June 2020

Quentin de Warren is a freelance concept artist and illustrator who has worked for clients like Fantasy Flight and Games Workshop.

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Valorant developer Riot Games revealed the patch notes for the launch update of the competitive multiplayer PC game coming tomorrow, June 2.

The game’s launch will kick off as what the developer is calling Episode 1: Ignition, which is similar to what other games call seasons. An Episode will contain new features and content alongside a battle pass with exclusive timed rewards.

One of the biggest addition’s to the game is a new character called Reyna, who received a short trailer earlier this week. Valorant lead character designer Ryan “Morello” Scott explained her abilities on Twitter, such as being able to heal herself, turn invulnerable without shooting, and give her faster firing rate and reload.

Five other characters already in the game—Jett, Omen, Phoenix, Raze, and Sage— will receive various nerfs and buffs in the update.

The game will also receive a new map called Ascent, which is featured in Italy with “a large, open middle area that both teams can skirmish over.” One of the game’s original maps, Split, will now have a restructured mid that opens space up for both teams.

The latest rollout of new Call of Duty content, for Modern Wafare, Warzone and Call of Duty: Mobile, has been postponed due to the current violent police actions against American citizens.

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On a recent stream, CEO Tim Sweeney stated he has seen developers' sales boosted on other platforms after an Epic Games Store free game offer.

The post Epic Games Store’s Free Games Are Sales Boosters, Says Tim Sweeney appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Bandai Spirits announced that it will release the Spiricle Fighter Mugen mecha piloted by undeniable best girl Anastasia Palma in Sakura Wars.

The model kit follows those released for protagonist Seijuro Kamiyama and heroines Sakura Amamiya and Azami Mochizuki. It’s part of Bandai’s “HG” line which is best known for entry-level gunpla kits.

The price is 4,950 yen (which translates approximately into $46) and the release window is October 2020.

It includes its iconic weaponized umbrella, two handguns, decals, and even a model portraying Anastasia herself. It’s worth mentioning that unlike the rest of the kit, she requires painting.

The cockpit hatch can open and the arms and legs can extend in order to enable some really dynamic poses.

If you’re curious about what it looks like, you can enjoy a few pictures in the gallery below.

Sakura Wars is now available exclusively for PS4 and you can read our review.

Activision and Infinity Ward announced on Monday night that the next seasons for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Mobile have been delayed indefinitely.

The reason cited for the delay was over the nationwide protests against police violence in the United States after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The announcement was made over the franchise’s official Twitter with the message:

“While we all look forward to playing the new seasons of Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Call of Duty: Mobile, now is not the time. We are moving the launches of Modern Warfare Season 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile Season 7 to later dates. Right now it’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard. We stand alongside you.”

Modern Warfare was set to begin Season 4 this Wednesday, June 3 with new maps and Captain Price as a playable character, while the mobile game would have started its seventh season this Friday.

Today Compile Heart announced that it’s delaying two of its JRPGs that were supposed to release in Japan in the summer.

The latest Hyperdimension Neptunia spinoff game VVVTune will launch on August 6, 2020 instead of the previously announced release date on July 2.

The newest chapter of the Mary Skelter dungeon-crawling JRPG series Kamigokuto Mary Skelter Finale will be delayed all the way into the fall (October 8, 2020) from its original launch date on August 27.

The reason given is “various circumstances including changes in the production schedule.” The Coronavirus pandemic wasn’t explicitly named, but it’s probably involved.

VVVTune has been announced only for PS4, while Kamigokuto Mary Skelter Finale is coming for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Neither game has been announced for the west by Idea Factory International just yet, so we don’t know whether this affected in any way the plans of the western arm of the publisher.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted about any further news on the two games, including possible announcements for the North American and European markets. Idea Factory International brings west almost everything Compile Heart develops, so the outlook isn’t bad. It’s likely more a matter of “when” than of “if.”

The post Compile Heart Delays Both VVVTune and Mary Skelter Finale appeared first on Twinfinite.

Track: Hate The Police | Artist: Mudhoney | Album: Boiled Beef & Rotting Teeth

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A Pokemon TCG board game set called Battle Academy has been revealed, providing everything people need to learn to play.

The post Pokemon TCG Battle Academy Takes a Cue From Board Games appeared first on Siliconera.

This article, originally posted on March 5, 2018, has been republished to amplify black voices in GameSpot's support of Black Lives Matter. Donate to the effort to fight systemic racism here.

Far Cry 5's setting of an American county under siege seems to become more provocative as the days go by. Moving away from the tropical jungles of the South Pacific and African savannas, the series now dips its toes into the US setting of Hope County, Montana for its action-packed fish-out-of-water story. With the new locale, the series also looks to break away from the standards that past games have set, which includes a more open world to explore, deeper co-op, and a custom character to create.

But with the move to North America, it definitely has chilling parallels to real life, whether that's the developers intention or not. During a press event for Far Cry 5, I had the chance to experience the early hours of what looks to be Ubisoft's most eye-opening entry in the series, and how unsettling several of the game's moments can be.

Hello everyone! Jordan here. GameSpot went into June with plans to kick off Play For All, a combo platter of gaming celebration and charity effort to raise money for COVID-19 relief. And we're still doing that, don't worry. But there's a lot more going on in the world than COVID-19 right now. Cities across the US are now witness to massive protests against the ongoing violence towards black individuals suffering police brutality. In support of the protests, GameSpot has shifted the message of Play For All. We're still raising money for COVID-19 relief, but we want to also show our support and raise money for Black Lives Matter.

You’d think you couldn’t do much with the brick-breaking genre after Arkanoid and Alleyway, but in 2010 Shatter came along and smashed that theory to bits.

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Since the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch, the game’s dataminers have been pretty on point with regards to its upcoming content and events, as well as the more technical info, like bug spawn rates.

Dataminer Ninji recently posted on Twitter their findings on how the game determines which special NPCs show up on your island from week to week. Some of the more coveted NPCs include Redd and Celeste, but the former can be pretty hard to come by, which is frustrating especially when you’re trying to complete your museum’s art collection.

According to Ninji, Saharah, Kicks, and Leif are guaranteed to show up each week on a weekday. The other two weekday slots will be randomly filled by Redd, Gulliver, CJ, Flick, or Label. Whichever two you get for that week, the game will try to prioritize the three you didn’t get for the next week so that you get a nice rotation.

Nimbatus

is about building spaceships. More accurately, it’s about learning to build spaceships. And if we’re being completely honest, it’s a game about learning how not to build them. At its heart is one of the most flexible digital construction toys I’ve come across, which allows for enormous complexity despite a relatively unforgiving learning curve, and Nimbatus would be a worthy purchase if its freestyle sandbox mode was all there was.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus, SSD prices have generally dropped a little this week, making it a good a time as any to upgrade your PC with one of our best [cms-block] recommendations. That said, if you’re in the UK, it’s not a good time to buy the WD Black SN750, which has spiked once again after last week’s Amazon sale. Still, even if the WD Black SN750 is no longer a good buy, we’ve done our best to round up all the other SSD deals we’ve been able to find below, collating all the lowest prices so you can see exactly how they stack up against the competition.

Below, you’ll find a range of size capacities and form factors in our SSD deals hub, as there are great deals to be found across all sorts of SSDs if you know where to look – which is more than can be said for the week’s cheapest [cms-block], [cms-block] and [cms-block]. Whether you’re looking for the best SATA SSD deals or the biggest savings on today’s super fast NVMe SSDs and portable SSDs, here are the cheapest SSD deals of the week.

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After last week’s big sale on WD Black SSDs, this week’s big [cms-block] are all about Samsung. After weeks of prices inching higher and higher or just plain refusing to budge whatsoever, prices for Samsung’s best SSDs have finally started to fall in the US. There are big discounts to be had on our current [cms-block] pick, the 860 Evo, and their top-end 970 Evo Plus drives, as well as their portable Samsung T5 drives, with some returning to what they cost over Black Friday.

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After a two-month closed beta, Riot’s guns n’ wizards shooter Valorant is now out for everyone to play. Valorant is the League Of Legends developer’s first tactical FPS, pitting teams of five players against each other to capture objectives. It’s very ‘CS:GO meets Overwatch’, and what’s more, it’s free-to-play. For those of you already embedded in the game, its full release today comes with some lovely new things to see and do – there’s a new character, a new map, and even and a jaunty hat for a frog.

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The start of Season 4 in Call Of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare, due to happen on Wednesday, is postponed. On a night when protests in the USA continued over the police killing of George Floyd, the makers said “now is not the time.”

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Ebay UK always seems to have some kind of sale on these days, but this time the discounts are pretty damned substantial. Thanks to a new site-wide 20% off code, you can get up £75 off if you find something that tickles your fancy. There’s a catch, though: it only works on certain Ebay stores. The good news is that we’ve done the hard work for you and found the best PC deals available right now. Read on below for our top picks.

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Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku’s reader-run community: Just How Different Are Japanese Dialects From Each Other? • Blizzcon Cancelled: Blizzard This Is Your Chance To Roll Back Overwatch 2 • TAY Retro: Nintendo Entertainment System - Super C [TV Commercial, NA]

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The folks behind Gundam models have set their sights on instant ramen in a styrofoam cup.

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Yesterday, Sony announced it was delaying the PS5 showcase. On Twitter, the reaction among Japanese fans has largely been supportive.

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The latest Neon Genesis Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 trailer showcases exciting new visuals.

The post Latest Neon Genesis Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 Trailer Showcases Exciting New Visuals appeared first on Siliconera.

They’re a meager substitute for the real thing, but I’ll take what I can get

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Developer 10 Chambers Collective has today confirmed the launch date of GTFO’s next rundown event. Called The Vessel, it’s set to introduce a new playable area of the Complex and expeditions to run, as well as an all-new enemy type. The content will be made available to Early Access players free of charge on June 11.

GTFO is a 4-player co-op action/horror FPS game, which takes place in a terrifying underground facility called the Complex. It features a live-service-style mechanic called “the Rundown” which sees the developers continuously update the game with new expeditions, enemies, weapons, and other content to replace what has come previously.

For The Vessel, GTFO players will be interested to learn that it’s also set to expand on the game’s story, which has so far been somewhat of an enigma. Simon Viklund explains:

“The story of GTFO has been somewhat of a mysterium, and we also want to keep it partly that way and not disclose everything about it openly and easily accessible, as it brings together the community in discussions and helping each other find the clues and figure out how they all fit together.

In Rundown 003, The Vessel, you will be able to find more of these clues and start getting a better picture of what is really happening down in The Complex.”

Incidentally, at GTFO’s launch event last year in Copenhagen, 10 Chambers Collective’s Simon Viklund spoke to me about the team’s enthusiasm for building out the game’s lore and backstory but admitted that actually implementing it depended on its popularity post-launch. So it’s great to see that GTFO’s success and the interest of its substantial community –over 180,000 on Discord– has seen that plan put into motion with The Vessel.

In the first three parts of this chronicle, I mainly approached this subject from the angle of game and level design. But there is another angle that is gaining more importance today: storytelling. ...

It’s a well-known fact that the 1993 classic Doom will be ported to everything, eventually. You can now add the Playdate, a yet-to-be-released micro-console with a crank, to the long list of “Things That Can Run Doom.”

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8Bitdo SN30 Pro | $35 | Amazon
8Bitdo N30 Pro2 | $30 | Amazon

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The Doko Demo Issyo smartphone puzzle game by ForwardWorks is coming Westward as Toro and Friends: Onsen Town. 

The post Doko Demo Issyo’s Toro and Friends: Onsen Town Will Release for Smartphones in the West on June 23, 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Players can download the game for free for the first 24 hours

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The pass has 12 gun skins and a knife skin at tier 50

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