January 2021

IGN UK Podcast #577: Kaiju Cat Mario Can Step On Us

• IGN UK Podcast #576: Hitman 3 Has Us Excited for Bond
• IGN UK Podcast #575: WandaVision is Wonderful Television
• IGN UK Podcast #574: The Big 2021 Games Preview
• IGN UK Podcast #573: Forgotten Gems of the Generation
• IGN UK Podcast #572: The Sandwich Special

You can now find Kyary Pamyu Pamyu "Gum Gum Girl" related clothing and music in Ninjala.

The post Kyary Pamyu Pamyu ‘Gum Gum Girl’ Items Come to Ninjala appeared first on Siliconera.

The global version of Another Eden's new character, Melissa, was made by Kimihiko Fujisaka, who worked on Drakengard and The Last Story.

The post Drakengard and The Last Story Artist Made Another Eden’s New Character appeared first on Siliconera.

Wondering whose social media and websites to watch for a new game using the Astral Chain IP? It turns out Nintendo owns it.

The post The Astral Chain IP Is Owned by Nintendo appeared first on Siliconera.

Bandai Namco's long-running mobile game is shutting down at the end of March 2021.

The post Super Robot Wars X-Omega Shutting Down in March 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

What a week for video game news! Join Eurogamer news editor Tom Phillips, reporter Emma Kent and me as we discuss Microsoft's dramatic U-turn on its controversial Xbox Live Gold subscription price-hike, PlayStation 5 scalpers... again, Cyberpunk 2077 Keanu Reeves sex mods, confirmation of Dragon Age 4's location, and rumblings of a new Knights of the Old Republic game.

There's more! This week we saw disgruntled Control fans call on Sony to issue refunds for the game's Ultimate Edition, which launches on PlayStation 5 the same day it's made free on PlayStation Plus. The question is, will Sony listen?

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UPDATE 10pm UK: Riot Games has now issued the following response to the press release from the plantiffs' council Genie Harrison, shared with Eurogamer:

"On Monday our Motion to Compel was granted and our arbitration agreements were once again upheld by the court. There were claims outside the scope of this motion which Riot never attempted to compel to arbitration, such as government and government-adjacent PAGA claims, which remain in court.

"This ruling will allow us to reach a fair and speedy resolution to these individual cases, some of which have already been pending for more than two years. We have always been, and will continue to be, willing to engage in constructive dialogue to bring these matters to resolution as quickly as possible -- so long as the resolution is grounded in the facts of these cases.

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Ori developer Moon Studios has raised over $58,000 for the Rainforest Trust with the help of publishing partners iam8bit and Skybound Games.  ...

2017 dungeon crawler Unexplored pioneered a new approach to procedural dungeon generation by designing cycles of gameplay that are translated into level designs. ...

The Australian games industry generated an estimated $184.6 million in revenue during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, delivering growth of 29 percent. ...

A certain wintry chill descends when people argue about dumb stuff on the internet. A phantasmic voice seems to glide through my apartment, whispering: “Go! See what everyone’s fussing about!” And so I am sucked into inane Twitter discourse time and time again. Most of the time, it’s terrible—but occasionally,…

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Mojang Studios released a free sustainability city map on Thursday that teaches players how to create a sustainable environment in the real world by exploring a virtual one. The focus is on educating students on how things like recycling plants and clean energy work, while being fun and interactive.

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This weekend is for calling up your broker on their day off and asking them to explain all this Gamestop nonsense. It’s also about going to the big city and practicing your alchemy skills in really short shorts.

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Today Granzella released a brand new trailer of the upcoming shoot ’em up R-Type Final 2.

The trailer, which came alongside a batch of screenshots, showcases more of the much-anticipated return of the classic franchise alongside the Japanese release date.

The Japanese launch will be on April 29 for PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

The western release date, which will also add the PC version, will be announced at a later date.

You can check out the video and screenshots below.

Update: the western release date has also been announced. It’ll come including the PC version on April 30, just one day after the Japanese release.

The “Inaugural Flight Edition” will be available at Amazon and Gamestop and includes the following:

• R-Type Final 2 for Nintendo Switch/PS4/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S
• R-Type Final 2 Official Soundtrack
• The Artwork of R-Type Final 2 Softcover Art Book
• Collector’s Box

The Limited Edition is exclusive to the NIS America Store and will come with the following:

• R-Type Final 2 for Nintendo Switch/PS4/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S
• R-Type Final 2 Complete Soundtrack
• The Artwork of R-Type Final 2 Softcover Art Book
• Metal Earth R-9A Model
• “33rd Anniversary Pilot Tag” Dog Tag
• Collector’s Box

You can see both editions in the gallery.

Respawn and EA are releasing trailer after trailer leading up to the Feb. 2 launch of Season 8, Mayhem. This video shows off the explosive abilities of the new Legend, Fuse, before he joins the Apex Games.

Fuse is a grenade specialist that brings that’ll bring a fiery punch to the battlefield. True to that description, he’s able to carry an extra grenade in his grenade slot as a Passive Ability. This Passive also lets him launch grenades farther than other Legends.

Fuse’s Tactical Ability allows him to send out a cluster of concussion explosives in a small area that can catch other Apex Legends off guard.

His Ultimate Ability, called The Motherlode, rains down more explosives from the sky, encircling enemies in a ring of fire. This could work well with other aerial Ultimates from Bangalore or Gibraltar.

Even Octane’s jump pad or Horizon’s anti-gravity device could allow for more aerial attacks as opponents are forced to fight, or run through the flames.

Check out the video below to see all of Fuse’s abilities that’ll be coming in Apex Legends Season 8:

2020 was a great year for gaming with smash hits like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Genshin Impact, Doom Eternal, and of course all the games that made it onto our GOTY lists. Unfortunately, it was also a banner year for delays. As many studios had to adjust to work-from-home situations, development times slowed down immensely. Here are seven games we believe will ultimately end up delayed in 2021.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Resurrection

One of the most infamously difficult platformers of all time is back with a brand new coat of paint. Arthur is back in Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Resurrection to slay demons and save Princess Prin-Prin. Despite its classic roots, this game hasn’t gotten much attention and may end up being a sleeper hit in 2021.

It appears that much of Resurrection is still fairly similar to past titles in the sense that you play as an armor-clad Arthur equipped with lances.

Today third-party add-on developer DC Designs detailed the upcoming update to the F-15 Eagle package released earlier this month for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and it’s a big one.

The update is coming on Tuesday, February 2, and it’ll include both fixes and upgrades, addressing many points included in my review.

Further upgrades will come down the line in two additional phases, including a full sound package by Sim Acoustics.

Here’s the list:

Bug Fixes Phase 1

• Gauge performance issue in virtual cockpit that was cutting frame rates in half – fixed
• Canopy reflections in virtual cockpit too high – reflective surface reduced
• Missing cameras in cockpit – new camera views added
• I and D models hidden in liveries – models now all have separate folders
• Polygon shadowing on ailerons – fixed
• Engine start issue on runway, gate, apron etc. – fixed
• Texture fall back issue – fixed
• Canopy able to open in flight – fixed
• Gear handle lever mouse-rect INOP – fixed
• Aircraft restricted to Mach 1 – fixed; now Mach 2+ capable
• Lights ‘move’ from positions – fixed
• LOD models appear at wrong times or too early – fixed
• Polygon shading on control column – fixed
• Landing gear lever INOP – fixed

Texture Upgrade Phase 1

Whisper of the Worm and Zero Hour were too good for this world

Continue reading…

Expect more Escalation Contracts rather than entirely new levels

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The goal of Dyson Sphere Program is efficiency, not battle

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Fuse’s abilities include bombs, bombs, and more bombs

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Look, can every shmup just eventually get a re-release on everything? Preferably on a platform that won't eventually go defunct?

You know, I'm something of a scientist shmup collector myself, having gathered as many of these gems as possible on Steam: where I can enjoy some of them with a vertical TATE display setup. There's a few franchises that I can just blindly jump into and lose track of time in: like say, Raiden for example (how convenient!).

Developer MOSS is at it again, and this time, they're nearly ready to unleash their long-gestating Switch port of Raiden IV on Japan. This new version is titled "Raiden IV x Mikado Remix," and it'll feature new musical arrangements, one of which you can hear in the brand new trailer below. They're even getting artists like Daisuke Matsumoto of Cave fame involved!

Raiden IV will arrive on the Japanese Switch eShop on April 22. There's no word on a localization date, but it's fairly easy to create a cross-region account and grab it if you want. Or, you can opt for Raiden IV: Overkill on Steam, which is a good adaptation that came out in 2015 on PC.

Valve's 2009 multiplayer shooter Left 4 Dead 2 has been re-certificated in Germany. Now, some 11 years after its initial release, players can finally play the zombie-smasher in all of its original gory glory.

While Left 4 Dead 2 has been readily available in Germany since release, the violent shooter was censored to the point of satire. This particular edition of Left 4 Dead 2 removed all blood, all dismemberment, and even lingering bodies fromthe  playfield. Players were even blocked from setting the hellish horde ablaze. The infamous cover art was also deemed too strong, and so the iconic mutilated hand was amusingly "cleaned up."

The same butchered, (no pun intended), edition of Left for Dead 2 was also released in Australia, with the cut content eventually restored back in 2014. But today, in a new statement posted on Steam, Valve announced that German players can now officially enjoy the title as intended via free "Uncut" DLC.

So let the mayhem commence and the claret flow, blood's back on the menu.

Left 4 Dead 2 finally gets an uncut update in Germany [PC Gamer]

A lot of changes to rewards are coming with the next season of Destiny 2, as Bungie recently outlined in its blog. Those changes will hit the game with its next content season, set to launch on February 9. In the meantime, you can still visit Xur ahead of the season's end to prepare for what's coming next in Destiny 2 by picking up some fresh new Exotics for your collection. Head to Nessus, to the Watcher's Grave area, to find Xur this week. For his weapon, Xur is offering Graviton Lance. Hunters can pick up the Shinobi's Vow gauntlets; for Titans, there's the Armamentarium chest armor; and for Warlocks, Xur has Getaway Artist gauntlets.

Xur Location

Use the Watcher's Grave transmat zone on Nessus. Once you spawn in, hop on a sparrow and head north toward the big tree just ahead of you, growing up against the east side of the area. Climb up into the tree and you'll find Xur standing on one of its branches, looking out over the area.

Even by the series' zany standards, Super Mario 3D World is one of Mario's most outlandish adventures, brimming with novel concepts and inventive mechanics. The Super Bell (and its attendant cat suit) is probably the game's signature innovation, continuing the long-standing tradition of dressing Mario and company up in adorable animal costumes. But perhaps its most unusual power-up is the Double Cherry--and it almost wasn't included in the game.

Unlike other power-ups in the series, the Double Cherry doesn't grant Mario a new ability or special power; rather, it duplicates him. Nabbing one of these innocuous fruits conjures up a second Mario that moves perfectly in sync with the original. Grab an additional cherry, and you'll add yet another Mario to your ensemble until you're commanding a small army of plumbers, all of them scrambling about with hivemind synchronicity.

This power-up marked the first time that players could control multiple Marios simultaneously, but it's a concept that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto had actually been tossing around for quite some time. Until now, however, control hurdles ultimately prevented the Mario team from ever exploring the idea in a proper game. "Before we made [the Double Cherry], we had always had the idea of one player moving multiple Marios, but we never tried it out because we thought it would be too taxing, control-wise, to move multiple characters all at once with one stick," he told late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in a 2013 Iwata Asks interview.

343 Industries has begun to share more details on Halo Infinite's sandbox elements, and the company's in-depth blog post includes some details on how equipment works.

Two of the main pieces of new equipment that we've seen so far are the Grappleshot and the Drop Wall shield, which were shown off in the campaign mode. These pieces of equipment and others will also be available in multiplayer.

Sandbox designer Quinn DelHoyo said in the blog post that the overarching goal for equipment in Halo--across campaign and multiplayer--is to be a "force multiplier."

Halo Infinite is set to launch across Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One, and PC this coming Fall, with 343 Industries saying that the latter will be a "first-class" experience.

Unlike every other Halo game before it, Halo Infinite is being developed for PC in tandem with its console versions, allowing 343 Industries to apply lessons already learnt about the platform immediately. David Price, lead weapons designer at 343 Industries, explained that the Master Chief Collection's rollout on PC has helped the studio with Infinite's development.

"A major goal for Halo Infinite on PC is to hit that top tier PC experience that is as good or better than other shooters," explained Price "Having MCC on PC is also a great help. It allows us to get player feedback on a live PC Halo game."

It's only been about three years since I had my first encounter with the Yakuza franchise, but it seems a lot longer. Many folks, including myself, picked up the series with Yakuza 0 since it was the perfect entry point to an ongoing story, one that had trouble showing off its strengths to a new audience. Since then, Sega and developer RGG Studio have made great strides in building a new life for Yakuza with the Kiwami remakes and remastering of everything else, to bring the whole series to platforms it was never on before.

With the release of the Yakuza Remastered Collection (which includes Yakuza 3, 4, and 5) for PC and Xbox consoles, the effort is nearly complete. It is a bit odd to think of Yakuza finding its footing on PC and Xbox--part of me still thinks of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as one of the faces for PlayStation. But I share the joy that owners of these platforms, eager to continue down Kiryu's path, have that opportunity.

Technically Speaking

The good news, too, is that these Yakuza remasters run incredibly well on both PC and Xbox. It's not too much of a surprise considering that this collection rolled out on PS4 starting in 2019 with great technical results. While these are three PS3-era games with some dated assets and compressed cutscenes, each one is running much higher resolutions and frame rates, with better lighting and finer graphical detail to bring them closer to the modern entries.

Star Wars is known for its iconic soundtracks, and now you can start listening to the tracks from the two recent Star Wars Battlefront games. The first one is already available, and the next from Battlefront 2 will follow on February 5.

The Star Wars Battlefront album consists of 13 tracks with a total runtime of roughly an hour and a half. It doesn't include themes you'd recognize from the Star Wars movies, like the Imperial March or Duel of the Fates, but the arrangements definitely share some of its orchestral action vibe.

The announcement came from DICE producer Ben Walke, who also noted the drop date for the next soundtrack.

With January winding down, it's almost time for a new batch of free games and loot to go live for Amazon Prime members. February's Prime Gaming lineup, like usual, adds five more free games to the program. The new freebies join an existing lineup of more than 20 games. Throughout February, you can also secure loot for a wide variety of hit games, including FIFA 21, Red Dead Online, Apex Legends, and more.

Starting February 1, there will be five new freebies up for grabs: Table Manners, Stealth Bastard Deluxe, Spinch, Monster Prom: Hotseat edition, and Swimsanity.

With Valentine's Day around the corner, two of the upcoming Prime Gaming free games fit the mood. Table Manners is a quirky physics-based game where you go on a series of dates that you really want to go well. Unfortunately, you're playing as a disembodied hand with terrible motor skills. Monster Prom: Hotseat edition is also a dating sim, but this is a narrative-focused adventure that tasks you with securing a date to the prom. In the lead-up to the big dance, you converse with your fellow monsters to raise your stats and ultimately secure a date.