July 2021

Daedalic has released a new trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and given us a look at the developer's take on some well-known characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe.

The video, below, shows off Gollum doing stealthy climby bits and bobs as we've seen him do before in previous trailers, but in a few new environments such as Mirkwood.

We then see the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, aka Mouth of Sauron, for the first time:

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Retailers have revealed a UK price for Nintendo Switch OLED: £309.99 for either its White or Neon coloured variants.

That's £30 more expensive than the base Switch model, which typically retails in the UK for £279.99, and more than £100 more expensive than the Switch Lite, which costs £199.99.

GAME has a page of deals for the OLED console and various game bundles, or you can find the White Nintendo Switch OLED and Neon Nintendo Switch OLED pages here.

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Life, as Nacon calls it, is a new series of life sims themed around professions. It is not realistic in any way shape or form. The trailer’s narrator opens a restaurant. She plans out everything from the layout to the menu, and then plates the food for every order. One week later they’re fully booked up and everything is going great. Time to plan for a new career, apparently. “Tomorrow, I’m still deciding whether to become a surgeon or maybe an architect?” is a line directly lifted from the trailer.

Instead of a job simulator, it comes across as a self-actualisation exercise. I fully expected it to end on a record scratch and to find out that she's been sitting on the toilet eating cereal out of a cat litter bin. But no, reality never intruded on Life.

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Level-5 has posted several job listing pertaining to the upcoming RPG.

The post A New Level-5 RPG is Currently in Development appeared first on Siliconera.

The half-demon half-angel will bring hope through the power of song.

The post New Hololive English VSinger IRyS Will Debut As Part of Project: HOPE appeared first on Siliconera.

The anime season is just beginning, so let’s see what shows are airing. Here’s our comprehensive list of all the anime Japan has to offer. Do let us know what you’re watching in the comments below.

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Last month, Heritage Auctions sold $2.1 worth of anime art. The above My Neighbor Totoro cel, for example, drew 69 bids and ultimately went for $84,000. According to Heritage, that’s 17 times the pre-auction estimate.

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Another month has been and gone so it's just for a new Humble Choice bundle. The headline games this month? Yakuza 3, Dirt 5, The Surge 2 and Paradise Killer. Those four - and another eight games - can be yours for just £8.50/$12.

Let's start with Yakuza 3. This is the remastered version of the third (though chronologically fourth) entry in the much-loved series. In recent years, the Yakuza games have broken out massively from cult favourites to gain universal recognition.

Starting out mid-way through the Kiryu saga may not sound like the most sensible choice, but if you've never tried the games then this'll give you an idea of whether you want to play the rest. Conveniently, the rest of the Yakuza franchise is on sale at the Humble Store. Or, you can play them all on Xbox Game Pass.

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Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia have left the developer following its acquisition by EA.

EA told GamesIndustry.biz the pair's departure has "always been part of the plan", but was brought forward due to the speed of Codies' integration into EA.

F1 developer Codemasters and Project Cars developer Slight Mad, which Codies bought in November 2019, are being made a part of EA Sports, which is publishing F1 2021 next week.

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Warpips belongs to a class of games that I buy because they remind me of Advance Wars - visually at least. In truth, Warpips is not Advance Wars, and it's not trying to be, and that's fine because the thing it is trying to be is pretty excellent anyway.

I think this is tug-of-war at heart. The battlefield is a long corridor of land here, with your HQ on one end and the enemy HQ at the other. The objective is always the same - destroy the enemy HQ and don't let the enemy destroy yours. But the matches that unfold are never the same.

It's real-time, and you have no direct control of your units once they're on the ground. Even so, this is a game dense with choices. Firstly, you choose which units to deploy, as and when you can afford them. Then, when they trot out to kill enemies and earn XP, you choose what to spend the XP on. You can use it to buy more war pips, which allows you to deploy more units at once. You can use it to boost your cash supplies - cash builds up overtime anyway, but slowly - so you can buy more units faster. Or you can use it to rank up your units so they get better and do more damage and all that jazz.

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Though this short new look at The Lord of the Rings: Gollum shows more of the producer’s face than the game, there is some new stuff in there for you LOTR nerds. We get to see Mirkwood, which looks lovely. We get to see Gandalf. But, most impressively, we get to see the Mouth of Sauron, aka the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, who is taking his collar game very seriously. That's very obviously him in the header image.

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Played from the perspective of one of J.R.R Tolkein’s most unique and unusual characters, Deadalic Entertainment’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is set to deliver a very different sort of gameplay experience than typical games based on the franchise. That doesn’t mean, however, that we won’t bump into some of its most recognizable characters along the way, and today’s new trailer, “A Unique Promise,” showcases familiar faces such as Gandalf the Grey for the first time.

As you’ll see below, producer Harold Rieglar is on hand to introduce us to Gollum’s story as he travels from Mirkwood to Mordor and across many different locations from Tolkein’s fantasy world that are frequently referenced in the novels but have never been fully detailed or realized until now.

As he continues to tee up the game’s premise and design you’ll see some all-new gameplay footage of Gollum sneaking around locations such as Slave Pits of the Dark Tower. There’s also a first look at characters such as The Mouth of Sauron, the lieutenant of Barad-Dur; as well as Tharanduil, king of the elves of Mirkwood; and finally, Gandalf the Grey, the iconic and beloved wizard.

Nintendo confirmed in Japanese interviews that the OLED Switch will have the same Tegra processor.

The post Switch OLED Processor Will Be the Same As Prior Models appeared first on Siliconera.

The website features artwork from the various artists that worked on the game, as well as staff interviews.

The post Final Fantasy XI 20th Anniversary Countdown Website Open appeared first on Siliconera.

Over half of the participants found the game to be a satisfying experience.

The post Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier CBT Players Were Satisfied With the Game appeared first on Siliconera.

Codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, next title in series will contain multiple historical settings

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In the early days of June 2011, the playerbase of EVE Online joined together in revolution and war. The enemy was not a diablocial space-tyrant, or an army of NPC spaceships waiting to give battle, but the company that created EVE, CCP Games. A recent expansion, Incarna, had launched with a slew of overpriced…

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Summer 2020 marked a massive shift in the gaming industry, particularly those who have suffered sexual misconduct and abusive leadership when the #MeToo movement hit Ubisoft hard. After numerous reports surfaced regarding abuse, misconduct, and power corruption leading to several high-profile execs being fired, the investigations into the underbelly of this studio's culture continue. Investigations revealed that over 25 percent of employees experienced, or witnessed, workplace misconduct. While several notable executive roles became vacant due to these investigations, including Ashraf Ismail, Tommy Francois, and Maxime Beland, a new report shares that many employees feel unheard after numerous managers that were reported for misconduct remain in their leadership positions. 

Earlier today, we covered a report from Bloomberg about Assassin's Creed Infinity, a codename for the upcoming entry in the franchise that will be a live-service game. Shortly after, Ubisoft itself confirmed the report -- at least the part about the new game being in development and the vision for the series undergoing another shift. Another part of the report, however, includes the continued cycle of the work culture at Ubisoft. 

Assassin's Creed has grown a lot through the years. Some missteps, some triumphs. The franchise hit a new high with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, with many fans loving the more immersive RPG aspects, dialogue options, and choice of protagonist. Valhalla continued on that trend, offering an even bigger experience. While some in the community have mentioned that they worry certain games are getting a little too big, bordering on overwhelming, it looks like Ubisoft is looking to go even bigger. More than that, a new report suggests that the next Assassin's Creed game, called Assassin's Creed Infinity, will be a live service entry. 

[Update] 7/7/21 at 8:14 a.m. Central: Ubisoft has confirmed Assassin's Creed Infinity, you can learn more with the full blog post here. 

UPDATE 2.25PM UK: Ubisoft has now formally acknowledged Assassin's Creed Infinity and detailed more of how it will be run, and who will work on it.

The lengthy blog post contains mention of two teams led by two creative directors. Clint Hocking, formerly of Splinter Cell and Watch Dogs Legion, will lead a team at Ubisoft Montreal. Jonathan Dumont, a veteran of Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Odyssey, will lead a team at Ubisoft Quebec.

The Infinity project that will include the games made by both these teams will be led by Marc-Alexis Côté, who will now serve as executive producer of the entire Assassin's Creed franchise. Côté worked on Brotherhood before becoming creative director on Syndicate, and is one of the most senior staff at Ubisoft Quebec.

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Red Dead Online players can now enter some of the banks.

In a recent post on reddit, one player shared a video of them walking into Rhodes Bank claiming the bank was unlocked.

The banks have been closed since Red Dead Online launched in May 2019.

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Watch Dogs: Legion - aka Watch Dogs: Lahndahn, you slaaaaags - and its near-future dystopian vision of our nation's capital grows closer to "Yikes, too soon!" territory every day, doesn't it? But yesterday saw the release of the Bloodline DLC, which brings original Watch Dogs protagonist Aiden Pearce and Watch Dogs 2 best boy Wrench to a standalone story DLC. It has also brought me an unexpected source of absolute joy, and that's ditching Aiden's boring cap and trench and dressing him up in Legion's myriad clothing lines.

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New watches inspired by Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise will be available in Japan next month.

The post New Pokemon Seiko Watches Will Be Based on Kanto Starters appeared first on Siliconera.

Additionally, an Ultimate Edition has been announced and will come bundled with DLC.

The post Dragon Ball Z Kakarot Switch Trailer Highlights Features appeared first on Siliconera.

Visitors can search for Pokémon

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Today, on Twitter, Bungie teased something related to Savathun. This could be connected to the expansion to follow Beyond Light, The Witch Queen, which is slated to be released in early 2022. It’s also possible this is just related to a seasonal event/change.

In either case, expect something heavy as players will need to “survive the truth” according to Bungie.

What this likely means is that Hive god of deception Savathun’s plans, which have been slowly hinted at for years now in Destiny 2’s story might finally be fully revealed as we move past the Fallen drama that has enveloped players since Beyond Light and start hiking back into Hive territory.

At the moment all we can do is speculate, but the insignia combined with what has been hinted at in-game is a pretty strong giveaway as to what we can expect to learn about.

Norsfell’s Tribes of Midgard is finally about to release, and it’s certainly an interesting game with intriguing gameplay and an engaging setting.

Taking on the role of a mighty Einherjar, players will have to defend their villages from the literal end of the world, heralded by monsters and terrifying giants.

To learn more about this upcoming title, Twinfinite interviewed Norsfell CEO and Creative Director Julian Maroda.

Giuseppe: You collect souls, you lose them when you die, and the game does feel a bit Souls-like in the pacing of its combat. Is there a bit of inspiration there?

Julian Maroda: We’re inspired by a lot of classic games – our team worked really hard to make Tribes of Midgard a game that’s taking some flavor from a lot of our favorites like Diablo, Don’t Starve (especially Don’t Starve Together), and more. 

To be compared to the Souls franchise is honestly humbling. There are definitely some small similarities that you’ve already mentioned, but I think that’s about as far as it goes. Tribes of Midgard was designed to make survival gameplay more accessible – where you can have an awesome shared co-op experience with friends, and we made sure that our difficulty would scale automatically to however many players are in a given session. 

Atlus is continuing its trailer spree focusing on the over 200+ demons of its upcoming JRPG Shin Megami Tensei V.

Ubisoft has today announced that the next Assassin’s Creed project will mark the beginning of a new cross-studio strategy that brings to an end the studio rotation that has up until now produced the developer’s steady annual release of the series. The new initiative has been codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity, led by Marc-Alexis Côté, who will serve as executive producer.

Côté will be joined by key members of Ubisoft’s Montreal, Quebec, including Étienne Allonier, brand director for Assassin’s Creed for the last 10 years; Julien Laferrière who has been named senior producer, overseeing production at both studios, and creative directors Jonathan Dumont and Clint Hocking.

Ubisoft introduced the concept behind the Infinity project in today’s press release:

“…we wanted to share some key updates on the talented and creative minds that will now be working in a collaborative, cross-studio structure between Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Quebec that will guide, grow, evolve, and define the overall future of Assassin’s Creed that includes an important upcoming, early-in-development project codenamed Assassin’s Creed Infinity.”

Later in the article, Ubisoft also cites its intention to build a more multicultural approach to game development as reason for the change.

Officially revealed today and launching July 13, Red Dead Online: Blood Money brings a more organized sort of criminal to the Wild West, as important members of the burgeoning underworld start recruiting gunslingers for a new series of adventures known as “crimes.” Hmmm, sounds familiar.

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Earlier today, Bloomberg reported that the next entry in the Assassin’s Creed series will be a live service game. Shortly thereafter, Ubisoft confirmed the existence of a new Assassin’s Creed project.

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Ubisoft says working from home has fundamentally changed the way games are made, allowing it the chance to increase collaboration on future Assassin's Creed titles. ...

"There†™s depth in the Death Trash world," says creator Stephan Hövelbrinks. "It's just consumed in a different way." ...

Why seek human comfort when you could have a gigantic Mountain Dew body pillow instead? That's right; Mountain Dew is taking its marketing to a new, comfortable level with a humongous body pillow modeled after the sugary, high-fueled soft drink. Do you need one? No. Should you get one anyway? Absolutely. And you can do just that now because these comfy pieces of art are going on sale today through the Mountain Dew store (yes, the drink has a store). 

We're nearing the end of a global pandemic, hopefully, and you know what that means? We deserve good things. If the Tali from Mass Effect body pillow that we shared yesterday isn't your thing, do the dew instead: 

Given that this is one of the unofficial-yet-official Gamer Drinks Of Choice™, this meme-able piece of merch is actually kind of cool. Even if not for canoodling like the nice gentleman above. Wrap it around you like a pillow burrito while gaming for comfort, or mount it up on your front door to let your neighbors know you're completely off your rocker. Dealer's choice! 

When Santa Monica Studios' God of War came out on the PlayStation 4 back in 2018, it was instantly a massive hit. The community adored the storyline, seeing Kratos in his role as a father, and learning more about this world from a different perspective. For those hoping to take to God of War on PC, you technically can now — starting today — as long as you have PlayStation Now. 

2018's God of War took what David Jaffe created back in 2005 into different waters, waters that felt comfortable and enticing at the same time. The story of Kratos and his son Atreus was one that felt meaningful every step of the way, and the combat challenges all felt unique and purposeful leading up to the game's conclusion. With the sequel in the works, a sequel that has been pushed back a little bit to ensure its quality reaches that of the vision, many eyes are on where God of War will go next. To pass the time, revisit the revitalized entry once more in a different format; on PC. 

What is PlayStation Now? 

For those that may not have PlayStation Now and may be a little confused about what it even is, it's a subscription service that Sony has offered for a while, one that allows players to play their favorite games on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and on PC. The library continues to grow, with the latest addition being none other than Santa Monica's latest treasure. 

Earlier today, I covered a pretty heavy topic dealing with abuse and misconduct. That heaviness, especially when coming from a place of experience in a similar vein, can make your heart hurt. So, because of that, I ask that you bear with me as I write something so delightfully stupid to make myself smile and hopefully, you smile too. So. Let's talk sexy hanar in Mass Effect Legendary Edition, shall we? 

There are a lot of mods for Mass Effect Legendary Edition so far, more so recently since BioWare made it easier to access the required code. Last week, we covered a nifty one that restored a longstanding glitch concerning the one and only Conrad Verner. This week, we're talking "juicy" hanar. It's called balance, sweetie. 

Created by modder u/Grixdale, the Sexier Hanar mod now comes with "100% more nips." It's a jesting mod, so don't take it too seriously, but too hilariously weird to not write up. The mod creator made this in joking retaliation to those that complained about a previous N7 Body-Con Dress mod that eliminated panty lines and covered nipples, so now they put all those hidden nipples on the hanar instead because life is chaos and we're all going to die anyway. 

Konami has cancelled its contract with Antoine Griezmann after a video in which the France and Barcelona star appears to ridicule Asian hotel staff resurfaced this week.

The Snapchat video, which appears to show Griezmann as well as teammate Ousmane Dembele mocking Asian technicians during Barcelona's tour of Japan in 2019, has sparked a vociferous backlash amid racism allegations.

According to ESPN, in the video Dembele says to Griezmann: "All these ugly faces, just so you can play PES, aren't you ashamed?"

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Hunting isn't for everyone. With its myriad creatures the world of Monster Hunter is made for a Pokémon-type game, and so the Stories spin-offs feel like an attempt to offer a friendlier alternative, from cute anime-style character design right down to the core of the series. Monster Hunter Stories presents the idea that monsters can be friends instead of foes.

Right from the beginning, you can tell that Monster Hunter Stories 2 doesn't stray too far from its predecessor - you get to design your own character, who begins their training as a rider in the wake of strange happenings in their hometown. Navirou, the feline from the first game, once again comes along to declare himself your navigator and you're off, presumably to learn what it means to be a rider, a friend to monsters instead of their hunter.

If you haven't played the first game, don't worry - while there are references and recurring characters, you won't miss much in the way of context. In general, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is remarkably like the first Stories game. Your silent hero is, just like in the original Monster Hunter games, meant to serve as an avatar - in a game series that is about taking on monsters for the fun of it, that's enough, but just like its predecessor, Monster Hunter Stories 2 takes a very long time to come up with any sort of reason for why you're doing what you're doing, or why it has to be you at all; it doesn't have Pokémon's convenient excuse that both the battle and collection of monsters are the end goal, the way to mastery, if you want.

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A popular third-party Call of Duty: Warzone stats tracker app is back online after its creators held successful talks with Activision.

Warzone Tracker was one of a number of overlay apps on the Overwolf network that were disabled earlier this year following an update to the battle royale.

This update, issued in response to an Activision API terms of service breach by a separate app on the Overwolf framework, had the knock-on effect of blocking Overwolf entirely, preventing its use while the PC version of Warzone was in use.

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Ever since I reminisced about Screamer, I've been on a car game kick. By this I mean that I gave WRC 9 a go, then swiftly rage quit as I realised I wasn't cut out for "Dark Souls on gravel". So ever since that fateful night, I've fled to YouTube, where I now watch people play rally games beautifully. And I can't seem to stop.

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