Jul 12, 02:00


PCGamesN Thursday, July 11, 2024 6:38 PM
     Medieval survival RPG Bellwright shares what's next for the game

Some games take a while to settle down into their groove, often needing a few updates under their belt to either get things working right or give a clear direction to players about the future. Bellwright certainly appears to be one of those, slowly clawing up the Steam reviews after a mixed launch and now hitting its stride quite nicely. There's more to come too, as a new community update released by developer Donkey Crew has taken a look back at the last month and given a few peeks about what's next in store for the game.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPG games, Best survival games, Best open-world games

PCGamesN Thursday, July 11, 2024 6:43 PM
     The First Descendant dev confirms it won't nerf most popular build

When an online game launches there'll inevitably be a spot of chaos while players work out what builds and weapons are good and what's bad. Often, players will find something the developer never intended, giving them potentially too much power. That's what's happened in The First Descendant which has meant the community has been watching for a nerf hitting a very popular build, but developer Nexon has something else up its sleeve.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The First Descendant system requirements, The First Descendant characters, The First Descendant crossplay

Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 10:00 PM
    

my hero academia you're next villains

Bones revealed the six original villains who will appear in My Hero Academia: You're Next. They're all part of the criminal Gorrini family, who work with Dark Might to plunge society into chaos.

You can watch a trailer for My Hero Academia: You're Next here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDZs7nFi8s&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fheroaca-movie.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

The new villains outside of Dark Might don't actually appear in the My Hero Academia: You're Next trailer.

As for the cast of the Gorrini family, as well as their pictures, they are:

  • Bruno Gorrini: Masaki Terasoma (Kuzuki in Fate/stay night)
  • Deborah Gorrini: Minako Kotobuki (Tsumugi in K-On!)
  • Jill Gorrini: Voice actor unknown
  • Kamil Gorrini: Yuki Ono (Josuke in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
  • Paulo Gorrini: Yusuke Kobayashi (Subaru in Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World)
  • Simon Gorrini: Michitake Kikuchi (Blackthorne in FFXVI)
  • Ugo Gorrini: Ken Uo (Flying Dutchman in Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake)

My Hero Academia: You're Next will be the first time that a My Hero Academia movie will be available in IMAX, MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema from day one. The movie will start airing in Japan from August 2, 2024. Aside from the above trailer, there is also a new key visual showing Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki in the midst of jumping into action, all three of them using their respective powers.

My Hero Academia: You're Next will start airing in theaters in Japan from August 2, 2024.

The post My Hero Academia: You're Next Villains Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 9:00 PM
    

rent-a-girlfriend game

Mages announced that it's working on a game for Rent-A-Girlfriend. The game's title is Rent-A-Girlfriend: The Horizon and the Girl in the Swimsuit, and it'll come out for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

You can watch the teaser movie here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWXtaYX643w

More information on it will appear on August 5, 2024. That's also when pre-orders will open. While we don't know a lot about the game, we do know that it'll be a visual novel or text-based adventure game.

Rent-A-Girlfriend is a Japanese manga and anime series that started serialization in 2017. The anime for it started airing in 2020 and it has three seasons thus far. As of March 2024, there are over 13 million copies of the manga in circulation, making it a fairly popular work. The story of Rent-A-Girlfriend follows Kazuya Kinoshita, who rents a girlfriend named Chizuru Mizuhara after his girlfriend dumps him. As time passes and he meets other rental girlfriends, he falls in love with Chizuru and works to make their rental relationship a real one.

The Rent-A-Girlfriend: The Horizon and the Swimsuit game is in development for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Pre-orders will open on August 5, 2024.

You can watch the show on Crunchyroll and Kodansha has licensed the manga for North America.

The post Rent-A-Girlfriend Game Announced For PS4, Switch appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 8:15 PM
    

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth AI Book

Square Enix has announced the release of a new book titled Square Enix AI featuring the FFVII Remake, with Cloud Strife on the cover. The book aims to provide an easy-to-understand guide on game AI and will be published on July 30, 2024. Pre-orders are now available.[Thanks, BD Publishing!]

View the announcement post below: 

https://twitter.com/bd_publishing/status/1810527559148360108

The book was created by Square Enix staff involved in AI development, aiming to make game AI accessible to a broader audience. It covers various aspects of game AI, including character definition, navigation mesh, pathfinding, steering, avoidance, 3D navigation, decision-making systems, and character animation.

Additionally, the book explores character interaction, emotional AI, natural language processing, and the concept of "meta-AI." It also discusses deep learning applications in games, such as style transfer, automatic lip-sync animation, and character animation generation. The final section addresses the use of AI in automating quality assurance, including bug classification and data analysis.

The book is published by Bourne Digital and will be available in Tankobon Softcover format, consisting of 336 pages. It is written in Japanese and currently ranks #879 in Japanese Books on Amazon.

FFVII Rebirth is readily available for the PlayStation 5, and the exclusivity arrangement ended on May 29, 2024.

The post Square Enix AI Book Cover Features FFVII Remake's Cloud Strife appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 8:00 PM
    

rent-a-girlfriend season 4

Reiji Miyajima, the mangaka of Rent-A-Girlfriend, has announced that season 4 of the anime is in development. He thanks the fans for all of their support, as that's the reason why it came to pass.

In commemoration of this news, Miyajima drew a picture of Kazuya and Chizuru holding hands. Around them are the various side and supporting characters cheering them on. The two of them are wearing Hawaiian shirts and matching jackets, as the fourth season will adapt the Hawaii Arc. It'll air some time in 2025.

https://twitter.com/Miyajimareiji/status/1811418689587253570

You can watch the teaser trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRr8tJDz-EY

Rent-A-Girlfriend is a popular anime and manga series. Serialization started in 2017 and the anime started in 2020. As of March 2024, over 13 million copies of the manga are in circulation. It follows Kazuya Kinoshita, who rents a girlfriend named Chizuru Mizuhara after his real girlfriend dumps him. After a somewhat disastrous first date, he finds out that Chizuru's actually really mean. As they spend more time fake dating so that Kazuya can keep up appearances, he starts to fall in love with her for real and he works to make their rental relationship a real one.

Rent-A-Girlfriend season 4 is in the works and you'll likely be able to watch it on Crunchyroll with the rest of the show. Kodansha has licensed the manga in English.

The post Rent-A-Girlfriend Season 4 Announced appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 7:15 PM
    

BANDAI SPIRITS Rowtashii Noise

Bandai Spirits has announced the launch of a new comprehensive brand called Rowtashii Noise, which aims to bring high-end collectible items to fans worldwide. This brand inherits the manufacturing techniques of the TAMASHII NATIONS line known for its collector's products for adults and is including figures for Oshi no Ko and Gintama for it's launch. The announcement was made on July 11, 2024. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

Rowtashii Noise will introduce two new figure series: "Adokenette" and "Tekupiku. Adokenette is a 5-head-tall figure series that focuses on the concept of innocence. The figures feature poses that make it seem as if they are peeking out from behind something. The first Bandai spirits releases in this series will include Oshi no Ko in September, followed by Gintama in November. Each figure is priced at ¥3,960 (approximately $25 USD).

The Tekupiku series consists of chibi figures designed for portability, characterized by their large bag and eye designs. Figures from Bandai Spirits Gintama and Haikyu!! will be available starting in November. Each figure in this series is priced at ¥3,850 (approximately $24 USD).

Bandai Spirits plans to expand both series with various IP products and introduce new figure series in the future.

The first season of Oshi no Ko can be streamed on HIDIVE. Gintama and Haikyuu are streaming on Crunchyroll.

The post New Bandai Spirits Figures Include Oshi no Ko and Gintama appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 7:00 PM
    

Old Nippon Ichi Software Games Head to PC via Steam

Nippon Ichi Software announced that four old games from the company's back catalog will soon be available on PC via Steam. There is currently no release date for the titles, and they will only be available in Japanese. [Thanks, Game*Spark!]

The Nippon Ichi Software titles hail from the original PlayStation console, and the first of the four games to be announced is The Oni Taiji!! Mezase! Nidaime Momotaro (The Ogre Slayer!! Aim for it! Momotaro The Second in English). This is a board game for up to four players inspired by classic Japanese folktales.

Jigsaw Island is the next title. It is a classic matching game with over 150 illustrations and photos available. The puzzle title also includes a story mode and a vs battle mode.

Bishoujo Hanafuda Kikou Michinoku Hitou Koi Monogatari, which roughly translates to Beautiful Girl Hanafuda Travelogue Michinoku Secret Hot Spring Love Story, is a hanafuda Nippon Ichi Software game. (That is a type of Japanese card game.) Aspiring photographer protagonist Yuya Amakusa plays cards with the heroines of the game in order to be able to take pictures of them to advance the story.

SatelliTV is the last of the batch, and it is a management simulation game in which players are in charge of running a TV broadcasting station. The gameplay involves deciding the programming that will be shown on the TV station and keeping an eye on the viewer count so as to not lose audience members.

These four old Nippon Ichi Software games are being re-released on Steam as part of the Nippon Ichi Software 30th Anniversary celebration, which also included a Disgaea Orchestra Concert that took place on June 23, 2024 in Ginza, Tokyo.

The post Old Nippon Ichi Software Games Head to PC via Steam appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Thursday, July 11, 2024 6:30 PM
    

Long-Haired Rei Ayanami Evangelion Figure Arrives in 2025

A new Rebuild of Evangelion figure of long-haired Rei Ayanami will appear in Japan on July 2025. The figure will cost 19,800 yen (or approximately $124.66,) and is now available for pre-order from the S-FIRE online storefront until October 7, 2024.

The figure depicts Rei Ayanami's long-haired design as she appeared in the Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time anime movie. The character appears wearing her plugsuit and laying in a relaxed pose while resting on top of a flat base. The figure is approximately 135mm (or 5.3 inches) wide and 118mm (4.65 inches) tall.

You can check out the new Rebuild of Evangelion figure of long-haired Rei Ayanami in more detail here:

Back in late April 2023, a similar figure of Rei Ayanami with long hair went on pre-order. The figure had a planned release date of February 2024 in Japan. In addition, a figure of Asuka Langley Shikinami from the Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time movie also appeared on January 2024 as an arcade prize re-release throughout Japan.

The new Evangelion figure of Rei Ayanami with long hair is now available for pre-order until October 7, 2024. The figure costs 19,800 yen (~$124.66) and will release in July 2025.

The post Long-Haired Rei Ayanami Evangelion Figure Arrives in 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.


Gaming on PC Thursday, July 11, 2024 10:26 PM
     Nacon and Spiders Studio revealed today that GreedFall 2: The Dying World will get a Steam Early Access release on September 24th. More details after the jump.