April 2023

What are we all playing this weekend?

1 year 6 months ago

Pretty weird. I woke up this morning, and everyone was gone. The office (by which I mean our Slack channel) was cold and empty, and a shining beacon of light rose from my monitor screen and proclaimed that I was now an honourary Alice. And as such, the heavy responsibility of compiling everyone's weekend gaming plans fell to me. To entertain myself (and force those who left me in charge to think twice), I'll be writing a series of unhinged 90s-style "where are they now?" epilogues in italics for each person who neglected to send me words of their own.

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Author
Ollie Toms

Resident Evil 4 Remake has a progress-breaking bug - here's how to mitigate it until a fix arrives

1 year 6 months ago

Capcom has issued a warning to Resident Evil 4 Remake players to "be aware of a rare but critical progress bug".

Whilst the problem will "only occur under very specific circumstances", the team said that it was working on a fix and apologised for any inconvenience.

The bug - which currently affects all platforms - prevents progress "when performing certain actions in a specific area".

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Author
Vikki Blake

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How the BAFTA nominated Citizen Sleeper is a game "about now"

1 year 6 months ago

Science fiction often isn't really about the future. It's a reflection of our present, how today's anxieties and issues might be represented tomorrow.

Citizen Sleeper is a game about an android in a space station, overthrowing a corrupt corporation, and finding a home. But it's also a game about identity, about capitalism, and about trans experience. And now, with the third and final arc of its DLC released today, it's a game that explores refugees too.

Indeed, solo developer Gareth Damian Martin told me "the game is intended to be about now, as opposed to about the future". That seems particularly pertinent when the game has been nominated for four BAFTAs, including British Game and Game for Impact. It's something the developer admitted to feeling uncomfortable about.

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Author
Ed Nightingale

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The Division 2 players who "circumvent game mechanics to gain excessive XP" will be banned, warns Ubisoft

1 year 6 months ago

Ubisoft is gunning for The Division 2 players who are "circumventing game mechanics" to rack up "an excessive amount".

In a statement shared across the shooter's social media channels, the development team warned that it was "monitoring" the issue and players who "make use of these exploits" will receive a temporary ban, whilst repeat offenders will be banned permanently.

"We have seen players circumvent game mechanics and systems in order to gain an excessive amount of XP in a short amount of time," the team explained in the brief statement.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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EGX Full-Ride Fund is raising money to enable low-income and marginalised game developers get to EGX 2023

1 year 6 months ago

EGX Full-Ride Fund is offering bursaries to enable UK-based, low-income and marginalised game developers to attend EGX 2023.

The campaign - which has no official connection with EGX or its organisers and was set up by "working class lad and formerly low-income member of the games industry", Dan Ahern - hopes to "fully fund" five game developers to travel from anywhere in the UK to attend EGX, as well as cover accommodation and subsistence costs, too.

It has already exceeded its original £4900 target.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Surprise Nintendo Direct Reveals Mario Movie Voices Coming to 'All Of Your Favorite Mario Games'

1 year 6 months ago

The Super Mario Movie is due to release next week, and Nintendo is celebrating by bringing Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, and the rest of the voice cast from the big screen to the small screen.

Shigeru Miyamoto appeared in a special April 1st Nintendo Direct to announce that "your favorite Mario games" will be adding a special "movie mode" featuring the voice talents of the Super Mario Bros. Movie cast. Supported games include Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Kart 8, and even the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES.

Activating the new "movie mode" will replace the existing voices with movie cast members, or if there are no voices, add them in. Want to hear "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!" after Mario clears a level in the original Super Mario Bros.? Now you can!

"It's a whole new way to enjoy the Mario games you know and love," Miyamoto said.

'A dream come true'

In a statement released to the media, Pratt expressed his excitement over having his voice appear in the original Super Mario Bros.

"This is a dream come true after spending hours of my life stomping on Koopas," Pratt said.

Pratt's appearance alongside a star-studded cast include Seth Rogen and Jack Black sent shockwaves through the gaming industry when it was revealed. Anticipation has only grown since then, to the point that some analysts think it may be the highest grossing movie of 2023.

Author
Kat Bailey

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Sequel in the Works

1 year 6 months ago

cardcaptor sakura clear card

More Cardcaptor Sakura is going to be on the horizon, as the official Twitter account for the series announced an animated sequel to Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card. This news came out during Sakura Fes 2023. More information on the continuation of the show's story will appear in the future.

There is no new key visual for the upcoming show. Instead, there is art of Sakura and Kero from the 25th anniversary celebration. This is the same art that appeared when the 25th anniversary project was first revealed back in 2022. Cardcaptor Sakura first started airing in Japan in April 1998. The plot centers around Sakura Kinomoto, who accidentally sets loose all of the mysterious Clow cards, and thus must use her new powers as a Cardcaptor in order to seal them back again.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is the sequel to the original Cardcaptor Sakura. The manga began serialization in 2016 and Madhouse produced the anime in 2018. In Clear Card, the Sakura Cards (which are powered-up versions of Clow card with Sakura as their new master) turn blank. She has to go and capture new transparent cards—the eponymous Clear Cards—with the help of her boyfriend Syaoran and her old friends.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is available for streaming on Crunchyroll. The sequel is in development.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Hololive Store Adds April Fools’ Super Idol Comet Chan, Yagoo Merchandise

1 year 6 months ago

Hololive Store Adds April Fools’ Super Idol Comet Chan, Yagoo Merchandise

On April Fools’ Day 2023 in Japan, Hoshimachi Suisei “debuted” as Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan. Now, to carry on with the theme and occasion, the Hololive Productions Official Store now carries (real) Super Idol ☆ Comet Chan merchandise and (fake) Motoaki “Yagoo” Tanigo merchandise. (For reference, Yagoo is the CEO of Cover, the company that owns and runs Hololive and Holostars.)

With Yagoo, the “item” was a 1:1 life-size, scale figure. It would stand at 170cm tall (5 and a half feet) tall and cost $593,622. It would have allegedly come with extra parts for posing to hold other Hololive merchandise. There would have been a Polaroid-style bromide with Yagoo’s signature. It would “ship” on  August 5, 8500.
[gallery size="full" ids="958065,958066,958067" link="file"]

Author
Jenni Lada

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KOF XV Season 2 DLC Sylvie Paula Paula, Goenitz, and Najd Release Windows Set

1 year 6 months ago

KOF XV Season 2 DLC Sylvie Paula Paula, Goenitz, and Najd Release Windows Set

SNK made multiple KOF XV Season 2 DLC announcements as part of Evo Japan 2023, with Sylvie Paula Paula, Goenitz, and Najo release windows confirmed. They’ll be among the seven new characters joining the roster in 2023. While Sylvie Paula Paula and Najd are paid add-ons coming this summer, Goenitz will be free. Kim Kaphwan also got an April 4, 2023 release date as well.

First, here’s the updated KOF XV Season 2 DLC roadmap. It started with Shingo Yabuki, who debuted on January 17, 2023 alongside character rebalancing. Then, it shows Kim Kaphwan on April 4, 2023. SNK noted that Summer 2023 will mark the arrival of the free Cross Platform update and Goenitz DLC, as well as the paid Sylvie Paula Paula add-on. Najd will show up as paid DLC in Summer 2023 s well. Finally, two more characters will appear in Autumn and Winter 2023.
KOF XV Season 2 DLC Sylvie Paula Paula, Goenitz, and Najd Release Windows Set

Author
Jenni Lada

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NieR Reincarnation April Fools’ Joke Is a Fake Dating Sim

1 year 6 months ago

april fools' nier reincarnation

Love can exist in the oddest of places, as you’re sure to find out in the NieR Reincarnation dating sim. For April Fools’, Square Enix and Applibot have released an otome romance game titled Reincarnation!!: Welcome to Enemy Academy. It will link to the player’s NieR Reincarnation game, causing special quests featuring your love interests to appear.

The game will come out in 12024, and Square Enix will announce a more concrete release window closer to that year. There is also a short trailer for the game, showing off the different kinds of enemies that you can romance. They combine a lot of familiar tropes, such as the assertive teacher, friendly childhood friend, and quiet senior student.

If someone stuck on who to date, in the Reincarnation!!: Welcome to Enemy Academy, you can romance multiple people at once. Of course, you shouldn’t do that in the real world. But in this game, if you try to date multiple partners, you get to see them fight, thus unlocking new scenes.

You can watch the trailer for Reincarnation!!: Welcome to Enemy Academy here:

https://twitter.com/nier_rein/status/1641817642150526982

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Insurgency: Sandstorm's final Y2 "major content update" is now available

1 year 6 months ago

Insurgency: Sandstorm's final "major content update" of Year 2 is now available.

As part of its fourth-anniversary celebrations, Operation: Accolade celebrates "player-created content in a stunning new setting" as well as a new map – Last Light – new weapons MDR and SG 552, and new character cosmetics Scout and Rebel, all of which will be available for free.

There are also "premium DLC cosmetics" for those who have purchased a Year 2 Pass, Gold Edition, or separately as individual paid content. These include new skin packs and gear sets.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Naughty Dog knows The Last of Us Part 1 on PC hasn't delivered "the quality you expected"

1 year 6 months ago

Naughty Dog has apologised to PC players for the "quality level" of The Last of Us Part 1 and assured fans that it working to address the "issues preventing some of you from experiencing the game".

The studio said that a hotfix designed to address the "jittering on mouse-controlled camera movement" was on the way on Tuesday, and a "larger patch with additional fixes" will drop later next week.

As Matt summarised for us recently, The Last of Us Part 1 finally launched for PC earlier this week after a 25-day delay designed to ensure it would debut "in the best shape possible". Despite that delay, PC purchasers on Steam quickly began reporting a host of technical issues - including inconsistent frame rates, regular crashes, stuttering, long load times, and poor optimisation - soon garnering the port a Mostly Negative rating on Valve's storefront.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Dark and Darker legal dispute gets more and more confusing after a GoFundMe campaign is deleted

1 year 6 months ago

A GoFundMe fundraiser launched to help Dark and Darker developer Ironmace raise funds to fight a copyright claim against publisher Nexon has been deleted.

The fundraiser - which hoped to secure half a million dollars to pay for legal costs and developer salaries whilst the dispute persisted - was only live for about an hour before it was taken down.

"Support the Ironmace team in light of the known ongoing legal circumstances," the fundraiser begins. "All donations will be used as supplementary funding towards the known legal circumstances and also provide continued salary towards the development team".

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Resident Evil 4 Remake Has a Game-Breaking Bug and Capcom Is Working on a Fix

1 year 6 months ago

Capcom has alerted Resident Evil 4 Remake players that a rare game-breaking bug has been found at the beginning of Chapter 12 that could stop your progress if you attack with your knife right after obtaining a key item.

Capcom shared the news on Twitter, saying that this issue affects players on all platforms and that it "intends to fix this issue in a future update and apologize for any inconvenience." Luckily, the fix will allow players who were impacted by this bug to continue their current save.

As for the bug itself, Capcom has detailed what it is and how to avoid it in a non-spoilery way;

"A cutscene will play at the beginning of Chapter 12, after which the player will receive a key item," Capcom wrote. "Please refrain from attacking with the knife until the notification for obtaining this item is displayed in the upper right of the screen.

"After obtaining the item, it will appear in the Key Items & Treasures menu in the attache case. If it has not appeared, please reload saved data from before the start of Chapter 12."

This bug aside, the Resident Evil 4 Remake has been a joy for many of us to play. In our 10/10 Resident Evil 4 Remake review, we said it is "Only the most relentlessly exciting Resident Evil adventure of all time that’s been rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full limits of its enormous potential."

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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New Pokemon Center Goods Focus on Lechonk

1 year 6 months ago

pokemon lechonk

Fat and reliable Lechonk is Pokemon of the day at the Pokemon Center, as tons of new Lechonk merchandise becomes available in the store. Those who can drop by the Nintendo Store from March 31, 2023 to April 15, 2023 will also be eligible to get a code to use in Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. The code will give you a Flying-Tera Type Lechonk, and you will not need to purchase anything to get it.

The Lechonk merchandise includes clothing, playmats, and pins. You can also get a fat plush of Lechonk for $19.99. It is around seven inches in size.

Here are the prices for the other items:

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Hololive Announces New Holostars Tempus ‘Members’ for April Fools’ 2023

1 year 6 months ago

As part of the Hololive April Fools' Day activities, there are four "new" members of Holostars Tempus like Justa Worm and Morf LeRosh.

As part of the various Hololive April Fools’ Day 2023 activities, there will be a “new” Holostars Tempus group. At 6pm PT/9pm ET on April 1, 2023, four Vtubers will debut. They will be Justa Worm, Morf LeRosh, CL0PB0T, and Gorira Manager. The new personalities vary from otherworldly creatures, like the robotic centaur CL0PB0T, to a worm like Justa Worm.

Justa Worm, Morf LeRosh, CL0PB0T, and Gorira Manager are the alter egos of Regis Altare, Noir Vesper, Magni Dezmond, and Axel Syrios. All four are already “in character” on their official Twitter accounts. The official art hasn’t been revealed yet. However, there is a teaser trailer that shows the silhouettes and offers a sense of scale for all four of the performers.

Author
Jenni Lada

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Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin Star in Granblue Fantasy Sanrio Event

1 year 6 months ago

For April Fools’ Day, Cygames welcomed all Skyfarers in Granblue Fantasy to the magical world of Sanrio. The “Sanrio Characters: Come on Over to Hello Land!” event in Granblue Fantasy will only be available until midnight at April 1, 2023. During this event, you can get Sanrio outfits for characters, as well as the playable “Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin” unit.

Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin are an SSR Wind character that you will get as soon as the event starts. They are a pure support character and cannot normal attack. However, there is a lower chance of enemies targeting them as well. They are also prominent characters in the event’s story. Aglovale is also a key character, showing up in the story with a Cinnamoroll headband.

During the event, you could use Otherworldly Cuteness to exchange for outfits. You could get comedic costumes of characters like Zeta, Vane, Yuni, and Diantha. SSR Fire Summon Sanrio Characters (featuring popular mascots like Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Kuromi) and SSR Dark Staff Dragon Bar V are also in the event shop.

Granblue Fantasy is readily available on mobile devices and Internet browsers. The Sanrio event in Granblue Fantasy will run until 23:59 of April 1, 2023.

The post Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin Star in Granblue Fantasy Sanrio Event appeared first on Siliconera.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Final Fantasy 14's The Dark Throne Patch 6.4 brings a new story, trial, and raids

1 year 6 months ago

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director, Naoki Yoshida, has outlined what's coming up in the RPG's next substantive update, Patch 6.4.

During the latest Letter from the Producer broadcast, Yoshida revealed that Patch 6.4 – otherwise known as The Dark Throne – will launch in "late May 2023", bringing the conclusion of the Pandæmonium raid series and the continuation of the main scenario questline, the Warrior of Light.

New dungeon The Aetherfont, The Voidcast Dais new trials, duty support system and ocean fishing updates, and new side story quests are on the way, too.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Forget Weapon Durability, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Needs a Cooking Overhaul

1 year 6 months ago

We got our first extended glimpse at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay this week, and while it largely focused on Link’s new fusion abilities, one returning feature set the internet ablaze as soon as it was confirmed: weapon durability. But while people were arguing about whether Breath of the Wild’s breakable weapons are good or not (spoiler: they are, and we talk in-depth about why on the latest episode of NVC), I am far more concerned about the future of another likely returning system – because let’s face it, Link’s cooking skills need sharpening.

While not explicitly shown during the gameplay video, all the telltale signs of cooking are back – Link had an inventory full of ingredients (some of which he was more concerned about strapping to his weaponry rather than roasting) and that signature wide cooking pot could be seen over a campfire in a cave that was briefly visited. There’s evidence the food system might have actually been expanded as well, since a cooking pot symbol in the UI now seems to be occupying “up” on the d-pad in the same way you quick-select your weapons and shields.

Author
Matt Kim

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Genshin Impact April Fools’ 2023 Turned People Into Cats

1 year 6 months ago

april fools genshin impact

For April Fools’ Day, HoYoVerse released images and shorts of Genshin Impact characters as cats. The cat forms of Diluc, Keqing, Shinobu, and Wanderer all have their own splash art, complete with quotes. Of course, since they’re cats, the only thing they can say is “Meow.”

Here are all four of the Genshin Impact characters as cats.
https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1642013926589071361

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1642015181491298305

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1642016440566833153

https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1642017699931865089

Each of the cats still retain key elements of their design. Keqing still has her hair accessory and she’s standing near a fried shrimp ball, which is her favorite food. Wanderer’s hat is impossible to mistake too. There are animated versions of the splash arts as well, with them appearing in Live 2D. You can view the April Fools' Day videos from the Genshin Impact YouTube channel or its TikTok account.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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April Fools' Day 2023: The Best Video Game Pranks on the Internet

1 year 6 months ago

April Fools' Day has once again arrived and has brought with it some hilarious video game pranks. While most are meant for just a quick laugh, there are a few clever ones that catch us by surprise and become actual new games or updates to existing titles that are just as wild as the day they are released.

It can be hard to keep track of all the best video game pranks on April Fools' Day, so we are here to gather all the best ones in this roundup! Let us know which prank is your favorite below!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Voices + Nintendo Switch Online Announcement

To kick off the April Fools' Day festivities, IGN presented to the world the latest Nintendo Direct, where Shigeru Miyamoto revealed all the voices from The Super Mario Bros. Movie would be coming to your favorite games. Yes, this includes Chris Pratt voicing Mario in the original Super Mario Bros., Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong laughing his way through Donkey Kong Country, Anya-Taylor Joy's Peach dominating the competition in Mario Kart 8, Jack Black's Bowser destroying everything in his path in Super Mario Odyssey, and much more.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Is a Real Game You Can Play Now

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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Bandai Namco Jokes About Tales of Puppet Movie for April Fools’

1 year 6 months ago

tales of puppet

Bandai Namco will release a theatrical version of its Tales of Puppet series in 3238. The genre name for the movie is “A Story That Walks Alongside True Strength.” The full title of the film is Tales of Puppet - The Movie: I’ve Decided to Live With the Truth and My Memories. 

Now, this is not a true movie that is in development. This is an April Fools’ Day joke. Several Twitter users on Bandai Namco’s Tweet stated that they would actually love to see a movie version of the series. Others wonder if Bandai Namco plans on actually revealing a theatrical production of Tales of the Rays. As of the time of writing and with the closure of Tales of Asteria, Tales of the Rays is the only mobile game title in the Tales series that is still in service.

Tales of Puppet, which is available via the official Bandai Namco YouTube channel, is a net series that summarizes the mothership Tales titles in a puppet show format. Though the series proclaims that it takes about five minutes every episode to discuss the major plot points of each Tales game, none of them are actually within five minutes. The episode for Berseria is just over thirteen minutes long, for example.

Tales of Puppet is available on YouTube. The movie will come out in 3238.

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Preview: Diablo IV Will Eat Up a Lot of My Time

1 year 6 months ago

It’s been almost 12 years since Diablo III released on PCs. That’s over a decade of demon slaying, gear farming, multiplayer fun, and cringy dialogue, and we’re finally less than three months away from the release of its successor, Diablo IV. For me, Diablo III committed the heinous crime of being addictively fun, and consequently took hundreds of hours of my life. After playing through the Diablo IV beta, it’s clear that I’m about to lose a ton more.

Diablo IV takes place thirty years after the events of Diablo III, where millions of people died thanks to the ongoing feud between the high heavens and the burning hells. That’s mostly all you need to know about Diablo’s story, which, while vast and full of lore, is also very silly and out there. In Diablo IVLilith is positioned as the main antagonist, while the player is an unnamed hero who has to put a stop to all the culty, demonic behavior. Lilith, who is known as the Queen of the Succubi, is the creator of Sanctuary, daughter of Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, and the sister of Lucion. There’s alot more to her lore that I won’t get into here, but suffice to say that she’s one of the best characters in the often goofy Diablo universe. It’s possible that the story in Diablo IV will be great, but it’s more likely that it’ll be superficial, silly, and entertaining, which is part of the allure of the series.

Author
Alex Handziuk

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The Community Spotlight 2023.04.01

1 year 6 months ago

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host. E3 2023 is officially cancelled! While the convention itself had seen better days, there's no doubt that the last handful of years of E3 prior to the pandemic created some of the best content the site had generated. I can confirm the staff had been planning to host an L.A.-based interview show in conjunction to E3, but we'll have to wait and see if some version of that is still going to happen.

The good news is that Giant Bomb is returning to the convention circuit sooner than that! Way sooner in fact. If you plan to be in San Diego from April 7-9, you will have the opportunity to watch Jan, Grubb, Dan, and Fandom personalities host in-person panels! In fact, the Giant Bomb-led panel will be a LIVE Voicemail Dump Truck. They're asking that all call-ins be gaming related, so, keep that in mind if you plan to call in.

Tam and Lucy were presenters for the video game BAFTAs! If you missed the stream, here's a link to the Twitch VOD. Plenty of fun moments have come from the event and it's worth checking when you have three hours to spare.

Author
Marino - Brad Lynch

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Marvel's Avengers final content update makes all cosmetics free

1 year 6 months ago

The end of support for Marvel's Avengers was announced in January, but wrapping up a live service game and doing it right is a gradual process. Yesterday saw the release of patch 2.8, its last content update, which made "nearly all" cosmetics free, converted in-game currency into resources, and handed out rewards as a thank you to players.

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Author
Graham Smith

Ark 2 is delayed, so they're turning off Survival Evolved's official servers and charging $50 for a remaster

1 year 6 months ago

ARK 2 has been delayed until the end of 2024. The dinosaur survival sequel currently best known for having Vin Diesel in it, for some reason, was originally aiming for a 2023 release, but developers Studio Wildcard say they need more time.

To compensate, they're going to instead release Ark: Survival Ascended in August, a remaster of the original Ark: Survival Evolved that moves it over to Unreal Engine 5. That's the good news. The bad news is you can only buy it in a $50 bundle with the sequel (which won't be finished for at least a year), and that the original Survival Evolved servers will be switched off when Ascended launches.

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Author
Graham Smith

A world beyond Wordle: how games became a big deal at the New York Times

1 year 6 months ago

It's strange to think that for a moment in 2022, the New York Times, one of the most prestigious and respected news brands on the planet, became a global media story itself - for buying a game. Wordle wasn't just any game though. Created by programmer Josh Wardle to amuse his partner, it was - and still is - a phenomenon; a deceptively simple word-spotting puzzle with an insanely compelling and sharable design. Launched in October 2021 it became a viral sensation, hitting two million players by December, and three million by the time the NYT purchased it at the end of January 2022.

Wordle now sits on the NYT's renowned online games portal among the paper's homegrown titles, including the thoughtful word search challenge, Spelling Bee, the dot-to-dot shape-maker, Vertex, and the ever compulsive Mini Crossword. The games were played almost four billion times in 2022, attracting over one million subscribers, and it's such an important part of the paper's remit, the service now has its own "Play" tab in the NYT News app.

Heading up Games for the paper is Jonathan Knight, a 25-year video game industry veteran who started out as a producer at Activision before moving to Electronic Arts, Warner Bros and Zynga. So what's the secret of the NYT's puzzling success, and what's it like running a game studio inside a digital news operation? We sat down with him in London to find out.

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Author
Keith Stuart

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Final Fantasy 14's expansion, Stormblood, is free to download for a "limited time only"

1 year 6 months ago

Final Fantasy 14's expansion, Stormblood, is currently free to download for a "limited time only".

From now until 8th May, Stormblood – the MMORPG's second big expansion following Heavensward – can be downloaded across all platforms for new and existing owners of Final Fantasy 14 Online Starter Edition.

"Continuing the critically acclaimed story from Heavensward, Stormblood takes players to new far away locales, introduces new playable jobs, continues the enthralling main scenario questline and more," teases Square Enix.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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The Sunday Papers

1 year 6 months ago

Sundays are for lying face-down on the sofa with a soothing 10-hour rainscape YouTube video playing in the background trying to recover from a packed games event in Boston. Hello! I am the second imposter covering for our dear Ed, who is currently away on holiday in Japan (and I’m definitely not jealous at all). Let’s get into some good words, shall we?

Wired’s Megan Farokhmanesh interviewed Richard Hofmeier, the developer of Cart Life - a sobering game about three street vendors trying to make ends meet. Hofmeier tells the story of his decision to remove the game from Steam ten years ago and his reasons for bringing it back.

His time away from game spaces made him appreciate the spectrum of expertise his colleagues had in things he’d never done. It was humbling. “So many people have talent and passion that gets entirely overlooked,” he says. He loved working in games, but back when he released Cart Life he feared a career in the field could get too insular. “The most interesting art, to me, comes from outsiders,” he says. “I was a little bit scared of becoming an insider myself.”

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Author
Rachel Watts

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is an April Fool's joke that turned out to be real

1 year 6 months ago

Sega celebrated April Fool's Day by teasing a new game called The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. The twist? It's actually real.

Described as a "labour of love from the Sonic Social team", the point-and-click visual novel adventure is available now on Steam, featuring "fully hand-drawn landscapes and characters".

The Sonic Social team thanks "a host of amazingly talented people who are just as passionate about Sonic as we are".

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Author
Vikki Blake

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The Last Worker's all-star cast brings a shine to its anti-capitalist satire but the gameplay is a chore

1 year 6 months ago

Before I start talking about my time with The Last Worker, I feel I should preface this week's episode of Ian's VR Corner with a couple of points.

Firstly, the game's publisher Wired Productions should be absolutely praised for not only making The Last Worker available to play in both flat-screen and VR modes, but also its upcoming Lemmings-like puzzler Tin Hearts too. If this trend were to be continued by the majority of publishers and developers, the world of VR gaming would be a much busier and better place and the sooner other studios and software houses follow the example set by Wired the better.

Secondly, my impressions below, and in this week's VR Corner above, are only based on approx 2 hours of gameplay and I was feeling rather ill with what could possibly be Covid (although I'm still testing negative) at the time of recording. Perhaps that's why I didn't seem to enjoy The Last Worker as much as other reviewers did, I don't know, but it's certainly possible that the gameplay could markedly improve after this point.

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Author
Ian Higton

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Resident Evil 4 Remake actor deactivates Instagram comments after receiving thousands of critical messages

1 year 6 months ago

Resident Evil 4 Remake voice actor, Lily Gao, has closed her Instagram account to comments after receiving thousands of messages from players criticising her performance as Ada Wong.

Gao – who had excitedly shared several posts talking about the role – has now deactivated replies and hidden all but one of her posts from public view after vitriolic so-called Resident Evil fans flooded her mentions.

"You ruined the remake," wrote one commenter. "I feel like I just wasted my money by buying the deluxe edition to get this VA to dub Ada." Wrote another: "Your voice acting was horrible in the RE4 Remake," added another. "It sounded super stiff and there was nothing seductive about it? It didn't fit at all omfg I hope they don't hire you as Ada's voice actor for another game."

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Vikki Blake

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Blue Lock Searches for Worst Sports Anime Boy

1 year 6 months ago

Blue Lock header

Sports anime tend to have a very simple, but highly successful success formula that more or less guarantees you’ll enjoy it if that’s your cup of tea. I mean, a story about a group of people who learn to work together as teammates and eventually friends? Maybe they win a tournament or two along the way? It's fantastic to watch underdog teams get through challenges and rivals in order to bring home the victory. Sign me up! But Blue Lock looks that formula in the eye and spits on it. And in a way, it works.

Blue Lock is the show where all of the characters compete to be the very worst sports anime boy. The story centers on Yoichi Isagi, who is one of 300 strikers chosen for the Blue Lock program. The JFU devised the program to find and train new soccer players who will take Japan’s soccer to the next level. However, instead of teaching them how to be teammates and work together, the program actively pits the players against each other. This is because the show’s central philosophy is that the most egotistical plays are what’s ultimately the most important thing to break Japan out of its team-oriented funk. In a way, it’s the antithesis of what a sports anime is. What they want is the worst boy to ever exist in sports anime.

Blue Lock Nagi is one of the contenders for worst boy

Author
Stephanie Liu

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Bandai Premium’s Giant Snorlax Plush Cushion Costs Over $500

1 year 6 months ago

Giant Snorlax Cushion

Premium Bandai announced a giant plush of the Pokemon Snorlax that also serves as a cushion. The cushion costs 72,000 JPY (roughly $542 USD). The giant Snorlax cushion comes with a Poke Flute. Unfortunately, playing the Poke Flute won’t make the Snorlax cushion come to life and wake up. It is planned to release in Japan in mid-July 2023. Pre-orders are now open from the Japanese Premium Bandai online store. [Thanks, Inside!]

The official name for this new Pokemon merchandise is “Definitely want to wake up - Snorlax cushion.” The Snorlax cushion is about 150 cm or 5 foot tall. You can take a better look at the Snorlax cushion that also serves as a giant plush, alongside the accompanying Poke Flute, in the gallery below.

[gallery columns="4" ids="957995,957996,957997,957998,957999,958000,958001" link="file"]

This new Snorlax cushion is inspired by the sleepy and immovable Snorlax from the original Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue games. The player had to obtain and play the Poke Flute, a key item and musical instrument that only Pokemon can hear. The item would allow for the Snorlax blocking the road to wake up and move, so the player could continue their adventure.

Incidentally, in 2016 Premium Bandai released a different giant Snorlax cushion/plush under the name of “I definitelly don’t want to wake up – Snorlax cushion.”

Author
Daniel Bueno

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You too can buy a Death Stranding-inspired bucket hat for £65

1 year 6 months ago

Hideo Kojima has partnered with a "luxury London designer" to create a unisex line of "Death Stranding-inspired" clothing.

The range includes tracksuits, shirts, a bucket hat, a bomber jacket, and silk tux jacket, too, with prices starting at £65 for the hat and creeping all the way up to £1050 for the silk jackets. The shirts are currently retailing for around £150, and the tracksuit jackets for £245.

There are also matching trousers, too, it seems, but they're currently unavailable from the store.

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Vikki Blake

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Physical editions of Sifu on Xbox One and Xbox Series X are out now in Europe

1 year 6 months ago

Physical editions of Sifu on Xbox One and Xbox Series X are out now in Europe, and will be coming later this month for our friends in North America.

To celebrate the launch of acclaimed martial arts adventure Sifu on Xbox and Steam after a year of PlayStation and Epic Games Store exclusivity, Xbox fans can also grab the Vengeance Edition, which includes the game on Xbox One/Xbox Series X, an "exclusive" SteelBook case, The Art of Sifu print artbook, a digital copy of the game's original score, and three lithographs.

"Players who already own the game on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch or PC won't be left out as the Redemption Set collector's box set is already available," the team reminds us. That includes an 8-inch/20cm figurine of the Student, a tenacity pendant, and a 160-page Behind the Art of Sifu developer's diary.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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