GamersHeroes Monday, August 26, 2024 9:00 AM It has been 42 years since the release of the first ever Star Wars game, and open world games have been around for decades. I'm not sure why this is the first open-world Star Wars game, but to say it was overdue would be an understatement. Full disclosure. I have spent the last year playing … The post Star Wars Outlaws Review appeared first on GamersHeroes. |
Kotaku Monday, August 26, 2024 9:30 AM  With so many new features heading to World of Warcraft The War Within, it can be hard to get a grasp on everything. One of the key features being added is the Warband System, which allows you to seamlessly send currency, gear, and materials to your other characters on the same account. |
Kotaku Monday, August 26, 2024 8:00 AM  As a big Star Wars fan and video game lover, I've long dreamed of a game just like Star Wars Outlaws: a massive open-world action game set in the Star Wars universe that would let me rub shoulders with Jabba the Hutt while freely exploring every inch of a planet like Tatooine. It's wild that it took this long to… |
PCGamesN Monday, August 26, 2024 7:00 AM  United once again with Goichi 'Suda51' Suda, the next project for Resident Evil creator and director Shinji Mikami is the remaster of Shadows of the Damned, the pair's energetic third-person shooter from 2009. Speaking to PCGamesN at Gamescom, both Suda and Mikami tease what they might want to work on next. But if you were hoping that Mikami might somehow return for a rumored Resident Evil 9, or otherwise go back to the survival horror genre which he pioneered, I'm afraid it's bad news - at least for now. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best horror games, Best survival games, Best old games |
PCGamesN Monday, August 26, 2024 5:10 AM  The original Splitgate was an underrated peach of an arena shooter, blending cerebral, portal-based action with watertight gunplay redolent of Halo's. It did exactly what it said on the can - a simple, robust FPS that separated the wheat from the chaff through mastery over those two core pillars. Despite the relative lack of flash compared to other triple-A dons, Splitgate still enjoyed its time in the sun until active development unexpectedly ended in late 2022. Now, 1047 Games is back with Splitgate 2, and while zipping through portals is still very much part and parcel of the experience, it's also brought some more modern FPS sensibilities like factions and sliding. There's a chance these technical spices may spoil the broth, but after spending several hours with the game for our Splitgate 2 preview, I'm convinced the sequel will still honor the family recipe. Continue reading Splitgate 2's evolved combat is much more than Halo meets Portal MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best free PC games, Best multiplayer games |
PCGamesN Monday, August 26, 2024 4:35 AM  It's always interesting revisiting a classic game decades later - whether dusting off some old hardware to play the original, jumping into a new remaster, or tucking into a full remake or reboot of an icon. The upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater falls into the latter category as a new, visually stunning reimagining of MGS 3. From the trailers and gameplay snippets Konami has already released, it seemed MGS Delta would be a deeply faithful remake. After playing the Virtuous Mission prologue, I can confirm that's absolutely the case. Continue reading Metal Gear Solid Delta stays faithfully true to the "perfect" MGS 3 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best stealth games, Best survival games, Best old games |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Monday, August 26, 2024 5:08 AM  Almost a decade after his acrimonious departure from Konami, the shadow of Hideo Kojima still looms over Metal Gear Solid. He's there, barely camouflaged, in the undergrowth of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater - a remake of the fifth Metal Gear game, originally released in 2004, which tells the tale of a lone US special operator hunting superweapons and old mentors in the jungles of the southern Soviet Union. I say "remake" but this feels more like a re-release, in spirit. True, it now runs on Unreal Engine, with the option of a manual, third-person perspective and cover-shooter controls in addition to the old top-down viewpoints. Yes, it boasts new flourishes, such as wounds now leaving scars, and clothes picking up stray leaves. Yes, there's a new interface with floating in-world menus, which makes shuffling between the layers a bit less awkward. It's the product of much labour, with development split between Konami and external support partner Virtuos. But where Konami's other big restoration project, Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake, is a creative dialogue with the original game, Delta seems consumed by faithfulness to Kojima's original design. |
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Siliconera Monday, August 26, 2024 9:30 AM
Sword Art Online: Last Recollection will still retain the crossover content featuring the Hololive Vtuber and SAO fan Minato Aqua even after she has graduated. Bandai Namco shared the reassurance on the game's Japanese official X account.
The company made this announcement in light of Aqua's impending graduation on August 28, 2024. The Vtuber will no longer be active after the date. The graduation also served as the primary reason for Entergram to cancel the development of a sequel to Aquarium. The latter is a visual novel starring Minato Aqua which is available worldwide with English subtitles on PC via Steam. Entergram also released the visual novel on the Switch and PS4 exclusively in Japan.
Bandai Namco added Minato Aqua to SAO: Last Recollection via a free title update in early March 2024. That means all players of the game can get the content by simply downloading the latest update patch without even having to access the DLC pages. The update added an optional subquest that will result in Aqua's addition to the game's roster upon its completion. The patch also included a new bed talk scene between Kirito and Aqua.
Sword Art Online: Last Recollection is available worldwide on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
The post SAO Last Recollection Minato Aqua Content Will Remain Available appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, August 26, 2024 9:00 AM
Founded in 2016, Cover Corporation, owners of hololive Production, took the world by storm during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing the world at large to what would become an international sensation: Vtubers. Since skyrocketing in popularity, hololive introduced talents such as Gawr Gura, Mori Calliope, and Usada Pekora. Siliconera had the opportunity to speak with Motoaki "Yagoo" Tanigo, the CEO of Cover, to discuss what it takes to become a prospective Vtuber candidate for hololive and what collaborations he'd like to see come to fruition.
"We focus on how to support our talents, and this is one of the most important policies within our company. We don't increase the amount of talents we have in a short amount of time so that we can support our talents to the best of our ability," Tanigo stated. "We care about our talents a lot and want to provide a lot of resources for them. If we have more talents to debut, that would be fantastic, but we wouldn't be able to support them equally." He further went on to elaborate and stated that creating 3D models for the company's talents for concerts and other performances is a lot more extensive than some might realize, with talents needing to fly out to Japan during the creation of these models. Tanigo also stressed that while Hololive would love to expand their roster of VTuber talents, the company would not be able to support the line-up it already has if it expanded too quickly.
While hololive is no doubt an international success, Tanigo shared that the North American group is not as profitable as its Japanese counterpart. He said he hoped that upon opening the North American office for hololive (Cover), that the agency will begin to see a return on their investment in their North American talents. However, that hasn't stopped Hololive from debuting European talents as well, with the VTuber agency branching into an audience it has no doubt already tapped into — just in a handful of different languages.
I asked Tanigo what it would take for an up-and-coming VTuber or content creator to join hololive. He stated that while applications are always open, a prospective candidate needs to be incredibly driven. This is one of several deciding factors, along with their calibur of singing and ability to speak several different languages. He did mention that not being able to sing wouldn't mean that a prospective talent would be out of the running, but that anyone who wants to join Hololive would need to understand the amount of time and dedication that would be required. "I want people that dream big," he said.
"One of our talents, Mori Calliope, wanted to sing an anime opening. So we supported her in that and helped make her dream happen. And we want to be able to support our talents in that avenue as well. We want them to dream big and we want to help them achieve those dreams." Given how large hololive is, it doesn't come as any surprise that this would be one of the requirements to join the agency. With several of hololive's largest Vtuber talents appearing at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in July 2024, it seems like Hololive wants to continue to explore new avenues and new promotions with big names.
However, Tanigo has ambitions and dreams of his own when it comes to potential collaborations. "I would love to do something with Riot Games." Tanigo admitted to being a big fan of League of Legends, and even dreamed of hololive doing some kind of collaboration with Riot Games' K-Pop group K/DA. He hoped that with the opening of the North American office, that these partnerships and collaborations will eventually come to fruition.
And while fans already released several games under the hololive Indie label, such as Idol Showdown and Holo X Break, Tanigo stated he would like to create something with AAA Western developers if given the opportunity. He did not share what kind of game he would like to make, only that he would like to collaborate with large studios in North America.
As it stands, hololive remains a giant in the Vtuber industry. Cover garnered international success, tapping into various audiences through its numerous collaborations, to truly make Vtubing something mainstream. After the appearance of Gawr Gura, Hoshimachi Suisei, and Usada Pekora at the Dodgers game, it can be hard to deny just how effective and successful Cover was at making both itself and its talents into a recognizable brand. And with hololive now properly branching into the European market with hololive EN Justice and being as selective as it is with talents and debuts, it seems like there's no sign of it slowing down. Whether or not we'll see major collaborations in games has yet to be seen.
The post Hololive CEO Would to Collaborate With AAA Game Developers appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Monday, August 26, 2024 5:45 AM
Oh World of Warcraft, how I've come to love you. It's been some time since I've grown to appreciate and enjoy an MMORPG this much. I mean, I write about it every few months if I'm given the opportunity, just because I enjoy talking about it. And with Blizzard Entertainment sharing some of the Talent Trees that would be available with the release of The War Within, I took it upon myself to go through one of the MMORPG's least liked expansions, Shadowlands.
The answer to why is abundantly clear. It's in the title, after all. I wanted a specific cosmetic for The War Within, and it was only obtainable after getting to a certain point in Shadowlands. I like to get immersed in a game, and I've done a bit of role-playing in FFXIV and now WoW, so if I can get something that really adds to my character I'll grind for it. I've started running Nighthold Mythic for a specific set of Death Knight gear, and learning that Void Elves, Blood Elves, and Night Elves get a Darkfallen cosmetic option through Shadowlands I had to do it. I seem to like all of the baddies in the Warcraft universe, Arthas being my favorite and Sylvanas Windrunner being a close second, so I was absolutely going to double down and get this eye and skin customization for my Dark Ranger — one of the new Hero Talent trees in The War Within.
Coming from Final Fantasy XIV to World of Warcraft, Shadowlands feels like more of the same. You need to save everyone from a world-ending threat, one that threatens to tear you and your companions apart, with the stakes escalating over and over again until you can't imagine them rising any higher. It's standard storytelling within the medium, but the key difference between the two being execution. I think in some ways Final Fantasy XIV does it better, even if I'm not keen on a lot of the narrative decisions. Shadowlands on the other hand just felt like I was being a tourist. A tourist going through the various levels of World of Warcraft "Super Hell," but a tourist all the same. I couldn't tell you what I did, because the events of Shadowlands has been mostly expunged from my memory, with the exception of the cutscene with Uther. Because every time Arthas shows up something in my brain lights up and I get absolutely feral like most Warcraft fans do.
Between unlocking each of the four worlds I would race back to the player hub in Shadowlands, because each World of Warcraft expansion has one to fit the zone, to see if the required quest for the Darkfallen unlock would finally show up. I just wanted Shadowlands to be over. In part because I wasn't enjoying the Anima gathering part of the faction stuff (I allied with the group that felt inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula), and I just wanted to play a Hunter really, really badly. Once I ground through enough of the faction content I saw the quest marker appear and I picked it up, eager to unlock the glowing red eyes and milky skin of the Darkfallen. Because apparently I really love playing Elves in World of Warcraft, specifically Undead Elves. (I have two Death Knights, and three Hunters. All five are some flavor of Elf.)
It felt so satisfying to finally have this option available. Unfortunately, I did the quest on my Death Knight so I'm never getting the Dark Hunter gear set. But hey! At least I have another customization option for the Void Elf, Night Elf, and Blood Elf. Because I'm probably going to make another one to give Warlock a spin, or something. Or maybe I'll just make another Death Knight. I don't know. But I will say this. Getting through the quest to unlock the Darkfallen, at least on Alliance side, was interesting. I learned more about the Forsaken post-Sylvanas, and about the Undead that still inhabited the kingdom of Lordaeron. It was just a nice bit of lore tucked away in an optional quest that gave me something cool. And that's what I love about World of Warcraft. All of these neat little additions and bits of worldbuilding and other unlockables you can get just from some random side-quest.
Was it worth it grinding through Shadowlands for? For me, absolutely. Was the World of Warcraft Shadowlands expansion as bad as everyone said it was? I don't know. My opinion on these things never really align with the norm. I just know that it was mostly forgettable, and in the past I've said that's the worst thing a game could be. So maybe. But hey, at least I get to play a Darkfallen Dark Ranger!
World of Warcraft is available for PC, with The War Within expansion readily available.
The post I Played Through World of Warcraft Shadowlands for a Cosmetic to use in The War Within appeared first on Siliconera. |
