June 2020

Those DRM-free dealers over at GOG have just made a new addition to their Summer Sale, offering up a collection of five games from The Witcher series for just £20.

According to GOG, this is the best deal for all Witcher games and a considerable bargain considering everything you get in it. The Witcher Universe Collection includes:

If you already own any of the Witcher games through GOG - and, let's face it, you've probably got at least one over the years - you can instead choose to complete your collection and receive an equivalent discount on the remaining games.

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Dual dog head puzzle game Phogs will no longer launch this month, publisher Coatsink has said.

Delays resulting from the coronavirus pandemic mean Phogs' release has been pushed back until "later this year".

"The team is working hard to minimise the delay to Phogs and our hooman friends will update on a release date as soon as they can," one of Phogs' heads said in a statement.

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Bungie has been somewhat more tight-lipped about where Destiny 2 is heading at the start of Season 11 and into its upcoming fourth year, but we're starting to get some hints. A new teaser trailer hit Destiny 2's Twitter account, showing Jupiter's moon of Europa and the Drifter making his way there.

The new teaser doesn't offer too much in the way of information, but it plays off another newly released cinematic. That short video, which was added with the weekly reset on June 2, shows Jupiter, with one of the black pyramid ships briefly appearing from its shadow. It seems the next front of Destiny 2's war with evil forces will take place in the orbit of Jupiter.

The Drifter isn't the only person headed to Europa, it seems. Another teaser video that briefly appeared on the Destiny 2 Instagram showed Eris Morn venturing to the Jovian moon. That video has since been removed from the account's feed, but is still available by direct link.

Rockstar Games is temporarily shutting down access to both Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online today to show support for Black Lives Matter and to honor the slain George Floyd.

The servers for both games will go down at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET and will return at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET. The offline components for the two games should not be affected.

In addition to the gesture, Rockstar asked its Twitter followers to find a charity they can donate to in order to show support for black communities, businesses, and civil rights. Charities on the list include the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Black Child Development Institute, and the Equal Justice Initiative, as well as broader civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.

The interactive hidden-object game Hidden Folks has been given some new DLC. On Tour, a series of six musically-tinged areas, is out now on Android and iOS devices, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

With the release of this DLC, developer Adriaan de Jongh and company have increased the price of the game for new buyers. This price-hike brings the game's retail value to $13 across all platforms.

However, anyone who already owns the game will get access to On Tour, as well as every other piece of Hidden Folks' DLC, at no extra charge. Furthermore, apart from the Mouth Sounds DLC, Hidden Folks will have no more purchasable add-on content, with all of it getting folded into the base game following the price-hike. Jongh said this is to "unify all areas [of the game] into a single [purchase]." To be clear: Every piece of DLC for Hidden Folks that was sold separately is now free for all owners of the game.

Slay the Spire, the roguelike deck-building card game, is making its way to iOS later this month, developer Mega Crit announced. In a post on Steam Mega Crit announced that the iOS version will release sometime in June, with more information coming during the Guerrilla Collective show.

Slay the Spire will cost $10 and is the "complete, spire-climbing experience you have already enjoyed on PC." The game is also coming to Android at a later date and is currently available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and Linux.

Valorant is out now on PC after a successful closed beta period that attracted record-breaking Twitch numbers. Its popularity has many fans and potential players wondering about a possible console release. Will Valorant ever come to PS4 and Xbox One, or even Nintendo Switch, as other competitive games like Overwatch have? In GameSpot's Play For All interview with Riot Games, we asked Anna Donlon, Executive Producer of Valorant, to elaborate on the team's plans to bring Valorant to more platforms.

"We are definitely prototyping that right now," Donlon told GameSpot. "But there's a way to play this game and there's a way to experience this game that we're not entirely sure translates completely to console play."

Donlon explained that core to Valorant is its "strong level of competitive integrity," and its designers worry about players feeling like anyone has an unfair advantage based on the platform they're playing on. A potential console version of Valorant would need to capture the same Valorant "experience" for all players, according to Riot.

A fantastic action-RPG from 2012 will soon make its way onto modern consoles: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (now dubbed Re-Reckoning) will release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC this August. The Kingdoms of Amalur remaster has now officially been announced by publisher THQ Nordic, although multiple listings appeared prior to the announcement on online storefronts like Xbox Live and Amazon. An official release date hasn't been confirmed yet, and there's a slight discrepancy between the release dates retailers are showing--Xbox Live lists the release date as August 11, while Amazon indicates the game will release on August 18. Either way, it seems we can look forward to Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning launching sometime in mid-August.

Valorant launched on Tuesday, June 2, and with the official version 1.0 release of the game comes a brand-new game mode. GameSpot's Play For All interview with executive producer Anna Donlon provided more details on Riot's thought process when designing the short, but "chaotic" mode, which is called Spike Rush. While Valorant is fully launched out of its own beta, Spike Rush has been added in what Donlon describes as an early "beta state."

Unlike the default bomb mode, Spike Rush gives every player on the attacker side a spike--the objective is to plant just one. All agents' basic abilities are refilled for free and there's no pre-round buy phase, so every player is given the same random weapon at the start. On top of that, there are only seven rounds max. But to mix things up further, there are several orbs scattered around the map, which grant different power-ups if you pick them up. These abilities are not "core" to your agent's abilities and include things like "hyper speed" or a quick weapon upgrade, which "kind of creates a level of chaos and mystery into the mode," Donlon told GameSpot.

According to Donlon, a single match of Spike Rush should only take about 7-10 minutes to get through and provide "some really good in-between games downtime." Compared to the much longer and more competitive default game mode, which can take around an hour to finish, Spike Rush sounds like the kind of quick and casual mode players have been asking for on paper. But there's still another highly requested game mode that, according to Donlon, players won't get their hands on just yet: Team Deathmatch.

People will get a chance to fall in love with Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 7 ahead of launch, thanks to a newly announced demo.

The post A Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 7 Demo Is Headed for the eShop appeared first on Siliconera.

The free Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics app will give people 4 games to play and allow local multiplayer.

The post Free Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics App Will Include 4 Games appeared first on Siliconera.

Rockstar Games said today that it will shut down the servers for its popular online games, Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online, for two hours in response to the current protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd.

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Atlus has announced that it will be releasing a demo for the Nintendo Switch port of its saucy puzzler Catherine: Full Body, ahead of its official release July 7. Available to download from the eShop on June 11, the demo will let players experience the first two days of Catherine's trippy tale of twisted romance.

Catherine: Full Body, already available on PS4, is the expanded edition of 2011 PS3 and Xbox 360 release Catherine. Full Body features an expanded story, adding new girl "Rin" to the already combustible cast of characters. Gameplay-wise, Full Body adds a selection of new difficulty settings, an "auto-play" option, new stages, and a "Remix" mode, which adds new mechanics and tricks to the game's tower-climbing, block-shifting puzzles.

Catherine: Full Body launches on Nintendo Switch July 7. It is available now on PS4.

Although "darkened neon purple and blue" is a highly popular aesthetic in World of Warcraft, I can't get enough of it. Zangarmarsh, Azsuna, Netherstorm: take your pick. Now, Ardenweald will join that list when the upcoming Shadowlands expansion hits.

Described as a "twilight-tinged afterlife for those closely connected to the wild," there's trouble in this "afterlife paradise," as you'll need to deal with the whole...Shadowlands situation. Faeries, cute little owl creatures and centaur alike grace these wilds, with the ability to join the Night Fae Covenant (one of the new features in Shadowlands that lets you join a faction for passive and action bonuses). Sorry Night Fae, I'm already spoken for. I'm a simple man: I see a vampire faction, and I'm already in.

As we inch ever closer toward the "TBA 2020" date, Shadowlands is really coming together. Hopefully we'll get a release date during the June 9 mini-BlizzCon stream. Blizzard also has a chance to take what they've learned in Battle for Azeroth (as much as I've adored it overall) and apply it here. With several arms of Blizzard fading into obscurity, WoW needs to be stronger than ever.

Shadowlands Preview: Ardenweald and the Night Fae Covenant [World of Warcraft]

Niantic, developer of mobile phenomenon Pokémon GO, has announced its intentions to donate a minimum of $5 million USD to supporting black gaming projects and communities. Niantic CEO John Hanke made the announcement yesterday in a detailed statement on Twitter.

"We'll be donating Niantic proceeds from Pokémon Go 2020 Fest ticket sales, committing a minimum of $5m," said Hanke. "Half of the proceeds donated will be used to fund new projects from Black gaming and AR creators that can live on the Niantic platform, with the ultimate goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view on the world. The other half will go to U.S. nonprofit organisations that are helping local communities rebuild."

One of gaming’s most recognizable faces is changing

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Today is a great day. Why? Because it’s been eight long years, but Kingdoms of Amalur has finally been resurrected with the help of THQ Nordic, and of course, the Well of Souls. Those who played Kingdoms of Amalur know that this remaster is well-deserved.

The news just became official, so here are a few reasons why you should care about a lesser-known western-RPG that came out back in 2012.

Today Kadokawa Games released a new trailer of its upcoming mystery visual novel Root Film.

The trailer showcases a look at the main characters of the game, beautifully designed by Minoboshi Taro, known for his art featured in LovePlus, God Wars, and LoveR. 

We also get to hear the lovely theme song by idol group i☆Ris. It’s titled “Utakata no Hikari” from the recent album Shall we☆Carnival.

Incidentally, all members of the band play voice roles in the game. 

You can check the video out below.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it’s the follow-up to Root Letter. Here’s a handy description:

Root Film is about a TV series, called “Shimane Mystery Drama Project”, which was canceled for an unknown reason 10 years ago. To reboot the project, three teams consisting of a director and an actress have been cast, including 23-year-old Rintaro Yagumo, the main character of the game.

His excitement about this amazing opportunity is quickly curbed, when a horrible murder interrupts their location scouting process. Follow him and a cast of unique and memorable characters by character designer Taro Minoboshi as they are drawn deeper into the thrilling mystery of Root Film.

The PlayStation Days of Play sale is now live on the PSN Store and there are some awesome discounts and deals on a ton of fantastic PS4 games and even some PS VR titles. The sale comes to an end on June 17 and if you’re looking for the best deals, here are the games you should totally buy while you can.

Best PS4 Games to Buy During PlayStation Days of Play Sale

Resident Evil 3

Capcom’s 2020 remake of the classic PS1 horror title, Resident Evil 3, isn’t as fleshed out as RE2 the year prior but it’s still a solid game overall with a very fun, easy to get through campaign. You can grab it on PS4 for only $40 until June 17.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Insomniac promised and delivered on the idea of a modern Spider-Man game with excellent and satisfying swinging mechanics. You experience this superhero sandbox game and all of its existing story DLC for just $20.

For these last few months, it has been hard for Nintendo fans to get their hands on certain products like the workout Switch game, Ring Fit Adventure, and even a Nintendo Switch console itself. But if you’ve been on the hunt for some cardboard crafts to pass the time, select Nintendo Labo kits are on sale right now for $19.99 on Amazon, which is an absolute steal.

The Nintendo Labo VR Kit Starter Set, originally priced for $40, will allow you to experience family-friendly mini-games in virtual reality, and yes, it’s all done through cardboard and some goggles. This blaster set will get you started and if you end up enjoying yourself, you can seek out the other VR kits.

The other Nintendo Labo kit that’s currently on sale is the Vehicle Kit, which comes with buildable pieces of cardboard to allow you to play a racing, submarine, and plane mini-game. This Kit is the one that I would recommend considering it’s originally priced at $70 –that’s a $50 discount!

And last but not least, the Robot Labo kit is marked down from $60 to $36, which isn’t bad at all.

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu included a spread on Cygames’ fighting game Granblue Fantasy Versus, and it included interesting clues on the future of the game.

Director Tetsuya Fukuhara commented in the article that the plan is to add more characters that appear in the original Granblue Fantasy so that players can enjoy the game for a long time, and Cygames is planning initiatives to encourage them to keep playing in cooperation with Arc System Works.

Additionally, he hinted that one or more (Japanese doesn’t distinguish between plural and singular) characters coming in the second character pass (which will include 6 fighters starting with Belial this fall) have been named in the final rankings of the poll launched by Famitsu about which characters the fans would like to see added in the future.

Here’s the ranking:

1. Sandalphon
2. Cagliostro
3. Vira
4. Seox
5. Siegfried
6. Seofon
7. Silva
8. Vane
9. Beatrix
10. Clarisse
11. Monika
12. Vania
13. Lucifer
14. Ilsa
15. Aliza

No further information was provided on who among these will be included as DLC, but there certainly are many popular names in the list.

Riot Games’ popular new shooter, Valorant, has finally released fully after creating waves while it was in beta. As a hero shooter, you choose between a variety of characters, each with distinct skills and personalities. Also, you’ll probably recognise some of the voices. So that you can work out who they are, here are all the voice actors of Valorant’s agents.

Ashly Burch – Viper

Ashly Burch is quickly becoming one of the stars of video game acting. Having shot to stardom as Chloe Price in the Life Is Strange series, she went on to play Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn and Tiny Tina in the Borderlands games.

She also gave one of the best voice performances of 2019 as Parvati Holcomb in The Outer Worlds, played Nebula in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, and voiced Ray in the ever popular Fortnite.

Let’s hope that a Horizon sequel is revealed soon and we hear more from her before the end of the year.

Steve Blum – Brimstone – Valorant Voice Actors

Steve Blum is another of Valorant’s big name actors. He’s credited as many big names on animated TV shows and anime, but you’ll likely recognise his voice from a variety of gaming roles.

He has played Bullseye/Green Goblin/Venom in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Gray in Red Dead Redemption 2, Sauron in the Middle-Earth series, and Walther Dahl in Prey, among many others. When it comes to Valorant’s agents, he plays Brimstone.

Overcooked, developer Ghost Town Games's chaotic, co-op-focussed cook-'em-up, is currently free on the Epic Games Store.

Released in 2016, Overcooked is a fun, family friendly multiplayer escapade, in principle, at least; it's got a bold, appealingly cartoony art-style, and a simple premise that pretty much anyone can wrap their head around, regardless of prior gaming experience.

The goal - which can be tackled by up to four players simultaneously in couch co-op - is to work together and coordinate your culinary actions to fulfil a succession of increasingly brisk and varied food orders from chronically impatient customers. That'll mean frying, tossing, assembling, and whatever else is required to get food on a plate and through the service hatch.

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The Pokemon Company International is the latest company to offer a charitable donation to organizations like Black Lives Matter and NAACP.

The post The Pokemon Company International Making $200,000 Donation to NAACP and Black Lives Matter appeared first on Siliconera.

The new Windows 10 Version 2004 update is slowly rolling out to compatabile devices, though some users will be waiting for it a little longer. The update brings several new features to the OS, including an all-new version of Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, whether you like it or not.

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Rosewill 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure | $24 | Amazon | Clip coupon on page

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With protests raging over the murder of George Floyd and the racist institution of policing in general, Twitch streamers find themselves faced with the same choice as the rest of us: Speak up or stay silent. Difference is, many streamers have audiences numbering in the thousands or even millions. They can make a…

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HBO Max has been met with a collective shrug so far, but not all is lost for the new streamer: turns out it’s got a decent enough selection of genre movies from the 1990s. Random? Yes! Full of clumsy early CGI, heavy-handed themes, and corny theme songs? Also yes!

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Electronic Arts released a handful of its games on Steam today. This move, combined with last year’s release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, marks a significant return for the publisher, which left Valve’s digital games distribution platform for its own Origin launcher in 2013.

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HP 4-Port USB-C Hub | $17 | MorningSave

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The co-op cooking game Overcooked is free on PC courtesy of the Epic Games Store.

If you've never played it, maybe this'll be the time. Overcooked is best experienced with at least one other person, but do note that this version is local-only, unlike the sequel. Even though I prefer Overcooked 2, I still find myself returning to the original at least once a year – it's simpler, but still fun.

If you're down (or you just want to horde free games), you have until 8:00 a.m. on June 11 to claim it.

Based on an accurate-until-now leak, people were expecting today's free Epic Games Store selection to be Ark: Survival Evolved, the online dinosaur game, but that deal has seemingly been pushed back.

Next week's freebie is another "mystery game" with a countdown. Will it be Ark? We'll see!

Contrary to popular belief, it's not all fun and memes in Bikini Bottom. There's more to life than flippin' Krabby Patties and hanging out with Nosferatu. ThErE's A sErIoUs ThReAt ThAt NeEdS tO bE dEaLt WiTh!

The remake of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom has a new cooperative multiplayer mode. It's a wave-based horde-type thing where Robo-Squidward throws you through the gauntlet of a billion enemies. There are 26 islands and 7 characters to play as. Horde mode is available for local or online co-op.

This isn't the main draw. It's just a possibly-intriguing addition to the remake of a beloved game -- something to stretch your sand dollar a little further.

Riot Games is one of the wildest developers in the business right now. Explosive League of Legends success, lawsuits, Tencent ownership; it feels like it's been on a series of ups and downs more than any other studio in recent memory. But after relying solely on one behemoth of a game for most of the company's lifecycle, it's time to move forward.

We got the card-based Runeterra last month and now, the shooter Valorant. Riot has the money to see these flights of fancies through, but I'm not so sure the latter is going to be the total shakeup they intend it to be.