Siliconera

Ahead of her playable debut in Honkai Star Rail, HoYoVerse shared a teaser of Kafka. Like her compatriot Blade, she will be a five-star character. Her teaser shows that she will be a Lightning character who follows the Path of The Nihility.

Technically speaking, we all already played as Kafka before, since she is the first character you take control of when you start Honkai Star Rail. It’s unclear at this point if there will be a difference between the prologue version of Kafka and the actual one. The prologue version of Kafka had a very straightforward kit that focused solely on dealing damage with her Skill and Ultimate, with no particular frills.

In the story, Kafka is one of the main antagonists and a Stellaron Hunter. The only thing the Interastral Peace Corporation lists on her record, aside from her name, is her hobby. She likes to collect coats. In her splash art, we can see other members of the Stellaron Hunters standing around her. However, aside from Silver Wolf and Blade, they’re all completely obscured by umbrellas.

Honkai Star Rail is readily available on mobile devices and Windows PC. Kafka will appear as a playable character in a future update of Honkai Star Rail.

Sega and Lasengle announced that they will no longer add new playable Servants to Fate/Grand Order Arcade. With the addition of Muramasa, there are a total of 120 playable Servants in the game. There will also be changes to the system to accommodate for this piece of news.

Though there won’t be any more new Servants, Sega and Lasengle will still work on the game. It will increase the rate of re-runs, as well as hand out tickets every month to use in the paid gacha. There will be some balance patches to make the game easier to play. As well, Fate/Grand Order Arcade will still have new events, as well as re-run events. These will highlight on the charm of the Servants in the game, as both characters and playable units.

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection launched and basically immediately succeeded. Within about two weeks, sales figures hit a million. It's a fantastic compilation of games, and Siliconera spoke with Director Masakazu Eguchi to learn more about how it came to be.

Jenni Lada: When did Capcom decide to create the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, and how long has it been in development?

Masakazu Eguchi: The decision was made roughly two years ago. Thanks to the support of many Capcom fans over the years and their desire for Mega Man Battle Network ports, we began development for the Battle Network Legacy Collection.

What sorts of challenges did the team face when preparing the games for the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection?

Graniph worked with Disney and Square Enix to release a new line of Kingdom Hearts clothes and accessories. The lineup of 14 items includes a variety of graphic T-shirts, shirts, shorts, dresses, a hat, and a tote bag. The new Graniph collection is available for pre-order until June 5, 2023. Afterwards, people will be able to purchase them from Graniph offline and online stores from June 6, 2023.

The clothing included in the Kingdom
Hearts collection include motifs such as Sora and Mickey’s Kingdom Chain keyblades, King Mickey in his black cloak attire from Kingdom Hearts 2, the logos for a multitude of Disney worlds that appear in the video games, the Princess of Hearts stained glasses, and the Timeless River among others.

You can take a better look at some of the new Graniph Kingdom Hearts clothes collection in the gallery below.

[gallery columns="5" ids="964643,964644,964652,964645,964646,964648,964649,964650,964651,964647" link="file"]

As a reminder, Graniph offers international shipping, which means overseas customers will be able to purchase the new Kingdom Hearts collaboration items. The price of the goods ranges from 3,500 JPY (~$25) to 7,900 JPY (~$57).

Netflix announced the official release date for the anime adaptation of Ooku: The Inner Chambers will be June 29, 2023. This anime will present an alternative version of feudal Japan with gender reversal. Women take the leading roles in politics and society. A trailer teasing the anime's plot, along with a piece of key art, was also revealed.

Check out the trailer for Ooku: The Inner Chambers below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL2yLQtxWrw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=NetflixAnime

Ooku: The Inner Chambers presents an alternate retelling of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. Men are scarce due to an unknown disease. Moreover, the story focuses on the matriarchal society that ruled throughout five shogun generations. Studio DEEN is in charge of this anime adaptation, with Noriyuki Abe directing it.

This isn’t the first time the Ooku manga has been adapted. Back in 2010, a live-action movie was released covering the first few arcs. Two other television drama series were also released in 2012 and 2022, respectively. As for Netflix, this is the first new anime series joining the catalog after the launch of Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune in May 2023, along with the last season of Ultraman.

Ooku: The Inner Chambers anime will be available to stream worldwide on Netflix starting June 29, 2023. Viz Media handled the localization of the manga.

Good Smile Company announced it is taking a limited number of pre-orders of the Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance Asuka Shikinami Langley test type plugsuit figure. It is made by Animester and costs ¥30,250/$216.99. In addition to Asuka, people also get a diorama setpiece from when she was wearing that plugsuit in Rebuild of Evangelion. She'll ship out in June 2024 in Japan. The North American debut will follow sometime in Q3 2024.

This version of Asuka is a static, 1/7th scale figure. Alone, she stands at 230mm/9 inches tall. Good Smile Company didn’t offer an estimate as to her size when displayed inside of the diorama. However, she can be displayed with or without the enclosure, which makes it look like she just suited up for the Evangelion Unit-03 test. Her doll from the film is on the shelf in front of the mirror. As a note, in the movie the room she was in had actual walls, but the diorama here omits them so people can more clearly see the character.

Here's a closer look at the Asuka Shikinami Langley test type plugsuit figure based on Evangelion 2.0.
[gallery columns="4" size="full" ids="964608,964609,964610,964611" link="file"]

Yet more teasers for new weapons appeared on the North American Twitter account for Splatoon 3, along with a glimpse of a new stage. The new weapons include the Light Tetra Dualies that allow for four dodge rolls, and the Tenta Sorella Brella that has access to Ink Mines and the Trizooka. The new stage is called Barnacle and Dime, and is set in a fancy Splatsville shopping mall.

The new Dualies type weapon appear styled after sporty running shoes, while the Brella's shield resembles an entire camping tent. You can get a look at the new weapons, and the new stage, in the tweets below:

[embed]https://twitter.com/SplatoonNA/status/1660994168133484546?s=20[/embed]

[embed]https://twitter.com/SplatoonNA/status/1660994348463316993?s=20[/embed]

Kotobukiya announced a new Trigun Stampede figure of Vash the stampede. The figure stands at 8.66 inches, which is about 22 cm tall. It costs $200/20,000円, and its expected release date is sometime between January and March 2024. Pre-orders for the new Trigun Stampede statue are now open outside of Japan from the Sideshow Toys online store.

The base of the figure resembles a patch of desert and dunes. It also allows for Vash’s sunglasses to be taken off. The statue includes a miniature representation of Jeneora Rock, one of the cities in the planet of Noman’s Land, as well as three moons standing behind Vash. When looked at from the front, the statue creates the illusion of distance between Vash and the city and the three moons.

You can take a better look at the new Trigun Stampede figure of Vash in the gallery below.

[gallery columns="5" ids="964473,964472,964471,964470,964469" link="file"]

As a reminder, Dark Horse Comics recently announced that the original Trigun and Trigun Maximum manga will return on December 2023 in a new hardcover deluxe edition.

Pre-orders are open for a Hatsune Miku Digital Stars 2022 Version scale figure. It will come out sometime in December 2023 in Japan. You can purchase it for 59,400 JPY, which is around $428.15. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

This Miku is based on the main visual for the Hatsune Miku Digital Stars 2022 event. Illustrator HxxG drew and designed her. As a 1/7 scale figure, it stands at approximately 470 millimeters, and that number includes the stand that she’s on. The Digital Stars 2022 Miku figure is striking a dynamic pose while holding a stand mic and standing on top of what looks like a number of speakers. Her hair and the tattered flag from her mic add a lot of movement to the figure since they look like they’re billowing in the wind.

Here are some more pictures of the Hatsune Miku Digital Stars 2022 Version scale figure:

[gallery columns="5" ids="964590,964591,964592,964593,964594" link="file"]

Digital Stars 2022 was on May 28, 2022 and featured songs from nine different artists. These included gaburyu, Yoshihisa Hirata, Alpaca, and Utsu-P. Aside from the scale figure, other merchandise from Digital Stars 2022 include T-shirts, a wall scroll, and a tote bag. We were previously able to order them via Amazon Japan, but are no longer in stock.

The new key visual for DigiFes 2023 features grown-up versions of Daisuke and other Digimon Adventure 02 characters. This key visual uses their designs from the upcoming Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning film. More information for DigiFes 2023 includes the title of the drama reading the cast will perform, as well as what merchandise will be available. [Thanks, Comic Natalie!]

The key visual for Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning shows us the grown-up versions of the 02 cast of characters along with their partner Digimon. As a reminder, it is chronologically a sequel to Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna.

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As for the drama reading, there will be two different shows. The afternoon showing will have the cast perform “Competition Over Fireworks Tickets!” and the night one will be “Everyone Gather! Big Investigation At Night!” The scripts for these readings will be a bonus if you purchase a designated seat. That ticket will cost 12,000 JPY ($86.50) whereas a normal one will cost 8800 JPY ($63.45).

Nintendo Japan announced that it will no longer repair Wii U systems or peripherals as soon as it runs out of its current inventory of parts. This is because that the warranty for the repair parts expired. Nintendo stated via its Japanese website that while this may be a hassle for its customers, it hopes that they will understand.

The Wii U first came out on December 8, 2012 and sold over 13.56 million units throughout its lifetime. This makes it the worst-selling Nintendo console since 2005. In comparison, here are the numbers for other consoles that came out (using information from March 2023);

• 3DS: 75.94 million units
• DS: 154.02 million units
• Switch: 125.62 million units
• Wii: 101.63 million units

This information is from the Japanese Nintendo site so it likely only takes into account data from Japan.

Hidden Variable keeps revealing more about Marie prior to her arrival in Skullgirls 2nd Encore and this time is all about a new attack. Sticking with her maid theme, this new move adds literal bunnies made of dust and bones that follow and attack enemies. In addition, more information about the character creation process was revealed.

Take a look at the preview of Marie’s dust bunnies attack from the Skullgirls official Twitter account below.

https://twitter.com/Skullgirls/status/1660782416254959620?s=20

As you can see in the video, this new attack shows Marie shooting out a dust bunny from her skeletal vacuum. After that, it jumps until it strikes Black Dahlia. It can also be hit to reach farther. With this new attack, Hidden Variable noted all of the characters joining the Season Pass feature rabbits in some form. Black Dahlia is accompanied by her bunny minions, Umbrella eats a bunny-shaped popsicle, and Annie of the Stars fights with Sagan by her side.

Interestingly, some people noticed that in some parts of the gameplay video, Marie was replaced with Valentine the animation cycles. Hidden Variable acknowledged the fact and explained that, due to still being in development, other characters’ frames are used to fill some gaps.

A bug in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is deleting player's materials when we try to forge decorations for their armor. Developer Capcom identified the bug as appearing in versions ver.15.0 on the Nintendo Switch and PC, and in ver.13 on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Windows, PS4, and PS5. The bug appears to delete materials and armor spheres that are selected for use in decoration crafting if the player then cancels out of the menu instead of confirming.

Capcom is currently investigating the issue, but in the meantime recommends that players do not cancel decoration crafting after selecting materials. If you canceled accidentally, the company recommended entering another screen where you can select materials, including the screen just exited, and canceling out of that. If you have already lost materials to this bug, you can attempt to reboot the game without saving to access a previous save file.

You can see Capcom's Twitter statement below:

[embed]https://twitter.com/monsterhunter/status/1660924169448570880?s=20[/embed]

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is the expansion to 2021's Monster Hunter Rise. The game was recently updated to include the Silver Rathalos Event Quest and a Cat-themed layered armor set.

Natsume not only announced the Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos, but also revealed its pre-order plush cow and limited edition. The game will come to the PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on September 26, 2023. If people pre-order it through Natsume direct, Amazon, or GameStop, they get the stuffed animal. The limited edition also includes the cow.

Here's a closer look at the Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos pre-order 25th Anniversary Sleepytime Cow plush.
[caption id="attachment_964598" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Natsume[/caption]

The standard copy with pre-order cow is $49.99. NIS America is already taking pre-orders for the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the limited edition. That gives people the soundtrack on a CD and a set of six animal pins for $84.99.
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Capcom shared an official Street Fighter 6 Fighter & Control Type Personality Quiz designed to help people find a character to make their main. It is now available on the official site. It is designed to help people determine if they would be most comfortable with the Classic, Dynamic, or Modern control option. It also features all 18 characters who will be present in the game at launch as possible results.

The quiz begins by asking how you approach to a fight when it starts. It then asks if people would use a rush down technique. It also breaks down potential fighting styles without using technical terms, instead asking how people would approach in a certain situation.

After making choices in the first part, it assigns you a character and moves on to the control type portion of the Street Fighter 6 Fighter & Control Type Personality Quiz. Once you finish that, it explains why that fighter and control scheme were recommended. It also lets you share your results on social media.

Animate will hold a commemorative event for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean from May 23 to June 18, 2023. This is to celebrate the official ending of the anime, which is exclusive to Netflix. There will be new pieces of merchandise, as well as bonuses when you purchase Stone Ocean items.

For every 1,100 JPY of your total, you can get a special bonus card. Purchasing the DVD or Blu-Ray can get you the whole set. In total, there are seven clear cards, and they all show art of the main characters. The cards depict: Jolyne, Ermes, FF, Emporio, Weather Report, Anasui, and Jotaro.

Here is a list of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean merchandise that you can get at Animate, as well as their prices (taxes included):

Square Enix released a Final Fantasy XIV PlayStation Plus rewards on May 23, 2023. This update gives people additional travel support. If someone subscribes, then they get an additional free Final Fantasy XIV Aetheryte destination. This means instead of just one, a players would have access to two. The bonus can be claimed until May 31, 2023.

Here’s how fast travel via Aetheryte in Final Fantasy XIV works. Typically, you need to use an Aetheryte Ticket or gil to teleport through the game’s aetheryte network. However, you can set one destination as a free one and an additional three registered as favored that cost half as much to go to.

So if someone subscribes to PlayStation Plus, they can claim an additional Final Fantasy XIV Aetheryte destination and set it as a “free” one. Once the deal is claimed, someone can use that extra Free Destination for 30 days. Square Enix’s product page for it on the PlayStation Store notes this will be a regular bonus for subscribers. So every month starting with this May 23, 2023, people will be able to claim and use this reward.

Sensor Tower updated its charts for the highest grossing mobile games in April 2023, and Honkai: Star Rail already made enough revenue to be in the Top 10. This data only takes April 2023 into consideration. Sensor Tower split it into three categories: Overall Revenue, App Store Revenue, and Google Play Revenue. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

The following data uses global revenue. You can view the chart here:

[caption id="attachment_964522" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Sensor Tower[/caption]

For reference, Tencent’s Honor of Kings made a combined $213 million (calculating both its App Store and Google Play earnings). Meanwhile, PUBG Mobile made $154 million. 62.2% of those earnings came from China’s iOS store, 9.4% from the US market, and 3.3% from Saudi Arabia.

When Final Fantasy XVI launches, people might not also need to download a day one patch for it. Game Informer learned from Director Hiroshi Takai that one isn't planned for the RPG. While things could change closer to its June 2023 debut, it might not end up being necessary. Game Informer also learned from Takai and Producer Naoki Yoshida that the team isn't working on Final Fantasy XVI DLC yet. Yoshida noted, "First we want to see if Valisthea and Clive are really things players around the world want to see more of and then make that decision.” [Thanks, Game Informer!]

When Takai spoke to Game Informer’s Wesley LeBlanc, he noted that Creative Business Unit III continually conducted Q&A play sessions. As a result, he noted that the team feels the game may not require a patch right away.

As for the Final Fantasy XVI DLC possibility, while Yoshida made a statement to the outlet that “we always want to consider DLC,” he also noted, “it’s a one-off game.”

Ahead of the 6.4 patch, Square Enix noted FFXIV job changes would specifically target the Dragoon and Paladin. However, it also noted that effect radius alterations would come as well and affect other classes. Now that the full 6.4 patch notes are live, over 20 jobs will see differences with their skills. In addition, all physical ranged DPS roles will see the Peloton action increased to 30 yalms from 20. Also, the list of adjustments noted the potency for a number of Gunbreaker, Marauder, Samurai, and Warrior actions increased.

With regards to the Gladiator and Paladin, the Atonement, Circle of Scorn, Riot Blade, and Royal Authority actions are all more potent than before. In addition, Atonement’s Execution doesn’t interrupt combos.

As for the Dragoon, the Jump and High Jump actions featured the most changes. When we use either one, it won’t change our position and the camera won’t follow us when we use it. As we aren’t actually moving when using it, this also means being bound won’t stop us from using it. The Dragon Sight ability now doesn’t have any action direction requirements.

Nintendo restocked several items from one of its lines of Pikmin merchandise. The full collection includes a variety of household and clothing items such as decorative vases, tote bags, glasses, gratin dishes, keychains, hair ties, T-shirts and shirts, hoodies, and socks. The restocked Pikmin merchandise is now available from the Nintendo Osaka and Tokyo official stores, as well as the My Nintendo Store online store in Japan.

The specific restocked items are enamel pins, hair ties, hoodies, and ankle socks, and they are all available in three variants corresponding to blue, yellow, and red Pikmin. Additionally, Nintendo also restocked the Working Pikmin figurine collection, a series of figurines that include Pikmin from all three games with household uses, such as pen holders, magnets, and paperweights, among others.

The enamel pins cost 1,100 JPY (~$8), the hair ties cost 1,650 JPY (~$12), and the ankle socks cost 990 JPY (~$7). The hoodies are available in S, M, L, and XL sizes, and they cost 6,930 JPY (~$50). They are also available on children sizes 100 and 130, and they cost 6,600 JPY (~$48). Meanwhile, each Working Pikmin figurine costs 1,300 JPY (~$9).

You can take a better look at the Pikmin merchandise in the tweet below.

https://twitter.com/N_Officialstore/status/1660821107254099968

HoYoVerse shared some information and the pull art for Blade from Honkai: Star Rail. He is loyal to Destiny’s Slave and has a self-healing ability, according to his description on Twitter. There is also something wrong with him both physically and mentally.

Blade will be a five-star Wind character. Though he has a bizarre immortality and healing factor, he does not seem to enjoy this very much. His quote in his teaser art shared with us shows that he relishes the idea of dying. So far, Honkai: Star Rail has not revealed a lot of details about him and his history. But we do know he has some sort of history with Xianzhou Luofu characters such as Dan Heng and Jing Yuan.

HoYoVerse has not officially announced when players can expect to see Blade as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail. Based on what it posted on Bilibili though, it won’t be in Version 1.1. We will get more concrete confirmation during the Version 1.1 special program, but it's highly likely that the new characters we will see will be Luocha, Silver Wolf, and Yukong.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the Windows PC and mobile devices. It is in development for the PS4 and PS5 as well.

Sega announced the release date for Samba de Amigo: Party Central, the new Switch entry in the series. People can start shaking maracas on August 29, 2023. Nintendo eShop pre-orders are open. In addition to 40 base songs, it also confirmed there will be a Digital Deluxe Edition for $10 more. That $49.99 version includes two DLC music packs and five costumes.

Here are the five costumes that are in the Samba de Amigo: Party Central Digital Deluxe Edition:

• Miles “Tails” Prower
• Puyo Puyo Costume
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Space Channel 5 Costume
• Super Monkey Ball Costume

As for the DLC song packs, a few of the tracks in each one were revealed. Note that there could be more songs than the ones initially revealed.

There will be a longer wait until we can play Blue Protocol in English, as the worldwide release date got delayed into 2024. The seventh presentation for the game announced it won't show up in 2023 as planned. However, while the full launch is pushed back, some will still get a chance to test it out. Bandai Namco confirmed that a PC closed beta test will show up sometime in 2023.

This worldwide delay comes after the Blue Protocol Japanese release date appeared. People in the country will be able to start playing it on a PC on June 14, 2023.

The announcement came at the 51:40 mark of the official seventh presentation. You can watch it in the video below. However, while the delay announcement does feature English text, the rest of the showcase was in Japanese.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYUa6X_Ow-M&ab_channel=BLUEPROTOCOL

And here's the specific Blue Protocol English announcement panel.
[caption id="attachment_964512" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Bandai Namco[/caption]

Following the release of patch 6.4 for Final Fantasy XIV, some players noticed an audio bug keeping sound from working in the game. Square Enix stepped in on Twitter to note it is aware of the issue. However, there's no word yet on when a fix could appear.

Here's Square Enix's announcement regarding the patch 6.4 bug reports of the audio not working in Final Fantasy XIV.

Following the release of Patch 6.4, we received many reports of audio not playing in the Windows version of the game. We are currently investigating the issue and will provide an update as soon as we have further information.

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) May 23, 2023

The Japanese Twitter account also acknowledged the issue. It also encouraged those suffering from the Final Fantasy XIV audio bug file a request with support to let the company know it isn't working after 6.4.

Good Smile Company revealed two new God of War Ragnarok Pop Up Parade figures of protagonist duo Kratos and Atreus. Each figure costs $35 or 5,500 JPY. The father and son duo figures stand at around 7 inches or 18 cm tall. The expected release date for the figures is sometime in November 2023 in Japan and Q1 2024 in North America. Pre-orders are now available from the Good Smile Company online store, and they will remain open until June 22, 2023.

You can take a better look at the upcoming God of War Ragnarok Pop Up Parade figures of Kratos and Atreus on the Good Smile Company tweet below.

https://twitter.com/GoodSmile_US/status/1660846807583268866

The Kratos and Atreus figures are a part of Good Smile’s Pop Up Parade line of affordable figures. Some popular characters that have received Pop Up Parade figures include Vash the stampede from the recent Trigun Stampede anime adaptation, Hololive’s Amelia Watson, Power from Chainsaw Man, and VShojo’s Nyatasha Nyanners.

During the Blue Protocol live broadcast stream, Bandai Namco revealed a release date for the game. It will officially go live for everyone from June 14, 2023. Pre-registrations are now open. Depending on how many people pre-register, you can get rewards such as Battle Imagines and tickets.

This news comes from Blue Protocol Live Broadcast #7, which is the most recent major update from the company around the game. June 14, 2023 will be the date that service starts on Windows PC in Japan. Bandai Namco will announce a more precise time later on. To reiterate, the June 14, 2023 release date is only for Japan. There will be more information in the future about when you can expect it on other platforms and in other regions.

Pre-orders for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable Nendoroids of Rohan Kishibe and Yoshikage Kira will open on May 25, 2023. Medicos Entertainment announced that the Rohan Kishibe Nendoroid will return alongside the new Yoshikage Kira figure. As a pre-order bonus for ordering the figures from the Medicos online shop, the Rohan Kishibe figure will include a camera and hand pieces for it. Meanwhile, the Yoshikage Kira figure includes a replica of Stray Cat.

The JoJo: Diamond is Unbreakable Rohan Kishibe Nendoroid initially released on September 2020. It costed 5,478 JPY (~$40 USD). The figure included several parts, like his stand Heaven’s Door, a manga page, and several face plates with different expressions.

https://twitter.com/medicos_et_j/status/1660571208101019650

Meanwhile, the Yoshikage Kira Nendoroid was announced on January 2023. The figure will include hairstyles and faceplates that allow Kira to transform into his Kosaku Kawajiri disguise.

https://twitter.com/medicos_et_j/status/1660571450645028864

In other JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure news, Medicos recently announced that a new Stone Ocean figure of Jolyne Cujoh with crystals engraved will appear at WonFes Summer 2023 and at Anime Expo 2023.

Capcom announced that a new line of Hololive merchandise featuring VTuber Sakamata Chloe will appear as prizes in the mobile game Capcom Net Catcher. The collaboration starts on May 26, 2023 and ends on June 8, 2023. The expected shipping date for the merchandise is late August and early September 2023. The lineup includes Sakamata Chloe acrylic stand keychains, mousepads, tapestries, and cushions with newly drawn illustrations designed by Japanese artists Hachi Mishima and Negi Rukawa.

The new Capcom x Hololive Sakamata Chloe merchandise will appear on Capcom’s mobile game Capcom Net Catcher, a service that allows users to play arcade crane games and win prizes from their mobile devices. Each item in the collaboration will be available in two variants, for a total of eight items. The goods will roll out daily as crane game prizes, starting with the acrylic stand keychains on May 26, 2023. Afterwards, the mousepad will appear on May 27, with the tapestries and cushions appearing on May 28 and 29 respectively.

You can take a better look at the new Capcom x Hololive Sakamata Chloe merchandise in the gallery below.

[gallery columns="4" ids="964442,964441,964440,964439" link="file"]

In other Hololive news, music group UMISEA recently released a new song titled “UMISEA no SACHIHAPPY!” Sakamata Chloe is one of the members who sings on the track.

Clara’s “Rarely Affectionate Part 2” Companion Mission in Honkai: Star Rail is yet another that asks us, “How do you want to handle this?” This time, there’s a sentient robot at stake. Once you finally get to complete the quest, your actions will determine what happens to this NPC you met in the previous game and how you want to “help” them overcome a situation involving muddled data.

[gallery columns="1" size="full" ids="964432" link="file"]

How do you unlock “Rarely Affectionate Part 2” in Honkai: Star Rail?

Okay, so I’m not sure if my experience will apply to everyone. The original “Rarely Affectionate Part 1” quest appeared almost immediately after I finished the second Trial of the Equilibrium, hit Trailblaze Level 2, and finished the Trailblaze Mission “In the Sweltering Morning Sun.” However, I didn’t get a text from Clara to start “Rarely Affectionate Part 2” in Honkai: Star Rail until I’d already had the Trailblaze Mission “Sinners Misled, Credence Falsified” finished for a few days, finished the third Trial of the Equilibrium, and hit Trailblaze Level 41. So you may need to both finish all of the available Trailblaze Missions in 1.0 and finish “Trial of the Equilibrium: Part Three” first. However, it could just be that you need to finish "Sinners Misled, Credence Falsified," then wait until the new week begins to get the new text from Clara.

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Omocat revealed its new merchandise based on the Hololive English 1st Concert: Connect the World. People can get a themed hoodie and a tote bag. Both items will feature a special design including the VTubers around a constellations. Pre-orders are already available in the Omocat online store, and shipping will be divided into two different batches. Both items are available for pre-order. One option will ship before June 23, 2023, though that is a limited quantity batch. An unlimited round will also be available and ship in Q3 2023.

The hoodie will be available in sizes small to XXL for $80. There is also a 3XL option for $82. On the front, it features the concert name and a group of colored stars. Meanwhile, on the sleeves, it has a star representing each of the Hololive English members also with a corresponding icon. Finally, the backside features a design with images of all the current Hololive EN VTubers with the constellation.

In the case of the tote bag, it costs $30 and features the same VTuber design on one side. The concert’s logo on the other.

Yoshitaka Amano, an artist well known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy series designed a skin for Fortnite. Crossheart is a female character in a red latex dress who had previously been shown off walking and driving around the MEGA City map. Unlike other Fortnite collaborations with other video game creators, Crossheart is an original creation for Epic Games. It is available in the Amano’s Heart Bundle.

Here's a closer look at the Yoshitaka Amano Fortnite skin.
https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1660269279890096128

As well as the new skin, the Amano’s Heart Bundle contains:

• Backpack: "Holo-Glow"
• Harvesting Tool: "Breakheart Blade"
• Glider: "Swoonsail"
• Wrap: "Blushing Red"

There is also an uncommon loading screen designed by Amano. The bundle is available now from the Shop for 1,800 V-Bucks.

Yoshitaka Amano is best known for his work with Square Enix throughout the Final Fantasy series. He worked as a character designer for many of the early games, with his artwork most prominently appearing on the Japanese cover of Final Fantasy VI. His work can also be seen in the logo illustrations for every main game, including the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI. He also worked on other series and was the illustrator on the Vampire Hunter D manga franchise.

Nintendo released more details about what Splatoon 3 players can expect in the upcoming Sizzle Season. This included two more weapons added to Ammo Knights, as well as a video showing them. There's also another Splatoon 3 video that showed the gear that can be obtained through the catalog.

The new weapons added with Splatoon 3’s Sizzle Season include the H-3 Nozzlenose D and the Rapid Blaster Pro Deco. The H-3 Nozzlenose D is a new variant of the H-3 Nozzlenose shooter, with a Splash Wall sub weapon and a Big Bubbler special. The Rapid Blaster Pro Deco is a variant of the Rapid Blaster with an Angle Shooter sub weapon and a Killer Wail 5.1 special. Previous confirmed weapons for Sizzle Season include the Painbrush and S-BLAST ’92.

https://twitter.com/SplatoonNA/status/1660631753541730305

As always new gear can be unlocked with the Sizzle Season catalog. Here’s what Splatoon 3 players can unlock this season:

Epic Games revealed two new Fortnite skins related to Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse. As part of its upcoming crossover, Miles Morales and Miguel O’Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099) will appear. These new skins join a series of appearances available based on the iconic web-slinger. In addition, there will be an in-game event commemorating the movie’s release.

Check out the video announcement for the new Across the Spiderverse skins in Fortnite below:
https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1660631843652136960?s=20

The teaser shows Miles jumping out of a building, with Miguel shortly appearing after him. It seems he's apparently pursuing him. This follows the Across the Spiderverse movie storyline, where Miles seems to be escaping from all the other heroes from different realities. More information about these in-game skins will be revealed at a later date.

It’s worth noting that Fortnite is currently running the Web Battles event, during which where players fight in teams on behalf of Miles or Miguel. Depending on which team earns the most points, players will receive either Miguel’s glare emoticon or Miles’ shocked emoticon. When we log into the game, we can also claim the Spidey 2099 logo spray. Players also get a Spider-Ham’s mallet pickaxe if their team reaches 40 points at the end of the event.

Lego and Bandai Namco are collaborating on an arcade cabinet set. The Lego Icons Pac-Man Arcade Set will release on June 1, 2023 and be available through Lego’s website and physical Lego stores for $269.99/€269.99/£229.99.

The Lego set will be based on the screen and controls of the classic 1980 Pac-Man arcade cabinet. The set also includes reproductions of Pac-Man, Blinky, and Clyde, which sit on top of the cabinet. They can flip from their normal versions, to a scene where Pac-Man is able to eat both ghosts. Once complete, the coin slot can light up. The cabinet also contains a hidden vignette of a Lego minifigure playing Pac-Man at an arcade cabinet.

When talking about the collaboration, both Lego and Bandai Namco expressed similarities between the two companies. Sven Franic, a designer for the set, stated that both companies share a love of bringing fun to people through their products. Meanwhile Aadil Tayouga, Director of Licensing and Business Strategy at Bandai Namco Europe, said that Pac-Man’s yellow color had been inspired by Lego, giving this set a natural connection.

This is the latest of Lego’s many collaborations with video game companies. Previously, they have released Lego sets based on Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, console sets based on the NES and Atari 2600, and a Tallneck from Horizon Forbidden West.

The Lego Icons Pac-Man Arcade set will release on June 1, 2023.

Square Enix yet again shared a brief gameplay clip to highlight certain FFXVI characters in-game, with the latest looking at Jill Warrick and Torgal. We already know Clive Rosfield knows both from when he was young. Here, we get to see how familiar the two characters also are with each other. In the clip, Jill is hugging and cuddling Torgal.

The clip features both characters when they were young. This is at the point in the story when Clive was likely preparing to be the First Shield of Rosaria for Joshua. Because Jill grew up with the family as a political hostage, she was raised alongside Clive, Joshua, and Torgal.

大陸北部に出自を持つジルとトルガルは、幼い頃からロズフィールド家に身を寄せ、クライヴとジョシュアともに育ってきた。

『ファイナルファンタジーXVI』
予約受付中https://t.co/6BciWXOhuV pic.twitter.com/K3kl4pFEyC

— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@FF16_JP) May 20, 2023

As a reminder, we already know both Jill and Torgal will appear alongside Clive during multiple parts of his journey in FFXVI. Torgal can both attack enemies and heal Clive. Meanwhile, as noted in the preview sessions, Jill can use icy attacks due to being the Dominant of Shiva and can also heal Clive when the two are traveling together.

A documentary about Hideo Kojima will be screened as part of the Tribeca Festival. Hideo Kojima – Connecting Worlds examines Kojima’s creative process and the launch of Kojima Productions as an independent studio. The screening will also be accompanied by an extended Q&A session with Kojima himself. The screening is set to take place on June 17, 2023 at the Indeed Theater at Spring Studios in New York City.

The documentary will feature appearances from several Kojima collaborators, many of whom worked with him on Death Stranding. These include movie directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicholas Winding Refn, actor Norman Reedus, and synth-pop band Chvrches. There are also appearances from Mad Max director George Miller, indie musician Grimes, and music video director Woodkid. The documentary was directed by Glen Milner.

Tribeca Festival is a film festival held annually in New York City. Since 2021, it has included a category dedicated to video games, which is usually included on the schedule for Summer Games Fest. The Hideo Kojima documentary will be one of this year’s video game events, including a talk on The Expanse: A Telltale Series and a games selection including Goodbye Volcano High and Stray Gods.

Hideo Kojima – Connecting Worlds will debut at the Tribeca Festival on June 17, 2023. Death Stranding is out now for PS4, PS5 and PC, with a sequel on the way.

Uniqlo announced its next line of anime shirts involves the series Detective Conan, known outside Japan as Case Closed in some regions. There are seven different unisex styles available. There’s also a special site designed to highlight each design. That page also shows characters from the series "modeling" the clothing.

Each of the seven shirts costs $24.90. They are available in sizes XXS through XXXL. Only one features a design on the front and back, and that features Shinichi Kudo’s knight hat on the front and Ran Mori with him above the words “Romantic Shuffle” on the back. The others feature characters like Conan Edogawa, Ai Haibara, Bourbon, and Shuichi Akai, as well as imagery from the series.

Here's a closer look at the Detective Conan shirts at Uniqlo starring the Case Closed characters:
[gallery columns="4" size="full" ids="964372,964373,964374,964375,964379,964376,964377,964378" link="file"]

Phase Connect announced its next three VTubers. Ember Amane, Dizzy Dokuro, and Jelly Hoshiumi will be a part of the Phase Invaders. The premise behind them is that all of them are from “another universe.” A teaser trailer appeared offering a chance for people to hear the voice actresses and see the models’ designs. All three performers’ debut streams will be held one after another on May 27, 2023.

First, here’s the teaser trailer showing all three Phase Connect Phase Invader VTuber introductions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzc_WC_FtyE&ab_channel=IRySCh.hololive-EN

Next, here’s the official schedule for each of the three characters.

Capcom continued its "How to Play" Street Fighter 6 video series with Dhalsim and E. Honda. Both are returning characters who have been a part of the series essentially since the beginning. Each brief trailer highlighted their general style, as well as called attention to one especially useful attack.

First, here’s the Street Fighter 6 video focusing on how to play as Dhalsim. It shows the extended reach for his attacks, allowing us to force opposing players to stay away. However, after that it shows how we can teleport in closer. The specific move highlighted in the segment is his Yoga Arch, which is cited as a “spacing tool” to again give a player more room and control over the situation.

Prepare yourself.

A yoga master whose long, stretchy limbs, irregular projectiles, and unpredictable sneak attacks can easily outwit those lacking in enlightenment. pic.twitter.com/32UPTtx8vS

— Street Fighter (@StreetFighter) May 21, 2023

Next, here’s the “How to Play E. Honda” Street Fighter 6 video. It begins by referencing how strong the close-range character can be. It also noted that many of the attacks feature multiple hits or can chain together to apply pressure. Finally, it closes by focusing on the Sumo Dash attack to give him a quick burst of speed.