Destiny 2: microtransactions to be toned down, XP to be tweaked again, and all Season content free to everyone

Destiny 2 is getting an economy shake up which should please critics of the loot box system, Eververse.

Destiny 2 game director Christopher Barrett has addressed major complaints about the loot shooter and Bungie’s frustrating lack of response to feedback.

Riffing on Bungie’s frequent comment of “we’re listening”, Barrett said the team is no longer “just listening” – “We are doing”. The huge laundry list of changes coming to Destiny 2 over the next few seasons is one example of that, as it contains many community-requested features.

However, the developer has made more immediate adjustments to Destiny 2 which are worth highlighting on their own, and these pertain to Destiny 2 loot box driven economy. Before we get into that, it’s worth going over what Barrett said about Destiny 2 in general.

First, Barrett drew a distinction between three kinds of ongoing Destiny 2 content. Expansions are premium add-ons that include things like Story, Crucible, Strike and Raid Lair content, as well as gear and even Destinations. Curse of Osiris is an example.

Seasons, on the other hand, are quarterly line-ups of free events and free to all players, regardless of which Destiny 2 expansions they own. This currently includes Faction Rallies and Iron Banner, and in the near future, Season rewards from Crucible, Strikes and Trials of the Nine will also be free to everyone. Season content returns soon – a new Faction Rally starts January 16 and Iron Banner returns January 30.

Finally, there’s Eververse content – customisation items, emotes and boons (things like XP gain tokens). This is the bit that’s really interesting, because Barrett said Bungie recognises that “the scales are tipped too far towards Tess at the moment” in Destiny 2.

“Eververse was never intended to be a substitute for end game content and rewards,” he said.

To try and course correct, Bungie will be adding Ghosts, Sparrows and ships to activity rewards, so that Bright Engrams are less essential to Destiny 2’s endgame.

The developer also promised Destiny 2 will feature gameplay paths to earn Bright Engrams and all rewards, include event-exclusive loot, which was a big issue with the recent The Dawning event. Finally, adjustments to Bright Engrams and direct purchase options will make it easier for players to get the stuff they want more frequently than the current RNG allows.

Hopefully that means Destiny 2 will be rewarding however you play, as opposed to the situation we’re in currently, where hardcore players grind public event for XP for loot boxes – and don’t do much else, especially after they collect the Raid gear.

It sounds great, and it’s definitely right on point when it comes to things Destiny 2 players have been complaining about. Bungie’s even implementing all these Eververse changes as early as Crimson Days, which kicks off February 13.

However, the XP situation is still up in the air, as Bungie is still working out how to adjust adjusting XP rates for both fairness and transparency. The difficulty seems to be in making rewards fair both to players who grind and to those who don’t, which is tricky. Apparently its first solution was bugged to hell, so it’s currently working on a new one.

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Destiny 2: private Crucible matches, ranked PvP, better Raid rewards and masterwork armour highlight nine month road map

Destiny 2 has a solid line up of content, events and updates ahead of it – many of which address pressing community concerns.

Destiny 2 game director Christopher Barrett took the helm of the Bungie Weekly Update to issue a whopping outline of what Bungie has planned for the loot shooter – along with yet another promise to be more communicative in future.

After a bit of a painful silence over the holidays, the developer now feels confident enough in its own plans to at least sketch in the details of two upcoming Destiny 2 updates – one on January 30 and one in February – and outline what’s planned for a series of updates scheduled for northern spring 2018 and northern autumn 2018.

The updates will introduce many features the community has been asking for such as ranked PvP and private Crucible matches, and come in addition to the second Destiny 2 expansion and scheduled seasonal content.

Speaking of Seasonal content and events, Crimson Days beings February 13, a new Faction Rally starts January 16 and Iron Banner returns January 30.

Anyway, here’s the current Destiny 2 roadmap, which is subject to change. Everything listed here is free to all players regardless of what expansions they own – think of it as features for the base Destiny 2 client.

Destiny 2 January 30 Update

• Masterwork Armor
  • We are expanding the Masterwork system to include armor.
  • Masterwork Armor provides increased damage reduction while using your Super.
  • You can reroll the armor stat type on Masterwork Armor, and similar to Masterwork weapons, you can upgrade a piece of armor to Masterwork by spending Masterwork Cores and Legendary Shards.
• Raid Reward Rework
  We are updating Raid rewards to make them more unique and interesting. They will now feature mods with Raid-specific perks, and we are adjusting the rewards to ensure a Raid item drops from each major encounter. The Raid vendor will also directly sell Leviathan and Eater of Worlds armor and weapons for purchase with Raid tokens and Legendary Shards.
  We are also adding a new Ghost with Raid-specific perks that has a chance to drop from the Leviathan and Eater of Worlds final encounters. We intend to return to creating more Raid and other activity-unique rewards in the future.

Destiny 2 February Update

• Strike Scoring + High Score Tracking
  Strike Scoring is coming to Nightfall and replacing the current time limit mechanic. The scoring is similar to the Destiny 1 system but with adjustments to emphasize competitive execution of Strike objectives and support for player selectable score modifiers. In February, Nightfall High Scores will be exposed in-game via new emblems and will unlock rewards. We also have plans for Clan and Community High Scores in the works.
• Mods 2.0
  Work is underway on a full rework of armor and weapon mods. This will focus on reducing redundant mods, more unique theming, and greatly increasing their impact on your power. We are aiming for a February release, but the scope of the rework could push parts or all of it out to early spring. We will be evaluating how Mods play into the Bright Engram economy as a result, because we’re sensitive to pay-to-win outcomes.
• Quickplay Improvements
  We are adjusting game mode rules to increase the pace of gameplay and power ammo acquisition in Quickplay.
• PC Tower Chat
  We are adding text chat to the Tower for the PC version of the game.
• Exotic Repetition Reduction
  This will prevent players from receiving the same Exotic twice in a row. You may still receive duplicates, just not consecutively.
• Fireteam Members on Destination Map
  You will finally be able to see the other members of your fireteam on the destination map. No more having to ask your fireteam where they went when they fast travel to another landing zone.

Destiny 2 Spring 2018 updates

Bungie will release a second Destiny 2 expansion during spring 2018, and will have more to say on that later. For now, here’s what’s coming to the base game around the same time:

• Crucible
  We want to give players new reasons to play, more variety, and balance improvements. Spring will bring a number of exciting and long awaited features to the Crucible.
• Crucible Rank
  Beginning with Season 3 we will introduce Seasonal Crucible Ranks. There will be two different ranks for players to pursue:
  • Valor – A progression rank that goes up as you complete matches. Winning helps you move up faster, but there are no loss penalties.
  • Glory – A progression rank that goes up when you win and down when you lose. Performance is how you move up here.
• Private Matches
  Private Matches are coming to all players of Destiny 2. Players will be able to invite their friends to play on the map and mode of their choosing.
• 6v6 Playlist
  We’re bringing 6v6 PvP to Destiny 2 in addition to the current 4v4 game modes.
• Mayhem Event
  Mayhem will return as a limited-time event during Season 3 and going forward.
• Additional Fixes
  We are making some changes to make quitting less common and behind-the-scenes security improvements to help improve the overall Crucible experience.

• Additional Highlights
• Weapon and Ability Balance Pass
  Sandbox adjustments based on player feedback and data from the live game. The Sandbox team will share specific changes as we lead up to Season 3.
• Exotic Weapon and Armor Balance Pass
  Exotic weapons and armor are receiving a comprehensive design pass to ensure they stand out from the rest of the gear and offer new, exciting, powerful ways to play.
• Seasonal Reputation
  Specific vendors will now display a Seasonal ranking. Earning reputation will unlock unique Seasonal rewards and will reset each Season.
• Improved Iron Banner and Faction Rallies
  In addition to the changes that you will see when Iron Banner and Faction Rallies return this month, we will continue iterating on these to make them unique, exciting experiences that you all look forward to.
• Playlist Repetition Reduction
  This feature solves the problem of experiencing the same playlist entry multiple times in consecutive or frequent succession for both Crucible and Strikes.
• End Game Player Pursuits
  We agree with your feedback on the imbalance between Achievement and Bright Engram rewards, and we will be making adjustments to shift more rewards into specific endgame pursuits instead of generic XP grinding for Bright Engrams. We are excited to share the details as soon as we have them worked out.
• Multi-Emote
  When multi-emote launches, you will be able to choose which emote you have equipped to each of your four emote slots.
• Vault space
  We are targeting an additional 50 slots to player vaults. We don’t believe just adding more space is a complete solution and are actively working on other changes to reduce load on your vault space. We are adding an Exotic accessory tab to Vault collections so you will no longer need to spend Vault space on Exotic Ships, Sparrows, and Ghosts.
• PC Clan Chat
  In addition to the Tower chat that is targeted for February, we are adding clan chat to the PC version of the game.
• Heroic Strike Changes
  We’ll be introducing modifiers to add more gameplay variety to the experience.

Destiny 2 Fall 2018 updates

Bungie said it has a lot in the works Destiny 2 that it can’t yet discuss, but offered this sample of things it expects to bring to the game or overhaul by autumn – and maybe sooner.

• Item Collections and Records
• Weapon Slot and Archetype Improvements
• Additional Crucible Playlists (e.g. Rumble)
• Better Clan Rewards
• Masterwork Exotics
• Pinnacle Weapon and Gear Improvements
• Trials of the Nine improvements
• Shaders and dismantling
• The Future of Guided Games
• Address Solo Vs Fireteam matching

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Sail On a Giant Hot Dog and Other Silly Boats in 'Silly Sailing', Coming Next Thursday

I guess while we're on the topic of weird game premises, we might as well talk about Silly Sailing, the new upcoming game from Devm Games of Extreme Forklifting fame. It's a top-down sailing game that has you harnessing the power of wind gusts to pilot a variety of, well, silly sailboats around different watery courses as quickly as possible. Interestingly, this is an asynchronous game so you'll be battling against the ghost runs from players around the world all vying for the best time on each course. Check out the trailer for Silly Sailing.

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Yes, any game that allows you to pilot a giant hot dog, a big shoe, or a couple of hastily lashed together giant bananas gets an automatic thumbs up in my book. Unlocking increasingly bazaar boats is a big appeal of Silly Sailing, but it also looks to have some pretty solid mechanics as not only are you trying to utilize the wind direction as best as possible but there's also whirlpools that you'll want to gently graze in order to fling your craft forward without accidentally getting sucked in. It looks super cool, so keep an eye out for Silly Sailing when it launches on January 18th and in the meantime head to the forum thread for some discussion.

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'Meat Cannon Golf' is a Completely Absurd Golfing Game for Carnivores, Currently Accepting Beta Testers

One of the fun things about mobile is the wide variety of silly ideas people come up with for games. And just when you think you've seen it all something like Meat Cannon Golf comes along and raises the bar for absurdity in game ideas. So it's a golfing game, obviously, but instead of using the standard wood and iron clubs we all know and love, or those tiny little white balls which are so easy to lose, you'll be firing various types of meats from a cannon trying to get that hunk of meat to land into a hole in as few "strokes" as possible. Yep. Check out this early look at one of the holes that will be in Meat Cannon Golf.

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So yeah, this is a thing. If you're weird like me and are very intrigued by the idea of Meat Cannon Golf, you can actually head over to the game's forum thread and sign up for potential beta testing for both iOS and Android platforms. There's also some pretty great animated gifs and additional video clips in that thread that more looks at this wacky game, and if you're not really interested in testing but you're still interested in the game you can just sign up on the Meat Cannon Golf official website to get notified when the game launches.

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Humble Store Winter Sale: here’s a random list of cheap games that caught our eye

Humble wants your money. You want games. Can some compromise be reached in this eternal battle?

The Humble Store Winter Sale has kicked off so open your wallets and let the cash pour freely into its coffers.

Humble Store is my personal favourite because a tiny slice of the money that digital distributors take from all transactions goes directly to charity, and you can name your preferred fund. I managed to avoid the Steam holiday sale, but I feel a little carefully hazarded spending would not be too naughty at this time.

As usual, there’s so much on sale that we have no hope of detailing it all, but here are a couple of things that caught my eye personally.

• Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy – $8
  This one showed up a bunch of times in this year’s IGF nominees – ie, the essential festival circuit indie releases of 2017.

• A Hat in Time – $24
  I’ve heard this described as the game Yooka-Laylee should have been.

• Furi – $9
  An absolutely gorgeous 3D action boss-rush game, which combines softly Souls-style combat with bullet hell elements. Sherif loves it.

• GTA 5 – $37.50
  Surely everyone everywhere owns GTA 5 by now? You really should experience it if you haven’t yet – there’s a reason it’s a perennial bestseller so many years later.

• Undertale – $5
  Fall in love with a skeleton and talk your way out of combat – although you’ll want to be good at retro twitch arcade games if you want to take the pure pacifist route in this amazing old-school RPG.

• Rocket League – $12
  It’s soccer with cars! A blast in multiplayer. Don’t even worry about it, everyone is terrible at it and only gets goals by accident. It’s soccer with cars.

• Armello – $12
  Australians made this and my local pals who are into arty and indie games never stop banging on about it. It has cute animals.

• Wolfenstein: The New Order – $10
  I don’t have Wolfie 2 yet which makes me really sad, because I love The New Order so, so much. You should play it, it’s $10

• Dishonored: Definitive Edition – $10
  I love this universe so, so much. Start at the beginning and follow the story right through Death of the Outsider before joining me on Tumblr to ship the hell out of it all.

• Fallout 4 – $15
  I have played hundreds of hours of Fallout 4 and every few months I have to hide the disc or I will play more. I have broken it so thoroughly there is no point even switching it on and yet: I always do.

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition – $20
  I think this is probably the best open world game of the generation, although Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassin’s Creed Origins learned a great deal from it.

• Stardew Valley – $11.24
  Harvest Moon, made by a fan who felt the series had gone off the rails (an accurate assessment). Eats lives, but in such a lovely way nobody minds.

• Sir, you Are Being Hunted – $5
  That guy from RPS made this and I keep meaning to play it sometime.

• Superhot – $15
  Sort of a tactical turn based but also real time live action fight choreography simulator. Also the world’s most interesting FPS.

• SOMA – $7.49
  From the Amnesia team, and not even supposed to be a horror game. Scared me so badly I cried (as usual). Recently patched with a no monsters mode, which they may as well have called Brenna Is A Baby Mode.

• Desktop Dungeons – $7.49
  A great short-burst rogue like dungeon crawler with persistent progression. Harder than it used to be, which also means it eats fewer lives.

• Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell – $3.74
  Best winged flight mechanics gaming has ever produced. Pure joy. Less than $4??

• Rainbow Six Siege: Complete Edition – $59.37
  One of the finest examples of ongoing live support for a multiplayer game we’ve ever seen. Seems pricey but includes all the stuff you’d otherwise have to buy as add-ons.

• The Stanley Parable – $7.49
  Plays with games themselves in a way that inspired many later titles. I love The Stanley Parable so much.

• Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Deluxe Bundle – $24
  Probably the best Dishonored game, and definitely the shortest if you’re not sure you can handle umpteen hours of tense stealth assassinations.

• Far Cry Complete Collection – $25
  Contrary to title is not actually anywhere near the complete collection but still contains enough Ubisoft open world nonsense to occupy you for the rest of your natural life.

Well, and then I got tired of scrolling. Go check out the full Humble Store Winter Sale for much, much more.

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Rayark's Intense New Rhythm Game 'Cytus II' Launching January 18th, Pre-Order is Up Now

While a lot of people associate Rayark with their excellent character action game Implosion - Never Lose Hope [$9.99], they're also quite well-known for their library of fantastic rhythm games which thus far include Cytus [$1.99], Deemo [$1.99], and VOEZ [Free]. Now the Taiwanese developer is readying a sequel to Cytus, appropriately titled Cytus II, and it's coming really soon: Next Thursday, January 18th to be exact. Check out some of the characters you'll see as well as some of the furious tracks you'll be playing in Cytus II in the following trailer.

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For reference, we really enjoyed the original Cytus (and Deemo and VOEZ, for that matter) and it looks like the sequel is shaping up to be another great rhythm game experience. As is the cool new thing to do nowadays, you can actually pre-order Cytus II by visiting this link on your iOS 11 device and going through the purchase motions in the App Store. The game's App Store description goes into more detail about the story if you're interested, and also states that Cytus II will have over 50 songs at launch and will cost just $1.99. If you're of the Android persuasion don't worry, Cytus II will be heading to your platform this coming March.

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PUBG has over 3 million players on Xbox One

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is rather popular with the Xbox One crowd.

Since PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds released on Xbox One in early-December through the Xbox Game Preview program, it’s pulled in over three million players.

It’s not surprising considering PUBG’s popularity on PC. Just last week the game hit over 3.1 million concurrent players on Steam.

Plus, the Xbox One version sold over one million copies within its first 48 hours of availability.

 

The team at PUBG Corp. has released four updates since the game’s release on Xbox One, and players will continue to see regular updates roll out. This week, an update added first-person support for solo, duo, and squads gameplay

Like its PC counterpart, PUBG will continue to receive enhancements, new content updates such as the Miramar desert map and optimizations on Xbox One. Until then, you can look over what’s currently included with PUBG on Xbox One through our handy guide.

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Easily Get Free 'Hearthstone' Packs by Choosing DocPwn as Your HCT World Champion

If you haven't noticed, Blizzard is absolutely killing it in the esports world. The Overwatch League kicked off this week, and the Hearthstone [Free] Championship Tour takes place next week in Amsterdam. Sixteen players will be competing for fame, fortune, and most importantly, to win you free packs of cards. Whenever there's a big tournament like this, Blizzard runs a promotion where you can "choose your champion." Once you've got your champion locked in, you earn free Hearthstone packs based on their performance in the tournament.

You can see all the participants right here, but I'll make it real easy for you: Choose DocPwn. He beat Pavel in the HCT Winter Championship, but I love DocPwn's story in that he isn't a hardcore esports dude who streams 24/7 - He's just a normal guy who happens to be really really good at Hearthstone. During the day, he works for the city of Montreal and drives around the city making sure all the city-sponsored sports and leisure actives are operating as they should be. I'd love to see him win again.

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Choose DocPwn as your champion by clicking here, logging in with your battle.net ID, and the rest is pretty self explanatory. Of course, you don't have to choose DocPwn, as really any of the contenders are equally qualified to win. This tournament really feels like it could be anyone's game, which is what makes it so exciting. The HCT Championships start on January 18th ad 8:30 AM CET and will be streamed live on Twitch.

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Halo 5: Guardians is free to play this weekend with Xbox Live Gold

If you have yet to try your hand at Halo 5: Guardians, you can do so for free this weekend if you have Xbox Live Gold.

Halo 5: Guardians will be free for Xbox Live Gold members starting today and through Sunday, January 14.

During this time, players can download the game and play either solo or with up to three friends in online co-op. Or both.

All multiplayer modes will also be available, as well as Warzone.

Halo 5: Guardians is also on sale for 20% off during the free weekend. Those who purchase the game during this time will find all saved progress and earned achievements carried over into the full game.

You can download Halo 5: Guardians by searching for the game from the Xbox Dashboard.

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This Dark Souls Trilogy Box Set announced for Japan is rather cool

A Dark Souls Trilogy Box Set has been announced by Bandai Namco, but at present, it’s only listed for Japan.

The Dark Souls Trilogy Box Set was posted on the official Japanese website today.

It was listed for PS4 shortly after the remastered version of Dark Souls was announced for PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One earlier today.

Looking over the contents, it’s full of some addition physical goodies which are rather cool. It’s rather expensive, though. According to Siliconera, it’s listed for ¥49,800 which is around $450.

It includes Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, and Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades Edition.

Along with the discs, it contains a bookcase which when put together looks like a statue of sorts. It also comes with an item encyclopedia, and 10 pieces of art work and an image frame.

The Dark Souls Trilogy Box Set releases in Japan on May 24, and hasn’t been announced for the west as of press time.

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Whoever did this should be both proud and ashamed of themselves. https://www.facebook.com/TeamViCiGaming/posts/1726190087433437 …pic.twitter.com/0QvS9yPBiL

Whoever did this should be both proud and ashamed of themselves. http://ift.tt/2D0iNqB; http://pic.twitter.com/0QvS9yPBiL

Whoever did this should be both proud and ashamed of themselves. https://www.facebook.com/TeamViCiGaming/posts/1726190087433437 …pic.twitter.com/0QvS9yPBiL posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

The Fretz Zone: Would you like Fries with your Upvote?

The kiosk pictured below offers a very peculiar service. According to reddit user Santinoramiro you can purchase likes and follows on instagram pictures from the comfort of your local shopping mall. If the signage wasn't a give away, this mall is located in Russia, but how long will it take to see similarly blatant advertising for this type of service in other countries? It's no closely held secret that there are more than one industry built on electrical popularity. Even two years ago the mainstream media knew that something as bizzare and trivial as a faked chemical plant spill had ties to some very influential, powerful people and an infrastructure of data manipulation.

Take our own little corner of the universe for example. The number of downloads your game gets and the number of positive reviews you get very heavily impact you in some profound ways. In case you weren't aware, almost every developer whether a large corporate outfit, or an indie dev with a dream will run post-mortem analysis on their games, like Meganoid [$2.99] for instance. What we see time and time again is that virtual numbers like this have a huge impact. Something we saw with Warbits [$4.99] is that even catching a small break can really pay off.

So what does this all mean? I think that one thing we will have to face very soon is that data and metrics are a commodity that are going to continually be more easy to acquire and much less reliable as a measure of actual success or popularity. Whether you are judging the success of an app or the credence of a news story or how many people really liked that embarrassing pic your mom posted of you as a kid, seeing is not believing any more. You might even find that your own words are no longer trustworthy.

Eventually a game developer may not end up having to seek out and contract with a large consortium to gather data and drive traffic to their app. This is, in many ways, a very good thing. But lets just think about this, picture that kiosk from above, advertising instant online popularity. Instead of an instagram user, a game developer could be there picking up a few hundred reviews or a few thousand downloads. This is not a conspiracy theory, its a booth you can walk right up to and spend just a little bit of money on. If we get to a point where User Acquisition is not a semi-mandatory component of game development, we may all be a little better for it. In the meantime, we may just have to settle for it being something you pick up at a convenience store and can much more readily see it for the vending machine that it is.

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Donkey Kong coming to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle as playable character with new story and world

Here’s some more Donkey Kong news today, and this bit is for the Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle crowd.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is getting a new playable hero, and it’s none other than Donkey Kong.

The Nintendo fan-favorite will be made available in an upcoming downloadable content drop.

Donkey Kong will be featured in an original story which will take place in a new world.

Check him out in the video below.

Donkey Kong will be exclusive to this brand new adventure, which is planned for release in spring 2018.

It will be available for purchase individually, or as part of the Season Pass or Gold Edition of the game.

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Tencent Teases New 'Arena of Valor' Update Highlights

We're all about Arena of Valor [Free] these days, and for good reason: The game is amazing. We published a review when the game was new, and I've been slowly working on a newbie guide that's growing whenever I have time to work on it. Anyway, it sounds like we're on the verge of getting our first major Arena of Valor update in North America and they've released a video detailing the major changes.

Check it out:

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What's probably going to cause the biggest fuss is the gold cap changes, but they're also adding iPhone X support, adding some visual flare, and even adding portrait frames for your avatar as another thing to unlock. I actually really like what they're doing with skins moving forward, in that by offering a passive gold bonus by having a skin equipped there's a real reason to own skins for your heroes beyond "It looks cool."

Hopefully the update lands soon, as these are some real neat changes.

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Roguelike Deck Builder 'Meteorfall' Launching January 25th, Check Out the Amazing Launch Trailer

In early July of last year, we first caught wind of Meteorfall, a new deck building game from developer Slothwerks that used a colorful Adventure Time-esque art style and was inspired by great mobile card games like Card Crawl/Card Thief and the cult-classic Dream Quest. In Meteorfall you'd choose one of 4 classes of characters, each with their own deck of cards, and set out to battle monsters using an intuitive left/right swiping mechanic similar to the Reigns games or the Tinder hook up– I mean casual dating app. It all sounded quite lovely and the following September Slothwerks reached out to our community for some beta testers, and I've heard nothing but good things from those who have been testing the game since. Well, the time has finally come for Meteorfall to grace the world with its presence as Slothwerks has announced a January 25th release date for the game. Check out the entirely silly and overly catchy launch trailer here.

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Oh yes, that little earworm will be sticking around with you for the rest of the day, I just know it. One of my least favorite things about most deck building games it that they can be overly complicated and don't fit particularly well into short play sessions. It's one of the reasons I fell so in love with games like Card Crawl and Card Thief as they were complex enough to be interesting but simple enough to play at pretty much any time. I feel like the binary nature of the left/right swiping mechanics in Meteorfall will give it that exact same appeal, but with multiple classes to play as and the ability to unlock additional cards to add to your deck as you go there should still be enough strategy and depth to remain engaging. I'm super excited for it, so look for Meteorfall when it hits on January 25th for $2.99 with no IAP and check out the thread in our forums for much more on the game ahead of its release.

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Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered out in March with all content plus Assassin’s Creed Origins legacy outfit

If there was ever any doubt.

A remastered version of Assassin’s Creed Rogue will arrive on PlayStation and Xbox One systems in March.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered came to light back in late-November after it started popping up on Italian retail sites.  In early December, word came it had been rated by the Korean Ratings Board.

So, today’s announcement isn’t a surprise.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered will include all of the downloadable content from the original game: two bonus missions (The Armor of Sir Gunn Quest and The Siege of Fort de Sable), as well as the Master Templar and Explorer packs.

The latter contain weapons, customization items and special outfits, including Bayek’s legacy outfit from Assassin’s Creed Origins.

Developed by Ubisoft Sofia, developers of the original Assassin’s Creed Rogue, the remaster  will display in 4K on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. On PS4 and Xbox One it will display in 1080p.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue originally released on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2014, and arrived on PC in 2015.

Remastered will be release on March 20.

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Vampyr four-part webseries kicks off next week, will feature new gameplay footage

Prepare for more information on Dontnod’s narrative-driven RPG, Vampyr over the course of the next four weeks.

Focus Home Interactive and Dontnod Entertainment announced a weekly four-part webseries for the studio’s upcoming RPG, Vampyr.

The series will provide insight into the studio’s approach to bringing the narrative-driven title.

Each 5-minute episode will unveil new gameplay footage, accompanied by comments on the creative process, beginning with Episode I: Making Monsters on January 18.

The three other episodes are as follows:

• Episode II: Architects of the Obscure
• Episode III: Human After All
• Episode IV: Stories From the Dark

Originally slated for a November 2017 release, Dontnod announced Vampyr’s delay in September.

In the works since 2015, Dontnod stated in the delay announcement a technical issue had pushed the development schedule back. The delay would also provide the studio with additional time for polishing and balancing.

Vampyr will be released in spring 2018  for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Vampyr four-part webseries kicks off next week, will feature new gameplay footage posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age hits PC next month with 60fps gameplay, ultra-wide support and other new features

The much-loved twelfth entry in the storied Final Fantasy series finally makes its way to PC.

Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age is to arrive on PC in just a few weeks’ time, with the HD Remaster of FF12 arriving on PC on February 1.

This version of the game has already shipped over one million units on PS4, but it’s now making its way to PC. The PC version includes everything from the PS4 version of the game – so that’s the rebalanced ‘International Zodiac Job System’ version of FF12 complete with its new job system and new mechanics, plus the PS4 upgrades like multiple speed options, a remastered soundtrack, remastered visuals and a trial mode.

Back when that PS4 version launched, we called it “the definitive version of an all-time classic“. In our recent grand ranking of the FF series, FF12 came in a respectable sixth place.

On top of all that, the PC version has a few all-new features:

• 60 FPS Gameplay
• 21:9 Ultra-wide Monitor Compatibility
• Full Controller Support
• Three background music options – original, re-orchestrated and soundtrack versions of all music
• Max-out cheat modes to grant yourself max license points and gil
• New Game+ and New Game- modes – You can access these post-game content modes from the beginning of the game.
• Steam Trading Cards

Players who buy the game on Steam during its first week on sale from February 1 will get a 20% discount, a three-track digital music compilation and a new Steam skin illustrated by FF series artist and FF12 art lead Isamu Kamikokuryo.

For those of you keeping score, that’s every numbered FF officially and legally playable on PC now except the original FF, FF2 and FF15 – but the latter is to be remedied pretty soon, too.

Square Enix will be hosting a live stream where the Producer Hiroaki Kato and Director Takashi Katano (who we spoke to about the PS4 version just a few months ago) answer fan questions on February 2 at 8am GMT, but we had a chance to ask Kato a few questions about the port late last year. Here’s that chat:

VG247: Was this always part of your plan, or was coming to PC something of a reaction to feedback from players?
For FFXII The Zodiac Age, we took on many different challenges with the project, such as not just updating the SD original FFXII to display in HD, but re-working the overall game design to make it fit with modern gameplay environments and expectations. Accordingly, we initially decided to restrict the development to just one platform with the PS4, to let us focus on improving the quality.

While we were developing the PS4 version, we felt that the game now had a robustness that would let people enjoy it as a modern game on the PC too, without feeling outdated. That was when we decided to release the PC version.

Why is now the right time for a PC release?
Thanks to all the fans, the PS4 version of the game has now shipped over one million units worldwide (including download sales) and the buzz is really strong at the moment. On top of that, we looked at the preferences of the PC gamers who would be playing the port and needed to spend some time in implementing the kinds of features that they wanted and needed on PC, which made the PC version take that much longer.

On PC, will there be greater support for things like native 4K (since the PS4 Pro version maxes out at 1440p) and proper high-end system specs?
For players with high-end systems, the exploration areas of the game can be played in wide-screen ratios up to 48:9, which we think will give them a really immersive experience.

In line with this, what about the frame rate on PC? With FF10 the game code seemed to prevent 60fps from being possible, but is it possible with FF12?
We felt that PC players would expect the game to be able to run in 60fps, so we made that possible for the PC version of FFXII TZA. You need fairly high system specs to do it, but playing in 60 fps is a lot of fun.

In terms of control, how far have you gone to ensure wide support for various input devices? Specifically – keyboard and mouse control? Mouse control for camera look? Will Xbox button prompts be included for those using Xbox controllers on PC?
You get the options for full controller support or mouse and keyboard controls. If you are using keyboard and mouse then the mouse can be used to move the camera. The button prompts for PS4, XB1 and keyboard control are all supported, and the prompts will automatically change to reflect the device you are using.

We have also made it possible to check the key assignation through the HUD when using a keyboard and mouse. So please enjoy FFXII TZA with whichever of the two control devices that you prefer!

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'Super Senso' Is Headed to Europe, and Is Bringing All Sorts of Popular IP for the Ride

In April of last year, Super Senso [Free] launched on the US App Store. We covered it quite a bit, but for some weird reason it only ever was released in a select few territories. Well, as of this morning, Super Senso publisher GungHo announced that the game is finally making its way to Europe on January 24th. Not just that, but hitching along for a ride on the Super Senso bus is a number of different IP partnerships. In-game units from Dark Horse Comics, Yacht Club Games, Adult Swim, Wargaming, and CCP are being thrown into the mix. Details are sort of vague right now, but one example they're showing is Shovel Knight watching over the battlefield in the Meowdieval Mayhem map.

Check it out:

These tie-ins remind me of the classic days of iOS gaming when indie developers used to cut all sorts of deals with other developers to do different crossovers. The Doodler from Doodle Jump [$0.99] and the islanders from Pocket God [$0.99] were in practically every even reasonably noteworthy game of the early App Store. The idea being, people would say to themselves "Hey, I like Doodle Jump, oh the Doodler is in Pocket God? I Need to check that out."

Will the strategy work for Super Senso? Hopefully! If nothing else, a whole flood of new players are going to experience the game when its released in European territories on the 24th.

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Overwatch League attracted over 400,000 viewers on the first day

Over 400,000 viewers tuned in to Twitch for the opening day of the Overwatch League.

The first round of the Overwatch League took place last night, with the Dallas Fuel facing off against Seoul Dynasty. The opening night peaked at over 415,000 viewers on Twitch.

Esports commentator and director of content marketing at Twitch, Ben Goldhaber, revealed the figure on Twitter, adding that it includes both English and non-English livestreams. This is pretty high, and Goldhaber even said that his estimates (part of his job at Twitch) of the event’s viewership were well below these numbers.

Overwatch League has peaked over 415k viewers. On Day 1. #OWL2018

— Ben Goldhaber (@FishStix) January 11, 2018

What’s even more impressive is that most of the games took place past midnight in Europe, so it wasn’t the best time in many parts of the world. These numbers also don’t include livestreams from Chinese sites, or the Activision-owned MLG site and app.

Overall, a pretty solid turnout for the night, and as Goldhaber added, it’ll be interesting to see if the momentum carries through to the weekend.

If you’re interested in following the Overwatch League but don’t know where to start, head over to our League guide, it includes details about teams, skins, tokens and all the other details.

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PayDay 2 on Switch features timed-exclusive character, CRIME.NET Local Play

PayDay 2 will arrive on Switch next month with an added local multiplayer mode for CRIME.NET and a new character.

PayDay 2 has been in the works for Switch for a while now, and today Nintendo has provided more information ahead of the game’s February release.

Along with the original characters Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains, PayDay 2 on Switch comes with a character called Joy who’s initially releasing only on Nintendo Switch. Joy comes complete with her own LED light mask and weapons.

The game features full touch screen menu support, and a newly developed rumble feature that responds as players fire weapons or throw grenades.

As stated above, the game also includes an added local multiplayer mode to CRIME.NET called CRIME.NET Local Play. Players are able to set up a local game and invite three friends who share the same local network.

Here’s the full list of features:

• Rob Banks, Get Paid – Players must choose their crew carefully, because when the job goes down they will need the right mix of skills on their side.
• CRIME.NET – The dynamic contract database CRIME.NET lets players pick and choose from available jobs by connecting with local Contractors – all with their own agenda and best interests in mind.
• Dynamic Scenarios – No heist ever plays out the same way twice, as heists comes with random geometry and events.
• Choose Your Skills – As players progress they can invest in any of five special Skill Trees: Mastermind, Enforcer, Ghost, Technician and Fugitive. Each features a deep customization tree of associated skills and equipment to master.
• More Masks than Ever – PAYDAY 2 features a completely new mask system, giving players the ability to craft their own unique mask together with a pattern and a color.
• Weapons and Modifications – A huge arsenal for the serious heister, covering everything from sniper to assault rifles. You can modify your weapon with optics, suppressors, fore grips, reticles, barrels, frames, stocks and lots more.
• Play It Your Way – Each job allows for multiple approaches, such as slow and stealthy ambushes, to running in guns blazing.

PayDay 2 releases for Nintendo Switch on February 27.

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Demos for Dragon Quest Builders and Kirby: Battle Royale have landed on the Nintendo eShop

The headline says it all, really.

Nintendo announced today during its Direct presentation that eShop users can download demos for Kirby: Battle Royale and Dragon Quest Builders.

Available for Switch, the demo version of Dragon Quest Builders will provide a nice introduction to the game before it releases on the system February 9.

In the full game, players will need to rebuild Alefgard using various blocks, as it has been destroyed by the Dragonlord. Players will also build tools from gathered materials and construct a wide variety of structures.

It was originally released on PlayStation 4 back in October 2016.

Appropriately, players will also  “receive ever-more extravagant requests” from the citizens wanting a place to call their own. That’s what NPCs do, ya know. Players will also battle monsters, so there’s more to it than building blocky homes, towers and castles for Alefgard’s populous.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is also in development and will be released on PS4 and Switch complete with co-op.

 

Nintendo 3DS users can download the demo for Kirby: Battle Royale and fight other Kirbys and absorb their powers. There are ten battle modes, available both online and locally in the full game. Various modes feature specific objectives as the player fights other Kribys.

Kirby: Battle Royale will release on January 19.

Demos for Dragon Quest Builders and Kirby: Battle Royale have landed on the Nintendo eShop posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

The World Ends with You: Final Remix brings rhythmic battles to Switch sometime this year

Nintendo DS game The World Ends with You has been updated for Nintendo Switch with HD visuals.

The 2008 title is heading to Nintendo Switch sometime this year as The World Ends with You: Final Remix.

It contains a new epilogue that sheds new light on the game’s story.

Players can participate in rhythmic battles using either Joy-Con controllers or the Switch touch screen.

The World Ends with You is set in the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, and was inspired by developer Jupiter’s previous game, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Starring a fella named Neku Sakuraba who has at one point passed on. In The World Ends with You, Neku is brought back to life during the second week of the game, to find that he and his allies are participating in a real-world which takes place over the course of three weeks which in the end will determine the characters’ fates.

Each mission in The World Ends with You contains elements of Japanese youth culture.

The World Ends with You is currently without a 2018 release date. The original title was released in spring 2008 for Nintendo DS. An iOS version was released in 2012 with a new soundtrack.

The World Ends with You: Final Remix brings rhythmic battles to Switch sometime this year posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Overwatch League: Teams, Skins, Tokens, Schedule and everything you need to watch the action

The inaugural season of the Overwatch League is finally underway, and is already shaping up to be one of the most ambitious esports championships in recent memory. The seven-month tournament has a packed schedule, with players competing for $3.5 million worth of bonuses across four stages made up of five game-weeks each.

Things kicked off with a bang as Los Angeles Valiant drew first blood with a 4-0 victory over San Francisco Shock – a flattering final scoreline in what was a hard fought game. But since Overwatch isn’t the most established esport out there, we’ve put together a guide introducing some of the Overwatch League’s basic concepts.

We’ll go over the Overwatch League teams, how to get Overwatch League tokens, the skins they unlock, as well as the full Overwatch League schedule and prize pool.

Overwatch League Teams:

The Overwatch League teams are split into two divisions, with each team’s full season record counting towards their postseason seeding. The regular season is split into four stages that last five weeks each, with a week’s break between each stage.

Overwatch League Pacific Division

• Dallas Fuel
  Dallas Fuel are backed by Team Envy, one of the biggest esports teams with more than a decade in the business. Their Overwatch team is made up of members of EnVyUs team that won US Overwatch Contenders tournament at the tail end of 2017. Although they lost their first game against Seoul Dynasty, they’ll be strong competitors.
• Los Angeles Gladiators
  Owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, who also own Premier League club Arsenal, the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, the Los Angeles Gladiators count Shaz and Big Goose among their roster. Both players won the Overwatch Contenders tournament in Europe with Team Gigantti before joining the Gladiators.
• Los Angeles Valiant
  The LA Valiant are managed by the relatively new, but successful esports team Immortals. They have GrimReality on their Overwatch League team, one of the most promising young US players competing for the championship.
• San Francisco Shock
  Via their owners NRG eSports, San Francisco Shock have the backing of sporting legends Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal. They acquired an Overwatch team from Luminosity Gaming last year and have added Nomy, who won Overwatch Winter Premier 2017 with Immortals, to their roster as well.
• Seoul Dynasty
  Seoul Dynasty are owned by Facebook and mobile game developer Kabam, and have some of the best Korean players like RyuJeHong – who’s known as one of the best supports in Overwatch – on their team.
• Shanghai Dragons
  The Shanghai Dragons have an all-Chinese roster comprising of seasoned pros that’ve been there or thereabouts at major and premier Overwatch tournaments. They’re owned by NetEase, a Chinese internet and gaming giant who’re Blizzard’s main partners in China.

Overwatch League Atlantic Division

• Boston Uprising
  Boston Uprising are owned by the same people as the New England Patriots, and have a diverse team of players who’ve done well in minor tournaments as well as a few majors. They’ll be looking to turn their promise into solid performances.
• Houston Outlaws
  OpTic Gaming are one of the biggest names in esports, and provide the backing for the Houston Outlaws. They have a big American contingent in their team, including players who represented the US at the Overwatch World Cup.
• London Spitfire

  London Spitfire are another strong team made up largely of Korean ex-GC Busan players who won the APAC premier championship in 2017. They’re owned by major esports team Cloud9 – one of the world’s biggest.

• Florida Mayhem

  The Florida Mayhem are made up of players from the Misfits esports team that came 2nd at Overwatch Contenders tournament, and the Sweden team that came 3rd at the Overwatch World cup.

• New York Excelsior

  With great players like Saebyeolbe – who won the Overwatch World Cup with Korea – and Libero – who’s one of the best and most flexible players in Overwatch – New York Excelsior are going to be tough to beat. They’re owned by the COO of the New York Mets, Jeff Wilpon.

• Philadelphia Fusion
  Backed by the owner of NHL team Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Fusion have put their trust in long-time esports pros like ex-Dota 2 player Fragi and Canadian high-level support player Joemeister.

How to earn free Overwatch League Tokens:

The Overwatch League introduced a new currency to the game – League Tokens – which you can use to buy a new set of hero skins based on Overwatch League teams.

Each skin costs 100 League tokens, with the cost of additional tokens listed below:

100 League Tokens – $4.99
200 League Tokens – $9.99
400 League Tokens – $19.99
900 League Tokens – $39.99
2600 League Tokens – $99.99

As you can see, the prices for each one are steep. They’re supposed to be like traditional sports jerseys, where you only buy and wear your favourite player’s rather than collect the whole team’s, but for completionists, it’s an exceptionally high amount to play.

There are only two ways to get free Overwatch League tokens:

The first is to collect 100 by logging into Overwatch.

You can get another 100 for free by signing up to the Overwatch League Newsletter on Blizzard’s official site. You have to scroll down to where there’s a black box on the left, then enter your email.

Overwatch League Skins:

So, as we established above, Overwatch League skins are expensive and you can only earn a couple for free. Here’s what you actually get for your money, or tokens if you’re still deciding on which to pick.

Overwatch League Schedule:

Overwatch League Week 1 Schedule: We’ll update the schedule with new matches week-to-week. With time zones, this gets very confusing, very quickly but we’ve tried to make it as clear as possible.

January 10-11

• San Francisco Shock 0-4 Los Angeles Valiant
• Shanghai Dragons 0-4 Los Angeles Gladiators
• Dallas Fuel 1-2 Seoul Dynasty
• London Spitfire vs Florida Mayhem – 10PM GMT / 5PM EST / 2PM PST

January 11-12

• Philadelphia Fusion vs Houston Outlaws – 12AM GMT / 7PM EST (Jan 11) / 4PM PST (Jan 11)
• Boston Uprising vs New York Excelsior – 2AM GMT / 9PM EST (Jan 11) / 6PM PST (Jan 11)

January 12-13

• Los Angeles Valiant vs Dallas Fuel – 12AM GMT / 7PM EST (Jan 12) / 4PM PST (Jan 12)
• Florida Mayhem vs Boston Uprising – 2AM GMT / 9PM EST (Jan 12) / 6PM PST (Jan 12)
• San Francisco Shock vs Shanghai Dragons – 4AM GMT / 11PM EST (Jan 12) / 8PM (Jan 12)
• London Spitfire vs Philadelphia Fusion – 7PM GMT / 2PM EST / 11AM PST
• New York Excelsior vs Houston Outlaws – 9PM GMT / 4PM EST / 1PM PST
• Seoul Dynasty vs Los Angeles Gladiators – 11PM GMT / 6PM EST / 3PM PST

Rewards for Watching Overwatch League:

One of the most interesting announcements Blizzard has made in the run up to the start of the Overwatch League is that it’s partnering with Twitch to provide “exclusive in-game items” for people who watch the broadcasts.
Twitch then confirmed that these would include but weren’t limited to “custom Overwatch League Cheermotes”, and that more will be announced “when they’re available”.

Overwatch League Scoring:

How teams score in the Overwatch League can be confusing at first, but is very similar to how regular games of Overwatch work.

Teams earn points for winning matches, which then determines their standing in their league division.

Each match is played over four or five maps, and the first team to “win” three maps takes home the points.

How teams win a map changes depending on which map it is. On “Escort” maps like Dorado, the offensive team tries to move a payload forward, while the defending team tries to push them back – with each team scoring points depending on how successfully they attack and defence. On “Assault” maps like Temple of Anubis, the offensive team try to capture set points the map while the defending team tries to stop them – again scoring point based on how successful they are. Then on “Control” maps like Ilios, both teams battle it out over the same points, scoring points when they take control of the point.

Overwatch League Prize Pool:

The total prize pool of bonuses that players are competing for in the Overwatch League is $3.5 million, on top of the $50,000 salary that every player gets for taking part. How that breaks down is below.

Finish bonuses for regular season:
1st place: $300,000
2nd place: $200,000
3rd + 4th place: $150,000
5th + 6th place: $100,000
7th + 8th place: $75,000
9th + 10th place: $50,000
11th + 12th place: $25,000

Stage title matches:
1st Place: $100,000
2nd Place: $25,000

Championship playoffs placement bonuses:
1st Place: $1,000,000
2nd Place: $400,000
3rd + 4th Place: $100,000
5th + 6th Place: $50,000

The Overwatch League regular season started on January 10, 2018 and lasts until June 16. The playoffs then start on July 11 until July 22, before the grand final takes place from July 26 to July 28.

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Dark Souls Remastered announced for PC, PS4, Xbox One with 4K and 60fps

Dark Souls Remastered is real, and it’s not just coming to Nintendo Switch, but to all other platforms as well.

After rumours about a Dark Souls remaster culminated in a report this morning, Nintendo and Bandai Namco announced moments ago that Dark Souls Remastered is in fact coming to Nintendo Switch.

Now, the publisher has confirmed the other part of the rumour: Dark Souls Remastered is also headed to PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Scheduled to release on the same day, May 25, the remaster will be enhanced for PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X.

Dark Souls Remastered will support an upscaled 4K resolution and 60fps, though only on PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and PC. On Switch, the game will run at 1080p, 30fps when docked.

All versions include the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, and will utilise dedicated servers for up to six-player multiplayer and co-op. No other technical details were revealed. We only have the announcement trailer, which sadly doesn’t feature any gameplay footage.

Dark Souls Remastered is due out May 25 on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.

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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze announced for May release on Switch

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is heading to Switch in May.

Nintendo announced Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze during its Nintendo Direct presentation today.

Starring Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong, the game contains all content from the original game plus a new beginner-friendly mode.

The mode introduces players to the mechanics as Funky Kong, who can double jump, hover, perform infinite rolls and infinite underwater corkscrews. His surfboard even survives spikes.

The Retro Studios-developed Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a side-scrolling platformer that released on Wii U in February 2014. It’s the fifth installment in the Donkey Kong Country series, and a direct sequel Donkey Kong Country Returns which was released in 2010 on Wii.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze releases on Nintendo Switch May 4.

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Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition coming to Switch this spring with all previously available content

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is coming to Switch.

During today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, the company announced Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition would arrive on Switch this spring.

This edition will include every map and mission, plus all 29 playable characters from both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS version, Hyrule Warriors Legends.

It will also include all of the previous paid downloadable content.

Additionally, the game includes new outfits for Link and Zelda based on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition coming to Switch this spring with all previously available content posted first on http://ift.tt/2k0LiGW

Mario Tennis Aces arrives on Switch this spring

Mario Tennis Aces is a brand new sports game for the Switch, arriving this Spring.

According to Nintendo, it “will bring a new level of skill and competition to Nintendo Switch.

“Mario steps onto the court in classy tennis garb for intense rallies against a variety of characters in full-blown tennis battles. New wrinkles in tennis gameplay will challenge your ability to read an opponent’s position and stroke to determine which shot will give you the advantage.

“And this time the game adds the first story mode since the Mario Tennis game on Game Boy Advance, offering a new flavour of tennis gameplay, with a variety of missions, boss battles and more.”

Sounds a bit bonkers. Anyway, you won’t have long to wait as Mario Tennis Aces will release sometime in the next three months or so.

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