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Final Fantasy VII Remake Concert Possible Announcement Teased by Square Enix

Counting down towards the Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestra World Tour concert on February 13 in Japan, Square Enix has been sharing short video messages of the remake's core developers on Twitter.

The first message, published on February 6 featured producer Yoshinori Kitase. He quickly introduced the concert, and mentioned he'll be watching from home as well. Nothing newsworthy here.

Secondly, another message featured Final Fantasy VII Remake music supervisor Keiji Kawamori. Here too, nothing groundbreaking.

However, the third message, published on February 8, is pretty intriguing.

The third video message is from Motomu Toriyama – co-director of FF7R. In it, Toriyama first quickly introduced the concert as well, mentioning FF7R has many new BGM compared to the original game. So he's looking forward to hearing an orchestra version of it all.

However, Motomu Toriyama also revealed the Final Fantasy VII Remake concert will include a bonus talk show with the developers, and he'll be participating as well. He explained elements related to FF7R will be revealed there. It's possible we might get some news or announcement through this part of the concert. However, it's likely he simply means development stories.

For those wanting to watch the video themselves, you can find a subtitled version below, courtesy of @aitaikimochi on Twitter.

It's likely the future messages until the concert this weekend will expand a bit more on what this developer talk will be. Moreover, seeing the staff appearing on the videos so far, it's likely one of the messages will feature Tetsuya Nomura.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestra World Tour was first announced back in January 2020, with the first concerts held in Los Angeles in June 2020. The concerts include several orchestrated tracks from the Remake, including the game's theme song, Hollow, by Nobuo Uematsu. While the Japanese dates of the concerts have been canceled, an online version, with a paid ticket system, is still happening on February 13. This is what everyone should keep their eyes on.

Personally speaking, I believe the most likely scenario would be a simple developers talk on FF7R, with no real announcement. However, Square Enix could definitely seize the occasion to announce the PC version of Final Fantasy VII Remake at the concert. A PC version has been all but confirmed. While a PS5 version was much less hinted at than a PC version, it has a very high chance of happening as well.

Square Enix also recently registered trademarks possibly linked to Final Fantasy VII Remake. Lastly, back at New Years 2021, Yoshinori Kitase also teased future developments.

The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Concert Possible Announcement Teased by Square Enix by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

World of Warcraft Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault

World of Warcraft concept art, Blizzard

Blizzard is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in the run-up to BlizzConline next week. Today, they've taken the celebration to the next level by opening up their content vaults to give fans an inside look at early concept art for its biggest games. Of course, Blizzard had to shart plenty of World of Warcraft concept art as part of the event. Below, I've collected some of the best pieces for you to check out.

Okay, this one is so rad. This early look at the World of Warcraft interface is so quaint. Just look at how little is actually on the screen in this shot. That's not even a quarter of all the information you'd need in today's version of the game. And look at how simplistic the equipment interface is. I love this entirely too much.

They've also shared a bit of early art for different dwarfs. You can still see the weird infusion of tech that Blizzard always puts into its fantasy here. In the live game, the models are a little less detailed nowadays, but this is still an awesome test case.

Technically, this one comes from Heroes of the Storm, but I can't not share concept art for Stitches. Imagining the abomination from Duskwood running around WoW in his swimming trunks is just phenomenal. Unfortunately, that version of the character only exists in HOTS.

This is just a taste of all the World of Warcraft concept art Blizzard has sat in its vaults. Hopefully, over the next few days, we'll get even more doled out to us. Either way, make sure to check back next week to see what's announced at BlizzConline.

The post World of Warcraft Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Diablo Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault

Diablo concept art, Blizzard

Blizzard is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in the run-up to BlizzConline next week. Today, they've taken the celebration to the next level by opening up their content vaults to give fans an inside look at early concept art for its biggest games. Below, I've collected some of the Diablo concept art they've shared today. It provides an excellent look at the origins of the class series. Check it out.

This key art piece for Diablo 3 is just phenomenal. I'm usually more impressed with the older pieces of Diablo concept art, but I really love this one. It brings forth all of the character classes in the game, capturing them so perfectly. Sure, it makes the Crusader and Witch Doctor look a bit weak, but the Necromancer looks incredible.

Here, we get some earlier looks at the original games. The mood piece from Chris Metzen is pretty stunning. His art has always done such a great job of capturing the feeling of Diablo, even if the characters end up looking drastically different. And below that, we get a look at what the original characters would look like if the graphics engines of 1996 could keep up with the artists.

Personally, I really appreciate it when Blizzard opens its doors like this. It's always fun to track the development of massive franchises like these. Hopefully, as we get closer to BlizzConline they drop even more Diablo concept art on us. Make sure to check back next week to see all the big announcements out of the event.

The post Diablo Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Starcraft Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault

Starcraft Jim Raynor Concept art, Blizzard

Blizzard is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in the run-up to BlizzConline next week. Today, they've taken the celebration to the next level by opening up their content vaults to give fans an inside look at early concept art for its biggest games. As a lifelong fan of the company, it's always fun to see where some of my favorite franchises came from. The Starcraft concept art they've been sharing today has been quite the trip. I've collected some of it for you below. Check it out.

First up, is this fascinating early look at the game's three races. You can absolutely see the heart of each race. The Terran is pretty much spot on, as is the Protoss. The Zerg looks a little like the Overlord unit, but it's much fatter than I remember. Though, that could just be the 1998 graphics talking.

Here we get two shots of Jimmy Raynor sitting on his hog. I've seen Chris Metzen's original version (on the left) before, but it's neat to see Wei Wang's updated version alongside it. Obviously, there have been some big changes in the game's art style over the last 30 years, and this mashup shows that very well.

Obviously, there is so much more Blizzard is holding back in the Vault. Hopefully, over the coming days, we'll see even more Starcraft concept art come to light. Either way, next week is sure to be a fun one with BlizzConline kicking off. Make sure to check back to see what all got announced at the big event.

The post Starcraft Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Gets Kiss Confirmed and Double Weapon XP This Weekend

Cold War Weapon XP, Cold War Kiss Confirmed, Double Weapon XP

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and players wouldn't mind to get some love-themed modes, cosmetics, and items during this weekend in their beloved multiplayer games. Recently, Treyacrh revealed their plans for a Valentine's Day weekend event, which contains double Cold War weapon XP and a new version of the Kill Confirmed mode with some minor changes that will be called Kiss Confirmed.

According to Treyacrh, the Kiss Confirmed mode will be added to the playlist as of February 11 and will remain accessible until February 18. The only difference with Kill Confirmed in this new mode is that you will have to collect candy hearts instead of dog tags when you kill an enemy; a slight effort from the developers to make the game a place for love while securing the aggressive style.

Aside from the new Valentine's Day mode, players will have Warzone and Cold War weapon XP doubled this weekend. You will have three days from February 12 to take part in any mode in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War or Warzone to increase your XP and get your dream loadout. Be aware that Battle Pass tiers will also see over 30% reduce in price during the weekend.

When it comes to the in-game store, you will see some new bundles and weapon skins for both Lunar New Year 2021 and Valentine's Day. The Top Secret Admirer bundle will be available as your Valentine's Day set of assets including the legendary Combat Cupid weapon blueprint. This is a pink tactical rifle with combat-ready Cupid inlay. For more precise hunt, you can think of getting the legendary Hidden Admiration sniper rifle alpha with some incredible add-ons.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty Warzone are now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

The post Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Gets Kiss Confirmed and Double Weapon XP This Weekend by Mehrdad Khayyat appeared first on DualShockers.

Overwatch Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault

Sombra Overwatch Concept Art, Blizzard

Blizzard is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in the run-up to BlizzConline next week. Today, they've taken the celebration to the next level by opening up their content vaults to give fans an inside look at early concept art for its biggest games. The Overwatch concept art, in particular, is an incredible look back at some of the game's most beloved characters. Below, I've collected some of the best in one place for your viewing pleasure. Let's start with an early look at Sombra.

You'll have to excuse Blizzard's typo there. They haven't actually been working on Overwatch since 1994. Instead, that date should read 2014. It is pretty crazy how far Sombra's come from those original designs. You can see her final form slowly start to take form, particularly in the last shot. There, she finally gets her trademark purple, those she's still missing those cool robot strips in her hair.

We also got a look at Mercy's concept art. It's very interesting to see that they concepted out both male and female versions of the character. Obviously, I think most fans prefer the current incarnation, but it's still neat to see where the character could've gone in a different universe.

While this is just a taste of all the Overwatch concept art Blizzard has sat in its vault, it's a nice smattering of content. Over the coming days, I'd expect to see them drop even more as we move toward BlizzConline. Make sure to check back next week for all the updates coming out of Blizzard's big online conference.

The post Overwatch Concept Art — All of The Best Pieces Released From the Vault by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 – Research Tasks, Featured Pokemon and More

Pokemon Go Valentines Day 2021

February 14 sees the beginning of another brand new event in Pokemon GO. Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 will see a range of featured Pokemon, new raid bosses, research tasks and more. Here is how the game's latest event will shape up.

Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 start time and duration

Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 is due to kick off on Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 1 pm local time. The event will run until Thursday, February 18 and will end at 8 pm local time.

Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 features

The event will contain lots for players to do over the running period.

In the wild, players will encounter a range of slightly more uncommon Pokemon on a more frequent basis. These Pokemon include Nidoran♀, Nidoran♂, Plusle, Minun, Volbeat, Illumise, Luvdisc, Munna, Feebas and more. Players will also have a chance of encountering a Munna for the first time in the game. Munna can then be evolved into Musharna with enough candy and a Unova stone. Sadly this year, it doesn't look like Niantic will be releasing any new shiny Pokemon.

Special Research tasks will also be available throughout the event. These will reward players with Pokemon encounters, including Ralts, Spinda with a heart pattern, Alomomola and more.

Alongside this, trainers can also complete a special Collection Challenge. Throughout the event, players will need to catch Nidoran♀, Nidoran♂, Espeon, Umbreon, Plusle, Minun, Volbeat, Illumise, Luvdisc, Latias, Latios, and Alomomola to receive five Silver Pinap Berries, a Lucky Egg, an Egg Incubator and another notch on the illustrious Elite Collector Medal.

To honour Valentine's Day, a range of related Pokemon will also be hatching from 5KM eggs. These include Eevee, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Togepi, Luvdisc, Munna, Woobat, and Cottonee.

Valentine's Day Raid Bosses

The Valentine's Day event will usher in a host of changes to Pokemon GO Raid bosses.

One-star raids will now feature Ralts, Volbeat, Illumise, Feebas, Munna, and Espurr. Three-star Raids will include Togetic, Espeon, Umbreon, Gardevoir, Gallade, and Alomomola and Five-star raids will continue to consist of the Eon Pokemon Latios and Latias.

Mega Pidgeot, Mega Gyarados, and Mega Ampharos will remain available in Mega Raids throughout the event.

These Pokemon will be in raids until February 20, at 9 am local time.

Pokemon GO Valentine's Day Bonuses

Throughout the event, players will continue to be able to take advantage of bonuses relating to friendship and trading. Gifts will contain extra Berries, the Lucky Friendship/Lucky Pokemon rates will be increased and the trade distance has been will also increase to 40km.

The post Pokemon GO Valentine's Day 2021 – Research Tasks, Featured Pokemon and More by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.

Warzone Invisible Glitch Leads to Devs Disabling Armored Royale

Warzone Invisible Glitch

Call of Duty: Warzone's players and developers can't catch a break. The game has seen multiple game-breaking bugs and glitches the past couple of weeks, namely the Stim glitch. That one let players infinitely use stims, giving them free health and sprint recharge. However, this issue in particular may be more game-breaking. Players have discovered a glitch in Warzone that renders characters totally invisible. That's right, the guy you got shot by that you didn't see might not have actually been on your screen.

Proof of the glitch has been popping up across the internet, and the clips are all similar. They show players being killed by a totally invisible enemy. Knocked down one by one as bullets seem to be shot from thin-air, players have no chance to fight back. There is one upside though — the glitch seems to be limited to just one game mode. Unfortunately, it's the one players were eagerly awaiting the return of. Prior to it being deactivated, Warzone players could only find the invisible glitch in the Armored Royale limited-time mode. This mode is Warzone as you know it, but with massive armored vehicles that players have to protect. Keeping the vehicle intact lets players respawn quickly. The vehicle can also be tricked out with trophy systems or extra armor if players have the cash to spend.

It's not clear when or how Raven Software will patch the invisible glitch out of Warzone this time around. This same glitch popped up last year and was activated by abusing a bug involving helicopters. This time, Raven Software has taken an extremely blunt approach, disabling the afflicted game mode entirely.

The post Warzone Invisible Glitch Leads to Devs Disabling Armored Royale by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.

Fortnite Go For A Swim At Lazy Lake Challenge Guide

Fortnite Go For A Swim At Lazy Lake

Despite the fact that Week 10 challenges for Fortnite leaked ahead of launch and seemed to be easy-to-complete, players are facing various troubles. First, players were confused by the Dance Near Pleasant Park challenge as some found it a vague description of how close they should dance to the park. Now, some other players are having difficulties completing the Go For A Swim At Lazy Lake challenge.

Where to Swim Exactly?

One thing that might be a little bit confusing about the Go For A Swim At Lazy Lake challenge is the fact that you don't need to swim in a pool or lake inside the area. To be more precise, the challenge's name should be Go For A Swim Near Lazy Lake as the best way to complete this challenge is to swim at a lake on the southern side of Lazy Lake or in the river on the west side of the aforementioned place. Most of the players who have swum in these two areas completed the challenge successfully.

There's one important unwritten rule that you need to pay attention to: Try to land on the ground and then go for the swim. Some players who directly jumped into the water after the beginning of the match to get the challenge done failed to nail it. So make sure to drop somewhere near the location on land and then start your swim.

Fortnite will receive a limited-time Valentine's Day update this week with new cosmetics, items, and skins. The challenges for Season 5 Week 11 have been also leaked, which feature some unique quests with Valentine's vibes. Before getting into the new event, Epic Games revealed a new character bundle and a new emote for the game.

Fortnite is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Epic Games Store.

The post Fortnite Go For A Swim At Lazy Lake Challenge Guide by Mehrdad Khayyat appeared first on DualShockers.

Latios Weakness Pokemon GO — Raid Guide and Best Counters February 2021

Latios Weakness Pokemon GO

February 9 sees a change in five-star raid bosses within Pokemon GO. Out goes the Legendary Beast Suicune and in come the Eon Pokemon, Latios and Latias. These Pokemon have been featured in raids multiple times before, however, with new Mega Evolutions and moves being released regularly, the meta often changes. With that in mind, let's look at Latios' Weakness in Pokemon GO and the best counters to take it down.

Latios' Weakness in Pokemon GO

Latios is a Psychic and Dragon-type Pokemon, leaving it with a variety of weaknesses. Its typing means that Dark, Bug, Fairy, Ice, Dragon and Ghost-type moves are all super effective against it. This ensures there is an abundance of good counters to Latios in Pokemon GO, but what are they?

Best Counters For Latios

There are a few top counters to Latios in the game, let's take a look at them.

Mega Gengar is the king of Latios counters. Although it's weak against Latios' Psychic moves, it's strong against many other attacks in its arsenal. Mega Houndoom is almost as equally effective as a Mega counter.

The next set of Pokemon to consider are your Dragons. Rayquaza is the cream of the crop in this area. Salamence and Dragonite are also both great counters providing you have their Community Day move Draco Meteor. Another great counter is Garchomp, who offers some good resistances to Latios' moveset.

Alongside the Dragons, there are a couple of solid Ghosts. Both Darkrai and Origin Form Giratina are good picks.

Mega Gengar – Lick/Shadow Ball.
Mega Houndoom – Snarl/Foul Play
Rayquaza – Dragon Tail/Outrage
Salamence – Dragon Tail/Draco Meteor
Dragonite – Dragon Tail/Draco Meteor
Garchomp – Dragon Tail /Outrage
Darkrai – Snarl/Dark Pulse
Origin Form Giratina – Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball

Best Budget Counters for Latios

If you've not had the chance to do many Legendary or Mega Raids, Latios can be taken down with a range of budget counters. Some of the more popular ones are as follows:

Tyranitar – Bite/Crunch
Chandelure – Hex/Shadow Ball
Mamoswine – Powder Snow/Avalanche
Weavile – Snarl/Avalance
Scizor – Fury Cutter/X-Scissor
Gardevoir – Charm/Dazzling Gleam
Togekiss – Charm/Dazzling Gleam

If you're also looking for help with Latias raids – we also have a handy guide for that.

The post Latios Weakness Pokemon GO — Raid Guide and Best Counters February 2021 by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.