August 2020

Cblogs Recap: Week 22



-Spinnerweb discusses games that undercut their own playability with a focus on Dead Space 3.

-Shoggoth2588 responds to this month's Band of Bloggers prompt about underwhelming sequels with this blog on Grand Theft Auto IV.

-Lord Spencer reviews Alundra as part of his PlayStation 1 REVIEWS blogging series.

-Black Red Gaming continues the ranking of the Saints Row series with a blog on Saints Row: Gat out of Hell.

-Sam ven der Meer is not impressed by DOOM 3.

-Osc continues journaling his progress in his hobby game.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the Xenogears soundtrack and the music of Davy Spillane.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the Lufia 2 soundtrack and the music of Benjamin Britten.

-TheBlondeBass details how he made the best out of this terrible 2020 summer (keep your seatbelts on, the year isn't over).

-ChronoLynxx continues the weekly tradition of an open discussion forum, check it out.

Kids 3-Ply Face Mask (50 ct) | $34 | MQ Direct | Use code KINJAKIDS
Kids 3-Ply Face Mask (200 ct) | $63 | MQ Direct | Use code KINJAKIDS

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This week on Snapshots: Control’s latest DLC just came out and it seems a lot of folks are going back to the game and taking some cool screenshots. Of course, we also have more Ghost of Tsushima photos too! One day people might stop taking great pics of that game..but that ain’t today. And some screens from other…

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Putting its money where its big mouth is, Netflix has followed through on recasting Jenny Slate in Big Mouth.

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Ubisoft announced it will be removing the raised black fist imagery from Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad after comparisons were made between the fictional antagonist group in the game and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The 5v5 RPG mobile game consisting of heroes and villains from various Ubisoft properties, such as Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six, launched last week.

According to the game’s introduction video, the game revolves around fighting against UMBRA, a “faceless organization” that promotes the idea of “egalitarian utopia” while simultaneously orchestrating terrorist attacks and hacking social media in secret.

Fans began to criticize the game after the introduction video was uploaded to YouTube for the antagonist enemy using the raised fist imagery, commonly associated with the Black Power movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the more recent Black Lives Matter movement.

A senior programmer at Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment studio tweeted about the video, calling it “gross and extremely disrespectful.”

The first trailer for Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World reveals that the game is a 2.5D remake of the Mega Drive title.

The post Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a 2.5D Remake of Monster World IV appeared first on Siliconera.

Marvel Avenger's Hero Challenge Cards and Marketplace

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host this week! Well, I don't know about you, but this was a doozy of a week. For those unaware, I live in the California Bay Area, much like the rest of the Giant Bomb West team, and getting through last week was certainly draining. As many of you are aware, the forest fires and global pandemic resulted in some programming changes last week. However, the overall plan of transitioning the site from solo streams to Quick Looks and premium content remain unchanged. While there will still be plenty of "free" content for everyone to enjoy, rest assured the staff have big plans for the coming weeks as things start to settle down.

Today Ubisoft announced it will remove raised fist imagery from the opening cinematic of its new mobile game, Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad, following widespread criticism that the game’s intro plays on right-wing conspiracies about the Black Lives Matter movement.

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If you are a fan of comic book character King Shark, last week was a treat. We got two different and new versions of King Shark announced at DC’s online FanDome event. One from the new Suicide Squad movie and one from the new Suicide Squad game. So to celebrate, I asked you all you show the king some love.

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Bandai Namco revealed that Tales of Crestoria is getting a short animation titled “The Wake of Sin,“ depicting the prologue of the game.

The post Tales of Crestoria is Getting a Short Animation Titled ‘The Wake of Sin’ appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Bandai Namco released a new trailer of its upcoming action game  Kamen Rider: Memory of Heroez.

The trailer focuses on the gameplay, including the flashy moves you can expect from tokusatsu show heroes.

We also get to see the “Hero chain action” that involves the typical Kamen Rider transformations, on top of the iconic gadgets.

You can check it out below. If you want to see more, you can also enjoy the original trailer.

Kamen Rider is one of the most long-lasting TV shows in the history of Japanese TV and has continued to air in the country with annual series all the way since 1971.

It’s so much of a staple on Japanese TV that the periods of broadcasting are named after eras of the local calendar. The latest series is titled Kamen Rider Zero-One, and started in September 2019.

 Kamen Rider: Memory of Heroez will be released in Japan and Asia for PS4 and Nintendo Switch on October 29, 2020.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto has become such a behemoth it seems strange the series started out life as an unexpected smash. Driving around the cities in that first top-down crime caper was thrilling and liberating; there was no being forced down dingy first-person corridors here, and you could gleefully ignore the game's missions and enjoy exploring/causing mayhem in the sprawling urban environment. GTA was often cited as refreshingly original in the games press of the time - yet those of us who had been playing on our ZX Spectrums eleven years earlier thought it all played a little familiar to a multi-city adventure by the name of Turbo Esprit.

But the miracle of Turbo Esprit is not just its innovative gameplay, but the way it presents a real and suitably grim 80s urban landscape for the player to drive around, all within a mere 48k of memory. Traffic lights operate with annoying frequency, pedestrians stroll around, seemingly oblivious to the speeding cars that charge down the narrow streets and stark, angular buildings enshroud every screen. The player, assuming control of the eponymous sports car, can either take on the nefarious drug dealers or buzz around the city, obeying - or disobeying - the Highway Code to their heart's content. Sound familiar?

Sundays are for going for a run, drinking coffee out of doors, and looking forward to a few days respite.

For Polygon, Jay Castello spoke to trans streamers about why they need better discoverability tools within Twitch. This is a good example of how basic decisions of a platform holder can have sweeping consequences for communities.

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Ubisoft has promised to pull an image used in a Tom Clancy video game after it was accused of promoting alt-right Black Lives Matter conspiracy theories.

Ubisoft came under fire this weekend for its use of the "raised fist" image in the intro video for Tom Clancy's Elite Squad, a kind of Tom Clancy all-stars action RPG for mobile devices drenched in a Fortnite-style graphics style. It's developed by Owlient, the Paris-based studio behind horse breeding games.

The intro video depicts a society in civil unrest. A group called UMBRA, "a faceless organisation that wants to build a new world order," is said to be organising deadly terrorist attacks to generate even more chaos and weaken governments "at the cost of many innocent lives". UMBRA uses the raised fist as its symbol.

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Screenshot Saturday Sundays! We’re the last stop on the road to another working week – so why not stay a while, rest your legs, and soak up some of our lovely selection of screenshots, vids and gifs? This week: moody melodies, grimy bikers, reckless taxis and a bothersome door.

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The Kickstarter for Suikoden spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle has ended with an impressive £3.4m raised.

Eiyuden Chronicle, a new Japanese role-playing game from some of the key creators of beloved 90s JRPG Suikoden, launched a Kickstarter on 27th July 2020 asking for $500,000. The crowdfunding drive quickly smashed that target, and settled on ¥481,621,841 from 46,307 backers.

Eiyuden Chronicle will now get a companion game, a town creation RPG co-developed with Natsume-Atari. According to a blog post, this companion game will release before the main game ("which will hopefully hold you over during the excruciatingly long two-and-a-half year wait"), and includes different lifestyle mini-games that let you gather different materials to build up your house. The idea is these materials will transfer over to Eiyuden Chronicle, "allowing you a head-start at crafting some of the different items/armor/etc in the game." A few of the characters in Eiyuden Chronicle will be in this companion game.

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As part of this weekend's ongoing gamescom festivities, publisher ININ Games has released the first gameplay video of its upcoming retro remake Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, a ground-up recreation of Sega Genesis classic Monster World IV.

The video features slight footage of hero Asha as she fights her way through a bright fantasy world, filled with monster-chopping, platform-hopping action. Alongside a full recreation of the original adventure, Asha in Monster World will include new voice-acting and a selection of all-new side-modes. Developer Artdink Games are working alongside original members of the Monster World IV development team, including director Ryuichi Nishizawa and character designer Maki Ozora

You can check out the gameplay in the video below, courtesy of IGN.

Hello! It’s time for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon.

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Tunic has always looked like Zelda and it's always looked beautiful. How long now have we gazed down into this balmy isometric world with its neat pointy thickets of grass and ancient slabs of sun-warmed stone? How long have I stared at that plucky little fox in his green outfit, all ready to go off and save...what? The kingdom? The world?

Now, in honour of Gamescom, there's a demo out. I've played it, and you can play it on Steam here if you hurry because it's only up for a short time. It's exactly what I was hoping for. And it's a delight.

I've ducked in and out of this demo a bit and it's a proper charmer. You turn up in the sunny overworld, master the dodge-roll, venture into a cave to open a chest and equip a stick to hit things with, and then head off into a dungeon.

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A high-profile video game cheat maker has apologised for ruining Call of Duty for legit players after a legal threat from Activision.

CxCheats.net issued a statement on its Discord announcing it had ceased development and support of its Call of Duty cheats sold on its website following a lawsuit from Activision.

"We apologise for any pain we've caused to players of Call of Duty," reads the message, caught by redditor MrTheRevertz-. It appears the Discord is now offline.

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Sony has said it'll continue to release first-party PlayStation games on PC.

In its 2020 corporate report, Sony talked about the future of PlayStation and of course the upcoming release of PlayStation 5. Buried within the generic, non-committal notes is a single nugget: the confirmation Sony will release more of its games on PC.

PlayStation has largely ignored PC, instead focusing on creating exclusives for its consoles. While its marketing for PS5 has reinforced the idea of console exclusives, Sony has begun to dabble with putting its PlayStation games on PC, with the release of PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn on Steam in August 2020.

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Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event happened earlier this week. It had a few game announcements, some new trailers, and other stuff. But it also provided us with a haunting image that summarizes 2020 in a single photo.

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The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening | $50 | Walmart

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If you've watched the reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, you'll have seen fan-favourite character Frank Woods present and correct. But something is certainly off...

It's Woods, alright, but his voice isn't quite right - and that's because the original voice actor behind the character has been replaced. With whom, we're not sure - Activision has yet to make that announcement. But we do know the original voice actor is pretty bummed out about it.

Speaking in a YouTube video where he answered a series of fan questions, an exasperated James C Burns, who has played Frank Woods for over a decade, expressed his frustration.

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We cap off our retrospective interview series with a look at the franchise’s latest installment

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Fire Emblem Heroes is getting Legendary Female Corrin this month, who will retaliate with her defensive base kit.

The post Fire Emblem Heroes Chooses Its Fate With Legendary Female Corrin appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Modus Games released a brand new trailer of its upcoming psychological thriller game Remothered: Broken Porcelain.

This trailer departs only partially from the chilling atmosphere of the game, telling the story of the secret love between protagonist Jennifer and Lindsay. 

You can check it out below.

If you’re unfamiliar with Remothered: Broken Porcelain, you can read an official description below, directly from the game’s Steam page.

“Broken Porcelain brings an abundance of welcome changes to the series, introducing new gameplay and storytelling elements that breathe new life into the characters and an unprecedented level of immersion in this haunting adventure – perfect for both new and returning fans to the series.

The truths buried in the Ashmann Inn will not be discovered easily – its many mysteries are intertwined and guarded by the looming threat of the stalkers, powerful hunters trapped in time and the confines of its walls. Survival will take more than just quick reactions as a strategic and resourceful approach will quickly become critical in this haunting adventure. Be smart – knowing the best time to sneak, flee or fight imminent dangers can quickly make the hunters become the hunted.”

Publisher Bushiroad revealed a new music video of its upcoming mobile rhythm game D4DJ Groovy Mix, and this is a special one.

The video, performed by the in-game band Photon Maiden, is a cover of “Ginga Tetsudo 999” by Yukihide Takekawa, which was the classic theme song of The Galaxy Express 999, the 1979 movie adaptation of Leiji Matsumoto’s immortal manga and anime series. 

The younger among us may not be familiar with it, but The Galaxy Express 999 is one of the most relevant anime of that period in and outside of Japan, especially in Europe, where it aired on TV in several countries. 

It’s set in the same universe as the perhaps more well-known Space Pirate Captain Harlock and it basically forged the childhood of many among my generation. 

You can check out the video below.

D4DJ Groovy Mix will release in Japan on October 25 for iOS and Android.

That being said, English-speaking fans need not worry, as we already know that the game is also coming to the west, even if we’re not yet aware of a specific release date.

It's time to combine brawlin' and... ballin'... erm... with this week's Arcade Archives release, as retro publisher Hamster brings Kunio-kun sporting spin-off Super Dodge Ball to Nintendo Switch.

Released by Technos Japan in 1987, Super Dodge Ball was the first sequel to street brawler Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Renegade), and sees the hot-blooded high-school kid buddy up with some friends, literally half his size, for an inter-school dodge ball tournament - a natural career progression from fighting local biker gangs down by the docks.

Players must eliminate the opposing team members by blasting them with the ball, while avoiding any return throws. Of note, any players who are struck by the ball turn into angels, somewhat suggesting that the impact has KILLED THEM. This is why sports are dangerous and you shouldn't play them.

pic.twitter.com/4j9ZG22iH0

Age of Empries III: Defintive Edition comes out October 15 and it updates the classic RTS with new and improved 4k visuals and modern features like crossplay. But it will also include some HD capybaras. I didn’t realize I wanted HD capybaras until now.

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A new trailer for Chameleon Games' adventure-shooter title Tamarin shows off how the game is a spirital successor to Jet Force Gemini.

The post Chameleon Games’ Tamarin is a Spiritual Successor to Jet Force Gemini appeared first on Siliconera.