EWS podcast episode 161: the best songs special

2 years 6 months ago

It occurs to me now that "best songs" is probably not a great topic for the podcast, given that we do not perform any of the songs, or put them in the show. But on this week's episode of The Electronic Wireless show, we talk about them songs real good. Plus, we are joined by Randy Newman, who sounds a surprising amount like Matthew Castle.

Matthew himself has a new awkward food related story to share, Nate has been watching Squid Game, and a listener has sent in a very special musical theme for Sweeten The Deal!

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Author
Alice Bell

343 shows off PC features for Halo Infinite

2 years 6 months ago

343 Industries has released a new video showing off the team's effort to make the PC version of Halo Infinite the best it could possibly be.

The video has a roll-call of every type of PC-specific feature you could imagine while emphasising that the PC build isn't just a port of the Xbox version of the game.

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Author
Ishraq Subhan

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Nvidia reveals RTX 3080-class GeForce Now premium tier

2 years 6 months ago

Nvidia has announced a raft of upgrades for its GeForce Now cloud streaming service with a new premium tier offering RTX 3080 class graphics performance, allowing for 1440p120 gameplay across a range of platforms and 4K60 HDR, limited for now to Shield Android TV devices. New latency reductions techniques are also promised, with Nvidia making bold claims about input lag up against competing cloud technologies - and even local devices.

All of this is made possible via brand new class of server blade Nvidia is bringing online, dubbed the 'SuperPod'. While you're not getting to an actual RTX 3080 as such, you are getting equivalent enterprise-class hardware based on the same GA-102 silicon, backed up by an eight-core, 16 thread AMD Threadripper processor working in combination with ultra-fast PCIe Gen 4.0 solid-state storage and an impressive 28GB of 3200MHz DDR4 memory. This gives the SuperPod top-class graphics performance (only an RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090 are faster in the Nvidia stack), though CPU performance would fall a little short of the latest Ryzen 5000 and Intel CPUs.

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Author
Richard Leadbetter

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New Starfield Trailer Reveals More Backstory: Bloody Wars, Violent Space Pirates, And Galactic Mysteries

2 years 6 months ago

Starfield, the highly-coveted Microsoft-Bethesda flagship title, soared under the gaming community’s radar for years until its first trailer was showcased at E3 2021.  Early details were few and far between, mainly emphasizing features/aspects we had already expected: interstellar travel, planetary exploration, and the thrill of adventure. The latest Starfield trailer, however, teases even more information about the game’s lore and backstory. Bloody wars, violent space pirates, and galactic mysteries await when we finally take to the stars next year. You can watch the cinematic below.

Click here to watch embedded media

Author
Jason Guisao

Xbox Series X/S Finally Gets 2TB and 512GB Storage Expansion Cards

2 years 6 months ago

Microsoft has announced that 2TB and 512GB models of Seagate's storage expansion cards for Xbox Series X/S will be joining the existing 1TB model before the end of the year.

As detailed on Xbox Wire, the Seagate 512GB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S is available for pre-order today at Walmart in the United States for $139.99 USD and will be released in the middle of November.

The Seagate 2TB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S will be available for pre-order in November, will cost a bit more at $399.99 USD, and will be released in December. The 2TB model will also be the "next product featuring the Designed for Xbox Limited Series badge, ensuring premium product quality, performance, and design."

For comparison, the original Seagate 1TB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S costs $219.99 USD.

One of the best aspects of these cards is the ability for users to simply plug the card into the Storage Expansion port on the back of their Xbox Series X/S. Users will then be able to use it as they would any other external storage solution. The benefit of using one of these cards as opposed to a standard external hard drive is that these are "designed to match the exact performance of the internal storage of the Xbox Series X/S."

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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New Saints Row Trailer Introduces Criminal Ventures

2 years 6 months ago

Today Volition and Deep Silver released a brand new trailer of the upcoming Saints Row.

The trailer focuses on criminal ventures, various enterprises that you can place anywhere in the city and that offer their own gameplay loop.

You can check it out below, alongside an explanation directly from the developer.

“There are so many ways you can build your empire and take over Santo Ileso in Saints Row, and Criminal Ventures is just one way you can do it. You get to choose how your Saints empire takes shape and which ventures you build. Where they get built in the city is also up to you, changing the landscape and offering unique gameplay, characters and rewards.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Halo Infinite: 343 Says PC Ray Tracing Is a Top Priority After Launch

2 years 6 months ago

Halo Infinite won't launch with ray tracing on PC, but developer 343 Industries says it's one of the studio's "top development priorities post-launch".

In a blog post, 343 announced that AMD is the game's PC partner, with the two pursuing "a close, long-term partnership with Halo across both engineering and marketing efforts." While saying that that partnership has helped the team optimize the game for everything from high-powered PCs to much older hardware, 343 added that "we’ve identified opportunities for additional configuration options, performance tweaks, and memory improvements across both PC as well as console and we’re working together on more optimization solutions that should benefit all platforms."

One of those additional opportunities is ray tracing. 343 had already told IGN that ray tracing wouldn't come in the launch version of the game, and this blog post reconfirms that, despite the game having received a year's delay since that interview. Instead, the AMD partnership will seemingly help the feature be added later:

"We’re looking forward to working closely with AMD to bring ray tracing to Halo Infinite," reads the blog. "Ray tracing is one our top development priorities post-launch and [we] look forward to sharing more soon."

The blog post is specifically about the PC version of the game – we've asked Xbox for comment on whether ray tracing will come to console versions too.

Author
Joe Skrebels

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Can’t buy an RTX 3080? GeForce Now will let you play with one in the cloud

2 years 6 months ago

Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service is getting a new, ultra-premium subscription tier powered by its GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. While one of the best graphics cards around, especially for higher resolutions, the RTX 3080 has remained frustratingly hard to find in stock since it launched last year – for many, this GeForce Now tier could be the best chance of seeing what it’s like to play with one, even if is simply streaming from a server rather than a dedicated gaming PC.

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Author
James Archer

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Reveals the Stabbomancer & Brr-Zerker Classes

2 years 6 months ago

Gearbox has just welcomed two new adventurers to Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, as they just unveiled a trailer for two playable characters, Stabbomancer and Brr-Zerker. As you can see in the video below, each of these characters possesses their own unique look and set of skills.

As the class suggests, Stabbomancer characters are a fun combination of magic and melee. Some of their skills include:

  • Ghost Blade – Area of Effect damage spell
  • From the Shadows – Enables Stealth Mode and increases damage while stealthed

Anyone that prefers a less subtle approach will be all in with the Brr-Zerker. Some of their skills include:

  • Feral Surge – A devistating leap strike attack
  • Dreadwind – A deadly Area of Effect spinning attack that takes out anyone it is path

Those skills above were just a few of the ways that players will be able to play Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands when it releases on March 25, 2022, for PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PS5, and Xbox One.

For more on the upcoming game, check out the official description provided below:

Author
Andrew McMahon

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Letter From The Editor #03: EGX Rezzed is dead, long live EGX Rezzed

2 years 6 months ago

Hello folks. Sorry to be writing this letter so late into October. This time two weeks ago I was walking the halls of London's ExCel on my way to host the first RPS Presents panel at EGX 2021, and all the planning and organising I had to do for it rather cut back on my available writing time. I then took some time off to recuperate a bit, and here we are, three weeks into October and I'm only just getting round to doing my monthly editor's letter. I do apologise. But! We are here now and there's plenty to talk about. A lot of it is EGX-related, but you'll hopefully have noticed some new site features being introduced these last few weeks as well, which I'll explain below.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Charming tower defence Toy Soldiers has an HD remaster now

2 years 6 months ago

2010 tower defence game Toy Soldiers has two big neat ideas: it looks like a toybox upended onto battlefield dioramas built on bedroom tables; and you can take to the battlefield yourself to control units and vehicles. It's a good'un, and today it relaunched with an 'HD' version. I liked the original enough to buy it on both Xbox 360 and PC, but wasn't interested in getting it again until I heard Toy Soldiers: HD offers more than the usual high-res texture overhaul.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards 6-Pack Series 5 Now Available to Pre-order

2 years 6 months ago

Earlier this week, Best Buy revealed that they are now accepting pre-orders for the upcoming Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards. The Series 5 versions of the cards will come in 6-packs and are set for release in November.

In total, there are 48 different cards that can be collected, including everyone from Raymond to Isabelle. While these items are compatible with Animal Crossing games across the Nintendo Switch, Wii U, and 3DS, their primary usage will come via Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Whenever a player gets a new card, all they have to do is scan them and they’ll be able to invite villagers to live on their island in Animal Crossing New Horizons. Additionally, they’ll also be able to be scanned for photoshoots, drinks, and as clients.

While the cards you get are random, we figured it would still be nice for you to see which ones you have a shot at getting, so check out the table down below:

Author
Andrew McMahon

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The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes Review

2 years 6 months ago

Imagine yourself walking through a tunnel in the underground ruins of the ancient Sumerian Empire. The camera focuses tightly behind your back, adding to that sense of claustrophobia and dread as you clunkily move through the caverns. Suddenly, you hear the distinctive screams of famed High School Musical diva Sharpay Evans from ahead. You know you’re about to be met with a heart-pounding fight against some godforsaken terror that will be sure to test your quick-time event skills.

This is what it’s like to play every game in The Dark Pictures Anthology series, and its latest tale, House of Ashes, is no different. If, like me, you think Until Dawn was one of the most interesting games to have come out of the last generation of consoles and haven’t minded the growing pains Supermassive Games has had to try to anthologize the series, House of Ashes is its best work since Until Dawn in 2015. However, if you’ve become bored with the formula or never liked it in the first place, the latest story probably won’t change your mind.

Author
Dan Stapleton

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House of Ashes review - The Dark Picture anthology's best entry yet

2 years 6 months ago

The Dark Pictures Anthology has been shaking up the horror genre in gaming ever since players boarded the ill-fated Man of Medan in 2019. The spooky tale of ghost town Little Hope followed soon after in 2020, and now, in 2021, we're trapped underground in a Mesopotamian temple in the early noughties as the Iraq war blazes overhead. It's been a delight to see the Dark Pictures Anthology surprise players with unexpected twists and turns with every new instalment, and House of Ashes is no exception.

In House of Ashes, you switch control between five characters who find themselves trapped in long-lost ruins after what should have been a routine mission goes wrong. Soon enough, they find themselves stalked by something other lurking in the darkness. As is now tradition with this series, all of these core five characters can either survive or die depending on what you do and what choices you make.

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Author
Ian Higton

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Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Weird Classes Include the ‘Stabbomancer’ and ‘Brr-Zerker’

2 years 6 months ago

Upcoming Borderlands spin-off Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is heavily inspired by tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, but it’s not using the ideas of the Forgotten Realms wholesale. There’s no thief and warrior classes here; instead developer Gearbox has created unique takes in its Stabbomancer and Brr-Zerker classes.

These two classes are the first to be revealed from Wonderlands’ multiclass system, which allows you to mix and match six unique character skill trees to create your ideal character. Stabbomancer is a stealth (or as stealth as Borderlands gets) class seemingly inspired by D&D’s Rogues. These critical-hit-focused assassins can summon magical spinning Ghost Blades that can be thrown like a deadly frisbee, and use a magical cloak to disappear into the shadows and reposition for a perfect, damage-increased backstab.

Brr-Zerkers, meanwhile, are a sort of magical Barbarian class that combines heavy-hit damage with frost magic. Their Feral Surge ability allows them to leap forward with a huge ice axe and cause a cold shockwave, while the Dreadwind skill spins them around at high speed, freezing enemies and shattering them.

Characters in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands have access to magic, with a spellcasting system built around short cooldowns. Examples offered by Gearbox include roasting enemies with fire, hurling mini tornados, protective spells, and buffs that reduce cooldowns. Similar to plasmids and tonics in BioShock, guns are used in the right hand and spells in your left. Additionally, magic fits into a “combat trifecta” of guns, spells, and melee, and so every character will have access to a dedicated melee weapon at all times.

Author
Matt Purslow

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The Dark Pictures Anthology: House Of Ashes review: very nearly a fun horror romp

2 years 6 months ago

I have a real soft spot for Supermassive Games. Until Dawn was a knowingly schlocky teen slasher horror film made into an interactive adventure game, and it was great for at least two thirds of its runtime. I've also felt the same about their more recent project, The Dark Pictures Anthology, which began with Man Of Medan in 2019. Every time a new instalment comes out I believe it's in with a shot of being well good - although each one has since made me doubt the "knowing" part of my interpretation of Until Dawn. The latest entry, House Of Ashes, comes the closest yet to recapturing the daft thrills of Until Dawn, with a classic survival-horror setup that's half The Descent and half Aliens.

The five playable protagonists you flit between are trapped in an ancient Sumerian temple that leads into an even deeper cavern, and then an even deeperer, ancienter ruin. The turducken of potholing. But instead of delicious stuffing, the surprise in these layers is a race of vampiric monsters whose vision is based on sound, and whose spit is LSD. Your job is to get your goons out alive, and the main problem is that the goons in question are - instead of a busload of teens on a field trip gone wrong - a small team of US marines searching for WMDs in 2003 Iraq. Wakka wakka.

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Author
Alice Bell

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Reveals Stabbomancer And Brr-Zerker Classes

2 years 6 months ago

Today, the upcoming tabletop-fantasy-inspired Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands revealed some of the classes coming to the game with the Stabbomancer and Brr-Zerker. With Tiny Tina’s spin on classic fantasy archetypes, these outlandish takes on traditional classes should come as no surprise. These are two of six classes in the game, with players being able to multiclass to take advantage of multiple classes on a single build or character. Check out the new classes in the trailer below!

Click here to watch embedded media

The Stabbomancer is your core rogue that’s all about... Stabbing. Who knew? Stabbomancers love maxing out their crit, can summon magic whirling blades, and exploit enemy weaknesses.

The Brr-Zerker is basically a berserker but with an icy edge. Traditional brutal melee attacks combine with whirlwinds of cold, freezing death for a class that loves getting up close and personal with its opponents.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

Author
Daniel Tack

New Pokémon teased in frankly rather creepy found footage video

2 years 6 months ago

UPDATE 21/10/21: A fresh video has revealed the mysterious creatures teased in this week's creepy earlier video as Hisuian forms of Zorua and Zoroark - yet more Gen 5 creatures set to get new versions in the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

The fan-favourite Zorua and Zoroark were hard to get hold of when they originally debuted. These new versions are Normal/Ghost-Type.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Gran Turismo 7 Celebrates Car Culture With New Trailer

2 years 6 months ago

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment and Polyphony Digital released a new trailer of the upcoming racing game Gran Turismo 7.

The video shows a mix of cinematics and gameplay, but more importantly, features producer Kazunori Yamauchi as he talks about car culture.

Yamauchi-san showcases various aspects of the game and explains briefly how they relate to car culture, pretty much expressing the philosophy that whatever facet of the culture you’re into, the Gran Turismo 7 has something for you.

You can check out the video below.

Gran Turismo 7 will be released for PS4 and PS5 on March 4, 2022. You can check out the announcement trailer and the video that shared the release date.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Sony Releases First Official Uncharted Movie Trailer And It Features An Iconic Drake’s Deception Action Sequence

2 years 6 months ago

Sony Pictures Entertainment and PlayStation have released the first official trailer for their upcoming Uncharted movie. It features all the action and quips you'd expect (although we could use a little more mustache). 

In the trailer below, we see what appears to be Tom Holland's Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg's Victor "Sully" Sullivan meeting for the first time in a bar. The banter between that fans of the game franchise know and love makes an appearance immediately, with the two leads quipping about each's respective age and appearance. 

Click here to watch embedded media

The trailer focuses on how locations and treasures become lost to time as well as Drake's inherent need to find said lost places/buried treasures ... and so the escapades begin. The movie doesn't appear to be directly following any single Uncharted game, but rather, it seems to be lifting elements from multiple. 

For example, Drake discovers two ships (that look pretty pirate-y) in a water-filled cavern reminiscent of the final act of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Then, we see Sophia Taylor Ali's Chloe Frazer, who becomes one of Drake's romantic interests in the games. Chloe doesn't appear in the series until Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, so the movie is taking some inspiration from that first sequel. 

Author
Wesley LeBlanc

Watch Tom Holland fall out of a cargo plane in Uncharted movie trailer leak

2 years 6 months ago

UPDATE 21/10/21: Following yesterday's wobblycam snatch of leaked Uncharted movie footage, Sony has dropped a considerably shinier, full-length trailer, showcasing around two-and-a-half minutes of Tom Holland's young Nathan Drake in action - and it's not just airplane mishaps and jokes about Scottish accents! We get some globe-trotting plotting, some treasure hunting, rooftop running, more of that cargo plane sequence, and a lot more Mark Wahlberg as Sully. And a very dapper Antonio Banderas makes an appearance too.

The trailer also gives us a UK release date for the Uncharted movie, which is now confirmed to be arriving in cinemas here on 11th February 2022.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Pokemon Legends: Arceus Footage Reveals Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark

2 years 6 months ago

Two days ago, mysterious footage from Pokemon Legends: Arceus was shown that teased a new Pokemon, though it was too low quality to tell what exactly was happening. Today, that footage has been “restored,” and we have a clearer picture of the new discovery.

It’s the same footage as before, except it no longer has the poor quality VHS filter or distorted audio. We can clearly make out the researcher trekking through a snowy area in the Hisui region into what appears to be a cave. He marvels at some Snowrunt before venturing deeper inside the cave.

Suddenly, he spots something we’ve never seen before: a small, white fox-like Pokemon. We soon get a closer look and it appears to be a Zorua, but it looks a bit different than the black and red Dark-type we’re used to seeing.

This Zorua is exactly how it was described in the previous footage with a red tipped tail and fluff on its head and neck. Just as the researcher is commenting on how adorable it is, we see a shadowy figure emerge from behind it, and it attacks the researcher.

It happens so quickly, and we can’t get a great look at this shadowy figure. It’s huge with bright eyes, and it’s not like any Pokemon we’ve seen before.

Author
Rebecca Stone

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Testing odd peripherals: flying mice, racing keyboards and RGB in-ears

2 years 6 months ago

Welcome to Will vs Weird Tech, a semi-regular feature in which we take a look at some of the most interesting objects to have passed through our Bristol HQ over the past few weeks - stuff that doesn't fit neatly within our regular round-ups of the best gaming peripherals or our reviews of the latest CPUs and GPUs, technology that's doing something a little different.

In this edition, it's time to get wild for peripherals that cross over the traditional boundaries. We go racing with the Wooting Two HE analogue keyboard, add RGB to our ears with the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds, and take a flight with two Lexip joystick-equipped mice. Here, nothing is as it seems...

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Author
Will Judd

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Think You Know Everything About Lost? Take the Quiz to Find Out

2 years 6 months ago

Created by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, Lost originally premiered back in September 2004 and quickly became one of the biggest sensations in television history. It was the show that started the trend of mystery premises, burning questions, and answers that only led to even more burning questions.

While the series received a lot of flak and backlash from audiences in its later seasons, especially the finale, there’s no denying the cultural impact that Lost has had on television. It’s still widely beloved for its innovative story structure, brilliant cast of characters, and impressive cinematography to this day. It’s also full of mysteries and little lore tidbits that only become obvious to viewers on repeated viewings.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a trivia quiz to test your knowledge of the show and see just how well you know the island and all its secrets. Be warned: this quiz covers content spanning all six seasons and it’s not for the faint of heart. Good luck!

(Image Credit: Bad Robot, Touchstone, ABC Studios)

Author
Zhiqing Wan

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The First 90 Minutes Of Forza Horizon 5's Campaign

2 years 6 months ago

We’re less than a month away from Forza Horizon 5, and I for one am very much looking forward to putting away the chilly, cozy waning weeks of the year by sinking myself into another titanic automotive expedition. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to get a taste of the game, as Microsoft allowed Jalopnik to download…

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Author
Adam Ismail

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Uncharted Movie Gets Action-Packed Trailer Showing Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, & Familiar Scenes

2 years 6 months ago

Today Sony Interactive Entertainment revealed the first trailer of the much-teased Uncharted movie.

We get to see Tom Holland in the half-tucked shirt of a younger Nathan Drake, Mark Wahlberg (who plays an equally younger Sully), Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, and Antonio Banderas in action.

The trailer also includes some really familiar scenes. While the timeline doesn’t match with the games we have played, they’ve likely been included as a homage to the legacy of the series.

You can watch it below alongside a behind-the-scenes video.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Here's a look at the new Saints Row's opening story missions

2 years 6 months ago

Volition's first reveal of its upcoming Saints Row reboot did not, it's fair to say, seem to bare much in common with the series of old. A few gameplay snippets that followed helped bridge the divide, but a newly revealed look at some early missions has given the clearest indication yet of how Volition is looking to revitalise its ageing sandbox series.

As shared by GameInformer, the new nine-minute pre-alpha gameplay video offers a look at two early story missions: Making Rent and Idol Threat. The first of these takes place before the Saints are even officially formed, with The Boss and the game's core supporting - Kevin, Neenah, and Eli, all previously members of rival gangs - orchestrating a robbery on a loan office to raise some cash.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Masahiro Sakurai Details How Sora Finally Made It Into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

2 years 6 months ago

We learned earlier this month that Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series would be the last DLC fighter joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, and it was truly a sight to behold. 

During the announcement presentation, Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that in the survey asking players to list the characters they most want to see in Smash Bros. sent out six years ago, the number one response was Sora, too. That’s part of why Sora being the final fighter makes perfect sense

Author
Wesley LeBlanc

Austin Powers spliced into Mass Effect makes a disturbingly good Shepard

2 years 6 months ago

The geth have begun launching seemingly random attacks on human colonies. Rumours are circling that ancient machines will soon emerge from darkspace. There is only one man equipped to deal with these threats: Intergalactic Man Of Mystery, Austin Powers. Someone has made a video editing Mike Myers' 60s spy into Mass Effect and I'm astounded at how well it works. I don't know what else to say. This is Mass Effect in its ultimate form. Please watch it, it's the best minute I've spent all week.

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Author
Imogen Beckhelling

Atelier Sophie 2 Gets New Screenshots & Details Revealing New Characters & More

2 years 6 months ago

Koei Tecmo reached out with a press release including new screenshots and details about its upcoming JRPG Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream.

We meet two new characters, Alette Claretie, and Olias Enders, and we learn more about the game itself.

You can check out all the images below, followed by all the details straight from Koei Tecmo’s mouth.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Mario Party Superstars' Best Feature Is The Board Game Stickers

2 years 6 months ago

Mario Party Superstars is a nostalgia-trip of iconic boards, Bumper Balls, and new improvements on the original Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube games. I recruited three of my colleagues to join me in playing Horror Land, a board from 2000’s Mario Party 2 on N64. It’s so crazy seeing Birdo and Waluigi walking around this classic board I first played 21 years ago. Horror Land has a day/night cycle every two turns and includes a new transition animation for when the time changes. This board also allows Whomps to finally get a good night's rest, and you can’t wake them up to get by. In 2018’s Super Mario Party, you only needed 10 coins for a Star, but in Mario Party Superstars, you’ll need 20 coins to buy a Star. Toadette has to adjust for inflation, after all.

My absolute favorite new feature of Mario Party Superstars are the stickers. That’s right, stickers! Think of it as a quick chat feature while you play on a board. Sure, it’s a blast yelling and laughing with your friends in-person, but there’s something so rewarding about also communicating through what are essentially Nintendo emojis. With just a tap of the control stick, you can send a crying Toad saying “Gah!”, an angry Goomba that says “Bring It!”, or even select your own character yelling a distressed “Whaaat?!” The best part is that every time you send a sticker, a quick sound effect of the character plays, which makes it even funnier and more engaging than a traditional quick chat. You can send a sticker at any time during anyone’s turn, and you can unlock more stickers with collected coins. The (very large) sticker appears in your corner of the screen next to your player icon, and you can send the same sticker every few seconds as a distraction in hopes that your opponent accidentally selects “No, Thanks” when buying a Star. (I can dream, right?)

Author
Jeffrey Vega

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