Category: Video Games

New Year Deals promotion comes to PlayStation Store

The New Year celebrations don’t have to finish on January 1. For a limited time* PlayStation Store is putting on a spectacular promotional show with a new wave of discounts. You’ll be able to save up to 75% on a variety of games, which include EA Sports FC 24 – Ultimate Edition (60% off), Resident Evil Village Gold Edition (60%) off and many more. 

*The New Year Deals promotion starts 00.00am PDT/BST/JST/Asia local on Wednesday January 17 and concludes

11:59 PM PDT/BST/JST/Asia local on Wednesday January 31.

Dave The Diver studio’s next game is a team-based PvP arena battler

Dave The Diver was one of last year’s surprise hits, but though some called it an indie game, it was actually the work of Mintrocket, a subsidiary of Korean publisher Nexon. Now Mintrocket have announced their next game and it seems less likely to cause such confusion. It’s called Wakerunners, and it’s a team-based “battle action game” about heroes smashing at each other.

It’ll have a demo in Steam Next Fest next month and there’s a teaser trailer below.

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Dragon’s Dogma 2: In-Depth Look at the Character Creator – IGN First

We’re continuing this month’s IGN First on Dragon’s Dogma 2 with a detailed look at its new, robust character creator. The original Dragon’s Dogma had a pretty intense character creator, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 has upped the ante for just how detailed you can get for your character and ideal Pawn.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno explained during IGN’s visit to Capcom in Japan that the character creator was something they put a lot of work into for the first game, but with better hardware performance this time around, they could add as much freedom to the system as they wanted.

Itsuno-san said, “The problem is that this means that the act of creating a cool character, or the character that you want to see, becomes no different from doing so with clay… You could have your ideal character in mind, but you’d basically need to be an artist to form that character with your own hands, so that’s where we had to begin when deciding how character creation would work,”

There are 40 types of “muscle styles” and 12 sliders just for a human’s nose.

He thought maybe they should make the character creator simpler, but because the game’s artists wanted something that detailed, they worked hard to create a system that gives players access to every available setting if they want it while also offering a simpler creation method.

They accomplished this by having two body types for each race, nine base bodies per type, and an uncountable number of base head variations created from nearly a hundred real human face scans. From there, you can make the final adjustments yourself, giving Dragon’s Dogma 2 a system where anyone can create attractive, realistic-looking faces without needing to be an artist.

The options are indeed vast, and you can get incredibly granular while editing a character if you so choose–there are 40 types of “muscle styles” and 12 sliders just for a human’s nose, for example.

“I imagine some people getting themselves stuck in the creator and having trouble starting the game,” art director Daigo Ikeno admitted. “That said, I think it’s a creator that will be able to meet the needs of most people.”

I think it’s a creator that will be able to meet the needs of most people.

I’m one of those people who consider a character creator as deep as the one in Dragon’s Dogma 2 as the “first boss,” as I can easily spend more than an hour (happily) tweaking a character – which I was tempted to do at Capcom Japan despite my limited time hands-on.

Of course, the most obvious new addition to the character creator is a brand new race: the Beastren – anthropomorphic big-cats Itsuno-san wanted to add since the first game, but couldn’t due to hardware limitations. Specifically, rendering their fur on many subjects on the screen at once.

To make sure the Beastren had enough diversity compared to humans, Ikeno-san explained that the team “looked at the kinds of patterns and colors found in felines and made sure that the kind of variety that players would surely want were included.”

Ikeno-san concluded: “I hope that players will try changing both beastren and human faces to see what they can make.”

Casey DeFreitas is the deputy editor of guides at IGN. Catch her on Twitter @ShinyCaseyD.

Against The Storm’s update 1.1 is out, making the early game more interesting

Against The Storm left early access late last year, but has just now received its first major post-release patch. Update 1.1 “isn’t as spectacular” as its developers had first hoped, but it does buff the roguelite citybuilder with som new art, UI improvements and quality-of-life tweaks, as well as new orders to make early stage settlement building “a little more interesting.”

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Random: Games Done Quick Just Featured Its First-Ever Speedrunning Dog

Peanut Butter & Gyromite.

Peanut Butter the Shiba Inu is officially the best boy in the world. This adorable pup has made history by completing a speedrun on the world stage at Games Done Quick’s bi-annual speedrunning event, AGDQ 2024.

With the help of his owner and human speedrunner JSR_, Peanut Butter has been training to wow the world with a speedrun of Gyromite. You know, one of only two games that are officially compatible with R.O.B., that NES toy robot accessory. JSR_ has been chronicling the journey over on his YouTube channel (in an amusingly titled ‘PB & J‘ playlist). And since getting into AGDQ 2024 last October, the hype for this run has been building.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Insider Release Notes – Beta (2402.240111-2200)

Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Beta ring today.

It’s important we note that some updates made in these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you’re aware when updates are coming to your device.

Details can be found below!

Xbox Insider Release Notes

System Update Details:

  • OS Version: XB_FLT_2402ZN25398.3410.240111-2200
  • Available: 2 p.m. PT – January 16, 2024
  • Mandatory: 3 a.m. PT – January 17, 2024

New Features and Experiences

We have exciting news! Beta users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.

Xbox Wireless Controller – Thumbstick Calibration

For users in the US who have independently replaced the circuit board on their Xbox Wireless Controller and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 or users in all regions experiencing minor thumbstick issues, we now offer a user-guided self-calibration tool for thumbsticks through the Xbox Accessories App.

  • Note: The support article linked at the end of the experience is currently unavailable. This will be available in the future.

Experience Changes

Please be aware this Xbox Update Preview includes the following experience or feature updates.

Capture & Share

  • Screenshots captured on Xbox Series S consoles will now have a maximum resolution of 1080p, matching the maximum resolution for game clips.

Fixes Included

Thanks to all the great feedback Xbox Insiders provide and the hard work of Xbox engineers, we are happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented with this build:

Games

  • Fixed an issue where syncing game saves would not complete.

System

Known Issues

While known issues may have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes, they are not being ignored! However, it may take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution. If you experience any of these issues, we ask that you please follow any guidance provided and file feedback with Report a Problem.

Audio

  • We have received reports of users experiencing intermittent issues with audio across the dashboard, games, and apps. If you have experienced issues, be sure you have the latest firmware updates for your TV and other equipment. If you’re unsure, you may need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.
    • Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
      • When did the issue start?
      • Did you lose audio just in the game/app or system audio as well?
      • Does changing the audio format resolve the issue? If yes, what was the format before and after?
      • Does rebooting resolve the issue?
      • What does your setup include? Equipment, layout, etc.
      • And any additional information you can provide to reproduce the problem.

Networking

  • We are investigating reports of an issue where the console may not connect to their network as expected on boot. If you experience this, be sure to report the issue via Report a Problem as soon as you’re able.

System – Profiles

  • We are aware recently added profiles may be removed after restarting the console, and a fix is coming in a subsequent update.
    • Workaround: While signed in, open the guide then navigate to Profile & system > Settings > System > Access restrictions > Access restrictions options then disable the Delete profiles on sign out option.

As always, be sure to use Report a problem to keep us informed of any issues you encounter. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but the data we’ll gather is crucial to finding a resolution.

What Happens to Your Feedback

If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please visit the community subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help with your concerns.

When posting to the subreddit, please look through the most recent posts to see if your issue has already been posted or addressed. We always recommend adding to existing threads with the same issue before posting a new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Also, don’t forget to use “Report a Problem” before posting – the information shared in both places helps us understand your issue better.

Thank you to every Xbox Insider in the subreddit today and welcome to the community if you’re just joining us! We love that it has become such a friendly and community-driven hub of conversation and support.

For more information regarding the Xbox Insider Program follow us on Twitter. Keep an eye on future Xbox Insider Release Notes for more information regarding your Xbox Update Preview ring!

The post Xbox Insider Release Notes – Beta (2402.240111-2200) appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Get AMD’s former fastest graphics card for $500 at Newegg when you buy an open box model

AMD’s flagship RDNA 2 graphics card, the RX 6900 XT, continues to drop in price over in the US. Right now you can pick this once-fastest-ever Radeon GPU for just $500 when you buy an open box model from Newegg. That’s outstanding, given that this card cost twice as much when it debuted in 2020.

This is the fancy AsRock Phantom Gaming D model too, which brings a snazzy design and a faster 2340MHz boost clock (versus 2250MHz on the vanilla spec).

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