February 2021

Last week marked the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda franchise. To celebrate the iconic series, I asked you all to create Zelda-themed images. You didn’t disappoint.

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Hello and welcome to another edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the wonderful community creations from the last week. Holy crap! For whatever reason, and I'm not judging, the community wrote up a storm this week! Outside of the Christmas and GOTY themed editions of the Community Spotlight, this might be the most I have ever written for a Spotlight in a long while. But, I love it! Having more community content to share is not a bad problem to have. However, I do want to ask all of you to try seeking out one blog on the Spotlight and taking the time to thank the writer. Some of these blogs are still looking for their first comment of support and that one comment can mean the world to a lot of people. With that in mind, let's jump into the site-related housekeeping!

As expected, the Genshin Impact Hu Tao banner begins this week. Three four-star characters from Liyue also appear on this banner.

The post Genshin Impact’s Hu Tao Banner Begins This Week appeared first on Siliconera.

When the Japanese technology and design company Qute Corporation released the WonderWitch game development kit a little over two decades ago, the team likely never guessed it would set them on a path to become one of the defining boutique studios of the modern shooting game form.

Qute may not court the attention from the mainstream that genre heavyweights Cave and Treasure so capably attract, but its creations are celebrated by genre devotees, and include some very sought after shmup collectibles. Yet behind all their cult status, Qute's library of releases remain relatively accessible in terms of their game and scoring systems, and are increasingly more available in the West. In fact, the team are still at it, having just taken their latest title Natsuki Chronicles to the PlayStation 4 and PC on these shores. It presents a remarkable, energetic horizontal shooter that is both a prequel and sequel to Qute's earlier game Ginga Force - and its story really begins at a fateful game development contest hosted back when bullet hell was increasingly asserting dominance over the wider genre.

Hero shooter Valorant is getting a little bit bigger with the introduction of its next character. Astra was revealed with a new trailer on February 27, and she looks unlike anything else in the game to date.

In the trailer, we see Astra use some purple space-like fields placed on the ground, and she soon pops up into the air before sucking a few enemies into a gravity device that resembles Zarya's ultimate ability in Overwatch.

We see a big purple bubble seem to envelop the map at one point, so it's possible other players will be alerted when Astra is using a particular move. She seems designed to give the other team fits, breaking up formations and making it easier for others to go in for the kill. When players get trapped by her gravity move, for instance, another player fires a few shots at the sitting ducks to take them out.

The 3DS was mostly sunset shortly after the Nintendo Switch began gaining traction. In numerous ways, the Switch is a far superior piece of gaming hardware, with a capacitive screen instead of a resistive one, along with more obvious improvements like the higher processing power and visual resolution. But the 3DS' namesake--its glasses-free 3D technology--hasn't been utilized by other traditional systems, and it remains one of the most underappreciated and underused features in gaming history.

Consumers didn't universally accept the feature, and many actually turned down the slider on the 3DS. Nintendo eventually even released its 2DS lineup that omitted the feature entirely, but many games were better with it enabled. In fact, a few of them used it so well that it makes 3D sorely missed on the Switch. These games didn't rely on 3D as a gimmick but instead included it to add a greater sense of space and texture to the world. In the best cases, the 3D even made the game more fun to play, and it's no surprise that Nintendo developed most of those examples in-house earlier on in the handheld's lifespan.

It's a shame that Nintendo stopped emphasizing 3DS' stereoscopic 3D functionality because it was notably unique and awe-inspiring, following closely in step with the company's always forward-thinking philosophy to expand the way we think about and play games. With that said, we've compiled the games that made the best use of 3D to commemorate the 3DS' 10th anniversary. Below we discuss why they're still worth picking up or digging out of storage if you've retired the system in favor of the latest offerings.

In most ways, the now 10-year-old 3DS was an oddity--the next evolution of the equally strange Nintendo DS, and with a trendy 3D hook to boot. While glasses-free 3D was the marquee feature, riding the wave of renewed popularity from 3D films like Avatar, the real killer app was StreetPass. Serving as both enticement to tote your portable system around with you and a bulwark against the encroaching threat of mobile games, StreetPass is a social feature that no other gaming system has ever replicated as successfully, not even Nintendo has done something like it again.

With StreetPass, leaving your 3DS on in sleep mode and taking it with you would ping other 3DS owners doing the same thing, transferring your Mii to their Mii Plaza and vice-versa. This encouraged real-world exploration, especially in more densely-populated urban areas, because you would come home to a Mii Plaza bursting with new friends. It made 3DS owners part of their own little secret club, frequently and anonymously giving each other a handshake.

Horror game The Sinking City was delisted from several stores, including Steam, in 2020 as part of an going disagreement between the game's developer, Frogwares, and distributors Nacon and Bigben. The game is back on Steam now, but Frogwares says it didn't make the current version and urged players not to buy it.

Writing on its official Twitter account, Frogwares said it doesn't "recommend the purchase of this version" and promised that more news would be coming soon. As of February 28, it hasn't shared anything else on the subject.

The game is still for sale on the Xbox and PlayStation digital stores, but while its original licensing agreement also included selling the game via the Epic Games Store, it's no longer listed there.

Playing Valheim with friends is the premier way to enjoy the viking survival game. To do that, you'll need to either create servers in the game so other players can join you, or join them in their servers. Valheim's menus can be a bit confusing to navigate, though, especially if you don't really know much about local hosting or dedicated servers. And even joining games can be a little wonky, requiring you to use Steam's menus to find servers using IP addresses.

Check out the guide below for everything you need to know to set up your own servers or join someone else's in Valheim. It's also worth noting that if you're looking for new co-op viking friends, you can check the Community server list and join in with other people you don't know--although you should do so at your own risk, since you never know if your new friends might turn out to be griefers. It's also good practice to check for Discord servers to go with your Valheim servers so you can talk to other players.

We've got even more Valheim coverage so be sure to check out our guides for upgrading your Workbench, crafting armor, hunting down Iron, and beating The Elder.

The Workbench in Valheim is more like your crafting workhorse. It's the first crafting table you'll build when you start to establish your viking base, and it remains essential all the way through the game, allowing you to craft key items like arrows and to construct buildings even after you've moved on to higher-level materials. The Workbench is one of the first things you'll craft, but upgrading it will take some work--and unlock some key items you'll need along the way.

Here's everything you need to know to get your Workbench going, including some requirements that might not be obvious right away, what it'll cost to make, and what benefits it'll give you as you explore Valheim.

We've got even more Valheim coverage so be sure to check out our guides for crafting armor, hunting down Iron, and beating The Elder.

Sanrio-inspired villagers, furniture, and other items are coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the game's March update. Following the update, you'll be able to invite new villagers and order items themed after Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, and other Sanrio characters by scanning the Animal Crossing Sanrio Amiibo cards.

Just as in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, there are six Sanrio-inspired villagers in total, one for each of the cards in the Sanrio Amiibo pack. The full list of villagers and the Sanrio character they're themed after is as follows:

• Hello Kitty - Rilla (gorilla)
• Pompompurin - Marty (cub)
• Kiki & Lala - Étoile (sheep)
• Cinnamoroll - Chai (elephant)
• My Melody - Chelsea (deer)
• Kerokerokeroppi - Toby (rabbit)

The Pokemon Company recently revealed a brand-new Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, coming to Nintendo Switch in early 2022. As part of that reveal, we got to see the game's three starter Pokemon, all of which hail from different regions--Cyndaquil from Gen 2's Johto, Rowlet from Gen 7's Alola, and Oshawott from Gen 5's Unova.

At first glance, these three Pokemon look like completely random picks, and no core Pokemon game thus far has ever combined starter Pokemon from previous generations in this way. However, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set far in the Sinnoh region's past, and the style of the reveal trailer lends the game a very feudal Japan feel--think shogunates and samurai. The Sinnoh region is based on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, which came under feudal rule during this era of history.

So how do Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott fit into that theme? Oshawott is the most obvious: Its final evolution is Samurott, a portmanteau of samurai and otter, and the armor on Samurott's legs is reminiscent of samurai armor. That's as natural a fit for the setting as you can get.

Along with the reveal of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's story content and PS5 upgrade, Tetsuya Nomura gave some updates to the development process of FF7 Remake's future. In a translated interview by Famitsu (provided to us by Square Enix), Nomura explained that he's transitioning away from being the co-director of the project, and that Naoki Hamaguchi will now be the sole director moving forward. However, Nomura mentioned that not much will change for him.

When asked about his role as a director and concept designer for the multiple projects in the works, Nomura prefaced, "There have been three Final Fantasy 7-related games announced, but as I mentioned before, I have more projects on my plate at the moment than ever before." He then explained that the foundation has already been established and that he can pass on the role, saying, "For Remake, the core gameplay direction has now been worked out and we can see the points that need improving, so I will hand over directorship to Mr. Hamaguchi (co-director on FF7 Remake) for the next game and continue to be involved in all FF7-related projects, such as the remakes and mobile games, as overall creative director."

If you're wondering how this might affect future entries of FF7 Remake, this move may not make that much of an impact; Nomura stated, "The way I am involved in the development work will basically not change, though."

Bravely Default 2 may look like your standard turn-based RPG, but there is a lot more going on under the hood. If you've never played a Bravely Default game, then this new game can actually be kind of tough. So, we've compiled eight tips to help you navigate the world and give you the edge in combat.

If you're more curious about how the game stacks up, be sure to read our Bravely Default 2 review. Otherwise, read on for some essential tips!

Bravely Defaulting: Finding A Balance

Bravely Default's core combat mechanics are braving and defaulting, as the title of the game implies. "Braving" allows a character to attack multiple times in a row, while "defaulting" is a defensive maneuver that stores an action point. The catch is that your characters can only attack if they have 0 or at least one free "brave point" or BP. So, if you go "full brave" at the beginning of a battle, they will go into turn-debt, meaning they can't perform any actions for the next few turns.

A new Max Raid event is underway in Pokemon Sword and Shield. As part of the Pokemon series' 25th anniversary festivities, Gigantamax Pikachu is appearing in Max Raid battles again until February 28, and you'll have a chance to encounter a Shiny Gigantamax Pikachu in five-star Raids. Not only that, but The Pokemon Company will also be giving out a special reward if players can defeat a lot of Pikachu before the event ends.

As was the case with the recent Cramorant Max Raid event, the overarching goal of this particular event is to defeat more than 1 million Pikachu. If players can hit that goal, The Pokemon Company will give away 100 Armorite Ore and 100 Dynite Ore, which are used as currency for certain items and services in the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra areas.

The Gigantamax Pikachu Max Raid event runs until 3:59 PM PT / 6:59 PM ET on February 28. Before you can participate, you'll first need to refresh your Max Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting your game online or by going into the Mystery Gift menu and selecting Get the Wild Area News.

Developer Treyarch has dropped a new update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone that kicks off the double XP weekend event. Alongside the event, the update also addresses some issues with two of the game's maps. The full patch notes are outlined below.

The headliner of the latest patch is the kick-off of a double XP weekend event. From now until March 1, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone players can earn double XP and double weapon XP. This event coincides with Season Two's launch, which has officially begun.

Elsewhere in the update are adjustments to two maps. On Raid, players can no longer stand outside of the intended play zones around the basketball court. Checkmate, meanwhile, has been fixed so that players can't capture the P3 Hardpoint zone outside of its boundary.

If you're in the market for a new TV, Newegg has a fantastic deal on the best 4K TV for gaming on PS5 and Xbox Series X. The 65-inch LG CX OLED 4K TV is $2,000 at Newegg right now, and while that's a pretty typical sale price for the display, it also comes with a $200 Newegg gift card. That means you can snag yourself a gorgeous OLED TV and use the $200 towards new games and gadgets or even toward a PS5 or Xbox Series X when they come back in stock--unfortunately, we don't know when the consoles will become available again, but you do get 365 days to redeem the gift card.

Amazon currently has a deal on the 65-inch LG CX OLED for $2,000 with a $50 coupon, so Newegg currently has the best deal for this TV.

Google Stadia has struggled to make much of an impact since its launch. Instead, it's finding itself more as a punchline as players continue flocking to the next-gen system. Google recently stopped first-party game development a little over a year after the service officially launched, leaving multiplatform games to fill out its library and putting its lifespan in question. This is despite spending a substantial amount of cash out of the gate to scoop up big-name games.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Stadia boss Phil Harrison--who previously held executive positions at both Sony and Microsoft--wanted to make a big splash by paying "tens of millions of dollars" for games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 on the platform. It was a very bullish decision that, paired with exclusive games from its internal studios, would have given Google a path toward success with Stadia. The kind of sums Google was willing to pay to get those games was immense, making it an easy decision for publishers to agree. But with missing features at launch and little incentive for those who already had a game console to switch, it doesn't look like it was enough.

Harrison was part of the PlayStation at Xbox teams at arguably their lowest moments. While working as an executive for SCE Worldwide Studios, the PS3 launched and struggled with a high price point and lackluster exclusives early on. As Corporate VP at Microsoft, he was a leader for the Xbox brand in Europe when the Xbox One launched with a similar thud.

Rumors were swirling that The Pokemon Company would unveil remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl as part of its Pokemon 25th anniversary celebration--and sure enough, we got our first look at Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl during the February 2021 Pokemon Presents stream. That the remakes are indeed coming is not in itself surprising; The Pokemon Company has been steadily remaking older entries in the series, and Diamond and Pearl were the next in line to be modernized. What was surprising, however, is the approach being taken with the Diamond and Pearl remakes.

The Pokemon Company stressed that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are "faithful" remakes, and they certainly look as much. The games deliberately invoke the aesthetic of the original DS titles. Not only do they retain the classic top-down perspective, but characters and other overworld elements also have the same squat proportions as they do in the originals, which makes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl look more like touched-up versions of the DS games rather than full-fledged updates.

This is in stark contrast to the approach Pokemon developer Game Freak has taken to previous remakes. Each time the studio has remade an older pair of Pokemon games, it has updated them to modern standards. Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen modernized the original Gen 1 games in the style of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire; HeartGold and SoulSilver updated the Gen 2 games in the vein of Diamond and Pearl; and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire made over the Gen 3 games to match Pokemon X and Y.

Apex Legends has hit an all-new concurrent user peak on Steam.

The free-to-play battle royale game - which released on Steam in November 2020 after almost 18-months as an EA Origin exclusive - hit 198,235 simultaneous players on Steam yesterday, its highest ever concurrent user peak according to SteamDB (thanks, Dexerto).

The recent surge in new and returning players checking out Season 8 means Apex Legends is currently the fifth most-played game on Steam right now, making it more popular than GTA 5, Rainbow Six Siege, and Team Fortress 2.

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Modiphius Games is developing an "epic co-operative board game" based upon The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

While the project has been announced as a "campaign preview" on Gamefound, a new crowdfunding platform for tabletop games that says it's "the bridge between backers and game creators", currently there's no further information about the project other than it'll be for one to four players (thanks, Polygon).

Players interested in knowing more are encouraged to sign up for "design updates in the lead up to launch".

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Third-party developer Aeroplane Heaven isn’t content with the upcoming Spitfire. Apparently, they’re gearing up to be the masters of the Rolls-Royce Merlin, as today they announced that they’re working on a North American P-51D Mustang for Microsoft Flight Simulator as well.

We get both screenshots and a video, showing a very much work-in-progress look at both the exterior and interior models.

No information was provided about release windows and pricing, but we know that this American purebred with a British heart is coming, and it’s likely going to look great.

Today, during the 6th-anniversary livestream dedicated to the popular BanG Dream! franchise, Bushiroad announced that it’s coming to the Nintendo Switch.

We hear that there have been many requests to see the popular rhythm game BanG Dream! Girls Band Party on a big screen, so the developers thought about giving it a try.

Of course, the game will include support for the Switch’s joy-con controllers, so it’ll feature a way of playing unique to Nintendo’s console.

The release is scheduled to come (at least in Japan) within 2021. Of course, no information has been provided, for the moment, about a possible western release.

That being said, the mobile game is localized in English, so there is certainly hope. It’ll be interesting to see if this will pave the way ta console version for Bushiroad’s newest idol franchise, D4DJ.

For those unfamiliar with it, BanG Dream! is a multimedia franchise launched as a manga in 2015 before spawning all sorts of spin-offs including the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party mobile game, several more manga, light novels, anime TV series, and films.

SimulaM’s upcoming game “I Am Jesus Christ” is continuing to progress toward its Kikstarter campaign. Today, the developer revealed a new video.

The video showcases several aspects of the game, including tutorials that will let you learn to use your divine powers.

We also get to see the map, including markers that will let you see your objectives and red circles indicating “corrupted areas” that you’ll need to clean up by performing miracles.

Incidentally, the developer mentions that a version of the map with a sort of “fog of war” is being considered.

Last, but not least, the video showcases a refined version of the fight to cast out a demon showcased in January, this time rewarding the player with an animation playing when the demon is defeated.

We already know that the Kickstarter campaign is coming in May.

Update: Frogwares has accused former The Sinking City licensee and currently-listed Steam publisher Nacon of pirating a version of the game from another licensee, making changes to it, and then listing it for sale on Steam without the developer's permission.

In a blog post today, Frogwares says that the new version of The Sinking City uploaded to Steam in late February by Nacon was not one given to the publisher by them, but rather a version licensed to online distributor Gamesplanet. Frogwares accuses Nacon of buying the game on Gamesplanet, hacking into it to remove certain identifiers like Gamesplanet logos and add the Nacon logo on certain splash screens, and then republishing the altered version of the game to Steam. Additionally, Frogwares notes that the version on Steam is the "Deluxe" version of the game -- with extra content added that Nacon never had the license to distribute in the first place.

Frogwares specifically calls out Neopica, a Belgian studio behind games like the Hunting Simulator titles and Euro Truck Racing Championship that was acquired by Nacon late last year, as having a hand in the alteration of The Sinking City. Meanwhile, the studio says it does not believe either Gamesplanet or Steam were aware of the situation, saying that Nacon likely purchased the game legally from Gamesplanet and that Steam did not know the version uploaded to its servers was hacked.

The two companies remain in a legal battle in French courts over contract breaches, missed payments, intellectual property ownership, and more -- with Frogwares saying it will now be adding pirachy and theft of intellectual property to the list of charges.

IGN has reached out to Nacon for comment.

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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Love Jujutsu Kaisen's Megumi, Nobara, or Gojo? Kotobukiya has your back with newly announced ARTFX figures featuring the three.

The post Kotobukiya Announces Three New Jujutsu Kaisen Figures appeared first on Siliconera.

Doom Eternal reportedly generated over £323 million ($450m) in the first nine months of its release.

Bethesda had already trumpeted that the launch of Doom Eternal was the series' best-ever in terms of opening week sales, but at the time the publisher didn't give exact figures, instead only confirming the game had doubled the launch weekend revenue of Doom's 2016 reboot.

Now, however, a statement on a former id Software developer's LinkedIn profile has revealed those numbers translated to $450 million in revenue (thanks, ResetEra) - that's £323 million.

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They both actively tear down the ‘secret powerful family connections’ fantasy trope

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Third-party developers are continuing to work hard to bring new scenery to the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Today we get to take another look at Macau International Airport (VMMC) from SamScene3D, with plenty of rather iconic surrounding landmarks.

Apparently, it will release “very soon.”

Sega has revealed new videos of the upcoming MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis.

The videos were, as usual, provided by the official community Twitter account Rappy.Commu.

The first video showcases the use of the new traversal abilities to climb a mountain.

The second focuses on a value called “Combat Power.” You can increase it by leveling up, strengthening equipment, and unlocking class skills.

The closed beta allowed you to participate in emergency quests if you had a combat power over 950.