May 2020

We are the Power Rangers!

Every game platform or service worth its salt needs a Spongebob Squarepants game. Now’s Apple Arcade’s time. Spongebob: Patty Pursuit has arrived.

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Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop adaptation has seen its share of delays, and not just because of the novel coronavirus. Last October, star John Cho suffered a knee injury that set the production back at least seven months. But according to the adaptation’s co-writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, replacing Cho was absolutely out of…

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The Swedish developer-publisher, which also worked on Mad Max and Rage 2, currently has offices in Malmo, New York, and Stockholm.  ...

In the second part of this blog series, we are going to delve deep into technical aspects, sharing some tips and a general workflow when working with Google Docs. ...

Life is Strange and Vampyr developer Dontnod Entertainment has opened a new studio in Montreal, Canada. ...

CD Projekt RED has proudly announced an impressive milestone, as its sword, sorcery, and sexy video game series The Witcher has now sold over 50 million units. The figure is comprised of sales from 2007's The Witcher, 2011's The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, 2015's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and finally the standalone version of in-universe card game Gwent.

Based on a series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher series revolves around a dark-but-spirited medieval fantasy universe, where humans attempt to eek out lives for themselves within a world of corrupt politics, national warfare, and terrifying monster attacks. Into this scenario steps Geralt of Rivia, the titular "Witcher," a monster-killer for hire expertly trained into swordplay, alchemy, and magic. Throughout the books, games, and popular Netflix series, Geralt defends the people, keeps evil at bay, and bounces in and out of a helluva lot of beds and bathtubs.

Accompanying Geralt is a huge cast of characters, allies and enemies, who seek to support his quests and/or hinder his actions. Many of these characters have become as recognisable and iconic as Geralt himself, such as the stoic and beautiful Horsewoman of War, Yennefer, regal swordswoman Ciri, and the terrifying monarch Eredin Bréacc Glas. While The Witcher will always focus predominantly on Geralt himself, it is the series' cast of associates, enemies, lovers, and "frenemies" that give life to Sapowski's universe.

Paramount Pictures, in association with Sega Sammy, has confirmed that a sequel to this year's big-screen adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog is currently in pre-production stages at the studio. The sequel will retain director Jeff Fowler, along with writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller.

It was an inevitability, really. Sonic the Hedgehog was a huge success when it launched in theatres back in February of this year, grossing over $300 million USD on a $90 million budget. Sonic the Hedgehog's rush-release to streaming services (following the COVID-19 pandemic) only served to further bolster the film's reputation and coffers. Not too shabby for a movie that had a notoriously less-than-stellar reveal.

No details were noted pertaining to the sequel's plot, cast, or production date, but the Sonic universe is expansive, filled with strange and vibrant worlds and characters, so there's more than enough material to pull together for a second lighthearted, comedic adventure. Time to get the untold story of Big the Cat up on the silver screen, methinks.

Sonic the Hedgehog is available now on digital and Blu-ray.

Sonic the Hedgehog sequel in the works [Variety]

The new Steve Carell sitcom struggles to find its footing

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Sony has told PlayStation 4 game developers that any new titles submitted for certification must also be compatible with PlayStation 5, beginning 13th July.

This means all PS4 games received by Sony for testing after the middle of that month are technically forwards compatible - playable on Sony's next-gen console - though it is up to each game's developer to ensure this is the case.

Developer documentation - released on PlayStation's internal Partner website and seen by Eurogamer - details an option developers must check to state their game has been tested for compatibility with PS5 hardware. This option was added at the end of April in a new version of Sony's PS4 software developer kit.

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Here's something to lift you out of the lockdown blues: the Sonic the Hedgehog film, infamous for that initial trailer with human-like Sonic and Gangsta's Paradise, is getting a sequel. Hopefully without needing to redesign the principal character this time.

As first reported by Variety, a Sonic the Hedgehog sequel is in the works, and will reteam the filmmakers from the original - including director Jeff Fowler, and screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It sounds like work on the film is still in the early stages, as a production start date has not yet been set, and casting decisions are yet to be made. You'd imagine that Sonic voice actor Ben Schwartz, Sonic's friend Tom (James Marsden) and Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) will likely be making a return, however.

When the first film eventually came out after a delay to work on the (much-improved) redesign, it actually did pretty well: generating £76.6m on its first weekend, making it the best ever opening weekend for a video game adaptation. Apparently many people's idea of a romantic Valentine's Day date was Sonic after all.

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Sony will begin requiring submitted PS4 games to work with the system starting in July to help build up the PS5 compatible game library,

The post Newly Submitted PS4 Games Must Be PS5 Compatible Starting in July 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Finally, we get to see high quality trailers for the two new Muv-Luv games and the Muv-Luv Alternative anime series.

The post New Muv-Luv 20th Anniversary Games Finally Get High-Quality Trailers appeared first on Siliconera.

Sony has announced that it's hosting a livestream next week, which will be focusing on the PlayStation 5. More specifically, it's all about the games this time.

The stream will be on Thursday, June 4, at 1 p.m. Pacific. On a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan outlined a few details on what to expect. "This digital showcase will run for a bit more than an hour and, for the first time, we will all be together virtually experiencing the excitement together," he said. "A lack of physical events has given us an amazing opportunity to think differently and bring you on this journey with us, and hopefully, closer than ever before. This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you."

The stream will be available on Sony's official YouTube and Twitch channels.

Backward compatibility is a big topic for gamers and the upcoming next-gen systems. Sony hasn't publicly talked about this topic as much as Microsoft has for its Xbox Series X, but Eurogamer has seen developer documents which state that developers of PlayStation 4 games which are submitted for certification with Sony on or after July 13 must make those titles "technically" playable on the PlayStation 5.

The report's qualifier of "technically" playable on the PS5 means that it's up to each developer to make sure this is the case, although Sony is working with its partners on the process.

Also, submitted is different than released, as companies must turn in their titles to Sony for approval months before they come out. This means that PS4 games releasing this summer may fall outside the July 13 start point – although Eurogamer believes that high-profile first-party summer titles Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II will indeed play on the PS5. 

The report also reveals that PS4 titles must contain the same features between the systems, and any update or remaster of the title after the July 13 cutoff would have to retain compatibility. Updates or remasters submitted before that date would be "strongly recommended" to keep compatibility.

Developer 704Games showed off the first gameplay trailer for July 7's NASCAR Heat 5 (PS4, Xbox One, and PC), giving fans a glimpse of some of the pack racing at various tracks.

Consistently performing A.I. was one of the things the studio wanted to improve upon this year, and it'll be interesting to see how that influences passing, drafting, and the overall pack racing, which should be different at each track.

Square Enix

The first of the game developers we’ll talk about is Square Enix. They need no introduction especially since they’ve been in the industry for a long time.

Sony is finally spilling the beans on its upcoming next-generation hardware; an announcement across its blog and social media channels today has booked next week, June 4 at 4 PM EST, for a digital reveal showcase focused on the console’s games.

The event is subtitled as “The Future of Gaming,” with PlayStation’s CEO and President Jim Ryan promising an hour-long showcase of the console in action:

“The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware. 

This digital showcase will run for a bit more than an hour and, for the first time, we will all be together virtually experiencing the excitement together. A lack of physical events has given us an amazing opportunity to think differently and bring you on this journey with us, and hopefully, closer than ever before. This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you.”

As you’ll have seen in the above image and teaser video below, today’s tease actually alluded some brand new information itself: possible confirmation of a black colored Dual Sense controller.

Join us Thursday, June 4 at 1:00pm Pacific time for a look at the future of gaming on PlayStation 5: https://t.co/Yr8fafcOVd #PS5 pic.twitter.com/F0yBbDmOtC

A report from Eurogamer today claims that Sony has told PS4 game developers that any titles submitted for certification from July 13 must be forwards-compatible-capable with PS5.

In other words, all PS4 games must be able to run on Sony’s next-generation hardware, even if they don’t end up actually doing so.

Eurogamer has apparently seen documentation that features a section requiring developers to acknowledge a responsibility to ensure their games have been tested for compatibility with PS5 before moving any further forward with the certification process. This section was added in April in a new version of Sony’s PS4 software developer kit.

According to the guidelines, a game is concerned compatible with PS5 only if its submission code runs without issues on the hardware, and provides the same features on PS5 as it does on PS4.

That is to say, all functionality on PS5 must work on PS5 as well, so no game modes of features will be left behind when the game migrates to next-gen.

Sony also strongly recommends that any game submitted before July 13 that is either patched or remastered also includes PS5 compatibility — though it isn’t mandatory. Any game submitted after July 13, however, must remain PS5 compatible after new patches or remasters are released.

Eurogamer rightly makes special mention of appreciating the difference between submission for certification and release; the mandatory PS5 compatibility does not necessarily apply to games released after July 13, only games submitted for certification after July 13.

The outlet uses the example of Ghost of Tsushima, launching after July 13 but not necessarily obligated to run on PS5.

The official Destiny 2 Twitter today tweeted out a mysterious audio file which aside from just being spooky, clearly depicts the pyramid ships that have been slowly making their way through the solar system and are presumably are now right on the door step of Earth and The Last City.

This has been a long time coming. We’ve been hearing about the darkness and the collapse since the original Destiny. The ending of the vanilla Destiny 2 teased the awakening of the dormant pyramid ships, and the Shadowkeep campaign had us literally visit one that was hidden deep inside the moon.

As for the audio itself? Well, it’s uh… pretty edgy. It’s a lot of spooky sounds that you’d hear in a haunted house during Halloween. It’s pretty hard to really make anything of it.

This whimsical little seaside town builder is another project by Oskar Stålberg whose tiny planet and city builder projects RPS have marveled at in the past. Unlike his prior browser-based experiments, Townscaper is being treated to some extra polish and plans for a paid release. It’s been on my mental wishlist since before it had a name, but now there’s a handy page on the Steam store to help me not forget. Check out the trailer below for some extremely satisfying pips and pops as the rainbow cities spring from the sea.

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Brendan:

Infantry! Ready your shields! Okay, move to– hang on. Sin, why is your shield not readied? We are trying to play the multiplayer in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, so we can pass a substantial sneer or cheer in its direction, and you have not even readied your shield. It is wholly unreadied. Explain yourself!

Sin: …what?

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We probably sound like a broken record at this point, but it nonetheless remains true: coronavirus has disrupted supply chains, and monitors deals are in pretty short supply right now. Generally they’re still pretty expensive as a rule, but there are exceptions, and we’ve rounded up the best and cheapest gaming monitor deals on all of today’s [cms-block]s below for your delectation. Whether you’re looking for the best G-Sync monitor deals or the best cheap ultrawide monitor deals, here are the top gaming monitor deals of the week.

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We’ve got a lot of time for WD’s Blue line of SATA SSDs – it is, after all, the RPS SSD of choice for our current £1000 [cms-block] build – and the good news is you can currently grab one on the cheap over at Best Buy, where the 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities are all on offer.

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The playerbase of Call Of Duty: Warzone has recently been captivated by the opportunities surrounding the Akimbo perk – an attachment specific to pistols which allows you to dual-wield a pistol, at the expense of losing the ability to aim down sights. Our Warzone Akimbo guide will explain how to unlock the Akimbo perk for each pistol, before delving into stats and opinions on how to make the most of this unique pistol-only perk.

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There are some damn fine specimens of the SMG weapon class in Warzone, aren’t there? Built for speed both in their handling and how quickly they can drop an enemy to the ground, SMGs have always been very nearly as popular as Assault Rifles when it comes to premade Warzone loadouts.

Our Best SMG in Warzone guide will walk you through the stats of all seven SMGs on offer, before divulging our personal take on the very best and very worst SMGs that Modern Warfare has to offer.

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Assault Rifles

are by far the most versatile and numerous weapons class in Call Of Duty: Warzone. They are reliable, effective at any range, and the backbone of the vast majority of Warzone loadouts out there.

Our Best Assault Rifle in Warzone guide will walk you through the stats, attachments, and relative power of all 10 Assault Rifles in Warzone. Below we’ll go through each Assault Rifle from best to worst in the current meta, and explain everything you need to know about how to use (or whether to avoid) each one.

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Join us Thursday, June 4 at 1:00pm Pacific time for a look at the future of gaming on PlayStation 5: https://t.co/Yr8fafcOVd #PS5 pic.twitter.com/F0yBbDmOtC

Sony will show off games for the PlayStation 5 during an official online showcase at 4pm ET on Thursday June 4.

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Across America on Thursday night, thousands of people marched to their state capitols, their public squares, their police precincts. Across America, they shouted “I can’t breathe”—a dying plea turned rallying cry. Police took arms against demonstrators—dressing in riot gear, shooting at the citizens who employ them…

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The weekend is for either doing laundry in the tub again (nooo) or trying to find an open laundromat to brave, because the clean shirts situation has grown dire. It’s also for playing video games.

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The history of mobile 4X strategy games is littered with both progress and mistakes that any hopeful successor would be wise to learn from. ...

The Witcher franchise has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, according to the latest figures from developer CD Projekt Red. ...

Industria, a first-person shooter set in a parallel dimension "shortly before the end of the Cold War," looks cool enough. Not out-of-this-world cool, or give-it-to-me-now cool, but cool enough. It's the kind of game you might see pop up on Steam, give a once-over, and toss on your wishy-washy wishlist.

Bleakmill was inspired by Half-Life 2 and David Lynch, which is a hell of a jumping-off point.

With a 2021 PC release in mind, the independent studio is aiming to pull off a four-hour-long story set in a reality with humanoid robots – a realm described as "Berlin at the time of the fall of the wall meets a surreal industrialized city." Nora, the protagonist, follows a missing colleague's trail into an abandoned research facility. She treads "right into the heart of the universe, where time seems to stand still."

I hope they get out-of-control weird with this one. The freaky lumbering giant is a good start.

In the past, Bethesda opened up private test servers (PTS) for select individuals to test out Fallout 76 content, but it looks like things have changed.

As of this week, Bethesda is making the process more accessible, allowing players to grab the PTS inside of the Bethesda launcher on PC. As in: if you have the PC edition, within the Bethesda launcher itself, you can access it (as usual, there's no console access and the publisher doesn't mention Steam). Right now they're looking at testing out the hefty Update 20 on the PTS, but seasons will not be available (likely to fight any controversy they'll cause until absolutely necessary).

In other 76 news, another dupe exploit has been running rampant across the game's world, so display cases and vending machines were disabled a few weeks ago. If all goes well, next week Bethesda should implement a hotfix that brings everything back. Even nearly two years on, Bethesda explains that they "take duplication exploits seriously, and work to correct them as often and as quickly possible."

Also, another double XP weekend is set for next week (June 4 at 12PM ET through June 8 at the same time). That includes adventure mode, a private world or nuclear winter. Good luck!

Inside the Vault [Bethesda.net]

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that it will be holding a presentation on June 4 dedicated to its upcoming hardware, PlayStation 5. "The Future of Gaming" live stream will give players everywhere "a first look at the games you’ll be playing after PlayStation 5 launches this holiday."

"We've shared technical specifications and shown you the new DualSense wireless controller. But what is a launch without games?" said SIE President Jim Ryan on the official PlayStation Blog. "The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware."

Ryan goes on to state that next week's presentation is just part of a series of PS5 updates, with more info to arrive in the weeks and months preluding the console's official launch.

The PS5: Future of Gaming presentation will take place on June 4 at 13:00 PT / 16:00 ET / 21:00 BST / 22:00 CEST and is scheduled to run "a little over an hour." You can watch it live over on the official PlayStation YouTube and Twitch channels.

PlayStation 5 launches worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2020.