May 2020

Have You Played… The Sims Castaway Stories?

3 years 10 months ago

The Sims Castaway Stories

was one of The Sims Stories series (which included Life and Pets as well as Castaway). These came out around the same time as The Sims 2, as a range of Sims games that were made to be more laptop friendly. For me, though, these Sims Stories games were the answer to my lack of Sims Urbz. A single sim, story led, Sims game.

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Author
Alice Liguori

The Double-A team: Aliens vs Predator gave the ultimate B-movies the double-A treatment

3 years 10 months ago

Here's a small confession, upon which you're free to judge me harshly. I absolutely adore the Alien vs. Predator films. Admittedly I've only seen them once, back to back whilst half cut late one night that soon slipped into a hazy morning, but then surely that's how they're meant to be watched. Hokey in the extreme, invoking the patchy late night philosophy of Von Daniken and full of glorious gore - the first is a film bold enough to pitch the Predator as a love interest, while the sequel evokes 80s video nasties with its out-and-out grimness.

Rebellion's own Alien vs Predator series predates the films, of course - the first came out way back in 1994 on Atari's Jaguar, while the 2000 follow-up on PC remains for many a highlight - and on the whole these are much classier affairs than their cinematic counterparts. It's the 2010 outing that really struck a chord with me, though, perhaps because it shares so many traits with a good b-movie - opportunistic, slightly shabby but full of heart, it's therefore the ultimate double-A game.

Part of the reason I love it is the circumstances around it - stepping up to fill the void left by Gearbox's at the time highly anticipated Aliens Colonial Marines, Aliens vs. Predator is Rebellion doing what it does best; delivering solid, no-frills entertainment with minimum fuss. There'd end up being a whole lot of fuss about Aliens Colonial Marines, I'm sure you'll recall, but even after all the noise had died down it was abundantly clear that Rebellion had turned in the better game.

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Azur Lane Getting Gorgeous St. Louis and Yuudachi Figures by Alter and Wing

3 years 10 months ago

Azur Lane’s popularity keeps prompting Japanese figure manufacturers to reveal new ones portraying the game’s shipgirls.

Today, we get two newly-available for pre-orders at local retailers like Ami Ami, and the first is St. Louis by Alter.

She comes in two different editions. The Complete version is the big package with the full rigging. She costs a whopping 29,050 yen, which translates approximately into $272.

If you prefer your shipgirls without the “ship” part or simply want a cheaper option, the Light Equipment version is exactly what it says on the tin, doing away with the rigging and costing 15,460 yen (approximately $145).

Both versions are scheduled to release in July 2021. Yes. You read it right, we’re talking about over a year away. This isn’t unheard of in the figure market.

The scale is 1/7 for 260 mm in height. They’re sculpted by Yadokari, while Usagi did the rigging. The paintwork for the prototype is by Nanami Tetsumori.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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New Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition Trailers Show Gameplay Aplenty, New Content, and More

3 years 10 months ago

Today Nintendo released not one, but three trailers of the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles remaster Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

The first trailer is a sizable overview of the game, ranging from the gameplay to the story and characters, also showing the new story content, “Future Connected”.

The second and third videos are identified as web commercials and are shorter, but not as short as the usual TV commercial that normally has to stay within thirty seconds.

Of course, we also get to see the renewed graphics that improve the look of environments and characters considerably, bringing the game a notch closer to modern visual standards and making it definitely pleasing to the eye.

You can check all three videos out below.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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May day! May day! The 7 best distress calls in PC games

3 years 10 months ago

May day! May day! It’s May Day, get it? I constructed this list of the 7 best distress calls in videogames so I could make this joke, and I refuse to back down now. Even if the 1st of May is associated with pagan spring festivities, and nothing at all to do with things going badly wrong in space or at sea. Even if the piece of radio lingo “mayday” has more to do with the French term “m’aider” than the one day per annum on which Morris dancers are allowed out of their cages. I refuse to acknowledge the longwindedness of this joke, and invite you to read this list article with a similar bullheaded attitude. You’ll enjoy it more that way.

(Warning: some spoilers for the games mentioned.)

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Author
Brendan Caldwell

Metal Max Xeno Reborn for PS4 & Nintendo Switch Gets New Screenshots Showing Tanks Aplenty

3 years 10 months ago

Today Kadokawa Games released new assets and information of its upcoming Metal Max Xeno remake Metal Max Xeno Reborn.

First of all, we take a look at vehicle customization, which has always been a focus for the franchise. You can customize up to 13 parts. The degree of customizability has been expanded dramatically from the original game.

First of all, you can customize your turrets. Fixed weapons aren’t a thing anymore and you can install up to five in each vehicle completely to your liking.

You can also unlock up to five chip sockets so that you can customize each vehicle fully with Chips. This means that even vehicles acquired close to the beginning of the game remain viable longer.

The chassis can also be overhailed by increasing armor and reducing weight. In turn, weight reduction might allow you to install more powerful (and heavier) weapons.

Interestingly, the W Engine chip which uses three sockets can now be mounted on all vehicles, meaning that you can mount two engines on them.

We also get to see four vehicles included in the game, the lightweight vehicle Field Bus, the medium tank PLT-1 (modeled after the Polish PL-01), the heavy tank Ochibi-chan (which is inspired by the Panzer VIII Maus and is actually really heavy in spite of its name), and the classic Wolf.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Dota 2's International tournament has been delayed

3 years 10 months ago

Every year, the best Dota 2 wizards from all the lands gather to determine which of them can best defend an ancient rock garden – but probably not this year, you’ll be surprised to hear. The tenth iteration of The International has been delayed due to the pandemic: “likely” to 2021, say Valve.

They’re still going to start selling The International Battle Pass soon, with 25% of each purchase going to the prize pool. That gives them many more months of funding, which is canny. Expect big number.

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Author
Matt Cox

Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Male and Female Protagonists Are Both Canon

3 years 10 months ago
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s narrative director has confirmed that both male and female variants of main character Eivor are considered canon to the storyline. Talking to a fan on Twitter who asked “But who is cannon [sic] the female side or male side”, Ubisoft Montreal narrative director Darby McDevitt replied “Both choices are canon, but we’re not going to spoil how we managed that trick until you play the game.”
Author
Matt Purslow

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WRC9 Gameplay Trailer Shows New Zealand Rally Action For the First Time

3 years 10 months ago

Following its announcement back in March, publisher Nacon and developer KT Racing have released a new gameplay trailer showcasing WRC9’s New Zealand setting in action.

The official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship is planned for release on  September 3, 2020, on PS4, Xbox One, and PC from the Epic Games Store. Next-generation console versions will follow at a later date.

Today’s trailer showcases the work put in by KT Racing to recreate the iconic Rally New Zealand, which is making a big return to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar after a seven-year absence. As a result of the county’s rugged terrain, players can look forward to plenty of challenging stages with a varied range of weather and topography.

But New Zealand is just one of three new rallies this season, along with the Safari Rally in Kenya and Rally Japan.

In WRC9, the acclaimed career mode from WRC8 returns with enhanced gameplay mechanics, new opportunities to upgrade your team, a wider variety of events, and a stronger link to what the real-world championship teams are doing throughout the year.

In addition to contemporary vehicles, WRC9 players will also be able to take the wheel of new classic cars that have left their mark on the history of the WRC.

Check it out in the trailer below.

Author
Alex Gibson

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Ace Combat 7 Fans Rally to Play Main Theme Along With the Composer, and It’s Heartwarming

3 years 10 months ago

A few days ago, Ace Combat 7 composer Keiki Kobayashi posted a video of himself playing the game’s main theme, and the fans are joining in.

The video was originally posted alongside Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War’s theme, which was also composed by Kobayashi-sensei, in order to provide some entertainment to fans stuck at home due to the Coronavirus emergency.

Over the following days, fans have rallied under the hashtag #ACE7Music and #StayAtHome to basically play along with the composer. 

Many videos have been posted on social media, including fans playing along live with a variety of instruments, while some added their digital performance in various music suites, all the way to full-fledged rearrangements. 

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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The Flare Path welcomes combative commenters

3 years 10 months ago

Peter Peiper picked a pack of pickled Panzergrenadiers.A pack of pickled Panzergrenadiers Peter Peiper picked.If Peter Peiper picked a pack of pickled Panzergrenadiers,Where’s the pack of pickled Panzergrenadiers Peter Peiper picked?

Apologies – you’ve caught me limbering up in readiness for the exertions to come. For the next fortnight I’ll be chronicling, with daily battle reports, The Flare Path’s sixth experiment in co-op play-by-comment wargaming. The concept for those who’ve not encountered communal Combat Mission before: I fashion a map and scenario for one of Battlefront’s ballistically rigorous turnbased battle sims, and you, issuing orders via comments, play said scenario against a CPU-controlled opponent at a rate of one turn/minute a day, until the big-boned diva warbles.

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Author
Tim Stone

Best SSD deals of the week – 1st May 2020

3 years 10 months ago

Other PC components may be going up in price these days, but the good news is that SSD prices have remained fairly steady since the coronavirus pandemic began, meaning there are still loads of great SSD deals to be had if you’re looking to upgrade your PC’s storage banks. So to help you find the [cms-block] at the best possible price, I’ve rounded up all the best SSD deals I can find from the last seven days, covering a range of size capacities and form factors.

Indeed, there are some great SSD bargains to be had if you know where to look (which is a lot more than can be said for the [cms-block] going on right now). The 500GB WD Black SN750 has come down by $15 this week over in the US, for example, and the 1TB model of the excellent WD Blue SN550 is still £10 cheaper than it was at launch a couple of weeks ago. Below, you’ll find all the best prices for my best SSD for gaming picks. Whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s the best deals on SATA SSDs to the biggest savings on today’s super fast NVMe SSDs and portable SSDs, here are the best SSD deals of the week.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Best graphics card deals of the week – 1st May 2020

3 years 10 months ago

Black Friday graphics card deals

Finding the best graphics card deals continues to be a bit tricky this week thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, especially now that AMD’s free game bundle deal has ended. It’s also a bad time for those after a great Nvidia graphics card deal, as low stock levels and creeping price hikes mean it can be hard to find a good graphics card deal that’s great value for money. Fortunately, I’ve scoured the web to bring you the very best graphics card deals still going strong in order to help you find the today’s [cms-block]s for the best possible price. Below, I’ve listed all the best graphics card deals I’ve found from the last seven days so you can see exactly how they compare against one another, and whether they’re a good buy or not.

The good news is that AMD graphics card deals have stayed at pretty much the same price this week, making them a much better buy than their Nvidia counterparts even though they don’t come with loads of free games any more. There are still some good RTX 2070 deals to be had as well, as long as you’re prepared to wait for more stock to arrive. So let me help you get the best graphics card deal on your new GPU. Regardless of whether you’re upgrading your PC or building a new PC from scratch, here are the best graphics card deals on offer this week.

Author
Katharine Castle

New Apex Legends character Loba will arrive this month with Season 5

3 years 10 months ago

Master thief Loba Andrade is the next character to be making her way to Apex Legends. After losing her family to a killer robot, she was drawn to a life of thievery – but now she’s discovered the whereabouts of this murderer, so it’s off to the Apex Games to confront him.

Loba is coming to Apex on May 12th, which just so happens to be the start date of the game’s fifth season. Titled Fortune’s Favor, Season 5 looks like it’s bringing some new story-based missions to the battle royale.

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Author
Imogen Beckhelling

Reminder: XCOM Chimera Squad's 50% launch discount ends today

3 years 10 months ago

If you’re curious about XCOM: Chimera Squad, the new spin-off about a swat team of human and alien cops, take note: its half-price launch offer ends today. It’s clearly an experiment the publishers weren’t quite sure people would easily take to, so launched with a 50% discount last Friday. £8 is a good “Ah yeah gwan, I’m curious” price, but it’ll double at 6pm today. Our Matt’s XCOM: Chimera Squad review wasn’t sure about it either but did recommend taking a punt. So here’s your reminder.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Players are pulling wild stunts with Call Of Duty: Warzone's vehicles

3 years 10 months ago

There is a lot to praise about Call Of Duty: Warzone. I like the map. I like the helicopters. I like the mid-game missions, even though Infinity Ward just removed the best type. The vehicles in general, though, deserve more attention.

I’d like you to enjoy these videos in particular, where two players park their helicopters on top of each other while another downs an entire squad with their quad bike.

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Author
Matt Cox

Fortnite and Dota 2 cancel major esports events

3 years 10 months ago

While real-world sports have been turning to video games for online tournaments, it seems some esports events have not been so lucky - as both the Fortnite World Cup and Dota 2's The International have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Fortnite World Cup, which last year pulled in over 2.3m viewers to make it the most-watched competitive gaming event of all time (excluding China), will not take place in 2020. While all other Fortnite physical esports events will take place online, the World Cup could not take place due to the "limitations of cross region online competition".

"We don't know when a return to large, global, in-person events will be practical, but we're hopeful to be able to put on some form of Fortnite World Cup in 2021," said Epic via the Fortnite Competitive Twitter account.

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Five of the Best: Bikes

3 years 10 months ago

Five of the Best is a weekly series about the small details we rush past when we're playing but which shape a game in our memory for years to come. Details like the way a character jumps or the title screen you load into, or the potions you use and maps you refer back to. We've talked about so many in our Five of the Best series so far. But there are always more.

Five of the Best works like this. Various Eurogamer writers will share their memories in the article and then you - probably outraged we didn't include the thing you're thinking of - can share the thing you're thinking of in the comments below. Your collective memory has never failed to amaze us - don't let that stop now!

Today's Five of the Best is...

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Assassin's Creed Valhalla's female hero revealed via collector's edition statue

3 years 10 months ago

There was nothing to suggest it in yesterday's Assassin's Creed Valhalla reveal trailer, but Ubisoft's upcoming Norse epic will let you play as either male or female versions of lead character Eivor.

It's a Mass Effect Commander Shepard situation - both male and female gender options are the same character with the same dialogue. But this detail was left to be explained elsewhere - such as in our deep dive into Valhalla's setting, characters and addition of a Viking settlement.

This left our first look at the female Eivor to come from... a photo of a statue - a 30cm high resin figurine nestled in a collector's edition version of the game. It's a shame to see what should be an equally valid option for playing Valhalla revealed in this way, but there we go.

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Bounties back in Call of Duty: Warzone just a day after Infinity Ward pulled them

3 years 10 months ago

Infinity Ward has reversed its controversial decision to pull bounties from Call of Duty: Warzone in favour of a new contract after a backlash from fans.

On Wednesday, Warzone received the Most Wanted contract, a high risk high reward pick-up that marked you for all other teams on the map. Survive for five minutes, and not only would you get a pot of cash, but redeployment for your entire squad.

However, players quickly found that the Most Wanted contract had replaced bounties - a change Infinity Ward failed to announce for some reason. This change did not go down well among Warzone's most prominent players, with many wondering why it could not have been added to the game without the removal of existing bounties.

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IGN UK Podcast #537: Swimming With Dennis Rodman

3 years 10 months ago
This week Cardy and Dale are on to discuss their reviews of Predator: Hunting Grounds and Streets of Rage 4. The boys are also joined by Matt to have a natter about the newly announced Assassin's Creed Valhalla. And -perhaps most importantly- Cardy tells us a story about the time he went swimming with Chicago Bulls legend, Dennis Rodman. Yes, seriously. The Endless Search once again continues on, and we have some more of your lovely/weird food mash up emails. Remember, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, please do: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com IGN UK Podcast #537: Swimming With Dennis Rodman [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ign-uk-podcast-episode-500-photos&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"]    
Author
Dale Driver

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Bungie just nerfed one of Destiny 2's most dominant weapons

3 years 10 months ago

As is typically the case in Destiny (whether it's this iteration or the last), when a weapon is too fun to play and/or is too dominant, Bungie nerfs it. Destiny has always been a weird game when it comes to balance, as it contains both PVE and PVP elements, and Bungie is very protective of how people play their creation. It was more dominant during the Destiny 1 era, but the old saying was that if the playerbase was having too much fun, it was only a matter of time until Bungie nerfed whatever it was.

This time it's a little more justified. This week, Bungie nerfed the Hard Light, which the developer admits "either strike fear or pure joy in your heart." The specific change was meant to bring the weapon inline with other auto rifles from the last patch (2.8.0), with specific concessions for mouse and keyboard uses as they were "too precise" with it. Bungie compared Hard Light to the Fighting Lion, but noted how the former boasted better stats and more impact with ricocheting shots. Now, the gun features more damage falloff, with less ricochet damage in PVP and the same amount in PVE. Apparently the Hard Light was "more stable than intended," so that was nerfed too.

While changes for a weapon are always polarizing, Bungie is making another change to Destiny 2 that is pretty much universally beloved. Citing that they are shifting away from the "FOMO" element of Destiny 2 (which got so much worse after the last expansion), design lead Tyson Green notes that weekly bounties will be replaced with non-expiring and account-scoped objectives each week that grant season rank progress. "Starting in Season 12, we plan to steer away from this model in general," Green says.

Author
Chris Carter

How much of this official Animal Crossing New Horizons bingo card do you have crossed off?

3 years 10 months ago

Nintendo recently put out an official bingo card for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and I'm sure a ton of you instantly went "challenge accepted."

As you'll notice, a lot of it is stuff you can accomplish an hour in or so, and is a pure marketing effort from Nintendo to get you to notice some of the more diverse activities you can complete in New Horizons. However, a few of them are taxing, depending on how much you value certain elements of the game.

For instance, here's the three I didn't complete: catch at least five sea bass (I'm not big on fishing in New Horizons), use a wand to change your outfit and have wished on a meteor shower. Given that the wand and meteor showers are both linked to nighttime play — which I don't really do that often — I haven't finished those despite "beating the game." Even Reggie is miffed that the nighttime events are so stingy!

I'm sure most of you have cleaned the whole card out though! At least I snagged a bingo through other means, sidestepping these, from a few rows.

Nintendo of America [Twitter]

How much of this official Animal Crossing New Horizons bingo card do you have crossed off? screenshot

Author
Chris Carter

Burnout Paradise Remastered hits Switch June 19

3 years 10 months ago

Electronic Arts has finally revealed a Switch release date for its hi-octane road ripper Burnout Paradise Remastered. The enhanced edition of the 2008 racer will put pedal to metal on June 19. Pre-orders are live on the Nintendo eShop, at an eyebrow-raising price of $50.

Optimised for Switch, this new port of Burnout Paradise Remastered featured 60 frames-per-second gameplay, high-resolution textures, and unique touchscreen features such as pinch-and-pull map navigation. Remastered includes the original title along with a host of previously released DLC, such as the Cops & Robbers, Legendary Cars, and Big Surf Island expansions.

Burnout Paradise Remastered launches on Nintendo Switch June 19. It is already available on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Burnout Paradise Remastered for Switch launches June 19 [Gematsu]

Burnout Paradise Remastered hits Switch June 19 screenshot

Author
Chris Moyse