Game Informer

Resident Evil 3's Nemesis is an imposing force who stubbornly chases you throughout your entire playthrough. He's also harder to avoid than Resident Evil 2's Mr. X, so if you're having trouble with Nemesis in the early game try taking him down with grenades. A well-placed grenade will take Nemesis out of the fight for a short time. As an added bonus, Nemesis drops weapons upgrades and other high-powered artillery when you stun him.

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In short, always keep a grenade on hand in case of a Nemesis sighting. If you're out of grenades or don't have one in your inventory, keep an eye open for interactive environmentals, such as exploding barrels or electrical boxes, which can help buy you enough time to run to the nearest safe room. Naturally, grenades aren't the easy solution during end-boss encounters, but they still deal massive damage, so don't waste them on puny zombies. Save that firepower for the big guy. Read our full review of Resident Evil 3 here.

This shouldn't be a surprise, but COVID-19 is starting to affecting the release of several upcoming games. Previously, Square Enix promised that the spread of the virus would not delay the release of the game on April 10, and the company is still holding to that. However, the publisher recently released a statement updating how the game will roll out.

https://twitter.com/finalfantasyvii/status/1244538864263364608

In short, Final Fantasy VII Remake has already shipped to Europe and Australia. Square Enix hopes this will gives fans a greater chance of getting their hands on the title. This applies to the physical version of the game, and the company has made no statements regarding the digital release, which is still set for release on April 10.

With the spread of the pandemic, many gamers are hunkering down in their gaming dens to play games. If you're hoping to get your hands on Final Fantasy VII remake soon, we wish you luck, and if you go snag a copy before the rest of the world, please don't spoil anything.

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Leo likes systems – the more, the better. There, I said it. The original Mount & Blade kept his interest for a while, but there was one problem: It's a little on the ugly side. Fortunately, TaleWorlds has come to the rescue, with today's early access release of the sequel, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. 

Leo's only had a few hours to get acclimated to this new world, but he likes what he's seen. Check out today's NGT for a look at some of the exploration, town interactions, and several ill-advised raids and combat encounters. It looks like the road to becoming a full-fledged bannerlord is going to be a long one. Oh well.

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On the heels of the adored Resident Evil 2 remake, Capcom's sequel had some massive sized shoes to fill. But, according to Ben Reeves' review, Resident Evil 3 lives up to most of the hype with tense, action-packed combat and a terrifying stalker that's worthy of the legacy of the Nemesis. Watch with us as we visually go over the RE3 Remake with a fine-tooth comb and tell fans of the series whether or not it's a must-buy.

Thank you to everyone who reached out with constructive comments on the Doom Eternal review. As this is still our second video review, please keep that feedback coming! You can reach out in the comments below or send me your thoughts on Twitter. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the video!

Niantic continues to alter Pokémon Go to accommodate trainers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new blog post today, Niantic says its mission has been to "help people get outside, exercise, and explore the world, with the ultimate goal of helping people connect with others." Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Niantic is adapting its vision in the coming days and weeks to accommodate players who are stuck indoors.

One of the big changes is letting trainers team up with friends to take on raids from their own homes. We don't know exactly how this will work yet, but it should cut down on the unnecessary risk of people heading outdoors to a gym's location to get a Pokémon they don't want to miss out on.

Adventure Sync is receiving a tweak that will allow trainers to track steps indoors and on a treadmill. Niantic is also looking at ways that will allow players to "share memories about their favorite real-world places." Lastly, Niantic is working on a new way to bring Pokémon Go Fest to players. More details on all of these things will be shared soon by Niantic.

Riot Games has announced the start date of the upcoming closed beta for Valorant, the studio's recently revealed tactical hero shooter. Select players will be able to test out the FPS ahead of its planned summer launch beginning April 7.

To register for the closed beta, you must connect your Riot account to your Twitch account, then watch highlighted Valorant streams for the chance to receive closed beta access. While your progress will not carry over into launch, any Valorant Points – the currency used to buy skins and other store items – you purchase will be given back to you at launch with a 20 percent bonus. Riot is currently planning on keeping the closed beta as short as possible, but may reevaluate if it hears unexpected feedback from participants.

Mario is one of the most iconic characters in video games, so every one of his birthdays is worth celebrating. If recent reports are to be believed, Nintendo may be planning an impressive celebration that includes Switch rereleases of many of Mario's best games. 

Eurogamer and VideoGamesChronicle reported that Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy will all get rereleases sometime this year. Additionally, Nintendo is working on a new Paper Mario title and a deluxe version of Super Mario 3D World that includes new levels. 

If true, these details are very exciting, but we may also soon hear new details on Nintendo/Universal's upcoming Mario-themed park as well as the upcoming animated Super Mario Bros. movie.

A few weeks ago, Nintendo announced its partnership with Lego, and it's possible that was just the beginning for our mustachioed pal. We've reached out to Nintendo for further comment.

The original Super Mario Bros. released in Japan on September 13th, 1985, so the 35th anniversary is set for this fall. Hopefully, we'll hear more soon. 

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This morning the German PlayStation Store briefly leaked a listing for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (PS4, Xbox One, and PC), with a release listing of tomorrow, March 31. Website Call of Duty Tracker captured screenshots and a trailer before they were taken down.

The remaster features the 2009 title's campaign – including the infamous "No Russian" mission (click here to read what developer Infinity Ward told us about it), and there is also a Classic Ghost bundle with the recent Warzone mode.

A COD: MW 2 remaster has been rumored for quite a while, and as COD Tracker points out, Warzone was recently leaked and released in a similarly quick manner.

[Source: CODTracker]

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In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Nier series of games, Square Enix today announced an upgraded version of Nier Replicant (the original Japanese PlayStation 3 release) is heading to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. The port is being developed in conjunction with Toylogic and is spearheaded by director Yoko Taro and producer Yosuke Saito. Square Enix also revealed a new mobile game called Nier Incarnation is in development at Applibot (you can see the trailer below). No release information was provided for either game.

Nier Replicant will feature rerecorded music along with a new tracks by Keiichi Okabe, and will introduce new characters and potentially one more ending. The full title for the game is "Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139..." Nier Replicant has had many names outside of its PlayStation 3 release. In Japan, the Xbox 360 version is called Nier Gestalt and it featured an older man as the protagonist instead of the teenage boy. The older protagonist was also in the western releases, which were just called Nier. I think I got all of that right. Confusing, no? 

Square Enix says the sequel, Nier: Automata, has "shipped/downloaded more than four million units worldwide."

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The educational game scene likely deserves some of the criticism that gets leveled its way. Taking a bunch of facts and jamming them into a tired trivia or card game format isn’t good game design, and whether your potential players are kids or adults, they’re sure to see through the ruse. Fortunately, recent years have seen a surge of excellent releases that treat educational elements like any other potential theme, and build a great design around that concept. 

If you’re a teacher or parent, the games below are ideal for young people who learn best with supplementary game experiences. But in choosing the titles to select for this article, I’ve also tried hard to only include games that I’d happily recommend to any adult gaming group as well – stuff that is fun enough to come out on any game night. 

I’ve also steered away from the wealth of clever releases that teach in an abstract way about strategic thinking, logic, or critical thinking; while those skills are eminently valuable to anyone, the focus here is on games with discrete subject themes like math or history.

Editor's Note: This article originally ran on March 23, 2018. We're resurfacing the article today for families who may be looking for additional opportunities and activities for kids currently sheltering in place at home. 

Nobody needs another place to dwell on the challenges facing the world in the face of a health epidemic, so I’ll skip right past the obvious. It’s enough to acknowledge that, while everyone reading this is likely united in a shared love of games, we also share a much broader connection right now, being forced to confront a scary situation. As that crisis unfolds around us, gaming and online play has risen up to be a much more important part of life for a lot of people, many of whom might be new to the hobby. As we adjust to that reality, it’s a great time to find and embrace the best aspects of social gaming.

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Just like some of the other great developers under the Sony umbrella, Insomniac has turned into a powerhouse studio that has evolved throughout its 26 years of existence. But that evolution wouldn't have been possible without the help of a furry lombax and his mechanical mate.

Join Andrew Reiner, Joe Juba, and me as we take you back to Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and discuss why a certain executive editor has stated that Insomniac's series can go toe-to-toe with a Nintendo giant. You'll also want to stick around until the end of the episode, where we Roulette our way into the zany antics of Britain's greatest super-spy.

Resident Evil has traditionally been a survival-horror franchise with a focus on moody isolation, which runs counter to the idea of online multiplayer modes. However, Resident Evil 3 includes an online asymmetrical 4v1 mode called Resistance that actually does a stellar job capturing the horror inherent in the series. In Resistance, a group of four survivors works together to escape the sadistic tests set up by the Machiavellian Umbrella corporation. Meanwhile, a single player-controlled mastermind works from the shadows to keep you in line and destroy your morale. It's more fun than I suspected and might be worth your time. 

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These days, everyone needs someone to play games with, from a safe distance of course. We at Game Informer are happy to oblige and are hosting another gaming night with the community. As with our Smash Bros. stream, we joined up with members of the GI community and played some intense and silly Call of Duty: Modern Warfare private matches live on stream! 

We went live earlier, but you can watch the full archive of the stream above. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

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On this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, I am joined by Ben Reeves, Alex Stadnik, and Leo Vader to chat about recent VR games Half-LIfe: Alyx and The Room VR: A Dark Matter. The big talker for the show, however, is discussing the battle between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and what we think all the hardware stats really mean. We finish with the always-entertaining and enlightening community emails.

We do this week's show from our homes as we hunker down in quarantine, so please forgive us for any audio or video hiccups as we deliver content outside the studio.

Thanks for listening! Please make sure to leave feedback below, share the episode if you enjoyed it, and follow me @therealandymc to let me know what you think. 

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Borderlands 3 is a loot shooter that plenty of us at Game Informer seemed to like! Today a new piece of DLC is launching focused on an engagement party, a new planet, and chilling new enemies. We're streaming it today, and it will be fun!

We went live earlier, but you can catch the full archive above. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

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Nintendo released a surprise Nintendo Direct presentation offering a shotgun blast of details for various Switch games.

Apart from 2K's Switch collections for Borderlands, XCOM 2, and BioShock, and a release date for the Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (May 29), the presentation also dropped a variety of news on a bevy of titles.

Back in January, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai announced a second Fighters Pass, which will bring six more downloadable fighters to the biggest crossover battlefield in gaming. While we still don't know the details of who the first character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2 will be, we do know that the character will hail from Arms, the 2017 fighting game from Nintendo.

Arms features 15 characters, each of which has a distinct style and arsenal of moves. While it would make sense for Spring Man or Ribbon Girl to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate thanks to their mascot statuses for the game, Twintelle garnered quite the fan base when the title launched. Also working against the idea of Spring Man as a playable character is the fact that he's currently an Assist Trophy. 

Whichever character the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate development team chose from the Arms roster will be both announced and released in June. For more on Arms, check out our review.

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During today's Nintendo Direct Mini, Square Enix and Nintendo showed off a lengthy trailer for Bravely Default II (which you can see above). The trailer details the journey ahead, which begins with a character named Seth washing ashore on the continent of Excillant, which is occupied by five kingdoms.

Seth, a sailor, is one of the new Heroes of Light, and will be joined by princess Gloria, traveling scholar Elvis, and mercenary Adelle.

The trailer walks through the Brave and Default combat powers, job system, and abilities. Nintendo announced a demo for Bravely Default II is now available. No exact release date for the full game was given, but it is confirmed for a 2020 release.

Nintendo has announced the original Xenoblade Chronicles, which debuted on Wii in North America in 2012, is coming to Switch. This game serves as the debut of Shulk, who has continued on to appear in the two most recent Super Smash Bros. titles.

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition brings enhanced controls and visuals, as well as a brand new epilogue story called Future Connected for fans to play through. This version also brings easy-to-read and easy-to-use menu screens and HUDs, and some of the music tracks have been remixed. 

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition launches for Switch on May 29. On the same day, you can also pick up the Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Works Set, a 250-page artbook, which you can see below.

Zipper T. Bunny is heading to your island on April 1 to hide eggs as a way of celebrating Bunny Day. You'll need to hunt for the eggs, and either dig them up of fish for them. Your efforts reward you with the chance to craft limited-time items, such as a festive table, clothing, and more.

The event runs from April 1 to 12 and is free to all players. Later in April, Nintendo is ushering in another free update with Earth Day festivities. Animal Crossing: New Horizons received a glowing 9 out of 10 review from Game Informer's Jeff Cork, who called it "an all-inclusive package that takes the best of what’s come before and adds meaningful upgrades for returning visitors and curious newcomers alike."

During today's unexpected Nintendo Direct Mini, 2K Games announced collections for Borderlands, BioShock, and XCOM 2 are all coming to Switch on May 29.

The Borderlands Legendary Collection consists of Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Borderlands 3 is not included or on Switch yet. BioShock: The Collection, which was aleady revealed, contains BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered, and BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition. Finally, the XCOM 2 Collection holds XCOM 2, the War of the Chosen Expansion, and four DLC Packs.

Here's hoping the pandemic is over by the end of May, but if not, 2K Games is delivering hundreds of hours of great entertainment to make our days a little easier.

Epic Games has announced it will publish new titles by Remedy Entertainment, Playdead, and Gen Design as a part of a new multiplatform publishing initiative. According to Epic Games, developers retain 100 percent of all intellectual property and creative control of their work and will benefit from 50/50 profit sharing. Epic also touts it will cover to up 100 percent of development costs including developer salaries, quality assurance, localization, marketing, publishing costs, and more.

Remedy Entertainment is coming off of its award-winning action title Control, which was an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC when it launched in August. Playdead has released two award-winning titles: 2010's Limbo and 2016's Inside. Finally, Gen Design is the studio headed by the visionary developer behind Shadow of the Colossus and Ico, Fumito Ueda. In 2016, the studio worked with Sony to release The Last Guardian.

"[Gen Design], Remedy, and Playdead are among the most innovative and talented studios in the industry, with strong visions for their next games,” said Hector Sanchez, Head of Epic Games Publishing, in a press release. “They will have full creative control, while Epic will provide a solid foundation of project funding and services.”

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At the end of Control, Jesse Faden saved our world from an invasion of extra-dimensional creatures called The Hiss and completed her first assignment as the director of the Federal Bureau of Control. Still, Jesse’s work is far from done; Control’s universe remains full of unseen threats and looming dangers. The Foundation puts Jesse back on the front lines in a battle for the planet. Unfortunately, this battle feels a little too familiar.

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When Control released in August of last year, its aetherial atmosphere, captivating use of Jedi-like powers, and borderline hallucinogenic tale made it one of the most memorable games of 2019. So much so that we gave it our Game of the Year.

With the release of The Foundation DLC, Remedy not only looks to continue deepening the lore of The Oldest House but also give players new abilities and make the game feel as exciting as it did last year. Join Ben Reeves, Andrew Reiner, and me as we explore the secrets of this mysterious world and continue the story of Jesse Faden.

We went live earlier, but you can find the full archive above. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this weekend's Pokémon Go Safari Zone event in St. Louis has been postponed indefinitely. People who held onto their tickets can have the event unfold from the safety of their own homes. During the original event hours, Niantic is activating the encounters and Special Research that would have only been available in St. Louis.

This means you can participate in the event from anywhere in the world, but again, you needed to retain the ticket. If you did, you don't need to do anything other than boot up the game to play on the day you were originally going to in St. Louis.

Along with Unown, which has become a staple at Niantic's gatherings, players will also have the chance to catch Chatot, a Pokémon that is exclusive to the southern hemisphere.

If you were hoping to attend the Liverpool Safari Zone (April 17 through 19) and the Philadelphia Safari Zone (May 8 through 10), they too have sadly been postponed, but the same offer is available to people who held onto their tickets, meaning you can get the rare Pokémon without leaving your house.

I'll be playing the game on Friday and will report my findings during the event. Niantic always has a few surprises in store for these fests and I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens this weekend.

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When Ghost Recon Breakpoint released last year, I was not impressed. The game was riddled with bugs, egregious microtransactions, and the survival mechanics I was excited for were pushed deep into the background. Now, almost nine months of fixes later, Ubisoft has released Title Update 2.0. It features an Immersive Mode which turns off gear score and cranks up the survival mechanics, and introduces a new series of missions crossing over with Splinter Cell. We'll find out if these changes are enough to make Breakpoint worthwhile on today's stream!

We went live earlier, but you can still watch the full archive above. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

In Plague Inc., players unleash a deadly virus across the globe and try to infect as many people as possible. Following a ban in China, developer Ndemic Creations is adding a new update that flips the script from destroying the world with a virus to saving it by containing the outbreak. Ndemic is also donating $250,000 to fight COVID-19. The donation is split between the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

In a post on the Plague Inc. website, Ndemic said that, "When arranging our donations with the WHO and CEPI, we were repeatedly asked if we could make a game which let the player work to stop an outbreak. Therefore, as well as providing financial support, we are accelerating work on a new Plague Inc. game mode which lets players save the world from a deadly disease outbreak."

Resident Evil 3 releases on April 3, so you don't have to wait long to run in fear from Nemesis yourself. However, to whet your appetite for fear, check out these exclusive screens of Capcom's monsters in action. 

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As lockdowns sweep across the globe to try to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people who are online has increased dramatically, so much so that countries are concerned that the internet could break.

In Europe, Netflix is reducing streaming quality for 30 days. Netflix believes the move will lower its traffic by 25 percent. On a global scale, Google is defaulting all streaming to "standard quality," but viewers can still select a higher quality as they watch.

Now Sony is joining the cause in Europe, announcing today that it is slowing and delaying game download speeds. In a statement on PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan said "We believe it is important to do our part to address internet stability concerns as an unprecedented number of people are practicing social distancing and are becoming more reliant on internet access."

Microsoft is giving away free Minecraft Education content to help kids out of school and everyone else cope with their isolation due to COVID-19. 

The game's marketplace has a new Education collection that contains Minecraft tours of places such as the International Space Station or inside the human eye, as well as community creations exploring topics like Greek history.

The content is free and available through June 30.

[Source: Microsoft]

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Four on four fighter Bleeding Edge releases today on Xbox and Windows 10, and Alex Stadnik, Andrew Reiner and myself are here to put it through its paces LIVE for your benefit.

We'll be going live at 12:00 p.m. CT, so be sure to come join us in the chat. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

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From the moment it was announced, Half-Life fans were trepidatious when it came to Valve's new VR experience. But fear not, for not only is Half-Life: Alyx a great entry in the storied series, but it raises the bar when it comes to what a VR title can do, according to our own Leo Vader. In celebration of the launch, Leo and I will be streaming the game and answer all your most burning questions.

We went live earlier, but you can find the archive of the stream above. We hit a slight technical hitch in towards the end of the show, so be sure to click this link if you want to see how everything ends!

If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Twitter, or Facebook to get notified when we go live each week! Thanks and enjoy the show!

Jill is the main star in Capcom’s upcoming remake of Resident Evil 3, but she’s not the only survivor you control throughout the game. Carlos Oliveira is a UBCS’s heavy weapons specialist who meets Jill early on, and he becomes an integral part of the story. Since Carlos is working for Umbrella, Jill initially distrusts him, but the two survivors eventually form an uneasy alliance, and players even take control of Carlos about halfway through the game. For our Resident Evil 3 cover story this month, we went hands-on with a section within Raccoon City’s ruined hospital that features Carlos. 

“If you look at the original design of Carlos, you could say that he had a more easygoing, almost playboy personality,” art director Yonghee Cho says. “We wanted to maintain his personality, but at the same time, make sure that the way he interacts with everybody makes sense, given the dire situation. In terms of the hairstyle, we went back to that easygoing nature. He's not going to be too concerned about that stuff, so we’re making sure that part of his character is intact.”

Fans have had a long wait between Half-Life projects, but Valve is finally set to release Half-Life: Alyx, a big-budget prequel to Half-Life 2 designed exclusively for virtual reality technology. Before the game’s release, we sat down to talk with Valve’s Robin Walker and Brad Kinley about the lack of triple-A VR projects, how the coronavirus almost impacted their game’s release, and why Alyx doesn’t have arms. 

Sounds like about four years ago you guys started to work on a big VR game. Did you know right away it was gonna be Half-Life or did you mess around with other ideas?