August 2021

Today Izanagi Games released the first trailer of its upcoming escape game/bullet hell shoot ’em up hybrid Yurukill: The Calumniation Games.

The trailer introduces the hero Sengoku Shunju, voiced by Takuya Eguchi. It also shows a few glimpses of gameplay.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it’s written by Homura Kawamoto, whom you may know for creating Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, and by his younger brother, Hikaru Muno.

You can check out the trailer below, alongside an official description for the character. Incidentally, you can activate English subtitles with the CC button.

Age: 29 Birthday: March 31 Star sign: Aries
Blood type: O
Likes: Iced coffee
Dislikes: Prison
Interests: Board games

Sengoku was imprisoned for a mass murder case in which 21 people burned to death. He is sociable and considerate. He has protested his innocence for over 10 years, and vows to emerge from the Yurukill Games victorious with his teammate, Rina.

Following yesterday’s tease, Nippon Ichi Software launched another video about its upcoming and mysterious new game.

The trailer showcases the same scene as the previous one, but ends mentioning “Game Title” and a date, August 5, 2021. That’s in less than 24 hours, considering Japan’s timezone.

This appears to indicate that we’ll know the title of the new game tomorrow. Incidentally, that also marks the release of the new issue of Famitsu, so the reveal of the game might happen on the popular magazine (this isn’t officially confirmed, mind you. It’s just my speculation).

You can watch the video below.

Of course, you can expect to read it here as soon as the full reveal is made, but for now, your guess is as good as mine.

We do know that it’s a console game because it’s in the “consumer” area of Nippon Ichi’s website, and that’s how Japan categorizes consoles.

Microsoft revealed a huge list of games coming to the Xbox Game Pass service for PC, consoles, and the cloud for the first half of the month of August.

This Thursday, Aug. 5 will see the biggest drop of games with titles including Katamari, Lumines, and the original Skate via EA Play. The full list for that day contains:

• Curse of the Dead Gods (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dodgeball Academia (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Katamari Damacy Reroll (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Lumines Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Skate (Console)
• Skate 3 (Cloud)
• Starmancer (Game Preview) (PC)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to play several Codemasters games on consoles via EA Play starting on Aug. 10 such as Dirt 4, Dirt Rally, Dirt Rally 2.0, F1 2020, and Grid.

Rounding out the first half of the month will add Art of Rally for cloud, console, and PC on Aug. 12 followed by Supergiant Games’ roguelike Hades on Aug. 13 for cloud, console, and PC. The final game of the list is Microsoft Solitaire Collection: Premium Edition for PC on Aug. 17, which offers an ad-free version of the classic title.

Microsoft also announced a few games leaving Xbox Game Pass during the month including:

Orbx just released its Great Britain Central add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC, with an Xbox release expected to follow soon.

This add-on is the first major release of its kind (at least to my knowledge) as it doesn’t just focus on adding detail and landmarks to a single city or a small area, but to an entire region, the whole central part of England.

It’s available on Orbx Direct for $13.45, which means it can benefit from the publisher’s own Orbx Central client for installation and updates. It’ll also come to the official marketplace, at which point it’ll be available for Xbox Series X|S as well.

The concept for this add-on is inherited from previous simulators, which require extensive and expensive add-ons for their landscape to look even close to decent by today’s industry standards.

Experience crazy Shibuya in the middle of real-life Shibuya!

The post NEO TWEWY x Field Walk RPG Augmented Reality Event Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

People can now watch the English dub of the first episode of the Marvel Iron Man anime adaptation for free on YouTube.

The post Iron Man Anime Episode Now on YouTube appeared first on Siliconera.

The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition is out now and instead of being about living in the Mushroom Kingdom, it's about fighting Bowser.

The post The Game of Life: Super Mario Edition’s About Fighting Bowser appeared first on Siliconera.

Eastasiasoft shared an End of Summer showcase looking at Switch, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One games it will release in August and September.

The post Eastasiasoft End of Summer Showcase Details Switch, PS4, PS5 Games appeared first on Siliconera.

World War Z, the smash-hit co-operative zombie shooter from Saber Interactive, will be embarking on adventures in exotic (and undead-infested) new locales starting 21st September, with the arrival of its major Aftermath expansion for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.

Aftermath, which will be available as a paid update for existing World War Z owners and as an all-in standalone release for newcomers, is intended to give the two-year-old zombie shooter a significant shot in the arm.

It contains everything previously released as part of World War Z's Game of the Year edition, including all seven of its PvE story episodes, split across 23 maps in New York, Moscow, Jerusalem, Marseilles, and Tokyo. It also brings gameplay enhancements and brand-new content, including new locations, survivors, and more.

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Developer Funselektor Labs acclaimed minimalist racer, Art of Rally, will finally be making its way to Switch and Xbox next Thursday, 12th August.

Art of Rally, which initially launched on PC toward the end of last year, delivers a top-down, faintly retro twist on the rally racing formula, sending players careening across low-poly renditions of Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, and Sardinia as they tackle its 60 rally stages.

It features 61 "iconic" rally cars from the 60s to the 80s, and includes daily and weekly leaderboard challenges, ghost racing, and more alongside its sizeable career mode - all unfolding to the beat of Art of Rally's delicious, 80s-hued synth soundtrack.

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Hades will arrive on Xbox Game Pass on August 13th. That's our favourite game of 2020 for the price of a subscription. It's also just one of a bunch of new games coming to Game Pass in August.

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Wreckfest is a racing game that's as much about slamming into scenery as careful cornering, so today's tie-in with Carmageddon is a perfect match. It's a free update which adds two new tracks, Bleak City and Devil's Canyon, from the original zombie-smashing racing game, as well as the Eagle-R car and swarms of pixellated zombies to burst.

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The latest iteration of Microsoft Flight Simulator was released in Summer 2020 – a particularly harrowing season in a year filled with mandated self-isolation and worldwide panic. Yet, there was no better time for an escapist game like Flight Sim to lift off the proverbial tarmac. Boasting incredible technological advancements that map and render the entire globe – real-time weather effects and flight traffic patterns also included! – players could brave the untamed skies from any runway of their choosing. The recent console port has been highly anticipated for quite some time. Now on a television screen, the graphical and sonic fidelity continues to be unmatched as far as simulators go. But do the true-to-life mechanics translate nicely to the Xbox Series X/S? They do … mostly.

[UPDATE]: 5:31 p.m. Central 8/3/2021 – During the Street Fighter V Summer Update stream, Cammy and Guile were announced to be the new Street Fighter representatives in Fortnite. These new skins will be released on August 7. 

According to a tweet from Fortnite’s account today, it looks like Street Fighter’s world warriors aren’t done with the battle royale genre just yet. The message simply reading, “Here comes two new challengers!” is accompanied by a character select screen which may give us a hint at which duo is dropping on the island during chapter 2, season 7.

While there’s plenty of interesting choices from all over the Street Fighter canon, including Oro and Akira who will joining Street Fighter V shortly, Super Street Fighter 2’s character select was chosen for this teaser for a reason. Of the total roster from that version of the game, our potential list of combatants is narrowed down from 12 to 10 since Ryu and Chun-Li already debuted in Fortnite earlier this year.

That’s right, we’re here with more zombie goodness. But this time, it’s coming straight from the franchise that catapulted zombie infection stories back into the limelight: The Walking Dead. Maybe you missed out on Skydance Interactive’s popular Saints & Sinners VR game that dropped a few years ago. A free content update, called the Aftershocks, is on the way and promises a good portion of new story content, collectibles, and tools to help survive the scourge in New Orleans.

The update will be available to players that have already completed Saints & Sinners’ main campaign mode. There’s already over 20 hours of game to enjoy, so the Aftershocks Update looks to amplify and bolster the fun and horror. You can watch the trailer above. Based on an emailed press release, Skydance Interactive still has plans to introduce more content to the VR title. Saints & Sinners earned a spot on our Best VR Games For Your Oculus Quest 2 list, so be sure to check that out for other interesting VR experiences. 

Microsoft’s latest special-edition controller for the Xbox Series X/S is called “Aqua Shift” and it comes out August 31. In addition to looking like a moonbeam shot through the ocean surf, it has a new rubberized panel to help you keep hold of it even when your hands start to sweat. At long last, no more slipped…

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A class action lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court of Central California on behalf of investors alleges that Activision Blizzard’s intentional failure to disclose its ongoing problems with sexual harassment and discrimination artificially inflated the company’s stock value. In layman’s terms, if investors…

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Over the weekend, 343 Industries ran a technical test for Halo Infinite, allowing the wider public a chance to go hands-on with one of the year’s anticipated shooters. By most measures, Infinite’s multiplayer component shows promise, somehow both capturing that Halo quintessence while also feeling like a totally new…

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Today Activision announced its financial results for the second quarter of the calendar year 2021, related to the period between April 1 and June 30.

According to the press release, said results are defined as “strong” and contributing to a record first-half of the year in terms of both income and income.

You can see a summary below.

The press release also included the traditional comment by Activision Blizzard chief executive officer Bobby Kotick

“With respect to our financial performance, we are pleased that the company continued to deliver strong results in the second quarter, and we are raising our outlook for the year. We remain intensely focused on the well-being of our employees and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that our company has a welcoming, supportive and safe environment where all of our team members can thrive.”

We then read a list of highlights illustrating the performance of Activision’s games and financial situation. Interestingly, we learn that Overwatch 2 has passed an “important internal milestone in recent weeks.”

Serenity Forge, the team responsible for co-developing and publishing Doki Doki Literature Club Plus alongside Team Salvato, announced on Twitter that the physical versions of the game would be delayed. This likely includes all versions of the physical game, whether it’s the regular boxed edition or the premium physical edition.

Serenity Forge cites “unforeseen delays with manufacturing and shipping as a result of Covid-19” as the reason of the delay.

Guardian’s Crusade

Great Games You, Probably, Never Played

The PS1 was the vessel for arguably the golden age of JRPGs. The console was packed to the brim with absolute gems. In fact, even lesser-known games that could be considered “cult” classics, such as Vagrant Story, Vandal Hearts, and The Legend of Dragoon are generally just properly considered classics at this point. In order to really find the hidden gems, you have even a layer below those games.

When you dig deep into PS1’s JRPG mine, one of the diamonds you might come across is Guardian’s Crusade. Way back before Senran Kagura, when Tamsoft was still a fledgling developer, they tried their hand at a JRPG known as Knight and Baby in Japan. It was brought over to North America by Activision (strangely enough), and localized as Guardian’s Crusade.

The game follows a young Knight who comes across this mysterious cute pink, blob, monster, baby…thing, that is drawn to a faraway tower. Feeling a sense of duty to protect it, the Knight and Baby go on an epic journey that determines the fate of the world. Come on, it’s a 90s-era JRPG, of course, those are the stakes.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

Nearly a decade after its original release on the Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword saw a much-improved remaster on the Nintendo Switch, fixing a myriad of issues that the original game possessed.

Apart from the obvious high-definition upgrade, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD features a plethora of significant quality of life upgrades to make for a better, more enjoyable experience. Such examples include the ability to play either with the standard motion controls that utilizing the gyro functionality of the Joy-Cons or new analog controls, using the right analog stick to slice and slash enemies with Link’s sword.

Third-party developers had quite a few reveals to make today about upcoming airport add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

AmSim announced Misnk National Airport (UMMS), the hub serving the capital of Belarus. Despite the name, it handles both national and international flights, but recently quite a few airlines like Lufthansa, AirBaltic, Austrian, and LOT have suspended operations to Minsk due to a certain incident.

That being said, you can check out the trailer below.

Next comes Gate15Scenery, which released new work-in-progress images of its scenic Nanki–Shirahama Airport (RJBD) in Japan.

The Legend of Zelda and Evanescence likely played a huge role in many 90s kid’s lives growing up, as each was a staple of the generation’s tween and teen years of adolescents. Still, who could have guessed that we’d one day get a video of Zelda and Link lip singing the rock band’s well-known track, “Bring Me to Life.”

As you can see in the video below, Zelda and Link can be seen singing the aptly appropriate song in a duo thanks to the Wombo AI app. The post is simultaneously hilarious, adorable, and a little creepy, especially when it comes to seeing Link’s lips moving.

Regardless of how you feel about it, you’ve got to admit that Mediocre_Metal_7174’s post to the Breath of the Wild subreddit is pretty appropriate. Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life” pretty much describes the opening of the game perfectly, as Link is brought to life and woken up after Zelda puts him in stasis for his safety.

Got any other songs you think would fit perfectly to describe a video game? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below so we can all have a good laugh.

After watching a decent amount of anime, you’ll inevitably come across some shows with titles that’ll make you do a double-take. Whether they’re incredibly long, funny, or just bizarre, there are plenty of examples of authors seemingly giving up when coming up with titles.

Here are five anime titles that you need to read to believe. Yes, they’re all real.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a romantic comedy with a bit of drama thrown in, but the title tells you absolutely nothing about what to expect in the anime in terms of plot or premise. But it does grab your attention by making you ask several questions.

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Director Tomonori Imura talked about the game, its development, and the "possibilities" for Akiba's Trip.

The post Interview: Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed and What Could Come Next appeared first on Siliconera.

The WD Black SN850 is our pick for the best PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for gaming, and today it's been heavily discounted at Amazon UK. Right now you can pick up the 500GB size of this incredibly speedy drive for £86, or the larger 1TB size for £160. The former is a 34% reduction from the drive's RRP of £130, and one of the cheapest prices we've ever seen for this model.

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The Acer XF240QS is a well-reviewed 24-in 1080p monitor with an impressive 165Hz refresh rate, now available for £150 at Ebuyer after a £35 discount. I believe it's the best high refresh rate monitor available at this price, and an ideal choice for anyone interested in fast-paced, competitive games like shooters, racing titles or MOBAs.

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I've had one eye on Webbed for a while, because if you take your eyes off a spider, that's when it scurries away. Instead, it's scurried closer: the platformer in which you play a web-slinging, skateboarding, top-hat wearing spider now has a September 9th release. There's a new trailer below.

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Many fans of The New York Times’ iconic crosswords will soon have to find a new way to play, as the paper announced it will stop supporting the popular Across Lite file format third-parties use to import the daily puzzles into their apps. Crossword fans are a passionate group, and many of them are a five-letter word…

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Another top manager at Blizzard Entertainment has left in the wake of a California lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at parent company Activision Blizzard. Following the news that Blizzard president J. Allen Brack stepped down earlier today to “pursue new opportunities,” the company…

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Activision Blizzard warned investors that the State of California†™s lawsuit against the company could impact its financial outlook in the months to come. ...

During today’s financial conference call for investors and analysts, Activision Blizzard executives talked about the next Call of Duty game.

Chief operating officer Daniel Alegre talked a bit about the game (which is being developed by Sledgehammer Games) during the prepared remarks, including the confirmation that it’ll be cross-generation and it’ll involve even deeper integration with Warzone.

“Our teams remain hard at work on our next premium Call of Duty release, planned for the fourth quarter (Editor’s note: Activision reports financials by calendar year, so this means between October and December 2021), from a setting that our fans know and love, to an incredible amount of content in development, including an extensive live ops schedule. We believe this release will be incredibly well-received.

In addition to launching a great, seamless experience for both current and next-gen console players, we’re continuing to integrate Warzone and engage our direct relationship with our player base through even deeper content integration between premium and free experiences and substantial innovation coming within Warzone itself.

Our teams cannot wait to unveil what they have been working on.”

Later in the call, Activision president Rob Kostich talked more about the game.

“We do feel really good about what Sledgehammer id doing leading to release in the fourth quarter of this year. The studio itself has never been bigger and stronger, now with its team in Foster City, Melbourne, and also now in Toronto.

Character Designer Masayuki Doi talked about the SMT V Angel redesign and how the new look is designed to juxtapose against Daemon.

The post SMT V Angel Redesigned to Look More ‘Angelic’ appeared first on Siliconera.

Are you ready to swing giant clubs, slashy swords, and parry… everything? Welcome to Grime, the game where you play as a surreal organism where your head is like, a black hole or something. Now, it would be easy to label Grime a sidescrolling Souls-like, and that’s what it pretty much is, but there are other aspects about it that make it more interesting than just heading from checkpoint to checkpoint and taking on tremendous bosses. Don’t get us wrong though, taking on weird and creepy bosses is absolutely a highlight here.

The parry system in the game is called absorption, and it’s aptly named, because you actually absorb the enemies. What does this mean? Well, in addition to giving you important resources that let you heal yourself (forcing you to master parries if you want to live), the system allows you to take traits of the monsters and add them to your kit. So by absorbing the life essence of your enemies, you can unlock new and powerful skills that will help you survive. Some moves flash red, you can’t parry those, so you’ll have to dodge. Of course, you’re going to want to upgrade your core stats like health, force (stamina), strength and more in order to use better weapons.

Get In The Car, Loser! has style to spare. It's a "lesbian road trip RPG" from Christine Love, the creator of Ladykiller In A Bind and Digital: A Love Story, and its description alone communicates more energy than a three minute pop song. It also now has a release date: September 2021.

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Netflix’s The Liberator was a pretty hokey experiment in cel-shaded war drama, but I’m not here tonight for a review of a TV series few of you will have bothered to watch. What I’m looking at tonight is some of the fantastic art that went into the creation of the show.

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During today’s Street Fighter V presentation, Capcom revealed that Luke, a new character to the Street Fighter universe, will be the much-ballyhooed final fighter added to the five-year-old game.

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Street Fighter’s Guile and Cammy are coming to Fortnite which, whatever, who isn’t in Fortnite at this stage. What I’m more interested in here is what the hell happened to Guile’s face.

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Today Capcom and Twitch Gaming showcased a new look at upcoming content for the popular fighting game Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.

First of all, we get to see Oro’s V-Skills and V-Triggers. On top of that, we also take a look at a full Oro vs Oro match.

We then learn that Guy and Cammie are going to be released in Fortnite on August 7.