Several years have passed since Riot turned four of League of Legends characters into K-pop stars. Now, the developer has announced a new group for fans to obsess over. HEARTSTEEL is a six-man boy band that features K-pop star versions of Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, K’Sante, and Sett.

“HEARTSTEEL is a group of dynamic daredevils dedicated to unapologetic individuality and creative expression,” Riot said in a press release. “Their mission is to blaze a path to success on their own terms. The group’s personality and sound draws inspiration from modern music collectives and a range of influences from across genres and eras, culminating in a bold, one-of-a-kind identity.”

Takara Tomy has announced the 40th Anniversary Zoids Core Box project. There is no information on the expected price or release window. However, for reference, the 20th anniversary Zoids Core Box contained items like a re-run kit and the complete set of Battle Story. The name is also currently a tentative one. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

More information on what you can expect from this Zoids Core Box will come out in the near future. You can follow the official Zoids account via Twitter for the latest news. The 20th Anniversary Core Box came out in October 2003 and cost 15000 JPY at the time. Converting 15000 JPY now is around $100.30. But considering inflation and a different currency exchange rate, there’s a chance that the 40th Anniversary Zoids Core Box will have a different price.

You can read the full announcement below:

A dessert buffet based on Spy x Family will be available in the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba from October 31 to December 13, 2023. The Spy x Family Cruise Buffet will feature sweets based on food items featured in the show, as well as desserts that draw on motifs from the characters. Attendees must make a reservation at the restaurant, and then it’ll be on a first-come, first-served basis. [Thanks, Comic Natalie!]

Aside from sweets that were made with the characters in mind, there is also a cake in the shape of Eden Academy’s hat, as well as macarons that look like the Stella Stars and Tonitrus Bolts. There are also non-alcoholic beverages that you can order, which are character-themed. For example, Yor’s mocktail has rose, grenadine, cranberry juice, and tonic water. Its red color is to indicate her true identity as an assassin. When you order a drink, you also get a random coaster. Each mocktail costs 1500 JPY.

Check out a selection of the menu items in the gallery below:

Just short of a month after Payday 3's decidedly rocky launch, which left many unable to play the always-online heist shooter, its long-awaited first patch is still nowhere to be seen; developer Starbreeze has announced a second delay for the update, most recently expected "mid-October", after it "identified some issues that need to be fixed".

Payday 3 got off to a wobbly start in September, with the game drawing criticism for its matchmaking issues, its online-only requirements (proving particularly irksome for solo players forced into lengthy queues), and a hugely unpopular challenge-focused progression system.

Matchmaking has now been improved, and Starbreeze has pledged at least "some changes" to progression, but Payday 3's first patch is still eagerly awaited given that it promises some "200+" quality of life improvements for all platforms.

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Re-Ment will release its second line of Pokemon Aqua Bottle merchandise, which cost 1320 JPY (around $8.85) each. In total, there are six variations that you can get. All of the items feature water Pokemon that are swimming inside glass containers of various shapes and sizes. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The different Pokemon in each bottle are:

• Horsea and Luvdisc
• Lapras
• Piplup
• Primarina
• Relicanth and Clamperl
• Seel and Spheal

The Alt Controller showing at EGX this year was properly top tier stuff. There was, of course, the Future Of Play booth that our Graham organised for the show (the contents of which you can see right here), but every year the Leftfield Collection houses a couple more custom controller games that are just as illustrative of all the amazing things going on in the world of interactive entertainment these days.

Case in point, there were two games from this year's cohort that impressed me in equal measure over the weekend - and it was perhaps fitting that they were located directly opposite one another in the Leftfield Collection's long, white corridor. One was a mind-bogglingly complex, almost military-grade-looking briefcase stuffed full of switches, nozzles and buttons, and the other was an impossibly cute cardboard flip book and projector combo that let its cartoon hero Bib bound across the 3D paper environments to find a way home. Here's a little look at both of them in action.

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A new manga series based off the Aogiri High School VTuber group will start from November 15, 2023. It will run in Kadokawa’s Comic Alunna. The title of the manga series can loosely translate to “VR! What Happens in a Certain VTuber Agency.” 7zu7, a manga artist who also likes VTubers, will be the writer and artist. [Thanks, PR Times!]

The concept of the manga follows the daily lives of VTubers, as well as what goes on behind the scenes. Unlike multimedia works featuring Hololive, it looks like Aogiri High School VTuber will focus more on the reality of the VTubers themselves rather than an in-character story based on their lore. It’s based on Aogiri High School’s “Aru Aru” series, which is available via YouTube as Shorts.

Ahead of Cities: Skylines 2's release next week, publisher Paradox Interactive has admitted the city building sequel has "not achieved the [performance] benchmark we targeted". However, rather than delaying the game to remedy those issues the publisher has decided "releasing now is the best way forward".

The somewhat astonishing admission was shared in a post on the official Paradox forum, written to address "concerns raised about Cities: Skylines 2 performance" following the publisher's decision to increase Cities Skylines 2's minimum and recommended specs on PC and to delay the game on Xbox and PS5 into spring next year.

"Cities: Skylines 2 is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements," the publisher wrote. "With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted."

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Omni Man appeared in his first gameplay Mortal Kombat 1 trailer. The short one-minute clip shows off two brief fights with Liu Kang and Scorpion. In the process, players get the chance to see how Omni Man will play in the upcoming title. Many of the crossover superhero’s moves and animations seem to draw directly from his source series Invincible.

The Mortal Kombat 1 Omni Man DLC character has a swift and highly aggressive melee style. He punches at foes and throws them around like rag dolls. A couple of his gruesome cinematic finishes appear in the trailer as well, all of which seem to take inspiration from some iconic scenes from the ongoing Invincible animated adaptation.

A new trailer is out for Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, featuring iconic songs from the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series. The “Memorable Anime Songs & Items” pack will let you change the in-game music, as well as change the item that appears when you use the Body Replacement Technique. You can watch the trailer for the Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections pack here:

The five songs in the pack are:

• “Bluebird” / Ikimonogakari
• “Go!!!” / FLOW

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Analogue has announced that it is working on a N64 FPGA machine.

The device inspired by the Nintendo 64 will launch in 2024, and among its features is the option to display 64-bit era games in 4K resolution.

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Psychedelic horror Layers of Fear - the 2023 remake as opposed to the 2016 original - is getting a free new story chapter on 24th October to mark developer Bloober Team's 15th anniversary.

Layers of Fear (again, the new one) already featured a decent chunk of new content, of course, reconfiguring the stories of Layers of Fear 1 and 2, as well as the first game's Inheritance DLC, into a single narrative - all spruced up with striking Unreal Engine 5 visuals and new gameplay elements. And then there's a new story chapter featuring the original protagonist's wife, plus a new framing device focusing on a lighthouse-bound character known as The Writer.

Bloober's newly announced Halloween/birthday treat makes yet another tortured artist - joining the Painter, Actor, Musician, and Writer from the base game - playable in Layers of Fear, this time dropping players into the director;s seat as they take the reins of a troubled Hollywood production. "Immerse yourself into the psyche of the movie's creator as you seek to complete your final masterpiece," Bloober teases, "even as the set around you descends into chaos".

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A new Spider-Man 2 launch trailer debuted just ahead of its October 20 release, and it’s got a brief clip that has anime fans going wild. The trailer, which shows off villains like Sandman, Mr. Negative, and Venom, also has what looks to be an attempt at an iconic move from the beloved 1988 anime film, Akira.…

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Square Enix is once again hosting the Final Fantasy XI Harvest Festival Halloween event in 2023. The event will kick off on Monday, October 23, 2023, and it will run for a limited time until November, 6, 2023. During this time, players will have numerous Halloween-themed events to partake in, including handing out sweets.

There are several costumed NPCs players will find in a variety of places during the FFXI Harvest Festival Halloween event, including:

• Southern and North San d’Oria
• Bastok Mines and Markets
• Windiest Waters and Woods

If players hand out treats to the participating NPCs, they’ll be able to wear costumes, too. This also goes for the random citizens in the world dressed up as Cyhiraeths. Furthermore, there is also a Pink Masquerade costume competition running during this time as well. This event lets players get judged for their current costume and receive prizes accordingly, including the Botulus Suit.

Netflix has reportedly spoken with Grand Theft Auto devs Rockstar about releasing a GTA title via the streaming service, according to new reports. The talks occurred as the movie and TV behemoth apparently works to bring “higher-end” titles to their growing catalogue of video games.

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Bandai Namco started selling the Pikmin bath bomb from Nintendo stores. It is currently available in Nintendo Tokyo and Nintendo Osaka stores. Nintendo Kyoto will have it in stock from October 17, 2023. Each bath bomb costs 550 JPY, which is approximately $3.70.

Back in June 2023, Bandai Namco displayed the Pikmin bath bomb at Tokyo Toy Show 2023. The full name of the product is “Bikkura? Tamago Pikmin,” with loosely translates to “Surprise? Egg Pikmin.” Bikkura Tamago products from Lifestyle Bandai are bath bombs that hide a little toy inside, which you can take after the outside layer of epsom salts wash away in the water. There are a variety of toys that you can collect, since it’s completely random which one you get.

As we saw previously during Tokyo Toy Show 2023, the Pikmin bath bomb contains five different Pikmins that you can potentially obtain. You can get a Blue Pikmin, a Yellow PIkmin, a Red Pikmin, a Purple Pikmin, or a White Pikmin. The bath bomb itself has a fruity scent. This matches the design of the outside layer, which looks like a round lemon.

Announced during Minecraft Live 2023, Mojang’s massively popular survival crafting game has now sold over 300 million copies worldwide since its initial release in 2009.

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It sounds like Spider-Man 2 is pretty damn good, going by reviews that have appeared today ahead of the web-slinging sequel’s release on PlayStation 5 this Friday. While there’s no official word on a Spider-Man 2 PC version just yet, the appearance of previous PS5 exclusives over the last couple of years hopefully means it’s just a matter of time. The sooner, the better, based on what we’ve heard so far.

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The latest Genshin Impact playable character is almost here and HoYoVerse's new Wriothesley trailer shows him off in full force. Ahead of his release on October 17, 2023, this new two and a half-minute trailer features some cinematic gameplay showing off how the Cryo catalyst user will play ahead of the upcoming banner release.

Players also get a look at some of the lore surrounding Wriothesley in the highly stylized trailer featuring him taking on various fighters in the Fortress of Meropide in the Fontaine region. The character demo trailer plays out like a short montage of cutscenes of Wriothesley using his mechanical fists to bash away at the foes he takes on. Like Heizou, he is a catalyst user who uses hand-to-hand combat, rather than magic.

Titles that are eligible for the Now on Epic program will enjoy the 100% revenue boost for the first six months of their release on Epic Games Store. After that, they'll get a 88%/12% revenue split.

I love it when game names do what they say on the tin, but I love it even more when they contain hidden depths behind that initial simplicity. Hermit And Pig is indeed a game about a reclusive old hermit and his truffle-hunting pig, but this charming adventure RPG also has one of the most involving turn-based battle systems I've come across in a while.

Taking place in first person a la Dragon Quest, Hermit must deal with all sorts of mad and angry wildlife as he hunts for his favourite forest mushrooms, and their scowling (and endearingly daft) expressions are just the tip of this excellent iceberg. For you're not just choosing from a list of moves and watching them play out onscreen. Oh no. Each attack also comes with its own three-button fighting combo, and you'll need to input the right one (often at the right time) to deal the most damage. It's a brilliant system, making Hermit And Pig easily one of this year's highlights from EGX's Leftfield Collection.

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Final Fantasy XIV has a vibrant abundance of activities for players to embark on and keep up with daily and weekly, to help bolster their characters and work towards some exciting rewards. One of the most popular, longtime ones is undoubtedly Khloe’s Wondrous Tails, which provides players with a huge weekly opportunity to not only earn some major XP for one of their classes, but also have the chance to win a variety of prizes, from gil, to MGP, to special tokens that can be traded for even more exclusive items. These tokens are called Khloe’s Certificates of Commendation, and they come in hues of Bronze, Silver, and Gold, the latter the most difficult to get and the key to the rarest of prizes. To make sure you have the chance to earn one, however, there is an unspoken rule of sorts.

When you pick up your fresh, new Wondrous Tails book for the week from the cute little Miqote named Khloe Aliapoh in Idyllshire (X:5.6, Y:6.1), you’ll notice in the Rewards list on the right side that there are four tiers of potential prize items, depending on your luck-based success with earning stickers from the list of qualifying duties. There are guaranteed rewards for getting the maximum 9 stickers, as well as even more rewards if you manage to complete one or more lines on the graph.

Upon its announcement as the grand finale of the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, Super Mario Bros. Wonder declared the series’ return to the 2D side-scrolling genre with a colorful bang. The game signals the return to Mario’s roots from a core gameplay perspective, but it’s more connected to Mario’s past than most people initially realized. While many remember the creative level design, expressive art style, and discovery of the game-changing Wonder Flowers, the most memorable moment came at the end of the announcement trailer, as everyone’s favorite plumber grabbed a never-before-seen item and transformed into an elephant. That moment told everyone that Super Mario Bros. Wonder, despite taking the series back to its 2D origins, is trying bold, new things unlike anything the franchise has seen before. Read more...

On October 17, 2023, the Pokemon GO Party Play feature will appear in-game. It isn’t exactly a new multiplayer element. Rather, it lets people work as a group of four to complete challenges, get extra power in Raids, and keep in touch with other players. However, it is a local-only activity, so you need to apparently be near the other folks as you all play.

How to start Pokemon GO Party Play

Niantic also introduced how we can form a party with this new feature. You’ll need to go to your profile and click Party. On that page, you can either join a party by entering a code or scanning a QR or making your own. This can only happen if you hit level 15 trainer level, however. If you do meet that requirement, you can have up to three people join you for your new group. You’ll then be able to check the Party tab for more insights into what others are doing or challenges.

Here’s the official Pokemon GO Party Play trailer. It shows off some of the features and how the new feature works. When you are in a group, you can complete Party Challenges together. Some of the ones listed in the example are “win two raids,” “catch two Pokemon,” and “catch two ice-type Pokemon.” It also shows how Raid Party Power looks, as well as how you can compare stats and highlights in the new party and post-party highlights sections.

Pete Hines, head of publishing at Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Starfield studio Bethesda, is retiring. One of the most public faces at the developer behind perhaps only Toddy H himself, Hines has played a prominent role in the release of their biggest games for close to the last quarter-of-a-century - but says that the “time is right” to move on to “an exciting new chapter of my life”.

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Analogue, the boutique console manufacturer known for its work building slick machines capable of playing classic retro cartridges, has announced the Analogue 3D - a "reimagining of the N64" that's coming in 2024.

Analogue 3D, which follows the likes of 2021's well-regarded Analogue Pocket and the PC-Engine-inspired Analogue Duo, is another FPGA machine, and promises 100% compatibility with N64 games from every region: USA, EU, and Japan.

It can output at 4K resolution, features original display modes, and also includes "reference quality recreations of specific model CRTs and PVMs".

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Lawson launched a brand new Marvel's Spider-Man 2 lottery campaign where fans can get the chance to win the limited edition Spider-Man 2 Dualsense controller. The campaign will run until October 30, 2023. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

By purchasing a ¥10,000 (~$67 USD) or ¥15,000 (~$100 USD) PlayStation Store card from any Lawson convenience store, Natural Lawson, or Lawson Store 100 locations across Japan, entering the last 19 digits underneath the barcode on the card onto the submission website, and completing a survey, fans will be entered into the lottery campaign. There is no entry limit, so fans can purchase as many PlayStation Store cards and enter the lottery as many times as they want. 40 lucky fans will be chosen from the lottery to win the Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Dualsense controller.

Details about Lawson's ongoing lottery campaign can be viewed below:

[caption id="attachment_991583" align="aligncenter" width="924"] Image via Lawson[/caption]

The Pokemon live drama show PokeTsume will soon air on Japanese television, and its new trailer has appeared ahead of the premiere. The drama show will be officially titled Pocket ni Bouken o Tsumekonde in Japanese. The full title can also be translated to "Cram an Adventure Inside the Pocket." The trailer shows more details to the upcoming drama show, following its initial reveal in late August 2023. There's no word on its availability outside Japan yet.

Nanase Nishino, a former Nogizaka46 member who is also an avid Pokemon fan, will star in this drama as Madoka Akagi. She newly works at the advertising agency ADventure. Madoka will rediscover her Pokemon passion after her mother sends her a Game Boy Pocket with a Pokemon Red cartridge that she last played 20 years ago.

The 100-second PokeTsume trailer also shows that many members of ADventure will be comparable to some of the first-generation Pokemon. For example, the company's chief is very forgetful like a Slowbro, and one of Madoka's colleagues is as useless as a Magikarp. Aya Hirano will also appear in this drama show as Yoko Meguro, a woman who is tenacious in both work and romance like a Ninetales.

Sure, Microsoft Flight Simulator is a robust and impressively realistic video game dedicated to recreating the feel of flying an airplane around the world. But what if you flew by some sick-looking hills or ramps and wanted to hit them in a dune buggy? Well, now a new DLC from a third-party developer can help.

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Epic Games has unveiled Now on Epic, which will allow companies that bring their existing titles to the Epic Game Store to earn 100% of their revenue during the first six months.

The program is eligible for products launched on third-party PC or subscription services before October 31, 2023.

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Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Milestone S.r.l.
Developer: Milestone S.r.l.
Release: October 19, 2023
Rating: Everyone

As a speed-focused arcade racer, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is a joy thanks to the emphasis on going fast, collecting Hot Wheels cars spanning decades, and crafting your own tracks. However, it doesn’t quite have the variety of tracks to keep it fresh throughout, and the story mode is an innocuous affair, leading to middle-of-the-pack results instead of the checkered flag it was chasing.

While it may not be as technical as most racing sims or as silly as the Mario Kart series, Turbocharged doesn’t lack charm. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 drops you onto tracks in a backyard, on a golf course, and in other real-world locations that recreate the memories of a kid who could dream up their masterpiece track and then put it together wherever they’d like. Loop-de-loops, golf balls, giant spiders, and tight corners provide a chaotic and enjoyable challenge.

Minecraft is getting a new bit of Star Wars DLC filled with a bunch of familiar faces from the galaxy far, far away in blocky, Minecraftified form. You’ll also be able to make your own lightsaber and droid companion to take on your adventures as a Jedi padawan.

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Netflix is reportedly looking to build upon its current, predominantly mobile-focused gaming offerings by introducing "higher-end" titles to its subscription catalogue - and is said to have had discussions about licensing a Grand Theft Auto game as part of the move.

The streaming company took its first tentative steps into gaming back in November 2021, with the release of five iOS and Android titles that could be downloaded and played as part of a Netflix subscription. Since then, its gaming catalogue has swelled to over 70 titles and it's made a number notable acquisitions, including Triple Town and Cozy Grove developer Spry Fox, The Walking Dead mobile developer Next Games, and Oxenfree creator Night School Studio.

Hints of more ambitious gaming plans at Netflix came with last November's announcement the company had set up a new Los Angeles studio - lead by former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny - to create a brand-new triple-A, third-person RPG for PC. And a new report from the Wall Street Journal has shed further light on Netflix plans, saying the company is "taking steps to expand into higher-end games that can be streamed from TVs or PCs."

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Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2023 in London will be held October 21-22, 2023, and Square Enix will be debuting the Final Fantasy XIV Glowstick at the event. This will be the first time the glowstick is officially available for purchase in Europe.

The Final Fantasy XIV glowstick cycles through 15 unique colors inspired by in-game emotes. The batteries are included and pre-installed so they can be used immediately after purchase at all of the different panels and concerts at the event. They will cost £9.99 (~$12 USD).

A closer look at the Final Fantasy XIV Glowstick and a sample of the colors it can change to can be seen here:

[gallery ids="991560,991559,991558" link="file"]

Callous, crunch-heavy work culture keeps shaking the games industry, but it seems like some developers are at least trying to safeguard against it. Colin Walder, a CD Projekt Red engineering director with over a decade of AAA audio programming experience, discussed game industry leadership during Inven Game Conference…

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