Astral Chain Review
The latest hit from PlatinumGames is an ambitious action adventure game that largely succeeds in many ways, though it’s juggling so many aspects that some fall through the cracks.
Side-scrolling action RPG Niffleheim launches on September 20 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
Let’s put another game into September, why not?
Arc of Alchemist delayed to Early 2020 in the West
The tactical-action RPG gets a second delay.
source /news/8907-arc-of-alchemist-delayed-to-early-2020-in-the-west
Xbox Live Is Down Right Now
If you’re having trouble logging into Xbox Live, you’re not alone. Microsoft’s online service is currently experiencing issues, which means you may not be able to sign in and access certain games and apps on Xbox One.
The Xbox Live status page, which was last updated at 3:46 PM ET, confirms some core services–such as signing in and managing your Xbox Live account–are “limited.” The latest update reads, “Our engineers and developers are actively continuing to work to resolve the issue causing some members to have problems signing in to Xbox Live. Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience.”
The official Xbox Support Twitter account also tweeted about the login issues, noting that teams are “working on it now.” No timetable was provided for when we can expect the issues to be resolved, but we’ll update this story with any further developments.
We’ve seen reports that users are having trouble signing in. We have teams working on it now! We’ll update you with additional details as soon as we can.
— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) August 28, 2019
This story is developing…
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-live-is-down-right-now/1100-6469452/
Night In The Woods Studio Cuts Ties With Co-Developer Over Abuse Allegations
(Content warning: sexual assault.)
Following serious allegations leveled against Night in the Woods co-developer Alec Holowka, the indie studio Infinite Fall has cut ties and changed its release plans for a physical edition of the game. In a series of tweets, developers Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry say they take the allegations very seriously and that they share their fans’ hurt and anger.
On August 27, developer Zoe Quinn detailed sexual abuse and assault allegations against Holowka on Twitter. Though the response from Benson and Hockenberry does not mention Quinn, it does reference “allegations of past abuse” that have come to light this week. Quinn’s statement came alongside a broad range of abuse accusations within the games industry.
“We take such allegations seriously as a team. As a result and after some agonizing consideration, we are cutting ties with Alec,” the studio stated. “We are cancelling a current project and postponing the Limited Run physical release. The iOS port is being handled by an outside company and supervised by Finji and will remain in development.”
The studio goes on to address how people may feel about the game itself, and that this shift in studio roles may impact their plans in other ways. The situation is in flux.
“Thousands of people have connected with Night In The Woods in a very personal way,” it stated. “We can’t tell you how to feel about any of this. Whatever you’re feeling is valid. Your experience with art is yours. What it means to you is yours, regardless of anything else. Going forward, Night In The Woods will be handled by Bethany and I [Scott]. We’re not sure what that all means yet. This stuff takes time.
“Thanks for your support over the years. We’re sorry to even have to say any of this. That’s all I can say at the moment. Thank you for your patience.”
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/night-in-the-woods-studio-cuts-ties-with-co-develo/1100-6469450/
New Last Of Us Part 2 Footage Shown Before PAX West, But You Can’t See It Yet
Just before PAX West kicks off this Friday, lucky attendees of the GameStop managers conference got a glimpse of some new The Last of Us Part II footage on PS4.
The footage, supposedly releasing sometime soon, was “very short but [a] great vertical slice of gameplay,” according to Twitter user Gaming Forte. The same user tweeted a picture of the event and later said the bit of footage they saw was centered around stealth and how you can “use Clickers to your advantage.”
OMG!!! Last of Us Part II 👀 pic.twitter.com/GlC8D0U7XC
— Gaming Forte @ GameStop #GMEConference2019 (@Gaming_Forte) August 27, 2019
It’s unclear how “soon” this new gameplay video will be made public. An event on September 26 called Outbreak Day could be when the video is released, as it serves as an anniversary for the Last of Us universe, but developer Naughty Dog and Sony have yet to confirm anything official.
No The Last of Us Part II news came out of E3 2019 since Sony skipped the event. The last time we saw the game was during E3 2018, when Sony debuted a beautiful–and brutal–slice of gameplay. Things have been relatively quiet for Ellie and her NPC companion ever since.
While director Neil Druckmann left fans with some jokes, no definitive release date or window for The Last of Us Part II has been announced.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-last-of-us-part-2-footage-shown-before-pax-wes/1100-6469448/
Shovel Knight Dig Announced, Has Strong SteamWorld Dig Vibes
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, the full Shovel Knight package including all of its planned expansions, is almost completed. But Yacht Club has now announced the character’s next game: Shovel Knight Dig, a vertical scrolling action game being made in partnership with UK studio Nitrome.
The brief trailer showed a more 16-bit inspired art style, as compared to the original game’s 8-bit incarnation. The action also appears to be largely vertical as Shovel Knight digs his way down into the earth, similar to the SteamWorld Dig games. The official site also states that the stages will be procedurally generated.
The presentation said the game has been in development for more than a year, but still has much longer to go. The first demo will be available at PAX West.
The announcement came as part of a Yacht Club Games Presents presentation, similar to a Nintendo Direct. In it, the indie studio announced more details on the upcoming King of Cards and Shovel Knight Showdown, a release window of December 2019 for those final updates, and it promoted a Shovel Knight board game on Kickstarter.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shovel-knight-dig-announced-has-strong-steamworld-/1100-6469447/
Cyberpunk 2077 Drops Binary Gender Options In Character Creator
CD Projekt Red has faced several controversies with its depiction of transhumanism and gender representation in its upcoming open-world action RPG Cyberpunk 2077. However, the developer is eager to respond to fan feedback and create a more inclusive experience. In this respect, the team has reworked Cyberpunk 2077’s character creator and removed the binary gender options.
“You know, we really want to make a video game that’s really inclusive,” senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers said in an interview with Metro. “Of course, if you tackle certain subjects then you will expect people to have an opinion about it and we respect that. And it’s good that people give us feedback. And our character creation menu, for instance, compared to the last demo we now give you so many more options. For instance, you don’t choose your gender anymore. You don’t choose, ‘I want to be a female or male character’ you now choose a body type. Because we want you to feel free to create any character you want.”
After selecting your preferred body type, you then have the option to give your character one of two different voices. “One that’s male sounding, one is female sounding,” Jonkers said. “You can mix and match. You can just connect them any way you want. And then we have a lot of extra skin tones and tattoos and hairstyles. So we really want to give people the freedom to make their own character and play the way they want to play.”
By providing more agency over your character’s preferred gender and skin tone, CD Projekt Red is hoping more players are able to create the type of protagonist they want in Cyberpunk 2077. Most NPCs you meet will have an established gender and sexual orientation as well in hopes of curating more believable in-game relationships. But the team is open to further changes and welcome feedback from their fans. “Our team is very international and very diverse but we have asked for a lot of feedback,” Jonkers said. “We always ask for feedback and even when we show these demos, we still ask people to tell us what they think. We just want to know what we can improve on because we want to make a really good game and we really want to make a game that everybody is comfortable playing. But at the same time, we’ll tackle difficult issues. It is a cyberpunk world after all.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on April 16, 2020. The game is scheduled to release for Google Stadia in 2020 as well.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/cyberpunk-2077-drops-binary-gender-options-in-char/1100-6469446/
Pokemon Go: Last Chance To Catch Shiny Rayquaza
The Gen 3 Legendary Rayquaza returned to Pokemon Go earlier this month, but it won’t be around for much longer. The Legendary Pokemon is leaving the game once again in a couple of days, making this your last chance to catch it and its Shiny form.
Rayquaza will appear in five-star Raid Battles until 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST on September 2, so you’ll have until then to add one to your collection for the foreseeable future. As usual, you’ll first need to team up with other players at a Gym where a Rayquaza Raid is taking place and battle the Legendary Pokemon before you can capture it.
Even if you’ve previously caught Rayquaza, you’ll want to check out some Rayquaza Raids while you can, as you’ll have a chance to encounter the Legendary’s Shiny form for the first time in Go. Unfortunately, you can’t tell in advance which Raid will produce a Shiny Rayquaza until you get to the catching phase, so if you’re hoping to get one, you’ll need to be persistent and participate in as many Raids as you can.
- Pokemon Go Guide: How To Catch And Purify Team Rocket’s Shadow Pokemon
- Pokemon Go Thousand-Year Slumber Research Guide – How To Catch Jirachi
- Pokemon Go Eevee Guide: How To Get Any Eevee Evolution
Rayquaza is a dual Dragon/Ice Pokemon, which gives it a 4x weakness to Ice Pokemon. If you’re planning on battling it, you best bet will be to bring along Pokemon like Mamoswine, Weavile, and Glaceon. Fairy- and Dragon-types are also super-effective against Rayquaza, although the Legendary can hit other Dragon Pokemon back for super-effective damage as well. You can read more tips in our Pokemon Go Rayquaza guide.
There’s a lot more happening in Pokemon Go right now. Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie are returning for a special Raid Hour today, August 28. Niantic is also rolling out Pokemon Go’s Ultra Bonuses soon, which include the first Gen 5 Pokemon and a new “Thousand-Year Slumber” Special Research quest that leads to the Mythical Pokemon Jirachi.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-go-last-chance-to-catch-shiny-rayquaza/1100-6469444/
