Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 1:10 PM  In the latest example of not letting your memes be dreams, McDonald's announced that adults can get back in touch with their inner child by opening up a Happy Meal and discovering a toy of their own. Yes, Happy Meal Toys for adults are gonna be a thing, at least for a limited time. |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 12:50 PM  "Is there anything you want to pre-order?" Almost nobody walks in and out of a GameStop without hearing those words. Employees are measured against how many pre-orders they can rack up while GameStop rakes in the cash months ahead of a game's actual release. But lately, the strategy has been sabotaged by a system… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 12:35 PM |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 12:20 PM  Over the years, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has seen a huge number of artists come and go. Approximately 175 different people have contributed art to the cards, some only ever designing one, others contributing hundreds. Heck, Ken Sugimori has created 966 of them, beginning with the very first set of Pokémon cards,… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 12:10 PM  My Nintendo Switch largely sat unplayed for the duration of the pandemic. I purchased it in the Before Times thinking it'd make for a great subway companion. But between the short battery life and it being uncomfortable to hold for long periods, I just didn't ever want to play it much. But there might finally be some… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 12:00 PM  Overwatch 2 is almost here, arriving as a free-to-play game on October 4 that will totally supplant the OG hero shooter. While it isn't playable to the general public yet, a handful of gaming outlets got early access to Blizzard's upcoming sequel, publishing prereviews just in time for launch day. We here at Kotaku… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 10:50 AM  The Steam Deck, Valve's mini PC, is a wonderful gaming device with plenty of excellent titles to choose from. But as a straight-up handheld computer, the Deck isn't too shabby for non-gaming computing needs. Whether it's using the Deck as a dockable desktop computer, a portable coding station, or even a tool for game… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 10:10 AM  Few thought Google's troubled streaming service, Stadia, might ever become a dominant player in the gaming industry, but almost no one expected it to shut down so abruptly, including the company's own employees. Stadia VP Phil Harrison, fast becoming the grim reaper of new gaming initiatives, informed staff of the… |
Kotaku Friday, September 30, 2022 9:23 AM  2022 is a great year to be an RPG fan, particularly of Japanese games. The holiday season is usually crowded with new game releases, but this year Square Enix appears to be releasing games like it's Christmas all year round. With so many out already, and so many more to come, are SE's profligate ways good or bad for… |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 1:12 PM  FIFA 23 OTW cards are special, dynamic versions of a player's gold card that upgrades over the course of a season, depending on how they perform in real life. A player is only eligible for a One To Watch special card if they have recently transferred to a new club. OTW marks the beginning of the football game's special events and signals the start of the game cycle. These cards can be mainstays in your team depending on their real life performances as they can receive upgrades if the player features in the Team of the Week, or if they earn a Man of the Match card. This is different from players in the FIFA 23 Heroes or Icons promotions, as their rating cannot be upgraded. Here's the current batch of FIFA 23 OTW players. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 1:07 PM  The Terraria 1.4.4 update's new mini-biome and the liquid found within it are causing wonder among the community thanks to their magical look and incredible effects. The Terraria 1.4.4 update Labor of Love is finally here, bringing another huge series of changes to one of the best crafting games on PC. Players are digging through the latest patch to play around with all the new quality of life features and uncover any secrets not mentioned in the Terraria 1.4.4 patch notes. RELATED LINKS: The best Terraria mods, Terraria happiness guide, Terraria bosses guide |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 1:04 PM  A new innovation has arrived in Night City: car insurance! A new Cyberpunk 2077 mod adds fines for traffic collisions, a bit like the penalties you see in truck games like American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2. With the Drive Carefully! mod installed, you'll be fined for hitting other vehicles - and the fines go up for more severe accidents. RELATED LINKS: Cyberpunk 2077 review, Cyberpunk 2077 lore & universe, Buy Cyberpunk 2077 |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:37 PM  The FIFA 23 Seven League Boots SBC comes early on in the Hybrid Leagues group of squad building challenges. You're required to gather a squad from exactly seven different leagues in the football game, while also requiring a minimum of one chemistry point per player. The easiest way to solve any of these puzzles may initially appear to be filling the 11 slots with those of the same nationality, but high-rated players from smaller leagues are often quite expensive. This method of completing the FIFA 23 Seven League Boots SBC gets most of its chemistry points from French players, while also throwing in some cheap high-rated Premier League cards to complete the requirements. You may find some other combination of high-rated gold cards in your club already, possibly untradeable, from other SBC solutions - take the core of this solution and tweak it as required. The reward for completing this challenge is a Rare Gold Pack, which should give you a great chance of pulling a FIFA 23 Icon, or one of the many Heroes. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:35 PM  The FIFA 23 anti cheat error is an instant stumbling block some PC players are running into when trying to boot up the game for the first time, whether it's through Origin or Steam. This is preventing anyone who encounters the bug from playing the football game, although it doesn't appear to be a problem for anyone on other platforms. The error appears to manifest in two ways: either by preventing the game from loading up at all with a simple black screen and needing to force quit, or an actual error message in the anti cheat itself that reads "EA AntiCheat Service encountered an error. Please restart the game." Here's what you need to know about fixing this frustrating issue. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:32 PM  The FIFA 23 McGeady spin is a skill that can get you out of a tight spot, and it's also a requirement for the Mbappe Rising Star Moments challenge. The skill was popularised by ex-Everton winger Aiden McGeady, and sees the player turning a circle with the ball, exiting at a 90-degree angle, and accelerating out of the spin to the point where, if performed correctly in the football game, the defender just cannot follow. The Moments section of FIFA Ultimate Team can be a great way to earn free packs - and potentially some FIFA 23 Icons - for what is essentially just completing a bunch of tutorials. This McGeady spin challenge is an example of how they get more complicated as you go along though, so if you're wondering exactly how to perform the skill move, you've come to the right place. This isn't just relevant to Ultimate Team either, as you can take your newfound talent into Career Mode or Pro Clubs too. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:25 PM  The FIFA 23 Puzzle Master SBC is likely one of the last squad building challenges you'll complete in the advanced section as it can be difficult to complete without buying specific players in this football game. Not only does it put an exact requirement on how many nationalities you need, but also the number of leagues in order to bag yourself a Rare Players Pack, which is one of the best packs for netting FIFA 23 Icons and Heroes. The key here is to generate strong links between players who play in the same league and hail from the same country - several Germans will do the heavy lifting for us in this solution. Julian Draxler playing in the Portuguese league is a crucial link for us in the LW spot; not only does he bring the chemistry of the Bundesliga players up, but he brings the Liga NOS ST and RW spots into play. The FIFA 23 chemistry system is vastly different to previous games in the series though, so check out our guide if you're wondering exactly how it works. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:21 PM  The FIFA 23 Rashford POTM SBC for September has dropped into Ultimate Team, marking the first of the monthly special cards awarded to each league's top performer. Marcus Rashford is the Premier League's player of the month and not only does he receive a real-life award, but a special card in the football game - think of it like the recent TOTW 2, but with a bigger boost to his stats. The Player Of The Month SBC for Marcus Rashford is available for the entire month of October and is an enticing option for those looking for pace, power, and skill to lead the line of their Ultimate Team. Below, we'll go into Rashford's upgraded stats and the SBC requirements for unlocking the special card, including the bare minimum player ratings you need to include to meet the criteria for each submission. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:18 PM  Not sure how to do a FIFA 23 flair shot? A flair shot is when a player makes an attempt on goal, but with a twist. Sometimes this will be a backheel instead of a regular shot, occasionally the player will cover their face before striking the ball, there are a plethora of different types of flair shots to discover. Netting goal after goal is great, and admittedly the whole point of playing the football game. On occasion, however, you'll want to add a little bit of spice to the proceedings, to really style on your opponent, especially after performing a skill move such as the McGeady spin. A lot of real-life players have scored some wonderful goals by using a little bit of flair themselves, with Erik Lamela winning the 2021 Puskas award for his unbelievable rabona goal against Arsenal. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 12:00 PM  World of Warcraft is paying homage to its history in one of the best ways possible – bringing back the classic Wrath of the Lich King expansion for current players to enjoy. Not only does this mean that longstanding WoW veterans can dive right back in to the well-loved expansion, but the release will also introduce newer fans to the Lich King and his reign of terror. Whether or not you were subject to the Lich King back in the day, 2008 was further in the past than is comfortable to admit, so fans may find themselves needing a recap of the expansion and what to expect. We put so much time and effort into our WoW characters that wandering into a new situation without preparation can be a major no-no. Fortunately, we've got a quick guide to Wrath of the Lich King Classic, for new and old fans alike, so you won't get overwhelmed as your character enters Icecrown Citadel and attempts to thwart the vile powers of the King. We've also included some information on how Overwolf apps can help you become a better WoW player and maximise your stats. Read on for a Wrath of the Lich King primer. RELATED LINKS: Best MMORPGs on PC, The best WoW addons, WoW Dragonflight preview |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:52 AM  One thing's for sure when it comes to the Skate 4 release date, it's probably not going to be any time soon. Despite there being some Skate 4 gameplay and even closed playtests, EA's upcoming revival is a rare case of a triple-A studio showing off very early in-development footage of a game - and we love it. However, this does mean that although we've seen plenty of Skate 4, we can also clearly see it's not coming out any time soon. It's already been over a decade since the last Skate game, we can hold on a little longer. The first Skate was among the most innovative skateboard games around, from its analogue control scheme and grinding engine to its more realistic, less edgy representation of the skating scene. The development team behind Skate 3 was disbanded after its release in 2010, and the series' community has been consistently bombarding EA message boards with questions about the series and its potential return ever since. RELATED LINKS: Skateboard games, Skate 4 release date speculation, Best sports games |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:40 AM  FIFA 23 Steam reviews offer a highly critical insight into the EA football game as players face performance and start-up issues, specifically regarding how to fix the FIFA 23 anti cheat error on PC. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:33 AM  This recent Genshin Impact leak gives us a preview of what's to come on the anime RPG's version 3.2 character banners. HoYoverse has already revealed that the Dendro Archon, Nahida, and the often-tired Layla will be joining the roster as new characters, and now it seems that Childe, Yae Miko, and Yoimiya will be getting reruns as well. RELATED LINKS: Genshin Impact codes, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:33 AM  Let's cut to the chase; EA hasn't tried to reinvent the wheel with FIFA 23, nor was it ever going to, due to the focus on EA Sports FC from next year onwards. Our FIFA 23 review covers the very last FIFA game as we know it, a series that almost made it 30 years since its debut in 1993, but as much as I'd love to say this is the crème de la crème of football games… it still hits the woodwork a few times. RELATED LINKS: FIFA 23 career mode guide, FIFA 23 ratings, FIFA 23 Icons |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:33 AM  Which are the best US VPN providers to use in 2022? Well, dear reader, that is a good question indeed, and we have the answers for you. Not only have we identified some fantastic services that have servers located on American soil, but also a couple of VPNs that have a US-based headquarters. RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:08 AM  Mark Zuckerberg's best known for Facebook, but the Meta Quest Pro is now a priority for the CEO. Having outlined his ambitions to create a $100b metaverse business, he's slowly hyping up the social media giant's Oculus Quest 2 successor. Officially known as Project Cambria, a new tech demo provides a fresh look at how it handles Mixed Reality (MR) gaming and its visual capabilities. RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 11:58 AM  The best gaming monitor might offer a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time at 1080p for a great price, or it might boast 4K resolution in an ultrawide format. There isn't a 'one size fits all' when it comes to displays, as it'll depend on what genre of game you play, how much you're wanting to spend, and the size of the screen itself. RELATED LINKS: Best SSD for gaming, How to build a gaming PC, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 10:45 AM  The Tower of Fantasy 2.0 update test server is set to run in October, and you can sign up for a chance to check out the anime game's next major update ahead of time. Tower of Fantasy 1.5 released on September 15, allowing players to travel to the mysterious Artificial Island and get their hands on new playable Tower of Fantasy character Claudia. The promised Tower of Fantasy 2.0 update, featuring new region Vera and the floating, cyberpunk style Mirroria City, has been listed as "coming in late fall." RELATED LINKS: Tower of Fantasy codes, Tower of Fantasy characters, How to level up in Tower of Fantasy |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 10:19 AM  A new Half-Life 2 mod unlocks dozens of official but never-used levels from the 2003 beta version of Valve's iconic, Steam FPS, demonstrating how the Half-Life sequel may have looked in its original incarnation – and offering further insight into the world of Gordon Freeman as we all wait on Half-Life 3. |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 10:14 AM  Intel Arc 7 graphics cards are on the way, and the A770 and A750 will come bundled with free copies of Modern Warfare 2. You'll be also able to grab three additional games by joining the company's Gaming Access program, including the upcoming superhero romp Gotham Knights. RELATED LINKS: Arc Alchemist GPUs - everything we know, Raptor Lake CPUs - everything we know, Best gaming CPU |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 9:56 AM  The Genshin Impact Star-Seeker's Sojourn event is available as part of the Genshin Impact 3.1 update, and involves helping a young girl called Banu hunt down mysterious Future Stars using a unique gadget. Unlike the Genshin Impact Wind Chaser event, which takes place exclusively within domains, Star-Seeker's Sojourn involves exploring Hoyoverse's expansive open world game at your leisure. In order to participate in the Genshin Impact Star-Seeker's Sojourn event, you must have reached Adventure Rank 30 – take a look at our Genshin Impact leveling guide if you're in need of a boost. As far as events go in Hoyoverse's anime game, the Genshin Impact Star-Seeker's Sojourn event is about as straightforward as you can get. It's a chance to have a good poke around the Sumeru region's lush environment, and take a welcome break from farming domains, such as the Genshin Impact Garden of Endless Pillars, or the elusive Altar of Mirages. Here's everything you need to know about the Star-Seeker's Sojourn event. RELATED LINKS: Genshin Impact codes, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 9:33 AM  Hunting for the best browser games? Modern computers are so powerful that you don't need a beefy rig to play great games. As long as you have access to a stable internet connection, there's a massive library of games that can be played from the comfort of your web browser, and what's more, every game on this list is free. It can be difficult to coordinate with several friends to find a game that everyone owns. Gone are the days of worrying about your friend's empty Steam library and their low specced PCs - instead you can simply send them a link to these top browser games and start playing right away. Whether you're looking for something to play for a few minutes before your lunch break ends, or you want a game to sink your teeth into after work, we've got you covered. Our list of the best browser games contains a mix of genres to ensure there's something for everyone. With all of that said, here are the best browser games. RELATED LINKS: Best roguelike games, Best indie games, Best platform games |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 9:31 AM  A Minecraft mob will often have a lot of different uses in this sandbox game. Sure, sometimes they seem to be custom designed to scare the life out of you when you turn around and see them through the dark, but a fair few mobs actually help you out. RELATED LINKS: Minecraft console commands, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 9:13 AM  Blizzard Entertainment shocked MMORPG fans everywhere when they finally announced a release date for the next World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight. Along with the November 28 release date announcement also came more information about the expansion's first raid, the Vault of the Incarnates RELATED LINKS: Best MMORPGs on PC, The best WoW addons, WoW Dragonflight preview |
PCGamesN Friday, September 30, 2022 9:01 AM  The RTX 4000 GPU reveal impressed me for all the obvious reasons, including the promised performance ceiling of the RTX 4090, but I'm most excited by the technologies that come part and parcel with Lovelace – namely DLSS 3.0 and Nvidia Reflex. The latter in particular is something I've grown to greatly appreciate, and the prospect of it being more widely supported in games is something that every GeForce owner should celebrate. RELATED LINKS: RTX 4000 - everything we know, GeForce Now RTX 3080 review, Best graphics card |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 12:11 PM  Petrol stations might not be the most natural setting for pondering life's biggest questions, but the ones in Flat Eye, the next game from the makers of detective taxi-me-do Night Call, aren't your ordinary rest stops. As well as a convenient place to relieve yourself and top up on snacks, these futuristic service stations also house cosmetic surgery bots, operation tables, teleportation booths and more - and they're all overseen by a powerful AI trying to find the best possible future for the human race. As the station's head clerk, you'll debate the ethics of eternal youth and end of life care, while also making sure your station has enough power, stocked shelves and a happy customer base. It's certainly an intriguing combo compared to other management games out there right now, so I sat down with director Laurent Victorino and writer Antony Jauneaud to find out more. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 12:00 PM  On this week's episode of the Ultimate Audio Bang, we dig deep into Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's recent multiplayer beta weekends and discuss whether Warzone needs a total revamp, how Warzone impacts the multiplayer side of things, and whether Warzone's upcoming DMZ mode may be Call Of Duty's big gambit. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 11:55 AM  A mysterious new session-based co-operative shooter has been announced by Ubisoft, codenamed Project U. There aren't many details to go on just yet, but the game is in the early stages of development and will hold closed playtests on PC in Western Europe. If you're of an inquiring mind, and like hanging out with mates in shooter lobbies, then all you can do for the moment is register your interest. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 11:33 AM  Developers working on games for Stadia have expressed surprise and frustration that Google still haven't made contact with them, almost 24 hours after the search giant announced they were shutting down their cloud gaming service yesterday afternoon. Many of the devs I spoke with have had no communication from Google at all since the announcement, with only one saying the company had been in touch. It's not just devs who have been left in the dark, though. Through a leaked internal email sent to Google's Stadia team, even Google's own staff weren't briefed until around the same time the public were made aware of the forthcoming shutdown. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 10:30 AM  Sometimes, you look forward to a game's release and it's very disappointing. Sometimes, it comes out and it's... fine. Kinda good, even. Only once does the game come out and it's fuckin' SPIDERHECK WOOOO! Imagine Nidhogg, cross it with Webbed, give it solid single player options, and throw in one of the sickest game soundtracks I've ever heard. I'd hoped Spiderheck would merely be as fun as it looks. It instead consumed me. Neverjam have united my love for Webbed with my love for chaos, and it's more glorious than I dared to hope. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 10:30 AM  Out now in early access, Slime Rancher 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Monomi Park's charming farming sim. Beatrix LeBeau has packed up her slime-wrangling gear and has crossed the Slime Sear to Rainbow Island, a new land packed with new mysteries and new slimes. As a seasoned slime wrangler myself, I was excited to dive head-first into this new, colourful world. Review code didn't arrive until launch day unfortunately, but all week I've been vibrating with anticipation. After spending a handful of hours frolicking with slimes and skipping around Rainbow Island, though, that early dazzle is starting to wear off. Monomi Park's sequel feels a little too familiar to its predecessor in its early game, and it's put a major downer on my goo-hoovering adventures. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 9:23 AM  December's a month known for its white-haired, bearded men in weird outfits and hats, so it seems a fitting time of year for Slitherine Games to launch their remake of 4X strategy classic Master Of Magic. Slitherine are referring to their take on Master Of Magic as a re-imagining rather than a remake or reboot, saying they've tried to be "faithful to the original in spirit and mood". You'll be able to Gandalf it up from December 13th. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM  Out Of Hands is a fairly "does what it says on the tin" title for this, a game where you play a dude who dreams he is made entirely out of hands every night. It also operates as a decent joke, because rather than being out of hands, he, if anything, has too many. So full marks for the name. The game itself is kind of a deckbuilder but not really, and though it also describes itself as a thriller, I can't say my heart rate was raised. In fact, behind the (admittedly very cool) visual style there seems to be a pretty run-of-the-mill "a girl I liked is no longer in my life and I'm pretty cut up about that" story. I guess in the full game it might turn out she was murdered, or she mudered the main character, or the main character murdered her - just, some kind of murder, maybe? But in the four demo levels I played recently, it seemed like a pretty normal breakup. I was really excited to give it a go, but in the preview I didn't find the contrast between a face made of squirming hands and the well trodden women-be-leavin' plot to be particularly affective or evocative. The squirming hands are cool, though. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 7:41 AM  Microsoft Flight Simulator is enhancing its version of the planet's second largest country for World Update 11. Canada is benefitting from the Flight Sim devs fancy scanning tech for the free update, which is live in game now. Glide over coasts, cities, and mountains while watching the trailer below. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 6:45 AM  Blizzard have revealed that the next expansion for World Of Warcraft, Dragonflight, will launch on November 28th. Dragonflight hits at 11pm GMT/3pm PST, and 12am CET on November 29th. The expansion opens up the Dragon Isles region, which is populated by dragonkind, as you might expect from the name. Mount your favourite flying lizard and watch the trailer below. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, September 30, 2022 6:30 AM  At this year's Gamescom I got hands-on with Bytten Studio's Cassette Beasts, an upcoming monster-taming open world RPG in the vein of Pokémon, which is far more interesting to me than the basic concept of Pokémon. That's because you're able to fuse together any monsters you 'catch', but moreso because it's a monster collectathon where you become the monster, essentially fusing yourself with bomb dogs and hermit crabs with traffic cone-homes. I like the way the game does away with the overdone shonen story of wanting to become the very best there ever was, and instead puts the spotlight on its cast of characters and the relationships you form with your buds. It's looking mighty promising. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 11:53 AM Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities looks to be the perfect series to binge on Halloween. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 11:51 AM Microsoft released a new trailer of the upcoming action strategy game Minecraft Legends, focusing on your newfound friendly mobs. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 11:50 AM Here's how to get two of the best pieces of equipment for Astrologer and magic builds in Elden Ring. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 10:50 AM Player creates an island in Animal Crossing New Horizons with online minigames and loads of prizes. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 10:18 AM You can now wishlist Marvel Snap on Steam. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 10:15 AM Here's today's Jumble answer! |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:53 AM Here's today's Byrdle answer for those who can't quite work it out. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:41 AM Here's how to build the mysterious kiwi from Edgerunners in Cyberpunk 2077. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:30 AM Find out whether the NieR: Automata port on Nintendo Switch is a perfect version of the game or an inferior model. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:05 AM Here's why Destiny 2 needs to add back Strike Specific Loot again. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:05 AM Find out whether or not Maki is in love with Yuta in Jujutsu Kaisen 0. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM Ravenbound continues to surprise, even if its edges are still rough. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM Here's what you need to know about a potential third movie. |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM What Song Does the Sanderson Sisters Perform in Hocus Pocus 2 |
Twinfinite Friday, September 30, 2022 8:39 AM Here's why Satoru Gojo wears a blindfold in Jujutsu Kaisen. |
Siliconera Friday, September 30, 2022 1:00 PM
The days of Google Stadia are officially numbered. A new blog post by Google Vice-President and Stadia General Manager Phil Harrison said that "while Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected," prompting Google's decision to begin winding down the service. Stadia's end comes on January 18, 2023, less than five years after its public launch on November 19, 2019. Harrison thanked players that supported Google Stadia, and promised that it would refund customers that purchased hardware through the Google Store and content through the Stadia Store. Though Stadia was a game streaming service that was largely independent of device selection, players could purchase a special Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra for an optimized experience. Players will still have access to their game library until January 18th, and Google expects to complete the refunds by mid-January 2023. According to an FAQ, The only purchases not eligible for a refund are Stadia Pro subscriptions. Stadia Pro is a paid tier of the service that unlocked a "free" game library similar to Xbox Game Pass or PS Plus Game Catalog. While the consumer-facing part of the service is on its way out, Harrison noted that the technology platform powering it is proven and has further use outside games. This was the writing on the wall, in fact, when Google shut down its in-house development studios in early 2021. At the time it said that it would offer Stadia as a platform for third parties to build on. If Stadia has a legacy, it's of spurring competition in the game streaming space. In the wake of its announcement, platforms like Microsoft and Sony beefed up their offerings, such as with Xbox Cloud Gaming and the folding of PlayStation Now into the PS Plus subscription tiers. Amazon launched its own Luna service in 2020, and services like Nvidia's GeForce Now are key to new cloud gaming-oriented hardware. Google Stadia ends service on January 18, 2023. The post Google to Kill off Google Stadia, Refund Customers appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, September 30, 2022 12:00 PM
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a wickedly addicting visual novel with beautiful art, charming characters, fantastic music, and an intriguing plot. As a narrative RPG with dozens of endings and ten romanceable characters, it naturally has a lot of replay value. But its time loop mechanic means that you get to avoid repeating certain quest chains or dialogue lines. You can also save characters who die, if you can figure out how to in time. The initial mad rush to save everyone, and the way they reacted when I told them about my past lives, gave me the rare experience of feeling like Rintaro Okabe from Steins;Gate. You gain stats and relationship points with monthly activities. In order to succeed at monthly activities, you use cards collected throughout the game to match the goal number. These cards are your memories, with more "major" memories having a bigger number. [gallery columns="2" ids="936342,936343" link="file"] While the game mechanics itself are extremely fun, and it never gets old trying to unlock all the endings, it should be said that I Was a Teenage Exocolonist isn't for everyone. I do not mean this in the sense that it has content that's too disturbing. In fact, Northway surfaces a full list of content warnings at the main menu (including spoilers!), so folks who are worried about that sort of thing can stay informed. Perhaps a picture would be a bit more illustrative. Check the gallery below for a few screenshots of the dialog. That said, if you want to go in completely clean, keep scrolling. [gallery ids="936338,936337,936336" link="file"] Depending on how "online" you are, this style of dialog and character writing can come across as either pleasantly familiar or "a bit much". As a veteran of Tumblr in its heyday, I personally do not mind it! And as far as messaging goes, a lot of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist's themes speak to me. The game takes place in a future and culture that's grown apart from the one we have on Earth. While the setting paints a bleak picture of galactic survival, it also presents a hopeful one in terms of the society, particularly in terms of tolerance and diversity. Characters come in all different sizes, races, gender identities, and sexual orientations. One character has a pair of gay dads and another seems to have a polycule for his parents. In I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, your player character is part of the second generation of space colonists. Your parents' generation left Earth (and all of its troubles and conflicts) behind to start a new life. You and your friends were born on the spaceship Stratospheric, and when you are ten years old, you land on the planet Vertumna. The goal of this game is to reach the age of 20. In the decade you play, you can level up all sorts of skills and relationships. You can also perform jobs to help the colony. Some endings will stop the game before 20, but you'd have to jump through hoops to encounter that abrupt an interruption. It can get a bit predictable at times, even for someone like me who's steeped in this sort of language. I felt bad at how quickly I could predict what sort of archetype a character would turn out to be like before the game confirmed it through dialog or storytelling. Of course Nomi-Nomi, the quirky anime lover who talks in a hyperactive way, uses they/them pronouns (and they do). Of course Tang, the scientist who talks at length about how gross and ineffective the human body is, is transgender (and she is). The game includes pretty much all of the representation you can think of. [gallery columns="2" ids="936340,936339" link="file"] This is a good problem to have, though. The character writing is excellent and thoughtful. You all start around ten years old and end the game around twenty. Characters' relationships change over time, as do their personalities. Anemone and Cal in the beginning are completely different people at the end. This evolution even applies to your internal monologue. When you are eleven, the writing feels like you are reading a children's book. But the prose slowly shifts to a more sophisticated tone as you get older. Because everyone is so different in their politics and values, you will likely always find yourself against at least two characters as you argue for what the Strato colony needs. Everyone has their own idea of what is best for the colony's future. As a quick note before we move onto the next section, I would like to say that I have not completed all the routes in the game yet. So this is based on my experiences thus far. For reference, I have completed four different lives. However, these are things I have noticed for the majority of my playthroughs, so I believe that you would have to really go out of your way to see something different. It happens more often than it should, but if there's one pitfall that accompanies Exocolonist's commitment to its ideals, it's that it gets a bit too "Lisa Simpson" in its storytelling. In spots, characters start to talk less like people and more like drafts for a social studies dissertation. All characters exist as narrative or thematic tools -- this is basic fiction-writing. But the downside of this approach is that it can come across unnatural and in extremely unsubtle ways. It happens so much in the fan fiction scene, that I am very confident that I could construct a profile for the writer of I was a Teenage Exocolonist just from what I've read in the dialog and narrative. Honestly, I get the impulse. As a writer myself, sometimes I really want to hammer things home in a way that no one could misinterpret. But this happens even for things that could do with a more subtle hand. In learning the history of the Stratospheric, I realized that they were pretty much a cult. The vague triumph I felt when I read between the lines and saw what the author meant faded instantly when Solana (what I named my protagonist) could blurt out "So, they're basically a cult?!" The way the characters and narrative sometimes signposts its politics takes away from the fun of critically analyzing the work. [gallery columns="2" ids="936344,936345" link="file"] The game borders on "preachy." Characters monologue at length about views that people playing this probably already agree with. I certainly agree with them. It is like an echo chamber of morals. And to only present a compelling argument for one side can be a problem when you write a story so focused on social issues. An example of this is in its portrayal of vegetarianism. Most characters are vegetarian because they ate soy on the Stratospheric, which makes sense. But Vertumna's soil is poor for farming. In a cooking event, Aunt Anne suggests eating meat. Tammy reacts with almost childish horror, and the game nudges you to negotiate for a vegetarian option. This is because that option nets you the best card. [gallery columns="2" ids="936412,936414" link="file"]
It is incredibly easy to be anti-fascist and take the more eco-socialist route when the "enemies" are almost cartoonishly one-dimensional. You and your pacifist farmer friend watch Vace and his soldiers roast an animal alive for consumption. Humans are inherently "evil" for inserting themselves into the established ecosystem, and no one raises a compelling argument against that. I never felt challenged in my views or morals, and the game never attempts to challenge them anyway. While it's true that some views don't need to be visibly opposed to be powerful, the game is affirming to the point of feeling coddling and almost sanitized. Vertumna is a utopia of acceptance and diversity, but its story doesn't have a lot of space for players who don't share all its values. Perhaps the cult backstory for the Stratospheric is more relevant than it seems at first glance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ9_XspfTXU Once again I should stress that I haven't seen all 29 endings. So I could definitely have missed something on my path through. Your ending animation changes depending on if you save your parents and who you date, as well as which characters you maxed out friendship with. There's much more to be seen of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist than what I experienced for this playtest. As of the time of writing, I've played the game for almost 22 hours. I once even spent the whole day playing it, skipping meals because I was so invested (Do not do this!), and I still feel like there are endless possibilities for me to uncover. Like a space colonist eager to discover the mysteries of a distant planet, I can't wait until the next time I can experience a new life. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. This playtest is based on a PC version code provided by the publisher. The post I Was a Teenage Exocolonist Provides Hours of (Moral) Fun appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, September 30, 2022 11:00 AM
On Kickstarter, Studio Wildrose and Wild Bunch Production have shared some information on the setting for Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood. They also reminded backers and people interested in the games that this is the last push before the Kickstarter closes on September 30, 2022. In Armed Fantasia, non-native organisms that people call Anomalies are roaming the land and causing devastation on the natural ecosystem. They are also very dangerous, so the Order and Pathfinders have to destroy them. Some examples of Anomalies are the Xibalba, Pandagruel, and Vouivreguivre. [gallery ids="936526,936525,936524" link="file"] There is also an anti-Order group called the Iconocluster who hope to free Londenium from the Order, which they perceive as evil. Their members are Setsuna Carpediem, Arcain Wharen, Knight Gungnir, and Kimquis Mycalmel. It is unclear if they will be fight alongside Ingram and his friends, or against them. [gallery columns="1" ids="936527" link="file"] In the field test video for Armed Fantasia, it shows how you explore the map. It seems that you can switch who your avatar is on the fly. Since each character has their own Gadget for exploration, this is perhaps to make it easier to shuffle through Gadgets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYL3jYEezBs In the Penny Blood update, there is also a brief clip of how the battle works. In the video, you can see Emilia's Psycho Sigil, and her combo attack where she shoots out a missile from her knee. A separate video shows off the Sigil Slaughter combo attack between Emilia and Matthew. You can also hear a bit of the Penny Blood battle theme. A piano version of Emilia's theme is on Soundcloud as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVscuNM2IXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrzkmsAQ5c As for the game's story, Roger Bacon will make a return in Penny Blood and we will actually get to know more about his background. Bacon appeared in the original Shadow Hearts games as an eccentric, but in Penny Blood, we will see him as a "handsome young friar" who just finished studying at the University of Oxford. The Kickstarter update also includes a picture of the Ryounkaku Superfortress. This is the fortress that the Kamuzumi organization built to facilitate their battle against the aramitama. [gallery columns="2" ids="936529,936528" link="file"] For a quick update on stretch goals, Armed Fantasia has cleared the $1,145,000 mark needed to include three additional ARM types. In total, you will be able to get nine ARM types and roles in battle. Penny Blood has also cleared the Pedometer stretch goal. This will allow players to get prizes based on how many steps they take in dungeons. As well, Kenji Ito (SaGa) and Yasunori Shiono (Lufia) will collaborate on the Penny Blood soundtrack. They are joining Yoshitaka Hirota (Shadow Hearts), Akari Kaida (Breath of Fire 3) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) to compose music. Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood are in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. Penny Blood will come out in Spring 2025. The post New Armed Fantasia, Penny Blood Videos Show off Combat and Field Scenes appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM
Toho, the company behind the upcoming Spy x Family musical, has revealed the cast members that will play Loid and Yor Forger. The announcement comes with images of the cast in their respective outfits. Other cast members, including those that will play Yuri Briar and Anya Forger, will appear at a later date. The Spy x Family musical will begin performing in March 2023. [Thanks, Famitsu!] Two actors will each play Yor and Loid Forger, with actors changing depending on the performance date. Playing Loid are actors Win Morisaki and Hiroki Suzuki. Playing Yor are actors Fuka Yuzuki and Mirei Sasaki. Furthermore, Yuri Briar will also have two actors playing the role. However, the company is still looking for a child actor to play the role of Anya Forger. Toho announced the Spy x Family musical back in April 2022. The description of the musical indicates that it will follow the setting of the original manga, though it's still unclear where the musical plans to end its own story. In March 2023, the musical will hold performances at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, followed by performances in Hyogo prefecture in April, and Fukuoka prefecture in May. You can take a look at all four cast members in the images below: [gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="936535,936536,936537,936538"] The Spy x Family musical will begin performing in March 2023, at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. The ticket lottery for the March performances will open on December 24, 2022, Japan Time. The second season of the Spy x Family anime adaptation will begin airing on October 1, 2022. The post Check out the Cast of the Spy x Family Musical appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, September 30, 2022 7:00 AM
Visitors to the upcoming Gundam Metaverse will be able to talk with interactive AI characters. The Gundam Conference Autumn 2022 stream featured the debut of an AI character named Mellow Neige. The character wearing Haro-themed headband and necklace will appear in the Metaverse to discuss Gundam-related topics with the community via chats with a voice tone that feels close to a real human. Shortly after Mellow's introduction video which starts at the 12:04 mark, Bandai Namco's Chief Gundam Officer Kouji Fujiwara revealed more details about the AI character. The company will fill Mellow's database with knowledge about the Gundam franchise and the Gunpla kits. When the Metaverse goes live, the AI will learn more from the community's responses. Mellow will not have a gender due to being an AI. At the end of the introduction video, Mellow hinted that the Metaverse may have more AI characters available.
Gundam Metaverse's Mellow is one of the numerous AI characters that Bandai Namco is creating as a part of its larger AI development project. On the same day, the company published a new press release that re-introduced its Play BY Live AI character project. In June 2022, Bandai Namco Entertainment launched the Go Round Game channel which would feature three AI VTubers in total. Two of the characters, Yuha and Satori Neon, are currently under active operation by regularly streaming mahjong matches. The third AI VTuber, Miyako Popuri, will debut at a later date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwqJGH6ZEo While a conventional VTuber would have a real human acting behind the Live2D avatar, these characters are completely AI-managed. They will react to game situations and stream comments while generating speeches with intonations that feel as close as possible to real humans. The latter press release also confirmed that the Gundam Metaverse's main interactive AI, Mellow Neige, will come from the same AI character technology that Bandai Namco has been working on. Bandai Namco initially revealed the Gundam Metaverse project at the March 2022 Gundam Conference. It will create a hub where people can gather and talk about the franchise's anime, games, music, and plamodels. The Road to Gunpla Battle project, which aims to realize a scanning system for customized kits, is also part of the Metaverse project. The company will hold a closed test for the Gunpla section of the Gundam Metaverse within 2022. The post Gundam Metaverse Will Feature Interactive AI Characters appeared first on Siliconera. |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Friday, September 30, 2022 1:30 PM  The upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, named Dragonflight, has been given a November 28 release date. This is the popular MMORPG's first major expansion since Shadowlands, which released in late 2020. Players will join the dragonflights of Azeroth as they look to return to the Dragon Islesm their ancestral home . The isles are a beautiful set of islands that are surging with elemental magic, and they're awakening once more. Your job is to explore them and discover the long-lost secrets that lie within. On its release date, Dragonflight will also introduce a new class. The Dracthyr Evoker is WoW's first playable race and class combo. They can switch between two forms, with one being humanoid and the other a fearsome draconic beast. They specialize in mid-range attacks using both their sharp claws and their devastating fiery breath. The Dracthyr Evoker can also support allies by empowering them with life-giving magic. The main new feature being introduced in... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Friday, September 30, 2022 1:00 PM  Ahead of its November release, developer Sports Interactive has revealed some of the new features coming to Football Manager 2023. The reveal was made in an in-depth 40-minute feature reveal posted on the game's official YouTube channel. In the video, Sports Interactive showcases improvements made to player recruitment, match AI, animations, and how you interact with supporters. Player recruitment has received a rework to make it more intuitive to use. The new Squad Planner provides more information for you to better spend your resources. It allows you to identify weaknesses in your squad, both in the current season and in one or two years' time. Once you've identified a weakness you can then move on to another one of the new features coming to Football Manager 2023, Recruitment Focus. Replacing the old assignments mechanic, Recruitment Focus gives players more control. In addition to the existing filters, you can now ask scouts to look for more detailed player... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Friday, September 30, 2022 12:30 PM  Yesterday Google announced the upcoming shutdown of its Stadia service. The Stadia's failure isn't too surprising in the grand scheme of things, but the way in which Google has handled it has apparently caught everyone off guard. As the news spreads, we are finding out that neither Stadia employees nor Stadia game developers had any idea that the shutdown was coming. Developer Olde Skuul announced it had a game in development just hours after Stadia's closure was confirmed. It's working on Luxor Evolved, which was set to release on Stadia in the near future. However, there's clearly no real reason to develop games for Stadia anymore. It already had a relatively small player base, but now that player base will shrink even more as people are unlikely to continue supporting a finished project. Even worse, developer Mike Rose posted on Twitter that his team has a game coming to Stadia in November. Although Google has offered a solution to some developer... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Friday, September 30, 2022 11:30 AM  When I first booted up the Gunbrella demo, I wondered what it could do to wow me. It didn't take long to find out. The game almost immediately gave me the eponymous item, which initially acts as a shotgun crossed with an umbrella. Who woulda thought? Gunbrella is set to release next year, and I got the opportunity to check the demo out a bit early. After spending half an hour with it I can honestly say that I'm already completely sold on this game, as the gameplay on offer is as unique as it is brutal. The Gunbrella demo begins with simple instructions. You're a guy with a beard who's incredibly good at eviscerating people (and frogs!), and you're supposed to go to a town and get a train running again. Unfortunately, the town's mayor has been abducted by an insidious group known as Cult-45 (I get it). Naturally, our hero decides to walk into the cult's compound via the front door and kill his way to the mayor. What more of a story could you... |
PC Invasion - FeedDDD Friday, September 30, 2022 10:30 AM  The Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific Season Five Reloaded update is here. It's the final major update that will be deployed in Warzone before the debut of Warzone 2. Raven Software has rolled out various weapon balancing adjustments, given players some free calling cards, and launched new weapons. One of these weapons is the BP50 assault rifle and, with the best attachments, you can build a viable class to take to your next Warzone match. You may recognize the BP50, as it resembles the F2000 from the original Modern Warfare 2. However, before you can start creating your class, you will have to unlock the weapon. You can do this by completing a challenge which tasks you with earning 15 kills while aiming down sight with an ACOG scope equipped. If you prefer, you can always purchase the gun as part of the Calavera weapon bundle in the in-game store. The fully automatic BP50 already has a fast fire rate and a lot of potential at range. This class will focus on maximizing its power, whi... |
Tabletop Gaming News Friday, September 30, 2022 1:00 PM |
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Tabletop Gaming News Friday, September 30, 2022 11:00 AM |
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Tabletop Gaming News Friday, September 30, 2022 9:00 AM |
Player Assist | Game Guides & Walkthroughs Friday, September 30, 2022 2:00 PM Team Cherry's Metroidvania action-adventure game, Hollow Knight, follows the journey of a nameless warrior called the Knight as he travels through Hallownest, a kingdom ruined by a supernatural disease. As the Knight journeys through Hallownest, he can unlock new abilities, spells, and charms that help him traverse through different areas of Hallownest and defeat enemies. […] |
Player Assist | Game Guides & Walkthroughs Friday, September 30, 2022 1:00 PM The trio embarks on their first mission together. With 20+ missions, fans can finally see Franklin, Michael, and Trevor work together in their first mission as a team in Three's Company. After Dave and Michael find out that Ferdinand Kerimov is still alive, the FIB sends Michael on a mission to extract the informant from […] |
Player Assist | Game Guides & Walkthroughs Friday, September 30, 2022 12:00 PM A Magic Dust that will get you those fabled gems in Diablo Immortal. Diablo Immortal uses various currencies used one way or another to acquire, upgrade, or trade items in-game. One such Currency is Fading Embers, which you can get randomly on your daily Elder Rift runs. We have outlined everything you need to know […] |
Player Assist | Game Guides & Walkthroughs Friday, September 30, 2022 11:00 AM Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set in olden times in the Pokemon world when it was rare to find harmony between people and Pokemon. Set in Hisui, modern-day Sinnoh, you will join the Galaxy Expedition Team (Galaxy Team for short) as a member of the Survey Corps stationed in Jubilife Village. You will be tasked to […] |