Marvel's Avengers Spider-Man Isn't Associated with Insomniac Games' Version of the Character

After some confusion over the past 24-hours (partially due to our own reporting) Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics announced today that Spider-Man is coming to Marvel's Avengers in 2021 as an exclusive character on PS4 and PS5. And while, naturally, given the cross-promotion, you might expect that Insomniac Games' iteration of Spider-Man would be the one swinging into Avengers, that won't be happening whatsoever.

Over on the PlayStation Blog, some initial details on Spider-Man heading to Marvel's Avengers were provided and the post made sure to specify that it is "our own Crystal Dynamics take on Spider-Man" that is heading to the game. This means that if you thought Yuri Lowenthal's take on Peter Parker from Insomniac's PS4 title would be the one that would naturally be heading over to Avengers, well, turns out your wrong. Crystal Dynamics didn't provide much other information about what to expect from its own iteration of the character, but it did say that the base design for Spidey is being modeled after Steve Ditko and John Romita's version of the wallcrawler.

What's somewhat bizarre about this whole situation is that it almost would have made way more sense for Insomniac's take on Spider-Man to be the one to appear in Avengers. Those who played Marvel's Spider-Man back when it launched in 2018 are likely aware that the Avengers are mentioned a handful of times throughout the game. Heck, Spidey himself even mentions at one point that they happen to be out on the west coast during the events of Marvel's Spider-Man, which almost could have lined up with the A-Day plot that kickstarts the events of Marvel's Avengers.

The fact that Insomniac's take on the character isn't the one being included also makes the PlayStation exclusivity a bit more bizarre, too. While it's a good bet that the reason Spider-Man is exclusive to PlayStation is because Sony specifically has a deal with Marvel Games, the fact that the world's most popular superhero won't be coming to other platforms is a bit of a bummer. Alas, today's announcement has surely convinced that many more people to pick the game up on a PlayStation platform, however.

Marvel's Avengers is set to launch next month on September 4 and will initially be coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. Xbox Series X and PS5 installments will be arriving when the next-gen consoles release, too.

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Shujinkou Is a New JRPG That Teaches You Japanese

Shujinkou

Japanese seems to be a complicated language to learn, but Shujinkou, a new JRPG from Rice Games, is supposed to teach you how to speak in Japanese more or less.

While some may assume games as a way of entertaining without any certain purposes, there are many things that you can do much easier with games. Nowadays, many people around the world are using games as a way of learning new skills such as a new language. Shujinkou is a 2D JRPG that invites you to an interesting adventure where you can learn new things about the Japanese language while being challenged by the main mechanics of the game.

As the trailer above reveals, there are various gameplay mechanics in Shujinkou, providing a different experience in each mission, while allowing you to learn Japanese through multiple ways. According to the developers, you will get to learn Japanese from JLPT N5 to N3 standard in the game.

Over 50 hours of story-telling will let you learn more about writing and speaking in Japanese. Personally, I'd love to learn Japanese as a new language, but it has always seemed too complicated for me that I've never tried it so far. But Shujinkou could possibly be an easier way for me to examine the basic levels of the language while playing a fun game.

Aside from Shujinkou, there are lots of other games out there that will teach you Japanese throughout an RPG experience. Kanji Combat is probably one of the best-known games for this purpose. You can find more about these types of games on Steam if you really want to learn a new language while playing games.

Featuring anime-style graphics, Shujinkou seems to be a low-spec-friendly title that will be coming to PC along with PS4 and Nintendo Switch in 2021. No next-gen version has been announced yet.

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Marvel's Avengers Will Be Adding Spider-Man as a PS4 Exclusive [Update]

Avengers

UPDATE: Well, turns out we lied. Or someone lied at Base. Regardless, Spider-Man will indeed be coming to Marvel's Avengers and will be exclusive to the PlayStation platform.

The original story can be found below.

Over the weekend, reports came out that the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man was coming to Marvel's Avengers as a PS4-exclusive character. Sadly, for both PS4 owners and Spidey enthusiasts alike, these rumours have now been quashed thanks to an investigation by IGN.

The rumour originated thanks to a listing on British retailer Base and an eagle-eyed Reddit user. u/FNaF_walrusman spotted that the website had a copy of the game available for pre-order supported by the text, "Play as Spider-Man exclusively on PS4".

While the rumour did initially have some serious plausibility due to the fact that Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man movies, plus the fact that 2018's Spider-Man was a PS4-exclusive and that the upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales is coming exclusively to PS5. IGN managed to shut it down by speaking to a representative from Base who said:

"The information was removed from our product page as it was not correct. We removed the information as soon as we found out that it was not correct. It had been on the product since E3 June 2019 (11 June 2019)."

The original listing did also have the release date as May 15, a date that is now very much gone. Marvel's Avengers was originally scheduled to release on May 15 but was delayed back in January to the game's current September release date.

That's not the only recent Marvel's Avengers news. During last week's War Table event, Square Enix revealed that Hawkeye would be the first of four characters coming to the game post-launch. The event also shared a few more details about the beta, which kicks off this weekend for PlayStation pre-order customers. Fortnite players taking part in the Avengers beta will have the opportunity to complete HARM challenges and get the Hulk's hands and the fists from the Hulkbuster suit in the game.

Marvel's Avengers drops on September 4 on Google Stadia, PC, PS4, and Xbox One, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch.

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Fall Guys Was Pitched With a Takeshi's Castle GIF and Nearly Called Fool's Gauntlet

Fall Guys

Tomorrow will see Mediatonic and Devolver Digital's wacky new title, Fall Guys hit PC and PS4, and in preparation for the launch, a behind the scenes video has been released which has some interviews with members of the team.

Hosted by JT, Devolver Digital's "Special Ops" he visits Mediatonic's studio in London and speaks with various members of the development team. According to the studio's creative director, Jeff Tanton, the game was originally set out to be called Fool's Gauntlet when Joe Walsh, the Lead Game Designer explained the concept. When the game was pitched to publisher Devolver Digital, there was apparently a slide with a GIF of Takeshi's Castle followed by a slide of Fall Guys characters. The pitch was immediately positive.

Walsh explains how Takeshi's Castle was one inspiration for the game, a Japanese game show that found contestants overcoming challenging and absurd obstacles. Megan Ralph, senior level designer at Mediatonic also talks about how British kid's games inspired Fall Guys such as Tag, and Bullrush — also known as British Bulldog.

Anthony Pepper, senior designer talks on how the Fall Mountain is the most iconic level for him, in which players race up a mountain to grab a singular crown. This level was also one of the earliest levels the team created and has mechanics that have "stood the test of time" and has the slapstick feel that resonates through the game. JT also talks to the principal concept artists who show off the character designs, showing how the team opted to stay with the original prototype design rather than…the other strange character choices shown.

Lead client developer, Joel Herber touches on the character movement and the importance of the floppiness. It's explained that the characters are a partially networked ragdoll. The character is simulated in two parts across the network and across the server. It's complicated to figure out, so I'll just let you watch the video.

Fall Guys is slated to launch tomorrow after having two weekends of beta tests. Future content was teased in a recent Reddit AMA. It's due to launch on August 4 for PC and PS4. Those who pre-order the game quick enough on Steam will nab a Gordon Freeman crossover costume, and those on PS4 will be able to play the game on PS+.

The post Fall Guys Was Pitched With a Takeshi's Castle GIF and Nearly Called Fool's Gauntlet by Ben Bayliss appeared first on DualShockers.

FIFA 21 Picks Two Massive Italian Licenses With A.C. Milan and Inter Milan

FIFA 21, EA Sports

EA Sports is adding two Italian giants to their stable of partner clubs with FIFA 21. Today, the team announced new, multi-year deals with A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. The move comes just a few weeks after Konami announced the clubs would no longer be partner clubs for the PES 21 roster update. So, this is a big get for EA Sports. To celebrate, they released new trailers featuring the clubs' biggest icons. Check out the A.C. Milan trailer below.

This, of course, will have some big implications for FIFA 21 players. EA's partner clubs get a fully-realized version of the team's stadium in the game. Obviously, you can already plan in the San Siro, but FIFA 21 will include some new bells and whistles to make it feel like a real match-day.

On top of that, players can expect face scans of both teams' players. This is massive across all game modes. It's incredibly annoying and game-breaking when a player like Lionel Messi looks just like his real-life version while guys like Alessio Romagnoli are just generic player models. Obviously, that's still going to happen. It just won't happen to fans of either Milan side.

It's not all good for EA though. The announcement of two new clubs joining includes one club leaving. Italian side AS Roma will no longer be a partner club. Instead, Roma fans will have to play as Roma FC if they want to take their team to glory in FIFA 21.

FIFA 21 is set to launch on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 6. It will also come to next-gen consoles once they release. And, before you Inter fans think I'm leaving you out, make sure to check out their trailer below for a look at Zanetti in the blue and black.

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Analogue Pocket Pre-Orders Sell Out in Mere Minutes

Analogue Pocket

In a time where many have been waiting to pre-order upcoming consoles like the Xbox Series X and PS5 for months now, a more under the radar platform went up for pre-order just this morning. However, based on how quickly this item sold out, perhaps it wasn't so under the radar after all.

Analogue's new all-in-one Pocket handheld device, which lets users play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and a variety of other games from platform of the past, went up for sale this morning and almost instantaneously sold out. The Pocket, which is set to begin shipping out to those that were lucky enough to snag one in May 2021, began taking sales at 11:00am EDT/8:00am PDT. Fifteen minutes after going live, Analogue announced that it had already sold out of its initial stock.

The highly-coveted Pocket, as mentioned, has the ability to play a variety of Game Boy games from the past, but also boasts a screen that has ten times the resolution of the original devices from back in the day. While nostalgia alone may have drove pre-order sales for many, Analogue has released a variety of other supporting products for the Pocket such as a dock, a link cable, and a protective case to make the console that much more fleshed out.

As for those that missed out, Analogue seems hopeful that it will have more Pocket handhelds going up for pre-order in the future, but given the current state of the world when it comes to manufacturing, it couldn't commit to anything specific. "We will be producing more and do our best to meet demand during this unfortunate global state of affairs," Analogue said upon announcing that the initial wave of Pocket platforms had sold out.

So were you able to pre-order an Analogue Pocket for yourself this morning? And if so, what game are you going to revisit on it first when it arrives next May? Be sure to let us know down in the comments!

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Moon Remix RPG The Dark Souls of Undertale Is Coming to Switch August 27

Moon Remix RPG Adventure"don't be a hero, experience love, experience moon" english release

Onion Games announced the official localization of Moon Remix RPG Adventure's Switch release will be launching August 27, for $18.99 / €15.99 / £14.49. Moon first launched on PS1 on October 16, 1997, and is remembered fondly by those who tried it out. The game's reputation isn't exaggerated and I have actual Japanese online friends who're crazy about it. The Nintendo Switch release was announced back in September 2019, and first launched in Japan in October 2019, for a similar price of 1833 Yen.

Moon follows the trend of many Japanese exclusive classics finally getting localized, on Switch, after decades. An official English page for Moon was opened up as well. Moon Remix RPG Adventure is described as such:

Have you ever played an RPG and wondered…"Why does the 'hero' kill thousands of innocent monsters? Why does the 'hero' break into homes and steal their items and gold?" Moon is a game that turns those ideas upside down, to see what really happens behind the scenes of your favorite RPG video games.

One night, under the light of a full moon, a young boy is sucked into his TV. He wakes up inside the video game 'Moon World'. The boy levels up by saving the souls of the monsters killed by Moon World's so-called 'hero', observing the lives of the oddball inhabitants of the world, and gathering their secret love. That's right, in this game you level up with love, not through battles. "Now, please, open the door…"

Onion Games is most notably made of Moon's original developers Yoshiro Kimura and Kazuyuki Kurashima. One of the studio's previous game is weird shooting game Black Bird.

Personally speaking, I first heard of Moon a few years ago when Yoshiro Kimura appeared on Toco Toco. Kimura mentioned then he mainly worked on the story part and making the clay-like characters of the game. Toco Toco used to run on French culture channel Nolife, which existed from June 2007 to April 2018. I probably wouldn't be writing here if not for being inspired by Toco Toco's original journalist Anne Ferrero and all the Nolife team. Toco Toco is still ongoing now as Archipel:

Along with ZUN's Touhou, Moon is known as one of the biggest inspirations behind Toby Fox's Undertale.

Needless to say, this story's title is a joke though. And a pretty funny one in my opinion. I could have tried out "The Madoka Magica of Undertale" but that one was too sarcastic, kinda rude, and would need further explanation for it to be truly understood unless you've been regularly watching anime for over 25 years.

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Forza Motorsport Might Be Confirmed for Xbox One as It Supports Smart Delivery

Forza Motorsport

Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft has been tight-lipped about the current-gen version of the upcoming Forza Motorsport title, but it seems the Xbox One players will also be able to play the game as it supports smart delivery.

Officially revealed during Xbox Games Showcase later in July, Forza Motorsport is the next upcoming entry from the FM series. If you order it in numbers, the new iteration should've been branded as Forza Motorsport 8, but it seems the developer has decided to drop the number.

While the reveal trailer didn't provide much information, it seems the game will be a cross-gen title similar to most of the first-party projects that are set to be released in the early years of the 9th generation. According to a recent Reddit post on the Xbox Series X subreddit, the official Xbox webpage indicates that Forza Motorsport will support Smart Delivery, which means it probably targets more than one console.

Smart Delivery is a brand new feature for cross-gen games that are targetting both Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles. Thanks to this feature, players can purchase cross-gen titles once and play it on both Xbox consoles. All cross-gen Microsoft-exclusive games will be supporting Smart Delivery at launch, including Halo Infinite.

While some believe that the game will arrive on Xbox One as well, others assume that the Smart Deliver badge on Forza refers to its launch on the rumored Xbox Lockhart console. If there's any cheaper next-gen Xbox console in development, we would probably get to know more about it this month as rumors suggest.

Forza Motorsport 7 is the latest launch from Turn 10 Studios that was released in 2017. Rebranding the new entry as Forza Motorsport probably refers to the start of a new era for the series.

The new Forza doesn't have a release date yet.

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The Last of Us Part II Fan Poster Illustrates Ellie and Abby's Cycle of Violence

With its release this past June, The Last of Us Part II took fans of the series on an emotional and gut-wrenching journey not only of hate, but of empathy and love. As an exploration of the consequences of fate and actions by its lead characters, one of the main themes of The Last of Us Part II was the "cycle of violence" that results from hate and seeking revenge, as we saw through the stories of its main characters. With that in mind, one illustrator crafted a poster that looks more directly at this theme to create an interesting and detailed piece of The Last of Us-themed fan art.

Illustrator and designer Iconic Nephilim (Twitter) shared his fan-made poster for The Last of Us Part II called "The Cycle of Violence," which highlights one of the core themes from the game in an intriguing way. As you can see from the images below, the poster is meant to reflect the parallel journeys that TLOU Part II's main characters, Ellie and Abby, take in order to seek revenge alongside their companions Jesse, Dina, Lev, and Yara.

In addition to the high-res images, he also shared a behind-the-scenes look of the work that went into making The Last of Us Part II poster. You can check out the full video below to see it being made in real-time:

Since its release, The Last of Us Part II has seen a number of incredible pieces of fan art and other creations from across Twitter and more. Another fan made their own interpretation of a The Last of Us Part II movie-style poster featuring the game's diverse cast, along with these impressive recreations of the game's collectible trading cards. You can also happen to catch Dina's voice actress Shannon Woodward on her brand new Twitch channel where she is now starting to stream games.

The Last of Us Part II is available now exclusively on PS4.

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Ubisoft Executive Tommy Francois Leaves Following Sexual Harassment Accusations

ubisoft logo

Tommy Francois, the vice-president of editorial and creative services at Ubisoft, has left the company after allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.

Francois is the latest in a number of high-profile departures from Ubisoft, namely coming from the company's editorial team, which controls the development of a majority of the Ubisoft's franchises. Specifically, Francois's role left him in control of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs. Serge Hascoet, the former chief creative officer and head of Ubisoft's editorial team, left along with former Managing Director Yannis Mallat following reports of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the company. Along with them, former Global Head of HR Cecile Cornet stepped down from her position, although she is still employed by Ubisoft. Of this trio to leave the most notable was Hascoet, who had enough power at Ubisoft to nix a King Arthur inspired game and ensure that Assassin's Creed Odyssey wouldn't have a sole female protagonist.

News of Francois' departure comes from Business Insider, which saw an email sent July 31 by Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemont announcing the former executive would be leaving the company. This was later confirmed by Business Insider through an email from Ubisoft.

Previously, Francois had been placed on leave along with another vice-president and several other employees, all the result of reports of sexual harassment and misconduct at Ubisoft. At the time, Guillemont promised to "personally follow" each case.

Guillemont has previously released an internal letter titled "Change Starts Today" in which he outlined changes to the company's editorial team as well as its HR department in response to multiple reports of ongoing harassment at the company and its studios.

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