May 2020

Well, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?

Bad news? Each of the clips in this Baldur's Gate 3 sizzle reel is about one-second long. That's super short! A mayfly lives for 24 hours, yet a mayfly could watch 86,400 of these Baldur's Gate 3 clips. That is not what you should be doing with your little precious time on this earth, mayfly. Figure your life out.

Developer Whoop Group's delightful wooden train set builder Tracks is poised to get even more charming, thanks to an incoming duo of DLC offerings - the first of which is themed around suburban expansion, free, and available now on Steam and Xbox One.

Tracks: The Train Set Game, if you've yet to be acquainted, takes its inspiration from the classic wooden train sets manufactured by the likes of Brio - delivering a genteel, but thoroughly engrossing, sandbox equivalent that's focussed on the simple pleasures of laying down track (to some beautiful piano accompaniment), then theming it up to the nines.

When Tracks launched out of early access last September, it already had a heap of gorgeously designed props to bring those builds to life - including town houses, quaint village shops, cars, roads, trees, fences, and animals - as well as more specialised elements, such as twinkling lights for nighttime sets, fireworks, and even bell-ringing music makers.

Read more

"Yes, we are aware of some issues. Among them, we have investigated the issue of not being able to install. We've determined that this is caused by a number of different factors, some of which we believe cannot be addressed by our side alone. We are currently working with Microsoft about this issue in order to resolve it. We are preparing to put out a notice about measures to avoid some of the causes. We will continue to work with Microsoft to investigate and implement measures in order to resolve the situation.

We are also aware of the fact that the Windows10 version may run slower in the lobby. We have found a bug that seems to be the cause of this issue and will implement a fix in an update coming soon.

It’s easy to buy a laptop and think, Nah, there’s no way I’ll ever need more storage than this. Then a year later, you’re hunting for any file you can delete to free up space as your drive continually badgers you about being full. If you need more space than your computer provides—or you want something to back up your…

Read more...

Capcom recently opened a special contest for Street Fighter V, asking fans to submit costume designs for possible inclusion in the fighting game’s final season. On the surface this may seem like a cool way to interact with fans, but the lack of any monetary compensation makes it all too easy to view this contest as…

Read more...

BioShock: The Collection, which contains all three games in the series and their DLC in one neat package, came out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2016. This week, it’s on Switch. As it turns out, both Rapture and Columbia are well worth the return voyage.

Read more...

Hayao Miyazaki mixes reality with fantasy to stirring effect

Continue reading…

Steve Carell’s Space Force is finally on Netflix

Continue reading…

In this week's contest you can win a physical PS4 or Switch copy of critically acclaimed visual novel Arcade Spirits!

The post Contest: Win a physical copy of Arcade Spirits for Switch or PS4 appeared first on Siliconera.

In today's contest you can win a physical PS4 or Switch copy of visual novel Arcade Spirits!

The last true arcade I remember seeing was an Aladdin's Castle at the mall in Virginia Beach. I have fond memories of going there and wasting away the afternoon while my parents shopped, or ate, or snuck off to visit the orphanage to window shop for a better kid, or whatever adults do while kids are trying to relax. It didn't have the greatest selection ever, but at least it existed.

Reminisce about the old days with a copy of highly-rated visual novel Arcade Spirits, available in physical format for the first time!

After several successful years in Early Access, Factorio, one of the best-rated games on Steam, finally has a release date for version 1.0. The crazy-deep factory-building sim will launch on August 14, 2020.

Here's the amusing part: that date is technically ahead of schedule. The developers at Wube Software decided to bump the 1.0 date up by five weeks to avoid pressing up against Cyberpunk 2077.

"We think any release close to such a monumental game is going to feel some negative effects, such as everybody playing and covering Cyberpunk and taking attention away from other games," they said.

How could they afford to trim weeks of previously planned production time? The stars aligned in a way that afforded the team flexibility. Some features – like the new campaign – were canceled or scaled back for separate, non-Cyberpunk-related reasons. Others have been "progressing at a good pace."

Also, by most accounts, Factorio slaps – it's among the best of its kind, with a dizzying sense of scale – and it's been that way for a long time. "The general feeling in the office is that the game is pretty much done, and that we want to get it released as soon as possible," the creators noted. "The sooner we get some closure on version 1.0, the sooner we can start thinking about fun and exciting new things."

If you're the kinda person who treasures logistical efficiency and micro-management, Factorio could be your next unhealthy obsession. It's one of the true success stories out of Steam Early Access.

Here's a fun anecdote. When I was in second grade, I brought all my Goosebumps books to Show and Tell. That morning, before my parents woke me up, I got up on my own and stuffed like 30 books into my backpack. At Show and Tell, I went up in front of the class, took way too long to set up every single book in numerical order, and proudly displayed my collection. I felt so cool.

When I got home, I told my mom. She was horrified. Apparently, earlier that week, my teacher told my mom and dad at a parent-teacher conference that she was concerned with how much time I spent reading Goosebumps books. Something about how I got too lost in them and she thought they weren't good for me. Then I inadvertently showed up a couple days later with the biggest fuck-you middle finger you can imagine. This is the happiest confluence of events, and I still giggle about it 20 years later. My mom wasn't as thrilled.

I have a chance this summer to once again stick it to my second grade teacher (as if becoming a blogger hadn't already dashed all her hopes for me). There's a new Goosebumps game coming to PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One. Titled Goosebumps Dead of Night, this is a greatest hits of sorts as Night of the Living Dummy's Slappy brings creatures from other books to life.

Anyone who has remained current on Goosebumps video games might recognize Dead of Night's foundation. This is a reworking and elaboration-upon the mobile VR game Goosebumps Night of Scares. It features the same kind of first-person stealth/horror-survival gameplay, but with more content and better visuals. There's no release date yet apart from the window of "summer 2020," but we're told it'll be priced at $40.

Sony's PS5 event was scheduled for June 4 but has now been delayed to an undetermined future date. Prior to the news of its postponement, there had been tons of excitement and speculation about what the company will reveal about the upcoming next-generation console. While new games being played on PlayStation 5 are confirmed to be part of the showcase whenever it happens, we might also hear more technical details around its internal architecture and possible services. And if luck's on our side, there could even be a release date or price confirmation, which would be helpful for those looking to start setting aside some savings to purchase it this holiday.

After all, there's been a lot of talk about how much the PS5 will cost. As it pertains to Sony's history, it's easy to feel anxious when it comes to pricing a new PlayStation console, as there's potential it will replicate the steep PS3 price point. However, the console's lead architect Mark Cerny has declared that the price "will be appealing to gamers in light of its advanced feature set."

As the upcoming event approaches and imaginations continue to run wild about potential price points, the GameSpot staff began to deeply meditate on how much money the PS5 will set back consumer wallets. Below, you can find a handful of predictions from the team, addressing our thoughts on the subject and how much we'd personally pay for the console. Be sure to let us know your predictions in the comments.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has arrived on Nintendo Switch, and it features a deep battle system with a lot of different mechanics to master. This system is fundamentally similar to the one in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so if you've played that entry, you'll already be familiar with the basics. That said, there are some notable differences that set the two apart.

While the in-game tutorials do a good job of acclimating you to the various components of Xenoblade Chronicles' battle system, there are some nuances that aren't as well explained. To help you out, we've put together this guide breaking down the battle system's different mechanics and how to effectively use them.

We gave the remastered RPG a 9/10 in our Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition review. Critic Jake Dekker wrote, "Although not every aspect of Xenoblade Chronicles has aged as well as others, Definitive Edition proves that Xenoblade Chronicles is still a fantastic JRPG with an immense amount of strategic depth that's still impressive in 2020."

If you're looking for a game or two with riveting gameplay, this week's sale at the Xbox Store focuses on action games of all stripes. The Rockin' Action Sale discounts nearly 100 Xbox One games, including newer hits like Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3 and older favorites such as the Devil May Cry HD Collection and Batman: Return to Arkham. You have until June 1 to shop the Rockin' Action Sale.

First-person shooter fans have a lot to pick from in the sale. The entire Borderlands franchise is steeply discounted, with Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition at $12, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection down to $19.79, and Borderlands 3's Super Deluxe Edition slashed to $50. Ubisoft's Far Cry franchise sees similarly great discounts, as Far Cry 5 is cut to $15 and Far Cry New Dawn is up for grabs for $16. 2019's Metro Exodus, a dark, story-driven FPS, is only $16, while the wacky and colorful Journey to the Savage Planet is just $18.

Mega Man games feel right at home on Nintendo Switch thanks to the portability of the massively popular (and currently hard-to-find) console. Thankfully, every mainline Mega Man title as well as a pair of spin-off series are available on Switch, and they are currently on sale for great prices at the Nintendo Eshop. The Mega Man franchise sale ends May 31, so you only have a few days to take advantage of these discounts.

The recently released Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection is on sale for $22.49, which is the first discount we've seen on the Nintendo Switch version. The collection compiles six titles that originally released on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS: Mega Man Zero 1-4, Mega Man ZX, and ZX Advent. If you prefer a physical version, Amazon has the collection discounted to $24.90.

Although much of the video game hype this year is around a pair of next-generation consoles, being able to play any kind of video game on a Nintendo Switch is still more than enough for us right now. The Switch thrives because of its versatility in both genre and content (we're finally getting a slew of M-rated titles on a Nintendo device, though families can set parental controls to filter that stuff for their kids). You can play for long stretches on your TV with the Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controller, or you can enjoy your favorite Nintendo Switch game on the go in handheld mode, and you even get motion controls that improve on the fidelity of the Wii Remote's. Multiplayer games, single-player games--they all play beautifully on Nintendo's hybrid device, even if some titles don't run as well as they do on other consoles. We're more than willing to give up graphical fidelity (and occasionally the lack of a robust online multiplayer experience) for the sake of convenience.

The Switch's Game Boy-like ability to play modern, traditionally console games on a handheld is probably the most appealing thing about it. The second-most appealing? The wide variety of accessories. From an outstanding controller and cases to charging stands and more, the Switch has a slew of gadgets that enhance the experience and, at times, change the game entirely.

The PlayStation Store kicked off a new sale exclusive to PS Plus subscribers last week. The familiar Double Discounts sale features steep discounts on a wide variety of great PS4 games, but if you aren't a subscriber, there's another new sale that went live at the same time. The Games Under $20 Sale is back once again, and if that sounds like déjà vu, that's because a similar sale ran in early May. The new Games Under $20 deals feature a fresh lineup of games, so it's certainly worth taking a look before it ends on June 11.

The latest Games Under $20 Sale has a fair number of AAA games from Ubisoft. Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Deluxe edition is down to $20, while Assassin's Creed Origin's Deluxe edition drops to just $14. Far Cry Primal's Digital Apex edition is discounted to $11.54, a great price for one of the more interesting games in the long-running first-person shooter series. Watch Dogs 2's Gold edition, which includes the season pass, is discounted to $18.

Aside from monthly free games and online multiplayer access, PlayStation Plus members look forward to exclusive discounts on games in the PlayStation Store, and the latest PS Plus-exclusive sale is live now with steep discounts on PS4 titles. The Double Discounts sale is back with twice the savings on select games for those who have an active PS Plus subscription, and you have until June 10 to take advantage of the deals.

The latest Double Discounts sale isn't huge, but there are still notable deals worth taking advantage of. Several Assassin's Creed games are up for grabs, including Assassin's Creed III Remastered for $16 and Assassin's Creed Origins' Gold Edition, which gets you the season pass and Deluxe Pack with in-game items, for just $20. The Assassin's Creed Triple Pack is also discounted to $21.59 and combines Black Flag, Unity, and Syndicate in one package.

Return to Arkham City and experience two critically acclaimed Batman adventures in the Batman: Return to Arkham bundle, which includes remastered versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City with updated visuals and all previously released DLC. The Return to Arkham bundle is on sale for $10 as part of the sale. Meanwhile, you can get the latest game in the series, Arkham Knight: Premium Edition, for a discounted $10 as well.

As a console that can be played both on a TV and in handheld mode, the Nintendo Switch occupies a unique space. Sure, you could choose to leave it in the dock forever and only play with one of the many great Switch controllers, but chances are you also like popping out of the Switch dock the convenience and portability of Nintendo's nifty gadget. That's why finding the best switch case should be one of your top priorities after you buy a Switch. You should take care to protect your Nintendo Switch console from damage, after all--a simple screen protector won't cover every kind of accident, after all. And if you own the handheld-only Switch Lite, it's arguably even more important to pick up a nice carrying case. We've rounded up our picks for the best Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite case you can buy today, and a significant number of them are a bargain, honestly.

In addition suggestions for a Switch case, we've also included the best Switch grips that make playing any Nintendo Switch game handheld mode more comfortable, backpacks and messenger bags for comprehensive travel options, and shells to snap on while playing. We've separated the Nintendo Switch cases from Switch Lite options, so make sure you grab a case that fits your model. After picking out the best Nintendo Switch case for youi, take a look at our best Nintendo Switch accessories guide to find more helpful products for your Switch.

Quick look: Best Nintendo Switch Cases

Developer Dontnod Entertainment, the studio best known for its critically-acclaimed adventure series Life is Strange, has announced that it is expanding internationally by opening a new studio. The studio, which is based in Montreal, Canada, will allow Dontnod to "produce even more immersive, engaging, and innovative video games."

According to a press release, this Montreal studio will allow Dontnod to be "closer to its North American players' community." Further, this new team will be supported by a brand-new project, though Dontnod has not specified what this project is.

"Our goal is to create video games as close as possible to our community's expectations," Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert said. "With this new international team, we will be able to envision even more ambitious titles and keep writing wonderful stories for our players."

Mafia II: Definitive Edition, the new version of the 2010 game available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, opens with a message that primed me for a game that might not have held up well. It reads:

"Mafia II: Definitive Edition presents the game's narrative content in its original form from 2010. The game includes culturally sensitive content and themes, and is intended only for mature audiences."

In some ways, this feels like an abdication of responsibility for some elements of the game that have aged poorly. And indeed, as I replay the game on my PS4, there are many such parts. Mafia II was never the most sensitive game, and in 2020 the "culturally sensitive content" made me squirm more than it might have 10 years ago. The game's plot contains few women with any real agency, and the script is full of slurs against them, as well as various racist slurs. When your character goes to prison, there are the prerequisite homophobic jokes about the showers.

Microsoft has rolled out a new update for Xbox One. The May 2020 update is aimed at improving the overall UI experience, specifically in regards to simplifying the Guide and making it easier to navigate.

"The new Guide is designed to be cleaner and easier to read," Xbox Experience principal program manager lead Jonathan Hildebrandt wrote in a blog post. "We've reduced the total number of tabs by combining related experiences and introduced a new default, left-to-right tab order, making it simpler to move around. App and system notifications are now found with the rest of your Alerts, right when you open the Guide."

Here's a quick rundown of all the changes:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has captured the hearts of scores of players since it first launched back in March, and it's become something of a phenomenon. If you're like us, you're probably still playing almost every day (perhaps even for multiple hours), checking your turnip prices, fine-tuning your town layout, breeding flowers, and more Animal Crossing goodness.

But even if you love the game like we do, you probably have a few nitpicks by now. If you've crafted tons of fish bait or gotten really into terraforming, there might be a few features you'd like to see--just those little quality-of-life updates that tweak the minor issues that crop up when you've played a game for 200 or more hours. And because New Horizons is already getting ongoing support and new content updates, we can really dare to dream.

We put our heads together to come up with nine quality-of-life updates we'd love to see come to New Horizons. Let us know in the comments what other features you want to see come to the adorable life/gardening/friendship sim! And Nintendo, if you're reading: We say all this with love.

Today Square Enix published the questions and answers session of the latest quarterly financial presentation hosted by the publisher, and CEO Yosuke Matsuda offered interesting information about the Final Fantasy VII Remake and more.

First of all, Matsuda-san was asked whether the publisher is satisfied with the initial 3.5 million units shipped by the Final Fantasy VII Remake.

On the other hand, he opted not to comment on the possibility to releasing the game on other platforms.

“We are pleased that we were able to top 3.5 million units given that we chose to produce and ship fewer physical disks due to the impact that we foresaw from the coronavirus outbreak.

Disk sales were lower than we had initially anticipated, but growth in digital sales increased their percentage of the whole, which we expect to lead to a better gross margin.

We will refrain from commenting on the possibility of offering the title on additional platforms for now.”

Interestingly, still talking about the remake he also outlined the fact that the publisher has plans to capture new customers, but it looks like Square Enix intends to avoid tactics that rely solely on dropping the game’s price.

“Capturing new players is key. I will refrain from going into the details, but we have plans for initiatives to capture players throughout the year, so please keep an eye on our progress. I also note that we will not engage in any marketing strategy that relies solely on pricing.”

It must be the sense of anonymity that compels people to share secrets with strangers. I was having a conversation with a woman in a bookshop when she decided to tell me something I could tell was troubling her about her nine-year-old son. "The thing is," she said (she had a twitch in her lower lip), "he's a bright boy, but... he still likes books with pictures in." As a children's bookseller, I hear things like this all the time. Proud parents like to tell me that their children no longer 'need' pictures in their books, as though they had just collected their children from a clinic specialising in the treatment of visual withdrawal. Sometimes it's the children themselves that need reminding: "You don't need books with pictures in- remember?" In either case, the message seems clear: pictures are mere training wheels for text, and the sooner we're done with them, the better.

This idea often goes hand-in-hand with the view that children's literature is merely a simplified version of adult literature, the literary equivalent of a Playmobil fire engine. On the contrary, I think picture books in particular have their own grammar and perspective that you simply don't find in such abundance elsewhere. In fact, I would argue that if picture books have a torchbearer anywhere in the creative arts, it's not to be found in literature all. For that, you would need to look to video games.

E3 season is almost upon us, and E3 is not here to greet us. Instead, it’s sending a load of its mates out to distract and entertains us while it shouts down from its bedroom that it’s almost ready, it’ll be out soon, just another year. In the meantime, oh! E3’s mate is about to perform his party trick.

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!

(more…)

Ok. I’ll bite. What’s a “wholesome game”? I watched the Wholesome Direct a few days ago, which gave me 53 examples of wholesome games, and I’m still not quite sure I know what falls under the label. Here are a few components of my working definition: wholesome games are nonviolent, often star anthropomorphised animals, and are soundtracked by ukuleles or a delicate piano line. They’re games which forefront feelings, often come from marginalised creators, and work with limited (typically pastel) colour palettes. As most genre-definitions go it’s a pretty vague smattering of characteristics, but it’s still managed to spark a lot of conversation on the ol’ internet.

As I trawled through Twitter, trying to make sense of the drive behind “wholesome games,” I kept coming across one pretty compelling idea: that “wholesome games” reject the popular narrative of gritty, first-person, hyper-realistic, super-violent games in favour of soft, gentle, and otherwise kind aesthetics. And so, in the interest of science, I set myself a task.

Here are the most wholesome unwholesome games I could find.

(more…)

Since the moment Half-Life: Alyx launched in VR, folks have been trying to detach it from its headset requirements. To be fair, I get it – that the first Half-Life game in a decade would be restricted to expensive tech felt a little demoralising. But this weekend, one modder brought that dream closer to reality by quietly releasing Pancake Base, a mod that aims to make Alyx play just like its older siblings by giving our leading lady the sturdy, first-person arms of Half-Life 2‘s Gordon Freeman.

(more…)

If you were an Xbox kid around my age, Halo 3 might be the first game you remember arriving with deafening levels of hype. The sole reason most folks picked up Crackdown. The Return Of The King in John Halo’s ring-smashing quest, in fellowship with a squid-mouthed Keith David and that cigar-chewing lad from Aliens. Now, developers 343 Industries are preparing the trilogy closer’s PC debut in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, with select testing set to take place within the next few weeks.

(more…)

Helllo friends, and welcome to the weekend. I hope that the past seven days have been good to you and yours, and most importantly that you are staying safe and well. We are undoubtedly in a year for the history books. Please take care of yourself, those around you, and lend support if you are able to those who are handling this intense year particularly poorly. Whatever we have, we have each other.

I've not played a whole lot this week other than Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, the DLC expansion to NetherRealm's head-splitting MK 11. Regarding the story epilogue... Well... I could write a book on my thoughts. The bullet-point version is that while I don't care for certain plot beats, characterizations, tone, and another reliance on that conclusion, Aftermath's story does have fantastic animation, wicked fight choreography, and amazing vocal performances from both Mara Junot as my eternal empress Sindel, and from Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who is absolutely in his element as Shang Tsung. Of the new characters, I'm currently digging Sheeva the most, though all three fighters are looking strong right off the bat. It has begun... again.

That's what yer boy has been up to. But we aren't here to talk about me, we're here to talk about you... yes, you. So drop us a quick note below and tell us what has been keeping you entertained this past week or incoming weekend. Whether its new games, old games, replays, backloggery, or even just making your own games, come and share the joy with us. We love hearing about it.

Have a safe and pleasant weekend, from all of us at Destructoid.

Call of Duty: Warzone now has duos - perhaps the most-requested mode from players.

Developer Infinity Ward issued a playlist update for the battle royale overnight across all platforms. It now means Warzone has solos, duos, trios, quads and plunder quads modes.

The playlist update comes alongside a double XP, double weapon XP and 2X tier progression weekend. This double XP triple feed runs until 7am UK time on 3rd June, which should help those who haven't quite wrapped up the current battle pass to do so.

Read more

In 2022, Totoro can be all of our neighbors

Continue reading…

Always acting, but never quite seen. It seems one of Destiny 2‘s most elusive antagonists is preparing to finally play its hand. Lurking in the shadows of Bungie’s space-knight loot shooter, The Darkness have finally put voice to their long-awaited return by broadcasting an ominous hum on the Destiny 2 Twitter account. Whether as another season or as the game’s next expansion, it may soon be time to work out what, exactly, The Traveller’s been running away from all this time.

(more…)

It has been a long time coming - nearly six years, in fact - but it finally looks like The Darkness is coming to the world of Destiny.

Developer Bungie signalled the Destiny universe's pantomime villain is on its way via a tweet that included a mysterious audio clip. But it is the background to this audio clip that has set Destiny fan tongues wagging - and speculation is running rampant.

At first glance the background simply looks like the waveform of the audio. It is not. Rather, it reveals the outline of a number of pyramids.

Read more

From ghost-trains to fantasy planes, movies from Spirited Away to My Neighbor Totoro make travel magical

Continue reading…

Since their introduction in 2016, citadels have defined the cut-throat politics of EVE Online. Wars are now centred on slugfests like the Battle for X47L-Q, as Keepstar citadels provide insurmountable defences against all but the most determined force. But developers CCP now reckon there are too many of these unassailable bastions floating about unguarded. With this week’s Forsaken Fortress update, it’s time to let these structures rot.

(more…)

Keeping track of Call Of Duty: Warzone squad sizes has been something of a nightmare. First there’s trios, then trios are quads; but oh, folk liked trios, so trios are back. But quads can stay, and let’s not forget solo players either. With the dust beginning to settle, Activision this week rounded out the lineup with a new duos mode, letting you drop into Verdansk with just your closest, most trustworthy comrade.

(more…)