Shovel Knight, the 2014 indie darling that started life on the Wii U and 3DS before eventually making its way to the current generation of systems, is due for one last major update. Two expansions will release soon for owners of the Treasure Trove edition of the game, and now we have a release date for them.

Developer Yacht Club Games has announced on Twitter that Shovel Knight: King of Cards and Shovel Knight: Showdown will both release on December 10. The games will be available as part of the Treasure Trove collection, or can be purchased separately from digital storefronts. In King of Cards, players will take on the role of the titular king, and Yacht Club Games is promising that it will feature “more levels, mechanics, secrets, and content than any Shovel Knight game to come before it.” Showdown is a multiplayer spin-off, which offers a competitive take on the Shovel Knight formula, complete will a full story mode and AI bots.

Shovel Knight Showdown will not be available on 3DS or PS Vita, whereas King of Cards will be made available on all systems. The game also still has a trio of amiibo on the way, based on Plague Knight, Specter Knight, and King Knight, and the game is getting a new physical release that will bundle together all of this content on December 10 as well (although the PS4 physical release has been delayed into 2020).

While this will wrap up the Treasure Trove collection, there’s already another Shovel Knight game in the works–Shovel Knight Dig, which will see Shovel Knight using his shovel for its intended purpose through underground dungeons. Yacht Club Games also has another game in the works, Cyber Shadow, which is a retro-styled ninja action game. It’s not yet clear when either game will launch.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shovel-knight-release-date-for-final-two-expansion/1100-6471422/

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege will change how bullet penetration works in its Y4S4 season update so that shots will do more realistic damage to their human targets. These updates will mean that some weapons will be able to hit more than one target per shot, while others will be able to pierce through one body part of an Operator and hit another, potentially doing more damage.

The exact details have been explained on the game’s dev blog, complete with a diagram explaining the levels of penetration different guns and bullets can achieve. This ranges from no penetration to full penetration (get your laughs out now because we’re going to use that word a lot in this write-up). This change aims to make shots more lethal and “reduce the impression of inaccurate hit registration.”

When this system is in place, shotguns and machine pistols will work much the same as they did before–your shots will hit the body part they hit without passing through. This is how most guns in Rainbow Six Siege have operated up until this point, and these ones will continue to have no penetration.

Simple penetration, which will effect most types of guns, will mean that bullets can pass through one part of an Operator’s body and hit another point. For example, the post states that if an Operator is shielding their face after a flashbang and you shot them in the hand with an assault rifle, the bullet will pass through their hand and potentially hit them in the head, resulting in a headshot. For guns with simple penetration, the damage taken from a shot will be modified by which parts the bullet passes through, but the essential takeaway is that you’ll now do more damage if your bullet penetrates. Bullets operating under simple penetration rules will not penetrate through to a third body part, though, nor will they pass through and hit anyone else.

Designated marksman rifles and sniper rifles will offer full penetration, meaning that if you shoot someone with one of these guns you could potentially hit the person behind them, too. If your bullet hits a second Operator, they will take 70% of the damage they would from an equivalent full shot, meaning that a well-timed sniper bullet will be extremely dangerous. Bullets cannot pass through into a third person, though.

This system will go up on the test server ahead of launch in the full game. Ubisoft is also currently working on Rainbow Six Quarantine, a PvE spin-off that will come to both current and next-gen consoles.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rainbow-six-sieges-bullets-will-soon-penetrate-lim/1100-6471426/

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, the new, single-player melee action game from the makers of Titanfall and Apex Legends, is almost here. The game officially launches on Friday, November 15, but copies of the game have begun to appear in the wild already.

There are reports on Reddit and elsewhere of people getting their hands on the much-anticipated Star Wars game ahead of time. Players who are keen to avoid spoilers are advised to be extra careful on social media, as information about the story could emerge.

Jedi Fallen Order takes place five years after Revenge of the Sith. The story, which is canon, follows a Jedi Padawan named Cal Kestis (played by Gotham’s Joker, Cameron Monaghan) who is trying to outrun Empire forces trying to eliminate all Jedis. The main enemy is Darth Vader’s trainee, the Second Sister, who is chasing Cal across the solar system.

Unlike other EA-published games, Jedi Fallen Order is not available early for EA Access subscribers. That’s a bummer, as playing upcoming EA games early is in part what makes the subscription service so attractive. However, EA/Origin Access subscribers are getting free bonus content for Jedi Fallen Order.

Early copies of Jedi Fallen Order emerging in the wild have appeared just as pre-loading for the game has begun. Respawn announced on Twitter that people who pre-ordered a digital copy of the game can start pre-loading now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The file size relatively small compared to other big AAA games, weighing in at around 37 GB (on Xbox One, at least).

As for when you can actually start playing Jedi Fallen Order, the game will reportedly unlock at midnight local time.

Jedi Fallen Order is expected to be a massive success commercially, as EA is expecting the game to sell as many as 8 million copies at launch. The NPD expects it to be among the best-selling games of 2019 in the US.

In other news, Mad TV actress Debra Wilson appears in Jedi Fallen Order as a Jedi named Cere Junda. She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the significance of her character and why she’s excited to be in the game.

“I believe I’m the first black female Jedi as far as video games are concerned,” Wilson said. “To be a part of the Star Wars universe in this regard is amazing. Growing up with Star Wars from a very early age–well not that early because I’m a little older–it had a very powerful impact on me.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-copies-go-out-early-as/1100-6471420/

Google Stadia is less than a week from launch, and Google is still answering questions about the game-streaming service. The company took part in a Reddit AMA, explaining more details on topics ranging from the launch roll-out to family controls and Google Home connectivity.

The most pressing question from fans was the roll-out plan, especially given the recent revelation that those who pre-ordered may not get theirs on launch day. However, the rep notes that Stadia is a service, not just a box, so you can create your account and start playing in your browser as soon as you get an invite code via email. The emails will be sent when your unit ships. The community manager even offered to deliver one in the Bay Area personally on launch day.

Other tidbits were scattered throughout the AMA. Several features were confirmed for day one, but some will be limited in various ways. Family Link will allow you to set parental controls right out of the box, but Family Sharing won’t come until early 2020. Until then you’ll have to buy your kids’ games separately inside their own account. You can also start earning game achievements immediately, but a dedicated interface to let you view all of them will come later. Some Google Home/Assistant features like remote starting a game will also be available from the jump, but more features are said to be in the works.

Other features and announcements are forthcoming later. Buddy Passes, which let you gift a friend with a temporary Pro subscription if you bought the Founder’s Edition, will be coming about two weeks after launch. Google also doesn’t have a time set for when it will outline its lineup of Pro subscription games, but that schedule is said to be coming soon.

Finally, the Google rep answered one important question for those who regularly use a Chromecast for other functions like watching TV. What happens if someone starts casting to your Chromecast while you’re mid-game? The answer is you get booted out of your game, of course, but the Stadia servers will continue running your game for 10 minutes afterwards while you sort it out.

All this comes as Google has just announced its launch lineup of 12 games, with 14 more to come by the end of the year. Lucy Morris, developer of Stadia launch game Kine, recently told GI.biz that some developers are hesitant to jump on board since they’re afraid Google could pull the plug.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-stadia-ama-explains-exactly-what-it-will-do/1100-6471414/