Category: Games

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Just after Lawn Mowing Simulator was announced, publisher Sold Out and developer Auroch Digital have revealed a beer brewing simulator game called Brewmaster.

Due for release in 2022 on console and PC, Brewmaster is a game about the art and craft of making homebrewed beer. “Discover, learn, and master the art of homebrewing in the ultimate celebration of craft beer,” reads a line from its description. “From perfecting authentic, chemistry-driven brewing techniques to bottling and labelling, become an ultimate brewmaster in the first ever realistic beer brewing experience.”

Players can follow recipes or go out on their own and experiment with ingredients to create the best brew. The game also lets you create the physical space where you brew your beer, complete with decoration options to furnish your at-home brewery. You can create any type of beer you want, including wheats, blondes, stouts, and IPAs, among others.

Once you’ve created a beer you like, you can design the label and even enter it into a competition. “As your work becomes respected, submit to local breweries for batch production, expand your network, and unlock bigger jobs and more challenging recipes,” the game’s description says.

“We’re building Brewmaster on the science behind the real-life process of homebrewing to deliver an authentic, satisfying experience to players,” Auroch Digital’s Peter Willington said. “From newcomers to professional brewers and homebrewing hobbyists, we’re excited to give players the tools to craft their virtual dream brew, and have fun with the creative side of brewing without the in-depth knowledge required in the real world.”

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Katie Clark from publisher Sold Out remarked that hobby simulator games have “become a staple of gaming” over the past few years, and Brewmaster aims to enter the mix with something new and unique.

Brewmaster is slated for release in 2022 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

After being on the shelf for almost two years, the Dynasty Warriors movie will be hitting theaters in Mainland China and Hong Kong on April 30. The first trailer is absolutely wild and looks just like gameplay during a battle. You can check it out for yourself below.

The movie is directed by Roy Chow, who got his start on movies like Jet Li’s Fearless. Dynasty Warriors stars Louis Koo as Lu Bu, Wang Kai as Cao Cao, Tony Yang as Liu Bei, Han Geng as Guan Yu, Justin Cheung as Zhang Fei, Ray Liu (Transformers: Age of Extinction) as Yuan Shao, Gülnezer Bextiyar as Diao Chan and Carina Lau as a mysterious character.

The series is a spin-off of Koei’s turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, from which it derives its name in Japanese.

It is Koei’s most successful franchise and as of February 2020, the series has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. Dynasty Warriors 9 came out in 2018 to mixed reviews. The newest Dynasty Warriors game, titled Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is in development for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

The production had wrapped in 2019 but the release was shelved because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dynasty Warriors will hit theaters in China on April 30. No news yet on American distribution.

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One of the stars of the Resident Evil movie reboot has spoken about how the upcoming film does right by the video game series and overall should leave viewers thinking, “Man, it feels like the game.'” Tom Hopper, who plays Albert Wesker, told Collider that he tried to make his version of Wesker something like Agent Smith from The Matrix but “more three-dimensional.” And overall, Hopper said he hopes viewers see the movie, Welcome to Raccoon City, as being “the game plus more.”

“I think fans of the game will be happy, but at the same time, I think they should recognize that we want to make these characters as real and as grounded as possible,” he explained. “I feel like the Wesker in the game obviously has that [Agent] Smith from The Matrix type idea. I wanted him to be a bit more three-dimensional than that, and have a moral high ground.”

For Wesker specifically, Hopper said his take on the character is “not as cut and dry as it is in the game.” It will add more origin details for Wesker, Hopper teased, going on to say that the film overall aims to be “the game plus more.”

“There’s an origin element to Wesker in this, and what he maybe was before he turned into the one we see in a lot of the games,” he said. “But I think from an aesthetic point of view, I think the games really influence this well. It is an aesthetic that, certainly when we were shooting it, that I was like, ‘Man, it feels like the game.’ I’m really hoping that fans of the game take something nice away from it, that it’s the game plus more. Plus more of a depth to these characters.”

The six Resident Evil movies that came before this one, which starred Milla Jovovich, collectively made more than $1 billion at the box office. Welcome to Raccoon City is described as a “whole new starter,” according to Hopper.

“When I started reading it, it really felt more like a script from a game, from one of the games. It felt immersive and it felt dirtier. It felt like Raccoon City was a grim place to be, and I immediately felt like it was a world that I related to more than anything,” he said. “I’ve seen towns like this in America. That’s what excited me about it, that it felt relatable, I think. Even though you’ve got influence from the game, it felt like a relatable place to live.”

Welcome to Raccoon City premieres on September 3. It’s directed by Johannes Roberts and also stars Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, while Robbie Amell plays Chris Redfield. Veteran character actor Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Angels and the Outfield) will play scientist William Birkin.

In addition to this movie, there is a live-action series in the works at Netflix following the Wesker family as well as an animated series with Leon and Claire. As for the video game series, Resident Evil Village is slated for release in May.

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A proposed Arizona bill that appeared primed to insert the state in the middle of the ongoing legal battle between Epic and Apple/Google looks to be dead on arrival. Arizona House Bill 2005 was passed over for a vote after support seemed to wane last-minute.

HB2005 was set to come up for a vote last week, but the House passed over it on the schedule. The Senate has reportedly pulled the bill, and its sponsor told The Verge that it won’t be coming back for the rest of the year. That seems to effectively kill the bill for the time being, and if it does come back it could be after the legal dispute has had its day in court.

Lawmakers have suggested industry lobbying may have had an effect. State representative Regina Cobb, who sponsored the bill, said Apple and Google “hired almost every lobbyist in town.” As a result, some votes that had seemed secure suddenly wavered, causing them to pull the bill at the last moment. Similarly, commerce chair J.D. Mesnard said there wasn’t enough support, with some members opposed and others simply feeling “conflicted.”

The proposed bill would have prevented app stores operating in Arizona from forcing developers to use their preferred payment system. That would have been a big win for Epic Games, since it would require Apple and Google to allow Epic to offer its own payment system in the state. It’s one of several state bills advocated by the Coalition for App Fairness, a lobbying group founded by Epic and various other tech companies. Similar bills have been proposed in Georgia, Hawaii, and Minnesota. One such bill failed in North Dakota.

Epic Games is ultimately seeking permission to allow for its own payment methods, and perhaps even to operate its own independent app store within the Apple and Google ecosystems. The legal battle began when Epic Games circumvented Apple and Google’s in-app payment systems, resulting in Fortnite being pulled from both stores. The Epic v. Apple trial will begin on May 3.

As part of a major spending proposal called the American Jobs Plan, President Biden plans to bring broadband internet access to all Americans. This means the 35% of the country currently without access to “minimally acceptable speeds” will finally have modern internet infrastructure in place.

“Broadband internet is the new electricity,” the White House said in a statement. “It is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school learning, health care, and to stay connected. Yet, by one definition, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds.”

Internet has certainly played an even bigger role in everyday life with the pandemic moving many to work-from-home setups that involve daily Zoom meetings, and the new game consoles’ stream of updates and big file sizes for new games mean those with slow speeds have to spend a lot of time waiting around.

The Biden plan will invest $100 billion to tackle this, prioritizing support for networks operated by the government, cooperatives, and non-profits in order to better promote competition. Overall, the plan will be rolled out over eight years and also includes traditional infrastructure projects. It will provide subsidies in the short-term to help those who cannot otherwise afford broadband internet. This plan is separate from the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act proposed by Amy Klobuchar and James E. Cyburn, which itself would cost $94 billion. The FCC is also currently offering subsidies to help people pay for internet during the pandemic.

“Americans pay too much for the internet–much more than people in many other countries,” the White House statement added. “The President is committed to working with Congress to find a solution to reduce internet prices for all Americans, increase adoption in both rural and urban areas, hold providers accountable, and save taxpayer money.”

Even in my own area, which is fairly close to a major city–Pittsburgh–I have exactly one choice for internet provider, which includes a data cap for all but the very top tier. That’s an issue not just for downloading big games, but also using streaming services.

Biden is actually making the announcement in Pittsburgh today, by chance. If successful, the plan could make existing providers have more competitive rates, which would certainly be good for those who spend a great amount of time gaming online.

Midsommar actor Jack Reynor will star on a new sci-fi TV show from Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, it has been announced. The show is called The Peripheral, and it’s an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Cyberpunk author William Gibson.

Reynor joins the previously announced cast that includes Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Gary Carr (Death In Paradise). Reynor is attached to play the brother of Moretz’s character, a former Marine who is now the target of an assassination attempt.

The Peripheral is being produced for Amazon, which is also where Nolan and Joy are bringing their Fallout TV show in partnership with Bethesda.

In addition to starring alongside Florence Pugh in Midsommar, Reynor recently appeared with Tom Holland in the Russo Brothers movie Cherry.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Peripheral will feature a lot of the stuff that Nolan and Joy have become known for, including multiple timelines and cyber-technology. The William Gibson novel The Peripheral was originally published in 2014.

In other news about Amazon, the company recently hired Preacher and Doctor Who director Wayne Che Yip to direct multiple episodes of its Lord of the Rings series.

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