July 2023

Exoprimal is built using Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, which is surprising considering the other Capcom games that have used the engine are quite different. The first game to publicly use it was Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which caused many to dub the engine the Resident Evil engine, which is not what the ‘RE’ stands for. Instead, the acronym is confusingly shorthand for Reach for the Moon. In Japan, the Resident Evil series is called Biohazard, which is why Exoprimal technical director Kazuki Abe is surprised that anyone ever thought the engine was named after the survivor horror series . “It’s really just a matter of coincidence that Resident Evil games are also developed using this engine.”

On June 28, online comedian Colleen Ballinger stunned the internet with the most cringe YouTuber “apology” ever, which involved her playing the ukulele while singing about the “toxic gossip train chugging down the tracks of misinformation.” The song was immediately added into the freeware Guitar Hero clone…

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A Japanese The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom player has taken their frustration with billionaire dummy Elon Musk to an extreme by writing the former Twitter CEO’s name out in Hyrule Kingdom and bombing it to bits, and fans have taken that as a rallying cry against recent user-unfriendly changes.

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Amusement park rides scare the shit out of me. I have a fear of heights, and moving fast, and just about everything associated with roller coasters. But I can usually still persuade myself to get on one every now and then, secure in the knowledge that surely the ride would not be up and running if it weren’t…

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The Bandai Namco Showcase at this year’s Anime Expo featured lots of gaming-related goodies, most notably the announcement of Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash, an all-new fighting game based on the popular anime and manga series. Brawls take place in a 3D arena, and happily look to be channeling some chaos from the Naruto Shippuden and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games. Take a look at the game below.

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Look, it might be a bit tired by now, but dammit if I'm not a fool for designs that are like "Space, but the 60s", or "Space, but the 30s", or even "Space, but the 80s", which by that point was basically just "space". You get my point. The future, but via a second-hand retro clothes store full of dungarees and big print. I'd hesitate to say Return To Grace, a gentle adventure about exploring an ancient complex that houses a long-dormant god-like AI, entirely meets the strict definition of "retrofuturist", but it's definitely "space but the 60s", and it looks bloody lovely.

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Zan is the upcoming new anime movie based on Yoshitaka Amano’s art collection, and it has a worldwide release window of 2026 or later. Jaymen Tokyo, in collaboration with US animation studio N LITE Media, announced the production of the new animated feature film at Anime Expo 2023. The movie is based on Amano’s Deva Zan artwork collection. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The original Zan is a collection of over 300 original pieces of art created by Yoshitaka Amano. It released in 2010 as Deva Zan. The new anime will be produced by Japanese directors, scriptwriters, and creators, and it will be mainly created by Japanese studios.

However, US animation studio N LITE media will also participate in the production in some capacity. N LITE is a Black-owned film studio that creates, develops, and produces original animation and stories, with a focus on creating stories inspired by the African and Indigenous diaspora.

The original story of Zan follows a protagonist with the same name, a samurai that spends his days fighting near the end of the Edo period, during a period where the time of the samurai was coming to an end. After following a girl’s voice, Zan is transported to a different time and place, where he fights various enemies. Afterwards, he discovers that he is one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals of Buddhist myth.

At the beginning of July 2023, Hololive Vtuber Calliope Mori teased a One Piece song collaboration. Now, the track is live. "Future Island," released in honor of volume 106 of the One Piece manga, debuted. A music video is available online now and can be watched worldwide.

Here’s the music video for the One Piece volume 106 theme song “Future Island,” by Calliope Mori. It features color art taken from moments from this volume’s story. There are no official English lyrics or subtitles yet. Since 106 covers the Egghead Arc, characters from it like Dr. Vegapunk make an appearance alongside the Straw Hat Pirates. The video closes by showing the cover of the new installment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sb4wxbHh-4&ab_channel=ONEPIECE%E5%85%AC%E5%BC%8FYouTube%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%8D%E3%83%AB

The release of One Piece manga volumes is behind outside of Japan, so it will be a while before we see 106. The next installment to appear in North America will be 103. That will be available on July 4, 2023, the same day 106 drops in Japan.

As part of its Anime Expo 2023 announcements, Viz Media offered updates on the Naruto Shippuden Blu-ray set and the Narutop99 Minato one-shot manga. The former's first set is going to appear outside Japan on October 17, 2023. The latter will show up on July 18, 2023. Viz Media confirmed it will appear everywhere.

There will be two ways to get the first Naruto Shippuden set of episodes. It will be available physically on Blu-ray. It will also be sold digitally. Viz didn’t note how many episodes will be included in Set 1. It did show a trailer for it though.

After training on the road with Jiraiya of the Sannin, Naruto is back in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and he’s ready to show off his new skills!

Naruto Shippuden, Set 1 releases October 17, 2023 on Blu-ray and Digital. pic.twitter.com/B2mo2i9dn4

— VIZ (@VIZMedia) July 3, 2023

Following HoYoVerse's new reveal of a Genshin Impact trailer starring Fontaine characters, the company shared Freminet, Lyney, and Lynette details on Twitter. It turns out all three are siblings. In addition, because HoYoVerse shared these just ahead of the 4.0 update, it could mean we'll see all three as playable characters when the new version appears.

First, Lyney is described as Fontaine’s court magician and is highlighted for his abilities. He’s a Pyro character, and his constellation is known as Felis Fuscus. The announcement didn’t mention his weapon or if he is a four or five-star character. He's the eldest brother in the family.

Lynette works alongside Lyney as his assistant in Genshin Impact. She's noted to be rather unremarkable, in contrast to his notoriety. She's an Anemo character whose constellation is Felis Alba. She has the most notable cat-like features of the trio, as she has both ears and a tail.

If someone sees the term “video game publisher,” a few names likely come to mind. Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, Activision, and Ubisoft routinely publish some of the biggest titles in the game industry. But it might surprise you to learn Netflix is trying to add its name to that list.

Open your Netflix app right now. Scroll past the big new releases, the recommended movies and TV shows, past the trending now section, and you’ll finally see it: Netflix Games, offering “no ads, extra fees or in-app purchases” and “unlimited access to exclusive games,” all included with the standard subscription. A few of these titles don’t have mobile versions elsewhere, yet they sit on Netflix’s mobile app. How did that happen? Read more...

Rick the Door Technician might not be the most powerful or dangerous enemy in Respawn’s fantastic sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. But he is a fan favorite who, in a game filled with great boss fights, provided one of the game’s most memorable and shortest.

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During the big summer Nintendo Direct stream last month, we finally got our first glimpse at Detective Pikachu Returns, the sequel to the 3DS adventure game that spawned Pokémon’s first live-action movie. The upcoming Switch game will reunite the titular sleuth Pokémon with Tim Goodman as they continue their search…

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It was inevitable. Here I am, scouring a dark dungeon filled with ghastly horrors that can easily overwhelm me in number. I’m here for a purpose, a small step on my path to glory. My foes will be vanquished; I will emerge from this dark pit of misery a stronger woman than I was entering it…or I’ll just chase rats…

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There are new details about what to expect from the Eula and Klee rerun banners in Genshin Impact 3.8. We already knew both five-star characters would return on July 5, 2023. Now we know that the featured four-star Genshin Impact units on both banners will be Mika, Razor, and Thoma. In addition, all of the weapons on that banner, including the ones made with Eula and Klee in mind, were revealed.

Of the three four-stars, two use polearms. Mika is a Cryo character who carries a spear, while Thoma is a Pyro one. Razor is an Electro character that uses a claymore. As a reminder, Eula is a Cryo claymore wielder, while Klee is a Pyro catalyst holder.

As for the weapon banner, the Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds catalyst and Song of Broken Pines claymore are the two five-star weapons. The four-stars present here will be an Alley Flash sword, Alley Hunter bow, Eye of Perception catalyst, Favonius Lance polearm, and Rainslasher claymore.

Here's a gallery showing the full banner art for the Genshin Impact Eula and Klee rerun banners and Epitome Invocation weapon banner.
[gallery size="full" ids="971357,971358,971359" link="file"]

At Anime Expo 2023, Atlus revealed a new Persona 5 Tactica character trailer focusing on Joker, Morgana, and Erina. It’s designed to show how each character works in the tactical RPG. While Joker and Morgana are returning characters with cues from the original game, Erina is an entirely new one being introduced in this spin-off.

The trailer begins by focusing on Joker. His guns and weapons can hit a single enemy at range. He also has the Phantom Judge Voltage ability that hits enemies within its range, even while guarding. Arsene is also shown using Eiha. Morgana uses sweep attacks to get enemies away from protective cover. One of his abilities is Winds of Time, which does AOE damage and forces enemies away from cover. Finally, Erina’s standard weapons deal AOE damage to groups of enemies. Her Flag of Freedom Voltage heals allies and increases damage to enemies within its range.

Here’s the full Persona 5 Tactica Anime Expo 2023 trailer looking at gameplay footage of Joker, Morgana, and Erina:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3FR0JjdkBw&ab_channel=Xbox

Persona 5 Tactica will come to the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on November 17, 2023, with standard and Digital Deluxe version pre-orders available.

Each month, Square Enix releases a Final Fantasy VII calendar, and the July 2023 one features Zack Fair in a swimsuit. This is a nod both to the current summer season and to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion.

Here's the official announcement. It features both landscape and portrait mode versions of the Final Fantasy VII July 2023 calendar to use on a PC/tablet or phone. The announcement also reminds people to stay hydrated in the summer.

【#CCFF7R】
今月のPC・スマホ用壁紙カレンダーは、ザックス！
暑い日が多くなってきましたね。
なるべく日差しを避けて、塩分・水分補給をしっかりと行ってください！
（炎天下でのスクワットや、パラソル🏖️を振り回す行為は決してマネしないでくださいね！）#クライシスコア pic.twitter.com/MDoaEJdedq

— FFVII REMAKE (@FFVIIR_CLOUD) July 1, 2023

In the event Twitter is still limiting the number of tweet and who can view them, here's a gallery of the Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Zack swimsuit backgrounds.
[gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="971340,971341" link="file"]

MegaHouse announced the re-release of the Portrait of Pirates figure of Black Cage Hina from One Piece. The figure costs 19,800 JPY (or approximately $136). Pre-orders for the figure will start on July 7, 2023 from the Premium Bandai online store. The figure is scheduled to release sometime on December 2023 in Japan. We don't know when it will appear again worldwide yet.

The Portrait of Pirates figure of Black Cage Hina originally released in July 2019. It is a 1/8 scale figure, measuring approximately 23.5cm (9.25 inches) in height. Her coat can be removed, and the sunglasses can be moved to cover her eyes as well.

You can take a better look at the Black Cage Hina figure here:

[gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids="971305,971306,971307,971308,971309,971310,971311" link="file"]

Black Cage Hina is a Marine officer, and she made her first appearance in One Piece during the Alabasta Saga. She ate the Cage-Cage Fruit, known as Bind-Bind Fruit in the Viz Manga and Ori Ori no Mi in the original Japanese manga, which gives her the power to create iron shackles from her body and trap her enemies in them.

MegaHouse recently announced that a new Portrait of Pirates RE-MAXIMUM figure of Uta is currently in the making.

Mere days after a Diablo 4 developer revealed the game’s rarest Unique items, someone has found the last one (the last for now, anyway).

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When you spend so much time playing video games, it can be sometimes hard not to occasionally muse, "What if there were a game that...?" Dot dot dot. There's a wealth of potential in those three dots, and today's the day to plumb those depths and extract the beautiful nuggets of impossibility within. So, readers, what's your best game idea that will likely never be made?

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Despite scrapping the game’s major Hero Mode, Blizzard still want to tell us a few stories through Overwatch 2, starting with the first batch of story missions on August 10th. Unfortunately, we won’t be getting any more PvE missions for the next few seasons, according to the game’s producer, cutting short any potential momentum from the upcoming season’s tale.

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Studio Wildcard have once again revised plans for Ark: Survival Ascended, the remastered version of dino survival sim Ark: Survival Evolved. The Unreal Engine 5 edition has now slightly adjusted its price, changed plans for the remastered expansions, and is now launching into early access sometime this October, slipping past its previous late summer window. Those still playing the orignal Survival Evolved have a small reprise, though, as the game's planned shutdown has moved from August to September 30th.

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“I was raising my hand as if to say, ‘I’m about to die; someone save me,’” Tim “Fireball” Lawrence says. He was about to drown in a swimming pool. While wearing a Yoshi costume, no less.

“The head was vacuum-formed, but Yoshi’s whole body was solid foam,” adds Kathy Lawrence, the costume designer responsible for creating the mascots for dozens of Nintendo’s TV spots in the ʼ90s and 2000s.

“It went from a costume that weighed about 35 pounds to over 200 pounds,” Fireball says. “The foam, like a sponge, just absorbed the water, and I just started to sink.” Mistaking his outreached hand for a thumbs up, Kathy and the crew were excited as they watched her husband fight for his life underwater. Read more...

Originally released in 2011 for the Nintendo DS, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is back from the dead on Switch, Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Join hosts Charles Harte and Kyle Hilliard as they play through an early chapter of the Switch version, assess some of the improvements, and attempt to save Missile the adorable (and apparently multi-tailed) dog.

For more previews and discussions of some of the biggest games of 2023 and beyond, be sure to head over to our YouTube page for NGTs about new and upcoming games such as Eternights, Crash Team Rumble, XDefiant, Sea of Stars, and Mortal Kombat 1.

It’s an uncomfortably humid night in the bustling Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, Japan. I futilely try to circulate air in my sweat-stained shirt at an intersection surrounded by questionable bars and seedy nightclubs. A comparatively innocent landmark grabs my attention: a batting center. It’s a delightfully familiar sight. But as I imagine its visitors enjoying a fun day swinging for the fences, author Jake Adelstein pops my thought bubble by telling me that the most horrific gang violence he ever witnessed unfolded on the corner we stand on: someone cracking another person’s skull open with a baseball bat. Read more...

A new Gundam series, Gundam: Requiem of Vengeance, is in development. Rather than using traditional 2D animation, it will be 3D and utilize Unreal Engine 5. In total, there will be six 30-minute-long episodes that’ll stream worldwide. [Thanks, Comic Natalie!]

It will take place within the Universal Century, which is the timeline that the original Gundam and its various sequels and spin-offs takes place in. Specifically, it takes place in UC0079, and is set eleven months after the revolutionary war. Requiem of Vengeance will focus on the European battlefront, and looks to have a female protagonist much like the previous Gundam project, The Witch of Mercury. She’s a Zaku pilot on Zeon’s side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBsTgATUTic&

Gavin Hignight (Tekken: Bloodline) is the writer and Erasmus Brosdau is the director. Naohiro Ogata, who previously worked on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is the producer. Celia Massingham (Ladies in Black) both voiced and motion captured for the protagonist.

Bandai Namco uploaded a new trailer for Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections. It unveiled this trailer during its panel at Anime Expo 2023. This video focuses on the Story Mode, and introduces two new characters who’re exclusive to the game. One of them is a blond girl named Nanashi who calls herself the “guide” of the game, and the other one appears to be a former follower of Pain called Merz.

You can watch the Story Mode trailer for Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections here:

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

In this trailer, it shows that the shinobi world is at the brink of war yet again. There will be another major Naruto and Sasuke showdown, with a shot of Naruto and his Shadow Clones attacking Sasuke with Rasengan (so this is serious business). Boruto is also there. It seems Nanashi and Merz are going to be significant players in the story (which is original to the game). While the cultist is the main antagonist, it’s unclear what role the Ninja Heroes guide will have.

Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections will be the latest entry in the Ninja Storm series of Naruto games. It's a 3D fighting game that you can either play against a CPU or with friends. The games usually adapted story arcs from the show or manga, and featured a wide roster of playable characters.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a chance for more people to meet iconic characters and experience one of the more unusual entries in the series. It’s a completely different way of (virtual) life. Especially since with so many farming sims, the focus can be on min-maxing the endeavor. Here, it’s almost more relaxed, as you are carefully balancing your relationships with family and friends with your farming. To help learn more about the remake, Siliconera spoke with Director Rika Hoshina about the project.

Jenni Lada: How did you get started in the gaming industry, and what led to you becoming a director on Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life?

Rika Hoshina: I joined Marvelous mid-career in 2020 as a member of the Story of Seasons team. Right after I joined the company, one of my first jobs was to work on Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life as one of the project planners. It's hard to pinpoint what specific moment led to it, but one day while I was pouring all my love and dedication into Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, I was approached by the producer, Hikaru Nakano, and he asked if I would like to become the director of the game. The position came with a great deal of challenges, but I was able to collaborate with our team members both in Japan and overseas.

A Suicide Squad Isekai anime appeared at Anime Expo 2023. A first trailer appeared, with Harley Quinn, Joker, and Amanda Waller appearing. The official website is also open for the show and includes key art of Harley. There's no release window for the show yet. However, since the US DC Twitter account shared an English first trailer and the website includes English translations, it does look as though we will see the project appear worldwide.

Here's the first trailer, which only appeared on Twitter so far. Harley and Joker are featured most prominently in it, though Waller does make a cameo appearance at the very end of the video.

#SuicideSquadISEKAI

Suicide Squad rampages into Japanese anime in SUICIDE SQUAD ISEKAI, an all-new original anime series collaboration with Warner Bros. Japan and WIT Studio!

https://t.co/uFZHWuwmt9 pic.twitter.com/n8mDoL1RQV

— DC (@DCOfficial) July 3, 2023

The Naruto anime project to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary will air starting on September 3, 2023. It will not be a full-fledged series or a remake. Rather, we'll get four new Naruto episodes. The official Twitter account did not give much information beyond this.

The tweet announcing the animation project ends by implying that there won’t be any details about the plot until the air date in September 2023. We know that it will focus on the pre-Boruto events of Naruto. But it's still unclear as to what era of his life it'll cover. There's also the chance that it'll simply retread material that had already been adapted. The wording of the Naruto account's tweet about the episodes is not "new" anime but rather "newly-made animation"

This may seem like splitting hairs. However, Studio Pierrot used the same wording for the “Road of Naruto” trailer it released in 2022. Instead of simply editing together clips from the show, it re-animated scenes such as Sasuke’s fight with Haku from the earlier episodes. So there is always the chance that at least one of the episodes will take past Naruto content and re-animate them rather than be completely new.

They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should:Someone’s gone and made a Google Chrome extension that turns every image on YouTube into the Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson thumbnail version. It’s called “YouTube MrBeastify” and it’s too cursed to ignore.

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Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? If you're reading this, you must be. If not, hell, I must try to keep on living even if no one's observing. I've not seen my friend's cat in three days. I don't know if my friend has a cat anymore. I don't know if I have a friend anymore. All I know is that Twitter's collapse has accelerated. But this was once a weekly column highlighting attractive and interesting indie games from Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag, and maybe it still is, or maybe it will be again. For now, come check out these games, if you can.

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Disney Speedstorm, the House of Mouse hero-based racing game from Dreamlight Valley devs Gameloft, will launch fully this September.

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Square Enix has cancelled development of its long-in-the-works Just Cause mobile game, which had been available in regional early access - but never fully launched - since November 2021.

Just Cause: Mobile was unveiled in December 2020, during The Game Awards, where it was billed as a free-to-play action shooter set in the Just Cause universe, featuring single-player, four-player co-op, and 30-person competitive multiplayer modes.

It was originally set to launch in 2021, and, did, eventually get a release in Singapore - albeit only as regional early access title - before the year was through. Since then, Just Cause: Mobile's early access has spread to a number of other countries but development has been repeatedly hit by delays, culminating in an indefinite delay toward the end of last year and, in February, the termination of all regional early access programmes.

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Tears of the Kingdom is, without doubt, an extraordinary game. It’s possibly one of the best video games ever made, achieves elements and showing off features that other games have strived toward for decades as nonchalant asides. We absolutely love The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

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