May 2021

While we’re used to things like studios being bought and paid for as part of Epic’s Fortnite-fuelled crusade against companies like Apple and Valve, the company spent the weekend buying something a little more unexpected: ArtStation, a site that anyone who has ever read our Fine Art feature will be more than familiar…

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Everyone remembers their first arcade. For me it was a ramshackle joint dragged around on the back of a van that used to roll into town for a week every September, when you'd see if anyone had managed to bump you off the Super Monaco GP leaderboard in the months between each visit. For Nosebleed Interactive's Andreas Firinigl, it was somewhere a bit seedier than that.

"It was this really grotty one in the back of a dodgy video shop in Stamford," he says over a lunchtime whiskey as we chat online. "It had four or five machines - Rolling Thunder, Robocop and this Japanese board that was untranslated so I didn't know exactly what was going on. I was talking about it with a friend recently and he was like 'oh I remember that place, it had a room for pornos'. It was a really grotty shop."

Indeed. It's that unsavoury kind of joint that you first take over in Arcade Paradise, Nosebleed Interactive's forthcoming mash-up of management sim and mini-game collection.

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The town of Noto in Ishikawa received millions of yen due to the impact of covid-19. The money was part of a rural revitalization project to help the countryside in the wake of the virus.

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New information on the cast and PV was revealed for the upcoming sci-fi mecha anime.

The post Muv-Luv Alternative Anime PV Shows Off Type-97 Fubuki in Action appeared first on Siliconera.

Like Gundam? Have lots of money? Well, does a Japanese jewelry company have a product for you. Several, actually.

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New and old architecture blend together to create the world of Scarlet Nexus.

The post Scarlet Nexus Gameplay Footage Features Combat and Environments appeared first on Siliconera.

Additionally, new gameplay footage was revealed during a special broadcast.

The post Tales of Arise Skill Tree System Information Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

Protect your NERV comrades from beam attacks using the Enchanted Shield of Virtue!

The post Threezero Reveals New Evangelion Prototype Unit-00 Figure In The Works appeared first on Siliconera.

Pros of this wallpaper: It's beautiful. Cons of this wallpaper: You can't stop looking at it.

The post Zhongli Poses Regally in Official Genshin Impact Wallpaper appeared first on Siliconera.

In its newest efforts to combat the seemingly insurmountable problem of video game toxicity, developer Riot Games has announced plans to record and/or listen in on voice chatter during games of its online hero shooter Valorant.

Revealed this weekend in a statement to the Valorant community, Riot stated that it will be recording online voice chat going forward, though the League of Legends developer insists that it will only listen to specific recordings once they are flagged as containing racist, threatening, or otherwise toxic behavior. This policy is only rolling out in Valorant, and is not, at this time, extending to Riot's other releases such as League of Legends or Teamfight Tactics.

Riot addressed understandable player concerns that Big Brother might be listening.

"We believe we should collect the absolute minimum data to effectively run our games and continuously improve your experience," reads the statement. "When we collect data, we’ll be transparent, we’ll keep it for only as long as necessary, and we’ll protect it as if it were our own. We know collecting voice data is a concern for many of you, but be assured that we would never ship anything if we weren’t comfortable having our own data treated the same way."

Riot suggests that anyone who does not wish to be recorded cease immediate use of voice chat.

Activision has denied recent reports that it has laid off staff members from Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon studio Toys 4 Bob. The publisher claims that the studio remains operating at full capacity, though does confirm that, currently, the team has shifted into full-time Call of Duty: Warzone support.

"Reports of layoffs at Toys For Bob are incorrect," said an Activision representative to GamesIndustry.biz. "There has not been a reduction in personnel recently at the studio. The development team is operating fully and has a number of full-time job openings at this time. The studio is excited to continue supporting Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and more recently provide additional development support to Call of Duty: Warzone."

Toys for Bob revealed that it was working on Call of Duty via Twitter, where it stated it was proud to work alongside Warzone's lead developer Raven Software. One of Toys for Bob's former contracted employees then retweeted the message, noting that all their former colleagues at the studio had been "let go". But in light of Activision's statement to GamesIndustry.biz, it seems this may have been either a misunderstanding or a case of splitting hairs over "laying off staff" and "contracts expired".

EVE Online players make a lot of fan art related to their passion: song parodies, propaganda films, online talk shows. Now, one player is combining their passion for EVE with their passion for another kind of game—collectible card games.

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Few game music composers have as iconic a resume as Manami Matsumae. Starting at Capcom in 1987, her first major project was scoring the original Rockman, the game we know as Mega Man. The Cutman theme? That’s Matsumae. And she was just getting started, soon jumping from the Famicom into Capcom’s CPS-1 arcade hardware…

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It's almost time, Commander Shepard fans. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is nearly here, equipped with all of the game's story DLC and enhancements to bring it into a new generation of gaming. It's a great chance for those that missed out to see what all of the fandom buzz is about, and it's a phenomenal excuse for longtime fans to hop back onto the Normandy to revisit a beloved favorite. That being said, there is a potential day one patch that the PlayStation servers have leaked early.

The possible Mass Effect Legendary Edition day one patch was first spotted by Twisted Voxel over on OrbisPatches and it shows what one would expect from a day one update. Visual improvements, lighting tweaks, stability, and targeted performance changes can all be seen, which is a little odd given that is the entire point of the remaster to begin with. When the trilogy first released, it was no stranger to bugs and glitches. Remember that massive Shepard head glitch in Mass Effect 2 where they went to talk to Garrus and that big 'ol head could barely make it through the door? Or the weird exorcist head spin that happened any time you talked to Liara in her quarters in Mass Effect 3? There were a ton of glitches, but not really game-breaking.

Marvel Entertainment today released a video that celebrates motion pictures. The relationships established in over 20 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are shown, as are some of the greatest moments, like when Captain America wields Mjölnir in Avengers: Endgame.

The video then transitions to what's coming next. We get a brief tease of new footage from both Black Widow (hitting theaters on July 9) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (opening on September 3). Marvel also gives us our first look at Eternals, the next team-based superhero epic that will release on November 5.

Marvel then shows the logos and dates for the next batch of films. In that listing, Marvel debuts new names and dates for a couple of films that had working titles. Black Panther 2 is called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Captain Marvel 2 is called The Marvels, implying Carol Danvers will be teaming up with Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau. Here's a rundown of the rest of the films that are coming and when when can flock to theaters (and potentially our streaming devices) to see them:

The long road that is the Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle began back in August 2020 when Fortnite was pulled from the iOS store as a result of an ongoing battle between Epic Games and Apple. Epic Games tried to "cheat" the rules that Apple has in place for third-party apps by circumventing the required payout for all third-party businesses, so the tech company removed the game. Epic Games fired back saying that Apple adopts a favoritism model regarding business support, which prompted the Orwellian 1984-styled #FreeFortnite campaign. Even Valve was pulled into the mix, something that the PC giant is also fighting. Now, the hearing is set to commence full steam ahead. For those interested, you can listen in on the court proceedings yourself. 

When does the Epic Games vs. Apple trial begin? 

The trial is expected to last for three weeks, beginning today, May 3, 2021. U.S. district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is at the helm of the public legal battle in Oakland, California. There have been a few proceedings in the past regarding the Epic Games vs. Apple dispute, but this is the trial that will rule an official outcome regarding who the court will favor. 

The latest Final Fantasy Xbox Game Pass addition will be FFX | X-2 HD Remaster in May 2021, but it will arrive as FFIX leaves.

The post Final Fantasy X|X-2 Join Xbox Game Pass appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company is working on a Hatsune Miku: Love is War Refined Ver. figure for its anniversary that will come with a book.

The post Hatsune Miku: Love is War Refined Figure Coming in 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

The studio continued to tease ‘4’ in a batch of MCU release date updates

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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The movie will be a team-up between Marvel’s cosmically powered women

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Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, and Salma Hayek’s characters look pretty cool

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9 games in total for Game Pass subscribers

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What a combo! East meets west.

While there are several "big" games on offer this May in terms of Xbox Game Pass, arguably the two biggest are Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and Red Dead Online. The former is notable because Game Pass has been cozying up to Final Fantasy games for some time, becoming somewhat of a premier destination for the series. While the latter is interesting because Game Pass had Red Dead Redemption 2 last year, then promptly removed it from the service by the end of 2020.

You can find the full list below, but there's several other huge names too. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is semi-recent, FIFA 21 is still a top-selling sports game, and Steep is an extremely Game Pass-able "on the fence" type game that could last you a weekend or two.

Plus, who can say no to Psychonauts? It's become increasingly clear that a lot of "Games with Gold" stuff is really coming to Game Pass instead.

The world of @LeagueofLegends is coming to Netflix. Arcane drops this Fall. pic.twitter.com/7DJgqHpODM

Members of Xbox Game Pass will soon lose the ability to play Remedy’s beloved Alan Wake at no extra cost. On the other hand, the gnarliest extreme snow sports game since SSX Tricky will become available in a matter of days. Fair trade, if you ask me. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks:

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With gaming and esports experiencing a boom in 2020, how can we ensure that we†™re setting up gaming and esports for long-term success? Read on to learn about the emerging technologies and trends leading these industries into the future. ...

It's Monday and even though it's a public holiday in the UK, DF Direct Weekly continues! It's Digital Foundry's regular show where the team take a break from their various projects to talk about the news, discuss events, share behind the scenes talk on their latest projects and answer a big bunch of questions from supporters. And it's a special show in that it's the first we've put out since relaunching our Patreon as the Digital Foundry Supporter Program.

We actually filmed this one on the morning of the relaunch and had literally no idea of how well - or not - it would be received. You can read the full pitch here but let's say that we're massively thankful for the take-up we've seen on the new offering and the positive feedback we've received from supporters old and new. For us, this is about sustainability in terms of bringing in new contributors, insulating us to a certain extent from the YouTube Algorithm and also providing a solid base on which to grow DF Retro - one of the most important parts of what we do.

Nice work. Nice work. Nice work. Nice work. Nice work.

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League of Legends Arcane will arrive later this fall

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Last week, 343 Industries confirmed that Halo Infinite offers special features for PC, as well as the confirmation that it will be crossplay and cross-progression compatible between console generations and PC. To show off some of those features for PC, including ulta-widescreen support, 343 Industries has shared a new Halo Infinite screenshot from the campaign to show off the various options. 

The studio has been very clear that Halo Infinite has also been designed for PC, that it's not just a simple port. That careful iteration is likely because when the Halo: The Master Chief Collection first made its way over onto to PC via Steam, it was a mess of stability issues, a ton of bugs, and poor porting. The team has worked tirelessly to correct these problems and has largely turned the experience around. However, looking back on that time, it is easy to see why 343 would want to avoid a similar situation with a brand new game like Halo Infinite. 

The Portal games from Valve are something truly unique. Forgetting for a moment the ahead-of-its-time physics-breaking game mechanics, this series has some of the most hilariously disturbing dialogue in gaming history. And Schrodinger's cake, can't forget that. But one Portal fan decided to test the limits of A.I. by transforming their Alexa into GlaDOS and we're equally terrified and amused by this development. 

Imagine waking up to the smooth sounds of, "Killing you and giving you good advice aren't mutually exclusive." Yeah. But that's not even the impressive thing: YouTuber Mr. Volt completely recreated GlaDOS in stunning detail, with plating to match that of the in-game counterpart. Does it sing about murder? Sure! Will it help you feel better about any and all life decisions? Doubtful. Still, as a massive Portal and Portal 2 fan, I can't help but to be insanely impressed by this creation; and also very jealous that I don't have one. 

Take a look for yourself to see Alexa transform into GlaDOS with step-by-step instructions on how this was created: 

HBO is adapting the Naughty Dog universe of The Last of Us, starring The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal as Joel himself. With more casting news on the way, we decided to compile all of the confirmed casting choices so far, and we will update it as more are revealed in the coming months. For those curious, here is every character casting confirmed for The Last of Us TV series from HBO. 

The Last of Us TV series just recently added two new directors with Jasmila Žbanić (Aida) and Ali Abbasi (Border). The pair joins Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. The casting choices for the most notable characters can be seen in the list below:

Every The Last of Us TV series character casting confirmed so far

Even more titles are joining the Xbox Game Pass library, including the latest FIFA title, a horror favorite with Outlast, and more. Red Dead Online is also available through the evolving subscription service, which comes at the perfect time given that Microsoft recently rescinded the requirement to pay for Xbox Live in order to play with friends remotely. For those interested, here are the new games arriving to Xbox Game Pass – and what's leaving. 

What's new on Xbox Game Pass

Since Xbox Game Pass is an ever-evolving subscription service, there will always be new titles coming and going from its lineup. For the newest additions, however, here is what members can look forward to: 

The latest PlayStation Now update will add Jump Force, Streets of Rage 4, and Nioh, though two will be available for a limited time.

The post PlayStation Now Adds Jump Force and Streets of Rage 4 appeared first on Siliconera.