March 2021

Blasphemous is one of those games that left me hoping it sold well enough for its creators to keep doing what they know and love. It's a gripping and often unforgiving action-platformer set in a world dominated by religious fervor, and as dark as it could be, the game really resonated with me.

Well, me and a bunch of other people. The Game Kitchen and publisher Team17 just announced that Blasphemous has passed "one million players." Here's a pleasant little video to capture the moment.

In a Steam post, the developers said "thanks to you we've been able to continue working on Blasphemous, adding even more free content to the game beyond what we initially planned."

Given all the free content updates, including the recent Boss Rush mode and Bloodstained crossover, I figured that Blasphemous was in a good spot financially, but it's nice to have a proper confirmation. I'll take a potential sequel – think of the lore! – but even if The Game Kitchen goes in a different direction with a new IP, I'll be there too. The post-launch support has been fantastic for this game. Truly.

The Gameplay Engineer will work to design and implement gameplay systems in Unreal Engine 4. ...

PlayStation will no longer host TV shows or movies on the PlayStation Store, announcing in a blog post that it'll stop offering both for rental and purchase by the end of August. ...

There was no in-person Comic-Con in 2020, and there won’t be one in 2021 either after the show’s organisers announced a decision to “postpone” it until 2022.

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More than the set piece battle or the final showdown between hero and villain, it’s the quieter, smaller moments in video games that get me. In some games, those tiny moments can be a sudden expression on a character’s face or a short piece of dialogue from an inconsequential scene. But more often than not, my…

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Godzilla isn’t just a monster movie icon, the king of all kaiju: he is a king of looks too. In the nearly seven decades he’s been stomping around the box office, Godzilla’s gone through more appearances than most cinematic legends ever could. From his earliest days to his upcoming smashup with Kong in Warner’s…

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Who’s dead, who’s alive, and who’s the new queen of the Amazons

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The single-player imposter game comes to the Switch on March 4

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From the dragon design to martial arts style, there was always one goal

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Treyarch Studios has released the full patch notes for the latest update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The update is currently live--it's primarily geared towards implementing bug fixes and objective tuning to Zombies.

The update focuses on Zombies' new Outbreak mode, which is an open-world, co-op variation of Call of Duty's traditional Zombies. Instead of fighting off hordes of zombies in a series of rounds, Outbreak tasks a team of players with accomplishing a series of objectives in any order they wish across a vast open space that's filled with zombies.

Also in the patch notes, Treyarch details what players can expect in Rapid Fire Moshpit and Dead Ops Arcade: First Person, both of which are scheduled to go live in Black Ops Cold War on March 4. Rapid Fire Moshpit is a playlist composed of Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint but only on the game's smallest maps. Dead Ops Arcade: First Person remakes Dead Ops Arcade 3--it's just now played in first-person.

Pokemon Go's Season of Legends has begun, and the first event of the season is set to begin next week. Niantic is kicking off the Searching for Legends event starting 10 AM local time on March 9, and it gives players their first chance to catch a Shiny Nosepass in the game.

Throughout the Searching for Legends event, the following Pokemon will appear in the wild more frequently than usual:

• Diglett
• Geodude
• Magnemite
• Nosepass
• Aron
• Baltoy
• Roggenrola
• Drilbur

Shiny Nosepass will also appear in the wild during the event, while Alolan Diglett, Alolan Geodude, and other Pokemon will be attracted to Incense. You'll also be able to encounter the following monsters in Raid Battles:

• One-star Raids: Alolan Diglett, Nosepass, Roggenrola, Drilbur, Ferroseed, Klink
• Three-star Raids: Alolan Graveler, Magneton, Skarmory, and Metang.

Finally, there will be event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research tasks to complete during the event. These will lead to more chances to catch Nosepass, among other rewards. The Searching for Legends event runs until 8 AM local time on March 14. You can read more details on the Pokemon Go blog.

The PlayStation Vita is poised to receive a new game next month despite having been discontinued for two years. Developer Flying Oak Games announced that its roguelite ScourgeBringer is coming to the handheld on April 22.

The news comes via the developer's Twitter account, where Flying Oak Games also confirmed that ScourgeBringer hits the PlayStation 4 on the same day. The studio said there will be physical versions on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, with PS4 preorders for the Standard and Collector's edition now live on PS Vita preorders opening "in a few days." It's unclear if the game will feature cross-save support. All versions are region-free and include all languages.

ScourgeBringer is a challenging roguelite similar to Dead Cells and Forgone. Players control the female warrior Kyhra to uncover the truth of what happened to the world and her people. It's on all the major platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Pokemon Go's Season of Legends has officially begun, and as part of the new content season, Landorus is back in Raids for a limited time. The Legendary Abundance Pokemon is appearing as a five-star Raid boss from now until March 6, and this time, you'll have a chance to encounter Shiny Landorus. To help you add the Legendary Pokemon to your collection, we've rounded up some tips on how to beat and catch Landorus below.

Landorus Raid Schedule

Incarnate Forme Landorus is appearing in Pokemon Go again until 8 AM local time on March 6, giving you only a few days to capture it. To participate in a Landorus Raid, you'll need to have either a Raid Pass (to join the battle in-person) or a Remote Raid Pass (to join the battle remotely). You can get one Remote Raid Pass as part of Niantic's free weekly item bundles, which are available in Pokemon Go's in-game shop every Monday in March.

Following Landorus's departure, Incarnate Forme Tornadus will appear in Raids again until March 11, while Incarnate Forme Thundurus will be available from March 11-16. After that, the Legendaries will each return to Raids in their Therian Formes--the first time these variants will be available in Pokemon Go. Therian Forme Landorus will appear sometime in April.

It seems the location for the next entry in DICE's Battlefield series, Battlefield 6, has been teased as the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, according to supposed GPS coordinates.

As reported by Battlefield YouTuber DANNYonPC (via a now-deleted Reddit post), the location's teaser was hidden in plain sight: on the nose of a 3D-rendered character model during a Battlefield tech demo shared at EA Play 2020 and on the medallion of a legendary Battlefield 5 outfit called Eidolon that can only be unlocked by completing a secret challenge.

Allegedly, the numbers located on these two spots pull up a nondescript place in Kazakhstan when plugged into a GPS coordinator. Kazakhstan is a rather large country with a population of approximately 18 million people, making it one of the 10 biggest countries in the world.

EA and DICE have been relatively quiet regarding Battlefield 6, though a reveal for the game is planned for this spring. The publisher also announced that a Need for Speed title has been delayed to 2022 so developer Criterion Games can assist on Battlefield 6's development.

Best Buy is hosting a sale on Samsung and LG soundbars that runs until March 28. If you've been looking to upgrade or get a new soundbar, there are a number of options, including higher-end models and more budget-focused options. Some of the soundbars even support Dolby Atmos, a type of surround sound tech that is utilized in many of the biggest movies, including Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and many more.

We've highlighted some of the best soundbar deals below. Both LG and Samsung make quality audio products, so you can't go wrong with either company--though each speaker has its own unique features and output power. If you're looking for a more immersive sound experience, the Samsung HW-Q850T is a great system. Those on a budget, however, have some excellent options in the LG SL4Y and the Samsung HW-T550 soundbar systems.

If you're looking for a new screen to pair with a sound system, check out our guide to the best 4K TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X. While this guide has been created to specifically focus on utilizing the new consoles' unique features, they're excellent 4K TVs for watching movies and shows as well.

Respawn has released a new gameplay trailer for the Nintendo Switch port of Apex Legends. The trailer reveals a new Pathfinder skin as well, which will be exclusive to the Switch version of the game for a limited time.

As seen in the trailer, the new legendary P.A.T.H. Pathfinder skin recolors the happy-go-lucky robot with a sleek red-and-white paint job. The trailer doesn't mention how long this skin will remain exclusive to the Switch version.

Interestingly, this trailer may also tease more, currently unannounced additions to Apex Legends. At 0:26, you can see Rampart dancing with a microphone and at 0:38, you can see Mirage, Bangalore, Lifeline, Gibraltar, Pathfinder, and Wattson also all doing emotes that aren't present in the game.

Players of one of the hottest PC games right now, Valheim, are finding ways to exploit the title to make new experiences--like using the ocean as a giant trampoline to launch themselves.

Reddit user HotGuuuuu uploaded a clip of their exploit: hurtling a massive longboat down a tree-constructed ramp and using the vast ocean as a springboard to catapult themselves into the air. The ramp is built atop a mountain, so you can really see the speed they accumulate.

Curiously, despite the ocean looking very much like real water, the longboat simply bounces off the surface as if it's made of rubber. HotGuuuuu bounces off the water's surface a couple of times, launching several hundred feet into the air, before plummetting into a nearby forest.

Valheim is incredibly popular on Steam right now, selling four million copies in its first three weeks and sitting at the number three spot on the top-10 played games on the platform.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans are always expressing their creativity through the game's building mechanics, and they can sometimes achieve goals that seem impossible to casual players. That is definitely the case with Twitter user doom_mori, who managed to create a Mario-like platformer experience on their island using the themed items added for Mario's 35th anniversary by a recent update.

While parts of this build are not possible without hacking the game--which we don't recommend, as it can get your island's Dream Address taken down, among other consequences--it's still incredibly impressive. Especially lucky is the fact that the warp pipes work in the order they intended; the direction you exit a warp pipe is random, and if you have more than two on your island at a time, the connection between pipes is random, too. The Super Mario Sunshine music also adds a bit of atmosphere to the clip.

Square Enix has shared more details on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, including story info on the Yuffie DLC episode. The company also outlined some of its enhancements and new features for the PS5 port.

The Japanese publication Game Watch (translated via Gematsu) explains the background of Yuffie and her partner, the new character Sonon. The two are elite operatives for Wutai, and are dispatched to Midgar to steal the "Ultimate Materia" from the Shinra company. Yuffie herself is a ninja who uses a shuriken weapon. Yuffie is the commanding officer to Sonon, though he's older, and he is said to have trained under Yuffie's father.

The new episode starring the pair will take place over two chapters: first as the two hook up with Avalanche, and then the Shinra heist attempt. Yuffie has both short- and long-range combat capabilities, and she can perform special contextual actions like breaking Shinra boxes and crossing a wire fence.

The Yuffie episode will require a separate purchase, but upgrading to the PS5 Intergrade version from your PS4 copy is free and you can carry over your previous save data. The PS5 version will feature new lighting effects, fog effects, and some upgraded resolutions. You'll also able to choose between the 4K Graphics Mode and the 60 FPS Performance Mode. And a new photo mode will let you adjust the angle, colors, and exposure.

Fall Guys has somewhat been in limbo recently, falling from its meteoric rise just a few months after it debuted back in 2020. Not all hope is not lost, though, especially after the news broke earlier today that Mediatonic, the studio behind the Fall Guys, was acquired by Epic Games.

But what exactly does that mean for the future of the game? We’ve put together three reasons you should be excited about Epic Games purchasing Mediatonic, and thus Fall Guys, below.

Third-party add-on developers are continuing to release new airports and scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Today SamScene3D bring us to Asia with its Macau Macao VMMC scenery, which includes both plenty of landmarks for the exotic city on the coast of China, and its iconic airport.

It can be purchased at the developer’s own store for $16.95.

Below you can check out a few screenshots and a features list. The first image is a rather impressive comparison between the scenery and the real world.

Sega just revealed another AC Scratch collection for Phantasy Star Online 2 titled “ARKS Dream Live.”

As usual, the collection comes with plenty of costumes, accessories, emotes, CAST parts, hairstyles, and more, themed after live concerts.

It’s available Starting on March 3, and it’ll disappear on March 31. As usual, you can take a look at the trailer below to see the main items, while the full catalog is published on the official website.

If you’re unfamiliar with AC Scratch, that’s basically the game’s loot box/gacha-like mechanic that you can get through tickets purchased with Arks Cash.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is available in the west for Xbox One and PC. A few months ago, we heard that the western version enjoyed a “strong start” and that it passed one million players.

"While we worked hard to source some great work opportunities for the studio to move forward with, we were unable to provide work for a small number of individuals and thus made the difficult decision to part ways. This decision was not made lightly and was done so only after we felt we had exhausted the opportunities to avoid such a layoff. "For the affected team members, with their permission, we are reaching out to partners and fellow studios in hopes that we can assist in placing our former colleagues with new opportunities. We sincerely wish the very best to our former colleagues and thank them for their contributions to the studio and our projects during their time here. "Hardsuit Labs continues to move forward with existing and new opportunities, as well as current work on several yet unannounced projects. We look forward to sharing additional information on these games when we can in the future."

So Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade instantly shot up on my 2021 radar.

Yeah, some parts of it are a bummer, like the PS5-specific requirement. And not everyone has one of those! Seeing as they're basically unicorn pieces of hardware. But for those that do, we have more Final Fantasy VII Remake to enjoy sooner than later (whenever Part 2 decides to actually come out).

To that end, folks are champing at the bit for more Yuffie DLC info, and we got it. As spotted on Game Watch (via Nibel), the Yuffice DLC bit will take place across two chapters. Yuffie will also be able to use "ninja-like" abilities outside of combat, and she will be accompanied by her companion, Sonon; who is a "warrior who studied under Yuffie's father Godo."

Both of the latter factoids were intimated in the trailer, but it's nice to see it spelled out. The chapter part is especially useful, so we have our expectations in check when this actually launches later this year. For reference, the base game was roughly 18 chapters, though the length of those varied some.

FFVII Remake Intergrade [Game Watch via Nibel]

PCSX2 has long been a fantastic PS2 emulator, but a recent advance has made it all the more appealing for anyone playing on a PC: the ability to swap textures in games.

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Crusader Kings III has always had poetry—some romance paths would even adjust the quality depending on the skill of your pursuer—but the game is about to go all in on it, adding it as a character trait and even creating a generator that will write your ruler’s musings for you.

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If you download the new Atelier Ryza 2 patch, you can take advantage of the new PS4 and PS5 cross-save feature.

The post Atelier Ryza 2 Cross-Save Support Added in a New Patch appeared first on Siliconera.

Heads aren't the only thing Ichiban Kasuga knows how to crack. Learn how to make an omelette, Yakuza-style.

The post Ichiban Kasuga Teaches Everyone How to Make an Omelet appeared first on Siliconera.

Heads aren't the only thing Ichiban Kasuga knows how to crack. Learn how to make an omelette, Yakuza-style.

The post Ichiban Kasuga Teaches Everyone How to Make an Omelet appeared first on Siliconera.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service will be launching on Steam for PC on April 1, exactly one year after releasing for the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, iOS, and Android platforms.

The physics-based delivery game still offers the same gameplay of handling packages under time restrictions and somewhat uncooperative ragdoll physics. Up to four players online or local split-screen can travel on foot, vehicle, boat, airplane, and more to get the fastest time for deliveries.

The game will launch on Steam with the new “Totally Delivered” update which overhauls several aspects of the game such as improved graphics and details, upgraded animations on the characters and more expressive faces, new events like the hovercraft derby, major networking improvements, revamped UI, new NPC’s, new zone unlock system, and a photo mode.

It will also feature simplified controls to pick up and put down objects easier, an autorun option, and visual feedback for successfully grabbing objects. Vehicles will now have a glowing visible circle next to them which will place players in the driver’s seat and have more control of the vehicle.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service launched for the Epic Games Store on PC, consoles, and mobile platforms last year and have since reached more than 14 million downloads, according to the press release.

The Outriders demo is out for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. And you don't have to worry about where you play--Outriders supports cross-play between all its platforms, allowing you to connect with your friends wherever they decide to play. That said, you will have to complete a few steps in order to do cross-play multiplayer. Don't worry; it's not too hard to do.

First off, you can't even engage in any form of multiplayer until you complete the prologue. The prologue concludes with the mission in which your character becomes fully Altered, allowing you to pick a class. Upon the completion of this mission, you'll unlock the first hub area of Outriders, Rift Town. It's here where you can start teaming up with other players.

You can either summon players to your game or join someone else's. To do either, you need to access the matchmaking terminal in Rift Town's garage or click on the "Join A Random Team" or "Play With Friends" buttons from the Lobby. On default settings, you will be limited to only teaming up with others on your platform.

To enable cross-play, you first need to go to Options. Navigate to the Gameplay tab and scroll down to "Enable Crossplay." Switch it from "Off" to "On." And that's it. If you haven't done this already, you won't be able to engage in cross-play multiplayer from Outriders' Lobby; you'll instead need to first boot up the game and then adjust these settings.

Valheim's record-breaking success isn't too surprising, even if you ignore outside elements like the current global pandemic and the game's relatively low price point. There's an obvious appetite for survival games on PC, as evidenced by the likes of Rust and Ark: Survival Evolved consistently butting heads on Steam's most-played list. Yet Valheim also appeals to people like me, who aren't particularly fond of the genre. There are a number of reasons for this, but chief among them is the fact that Valheim plays down all of the restrictive survival aspects that form the foundations of similar games.

The first structure my friends and I built in Valheim has now become known as our home base. In keeping with the game's viking theme, it's vaguely reminiscent of a Norse longhouse, complete with mead and a dining table. Colourful banners and trophies of the monsters we've slain adorn its wooden walls, and the outside courtyard features a smelter for refining precious ores and a kiln for producing the coal that powers it. Each person has their own bedroom with a place to sleep and chests to store their valuables, and there are also communal chests for everyone to contribute various resources like food, wood, and stone. Meanwhile, the house's defenses consist of a spiked fence encircling the entire property and an improvised moat that's proven surprisingly effective at keeping monsters at bay.

Abigail Larson is a character designer at Netflix who has also worked on books, games and even tarot cards.

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Mondo is well-known for releasing posters, vinyls, and other pop culture related collectible and memorabilia with beautiful art, but getting your hands on one of these usually requires you to pre-order, or at least be aware of when they’re set to go on sale. The company has previously sold vinyl soundtracks for The Last of Us, The Last of Us Part II, Silent Hill, and Silent Hill 2, and those sold out pretty quick.

However, the company just took to Twitter to announce that these vinyl soundtracks will be coming back in stock this week.

Specifically, they’ll be back up on sale on Wednesday, at noon Central Time. In addition to that, due to demand and limited stocks, each customer will be limited to purchasing one of each item so that more people will have a shot at actually getting one.

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on Tuesday that it will be discontinuing the purchase of movies and television shows from the PlayStation Store.

Starting August 31, 2021, PlayStation users will no longer be able to rent or purchase movies and television shows straight from the PlayStation Store. Sony announced the change was due to a “shift in customer behavior” as more people sign up for streaming services.

“At SIE, we strive to provide the best entertainment experience for PlayStation fans, and that means evolving our offerings as customer needs change,” said Vanessa Lee, SIE Head of Video Business, in the announcement post. “We’ve seen tremendous growth from PlayStation fans using subscription-based and ad-based entertainment streaming services on our consoles.”

Sony said that PlayStation users will still have access to their television and movie purchases after the change and can be viewed on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and mobile devices.

The consoles do have a variety of streaming apps such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, HBO Plus, Netflix, and more. The decision also comes after the company shut down its PlayStation Vue live television service last year and said it would “remain focused on our core gaming business.

The post Sony to Discontinue Video Purchases and Rentals on PlayStation Store appeared first on Twinfinite.

I've been lucky enough to test out a bunch of weird and wonderful tech, but I don't always get a chance to share my discoveries in a full review or roundup. That's why this column exists, to highlight bits of tech that might not fit elsewhere but nonetheless deserve a mention. Enjoy!

2020 was a year of dashed plans and weird events, but it was also one that was full of cool, novel and genuinely exciting pieces of technology. We've covered some of it here on Eurogamer and on the Digital Foundry YouTube channel, but there were also a fair few items that fell through the cracks, especially as the Digital Foundry Deals project took off and next-gen consoles arrived. This week, we're redressing some of these omissions with three of the coolest tech projects I tested in 2020 - from a miniaturised gaming laptop to a retro-future power bank and one of my biggest tech disappointments of the year. Let's get started.

The GPD Win Max is the whole reason that kicked off this column in the first place - I wanted to share the twisted genius that is an eight-inch laptop with an integrated gamepad built-in just above the keyboard. There's even a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 processor and a full Windows 10 install here; this is a legitimate machine with specs that outperform most office laptops. Of course, you're probably not going to be editing spreadsheets on this thing; as the legendary Chad Warden said, we ain't doin' geometry, we're trying to play some games.

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