Last week, we asked you to soak up the gaming sun and share gaming moments inspired by summer using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
supersaturnnshares Astro wading in the pool with Kratos and Atreus in Astro’s Playroom
wingsforsmilesshares the beach and boardwalk rollercoaster from Cyberpunk 2077
CaGamer_07shares Ichiban Kasuga swimming with a dolphin in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
NemesisNat shares a woman surfing near a vintage van in GTA Online
Diesmo16 shares Aloy sitting and smiling on a beach in Horizon Forbidden West
clerence_1993 shares Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud in swimsuits on the beach in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Fireworks SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on July 3, 2024
Next week, we’re watching the gaming skies for bursts of color. Share in-game fireworks, sparks, or laser lights using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Hideo Kojima left Konami and the Metal Gear series he created nine years ago, but for the person now producing the franchise it would be a “dream” to have the legendary developer back in the fold.
As reported by VGC, Konami’s Metal Gear series producer Noriaki Okamura said on a recent livestream published to YouTube that, personally speaking, he’d love to work with Kojima again on Metal Gear.
“But just speaking for myself, personally, I’d like nothing better than to work with Mr. Kojima and the rest of the team again,” Okamura said. “If that could happen, that would be the dream.
“But people have moved on to new things and new commitments, and that’s just our current reality. We can’t just take it for granted that everyone would work with us again, or let ourselves be completely dependent on them.”
Of course, it seems extremely unlikely that Hideo Kojima will work on Metal Gear again after his high-profile exit from Konami amid the launch of Metal Gear Solid 5 in September 2015. Kojima went on to take his studio, Kojima Productions, into new intellectual property territory with the release of Death Stranding, and is now working on a sequel among a number of other projects. There’s even a Death Stranding movie in the works.
Perhaps mindful of that, Okamura said it was up to Konami’s in-house Metal Gear team to do a good job with new entries in the series, including the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, which was the focus of the livestream.
Meanwhile, Okamura confirmed Kojima and the original staff will be credited in the Unreal Engine 5-powered remake, as they were in last year’s Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1.
Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Mika and The Witch’s Mountain appears to be an unofficial video game adaptation of Kiki’s Delivery Service, which is a Studio Ghibli film about a witch who decides to go postal, but not in the Running with Scissors sense. Created by developers Chibig and Nukefist, it’s a “mini open world” game about carrying packages by broomstick while investigating the titular mountain, flying through hoops a la Pilotwings, and savouring the balmy inconsequentiality of an island that reminds me of Super Mario Sunshine. It also now has an early access release date, 21st August, and a charming new trailer.
EA Sports has officially revealed the best overall teams available in College Football 25.
In the latest announcement regarding the highly anticipated return of College Football video games, EA Sports revealed the top 25 overall teams. The overall rating number represents the quality of the entire team, using both offensive and defensive parameters to determine it.
College Football 25’s top-rated team is the University of Georgia (UGA), which has an overall team rating of 95. UGA’s overall team rating should not be entirely surprising to some, as we learned yesterday that UGA was ranked the top offensive team and the second-best defensive team in College Football 25. Additionally, we learned earlier this week that UGA’s Sanford Stadium was ranked number five in the top 25 toughest places to play in College Football 25.
Alongside UGA, seven additional teams have a team overall rating of 90 or higher, including Ohio State (93 overall), Texas (92 overall), and LSU (90 overall). The full list is available below.
College Football 25 is the first game in the college football gaming franchise since 2013’s NCAA Football 14. Most notably, College Football 25 marks the first time real-life student-athletes are being used, with all 134 FBS schools confirmed to be featured in the game in some capacity, such as stadium traditions and mascots. Additionally, college bowl games, awards such as the Heisman Trophy, and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals are featured in College Football 25.
College Football 25 will be released on July 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more, check out our hands-on preview, where I explain why it is more than just a clone of the Madden NFL football games.
College Football 25’s Best Overall TeamsGeorgia – (95 OVR)
Georgia – (95 OVR)
Ohio State – (93 OVR)
Oregon – (93 OVR)
Alabama – (92 OVR)
Texas – (92 OVR)
Clemson – (90 OVR)
Notre Dame – (90 OVR)
LSU – (90 OVR)
Penn State – (88 OVR)
Utah – (88 OVR)
Michigan – (88 OVR)
Florida State – (88 OVR)
Miami – (88 OVR)
Texas A&M – (88 OVR)
Ole Miss – (88 OVR)
Colorado – (87 OVR)
Oklahoma – (87 OVR)
Wisconsin – (87 OVR)
USC – (87 OVR)
Virginia Tech – (87 OVR)
NC State – (87 OVR)
Kansas – (87 OVR)
Arizona – (87 OVR)
Oklahoma State – (87 OVR)
Iowa – (87 OVR)
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
We didn’t get to Sandfall and Kepler Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 while covering Microsoft’s summer showcase a couple of weeks ago. If memory serves, when they ran that particular trailer I was busy sponging swampwater out my eyes after writing up South Of Midnight, while Nic had become so vociferously agitated over the debut of Doom: Dark Ages that he was no longer solid and tangible enough to operate a keyboard. Graham, meanwhile, had absconded with Joanna Dark to Immersive Sim Land and Matt, poor Matt, had fallen into a Locust sinkhole while “omnimanouevring” around Black Ops 6. But if one of us had been free and willing we might have had enthusiastic thoughts about this “evolution of JRPGs”, in which you are trying to thwart a self-serious artist who is about to magically murder everybody over the age of 32. It is, alas, too late for me.
Cardy, Matt, and Emma have all been playing Elden Ring’s new DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, and give an update on their (mostly spoiler-free) journeys so far, including all of the new weapons, places, and fingers they’ve seen so far. They’ve also been watching the new season of The Bear with a range of thoughts shared on the opening episodes of the restaurant drama. And finally, Emma has been getting to grips with M. Bison in the latest Street Fighter update. Plus, there’s a new Spotify-based Endless Search game to play.
Be sure to send us your thoughts about all the new games, films, and TV shows to ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Blue seas, clear skies, and boundless possibilities await in Dawntrail, the newest expansion pack for the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy XIV Online! Explore uncharted territories with familiar faces as you discover new tribes, confront formidable threats, and expand your horizons as hope’s light dawns once more.
Combat the alien Vulgus and protect the planet Albion and the continent of Ingris! The First Descendant is a free-to-play third-person co-op action RPG looter shooter with high-quality graphics powered by Unreal Engine 5. Featuring a wide variety of characters with unique concepts and combat styles, massive boss battles, four player co-op, a variety of weapons, and more!
Imagine a cardboard box. Is it shaped to fit one to two fluffy felines? What about five? What about twenty? Fit My Cat presents you with many cute kitties that all wish to sit where they deem fit. Test your skills and show the world that herding cats is where fun begins!
Welcome to Parkitect: Deluxe Edition, a modern take on classic park tycoons where you build and manage the theme parks of your dreams. Construct your own coasters, design an efficiently operating park that fully immerses your guests in its theme, and play through the campaign.
Shy Cats Hidden Orchestra is a hidden object game where you need to find musician kittens that are embarrassed to play their music. When you find them, they will play songs for you.
The ABC Murders is an adventure and investigation game adapted from the classic Agatha Christie novel. The player embodies the famous Hercule Poirot in a 3rd person perspective adventure game packed with mysteries. Once again, the private detective will find himself up against a mysterious opponent who goes by the name of ABC.
An immersive first-person horror experience that puts you in the shoes of Judith, a young woman who wakes up in the gloomy facilities of a psychiatric hospital. You must escape from this macabre place by solving mysteries while avoiding capture by Eddie, your sinister hunter.
Explore the last remnants of civilization in this vast, unforgiving, and interconnected world. Learn what is left of its history. Discover pockets of civilization in the perpetually expanding Omnistructure. Lose yourself in a journey unlike any other.
It’s time for some fun on the farm in whimsical action puzzler Bouncy Chicken! Master single-screen challenges in top-down 3D style as you take aim at fire your feathered projectile around the chicken pen to gather cobs of corn. The objective is to collect every cob of corn on screen before your shot chances run out.
A new mysterious enemy threatens the world once again! Only one hero can save the world… Shockman! Join bionic heroes Raita and Azuki as they face all kinds of dangerous enemies to save humanity. Is this heroic task too much for you? Then join forces with a friend for some classic-style action!
Find yourself in a future city full of gangs, mafias, and other shady people. Become a vigilante who works during the day and gets into a killing frenzy at night. Hop in the car, select a destination, and explore every corner of Crimson Tide. If you want to feel an adrenaline rush, you can explore the city on foot but watch your back and don’t ask too many questions.
In this retro-style arcade game, you must shoot monsters to gather their colored spheres! Get three of the same color in a row to get an update; get all three colors to win.
Paint the map in your own color, eliminate your opponents, get the highest score and take over the Paper io world. Use your strategic skills and power-ups to attack and claim all of the white space that was previously owned by other players.
Hello, Proxies! Greetings from the Zenless Zone Zero dev team. I’m Zhenyu Li, the producer of Zenless Zone Zero. After four years of development, three rounds of closed beta tests, and countless improvements, I’m thrilled that Zenless Zone Zero is officially launching July 4 on PS5! Hereby, I would like to share the most up-to-date game content with you in this blog post.
Alluring narrative with distinctive characters
Zenless Zone Zero is a new urban fantasy ARPG by Hoyoverse, in which a calamity called Hollows – an abnormal spherical dimension that appears out of thin air and swallows everything it touches – destroys modern society. New Eridu, the last remaining metropolis, has risen against the odds amidst this destructive catastrophe and become the remnant of contemporary civilization. In the game, players assume the role of Proxy, accompanied by unique characters to explore Hollows, combat enemies, complete commissions, and reveal the mysteries behind New Eridu.
Despite the post-apocalyptic setting, the world of Zenless Zone Zero is filled with fascinating stories and dynamic characters. After encountering the odd-job agency Cunning Hares and the remarkable industrial group Belobog Heavy Industries in early chapters, you can unlock the Chapter 2 Interlude and Chapter 3 of the main story, in which Officer Zhu Yuan makes her official debut and members from Victoria Housekeeping disclose their true colors.
On top of that, new characters Lucy and Piper from a faction in the outer ring of New Eridu known as Sons of Calydon are also prepared to join you in exploring the menacing Hollows as playable agents. Moreover, numerous newly designed Bangboos are under your command as companions with unique abilities in battle.
The bustling cityscape of New Eridu
In previous playtests, you may have seen Sixth Street, which is actually only a small part of New Eridu. In the global launch version, Lumina Square, the buzzing commercial district of New Eridu is ready for Proxies’ exploration. Strolling around the city, you will find adorable Bangboos in need of rescue, cargo trucks hidden in corners with various rewards and surprises awaiting.
As the adventure commences, the legendary Proxy named Phaethon has also expanded the video store Random Play’s second floor where you can rest in bed, play music, or customize the photo walls to transcribe precious memories along the journey.
Dynamic combat system
Catering to both new and veteran players of the action genre, Zenless Zone Zero strikes a balance between accessibility and complexity. The consolidation of combat mechanics including Chain Attacks, Perfect Assist, switching characters, etc., offers players an opportunity to unleash their creativity and immerse themselves in the fast-paced combat.
To satisfy players’ various preferences, newly implemented Combat Commissions allow combat-focused Proxies to dive in and start the battle right away. Meanwhile, avid action players can keep reinforcing their battle skills in combat challenges such as Hollow Zero and Shiyu Defense – find the Scott Outpost which overlooks the most massive and impactive Hollow existing in New Eridu to access them.
To celebrate the accomplishment of 40 million global sign-ups and to embrace the official launch of the game, we have prepared bountiful in-game rewards including up to 1600 Polychromes, 90 Master Tapes, 20 Encrypted Master Tapes, and 85 Boopons for global players. You can obtain all the rewards by advancing the in-game progress, participating in global launch activities, and experiencing numerous time-limited in-game events including Friendship Supervision and Watch Your Step.
Once again, as the launch date approaches, we want to express our sincere gratitude to all the players who’ve shown tremendous support and interest in Zenless Zone Zero. We can’t achieve any of this without you. Our joint journey begins when Zenless Zone Zero launches July 4 on PS5. Please stay tuned for more exciting details and stories we have conscientiously prepared for Proxies around the world. See you soon in New Eridu!
FromSoftware has warned players that performance issues experienced while playing Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC may be caused by computer mouse software running in the background.
According to a recent FromSoftware tweet, these issues may partially be remedied by closing any third-party computer mouse software prior to launching the game. “In the PC version, the frame-rate may not be stable when playing the game while running a mouse-control related app,” read the tweet, as translated via Google Translate. “In that case, please try playing the game after stopping the mouse-control related app.”
— FROMSOFTWARE PLAYER SUPPORT (@fromsoftware_sp) June 28, 2024
As reported by Automaton, some players had stumbled across the suggested fix earlier this week after running into stuttering issues while using mouse gesture software. FromSoftware has also noted that players should check to see whether ray-tracing settings had been enabled erroneously on their PCs upon loading save data from a previous version of the game, which could contribute to unstable frame-rates.
Performance issues aside, Shadow of the Erdtree is off to a phenomenal start, with publisher Bandai Namco announcing earlier this week that the DLC had sold over five million copies in the three days.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
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