November 2020

Arcade1Up, the makers of retro arcade cabinets and other accessories, has introduced their first sit-down arcade driving cabinet. Check out the trailer below.

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The cabinet includes 1986’s Outrun, 1989’s Turbo Outrun, 1992’s Outrunners, and 1988’s Power Drift. Most notably, rather than having to stand to play it like a normal arcade cabinet, the package includes a custom matching bench seat, just like the arcades of days gone by. Check out the gallery below.

Arcade 1Up's Outrun cabinet also includes a steering wheel, brake, and pedal peripherals, a 17-inch LCD screen, a variable volume switch, dual speakers, and a light-up marquee. Like most of Arcade1Up’s offerings, the cabinet is a little smaller than the more bulky machines you’d find in classic arcade, but definitely not by much this time around. The Outrun cabinet measures 45.8 inches in height, while the bench seat measures: 38.5” x 19.8” x 18.5”. The box itself measures 6.75” x 47.75” x 23.75”.

Weighing in at a spritely 113lbs, this mini Outrun is a blessing to backs everywhere, considering the original cabinet could reach 350lbs, according to VintageArcade.

Remedy has been playing the long game. Ever since the release of Alan Wake in 2010, the studio has been teasing the tortured writer’s return through sneaky easter eggs, retrospective references, and alternate reality games. But with Control: AWE and the official launch of the Remedy Connected Universe, the studio’s methods have pivoted into something far more surreal.

Remedy regained the publishing rights for the Alan Wake franchise back in 2019. Then, in March 2020, the studio signed a deal with Epic Games to publish two next-gen titles. The first is a AAA multi-platform game already in pre-production – which plenty of fans are hoping is a sequel to 2010’s cult hit Alan Wake – and the second is a smaller-scale project within the same franchise. Remedy is also working on a live-service multiplayer title called Vanguard.

Narratively, the team’s most recent release – the AWE expansion for Control – has raised far more questions than it answered, and we’re going to do our best to piece together Remedy’s fractured web of interconnected worlds, stories, and games.

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SPOILER WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR CONTROL, ALAN WAKE, QUANTUM BREAK, AND THE AWE EXPANSION

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[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/01/how-control-and-alan-wake-are-linked"]

Building off their previous work on “The Park” and “The Neighborhood” modes, NBA 2K developer Visual Concepts has announced new NBA 2K21 social multiplayer hub dubbed “The City” for next-gen consoles. Check out the trailer below.

Visual Concepts says the City will be “many, many times larger” than previous Neighborhoods. The City is comprised of four different districts, each run by a rival Affiliation. Visual Concepts adds that “hundreds” of players will populate each City.

“The City is our most ambitious execution of a virtual basketball community...ever,” Visual Concepts executive producer Erick Boenisch said in a lengthy blog post.

Players all start out in Rookieville, a dock community where they must prove themselves against other MyPLAYERS before actually gaining access to the City. The four Affiliation-controlled Burroughs each have their own aesthetic and unique basketball courts that promise new MyPLAYER progression.

The City also houses an Event Center area, a giant shining monolith where all new and returning events will be hosted, as well as competitions between Affiliations. LED screens and lighting will change the mood of the Event Center depending on the occasion.

A half-dozen. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six. That's now many games Life is Strange developer Dontnod Entertainment has in production right now.

That ambitious tidbit came from a GamesBeat interview with Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert. "Our studio is growing, with six games in production now," Guilbert said. Twin Mirror launches on December 1, and that almost certainly counts as "in production." Apart from that, all of Dontnod's projects are unannounced.

It helps that Dontnod has significantly ramped up its staffing. The developer opened a new studio in Montreal where some key Life is Strange creators will focus on a new narrative-oriented property. Between Paris and Montreal, Dontnod will have approximately 300 employees.

Dontnod's trajectory is similar to that of Telltale's, episodic games and a whole lot of 'em. Guilbert tells GamesBeat that it's important to learn from Telltale's mistakes and avoid the same outcome. "We don't want to stick to the same thing ever time," Guilbert states. "We innovate. We are reinventing ourselves in terms of quality, mechanics, and technology. Finding new ways of telling stories is really important." With five unannounced games lined up, that's a lot of opportunity to find those new ways.

Dontnod expands with back-to-back games and a new studio in Montreal [GamesBeat]

Sea of Thieves might not be your first order of business on Xbox Series X/S, but the next time you're in the mood for swashbuckling, you'll benefit from some noticeable visual and performance gains.

As confirmed by Rare today, Sea of Thieves will reach 4K/60FPS on Xbox Series X and 1080p/60FPS on Xbox Series S. As expected? I'd say so. I think we're bound to see similar results elsewhere.

That said, the real win – the thing I'm most excited about for backward-compatible games, in general – is spending less time waiting to actually start playing. Both consoles will "lead to significantly reduced load times" for Sea of Thieves, according to Rare. The current slowness is a widely-held gripe.

Backing that claim up with some real-world testing, in its pre-release coverage, The Verge clocked the game's load time as 20 seconds on Xbox Series X and 1 minute and 21 seconds on Xbox One X.

"This optimized version of Sea of Thieves will be available to all players with Xbox Game Pass alongside the launch of both consoles [on November 10], and via Smart Delivery for existing owners," said Rare.

When this game first released, I wasn't sure it would still be kicking in 2020. What a turnaround.

Sea of Thieves on the Next Generation of Consoles [Rare]

Anyone who buys an Xbox Series S will probably find themselves scrambling for extra storage before too long. Or, they'll have to resign themselves to a life of installing and uninstalling a bunch of games.

Now that next-gen consoles are making their way into the wild, we're getting some consumer reports on exactly what we can expect out of the box. Reddit user spead20 was lucky enough to find that their Xbox Series S showed up a week early. Can't complain about that!

Someone asked them how much usable storage the Xbox Series S has out of the box. Spead20 confirmed that 364GB of the console's 512GB SSD is actually usable after system updates are applied. That's 71 percent of an SSD that's already fairly small.

The options are to pony up for the 1TB proprietary SSD, make use of an external USB HDD that doesn't offer game optimizations, or to simply juggle installs. A silver lining is that Microsoft previously confirmed that install sizes will be about 30 percent smaller on Xbox Series S because it won't require 4K texture packs.

But, to frame this against the file size of one of this year's surefire most popular games, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a 136GB install. When we're working with these kind of numbers, you can see how it'll turn into a problem pretty quickly.

Received it 1 week early!! From the source (Canada) feeling really lucky! Hope all of you receive it soon! [reddit]

The easiest way to turn cute and compact into absolutely terrifying is to combine mannequins and an abandoned hospital. Twinfinite had the eerie pleasure of experiencing this while checking out an early demo of Little Nightmares II this week.

Just after the first game, Little Nightmares II sees the original protagonist, Six, escape from the Maw and meet up with a boy named Mono. Together, they must navigate a decaying city, filled to the brim with deformed, tv-addicted citizens, creepy mannequins, and so many more terrifying antagonists.

The demo starts by tasking the two characters to find batteries to activate an elevator that’ll help them progress the Pale City. While they’re both together, Mono is actually the only controllable character, at least in this section.

Stardew Valley

No matter your opinions on the United States election today, it’s a stressful day for millions of people no doubt. Gaming is one of the most popular ways to unwind, and today could be a very long day for those of us at home, so here are four relaxing games to pick up and play all day while you wait for the results.

Today Ubisoft released a new trailer of its upcoming open-world game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

This time around, while the trailer shows gameplay and the beautiful environments we can expect to experience, it mostly focuses on providing a gist of Norse mythology.

You can watch it below.

If you’re unfamiliar with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, below you can read an official description of the game:

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla throws players axe-first into ninth-century England, an age of warring kingdoms and Viking conquest. As Eivor, a fierce Viking raider, you’ll lead your clan to build a new home amid England’s fractured dominions. Launching Holiday 2020 on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will let you raid, conquer, and fight for glory in a mysterious, brutal new land.

Apex Legends Season 7 goes live today. EA has already released tons of trailers to showcase the new map, Legend, patch notes, and more. It’s time to put all of that new info in one place. Here’s everything you need to know about Apex Legends Season 7, Ascension.

Minecraft

has another big update planned for next summer, but you don’t need to wait nearly that long to try out the Caves & Cliffs update. As Mojang do with Minecraft, a “snapshot” build has been released today containing some of the features and new blocks planned for next year. You can load up the Java Edition of the game and swap over if you’d like to try your hand at building with copper or take a peep through a spyglass. (more…)

Door Kickers 2, the sequel to developer KillHouse Games' acclaimed SWAT-themed real-time tactics effort, has surprise-launched into Steam early access.

Door Kickers 2, subtitled Task Force North, was initially announced back in 2016 for a release that same year. However, the game soon slipped out of the spotlight, only re-emerging this February where a number of changes were revealed to be afoot for the sequel, including a shift from 2D to 3D and a switch in focus, with players now controlling a military squad in the Middle East, rather than the SWAT team of the original.

"True to the violent and dynamic nature of combat in the region," says Killhouse on Steam, "Door Kickers 2 models deadly threats and technologies such as booby traps, suicide bombers, RPGs and concealed insurgents - while handing you new toys such as Light Machine Guns for suppressive fire, drone reconnaissance, night vision goggles and wall breaching charges."

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If Blinkclick Games wanted to make the most relaxing management game possible, they’ve certainly picked the right subject matter with their upcoming Fishkeeper.

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Here’s something I like very much: interviews with console executives about upcoming next-gen machines that get very into hard numbers, internal procedures and an explanation of just how much work went into making sure the Xbox Series X/s backwards compatibility was up to scratch.

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Top Product: Lekko Dark Chocolate Spread | $5 | Amazon

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Since mounting anxiety has robbed me of higher cognitive thought, let’s talk about dinosaurs—specifically, why the hell are there dinosaurs in the first three Tomb Raider games? To be clear, I don’t mind that they’re there—they’re challenging to fight and make for some thrilling jump-scares. I’m also aware of how odd…

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Purple being toxic? Red using hacks? Among Us developer InnerSloth says players will have new tools for punishing these impure souls come December when the game gets a new account system.

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Large-scale closed playtesting seems like something that can be kind of a pain in the ass to arrange. Developers are generally left to select hundreds or thousands of players, and distribute unique keys to each of them individually.

Steam is streamlining that whole process. Today, Valve introduced Steam Playtest which is a revamping of how beta testing works on Steam.

Here's how it works: Players request access to a playtest from the game's store page. Then they're placed in a queue that the developer has control over. They can choose how many people are in the test and how many more to grant access to. There also seems to be functionality for manually adding individual users.

It's quite simple, but this isn't something that needs to be overly complicated. Playtest seems like it'll cut down on the hassle of getting people into a beta, especially when you consider that studios no longer have to manage key distribution. That implementation alone should leave a lot of developers eager to give Playtest a shot.

Steam Playtest: Invite Players To Test Your Game [Steam]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War studio Treyarch announced how much space the upcoming first-person shooter will take across all consoles’ hard drives and updated the memory requirements for the PC version.

The developer said in the blog post that the console versions will initially require a set amount of space to downloads the entire game, but players can then uninstall separate parts of the game after. The storage requirement per console as follows:

• PlayStation 4: 95 GB
• PlayStation 5: 133 GB
• Xbox One: 93 GB
• Xbox Series X/S: 136 GB

For the PC version, Treyarch had announced last week that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War would require 50-250 GB at launch depending on modes and installing an extra graphics pack for “Ultra RTX” settings, according to the original chart below.

A new thrill has been added to Microsoft Flight Simulator thanks to a newly-released add-on by Airworthy Designs.

The third-party developer just released its Saint Martin & Gran Case add-on for Microsoft’s new sim adding the popular tourist destination on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

This includes both the famous Saint Juliana International Airport and Grand Case-Espérance Airport, respectively on the Dutch and French sides of the island.

Saint Juliana is especially famous for having a beach just beyond the fence on the approach to Runway 10, thrilling tourists with extremely low passes just over their heads, often encouraging rather reckless behaviors.

The scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator comes equipped with plenty of beachgoers for you to scare by landing just beyond the fence just as low as you possibly can.

The package costs €19.51 including VAT, so the price may vary slightly depending on where you’re located.

Below you can see a few screenshots and a summary of what you get.

This summer, folks spotted a new playtesting button on the Steam store page for Total War: Elysium, that hadn’t been mentioned by Valve. Well, now they’ve officially released details about the new playtesting feature that developers can use as a new way to run limited-time testing periods without juggling special Steam keys. The feature is still in beta, they say, so it may yet change before they officially release it. Total War: Elysium is indeed running that playtest though, if it suits your fancy.

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Sony announced collab Sackboy costumes for Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, and Days Gone. Check out images of the little guys here.

The post Sackboy: A Big Adventure Costumes Inspired by Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding appeared first on Siliconera.

Fatima Mandouh is an environment artist based in the US.

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Teardown’s central contradiction should be infuriating. True to its name, you can tear down basically any structure in a level, up to and including the ground beneath your feet. But you shouldn’t! I repeat: You, functionally all-powerful to an extent few video games have ever allowed, should not destroy everything the…

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Chibi Plushies

Oh man, these two chibi-sized versions of Banbaro and Rathian are way too cute to hunt. You can find the adorable plushies over on Crunchyroll’s shop for $22.99 (Rathian) and $27.99 (Banbaro).

Kinetic Games, the one-person studio behind smash-hit co-op ghost hunting game Phasmophobia is 'reconsidering' its development plans - which had initially only called for a short early access period - as a result of the game's huge success.

Phasmophobia's developer, who goes by the name of Dknighter, released the horror game onto Steam back in September, but despite humble expectations for the project, it quickly proved a hit. "I was planning for the server capacity hitting a maximum of 500 players on launch day and it to drop off from there," Dknighter told IGN, "Now the game has over 2 million sales, with a player peak of around 90k"

Phasmophobia's meteoric rise has ultimately forced a bit of a rethink in terms of how development will proceed. "I was originally planning the early access to be short, where I just add a few more maps, ghost types and equipment," Dknighter explained, "However, due to the game's popularity, everyone's expectations are increased so I am going to have to reconsider my plans for the game's future."

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Today Capcom released a new trailer of Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition to celebrate its upcoming release.

The trailer features a new song by Japanese musician HYDE, titled “Defeat.”

Of course, the trailer isn’t just rocking the song, but also plenty of gameplay including the new playable character, Vergil.

You can enjoy it below.

If you’d like to see more about Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition, you can check out the original announcement, some gameplay showcasing the new features, and even more on PS5.

Here’s how Capcom describes the games and the improvements it brings.

Today Compile Heart updated the official site of its upcoming JRPG Go! Go! 5D Game Neptunia ReVerse.

We get to see new screenshots showcasing the revised menus from Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 and a comparison of the visuals against Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+ for PS4.

On top of that, two more images showcases the quality of the event CGs we can expect from the game.

Today Konami announced its financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2021, related to the period between July 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.

As you can see in the tables below, Konami’s Digital Entertainment business (which includes games) performed very strongly with +31.8% higher revenue and +65.8% higher profit year-on-year.

The rest of Konami’s businesses underperformed due to the closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic .

Japanese gamers love lining up at stores on day one to buy an anticipated new console or game, but the PS5’s launch will be different.

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan announced via its own PlayStation Blog that the pre-order allocation for the PS5 is completely sold out.

Since there are still concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no plans to hold any launch event or to sell the console at stores on release dat in order to ensure the safety of customers, retailers, and staff.

Those who managed to pre-order a console are advised to check the delivery method and contact their retailer for details.

While pre-orders for the launch days are closed, Sony plans to shop more units in the future and encourages those who want to purchase the PS5 to contact their local store for further details on future availability.

In case you missed it, the PS5’s standard edition will cost $499.99, €499.99, £449.99, or 49,980 yen while the Digital Edition is priced at $399.99, €399.99, £359.99, or 39,980 yen.

The first release date for the console will be on Nov. 12 in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Everyone else will have to wait a little more: the console will launch in Europe and in the rest of the world on Nov. 19.

Incidentally, Sony recently announced that it plans to ship more than 7.6 million units by the end of March 2021, beating the PS4’s debut shipments.

Today  Nintendo announced its quarterly financial results for the first half of the fiscal year, related to the period ended on September 30.

First of all, we learn that the console manufacturer’s results were extremely strong recording a +73.3% increase year-on-year in sales and a +209.3% increase in operating profit year-on-year.

The percentage of sales outside of Japan was 77.5%

You can find all the relevant tables below.

Today  Nintendo announced its quarterly financial results and provided an update to the number of Switch and 3DS units shipped worldwide since the consoles’ release.

The data you’ll see below is updated as of September 30, when the latest fiscal quarter (which began on July 1) ended.

In the infographic below you can see exactly how many Nintendo Switch units have been shipped to retailers, alongside shipped units for game software. We also get the same info for the veteran 3DS portable console.

The Nintendo Switch has now reached 68.3 million units shipped worldwide.

This means that 6.86 million Nintendo Switch units were shipped during the quarter.

We also hear that the estimated sell-through (which means sold to customers) for the console is over 63 million units.

Today Square Enix released a sizable batch of new screenshots of the upcoming JRPG Bravely Default II.

We get to take a look at the main characters Seth, Gloria, Elvis, and Adelle on top of the continent of Excillant, which is the setting of the story.

One of the five kingdoms forming the continent is Halcyonia, governed by King Placido, known as the Brave General. It’s popular among many for the fruits of its mountains and its seas.

New characters introduced today are Sloan of the Blue Forest, known as the best swordsman of the whole continent. He escaped the destruction of Musa to Halcyonia alongside Gloria.

Placido Halcyonia is the king of the country, trusted by his people thanks to his fair way of ruling. He takes Gloria after her flight from Musa.

Doug Rampage is a rough and crude mercenary. He isn’t squeamish about what he has to do to earn money. That being said, he’s in love with his business partner Selene.

Speaking of Selene Noetic, she’s a smart and calm mercenary who has survived on many battlefields while firmly holding Doug’s reins when he tends to go berserk.

The battle system is turn-based based on a combination of jobs and abilities and the concepts of Brave and Default.

While managing Brave Points (BP) that control actions in battle, it’s important to control the flow by choosing when to use Brave or Default.

For each character, you can set a main job and a sub job for each character combining their abilities by using them at the same time. You can create versatile characters with good offense or defense, specialize in magic, or more. The strategy and progression are up to the player.

You can meet characters defined “Asterisk Holders,” which are associated with certain jobs. By defeating them, you can obtain their Asterisk, which comes with the ability to change into that job.

I used to play in an under 10s football squad once upon a time. I was pretty good, but I was easily distracted. I distinctly remember, during one important match against a rival town’s squad, my football coach (whose name was Graham, funnily enough) shouting at me to focus on the game and stop picking up conkers on the side of the pitch.

But I was fixated on a far more glorious sport. The most extreme sport of all, according to certain chestnut seeds. That sport is Conkers.

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While there are still many questions as to why Nintendo would limit the availability of Super Mario 3D All-Stars to just six months, there's no denying it's been an effective sales tactic. After seeing big preorders and demand for the game back in September, we finally got a look at just how successful its launch was. Today, Nintendo revealed the game has sold 5.21 million copies worldwide since its release.

Its success is just one of the highlights from Nintendo's most recent quarterly statement. Paper Mario: The Origami King also proved to be a hit, moving 2.82 million copies since launching in July. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is also still showing its legs, selling nearly four million units in just the last quarter. According to Nintendo, 20 different games have sold more than a million copies on Switch in just this fiscal year.

Consolidated Financial Highlights [Nintendo]

Login this November to receive plenty of useful items to help takedown those Elder Dragons.

The post Go Claim a Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Hunting Party Pack appeared first on Siliconera.

There were some concerns that the iconic SEGA arcade game centers would have their names changed after the GENDA acquisition.

The post SEGA Arcade Centers Will Still Be Named SEGA After GENDA Handover appeared first on Siliconera.

When the PlayStation 5 launches this month, Sony won’t be selling the console in stores. Instead, launch day sales will only be online.

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Sega is selling its arcade business to Genda, a Tokyo-based company involved in arcade game rentals and online crane games.

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Commander, it’s once again time to save the Earth – but this time you can do it from the comfort of your toilet seat. XCOM 2 today launched on iPhones, iPads, I don’t know anymore. The iOS release comes with all the DLC too, enough game to occupy your attention for potentially thousands of bowel movements. And I think technically you’re allowed to play phone games in other places too?

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