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Developer Team Ninja, after announcing the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection in a February 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation, has clarified why two particular entries in the franchise couldn’t be remastered. It all boils down to the inability to “salvage the varying assortment of data” the studio left behind.

When asked in a GameSpot interview whether Team Ninja had considered updating Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden Black, producer Fumihiko Yasuda said the studio couldn’t recover both games’ data. Sigma and Sigma 2 were chosen for the Master Collection because Team Ninja had collected and organized their source codes.

“We did consider it, but we were unable to salvage the varying assortment of data we had left from Ninja Gaiden Black and Ninja Gaiden 2,” Yasuda said. “However, when we worked on Sigma and Sigma 2, we went and collected as much of that data as possible and organized it. And since we could fully utilize this data, Sigma and Sigma 2 became clear choices for [the Master Collection].”

Yasuda went on to say that all three games in the Master Collection–Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge–“represent the latest installments of the numbered series and they are also the most polished versions featuring many additional modes and costumes.”

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The Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, launching on June 10 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, pushes the games to 4K and 60fps. The package also bundles all available DLC across the three titles.

April has officially begun, which means Pokemon Go‘s April Community Day is just around the corner. This month’s event takes place on Sunday, April 11, and it features the Grass-type Pokemon Snivy. To help you prepare for the event, here’s everything you need to know about Pokemon Go’s April Community Day.

April 2021 Featured Pokemon: Snivy

The featured Pokemon for April’s Community Day is Snivy, the Grass-type starter from Pokemon Black and White. All throughout the event, Snivy will appear in the wild more frequently than usual, making this a good opportunity to catch as many as you can and stock up on Snivy Candy, which you’ll need to evolve the Pokemon.

The increased Snivy spawns also means you’ll have more chances to catch a Shiny Snivy. While Shiny variants will still be rare, you should be able to find a few with a little persistence. You’ll increase your chances of encountering a Shiny Snivy by using an Incense during the event.

April’s Community Day Move: Frenzy Plant

If you can evolve Servine–Snivy’s evolved form–into Serperior during the event or up to two hours afterward, the Pokemon will know Frenzy Plant. This powerful Grass-type Charged Attack can only be learned during Community Days, so you’ll need to evolve Servine within the designated time frame to get the move.

April’s Community Day Hours

April’s Community Day will once again run for six hours, from 11 AM to 5 PM local time. This means you’ll have until 7 PM local time to evolve Servine into a Serperior that knows Frenzy Plant.

Community Day Special Research

In addition to increased Snivy spawns, there will be an event-exclusive Special Research story focused on Snivy during this month’s Community Day. The Special Research story is called Snivy in the Sunshine, and you’ll need to purchase a virtual ticket to access it. This ticket costs $1 USD and will be sold in Pokemon Go’s in-game shop ahead of the event.

Other Community Day Bonuses

A few other bonuses will be active during April’s Community Day. First, you’ll earn triple the normal amount of Stardust each time you capture a Pokemon during the event. On top of that, any Incense that you use will remain active for three hours rather than the standard 60 minutes. Finally, a special Community Day item bundle will be on sale in Pokemon Go’s in-game shop. The bundle costs 1,280 PokeCoins and includes the following:

• 50 Ultra Balls
• 4 Star Pieces
• 4 Mossy Lure Modules
• 1 Elite Charged TM

EA’s dodgeball-inspired action game, Knockout City, is getting an open beta very soon. The open beta for the multiplayer game is live April 2-4, and it supports cross play. The beta is free and available to everyone on PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam, Origin, and Epic Games Store).

In terms of the beta content, it features everything from the earlier beta, which includes the Moon, Cage, and Bomb balls, as well as the Concussion Yard, Rooftop Rumble, and Knockout Roundabout playspaces. More content has been added for this new beta, including the Sniper ball, the Back Alley Brawl map, and the 1v1 Face-off and Diamond Dash modes. Private matches are also available in the beta if you have a group of friends.

The Knockout City beta will be available in stages throughout the weekend, and you can see availability times below.

Knockout City Beta Times

• 6:00 AM PT April 2 – 6:00 PM PT April 4
• 9:00 AM ET April 2 – 9:00 PM ET April 4
• 2:00 PM GMT April 2 – 2:00 PM GMT April 5
• 3:00 PM CET April 2 – 3:00 PM CET April 5

Pre-loading for the Knockout City beta is available right now on all platforms. Additionally, everyone who takes part in the beta will receive the Beta Blue Booster glider and the Beta Brawler player icon when the game releases on May 21.

EA also clarified that when Knockout City launches in May, there will be a limited-time free trial on all platforms, featuring the full game. All progress carries forward if you decide to pick up the full game, while there are special cosmetic rewards available as well for those who upgrade from the free trial to the full game.

Inspired by dodgeball, Knockout City is a multiplayer game where players try to knock out other players using a ball, which can have all different types of special properties. The game is developed by Velan Studios, which is the team that made Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.

A long weekend is coming, and an extra-long free play weekend is here to match. On Xbox platforms you can play two games for the low cost of zero dollars this weekend, as well as a huge MMORPG for the next two weeks.

You can play Hunt: Showdown and Steel Rats through Sunday, April 4 at 11:59 PM PT / 2:59 AM ET (April 5), and Elder Scrolls Online through April 13 at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET.

Hunt: Showdown is a PvP bounty hunting game that incorporates PvE elements, tasking you with hunting down hideous creatures. The free play weekend includes both the game and select DLC packs. Steel Rats is an indie platformer set in an alternative dieselpunk city. It’s also discounted through the weekend, down to $3 from the regular $10 price.

Elder Scrolls Online is Bethesda’s MMO take on the Elder Scrolls saga, and during this free period you can also try the Morrowind chapter. ESO is also included with Xbox Game Pass, and during the free play period some of its DLC expansions are on sale as well.

For more on Xbox games, check out the best Xbox One games and the best Xbox Series X games available so far. Plus, lots of other Bethesda games are available through Game Pass, check out the best games available with Xbox Game Pass right now.

The PS5 Open Beta of Final Fantasy 14 will land on the next-gen console on April 13.

Revealed in a tweet from the official Final Fantasy 14 account on Twitter, the PS5 Open Beta for the popular MMO will coincide with the launch of Patch 5.5.

The #FFXIV PS5 version open beta test begins Tuesday, April 13 alongside the release of Patch 5.5!

Learn how to participate https://t.co/ubsSmNPIub pic.twitter.com/ueMQrgduyZ

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 1, 2021

You can check out all the details on how to participate in the beta on the official Final Fantasy 14 website. PS5-exclusive benefits include “greatly increased frame rates, true 4K resolution, 3D Audio and haptic feedback.”

Those who own the physical edition of Final Fantasy 14 on PlayStation 4 can upgrade by heading to the PlayStation Store and downloading the “FINAL FANTASY XIV PS5 Upgrade Edition (Beta Version)”. Those who own the digital edition of the game can upgrade directly from their game library. If you’re a PS5 player new to Final Fantasy 14, all you have to do is download the “FINAL FANTASY XIV Free Trial” from the PlayStation Store if you wish to try it out.

The official service start date for the PlayStation 5 version of the game will be announced on the lodestone, and determined “based on the progress of the open beta test.” Square Enix also notes that all data from the beta will be transferred to the full version of the game. In other FF14 news, here’s Director Naoki Yoshida reflecting on the MMO reaching its first major ending with Endwalker.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Outriders, the latest shooter from studio People Can Fly, is out today for both consoles and PC. But if you were hoping to enjoy some cross-platform multiplayer action, you might have to wait for a while.

Outriders has had its cross-platform multiplayer between PC and console players turned off as People Can Fly investigates an issue with backend synchronization. The bug is causing parties consisting of players both PC and console to eventually kick players out one by one, which doesn’t make it a feasible solution for long sessions.

In a Reddit post, People Can Fly explained that you can still manually bypass matchmaking and invite players from different platforms, but that you’ll eventually run into the issue regardless. Thankfully, cross-play between Steam and Epic Games Store players is working correctly, and cross-play between just console players seems unaffected, too.

“We are treating this issue with the highest priority and we are working on patches that will synchronize all platform code, which will resolve these issues,” the post reads.

Outriders is available today on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. The game is also available on Xbox Games Pass, although that doesn’t apply to PC subscribers. If you’re still looking for an idea of what Outriders is, the demo for the shooter is still available for download.

Our market research shows that bugs are considered ‘creepy’ and ‘extremely off-putting’ so we’re rebranding to un-bug our snacks! pic.twitter.com/7dR7aXhsR1

— Snacks (YH Games) (@YoungHorses) April 1, 2021

Glow up with the new Razer Rapunzel Chroma Hair Dye. Razer Rapunzel is the world’s first RGB haircare product that delivers full-spectrum, and customizable per-hair lighting. Turn heads on the streets, and take lighting immersion to the next level. https://t.co/GNF9B9uxYK pic.twitter.com/ju6AhsSy05

— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) March 31, 2021