August 2022

NBA 2K23 has "all-new ways to play in MyTEAM", including Triple threat Online: Co-op and Clutch Time single player, as well as the ability to remove contracts.

2K also confirmed that the annual $250,000 MyTEAM Unlimited tournament is back this year, too, with two tracks: one for last-gen consoles, and another for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Triple Threat Online: Co-op - a new mode to MyTEAM - allows players to partner with friends for 3v3 co-op "across different variations" of gameplay. There's also Unlimited, which allows players that reach the top tier to start over and unlock "even more rewards" via Season Points, and Clutch Time Single Player enables you to "jump into a single player version of Clutch Time, a fast-paced mode with a 4-point line, to take your best starting five and compete against the AI".

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Indie mining action game Dome Keeper will release on 27th September.

In anticipation of the full release - which will be coming to Steam - developer Bippinbits will be taking down its free playable demo on 5th September, so don't hang about if you've been meaning to try it.

Dome Keeper - once known as Dome Romantik - boasts "beautiful updated pixel art, atmospheric music and sound" and sees you defend your dome from wave after wave of hostile attacks in this roguelike survival miner. Inbetween attacks, you need to dig beneath the surface in search of valuable resources which can be used to make upgrades to help you stay alive and "make it to the next world".

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In news that's unlikely to surprise you, Netflix has cancelled its Resident Evil series after just a single season.

The show - which stars Ella Balinska, Tamara Smart, and Lance Reddick - only debuted on 14th July, but Deadline reports that "as the drama did not have a particularly strong showing on Netflix's Top 10 and cost vs. viewing is the streamer's leading renewal criterion", Netflix has declined to order a second series.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the show is currently sitting at 55 per cent for critics, with an audience score of 27 per cent. On Metacritic, it's even worse, boasting a critic score of 53 and a user score of 1.5. Ouch.

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Naughty Dog has shared the full list of accessibility features that will be present in The Last of Us Part I. These changes will allow blind or deaf players, as well as players with motor accessibility needs, to fully enjoy the game. Players can also customize controls and remap commands as they wish. These accessibility features were also in The Last of Us Part II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LINKh60I8CY&t=2s

Game Director Matthew Gallant specifically notes that there will be audio descriptions for cutscenes. Naughty Dog worked with Descriptive Video Works to put the descriptions in the game and they are available in all localized languages. For players with vision impairments, the game will include magnification tools and visual aids. For example, you can change the color, contrast, and size of UI and gameplay elements. As well, you will be able to adjust the camera to avoid motion sickness.

For those who are hard of hearing, there is a feature that will have dialogue play through the controller as haptic feedback. Haptic feedback can let the player feel what words a voice actor emphasized to get a better understanding of how they delivered a line.

Today third-party developers provided development updates and assets about upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons, on top of releases.

We start with DC Designs, which published a development update about the AV-8B Harrier II, which should be released between late September and early October.

“I have spent much of this week converting the aircraft to the latest version of the Harrier, which mainly involves alterations to the nose and tail areas. PBR textures have been applied as well as chaff-dispensers on the tail area and some other minor details to bring the model to a more accurate standard.

Also, a few sharp-eyed members here noted that the canopy shape was not quite right. It turned out that the blue-prints I’d used referenced an earlier version of the Harrier with quite a pronounced bubble-shaped canopy, whereas later versions are slightly lower and deeper. Although it’s quite a bit of extra work I decided that the Harrier looked better and somehow a bit “meaner” looking with this profile, so I have reshaped the canopy and canopy frame to more accurately match that profile, and of course added the nose IR sensor.

Splatoon 3 arrives in just under two weeks, and Nintendo shared gameplay from its campaign. The latest Nintendo Treehouse: Live broadcast showcased some previously unseen Splatoon 3 single-player gameplay. Treehouse presenters were on hand to go through several missions from the campaign. They also introduced some basic gameplay to viewers, who might be new to the series.

Check out the archive of the Splatoon 3 single-player portion of the broadcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZgKSXirLIU

The Splatoon 3 single-player campaign demo begins in Alterna, a distinct space used for the story campaign. Players are in the role of "Agent 3" (not the same as the one in Splatoon 2), investigating what's going on in the domed arena. Besides the story, players can use the campaign mode as a safe space to practice before jumping into multiplayer matches. Splatoon and Splatoon 2 were more focused on their multiplayer component, and had fairly spartan single-player campaigns. Splatoon 2's story mode was expanded with the Octo Expansion DLC, which unlocked playable Octolings in multiplayer.

If you’re an OG PC gamer you probably recall the neverending holy wars over console gamepads vs. PC-style mouse and keyboard setups. While the mouse and keyboard, with their fast turning and accurate aim, did have lots of benefits, one advantage only gamepads could offer was true analog character movement via analog…

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Barring drying leaves and the uptick in yellow school buses come late August, the signal that a new semester was starting, to me, was the way the air started to smell. Post-graduation, I let the seasons change without fanfare. But usually, I’d notice that in summer, a puff of warm wind smells sweet and sunny, like…

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After 28 years, id Software's classic Doom has finally been voxelised, its 2D sprite graphics given an extra dimension in space thanks to modder Daniel Peterson - aka Cheelio - providing us with another excellent excuse to revisit one of the greatest titles in gaming history.

In recent times, various source ports have become the method of choice in playing the game on modern hardware and one of the key features over and above the visual overhaul is the inclusion of mouse look. Original Doom was a 3D game effectively playing out on a 2D plane with no ability to look up or down. If you are shooting enemies that are elevated above, you have a hard time seeing them and the game just chooses to automatically aim vertically for you. This can be a bit frustrating to someone with modern sensibilities for first person games but it can also be annoying as Doom's auto-aim often had strange ideas on what it is you're actually looking to shoot.

So this new voxelised mod not only looks to add a welcome 3D look to the 2D sprites, it also helps to make the more modern 'mouse look' enabled version of the game even better. If you're looking up at an enemy you're about to shoot, you'll get a perspective-correct rendition of the enemy in front of you. On top of that, the overall sense of 'believability' is enhanced as circling enemies or objects doesn't give the same flat view any more as the sprites are given 3D dimensions. This applies to all camera-facing sprites from the original game so health packs no longer just rotate to face the camera, but instead have tops, bottoms, sides and more that such a box should have in 3D space. Enemy sprites? Those required a bit more work.

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Let’s rock, baby! Season 6 of Video Gameography gets stylish as we examine the Devil May Cry series! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be covering the history and lore of Capcom’s premiere action franchise. On this episode, we'll say "Jackpot" to Season 6 as we conclude with the latest title in the series, Devil May Cry 5.

Released March 8, 2019, Devil May Cry 5 serves as a return to the classic timeline after an over-decade-long hiatus. Nero reprises his starring role, but he's joined by Dante and mysterious newcomer V. The three demon slayers, alongside familiar allies, unite to combat a powerful demon lord. Longtime DMC director Hideaki Itsuno wanted to hit a "homerun" with the title after realizing he may not have many games left in him, so he went all out. That includes adopting Capcom's famed RE Engine to give the game its most realistic visuals ever and giving players three wildly different playable characters. We'll unpack the game's development history, its story (including the big twist), and ponder where the series could go next. 

Join me, Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), and guest Ty Galiz-Rowe (@owoathkeeper), editor-in-chief at Uppercut, as we explore Devil May Cry's big comeback. 

All things considered, Steins;Gate is one of the more widely available Japanese adventure games you can find localized into English. In various forms, it's on PC, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch (though as an altered "Elite" edition), and even defunct platforms like the PS3 and Xbox 360. It's even on iOS, and as of this month, Steins;Gate is on Android in English as well. As of late August, Steins Gate android was updated in various app stores (including Huawei's Asia-centric AppGallery) to add localized languages. Previously, the game was playable only in Japanese by default [Thanks, Gamer and NoisyPixel!].

The localized edition of Steins Gate on Android now sports the English script option. It matches that seen in the PC version, which JAST licensed and localized in 2014. Science Adventure series fan site Kiri Kiri Basara gave the app a test and found some performance issues with it compared to other platforms. Issues like unexplained drops in framerate, a lack of support for text-wrapping, and climbs in device temperature raised their heads. The Steins;Gate android edition is, however, freemium. An interested player can download the app for free and play through the prologue, trying it before committing to a full purchase of the rest of the game.

Nightdive Studios has confirmed that the fate of the third instalment of the eagerly-anticipated System Shock series still lies with Tencent.

In an interview at Gamescom, CEO Stephen Kick confirmed that whilst his studio retains the right to remake the first - and potentially second - game from the series, rights to the third game were sold to Tencent.

"When we originally acquired the rights to the franchise, we licensed the rights for the third game to Warren and Paul [Neurath] at Otherside. They then subsequently sold their rights to Tencent," he told VGC.

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GTFO developer 10 Chambers has confirmed its next game will be a "techno-thriller" co-op heist shooter that "just has to be made".

In an interview with NME at Gamescom, 10 Chambers' creative director and CEO Ulf Andersson said that after working on Payday and Payday 2 before leaving for make GTFO with 10 Chambers, he still yearns to work on another heist game, saying "it feels like an unclosed chapter".

"So for me, this game is a game that just has to be made," Andersson said. "I’m back on the heist shit, basically – so it’s a heist cooperative FPS, and it has a sort of a techno-thriller theme. I read a lot of sci-fi books, and so imagine everything that cyberpunk is inspired by, and a ton of other shit.

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Prime Matter and Korean studio IGGYMOB announced a release date for the upcoming third-person action shooter Gungrave G.O.R.E.

The game will launch for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on November 22, 2022.

The announcement came with a trailer, which you can enjoy below.

The video is a mix of cutscenes and gameplay and it introduces the cast of the game, both on the good guys’ (and girls) side and on the bad guys’ side.

The game puts the players in the heavy boot of the badass anti-hero Grave, A.K.A. the Gunslinger of Resurrection, a man who doesn’t ever take cover or retreat because he doesn’t need to.

Instead, he brutalizes his enemies using his Cerberus pistols with unlimited ammo and his transformable EVO-coffin. Basically, he’s Dante from Devil May Cry on steroids.

The game promises a story mode lasting over 12 hours, featuring Strap”vengeance, love and loyalty.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it debuted on PS2 in 2002, and it originally included character designs by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow and mecha designs by Oh My Goddess! creator Kosuke Fujishima.

It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll live up to the legacy of its predecessors when it releases in November.

Netflix have announced that they're not ordering a second season of their live action Resident Evil adaptation. As reported by Deadline, the critically maligned series failed to find much of an audience since being released on July 14th.

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Japanese publisher and developer Koei Tecmo has announced its lineup and events for Tokyo Game Show 2022.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a playable demo of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and the mobile game Nobunaga’s Ambition Hadou. On top of these, a brand new game by Gust (the developers of the Atelier series) will be revealed and playable at the show.

At the moment, there is no further information about the game and whether it’ll be part of the Atelier series or something else. We’ll have to wait for the actual reveal to know.

Those who play Wo Long will receive a set of two can badges, and those who actually manage to clear the demo in the allotted time will get a shirt. You can see both in the gallery below.

On top of that, there will be a livestream at 7:00 pm local time on September 16 (3:00 am PDT, 6:00 am EDT, 11:00 am BST, or noon CEST, depending on where you live) split into two parts. The first will be dedicated to Gust’s new game, while the second will showcase Wo Long: Fallen Dinasty.

The first livestream will be followed on September 17 by another longer livestream hosted directly by Koei Tecmo at 6:00 pm local time (2:00 am PDT, 5:00 am EDT, 10:00 am BST, or 11:00 am CEST).

Sea of Stars developer Sabotage Studio released another of its usual weekly clips of its upcoming pixel art RPG.

The video is very brief like every week, but it showcases another battle scene, this time set in a kitchen, with enemies reacting with magic spells and such (after all, what can you expect from an animated grimoire?)

You can watch the clip below.

The charming and highly-anticipated RPG inspired by JRPGs is coming to PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The game was supposed to be released this year during the Holiday season, but will instead launch in 2023 following a recent delay. At the moment, a firm release date has not been announced.

An upcoming event for the anime My Dress-Up Darling has been revealed on the official site happening on September 17.

This live in-person event will have a limited amount of seats and a lottery for ticket sales. However, for those who purchased the Blu-ray & DVD (limited edition) volume five of the My Dress Up Darling anime, special advance ticket priority will be available.

Other than that, only limited details have been given. The date, time, location, and special appearances have been posted online along with prices for tickets. And all of the details about the event including how to get tickets can be found on the official My Dress Up Darling anime website.

The second project from 10 Chambers, the developers of co-op horror shooter GTFO, will be a co-op heist shooter. Creative director Ulf Andersson shared the news at Gamescom, saying that making a game in the genre "feels like it’s an unclosed chapter". Andersson previously worked on Payday 1 and 2 at Overkill Software, before leaving to found 10 Chambers.

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Disney Dreamlight Valley pitches itself as a "life-sim adventure game", in which you can return a cursed land to health while hanging out with characters from across the Disney pantheon. I'm skeptical of it in several different ways, but there's now a free character creator to download and try ahead of its launch next month, and hey, I had fun with it.

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Creative Assembly have a mixed history when it comes to games that don't have "Total War" in the title, but that's not stopping them from trying. The studio announced today that alongside future Total War games, the recently announced Hyenas, and another unannounced project, they also have a fourth game now in development. It's an action game and they're recruiting staff "with experience working on third-person titles using the Unreal 5 engine."

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Creators of classic JRPGs are going to ask for the fans’ support next week as two new games will jointly hit Kickstarter.

The first game is the “western punk” JRPG Armed Fantasia developed by Image Source: Wild Bunch Production. At the helm will be Wild Arms creator Akifumi Kaneko, alongside Wild Arms 5 and XF character designer Tomomi Sasaki, and composers Michiko Naruke (who created the music for Wild Arms) and Noriyasu Uematsu.

The second game is Penny Blood, a noir JRPG set in the 1920s developed by Yukikaze and Studio Wildrose. Shadow Hearts creator Matsuzo Machida, character designer Miyako Kato, and composer Yoshitaka Hirota will also return together.

The developers of both games have decided to team up for a “Double Kickstarter” that will launch next week on August 30.

The common Kickstarter goal will be $750,000, and pledges will contribute to the funding and stretch goals of both games.

It will appear at this URL, even if it isn’t yet available.

For the moment, we get to see artwork and screenshots for both games and a trailer for Armed Fantasia, which you can enjoy below.

Popular Hololive Vtuber Minato Aqua has livestreamed a sizable chunk of gameplay of her upcoming visual novel game Aquarium.

We get to see the beginning of the story, alongside the participation of two additional Hololive stars, Houshou Marine and Shirakami Fubuki.

Minato Aqua isn’t only playing the heroine, but she’s also extensively involved in the creation of the visual novel, published by Entergram.

You can check out the video below.

Aquarium releases in Japan on October 27 and no western localization has been announced for the moment.

The concept revolves around a love story between a noble and his new maid Minato Aqua set in a world that resembles western Europe. It’s a pure novel-themed visual novel in which the player plays the role of Minato Aqua’s employer and falls in love with his maid.

Our heroine is a new maid hiding a secret in service of the heir of the noble Francois family, who has lost his memories and has nightmares every night in which an unknown girl who says she hates him.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best community-created works form the previous week! After a busy site-related news week yesterday, things were decidedly calm, which makes my life easier. As reviewed last week, the new t-shirts are back up and available through the Giant Bomb store! Furthermore, the bumper stickers that were made on-stream are now available for purchase.

However, people are continuing to report poor printings of shirts they ordered from the Giant Bomb store. It is believed that these shirts are delayed orders of shirts printed from the same batch of bad shirts from before. If you have any issues, email support@giantbombstores.zendesk.com OR drop a comment in the new shirt thread. Rorie is responding to comments posted in the thread daily and feel free to @reply him if he doesn't send you a response.

There were a few scheduling issues last week.

Third-party developers had quite a few reveals to share about upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons.

We start with Blue Bird’s Simulations’ upcoming Boeing 757, which got new screenshots and a brief dev update.

“For our latest update, I have recruited some talent to create the PW engines and also our programmer spent a little time working on the LCD displays. Meanwhile I spent time adding details to the slats and finally resumed work on the MLG.”

The development staff behind Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts is in the process of two new large-scale JRPG projects: Pennyblood and Armed Fantasia: To the End of the Wilderness. The team has used its past works as inspiration for both. Armed Fantasia has clear elements of Wild Arms, while Pennyblood draws influence from Shadow Hearts. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

They are both Kickstarter projects, with donations opening on August 30, 2022 in Japan. Akifumi Kaneko from Wild Arms returns to write and design Armed Fantasia. He has also gathered the same staff, such as character designer Tomomi Sasaki. Armed Fantasia combines elements of a western with fantasy and punk elements. In the world, there are huge mechanical weapons, ARMs (Aether Reaction Maximizer). These are absolutely necessary to survive in the dangerous wilderness. ARMs can react to and enhance its user's aether, or magical energy.

This year's slate of Gamescom reveals provided the most substantial look yet at Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. It's being developed by Rabbit & Bear Studios, an outfit founded by key creators behind Konami's dormant Suikoden series. The game made its first splash in 2020 as a heavily backed crowdfunding campaign, raising almost $4.6 million USD against an initial target of $500,000 USD. The figure made it the #3 most-backed Kickstarter project in history. Now it's on its way towards a 2023 release date.

The Gamescom teaser is the first full trailer for Eiyuden Chronicle in nearly a year, and features more gameplay footage than previously revealed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FInsBmzk3o

The graphical style of Eiyuden Chronicle is deliberately evocative of the PS1-era Suikoden games. As in those games, the game's visual flair comes from its 2D character sprites. That said, Eiyuden uses the fusion of 2D characters and a 3D isometric environment across the entire game, and not just in combat, like Suikoden was limited to. Like its spiritual forebear, Eiyuden a large list of playable and recruitable characters. The teaser trailer shows off combat gameplay too, which takes place in the same format as Suikoden. The end of the trailer even teases the presence of duels - a staple of Suikoden's dramatic showdowns. The characters Seign and Nowa stand atop a bridge and then duke it out to close out the video.

Square Enix has uploaded a ten minute trailer for Forspoken, showing the various skills Frey can use and enemies that she can encounter in Athia. There is also a brief explanation of the story for those unfamiliar. Forspoken follows the story of Frey, a normal New Yorker who one day appears in Athia.

The trailer introduces Cipal, which will be the main hub of Athia. It is the final sanctuary for the citizens of Cipal, and where Frey will be able to purchase or trade items. The trailer shows Frey trading Odvaha Ore with the blacksmith, Johedy. Johedy then sends Frey to Praenost in order to get supplies.

Outside of Cipal, enemies roam Athia. Literally everything is an enemy due to the effects of the Break. The trailer not only shows off spells that Frey can use, but also the way she can parkour across the map. Unlocking new spells requires mana. Reaching and scanning Belfries will reveal nearby points of interest on the map. The trailer shows off the way that Frey uses her magic and acrobatics to move around the map and stylishly defeat enemies.

You can watch the full Forspoken trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtxBACBIpvQ

Forspoken will come out on the PS5 and Windows PC on January 24, 2023. This is its new release date after Square Enix and Luminous Productions announced a delay in July 2022.

It’s time for some music with Street Fighter! The Twitter account has uploaded the theme music for Juri and Kimberly as they will appear in Street Fighter 6. Both of the pieces have techno or hip hop vibes, but Juri’s has a much darker melody compared to the poppy beats of Kimberly’s. Both of the theme songs are available on social media such as YouTube and Twitter.

The actual title for Juri's theme is “ÅrachniD**” and it is a reference to her overall spider motif. It has a darker and slower rhythm than her piece from IV. As for Kimberly, the title of her theme is “Ninjastar Pop.” According to the flavor text, it combines modern aesthetics with traditional ninja techniques. Perhaps because of that, Ninjastar Pop takes cues from recurring motifs in Guy’s theme.

You can listen to the theme music for Juri and Kimberly in Street Fighter 6 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcaWC551bw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06E2cBONuQw

One of the biggest releases of the summer, Sony continues to release PC ports of its enviable back-catalogue of first-party PlayStation titles. After shaky beginnings with Horizon Zero Dawn, these PC conversions have gone from strength to strength - and we were very impressed with the conversions of Days Gone and God of War. Just over a year ago, Sony acquired Dutch developer Nixxes - a studio that has previously delivered excellent PC ports of console titles - and with the team having already helped in improving the Horizon port, it has now delivered its first full project for PlayStation: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered.

We've already covered the quality of the conversion elsewhere on Digital Foundry and we've also assessed how the same code runs on both Valve's Steam Deck and the cute AyaNeo Air - and crucial to our work was the assistance of Nixxes itself, who made four key staff members available to us during the review period for this discussion - as well as continuing dialogue and taking on our feedback the more time we spent with the game.

This interview is quite lengthy and took considerable time to transcribe but it offers a unique insight into the developmental process of this port from beginning to end, the choice of rendering API, the implementation of key PC enhancements including ultrawide support, plus how and why Nixxes boosted the fidelity of the game's already impressive hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Arthur Morgan sets off on a hunting expedition along the banks of the Upper Montana River to gather the provisions needed to feed the whole Van Der Linde gang. He spots the perfect prey: a whitetail deer, with its head down drinking water from the river’s edge. He unsaddles from his trusty horse, equipping his bow and grabbing several arrows upon landing. He initiates hunting mode, stealthily stalking his prey from downwind, until he reaches optimal distance, slipping into cover behind a tree.

Arthur carefully draws an arrow from his quiver, notching it to his bow and slowly applying tension to the bow string. He focuses on making a clean kill, nailing the heart of the whitetail deer. He releases his bow string. The arrow whistles through the air. Suddenly something startles the deer, causing the arrow to miss the heart, instead plunging into the lungs. We hear the pained heart-wrenching grunts of the wounded deer. Arthur trudges over, unsheathing his knife. He compassionately puts the animal out of its misery. The Van Der Linde gang will be well fed for a few days. However, as a player, this hunting activity made me re-evaluate my views on the relationship between video games and the wild.

Even as a child, I've always had an affinity with animals and nature. A lot of this came from learning about dinosaurs. Who wouldn't be astonished to know that gigantic reptiles roamed the Earth millions of years ago? I've always known that animals are integral to the world and need to be protected.

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Filming has now wrapped on the Twisted Metal TV show.

Set to star Will Arnett, Anthony Mackie, and Samoa Joe, the crew working on the live-action television series adapting destruction racer Twisted Metal had a wrap party over the weekend.

"That’s a wrap on season one!" tweeted showrunner Michael Jonathan, who also wrote the fan-favourite Netflix show, Cobra Kai (via VGC).

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Players are already trying to cheat in Splatoon 3, and Nintendo's already banning them.

As spotted by Nintendo dataminer OatmealDome, Nintendo is reportedly cracking down on players who are modifying the game, including a patch that let players prematurely enter the testing range.

Affected players are getting console bans and "possibly" total bans from subscription service Nintendo Switch Online, too, without which players cannot access multiplayer features.

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The next installment of Jackbox Games' seminal quiz game series, the Jackbox Party Pack 9, is due for release in Fall of 2022. Like previous Party Pack entries, it'll bring with it five new and returning games to try with friends and family at the next gathering or online. In addition, though, Jackbox Games is trumpeting the implementation of two new, much-requested "quality-of-life" features to make sessions easier to manage.

The first new feature is an expansion of the moderation functions introduced with Jackbox Party Pack 7. Specifically, players will now be able tom kick other players from an active session. In a blog detailing the function, Jackbox Games said that the ability to kick players from the game was "one of [their] most requested features ever". The inability to kick a player has proved a liability, particularly for players that livestream publicly. If a session code was guessed or accidentally shown, random players could join someone's session, potentially locking out preferred or invited participants. Jackbox Party Pack 9 will allow a player to take on a moderator role and select players that need kicking from the game or the lobby. Kicked players will be unable to rejoin the game.

In addition to the kicking function and other returning management features, the game will support QR Code-based sign-in, making it easier for participants to smoothly join a session from their mobile device.

A logo that says "Xbox Game Pass: Friends and Family" has popped up online.

Reportedly taken from Xbox's own backend system, it comes just weeks after Microsoft revealed that it was trialling an Xbox Game Pass tier that would permit players to share their Game Pass subscription with friends and family members.

Called Xbox Game Pass Insider Preview, the service allows users - currently restricted to Ireland and Colombia - to "add up to four people to [their] subscription, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits" (thanks, VGC). The newly discovered logo has yet to be formally shared with the public.

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Sonic Frontiers will weigh in at 10.4GB on Nintendo Switch.

That makes it bulkier than prior Blue Blur games on Switch - as our friends at Nintendo Life point out, Sonic Forces was 6.6GB, and Sonic Colors: Ultimate was 6.8GB - and gives us a hint at how much bigger the latest instalment, set to be an open-world of course, will be.

As for what the game entails? The official store description says: "In search of the missing Chaos emeralds, Sonic becomes stranded on an ancient island teeming with unusual creatures. Battle hordes of powerful enemies as you explore a breathtaking world of action, adventure, and mystery.

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It seems Capcom thinks there's a future for Dino Crisis in the cards...literally.Digital card-battler Teppen is getting its own Dino Crisis-themed card pack, called Jurassic Rampage. In it, Dino Crisis characters Regina and Gail join the playable roster. Teppen Jurassic Rampage will also have its own story missions, that build on the game's previous trilogy event.

Check out the cinematic trailer for the expansion below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hVsWwKZSZw

Teppen Jurassic Rampage tells the tale of what happens when Dino Crisis' resident mad scientist Edward Kirk gets his hands on the powerful "Third Energy". Spoiler: The result is dinosaurs. Pulled in from beyond time and space, invasive dinosaur species have invaded and disrupted the island's ecology. Government agents from all over have converged on the island to duke it out for possession of the new power. Some of the cards feature Regina and Gail interacting with other Capcom characters, such as "Agents Alliance", a card showing off Regina fighting alongside Resident Evil's Leon

Gungho and Capcom also revealed the card properties for the Teppen Jurassic Rampage playable characters, Regina and Gail.

There are no plans to introduce co-op to Multiversus just yet.

That's according to game director Tony Huynh, who - whilst responding to a question posed by a player on Twitter - said that as the team's current focus is "stabilising [MultiVersus'] experience", any plans to integrate couch co-op is "further out".

Huynh added that right now, "netcode improvements, hurt/hitboxes, projectiles, platform interactions" are most important to the team (thanks, NME).

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