October 2020

The PlayStation 5 comes out in just six weeks, and yet here I am looking with interest at a photo of Sony's next-gen console in real-life.

A dozen Japanese YouTubers are set to publish hands-on PS5 content tomorrow, 4th October, and in the setting up of these videos we see an actual PS5 in the wild, next to an actual human being.

The image below is from YouTuber Pocky's channel, and shows the enormous next-gen console on a table. We know the thing is big, but yeah. It's proper big.

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Today Sony Pictures Entertainment released a teaser trailer of the upcoming Monster Hunter movie.

The trailer features protagonist Captain Natalie Artemis played by Milla Jovovich and a rather aggressive Black Diablos.

Incidentally, it may prove only partly familiar for fans of the series considering that I don’t think many are used to hunt monsters with Vulcan miniguns.

On the other hand, the trailer announces that the film is going to be in theaters this December.

You can check it out below and see for yourself.

At the moment, the plot of the movie is still mostly shrouded in mystery, but both the director Paul W. S. Anderson and Jovovich herself have expressed appreciation for the franchise. It’ll be interesting to see whether this results in a faithful representation of the games on the silver screen.

Considering the premiere in December, the wait certainly won’t be long and we’ll be able to see for ourselves what this cinematic new Monster Hunter looks like.

RAVPower PD 3.0 Power Bank | $30 | Amazon | Clip coupon

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This week on Snapshots we get some artsy screenshots from a few different games, check out a scary monster from Fallout, relax in the snow, punch the sky and meet a very ugly spider-thing in Star Wars.

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The return of Peanuts to television is a welcome reprieve in this wild world. And it’s especially a good one if you like Snoopy.

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Hello an welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best creative endeavors from the community! As was the case last week, I again wish to thank all of you for the influx of comments and support! Again, rest assured this feature is not going away. Likewise, it does appear the spambots are back and you see any just remember to flag them for deletion and do not actually respond to them. This applies here and everywhere on the site. With that in mind, let's jump into the site-related housekeeping!

Hello there hero, adventure calls once again! Dangerous mobs, new gear, and the power of the wind itself, all await you atop perilous peaks! Howling Peaks DLC arrives in December – it's nearly time to trek to the top! ↣ https://t.co/CPC2Hy82Fe ↢ pic.twitter.com/sAcpaWRe0x

Aside from the people using suboptimal tactics, this certainly doesn't look like any of the Monster Hunter games I've ever played.

The post Monster Hunter Movie Trailer Features Gun-Toting Soldiers Firing on Monster appeared first on Siliconera.

Cblogs Recap: Week 40

-LaTerry details this month's Band of Bloggers prompt which focuses on the theme of "Darkness" in videogames.

-Goemar details five MINOR annoyances he faced in all his years of gaming.

-Black Red Gaming thinks that The Outer Wilds is one of the best gaming experiences he ever had.

-Kerrik52 reminisces about how relatives and classmates unwittingly supported his gaming hobby.

-LaTerry responds to September's Band of Bloggers prompt about waiting for game by detailing his wait for Persona 5 (Should have waited for Persona 5 R).

-Shoggoth2588 shares with us his September gaming journal.

-Black Red Gaming shares his list of most anticipated games to be released in October.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the music of Super Mario Land and the music of Jacques Offenbach.

-Dinosir compares the ubiquitous cheap earbuds and Raycons buds.

-PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the soundtrack of Fatal Fury and the music of Robert Miles.

Oh yeah, the Monster Hunter movie! It's "only in theatres" in December, apparently. We'll see about that! And we'll also see about this teaser trailer - the first for the film.

In the teaser Milla Jovovich and her unit go up against Diablos in a desert-like area. Jovovich and her unit seem in trouble - their army weapons are useless against the monstrous beast. We see a glimpse of the soldiers played by TI Harris, Meagan Good and Diego Boneta, but there's no sign of the Hunter, who's played by Ong-Bak star Tony Jaa.

This is just a teaser, but I'm getting Michael Bay Transformers vibes right now. Something about the soldiers and their guns in the desert fighting a giant thing that's hard to make out reminds me of the first act of the first Transformers movie.

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During the Minecraft Live broadcast, Microsoft and Mojang had a few news to share about the popular franchise.

We get to see the new “Caves & Cliffs” update which will improve caves and mountains and bring several elements to the original Minecraft Games

On top of that, Minecraft Dungeons will receive a new DLC titled “Howling Peaks” on top of a free update. Cross-platform play on Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass, Windows PC, PS4 and Nintendo Switch is also coming.

Here’s an official breakdown directly from the press release.

Last week, we had some fun with an oddly large Mario action figure that Nintendo was advertising on Twitter. As usual, you all created some wild, funny, strange, and disturbing images.

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GKIDS acquires the property for a new release

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North America is finally getting a Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray release, which will consist of the show and two movies.

The post Neon Genesis Evangelion Blu-ray Debut Set for 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

Lei's reach with her survival knife is unthinkable. The wide range of her attacks and powerful blasts of her shotgun are might effective, though.

The post In Onee Chanbara Origin Lei Gameplay Video, Zombie Hordes Fall to Survival Knife appeared first on Siliconera.

When I was in my early teens, I drew my first and only map. Final Fantasy 9 had just come out and I decided I was going to make a Final Fantasy, so it would be best to come prepared. I estimated at what age I'd be old enough to start working at Square Enix and determined the number of my Final Fantasy that way - and so began my work on Final Fantasy 13. You will note that while I made an accurate estimate about the release schedule of future Final Fantasy games, I did not end up making Final Fantasy 13, but that's a story for another time. I had a world to make, and worlds had maps. Every game I played had one for its overworld and every book I read then proudly displayed a map on its opening pages. A map set the stage for reader and writer both.

When I drew my world map however, I didn't think about it in terms of what I wanted, but in terms of what I felt a map should have. Landmasses large and small, island archipelagos, some yellow deserts and grey mountainous areas. Rivers sneaking through a country before reaching the sea. Red dots representing villages and cities. I took great care in ensuring that the map had all these things, but I didn't think about my creations further than that. Towns were there so you had inns to rest at, mountains acted as gates so my heroes would have to acquire an airship to continue their journey. Real places however, are more than that.

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment has allowed a group of Japanese YouTubers to showcase what’s basically the first extended gameplay on PS5.

The games showcased are Astro’s Playroom, Godfall, Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, and Balan Wolderworld.

Of course, the streams are completely in Japanese, but I doubt that’ll be an issue for most of you.

Incidentally, we hear praise about the games’ visuals and frame rate, the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, on top of how quiet the console is.

Speaking of quiet, I’d definitely advise you to lower your volume, because many of these YouTubers don’t exactly hold their enthusiasm back.

You can check the streams out below as they happen, or watch them on-demand after they have ended.

Sundays are for taking a trip to Aldi to stock up on mozzarella and sundried tomato pots, because those are the only thing I’d eat if they ever had more than two tubs on the shelves at a time. Ignore the sweet oil though, and instead wash down your own mouthfuls of cheese with some of the week’s best writing about (mostly) games.

A few years ago, writer Jon Bois wrote a science fiction story about satellites in the future who are obsessed with American football. It was glorious, and now there’s a sequel, or rather a second chapter. It’s called 20020. An inspiration to us all.

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Godfall will require an always-on internet connection regardless of what mode you're playing.

Confirmation first came via the game's PS5 store page, which stated: "online play [was] required". Confused, some gamers reached out to the developer via Godfall's official Twitter account for clarification.

While the response was keen to assert that Godfall should not be categorised as a "service game", it "does require an internet connection to play" (thanks, VG24/7).

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Today we learn an interesting piece of trivia about the upcoming PS5 thanks to a preview published by the Japanese website AV Watch.

One of the largest differences between using Japanese and western games on PlayStation has been for the longest time the fact that the west uses the X button to confirm and the circle button to cancel. Japanese games use the opposite configuration. The same goes for many more Asian countries.

This is going the way of the dodo, with all regions using what was previously the western standard.

According to Sony Interactive Entertainment PR cited by AV Watch, this has been decided to avoid having to get used to different button configurations when using games from different countries.

This may help those who import Japanese games while playing a lot of western games as well, since you won’t have to switch your brain to “Japanese controller mode.”

That being said, I can see many local gamers raising an eyebrow at the decision, considering that in Japan the original setup wasn’t just an arbitrary choice of buttons. In Japan and several Asian countries, circle is the symbol widely used for “yes” or “true” while X is the symbol that usually indicates “no” or “false” and it’s something strongly rooted in the region’s culture.

Incidentally, you can catch a lot of PS5 gameplay showcased today by a large group of local YouTubers.

If you’re interested in the PS5, recently Sony announced both prices and release dates.

The PS5 doesn't release for over a month, but Japanese YouTube creator Pocky Sweets was one lucky player who already got his hands on one, and he showcased new gameplay in a video. Not only do we see an extended look at some of the system's launch games, but we also get to see just how massive the console really is.

Placed vertically in the video, the YouTube Gaming team had the console on top of a table so it would be easier to see, but we're also not entirely sure it would fit in the entertainment center that housed the television. You may need to move some things around to get your system to fit in your setup.

The first game on display in the video is Astro's Playroom, which comes pre-installed on every PS5. The 3D platformer is designed to showcase the controller's unique features, and its structure looks very similar to Super Mario 64. The version we'll get won't be a simple demo: It's actually a full game that will take several hours to complete.

Minecraft has announced a new update during Minecraft Live 2020. It's called the Caves & Cliff update, and when it arrives in Summer 2021 it will greatly diversify the game's cave systems. After this update, caves will be more varied, with new, unique blocks and mobs to gather and fight, too.

After this update, caves will feature more varied interiors, with lush caves, dripstone caves, and crystal geode caves mentioned. The game will feature improved cave generation, so that interiors will have more variety--you will encounter more narrow tunnels, cave lakes, and different environments than before. A new archelogy system is being implemented, so you can dig within caves for ruins and artifacts. Using a brush will let you extract fragile objects, while pretending that you're at the dig from the opening scene of Jurassic Park.

Players will also be able to encounter sculk sensor and stalactite/stalagmite blocks in the underground areas now. The sensors react to movement and emit a redstone signal, meaning that redstone can now be wireless. This should open up new possibilities for contraption builds.

Borderlands is an explosive and brash FPS-RPG franchise that hangs its hat on crude humor and the largest arsenal of weapons in gaming. Despite its reputation for being a bit one-note and too loud for its own good, it's earned a massive following that continues to engage in the satisfying loot-grind to earn some rare guns and increase the strength of the core cast of vault hunters. Following Borderlands 3's one year anniversary, we spent an hour chatting with Gearbox Software founder and executive producer Randy Pitchford about the early history of the franchise, the ethics of running an evolving game, and what's to come with Borderlands 3 with the next-gen consoles on the horizon.

Editor's Note: This interview had been edited for clarity and readability.

Firstly, given that 2020 is a chaotic year with COVID-19, how have things been at Gearbox Software?

If there's a piece of video game hardware that ever really impressed me, outside of the return and rapid advancement of virtual reality, it has to be Kinect. Microsoft's natural movement input camera turned your body into a controller for the Xbox 360, and it worked surprisingly well in translating a person's movements to a character on a TV screen. Playing games like bowling with Kinect, picking up an imaginary ball and flinging it down an imaginary lane only to see all that kinetic energy made "real" in a video game, felt like a form of magic.

As Kinect started to get hacked to serve as the eyes for robots or to help improve the accuracy of surgeons, I thought for sure we'd see the device become an important part of not just the gaming landscape but of innovations in technology in general. When Microsoft announced the Xbox One in 2013, Kinect was an essential part of the design. Microsoft was envisioning a future where you were constantly talking to and waving your hands at your TV to control shows, make Skype calls, and play video games--and while I had a whole lot of problems with the console at the time, it still seemed like the sort of Blade Runner/Back to the Future/Minority Report technology that marked many visions of the future.

Nintendo has revealed when Minecraft's Steve will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The legendary blocky explorer arrives in the game on October 13.

Steve's taunt includes eating a steak, and his standard jump is too short to get up to most platforms. However, he can also build blocks to get to these, and his midair jump is high enough to reach them, as well.

Steve's regular attacks include a swinging sword move, as you might expect. Holding the button down will let you walk forward and backward while swinging, which is useful for defending yourself in tricky situations, but it has pretty short reach. His side smash is a sweep attack that only exists in Minecraft's Java Edition, while his axe is used as an anti-air attack and to juggle enemies. The pickaxe is used for mining from the ground and for a dash attack that quickly closes gaps. It looks like Steve will excel and controlling space, regardless of the map. If you do manage to get in close, however, he could be in trouble.

Minecraft Dungeons has shown off some upcoming additions during Minecraft Live 2020, including a new paid DLC and 20 new free difficulty levels. The Minecraft spin-off's next DLC is called Howling Peaks, and it'll introduce new snowy biomes and a major new boss to fight.

Howling Peaks will include the new Tempest Golem boss, which can blast adventures with harsh winds. Along with this boss, there will be new missions, items, and mobs introduced alongside these new environments. This is the third DLC for the game, following Jungle Awakens and Creeping Winter.

A new difficulty system is being introduced, too, with 20 new difficulty modes being added through the new Apocalypse Plus system. This will add 20 new difficulties beyond Apocalypse VII, which will allow for more powerful characters and significantly increased challenge. Alongside this, new enchantments and unique items will also be added.

Hyper Scape is Ubisoft's new free-to-play entry into the battle royale genre, but--as the developer admits in a blog post--the game has fallen short of expectations. The game was released in open beta in July and officially released on August 11. In the months following, Hyper Scape hasn't been able to make a big splash or compete with popular contemporary battle royale staples like Fortnite and PUBG.

However, the company is planning to make major changes to the game in order to attract new players and retain existing ones. For making the environment more hospitable to new players, Ubisoft is planning to lower the skill ceiling, provide more training activities, and diversify game modes.

Ubisoft states that the game's learning curve is too difficult for newcomers and it is currently "too hard to aim, track and consistently damage players, and eliminate them, especially on console." Regarding game modes, the company also acknowledges that the core game mode, Crown Rush, is "unforgiving." New aspects such as respawn systems and "deathmatch" style game modes will be added soon. Ubisoft wants to provide players with more match styles and modes that are different from what's currently offered, and the developer will rethink how to organize Hyper Scape's limited time modes and how to best balance a split player base across multiple modes.

UK retailer ShopTo is writing to customers with Xbox Series X/S pre-orders to warn that they may not receive their consoles on launch day, 10th November 2020.

"We have received the allocation details from Microsoft and, unfortunately, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to fulfil your pre-order on day one/release date," ShopTo told our sister site, VGC, on Friday.

The news comes just days after ShopTo also had to write to customers to confirm that PS5 pre-orders may also be delayed. In a similar email circulated earlier in the week, the retailer told its customers: "We have received the allocation details from Sony and, unfortunately, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to fulfil your pre-order on day one/release date.

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Welcome to the club, KT racing; just don’t stick around too long

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‘I remember everyone in the room still was cringing. That was the only thing in Dead Space that would do that.’

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Capcom has revealed new artwork for its upcoming Monster Hunter game Monster Hunter Rise.

We get to see the starter armor of the Kamura Village Hunters for both male and female characters, the Wirebug which is used for traversal, and the ruins of a shrine.

You can check out the tweets that shared the artwork below.

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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Screenshot Saturday Sundays isn’t dead! Having retreated to the Scottish Highlands to take real-life screenshots of bugs, frogs and all sorts of nonsense, we return to the big city this weekend for another round-up of virtual pics, gifs, and videos. This week: Lurkers in the forest, urban flight, next-door neighbours and a wibbly wobbly swordfight.

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An anonymous staff survey undertaken by 14,000 Ubisoft employees has revealed that 20 per cent of staff don't feel "respected or safe in the work environment" at the company, with 25 per cent of respondents - that's one in four - reporting they had either experienced or witnessed workplace misconduct.

According to The Verge, the survey - the results of which were shared alongside a letter from CEO Yves Guillemot - identified that women and non-binary employees, in particular, were more likely to have seen or experienced harassment.

Currently, women make up 22 per cent of all staff at the company. In correspondence to all staff, Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft was looking to improve the gender balance of the organisation by increasing the number of women employed at Ubisoft by 2 per cent by 2023 and committed to hiring a new head of diversity and inclusion and new vice presidents.

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The Department of Justice has announced that three prominent members of long-time hack-maker Team Xecuter have been arrested, as Nintendo continues its fight against the selling and re-selling of "jailbreak" devices for its range of hardware.

Canadian Gary Bowser, Chinese national Yuanning Chen, and French National Max Louarn were apprehended by the F.B.I. in September. The trio face a total of 11 felony charges for the creation and distribution of Switch hacking devices such as the SX Core and SX Lite. Louran will be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, while Bowser - who was deported from the Dominican Republic - appeared in a New Jersey federal court on Friday.

This news follows a successful lawsuit which saw hack seller Uberchips ordered to pay $2 million in damages to Nintendo for stocking Team Xecuter's devices. Nintendo are currently investigating at least eight other retailers for similar offences, but due to the underground nature of the piracy market, the publisher is still to ascertain the identities of the store holders.

You can read the Department of Justice's full report on the recent arrests right here.

Two members of piracy group Team Xecuter have been arrested [MyNintendoNews]

In 2018, Alicia Vikander took a turn as Lara Croft, the explorin’, double-gun shootin’ video game protagonist turned movie heroine. After that, a sequel was announced, but with the pandemic messing up plans for everything, it’s not been clear if or when it would proceed.

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Yesterday, we got a long and detailed video from Nintendo going over Steve, the new character coming Smash Bros. Ultimate later this month. But who cares about that!? Instead, the internet quickly became obsessed with what happens to Kirby when he eats Minecraft’s very blocky Steve.

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