Monthly Archives: August 2020

Guilty Gear Strive Confirmed for PlayStation 5 and Steam

Alongside the reveals of Leo Whitefang and Nagoriyuki, Arc System Works has confirmed that, in addition to the already announced PS4 version, Guilty Gear Strive will launch on PlayStation 5 and Steam in Spring 2021. As reported by Eurogamer, a new trailer showcased Leo Whitefang, a returning character who made his debut in 2014's Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- and wields two greatswords. His official description is as follows; "Leo is one of the three 'Allied Kings' of the Allied Kingdom of Illyria, and is responsible for the governing of Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. He is also an accomplished warrior in his own right, with a relentless fighting style." EeToYtCU0AEDGPW Nagoriyuki was also introduced, and he is a brand new character that is a techno samurai vampire who uses a sword and wears a pretty nifty sci-fi helmet. His official description is as follows; "Nagoriyuki is the newest addition to the Guilty Gear universe. A vampire with a number of unique and powerful abilities, he wields a huge sword with impressive skill in battle and slashes at his enemies with punishing blows. Stay tuned for more info about this mysterious figure!" EeToYPKU4AAzsBv Guilty Gear Strive was scheduled to be released in 2020, but it was recently delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strive is more of a reboot of the franchise, and features such characters as Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Faust, Potemkin, Chipp Zanuff, Zato-1, Millia Rage, and Axl Low. As part of our IGN Expo, we were proud to exclusively reveal Ramlethal Valentine, a returning character who specializes in controlling the mid-range. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/guilty-gear-strive-ramlethal-reveal-trailer"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Trump Says He Will Ban TikTok From the USA as Early as Saturday, August 1

Update (7/31/20) - As reported by CNBC, President Trump told reporters that he will ban TikTok from the United States as early as Saturday, August 1. "As far as TikTok is concerned, we're banning them from the United States," Trump said. This move will come through an executive order of another method, although Trump did not specify what course of action he would take. As far as the reports stating the Microsoft is interested in purchasing TikTok from parent company ByteDance, Trump said, "he didn't support the reported spinoff deal." Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media video app that is under scrutiny from the Trump administration, is reportedly in talks with Microsoft and other companies to sell itself and part from its parent company ByteDance. As reported by The New York Times, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, has been looking into ByteDance's 2017 purchase of Musical.ly, which would become TikTok. It has decided to, "order ByteDance to divest TikTok, and the government is currently discussing the terms of its separation. White House officials have further said that "TikTok may post a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership." It is unclear if President Trump, who has been informed of the investigation, will focus the divestment order on TikTok's American operations or if it would include its more global business as well. Another option Trump could exercise would be using, "the vast powers of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to bar certain foreign apps from American app stores." Furthermore, the Trump Administration is also considering if it should add ByteDance to the "entity list," which would bar it from purchasing American products and services without a special license. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/07/microsoft-conferences-to-go-digital-only-possibly-until-july-2021"] TikTok has explored other options to avoid a sell, including having a non-Chinese investor like Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and General Atlantic, purchase a majority stake from ByteDance. ByteDance's current valuation is around "$100 billion," according to research firm PitchBook, so any deal would indeed be a big one. TikTok's issues have been going on for months at this point, as lawmakers and the Trump administration have, "questioned whether the app is susceptible to influence from the Chinese government, including potential requests to censor material shared on the platform or to share American user data with Chinese officials." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=halo-infinite-xbox-games-showcase-gameplay-reveal-screenshots&captions=true"] “It is well established at this point that apps that have granular access to user data, location, and other sensitive personal data are very much on the radar of Cfius and can cause significant national security concerns,” said John P. Kabaelo, a lawyer who represents companies in Cfius reviews. TikTok is currently used by more than 800 million people worldwide, and TikTok's Chinese offices have, "swollen to thousands of employees." TikTok also has offices in New York and Los Angeles. TikTok has tried to fight these accusations and change its course, and has taken such action as hiring a top Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be its chief executive and pledging to publicly reveal the, "algorithm that powers its app." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Grounded Early Access Review – Little Acorns

Editor's note: This review evaluates Grounded based on its early access state. We plan on reviewing Grounded again once it gets a full release.

Think about your favourite survival games. Think back to how they launched. Think of their initial public showing. If your favourites are like mine, you'll notice a trend: None of them were very good when they first launched to the general public.

Subnautica had me on the edge of my seat at launch, but it ran terribly. Four years later and its 1.0 build was one of my favourite games in a year that included God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2. The Forest, similarly, launched a mere shadow of the terrifying adventure it would eventually become. No Man's Sky was near-universally criticised at launch, but it eventually reached its potential and went beyond. Grounded, from Obsidian Entertainment, is currently in the early part of the aforementioned Early Access phase, and is lacking in many respects. But, like the games mentioned above, it has what feels like the potential to grow into something much, much greater.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Grounded Early Access Review – Little Acorns

Editor's note: This review evaluates Grounded based on its early access state. We plan on reviewing Grounded again once it gets a full release.

Think about your favourite survival games. Think back to how they launched. Think of their initial public showing. If your favourites are like mine, you'll notice a trend: None of them were very good when they first launched to the general public.

Subnautica had me on the edge of my seat at launch, but it ran terribly. Four years later and its 1.0 build was one of my favourite games in a year that included God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2. The Forest, similarly, launched a mere shadow of the terrifying adventure it would eventually become. No Man's Sky was near-universally criticised at launch, but it eventually reached its potential and went beyond. Grounded, from Obsidian Entertainment, is currently in the early part of the aforementioned Early Access phase, and is lacking in many respects. But, like the games mentioned above, it has what feels like the potential to grow into something much, much greater.

Continue Reading at GameSpot