dragon Ball FighterZ stands out as a recent exception, but the rule it defies still exists: The vast majority of anime games are disappointing. And for some reason, we just seem to put up with it.

After holding a livestream that revealed 2020's Assassin's Creed would take place during The Viking Age, Ubisoft announced the official name of the upcoming game is Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Ubisoft isn't done teasing its new game yet, however, as another livestream is scheduled to premiere today, April 30, at 7:45 AM PT / 10:45 AM ET which will include a trailer that debuts in mere minutes at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET. You can watch it below.

Until Ubisoft announces more information, we actually don't know all that much about Valhalla. The Viking Age actually lasts several centuries, so the game could take place anywhere between 100 and 400 years prior to the original Assassin's Creed. We expect the game will likely continue the role-playing formula established in the two previous games, which focus much more heavily on gear and abilities than the basic stealth-action of the earlier games. The boat pictured in the game's first artwork also imply there will be naval combat, which returned in Assassin's Creed Odyssey after being first introduced in Assassin's Creed III.

The Neo Geo Pocket Color classic SNK Gals Fighters Switch port has dropped in the middle of the night on the Nintendo eShop!

The post Become the Queen of Fighters With SNK Gals’ Fighters on the Nintendo Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

With sporting events around the world cancelled, it seems that Serena and Venus Williams are hitting the virtual court in Mario Tennis Aces. The tournament has been dubbed the 'Stay at Home Slam' and is raising money for the charity of the winner’s choice.

The Stay at Home Slam is being streamed live on Facebook and the IMG tennis page on Sunday, 4PM ET. Legendary tennis player John McEnroe and YouTuber iJustine (Justine Ezarik) will be commenting live on the entire event.

The two tennis champions will be joined by a number of celebrities and athletes doubling up to compete:

This week on the Nintendo Switch, a myriad of indie titles are being released, along with some huge digital sales on titles in the Nintendo Eshop.

While May marks the release of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, we are going to have to wait until May 29 for the remastered game. Until then, Nintendo has a range of indie titles in various genres to enjoy.

Jump into some puzzle action fun with the 16-bit Mushroom Heroes, let your true personality shine in the visual novel Arcade Spirits, and slay the armies of darkness in the Hack and Slash deck builder Book of Demons.

Shigesato Itoi's Hobonichi MOTHER project is releasing a script book for the EarthBound series, and will make more announcements soon.

The post Hobonichi MOTHER Project Releasing Series Script Book appeared first on Siliconera.

The rumor mill is currently filled with Apex Legends theories due to a mysterious tweet from the official Twitter account. The tweet contains a GIF that seems to reference a simulacrum, a robotic soldier from Respawn’s other first person shooter series Titanfall.

In the Titanfall universe, the simulacrum, or simulacra, are robotic soldiers fitted with human minds that are created by Hammond Robotics and Vinson Dynamics. These human minds have been uploaded into the robot bodies, which can be considered a form of transhumanism. The simulacra fit somewhere on the robotic spectrum between androids and cyborgs, with the element of having a human mind separating them from other mechanical beings.

Personalities and memories are even transferred over, meaning that the new character can still possibly have some personality and backstory to add to the Apex Legends lore.