April 2021

Power Broker? I hardly know ’er

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IGN's larger report about how the store closure news blindsided some developers with Vita games in the works also sheds light on the short deadlines devs have to get their Vita games out the door. ...

Doom Eternal is half price ($29.99) on the Nintendo Switch eShop, and that's a solid deal.

Panic Button's well-liked Switch port of Doom Eternal only released digitally, and it's still relatively recent compared to the older PC and other console versions that came out first, so for anyone considering waiting on a "good deal," this is likely your best opportunity for a good long while.

For a tech analysis, I'd turn to Digital Foundry. The Switch edition looks blurry even when you aren't stacking it up side-by-side, but it plays well, and it's a "near locked 30 frames per second experience" in docked play. As for those pesky Marauders, I can't help you there – you're gonna have to practice.

While I'd say Doom Eternal is the focal point here, a few other notable eShop sales are running right now that you can peruse all at once over on Nintendo's sales and deals page. For once, it's not too cramped.

Bethesda has the wider Doom and Wolfenstein series on sale. Everything is half price, which works out pretty well for the classic Doom titles, but not so much for Skyrim, which is still charging $29.99.

Outriders went live yesterday, and it seems like a lot of people are hopping on, because the servers are having some trouble keeping up. Players are reporting disconnections and troubles staying logged into servers.

Over on the Outriders subreddit and on social media, users have been posting pictures of the start screen. Developer People Can Fly has been openly addressing it though, posting updates on the Outriders Twitter page.

In a statement, studio head Sebastian Wojciechowski says that Square Enix is working to fix the server issues as soon as possible.

"As developers, who've been working super hard for the last five years to make this game awesome, we really hope that you will judge the game rather than those teething troubles related to server issues," said Wojciechowski. "It is frustrating for you and it is frustrating for us."

Well, shoot – another delay. And not necessarily a game I expected to be pushed back again.

TT Games planned to wrap up LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga by spring 2021, but as of today, the self-proclaimed "biggest and best-ever LEGO game" won't make that release window.

The developers noted on Twitter that they simply "need more time" – but stopped short of sharing a revised target. We'll hear more about the "updated launch timing as soon as possible."

Thanks to all our fans for your continued patience. pic.twitter.com/tCDV9Ikftd

— TT Games (@TTGames) April 2, 2021

Fantasian, the new dioramic RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, launched on Apple Arcade. But as it turns out, that wasn't the only game coming to the service.

Apple announced today that over 30 games are coming to the subscription gaming service, spread across new games and old classics. Alongside the new originals, Apple launched two new categories: Timeless Classics and App Store Greats.

The Classics section has some longtime standards: a chess and backgammon app, for example, as well as the pretty solid Good Sudoku by Zach Gage. App Store Greats, meanwhile, holds a number of mobile classics ad-free and fully unlocked, including Fruit Ninja Classic, Mini Metro, and Threes!, which is responsible for a lot of lost hours for me, personally.

A big surprise is PlatinumGames' World of Demons, the action mobile game first shown back in 2018 that later quietly disappeared has snuck onto the Apple Arcade list. It's got some really striking, Okami-esque visuals for its tale of samurai and yokai.

If you enjoyed Demon’s Souls’ updated score on PlayStation 5 and want to be able to listen to it in high fidelity, you’re in luck: Sony and Milan Records are partnering to produce a two-disc vinyl set of 21 tracks from the remastered classic for release on June 18.

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Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round up of the coolest merchandise on the internet lately. This week: head back to Middle-earth’s Second Age, Lego strikes out on DC and Marvel with classic Batman and Venom sets, the perfect Star Trek Rubik’s Cube, and more. Check it out!

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Once upon a time, Shigeru Miyamoto famously said, “A delayed game is eventually good. A bad game is bad forever.” It’s a statement that felt like it would never fall out of fashion, until it did. Modern games are never finished. Bad games become good. Good games become bad. Games of all stripes add social components,…

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Considering how popular the Cthulhu mythos has been in recent years, it’s a cosmic mystery why it took so long for the venerable Arkham Horror board game series to get its first video game adaption. That makes it even more of a shame that Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace gives it such a middling digital debut. Its particular take on Lovecraftian horror feels faithful in the details, but uninterested in challenging some of its own troubling preconceptions – or even being very scary. Couple that with soft ball puzzles and pushover combat encounters, and this dark ritual feels largely harmless.

Mother’s Embrace is an adventure game structured like most Arkham-themed card or board games: you control a group of investigators who hop between Prohibition era locales like prestigious universities and old spooky buildings in search of clues. Solving the great mystery of a weird and wondrous force that threatens all of reality without being consumed by it yourself requires a balance of both physical and mental fortitude, but every move forces you to make tough choices that look to disrupt that balance – be it through bizarre mind breaking discoveries or brutal bone breaking confrontations.

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Little Nightmares is known for having some of the most creative and grotesque creatures in video gaming. They range from a terrifying Teacher that can stretch out her necks to gluttonous Twin Chefs that chop up everything they see.

These creatures were so creative, they actually inspired professional sculptor Ace of Clay (real name Anthony) to dedicate a segment of videos on his YouTube channel to them. In this series, he not only comes up with his own ideas for new monsters for the Little Nightmares ethos but also crafts them out of clay, showing fans his step-by-step process as he makes them.

In the video above, you can see his latest creation, The Seamstress, a lanky, spindly old woman that has her mouth sewn shut. Backstorywise, Ace of Clay stated that this character comes to your room and steals your soul, adding it to her collection of souls she has sewn together that are doomed to sit in limbo for eternity.

While the weather is certainly starting to warm up, there is still going to be plenty of time that you’re going to find yourself hanging out inside just enjoying some Netflix this April. Luckily, there is actually a pretty impressive slate of shows that are headed to the platform this month. 

Below, we’ve compiled the four shows coming to Netflix this April that you won’t want to miss out on. 

Celebrity Deathmatch: Godzilla Vs. Kong edition

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I’m having a problem playing Fantasian, the new turn-based RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker released today on Apple Arcade. I can’t stop pausing to look at how gorgeous the game’s real-life miniature diorama sets are. I didn’t say it was a bad problem.

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Beats Solo Pro | $145 | Woot

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Koei Tecmo introduced a new girl to the endlessly-growing free-to-play game Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation.

Her name is Nanami, and she is Misaki’s former classmate. She’s voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro, whom you may know for lending her voice to Lulua in Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland.

You can check her out in the video below.

Do keep in mind that Nanami’s introduction doesn’t mean that you can unlock her immediately unless you’re willing to pay cold hard cash for the opportunity.

The new character is already available exclusively via a paid gacha. While the SSR rate is the usual 1.10%, Koei Tecmo pretty much cheats by throwing in a bunch of unrelated SSR outfits reducing the percentage to a ridiculously low 0.78% to actually get Nanami. She likely won’t be available in non-paid gacha for several months.

On the plus side, this means that the previous addition, Lobelia, should be available in free gachas soon.

Today third-party developers have continued to release new airports and reveal new goodies for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Pyreegue released Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (UKLL) in Lviv, Ukraine.

It’s currently available on Orbx Direct for approximately $17. Below you can check out a gallery of screenshots and a features list.

Star Wars fans looking to get their fix in the form of Lego games are set to be disappointed yet again. Following several delays, TT Games has once again pushed back its latest project. The Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga latest delay now puts the game from its spring release window into the unknown.

The news came via an announcement from the development team via Twitter. The team explained that while they were still working hard, but they require more time to make “the biggest and best-ever Lego game.”

More details will be shared following this latest delay for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

Warner Bros. has delayed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga again.

Developer TT Games said it needed more time to make Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which was due out spring 2021 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, "the biggest and best ever Lego game."

The Skywalker Saga was first revealed at E3 2019 and was initially expected to come out in late 2020, but in August it was delayed to spring 2021. It is an all-new retelling of all nine films, with the goal of being the definitive Lego Star Wars game.

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PlayStation Studios' MLB The Show 21 launches on Xbox Game Pass day one, Microsoft has announced.

MLB The Show 21 is the first PlayStation Studios game to launch on Xbox Game Pass. The deal also means PlayStation owners have to pay £60 for the Sony-developed MLB The Show 21, while Xbox owners can get it as part of their Game Pass subscription when it comes out on 20th April.

If you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can get MLB The Show 21 on your Android phone via the cloud.

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New research has "robustly verified" a link between loot boxes and problem gambling.

Researchers at the universities of Plymouth and Wolverhampton said loot boxes "are structurally and psychologically akin to gambling".

It also found that large numbers of children are opening loot boxes.

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Platinum Games just released an Apple Arcade-exclusive called World of Demons.

World of Demons is an action game, which comes as no surprise given Platinum is the developer of some of the best action games in the business, such as Bayonetta and NieR:Automata. The trailer is below:

This one's set in a fantastical world full of yokai - a class of supernatural monsters and spirits from Japanese folklore. (Ewan Wilson wrote a fascinating article for Eurogamer about the yōkai in From Software's Sekiro, which is well worth a read if you want to know more.)

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It's the weekend once again, and I'd be lying if I said the days and weeks hadn't long blurred together to make one long day. Time seems simultaneously too fast and too slow, and I'm definitely struggling with the separation of day-to-day activities and events. Still, I have friends, I have games, I have movies, and I have you. Until we can get matters back to a state of normalcy, that will be enough for many of us. I hope this weekend finds you and yours well, and I hope you're keeping your mind exercised and occupied as we push through this particularly tricky period.

A big part of my week has revolved around just grabbing short bursts of gaming wherever I'm able, which hasn't been too often, to be frank. I've mostly resorted to hitting Capcom Arcade Stadium for small, cathartic breaks playing familiar favorites. While many of the games featured on that compendium are titles I've played to death, I'm still finding some new loves, such as Cave's excellent 2001 shmup Progear, which has a gorgeous aesthetic and challenging, satisfying gameplay. That's the great thing about video games, there's always new gems to discover, whatever your generation.

But this morning it's your time to talk gems. I appreciate you taking time out of your weekend to visit Destructoid, and I'm looking forward to reading about all the titles old and new that are occupying your free time, whether you have hours or even just minutes to play with. Jump into the comments below and let us know what you've been hitting this week. Hope it was a rad one.

Have a safe and pleasant weekend, from all of us at Destructoid.

In 2023, a new Kamen Rider film will be released. Called Shin Kamen Rider, it will be the latest reimagining of one of Japan’s most iconic heroes. Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno will be at the helm.

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Call of Duty: Warzone's enormous mid-season update was hotly-anticipated by fans, but unfortunately it has suffered from a number of serious issues since launch.

Shockingly, the long-standing invisibility bug, which has plagued Warzone for months now, returned with the update. This awful bug, which allows entire squads to turn invisible during a match, was linked to this week's return of the mini-gun variant of the helicopter. In response, Warzone developer Raven Software pulled the mini-gun chopper entirely from the game to investigate.

This is not the first time this has happened. Attack helicopters hit Warzone in December but were quickly pulled because they were used as part of an exploit that made players invisible. Nearly four months later, the attack helicopters returned to Warzone and, again, were quickly pulled because of the same exploit.

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Can the Beautiful Boy give Tomie a run for her money?

The post Junji Ito’s Lovesickness Is an Infectious Read appeared first on Siliconera.

A New Legacy gets new graphics

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Shrek 2, a film with layers, is now available to stream on Hulu

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Most folks don’t love Doom 3, often citing how much slower the game feels compared to old Doom titles. But that slower speed plus its focus on creating a dark, scary atmosphere means that nearly 17 years after its release, Doom 3 ends up being a great VR game. It might even be a better game in VR.

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People have basically been talking about a Space Jam sequel with Lebron James for as long as Lebron James has been in the NBA. Slowly but surely that finally came together and now, 25 years after the first film was released, there’s a trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy.

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A pair of JVC AE wireless earbuds with running coaching and a set of solar-powered outdoor torches lead Saturday’s best deals.

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This week on Morning Checkpoint we watch a very rich person forget to pay their bills, learn how valuable your old Pokemon cards might be, find out which games will be free on PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold next month, and learn about more delays.

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Fight your way through Balduq in 4k with the latest version update for Ys IX: Monstrum NOX.

The post Ys IX: Monstrum NOX Can Run at 4k on PS5 appeared first on Siliconera.

Resident Evil Village has a photo mode, new footage has confirmed.

IGN published our first look at the promising horror game running on a PlayStation 4 Pro, and in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen we see you can press the Options button for skip / photo mode (Resident Evil 7 does not have either feature). The cutscene in question stars Lady Dimitrescu.

Unless you've been living under a rock this year you'll know the internet is... enjoying Resident Evil Village's extremely tall vampire lady.

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Outriders has launched big, although tech issues are hampering its release.

People Can Fly's looter shooter hit over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, where it is currently the top-selling game at £49.99.

As a point of comparison, Square Enix's high-profile flop Marvel's The Avengers hit a peak concurrent player count of 28,145 on Steam when it launched in September. It's currently averaging 1000 concurrent players over the last 30 days.

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Square Enix has shown off Final Fantasy 14 running on a PlayStation 5 for the first time.

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida revealed 16 minutes of footage of the PS5 version during Square Enix's latest Letter from the Producer livestream (thanks, Gematsu).

You can check the footage out in the video below (skip to the one hour and 19 minutes mark):

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Who needs a rivalry when you have friends?

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