May 2020

It seems like last week's sales spike for Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons was indeed just that, a spike, as this week sees Electronic Arts' football sim FIFA 20 return to the number one position it has held time and again since its 2019 release.

A very quiet week for physical releases saw little change in the UK's Top Ten. New releases such as Sakura Wars, Predator: Hunting Grounds, and Streets of Rage 4 are relying mostly on digital sales. This is not to mention the ongoing COVID-19 legislation, which is keeping many store doors shut and people in their homes.

Orzly Nintendo Switch Case Bundle | $30 | Amazon

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Gears Tactics, like many strategy games, has a permadeath feature. The three main characters—Gabe, Sid, and Mikayla—are classified as plot-essential Heroes. (Players who pre-ordered the game received a fourth Hero, Augustus “Cole Train” Cole, the popular franchise mainstay.) If any of them die, you get a game over and…

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Today is a made-up Star Wars holiday, but the new update for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is in fact very real. The free patch adds a new game plus mode, combat challenges, additional cosmetics, and a slew of upgraded accessibility options.

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Sometimes being the good guy is a little boring, especially when it comes to a medium that lets you live out an escapist fantasy like video games. In recent years, developers have embraced that mindset, diversifying their protagonists to be more morally grey, with some games even putting you in the shoes of the bad guys instead of heroes.

To celebrate that different perspective, we’ve compiled a list of ten games that where you play as the bad guy.

And even though it doesn’t really matter to a rule breaker like you, we did want to warn you that the following article contains spoilers for the some of the games involved, including how they end. Skip over sections that you don’t want to be spoiled on.

The Halo: Master Chief Collection is rolling right along this year. It appears that 343 Industries are approaching the release for Halo 2 Anniversary. They’ve also shared first looks at Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST in the meantime. Their newest development update covers that and, as usual, much, much more.

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Fortunately for those of us who are spending more time inside these days, the past month or so has been an excellent period for new game releases. One of the best PS4 games released recently is Persona 5 Royal, an enhanced version of the acclaimed 2017 JRPG. Persona 5 Royal released March 31 for PS4, and if you're a fan of the original game but held off on buying P5R at launch, you can currently snag it for a nice discount on Amazon.

The standard edition is priced at $60 regularly, but right now you can grab a copy of Persona 5 Royal for just $49.94 at Amazon. This is the base game, not the steelbook launch edition (which is sold out on Amazon), but this is still the best price we've seen on the game since launch. The listing says the standard edition will be in stock on May 10, so you can expect your copy to ship around then. Thankfully, that means you don't have too much longer to wait before you can dive in.

Persona 5 Royal is the "definitive version of a modern classic," as editor Michael Higham wrote in his Persona 5 Royal review, which scored the game a rare 10/10 (the original earned a 9/10 back in 2017). If you're new to Persona 5, this is absolutely the version to buy even though it's more expensive than the original version. And if you've already played and loved Persona 5, P5R makes it worth revisiting, especially while it's on sale.

Some new content is coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone this week on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Developer Infinity Ward announced that both games will see a playlist update, the return of a game mode, and more.

In a weekly blog post, Infinity Ward confirmed that Modern Warfare will get a brand-new mode in Demolition. The mode, which is similar to Search and Destroy and will be detailed later this week, sees you "attempt[ing] to outsmart and overpower the other team." In Demolition, your team is tasked with either planting or defusing bombs. But where Search and Destroy only gives you one life, Demolition grants you respawns. The result is a frenetic battle of supremacy between those who destroy and those who prevent. The mode has made an appearance a number of Call of Duty games, from Modern Warfare 2 to Black Ops and beyond.

Elsewhere in Modern Warfare, the game's multiplayer playlist has been updated. In addition to the Shipment 24/7 moshpit, Infinity Ward has added the "all-blueprint battle" mode, Gun Game Reloaded. It's the same Gun Game you remember but with the caveat of sifting through "a unique set of [weapon] blueprints." And, of course, you will be demoted a weapon should you die by a melee or special finish.

Tomorrow, Respawn will release the launch trailer for Apex Legends Season 5: Fortune's Favor, which starts on May 12. Season 5 will add Loba to Apex Legends as a playable character, as well as a brand-new battle pass and Quests mode. When the launch trailer goes live, you can watch it below.

In the description for the launch trailer, Respawn writes, "When Revenant killed Marcos Andrade all those years ago, he left a loose end. Now she's all grown up." The trailer is scheduled to debut at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. The thumbnail suggests that, like previous season launch trailers, the Season 5 launch trailer will be a CGI cinematic, rather than gameplay.

May the 4th is here once again, and to celebrate all of the Star Wars shenanigans, discounts on a bunch of merch, games, and movies are popping up all over the internet. The latest Star Wars Day deals come from Amazon. Razer's selection of Stormtrooper PC gaming accessories have some sweet discounts, so if you've been looking to make your gaming setup look a bit more imperial, then this is your chance. We don't expect these deals to last too long--as May the 4th celebrations only last a day--so be sure to act fast if you're interested.

All of these products come with free Prime shipping, though some aren't currently in stock. This means that you may have to wait a couple weeks before your order arrives. These discounts are joined by a ton of different sales and product reveals that encompass movies, games, toys, and so much more. Some of the best include the new Baby Yoda Funko Pops, a cute-and-cuddly Baby Yoda plush, and adorable Baby Yoda face masks. Yes, that's a lot of Baby Yoda, but look at him: he deserves it. There are also some great deals on the Star Wars: Skywalker Saga box set and a huge Star Wars Steam bundle with 26 incredible games.

Razer BlackWidow Lite mechanical keyboard

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You can find the latest Super Mario 64 PC port, but it will take some digging

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When a new online gaming experience hits the market, the development team braces for impact. They want people to play it, the servers to hold up, and players to consume the content the way they intended. On that last note, players like to experiment, and some of their ideas are so outlandish that the developers didn’t even consider them. In 1998, an Ultima Online player thought, “What if I attacked Lord British?” Moments like these are rare, occurring in just one match or instance of a world, but thanks to players recording their games, they have become historic events that we can see online. Here are some of the best emergent stories that players have experienced in some of today’s biggest games. Read more...

The Dragalia Lost Tiki banner is active, giving people a chance to recruit a Fire Emblem character who can turn into a dragon for a limited time.

The post The Dragalia Lost Tiki Banner Is Now Live appeared first on Siliconera.

[Update: You can find the full patch notes here, which detail a few extra patch notes like accessability options. The full list of changes has been added below. The gist is that text scaling is in, and more demanding sections like button-mashing portions (which some people can't handle on a regular basis) can be skipped or simplified.]

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has remained strangely dormant since its mid-November 2019 launch, as EA didn't manage to figure out a way to stuff in microtransactions or multiple bits of paid micro-DLC into it.

Instead, the team over at Respawn Entertainment worked on optimizing the game's many bugs for the past six months or so, and just now the developer is ready to debut new content. Just in time for "May 4," the made-up Star Wars marketing "holiday," Fallen Order is hosting a free update on all platforms that's pretty substantial.

The update is multi-faceted, focusing on new challenges (featuring old areas and enemies), a New Game+ mode that lets you replay the game with unlocked cosmetics (so like a half-plus), plus a new meditation-based "create-a-challenge" mode and a dark side Inquisitor outfit. It's not drastically different, but it is free and coming all at once: rather than being teased in an annoying fashion over the course of weeks as "pieces of free DLC." You can watch the full overview for yourself below.

Last week, Lab Zero's artistic adventure Indivisible arrived without warning on the Nintendo eShop, surprising fans and even Lab Zero itself. Readily available to download on Switch, this new build lacks the balance overhauls and new features of other platforms, presenting a more incomplete product than fans might have expected.

But as the dust settles, it seems the action-RPG went live due to a technical error with the eShop system, and was not actually scheduled to launch until early May. A statement on the official Indivisible website confirms that the Switch port was initially delayed from April 28, but the digital store published the title on said date regardless, hence the release of an older build.

"A decision was made to delay the launch to early May to allow for a Day 1 update. This update will add a framerate toggle option, 1080 docked support, Roti, performance updates and localization changes when it goes live in May," reads the statement. "Unfortunately, the new launch date did not get changed within the release tool. This resulted in the game going live yesterday to the surprise of everyone involved, including 505 Games."

In 1999, our galaxy received a gift: a wise Jedi Master named Yaddle. This Jedi Master was a female member of Yoda’s species. She never appeared in any video games, but that’s going to change when LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga releases later this year. Finally.

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The first Monday in May is auspicious enough in the world of fashion to require a documentary named after it; it signals the start of Spring and a guaranteed roster of which celebrities are still deemed important enough to land an invitation to Anna Wintour’s Met Gala. But the “Superbowl of Fashion,” as style…

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In this GDC 2020 virtual talk 343 Industries' Josh Menke presents TrueMatch, a new matchmaking approach that lets devs use machine learning to automatically optimize for desired metrics in real-time. ...

14 years ago, the Gamespy servers shut down for good. A massive list of communities then had to move on to a new game or cobble together fan-run multiplayer servers. The 2004 title, Star Wars Battlefront Classic, was one of the impacted games, but a recent update may just revive multiplayer.

Back in 2014, when online multiplayer was shut down, a new Battlefront game was on the horizon. It seemed like this new title was going to supplant the original. It was clear they wanted to chart a new course with these games instead of continuing down the path left by Battlefront II Classic.

Fortunately, online play is now back in the PC version of the 2004 classic thanks to an update that went live last Friday. If you want to destroy the Techno Union Ships or Echo Base’s Shield Generator with your friends, then you can do so to your heart’s content.

Now, you might be asking, “If this game is from 2004, then won’t it feel super outdated?” Well, the answer is yes and no. The graphics aren’t bad, but they’re very clearly not from this generation. On PC you can play in full HD, but the textures are incredibly flat and aren’t too nice to look at.

But that’s to be expected from a game that’s 16 years old. What truly matters is how it plays over a decade and a half later. Well, the good news is that a game that didn’t have massive control issues when it launched still doesn’t.

I originally played on PS2 and picking up the game again on PC can be a new experience, but it’s still basically the same game. The third-person aiming can take some getting used to since FPS games have become the standard for online competitive shooters.

May the 4th is not yet over so there’s still some Star Wars Day 4th to be with you. EA have announced and released a free update to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that focuses on the veteran force users among us. The new update brings a new game plus mode for those that have finished the campaign and special NG+ challenge mode for fighting against waves of enemies.

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A real-life fire brings online players together

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There’s more coming from a galaxy far, far away

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Arcade1Up is known for its line of high-quality retro arcade machines that allow you to own arcade classics like NBA Jam, Pac-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more right at home. These cabinets are the ultimate purchase for arcade enthusiasts, but they're not light on your wallet, usually costing several hundred dollars. The Star Wars Home Arcade Game is one of the newer additions to the collection that released in November, and while this arcade cabinet normally goes for a whopping $500, you can snag it for just $350 at Walmart as part of Star Wars Day 2020. That's by far the best price we've seen on the Star Wars cabinet since its release, so if you've been eyeing this one, now might be your best opportunity to buy it.

The Walmart bundle even includes a cool freebie with your purchase. Along with the Star Wars arcade cabinet and riser, you'll get the Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper Robot, which can be controlled using voice commands as well as a companion app.

Star Wars Arcade Cabinet with Riser + bonus Stormtrooper robot

$350.22 ($500)

In a surprise Nintendo Direct Mini in March, a successor to the DS's Clubhouse Games was announced for the Switch, featuring nine more games than its predecessor. A new clip released by Nintendo has revealed that some of the Clubhouse Games classics play very differently on the Switch--and have more in common with Wii Sports.

While Clubhouse Games largely focuses on tabletop games including board games, dice, and cards, Nintendo has featured some more movement-focused games--namely darts and bowling.

With the Switch's motion controls, the bowling game in particular looks like a callback to Wii Sports.

The first episode of the eight-part documentary on the creation of The Mandalorian has been released on Disney+. Like The Mandalorian, you'll need a subscription to watch it.

"Disney Gallery - Star Wars: The Mandalorian is an eight-episode documentary series that pulls back the curtain on The Mandalorian," Disney writes in the show's description. "Each chapter explores a different facet of the first live-action Star Wars television series through interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and round-table conversations hosted by Jon Favreau."

Beyond Favreau, directors for individual The Mandalorian episodes will be featured, including Taika Waititi (who will be directing an upcoming Star Wars movie), Bryce Dallas Howard, and Deborah Chow. Actors Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano are a part of the documentary as well.

Nintendo appears to have suffered a massive data breach. Over 2 terabytes' worth of internal data has reportedly been leaked online, including source code and documentation for the Wii and other consoles, early N64 tech demos, and more.

As summarized on ResetEra, the leak originated on 4chan and contains "full source code, design files, documentation and pretty much everything used to create" the Wii. The data was reportedly accessed from the servers of BroadOn, a company with which Nintendo worked to develop the Wii hardware.

Among the leaked articles is an internal presentation that illustrates why Nintendo chose to use friend codes for Wii instead of usernames. According to the presentation, usernames were not "simple" enough because of the high probability of duplicate usernames, which would require players to go through multiple attempts to create one that had not yet been claimed.

Call of Duty Mobile has kicked off its new season, Once Upon a Time in Rust, and Activision has outlined some upcoming changes to the game. A new mode and season pass are available now, and soon a special gold-themed event will begin. Activision outlined the changes in a large Call of Duty blog post.

The highlight of the update is the return of the fan-favorite map Rust, as well as the newly revised Capture the Flag mode. This time it's called Capture the Gold, and you'll need to deliver pots of it to your base to score points. Your Battle Pass progress will earn you extra gear, and you can get a few premium items and operators like a cowboy-themed Ghost when you get the premium version.

Then on May 7, a Gold Rush event will begin. In Kill Confirmed you can pick up dog tags to collect gold bars, while in battle royale you'll find treasure maps and go mining for the gold.

Professional sports leagues like MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and more announced "The Real Heroes Project" today, and Call of Duty League is joining them to recognize the heroes on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Big names like Seth "Scump" Abner from COD League are sharing personal messages and thank yous on social media using the hashtag #TheRealHeroes - replacing the name on their jersey with the name of a personal healthcare hero. For Scump, it's Dr. Henry Ostman. 

“I am really honored to be a part of the Real Heroes Project. It’s so important to shine a light on those on the front lines during a time like this, and to do so alongside the biggest names in sports, including my Chicago’s own Jonathan Toews, is truly special. Huge shoutout to Dr. Henry Ostman and all of our heroes owning the fight against Covid-19.”

Feel free to use the hashtag to give a shout out to anyone out there on the front lines of this devastating pandemic, especially healthcare workers.

I didn't mix those and wouldn't have done that. You'll be able to spot the small handful of tracks I mixed (Meathook, Command and Control, etc...)

Kadokawa has detailed the return of the "Scarlet Revenger" tank Red Wolf, as well as how players can customize tanks even further in Metal Max Xeno Reborn.

The post Metal Max Xeno Reborn’s Red Wolf Will Be a Force to Reckon With appeared first on Siliconera.

Even though PC players are still waiting on Yakuza 3, 4, 5, and 6, Sega is seemingly looking to bring Yakuza: Like a Dragon to Steam sooner than later. A database listing for the game surfaced on SteamDB.

Yakuza Like a Dragon coming to Steam https://t.co/58DHcrl1bQ pic.twitter.com/cZAO8YAKjE

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 4, 2020

This is interesting for a couple of reasons. Fans have wondered about the timing of not just those aforementioned Yakuza series PC ports, but also Judgment, a PS4-only detective game set in Yakuza's old stomping grounds, Kamurocho. It would be nice to have all of these stories together on Steam.

If today's Steam database entry is anything to go on – it surely is, at least partially – then that might mean Yakuza: Like a Dragon could arrive on PC before those back-catalog titles, for better or worse. I can see a case being made, anyway. The game gives longtime lovable lug Kazuma Kiryu a break in favor of a newcomer, Ichiban Kasuga, and it also adopts a far more RPG-centric approach to street brawls.

Technology has mostly funneled online identification systems down to a couple of options. On one hand, there's the approach of Xbox, PlayStation or Twitter which lets users sign up for a single account name that they own, but it can't be registered to anyone else. The other, like Discord or Blizzard's Battle.net has people register any name which is then assigned a random four-digit suffix to make it unique. Both are easy and logical and not-frustrating.

Which brings us to Nintendo's friend codes. Originally implemented circa 2006 for the Wii, Nintendo introduced 12-digit numeric friend codes for connecting socially. The system has persisted through the Wii to the 3DS and now the Switch. (It has been especially relevant lately as Animal Crossing has people swapping friend codes.) Nintendo has also partially done away with them, as Wii U and Switch make use account IDs similar to Xbox and PlayStation's setup.

Friend codes aren't especially well-received. Most people view them as convoluted and archaic, a tough-to-remember way of telling others how to find you. That, somehow, was the exact opposite of what Nintendo hoped to accomplish. In a giant leak of Wii information, there's a PowerPoint presentation that argues in favor of friend codes because Nintendo thought usernames weren't simple or comfortable enough.

Japan†™s Consumer Entertainment Raiting Organization is set to resume its game rating routines after having closed down last month to comply with Tokyo†™s shelter-in-place order. ...

Get ready to fill your wardrobe with more of the cutest, fabulous clothes from the Able Sisters shop, fashionistas! Marc Jacobs and Valentino have released designs based on their respective clothing lines on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Each fashion brand has posted photos of their Animal Crossing designs along with their creator codes on their official Twitter and Instagram pages for players to jot down or screencap any design players want to dress their Villagers with.

Here are a few of the designs from Marc Jacobs and Valentino that the Able Sisters are absolutely going bonkers over.

Developer Random Potion and Publisher Wild River Games announced a release date and released a new trailer of The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes.

While many may not be very familiar with The Dark Eye, it’s the most successful tabletop RPG in Germany, where it surpasses Dungeons & Dragons in popularity. 

There have also been plenty of video games dedicated to the series, often dubbed with the North American name Realms of Arkania, but they have remained relatively obscure like the original RPG itself.

The new game will be released on June 9 on Steam, and it includes 4-player co-op to sweeten the deal.

You can check out the trailer below.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, here’s an official description.

Based on THE DARK EYE license, Book of Heroes puts you right into the fantasy world of Aventuria where you can raid dungeons and experience adventures, together with friends or alone, that you can only overcome with combined skills and forces.

After several weeks of silence, id Software has addressed the controversy surrounding the quality of its official Doom Eternal soundtrack and, in particular, the comments made by original composer Mick Gordon in light of fan complaints, confirming Gordon will not be returning to work on the music for Doom Eternal's DLC.

Issues around the soundtrack first came to light at the end of April, when audio blogger and Ruff Audio founder Reace "thatACDCguy" Niles noted dramatically variable differences in quality across the recording, which he attributed to reduced dynamic range on certain tracks.

Niles pointed the finger of blame at Gordon, writing "I expect much better from him", to which the composer responded, explaining he'd only mixed a "small handful of tracks" and "wouldn't have done that" on the other tracks.

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