“In the past I’ve rarely written about the future because release dates and game designs often change unexpectedly during development. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I had a firm expectation of some development outcome that was totally wrong in the end. Not talking about the future avoided the risk that something would change and people would get angry because they perceive some promise to have been broken....
There was already a pre-existing relationship between the two, with Riot being one of the studio’s angel investors. That relationship grew over the past few years, and reached this new conclusion this week. Hypixel’s Aaron ‘Noxy’ Donaghey, who becomes the CEO of Hypixel Studios, said in a press release: “Since our first meetings with Riot leadership long before their initial investment, we’ve found in Riot a partner with a similar commitment to empowering players....
The Railgunner is essentially a sniper, with a first-person scope she can aim down to deal massive damage to a single enemy at range. Her main weapon highlights weak points on enemies, letting you know whether you should go for a headshot or be aiming for some other bit of the strange monsters the game throws at you. It also means that she doesn’t have a random chance to critical hits; instead, critical strikes are guaranteed if you hit the weak spot....
As spotted by IGN, a number of these are appearing in Roblox’s “popular” section. High on the list right now are some oh-so-subtle renamings like Fish Game, Hexa Game, and hell, just straight-up Squid Game. A quick search of “Squid Game” on the Roblox site reveals even more dubiously-named experiences too. While some of them recreate just one challenge from the show, others have a collection of the grim games from various episodes....
The full release landed yesterday, and I have Some Thoughts. I’ll be honest. I’ve kept a one of my many spare eyes on MiniLAW in the hope that it would overcome its horrible controls. Having gone back to it today, I can say that it sort of has. The controls are a lot better than they were, especially using a controller. But they’re still awkward, and the keyboard-and-mouse controls border on maddening....
Crucially, they all share the same ultra comfy design, which mimics the ski-goggle-style design of my favourite Steelseries Arctis 7 and Logitech G733 Wireless headsets for hours and hours of headpinch-free gaming. It makes the Elo X Stereo a particularly great headset for those on a budget, but is it worth spending that little bit extra on the Elo 7.1 USB? I’ve put both headsets head to head to find out....
In a Kotaku report, current and recent Rockstar members anonymously speak about how they feel that the emphasis on overtime and crunch is lessening. Kotaku say they’ve spoken with 15 developers who are either still with the company or left only within the last year. “In these last several months we have undertaken a lot of work across every area of the company, looking at our processes to determine what works and what doesn’t, what we are great at and what we could improve,” says Rockstar executive Jennifer Kolbe in a staff email according to Kotaku....
I felt that same glee when I played Tower Of Goo Unlimited back in 2005 - the prototype that would three years later become RPS’s game of the year for 2008. It was well and truly a prototype, a single level with the aim of building the highest possible tower out of sticky balls that were connected via long strands of wobbly guck. It was silly, and messy, and confusing, and marvellous, and I realised very quickly that I needed a proper game like this in my life as soon as possible....
Legends of Runeterra patch notes guide Our Runeterra patch notes guide has all the changes that have been made to the game, from the open beta to the most recent patch 0.9.1. Patch notes 0.9.1 Another smaller update here and none of the stuff that’s been altered will change the card text, meaning the same decks are still the best ones. Check out which ones they are in the Runeterra best decks guide....
What these percentages mean in practice is that both the Model O and Model D mice see a £8 / $10 discount, taking them to £32 / $40 a piece. That is unless you fancy the new, but incredibly garish pink Model O, which drops to £39 / $48. Katharine was a big fan of both, calling them great lightweight mice, especially for those with smaller hands, and you can read more about them in our best gaming mouse round-up....
The Next Fest demo, it must be said, is a veritable Now That’s What I Call Horror album of first-person spookfest tropes: jump scares, missing valves that need replacing, and mannequins that move when you’re not looking are just some of the staples it deploys across its 30-odd minute play time. But compared to previous first-person SCP games, most notably Containment Breach, there’s a completely unmatched level of detail (and sophistication of lighting and physics tech) that makes its haunted blacksite setting feel much better-realised....
Honestly a perfect version of Metal Gear Solid’s frisking in Squirrel With A Gun (coming to Steam). If a squirrel climbed you, would you be in a position to stop it robbing you? Oleomingus make some of the best-looking video games, so I long to explore these corridors myself one day. That said, I do see they have a small new game out right now, which I must check out after finishing this post....
If your game has violence and chandeliers, I should be able to perform violence using chandeliers. First-person stabber Dad By The Sword (coming to Steam, from the studio behind Death Road To Canada) understands this: A charming bumpy train ride in Podvarak, a game the dev says is “about surviving during wartime sanctions, based on my memories of 90s Yugoslavia.” I am, of course, very interested in procedural cycling animations....
Rare’s (sometimes) peaceful pirate sandbox didn’t even have fire in it this time last year, and now look at them. Encouraging pirate arson left, right and centre. So, these four fiery Captains are Ashen Lords, pals of the big bad Flameheart (who you may have come across if you fought those ghost ships in the last big update). You’ll be able to find them on islands clearly marked by some ominous swirling red smoke, and if you manage to take one down you’ll be rewarded with lots of loot - including their flamethrowing skulls....
But the complex explanation is that this game, ironically, defies explanation. As I played, I oscillated wildly between thinking, “This is Frogwares’ world and we’re all just living in it!” and, “What is even happening, what is this, I need a ten-part documentary series that just follows the developers around because they really have a lot of explaining to do.” Sherlock (or “Sherry”, as Jon calls him in a development I absolutely love) and Jon form a great partnership, both dressed like two young men on an absurd steampunk weekend LARP, just bals being pals....
I’ve only just gotten into Yakuza myself, falling absolutely head over heels and into a curb for Yakuza 0. Quite a time to enter the series, right as Sega are about to shake up some conventions for the organized crime ’em up. You can catch some of the important differences in the interview below with localization producer Scott Strichart. As for the turn-based battle system, Strichart says that you’ll have a party of up to six characters....
There were, uh, a few issues with the Guerrilla Collective’s stream this evening - and for a moment, I worried we’d been robbed of another look at the Sam Eng’s slick supernatural kickflips. For the unfamiliar, Skate Story is an atmospheric-as-hell skate ’em up about grinding an otherworldly line into oblivion. Developer Eng has been posting extremely hot skate vibes over on the game’s Twitter for the last few months, bringing the game briefly into the lens of Screenshot Saturday Sundays....
“I am so excited to reunite with Jack, this time in the recording booth,” director Eli Roth told The Hollywood Reporter. “Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen.” Here’s your refresher on Claptrap, who is definitely the something-est character in Borderlands, though I’d debate whether it’s funniest. Personally, I can’t make my brain imagine Jack Black with layers of robot effects on top....
In Solar Ash, you play as space-skater Rei whose planet is being sucked into a massive black hole called the Ultra Void. Normally, you’d twist a knob on this big tower called the Starseed and hey presto, you’d rescue the planet from Suction Destruction. But for some reason, the Starseed is no longer operational and the Ultra Void seems particularly sucky this time. Something’s gone wrong. So, it’s up to you to venture into the Ultra Void and see what’s cracking....
Sony’s announcement explains they’re merging PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one service with three tiers. PS Plus is currently the subscription service which offers access to online multiplayer (yes, in the year of our Molyneux 2022, you have to pay for that) plus a rolling selection of ‘free’ games, while PS Now is the cloud gaming service which lets you play a selection of games without downloading them or even having a PlayStation....
