Clam Man 2: Headliner’s Creator On Stand-Up Comedy & Standing Out

Clam Man 2: Headliner, is an upcoming narrative RPG where a clam man quits his job to become a standup comedian. That’s basically it, but also it’s basically so much more.
From starting out as a joke, to becoming a fully fleshed-out world to explore, Clam Man is out to steal your heart, and make you laugh while it happens. We had the opportunity to speak with Canada- based solo developer Martin Hanses, on his design philosophy, and Clam Man’s funny origins.
Who are you?
Hello there! My name’s Martin Hanses, and I’m a writer, narrative designer, and game developer! I’m originally Finnish, but moved to Canada a few years ago and am currently based in Vancouver.
Huge fan of games in general, even bigger fan of making games, and other than that I enjoy playing the banjo, playing tabletop RPGs, and making/solving puzzles and crosswords. Big nerd, and I’m currently working on Clam Man 2: Headliner, a narrative RPG where you quit your job because you hate it.

Tell us a bit about the titular Clam Man.
The original Clam Man was a joke – my brother was making a platforming game and asked me to draw some sprites for him, and I sent him back a picture of a clam in an astronaut suit. We ended up really liking that drawing, so a while later we worked together to make Clam Man, which is a comedy point-and-click adventure game.
In Clam 1, he plays the role of the straight man in a funny world – he’s an everyman who can never really catch a break, and for some reason, I always imagined his voice to sound like Jason Bateman. Clam 2 is a different story, and since it’s an RPG, it’s really up to the player to define who he is in that game!

(the original, low-quality Clam Man)

What can players expect in Clam Man 2?
The short answer is jokes, choices, and spectacular failures. That might just sound like life in general, though, so I’ll try to be more specific.
Firstly, a weirdly huge hand-drawn world full of strange characters to explore and interact with! The game takes place in Snacky Bay, an underwater city (SpongeBob rules!) and your only real main quest at the beginning is to escape your boring office job as a mayonnaise salesman. You end up becoming a stand-up comedian, and everything you do in the game results in gaining a joke, which you can then tell on stage during live shows!
Mechanically, the game is all about choices – even more so since the game has an RPG stat system, which lets you customize your own personal clam man. Every interaction and every quest can change wildly depending on what kind of character you’re playing; tons of dialogue and quest options only appear if you have high (or low) enough stats, and there are also dice rolls that decide the outcome of a conversation or a quest, to make sure the game is extra replayable! The game isn’t nearly done yet, but is already the length of two full-size novels. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be reading all of it – due to how many variations there are in each conversation, you’ll probably end up seeing about 25% of everything in the game on a single playthrough.
Finally, one thing I’m having a great time with is making sure that failure never locks you out of content – in fact, there are a bunch of quests you can only get if you fail a dice roll! One of my favourites is a quest you can get between in-game days, if you attempt to dream: if you roll a natural 1 (A critical failure), you end up having a nightmare that urges you to test your mettle in mortal combat against a creature called the dream snail. An incredibly small percentage of players will ever get that quest, but I think that’s what’s so appealing to me – if even one person plays Clam 2 twice and ends up being shocked at the amount of new things they saw in the second playthrough, I’ll be very happy.

The game features no combat (save for when you slap a guy in the face), and bombing a joke leads to other people perceiving you differently. Where did the ideas for these design decisions come from?

The design philosophy behind the first Clam Man was to make a point-and-click without any tedious moon logic puzzles, so it was all about narrative; if I were to remake it today, I’d probably add in a bunch of new ones!
In a very similar way, the design philosophy behind Clam 2 was to make an RPG where choices and roleplaying matters, but without any combat whatsoever! It mostly doesn’t make much sense with the style of art and writing in my games, but it’s also a really fun exercise in designing an RPG system where every stat correlates to a social skill, rather than a martial one.
A lot of RPGs tend to have only one or two stats that affect social encounters, with the other ones being more combat-focused, so I think there’s plenty of room for an RPG that does things a little differently, and a little weirder. I think the clear sign of this being possible was Disco Elysium coming out, which sort of showed that there’s an audience for people that don’t really care all that much about combat in role-playing games!

How long has Clam Man 2 been in development so far, and with how big of a team?
I started work on Clam 2 back in January 2019, with Open Mic coming out a few months later – after that, I started pitching the game to publishers in order to fund the full development. There was certainly some interest, but the timing was never right and I kept working on other projects as a writer or freelancer for a while.
I eventually ended up joining Eggnut, writing and directing Tails: The Backbone Preludes, which took almost two years to make. During that time I barely had time to work on Clam 2, so saying it’s been in development since 2019 is only technically true!
Once Tails was done, I got introduced to Fig, who were interested in funding the development of the game, and since early 2023 the game’s been back in full-time development!
I’m solo developing Clam 2, which is both really fun and really challenging, but I luckily have been able to work with some amazing people that have helped elevating the game – voice actors, composers, and UI artists have all lent their touch to the project to make it so much better.

The art style has a certain style of warmth to it; it feels very friendly, but also very nostalgic. What were your inspirations for it?
Thank you! This is pretty much just how I have drawn things for the longest time, so I suppose it’s a very childish style that’s become very polished over the years. There’s definitely influences, though – “scott c” (Scott Campbell) is one of my favourite artists of all time, and I think his influence is very obvious once you start seeing it. Graham Annable is another, and I bet there’s a hundred other cartoon artists that over time have shaped how I draw things.
Additionally, the map and world design is heavily inspired by CRPGs of the 90s and early 00s – especially since the game is in an isometric perspective. I regularly play CRPGs for map design inspiration, and I particularly like the circular and asymmetrical worlds of Planescape: Torment. Fingers crossed people will enjoy the worlds they get to explore in Clam 2!

Any final words?

If any of this sounded interesting, the free prologue to Clam Man 2 is out on Steam right now, with an updated demo coming later this year to show the updates and changes that’ll be in the final game! I’m always checking reviews for feedback, and doing my best to polish and implement everything to make sure Clam 2 ends up being as good and weird as I want it to be.
Finally, thanks so much for reaching out to me! This is a weird game and most people don’t even know how to start unpacking it, so getting to talk about it with you has been great!


Here’s When Diablo 3 Season 25 Starts

The current Diablo 3 action RPG season is coming to an end.
Diablo 3’s Season 24 Ethereal Memory will be closing out soon on 5th December. Here are the times:
North America: 5pm PDT
Europe: 5pm CEST
Asia: 4pm GMT+8
This also means we’re getting Diablo 3 Season 25 on the same timeframe. Here’s what you can expect:
Soul Shards & Hellforge Embers
Season 25 will bring in a new type of socketable items:Â Soul Shards. Yes, the shards that power up the Prime Evils and Lesser Evils are now available for players to get and use on their weapons and gear in the new Season. There will be seven unique Soul Shards, with each of them bestowing a different demonic power. These Soul Shards can be upgraded three times using a new consumable: the Hellforge Ember.
Item Changes
Here’s the full list of gear and item buffs & nerfs:

Remorseless: While both Wrath of the Berserker and Call of the Ancients are active, Hammer of the Ancients deals 600-800% increased damage.
Shukraniâ€™s Triumph:Â Spirit Walk lasts until you attack 3 times or until an elite enemy is within 20 yards of you. Attacks while in the spirit realm deal 75-100% increased damage.
Lakumbaâ€™s Ornament:Â Reduce all damage taken by 60% if your Soul Harvest stack is at least (1-3), and an additional 2% for each stack of Soul Harvest.
Spider Queenâ€™s Graspâ€‹:Â Corpse Spiders deals an additional 600-800% damage and releases a web on impact that Slows enemies by 80%.
Brood of Araneaeâ€‹:Â Corpse Spiders deals an additional 75-100% damage, and each spider bite causes the target to take an additional 1% damage from Corpse Spiders for 5 seconds.
Spirit of Arachyr (2-piece bonus):Â Corpse Spiders now spawns with health and attacks twice as fast.
Spirit of Arachyr (4-piece bonus):Â Summon a permanent Spider Queen who leaves behind webs that lasts for 15 seconds and Slows enemies. You take 75% reduced damage while in the web. The Spider Queen is commanded to move to where you cast your Corpse Spiders.
Marauderâ€™s Encasement (4-piece bonus):Â Sentries deal 400% increased damage and cast Elemental Arrow, Chakram, Impale, Multishot, and Cluster Arrow when you do, as well as automatically cast your equipped Hatred spenders.
Marauderâ€™s Encasement (6-piece bonus):Â Your primary skills, Elemental Arrow, Chakram, Impale, Multishot, Cluster Arrow, Companions, Vengeance, and Sentries deal 12000% increased damage for every active Sentry.
The Shadowâ€™s Mantle (6-piece bonus):Â Impale deals an additional 75000% weapon damage to the first enemy hit, and 25000% to subsequent enemies.
Bones of Rathma (6-piece bonus):Â Each permanent active minion increases the damage of Army of the Dead by 1750%, up to 31,500%.
Firebirdâ€™s Finery (2-piece bonus):Â Disintegrate Ignites enemies, causing them to take 1500% weapon damage per second until they die. When you die, a meteor falls from the sky and revives you. This effect has a 60-second cooldown.
Firebirdâ€™s Finery (6-piece bonus):Â You gain 2500% increased damage while Ignite is applied to a target. Hitting an Ignited enemy with a non-channeling fire spell deals Ignite damage multiplied by Combustion stacks.

Class Updates
The following classes will be getting changes & buffs via the item updates above: Witch Doctor, Barbarian, Necromancer, Wizard, and Demon Hunter.
For a full list of D3 Soul Shards, head here.


Guilty Gear Strive Is A Pretty Expensive PC Game In Southeast Asia…

With the open beta coming out for Guilty Gear Strive this weekend, the hype for Arc System Works’ baby boy fighting game is pretty wild. However, if you’re planning on buying it in Southeast Asia, your wallet’s going to be feeling a lot of strife.
Twitter user XinXin_FGC has spot the price spike in the PC Steam digital versions of Guilty Gear Strive. The standard version’s price is basically disproportionate for most regions, with some countries getting nickeled and dimed for it.
For a frame of reference: the game will cost US$59.99 in the US while it costs Â£54.99 in the UK. The game will cost Â¥8580 in Japan. Meanwhile, here are the prices for the standard edition of the game in Southeast Asia, sans regional price adjustments:

Singapore – S$79.90 (+63%)
Vietnam – 800000â‚« (+67%)
Philippines – â‚±2795.00 (+129%)
Malaysia – RM239.00 (+152%)
Thailand – 1990.00 (+185%)
Indonesia – Rp 749000 (+200%)

#GGST steam price on Indonesia is 200% more expensive than the regional price suggested by Valve should've been, it's 3 times higher than most of other arcsys titles and it's like almost 1/3 of our monthly income, which is ridiculously expensive here pic.twitter.com/Kjfc9mSvKp
— Blep | commission slot full (@Aruvian13) February 14, 2021

As you can see, the customers who are getting jacked from Arc System Works’ latest are the ones buying the game digitally in The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. SEA gamers from these countries will be paying a lot more extra for their 2021 anime fighting game fix.
This is arguably worse than the Southeast Asia PC Steam pricing for the company’s last fighting game, Granblue Fantasy Versus.

Keep in mind that this is for the PC version of the game on Steam, so the PS4 and PS5 versions might be different and may have fairer and localized pricing. Hopefully. I highly doubt anyone who wants to get into Guilty Gear Strive will want to pay these insane prices, no matter how good the open beta plays so far. Even for triple-A gaming standards, this is insane.
We’ll be sure to update this piece of news if Arc System Works and its relevant distribution partners are going to do something about this.


Loki & Sylvie Hot Toys Are Coming To Our Timeline Soon

We’re only halfway through the first season of Loki on Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia, but Hot Toys have already announced the Hot Toys version of Loki and Sylvie from the hit TV series.
There’s not much information or details yet, but looking at the teaser announcement on the Hot Toys Facebook page, we’re getting a Hot Toys Loki equipped with his TVA jacket and the only version of Sylvie we’ve seen so far. Since the series has yet to end, Hot Toys might want to avoid leaking unnecessary details that might lead to spoilers for the remaining episodes.
For now, feast your eyes below:

You can check out the latest Loki trailer below. In the meantime, check out my breakdowns of Episode 1 here,Â Episode 2Â andÂ Episode 3 here.


Fortnite Gets An Undo Purchase Button

It’s been revealed that Fortnite will be getting a new ‘undo’ button soon. This was confirmed in by an Epic Games representative on a Reddit forum post, in reply to a question posed by a user.
User SpicyHabanero69 initially asked why the Japanese version of Fortnite had confirmation screens for gamers who wish to purchase in-game content, but not other versions of the popular battle royale game in other countries.
An engineer by the name of DanDaDaDanDan, who speaks on behalf of Epic Games, clarified in a reply that “we neither want to add friction for players nor do we want to benefit from accidental purchases or players regretting a purchase.” As such, he then revealed that the developer is going to introduce an ‘undo’ button to the Fortnite store page.
This ‘undo’ button will allow players to “easily refund without using up a token within a 5 minute time window”. However, this is assuming that they havenâ€™t started a match since the purchase took place.
An ‘undo’ button would be a great quality-of-life feature addition to Fortnite, as it will serve as a solution for players who accidentally purchase in-game content on Fortnite, and by ‘accidentally’, I actually meant conscious impulse purchases. Just kidding.
As of now, it remains to be seen when exactly the ‘undo’ button will arrive in Fortnite. We’ll have to wait for a future update.
This is what the Fortnite purchase page looks like now.


E3 2018: Sekiro Marks A Familiar Route For From Software

Let us go back to the way-back-when machine, during the early and late 2000s. Before From Software became synonymous with Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and “goddamn tough-but-fair JRPGs with so much goth & despair”, they used to make a ton of action games.

Action games with mythical Japanese warriors? Otogi and Otogi 2 for the Xbox. Action game with ninjas? There’s Ninja Blade. Action game with mechas? Hello Metal Wolf Chaos!
With Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, revealed during Xbox’s riveting E3 press conference, it seems that the company is going back to its roots.
What do I mean by that? Sekiro is NOT an RPG. There aren’t any stats or leveling up in this game. There are no classes to pick from, no option to create your own ronin/samurai/person, and no souls to collect and lose when you die. We’ll talk about the death mechanic of Sekiro later on.
Re-Armed & Dangerous

Sekiro is action-adventure gaming all the way. It’s set during the Sengoku period of 1500s Japan where youÂ play a shinobi with a mechanical grappling hook arm thingy and want to satiate his vengeance.Â Said arm is also capable of hosting a number of gadgets, which you can find scattered around the world.
That sounds pretty reminiscent of the trick weapons found in Bloodborne, so it’s not like they’re not putting in some Dark Souls/Bloodborne flavour. I mean, the trailer seems to show off a ton of human warriors small & big, and giant weapons. Oh, and a giant ogre dude and a mountain-sized snake thrown in for good measure because old Dark Souls habits die hard.

From Software’s Yasuhiro Kitao seemed to imply that the game may follow the Legend of Zelda template where you unlock new paths and stages when you come across a new item or weapon.

Our shinobi buddy wields his trusty katana on his right hand, but his left hand can use a plethora of gadgets we alluded earlier. Shields, axes that break shields and tough hides, firecrackers, torches: this ninja could out-gadget Batman if he could.
And as mentioned earlier, his grappling hook can either get him to high places or leap atop enemies and perform a downward sword thrust on their heads. Or you can pull off a Scorpion and pull them towards you for your blade.
So How’s The Fighting?
Glad you asked, giant-sized subtitle. Combat revolves around your shinobi’s posture. Attacking an enemy who blocks too much will whittle their posture level, and if it’s lowered enough you can perform a finisher on them. Of course, this applies to you too, so turtling is not encouraged.

What you need to do is block perfectly, most likely by pressing the block button at the right time of the attack (like Mark of the Wolves’ Just Defend). Doing this will lower your attacker’s posture instead.
This all sounds like bits of that classic SNK title Samurai Shodown, where you only need one blow to kill your opponents, but you need to whittle down their defences and find the right moment to strike once and hard.
Like a Leaf In The Wind
If you don’t want too much conflict, the game throws in a stealth mechanic to give you a chance to kill enemies quietly and without suspicion. Some enemies can sound the alarm if they even so much as spot you. You’re a ninja, so best you act like one sometimes.
Oh and if you die, and you will, you’ll just lie dead there until you press a button to revive yourself. When you are dead, enemies just revert back to their last-known position so you can surprise attack them like the zombie ninja that you are. Of course there is a limit as to how many times you can revive in combat, but Kitao said that these details will come in at a much later date.

Back To The Well?
I can’t say that From Software is breaking new ground here. As I said before, they had a hand in a lot of action games in the 2000 to 2009 period. However, I do want our creative companies to change it up a bit and try not making another version of Dark Souls (or King’s Field if you REALLY want to get nostalgic).
Plus, there is an air of mystery surrounding Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the developer’s take on the 1500s Japan era. We’d definitely love to find out more in future reveals; it’ll be a while until it’s ready for its 2019 release period.
And who knows? If it does well, we might even see another Otogi or Ninja Blade sequel or reboot down the line.


Brace Yourselves: A PS5 “Deep Dive” Is Coming Very Soon

Get ready folks. PlayStation have teased an upcoming “deep dive” into their next-gen console.
“Tomorrow at 9am Pacific Time, PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny will provide a deep dive into PS5â€™s system architecture, and how it will shape the future of games,” they tweeted. “Watch tomorrow at PlayStation Blog.”

Tomorrow at 9am Pacific Time, PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny will provide a deep dive into PS5’s system architecture, and how it will shape the future of games.
Watch tomorrow at PlayStation Blog: https://t.co/bgP1rXMeC8 pic.twitter.com/BSYX9tOYhE
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 17, 2020

Just a week ago, we were wondering if Covid-19 had caused delays to the PS5’s production due to the lack of information from PlayStation. Now that they’re about to unveil the juicy details we’ve been waiting for, that’s probably not the case. For now, anyway.
What’s for sure is that Microsoft have been ahead of PlayStation in revealing details for their own console. They detailed the Xbox Series X’s specs in a blog post three weeks ago and allowed Digital Foundry to get an up-close look at it just a day ago. I’m not sure what to anticipate from PlayStation, but I’m excited to see what happens next in this next-gen consoles war.
With the PS5 “deep dive” taking place on March 18, 9am in the US, that means we’ll be watching it on March 19, 12am over here. While it’d be nicer if we didn’t have to stay up for the reveal, I guess we’ll be too excited to care once the time comes.


Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: The Legacy Kept Alive Through The Power Of Modding

When Marvel and Capcom first collaborated almost 30 years ago now, it was a simple fighting game akin to what Capcom had always made. A fun and satisfying coin-operated arcade game, fitting in with the other arcade games at the time. The first game that they made together was “X-Men vs Street Fighter”, back in 1996 and it laid the groundwork for the sequels and spiritual successors to come. A collaboration between two titans of completely different worlds somehow felt right in the hands of players and became a cult classic as time went on. In fact, it has been almost 30 years since Marvel and Capcom first partnered on a video game entirely!
The first main Marvel vs Capcom game began with Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, which was released in arcades in 1998. The game focused on a lenient combo system and flashy super moves to keep new players interested but experienced players engaged. This began the main focus on Marvel vs Capcom games, and the titles were seen as easy to pick up, easy to mash buttons on, and the games allow even casual players to perform a lot of flashy moves, which feel satisfying to perform.

Over time, the character roster expanded on both sides, to the point where Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes specifically had a massive 56-character roster featuring characters from both companies. Accessibility was the bane of most fighting games at the time, as there was a big skill gap that needed to be crossed to have proper fun with those games.
However, Marvel vs Capcom games had an easily accessible and satisfying feature list. All of these features came together to form the perfect lure for people who otherwise might never have touched a fighting game. Once “Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3” was released in 2011, the community fell in love with the future classic, but it lacked extra content from the original Marvel vs Capcom 3. The fact that its follow-up Marvel vs Capcom Infinite wasn’t quite on par with the past games in quality and presentation also didn’t help matters.
This led to the community keeping it alive and expanding to this day via mods. And there’s a lot of them up to this day!
The Mods

The most common choice of mod is the Palette Swap mod, which is made by Spuaidatab. The Palette Swap mod allowed players to swap an existing character within the game to a custom character, changing the move sets and so on. The downside of this was that it had to replace an existing in game character in order to work, however with recent advancements that will be covered later, this downside has now been negated. Modders worked together with animators and programmers in order to bring more characters to life, including old versions of character move sets from prior games, heavily requested characters and entirely new variants of existing ones.

Maximillian Dood is a huge fighting game YouTuber who has produced a lot of videos regarding the Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 modding community and helped to boost the popularity of the game in recent times, showcasing the mods made by the community and so on. As for the character modders themselves, CaliKingz01 is a great example, as he creates many custom characters from other games or Marvel comics including references based on old comics, move sets from previous games and so on. Looking at the most recent addition to his roster as of writing this, Gambit from X-Men, the animations and moves look amazing and fluid to the point of the character looking at home with the original cast. The gameplay balancing and flow are heavily tested and balanced by the community and the total number of characters playable including modded characters is getting close to over 100 now, with the future updates for Clone Engine hopefully allowing for most of them to all be playable at once.

Speaking of the Clone Engine, it is the most recent advancement in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 mods, which is made by Gneiss64 on YouTube. This was the result of tons of work, research and testing in order to reverse engineer the code of the game and allow for the implementation of new features or expansions. The Clone Engine allows for full modifications within the game itself, with the biggest additions being the ability to add characters (rather than replacing existing ones) in secret palette areas, acting like secret characters from the old classic arcade games. The Clone Engine is such a significant mod that it even allows modders to create entirely new story modes or storylines and make them playable within the game themselves.
This mod only got released recently, so the advancement with this tool has only just begun, with so many more ideas to be explored. The game will continue to evolve further and further as more modifications are done, but the insane potential of this mod will mean that the game has plenty more to go in terms of evolution.

Looking at the game overall, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a modern classic fighting game that has had a breath of new life, with constant updates, mods and fixes done by an insanely dedicated community. The base game had a cult following for years, and when the sequel disappointed them, the community took their beloved game into their own hands. The game still feels like a brand-new release with new updates and DLC being added, to the point where it’s hard to remember that it’s almost 12 years old by now.
The game is available on Steam, a platform that a likely majority of PC gamers are on, with sales happening quite often. All of these mods are mostly or entirely free and easy to access on sites like NexusMods, YouTube descriptions and GameBanana, making the whole process pretty easy to figure out. Whether you’re a fighting game fan who finds combos satisfying, a fan of the Marvel characters and want to see them in action or you just want to learn a cool new fighting game, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3’s modding scene makes it the already stellar game into a hard option to ignore.


The Highly-Anticipated Captain Tsubasa Game Kicks Off This August

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Tamsoft have announced that Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions will launch for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam worldwide on 28 August 2020.
The game will be available in the following special editions:
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Deluxe Edition

A physical copy of the game.
Deluxe Edition Bonus (V-Jump Collaboration uniform set).
Character Pass (nine downloadable content players).
Season Pass Bonus (New Champions uniform set).

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Collectorâ€™s Edition

A physical copy of the game.
Deluxe Edition Bonus (V-Jump Collaboration uniform set).
Character Pass (nine downloadable content players).
Season Pass Bonus (New Champions uniform set).
SteelBook.
Tsubasa Ozora All Japan Youth exclusive Master Stars piece (28cm).
Rainbow lamination collectible cards (Tsubas, Mitsugi, Matsuyama, and Hyuga).
Artboard (310x285mm).
Embroidered badges.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Champions Edition

A physical copy of the game.
Deluxe Edition Bonus (V-Jump Collaboration uniform set).
Character Pass (nine downloadable content players).
Season Pass Bonus (New Champions uniform set).
SteelBook.
Football jersey.
Rainbow lamination collectible cards (Tsubas, Mitsugi, Matsuyama, and Hyuga).
Embroidered badges.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Legends Edition

A physical copy of the game.
Deluxe Edition Bonus (V-Jump Collaboration uniform set).
Character Pass (nine downloadable content players).
Season Pass Bonus (New Champions uniform set).
SteelBook.
Customized football jersey.
Tsubasa Ozora All Japan Youth exclusive Master Stars piece (28cm).
Fully customized foosball table (Rene Pierre).
Rainbow lamination collectible cards (Tsubas, Mitsugi, Matsuyama, and Hyuga).
Artboard (310x285mm).
Embroidered badges.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions will be the first game from the long-running and iconic anime/manga franchise since 2010’sÂ Nintendo DSÂ titleÂ Captain Tsubasa: Gekito no Kiseki, which launched exclusively in Japan.
This new Captain Tsubasa game is probably to capitalize on the success of the most recent 2018 anime reboot, which ended its run after 52 episodes in early 2019. I remember watching the anime from the early 2000s, and it was awesome even for someone who isn’t a football fan like me.
In the meantime, check out the latest trailer for Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3KfOrH_7WI&w=560&h=315]


Happy May The 4th: The Best Star Wars Articles On Kakuchopurei

Article originally posted on 4th May, 2020. We’re updating and reposting this for 2023 with new entries.
Yep, it’s that time of year again where we celebrate our love for the Star Wars franchise. And what better way to do that than highlighting what Kakuchopurei has done over the past few years?
We are aware that the series has its ups and downs; the latter has been prevalent on the cinematic side of things. So let’s compile our Star Wars writeups in one.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review

The latest Star Wars game from Respawn Entertainment is out now. We enjoyed it, though it has a number of technical issues. Full review here.

Should You Still Hate Star Wars’ New Trilogy?

Let’s delve into the past and find out if The Last Jedi really killed the series. Or is there something more behind the scenes.
A New Hope: Why Star Wars’ Future Should Be On TV

Here’s a feature where we talk about why TV Star Wars is better than new movie trilogy Star Wars.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Recap

Since we’re on TV Star Wars, that Clone Wars series is pretty kickass. Here’s a recap so you can jump straight into Season 7.
The Top 10 Star Wars Characters Of All Time

Hey, how about that? We have our own best characters listicles from the sci-fi franchise. Our list is better because we included Expanded Universe characters.
Kakuchopurei’s Best Of 2019: Star Wars Jedi – Fallen Order

A few of us liked this action-adventure game from Respawn last year, so we gave it the Best Of KKP award last year. Here’s our writeup praising its many highlights.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoiler FAQ

Speaking of movie Star Wars, here’s us dissecting and grilling part IX.
Celebrating Star Wars In Video Games

We’re a video games site most of the time. Why wouldn’t we have a listicle on Star Wars video games?


Here’s When You Can Grab The PlayStation x Nike PG 2.5 Royal Blue Kicks

The release date for the new PlayStation x Nike PG shoes has been confirmed and this time it’s coming in a cool ‘Royal Blue’ color. The first two color schemes were white and grey, which was clearly inspired by the original PlayStation.
Meanwhile, the new PlayStation x Nike PG 2.5 Royal Blue kicks look like it’s based on the current blue color scheme used by Sony for the PS4 generation. The PlayStation controller button icons still adorn the side of the shoes and its strap, which makes for a great design.
Shoe enthusiasts will not have long to wait, as the PlayStation x Nike PG 2.5 Royal Blue shoes will be launching on December 27, 2018, at selected Nike Basketball retailers and the official website. It will be priced at $110, which roughly translates to approximately RM460.
Feast your eyes on the PlayStation x Nike PG 2.5 Royal Blue below (Source: SneakerFiles):


Xbox Series X Gets Release Date & Official Price [Update]

Update: Southeast Asian prices added, kinda. Prices are for the Singapore version, since it’s officially distributed there.
After confirming the release date and official price for the Xbox Series S several days ago, Microsoft has finally done the same for the Xbox Series X.
Xbox Series X will launch on 10 November 2020 for US$499 (or roughly RM2070+). Its official Singapore price is S$699.99. Its smaller cousin, the Xbox Series S, will be out for US$299; its SG price is S$459.
Pre-orders for both consoles will open from 22 September 2020.

This is the tweet…Xbox Series X: $499 (ERP)Xbox Series S: $299 (ERP)Release date: November 10Pre-order starts September 22: https://t.co/Dz5bRsAuwQ | #PowerYourDreams pic.twitter.com/MadZl4OOKJ— Xbox (@Xbox) September 9, 2020

Besides a one-time payment, Microsoft also announced that users will also be able to purchase Xbox Series X at a monthly rate of US$34.99 (or roughly RM145+) for 24 months, and Xbox Series S at US$24.99 (or roughly RM104+) monthly for 24 months via Xbox All Access.
Both of these offers also include 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KvnYVcp1oqk

Here are the newly-confirmed launch titles for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (that will be playable on 10 November 2020) so far:
Assassinâ€™s Creed ValhallaGears TacticsTetris Effect: ConnectedYakuza: Like a DragonDestiny 2: Beyond LightWatch Dogs Legion
Here are the official technical specifications and comparisons between the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S (via Xbox):
Xbox Series XXbox Series SCPU8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz3.6GHz w/ SMT Enabled8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.6GHz3.4GHz w/ SMT EnbledGPUAMD RDNA 2 GPU52 CUs @ 1.825GHzAMD RDNA 2 GPU20 CUs @ 1.565GHzGPU Power12.5 TFLOPS4 TFLOPSSystem on a Chip (SoC)Custom 7nm Enhanced SoCCustom 7nm Enhanced SoCRAM16GB GDDR6 RAM10GB @ 560 GB/s6GB @ 336 GB/s10GB GDDR6 RAM8GB @ 224GB/s2GB @ 56GB/sPerformance Target4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS1440p @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPSStorage1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVME SSD2.4GB/sec uncompressed4.8GB/sec compressed512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVME SSD2.4GB/sec uncompressed4.8GB/sec compressedExpandable Storage1TB Expansion Card(matches internal storage exactly)1TB Expansion Card(matches internal storage exactly)Backward CompatibilityThousands of Xbox One and backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox Games available atl aunch. Xbox One gaming accessories are backward-compatible as well.Thousands of Xbox One and backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox Games available atl aunch. Xbox One gaming accessories are backward-compatible as well.Disc Drive4K UHD Blu-rayDigital OnlyDisplay OutHDMI 2.1HDMI 2.1MSRP$499 USD$299 USD


[Rumour] Dragon’s Dogma 2 To Run On RE Engine & Feature Mask Mechanic

Another quarter of a year, which means a slew of rumours and leaks surrounding a number of unannounced Capcom games. This time, the focus is on the Dragon’s Dogma sequel.
According to recent 4chan leaks (via ResetEra), Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be implementing new gameplay mechanics to its action RPG template and also be running on Capcom’s proprietary game engine. Let’s break down what we know so far:

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be using the RE Engine, though right now the dev team is forced to choose whether to have more than 10 enemies on-screen or use sorcery spells with complex animations. Keep in mind that this game is an open-world RPG, so technical difficulties during production are expected.
The team led by DMC’s Hideaki Itsuno is working closely with the Resident Evil developers to get advice and help optimize the game’s overall performance.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 will feature a mechanic where your created character will be using a mask called the Phersu to hide himself/herself from enemies and pursuers. If he/she removes the mask, the game’s world will radically change and reveal them to enemies. In fact, these enemies will become stronger and more aggressive.
Some enemies and bosses will be tougher or near-impossible to defeat if you do not have specific story-related equipment, which means you are encouraged to explore the game’s world and solve its many dungeons.
You can sacrifice your pawn (your reliable & chatty helper in the Dragon’s Dogma series) and turn them corrupted in exchange for unique pieces of armour. This in turn can make combat bearable.
Due to the limited availability of the PS5 and new GPUs, the game may be delayed from its initial rumoured date of Q4 2022.

Keep in mind that these rumours are from the same source that leaked Devil May Cry 5 prior to its E3 2018 reveal on Xbox’s showcase. Take them with aÂ  grain of salt, but assuming they’re true, this could mean lovely changes to an already-awesome action RPG.
Dragon’s Dogma was a wonderful experience back in 2011, so it’s high time to have a sequel to this title later down the line. Plus, we need something to wash away the stink of the Netflix anime adaptation of the game.


If You Missed It, Here’s What Went Down At Ctrl + Alt Gaming 2018

An event for gamers by gamers, Ctrl + Alt Gaming 2018 (CAG 2018) kicked off with a massive bang last weekend by Sunway University Esports Club in collaboration with Games Fusion, MVP Mobile Arena, and The MAGIC RAIN.
The event was to celebrate the diversity of gamers in Malaysia, encouraging different gamers to not only enjoy their genre of choice but also other genres. About 1,500 gamers attended the event throughout the weekend.
If you didn’t have the chance to attend, here’s what you missed out on:
A Solo Cosplay Competition was held and the contestants did not hold back with their amazing quality cosplays from different games
Cosplay? More like real life super hero
Touhou Antimony of Common Flowers tournament. Not a usual tournament seen around here yet the community was just as competitive as any other mainstream esport
Its never boring when Splatoon 2 is in the house
Casual cosplayers also wereÂ  present during the event with amazing cosplays that could rival the cosplay competitors
Ever wondered how it would be like if you were a hero in a MOBA? MVP Mobile Arena gave out physical copies of hero selection photos at their photo booth as well as animated the photos throughout the day.
The Just Dance area was poppin’ all day with players showing off their dance moves
Can’t join car races IRL? Well try so here!
Gamers of all ages were present during the event. Funny enough, the child was begging the father to leave instead of the other way round!
Well done, I say to the organizers of Ctrl + Alt Gaming 2018 for bringing so many different gamers together, be it casual, hardcore, RPG. MOBA and so much more. Here’s to hoping we see another CAG 2018 next year!


Come Along With Me: The Best Adventure Time Episodes So Far

This feature is brought to you by the folks from The Last King podcast. Check out their awesome show & website here and here.
Adventure Time is an ambitious Cartoon Network show that balances its fantastical absurdities with long-spanning narratives. In-between the 10-minute episodic adventures concerning (mis)adventures of Jake the dog and Finn the human lies a looming war between the Candy Kingdom and the nation of Gumbaldia.
The crazy thing is that it all ties into Princess Bubblegum’s god complex since she created the opposing nation’s ruler, Uncle Gumbald. And that’s not even mentioning allusions to the world’s past conflicts like the Great Mushroom War. This all-ages show has a few emotional and narrative layers within its zany offbeat portrayal of a post-apocalyptic earth, as well as make you wonder if the Land of Ooo is really a cheery place to live in (short answer: hell no).

With the series already coming to a close, we should touch a bit about this landmark series that introduced us to the work and imagination of Pendleton Ward, whom you might know from his debut work The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Here are our favourite episodes in no particular order.
Rainy Day Dreamday (Season 1)

Do you want to see Jake’s powers at work when he’s bored? Look no further as he takes a spin at the “Floor is Lava” game when Finn mocks his love for imagination.
“Imagination is forÂ turbo-nerds who canâ€™t handle how kick-butt reality is”. Don’t ever say that when you’re with a temperamental shape-shifting talking dog voiced by Bender.
What Was Missing (Season 3)

The truth hurts, and this episode is aÂ testament to that. When the group’s sentimental items were stolen by a creature, they have to perform a piece of honest music to get it back. This episode also hinted at a long-running story arc: the past relationship between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the vampire.
But really, we’re all here for the happy group song the team performs, and it’s heartwarming.
Marceline’s Closet (Season 3)

Adults watching Adventure Time do get a kick out of Marceline and the jokes surrounding her. If you want to see how the writers of this show hit the limit as to what they’re allowed to put in a kid’s show, this episode is the hallmark of their talent.
Marceline fans, this one’s for you.
I Remember You (Season 4)

This is one of the more emotional episodes of the show; it focuses on Marceline and her memories of the Ice King. There’s a reason why there weren’t any episodes starring the two together, and this one episode is the reason why.
It’s an episode that deals with painful relationships and an effective metaphor for folks who had to cope with a relative suffering from dementia. There aren’t that many kid’s shows that deal with this in a subtle and poignant way within a 10-minute runtime.
Dungeon Train (Season 5)

Finn throws himself in a fight against a train filled with monsters because he wants to avoid dealing with a recent breakup. Yeap, that sounds like what most of us go through in life: finding a mundane and engrossing activity to forget about real life and its problems for just a few moments.
It also highlights the dangers of relying on coping mechanisms: pretty soon you end up alienating people around you and live in solitude, as well as pushing away your friends because you just want to be on your own.
Princess Cookie (Season 4)

A hostage situation in the Candy Kingdom escalates when Jake sympathizes with the perpetrator and proceeds to help him escape.Â Said perpetrator is an orphaned cookie who turns to a life of crime after society rejects him. And his one goal? It’s to be a princess just like Princess Bubblegum.
Part social commentary and part heartwarming (kinda) episode, these are the sort of episodes that make you wonder how far the writers can push the G-rated envelope and get away with certain themes. It also shows their skill in turning an absurd premise into a touching one. On that note, the land of Ooo is indeed a harsh place to live in.
Food Chain (Season 6)

In which Jake & Finn metamorphosize into animals and concepts and have their adventures drawn by a Japanese animation director. This episode emphasizes the many surreal aspects of the Adventure Time series in the best way possible.
Not many kid’s shows have our protagonist transform from bacteria to a giant universe by a magic-wielder prankster. No moral or emotional turmoil here; just good clean stoner image fun!
Astral Plane (Season 6)

Adventure Time can also go into the meditative side of things, such is the case of the sixth season episode “Astral Plane” where Finn has a literal “out of body experience” and contemplating on the meaning of life. The weirdness and surreal nature of the show is still intact, don’t worry -there’s a cloud people rave and a Mars catastrophe in-between the soul-searching.
It’s a whole episode where Finn checks out the mundane problems of Ooo’s denizens and thinks hard about what it means to maintain your own version & vision of your life.
The Islands Episodes 1-8 (Season 8)
Finn, Jake, Susan Strong, and BMO go off far away to an island with humans. This adventure eventually leads to Finn meeting his mother who ends up ruling one of the largest human colonies with high tech stuff. Oh and the group comes across a VR haven, a spell-casting sea snake thing, and Susan Strong’s backstory.

The final few episodes of this saga is an exaggerated cautionary tale of what happensÂ if a country ends up forsaking freedom of emotion for comfort and security. Kinda like a jacked-up version of Singapore, if you want to go straight for the nads. All these 8 episodes are saying is that a little chaos and adventure in your life may put you in danger, but you’ll miss out on new experiences and a little fun.
Let us know what your favourite Adventure Time episodes are!


Respawn Goes On A 700-Plus Banning Spree In Apex Legends

In November 2020, Respawn Entertainment banned 419 top-ranked Apex Legends players for exploiting a glitch to easily beat low-ranked players. Now more than 700 top-ranked accounts have been banned for cheating and other illegal actions in the game.
Respawn security analyst Conor Ford revealed that stat on Twitter earlier this week; as more than 700 Apex Legends accounts ranked from Gold to Predator had been banned over the weekend.
In a tweet, he wrote:
“700+ accounts used for cheating in ranked (Gold-Pred) have been permanently banned since last Thursday.
This does not, and will not, include any accounts that used an infinite heat shield exploit. Love you all.”

700+ accounts used for cheating in ranked (Gold-Pred) have been permanently banned since last Thurdasy. This does not, and will not, include any accounts that used an infinite heat shield exploit. Love you all ???
— Conor Ford / Hideouts (@RSPN_Hideouts) March 16, 2021

In an email to PCGamer, Ford added that about 180 of the banned accounts were among the top two Apex Legends ranks; Diamond and Predator, while the remainder were either Gold or Platinum.
However, the ban excluded infinite heat shield exploiters because apparently “using an exploit like that isn’t grounds for a permanent ban”. Ford further revealed that across all game modes and regions, Respawn Entertainment usually bans around 100,000 Apex players per month and is now approaching a whopping two million bans in total.
That’s a lot of players.
Ford wrote:
“Some are banned before they [enter a match].
Some just hop onto a hacked account and rage hack in a pub and are instantly detected.
The ranked series will see less cheaters generally, especially in higher ranks, as they require larger amounts of time put in while going undetected to make it to that level.
A substantial amount are also caught in Bronze to Gold.”
The developer is always on the lookout for new and old cheats. In fact, Ford revealed that he even has a list of repeat offenders that he keeps track of.
“I have a list of my habitual cheaters that I track daily and monitor but for the most part it’s random people trying out some hacks and trying to boost their stats.
Or make a name for themselves with their ‘skill’ (usually an aimbot) and try to get big on Twitch.”
It is the hope of Ford and many others in the Apex Legends community that one day, cheating will be “very rare”. However, he clarified that having no cheaters at all would be unrealistic.
He wrote:
“There is a large market and economy for cheat makers and many players want cheats for any game they play in.
That’s just the way some people want to game and that’s what I’ve learned since taking on this position.”
Apex Legends recently launched on Steam in November 2020 and on the Nintendo Switch just earlier this month. As the game gets more popular, there will likely be more players taking advantage of exploiting glitches and cheats. Developers like Ford surely have their work cut out for them.


ASUS ROG Reveals ROG Phone 6 Series; Here’s How Powerful They Are

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG)’s ROG Phone 6: For Those Who Dare virtual launch event has just passed revealing this year’s take of the ROG Phone series of gaming smartphones along with a bunch of other products and their prices.
That’s right folks; like last year which saw the releases of iterations of the same model, the ROG Phone 6 series includes two models as of right now, the ROG Phone 6 and the ROG Phone 6 Pro. Asus boldly claims both being the most powerful ROG Phones to date. And from the looks of past phones, a lot more pricey too.
To accompany the unveiling of the two devices, several gaming headphones were also showcased, including the new ROG Cetra True Wireless Pro dual-mode wired/wireless model featuring an ESS Quad DAC and an AI Noise-Canceling Microphone and the ROG Cetra True Wireless for low-latency gaming audio. For detailed and true-to-life headset audio, the ROG Delta S Wireless, ROG’s dual-mode wireless gaming headset and the lightweight 270-gram ROG Delta S Core gaming headsets are on display.
KEY POINTS

Latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform and advanced GameCool 6 cooling system for unrivaled performance.
165 Hz 6.78″ AMOLED HDR 10+ display; 18 GB LPDDR5 RAM, 512 GB storage; monster 6000 mAh battery capacity.
ROG Cetra True Wireless Pro / True Wireless gaming headphones; ROG Delta S Wireless, Delta S Core gaming headsets.
Exciting modular accessories including the updated AeroActive Cooler 6, ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad, and more.

ROG Phone 6 & ROG Phone 6 Pro

The ROG Phone 6 series is powered by the latest flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform with up to 3.2 GHz CPU clock speeds, up to 18 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 512 GB of storage.
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 delivers power and performance enhancements for the ultimate boost across all on-device experiences. It offers the full suite of Snapdragon Elite Gaming features plus an improved Qualcomm Adreno GPU, delivering a more than 50% performance improvement when compared to the Snapdragon 888 that powered the ROG Phone 5. The device is backed by up to 18 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512 GB of storage, which is meant to help with game stability and device reliability.
The upgraded GameCool 6 cooling system features novel 360° CPU cooling technology to unleash maximum sustained performance. A monster 6000mAh battery capacity provides extended battery life for long game sessions. Supreme visuals are delivered by a 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED HDR10+ display that uses exclusive ROG tuning technology to achieve an amazing 165Hz refresh rate, an industry-leading 720Hz touch-sampling rate and a world-beating 23ms ultra-low touch latency. The new series is accompanied by a full array of exclusive ROG Phone 6 accessories, including the new AeroActive Cooler 6 and ROG Phone 6 Glass Screen Protector.
Wireless & wired headphones
A range of existing and new wireless and wired headphones was also showcased. The ROG Cetra True Wireless Pro and ROG Cetra True Wireless gaming headphones deliver remarkable audio and low-latency connections.
The new Cetra True Wireless Pro is a wired / wireless dual-mode model featuring an ESS Quad DAC and an AI Noise-Canceling Microphone, giving exceptional in-game audio and communication with the freedom to easily switch between wireless and wired USB-C modes.

In Bluetooth mode, it uses the latest Snapdragon Sound technology, delivering a low-latency connection and premium music streaming. An ultra-low-latency gaming mode provides 45 ms7 audio for perfectly synced in-game sounds on ROG Phone 6. Furthermore, Cetra True Wireless Pro features multiple Active Noise Cancelation modes to reduce wider-frequency background noise and enhance wind-noise reduction for unparalleled audio immersion.
For wired mode, ROG engineers also developed the innovative in-line audio optimizer with built-in ESS 9280 Quad DAC for exceptional audio with rich, detailed spatial sound. In addition, the AI Noise-Canceling Microphone reduces over 500 million types of background noise such as chatter, keyboard clatter and mouse clicks by up to 95% for crystal-clear voice communication.
The ROG Cetra series also includes ROG Cetra True Wireless, which is a purely wireless model featuring a Gaming mode for low-latency wireless audio that offers better synchronization with onscreen visuals.
The brand-new ROG Delta S Wireless is the first ROG dual-mode wireless gaming headset. It can be used in either 2.4 GHz or Bluetooth modes for maximum flexibility when connecting devices.

An extensive array of accessories

An ecosystem of modular accessories allows gamers to optimize their gameplay experience on the ROG Phone 6 series. Accessories include the AeroActive Cooler 6, ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad for ROG Phone 6, ROG Phone 6 Glass Screen Protector, cases and more. The clip-on AeroActive Cooler 6 has an AI-powered thermoelectric cooler, and a fan that delivers increased cooling airflow directly to hotspots on the back cover of the ROG Phone 6.

The result is that it can lower the surface temperature by up to a stunning 25°C. The AeroActive Cooler 6 also adds four extra physical buttons to allow a genuine console-like control experience.
Pricing and Availability
The ROG Phone 6 will be available in Malaysia in two variants, Storm White and Phantom Black. Furthermore, the ROG Phone 6 (12GB+256GB) is priced at RM3,599, while the 16GB + 512GB variant will be available for RM4,399. Both variants will be available in Malaysia starting from August 2022. Meanwhile, the ROG Phone 6 Pro with 18GB RAM and 512GB storage will be priced at RM4,999. Availability is set for September 2022 for the ROG Phone 6 Pro.
Pre-orders for the ROG Phone 6 will commence on 6 July on Shopee and offline channels, with RM548 worth of early bird freebies, comprising of a 1-year warranty extension (worth RM199) and an AeroActive Cooler 6 (worth RM349). On top of that, pre-orders of the ROG Phone 6 on Shopee will also be entitled to 10% off on the ROG Slash Hip Bag and ROG Slash Crossbody Bag, which are priced at RM499 and RM399 respectively.

PRODUCTS
RETAIL PRICE
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY

ROG Phone 6 (12GB / 256GB) Black/White
RM3,599
August 2022

ROG Phone 6 (16GB / 512GB) Black/White
RM4,399
August 2022

ROG Phone 6 Pro (18GB / 512GB)
RM4,999
September 2022

AeroActive Cooler 6
RM349
August 2022

DEVILCASE ROG PHONE 6 Guardian Lite Plus (Authorized)
RM149
August 2022

ROG PHONE 6 Glass Screen Protector
RM149
August 2022

Kunai 3 Gamepad for ROG Phone 6 Black/White
RM499
August 2022

ROG SLASH HIP BAG
RM499
August 2022

ROG SLASH CROSSBODY BAG
RM399
August 2022


Need for Speed Unbound Videos Highlights Customization Options

Today, EA and Criterion released a series of new Need for Speed Unbound gameplay videos showcasing all the ways players can add their own flair and style to upgrade their vehicle aesthetic as they burn up the streets of Lakeshore City.
In Need for Speed Unbound, players will have more than 10,000 customization options for their car, including new wraps, cutaways, rims and more. Explore new forms of self-expression with distinctive Driving Effects, customized audio Samples and signature Tags, which explode off the car through stylized graphics and sounds as players hit jumps, burn out and drift through the streets.
You can check out the many ways in which players can customize their rides in Need for Speed Unbound via the new gameplay videos below:

Legendary Customs: The most extreme expression of customization ever seen in Need for Speed. Legendary Customs are one-of-a-kind, showcasing silhouette-changing body kits that dramatically transform a car’s appearance into a one-of-a-kind custom for the ultimate attention-seeking ride.
Rock New Rims: Tune every inch of your car with fresh designs and new variations to turbofans bringing more personality to your wheels than ever before.
Dialled-up Decals: Deck out your ride using new wrap editor decals featuring content from leading fashion innovators, the best in-car culture, new fonts, the freshest street art, and more!
Legit Cutaways: Remove bumpers to create an edgier, more aggressive look to your ride that will certainly pick up your competition’s attention while they race behind you.

Need For Speed Unbound will launch for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 2 December 2022.

Y’all wanted more so we gave you more!
More Rims. More Decals. More Rides. More Customization. More than Machines. #needforspeed pic.twitter.com/ov7wZpueuY
— Need for Speed (@NeedforSpeed) October 25, 2022


Violent Night Delivers Ass-Kicking Christmas Shenanigans As Advertised

It’s beginning to look a lot like Oscar Bait season, so it’s nice to see a film that actually sticks to the ever-permanent season of Christmas and make an action show to celebrate the mood. In Violent Night, clearly a play on the famous Christmas hymn Silent Night, a jaded version of Santa Claus (David Harbour) has to save the day when a child gets caught up in a hostage situation involving her parents (Alex “Not My Vicious” Hassell and Alexis Louder), her multimillionaire conglomerate-owning grandmother (Beverly D’Angelo of National Lampoon Vacation fame), a group of Christmas codenamed terrorists led by Scrooge (John Leguizamo), and a secluded mansion ripped out of Home Alone.

Slay Bells

This is a film produced by 87North Productions, renowned for the action stunt spectacular Bullet Train a few months ago, so you can expect a ton of silly Christmas-themed one-liners from Harbour’s grizzly beard and mouth combo, a lot of terrorists and bad guys being impaled and maimed to death, and a lot of broken props and seasonal items like star ornaments, ice skates, and sledgehammers.
If anything, this is clearly Harbour’s spotlight because he alongside kidnapped child Trudy (Leah Brady) are charming in their own way that’ll get you and the audience invested. The rest of the cast? Not so much as we have bad guys trying to be the next Hans Gruber and some middling family drama that acts as padding.

Ho Ho Ho-Hum

Take Violent Night at face value and as a popcorn flick with a Mature rating. It’s filled with jolly cheer, an on-the-nose message about the meaning of Christmas, and a lot of red mist courtesy of the fighting and action, complete with a nice answer as to what happens if you drag someone up through a chimney in full force without warning. It’s mostly dull, but when it gets the action going, it’s worth a couple of views.
Violent Night definitely no Die Hard, but it’s a few steps above your Silent Night, Deadly Night sequels at the very least.
Final Score: 50/100


Roguelike Card Game Pirates Outlaws Drops Anchor On Mobile Today

A new roguelike card game arrives on Android and iOS today, and it’s Pirates Outlaws, which features exciting turn-based battles and procedurally-generated maps that allow for replayability.
Players will start the game by first recruiting their own pirate crew and explore islands to obtain new cards, treasure, and relics. There are 6 characters to choose from, including Gunner, Sword Master, Explorer, Cursed Captain, Alchemist, and Admiral. Each character or class comes with a special ability and a pre-made deck containing 10 cards.

For now, there are 3 initial chapters to play through, with boss battles in between. These are also replayable, thanks to the 3 different difficulty levels being offered. Navigating through the map and moving your ship uses up Action Points (AP). Running out of AP will end the game.

Besides that, the game also features over 250 cards, 50 outlaws, 80 relics, and 20 bosses. That’s a lot of content, not to mention the game’s charming 2D art style and aesthetics.
Developed by Chinese indie developer Fabled Game Studio, Pirates Outlaws is now available for purchase on Google Play and the App Store for $0.99 or RM3.99. In the meantime, check out the game’s trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmLzS46t310&w=560&h=315]


The 2019 Overwatch Contenders Pacific Returns For Season 2

The long-awaited 2019 Overwatch Contenders Pacific Season 2 will return on 13 June, bringing 2 new teams to the fray. Â In addition to the prize, the top team will win the honour to represent the Pacific region to fight against the other top players inÂ The Gauntlet, a live event gathers attention from Overwatch League scouts.
Schedule
The 2nd season of Contenders Pacific has two phases; regular season and playoffs.
The regular season will start from 19:00 on 13 June (GMT+8), and it returns every Thursday and 11:00 Saturday for the next seven weeks, while the playoffs will be on 1 August, 2 August, and 9 August. All matches will start from 19:00 GMT+8.
Here’s the schedule in timetable form:

Team Changes

Six teams,Â including Cyclone Coupling,Â Global Esports,Â Jupiter,Â NovaMS Esports,Â Talon and Xavier Esports,Â will return to 2019 Overwatch Contenders Pacific Season 2. Two new teams make their debut from Contenders Trails Pacific, namely Far East SocietyÂ (formerly known as NAM-E Fighters) andÂ Green Leaves, the eight teams will compete for the ticket to the Gauntlet.
Head to the official website here for the full roster.
Prize Pool
As in previous years, there will be awards more than USD3 million (RM12 million) in prizes throughout 2019. Prizing has been reallocated to more heavily reward top-performing teams.
Both the Atlantic and Pacific Showdowns will include a USD125,000 (RM519,200) prize pool, and the Gauntlet will award a USD250,000 (RM1.03 million) prize pool.
How Do I Catch The Action?
You can tune into the live broadcastsÂ on the official English channelÂ hereÂ and the Mandarin channelÂ here.
If you need more information, you can drop by the official Overwatch Contenders website here.


Tenet Gets Final Release Date In Malaysia… Hopefully

Last week, Warner Bros.Ã‚Â delayed Christopher NolanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s timey-wimey science fiction filmÃ‚Â Tenet indefinitely. However, it looks like the studio has now opted to release the movie in international markets before the domestic US market (via Deadline).
It is now slated to premiere at the end of August or early September in 70 international territories before releasing in the US on 2 September 2020.
Tenet is slated to premiere on 27 August 2020 in Malaysia.
Check out the full list of countries for each Tenet premiere date below:
26 August 2020

Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Holland
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Italy, Korea
Latvia
Lithuania
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
UK

27 August 2020

Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Canada
Czech Republic
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Israel
Lebanon
Malaysia
Middle East
New Zealand
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates

28 August 2020

East Africa
Ghana
Nigeria
Norway
Romania
Slovenia
Spain
Vietnam

2 September 2020

The United States

3 September 2020

Kuwait
Qatar

10 September 2020

Azerbaijan
CIS Others
Kazakhstan
Russia

18 September 2020

Japan

Stay tuned on Kakuchopurei for the latest pop culture news. In the meantime, check out the latestÃ‚Â TenetÃ‚Â trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pk_TBkihU&w=560&h=315]


Malaysia Has The Golden Opportunity In MLBB At This Year’s SEA Games

Malaysia has taken down the host nation on home soil at the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In a nail-biting 2–1 series, Malaysia has now advanced to the Grand Finals where they await their final opponent which will be decided tonight in the match between Myanmar and the Philippines.

You can check out the MLBB results at the 32nd SEA Games here!

How Malaysia made it to the Grand Finals
It all began yesterday, Friday, 12 May as we saw the tournament’s Group Stage commence. With Malaysia being in Group A alongside the Philippines, Laos, Timor-Leste and Vietnam, it was almost a given that Malaysia was going to secure one of the top two seeds to qualify out of Groups.
The only hill the team would have to climb would be facing the Philippines, as they are currently seen as the strongest region in the world at the moment. But then again, the Philippines weren’t fielding their strongest possible roster as their team was solely comprised of Bren Esports, who placed 4th in their domestic league.
So with this, toppling the Philippines was certainly not out of the question. And they did as such as Malaysia went undefeated in Group A with a record of 4–0.
Coming into today, they were pitted against the second seed from Group B, Cambodia, another respectable region who are recognised amongst the Top 4 strongest regions in the world, so this wasn’t going to be easy.
Game 1 saw Malaysia choose a composition consisting of Lapu-Lapu, Lancelot, Pharsa, Karrie and Chou. Despite the aggressive composition, Malaysia started off slow, which Cambodia took full advantage of and eventually steamed through Malaysia in just 16 minutes to claim the first point on the board.
Going into Game 2, Malaysia decided to switch things up in the draft and opted for a different composition revolving around Akai, Kadita, Martis and Joy as well as stealing Claude away from the hosting nation. This strategy proved to do wonders as after a gruelling 25-minute game, the Harimau finally claimed victory, bringing the equalising the score to 1–1.
Hot off the last game, Malaysia decided to change things up yet again, opting to stick with Martis and Lapu-Lapu from Game 1, partnered with Valentina, Beatrix and Grock to round out the draft. Changing the draft up again seemed to work in Malaysia’s favour as they went on to demolish Cambodia in a similar way they experienced themselves in Game 1, ending Game 3 in just 15 minutes and 22 seconds and securing their spot in the Grand Final and a chance at the Gold Medal.

You can catch Malaysia in the Grand Finals tomorrow, 14 May, at 4:00 PM (UTC+8) live on the official MLBB Esports YouTube channel where they will face off against the winner of Myanmar and the Philippines.


Loop Hero Takes This Year’s Indie RPG Crown With Its Hands-Off Approach

Platform: PC
Genre: Auto-RPG Simulation
It’s hard to pin down Devolver Digital and Four Quarter’s Loop Hero with a genre label. It’s actually an amalgamation of a lot of things: a computer RPG with an 80s art style, a digital card game, a simulation, a strategy game, a roguelike.
What I can tell you is that all this combined makes for an awesome experience that is unlike anything you’ve played in recent years.
A Perfect Circle

Here’s how Loop Hero works: you have a warrior hero who walks on a path in a loop in a blank void. During this expedition, you populate the place with dungeons and landscape stuff using cards you have. Battlefields, meadows, graveyards, outposts: these tilesets will either buff up your hero or generate enemies on the path. Killing enemies makes your hero stronger, either by leveling up to gain new skills or by picking up gear to equip.
Here’s the kicker: you have no direct control over your hero. He attacks, defends, and walks along the road automatically. It’s up to you to equip him with the best gear possible, create a challenging-yet-fair path to buff him up, and prep him for the oncoming boss fight once you’ve laid out enough pieces on the map to fill up a “boss bar” on the top right. It sounds daunting at first, but the tutorial makes it easy for you to follow and then play multiple loops.
Once you experience the first hour of Loop Hero to acclimatize to its mechanics & auto-gameplay, you will not stop playing. From its retro soundbites to the deck-building and base-building portion that helps create the foundation of your future grinding, it’s pretty hard to stop once you get going. It scratches that itch where you want to get a perfect run, but somehow you mess it up because you got greedy and didn’t realize that some of the enemies can attack you from afar and with rapid-fire precision.
You’ll be laying out tiles to give your hero the buffs he needs, but also summoning other new monsters that could wreck your hero early if you’re not careful. You can also build villages that heal you if you enter, but they buff a random monster with 200% extra health as a “quest creature” that gives you a nice reward if slain. Laying tiles out in the void in a certain way will yield different bonuses; like 3×3 mountains/stones giving a huge health boost to your warrior, or burning tree tiles with a Storm Altar for magic attack buffs.
You also can unlock classes with different playstyles; the Rogue favours quick damage & crits at the cost of low health, while the Necromancer just summons a skeleton army to overwhelm foes. Personally, I find the Rogue overpowered in the long run, but my playstyle in these kinds of CRPGs have always been aggressive with no regard to health sustainability. You can build a deck and create a loop just focused on that, while also praying to the RnG gods that you get the right equipment. And when you do, you’ll also have to make decisions on whether to keep them, or go for higher numbers but less abilities.
Thankfully time stops when you’re looking at your inventory, or hovering your cursor over an enemy. Heck, you can pause the game anytime you like to contemplate and take your time with the loop. Loop Hero is challenging and can screw you over, but at least it lets you think long and hard to plan ahead and wisely.
There will be a ton of tricks and surprises like these in store during your 30+ hour of the seemingly neverending cycle of RPGing. Simply put, Loop Hero channels the same “one more turn” addictive gameplay found in simulations like the Civilization series because of its loot-based gameplay loop, simple-yet-hard-to-master mechanics, and charming aesthetics. There’s a story in here where you’re trying to get out of the Groundhog Day scenario created by your Lich nemesis, but it’s just window dressing to the main attraction. It has its humorous moments though, especially with the camp leader being snide at your hero’s optimism and “amnesiac” tendencies.
Roundabout
I’ll keep this short and sweet: Loop Hero is a must-buy for PC if you want a fresh new take on roguelike RPGs in 2021. It combines the chillax structure of a clicker game, but will challenge you mentally with its deck-building and planning bits, so that your hero goes on the road challenged and ready for the eventual boss of the expedition. Loop Hero may have flashes of familiar genre tropes, but it’s truly a journey of its own. And a fruitful one at that.
Pros

A lot of mysterious-yet-fun mechanics to discover at your own pace.
Loot-driven gameplay & base-building keeps you going.
Lovely 80s CRPG aesthetics.

Cons

Some degree of luck needed to get the tilesets & combos you want.

Final Score: 90/100


Rainbow Six Siege Unveils New Operator Thunderbird

Ubisoft has announced the second season of Tom Clancyâ€™s Rainbow Six Siege Year 6: North Star and its new indigenous Operator, Thunderbird, coming from the Nakoda nation, a North American First Nation, in addition to an entirely reworked Favela map, and more.
In North Star, players will discover a brand-new Defender: Thunderbird. She can deploy a KoÌna Healing Station, which heals any player â€“ ally or enemy â€“ close to this device, even if they are downed. The KoÌna Station has a cooldown between each charge. Thunderbird is a low armour, high-speed operator, equipped with a SPEAR .308 or SPAS-15 as a primary weapon, and BEARING 9 or Q-929 as a secondary weapon.
In addition, North Star introduces a reimagined Favela map with rooms, better map overview and improved navigation. These changes will improve readability, making sure players always know where they are and where they are going when playing on Favela.

On Test Servers, two new features will be tested: a revamped armour system and activities after death. Playersâ€™ armour will be converted to additional health so they have better visibility on their armourâ€™s impact. Additionally, players will have new activities after death, with Attackers being able to control their own drones while some Defenders will be able to use their gadgets after their death (including Maestro, Echo or Mozzie).
These changes will have a strong impact on gameplay and need to be tested to get playersâ€™ feedback. They will be available on the Test Server only and will not release on live servers at the North Star launch.
Additional updates coming with North Star include:

Scoreboard 2.0.
New corpse icons.
Bullet holes fix.
Operator balancing (Melusi, Mira, and Maestro tweaks and Gas Propagation rework).

The Test Server for North Star will go live on 25 May 2021. The Test Server is an alternative version of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, allowing players to test upcoming gameplay features that will make their way into the main game itself. Since this is a testing environment, a consistent gameplay experience is not guaranteed on the Test Server. Players are invited to submit the issues they encounter on the Test Server on the R6 Fix platform here.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Legends Of Runeterra To Add New Region & Cards With Rising Tides Expansion

Riot Gamesâ€™ new digital card game and League Of Legends spinoff will leave beta and officially launch soon. At launch, Legends Of Runeterra will receive a new patch which will bring new cards from a new Region, Bilgewater.
Rising Tides’ Bilgewater is a Region where pirate gangs never pass up a chance to plunder and monsters of the deep devour entire ships without warning. It will add over 120 new cards and 11 champions from the League of Legends universe (which includes Miss Fortune, Fizz, and Gangplank), one new cosmetic board, two new cosmetic guardians, updated region roads for existing regions, new card backs, and new emotes.

Riot Games executive producer Jeff Jew said:

â€œWeâ€™re thrilled to officially launch Legends of Runeterra across the globe.
Our commitment to strategic interactive gameplay, rich deckbuilding, and amazing champion moments remains as strong as ever, and now is the perfect time to jump in and explore all that Runeterra has to offer.
See you in game!â€

The upcoming Patch 1.0 for Legends Of Runeterra will also add the ability to customize and save individual deck loadouts for boards, guardians, emotes, and card backs. The Ranked Season will be partially reset with the new Season Of Plunder.
Plus, having a full board of six units will no longer prevent players from playing additional units. However, players will still have to choose one of those six units to be Obliterated before replacing it.
Stay tuned on Kakuchopurei for the Legends Of Runeterra review later this week.


RTS/FPS Hybrid Executive Assault 2 Leaves Early Access This October

After a five-year interstellar journey, space combat/strategy epic Executive Assault 2 departs Steam Early Access and prepares a boarding party for full launch this October on PC.
Imagined by the mind of solo indie developer Robert Hesketh, Executive Assault 2 presents wannabe space CEOs with a galactic wild west to explore, conquer, and control, all whilst navigating the complex web of rival corporations vying for technology and wealth.
With five years spent in Early Access setting the standard for fusing space combat and strategy gameplay, Executive Assault 2 utilises the best elements of first-person gunplay and real-time strategy (RTS), combining the two to offer up an exhilarating adventure in the depths of war-torn space. As CEO, establish a formidable fleet of your own making before assuming the role of tactical commander and engaging in fierce firefights across the galaxy to make a profit and take down your rivals.
In RTS mode, CEOs must invest time (and resources) into farming resources, claiming outposts, and strengthening their home base. Sell goods to boost the economy, funnel all that precious space gold back into new warbot designs, and upgrade base defences to turn it into a formidable fortress. Commanding an army of robots and warships is all well and good, but opposing corporations are keen to stop your intergalactic domination by any means necessary, whether playing solo or in epic online multi-player space conquests.
Prefer to be boots on the ground and involved in all the action? Seamlessly switch to FPS mode and embrace the manic nature of combat in space. Take on the role of a foot soldier in the thick of the action, or unleash your inner Top Gun as you pilot a starfighter, executing daring barrel rolls and acrobatic manoeuvres. Escalate things further, capture enemy outposts, control capital ships, and take on asteroid bases with tanks and mechs through the FPS-only Executron mode.
Check out the trailer below:


The International 10 Awarded Sports Emmy For Team Spirit VS. PSG.LGD

Valve has been awarded Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage at the Sports Emmys for The International 10’s Dota 2 Championship: Team Spirit vs. PSG.LGD.
For many esports fanatics, the world championship is what they wait all year for. Whether it be Worlds, Champs or in this case, The International, we’re expected to see some phenomenal coverage throughout these events.

The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage goes to The International 10 – Dota2 Championship – Team Spirit vs PSG.LGD (@twitch @youtube) [Valve Corporation]. pic.twitter.com/FPdtfWZn1i
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 24, 2022

And for the 43rd Sports Emmys, Dota 2’s The International 10 (TI10) takes the cake this time around. Announced via the Sports Emmys’ official Twitter, TI10, specifically the match between Team Spirit and PSG.LGD has won the Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage award.
TI10 – Team Spirit vs. PSG.LGD beat the likes of 2021’s League of Legends World Championship Final, Overwatch League’s 2021 Grand Final, Ultimate Madden Bowl Finale and WePlay AniMajor according to @wykrhm on Twitter.

TI10 won an Emmy. :O https://t.co/nOiQt800J1 pic.twitter.com/GBHTPfceU0
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) May 25, 2022


DC Comics’ Crisis On Infinite Earths Is Getting A Sequel

During its Dark Crisis panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, DC Comics dropped a bombshell; that its currently-ongoing comic book crossover, DC Crisis, is actually Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths. It’s essentially a sequel to 1985’s legendary Crisis On Infinite Earths by the late George Perez and Marv Wolfman, which is considered to be not only one of the most influential comics of all time, but also the first true Multiverse-spanning comic book crossover event.

The cat's out of the bag now! Writer Joshua Williamson & artist Daniel Sampere reveal the full name of the event is DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS! That's right, this is the official sequel to the groundbreaking CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS by George Pérez & Marv Wolfman. pic.twitter.com/tVgpilbcLV
— DC (@DCComics) July 21, 2022

Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths’ creative team consists of writer Joshua Williamson & artist Daniel Sampere. However, it’s currently unclear what Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths will entail. In the current DC Universe, the main Justice League recently died, leaving younger heroes like Superman’s son, Jon Kent, picking up the pieces, as well as others who survived like Black Adam and more.
Joshua Williamson said:
“We’ve kept the real name a secret from the start because we didn’t want to give away what was happening in the middle of the story, with the return of the Infinite Earths.
The first few issues of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths have been a mix of action and character moments and we’re turning it up to 11 with the last few issues. It’s going to be a roller coaster with some intense moments for DC fans, including team-ups that you won’t see coming and a fight scene that is probably one of the more emotional moments I’ve ever written for DC.”
We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Also, you just know it’s a big crossover event when there’s even an official trailer, check it out below:


Nintendo Switch Online To Feature Game Boy Advance Emulation Soon

Looks like we might be able to play some Game Boy Advance classics soon enough on Nintendo Switch’s subscription service.
A Twitter user by the name of Trash_Bandicoot has leaked pictures and proof of Nintendo’s official Game Boy Advance emulator for its Nintendo Switch Online service. It’s an emulator called Sloop and it seems to play some games fine based on the following screenshots.

Apparently these files were leaked onto 4chan and seem official enough, given the copyright labels on some of the pictures.

Sloop is made by Nintendo Europe Research and Development. Homebrew communities believe that the emulator is functional even with a few bugs in them.

Here's some footage of both emulators in action: https://t.co/V1iP5f0b51https://t.co/7ACWsFSsEe
— Trash_Bandatcoot (@trashbandatcoot) April 18, 2022

Until Nintendo themselves confirm the addition of GBA games in its Nintendo Switch library, take this information with a grain of salt.


Two New Heroes Are Coming To DOTA 2

The annual biggest DOTA 2 tournament in the world wouldn’t be complete without exciting reveals such as new heroes and arcanas. The International 2019 has ended and it was announced that we’ll be getting two new heroes this fall: Void Spirit and Snapfire.
Lore-wise, Void Spirit seems to be the more exciting hero since he’ll be fleshing out the story behind the Spirit brothers, who consists of the heroes Ember Spirit, Storm Spirit, and Earth Spirit.

Let me try to encapsulate who Snapfire is in as few words as possible: She’s a cookie-baking grandma who rides a fire breathing lizard and it seems that she’s also related to Timbersaw.
Okay, that last one is a stretch, Timbersaw might’ve just been trying to be polite calling her “auntie” but the idea of Timbersaw being polite is weird enough to me.

It’s hard to predict what kind of hero Void Spirit will be but Snapfire’s reveal trailer drops a lot of clues. At the beginning of the trailer, we see her tossing a cookie to Invoker and he seems to be buffed by it and at the end of the trailer, her lizard shoots out a lava ball at Timbersaw.
So it’s possible that she’ll be a damage dealer that can also provide support.
Both of the new heroes will be released together with The Outlanders update which drops Fall 2019. Check out Void Spirit’s trailer here and Snapfire’s trailer here.


Is The Mandalorian A Triumphant Star Wars TV Series?

The Star Wars franchise debuted in 1977, but is only now receiving its very first live-action TV series in the form of The Mandalorian, after a whopping 42 years. Better late than never, I guess.
The question on every Star Wars fan’s mind right now is whether the Disney Plus exclusive is truly worthy of carrying the Star Wars name.

I’ve watched everything in Star Wars canon, including every episode of all the various animated series in the franchise (The Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance).
That’s why I can tell you that The Mandalorian (so far) definitely looks and feels like a Star Wars property, which is no simple feat.

Dave Filoni, who directed the first episode of The Mandalorian and serves as the series’ executive producer, is one of the most influential figures in Star Wars history. He helmed the Star Wars The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, two animated shows which have contributed so much to the franchise lore and canon.
Along with The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau, (judging from the first episode alone) they have managed to translate the magic of the Star Wars universe into a brand new medium, without sacrificing anything of what makes the franchise so iconic.
In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

As a long-time Star Wars fan, I can appreciate that Filoni and Favreau decided to incorporate both practical effects and CGI in The Mandalorian, thereby keeping the old spirit of the franchise intact.
The Blurrg animals featured in the first episode are proof of this, and I hope we get to see more of that in future episodes.

While I’m not sure what planet the titular Mandalorian is on in the first episode, it reminds me of Tatooine. With desolate desert landscapes and dirty cantinas with thugs, the show captures the grimy and live-in atmosphere of the Original Trilogy (even though it is actually set after Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi).
However, a blue character played by Horatio Sanz (who is a bounty caught by the titular Mandalorian) may seem out of place, as well as several other moments and bits of dialogue in the first episode, which might break your immersion. Filoni seems to have brought the franchise’s tendencies of slapstick and low-brow comedy (remember the Ewoks, Jar-Jar Binks, and anything involving the droids) into the show as well.

These didn’t ruin the first episode for me, though I can see how they might turn off some Star Wars fans who were expecting a darker, grittier and more serious take in The Mandalorian.

Short And Sweet
The first episode of The Mandalorian ran at a brisk pace throughout a 40-minute runtime. The first 30 minutes or so is pretty uneventful, but the last 10 minutes is when the best action sequence and big surprise reveal took place.
The relatively-short runtime (compared to other big-budget shows like Star Trek Discovery or Game Of Thrones, with runtimes reaching an hour) ensures that there’s not a boring moment or lull to be found.
By The Fans, For The Fans

The Mandalorian ultimately feels like a TV series that caters mostly to the hardcore Star Wars fans, who want to see more of their beloved franchise being explored and expanded upon.
Casual watchers won’t really care much about the little details and that big reveal at the end of the first episode, which potentially has massive ramifications for the entire franchise going forward.

Just like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, there likely won’t be any lightsabers and much (if any) Jedi stuff in The Mandalorian. If you’re fine with that, you will still find elements to enjoy, such as the spaghetti western nature and high production values of the series.
For my fellow Star Wars fans, this is only just the beginning. A beginning of something truly special, assuming The Mandalorian sticks the landing in its first full season.
FINAL SCORE: 80/100
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3CUM-iFEFk&w=560&h=315]


Football Manager 2023 Drops This November, Returns To PlayStation

Sega has announced that Football Manager 2023 is slated to launch on 8 November 2022 for the PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Game Pass, PC, Apple Arcade, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch. The franchise returns to the PlayStation for the first time since Football Manager 2014 on the PS Vita, which was almost a decade ago.
Sports Interactive director Miles Jacobson said:
“FM23 marks another significant step forward for the Football Manager series as we debut on two new platforms. Fans have been calling for us to produce a PlayStation title for a number of years, so I’m excited for those players to now get the chance to experience the closest thing to being a real football manager.
Our decision to not release a Touch game on iOS or Android in 2021 was a difficult one to take and a disappointing one for some of our fans. This exciting partnership with Apple Arcade allows us to reintroduce a popular title in a way that makes sense for us as a studio and for the wider FM community.”
Football Manager 2022 is available to pre-purchase from today until launch on PC and Mac. Players who pre-purchase from a Sega-approved digital retailer will receive a 20 percent discount and Early Access two weeks before launch.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Spider-Man Is Getting A Brand New Suit In 2021

Marvel has revealed Spider-Man will receive a brand new costume in 2021 to replace his classic and iconic suit.
Designed by artist Dustin Weaver, Spider-Man new suit will debut in the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man #62 and #63 in March 2021.

On the official website, Weaver said:
â€œThis design was really a collaborative effort between Nick Spencer, Editor Nick Lowe, and I.They reined in the weirder and more tech-y features I was bringing and helped create something that I think is simple and both futuristic and classical. I can’t wait to see Patrick Gleason really bring it to life!â€
The only things we know about Spider-Man’s new suit is that it will still be Peter Parker, though we don’t know how or why he will make this new advanced costume.
Here’s what we do know:
Following the traumatic events of Sins Rising (where Harry Osborn came back to life as a demon named Kindred and terrorized Peter), Spider-Man’s new suit is to face off against the Kingpin.
During Sins Rising, we learnt that the Kingpin (who is now mayor of New York City) has some kind of dastardly plan brewing alongside Norman Osborn (AKA the Green Goblin).
We still have no idea what that plan is, but it might be reason enough for Peter to create an entirely new suit. The last advanced suit that Peter made was the Spider-Armor MK IV suit, but he had the resources of a billionaire at the time (with Parker Industries).

It remains to be seen how he will be able to create a brand new high-tech suit. Speaking of the new suit, I have mixed feelings about it. The white (silver?) and blue combination look good, but those neon green lines and lenses look a bit tacky.
This might even be a new Spider-Armor. Spider-Armor MK V, anyone?
Check out the brand new suit in all its glory below:


Hunger Games Prequel Movie Will Focus On The Series’ Villain

A new Hunger Games movie is in the works, and it’ll be a prequel focused on the series’ main villain, President Coriolanus Snow.
Francis Lawrence, who helmed all of the Hunger Games movies but the first, is returning to direct, Variety reported. In addition, producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, alongÂ  with Catching Fire writer Michael Arndt, will be involved with the prequel movie. Series author Suzanne Collins will be involved as an executive producer.
No cast has been announced yet, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who will play the part of young Snow, for now.
With villain origin stories like Venom and Morbius existing, one might assume that this is just the latest example of Hollywood’s seeming fascination with the theme, even if those two examples were specifically Sony movies and focused on comic book supervillains. But while it’s clear that Hollywood wants to keep making money out of the Hunger Games series, the Hunger Game prequel is an adaptation of Collins’ upcoming new book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The story will focus onÂ an 18-year-old Snow and, as Waterstones describes, his “humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low” during the 10th Hunger Games.
I vaguely remember liking Donald Sutherland’s portrayal of the character in the previous movies, but as a non-fan of the series, I’m not exactly hyped about the idea of focusing on Snow’s past. Apparently, fans aren’t pleased either.
Still, if the writing and story are good, it’s possible that the prequel will turn out to be an interesting watch. We’ll find out when the movie finally releases, though there’s currently no release date yet.


Spy X Family Season 1 Part 2 Premieres This October

The official Twitter account has announced that Spy X Family Season 1 Part 2 will premiere on 1 October 2022. Check out the key art and poster below:

Spy X Family Season 1 Part 1 premiered in April 2022, with director Kazuhiro Furuhashi and WIT Studio and CloverWorks co-producing the anime. You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
In the meantime, check out the teaser trailer below:


Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Remaster Will Be Out This June

Capcom has announced the release date of the upcoming Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remaster that’s slated for current-gen consoles and platforms.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will be out on 30 June for PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. The remaster will feature beautiful high-resolution graphics, new features and interface updates, and an arranged soundtrack from The Great Ace Attorney composer Yasumasa Kitagawa.
Check out the pre-order trailer below. The game’s pre-order bonus includes four-image background sets featuring Missilie, Kamilia and Missile, Sissel and Lynne, and Rayand the BlackCat.


Granblue Fantasy Fes 2023 Announced; Will Feature Playable Granblue Fantasy: Relink

At long last, the long-delayed action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink will be playable for the public in Japan next year.
More specifically, a build will be playable at next year’s Granblue Fantasy Fes 2022-2023 event. There’s also going to be new info about Granblue Fantasy Versus, the 2D fighting game that came out years ago featuring Granblue Fantasy fighters. Developer Cygames published the full schedule detailing the 2-day event, which will happen from 20th to 22nd January 2023.

1/20(?)?1/22(?)??????????????????????2022-2023?????GRANBLUE FANTASY: Relink???????????????????????????
?????????2022-2023??????https://t.co/AxA97ewr5n
 #?????2022_2023 #RELINK
— ???????????? ???? (@gbf_relink_jp) November 18, 2022

20th January
9:30 to 10:00 – Opening – The many highlights of Granblue Fantasy Fes introduced.
10:00 to 11:00 – Granblue Fantasy So Far – Let’s look back at Granblue Fantasy in 2022 together.
11:30 to 12:30 – Official Cast Stage – The characters of Granblue Fantasy come to the real world… come film the performance by the official cast.
13:15 to 15:00 – Granblue Fantasy Fes Special Character Live – A special concert stage performed by Granblue Fantasy characters. Hold up your tlepilli and let’s get pumped!
15:45 to 16:45 – Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Granblue Fantasy: Versus Latest News – The latest information on Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Granblue Fantasy: Versus.
16:45 to 18:30 – Granblue TV Channel! Fes Edition – Featuring wonderful guests, a fun variety corner, the latest game information, future update information, and much more.
20:00 – Night Party – Wonderful cast members perform the character songs and music of Granblue Fantasy. Do not miss this one-day-only special stage!
21st January
9:30 to 10:00 – Opening – The many highlights of Granblue Fantasy Fes introduced.
10:00 to 11:00 – Granblue Fantasy Q&A – The producer and director answer questions from all you skyfarers.
11:30 to 12:30 – Official Cast Stage – The characters of Granblue Fantasy come to the real world… come film the performance by the official cast.
13:45 to 15:00 – Stella Magna Special Concert in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2022 – 2023 – Stella Magna, led by composer Tsutomu Narita, performs numerous songs with the sounds of a hot band.
15:15 to 17:45 – Granblue Fantasy Live Stream: New Year’s Special – Featuring wonderful guests, a fun variety corner, the latest game information, future update information, and much more.
18:00 to 19:00 – Granblue Fantasy Fes 2022 – 2023 Special Show: Ao no Kiseki -Songs of Primals- – A special show full of impact and wonder featuring beautiful footage and music of your trails with Granblue Fantasy.
Granblue Fantasy Fes 2022-2023 will be at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. Meanwhile, Granblue Fantasy: Relink will be out for PS5, PS4, and PC (Steam) in 2023.


New The Flash Trailer Shows Off More Of Batman & Teases Flashpoint

During CinemaCon 2023, Warner Bros. and DC Studios unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming The Flash.
The trailer features even more footage of Michael Keaton as Batman, as well as scenes that allude to how the movie will adapt the iconic comic book storyline, Flashpoint, as we see Ezra Miller in the lightning chair perhaps trying to get his powers back (see picture below).

“The Flash” ensemble also includes rising star Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon (“Bullet Train,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”), Ron Livingston (“Loudermilk,” “The Conjuring”), Maribel Verdú (“Elite,” “Y tu mamá también”), Kiersey Clemons (“Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” “Sweetheart”), Antje Traue (“King of Ravens,” “Man of Steel”) and Michael Keaton (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Batman”).
The synopsis reads:
Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to.
That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?
The Flash premieres in cinemas on 15 June 2023.
Check out the trailer below:


Pixar’s Turning Red Gets Cute Teaser Trailer

Pixar’s next animated film after 2020’s Soul (check out my review here) will be Turning Red, which has gotten its first teaser trailer. It is directed by Domee Shi, who won an Oscar for her 2018 Pixar animated short, Bao (which premiered alongside 2018’s The Incredible 2).
The synopsis reads:
Young actress Rosalie Chiang lends her voice to Mei Lee, a 13-year-old who suddenly â€œpoofsâ€ into a giant red panda when she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS).
Sandra Oh voices Mei Leeâ€™s protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, who is never far from her daughter; an unfortunate reality for the teenager.
Pixarâ€™s Turning Red will premiere on 11 March 2022. In the meantime, check out the teaser trailer below: