Category: Games

NFL superstar Lamar Jackson is featured on the cover of Madden NFL 21, and the art direction and style for the cover is very unique and creative this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. It’s a wonderful-looking cover, and Jackson says in a new interview that he reacted emotionally when he saw it for the first time.

In a video for the NFL, Jackson said appearing on the cover of a Madden game has been a lifelong dream. He doesn’t usually cry, but he became emotional when he saw this year’s cover.

“That’s been a dream of mine all my life,” Jackson said of gracing the cover of Madden. “I’ve seen all the greats on it–Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNab, Gronk–so I was like, I want to be on it too. They revealed [the cover] to me early. I don’t cry about stuff. I didn’t cry when I won the Heisman. I didn’t cry when I won all the other accolades. But when I saw the cover [of Madden NFL 21], I actually shed tears.”

Because EA Sports was not able to conduct a photo shoot with Jackson for Madden NFL 21 due to COVID-19, the publisher worked with the team photographer for Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens to feature multiple photos of the athlete on the cover. The result is a striking cover that showcases different sides of Jackson and his personality and flair. It’s one of the best covers in years.

Madden NFL 21 launches on August 28 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. For the first time in franchise history, the game will be available on Steam.

It was recently announced that Madden NFL 21 will have a 6v6 arcade-style backyard football mode with trick plays, though no gameplay footage of this has been released.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn just massively expanded its free trial, increasing the level cap from 35 to 60 and giving trial players access to the critically acclaimed Heavensward expansion. Returning players who want to take advantage of the free offering, however, won’t be able to sign up for the trial if they’ve ever subscribed in the past.

The issue was brought up in Steam community forums a number of times, with one player complaining that the free version wasn’t accessible to anyone who has ever given money to Square Enix, and another warning that the free trial was not comparable to the free-to-play model seen on other MMOs.

A Square Enix representative confirmed this was the case, telling GameSpot “if anyone has purchased any version of FFXIV in the past, they cannot participate in the free trial with that account.” So while a free trial account can be converted to a paying account, a paying account can’t be reverted back to a free trial. These restrictions also apply to accounts that participated in the FFXIV beta over seven years ago.

In simple terms: you either need to commit to free play and its restrictions for the long term, or buy the game and keep up the monthly subscription fee. If you’ve bought the game and you let your subscription expire, you won’t be able to revert to free play.

Square Enix did say that free trial accounts created when the level cap was at 35 will automatically convert to the new free trial version, however, but previous free trial users should make sure they have the right client. While trial players and full accounts play on the same servers, the two versions use different clients, with two different Steam pages. “If somebody is trying to reboot up their free trial account, they need to make sure they are using that client,” Square Enix specified.

Accounts for the Final Fantasy MMO have always been a little confusing–while the game can be purchased through Steam or through Square Enix directly, any expansions will have to be purchased through the same storefront or the game won’t work correctly. The full version of the game also requires a monthly subscription to play.

Though the free trial now includes more of the game, it still restricts players from a number of game functions such as trades, the Market Board, Free Companies, microtransactions, and more, as well as a limit on the amount of in-game currency they can acquire. The FFXIV Starter Edition–which allows access to the same game areas as the free trial, but with these restrictions removed–retails for $20.

Late last year, 2K announced that a new Bioshock game was in development at new studio Cloud Chamber–and now a series of job listings at the studio have given us a first glimpse at what the next game in the series might entail.

As picked up by Gamebyte, a listing for Lead Environment Modeler seeks someone to “help us breathe life into a new and fantastical world.” The wording suggests the new Bioshock won’t be returning to either Rapture or Columbia for the new installment, and like Bioshock: Infinite will create its own world.

The listings describe Cloud Chamber as “a collaborative team of inspired minds who create games together.” After a reminder that the studio is creating the next Bioshock game, it adds, “our passion and love for this iconic franchise is what brought us together. The thrill and responsibility of creating the next iteration of such a beloved game is what keeps us going.”

Other details picked up by @MauroNL3 on Twitter include that the game is being developed in Unreal Engine 4, and is slated for next-gen–not surprising given the game’s announcement warned it was still several years away.

Cloud Chamber is also looking for a principle combat designer who likes “pushing boundaries and trying risky experiments that haven’t been seen before,” a cinematic artist with “Wes Anderson like precision and panache,” and a world designer who will help “create a “living” world that offers players variety at every step of the game.”

It looks like the burgeoning studio is still at the earliest stages of development on the next Bioshock game, but it’ll be interesting to see what they create with a team of both Bioshock veterans and new hires.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster will feature Dante from the Devil May Cry series via paid DLC.

The news was revealed on the Atlus blog earlier today. Dante makes his return in the remaster thanks to the ‘Maniax Pack’ DLC which players will be able to purchase for 980 yen (roughly £7 or $9 USD).

A trailer for the Maniax Pack arrived alongside the announcement, revealing that the DLC will be available at launch on October 29th in Japan, and those who own the Maniax Pack will be able to select “NEW GAME -Maniax-” in the start menu to add Dante to the game.

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A western release for the Maniax Pack has not yet been revealed, but it seems likely. Famously, a sticker saying “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series” sticker was put on the box to help sell the original game in the west, despite the character’s very brief appearance in the game.

The Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster is based on the Chronicle Edition of the game, which normally features a character called Kuzunoha Raido from the Devil Summoner series in Dante’s place. If purchased, this DLC will let players reskin the game to the Maniax version, depending on their preference.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster’s Western launch is currently slated for Spring 2021, landing on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

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This article features Jordan from the IGN freelance news desk. Follow him on Twitter.

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Screenwriting, also known as scriptwriting, is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media, such as feature films, television productions, or video games. More often than not, screenwriters have a significant role to play in shaping the story behind creative projects for those mediums. So, if you’ve ever wanted to tell a story that others can experience and enjoy with mass media, then you’ll want to know how to write a screenplay from scratch.

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Updating one’s resume, a far cry from the fun of gaming for a few hours, often is a frustrating process for a couple of reasons. It takes a considerable amount of time to ensure your work history and experience accurately reflect what you’ve done in life. What’s more, there’s also that sinking suspicion that any resume you submit online will get lost in a sea of thousands of other applications. While that may be the case for the majority of people these days, it doesn’t have to be you.

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Dell is having a great run of deals on their Alienware, G-Series, and XPS gaming PCs, but this particular run is about to end soon. The hottest deal right now is an Alienware m15 15″ RTX 2070 laptop with all the bells and whistles (like a 240Hz display and 32GB of memory) for only $1450. For those of you who are looking for a desktop instead, Alienware’s newest generation Aurora gaming PC is also on sale, and close to the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

Deals for August 12

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More Video Game Deals

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.