May 2023

Planet of Lana, the narrative sci-fi puzzle platformer with Studio Ghibli vibes, got a surprise release date today, and it’s just a couple of weeks away. 

On May 23, players can embark on an adventure as Lana, joined by her cat-like companion, Mui, to rescue her sister. The game is set in an alien world teeming with strange creatures and dangerous robots, which Lana and Mui overcome by working together to solve platforming puzzles or sneaking unseen in stealth. Planet of Lana occupies a similar space as games like Limbo and Inside, though with a decidedly more vibrant presentation. Check out its new trailer below. 

Planet of Lana was first unveiled at E3 2021 and is being developed by Wishfully and Thunderful. It was originally supposed to launch last year before suffering a delay. The game is coming to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. It will be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. 

A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map is being used to sneak information about the ongoing invasion of Ukraine to Russian gamers. Players can download the de_voyna map, which recreates an abandoned Eastern European city that’s not too dissimilar to the war-torn streets you might find in other multiplayer maps. The difference here is a secret underground room that contains information about the invasion: headlines, maps, newspaper clippings, and images of the war.

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Modus Games revealed a new entry in the Double Dragon franchise under the name of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons. It will be the first new game in the series after the release of Double Dragon IV back in 2017. Moreover, it will be coming to most current consoles with couch co-op available.

Take a look at the first teaser of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons here below.

https://youtu.be/TVvlBr6hVXA

This game will follow the twins Billy and Jimmy Lee in 199X as they fight to take back New York City from the gangs after a nuclear war. It will have a roster of 13 playable characters, including the iconic Marian and newcomer Uncle Matin, each with their own moveset. According to the game’s Steam page, it will support local co-op and remote play, but we don't see any mention of an online multiplayer option yet.

As for the gameplay, it will be a beat 'em up like other games in the franchise, but will include “roguelite elements” according to the game’s official site. You will be able to choose the mission order, and this in turn will define the length, number of enemies, and difficulty of your playthrough.

Due to the nature of the business, you’ll often see a lot of video game voice actors showing up over and over again, and this happens with both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. The cast for HoYoVerse’s latest game isn’t huge yet. However, there’s still some overlap. Especially when it comes to the English cast.

So, here’s the list of Honkai: Star Rail characters whose voice actors you probably already heard in Genshin Impact in English.

• Sushang: Anjali Kunapaneni also plays Dori.
• Arlan: Dani Chambers also plays Nilou.
• Asta: Felicia Angelie also plays Mona.
• Hook: Felicia Angelie also plays Mona.
• Jing Yuan: Alejandro Saab also plays Cyno.
• Natasha: Elizabeth Maxwell also plays Rosaria.
• Pela: Xanthe Huynh also plays Baizhu’s snake Changsheng
• Yanqing: Amber May also plays Dehya.

There are also a few Honkai: Star Rail character voice actors you probably already heard before too. This is because they are present in Genshin Impact in Japanese or Chinese. Himeko is voiced by Rie Tanaka, who also plays Lisa. You also may have recognized Tao Dian is both Arlan and Hu Tao in Chinese. Not to mention Guiniang plays both Asta and Kokomi. And while Bronya’s English and Japanese voice actresses don’t overlap, Xie Ying plays her in Honkai: Star Rail and Keqing in Genshin Impact.

In the Honkai: Star Rail Simulated Universe, you can essentially pull together a team of your characters to go through an isolated dungeon with randomized possible enemies and events, earning Blessings to make things easier for yourself along the way. There are 22 for each available path, and a lot of great ones appear! I’ve even found that some of the one-star ones, the “weakest” possible ones, can be as useful as a two or three-star one with the right party and in the right circumstances. There are some that really do stand out as being particularly helpful though, as they can be your “best” pick regardless of your team or tactics, so here are some Honkai: Star Rail Simulated Universe paths and Blessings I’d recommend.

Try and stick to one path’s Blessings in Honkai: Star Rail Simulated Universe

Okay, so, if you get enough Blessings from one path in Honkai: Star Rail, you’ll gain access to a special ability in battles that functions like a character’s Ultimate. So say you collect an array of The Hunt blessings. Then you’ll have a gauge in battle that fills and, once full, lets you unleash a powerful AOE attack on all enemies.

So once you see yourself starting to “commit” to a path for a run, make sure you go all out to ensure you get that special Path Resonance ability.

Also, just know that initially you’ll only have Elation, Hunt, Preservation, Remembrance Blessings available. You won’t see ones from, say, Abundance or Nihility until you’re further into later Worlds.

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Sony announced it will release a free prequel comic in preparation for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 during Free Comic Book Day on May 6, 2023. This comic will be set after the events in Spider-Man: Miles Morales and will introduce a new villain to the game’s universe. In addition, Sony also announced Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered will become available as a standalone purchase.

Here is a closer look at its official cover, which features both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Both of them are wearing suits they appeared in during the events of the previous Insomniac games.
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This new comic will be titled “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 #1,” and it will explore what has happened with Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Mary Jane Watson since the last game. Moreover, the comic will explore what the heroes will do to confront a magic-user villain under the name of The Hood.

It is worth remembering that Sony did something similar for the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man back in 2018 with a tie-in novel by the name of “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover.” This book followed the events leading to the first game, such as the conflict between Wilson Fisk and Norman Osborn as the city mayor and Peter and MJ’s breakup.

Unity Software - the company behind the widely used Unity game engine - has announced its third round of layoffs in under 12 months, this time affecting 600 jobs, equating to approximately 8% of its total workforce.

Today's job losses were confirmed in a company filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with Unity only saying the move would affect "specific teams" as it continues to "position itself for long-term and profitable growth".

According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), this latest round of layoffs will leave Unity with approximately 7,000 employees, and comes ahead of the San Francisco-based company's plans to reduce its current global network of offices from 58 to fewer than 30.

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Folks: Never make a bet that you’re prepared to lose. Just ask this Old School Runescape community member who thought that his rival wouldn’t be able to get a coveted pet with a 1-in-9,779 drop rate and was so confident he bet against it. Unfortunately, his rival did the statistically improbable, and instead of going…

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At this point, Netflix has become the Google of streaming services—its prevalence in modern culture transformed the streamer into a colloquial verb. As a noun, though, it still refers to a specific business, one with a sizable, increasingly conspicuous graveyard of canceled projects haunting its listings. Now, the…

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I still haven’t gotten around to playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order or its new (apparently fraught) sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but the more I see of the game’s extensive fashion and customization options for protagonist Cal Kestis, the more tempted I feel. However, one Jedi rebel hairstyle is getting a lot of…

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Chainsaw Man will have its own special live-event in Japan. It is called the Chainsaw Man Festival, and it will be held at the Tokyo Garden Theater on May 20, 2023. Tickets for the event cost 6,800 JPY (or approximately $50 USD), and pre-orders are available now from the official website of the event. The morning session kicks off at 11:30am local time, while the evening session starts at 5:30pm. Curtain call starts one hour after the start of each session, at 12:30pm and 6:30pm respectively.

Some of the special performances that will be held during the Chainsaw Man Festival include a live voice-over recording session by the voice actors of the anime, special live performances by different artists, and cross-talks between the voice cast and the artists. The artists that will perform at the event include TOOBOE, ano, PEOPLE 1, and syudou, which performed some of the endings of the Chainsaw Man anime.

In other Chainsaw Man news, the English release of volume 12 of the manga and of Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories was recently announced by Viz Media.

The Chainsaw Man Festival will be held at the Tokyo Garden Theater on May 20, 2023. Tickets for the event cost 6,800 JPY (~$50 USD), and they can be pre-ordered now from the Chainsaw Man Festival official website. The anime adaptation is available overseas via Crunchyroll.

Three Hololive Indonesia (ID) talents will make guest appearances in the Hololive English (EN) 1st Concert: Connect the World. The official Twitter account posted the announcement stating that Ayunda Risu, Moona Hoshinova, and Pavolia Reine will be the ones joining the event. Additionally, a new venue ticket sale will start on May 13, 2023.

Check out the official announcement for the Hololive ID guest appearances for the Holo EN 1st Concert here below.

https://twitter.com/hololivepro_EN/status/1653746235428184064?s=20

As you can see in the image, the guest talents that will appear in the concert are Holo ID's first-generation Moona Hoshinova and Ayunda Risu, along with the second generation’s Pavolia Reine. All of them have previously collaborated with the English branch talents, although this is the first time joining all of them for a live concert.

Guest appearances are not uncommon for Hololive concerts. On many occasions, various livers from its different branches and even from other agencies have joined in these events. Usually, the guest joins to sing one or two songs and talk with the main talents for a while.

Hololive Production also announced a new sale for venue tickets due to the popularity of the event, which will be held on the concert’s official ticket site on May 13, 2023. Its initial sale took place back on April 7, 2023, but the tickets sold out in a few hours.

The Pokemon Company will remove Pokemon Trading Card Game Online (TCG Online) from online storefronts on June 5, 2023. This is due to the fact that Pokemon Trading Card Game Live (TCG Live) will launch on June 8, 2023. Players will be able to transfer their cards and accessories to TCG Live though.

According to the announcement on the official Pokemon website, there will be no more new cards in Pokemon TCG Online, but it will still have Versus Ladder support. If we have product codes for something available before March 1, 2023, then we can still redeem them. The reason why there will be no more new cards or accessories in the game is because the development team wants to focus on Pokemon TCG Live.

You will be able to move your TCG Online account and data over to TCG Live, as well as save all the progress you make in the beta. There are some limitations though. For example, you can’t transfer your friends list, in-game currency, or HeartGold & SoulSilver cards to Live. The Pokemon Company states that the reason it will sunset Pokemon TCG Online is to give players the time to move everything to TCG Live. They will still enjoy full access to TCG Online prior to the closure date.

Bungie has secured another legal win against a Destiny 2 cheat-seller, with a court this time ordering the defendant to pay $12m USD in damages.

Bungie filed a lawsuit against Romanian cheat-seller Mihai Claudiu-Florentin - who it claimed was behind Destiny 2 cheating software VeteranCheats - last year, alleging (thanks TheGamePost) copyright infringement, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA), and intentional interference with contractual relations.

Bungie had been seeking $11,696,000 in damages, a figure based on the $2,000 Claudiu-Florentin would make from each sale of VeteranCheats across a total of 5,848 downloads. The Washington Western District Court has now granted Bungie's request, deeming the studio to have sufficiently proven its claims of copyright infringement and breach of contract, but not of the CPA violation.

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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom leaked earlier this week, and some players have been scrambling to try and play the Switch game ahead of its May 12 release date. While Nintendo hasn’t officially acknowledged the situation, someone who used to work there has, and probably not in the way you’d expect.

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28-year-old Sunday Blombergh was a devoted mother from Florida who loved her siblings and, her family said with tenderness, her cell phone. In 2010, her body was found decomposing in the Georgia woods. Earlier that spring, a black-and-white poster created by her family showed Blombergh how she was before she went…

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Street Fighter 6 feels like a shot in the arm for Capcom’s long-running fighting series after Street Fighter V’s middling reception, and a lot of that comes down to how much personality it injects into every frame. One of the best examples of that we’ve seen so far is in the character intros that take place before…

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Cast your mind back to October 2012. Pokemon Black and White 2 had just been released. Resident Evil 6 launched and disappointed many. And Dishonored arrived on the scene, earning Arkane many accolades and awards. And also, a minor bug involving footsteps and blocks was introduced into Minecraft. And now, in May 2023,…

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Last time, you decided that cool spellcasting gestures are better than seizing control of a rolling boulder trap. I assume you have very cool gestures to conjure a magical meteor or other big rock on command. Maybe a dramatic dragging-down (or up) with two tensed arms and clawed hands? Very cool. As we continue our scientific process, this week I ask you to choose between two things which combine help and hurt. What's better: heals harming the undead, or voice chat?

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Nintendo announced a new collaboration campaign with Japanese convenience store Lawson to promote the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The event will bring six limited edition food items, and Tears of the Kingdom-themed merchandise and goods to Japanese Lawson stores from May 9, 2023. The campaign will include six different food items.

Dry curry rice balls with powdered Goron spices. The recipe for these rice balls includes multiple spices, inspired by the Goron spices that can be found in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

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The Tsurugi Banana Au Lait is a cold beverage inspired by Clan Yiga’s favorite snack: the Mighty Bananas. These are known in Japanese as Tsurugi Bananas.

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The Hearty Truffle-scented Mushroom Focaccia includes king trumpet mushroom, white beech mushroom, garlic, and a sprinkle of truffle dust.

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Monster Meat Curry Bread. Don’t worry about the name. It is actually filled with pork meat and curry.

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Hearty Salmon and Fresh Milk Clam Chowder.

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Nintendo released new information about fusing and increasing weapon attack power with Link’s new Fuse ability in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In a screenshot of the game, shared by the official Japanese The Legend of Zelda Twitter account, Link is seen Fusing his weapon with a monster material to increase the attack power and durability of it.

In the screenshot, Link wields what looks like a rusty sword, and he has combined it with the fang or horn of a monster, resulting in a power increase of 13, and a total power of 19.

The Japanese caption accompanying the screenshot says that different type of horns, fangs, and other enemy parts dropped by monsters can be fused with weapons with the Fuse ability, to improvise weapons on the go. Additionally, sharp and hard materials in particular increase the attack power of weapons a lot.

We can see the new The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom screenshot of Link fusing his weapon and increasing its attack power and durability on the tweet below.

https://twitter.com/ZeldaOfficialJP/status/1653685830723207169

Nintendo has been recently showcasing some other things that Link can do with his new abilities, like using monster materials by themselves on enemies, or newly added items like breakable portable pots for cooking.

Blizzard will be sharing more details on Diablo 4's live-service trappings as part of a newly announced Developer Update Livestream airing next week.

As per Blizzard's announcement post, things gets underway next Wednesday, 10th May, at 7pm BST/11am PDT via Twitch and YouTube, with Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson, associate game director Joseph Piepiora, product management director Kegan Clark, and associate director of community Adam Fletcher all confirmed to appear.

The conversation this time around will focus on Diablo 4's heavy heap of, somewhat contentious, live-service elements, including its seasons model, optional battle pass, and cosmetics.

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PSA to all my fellow true believers and web-heads around the world: the hotly-anticipated Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is getting a prequel comic on May 6, also known as Free Comic Book Day.

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In 2021 Mythic Games, with the backing of Ubisoft, announced a Kickstarter campaign for an officially-licensed board game adaptation of Rainbow Six: Siege. Two years later, Mythic are asking people who already paid for the game to pay a bit—and in some cases a lot—more.

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Just like Difficulty I in Honkai: Star Rail “Signs of Fragmentum,” Difficulty II makes finding Wubbaboo a bit tricky. Part of this is because you can’t check the map. Another issue is that this time there are five hidden away, rather than just four. You also need to deal with one of the puzzles where you walk across panels once each in order to access an area where one Wubbaboo is. Not to mention the recommended level is 36. (I was at 40 and breezed through it all.)

One of the easiest Wubbaboo to find at this difficulty level is in the "control room" area. As you're walking toward the hallway, you'll see it between some plants and a sign.
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Before that, though, you might see the Honkai: Star Rail “Signs of Fragmentum,” Difficulty II Wubbaboo floating in the area between the two platforms leading to that control room.
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One that's relatively easy to find is a Wubbaboo behind one of the light panel puzzles. The best way I can describe solving it is as though you are writing the letter "Z," but you're starting at the bottom and going up instead of starting from the top and going down.
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And here's where the Wubbaboo is at the end of that "test."
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Once you finish the Asta Companion Mission “You Already Know Me” in Honkai: Star Rail three difficulties of the “Signs of Fragmentum” sidequest open up. These aren’t too difficult, but instead involve paying close attention. That’s because an objective is finding Wubbaboo. However, because this is a special challenge space, you can’t open the map. However, to make things a bit easier, here are where you can find the four Wubbaboo hiding in Honkai: Star Rail “Signs of Fragmenum” Difficulty I. Note that you should be fine to clear all the extra objectives for bonus Stellar Jades if you’re at level 34.

The first Wubbaboo you need to scan with the camera appears just pass where you enter the area. It’s blatantly floating near a researcher and not attempting to hide itself.

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The second Wubbaboo is the one that can get you. After heading into the hallway near the ring around the area, turn around. A Wubbaboo is hovering above the doorway. (I got lucky and found it on the first try, so make sure during these challenges you always check above doorways!)
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From here, the hallway has north and south branches. Head south, and right at the corner you’ll see a Wubbaboo near the plants in Honkai: Star Rail “Signs of Fragmenum” Difficulty I.
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Back in February we posted a deal on Logitech's K400 Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad combo device, which offered a convenient way to control Steam Deck, media PCs and other gizmos that don't come with built-in desktop-friendly controls.

Today we're back with a similar deal on the Logitech Wireless Starter Kit, which bundles a K380 keyboard and M185 mouse for £40 (down from £50). Both elements are surprisingly high-quality for the price, with a nicer-looking and better-feeling scissor switch keyboard with circular keycaps and a compact 2.4GHz mouse that provides better speed and accuracy than a trackpad.

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The Dell Alienware AW2723DF is one of the best 1440p 240Hz monitors on the market, and now this popular model has dropped to £430 after a 20% discount at Dell's UK store. If you're a student or your employer's part of Dell's discount scheme, the monitor becomes even cheaper - just £408.50.

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That Saxophone!

Guys, I've seen Trailer 3 so many times. I hear YouTubers boast they've watched it more than 10 times and laugh at their rookie numbers. It got to a point where I thought - unironically, straight-faced - that maybe I'd seen it more than anyone else in the world, but I took a break last Monday because it was getting silly. I've watched a film trilogy's worth. Several podcasts' worth (I know this because on the way to work I've been listening to a trailer music rip instead of vulnerable chats broken by mattress sponsorship). I've made at least two non-gaming cousins politely watch it in my car before being dropped off home, but one said it was 'phenomenal' so it's okay. I've pored over its many musical references, watched all the reaction compilations and quiet-cried at them crying. Maybe I'd even cry at videos of them crying at their own crying, like that Bo Burnham thing (make the video guys and let's see!).

Confession: I even downloaded and re-edited (!) the trailer in Premiere because I was Very Concerned that the visual cut to Link on the glider before that music eruption was too early and scuffed the drop. Turns out it's so badass it doesn't really matter. The chest filleth regardless.

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Shadows of the Empire does not appear on best Star Wars video game lists. It is not fondly remembered (or is it?). Parts of it are quite bad, in truth. But it will always be my favourite Star Wars game.

I was tremendously excited, a teenager bouncing off the walls of our temporary Tooting home in South London. My dad had promised he'd buy me an N64 and a couple of games for my 16th birthday in June 1997. Nintendo's new console had only released on these shores a few months prior, and I had patiently waited. Well, not so patiently.

My mum and three siblings had already left the UK to live in Dublin, leaving my father and I in London so I could finish my GCSEs. He was sick, then, from a cancer that would eventually consume him a year later. It was an extremely difficult time, not that I showed it. My N64 and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire would help me through that summer until we joined the rest of my family in Ireland.

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Discord has announced changes to usernames, after taking feedback on their format.

At present, usernames are case sensitive and have a four digit identifier, called a discriminator, appended to create a unique username.

The new changes will remove the need for the discriminator, meaning you don't have to remember the random number combination when trying to add friends.

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Square Enix's forthcoming Final Fantasy 16 will not be on sale in Saudi Arabia.

The news comes from a tweet by the country's Public Authority for Media, which gives age classifications of video games.

According to the tweet, the game will not be released "due to the publisher's unwillingness to make the necessary modifications" (translated by Google).

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Former BioWare veteran David Gaider has criticised his former studio for its evolving approach to video game narrative, up until his departure from the studio in 2016, amidst the troubled development of multiplayer shooter Anthem.

In a string of posts on Twitter, Gaider said video game writing was "constantly undervalued" - even so at BioWare, which in Gaider's words "built its success on a reputation for good stories and characters".

"[It] slowly turned from a company that vocally valued its writers to one where we were... quietly resented, with a reliance on expensive narrative seen as the 'albatross' holding the company back," Gaider wrote.

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The Pokéverse continues to spread onto the PC route this summer with an updated digital version of the trading card game. The free-to-play Pokémon TCG Live is set to leave open beta and launch fully on June 8th at 10am PT/6pm BST, The Pokémon Company have announced. TCG Live will be replacing the older version of the creature-card-collectathon Pokémon TCG Online, which was first released back in 2011.

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As you might expect from a roster of 12 Marvel superheroes (or 17, if you count the four extra DLC supes and its original, player-designed protagonist The Hunter), the lycra-clad buds of Marvel's Midnight Suns all look and feel substantially different from one another when it comes to combat. When Firaxis were designing the moveset for each hero, creative director Jake Solomon says he and fellow lead game designer Joe Weinhoffer would take turns being "point designers" for certain characters. "Joe was point designer on one hero, I was point designer on another hero," Solomon says, highlighting Magic and Iron Man as two of his own favourite heroes that he designed.

Both are what I'd call quite technical heroes, with Magic relying on careful battlefield placement to boot enemies into nifty magical portals, while Iron Man's most powerful abilities often only come from discarding other cards. But when I ask Solomon at GDC if he thinks he has a particular design 'style' that unites his crop of Marvel heroes, he says he loves being "bombastic".

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A good thing about HoYoVerse gacha games is that the free or four-star characters you find can often be fantastic allies. Even if they aren’t as potentially broken as other members of the roster, they can work out rather well. When you start out Honkai: Star Rail, your first ally is the game is March 7th, and there’s so much potential to make this best buddy into a character with a great build even with common Light Cone and Relic options.

What are the best Light Cones for a March 7th build in Honkai: Star Rail?

Basically, your options will be cards that support March 7th, increase her defense, and keep her alive due to her being a The Preservation character. The three-star Defense is good! It restores her health whenever she uses her Ultimate. Given how many enemies weak to ice are around, the three-star Pioneering might be great too. If she Breaks an enemy when it is equipped, she’ll be healed.

I currently have the four-star We are Wildfire equipped on March 7th. It’s a handy support card that decreases everyone’s damage intake for a few turns, while also restoring everyone’s health a bit when a battle starts. Though as you’d expect, the four-star This is Me! one featuring her and Himeko on it is also ideal for her. When equipped, it increases her defense and increases damage dealt with her Ultimate based on her overall defense.

As for a five-star Light Cone, maybe consider Trend of the Universal Market? It increases her defense, burns enemies, and it ensures the damage over time is based on the characters’ defense.