Atlus has announced that Persona 5 Royal, an updated version of the critically acclaimed RPG, will be available for the PS4 in western territories from Spring 2020. The announcement was made during the Atlus Art Show in LA, where Shigenori Soejima appeared on a panel to discuss his work as an artist on the Persona series and Catherine.

A short trailer shown after the panel ended with the confirmation of the release window. As of yet, it’s quite a broad window, but fans of the game eager to check out the new content being added for the Royal update will no doubt appreciate the news nonetheless.

Persona 5 Royal launches in Japan on October 31, 2019. For more on P5R, be sure to read (or watch) our analysis of the first full reveal trailer, breakdown of all the new information that followed, or details on the new playable character Kasumi Yoshizawa.

Atlus has also been rolling out teaser trailers in the lead-up to the release of Persona 5 Royal, the definitive version of the acclaimed RPG. It’s going to include a ton of content and significant overhauls to the story, much of which has been shown off in trailers and the “Morgana Report.” The latest teaser revealed new events around Ann Takamaki, and showcases how this new version is putting more emphasis on its cast.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/persona-5-royal-western-release-window-announced/1100-6469182/

Respawn, the studio behind Apex Legends, is admitting fault in the rollout of cosmetics for the Iron Crown limited-time event, and trying to set things right. In a statement posted on the EA Blog, Respawn project lead Drew McCoy explains what went wrong and how the studio intends to fix it.

In short, the Iron Crown event offered several new cosmetics that could only be obtained through Apex Packs purchased with real money. You could obtain a couple packs through play, but to get the full collection–and a special heirloom axe that’s only purchasable if you earned all the other items first–you would have to spend over $150.

“With the Iron Crown event we missed the mark when we broke our promise by making Apex Packs the only way to get what many consider to be the coolest skins we’ve released,” McCoy said.

To address the issue, Respawn will be offering the twelve event-exclusive items into the store for 1,800 Apex Coins (roughly $18), the standard cost for a Legendary skin. That rollout will begin on August 20 and continue over the course of the week as more skins are added. The studio also promises that in future events, it will provide more ways to obtain items aside from Apex Packs. Previously the only way to obtain the skins was to buy Apex Packs for 700 Coins.

The blog goes on to state that Respawn recognizes it needs to be better at letting players know what to expect from its event structures. This event works differently than previous events like the Legendary Hunt, and McCoy says future events may be different still in other ways. He says this event has reminded the studio that it needs to be better at communicating what to expect from events as the studio tries new things.

“Our goal has not been to squeeze every last dime out of our players, and we have structured the game so that all players benefit from those who choose to spend money–events like Legendary Hunt or Iron Crown exist so that we can continue to invest in creating more free content for all players,” McCoy said. “This week has been a huge learning experience for us and we’re taking the lessons forward to continue bringing the best possible experience to all of you.”

The main draw of the Iron Crown event is the new limited-time Solos mode, which lets players compete just like the regular game while attempting to be the last single player standing. Apex Legends has been a team-based battle royale since launch, and Solos has been a heavily requested feature from the community. But like all Solos modes in traditional team-based games, some people have found to be forming alliances outside of the game and teaming up for a competitive advantage.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apex-legends-dev-issues-mea-culpa-for-iron-crown-c/1100-6469180/

A driver in Washington State took his Pokemon Go obsession a bit further than usual. Sgt. Kyle Smith of the Washington State Patrol discovered a driver pulled over to the side of the road playing the mobile game on eight phones at once.

Fellow trooper Rick Johnson tweeted about the incident, including a look at a blue foam board that had been cut to hold all the phones at once. Johnson clarified in later tweets that the driver was not spotted actually playing Pokemon Go while driving, and so the officer simply reminded him not to pull over to the shoulder unless an emergency requires it. Still, it’s hard to imagine how the driver could have noticed any monsters worth pulling over for without at least glancing at his surprisingly complex phone array.

Pokemon Go exploded in popularity when it was first released in 2016, raising safety concerns for children playing or distracted drivers. Niantic has long since implemented a feature that disables the game if it detects you’re moving too fast to be walking, but that can be overridden by telling the game you’re a passenger in a car.

For those of you still playing Pokemon Go and doing it responsibly, the game has lots of ongoing events and features to take part in right now. A Suicune raid will be taking place over the weekend, and the game has outlined plans for its September Community Day. Or you can just relax and evolve some Eevees.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/driver-found-playing-pokemon-go-on-eight-phones-at/1100-6469178/

We’re less than three weeks away from River City Girls‘ September 5 launch for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Video game distributor Limited Run Games took the time as a liberty to reveal the upcoming beat-em-up’s physical release, which is slated for PS4 and Switch.

LRG shared the news on Twitter, reminding players of the game’s premise: “two street-tough high-schoolers who must fight their way through the six regions of River City to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends.” Pre-orders for River City Girls’ physical version will be open for a limited, four-week period starting on Friday, August 30. Each standard River City Girls physical copy will come with a one-disc sampler of the game’s soundtrack, with LRG alluding to more River City Girls news in “the coming weeks” in a separate tweet.

Earlier this week, developer WayForward Technologies published another character spotlight. This time, the video focused on the cheerful and bubbly Kyoko, River City Girls’ second playable character. At the beginning of August, WayForward showcased River City Girls’ first playable character, the hot-blooded Misako, in a spunky character reveal.

We played River City Girls at Anime Expo 2019, citing it as one of the better anime-like games we’re watching this year. The beat-em-up features retro-inspired visuals reminiscent of previous Kunio-kun games like 2016’s 3DS release, River City: Tokyo Rumble. But instead of focusing on series mainstays Kunio and Riki, River City Girls modernizes its formula by putting girl power front and center.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/limited-run-games-unveil-river-city-girls-physical/1100-6469173/