Additionally, Tite Kubo has shared a new illustration of series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki.
The post New Bleach One Shot Manga to Appear in Shonen Jump appeared first on Siliconera.
Eric Baptizat, the former game director on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, will be directing the shiny new Dead Space remake at Electronic Arts' Motive Studios. He was previously at Ubisoft for almost 16 years working on a number of Assassin's Creed games, before joining Motive back in April.
From Vikings and stabby men, to aliens and fear - quite the genre leap, but Valhalla was pretty darn good, so that at least bodes well.
By this point, of course, we know full well what the Switch OLED isn't. There's nothing by way of extra grunt, nothing to cater for 4K monitors when playing docked and not much else feverishly associated with the idea of a Switch Pro. Instead, this is a mild hardware refresh, something along the lines of the 3DS XL yet perhaps milder still, with the form factor instantly familiar and only that bigger 7-inch screen with its slimmer bezel giving the game game away that this is a different model at all.
Still, that screen! I'm not going to get carried away by what, at this point, is far from cutting edge technology, but it is at least a noticeable step up from the existing model. 7-inches is better than the current Switch's 6.2, and that slimmer bezel feels like a bigger improvement still. When it's in your hands, that screen is pretty much all you can see, which of course does wonders for immersion (the light sensor that creates a slight intrusion on the original Switch has been well hidden in the OLED model too - I poked around but couldn't find where it's been secreted in my short time with the new system).
Then of course there are the other benefits of the OLED screen. Perhaps sending along the colour blind member of the team wasn't the best approach, but Nintendo is being selective with who's able to access the machine and remains reluctant to put it in front of the likes of Digital Foundry who might be able to go a little more in-depth, and weeks after it was first shown off Stateside, photography of the Switch OLED remains prohibited. Still, even with my limited vision I could spot the lysergic pop of Hyrule's greens in Breath of the Wild, the deeper blacks in Mario Kart 8 and the enhanced intensity of Super Mario Odyssey's palette.
Well, it may not come as a massive surprise, but the Ariana Grande concert for Fortnite has now been confirmed - and it's taking place 6th-8th August.
Ariana will headline a concert called the Rift Tour, which will "begin with experiences that pair popular tracks with moments based on elements from the game".
"Players will be able to travel side by side with their friends on a journey to magical new realities where Fortnite and Ariana collide," the press release explains.
Another day, another review-bombing. Final Fantasy fans are review-bombing Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series over the platform of choice for the game's release. On Steam, however, the review scores maintain a positive reception, especially with changes Valve has made in recent years to prevent review bombing from occurring.
Ignoring the odd font choices for this game, the Pixel Remaster series saw a user rating over a measly 0.7 just last night. This morning, that score was able to mosey on up to a 3.5 at the time this article was written. Critic reviews are sitting at a healthy 80 on Metacritic, with our own Dan Tack previously talking about how much this remaster is worth your time.
One petulant user writes, "Get the console version, and I'll change my assessment," after scoring the game a 0. "Square Enix long ago said that all installments listed would be available on consoles; we fans demand this minimum." Another poor scorer said, "We want to be able to play these games on consoles. Classic games such as Final Fantasy should not be gated behind mobile phones and computers."
Epic Games is hosting an in-game music festival later this weekend called the Fortnite Rift Tour and to kick off, the company has announced that pop star Ariana Grande will be headlining the upcoming event. The Grammy-winning artist will be joining millions of battle royale fans worldwide for a musical experiences Epic promises players won't be able to forget.
The Rift Tour will run from August 6 through August 8 and will feature popular tracks mixed with elements of the game, not unlike previous Fortnite-centered concerts in the past. With the pop star's musical contribution also comes a few themed cosmetics, such as the Ariana Grande outfit and the Piggy Smalls Backbling.
“Working with Epic and the Fortnite team to bring my music to life inside the game has been so fun and such an honor,” says Grande about her upcoming digital performance. “I can’t wait to join my fans and see all of your reactions to such an unforgettable, magical journey to new realities.”
Pokemon Go maker Niantic has appointed Oculus veteran Dan Morris as its new director of developer relations. ...
The interview also reveals how the story of Final Fantasy X was conceptualized, including Nojima's key inspirations.
The post Yoshinori Kitase Cried While Playing Final Fantasy X for the First Time appeared first on Siliconera.
Additionally, the interview shares insight to the creation and inspirations of the scenario.
The post Final Fantasy X Interview Reveals Tidus Was Originally Conceptualized as a Plumber appeared first on Siliconera.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's game director, who worked at Ubisoft for 16 years, is now the game director on EA's recently announced Dead Space remake.
Eric Baptizat updated his LinkedIn profile to reveal the job title (via VGC).
In June, it was reported that Baptizat left Ubisoft to work at EA Motive on an unannounced title. Now that the game has been announced, we know Baptizat is the game director.
Baptizat is just the latest big name to join EA to work on the new Dead Space. As announced in July, the game's senior producer is Philippe Ducharme, who spent nearly seven years with EA from 2003-2010 before moving to Ubisoft where he was a producer on Watch Dogs Legion. He re-joined EA in August 2020. Roman Campos-Oriola is Dead Space's creative director. He worked at Ubisoft from 2005-2020, and was the game director on For Honor.
The art director on the new Dead Space remake is Mike Yazijian, who held that same title on Dead Space 2. He left EA in 2011 to join Warner Bros. where he worked on Batman: Arkham Origins before coming back to EA in 2018 where he was the art director on Star Wars: Squadrons.
For the last week of July--and the first day of August--Amazon's New World MMO dominated the Steam best-seller charts. Taking both the first and second place slots, New World beat The Ascent, Tribes of Midgard, and other games to the top of the charts.
As for how New World could earn the top two slots before its launch on August 31, Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad noted that the preorder which allowed access to the beta ended last week. This resulted in players rushing to get an early start in the game ahead of its full release, by purchasing its standard and deluxe editions.
New World continues to take #1 and #2 due to the pre-order allowing access to the Beta that ends this week.
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 1, 2021
The Ascent, Tribes of Midgard and Orcs Must Die 3 debut at #3, #4 and #5, respectively.
GTA V continues to remain in the top 10 due to pricing promotions.
Feardemic, the Polish game developer and publisher owned by Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team, has hired a new CEO and received an injection of cash to help the company pursue "aggressive expansion plans."
Scott Millard has been named as the new president and CEO of Feardemic, replacing Piotr Babieno. Babieno is staying with the company and will continue to work with Bloober Team.
Millard joined Feardemic in 2020 as its managing director, and a press release from the company praised the moves he made to improve Feardemic's financial outlook. He previously worked at Sega Ozisoft in Australia, while he also held positions at Star and Bandai Namco. Millard is also known for helping release Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online in Asia by establishing distribution networks for it.
Millard also bought a stake in Feardemic and now stands as the company's second largest shareholder after Bloober Team.
"I am proud to not only be CEO, but most importantly a partner in Feardemic. I see enormous potential and growth opportunities in the business," Millard said. "The horror narrative is one of the most predominant threads in the stories that developers tell through game development. I look forward to Feardemic becoming one of the most recognizable brands in the business of video game publishing while enriching the market with a wide range of diverse gaming products that will explore the entire spectrum of the horror narrative through multiple gameplay genres."
In addition to the promotion of Millard to president and CEO, Feardemic announced that it now has four new shareholders from "various private and institutional vehicles." The money from these firms will help Feardemic pursue its own plans to expand in a big way.
Microsoft has announced new measures to help "lower the barrier to entry everywhere" for Halo Infinite's esports endeavors, and this includes supporting cross-play and cross-input play for online tournaments, and some changes for in-person events (more on that later).
"We're excited to reveal that Halo Infinite esports will be cross play for all online tournaments," 343 said in a blog post. "Have a beefy PC rig? Great, you're ready to compete! Have a last gen console? All good, you're ready as well! Just got your hands on a sweet new Xbox Series X? Nice, you're all set!"
343's esports lead, Tashi, said there was "so much to consider" before arriving at this decision, including the experience for player and tournaments themselves, along with considerations of teams and the operators of tournaments.
"What we envisioned was an ecosystem where players had the choice. Where if they had one platform, they weren't forced to get the other if they wanted to compete. Where Halo Infinite was suddenly a game they had the choice to play when it wasn't in the past because of the platform they had already decided to invest in," Tashi said.
For physical LAN tournaments for Halo Infinite, things are different. Players competing from the pool play on the mainstage will play on a PC. Those in the open bracket will be on Xbox Series X. If you make it out of the open bracket and into pool play/mainstage, you'll move to PC during the event.
Tashi said Microsoft decided against an "all console" approach because PC has become "the standard" in esports. Microsoft also observed that people had already moved over to PC through the Halo: The Master Chief Collection's PC tournaments. Microsoft also considered an "all PC" approach, but due to the scale of the event series, this was not possible.
Epic has confirmed Ariana Grande will headline the Fortnite Rift Tour following weeks of leaks and rumors culminating with her in-game skin appearing online today via a French Fortnite social channel. The Rift Tour kicks off this Friday, August 6, with the first of five showings beginning at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET. Players around the world will have multiple chances to join the interactive concert--and should expect a few in-game rewards and other surprises along the way.
We first heard of a possible Ariana Grande in-game concert when Epic and Apple took their financial battle to court. Some of the same documents revealed during the trial also tipped off the massive Fortnite community to future events such as the NBA crossover and LeBron James skin. Then a leak on Reddit a few weeks ago suggested the concert was happening this summer. Now it's official: Ariana Grande will perform in-game alongside the debut of her very own Icon Series cosmetic set.
So far, many Halo fans have been enjoying the Halo Infinite multiplayer technical preview. However, it's been confirmed that campaign content was mistakenly included in the beta's files, leading to spoilers making their way online.
343 Industries' Joseph Staten stated that there were a "small number" of Halo Infinite campaign files unintentionally left in the tech preview build. He confirmed that they do include spoilers.
"Leaks like this are painful for the dev team and can ruin the campaign experience for everyone," says Staten in a tweet. "So please, keep you eyes peeled for spoilers and don't spread them if you see them."
In addition to spoilers, uploading any of the data-mined to places like YouTube could have adverse effects on your channel. Halo community director Brian Jarrard warned that doing so could result in a takedown notice and lead to receiving strikes.
"If you have already posted content, we recommend removing it from your channel proactively," recommends Jarrard.
IMPORTANT: Please don't post data-mined content to your channels! You run a very real risk of getting a takedown notice, which could result in a strike on certain platforms. If you have already posted content, we recommend removing it from your channel proactively.
343 Industries has released a new, more challenging difficulty for folks to try out in the Halo Infinite technical test. A new map has been added as well.
The new difficulty is ODST, which is a step above Marine. Cranking things up to ODST will make bots more effective at dodging both grenades and rockets, and cause them to try and Grappleshot you in order to bring you in for a melee kill.
The new map is Recharge, which joins the ongoing rotation of Slayer maps currently a part of the technical test: Bazaar and Live Fire.
In a tweet, 343 Industries wrote that players have collectively killed 1.2 million bots in the first day of the technical test.
So far, Halo Infinite's technical test has encountered a number of hiccups, which is to be expected--that's what the test is for. 343 Industries is working on the ongoing issues, but also hopes players understand that this is just a test, not a full game launch. The studio is not working around the clock to fix bugs during the test.
Halo Infinite's technical test will continue until August 2. Don't worry if you didn't make it in--343 Industries released gameplay of a full Halo Infinite match, so you can at least see what the game is like. Even running on Xbox One, it looks really good.
Some Pokemon thrive on jumping right into battle and dealing as much damage as they can. Others prefer to stand on the sidelines, offering support through stat boosts, healing, and other perks while disrupting the opponents' plans. If the latter is more your style, the Supporter type in Pokemon Unite is for you. These Pokemon aren't focused on KOs and goals as much as they are on making sure their allies stay strong and healthy as the match progresses. The Supporter type is a unique but rewarding way to play, so check out our tips on how to be the best ally you can be.
Supporter classes take time to get used to, but Eldegoss is a terrific beginner's support. Its Synthesis and Pollen Puff moves are fantastic for healing, while the Cotton Spore makes for a great disruption move later in the game. Leaf Tornado is available to Eldegoss if it needs to deal some damage, and the aforementioned Pollen Puff does damage opponents while healing, but this Pokemon is much better off lingering behind and waiting for an opportunity. Supporters are never meant to charge headlong into battle, preferring to stay behind while healing and waiting for the right time to drop that one disruptive move. For Eldegoss, it has plenty of moves in its arsenal to be that disruption.
Role: Supporter
Style: Ranged
While the flashier moments in Pokemon Unite focus on other classes, the Defenders are an important part of a team's makeup. Having a lot of attack-minded Pokemon is fine, but if no one is bringing up the rear to make sure your team's goals are being protected, the opponents will score at will and all of that attack power will go to waste. Each of these Defenders can fill that role, so check them out and see which one is best for you.
Crustle may be a Defender, but it's the most offensive-minded of the three. It has plenty of tools to help support the team in defense, creating barricades with Rock Tomb and throwing Stealth Rock into a group of opponents to slowly inflict damage. However, should Crustle be defending a goal against one or two opponents, Shell Smash converts some of its high Defense into attack power, turning it into a wrecking ball. Some well-placed X-Scissor attacks while Shell Smash is active can decimate a lot of the other Pokemon on the field, so use that combo liberally when the time comes. Crustle is a sneakily attack-savvy Defender that can turn a battle around with one smash of its shell.
Role: Defender
Style: Melee
Difficulty: Novice
Stats
Looking at the roster of available Pokemon in Pokemon Unite, you may find yourself drawn to the speedier members of the roster. MOBA veterans who play classes like Assassin will fit in nicely here, while brand-new MOBA players may be keen on the Speedster's ability to move quickly around the battlefield and hold their own against any opponent.Be warned though, newcomers: most of these Pokemon are classified as "expert" difficulty for a reason. You may want to figure out the game's flow with another type first. If you don't want to wait and think Speedster is the class for you, these tips will have you running circles around your competition.
Pokemon Unite brings with it a brand-new way to play Pokemon, eschewing the normal catch-em-all RPG tropes for an action-focused MOBA experience. As such, the way Pokemon are categorized and implemented in the game is very different from what a seasoned Pokemon trainer might be familiar with. Take the All-Rounder type, a group of Pokemon who don't excel at offense or defense, but perform well enough in both to be used in either situation. The All-Rounder is a good choice for players dipping their toes into the MOBA ocean for the first time, and here we look at all four All-Rounders in the game so far.
Charizard is the definition of a well-rounded Pokemon, holding its own on offense, defense, and in scoring. However, being an All-Rounder means the fiery Pokemon can only fly so high before getting burned, making him a liability in the later stages of a match. Our strategic recommendation would be to stay on the offensive early, gaining experience and upgrading to a Flamethrower/Fire Blast set before falling back and defending for the rest of the match. Fire Blast will keep opponents at bay thanks to its large area-of-effect, while Flamethrower can target approaching opponents trying to avoid Fire Blast. If you do prefer being on offense, however, Flare Blitz is a great special attack in one-on-one scenarios.
With the release of Pokemon Unite, a whole new group of gamers are going to get a taste of a MOBA for the first time ever. This is no ordinary Pokemon game, as it features a completely different format, battle system, and objective, but we are here to lead you through. In this guide we're talking about the offensive-minded character of Pokemon Unite, the Attacker types. Seven different Pokemon from across the franchise's history make up this class, focusing on dealing damage quickly and often. If being in the heat of battle is your style, then the Attacker is for you.
Alolan Ninetales is classified as an Attacker, but "disruptor" may be a better term. A lot of its moveset revolves around using the environment to its advantage, whether it's blocking paths with Avalanche or creating Blizzard cyclones. Its ability to freeze opponents in place with successful attacks is a boon as well, as it can then get in close to frozen opponents and let the passive Snow Warning take effect. Add the protection of Aurora Veil for it and its teammates and you'll be in business. While some Attackers take a more direct and easier approach to dealing damage, Alolan Ninetales's unpredictable moveset makes it a good choice if you're looking for a more unconventional Pokemon to take into battle..
Role: Attacker
Former senior Blizzard employee Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet and founder of Undead Labs, has written a letter advocating for unionization in the games industry and encouraging his own employees to unionize. As reported by IGN, Strait shared the letter with employees at his company and in the wake of the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.
Strain joined Blizzard in 1996 as a game programmer, eventually working on StarCraft, Diablo, and as a lead on World of Warcraft. In his letter Strain recalled an incident at Blizzard in 1998 that ultimately caused him and his wife to leave the company.
"In 1998, after a cataclysmic meeting with one of the founders over our objections to dismembered and impaled female body parts in the beta version of Diablo, my wife and I began planning to leave Blizzard," Strain said in the letter. "Ultimately, I joined with a few like-minded colleagues and moved a thousand miles away from the Blizzard sphere of influence to start an independent studio."
Strain said his time at Blizzard left a mark on his career, showing him "how abusive cultures can propagate and self-amplify over time; how 'hardcore gamers only' is a smokescreen for 'bro culture.'" He said that in his 25 years in the video game industry similar stories from other developers have been constant. Strain ended his letter calling for unionization in the video game industry, even encouraging his own employees to unionize.
You can read the entirety of Jeff Strain's letter below:
It's Time
The Nintendo Switch has been out for over four years, has two models already and a third on the way (Switch OLED), but it's still lacking in the home media department. Amazingly, the Switch is missing the most ubiquitous streaming service: Netflix. Nintendo has never commented on the omission, despite hosting apps for Hulu, Funimation, and YouTube on the eShop. And with Netflix now gone from the Wii U and 3DS, Netflix isn't supported on any Nintendo console--at least not officially. If you're dead set on watching Netflix on your Nintendo Switch, it's still possible to do so with a workaround. Here are the steps you need to take to watch Netflix on Nintendo Switch.
Disclaimer: Getting Netflix on your Nintendo Switch requires you to install unofficial software, which comes with risks such as bricking your system or getting banned from online services by Nintendo. Additionally, this method won't work for all Switch users, including those who have a Switch Lite.
The only way to get Netflix running on Nintendo Switch is to add Android OS to your Switch. With Android OS, you'll have access to the Google Play Store, which obviously opens the door to installing Netflix as well as Android games and other apps.
Though August is upon us, the big summer sales aren't over just yet, with PC keys store Fanatical gearing up to kick off its blowout summer sale on Monday, August 2. Next week's sale will bring thousands of discounts on Steam keys and more, with pricing that rivals Steam's own summer sale. This weekend, Fanatical is kicking off a series of flash deals to build hype for the main event on Monday. New flash deals are going live on a regular basis and will last 24 hours each, so you'll have to keep checking back for the latest deals. All of the following game deals are Steam keys.
Right now, Project Cars: Game of the Year Edition is 96% off, dropping to just $2, with the GOTY Edition featuring four additional tracks, over 50 new cars, and more. Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is another flash deal on Friday, dropping to just $5 for Steam. Two Point Hospital is a great pickup at just $7, and Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 will probably make you super hungry for just $9. Craft the World, a sandbox game where you control a tribe of dwarves, is also dirt cheap for a limited time at $2.84, while UnderRail, an old-school indie RPG set in a post-apocalyptic metro station, is down to $6.