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Delays are par for the course in video games, but developer Triband has decided to buck that trend by accidentally rolling out a massive new Switch update for What the Golf a few days early. The game–which turns the entire idea of golf on its head by going beyond 18 holes with the sport into weird and wild directions–now has three additional packs of content available that were previously released on the Steam and Apple Arcade versions.

This includes the Sporty Sports Pack, It’s Snowtime Pack, and a Challenge mode, each one including the following content:

Sporty Sports

• 30 new sporty levels
• All-new sports gone wrong: Weightlifting golf, Cycling golf, Hurdles golf, and more!
• Copyright-compliant references to the Olympics

It’s Snowtime

• 30 new Extra ❄COOL❄ levels and lots of jokes
• Silly adventure about finding that frozen pizza in the back of the freezer
• Frozen peas, pizzas, and popsicles

Challenge Mode

• Content for the people who are actually good at golf!
• A harder version of all your favorite levels, plus a few new ones
• Leaderboards

In addition to that, new fixes and optimizations for the Nintendo Switch version of What the Golf will also be available. Beyond that, players can also look forward to a new free campaign called “A Hole New World” that features over 50 new levels with over 1000 holes, game mechanics, more puns, and extra music tracks.

“What the Golf was already excellent on PC and mobile, but the Switch version is the definitive one, especially if you have another player handy,” James O’Connor wrote in his What the Golf review.” It’s still wildly funny, weird, and lots of fun, and if it was just the campaign again, it would still be the best version of the game thanks to the ability to switch between touch and stick controls–but the addition of Party Mode really elevates the whole package.”

Death Stranding‘s Director’s Cut is on the way, but Kojima himself is not a fan of calling it that. He said on Twitter that Director’s Cut often applies more appropriately in the world of film to represent content that was cut from a movie due in part to a movie studio’s control over the production. But with Death Stranding’s Director’s Cut, Kojima pointed out that the game will feature new content not originally even planned for the base game.

“A director’s cut in a movie is an additional edit to a shortened version that was either released reluctantly because the director did not have the right to edit it, or because the running time had to be shortened,” Kojima said. “In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector’s Plus? So, in my opinion, I don’t like to call ‘director’s cut.'”

Given Kojima’s commentary here, it sounds like the decision to call it a director’s cut for Death Stranding was a decision made by Sony and not Kojima and his team. For what it’s worth, Sony is also releasing a Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut in August, and beyond that, Sony might have plans for additional ones.

The Death Stranding Director’s Cut releases on September 24, and Kojima is hopeful to be able to personally edit a trailer or some piece of content for the game. He polled his 3 million Twitter followers about this, and they overwhelmingly agreed that he should be able to.

For more, check out GameSpot’s rundown of everything in the Death Stranding Director’s Cut and what additional Director’s Cuts we want to see from Sony in the future.

In other news, Kojima’s next game might be a cloud-based title for Xbox, though it’s still early days and no official announcements have been made thus far.

Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends was recently targeted by hackers who were looking to bring awareness to the current state of the developer’s Titanfall games. While Apex Legends quickly resolved its server issues, Titanfall still remains vulnerable as Respawn has only tasked one to two of its employees with maintenance on the game.

Respawn’s first franchise has been almost unplayable for a long time as unpatched security vulnerabilities are taken advantage of with distributed denial of service attacks that prevent players from joining games. In a video update spotted by MP1st, community coordinator Jason Garza explained the current situation while assuring fans that the Titanfall community had not been forgotten.

“All I can say is that we’re working on it (Titanfall), and that’s why I stopped talking about things like that,” Garza said. “The Titanfall community is not forgotten or abandoned or anything like that. We’re still working on it, it’s just we can’t telegraph our moves, and we only have like one or two people on it because the rest, everybody else is on Apex Legends, so don’t feel bad. It’s something we do work on just that these things take time, you can’t just press a button and everything’s fixed magically.”

If you’re curious as to what exactly is happening to Titanfall and Titanfall 2’s multiplayer, YouTube channel Upper Echelon Gamers has a short documentary on how a hacker has used DDoS attacks to take out entire server populations if certain streamers are playing.

As for Apex Legends, Respawn’s future plans–as revealed at the EA Play Live Spotlight Series showcase for FPS games–including a new hero and ranked Arenas. The game’s new Thrillseekers event will go live from July 13 until August 3, with the event having a new Arenas map, three weekly rewards tracks offering brand-new loot, and purchasable event-limited cosmetics.

Motorsport Games has confirmed a new NASCAR game will be ready for 2021, and it will not be a continuation of the Heat series.

NASCAR 21 will represent a fresh start for NASCAR simulations from Motorsport Games and will be powered by Unreal Engine and Studio 397’s acclaimed rFactor 2 physics. Motorsport Games acquired Studio 397 and rFactor 2 in March this year. 2020’s NASCAR Heat 5 was built using Unity.

“What’s really exciting is that we’ve been working with the rFactor team at 397, who have been known for their physics, and also then changing engines from our previous engine into Unreal, and then combining the two,” Motorsport Games’ George Holmquist tells IGN. “Using the Unreal engine just brings the graphics [and] the gameplay into more of a AAA style of game. More than the NASCAR Heat franchise we’ve had before. I think that’s something our customers are looking for. If you’ve seen the screenshots at this point, it’s definitely a step up from our previous franchise.”

Holmquist is optimistic fans will find plenty to like about NASCAR 21’s planned level of visual fidelity and handling quality, but he’s also keen to see players get stuck into the paint functionality that’s being added to this racing reboot – reportedly the “most requested feature outside of the core gameplay.”

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“One of the biggest things that fans have been asking for is more customisation,” says Holmquist. “We’ve always had the ability to make a custom car and stuff like that, but we really spent a lot of time bringing a legitimate paint booth to the game. I think this will be one that fans are going to be very excited for. It’s turned out really well. We spent a lot of dev resources on here. We’ve already created a lot of cool schemes, just testing the paint booth right now.”

“The paint booth is the one people have been asking for directly in the community, and it’s something we are delivering on in this first iteration of the new franchise.”

Holmquist is aware NASCAR is regularly viewed as a bit of an acquired taste by people outside the fan community but feels it’s probably one of the most straightforward racing formats for potential new fans.

“NASCAR’s either loved or not appreciated,” concedes Holmquist. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground with fans.”

“From an accessibility standpoint, we actually think NASCAR’s oval racing lends a hand to really get people into our ecosystem, especially with the accessibility options that we’re including in this game.

“I think what’s under-appreciated is the closeness of racing. And the assumption that you just floor the gas and you go around in a circle. I challenge anybody to go to a NASCAR race and then see if that’s what you really feel after, because it’s a whole other thing to see 40 cars go around the track averaging 160 to 200 miles an hour within inches of each other. It’s just a very different experience.”

NASCAR 21 will be the first of Motorsport Games’ upcoming salvo of racing simulations built in the wake of the Studio 397 acquisition.

“So there’s definitely pressure,” says Holmquist. “There’s internal pressure. There’s external pressure. There’s partner pressure. There’s definitely pressure coming down.”

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“I think a lot of people think we took a risk changing engines. We could have done what everybody else would have done, right? The easy route would have been to create [NASCAR] Heat 6, add some quality-of-life features, sell it, move on, flip the game again and again and again. It’s just not what we want to do at Motorsport Games. There’s a lot of pressure for this game, as you know, because we have the other games, like BTCC and other licenses coming on board, and obviously this is going to be a reflection to consumers, media – even our partners and future partners – of what our capabilities are.

“And obviously our goal is to create a portfolio of motorsport racing games that people really enjoy and really spread the passion of gaming and motorsports, which are starting to be very similar, especially with esports.”

According to Holmquist, the studio’s approach to NASCAR 21 will become the foundation it builds on.

“Unreal isn’t going to go anywhere,” he says. “The rFactor physics aren’t going to go anywhere but get better. So we also look to the future; that every game iteration – either NASCAR, BTCC, or so on – is going to get better and better. So this is our first flag in the ground.”

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“It’s very important for us to ensure this game is of a quality our users expect, and it’s a step up from the Heat franchise.”

Motorsport Games has not confirmed a release date for NASCAR 21 but more details will be revealed in the coming months.

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. He’s more of a touring car guy but he really, really likes Days of Thunder. A lot. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

The weekend is almost over, which means it’s likely these awesome Nintendo Switch games will soon be out of the sales rotation. If you’ve got a Switch and have been wanting to pad out your library, now’s the time to act. If you don’t, then we’ve got a few other deals on offer for you, like some pools and swimming accessories at Amazon, and some great gaming PCs over at Dell.

Daily Deals for July 11th 2021

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Double Fine has revealed that Psychonauts 2 will feature an invincibility toggle as it believes that “all people should be able to enjoy games.”

Double Fine shared this bit of news on Twitter in response to Xbox’s Twitter saying that “beating the game on the lowest difficulty is still beating the game.”

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“If you beat Psychonauts 2 with the invincibility toggle on, you still beat P2.” Double Fine wrote. “All people should be able to enjoy games. All ages, all possible needs. It’s an ongoing and important process for our industry and a challenge we need to met [sic]. End of the day? We want you to have fun, to laugh, to experience a story that affects you. On whatever terms you want.”

The studio also shared a satirical quote that pokes fun at those online who try to gatekeep games and say not everyone should play a game.

“‘uh, excuse me I beat Sword Guy Serious Time on a no hit hard mode and if didn’t do that I don’t respect you. and like, can you even comment on things if you’re not diamond six rank in shooty mcBlam? I don’t think so,'” The quote reads.

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In response to the fake quote, and to emphasize the point, Double Fine added, “cool bud. you’re soooo cool!”

This debate on game difficulty has been an ongoing one for years now, but the truth of the matter is that difficulty is relative to individual players in so many ways. By adding an invincibility toggle to Psychonauts 2, this in no way impacts the player who wants to play on the hardest difficulty. It only allows more players to enjoy a game that just may become their next favorite of all time.

Psychonauts 2 and its invincibility toggle will be released on August 25, 2021, on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, and PS5 via backwards compatibility. Oh, and it will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day 1.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The White Lotus premieres Sunday, July 11 at 9pm ET/CT on HBO.

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Mike White, the writer/actor behind School of Rock and HBO’s smart-but-small Enlightened, is back with a new satirical look at privilege and dysfunction in The White Lotus. This series is a deeply unsettling but quietly hilarious look at wealthy guests attempting to unwind, as a posh Hawaiian resort (the titular White Lotus) and the staff whose job it is to pamper them and treat them like “special chosen baby” children.

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In a wise bit of mentoring by White Lotus manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) to a first-day trainee played by Jolene Purdy, he explains that guests of the White Lotus are inclined to make a fuss about things to feel seen. Complaints are rarely about the money and more about feeling important and acknowledged. Immediately, this likens the main characters we follow — played by the likes of Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jake Lacy — to infants, and in turn allows the viewer to watch them through an entirely different, and funnier, lens. This character-building approach helps because these are all sublimely frustrating and unnerving characters to behold.

The more we watch how Armond caters to them, while also manipulating them and playing off their insecurities and peculiarities, the more The White Lotus can blossom into something more than just a parade of mostly awful people. Kind of like how HBO’s Succession can transcend beyond the fact that it’s showcasing fundamentally rotten people and transcend into a new form of engrossing hilarity. Also, Armond still has to frantically put out fires in a fun Basil Fawlty manner, so there’s farce thrown in to liven up some of the dryer, more cynical humor involving fundamentally miserable folks with untreated and unaddressed emotional issues.

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In “Arrival,” the premiere episode of this six-episode limited series, we meet the central players while also finding ourselves within “TV-trope of the past few decades,” the in media res opening, in which the story kicks off one week after the events of the series, revealing that someone has died during their stay at the White Lotus. Someone perhaps connected to Jake Lacy’s “his family’s rich” Shane, with the top suspect being Shane’s new bride Rachel, played by Alexandra Daddario. As we meet them both minutes later, diving into the main story, we learn that the two don’t know each other very well despite having just gotten married. Though she ostensibly married him for his money, she’s kind, while he is a profoundly bitter and disquieted soul who exemplifies the aforementioned need to feel important.

It feels clunky to embed this tale with, almost, a murder mystery narrative, but it’s also as if Mike White realized that to get viewers to sit with a selection of needy and empty rich people the story required one of them to die. And for us to know this from the start. Most every trial, or issue, that befalls these guests is, at the root of it about something else. Whether it’s Shane complaining about his room or Steve Zahn’s Mark frantically waiting to hear important medical test results from the mainland — or even Steve’s wife, Nicole (Connie Britton), not seeming too concerned about said test — the actual problem facing these folks is exacerbated by some other underlying unhappiness in their life.

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Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya, for example, who freely admits to becoming toxically attached to people, starts to become unhealthily fixated on spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) after receiving a completely impromptu and half-hearted scalp massage from her. What was just part of a job for Belinda, in which she had to improvise as someone in the hospitality field, is seen as a direct and special connection by Tanya, who has no social or spatial awareness whatsoever. A resort like The White Lotus is designed to make people feel like they’re the center of the universe, which is ultimately the only sensation ultra-wealthy people can chase. When you can buy anything, all that’s left is reshaping your own reality to the best of your ability. It makes for some truly awkward, but also rewarding, comedy.

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EA has officially announced that FIFA 22 will be released on October 1, 2021, and that Paris Saint-Germain’s striker Kylian Mbappé will be its cover star.

The release date and cover star news was accompanied by a gameplay video that highlighted FIFA 22’s new HyperMotion Technology. This tech combines “Advanced 11v11 Match Capture and proprietary machine learning technology to deliver the most realistic, fluid and responsive football experience for next-gen consoles and Stadia, unlocking the raw emotion, passion and physicality of the world’s game.”

#FIFA22, Powered by Football

With new HyperMotion Technology, welcome to a revolution in
football gameplay. 🎮⚽

Learn more and pre-order today ➡ https://t.co/SotAORTXCO pic.twitter.com/IgRYzvvpqG

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) July 11, 2021

HyperMotion tech enabled the “22 professional footballers playing at high intensity.” This, in addition to EA’s proprietary machine learning algorithms, allows for the game to create “new animations in real-time to create organic football movement across a variety of interactions on the pitch.”

FIFA 22 will also feature many of the fan-favorite returning modes like Career Mode, VOLTA FOOTBALL, Pro Clubs, and FIFA Ultimate Teams. A big focus of this year was also placed on a “complete goalkeeper system rebuild, an all-new Create a Club experience in Career Mode, reimagined gameplay in VOLTA FOOTBALL, and the introduction of FIFA Ultimate Team Heroes, completely new items that represent the stories and glory of cult players and fan favorites.”

The game will include over 17,000 players across over 700 teams in more than 90 stadiums and 30 leagues. FIFA 22 will also include such competitions as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, brand new UEFA Europa Conference League, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga Santander, CONMEBOL Libertadores and CONMEBOL Sudamericana.”

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Fans who pre-order FIFA 22 Ultimate Edition by August 11 will receive an untradeable FUT Heroes player item from December 1. This edition will also include up to four days Early Access, Dual Entitlement, FIFA points, and more.

FIFA 22 will be available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC via Origin and Steam, and Google Stadia. FIFA 22 Legacy Edition will be released for Nintendo Switch owners.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Summer Games Done Quick 2021 Online, the video game speedrunning marathon that raises money for charity, has just raised over $2.8 million for Doctors Without Borders.

SGDQ ended its week-long 24-hour charity stream earlier today, July 11, and it was highlighted by such incredible runs like “Plexa’s run of Golden Sun: The Lost Age, teddyras’s run of Gone Golfing, JCog’s cartridge-swapping run of Paper Mario, havrd’s perfect-score GeoGuessr run, and ZooKetra’s Nintendogs run, which was spoiled by the antics of a hilariously disobedient labrador retriever.”

AND NOW HE’S JUST SHOWING OFF! 1st attempt LBJ! pic.twitter.com/etS5fR6AhV

— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) July 10, 2021

The team also shared dates for its upcoming events, including the all-women speedrunning event Flame Fatales from August 15-21 and Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 from January 9-16, 2022.

According to SGDQ’s official donation tracker, there were 153 runs, 218 prizes given out, 82 bids to participate in, 22,621 donors, and 40,329 donations.

While still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Summer Games Done Quick 2021 Online was an improvement over SGDQ 2020’s still incredibly impressive $2.3 million.

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You can rewatch all the speedruns on Games Done Quick’s YouTube channel, and learn more about donating and getting involved at their website.

For more speedrunning goodness, also be sure to check out our Devs React to Speedrun series for games like the original Star Fox, Mass Effect, Fallout: New Vegas, Hades, and more.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.