Game Informer |
- Madden NFL 22 Review-In-Progress
- Every New Fighter Coming To Guilty Gear, Street Fighter V, And More This Week
- Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 Enters Early Access In October
- Action Arcade Wrestling (Xbox) – New Gameplay Today
- 343 Industries Head On Bringing Master Chief To Life In New Halo TV Series, "We Want To Do Something New"
- Pokémon Presents Predictions: What We Want From Legends Arceus, Diamond, And Pearl
- Phil Spencer Impressed With Steam Deck, Confirms xCloud Functionality
- Wonder Woman Arriving To Fortnite To Complete The DC Trinity
- Why We Need More Games Like Life Is Strange
- 343 Swears Halo Infinite Bots Aren't Teabagging Players, It's A Bug Not A Feature
- Netflix's The Witcher Prequel, Blood Origin, Adds Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, And More To Cast
- Defy The Underworld With This Awesome Hades Nintendo Switch Controller
- Neill Blomkamp On His New Gaming Focus And The Film Industry's Fear Regarding The Future Of Games
| Madden NFL 22 Review-In-Progress Posted: 16 Aug 2021 09:01 PM PDT Madden NFL 22 officially launches this Friday, but you may be seeing reviews for the latest football game from EA Sports hitting now as those who pre-ordered the MVP or Dynasty editions get access to the game. We're not ready to render our final verdict of the latest effort from EA Tiburon, but I have put several hours into the game and can provide some early thoughts. This year, Madden focuses on making the atmosphere of the game feel more true to life. In that regard, the title is largely successful. New spectator animations deliver a stronger sense of realism and presence, and the remastered crowd sound makes those big moments in games feel more impactful. Not only that, but the modifiers that the new momentum meter and home-field advantage add give appropriate boosts most of the time. Improved blocking makes the running game more effective, and I like the increased catching responsiveness for the passing game. Franchise mode also introduces some noteworthy improvements, including new skill trees for four coaches on your staff. I also like the weekly game planning that grants boosts depending on which strategies and focuses you choose for offense and defense, as well as the ability to decide how intense you want practice to be in the lead up to the game. It's still not the full step that fans wanted going into Madden NFL 21, but with all of the changes from last year's post-launch updates added in, plus a promised scouting update tentatively scheduled for next month, the mode is slowly getting there.  The single-player story mode, Face of the Franchise is, quite frankly, an unfinished mess at this juncture. Already-awkward story cutscenes are made even worse as character voice lines don't properly fire off, sometimes leaving the two people in the conversation just staring at each other. Other times, the voice lines repeat or continue playing from previous scenes in the subsequent one. The glitches aren't isolated to the off-the-field action, however. In one training sequence, the players outright didn't spawn, causing the ball to drop harmlessly to the field, ending the drill (Silver lining: I was playing as a linebacker and my goal was to prevent the first down, so I at least got credit for succeeding). Another time, I was participating in a 6v6 tournament in New York at the start of the mode, but each player's feet were glitched out, resulting in horrific contortions and a sometimes abysmal framerate. The biggest glitch came in my player's first game in the NFL. After a bit of build-up, my character was thrilled to take the field for his new team, the Los Angeles Chargers, against the Washington Football Team. After watching the Chargers take the field with my character in tow, the camera awkwardly cut to an empty tunnel. After sitting on the shot for far too long, Madden NFL 22 put me into the game, which suddenly became a Chargers-vs.-Chargers mirror-match in the Washington Football Team's stadium. I guess the Washington Football Team was just busy that day. That particular bug never happened again, but it's still indicative of the current overall state of the mode. When Face of the Franchise works, it's largely enjoyable. Carrying my character from college football standout to NFL star is rewarding, and I like being able to choose which side activities to take part in to earn specific boosts, but I'm not a fan of how menu-driven it all is. Most choices are done through text messages, and narrative beats are often delivered in the form of voicemails from your agent or brand manager that play over cutscenes of your player just sitting on his couch. Whether you're talking MLB The Shows' Road to the Show or NBA 2K's My Career, the single-player career modes are right up there with Franchise as my destination mode, so I'll always find the fun in these situations and scenarios, but Madden NFL 22's Face of the Franchise is lacking.  While I've spent most of my time in Face of the Franchise and standard Franchise mode, I'm planning on taking more snaps in The Yard and the myriad other modes before coming to my final verdict. Stay tuned for that full review later this week. Madden NFL 22 launches this Friday, August 20 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC. For more on what's new in this year's entry, check out our final preview of the game from last week.
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| Every New Fighter Coming To Guilty Gear, Street Fighter V, And More This Week Posted: 16 Aug 2021 03:30 PM PDT EVO Online 2021, a two-weekend fighting game tournament for five headlining fighting games, concluded last night. While the event didn't have the typical blowout finals day for featuring all of the top games, the competition was as fierce as ever. Like any other EVO, the arrival of new characters and balance changes are hitting fighting games as soon as the day after the tournament concludes. Below are the newest characters out now or coming in the next few weeks to shake up their respective games. |
| Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 Enters Early Access In October Posted: 16 Aug 2021 02:37 PM PDT 2019's Lovecraft's Untold Stories, the action roguelite based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, is getting a sequel, and it's heading to Steam Early Access this October. Untold Stories 2 builds upon the foundation of its predecessor with a revamped art direction and the addition of multiplayer. Like the first game, you'll have access to multiple characters used to battle across worlds based on Lovecraft's stories. You can choose between six characters this time, three of which will be playable during the Early Access period, to play alone or with up to three partners in the new online co-op. The Medium, the Veteran, and the Alienist join the game while the Detective, Witch, and Professor make a return. Each character sports its own perks and abilities to allow plenty of variety in how to slaughter the cosmic horrors that await. Click here to watch embedded mediaTo up your chances of survival, you'll craft increasingly better clothing and weapons by finding blueprints and materials. You'll also improve your character with good old-fashioned leveling up. This is an RPG, after all. Untold Stories 2's most noticeable change is the shift from pixel art to a more hand-drawn aesthetic. The plot appears to surround the madness-inducing "Dream Landscape" painting created by artist Ardois-Bonnot, a fictional painter that appears in The Call of Cthulhu. To get on the ground floor of Untold Stories 2's development, you can pick up the game when it launches in Steam Early Access on October 28. If you're a Lovecraft fan looking for more games that heavily steeped in his works, 2019's The Sinking City made the jump to PS5 earlier this year. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Action Arcade Wrestling (Xbox) – New Gameplay Today Posted: 16 Aug 2021 02:30 PM PDT  Click to watch embedded media Are you a fan of arcade-style wrasslin' games and have become disenchanted with the simulation gameplay of WWE 2K? Look towards the aisle because here comes Action Arcade Wrestling. This non-licensed title emulates classics such as WWF Superstars and Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game by going back to basics. The drama unfolds on a 2D playing field with grappling mechanics that are easy for anyone to pick up while also having a fair amount of depth to sink your teeth into. Created by only a couple of designers, AAW isn't chasing the title of the biggest and best grappler around. Rather, it offers a small but tightly-made throwback to the wrestling games of yesteryear. AAW features a roster of original wrestlers from a robot-like sentry sporting Wolverine claws to a lizard man covered in glowing scales. That wackiness extends to the moveset; performers can shoot face-melting laser beams and throw flaming jabs as easily as executing a wristlock or dropkick. There are even power-ups that grant special bonuses. If you're thinking to yourself, "That sounds fun, but I want to play with wrestlers I recognize," then fear not! A creation app gives players the freedom to design and/or import familiar superstars into the game. These can range from real-life stars such as Roman Reigns and Kenny Omega to fictional main-eventers like Captain America and Kratos. To see what AAW has to offer, two of Game Informer's biggest wrestling nerds, Marcus Stewart and John Carson, dissect an over-the-top singles match, download some fan-made superstars, and then pit those creations against one another in an all-star battle royal. If Action Arcade Wrestling looks up your alley, you can buy it right now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A Switch version is scheduled to arrive later this year as well. Thanks for watching, and be sure to visit the Game Informer YouTube channel for more episodes of New Gameplay Today. We've recently taken looks at Lost Judgment and Boyfriend Dungeon. You can also catch up on other fun video series such as Replay and The Game Informer Show. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Posted: 16 Aug 2021 01:56 PM PDT  Click to watch embedded media With Halo Infinite on the horizon for later this year and Showtime's Halo TV series inching towards a release, there is a lot of reasons to be excited for the man in green. That being said, the upcoming Halo TV show aims to deliver a new experience that still feels familiar to die-hard fans, something that 343 Industries' head Kiki Wolfkill says is a bigger struggle than many might think. In the video at the top of the article, Wolfkill sat down with the folks over at IGN to dig a little deeper into the upcoming show and the challenges that come with bringing Master Chief to life. This is a problem a lot of adaptations face, but especially so for game franchises known for action. Wolfkill opened up about that delicate knife-edge; figuring out what it takes to bring Halo to life again in a live-action format while asking those used to playing as Chief to sit this one out and just enjoy the ride. With full-on Warthog badassery and an enemy that we know too well, the Showtime series aims to properly adapt the franchise with a creative twist. That being said, the goal to create something surrounding Master Chief that feels "new" is challenging, especially when looking at the story depth and the challenges that come with believably bringing the Covenant to life. According to Wolfkill, the goal is to share a different side to Master Chief than we are used to seeing, something unlike the games while still remaining true to who his character is. The 343 Industries head also talked a little more about her love for this franchise, especially given her own work on the Halo franchise and her love of the series as a gamer, not just a studio member. Regarding the Halo adaptation itself, the series is currently filming once more in Budapest, Hungary following COVID-related delays. The ten-episode series is executive produced by showrunner Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and directed and produced by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Steven Spielberg, Showtime, and Amblin Television assisted 343 Industries in putting together the creative team, alongside 343's own Wolfkill. Jen Taylor will be playing Cortana alongside Orange Is the New Black's Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief himself and Natascha McElhone as Dr. Catherine Halsey. According to the creative team, the Halo TV series will follow the general paths of the franchise we know and love with a familiar focus on the 26th-century conflict between the Covenant and humanity. According to the showrunner, it will "weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure, and a richly imagined vision of the future." We also know that the show, according to Wolflkill, will be "an epic new story experience set in the Halo Universe." Wolfkill also previously mentioned that the team is working hard to ensure that they balance "moments fans have already experienced and moments that have yet to be experienced" in order to create something respectful of the franchise, "but also new and surprising and enthralling." With Halo Infinite teasing the end of Master Chief's story, it will be interesting to see how this new show will adapt one of the most iconic protagonists in the shooter genre.
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| Pokémon Presents Predictions: What We Want From Legends Arceus, Diamond, And Pearl Posted: 16 Aug 2021 12:47 PM PDT  Click to watch embedded media Every day that passes brings us closer to the releases of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and the hotly anticipated Pokémon Legends Arceus. This Wednesday at 8 a.m. Central, a new Pokémon Presents stream will feature brand new information on all three of these Sinnoh-related games. In anticipation of finding out more about the Pokémon Legends Arceus and the Diamond and Pearl remakes, we gathered three of our top Pokemon experts on staff to discuss what kinds of information they would like to see on Wednesday morning. Alex Stadnik hosts this roundtable with Brian Shea and John Carson to discuss the most exciting possibilities in this Pokémon Presents. What kind of Pokémon inhabited Sinnoh in the past? Which towns exist and where can you travel? Could Legends be taking a few notes from Breath of the Wild? Also, our panel speculates about other announcements from a bevy of other Pokémon titles. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Phil Spencer Impressed With Steam Deck, Confirms xCloud Functionality Posted: 16 Aug 2021 12:33 PM PDT Valve's Steam Deck has impressed a lot of people since its reveal. After all, the company effectively designed its own version of the Switch to play your Steam library on the go. That's pretty cool, and it's proven to be quite a draw given its pre-order frenzy, and early hands-on impressions have been largely positive. Xbox boss Phil Spencer is among those who got to take the device for a test drive, and he recently expressed his happiness with the product, particularly in how well it runs Microsoft-published software. Spencer tweeted that he's been messing around with the Steam Deck for most of last week and recently visited Valve to discuss the handheld with founder Gabe Newell and other employees. He praised Steam Deck's playability and screen quality while also mentioning that games such as Halo and Age of Empires performed well. He also drops that xCloud, Microsoft's cloud gaming service, apparently functions as intended on the device as well. Was @valvesoftware this week talking w/ Scott, Erik, Gabe about Steam Deck. After having mine most of the week I can say it's a really nice device. Games with me on the go, screen size, controls all great. Playing Halo and Age feels good, xCloud works well. Congrats SD team. - Phil SpencerSince the Steam Deck is basically a handheld gaming PC, Valve has already confirmed that you can install Windows and other third-party software on it should you choose to (the hardware runs on Linux out of the box). Installing Windows means that you could use Xbox Game Pass for PC, giving you portable access to games available on that service on top of your Steam library. Of course, there could always be driver support and compatibility issues, but that's still quite the bonus. Spencer's confirmation that xCloud works with the device only sweetens the pot. Steam Deck pre-orders went live last month, with customers putting down $5 to reserve one of its three models. Orders are expected to begin shipping in December and will roll out in waves throughout 2022. You can still pre-order the device, but don't expect it to arrive anytime soon, as units are shipped in the order that they're reserved. While it can play just about everything on Steam, some titles have already been confirmed to not work on the device. You can read the full list of incompatible games here. Whenever you do get your handheld, whether that be later this year or sometime in 2022, you'll probably want to know how to make the most of it. We've got you covered by assembling a list of the best titles to play on the Steam Deck once it arrives. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Wonder Woman Arriving To Fortnite To Complete The DC Trinity Posted: 16 Aug 2021 11:21 AM PDT It feels like the dust is still settling from the Ariana Grande-led Rift Tour, but Epic Games has followed that up by assembling the DC Trinity in Fortnite. First Batman joined the fray. Superman just made his heroic presence known. Now, Wonder Woman is leaping into action this week as a new skin for fans of the Amazonian princess. Beginning August 19 at 8 p.m. ET, you can purchase the Wonder Woman cosmetic set. This set includes Diana's classic and armored outfits, a cape that comes in two variants, Athena's Battleaxe, the Golden Eagle Glider, and a DC Trinity loading screen.  Additionally, Epic is launching the Wonder Woman Cup on August 18 where duos will have three hours to earn as many points as possible across 10 matches. The top-scoring teams in each region will earn the Wonder Woman outfit and cape before it goes on sale. Meanwhile, teams that score at least eight points (finishing around 26th place minimum) also get an Honorary Amazons loading screen. As a reminder, Superman swooped into Fornite last week, and quests tied to his battle pass are also available. The missions center around trying to restore Clark's memories, with the Man of Steel remaining up with Armored Batman and Beastboy to find the memory thief. By completing a number of quests you'll earn rewards such as Superman's Clark Kent outfit, a spray of his signature logo, and even a phone booth to suit up in. You can read more about what the Superman Quests entail by visiting the Fortnite website. To catch up on other recent additions to Fortnite, you can read stories about the inclusions of Street Fighter's Guile and Cammy as well as Marvel's Loki. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Why We Need More Games Like Life Is Strange Posted: 16 Aug 2021 08:59 AM PDT Many games out there offer both enjoyment and reflection, including the beloved Life is Strange series that has taken some wild twists throughout its cycle. From Chloe and Max and the power of friendship to the trials and triumphs that come with family, as seen in Life is Strange 2, digital adventures that tap into the more humanistic and compassionate side of the human experience are exactly what we need. Life is Strange: True Colors is a story about mystery, death, and the power of empathy. As the world continues to tear itself asunder, varying between topics as heartbreaking as war to arguments as silly as whether or not a dress is black and blue, True Colors aims to remind us of one simple truth: We are human, and we are learning. Life is Strange: True Colors will task players with taking on the role of Alex Chen, a Haven Springs native that had to suppress her "curse." Her psychic powers are different than what we've seen with Max; instead, Alex is gifted (and cursed) with the power of empathy. While some laughed this power off when it was first revealed, empathy in action is intense, allowing her to experience, absorb, and even manipulate powerful emotions in those around her. She can see auras, and following the "accident" that resulted in her brother's death, her power comes roaring to the surface in an effort to find the truth behind his demise and a dark secret that lurks beneath the town's surface. With working in media, my attention is tuned into what's going on in the social media world far more than I'd like, often making me see the uglier side of people that anonymity brings out than the average person. The amount of comments and emails I receive daily from people that seem to hate me without knowing a thing about me, even some that have gone on to apologize after taking a moment to get to know me, is ... hard? And that's not even talking about the wider scope of this digital stomping ground; The hit of adrenaline and false power that people seem to get after "winning" an argument with a total stranger is bizarre and counterproductive to leading a healthy and happy life, but we all do it anyway. Why? Why are we quicker to be on the attack than we are simply to listen? Before media, I was on active duty. I served in several tours overseas, showing me a different kind of dissociation and apathy towards other humans that are simply stumbling around like the rest of us trying to figure sh*t out. When I left the military, I took a vow that included a year of silence as a hermetic monk. These were all steps I felt necessary for my journey of rediscovery and nurturing the parts of myself that I wanted to bring back to the forefront. I went through many changes after I transitioned back into civilian life, a cycle that was far more difficult than I ever could have imagined. Relearning who I was without the imposed structure, the constant threat of the world being upended from beneath my feet was nothing short of a complete challenge. The loss of so many friends, the loss of my entire universe; I lost empathy towards others during much of that journey and found myself almost begging for it in return to feel some sort of connection. While much of that relearning came from simply moving from day to day and learning how to pull my adult pants on and get with the program, games like Life is Strange provided another avenue of relearning humanity and what it means to be. They helped me relearn that vulnerability won't get me killed or someone close to me. It helped me confront parts of my training that caused me to shed the ability to not think in life or death scenarios. The first game helped me reminisce on myself in my youth when I was in my teens and 20s, and it helped me shed those tears that I kept inside in a way that was both personal and private. Click here to watch embedded mediaWith the next step of the Life is Strange franchise, True Colors looks like it's going to have some dark twists and turns, not unlike the previous entries in the Life is Strange experience. Alex will have a lot to contend with, including solving the mystery behind her brother's death. One important pivot from what Life is Strange has previously offered is that Deck Nine is moving past the previous episodic formula instead of allowing players to sit down and experience True Colors all the way through with no waiting. This will help keep that emotional tie fresh, keep players engaged, and help Alex's tale be told in a way that is uninterrupted and impactful in a way that matters. There are so many games that fit this niche, as well, but with True Colors launching soon, it felt appropriate to reflect on this particular franchise. Games like Heavy Rain, Last Stop, even AAA hits like The Last of Us are all examples of games that explore reconnecting to the human heart. There are so many incredible experiences out there, especially in the indie scene, and I hope to see more amazing tales like this that aren't afraid to be vulnerable. As the world continues to shift, as the pandemic continues to divide people, as politics root themselves as a facade of a personality trait, and as people continue to climb over one another to achieve some form of fame and spotlight, my focus is on self-growth. My gaming focus is on titles like True Colors. My hope is that tales exploring empathy, loss, heartbreak, humanity, and everything to do with this mortal dance we're trying to master will continue to guide us back onto the right path of seeing each other for who we are, not just how we are perceived. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| 343 Swears Halo Infinite Bots Aren't Teabagging Players, It's A Bug Not A Feature Posted: 16 Aug 2021 07:53 AM PDT This time, it really is a bug and not a feature. When the first Halo Infinite Flight test dropped, we here at Game Informer couldn't wait to dive in. You may remember an article we wrote talking about the teabagging nature of the smart AI in the latest Master Chief adventure, but it turns out that the teabagging in-game was actually just a mistake. A mistake that happened over and over and over ... you get the idea. After several videos went viral showing off the smart in-game bots doing the W dance (even though it was impossible to lose a match, which makes for an interesting paradox), 343 has confirmed that the action wasn't intentional. In a recent statement to the site Kotaku, a 343 Industries representative confirmed that the art of teabagging wasn't written into the game's program, at least where the bots are concerned. "We don't have any explicit programming that tells the bots to teabag or taunt you in any way. These bots are meant to be welcoming and fun for players of all skill levels, and a feature designed to taunt a player would oppose that goal." This means only one thing: Robots — they're evolving. Will Smith tried to warn us about this, but we didn't listen, and now? The teabagging takeover begins. The spokesperson did go on to clarify, adding, "If that happened to be observed shortly after a kill, or near a player's body, it can definitely feel like an intentional behavior. In reality, the bot was just struggling to go up the stairs." That does make sense, but somehow teabagging robots sounds cooler, so we're just going to blow right past that. If you missed the first Halo Infinite Flight test, don't you worry. The studio has promised that more early access periods are on the way while the team hammers out the final details before Halo Infinite drops later this year. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Netflix's The Witcher Prequel, Blood Origin, Adds Lenny Henry, Mirren Mack, And More To Cast Posted: 16 Aug 2021 07:24 AM PDT Even more casting choices have been revealed for Netflix's upcoming The Witcher prequel called Blood Origin. The latest additions bring Lord of the Rings and The Nest talent into the mix, teasing a small inside look into what's next with the upcoming series. The latest cast members to be revealed, courtesy of Deadline, are Lenny Henry (Lord of the Rings series), Nathaniel Curtis (It's a Sin), Dylan Moran (Black Books), Zach Wyatt (Urban Myths), Huw Novelli (The Capture), Jacob Collins-Levy (Young Wallander), Francesca Mills (Harlots), Amy Murray, and Mirren Mack (The Nest). These new additions will be joining Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians), Laurence O'Fuarain (Vikings), and Sophia Brown (Marcella). Declan de Barra is leading the prequel alongside Netflix's The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. The Witcher: Blood Origin is a six-part live-action spinoff show from the mainstay live-action take that came before it and takes place 1,200 years before Geralt's reign. "As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I am beyond excited to tell the story The Witcher: Blood Origin," said executive producer Declan de Barra when the prequel was first revealed. "A question has been burning in my mind ever since I first read The Witcher books – What was the Elven world really like before the cataclysmic arrival of the humans? I've always been fascinated by the rise and fall of civilizations, how science, discovery, and culture flourish right before that fall." Hissrich excitedly added, "I am so thrilled to collaborate with Declan and the Netflix team on The Witcher: Blood Origin. It's an exciting challenge to explore and expand The Witcher universe created by Andrzej Sapkowski, and we can't wait to introduce fans to new characters and an original story that will enrich our magical, mythical world even more." With Netflix's The Witcher season 2 dropping later this year on December 17, 2021, and the anime take starring Vesemir, it's a good time to be a fan of this particular fantasy series. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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| Defy The Underworld With This Awesome Hades Nintendo Switch Controller Posted: 16 Aug 2021 06:47 AM PDT Hades is a charming roguelike that took the gaming world by storm when it first debuted and now that it's on other consoles, more players are jumping into Zagreus' quest to defy his father. For those itching to play on a particular platform, there's a new Hades Nintendo Switch Pro controller that is a cool grab for fans of what this mythology-inspired tale has to offer. The new Hades controller is made through PowerA, a licensed third-party peripheral brand that makes controllers exactly like these to spice things up a bit. If you like the design of the Pro controller, then PowerA's latest design is perfect for you, though its Enchanced Wireless controller does not include an NFC reader to work with amiibo.  It doesn't look like pre-orders are available quite yet since it is reading as "temporarily out of stock" on Amazon, but the listing is live. If you're wanting to scoop one of these bad boys up, be sure to be watching for stock to become available here. We couldn't help but to sing the praises of Hades when we first reviewed the game on PC, but our own Matt Miller was happy to continue that trend in his recent console version overview. "Whether you snag a copy on PlayStation or Xbox ($24.99 digital, $29.99 physical edition) or you simply redownload that copy you played through last year, I can say with confidence that you'll have a good time," he said. "Either way, consider starting a new save file and watching Zagreus' adventure unfold from the beginning. Supergiant Games has crafted a game with real staying power, and while that might not be quite as impressive as fighting your way out of hell, your replay will prove it's a worthy feat." If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related! [Source: PowerA via Wario64]
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| Neill Blomkamp On His New Gaming Focus And The Film Industry's Fear Regarding The Future Of Games Posted: 16 Aug 2021 06:00 AM PDT Back in July, District 9 movie director Neill Blomkamp revealed his newest venture: joining Gunzilla Games as its new Chief Visionary Officer. While the team works towards its "next evolution of multiplayer AAA shooters," we sat down with Blomkamp to dive a little deeper into the process of balancing film and games and why the two industries are at such an important precipice of change. For those that may not know, Blomkamp was behind some incredible cinematic adventures, including District 9, Chappie, Elysium, and even the live-action short film for BioWare's Anthem. He was also, at one point and time, attached to the upcoming Halo adaptation, showing his love for games and the science fiction genre in another new and creative way. With his new role at Gunzilla Games, Blomkamp revealed to Game Informer what the future holds as help straddles the line between film and games and his thoughts on both industries as they continue to evolve. Game Informer: With your background in gaming with Halo and Anthem outside of the games themselves, what is your vision going forward with your new position at Gunzilla? Neill Blomkamp: Well, I come out of visual effects originally. And I have a real interest in computer graphics with a specific interest in realm-time computer graphics, which I suppose is going to replace, you know, everything is not really going to be anything like traditional scaline slow-rendering. At least in a few years. So I think games are this amazing, incredibly creative thing with an amazing framework where you can use those tools of computer graphics to drop audiences into. I've been interested in going back to where I started, really, working professionally and in film as an animator and VFX artist. I just kind of went on the right side of this fork in the road into film and, you know, games are just as viable. Because of that, it's pretty awesome to be meeting up with a group of veteran, awesome creators of Gunzilla and to be a part of that team. GI: With Gunzilla's new game being a multiplayer shooter, is that the sort of niche the team is looking to stay in? Are you wanting to branch out of the shooter realm? NB: Kind of, I mean, everything, I guess. I guess there are two answers to that question: the first answer is everything that of all of the discussions I've had with the company has been around the notion of only discussing this game, and getting this game right. As the first foray into making things with the team means all of the focus is 100 percent on this one thing. Which is good! So there hasn't been any discussion about a game afterward about what other games might be like, what genre it would be in, there's zero to do with that right now. Which, to be honest, completely suits me. It would be like working on a film and then talking about the next one already. It doesn't make sense. The second part of the answer is I want a home base where I can be a part of a team making multiple games for many, many years. This is assuming that I don't get hit by a bus or something. Like, I'm just assuming I'm alive, like several years from now. I don't want to jink myself, , so I guess the second part of the answer is "hopefully down the line." GI: With your familiarity with gaming and as a filmmaker, how do you feel about the way that gaming has been evolving and its perception within the film and TV industry while standing on its own as its own medium? NB: I think that there is a reckoning on the film and TV side. I mean, I think games are just barreling ahead. YOu know, I think even the word "games" will probably disappear like some sort of interactive entertainment. I think that the world of games, the world of real-time, graphics, and all of the different genres of experiences that are inside that world is going to just dominate. They're going to expand at an unforeseen exponential rate. And I think film and TV are relatively locked into what it is. So, I think that the film and TV industry will witness this ever-increasing, ever-enlarging industry that is a mixture of hyper-creativity and incorporation of a bigger audience than film and TV. I mean, honestly? gaming is larger on every metric, at this point. GI: Do you think that's causing an element of fear on the film and TV side? NB: I'm sure there is, because it's the future. The future is in things that are being calculated in real-time on computer processors. It's not a passive media where the audience sits and is waiting to be told something. I work in that industry, and I love film, but I think that it's been 25,000 years of the human race telling stories around a campfire. There's this mythological element in our brains that is designed for ingesting stories, and I think that people also make the mistake of thinking that that kind of narrative, like a really good movie, is all there is. Because a really good movie, it's showing you the world through someone else's eyes in a way where it's almost like a simulation. You're watching characters do things that you may or may never do in your own life, and through the results of what their actions are, you get to learn, on a subconscious level, that that is what happens regarding any given choice. The filmmaker, the writer, the director; they are feeding you information: important, nutritious, emotional information. And this only happens with the best films in a way that you can simulate living through those situations without actually having to go through them. Now, if you go back to campfire stories, that's what's happening with film. Right? It's always been a way to bring information down through generations in a way that you would remember it and it would mean something special to you. So it became a myth, and I think that that 'myth' isn't possible to do in an interactive environment. I think people make this mistake constantly of mixing up narrative with the future of gaming as sort of a narrative world. And I don't think it is, it's the total opposite, I think the future of gaming is in more and more photorealistic environments that are more and more physically true, that allow the player to do whatever they want, in that environment. It's like a wish-fulfillment type of thing, like if Grand Theft Auto v looked entirely real, using all five senses. So you can see that coming if you look at brain-computer interfaces and where they are going. I mean, technically even VR is a step in that direction. So basically, I think TV, movie, and games will remain very separate, but film will sort of what games do as they explode and expand. GI: Do you see gaming having a positive impact on film, though? Like you say, it's not stagnant but more of a fixed feature, but do you see it forcing that industry to evolve? NB: Really, I don't know that the film industry needs to evolve. I think that it's an incredibly mature industry. It knows what it's doing and how to make content for the audience it's making films for, TV shows for. I think what will happen, if anything happens at all, will be the filming making and the filmmakers will become better and better at their craft, but they're still locked into a framework that people have been seeing since color and sound films have been around. Maybe there will be some breakthroughs on the tech side, like with volumetric capture, but I don't know. GI: Do you ever see yourself leaving the film industry to pursue games full-time? Is there anything in particular on the gaming side that you can't get on the movie side? NB: No, absolutely not, I want to make both, I love making both. It's my own sort of creative gratification, but both feel incredibly cool to me, I wouldn't want to leave either industry. One thing that I like about the gaming world is that you can double-down on world creation. You can be specific with the design of the world whereas a film's driving force is its characters and story. So I think that in the absence of character and story, the kind of world creation element that can be the focus is something I really want to triple down on. I think that's what I get from it, you can just go crazy with the character-specific design or environmental design, or in the way you're treading audio and the skill scope that the audience is dropped into. I was talking earlier about how much I love 3D environments and coming out of VFX; that can be the sound design of you in games in a 3D environment. It's placing you there, as a player, and I love that stuff. In film, you're guiding the audience on rails through something in a specific timeline. With games, you can go into any room and explore anything you want, so it's a very different kind of psychological framework of creativity. While Blomkamp is hard at work on Gunzilla's newest shooter adventure, he also has a new film that fans can enjoy that centers around a young woman who unleashes demons and other dangerous supernatural forces into the world, with a rift between a mother and daughter at its epicenter. You can watch Demonic for yourself when it arrives on August 20, 2021. If comments are still showing as disabled, a site update is happening on our side that has caused a temporary takedown. We hope to have them back up and running soon so our community can go back to sharing their thoughts with us about everything gaming-related!
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