updates

Octopath Traveler sells 1M copies; Thanks fans with banner art

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Octopath Traveler sells 1M copies; Thanks fans with banner art 2

Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler for Nintendo Switch has now shipped over 1M copies globally.

Developed by Square and studio Acquire, the Switch exclusive title’s success was relayed through an announcement from the official Octopath PR Twitter account stating that download numbers and shipments worldwide have netted over a million copies. They also drew a “1M thanks” banner using characters from the game for their fans with “1,000,000 Travelers! 1,000,000 Thanks” in text.

Octopath Traveler has become very successful for Square Enix. Over 90% of its initial stock in Japan was sold in July with over 100K units sold in less than 14 days. The game also has several sold-out locations of the physical disc all over the world, but mainly in Japan, to which at one point sold hundreds of copies in just a few hours after a new batch was released tot he public. Square then apologized for the shortage of physical copies and encouraged a digital download on the Nintendo E-shop if possible.

The game is obviously more popular overseas but has garnered a sizable audience in the West as shown by the sales figures.

Traveler is a retro take on the classic RPGs for an older console with 8 different characters each unique with abilities and personalities. There are also 8 stories in total. Some modern revamps include an improved turn-based system for battles and the use of animated sprites in an HD texture environment which was called an HD-2D effect by the developers.

The characters and positioning of the banner alluded to the official artwork of Bravery Default, which was released for the Nintendo 3DS which the producers of Octopath Traveler worked on also. Tomoya Asano and Masashi Takahashi both worked on both titles to create a consistent universe and their style shows in the fan art created for the community.

The Clone Wars gets a 12 episode commission on Disney’s streaming platform

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The Clone Wars gets a 12 episode commission on Disney's streaming platform 3

At this year’s Comic-Con, a panel celebrating the 10-year anniversary of The Clone Wars had a special announcement at the end of it- a surprise season of 12 episodes has been confirmed and commissioned to run on Disney’s streaming service which launches in 2019.

Back in 2003, there was the first animated series of the Clone Wars with Genndy Tartakovsky’s 2D take that ran until 2005 with a few Emmy awards in the process. The Clone Wars then came out in 2008, this time another fully-animated but 3D series of episodes developed by Dave Filoni which ran for 5 seasons on The Cartoon Network and got a final 6 episodes on Netflix in 2014.

Now that Disney is competing directly with Netflix and developing its own streaming platform, we’ll be getting another full season of 12 episodes. With Disney’s demonstration on Netflix, there’s definitely fan demand for their shows with its Marvel series.

Whether or not the 12 episodes will be reruns is unsure. Now that Disney has the own platform, they may create some original content. Besides The Clone Wars, there will be some live-action Star Wars directed by Jon Favreau that takes place somewhere between Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens.

It’s a good time to be a Star Wars fan.

Pathfinder Kingmaker delayed – Announces editions and what’s included in each tier

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Pathfinder Kingmaker delayed - Announces editions and what's included in each tier 4

Pathfinder: Kingmaker developed by Owlcat Games has promised further updates for backers. It was delayed until September and the devs posted the plans for the extra content for the game, especially the pre-order versions of the game and clearing up confusion.

There will be 4 total versions of the game and each of them will include several goodies, like a Season Pass for major DLC after the game rolls out. The basic edition is called the Explorer Edition which consists of the base game and some minor DLC. It retails for $39.99. Next up is the Noble Edition which is priced at $54.99 and includes the base game, a digital art book, soundtrack, two in-game portraits, and some premium in-game items. The Royal Edition is next at $64.99 and comes with a digital map of the game’s world, Stolen Lands, and an in-game pet and tabletop RPG Adventure Module written by Chris Avellone.

The Imperial Edition is the biggest daddy of them all. Priced at $84.00, it comes with everything and the Season Pass. A lot of the game’s content will be released through several DLC packs, with 3 included in this edition. Backers have requested races, classes, and other content as there are no current details about what’s int he DLC packs. Owlcat will likely be adding these fan suggestions to the game.

Owlcat also points out that there will be about $40 of DLC. Backers who pledge $95 or more for beta access or $110 for pre-order sessions will get the season pass free.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is based on the Kingmaker Adventure Path and is the first real game made by Paizo with official rules. The game will launch in September for the PC.

Nintendo building more “hack-proof” Switch Consoles

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Nintendo building more "hack-proof" Switch Consoles 5

A few months back, there was the word of a new “unpatchable” exploit on the Nintendo Switch which allowed hackers to run custom firmware, homebrew consoles, and of course, pirated games and software on the Switch’s existing hardware.

Nintendo has been reported that they’ve patched the exploit by selling newly-patched hardware in newer Switch models that have been fixed at the factory-level in order to prevent the exploit.

The report comes from SciresM, a well-known hacker in the Switch world, who wrote that some Switch units on retail shelves are not vulnerable to the exploit known as “Fusée Gelée.” SciresM also suspects that Nintendo has used the iPatch system on the GPU to burn the protective code into the boot ROM, which cuts of the USB recovery mode overflow error that was the previous entry point.

The iPatches are simple for Nintendo to patch in while the console is being produced in the factory, but it’s impossible to load onto the millions of Switch units that are already in circulation.

The newer “patched” units are running firmware version 4.1.0, which has been outdated since the 5.0.0 release in March. This means that they’re not really new in terms of firmware, but rather suggests that the “patched” units were already built earlier this year and Nintendo was on the case.

Nintendo is reported to have utilized data from various hacking groups like Team fail0verflow and Team ReSwitched to get the head start in order to protect their hardware before the hack was released to the public. These groups told the big N about the vulnerabilities before they released their hacks, which gave Nintendo some time to patch it in the next update. That explains the older firmware version.

Regardless, the older firmware is still vulnerable to a software-level exploit called deja vu, which was patched in systems with 5.0.0 or later. This puts Nintendo in a cycle between the two exploits.

So to keep things simple: the 4.1.0 units are “patched” against “Fusée Gelée,” but are vulnerable to deja vu. Whereas the new 5.0.0 units are safe from deja vu, but vulnerable to “Fusée Gelée.” Quite a pickle.

For now, Nintendo continues to ban hacked systems from its network.

Battle For Azeroth Pre-Patch; What’s new?

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Battle For Azeroth Pre-Patch; What's new? 6

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’s pre-patch will be released tomorrow, July 17th. After much speculation, Blizzard has revealed the survival guide for the pre-patch. It’s been a longstanding practice by Blizzard, dating all the way back to The Burning Crusade, which was the very first expansion ever made for WoW. Each time an expansion rolls out, they’ve gotten more creative and involved.

The version 8.0 pre-patch includes quests that set the scene for the whole faction war between the Alliance and the Horde. For players who want to do these quests, be sure to complete them before the official patch comes out because they won’t be accessible afterward. Artifact weapons will also be swept away with their effects integrated into class talents/abilities instead. This also means class changes. Classes will be revamped with new buffs and nerfs, but it shouldn’t be the level of Legion. The goal is to create more uniqueness between the classes:

“While we believe some specializations will need substantial iteration to achieve these goals, others will not, and our target is greater stability across the board.”

Other notable changes in 8.0:

 

  • A new open world PvP system – War Mode for PvP, off for PvE. No need to rerolls for wrong servers. Keeping it on will reward you with extra experience and rewards when questing
  • PvP talents and progression
  • Each profession will now have crafting categories separated by expansion
  • First Aid will be removed with bandages moved to Tailoring
  • A huge stat condensing, lowering numbers across the board to make them more readable
  • Sword swings will no longer produce six-digit numbers
  • Several abilities that were previously off the global cooldown are included

The full patch notes will be available before the pre-patch release. The Battle for Azeroth patch will roll out on August 14th.

 

Tinder beefs up security in response to “disturbing vulnerabilities”

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Tinder beefs up security in response to "disturbing vulnerabilities" 7

Tinder has beefed up security in its popular “dating” app due to a letter from Oregon Senator Ron Wyden asking for the app to fix security loopholes and other privacy and data incursions.

Match Group, which owns Tinder, has responded to Senator Wyden by documenting recent changes to the app as of June 19th. Jaren Sine of Match writes that “swipe data has been padded such that all actions are now the same size.” Other issues on Tinder were called out by a research team at Checkmarx stating that it had “disturbing vulnerabilities” and the possibility of privacy invasion and blackmail.

The vulnerabilities, found in both the app’s Android and iOS versions, allow an attacker using the same network as the user to monitor the user’s every move on the app. It is also possible for an attacker to take control over the profile pictures the user sees, swapping them for inappropriate content, rogue advertising or other type of malicious content (as demonstrated in the research).

While no credential theft and no immediate financial impact are involved in this process, an attacker targeting a vulnerable user can blackmail the victim, threatening to expose highly private information from the user’s Tinder profile and actions in the app.

In February, Wyden addressed the issue and requested Tinder to pad data to obscure it as it moves from server to app and vice versa. Tinder has hardened security in response to Sen. Wyden. Sine states in a letter to Sen. Wyden:

“Like every technology company, we are constantly working to improve our defenses in the battle against malicious hackers and cyber criminals.”

Tinder is now safer to use, but that never means full privacy. At least they’re making strides to a more protected platform.

Yoshi game delayed until 2019 but “making great progress”

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Yoshi game delayed until 2019 but "making great progress" 8

The anticipated Yoshi game coming on the Nintendo Switch has been delayed until 2019 based on official word from Nintendo themselves.

It was absent from Nintendo’s E3 presentation and the reason is none other than the delay. Now we know why- it’s because of the delay. Nintendo updated its US and UK sites with the game’s new release date marked as 2019. It was originally announced for the Nintendo Switch back at last year’s E3 and it was due to release in 2018. It even had a playable demo on the floor. A specific date wasn’t announced, by the rumors were that it’d be out in 2018.

Yoshi is a 2D puzzle platformer game that has the guys from Good-Feel developing it. If you’ve never heard of them, they made Yoshi’s Wooly Wolrd and Kirby’s Epic Yarn, so they know their way around creating a cute platformer.

Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America’s product marketing director, stated that the game wasn’t at E3, but development is still progressing and that they’ll “have updates later this year” and that the game is “making great progress.”

Yoshi is the working title of the game since the beginning and will likely change as we shift into 2019. If you’ve been waiting for this game, don’t worry, the mini dinosaur will be coming soon. You can still catch Yoshi in other titles like Super Mario Party, Mario Tennis Aces, and of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

RAGE 2 will run at 60FPS on PS4 Pro, PC, and Xbox One X; More details revealed

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RAGE 2 will run at 60FPS on PS4 Pro, PC, and Xbox One X; More details revealed 9

id Software and Avalanche’s upcoming FPS game RAGE 2 has some more juicy details announced.

Firstly, the game will be only single-player. If you’ve played the original game, it had two online modes- Road Rage which was a destruction derby FFA and Wasteland Legends which was a series of co-op missions that was available locally and online. RAGE 2 won’t have any of that.

Designer Magnus Nedfors said that the teams were only “focused on the best open-world single-player game” that they can make and that’s what they’re focused on.

Secondly, RAGE 2 will be running at 60FPS on PC, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X with the Apex Engine which is also used in games like Mad Max, Just Cause 4, and other titles. For owners of PS4 and Xbox One base consoles, they won’t be able to achieve the 60FPS. While this is the first game that doesn’t use the id Tech engine, it does have a similar engine to their other titles with Apex.

RAGE 2 will focus on Walker, who is one of the last Rangers in the wasteland. He wants to take vengeance against the Authority for taking his homeland. Many elements will return like vehicular combat, Wingstick projectile, and enemies. It was announced in May and released with more details during the E3 conference with Bethesda.

Siegfried confirmed for Soulcalibur VI lineup

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Siegfried is the newest confirmed character.

Siegfried has been confirmed by Bandai Namco to be on the roster for Soulcaliber VI!

The rebellious blonde knight with the giant sword will be available among the cast of characters for the next Soulcalibur entry- the newest title for Project Soul’s popular fighter series.

He’s a badass knight who carries a huge German two-handed sword. He’s been a long-time protagonist background character in other games playing the double version of the character Nightmare. Nightmare was the primary bad guy for the first two Soulcalibur games and then split off into his own avatar. Nightmare carries his sword in the left hand whereas Siegfried carries it in his right.

Bandai Namco released some more info about his background story for the upcoming game. He awakens free from the sell of the Soul Edge and is swamped with memories of killing his father and all the things he’s done as Nightmare. Now he’s back to redeem himself from the corruption he’s caused under the influence of Soul Edge. Soul Edge can only be countered by Soul Calibur- a magical sword used to counter the dark magic. Siegfried fell in battle to as Nightmare to Kilik, so he’s left with a lot of regrets.

For hardcore fans, his entry has already been speculated on the roster since he’s already been in every single core title of the Soulcalibur games since the very beginning (the Soul Edge games). Although his confirmation is kinda late, he’ll be in the game nonetheless.

Alongside Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, Siegfried is the latest addition to the lineup. The game will be out in sometime in 2018 and available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC for the firs time which should be interesting to see how the controls work out on a keyboard/mouse combo instead of a controller. Check back for updates. I’ll keep you updated when more details roll out about the game in the future.

You can check out the trailer here.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle details confirmed- release date, price, and pre-order specials

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The game will include some special pre-order specials and bonuses for fans.

Arc System Works revealed some info about their new title- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Collector’s Edition.

It’s an anime fighter which will be available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC via Steam on June 5, 2018. The game features a roster of characters all packed together into a single 2D fighting game from multiple universes like Persona 4 Ultimate Arena, BlazBlue, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH EXE: LATE, and RWBY. The game’s 2v2 combat with tag-team combat is exactly what fans want and what Arc System Works delivers. GameStop will also have demo stations located throughout North America at select locations if you want to try it out before you buy.

The game will come with a basic Standard Edition and a collector’s edition. It seems like more and more games nowadays include a ton of free stuff in their expensive offerings beyond just games.

The Collector’s Edition will retail at $99.99 and launches on the same day as the Standard Edition. It can be pre-ordered here starting May 4, 2018. It’ll include the following items:

  • Base game
  • 52-page art book
  • 15 track OST
  • 4 acrylic figures featuring BlazBlue’s Ragna, Persona‘s Yu, Under Night In-Birth‘s Hyde, and RWBY‘s Ruby.
  • Special collector’s box
  • Steel game case

If you decide that you don’t want to shell out $100 but you still want some bonuses, you can do that with the Standard Edition. If you pre-order it, you can get some nice little grabs like a mini soundtrack that features seven tracks from the game.

You can check out the trailer of the game here.

Photo: Wikipedia.

What’s new in Overwatch Retribution

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Overwatch Retribution is now live and available for download!

The Overwatch Archives event is now live and the new PvE game mode Retribution is out!

Let’s take a look at what’s new in this patch.

The new mode puts characters McCree, Moira, Reaper, and Genji against Talon operatives in Venice, Itlay. Rialto is a district located in Venice. This new map was shown during the last broadcast on Wednesday of Overwatch League. The map would be used for Retribution PvE and also as an Escort map later on. Fans were expecting a new map anyway, so it’s no surprise. It’s available right now for play.

Last years Uprising event is also back and so has Blackwatch. These events have four different difficulty levels with a plethora of achievements to unlock by finishing them. They also allow players to go through a campaign-like mode and an alternative mode that allows them to play as any hero of their choosing.

Overwatch Archives also offers tons of new skins and cosmetics to drain your wallet like no other. Eight new Legendary Skins are available along with three highlight intros and six unique victor poses. Uprising content is also back at normal prices for a limited time. You’ll also get a free loot box when you first log in as well. There’s also a new “Avoid as teammate” feature to ban two players from your team when queuing for a period of seven days. This is useful to avoid certain people you just can’t work with. Players who get banned will get a message on their dash telling them that they’ve been singled out.

A few bug fixes have been implemented as usual, and game balance as well. Here are some notable changes in the patch:

  • Blizzard World has also been changed. Point B has been shifted back 10 meters to the opposite side of the archway to balance out spawn points.
  • D. Va’s Micro Missiles got nerfed from 6 to 4 points and impact damage from has also been reduced 15 points.
  • Mei’s Endothermic Blaster can now pierce enemies and also freeze them.
  • Reaper’s Ultimate will reload his guns after use and his Wraith Form has increased move speed by to 50% bonus and he can cancel Wraith Form at any time by firing or pressing Shift.
  • Moira’s Biotic Grasp, Fade, and Coalescence Ultimates have new transparency settings to reduce clutter.
  • Zenyatta’s RoF on his secondary attack has also been reduced slightly.

It’s all looking good for Overwatch fans, but some have reported that download speeds are slower. However, this is intentionally done according to a post by Developer Bill Warnecke as new files are installing after they’re downloaded. It’s a huge patch also, so hopefully you have some fast DL speeds.

While you’re waiting for your download, here’s a video you can check out about the Retribution event.

Photo: https://playoverwatch.com/

Metal Gear Survive’s “The Encounter 1964” includes some epic unlockable goodies

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The new event includes some classic items from MGS: Snake Eater like the Croc Cap.

Metal Gear Survive is getting an all-new Metal Gear Solid 3 event starting next week starting on April 10th and running for two weeks straight. It’s a Snake Eater event.

Metal Gear Survive is a survival game themed in the MGS world. You build bases, gather resources, craft items, get loot, conquer objectives, etc. It’s not really an MGS game, but rather, MGS with a survival twist that’ set in a parallel universe that takes classic characters, event, items, and history from the series. Soldiers that were protecting Mother Base are sucked into a giant wormhole and end up in a different world with crazy weather and zombies.

https://youtu.be/ML5oFv2o5N8

Konami tweeted about it and confirmed the event.

The even is an MGS3-themed special that offers a new co-op experience and it’ll be called The Encounter 1964. That’s pretty much all the details about it other than the rewards, which include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Accessory: Crocodile Cap
  • Accessory: Fatigues – Naked Snake
  • Accessory: Jumpsuit – EVA
  • Accessory: Ocelot Unit Beret
  • Accessory: Ocelot Unit Beret with Balaclava
  • Avatar Face paint: Black
  • Avatar Face paint: Green
  • Avatar Face paint: Oyama
  • Avatar Face paint: Splitter
  • Avatar Face paint: Woodland
  • Cassette Tape: “Takin’ On The Shagohod”
  • Gesture: “You’re pretty good.”
  • Nameplate FOX
  • Nameplate PATRIOT
  • Nameplate Shagohod

Out of all these items, fans of the MGS series should be thrilled to snag some of these accessories. The Crocodile Cap and EVA Jumpsuit are both iconic items from MSS3, alongside the PATRIOT nameplate. The Naked Snake Fatigue is also classic Snake Eater. You can also get the theme music for Takin’ on the Shagohod as a cassette tape, which is actually pretty cool. Fans of the series should be all over it. All this comes from a blog post on Konami’s site.

The MS3 event will be a nice little kickback to the classic game, reminding players of where Metal Gear Survive came from. Players will earn Battle Points throughout the event which will let them snag some new items exclusive to the event.

Metal Gear Survive is available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The PS4 version is $20. The Xbox One version is $25. And the Windows version is $40. They’re all different in price but the game is essentially the same. The Encounter 1964 looks pretty promising and will be free for all players when it comes out. That’s solid.

Photo: Flickr.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker trailer reveals some neat features

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pathfinder-kingmaker-header-1024x576

Pathfinder: Kingmaker just got a new trailer and it looks freakin’ amazing.

It’s being developed by Owlcat Games and published by My.com. The first teaser trailer just rolled out and fills in some details about the anticipated tabletop RPG-based isometric game. We covered the announcement of this series earlier.

The trailer shows off some of the game’s lore, companions, and features. You can watch it here:

 

There’s a whole team of veterans in the RPG industry that have previously worked on huge AAA titles like Silent Storm, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Skyforge, Etherlods, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, and many other games. Chris Avellone is the narrative designer of the game and he’s a pretty important person in the field given his amazing work on the Fallout series.

The game will have a fully dynamic world complete with living, breathing environments such as a day/night cycle, weather patterns, and even season cycles. It’ll also have character customization and allow players to choose from seven core races and fourteen classes with up to three different archetypes. All this combination allows for many different playstyles and strategies and gives players the freedom to be what they want and fulfill their desired role.

There will also be eleven different companions available as well with unique stories and backgrounds. Players can influence the kingdom they live in and change how the people see you. It gives you a lot of freedom to fulfill and choose your own destiny, which is a pretty cool feature to have in a game based on a tabletop game.

Pathfinder has its roots as a tabletop game and is being transformed into an isometric computer game, so the transition needs to be smooth and monitored closely to keep the game’s original intent without too much of a drastic change. I’m pretty sure fans of the game will appreciate it. The dev team is working under Paizo’s supervision- the creators of the franchise and original owners. The game is based on Paizon’s Kingmaker adventure path for the original Pathfinder RPG. Players build a kingdom in the Stolen Lands and defend it against many different threats.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker will release in Summer 2018 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Paizo has also announced the second edition of Pathfinder tabletop which will release next year in August. Stick around for updates on this upcoming title.

Build your dream Jurassic Park in Jurassic World Evolution (news and release date)

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Jurassic World Evolution will be coming out for consoles and PC on June 12, 2018.

Jurassic World Evolution has just gotten its release date.

It’s a game being developed by Frontier Development, which you may have already heard of. They’re taking the name and making into an awesome theme park simulator akin to Rollercoaster Tycoon or Sim Theme Park. The game has been announced to release on June 12th, 2018 as shown in a teaser trailer which you can see at the end of this article.

Just by watching the trailer, you can see that the game will have lots of different buildings, dinosaurs, and attractions to get the most profit from each patron. As a theme park owner, it’s your job to balance customer happiness with tons and tons of cash! If you’ve pretty much played any theme park sim before, you’ll know how it goes.

You’ll have to build rides, structures, food stalls, attractions, facilities, manage resources, hire staff, and even control the dinosaurs when they break out of some faulty fences or a natural disaster hits and your park has dinosaurs running amok!

The graphics take on a realistic and detailed format, unlike your traditional theme park builder. This makes it a lot more fitting tot he genre. It takes facilities and tech from the 2015 film Jurassic World as you can see from the train rides and ball rides in the trailer preview.

Jurassic World Evolution was announced during Gamescom 2017 and revealed that players can breed new dinosaurs by bio-engineering them. You can see raptors, triceratops, and t-rex dinosaurs all in the preview trailer. The game also has narration by Dr. Ian Malcolm himself, which is awesome and should please a lot of fans. He’ll be your alert system, tutorial system, and tip generator as you build and expand your theme park. The game also takes on a consequence system where your decision will make sure there are consequences that result. Basically, what you do matters. It feels like a real park.

The game will be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One- possibly because it’s same time when Fallen Kingdom comes out on July 22nd, 2018. It’s likely done to match up with the release of their next major movie.

Toki Tori coming to the Switch on March 30th (on-time for Easter)

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Toki Tori is coming to the Switch.

Toki Tori is coming to the Switch this month in March.

Developed by Two Tribes announced that their infamous egg-collecting puzzle game is going to roll out on March 30 complete with HD rumble support and even a time rewind feature. The game will include over 80 levels in 5 unique worlds for players to take on and new challenges as well!

Toki Tori will run at a smooth 60 FPS and also take advantage of the video-recording capabilities.

The previous game was Toki Tori 2, which was released for the Switch earlier already in 2018. Toki Tori is the prequel to it and continues the egg-hunt craze. The previous game was released on Wii U, Game Boy Color, and 3DS. The Switch is the new home and fits perfectly with the eShop’s growing indie library and HD rumble controls.

The series is basically a puzzle game where you need to guide a bird character around a bunch of puzzles that are unique and requires a different approach to beat. you need to use a bunch of tools to solve the puzzles. You can warp, freeze, and even “InstantRock” to get all the eggs on each level. That’s the goal of the game.

The game will cost $4.99 at launch and if you pre-order, you can snag an extra 10% off as well. It’s available for pre-order right now.

War Child Armistice Campaign reaches $250K

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War Child gets double the support from the previous year.

War Child has raised over 250K in the second year of their War Child Armistice campaign after a press release.

If you’ve never heard of War Child, they’re a UK-based group that provides assistance to children in areas that are torn by war. The War Child Armistice campaign is the combined effort of the charity and game devs all around the world. They’ve been around since 1983 and has expanded to the USA, Canada, and The Netherlands. Lots of newer developers have heard of the good they’re doing and have dedicated some sort cash to directly help their campaign.

Some newer campaigns, dubbed RE-PLAY and HELP, will be assisted by some of the big AAA game companies. This should get their mission and goals out there worldwide with that much exposure.

In the previous year, the campaign raised $122,000 with the efforts of games like This War of Mne by 11 Bit Studios and other developers. It works usually in the form of exclusive DLC content that benefits the charity directly. Alongside direct donations and campaign efforts, the campaign is only increasing in impact.

This year, they’ve raised $260,094.82, which is double the amount from the previous year. This money will directly benefit children in war zones. They aim to solve short-term and long-term issues in areas of conflict. Some solutions include temporarily schools to provide education, reuniting families, and providng supplies.

They also aim to rebuild schools, provie vactional training, and training teachers as well.

You can check out their site for more information.

State of Decay 2 confirmed to have absolutely no microtransactions

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State of Decay 2 will follow a typical DLC setup - most likely with any microtransactions.

State of Decay 2 will be free of microtransactions.

Jeff Strain, the boss of Undead Labs, has stated in a report to IGN that the game won’t have any microtransactions. State of Decay 2 is a huge and anticipated zombie survival game that’s the successor to State of Decay.

The game is planned for release on May 22, 2018 for Windows and Xbox One. It’ll be a Play Anywhere title as well and will be available for Game Pass on launch day (which is just $10 a month).

Instead of plugging the game with cash items, it’ll most likely follow a typical setup of using DLC instead. Players can appreciate this so the game won’t offer any pay-to-win advantages to paying players (or loot crates as well).

Get more info on the launch here.

Image via official site.

Firmware version 5.0 rolls out to Nintendo Switch – get features and updates

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Update 5.0 has rolled out!

The Nintendo Switch has updated to Firmware version 5.0.

The update has added numerous new improvements to the console and some new features. Friend Suggestions is a notable one, which is an engine that automatically suggests Facebook and Twitter friends by taking data from your social networks linked to your Nintendo Account.

it also adds a whopping two-dozen ARMS and Kirby user icons for you to show off your fandom. And there’s also the ability to filter the news content from specific channels- or even your unread news as well.

With the 5.0 update, all online purchases made by your phone, PC, or tablet will also start downloading a lot quicker than before. This is an awesome new improvement because it’s annoying to download a digital game and have to wait for it. Why not just go buy it in the store instead if you’re going to wait? And you get a notification of pre-purchased games when you’re ready to be played. This is the kind of update that shows Nintendo has been looking at user metrics to improve their firmware. Way better than guessing when a game is ready by checking the status of it. Now you can launch it right away from the dash.

Controllers have also been updated as well. The Controller menu shows the grip colors if you’re using a Pro Controller.

Lastly, the Parental Controls also got removed. The default way to input the PIN uses the control stick rather than the on-screen keypad. Capture videos in the album are also restricted based on the Restricted Software settings and Software Rating Organization. Games can also be added a safe whitelist in order to override these settings.

Image via Wikipedia.

Fortnite resolution bug punishing players on PS4 and Xbox One

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Fornite's new patch comes with a slew of issues.

With the new Fornite update brings new improvements- and some new bugs.

While the accompanying server downtime wasn’t as bad as last week’s update, this update brought some new bugs with it. It seems like many players of the console versions (PS4/Xbox One) are getting some resolutions problems that make the game unplayable.

Specifically, the game will render itself at a resolution way too “wide” in terms of aspect ratio. It’s like playing the game on an ultrawide screen when you’re using a normal widescreen. The edges of the game fall way outside of the viewable bounds of the screen.

Epic Games confirmed the issue shortly after the patch was uploaded and live. In a Reddit post, they made a statement:

“We are aware that some console players are having issues with resolution. Fixing this is a priority for us and we will let you know when we are ready to deploy a fix.”

There’s no statement about when exactly it’ll be fixed though other than the vague statement. The only problem is that some players get the issue while others don’t. This offers a huge advantage to those players, so it’s a totally unfair game.

After you’ve downloaded the update, you’ll immediately know if you’ve been affected by it. If everything’s normal, you’re good. if not, you’ll have to wait for the update.

Another issue that showed up with the patch is the addition of a quest that asks players to join in on a limited-time mode called Blitz. That’s good and all only if it were actually available for joining.

Epic has also commented on this issue and says it’s not available and that it’s “working to remove this from available quests.”

There’s also another bug where some chests come up empty with no loot, not being able to equip the first weapon you loot, and not being able to access the pause menu when you’re downed in Build mode. There are also some issues for Save the World mode as well that you can read about the other issues here.

On the plus side, this update adds the minigun and a few other updates like Expedition types for Save the World and the Cozy Campfire item. You can check out the new updates here.

Also, be sure to log in to get your freebies for the downtime that was last week’s patch. It’s Epic Games’ way of apologizing for the trigger-happy.

Image via Epic Games.

What’s coming in Sea of Thieves updates

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Sea of Thieves has some hidden gems coming soon.

Some users in a Reddit post have gone through and data-mined Sea of Thieve’s code to discover what features are coming up next based on a report via VG247.

If you haven’t heard about this game, it’s developed by Rare and is probably the next big MMORPG. It’s a pirate-themed online experience complete with combat, boats, and everything that entails a pirate on the seas. How could you have not heard of it?

They’ve discovered a bunch of stuff ranging from NPCs, landmarks, weapons, and treasures maps. That’s all the common stuff you’d expect from future updates anyway.

But there are some real golden nuggets you may want to tip you pirate hat at coming in a future patch you may want to look out for.

Spoiler alert: Those who don’t want to get their goods spoiled should stop reading here.

Some notable discoveries in the code include:

  • The Kraken is a threat to ships because it wraps them up and drags them underwater. This seems to be a new monster in a near update.
  • Players can soon play instruments like banjos, fiddles, drums, and ukeleles.
  • Ship customization is going all out as well- you can swap your mast, livery, wheel, cargo, and figureheads.
  • New maps are coming like the Caribbean and such.
  • Bugs patches and error fixes.
  • Besides this, users are constantly posting new discovering. You may want to keep your eye on the Sea of Thieves subreddit for new updates.

The beta will run until January 31st, so there’s still some time to mess around with the game. Or if you’re already all-hands-on-deck about it, you can pre-order it right now on their official site. The launch is scheduled on March 19, 2018 and will retail for $59.99. And it’ll be available for just Xbox One, Windows 10, and Xbox One X. It’ll also have Play Anywhere included.

You can get more info on their site.

Image via Sea of Thieves site.

Battlefront 2 new updates on the way

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SW: Battlefront 2 has some nice updates rolling out.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 got off to a rocky start with its player gouging.

DICE has since been committed to improving the gameplay experience of the AAA title after learning that you can’t just try to extract time and money from players like many, many other companies are doing nowadays. Loot crates and randomized items are pretty much the same as gambling your cash for some virtual pixels these days.

That’s probably why there’s a push towards discretions that let the players know exactly what they’re getting themselves into- such as the requirement to jot down the exact percentages of winning a particular item.

DICE has posted some improvements coming to Battlefront 2 in a recent blog post.

First, players who participated in The Last Jedi content season’s faction war may be wondering about why the First Order over the Resistance. It’s because 58% of participants chose to fight for the First order rather then the Resistance, which is why they emerged to be the winners over 10 million faction quests were completed. That’s plenty.

Second, DICE talks about a new content seasons that are underway and will be rolling soon. It’s pretty much hidden at this point, but it should be based on feedback from the previous season.

Third, there will be a new game feature called Jetpack Cargo which arrives next month in February. It puts players into an 8v8 matchup with jetpacks. It’ll be a limited-time thing. There will also be other limited-time game modes as well.

And lastly, there will be a fully-revamped progression system which is built towards what players have been asking for. There isn’t a whole lot written about it, but it does suggest that it’ll be available in March.

If you’re a fan of Battlefront 2, get ready for some awesome updates.

Read their post here.