November 2021

Read more

If you're hungering for more news on Elden Ring, From Software's next foray into Soulsian adventure, you're in luck; the developer is showcasing 15 minutes of gameplay footage in a newly announced livestream tomorrow, 4th November.

From hasn't shared details on exactly what it plans to show (although it's entirely possible the developer may choose to focus on some of the Elden Ring action players will be able to experience in next week's closed network test), but proceedings get underway at 2pm GMT/7am PDT tomorrow, on both YouTube and Twitch.

Read more

The next Fire Emblem Heroes alts will bring more ninja versions of characters like Corrin, the other Corrin, and Shamir to the game.

The post Fire Emblem Heroes Ninja Corrins and Shamir Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

One company kicked off part of its Black Friday 2021 sale, as the Good Smile Company online shop is offering 10%-30% discounts on figures.

The post Good Smile Company Black Friday Preview Sale Begins appeared first on Siliconera.

Koharu is training to manage a ryokan manager and shares a voice actress with a certain dragon girl.

The post Koharu Joins the DOA Xtreme Venus Vacation Cast of Characters appeared first on Siliconera.

The PSO2 New Genesis Sandstorm Requiem update will show up before 2021 ends, and a new video looks at its characters, new area, and additions.

The post PSO2 New Genesis Retem Update Characters, Story, and Gameplay Shown Off appeared first on Siliconera.

FromSoftware is ready to reveal yet more of its highly anticipated upcoming action RPG, Elden Ring. The developer has today announced that a 15-minute gameplay showcase will air tomorrow across YouTube and Twitch.

Join us for a 15-minute glimpse of #ELDENRING gameplay on November 4th at 3 PM CET/7 AM PDT

Youtube: https://t.co/yNnvFmV3ky
Twitch: https://t.co/jFFOwDSEfr

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) November 3, 2021

This will be the most comprehensive look we’ve yet seen of Elden Ring’s gameplay, given that up until now the gameplay that has been shown has been part of an in-engine cinematic trailer.

Elden Ring is now set to launch on Feb. 25 following a brief delay last month from its original release date roughly one month prior.

Later in November the game will run its first closed network test, hosted between Nov. 12 and 14; unfortunately, if you’ve not registered yet then you’re out of luck as the due date was earlier this week.

Animal Crossing New Horizons is about to receive a major free update and a hefty chunk of DLC to accompany it in the form of Happy Home Paradise. Combined, there’s a ton of new content coming to your island (and on farther shores) to spend your Bells on and sink your teeth into. However, life catches up with all of us, and if you’ve abandoned your island in recent months, or just want to make sure you’re ready for everything coming your way, we’ve compiled a quick list of ways you can prepare for Animal Crossing New Horizons 2.0 update and Happy Home Paradise excursion.

From time to time, Respawn releases themed editions of Apex Legends that feature specific characters, and now, it’s Loba’s turn. So far, Bloodhound, Lifeline, Octane, Bangalore, Gibraltar, Pathfinder, and Mirage all have themed editions of the game that grant them special Legendary skins.

This edition comes with the new Arms Dealer Legendary skin, the 30-30 Repeater Silver Lining Legendary skin, Fractal Wolf gun charm, the Quartermaster Andrade Legendary Badge, and 1,000 Apex Coins to spend however you want.

This new themed edition can be purchased right here for $19.99 on the official site, along with the rest of the special editions for all of the Legends mentioned above.

You can check out the trailer for this new Loba Edition of Apex Legends below to see her Arms Dealer skin in-game:

Earlier today, Heels lead actor Stephen Amell took to Twitter to confirm that a second season of the Starz wrestling drama has been confirmed.

According to Deadline, it was also confirmed that Trey Tucker (Bobb Pin) and Robby Ramos (Cottonmouth) will not only be reprising their roles but that they’ve also been promoted to series regulars. Mike O’Malley is also set to return as the showrunner for Heels’ sophomore season.

President and CEO of Starz Jeffrey Hirsch had the following to say regarding the show getting a sophomore season:

“It’s clear from the critical and fan acclaim that the stories and characters from the Duffy Wrestling League have made a connection with audiences bringing a community that is not often found to premium TV,” said Hirsch. “I’m excited for our amazing cast and executive producers to get back into the ring together for a second season.”

Yesterday, developer Hideki Kamiya hosted an “apology stream” announcing, and subsequently apologizing for, a delay on the company’s upcoming shoot-em-up, Sol Cresta. The stream was, all things considered, kind of a weird vibe.

Read more...

Blizzard is in the eye of a storm. In the wake of a departing studio head and two major delays of anticipated games, the Diablo and Overwatch developer is bleeding players across the board, as it revealed during an Activision Blizzard earnings call last night. Across its portfolio, the studio’s monthly active users…

Read more...

Though its clearly for people familiar with the anime and manga, the Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles game does hit major story beats.

The post Demon Slayer Game’s Story is Quite an Abridged Take on the Anime appeared first on Siliconera.

As we pass the 190 mark, the latest SMT V videos take a moment to show what Aeros and Loki are capable of in this installment.

The post Aeros and Loki Show Their Stuff in SMT V appeared first on Siliconera.

Today Ubisoft teased a new operation for its popular squad tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and revealed its new operator.

The operator is named Thorn, and from the roadmap, we know she hails from Ireland. We also know she’s a defender. She’ll be at the center of the new operation named High Calibre.

The new operation and Osa’s gameplay will be fully revealed on Monday, November 8.

You can watch the trailer below and read some flavor text from the official website.

“Hey Cav,

There’s a lot to be said about specialist Brianna “Thorn” Skehan, considering I’ve known her for quite some time. We haven’t been in contact in a while, but her right hook leaves a lasting impression that I won’t soon forget.

THQ Nordic has delayed the launch of its Reforced edition of SpellForce III for consoles. It was originally set to release in tandem with the free PC update on Dec. 6, bringing the unique RTS/RPG hybrid to PlayStation and Xbox platforms for the first time. That date has now been pushed back until March 8, 2022.

For those not up to speed, here’s a full overview of the new features you can look forward to when the game finally does release:

Campaign:

• Improved RTS mechanics and reworked RTS faction designs, introduced in the two expansions
• Reworked Skill trees
• Improved Quests
• Improved Coop Mode
• Improved loot distribution
• Improved balancing
• Complete rework of the hub
• All campaign/quest logic issues are fixed

Additionally to these campaign features, the Reforced Edition will have a visually and functionally enhanced User Interface, full gamepad support, and new content:

Those looking to try before they buy when it comes to Battlefield 2042 will soon have the opportunity to do just that if they're EA Play or Game Pass subscribers, courtesy of a ten-hour early access trial starting next Friday, 12th November.

EA's newly announced offer runs alongside a similar early access event for EA Play Pro subscribers and anyone that's pre-ordered the Gold or Ultimate editions of Battlefield 2042. However, while both those group will have access the game for an entire week ahead of its 19th November launch, early access will be capped at a total of ten hours across the week for those joining in via EA Play and Game Pass.

Read more

If you thought buying a Nintendo Switch was tough over this past year, that challenge is not going to let up anytime soon. 

That’s because Nintendo will be making 20% fewer Switch consoles than expected through March, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia. The 20% reduction translates to roughly 6 million fewer Switch consoles, as Nintendo originally planned to manufacture and ship 30 million Switch units by March. Nikkei Asia reports that the planned number has been reduced to 24 million. 

As you might expect, the reason for this reduction in production is chips, or rather, the ongoing shortage of chips. The same chip shortage that has made buying video cards, new vehicles, PlayStation 5s, and Xbox Series X/S consoles is the same shortage affecting Nintendo. 

“We are assessing their [component shortages] impact on our production,” a Nintendo spokesperson told Nikkei Asia.

Honor of Kings, the extremely popular mobile MOBA, is getting a live-service, open-world spinoff game called Honor of Kings: World. 

This news comes by way of Kotaku, which reports that World will be following in the vein of Genshin Impact. It will have live-service components, a global launch, and locales and a narrative based on or at least inspired by Chinese mythology. 

The new trailer, which launched over the weekend, features a gorgeous and flashy open world significantly more open than that seen in Honor of Kings...which makes sense considering Honor of Kings: World is meant to be an open world title. As noted by Kotaku, World will likely end up being massive – its MOBA predecessor, Honor of Kings, is one of the biggest games in the world, surpassing over 100 million daily players in 2020. 

After spending years in Early Access, the beautiful survival game Among Trees is ready for prime time. Developer FJRD Interactive announced today that the game will officially launch on November 10 for PC.

Among Trees was first revealed during The Game Awards in 2018 and launched in Early Access in June 2020. Set in a scenic, living forest, your task is to gather materials and food to survive. You’ll chop down trees to build a cabin, which you can upgrade by adding new rooms to unlock cooking, crafting, sewing, and gardening. Speaking of that last mechanic, you can construct an entire greenhouse to grow food to consume raw or use as ingredients for recipes. You can also build a hydration system and even a brewery. 

The gorgeous world includes forests and caves. As peaceful as it looks, it’s not without its dangers. Predators such as bears roam its landscape, which you’ll need to avoid to prevent a The Revenant situation. If that’s too much excitement for your blood, a peaceful Zen mode allows you to enjoy Among Trees’ laid-back vibe without killer animals breathing down your neck. On the friendlier side, you can adopt and train a fox companion to help you locate valuable resources. 

Nintendo’s lunch-box shaped GameCube isn’t a machine we’d consider powerful by today’s standards, but it feels like we’re always learning something cool about the early aughts gaming platform. Case in point: 2001 launch title Luigi’s Mansion is constantly tracking how many microscopic dust particles you suck up with…

Read more...

The stocking comes pre-stocked with snacks and a case shaped like the Gundam's shield.

The post Heart Reveals Gundam Boots in Place of Stockings for Christmas appeared first on Siliconera.

Today third-party developer Red Wing Simulations released four new videos about its upcoming vintage propliner for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

It’s a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, which will soon unleash its four engines onto the simulated world.

We get to see a simple startup sequence, the warmup, the taxi procedure, and the aircraft’s ancient autopilot system.

You can watch it below.

Ever fancied yourself as a bona fide grease monkey? Well, now’s your chance! Yes, Polish indie developer Play2Chill SA‘s upcoming repair-’em-up sim, Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021, has just got an official launch date of Nov. 17 for PC.

The news comes by way of a freshly cut trailer revealing the formal release date. Go ahead and take a gander at said video down below:

Accompanied by some suitably rockin’ guitar riffs, the new footage showcases what you’ll be getting up to in the game. Not only will you be busy tinkering and tuning up your own set of wheels, but you’ll also get to design your own repair shop, before finally taking your new creation out on the road.

While you’ll begin the game with your own small-scale garage, you’ll soon be able to build your empire into a thriving enterprise replete with a bevy of customers, bikes, furniture, custom parts and test tracks.

If you want to experience the game for yourself, a free demo is available right now.

Today Activision Blizzard released a brand new video of the upcoming FPS Call of Duty: Vanguard.

The video is a featurette focusing on how the developers created the cinematic experience telling the story of the game. The team received the help of cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema for this one, and we hear what kind of support and advice he provided.

You can check out the video below.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on Nov. 5.

Today Electronic Arts released a brand new trailer of its upcoming first-person shooter Battlefield 2042.

The trailer focuses on revealing new gameplay of the Portal mode, which lets players create their own matchups between rosters of previous Battlefield games. If you want to pitch World War II soldiers against modern operators, that’s one of the many possibilities offered.

You can watch the mayhem in action below.

Battlefield 2042  will launch on Nov. 19, 2021, for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

One of the most exciting things that can happen in gaming is the announcement of that sequel or spiritual successor you’ve been begging for. There’s no shortage of those kinds of announcements these days, but sometimes those announcements can feel like mistakes, particularly when a game is nowhere near ready. 

Sure, the hype is exciting, but there’s no real purpose to announcing a game years and years ahead of time other than marketing, of course. If a game enters what’s informally known as development hell, that announcement can sting a lot, both for the studio behind it and the fans excited about it. 

In Part 1 of this series, Game Informer detailed the development history of games like Pikmin 4, Dead Island 2, Skull & Bones, and more. Part 2 explored the development hell of five more games, and Part 3, the final part of this series, examines another five projects.

Square Enix has released its annual report for its 2021 fiscal year, which reflected on the games released during the initial months of the COVID pandemic. Marvel's Avengers is revealed in the report to be considered "not proven successful," though lessons were learned from the project.

Taking on a Games as a Service (or GaaS) model, Marvel's Avengers was described as an "ambitious title" for Square Enix. The complications that come with planning for the long tail of a service-focused title with the shift to developers working from home compounded the challenges. "We were able to surmount these challenges and release the game, but it has unfortunately not proven as successful as we would have liked," says Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda in the report.

Though, there is a silver lining according to Matsuda, and takes the project as a learning opportunity. He says, "Nonetheless, taking on the GaaS model highlighted issues that we are likely to face in future game development efforts such as the need to select game designs that mesh with the unique attributes and tastes of our studios and development teams." As a result of finding out certain lessons of GaaS the hard way, Matsuda says, "While the new challenge that we tackled with this title produced a disappointing outcome, we are certain that the GaaS approach will grow in importance as gaming becomes more service-oriented."

Firaxis has announced that its superhero strategy game, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, won’t make its March release window. The game requires some more polish, so it will instead launch during the back half of 2022. A more exact date was not provided.

The studio tweeted a statement by creative director Jake Solomon explaining the delay. Simply put, the game needs more time in the oven to come together, and four months from now won’t be enough. “These extra months will be used to add more story, cinematics, and overall polish and will be essential in helping us make our vision a reality,” reads Solomon’s statement. You can read the full announcement in the tweet below.

We have an important development update to share with our fans pic.twitter.com/ycNDCVtbwD

If you love playing Destiny 2, but also appreciate playing other games every once in a while, then welcome: You’re in the right place. And if you actually don’t like playing Destiny 2, but wish you had something similar to get lost in, then you’re in the right place, too.

Read more...

Despite having just been announced less than three months ago, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, a tactics role-playing game in the vein of XCOM, has been delayed, developer Firaxis Games announced today. It will now come out in the back half of 2022, pushed out of a previously vague March 2022 window.

Read more...