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It Looks Like Nintendo Will Reveal a New Switch Controller This Week

Nintendo seems to be gearing up for a new controller reveal for the Switch in the near future. As first spotted by VGC, documents from an FCC filing by Nintendo for a product described simple as "game controller" by Nintendo were recently made public (but are no longer viewable).

Interestingly enough, the documents have been granted short-term confidentiality on all the screenshots and relevant details about the product mentioned in the filing, and that confidentiality will be ending this Friday, September 24- with the assumption, of course, being that whatever the controller is will be announced before then.

There have been some rumours of a Nintendo Direct being planned for September, and Nintendo has traditionally had Directs in September. Multiple leaks have also suggested that Nintendo is going to add Game Boy games to the Nintendo Switch Online library soon, which might also potentially indicate what to expect from this new controller- Nintendo released special edition NES and SNES Joy-cons for the Switch to coincide with the consoles' libraries being adding to Switch Online.

Overwatch Executive Producer is Leaving Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment's been seeing a lot of upheaval in recent weeks and months, which, of course, is primarily because of the ongoing lawsuit against the company based on allegations of harassment and discrimination against employees, and the fallout of that has resulted in turnover of various leads at the company, for some reason or the other.

As Bloomberg reports, Chacko Sonny – executive producer on Overwatch and its upcoming sequel – is leaving the company as well, though there's little to no indication that his departure is related to the controversies surrounding Blizzard right now. According to Bloomberg, Blizzard employees choosing to remain anonymous have stated that Sonny was a well-respected figure in the company and there wasn't any knowledge of allegations made against him.

Alongside Overwatch 2, fellow upcoming Blizzard title Diablo 4 has also seen some turnover with several creative leads having been let go from the company. Earlier, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack also stepped down from his role and left the company. Recently, Activision Blizzard also hired new people for the Chief People Officer and Chief Creative Officer positions, and Chief Legal Officer Charlie Hart recently resigned.

Alongside the lawsuit against the company, Activision Blizzard is also being investigated by the SEC.

Deathloop Update Addresses Another Issue With The Game's PC Port

A new update to Arkane Studios' latest Deathloop will be addressing a stuttering issue with the game's PC port. Many users have been reporting several stuttering issues with the game, but this update smooths out mouse movement at high framerates.

Of course, fans are still waiting out on a substantial update that fixes stuttering associated with the game's PC port.  Arkane has fumbled with PC ports of its games in the past, with similar problems occuring with Dishonored 2 and Prey as well.

Deathloop, however – has been a smash hit for Arkane. Gamingbolt gave the game a 7/10, with a major issue being lacklustre AI and the inherent repitition with the game's concept. The Metacritic score for the game is an 88, and looks to be shaping up to be one of the year's best. Arkane Austin is currently hard at work on Redfall, which will release at an unmentioned date in summer of 2022.

Death Stranding: Director's Cut Will Cost £5 To Upgrade From PS4 To PS5

A recent update from PlayStation UK's official Twitter details that fans will have to pay $5 to upgrade from the PS4 version of Death Stranding: Director's Cut to the PS5. This comes ahead of the game's release, and the upgrade will also be of course – available on September 24.

The PS5 version of Death Stranding: Director's Cut will include PS5 centric features such as DualSense support and haptic feedback on the controller. This is in addition to the general visual upgrades fans can expect from more powerful hardware.

£5 is certainly better than $10 that Sony will be charging for upgrades for its upcoming first-party titles such as God of War Ragnarok and Gran Turismo 7. Horizon Forbidden West's upgrade options were previously locked behind an ultimate edition, which was retracted following fan-backlash for the decision. Those wanting to purchase the game in its entirety will have to shell out $50.

Pokemon Unite Update Fixes Balance, Launches On Mobile Tomorrow

The official Twitter account for Pokemon Unite has revealed that the game will be launching on mobile platforms tomorrow. Interested fans can check out the Tweet below to get links for pre-registering for the game on the App Store as well as the Play Store.

Pokemon Unite is already available on Nintendo Switch, and cross-play will be supported across both platforms. In addition to this, a new balance patch for the game will also be dropping – which will of course, tweak a plethora of stats to make the game well, balanced. As reported by Serebii, this update will also be focusing on ironing out bugs before the game hits on a new platform.

Pokemon Unite has been a smash hit, and with the mobile release – the fanbase is sure to grow exponentially. Pokemon as a brand has been growing strong with more entries in the franchise, and fans have Pokemon Legends: Arceus to look forward to when it releases next year.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is Adding The Last of Us Part 2 Costumes

Sackboy: A Big Adventure, in spite of being probably the most overlooked first party game in the PS5's launch lineup, has received surprisingly decent post-launch support over the last few months, adding everything from speedrun challenges to online multiplayer. Interestingly enough, it's also been something of a crossover hub for Sony's first party franchises, with skins based a number of PlayStation games having been added to 3D platformer, including the likes of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Returnal.

The next game in line to make the same jump is The Last of Us Part 2. Over on Twitter, Sony has revealed that skins based on Naughty Dog's 2020 action-adventure title will be coming to Sackboy: A Big Adventure on September 26. Players will be able to dress Sackboy up as either Ellie with a bow and arrow, or Abby wielding a hammer, and both looking quite angry. In typical LittleBigPlanet/Sackboy fashion, they look rather adorable.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is available on PS5 and PS4.

Activision Blizzard CEO Argues Against Claims Of The Company Not Cooperating With Investigations

A recent press release from Activision Blizzard sees studio president Bobby Kotick issuing a statement that the company is working with DFEH to conduct investigations. Several reports and DFEH claim that Activision Blizzard has been intentionally shredding documents, which Kotick rejects of being not true in this release. 

The press-release reiterates that Activision Blizzard has no place for employees who have indulged in acts of sexual discrimination and harassment, and that development for making the Irvine-based studio a more inclusive workplace are underway.

The Activision Blizzard lawsuit has been one of the biggest scandals in recent memory, and investigations have found many high-ranking officials in the company guilty of several charges. CEO J. Allen Brack alongside a litany of other officials from other posts have left the company. Those interested in reading more on the matter can do so through here. The case is still being developed with new information popping up, so stay tuned for the latest updates. 

God of War Ragnarok Looking Similar To Its Predecessor Is Not Really A Big Deal

Sony Santa Monica's upcoming God of War Ragnarok was arguably the peak of Sony's presentation a few days ago. Legions of fans had been waiting for information for the game since the "Ragnarok is Coming" reveal last year. The game certainly looks great, and fans are generally excited to see the conclusion of the Norse saga that started in 2018. However, there is some concern that the game looks samey in terms of its visual presentation and gameplay mechanics.

To be completely fair, it's not that God of War Ragnarok looks visually bad by any means – but that it does fall short of what many fans may be expecting from the game. Much of the visual make-up – rendering techniques, post-processing pipelines, and art direction seem to be a natural evolution of what we have already seen in the first game. All in all, it looks a lot like God of War 2018 on the PS4, but that just might not be as bad as many might think of it. 

god of war ragnarok

God of War Ragnarok was supposed to be a cross-gen title from the beginning, and development has to be done keeping in mind the technical limitations of the comparatively weaker hardware. Developers generally tend to get the game running comfortably on the minimum spec machine, and then work for better visual fidelity on the higher-end variant. God of War 2018 is arguably one of the best examples which showcased the peak of the PS4's technical capabilities which obviously doesn't leave a lot of room for improving the core technical framework and visual feature set for a sequel. This is precisely why the lighting, character models, environments don't have stark changes from the original; unlike the jump from say The Last of Us to Part 2. 

But again, God of War Ragnarok isn't a slouch by any means – it looks like a proper AAA game that's pushing for the cutting edge in terms of visual presentation. There's a ton of detail in the environments, character models, alongside impeccable attention to the facial animations and writing which all contribute to the overall presentation in a plethora of ways.

god of war ragnarok

A problem with being one of the best studios in the industry is that fans can sometimes have unrealistic expectations – which is unhealthy for both the developer and the fanbase. Game development is a daunting task, and pushing through to the finish line in such unprecedented circumstances is an achievement in enough itself. Many studios – including Santa Monica itself – have found themselves in a rock and a hard place for delaying their games, and adding another burden of being the best-looking game on the market on top of it all is too much to handle. Studios like CD Projekt Red and even 343 Industries have found themselves on the shorter end of the stick when it comes to the technical quality of their titles, although Halo Infinite has improved a lot since its original showings. Of course, given the current scarcity of information on how the game will utilize the processing power of the PS5, and Santa Monica's penchant with creating games within the genre, it gets to have the benefit of the doubt that God of War Ragnarok – despite the many difficulties the team may have encountered during development – would be a smash hit. 

Santa Monica has made the right decision to streamline the more technical aspects for God of War Ragnarok in favor of new and interesting gameplay ideas. Much like in the visual department, God of War Ragnarok's combat also looks to be a natural evolution of what fans saw with the original. God of War 2018 has one of the best melee combat systems, which took a ton of work and fine-tuning over a long period of time to get it right. Everything from the sharp rumble of the Leviathan Axe throw to a powerful chain of strikes from the Blades of Chaos has a carefully curated balance to it, which contributes to God of War's outstanding combat system in interesting ways. Building up on top of that for the sequel is a challenge that Sony Santa Monica has taken upon themselves, and I think it's more important to deliver new avenues for gameplay in a sequel rather than trying to cram exponentially more polygons in a single frame – although the latter is certainly appreciable too. 

God of War Ragnarok

From what's seen in the trailers, there's a new form of traversal – Riding Sledges. As the game and the narrative proceedings escalate towards Ragnarok, Fimbulwinter will freeze the Lake of Nine to ice, which will, of course, render boats useless, although there are some scenes that indicate it will still be usable at least in some places. But for other places, Kratos and Atreus will have to resort to other techniques of traversal for the time, which is where the sledge-riding mechanic comes into the equation. The trailer also shows Kratos battling Baldur's mother Freya aboard the sledge, which hints at a greater usage of the mechanic in both boss fights and set-pieces. 

There's also a general improvement to the combat as well- with the most notable addition being the ability to grab onto ledges using Kratos' Blades of Chaos. In addition to being useful in general combat sequences, this new mechanic could also be used in platforming and puzzle sections which could definitely use some variety and improvements from the original.

With Brok and Sindri returning to assist the father-son duo in their adventures, it wouldn't be far-fetched to imagine that the trailer is only a hint of the additions that are to come in God of War Ragnarok. Sony Santa Monica has shown a great amount of skill for crafting a dynamic combat system using the close to the shoulder camera perspective, and there's a high likelihood that God of War Ragnarok will take those developments further. 

 

Of course, the most endearing part about this Norse saga is the story. Fans are already looking forward to the myriad of twists and turns expected from the sequel. Sony Santa Monica's twisting of the Norse myths to reach the conclusion is an enchanting aspect of its storytelling, and fans are naturally excited to witness Ragnarok in all of its Norse glory. 

Thus, what can be pieced from the gameplay reveal is that graphics are only a part of Ragnarok's presentation, which while may look a bit stagnant to some is perfectly fine by all means. Given how hard getting a PS5 has been and will be for the foreseeable future, it's great that fans of the original can enjoy the game on the PS4, with noticeable visual improvements likely being offered to those who manage to procure the PS5. Taking all aspects of the presentation into account, God of War Ragnarok is shaping up to be a worthy follow-up to the original – which is reflective in the general consensus surrounding the discussion for the game. Concerns surrounding somewhat of an underwhelming graphical presentation are valid in a way, but shouldn't dampen any hopes or excitement for the game. In the long run, however, gameplay is king, and Ragnarok doesn't seem like it will disappoint. We are at least a year away from the game's release and we don't even know what more the developers have up their sleeves.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

 

Far Cry 6 Doesn't Have Ray-Tracing On Consoles, Ubisoft Confirms

In a recent interview with Wccftech, lead programmer at Ubisoft Stephanie Brenham revealed that Far Cry 6 will not have ray-tracing options on consoles. During the interview, he revealed that players on consoles will not be able to enjoy the cutting-edge in terms of lighting technology.

Brenham explains that with Far Cry 6 on consoles, Ubisoft wants to prioritize performance over visual fidelity. Ubisoft aims to provide 60 fps at a pristine resolution of 4K, which is certainly an appreciable move. Furthermore, Ubisoft also wants to provide a better experience on current-gen consoles in the department of LODs and draw distances.

"Ray tracing is a PC only feature. On console, our objective has been to take advantage of new hardware capabilities, optimizing performance targeting 4K and achieving 60 FPS, for instance, all while ensuring new game features, like our dynamic weather system, are supported on all platforms."

What makes this omission rather interesting is the fact that Ubisoft has previously included ray-tracing options in its previous titles such as Watch Dogs Legion. On the brighter side, Far Cry 6 will include other graphical features such as AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution on the PC and others such as Variable Refresh rates.

Blizzard's Chief Legal Officer Has Resigned

The Chief Legal Officer at Blizzard Entertainment Claire Hart has recently resigned from the company. Hart announced his resignation on LinkedIn today, and had been serving at the role for three years.

This resignation comes amidst the Activision Blizzard lawsuit going on in full swing, although no connections between the resignation and the lawsuit have been confirmed as of yet. PCGamer(who also reported on the story) has reached out to Hart for comments, sadly to no avail at the time of writing.

For those unknown to the matter, Activision Blizzard came under a lot of fire recently on account of sexual harassment and discrimination against women at the company's Irvine headquarters. Many high-ranking officials within the company, including CEO of Activision Blizzard J. Allen Brack have left the company, with new policies being estabilished at a rapid pace. Those wanting to read more on the matter can do through here.