June 2022

People in Japan will be able to get FFXIV socks and tights inspired by in-game designs and looks. Square Enix announced a Kiwanda collaboration. The tights will be available in one size described as cover people who wear medium-to-large sizes. They cost 6,600円 ($48). The socks are available in men’s and women’s sizes, are available in three colors, and cost 3,080円 (~$23). All of the items will appear in the country on July 16, 2022.

First, here's a close at the FFXIV Kiwanda tights. They are designed to look like the Valentione Rose Tights. Those are the red variants. In-game, folks can earn them as a Valentione's Day reward. Photos show them both off and on a model.
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As for the FFXIV socks, their designs are based on Allagan Empire’s defense systems. The men’s versions fit a foot about 25-27.5cm. The women’s are 22-24.5cm. Both types are available in red, purple, and yellow.
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The first week of any game’s release is crucial for its long-term success and overall popularity. However, after analyzing many major titles, some outshine the rest because of their ground-breaking sales and recorded hours of gameplay. So, here are the top 10 fastest-selling games in their first week.

Halo 3

Top 10 Fastest-Selling Games in Their First Week

To start this list, we’re going back to 2007, when Microsoft first launched Halo 3. Within the game’s first week, it earned more than $300 million in sales, making it one of the fastest-selling video games of its time. Additionally, the hit major title reached a significant milestone of having over 40 million hours of online gameplay.

If you’re wondering why Stranger Things Season 4 is split into 2 parts, then you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ll discuss why the Duffer Brothers’ ’80s-inspired sci-fi horror series was chopped into two separate volumes. So, without further delay, let’s dive in, shall we?

Why Was Stranger Things Season 4 Split Into 2 Volumes? Explained

Unlike many other TV series which usually focus on one or two storylines, Stranger Things Season 4 features four major storylines that are intricately interwoven into the overarching narrative. The sheer breadth and length of all these different plot threads needed a lengthier runtime than usual to help serve the story at the heart of Season 4.

In a recent interview with Variety, Matt and Ross Duffer — the creators of the popular show — discussed the writing process and why the runtime ended up being longer:

We knew they were going to be longer but not long like they ended up being, and that was something we didn’t really figure out until we were in editorial, because I don’t know what happened. Something changed with the way we write scripts. […]

We look back at season one, because those were scripts for, you know, 55/60 pages and [they] ended up being like 48 [minutes long] whereas these [Season 4] scripts were like 70/75 pages and they ended up being at least 75 minutes if not over. […]

As you can see, the script for Season 4 featured many more pages than in previous seasons, which had a knock-on effect that ultimately impacted the show’s overall runtime.

Not sure how to add friends in Clash Royale? Then, we have your back. Clash Royale lets you jump in with your friends for some 2v2 battles, which adds to the overall fun and thrill and a social component to the game. Teaming up with friends is a great way to practice strategies or simply have some chill time in the arena. So, here’s how you can add friends in Clash Royale.

How to Add Friends in Clash Royale

There are multiple ways (3 exactly) to add friends in Clash Royale. These include: using the in-game invite feature, via Facebook, or via Supercell ID. So, no matter which method you prefer here’s a step-by-step guide, explaining every method.

Adding Friends via In-Game Invite

Overwatch 2 is finally out on PC and consoles. While the general gameplay may still be the same, the way Overwatch 2 monitors your contributions has changed in some ways. If you are wondering about the changes to the scoreboard in Overwatch 2 and what does MIT mean, read on to find out.

Overwatch 2 MIT Meaning

If you are looking at the MIT portion of the scoreboard and scratching your head, the answer is actually quite simple. MIT stands for mitigated damage, essentially damage that has been prevented by a skill. This statistic “encompasses the previous Damage Blocked, but also keeps track of damage prevented by effects such as Ana’s Nano Boost or Orisa’s Fortify.”

While it might seem like tanks are the best heroes for mitigating damage, other heroes such as Lucio and Kiriko can also contribute to this stat with their abilities. For instance, Lucio’s Sound Barrier gives everyone extra HP, and damage taken during this time will count as mitigated damage.

Just off the backs of the recent release date announcement for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope during the Nintendo Direct Mini, Ubisoft has unveiled some brand new tactical gameplay for the sequel. The news came about during a follow-up showcase event earlier today, which was entirely focused on showing off the game’s combat, as well as a few other surprises.

In the videos below, Ubisoft displayed some of the exciting new worlds that players will be able to explore, which include new side stories, full exploration, and a gaggle of interesting new playable characters and enemy Cursa.

It’s been six years since the last Star Ocean game hit shelves and fans are heavily anticipating the next title. Luckily enough, there’s been new information announced. Here’s what is currently known about when Star Ocean: The Divine Force will be coming out.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force Release Date

Star Ocean: The Divine Force will be released for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC on Oct. 27, 2022. This is the worldwide release date, meaning there won’t be any long wait for localization after a released Japanese version, gamers everywhere will be able to pick this up at the same time.

All Star Ocean Series Games

Star Ocean: The Divine Force was first announced last October, during the PlayStation State of Play event. This title will be the sixth main game in the Star Ocean series.

The other games are:

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the monthly games that will be granted to PlayStation Plus subscribers in July 2022 at no additional cost.

We’re getting Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time for PS5 and PS4, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan for PS4, and Arcadegeddon for PS5 and PS4.

The new games will be made available on July 5 to PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers. Of course, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium get access to their respective libraries as well.

If you’re unfamiliar with any of the games, here’s an official description for each.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time | PS4/PS5
An all-new Crash adventure awaits! Dr. Neo Cortex and N. Tropy are back at it again and launching an all-out assault on not just this universe, but the entire multiverse. Wield four powerful guardians of space and time that give Crash and Coco the power to bend the rules of reality and conquer dangerous obstacles in exciting new ways. And you’ll not only play as the wumping, jumping, marsupial duo: experience things from different perspectives with the one and only Dr. Neo Cortex. Play as Crash, Coco, Tawna, Dingodile, or Dr. Neo Cortex and battle bosses such as N. Gin, Louise, Nitrus Brio, and Nefarious Tropy.

When we last left Hawkins, things are on a knife’s edge as everyone’s favorite group of 80’s kids prepare themselves for a showdown with the villainous Vecna in Season 4 of Stranger Things. With every episode seemingly longer with every subsequent chapter, the Duffer Brothers have been delivering some excellent television. As we prepare ourselves for the second part of the adventure, you might be wondering about the runtime of Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2, and we have the answer.

The Runtime of Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2

There will be two more episodes when Volume 2 hit Netflix on July 1 at the stroke of midnight, making for a total of nine. Each will be substantially longer than what we have consumed thus far, with Episode 8 running for 1 hour and 25 minutes and the finale, episode 9, clocking at 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Compared to Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 4, these final two episodes are certainly on the longer side. Here are the runtimes for all the episodes this season:

This once niche type of game has been gaining some steam and it’s possible those unaware of the meaning might now hear a specific type of game referred to as a “Musou game”. We’re here to explain to you just what exactly a Musou game actually is.

Definition of Musou

The word Musou refers to the special attack of a character in any one of the games developed by Omega Force. Typically in one of their games, there is a special attack that must be charged through combat that when unleashed plays out through a short cinematic and decimates all the foes around them.

Cyberpunk 2077 will always be a cautionary tale of how not to make and release a game. It was notoriously marred by technical bugs and developmental woes and now, according to a new report from YouTuber Upper Echelon Gamers, a QA firm allegedly misled CD Projekt Red during the game’s development. But in response, the…

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Thanks to some internet sleuthing, it seems the release date for Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate game, Skull And Bones, has leaked online. According to data found on the Xbox store, the game is set to release this November, which lines up with information Kotaku has heard about the game’s rocky development.

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Ubisoft has today unveiled a feast of fresh Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope gameplay footage, showcasing its intriguing new settings, characters and chaos.

This sequel to the excellent Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle takes place in a "whimsical" and gorgeous new galaxy, that's a curious blend of both Mario Galaxy and Rabbids universes. Within its orbit float worlds of autumnal colour, frozen snow and sandy beaches, like a Mario Galaxy game in miniature.

The story here revolves around Cursa, a dark entity that wants to absorb this hybrid galaxy's energy and capture the Sparks - cute creations that are a mix of Galaxy's Lumas and the Rabbids. It's up to Mario and his Kingdom Battle crew to save the day, now aided by Rabbid Rosalina, the punky-looking rabbid Edge, and - as we found out yesterday during the latest Nintendo Direct - Bowser himself.

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Monster Rancher was revived late last year with the release of the Monster Ranger 1&2 DX collection, and Bandai Namco isn't going to stop there. In fact, the series is going bigger. Much bigger!

The first trailer for Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher asks a crucial question, "How would you like to raise your very own Ultra Kaiju?" To which I responded, "Yes, please. I'd very much like that. Give it to me now." Foregoing the dull, average-sized creatures you used to raise in Monster Rancher, Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher lets you take care of some colossal sweet boys. You'll raise the likes of Zettan, Gomora, and Alien Baltan – all licensed Kaiju from the Ultraman franchise. Many other existing Kaiju appear in the game, and you'll take them to help townsfolk in ways only a giant monster could. You can also participate in massive monster battles or watch the colossal beings waddle like big clumsy babies. As a fun bonus, the Kaiju can be bred, making wild combinations of their attributes appear in their children. It all seems like a lot of goofy fun.

If you subscribe to the digital edition of Game Informer, you can now learn all about Sonic Frontiers. Following the cover reveal, our digital issue is now live to subscribers on web browsers, iPad/iPhone, and Android devices. Individual issues will be available for purchase later today. You can download the apps to view the issue by following this link. All of these digital options are included in a standard subscription.

Not a digital subscriber yet? Convert your existing print subscription or start a new subscription here.

Pocky & Rocky is back and, well, it is a slightly different take on a game people might be familiar with. It is all about playing with a familiar formula and adding to it. However, while this is definitely the run-and-gun game people remember, there are also some elements that feel like they’re holding the overall experience back.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined involves shrine maiden Pocky and Rocky the tanuki dealing with Black Mantle and his yokai minions. The duo are responsible for figuring out how to save the day over the course of eight stages. Though really, the plot is awkward and feels unnecessary. It can also come across as a bit stilted, due to the storytelling decisions and localization. But given the nature of the series and this installment, you don’t really need to pay attention to the backstory. It all serves as an excuse to keep fighting through various levels.

Sony revealed the July 2022 PlayStation Plus games, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is leading the pack. The PS4 and PS5 versions of it will be available. It will be joined by The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) and Arcadegeddon (PS4, PS5).

Arcadegeddon showed up on the PS4 and PS5 in July 2021. It normally costs $19.99 for a digital copy. It is a PVP and PVE, third-person shooter for up to four people. You can play it alone and without friends, however.

Crash Bandicoot 4 appeared on the PS4 in October 2020 and on the PS5 in March 2021. It normally costs $59.99 via the PlayStation Store. It’s a platformer starring characters like Crash, Coco, Tawna, Dingodile, and Dr. Cortex.

Man of Medan is a PS4 horror adventure game that debuted back in August 2018. It can be played alone or with another person. It normally costs $29.99 to download it.

PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to claim Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (PS4, PS5), The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4), and Arcadegeddon (PS4, PS5) on July 5, 2022. Until then, people can still claim the June 2022 games God of War (PS4), Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (PS4), and Nickelodeon: All-Star Brawl (PS4, PS5) until July 4, 2022.

Need a recap of Stranger Things 4 Season Volume 1 before the second installment releases? We’ve got you covered with this guide on everything you need to know about the current adventures of the legendary Hawkin’s group. Furthermore, we’ll explain the characters’ whereabouts and the events that could transpire in the season finale.

***Before we go any further, it’s worth noting that the details of these events are significant spoilers for Season 4. So if you’d like to enjoy the newest season spoiler-free, we recommend you turn back now.***

Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 Recap

Keeping track of the multiple storylines within Stranger Things can be challenging. But, fret not; we’ll break down each of the character’s missions and crucial moments that are essential to remember for the finale.

Today, Crunchyroll has announced that a never-before-seen edition of the hololive Meet (holoMeet) experience will be coming to Crunchyroll Expo. The event is set to take place from Aug. 5 -7 in San Jose, California, and will be showcasing the best and brightest in Japanese anime for 2022.

Alongside the holoMeet, voice actors from both the Odd Taxi and Jujutsu Kaisen series will also be present for meet and greets. The exact slate of in-person guests, including: 

Want to know about all buddy souvenir lists, how to get them, and what they do in Pokemon Go? Well, simply put, Buddies are mostly a way to get candies for extremely rare or legendary mons. However, the upgrade to the buddy mechanic has given your closest Poke-partner more useful features. Here’s everything you need to know about this.

Buddy Souvenirs in Pokemon GO

First, let’s lay down the basics of how your buddy Pokemon can find souvenirs. To unlock the souvenir finding ability you need to reach the Ultra Buddy level with one of your mons. This is done by getting earning 150 hearts with a single creature.

How to Get Buddy Souvenirs in Pokemon GO

This will take a while, but you can get seven hearts easily as long as you walk enough, feed it until it’s full three times per day, and pet it once a day. Once it reaches the Ultra Buddy level, then you’ll just need to keep it on the map with you by feeding it and the Pokemon will occasionally find souvenirs.

Pokemon GO Buddy Souvenir List

As long as your Ultra Buddy level ‘mon is on the map in Pokemon GO, then it will be able to grab some souvenirs and bring them back to you. Here’s a full list of all 15 items your buddy can collect:

To celebrate the free-to-play release of Fall Guys, there is currently an event going on that can earn you Fortnite cosmetics. Here is how to get all Fortnite cosmetics from the Fall Guys challenges.

Fall Guys Challenges

First, you will want to make sure the account you are playing Fall Guys on is linked to the same Epic Games account as the one you use to play Fortnite.

From now up until Monday, July 11, 2022, Fall Guys players will be able to progress the Crown Clash challenges that will unlock items in Fortnite as you progress. There are five challenges and five items to earn.

The Crown Clash challenges are:

• Play 10 Rounds in Any Show
• Play 20 Rounds in Any Show
• Play 40 Rounds in Any Show
• Play 70 Rounds in Any Show
• Play 100 Rounds in Any Show

It doesn’t matter what placement you get, you just need to finish a match. It is important to keep in mind that you must be eliminated, you cannot quit the show prematurely.

Thanks to a partnership between publisher Double Fine (Broken Age, Grim Fandango Remastered) and RimWorld developer Ludeon Studios, the game will finally be headed to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on July 29. It will be called the RimWorld Console Edition.

There is an announcement trailer for the console launch you can see below:

The standard edition will be $39.99 with a deluxe edition at $54.99 that includes the Royalty DLC. The Royalty DLC will also be available as a separate purchase when the game launches. You can currently pre-order the game on the PlayStation or Microsoft store.

RimWorld first arrived on Steam in 2018 and currently sits at an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, which means 95-99% of the 111,722 (at time of writing) reviews are positive.

For those who might not be familiar with RimWorld, Steam describes it as “a sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller.”

More detail is given on on the storyteller as:

Following Nintendo’s announcement that PlatinumGames’ cult-favorite action-RPG Nier: Automata is coming to the Switch later this year, some gamers are demanding that Square Enix make native ports for the Kingdom Hearts games as well.

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Axie Infinity, the play-to-earn, decidedly exploitative, crypto Neopets, has reopened its proprietary Ronin blockchain bridge after unintentionally exposing its users to a $600 million hack in March.

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Star Ocean: The Divine Force, the latest entry in publisher Square Enix's long-running action-RPG series, now has a release date and will be launching for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam on 27th October.

Tri-Ace, the studio that's been at the helm of the Star Ocean series since its debut in 1996, is once again handling development duties on The Divine Force, which this time follows the stories of dual protagonists Raymond, the captain of the space trading ship Ydas, and Laeticia, the princess-knight of a kingdom on the underdeveloped planet of Aster IV.

Each character offers its own story perspectives and gameplay experiences, and there's a taste of Star Ocean: The Divine Force's ensuing action in the new trailer accompanying today's news.

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We recently sat down with Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto, Director and Producer of Street Fighter 6, respectively, for an interview about Capcom's upcoming fighting game. We learn about how they're pulling inspiration from the worlds of Final Fight and Third Strike, why Modern Control Type "is not an 'Easy Mode'" and should be used in tournament play, and finally, how the team is learning from Street Fighter 5's mistakes to ensure a vibrant future for the series.

It being Wednesday means a new sale has hit the PlayStation Store. Seeing as we’re looking at a sale of over 100 games, there’s a lot to comb through.

To help you organize somewhat, we have collected the best games to pick up while the sale is going. You have until July 14 when the sale ends to pick anything up, and here’s what you should start with.

Resogun

Best Games in the PlayStation Sci-Fi Sale

Original Price: $14.99 – Sale Price: $7.49

If you’ve played Returnal, you’re somewhat familiar with developer Housemarque’s style. However, you might not have known that before hitting it big with the PS5 exclusive, they were most known for terrific twin-stick shooters.

Struggling to figure out how to fix the ‘Epic Games Socket Open’ error? This frustrating error has popped up recently for many users, making connecting to the platform an absolute hassle. Here is everything you need to know about the different ways to possibly resolve this issue.

How to Fix ‘Epic Games Socket Open’ Error

There are a handful of different issues that could be causing the Epic Games Socket Open error. According to Epic Games, these are the various methods of troubleshooting the error, as listed below:

• Check the Epic Games status page
• Use a wired connection
• Disable your firewall
• Unblock network ports
• Use a VPN or proxy server
• Switch your DNS
• Edit the Engine.ini file
• Whitelist relevant domains

Below, we’ll go over each solution in more detail.

Check the Epic Games Status page

The first thing you’re going to want to try is making sure the server status is in order. To do this, simply go to the Epic Games Server Status page. If the issues you’re having are related to an outage or system-wide issue, then you won’t be able to connect to the Epic Games Launcher or Fortnite until it’s resolved.

Today third-party developers had plenty of news to share about aircraft and airport add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

First of all, we take a look at the new Airbus A330 by Aerosoft. All images are still work-in-progress but we get to see exterior mode, flight deck, and even the EFB, including the pushback feature.

The Van Der Linde Gang in Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of members with their own personalities and quirks, and as such it’s no surprise many players have seen elements of themselves in them.

From Micah’s terrifying drive to survive to Dutch’s unwavering faith in his intelligence to Arthur’s unwavering support for his fellow gang members, there are plenty of character traits that stand out and keep players invested until the very end.

At the same time though, it can be difficult to decide which member most reminds you of yourself. After all, each and every one of them has something to admire, and as such, you can’t go wrong comparing yourself to most any member.

That’s why we’re here to help with a list of carefully crafted questions to help you find out which Van Der Linde gang member you’re most like.

Now then, let’s get started.

The mobile game company behind Pokémon Go, Niantic, is struggling to find its next big hit. And now, a new report claims the studio canceled multiple projects and laid off staff members in an effort to “streamline” operations.

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Unity, the company behind the popular game development engine of the same name, has recently laid off hundreds of staffers, multiple sources tell Kotaku.

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Looking to load up on storage? Seagate's enterprise-grade 16TB 7200RPM Exos X16 HDDs are down to $200 when you buy a manufacturer refurbished unit at Amazon USA.

That's $73 cheaper than a new equivalent, and the drives come with a 90-day 'Amazon renewed guarantee'. This means that you can check the drive's actual usage and performance using tools like CrystalDiskInfo, and keep it only if you're happy with it.

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There are two things to consider as you scroll through our favorite treehouse build concepts:

• In order to dictate the size of your treehouse, it will depend if you’re working on your main hub or an addition to an existing build.
• Furthermore, the biome you choose to build in will control the extent to which you can use naturally generated trees versus trees that you artificially create yourself.

That said, we’ve rounded up some of the best treehouse build ideas for Minecraft, from simple, starter tree houses to next-level designs and challenging builds, and everything in between.