Author: Trafficblast

The screen went dark for a moment at the end of Grounded’s reveal trailer. A rumbling growl could be heard before a gigantic spider popped on screen. It was a jump scare that was more effective than Obsidian intended it to be.

“We watched through a bunch of reactions there was huge number of people that was not ‘oh gosh, that’s scary,’ it was ‘oh gosh, I can’t play this,'” Obsidian technical game designer Jerrick Flores tells GameSpot. “That was a big red flag.”

It was at that point that Flores and others on the Grounded team decided to build and arachnophobia mode so that players who were sensitive to spiders could still play. It wouldn’t be like the arachnophobia modes other games (Satisfactory by Swedish studio Coffee Stain replaces spiders with a picture of a cats face) or the Insect Begone mod created by the Skyrim community that removes spiders from the game altogether. Obsidian wanted the accessibility option to be client side since Grounded is a cooperative game—it needed to only affect players who chose the option.

“The biggest question when we were looking at this was where do we start? We worked with the research team to figure out what would trigger those fearful reactions,” Flores said. “Anything that could trigger those reactions had to be targeted.”

Obsidian started working with the Xbox user research team, who already supports game development across Microsoft-owned studios, to host studies and surveys to help to gather data on what triggers arachnophobia. They built various spider models, some with less eyes, legs, hair, and other spider-like features, and showed them in one in-person study before the pandemic and multiple online surveys once worldwide lockdowns began.

“We looked at different reactions and one of the elements that popped up the most for people was they eight eyes,” Xbox researcher Deanne Adams said. This method eventually led Obsidian to solidify the types of sliders available in the demo of Grounded that was released in mid-June. The number of eyes, legs, fur, and even sounds in-game spiders can make can be adjusted by the players. Spiders can effectively be turned invisible if the player doesn’t want to see them at all.

All studies, surveys, and gameplay tests were done with spider sensitivity in mind. People who participated in the surveys were given the option to opt out midway through if they became too overwhelmed with the models being shown. The research team used this as an indicator for what generally triggers arachnophobia.

“The preview image in the mode is obscured until the player chooses to look at the image,” Jerrick said of how safety is key for people testing the mode out. “It’s in the players control for when they want to view the setting.”

Both Obsidian and the Xbox user research team hope that arachnophobia modes get implemented by more studios, especially if their work helps make that possible. Adams and fellow Xbox researcher Blake Pellman added that the research they do would be available to other Microsoft studios.

“I think that the endeavor to make games as accessible as possible is noble,” Flores said, noting that these spider sliders were widely requested by the Obsidian community. “The challenge is figuring out what options to focus on with your limited time and resources.”

The recent Nintendo leak has offered up a treasure trove of gaming hypotheticals, including numerous cancelled projects, Luigi in Mario 64, and prototype character designs. But one of the more peculiar finds is a Pokemon MMO that never saw the light of day.

The idea of a Pokemon MMO isn’t what makes the cancelled project interesting. Instead, it’s the fact that it was being developed for the Game Boy Advance, with online features offloaded onto a version you would hook up to a PC to play.

The game would’ve been based off Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, with online elements borrowing from Pokemon Coliseum. It was in development at Chinese studio iQue, which has since closed their doors. The game was slated to launch initially in 2005 and eventually grow into its online component by 2006, but for unknown reasons Nintendo decided to pull the plug on it.

It’s a format that hasn’t really been attempted since by Nintendo and The Pokemon Company since, despite modern Pokemon games having more robust online features with each release. It has also now been beaten to the punch, with Pokemon-like Temtem giving monster hunting players the MMO they’ve wanted from the series for years. Temtem also just received a big new update as more content continues to be developed for the early access title.

Netflix has made a “low seven-figure” deal to acquire the screen rights to Matt Query’s short horror story ‘My Wife and I Bought a Ranch,’ which was posted across six installments on Reddit.

Deadline reports that Query’s brother, Harrison, has been tapped to write the screenplay, while Scott Glassgold of Ground Control Entertainment will take on the role of producer. 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen are said to be in talks to produce also, together with Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear.

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Query posted his tale of terror on the r/Nosleep subreddit, a popular space for users to share their original horror stories. It tells the story of a couple, named Harry and Sasha, who buy their dream ranch in rural Idaho but soon discover that they’re not alone in the mountains.

According to the outlet, the couple “meet their neighbors, who inform them that there is a malevolent spirit in the valley, one that manifests itself by coming to the house in the same manner at the start of each season. There are certain steps that must be followed to keep the spirit out of their house, and the tension and violence grows with each gory ritual as the duel between the spirits and [Harry] the ex-Marine soldier becomes personal.”

The first part of the story has received more than 3000 upvotes over the past five months, with Part II: The Lights, Part III: The Bear Chase, Part IV: The Scarecrows, and Part V: The Ghosts Arrive also proving popular amongst readers.

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Over the years, Netflix has garnered a reputation for spending enormous amounts of money to secure original streaming content for its platform in a bid to stay ahead of its competitors in the increasingly crowded streaming landscape. In fact, it was projected earlier this year that Netflix would be spending $17.3 billion on new content for 2020, up from $15.3 billion last year.

To get a better sense of what Netflix is getting in exchange for its expenditure, check out everything that is new to Netflix this month, learn about the best horror TV shows that are on the service right now, and read about Netflix’s extensive partnership with the Roald Dahl Story Company, which now includes two animated adaptations from Taika Waititi.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

An image of what appears to be a white Xbox Series X controller has appeared online, suggesting another variant or version of the console exists.

As first spotted by The Verge, a user known as “Wolfy_Wizzardo” posted a picture of the white controller to Reddit. The post and user account is now deleted, but apparently the image was taken by the user at a party hosted by the child of a Microsoft employee. You can spot the middle share button and the new indented Xbox Series X controller D-Pad, which makes this leaked controller variant appear somewhat credible by association.

The Verge’s Tom Warren spoke to the user before the post was taken down, and they told him that they had played games on the console, that the UI was similar to the Xbox One (a point we’ve heard before), the controller “looked more squarish” and had a more pronounced Xbox button.

a white Xbox Series X? someone on Reddit claims they saw one at a party last night. If it’s legit then it might be a special edition color for Microsoft employees https://t.co/yGgJirZ1bK pic.twitter.com/pDt4Wtqq1M

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 26, 2020

Setting aside the possibility that this could be fake (we’ve seen 3D printed controllers pop up ahead of console launches before), there are several theories around what this controller could be attached to. The simplest is that we’re seeing a different colour variant for Series X, whether that’s an unannounced public option, or a special edition made for Microsoft employees. This could also be a devkit or debug console controller – development models of consoles often look different to release models (for instance, the Xbox One X devkit was white as opposed to the production version’s black).

Another possibility is that this is the controller for the much-rumoured ‘Xbox Lockhart’, a lower-powered, lower priced model of Series X we’re heard rumours about for some time. Back in early June, references to an ‘Xbox Lockhart’ were found in Windows Operating System code libraries, suggesting that there was a rumoured second console on the way, as part of the Xbox Series X family. In late June, a report surfaced suggesting that the Xbox Lockhart is set to be revealed in August, and will be known as the Xbox Series S.

In other Xbox Series X news, check out every game confirmed and rumoured for Microsoft’s next-gen console.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

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Ghost of Tsushima, the latest PS4 exclusive from Infamous creators Sucker Punch, has received a new patch that aims to make combat both more punishing and accessible, for those who want and need it respectively.

The headline of the patch is the new “Lethal” difficulty, which will push you beyond the game’s current hard mode. Here enemies will deal more damage with each blow, while Jin’s own swings of his katana will take down enemies quicker too. You’ll have to adjust to tighter timing windows for parries and dodges too, while contending with foes that will be far more aggressive in fights.

On the other end of the spectrum, the patch will also introduce a low combat intensity option into the accessibility menu. This aims to give players more breathing room in combat, preventing enemies from attacking Jin while healing and breaking off their combos once you’re hit. You can also block previously unblockable attacks, while also staggering Brutes with your heavy attack to give you an advantage.

Outside of these two gameplay changes, the update gives you more options for text sizes and legibility, including new colors for subtitles. It also features big fixes, but the official patch notes don’t specify exactly which you can expect to be quashed with the update. You can read the full patch notes below.

Ghost of Tsushima Patch 1.05 Notes

New difficulty level: Lethal

• Enemy weapons are more deadly, but Jin’s katana is also more deadly
• Enemies are more aggressive in combat
• Enemies detect you faster
• Tighter Parry and Dodge windows

Lower Intensity Combat

Lower intensity mode is meant to maintain the heart and feel of Ghost of Tsushima combat while relaxing several timing-specific elements. Combat is less intense, giving you more time to react. Stealth settings are more forgiving, and enemies take longer to detect you.

• Most enemy attacks which are normally unblockable become blockable when Lower Intensity is enabled. Blocking with L1 will keep you safe from more attacks than standard combat, though some attacks must still be dodged.
• Enemies break off their attack combos after damaging you, giving you a chance to recover before the next wave of attacks. In addition, your heavy attacks will interrupt attacks from Brutes, giving you another way to stop their combos.
• Enemies will not attack you while you’re using Resolve to heal
• Enemy awareness builds more slowly, giving you more time to recover after being spotted

Text changes

• Large Text option: Increases text size of subtitles, mission objectives and interact prompts by 150% when enabled
• Added option to turn speaker name off when subtitles are enabled
• New subtitle text color options in addition to white: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green

Patch 1.05 also includes additional bug fixes.