Digimon Survive, the new video game made in celebration of the anime’s 25th anniversary, attempts to juggle being both a visual novel and a tactical role-playing game. The result is a slog of a game that’s 70 percent visual novel, 20 percent tactical role-playing game, and 10 percent horror; totalling out as a 100…
I’ve probably written this before on this very website, but whenever someone asks me what my favorite video game is, my default answer is Half-Life 2. So any game that tries to capture Half-Life 2’s excellent mix of exploration, action, puzzle-solving, and emptiness has my attention. And if that game succeeds and also…
A lawsuit against Activision Blizzard was dismissed last month because, according to a judge in the Southern California District Court where the complaint was brought, the plaintiffs didn’t play enough Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare to make an informed case against the maligned publisher. For once in Activision…
Orgynizer isn’t a game where you participate in an orgy: it’s a game where you’re organizing one. You may be wondering: How hard could it be to organize a sex party? It turns out, it’s very complicated.
The vendor who cannonically loves ultimate frisbee, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.
Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.
We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.
Xûr's location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on August 5 through August 9. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the freakish salesman we all adore.
Monster Hunter Rise, in both its Switch and PC forms, is fab - Eurogamer called it "as good as video games can get" - and its Sunbreak expansion is perhaps even better. More, then, is an extremely welcome proposition, and we'll soon know exactly what's in store for Sunbreak's first major post-launch update when it's newly announced livestream airs next week.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's incoming digital event will be hosted by producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and game director Yoshitake Suzuki, with proceedings due to begin on Twitch next Tuesday, 9th August, at 3pm BST/7am PDT.
Capcom has already teased a little of what's to come in August's Title Update 1, with the Seething Bazelguese and Lucent Nargacuga (from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate respectively) both confirmed as new monster additions to the line-up, while the Forlorn Arena will be added as a new locale.
Funko Pop figurines come in wildly different sizes, from tiny miniatures to large, elaborate display pieces the size of your head. Some even have bases to attach them to. But you may have noticed a few Funko Pops labeled as “flocked.” What is a flocked Funko Pop? Here’s what it means and why you should take special care of them.
A large portion of what makes the best gun comes down to familiarity and dedication. There are many factors that lead to what gun should be given the time and which can be fully ignored. We’re hoping we can maybe lead you to a new favorite to rack up both the kills and wins. Here’s our answer to what is the best assault rifle in Call of Duty: Warzone.
In GTA Online, sometimes you’ve just got to go substance over style, especially if you want to survive some of the more daunting missions (or enemy players) that the game has to offer. Thankfully, it seems there are actually outfits in the game that give you specific, hidden perks that can help you out with some of those missions.
According to Reddit user Ronnymalony1, there’s a handful of different outfits in GTA Online that grant the wearer some dope hidden perks. They detailed these in a post to the subreddit, which you can see linked here.
Those outfits and perks include:
This week on All Things Nintendo, Brian invites returning Game Informer editor Wesley LeBlanc to chat about the massive info dump on Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet. The two also chat about the new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC, the first major info about AEW: Fight Forever, and Nintendo's latest financial report.
If you'd like to follow the people from this episode on Twitter, hit the following links: Brian Shea (@brianpshea), Wesley LeBlanc (@LeBlancWes)
The All Things Nintendo podcast is a weekly show where we can celebrate, discuss, and break down all the latest games, news, and announcements from the industry's most recognizable name. Each week, Brian is joined by different guests to talk about what's happening in the world of Nintendo. Along the way, they'll share personal stories, uncover hidden gems in the eShop, and even look back on the classics we all grew up with. A new episode hits every Friday!
Be sure to subscribe to All Things Nintendo on your favorite podcast platform. The show is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
Saturnalia is an upcoming indie survival horror with one of the most interesting visual styles I’ve seen in the genre in a minute.
Developed by Italy-based studio Santa Ragione, Saturnalia is influenced heavily by the folklore of Sardinia, Italy, and inspired by Italian Giallo horror films (typically more horror-esque mystery thrillers). In it, you control four different characters, all connected through a mysterious storyline that ties back to the “haunting traditions” of an ancient village.
“The village itself is an elaborate maze with no two iterations being precisely the same – you will have to explore and solve mysteries of the game largely unguided,” the game’s website reads. “Die, and watch the village reconfigure itself into a new form. Solve puzzles and open shortcuts to new areas with tools and items you find along the way, unlocking every piece of the story with different characters, each suited for another aspect of exploration and investigation.”
All of that sounds great, but Saturnalia's unique art style makes me most excited. It’s like a mix of stop-motion and sketchbook, which looks like it’ll lend itself nicely to the game's horror elements. Check it out for yourself below:
When Sonic Origins arrived on consoles and PC in June, it delivered a four-pack of classic Sonic the Hedgehog games from the '90s. While the bundle was praised for bringing Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD to modern platforms with various gameplay enhancements and other additions, it was also heavily criticized. Various bugs, mislabeled titles in the in-game museum, and overall stability (particularly with the PC version) frustrated the player base as they waited for Sega to fix the problems. This week, Sega released that long-awaited patch, addressing those problems and more, hopefully stabilizing the compilation and making the overall experience more enjoyable.
The two biggest items this patch addresses include fixing issues with the game crashing and one of the most annoying bugs of the year: Tails falling behind in Sonic 2 and constantly jumping instead of respawning on the player – we can finally turn off mute when playing Sonic 2. The patch also includes fixes for sound bugs, menu and controller issues, museum mislabels, and data-saving issues. Unfortunately, the replacement music in Ice Cap, Carnival Night, and Launch Base remain in place.
The patch is available to download now for all platforms. Sonic Origins arrived on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on June 23. For more on the speedy selection of games, check out our review here.
GameStop has once again proven with their NFT shenanigans that an unregulated market built on planet-destroying technology is, and this may shock you, not a terribly great idea. In a thorough report from Ars Technica, the GameStop NFT marketplace is yet again the topic of controversy as an NFT minter on the platform…
I really wanted Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim, released quietly on August 3, to be good. The asymmetric online survival horror Dead by Daylight first captured my attention between its bloody teeth in May, and, since then, I’ve been hypnotized by its singularly savage Killers, limping, determined…
Here’s a sign of the times: Activision has confirmed via newly released financial documents that it made more money on its phone games last quarter than it did on all of its console and PC games combined.
At EVO 2022, PlayStation is asking players through a survey about what kind of NFTs they would be interested in purchasing.
On Twitter, user snorlaxownz posted a screenshot of a survey they received from PlayStation asking, “Which of the following NFT/Digital Collectibles would you most be interested in purchasing?” The answers include EVO-branded collectibles, favorite music artists, favorite esports players and teams, PlayStation items, and favorite game characters.
IGN confirmed the survey ourselves at EVO, suggesting at the very least PlayStation is gauging user interest for NFTs at the event.
Hey @wario64 a special PlayStation quest at EVO is asking players about what gaming NFTs they want to see from PlayStation. pic.twitter.com/Vwd5Q3cHn1
— Snorlax Ownz (@snorlaxownz) August 5, 2022
PlayStation previously addressed NFTs before. Last month, Sony launched a new PlayStation Stars loyalty program that allowed players to earn digital collectibles such as figurines of its iconic characters. However, Sony clarified that these digital collectibles in the program are not NFTs as they do not utilize any blockchain technology.
The promised day has arrived. Anime studio MAPPA held a special livestream event to unveil its adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's hit manga. The Chainsaw Man trailer gave fans and onlookers the most substantial view yet of the series. It also revealed the show's principal voice cast.
Check out the Chainsaw Man trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk7QSGwupPA
The trailer shows off moments from the earlier chapters of the Chainsaw Man manga. Makima and a crew of devil hunters arrive at the scene of a massacre. Her narration lays out the background of the story. She refers to the advent of the Gun Devil following a gun-involved terror attack in the U.S. The view switches to Denji, still with Pochita. Shots of Denji's devil hunter partners Power and Aki Hayakawa in action are also shown off. The Chainsaw Man anime trailer closes out on a montage of battles, including the ones against the Bat Devil and Leech Devil. Aki uses his contracted Fox Devil, too.
The credits on the Chainsaw Man trailer reveal the show's main voice cast, with several new and lesser-known voice actors in key roles.
Earlier this week on Twitter, the Pokemon GO data mining account, @Poke_Miners, broke some potentially massive news for the popular AR mobile game from Niantic. This account run by a group of data miners is well-known among the Pokemon GO Twitter community for being very meticulous in their search for the latest pre-release information about the game.
Further below you can see the official Tweet from PokeMiners about the existence of a new item called the Battle Pass Ticket. As of right now, there’s no information on what a battle pass for Pokemon GO might contain or even if anything will be done soon with this recently added asset.
Quite often, new Pokemon, items, and features will not appear in Pokemon GO for players until months after their data has been added to the game.
EVO brings together the very best of the best in the fighting game community as they duke it out for cash prizes in tournaments for each game featured. The tournament operates a little differently from most though and has its own unique system for deciding prize pools. Here’s everything we know about the EVO 2022 prize pool.
According to the official EVO rules, cash prizes will be awarded to the top eight competitors. The collective prize pool is determined by each competitor in the tournament who pays a $10 entry fee.
While the entry fee is pretty low, EVO tournaments can attract hundreds or thousands of competitors, so the prize pools can end up at a reasonably high total. The example provided by EVO states that if 300 people entered a tournament, then the prize pool would end up at $3000 as a result of the 300 competitors paying the $10 entry fee.
EVO then implements its system to split up the prize money between the top eight competitors at different rates, which are as follows:
Today, during the celebrations for EVO 2022, Atlus revealed an update for PS4 and PC versions of its fighting game Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
The update adds the much-loved rollback netcode features to both versions of the game, promising “to ensure that players across the world can experience the smoothest possible online experience when playing matches against one another. “
The best part of it all is that the update is already available, so whether you are on PS4 or PC via Steam, you can fire up the game, download the patch, and enjoy the smoother online gameplay.
At the moment, there is no mention of the Nintendo Switch version getting the update. The press release did not say a word about that. Of course, there’s no dice for the older PS3 and Xbox 360 versions either.
On top of the announcement, Atlus also released a trailer to advertise the addition of rollback netcode, which you can watch below.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is currently available PS4, Switch, and PC on March 17, alongside the older release on PS3 and Xbox 360.
If you’d like to see more, you can enjoy another trailer showing Labrys & Sho Minazuki in Action.
Korean holding company KRAFTON announced today that active development has started on an “unnamed game project” that will be based on the popular Korean fantasy novel series The Bird That Drinks Tears. It is unknown what shape or form this game project will take at this exact moment, but there’s plenty of promises of a “whole new experience.”
KRAFTON recently launched the game’s official website as it ramps up its efforts to recruit top global talent to help it realize its ambitious vision. Additionally, new game concept work and lore details were revealed to further illustrate the project’s overall visual identity and tone.
For those maybe unaware of the subject of this adaptation, it’s certainly a massive deal in terms of Korean literature.
The Bird That Drinks Tears is a novel series that was created and written by Yeong-do Lee, who is widely acknowledged as the pioneer of the Korean fantasy genre. As one of the best-selling fantasy authors in Korea with millions of copies sold, Mr. Lee is an exceptionally imaginative writer who builds elaborate worlds and fills them with complex characters.
If you’ve got a taste for high-fantasy, a game being made from this IP should certainly entice you.
KRAFTON is the holding company of big developers such as PUBG Studios, Unknown Worlds Entertainment (Subnautica), and Striking Distance Studios (The Callisto Protocol).
When Nintendo first introduced the Switch Online classic games catalog featuring NES games, I bemoaned the announcement of what I saw as an inferior content delivery system. Not only were we asked to play with a substantially smaller library of games than what we had on Wii or Wii U, but I didn't even have the option to buy those games. Instead, we were given a small library of games from a single console with no way to carry over entitlements from previous purchases or actually own the classic games I was playing. I felt Nintendo Switch Online was a worse service in every way, even as Nintendo expanded the offerings to include a robust NES and SNES library.
Then in 2020, something changed. With many of my normal social activities put on hold, I found myself with more free time at home than ever before. I largely spent that time getting caught up on TV shows, movies, and, yes, video games. As part of that, I dove deeper into the classic game offerings on Nintendo Switch Online – after all, I was paying for the whole suite, not just Super Mario World, as my playing habits could have led you to believe. What I found was a wide range of titles I had either never heard of, never played, or completely forgot about from my childhood.
While gaming can get quite pricey, these days there's almost always something great that you can add to your library without spending a dime. Entirely free games pop up every single week thanks to the Epic Games Store, and with the help of bargain friendly subscription services, there are literally hundreds of games out there that come as perks with services on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC. We've rounded up all of the free games (or free with subscriptions) that you can play now. We'll continue to keep this list updated weekly.
Our free games list focuses on full experiences that you can play without the pressure of microtransactions, so you won't find popular free-to-play games like Fortnite, Warzone, or Apex Legends here. We also aren't including free-to-start games such as Destiny 2 or Hitman 2's Starter Pack. But if you are looking for free-to-play games, we have lists rounding up the best options on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Indie games have reportedly been popping up without the proper permissions on GameStop's new NFT marketplace, and developers are not happy about it.
In a new Ars Technica report, it was alleged that Nathan Ello, who created the NiFTy Arcade collection with indie games like Worm Nom Nom, Galactic Wars, and Rogue Fleet, didn't seek out the original creators' nod for at least two of the games (Worm Nom Nom and Galactic Wars).
Ello said he attempted to only include open-source games approved for commercial use in his NFT collection, but he clearly did not do enough research. Worm Nom Nom's creative commons license is listed on its itch.io page, and its engine, PICO-8, also requires users to get the creator's agreement before any use occurs.
After facing pushback, Ello offered all of the NFT sales--a total of $55K as of July 15--to the original developers, and took down the NiFTy collection from GameStop's NFT marketplace. But developers said these actions come too little too late. "My work was sold for profit without my consent," Breakout Hero developer Kyrstian Majewski said. "Even if somebody wanted to return the money they made off my work, it would be in the form of some shitty Crypto anyway."
Ello can't mint on the GameStop NFT marketplace anymore until he addresses the permission issues, but there remains a glaring issue: NiFTy games can't be removed from the blockchain and can be sold in other marketplaces.
First-person shooter fans have plenty to pick from on Xbox Series X and Xbox One, especially if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. A Game Pass Ultimate subscription unlocks some of the best modern first-person shooters in recent years, including multiple games from the Doom, Wolfenstein, and Battlefield franchises. Since the sheer number of options can be overwhelming on Game Pass, we decided to round up the best FPS games on Game Pass.
There are multiple subscription plans for Game Pass, but if you like first-person shooters, you should definitely get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the $15 per month tier that gives you online multiplayer access as well as the PC, Xbox, and Cloud Gaming libraries.
The next "drop pod" update for Halo Infinite arrives August 9, and it will include a number of features fans have long asked for.
As detailed in a new 343 Industries blog post, the upcoming drop pod (which is 343's term for smaller, quality-of-life focused updates) will allow for unlocked visors to be used interchangeably between all of the game's armor cores. That will apply to all visors to be added to the game in the future as well.
In addition, some helmet attachments exclusive to specific Mark VII helmets will be able to be worn on multiple Mark VII helmets. 343 states that not all Mark VII helmet attachments are interchangeable because many were made specifically for certain helmets, but ones that happen to fit well on other helmets will now be usable. A full list of all the helmet and attachment combinations will come with the update's official patch notes closer to release.
The armor updates will come alongside the much-requested ability to view the game's multiplayer challenges mid-match from the pause screen. However, challenge progress when viewed from the pause screen will not update in real time, as Halo Infinite currently calculates challenges at the end of a match. 343 says it is working to make it so challenge progress will be displayed as it happens during a match, but that will come at a later date.
Back in 2018, the Belgium Gambling Commission found that loot boxes were a form of gambling and recommended criminal prosecution against developers and publishers who implement them in their games. However, a new study found that Belgium's ban is functionally not enforced.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, a study from loot box scholar Leon Y. Xiao found that the law has been unevenly and ineffectively implemented. The study claims that 82% of the highest-grossing iPhone titles in Belgium have loot box implementation. It goes on to claim that the ban gives parents and policymakers a "false sense of security." In addition, the study emphasizes that the technical measures undertaken to prevent loot box purchasing in Belgium are easily circumvented by savvy players. Xiao concludes with recommending a less strict, but more thoughtfully enforced, policy.
Belgian's policy did cause some broad changes in the country. After discussions with Belgian authorities, EA removed virtual currency from FIFA titles in the country. Nintendo ceased support for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes to prevent prosecution or regulation. However, Xiao's study argues that the ban allowed "non-compliant games to replace games that have been removed from the national market by more socially responsible companies."
NBA 2K23 is nearly here, and that means a fresh badge system is upon us. While we can't yet provide our complete NBA 2K23 badge tier list--we need to play the game for that--we do already know the complete list of new badges, as well as which ones have been removed or combined into preexisting badges in this year's game. NBA 2K23 introduces a drastically overhauled badge system, which splits the badges into tiers and allows for some additional badge slots for all players. The team at Visual Concepts has also consolidated or outright removed some badges based on telemetry data that helped pinpoint which badges were being used a lot and which ones weren't really being used much at all.
In this NBA 2K23 badge guide, we'll share the complete list of new badges, and note how some have changed as well as which will be absent when the game launches on September 8. In time, we'll update this guide to reflect the complete list of badges and sort them into tiers to help you build your own virtual athlete.
More than perhaps any other sports sim, the customizable MyPlayer system in NBA 2K is really the annual draw, more than MyTeam or season-long modes. With custom players come badges, which grant skills in different areas of a player's game, such as shooting and defense. This year's game--on new-gen versions only--reimagines the badge system you may be used to into a three-tier system, with Tier 1 badges costing the least but also providing the smallest boosts. From there, each tier gets more powerful and costly. Visual Concepts says the idea behind this new system "is that you’ll need to equip a certain number of badges in the lower tiers before you can equip badges in the highest."
Krafton Inc announced that it's working on an untitled project based on The Bird That Drinks Tears, a popular Korean fantasy novel. An official website for the untitled project has been launched to recruit talent to work on the upcoming game.
The website launched with concept art and details on the in-game lore to help illustrate the project's overall visual identity and tone. The Bird That Drinks Tears is a novel series by Yeong-do Lee and is one of the best-selling fantasy authors in Korea. Fans of the novel will recognize Krafton's interpretations of the four critical races in the book, which include Human, Rekkon, Tokebi, and Nhaga.
Who doesn't like chickens?Krafton has also announced that artist Iain McCaig has been brought on to help bring the project to life. McCaig has worked on various films and franchises, such as Star Wars, The Avengers, Harry Potter, and Terminator. McCaig's work will be a visual direction for the upcoming untitled game.
For more Krafton news, be sure to check out these stories:
A bunch of Arcade1Up products are discounted today, including four countercades that are up to $100 off--which puts them at only $130 each. These smaller tabletop machines typically clock in well under 20lbs and are small enough to sit on your kitchen counter or living room table.
Arcade1Up has revealed a Marvel vs. Capcom 2 home arcade cabinet, and fans won't have to wait long to get their hands on it. Arcade1Up's Marvel vs. Capcom 2 cabinet releases this fall, and you can sign up now for notifications on preorders, which will be available starting September 8. An exact release date hasn't bee unveiled, but the cabinet will be available "a few weeks" after the preorder date.
While Arcade1Up has released cabinets themed around beloved classic fighting games in the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat series, as well as the first Marvel vs. Capcom, the upcoming cabinet is arguably the most exciting yet. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is widely praised as one of the best fighting games of all time, especially in the competitive fighting game scene.
Even though more than two decades have passed since its initial launch, people still play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 competitively. Though it won't be at this weekend's Evo 2022 tournament, it was a longtime fixture at the event, appearing in the lineup for nine straight years starting with Evo's inaugural tournament in 2002.
Capcom has released Guile's theme for Street Fighter 6, a brand-new track called Sharpened Sonic. Though it won't replace his world-famous theme from Street Fighter II, Guile's new music is no slouch in the audio department and is a proper banger that draws in elements from his previous themes. You can listen to it below.
This weekend is a big one for Street Fighter 6, as it'll be featured in a panel today at the Evo 2022 tournament. While Street Fighter V is one of the main titles of the annual fighting game event, Street Fighter 6 will also be on the tournament floor in a playable form for attendees. Fans are also expecting a new character to be revealed, who'll join the likes of Ryu, Luke, Chun-Li, and Guile.
If you're interested in viewing all the action from home, you can check out GameSpot's guide on how to watch Evo 2022. Even Mortal Kombat ko-kreator Ed Boon seems excited to see what Street Fighter 6 has to show off at Evo, as he confirmed that NetherRealm Studios won't be making any announcements regarding its gory fighting game.
Best Buy’s Anniversary Sales Event is now live, giving you a chance to cross items off your shopping list without breaking the bank. Video games, laptops, monitors, and tons of accessories are all included in the promotion. The event runs until August 14--so make sure you find time to check out the full selection of price cuts. If you need help wading through its hundreds of deals, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite deals below.
Valve is continuously making improvements and expanding ways in which players can play games on Steam, and with the latest update, it's now possible to use Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers on the beta client
Sharing the news on August 4 in a new community post, Valve announced that the Steam beta client will now allow players to input Nintendo Joy-Con controllers, both individually as a mini gamepad, as well as combined into pairs. This means players who are currently opted into the Steam beta client can use the latest features before they're released to the main Steam client.
Following the addition of Nintendo Online classic controllers on June 17, including Nintendo 64, NES, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, and Genesis controllers, Valve has added improved support for them as well. Although the update is small, it's great that Steam is expanding its controller support and introducing new ways to play.
In other news, Valve recently announced that everyone who currently has a reservation is now guaranteed to get their hands on a Steam Deck by the end of the year. The company confirmed that it had cleared up supply chain issues and some of those waiting for their handheld device has been moved to Q3, while all other reservations are now in Q4.
Before the weekend hits, we have one more Wordle guide to help you continue your streak into Saturday and Sunday. There's nothing better than starting the end of the week with a Wordle win, and we're here to make sure that happens. The answer on Aug. 5 shares a similar letter usage to the answer from yesterday, but the structures are completely different.
For this word, you'll want to use a solid starting word in addition to perhaps following our hints, which are listed below. I barely managed to skate by with this answer, simply because I had so few letters left by my fifth guess. This Wordle doesn't use a ton of letters, so players need to be prepared for a slog through their guessing. To make things easier, we laid out two hints further down in addition to providing the full answer as well.
First things first, we'll provide a couple of hints to get players' minds on the right track in regards to their guesses. These hints won't give the answer away completely, but will help some players get the Wordle. If they don't, then players can read past the hints for the full answer.
If the Netflix show is your first time in the Dreaming, you might miss the trauma of the series
There’s one big question that feels like it’s being saved for a final reveal — but it’s never addressed
