March 2021

I've slipped into a sort of low-maintenance mode with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If there's a substantial update with new characters or ways of interacting with my island, sure, I'll show up. But when it comes to recurring events or limited-time celebratory items, I'm far more likely to let them slip by. As much as I enjoy accumulating stuff, I don't need everything. I'm not out here min-maxing!

In the case of Shamrock Day, Animal Crossing's St. Patrick's Day equivalent, I'll play it by ear. The event runs from March 10–17 in New Horizons with outfits and rotating daily items, according to Nintendo.

On the to-grab list: a "Fáilte" Shamrock Doorplate, a Shamrock Rug, and okay yeah, a Shamrock Soda.

Nintendo also previewed the Shamrock Day apparel – sunglasses, a hat, a suit, and shoes – that will be sold by the Able Sisters. Don't let anyone pinch you. And be on the lookout for the Shamrock Wand.

I could take or leave everything except the Shamrock Soda. That's a keeper. As for Nintendo's fickle update strategy in general, I'm forcing myself to "let it happen when it happens." It's easier that way. Long-time Animal Crossing players are surely wondering what the holdup is with meaningful new content in New Horizons, and I don't blame them. At this point, it feels like a marathon, not a sprint.

In today's contest you can win a brand new Switch, and a copy of Everhood!

Have you ever heard of Everhood? Well if you haven't, now you have! It's a strange one, for sure, but that's just how I like 'em.

The lovely folks at developer Foreign Gnomes would like to not only give away some Switch copies of their brand new game, but also a brand new Switch to play it on! Isn't that nice of them?

Warning: The trailer below contains flashing imagery.

Last year, actor Keanu Reeves, New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt, and artist Ron Garney launched a Kickstarter campaign for BRZRKR, a comic book series about an immortal warrior who is drawn to look like Reeves. The campaign was embraced by over 14,000 people who combined to pledged a whopping $1,400,000 to get this project made.

Supporters of that Kickstarter receive the full story within three hard or softcover books. If you missed out on that campaign, and are interested in this comic, which Reeves co-writes (and kind of stars in), you can pick up the first issue today at your local comic book store. Published by Boom! Studios, BRZRKR is worth tracking down, as almost every page shows Reeves in action, being brutal and effective much like John Wick. Reeves' wavy black hair and low-key attitude are also delivered in almost every frame.

Click here to watch embedded media

Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Hello Games
Developer: Hello Games
Release: August 9, 2016 (PlayStation 4, PC), July 24, 2018 (Xbox One), November 10, 2020 (Xbox Series X/S), November 12, 2020 (PlayStation 5), 2022 (Switch)
Rating: Teen

While many island dwellers are currently getting their Super Mario on with the latest event in Animal Crossing, Nintendo just revealed what fans have to look forward to with the upcoming New Horizons St. Patrick's Day update. 

While not a full-on event like some other seasonal activities, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons St. Patrick's Day update does add a few themed items for players to enjoy as they live out their island fantasies. From furnishing that home with a special shamrock rug to chugging down tankards of shamrock soda, there are quite a few ways to celebrate the luck of the Irish while still disappointing all of the villagers that trust you to run the island. 

Oh, is that just me? Alright...

The Shamrock soda, shamrock doorplate, and shamrock rug items will be available from 3/10 to 3/17. One item in the series will be available each day, with selection changing daily. Shamrock day fashion items will also be available at Able Sisters during this time! #ACNH pic.twitter.com/AJpEc7phx5

The boys are back but keep your eyes peeled. There's a phantom thief lurking around. Chaldea Boys Collection returns to Fate/Grand Order for 2021, along with new events, quests, and craft essences.

The post Amakusa Shiro Takes Over Fate/Grand Order Chaldea Boys Collection 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix revealed a new TV commercial for the Nintendo Switch port of its train simulator Densha de GO!! Hashirou Yamanote-sen.

The commercial features the super-catchy and classic tune “Densha de Densha de GO!GO!GO!” by Zuntata J.A.M. and is also a homage to the original commercials of the first game for the old PlayStation in 1997 (when the popular train simulation franchise was still owned by Taito).

You can watch it below, alongside the nostalgic original courtesy of YouTube user ozawarina.

Today the PlayStation Blog has laid out details on the upcoming Fracked, a PSVR title that promises shooting and skiing.

This PlayStation Blog post about Fracked lays down some important info for all the thrill junkies out there and refers to gameplay as “fast, exhilarating, and accessible,” adding that:

Skiing, running, climbing, base jumping and ziplining are all possible and all happen seamlessly and fluidly. No on-rails gameplay and cinematic cutscenes here, everything is 1:1 and driven by the player’s controls, movements, and actions. Combat is unconstrained too, combining free movement for outflanking foes with 1:1 grabbable cover and tactile weapon reloading.

While that does detail some of the action you can expect, it doesn’t mention story or give a why. While there is information given, it’s in the form of a brief mention that reads:

In Fracked, we’ve cast the player as a hero thrown into the fight. Stuck deep inside a mountain fracking facility the region has been taken over by an army of gun-wielding, interdimensional maniacs known as (you guessed it) the Fracked! As the last hope for the world, you must take them down before it is all too late.

There isn’t a set date for when you can get your hands on (get it? Because VR?) Fracked aside from a promise of “this summer,” but you can keep an eye out with us here on Twinfinite and we’ll update you with any new information.

With the next iteration of the PSVR having recently been teased by Sony, here are 6 improvements we believe it will need.

It will be ready for the holidays, Bloomberg reported

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Guilty Gear Strive has been delayed until June 11, pushing it two months further back from its previous April 9 date.

ArcSystemWorks made the announcement Wednesday evening, citing feedback from the fighting game’s recent open beta test. ArcSystemWorks says they will use the extra two months to focus on improving online lobbies and server stability.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/21/guilty-gear-strive-i-no-gameplay-reveal-trailer"]

“We believe it best to use the extra time to improve the game’s quality and provide a better experience to all our players. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” ArcSystemWorks said.

Guilty Gear Strive, ArcSystem’s eagerly anticipated next installment in the popular anime-style fighting game series, has already received a relatively positive reception from the fighting game community. FGC members like Justin Wong and Jiyuna have praised the open beta’s netcode, saying it’s allowed for matches with international opponents with little to no lag.

One of the more common criticisms out of Strive’s beta was the game’s lobby system, a confusing social space wherein players must first find other players, whip out a sword signaling their willingness to fight, and then essentially hope the other player doesn’t back out. In short, many players saw it as more obtuse than even what’s come before in previous ArcSystems games, like Dragon Ball FighterZ.

• Eleven racers
• Arcade and Adventure modes
• Link cable support for four players (multiple cartridge)
• Cartridge save (three slots)
• Internet rankings at www.vvisions.com
• Connectivity with GameCube version

Last year, Bloomberg reported that a new model of the Nintendo Switch would be out sometime in 2021. Today, they’re reporting some more specific details, like the size of the screen and some 4K news.

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If you took part in last month's Guilty Gear Strive beta, you probably already know it wasn't the smoothest experience. Not all betas are, but the feedback from players on this one was enough to convince Arc System Works it needs to spend more time polishing up the game.

The developer revealed on Twitter Wednesday night that it is delaying the highly anticipated fighter from April 9 to June 11. As you can see in the message below, Arc System Works will use the extra development time to work on the game's online lobbies and server stability.

For years, we've been getting reports of a "Nintendo Switch Pro" model that would add extra power and other features meant to appeal to core gamers. While reports of a new Switch model in 2019 ended up pointing toward the handheld-only Switch Lite, the rumors have continued to swirl regarding a potential more powerful Switch console. As recently as last August, reports continued surfacing about a 4K-capable Switch set to launch in 2021.

Today, Bloomberg reports more details on the heavily rumored model than we've ever seen before. The report states the new model will feature a larger Samsung OLED touchscreen on the device for use in handheld and tabletop mode. The screen is said to be a 7-inch OLED panel capable of 720p resolution, with production to get underway as early as June and shipments set to go out to assemblers in July. The current Switch models feature a 6.2-inch screen on the base model and a 5.5-inch screen on the Switch Lite. 

There's another Guilty Gear Strive delay. Instead of appearing in April 2021, it will launch in June.

The post New Guilty Gear Strive Delay Forces It Into June appeared first on Siliconera.

The possible Switch model will have an OLED screen that offers 720p when undocked and 4K when docked.

The post New Switch Model Supposedly Will Have OLED Screen, 4K When Docked appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Arc System Works announced that its upcoming fighting game for Guilty Gear -Strive- has been delayed.

According to the announcement, which you can read in full below, the release date has been shifted by a couple of month, from April 9 to June 11.

We hear that the development team has received valuable feedback during the open beta, and decided to take extra time to polish aspects of the game including lobbies and server stability.

While now we know the entire initial roster of 15 characters, five more are coming with the first character pass. They have not yet been revealed.

Microsoft revealed a few new games coming to the Xbox Game Pass catalog in March and one title coming in April.

The list of new additions for the first half of March are mostly sports titles with Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 21 already available for consoles via EA Play. EA’s own subscription service was added at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers last November.

Coming March 4 will be both Football Manager 2021 for PC and Football Manager 2021 Xbox Edition for consoles and PC. The biggest difference between the two of Sega’s football management simulation games is that Football Manager 2021 Xbox Edition is a streamlined version of the PC series and designed specifically for controllers.

Also coming March 4 is 2K Games’ NBA 2K21 through consoles and cloud. The game recently kicked off its Season 5: Age of Heroes for the MyTEAM mode and allows players to play through one of Michael Jordan’s iconic moments.

Microsoft announced that Star Wars: Squadrons will be coming to console via EA Play sometime in March, and NHL 21 coming to console via EA Play sometime in April. The company also listed a few games leaving the service on March 15:

Last year, BioWare announced that they were working on a proper remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy, and with it just a couple months out, it’s time to get excited for the sci-fi space opera all over again. SPACELAB9 also announced last year that they’d be releasing a special edition vinyl collection for the soundtrack, and pre-sale is set to go live tomorrow, on March 4.

Over on Twitter, SPACELAB9 announced that the collection will feature 85 tracks from the trilogy, and that pre-orders will go live at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on their site.

The vinyl itself looks beautiful, too. The cover is a nice eggshell white with the N7 logo plastered across the front. The tracklist also looks great, which you can check out for yourself at the announcement page.

Today D3 Publisher released a gameplay trailer focusing on another of the characters of its upcoming JRPG Maglam Lord.

The trailer showcases Akrao, who is one of the characters who can serve as soulmates for the Demon Lord (the protagonist of the game).

As usual, we get to see his gameplay and the dating situations in which he will interact with the player to deepen their relationship

Maglam Lord is developed by Summon Night 5 studio Felistella, while the scenario and the world view are by Summon Night series writer Kei Miyakozuki.

The character design and illustration are by lack, who is known for having worked on Fate/Grand Order (for instance, the art for Izou Okada).

The soundtrack is by Puresound, which worked on the Summon Night and Metal Max series.

The main theme is by Chiaki Fujita of Sing Like Talking, who previously worked on the theme of Summon Night 2.

Since its launch last year, Marvel’s Avengers hasn’t exactly had the smoothest ride. While the single-player story campaign was serviceable, the live elements of the game were subpar, and the leveling mechanics felt too easy and a little unbalanced.

To address some of the game’s existing issues, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have announced that they’ll be working on some XP and cosmetic reworks to make the game better.

To start, CP progression will start to slow down a little once you hit level 25, and this is done so that players won’t progress too quickly, and new players will have more time to adjust and not feel like they’re being overwhelmed with too many rewards.

In addition to that, cosmetic rewards are also getting tweaked, and the developers have stated that instead of just getting all cosmetics through RNG, they want players to be able to work towards getting particular rewards as well. To that end, random cosmetic drops in Marvel’s Avengers have been temporarily disabled in preparation for that change, and the developers will release more details about the rework in the coming weeks.

Marvel’s Avengers is now available on PC and consoles.

The post Marvel’s Avengers Getting a Big XP Rework; Cosmetics Will Be Slightly Easier to Get in the Future appeared first on Twinfinite.

Today SNK released another new trailer focusing on the characters that will be included in its upcoming fighting game The King of Fighters XV.

This time around, we take a look at another returning fighter who has been a regular of the franchise for a long time, and it’s Andy Bogard.

As usual, the press release says nothing about his team. We’ll have to wait for a future announcement couple of weeks to know about it. We do know that his companion in King of Fighter XIV, Joe Higashi, has not been assigned to a team yet.

In the meanwhile, you can enjoy the trailer and screenshots below.

Since its release a few years back, Nintendo has spared no effort in providing players with consistent updates in Fire Emblem Heroes. It’s easily one of their most successful free-to-play mobile games so far, with the Fire Emblem gameplay being parsed down to a smaller map that allows for one-handed gameplay.

The latest update and event, titled The Seeds of Fodlan, will add four new characters from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. We’ll have Ingrid and Dedue from the Blue Lions, Linhardt from the Black Eagles, and Marianne from the Golden Deer. You can check out the trailer for yourself down below:

As always, the characters will also come with a new Paralogue chapter for you to play, and the short story centers around them arriving in this mysterious new land and adapting to survive. The event will go live on March 4, 11 p.m. Pacific Time.

Fire Emblem Heroes is now available on mobile devices.

The post New Fire Emblem Heroes Update Adds 4 More Characters from Three Houses appeared first on Twinfinite.

After being announced in the patch notes for Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's zombie-heavy Season 2, Treyarch has announced that Dead Ops Arcade: First Person will be arriving for Black Ops Cold War on March 4. While previous versions of Dead Ops Arcade allowed players to briefly enter first person via a power-up, this is the first time the arcade mode is entirely playable in first person.

While the first-person mode looks to be mostly the same as the classic Dead Ops Arcade 3 experience, it adds a few special abilities not available in the top-down view. When the new mode launches you'll be able to sprint, jump, slide, and swim, making DOA: First Person a true hybrid game mode.

Upon completing Outriders' prologue, you'll be able to pick one of four classes. You need to choose carefully--your class is permanent (though you can adjust your character's appearance whenever you want upon entering Outriders' first hub area). In the following guide, we break down the benefits and drawbacks of the Devastator, Trickster, Pyromancer, and Technomancer so you can more easily decide which is right for you.

During the Outriders demo, you will be able to unlock the first four abilities of each class, giving you a pretty good idea of how they all play. While all four classes are geared towards fighting out in the open, they differ primarily in playstyle and methods. But each class isn't entirely a cut-and-dried role; each possesses specializations that allow you to twist them into fulfilling specific squad-based roles.

Devastator - Tank Class

The Devastator commands gravity, ripping apart the earth around them both as a means of protection and offense. This class excels in the heat of battle and its abilities allow it to take quite a bit of punishment before going down, possessing a 15% boost to maximum health and 30% increase to armor. If you typically play as the tank role in your group of friends, the Devastator is for you.

A new high-resolution texture pack is coming for Warzone and Modern Warfare players on PS4 Pro, PS5, and Xbox Series X. The texture pack is the third to be made available, and players will receive an automatic prompt asking if they want to download it after the next update.

As reported by VG247, the pack is 8.4GB on PlayStation consoles, and while the size on Xbox Series X hasn't been reported yet, it's likely to be similar. With the file size of Warzone and Modern Warfare already incredibly large, players should make sure they have the space to spare before downloading.

File sizes on the recent Call Of Duty games have expanded so much that Activision recently had to warn players that Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Black Ops Cold War would no longer fit all together on a 500GB PS4 with all extra content installed.

The new texture pack "supports the most detailed textures for weapons and Operators," according to the description on the download page.

Guilty Gear Strive developer Arc System Works has announced plans to delay the launch of the next game in the series to June 11, 2021. This was announced shortly after the completion of the playable beta on PlayStation consoles, which allowed players to face off in multiplayer matches with a select number of playable fighters.

This is the second time that Guilty Gear Strive has been delayed. Originally planned for a late 2020 release, the developers delayed the game to April 9, 2021 in light of the added challenge of game development during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the developer's statement, it was made clear that more work was needed in order to get the game to where it needed to be for its full launch.

"Since we have received valuable feedback after the recent Open Beta Test, we would like to make the most of this opportunity to provide the best game possible," says the statement. "We need extra time to polish some aspects of the game, such as the online lobbies and the server's stability."

The Swamp is likely the third biome you'll explore as you work your way through Valheim, and it's significantly more deadly than the forests and meadows you've spent time in before. There's a lot to find and a lot to avoid in the Swamp, and if you're not prepared, you can find yourself struggling to stay alive and get the resources you need back to safety. We're here to lay out everything you need to know about the Swamp, from what to expect from its enemies, to the things you'll need to pilfer in order to continue your advancement through Valheim.

We've got lots more Valheim coverage, so check out our armor guide, our guide for beating The Elder boss, and our guides for finding Iron and making Iron armor, and for finding Silver and making Wolf armor.

How To Find Swamps

You'll spend a lot of time in the Meadows and Black Forest biomes in Valheim's early game, but the Swamp biome is a little tougher to track down. You'll find this area along the coasts of various islands, usually attached to Black Forest. On your map, it'll appear a mottled brown and black, indicating the flooded land; from a distance, you'll know the Swamp biome by its bare, gnarled trees and the glowing green Guck resource stuck to many of them.

A new version of the Switch with a larger OLED display from Samsung, as well as support for 4K resolution when docked, is reportedly set for a reveal by Nintendo later this year. The model, according to Bloomberg, will be unveiled this year and Samsung will begin mass production of the new seven-inch screen "as early as June."

The OLED display panel will output at 720p resolution, according to Bloomberg, which cites people familiar with plans. Nintendo is said to be working to maintain interest around the Switch, as well as continue to sell software competitively against Xbox and PlayStation.

Reports of a more powerful version of the Switch have been floating around for some time now. In January a dataminer noted that a firmware update issued by Nintendo references an upgraded Switch console codenamed Aula. This upgraded model allegedly uses the Mariko (Tegra X1+) SoC chip that was implemented with the Switch Lite and updated 2019 regular model Switches. Additionally, the firmware mentioned support for a Realtek chip, which has been advertised as a "4K UHD multimedia SoC."

The same dataminer noted that it's likely the new Switch's display will not be a higher resolution when in handheld mode, and that the 4K chip may be located in the dock instead of the tablet itself. Bloomberg's reports indicate this could be the case too.

The Switch is now in its fifth year and been a huge success for Nintendo. Sales of the handheld/home console hybrid are nearing 80 million. Its predecessor, the Wii U, only managed a little over 13.5 million in its lifespan.

Wolf Armor is the sixth tier of protection you can get in Valheim, but like everything else in the Viking survival game, crafting it isn't easy. You'll need to locate Silver, one of the toughest metals to find, and that takes special requirements. On top of that, you'll have to survive the cold of the Mountain, which can be lethal all on its own. This guide will help you find Silver, give you all the info you need to survive the mountains, and run down the requirements for each piece of armor, so you know exactly what to hunt for before you get started.

If you're looking for more Valheim information, check out our complete Valheim armor guide, as well as our guide for finding Iron and crafting Iron gear, and for taking down the Elder boss.

How To Find Silver

Locating Silver in the Mountain biome is a multistep process. It's buried underground, rather than popping up on the surface like Tin and Copper. That means Silver is a way more difficult ore to mine, and you won't find it without a little help or a lot of luck. To find Silver underground, you need a special item called the Wishbone.

Today Square Enix announced a new downloads milestone for its latest mobile game NieR: Re[in]carnation.

According to the announcement made on the official Twitter account of the game, the game has been downloaded 10 million times, which is really flattering considering that it’s available only in Japan for now.

Since the milestone was reached sooner than expected, the celebratory bonuses have not been decided yet and will be announced at a later time.

Of course, the NieR: Automata crossover that launched together with the game may have helped with its groundbreaking popularity.

You can see the tweet below with a cute celebratory illustration.

In a delightful bit of news to start the day, it has been confirmed that Future Club - the indie developer born out of the dissolution of Lab Zero - will be directly involved in the creation of new Skullgirls content, alongside current developer Hidden Variable and publisher Autumn Games.

Last month, Autumn Games showcased a bright future for the awesome tag-fighting title, announcing a brand new season of content including multiple new DLC characters and stages. While this was wonderful news, it brought with it a twinge of sadness, with the possibility that the original Skullgirls team - many of whom left Lab Zero due to its toxic environment - would not be involved in the new content's creation.

But in a new tweet, Autumn Games confirmed that Hidden Variable will indeed be working with these developers and their new studio, Future Club, in order to design and create exciting new content for Skullgirls, to be drip-fed to its dedicated community of players over the coming years.

Are you a big Attack on Titan fan? Like a really big one? Well, enjoy this enormous version of the popular manga.

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Ray tracing is a rendering technique that will allow players to see tall and scary monster ladies in an all new light.

The post Resident Evil Village PC Will Feature Ray Tracing and AMD FidelityFX. appeared first on Siliconera.