Jan 23, 14:00


Kotaku Sunday, January 23, 2022 12:45 PM
    

Earlier this morning, Bandai Namco and From Software announced that all the servers for Dark Souls Remastered, 2, and 3 were temporarily shut down because of an "issue with online services." While the publisher didn't share more details, it's believed the "issue" is a recently publicized PC exploit that would allow a…

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Kotaku Sunday, January 23, 2022 10:45 AM
    

Hello! It's time for Kotaku's Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon.

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PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 1:09 PM
     No, Doom does not take place in 2022

Does 1993's original Doom take place in 2022? There's a rumour going round that this is the case, with the evidence pointing to reference material mentioning the first Doom's setting - however, according to one of the game's creators, this isn't the case at all.

It's now the far-off futuristic year of 2022, and we're starting to catch up to a lot of older movies, TV shows, and games set in the future. We've already passed Blade Runner (2019) and the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2077 was originally based on (2020) - and now, according to internet legend, we're in the year of Doom.

Supposedly, the original Doom's storyline takes place in March 2022, which of course is spreading around the internet. The source of this date can be traced back to the manual for the SNES version of the game, which clearly shows March 15, 2022, on the cover. However, this date is not mentioned in the PC version of Doom.

RELATED LINKS: Doom PC release date, Play Doom

PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 1:23 PM
     Former Elder Scrolls devs' RPG The Wayward Realms gets a spooky, Skyrim-like trailer

Open-world fantasy game The Wayward Realms is an upcoming "grand RPG" from several of the developers behind The Elder Scrolls series. Now, OnceLost Games has released a creepy new trailer that conjures at atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of fantasy greats like Skyrim - or perhaps even The Lord of the Rings.

It's been over ten years since Skyrim and there's still no real sign that The Elder Scrolls VI will be out anytime soon - so now's the perfect time for The Wayward Realms, a more Daggerfall-like fantasy RPG with a massive procedurally-generated world, from several of the original developers behind the first two The Elder Scrolls games.

It's been over five months since the first teaser trailer and now developer OnceLost has a new, creepier glimpse at the RPG with the "Lullaby" trailer below. It's a little bit like a spookier version of the Skyrim teaser, or even Amazon's recent Lord of the Rings series title reveal - only with more undead nightmares.


PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:00 AM
     Genshin Impact 2.4 events release time – Ganyu, Zhongli and more return this week

The Genshin Impact 2.4 events for January 2022 continue to roll in, and while we're still a few weeks away from the 2.5 update's release date - featuring new content such as Yae Miko - this week fans will be able to pick up a load of popular characters they may have missed, including Ganyu and Zhongli.

The Genshin Impact 2.4 events release time for this week is Tuesday, January 25, at 5:59 PM EST / 2:59 PM PST / 4:59 PM GMT - and this will run until February 15. As developer Mihoyo has previously revealed, there are a lot of re-run events dropping at the same time - giving players a chance to earn some pretty major 5-star and 4-star characters they may have missed.

The returning 5-star characters at this time are Ganyu and Zhongli, with 4-star characters Yanfei, Xingqiu, and Beidou being all available. There is some overlap of these characters between the new events and the ones running until Tuesday, of course, and Yun Jin will be available permanently in the main game as of version 2.5 when that drops next month.

RELATED LINKS: Play Genshin Impact for free, Genshin Impact character tier list, Genshin Impact leveling guide

PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 10:00 AM
    

Cities: Skylines remains a fantastic city builder and one of the best management games on PC but it's also nearly seven years old, so it's no surprise that it's getting some more modern competition. Highrise City prides itself as "the next evolution of city builders" - and you might be able to try it yourself this week.

Cities: Skylines came out in 2015 and quickly became the best city management game around, but while it continues to be supported - the Airports DLC is out on Tuesday - there's still no sign of a sequel, leaving plenty of room for a modern upstart.

Highrise City - from Focus Interactive, Deck13, and new indie developer Fourexo Entertainment - aims to be "the next evolution of city simulations" and promises "a modern take on the genre". Specifically, Fourexo aims for Highrise City to be both a traditional city builder mixed with elements from economy and resource management sims. The latest trailer can be found below, giving a taste of this "complex resource-based economy system" the developer promises in action.


PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 8:35 AM
     Dark Souls PvP has been

Every Dark Souls PvP server, across all three games in the series on PC, has been "temporarily deactivated" by Bandai Namco and From Software in the wake of the discovery of a security exploit that could reportedly allow hackers to take control of a user's PC.

With barely a month to go before the release of From Software's latest action-RPG Elden Ring, an alert has gone round the Dark Souls community of a new remote code execution security vulnerability - an exploit that, reportedly, could let hackers take over a user's PC. They could do that entirely through Dark Souls PvP, it seems, particularly in Dark Souls 3. Some in the community have suggested the same issue could potentially be present in the upcoming Elden Ring, though this is completely unconfirmed.

The good news is that Bandai Namco is aware of the issue and has already taken steps to prevent players from succumbing to it. A community rep posted in the Reddit thread to confirm that the team knew about it, but now temporary action has been taken to halt the exploit.

RELATED LINKS: Dark Souls 3 PC review, Dark Souls 3 gameplay, Dark Souls 3 PC port review

PCGamesN Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:14 AM
     Halo Infinite XP boosts lost during server outages may not get replaced

There have been a few server issues since Halo Infinite launched in November, but while these are understandable, players have been frustrated by the loss of XP boosts used during recent server outages - and it looks like these boosts will not be replaced.

Players have had a number of issues with Halo Infinite and XP earning through its multiplayer Battle Pass, but while the biggest concern remains the lack of progression-based XP a further annoyance is the way the game's double-XP boosts work - by time in general, rather than time spent in-game. If a player activates a 30-minute booster, it will count down whether they're playing or not.

While this is annoying when just hanging around the lobby trying to find a match, it's worse when a boost is activated and then the whole game goes down - like what happened to Halo Infinite just last week. One player got in touch with Halo Support to see if the team would replace the XP boosts they lost, and it doesn't seem like that will be happening.

RELATED LINKS: Halo Infinite release date, Halo Infinite system requirements, Halo Infinite ranks

Twinfinite Sunday, January 23, 2022 10:56 AM
    

Today Japanese indie publisher Playism had a ton of announcements to make at its traditional Playism Game Show.

The post Playism Releases Gnosia on Steam; Reveals Tons of Games & Ports For PC & Consoles appeared first on Twinfinite.


Twinfinite Sunday, January 23, 2022 9:39 AM
    

During Playism's annual Japanese livestream earlier today, the company announced that it will be publishing Daraneko Games' turn-based 'choose your own adventure'-esque RPG, The Use of Life. Accompanying the news was a brand new teaser trailer, as well as the announcement that a free demo is available to play right now on Steam. Go ahead and […]

The post Turn-Based RPG, The Use of Life, Gets New PC Teaser Trailer; Demo Available Now appeared first on Twinfinite.


Siliconera Sunday, January 23, 2022 1:00 PM
    

Dejiko 3D Model

Broccoli unveiled its new 3D model of Di Gi Charat's Dejiko as part of the character's YouTuber debut. In a short pre-recorded video, the character introduced herself to fans and showed off her new model and room. The new YouTuber project will be active for a limited time, and the next episode will air sometime in the near future. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

Notably, the five-minute-long video features a high-quality Dejiko model rendered with full-body motion. Dejiko wears her signature maid costume from the original Di Gi Charat anime. The room in her background also features plenty of references from the original anime series. At one point, the video pans around to show the bedroom, revealing an Akihabara train station sign and Dejiko's own PC. Di Gi Charat creator Koge Tombo supervised the creation of both the 3D model and background.

You can check out the Dejiko 3D model debut episode below.

https://youtu.be/Lyzeomh5Bvg

The limited-time YouTube channel is part of the Reiwa Di Gi Charat project. The primary goal of the YouTube channel is to promote the new Reiwa Di Gi Charat mini anime series in development. However, Dejiko also stated that publisher Broccoli is accepting offers from companies looking to advertise. In the debut episode, Dejiko even showed off an acrylic stand of Iori Yagami from the King of Fighters series. Additionally, Broccoli is open to fan suggestions outside of daily uploads and livestreams.

The post New Dejiko 3D Model Makes YouTuber Debut appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:00 AM
    

Yasunori Mitsuda New Project

In a message to fans, popular video game soundtrack composer Yasunori Mitsuda teases a new project reveal coming soon. Mitsuda notes that the project will likely be announced sometime next month, in February 2022. Furthermore, the new announcement will be "the first announcement," possibly hinting at multiple announcements in the near future. It's unconfirmed whether Yasunori Mitsuda's new project will be a video game or something music-related.

https://twitter.com/YasunoriMitsuda/status/1484539040561250306

Mitsuda thanked fans for wishing him a happy birthday. While he lamented that he was unable to respond to each person's message, he stated that he will respond in kindness via his work. Specifically, Mitsuda said that "if they are fast enough (or if they are lucky)," the first announcement will happen in February. Interestingly, this is not the first time Mitsuda has teased a major announcement in a similar fashion.

Yasunori Mitsuda is a popular composer who has worked on the Chrono series of games, as well as Xenogears and Another Eden. Mitsuda worked at Square until 1998, when he became a freelance composer and started his own music production studio. Since then, Mitsuda has worked on games like Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He has also contributed compositions to anime soundtracks, such as for the Black Butler and Inazuma Eleven series.

The post Chrono Cross Composer Yasunori Mitsuda Teases New Project appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Sunday, January 23, 2022 9:30 AM
    

minato aqua figure

Kahotan of Good Smile Company announced that a scale figure of Hololive VTuber Minato Aqua is in development. The figure will be the Aqua Iro Super Dream version, showing her in a frilly white dress. Good Smile Company will reveal more information on pricing and release dates in the near future.

Aqua Iro Super Dream was an online live concert featuring Minato Aqua to commemorate her anniversary. She also showed off a new 3D outfit during this event, which is the white dress the figure will wear. Aqua Iro Super Dream streamed on August 21, 2020. The whole stream is not archived on Aqua's channel, though songs she sang during the event are available separately on YouTube.

While Good Smile Company revealed several prototypes and upcoming Hololive figures during WonHobby 34, this Minato Aqua figure is new information. Good Smile Company released a Minato Aqua Nendoroid in December 2021. The Nendoroid version of her has her in her usual marine-inspired maid outfit, and it comes with optional parts like a broom and a mic stand.

Minato Aqua is a second-generation member of Hololive and she debuted in August 2018. As of the time of writing, she has 1,470,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. Aside from her gaming streams, Aqua also uploads original and cover songs. She released her most recent single, "uni-birth", in 2021. It is available on streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube Music.

The Minato Aqua scale figure from Good Smile Company is in development.

The post Minato Aqua Figure is in Development at GSC appeared first on Siliconera.


Siliconera Sunday, January 23, 2022 8:00 AM
    

Dark Souls 3 Exploit

White hat hackers from the Dark Souls 3 community have found a major security exploit within the game. The remote code execution vulnerability allows hackers to execute code on another player's PC while in an online game. Servers for all Dark Souls games have been temporarily taken offline in response to the news.

The exploit reportedly allows hackers to execute any code on a victim's computer. Additionally, the hack is reportedly "easier to execute" than past exploits. The person who discovered the vulnerability is a member of a group of white hat hackers, who discover security vulnerabilities for the purpose of fixing them. The silver lining is that only four people are aware of the exploit: the two white hat hackers who found it, and the developers of the Blue Sentinel anti-cheat tool. The developers have since updated the Blue Sentinel mod to patch the vulnerability.

Furthermore, the persons involved have reported the Dark Souls 3 exploit to developers at From Software. As From Software games can share net code, some believe the vulnerability could affect other games. These include the first Dark Souls and possibly the upcoming Elden Ring. The development team has deactivated player-versus-player servers for the franchise.

https://twitter.com/DarkSoulsGame/status/1485210967009071108

Dark Souls 3 is immediately available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. From Software's next title Elden Ring will release on February 25, 2022, for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post New Dark Souls 3 Exploit Lets Hackers Run Code On Your Computer appeared first on Siliconera.


Destructoid Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:00 AM
    

Big Fat Hairy Deal II? Microids, curiously driven by a passion for old school licenses, has announced that it has...

The post Microids signs deal to produce three new Garfield games appeared first on Destructoid.


PC Invasion - FeedDDD Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:15 AM
     Humankind Cultures Of Africa Guide Best Civ Best Culture Bantu Garamantes SwahiliThe Humankind: Cultures of Africa Pack DLC adds several civs/nations that you can play as across multiple eras. Some of them were quite good, as cited in our feature article. However, a select few might seem underwhelming at first. Here's our Humankind: Cultures of Africa guide to help you with the new civs that you can select during your campaigns. Note: For more information, check out our Humankind guides and features hub.   Humankind: Cultures of Africa DLC guide – What to expect when playing as the new civs Below, we'll discuss the new nations that you can pick if you own the Humankind: Cultures of Africa DLC. Bear in mind that you're not limited to just using all these civs in one run (you can still mix and match). However, some vanilla options do remain viable, and a select few remain mandatory picks if you wish to succeed. It all depends on your opponents' moves, how you progress further, and a bit of luck. Ancient Era: Bantu Affinity: Expa...

PC Invasion - FeedDDD Sunday, January 23, 2022 11:01 AM
     Humankind Cultures Of Africa Impressions PreviewThe Humankind: Cultures of Africa Pack is a new DLC that has just recently launched. It adds loads of ways to freshen up your campaign runs. It includes six cultures (or civs), one for each era in the game. Likewise, you may discover new wonders, as well as encounter additional events and independent peoples. I was able to try the Humankind: Cultures of Africa DLC this past weekend. Indeed, there were some nifty combinations that I was able to test. However, I ended up foregoing some tried and tested picks that I've gotten used to last year.   Humankind: Cultures of Africa DLC – Starting as the Bantu Upon achieving a Neolithic Star and entering the Ancient Era, you'll be able to choose your first unique culture. The option added by Humankind: Cultures of Africa is the Bantu. The Bantu are similar to the Harappans — what I consider the best civ in the Ancient Era — in that their Tribes are automatically upgraded into their Emblematic Unit (i.e., the Bagendi Pi...

Gamer Empire Sunday, January 23, 2022 9:19 AM
    

Artifacts, also known as gear, and accessories, have a major impact on both the power of a champion and its playstyle. How you choose to build a champion in terms of artifact sets and the stats on artifacts and accessories can determine what role it plays on your team. With a total of 38 sets […]

The post RAID: Shadow Legends – Best Artifacts, Sets, & Accessories Guide appeared first on Gamer Empire.


Latest Games on Play iDev Games Sunday, January 23, 2022 1:09 PM
     You are an assasing and you are trying to find your friend Greg that the italian pirates kidnapped him....