Apple Arcade (the mobile gaming subscription service for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac) launched yesterday, and fan reactions so far are overwhelmingly positive.
The service costs $5 a month (though currently has a free one-month trial period) and includes 53 games at launch, all of which are ad- and microtransaction-free. While many were skeptical of Apple launching a gaming subscription service, it appears its appealing price and strong lineup of games has cast most fears away.
Check out the video below to get a glimpse at Apple Arcade in 100 seconds.
Apple Arcade: Games, Games, Games
This game was made for me. Apple Arcade is packing some seriously good titles right now. Month free trial people. Check it out. The Pinball Wizard especially. #AppleArcadepic.twitter.com/KgJMmAoc4u
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for Nintendo Switch is a faithful recreation of the original Game Boy adventure, except for perhaps one noticeable difference — the brand new Chamber Dungeon mode. Allowing players to arrange their own dungeons out of existing rooms from dungeons in the game, the mode isn’t quite the Super Mario Maker-esque “Zelda Maker” fans have been clamoring for. But, there’s a good reason why, according to longtime series producer Eiji Aonuma.
Speaking to IGN via email, Aonuma explained that, at one point in their regular discussions about upcoming Zelda games, Shigeru Miyamoto asked about the possibility of Mario Maker-like gameplay for a Zelda game.
TV is bursting with reboots and revivals — so when are we returning to the Killjoys universe?
Well, all right, if you want to be a literal killjoy about it, it’s over. On Friday, Syfy aired the show’s romantic, action-packed and very satisfying series finale. And that appears to be that. But if you’ve been watching Killjoys faithfully, you are probably like most fans of Team Awesome Force — you want all these people to come back to your screen immediately.
It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, according to creator and executive producer Michelle Lovretta, who has other projects on her plate (though in the interview below, she doesn’t rule out comics, novelizations and the like). So at this point, we must focus on what we did get: Yalena “Dutch” Yardeen (Hannah John-Kamen), Johnny Jaqobis (Aaron Ashmore) and D’avin Jaqobis (Luke Macfarlane) were a badass, quippy, wonderfully entertaining trio for the ages. The show’s core group of actors had the kind of rapport and chemistry that is all too rare, and Killjoys took what was so clear on the screen and ran with it for five whole seasons. Add in sly space villains, riotous prison ships, daring heists, messed-up families, unlikely romances and too many dangerous adventures to list, and, well, what more could a person want out of a TV show?
Amazon has announced that its Prime Members will now be receiving Mobile Game Benefits in games from “top mobile game publishers,” and exclusive in-game content for PUBG Mobile will be the first of many gifts available.
PUBG Mobile players who are also Amazon Prime Members are now able to claim the exclusive stealthy Infiltrator Mask, and will soon also be able to add the Infiltrator Jacket, Infiltrator Pants, Infiltrator Shoes, the brand-new Blood Oath – Karabiner 98K, and the Black Magma Parachute.
“We’ve long been committed to making Prime the best deal in games, with great content for PC and console games from Twitch Prime, and now we’re offering our members even more value, with new mobile game benefits,” said Ethan Evans, VP, Twitch Prime. “Now, no matter what platform you play on—whether console, PC, or mobile—there are Prime game benefits for you. We’re starting with exclusive content for PUBG MOBILE one of the biggest mobile games in the world, and in the coming months, we’ll roll out benefits for some of the most popular mobile games across many favorite genres.”
It’s been a long road for Final Fantasy XIV. Many folks who know Square Enix’s MMORPG are aware that it had to reinvent itself back in 2013, which subsequently saved the game and led to overwhelming success. But that wasn’t enough. The FFXIV team has outdone itself with the latest expansion, Shadowbringers, which has cemented the game as one of the greatest stories told in the long-running franchise. And it further disproves the perception that FFXIV is simply the MMO that bears the name of a famous RPG series.
Having been a few months removed from the launch of Shadowbringers, I had the opportunity to briefly correspond with FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida for a quick look back at how it came to be and what the future may hold. This includes what the Trust system of AI companions has done for the game, what a streamlined version of the base game will look like, and how it fits into the next console generation. But more importantly, he spoke to the vision that the writing team brought to life–namely Natsuko Ishikawa, who led the Shadowbringers narrative and received a standing ovation during the game’s PAX West 2019 panel after simply introducing herself–a moment that spoke to how she and the team nailed its storytelling, but also how a long-running MMO can leverage its deep lore to make an impact on its players.
Alphinaud and Alisaie playing diplomat for the Scions.
If there’s one takeaway from this exchange, it’s that the team gave their all for Shadowbringers. Not only that, Yoshida-san has the utmost confidence that, no, they wouldn’t have done anything differently for this expansion. The following interview with Yoshida-san was conducted via email, facilitated and translated through Square Enix.
Narrative is one of the most important things in FFXIV, especially for Shadowbringers. How involved were you with the story’s creation and what sort of direction did you provide the writing team?
The first step is creating the overall game design for the expansion pack. With Shadowbringers, after we had completed the base design phase, I provided three initial directions to the development team:
1) The story will be set in the “First.” 2) The dark knight will be the “main job.” (i.e. becoming the Warrior of Darkness will be the main objective) 3) We will be implementing the Trust system, so the story should center around an adventure with the members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
I suggested a setting in which the world is covered in light, and night will only return when the Sin Eaters are defeated. In that instance, Ishikawa was able to smoothly implement this concept into the story. – Naoki Yoshida
With this direction as the foundation of the narrative, Natsuko Ishikawa, who oversees the main scenario, and Banri Oda, who oversees lore creation, had multiple discussions and created a plot. We then have what I call a “scenario writing camp,” where we take the base plot which was created and add details to it over a period of three days. Aside from Ishikawa, Oda, and myself, we also have two of our more experienced scenario writers join in this writing camp.
The overall structure of the story is formed during these three days, but even after that we do make changes. For example, I suggested a setting in which the world is covered in light, and night will only return when the Sin Eaters are defeated. In that instance, Ishikawa was able to smoothly implement this concept into the story. Additionally, Vauthry did not exist in the initial plot; since it felt like we were missing a definitive target to defeat at the halfway point of the story, I asked the team during the scenario writing camp to add a hideous antagonist like Jabba the Hutt to the story.
Under my instruction to align our gameplay experience concepts with the main scenario, our scenario lead, lore creation lead, and many other staff give it their all to create the best narrative possible. As a director, I devoted myself to literally just directing the game, but as the development team has shown great growth, I feel that my role in development isn’t as significant as before. 😛
Now that the Trust system has been widely used, is there anything that has particularly surprised you about reception from players? Is there any feedback that you are looking to take into consideration moving forward?
I feel the reaction from the fans is what we were aiming for in creating this system, and it seems players have really embraced it. We have received feedback regarding the Trust system, but unfortunately due to the complexity of the system’s mechanics, it would be difficult to simply add on new functions. Instead of adding new features and functions to the Trust system, our goal at this time is to create additional content that players can enjoy utilizing the Trust system.
Are there any aspects to these early days of Shadowbringers that didn’t pan out as expected? Anything you’d do differently?
No. This is the case for every expansion pack, but the development team, the operations team, and I feel that we have given our all in creating Shadowbringers, and it is the fruit of our labor. I truly believe that we accomplished something great, to the point that I feel karma would strike if I were greedy and asked for anything more. So no, there is nothing I would do differently. Of course, it was a lot of hard work, so in that sense I don’t know if I’d want to go through it again, either…lol.
Players will always have something to say in terms of job adjustments and balancing. At launch, Astrologian probably had the most contention. After tweaking things, where do you stand on the current balance between jobs?
As the gameplay experience is different for each job, it is difficult to simply compare the jobs side by side; however, as of patch 5.08, I feel that there is more of a statistical balance between each of the jobs in a specific role.
There are more adjustments which need to be made when it comes to overall control and feel, especially for Ninja and the Summoner which we are in the process of adjusting in Patch 5.1. I do not feel that the current job balance is perfect as is, and in the end each player will think differently about what the perfect balance is, so in that sense we may never reach perfection.
That being said, moving forward we will continue to make adjustments as necessary, so please keep an eye out for future updates.
As you recently revealed plans to streamline the main scenario in A Realm Reborn, can you give us any insight as to which parts you’re looking to abridge? Do you have a rough idea of how the streamlined version might compare to the current questline in terms of quest numbers or playtime?
I’m aware that there is a great sense of anticipation regarding these adjustments for A Realm Reborn. However, I feel that the community might set their expectations too high no matter what I say this far out, so I would like to refrain from going into any details. In general, we plan to simplify some quest objectives, omit any unnecessary quests, and speed up the flow of the ARR main scenario.
How has the success of FFXIV changed the future of the Final Fantasy brand, or changed Square Enix?
The best thing to come out of this success is that Square Enix’s relationship with the fans and players has become stronger. I think that many people who previously felt that Square Enix or the Final Fantasy brand were segmented now feel as though things are more open and accessible. I’m glad that FFXIV has become a starting point for us to further expand the Final Fantasy series, together with the fans, as comrades.
FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida.
I know you’re asked this many times, but where are you (and the team) at in terms of bringing FFXIV to other platforms (Xbox One or Google Stadia)?
You’re right. I’ve been asked this so many times that maybe we should have a template answer created for this!
Joking aside, my direction has never changed from the beginning when we started with A Realm Reborn: strive to have as many people play FFXIV on multiple platforms. Secondly, I want to allow people to play with their friends without any cross-platform limitations. I am still in discussion with Microsoft and Nintendo to make this a reality. If there are any updates, the fans will be the first to know, so please hold on tight.
Additionally, we are testing out the game not only on Stadia, but on various cloud streaming services. However, with FFXIV being a server-client MMORPG, it is not as easy to port to a cloud service as other standalone or P2P titles. My impression thus far is that playing the game will still depend heavily on the network environment the player is using.
How do you see FFXIV transitioning into the next console generation? Is the nature of the upcoming consoles making that more simple than, say, going from PS3 to PS4?
Similar to my previous response, the same concept drives this as well, which is having as many people play FFXIV on various platforms. I hope to be proactive in making the game compatible with next generation consoles. I assume that there wouldn’t be too many issues since we are porting the game to a newer platform.
While creating Night City, the setting for Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red wanted to create a “unique take” on the Cyberpunk franchise. This is why the upcoming RPG takes place in a primarily sunny locale as opposed to the gloomy, rain-soaked settings traditionally seen in the cyberpunk genre.
“When we showed the demo last year, people were surprised at first that it was so sunny,” Cyberpunk 2077 concept art coordinator Marthe Jonkers said in an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz. “They expected rainy, dark cyberpunk but you can make a cyberpunk city in California. Of course, it will rain there, because we have a weather system, and it will also be night, but we are really trying to get this fresh take on cyberpunk.”
Night City is built on the foundation of four distinct visual styles, each of which details the different ages of cultural and social-economic growth in the Cyberpunk universe between 2020 and the events of the game. This creates a very different world in the Cyberpunk universe, one that allows you to instantly recognize when a car was made or how long a certain building has been around just at a glance. “That was really, really important to us, to make a unique take on Cyberpunk,” Jonkers said. “And I really like that when people see screenshots of our game, they recognize it as our style.”
The first era, Entropism, was one of intense poverty, so anything made from that time looks very plain. “The designs from that era are very practical, more about practicality than whether it looks nice or is decorated,” Jonkers said. Entropism was followed by Kitsch, a period of time when the economy recovered in Night City and allowed the low- and middle-class to invest in more colorful and extravagant items. The third era, Neomilitarism, saw the rise of rich corporations, which is where all the tall and sleek skyscrapers come from. Finally, Neokitsch, saw the divide between the rich and poor grow wider–and several members of the wealthy class began adopting the colorful style of the poor, albeit with a more money-centric twist. Think clothes made of animal pelts.
Jonkers goes on to explain that this level of world-building allows CD Projekt Red to tell stories about the people that live in Night City without expositional conversations. “There are layers to the design of Night City and all its inhabitants, so when you drive around and you see a building that’s sort of pink with these soft edges, and the windows are sort of soft shaped, you know that this is kitsch style, and you know that was built in that period of time where people had more money back then,” she said. “It’s telling you a story about the background of the city, and gives an extra layer of believability.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on April 16, 2020.
Pokemon Go‘s final wave of Ultra Bonuses is still live. Not only did it introduce the first Gen 5 Pokemon to the game (as well as a new evolutionary item called the Unova Stone), it also brought the Legendary Mewtwo back to Raids. However, your time to catch the Legendary Psychic-type is running out.
Mewtwo is scheduled to leave the game again at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on Monday, September 23, so you have until then to encounter it in five-star Raids. This time, the Legendary Pokemon knows the move Psystrike, a Psychic-type attack originally introduced in Pokemon Black and White. That’s not all; you also have a chance of encountering a Shiny Mewtwo while it is still in Raids.
Before it leaves the game once again, Niantic was supposed to hold a Mewtwo Legendary Raid Hour this past Wednesday; due to issues, however, that event had to be postponed. The Raid Hour will now take place on Tuesday, October 8, from 6-7 PM local time, giving you one final chance to catch a Mewtwo that knows Psystrike.
As usual, before you can capture Mewtwo, you’ll first need to defeat it in battle. As a pure Psychic-type, Mewtwo is vulnerable to Ghost, Dark, and Bug Pokemon such as Giratina, Tyranitar, and Scizor, so any of those will prove to be an asset when you challenge it.
In other Pokemon Go news, the game’s Safari Zone event is now underway in Montreal. To celebrate the event, players around the world have a chance of encountering a Shiny Yanma in the wild. Niantic also recently shared the first details for October’s Pokemon Go Community Day. The event takes place on October 12, and the featured Pokemon will be Trapinch, the first form of the Ground/Dragon Pokemon Flygon.
Destiny 2‘s Exotic items merchant, Xur, has returned once again to the game ahead of Shadowkeep. This weekend, you can find a number of pieces of armor (including one with an Enhanced perk) and a fun Exotic grenade launcher, The Colony, for sale. You can check out the video above for Xur’s whereabouts and items or refer to our Xur location guide for the full rundown.
Night School Studio, the developer behind the much-beloved choice-driven adventure game Oxenfree, has provided a release date for its next game, Afterparty. Just in time for Halloween, the comical adventure game about two friends barhopping across hell will release on October 29.
Much like Oxenfree, Afterparty is a story-driven game decided by player choice. As best friends Milo and Lola–you can switch between the two any time you want–you’ve found yourself trapped in hell with no idea as to how you got there. Though hell is a never-ending party of drinking and clubbing, the two desperately wish to return home. There’s only one way out though: you have to defeat Satan in a drinking contest.
As you continue to explore hell and work your way to Satan’s home, you’ll encounter demons and other condemned human souls who have their own problems. Talking to them presents you with new quests to complete and decisions to make, and there’s actually no way to do it all in one playthrough. Depending on what you decide to do, the relationship between Milo and Lola will change and your perspective on what’s best for them will alter as a result. “By the end of the night, you’ll have created your own story arc for Milo and Lola,” Night School Studio co-founder Sean Krankel wrote in an Xbox Wire blog post. “Will they escape hell? Do they even want to escape if they’re having fun?”
Along the way, you can stop in a bar to have a drink, with each concoction altering your stats in certain ways–like making you more aggressive so you can pull off more impressive insults during an argument. Just be sure you don’t drink too much. “Get too drunk, and you’ll vomit up your conscience,” co-founder Adam Hines said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The conscience is a little character and you have to chase him around. Until you get him back, every choice you have is awful, very selfish, and narcissistic.”
Afterparty is a day one Xbox Game Pass launch title, but the game is also releasing on PS4 and PC on October 29. A Switch version is scheduled for a later date.
Note: this review contains full spoilers for Titans: Season 2, Episode 3. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 2, Episode 2.
Titans continues its transformation from gritty superhero road trip to a more traditional take on the Teen Titans mythos this week. Tone down the adult language and Titans could almost be mistaken for an Arrowverse offshoot (albeit one with a much more expensive production budget). And while the show clearly still has some kinks to work out, these changes are by and large working out for the best.
While the shift to a true headquarters and a lavish rendition of Titans Tower is nice, the biggest improvement in Season 2 is this renewed emphasis on history and legacy. The current plot revolves heavily around the fact that a version of the Titans existed once before, one that ended in failure and heartache. That casts a shadow over everything Dick and his teammates are trying to build here. It also informs how new villains like Deathstroke and Doctor Light are being brought into the picture. Both men have a history with a team ,and both are hellbent on making the new Titans pay for the crimes of the old.
