The Mandalorian’s Life-Sized Floating Baby Yoda Goes Up For Auction

Ever wanted to have a life-sized replica of The Mandalorian‘s Baby Yoda AKA Grogu on his floating pram? Well, it’s going up for a charity auction on eBay and 100 percent of the final auction price (minus PayPal fees if purchased via PayPal) will benefit ProjectArt.
ProjectArt is a charity that supports the arts for underserved K-12 students by promoting teaching and learning through visual arts. Bidding is open now until 5 March 2021.

Speaking with the official Star Wars website, Mattel designer Michael Kadile spoke about how he designed the prop for The Mandalorian:
After several versions of the molds, I then began to experiment with the process of building the pram.
I was able to document the process so that the build could be replicated, if necessary.
Finally, we painted static models of the pram to best replicate how it looks in the series.
To finish the look, we added some stellar work from the Mattel Soft Goods team with custom ornamental blankets and the project was a hit!

In addition to the charity event, Mattel Creations also announced a new collectorâ€™s edition plush of Baby Yoda in a motorized hover pram, with realistic-looking hair and plush hands and feet, as well as a very limited quantity of autographed 3-packs of the Star WarsÂ x Barbie dolls signed by acclaimed Barbie designer, Robert Best.
TheÂ Star WarsÂ â€“Â The MandalorianÂ The Child â€“ Collector Edition Plush with Hover Pram andÂ Star Wars x Barbie sets are available for a limited time only starting from 5 March 2021 at 9am PST and ending at 9am PST on 12 March 2021.

You canÂ head on over hereÂ for our analysis ofÂ The MandalorianÂ Season 2 ending and post-credits scene, as well as what the future might hold for the series moving forward.


We Talk To Harrison Ford About How Steven Spielberg Was Involved In Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny & More

Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company Malaysia, we received the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with none other than Han Solo AKA Rick Deckard AKA Indiana Jones; the legendary Harrison Ford himself.
Harrison Ford returns to the role of the legendary hero archaeologist for the final entry in the iconic franchise, a big, globe-trotting, rip-roaring cinematic adventure. Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Shaunette Renée Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Olivier Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”), and Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round”).
Directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”) and written by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp and James Mangold, based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, has once again composed the score.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny premieres in Malaysian cinemas on 29 June 2023. Check out our spoiler-free review of the movie by heading over here.
(L-R): Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Teddy (Ethann Isidore) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
What gives Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny its appeal across generations?
Harrison Ford: It’s movie-making like it used to be. Real human stories, real adventure, real action without gore, real contests without too much unnecessary conflict. It’s more about movies and the pleasure that a movie can bring than it is about archaeology.
Shh, don’t tell anybody.
There’s such a brilliant combination of the elements of joy, about human contact and the importance of getting your life right. I mean, they’re great family movies and I’m so grateful that they’ve given me the opportunity to reach new generations of people, filmgoers. It’s been a brilliant kind of boost to my career to have made these kinds of family films.
And I really am hoping that this film will be seen with families in a theatre, hopefully. It’ll be great to see it again at home, but please take the opportunity to go to a theatre. Let’s invigorate the movie business.
It really is an adjunct to human communication, to getting everybody to feel something in common, there’s so much that drives us apart. What pulls us back together is simple human emotion.
Did you ever expect Indiana Jones to last this long (42 years in 2023)?
Harrison Ford: I’m surprised, I had not imagined, we might have done one or two depending on the success. But the films were so wildly appreciated, the degree of success which made us want to bring another story, to revisit the character again.
But I had no idea we’d go on this long. I’m a different actor now, I’m now much older than I was 45 years ago. Surprise, maths work. But a character that depended on his energy, on his vigour, on his passion. We now see, with the ravages of age, somewhat dispirited, a bit broken.
But that’s a dramatic avenue to see him reinvigorated and rebuilt from the ground up by the character that Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays, who he meets. She comes with a nefarious purpose, but he doesn’t know that yet, but they’re going on a grand adventure together. And at the end of this, he’s reanimated. It’s really a beautiful story and he’s able then to reconstruct the foundation of his life, his personal life, his life with his wife.
For me, it’s a personal, emotional story, and I think that mix of emotions, laughs, and action is a beautiful combination. When that recipe is measured appropriately, they’re great family films.
(L-R): Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Is it true that you started out as a carpenter before you became an actor?
Harrison Ford: I actually started not as a carpenter but as an actor. I came out of college with an interest in theatre. I did a little bit of theatre, I went to Los Angeles, I did a little theatre there and then I was given the opportunity to begin a career in movies. It’s been an incredible journey.
Let’s go back to the carpentry part, but one of the things that I understood at a certain point is that if I kept doing the same kind of television show that I was doing, which was all that was available to me. I mean, they were wonderful opportunities, but I was afraid I was going to wear out my face before I had the chance to do the kind of work I wanted to do, which was film.
Now, ironically, television has become so, the writing has become so fantastic, the opportunities in television are equal to those in film. But there’s still something about being in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and a wonderful sound system and having that common experience.
There were so many great action scenes in the movie. Were there any stunts you performed that were your favourite, or any that were particularly memorable for you?
Harrison Ford: I don’t do stunts. Stunt people do stunts. I do physical acting. Running, jumping, falling down, fist fights, rolling around on the floor with sweaty men. Stunts are different. Stunts can hurt you, can ruin the opportunity to finish a film. You got to be really careful about what you do, because you’re disadvantaging the opportunity for many, many other people when you do something outside of your skill range. But when it’s carefully done, when you have really hardworking people doing those things, they can bring real pleasure and joy to those scenes.
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in Lucasfilm’s IJ5. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Why have you decided to go into television and other new projects recently in the current stage of your career, being more than 80 years old?
Harrison Ford: There’s always opportunities to work, but what I’m always looking for, as I have always looked for, are great stories. Great collaborators. Ambitious projects, things I haven’t done before, and I ran into a vein of really good writing with (Apple+ TV series) Shrinking, (Paramount Plus TV series) 1923, with Indiana Jones and even in the Marvel Universe.
I hadn’t worked through the pandemic, and I was hungry to work, I really love my work and I was anxious to get back to work. I found really great writing, which I cannot resist wanting to be part of.
What tips or advice can you give to aspiring actors?
Harrison Ford: I’m an assistant storyteller. That’s what I do. It’s a service occupation, storytelling. From the time of painting on the cave walls, people yearn for stories that help them navigate through the world, through their lives.
And I love my job. I think I’ve had enormous luck, so much of my success is based on other people’s success and I’m so grateful for them. But my advice to younger artists is very simple; don’t try to imitate anyone else’s success. Find it in yourself, it will always be there, use yourself, what you really feel, what you really know, how you bring that as a gift, as an offering to the story.
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
If you could turn back time, who would you like to meet?
Harrison Ford: Miles Davis. There’s a whole pantheon of characters I’d love to meet. I’d like to meet Abraham Lincoln. It’s a question that stimulates my imagination but I don’t have any hard choice. The opportunity to travel in time, that would be enough. I could meet Jo Blo on the street and it would be exciting.
What was it like working with James Mangold, and not having Steven Spielberg or George Lucas directly involved in this movie?
Harrison Ford: Steven was there, part of the fabric of the making of this film. He’s executive producer, he worked with Jim (James Mangold) on the script, he saw our dailies, he was making his own film at the time, but he did participate with us. We can feel his spirit, and his energy, and his focus, and his filmmaking skill.
James Mangold is an accomplished artist in his own way, he’s built many beautiful movies that I really admire, and he’s a wonderful script. He works really well on the story, so he created a story for us. We’ve been trying for a couple of years just to get the right story and we never got it to the point where we were really happy with it.
So Jim came along with this invention of the MacGuffin and the story that surrounds it that we’re all very excited about, including Steven. So, Steven was never missing from the mix.


We Installed Samsung’s Latest Home Entertainment System, And Now We Cannot Go Back

Recently we installed top-of-the-range home entertainment systems into our living room courtesy of Samsung and needless to say, the way content is consumed has changed forever – for the better, of course. Always contented with a more enclosed experience, gaming on small to medium-sized monitors with headsets pumping sound, we now find it hard to go back to how things were.
First up, is this 75-inch beast of a television, the Samsung Neo QLED. The QA75QN85CAKXXM model, to be exact. Sporting a sleek and modern look, this monitor would easily fit into any living room aesthetic.

Obviously boasting crisp and clear images regardless of source, we had very few complaints about this television, apart from the setting up which required more muscle than we anticipated. Nonetheless, the experience is relatively pain-free and should be a breeze for those with the right tools at hand. Whilst the look of the television screams minimalistic, whatever comes with it is anything but.
A definite upgrade to any home entertainment system, the QLED screen instantly becomes the highlight of any living room. Our living room has tons of natural lighting but in spite of that, brought no negative impact to the picture quality.  As for the focal point of our entertainment system, booting up the Xbox Series S has never been satisfying and we don’t know how we will ever cope with anything less henceforth.

No great show is complete without an equally impressive sound system. Like peanut butter to jelly or pork chops and applesauce, the Q800 Q-series Soundbar brings life to an already vibrant setup the QLED tv offers.

Our initial thoughts of the soundbar is that it’s just stellar. We just realized that we now take extra minutes browsing through the movies or playlists just for that one movie or song that brings justice to this must-have addition. Obviously, we will take our time this upcoming weekend, indulging in content that perfectly justifies this expensive setup. Still, for cinephiles and audiophiles out there, this combination right here may be the only thing you need for that cinematic experience right out of your living space.
Our full review of both the TV and the soundbar will come out soon so be sure to keep an eye out for this space. As for now, excuse us while we rewatch Return of The Sith for the umpteenth time.
While you wait, head on over here where Samsung is offering some awesome offers for the QLED TV which you do not want to miss out on. How awesome is it? It comes with a FREE TV upgrade when you place an early order of any selected TVs ranging from Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED to QLED from 3 to 24 May 2023.
Further details for this deal can be found here: https://news.samsung.com/my/wow-free-…


The Worst & Most Disappointing Gaming Things Of 2020

2020 was a s***show, if we’re being nice about it. Yes, we had a lot of games to play and the games industry has seen an uptick in engagement and interaction. But there was a lot of nonsense, disappointments, and all-around crap and crummy things that happened.
Here’s a list of them, in no particular order.

The Last of Us Part 2

Here’s a doozy: Naughty Dog’s latest was vilified and trashed by a number of people long before it came out on June 2020. This is due to the game’s leaked script and dev kit version featuring spoilers and story bits.
This led to some overzealous gaming fans to send death threats and demeaning messages to the Naughty Dog team from director Neil Druckmann to writer Halley Gross. Yes, the game clearly divided folks who either liked or hated the change, the narrative switcheroo, and the golf action that was wrought onto the first game’s main character.
We’d wager that were it not for the leaks, the game would be getting a much different reception than the one it got. At the very least, it got a rise out of many, many folks and fans, for better or worse. We did love it for what it is: an arguably superior sequel.
Warcraft 3: Reforged

2020 started off with this mess of a remaster. It’s bad enough that Blizzard got some ill will from fans via the Diablo Immortal mobile game reveal at BlizzCon 2018 and the Hearthstone casters & player who was banned from a major tournament because they supported the Hong Kong protests. Warcraft III Reforged is just more s*** sundae scoops to go with those aforementioned cherries.
Not only was the game buggy and crashes a lot, and did not feature new cutscenes and presentation additions, but it also had a new clause on user-created custom games. See, if you made a custom game or map on Warcraft III Reforged, it belongs to Activision Blizzard. This was done to make sure they don’t have a Dota/Dota 2 situation that’s out of their hands, but really, this is just stifling more creativity from the fanbase.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar

It’s bad enough that this comeback Cooking Mama title is terribly made. The fact that it’s made by a different developer who did not ask for proper trademark licensing from IP holders Office Create.
See, Office Create terminated the license deal with Cooking Mama: Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment. The latter just sold the game a day after that termination just to make a quick buck. And yeah, there was that whole alleged bitcoin mining bit that was in every Nintendo Switch cartridge of the game, at a time when cryptocurrency was (and still is) a dirty word.
If this sounded like a recipe for a lawsuit, that’s because it was: Office Create took legal action against Planet Entertainment due to “intentional material breach of the license contract”.
Shantae & The Seven Sirens

More a disappointment than a travesty, the new Shantae game for PC and Switch (which was a port of an Apple Arcade game) did not live up to previous Shantae games in terms of quality, level design, and fun. The mediocre Metroidvania title has it all: boring levels, ho-hum backtracking and puzzles, and OP attacks you can just spam to get through all of its challenges without any skill whatsoever.
Let’s hope WayForward can take things seriously with the next Shantae entry just like they did with Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.
Amazon Games’ Crucible Came & Went Out Like A Fart In A Bath

Talk about the worst debut ever for a game. Crucible came out on May, after years of development, to little fanfare at a time when there are already a couple of hero-based shooters out and claiming their dominance in 2020, be it the golden child Overwatch to the steady newcomer Valorant.
Then was discontinued after months of being active, with only a few people playing it. Honestly, the game was so mediocre and unimaginative that it does not stand out at all. Despite some outlets giving it promising reviews, players weren’t buying it. Why play a shooter from a “newbie gaming company” like Amazon when there’s already a free game from Valorant and the PUBG corporation, and a dirt-cheap-to-buy hero shooter like Overwatch? Plus, a lot of people were confused by Crucible: is it a MOBA? Is it a battle royale? Is it a deathmatch shooter? It was all of those things, and its messaging leading up to launch and launch week was really mixed.
The game was scaled back and eventually reverted to closed beta; it didn’t work out. Thus, it was shut down in November of this year. The business of games-as-a-service is ruthless indeed.
Giant-Ass File Sizes In Games

Game installs are getting bigger by the year, with Activision’s yearly shooter franchise taking the huge poundcake.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is huge. So is Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War. Combined, they are over 292GB. Modern Warfare and Warzone are 200GB+, in case you don’t want to pay triple-A price for another goddamn CoD game.
True, you can now tweak your installs so that you don’t need exactly 200GB just to play multiplayer CoD. But it’s rather annoying that games aren’t getting any smaller and developers are still trying to figure out how to optimize HDD install sizes for their big-budget games.
We used to think 40GB for a game was insane; how times have changed.
Epic Enlists Fortnite Teens To Fight Apple, Despite Being In The Wrong
Fortnite was banned from the App Store in August because Fortnite devs & publisher Epic Games snuck in a direct payments feature to the Fortnite on the iOS version, which intentionally allows users to evade Apple’s In-App Purchase system. This violated Apple’s app guidelines, thus the ban happened.
Epic Games filed a civil antitrust lawsuit after that transpired. And then they put out this “1984” ad in an attempt to convince teen Fortnite players that Apple is bad.

In retrospect, this is cringe-worthy and just shows that Epic Games has too much money to worry about things like “honoring contracts you’ve signed with a platform holder”. The company is still retaliating against Apple by sending “Free Fortnite” press gifts to gaming personalities like Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and offering Android devices and Windows PCs as prizes to Fortnite players for competitions. Both Epic Games and Apple are going to have their first courtroom trial in July 2021. Should be fun.
Google Stadia Man Becomes Main Character Of Twitter
What if you posted a take that is so dumb that it helps make your “console” trend for the first time since its less-than-stellar launch? That’s what Alex Hutchinson did with his take on streamers having to pay developers for a license to stream their respective games.

The responses were so horrible that even Google Stadia distanced themselves from him. Though to be fair, Google Stadia actually received an uptick in popularity for just one small moment in 2020.
Valorant & Call of Duty: Warzone’s PC Anti-Cheat Systems & Lack Thereof

One was extreme, while the other was incredibly lax.
Valorant’s Vanguard anti-cheat system was pretty aggressive and required PC core functions access. At the very least, Riot Games has lessened those restrictions.
Call of Duty Warzone, on the other hand, had cheaters running rampant. Activision isn’t being proactive about the problem, with them asking players to “please” not use cheat software. Clearly that didn’t work; players were exploiting invisibility and infinite stim glitches.
In any case, players of both games voiced out their concerns and complaints. The only difference is that Riot Games did something about it and was effective in the long term.
Ubisoft

Oh, Ubisoft. Let’s count the ways in which you totally done f**ed up.

A number of leaders and top dogs at Ubisoft from the Montreal to the Singapore offices were accused of abusive behavior, which included sexual misconduct, cultivation of a toxic work environment, and racism.
Ubisoft upper management pressured developers to prioritize male leads and minimize female leads.
Its mobile game Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad portrayed protestors raising their fists and brainwashed villains, which looked uncannily similar to the ones used during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Hyperscape, which is Ubisoft’s entry in the saturated and played-out hero shooter genre.

Ubisoft did apologize for most of these issues, but only because they got caught.
Cancelled Game Expos & Events

Thanks COVID-19; you’ve denied a lot of folks from their event-managing livelihood. ESGS 2020, Gamescom 2020, E3 2020, Tokyo Game Show 2020, and so forth.
Still, all wasn’t lost. Many of these talented game event expo creators broadcasted their events and game previews online, like how Nintendo has been doing it for years. Better late than never, right?
Marvel’s Avengers

This game is a huge disappointment for fans and gamers alike. While its comic book story was fine and the core idea of a 3D brawler was solid, the execution just left a lot to be desired. In addition to bugs, the game featured microtransactions for a lot of its cosmetics and fancier costumes. You can grind for it, but it will take players a very long time playing through the same repetitive missions over and over compared to just paying for it.
The fact that theÂ  PS4 version of the game is the only one getting Spider-Man as a DLC character sends a message to people that the PS4 version is superior to the Xbox and PC version. Honestly, with the middling state of the game’s player base right now, does anybody even care?
Halo Infinite Gets Memed, And Then Delayed To 2021
Halo Infinite was supposed to be out alongside the Xbox Series X and S. That didn’t happen because after the game’s big gameplay reveal, the team at 343 Industries had to tweak it further. Probably because of all the flak the game got for its visuals, which led to the birth of the brute named Craig who became an internet sensation overnight.

Halo Infinite will be out Fall 2021.Â In retrospect, this is fine. Imagine if Halo Infinite came out now and was very buggy and unbalanced like a certain game did on this list…
Next-Gen Consoles Sold Out

Speaking of next-gen consoles, both the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 were sold out prior to launch on November and December. Lots of folks pre-ordered both machines, trying their luck at online game store and shopping portal queues, and a number of them caved to scalper demands.
This is a normal thing that happens for all next-gen and new console launches. But for this year, it was tougher than usual to get a machine even after a week or so thanks to COVID-19. At least for the older “next gen” machines, you could buy one off the shelf a month later. You couldn’t even do that for either the Xbox Series or PS5.
CD Projekt’s Really Bad Cyberpunk 2077 Launch Month

CD Projekt Red finally released its sci-fi RPG Cyberpunk 2077 after years and months of development. And a lot of people had mixed feelings for it.
The game was buggy and not optimized for base PS4 and Xbox One consoles. It was also delayed numerous times since its April 2020 date. Prior to that, CD Projekt really did work their employees to the bone for the past two years to get Cyberpunk 2077 finished and done. Folks who defended the game vehemently quickly turned on it a few days after its release due to said bugs, glitches, and messaging from CD Projekt.
CD Projekt also threw Xbox and PlayStation under the bus with its “ask these other platform publishers for a refund” policy. This led to PlayStation just flat-out delisting the game from their online stores “until further notice”.Â We did a recap on the whole fiasco in detail.
Even with all of this happening, we are optimistic about Cyberpunk 2077’s future. Witcher 3 was buggy back in 2015, but it was eventually fixed and had great DLC to lengthen the experience. We just hope that CD Projekt can pull through while also treating their dev teams right.


No Avengers Team In The MCU Right Now, Confirms Kevin Feige

What happened to the Avengers after 2019’s Avengers Endgame? Three years later, we now know the answer. At D23 (via Comic Book.com), Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige revealed that there is no active Avengers team or organization in the Marvel Cinematic Universe anymore.
Kevin Feige said:
“Just because there isn’t an organization like the Avengers anymore, but we now have the Thunderbolts.”
Feige also said that that’s also the reason why the Thunderbolts team will be introduced; in order to fill the vacuum left behind by the Avengers.
At D23 last night, Marvel Studios also announced the roster of the MCU’s version of the Thunderbolts, which will consist of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov AKA the Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Ava Starr AKA Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Antonia Dreykov AKA Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and John F. Walker AKA the US Agent (Wyatt Russell).

However, it’s highly likely that the surviving former Avengers will not be standing idly by while the Thunderbolts assemble. The status of the original Avengers members in the MCU are: Iron Man and Black Widow both died to defeat Thanos. Captain America is now an old man, retired and perhaps dead as well. Hawkeye seems to be retired as well, though still alive and well on Earth. Thor is out in the galaxy defending it and being a father to his new adopted “daughter”. The Hulk is also out in the galaxy somewhere (on the way to Sakaar).
That leaves only the other superheroes like Captain America Sam Wilson, Doctor Strange, She-Hulk, Moon Knight and others, who aren’t founding members of the Avengers. Maybe it’s time for a New Avengers in the MCU. We’ll have to wait and see.


No Straight Roads Trailer Showcases Cast Tech Hub & New Idol-Inspired Boss

During last night’s Guerilla Collective live stream, Malaysian studio Metronomik’s action-adventure platformer and musical extravaganza No Straight Roads received a new gameplay trailer narrated by CEO and founder Wan Hazmer.
In the new No Straight Roads trailer, Wan Hazmer highlights and showcases one of the playable hubs in the game’s Vinyl City setting; called the Cast Tech district. Every hub district in the game is ruled by different bosses of varying musical genres.

Players can use their music to open up new areas and interact with objects strewn around the hub areas. They can also talk with NPCs (one is named Captain Torpedo), which will activate animated and lively conversations.

The end of the trailer showcases a Japanese digital idol-inspired boss. Players will have to find a way to defeat her despite the boss not having a physical body to attack.

Unfortunately, the trailer doesn’t reveal a new release date for No Straight Roads, after it was recently announced to be delayed from its original 30 June 2020 release date to sometime in summer 2020.
No Straight Roads is coming to the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (Epic Games Store).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86nDjeFBeAI&w=560&h=315]


All The Games At PC Gaming Show 2020

The PC Gaming Show 2020 took place earlier today, and more than a whopping 50 games were revealed during the 2-hour live stream presentation (though not all of them are actually brand new titles). Check them out below:
Persona 4 Golden
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWO_Nlfgek0&w=560&h=315]
Atlus has finally confirmed what the Internet has been speculating for the past few weeks; Persona 4 Golden is out now on Steam for only RM79. That’s cheap as heck for one of the best JRPGs ever made. Take my word for it; it’s even better than Persona 5, and a chance for fans to try out Persona 4 Golden, which was originally released for the PlayStation Vita in 2012.
Valheim
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmpWqI-nuo&w=560&h=315]
Valheim is a survival & exploration game set in a fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Viking culture. Players start their adventure at the relatively peaceful centre of Valheim.
The further from the centre they travel, the more challenging the world becomes, but players will also find more valuable materials that they can use to craft deadlier weapons and sturdier armour to build your Viking strongholds and outposts all over the world.
Ooblets
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwc2scSv8uY&w=560&h=315]
Ooblets is a farming, creature collection, and town life game where you build up your farm, befriend townsfolk, grow little creatures called Ooblets, and have dance-offs.
It is coming to Xbox One and Epic Games Store sometime in summer 2020.
Torchlight III
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o54PoHpih0&w=560&h=315]
In Torchlight III, Novastraia is again under threat of invasion and itâ€™s up to you to defend against the Netherim and its allies. Gather your wits and brave the frontier to find fame, glory, and new adventures.
It is now available in Early Access on Steam.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wu8oqlXUag&w=560&h=315]
Elite Dangerous is getting a new expansion; Odyssey. It will allow players to step off their ships, walk on the surfaces of planets, engage in first-person fights, complete contracts, and much more.
It is planned to release on Steam in early 2021.
In Sound Mind
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imxRbcJdQtU&w=560&h=315]
In Sound Mind is an imaginative first-person psychological horror with frenetic puzzles, unique boss fights, and original music by The Living Tombstone. Journey within the inner workings of the one place you canâ€™t seem to escape; your own mind.
It is slated to release on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC sometime in 2021.
Airborne Kingdom
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOmsqzq06Jc&w=560&h=315]
Airborne Kingdom uniquely blends city management and exploration, where players can grow your clan, develop technologies, and uncover lost kingdoms.
It is slated to release on Epic Games Store sometime in fall 2020.
DwarfHeim
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krVnl9LJshI&w=560&h=315]
DwarfHeim is a strategy game where players can build, manage and defend a Dwarven city against the constant threats of feral trolls and rivalling dwarven clans in a search for the ancient throne of DwarfHeim. It’s the first RTS to feature a multiplayer co-op.
It is slated to release on Steam sometime in fall 2020.
Seven Games From New Blood Interactive
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGbwGNs3ILA&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u9NqWy5xRQ&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WXPTXfuo3I&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io2cGEiUGWg&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-piOsWDtsfA&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBlTTW3RRtw&w=560&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drpx06m5pU4&w=560&h=315]
New Blood Games has announced that Gloomwood, Dusk, Ultrakill, FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, Maximum Action, AMID EVIL, and Unfortunate Spacemen.
Find them all here on Steam.
Humankind
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4a7xMXqTu0&w=560&h=315]
OpenDev is Amplitude Studios’ new approach to community-driven game development. It allows anyone to join the dev team and help shape the game during its production.
Starting from 13 June 2020, register and get a chance to get access to 3 time-limited scenarios focusing on specific core features of the game (exploration, tactical battles, basic city management).
Icarus
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PxwOXIhyAU&w=560&h=315]
Icarus is a free-to-play, multiplayer co-operative survival game with persistent metagame progression. It is coming soon to Steam sometime in 2021.
Evil Genius 2: World Domination
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fZ7EutB6CE&w=560&h=315]
Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a satirical spy-fi lair builder where players are the criminal mastermind; constructing a base, train minions, defend operations from the Forces of Justice, and achieve global domination.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in 2020.
Godfall
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SolyB070Ah0&w=560&h=315]
You can take your first look at in-development PC gameplay of Godfall and the world of Aperion. Players are the last of the Valorian knights, god-like warriors able to equip Valorplates; legendary armour sets that transform wielders into unstoppable masters of melee combat.
It’s coming to PS5 and Epic Games Store in Holiday 2020.
Prodeus
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2STOYQtHkM&w=560&h=315]
Prodeus is a first-person shooter of old, re-imagined using modern rendering techniques. It reaches the quality players expect from a AAA experience while adhering to some of the aesthetic technical limits of older hardware.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in 2020.
Fae Tactics
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bR00pB1QeE&w=560&h=315]
In Fae Tactics, follow a young magic-user named Peony on her journey across a vibrant world full of mystery and danger. Summon allies, cast spells, and befriend a motley crew of characters as you dive into the growing conflicts between man and magical beings known as fae.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in 2020.
Project Wingman
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SUea_Gl5Is&w=560&h=315]
Project Wingman is a flight action game that lets you take the seat of advanced fighter jets and become a true ace. Fight in various missions and game modes ranging from intense aerial dogfights to large scale ground assault in an alternate scorched earth setting.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in summer 2020.
Carto
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkJMWPq0n4E&w=560&h=315]
Carto is a chill adventure game wrapped around a unique, world-shifting puzzle mechanic. Use this power to explore mysterious lands, help a quirky cast of new friends, and guide Carto on her journey home.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in 2020.
Blankos Block Party
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juwIwjCRxGI&w=560&h=315]
Blankos Block Party is an MMO set in a vibrant online world styled like a giant block party, with a focus on custom art and design, world-building and exploration, and trading and collecting unique Blankos.
It’s coming to PC sometime in 2020.
Everspace 2
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrMi_pjYkT0&w=560&h=315]
Everspace 2 is a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot and classic RPG elements. Experience a thrilling story set in a vivid, handcrafted open-world full of secrets and perils on your journey to become human after all.
It’s coming to Steam Early Access in December 2020.
Inkulinati
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Rzz30A2C8&w=560&h=315]
Inkulinati is a turn-based strategy with medieval animals inspired by 700 years-old real-life medieval marginalia. Become a master of the Living Ink and lead your illustrated army to victory on the pages of medieval books.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in 2021.
A Total War Saga: Troy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLzWWzuoUr4&w=560&h=315]
A Total War Saga: Troy is the first in the award-winning strategy series to focus on the Bronze-Age Mediterranean and the legendary twenty-year conflict between the kingdoms of Troy and Mycenaean Greece, known as the Trojan War.
It will be free for the first 24 hours when it releases on Epic Games Store on 13 August 2020.
Remnant: From Ashes Subject 2923 DLC
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWWJtgDSy_k&w=560&h=315]
Subject 2923 will be the final and largest DLC for Remnant: From the Ashes, and it’s coming to the PC, Xbox One and PS4 on 20 August 2020, with new zones, weapons, items and more to bring an end to the Root once and for all.
Mafia: Definitive Edition
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YcDMuBGisg&w=560&h=315]
Mafia: Definitive Edition will be available for PS4, Xbox One, and Steam on 28 August 2020, as well as the Epic Games Store at a later unspecified date.
Rogue Lords
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVBy8dn915w&w=560&h=315]
Rogue Lords is a dark fantasy roguelike where players play as the Devil and lead famous evil geniuses through events and turn-based fights to spread terror and corruption.
It is slated to release for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime in 2021.
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_iTuH5qT-A&w=560&h=315]
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarerâ€™s Legacy is an ambitious roguelite action-RPG, featuring advanced world, level and quest generation, a gorgeous graphical style and a beautiful, orchestral soundtrack.
It’s coming to the Epic Games Store sometime in 2021.
Dauntless Call Of The Void Update
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuwiTXPQhNM&w=560&h=315]
Phoenix Labs has revealed the first details for the Dauntless Call Of The Void content update. It recently launched on 11 June 2020 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and the Epic Games Store, with full cross-platform support.
Blightbound
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgZrZ0TAocg&w=560&h=315]
Blightbound is a multiplayer dungeon crawler that tasks three heroes to venture down from their mountain refuge to face the abominations of the Blight – a mysterious and corrupting fog that enshrouds the land.
It’s coming to Steam Early Access sometime in 2020.
Among Trees
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhvjHhzxnkI&w=560&h=315]
Among Trees is A small vibrant survival sandbox set in a colourful wilderness world teeming with life. It’s now available on Early Access on the Epic Games Store.
Potionomics
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLOBWUP0GQ&w=560&h=315]
Potionomics is a forthcoming RPG shop simulator where players play as a penniless witch and every decision they make can bring them closer to riches or ruin.
Mortal Shell
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3eb5nSLbQ&w=560&h=315]
Mortal Shell is a deep action-RPG that tests your sanity and resilience in a shattered world. It’s coming later this year to the Epic Games Store, PS4 and Xbox One.
Shadow Man: Remastered
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFpPQovax0&w=560&h=315]
Nightdive Studios has released the teaser trailer for Shadow Man: Remastered, which is currently in development for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC (Steam, GOG).
Killing Floor 2: Perilous Plunder
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmieEggIin8&w=560&h=315]
Publisher and developer Tripwire Interactive invites players to walk the plank in the Killing Floor 2: Perilous Plunder update, which is already out for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. This update marks summerâ€™s return with out of this world cosmetics, new map, new weapons, and summer-themed enemies.
Chivalry 2
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-MIT1q6nKw&w=560&h=315]
Chivalry 2 is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC, with Cross-Play between all platforms.
Twin Mirror
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6JXGqSJh5E&w=560&h=315]
From Life Is Strange developer Dontnod Entertainment, Twin Mirror is finally coming soon to the PS4, Xbox One and PC (Epic Games Store).
Surgeon Simulator 2
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3P5HIQzofM&w=560&h=315]
The physics-based pandemonium returns with Surgeon Simulator 2, the gut-busting sequel to the original operation sim. From 4-player co-op to the all-new Bossa Labs Creation Mode, explore an entire medical facility of wonder in this fully fleshed-out sequel when it releases on the Epic Games Store in August 2020.
Shadows Of Doubt
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI1UJNoQ8Mk&w=560&h=315]
Shadows Of Doubt is a first-person detective stealth game set in a fully-simulated sci-fi noir city. Thereâ€™s a serial killer on the loose, and itâ€™s up to you to catch them by any means necessary: Sneak, tail, hide, hack and lock-pick.
It’s coming to PC via Steam.
The Forgotten City
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAcBgiUGAk&w=560&h=315]
Players travel 2,000 years into the past and relive the final days of a cursed Roman city, where if one person sins, everyone dies. Each secret uncovered and decision could save the 26 lost souls caught in the cursed cycle – or doom them forever. Can you break the time loop?
It’s coming to PC via Steam.
Paradise Killer
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZqAR5ldQIE&w=560&h=315]
Paradise Killer is a game where players gather evidence and interrogate suspects in an open-world adventure. You can accuse anyone, but youâ€™ll have to prove your case in trial to convict. Itâ€™s up to you to decide whoâ€™s guilty.
It’s coming to PC via Steam.
Haven
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi811-WRN_g&w=560&h=315]
Haven is an RPG adventure about love and freedom, featuring Yu and Kay who have escaped to a forgotten planet. Players play as the two lovers settling in an unknown world. Survive together, glide over the plains, camp, restore the planet, fight if you have to. All that matters is to stay together. play solo or co-op with a special someone.
It’s coming to PC via Steam sometime in 2020.
Cartel Tycoon
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45_yFrItWx8&w=560&h=315]
Cartel Tycoon is a story-driven tycoon game where you rule as a succession of fictional drug lords in 80s Latin America. Run all aspects of a narco cartel: produce and smuggle drugs, manage your crew and deal with the enemies. The full version will be released in late 2020 on Steam.
Trash Sailors
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3R7mki0Ao4&w=560&h=315]
Trash Sailors is a hand-drawn sailing action with co-op up to four players, where players can control a group of castaways by local or online multiplayer, and create the trashiest sailing team in history.
It’s coming to PC via Steam sometime in 2020.
Cris Tales
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFS8EMFlnrw&w=560&h=315]
Play the debut demo now of Cris Tales; a gorgeous, indie love letter to classic JRPGs with a new perspective. Peer into the past, act in the present, and watch as your choices dynamically change the future; all on one screen as you play.
Cris Tales launches on 17 November 2020 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia.
Alaloth: Champions Of The Four Kingdoms
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_h82J3bvmo&w=560&h=315]
Set in a vibrant fantasy world created in collaboration with RPG veteran Chris Avellone, Alaloth offers fast-paced action with a deep narrative, bringing ARPG dynamics to a new level with skill-based gameplay inspired by great classics and modern masterpieces.
It’s coming to Xbox One and PC via Steam sometime in 2020.
Weird West
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_rfE6fbpaU&w=560&h=315]
Survive and unveil the mysteries of the Weird West through the intertwined destinies of its unusual heroes in an immersive sim from the co-creators of Dishonored and Prey.
It’s coming to PC via Steam sometime in 2021.
Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd5Q07JmZLs&w=560&h=315]
Experience the joys of life on the farm in this reimagining of a timeless STORY OF SEASONS classic. It’s coming to Steam on 15 July 2020.
New World
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liC_4FIrocQ&w=560&h=315]
Fate has summoned you to the shores of Aeternum, the Eternal Isle. Overcome the brutal legions of The Corrupted and draw battle lines with competing players in this open-world MMO fraught with danger and opportunity. In a land hell-bent on your destruction, what will you do to survive?
It releases on Steam on 26 August 2020, but those who pre-purchase will gain access to the Closed Beta on 23 July 2020.
Metal: Hellsinger
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q3JEI7muTc&w=560&h=315]
Strike terror into the hearts of demons and devils as you fight your way through eight Hells. Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm FPS, brimming with diabolical enemies, powerful weapons, and metal music.
It’s coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime in 2021.
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7G98z1GnWs&w=560&h=315]
Step into the wacky heroic fantasy universe of the Dungeon of Naheulbeuk. Lead a team of unlikely and clumsy heroes in an epic and challenging tactical RPG. Live an adventure filled with humour, surprises and silly encounters.
It’s coming to Steam sometime in summer 2020.
Red Sails
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCzFvXD070I&w=560&h=315]
Explore the desert aboard your sailboat, rescue stranded people on your way, bring them home, while looking for other members of your waning clan: the Red Sails.
It’s coming to PC via Steam.
The Last Campfire
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiMt_vOX5wk&w=560&h=315]
The Last Campfire is an adventure, a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home. It’s coming to PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One sometime in summer 2020.
Escape From Tarkov New Map
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T1z25TkcJI&w=560&h=315]
Battlestate gave our first look at Escape From Tarkovâ€˜s next map; Streets Of Tarkov. According to the developer, it will be the hardcore PvP first-person looter shooterâ€™s â€œbiggest and most detailed location everâ€.
The Outlast Trials
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF2rwEML8Hc&w=560&h=315]
Set in the era of the Cold War, human guinea pigs are involuntarily recruited by the good folks at the Murkoff Corporation to test advanced methods of brainwashing and mind control. In a world of distrust, fear, and violence, your morals will be challenged, your endurance tested, and your sanity crushed. All in the name of progress, science, and profit.
The Outlast Trials will launch for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store sometime in 2021.

You can also watch the entire presentation below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jXwPnDpMD4&w=560&h=315]


Shin Megami Tensei & Persona Composer Leaves Atlus

Shoji Meguro, the composer behind the Shin Megami Tensei series and Shin Megami Tensei spin-off games Persona, has left the Atlus sound team.
According to Atlus, he will be working as a freelance composer effective immediately. Well, he left end of September to be exact. He will still work on new titles with Atlus on the music side of things on a freelance basis. The company will still support his endeavour to expand his future efforts.
Here is his farewell message to his fans:
“I know this is quite sudden, but I, Shoji Meguro, resigned from Atlus Co., Ltd. at the end of September 2021.
Iâ€™ve been creating role-playing games by myself during my spare time for the past five years now, and I applied for a Round 1 Kodansha Game Creators Lab recruitment and was selected as one of the finalists. Then staff from Kodansha was assigned to work with me.
I decided to leave Atlus and focus on my dream of developing indie games.
However, I will continue to maintain a good relationship with Atlus. While focusing on my own indie game development, I will continue to work with Atlus on game music, so I hope that those of you who were concerned about the sudden announcement will feel relieved.
Lastly, I would like to thank Atlus Co., Ltd. and my family for accompanying me. I would also like to thank Kodansha for giving me a chance to take on the challenge.
I hope you will enjoy the music of Shoji Meguro as well as the games I am currently working on.”
This also means that Shoji Meguro is free to make awesome music for other JRPGs that aren’t under Sega and Atlus. In fact, Kodansha Game Creators Lab and Meguro are teaming up to develop a new indie title which will be announced on 6th November at the INDIE Live Expo 2021 Winter event. The upcoming title will be a near-future sci-fi stealth action and RPG title with gun-based combat. Nice!
Shoji Meguro has been working in Atlus since 1995, so that’s 26 years! The man has made a ton of bangers for the Shin Megami Tensei series and defined its sounds with his rock, pop, jazz, and medleys. I mean, we have a recollection of his greatest hits below if you need further proof:

Kakuchopurei wishes Shoji Meguro all the best in the future!


Soulstice Mixes Tag Team Hyper Action With Some Eurojank

Platform(s): PS5 (version played), PS4, PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One
Genre: Hack-and-slash dark fantasy action game made by Europeans
Right from the get-go and from the multitude of fixed camera angles and the way the main Guts stan main character double jumps, you already have Devil May Cry on your mind. Developer Modus Studio is clearly influenced by many hack-and-slash hyper-themed action games from the 2000s onward when delivering its latest game Soulstice to the world. Does it at least entertain both casual and hardcore fans? For the most parts, yes.
Thorn On Your Side

You play as Briar, said main character who is a knight tasked to take care of a world-ending planar tear that’s in the middle of some undead-filled hellhole where a thriving kingdom used to be at. Accompanying you is your ghost sister Lute who not only assists you in hack-and-slash combat as an assist, but can help create Evocation and Banishment Fields in your vicinity. These fields affect wraiths and all sorts of puzzles requiring blue and red ghost things and monsters. Evocation fields are blue, Banishment fields are red; got it? If you remember the Devil May Cry reboot from Ninja Theory, it’s pretty much the Red and Blue weapon mechanic, but simplified and pared way, way down.
This is important because there will be a ton of colour-coded enemies that can only be damaged if you have the correct field up. Too many red enemies who hit hard and move fast? You better put up that red field fast, then switch it back when the blue wraiths come in. You can’t even put it up for long because your ghost sister Lute will get overloaded and disappear for a bit. Furthermore, Lute can also attack and help you with countermoves; pressing the appropriate button when prompted will either get Lute to deflect ranged attacks, block regular attacks, or freeze enemies mid-attack depending on the timing.
All this would be pretty dandy if the game’s controls were up to snuff and were comparable to its inspirations: the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta series. All I can say about the controls, response time, and attack/cancel animations and flexibility are synonyms to “adequate” and “middling”. They get the job done by seminally getting you looking forward to many fights and arena battles with ghosts and monsters big and small. They’re not going to impress connoisseurs of action games, not by a wide mile. Every alternate attack that isn’t your trademark Berserk-sized sword just feels off and every other weapon just feels awkward to play with compared to your starting weapons. Though if you’re the kind who isn’t that versed with the genre, you’ll find Soulstice’s trappings welcoming.
Heck, the boss fights here can get fun without being too cheap, going so far as to give you an actual challenge. But all the fights and setpieces in-between range are just middle-of-the-road fare. Solve a puzzle for a bit, get through similar mobs of enemies, traverse upwards and platform in areas with fixed camera angles.
As someone who replays the Bayonetta titles for shits and giggles, nothing in Soulstice is blowing my mind, but at least the action and combat is keeping me awake. It sure as hell isn’t the story; the game’s serious plot about taking down an open portal in a giant undead and abandoned kingdom with bits of lore in-between isn’t the most riveting thing available. This makes me glad the developers did give me a skip cutscene button to get me to the decent stuff.
Gutsy Play

Even with its novel approach to combat and its sister duo spicing things up with the dual blue/red field mechanic, I can’t help but shake off the fact that Soulstice plays more like an imitation of better hack-and-slash games than an evolution. You can blame that on how stiff the controls can get, and also how some of Briar’s attacks aren’t as cancel-savvy as they should, having more wind-down time and recovery than needed especially for the lighter weapons she possesses.
Still, if you’re expecting Devil May Cry levels of quality from a mid-sized studio like Modus, you’re nuts. It’s no trendsetter for sure. But Soulstice has a lot of, well, spirit to make it more than above-average hack and slash 2000-era fare. “A” for effort, at the very least.
Final Score: 60/100


We Are Not Getting A New WWE 2K Game Next Year, WWE Confirms

There have rumours swirling around that there won’t be a WWE 2K21 after last year’s disaster of a game that was WWE 2K20. That has now been confirmed by WWE themselves in a Q1 2020 conference call earlier today.
Wrestling Sheet EIC Ryan Satin confirmed the news via his Twitter account, as he attended the WWE conference call, where WWE CEO Vince McMahon and WWE interim CFO Frank Riddick were providing various updates on the organization.

BIG NEWS! On the call it was confirmed there will be no launch of a new WWE2K game this year.


Loki Episode 2 Breakdown & Easter Eggs Explained

The second episode of Marvelâ€™s Loki is available now on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia. Iâ€™ll be discussing heavy spoilers fromÂ Loki Episode 2 so if you havenâ€™t seen it or want to avoid spoilers, nowâ€™s your chance to stop reading.
For previous breakdowns of Loki episodes, check out Episode 1 here.
Also, if you havenâ€™t, you can check out my previous breakdown and easter egg articles forÂ WandaVisionÂ Episode 1 and 2,Â Episode 3,Â Episode 4,Â Episode 5,Â Episode 6,Â Episode 7,Â Episode 8Â andÂ Episode 9.
ForÂ The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, you can check out my previous breakdowns here atÂ Episode 1,Â Episode 2Â andÂ Episode 3,Â Episode 4,Â Episode 5Â andÂ Episode 6.
If you want a non-spoiler guide toÂ Loki, you canÂ head on over here.

Loki Is Now Working For The TVA & Has His Own Cubicle

He even has the words “Variant” written on the back of his jacket.

Mobius Reveals That Loki Variants Are The Most Common

It’s important to note that all of the ones shown by Mobius in this scene are adult male Lokis, so we haven’t seen any kid or lady Lokis just yet. Also, the last hologram is actually based on an early evil version of Loki from the comics; essentially Loki from the original age of Vikings hundreds of years ago.

Viking Age Loki designed by artist Russell Dauterman.
Thor Ragnarok Reference

Loki finds out about the destruction of Asgard after reading files taken from the TVA archives. This apocalyptic event happened in 2017’s Thor Ragnarok, which (as a reminder) this variant of Loki has not yet experienced himself.
The Loki Variant Has Been Hiding In Apocalypses

Loki discovers that the Loki variant who’s been causing all the Nexus events might be hiding in timelines where apocalypses. Mobius confirms that this is the case when he finds out that causing a disturbance before an apocalypse doesn’t result in any variance energy detection or Nexus events.
The Kablooie Candy Is From 2047-2051

Roxxon

Now, this is very interesting. When Loki and Mobius go to 2050 Alabama, the location features a Roxxcart superstore. It shows that Roxxon is a major business corporation at this point in time. In the comics, Roxxon is often a major antagonist as it is led by the villain Dario Agger, who is a minotaur.
Some Gaming Easter Eggs

Inside the Roxxcart store, Loki and the Loki variant walks by some amusing branded product placements, namely gaming peripherals from Razer, Hyper X and even Alienware. We can see headphones, keyboards, gaming chairs, monitors, and more. It sort of ruins the immersion, but it’s still funny, nevertheless.
The Loki Variant Is Sylvie Laufeydottir, A Combination Of Lady Loki And Sylvie Lushton From The Comics

She is played by actress Sophia Di Martino. A document that Loki reads during Episode 2 just before the Roxxcart scene reveals that the Loki variant’s name is Sylvie Laufeydottir. What this means is that she’s not Lady Loki or Sylvie Lushton from the comics, but possibly a combination of the two.
There is a precedent for this in the MCU. This is similar to how Marvel combined Emily Van Camp’s Sharon Carter and the Power Broker in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, two previously unrelated characters from the comics.

In 2008 during the J. Michael Straczynski, Marko Djurdjevic, and Olivier Coipelâ€™s Thor series, they introduced Lady Loki.
She appears in the Dark ReignÂ arc,Â New Avengers, and theÂ Original Sin event. It was only later in 2014â€™s Original Sin: Thor and Loki: The Tenth Realm that Lady Loki was actually one of many personalities hidden inside Loki. Other personalities include Kid Loki and the aforementioned Loki of the Viking Age (see above earlier this episode).
There’s nothing much to say about the character. In the comics, she was just Loki in female form, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be unique. It’s interesting to point out that Loki is now officially gender-fluid in the MCU canon, and that he’s not really male per se.
Earlier in this episode, Mobius refers to Loki as an “ice runt”, reminding us that Loki is first and foremost not even an Asgardian; he’s a Frost Giant. As a result, his real skin would be blue. He changes his appearance to blend in and perhaps to hide in plain sight, which is likely why this variant decided to become a woman instead.
In addition, it could also be that this Loki variant has unique personality traits that led to her becoming more comfortable in this Lady Loki form. We’ll have to wait and see how her story unfolds in future episodes.

However, she could also turn out to be Sylvie Lushton from the comics. Sylvie is best known for being created by Loki in the comics and later being part of the Young Avengers, taking on the name Enchantress (the original Enchantress is an Asgardian named Amora, who also hasn’t debuted in the MCU).
Since this is a variant from another timeline, she might very well have originated from a universe where she really was created by Loki. If so, why is the TVA still identifying her as a Loki variant? The rumour of Sophia Di Martino’s character being Sylvie only surfaced because the Spanish version of the end credits for Loki Episode 2 mistakenly credits her character as Sylvie.

Sylvie in the comics.

Conclusion

The episode ends with Loki following the Lady Loki/Sylvie variant into the time portal to god-knows-where. It will be interesting to see where the series veers off from here. We might be going into further uncharted territory in future episodes, so let’s stay on the edge of our seats. Fingers crossed on the appearance of Kang The Conqueror.


Beast Is An Intense Creature Feature With A Savage Mufasa & Great Performances

You often go into movies like Beast with certain expectations and presumptions of how things are going to go, but it’s great when these movies can still surprise you with a good time. Beast doesn’t have a complicated plot or characters; the basic premise is as simple as most thrillers, slashers, and/or creature features out there.
However, the movie manages to be better than it looks and I’ll explain why.
Lion King Gone Feral
(from left) Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Nathan (Idris Elba) in Beast, directed by Baltasar Kormákur.
Here’s all you need to know about the plot in Beast: Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) and his daughters,  Meredith ‘Mare’ Samuels (Iyana Halley) and Norah Samuels (Leah Sava Jeffries), as well as his friend, Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), get attacked and stalked by a savage male lion in South Africa. The lion pretty much behaves like a slasher villain mixed with a creature feature monster, but it’s impressive how well done the visual effects of the lion look. Beast doesn’t look or feel like a cheap B-movie, so don’t worry about only seeing the lion at the very end (a trick many creature features like to use). The lion can be clearly seen in all its glory, and it looks almost as realistic as the one in Disney’s live-action Lion King.
That being said, it’s a shame that this movie is PG-13 and not R-rated. That translates to less gore and blood, but fortunately, director Baltasar Kormákur makes up for this by injecting the movie with intensity and suspense, with a few good jump scares here and there. The intense atmosphere can be felt in scenes where the director opts for long single-take and trailing shots that successfully build up suspense with proper anticipation. There were several times I jumped out of my seat and was glued to the screen, waiting for when the lion was going to pounce next.
The movie may be PG-13, but some of the intense and violent scenes with the lion evoke the same feelings I experience when watching the iconic mauling of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character by that vicious bear in 2015’s The Revenant.
I also enjoyed the movie for its amazing performances. Idris Elba gives a passionate and emotional performance as a father who just wants to make up for his mistakes with his family and reconcile with his children. Out of the two children, Mare provides more emotional fodder for Idris Elba’s character to work with, but I was also impressed with the maturity of the younger sister, Norah, throughout the movie. While Mare does make one or two annoying choices, they’re nowhere as dumb as in other thriller or creature feature movies out there. Also, Sharlto Copley is an incredible supporting character here, adding even more emotional depth to the movie. The South African actor is severely underrated (check out District 9 if you haven’t), and it’s good to see him getting another good role.
Circle Of Life

In addition, Beast is a visual feast as a whole. The cinematography looks great, and the shots accentuate the natural beauty of South Africa while not making it look grimy or like a backwater place. Overall, there are no glaring issues about Beast, besides its simplistic and predictable plot. Everything else is well-made and awesome.
If you’re a fan of creature features and/or thrillers, you should definitely check out Beast. It might not be innovating the genre or doing anything much new, but it’s an enjoyable movie that’s worth watching if you like the genre.
FINAL SCORE: 70/100
We received an early screener of Beast courtesy of United International Pictures Malaysia. Beast is slated to premiere on 18 August 2022 in Malaysian cinemas.


These Are The Xbox Original Games You Need This Week

While the Xbox One may be light on exclusive games, it is nonetheless doing its own thing: building a long-term platform where past, present, and future Xbox games can run through the power of its possibly game-changing Game Pass. And now Xbox is adding in a huge number of backwards compatible games in the mix.
Here is the full list of games coming out.

Below are the games that are out today. The best part? If you have the original Xbox discs of these games, you can shove it into your Xbox One and play them:

Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Breakdown
Conker: Live & Reloaded
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jade Empire
Panzer Dragoon Orta
SSX 3

So which ones should you get first? Which ones should you revisit? Which ones will make you go out to CarousellÂ to get OG copies of? Let us refresh your memories and just focus on the noteworthy titles. The rest of them are either made obsolete by superior existing versions (like Morrowind) or just too average.
Seriously, are you one of those people who cared about Blinx back in the day? Thought so…
Panzer Dragoon Orta

Why Get This? Because this was the game that showcased the best in rail-shooter gameplay (where you can evolve your dragon) and a lovely aesthetic featuring jaw-dropping visuals and an amazing soundtrack. Jesus, that ending theme is bombastic and haunting at the same time.
If you really love on-rail experiences like Sin & Punishment and the first two Panzer Dragoon games, you owe it to yourself to replay this masterpiece that will test your shooter skills.
Jade Empire

Why Get This? Because it’s not every day you get to see Bioware do proper RPGs and experiment with them, what with their current situation right now. If you want an RPG set in an Oriental fantasy setting filled with lots of close-combat and demon-morphing, with some 2D shooter segments added for good measure, and don’t mind all of this coming from Canadian developers, knock yourself out.
Plus, we heard that the PC version of this game had some caveats. Just play this game on the platform and emulated setting it was meant on and for.
SSX 3

Why Get This? Because it’s been a while since we had a true extreme snowboarding simulator where tricks and styles curry more points than being the first in line. While I know more people prefer SSX Tricky, don’t count this entry out.
It’s still as frenetic and as arcade-y as they come, and comes with a free-roaming mode in case you rather just faff about on your snowboard and just do random tricks. It’s like that Ubisoft game Steep but fun.
Conker: Live & Reloaded

Why Get This? Because we want to remember a time when Rare wasn’t stuck doing Kinect games and getting flamed for their recent swashbuckling fare -we’ll get to you soon enough, Sea of Thieves.
This remastered version of Conker is proof that Rare was the de facto masters of their craft: action platformer with some new multiplayer modes that help spice things up. Too bad the single-player mode was kinda gimped and censored.
Breakdown
Image credit: IGN
Why Get This? Because this was the game that probably inspired the B-grade flick Hardcore Henry. Jest aside, this b-grade game has some decent action going on and a bizarre story about time-travelling super soldier aliens. Its first-person mode probably inspired games like Mirror’s Edge, so it’s interesting to see how Breakdown did it first.
Tune in next week on April 26 as we do a quick roundup of the other Xbox games on this backwards compatibility program.


Lords Of The Fallen Gets First Gameplay Trailer, Coming This October

CI Games and Hexworks have announced that action RPG Lords Of The Fallen will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam on 13 October 13 2023.
Lords Of The Fallen introduces an all-new, epic RPG adventure in a vast, interconnected world more than five times larger than the original game.
After an age of the cruellest tyranny, the demon God, Adyr, was finally defeated. But Gods… do not fall forever. Now, aeons later, Adyr’s resurrection draws nigh. As one of the fabled Dark Crusaders, journey through both the realms of the living and the dead in this expansive RPG experience, featuring colossal boss battles, fast challenging combat, thrilling character encounters, and deep, immersive storytelling. Will your legend be one of light… or one of darkness?
Lords Of The Fallen is slated to release for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Check out the trailer below:


Here’s What Nexon Will Be Releasing For Mobile This Year

Because ruling the world with MMOs isn’t enough, Nexon plans to release 9 new mobile games this year. During a Nexon media conference in Seoul, the company said it will be releasing the following titles:
Crazy Arcade BnB M: This top-down party game is part Bomberman, part hack-and-slash. It’ll be a hit with the casual crowd when it’s out globally on 21st March. Nexon may have big plans with this cutesy title; it already has 2 million preregistered users.

LYN – The Lightbringer: This game should be out now. It’s a mobile RPG with an auto-battle function, which means it’ll be stats and equipment-driven with little to no skill needed. This one stands out because of its art style and production values.

Traha: a large-scale mobile MMORPG. Nexon found some way to copy Black Desert and cram it inside the phone.

Maple Story M: Wait, isn’t this game out already in Asia? I’m guessing this is for US markets.
Godzilla Defense Force: If you’re going to play a goddamn clicker game, you might as well play one starring Godzilla, Mothra, and company. Out this May.
The Kingdom of the Winds – Yeon: A mobile game based on Nexon’s classic title The Kingdom of the Winds back in 1996. Should be a lovely throwback for hardcore MMO players back in the day.

Magia Charma Saga: Another interesting-looking mobile RPG.

Sinoalice: This Square Enix game came out in Japan a while back. It’s one of Yoko Taro’s mobile gaming ventures. Out this summer.

Durango -Wild Land: Imagine if Nexon combined Ark Survival Evolved and Monster Hunter, made it an isometric RPG, and crammed all of it on mobile. Bingo! You get Durango – Wild Lands, probably the most interesting action RPG simulator-type game of the bunch. It’ll be out in English this Summer.

Which game(s) are you looking forward to? Which ones are you already playing right now thanks to the magic of third-party apps like QooApp? Let us know!


Has Ubisoft Learned Nothing When Making AC Odyssey?

Disclaimer: we figured we bring in a flip side to our glowing review of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to show the polarizing nature of Ubisoft’s year-end open world game.
I have a very long and strained relationship with the Assassin’s Creed series that’s over a decade old now. I was a huge fan of the first game despite its widely known flaws. The idea of blending in the crowd and stabbing people sneakily was almost revolutionary, at least not at the graphical fidelity it was showcased on in the early trailers at that time.
While most gaming sites made sure to criticize the repetitive nature of the game, it was generally accepted as a good game, and seen with great potential to grow.
Fast forward to 2018, I was given the opportunity to play the latest instalment of the series, Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey. To be honest, I never gave its predecessor Origins a chance, as I was reluctant in getting a copy after being constantly soured by the series since Assassinsâ€™ Creed 3.
My main complaint with the series is that with each release, the developers were more concerned with putting in more things to do instead of fixing its sluggish controls and mechanics. The games were always littered with things to do and collect but rarely were they interesting to pursue or useful to the player.
I also have a problem with the maps, as they get exponentially larger with each release, but are a chore to traverse through. Unfortunately, Ubisoft was very happy to advertise all of this as “content”. The only thing that matters to Ubisoft is always sales, and the numbers show that gamers are happy to put their money into this kind of experience.
A Needless Grind
With Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey, itâ€™s clear that Ubisoft has chosen to continue with the winning formula that they had with Origins, most notably in its format as an action RPG now since the success of its predecessor. I donâ€™t really have a problem with this, since the series have always had a levelling system in unlocking gears towards making the main character stronger as the games progress, so this evolution doesnâ€™t seem out of place or illogical.

What I do find fault with though, is how the game â€˜forcesâ€™ you into grinding for hours so that your chosen character will not be underpowered during combat. In the first 10 levels, I played the game just like how I would play other RPGS of the same vein.
I went through the main quests, while casually pursuing some of the side missions that pique my interest and ignoring those that I think were tedious (which is a common flaw in a lot of RPGs). Initially, it was a perfectly adequate playstyle, as I was constantly at the recommended levels for each of the quests, but after around level 20 or so, I was struggling to keep up.
It wasnâ€™t enough to just do the side quests that interested me. I had to constantly go to forts to kill, loot and burn whatever I could, find cultists around the world, just to get my Mysthios at the desired level. Perhaps not everything needs to be covered, but it’s enough to take up hours of your time to merely raise a level or two. At one point, I got sick of all the grinding, so I took my character (who was a couple of levels lower than the main questâ€™s recommendation) to just go for it and prove that the game is wrong for underestimating me.
After all, it was possible in Horizon Zero Dawn and Witcher 3, which I consider to be perfect examples in the action RPG genre of how a game can let the players let their skills do the talking, if their stats are high enough.
It did not go so well. I got slaughtered. Being underleveled in this game is difficult, as your character will take much less hits to die. However, you deal significantly lower damage to even the most normal of enemies who may just be a SINGLE level above you, making for some frustratingly drawn-out combat.

Itâ€™s easy to lose your patience and mess up the timing of the counterattacks because these encounters shouldnâ€™t be so time-consuming and sometimes, I just wanted the seemingly endless poking with the spear to end. Making matters worse, you rarely fight them one on one, so be prepared to get sick of hitting that R1 a button a lot.
Thankfully, this gameâ€™s autosave system lets me save the game frequently, so that the frustration of attempting tough side quests or main missions is well mitigated.
If you are the type of gamer who insist on hunting for trophies and completing achievements in your games, this idea grinding through mundane and tedious quests might not feel that palpable in your playthrough. However, those who want a more direct experience with the main story and dabble in the occasional distractions, prepare to be frustrated.
The game will not restrict you from progressing if you overlook its plethora side quests to progress, but the strict level gating will make sure that the game places you a level (or two) below its recommendation if you are not committed to completing them as well. At one point I seriously considered going to the Playstation Store to buy the controversial Timesavers pack. My gamer pride made sure I didnâ€™t, but I would never judge those who did succumb to it.

Which is a shame, because I really liked this new combat system, and this is a first because I always thought the series was very forgiving towards the player in past titles, so that you would feel like a master assassin who can take down hordes of henchmen when youâ€™re spotted. Assassinâ€™s Creed Odysseyâ€™s (and Assassin’s CreedÂ Origins, I suppose) combat is challenging and enjoyable where every encounter can mean your last if youâ€™re not careful.
This makes stealth much more valuable now, especially in the first quarter of the game where you donâ€™t really have a lot of useful abilities to gain an advantage over your foes in combat. This balance could have been fantastic if it werenâ€™t for the questionable design choices to strengthen your character.
Permission to Stealth

I may sound overly negative towards the game so far, but only to one aspect of the game which was the manipulative progression system. In many ways, Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey is a much better game than a lot of its predecessors. Other than the new approach to combat, the open areas are a blessing for those who prefer freedom in approaching the objective.
There are no invisible walls from the animus to funnel you into one specific way of doing stealth. I wish the controls were tighter like those in Metal Gear Solid V to allow for emergent gameplay moments and less unintentional alerting of the guards in the more constricted indoor spaces, but for the most part, stealth is completely viable. You cannot say the same thing for many of the past Assassinâ€™s Creed games.
Story Worth Telling

Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey is also one of my favourites in the series when it comes to story. It is a surprisingly uplifting story about family, which is nothing new, but solid writing, unexpectedly thoughtful social commentary at certain points in the story made it less familiar and kept me interested until the end.
There is less intervention from the modern day setting and characters, but they are still relevant in the gameâ€™s overarching plot, in a way that is much less intrusive but much more effective.
Weâ€™ve Seen This Before

The gameâ€™s visuals are great, but in a year of gorgeous looking games like this year’s God of War and the recent Marvel’s Spider-Man, Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey doesnâ€™t really do anything interesting other than looking really pretty.
At times, I compared it to CD Projekt Redâ€™s The Witcher 3 and found it to be lacking in character and atmosphere compared to the smaller scope in that other RPG. Perhaps Ubisoft is limited to the scope of historical accuracies, but when you have mythical creatures running around the game, a bit more flair with visuals wouldnâ€™t hurt.
In the end, Assassinâ€™s Creed Odyssey is a commendable achievement by the developers to make the series feel fresh again. All things considered, this should be the right path that the series should embark upon. I just wish that the progression is much more sensible and hopefully we will hear less of their predatory practices for the next release.
Padding games with tiresome content to make them longer or bigger doesnâ€™t magically turn the experience into a memorable one. This franchise can be smaller and more compact in a way that doesnâ€™t overwhelm the player.
Long story short: the Assassinâ€™s Creed series needs to be better than just a copious time-waster with check-lists.


Sisu Is Unadulterated Nazi-Slaying Cinema Fun

If there’s any meaning or final say to gather from the last few shots of Finnish film Sisu, it’s this: vengeance is golden.
Steely Resolve

Set during World War II in the 1940s, Sisu is a tale about an ex-commando named Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) who just wants peace and quiet digging and panning for gold, and cashing it out for himself. Unfortunately, he’s living his life in Finnish Lapland in a time when the Nazis and their death squads are using scorched earth tactics to raze the Finnish countryside and leave nothing behind. There are no grey morals or areas here: just Nazis in the pitch-black spectrum being evil dicks, going so far as to be led by an equally vile Schutzstaffel officer named Bruno (Aksel Hennie) and second-in-command Wolf (Jack Doolan). The latter’s establishing shot is him zipping up his pants after he had his way with one of the female P.O.Ws off-screen.
If you think villains like him are going to get away with this atrocity, think again. Because Sisu revels in its bloodshed and righteous fury, which you’ll be getting nothing but with aplomb and visceral detail. Much like Inglorious Basterds and other grindhouse films of that similar spirit, Sisu answers such thought-provoking questions on whether it is possible for a commando to get creative with landmines from the enemy front, or whether it is possible to survive a hanging using a gaping foot wound.
Dogs of War

Director and writer Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports and Big Game) proves once again that less is more, showcasing the colour contrast of each vistas and wide-angle shots being presented, and gradually getting more mute and purposefully dull while the Nazis are still alive and kicking. While there is a lot of bloodshed and satisfying kills involving knives, gunshots, and explosions, as well as some horror bits where Aatami’s the boogeyman, there is some visual comedy thrown in. This help add levity and further accentuate Aatami’s badassness. My favourite involves the timed appearance of Aatami’s pet wolfhound
All this, along with a short one-and-a-half-hours runtime, makes for an entertaining watch that delivers on what’s promised: bloody vengeance in World War 2 where Nazis are bad guys who deserve everything coming to them. With Aatami’s stoic resolve and will to live alongside disposable fodder for him to go through, this is one film you should just tune in guilt-free as you enjoy the body count piling up.

Final Score: 80/100


[Report] Ultra Instinct Goku, Jiren, & Gogeta Will Be In DBFZ Soon

Update: Bandai Namco US will be streaming new Dragon Ball game announcements on 14 January 4-5pm PST/15 January midnight GMT+8. We may be getting the official news on Season 2 characters by then.
With Dragon Ball FighterZ’s Season 1 characters already out -that’s Android 17, Cooler, Broly, Bardock, Goku original, Vegeta original, Fused Zamasu, & Vegito Blue- we can expect Season 2’s roster to be revealed in the far future. Alas, the cat’s probably out of the bag as someone did some datamining on his/her side.
That person is Vergeben; scourge of all game publishers and PR firms everywhere who want nothing to do with dataminers. He’s leaked the first season DBFZ characters, the Ninja Turtles being in Injustice 2 and the Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, so odds are these future predictions might be accurate.
So who may or may not be playable in Season 2’s roster? Here they are:
Ultra Instinct Goku

Jiren
Image credit: Migne
Super Saiyan 4 Goku

Gogeta

Zarbon

Raditz

And that’s not all; there’s going to be more characters in Season 2. You may take this piece of news with a grain of salt, but these character choices do make sense since its roster is catering to its old-time fans.
In fact, the real issue here is that there are too many goshdarn Gokus to deal with. These alleged Season 2 picks aren’t helping matters. Unless you like more versions of Goku, to which we say that’s your poison.


Emulated PS1 Classics Pop Up On Malaysian PlayStation Store

Sony previously announced that Malaysia and the rest of Asia will be the first in the world to receive the new PlayStation Plus plans and benefits, which starts from today on 23 May 2022. Eagle-eyed gamers have noticed that emulated PS1 classics (or PS1 emulation titles) have started popping up and becoming available to purchase on the Malaysian PlayStation store (PSN store).
These include Worms World Party, Worms Armageddon, and Oddworld Abe’s Odyssey. They cost around RM20 to RM39 each, so far. They have custome video filters and upscaled resolution, as well as support for rewind and quick save.
[Update: 23/5/2022]: Apparently Ridge Racer 2 for PSP will be one of the classic games that will be on the PS Plus plan (via ResetEra). Here are a few of the screenshots on the game’s official page on PSN before it got taken down.

So far, only these three PS1 classics have been made available. According to the list revealed by Sony, we’re still slated to receive the following titles:
PlayStation Studios

Ape Escape | Japan Studio, Original Playstation
Hot Shots Golf | Japan Studio, Original Playstation
I.Q. Intelligent Qube | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
Jumping Flash! | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
Syphon Filter | Bend Studio, Original PlayStation
Super Stardust Portable | Housemarque, PSP

Third Party Partners

Mr. Driller | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
Tekken 2 | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
Worms World Party | Team 17, Original PlayStation
Worms Armageddon | Team17, Original PlayStation


World Of Warships & Legends Has A Fresh Shipment Of Content

Both World of Warships and World of Warships: Legends have launched two absolutely packed November updates.
World of Warships on PC sees playable submarines landing in the tech tree, as well as an impressive selection of Japanese light cruisers entering Early Access.
Console players are also treated to new ships and content in World of Warships: Legends with a five-week, 100-milestone campaign where Japanese Premium Tier VIII destroyer Hayate awaits, and a Treasure Chest of pirate content including two new Captains and crates with various plunder inside, including a fistful of guaranteed doubloons.
TL;DR

The world’s biggest naval MMO across PC and console releases its shipment of new content headlined with Japanese ships for November
Japanese light cruisers make their way to Early Access and submarines come to the tech tree in World of Warships on PC
Tier VIII Premium Japanese destroyer Hayate awaits players at the end of the Brewing Storm campaign with pirate booty coming to World of Warships: Legends on Xbox and PlayStation

Japanese light cruisers & submarines set to sea

Kicking off World of Warships’ November content drop is the introduction of six new Japanese light cruisers to Early Access. These ships are armed with high-damage and high-range torpedoes to strike significant damage on enemies from far away. Further enabling sneak attacks, these cruisers can take advantage of the element of surprise using their good camouflaging. From Tier VII upwards ships in this range sport torpedo tubes equipped with a revolving mechanic, and Tier VIII upwards also see the addition of a large number of main battery guns.
These ships are available to players through a wide range of means, with some ships available through consecutive sets like the Agano, Gokase and Shimanto, and others available through combat missions and in random packs.

As these ships enter Early Access, submarines have departed and made their way to the tech tree, with German and American submarines researchable to all players. These covert vessels span Tier VI-X, and can strike lethal damage with their powerful torpedoes. The two nations offer different opportunities for gameplay, as German ships sport long-range acoustically guided torpedoes and a wide margin of autonomy, while the American submarines are equipped with short-range acoustic torpedoes and boast quicker recovery.
Premium Japanese destroyer & Pirate antics
World of Warships: Legends also offers Japanese watercraft to its players, with Japanese Tier VIII Premium destroyer Hayate waiting at the end of a classic Warships-style Brewing Storm campaign, taking place across five weeks with 100 milestones to achieve. Hayate is powerful, with a sturdy HP pool, as well as impressive torpedoes and excellent fire-starting capabilities. To secure this beauty, players must complete Brewing Storm with Admiralty Backing active; however, a catch-up mechanic is in place alongside Heroic Effort missions to help carry stragglers to victory.
Pirates also come on board in this update, with plenty of treasure for players to unearth, including two new Captains, each with their own unique voiceover, two new ships Caprice and La Foudre, and themed Treasure Chest Crates packed full of doubloons and plenty of other treats. Beyond this pirate, content is the addition of six new ships for British and French navies, with three vessels for each nation. One destroyer, one cruiser and one battleship, including French Alsace and the British cruiser Neptune, can be located in the tech tree.
Finally, World of Warships: Legends celebrates Black Friday with a robust offering of deals and discounts across the board, from black ships to Commander Progression Items. The range consists of five impressive black warships, including the famed battleship Bismarck and an Italian powerhouse Dante Alighieri, with the latter available through a special Black Friday mission.


The Next Tales Of Game Will Be Out This September

Fans of Bandai Namco’s JRPG series, rejoice! Tales of Arise finally has a release date: 9th September, 2021.
In addition, Famitsu (thanks, Kumikones!) has unveiled a ton of gameplay and combat in the next Tales of mothership title. Combat is real-time and action-packed like in past Tales of games, but there’s a slight transition from overworld traipsing to combat, albeit a very short one. The gameplay trailer showcases areas like the desert area Calaglia and the icy tundras of Cyslodia, each with its own enemies for you to fight against.
We get to see our main heroes use their signature weapons: the swords for the male protagonist Alphen and a rifle for the female protagonist Shionne. Also, anime studio ufotable (Fate/Zero, God Eater, Demon Slayer) will be producing the anime sequences for Tales Of Arise (via Nibellion). The length of animation scenes will be “one of the longest in the history of the series”.

Tales of Arise will be out for Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5, and PC (Steam) this 9th September. Check out the official trailer & screenshots below.


[Updated] Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater Remake Announced For PS5, Xbox Series X/S & PC

During the PlayStation Showcase 2023, Konami finally officially announced the Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater remake or Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater, which is in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
It is a faithful remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater. A new generation of players and loyal fans alike can experience the origin story of the famed Big Boss, and witness how his legend was forged in the crucible of Operation Snake Eater.
The short teaser reveals our first look at a next-gen Snake and also reveals that a Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1 is launching in Autumn 2023 for the PS5. It will feature remastered versions of the original Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons Of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater.

No release date or release window was revealed for the Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater.


E3 2019: Burned By The Secret of Mana Remake? The Trials of Mana Remake May Fix That

Our resident RPG guru Mr Toffee was disappointed with The Secret of Mana remake last year. It felt very cheaply-made, the added dialogue and story bits did not help elevate the source material, and it somehow made the 1992 original game superior.
Based on what we’ve seen at E3 2019’s Treehouse live stream, Square Enix is making amends with the true Secret of Mana sequel with its 3D take on Trials of Mana, or Seiken Densetsu 3 for you old-school JRPG SNES fans out there who can read Japanese back in 1995. This version still has the same heroes: Duran, Kevin, Angela, Riestz, Charlotte, and Hawkeye, but everything else gets quite an overhaul.
Just like a modern third-person action JRPG, the camera is fully controllable, and you can jump. This latter feature leads to you being able to do aerial combos and even climb ledges to higher pathways and even secret spots with treasure. Battles are still real-time, but this time you get different objectives apart from “kill all the baddies and don’t die”.

If you kill enemies quickly or use only specific attacks -like just melee and no special moves- you’ll be awarded extra experience points. You’ll get access to lots of treasure chests too, which means more loot. Whether they have the roulette treasure system where you’ll either get booby traps blowing up in your face or not remains to be seen.
Unlike that hack job that is the Secret of Mana remake, the Trials of Mana remake feels more like a huge overhaul, changing what wouldn’t work in this day and age and make it feel more modern and immersive. At the very least, Square Enix is putting a lot more effort this time around. With this, the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and the Collection of ManaÂ (where the original Trials of Mana is playable for the very first time in English, legally),Â the company’s redemption mark isn’t going to absolve all of its sins. But it’s painting the RPG-making company in a positive light.
The Trials of Mana remake will be out early 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC.


Here’s How A Full Street Fighter 6 Match Plays Out

Update(16/6/2022): New Guile match added. The match is from a CapcomTV! segment and features Guile’s new moves and battle damage in-game.

Original story
The Summer Game Festival this week is showcasing a ton of Street Fighter 6 at its offline in-person gathering in Los Angeles. And we now have a first look at how a full match of the 1v1 fighting game plays out.
Content creators such as Skill Up and Vincenzo Lettera had a few matches in the game, and so far the reactions have been positive. Not only does the game look good but it plays well with its Drive Gauge system and Punish Counters (an attack that hits during the recovery frame of an opponent’s whiffed attack). On the HUD itself, the left side is represented with red while the right is blue as mentioned previously.
Other new elements include new indicators popping up during a match like “Hard Knockdown” and the aforementioned “Punish Counter”. And just like past games, when a round is over, everyone’s back to their starting neutral positions at the centre of the stage.
If you zoom in at the first photo of Skill Up next to the demo version of Street Fighter 6, you can see below the Versus option that there’s a Team Battle option. This means that tag team showcase in the trailer isn’t just for show: it’s an actual part of the game.

You have absolutely no concept of Chun-Li’s thighs until you play this for yourself pic.twitter.com/1upbX7WtaV
— Skill Up (@SkillUpYT) June 10, 2022

Ok, Street Fighter 6 è una goduria. Devo assimilare ancora il Drive Gauge ma le sensazioni iniziali sono sicuramente positive. pic.twitter.com/eCrtAv8uU2
— Vincenzo Lettera (@letteraV) June 10, 2022

Lui è preso bene. #StreetFighter6 pic.twitter.com/dCCuq58Wvr
— Vincenzo Lettera (@letteraV) June 10, 2022

Here’s a round of @tamoorh playing Street Fighter 6. pic.twitter.com/DDsceDXNgD
— Giant Bomb (@giantbomb) June 10, 2022

Esse formato das fotos dos personagens me parece familiar… ? #StreetFighter6 pic.twitter.com/SiTslOg18e
— dilcasty (@dilcasty) June 10, 2022

The game’s move list screen seems to have a demo video associated with each move. Here’s one with Chun-Li’s move list; so far the game will have each character have multiple Super Arts accessible at one go rather than just have 1 available like the last two games.

Thirsty for more Chun Li action in the new #StreetFighter6?
Check out some of her gameplay AND command list ? live from the #SummerGameFest show floor. pic.twitter.com/ao9k2NnDuQ
— Shacknews (@shacknews) June 10, 2022

Here’s a Super and Super Arts compilation from Arekkz Gaming’s channel. So far the video features all Supers from Ryu, Chun-Li, Jamie, and Luke:

It’s clearly a tad too early what with only 4 playable characters, but the buzz around the game seems positive. The game seems to contain a lot of old and a lot of new features and mechanics that all turn into something concise. Fighting game video maker Maximillian seem to state that the game is reminiscent of Resident Evil 2 Remake; it’s clearly RE2 but it’s something new.

Transferring the 4k 60 video files now. Trying to gather my thoughts and put this into something concise. SFVI is a lot of old and a LOT of new. I compare it to RE2 Remake. It's clearly RE2, but something new. That's the way VI feels, familiar but certainly new. https://t.co/YwxlX0rFtR
— Maximilian Dood (@maximilian_) June 11, 2022

Street Fighter 6 will be out in 2023 for PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4. The game’s online mode will feature rollback netcode and will have crossplay among all platforms.


Kaguya-sama Love Is War Comes To PC Later This Month

Shueisha Games has announcedÂ Kaguya-sama Love Is War, a visual novel based on the romantic comedy manga series of the same name. It is slated to launch for PC via Steam on 31 May 2021 with both English and Japanese language options.
Story
Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya are the President and Vice President of the renowned Shuchiin Academyâ€™s Student Council. Both of them are considered top elite students: Miyuki is respected by his peers for his brilliant mind, and Kaguya, the eldest daughter of the wealthy Shinomiya family, excels in everything.
Everyone thinks that they would make the perfect couple and even though both have feelings for each other â€“ they are too proud to admit it.
Believing that the one who confesses first; will be looked down upon and humiliated.
A game of love begins between the two. Both are equally determined to get out of it as the winner of the battlefield.
Key Features

Non-Linear Visual Novel â€“ Discover multiple different endings depending on your choices in-game.
Choose your own name, and become the President of the Student Council.

In the meantime, check out the trailer below: