Absurd Ventures, the company started by Rockstar Games co-founder and head writer Dan Houser after he left said juggernaut, are working on a new “open world action-adventure” game. That’s according to recent job listings on Absurd’s website (cheers Gamesradar for the spot), which mention such a thing. And to be honest, are any of us surprised? Not really. Will the finished product resemble GTA to some degree? I imagine yes. Am I happy about this? Yeah, go on then.
The final frontend.
Last month, Apple slightly relaxed its stance on game emulation. Naturally, the ensuing weeks saw emulators added and taken down from the iOS App Store as developers attempted to feel out Apple’s copyright policies and now, there’s a new multisystem addition to the pile (thanks, The Verge).
RetroArch, a frontend app for game emulation, was added to the iOS App Store on 15th May and provides access to over 75 system emulators including 22 variants for Nintendo consoles at the time of writing.
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Helldivers 2’s ongoing meta-narrative took another twist this week after players failed the last Major Order and thus failed to unlock a promised new Stratagem.
The explosive PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter had set the community a stiff challenge: kill 2 billion Automatons in five days and the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem would unlock.
But despite players’ best efforts, Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal, and in an in-universe Galactic War update from Super Earth High Command posted to the Helldivers Discord, Arrowhead signaled it would hold the the Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem back — for now.
“After five days of intense decommissioning of Automatons into scrap metal for use in advanced anti-tank mines, the Helldivers came 78% towards the stated goal of 2 billion dead bots,” the message reads. “This means that the new stratagem will continue to elude the Helldiver arsenal for now…”
It’s perhaps no surprise to see this Major Order failed, given Arrowhead had warned it had fixed a bug that caused a previous Major Order to kill 2 billion bugs to be completed too quickly. The Anti-Tank Mines Stratagem will obviously be released in time, but what’s interesting is what comes next in the Galactic War.
Dungeon Master Joel, who pulls the meta-narrative strings from within the bowels of Arrowhead headquarters, appears to have a surprise up his sleeve. The rest of Super Earth’s statement says the war has now escalated into what’s called The Second Galactic War, and that all conflict leading up to this point “was merely an elaborate special operation.”
And here’s a very interesting line, already being picked apart by the Helldivers community: “New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.”
It could be nothing, but some players are speculating that this is a tease for the arrival of NPC squads. Perhaps an upcoming Stratagem will call in a four-person team who drop down onto the battlefield to help out until they, inevitably, bite the dust.
Here’s the rest of the statement in full:
“The war now escalates into what is officially called ‘The Second Galactic War.’ All conflict leading up to this was merely an elaborate special operation. New recruits are being trained to bolster the ranks of SEAF, and the Helldivers are tasked with guarding these training facilities so that each recruit can be given their rigorous 72 hour basic training.”
Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, selling an astonishing 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. But it’s had a bumpy ride since coming out earlier this year, with Arrowhead butting heads with Sony over PSN account linking. This week, Arrowhead said it plans to roll back changes to patrols and spawn rates, admitting the PSN controversy had diverted its attention away from gameplay tweaks.
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.
Our Edders, the RPSer I’d most trust to help me gank a rival covenant member with hammers, reckoned Pinocchio soulslike Lies Of P was an “instant must-play” in his review, and I was pretty fond of it myself. We already know that we’re due a sequel at some point the future, thanks to impressive sales. Director Jiwon Choi previously teased some DLC concept art, and now it looks like we’ll be seeing that DLC by the time the year’s out, according to a fiscal report.
As Ubisoft revealed Assassin’s Creed Shadows they also released their earnings report for the financial year 2023-2024. Buried among the chatter of “profitable growth trajectories” and “B2B partnerships” was a brief note about looter shooter The Division Heartland. “Ubisoft has decided to stop development on The Division Heartland,” it reads, “and has redeployed resources to bigger opportunities such as XDefiant and Rainbow Six.” Ah, so this is the games industry equivalent of being summarily dumped by text.
Go on, tell us.
The Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was recently announced for the Switch and as part of this there will be a special ‘Deluxe Set’ released, containing a physical game card, a set of five pins, 13 art cards, and a gold coloured replica NES cartridge.
Nintendo has now released a new trailer showing off this ‘Deluxe Set’ and it’s got us wondering if anyone in the Nintendo Life will be picking it up, and who has been able to successfully secure a pre-order so far. So vote in our poll and leave a comment below.
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Time flies when you’re crafting, building and surviving.
Mojang’s survival-crafting hit Minecraft is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary and as part of this, there’s a special sale on the Switch eShop.
Between now and 4th June 2024, you can get a 50% discount on Minecraft, reducing it to just US$14.99 (or your regional equivalent). Minecraft Dungeons and Minecraft Legends are also half-price.
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“You never know what happens in the world”.
Wario hasn’t been introduced to Mario’s cinematic universe (at least yet), but one Hollywood movie star who is apparently “up for” the role on the big screen is Danny DeVito.
When asked about the possibility of voicing Mario’s archrival in the sequel, DeVito mentioned how he was “ready to do a lot of things”. Here’s what he jokingly had to say during a recent chat with the YouTube channel ‘The Movie Dweeb’:
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It looks like Toys for Bob is beginning its next chapter, and it’s starting with a mysterious purple tiki mask.
The Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and Spyro Reignited Trilogy developer published the strange picture in a new update on its website. Those who head to the site will notice that an image of a purple, teeth-clenching tiki head is now the only accessible page.
It’s unclear what it could mean, but there is a good chance the mask is simply Toys for Bob’s new logo. Opening the image reveals that it’s named “TFB_LogoVector_TikiMask-purple.” It’s also been pointed out that the Toys for Bob offices have been tiki-themed in the past. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating that the image may be tied to a new game.
In March, Windows Central reported that Xbox would still work with the developer on its next game following the news that Toys for Bob would be going indepedent earlier this year. Microsoft also finalized its acquisition of Activision last year, so if Xbox and Toys for Bob have indeed come to an agreement, then the developer could theoretically be working on a Crash Bandicoot and/or Spyro the Dragon game.
The presence of the tiki mask has many fans believing that Crash Bandicoot 5 is in development. Others, meanwhile have pointed out that its purple coloring could be pointing to a new Spyro game.
A mask that looks to be from a Crash game but it has the purple color from Spyro? What if their next game ends up being a crossover?
— Sergio Sánchez. (@sergiosgx) May 15, 2024
Toys for Bob’s website has been updated with a cryptic image (below).https://t.co/rjW85l7r3W
Crash? pic.twitter.com/xkAkpEUlwC
— 2024 IS WILD (News) (@2024isWild) May 15, 2024
New Crash coming?! 👀 that’d be cool. I still need to play the 4th one though 🥴
— Silent Dad Plays Games (@silentdadgaming) May 15, 2024
Toys for Bob has updated their website to a simple purple Tiki mask.
New Crash Bandicoot on the way? 👀https://t.co/OMR8u4avzX pic.twitter.com/yKKJjwzGpT
— KAMI (@Okami13_) May 15, 2024
It’s best to not assume such a project is in development until Toys for Bob has more to announce. The studio separated itself from Activision and Microsoft in February, expressing a desire to return to its roots as “a small and nimble studio.”
“With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level,” Toys for Bob said at the time.
We enjoyed the studio’s last game, Crash 4, giving it an 8/10 in our review. We said, “Crash Bandicoot 4 is a great return to form, with some new ideas that add a fresh spin to Crash’s classic gameplay.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
The video game equivalent of Limp Bizkit.
Fans of unconventional narrative-driven games may be familiar with Hypnospace Outlaw, a cool project from a few years ago that aimed to simulate an alternate take on the social environment of the late ’90s internet. Though Hypnospace Outlaw will be receiving a proper sequel with the upcoming Dreamsettler, Tendershoot decided to give waiting players a more unconventional spin-off release that takes things in a much different direction. Dubbed Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, this classic-style boomer shooter launched on PC and Xbox in 2023 and sort of bears some narrative connections to Hypnospace Outlaw. It’s a decent game in its own right, and even though it didn’t manage to ‘wow’ us, we’d still suggest you give it a look.
The story of Slayers X is rather fascinating, as there are essentially two levels to it. On the first, you have the premise: this is the in-universe game that Zane Lofton from Hypnospace Outlaw referenced. He essentially designed this with the help of a friend, so the experience you’re ultimately getting with Slayers X is something an immature, horny teenager would make if he was given free rein to express himself. This leads to the second narrative level, the ‘in-game’ plot. You play the role of “Big Z”, an X-Slayer in-training who is forced into action when the monstrous Psyko Sindikate attacks his town, kills both his mom and mentor, and kidnaps one of his fellow X-Slayers. He thus sets out on a quest for revenge, blowing up a whole lot of baddies along the way as he fights to free his friend.
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