Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:25 AM  Did you grow up watching The Simpsons and silently ask yourself how a big dope like Homer could obtain and retain a cushy job working in a nuclear power plant? You're not alone because showrunner Al Jean also questioned this particular mystery. It's the type of gig that pays significantly better than your average… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:15 AM  Halloween is right around the corner! Spooky season is coming to a climax and then an abrupt close, but that doesn't mean you can't keep enjoying horror experiences for the remainder of the fall. Thanks to Steam's ongoing Halloween sale which runs till November 4, you'll even have some more time than usual to sort… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:03 AM  Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming out on Halloween. The release date for BioWare's fantasy RPG is a little unconventional, as most big video games come out on Fridays, but The Veilguard is landing on a Thursday instead. To Dragon Age fans, this reads like a clever nod to Halloween being considered when the "veil"… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:47 AM  The PlayStation 30th Anniversary bundles look awesomely retro, so it was a shame when pre-orders for them all sold out within the blink of an eye following a confusing online queuing process. Fortunately, a surprise update to the PlayStation Direct store page indicates that Sony is getting additional stock in that… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:40 AM  Cult-favorite Xenoblade Chronicles X has been trapped on Wii U for nearly a decade. No longer. The open-world sci-fi RPG is getting a Switch port at long last early next year. It could be the final game to make that jump before Nintendo finally reveals the Switch 2. |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:30 AM  Whether it's through character interactions or their movesets, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero makes sure to throw in small nods to the planet-shaking franchise wherever it can. Some of these fun references are hard to find, with one of the most obscure being Special Finishers. These are unique match-enders that call back… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:55 AM  Jay Johnston, also known as the former voice of rival restaurateur Jimmy Pesto in the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers, has been sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for taking part in the January 6 riots at the Capitol. The supporting actor in Anchorman and Arrested Development was one of many people spotted… |
Kotaku Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:30 AM  Life is Strange: Double Exposure, the latest game in the long-running franchise, tells a brand-new story with a beloved returning character. Everything fans have come to love about the series returns in full, bringing together an emotional story and compelling powers-based gameplay to create something unique and… |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:43 AM  Well, I didn't expect this today. Completely out of the ether, Rebellion, the studio behind beloved and brutal WW2 shooter Sniper Elite has just released a would-be sequel to forgotten PC classic Speedball. Essentially, this serves as a soft reboot, a top-to-bottom shakeup of the forgotten sports combat game, targeted at an entirely new generation. Fast, vicious, and totally unique for its time, Speedball may have slipped into the footnotes of gaming history, but the team behind Zombie Army and the upcoming Sniper Elite The Resistance clearly has fond memories of 1988 icon, and now it's bringing it back, newer and nastier. |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:56 AM  What are the best simulation games on PC? From the all-time greats that are still worth playing; the sims with modding communities who breathe eternal life into them; the facsimiles of an aspect of reality so niche you can barely fathom their existence, we have everything you need here. Sims differ from other PC games in that their raison d'être isn't necessarily to entertain, at least not primarily. Do you want fun and excitement? Tough. Operating a submarine is not that. It is, however, fascinating, terrifying, and hugely satisfying as a long-form experience. Such is the nature of the genre that seeks out the best simulator games - it's like asking for the 'special' stock the shopkeeper keeps in the back room. Continue reading The best simulation games to play right now MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best free Steam games, Tank games, War Thunder system requirements |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:29 AM  Eve Online is an MMO in the truest sense of the word. An entire universe is at your fingertips as the economy, warfare, and politics are all player-driven. Battles can take hours and schemes can be months in the making, as almost every conceivable decision is at your fingertips. Now, that level of freedom and player interaction has been transposed onto the 4X and grand strategy genres with Eve Galaxy Conquest. So if you need a break from the MMO, or just want a new flavor of sci-fi strategy, you can get involved right now. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best 4X Games, Free Steam games, Best grand strategy games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:49 AM  Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale in the store? LoL is a free-to-play game in the truest sense - you can enjoy everything the MOBA offers for absolutely nothing. Now if you were to ask a seasoned League player if that were true, they'd probably have to stifle a few tears as they check how much their bank account has suffered buying skins since they started battling on the Rift. Riot rotates a series of skins in the store, with the savviest of us holding out until the cosmetic they want ends up in the discount section store or even the League of Legends Mythic shop. The shiny new cosmetics are only available briefly, so act fast if you want to snag the new hotness. Here is every League of Legends skin on sale right now if you want to know what's in the store without booting up the client. Continue reading Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, League of Legends tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:29 AM  When is the Death Stranding 2 release date? Hideo Kojima himself confirmed that it is on the way, after all. Not a whole lot of official information has been revealed at all about Death Stranding 2, but there are some things we know about the next Kojima Productions release, including speculation on the release date, cast details, and more. So, what's next for Sam, Fragile, and Lou, the stars of one of the best PC games in recent years? Here's everything we know about the Death Stranding 2 release date so far, including where we might expect the story to take us in the open-world game. If you haven't played the first Death Stranding, beware that there are some minor spoilers ahead. Continue reading Death Stranding 2 release date window, cast, trailer, and story MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Death Stranding 2 revealed, Death Stranding 2 release date speculation, Hideo Kojima's making a VR game |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:25 AM  October 29, 2024: We've updated the Throne and Liberty server status. What's the Throne and Liberty server status? Launching a new MMO is always a challenge, and Throne and Liberty has had to overcome its fair share of them server side. Fortunately, developer NCSoft and publisher Amazon Games have been quick to act, making great strides in improving the player experience. If you can't currently log into the game, there's a good chance Throne and Liberty maintenance is currently underway. Typically, this process takes several hours, meaning you'll just have to find another great MMO game to play until Throne and Liberty is back online. The T&L team usually announces maintenance ahead of time, so we'll be sure to keep this guide updated with the latest developments. Continue reading Throne and Liberty server status and maintenance times MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:14 AM  What are the best tower defense games on PC? For a time, the humble tower defense was one of the most popular genres out there. They may appear to be simple strategy games for more casual players, but fans would call them accessible tactical titles that require sharp reflexes, a sharper mind, and quick improvisation. The approachability of tower defense games stems from how deceptively straightforward they are - at least to begin with. A horde of enemies comes from specific directions across a small arena, and the player has to improvise a set of appropriate defenses - using scant resources - to deal with them. Enemies become tougher and more numerous as the game progresses, but the player gets access to better equipment to deal with them too. While the genre often veers towards smartphone and tablet gaming, there are still many fantastic tower defense games on PC right now, with many of them actually being free PC games. Here's the best of the best. Continue reading The 12 best tower defense games on PC in 2024 |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:12 AM  We've seen a lot of videogame comeback stories in recent years, like Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, and possibly even Payday 3 - a bad launch doesn't mean a total failure. But as it stands, Homeworld 3 is struggling on Steam. More than 9,000 people logged in simultaneously to play it on launch day, but during the last 24 hours, the concurrent user base peaked at just 60. Based on recent reviews, Homeworld 3's rating on Valve's store is officially 'mixed,' but if you take lifetime reviews into account, it's still a damning 'mostly negative.' Once a rival to RTS classics like Age of Empires and Command and Conquer, the Gearbox-published third game has so far failed to inspire awe. Now, it seems the makers of Homeworld 3 have removed the oft-debated third-party DRM (digital rights management) software Denuvo. |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:24 AM  What are the Black Ops 6 weapons? Call of Duty Black Ops 6 breaks new ground for the storied series, taking us back to the early 1990s. While the Cold War may have just about come to its conclusion, the US became embroiled in another conflict - the Gulf War. When it comes to the sorts of weapons set to feature in the latest CoD, you can expect plenty of familiar firearms from previous games, mixed with some new metal. If you're resistant to change, don't worry. Mainstays like the XM4 and MP5 (now known as the C9) are back, though they'll be facing stiff competition in the FPS game from the likes of the AS Val. Modern Warfare (2019) vets know how good that was - and the brand-new Tanto .22 brings a hard-hitting SMG to the party. Here is every Black Ops 6 weapon you can unlock. Continue reading All Black Ops 6 weapons and unlock requirements MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 missions, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:56 AM  When is the Windblown release date? This delightful action roguelike from the creators of Dead Cells was announced at The Game Awards 2023, and it immediately stole our attention with its fast-paced combat and colorful cartoon violence. Now that it's launched into early access, let's dig into all the latest developments ahead of its full release. For those unfamiliar with Dead Cells, Windblown takes on a similar vibrant aesthetic. However, instead of a 2D platform game, Windblown is a 3D top-down action roguelike that still features the satisfying combat and lightning-fast action that we loved in Dead Cells. Motion Twin describes it as "what happens when a rogue-like game guzzles a whole lot of energy drinks, hits the gym, and wears treadmills on its feet." If that sounds right up your alley, here's the latest news surrounding the Windblown release date. Continue reading Windblown early access release date, trailers, and latest news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best roguelike games, All upcoming games in 2024, The best action games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:33 AM  When is the Dragon Age The Veilguard release date? Formerly Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf, the fourth installment in developer BioWare's fantasy series was officially introduced to the world as Dragon Age: The Veilguard in a reveal trailer during Microsoft's Xbox Showcase 2024. It's been a long road in development, but the Dragon Age Veilguard release date is finally just a hop, skip, and a veil jump away. BioWare's latest RPG game follows new protagonist Rook on their journey across Thedas to stop ancient elven gods from taking over the world. As the titular Veilguard takes shape, you must complete Dragon Age Veilguard quests, master unique class abilities, and make difficult choices to pull Thedas back from the brink of destruction. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Dragon Age The Veilguard classes, Dragon Age The Veilguard companions, Dragon Age The Veilguard release date |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:32 AM  How many quests are there in Dragon Age The Veilguard? Based on our experience with BioWare's fantasy series, Dragon Age The Veilguard's main story will be split into several acts, with quests that demand you to make complex choices that determine the outcome of its ending. However, in classic RPG game fashion, the main quest in Dragon Age The Veilguard is supplemented by a surplus of side quests to pursue at leisure. These optional missions are the perfect way to level up and kit out your party with rare Dragon Age Veilguard weapons and armor, offering a welcome breather from the main plot. Whether you're a completionist or just in it for the story, here are all the DA:V quests awaiting you in Thedas. Continue reading Dragon Age The Veilguard quest list - all main and side missions MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Dragon Age The Veilguard classes, Dragon Age The Veilguard companions, Dragon Age The Veilguard release date |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:30 AM  SteelSeries and KontrolFreek have teamed up with Activision to produce a set of Call of Duty Zombies themed accessories, bringing the likes of Mister Peeks and the Deadshot Daiquiri to your gaming gear, for both console and PC gamers. With SteelSeries' Arctis Nova range being some of the best gaming headsets around, and them having the ability to swap out the headband and speaker covers - a set SteelSeries calls the Booster Pack - you can upgrade your headset with all manner of new color options and patterns. And now you can add Call of Duty Zombies to that range. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:25 AM  The Intel Arrow Lake is now finally with us, with several new chips launching, including the Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K, and Core Ultra 5 245K, and in this guide we'll take you through the specs of the new chips, as well as the release date, prices, and performance. With the final Intel CPU fix only recently being issued to sort out stability problems on its Raptor Lake chips, it was hoped that the new Intel Core Ultra 200 range would get the company back on track, but our benchmarks sadly tell a different story, at least where games are concerned. Intel will have a fight on its hands too, particularly when it comes to the best gaming CPU title, as AMD is expected to launch its new Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU in the near future as well. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Core i5 14600K review, Best gaming CPU, Core i9 14900K review |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:06 AM  What are the best Roblox games? Games aren't just better than ever for kids; the means of creating them are, too. The best example of that is Roblox: a massively multiplayer online game creation platform, and since it's so easy to make something fun, there are millions of Roblox games to enjoy. User-generated creations allow you to weather the existential threat of a natural disaster, try your hand as a pizza maker, and take a break from it all with a spot of peaceful scuba diving. From sims and RPGs to tower defense and adventure titles, we've highlighted the best Roblox games to enjoy with over 100 million other pals in online games. Think of it like Minecraft and LittleBigPlanet smooshed together and forged into an entire platform to create one of the best free PC games available. Below, you can find the best Roblox games and more about this exciting platform. If you're looking for some Roblox freebies, you can check these guides for working, new Skibiverse codes, and Fruit Battlegrounds codes to gain an advantage in your games. Continue reading The best Roblox games in 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Roblox games, Roblox promo codes, Roblox music codes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:03 AM  Applying the best Valorant settings for fps can significantly improve your chances of successfully making those game-changing plays, and climbing up the game's ranks. However, reducing your gaming PC's system latency is just as important as having a higher frame rate, and we're here to help you do both. There's more nuance to finding the best Valorant settings than simply whacking the game's various graphics options as low as possible and calling it a day, even if the Valorant system requirements are low. In fact, doing just that may inhibit your ability to read the game's environments thanks to murky textures and distractingly blurred edges, even if you have the best graphics card. With that in mind, we've put together the best Valorant settings that prioritize frames per second without sacrificing the look of the game's visuals too much. Unfortunately, neither AMD FSR, Nvidia DLSS, nor Intel XeSS makes an appearance in the options menu, but Nvidia Reflex is available and can lower your system latency if you're running a Nvidia GeForce GTX 900 series graphics card or newer. Continue reading Best Valorant settings for max fps MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:42 AM  A lot of extraction shooters rely on ultra-realistic military aesthetics. Arena Breakout Infinite, Gray Zone Warfare, and the ever-present Escape From Tarkov all lean on authenticity, but that's not all the genre has to offer. Combining the dark, depressing dystopia of the Metro series and the large-scale mechs of Armored Core 6, The Forever Winter is different. Ecological collapse, military conflict, and human-machine hybrids meander on the surface of a destroyed world, and you need to gather what you can to try and stay alive. If you want to try the tense extraction shooter, thankfully, there's a new demo. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best horror games, Best co-op games, Best survival games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:41 AM  Trepang2 taps into something that a lot of FPS games either neglect or don't recognize as being important: terror. Through the sheer volume of the guns and the fierce screams and barks of your enemies, Trepang2 makes you feel vulnerable. You spend the early levels burrowed into a corner, trying to stave off a panic attack as the walls explode around you. Later, the dynamic is flipped. You become the terror, and what's scary about Trepang2 is the amount of bodies you stack up, and the gratuitous gore that bursts forth from every one. Inspired by the superlative FEAR, Trepang2 is better than Doom Eternal, Titanfall 2, and most of the other modern FPS darlings. If you've never tried it, now's the time. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best horror games, Best FPS games, Best PC Classics |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:52 AM  What are the best The Witcher 3 settings for PC? Thanks to regular updates over the past few years, including the major next-gen graphical update, The Witcher 3 has never looked better on PC, but getting the best out of it will still require a little messing around in the settings menus. It won't take the best graphics card to get maximum fps out of The Witcher 3, but refining your settings to maximize the performance of your hardware is key. Continue reading Best Witcher 3 settings for max fps MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The Witcher 3 mods, The Witcher 4 news, Witcher 3 system requirements |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:23 AM  We've all seen those messages offering easy in-game money in MMOs. As soon as you log in, the public chat is filled with posts linking to external sites offering a supposed quick and easy way to get fictional currency. This is real money trading (RMT), and for games like WoW, FF14, and Lost Ark it's against the terms of service, and can easily result in a punishment or ban. For Throne and Liberty though, it'll put you in severe in-game debt. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:20 AM  Age of Empires 2 will always have my heart. Alongside Command and Conquer, it's one of the first RTS games that I ever played, and served as a gateway to the wider world of 4X and strategy that I remain enamored with today. Cities Skylines 2 has been my game of choice this year. I imagine Civilization 7 will capture a lot of my time in the next 12 months. But three years since it first launched, Age of Empires 4 is still a serious contender for the best medieval melee and management sims on PC. Now, Relic Entertainment confirms that new AoE 4 DLC is happening, and hints at when it will be released. The first fresh release since 2023's The Sultans Ascend, seems like we can expect the Age of Empires 4 DLC relatively soon. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RTS games, Best strategy games, Best 4X games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:16 AM  What are the best GTA 5 mods? There's no need to trundle through mod databases for dodgy links and unclear mod descriptions as we've done the legwork for you, hunting down the most popular GTA 5 mods for your enjoyment. After a decade as one of the best PC games, the Grand Theft Auto 5 mod scene is more than just a few cheats and trainers - it's rife with incredible additions, useful tweaks, and big transformations. GTA 5 mods are guaranteed to keep you entertained during the long wait for the GTA 6 release date, but there's almost too many to choose from. If you're stuck on which ones to install, take your pick from our list of the best mods, scripts, and addons for Rockstar's landmark sandbox game. Continue reading The 60 best GTA 5 mods MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GTA 5 RP servers, GTA 6 release date estimate, GTA 5 cheats |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:11 AM  October 29, 2024: We have checked for new Blox Fruits codes. What are the new Blox Fruits codes? We've compiled a regularly updated list of all Roblox Blox Fruits codes to redeem in-game freebies like XP boosts, free Beli, and stat resets for your pirate adventures. Need a boost to take on the increasingly tricky competition? We've got you covered. Blox Fruits is one of the biggest Roblox games ever, thanks to its fun, anime-inspired pirate action. That said, it can be challenging to find new free codes, so we've done the hard work and listed all the active Blox Fruits codes in 2024, including for Update 23, in one handy place below. Once you're up to date on the new Blox Fruits codes, consider checking out our ultimate Blox Fruits guide or our in-depth Blox Fruits tier list for the current meta. Continue reading Blox Fruits codes October 2024 - free XP and money MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Roblox games, Roblox promo codes, Roblox music codes |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:10 AM  The next-gen AMD Radeon GPU lineup is reportedly going to be unveiled in just a couple of months, as the company gears up to take on the threat from the Nvidia RTX 5000 launch head-on. According to this latest leak, AMD is planning a slew of announcements for the CES tradeshow, which not only include the company's new RDNA 4 Radeon RX 8000 graphics cards, but also new Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs. While AMD is abandoning high-end GPU designs for the moment, and potentially leaving the very best graphics card mantle free for Nvidia to snatch with the RTX 5090, the new AMD RDNA 4 GPU lineup could still make a splash in the mid-range graphics card market. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, Best gaming CPU, Radeon RX 7800 XT review |
PCGamesN Tuesday, October 29, 2024 7:09 AM  The new Patch 6 update is out for God of War Ragnarok, and it contains a host of bug fixes that should make the game run smoother on a range of PC hardware. The most notable tweak, though, is improved performance on AMD's Zen 1 and Zen 2 gaming CPUs, bringing up frame rates in areas where the game was previously limited by CPU performance. Other tweaks coming to the title include fixes for tesselation with certain Nvidia drivers and previous Frame Generation glitches. It's the AMD fix that is most intriguing, though, as those early-generation Zen gaming CPUs were famously not the most capable when it came to gaming performance. They're also several years old now. so it's great to see developers still improving support for this older hardware. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, Best gaming CPU, Radeon RX 7800 XT review |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, October 29, 2024 8:28 AM  Bungie have been fairly quiet about Marathon, the upcoming extraction shooter they announced in 2023. Yesterday they released a devlog in which game director Joe Ziegler seemed to want to reassure fans of the studio that the game was still in development. He talked around a lot of the game features, without actually saying much about it. As yet, there's still no footage of the game in action, making its previous release window of 2025 appear even more tenuous. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, October 29, 2024 6:53 AM  Spider dislikers, your concerns have been noted. At least by Capcom, anyway. The developers of Monster Hunter Wilds are including an option in the upcoming beast-skinning action RPG that will turn all arachnid style monsters into something much less creepy and/or crawly. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, October 29, 2024 5:38 AM  Path Of Exile 2's early access release has been shoved back three weeks from 15th November to 6th December 2024, game director Jonathan Rogers has announced in a brief Youtube video. The action-RPG itself will seemingly be ready in time for the original launch date, but there's a load of "server-side infrastructure work" that needs doing. |
Twinfinite Tuesday, October 29, 2024 6:11 AM  |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:30 AM
Koei Tecmo shared more details about the PC version of Dynasty Warriors Origins, which will be available via Steam. The company released the minimum spec requirements to play the upcoming game on PC, while also confirming the game will include ultrawide support.
The company has uploaded a new trailer for the new action game, which will have ultrawide resolution support for the PC version. This trailer also shows a brief glimpse of the series' existing characters who will return in this game, such as Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, and Zhenji.
Koei Tecmo has also shared the spec requirements for the PC version of Dynasty Warriors Origins on the series' official Japanese X account. The minimum requirements that let people play with 30 fps on 1080p with low graphics settings are 12 GB RAM with Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 as CPU and GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 590 as GPU. Meanwhile, the recommended specs that allow 60 fps on 1080p with high graphics settings will be 16 GB RAM with Core i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 5700X as CPU and RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT for the GPU.
Dynasty Warriors Origins will also be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in addition to PCs on January 17, 2025.
The post Dynasty Warriors Origins PC Ultrawide Trailer and Specs Shared appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:00 AM
A Castlevania musical show will appear courtesy of the famed all-female troupe Takarazuka Revue in Japan. The revue announced plans to put on a stage play inspired by Konami's game franchise throughout Summer 2025. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]
Konami has been gradually bringing classic Castlevania games to more recent platforms with the releases of Castlevania Advance Collection in 2021 and Castlevania Dominus Collection in 2024. However, the Takarazuka Revue noted that this musical show will have an original story that is not directly related to any of those titles.
Sea Towaki and Misaki Hoshizora will be starring actresses in the show. However, the Castlevania musical will not be the only show in the overall Hanagumi group performance program. Takarazuka Revue will pair it with an original romantic revue titled "Ai, Love Revue!"
The revue will stage the performances at two different locations. The first one will take place at the Takarazuka Grand Theater in the revue's origin city of Takarazuka in the Hyogo prefecture from June 7 until July 20, 2025. The revue will then head to the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in Yurakucho to do the same performances from August 16 until September 28, 2025. Sales for the tickets will begin on May 17, 2025, for the Takarazuka home venue and July 13, 2025, for the Tokyo theater.
The Castlevania: Awakening in the Moonlight musical show by the Takarazuka Revue will debut on June 7, 2025.
The post Takarazuka Revue Will Hold a Castlevania Musical Show appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:18 AM
Nintendo announced that Xenoblade Chronicles X, a former Wii U exclusive game in the series, will come to the Nintendo Switch in a Definitive Edition on March 20, 2025. This will be more than just a remaster, as the company confirmed there will be new content added to this version.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is an open-world game, with players crash landing on the planet Mira after escaping earth and helping protect and maintain New Los Angeles. Your custom character works alongside BLADE members stepping into Skell mechs to explore the environment. The Switch version will feature improved visuals, retain online multiplayer that includes exclusive missions and Global Nemesis Battles, and add new story-related segments.
There's already a first trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, which shows both the existing story and gameplay elements and a tease for new elements at the 2 minute mark.
When Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition comes to the Switch, it means the every entry in the series will appear on the system. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 appeared on the platform exclusively. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition showed up there in May 2020.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will come to the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2024, and the original game is on the Wii U.
The post Wii U Gam Xenoblade Chronicles X Finally Comes to Switch in 2025 appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:00 AM
Build-a-Bear announced a new Sanrio collection of plush toys that involves holiday stuffed animals of Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and My Melody. These can be purchased alone or in bundles that include themed Christmas clothing.
The four Build-a-Bear plush this time are Red Bow Hello Kitty, Evergreen Cinnamoroll, Candy Cane Kuromi, and Merry My Melody. While the Hello Kitty looks similar to her typical incarnation aside from the red satin bow, the others feature special redesigns. So this Cinnamoroll is green like an evergreen tree with spotted ears. The Candy Cane Kuromi has a green hat with red and white striped ears. The My Melody's hood is red, rather than pink, with holly on it. People can also add a Tiny Chum snowman plush.
As for the outfits, they are sold separately or with the characters in the collection. Since they are standardized, they can be used with existing Sanrio Build-a-Bear plush. These items are the $13.50 Hello Kitty Holiday Dress, $13.50 Kuromi Holiday Dress, $13.50 Hello Kitty and Friends Holiday Sleeper, $18 Cinnamoroll Holiday Suit, and $13.50 My Melody Holiday Dress.
Here's the list of all the Sanrio character single plush and bundle options available in this holiday collection:
And here's how they all look:
We saw a similar collection already appear at Build-a-Bear. In August 2024, it added Halloween versions of Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and Pompompurin. In that situation, Cinnamoroll had a candy corn appearance, while Pompompurin was a zombie.
The Holiday versions of Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and My Melody are now part of the Build-a-Bear Sanrio line.
The post Build-a-Bear Selling Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and My Melody Holiday Plush appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:30 AM
The Pokemon Company revealed a new Pokemon merchandise collection that features the Pawmi evolution line. The lineup is titled "Pamo no Mure," which can also be translated to "Herd of Pawmis."
The items have been available for purchase on the Japanese Pokemon Center Online store since August 2024. One of the highlights in the collection is the posable life-sized plush of Pawmi, which stays true to its Pokedex height measure at 1'00" / 0.3 meters.
Here is the complete item list in this lineup, along with their respective prices in Japanese yen:
The merchandise lineup proved to be popular in Japan. As of October 29, 2024, the multipurpose medicine cases, T-shirts for adults, canvas pouches, and magnets are already sold out.
The "Pamo no Mure" collection is available for purchase on the Japanese Pokemon Center Online store while stocks last. This merchandise lineup features Pawmi and its evolution family, which debuted in the ninth-generation mainline entries Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The games have been available worldwide on Nintendo Switch since November 2022.
The post New Pokemon Merchandise Lineup Features the Pawmi Family appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:00 AM
Plot beats, characters, and setting in a game's narrative can be as important, if not more so, than the gameplay depending on the genre. No one can say that Drakengard was a fun game to play. But the story more than made up for its clunky controls and repetitive missions. Because so much of a gacha game's monetary pull comes from its characters, as either units in battle or characters to enjoy following, companies naturally want to make sure that it makes its male and female characters as appealing as possible. To make things simpler, there are games that are cater for people who enjoy seeing a particular gender. But there are games that are like a family-friendly film, in that they're marketed for a pretty general audience. Yet in spite of their premise, as time goes on, some companies start to shift the balance of characters offered.
Gacha games are a pretty contentious form of gaming, considering its entire model uses the same tricks and allures as real-life gambling. While there are plenty of gacha games these days with legitimately good stories or characters, the company's ultimate goal is still to make as much money as possible and how it does that is to make sure that it can tempt players into opening up their wallets. There are a few things that will definitely catch people's attention when marketing certain products and one of those things is: sex.
Sex appeal is a great way to hook in a potential customer. This can be through implications that you'll get some hottie with a body if you use X product or that you'll be the hottie with a body if you use Y perfume. Stuff like that. That's actually another reason why some people look down on gacha games or gacha players. The idea of spending real-life money on a JPEG or 3D model of a handsome guy or a pretty lady, just because they're sexy, is ridiculous to some.
Hey, I'm on the side of the people being judged. I've mentioned in the past that I spent over $2000 on a single banner alone in Honkai: Star Rail for Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae. Conveniently, the game that prompted me to write this up actually is Honkai: Star Rail! HoYoVerse released the drip marketing for Sunday on October 8, 2024. About a week later on October 16, 2024, Reddit user "Thhaki" noted that Sunday has become the drip marketing with the most likes on Instagram. At the time of this Reddit post, Sunday had 264,000 likes versus Firefly's 263,000.
This is very significant. Firefly is your defacto mecha girlfriend in Honkai: Star Rail. No matter what your personal feelings are about this girl, she will always have lots of ship teasing with your protagonist. It doesn't matter if you play as Caelus or Stelle. Firefly is also a very cute girl in terms of her design. But there's just something about a tortured soul who's an extremist with good intentions, I suppose. People ended up eating Sunday up.
The popularity of Sunday proves something though. And no, this isn't a joke about how people love the weekend. It shows that male characters are not an automatic flop when it comes to player interest in gacha games. Honkai: Star Rail has been pretty good in this regard among other gacha games, in that it feels like there's a fairly even division of new male and female characters we get. Genshin Impact—from the same company, so it's easier to compare—was kind of an equal split. But if we look at the characters who debuted between Version 4.0 and Version 5.1, we have 7 male characters and 14 female characters. Quite literally double the amount. Around 57% of those male characters are 5-stars (this makes them easier to get, ironically enough, as well as make them more desirable). Meanwhile, a whopping 71% of those female characters are 5-stars.
There are some games that are clearly geared towards a certain audience. Since we were talking about HoYoVerse, I'll use Tears of Themis as an example. It's for the otome crowd. So it would be kind of silly to ask HoYoVerse to add in a girl. Look at Goddess of Victory: Nikke. That's for people who like to see girls' assets. Also, Shift Up's accuracy when it comes to the guns is amazing so I assume firearms nerds love it too. But I digress. Since it's for people who are into female characters, it'd be silly to play Nikke and then complain about the lack of guys. If you're adamant on getting male characters, why play the gacha game marketing itself with women showing off their assets in skin-tight clothing?
Different strokes for different folks. Different games for different aims. But what about games that developers market for a more general crowd, either through the story or marketing or character options?
Moving away from Chinese and South Korean developers, let's look at Fate/Grand Order. Even if you want to argue that Fate/Grand Order is a spin-off of former eroge Fate/stay night, Grand Order has evolved into its own separate beast at this point. Despite the popularity of characters like Merlin or Oberon (for both unit and character reasons), there's still far more female characters in the game than male ones. This wouldn't be too bad on its own. But while female characters get alternate versions for Christmas and summer every year, male Servants only get a costume for summer. Karna was the only male Santa. Actually, that might say more about Karna than it does the developers.
Jokes aside, I'm not sure why this is still happening nine years into the game. It's true that you're guaranteed to receive a costume provided that you complete the in-game quests. Even if your luck is in the gutter with the gacha, you can probably walk away from a summer event with at least one male swimsuit as a souvenir. The thing with a separate Servant is that they get new animations and ascension arts, as well as a library of new voice lines. When comparing a costume versus an entire new Servant, it can feel like we're being cheated. Some of the girl's outfits aren't even swimsuits, for crying out loud.
As a disclaimer, I don't automatically dislike female characters in stuff. I play as a female character whenever I get the chance, and I love dolling up my gals in games like The Sims. I'm just not sure if I want to shell out money for female characters all the time when I'm more interested in male characters. And I don't believe I'm the only one. In Honkai: Star Rail history alone, we not only have Sunday beating out Firefly in terms of Instagram likes, but we also have Jing Yuan literally breaking the HoYoVerse top-up site in China because so many people wanted to whale for the man. It's one thing to expect a disproportionate amount of a particular gender in a game that's marketed for a specific audience. It's another to see it happen in a game that seems like it's more for a general audience.
You might've heard the old adage of "Girls don't play video games," much like the ye olde "Girls don't watch [insert show that companies market to boys]." In 2024, that saying really doesn't hold up considering the prevalence of female-presenting streamers and YouTubers who make a living off of video games. Outside of that anecdotal (and perhaps inaccurate evidence), a study from 2022 showed that almost 50% of players worldwide are female. They're paying money too. Love and Deepspace, which is very much a game for the otome fans, actually made more monthly revenue than Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle. So the idea that companies don't need to market to or consider what female players might want when making games for as many players as possible is pretty outdated.
Some incel gamers can get pretty crazy though. At best, they straight up boycott a gacha game if there's even a whiff of playable male characters. Not to keep using HoYoVerse as examples, but some Chinese netizens committed actual real-life crimes out of sheer hatred towards Scaramouche after Genshin Impact Version 3.3. At least two people killed cats (due to the "Scarameow" design, Scaramouche has an association with cats) and shared videos of the deed. They attempted to doxx HoYoVerse employees too. These are the most extreme incidents. To be fair, female players aren't all taken with Scaramouche either. He's just kind of a polarizing character for a myriad of reasons.
From a less serious angle, some players seem to treat the introduction of playable male characters as a personal affront or a declaration of war on their ideology. And yeah, as I mentioned a short while ago, they boycott the game. So I get it from a corporate angle. Even if it's a disappointment to normal players, both male and female, I can understand why companies might choose to err on the side of caution.
So long as a game is fun, then the gender divide of characters shouldn't matter. While doing this article, I noticed for the first time that only about 24% of the characters in Identity V are female. It's interesting I never caught that while playing the game considering for a year and a half, I played four hours minimum every single day. A character's appearance is even a deciding factor in whether I learn them or not. When it comes to gacha games that also include a story and characters as a selling point though, there's not as many factors to distract you from this kind of stuff. It's a little unfortunate that the people who prefer male characters have less potential "husbandos" to ogle over whereas people who like female characters get to enjoy the certainty of knowing they'll see a new potential waifu sometime soon.
I can't remember if I saw this as a response on Reddit or Twitter or YouTube. But I saw someone argue against complaints about female-character-preferring-fans getting preferential treatment by saying that there are otome games for a reason. That if people want male characters, they should just go play those. The thing is that we're talking about games that companies are marketing towards everyone, and do people who like male characters not count as "everyone"? Why must we be the ones to move when we're also doing our part in shelling out money or participating in the fandom?
Unfortunately, with the toxic corners of fanbases, it's probably impossible for certain gacha games to maintain a 50:50 gender divide even if the companies want to. Like we're not talking about hurt feelings or failed expectations here. Some people are so nuts they're willing to commit actual bodily harm over this stuff. Appeasement may have been a cause of WW2 but in this case, appeasement really might be the best option these companies can take.
Sunday, the Honkai: Star Rail man who sparked this in the first place, will appear in Version 2.7.
The post More Male Gacha Game Characters Would Be Nice, If Only Some People Can Be Normal appeared first on Siliconera. |
iDev Games Feed Tuesday, October 29, 2024 11:34 AM Rick's out for Harambe (Beta 1)... |
Level Up Tuesday, October 29, 2024 10:56 AM  Prepare to fight for survival on an alien world and explore its secrets in your very own giant mech with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, coming to the Nintendo Switch family of systems on March 20, 2025. Originally launched for the Wii U in 2015, this updated edition arrives on Switch with enhanced visuals, new story elements, and much more. |