Game Infliction, Author at Game Infliction

Shadow Tactics: Aiko’s Choice and Kerbal Space Program are free from Epic

~~real-time tactics~~ stealth strategy game that it rejuvenated the genre. There’s a chance you already own the sneaky samurai sim, however, and much less of a chance that you own its standalone expansion, Aiko’s Choice. It’s the latter that is currently being given away for free over on the Epic Games Store.

If that’s not enough, wonderful slapstick spaceship builder Kerbal Space Program is free, too.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty: Check Out 7 Brutal New Weapons – IGN First

If you’ve played the demo then you already know this, but Team Ninja’s upcoming game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is, well, hard! With a focus on acrobatic Chinese martial arts, wielding weapons in Wo Long may make you feel like a badass, but enemies will quickly bring you back down to earth. To help you gear up for the battle ahead, IGN spoke with Team Ninja to learn about the strengths and disadvantages of some of the game’s weapon types. While Wo Long is still two months away from release (it’s out on March 3, including on Xbox Game Pass), it’s never too early to start preparing.

Wo Long has a total of 13 melee weapon types, as well as three long-range weapon types. In the gallery below, director Masakazu Hirayama explains the characteristics of seven of these, including the Staff that was first shown in our IGN First gameplay video.

“We chose weapons that were the best match for Chinese martial arts,” Hirayama-san said about the team’s general approach towards Wo Long’s weapon selection. “The motions for each weapon type were based on motion-captured forms performed by real martial artists specialized in these weapons. Then we tuned things here and there to make them feel good as an action game.”

Tactically switch weapons, or stick with your favorite?

Producer Fumihiko Yasuda recommends the Dual Swords as the best weapon for beginners.

“I think that Dual Swords feel the best to play,” he says. “I use them myself too. We have made each of the weapon types feel better to use than in the first demo we released, but I think that the Dual Swords are a great match for the speedier nature of Chinese martial arts. They are also quite tactical.

“On the other hand, heavy weapons like the Glaive are more difficult to master. Actually, I’m still having trouble with it myself! It’s the kind of weapon that demands you to wait for openings and deal a huge amount of damage at once,” Yasuda says.

Yasuda goes on to say that while some weapon types take more time to get used to than others, the team made sure that players can tackle the game with any weapon type they want. The game has been balanced so that no weapon type is too difficult to use.

Wo Long allows the player to equip two melee weapon times at the same time, and weapons can be quickly switched while parrying an attack with the game’s Deflect Counterattack. However, the game can be played without switching weapons as well. Using the same weapon type throughout the game is a valid tactic too.

“If you master the combos of a weapon type and get used to the Martial Arts of your weapon, you should be able to beat the game without switching weapons. However, from a game design perspective we do advise the player to switch weapons depending on the enemy’s attack patterns,” Yasuda explains.

As you progress, you will become able to upgrade and arrange your weapons at the game’s Blacksmith.

“If you are especially fond of one of your weapons, you can keep upgrading it at the Blacksmith. Actually, I have been using the same weapon during testplays myself,” development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa admits.

“At the Blacksmith, you can upgrade your weapons and armor in exchange for money and materials,” Hirayama explains. “But that’s not all. It’s also possible to attach the passive status effects of one weapon to another. By examining the weapons you collected and attaching their status effects to your favorite weapon, you can build weapons that are specialized in all sorts of things, ranging from big damage dealers to healing-focused weapons.”

Hirayama assures us that Wo Long has a wide array of individual weapons available. Within the same weapon type, each individual weapon has its own design, different stats, passive status effects and Martial Arts. There are also over 40 series of armors to be found, and Set Bonuses will be gained if you equip multiple parts of the same armor type, like in Nioh. Luckily, the Blacksmith allows you to separate an armor’s stats from its looks, so you can enjoy fashion without having to face the risks.

“Fans of the Three Kingdoms period can look forward to finding iconic weapons and armor from their favorite warlords too. For example, you can roleplay as Guan Yu by wearing his armor while upgrading the Azure Dragon Crescent Glaive to make it super strong,” Yamagiwa tells us.

“Some bosses drop their weapons too, which you can equip after defeating them. The Martial Arts of some of these weapons are based on the attacks of that boss, so with these weapons you might become able to perform those same attacks,” Hirayama says.

Check back in all January long for more exclusive IGN First coverage of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.

Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. He wants to master Wo Long’s Staff.

Silent Hill 2 remake will take a “very safe approach to any changes”

Silent Hill 2 remake will “stick close to the original” while applying adjustments like an over-the-shoulder camera. In an interview with DreadXP, Anna Jasi&nacute;ska from Bloober Team spoke about their approach to the remake.

Random: Baba Is You Gets A Surprise Sequel… Sort Of?

Baba is confused.

Baba Is You is one of the best, strangest puzzle games of the past decade. Instead of moving blocks and finding keys, your main mechanic is moving words — making it so that you are the key, or changing the goal of the entire level to suit your needs. Okay, you’ll still be moving blocks and finding keys, but it’s different, alright?!

Developer of Baba Is You, Hempuli, occasionally makes tiny games on itch.io, some of which are to do with Baba (or Keke, another one of the game’s characters). There’s Baba Is You XTREME, which has real physics and no grid; Baba Friend, which adds a little Baba to your desktop; It’s A Me, an unplayable Mario-like platformer; and now, arguably the best spin-off of all…

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Take High on Life, Forza Horizon 5, and More on the Go with Xbox Cloud Gaming for the New Razer Edge

Razer’s new handheld console will let you play Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games on the go, and you can pre-order today.

Launching on January 26, you’ll be able to play Forza Horizon 5, Vampire Survivors, and hundreds of other games on the go with Xbox Cloud Gaming on the all-new Razer Edge 5G Handheld Gaming Device, available for pre-order today.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate puts your games right on the devices most convenient to you. We’ve heard fantastic stories from the gaming community about playing Microsoft Flight Simulator directly through your Smart TV if you didn’t have a console, or joining your friends in Elder Scrolls Online on a tablet. As we look ahead to making more games available on even more devices, we’re excited to partner with Razer to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to its newest handheld console.

“As the first dedicated 5G handheld console, the Razer Edge lets you access Xbox on the go more seamlessly than ever.“

As the first dedicated 5G handheld console, the Razer Edge lets you access Xbox on the go more seamlessly than ever. Whether you’re away from your console and want to keep your Grounded campaign going, or are diving into High on Life for the first time while at a coffee shop, the Razer Edge makes it possible to play what you want, when you want.

With an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, you can play hundreds of games on a range of devices through Xbox Cloud Gaming, including titles from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda the day they launch, as well as big hits and indie favorites from our partners. With Xbox Cloud Gaming, you can also play Fortnite via the cloud for free, no Xbox Game Pass membership required.

For those at CES, you can get hands-on time with the Razer Edge at the Razer booth or Microsoft experience center. And those interested in purchasing a Razer Edge, you can do so here.

To learn more about Xbox Cloud Gaming, please visit xbox.com/cloudgaming.

Dwarf Fortress has sold half a million copies on Steam

Dwarf Fortress released on Steam on December 6th and by the end of the month it had sold half a million copies. That’s according to the monthly Bay 12 Games report, in which its developers traditionally share their revenue figures from player donations. Now they have Steam sales figures to share.

Asus ROG Raikiri Pro Is a New Xbox Controller With a Built-in OLED Screen

At CES 2023, Asus has announced a new game controller compatible with Xbox Series X/S and PC that features a tiny, built-in OLED display.

The Asus ROG Raikiri Pro features a 1.3-inch OLED display just above the Xbox button, which can display things such as a custom image (or animation) and battery life. The controller features two buttons between a USB-C port, which are used to swap between your controller profiles.

Additionally, the Raikiri Pro includes four programmable back buttons, trigger locks, and a circular D-Pad. In addition to a dedicated mute button and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Asus Armoury Crate PC app will be used to remap buttons, adjust joystick sensitivity, and enable trigger modes and dead zones on the controller.

More interestingly, the ROG Raikiri Pro offers tri-mode connectivity, allowing you to connect the controller via Bluetooth, 2.4GHz RF mode, or a wired connection using a USB-C cable. Asus’ product listing for the page totes how this is a “pro” controller for those with PC as their platform of choice, while the compatibility on Xbox is through a wired USB-C connection.

The controller’s display reminds me of similar controllers and concepts. Such as the Datel Xbox 360 Turbo Fire wireless controller. Or a Sega Dreamcast controller with a visual memory unit (VMU) attached. With the option of running custom imagery or animations, it will be interesting to see

Asus has yet to share a release date or price for the controller.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

This white Thermaltake Toughpower 850W PSU is down to $115 at Newegg

Feature: Our Gaming Predictions For 2023

Look into the crystal ball…

After the bonkers bonanza of Game of the Year and holidays and wrapping up everything in a neat little bow that happens at the end of every year, the slate is finally wiped clean for 2023. This is, arguably, one of the most exciting times in gaming — when the year is fresh and unblemished like newly-fallen snow, and we can dream of what might happen next.

Here at Nintendo Life, we don’t have a crystal ball, but we do have many years of experience, and that’s better than nothing when it comes to predicting what’s next for Nintendo, indies, and the dear ol’ Switch. And fear not, we (mostly) won’t be mentioning the existence or non-existence of the Sw*tch P*o in here — no hardware, only software!

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

CES 2023: The New Windows PC Gaming Devices Coming from Our Top Partners

CES always brings exciting new developments in hardware, and never more so when it comes to gaming devices. CES 2023 is no exception, bringing us early looks at portable-but-powerful laptops, beefy home rigs, future-proofed AI chips, and more. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up a sampling of the new Windows 11 PCs announced at CES 2023 from several of our top partners.

Each one is designed to run the newest, most demanding games, not least from PC Game Pass. Even better, every single computer listed below comes with at least one free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included*, helping you jump straight into a game the moment you get your hands on your new device.

CyberPower

CyberPower’s new Prism 360V features a wide-open front and side glass panel so you can see all your components. The company also introduced the 7^th generation of its Tracer Edge Laptop Series with optional Liquid Cooling add-on unit. It comes with a 17-inch 240Hz 100% SRGB IPS display, 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900HX Processor, up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics and a full mechanical keyboard with Cherry switches.

MSI

MSI announced a new laptop and desktop product lineup at CES 2023, including its gaming flagship Raider GE78 built for enthusiasts, pushing the peak of performance and innovation with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs and up to 13th Gen Intel Core HX series processors. The Raider GE78 also comes with up to i9 HX and RTX 4090 with maximized CPU-GPU combined power and MUX Design, as well as a 16- or 17-inch 16:10 QHD+ 240Hz 100%DCI-P3 display, with a new matrix bright bar and per-key RGB gaming keyboard. MSI also announced new Content Creation series laptops.

Razer

Power meets precision and portability with the new Razer Blade 16. Engineered to push performance to new places, it comes equipped with the innovative dual mode 4K mini-LED display or blazing fast QHD+ 240Hz option.

iBUYPOWER

To kick off 2023, iBUYPOWER will introduce its new line of custom gaming and content creation PCs to the market. With the launch of the new HYTE Y40 case, iBUYPOWER will introduce both custom configured and RDY systems for customers looking for out-of-the-box PC solutions featuring the Y40. The Creator RDY Y40BG201 will feature the new mid-tower case from iBUYPOWER’s sister brand, HYTE, an Intel Core i9 13900KF, RTX 4090, Z790 motherboard, 2TB M.2 SSD and Windows 11 pre-installed for easy setup.

Acer

The Predator Helios 16 and Predator Helios 18 are two new Windows 11 gaming laptops revealed at CES 2023, with new designs and upgraded thermals. They come with the latest 13^th Gen Intel Core mobile processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, making them Acer’s most powerful gaming laptops to date.

ROG

ROG has redesigned the ultra-sleek 2023 Zephyrus M16 from the ground up, retaining a thin-and-light design but now including an improved cooling system featuring Tri-Fan Technology, which routes air from three fans through precisely calculated cutouts toward the heatsink for more efficient cooling. This allows the device to run 25 watts higher compared to last year’s model — providing even more power to the Intel Core i9 13900H CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU and NVIDIA Advanced Optimus in this flagship gaming machine.

Alienware

Alienware’s most powerful laptop, the m18, has 13^th Gen Intel Core HX processors that harness up to 65W (compared to previous-gen 45W), the full stack of NVIDIA GeForce Next-Gen Laptop GPUs and dual user-replaceable DDR5 SO-DIMM slots. Additionally, AMD Advantage models will be powered by next-gen AMD Ryzen Processors and Radeon Graphics for mobile. 

HP

The OMEN 17 Laptop, HP’s most powerful gaming laptop, has up to 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900HX and latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics, which utilizes OMEN Tempest Cooling Technology for desktop-caliber gaming. This PC is HP’s first to feature optical mechanical keys, which are 25 times faster than traditional keys.

Lenovo

To give gamers an advantage, Lenovo has developed an AI chip for gaming laptops, including for its Lenovo Legion Pro 7i. The chip uses software machine learning, deployed through Lenovo Vantage, to help monitor in-game FPS and dynamically adjust for the highest performance output.

Find out more about these and other new gaming PCs from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo that were highlighted this week on the Microsoft CES microsite.

*Xbox Game Pass Ultimate not available in all regions. Learn more about supported regions at https://www.xbox.com/regions. 