I spent time last week watching old, Japanese PlayStation game adverts after puzzler Humanity referenced them in its own trailer. Among those adverts were several for Fantavision, a little-loved colour-matching puzzle game about firework displays from 2000.
Imagine my surprise when today Fantavision showed up on Steam.
Live A Live was originally released in 1994, but only on SNES and only in Japan. It was short as far as Square Enix JRPGs from the period go, but was unique in that it featured 8 inter-connected stories set across 8 time periods.
Last year, a remake brought the game to Nintendo Switch, and as of today it’s also available on Steam.
Prepare for Clean Cut.
After the expansive ‘Return to Castlevania‘ DLC last month, we imagined that it might be a little while before we get our next big update for Dead Cells. Clearly, we were wrong.
Publisher Motion Twin has today announced that a lengthy new patch, ‘Clean Cut’, is now available on PC and will be heading to consoles soon. This seems to be yet another big one, adding in two new weapons, additions to the Boss Rush and Training Room, a speedrun mode and the ability to put Bobby’s head on most outfits.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Sony has revealed that the PlayStation VR2 will soon be heading to a retailer near you. The company made the announcement on Twitter today, but it hasn’t given an exact date as to when major brick-and-mortar stores will have the headsets in stock.
Currently, you can still order the PS VR2 from PlayStation Direct, where it was exclusively sold in the two months since it was released. If you’re desperate to know when you’ll see it in stores, ShopTo says that it will show up in UK stores on May 12. Whether the headset will be stocked up in retailers on the same day in the US is unknown, but you may want to check the stores in your area for availability.
PlayStation VR2 will soon be in stock at local retailers, in addition to https://t.co/y9oEB5aBse. Check your local retailer for availability.
More on PS VR2: https://t.co/TiSFxroszM pic.twitter.com/79g8PsDCye
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 27, 2023
The PS VR2 on its own costs $549.99, but when you get the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle it’s $599.99. Either way, it’s pricier than the PS5, which is $50 cheaper if you buy the original disc player version. With wider availability in physical and online retailers, however, the headset may see some discounts at some point in the future.
Sales of the PS VR2 were off to a rocky start last month, as Sony sold only 270,000 headsets towards the end of March, despite making two million units ahead of its launch in February. Analysts chalked up the low sales to consumers dealing with harsh economic conditions worldwide, from the rising cost of living to layoffs.
If you want to see if the PS VR2 may worth every dollar for you, check out our review.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
Long before indie outfit Capybara Games made a name for themselves with Sword & Sworcery or Below, they made a puzzle-strategy game with the Might & Magic license for Ubisoft. Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes was a surprise delight on Nintendo DS in 2009 and an HD release made its way to PC in 2011.
Now it’s getting a Definitive Edition release courtesy of Dotemu, with updated character art, quality-of-life improvements and rebalanced multiplayer.
The Case Of The Golden Idol was one of my favourite games of 2022, but one twist I didn’t see coming from the heir to Obra Dinn’s detective crown was more of it, or more of it so soon, for that matter. Happily, developers Color Gray Games have announced a new DLC pack is coming for The Golden Idol next week called The Spider Of Lanka. Set in 1741, a year before the first scenario of The Golden Idol proper, this trio of new cases looks set to shed extra light on the titular idol whose mysterious powers set the original game in motion. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than that, as most of the announcement details have been slapped with big black REDACTED marks. Have a watch of the reveal trailer below instead.
The best RTS, 4X, strategy and tactics games on Switch.
Updated with Advance Wars. Enjoy!
Strategy and tactics games by their very nature require deep thought and careful consideration, and many gamers these days often find it hard to embark on epic multi-hour campaigns in a single sitting. Planning a multi-turn offensive in a 4X game like Civilization or outfitting your party with optimal gear in a Strategy RPG like Fire Emblem: Three Houses can take much trial-and-error and many of us can only grab small windows of gaming time.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
All of us at Turn 10 Studios can’t wait for players to experience the generational leap in fidelity, immersion and realism when Forza Motorsport launches this year. Just as the team has been busy building the most technically advanced and authentic racing game we’ve ever made, we’re proud to have achieved another goal: Forza Motorsport is our most accessible game ever.
While there are several accessibility features to look forward to, and each one is important, on behalf of the team at Turn 10 I’m excited to share in-detail about a few of our new and innovative features that will enable more people to play.
Blind Driving Assists (BDA) is a feature set that was built for players who are Blind or have Low Vision. After years of research and feedback, we have spent the last two years building the feature with direct feedback from Accessibility Consultant and Blind gamer, Brandon Cole and others from the Gaming & Disability community. Throughout our development, Brandon and other Blind and Low Vision players have been providing invaluable real-time feedback to help us create and refine the various Blind Driving Assists.
Blind Driving Assists work by providing a set of supplemental audio cues designed to help Low/No Vision players navigate the tracks of Forza Motorsport. The feature set was driven by the Audio team at Turn 10 and built in close partnership with our accessibility team throughout development. Players can listen to detailed descriptions, as well as a preview of each audio cue they will encounter on-track from within the accessibility menu. Once the player has familiarized themselves with the different audible information, what they represent, and how they all interact with each other, they can head to the track to try out the feature.
Blind Driving Assists also provides players with audible information about their position and orientation on track, approach and progress through turns, as well as information about the car, such as how much deceleration is needed, when to shift (if playing with manual transmission) and more.
It was important to the entire team that Blind Driving Assists operate as a set of features, rather than a mode. We wanted Blind and Low Vision players to experience Forza Motorsport as it was intended, by providing the audible information that would allow them to make their own driving decisions. And because of this, Brandon will be the first to say to the Blind and Low Vision community that this feature is not ‘pick-up-and-play!’ There’s a learning curve while you discover how to drive by relying on the audio cues. Once players get used to it, we think it will be a game-changer. We’ll share more for the community closer to our launch.
Another innovation in Forza Motorsport is the ability to race with whatever amount and combination of inputs you need. To develop this feature, the team worked with Xbox User Research at different stages during development to bring in players with various mobility and stamina disabilities. These features are built for players who may have trouble pressing multiple buttons simultaneously, gripping a controller, or maintaining button pressure, and they allow deeper levels of car control customization than ever. From the basics like automatic shifting, through enhanced steering and braking assists, to the all-new throttle and pit entry assists, you can create the experience that’s right for you, and play your own way.
Something we are excited to offer to our players is a screen narration solution that can be adjusted to suit an individual’s preferences and informational needs to help them navigate and play the game. Making up the base of the system, we have volume, pitch, and speed controls, as well as the ability to select your narrator voice.
In the spirit of offering true customization, there are some brand new settings that provide control over screen narrator and its verbosity, such as reading list positions, navigational keywords, button hints, and more. This can help eliminate information overload and provide the ability to adjust as needed as players get more familiar with the game.
The accessibility features in Forza Motorsport don’t stop there. Here’s a list of some of the many great accessibility features coming to Forza Motorsport.
Feature Descriptions
Turn 10’s commitment to accessibility is ongoing. We’re always listening to players and striving to create features for more players to play the games they love. We’re incredibly proud of the work being done to empower more players than ever before to experience Forza Motorsport.
Forza Motorsport is coming this year to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S consoles, Windows PC and Steam, and Cloud Gaming (Beta). Stay tuned for more!
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It was only a matter of time before the war to defend humanity reached new battlegrounds. Starting on May 2, players of World of Tanks Modern Armor will get to fight against Orks and the forces of Chaos in a brand-new Warhammer 40,000 event on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
This Imperium-sized event features incredible content to immerse players in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Five new tanks, two new 3D Hero Commanders with exclusive voiceover, and a limited-time community event are all available for those who swear to defend the Emperor.
“Both Warhammer 40,000 and World of Tanks Modern Armor have a rich history of vehicular combat,” says Daniel Burr, live game director for World of Tanks Modern Armor. “Whether you are in a Sherman or a Leman Russ, tanks are powerful!”
So let’s talk about tanks.
Five new tanks will be available as part of the Warhammer 40,000 event:
“The single most challenging aspect was fidelity,” says Burr. “Warhammer 40,000 tanks and Commanders are very detailed, and getting those details right required a lot of work and a lot of communication with our partners at Games Workshop.”
Leading the effort to faithfully reproduce these tanks for a 20th-century battlefield was Andy Dorizas, Art Director for World of Tanks Modern Armor. Dorizas is quick to acknowledge, though, that this wasn’t a one-person task. “The Commanders and tanks were a massive group project that spanned four continents and took several months,” he says. “The Warhammer 40,000 tanks were very much an exercise in accuracy.”
A special part of the challenge was recreating the Leman Russ, the Astra Militrum’s primary battle tank. As a tank exclusive to World of Tanks Modern Armor and unavailable in other games in the World of Tanks family, it required a certain amount of creativity.
“We painstakingly studied the physical tank so it would be spot-on accurate,” Dorizas explains. “Then we had artists translate our concepts into usable geometry for our game. Once we had the model for the Leman Russ battle tank, we then painted the tank to match its most iconic colors from the universe, a lot like fans of their models do every day.”
But Dorizas and team didn’t stop there. “Of course, we added a ton of wear and detail to make the tank look… battle hardened. Our dedicated tank artists rigged it with our special track system, designers added special World of Tanks collision and balancing parameters, and bam. You can drive the Leman Russ in our game.”
Every ground-shattering vehicle needs a formidable warrior. Available to players during the event are two new 3D Hero Commanders, battling in the name of the Emperor: Volusad Thassius of the Ultramarines and Patricia Laserian of the Sisters of Battle.
“The [3D] Commander models went through several iterative sessions to make sure we got all the details correct. Then they were textured and painted by some super-talented artists here at Wargaming,” says Andy Dorizas. “Then we did a special motion capture session just for these Commanders and our animator had a blast giving them attitude.”
Guiding the voiceover for this project was gaming industry veteran Jason “Jay” Baughan, whose previous voice direction credits include LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. “It all comes down to authenticity and creating an experience that feels true to fans of Warhammer 40,000,” says Baughan. “Working with actual Warhammer 40,000 voiceover veterans, I think we achieved that.”
Baughan and the voice talent recorded over 300 unique lines for each Commander. The result?
“We’ve set a new bar for ourselves in terms of quality: hearing your Ultramarine Commander or your Battle Sister Commander praising your victory in combat really elevates the gameplay experience,” says Daniel Burr.
Appropriately enough, all of this content is part of World of Tanks Modern Armor’s current epic season, Gladiators. It’s offered alongside a two-part community event in which players can ally themselves with either the Space Marines or the Sisters of Battle and do battle first against the Orks, then the agents of Chaos.
Whether players are familiar with Warhammer 40,000 or simply ready for a fight, this May, champions are needed.
