Nijisanji English again opened auditions for a future wave of its VTubers. You have until April 17, 2023 to submit your application. There are some basic requirements to consider if you want to apply, notably related to age and streaming experience. However, auditions are open to everyone regardless of gender.

According to Nijisanji English’s official site, applicants must be at least 18 years old and fluent in English to be considered for a role as a Vtuber. Candidates also must be able to stream and create content three times per week for at least 12 months if accepted after applying. Furthermore, unlike previous occasions, having experience with streaming is a must.

You must fill out the application form at the official site if you want to apply. Also, you have to submit a five-minute video introducing yourself in character. You don’t need to show your face, so you can use an image or an existing model as you see fit. After this step, a second and third rounds of call and video interviews will take place. Nijisanji stated that shortlisted applicants will be contacted within one month after closing applications.

The first season of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (or G-Witch) was not exactly peaceful. We've seen executions, corporate espionage, and dynastic infighting, not to mention more giant mecha duals than you can shake a beam saber at. But even so, the majority of the time we've spent with characters at Asticassia School of Technology has been positively carefree compared to the grim bookends of the prologue and finale. That contrast is something I think we're going to be seeing more of going into future episodes.

Editor's Note: There will be spoilers for the first season of Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.

A major theme in G-Witch so far has been the way that corporations like the Benerit Group made vast amounts of wealth through exploitation of resources, people, and technologies alike. Even the originally benign medical technology of the GUND system becomes appropriated for use in war machines because it's more profitable. And it's this profit that builds the places where the ultra-rich live in luxury, places insulated from the harm their extraction causes. Places like Asticassia.

Atlus offered another update on its Anime Expo 2023 Shin Megami Tensei 30th Live: Band of Shadows Concert on July 1, 2023, with ticket prices confirmed. There will be four options available, and people can immediately buy them from Showclix. Sega Atlus subscribers were able to take advantage of a pre-sale period from March 27-29, 2023. However, it is important to note that people must also be Anime Expo attendees if they want to buy a ticket and attend.

The cheapest Anime Expo 2023 Shin Megami Tensei 30th Live: Band of Shadows Concert ticket is $50. That gets you access to the general admission balcony. For $70, you can get a floor “seat,” as that gets you a GA Floor standing spot. The VIP Balcony seats are at $85. The most expensive ticket is a standing spot in the VIP Pit for $95.

As a reminder, since this is for attendees, there is an additional cost on top of the ticket prices. Someone will need to get a pass to the convention as well. A one-day Saturday or Sunday ticket for July 1, 2023 or July 2, 2023 is $80. A four-day pass is $165. This means the minimum cost could be $130, and it could be up to $260 if people go with a four-day pass and VIP Pit tickets.

There are so many issues that Congress could be focusing on right now. Banking regulations following SVB’s collapse, for example. Or helping Americans who struggle with basic living expenses. Maybe they could be working on a long-overdue fix of our broken healthcare system. Instead, they’re very concerned about the…

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Dear Weirdos Who Dance Emote Past Midnight,

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Early on in Resident Evil 4, Leon encounters a large lake. It’s a bit creepy but otherwise seems harmless. And according to many players online, you should actually walk onto the pier and start shooting the lake for a fun, hidden reward. However, this is actually a dirty—and also very funny—trick that RE4 vets are…

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Yasunori Mitsuda has worked on dozens of games since the mid-90s, but he is best known for his work on Chrono Trigger. The story of how he came to work on the game is surprisingly straightforward. "[Sea of Stars creative director Thierry Boulanger] was like, ‘We have a contact that is in touch with all these people. And he just kind of reached out, and [Mitsuda] liked what he saw. And so he's like, 'Yeah, I would, I would love to be a part of this’,” Sea of Stars lead composer Eric W. Brown says. “There’s no words to describe this. Like, it’s… we literally got the guy.” Mitsuda committed to creating about 10 tracks for the game, and the process has been smooth.

“We would just kind of say, 'Here's the stuff we're looking for,' and he and I sat down, and we discussed that we definitely want a town theme from him, we definitely want a battle theme, a boss theme – we kind of went through all the stuff that we for sure wanted to get,” Brown says. “The whole story has been planned out for a while, and then we're just sort of fleshing out all the beats. So we had a high-level view of all the music that we would need.” There were some discussions of going bigger and having orchestration for some tracks, but it was decided to keep things retro and consistent with the throwback intention of the game.

Normally we expect to pay around £200 for a mid-range gaming monitor, but today you can pick one up for just £149 after a significant discount in Amazon's Spring Sale. This is a great price for the Samsung Odyssey G3, a 27-in flat VA panel monitor that boasts a 165Hz refresh rate, 1080p resolution and excellent adjustability.

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Last time, you decided that ground pound attacks are better than reloads dumping unspent ammo. 60% against 40%, that one, which is a satisfying outcome. Chunky disagreement but a clear outcome. This week, I ask you to think carefully about two quite different cycles, one repeating and one resuming. What's better: time loops, or resuming interrupted reloads?

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Taito announced the release of three new giant Quintessential Quintuplets plushies. The stuffed toys are part of their DoQute line of life-sized plushies, and they are based on Ichika, Nino, and Miku Nakano, three of the protagonist sisters in The Quintessential Quintuplets. Each one will cost 66,000 JPY (roughly $497 USD). The release date for the three is set for October 2023. Pre-orders will open on April 1, 2023 and will be available until May 22, 2023 from the Japanese Taito Spiritale online store.

Each of the new three Quintessential Quintuplets plush will be limited to 100 units in Japan. The dimensions of the plushies are roughly 100 centimeters tall and 72 cm wide (39 inches tall and 28 inches wide), and they weight approximately 8 kg (about 17 lbs.)

You can take a better look at the plushies of Ichika, Nino, and Miku Nakano here:

[gallery columns="6" ids="957549,957548,957547,957546,957545,957544" link="file"]

In other recent news related to the series, game developer Mages announced on January 2023 that they are developing a game for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch based on the series titled The Quintessential Quintuplets: Gotopazu Story.

The Genshin Impact April 2023 calendar is here, and it breaks with some traditions by making Yelan the character of the month. Typically, HoYoVerse goes with the person who’s birthday appears first and hasn’t been the “star” of one of these mobile images yet. (For example, the March 2023 calendar featured Qiqi.) However this time it’s skipping Dehya, whose birthday is April 7th, in favor of Yelan, whose birthday is closer to the end of the month.

As usual, here’s the calendar image.
[gallery columns="1" size="full" ids="957540" link="file"]

And here are the Genshin Impact birthdays appearing in April. Players who log into the game on that day will get a meal they can use and character-related materials.

• April 7th: Dehya
• April 17th: Xiao
• April 20th: Yelan
• April 30th: Diluc

As a reminder, people will be able to take part in a new Genshin Impact event in April and will see the release of the 3.6 update. Spices from the West runs March 31, 2023 through April 10, 2023. It involves making Fragrant Seasonings for your Delicious Dishes to create Fragrant Dishes you can give to characters in your Serenitea Pot for Companionship EXP.

Genshin Impact is available for the PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices.

EA has announced a round of "restructuring" it says will likely impact around six percent of its workforce, potentially amounting to over 750 job losses based its latest employment figures.

In a letter to staff, later shared publicly on EA's website, CEO Andrew Wilson announced the job cuts while simultaneously insisting the company was "operating from a position of strength".

"As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams," Wilson told workers at the company. "These decisions are expected to impact approximately six percent of our company's workforce."

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Since the day Mario and Universal announced Chris Pratt was going to voice Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. film, the internet has been in a state of shock, confusion, and anger. Mostly anger. And while there are some legit reasons to dislike Pratt or his casting, the star doesn’t seem phased, and even says he…

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Fighting game fanatics got their first real look at Bandai Namco’s newest entry in its long-running Tekken series during last year’s PlayStation State Of Play. Now a bunch of hands-on previews for Tekken 8 have dropped, and among the revelations is the fact that Tekken is taking a page out of its rival Street Fighter…

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A trio of Corsair peripherals has gone on flash sale at the company's US web store, making it a nice time to pick up a matching all-Corsair setup for about 50% off. There are three items included; the HS65 headset, the Sabre RGB Pro Champion Series mouse and the K70 Mini Wireless 60% mechanical keyboard. I've tested all but the keyboard, and they're fantastic pieces of kit - and now at surprisingly low prices.

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On March 29, 2023, Bandai Namco released a special video celebrating the history of One Piece video games and it teased the possibility of more games or One Piece Odyssey DLC. The video follows the releases of several iconic One Piece titles between the WonderSwan and current gen, alongside a girl experiencing all of the them as she grows into an adult. The Japanese catchphrase of the video reads "Have another game-like day, today.” [Thanks, Game Watch!]

In the video, a young girl is seen playing a variety of video games based on the series as she walks across the famous Shibuya crossing. The caption “to be continued” can be seen near the end of the video, perhaps teasing the arrival of announced DLC for One Piece Odyssey or more games.

You can check out the video celebrating the history of One Piece titles here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--j2XLAHorU

One Piece Odyssey is the latest entry in the series. It released on January 12, 2023 for current gen consoles and on January 13, 2023 for PC. The game offers a DLC pack titled Adventure Expansion Pack, which includes access to an unannounced new story DLC, as well as outfits, in-game items, and other bonuses.

Nintendo shared a new enemy design from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom through the official Japanese Legend of Zelda Twitter account. This enemy is a new type of construct. They are mysterious sentinels with long arms made out of stone and strange technology, and they look similar to the guardians from Breath of the Wild. The new construct design shared by Nintendo is carrying a bow in their left arm, and a mechanical head that spits fire in their right arm.

The tweet describes constructs as protective automatons, immediately engaging in combat with anyone they see as a threat. Other construct enemies were shown in the latest gameplay video, and they are often found on the sky islands floating far above the clouds of Hyrule.

You can take a better look at the new Zelda Tears of the Kingdom enemy construct design in the tweet below.

https://twitter.com/ZeldaOfficialJP/status/1641004218600546305

As a reminder, Nintendo recently released a new gameplay video showcasing Link’s new abilities. The video features Link’s “Fuse” ability, which allows him to combine pieces of equipment with a vast variety of items. Additionally, in the initial E3 2021 reveal teaser for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Link was shown using a flamethrower, which we know now is a construct weapon grafted to a shield, created with the new Fuse ability.

The Australian Federal Government have announced this week that they’ll be pushing to “apply an R18+ rating to all video games that contain simulated gambling”, a move that appears to be the strictest of its type we’ve seen.

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Publishing giant Electronic Arts—the company behind everything from The Sims to Apex Legends to FIFA and Madden—announced today that approximately 6% of its global workforce, or between 700-800 people, will be laid off as the company drives “greater focus across our portfolio”.

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So the Resident Evil 4 remake is, surprisingly absolutely nobody given the quality of the source material, good. It looks great, it has some modern ideas about inventory and, on the PS5, it also knows how to make the most out of the DualSense controller’s fancy adaptive triggers.

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Most video game studios, or at least the bigger ones, will have experience with Foley, a long-standing craft that revolves around creating cinematic sound effects using everyday objects.

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I have a memory of talking to Tomas Sala over Zoom or whatnot. He's in a room in his house cluttered with children's toys - I think his family had just welcomed a new baby - and he was talking about his game The Falconeer with such quiet passion, talking about an idea so good he could barely seem to control it. I have a memory of all that, and of thinking - oh, this guy is special.

And then The Falconeer came out and it was special, an aerial combat game with lovely controls, but also - and more importantly for me, I think - an astonishing sense of place. Its oceans and sparse outcroppings of land where tentative, often warlike civilisations were forming like coral? This didn't feel so much like something Sala was making up. It felt like something he had found and was showing to us. It had this astonishing fictional integrity, which was all the more powerful for the gaps that the game left for the player to fill in.

When I heard Sala's next game, Bulwark, was set in the same universe and was a sort of city-builder - emphasis on "sort of" - I knew it was going to be special, too. Special and odd and defying easy category, which, let's face it, is one of the best things you can say about a game. I pictured something a bit like Townscaper, and so I was wonderfully befuddled when I loaded up the game's evolving demo on Steam and - what? A tutorial? A campaign? What is this exactly?

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Mario movie voice actor Chris Pratt says you should stick around after the film ends for a post-credit scene which hints at a potential sequel.

Without going into detail on what the scene might contain, Pratt did suggest that it was one direction a second Mario movie could continue in - if this one was a success.

In a round of press interviews ahead of the film's impending premiere, Pratt also spoke about the mixed response his casting had been given from some Nintendo fans - who Pratt described as "passionate".

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Looking at Steam reviews is an odd little pastime of mine, and I've noticed some rather... peculiar reviews for Resident Evil 4 Remake.

At time of writing, the highest rated review says "Shoot the lake water for a secret costume". There's plenty of others too, promising items.

Now, if you've played the original or HD re-release of RE4, you'll probably know what happens. Some poor unsuspecting newcomers to the game, however, might not.

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Curious to find out which Fortnite mini-games are most played? Now you can see for yourself, via a neat change enabled by Epic Games.

All modes in Fortnite will now display a live player count figure - including Epic's own main modes such as Battle Royale, Zero Build and Team Rumble.

It's an intriguing peek behind the scenes at how many people are playing Fortnite at any given moment, and another nudge from Epic to go try some of the many other experiences built by creators for the Fortnite platform.

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Tray Racers!, the free-to-play online party racer, now has a release date of 13th April.

The next game from Bit Loom Games, the creators of Phogs!, it will launch on PC and Nintendo Switch.

Alongside the free-to-play base game is the Tray Racers! Supporter's Pack that includes cosmetics only: the desert fox and robot characters. It's priced at £4.99.

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Do you know how Vikings used to work out who'd die of their wounds and who wouldn't? And I mean internal wounds here, not obvious external ones.

Onion soup.

The Viking healers would feed the warriors really stinky onion soup and then, if the healers could smell it, it probably meant the stomach had been perforated and old Bjorn was on their way to Valhalla.

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UPDATE 31st March 2023: Since publication of this piece, SEGA has been in touch to clarify a few things about Endless Dungeon's shared progression.

"Any story progress that you get with the hero that you are playing in a multiplayer game you do indeed get to keep on the main game. So, let's say you are playing Bunker and you advance her quest - that would still be the case on your 'main' game and any solo or other multiplayer games after that.

"When you play with a person who is hosting, you get to keep everything you earn, except for unlocking new heroes. So to clarify - any currency earned, quests advanced, hero chips, district keys, beverages, and any progression unlocked in a co-op game you can keep and take home to your main game.

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The Australian government is looking to make improvements on its classification ratings for video games.

Australian MP Andrew Wilkie proposed a bill to the government in November last year which would enforce a R18+ or RC (refused classification) rating on all games which include sales of loot boxes. The new motion, announced earlier this week, seeks to add a "mandatory minimum" classification of Mature (not recommended for under 15s) to these games instead.

Games with simulated gambling, such as in-game casinos, would be required a R18+ rating under the proposed changes.

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The Last of Us Part 1 has launched on PC in a bit of a state, and owners are now turning its glitches into memes.

Earlier this week, developer Naughty Dog admitted it had heard the numerous player "concerns" regarding issues present in the PC port at launch, and was "actively investigating multiple issues".

In the meantime, players have been sharing various clips of their experiences on social media - including a version of Joel found when playing on Steam Deck with enormous eyebrows.

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Square Enix has announced further details on its Final Fantasy 7 trading cards and NFTs.

Last year, the NFTs were revealed as part of a celebration of Final Fantasy 7's 25th anniversary.

Now more information on the trading cards has been revealed: the collection is called Final Fantasy 7 Anniversary Art Museum: Digital Card Plus and consists of 207 cards, reports VGC.

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Sony is set to sell fewer than 300k PlayStation VR2 headsets in its first six weeks, a new report has claimed.

Sales analysis published by Bloomberg has pegged the VR2's sales total at around 270k units, as of the end of March.

The publication previously reported that Sony had slashed the shipment forecast for its new VR headset, and expected to sell around 1m units at launch following underwhelming pre-order numbers.

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Live a Live will be coming to PS4, PS5 and PC soon, Square Enix announced. Released exclusively on Switch in 2022, this remake will now be coming to other platforms. It will release on April 27, 2023, but a demo is available now.

The demo features the opening sections of three of the game’s eight scenarios, each one set in a different time period with its own unique cast. Demo players will get to experience The Wild West, Twilight of Edo Japan and The Distant Future.

The full version of Live a Live features eight stories across time, all acting as their own mini-RPG. In addition to the three time periods in the demo, there is also Prehistory, Imperial China, Present Day, The Near Future and The Middle Ages. In the final game, seven of these scenarios can be played in any order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQPmA-QmeU

Square Enix also confirmed that pre-orders are now available for the PS4, PS5, and PC. All pre-orders come with a 20% discount. The PlayStation version provides players with both the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game.

Live a Live originally released for the Super Famicom in 1994. Last year’s remake gave the game “HD-2D” look, similar to Octopath Traveler. It also marked the first international release for the game.

Live a Live is available now for Switch and releases for PC, PS4 and PS5 on April 27, 2023.

Live a Live will be coming to PS4, PS5 and PC soon, Square Enix announced. Released exclusively on Switch in 2022, this remake will now be coming to other platforms. It will release on April 27, 2023, but a demo is available now.

The demo features the opening sections of three of the game’s eight scenarios, each one set in a different time period with its own unique cast. Demo players will get to experience The Wild West, Twilight of Edo Japan and The Distant Future.

The full version of Live a Live features eight stories across time, all acting as their own mini-RPG. In addition to the three time periods in the demo, there is also Prehistory, Imperial China, Present Day, The Near Future and The Middle Ages. In the final game, seven of these scenarios can be played in any order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQPmA-QmeU

Square Enix also confirmed that pre-orders are now available for the PS4, PS5, and PC. All pre-orders come with a 20% discount. The PlayStation version provides players with both the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game.

Live a Live originally released for the Super Famicom in 1994. Last year’s remake gave the game “HD-2D” look, similar to Octopath Traveler. It also marked the first international release for the game.

Live a Live is available now for Switch and releases for PC, PS4 and PS5 on April 27, 2023.

There are both paid and free updates for Atelier Ryza 3 that add things like swimsuit DLC, more Photo Mode options, and extra battle minigames. People with the season pass or who buy the add-on can now get the Endless Summer Splash Costume Set cosmetics. As for the free additions, Koei Tecmo only referred to them as the “Special Photo Mode” and Weasel Roast, Lamb Roast & Devil Roast.”

The Endless Summer Splash swimsuit DLC for Atelier Ryza 3 costs $21.99 alone. It gives people 11 costumes, which means one for each character. Here’s the full list of their names. Once you get the add-on, you can change the character to that outfit from the save menu as long as you’ve unlocked them in the story.

Here are all 11 costumes’ names.

• Bos: Hot Hurricane
• Dian: Splash Beast
• Empel: Long Holiday
• Federica: Coral Lagoon
• Kala: Beach Wind Chime
• Klaudia: Seaside Sapphire
• Lent: King of Summer
• Lila: Lady Pirate
• Patricia: Fresh Fairy
• Ryza: Happy Sunshine
• Tao: Resort Style

And this is how all of the Atelier Ryza 3 Endless Summer Splash swimsuit DLC costumes look.
[gallery size="full" ids="957601,957602,957603,957604,957605,957606,957607,957608,957609,957610,957611" link="file"]

Twitter user JTeghius Kittius, or JTegh, released a new mod for Resident Evil 4 Remake that changes Ada’s clothes for a reimagined version of her Assignment Ada outfit from the original Resident Evil 4. The mod is available from the Resident Evil modding boards and from Nexus mods.

https://twitter.com/JTegh/status/1641181708396511232

This new Assignment Ada outfit mod is also compatible with Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 2 remake, and RE: Verse. JTegh has previously worked on plenty of other Resident Evil mods, like a 2021 Resident Evil Village mod that changes Ethan Winters’ model for Leon S. Kennedy, including his iconic jacket.

Resident Evil modders have been very quick on the uptake with the RE4 remake. The demo for the game released on March 9, 2023, just a few weeks before the official release of the game. Mods appeared shortly after, like one that changed Dr. Salvador into Shrek.