TWO-MIX Best Of Album Revealed For Gundam Wing 25th Anniversary, Radio Show With Noriko Hidaka

Gundam Wing Two-Mix

Music unit TWO-MIX announced a best of album commemorating the 25th anniversary of its formation and of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. The album is titled TWO-MIX 25th Anniversary ALL TIME BEST. A gorgeous artwork by Tomofumi Ogasawara is included in first print limited edition copies. TWO-MIX itself isn't reforming sadly, but the album launches on January 20, 2021, in Japan. It'll be on three CDs, and one Bluray, containing the anime music videos of TWO-MIX.

Who is TWO-MIX?

Formed on April 29, 1995, TWO-MIX, while in activity, handled theme songs for Detective Conan, and popular Sunrise mecha anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Which aired in Japan from April 7 1995 to March 29 1996, with 49 episodes. Gundam Wing was the first Gundam series for many in the west. Notably, Gundam Wing is one of the few anime in history that aired in USA (2000) before France (2001). Even though France and Italy are the Anime Master Race since the seventies with Grendizer, huge in France, Italy and the Middle East.

TWO-MIX is made of composer, lyricist and producer Shiina Nagano, and singer Minami Takayama.

Minami Takayama is a legendary seiyuu mainly known for voicing Conan in Detective Conan, though she also did tons of awesome and lovely roles: Nabiki in Ranmna 1/2. Dilandau in Escaflowne. Mithos in Tales of Symphonia. Envy in Full Metal Alchemist, Hao in Shaman King, or Hajime in Danganronpa. While we've been hearing her voice less these past few years, each one of her recent, rarer roles is flawlessly executed. For instance, Yong Hwa in Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future, one of the best and underrated anime of the last decade.

Tomofumi Ogasawara is the artist of the manga series Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers. Recently, Ogasawara also drew the illustration for Wing Gundam Zero Rebellion in Super Robot Wars DD. They're also drawing the new Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection manga. In addition, Ogasawara was also one of the mecha designers on Kogado's mecha strategy simulation series Power Dolls.

Shiina Nagano shared on Twitter his love for Glory of the Losers:

New Radio Show With Hidaka Noriko

Moreover, a radio show titled Radio TWO-MIX BPM25 was announced, featuring TWO-MIX and Noriko Hidaka, another legendary seiyuu I don't need to introduce if you've actually read this mecha otaku article this far. The radio show will have six episodes in total, and the first one is happening on November 28. Further details will be coming on the official Twitter for the 25th anniversary of TWO-MIX. The official site also mentions fans can send in questions at the following mail address: "two-mix-25th@kingrecords.co.jp".

The radio episodes will be uploaded on the new YouTube channel, which already has music lyrics videos for Gundam Wing openings Just Communication and Rhythm Emotion.

TWO-MIX, Just Communication

Lastly, the album's tracklist is available further below.

It's been a while since the Gundam Wing TV series appeared in a Super Robot Wars console game. The sequel Endless Waltz is mainly featured instead. It's highly likely Bandai Namco will release a new SRW game in 2021, for the 30th anniversary of the series. It'd be great if it included a good mix of new shows and old classics who never appeared in a SRW HD title yet.

TWO-MIX 25th Anniversary ALL TIME BEST Track List

【Disc1】

  1. JUST COMMUNICATION
  2. RHYTHM EMOTION
  3. T・R・Y -RETURN TO YOURSELF-
  4. LOVE REVOLUTION
  5. RHYTHM GENERATION
  6. WHITE REFLECTION
  7. TRUE NAVIGATION
  8. SUMMER PLANET No.1
  9. LIVING DAYLIGHTS
  10. TIME DISTORTION
  11. BEAT OF DESTINY
  12. LAST IMPRESSION
  13. TRUTH〜A Great Detective of Love〜
  14. BODY MAKES STREAM
  15. MAXIMUM WAVE

【Disc2】

  1. LOVE FORMURA -FREEDOM-
  2. NAKED DANCE
  3. GRAVITY ZERO
  4. MEETING ON THE PLANET
  5. BELIEVE MY BRAVE HEART
  6. 1st RHYTHMIC YOUTH
  7. 1st JUSTICE
  8. BREAK
    Other

【Disc3】

To be announced

【Blu-ray】
WHITE REFLECTION THE MOVIE, Other

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Ubisoft Employees Safe After Frightening Situation at Montreal Offices

ubisoft E3 bowmore Aegyptus

A scary situation that took place at the offices of Ubisoft Montreal has fortunately seemed to have concluded with all parties being safe and accounted for.

Earlier this afternoon, employees at Ubisoft Montreal were said to be dealing with what was initially said to be a hostage situation. Police reported to the area in Montreal in which Ubisoft's offices were located and locked down the block while encouraging pedestrians to not come to the premises. A few minutes after this began to transpire, employees from inside of Ubisoft could be seen via helicopter standing on the building's roof waiting out the situation. Some employees at Ubisoft Montreal who are on social media shared information via Twitter to let the public know that they were safe.

Luckily, the entire ordeal has seemingly now been resolved with Montreal police reporting that "No threat has been identified." Ubisoft employees were eventually able to exit the building alongside officers, with no harm being accounted for whatsoever.

As for what started all of this, the main culprit at this time seems to be a 911 call that was fraudulent. It's not known who may have kicked off this chain of events, but essentially, it sounds like the employees at the Ubisoft offices could have been the victim of a "swatting" attempt. This point hasn't been confirmed as of this writing, however. More information will likely come about soon from the police in Montreal.

Regardless of what the reason is for this all happening in the first place, I can speak for all of us at DualShockers when I say that we're relieved to see that this is the outcome.

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Granblue Fantasy x Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Crossover Event Revealed With Teaser Trailer, Cool Hideo Minaba Artwork

Granblue Fantasy Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba

On November 13, Cygames announced Granblue Fantasy (PC, mobile) will hold a crossover collab event with Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba. The event will happen sometime in December. With the collab, multiple characters from Demon Slayer will join Granblue Fantasy as playable characters. Those teased so far include protagonist Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, and Kyojuro Rengoku. They all look great through the artstyle of Hideo Minaba, the main character designer and illustrator of Granblue Fantasy.

It's likely many other Kimetsu no Yaiba characters will be included in the crossover story, such as Nezuko, the Pillars. Etc.

Granblue Fantasy Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Teaser Trailer

Additional details will be published soon.

Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba is an incredibly popular manga by Koyoharu Gotoge, and the anime adaptation by Ufotable only made it even bigger. Kimetsu no Yaiba became one of the best selling manga of all time with over 40.3 million copies in circulation. While the manga ended this year, running from February 2016 to May 2020, its popularity is still ongoing. Most notably with a new movie by Ufotable.

CyberConnect2, makers of the popular Naruto Narutimate series, are currently developing a Kimetsu no Yaiba PS4 game. It's really promising and should be a way higher quality than a lot of the 3d battler arena every popular shonen gets nowadays.

Granblue Fantasy will hold the yearly Granblue Fantasy Fes event in December 11-13; We will have some announcements regarding Granblue Fantasy Relink then. Previously, Producer Yuito Kimura and Director Tetsuya Fukuhara stated the game's development is going well, but it won't receive a release date until the very last moment.

There's also the fighting game Granblue Fantasy Versus out now on PS4 and PC. Though it looks pretty dead online. At least outside Japan.

The post Granblue Fantasy x Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba Crossover Event Revealed With Teaser Trailer, Cool Hideo Minaba Artwork by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Tetris Effect Connected Review — It's Super Effective!

One thing about getting COVID-19 that people don't often talk about (for understandable reasons, there's a lot more newsworthy stuff about it happening at any given moment) is how it affects your mind. For about ten days, I've been listless; lacking in any kind of energy and totally without the ability to focus or care about much of anything. Tetris Effect Connected brought me out of that funk in a way that little else can.

I've known Tetris longer than I've known most of my closest friends. Dropping tetrominoes is like riding a bike; it's more familiar to me than anything else in video games. The experience and loop at the core of Tetris is so undeniably perfect, simple, and addictive, but also second nature to me that playing it has become a meditative experience over the years. I've experienced the Tetris Effect, the phenomenon where you see Tetris blocks falling in front of you involuntarily or in your dreams after longer playtime countless times.  In some ways, I use that invasion into my imagination as a litmus test for other games I really enjoy. On a rare occasion, things in real life will bring me back to games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild like when I'm on a high-up place and can envision what it would feel like to use Link's paraglider instead to get back to the ground rather than the stairs.

Tetris Effect Connected brought me a new experience of what the Tetris Effect could be. That's thanks to its gorgeous visuals and beautiful sound design and, partially, to the fact that I never really played Tetris in multiplayer until recently Tetris 99 and Puyo Puyo Tetris. I don't think Tetris Effect would have beaten out Tetris 99, my game of the year from 2019, but Tetris Effect Connected certainly gives it a run for its money for the same reason that the original gave challenged it as my favorite iteration of Tetris.

Coming from Lumines director Tetsuya Mizuguchi, this updated version of Tetris Effect brings a lot to the table. The original Tetris Effect boasted an innovation on Tetris that made it into a transcendent experience in a lot of ways. The game takes an already calming core loop to the next level. Not only has Tetris never looked better, but pairing the visually minimalistic core aesthetic of Tetris with the psychedelic, ethereal, and stunning backdrops found in both Tetris Effect games was a masterstroke.

The game's soundtrack, which is as sonically diverse as it is beautiful, takes that already peanut-butter-and-chocolate-level combination to new heights. Even the incredible rumble integration contributed to this evolutionarily impactful interaction of Tetris. Much like Lumines Remastered on Switch's rumble integration, the pulsating in rhythm with the entrancing soundtrack and sound design drew from my focus-less reverie and into that Tetris flow that I love so much.

Although I found myself blazing through all the content offered in the original pretty quickly, I savored every minute of it and am still eager to jump back in and clear the game's stunning Journey Mode on other difficulties. The Journey Mode, which was in the original, is undeniably the game's core experience. It's a Tetris journey that transports you to the calm depths of the ocean, the lively streets of a big city, and the surface of the moon with each level as beautiful and engaging as the last. Every element of the game brings a level of emotional resonance to Tetris that was never there before.

enhance, Limited Run Games, PC, PS4, PSVR, Tetris Effect

The other part of the game that was already included in 2018's Tetris Effect is the Effect Modes, which offer a few different, more arcade-style challenges, as well as some Tetris staples. While most of the additional modes aren't anything terribly new or interesting from old Tetris games, like the Marathon, Ultra or Sprint modes, mini-game-like offerings like All Clear, Combo, and more bring new spins to the franchise that feel more suited for shorter bursts of play, rather than the more drawn-out, deliberate pace of the Journey Mode. It even offers a few playlists for people wanting shorter bursts of the journey mode that focus on specific themes and aesthetics.

The icing on the cake, however, is Connected's multiplayer, which offers just about all of Tetris's greatest multiplayer hits, aside from the battle royale-inspired modes from Tetris 99. This along with the all-new Connected Battle, which serves as a worthy inspiration for this new version's title, is a fantastic evolution of the multiplayer Tetris formula. Options that hearken back to the original Tetris, as well as battle modes that will look familiar to anyone who's played any recent iterations of the classic puzzler are the backbone of this multiplayer experience, serving up a fun and engaging option for players looking for a little competition.

The Connected Battle is the real reason for any Tetris fan to check out the game's multiplayer. It's a new evolution to multiplayer Tetris that's as innovative as something like Tetris 99, but in a way that's so perfectly tailored to what Tetris Effect is. If Tetris 99 applied the battle royale genre to Tetris, Connected Battle applies the loop of a raid in something like Destiny. The player teams up with up to two other players (the remaining slots are filled in by AI players) to fight a series of bosses, each with their own unique effects and challenges that make the experience more challenging.

The twist is that every once in a while, when enough lines are cleared, all three players' Wells are combined to make one giant Tetris Well, where the three players are tasked with clearing as many lines as possible in a mad-dash to send garbage into the boss's Well. When connected, a special version of the song playing over the match plays as players take turns dropping Tetrominoes to defeat the Zodiac Sign-inspired bosses.

The idea that players face off against multiple bosses is okay for some of the lower difficulties, making it so that each match has a good length to it, but in some later difficulties, Connected takes way too long. An option for players to opt to take on bosses one-at-a-time would have really helped elevate Connected to the high bar that Tetris 99 set. Shorter play sessions would be even more important if I was able to find a ranked match for Connected, which, after multiple attempts, each resulting in a ten or more minute wait, I was unable to do. It seems like a missed opportunity for Tetris Effect Connected to take a note from fighting games and allow players to play other single-player modes while waiting to find matches.

Tetris Effect

Luckily, I was able to play the mode both locally with my roommates and with some friends online. Otherwise, I've only tried the Zone Battle mode with a stranger in a ranked game, and even that took far longer to find an opponent than I would've liked. It's really a shame that more people aren't playing this because all of the competitive modes are a delight.

I'm not sure if I'm comfortable saying that it's my game of the year, but it's easily the shining star of the Xbox Series S|X launch to me. Tetris Effect Connected brings multiple creative, beautiful, and mesmerizing spins to the Tetris formula that anyone with Game Pass owes it to themself to play and try out, especially those who missed the original. Sweetened by its hypnotic, up-tempo soundtrack and pseudo-psychedelic visuals, Tetris has never felt better than in Tetris Effect. Now with a robust multiplayer offering, Tetris Effect Connected allows it to rival Tetris 99 for the spot of my favorite entry in the franchise.

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No More Heroes 1 and 2 Are Still Worth Playing Through All Over Again on the Switch

If you have come to know anything about my gaming tastes whatsoever over the past decade or so, you probably know that I'm a huge fan of the No More Heroes franchise. The series, which stars the charismatic Travis Touchdown, first debuted on the Wii in North America back in 2008 and was one of the first games that I played in secrecy behind my parents' backs. They didn't want me to hear swear words and perform decapitations with a beam katana, ya know? As such, I have a bit of a soft spot for series, perhaps for childish reasons.

In the time since first releasing, No More Heroes went on to receive a sequel in 2010, entitled Desperate Struggle, and later would return as a top-down action game on the Switch just last year with Travis Strikes Again. While it has taken a long time to get here, No More Heroes 3 is also currently in the works over at Grasshopper Manufacture. Unfortunately, after originally being planned to drop this year, it recently was delayed to 2021. As luck would have it, though, the studio is looking to make the wait until launch just a bit more manageable and has now brought the first two installments over to the Switch.

So how have these ports turned out, you ask? Well, all things considered, they're absolutely fine. The better news is that, despite some aged gameplay mechanics, both No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle are still a joy to play in 2020.

In a general sense, both NMH and NMH2 on Switch are about what we've come to expect from ports of this ilk. Despite the Switch being an HD platform compared to the SD that the Wii offered, each game looks about like what you remembered them to be — which is both a good and bad thing. Both titles don't look awful by any means, but I wouldn't use the term "remaster" to describe these new iterations whatsoever. The touch-ups that have been done on the visuals front seem to be nonexistent, with cutscenes in particular not aging too well. Neither No More Heroes title is a looker (they never were back in the day), but with the game's stylized art and colorful palette, they could definitely look worse.

The biggest changes to both games obviously come in the way of gameplay. No longer are we in the Wii era, which means the motion controls that defined these games to some degree back in the day have been taken out by default. That being said, if moving your arms around to hack apart enemies is still your preferred method of play, the Joy-Cons allow you to make this a reality. I played for a bit with my Switch in its handheld mode and detached the Joy-Cons to give the motion controls a whirl and it's definitely a one-to-one experience with what it was back in the day. At this point in my gaming life, I think I'm a bit over motion controls, but it's nice to still have the option available with these new iterations.

Speaking of handheld mode, I do have to acknowledge that I did notice a handful of performance issues while playing in this manner. Even though it didn't happen a lot, I did notice some frame rate dips while playing in both undocked and docked modes on the Switch. As you might expect, this happened most often whenever there was quite a bit happening on-screen at once. It's not something that's going to ruin either game, but hey, be forewarned.

I think the more vital thing here with both No More Heroes titles comes with how they have aged as experiences. I won't lie, if you're a first-time visitor to the world of NMH, some aspects of each title won't be all that fun anymore. In between hacking and slashing nameless baddies, you'll occasionally have to do odd jobs around town or drive your motorcycle around the empty and somewhat aimless streets of Santa Destroy. The original No More Heroes, specifically, is one of those games that felt like it needed to boast and open-world for no reason other than the fact that it was just the hot thing to do at the time. Thanks, Grand Theft Auto.

That being said, there is still so much to love about both No More Heroes and Desperate Struggle. If you've played other games from creator Suda51 in the past, you likely know what I'm referring to here, but each game still has top-tier writing and characters to this day. While some aspects of each game might not be reflected as well in 2020 (Travis, you're kind of a creep), each is still abounding with enough charm and laughs to keep you entertained until the credits roll. And hey, even though the combat is pretty simple, it's still darn satisfying.

In short, both No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle aren't anything worth praising when it comes to their merits as Switch ports, but it is wonderful to finally have all three entries in the series on a single platform. I've long evangelized that people need to give this franchise a shot, but with each title being harder to come by over the past few years, I'm over the moon that they've finally shown back up on a modern console.

With NMH3 finally releasing next year after an eleven-year waiting period, now is the time to finally revisit these wacky action games or give them a shot for the first time. Don't let me down.

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Check Out The Final Fantasy VII Remake Real Infiltration Game You'll Never Get To Try

Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game

Scrap announced on November 13 a real-life Infiltration game based on Final Fantasy VII Remake. Scrap is a company who makes Real Infiltration games, held on the fourth floor of Tokyo Mystery Circus, in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. The game is doing a collaboration event with Final Fantasy VII Remake titled "Destroy The Mako Reactor 1". It'll open up December 9, 2020. To give you a better idea of what we're talking about, a short commercial was published as well:

Real Infiltration Game x Final Fantasy VII Remake: Destroy The Mako Reactor 1 Commercial

The Real Infiltration Game is an experience where participants need to solve gimmicks, avoid traps, hide from enemies, and reach a specific goal. In this event, the players act as members of Avalanche, aiming to destroy Mako Reactor 1 to help Cloud, Tifa and Barret.

Next up we have some technical details on the infiltration game. Those registered to Scrap's monthly subscription can buy reservation tickets starting November 14, while the sale will open for everyone else starting November 16. Those who buy tickets now will receive as a bonus a Final Fantasy VII Remake Phoenix Down quill pen. The full event takes between 40 to 100 minutes depending on the players, and there's a 30 minutes time limit for the game. Moreover, players loose time when getting shot by Shinra soldiers. Teams can be 1 to 3 people max. A one person ticket is 3K Yen, around 30 American Dollars. If you're in Japan and planning to try it out, detailed tickets price and stuff are on the official site.

Escape Room games and Stealth games based on popular anime or games franchises are a typical thing in Japan. Moreover, companies like Scrap or Nazotoki Town are specialized in it. For example, there was a pretty fun looking one for Slayers a few months ago, held in aquariums around Japan. Was about helping Lina after she wanted to steal from a water shrine but ended loosing her powers. Really sucks us non-Japanese residents sadly never get to experience them.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is currently only on PS4 and PS5. A PC version should be announced in April 2021. Briana White, the English voice of Aerith, did a really cool cosplay of her character back in October.

Square Enix is currently working on the sequel, and on Final Fantasy XVI , which revealed lotsof details on its world with its official site.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game Final Fantasy VII Remake Infiltration Game

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FIFA 21 Road to the Final Team 2 Is a Big Win for Serie A Squads

FIFA 21, EA Sports

Due to licensing, the Italian Serie A has been one of the under-served leagues in the popular Ultimate Team mode in FIFA 21. However, the second team in the ongoing Road to the Final promo is full of top talent from the league. Of course, they're far from the only one with quality players popping up left-and-right for most leagues. That said, it finally feels like a good time to have a Serie A side. Check out the team below. And remember, each of these players can get an upgrade if their team advances in either the Champions League or Europa League.

https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA/status/1327310436761546754

If you're looking for top-end players, you're probably taking a hard look at Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko. His base card is phenomenal, and with Tottenham set to get to the next round, he should get that upgrade. Another player most will give a look is Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus. Again, his base card is exceptional, and he plays in a league with a ton of great players. Expect both cards to cost a pretty penny.

Eden Hazard is another top player; however, Real Madrid hasn't looked too hot in their group stage matches. They'll probably get back to form, but you never know with football. I really want to see where guys like Julian Draxler, Quincy Promes, and Manuel Akanji end up price-wise. They're all solid cards who, as of this writing are price-capped. Though, that will likely change as supply starts to meet demand. Grimaldo, Portu, and Ihlas Bebou round out the non-Serie A players in the squad. Bebou is particularly interesting because he's an upgraded silver player. That means you could, in theory, get him out of a silver pack.

Now, on to the exciting part, at least for me. In packs, the Serie A has added both Franck Yannick Kessie and Kalidou Koulibaly. Kessie may be low-rated, but Milan should advance. Plus, his stats make him one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the league. Koulibaly is an upgrade on an already solid card. If Napoli advances, he's going to be top-class.

https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA/status/1327311582536339461

On top of that, Lazio's Joaquin Correa is available for free as an objective. His team hasn't sewn up its spot in the next round, but they're well on their way. Finally, Alex Sandro is in SBCs now. I think I'd still rather have Theo Hernandez's inform; however, the cards are basically the same price. If you can get that price down with untradeables, it's probably worth doing. All told, if you're a Serie A player, it finally feels like you're getting some love.

FIFA 21 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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As Loading Times Shrink on PS5 and Xbox Series X, I'll Miss Loading Screens

Load Screen

Loading screens are a staple of gaming; they've been around since its beginning and have changed incredibly over time. These short breaks between games are at the root of so many emotions that players feel in-game, or at least that's how they've affected me. But they also serve practical purposes – clever developers have constantly found ways to fill these small breaks in content with even more content. But as we move into the next generation of consoles with the PS5 and Xbox Series X (which will likely be the current generation by the time this article is published), which have targeted loading screens with deadly precision using high-speed Solid State Drives (or SSDs), it's a good time to look back on the good things that came out of loading screens, and what games will lose as they shrink their loading times from minutes to seconds.

In the original Mega Man titles, load screens were instant – a quick fade to black when entering a level, and then those iconic slides to the next room. In fact, you may be surprised to find that a lot of older games have instant load times, a detail we all have passed over during playthroughs of Super Mario 3. That's because those old cartridges that you'd slap into the NES were essentially the great-great-great-grandpappies of modern SSDs, the drives you'll find in a PS5 or Xbox Series X now. Cartridges weren't able to hold a whole lot of data, but when it came to transfer speeds, they were blisteringly fast. That's why all you had to do to play Banjo & Kazooie was put in the cartridge, turn the console on and blam, you're playing the game.

Loading Screens Mega Man

Load screens actually came along with the advent of CDs as the main media format for games. They offered a much higher amount of storage space, but came with the downside of not being able to transfer all that data at once. And so, loading screens as we've known them for the past 25-some odd years were born, ready to frustrate gamers or at least give them some time to go get a glass of water. Yes, this is me talking to you, dehydrated gamer. Go hydrate yourself, then come back and finish reading this article.

But as consoles crawled out of their primordial cartridge-based ooze and into the modern era of CDs, Blu-ray, and 4K resolutions, developers had to find some way to make the time spent between action-packed platforming or first-person-shooting entertaining, or at least serve a function. You couldn't just leave a player sitting there, staring at their reflection in a black TV. That's how people start thinking about what they're doing, sitting there waiting for a game to load when they could be doing something much more productive and it all just spirals downhill from there. Instead, developers filled load screens with other things; small enough to not take up too much data so load times wouldn't be lengthened, but entertaining enough to not bore players. These loading screens didn't just pad out the time between action: they improved the overall experience of some games.

Playing One Game While Another Loads

My personal favorite among the different genres of load screens is the mini-game, where developers decide that the best way players can spend their time between gameplay is with even more gameplay. To be honest, I don't have many recent memories of load screens that actually have games inside of them; they're all from the PS2 era, and specifically from the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series of fighting games.

As it turns out, there was a good reason for that. Namco actually filed a trademark all the way back in 1998 with the U.S Patent and Trademark office for what it called "auxiliary games." This patent ended up including any games jammed into loading screens, which is why for a while, you'd mainly find these loading screens in (you guessed it) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games. Largely, these games weren't even all that great. They required mashing a button as fast as you could to make Vegeta do more pushups, or spinning the joystick as fast as you could to grow Sibamen. Did I mention they were simple?

Still, these quick games between high-intensity bouts in Budokai were a lot of fun for me as a kid. It's a shame that other developers haven't really tried their hands at making more loading screen mini-games since Namco's patent expired in 2015. I suppose it's not really all that important anymore unless some crafty developer makes a mini-mini-game you can play for about seven seconds.

Hints, Tips And Tricks Without GameFAQs

Another big one in the many different flavors of loading screen is the hint screen. You'll typically find these in RPGs, although they do show up in other games. They're some of the most utilitarian loading screens; they have a distinct purpose that isn't really to entertain so much as it is to inform.

To keep these hints digestible, they're usually short snippets of information; not a whole lot to go off of, but a gentle push in a general direction. In Skyrim, reading that the Dragonborn can get married at a temple in Riften could easily spark off a player's quest for love. When something like that happens, loading screen hints are successful.

Of course, there are also tips in loading screens: little tidbits that remind players how to play the game they're waiting to continue playing. I make that sound a whole lot more disingenuous than it actually is – sometimes these tips are completely necessary. I leaned on them heavily during my playthrough of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which took me a little over two years to finish after multiple breaks because of other major releases or work. I'd end up coming back to the game vaguely remembering where I was and what I was doing, but not remembering how everything in the massive game worked. Loading screen tips and hints fleshed out that information for me and got me back on track to actually beating the game. I can genuinely say that without its loading screens, my time with Assassin's Creed Odyssey would have been much more difficult.

Something Nice to Look at

This is the most common kind of loading screen in my experience, and the kind that a majority of people absolutely loathe. I'll call Skyrim out again because it's such a big part of that game's loading screens – you've got your hint in the bottom left corner and a big ol' model of something on the screen off-center. All you can do is make the model spin around faster so you can see how detailed it isn't, or zoom in and out. These screens were the bane of my existence when I was playing Skyrim on an Xbox 360 in high school, and have been in almost every game that I've played since.

That counts double for games that came out on the PS4. In the time that I spent waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2 to load up, watching a slideshow of different old-west themed pictures, I could have beaten at least one Yakuza game and spared myself constant ridicule in the DualShockers Discord (I'll beat Yakuza 0 soon, Kris, please give me time). Numerous games on the PS4 had me waiting minutes to play them, offering up nothing more than a still shot or a short slideshow. While these can sometimes help grant players an idea of where they are, in GTAV they only signaled that now was the best time to run to the bathroom or stare at Twitter for about five minutes.

But not every loading screen like this was terrible; some actually made games even better. Going back, it's impossible to ignore the loading screens of the PlayStation 2 Ratchet & Clank games. You'd see the long-eared Lombax and his little robot pal hop into a spaceship and take off for your chosen destination, followed by a few clips of the ship zipping across outer space. At the time, it gave me a real sense of scale. My 10-year-old brain was just going "wow, they just traveled so far!" and I was in awe.

Mass Effect mastered the same practice, but with different applications. Sure, you'd see the Normandy jump through different mass relay stations, but outside of that the game had gorgeous, busy animations showing Shepard on the move. If you were taking the elevator down in the Normandy, you could see the cabin sliding down in a constantly-updating blueprint of the ship. The same applied to getting around the game's larger areas, like the Citadel.

Loading screens like these actually grant a bit more immersion when they're initially experienced. Instead of player characters magically moving somewhere we get to actually see them move, and that grants some more context to fast traveling. I'll squeeze in a mention of Marvel's Spider-Man here because fast travel in that game–seeing Spider-Man taking the train–is absolutely brilliant and serves the same purpose. It gives the world a more lived-in sense while granting a bit more context to the player's movements.

I know we're all eager to say goodbye to loading screens. Hell, even I am. I'm tired of watching the Wild West pictures in loading screens for Red Dead Redemption 2, and I'm tired of how long it takes for a game of PUBG to load up. When I play a game, I want it to be like that experience players had in the '90s on Nintendo consoles; media in, console on, and I'm playing a game almost right away.

But the past 25 years have given developers the time to figure out what to do with those stretches between gameplay, and admittedly, some of them got it right. When a loading screen is done well, you don't mind that you have to wait 30 seconds or a minute. You can spend that time watching some animations, playing a mini-game, or otherwise entertaining yourself with whatever else is packed into that small time frame. So while we're all celebrating that the Xbox Series X will load games in a fraction of the time it takes the Xbox One X to do the same, let's all take a moment and remember those brief respites from our gaming adventures and how they helped tie together those experiences.

The post As Loading Times Shrink on PS5 and Xbox Series X, I'll Miss Loading Screens by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.

Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch Brings Tabletop Tactics to Franchise Fans

Harry Potter Catch the Snitch, board game, Knight Games

Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch is the latest Harry Potter-themed board game to show up on Kickstarter. As you'd expect, the incredibly popular franchise has led to tons of board games. However, not many of them try to capture the sport of Quidditch. And those that have been made are, at best, middling. This new, miniature-heavy version from Knight Games shows some promise. Check it out.

Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch brings some light tactics to Quidditch. In the first phase, You're assembling a team, playing tactical cards to move them around the pitch, and rolling dice to find out if each action is successful. Once the Snitch is spotted, it's a mad dash between you and your opponent to see who can capture it first. If you're in the market for a lighter tactical tabletop game, this might be for you.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Knight Games has run a campaign for this game. The first Catch the Snitch was delayed last week after being available for about a day. Knight Games listed the reason as the uncertainty around the US election, which was an odd reason. And now, the new campaign has some important changes that may have helped make it successful.

Most importantly, the new campaign for Catch the Snitch is about $15 cheaper while including the Harry Potter mini for free. On top of that, the funding goal went from $442,645 to $53,117. That's a massive change that makes it much easier for Knight Games to hit its goal. Additionally, it opens up the campaign for more stretch goals.

Regardless, Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch is available to back on Kickstarter for 28 more days. Give it a look if you're looking for a new Potter game.

The post Harry Potter: Catch the Snitch Brings Tabletop Tactics to Franchise Fans by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Half-Life: Alyx Adds Tons of Developer Commentary in New Update

Half-Life: Alyx

Half-Life: Alyx is one of the best examples of what virtual reality can do. The wizards at Valve put together an incredibly well-received product that truly gave the hardware its killer app. And with all the praise heading Valve's way, it's only natural to want to see how the sausage is made. To some degree, that is now possible. Valve has added a new commentary update which lets players hear some of the steps the team took to produce its masterpiece. Give the new trailer a watch below.

If you haven't played Half-Life: Alyx, you're not the only one. Because the game is locked to VR, it's been tough for Valve to do the same numbers past Half-Life games did. That said, it's still, by all accounts, an incredible game. Our reviewer gave it a 10/10 and said the game provides a "profound level of immersion."

That's high praise, especially in VR. And while I highly doubt Valve is giving away all their secrets in this commentary, it's something worth playing through. Doubly so if you're a fledgling VR developer looking to see what makes VR games great. Getting a few pointers and ideas from a studio as well-regarded as Valve is always a good thing.

Half-Life: Alyx is available now on VR via PC. Obviously, a non-VR version is still something of a dream, but, given how highly-rated the game is, I'd be surprised if we don't see something on that front in the future. A non-VR version wouldn't be the game-changer it is on VR; however, fans are screaming for more Half-Life games. Hopefully, Gabe Newell and the squad give them what they want someday.

The post Half-Life: Alyx Adds Tons of Developer Commentary in New Update by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.