Hitman Year 2 will include new map, roguelike mode

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  467 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Hitman developer IO Interactive has pulled back the curtain on the trilogy's second year of content, which will include a brand new map and an intriguing new roguelike mode, Freelancer. These additions - as well as some nice tweaks to the game's visuals, such as improved reflections and shadows via ray-tracing, Intel XeSS support and variable rate shading, are all free and on the way over the coming months. But Year 2 kicks off sooner than all that - next week, on Thursday 20th January - with a flurry of other bits and pieces. [Read More]

Lego MMO development dogged by "dong detection" software

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  509 words  |  Trudie Dory

UPDATE: Hours later and Lego has indeed announced its own Minecraft-style sandbox game, Lego Worlds. It's available now via Steam Early Access. ORIGINAL STORY: Imagine a Minecraft-style Lego game where you could build virtual worlds as you see fit. Towns and cities big enough for thousands of Lego minifigures to live in. Towering Lego castles to defend and knock down. Oh, and thousands of phallic-shaped Lego obscenities. And therein lies the problem. [Read More]

Looking back at the GTA: San Andreas remade in Unreal fan trailer a year after Take-Two nuked it

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  498 words  |  Trudie Dory

This week, Kotaku reported Rockstar is working on remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, using Unreal Engine to create a mix of "new and old graphics". The news helps explain Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive's recent GTA mod takedown spree - particular mods that recreated the games in question. But it also helps explain why Rockstar nuked a San Andreas fan remake trailer in July 2020, too. [Read More]

Lost Magic | Eurogamer.net

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1260 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Guitar Hero has a spangly guitar, Dancing Stage a blinking dancefloor and Gran Turismo a steering wheel that, when you push it, pushes you back. Samba De Amigo has tequila-fragranced maracas [sniff... Lies! - Ed], Maestromusic an erect conductor's baton and Steel Battalion a huge cock-off robot dashboard. These are all videogames that have seen their manufacturers carefully pipe plastic into (mostly) recognisable real world shapes: an effort to normalise that most alienating abstract interface - the videogame controller. [Read More]

Moonlighter review: Zelda-style dungeons meet free market economics

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1248 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

An addictive mix of combat and commerce. Yes, I know, I'm selling sticks, but these sticks fell off of something that nearly killed me in a deep, dark dungeon just a few minutes ago. I risked my hide for that limestone over there, too. This particular starter cable is most certainly a priceless relic, and if you want me to get more treasure like it, you're going to have to pay the price I've set for it. [Read More]

Phogs! review - Phantastic stuff

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1125 words  |  Patria Henriques

Playful and wholesome and stuffed with adorable creatures. Sliding about on a bedrock of blancmange, moving past boulder-sized strawberry slices and mountains of pink-tipped whipped cream, I pinball myself off chunks of milk chocolate straight into a gooey, molten vat of the stuff. The strange but friendly creatures lounging at the sides appraise me silently, unconcerned that I didn't get the memo that it was Giant Fruit-Shaped Hat Day - I am shamelessly sporting a snorkel and a nightcap - and sigh contently. [Read More]

Sony stock value plummets $20bn following word of Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  255 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Shares in Sony have dropped by 13 percent, as the Tokyo stock market reacted to yesterday's industry-shaking announcement that Microsoft will buy Activision Blizzard. The fall in stock price is the largest since October 2008 - the same month Sony was forced to recall 100,000 laptop batteries due to fire hazard. The Financial Times and Bloomberg spotted Sony's sudden stock plunge overnight, and noted it had wiped around $20bn from Sony's market value. [Read More]

Troy Baker-backed NFT firm admits using voice lines taken from another service without permission

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  563 words  |  Patria Henriques

Voiceverse NFT, the company that prolific video game voice actor Troy Baker announced he would partner with last week, has now admitted to using voice lines created by a non-commercial rival. The NFT-powered brand hit the headlines last week after Baker boldly announced he would back the company - and that his fans could "hate", or "create". The announcement received a universally negative response. The idea behind Voiceverse NFT is that you buy the rights to a particular voice - originally performed by a voice actor - as an NFT using planet-burning cryptocurrency. [Read More]

Ubisoft reiterates it will consider all acquisition offers but has "everything we need to remain independent"

 Posted on March 14, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  452 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Following a report last month that Ubisoft had attracted early takeover interest from several private equity firms, the Assassin's Creed publisher has once again addressed the issue, saying it has "everything we need to remain independent." Ubisoft initially discussed the subject of buyouts back in February, following a round of acquisitions that saw Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard, Sony buying Bungie, and Take-Two buying Zynga. Since then, however, a report from Bloomberg claimed Ubisoft had attracted preliminary interest from a number of private equity firms, although it was said the publisher had yet to enter into " [Read More]

Devil May Cry 5's Vergil arrives on PC, PS4, Xbox One a couple weeks after next-gen

 Posted on March 13, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  252 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Devil May Cry silver fox Vergil will arrive as DLC for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of DMC5 on 15th December, priced £4/€5/$5. That's a couple of weeks after you'll be able to play as Vergil in the new Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. Speaking of that next-gen version, Capcom has today confirmed details of what will differ between Xbox Series X and the dinkier Series S. [Read More]