Halo Infinite Might Drop Its Xbox One Version And Go Next-Gen Exclusive – Rumour

halo infinite

Delaying Halo Infinite was a major decision by Microsoft, and it was one that many didn't expect them to make. That's not just because it's perhaps one of their biggest releases in years, but also because it was being billed as the flagship launch title for the Xbox Series X. However, given the rough state the game looked to be in in its gameplay reveal, most agreed that the delay was a good idea, and would lead to a better game.

Now, new information is probably emerging that suggests that Microsoft and developers 343 Industries are prepared to make even more sacrifices to ensure that Halo Infinite is the best game that it can be. Over on ResetEra, insider sponger – who has been verified by the forum's moderators as being a legitimate source of such news and has previously leaked accurate information – is suggesting that Microsoft could be considering making big changes to Halo Infinite's launch plans. This isn't information that is coming from official channels, so take it with a grain of salt for now.

The biggest of the aforementioned changes is that the first person shooter – which is currently being developed as a cross-gen release – could drop its planned Xbox One version and become an Xbox Series X exclusive. Sponger states that on the base Xbox One, Halo Infinite is struggling quite a bit- apparently, it's failing to hit a 1080p resolution – and in fact is even lower than 900p – and facing major issues with asset loading- even worse than those that were apparent in the game's recent gameplay demo, which was running on a PC.

343 Industries have a plan for the fixes that they need to put into place. "Idea is to change at the engine level how assets load, make RT as default (improve/"unlock" some assets), improve geometry, post-processing and add more CPU bound interactivity," the insider says.

In fact, in another post, sponger states that even delaying Halo Infinite once more and releasing it in early 2022 is not off the table. Apparently, 343 Industries and Microsoft are convinced that it needs to be the "best Halo game ever"- and based on this, they seem to be willing to make any sacrifices necessary.

Until not too long ago, Microsoft had stated on more than one occasion that there would no first party Xbox Series X exclusives for a couple of years until after the console's launch, and that all of their games would be coming to Xbox One for the foreseeable future as well. However, at the Xbox Games Showcase in late July, multiple first party releases – including the likes of Fable, Avowed, State of Decay 3, Forza Motorsport, and Everwild – were confirmed as Xbox Series X exclusives, and Microsoft's subsequent statements presented a pretty different picture from their earlier ones.

Halo Infinite is, for now, the only major upcoming first party game by Microsoft that is confirmed to be coming to Xbox One as well, so if it were to drop its current-gen version, it would be a pretty notable change. Many might argue, however, that it would probably be for the better, especially for the game itself. Once again though, don't put too much stock into this until we hear something more concrete.

Meanwhile, Halo Infinite has been at the center of a controversy of its own since the announcement of its delay. A recent report claimed that the game had been going through a rough development period for a number of years for a variety of reasons, though developers 343 Industries have categorically denied several of the claims in the report.


12 Xbox Series X Rumours That Were Completely Baseless

False rumours and next-gen hype cycles go hand-in-hand, and there's been no shortage of those this time around either. We recently talked about PS5-related rumours that have popped up over the last few months that turned out to be less than accurate, and here, we're going to do the same with Xbox Series X. So without further ado, let's get started.

PERFECT DARK REVEAL AT XBOX GAMES SHOWCASE

As Microsoft's youngest first party studio, there's a lot of curiosity about what The Iniaitive's first project is going to be, and multiple reports over the past few months have suggested that the Santa Monica-based studio is working on a revival of the beloved Perfect Dark franchise. We're hoping that that is indeed true – and it very well may be – but one thing that definitely turned out to be false was the timing of its reveal. Days before the Xbox Games Showcase in late July, reports started emerging that the Perfect Dark reboot would be revealed at the show- which, of course, didn't happen. Here's hoping we do get to see the game before too long.


Gotham Knights – 10 New Things We Learned About It

WB Games Montreal have been teasing their new game for a couple of years now, and now, after a long and torturous wait, they have finally unveiled it. Gotham Knights took center-stage as DC FanDome kicked off, and with a new trailer and a gameplay demo, Warner Bros. introduced us to their new upcoming superhero game. There was quite a bit that we learned about it, and here, we'll be talking about some of the biggest talking points about the game coming out of the show. 

PREMISE

 

Gotham Knights has a rather interesting premise. For starters, though it's set in the Batman universe, it's not a Batman game- the main reason for that is that the Batman is dead. The trailer reveals that the Caped Crusader died in a mysterious explosion, and as he did, he left behind a message for several of his fellow crime-fighting vigilantes in the Batfamily, telling them to protect Gotham City in his absence. Who caused that explosion? Is Bruce Wayne really dead? We will obviously find the answers to these questions in the game itself… but we think we have a pretty good idea what those answers will be already.

COURT OF OWLS

gotham knights

As for who caused those explosions, it was almost certainly the Court of Owls. The game's announce trailer confirms at the end something that leaks and teases and rumours have been hinting at for a couple of years- that the shadowy organization known as the Court of Owls will be the primary antagonists in Gotham Knights, and that their assassins, known as Talons, will be a major threat that will be have to dealt with. Their exact involvement in the story hasn't been detailed yet, but we can't wait to face off against this new threat.

CHARACTERS

Gotham Knights

So in Batman's absence, who is going to take up his mantle as the protector of Gotham? Well, it won't be any one person. Four members of the Batfamily are going to step up and fill the void left behind by the Dark Knight. These four playable characters in Gotham Knights are going to be Batgirl (or Barbara Gordon), Robin (or Tim Drake), Red Hood (or Jason Todd), and Nightwing (or Jason Todd). Outside of these four, some information on secondary characters and other antagonists has also been confirmed. Alfred is back, of course, but Commissioner Jim Gordon seems to be dead. Meanwhile, we also know for a fact that Mr. Freeze is returning.

NOT IN THE ARKHAM UNIVERSE

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Batman being dead and someone else having to step up in his absence may seem like a premise that fits very well with how Arkham Knight ends, but WB Games Montreal have confirmed that Gotham Knights is not set in the Arkham universe. This is going to be an entirely new story in a new universe, even though there are, of course, going to be plenty of similarities as far as gameplay is concerned.

CITY

gotham knights

Gotham Knights will take place in an open world Gotham City, similar to Arkham City, Origins, and Knight, but Gotham seems to have received a much-needed makeover. The open world of the game has five distinct boroughs, so we can probably expect each of them to have their own distinct look and feel, while the gameplay demo that was shown off also showed the streets being actually populated with vehicles and pedestrians, something that we never saw in the Arkham games. Traversal around this city also seems interesting. There will be gliding and grappling, of course, but players will also be able to use the Batcycle to get around Gotham.

ABILITIES

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With four distinct playable characters sharing the spotlight, there's plenty of room for unique playstyles and different abilities, and from what we've seen of the game so far, that definitely seems to be the case. It seems each of them has unique fighting styles and combat abilities, and a couple of these were shown off in the gameplay demo. Robin seems to have access to the Justice League satellites, which allows him to teleport short distances, while Batgirl has a fighting style rather similar to that of Batman himself- in addition to some interesting new abilities, such as summoning a swarm of bats to aid her in combat. Meanwhile, it also looks like characters will be able to team up for tag-team attacks and finishers on enemies.

PROGRESSION

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One of the more interesting things we learned about Gotham Knights in its gameplay demonstration was the fact that it seems to be going all-in on RPG mechanics. Characters earn experience and level up, and as they do, they unlock new abilities and power up existing ones. Enemies also have their own levels and health bars, and damage numbers pop up during combat. Meanwhile, the demo also confirms that the boss characters will scale up as you level up yourself, which means fighting one of them at lower levels will be a lot different than squaring off against them with a more powered-up character.

CO-OP

gotham knights

It seems like this is going to be the defining feature of Gotham Knights. WB Games Montreal have confirmed that the entire game is going to be entirely playable solo- but also in co-op with up to two total players. The entire gameplay demo that was shown off showed Batgirl and Robin teaming up to take down Mr. Freeze, and this, of course, is where their unique abilities and styles and team-up attacks came in. The prospect of teaming up with another player to clean up the streets of Gotham is a rather exciting one.

A LIVING CITY

Gotham Knights

Neither WB Games Montreal not Warner Bros themselves have specifically mentioned that Gotham Knights is going to be a live service game, but it seems like the pieces are certainly in place for that to be the case. In addition to all the RPG elements and co-op shenanigans that they've revealed, they're also promising a living, breathing Gotham City that will offer new challenges over time. Whether that just means extensive post-launch support or a proper service model remains to be seen.

LAUNCH

gotham knights

So when exactly is Gotham Knights coming out? The superhero action-adventure title will be releasing some time in 2021 – the exact date hasn't been confirmed – and as many predicted, it will be a cross-gen game, coming to the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC.


Gran Turismo 7 Will Have a More Realistic Representation of ABS Thanks to PS5's DualSense

Gran Turismo 7

The PS5's DualSense and its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback are things that Sony are banking on hard in the lead-up to their next-gen console's launch, and developers seem to be quite excited about those features as well. And racing sims in particular seem like a genre that will benefit quite a bit from those features.

For instance, Gran Turismo 7too, will be leveraging the DualSense's adaptive triggers and haptics, and speaking on the PlayStation Blog, Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi talked about just how that will be done.

With the adaptive triggers, Yamauchi says that the upcoming racing sim will now have a more realistic representation of ABS while braking, while thanks to the haptic feedback, he promises "a bigger range of frequencies" in terms of feedback in the controller.

"I think the most effective use of the adaptive trigger [in Gran Turismo 7] is for representing the operation of the antilock brake system (ABS) while braking," Yamauchi said. "A typical ABS releases brake pressure intermittently while the driver applies pressure to the pedal. The adaptive trigger is suited for recreating this pedal feel, and it will allow the player to accurately feel and understand the relationship between the braking force they want and the tire's grip.

"Compared to the rumble force feedback we had in the past, the special character of the haptic feedback is that it has a bigger range of frequencies it can produce."

Recently, various other developers have also spoken about how the DualSense's unique features will be used in their games. from the Demon's Souls remake's grittier and deadlier combat, to Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo's innovations with weapons, to Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales' more tactile feedback.

Gran Turismo 7 is currently in development for the PS5. It does not yet have a release date.


Black Myth: Wu Kong Shows Promising Next-Gen Gameplay in Reveal Trailer

black myth- wu kong

We don't often get to see Chinese developers making waves with major AAA games, but Black Myth: Wu Kong looks to be the game that will fill that void. Announced recently by indie development team Game Science, it looks like an absolute visual and technical marvel, and its 13 minute-long reveal trailer has quite a bit of eye-catching gameplay to show off as well.

It shows plenty of combat, with a particular focus on melee attacks, using various abilities, and dodging, and put together, it looks fast-paced and kinetic. The main character can transform into a variety of creatures, and based on what's being shown here, the boss battles are going to be rather interesting as well. What's most notable is the visuals- from the animations to the art to the detail crammed into the environments, Black Myth is definitely looking like a technical showpiece so far. Based on the Chinese epic Journey to the West, the game also has a rather interesting narrative premise, so we're curious to see more of the game, and how it shapes up as development progresses.

Game Science was founded in 2014 by several former Tencent employees, and though they have since then worked on plenty of games, this is their first attempt at a full-fledged AAA console release. Of course, one never really knows how a game will turn out until the full thing releases, but Black Myth has made a strong impression.

Black Myth: Wu Kong doesn't have a release date, but it's being target for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. The game is being developed using Unreal Engine 4. Check out its full gameplay reveal below.


Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War Will be Exclusive to Battle.net on PC

call of duty black ops cold war

After plenty of months of leaks, and a couple of recent weeks of teasing, Activision finally announced Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War last week, and confirmed that a full reveal of the game will be coming on later this weel within Call of Duty: Warzone. Ahead of that, they've started sharing some new details.

As reportedly by Charlie INTEL on Twitter, Activision have recently been sending out promotional emails for the shooter's upcoming reveal, and in those emails, they've confirmed that the game will be exclusive to Blizzard's Battle.net launcher on PC. Considering the fact that last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and other past Call of Duty games have also launched as Battle.net exclusives, this doesn't come as a surprise, though it will surely be a controversial decision nonetheless.

Meanwhile, it's also been confirmed that the game's PC version is being handled by Beenox, who also worked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, as well as the PC versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War's full reveal will happen on August 26. Stay tuned for more details until then.


Marvel's Avengers Will Require 90 GB of Free Storage Space on PS4

marvel's avengers

Marvel's Avengers' ongoing beta has given many people the chance to jump into its co-op shenanigans and experience the game for themselves. Soon, however, it will be launching in full, and as we approach its launch date, more information on the game is starting to emerge.

Recently, YouTube channel TheRelaxingEnd (via MP1st) uploaded an unboxing video of the game's Earth's Mightiest Heroes Edition – the PS4 version, to be more precise – and in the video, we got a look at the game's box. On the back of the box, as is always the case, there's several details about the game, including how much free space you'll need on your system to play the game. With Marvel's Avengers, that number stands at 90 GB. It's worth noting that that's not necessarily the game's file size, rather how much free space you'll need to download and install the game.

Marvel's Avengers is out on September 4 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, and will be releasing for PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year. Recently, datamining of the ongoing beta may have spilled the beans on a host of unannounced upcoming playable characters- read more on that through here.


Nintendo Direct Probably Coming This Friday, Latest by Mid-September – Rumour

nintendo switch

"When is the next Direct?" is a question that countless people have asked countless times this year, and yet, though there have been plenty of mini-Directs, game-specific presentations, and more recently, Partner Showcases and indie presentations, a Direct is still nowhere in sight. It seems, however, that one might be on the horizon.

GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, who's been a reputable source of insider information across the board over the past few months, recently said in the GamesBeat Decides podcast (which you can view below) that the next Nintendo Direct presentation might be coming as early as this Friday, which is August 28th. Grubb says that based on the things he's heard, there's "a strong possibility" that that's when the Direct will happen.

He goes on to warn listeners that, given Nintendo's recent track record with Directs, it might not necessarily be a full general Direct, and could very well end up being a Partner Showcase. However, Grubb adds that regardless of that, a general Direct focused on first party announcements is definitely on the horizon, and at most, will be happening before mid-September. With Nintendo having a special meeting with investors halfway through next month, Grubb says they will want to get ahead of questions about upcoming releases with announcements before then, though he also adds that he's been hearing about a full Direct by mid-September since even before the meeting with the investors was confirmed.

Recent rumours have suggested that a Nintendo Direct will be happening later this month, so there definitely seems to be a lot of smoke. That said, one never knows anything for sure with Nintendo, and we've been burned about Directs multiple times this year, so it's best to tread with caution, regardless of how reputable Grubb is as a source.

As for what Nintendo could announce in a Direct if it does get announced, there's been plenty of rumours about quite a few announcements. A collection of remasters of mainline 3D Super Mario games have been rumoured for a while, while recently, a retailer listing of a Switch version of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was also spotted. Pikmin 3 Deluxe is due out for the Switch later this year, so that could receive new details, while fans have been hoping for an update on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 for a while now.


Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Receives Details on Setting, Co-op, and More

suicide squad- kill the justice league

Rocksteady have finally lifted the on what they have been cooking up, with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League finally being revealed yesterday- and though it's still a ways off and there's still plenty that we don't yet know about it, during an interview with creative director Sefton Hill following the game's reveal at DC FanDome yesterday, several details on the game emerged.

As its trailer establishes, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be set in Metropolis, confirmed to be an open world setting, and it looks like it's going to differ from the Arkham games' Gotham City in more ways than one. It looks colourful and vibrant, and it one would imagine that having four unique playable characters will lead to various different traversal options.

Different options will also be available in combat. During the aforementioned interview, Hill mentioned that Harley Quinn, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, and Deadshot will all have their own sets of abilities and skills that players will have to master, with Hill claiming that each of the four will have more depth to them, their mechanics, and progression than Batman did in the Arkham games.

Harley Quinn has a love for explosives and her baseball bat in melee combat; Deadshot has a jetpack, his arm canons, a fuel gun that allows him to set enemies on fire, and, of course, his sniper rifle; King Shark has his two deadly claws, raw brute strength, and can wield a massive machine gun; and Captain Boomerang looks to be the agile one of the lot, and uses, as his name implies, a special boomerang. Apparently, there's much more to all of them than that.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is going to be a co-op game, as many have predicted, with support for up to four players in total. However, if you want to play the entire game solo, you can totally do that. When played solo, the three characters that you're not playing as will be controlled by the AI, and players will have the option to switch between the four of them at will.

There's more info on the game from yesterday's panel, which you can view in full below (thanks to Arkham Videos for uploading it).

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases in 2022 for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. Rocksteady have confirmed that it will be set in the Batman: Arkham universe.

Meanwhile, WB Games Montreal's Gotham Knights was also recently announced- that isn't set in the Arkhamverse. You can get more details on the game through here.


Gotham Knights Receives Details on Open World, Characters, and More

gotham knights

After literally years of teasing, WB Games Montreal finally put us out of our misery yesterday and officially unveiled their next game- Gotham Knights, their open world action-adventure game that will see players stepping into the shoes of four members of the Batfamily in the wake of Gotham's Caped Crusader's apparent death.

With a meaty trailer and a rather lengthy gameplay demonstration, there was quite a bit that we learned about the game yesterday, and alongside that, Warner Bros. also sent out a press release containing some more snippets about the upcoming release. Most of it is an addendum to what we already know, but it's still interesting regardless.

Gotham Knights will be set in an open world, of course, and the press release further adds that it will have five distinct boroughs. Players will be employing "a variety of traversal abilities" to get around Gotham City- we can assume that gliding and grappling traversal similar to the Arkham games will be featured, though we're curious to see what else will be on offer beyond that. Of course, it's been confirmed that players will be able to use the Batcycle, which is cause for excitement for sure.

Each of the four characters will come with their own unique gameplay skills, as well as "a growing arsenal of weaponry and gear." Batgirl (aka Barbara Gordon) is "a determined fighter and a skilled hacker", highly trained in kickboxing, capoeira, and jiu-jitsu, and equips a tonfa. Nightwing (or Dick Grayson) is "a natural leader and the eldest and wisest member of the Batman Family". He makes use of his "mastery in acrobatics" and his Escrima Sticks to dispatch enemies.

Red Hood (or Jason Todd) is "an intense and volatile anti-hero". Haunted by his death and eventual resurrection, he is defined by "peak human strength and proficiency in multiple combat techniques with all manner of weapons – both traditional and high-tech." Finally, there's Robin (aka Tim Drake), described as "a master of deductive reasoning". On top of being equipped with a collapsible quarterstaff and being a master of stealth, he "possesses a background in combined psychological warfare and behavioral sciences".

Gotham Knights releases in 2021 for the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC. It will not be set in the Arkham universe– though Rocksteady's Suicde Squad: Kill the Justice League will be.


Sales From Microsoft's Halo Face Masks Will Help Health Care Workers

Halo face masks

Microsoft and gaming apparel brand Meta Threads have joined forces once again to create the official Halo face masks. Profits from the sales of the masks will help out health care workers. The limited edition masks can be purchased for 19.99 with all profits from sales being used to manufacture two more masks which will be donated to masksfordocs.

Masksfordocs is a California based charitable foundation. It's run completely by volunteers that help distribute protective gear and supplies to frontline workers in hospitals, and other medical facilities working during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Halo face masks are part of the #GamersMasks4Masks campaign created by Microsoft and Meta Threads, which has already led to 53,866 masks being donated to healthcare workers from the sales of their Xbox branded masks as well as other designs such as Player Unknown's Battleground. Meta Threads also worked with 343 Industries earlier this year to create a Halo-themed shirt which raised money for Covid-19 relief efforts.

The Halo masks are registered with the FDA, include an adjustable aluminum nose insert and elastic ear loops. The 3-ply polyester masks are washable, reusable, and made in the USA.

Halo Infinite has been delayed until sometime in 2021, but these limited edition masks are available right now. Do your part in stopping the spread of the coronavirus in spartan style and order one today.

The post Sales From Microsoft's Halo Face Masks Will Help Health Care Workers by Laddie Simco appeared first on DualShockers.


Borderlands 3 Teases Fourth Campaign DLC Stars Psycho Krieg

Borderlands 3 fourth campaign DLC revealed

Borderlands 3 will be getting its fourth campaign DLC soon. As teased by a tweet starring Krieg, the playable psycho introduced in Borderlands 2. The short trailer sees Krieg in the lotus position meditating, as various scenes flash in the background. At the end of the cryptic trailer, we learn that the full reveal of the fourth DLC drop will take place on August 25. A specific time for when the reveal will take place was not given.

https://twitter.com/Borderlands/status/1296477094315282435?s=20

Krieg is the fan-favorite psycho turned vault hunter, and the upcoming DLC is possibly a journey into his mind, as previously hinted at by Gearbox. As the fourth campaign DLC drop, this will be the final content of the Borderlands 3 season pass. That does not mean that it is the last DLC the game will see, it just fulfills the season pass. Any further DLC would likely be sold as a standalone drop or a possible second season pass.

This still-unnamed fourth DLC joins Moxxi's Heist, Guns, Love, and Tentacles, and Bounty of Blood. All DLC packs can be purchased as standalone purchases or as part of the season pass. Borderlands 3 released on September 13, 2019 and is available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia.

The post Borderlands 3 Teases Fourth Campaign DLC Stars Psycho Krieg by Laddie Simco appeared first on DualShockers.


The Last of Us Part II Easter Egg Discovered After Clearing Grounded, Permadeath

The Last of Us Part II Easter egg

Players of The Last of Us Part II recently managed to find a new easter egg. Two of them even. A recent patch to The Last of Us Part II added two additional difficulties, Grounded and Permadeath. Beating the game on either of these new modes will unlock two new Easter eggs found in the ending credits.

Grounded is a difficulty setting that was first introduced in the Last of Us. It increases the game difficulty by "making enemies deadlier and ammo, upgrade, and crafting materials incredibly scarce." The setting also removes listen mode.

Completing the game on Grounded, which is the most difficult setting, will unlock Joel's interpretation of Pearl Jam's Future Days. The song is heard often throughout the game, but you can only hear it in its entirety post-Grounded credit roll.

If you finish the game on Permadeath, Ellie's version of Through the Valley plays during the credits. Through the Valley, which was written by Shawn James, was used in trailers and ads promoting The Last of Us Part II. Completing the game on any difficulty gives you Ellie and Joel performing Johnny Cash's Wayfaring Stranger.

The Last of Us Part II has been one of the most controversial and memorable games of 2020. In a recent DualShockers feature, several of us included the game in our best of 2020 so far list.  The game has already been confirmed to be coming to PS5 and Naughty Dog promised us that multiplayer would be added at a later date.

The post The Last of Us Part II Easter Egg Discovered After Clearing Grounded, Permadeath by Laddie Simco appeared first on DualShockers.


Persona 4 Golden Fashion Collection is a Great Blend of the Title's Retro Aesthetic

Persona 4 Golden PS Vita

Insert Coin, who's already released an excellent line of Persona 5 themed clothing, has debuted a new collection featuring merchandise from Persona 4 Golden. And this collection — made up of Yasogami High themed hoodies, jackets, and shirts — is just as stunning and high quality, which you can see in the gallery below. If you're interested, check out the fashion line for yourself through the official Insert Coin site here:

Atlus, Insert Coin, Japan, merch, merchandise, PC, Persona 4, Persona 4 Golden, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Vita, PS2, RPG, steam Atlus, Insert Coin, Japan, merch, merchandise, PC, Persona 4, Persona 4 Golden, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Vita, PS2, RPG, steam Atlus, Insert Coin, Japan, merch, merchandise, PC, Persona 4, Persona 4 Golden, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Vita, PS2, RPG, steam Atlus, Insert Coin, Japan, merch, merchandise, PC, Persona 4, Persona 4 Golden, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Vita, PS2, RPG, steam

Atlus and Sega have been considering porting their library over to the PC platform for a while, but thanks to the success of Persona 4: Golden earlier this year, it seems as though the publisher is poised for a renewed interest in PC. "Going forward, we intend to aggressively promote the porting of previously launched titles to Steam and other new platforms," Sega said in an accompanying statement with the financial results. "Under such direction, we would like to take multi-platform rollout in account and prepare the PC version and others from the start."

Just last month, Atlus West announced that the PC port of the popular JRPG title hit the 500,000 player mark. To commemorate the occasion, series character designer Shigenori Soejima drew an adorable sketch of some of the main character.

As a heavily expanded and refined release of the original game, Persona 4 Golden considered one of the most acclaimed JRPGs of the past decade. But unfortunately despite its critical praise the game, which launched back in 2012, was essentially trapped on the poorly-received and ill fated PS Vita. This had the effect of limiting the potential audience. And for the longest time, Golden stayed there, even though the Vita was increasingly fading out of the picture as the years went by and fans were consistently vocal in wanting to see a port or remaster of the game — and other Atlus favorites — on other platforms.

During the PC Gaming Show earlier this year, eight years after its initial launch, Golden was announced and released for the PC the same day via Steam, finally freeing it up from the Vita. This also offered a small but encouraging hope that Atlus is becoming more open to porting its existing titles to PC. If you're interested in reading a more opinionated take on Persona 4 Golden's PC iteration, be sure to also check out our review of the port.

The post Persona 4 Golden Fashion Collection is a Great Blend of the Title's Retro Aesthetic by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.


Fall Guys Fallen Beans are Now a Playable DnD Race Thanks to Efforts of Action Fiction Founder

devolver digital, Fall Guys, mediatonic, PC, PS4, steam, Team Fortress 2, valve, dnd, dnd 5e, dungeons and dragons

It's no secret that Fall Guys is an insanely popular game right now, and the buzz surrounding it doesn't seem likely to die anytime soon. In fact there are still tons of fan-made projects being created even now, such as the new Talk Guys virtual talk show from Gary Whitta (creator of the Animal Talking virtual talk show).

Recently the creator of the Dungeons & Dragons parody board game Monsters of Murka and founder of Action Fiction made the Fall Guys characters into an actual playable race, complete with their own DnD 5e profile page mockup:

If you need a larger version of the documents, those are posted below. And you can check out Action Fiction's patreon for the full document as well:

devolver digital, Fall Guys, mediatonic, PC, PS4, steam, Team Fortress 2, valve, dnd, dnd 5e, dungeons and dragons

devolver digital, Fall Guys, mediatonic, PC, PS4, steam, Team Fortress 2, valve, dnd, dnd 5e, dungeons and dragons

Since release, Fall Guys has been a smashing success gaining major traction across Twitter and streaming platforms as well as being Devolver Digitals' biggest launch to date. There's even an ongoing campaign to delete the Yellow Team if a specific tweet gets 1m retweets and recently Fall Guys gave Twitch streamer Dr. Lupo a new outfit for statistically being the best player in the game.

In the latest patch, PS4 players will be able to purchase the Valve skins that were previously available only on PC in the store. Other fixes include: for Fall Mountain the maximum player count is now 15, the time for Team Tail Tag and Royale Fumble has been shortened to one minute and thirty seconds, and arguably most important, team games will no longer pop up back to back. Mediatonic explained that these changes were based on community feedback and wanted to ensure players that they are always listening. Hopefully, these changes will make getting that wretched five wins in a row trophy a little more manageable.

If you're interested in a detailed retelling of the origins of Fall Guys as well as how the game was pitched and reached its current level of success, check out this extensive thread for Jeff Tanton, Creative Director at Mediatonic.

The post Fall Guys Fallen Beans are Now a Playable DnD Race Thanks to Efforts of Action Fiction Founder by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.


PS5 Projected to Lose to Nintendo Switch this Holiday Season

nintendo switch lite

The 2020 holiday season is hardly around the corner and it's hard to contain our excitement about the release of the upcoming PS5. However, the highly-coveted PlayStation 5 (and the Xbox Series X) may yet fail to beat a tried-and-true gaming staple come autumn.

Japanese blog Esuteru has transcribed a document from the research division of Ace Securities Co., an asset management firm which apparently has a few toes dipped into the games industry, featuring an analyst's opinion that the Nintendo Switch will vastly outperform against the new PS5.

Note that the document is written entirely in Japanese, so unless you can read and navigate through several pages of kanji characters, you'll probably want a good translator to help you read it in more detail. Here's the English-translated excerpt as it appears in the Esuteru blog post.

Esuteru

According to the analyst, there are several reasons why the Nintendo Switch is slated to outperform a next-gen console as hyped as the PS5.

The analyst reports that Nintendo increases profits at a rate of roughly 10% year-over-year, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's actually seen a profit boost of 48%.

In addition to that, the Nintendo Switch has been notably difficult to track down on retail and digital storefronts worldwide. As production resumes course, the analyst posits, demand will remain heightened as Switch consoles begin petering back into stores across the globe before and during the 2020 holiday season.

It's important to note here that the Nintendo Switch retails at an MSRP of $299.99, whereas its more handheld-friendly counterpart, the Switch Lite, retails at $199.99. Both devices can be carried around and played anywhere, and the Nintendo Switch library itself now carries a vast variety of console-quality games, some of which even offer crossplay features that allow them to team up with or against players on PlayStation and Xbox consoles and/or PC.

These prices may be considerably lower than the PS5, which is rumored to release at a base MSRP of $499.99 or higher.

The PlayStation 5 does not yet have a formal release date or MSRP, however, it's not unfair to project a November release date at this point on. Here's what we know so far.

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Final Fantasy IX's Moguri Mod Drops Latest Version, Graphical Upgrades are Even More Stunning Now

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Last year we covered a fan community mod for the PC version of Final Fantasy IX, which seeks to create a true remastered version of the much beloved title while still preserving the integrity of the artistic design. The trailer for the latest version, update 8.2, shows off even more improvements and fixes made to the visuals, framerate, music, and more:

Moguri Mod, according to the official website, "is a total revamping of the PC port of Final Fantasy IX through Deep Learning techniques." This mod's most drastic changes are in the background arts that are now more detailed, cleaner, and have a higher resolution. Moguri Mod also includes a custom implementation of Memoria Mod, which offers more customization and options than the original PC port.

If you're into remastered music, several artists and Materia Collective have come together to create the EIDOLON: Music From Final Fantasy IX tribute album. You can check that out here.

Square Enix announced earlier this month that Final Fantasy VII Remake has shipped over 5 million copies worldwide, digitally and physically. The game is also now the highest selling digital game Square Enix ever developed on a PlayStation platform. April 2020's NPD data shows that Final Fantasy VII Remake beat out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and as of that date was already the most successful entry in the long-running franchise in terms of units sold and dollar sales in a launch month.

The director of Remake Tetsuya Nomura was the one to propose the original Final Fantasy VII's most shocking moment. As previously revealed, Final Fantasy VII Remake has many new elements to it and Scenarist Kazushige Nojima even explains how he rewrote Cloud for the remake. We also translated comments from Nojima about how Final Fantasy VII influenced Final Fantasy VIII. In an interview posted through Square Enix, Co-Director Naoki Hamaguchi and Producer Yoshinori Kitase talk about their reasoning behind making some bold changes for the remake of such a beloved game — namely why Sephiroth was introduced so early in the game.

We also translated the short film made to promote the remake. Square Enix, meanwhile, is currently working on the second and possibly last episode. Square Enix released a trailer revealing the theme song of the game called Hollow, along with with many iconic moments and returning faces from the original PS1 classic. If you're interested in how the remake plays, check out both of our previews from E3 2018, as well as my own in-depth preview of four chapters of the game. Our Features Editor also wrote about how the remake won him over as a non-Final Fantasy fan.

Final Fantasy VII Remake finally released on April 10th after a one month delay and you can purchase the game from Amazon here. Check out our extremely comprehensive review of the title here. I wrote a pretty comprehensive beginner's guide for players just starting out (including some handy Materia and weapon builds for Tifa) but you can also check out this incredibly intricate and damaging combo to see why proper character builds matter in Remake.

The post Final Fantasy IX's Moguri Mod Drops Latest Version, Graphical Upgrades are Even More Stunning Now by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.


Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's King Shark Voiced By WWE Wrestler Samoa Joe

suicide squad kill the justice league

Yesterday was an exciting day for comic book fans, as the online DC FanDome convention debuted quite a few exciting announcements such as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Batman: Gotham Knights. Today fans will have even more to be excited about — especially wrestling fans, thanks to a single tweet posted earlier today:

WWE wrestling Samoa Joe revealed that he will be voicing King Shark through this simple yet playful status update quote retweeting the official trailer for the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. From what we heard so far, he does a phenomenal job voicing the bruiser and bringing a nice level of sophistication to the role.

The latest from London-based Batman: Arkham Knight developer Rocksteady Studios, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League brings fan favorites like Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang directly to players' fingertips for the first major video game production in the series.

While unfortunately for longtime DC video game fans, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may not be the Batman: Arkham Knight sequel that many have been waiting for. But still, even as a unique property, I'm excited to see Suicide Squad finally make its way into the gaming space and in such a fun and comicbook accurate capacity. You can watch the debut teaser trailer below in case you missed it the first time.

During the same event DC also premiered the first trailer for the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knights title, which has been teased for quite some time. The trailer reveals that Bruce Wayne, or Batman as we truly know him as, has been caught in an explosion and died. A special message for the Bat Family confirms this, as well as the destruction of the Bat Cave. He also instructs them that Gotham will need them more than ever to watch over it and its citizens.

After that we see Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin as they suit up and demonstrate their unique abilities and skills in combat. In the final moments we see more of the Court of Owls plotline that was previously teased.

The post Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's King Shark Voiced By WWE Wrestler Samoa Joe by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.


Halo Infinite Holiday 2021 Release Window Leak From Amazon Debunked

Halo Infinite

The biggest question on Xbox fans' minds since the Halo: Infinite recent delay following its lukewarm reception at Microsoft's Xbox Game Showcase is "When can we play it?". Naturally, just like everything else on our minds, like "What is Nintendo doing this year?" or "How much will a PS5 cost?" the internet, specifically Amazon (among other retailers) likes to accidentally spread misinformation.

This all started when Amazon's official Xbox Series X page included an ad for Halo: Infinite that said that the title was coming in Holiday 2021. After the Amazon page was pointed out by Twitter user Wario64, Tom Warren at The Verge followed up on the supposed leak by saying that it was a mistake on Amazon's side.

Since the Tweet went out, the Amazon page has been updated to say that Master Chief's next outing is scheduled to release in 2021, rather than a specific time frame within 2021. That's about all the information that Microsoft and 343 Industries had already put out there, so it seems fairly reliable all things considered.

Calling out fake leaks and unreliable listings aren't anything new for Warren. In fact, he's currently one of the leading Xbox insiders who's correctly shared and predicted many announcements during this summer's slate of announcements. Most recently, he even supposedly leaked a spec sheet for Microsoft's worst-kept secret; the Xbox Series S. Not only the Xbox Series S has been hinted at and talked about by insiders, but recently leaked controllers are also described as compatible with the Series S.

Xbox Series X

While Amazon and Tom Warren are both relatively reliable sources for this sort of information, we've seen time and time again that nothing — and I mean nothing — is set in stone until Microsoft or 343 makes an announcement.

The post Halo Infinite Holiday 2021 Release Window Leak From Amazon Debunked by Charlie Wacholz appeared first on DualShockers.


Upcoming Ubisoft Collector's Editions Will be Digital on Xbox While PlayStation Will Be Able to Choose Physical or Digital

For some reason, Ubisoft has changed how purchasers of some of their collecter editions will play the game they purchased. The publisher has announced some changes that are coming to those who pre-ordered the Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, or Watch Dogs: Legion Collector's Editions.

Those who pre-ordered on Xbox consoles will now receive a digital key that they can redeem rather than a physical disk. Those who pre-ordered on PlayStation will be able to choose between a digital code or a physical disk. It was not stated if this would only be for these three upcoming games or if this would be for every Ubisoft Collector's Edition moving forward.

Ubisoft did not state why such changes were made and the decision is quite puzzling. As of late, I have got back into buying physical editions of games so they can look neat on my bookshelf and I have some physical object I can look that signifies my growing collection of games. On top of that, I know that there are many people out there who refuse to buy a digital copy. I am willing to bet that Ubisoft just lost out on plenty of Collector Edition buyers on Xbox because of this decision.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is set to release on November 17 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Far Cry 6 is set to release on February 18 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Watch Dogs: Legion is set to release on October 29 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

The post Upcoming Ubisoft Collector's Editions Will be Digital on Xbox While PlayStation Will Be Able to Choose Physical or Digital by Grant Huff appeared first on DualShockers.