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Here Are The Cats From Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Doing a Purrfect Job

There's probably no greater feeling than web-swinging your way through New York City as Spider-Man, especially more so now that many of us are unable to travel and experience the freedom that we had become so used to doing due to COVID-19. Whether you enjoy collecting all the sound samples, postcards or underground caches, there's no doubt about it that exploring the city with Spider-Cat is one of the many joys found within the game. Being able to fight bad guys with your kitty companion tucked safely inside your backpack is a sheer delight and a beautifully wholesome feature. So today, let's take a look behind the scenes at the real-life felines in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

If you haven't had the chance to jump into Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales yet, then let me explain: the game features a brand new side-kick lovingly called Spider-Cat who becomes Miles Morales' new friend when Miles saves him and later they both go off together to fight the city's crime. This mission also unlocks The Bodega Suit allowing players the ability to actually take Spider-Cat with them through the city in the cutest backpack you'll ever see. But Spider-Cat isn't just there to look adorable, the ginger feline also comes prepared with his very own finishers, too.

Talking to Marvel.com, Boola Robello, a Senior Animator who worked on Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and also Marvel's Spider-Man, explained in length how Spider-Cat got his very own cameo and how he ended up animating the kitty fighting sequences for Spider-Man: Miles Morales. "When I found out we had a cat wearing a Spider-Man mask in this game, I jokingly said that we should create cat finishers. Everyone chuckled and that is where it ended," but as we all know, this isn't where the conversation ended as Robello explains "I sent out a video of my animation to the team, and before I knew it our Creative Director Brian Horton was asking for a compressed video so he could run it by [Director of Production at] Marvel Games, Eric Monacelli," Robello continues "After approval, we moved it onto my schedule and into official production. I coordinated with Senior Programmer Paul Hiley, and with his programming, we worked out the technicalities to make the cat finisher a functional move for the game."

Of course, animating and creating finishers for Spider-Cat was only part of the job, Robello now also needed some pretty convincing kitty sounds to go along with it so his first port of call was asking his work colleagues at Insomniac Games if anyone had a pet cat. "I put out a 'cat-casting-call' to two of my fellow Insomniacs who I knew had cats. I knew Tyler Held had a cat. I asked him if he had any recordings and I ended up using those for the meow/purring sounds as Spider-Man the cat goes back into the backpack." Robello continues "Tyler's cat, Kevin had the perfect attitude of 'Yep, just took care of those bad guys' and now it's back into the safety of my backpack feeling. I had heard [Director, Audio Management] Karen Read's cat on zoom calls, and Juicy the cat had the perfect 'I mean business' meow that is in the 'ground finisher.'"

Naturally, you'll want to meet these little furballs in question that helped shape the many wholesome features in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Check out the felines below and their contribution to the game as well as getting to know a little more about their cat life outside of Spider-Man.

This is Hawke who is six years old and belongs to Jeremie Voillot – Senior Manager of Sound Design at Insomniac Games. Hawke's kitty noises can be found all over Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Outside of the glamour of the video game industry, Hawke enjoys going on walks with his humans like a dog and eating…a lot! When asked what other Marvel pet would he like to team up with for a dynamic duo, his answer will always be Zabu.

Up next is Kevin, a two and a half-year-old ginger kitty owned by Tyler Held – Dialogue Coordinator and who provided the meow when Spider-Cat jumps back into the backpack after doing the finisher. Apparently, Kevin got his name after Tyler found him in the snow at a family Christmas party and Kevin hopped into their car. Unfortunately, the fame and success of being in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales has turned Kevin into a diva and now wants more food and also to own a Catillac. Bill the Lobster would be Kevin's perfect Marvel character to team up with but who knows the real reason for that.

This elegant feline is named Kinako who is the animation reference and inspiration for Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales cinematic cat animation. Kinako's owner is Insomniac's Senior Animator, Kahye Hwang who says he loves nothing more than laying around sleeping all day. when he's not outside going for walks. His perfect Marvel team-up would be with Chewie (Captain Marvel's, Goose) and one of his key skills is that he can climb over any fence that challenges him.

This adorable little girl is Juicy who belongs to Karen Read – Director, Audio Management. If you're wondering where you can hear her, well, she provides the voice of Spider-man the cat during the cat finishers. Owner Karen said that Juicy is "incredibly vocal until, of course, you try to record her – then she gets terribly camera microphone-shy." Apparently, Juicy also has been making playing the game hard for her owner as she loves nothing more than sitting right in front of the TV, ready to jump into action. And just like Kinako, Juicy would love to team up with Captain Marvel's Goose.

Last but not least, meet Mim, a handsome four-year-old cat owned by Sony's Supervising Sound Designer, Emile Mika. Min lends his voice to various vocalizations for cinematics throughout Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. He loves to sunbathe on the patio but under supervision, as unlike Spider-Cat, Mim is an indoor cat. When not playing fetch with his toys, Min states that his favorite Spider-Man comic is the Amazing Spider-Man issue #3.

In other Spider-Man news, Insomniac Games have recently implemented a new update that includes ray tracing included in the Fidelity Mode, while also giving players that buttery smooth 60FPS of the Performance Mode. To celebrate the release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, DualShockers joined with Latinx in Gaming and a panel of guests to discuss our thoughts on Insomniac Games' latest title and what it means for inclusivity and representation in video games.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is available right now as a PS5 launch title, alongside the PS4. If you were able to nab a PS5, you can pick the title up on Amazon here.

The post Here Are The Cats From Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Doing a Purrfect Job by Rachael Fiddis appeared first on DualShockers.

How To Watch – Genshin Impact Version 1.2 Stream On December 11, 7 AM ET

Genshin Impact Version 1.2 stream feature

miHoYo announced December 11 will feature the next live stream revealing version 1.2 details for Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, PS5, Mobile, Switch soon). The English stream will be happening at 1100 ET (Click here for a time conversion table). The stream will happen on the official English Genshin Impact YouTube.

However, note that the Chinese stream, which will be simultaneously translated through the official Japanese Twitter, will happen earlier.

The Chinese stream will be on December 11 at 0700 ET (Click here for a time conversion table). On the official Genshin Impact Bilibili. It'll be four hours earlier than the English stream. We'll be translating everything revealed on this stream live, with an article updated every few minutes as the stream goes on. It'll be very similar to our coverage of the Version 1.1 stream if you caught that.

The Chalk Prince and the Dragon is the official name of Version 1.2 of Genshin Impact, and we'll hear about its new characters and content on the stream. We can clearly see one of the characters teased in the silhouettes is Ganyu, one of the Adepti who appears in the Liyue main story quest. Similarly to Hanyu in Higurashi, you can clearly Ganyu's horns in the silhouette.

If you're an otaku and seen how cute Ganyu is in the Liyue story chapter, by now you definitely want to marry her. Especially if you can her horns. As for the other character, you already know who it is if you took a look at leaks. We know. You know. No need to say it.

miHoYo is also already teasing content for Version 1.3, planned for February 2021. It looks like Zhongli will get a buff then. In any case, stay tuned for our full summary of the stream tomorrow.

The post How To Watch – Genshin Impact Version 1.2 Stream On December 11, 7 AM ET by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Cyberpunk 2077 Accessibility Should Have Been Confirmed Earlier by CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077 a cybernetic spine with glowing lights

Cyberpunk 2077 has been possibly one of the most highly-anticipated video games from CD Projekt Red. A futuristic RPG that has seen delays, reports of transphobia, and crunch culture, as well as the studio also refusing to share information about the game's accessibility. As a result, disabled players continued to be ignored as they requested information for months, with many deciding to hold off purchasing the game until someone was able to confirm what was available. But what is available? And is that the reason the studio was so quiet?

Accessibility in video games boomed in 2020. Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2 introduced the largest collection of accessibility features available in a video game. Ubisoft continued to share accessibility features weeks prior to launch and even invited disabled creators to early previews during Ubisoft Forward. Xbox made its live-streams more accessible, and the PS5 has features that can massively help disabled players, such as haptic feedback, and in-game guides.

Cyberpunk 2077 V in a car shooting out the window

The trend of detailing accessibility features has slowly become more popular among studios. This is great news for those wondering if a game will be comfortably playable. Additionally, the transparency studios have offered when sharing this information has been incredibly welcomed, leaving players feeling informed and confident.

But for CD Projekt Red, it remained tight-lipped… right up until launch when an official accessibility page was published on the Cyberpunk 2077's website. It confirms colorblind support, motion adjustments, subtitle customization, controller options, key bindings, and a few more. There's obvious room for improvement present when you actually play Cyberpunk 2077, such as the desire for darker subtitle backgrounds, HUD scaling, and the like. But the range of features currently present in the game are surprisingly adequate, and for that reason alone, it's even more confusing why this wasn't shared prior to launch.

Now, I can appreciate that some studios, especially with games on a AAA scale, have strict NDAs in place, and things happen, and situations change. But there's something offputting about having vital information kept a secret. The knowledge of what a game can offer a disabled player can be what makes or breaks a consumer decision. But there becomes a concern when a studio can share a plethora of content, such as genitalia, cars, and map locations, but not what accessibility is implemented.

Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay of barman asking V for help

 

When reached out for confirmation on what would be available earlier this year, a representative at the studio told me, "at the moment we don't have any more information to share". Understandable given the possible heavy NDAs in place, but also frustrating when the studio continued to drip-feed announcements through Night City Wire events or through social media posts. This is now even more frustrating after discovering what's available at launch, and what could have been easily revealed.

That said, given the epilepsy dangers earlier this week and the room for improvement in accessibility features, it seems as if CD Projekt Red has a lack of awareness when it comes to dealing with accessibility — likely due to not having any consultants to help guide the project. Without that guidance, maybe the studio felt the features were so ordinary that it didn't need to share information. Maybe the NDAs stopped anyone from mentioning them. Maybe communications fell through given the numerous delays, the pandemic, and crunch. All I can really do is speculate.

Another factor is that Cyberpunk 2077 has been in development since before accessibility started becoming widely implemented, and it seems clear that it wasn't much of a priority until recently. Whatever the reason, for disabled players, the wait for information on such a desired title has been a painful and alienating one. And it was one that the community shouldn't have had to wait for.

Cyberpunk 2077 Diner shot of character smiling

Going forward, studios need to take note of other industry efforts from both AAA studios and indie studios alike. Games aren't going to reach the level of The Last of Us Part 2 for a long time but can at least look to studios such as Ubisoft, Tribe Games, Crystal Dynamics, Special Magic Games, and more for inspiration. Research and consultation as early on as possible will at least help make the process of making a game more accessible a somewhat easier task, and ensure the game is accessible at launch.

Hopefully, the industry begins to hire those needed and starts sharing progress openly so disabled gamers can feel confident in a game's production. Perhaps studios as a whole will take inspiration from Ubisoft and start to make it the norm for detailing what accessibility features and options are available weeks prior to launch. It's all incredibly important information that players want or need to know before they splash out on their next video game purchase.

In the case of Cyberpunk 2077, it has a good deal of features, but it's not as robust as what we've seen from other studios throughout this year. But keep your eyes peeled on accessibility-focused outlets such as Can I Play That for in-depth coverage on the state of accessibility in the game.

The post Cyberpunk 2077 Accessibility Should Have Been Confirmed Earlier by CD Projekt Red by Ben Bayliss appeared first on DualShockers.

Genshin Impact – miHoYo Teases Zhongli Will Get Buffed In Version 1.3

Genshin Impact Zhongli changes buff teased Version 1.3

miHoYo shared the image above on its official Weibo account (inaccessible without an account), hinting to Chinese players that Zhongli will get a buff in the upcoming Version 1.3 of Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, PS5, Mobile, Switch soon). Version 1.3 is scheduled to launch sometime in February 2021, so some Chinese players are also asking miHoYo to make the changes sooner. However, we don't know what kind of changes for Zhongli will be coming, and how much time it'll take for miHoYo to decide on the changes. At the very least, it's pretty nice to see this announcement in the first place though, and that some changes are definitely coming.

It's likely the final result will be akin to Zhongli getting a buff. The image shows the male traveler guiding Zhongli to version 1.3, with a strong looking Paimon floating with them. miHoYo said more info is coming at a later date. For now we can only wait.

Zhongli is the latest five star character in Genshin Impact. However, many players are dissatisfied with the way he's designed. Long story short, if you're not playing it, Genshin Impact now is a game where all the endgame content is focused around optimizing your DPS and farming Artifacts (equipment) with damage oriented substats. The substats on dropped Artifacts are random, so players are farming the same Artifacts over and over to get the best substats. Similarly to what you end up doing in tons of online games from Diablo to PSO2. However, Zhongli is a tank-like character, as in focused on defense, meaning he isn't particularly useful right now. We explained the situation in detail in our past coverage.

Zhongli is one of the most popular Genshin Impact characters so far in the Japanese playerbase. It's important to stress out however that it doesn't mean players who like Zhongli for his chara design, seiyuu, or story elements, are ignoring the possible flaws the game or his gameplay design has. Generalizations like these are always pretty off.

miHoYo will also hold on December 11 a new live stream. Introducing the new content and characters coming in Version 1.2, scheduled for December 23. We'll be sure to tell you as soon as possible when we learn more about Zhongli and his possible buff for Version 1.3 of Genshin Impact.

The post Genshin Impact – miHoYo Teases Zhongli Will Get Buffed In Version 1.3 by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

A New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter Will Be Revealed at The Game Awards 2020

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

While it's now in its second year since release, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate hasn't shown any signs of slowing down with its massive roster continuing to grow with new characters and additions. With a few months having passed since the release of the last new fighter, it seems like The Game Awards will once again be the host for the next fighter announcement for Smash Bros., with the stage set for a reveal tonight.

Ahead of tonight's show, Nintendo of America teased on Twitter that a new fighter will be revealed at The Game Awards 2020, which will finally detail the third new addition in Fighters Pass Vol. 2. So far, the first two characters in the second DLC pass have included Min-Min from ARMS and Steve & Alex (and an assortment of other characters) from Minecraft.

Of course, now that we know that The Game Awards will debut a new fighter, it's all a matter of seeing who the new addition will be. Whether it's a familiar character from Nintendo's stable of franchises or a new third-party addition, the previous DLC fighters we've seen so far have shown that now it seems like anyone is up for grabs to join the fight.

Notably, Nintendo revealed the very first new fighter addition for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at The Game Awards 2018 with Persona 5's Joker. The reveal was one that most never seen it coming, so hopefully we'll get another surprising reveal of Joker's calibur at The Game Awards tonight. Thankfully, we won't have too much longer to wait to find out more.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch.

The post A New Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter Will Be Revealed at The Game Awards 2020 by Ryan Meitzler appeared first on DualShockers.

Desperados 3 Bounty Mode is Now Available Across All Platforms

Desperados 3, Mimimi Games, THQ Nordic, PC, PS4, Xbox One

One of the most surprising RPGs of the year is now receiving a new free update, allowing you to go over the campaign missions, choose your beloved character, and change the level design in the way you want. The Bounty mode is now live for Desperados 3.

Mimimi Games delivered a superb prequel to the Desperados series this year, nearly 13 years after the last time we got a game carrying the Desperados title. There's no doubt that Mimimi put a lot of effort and talent into Desperados 3 and the result was excellent enough that is now competing for winning the Best Strategy Game award at this year's The Game Awards 2020.

Probably as a way of celebrating their presence at tonight's event, THQ Nordic shared a new trailer from Desperados 3, announcing the Bounty mode as a new addition to the game that is now available across all platforms.

Thanks to the Bounty mode, you will now be able to choose which character you want to play as in every campaign mission. Besides, the new mode allows you to use Developer Cheats, a tricky way of editing levels and creating your own setting for each mission. You can now simply wipe out the scene from existing objects, and start spawning whatever you want to create your dream level. You can even share it with your friends by sending over your saved files.

Mimimi Games recently announced that they have started working on a brand new project, which is again set in the real-time tactical RPG genre. The project has been codenamed Süßkartoffel and will be the very first self-published game from Mimimi Games, which means they will no longer work with THQ Nordic. Instead, the studio has reached an agreement with the German government to fund the new project.

Desperados 3 is now available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. There has been no word around a next-gen port of the game so far.

The post Desperados 3 Bounty Mode is Now Available Across All Platforms by Mehrdad Khayyat appeared first on DualShockers.

Focus Home Interactive Has Three Major Premieres at The Game Awards 2020

Focus Home Interactive

Focus Home Interactive will share more about its upcoming multiplayer game, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, tonight at The Game Awards 2020. The event will kick-off in over 12 hours and millions of gamers around the world, developers included, are eager to see who will eventually win the Best Game award in the eerie year of 2020. That being said, the event isn't all about announcing winners. A major part of The Game Awards' hype is because of the new showcases that we are about to see from the upcoming games. There are many great titles coming out in 2021, and probably more exciting ones that haven't been announced yet.

While we already know some of the premieres of the show have already been revealed, more companies confirm their presence at the event as we get closer to the opening of The Game Awards 2020. In a recent tweet, Focus Home Interactive officially confirmed that they will make an appearance at Keighley's show tonight, sharing a new trailer from Hood: Outlaws & Legends along with two additional major reveals.

Originally announced in August this year, Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a new project from Sumo Digital, the developer behind Crackdown 3 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure. The game represents a PvPvE competitive multiplayer setting, where two groups of rival outlaws try to steal a treasure from a heavily guarded castle secured by AI enemies. Each team should use a precise plan for sneaking into the castle, get rid of the guards, and grab the treasure before the rival outlaws get their hands on it. The game targets a 2021 release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Regarding the fact that Focus Home Interactive works with many various studios, it's a bit hard to guess what the other two reveals would be, but recently there were some rumors around Deck 13, suggesting that their next project might be a new IP rather than a sequel to The Surge 2. So, we might be lucky to have a look at Deck 13's next project during the show.

The Game Awards 2020 goes live tonight at 6:30 PM ET.

The post Focus Home Interactive Has Three Major Premieres at The Game Awards 2020 by Mehrdad Khayyat appeared first on DualShockers.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Update Adds New 60FPS/Ray Tracing Mode

Insomniac Games, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, PlayStation Studios, PS4, PS5, Sony

Alongside Demon's Souls, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was the most high profile PS5 launch title. A follow up to 2018's PS4 hit, Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles Morales follows the "new" Spidey as he gets to grips with his new powers, and responsibilities. The game offers a stunning take on New York City, with the power of the PS5 making it look better than ever before. Now, in a new update, however, developers Insomniac may have improved things further.

The game already boasted two different modes, a Fidelity Mode, which focused on graphical quality and included ray tracing but locked the game at 30FPS and a Performance Mode, which removed ray tracing but instead locked the game at a smooth 60FPS. Now, in the latest update, however, Spider-Man: Miles Morales has received a third mode, titled Performance RT.

This new mode gives players the best of both worlds. It includes the gorgeous ray tracing included in the Fidelity Mode, while also giving players that buttery smooth 60FPS of the Performance Mode. The new Performance RT mode doesn't come without some sacrifices though, where the description in-game states that it achieves this new feat "by adjusting the scene resolution, reflection quality, and pedestrian density."

Overall, we really enjoyed the game in our review, scoring it an 8/10, saying "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a worthy follow-up to the previous installment, even if a lot of the core DNA has remained the same. Despite some rough edges, the experience as a whole is one that's hard to put down once you get entrenched."

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is out now on both the PS4 and PS5, with the original title included in the Special Edition of the game.

The post Spider-Man: Miles Morales Update Adds New 60FPS/Ray Tracing Mode by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.

The PS5 Wont Be Back in Stock With Some Major UK Retailers Until 2021

PS5

Those in the UK who were hoping to get a PS5 in time for Christmas have just been dealt another major blow. While up until this point there have already been some big issues with the stock, major retailers in the UK are now stating that they won't be getting any more of Sony's brand new console until early next year.

VGC noted that one of the biggest sellers of the console in the UK, Argos, has added a note to their website that reads, "Sorry, PlayStation 5 is currently unavailable. We will not have any further stock for the rest of 2020." And this is a common theme with many other retailers.

Smyths, a major toy and entertainment retailer has also suggested that they aren't expecting any new stock until January 2021 and supermarket chain Asda replied to a customer on Twitter stating that they could "confirm we won't be getting any more stock of the PS5 until after Christmas."

DualShockers also reached out to a member of retail staff at GAME, who told us that they're not expecting any new consoles in until "the new year some time." It's unclear whether the online store may be receiving new shipments before then, however.

Alongside the stock issues, prospective PS5 owners in the UK have been met with a range of other barriers. It's been reported that gangs have been robbing lorries carrying high-value goods, including PS5 consoles in The Fast and The Furious style heists, Amazon drivers have been caught replacing consoles with random items that include cat food and scalpers have been purchasing huge volumes of the consoles to resell at extortionate prices.

The post The PS5 Wont Be Back in Stock With Some Major UK Retailers Until 2021 by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.

Cyberpunk 2077 Received A Whopping 8 Million Pre-orders

Cyberpunk 2077 received over 8 million pre-orders leading up to launch

It's been a long time coming, but Cyberpunk 2077 is now here. After the game was announced all the way back in May 2012, eager players have finally been able to snap up CD Projekt Red's latest RPG. Despite being out for less than a day, it's clear that the game is going to be a major success, with Steam's concurrent player count already clocking in at over 1 million.

One of the reasons the game managed to hit such massive numbers over on Steam may have now been revealed by the CD Projekt Red investor relations Twitter account. The game, which certainly had palpable levels of hype leading up to launch, managed to secure an incredibly impressive 8 million pre-orders.

The 8 million pre-orders garnered by Cyberpunk 2077 is extremely significant. It now means that it is undoubtedly one of the most pre-ordered video game of all time, surpassing the reported 7 million that Grand Theft Auto 5 received back in 2013. Not bad.

While the game certainly achieved some impressive launch numbers, it's yet to be seen whether it will sustain this success. Since launch, and in the review builds of the game, players have been plagued with a huge range of bugs. While nothing game-breaking has particularly been reported, the sheer volume of issues may put players off, at least in the short term.

Alongside the bugs, Liana Ruppert from GameInformer suffered a major seizure whilst playing the game. This was due to light patterns similar to those used by neurologists to help induce seizures in patients. It was also later noted that the game didn't have a clear epilepsy warning at the start of gameplay, something which has now been remedied.

For those now playing the game, or plan to at some point in the future, be sure to keep your eyes open for a cameo from one of gaming's most notorious developers.

Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on Google Stadia, PC, PS4 and Xbox One, with both PS5 and Xbox Series S|X versions due out next year.

The post Cyberpunk 2077 Received A Whopping 8 Million Pre-orders by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.