Destructoid

The Panzer Dragoon series is going through a revival of sorts. This plan is kind of nebulous and lacks direct details, but back in the tail-end of 2018, Sega revealed remakes for the first two entries were coming, and now we have a "winter 2020" release window. As it turns out, there's another project in the hopper.

Announced quietly on Twitter, a new entry called "Panzer Dragoon Voyage Record" is coming. See anything curious there? V...R? Yep, it's a VR game. According to Sega it will be a "dramatic" VR shooter, reliving events from the first three games (Dragoon, Zwei, Saga). It'll feature "graphics...optimized for VR headsets" and a "new input method" that's supposed to feel like a dragon rider handgun.

Sega says it will reveal platforms later, but for now the game is set for their 2020 fiscal year in Japan, which extends its window all the way to March 2021. As expected, it'll be a single-player game. Keep in mind that series creator Yukio Futatsugi will not be involved, as confirmed on his personal Twitter account.

Still, while some people might be down on VR, I'm happy to get more Panzer Dragoon games in general.

Panzer Dragoon Voyage Record [Twitter]

[Update: The ESA has officially confirmed that E3 2020 has been cancelled.

"After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry - our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners - we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles," announced the ESA in a statement posted on Variety.

"Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today."

The ESA will reach out to exhibitors and attendees with further information regarding refunds and cancelled plans The group is also "exploring options" with regards to delivering news via an online event in E3's stead.

E3 2021 is expected to go ahead as planned.]

In what must be one of the most inevitable news beats in some time, reports are now coming in that The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) intends to cancels this year's E3 event, adding to an ever-increasing list of industry gatherings shutting down over concerns raised by COVID-19, more commonly known as coronavirus.

In the wake of this weekend's Final Kombat tournament (congratulations SonicFox!) fans of Mortal Kombat 11 have been eagerly awaiting a fresh update, bringing a wealth of balance changes and bug fixes to their favourite claret-splashed fighter. Well, NetherRealm Studios has now released Version 1.17 on PS4 and Xbox One and... it's a start.

While it may have been a bit optimistic to imagine that we'd see across the board changes to MK 11  - buffing the worst, nerfing the best, fixing match-costing glitches, and reworking an abundance of useless variations - I think many fans, myself included, were still hoping for a little more in the way of balance tweaks than what has been delivered.

But let's focus on the positives. Perhaps the biggest change is the increased buffer window from Block. Without getting deep into the formula, essentially players should find themselves coming out of successful defence with more fluidity, which will hopefully make a huge difference to the "flow" of MK 11, which has always felt particularly stiff when it comes to blocking and counter-attacking. Summarised, this increased buffer should make punishing attacks out of Block more reliable and your reversals more, shall we say, "confident".

A few weeks ago Game Freak unveiled its newest mythical Pokemon to the world: Zarude. It's a dark/grass "Rogue Monkey" hybrid, and it's going to be heavily featured in the next film, Pokemon the Movie: Coco. Speaking of...

Based on a tweet from The Pokemon Company's Japan branch, a special promo is going to be ran in tandem with the release of the film. If you buy an advance ticket for Coco, which debuts on July 10, you'll net a free shiny Celebi and a Zarude creature for Sword and Shield. Both of them will debut at separate times: the former on April 17 and the latter on June 15.

As a note, that June 15 release for Zarude is important, as it could inform its western release. As of the time of publication we still don't know if it's going to be a seamless Mystery Gift reward or a GameStop in-store promotion. If you reside in Japan and want to know more about the giveaway, you can find it here. Everyone else will have to wait for more info on how to obtain Zarude.

Pokemon Company Japan [Twitter]

Another slip-of-the-tongue has further suggested the existence of an incoming Tony Hawk's Pro Skater title, which is expected to launch sometime in 2020. This newest leak comes from a since-removed social media post made by punk band The Death Set.

Speaking on their official Facebook page, The Death Set referenced that they had licensed several tracks for a "Tony Hawk 2020" game. As quickly as it arrived, the post then vanished. But as the old adage goes, the internet never forgets, and the post was quickly resurrected on Twitter by YouTuber @TheNathanNS.

The Dead Set aren't the first outside interest to speak of a new Tony Hawk game's existence. In a soundbite that was later edited out of the podcast, pro-skater Lizzie Armanto mentioned that she would be starring in a new title during a 2019 interview with The Nine Club. Longtime rumour-mill Sabi also suggested back in November that Activision were hard at work on remakes of classic PlayStation releases Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.

After an (initially) highly successful run of titles, Tony Hawk and Activision parted ways in 2015. The split seemed relatively amicable, however, so there's no reason why both parties wouldn't reunite for either a run of remakes, or an all-new release. And given this ever-increasing string of leaks, the new Tony Hawk project seems to be long past the point of being merely "rumoured".

Nintendo is once again holding an event for Smash Ultimate this week, and it heralds in new spirits.

The publisher seems to be selling Ring Fit Adventure copies like hot cakes (especially in Japan), and that hard work is paying off in the form of a crossover event. The spirits that are part of the event include the titular "Ring" character (an anthropomorphic ring that talks to you and guides you on your quest), the two heroes (you have a choice of gender at the start) and the evil Dragaux, the game's main villain.

As usual, it'll be held this weekend, starting Friday and running five days. SP boosts will also be baked into the event.

Smash Bros JP [Twitter]

Super Mega Baseball has quietly been one of the most outstanding sports series over the past half decade. This cartoony game has the arcade-like sensibilities of an easy-going dinger-fest, but it's also deep enough to turn into an impressive baseball sim for anyone who wants something more complicated and realistic. Guess it's a switch hitter in that sense.

Developer Metalhead Software is stepping back up to the plate for its third at-bat, and it's eyeing a third no-doubter. Super Mega Baseball 3 is set to launch in April on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It'll be priced at $45 and have full cross-platform play.

Here's what Metalhead lists as new to the third iteration of Super Mega Baseball: a Franchise mode, vastly refined graphics, a revamped user interface, new audio, new team/character content, stadiums with variable lighting conditions, and new pickoff and base stealing mechanics.

However, that $45 price tag doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. There will be a free demo/trial version that allows for unlimited access to the online Pennant Race mode. Metalhead says this is to "[promote] short matchmaking times and an active online userbase." So, Super Mega Baseball 3 is basically free-to-play for anyone who only cares about the competitive online side of the game.

If none of that piques your interest, maybe the promise of returning on-field murder will perk up your ears. Can't make an omelette without cracking open a few heads.

Yesterday was March 10, which is often celebrated as "MAR10 Day" by fans of Nintendo's block-hopping hero. Despite the fun date, there was very little offered in the way of new announcements regarding the plumber and his pals, save for this intriguing teaser from the good people at LEGO.

Over on its official Twitter, The LEGO Group posted a short, mysterious video featuring a close-up of what is clearly a digitally-designed Minifig of Mario himself, along with the phrase "Something fun is being built! Stay tuned..." The image then segues to a LEGO Super Mario logo.

And that's all we're getting for now. As to whether this collaboration will spawn new sets, or a video game, or even just an expansion to the equally creative Super Mario Maker 2 remains to be seen. But given the colourful, positive, and joyful vibes exemplified by both the Super Mario and LEGO franchises, the partnership is sure to produce something that showcases the best of both brands.

We will, of course, keep you updated on any new news regarding LEGO Super Mario.

Enter today's contest for your chance to score a Steam copy of new mystery/puzzle game Murder by Numbers!

You know the best thing about the '90s? All the mysteries, anime, robot assistants, and puzzles you had to solve just to clear your name! It was a great decade if you're into any of those things.

Murder by Numbers takes you back to the '90s in a quirky whodunnit puzzle game. Weird mix, right? We've got some Steam copies to give away, so just shut up and try to win one!

Fans of Sayonara Wild Hearts have a big new reason to be excited about Simogo's future. The Malmö-based indie studio has decided to team up with publisher Annapurna Interactive again, but on a grander scale. They've signed a "multi-year partnership" that will cover games "across all platforms."

Simogo's publishing deal "means that we can do things that aren't possible for us to make by ourselves. It also means that we can work even more regularly with the composers and artists we already love to work with. It could, to sum it up, mean a lot of new fun and unexpected stuff for us, and you, in the future. It's going to be wild and wonderful, and we hope you’ll be here to take the journey with us."

Annapurna Interactive has not-so-quietly become one of the best publishers in the space – Outer Wilds, Kentucky Route Zero, and What Remains of Edith Finch all say hello – and Simogo is just warming up.

Cool things are brewing, that much is clear. The team's next title is "Project Fuzzy Optics."

Simogo, Annapurna Interactive & the Future [Simogo]

High atop many people's wishlist for Epic Games Store features is, well, a wishlist. Aggregating games that interest you is a Steam staple, and a lot of folks have been aggravated that they can't do the same on Epic. Until now.

Today, the Epic Games Store received wishlist functionality. It'll start bare bones. Right now, it's just a big old list of games you might eventually want to buy. It serves its purpose in the simplest sense.

Epic plans to iterate over time. First, there will be filtering and smart searching for items within the wishlist. Further down the road, Epic will introduce email options whenever wishlisted games are on sale or ready to pre-order. Baby steps for now.

Wishlists are here! [Epic Games]

As Information Watch for the new consoles continue, we're obligated to give a heads-up for an event next week that will probably lead to some new details about the Xbox Series X. It's born out of Microsoft moving its GDC presence entirely online (before the whole conference was eventually postponed).

On Wednesday, March 18, Microsoft is hosting a talk called "Xbox Series X + Project xCloud = New Chapter in Gaming." It's part of the Game Stack Live series of presentations that will be streamed on Mixer. The whole schedule can be seen here, but this is the one that most obviously directly concerns the next generation of Xbox.

So, what can we expect? It's super difficult to guess. Sometimes GDC talks focus on consumer-facing issues. If that's the case, we might get some more details about things that actually affect us. Maybe it's a presentation about the approach to game streaming as it concerns the new generations of consoles. Or, maybe it's very developer-dense and has to do with leveraging cloud computing infrastructures. This one could go either direction.

Join us for Game Stack Live [Microsoft]

"Are you sure it isn't Rocket Knight Adventures that's responsible?" said Sean Velasco of Yacht Club games, his vocal pitch shifting to a higher, more humble tone. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, so I spelled out to him.

Since Shovel Knight, the game he co-created with the rest of the Yacht Club Founders, became a hit in 2014, we've seen a huge influx of indie games with the word "knight" in their names: Hollow Knight, Gryphon Knight, Portal Knights, Knights and Bikes, Knight Simulator, Fight Knight, Knight Club, Type Knight, Knight Club, Knight Terrors, and Knights are just some of the better-known examples.

Its a trend that stands in stark contrast to all the "War" games (God of, Gears of, World at, Total) and "Dead" games (Never, Rising, Red Redemption, Walking, Left 4, Island, or Alive) of the early 2010s. Gaming isn't trying as hard to prove it's "not for kids" anymore. Levity, altruism, and sincere goodness are fashionable again, and I think Shovel Knight helped make that happen. 

If you agree, then you'll be happy to hear that the next two (or is it three?) games that are set to include Shovel Knight work to keep that trend going in all the right ways. 

Indie developer Mane6 has announced that equestrian fighter Them's Fightin' Herds is finally getting saddled up for its official launch, bucking onto PC on April 2, just over two years on from its initial Early Access release.

It's been a minute, so as a refresher, Them's Fightin' Herds is an independently produced one-on-one fighter initially conceived as a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic game. Naturally, when licence-holders Hasbro came a-knockin', none-too-plussed about the usage of Twilight Sparkle and her pals, the fighter was then adapted into an original work, with some welcome help from Lauren Faust, the brains and talent behind the excellent MLP reboot.

Following positive public feedback, Bossa Studios - creator of quirky titles such as Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread - has announced its intentions to develop prototype title I Am Fish into a full game.

I Am Fish, like I Am Bread before it, is a meticulously controlled physics-based affair in which players must guide the titular trout (it's not a trout) from its domesticated bowl back to the ocean, using Marble Madness-style mechanics and smart, adaptive pathfinding to safely negotiate the environment. Should the bowl break, or the fish otherwise end up outta water, then the course is reset. The video below will quickly get you up to speed.

Publisher Bromio, (of Pato Box fame), has announced a release date for a new retro-infused cyberpunk adventure, put together by indie outfit Mecha Studios. Neon City Riders launches this Thursday on PC and consoles and looks like a cathartic bit of the old ultraviolence.

Players don the sinister hockey mask of Rick, (no, not that one), a vigilante who has grown sick and tired of his humble 'berg of Neon City being overrun by ruthless gangs. And so, armed with some meaty powers and whatever weaponry he can lay his grubby mitts on, Rick takes to the streets in '80s action movie fashion, determined to clean up the city once and for all. As you can see from the trailer below, Neon City Riders blends its cyberpunk overtones with high levels of fantasy and magic.

[Update: Bethesda pulled these specs from the Steam page over the weekend, and then posted updated requirements on its own site. The new specs are almost the exact same, just slightly different here and there. There's also a new list of settings for "Ultra-Nightmare," which is 4K at 60fps or 1440p at 120fps. All the new settings have been swapped out below.]

Anyone who plans to rip and tear through Doom Eternal on PC on March 20 might want to make sure they're packing enough firepower.

Bethesda has updated the Doom Eternal Steam page to include PC specs, and they're kind of heavy-hitting. Getting the game running at minimum settings (1080p resolution, 60 frames per second, low quality) takes a GTX 1060. There's probably some wiggle room for turning those settings down even further, but plenty of 1060 owners won't be ready to accept that their GPU is in lowest settings territory quite yet.

Here's what's needed for Doom Eternal's minimum settings:

If you were alive in the '90s and remotely liked video games, odds are you've heard of Nick Arcade.

Hosted by Phil Moore, the game show aired on Nickelodeon for 84 episodes, with re-runs occurring throughout most of the '90s. The gist is that the entire show was video game-themed, with contestants actually playing current games for points and participating in an interactive game as the grand finale.

Even if you have no love for the show, this short 22-minute-and-change documentary from the YouTube channel Wrestling With Gaming is worth a watch. It quickly runs down the origins of the show and breaks down each facet of it in a very digestible way, providing factoids in the process, behind-the-scenes footage and briefly chatting with co-creator Karim Miteff.

There's a lot of great trivia here, like the rumor that someone at Nickelodeon ordered too many space camp trips, so they were given away as prizes on various network game shows, and that Nickelodeon was leery of the idea that Nintendo and Sega would consent to having their games featured on the show at the same time: only for the producers to solve the problem.

This show blew my mind when it came out and was way ahead of its time: its legacy deserves to be preserved! As the doc hints it could still come back, thanks to the passion of WWE superstar Xavier Woods, who wants to host a new incarnation of the show.

Where should you drop in Call of Duty: Warzone? Heck if I know! The game just launched this morning. We're still in that frantic period where the meta is malleable and folks are figuring out the hot spots.

The game's gigantic map, Verdansk, is a lot to take in. It's tough to get a lay of the land as a new Warzone player when you want to go one way and your squadmates have entirely different plans, to say nothing of the crews taking pot-shots while you argue about inaction. Next thing you know, you're shipped off to the Gulag, fighting for a chance at redemption. Battle royale will never not stress me out.

If you can spare the storage space to download Call of Duty: Warzone and you think you might become invested, I'd recommend looking over the official Tac Map for Verdansk – it's a comprehensive tool. The map is made up of five main sectors, which are further broken down into zones with points of interest.

The site shows potential locations for Ammo Caches, Buy Stations (where you can pick up revive kits and armor), landmarks like the Gora Dam and Verdansk Hospital, vehicles, and Cash Reserves and Deposit Site helipads (in the other game mode, Plunder). You can also check each area for its loot rating.

If I've learned anything from other games, it's that my nerves aren't strong enough to handle major bridges, airports, military bases, or stadiums. I'm more of a graveyard guy. That's my element.

Spike Chunsoft continues to add new content to its ridiculously expansive wrestling title, Fire Pro Wrestling World. The latest update sees the sandbox wrestler return to joshi promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom, with a second batch of amazing in-ring competitors.

As previously noted, World Wonder Ring Stardom is Japan's leading all-women wrestling promotion, which was founded in 2002 by former JDStar promoter Rossy Ogawa, as well as retired wrestler Fuka and All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling legend Nanae Takahashi. Stardom showcases some of the best upcoming talent out of Japan, while also featuring amazing overseas imports such as Kris Wolf, Kay Lee Ray, and Toni Storm.

The second Stardom DLC pack features another selection of the promotion's finest athletes, complete with entrance themes, trademark moves, taunts, and even voices. The 11 wrestlers showcased in the new pack are as follows:

Sony has confirmed that Guerrilla Games' open-world robo-dinosuar adventure Horizon Zero Dawn will release on PC in summer 2020. The news, which follows rumblings from back in January, was made official in a PlayStation Blog interview with Hermen Hulst, the head of Sony Worldwide Studios.

"I think it's important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation, and show people maybe what they've been missing out on," Hulst said of Horizon's PC port. "And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn't necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. We don't have plans for day-and-date [PC releases]."

He didn't have much else to share about the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn – we'll learn more "pretty soon" directly from Guerrilla – but the game will launch on Steam with The Frozen Wilds included.

On a more general, forward-looking note, Hulst said that Sony Worldwide Studios is "very committed to dedicated [PlayStation] hardware, as we were before. We're gonna continue to do that. And we're very committed to quality exclusives. And to strong narrative-driven, single-player games."

"At the same time, we're going to be very open to experimentation, to new ideas. Just trying things out to see what works. I think that's also very much part of the DNA of Worldwide Studios."

"In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit [for PC] in this particular instance," he added.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Although the creator of the blog "Built by Brock" isn't going to go to your house and make this device at-will, the fact that it exists makes me happy. Yep, it's a GameCube remote adapter that's been fully integrated, seamlessly I might add, into the Switch dock: the four controller ports sit nicely in the open space on the back of the dock, where you plug the inputs in.

Crediting the channel Rated-e Mods with the idea, Brock notes that the project was born out of necessity. Nintendo didn't keep up with demand for the official GameCube-to-Switch adapter, so they made their own with the Mayflash adapter and some handiwork. The hardest part, Brock says? "Fitting all the electronics inside the shell of the dock."

If you're inclined electrically there's a good breakdown of how they did it on the blog itself, just note that it's a bit involved. Brock surmises that Nintendo could integrate this officially if they wanted.

Nintendo Switch Dock Modding - Integrated GameCube Controller Ports [Built by Brock] Thanks Jeff!

Nintendo's Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX launched on Nintendo Switch last week and has had a healthy start, shooting straight to number one in the UK Charts.

A remake of the 2006 Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS titles, Rescue Team DX successfully toppled Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from the top spot, which the military shooter has held on-and-off with great persistence since its launch back in October 2019. Sega's cartoony medical management title Two Point Hospital also successfully maintained a Top Ten position, with the recently released console port dropping just a couple of places from number two to number six.

The rest of the Top Ten is rounded out with long-termers, FIFA 20, Grand Theft Auto V, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Of note, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has finally left the Top Ten for the first time since its launch back in November 2019. The rest of March brings with it some heavy hitters, including Nintendo's Animal Crossing and Bethesda's Doom Eternal, so it looks like the charts, stagnant for some months, will see a shakeup real soon.

Over seven years ago, Hyrule Historia was unleashed upon the world. Now, a lot of Zelda books have hit the stands over the course of the past decade or so, but this one is different, as it's generally considered one of the quintessential Zelda tomes (and started the whole timeline controversy that still rages on).

Oddly, the book is finally going to wander into the wide digital bookstore arena. It's been spotted on various platforms like Apple Books, where it's listed at a $19.99 asking price with an expected release date of April 14, 2020. The digital edition seems to have all its arms and legs, as it clocks in at a whopping 276 pages, and Dark Horse Comics is still the publisher.

As a note, you can find the book right now for roughly $20, $15 down from its original 2013 MSRP. In other words, I highly recommend picking this one up physically: and if you really enjoy it, forking over for the digital edition as a second copy to read while traveling.

Hyrule Historia [Apple Books via Nintendo Life]

[Update: The remaster collection (Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, and their three expansion packs—Covert Ops, Counterstrike, and The Aftermath) will arrive on both Origin (including Origin Premiere) and Steam on June 5, EA revealed today. It's priced at $19.99 base, with options for $59.99 and $149.99 special and anniversary editions, respectively. You can find the debut trailer below.]

Ori and the Will of the Wisps does things a bit differently when it comes to combat. Unlike the original, the incredibly cute and formidable Ori will not dispatch enemies by way of mashing the attack button and throwing out short-ranged little homing missiles. Now, you need to get your hands dirty a bit.

This time around, combat is decidedly melee-focused. Ori will pick up a torch in the early game before swapping to a light sword of sorts, forcing you to get up close and personal throughout the course of the game. The thing is, the sword itself has a few tricks up its sleeve that isn't directly communicated through an overt tutorial.

Most notably, you have a downward slash available similar to an old school Zelda game. If you jump up and slice down, you'll trigger a very long range attack that not only allows you to hit enemies below you safely while remaining aerial, but lets you combo right into a double jump to safety. In some cases, enemies will be staggered by the downward thrust.

This maneuver is crucial in the early game when taking on some of the tougher bosses or mid-bosses in Ori and the Will of the Wisps, as many of them are extremely aggressive and favor horizontal attacks. This way, you can get a few hits in and plan your next move.

After a delay, Doom Eternal is nearly here, and it looks pretty crazy. I'm just talking in terms of the expanded scale and some of the newer enemies that developer id Software has shown off, and that's to say nothing of the newly revealed customization options, which are arguably more out there.

Publisher Bethesda has revealed the extent to which you can customize your Doom Slayer hero, and it looks pretty comprehensive. Not only are there cosmetic armor changes, but color swaps and options for effects like flames or cracked helmets. The most absurd one, the deadly white and pink My Little Pony-like skin, is shown off at the end as a Twitch Prime bonus. It's called the "Doomicorn." You can find a full list of extras in that package below.

They elaborate on the feature a bit in the video description, noting: "Unlock various skins, animations, and podiums by playing Doom Eternal. Personalize your Doom Slayer for photo mode and the single-player campaign. Then, slay with your friends in Battlemode, where you can personalize your Doom Slayer and playable demons." As a reminder, Doom Eternal will not feature microtransactions (at this time).

Doom Eternal will hit PC, PS4, Xbox One and Stadia (!) on March 20. Switch is coming "later this year."

Another round of Magic: The Gathering bans are afoot, but they're not nearly as staggering as the last set of announcements.

This time standard (the main form of competitive play) is not impacted: instead, the bans impact brawl, historic, legacy and modern. The big one is Golos, Tireless Pilgrim's ban in brawl, with Wizards citing that his five-color identity as a problem (in brawl, you build your deck around your commander, which in this case is Golos).

Historic (Magic: Arena's old card mode) got the most bans, with Oko, Once Upon a Time and Veil of Summer biting the bullet. At this point the powerful planeswalker Oko is pretty much a dead card and an admitted mistake, having been banned in standard and brawl. Field of the Dead is now legal in historic though, while Underworld Breach is banned in legacy and Once Upon a Time is banned in modern.

All of these bans will take place today in paper Magic circuits and Magic Online, with Arena getting with the program on March 12. You can find the full ban list below.

March 9, 2020 Banned and Restricted Announcement [Wizards of the Coast]

Bethesda recently held its "Game Days 2020" event alongside of PAX East, and shared a bit more info on several of their projects. Fallout 76's upcoming Wastelanders expansion was on deck with a new video that's all gameplay (no commentary).

The video clocks in at nearly 17 minutes, and almost entirely covers NPC interactions. One of the strengths of the video is how it shows the player getting out of the initial vault and immediately talking to a person. Another highlight is the use of team-only interiors (instances) to ensure that people aren't running around in circles, blowing up NPCs and trolling your game.

The funny thing is this is how I assumed Fallout 76 was going to operate, at a bare-minimum, when it launched. When I got out of that vault and just saw a few scant robot NPCs over the course of many hours, my jaw dropped. NPCs are also in missions now? This is going to be a huge upgrade.

Sega's mobile puzzler Sega Heroes might be getting a serious dose of style real soon, as it appears that Kazuma Kiryu, The Dragon of Dojima himself, is apparently headed to the crossover Match-3 game at some point in the near future.

The tease comes via the Sega Heroes Twitter, which posted a short clip of the Yakuza protagonist being shocked out of his sleep, exclaiming a startled "Nani!?" while showing off his iconic back ink. Yakuza as a franchise was recently featured in a player's survey, asking fans which classic Sega stars should make the leap to the mobile title, so it's all looking pretty snug.

Should he join the roster, Kazuma would be rubbing shoulders with such brand alumni as Virtua Fighter's Sarah Bryant, Streets of Rage vigilantes Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding, Golden Axe's Tyrus Flare and Gillus Thunderhead, Super Monkey Ball's AiAi and, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sega Heroes is available now on iOS and Android devices.

Sega Heroes is teasing Yakuza cameos [Siliconera]

Arc System Works has announced that the PC edition of stylish anime fighter Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [st] will be upgraded to its most recent iteration, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [cl-r], later this month.

The update, which launched on PS4 and Switch last month, overhauls multiple under-the-hood elements of Under Night, tweaking the game's menus, mechanics, UI, and roster, with developer French Bread boasting of over 1,000 individual balance tweaks. All of these changes will automatically be applied to all currently owned copies of [st] on March 27, upgrading the base game to [cl-r].

[This video is sponsored by AdamandEve.com. Use Code: NOOB for 50% Off 1 Item + Free Shipping in the US & Canada. Some exclusions apply.]

Posing as a new Fortnite player just learning the game while "at work," Twitch streamer nanerboots gets nice and personal with her random teammates, much to their discomfort and your viewing pleasure!

If you want to get in on the action, you can use the code "NOOB" to receive 50 percent off one item from adamandeve.com, plus free shipping to the U.S. and Canada.

In today's contest, we're giving away Steam keys for chill gardening game Alchemy Garden!

Remember Alchemy Garden? We featured it a few months ago right here on this very site, giving you, our loyal readers, a chance to win a free copy. The game's development has progressed, and with new features comes a new chance to win a copy!

So, here's your second chance to nab a Steam Early Access key for Alchemy Garden, the chill crafting game where you can be an old-timey botanist! Hooray!

Eric Chahi, the creator of Another World, is coming out with an ecosystem simulation game about origami creatures for PlayStation VR. Paper Beast has a story mode – you can alter the terrain and weather, not unlike a god game, to solve puzzles – and a sandbox mode. It's the best of both worlds.

You might've heard that name before and wondered whatever happened to this game. Paper Beast is still happening, and as we learned today, it's releasing soon – it's out for PS4 on March 24, 2020.

"The player-explorers in Paper Beast can interact with every creature they discover on their journey," according to developer Pixel Reef. "Powered by an extensive physics engine that calculates the creatures' motions in real-time, they can be lifted up to resolve situations or to rescue them from predators and natural danger. The animals will adapt their behavior accordingly. The player is also able to manipulate the terrain to overcome obstacles or resolve environmental puzzles."

Paper Beast doesn't have the biggest Venn diagram, I'll admit, but it looks like it'll click with a particular audience. It's a niche within a niche from a legendary game creator, and that's just cool. I'm glad someone's out there making neat PSVR experiences that aren't ports of high-end PC VR titles.

This strikes me as one of those games where I want to know as little as possible going in. Discovering how the creatures, plants, world conditions, and other factors intersect seems like the main hook.

As someone who spent a ton of time with Birthdays the Beginning, I'm feeling this concept.

Reggie's coming out of retirement...sort of. Less than a year after stepping down as president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime picked up a part-time gig at GameStop. No, he's not going to be slinging PowerUp Rewards Pro subscriptions.

GameStop is overhauling its board of directors, and that includes appointing Fils-Aime to the board. On Twitter, Fils-Aime writes "The gaming industry needs a healthy and vibrant GameStop. I look forward to being a port of the GameStop board and helping make this happen."

If I weren't already sold on Nightdive Studios' new round of Doom 64 ports for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch – five bucks is such a spot-on, impulse-worthy price – then the game's new features would push me over the edge. The big one: Doom 64 will come with an all-new story chapter.

As revealed in a recent interview with USgamer, "persistent players will have the opportunity to unlock a new chapter in the Doomguy's saga, taking place shortly after [Doom 64's] original campaign concludes," according to senior developer James Haley. It doesn't sound like mindless filler, either.

"The Mother Demon you defeated in that outing had a sister, and since you've been messing up Hell non-stop, she tries to get rid of you by sending you away. If you can make your way back and take revenge, you'll be rewarded with a bit of lore that fans of both series, new and classic, should enjoy."

Haley also confirmed a few other niceties, including Switch touchscreen and PS4 touchpad control support for the map, keyboard and mouse support on Xbox One, motion control support on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, and a toggle to turn blood splatters from red to green. I'm so using that!

Doom 64 will be sold standalone and included with Doom Eternal pre-orders, but the crossover doesn't end there. Mild spoilers: Per co-director Marty Stratton, "You get to unlock [Doom 64's] Unmaker [in Doom Eternal] if you complete all the Slayer Gates, and those are badass combat encounters."

Is it possible to overdose on Doom? We'll find out March 20, 2020. Both games drop the same day.

With a combination of brute-force determination and a deep understanding of Animal Crossing's inner workings, a streamer named BrianMp16 has earned an absurd one billion bells in the game. That's enough money to unlock the Post Model – an in-game item requiring 999,999,999 bells – legitimately.

The long-time bucket-list goal wrapped up just in time for this month's Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

This billion-bell feat took around 180 hours of playtime, which was streamed over two months, but that's nothing compared to all of the practice and know-how needed to pull it off in the first place.

Long story short, BrianMp16 played the Stalk Market to earn a cool billion. He bought low and sold high, but on a much grander scale. He used time-saving strategies to predict, calculate, and maximize his profits using 8x price spikes, and then he put in the work until he maxed out his bank account.

There are all sorts of quirks and limitations related to Animal Crossing on GameCube – you can only hold up to 549,999 bells in your inventory, for instance – so it's interesting to read his plan of attack.

If you've never gotten the Post Model with a Nook Code like the rest of us, here's what it looks like:

War never changes but Worms does. This slippery, slimy artillery shooter has some iteration over the years; moving from 2D to 3D certainly qualifies, but this series is still rooted firmly in worms blowing each other to smithereens.

This year will see a new Worms game from Team17, and the developer promises substantial changes. In a tweet announcing the unnamed project, Team17 says "The worms are back in 2020 like you've never seen them before. New worms, new ways to play."

The accompanying teaser trailer doesn't offer much insight as to how this new Worms will change the game. Instead, it merely destroys the classic games before swatting at grenades with a bat. At least showing us some destruction -- even if it's meta-destruction rather than worm-on-worm assault -- is a step in the right direction. This is Worms, so something has to get a bomb dropped on it.

@Team17Ltd [Twitter]

If you own either Yakuza 0 or Yakuza Kiwami on Steam - and to be honest there's little reason not to - you will be pleased to hear that Sega has auto-upgraded both titles to their respective Deluxe Edition releases, adding a selection of neat extras to the wild 'n' wacky brawler RPGs.

By visiting "Extras" in either titles' installation folders, players now have access to a digital manga for each game, as well as a selection of avatars and wallpapers. There are also a couple of neat animated Steam banners, so you can dress up your desktop and interface like a hard-drinkin', hard-fightin' night in Kamurocho.

While these upgrades are hardly ground-shaking events, we currently live in an avaricious era of video gaming, and as such the "little things" matter. Publishers like Sega having the foresight to appreciate its loyal fanbase is something to be commended, no matter how small the gesture.

Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are all available on PC via Steam. If you hurry, you can capitalise on the current "Big in Japan" promotion, offering all three titles at great, discounted prices.

Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami owners get deluxe editions for free on Steam [PCGamesN]

While Koei Tecmo remains under fire from Dead or Alive fans over its hair-dyeing shenanigans, it hasn't stopped the publisher from dropping new info about DoA 6's upcoming DLC. The latest update, courtesy of Famitsu, announces that Venus Vacation's Tamaki will be available for the DoA 6 roster from tomorrow, March 10.

The young swimsuit model and fashion designer made her debut in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation back in 2018, with her DoA 6 inclusion, being Tamaki's first foray into the fight itself. Tamaki is an Aikido practitioner, and as such will come armed with an array of powerful strikes, as well as masterful use of counters and throws, utilising the opponent's momentum against themselves.

Fans of Tamaki's Venus Vacation appearance will be pleased to hear that she's bringing most of her wardrobe from that title along for the ride. A video from Famitsu, which you can check out below, shows up some of Tamaki's looks, while also showcasing some of her basic combos.

Dead or Alive 6 is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.