Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “A single Dorito would kill a pilgrim instantly.” In a similar vein, if you showed a long-dormant Monster Hunter fan that the newest game, Monster Hunter Rise, lets you sharpen your weapon while on the run...I think their brains would explode.
Thoren Bradley can be found in dozens of TikTok videos chopping wood in his backyard in rural Northern California, surrounded by evergreen woods with a swimming pool of sky overhead. The 29-year-old is colorfully tattooed with a well-groomed beard and gym-honed physique that frequently inspires viewers to leave…
Reused NPCs. An environment you’ve already spent dozens of hours in. Contrived progress gating based on time. On paper, Genshin Impact’s current event, the Windblume Festival, sounds like it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. In reality it’s a chill yet inventive exercise in making an in-game holiday feel like,…
Fortnite on Nintendo Switch is getting a significant upgrade that will improve the battle royale game’s overall graphical performance, Epic announced Tuesday.
As of today, a new update to Fortnite on Switch is upgrading the resolution and framerate on both docked and handheld mode. Handheld mode is moving from 1000x560 to 1170x660, while docked mode’s resolution is moving from 1390x780 to 1560x880.
If those numbers mean nothing to you, Epic has provided an image to illustrate the upgrade’s effects. You can obviously see a decent upgrade to the foliage of the tree in the foreground, allowing for sharper looking leaves and other details.
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As for framerate, Epic promises “fewer hitches, resulting in a smoother experience overall.” Fortnite on Switch features dynamic resolution to help ensure a consistent framerate, but Epic says this will be less necessary with the new update.
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One final change is that the new update frees up about 140MB of storage. That’s not a lot by any stretch, but every byte counts on the Switch’s smaller internal storage.
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If you've been itching to replay The Witcher 3, hold off! Next-gen updates are on the way. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt PS5 and Xbox Series X next-gen updates will arrive sometime later this year.
The reminder broke from Radek Grabowski, the lead PR manager for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. He took to Twitter with a quick "in case you missed it" update, saying that the next-generation update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be dropping during the second half of 2021.
ICYMI, the next-generation update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming in the second half of 2021. pic.twitter.com/h2ISyEllQq
— Radek (@gamebowski) March 30, 2021
CD Projekt Red previously announced that next-gen updates were on the way earlier this month, stating that the studio is looking to take full advantage of this gen's powerful hardware. Visual and technical improvements will be included in the update whenever it does arrive, including utilizing ray tracing and the impressively fast loading times of both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
Raptors have invaded Fortnite! As a part of Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 6 raptors, alongside other deadly critters, are prowling the island looking to devour any hapless players unlucky enough to cross their paths. The news comes alongside a big performance boost to the Switch version of the game and definitely lives up to the seaon's "Primal" moniker.
The extinct predators were previously teased when players began discovering egg nests scattered across the map. Those eggs have attached into full-grown, door-opening (not really...but who knows?) reptiles, and these equal opportunity killers will pounce on anyone unfortunate enough to enter their crosshairs. If that’s not scary enough, raptors always travel in pairs. Any Jurassic Park fan will tell you that it's never the raptor you see in front of you that does you in; it’s the one you didn’t even know was there.
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Last year, Fortnite received a performance and resolution boost for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those systems launched. While that makes sense with the added capabilities those systems bring to the table, despite the swirling rumors about a potential "Switch Pro," Nintendo is still operating with the same horsepower it has been since 2017. However, Epic Games has announced that the Nintendo Switch version of Fortnite is also receiving a boost.
The new update aims to make better use of the Switch's GPU. As a result, those who play on Switch will notice multiple improvements during gameplay. With the update, images will be sharper without any loss of performance. In fact, the framerate will be more consistent, delivering a smoother experience for Switch players. On top of that, the resolution will improve in both handheld and docked modes; handheld resolution will jump from 1000x560 to 1170x660, while docked resolution will go from 1390x780 to 1560x880. Epic Games touts the 38% increase in handheld-mode pixels. The file size is getting slightly smaller to top it all off, saving players 140MB of storage space.
A new PS5 and PS4 update arrives for Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales today and brings with it not only some new gameplay tweaks but a new Spidey suit as well. Insomniac Games revealed our first look at the Advanced Tech Suit that is swinging into Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, adding one more addition to a long list of suits to choose from.
Insomniac Games took to Twitter to share our first look at the Advanced Tech Suit in addition to a confirmation that a PS5-only update targets realistic muscle deformation for specific Spidey looks.
Rolling out today, our new #MilesMoralesPS4 #MilesMoralesPS5 update adds the Advanced Tech Suit and includes various fixes. Additionally on PS5 only, the update adds realistic muscle deformation on select suits. pic.twitter.com/1nnSvgJB2P
Balan Wonderworld is out, and the reception has been...interesting, to say the least.
While it's extremely clunky and has myriad design issues, I think most people will agree that the soundtrack rips. It feels like a true AAA score, with a full orchestra and bolstered by several collaborations, including the artist Marasy.
Thankfully, Square Enix put out a free "mini album" for the game that you can listen to for free. It consists of five tracks, all of which are on Spotify. You can also listen to a few beautiful piano tracks performed live by Marasy below.
I can't stress enough how great they are, and it's a shame that the game didn't turn out as well as it could have. The second track in particular wouldn't feel out of place in a Lupin the Third anime film, and reminds me heavily of some of the more memorable game scores in recent years, like Sega's Rhythm Thief.
However this game's legacy ends up, I bet a lot of people will be talking about the soundtrack for years to come. Expect our review of Balan Wonderworld from CJ very soon.
Balan Wonderworld Preshow [Spotify]
We're still a couple of months out from the launch of Arc System Works' guitar wailin' fighter Guilty Gear Strive, which is set to launch in early June on PS4, PS5, and PC. But PlayStation fans who pre-order either the Deluxe or Ultimate editions of the new sequel can knock a few extra days off of their calendar, thanks to an accompanying Early Access bonus.
Pre-ordering GG Strive in its Deluxe or Ultimate format will allow you to jump into the action a full three days ahead of the title's official June 11 release date. Additionally, ArcSys has announced that this Early Access period will be chock full of content, offering all 15 playable characters, (including I-No and Anji Mito), each fighter's respective story mode, and all online modes, so you can start labbing from the get-go. And with a fighter as complex as Guilty Gear, you're gonna need all the practice you can get. This Early Access period is strictly for the PlayStation editions of the game. Sorry, PC users.
It should also be noted that the Deluxe and Ultimate editions of GG Strive ain't cheap, weighing in at around $85 and $100 respectively, (Get used to those prices, kid), but they do offer additional bonuses such as exclusive character colors, a digital soundtrack, custom themes, and the GG Strive Season Pass, securing the first wave of post-launch characters - where are you, Baiken?
CD Projekt published a series of informational slides on Twitter today, alongside a YouTube video, outlining its future plans for the company and its brands, including The Witcher and Cyberpunk.
At the outset, CD Projekt says it plans to expand its online presence and build out both The Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises through "core gaming extensions" (like mobile) and partnerships, including TV series and merchandise. The publisher also says it plans to move into parallel AAA game development starting in 2022. The company has also invested in Digital Scrapes, a Vancouver-based studio that will bolster its other studios.
— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) March 30, 2021
"We are planning to build cross-functional teams to work on both IPs," said Pawl Zawodny, Head of Production and CTO at CD Projekt, in one slide. "These teams will blend disciplines and expertise, so we have closer communication and skill sharing going on from the beginning. Cross-functional teams allow different aspects of development to run in tandem without complication."
At this point, I have a decent collection of Switch cases.
I display them the old fashioned way: by fanning out the original packaging in classic fashion. But every so often I get the itch to show them more elegantly, and I'm tempted by these new goodies from Retro Fighters.
Called the "Retro85 Mini NES cartridge Switch game cases" (mouthful!), they're billed as "individual Switch game card cases stylized as classic NES carts." A set comes with eight carts in all, which can display one game per cart; and a giant case within a case to hold all those cases (I heard you like cases).
I'm probably going to hold off on getting these as it's a bit of a novelty; but if I had a more extensive Switch library to show off, I'd definitely get them to publicly display as part of a collection. The gall of using a giant case to hold one tiny cart is tempting.
Retro Fighters Retro85 Mini NES Cartridge Switch Game Cases [Amazon]
For PS4 and Nintendo Switch owners who simply cannot get by without a spot of the old rip 'n' tear, Limited Run Games has announced a new physical release, collating three titles from id Software's game-changing shooter series, Doom.
Doom: The Classics Collection will be made available in three formats. The Standard Edition will include a boxed disc/cartridge containing original releases Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3 and will retail for around $40 USD. A Special Edition also adds numerous bonus items including art prints for all three titles, steelbook casing, a keychain, an 8GB USB device styled after a floppy disk, a metal replica of an in-game keycard, and a reprint of the 1996 Doom comic book. This edition will retail for around $80.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut has just launched today on PS5, PS4, and Stadia. And while this will be the first time the game is playable on consoles, it’s also scheduled to arrive on Xbox and Switch later this year.
Originally released in late 2019 exclusively on PC, Disco Elysium is an award-winning role-playing game that’s been praised by critics for how unique, innovative, and thought-provoking it is.
For example, instead of traditional combat, the game offers players the opportunity to outsmart their opponents through a variety of skill checks and dialogue trees.
Story-wise, you play an amnesiac detective who has been hired to solve a murder mystery. You’ll have to manoeuver socio-political injustice and treacherous gangs that follow differing ideologies in an alternate reality setting that borrows heavily from the political themes of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.
Interestingly, this new Final Cut release is an expanded version of the original base game and features all-new voice acting, new characters, additional quests, and more.
Thankfully, for those of you who own Disco Elysium on PC, you’ll receive all the aforementioned brand-new content in a free update. Go ahead and check out the new launch trailer down below.
Today was another big day for third-party airport developers in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Aerosoft released Friedrichshafen Airport (EDNY) in Germany.
You can grab it at the publisher’s own store for €15.33 including applicable VAT.
Below you can find a trailer and an official list of features.
Still from Aerosoft’s stable, Tailstrike Design released new screenshots of Václav Havel Airport Prague (LKPR).
Today Square Enix released an extended cut version of the recently-released trailer of Foprspoken, which was originally titled Project Athia.
The trailer features Ella Balinska, who will play protagonist Frey Holland, and it differs from the original one (which is actually of similar length) because it shows a few more tidbits of gameplay.
You can check the trailer out below.
The game is coming for PS5 and PC in 2022 and more news have been promised for later this year.
“Introducing Forspoken, the new narrative-driven adventure set in a beautiful yet cruel world.
Play as Frey Holland, an ordinary young woman who must harness her magical abilities to survive in the fantastical yet dangerous world land of Athia.
Enjoy an extended sneak peak of new exhilarating gameplay and meet Ella Balinska, the voice and performance capture actor portraying Frey.
Developed by Luminous Productions for the PlayStation 5 system and PC, Forspoken will take players on a magical and perilous journey.”
When it comes to moments that leave you excited, scared, and everything in-between, the Resident Evil series has a plentiful supply. Most all of its games have something that fans can’t help but hold in their memories for all time. Some stand out more than others though, which is why they’re on our list of 10 Resident Evil moments that still give us thrills and chills.
It might be a bit over-stated at this point, but how could this not be included on a list of the best Resident Evil moments?
This year's Summer Games Done Quick charity speedrunning event will run from 4th-11th July, organisers have announced, and will once again be an online-only affair.
In years gone by, Games Done Quick has taken the form of a ticketed real-world event, with its various speedrunning showcases being streamed online to tease charitable donations from viewers unable to attend in person. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic necessitated a change of plan in 2020, and those precautions will remain in place for this year's Summer Games Done Quick "in order to ensure the continued safety of the participants".
With dates now set and a format confirmed, speedrunner submissions for this year's Summer Games Done Quick will open shortly. Those looking to participate have from tomorrow, 31st March, until 11th April to present their game submissions via the Games Done Quick website.
I grew up in the late '80s and the '90s and, without access to streaming services, would do nearly anything to be able to watch more cartoons. For example, I suffered through awkward skits between a middle-aged man and a lamp in Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade, begging for the next proper animated bit to, please, just start.
It's in this spirit that the Kingdom Hearts series seems to have been made: lure in children with the promise of Olaf from Frozen and other beloved Disney and Pixar characters, but then make them work for those appearances by having them sit through dozens of hours of spiky-haired JRPG characters with too many belts and zips.
The Kingdom Hearts series is out on PC now via the Epic Games Store - and it costs too much, too.
In a company strategy video released today, CD Projekt Red have outlined changes they plan to make to the development studio's structure and focus. Chief among the changes is the news that their next project will no longer be a standalone multiplayer Cyberpunk game.
Instead, they're going to focus on developing fundamental technology that will eventually bring multiplayer components to all of their games. This was explained alongside a shift towards "parallel AAA game development", which will allow them to simultaneously work on both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher series.
In this 2019 GDC talk, Sledgehammer Games' Riley Pietsch discusses the creation of a brand new Call of Duty feature called Headquarters. ...
Of all the dormant racing game franchises — and there are many — Wipeout’s absence feels the most criminal. Developers at Sony’s long-defunct Studio Liverpool arguably never put a foot wrong throughout the anti-gravity racing series’ history, so long as you consider 2002's Wipeout Fusion a worthy aside rather than an…
CD Projekt is rethinking Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer elements, president and joint CEO Adam Kiciński explained during the company’s recent strategy update.
