Cooking Mama: Cookstar has had a dramatic release, with the game disappearing from the Nintendo Switch Eshop and reports suggesting that there’s a dispute over developer Planet Entertainment LLC’s use of the license.
Rumors abounded that the game’s troubles were to do with the blockchain technology that was originally announced as being a part of the game, but it has since come to light that the owners of the Cooking Mama franchise have taken issue with the game’s quality. Now, license owner Office Create Corp has released a statement about the game, distancing itself from Cookstar and making it clear that they object to its release.
“In August 2018, Office Create licensed Planet to develop the Cooking Mama: Cookstar game for Nintendo Switch,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, the quality of the game builds failed to meet the standards that our customers expect and deserve. Office Create rejected a wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality, and content of the game.”
But while Planet was obligated to improve the game, as per their contract, Office Create alleges that they released the game without addressing “the identified deficiencies.” Furthermore, a planned European release of a PS4 version was not approved at all. “Office Create itself has not been involved in the development of any PS4 Cooking Mama game,” the statement says.
While Office Create terminated Planet’s license on March 30, 2020, the studio went ahead and released Cookstar anyway, the statement says. “Planet continues to advertise and sell the unauthorized version of Cooking Mama: Cookstar on its website in willful violation of Office Create’s rights,” it reads. “To date, Planet has not confirmed the status of the unauthorized PS4 version.”
Legal action is now being pursued, and Office Create says that it “regret(s) any confusion and disappointment that has been caused by Planet’s conduct.”
All of this means that Cooking Mama: Cookstar is likely to become a future collector’s item–and the game is currently sold out online.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar is unlikely to return to sale. Series fans will have to settle for the second-most recent entry in the series, 2014’s Cooking Mama 5 on the 3DS, for their fix.
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Sony recently unveiled the PlayStation 5‘s new DualSense controller, and it’s very striking. The controller strays from tradition with its two-toned design, while it also sports haptic feedback that Sony says will help increase immersion for next-generation titles.
A lot of people had plenty to say about the controller, and now a former director at Xbox has weighed in with his thoughts as well. Albert Penello, who led the marketing and product planning divisions at Xbox for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One generations, has commented that he generally like’s Sony’s “futuristic” design, but he has some reservations, too.
I like the new #DualSence. Futuristic looking and I like the Portal/Mass Effect style armor. Some bold (and expensive!) design choices to achieve that layering. Widening the triggers is smart, adding more fidelity to rumble is good looking forward to that.
Penello went on to say he anticipates the DualSense will be “quite comfortable,” but he also remarked that he worries about the partline that runs down the grips. “If you have larger hands, this could create some discomfort in the thenar,” he said, referencing the ball of the thumb on your hand.
Penello also questioned the applicability of the built-in microphone, and he wondered if the controller will work with virtual reality and if it might be compatible with the PlayStation 4.
The downsides – Resting on the triggers. 🙁 – I’m worried about the partline that runs down the grips. If you have larger hands, this could create some discomfort in the Thenar. – Mic seems good in theory how useful in practice? – Does this work with VR? – Back compat with PS4?
Penello said the Google Stadia controller is “extremely comfortable,” and that he was anticipating that Sony would move more toward that kind of design as opposed to making the DualSense more in line with the Xbox controller. Penello also said he’s intrigued to see the PS5 console design, because historically, the design of the system and the controller are aligned.
In his previous role at Xbox, Penello conducted user research tests specifically around controllers. Penello previously weighed in on the debate surrounding AA batteries versus an internal rechargeable cell, saying both sides have merit, but ultimately AA batteries offer more choice.
The DualSense uses an internal battery, while the next-gen Xbox controller sticks with AA batteries. For more on the next-generation gamepads, check out GameSpot’s PS5/Xbox Series X comparison feature.
Summons are some of the most sought-after magical spells in Final Fantasy games, and this tradition continues in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Contained within special orbs of Materia, these powerful magical creatures come out stylishly, primed to help their allies or put whoever they’re up against through a world of pain. When a summon creature is called into battle, they act as an AI-controlled party member and can be issued attack commands.
The summons in FF7 Remake are mostly optional and can be easy to miss when you’re not taking time to go off the beaten path of the story to find them. Below you can find details about every summon and how to unlock every summon throughout the game. For more guides, check out our FF7 Remake guides and walkthrough roundup. Though, be sure to read our FF7 Remake review for our full thoughts about the game.
Ifrit
Your first Summon Materia, Ifrit, is mandatory, as it’s given to you at the start of Chapter 4. This fiery slab of muscle is an aggressive fighter and great to throw out in most situations early on as you get your bearings around commanding a summon creature in battle.
Chocobo and Moogle
Location: After Ifrit, the next Summon Materia you can get appears during Chapter 6. It’s pointed out to you by Tifa as you’re slowly passing by some industrial ventilation fans. Unfortunately, you can’t access it until after you power down two out of the three sunlamps in the area.
Once that deed is done, return to the H-01 section to use the gondola that will take you back toward the ventilation system. On the far side, take the ladder up to a service room where you activate a console that orders you to do some cleaning maintenance in the next room within a minute. Kill all the enemies and press the button on the console at the end of the room in time to complete the job. Don’t worry if you fail to kill everything within the time limit, though. You can double back out of the room and hit the console again to start a new, easier fight with some weaker enemies.
Once you activate the other console, you can head into the fan corridor and snag the Chocobo and Moogle Summon Materia. It’s a useful one to have equipped when you’re up against enemies weak to the Wind element. It also has a useful maneuver called Chocobo Kick, which is essential for inflicting major stagger damage.
Shiva
Location: If you keep in touch with Shinra intern Chadley during Chapter 8, he should provide you with a VR combat scenario that pits you against summon creature Shiva to earn its respective Materia. Chadley can be found standing between a healing bench and the Materia shop in the Sector 5 Slums.
As a note, you’ll have whoever’s in your party when you take on this fight, so if you try it with just Cloud, it’ll be tougher than if you tackle it with Aerith in your squad. We recommend that you bring Aerith along, though.
Boss Strategy: Shiva is an Ice summon, and thus weak to Fire. Give Aerith your best Fire Materia, and make sure you have the Ifrit summon equipped, then head into the battle. Cloud can pretty much take care of himself, so you’re better off controlling Aerith to run up her ATB bars as quickly as possible; the more Fire or Fira spells you can cast on Shiva, the faster you’ll manage to stagger her. Make use of Aerith’s Arcane Ward ability, which automatically makes you cast two spells for every ATB bar you spend, to maximize your damage. A good Fire spell will knock Shiva to the ground, offering Cloud a chance to lay down some melee attacks. Make sure you’re not too close when she gets back up, though, because she’ll use the Icicle Impact area attack spell around her when she’s back on her feet.
You’ll want to keep laying down spells on Shiva while working to keep Aerith alive. You’ll need to be on top of dodging her attacks to stay clear of incoming danger, which include Blizzara spells that Shiva will shoot your way and a bunch of ice crystals to shoot at you in a group. Dodging the ice crystals attack is a losing battle because there are so many of them, so guard against it and power through.
Once you do enough damage, Shiva will get more aggressive, with spells that come faster and new Frost Familiars that protect her and increase the number of spells she casts. Keep firing away with spells to knock out the minions, but beware of the White Out attack, which will send ice crystals through the ground at you. If they hit you, you’ll fall asleep, opening you up to a huge but slow magic attack from Shiva called Heavenly Strike. You’ll see a massive ice crystal form above the sleeping character; quickly switch to your other character and use Smelling Salts to wake up the sleeper, then dodge away to avoid the big crystal.
As soon as you can get Ifrit in the battle, summon him and start using his abilities to do significant damage and keep Shiva off-balance. The Fire attacks should end up staggering her quickly, allowing you to do a bunch more damage. At about one-quarter health, Shiva will do her big summon attack, damaging your entire party. Make sure you’re healed up before that happens, or she can take you out in one blow. After that, keep hitting her with Fire spells until she’s done.
Fat Chocobo
Location: Like Shiva, you can get Fat Chocobo by defeating it in a VR combat scenario. The mission is available when you talk to Chadley during Chapter 9, who you can find hanging out west of the item shop in the Wall Market.
Boss Strategy: Fighting Fat Chocobo is a whole lot easier than Shiva, but you still need to keep your wits about you. The summon creature doesn’t have any significant weaknesses, so you’ll just want to hit it with your toughest attacks and spells. The best way to pressure Fat Chocobo is with ATB abilities, like Cloud’s Braver and Focused Thrust. Go with the ones you like best and deal the biggest damage, while having Aerith keep up a variety of spells, and keep hammering at Fat Chocobo in an attempt to stagger him.
Fat Chocobo hits back with physical attacks, so if you have Barrier Materia, use it to protect your squad. His Wark attack has him throwing random garbage at you, which you can easily avoid by dodging. When you get in close, watch out for Boom, in which he pops up into the air and drops back down for a big area-of-effect strike. After a bit, he’ll start rolling around with Roly Poly, which you can dodge clear of if you’re quick.
Meanwhile, the Moogle that floats around Fat Chocobo will occasionally summon spectral enemies to come after you–specifically, Bombs and Tonberries. Knock these out quickly if you can with Triple Strike, or let Aerith handle them with her magic while you keep up your assault on Fat Chocobo. You’ll occasionally want to switch to Aerith to speed her ATB gain for healing spells, especially if Cloud gets walloped with a few of Fat Chocobo’s major attacks.
When you get a chance, summon Ifrit or Shiva into the battle to further pressure Fat Chocobo–the further into the fight you get, the more minion enemies will get spawned in to overwhelm you. They shouldn’t bother you too much, but if you’re finding yourself taking a lot of damage, peel off and take a second to deal with them before returning your focus to the boss.
Leviathan
Location: Leviathan joins the list of VR combat scenarios during Chapter 14. At this point, you can talk to Chadley at any of his most recent previously-known locations, so you’re free to hit him wherever.
Boss Strategy: Leviathan’s abilities don’t have a particular element, but it is weak against Thunder magic, so bring your best Lightning materia and outfit your team. The boss itself is tough, mostly because it’s wily and difficult to hit. It’ll continually reposition around the huge battlefield, requiring your melee team to run around in an attempt to catch up. You’ll want to hit the Leviathan with as much Lightning as you can because of this and to make use of Barret’s ranged attacks. Aim for the head whenever you can.
In the first half of the fight, you’ll need to contend with Leviathan’s hard-hitting attacks that require you to pay attention to positioning. Its Briny Barrage attack is a tough one to dodge, so it’s usually better to Guard. Briny Bellow shoots a laser beam at you that hurts a lot, but if you’re quick, you can sometimes dodge clear of it. The Leviathan will also turn its head to sweep the laser across part of the battlefield, so if you can keep moving, you can sometimes avoid it altogether. Be careful about staying too close to the Leviathan, however, because it’ll activate its Gyre Spume area-of-effect attack around itself to send you flying.
You want Tifa and Cloud to wail on the Leviathan’s body (marked as “Dorsal Fin” on your menus) while Barret hits it in the head as much as possible, which will drive up its stagger meter. When Leviathan lowers its head to charge attacks like Aqua Focus, hit it as hard as you can in the dome to try to pressure it and knock it out of the attacks it’s charging. Focused Shot, Focused Thrust, and Focused Strike are good to push up the stagger meter further–if you can knock the Leviathan down, you can pummel it–but big damage attacks like Braver can be enough to stop the Leviathan from doing something painful to your team.
Be careful activating your powerful attacks like limit breaks, because the Leviathan likes to move around and force you to waste them. If it rears up, get ready for its big Spinning Dive attack, which is next to impossible to dodge and does massive damage as the Leviathan rams into you. Stick with Barret and keep hammering the Leviathan’s head with spells and gunfire when it takes to the air, as well. You’ll receive a lot of damage in the fight, so make sure to keep your team healthy with healing magic and abilities like Pray.
After you’ve done some damage, the Leviathan will start flying around, using its Tidal Wave attack to create water cyclones around the battlefield. These will hurt you upon contact, forcing you to keep moving, so get mobile while you keep firing on the Leviathan. Other than more things to deal with in the battle, nothing much changes, though; keep hammering the Leviathan’s head as much as you can while the melee squad goes after the Dorsal Fin. We liked the Chocobo & Moogle summon for this fight as well since the Chocobo Kick attack is geared at driving up enemies’ stagger meters.
Be sure to keep your health up, as eventually, the Leviathan will hit you with its big summon attack, which can seriously injure your whole team. You should be able to weather it, and by that point, a few more concentrated attacks will finish the Leviathan off.
Chadley’s Secret Summon
The most powerful of Chadley’s summons is also the most difficult to get. It requires completing all his Battle Intel assignments, before taking on an extremely tough boss fight. Since it’s such an arduous process, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about unlocking this secret summon in a separate guide. Be warned; there are potential spoilers contained within that guide, so proceed with caution.
DLC Summons: Choco Chick, Cactuar, And Carbuncle
There are three special summons only available as a bonus if you purchase the Digital Deluxe edition of FF7 Remake; if you bought the standard version, it’s possible to upgrade your copy for an additional $20 to nab the DLC summons. As mentioned above, these extra summon creatures are Cactuar, Carbuncle, and Choco Chick. In terms of capability, they each offer some useful perks in battle, which you can use to determine if they’re right for you.
Choco Chick is the weakest of the DLC trio, only capable of casting level three Materia spells onto enemies, which isn’t the most valuable trait if your party is already well-equipped with magic Materia. As this adorable baby Chocobo exits the battlefield, it sets off a powerful non-elemental magic explosion onto enemies.
Cactuar is effective at quickly staggering enemies, which makes it handy for boss fights where staggering is critical. Its only ability is 1,000 needles, which deals fixed damage multiple times, while even potentially poisoning and slowing them down in the process. When exiting a battle, Cactuar unleashes an area-of-effect stagger attack called 10,000 Needles.
Carbuncle is the strongest of the DLC trio with abilities that buff your party in various ways, such as increasing their ATB recharge rate or halving the damage of either physical or magic attacks. Its exit ability is called Diamond Dazzle, a clutch maneuver that heals the entire party and even revives those currently KO’d.
To access the DLC Summons after purchasing them, press pause, navigate to System, and then to DLC Content to confirm them into your inventory.
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According to Amos Hodge, creative director at Raven Software, the team behind Call of Duty’s Warzone is looking to adjust the drop rate of money in the battle royale game.
We would like to keep the prices consistent, so players won’t have to memorize a bunch of different prices. We are looking into adjusting the drop rate of money based on player count instead.
The developers are looking to adjust the drop rate of money based on the player count. This will allow for the prize money to be scaled across all modes. The hope is that players won’t have to memorize a bunch of different prices, instead creating a more consistent level of value.
Theoretically, this change should help those who are not confident in playing in solo matches still be able to earn a steady amount of money to spend on the in-game stations while playing.
Call of Duty: Warzone players might have noticed something different about the battle royale game. The Solos version of the mode has removed large armored trucks to help balance the experience.
Raven Software creative director Amos Hodge said on Twitter that the trucks were removed to help “tone down the vehicle meta a bit.” That’s all Hodge had to say on the matter, so it’s not clear if their removal is tied to any specific issue or other factor.
Armored trucks remain available in Warzone’s other variants, including Duos, Trios, and Quads. While armored trucks have been removed from Solos, there are plenty of other vehicles to drive, including ATVs and helicopters, among others.
We pulled out the big Armored Trucks from the solo playlist. Hopefully that tones downs the vehicle meta a bit. #Warzone
Hodge did not say if armored trucks will ever return to Warzone Solos, or if there will be further changes made to vehicles, but keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
There is a new world record for most kills in a Call of Duty: Warzone solos match. This record is a whopping 37 kills, set by streamer HusKerrs, who used to play Apex Legends professionally.
You can now watch this entire record-setting match below (via GamesRadar), and it’s damn impressive. Upon dropping on top of a building, HusKerrs immediately gets into a heavy firefight and nearly goes down. He ends up wiping five enemies from the rooftop, which is more kills than most people probably get in an entire match.
He just keeps on truckin’ from there, strategically using the helicopter to move from building to building and smoking people with his grenade launcher and sharpshooting skills.
At 5:24 in the video, HusKerrs is inches away from death, but he survives with very minimal armor and wipes out even more players before getting healed up and restocked for the next battle. At 7:05, HusKerrs gets taken down in a close-range firefight, but he emerges victorious from the Gulag and redeploys. He’s able to drop near where he died and basically just re-kits to put himself in a good position for the upcoming bloodbath.
Watch the full video to see how HusKerrs pulled off this impressive Warzone victory.
Unlike other MMOs, Blizzard’s genre-defining World of Warcraft launched on PC and never made the jump to console. There are still no official plans to bring the game to home consoles, but the developers are introducing controller support with the upcoming expansion.
A data-mining effort of the game’s code recently revealed references to gamepad support, leading some to believe that an announcement of a console version of WoW was imminent. That’s not the case, but Blizzard will add support for the Xbox Adaptive Controller.
Writing in the WoW forums (via GamesRadar), community manager Kaivax said some people in the WoW community have been using third-party add-ons like Console Port 39 to help with accessibility issues. The developer is now trying to get ahead of this by releasing official gamepad support.
“We always want to make WoW more widely accessible, if possible, so in Shadowlands, we’re attempting to add some support for keybinds, camera, and turning a character on controllers such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller,” Kaivax said.
“We’re glad that the community has felt empowered to make add-ons tailored to specific needs like this, and we’re going to continue to encourage that as best we can.”
Released in September 2018, the Xbox Adaptive Controller has been an important step for making games more accessible. The open-source controller is highly adaptable, as one father recently modded it to work with a Nintendo Switch to help his daughter play games.
Shadowlands is the eighth expansion for WoW, and it is scheduled for release in 2020. As its name suggests, the expansion takes players to the world of the dead. Unlike all the previous expansions, Shadowlands actually reduces the level cap to 60, down from 120, as part of a unique twist.
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Spanning over 50 years, the James Bond franchise is the longest running film series of all time. The British secret agent has been immortalized in the cultural zeitgeist, and the actors that play him become instant A-Listers. 007 has truly stood the test of time. How has he evolved, and what is his impact on popular culture?
In the video above, Dave Klein digs into the history and evolution of James Bond, from the first appearance in the 1953 novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, to the 007 films starring Sean Connery, followed by actors George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
Following a surprise announcement that XCOM: Chimera Squad, a standalone spinoff that takes place after the events of XCOM 2, would release next week, developer Firaxis revealed additional details about the upcoming tactics-based game. Namely that Chimera Squad was not designed to be a direct sequel or expansion, but as an entry point for new players.
“[XCOM: Chimera Squad] is neither a sequel or expansion to XCOM 2, though its story is set after the events of the past games,” a Firaxis spokesperson said, in an interview with USgamer. “As reflected in our pricing, we’re lowering the barriers of entry to the game and making it easier for fans new and old to check out XCOM: Chimera Squad.”
Chimera Squad makes several big changes to the franchise’s traditional formula. One of the more noticeable adjustments is having a set squad, a change that Firaxis believes is a natural course for the series. “The decision to move toward having unique agents in XCOM: Chimera Squad was partly driven by some of the choices we made in the War of the Chosen expansion for XCOM 2, where you had characters with distinct personalities like the Chosen, Elena Dragunova, and Pratal Mox,” the developer said. “Having your full squad composed of unique characters with unique abilities felt like a natural evolution of those decisions.”
XCOM: Chimera Squad is scheduled to release for PC on April 24. Firaxis has said that there are “no current plans” to port the game to consoles. The game will be available on sale for $10 USD at launch–returning to its original retail pricing of $20 USD on May 1.
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XCOM developer Firaxis announced a new game in the series, and it’s coming to PC via Steam very soon. Chimera Squad launches on April 24, and it’ll cost you $10 on day one–the price will jump up to $20 on May 1, however.
Chimera Squad is a spin-off, not a sequel. It’s set five years after the events of XCOM 2 XCOM 2 and changes up the series’ gameplay quite a bit. Perhaps most significantly, it removes permadeath: your mission will simply restart if a squad member bleeds out. You can learn more about Chimera Squad and its key differences in the video above.
