April 2021

The upcoming game Aztech: Forgotten Gods isn't even out yet and now it has a movie deal. Developer Lienzo Gaming Studio has teamed with Impossible Dream Entertainment to make a Latinx-themed movie based on the game, according to Deadline.

Shaun Redick of Impossible Dream is a producer on the Aztech movie. He previously produced the Oscar-winning movies Get Out and BlacKKKlansman.

The movie is only just getting started, but the producers will next shop it around to make a deal for production and distribution. In a blog post, lead writer Guillermo Vizcaíno cautioned that movies often take a long time to come together, so you shouldn't expect to watch the live-action Aztech movie anytime soon.

"With Aztech, it's fun to envision what world building can be achieved through the many multi-dimensional characters, the mythology and vast cultural storylines," Shaun Redick said. Producing partner Yvette Yates Redick added: "As a Latina producer and with roots in Chihuahua, Mexico, I am proud to be collaborating with Lienzo, and bringing to light the legends and rich history of Mexico with Aztech."

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 1.10 update has arrived, and it's added a couple of new limited-time seasonal items to the game. To celebrate the Japanese holiday Children's Day, you can pick up a carp banner and newsprint helmet right now from Nook Shopping.

Both items will be available to purchase through May 5. The carp banner runs for 5,500 bells, while the newsprint helmet only costs 120. To order them, you'll first need to access Nook Shopping either from your NookPhone or the Nook Stop terminal in your Resident Services building, then open the Special Goods catalog. The Children's Day items will be listed in the Seasonal tab.

You also still have a few more days to pick up the prom seasonal items. Nook Shopping is selling a prom sash, wallpaper, and flooring through April 30. The Able Sisters' shop also has a handful of prom-themed clothing items and accessories for sale until the end of the month.

There are more seasonal items on the horizon. Later in May, Nook Shopping will also stock items celebrating Mother's Day and UK's Cheese Rolling event, while Father's Day items will be available throughout June.

Sony has announced the next batch of PlayStation Plus freebies, and once again, the list includes one PS5 game and two PS4 games. PS5 users can snag Wreckfest, a fun demolition derby game that originally released in 2018. Curiously, Wreckfest's PS5 update wasn't slated to launch until June, so it seems that date has been bumped up. First-person shooter Battlefield 5 and open-world survival game Stranded Deep round out May 2021's PS Plus offerings.

Wreckfest: Drive Hard, Die Last is a spiritual successor of FlatOut. If you're a fan of arcade racing with plenty of outrageous crashes, Wreckfest is definitely worth checking out. It includes a huge assortment of cars and tracks. The superb physics and collisions systems create some of the game's best moments, but Wreckfest still has tight controls that reward smart driving over total recklessness. It earned a 9/10 in our Wreckfest review. This freebie is only available for PS5, but if you don't have a new console yet, you can claim it to play at a later date (hopefully the PS5 restock situation improves soon).

Metro Exodus is getting a big upgrade aimed at pushing your gaming PC to its limit. The Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition is coming May 6 and will be free to anyone who owns the original release across Steam, the Epic Games Store, Good Old Games, and the Microsoft Store.

According to the announcement through the official site, this version of the game will offer advanced ray tracing reflections and support for DLSS2.0 on Nvidia hardware. In fact, the announcement notes that this update will require a ray tracing capable GPU as a minimum spec. That means that currently, only players with an RTX 20/30 series or AMD 6000 series GPUs will even be able to run it.

An attached FAQ puts a fine point on it, stating that you cannot run it with ray tracing turned off. It will only be available on PCs, so it's not coming to Mac, Linux, or the streaming services Stadia or Luna. It also notes that it doesn't plan to add AMD Super Resolution, and it isn't planning to go back and add ray tracing to Metro Redux.

The latest and last Spire Quest of Fortnite Season 6 is here, and in it, you will take on Raz, the thief and hopeful island disruptor. Allied with Jonesy, you can't let Raz get away with his master plan, but the boss battle with him at The Spire has proven challenging for many players. Thankfully, some outside-the-box thinking has revealed how to defeat Raz with one hit.

How To Defeat Raz With One Hit

Raz is harder than the usual Tower Guardians not just because he has more health than they do, but because he's also got a lethal energy beam ability that quickly depletes the health bars of anyone within his range. For that reason, it's been recommended that you keep your distance when taking him on. That was before some innovative players took him on with nothing more than a height advantage and a harpoon gun.

By getting the height advantage, you're more likely to sneak up on Raz, and from there all you need is to harpoon him once. The gun will yank Raz toward you, doing 75 damage instantly, which is really nothing in the grand scheme of things, but when Raz crashes back to earth, the fall damage will wipe him out.

Samsung unveiled both the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops during a press event on April 28, and the ultra-thin laptops combine PC power with smartphone portability. In the case of one of the Galaxy Book Pro 360 variants, you also get 5G connectivity for fast speeds wherever you're using it.

The Galaxy Book Pro 360's 5G feature is available on its 13-inch variant, though it's curiously left out of the 15-inch model as well as both Galaxy Book Pro versions. Alongside this connectivity, the Pro 360 13 comes with up to 1TB of storage, a Thunderbolt 4 port for 8K monitor support, and a battery that can last about 16 hours with normal use. Its USB-C fast-charger also lets you get up to 8 hours of charge in just 30 minutes. The Galaxy Book Pro starts at $1,000 and the Pro 360 starts at $1,200.

GameStop's current CEO George Sherman is leaving the company and retaining 1 million shares that are worth more than $150 million, but he's not the only departing executive headed out the door with a big payout. The Wall Street Journal reported that three other outgoing executives are set to leave the company with paydays in the tens of millions.

GameStop CFO James Bell, who resigned in February, holds shares worth more than $40 million. According to a report, Bell was forced out by new GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen.

GameStop's chief customer officer Frank Hamlin, who also recently resigned, has an allotment of shares that are worth more than $30 million. And GameStop's merchandising executive, Chris Homeister, holds 289,000 shares valued at more than $40 million. He is planning to resign from GameStop in the time ahead.

Bell, Hamlin, and Homeister might make even more money, as their employment agreements contain incentives based on GameStop's overall performance.

These kind of stock rewards are often given to executives as a method of providing an incentive to steer a company to successful times. In the case of GameStop, the stock value is exceptionally and historically high thanks in part to the Reddit short-squeeze situation.

Minecraft modders peddling wares through the game's official mod marketplace have made a combined $350 million off of their creations since the Mojang-sanctioned portal went live in 2017. ...

We examine a new taxonomical Steam announcement, showing continued leadership from the platform in 'ways to discover new games' - and lots more discovery goodness. ...

Thanks to an explosion of popularity, battle royales have flooded the market in the past few years and become one of the most talked-about genres today. Of course, one of their marquee features generally involves tossing dozens of players into a map to scavenge for resources, weapons, and gear, while trying to outlast the rest and become the last one standing.

While this gameplay is still at the core of most battle royales, many have added additional features to spice things up, and the best of the best have earned a spot on this list.

To lay some ground rules: we’re only looking at modern battle royales, or games that are currently still available to play. So, while they were good during their time, we won’t be featuring games like H1Z1 or The Culling. We’re also not including any games that feature a smaller battle royale mode as a side dish to its main offerings like Fallout 76’s Nuclear Winter mode or Civilization VI’s Red Death mode.

So, without further ado, let’s commence the battle royale of battle royales in our ranking of the top 10 battle royales.

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For nearly five years, a group of League of Legends fans have been working on Chronoshift, a “legacy server” that would let players travel back to a decade-old version of the ever-evolving MOBA, not unlike the unofficial servers that preceded (and continued in the wake of) WoW Classic. Now, though, it seems like …

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Today, Google Stadia announced it will add a search bar function to its web store. Yes: Google, the company that literally began as a search engine, finally realized its video game platform could use a search function.

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Earlier this month, it appeared as if Castlevania Resurrection, a canceled Sega Dreamcast project from the early 2000s, had somehow escaped the dark confines of a Konami warehouse somewhere. Now, everyone has a chance to play that prototype thanks to gaming preservationists having archived that early build.

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The headline for this post would have been “Free Fallout 76 update makes players incredibly happy,” but that would have been too vague. Along with kicking off the game’s fourth season, Cold Steel, the “Locked and Loaded” update finally adds easily swappable S.P.E.C.I.A.L. builds and the ability to build and maintain a…

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An unreleased Super Nintendo platformer is finally got to get its day of glory, almost three decades after it was consigned to oblivion. Thanks to publisher Pix'n Love and developer Aurora Game Studios, Nightmare Busters is back in development for PC and consoles.

Originally designed and coded by studio Arcade Zone, Nightmare Busters was a two-player run 'n' gun title, following the escapades of a pair of leprechaun siblings as they attempt to keep nightmarish creatures from disturbing the sleep of the innocent. The finished game would see players journey through six fantasy colorful worlds en route to a showdown with the nightmare king, Tyrant.

The League of Legends community has been simmering for a little while over Riot's request to shut a fan project down—specifically, the way in which it was handled. Now, the company is saying it is "disappointed" in how it was handled, though it's still asking for development to end.

"Chronoshift" is a fan project that seeks to launch a "legacy server" for old League of Legends, recreating the game as it was a decade or so ago. Last Friday, a member of the team posted a Discord conversation they claim took place between themselves and a Riot employee, "Riot Zed," who threatened legal action and made some odd statements. "You've obviously put a lot of work into Chrono shift, but I assure you that the Chrono break is coming," they say at one point.

The Chronoshift team expressed its disappointment with the way this was handled. In a statement, it says the team has never distributed copyright material, and the project has not interacted with the live game or accounts. "We have been working on this project for almost [five] years and thousands of hours," the team said in its statement. "We never asked for even as much a donation during all of this time, paying all of the expenses out of our pockets. We have refused and banned people that offered us thousands of dollars to gain access to the project."

It doesn’t exist, but that hasn’t hurt its popularity

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Yharnam looks a little different

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How do I battle 30-50 feral hogs in 5 rounds?

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The FFVII Remake Intergrade Co-Directors Motomu Toriyama explained why Yuffie is wearing a Moogle hood in the Intergrade INTERmission DLC.

The post FFVII Remake Director Explains the Yuffie Moogle Hood Appearance in INTERmission appeared first on Siliconera.

The entire Kingdom Hearts series in its current state arrives on PC, providing to be a more than suitable series of ports.

The post Kingdom Hearts PC Ports Are an Excellent Gateway to the Series appeared first on Siliconera.

Google Stadia launched in November 2019, and in April 2021 its store is getting a search bar.

The post Google Stadia Store Search Bar Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

Today third-party developers have released a rather large number of new airports for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Let’s start with Orbx and its partners. We get the release of Elstree Aerodrome (EGTR). It’s currently available on Orbx Direct for $13.98.

The team over at Lucid Games is looking to bring the heat with Destruction AllStars season 1. The first season brings with it a new game mode, fanciful photo options, a new character, and more. We've also got a new trailer showing off everything players have to look forward to.

What's in Destruction AllStars season 1? 

This is the very first season for the game, adapting a popular model for online adventures in order to freshen up the gameplay experience for dedicated players. From getting new cosmetics to show off that in-game personality to the reveal of the new Blitz mode, check out the Hothots trailer below to get a first look at what's on the way: 

New Character

First off, let's talk about Destruction AllStars' newest personality. She goes by the name of Alba, and she's a fierce competitor that is no stranger to this particular arena. After leaving Destruction AllStars for "several years," Alba's back and ready to show everyone around her who's boss. 

Step right up, CD Projekt Red have served the up the next Cyberpunk 2077 hotfix fresh off the food truck in Night City. Following that big Patch 1.2 in March and another hotfix earlier this month, this one solves more quest bugs, some clothing clipping, and more stability fixes.

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Various folks behind Netflix series including The Witcher and Shadow And Bone have plans to develop films or shows set in the World Of Darkness. That's the goth fantasy universe which houses tabletop RPGs like Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, as well as video games including the venerated Bloodlines. They haven't yet announced any specific project yet (nor indicated where they might find homes), but here's my pitch: a mystery show starring a Malkavian private eye.

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Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's alpha has entered its fourth and final phase, meaning players now have access to all their hard-earned toys from the main game - and will continue to do so until the alpha wraps up on its new, later end date of 5th May.

More specifically, phase four of the Odyssey alpha integrates a recent snapshot of Elite Dangerous' base game - taken on 23rd April - so that participants can make use of any Commanders, ships, ship customisations, fighters, SRVs, and so on acquired up to that point. And to ensure players are able to spend more time doing space stuff and less time waiting for their belongings to worm their way from wherever in the galaxy they were left in the main game, Frontier is reducing transportation times and transportation costs for the alpha.

Additionally, a number of core gameplay features not previously available in the alpha are now live and accessible in phase four, meaning players will get the clearest indication yet of just how impactful Odyssey's additions - primarily focussed on on-foot traversal and first-person gunplay - might be on the existing space sim experience.

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Microsoft execs noted that shortages are ongoing in forward-looking comments from its quarterly investor call. ...

We expect him to have particularly high charisma

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Also coming soon: Sortable collections! An activity feed!

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[Update: It's that time again! You can now claim Wreckfest (PS5 only), Stranded Deep (PS4), and Battlefield V (PS4) for your PlayStation Plus library. The offer stands until June 1, 2021.]

The three games coming to PlayStation Plus members next month feature famous vehicles of destruction, from the historical and sporting to the nautical. On May 4, Wreckfest hits the PlayStation 5 lineup, while Battlefield V and Stranded Deep round out the PS4.

Wreckfest: Drive Hard, Die Last is a "full-contact racer" from the makers of FlatOut. There aren't just competitive races, but challenges involving odd vehicles like crop harvesters, and 24-player online multiplayer. Seems good for the folks who didn't get their fill of next-gen vehicular destruction from Destruction AllStars. 

Battlefield V is the series' return to World War 2, with single-player War Stories and massive multiplayer maps to fight across. It makes sense to see this on here, as the Battlefield team is teasing a reveal coming soon.

Publisher Atlus has happily announced that pseudo-sequel Persona 5 Strikers has successfully passed the 1.3 million shipments and digital sales milestone, with the musou-like title finding some sweet success on PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Originally released in Japan back in February 2020, before landing in western territories one year later, Persona 5 Strikers is an action-oriented RPG that sees The Phantom Thieves of Persona 5 reunite for a cross-country tour of Japan, stopping off to see the sights and right a few wrongs. Persona 5 Strikers introduces new mechanics, characters, enemies, and locales to the universe, while retaining the hyper-stylized visuals, jazzy score, and deep-rooted melodrama that is an unmistakable series trademark.

In celebration of the announcement, Atlus applied a limited-time 35% discount to the Japanese console editions of Persona 5 Strikers. Unfortunately the publisher has not afforded the same courtesy to western storefronts. I understand that the title is well over a year old in its native Japan, but it's still kind of a miserly move. Joker and pals would not be pleased.

Sega is partnering with (and investing in) Double Jump.Tokyo.

The post Sega Will Begin Selling NFT Based on Its IPs appeared first on Siliconera.

Naughty Dog may have more in store for The Last of Us moving past its second part. Creative director Neil Druckmann has said there's an outline for what happens following The Last of Us Part II, though it's not in the works right now.

Druckmann and co-writer Halley Gross appeared on the Script Apart podcast (thanks, IGN) to discuss the writing of 2020's The Last of Us Part II. It's a long look into the process of writing the sequel, including major themes and discussions of some pretty big moments in the story (yes, spoiler warning) and talk about the upcoming HBO series.

When the subject of a follow-up comes up though, Druckmann says the subject has come up, though there's a lot of work that goes into creating one because, as he notes, "these games take so much to make."

"I don't know how much I want to reveal... [Halley Gross] and I did write an outline for a story, that we're not making, but I hope one day can see the light of day, that explores a little bit what happens after this game," said Druckmann. "We'll see."

Knowing necromancy means never having to say goodbye. Luckily, this Valheim mod adds exactly that. There's already one mod that adds Skyrim's magic into the world of Valheim, so adding necromancy just adds a little more flavor into the mix. 

I have been having a lot of fun with Valheim mods lately, so when a friend dropped this in Discord a few days ago, I couldn't wait to try it out. I've been having a lot of fun with it, and it helps me do what I love most: not die. 

So how does necromancy work in Valheim anyway? What this mod does is it adds that ability for players to summon up to eight skeletons to fight your battles alongside you. Players can summon them with the addition of a "convoking wand," with a small catch of sacrificing HP (give a little to get a little). Players can heal with this ability, sacrifice, and command each skeleton to do their bidding. They also teleport with you and will follow you, so it's really just a super morbid companion. Friends are fun! 

As we've already seen several instances of so far, attitudes about remote work have been shifting in the games industry since the Covid-19 pandemic forced a work from home lifestyle last year. Multiple companies have since instituted permanent work from home policies, such as Square Enix and Hi-Rez Studios, after finding that the setup was working well for them.

According to this year's GDC survey, many developers personally feel that they're doing well working from home. A total of 67% of the more than 3,000 developers surveyed feel that their productivity has been the same or better since working remotely.

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