September 2021

Microsoft has announced October's Xbox Games with Gold lineup.

On Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S, Mad Fellows' 2017 rhythm action rail shooter Aaero is available to download from 1st to 31st October.

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Battlefield 2042 will host its delayed open beta test next week on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Everyone will be able to play from 8th to 9th October, with early access starting from the 6th for pre-order customers or EA Play members.

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A new trailer for Pokémon Legends: Arceus has shown one of the game's boss fights - and it's against a brand new Pokémon species. Or should that be old Pokémon species?

Legends: Arceus, a prequel to the main Pokémon game series, will debut Kleavor, a previously-unseen evolution for original Kanto creature Scyther. It's a Bug/Rock type, with axes for arms and a face a bit like an angry rock chicken.

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If you've been reading this site for a while, you probably remember Ellie Gibson. Ellie was our funniest writer and most, er, unpredictable interviewer until she left to spend more time with her family (and her comedy career).

Now part of the parenting comedy duo Scummy Mummies, Ellie is also the world's most middle-aged Twitch streamer. Today - right now in fact - she's streaming for 12 hours in support of two charities close to her heart: the Borne Charity, which funds life-saving research into the causes and prevention of premature birth, and Women's Aid. Ellie and her comedy partner Helen Thorn will also be running the London Marathon in support of those charities this year.

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Splitgate now has mantling.

The popular Halo-meets-Portal first-person shooter got a big update overnight that added the new mantling feature. This is designed as a jetpack boost, so there is no first-person animation that interferes with aim/gunplay, developer 1047 Games explained. You can turn it off in settings.

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The cross generation transition is proving to be more extended than some may have initially imagined - so where does that leave an established franchise like Call of Duty? With Vanguard, Sledgehammer Games needs to wow owners with the new generation of consoles while ensuring that the new series entry still passes muster on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It's a tricky proposition because the developers can't institute the kind of 30fps/60fps split between the console generations seen in Halo Infinite (though 60fps did make it to One X in the latest test flight), and fundamentally there needs to be parity to a certain degree in the visual feature set - simply to ensure a level playing field online. Resolution, 120Hz support and minor visual flourishes appear to be the dividing line between consoles old and new.

Of course, it's in campaign that the developers can really push the new consoles and thus far, we've not seen much in this area - and neither have we seen native next-gen app support for Warzone - so it's important to view the multiplayer beta in context. But at the basic level, we are back to a COD title based on the Infinity Ward engine that worked so well for Modern Warfare 2019 (expect more details soon on how this technology has evolved over the last couple of years).

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Marvel's Avengers launches on Xbox Game Pass for PC, console and cloud this Thursday, 30th September.

Crystal Dynamics' much-maligned superhero action game launches on Microsoft's subscription program in complete form - it includes all previously released free content, including the Black Panther: War for Wakanda expansion and all the post-launch heroes and missions.

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Pokémon Legends Arceus is set to be a revolutionary paradigm shift for the famed franchise with true open-world exploration. The latest gameplay trailer unpacked some announced features from past months and showcased some interesting new mechanics. That includes a newfound level of customization, free-camera boss fights, and a new Scyther evolution. 

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, you star as an up-and-coming trainer/member of the Hisui's Survey Corps, a crew of Pokemon enthusiasts committed to field studies. Of course, this means that you'll spend time filling the Pokédex and completing research tasks to flesh out Pokémon entries. The game world is brimming with life, and you'll ride the Wyrdeer, Basculegion, and Hisuian Braviary to cover massive distances. You can even attempt to catch various fauna while sitting atop your mounts (you can see this early on in the new gameplay trailer above). 

Marvel's Avengers will be making its way to Xbox Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud. In addition to the base game, every piece of DLC is included. Best of all, Xbox fans who have been on the fence about trying the game won't have to wait long. The game joins Game Pass on Thursday, September 30.

Good Smile Company opened pre-orders for both Demon Slayer Tanjiro and Nezuko Nendoroid Doll figures and their outfits.

The post Tanjiro and Nezuko Nendoroid Doll Figures Will Arrive in 2022 appeared first on Siliconera.

And he's sharing his experience live on Twitter.

The post Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi Started Playing FFXIV appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix revealed some of the Square Enix Presents TGS 2021 games, and Final Fantasy Origin and FFVII The First Soldier will appear.

The post Square Enix Presents TGS 2021 Includes Final Fantasy Origin, FFVII The First Soldier appeared first on Siliconera.

SMT V Character Designer Masayuki Doi's latest statement about the game's art, he explained how a demon goes from concept art to a 3D model.

The post Learn How SMT V Demon Art Becomes a 3D Model appeared first on Siliconera.

The latest Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl shows off Poketech, Poffins, Amity Square, and cooking.

The post New Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Trailer Shows Its Style appeared first on Siliconera.

Looking for the best weapons in New World? The highly-anticipated MMO New World from Amazon Game Studios is now available as a full release, and for most players getting stuck into life on Aeternum Island, putting together a good selection of weapons will be their number one priority. In this tier list, we've ranked each weapon according to our experiences, and also put together some pointers on choosing the best weapons for your play style.

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'Tis the season of the time loop. If you have any space left in your brain after Deathloop for more groundhog day-like shenanigans, you might be interested in Lemnis Gate, a strategic first-person shooter that launched today. It pits players against each other in 1v1 and 2v2 matches, letting you plan out moves in 25 second-long rounds. It sounds a little confusing, but seems pretty fun. It also has some excellent-looking sci-fi backgrounds and laser guns, which is truly the most important part.

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Want to learn more about Dripstone in Minecraft? Caves are getting a huge revamp in Minecraft 1.18, and Dripstone is going to be an important new block, as you can use it to make an infinite lava source in your base.

This guide will explain everything you need to know about Dripstone, including where you will be able to find it and how to use Pointed Dripstone to create a lava farm in Minecraft.

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Microsoft and Sony can have their Forzas and Gran Turismos with hyper-realistic graphics, authentic engine noises, and true-to-life physics. The Nintendo Switch has Cruis’n Blast, in which your vaguely Nissan GT-R-shaped vehicle barrels off a cliff at breakneck speed toward a massive yeti which then cracks open a…

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Horizon Zero Dawn, the 2017 open-world game about listening to Lance Reddick’s silky smooth pipes, was a looker, pushing the boundaries of how pretty a game could be on the PlayStation 4, despite coming out halfway through the console’s life cycle. It should come as little surprise that the sequel, next year’s Horizon…

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Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl got a new trailer Tuesday morning, showing off all kinds of neat new details. For example, there will be an improved Pokétch utility watch, Pokémon hangout parks, and surfing Bidoofs. It also sounds like all those pesky HMs present in the original games won’t be a bother…

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In a world where blockbuster comic book video games flounder due to repetitive endgame content, one subscription game service takes Earth’s mightiest heroes under its wing. It’s Xbox Game Pass to Marvel’s Avengers’ rescue as the multiplayer superhero game joins Microsoft’s service this Thursday.

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Swedish developer DICE has officially revealed the PC specs for its upcoming military first-person shooter, Battlefield 2042. The new intel comes by way of an image from the game’s official Twitter account, which you can check out in detail below:

As you can see, the PC specs are fairly demanding, which isn’t too surprising for such a graphically intensive title. Of course, it’s nice for fans to finally get concrete dates for the early access and open access beta.

Specifically, the early access beta will kick off on Oct. 6 at 07:00 UTC, while the open access beta will begin on Oct. 8 at 07:00 UTC. The beta ends on Oct. 10 at 07:00 UTC.

Today Microsoft had news to share for subscribers of its subscription services, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold.

Game Pass Members will be able to enjoy Marvel’s Avengers starting on September 30 on both PC and Xbox. This includes all the free content released so far on top of the War for Wakanda expansion featuring Black Panther.

Moving on to Xbox Live Gold (and Game Pass Ultimate), Microsoft announced the new batch of Games that subscribers will receive during the month of October at no additional cost.

We’re getting Aero, Hover, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, and Resident Evil Code: Veronica X.

If you’re unfamiliar with the games, you can find an official description for each below.

Aaero
Speed through stunning environments, tracing ribbons of light and fighting epic boss battles, all to an incredibly licensed soundtrack. Featuring music from Noisia, Flux Pavilion, Katy B, The Prototypes, Neosignal, and more, feel the groove and release the energy that lives in the music.

Hover
In a futuristic 3D open world, join a group of young rebels, the Gamers, and fight against oppressing laws while performing incredible tricks and combos. Equipped with high-tech gear allowing for amazing jumps and speed, help the citizenry, and find a way to reach the Orbital Station.

Today Microsoft is directly releasing a brand new classic aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Junkers Ju-52.

It’s available on the official marketplace (or should be by the end of the day) for a rather affordable $14.99 and comes with plenty of liveries like floats and skis.

It’s the first of the “Local Legends” aircraft that Microsoft is going to release periodically to celebrate the history of aviation in specific countries or regions. This follows World Update 6, which improved Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

You can check out a fetching trailer below.

Recently, we published our massive interview with head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann, focusing on the Xbox version and short and long-term plans for the sim (on both platforms).

It’s not a stretch to say that New World is Amazon Games’ first major video game project, and it’s shaping up to be an extremely ambitious one so far. As a pirate-themed MMORPG, there are factions and separate town economies to keep track of, and tons of different game modes to check out.

The game’s been delayed a couple of times, but it’s finally releasing today, so here’s a launch trailer to celebrate the big event:

Here are some of the features you can expect in New World:

New World features real-time action combat that is skill-based and visceral—every swing, dodge, and block matters. Aeternum is teeming with wretched creatures, twisted by centuries of death and revival, and players must hone their weapon and combat skills if they hope to survive. New World offers a wide variety of multiplayer combat experiences, including:

War: Epic siege warfare on a massive scale, with up to 100 players on the battlefield at once. The outcome of each war determines which company of players controls contested territories or settlements—and the resources they contain.

Outpost Rush: Teams of 20 players from two competing factions fight for control of fortifications and resources in this max-level instanced game mode that combines player vs. environment and player vs. player combat.

Expeditions: Five-player instanced dungeons that take players into the farthest corners and deepest depths of Aeternum, where they’ll face deadly foes and uncover truths about the island. 

Today Neon Doctrine and Taiwanese developer CGCG (Creative Games Computer Graphics) announced the release date of the upcoming action-adventure RPG The Legend of Tianding.

The game will be released on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch on November 1 and lets you play the role of Liao Tianding, a legendary hero widely considered Taiwan’s equivalent of Robin Hood.

You can check out what it looks like in the trailer below.

If you’re not familiar with the game, you can read an official description below.

Not only did we get a brand new trailer for Pokemon Legends: Arceus this morning, but the Pokemon team also released a new trailer for the upcoming Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl games. In this video, we get a good look at some of the big features we can expect in these remakes.

The larger part of the trailer focuses on the Poketch app, which is an in-game app that we can use for a variety of purposes on our journey. It has many functions, such as counting our character’s steps (which is useful for egg hatching), dowsing abilities, and checking our Pokemon’s statuses.

One new feature of the Poketch app is that it includes an HM ability to make using our Pokemon’s Hidden Moves a lot faster. For example, standing in front of a bush and using the Poketch HM app can allow us to cut it down, as long as we have a Pokemon that knows the move.

Next, the Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl trailer gives us a brief overview of Poffins, which can be mixed with ingredients in order to feed to our Pokemon. This will raise their stats to help their performance in Pokemon contests.

We also see a repurposed Amity Square, which is an area in which we can take up to six of our Pokemon our for a stroll. If one Pokemon following behind you wasn’t enough, this should do the trick.

Finally, the new trailer gives us an overview of several of the characters we can expect to meet in the game. If you played the original, these faces should be familiar to you; if not, the trailer introduces us to who they are.

You can watch this new trailer for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl in its entirety below.

Today Too Kyo Games and Akatsuki released a new teaser trailer of their upcoming game Tribe Nine.

The game was originally revealed all the way back in February 2020, and we haven’t heard much since.

The game is being developed in collaboration between Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka for Too Kyo Games and Akatsuki’s Shuuhei Yamaguchi.

More information on the game will be revealed during a livestream on September 30 at 7:00 Japan Time, which you can find embedded below alongside the trailer itself.

Discovery and realisation are the two great thrills of Outer Wilds, so let me dust off an old reviewer's cliche and say that if you loved that game you should stop reading and play Echoes of the Eye without further ado. Nothing I can write will be as compelling as unravelling this first and only expansion for yourself.

Indeed, writing takes a backseat in Echoes of the Eye - as, rather unexpectedly, does spaceflight. Where Eurogamer's best of 2019 saw you chasing clues from gravity well to gravity well, hurrying to make sense of a pocket solar system before the sun explodes and resets the game's 22 minute timeloop, Echoes takes place almost entirely on one, mesmerising new world with its own, self-sealed mode of traversal. It's the erstwhile home of an alien race whose language you don't know, and whose torrid past you must accordingly glean from images that are equal parts Kodak Moment and found footage eeriness. Fortunately, your ship computer still does a solid job of paraphrasing key findings and mind-mapping them for consideration, bolstered by a menu tweak that lets you organise leads by planet.

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As far as I’m concerned, Star Wars: Visions is the most exciting Disney-era Star Wars project since The Mandalorian. Each episode of this anthology series gives a different anime studio carte blanche to tell bold, imaginative, and self-contained stories set in George Lucas’ beloved mythos. The animations are beautiful and varied, the stories feel inspired, and it has both the coolest and silliest lightsabers ever. If you’re a Star Wars fan or simply enjoy good anime and haven’t checked it out yet, watch it – mainly because this article contains a few major spoilers. 

As I watched each episode, I couldn’t help but want them translated into a video game. Most Star Wars games are pretty by-the-numbers when it comes to letting players explore a galaxy far, far away. Visions is anything but, so let me play adaptations of the show’s episodes if we can’t get spin-off shows/films. Every installment in the anthology has gaming potential, but here are the five that I’d like to play the most. These picks are arranged by episode order rather than by preference. 

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl arrive in November, and if you haven’t decided whether or not to revisit this remade adventure through the Sinnoh region, a new gameplay trailer makes another case for your Poké-dollars. 

The trailer shows off the Pokétch, an all-purpose app device that, among other things, can find hidden items and summon wild Pokémon to use hidden moves, such as Cut, to ease exploration. Want to show off your roster of monsters? Amity Square serves as a fun space that lets players stroll with up to six eligible Pokémon, where you can take photos and videos with them. Love to cook? Whip up some Poffins for your Pokémon to raise attributes (such as cuteness) to make them more attractive for Super Contest Shows. You can also cook Poffins in Amity Square instead of only in the Poffin House like in the original games.

If you like Deathloop or The Forgotten City, then we recommend that you check out Outer Wilds. This inventive time loop game from Mobius Digital places you into the spacesuit of a brave traveler who sets off to explore the solar system. While the title wasn't for everyone, many found it a phenomenal adventure that was bold enough to let you explore at your own pace to slowly uncover a larger mystery. 

Mobius Digital has just released a follow-up expansion called Echoes Of The Eye. With this new content, players discover a new exhibit inside the observatory exhibit that points them to a satellite on the galaxy's outer rim. If you follow this breadcrumb, you'll eventually discover a whole new Halo-like ringworld, complete with brand new puzzles, story beats, and mysteries to solve. Watch us explore some of those beats in this New Gameplay Today.

The Tales of Luminaria Yelsy trailer is here to show off the princess who wants to be a knight. FFVII Remake actress Suzie Yeung voices her.

The post Yelsy in Tales of Luminaria Shares a Voice Actress With Yuffie appeared first on Siliconera.

There are new Pop Up Parade My Hero Academia Himiko Toga figures on the way, and each one of them has a different expression.

The post New My Hero Academia Himiko Toga Figure Has 2 Variants appeared first on Siliconera.