Forza Horizon 5 Highlights Nearly 30 Minutes Of Soothing In-Game Ambient Sound And Backgrounds

When it comes to Forza Horizon 5, or any racing game for that matter, your thoughts no doubt goes to the cars (of which there will be a lot in Forza as expected) and the chaos of the races you'll be participating in. No doubt those who get in on the new Horizon are primed and ready to go, but today, the team decided to show off something a little different, something a bit more soothing to the soul over the grind of metal and tires on the open roads.

Via the official YouTube, the Forza Horizon 5 crew has released a video just under 30 minutes long. There is no gameplay here, though, instead opting to give you some relaxing music. It features ambient sounds that will all be in-game as well as the various backgrounds from the game's Mexico setting. It's probably not exactly what you expect from marketing for this game, but might be something to kick back to.

Forza Horizon 5 is set to release on November 9th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. You can check out the game's opening showcase for something a little more action-packed through here.

The Good Life Set To Release On October 15

We've been hearing about The Good Life for quite some time. The detective game coming from Japanese Director Swery65 will see a photographer coming to a small English town to find herself with the ability to transform into animals while investigating several secrets for a mysterious client. The game was originally crowdfunded and then went through a publisher change late last year. Now, though, it seems it's finally time for the game to nail down a release date.

A new trailer was released, giving the game's launch date for next month. You'll get to see tidbits of the story here, and it begins with the game's whimsical nature while showing off the photography and the gameplay when you're both a cat and a dog. It then takes quite the dark turn halfway through before showing off the more fantastical elements your reporter will uncover.

The Good Life is now set to release on October 15th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC.

Alan Wake Remastered Rated for the Switch in Brazil

Remedy Entertainment's beloved 2010 title Alan Wake has been slumbering for too long, but will be making a long-awaited return soon, when Alan Wake Remastered launches in a couple of weeks. Officially, Remedy and publisher Epic Games have only announced PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions of the game, but it's possible that it might end up arriving for the Switch as well.

Alan Wake Remastered was recently rated for the Nintendo Switch in Brazil. The rating has since been taken down, but you can see a screenshot below (via VGC). Again, a Switch version of the game hasn't officially been announced, so it remains to be seen how accurate this is. That said, it wouldn't be too surprising to see a remaster of an Xbox 360 game releasing for the Switch.

Alan Wake Remastered is launching on October 5 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can check out the game's PC requirements through here.

alan wake remastered switch

Quantic Dream's Star Wars Game Will be More Action-Focused Than Heavy Rain or Detroit: Become Human – Rumour

Disney has been handing out the Star Wars license to game developers much more freely of late, now that it is no longer exclusively tied to EA, and it seems that one studio working on a new Star Wars game is Quantic Dream. A recent rumour claimed the same, and now, Kotaku has done a follow-up report that has dropped new potential details.

Reportedly, Quantic Dream's Star Wars game has been in the works for about 18 months at this point. Kotaku claims that the game is going to be more action-focused and have more traditional gameplay than Quantic Dream's past games like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, which were interactive story-driven adventure titles with a focus on quick time events. In addition to those changes, the rumoured Star Wars game could also possibly have an open world setting, as well as multiplayer elements, though specific details on those aspects aren't yet known.

Kotaku also states that Quantic Dream's Montreal studio, which was established earlier this year, is pivotal to the Star Wars game's development, owing to the game demanding expertise in areas beyond cutscenes and storytelling, which is what the French studio has been traditionally focused on.

These are, of course, unverified and unconfirmed details, so take this with a grain of salt for now, though it would be interesting to see Quantic Dream taking on a different kind of project, especially one that's set in the Star Wars universe. Here's hoping we hear something official about it in the not-too-distant future.

Splitgate Developer 1047 Games Wants To Become The Next Riot Games

Splitgate developer 1047 Games recently revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that it wants Splitgate to be 1047 Games' League of Legends. The developer recently raised a $100 million in funding, which would of course – be utilized largely in future development of Splitgate.

Splitgate has been a massive hit for developer 1047 Games, who has ambitious plans for the future of the franchise. In addition to support for newer platforms, 1047 Games also wishes to add a Forge mode and a single-player campaign. The developer wishes to go big with Splitgate, and in turn, wish to achieve the stature of Riot Games and League of Legends.

"There's so much we couldn't think about because we were a tiny team with a tiny budget, but now everything is on the table," said the co-founder of 1047 Games. "We're focusing on the long term—I look at the game as being 25% done. We don't need to be Fortnite tomorrow, but now it really is about building the next Riot Games, the next big games business."

Live-service games have been soaring in popularity as of late, with studios such as Norsefell and 1047 Games trying to tap into this space with relatively smaller budgets.

Apex Legends Server Issues Will Take A Couple Of Days To Fix, Respawn Says

Apex Legends players have been experiencing a number of connectivity issues recently, and developer Respawn Entertainment has acknowledged the problem with a fix. However, issues still persist – which will be addressed with a future patch scheduled to be landing on September 22.

Respawn Entertainment revealed this information in a tweet on the official account. The developer mentioned that connectivity issues are three times higher than the original, which is a concern worth looking into. The developer also mentioned that it would be extending the current rank split by a week, possibly until these issues get resolved.

Respawn Entertainment has been the subject of many hacks and technical difficulties as of late. Titanfall has been plagued by hackers for a long time now, and Apex Legends recently got DDoSed for the very same reason. While hopes for fixing Titanfall are dampening by the day, Apex Legends should be playable again very soon.

Diablo 2: Resurrected Runs "Like Butter" on Nintendo Switch – Blizzard

Among the many high-profile releases out this week is Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo 2: Resurrected. As a remaster of the classic action RPG looter, it sports improved visuals, 4K resolution support and several quality of life features. All this and it doesn't replace the original game like Warcraft 3: Reforged. But for as good as it's looked on other platforms, how does it hold up on the Nintendo Switch?

It's an important question since the Switch was the only platform to not be included in the recent open beta. But speaking to VentureBeat,  principal designer Rob Gallerani said that's it's running "like butter." "I like playing it in the undocked portable mode. But yeah, with all of our consoles, we built them for that experience. We didn't want it to feel like we just ported a PC game to the console. We wanted it to be what was right for that console. We've taken a lot of things into consideration with the Switch, especially if you play it in portable mode. Everything is a lot tinier. Just the overall attention to things like, how big is the font? How are things laid out on the screen? Those are all things that had to cater to that device to play up its strengths."

Lead graphics engineer Kevin Todisco continued: "Same goes for a lot of the 3D visuals. It's tailoring the experience for that smaller screen, the handheld screen that can be swapped out for a larger screen if you dock the console. With every platform we make sure that we tailor the technology to give the best experience on that particular platform. The Switch version is very good. I think people are going to enjoy it, being able to take it on the go for the first time."

As far as the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 versions go, the development team wanted them to look "the best they possibly can." "It's all about pretty graphics. We want them to look the best they possibly can, to represent those platforms, and also perform likewise. I think people are going to be happy with the next-gen versions of the game giving them the best visual experience we can possibly give them."

Diablo 2: Resurrected releases on September 23rd and will be available for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch. Recently, Blizzard Entertainment released trailers showcasing each class including the Barbarian, Assassin, Paladin and more. For additional details on the title and what to expect, head here and stay tuned for more information.

Updated Disney Classic Games Collection To Include SNES Version Of Aladdin, Among Others

An updated Disney Classic Games Collection of retro games will include the SNES version of Aladdin alongside GBA and Mega Drive versions of The Jungle Book. This claim comes from Vooks, which also mentions that it will be releasing across all major platforms in November this year. 

Of course, as fans might already know – Aladdin had two completely different versions of the same game on the SNES and the Sega Mega Drive. While the latter was present in the Disney collection that was released in 2019, the SNES version(developed by Capcom) was lacking that was missed by fans. 

Now that Disney has seemingly acquired the rights to these versions of games, the updated collection will include these titles – which should make for some meaningful additions to this already great collection. Different versions of the same game built for different platforms was a prevalent development practice in the past, and a plethora of similar releases made their way onto handheld platforms like the GBA at the turn of the century. 

Hackers Have Already Ruined Call of Duty: Vanguard's Open Beta

As soon as Activision opened the cross-platform play for the Call of Duty: Vanguard's open beta, hackers seem to have flooded into servers. Many fans took to Twitter and other forums to express their views on the matter, which has caused a fair bit of ruckus in the fanbase.

Of course, Call of Duty: Vanguard will be operating on a new anti-cheat system, which has further exacerbated these concerns. This new anti-cheat system will also be incorporated into Warzone with a future update. Call of Duty has already been fighting an uphill battle with cheaters in Warzone, with issues of hacking persisting after several waves of account bans.

Activision also responded to these concerns by saying that bans will be issued to those found guilty of cheating, and the duration of the open beta has also been extended to September 22 across all platforms. Call of Duty: Vanguard releases for most major platforms on November 5 this year.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits Physical Version Releases In November This Year

Ember Lab's upcoming open-world adventure, Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be releasing tomorrow. However, those wanting to get their hands on a physical copy for the game will have to wait until November this year. Ember Lab is partnering with Maximum Games online store for this release format, and pre-orders for the same are live for now, as revealed in  a recent press release. 

The physical version comes with a soundtrack for the game, which is also included with the digital release as well. The physical release will only have the Deluxe edition with all the goodies, and will cost fans $49.99. 

Of course, the situation showcases the demand for a physical version in today's day and age. Many fans and creators (such as Hideo Kojima) have been vocal about the problems with digital media, and how they would rather keep collecting physical editions for the media they love. Either way, it's great that fans of Kena: Bridge of Spirits will at least get an option to choose for a purchase.