Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 12:45 PM  Modders of The Witcher 3 have only had official tools from developer CD Projekt Red for two months, but they've already made great use of them. One ambitious modder was able to recreate some of the first game's map with the new tools only a day after they were released. More recently, a new mod has given the already… |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 12:25 PM  Once Human's post-launch rollercoaster ride continues apace after a new update broke certain items and bases in the game. While frustrating for players and another headache for the developers, the funniest part is that the fresh problems arose just as the developers were asking fans to boost the survival MMO's rating… |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 12:15 PM  For someone who doesn't care about Deadpool at all, I sure have been finding myself writing about him, his movies, and playing with his ass a bit more than I anticipated. It's with that in mind that I come to deliver my latest missive: don't watch the final trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine if you care at all about… |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 12:05 PM  Oh, hi. Welcome to a totally normal weekend after a totally normal weekend where absolutely nothing troubling or strange happened whatsoever. There's simply nothing that we're turning to digital worlds to keep our minds off of. Why would you suggest a thing? |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 11:35 AM  In Elden Ring, applying an Ash of War to a weapon can completely change its usefulness to your build. Carian Sovereignty is one such Ash of War that Intelligence builds aren't going to want to miss in the game's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. It can absolutely decimate your foes with a giant magical sword. Awesome. |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 11:00 AM  The newest Overwatch hero is playable starting today for a limited time. Juno, a support hero Blizzard began teasing as far back as last year's BlizzCon, brings a space-age flair to the hero shooter when she joins the roster as part of Season 12 when it launches on August 20. Based on Juno's reveal trailer, it already… |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 9:37 AM  The first two episodes of Supacell could have done a more thorough job of focusing on Sabrina (Nadine Mills) and other women in the show. Instead, they've served primarily as support characters for the male narrative. So Sabrina's episode is the one I've been waiting for, as it brings her superpowered struggles into… |
Kotaku Friday, July 19, 2024 6:55 AM  Americans are waking up this morning to discover that the whole world isn't working properly. It's a crisis that has spread around the planet, grounding flights, shutting down hospital procedures, and causing worldwide travel chaos, and it's all because of a single software update by cyber-security firm Crowdstrike. |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 1:22 PM  There's a certain style of game that operates on the level of a slick action movie set piece. Doom and its 2016 reboot accomplish this through energetic, gore soaked gunplay, as does Cyberpunk 2077 in its best and most propulsive gunfights. Hotline Miami, though, is probably the best example of this design sensibility, its fast paced combat puzzles accompanied by loud cartoon visuals and a pounding, insistent soundtrack. The upcoming Kusan City of Wolves looks like it could be the latest entry to this loosely defined subgenre — which has kept it on our radar since we first noticed it — and now you can take an early look at it thanks to a new Steam playtest. |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 12:24 PM  Crime Boss: Rockay City has taken a long, difficult road from its launch through to the present. While the celebrity studded co-op crime game, which draws on Payday 3 and Grand Theft Auto 5 for inspiration, was poorly reviewed when it originally came out, its creator has worked hard to improve and add onto it as time has gone on. The result has been positive enough that Crime Boss has gone on to garner warmer user reviews on Steam and found and established a healthy community of players. Now, in another move likely to boost Crime Boss' reputation even further, its DLC will remain free to keep for, as a press release notes, "the foreseeable future." Continue reading Underloved Payday 3 rival Crime Boss keeps giving DLC away for free MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best co-op games, Best crime games, Best FPS games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 11:51 AM  Most games set during the Second World War focus on the life and death drama of intense battles. Whether that takes the form of FPS games like Hell Let Loose, Call of Duty 2, and Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad or entries to the strategy genre such as Steel Division 2, Company of Heroes 3, the goal of most of these games is to capture military action and, to greater or lesser degrees, keep the less dramatic aspects of a war in the background. This makes Ground of Aces, a building game that takes place on a bustling air base during World War II, notable for providing one of the most intense takes on its genre and, simultaneously, one of the most relaxed types of WWII game. And you can check it out now thanks to its new Steam demo. Continue reading Ground of Aces may be the most intense base builder ever, try it now |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 11:18 AM  Hunt Showdown has been a mainstay of multiplayer horror gaming for years now, standing alongside Dead by Daylight, The Outlast Trials, Phasmophobia, and GTFO as a top choice for fans of supernaturally tinged online play. Though it's managed to keep itself relevant by supplying players with a steady output of new additions and updates, ensuring the game never becomes stale, it's also been nearly five years since Hunt Showdown left Early Access. Considering its ongoing success, it isn't much of a surprise to imagine that creator Crytek has been working on a sequel. It could be real, but it could be something else entirely. Continue reading Hunt Showdown sequel might actually be happening as new rating leaks MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Hunt: Showdown review |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 9:27 AM  Set to release later this year in Steam Early Access, Endzone 2 is an indie city builder set in a post-apocalyptic world, focused on ensuring the survival and thriving of your struggling population. With its release date arriving August 26, it's a good time to try out its free Steam demo before it disappears for good. Continue reading Fallout inspired city builder Endzone 2 lands soon, will remove demo MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best strategy games, Best survival games, Best upcoming PC games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 9:54 AM  2024 has been a banner year for great new strategy games. Manor Lords, Solium Infernum, and that Civilization 7 trailer at Summer Game Fest to name just a few. One of the biggest strategy games in the world is Teamfight Tactics, which outwardly appears to live in the shadow of its big brother, League of Legends. That said, TFT is actually carving its own path, adding exclusive characters like Arcane's beloved Silco, and harkening back to the glory days of LoL with Remix Rumble. With Magic n' Mayhem just around the corner, I ask game director Peter Whalen how TFT will continue to distinguish itself from Riot's flagship MOBA, and how he feels about the current state of the strategy ecosystem. Continue reading TFT is playable League of Legends "fanfiction," and it's thriving MORE FROM PCGAMESN: LoL tier list, Best auto battlers, LoL ranking system explained |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 8:10 AM  July 19, 2024: We added three new Honkai Star Rail 2.4 codes to our list. What are the new Honkai Star Rail codes? If you're just starting your adventure through developer HoYoverse's gacha RPG, you might be wondering if there are any freebies to give you a boost. Thankfully, HoYoverse has delivered, and we've got the complete list of working promo codes for you to redeem. Honkai Star Rail redeem codes are released periodically and typically appear in livestreams and social channels ahead of major updates. These codes can net you some high-value currency, including Honkai Star Rail Stellar Jade, which you can use to pull the best characters from Honkai Star Rail banners. To save you time, we've collated all the promo codes and how to redeem them in Honkai Star Rail, so be sure to check back regularly before they expire. Continue reading Honkai Star Rail codes July 2024 and how to redeem codes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Honkai Star Rail review, Honkai Star Rail codes, Honkai Star Rail tier list |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 7:15 AM  Amid its successes in cracking down on the bot problem in Team Fortress 2, Valve has found the time to put together a surprisingly sizable summer update. With the inclusion of brand-new maps, a truckload of fresh cosmetics, changes to the map rotation, and countless bug fixes, the Team Fortress 2 redemption arc has begun. Continue reading Team Fortress 2 is finally back as Valve drops huge new update MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best old games, Best multiplayer games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 10:07 AM  When I first heard the name of Firewalk Studios' Concord I was transported back to my nan and grandad's house in the late 90s. There I was, tiny, full head of hair, having my shit rocked as supersonic airliner Concorde darted overhead at Mach 2. I'd often hear its thunderous roar announcing its presence long before I saw it - a one-of-a-kind feat of engineering that managed to ingrain itself so viscerally into my memory to this day. Of course, Concord isn't Concorde. While they share a mutual meaning - 'harmony between people' - they couldn't be more dissonant. I don't mean this in the literal sense, though. You see, for Concord to live up to the precedent set by its aeronautical counterpart it needs to be bold, unique, and an absolute tour de force. Concord isn't any of those things from what I've experienced so far in the FPS game. Having spent just over ten hours testing out all 16 Concord characters available in its open beta, across the four available Concord game modes on offer, the good news is the hero shooter has some fabulously robust fundamentals to build on. But I'm not convinced it's going to survive being thrown to the live-service wolves. Continue reading Forget a crash landing, I'm more concerned Concord won't take off MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best multiplayer games, Best cross platform games, Best FPS games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 10:10 AM  While the original Resident Evil games are beyond beloved, a few aspects of their gameplay might not hold up to the scrutiny of first-time players. With the remakes of 2, 3, and 4, Capcom has modernized several of the series' biggest hits, bringing both their gameplay and graphical presentation into the current day. If you long for the style of classic Resi, however, Vultures - Scavengers of Death is an upcoming tactical roguelike that brings the horror aesthetics of early Resident Evil into the modern age. Continue reading XCOM and Resident Evil inspire turn-based tactics game, demo out now MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best horror games, Best strategy games, Best old games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 6:00 AM  Pity the poor PC of 1983-1984, before EGA graphics changed everything. It wasn't the graphics powerhouse we know today. IBM's machines, such as the IBM PC 5150, and their clones might have been the talk of the business world, but they were stuck with text-only displays or low-definition bitmap graphics. The maximum color graphics resolution was 320 x 200 on a CGA graphics card, with colors limited to four from a hard-wired palette of 16. Even at the time, you'd have a hard time convincing someone that this was really the best graphics card you could buy. Worse, three of those colors were cyan, brown, and magenta, and half of them were just lighter variations of the other half. Continue reading EGA graphics: How 16 colors saved PC gaming MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 7:06 AM  This whole retro revival thing - this trend right now for boomer shooters, low-poly horrors, and spiritual successors to erstwhile classics - it's nice, and it's cute, and it makes you feel warm inside, but it's going to get old pretty quick. If you're a game developer, the current, greater-than-ever appetite for nostalgia might scream opportunity. You've got players who are middle aged, maybe have a bit of money, but the games they love and remember aren't being made any more. All you've got to do is rebuild and reheat what sold well in the past - it's a lay up. Except it's not going to last very long. Ignoring the fact that about 1,000 other developers have got the same plan, if you make, say, an FPS that strongly evokes the collective memories of Half-Life, people who see it are probably just going to go and play Half-Life. You need to offer something more. Nostalgia is a strong hook, but your game has to stand on its own. Continue reading Retro RTS Tempest Rising is much more than a new Command and Conquer MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Tempest Rising announcement, The best RTS games, The best PC strategy games |
PCGamesN Friday, July 19, 2024 6:35 AM  July 19, 2024: We've added a new Monopoly Go dice link for free dice rolls. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The household favorite board game has been reimagined as a free-to-play app on smartphones, allowing everyone to experience the thrills of Monopoly on practically any device. Everything that makes the board game special is here in Monopoly Go, so you'll be collecting properties and building hotels as you go around the board, and there are a variety of multiplayer minigames to get through along the way. You're going to need to get your hands on Monopoly dice rolls, but they are difficult to come by no matter how far you are into the board game. There are ways to earn additional dice rolls, including logging into the game every day to collect daily bonuses, progressing further in the game, and inviting friends to try Monopoly Go. While you can also spend real money to unlock more dice rolls, you may want to give our list of Monopoly Go dice links a try instead, especially if you're waiting for the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event. Take a look at all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links July 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 12:25 PM  Ho, wayfarer! Beware slight spoilers for Alan Wake 2 in the passages ahead. Deep in the Dark Place of Alan Wake 2 there is a forest that is not a forest - a zig-zag tunnel adorned with murals of a grisly woodland scene. Entering that tunnel, you find yourself sealed in at either end. But the mural suggests a way out: it changes when you turn around, following an unspoken narrative. It's a device as delicate as the graffiti elsewhere in the Dark Place is obnoxious. In hindsight, it feels like an example of "metsänpeitto", a concept from Finnish folklore about forests which, as writer Sinikka Annala explains, saturates the design of Alan Wake 2. It's a fascinating idea I'd love certain much larger, less intriguing video game worlds to learn from. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 12:14 PM  Our former editor Katharine "Thorsbane" Castle has long since quit these turgid shores for the sunny uplands of Eurogamer, where the consoles multiply like rabbits, but her legacy endures. For instance, it's thanks to her that I know and am excited about Roots of Yggdrasil, a roguelike deck-and-city-builder which casts you as a posse of vikings in a flying longship, touching down on floating islands to found a quick settlement and harvest some magic before the apocalypse - here known as the Ginnungagap, a swirling purple void - catches up with them. Katharine called it "a real grower" before the early access release in January, likening it to both Dorfromantik and The Banished Vault - a chalk and cheese comparison if ever I heard one. Well rejoice, perverted chalk-and-cheese mixers, because Roots of Yggdrasil now has a 1.0 release date - 6th September 2024. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 9:53 AM  Edwin's been appreciating the acrobatic twist that Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn puts on the Soulslite formula, but not everybody's magical zip-zooping has been going as smoothly. Following the Steam and PC Game Pass releases yesterday, there are widespread reports of heavy stuttering spoiling the fun; I've given both versions a test, and indeed, Flintlock does have a serious case of the framerate stammers. Especially the Game Pass build, which is significantly worse for it. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 9:41 AM  I am burning the Bishop while he sleeps. I'd say it's nothing personal, but quite a lot in medieval management sim Norland is personal. He shouldn't have slept with the Queen's sister, for example. He shouldn't have insisted his lover subsequently pay him for a confession to absolve herself of the guilt accrued from sleeping with him. He shouldn't have felt safe in a room next to the Queen, a woman described as "reckless" in her character traits, and who is perilously close to having a nervous breakdown. This, my holy friend, is how your bed chamber becomes a raging inferno. By the end of my first game of Norland, the village of Nandos (you can name your own settlements) is covered in more blood than the back end of the bard's best work. In storytelling terms, it is a tragedy. In terms of fantasy management games? It is great fun. The failure cascade as waterslide. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 7:05 AM  Like many an addled follower of the games industry, I have recently fallen under the spell of Balatro, and especially, its jokers. The mechanics and overall presentation may be exquisite, but it's the thrill of discovering another mutant jester modifier that has me lunging for the Steam Deck in my sleep. Well, now those jokers have competition: ducks. Step or rather waddle forward Placid Plastic Deck - A Quiet Quest, a quacked-up card battler which somehow takes inspiration from both the Pokémon series and Inscryption. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 6:34 AM Forestrike is a tactical kung-fu roguelike that lets you orchestrate fights with time-bending powers  Devolver have just announced Forestrike, a 2D kung-fu game where you're not smashing buttons in a beat 'em up format. Instead, you use your supernatural time-bending abilities to tactically dispatch goons in a roguelike bash through increasingly difficult levels. It looks like a mixture of things: Sifu, Katana Zero, Aesthetically Cool Stuff In General. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Friday, July 19, 2024 6:22 AM  The US Federal Trade Commission have slammed Microsoft's recently announced Game Pass price hikes as "exactly the sort of consumer harm" they claimed would result from the Xbox publisher's now-completed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. |
Twinfinite Friday, July 19, 2024 11:00 AM  |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 1:30 PM
Square Enix opened orders for both the Final Fantasy XIV TTRPG Standard Rulebook and its Deluxe Edition, following the 2024 release of the FFXIV tabletop RPG. Both versions will arrive on February 28, 2025, with the hardcover book alone being $69.99 and the special edition costing $189.99.
The Final Fantasy XIV TTRPG Standard Rulebook includes all of the details needed to run three campaigns based on FFXIV. It is a 320 page book. These are designed for people who are at level 30, level 40, and level 50. There is also a guide, rules for making characters at level 30, 40, 50, 55, or 60, and adds more rules and insight than the first Starter Set. It also noted that details for being a character from any base game or Heavensward job will also be available in it.
Here are all the FFXIV jobs detailed in this new TTRPG rulebook:
If someone picks up the Deluxe Edition of the rulebook, they also get items that will help people run or participate in campaigns. Here's the full list of what you'd also get with that option:
Here's how both the rulebook alone and Deluxe Edition of it will look:
The FFXIV TTRPG starter set first launched in May 2024. It ended up selling out. Square Enix then announced a second run would appear in September 2024. That costs $59.99, and pre-orders are still open.
The Final Fantasy XIV TTRPG Standard Rulebook normal and Deluxe Edition will launch on February 28, 2025. FFXIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
The post Final Fantasy XIV TTRPG Standard Rulebook and Its Deluxe Edition Dated appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 1:00 PM
The new Wuthering Waves trailer focuses on the upcoming Resonator Changli, and it shows the character playing a game of Weiqi (Go) with Jinhsi. This comes ahead of her playable debut on July 22, 2024.
In Wuthering Waves, Changli helped train Jinhsi and acts as her mentor. The new footage also showcases this element of their relationship. As the two play Weiqi together, Changli shares insights and advice that would help her student both in the game and in real-life battles. The footage then cuts to an actual altercation. Changli is sent incognito as a random, defenseless bureaucrat. However, the enemies soon learn their mistake and we get to see Changli in action.
Here is the full "Changli: Seize the Initiative" Wuthering Waves trailer.
Changli is going to be a five-star Resonator in Wuthering Waves, and she'll be the focus character on the Vermillion's Ploy banner. She wields a sword when she fights, and she'll deal Fusion damage to enemies. Her voice actress, who we heard in the latest trailer, is Ashleigh Haddad. (Chiwa Saito plays the character in Japanese.) The featured five-star weapon in the Weapon Convene banner starting on July 22, 2024 is Blazing Brilliance. This is her signature weapon, though other swords in the game may also work well for her.
Wuthering Waves is available for PCs and mobile devices. Though it isn't on consoles yet, it will be at the PlayStation booth at ChinaJoy 2024.
The post Changli Plays a Game With Jinhsi in New Wuthering Waves Trailer appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 12:30 PM
Operahouse announced that its Switch otome game The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom will be released in English outside Japan. The official release is confirmed, but the date wasn't announced just yet.
The Villainess is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom builds on the light novel and manga's story, concept, and characters. It is an isekai tale about a heroine who realizes she's now the villainess of an otome game called Ring of Lapis Lazuli that she played. Instead of getting her "bad ending," she ends up being approached and saved by the titular prince from the neighboring kingdom. The series is still running in Japan and hasn't been picked up for an English release yet, and the Japanese version of the game adaptation only launched in March 2024.
Here's the official trailer from the Japanese version of The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom Switch otome game. It goes over the major characters, like the heroine Tiararose, Aquasteed, Hartknights, and Akari.
Following the announcement, Operahouse also took to social media to share some official art from the game. While the first one shows Hartnight and Akari together, the others show Tiararose with Aquasteed. It also offered a summary of the original volume of the series it is based on and confirmed there will be Japanese voice acting with English text.
The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom will come to the Nintendo Switch worldwide, and the otome game is already available in Japan.
The post The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom Switch Otome Game Will Appear in English appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 11:30 AM
Square Enix announced that the Final Fantasy XIV Gong Cha event, which involves a Porxie King FFXIV mount, will be delayed in some countries. While it was supposed to kick off on July 17, 2024, it now won't start in Belgium, France, and Portugal until August 14, 2024.
Square Enix brought this up on social media and offered an explanation. In those three countries, expected deliveries didn't arrive. As such, the event involving special drinks and codes for a mount, didn't arrive. The company didn't note if there will be any sort of special compensation or extended event dates as a result. As a reminder, the collaboration was supposed to end in all regions on August 28, 2024.
For those in other regions, they may encounter issues when trying to take part in the FFXIV Gong Cha event as well. People are reporting the bubble tea restaurant is selling out of items. Our Kazuma Hashimoto noted both the codes and bubble tea keychains with mascot characters on them are selling out.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the FFXIV Gong Cha promotion is running in most regions until August 28, 2024. It is unknown if the delay in Belgium, France, and Portugal will result in the campaign running longer in those countries.
The post FFXIV Gong Cha Event Delayed in Some Countries appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 10:30 AM
We won't need to wait long for the next Honkai Impact 3rd update, as the release date for the 7.6 patch is July 25, 2024. This will mark the debut of the Songque Jovial Deception: Shadowdimmer Battlesuit, Serapeum AstralOp, and latest story update.
The 7.6 Honkai Impact 3rd story update picks up where things ended in the last version's quests. It seems like Songque will be a major focus of it. The trailer released alongside the announcement seems to suggest her fate after the previous fight. HoYoVerse also teased that Bronya, the Schicksal Overseer, and Vita will make their Part 2 appearances.
There are also the things that may be limited when it comes to when you can get them. The Songque S-Rank Battlesuit is one of them. It deals Physical damage, is an SD-type, and functions like a summoner of sorts in both of its forms. The Serapeum AstralOp will also be around for Astral Ring units to use. A chicksal Work Guide event with Schicksal Overseer Theresa will show up. You can earn a Fizzy Ray costume for the AI Number 17 Terminal Aide 0017 Battlesuit via it. A Griseo Cosmic Expression Battlesuit outfit called Gokudo Brushtroke will debut
Here's the full Honkai Impact 3rd trailer going over everything that will start to appear once the 7.6 release date arrives.
The 7.6 update for Honkai Impact 3rd release date is July 25, 2024. The game is available on PCs and mobile devices.
The post Honkai Impact 3rd 7.6 Release Date Set for Next Week appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 10:00 AM
Nintendo announced a Splatoon 3 Grand Festival Splatfest will be held starting September 2024, and it will be accompanied by amiibo of Callie, Marie, Pearl, and Marina and other merchandise. The amiibo will appear on September 5, 2024 first, before the Splatfest starts on September 12, 2024. The new shirts and accessories have a tentative September 2024 launch window.
With the Splatoon 3 Grand Festival Splatfest, it will be the first to involve all three music groups from the series. This time, Nintendo asks if the past, present, or future is most important. As usual, the one you choose is your team. The Squid Sisters Callie and Marie, the Off the Hook duo Pearl and Marina, and the Deep Cut trio Shiver, Frye, and Big Man will all appear. It will also be a three day event, which starts at 5pm PT/8pm ET on September 12, 2024, then ends on 5pm PT/8pm ET on September 15, 2024.
Here's the trailer for the event:
As for the new Splatoon 3 amiibo, they will arrive in packs that pair up either Callie and Marie or Pearl and Marina. Prices weren't noted yet. However, as a reminder, the previous Pearl and Marina two-pack cost $24.99.
Here's how those will look.
As for the merchandise, they will be Grand Festival shirts based on the ones in-game and a wristband bracelet. Images of all four items appeared. However, prices and a launch date weren't shared ahead of their Nintendo Store debut.
Splatoon 3 is available for the Nintendo Switch, the new amiibo launch on September 5, 2024, and the Grand Festival Splatfest runs September 12-15, 2024.
The post Splatoon 3 Grand Festival Splatfest amiibo Are Callie, Marie, Pearl, Marina appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 9:30 AM
There's a new update on the Dragon Ball Daima anime, and it involves both a release window and trailer. The show will launch in October 2024, which was confirmed on both the Japanese and English accounts, and a new trailer appeared.
We already had an idea that this new Dragon Ball anime would be a part of the October 2024 anime season. Back in March 2024, Toei Animation confirmed it would be a Fall 2024 series. The latest reveal helps pin additional details down. For example, the new key art shows Goku and Supreme Kai working together. They are followed by two new characters named the Masked Majin and Glorio.
The official site also shared the Akira Toriyama inspired character art for both the new and returning characters in Dragon Ball Daima. The lineup starts with the three new cast members, who are Gomah, Masked Majin, and Glorio. After that, Goku, Supreme Kai, Vegeta, and Piccolo appear.
The new trailer also highlights the new and old Dragon Ball characters. As usual, Goku is primarily the focus. However, we also get to see quite a bit of Glorio, Supreme Kai, and Masked Majin.
Dragon Ball Daima will air in October 2024 in Japan, though there's no worldwide streaming home for it confirmed yet. The show is confirmed to be a part of Bandai Namco's 2024 San Diego Comic Con Dragon Ball booth.
The post Dragon Ball Daima Anime Debuts in October appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 9:06 AM
HoYoVerse revealed more information on Yunli and Jiaoqiu, who will be the new characters in Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.4. As a reminder, Yunli and Jiaoqiu will be the limited 5-stars, and March 7th (Imaginary Hunt) will be a free 4-star.
Yunli will be a 5-star Physical Destruction unit who specializes in counters through her passive. Her Skill can deal damage and restore HP. Meanwhile, her Ultimate is a stance that lets her taunt the enemies and parry their attacks. Jiaoqiu will be a 5-star Fire Nihility character who can deal Ashen Roast with his attacks. Ashen Roast is similar to Firekiss and Burned, dealing Fire DoT at the start of each turn. His Skill deals Fire DMG and inflicts Ashen Roast, whereas his Ultimate creates a Domain around the enemies. While his Domain is active, enemies take more damage from Ultimates and have a chance to gain Ashen Roast at the start of each action.
While Yunli and Jiaoqiu are limited 5-star characters in the Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 banners, March 7th will be a free unit from an event. She'll be a 4-star Imaginary Hunt. March 7th will be a mix of different Paths in the sense of she can do a lot of different stuff. Her Skill lets her designate an ally as her master, increasing their SPD. Depending on her master's Path, she gains different benefits. When her master attacks, March gains stacks. Once she reaches a certain amount of them, she immediately takes action and can unleash an Enhanced Basic Attack. March will be like Trailblazer rather than Dan Heng. She won't be a separate unit. Instead, you can choose if you want her as a Hunt or a Preservation unit from her character interface.
Yunli will be in the first phase of the new version. Huohuo will be re-running alongside her. As for the 4-stars on rate-up in their banner, it'll be Hanya, Yukong, and Lynx. The second phase of Version 2.4 will star Jiaoqiu and Sparkle. Guinaifen, Arlan, and Hook will be on rate-up as well. The Imaginary Hunt version of March 7th will be free.
Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Version 2.4 of Honkai: Star Rail will come out on July 31, 2024.
The post 2.4 Honkai: Star Rail Characters Yunli and Jiaoqiu Detailed in Special Program appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 9:00 AM
If you've been online since HoYoVerse released its "Ignition" trailer for Genshin Impact, then you might have seen the discussion around the multi-million dollar company's issues of colorism and racism. People who were willing to give HoYoVerse the benefit of the doubt in Sumeru (myself included) were hoping that Natlan would be better. At least two characters with dark skin in a region that draws heavily from Mesoamerica and West Africa? Come on. But HoYoVerse managed to shock us all by doing exactly what it's been doing for years at this point.
Before we begin, I'd like to get something out of the way. "Orientalism" and "cultural" appropriation are among some of the accusations I see people hurl at HoYoVerse. This dilutes the conversation we want to have. We can say HoYoVerse has a colorist and racist approach to characters. But when we conflate that to Orientalism and cultural appropriation, that's where you'll lose a lot of people. I do not tend to read through any post criticizing HoYoVerse when those words show up.
Cultural appropriation is "the unacknowledged and inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society." Native American headgear with eagle feathers and beads used for fashion by non-native people is cultural appropriation. HoYoVerse has always been open about its inspirations. Does it adhere to them or portray them accurately? No, but that's not the point. It has never once claimed culture-specific items or designs as its own, meaning "cultural appropriation" is not the right term for what it's doing.
Orientalism is, in the purest meaning of the word, "a Western portrayal of the East as exotic, mysterious, and inherently different from the West." The "West" is the key point here, as well as the way Orientalism tends to appear in media. In terms of the lore and culture, it's not as if Sumeru is particularly different from Liyue or Inazuma in its portrayal. They don't oversimplify anything (like the way some people tend to do the whole "thing but Japan" shtick), nor do they portray Sumeru as this inscrutable enigma. If you want to accuse characters like Dori of having a stereotypical design, then do it. But to call HoYoVerse an Orientalist company is very bizarre to me considering it's from a country that was itself a target of Orientalism.
I do get why people jump to those phrases. HoYoVerse clearly put in a lot of effort when it came to researching real cultural references and backgrounds for characters like Nilou. Showing its work through her animations and her clothing is great and all—for fantasy games that only draw inspiration from the real world, some creative liberties in fashion is fine, in my opinion—but then why can't that same amount of research appear in character design beyond her outfit? I've seen some people argue that they know very pale Persian people. But you're telling me that in a cast of thirteen playable characters (native to Sumeru), none of them are even capable of using a medium-toned foundation?
When discussing HoYoVerse's problems with racial diversity in its characters, we can't just focus on Genshin Impact. Yeah, it's the easiest target due to Teyvat's obvious real-world influences and its popularity. But we could see it happening even in past games. Carole Pepper in Honkai Impact 3rd is very pale. But in lore, she's biracial with a dark-skinned mom and she's very sensitive about how she perceives herself. She states in-game that she's always been insecure because of her skin tone and claims that she is "as dark as dark can be." She says this despite looking like a white girl with some bronzer on her face.
Even looking at Genshin Impact, it's very clear to anyone with eyes and color vision that there is a serious lack of melanin in the characters. It's not that HoYoVerse can't design dark-skinned characters either. They exist in the game, but as enemies or NPCs. Darker-skinned characters who are playable—Candace, Cyno, Dehya, Xinyan—are all, frankly, horrible units. Kaeya is the only one who's relatively good due to the fact he's the main crutch for F2P beginners. Cyno and Dehya received a sort of revival, due to strong support characters like Furina, but it still never made them popular outside of their specific niche. Hopefully putting it in this light can help people better understand the colorism accusations people lob at Genshin Impact.
This issue persists in more recent HoYoVerse titles as well. Arlan is the only playable character in Honkai: Star Rail with darker skin. He's frankly terrible as a unit. His Talents having names like Shackle Breaker, Frenzied Punishment, and Swift Harvest is also so strange. It's one thing, I think, if these concepts were just part of his lore. Like, maybe Arlan used to be a prisoner or a criminal until Asta picked him up and gave him a job. Perhaps that is the case. But if that's his past, we don't know it because his lore and his appearances in the story thus far have never made any references to that sort of thing.
I will note that Nekomata has darker skin in Zenless Zone Zero, and she's fine. No one draws attention to it in game or anything. No one in real life seems to pay much attention to it either. But I suppose that Zenless Zone Zero's launch did become overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Natlan characters and, as I predicted in my review for it, it's not exactly a game that has the same general appeal as Genshin Impact does.
You might notice that I consistently refer to these characters as having "darker" skin rather than "dark" skin. If we compare the darker-skinned characters in HoYoVerse games to similar characters in other properties like Dislyte, Reverse: 1999, Fate/Grand Order, Goddess of Victory: Nikke, and Arknights, we can see that the darker characters in those games are significantly darker. They have the same skin tone that HoYoVerse would only ever give to NPCs or enemies.
One of the things I don't think HoYoVerse is guilty of is lack of research. They know. To say they just "didn't know" is very infantilizing. Lowkey, that feels Orientalist—to assume that people in East Asia are lack knowledge on societal issues or geography. Some Asians are also pointing out the lack of melanin in characters who, by all rights, should have it. But I also know there are a lot of East Asian players who don't care and think that Westerners are being ridiculously over-the-top with their "political correctness," much like how there are Western players who think the same thing. There's no nice way to say this, so I'll just say it straight: they simply lack empathy. They don't care because it doesn't affect them, because they're already on the "winning" side.
Though not an equal comparison, if we take, say, Amaterasu and give her very dark skin for no real reason, I'm sure that would infuriate the same Japanese crowd who don't care about the Natlan controversy. I've seen Japanese users state that they're used to these sorts of character design choices thanks to Fate/Grand Order. But when Fate/Grand Order does things like turn Ganesha into a pale half-Japanese girl (Jinako), there's usually some in-game reason for it. Whether you agree with this creative decision or not, there is some justification for it in the story, at least.
Because these users already want pale skin and don't want to think about why blatantly basing a region off Mesoamerica, Latin America, and West Africa, and then having characters from said region all look like they're typical white Europeans might make some people angry, they're obviously going to react with exasperation. It's the Yasuke nonsense all over again. Look, sometimes, I'm also irritated with the way the fandom talks about character designs and how accurate it has to be to a real-world influence. But if your issue is simply the existence of darker-skinned people ("black people" is the term these people tend to employ, even though black people aren't the only ones with dark skin) in your game, which you play to "escape" from them, maybe you need to spend some time self-reflecting.
To return to my original point, HoYoVerse clearly does its research. Though limited to Liyue, it's released videos in the past explaining the entire process of creating a character. Yun Jin, for example, had a video on Chinese opera and how the design team wanted to incorporate traditional costumes and movements into her looks and kit. Again, going back to Nilou, while I'm personally not familiar with Persian dancing, most of the comments I see specifically about her animations are very positive. Sumeru's overall world and lore prove that HoYoVerse put in the time and work. So why does it always fail to deliver on a character design that makes people happy?
On one hand, we can argue that this is just how they are. HoYoVerse has always had this problem, even back during Honkai Impact 3rd. But if they want to go global and hit its international market—which they clearly do, by the way—then they can't just keep catering to East Asian players. Lots of people love to bring up Dislyte and Reverse: 1999 and such when it comes to darker-skinned characters, and from what I can tell, none of those games experienced a significant dip in popularity or revenue when one appeared in the banner. I'm talking about overall sales, including sales from the Asians. The problem isn't necessarily the market; it's HoYoVerse. And if you truly are so angry at and tired of the colorism in Genshin Impact or other HoYoVerse titles, there is no need for you to continue playing them.
Honestly, I don't think real-life beauty standards necessarily apply to fictional characters. Look at Amuro in Detective Conan and how popular he is with the East Asian fangirls. He single-handedly revived Tooru Furuya's career before Furuya burned it all down to ground. While we can side-eye the anime for how Takagi's newer design turns him as pale as his girlfriend, crazy popular Amuro and Heiji remain dark-skinned in both the show and the manga. Characters like Kaeya and Cyno in Genshin Impact are also well-received. Frankly, in all of my years in fan spaces, I've never seen any normal person dislike or not want to pull/use a character specifically because of their dark skin. Gender, though, yes.
Let's go back to that Carole example from Honkai Impact 3rd again. Carole's skin tone is, realistically, only a little dark. She looks like she's tanned. Would Carole be better if she kept the same narrative and actually had dark skin? Yikes! Um, I don't think so. But it would certainly be a bit more understandable and realistic. I used to work with a Filipino girl whose skin color was like a darker version of Dehya's (dark enough by East Asian standards) and she was obsessed with whitening creams and lotions because she thought herself ugly. I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze my old co-worker. But Carole's angst over her skin wouldn't be as ridiculous if she actually had some melanin.
The reason I keep going back to Honkai Impact 3rd is because that is one of the oldest games HoYoVerse has worked on, showing that this whole colorism thing has been around way before Genshin Impact. There are so many layers to a company it's impossible to pinpoint where the problem may be. Maybe it's a creative design thing. As much as I hated the leaks and how it's affected the general conversation around designs, those pieces of unused concept art still showed a majority of pale-skinned characters. Maybe it's someone in the marketing department. Perhaps they tell the creative team that they can't design any characters with skin too dark or else they can't market them. In any case, whoever they are, they've obviously been around for a while that they're a core member of the company.
If you've been on Twitter (X) these past few days since the Ignition trailer for Genshin Impact, you might have seen a trending hashtag calling for a boycott of HoYoVerse. I've seen Tweets from people encouraging other users to do things like sign a petition, leave player feedback, and, amusingly, call their local representative. Surveys aren't going to work, petitions are useless, and what in the world is calling your local representative going to do? Review bombing doesn't actually work either. A boycott is really the only way.
I agree with people who are so frustrated they want to do all that. HoYoVerse will only listen if there's significant money loss, but how many of the people getting heated online are actually putting any money into the game? Like are they even paying for the battle pass? Genshin Impact's groundbreaking popularity stems from it having reached the casuals during quarantine. Unlike a forced subscription service like FFXIV, there's no real reason for these people to use any money on Genshin Impact. The ones who are putting a significant amount of money into the game might stop, but would it be enough for HoYoVerse to care?
Many times in the past, people called for a boycott. Some people wanted to boycott Star Rail due to Penacony. This was due to Penacony's Jazz Age inspiration, yet it lacks any major or playable dark-skinned characters despite the African-American community pioneering that era. Aventurine was a lesser reason for this, as people were mad that the Avgin people draw inspiration from real-life Romani people (not Romanian; I saw users make this mistake a lot), yet he's a pale, blonde boy. But the HoYoVerse fandom, due to its sheer size and general immaturity, cannot organize itself enough to make a difference. Maybe if enough voice actors or content creators come together to do something, though, they can. Voice actors like Zeno Robinson, Khoi Dao, Jenny Yokobori, and Valeria Rodriguez already made statements on social media about this.
I haven't played Genshin Impact in a while now. However, I still want it to be better. It's disheartening to see it put so much effort into its depictions of Inazuma and Liyue, only to do a halfhearted job for regions like Sumeru and Natlan. But if players are serious about wanting change via boycott, they're going to have to really put in the work. Instead of organizing things like petitions or clout-chasing via engagement bait Tweets and videos, people need to actually organize themselves in a way that will be effective and make their voices heard.
Genshin Impact is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices.
The post Genshin Impact Natlan Controversy Highlights HoYoVerse's Colorism appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 8:40 AM
The version 2.4 update for Honkai: Star Rail release date is set for July 31, 2024. It will bring with it new characters, storylines, and events. The update, titled Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue, was detailed during the July 19, 2024 Special Program.
During the new story missions, the Trailblazers are set to return to the Xianzhou Luofu for the Luminary War Dance festival. Players will also visit the Shackling Prison, an underwater dungeon containing enemies from the lupine Borisin race. Two five-star characters will also become available via the gacha system. One is Jiaoqiu, a Fire and Nihility character, and the Swordmaster Yunli, who is Physical and Destruction typed. Astral Express passenger March 7th will also take up the path of the Hunt as a free four-star Imaginary character.
A slew of new events will feature the Trash Can creatures that appeared in Penacony, asking players to take photos or fight alongside them. Free gacha pulls and double reward drop events are also set to return.
You can watch the 2.4 Special Program to get an idea of what's coming via Youtube below:
Ahead of the update, HoYoverse has begun drip marketing for future characters including Fire and Abundance alchemist Lingsha, and the Xianzhou General Feixiao, who will be of the Wind and Hunt types.
The version 2.4 update release date for Honkai: Star Rail is July 31, 2024, while the game itself is readily available for PC, PS5, and mobile devices.
The post Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.4 Release Date Falls in July appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 8:23 AM
At the very end of the 2.4 Special Program for Honkai: Star Rail, a Fate/Stay Night crossover collaboration event was teased. There's very little information about what this could entail just yet, as it won't be happening until Q3 2025.
The reveal involved Owlbert, the regular host of Honkai: Star Rail Special Program events and "Keeping Up with Star Rail" character showcases, announcing that there will be a Fate/Stay Night crossover event. The two series' logos then appeared on-screen. This specified that this will involve Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. (That is streaming on Crunchyroll, in case people want to catch up.) That is the anime adaptation of the visual novel. Major characters in it include the Servant Saber (Artoria Pendragon), her master Shiro Emiya, the Servant Lancer, and his master Rin Tohsaka.
This would mark the first crossover in Honkai: Star Rail. So far, there haven't been any other games or series brought into the HoYoVerse game. However, due to the nature of the title, it is connected to the previous title from the company Honkai Impact 3rd.
Honkai: Star Rail is available on the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration will happen in Q3 2025. That Fate/Stay Night anime is available on Crunchyroll outside Japan. The 2.4 Special Program Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jades codes are also live now until July 19, 2024 ends.
The post Honkai: Star Rail and Fate/Stay Night Crossover Collab Coming appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Friday, July 19, 2024 8:08 AM
As is common with any Honkai: Star Rail Special Program, more free Stellar Jades codes showed up, and we now can enter our ones celebrating 2.4's release. These are a limited resource as usual, so you must enter them before the end of the day on July 19, 2024. However, it is possible they will run out before them.
These are the Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes for Special Program 2.4:
Each of the Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes from the 2.4 Special Program net you 100 Stellar Jades. You will also get Traveler's Guides to increase characters' experience, Refined Aether for improving Light Cones, and 50,000 Credits. You get 300 Stellar Jades total from the codes, which is almost enough for two pulls on a gacha banner.
Here's the full list of three codes and what each one provides:
If you play Honkai: Star Rail on an Android or Apple iOS device, you redeem these codes via the HoYoVerse website. The rewards will appear in your inbox in-game after being entered. On the PS5 and PC, bring up your phone. When you are in that menu, go to your Trailblazer Profile. there will be an option to redeem them one by one there.
Honkai: Star Rail is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices. The free Stellar Jade codes for Special Program 2.4 expire after July 19, 2024 or when they run out. The 2.4 update will appear on June 31, 2024.
The post Get the Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade Codes for 2.4 appeared first on Siliconera. |
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