Dan Ryckert is a guy with a couch and a Twitch channel. Every Sunday, he hosts a podcast about streaming movies and shows with his wife Bianca. He has set two Guinness World Records, got married at a Taco Bell, wrote numerous books, and is currently the #1 Gamer on Cameo. He used to work here.
Fans of the puzzle dating simulator HuniePop have been waiting for its sequel for a long time, but now HuniePop 2: Double Date has a release date, no pun intended.
According to the announcement just made on Twitter, the game will launch for PC and Mac on Steam, GOG, Humble, and more on February 8.
If you’re unfamiliar with the HuniePop franchise, the first game released on Steam back in 2015 as a hybrid between a puzzle game, a visual novel, and a dating sim. Despite its rather alluring nature, it turned many heads for its solid puzzle mechanics and beautiful artwork.
As a result, it still has “overwhelmingly positive” user reviews on Steam.
If you’re unfamiliar with what the sequel offers, you can watch the latest gameplay trailer and read an official features list below.
Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has this week spoken with New Zealand’s national media outlet TVNZ about his new life in the country since temporarily moving there to escape COVID-19.
A combination of New Zealand’s decisive policies in handling the pandemic and its geographically isolated location has made for a safe-haven in which life now continues as normal while the rest of the world struggles on.
It’s allowed Newell to enjoy his work and hobbies to the extent that his co-workers are apparently now desperate to follow suit.
“But there’s strong interest — after talking to these people who’ve literally been locked in their houses except to go out for groceries for the last nine months — and I’m like, ‘Oh look, here I am at a motorsports race, or here I am at Starship, at the hospital talking to doctors or reviewing optic nerve damage from Covid-19 patients because of my interest in neuroscience,’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m still at home — can we come to New Zealand now?'”
Apparently, there has actually been some discussion about the possibility of moving staff over to a new HQ in New Zealand, but it’s far from set in stone. What is being considered more seriously, however, is hosting Valve’s prestigious esports events in the country.
Newell called it “a realistic possibility” that is getting more realistic all the time as there’s just nowhere else in the world where live sports events can take place safely.
As a fan of the Wii U original, I've gone from vaguely expecting to play Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury "when the time is right" to wanting to play it straight away in February – and feeling good about that choice. I wasn't mentally at that point until we saw what Bowser's Fury entailed and learned there would be co-op (albeit only for two players instead of the main campaign's four-player hijinks).
That's quite the turnaround. And funnily enough, it's a similar trajectory as Pikmin 3 Deluxe – another genuinely excellent Wii U gem that I felt was worth picking up again for its extra multiplayer support.
That said, it looks like Nintendo is going the extra mile with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. As shown in a gameplay clip on Twitter today, the upgraded Switch title will have four-player co-op in the Captain Toad puzzle levels. Remember those? The lines are pretty blurred for me at this point.
Did you know Super Mario 3D World was the first time Captain Toad was playable in his own mini-adventures? Experience these courses in four-player co-op in Super Mario 3D World + Bowserâs Fury. pic.twitter.com/94aLB4CxsI
The console editions of Two Point Studios' Two Point Hospital are set to be brought up to speed in the coming months, with the arrival and several paid expansions and content packs, previously made available on the PC edition of the lighthearted medical management sim.
Launching March 5, both the Off the Grid and Close Encounters expansions will be available to purchase on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The former features a green ecology theme, while the latter deals with an alien invasion in sleepy Two Point County. Both expansions feature a glut of new locations, illnesses, equipment and music, and Tannoy audio.
Square Enix has shifted some things around a bit, rolling several breakout streams into one big one.
That date is steadily approaching, as February 5 is nearly here, which will present the "Announcement Showcase" that the publisher is making a big deal about. It'll be broadcast on YouTube, Niconicolive, and Twitch at 5:30PM PT, and will contain "live interpretation from Japanese to English." So it's not going to be one of those "wait for a translator on Twitter to give us the details after the stream" kind of events.
Now there's a lot of things that Square Enix could share here, but the big speculative stuff is definitely a potential PS5 port and expansion reveal. The latter is pretty much certain, barring any major delays due to the events of the past year; while the former was only vaguely hinted at in the past, at best.
It should be a pretty good time, especially given how lore-heavy and full of Easter eggs these things can be. The game's producer Yoshi P strikes a great balance between mechanics and fluff for these things, so it'll likely appeal to both casual and hardcore fans; just as past streams have.
Watch the Announcement Showcase on Friday, February 5! [FFXIV]
Earlier in the week, we reported on how gaming raked in record numbers in revenue across 2020, in part due to the launch of new platforms PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and in part due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which kept many across the globe indoors and under lockdown legislation.
In news that will likely come of no surprise, mobile gaming was one of the most lucrative and active fields of the medium. A collaborative report between the number-crunchers at The NPD Group and Sensor Tower reveals that of the 303.7 million mobile users in the U.S. and Canada, a huge 238.7 million recognize themselves as "mobile gamers".
This is an increase of 12% on the same statistics gathered in 2019, with previous reports seeing only a single-digit year-on-year raise in "mobile gamers". Play time has also increased, with many mobile players estimating an increase of around two hoursgaming per week, clocking in an average of eight hours of play time over 2019's six hours.
"Mobile is the most popular platform in the video game industry, with wide and increasing appeal across all age groups," said NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella. "Its strength comes not only from its accessibility and availability but also from the incredible diversity in mobile titles available. From evergreen properties such as Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon Go, and Clash of Clans, to newer hits like Call of Duty: Mobile, and Among Us, mobile gaming's growth is certain to continue well into the future."
Nintendo preservationists Forest of Illusion recently got their hands on a Nintendo 64 development cart containing what appears to be the demo version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time shown at the Space World ‘97 trade show. This early build includes maps, items, abilities, and even story beats that didn’t make…
Nearly a decade after it released as a bit of a mess on PS3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PS5 can now be played at 60 FPS thanks to the work of one of the game’s console modders.
This month, the slate of new content dropping on Hulu offers a study in contrasts. On one hand, we have Nomadland (Feb. 19), a quiet story about American aimlessness, and one of the most acclaimed films of the past year. On the other, we have Sonic the Hedgehog (Feb. 18), the tale of a hedgehog who can run very fast,…
Amazon product listings for the Monster Hunter DVD and Blu-rays suggest the film will show up physically in March.
The post Monster Hunter DVD and Blu-rays Will Arrive in March appeared first on Siliconera.
It was surprising to realize just how sweet and heartwarming Kemco's Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom could be.
The post Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom is a Dungeon Crawler with Heart appeared first on Siliconera.
Will the true hero of Midgar finally get a chance to re-shine in the Remake-verse?
The post Square Enix Trademarks ‘Ever Crisis’ in Canada and Europe appeared first on Siliconera.
The much-debated character is not that mysterious if you know Tolkien
Takaya Imamura has named today his final day at Nintendo, ending a 32-year-long career working on many of the company's most iconic games and characters. ...
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It’s been years since I’ve played Minecraft on a regular basis but I still really enjoy when new features and creatures start showing up in game. Without fail, it means that the always creative Minecraft players will come up with unexpected ways to use them. The newest Minecraft snapshot adds some more parts of the upcoming Caves & Cliffs update including the pretty glow squids and their glowing ink.
While he’s spending quarantine in New Zealand, the national news channel has gotten Valve guy Gabe Newell to sit down and pointedly not answer some of his very favorite questions. They did their best to ask about all the games that end with threes, but Newell of course declined to say anything on the subject. He was willing to say that the company has games in development currently and also mentioned that launching Half-Life: Alyx had created the despire within the company to continue creating singleplayer games.
The brilliant Hitman 3 from IO Interactive is here, an ambitious cross-platform project that sees the firm's proprietary Glacier Engine deployed to more target platforms on launch day than we've seen in previous series entries. We'll be taking a closer look at this latest iteration of the engine in more depth soon, examining the enhancements made to the technology and how they play out in Hitman 3's new levels - as well as the legacy missions from the two prior titles, which are all playable within the new game. But in the here and now, it's PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S that are under the microscope, and it's the first title we've seen where Microsoft's additional hardware investment delivers a tangible spec increase over the competition in a cross-platform game.
But really, where it truly matters, Hitman 3 delivers on all next-gen systems - principally via a commitment to 60 frames per second gaming. In previous Hitman titles on consoles, IO offered users a choice: the ability to play with a 30fps cap, or alternatively to allow frame-rate to run unlocked. On top of that, the enhanced consoles offered both quality and performance modes, with various resolutions. Hitman 3 dispenses with all of this, delivering a flat 60fps performance level on all systems and with no need to choose between quality and performance modes. This time around, last-gen systems are pegged to 30fps instead, with the curious exception of PS4 Pro, which also offers what IO describes as a 1080p60 'frame interpolated' option.
The Poke-Lid mania in Japan is stronger than ever, as more and more towns decorate their streets with unique Pokemon-themed manholes.
This time around it’s Ikaruga town in historical Nara prefecture to install a new batch of Poke-lids, but it’s unique even compared to the rest of this trend.
Usually, cities install manholes portraying the same Pokemon, that is also associated with the city itself. Ikaruga brought forth a team of nine different critters.
In the pictures below coming straight from the press release we see Bronzong with Simisear, Growlithe with Bellsprout, Chimecho with Magby, Deerling with Flechinder, and Entei on its own.
Interestingly, the Poke-lids will mark locations for PokeStops compatible with Pokemon GO.
Opera – as in, the people behind that web browser you might've used years ago – is in the gaming industry spotlight this week. The company picked up YoYo Games, the owner of GameMaker Studio 2, for $10 million as it looks to expand its gamer-leaning Opera GX browser and Opera Gaming division.
Come again? If this is the first you're hearing about any of this, same. That browser looks wild.
As a quick refresher, YoYo Games was previously acquired in 2015 for $16.4 million by Playtech, a gambling software company, per GamesIndustry.biz. GameMaker was the basis for some of my favorite indie games including Downwell, Forager, and Nuclear Throne – even Undertale. According to Opera Gaming, the GameMaker engine "achieved 400K new registered creators in 2020." It's still going.
"For over twenty years, the vision behind the GameMaker engine was to not just create more games, but expand development within and beyond the game studio," said YoYo Games general manager Stuart Poole. "We think the transaction with Opera – whose products are known, trusted, and used worldwide by millions of people every month- represents a massive opportunity to accelerate fulfillment of that founding vision, during a period of exceptional growth for both companies."
Devolver Digital has shut down rumors that Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is headed to Xbox Game Pass. The publisher made the statement after comments on social media alluded to the arrival of Mediatonic's battle royale title on Microsoft's gaming service.
The confusion began when the official Xbox Game Pass Instagram account responded to a member of the public asking after the popular multiplayer title. "It's coming," noted Xbox Game Pass, complete with an eyes emoji. Devolver Digital, however, was quick to shut down this confirmation, succinctly stating "that's incorrect" when the comment was later referenced on Twitter.
The official Fall Guys Twitter then quickly joined the conversation, categorically stating that there are no plans in the immediate future to add Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout to the Xbox Game Pass service. Inevitably, the original comment on the Xbox Game Pass Instagram has since been deleted.
Fall Guys has continued its crown-grabbing ways as it enters the new year. Currently in its third season, Fall Guys will soon add some new mid-season content, that will freshen up some of the stages and also create the opportunity for some pegwin-dropping shenanigans!
In a wide-ranging interview with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, TVNZ's 1 News asked if there were any new Valve games "coming out soon" – to which he laughed and responded, "I'm sure there are."
"Yes, we definitely have games in development that we're going to be announcing," he elaborated, adding that "it's fun to ship games." Newell brought up last year's Half-Life: Alyx, a game that felt like a collective sigh of relief for anxious fans longing for something, anything. "Alyx was great; to be back doing single-player games, that created a lot of momentum inside of the company to do more of that."
On the topic of never-ending calls for Half-Life 3, Portal 3, and the number three in general, Newell said "the nice thing is, by not answering those questions, I avoid the community coming up with new, equally difficult-to-answer questions." (He was also asked about code-name "Citadel," but was coy as usual.)
I feel like we've heard this all before due to the way Valve works on its own time while fans dig for clues before they're finalized, but maybe – just maybe – things are different in a post-Half-Life: Alyx world.
As for Newell, he's residing in New Zealand and hopes to stay "for the foreseeable future." He also spoke about the country, Dota 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Valve Index, and what he's been playing lately.
The EU have fined Valve and five publishers a total of €7.8 million (USD$9.5 million) over their practice of “geo-blocking” PC game sales on Steam. This basically means forcing users in a country (say, Germany) to only pay the German price for a game, instead of letting them buy a cheaper version of the same game from…
Today at noon Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, but online it was another super-old white guy who stole the show thanks to a photograph by Brendan Smialowski showing Bernie Sanders sitting in a chair emanating such levels of sass and “I don’t have time for this shit”…
If you even casually follow the Grimace-colored streaming monolith that is Twitch, you’re well aware that the current flavor of the month is Rust, a survival game that originally came out in 2013. This means new players are discovering the genre oldtimer for the first time. While some enjoy the game’s inhospitable…
Unless you grew up in a time after cameraphones arrived, there’s a very good chance your first digital camera was a weird Game Boy accessory. The Game Boy Camera was definitely my first digital snapper, and while its technical capabilities were extremely limited, it still managed to excel at other things, like making…
Hitman 3, out today for pretty much all of the platforms, sees Agent 47 continue his spree of heinous crimes, including murder and travel journalism. Like the previous entry in IO Interactive’s sumptuous Savile Row simulator, you can import levels and character progression from prior games. It’s only a matter of…
The Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch version will arrive just in time for the season. The enhanced version boasts plenty of new content.
The post Summer Pockets Reflection Blue Switch Port Will Arrive in the Perfect Season appeared first on Siliconera.
The summer’s popularity spike caught the indie studio off guard
Insomniac is looking for a rockstar Facial Character TD†s to be responsible for authoring facial rigs and facial riggings systems from scratch or utilizing a variety of high-resolution scan-data. ...
Peter Moore's return to the game industry has picked up steam. ...
Bright and colorful platformer Balan Wonderworld isn’t too far away from its March release date now but you can try it out next week if you’re keen. Square Enix have announced that you can hop in and give it a go on January 28th. You can even try out the local co-op bits if you’re planning to play along with a pal when it launches.
It's been some time since Bungie split from Activision, and the team has spread their wings in terms of what Destiny 2 has to offer. So what's next? With Beyond Light, the team tried something completely new and despite PvP concerns, the overall reception of how the story has evolved since the Forsaken DLC has been incredibly positive with the community thriving once more. That being said, the work is far from over when taking back the Destiny name since its launch and with two more confirmed expansions on the horizon, it looks like Bungie is almost ready to share what's next following immense player feedback.
Over the last decade, it's been fantastic to see the relatively simple concepts that are at the core of the Diablo-like continue to be iterated and expanded upon as the industry explores the wild world of loot. What was once a landscape of simple leveling and looting has now transformed into complex crafting, alternate advancement post-leveling progression systems, procedurally generated endgames with myriad modifiers, and more. While the satisfying core still involves crushing hordes of monsters and watching gear explode out of enemies with pleasant chimes, letting the dopamine flow into your mind as various color-coded candy caches wash over you, developers continue to refine gameplay mechanics and add layers to the potent core.
While many games have taken some features and mechanics from the classic template and applied them in other ways, the isometric layout with its health and resource globes, potions, and paper dolls is still a force to be reckoned with. Here are some of the Diablo-likes to watch as we head into 2021 and beyond.
Among Us studio InnerSloth announced what is coming to the online multiplayer social deduction game in 2021 alongside some details about development itself.
The developer said it would be making a public roadmap for the game for 2021, but not contain dates unless the team knows they can make the deadline.
An account system is currently in the works with a report system planned as the first feature for it. The studio said a friends list, recorded stats, and other requested features will come later.
The Airship map, announced at the 2020 Game Awards, is still scheduled to launch as a free update in “early 2021.”
InnerSloth revealed that updates for the game have been taking long because the studio had to restructure itself after exploding in popularity in 2020, and even canceled its sequel to work on the original game.
“We had to spend 2 months just restructuring, figuring out new processes, and getting external partners to help us manage on board,” the studio said. “Originally it was just 3 friends working together (and now I’m here to make 4, hi), but if we wanted this to work long term and hire up, we needed to streamline things.”
The studio also said that hiring takes time and does not make development go faster when it takes for “hiring, training, onboarding, possible interpersonal disputes, artistic differences, code legibility, legal/privacy concerns, and an infinite number of other problems can arise.”
