Xbox Series X Will Allow Parts of Games to be Deleted

Xbox Series S X Microsoft Taste Hardware Next Gen

As games have gotten bigger and bigger, so have the file sizes. I am looking at you Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I am not sure how many times I have had to reorganize certain applications on my Xbox One to clear up space. With that said, it sounds like the Xbox Series X will allow users to delete portions of games if the developers allow it.

Larry Hryb, many of you will know him as Major Nelson, interviewed the development producer Jason Ronald on his podcast. During the recording, Jason stated: "Even beyond the hardware, we've actually made user interface improvements to make it easier for you to manage your storage. As an example, one of the new features we're adding is actually for, if a title chooses to support it, the ability to selectively uninstall different components of the game."

Jason Ronald continued and gave a particular example where a game contained both single-player and multiplayer components. He said: "Let's say you play a campaign as an example, and then you want to focus exclusively on multiplayer. If the developers chose to support it, you can actually uninstall the campaign itself, so that you can be more in control of how you're actually using your storage, so you really get the most benefit out of the available storage that you have."

This would be a massive help to many of us who constantly have maxed out storage problems. On top of that, it would help out with games that you still pop into every now and then, but only for the multiplayer. I haven't touched the single player for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or Gears 5 since they were released, but I still like to pop into the multiplayer every now and then. It would be great if I could trim the fat of those two games, one more than the other, so that I could have more room for other titles.

I would have to imagine games that take up 100+ Gigs would allow users to take advantage of this feature. If not, I could see some backlash since it is a feature available to developers.

The Xbox Series X and Series S are set to release on November 10 for $499 and $299. Pre-orders were released a couple weeks ago and were snagged pretty quickly, but if you are still in the market of picking one up, you will have to be pretty quick in doing so.

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Live A Live Director Takashi Tokita Asks Fans For Continuous Support For A Sequel, Remaster or Remake To Happen

Live A Live 26th Anniversary stream

Square Enix could end up bringing a Live A Live remaster to the west, officially localizing the game for the first time, assuming fan demand is high enough.

Square Enix held a special live stream for the 26th anniversary of legendary omnibus SNES RPG Live A Live on October 3. The stream featured Live A Live Director Takashi Tokita, Composer Yoko Shimomura, Battle Director Nobuyuki Inoue (Zoom), Character Pixel Art Illustrator Kazuyuki Kurashima (Zoom), and Nobuo from comedy duo Penguins (huge Square Enix fan and always on SaGa streams). Takashi Tokita jokingly started the stream introducing himself as Hironobu Sakaguchi since he has the same stache now due to Covid-19 stay home. After everyone introduced themselves and a kanpai, the stream started for real.

The stream alternated with chit chat between the staff, answering fans' questions sent in beforehand via Twitter, and a watch together of the "Live A Live A Live in Shinjuku 2019" concert. Stay tuned as we'll soon update this article with a full summary of the live stream.

During one of the Q&A segments in particular, a non Japanese fan sent in an English question asking if Live A Live could be officially released in the west soon. Similarly to how Japan exclusive Square games such as Romancing SaGa 3 and Seiken Densetsu 3 were finally localized for the first time recently.

Director Takashi Tokita first translated the question back in Japanese for the Japanese fans watching, and then answered. Tokita first noted that while Live A Live is celebrating its 26th anniversary, they never did a sequel, a remaster, a remake, or any new game project. The only new release was the game coming to the Wii's Virtual Console some years ago. Tokita said it's thanks to the fans' support that they could do this anniversary stream. And if fans keep passionately supporting Live A Live, something might happen one day in some form.

You can hear that part of the stream at the 2:17:20 timestamp.

Long story short, no announcement happened on stream, but Square Enix is teasing something might happen one day.

Here's a summary of everything that happened on the Live A Live 26th anniversary stream.

Note that this contains spoilers for Live A Live.

Takashi Tokita first explained how the Live A Live project came to life. Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Seiken Densetsu (Mana series) and SaGa already existed, so they wanted to do something different. The first idea they got and kept, was making an atypical story with independent chapters where everything would tie up together at the end with a typical story instead, to surprise players. That's why they wrote the medieval chapter first, but it's the last one you unlock along with the final chapter. Later on in the stream, they also explained Live A Live was born because the ROM size on Super Famicom kept increasing, so they realized they could make an RPG with tons of different themes like Westerns, Sci-fi, hot blooded fights, etc. And instead of a very long RPG with the same themes for many hours, players could be able to freely change themes/chapter when they feel like it for a change of pace.

The Near Future chapter is one of Nobuo's favorites, especially how passionate it is, be it the dialogue or everything else. So he's wondering how the dialogue was made during their meetings back then. Takashi Tokita answered the Near Future chapter was first written by Nobuyuki Inoue and then him and the others did a few changes and added the screenplay etc. Famous lines like "Rerero hoge" or "Keep apologizing to me in the afterlife" were all written by Nobuyuki Inoue. Takashi Tokita also explained that back then, they used to polish scenario and dialogues lines in games until the last minute. Checking what works best when play testing the game, since they didn't have to worry about voice acting.

At the end of the Modern Age chapter, protagonist Masaru has dialogues lines explaining he'll uses the skills of all the previously defeated opponents at the tournament to beat the final boss. At some point in his lines though, Masaru says he'll use "Jackie's power ("chikara") and Morgan's power ("Power")". So he's basically saying the same trait twice. Tokita explained he only realized that years later when seeing fans chat about Live A Live and that scene on the net. He said they were probably supposed to change "power" with something else but forgot.

There's a message saying "congratulations to the newlyweds" at the end of the Bakumatsu chapter of the game. It was to congratulate Nobuyuki Inoue and his wife Yukiko Sasaki, a designer who worked on the backgrounds of the Bakumatsu chapter and the Middle Ages chapter. The Bakumatsu Chapter was made by planer Okuma.

 

 

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Call of Duty Modern Warfare Spec Ops Game Mode Is Now Available on Xbox One and PC

Modern Warfare

When launched in 2019, Call of Duty Modern Warfare introduced a brand new co-op mode to the series called Spec Ops Survival, which remained as a PS4-exclusive mode since launch for one year. Today, the exclusivity is over and all PC and Xbox One players get access to the mode.

During the current generation of consoles, there has always been a great partnership between Sony and Activision on Call of Duty titles. Most of the Call of Duty entries over the last six years launched with some exclusive content or privilege on PS4, which somehow forced the Call of Duty community to get the games on PS4 rather than other consoles.

Last year, just a few weeks ahead of the game's launch, Activision and Infinity Ward officially revealed Special Ops as a brand new 4-player co-op mode for Modern Warfare, where you have to survive as long as you can against the multiple waves of enemies. The series received various maps and scenarios since launch, but it was exclusive to PS4 for one year. With the exclusivity deal expiring yesterday, now the mode is available for Xbox One and PC players as well.

Despite being an exclusive mode, Spec Ops Survival didn't receive favorable reviews from the media and was mentioned as one of the weakest areas of the game by the majority of the critics. That being said, you never get to know how good or bad it is until you get the chance to play it. However, if you weren't able to jump into Spec Ops in Call of Duty Modern Warfare, the wait is now over.

The partnership between Sony and Activision is going on with the upcoming Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War as well, allowing all PS4 owners to play the Open Beta phase earlier than others. The game is expected to feature more PlayStation-exclusive content when it launches in November.

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Dirt 5 New Gameplay Footage Reveals Point-to-Point Races

Dirt 5

Codemasters revealed the first point-to-point track in Dirt 5, which is a dirty off-road track set in China with an incredibly gorgeous environment.

Point-to-point races usually are a bit tougher to beat than ordinary circuits as till the end of the road you will face new corners and new challenges so you don't have any idea what the next part of the track would look like while racing in a circuit allows you to have a better understaning of the whole track once you beat in the first lap. That being said, point-to-point tracks are more fun to play as you don't get to see repetitive roads or environment over and over.

As shown in the trailer above, one of the point-to-point tracks in Dirt 5 is set in China, featuring awe-inspiring environment design. The track will be available through Rally Raid event which is a host to Modern Rally cars and point-to-point tracks. That said, you can compete on the same type of tracks in other events with vehicles such as Trucks and Buggies.

Dirt 5 is aimed to deliver the best experience in the series, thanks to its wide variety of events and car classes. The game is promised to feature a brand new career mode, which has been voice acted by Troy Baker and Nolan North.

Dirt 5 is set to be launched on November 6 for Xbox One, PS4, Stadia, and PC. The game will hit Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10th, with PS5 versions arriving on November 12th. You can now pre-order the Amplified Edition of the game including a season pass key, three unique cars, and some other in-game items.

Dirt 5 will support Smart Delivery on Xbox consoles, meaning you can upgrade your Xbox One version to Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S for free.

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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Also to Include 2 Months of Funimation Premium Plus

game pass funimation

In a tweet this morning, the official Twitter account for Xbox Game Pass posted a photo revealing one of the latest perks for Game Pass Ultimate: two months of free Funimation Premium Plus. Funimation is an anime streaming service that seems like a perfect pair for Game Pass Ultimate. There is a high crossover between anime fans and gamers so this deal is perfect for consumers while also being just one more thing to add to the incredible service that Game Pass Ultimate provides.

Offering a great selection of shows like My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball Z Super, and Death Parade, the Funimation streaming service is something of a Game Pass Ultimate itself, but for anime.

This addition to Game Pass is just one of several that makes the deal even sweeter. Just last month, Microsoft announced that EA Play will also be added to the service this holiday season with no extra cost.

Microsoft's gamer/consumer-friendly model has been giving it a name ever since Game Pass was announced back in 2017. Heading into this new generation of consoles, however, it's certainly leaning on that aspect of its marketing to really sell the Xbox Series X/S. Their approach of putting gamers first by offering big AAA first-party games for free on the service the day they launch is huge for fans who are deciding which of the next-gen consoles they want to buy.

In 2020, Game Pass Ultimate has gone from something described as "the Netflix for gaming" to undeniably the best deal that gaming has to offer. With the constant addition of huge titles like Doom: Eternal and Resident Evil 7, Game Pass seems like it can do no wrong, and adding Funimation to the mix is just another step in the right direction.

For more on Microsoft, make sure to check out our tag right here on DualShockers.

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Nintendo Is Reportedly Downplaying the Joy-Con Drift Problem

For all of you Switch owners out there, I am willing to bet at least half of you have to experience Joy-Con drift. And for those of you who somehow have no idea what that is, Joy-Con drift is when one of the controls acts as if the user is pushing the analog stick in a certain direction when they aren't. Nintendo is reportedly downplaying the issue during a class-action lawsuit that was filed in July of last year.

Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith (CSK&D), a law firm in the US reports that Nintendo is arguing that the Joy-Con drift issue "isn't a real problem or hasn't caused anyone any inconvenience."

CSK&D is working to get the case through the arbitration process. The law firm has been replying to consumers who have previously contacted them and asking if they could provide videos that can display the defect. On top of that, they would like to see how Nintendo handled their complaints and if it affected the consumer's confidence in Nintendo's products.

An email from the firm had been republished on Reddit and states: "Thank you for contacting our law firm about the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift litigation. We are working on putting together a montage of video clips from Nintendo Switch owners such as yourself as a way to give voice to the joy-con drift issues you've experienced. This will be helpful to us in responding to Nintendo's arguments about how this isn't a real problem or hasn't caused anyone any inconvenience. In an effort to humanize and demonstrate these issues and their impact on consumers, it would be helpful to our prosecution of the case if you would submit a short (90 seconds or less) video to us describing your experience with the Joy-Con drift on your controllers."

The law firm would like if videos could be submitted no later than October 16. They intend to share them with both Nintendo's attorneys and the company's representatives.

After the suit was filed last year, Nintendo did stop charging Switch owners for Joy-Con repairs. On top of that, the company also refunded those who had sent in their controllers to be fixed.

It does seem a little weird that Nintendo would refund and fix controllers for free but also not acknowledge and try to downplay the issue. Who knows. I am sure there is legal mumbo jumbo that has caused them to do so. It does still seem a bit misguided though.

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Bloodborne is Currently Appearing Free for PS Plus Members on PS4

Bloodborne

Bloodborne has been a free title for PlayStation Plus users in the past, but without warning, it seems as though the game has once again become available.

In what looks like it could very well be an error, Bloodborne can currently be added to your cart free of charge on the PlayStation Store if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber. The iconic action title wasn't set to be available as a free title in the month of October with this month's lineup instead consisting of Vampyr and Need for Speed: Payback.

It seems as though the most likely cause for why Bloodborne could be appearing for free comes with PlayStation's new PS Plus Collection program. Announced in the most recent stream dedicated to the PS5, Sony revealed that it would be expanding PS Plus to contain a library of popular PS4 titles that could be downloaded on the next-gen system. While the program wasn't supposed to have started yet, Bloodborne was indeed included in the Collection's initial lineup that was unveiled. Perhaps this could be why we're seeing it appear for free at this moment.

Either way, you can head to the PlayStation Store right here to add Bloodborne to your own game library if you haven't already.

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Genshin Impact New Regions Update Order Confirmed By miHoYo, New Characters Teased

Genshin Impact Story Chapters trailer new regions characters

DualShockers recently had the opportunity to interview the Genshin Impact development team at miHoYo. The game is out now on PC, PS4, mobile, and currently has two vast regions to explore, Mondstadt and Liyue. miHoYo confirmed the next region to be added is the Japan-themed Inazuma. Moreover, in a recently revealed trailer, miHoYo actually listed in which order each of the new regions of Teyvat should be added to Genshin Impact via future updates.

The trailer features each of the main story acts that will be included in Genshin Impact. Each story arc will be focused on one of the seven regions of Teyvat, ruled by one of the seven Archon. Each segment also reveals a character from the region.

The trailer lists all the regions of Teyvat in Genshin Impact in this order:

Act Prologue: The Outlander Who Caught The Wind. Region: Mondstadt (Anemo / wind element). Featured character: Diluc

Act I: Farewell, Archaic Lord. Region: Liyue (Geo / earth element). Featured character: Ningguang

Act II: Omnipresence Over Mortals. Region: Inazuma (Electro / lightning element) Featured character: Ayaka Kamisato

Act III: Truth Amongst the Pages of Purana. Region: Sumeru (Dendro / wood element) Featured character: Cyno (new)

Act IV: Masquerade of the Guilty. Region: Fontaine (Hydro  / water element) Featured characters: Lyney and Lynette (new)

Act V: Incandescent Ode of Resurrection. Region: Natlan (Pyro / fire element) Featured character: Iansan (new)

Act VI: Everwinter Without Mercy. Region: Snezhnaya (Cryo / ice element) Featured character: Harbinger Pulcinella (not fully revealed)

Act ?: The Dream Yet to Be Dreamed. Region: Khaen'riah (no element listed). Featured character: Bough Keeper Dainsleif (new)

Genshin Impact Cyno Genshin Impact Lyney and Lynette Genshin Impact Iansan

Diluc and Ningguang are already in the game. The character appearing in the Inazuma Chapter segment, Ayaka Kamisato, was actually already playable in the first Closed Beta Test. She wasn't reintegrated into the game since though. All the other characters are new.

It's technically not officially confirmed yet if each Genshin Impact major update will each bring one of these new story chapters and region. We could get more content between each. The fact that the final Act isn't numbered might also hint that there will be more Acts after Act VI before reaching the final Act.

The trailer is narrated by Bough Keeper Dainsleif, who was first revealed at TGS 2020, is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda, most notably famous for voicing Seto Kaiba in Yugioh. Recently, he also dubbed Sam Bridges / in the Japanese dub of Death Stranding.

Genshin Impact Teyvat Chapters Storyline Preview Trailer (Japanese, English Dub)

 

Soon after the launch of Genshin Impact, multiple Japanese players claimed the game was "spyware" or was executing clipboard snooping. miHoYo denied both of these allegations and explained in detail what actually happened. The issues were both unintentional, and have now been resolved.

The post Genshin Impact New Regions Update Order Confirmed By miHoYo, New Characters Teased by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

NHL 21 Pre-orders Come With a New NHL 94 Rewind Mode

NHL 21, NHL 94 Rewind, EA Sports

NHL 21 is about to be upon us. The game launches October 16, and EA announced today that fans who pre-order will get an enticing new bonus. The team has taken today's rosters and put them inside classic NHL 94 gameplay. If you pre-order this year's game, that mode comes with it. And, while it won't be available at launch, it's a fun addition for fans. Check it out.

EA has done something very similar to this before. NHL 14 celebrated the series' anniversary by including an NHL 94 mode. However, that version remains took the gameplay from the classic and transported it into the modern engine. This go-around appears to be the opposite. You're getting current rosters, but classic graphics. Sign me the heck up.

Of course, NHL 94 Rewind won't be able on day one of NHL 21. It's a bit of a weird turn for a pre-order bonus, but the mode won't actually be in the game until October 30. That's two weeks after the game launches which is a bit puzzling.

I also have to wonder if they'll make the mode purchasable for everyone later on. It would really suck for people who haven't pre-ordered to never have a chance to check the classic mode out. Surely, you'll be able to buy this for like five bucks somewhere down the line.

NHL 21 comes to PS4 and Xbox One on October 16. It doesn't look like we're getting upgraded next-gen versions; however, the game will be forward compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X. So, while you won't have all the shine of a new version, you can still play it on whichever console you upgrade to.

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What the Addition of Minecraft's Steve Means for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

No matter who you wanted to be yesterday's newest character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the one we got probably wasn't what you were expecting. He's been called a "meme pick" through the years, a character that everyone always joked about adding to Smash alongside Master Chief, Sora, Goku and the L-shaped block from Tetris. But now Minecraft's Steve, along with a bunch of other characters from the massively successful title are in Smash, and likely by the end of the year will be fighting alongside Nintendo's cast of classic, iconic characters.

Reactions to the character's reveal have been extremely varied. SylesX2, a prominent Smash YouTuber, reacted with disbelief, laughing at most of the trailer. Another hit YouTuber, Alpharad, recorded his reaction to the reveal from his bed, although it didn't stop his surprise or excitement. One of the legends of competitive Smash, Armada, uploaded his reaction as well, although he was more disappointed than anything, hoping for either Phoenix Wright or Crash Bandicoot.

Regardless of what you or your favorite social media personalities think of the Smash Bros. and Minecraft crossover, this latest addition to the franchise throws picks for the game's next four characters into question, and sets a new precedent for the series moving forward.

Let's get right to the point here: the addition of Minecraft's Steve to Smash Bros. takes everything off the table. I know this isn't the first time you've heard someone say this – it was probably said after the reveals for Persona 5's Joker, Banjo and Kazooie, and maybe even Terry from Fatal Fury. But I maintain that this addition is what really does it, mainly because Steve is so radically different from other characters added to the game so far.

Let me ask you a question – who do you think Steve is? What is he like? Is he strong, is he goofy, is he brave, is he serious? What does his design say about him? These questions could quickly be answered for almost every other character in Smash (looking at you Game & Watch, you weirdo), but what about this latest addition? Steve is a strange pick for Smash, not because of the game he's from, but because he has no personality. He's more of an empty shell character, someone for players to conflate with themselves. If you're playing Minecraft, you never call your character "Steve," they're "you." Smash doesn't have many characters like that – its roster is full of personality, from the fierce Ridley to the soft, friendly Kirby.

Besides that distinction, Steve and the other Minecraft characters making their way to Smash Ultimate are also visually divergent from the rest of the game. Just looking at Steve among the cast of characters, he stands out. His jagged edges and pixelated design play into that. In his reaction, Armada called Steve "random," and I have to agree. In the context of Smash Ultimate, this new addition to the roster is random. Steve and the other Minecraft characters don't fit the game's style at all.

For Smash, this is a big change. Every character until now has been altered in some way to fit the look and feel of Smash Ultimate. Steve doesn't do that – he's portrayed here the same way he's portrayed in Minecraft. This could potentially point to a change in priority for Smash Ultimate. What a character looks like doesn't matter anymore; they can still be added in.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Steve

That's huge, considering we still have four characters left to go for the second Fighters Pass in Smash Ultimate. Now, there isn't the extra layer of scrutinizing a character's appearance: they can look like anything. A giant man in a green suit of armor? Doesn't matter. The Smash Bros. style guide is officially out the window. While Steve's addition shakes things up for predictions for Smash Ultimate's remaining characters, the real question here is what happens after Smash Ultimate? The answer to this is far down the line, likely years away, but today does give us something to speculate from.

If the next Smash continues to ignore a style guide, what kind of game will we be looking at? Ultimate has been called a "celebration of games" instead of a "celebration of Nintendo" for its additions outside of the Japanese developer and publisher's IPs. For a while now, Smash hasn't just been about Nintendo characters; it's been about Konami's characters, and Rare's characters, and Square Enix's characters. It's about the prominent figures in gaming.

While it might not have meant to, Smash has become a kind of pedestal for games. If your games and characters are good enough, one way or another they're ending up in Smash, and I feel that mantra will be used liberally to justify additions to the roster for future Smash titles. The developer of the game doesn't matter, and what the characters look like or who they are doesn't matter. Nintendo will approach and ask if developers want their character to be able to beat the snot out of Mario if their title is successful enough.

The future of Smash is all up in the air of course, but from here on it feels more open. As I said, you've probably heard it before but now more than ever, nothing is off the table for one of Nintendo's biggest franchises. Going forward, I'm done calling characters that people want "meme picks" (unless it's Geno, in which case it's never happening) because there aren't any anymore. That's all because of the addition of one, strange pixelated character.

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