June 2020

City Connection continues on its quest to bring a selection of iconic Psikyo shmups to the Steam platform. The publisher has revealed that July 13 will see the arrival of the strange and ethereal Samurai Aces III: Sengoku Cannon.

Originally released in Japan in 2005 (under its original title Sengoku Cannon: Sengoku Ace Episode III), Samurai Aces III is the third and final entry in the eccentric trilogy, featuring typically frantic shmup action with a feudal Japan setting. Players choose from one of six unique characters and take the skies to battle waves of enemies and huge boss characters. Samurai Aces III blends 2D sprites with 3D character models and rudimentary 3D backgrounds, which admittedly makes for a jarring aesthetic.

Check out the action below, courtesy of YouTuber GameBurst:

After surfacing in October 2018 with promising yet far-from-finished leaked footage, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's open-world Harry Potter RPG has stayed out of sight. The publisher still hasn't announced the game (due to E3's cancellation), but that doesn't mean it was scrapped or put on hold. The current plan is a late 2021 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, according to Bloomberg.

Sources noted that the original video leak was legitimate, most of the follow-up rumors were not, and the Harry Potter project is on track at former Disney Infinity powerhouse Avalanche Software.

When will we get to see it in an official capacity? Assuming WBIE's plans don't shift – and they could if author J.K. Rowling continues to make provocative, transphobic remarks – then the next-gen Harry Potter game should be revealed sometime after DC's FanDome event in August. (That's where we're expecting to see teasers for WB Games Montréal's Gotham Knights and Rocksteady's Suicide Squad.)

SNK has partnered with Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studios to create a new entry in the legendary Metal Slug series. Currently running with the temporary title of Metal Slug Code: J, this latest entry in the run 'n' gun franchise is now in development for iOS and Android devices.

A teaser trailer, which you can check out below, depicts recognisable Metal Slug gameplay, albeit with 3D-modelled characters, rather than the series' traditional 2D sprites. The action itself seems snug though, with frantic eight-way gun-play, explosive vehicles, and swarms of enemy soldiers being disintegrated. We also see Metal Slug roster regulars Marco, Fio, Tarma and Eri - although the latter appears to have gone through a bit of a Hollywood redesign.

Developers on the upcoming Harry Potter game have privately expressed concerns over series creator J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone's fourth season of content is getting a bit of a boost on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC tomorrow in the UK, thanks to the arrival of a new update that Activision's calling Season Four: Reloaded.

The big addition here is a new limited-time 200-player mode for Warzone, which will make it possible for 50 teams of four to duke it out across Verdansk in Battle Royale Quads.

Warzone will also get new in-match contracts known as Supply Run Contracts - which provide players with a Buy Station discount if they can find their way to a nearby Buy Station within the time limit - and there's a new Spotter Scope for those that like to scout ahead before planning their next move. "This re-usable scope allows you to scan the environment around you and mark enemies without being detected," explains Activision.

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Get your hands on the ultimate visual novel/queen simulation title Palais de Reine in this week's contest--enter to win now!

The post Contest: Win Palais de Reine for Steam appeared first on Siliconera.

Funko has announced a Sonic the Hedgehog two-pack of Pop figures, as well as two new flocked Pokémon figures for this year's virtual San Diego Comic-Con. The Sonic bundle features Tails and Super Silver, while Pokémon fans can pick up flocked (or fuzzy) Mewtwo and Vulpix figures.

Funko SDCC 2020 Reveals: Pop! Games: Pokémon @Pokemon #FunkoVirtualCon #Funko #Pop #FunkoPop #Pokemon pic.twitter.com/sWJtXzpcwA

Before there was Diablo III (and Diablo IV!), there was Diablo II. If you're lucky enough to remember those magical days from the coveted early betas where we wandered around the Blood Moor and farmed the Den of Evil for hours on end to discovering what mysteries lay behind Andariel's evil lair, you remember it as one of the best ARPG experiences of all time.

If the base game wasn't awesome enough, the Lord of Destruction expansion brought a lot more to love, with the druid and assassin classes and a giant new act featuring bosses you could "run" over and over and over - and it never got old! Today marks 20 years since the release of Diablo II, and while most of my favorite characters are ghosts that died in high-level hardcore duels (I had quite the ear collection) or to lag spikes taking on Izual (Internet wasn't as good back then and playing on hardcore was even riskier due to this) I remember those days fondly. 

So, let's celebrate! You can get a set set of Prime Evil Wings by logging into Diablo III any time after today! Blizzard also has a number of other events going on to celebrate the anniversary that you can check out here.

Riot could also add as many as two new maps a year

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Time to go down a Eurovision black hole

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Quantic Dream’s narrative adventure game Detroit: Become Human is about to receive an injection of irresistible cuteness.

Today Good Smile Company opened pre-orders of a brand new Nendoroid figure portraying one of Detroit’s hero androids, Connor.

He will release in February 2021 and you can find him on Ami Ami for 4,200 yen, which translates approximately into $39.

He comes in the traditional 100 mm Nendoroid size and the package includes two different face plates with different expressions.

Optional parts include a gun, a fish, and two clear plates with the choices from the game (one doesn’t have any text so you can write your own).

The led ring on his forehead even comes with different colors (blue, yellow, and red).

Below you can read an official description and check out a few charming pictures.

“My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

From the popular game “Detroit: Become Human” comes a Nendoroid of the advanced prototype android Connor! He comes with two face plates-a standard expression and a winking expression.

Optional parts include his handgun, a fish, a clear sheet featuring one of the choices from the game as well as a textless version of the clear sheet, allowing you to pose him in different situations making different choices.

The Nendoroid also comes with three interchangeable color variations of the LED ring on his temple, allowing you to display it as either blue, yellow or red. Be sure to add Nendoroid Connor to your collection!

Detroit: Become Human is available for PS4 and has recently been released for PC as well.

Ever since a pretty convincing video of apparent development footage leaked two years ago, there’s been plenty of speculation about a rumored Harry Potter RPG in development by Avalanche Software. Warner Bros. still haven’t officially announced or acknowledged the game’s existence, but a new report by Bloomberg based on information from two people working on it claims that it “remains on track for next year.”

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Middle child of the series Diablo 2 turns 20 today, prompting plenty of reminiscing about the landmark loot ’em up RPG. Blizzard are celebrating with merchandise, speedruns, and an in-game costume for Diablo 3. Unfortunately, an official Diablo 2 remaster rumored last week (which Blizzard quickly denied) doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Ah well, thanks for the memories anyhow D2.

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You will be utilizing traditional art training and knowledge of 3D art, design and computer graphics software to build efficient, high quality special effects. ...

20 years ago, Blizzard North emerged from a year-long crunch to release Diablo II into the world. In this classic postmortem, find out what went right and what went wrong during those long months. ...

These latest rumblings suggest that Xbox is looking to reveal a sister system for the Series X via online showcase in August. ...

With tonight's Season Four update going live at 11:00 p.m. Pacific, Call of Duty: Warzone is somehow squeezing 50 more players into Verdansk, bumping the player count for Battle Royale Quads up to 200.

(That's your cue to make your best-worded joke about Modern Warfare's file size.)

According to Activision, Warzone's Season Four update will be around 22GB to 36GB for Modern Warfare players (with a 3.5GB "secondary download" on consoles), while standalone Warzone players are looking at a 22GB to 30GB download before they can contribute to the 200-person chaos.

Season Four also includes a multi-use Spotter Scope for discreet enemy scanning, the .50 caliber Rytec AMR, and a Juggernaut Royale mode that drops game-changing care packages with mini-guns and Juggernaut suits from the sky. "Once a Juggernaut is sent to the Gulag, a new Juggernaut care package will drop on the map, so do your best to capture the suit and take on any squad that stands in your way."

Another new thing to look out for: Supply Run contracts. After you find and initiate one of these contracts, you'll need to rush to your closest Buy Station to get a discount before the timer runs out.

Thank the heavens June is almost over. This month has been a whirlwind of emotions, though it probably isn't helping that some of the Podtoid team are diving into more morose experiences than the others.

In this episode, CJ, Dan, Charlotte, and Chris talk Deadly Premonition, Danganronpa, Cyberpunk 2077, Top of the Pops circa-1989, and the ridiculous ways virtual reality renders our movements. All that, plus Charlotte details two great games you own if you bought the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, on Podtoid Episode 449.

In a recent interview, Inti Creates and IGA discussed Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2, its new characters, and other details about the sequel.

The post Inti Creates on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 Development and Design appeared first on Siliconera.

This article is part of a new initiative on IGN where we spend a whole month exploring topics we find interesting in the world of video games. June is Icons Month, where we’re profiling iconic video game industry figures, characters, series, and themes.

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John and Brenda Romero are talking to me from separate rooms in their home, but both are surrounded by nerdy detritus, lovingly collected: a couple of pinball machines, a jumble of computer parts. “If you're looking at the screen to John's right,” says Brenda, “that’s an Apple II that hopefully is going to start running again. And behind John to his left are three boxes of old Apple II five-and-a-quarter disks, one of which includes the source code from Autoduel from Origin.”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/29/legendary-game-designers-john-and-brenda-romero-assess-shooters-rpgs-in-2020"]

Karma, a pro Rocket League player and the first woman to compete in RLCS, is shaken but ultimately okay after a scary incident last night. While streaming commentary for a match in the 1v1 Salt Mine II tournament (and not playing), she was shocked through her controller after a lightning strike hit her neighbor's house. Nature can be freaky and terrifying.

Here's video of the event. There's no camera footage of it happening, only audio of her reacting. Be warned that Karma's in obvious distress and some people may find it disturbing:

Two people have accused Mike Zaimont, a lead designer on Skullgirls and Indivisible, of making them uncomfortable with demeaning and sexually suggestive comments. One incident allegedly occurred recently via private messages, while the other accuser claimed they happened in person over the course of years.

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The end of the world has never looked so good.

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The Last of Us Part 2 might be the loudest PlayStation 4 game ever made. I’m not talking about the sound design, impressive as it is. I’m talking about what the game does to basically any PlayStation 4. Boot up Naughty Dog’s latest masterpiece, and you can barely hear the sound of clickers clicking over the endless…

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No Straight Roads, the flamboyant music-based action-adventure from Final Fantasy 15 lead game designer Wan Hazmer, will now come to Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One on 25th August.

No Straight Roads is the work of Hazmer's studio Metronomik, where it's been in development for around three years, and was initially set to release tomorrow, 30th June on all platforms.

Hazmer originally announced a delay for No Straight Roads in a video posted to Facebook last month, citing complications arising from the global coronavirus pandemic - but no new launch date was offered at the time. Today's revised August release announcement comes alongside the news that PC players can alleviate the wait somewhat via a new demo now available on the Epic Games Store (where it appears to be a PC exclusive).

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Nintendo released the 8.00 update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Monday night, adding a new character and adjustments for fighters.

As announced last week, the latest character to join the Nintendo brawler is Min Min from ARMS. The character had been picked specifically by the ARMS producer, and the new fighter also comes with a new stage and almost 20 music tracks from ARMS.

Min Min is the first character released in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass Vol. 2, which adds an additional six playable characters to the game for $29.99. Min Min is available on her own for $5.99.

The 8.00 update also adds new costumes for the Mii Fighter including Ninjara from ARMS, Heihachi from Tekken, Vault Boy from Fallout, and Callie and Marie from Splatoon.

The game received a new feature for players to rematch against any spirit for a better score, as shown by series director Masahiro Sakurai during the 35-minute livestream last week.

The update also adjusted many of the game’s fighters with Kirby, Captain Falcon, Falco, Mewtwo, Meta Knight, Pit, Ike, Diddy Kong, King Dedede, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Corrin, Bayonetta, King K. Rool, Isabelle, Incineroar, and Piranha Plant receiving the most changes. Check out the full list of adjustments from Nintendo’s official support site.

Welcome to the timeline that will now feature a Minecraft cereal from breakfast king Kellogg’s called Creeper Crunch, arriving August 2020.

Why yes, that is a frightening thing that will be peeking out from your pantry. But hey, while the game doesn’t allow you to dine on creepers, you have Creeper Crunch to fall back on and pretend. Does that sound weird?

The official word on Minecraft Creeper Crunch reads:

Introducing Kellogg’s Minecraft Creeper Crunch Cereal; a tasty, cinnamon-flavored cereal featuring green square-shaped “Creeper Bit” marshmallows that delivers the vibrant world of Minecraft.

Buying a TV can feel overwhelming, with dozens of models to choose from and a bunch of confusing specs rattling around your head. Couple that with a global pandemic ensuring you can’t even see these TVs in person before you buy, and you’ve got a tough call to make. If you’re on a strict budget, we’ll save you the…

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I squealed like a kid waiting for NSYNC to come onstage in the year 2000 when I saw this toy Civic. That’s the first pop music reference that came into my head, which should explain why my nostalgia for this era of Hondas is strong. (I’m old.) Also, you have to see the Montero set. You have to. Get over here! LOOK.

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It's the middle of summer, but it's time to dive into the Romancing SaGa Re univerSe Christmas event anyway! Weird, right?

The post Christmas Comes Early to Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe (Update) appeared first on Siliconera.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just got its ver. 8.0.0 update that added Min Min and the latest fighter adjustments.

The post Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Min Min and Ver. 8.0.0 Update Fighter Adjustments Now Available appeared first on Siliconera.

The remake of Destroy All Humans is due to release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on July 26, and ahead of its launch publisher THQ Nordic has released a new trailer showing off one of the game's locations. The level in question is Santa Modesta, which is the game's third level, if it follows the exact same structure as the 2005 original.

The trailer shows protagonist Crypto running through town, attacking humans with various alien rays, blowing up cars, and piloting a spacecraft to exact further havoc on the townsfolk.

The game's environmental destruction is also showcased, as you'll see entire buildings exploding in the trailer below. It certainly looks more technically impressive than the original game.

Turn 10 Studios, the stewards of the Forza racing series, have updated their enforcement guidelines to include a ban on "notorious iconography" including the Confederate flag.

The Forza games allow players to create custom content, but going forward, the developers will be more strict in their enforcement of what is allowed. The list of "notorious iconography" that is not allowed has been updated to include the Confederate flag, as well as the Swastika, SS-runes, Wolfsangel, Black Sun, Arrow Cross, Iron Cross (with contextual clues), and the Rising Sun.

Additionally, the studio will take action against user-generated content that uses phrases like "ACAB," "FTP," and "CIP." Players are also advised against creating stuff that depicts "certain notorious individuals, organizations, or events."

The Last of Us Part II is out now for PS4, and players who have been eager to dive into the continuing story of Joel and Ellie for years now are digging deep into every aspect of the game. The sequel, which has sold over 4 million copies, has impressed players with its technical achievements, one of which has now been detailed at length by one of the game's designers.

Jesse James Garcia, a sound designer at developer Naughty Dog, has detailed how they made the sound of breaking glass in The Last of Us Part II. In a Twitter thread spanning 23 different tweets, Garcia dives deep into why the shattering, tinkling noise of glass being destroyed in the game is so satisfying.

The tweet below is the beginning of the thread, which breaks down as many details as possible.

While July is known historically as a slower period for game releases, that doesn't mean there isn't anything noteworthy coming out. Quite a few exciting games are launching this month that you should keep on your radar.

Sony is continuing to hit summer hard with its latest first-party developed game, Ghost of Tsushima, while last year's limited-time PS4-exclusive Death Stranding will finally be arriving to PC. On the other hand, Nintendo is releasing a couple of Switch-exclusives, which includes the sequel to the cult-classic Deadly Premonition and a new entry in the Paper Mario series. There's even some notable remasters re-releases on the horizon with the Switch port of Catherine: Fully Body and THQ Nordic's remaster of PS2-era sandbox favorite, Destroy All Humans!

To give you a look at what's ahead for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, we've rounded up all the biggest games of July 2020 below. For a wider look at the titles still to come this year, be sure to check out our list of game release dates in 2020. Otherwise, be sure to check this article often for the latest during this month, as we'll be sure to update it with more new release dates that get announced.

The big Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone Season 4 Reloaded update is scheduled for 11 PM PT on June 29, but developer Infinity Ward has posted the patch notes ahead of time. [Update: the big Season 4 Reloaded patch is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC].

The update includes a new limited-time mode with 200-player Warzone Quads, while it also introduces new Supply Run Contracts. There is also a new Spotter Scope item that will help snipers move through the map without flashing the familiar "glint" that exposes their location.

This big new Modern Warfare/Warzone update also makes a series of weapon balance changes. The AX-50 sniper rifle now has an increased damage range, while the HDR sniper now delivers a guaranteed one-hit kill when you land a shot to the lower torso from any range. The Dragunov sniper rifle now has faster aim-down-sight (ADS) speed, while it fires faster as well.

Dan McCulloch, a 15-year Microsoft veteran who most recently worked at Xbox as the leader of Xbox Live, has left the company. McCulloch announced the news on Twitter, saying he "truly had a blast" during his run at Xbox.

He didn't reveal what's next, but McCulloch said he's "extremely excited" about the next chapter of career and he looks forward to sharing details "very soon." He might be staying in gaming, as he told his followers, "You will all be pumped" about what he's doing next.

According to his LinkedIn page, McCulloch started at Microsoft in 2005 as a program manager on non-gaming projects. He moved to the Xbox team in 2007 when he became lead producer on Forza Motorsport 3 and 4.

Descenders joined Xbox Game Pass in May 2019, and since then, according to Mike Rose (head of publisher No More Robots), the indie cycling game has seen greatly increased sales on Xbox. Although conventional wisdom would suggest that a game that was available at no additional cost on a popular subscription service might see lower direct sales, Rose says that, in fact, the opposite has been true.

Rose took to Twitter to explain why Xbox Game Pass has been so good for the game, saying that it has "elevated the game to heights we couldn't have imagined." Descenders, which is available in both the Xbox and PC catalogs of the subscription service, is currently the eighth most popular game on the service.

Rose said that a new deal has recently been struck to keep the game on Game Pass for "a looong time to come," as since joining the service it is selling "around five times as many units each week" as it did previously.

The first-ever PGA Tour 2K game launches in August, and among its new features is a beefed up broadcast package that includes Luke Elvy and Rich Beem calling the action.

Elvy has the most experience in the broadcast booth, as he has been featured over the years on Fox Sports and GameSpot sister company CBS Sports. Beem is a former player who has won three times on the PGA Tour, including a Major championship at the 2002 PGA Championship. He is also a commentator for Sky Sports.

A new trailer for PGA Tour 2K21 featuring Elvy and Beem as been released. They speak about bringing their unique expert insights to the game, and it seems the commentary in PGA Tour 2K21 won't be very traditional. Elvy and Beem say some of their outtakes and bloopers from recording sessions will actually make it into the game, and this includes Beem describing an eagle as a "Super Chicken."