March 2023

Final Fantasy 14 Online is nearly 10 years old, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. During today's Live Letter 76 broadcast, director Yoshi-P and the team behind FFXIV revealed details about the massive Patch 6.4, which is called The Dark Throne and will be released at some point in late May.

Patch 6.4 will continue the game's Main Scenario Quest, adding onto the story of the player's journey throughout Eorzea. It will also add the new Pandæmonium: Anabaseios raid, an icy dungeon called The Aetherfont, and the "challenging" Voidcast Dais trial.

Other modes of the game will also change significantly — PvP Series 4 and Crystalline Conflict season 7 will kick off with the launch of this patch.

Yoshi-P also teased details of Patch 6.45 during the broadcast, including a higher level cap for Blue Mages, another new dungeon, Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures, and weapon and tool enhancement quests.

Other recent updates to the game have included the Stardew Valley-like Island Sanctuary and more tools for solo players. Of course, FFXIV's community has continued to keep things fresh, too, forming everything from in-game bands to collections of resources for players looking to take on the game's daunting housing market.

The thickest of loot boys, 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.

Where Is Xûr Located Today?

Xûr's location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on March 31 through April 3. 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 retail monster who inspires us all.

Ever since 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took the Zelda franchise in a new direction, it’s become somewhat common for audiences to point to other game franchises’ similar shifts as “Breath of the Wild moments.” Super Mario Odyssey, Sonic Frontiers, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Elden Ring, and a handful of other games have been described in these terms, and not just because most of them also had large, open fields of grass waving in the wind. And when Kirby and the Forgotten Land was announced as the first fully 3D mainline Kirby game in the franchise’s 30-year history, Breath of the Wild was once again mentioned.

Speaking to Shinya Kumazaki, general director of the Kirby franchise, and HAL Laboratory expert director Tatsuya Kamiyama at the 2023 Game Developers Conference, I asked them if they felt that Kirby and the Forgotten Land was such a moment for the series. After all, as Kirby’s first fully 3D game, it significantly changed the ways in which players move around levels, explore, and fight as Kirby.

In response, Kumazaki clarified that developer HAL Laboratory doesn’t try to develop Kirby titles with the intent of becoming like any other game in any other series. But then he elaborates further:

“If we're talking about what Breath of the Wild perhaps did for the Zelda series in that it was a revolution, revolutionized the series, I think Kirby [and the] Forgotten Land was kind of at a turning point. And I think you can consider it as the first step in our kind of ongoing moving forward challenge of now also creating 3D Kirby games.”

Just under three years after its release, support for Marvel's Avengers is winding down. Today, Crystal Dynamics released Patch 2.8 for Marvel's Avengers, which adds some final features and bug fixes to the game before it gets delisted later this year.

Crystal Dynamics revealed the patch via a blog post, which thanks players for their support. The patch focuses on introducing some final features to the game and includes a host of new bug fixes.

Patch 2.8 makes many of the game's cosmetics more accessible, fully removing the Shipments and Hero Challenge Cards systems from the game and instead putting their rewards in the Marketplace. The update also automatically converts players' Credits balances into in-game resources and turns Hero's Catalysts and Fragment Extractors into a permanent 1.5x multiplier on earned Fragments and XP.

Additionally, players who earned at least one Trophy before April 1 will receive Iron Man's Variable Threat Response Battle Suit as a thank you gift.

The patch notes, which can be read in full on the Crystal Dynamics website, also detail quite a few bug fixes that address everything from combat to certain animations.

Kirby fans have been feasting lately, between the critical and fan success of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the silliness of Kirby’s Dream Buffet, Kirby’s Dream Land 2 arriving on Nintendo Switch Online earlier this year, and recent remake Kirby’s Return to Dream Land: Deluxe. It seems like there’s more Kirby than ever, both new and old. But does this mean fans of classic Kirby might see even more remakes and ports in the future alongside brand new Kirby games?

Speaking to IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Kirby director Shinya Kumazaki told us that while he couldn’t share any concrete plans for the future of Kirby, HAL Laboratory’s goal is always to “provide a new gameplay experience.” The developers won’t just remake Kirby games for the sake of it – only if there’s something new they can add. In Return to Dream Land Deluxe, that new experience is the Merry Magolor theme park with mini-games, as well as the extra Magolor Epilogue at the end of the game.

I also asked Kumazaki if we could expect a mix of 2D and 3D Kirby games going forward, existing side-by-side like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Again, Kumazaki wasn’t giving anything away about the future, but did confirm that having 2D games, 3D games, or even “something completely different” are all “within scope” for HAL Laboratory’s future.

Then he offered what may have been a tiny, additional hint about his thoughts on the future:

Looking back from the end of Resident Evil 4 there's one big tip that becomes apprent for players: Do not sell your gemstones! Resident Evil 4 Remake has a bit of a complex economy, with The Merchant as the central banker. The Merchant will give you seemingly high prices for the treasures and gemstones you come across, but when you combine these items, you can gain vastly increased pesetas in exchange. The key point here is that it's worth saving your gemstones until you have a treasure in which you can inlay them, and even then you should wait until you have the optimal gem color combinations.

How to Get the Most Valuable Gem/Treasure Combos

Here's how gemstone color combinations and gemstone inlaying in treasure works:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has concluded its investigation of a case the Communication Workers of America (CWA) filed against Activision Blizzard, opting to file a complaint with charges alleging the company illegally surveilled employees and violated labor laws by threatening to shut down company communication channels. However, the NLRB also dismissed a charge that the company violated Section 7 laws by shutting down a chat channel during an all-hands meeting last summer.

The three charges

The charge of surveillance goes back to July 21, 2022 when employees staged a walkout in protest of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, demanding protections from a growing strain of anti-abortion laws in the US, as well as labor-neutrality commitment from Activision Blizzard amid growing unionization efforts and repeated reports of company union busting. The CWA alleges in its filing that Activision Blizzard illegally surveilled employees "through managers and security" while they were engaged in protected labor activities.

The second charge moving forward relates to alleged threats that Activision Blizzard threatened to cut off access to certain internal communication channels "because employees are discussing wages, hours, and working conditions."

Meanwhile, the dismissed charge is related to an all-hands meeting "where employees were discussing wages, hours and working condition," with the CWA alleging that Blizzard violated Section 7 rights protecting employee organizing efforts by cutting off access.

For far too long, The Last of Us has been something you could only play on PlayStation consoles. Now that the first installment in the series has arrived on PC, non-PlayStation gamers finally have a chance to play the critically acclaimed Naughty Dog title. With the first season of The Last of Us show concluding, this is a great opportunity to dive into the story once again with even more depth.

Unlike watching a TV series, however, playing The Last of Us, which has some puzzling portions, can be confusing, and even challenging at times. Whether it's trying to find the right puzzle solution to progress or just surviving a Clicker stealth area, you may need some guides as you progress through the story. Take a look at some of the best tips, guides, and secrets that can help you survive The Last of Us. You can also check out our Last of Us Part 1 Walkthrough for the full guide.

Change or Customize Your Difficulty Level

Depending on your skill level and what you want to get out of the game, you may want to raise or lower the difficulty setting. There are 5 different difficulty settings from Very Light to Survivor, each of which provides a different gameplay experience. If you want to just enjoy the story, you can go with the lowest setting and play your way through with less stress.

In keeping with HAL Laboratory’s philosophy, Kirby games have gained a reputation as fun and approachable for the entire family. They’re full of cleverly hidden collectibles and the occasional biblically-accurate angel of a final boss to challenge folks who want something tricky, but you can also finish them easily enough with a kid riding shotgun as Waddle Dee. But maintaining the challenge and the approachability can be a difficult balance, perhaps as demonstrated in Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Kirby franchise director Shinya Kumazaki tells me at the Game Developers Conference last week that he himself of a player of difficult games, and has his own personal standards of what’s fun and what’s not in terms of difficulty. But Kumazaki isn’t working with his own standards when designing Kirby games: Kirby is fundamentally intended to be extremely approachable for everyone, so you can’t expect it to be like a Dark Souls game.

But that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of challenge, Kumazaki continues. HAL wants to make sure more skilled players are still rewarded – Kirby’s for everyone. Not just skilled gamers, but not just newcomers, either.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Niantic introduced Remote Raids to Pokémon Go, which allowed people to access raids from the comfort of their own homes. Remote Raids allowed people to continue playing during lockdowns and kept Pokémon Go alive during a time when people weren’t really going outside at all. As players’ focus shifted away from the pandemic, however, Remote Raids remained a way to make Pokémon Go more accessible for all, especially for disabled people and those who live in rural communities.

Three years after the pandemic began, Niantic is now hiking prices and putting caps on Remote Raid Passes to encourage people to play the game the way it was played before the pandemic — but the Pokémon Go community is pushing back.

Yesterday, in a blog post, the Pokémon Go team revealed adjustments to the way Remote Raids work, including substantial price increases for Remote Raid Passes and rewards for players who participate in in-person raids. The update will also introduce a cap on Remote Raids, allowing players to participate in a maximum of five per day, and will go live on April 6 at 11 a.m. PT.

Naturally, fans took to Twitter and Reddit to speak out against Niantic’s decision to make an accessibility feature… less accessible.

Today, Studio WildCard announced that Ark 2, the sequel to 2017's Ark: Survival Evolved, is getting delayed a second time into 2024 - but in the meantime, a next-gen version of the original game is coming out in August to keep us busy.

In a community blogpost offering a development roadmap, Studio WildCard explained that the reason for Ark 2's delay to next year was due to challenges working with Unreal Engine 5:

"Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development."

Additionally, Studio WildCard acknowledged that these challenges also mean that Ark 2 will not be backward compatible. So that means no release of Ark 2 on Xbox One or PS4.

Sega loves to surprise Sonic fans, so they surprised everyone by releasing The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a new murder mystery title featuring the Blue Blur and his friends, for free on Steam.

Sonic's social media team announced the shocking new game today with the launch trailer, showing the game in visual novel form. The team wrote that the game "has been a labor of love from the Sonic Social team and a host of amazingly talented people who are just as passionate about Sonic as we are."

In The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose is throwing a murder mystery-themed birthday party for all of her friends aboard the Mirage Express. When Sonic suddenly dies, you play as a new character who just so happens to be a new crew member starting their first day aboard the train and work with Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and more characters to solve the mystery behind Sonic's murder.

You get to interrogate everyone, including the host herself, about what happened to Sonic, play mini-games on the handheld, and meet a Conductor who's set to retire after several years of service on the Mirage Express. As the game progresses, you start to question if Sonic's death was part of the game or if there are malicious intentions.

The Sonic Social team proudly presents: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog!

A brand new Sonic game. Available right now. On Steam. For FREE! pic.twitter.com/qOsvdwCU2b

Alongside revealing that the legendary DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64 will be featured in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Seth Rogen has also jokingly called it "objectively, one of the worst rap songs of all time."

Rogen, who voices Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, appeared on the film's official Twitter to share the exciting news and react to watching the original DK Rap from the opening of 1999's Donkey Kong 64.

DK Rap is straight-up 🍌🍌🍌#SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/SVKzaTSB7z

— The Super Mario Bros. Movie (@supermariomovie) March 30, 2023

Rogen also confirmed that his version of Donkey Kong will be introduced with the DK Rap in the film before calling it, as previously mentioned, "one of the worst rap songs of all time." However, he finds more things to love as the song continues and even gives it a "10/10 bananas" rating at the end.

Grant Kirkhope, who was the composer of Donkey Kong 64 and the person responsible for the DK Rap, responded to the video in the best way.