Ubisoft Indefinitely Delays XDefiant Preseason Launch

5 months 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft XDefiant Faction First Person Shooter FPS Indefinitely On Hold Preseason

Ubisoft revealed its "fast-paced firefights meets punk rock mosh pits" first-person shooter, Tom Clancy's XDefiant, in 2021. It's a free-to-play shooter that features factions from different Ubisoft properties, like Splinter Cell, Watch Dogs, The Division, and Far Cry. We went hands-on with XDefiant earlier this year and came away impressed with the shooter. Players enjoyed an open beta back in June, and the full game was set to launch in the summer, but now, developer Ubisoft San Francisco has delayed its preseason launch indefinitely. 

The team announced this on Twitter yesterday, revealing that the recent Public Test Session was a success but highlighted some inconsistencies in the game experience it wants to address before the preseason launch. As such, the preseason launch has been delayed to a later unspecified date. 

Here's Ubisoft's full statement on the XDefiant preseason launch delay: 

Author
Wesley LeBlanc

Lego Animal Crossing sets to release in March

5 months 2 weeks ago

Following the confirmed existence of a Lego and Animal Crossing collaboration last week, Lego has revealed there are five sets which will be released in March 2024.

The sets range from a small scene depicting a birthday party for villager Julian, made up of 170 pieces to a slightly larger 535-piece recreation of Nook's Cranny and Rosie's house.

Other sets that will be available are Bunnie's Outdoor Activities, Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour, and Isabelle's House Visit.

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Author
Liv Ngan

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Director Explains Why Sheikah Tech is Strangely Absent in the Sequel

5 months 2 weeks ago

Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has revealed Nintendo's reasoning behind the dissappearance of Sheikah technology in the latest entry in the Legend of Zelda franchise, and hinted at why NPCs haven't bothered to investigate the vanishing.

While the setting in Tears of the Kingdom is the same as that of Breath of the Wild, the Hyrule experienced by players exploring Tears of the Kingdom is radically altered when compared to that seen in 2017's Breath of the Wild. For one, the sky is quite literally falling, and vast chasms have opened leading to a new hidden realm below. Amid the confusion, the Sheikah technology and shrines that once dotted the landscape have disappeared, as have the guardians and the four divine beasts that watched over it, leaving many fans to wonder why.

“They disappeared after the Calamity was defeated (sealed),” revealed Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi in a new Telegraph interview. “All of the people of Hyrule also witnessed this, but there is no one who knows the mechanism or reason why they disappeared, and it is considered a mystery. It is believed that since the Calamity disappeared, they also disappeared as their role had been fulfilled.”

Author
Anthony Wood

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Fortnite Update 26.30 Adds Alan Wake, Michael Myers, and Jack Skellington Outfits

5 months 2 weeks ago

Epic Games' latest update for battle royale Fortnite adds a number of Halloween-themed outfits including an eye-catching Alan Wake skin.

Alan Wake, who’s set to star in Remedy’s aptly named Alan Wake 2 later in October, will be available in Fortnite’s Item Shop during the Fortnitemares 2023 event, Epic said in a blog post.

The image below shows the the Alan Wake outfit, plus more Waking Nightmare set items that’ll be in the Shop.

Image%20credit%3A%20Epic%20Games

Epic also released a teaser trailer for the event which shows off Alan Wake gameplay. We’re getting John Wick vibes from this!

Meanwhile, Disney’s Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King from Tim Burton’s 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, has an outfit coming. This includes the Santa Jack alt Style.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Total War: Pharaoh Review

5 months 2 weeks ago

The most impressive part of Total War: Pharaoh isn't the beautifully-detailed map of the Nile Valley, the exciting Late Bronze Age setting, or the striking interface that looks like it was copied straight off of a tomb wall in the Valley of Kings. It's the fact that Creative Assembly Sophia has pulled me right back into a fairly traditional, historical Total War and made it feel like a fresh experience, even when I've been playing this series for over 20 years now. It has some rough edges, especially the further you get from the heart of Egypt. But that little bit of sand in my sandals is easy to endure when Pharaoh is at its best.

Egypt itself is really the star of Total War: Pharaoh, and whether you're on the campaign or the battle map, it makes its personality known with wonderful art, effective lighting, and challenging geography. It would be easy to imagine dozens of repetitive battles fought on bumpy sand, but there are many riffs on the general themes of sunbaked flood plains and rocky desert peaks that lend a sense of place and new tactical possibilities. I particularly came to enjoy hiding my troops just behind the sharp crest of a soaring sand dune when facing an army with elite archers, only springing the trap when they were close enough that their ranged advantage was meaningless.

Author
Tom Marks

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Total War: Pharaoh review: a towering monument to a broken release schedule

5 months 2 weeks ago

Sometimes, when I’m winning a Total War battle handily, I like to pick an absolutely haggard group of low-tier hopelesses and spend the rest of the fight zoomed in on them, narrativising their high-stakes struggles in a rich and velvety internal monologue that monopolises my attention so fully that I more or less ignore the rest of the battle. That these are among my absolute favourite Total War moments may say something about the level of satisfaction to be found elsewhere in the series’ strategy sandboxes, at times as robust as ancient oaks, others as stale as ancient wotsits. It may be an admission on both our parts that, for all its simulated complexity, Total War is really for people who’d be just as happy playing with those little elasticated catapults and plastic castles, if we could still sit on the floor without our pelvises crumbling into soup mix.

Author
Nic Reuben

Total War: Pharaoh review - skip the battles and enjoy a great grand strategy campaign

5 months 2 weeks ago

The year is 1200 BC and, in bronze age Egypt, Pharaoh Merneptah is worried about his legacy. His maniac son Seti is set to inherit the kingdom, but Ramesses is building support to the north east. Canaanite generals are poised to take advantage of any sign of weakness in the Egyptian ranks, and to the north, in modern Turkey, the Hittites are in a desperate battle for survival.

There's a sense of dread to the opening state of the map in Total War: Pharaoh, but it's perfectly poised if you like the idea of aggressively surging beyond your starting territory, taking a strong early foothold and then working to gain enough notoriety to eventually challenge for the throne. In classic Total War fashion, you advance your cause each turn by building up your cities, recruiting armies, pushing them around on the grand strategy map, and then diving into huge real-time battles to take new territory and see off enemy armies. Maybe, with enough political scheming, and a few massive armies, your nation can avoid the late bronze age collapse entirely.

On the grand strategy level Pharaoh is one of the best board games of the Total War series. Each of the leaders in the three available factions are well characterised, and start with a few clear faction objectives to usher you through the first ten turns or so. After that you get to decide what sort of objectives will earn you notoriety - do you want to become known for taking cities or turning enemies into allies through trade and bargaining? This Legacy system sets the flavour of your entire playthrough, and meshes nicely with your leader's faction-wide Royal Decree boosts, and time-limited events that might give you a windfall or upset your plans.

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Author
Tom Senior

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Sanrio Fragaria Memories Kuromi Knight Kurode Revealed

5 months 2 weeks ago

Sanrio Kuromi Knight Fragaria Memories

Kurode, the Fragarian knight who serves the Sanrio mascot Kuromi, was revealed on the Fragaria Memories official social media account and website. The character is another knight in the new multimedia fantasy project from Sanrio. In October, the company has been revealing the knights who serve Sanrio mascots daily on social media.

According to his bio, Kurode is a hard worker with an inferiority complex. He often feels competitive and bitter when compared with his older brother Merold, who is known as the strongest of all of the knights. He is ambitious yet constantly feels inferior because his skills don’t yet hold a candle to his infamous sibling.

Kurode's voice actor is Shogo Sakata, who is also known for providing the voice of Aki Hayakawa in the anime series Chainsaw Man. The artist who illustrated his character artwork is Akakura.

Meet Kurode in the post below:

[embed]https://twitter.com/fragaria_sanrio/status/1711305524535537730[/embed]

Author
Lauren Palmer

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LEGO Shares First Look at Animal Crossing Sets

5 months 2 weeks ago

LEGO has shared a first look at its upcoming Animal Crossing collaboration with Nintendo.

Revealed in a tweet from LEGO (below), a short trailer showed off the previously rumoured five sets alongside confirmation they'll launch in March 2024. An update to the LEGO website also confirmed details surrounding each set, including its name, price, and contents.

A handful of Animal Crossing's most-popular characters were revealed as the stars of each set, including Tom Nook, Kapp'n, Rosie, Isabelle, Bunnie, and Julian. They feature in the different sets, which overall recreate some of the houses, items, and events featured in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Julian's Birthday Party will have 170 pieces for $14.99, Bunnir's Outdoor Activities will have 164 pieces at $19.99, Kapp'n Island Boat Tour will have 233 pieces at $29.99, Isabelle's House Visit will have 389 pieces at $39.99, and Nook's Cranny and Rosie's House will have 535 pieces at $74.99.

LEGO and Nintendo aren't strangers, of course, as several collaborations between the two have come already. A brick-based version of the Nintendo Entertainment System console was one of the larger sets, though a Super Mario Bros. range has also proved popular.

Author
Ryan Dinsdale

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Jagex: Mental health comes from our values

5 months 2 weeks ago

Once an overlooked issue, the importance of mental health has become more recognised as a global concern over the last ten years. The gaming industry has had to look hard at itself to discover if well-intentioned words were matched with action, or if the entire DNA and culture of studios had to be re-worked to support the mental health of the people within.

At Jagex, positive mental health has always been an important part of our culture, and we were early champions of initiatives that could make a difference to the lives of our employees. But dedicated counselling support and programmes designed to encourage transparency around mental health are not enough; we knew we had to do more.

After a great start to our mental health journey, our new Chief People Officer for Jagex, Keeley Vaughan-Davies, is keen to ensure that great start isn’t the end of our story.

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Author
Katherine Lunn

New Persona 3 Reload Character Trailer Shows Off Yukari Takeba

5 months 2 weeks ago

Persona 3 Reload Yukari Takeba Trailer

The Official Atlus West social media account and YouTube channel uploaded a new Yukari Takeba trailer for the upcoming game Persona 3 Reload. The video, titled "Enter the Huntress," gives players a sneak peek of the bow-wielding party member in the 2024 remake.

In the nearly two-minute video, we hear a preview of the newly recorded voice lines for the character. The new voice actress for Yukari in Persona 3 Reload is Heather Gonzalez, who also provided the voice of Mineru in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The trailer highlights a few of Yukari’s Social Link events as well, such as her going to the movies with the protagonist and eating takoyaki with him at the mall. We also see her in action on the battlefield alongside her Persona, Io, as the trailer ends with her unleashing a powerful ranged attack with her bow.

Watch the new Persona 3 Reload trailer below:

Author
Lauren Palmer

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Diablo IV Won't Come To Xbox Game Pass This Year

5 months 2 weeks ago

Call of Duty Modern Warfare III Diablo 4 Xbox Game Pass Activision Blizzard

Almost two years ago, Microsoft announced it was acquiring Activision Blizzard for a colossal $69 billion. Reports say the acquisition deal is expected to close this week and Xbox players are anticipating the addition of Activision Blizzard games to the Game Pass lineup. However, a new tweet by Activision Blizzard makes it sound like the company's games won't hit the subscription service until next year. Plus, Activision Blizzard says it won't be adding the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III or the recently released Diablo IV to Game Pass this year.

Here's what Activision Blizzard said in a tweet posted yesterday: 

Author
Wesley LeBlanc

Cyberpunk 2077 Gets a Huge Discount for October Prime Day in the UK

5 months 2 weeks ago

Prime Day is always mayhem (in a good way) over here and that hasn't changed now that we're fully into the second day of Amazon's sale event. But, this is the last day to get your hands on all the deals you've been waiting for. The countdown is fully on, so if you want to grab Cyberpunk 2077 for a slashed price, then you've gotta do it today.

One of the most talked about games in recent years, Cyberpunk 2077, is available for just under £15 on both Playstation and Xbox this October Prime Day. Now is the perfect time to get your hands on a copy, with the Phantom Liberty expansion coming out just a few weeks ago.

October Prime Day: Grab Cyberpunk 2077 for a Steal

If you've been waiting for Cyberpunk to be on sale to grab it, well, you've let quite a lot of sales pass you by. But that's okay, because there's always another excellent sale on the horizon, and October Prime Day is that sale.

If you were too slow to snap up this deal for Playstation yesterday, you've unfortunately missed out as speedier customers managed to snap up all the copies and it's now out of stock on Amazon. Xbox gamers, you've still got some time to grab this deal.

If you're also looking to play Phantom Liberty, then you might as well make sure that you're getting the base game at an absolute steal. You may have been waiting a while to buy this game, but now is the time!

Author
Joe O'Neill-Parker

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Alan Wake, Michael Myers, And Jack Skellington Join The Fortnitemares Halloween 2023 Lineup

5 months 2 weeks ago

Fortnitemares Halloween Alan Wake Michael Myers Jack Skellington

It's October, which means it's the month of Halloween. And Fortnite players know that this month is when developer Epic Games celebrates the season with Fortnitemares, a spooky-themed event that typically includes new weapons, quests, skins, and more. This year is no different as Fortnitemares 2023 runs from now until November 3 and brings with it Alan Wake, Michael Myers, Jack Skellington, a new shotgun, a new blade, a pumpkin launcher, a witch broom, and more. 

Everything In The Fortnitemares 2023 Event: 

Fortnitemares 2023 Alan Wake Halloween Michael Myers Jack Skellington

New Fortnite Skins And Outfits

One of the most exciting aspects of a new Fortnitemares Halloween event is the addition of new skins and outfits into the battle royale. And for our money, this year's lineup is one of the best so far. 

Here are four new original skins created by Epic Games: the wrapped rapscallion Seth, muckfish Bogstick, meownstrosity Phantom Meowscles, and nautilus Festival Phaedra

Author
Wesley LeBlanc

Dell Is Beating Out Amazon for the Best PS5 Console Deal for October Prime Day

5 months 2 weeks ago

As part of its Cyber Week Savings Event, Dell is offering a bonus $100 Dell eGift Card when you purchase the PS5 Disc Edition gaming console for $499.99. That's the best PS5 console deal available, especially since we don't expect to see a good PS5 console deal from Amazon during its October Prime Day Sale.

PS5 Disc Edition Console with $100 Dell eGift Card for $499.99

Dell is offering a $75 Dell promotional egift card when you purchase the PS5 disc edition console. You will receive the gift card via email within 20 days after the PS5 ships and it will expire 90 days thereafter. Use the gift card to buy almost anything at Dell including gaming PCs, gaming monitors, gaming consoles, and even PS5 accessories like a DualSense controller or Pulse 3D gaming headset.

The PS5 is, in my opinion, the better console to get over the Xbox Series X. The biggest reason is that the PlayStation console(s) have better exclusives, like Spider-Man 2, God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7 Final Fantasy 16 (timed exclusive), Final Fantasy 7 Remake (and the upcoming Rebirth), Ratchet & Clank, Astro's Playroom, and more. The disc edition has a built-in drive so you can play games off physical disc media and watch movies off DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray discs.

See our larger list of the best Prime Day PS5 deals for more discounts.

Author
Eric Song

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Meta Quest 3 review: Meta’s best VR headset yet, but the jury’s out on mixed reality

5 months 2 weeks ago

Meta may have spent the last couple of years tumbling down a metaverse rabbit hole, but the company is still responsible for creating the best VR hardware around. The Meta Quest 2 was the ideal gaming VR package: powerful and accessible enough to provide easy, convincing immersion, while also staying highly affordable. Nonetheless, Meta’s sudden fixation on creating a legless version of Second Life did have me worried about the future trajectory of its VR hardware. What daft gimmickry would their next headset come festooned with, and what would it mean for the future of the Quest as a gaming device?

With the Meta Quest 3, we have the answer. And the truth is, Meta’s latest headset does have a whiff of Metaverse about it. Dubbed a "mixed reality" device, its raison d’être is to break down the barrier between reality and the virtual world. While mixed reality is an angle I’m not wholly sold on from a gaming perspective, crucially, the features that make it a mixed reality device are useful even if you don’t want to hold a meeting in your office with a bunch of bisected Sims. Moreover, they’re built into a headset that is more powerful, more comfortable, and generally better than the Meta Quest 2.

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Author
Rick Lane

The RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 lead Prime Big Deal Days’ graphics card offers

5 months 2 weeks ago

The Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale is proving to be the first of its kind – that’s right, Prime Day, apply yourself – to make notable cuts on the very latest and greatest GPUs. You can find all of the highlights in our Prime Big Deal Days graphics card deals guide, but I wanted to draw special attention to a couple of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti listings; the most attainable members of the infamously pricey RTX 40 series, now even lighter on the old wallet.

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Author
James Archer

Meta staying quiet on status of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR

5 months 2 weeks ago

It has been just shy of two years since Meta announced that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be coming to Quest 2, but we still don't have a release date or even a release window for this upcoming VR port.

And sadly for those eager to hear more, this is seemingly not something we should expect to find out any time in the near future. Instead, Meta is remaining remarkably tight-lipped about the project it once said was "many years in the making".

At this year's Connect conference, Meta was asked for more news on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' VR release by both UploadVR and Road to VR. However, the responses were less than informative.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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FTL meets Slay The Spire in this Steam Next Fest demo

5 months 2 weeks ago

We recommended a dozen Steam Next Fest demos out the gate but that barely scratched the surface of the demo-o-rama. So after diving back into the demo pile myself, I have another recommendation for you: adventuring across the galaxy in roguelikelike spaceship deck-building dungeon-crawler Cobalt Core. If you enjoy Slay The Spire and FTL, do have a look, though I might argue that FTL's follow-up, Into The Breach seems a stronger influence. Ah, play the demo and see for yourself!

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Ubisoft says it's "on the right path" following sexual harassment allegations

5 months 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft has claimed it is "on the right path" to improving its workplace culture, three years after reports of numerous and serious allegations of sexual harrassment.

In summer 2020, allegations of sexual assault and harassment were made against a number of senior and veteran employees including Assassin's Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail, Splinter Cell and Far Cry creative director Maxime Béland, and former editorial vice president Tommy François.

Speaking at GamesIndustry HR Summit last month, Ubisoft's chief people officer Annika Grant said the company is now "on the right path" following a number of changes implemented internally, as reported by GamesIndustry. Grant joined Ubisoft in 2021 when it was "navigating a misconduct crisis".

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Author
Liv Ngan

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Square Enix Shares Wild Logic Behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Box Art

5 months 2 weeks ago

Square Enix has once again taken to Twitter to share some bizarre insights into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, this time explaining the logic behind its box art.

Starring protagonist Cloud, antagonist Sephiroth, and the mysterious Zack, the artwork "represents the three worlds that form the axis" of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's story, Square Enix explained.

"Created by creative director Tetsuya Nomura, this artwork represents the three worlds that form the axis of the story in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth," the tweet reads. "Sephiroth is at the centre, as he represents the instigator of the events of the past.

"Cloud and Zack are on the side as they represent their destinies being torn apart by Sephiroth. The image of blood, fire, and red that evokes Sephiroth stains the sky and spreads over the world. The subtle red shade in the logo is also inspired by the same imagery."

Author
Ryan Dinsdale

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How video games have helped us with our mental health

5 months 2 weeks ago

Today is World Mental Health Day. This annual event is all about raising mental health awareness, with the aim to drive positive change for everyone's mental wellbeing. And, not that there ever needs to be an excuse to talk about mental health at any time of the year, but it is also a good opportunity for us to do just that - talk about mental health.

I have lived with mental illnesses for a long time. Many years ago, I was diagnosed with both Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I take a variety of regular medications to help with this, and, combined with cognitive behavioural therapy, these have worked well for me and my ongoing recovery. I am pleased to say that I am in a much better place today than I was a few years ago.

Raising awareness about the topic of mental health in general is something I am deeply passionate about, and I have been a mental health advocate for about seven years now. This has included starting up a wellness group for parents in the village where I live, speaking on the radio about what the government can do to help those living with mental illnesses, taking part in charity panels and a smattering of fundraising efforts that have seen me swim with sharks, go to the gym dressed as a tiger and complete a half marathon in the Scottish Highlands in the dark. Most recently, I recorded a special Eurogamer podcast all about mental health and video games.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Amazon Prime Big Deal Days kick off with three of Crucial’s best SSDs going cheap

5 months 2 weeks ago

Now that I’ve spent two breathless hours updating our main Amazon Prime Big Deal Days PC gaming deals hub, it’s time to focus in on some of the standout offers that Amazon’s latest sale is serving up. As expected, SSD prices have been widely cleaved; friend of RPS Will Judd already caught the superlative WD Black SN850X going for a bargain, and it turns out a bunch of excellent Crucial drives are on sale for even less.

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Author
James Archer

Assassin's Creed Mirage fails to dethrone EA Sports FC 24 | UK Boxed Charts

5 months 2 weeks ago

EA Sports FC 24 has retained the top spot of the UK physical charts this week, despite a 48% decrease in sales.

According to GfK data, the post-FIFA title saw a sales decline across all formats, most notably on Xbox Series X|S.

Two new titles followed EA Sports FC in the top three, including Assassin's Creed: Mirage at No.2 and Detective Pikachu Returns at No.3.

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Author
Sophie McEvoy

Wild Card Football, out today, is NFL with Hulk mode, UFOs and giant pinball bumpers

5 months 2 weeks ago

I don't have much time for American football, but speaking as somebody who regularly got flattened playing rugby at school, I do have time for sports games in which you can super-size your player and hoof a path through the opposition like you're Godzilla trashing Tokyo. The game in question is Saber Interactive's Wild Card Football, an arcade sporting sim in the spirit of the developer's previous NBA Playgrounds series, which is out today and attracting some buzz on Steam.

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Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Beta Sparks Vociferous SBMM Debate Once Again

5 months 2 weeks ago

The long-running debate about Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM) has once again sparked into life after the recent PlayStation-exclusive Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 beta.

SBMM is a system designed to put players in lobbies made up of similarly-skilled players. “SBMM” usually trends across social media when a new Call of duty game comes out, with players on either side of the debate offering their take on why it’ll either kill that year’s Call of Duty or why it’s good for online play.

Disgruntled players sometimes try to combat SBMM by deliberately losing in a bid to matchmake against lower-skilled players in subsequent lobbies. It's a tactic called 'reverse boosting', and it seems some people who played the Modern Warfare 3 beta over the weekend were doing just that.

When it comes to COD, some players say SBMM has no right being in casual playlists. Ranked play, these critics say, is where SBMM should be used. Of course, not everyone is against the idea of SBMM, with some pointing out it is hypocritical for high-skill players to demand the right to play lower-skilled players instead of those at their own level.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Zelda boss explains why Breath of the Wild's Guardians and Sheikah tech disappeared

5 months 2 weeks ago

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes us back to the same Hyrule we were first introduced to in Breath of the Wild, albeit with a few tweaks - not least its airy sky islands and dark and sinister Depths.

But while those inclusions expanded the map, there were some omissions as well. Most obviously, just where did all of that Sheikah tech, that was so instrumental to Breath of the Wild's story, go? And what happened to those spidery robot Guardians?

Well, according to Zelda director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the various towers, Guardians, Divine Beasts and other Sheikah creations simply disappeared, with the general consensus in Hyrule being that as their purpose had been realised, the tech knew it was its time to go.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Fortnite recruits Alan Wake, Michael Myers and Jack Skellington for Halloween

5 months 2 weeks ago

Fortnite's annual Halloween extravaganza is back for another year, and this time the battle royale has roped in a few more famous friends.

Remedy's very own Alan Wake will be available to buy as a skin later in the event, presumably timed alongside the launch of the long-awaited Alan Wake 2 (that's due on 27th October).

Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is also joining Fortnite - I like that he also has his Santa Jack costume as well - alongside Halloween's Michael Myers.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Ubisoft delays free-to-play shooter XDefiant again

5 months 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft has delayed its upcoming free-to-play shooter XDefiant yet again, citing "inconsistencies in the game experience".

The "inconsistencies" surfaced during the game's Public Test Session, designed to test the public servers, which happened on 28th September.

"We've made the hard decision to delay the Preseason of XDefiant," Ubisoft said in a statement, in order to address the issues found.

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Author
Liv Ngan

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Ask RPS... anything you like (round two)!

5 months 2 weeks ago

Hello folks. It's been a while since we've done one of these (apologies for that), but off the back of our free month RPS Premium trial in September, I wanted to put out another call for reader questions from our fine crop of supporters - as an extra thank you and benefit for your continued support of the site. This is your opportunity to ask us, the RPS editorial team, questions about games, the site, the way we do things, and other things we like. These questions will then be answered in our semi-regular (ish, sort of, as best we can) Ask RPS column, which is a public post available to everyone. So come and tell us what's been on your mind in the comments below.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Pikmin 4 holds at No.1 for the third consecutive month | Japan Monthly Charts

5 months 2 weeks ago

Pikmin 4 was the best-selling game in Japan in September, for the third month running.

According to the latest data from Famitsu, Nintendo's title sold another 111,636 copies in the country last month, bringing its cumulative sales to 864,229 units since its launch in July.

The PlayStation 5 version of Armored Core 6, which debuted at No.2 in August, charted at No.3 in September, knocked down one place by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. FromSoftware's title sold an additional 39,845 copies on PS5 during the month.

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Author
Marie Dealessandri

Ubisoft’s Call of Duty Rival XDefiant Delayed Indefinitely

5 months 2 weeks ago

Ubisoft has delayed XDefiant indefinitely after a series of playtests unearthed issues the development team wants to work to improve before launch. Ubisoft had hoped to release the game in October.

A recent Public Test Session (PTS) revealed “inconsistencies” in the game experience that need to be addressed prior to the release of XDefiant’s preseason, a statement published to Twitter read.

XDefiant is Ubisoft’s answer to Call of Duty, and taps into nostalgia for the classic Call of Duty feel. It focuses on fast-paced gunplay and objective-driven modes, and has features such as a classic mini-map and lobbies that stay together after a match.

XDefiant is in the works at Ubisoft San Francisco, with Mark Rubin as director and executive producer. Rubin was executive producer at Infinity Ward until 2015, working on a long list of Call of Duty games including the Modern Warfare series.

In a statement published to Twitter, Rubin went into more detail on how feedback to the PTS is improving the game. Apparently movement was “feeling off” for some people, with the slide feeling “nerfed or clunkier”. The developers the slide was being interrupted by frame spikes.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Diablo 4 and Modern Warfare 3 won't release on Game Pass till next year at the earliest

5 months 2 weeks ago

Much like a Call of Duty player inching up the stairs behind a wily sniper, Microsoft are closing in on final, final approval of their multi-billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, having more-or-less won over the UK's competition and markets authority. The company expect to bring it home by 13th October.

Aside from hastening the arrival of a grim future that consists of a giant, mechanised Phil Spencer engaged in a trans-Pacific staring contest with Nintendo, this also means we can expect new and recent behemoths like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4 on Microsoft's Game Pass subscription service. But not for a while, it seems.

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Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Activision Blizzard expects to add games to Game Pass next year

5 months 2 weeks ago

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Activision Blizzard has said it expects to add more of its titles to Xbox Game Pass in 2024, following the publisher's expected acquisition by Microsoft.

With both completion of the deal and the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 rapidly approaching, the publisher addressed fan queries about when the latter might be added to Microsoft's subscription service.

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Author
James Batchelor

Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller Gets a Big Discount for October Prime Day

5 months 2 weeks ago

If you're an Xbox enthusiast looking to snag an Elite controller, you're in luck because the Elite Series 2 Core controller is currently available for just $88 at Walmart during its Prime Day 2 counter sale. This deal offers a significant discount from the regular $129.99 MSRP, making it a fantastic opportunity to upgrade to an elite gamepad. While the Elite Series 2 Core doesn't come with all the extra accessories of the original Elite Series 2, it's still an outstanding controller, especially if you don't want to shell out over $180 for all the additional features.

The Elite Series 2 Core controller boasts a range of impressive features, including adjustable-tension thumbsticks, a comfortable wrap-around rubberized grip, shorter hair trigger locks, and a remarkable 40 hours of rechargeable battery life. Plus, it's not only fully compatible with Xbox Series X|S but also works seamlessly with Xbox One and various Windows 10/11 devices.

If you're planning to order the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, I recommend doing so as soon as possible. This deal is set to expire after October 11 once Prime Big Deal Days ends. Otherwise, we suggest just checking our relevant articles listed below, and staying plugged into our deals coverage on Twitter/X or Deals Discord.

Take a look at our list of the best Xbox Series X controllers for more options like this one.

Author
Robert Anderson

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Cricket 24 Review

5 months 2 weeks ago

Between the launches of Major League Cricket in the United States and the Women’s Premier League in India, and Ben Stokes’ Bazballing Brits putting bums on seats in the Test arena, the past couple of years has been an exciting period of expansion and evolution for the sport of cricket in all of its forms – well, except for one. Cricket 24, the latest video game version of the most beer-friendly of summer sports from developer Big Ant Studios, finds itself stuck in the past like a handlebar moustache on an Aussie fast bowler – offering a brand of bat-on-ball gameplay that’s almost indistinguishable from the now two-year-old Cricket 22. A sprinkling of new and only partially implemented player licences, slight visual improvements, and the addition of Adam Gilchrist to the perennially misfiring commentary team don’t really combine to provide a compelling enough reason to bring returning fans back through Cricket 24’s turnstiles.

To be fair, you might assume that adding licensed Indian Premier League teams, the Pakistan Super League competition, and a handful of new national teams would be a boon for Cricket 24 of, well, David Boon proportions. Sadly, most of these additions come with compromises. Only eight out of the 10 IPL teams are actually featured, with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore noticeably absent, and the actual IPL tournament itself isn’t available to play unless you want to cobble together a rough approximation of it yourself using a combination of the competition editing tools and the community-created squads. It makes for a slightly less ideal way to experience one of the crowning jewels on the cricketing calendar.

Author
Tristan Ogilvie

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