The Division 2 Gets More Endgame Content & An 8-Man Raid

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 will receive its first post-launch content on all platforms. The new content is called â€œInvasion: Battle for D.C.â€, and it will be the first free post-launch update that includes upcoming releases such as the first of the lot, ‘Tidal Basin‘.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwBNo04VDUg]
Invasion: Battle for D.C. will include much more challenges than the base game.

For example, players will have access to Tidal Basin, a new stronghold held by the endgame faction, Black Tusk. It’s home to some of the most powerful enemies ever faced.
If you think you’re strong because you conquered Tidal Basin, think again. After completing Tidal Basin, you’ll be able to advance to World Tier 5 and unlock the possibility to obtain gear scores 450-500.
Invasion: Battle for D.C. will also feature:

A new Heroic difficulty setting.
Weekly invasions by the Black Tusk offering great rewards.
Two new exotic weapons Pestilence and Nemesis.
Three new gear sets:

True Patriot
Hardwired
Ongoing Directive

A new PvP map, Fort McNair.
Invasion Apparel Event for players to collect new enemy-inspired outfits.
New unlockable Specialization coming soon.

But most importantly, there’s a big-as-heck raid happening.Â Operation Dark Hours, the 8-man raid that will put teamwork, communication, patience, and skill to the very limit. The raid will be released on 25 April.
Nemesis Sniper Rifle
This flurry of content marks the first update brought to players as part of Year 1 post-launch updates. Players can look forward to more content over the next coming months.

Episode 1, D.C. Outskirts: Expeditions, releasing in Summer 2019, will offer players two new additional main missions and a new game mode to investigate the fate of a lost convoy, encountering unexpected threats along the way.
Episode 2, Pentagon: The Last Castle, coming in Fall 2019, will see players storming the Pentagon to unveil the secrets hidden beneath the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.
Finally, Episode 3 will drop during Winter 2019 and will draw the first chapter of The Division 2 story to a close and pave the way for more exciting content in the future.


OMEN Challenger Series Returning To SEA With CSGO & Dota 2 Tournaments

HP has announced that the OMEN Challenger Series will be returning to Southeast Asia later this year with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 esports tournaments. This year’s participants will consist of pros from over 12 countries in the region, where they will fight for a lion’s share of the US$50,000 prize pool.
Registration has begun (you can do so on the official website here), with online qualifying rounds commencing at the end of August 2019 and running through until the Grand Finals in Jakarta, Indonesia from 1 to 3 November 2019.
Meanwhile, Malaysian qualifiers have already begun, with the pre-qualifiers set to be held on 6 September 2019. The winning team will get an additional all-expense-paid trip to watch a top CS:GO tournament in Europe next year in 2020.

In addition, there will also be a new university tournament, titled Campus Legends, slated to run alongside the Omen Challenger Series. Up to ten university teams per country from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand will challenge each other in an online-only format on Dota 2 to win part of a US$3,000 prize pool.
Gamers can take part in the fun too. Starting from today until 30 September 2019, those who purchase OMEN by HP laptops in Malaysia will be able to redeem Steam Wallet worth RM50. They will also stand a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip for two to catch the OMEN Challenger Series Grand Finals LIVE in Jakarta, Indonesia, with a total of three pairs of winners to be selected.
The HP Online Store is also holding a special deal throughout the month of August 2019, with those who purchase the OMEN 15 laptop from now to 31 August 2019 are eligible to redeem the HP OMEN 600 Mouse and the HP OMEN 800 Headset (worth RM618).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZpVchXSM-U&w=560&h=315]


[Rumour] Marvel’s Midnight Suns Will Be Out This October; Includes Spider-Man And Scarlet Witch In Roster

2K Games and Firaxis’ Marvel Comics strategy game will be out in a couple more months, according to a recent leak.
While an official date hasn’t been announced, the leaked box art and preorder details online stated that it’s coming out on 6th October for PC and consoles. The game will feature 3 editions on sale:

A Standard edition,
An Enhanced Edition with five premium skins: Captain America (Future Soldier), Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Magik (Phoenix 5), Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm), and Wolverine (X-Force).
A Legendary Edition, with 23 premium skins and four DLC passes.

The leaked box art revealed two more characters in its 12-person Marvel hero roster: Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch. The other nine characters previously revealed are Doctor Strange, Magik, Iron Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Blade, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Nico Minoru. There’s one more character left, and if the current memes are of any indication, it may be Morbius. Morbin Time in 2K Games, anyone?
With Summer Games Fest 2022 happening soon this month, it’s no secret that there will be big news about Firaxis’ new Marvel game. For those who don’t know, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is basically XCOM with Marvel characters and some collectible card elements. Fun!


Infinix Malaysia Offers Deals On Laptops & Smartphones In Lazada & Shopee Payday Sales

Smartphone brand Infinix recently made waves in the Malaysian market with the launch of the Infinix NOTE 12 2023 and the Infinix HOT 20 series. In conjunction with the upcoming PayDay Sale on Lazada and Shopee, Infinix Malaysia will be offering limited-time smartphone and laptop deals, with discounts up to RM200.
Exclusively on Lazada, consumers nationwide will be able to enjoy free shipping and an additional RM8.88 off voucher with any purchase of Infinix Malaysia’s products on their official e-store on LazMall throughout the promotional period.
LAZADA PAYDAY SALE

Promotion dates: 23rd – 25th January 2023

Smartphone Model

Lazada Payday Sale Promo

NOTE 12 2023 (8GB + 128GB)

RRP: RM799
Promo: RM769

NOTE 12 2023 (8GB + 256GB)

RRP: RM899
Promo: RM799

HOT 11 (3GB + 32GB)

RRP: RM469
Promo: RM449

HOT 11 (4GB+ 64GB)

RRP: RM519
Promo: RM399

While on Shopee, consumers will be able to enjoy free shipping and an additional 10% coins cashback with the purchase of any products on Infinix Malaysia’s official e-store on Shopee Mall.
SHOPEE PAYDAY SALE

Promotion date: 25th January 2023

Smartphone Models

Shopee Payday Sale Promo

NOTE 12 G96 (8GB+ 128GB)

RRP: RM769
Promo: RM665

NOTE 12 G96 (8GB + 256GB)

RRP: RM869
Promo: RM755

HOT 20i (4GB+ 128GB)

RRP: RM499
Promo: RM440

Besides, consumers who purchase any Infinix products from Infinix Malaysia’s official e-store on both LazMall and Shopee Mall can opt for a limited-time add-on deal to own the Infinix XE25 TWS Power Monster Bluetooth 5.0 Earphones for only RM109.
You can keep up with Infinix Malaysia’s latest news and offerings by following Infinix Malaysia’s official website, Facebook page, Instagram page and TikTok channel.
In the meantime, check out our review of the Infinix Note 12 (2023) here.


Yoodo’s Wheel-Yoo-Win Campaign Features Prizes Such As An iPhone 14 & More

Yoodo, Malaysia’s first truly customisable and 100% digital mobile service, has announced its ‘Wheel-Yoo-Win’ campaign, designed to reward loyal Yoodoers with some cool prizes just in time for the end-of-year celebrations.
In collaboration with SEA Gamer Mall (SEAGM), the campaign will run until 21 December and offers eligible users to spin the wheel of prizes valued from RM5 to RM200 which includes PUBG MOBILE in-game items and UC Codes, Grab e-vouchers, Starbucks e-gift cards, Petronas e-vouchers, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang diamonds, Lazada shopping e-vouchers and many more. On top of that, participants will also have a shot at winning cool grand prizes such as the brand-new iPhone 14 Plus (worth RM5,000), Samsung gadgets (worth RM800), and gaming gear (worth RM600), through a special virtual monthly lucky draw.
How do you enter?
Well unfortunately this only applies to Yooders—so basically people who use Yoodo. But all you have to do is meet the requirements as follows:

For more information about the Wheel-Yoo-Win campaign, you can check out their official website for the campaign.


Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R5 Redefines Perfection

There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes and Alienware’s latest flagship gaming laptop receiving significant improvements from its predecessor.
In my review of the M15 R3 last year, I equated it to a sportscar. Like the 911 GT3, both ‘tick all the right boxes when it comes to serving their purpose, while also offering something extra for other â€˜normalâ€™ tasks’. Still going with the sportscar theme, where do I put this year’s version then?
Thanks to the awesome folks at Dell, we were able to test the latest Alienware M15 Ryzen R5 edition not only on how it is able to run all the latest games releases, but also how it functions as a daily driver.
The unit we were given was powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics 3.30 GHz processor. With 16GB worth of RAM onboard and a disgustingly powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, it’s quite obvious this machine is more than capable of handling your daily routine.

AMD Ryzenâ„¢ 9 5900HX
NVIDIAÂ® GeForce RTXâ„¢ 3070 8GB GDDR6;
16GB, 8GBx2, DDR4, 3200MHz;
15.6-in. display;
1TB PCIe M.2 SSD

In between that, weighing at a mere 2.44kgs (according to my kitchen scale), the M15 R5 should be the most wieldy Alienware to date. Like last year’s model, add in the power brick and you’ll tip the scale over 3kgs but that is still a big deal. Laptops are meant to be portable, yet many makers seem to forget this important point.

The fact that the engineers at Dell were able to cram so much power into so little space should not be understated.
Style and Substance
Looks wise, I am glad that days of the garish and aggressive lines seen on the outer shell of a gaming laptop are long gone. The newer M-line gaming laptops sport a sleek look that’ll effortlessly blend in with other ‘more corporate’ looking machines whilst comfortably outperforming each and every competitor.
No longer sporting chunky profiles that’ll make a classic video cassette tape rewinder blush, modern Alienware laptops have grown sleeker by the year and the same goes with this latest version. Stylish and elegant, the modern build of the M15 R5 still carries the signature Alienware ‘alien head’ logo on the power button and back cover.
Want to blend in? Easy. Turning off the light-up features and suddenly you don’t look out of place in a room filled with C-level executives.
Dell heeded our need for more ports by including the following ports:

RJ45 Ethernet port
3.5mm jack
USB 3.2 Gen 1 port (x2)
USB 3.2 Gen 1 port (with power share)
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort
HDMI port

Flanking the front-facing camera are two microphones while the RGB Infrared camera and emitters are optional additions. Sound-wise, two side-firing speakers are situated under the keyboards.Â Speaking of the keyboards; if it ain’t broken, why fix it, right? Just like last year’s model, the keyboards on the M15 R5 are a joy to type on.
So with all that power and the potential under the hood paired with a relatively lightweight construction, I come to a conclusion for its supercar equivalent – it’s the Bugatti Chiron.
‘Ryzen’ d’etre
Just like the Chiron when it comes to the M15 R5, it’s very hard to ask for more once it’s in your hands. Hereon, jumping back to its closest contemporaries are significant downgrades.
Dell’s website claims that the M15 R5 achieved a 3DMark Time Spy score ofÂ 8620 which mean it is able to run games at 60 FPS or more at 1440p resolution with highest graphics settings. The same site also claims that you are able to hit the following frames for the following titles;

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: 150+FPS (Full HD 1080p)/ 90+FPS (4K)
League of Legends: 250+FPS(Full HD 1080p)/ 230+FPS (4K)
Fortnite: 270+FPS(Full HD 1080p)/ 110+FPS (4K)
PUBG: 140+(Full HD 1080p)/ 90+FPS (4K)

For those wondering, you get a 1080p screen out of the box and 165 Hz refresh rate by default. If you have some extra cash to spare, you can consider upgrading it to a QHD panel with 240 Hz and G-Sync support.
We ran the M15 R5 through its paces with whatever AAA-title we were able to get our hands on, including unreleased ones in the form of Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 2042 beta and the machine took it like a champ.
In addition to that, this system also exceeds the recommended hardware requirements and testing (maintaining 90FPS) for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
The machine remains oh so quiet even when pushed and runs significantly cooler too. You’d be forgiven to think you are working on an ultrabook to be honest.
The only downside thing with all this power is that, I have nothing left to blame when I get steamrolled in multiplayer games!
Rounding up the Ryzen Edition
If you are in search for a portable gaming rig that’ll not just take, but conveniently gobble up whatever game you throw its way without any much as a hitch (and you happen to have a cool RM10k budget set aside), this is the machine you should really consider. Yep. We aren’t hiding the fact that it is an expensive gaming machine even more with the current state of the economy but once you take future-proofing into consideration, the M15 R5 suddenly starting to sound like a decent deal.
The performance warrants the price and you’ll end up with more. It is easily the most ‘plug and play’ gaming laptop we’ve used to date. Leave the worrying of whether you’ll hit over 120FPS for any particular game, or if you aren’t fretting over the starting price tag of RM7,699.
Pros

Easily one of if not the most powerful gaming laptop in the market
By far the prettiest looking gaming laptop
Awesome keyboards – same as last year
Complete overall package

Cons

Still disgustingly expensive.

Final Score: 90/100

Vital Statistics
Screen: 15.6in 1,920 x 1,080 Nvidia G-Sync 165Hz IPS.
Processor: 3.2GHz AMD Ryzen 78 5800H.
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop 6GB.
Memory: 16GB 3,200MHz DDR4.
Storage: 512GB Kioxia SSD.
Ports: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C/DisplayPort, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x audio jack.


Marvel’s Avengers Assembles In Xbox Game Pass Tomorrow

Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ Black Panther War For Wakanda launched last month and now the game is coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC, Console, and Cloud on 30 September 2021 (via Xbox).
Every player with an Xbox Game Pass membership can experience the full game and all our post-launch Heroes and missions. This includes four-story campaigns that showcase one or more Heroâ€™s unique abilities, as well as our Avengers Initiative â€“ our evolving online multiplayer world that lets you and three friends play as any Hero in our roster and embark on global adventures.

Xbox Game Pass members will also have immediate access to our newÂ War for WakandaÂ expansion, featuring our new playable Hero, Black Panther, and hours of new multiplayer and story content. InÂ War for Wakanda, King Tâ€™Challa faces his greatest challenge yet when Ulysses Klaue infiltrates Wakanda to steal its precious Vibranium. Tâ€™Challa wonâ€™t be able to defeat his enemy alone; heâ€™ll need to team up with the Avengers and confront his distrust of outsiders if he hopes to protect his kingdom.
Beyond this expansion,Â Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ is an evolving game with ongoing updates that add new playable Heroes, missions, villains, campaigns, and events â€“ and Xbox Game Pass members will get to experience all of it! If youâ€™re gaming on Xbox Series X|S, youâ€™ll get to play the optimized version ofÂ Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ to take advantage of faster load times and higher frame rates resulting in a smoother gameplay experience.Â Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ also supports Smart Delivery, giving you the best version of the game automatically delivered to your console, regardless of generation, with no extra steps required from you.
The game’s One-Year Anniversary Celebration for Marvelâ€™s Avengers is winding down with a Quad XP event from 30 September to 4 October 2021. Playing missions during this time earns you quadruple experience, so you can level up your Heroes quickly! Our Hero Catalyst XP Boosters are additive to the 4x boost during this event.
However, it’s important to note thatÂ Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ with Xbox Game PassÂ does notÂ include the eight cosmetic items found in the digital-onlyÂ Endgame Edition. You can purchase theÂ Marvelâ€™s Avengers Endgame Edition DLC UpgradeÂ on the Xbox Store andÂ Marvelâ€™s AvengersÂ in-game marketplace.


Loot River Mixes Platform-Shifting & Action RPGing For Fun & Profit

Platform(s): PC (version played), Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5
Genre: Top-down action RPG roguelike with platform-shifting mechanic
If you need a bit more puzzles to deal with in your next roguelike action RPG of choice, you may want to consider Loot River as your next choice. Developer Straka.Studio may have reinvigorated the indie random level “one death and you restart” hack-and-slash gameplay with the addition of moveable platforms and pieces.
Deep Water

In Loot River, you do all your fighting in top down 2D action glory. You slash, you melee, you dodge, and you can parry attacks while casting a few spells here and there. The kicker is that you need to traverse from platform to platform to get to the end of the level you’re in. You use the right analog stick to move the platform you’re on. These platforms come in a variety of shapes and sizes: t-blocks, 1×1 blocks, giant blocks with ascending/descending stairs, and a ton more. And yes, elevation does matter so you need to find correct platforms at times to cross the ones higher/lower than the current one you’re on.
You can take combat tactics and use them with the platforming moving and traversing mechanics; when there are too many enemy mobs to deal with on one platform, you can just go to an empty platform and run away. Of course, the game’s old city and ruin setting will screw you over at times with platforms can catch on fire, and platforms that get locked into place thanks to certain enemies, preventing your escape. Heck, certain enemies can push and pull all available platforms, which can either keep you away or pull you into a situation where a horde of exploding critters can easily overwhelm you.
Challenge-wise, Loot River gets pretty tough from the get-go. And in roguelike fashion, if you die at any time, you restart the run and have to do it all over again. But the more you explore Loot River’s creepy and gothic underground river-dominating world, the more you want to keep pressing on and getting through with at least a few good runs. Stage modifiers can be unlocked, making the next run either manageable or challenging depending on what you use. These can range from modifiers that give you an extra potion or a stage modifier that either adds a new boss or weakens existing ones.
Murky Depths
There are a ton of paths and secrets to uncover, which would lead you to conclude that you need to finish the game in a specific pathway to get the true conclusion and escape the hellhole you’re stuck in. That’s the fun part about Loot River: discovering new techniques, weapons, and even new currency to unlock new weapons, armour, and spells to help you in your next run or so. There’s no way in heck you’ll get through the game in one run when you start: playing through the game and getting the hang of the platform-moving mechanics is key in prolonging your survival in each of your runs.
It’s a shame that parts of the game feel a bit unfinished, particular with some of the boss fights and enemy battles. Without going into spoilers, some of the bigger enemies “home” and “latch” onto you, some smaller enemies end up being invincible, but they can’t hurt you. And one of the bosses will keep doing the same attack if you go back and forth at a particular spot. Of course, you need to fight this boss fair and square to get the best run time, but there are a huge number of opportunities to cheese through the game. It also “helps” that the parry window is pretty generous even at the current base stat for your character, so you can parry enemies and deal big damage easily.
There’s also the elephant in the room to deal with: sometimes it can be hard to see what’s going on when the action gets too frenetic. Unless you’ve played through the game a huge number of times, it’s hard to see what animation your enemies get into for parrying and dodging purposes. And a huge number of platforms sometimes have debris that’s unnecessarily put there just to screw up your movement and dodging. I’ve lost plenty of times because I couldn’t dodge over debris that’s blocking my path away from a big enemy swing.
Wherever You’re Goin’, I’m Goin’ Your Way

Loot River is a heckuva fun time if you don’t mind squinting your eyes every once in a while to see your player character doing his action RPG thing. The concept of moving platforms you’re on with the right analog stick while simultaneously attacking enemies on-screen, adjusting your positioning or even hightailing it when the action gets too hot, is overall exhilarating. With a few improvements and tweaks, as well as a way to enlarge some of the action, we could have a breakthrough roguelike addition that could go toe-to-toe with the likes of Hades.
Still, being second place isn’t so bad when you have a neat Tetris-like concept to play around with.
Pros

Creative mix of platform-moving and action RPGing.
Fun bosses to fight.
Great depths to explore with tons of atmosphere.
Lovely aesthetics…

Cons

…which gets indistinguishable at times.
Boss AI sometimes konks out on you, making fights too easy.

Final Score: 80/100


Katamari Damacy Spiritual Successor Wattam Unveils Release Date

It’s been a while since we last saw experienced the chill yet utterly ridiculous gameplay of the Katamari series. The last Katamari game released was last year’s Katamari Damacy Reroll, a HD remaster of the original PS2 game. I’m happy to report that we will be getting something new very soon.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-g17qXExak&w=560&h=315]
Publisher Annapurna Interactive has just released the Release Date Trailer for Wattam, an upcoming PS4 and PC game designed by the director of the original Katamari Damacy Keita Takahashi. The game will be released on 17 December 2019 and can now be pre-ordered on the PlayStation Store and the Epic Games Store.
Wattam is a game about making friends with everything in the world, and I mean everything. From trees, flowers, rocks, to even poop, you will be holding the hands of many creatures and objects in the world who each sing their very own melodies. It can be played solo or co-op. It’s definitely up there with Death Stranding in terms of people not understanding it.


Mary Elizabeth Winstead Joins Star Wars’ Ahsoka In Mystery Role

The Disney+ Star Wars series Ahsoka is shaping up to be featuring the most star-studded cast yet. Now, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is joining the cast of the upcoming series (via The Hollywood Reporter), which will focus on fan-favourite character and former Jedi, Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson).
Winstead will be joining a cast already boasting the likes of Hayden Christensen (who will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader) and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren. There were also rumours circulating last year that Lars Mikkelsen would be portraying the live-action version of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
However, her role is being kept secret as of now, which likely means that it will be a character we’ve never seen before in live-action. Many fans are speculating that Mary Elizabeth Winstead might be playing none other than Doctor Aphra, who is an archaeologist in the Star Wars universe. Think Indiana Jones or Nathan Drake or Lara Croft, but with more questionable morals and methods.
Since originally debuting in the pages of Marvel Comics’ Darth Vader #3 in 2015, she’s since starred in her own ongoing solo series and has been a fan-favourite. She’s also one of the first openly queer lead characters in the Star Wars universe. The Wookie bounty hunter Black Krrsantan who recently appeared in The Book Of Boba Fett also originated from the comics, so it’s highly likely that Doctor Aphra will be next.
Star Wars’ Ahsoka will begin production in California in spring 2022, with Star Wars maestro Dave Filoni writing the series and Jon Favreau acting as executive producer.


Worlds 2019 Group Stage Roundup & Playoffs Preview

The League of Legends World Champion (Worlds) 2019 group stages have concluded yesterday. From 12 October to 20 October 2019 at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin, 16 teams battled to become the top 8 teams that will qualify to the playoffs.
Let’s see who made it and who didn’t.
GG Southeast Asia
Unfortunately, no teams from Southeast Asia made it into the top 8. It was hoped MEGA would rise up this year and bring back the skills that the former Bangkok Titans players showed previously but they got eliminated in the play-ins.
Matches in the group stages were played in a best of one format. Top two teams would make it into the playoffs while the bottom two teams are eliminated. Four of the teams below qualified from the play-ins while the other twelve are direct entries.
Group A
Griffin – 5-1
G2 Esports – 5-1
Cloud 9 – 2-4
Hong Kong Attitude – 0-6
Tiebreaker winner – Griffin
Group B
FunPlus Phoenix – 4-2
Splyce – 4-2
J Team – 3-3
GAM Esports – 1-5
Tiebreaker winner – FunPlus Phoenix
Group C
SK Telecom T1 – 5-1
Fnatic – 4-2
Royal Never Give Up – 3-3
Clutch Gaming – 0-6
Group D
DAMWON Gaming – 5-1
Invictus Gaming – 4-2
Team Liquid – 3-3
AHQ e-Sports Club – 0-6
Out of last year’s top 4 teams, only Cloud9 is the only one not to make it into this year’s playoffs. There’s a good chance we’ll be seeing Invictus and Fnatic meet up in the grand finals again this year, seeing as how they’re both set to meet each other if they can each win against their first opponents at the playoffs.

T1 has been showing a very strong performance this year and a lot of fans are expecting them to show up at the grand finals, possibly against DAMWON who beat Invictus when they meet at the Group Stage.
For more news and updates on Worlds 2019, stay tuned on Kakuchopurei.


Kickstarter For A Call of Duty Tabletop Game To Launch This Fall

Arcane Wonders, the developer of popular board games like Sheriff of Nottingham and The Dice Tower Essentials, has announced that it will release Call of Duty: The Board Game. The game is designed to recreate the experience of playing the video game and will feature combat, movement, and line-of-sight mechanics.
It will come with large-scale miniatures and be set in the era of the 2019 reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The game will be available for purchase in retail stores worldwide by 2024, but before that, it will be launched on Kickstarter this fall.
The base game, which will be for two players, is expected to cost US$50, and multiple sets can be combined for four-player matches. The developers have emphasized that this is not a rehash of any particular title in the series.
Instead, it is a new entry in the long history of Call of Duty, and it will continue to grow and expand with its player base. In addition to the competitive and tournament styles of play, cooperative campaigns will be created for the game in the future.
Traditionally, adapting first-person shooter mechanics to a board game has been challenging for designers, but Arcane Wonders is confident that it has found a solution. Players will simultaneously plan out their moves secretly and then resolve them at the same time out on the map. Line of sight is easily determined by coloured lines on the map, and when players have eyes on their opponent, combat happens. The goal is to outsmart and outmanoeuvre your opponent to get in the best possible position to win in a fight.
Arcane Wonders will use a crowdfunding platform to generate capital to launch the game, which is common in the tabletop industry for projects of this scale and profile. The initial crowdfunding campaign will be for a special collector’s edition of the game, which will include more than the final retail product. Additional content will be made available during the campaign and will also be broken up in the later retail releases as separate products. Fans can sign up to be notified at launch on the game’s official website.


The Next Darksiders Game Is A Diablo Clone With Platforming(?)

Hope you like more action RPGs, Darksiders fans, because you’re getting one.
THQ Nordic and Battle Chasers: Nightwar devs Airship Syndicate (ie the one with Joe Madureira) will be creating a spin-off called Darksiders: Genesis, which takes place before the events of the original Darksiders. It’ll be out on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Google Stadia; no confirmed date yet though.
Based on the teaser gameplay alone, you’ll be using Horseman War and Strife to fight a ton of demons and whatnot in action RPG glory, with some hints of platforming and exploration. Sounds wicked!
Check out the trailer and screenshots below:


Hellboy Is A Fun And Gory Tribute For Fans Of The Comics

It’s almost impossible to avoid comparing the reboot of a franchise to that which came before, which in this case refers to Neil Marshall’s 2019 Hellboy reboot and Guillermo Del Toro’s two Hellboy movies in 2004 and 2008. As a fan of the comics, it’s hard not to be pleased when a comic book adaptation attempts to be closer and more faithful to the source material.
However, the challenging part of making a comic book movie is to balance the act of appeasing both fans of the source material and casual movie audiences who aren’t familiar with the source material without alienating one or the other.

2019’s Hellboy movie is more of the former than the latter, which is good or bad depending on which demographic you belong to.

A Love Letter For The Fans

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola was more involved in the making of the movie this time around, and it definitely shows in the new Hellboy movie. Del Toro took a lot of liberties when he made his Hellboy movies, especially the second one (Hellboy II: The Golden Army), which was not based on any of the comics at all.

In comparison, Neil Marshall’s Hellboy is a treasure trove of comic book references and easter eggs, as well as a faithful adaptation (to a certain level) of Hellboy’s most iconic story arc from the comics.

The very first moment that viewers meet Hellboy in the movie is essentially one big excuse for an easter egg in itself, taking place in Mexico and featuring the bat-creature from the trailers. That’s only one example that I can mention without spoiling the movie, but I can tell you that those who are familiar with the source material will have a great time appreciating all everything they’ve managed to cram into this movie.

There are certain scenes and even specific lines of dialogue that are ripped straight from the pages of the Hellboy comics. Case in point, Thomas Haden Church’s role as the pulp-inspired vigilante Lobster Johnson was clearly added into the movie just because the character is considered to be a fan favourite, despite the fact that he contributed almost nothing to move the plot forward.

I also liked that David Harbour’s Hellboy is an experienced paranormal investigator with existing enemies and established history. The easiest comparison would have to be Ben Affleck’s Batman in the DC Extended Universe, where, by the time audiences were introduced to him in Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice, was already a veteran hero with an established history that was never revealed on-screen.
… Not So Much For Casual Viewers

Unfortunately, Hellboy’s strongest point is also its weakness. There are major issues with the plot pacing in the new Hellboy movie, which is exacerbated if the viewer isn’t a fan of the comics. The movie’s story flows in such a way that it seems like it expects viewers to already have a decent knowledge of Hellboy beforehand.
The movie moves from scene to scene frantically, rushing through them with some scenes almost entirely shot for exposition purposes. It bombards viewers with new characters without explaining their backstories, like the antagonist Baba Yaga. There’s little to no context for certain actions taken by some of the characters, somehow expecting viewers to fill in the blanks instead.

This is the drawback for the movie’s eagerness to adapt the source material, resulting in alienating normal audiences who probably won’t understand much of it. However, it’s actually something that could have been prevented if the movie didn’t try to cram in years worth of Hellboy stories in one single movie.

It’s as if the director and screenwriters were afraid that the movie won’t receive a sequel, so they decide to put all their apples in one basket, but how can that be when the movie has not one but two post-credit scenes heavily indicating at possible sequels. The same overzealousness and inability to take things slow led to the DCEU’s early downfall. Hellboy is repeating the same mistakes.
Ron Perlman, who?

If you think that no one can ever replace Ron Perlman as Hellboy, be prepared to be proven wrong by David Harbour’s excellent portrayal of Big Red.

There’s a reason why he was personally chosen by Mignola himself to play the part. Harbour’s Hellboy is perhaps more prone to emotional outbursts but remains the wise-cracking carefree character we all know and love.

Ian McShane is amazing as Hellboy’s adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenholm, and their relationship makes up the emotional crux of the movie. You see, Hellboy doesn’t have a romantic interest in the new movie. There’s no Liz Sherman this time around, so at least we don’t have to put up with Hellboy brooding over relationship problems like he did in the Del Toro movies.
While Milla Jovovich’s Nimue the Blood Queen is quite good as the movie’s main antagonist, it’s the witch Baba Yaga who actually steals the show. The phenomenal practical effects and menacing (not to mention creepy) portrayal of the witch from Russian folklore left more of a lasting impression on me than Nimue did.
Still Fun And Gory As Hell

Pardon the pun, but despite everything I’ve mentioned above, Hellboy is ultimately a fun movie, which makes full use of its R rating to insert dirty jokes and the gloriously graphic levels of gore. The ‘F’ word gets used a lot, and heads are always getting smashed or decapitated. Some might find the gore a bit distasteful and gratuitous, but they’re never overwhelming.
I do have to applaud the action scenes, especially one that involved Hellboy fighting giants. The fight was dynamic and exciting, with lots of gore and unconventional camera work. The action, in general, works pretty well, though the movie’s choice of music accompanying these scenes could have been more inspired.

If you can get past the horrid pacing and how the entire film feelsÂ  stitched-up like a Frankenstein’s Monster of a script, you’ll find an occasionally funny and fun movie inside. Ultimately though, the new Hellboy movie is a movie for the fans and endorsed by the creator of the comics himself.

We need to show the world that comic book adaptations can be more than just Marvel, DC, or superheroes. Who better to do that than Hellboy, one of the most successful indie creator-owned comic book characters of all time?
FINAL SCORE: 70/100
Super Sapiens Hellboy opens in Malaysian cinemas on 11 April 2018. We caught the movie on TGV Cinemas Samsung Onyx Hall at Central i-City via press screening, courtesy of TGV Cinemas Sdn. Bhd.


Gamescom Asia Signs In Razer As Official Esports Partner

It looks like Gamescom Asia’s esports arm is getting the green-and-black-coloured boost it needs.
Organizers Koelnmesse will be teaming up with major peripheral company Razer for next year’s Gamescom Asia video game expo. This partnership will make sure that the esports bit of this Gamescom expo will get the stakeholders it needs to fund the entire thing.
And also help the “growth of the regional esports community” which we hope stretches beyond Singapore. And also get competitors to use Razer’s plethora of keyboards, mice, and competitive gaming products. Exposure, right?
Here’s a quip from Koelnmesse’s managing director Mathias Kuepper:

“This partnership is the perfect opportunity to bring a unique consumer experience to Gamescom Asia, and we are excited to have Razer on-board as our first official esports partner. Together, we will scale-up the playing field for the gaming industry in the region.”

And here’s one PR quote from Razer global esports director David Tse.

“This is an incredible moment for the gaming event landscape in the region, and we invite gamers, communities and partners to join us in support of Gamescom Asia 2020. GamescomÂ is the worldâ€™s biggest gaming event and weâ€™re thrilled to partner Koelnmesse to transform the face of esports in this region.”

Gamescom Asia will be on 15th to 18th October 2020 and will be held in Singapore. For more on Gamescom Asia and whether it’s a good idea or not in this day and age, head here.Â


What Are Aim Trainers and How Do They Work?

What is an aim trainer?

In the realm of first-person shooter games, aiming is the main technique that is always highlighted and is the easiest to notice. From flashy flicks to crazy team kills, having good aiming mechanics tends to be a key focus for a lot of players of the FPS genre, but a good question to ask is: “How do I even train my aim properly?”. You may see videos all over YouTube and think that these aim gods have pure talent, but it all comes from proper practice, technique and dedication. However, one easy way to get this training done is by utilizing an aim training software.
An aim trainer is a software that is focused on teaching and training mechanics that are found in first-person shooter games. They tend to mimic or simulate specific games and allow you to copy settings from your game of choice in order to train yourself in that specific game. Aim Labs and Kovaak’s are the most popular aim trainers currently as they are developed by players of the games that they help to train, which include simulations and training exercises based on scenarios in the games themselves.

How are they supposed to work?
The main focus of aim trainers is building and strengthening muscle memory through repetition. Taking a specific training exercise and repeating it over and over to improve that specific skill over time. This can help to either learn a new mechanic or improve on the mechanics you already know, which can include specific scenarios in the game of your choice. Speaking of which, aim trainers also use tools such as custom scenarios based on the game that you play, specific tasks focused on types of aim, which I will explain in a later section, and also give you data such as reaction time, which side of the screen is your weaker side and your previous scores to give an accurate tracker of progress. Overall, they can act as either a benchmark, trainer or both depending on how you use them.

What are the actual benefits of aim training?

While it’s easy to look at clips like this famous clip by pro Valorant player TenZ and think that you have to aim like that to be good, you can easily build consistent and clean aim without the insanely flashy flicks and crazy shots all the time. Aim training focuses on this consistency and, as previously mentioned, aim training uses repetition to train muscle memory, which makes you a more consistent player. If used effectively, it can also train things such as your reflexes, which can improve brain health as a whole outside of gaming. Training general aiming skills also makes each new game easier to pick up from the get-go, as you have the basic aim mechanics down, making transitioning between games much easier. Even if you don’t switch games though, aim training properly allows you to be more in tune with the game that you play, which can improve performance and even make it more fun to play. On top of that, you will guarantee long-term improvement just by training and playing consistently, which helps quite a lot when it comes to FPS games or gaming as a whole.

What do Aim Trainers Help to Train?

When it comes to aiming, there are two main types of aim that all players will train, which are flicking and tracking. Flicking refers to the fast movements of the mouse, flicking from one target to another or quickly flicking from one position to another. While this is the flashier of the two aim types, it tends to be the more inconsistent one as you rely on your speed and reactions every time you flick. Flicking is an important skill to have but you should not rely on just flicking in order to aim.

On the other hand, tracking focused on stability and holding your focus on a specific target, keeping your crosshair lined up with them perfectly. Tracking tests your hand-eye coordination as well as your focus levels, as you need to follow the moving target perfectly in order to achieve good tracking. The best aimers in the world have a good balance between good tracking skills and fast flicking reaction time, in order to adapt to any aiming situation that comes up.
However, there are a few other factors that affect aiming that also need to be trained and these aim trainers have plenty of exercises focusing on these factors as well. The simplest of these factors is clicking and reaction time, which is purely based on the speed that you can react to different things happening on screen and click in reaction to them. This tends to be targets popping up randomly, changing targets quickly or reacting to a change of environment. Reaction time tends to improve over time as your brain gets used to the types of information that it is processing, which leads to cognition. Cognition is actually processing the information that you see and knowing what to respond with.

A good example of exercise training is having both red and blue targets popping up and you are only meant to shoot the red targets. This trains you to react to the correct targets, making cleaner and easier decisions during gameplay and allowing you to be more efficient in the heat of the moment. When it comes to cognition, this is also trained by repetition naturally as your brain learns patterns and visual stimuli to process, but movement and strafing are something that requires practice. Movement is the only aiming factor that heavily depends on the game you play, as the movement speed and mechanics work differently from game to game.
This is why there are specific aim routines and exercises based on each specific game, in order to be the most accurate training possible. Movement is very important as you need to be able to coordinate your left and right hands at the same time so that you can properly get those kills in game while, well, not dying.

What is the most effective way to aim train?

Simply put, the ideal way to aim train is to do it regularly, without overdoing it either. You should have a set routine or playlist that you use to warm up before playing and then maybe a smaller routine to do after you’re done for the day. I recommend using a warmup routine or playlist that has been tested by others as this will make sure that you are focusing on the right things.
The ideal warmup and aim routine tends to be based on the RAMP protocol. RAMP means Raise, Activate, Mobilize, Potentiate and the RAMP protocol is a warm-up structure that has been proposed by Dr. Ian Jeffreys, a sports scientist and author of “The Warm Up” book. According to Dr. Jeffreys, the “RAMP” protocol is designed to optimize the contribution of each element of the warm-up to the overall process and to improve both short-term performance and long-term skill development. You can find a full Google Document detailing this whole routine, in the context of Valorant.
The routine focuses on slowly focusing on slowly warming up each sector of aiming in your brain, starting with precision and accuracy, then speed, then warming up your cognition properly before testing them all at once. This is an effective warmup that helps to put your mind in the right place and be warmed up before hopping into your next game. Warming up regularly also helps to make sure your performance is consistent, which is why a warmup like this is ideal.

Conclusion

So, overall, aim trainers are a really great way to level up your gameplay and improve consistently. If you love FPS games, then the benefits aim trainers give you may be hard to ignore, considering that a proper warmup or aim routine only takes an extra 15-20 minutes before you play. Not only does it improve how well you do in the game but it can also make the game itself more fun, removing the frustration of doing badly every game. I hope this helped to break down the basics of aim trainers and maybe it will help you improve in games too! If you want to learn more about Valorant specifically, you can check out my basic guide to the roles of Valorant agents!

You can find my recommended aim training resources below:
Aim Labs, which is free to play and available either on their website or Steam page.
Kovaak’s, which is paid and available on their Steam page.
RAMP Valorant Warmup for Aim Labs
Kovaak’s iiTzTimmy Warmup


E3 2019: We Have A Sequel To PC Darling Evil Genius, 15 Years Later

Back in 2004, cult-classic villain simulator Evil Genius impressed a lot of strategy and sim fans with its unique stylings and humour. Fast forward 15 years later, we now get a sequel courtesy of this year’s E3 PC Gaming Show.
The sequel will have you playing a villainous super-genius hell-bent on taking over the world. You’ll have an army of henchmen, a base under a volcano, setting up traps like tripwires, giant fans, and even traps with pools filled with man-eating sharks. You’ll have to plan out your world domination missions so you need to keep your base and resources in tip-top shape.
The devs are quick to point out that this isn’t going to be like the F2P mobile game Evil Genius Online. “Weâ€™d like to make this super-duper clear â€” this isnâ€™t a remaster.Â Evil Genius 2Â will be a fully-fledged sequel and it wonâ€™t be free-to-play.” There’s no release date yet, so keep yourself entertained with the trailer for now. Go to evilgeniusgame.com and sign up for a chance to win closed beta access.


Even Domino’s Is Taking A Potshot At Apex Legends’ Mozambique

As if the Mozambique shotgun isn’t weak enough, Domino’s Pizza Malaysia has fired shots aimed at the weakest gun in the Apex Legends weapon arsenal.

Oh, wait until you read the comments. They are hilarious!
One user commented, “Even the pizza can deal more damage than the Mozambique”. Another user referred to the game’s stellar ping system saying “Dominos pizza here”, “Dibs”. Some even say that ‘Domino’s chilli flakes can beat the Mozambique’. I couldn’t blame Domino’s for that low blow, as the Mozambique is barely an adequate weapon even in early game fights.
Hey, want to know which weapon is top tier in-game? We have them listed right here!


KKP Best Of 2020: Game #14

For more 2020 best games content, head here.
#14: Granblue Fantasy Versus (PS4, PC)

It’s slim pickings for fighting games this year, unless you count season passes for Tekken 7 and new expansions for Mortal Kombat 11 and Street Fighter 5. But our lone pick, Granblue Fantasy Versus, is impressive on its own merits.
For casual players, you have a 2D fighting game with easy inputs, a fighting game engine that prioritizes fundamentals of fighting games over intricate combos, a lovely art style and background music, and a variety of characters to pick from (especially with Season 2 out). For seasoned fighting game veterans, the character choices and playstyles here are pretty meaty, from rushdown characters to zoners, with a grappler and heavy hitter added in for good measure.
GBVS is clearly meant to bring both amateurs and veterans together with its RPG and versus/online modes. While I do wish the game’s DLC practice of charging a lot for season passes need to stop, it nonetheless fills the niche of new fighting game for players to experiment and play with. Coupled with a nice RPG story mode with nifty bosses to fight against, and you’re in for an anime fighter treat.
Besides, what the hell else are you going to play competitively this year: My Hero’s One Justice 2 and One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows? Please… you have to be a sellout of an awards show to validate those “fighting” games in your 2020 nomination list.


Let’s Talk About That Mandalorian Season Finale Bombshell [Spoilers]

Before we start answering the headline above, here’s a quick review of The Mandalorian season finale and penultimate episode: it’s good stuff.
We get an epic fight, a helluva sacrifice from a few returning characters, a nice ending to a lovely season, and brings in the ever-charismatic Giancarlo Esposito to play a possible lingering Imperial threat in the form of Moff Gideon. Also, we get to learn the Mandalorian’s real name which we will reveal after these spoiler tags.
Speaking of which, that ending for the season finale may raise a few questions for many who aren’t up-to-date with their Star Wars TV knowledge.

The season one finale of The Mandalorian, “Redemption”, ended with Moff Gideon cutting his way out of his crashed TIE fighter.
What did he use? A Darksaber.Â

So is it a specially-customized lightsaber? Far from it; it’s an ancient Mandalorian weapon made up by Dave Filoni and George Lucas in the animated TV shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. It’s a melee weapon that can deflect lightsaber blades and has a big significance in Mandalorian culture and history. So in a world where Jedis and Siths exist, it’s a pretty nifty thing to have.
If you want to find out more about the Darksaber or see it in action, you may want to check out the following episodes from each respective series. After all, Moff Gideon isn’t the first owner of this legendary weapon.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

“The Mandalore Plot”, “Voyage of Temptation”, “Duchess of Mandalore” – You get to see Death Watch commander Pre Vizsla (voiced by The Mandalorian series overseer Jon Favreau) use it in a duel, and find out what makes it special.

“Eminence”, “Shades of Reason”, “The Lawless” – Pre Vislaze wields it again to emphasize his rule over Mandalore in this story arc. He and his Death Watch teams up with Darth Maul and his brother Savage Opress. That alliance doesn’t last, as Maul kills Vislaze in a duel and then claims the Darksaber for himself.
Star Wars: Rebels

“Visions and Voices” – Darth Maul uses the Darksaber as a way to lure main character Ezra Bridger to the Dark Side. Oh, and it also ends up in the hands of Mandalorian Sabine Wren, another mainstay of the series.
“Trials of the Darksaber”, “Legacy of Mandalore” – Sabine Wren wields it in these two episodes, and even uses it as a symbol to inspire her race to overthrow their Imperial subjugators. Not only that, it also reveals the blade’s origin: it was the weapon of the first-ever Mandalorian Jedi.
Yes, that is a thing.

“Heroes of Mandalore: Part 1/Part 2” – Sabine and her family rally the Mandalorian Houses together against the Empire with some help from her Rebel friends. After she wins, she passes over the Darksaber to a new owner to continue the Mandalorian rule.
So something happened between the end of Star Wars: Rebels and The Mandalorian that made the weapon reach Moff Gideon’s hands. Also, this could mean that our current fallible Mandalorian Din Djarin may eventually wield it and use it as a symbol of unity. Or to just cut things up for fun, who knows?
The second season of The Mandalorian will be showing late 2020 on Disney+, which may be out in Southeast Asia around that period.


Devil May Cry Dante VO Might Be In Hot Water With Capcom; Here’s Why

Last week, Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol while the Congress was in session to verify Joe Biden’s victory in last year’s U.S. elections. After the event, Devil May Cry‘s Dante and Street Fighter‘s Ken voice actor Reuben Langdon shared several videos.
These videos seemed to be comparing the rioters of the U.S. Capitol to the 2020 protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. In a tweet several days ago, Langdon apparently called those who criticized the U.S. Capitol rioters to be hypocrites. In another post on the same day, he posted another video containing a quote from Martin Luther King.

Hypocrisy will be their downfall. Watch and learn before you make any knee jerk reactions. https://t.co/O3zoQ1qzwc
— ?????? ??????? (@ReubenLangdon) January 8, 2021

Since his posts garnered backlash from the online community, Langdon has since clarified his stance on the matter via a statement to Video Games Chronicle. He said:
â€œI have never supported the violence in the capital or Trump or his supporters.
I shared no such content.
Please point out where I did and Iâ€™d be happy to apologize and take it down.
I am making reference to the double standards of the media, the hypocrisy of it all, and the blatant attack on the US Constitution. The storming of the capital was a disgrace to the USA.
In no way do I or have I ever supported their behavior or any which incites violence or damage to property.
Those responsible will be held accountable by law.
This is about freedom of speech.
And the hypocrisy of the media.â€
In the light of the aforementioned events, Devil May Cry and Street Fighter developer Capcom has also distanced itself from the posts made by Langdon. In a statement to Video Games Chronicle, a company spokesperson said:
â€œThe views expressed by Langdon do not reflect those of Capcom.â€
As of now, it remains to be seen what further actions Capcom will make in regards to Reuben Langdon in the near future. Both Devil May Cry and Street Fighter are two of the company’s biggest franchises, and they wouldn’t want to be associated with someone who has a tarnished reputation.
In other related news, Devil May Cry 5‘s Griffon voice actor Brad Venable recently passed away at the age of 43.


[Report] Warner Bros. Working On Multiversus Fighting Game; Features Batman, Shaggy, Gandalf

The 2D arena brawler is going to get a bit crowded if this recent rumour is true.
Warner Bros. is working on a 2D platformer fighting game that is similar to the Super Smash Bros. series and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. The game will be called MultiVersus (via Reddit).
The game will be worked on by a Warner Bros. in-house studio; it will not be worked on by fighting game developer NetherRealm Studios.
Characters-wise, here’s an alleged leaked screencap of the game’s current roster from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate pro gamer Juan Manuel “Hungrybox” DeBiedma. The characters in the roster are:

Superman
Steven Universe
Finn (Adventure Time)
Jake the Dog (Adventure Time)
Batman
Harley Quinn
Superman
Wonder Woman
Gandalf The Grey
Rick Sanchez (Rick & Morty)
Bugs Bunny
Tom & Jerry
Shaggy (from Scooby-Doo)
A new character – a bear with antlers

y’all thought I was lying, huh?
Warner Bros Multiversus
Character select screen. There seem to be levels and fighter type icons
-Stephen Universe-Adventure Time-Batman / Harley Quinn-Superman / WW-Gandalf -Rick & Morty -Tom & Jerry-Bugs Bunny-New Char (top left) pic.twitter.com/laYwgn4kiv
— hungrybox ?? Regen ?? (@LiquidHbox) October 27, 2021

Other characters in the game include Mad Max, Fred Flintstone, and Johnny Bravo. There’s probably a good chance the game will be showcased at the PlayStation State of Play later at 5am today; until then, take all of this with a grain of salt.


Apex Legends Reveal Loba’s Teleportation Abilities In New Trailer

Apex Legends is officially kicking off Season 5: Fortuneâ€™s Favor on 12 May 2020, and a new gameplay trailer has revealed more about the unique teleportation-based abilities of latest legend, Loba Andrade.
As we suspected from previous trailers, the new trailer has only confirmed our suspicions that Loba’s abilities are mostly teleportation-based, as well as befitting of her reputation as a master thief. According to Respawn Entertainment’s official website, these are the official description of her abilities:

Tactical Ability â€” Burglar’s Best Friend
Teleport to hard-to-reach places or escape trouble quickly by throwing your Jump Drive bracelet.
Passive Ability â€” Eye for Quality
Nearby Epic and Legendary loot can be seen through walls. The range is the same as Black Market Boutique.
Ultimate Ability â€” Black Market Boutique
Place a portable device that allows you to teleport nearby loot to your inventory. Each friendly or enemy Legend can take up to two items.

The ability to see loot through walls would be useful in matches, but her Ultimate Ability might take a bit more strategy to pull off and take full advantage of in the middle of a hectic match. However, what makes Loba especially powerful is her ability to teleport, which will be a huge combat advantage if players manage to exploit it.

To top it all off, she looks beautiful and sexy with her staff. Besides Loba, Apex Legends Season 5 will also introduce Season Quests ‘The Broken Ghost’, Ranked Mode Series 4, and an all-new Battle Pass with over 100 exclusive items to look forward to.
In the meantime, check out Loba in action below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRzZGQEPwY4&w=560&h=315]


Bandai Namco & ILCA Form New Company, Bandai Namco Aces

Bandai Namco Entertainment have joined forces with ILCA Inc. to establish a new company called Bandai Namco Aces Inc., which is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Bandai Namco is most notable for games such as Tekken, Ace Combat and most recently Elden Ring. So we know their capabilities when it comes to game development and publication. ILCA on the other hand intends to bring their technical prowess to help produce high quality content using state-of-the-art technology.
The new company aims to utilise Bandai Namco’s game development expertise with high-end photorealistic game content to produce the highest quality products for us gamers. In August 2021, Bandai Namco originally announced that a new Ace Combat game is currently in development by ILCA.
The reasoning behind the name “Aces” is to help embody being the leading or absolute best in any field, and this new studio will aim to do exactly that. Combining the best aspects of both companies, Aces will hopefully deliver deep and lasting, high-quality content to fans around the world, including for the Ace Combat series.
In the meantime, you can check out our full review of Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown here. Unfortunately, it seems like it will be a while before we get more details about this project. Still, it’s good to know that the future of the Ace Combat franchise remains secure. We don’t really get many arcade flight sim combat games like these anymore.


Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart Guide: Best Weapons To Upgrade & Other Tips

Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is out now for the PS5 and to no one’s surprise, it’s another brilliant game from Insomniac Games (you can check out my 4000-word spoiler-free review of Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart here). It’s been years since we last saw the dynamic duo from the same continuity as the PS2 and PS3 titles (2016’s Ratchet & Clank was a standalone remake of the first game).
With lots of accessibility options and multiple difficulties to choose from, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is a game that everyone from younger children to adults can play. Still, the least I can do is tell you which weapons are worth upgrading, as well as several tips and tricks I’ve learnt after obtaining the Platinum. Oh, yeah, I Platinum-ed the game.
If you’d rather discover all the weapons and most of the game for yourself, I’ve added some spoiler warnings below:

Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart Best Weapons
There are 20 weapons in total in Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, with some of them being more useful than others. While the game does encourage players to use a variety of weapons instead of using just one or two, your Bolts and Raritanium are scarce, especially at the beginning.
Keep in mind that weapons have two names here because when a weapon reaches level 5, it changes its name and gains new abilities. A weapon gains a level when it accumulates enough experience from regular usage. Here are the best weapons that you should totally spend your heard-earned Bolts to purchase, Raritanium to upgrade, and time/effort to upgrade:
1. Lightning Rod / Lightning Strike

In Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, the only weapon that you get for free is the Burst Pistol / Blast Pistol at the very beginning of the weapon. It basically shoots lasers in continuous rapid bursts, like a machine gun. The Lightning Rod / Blast Pistol works similarly, but instead of laser beams, it shoots lightning that can even spread to nearby enemies and damage them.
Best of all, using this weapon on enemies (even bosses) will result in a special effect. They will react as if they’re electrocuted, causing them to be temporarily unable to attack you while in this electrocuted state. It’s a very hilarious effect too; imagine when cartoon characters get electrocuted, it’s exactly like that.
2. Mr. Fungi / Ms. Fungal

There are several weapons in Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart that are support weapons. Instead of directly damaging enemies, they are usually summoned or passively/automatically attacks enemies for you. You can likely buy Mr. Fungi pretty early in the game, and you should, because once summoned, he can not only help attack enemies but also distract them.
As you upgrade this weapon, he’ll get more powerful and even gain a partner in the form of Ms. Fungal for double the firepower and distractions once this weapon reaches level 5. Unfortunately, one downside of this weapon is that Mr. Fungi/Ms. Fungal don’t really last long once they’re summoned. Also, there’s a trophy tied to using this weapon.
3. Negatron Collider / Large Negatron Collider

This is another weapon you’ll get pretty early on but is pretty strong even until the end of the game. The Negatron Collider essentially charges up (when the Adaptive Trigger is pushed halfway) and releases a massive destructive beam once the button is pushed all the way. It is especially useful against swarms of enemies and is even useful for long-range assaults on flying enemies.
Once it becomes a Large Negatron Collider, the massive beam will end in a just-as-massive explosion that annihilates any nearby enemies. A tool of destruction, indeed. Also, there’s a trophy tied to using this weapon.
4. Ricochet / Wreckochet

Don’t let this weapon’s simple design or name fool you. This weapon does exactly what its name states. The Ricochet shoots a projectile that can strike enemies. What’s so special about that? Well, if you time your shots well, the projectile will repeatedly strike the enemy multiple times by ricocheting itself against the enemy. Each hit will result in the enemy reacting to it and being unable to attack you.
This weapon is especially powerful against bosses and stronger individual enemies, as it deals a lot of damage. However, it’s not ideal against swarms of enemies at a single time.
5. Void Repulsor / Void Reactor

This is one of the more unique weapons in the entire game. Pressing the R2 Adaptive Trigger halfway (or just aiming using L2) will result in a protective shield that covers Ratchet or Rivet’s front. Rushing the R2 Adaptive Trigger to the end will result in the shield exploding and bursting forward; thus damaging enemies.
This makes this weapon perfect both offensively and defensively. Plus, once it becomes the Void Reactor at level 5, the shield can even catch enemy projectiles and shoot them back at them. Also, there’s a trophy tied to using this weapon.
6. The Headhunter / The Migraine

This is basically just the game’s version of a sniper rifle. What makes it special is that not only is it extremely powerful at dealing damage, aiming and zooming onto an enemy will cause time to literally slow down, allowing you to line up a headshot. It’s bullet time, essentially. Also, there’s a trophy tied to using this weapon.
7. Topiary Sprinkler / Toxiary Sprinkler

This looks and feels like a gag weapon. It’s one of the earliest weapons you can get. It’s a support weapon, which when unleashed, will spawn a sprinkler turret that turns enemies into plants. It doesn’t even really do much damage. What’s the point then? Well, both enemies and bosses will turn into plants when this weapon is used, causing them to go immobile and unable to attack you.
While they’re in this state, you can take advantage and unload your most powerful offensive weapons on a petrified enemy. Don’t sleep on this one, trust me. Also, there’s a trophy tied to using this weapon.
8. Ryno 8 / Ryno Infinity

Of course, what’s a Ratchet & Clank game without a Ryno weapon? The Ryno has been a mainstay of the franchise since the original 2002 game on the PS2, essentially being the most powerful endgame weapon of each game. It’s almost always the most expensive weapon in each game as well, and for good reason: they’re always overpowered as heck.
In Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, Ryno 8 opens portals that spawn and drops random objects, which results in massive explosions that obliterates everything in the vicinity. When it becomes Ryno Infinity, the portals and explosions become bigger, but best of all is what comes out of the portals (check out my easter eggs article to find out). Plus, there’s a trophy tied with just buying a Ryno.

In this game, Ryno 8 won’t just become available to purchase. You have to collect all optional Spybots on every planet before it unlocks at Ms. Zurkon’s vendor. This also involves completing all the Battleplex challenges and finding them via alternate pathways on planets. Don’t worry, they’re not that hard to find with a little time and effort.
You won’t even need a guide to find the Spybots because…
Almost Every Collectible And Resource Is Marked On The Map

Insomniac has made it easier for all of us. Almost every collectible and important resource in the game is marked on the map. This includes Raritanium (used to upgrade weapons), Gold Bolts (to unlock cosmetic rewards and cheats), Dimensional Rifts (to obtain armour set pieces) and Spybots (collect them all to unlock the Ryno 8).
Only one collectible type aren’t marked on the map, and those are the Craiggerbears. What’s funny is that these are useless and don’t unlock anything. They’re only important to trophy hunters looking to get a Platinum, since you need to find them all to obtain two different trophies.
Of course, just like most games, you’ll have to actually uncover the map by exploring the planets and walking around before the collectibles are marked on the map. Just walking and exploring will fill out the map, causing the collectibles to pop up. However, you usually have to be pretty close to a collectible before it’s marked on the map.
Fortunately, there’s one unique optional item that can solve this problem.
Do The Optional Quest On Ardolis ASAP & Grab The Map-O-Matic

Once you can go to the planet Ardolis, I recommend that you immediately go there ASAP. This is because there’s an optional quest there that will net you a very helpful item/gadget. The Map-O-Matic is an item that reveals the location of every Gold Bolt, Raritanium, Dimensional Rift, and Spybots on every planet the second that you arrive on them.
What this means is that you won’t have to uncover the map before the collectibles are marked. They’re all automatically marked for you with the exception of the Craiggerbears (which once again, are useless, except for trophies).
In Fact, Do All Optional Side Quests/Objectives ASAP If You Care About Armour Sets & Other Useful Items

There are several optional pathways on the planets in the game that lead to optional side quests. These side quests often yield useful items, armour set pieces and easter eggs. Well, most of the time, the rewards are just armour set pieces, so if you care about collecting all the armour sets in the game, you should complete all the side quests.
Some of these take more time and effort, like collecting all the Zurpkon crystals on planet Sargasso, collecting all the Lorbs on Savalis, and finishing all the challenges at the Battleplex. Most of them can be completed immediately, but some will require you to come back at a later time before they’re capable of being completed, especially the Battleplex.
One very useful reward, which can be obtained from one of the Battle Arena’s challenges, is the Box Breaker (see picture above). The Box Breaker will extend the force of your melee ground slams, allowing boxes to be destroyed and bolts to be collected from a distance.
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart: How To Get Infinite Health & Infinite Ammo

Yes, you can unlock Infinite Health and Infinite Ammo in this game. Best of all, even with these cheats activated, you can still obtain the story and all progress still counts. To unlock Infinite Health and Infinite Ammo, you just have to collect all Gold Bolts in the entire game.
That’s right, ALL the Gold Bolts. They aren’t useless like the Craiggerbears, so be sure to look out for each and every one of these Gold Bolts if you want to be an unstoppable god in Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart.
Armour Sets Are Mostly Cosmetic, They All Share The Same Stat Boosts

Another incentive for collecting armour set pieces is that each armour set piece will unlock a specific permanent stat boost for Ratchet/Rivet. What this means is that no matter what armour set you’re wearing, all of the stat boosts still apply. You can mix and match to your hearts’ content without thinking about which armour set will give you the best stats or abilities.
How To Solve Clank Puzzles

Battleplex Challenges Walkthrough


World Of Tanks Modern Armor Launches British Invasion Season & Holiday Events

Get ready for a salute to the Commonwealth as the British invade World Of Tanks Modern Armor. This season is packed with new rewards, new Challenges, new British Commanders, and new tanks in honour of Her Majestyâ€™s finest.
Season Pass
As players begin to conquer 100 levels of new content, theyâ€™ll be able to take advantage of an abundance of free rewards granted along the way. Free tanks such as the high-penetrating A43 Black Prince prototype and mobile T95E3 are available to earn, along with the George Hughes Standard Commander and A43 Black Prince skin. Additional free rewards include Key Cards, Gold, Silver, Consumables, and Boost Ops.
Those holding a Season Pass can expect even more rewards unlocked at every single level and will earn exclusive tanks such as the super-fast Super Hellcat and the powerful FV4211.Â  And for those wanting to take the game experience to the ultimate level, the Ultimate Season Pass is available at a major holiday discount and will instantly unlock the strong and swift RDF/LT tank and Jon â€œFrostyâ€ May Premium Commander. Players also get a 25 level skip and will also enjoy everything included in the standard Season Pass, making this one extra-nice winter gift.
New Maps, Mercenary Contracts, & More
Four completely remastered maps have arrived, with Erlenberg and Lakeville exclusive to WWII mode, and Thiepval Ridge and Raseinia available for both WWII and Cold War. Experience the sights and sounds of guns firing in the distance and fighter planes flying overhead on these exciting terrains.
Contracts are also making a return this season, as a player-favourite request. That means the notorious Mercenary tanks return, starting with the massively popular Tier X medium tank, Chisel! In addition to all of these updates, players will also find a new garage and UI.
Holiday Events, Free Gift Bundle

Toy Tank mode is back with the â€œStocking Stufferâ€ random drop event where players can earn several different types of rewards from boosts to hefty amounts of XP and silver. 12 Days of Tanksmas also begins, offering daily rewards such as silver, vouchers, kits and key cards.
New festive commanders such as Krampus and Tactical Santa will also be introduced, and the â€œSanta Needs New Tracksâ€ challenge will give players the chance to earn boosts, the Sleigh T28 Concept skin, and the T28 Concept tank itself. Players can also claim their free Holiday Gift DLC bundle to unwrap the BT-5 tank, a Tanksmas Key Card, and three days of premium time. To wrap up the holiday cheer, a massive Tanksmas Blowout sale will kick off, where players can take advantage of huge discounts on premium tanks, camo, cosmetics, premium time, and more.
TJ Wagner, Creative Director for World of Tanks: Modern Armor said:

â€œBetween the launch of British Invasion, yearly holiday events, and the much-requested return of Mercenary contracts, weâ€™re thrilled to offer a variety of new content to help bring our players into the new year. We look forward to introducing even more exciting updates and features in 2022.â€

The new British Invasion season is available now for cross-playable action on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It will run until 8 February 2022. For more information on content, rewards, and Season Passes, you can head on over to https://console.worldoftanks.com/en/.
[videopress Qdx0BxZb]


Cuphead DLC Delayed, Developers Aiming For Healthier Work Culture

At last year’s E3, StudioMDHR announced that they were developing a DLC, aptly titled “Delicious Last Course”, for their brutal-but-beautiful run and gun game Cuphead. However, it seems that fans will have to wait a bit longer.
The indie studio announced that the DLC’s release will be pushed to 2020 to ensure that the developers will be able to focus on the game at a healthy pace.

In their latest blog post, the studio clarified that “the development of the original game taught us a great deal about the importance of making things in a way that’s healthy and sustainable for our team.”

“This wasn’t an easy decision to make but we’re confident it’s one that will result in a higher quality experience that’s all the sweeter when it does arrive,” said studio co-founder Chad Moldenhauer.

The announcement also didn’t come empty-handed. A new teaser trailer for the DLC was also released, showing off gameplay with the brand new playable character Ms. Chalice as well as several new boss fights.

Over the past few months, the topic of “crunch culture” in the video game industry has been gaining a lot of attention. Bioware’s stressful and unpredictable journey of developing Anthem is definitely one of the biggest stories this year. Prior to that, there was news regarding the extremely demanding work cultures at studios such as Rockstar and CD Projekt Red.
It seems that the industry as a whole is taking note of this issue and a number of studios are changing the way they work. Just last month, Bungie announced that upcoming content for Destiny 2 would be postponed to ensure that the development team had a proper work-life balance.

At E3 2019, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser stated “We need to make sure that our employees have good work-life balance,” and this came in tandem with the announcement of Animal Crossing: New Horizons being delayed to March 20, 2020.
It’s hoped that more studios will follow suit in adopting healthier work practices for their employees. Shigeru Miyamoto’s quote “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad” is forever relevant.


Kena: Bridge of Spirits Will Be On Steam This September; Gets Anniversary Update

Ember Lab’s awesome 3D action platformer title Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be out on Steam later this year.
The game will be making its PC Steam debut after a year of exclusivity on Epic Games Store and on PlayStation consoles, since it came out on 21st September. Furthermore, the game will have a pretty significant Anniversary Update which adds:

New Game+ – Begin a new adventure after completing the game, starting with all your abilities, upgrades, and Rot as you face new combat encounters, challenges and unique enemies.
Spirit Guide Trials – Sharpen your skills and unlock rewards in The Trials, including: Wave Defenses, Obstacle Courses, and the chance to take on key boss-fights again and again.
Outfits – Unlock brand new outfits for Kena to wear by mastering The Trials.
Charmstones – Discover Charmstones that can be equipped to provide different advantages and disadvantages to customize your playstyle.
Enhanced Photo Mode – Includes more fun poses, unique lighting setups, and even a moving camera feature!

For those who completed Kena: Bridge of Spirits, this Anniversary Update is a surefire way to bring people back. I’m honestly more intrigued with New Game+ to see how much tougher the game can get even with most of my abilities unlocked.


Bayonetta 3 Gets New Update; Makes Viola Sucks Less

PlatinumGames and Nintendo has released a version 1.2.0 patch for last year’s character action game Bayonetta 3.
The patch has made a number of fixes, like lowering the difficulty of some stages and Niflheim challenges, and also tweaking some of Viola’s moves to make her suck less than usual. A lot of people have complained about Viola’s “Witch Time” activation conditions, so this is a welcome change.
The update also makes it easier for players to access the special picture book stage. Previously, you had to find 3 keys to unlock the old picture book. Thanks to the update, you now just need to buy the book at the Gates of Hell; it’s automatically unlocked.
Unfortunately, the patch does not fix Bayonetta 3’s biggest problem: the final boss and conclusion. If you can block that from your head, you can easily see why we put the game in our top 30 games list. Full patch notes after the video.

Bayonetta 3 Version 1.2.0 Patch Notes
COMBAT ADJUSTMENTS

Adjusted Viola’s activation window for “Block” and activation conditions for Witch Time.

Block activation window added after releasing Block (during the release animation).
Added an additional animation when Witch Time takes effect, making its activation easier to realize.
The allotted duration of Witch Time, and its activation window have been lengthened.
Now, when block is activated when player is attacked, player will receive damage effect, but block will succeed and activate Witch Time.
Now, combo can continue (with Dodge Offset) when player uses Block to activate Witch Time.
If the Block input is used repeatedly, the granted Witch Time duration will decrease.

Adjustments made to prevent Viola’s evasive input and Cheshire’s summoning input from activating Assault Slave while maintaining invincibility if they are used in rapid succession.
Weapons “Simoon”, “Tartarus” and Viola’s Charge Attacks can now continue to hold charge, even if dodged or blocked.
Wink Slave can now be activated from the combos “PKP*” and “PKK*” for the weapons “G-Pillar”, “Dead End Express” and “Cassiopeia”.
When equipping the accessories “Infernal Communicator” and “Pulley’s Butterfly” to summon Devils and Butterflies, it is now possible to cancel the summoning motion by dodging or blocking.

NIFLHEIM
The following Niflheim stage conditions were changed to lower the difficulty:

Chapter 2 Verse 5 – 120 second time limit changed to 150 second time limit
Chapter 3 Verse 4 – Two lives increased to three lives
Chapter 5 Verse 2 – 150 second time limit changed to 180 second time limit
Chapter 6 Verse 8 – Two lives increased to three lives
Chapter 9 Verse 8 – 60 second time limit changed to 80 second time limit
Chapter 10 Verse 1 – 140 second time limit changed to 160 second time limit
Chapter 12 Verse 5 – One life increased to two lives

GAME MODES

Conditions for obtaining the “Tricolored Keys” needed to unseal the “Old Picture Book” have been made easier.

“Tricolored Keys” will be automatically available on the chapter select screen once it becomes possible to access the “Gates of Hell”.

Even if the player already has access to the Gates of Hell, or has already obtained one or two keys, they will automatically obtain the remaining keys when going to the chapter select screen after applying the update.

OTHER CHANGES

Adjustments have been made to the Golem Treasure Chests found in stages.

Time limits have been increased, and difficulty has been lowered.
Golem Chest fragmenting animation can now be fast-forwarded with the B-button.

Adjustments have been made to reduce situations with poor camera visibility.
Adjusted game balance.

BUG FIXES

Fixed a bug in Verse 5 of Chapter 7 that prevented progress when certain actions were performed while controlling Cheshire.
Fixed a problem with the accessory “Hymn of Durga” in which its effect was not being applied to some attacks.
Fixed an issue where using Alruna’s “Bondage Whip (P or K* long press)” skill in certain situations would cause the enemies to to die instantly.
Fixed an issue where the weapons using “Crow Within” (J* long press)” with “Scarborough Fair” and “Love is Blue” would cause player to move forward significantly under certain conditions.
Fixed an issue where Bayonetta’s animations would not play correctly when switching weapons immediately after using the “Crow Within (J* long press)” with the weapons “Scarborough Fair” and “Love is Blue”.
Fixed a bug that caused “Black Pearl Rain (Rotate L stick + S*)” for Infernal Demon “Kraken” to trigger “Wink Slave” with abnormally high attack power.
Fixed a bug that caused “Devil Rodin” to be stuck for a time when using “After Burner Kick (?K* in midair)” continuously, immediately after rising up with a prior “After Burner Kick (J?K*)”.
Fixed a bug in which Viola’s Assault Slave was able to summon Infernal Demons in “Infernal Demon-prohibited areas”.
Fixed an error in the hand symbol seen in Cutie J’s transformation sequence viewable in Side Chapter.
Fixed other issues to make the game more enjoyable to play.


Tokyo Game Show 2022: Official Livestream Schedule & Recap

Update(15/9/2022): Bumped to 15th September, on the big day.
Tokyo Game Show 2022 is coming soon mid-September, and will feature a ton of news from many of Japan’s finest.
We’re talking Capcom, Bandai Namco, Koei Tecmo, and even others like Xbox who will be showcasing the latest and greatest. The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) has revealed its schedule of livestreaming from 15 September to 18 September, with the actual event happening at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.
Here’s the full schedule; all times after the picture are in GMT+8 (Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines):
Recap & Summary

Schedule

15 September
9am – TGS 2022 Opening Program
10am – Keynote
11am – Gamera Games
12pm – Japan Esports Union
2pm – BenQ Japan
3pm – Japan Game Awards 2022
5pm – Microsoft & Xbox
6pm – Archosaur Games
7pm – GREE
9pm – Bandai Namco Entertainment
10pm – Capcom (game announcements)
16 September
11am – Prime Gaming
3pm – Sense of Wonder Night 2022
5pm – 505 Games
6pm – Koei Tecmo Games
7pm – Sega/Atlus
8pm – Konami
9pm – Square Enix
11pm – Capcom (Street Fighter 6)

17 September
10am – D3 Publisher
11pm – Donuts Games
12pm – Quookka Entertainment/Japan Game Awards 2022
2pm – GungHo Online Entertainment
4pm – Happinet
5pm – HoyoVerse
7pm – fingger
8pm – LEVEL-5
9pm – Aniplex
10pm – ProjectMoon

18 September
3pm – GungHo Online Entertainment
4pm – 110 Industries
5pm – Happinet
6pm – Tokyo Game Show 2022 Ending Program

Games Showcase & Lineup
Square Enix

-Forspoken
-Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion
-Valkyrie Elysium
-Star Ocean The Divine Force
-Romancing Saga Minstrel Song Remaster
Bandai Namco

-Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits (Switch) – Playable, Trailer
-Digimon Survive (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer
-Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom (PS5, Switch, PC) – Playable, Trailer
-Dragon Ball: The Breakers (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Playable, Trailer, Live Stream
-Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Live Stream
-JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer
-KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer
-LEGO Brawls (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Playable, Trailer
-Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 (PS5, PS4) – Trailer, Live Stream
-One Piece Odyssey (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, PC) – Playable, Trailer, Live Stream
-Pac-Man Museum+ (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer
-PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer
-Park Beyond (PS5, Xbox Series, PC) – Playable, Trailer
-PUI PUI Molcar Let’s! Molcar Party! (Switch) – Trailer
-SD Gundam Battle Alliance (PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – Trailer, Live Stream
-Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris (Switch) – Trailer, Live Stream
-Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival (Switch) – Playable, Trailer
-Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher (Switch) – Playable, Trailer, Live Stream

How To Watch Tokyo Game Show 2022
You can check out the livestream on the streaming links below:
TGS 2022 Official Livestream

Square Enix

Bandai Namco

Koei Tecmo

Sega

Konami

Sega’s Ryu Ga Gotoku Summit 2022

TGS 2022 Photos

???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/qjZLmwCgpp
— ?? ?? / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) September 15, 2022


Hearthstone Mercenaries Launches This October

Hearthstone MercenariesÂ is an all-new way to playÂ Hearthstone, the smash-hit digital collectable card game, combining RPG and roguelike elements. And you don’t need a deck to play.
In this free-to-play game mode, players will recruit and collect legendary characters from across the Warcraft universe to take down procedurally generated Bounties. Players can mix-and-match over 50 uniqueÂ MercenariesÂ (with more to come), each with three upgradeable abilities and potential synergies, to create countless squad combinations.Â Hearthstone Mercenaries will launch worldwide on 12, October 2021!
Here’s how you play:

Powerful Starter Squad:Â Upon completing the combat and village tutorials, all players will receive eight well-rounded starting Mercenary Cards.
Fast-paced Turn-based Combat:Â In head-to-head battles, players choose their moves simultaneously (actions with lower Speed ratings trigger first), until their opponent is defeated.
Progression:Â Mercenaries gain experience for defeating enemies and max out at Level 30.
Collect â€˜em all:Â A variety of tasks and Bounties grant Mercenary Coins that can be spent to craft additional Rare, Epic, and Legendary Mercenary Cards. New Mercenaries can also be obtained from Mercenaries Packs, with a guaranteed Mercenary Card or Mercenary Portrait in each pack.
It Takes a Village:Â In the Village, the main hub for Mercenaries, players can manage their collection, collect task rewards, upgrade buildings, set off on Bounties, and so much more!

Get Mercenaries Like Diablo

Diablo himself, the Lord of Terror, will be one of the over 50 Mercenaries at launch! He is available as part of one of three pre-purchase bundles, each including an iconic Blizzard character!

The Diablo Mercenaries Pre-Purchase BundleÂ includes a Diamond Legendary Diablo Mercenary Card and 50 Mercenaries Packs.
The Lich King Mercenaries Pre-Purchase BundleÂ includes a Diamond Legendary Lich King Mercenary Card and 50 Mercenaries Packs.
The Sylvanas Mercenaries BundleÂ includes a Golden Legendary Sylvanas Mercenary Card and 30 Mercenaries Packs.

Diablo, The Lich King, and Sylvanas are all also obtainable in-game, without purchasing these bundles, from Mercenaries Packs or the crafting system.
World Of Warcraft Mounts

TheÂ HearthstoneÂ tavernâ€™s most famous mouse, Sarge, is coming toÂ World of Warcraftâ€”complete theÂ MercenariesÂ prologue and start your first bounty to receive the Hearthstone Sarge mount.
Additionally, with the purchase of a 6-month WoW subscription, players will receive a slew ofÂ Hearthstone goodies, including Mercenaries packs! The subscription offer is valid through October 19, 2021. Head on over to this link for details: https://support.blizzard.com/article/000296393
For more information on Mercenaries, its gameplay, and the Village, check out the following blogs:

Mercenaries Overview:Â https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23699737
Gameplay:Â https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23707670
Village/Collection:Â https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23707669


EA Play Live Spotlight Kicks Off Tonight With Battlefield 2042 & Apex Legends

EA kicks off its march towards EA Play Live 2021 with The Future of FPS Spotlight, featuring Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella and DICE General Manager Oskar Gabrielson, among others. This will be the first in EAâ€™s new Spotlight Series, which will provide fans with a chance to gain insights from developers themselves and even a few surprise pieces of news along the way.
Zampella and Gabrielson will be joined by Ripple Effect Studios â€™ General Manager Christian Grass and Apex Legends Game Director Chad Grenier as they chat with IGNâ€™s Stella Chung to discuss the latest onÂ Battlefield 2042Â andÂ Apex Legends, and what fans can expect to see from both games at EA Play Live on 22 July 2021.
Ripple Effect is the newly-formed developer from what was previously DICE LA. Last month, DICE revealed Battlefield 2042Â to the world with its breathtaking reveal trailer and first look at All-Out Warfare, the gameâ€™s first major experience featuring the next generation of fan-favourite modes Conquest and Breakthrough.
Soon, at EA Play Live on 22 July 2021, Ripple Effect will reveal the game’s next thrilling experience, one that long-time BattlefieldÂ players will feel right at home with.
Apex Legends recently celebrated its two year anniversary where it also hit over 100 million total players worldwide. Those tuning in tomorrow can expect to hear more about what Respawn learned from the game’s early success, how Arenas will be expanding Apex Legends beyond Battle Royale and whatâ€™s coming up in the next major update.
Fans can tune in to watch The Future of FPS Spotlight tonight at 1am GMT+8 on 9 July 2021. Check out the link below:


[Report] Captain Marvel’s Co-Pilot To Be Next 007 In Bond 25

The first female 007 might be making her official debut really soon, in the upcoming Bond 25 movie.
According to the Daily Mail UK, insider sources have revealed that Captain Marvel actress Lashana Lynch will be replacing Daniel Craig as the next Agent 007 of MI6 in the James Bond franchise.

â€œThere is a pivotal scene at the start of the film where M [played by Ralph Fiennes] says, â€˜Come in 007,â€™ and in walks Lashana who is black, beautiful and a woman.
Itâ€™s a popcorn-dropping moment.
Bond is still Bond but heâ€™s been replaced as 007 by this stunning woman.”

The insider source continued by saying that Daniel Craig’s James Bond will try to seduce the new female 007, albeit unsuccessfully (at first). Lashana Lynch broke into the limelight after portraying Maria Rambeau (Carol Danver’s co-pilot and best friend) in Captain Marvel earlier this year.
In addition, the insider source claims that the popular phrase ‘Bond girls’ has been forbidden, as the cast and crew now have to refer to these characters as ‘Bond women’ instead.
The new Bond girl, or Bond woman, in Bond 25 is set to be played by Ana de Armas, best known for starring in 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 as the love interest of Ryan Gosling’s protagonist.
It remains to be seen if there is any truth to this insider source report. Knowing the Daily Mail and its tabloid tendencies, let’s take this with a grain of salt. Much of Bond 25 still remains shrouded in secrecy.
The official synopsis for Bond 25 states that Daniel Craig’s 007 has left active service but is forced to put his retirement on hold for another desperate mission.
While it could be true that Lynch’s character is the new 007 at the start of the movie, she could just be there as a placeholder of sorts to show that MI6 has replaced Bond with a new agent. The rest of the movie could potentially just shift the focus on Daniel Craig’s 007.
This all sounds like a fishy attempt at getting more positive attention for Bond 25 by pushing politically-correct agendas (like a black female 007), amidst worrying reports of various problems plaguing the movie (on-set mishaps, injuries and more).
Bond 25 is slated to release worldwide on 3 April 2020. In other related news, Aston Martin recently celebrated the James Bond franchise by showcasing actual Bond cars at the British Grand Prix last weekend.


Terrible Half-Life Spin-Off Gets Funny Achievements

If you haven’t played Hunt Down The Freeman, then consider yourself lucky. This game pissed off a lot of Half-Life fans for being an embarrassment to the shooter’s legacy (via broken buggy gunplay & accusations of asset thefts). It’s also proof that Valve doesn’t care much for the series that put it on the map and remains to be content with its digital distribution service.
But hey, at least we’re getting a bunch of funny achievements out of it. According to Twitter user Squibbus, the following achievements were added recently by developer M3sa. It’s quite surreal to say the least:

All this nonsense was based on suggestions on the Hunt Down The Freeman Discord, which itself was drawn from in-jokes and memes about the game. It’s part joke, part venting, as the developers of the game had a hell of a time making the game and dealing with its current state.
M3sa said that there won’t be any future work done on the released product.
“I have a build I’ve worked on to replace weapon sounds and improve some maps’ playability, but they aren’t public right now.
All my files are spaced out between two computers and it’s kind of a pain in the ass to get them back together in one package, and then on top of that, uploading the build to Steam is messy. It’s a lot of work for something that made my life hell for a year.”
Also, the people who worked on the project are not paid for all their work, the studio behind the game is gone, and the lead of the game, Berkan Denizyaran, is now employed at Activision. So it’s pretty tough to pursue legal action at this point. That’s justice for you in the cutthroat “passion-driven” games industry.


[Rumour]Â Looks Like The Final Fantasy VII Remake Is A Whopping 100GB

The Final Fantasy VII Remake may only consist of the Midgar segment, but it looks like it might require 100GB of space despite that.
That’s according to pictures of a leaked art cover in Korea, which you can see below:
https://twitter.com/Nitomatta/status/1229534947288895489
Well, it looks like Square Enix weren’t kidding when they said that each episode of the remake would be like a full game. We were previously wowed by the 22.54GB size of the demo, but it looks like we should’ve saved our surprise for the full thing.
The game has already been confirmed to come in two discs, though it hasn’t been revealed how much GB each will contain. A 50/50 split, perhaps?
At the very least, we’ll find out when the Final Fantasy VII Remake hits stores on 10 April 2020, I guess.
Ta, TweakTown.


Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings Adaptation To Premiere In 2022

J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, a pretty epic fantasy novel series that influenced thousands of future fantasy books, comics, tabletop RPGs, and video game RPGs, is getting the Amazon series treatment next year.
Dubbed Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings, the original series will premiere on 2nd September 2022 exclusively on Amazon Prime, with its showrunners being J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. The series will be streamed in more than 240 countries, including those in Southeast Asia. And it’ll take a weekly episodic approach, though Amazon hasn’t stated how many new episodes it’ll contain.
Also, here’s theÂ first official image of the series. Gaze in awe at the next major adaptation of the classic series.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the show from the presser we received.
“The new epic drama brings to screens for the very first time J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. Beginning in a time of relative peace, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.”
So yeah, it’ll be set before the events of The Hobbit and the LOTR books.
Who Will Be In It?
Here’s the listed cast for the show, though at this point in time we don’t know who they will be playing:

Cynthia Addai_Robinson
Maxim Baldry
Ian Blackburn
Kip Chapman
Anthony Crum
Maxine Cunliffe
Charles Edwards
Will Fletcher


Here’s What We Know About Rocksteady’s Next Game

Rocksteady Studios is best known for its acclaimed Batman Arkham franchise, the most recent major of which was Batman Arkham Knight in 2015. Almost half a decade has passed, and the developer remains extremely secretive about what game they’re currently working on now, with only the littlest hints about what it could be.
Let’s track back to how we even know that Rocksteady has a game in development. It all started when the company posted job listings over the past few years, many of which mention of looking for people who are “ready for the challenge of producing a AAA title”. That almost certainly means that Rocksteady’s next major game is already in the works.
Rocksteady Studios co-founder Sefton Hill even confirmed as much in a tweet from December 2018, which you can check out below.

Looking forward to #TheGameAwards this year! Weâ€™re still hard at work in our development bunker so donâ€™t expect an announcement from @Rocksteadygames. When itâ€™s ready to show, youâ€™ll be the first to know.Â Spoiler: itâ€™s not SupermanÂ ðŸ˜³
â€” Sefton Hill (@Seftonhill) November 30, 2018
That tweet debunked rumors of a World’s Finest or Superman game, but it will likely still be based on DC Comics property, whatever it is. The recent ‘leaked’ Outlaws game has since proven to be fake, so Rocksteady’s new game probably won’t be centered around Batman much anymore.
Our friends over at PC Gamer surmises that Rocksteady’s new game is likely near completion, and could even be announced at the upcoming E3 2019 next month. They also have reason to believe that it will be a live-service game in the vein of Destiny 2 or Fortnite, not offering the same traditional single-player experience from past entries.
However, I believe that Rocksteady still has a close relationship (and probably under contract) with DC Comics, as evident by the fact that the developer has exclusively worked on games based on the comic book publisher’s properties since 2009’s Batman Arkham Asylum. Surely it’s not a coincidence that Hill’s Twitter profile picture is of him with DC Comics co-publisher and CCO Jim Lee.
Until the folks at Rocksteady officially announce something, we will have to remain in the dark for now. Perhaps that might even happen next month at E3 2019, so fingers crossed. With the absence of Sony and other major big-wigs at the upcoming event, there’s a high chance of Rocksteady stealing the show if it finally announces its new game.