Category: Games

The Resident Evil series’ first reboot movie officially has a title–Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. If you’re a fan of the original few games and were hoping to see some of your favorites like Leon and Chris instead of wholly original characters, it looks like you’re in luck.

The film’s title was shared with IGN during a SXSW online interview, and director Johannes Roberts will be including elements and characters from the first two games. These include some famous locations like the police station and the mansion in Raccoon City, but it’s not clear how the two-month time difference between the two games will factor in. Another game, Resident Evil 3, takes place concurrently with the second one, but from Jill Valentine’s perspective.

Kaya Scodelario, perhaps best known from her work in the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, will play Claire Redfield, while her brother Chris will be played by Robbie Amell. Veteran character actor Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Angels and the Outfield) will play scientist William Birkin, while big bad Wesker will be Tom Hopper of The Umbrella Academy fame. It seems he just can’t escape Umbrella.

Based on Roberts’ previous comments, it looks like Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will not be as bombastic and explosion-heavy as the previous films. He is looking to tell a “grounded” story and given that the series didn’t head into action territory until after the first few games, that seems to fit the source material.

Along with the new live-action film, there is also a live-action series in the works at Netflix following the Wesker family as well as an animated series with Leon and Claire. Combine that with Resident Evil Village releasing in less than two months, and it’s a great time to be a Resident Evil fan.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is scheduled hit theaters on September 3.

One the most recognizable versions of Tetris can be found on the original NES, but it lacks some of the features we now consider standard for the puzzle game. One of the biggest omissions is “hard drop,” which lets you save precious time by instantly slamming a piece into position without waiting for it to fall, and programmer Stephen Sherratt took it upon himself to get the feature working in the classic NES version, complete with a “ghost” piece for guidance.

As he explained on his website Grid Bugs, Sherratt decided to add two related features to the NES Tetris game. The first is the hard drop itself, accomplished by pressing up on the directional pad like it’s done in most other Tetris games. The second modification he made added an outline of the currently controlled piece to wherever it was set to land, making the hard drop more accurate. Again, this is a feature seen in pretty much all modern Tetris games such as Tetris 99 and Tetris Effect. In the challenge video below, one player even hard dropped every single piece he got in Tetris 99.

Sherratt made use of a program using the Rust programming language and, combined with his own NES emulator, it made it easier for him to experiment with changes. He had to write instructions for the outlined “ghost piece,” for instance, so it appeared in the correct spot based on how many movements it would take before the real piece collided with something.

After adding the hard drop functionality and resolving an issue that seemed to cause a slight delay based on the game’s clock speed, he got it working properly. Could Sherratt have just played a slightly newer version of Tetris and had a very similar experience? Yes, but it’s neat to see a game that is several decades old undergo a fundamental change to its mechanics. Others have added hard drop via modding in the past, but from what we could find, none included the ghost piece before.

Tetris on NES was one of three games included on the Nintendo World Championships cartridge, with the other two being Super Mario Bros. and Rad Racer. These cartridges were created for use in the competition of the same name back in 1990, and their rarity has made them extremely expensive collectibles. As of this writing, someone is trying to sell a gold variant–given away via Nintendo Power originally–for $1 million.

The Last of Us show being produced for HBO is adapting the original game–at least for its first season–but fans shouldn’t expect to know exactly what happens. In fact, there are certain parts where it will differ pretty significantly from the original material.

Speaking to IGN during SXSW 2021, Neil Druckmann, who wrote and served as creative director for both games and is executive producing the show, said the action level will be toned down on the show. It’s less necessary when there are no mechanics to teach, allowing the writers to spend more time focused on the drama between the characters. Additionally, there will be points where events are completely different from the game.

“Some of my favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them,” he added.

The Last of Us is very long for a linear, story-based game, easily clocking in at more than 20 hours, and since the adaptation is a series rather than a movie, that gives Druckmann and co-writer Craig Mazin plenty of opportunities to tweak story beats. At other times, lines will be basically verbatim from the game.

Years ago, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams said she wanted to play Ellie in a movie adaptation. It seemed like the perfect role at the time, but the character is supposed to be 14 and at this point, Williams is 23. The leads eventually cast were Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, both of whom just so happened to be on Game of Thrones. In Pascal’s case, he’s also attracted significant attention for The Mandalorian and a variety of film roles.

Nier: Automata has been available on Steam for more than four years, but the game’s recent inclusion on Xbox Game Pass for PC has drawn controversy–because it appears to be a far superior version compared to the Steam release. Steam customers aren’t too happy about this, and they’ve taken to review-bombing the Steam page in frustration.

Though Nier: Automata’s total review average still sits at “very positive” on Steam, recent reviews have been much more negative. They call out the poor quality of the PC port that has been available on Steam–players have even created their own modes to simply fix it–when a much better version was released on Game Pass for PC. Some of the players advocate for newcomers to just get it from the Microsoft Store, while others are pushing for Square Enix to release the same fixes on Steam.

What were those fixes? Port developer QLOC said the Xbox Game Pass for PC version includes HDR support, 4K UI textures, FidelityFX, and borderless video settings. According to Eurogamer, the last of those fixes addresses a resolution issue that had been affecting the PC version since launch. A mod released shortly after the game’s initial launch called “Fix Automata Resolution” addressed that resolution issue as well as stuttering during cutscenes. If you do have the Steam version, you may want to try the mod before jumping to the Xbox Game Pass for PC release.

PC players are certainly hoping the next Nier game, a remake of the original titled Nier: Replicant, will fare better. It’s releasing April 23 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and offers gameplay improvements from PlatinumGames that bring the combat more in line with Automata’s. It also includes new and updated music, and it should be a good starting point for those unfamiliar with Nier at all, as it takes place thousands of years before Automata.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will be coming to PS5 in just a few months, and Square Enix has released a new, expanded version of its previous announcement video showing off the visual enhancements as well as the new features like a customizable photo mode.

The biggest immediate improvement you can see is the lighting, which adds a sense of life to scenes that–while still impressive on PS4–didn’t give characters’ faces or the environment the same subtle shadows. It also allows you to better see the details on the models, such as Barret’s forehead wrinkles. When walking in the slums of Midgar, the light seems to leak through from a space in the metal structure above, making the world beyond seem much more inviting.

Textures have received a makeover that also benefits from the lighting, but beyond that, they also show much more detail. It was an area the original PS4 game could sometimes fall flat–literally–with main characters’ super-detailed models standing next to pretty primitive walls and doors.

Depending on your display and the gameplay experience you want, you can choose between a few different optimization modes, too. These include a performance mode for 60fps action, as well as a graphics mode that prioritizes 4K resolution. With a photo mode includes that can be customized to take the ideal action shot, we suspect players will be sharing some very impressive pictures online.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade launches for PS5 on June 10, and it’s a free digital upgrade for those who own the PS4 version, though not those who claimed it on PS Plus. The new Yuffie-centric episode also gives those who already beat the game a reason to play it again. You can preorder the game now, including its deluxe edition for bonus content. Another Final Fantasy 7 game, called Ever Crisis, is also coming to mobile devices and retells the entire saga, while The First Soldier is a battle royale game. Yes, really.