March 2022

Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1 – The Fatalities and Fandom of the Arcade Era is an upcoming novel detailing the origin and early history of Mortal Kombat. The book compiles interviews with MK co-creator John Tobias and other designers, critics, and fans to weave a comprehensive tale of the franchises' beginnings. Author David L. Craddock (Stay Awhile and Listen trilogy, Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense) has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the book off the ground and shared an exclusive chapter from the book with Game Informer that you can read below.  

Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1 Book Cover

Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1 – The Fatalities and Fandom of the Arcade Era goes behind the scenes to reveal untold stories from the making of Mortal Kombat 1 through 4 and explores how the franchise impacted popular culture, and is funding now on Kickstarter. In this excerpt from the book, a small boy earns the respect of the drug dealers who rule his arcade by besting them in a fight—in Mortal Kombat.

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Hot off the heels of her Oscar nomination, Supermassive Games has welcomed Jessie Buckley to its latest game in the Dark Pictures Anthology.

Buckley, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Lost Daughter at the Acadamy Awards on Sunday, will star as Kate Wilder in The Devil in Me.

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Sony insists the quality of its first-party games would suffer if they launched day one in the new PS Plus.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony exec Jim Ryan confirmed first party games won't launch into the newly announced subscription, unlike Microsoft's approach with Xbox Game Pass.

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Following months of unconfirmed reports, Sony has finally made its long-rumoured PlayStation Plus overhaul official.

The new service, which launches in June, combines features of both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one service with three distinct subscription tiers.

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Insomniac Games' Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was a huge success for the company and the PlayStation 5. This is thanks to many things, but one stand out aspect of the game is undoubtedly Rivet, a fellow Lombax and all round awesome addition to the series. However, when workshopping ideas for Rivet, the team had a variety of names for her including... Ratchet.

Chatting at GDC (via IGN), Insomniac lead designer Mark Stuart said: "For a while we switched to her just being named Ratchet. After all, she and Ratchet are technically dimensional counterparts. Ratchet is a non-gendered name."

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Forget “Netflix for games” for a sec. The conversation to watch this week is “Hulu for games.” Yes, Sony has finally lifted the curtain on its eagerly anticipated overhaul of PS Plus and PS Now, formerly known under the code name “Spartacus.”

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The rumored relaunch of Sony's subscription service is nigh. A new entry on the PlayStation Blog detailed how PS Plus is changing. From June 2022 forward, PS Plus will offer tiers of service. The basic version starts with what all current subscribers get now. Newly-added tiers will cost more and add features folded in from the PlayStation Now, Sony's game streaming and download service. PS Now was previously a separate subscription. It will be folded into PS Plus after the relaunch.

Sony is relaunching the service with three PS Plus tiers: PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra, and PlayStation Plus Premium.

The first tier, Essential, is the same as PS Plus now. It will provide the same offerings as before:

• Cloud saves
• Online multiplayer
• Exclusive discounts
• Two monthly downloadable games

It will cost $9.99 USD monthly in North America, with quarterly and yearly options that reduce the monthly outlay.

The second tier is called PS Plus Extra. It includes all the benefits from Essential, then adds a library of up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games to download. The games range from indie hits to major first- and third-party releases. The Extra tier costs $14.99 USD monthly. There will be similar discounts for players that pick the quarterly and yearly options.

Finally, the most expensive of the tiers is PS Plus Premium. Premium folds in everything from the previous two levels and adds more games. Among them are retro titles. It includes:

Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about PlayStation Plus and its games alongside the announcement of the services new tiers. As part of that conversation, he went over the possibility of Sony first-party games appearing on the service at launch. He suggested the “virtuous cycle will be broken” if that happens and “doesn't make any sense.” However, Ryan also acknowledged that his thoughts and Sony’s plans could change. [Thanks, GamesIndustry.biz!]

When discussing the possibility, Ryan initially said that it isn’t something Sony’s done in the past and there are no plans for it going forward. He then explained why Sony has the mindset of not releasing first-party games on PlayStation Plus at launch. As part of that, he claimed people who play PS4 and PS5 games wouldn’t want that.

We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.

A new statue of Guts, the protagonist of Berserk, will appear in limited numbers. Prime 1 Studio has opened pre-orders for the Guts Berserker Armor Bloody Nightmare statue. This elaborate statue will have the blood-soaked protagonist resting atop defeated monsters with his signature armor.

The package will come with swappable alternative heads and arms. The head options will let the user switch between a full-covering helmet and another version that shows Guts' mouth. The alternate arms will change the sword's position, from stabbing the ground to resting on Guts' shoulder. When the sword is in the latter position, the overall height of the 1/4 scale statue will reach 95 cm / 37 inches.

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The Berserker Guts Berserk statue is available for $1,299, but Prime 1 Studio will only produce 750 units of the product. It offers payments in multiple installments via PayPal, up to eight times. Regardless of the chosen installment option, the buyer will first make a non-refundable deposit of $129.90.

In an interview with Famitsu, the Final Fantasy XIV development team hinted at a new area that could appear in future content updates. Final Fantasy XIV Lead Scenario Designer Natsuko Ishikawa mentioned that she wanted to include this specific line that suggested players would be introduced to a new area. Producer Naoki Yoshida reiterated in the interview that the story of Final Fantasy XIV isn't complete, despite the saga of Zodiark and Hydaelyn coming to a close. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Lead Scenario Designer Banri Oda also revealed that there is an entire continent in Final Fantasy XIV players have yet to visit:

There is another continent players haven't had the chance to visit. When preparing for Endwalker, I drew an entire map of the world because I had to prepare for a scene of a certain character looking up from the Moon.

In the interview, Meracydia is brought up as a place that has yet to be explored. Oda mentioned that due to the nature of Final Fantasy XIV being an MMORPG, there should be a feeling that the adventure hasn't ended.

Regarding story content, Yoshida stated that he doesn't want the scale of the story to increase with every expansion. Instead, he is using the finale of Endwalker as the catalyst for upcoming story content, as explained below.

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Release: February 4, 2019 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), March 9, 2021 (Switch)
Rating: Teen

Rejoice, horror aficionados! Yes, developer Jasper Byrne and publisher Superflat Games have dropped a brand-new trailer showcasing their expanded remake of 2012’s cult hit, Lone Survivor, just in time for its ten year anniversary (March 27, 2012). Dubbed Super Lone Survivor, the new version of the game will be free to download for existing owners of the original title on PC.

Feast your eyes on the new footage down below… if you so dare!

Originally released on PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, and Wii U, Lone Survivor is an old-school survival horror experience that takes much of its inspiration from the Silent Hill series. While it’s played from a 2D perspective, it boasts a surprisingly deep set of mechanics (there are multiple endings, for example), an engaging story, eerie music, and a seriously disturbing atmosphere.

Fast-forward to its new Super Lone Survivor iteration, and we’ll soon have a bunch of extra content that sole developer, Jasper Byrne, has confirmed has taken him “over two years’ additional work rebuilding from scratch in a new engine”.

Today Nintendo announced that the massively anticipated sequel of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is going to be delayed.

The announcement, delivered by Eiji Aonuma himself with a video, mentions that the game was scheduled to release this year (as confirmed in June 2021), but it will instead be delayed to spring 2023.

You can check out the video for yourself below.

The game was originally announced all the way back at E3 2019, so fans have been waiting for a long time.

The original The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild was launched in 2017 for both Wii U and Nintendo Switch, earning massive critical and fan acclaim.

It has since shipped over 27 million copies between both platforms.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether the sequel will manage to follow up on its success with the same acclaim, but we’ll know next year. That being said, hopefully, we’ll hear more soon enough.

Epic Games has announced that the popular ‘No Building’ Fortnite game modes that debuted at the beginning of Chapter 3 Season 2 are now officially being renamed to ‘Zero Build’ starting today.

The news comes via a blog post, stating that Fortnite Zero Build ‘is a pure test of weapon, item and traversal ability.’ Essentially ‘Zero Build’ will now be the name for the gameplay players have experienced since the beginning of this Chapter 3 Season 2, which kicked off on March 20th where the building mechanics have been disabled.

The official renaming suggests that the building mechanics are set to return in the near future, which fall in-line with initial leaks that building would be disabled for the first 8-10 days of the new season. Given the new week 2 challenges are set to go live on Thursday, there’s a good chance that we could see building return then, following this announcement.

Fortnite Zero Build will come in both Solo, Duos, Trios and Squads playlists and can be accessed by the ‘Discover’ page by clicking the “CHANGE” button above “PLAY!” in the lobby.

Outside of the building mechanics being disabled, Zero Build will also retain the Overshield mechanic, as well as the new Tactical Sprint and Parkour mechanics like Mantling.

Azur Lane is very popular in Japan, and its shipgirls continue to be portrayed by plenty of figures. A new one has just been made available for pre-order.

It portrays Washington and it comes from FREEing, part of its popular line of bunny girl figures. You can pre-order her on Ami Ami for 31,300 yen, which translates approximately into $253.

The price should not surprise considering that this line comes in a rather massive 1/4 scale which means that we’re looking at a 450mm-tall figure.

The release window isn’t terribly far, as shipments will come in December 2022.

The prototype is sculpted by Morikura in cooperation with Dragon Craft and painted by yozakura.

You can check what the figure looks like in the gallery below.

Today publisher Wired Productions and developer KeokeN Interactive announced the release date of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of Deliver Us The Moon.

It’ll launch on May 19, 2022, and existing owners of the old-gen versions will receive the upgrade at no additional cost.

A physical edition of the game will also be available for PS5 only for £19.99, $24.99, or €24.99. depending on where you live.

You can check the trailer out below.

Here’s what you can expect from the upgrade:

• Fully remastered in 4K with ray-traced shadows and reflections
• Jump into the action quicker with faster loading times
• Adaptive triggers and controller speakers (PlayStation 5)
• PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners upgrade to Next Gen version for free

The press release came with a comment from Leo Zullo, Managing Director at Wired Productions.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the wonderful team at KeokeN Interactive, with the release of the next-gen edition of Deliver Us the Moon. The game continues to be prescient as ever and the new updates further elevate the gripping experience.”

We also hear from Koen Deetman, CEO at KeokeN Interactive.

The good news, for those who like their games industry a little less homogenous, is that Sony continues to tread its own line with the much-anticipated makeover of its PlayStation subscription service. The new PlayStation Plus might look broadly similar to Game Pass, and at its top tier it costs broadly the same too, but with Sony's first-party games not hitting the service on day one this is quite pointedly not a direct competitor. It is instead simply a consolidation of what's gone before.

All of which makes the reveal, heavily rumoured and highly billed by some insiders for months beforehand, feel somewhat underwhelming. The new PlayStation Plus is not a game changer. It's not about lowering the barrier of entry, aggressive user acquisition or expanding the market beyond its current boundaries; it's merely a bundle, and further affirmation that Sony firmly believes in its time-honoured model of big-ticket, triple-A games with a £70 price tag for its fancy £500 machine.

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The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been delayed until Spring 2023.

Nintendo had originally planned for a 2022 release. However, in a video statement, series producer Eiji Aonuma announced the game has been pushed back.

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Epic has launched Fortnite Zero Build mode in its popular battle royale.

Last weekend, building was removed from the game temporarily. New movement abilities were added in too - a faster sprint, mantling, and a shoulder bash - as well as an overshield.

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Game dev Lilith Walther is the gift that keeps on giving. Following their announcement of fan project Bloodborne Kart, the creator has shared some new snippets of footage, showing off some of what players can expect on the game's eventual release.

This footage includes a look at the game's drifting mechanics, the first peek at the power up system and the inclusion of destructible objects (which currently do not slow down the player's kart, although Walther has said this will probably be changed in the future).

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The best and cheapest way to get into next-gen gaming right now is through the Xbox Series S. Microsoft's digital-only console is able to play the latest games such as Halo Infinite and Flight Simulator, while also giving you a high-res 1440p experience in titles like Fortnite in a sweet, small package for just £249 RRP.

If you were already in the market for one, check out BT's impressive bundles out today. For just £10 more, you can get the Series S console along with Razer's Kishi phone controller at just £259. The other bundle includes not just the Series S console and the Kishi, but a second, standard Xbox controller for just £286.48. This is awesome if you're planning to play titles locally like Fortnite, Streets of Rage 4 or Minecraft, and a necessity if you have kids, siblings or friends who are gamers too. With an Xbox controller usually going for around £50, this is a huge saving with the addition of the Kishi controller.

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Recent changes to Pokémon GO have yet again stirred controversy. The nerfing of Incense, and the halving of Community Day, have once more sent out a signal that Niantic wants the mobile game to return to its pre-pandemic form, before some of its audience is ready. We spoke to POGO’s live game director, Michael…

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Please don’t shoot the messenger. The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been pushed to spring 2023, Nintendo announced in a brief video today.

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I should know better by now; I should expect that anyone I meet in Elden Ring will either straight-up suck or have some kind of tragic storyline that will desiccate my bones in existential dread. Probably, I should be killing every NPC I see just to save myself the anguish, leaving only the Turtle Pope and his pure…

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The chakram is about to join the roster of Honkai Impact 3rd weapons. To help people prepare, miHoYo offered initial details about which ones will appear as part of the 5.6 update. It also showed off a free four-star bow people will be able to earn.

Three chakrams appeared. The first is the four-star Gilded Librae. It is the one people can craft. Purana Phantasma will be a five-star, while Purana Phantasma: Nighteye is a six-star.

Here are the pictures of each one.
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So far, there's one character who will use chakrams as her weapon in Honkai Impact 3rd. The Pardofelis Reverist Calico battlesuit will debut in 5.6, and that's her weapon. Both of the Purana Phantasma chakrams are considered her signature weapons.

As for other Honkai Impact 3rd weapons, the four-star Cerulean Flare bow is on the way. To get it, people need to participate in Honkai Impact 3rd events. Specifically, people need to complete a login mission and Empyrean Legends, Flame-Chasers' Trials, and Starless Night missions to earn this weapon.

Honkai Impact 3rd is available for PCs and mobile devices. The chakrams and Pardofelis Reverist Calico battlesuit will be added in the 5.6 update.

Over 8,000 Genshin Impact Players Decided to Walk to Inazuma

MiHoYo used to regularly release Teyvat Times updates that shared data collected on various feats players completed in Genshin Impact. On March 29, 2022, it decided to bring the newsletter back. Its first entry went over details about the Serenitea Pot and its furnishings, unorthodox ways to get to Inazuma, and drawing fortunes at the Grand Narukami Shrine. Most notably, it revealed that 8,793 Genshin Impact players ended up deciding to walk from Liyue Harbor to Inazuma City, rather than teleport or take a boat.

When talking about the accomplishment, miHoYo clarified how these people managed the feat. It noted that the Genshin Impact players who made the walk to Inazuma did so after getting there via Beidou’s boat. This is because otherwise, the Raiden Shogun’s thunderstorm barrier could electrocute people attempting unorthodox travel methods.

The announcement also offered details about sneaking into Inazuma in Genshin Impact in February and March 2022. In February 2022, 45,961 people tried to sneak in. Of those, it noted 31,399 failed. 17,998 were electrocuted and 13,401 drowned. In March 2022, 12,420 people drowned trying to swim to Inazuma so far.

Nintendo announced that the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is delayed until 2023. Producer Eiji Aonuma appeared in a video to discuss the push into next year. He apologized for the delay and cited a desire to extend its development time.

Here is Aonuma’s full statement regarding The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 being delayed. After bringing up its new 2023 launch window, he offered a bit of insight into the title. He explained how Link will be exploring on-ground and in the air. In the video, odd markings can be seen on Link’s right arm.

The Legend of Zelda series producer, Eiji Aonuma, has an update to share about the launch timing of the sequel to The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/L0MYj4ZVTK

— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) March 29, 2022

One of the last major trailers for the game appeared back in June 2021. That video featured the 2022 launch window announcement in it.

There are certain games that inspire port begging. In many cases, it is understandable. Vanillaware’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is one of them, with people asking about Switch and PC ports since its 2019 PS4 debut. Now in 2022, part of that "wish" is coming true. After some time spent with its prologues, it is clear that this could be a perfect fit on the Switch.

Part of this is due to 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim’s nature and the way people may use their Switch systems. It is a hybrid console, after all. It also happens to be one with a library filled with adventure games and visual novels. While playing these titles on a big screen can be great, there’s something intimate and engaging about having them on a smaller screen in your hands. It’s like going through a favorite book. In its early hours, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim feels well suited to the platform. Everything is right in front of you. It’s clear and easy to read. The control system adapts well to it.

I think the first mobile game I ever bought was Game Dev Story, Kairosoft's smash-hit lightweight management game about running a video game studio. I think the second mobile game I bought was probably one of its follow-ups, too. So I'm feeling all sorts of nostalgic as I see Game Dev Story and four other vintage Kairosoft manage 'em ups have arrived on Steam.

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Sony today announced they're overhauling PlayStation Now, their subscription service which lets us play some older PlayStation games on PC via cloud gaming. They're merging it with their PlayStation Plus service and adding a giant library of games as some sort of multi-tiered mega-Game Pass doodad. It's not clear how exactly this will change things for people who are already using PS Now to play PlayStation games on PC, but it sounds like maaaybe they'll add Marvel's Spider-Man, at least? For now, they're vague about the whole thing.

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There sure are a lot of “world’s fastest” gaming CPUs around these days. Just two weeks after AMD confirmed a date and price for their own champion, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, Intel have formally unveiled the Core i9-12900KS: a new addition to the 12th Gen Alder Lake lineup that promises superlative performance and up to 5.5GHz clock speeds.

That’s all less than five months since the launch of the original Intel Core i9-12900K, which as far as I can tell actually is the best CPU for gaming right now in pure performance terms. And the Core i9-12900KS is even set to beat the Ryzen 7 5800X3D to shelves, releasing on April 5th to the Ryzen’s April 20th street date. No brakes on the top-tier processor train, it seems.

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That’s not bad! Although it’s not quite making the 6.1 update, Final Fantasy XIV data center travel is coming in...

The post Data center travel in Final Fantasy XIV could take up to three minutes appeared first on Destructoid.