April 2021

The free-to-play, low-spec version of PUBG, PUBG Lite, will close down at the end of the month.

Originally known as PUBG Project Thai, PUBG Lite is a low-spec version of PUBG that allows players with basic PCs and laptops to access the game. It was first trialled in Thailand, before rolling out to other territories a couple of years back.

Now, however, the free-to-play game is being shut down on 29th April. No reason was given for the decision.

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Buckle up, Titanfall fans - "a ton" of Titanfall-flavoured content is coming to spin-off battle royale, Apex Legends.

During a panel at BrownGirlGamerCode, Apex's senior writer, Ashley Reed, hinted that the studio was working "to integrate Titanfall" into future updates, as "Titanfall's very much a part of the universe".

Apex's game director, Chad Grenier, went a little further, too, confirming that Apex would host some "really cool stuff" we might recognise from Respawn's critically-acclaimed shooter series.

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The FBI is reportedly investigating cheating in professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches in North America.

As spotted by Kotaku, the commissioner of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), Ian Smith, said the organisation was working alongside the FBI on an ongoing investigation into "a relatively small but significant group of players over a long period of time, organising match fixing in North American MDL".

"[It's] what I would describe as classic match-fixing - players being bribed by outside betting syndicates in order to fix matches, rather than players just doing it off their own bat opportunistically. It's been going on for longer, [and] it's much more organised," Smith told YouTuber slash32.

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The Boys, Invincible, and Superman & Lois are all exploring the same thorny theme

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To those who celebrate, Happy Easter! To those who don’t care or just realized today is Easter Sunday, happy Sunday! A year ago things were bad. Today, things are...still bad. But getting better! I think.

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A certified refurbished Ring Video Doorbell Pro and an Insignia digital air fryer lead Sunday’s best deals.

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Sure, the hunting monsters is cool and all. But I think the best part of the Monster Hunter games is all the good food. Like the big “Chef’s Choice Platter” from Monster Hunter World, which was recently recreated by the YouTube channel Binging With Babish.

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Third-party developers had more news to share about Microsoft Flight Simulator scenery today, particularly for those who love to fly in Japan.

Metropolitan Airport Development Brothers revealed the first trailer of its Osaka Itami Airport (RJOO), which will finally provide another reasonably large international airport (even if it serves mostly domestic flights) to the archipelago.

You can watch it below.

More news comes from Gate15Scenery, who announced Okegawa Airfield (RJT1), also known as Honda Airport, it’s a small one in Saitama Prefecture reasonably close to Tokyo.

The effect parts let you recreate the cutest versions of their deadly attacks.

The post Tanjiro Kamado and Giyu Tomioka Nendoroids Rereleased appeared first on Siliconera.

Not as the weird snake goop thing that was ‘90s VFX gone wild. But...y’know, just Eric Roberts going to town on a scenery buffet in the way all great Master performances do.

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Microsoft has been trying quite hard to win the heart of the Japanese audience over the last few years, and this week they attempted something new to advertise Xbox Game Pass.

The Japanese arm of Xbox worked with popular virtual YouTubers Shishiro Botan and Himemori Luna to advertise the service, showcasing the perks and features of Game Pass (including the recent acquisition of Bethesda) and gameplay from Gears 5, Control, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Forza Horizon 4.

Shishiro Botan is part of the popular Hololive vTuber agency. Belonging to the 5th generation, she’s a relative rookie. Having debuted only in August 2020, she earned her popularity very quickly, currently counting over 700,000 subscribers on her channel.

The stream had 106,845 views and the audience certainly appeared to enjoy it, with over 10,000 likes against only 52 dislikes.

Himemori Luna is from Hololive’s fourth generation, having debuted in January 2020. She has over 500,000 subscribers and her stream was watched by 108,769 people, currently with over 11,000 likes and only 46 dislikes.

Taking the waifu route certainly isn’t a bad idea to appeal to Japanese gamers. We shouldn’t forget that the Xbox 360 used to be a very popular platform among visual novel developers back in the day. Besides, Shishiro Botan’s appearance and style somehow feel appropriate for Xbox.

Sega released brand new screenshots of the upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2 spin-off Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis.

The images were, as usual, provided by the official community Twitter account Rappy.Commu with some of the notes translated via the official PSO2 global Twitter account.

They showcases bosses and enemies, including the “Alters,” a demon-like kind of monsters.

You can check them out below.

The Kotobukiya Madoka Yuki model kit is the first in the Sousai Shojo Teien line and is both easy and enjoyable to build and display.

The post Kotobukiya’s Madoka Yuki Model Kit Is a Versatile Delight appeared first on Siliconera.

Star Trek Legends, recently released on Apple Arcade, plays a lot like Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Disney’s Sorcerer’s Arena, DC Legends and countless other turn-based mobile RPGs. But without any energy meters or annoying microtransactions. As a result, it feels like a game and not a treadmill designed to ferry you…

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Respawn has done a phenomenal job at ensuring that the Apex Legends experience continues to evolve in a meaningful way. Set within the Titanfall universe, many players have been wondering if the battle royale game would be incorporating more fully with its Titanfall counterpart. Luckily, Apex Legends season 9 promises just that, though we're selfishly hoping that a Titanfall 3 will be coming down the pipeline sooner rather than later. 

On Reddit, one player shared a clip with Fuse's "ready" sound that seems directly connected to Titanfall:

Fuse's tactical ready sound is from Titanfall, different from other legends. from r/apexlegends

A recent roundtable panel revealed the confirmation fans have been looking for, at least regarding Apex, confirming more Titanfall-inspired content on the way. After saying that players are "going to see a ton of Titanfall coming into Apex in one way or another," the panel continued saying: 

“Titanfall is a war story, Apex is life after the war; we’re trying to integrate Titanfall into that. We’re looking at what Titanfall means for this universe. It has lasting impacts that are going to become bigger and bigger.”

This week Oddworld: Soulstorm drops on PS5, PS4, and PC. Get ready to “help” your fellow Mudokons. (You’ll probably get a bunch of them killed. It’s okay. It happens.)

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I’m not saying the composer on Balan Wonderworld ripped off a classic tune from the Ghostbusters film soundtrack, but the similarities are striking...

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Finer Form Gym Quality Foldable Flat Bench | $100 | Amazon Gold Box

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Outriders is an always-online game that you can play entirely solo. Normally, you can’t pause it even when alone. But a clever PC player figured out a way to pause the game using their Nvidia GPU.

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From April 2-6, Warner Bros. is running a special event in their free-to-play mobile RPG Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem featuring a chubby variant of Bugs Bunny, now officially called "Big Chungus." This version of Bugs first appeared in a 1941 animated short called Wabbit Twouble, though he was not any sort of chungus in a formal capacity until now. Sweet children and sad adults hooked on the title might assume that this new fat rabbit is just another wacky original concept. But anyone who farted around gaming Twitter for the past few years is likely aware that Big Chungus started with a meme in 2018. 

Or did he?

They say that explaining a joke is the best way to kill it. That goes triple for "random internet humor" that thrives off the appearance of coming out of nowhere and meaning nothing. 

Friends, nothing is random. Everything has meaning, and everything comes from somewhere. Even Chungus. Especially Chungus. 

No one knows exactly who was the first person to say the word "chungus." It could have been a caveman. It could have been your dad. It could have been the famous Meatloaf, mispronouncing his own stage name in Vietnamese in a weak, sweaty attempt to sound cultured. When it comes to social media though, this off-hand tweet from 2010 is often cited as the oldest chungus utterance. 

The four chimeras introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield are getting plushes.

The post Fossil Pokemon From Sword and Shield Appear as Plushes appeared first on Siliconera.

Can a menu be epic? Of course it can, and the folks at Drydock Dreams Games proved it with a brand new Task Force Admiral Vol.1: American Carrier Battles video.

The video showcases the game’s main menu alongside the candidate music theme of the upcoming strategy game set in the Pacific theater of World War II.

You can check it out below and see what I mean.

If you want to see more about Task Force Admiral Vol.1: American Carrier Battles, you can take a look at more images, another batch, and the original announcement.

The game doesn’t yet have a release date, but we already know that it’s coming for PC.

You can also read an official description below.

Developer Troglobytes Games and Publisher 101xp new videos of the upcoming action game Blind Fate: Edo no Yami.

The videos showcase three enemies that we’ll fight in the game. The Akaname, the Wanyudo, and the Dorotabo.

You can watch them below with a brief description for each.

Akaname (垢嘗) – (“Filth Licker”) is a demon from Japanese folklore that found its place in our upcoming game Blind Fate: Edo no Yami.

Wanyūdō (輪入道) is a yokai that is said to take the form of a burning oxcart wheel bearing the tormented face of a man that found its place as one of the mobsters in our upcoming game Blind Fate: Edo no Yami.

Today Capcom announced with a press release that Monster Hunter Rise passed five million units shipped worldwide.

Of course the number includes both copies shipped to physical retain stores and full-game digital downloads.

The press release also mentions that Capcom intends to roll-out initiatives beyond games to increase the value of the Monster Hunter brand. The franchise has shipped 66 million units as of December 31, 2020, which means that now it’s at over 71 million units.

Below you can read the full announcement.

Capcom Co., Ltd. today announced that Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch has shipped 5 million units worldwide.

The Monster Hunter series consists of hunting action games that pit players against giant monsters in a beautiful natural environment. Beginning with the first title in 2004, the series established a new genre in which players cooperate to hunt ferocious monsters with their friends and has since grown into a global phenomenon with cumulative sales of the series exceeding 66 million units shipped as of December 31, 2020.

The new character promotion reels will each feature a character from the series starting with Shinji Ikari, accompanied with music by Hikaru Utada!

The post Six New Evangelion Character Promotion Reels Will Appear This Week appeared first on Siliconera.

Watching Studio Ghibli movies can make you hungry. The food always looks so darn good. But why? There has to be a reason for this, and producer Toshio Suzuki has it.

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Konami has canceled the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2021. This isn’t a first. The event was also canceled last year.

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A few years ago, I had some time to kill in Huddersfield and decided to check for any interesting books in the Oxfam shop. I'd never seen a copy of Granta before nor hunted one down, presuming my intelligence was below its target readership and assumed my pretentiousness lay elsewhere. (Spoiler: despite ongoing questions regarding my intelligence, it didn't.) But here it was, an issue dedicated to the best young American writers.

It included a short story by Karan Mahajan called The Anthology. I'd previously read his second novel, The Association of Small Bombs, and the queasy, uncertain feelings it gave me were reason enough to make me a fan. The Anthology brought out a similarly uneasy reaction in me, as it's another dark story, one about the aftermath of a bombing and it begins in Delhi in 2000 at a literary event. It's a world away from video games, but Mahajan's focus on politics and world-building felt relevant to the spaces where games often find themselves these days. Mahajan's work reminds me of Donna Tartt's theory of "density and speed" as being central to her work, something she emphasised during the release of The Goldfinch. "You're building a big, heavy article but you want it to go fast. You want the readers' experience of it to be fast. And you want there to be detail in it."

This new EP is focused on songs associated with the mysterious Fatui member Childe.

The post Latest Genshin Impact EP A Warrior Far From Home Focuses on Childe appeared first on Siliconera.

However, this item will be made in limited quantity.

The post NieR Replicant OST Pre-Order Bonus Includes Yonah’s Diary appeared first on Siliconera.

Capcom has also released a statement, mentioning that the company would like to extend the scope of the brand.

The post Monster Hunter Rise Sales Surpass 5 Million Units Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

Final Fantasy XIV's registered users continued to climb as the latest update patch draws near.

The post Final Fantasy XIV Surpasses 22 Million Registered Users Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown has become the most successful game of the series, and Bandai Namco doesn’t seem to intend to slow down with its support.

Today the publisher announced another paid DLC to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary, focusing on experimental aircraft.

It’ll come at some point this spring (with its price being still unannounced) and it’ll include the  F-15 STOL/MTD, the F-16XL, and the FB-22 Strike Raptor.

The package will also include a set of emblems and skins reproducing those of enemy pilots and units from the series.

You can enjoy a trailer and a gallery of screenshots below.

The HBO drama is a dull retread of the embattled creator’s greatest hits

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YouTuber Michael Pick managed to craft a gigantic Nintendo Switch that actually works. So how did Pick do it? Well, there's a very breezy and informative roughly four-minute video to catch, but here's a quick overview.

In short, it's a Switch hooked up to an embedded 4K screen. Basically, the giant thing has working buttons, but for ease, you're going to want to hook up something like a Pro Controller to it. At 2:38 in the video Pick opens up the "Joy-Con" to show the internal wiring. Real Joy-Con are mounted inside each faux giant Joy-Con, with servos that control the overarching "giant Switch."

The entire rig is 65 pounds, has a 4K display, and clocks in at 30 inches high and 70 inches wide. The story doesn't just end there either! Pick donated the giant Switch to Saint Jude's Children's Hospital.

This reminds me of when my old gaming crew would hook a game up to a projector and play it on the side of a building, or in a movie theater. As someone brought up in the comments of the YouTube video, one really cool way to use this giant Switch would be for a co-op game that tasks players with using the same controller: having two people negotiate the giant Joy-Con would be a fun team-building exercise.

A new Genshin Impact Windblume Festival gives people a chance to catch up with the Invitation of Windblume event's closing movie.

The post Close Out the Genshin Impact Windblume Festival With a Video appeared first on Siliconera.