Monthly Archives: September 2017

Code Vein is More Than ‘Anime Dark Souls’

Although it’s become trite to compare video games to Dark Souls - there’s even a Twitter account dedicated to reductive Dark Souls comparisons - Bandai Namco’s Code Vein has modelled itself so closely and purposefully on From Software’s series there’s no avoiding it. Dark Souls beats strongly in Code Vein’s chest, but from what I’ve seen there are more than enough new twists on the formula to elevate it beyond a copy into what promises to be a new and refreshingly bizarre anime-kissed action-RPG.

Code Vein’s set-up is a little more transparent than one you might find in a Souls game. In the very near future, mysterious “Thorns of Judgement” have spiked through the world, causing mass destruction. In order to survive, the dwindling members of the human race – including your custom player character – have turned themselves into youthful vampires, feeding on blood in order to survive. A wall keeps the vampires enclosed, enveloping the ruined architecture from our century, crushed skyscrapers, broken cars, battered jukeboxes. 

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FXX’s You’re the Worst Is Breaking Up with Genre Norms in Season 4

Like its two main characters Gretchen and Jimmy, FXX's standout comedy You're the Worst doesn't want to play into your expectations.

Originally pitched as an "anti-romcom" which saw two generally terrible people falling in love when they realize, unwittingly or otherwise, they're perfect for each other, You're the Worst has pushed itself season after season to deliver more than is expected. From its critically-acclaimed Season 2, which saw Gretchen (Aya Cash) coming to terms with her clinical depression, to Season 3, which saw Jimmy (Chris Geere) grappling with the loss of estranged, despised father, You're the Worst is constantly using its lens of seeing the world through the eyes of two characters who represent all of our worst instincts to tell a well-rounded yet consistently surprising story. It's one of many reasons You're the Worst made IGN's list of the best shows of 2016.

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WWE 2K18: The Next 47 Playable Superstars Revealed

Ladies and gentlemen, the ring bell is about to go off bigstyle, as we enter the final part of our exclusive partnership with WWE to show you WWE 2K18's huge playable roster.

In our final reveal video, Cory Graves and Renee Young are joined by the WWE's own fashion police, Breezango to introduce the last 47 playable wrestlers and look damn good while they do so.

Want a closer look at every one of those 47 - here they are in convenient image gallery form:

Oh, and have a batch of in-game screenshots featuring the likes of The New Day, Jack Gallagher and the delightful No Way Jose:

Plus, finally, we have Breezango's flamboyant entrance to show off:

Don't like videos or pictures? Here's all 47 of today's wrestlers in bullet point list mode:

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Aladdin: Live-Action Remake Casts Billy Magnussen

Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin is pulling together even more of its cast - and this time, it's expanding to characters that weren't featured in the original 1992 animated film.

As revealed by the Hollywood Reporter, director Guy Ritchie has cast Billy Magnussen (Black Mirror, Into the Woods) as Prince Anders. No details on his character have been revealed, but since the original film saw Princess Jasmine rejecting the advances of several princely suitors before the arrival of Aladdin, it's possible that we're getting a little bit more backstory for at least one of them. Magnussen has previously princely experience, having appeared as Rapunzel's prince in Disney's 2014 musical adaptation Into the Woods.

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Destiny 2: Clan Features Delayed “For Several Days”

Bungie has confirmed in a tweet that players of Destiny 2, which launched today, are going to have to wait at least a few days before taking advantage of any of the game's clan features.

Clans are communities of like-minded Destiny players who are able to journey through the game together and benefit from each other's achievements; although they existed in the original Destiny, they were only accessible through the Destiny website and functioned essentially in the background. In Destiny 2, they've been overhauled and brought to the forefront of gameplay, featuring in the user interface and allowing Guardians to join their fellow players on the fly, creating fireteams with other Clan members and levelling the Clan up as individual members work their way through the game.

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Red Sox Caught Cheating at Baseball Using an Apple Watch

A Major Baseball League investigation has found the Boston Red Sox guilty of illicitly using an Apple Watch to give themselves an advantage, by using the device to receive messages which indicated what kind of pitch was about to be thrown.

As reported by the New York Times, the Red Sox would have an off-field person watching a camera feed of the catcher; when the catcher signalled the play to the pitcher, they would relay the information to the dugout via Apple watch, where the information would then be passed to the batter.

It's not strictly the passing of information that's the problem here - "stealing signs", the process whereby a pitcher's instruction is somehow relayed to the batter, is perfectly legal when done through traditional means; the difference here is that the Red Sox - currently at the top of America's Eastern League Division - used technology to give themselves the advantage, which is against game rules.

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Warner Bros. Won’t Profit From Shadow of War Charity DLC

Last week, Warner Bros. and Monolith anounced that they would sell a piece of charity DLC in commemoration of the tragic death of developer Michael Forgey. All seemed well until some noticed that small print within the DLC’s trailer seemed to not only exclude donations on purchases in certain US States, but also purchases worldwide.

Eurogamer reached out to Warner Bros. to get clarification on exactly how the money from the upcoming charity DLC would be distributed. In a statement, Warner Bros. said “Neither Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment nor Monolith Productions will profit from any sales of the Forthog Orc-Slayer DLC regardless of the territory in which that DLC is sold.”

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The Pokemon Company CEO Thought Switch Would Fail

The Pokemon Company's CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara has said he originally told Nintendo that the Switch wouldn't be a success, but now realises his mistake - and has offered some tiny hints as to how the Pokemon game for Switch will take advantage of the hybrid console.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Ishihara explained: “I told Nintendo that Switch wouldn’t be a success before it went on sale because I thought that, in the age of the smartphone, no one would carry around a game console. It’s obvious I was wrong."

However, he seems to put that success down to good games, rather than hardware: "I came to realise the key to a successful game is quite simple - software with absolute quality leads sales of hardware. Playing style can be flexible if the software is attractive enough.”

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Biomutant: Narration Can Be Toned Down

Since its announcement a couple of weeks ago, Biomutant - next year's action-RPG from Experiment 101 and THQ Nordic - has been generating a significant amount of buzz, mostly centring on its imaginative, post-apocalyptic world and no-holds barred combat system; our own Marty Sliva thinks it could live up to its developers' legacy and be a fantasy Just Cause.

Part and parcel of that frantic combat system is an excitable narrator, who contributes to battle through various exclamations depending on the player's actions - but, according to Experiment 101's studio head Stefan Ljungqvist, gamers who prefer a little more peace during combat can turn down the narration.

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Star Wars: Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson Eyed to Direct Ep. 9

Rian Johnson is reportedly being eyed as a possible contender to helm Episode IX now that Colin Trevorrow has left the project.

Deadline reports that Johnson, who has been hard at work directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is the front contender to take on Episode IX. Similar to the structure of the MCU, it seems Star Wars' top brass is taking a 'my way or the highway' approach to the series, and Deadline claims Johnson has fit seamlessly into the "Lucasfilm machine". THR echoes this report, but also says The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams is a popular choice to direct the now rudderless Episode.

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