Monat: April 2021

  • Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 20. bis 23. April

    Next Week on Xbox: Neue Spiele vom 20. bis 23. April

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Willkommen bei Next Week on Xbox. Wie immer stellen wir Dir alle neuen Spiele vor, die bald für Xbox Series XXbox Series S und Xbox One erhältlich sind! In der kommenden Woche erscheinen wieder eine Menge Spiele für Deine Lieblingskonsole – hier siehst Du, welche neuen Games Dich erwarten. Klick Dich einfach durch die Spiel-Details, um mehr zu möglichen Vorbestellungen zu erfahren (Änderungen vorbehalten).

    Bad Dream: Coma

    Das Point-and-Click-Abenteuer Bad Dream: Coma lebt von seiner einzigartigen Atmosphäre, die durch einen minimalistischen Kunststil erzeugt wird. Du reist durch eine surreale und verstörende Trauma-Landschaft, in der alles von Deinen Entscheidungen abhängt.

    MBL The Show 21

    Xbox Game Pass, Optimiert für Xbox Series X|S – Willkommen bei MLB The Show 21! Das Spiel hält zahlreiche Modi bereit, die sowohl Rookies als auch erfahrenen Spieler*innen alles abverlangen. Erschaffe Deinen eigenen Spieler in Road to the Show und Diamond Dynasty, koste die Updates für den Franchise- und March to October-Modus aus und trete mit Deinen Freund*innen in plattformübergreifenden Matches gegeneinander an. Die MLB The Show 21 Digital Deluxe Edition ist ab sofort erhältlich. Die MLB The Show 21 Standard Edition erscheint am 20. April im Xbox Store für Xbox One und Xbox Series X|S und für alle Mitglieder des Xbox Game Pass.

    Dungeon Escape

    Du bist in einem Kerker gefangen, in dem es vor tödlichen Fallen nur so wimmelt. Mit etwas List und Geschick gibt es allerdings noch eine minimale Chance zum Überleben. Finde den Ausgang aus den Kammern, die mit steigendem Level noch schwieriger zu durchschauen sind. Überwinde Hürden und finde den passenden Schlüssel, um Dich irgendwie doch noch aus dem finsteren Verließ zu befreien.

    Nimm Deinen Platz in der Startaufstellung ein und mache Dich bereit für das realistischste und intensivste Spiel, das die MotoGP-Serie jemals hervorgebracht hat. Die mit Liebe zum Detail gestaltete Rennsimulation kommt mit mehr als 120 offiziellen Fahrern, über 20 Strecken und brandneuen Features, die ein noch nie dagewesenes Maß an Realismus bieten – auch weil der Long Lap Penalty zum ersten Mal Teil des Spiels ist. Tauche ein in die Geschichte der MotoGP und lerne mehr als 40 historische Fahrer und Kult-Maschinen kennen. Wenn Du das Spiel noch heute bestellst, erhältst Du automatisch das VIP Multiplier Pack.

    Buildings Have Feelings Too

    Stell Dir vor, es gibt eine Stadt, in der jedes Gebäude eine eigene Seele hat. Die Gebäude können miteinander sprechen und ihre Hoffnungen, Ängste und Sorgen teilen. Die meiste Zeit versuchen sie allerdings nur, miteinander auszukommen und irgendwie den Tag zu überstehen. Vergrößere Deine Stadt zu einer umtriebigen Metropole, indem Du neue Geschäfte, Büros und Institutionen zur Unterhaltung errichtest. Aber Vorsicht: Wenn Du nicht aufpasst, werden Deine Gebäude nicht glücklicher, sondern müssen den Abriss fürchten.

    In Smelter treffen nervenaufreibende Strategie-Elemente auf geballte Action, die von Klassikern der 16-Bit-Ära inspiriert ist. Du führst Smelter und dessen Zirm-Truppen an, um Smelters Territorium in den Rumbly Lands auszuweiten und bedeutsame Orte zu annektieren. Deine Armee ist Dein Kapital, dementsprechend solltest Du alles daran setzen, ihre Fähigkeiten sukzessive auszubauen. Schalte Upgrades frei, erlerne elementare Action-Fähigkeiten und bezwinge Deine schier übermächtigen Kontrahent*innen, die im ganzen Land auf Dich lauern.

    Xbox Play Anywhere – Dieses Point-and-Click-Abenteuer katapultiert Dich schlagartig in die Welt einer Ameise, deren Pläne und Träume Du mit nur einem Fehltritt begräbst. Nun liegt es an Dir, das Missgeschick wieder gut zu machen und der Ameise ihr Lächeln zurückzugeben.

    Dead Dust spielt in einer Umgebung, in der rücksichtslose Schießereien, der Geruch von Schießpulver und die Gegenwart von heißblütigen Cowboys zum guten Ton gehören. Kämpfe Dich durch die Gefahren des Wilden Westens, um den Geheimnissen von Dead Dust auf den Grund gehen zu können. Nur, wenn Du alle Hürden hinter Dir lässt und an Deinen Herausforderungen wächst, kannst Du das entführte Mädchen retten.

    Dungeon and Gravestone

    In der geheimnisvollen Welt von Dungeon and Gravestone verändern nicht nur Dungeons, sondern auch Städte ihr Aussehen. Sammle Items, verbessere Deine Ausrüstung und versuche, in noch tiefer liegende Ebenen abzutauchen. Gestalte das Leben im Dungeon nach Deinen Vorstellungen und löse schlussendlich die Geheimnisse des Dungeons.

    Optimiert für Xbox Series X|S – Von den Machern der Yakuza-Reihe: Judgement erzählt die düstere Geschichte des in Ungnade gefallenen Anwalts Takayuki Yagami auf der Suche nach Erlösung. Verfolgt von seiner Vergangenheit, schlüpft er in die Rolle eines Privatdetektivs und bahnt sich seinen Weg durch das unterirdische Verbrechernetzwerk von Kamurocho, dem eine Reihe von grausamen Modern nachgesagt werden.

    Moon Raider

    Ava ist die Tochter des brillanten Wissenschaftlers Dr. Cavor – und Selene, die der ehemaligen Königin des Mondes. Selenes Leben hängt von einer übernatürlichen Energie ab, die sie nur über spezielle Mond-Edelsteine erhalten kann. Nun, da ihr Vorrat aufgebraucht ist, bittet Dr. Cavor seine Tochter, zum Mond zu reisen und so viele Edelsteine wie möglich zurück nachhause zu bringen

    NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

    Mach Dich gefasst auf das Prequel des hochgelobten Meisterwerks NieR:Automata! Du schlüpfst in die Rolle eines jungen Mannes, der in einem abgelegenen Dorf lebt. Um seine Schwester Yonah zu retten, die an der Runenpest erkrankt ist, begibst Du Dich mit einem sprechenden Buch namens Grimoire Weiss auf die Suche nach den Versiegelten Versen.

    The Skylia Prophecy

    Gehe auf Erkundungstour durch eine gefährliche Fantasiewelt auf der Suche Erlösung. Wenn Du das Gefühl hast, dass die Herausforderungen zu schwer für Dich sind, kannst Du es Dir einfacher machen, indem Du zunächst Nebenquests erfüllst und das verdiente Geld in hilfreiche Items investiert.

    Website: LINK

  • Genshin Impact launches on PS5 April 28, brings 4K support, enhanced textures, and more

    Genshin Impact launches on PS5 April 28, brings 4K support, enhanced textures, and more

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Hello Travelers! The Genshin Impact dev team is back once again with some exciting details on Version 1.5, which lands on April 28. In this latest version update, Beneath the Light of Jadeite, you can hone your adventure and combat skills with new events and formidable new enemies, continue your journey with Zhongli, meet new friends Eula and Yanfei, and hang out with more of your favorite characters, creating new memories ranging from the fun to the philosophical.

    In addition, we are delighted to finally invite all Travelers to Teyvat to set up your very own home-away-from-home, where you can enjoy some much-needed moments of rest and respite from your busy journey through this world.

    More fun and friendship

    If you enjoyed the Hangout Events added to the game in Version 1.4, you may be glad to know that Version 1.5 gives you the chance to continue your hangout story with Noelle and start hanging out with Diona, the popular bartender of The Cat’s Tail in Mondstadt.

    We’d also like to introduce you to two new characters: Eula, the Spindrift Knight from Mondstadt, and Yanfei, a legal adviser from Liyue Harbor.

    As the Captain of the Knights of Favonius Reconnaissance Company, Eula is a five-star character, a claymore-user, and the bearer of a Cryo Vision. Her Elemental Skill, Icetide Vortex, increases her resistance to interruption and her DEF while dealing Cryo DMG. Her Elemental Burst deals AoE Cryo DMG to nearby enemies and creates a Lightfall Sword that follows her around for a certain duration, increasing her resistance to interruption. By dealing damage, Eula charges the Lightfall Sword until it explodes at the end of its duration, dealing AoE Physical DMG. Find out more about Eula in her upcoming story quest.

    Meanwhile, Yanfei is a young half-human, half-illuminated beast born in Liyue during peacetime. She has dedicated herself to studying and interpreting Liyue’s extensive legal code and helping her clients extricate themselves from even the most complicated of legal wrangles. The four-star Pyro-using catalyst-wielder generates Scarlet Seals with her Normal Attack, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst. Scarlet Seals provide a stackable buff that decreases Yanfei’s Stamina consumption and can be consumed to increase the power and range of her Charged Attacks.

    For those of you interested in the culture and history of Liyue, you’ll hopefully enjoy picking up where you left off with Zhongli to explore more legends and relics of the far-flung past. But be warned — sometimes, digging up the past reveals why it was buried so deep in the first place…

    Get ready to confront new enemies

    In Version 1.5, a new Trounce Domain and a new Boss Enemy will be introduced, offering perilous challenges for precious rewards.

    Azhdaha, the “Lord of Vishaps,” is a formidable adversary sealed deep underground, with the power to unleash various elemental attacks and change the environment of the battlefield. Once unlocked, Travelers will be able to challenge the Trounce Domain “Beneath the Dragon-Queller” and claim rare weekly rewards.

    Recently, a new boss-level enemy has also been discovered in Dragonspine. The Cryo Hypostasis is the latest addition to the Hypostasis series, and as well as bringing its unique combat style to the mix, Travelers will also need to contend with Sheer Cold during the battle.

    Another enemy worthy of introduction is the Abyss Lector: Violet Lightning, a new enemy from the Abyss. Unlike the Abyss Herald introduced in Version 1.4, the Abyss Lector prefers to use ranged attacks and wields the power of both Electro and Hydro. If that isn’t enough to deal with, some of its attacks also deduct Elemental Energy from the player.

    There’s nothing like a home brew

    Still remember that magical teapot owned by a certain adeptus granny? Well, now you will have a chance to get your hands on your very own “Serenitea Pot,” courtesy of Madame Ping. Enter a realm you can call your own and build your dream home!

    The adepti of Liyue possess a number of miraculous abilities, one of which allows them to manifest an entire realm within a medium such as a teapot. Once you become the owner of the Serenitea Pot, you will be prompted to choose from several realm styles when you first enter: Floating Abode, Emerald Peak, and Cool Isle. Each has either a Mondstadt- or Liyue-style building with several indoor rooms and plenty of space for outdoor recreation.

    To make your realm into a place you can call home, you will need to remodel it inside and out. Thankfully, Tubby the teapot spirit will be on hand to help you with this task. As you travel around Teyvat, you will discover various furnishing blueprints, which can be used to make furnishings for your home. The more furnishings you make, the more Trust you can earn from Tubby, and the more help and resources Tubby can offer in return. Once your Trust Rank is high enough, Tubby can even help you switch realm layouts.

    The adeptal power that generated your realm will also generate Realm Currency over time. As you place more furnishings in your realm, the adeptal power will increase further, generating even more Realm Currency. Realm Currency can be exchanged in Tubby’s Realm Depot for furnishings and items, or traded with the Teapot Traveling Salesman, when he shows up, for precious wares and rare resources. You can also invite your friends to visit you in your realm.

    The Serenitea Pot item and the Realm Within that it provides access to will be added and supported from Version 1.5. Further gameplay and functions will follow in future updates.

    We’d also like to mention a couple of gameplay optimizations to look forward to in this version. The first three times you claim rewards in a week from Trounce Domains, it will only cost you 30 Original Resin. Also, you will now gain double the amount of Companionship EXP for gameplay completed in co-op mode.

    New seasonal challenges and events with bountiful rewards will also be on offer, but we’ll save the details on those until a later date.

    And finally: we are extremely excited to announce that a native version of Genshin Impact for PlayStation 5 will be released on April 28. With native support for PlayStation 5 comes 4K resolution, enhanced textures, and faster loading times.

    We look forward to sharing more details with you all in the near future, so watch this space.

    Website: LINK

  • How to become a glorious warrior in Chivalry 2’s closed beta

    How to become a glorious warrior in Chivalry 2’s closed beta

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    At long last, the battle shall commence! We’re excited to announce that pre-orders are now available for Chivalry 2 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 Both versions come with a guaranteed spot in the Cross-Play Closed Beta on April 23-26.

    The Chivalry 2 Closed beta is guaranteed with all pre-orders of the game and will be available on April 23, 2021 at 10:00am PT / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST. To download it to your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 system, visit the Chivalry 2 page at PlayStation Store, and simply add the beta to your library.

    To celebrate the news, we present this special animated trailer that reveals the motivations of the Agatha Knights – one of the two factions you’ll play as in Chivalry 2 along with the Mason Order.

    How to become a glorious warrior in Chivalry 2’s closed beta

    Buy Chivalry 2 on PlayStation 4 and you’ll get a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version.

    Chivalry 2 is enhanced for PlayStation 5 and features 4K visuals and DualSense controller adaptive triggers and haptics. A few examples:

    • On the left trigger, holding block gets harder as your stamina falls
    • The right trigger will increase pressure for bows as you hold back the string
    • Localized haptic feedback on strikes let you feel where every hit lands

    Chivalry 2 is a multiplayer first person slasher launching June 8 that throws players into the thick of epic, medieval warfare. Fight in massive 64-player battles across a variety of maps that feel straight out of the best medieval movies of all time. Whether you’re sieging a walled city to assassinate the heir to the throne, or setting a village on fire while peasants (and chickens) scream in protest – in Chivalry 2 you’ll use the freedom of traditional FPS-style control to become a whirlwind of steel on the battlefield.

    Our team Torn Banner Studios is composed of industry veterans as well as members of the original development team for Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (2012). Chivalry 2 began development in 2017 and we’re so excited to finally unleash the full game in June 2021.

    The Cross-Play Closed Beta (April 23-26) will be a global test with servers available worldwide.

    Here’s a tease of what you’ll be able to try out in the Cross-Play Closed Beta:

    • Wage war in The Siege of Rudhelm, an epic Team Objective mode map that sees you protect or invade an entire city and its castle
    • Continue the fight in more Team Objective, Team Deathmatch and Free-for-all maps
    • Find your fit: play as 12 subclasses ranging from Skirmisher (hybrid melee/ranged fighter) to Poleman (fighter that keeps opponents away with long melee range)
    • Cut your teeth in a full tutorial- – learn every technique in the book.

    The full release will include all of the above — and more. In total you’ll fight in five unique Team Objective mode maps, which are sprawling, multi-stage levels where attackers have to push through each stage successfully or risk the entire game ending early. Siege entire cities in this mind-blowing game mode that truly feels like all-out war on a massive scale.

    Chivalry 2 at full release will also have three additional, normal size maps to conquer in traditional Team Deathmatch and Free-for-all modes. But the conflict won’t end there! Much, much more content will be added after launch, including more maps, weapons and game modes.

    As the battle approaches, here’s five tips for how to succeed in the Cross-Play Closed Beta:

    1. Swing with your hips, not your eyes! Think of the crosshair as the direction your character’s hips face. When you swing a weapon, you can turn your hips to accelerate into a hit.
    2. You can hold down a block if you’re feeling overwhelmed — but be sure to aim your block at the point of your enemy’s strike in order to parry, then riposte and earn the advantage.
    3. Look around you. Make use of interactive traps including spikes, bear traps, chandeliers and more to kill your enemy without even clashing your swords.
    4. No fight is complete without a bit of banter. Cycle the voice line and emote menus to shout out hundreds of hilarious character voice lines on demand.
    5. Feeling desperate? Chuck your weapon at the enemy and then pick up anything you can find around you to use as your improvised tool of death. How about a wagon wheel, a giant tree limb, or even a full sized church bell? Anything goes.

    Onward to glory!

    Website: LINK

  • Genshin Impact „Im Schein der Jade“ – Das erwartet euch!

    Genshin Impact „Im Schein der Jade“ – Das erwartet euch!

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Hallo Reisende! Die Entwickler von Genshin Impact sind wieder da und haben spannende Details für die am 28. April erscheinende Version 1.5! In Version 1.5 „Im Schein der Jade“ werdet ihr euer Abenteuer und eure Kampffähigkeiten verfeinern können, während ihr weitere saisonale Aktionen mit Aufträgen und furchterregende neue Feinde besiegt, eure Reise mit Zhongli fortsetzt, die neuen Freunde Eula und Yanfei trefft und mit weiteren Figuren eine vergnügliche oder inspirierende Reise verbringt.

    In der Zwischenzeit möchten wir euch, unsere Reisenden und Lebensretter, zum ersten Mal dazu einladen, euer eigenes Zuhause einzurichten und ein schönes, gemütliches Quartier zum Ausruhen auf eurer geschäftigen Reise zu haben, während ihr den Kontinent Teyvat erkundet.

    Erfrischende Momente mit mehr Freunden

    Wenn euch das Einladungsereignis des Windblumenfestes gefallen hat, könnt ihr euer Ereignis mit Noelle oder mit Diona, der unglaublich beliebten Barkeeperin der Taverne Zum Katzenschwanz in Version 1.5 fortsetzen.

    Außerdem möchten wir euch zwei neue Figuren vorstellen: Eula, die Gischtritterin aus Mondstadt, und Yanfei, eine Rechtsberaterin aus Liyue. Als Truppenführerin der Freischärler des Ordo Favonius ist Eula eine Fünf-Sterne-Figur, die einen riesigen Zweihänder schwingt und ein Göttliches Auge mit Kryo-Kraft trägt. Ihre Elementarfähigkeit Eisiger Strudel erhöht Eulas Verteidigung und Unterbrechungs-WDS, während sie Kryo-Schaden verursacht. Ihre Spezialfähigkeit fügt Gegnern in der Umgebung Kryo-Flächenschaden zu und erzeugt ein Schwert des Lichtfalls, das ihr für eine bestimmte Dauer folgt und ihren Unterbrechungs-WDS erhöht. Der von Eula verursachte Schaden lädt das Schwert des Lichtfalls auf und erzeugt eine massive Explosion, die am Ende ihrer Dauer physischen Flächenschaden verursacht. Ihr könnt mehr über Eula in ihrem persönlichen Legendenauftrag herausfinden.

    Eine weitere neue Figur, Yanfei, ist ein junges Mädchen, halb Mensch, halb Adeptin, geboren in der friedlichen Zeit von Liyue. Sie widmet sich dem Studium und der Auslegung der Gesetze und Verordnungen von Liyue, um den Menschen bei Rechtsfragen und Streitigkeiten zu helfen. Die Vier-Sterne-Kämpferin mit Pyro-Katalysator kann jedes Mal ein flammendes Siegel erzeugen, wenn sie einen Standardangriff, eine Elementarfähigkeit oder eine Spezialfähigkeit ausübt. Das flammende Siegel ist ein gestapelter Spezialbonus, der Yanfeis Ausdauerverbrauch senkt und verbraucht werden kann, um die Kraft und Distanz bei heftigen Schlägen zu erhöhen.

    Wenn ihr euch für die Kultur und Geschichte von Liyue interessiert, könnt ihr eure Reise auch mit Zhongli fortsetzen, um Legenden und Relikte aus längst vergangenen Tagen aufzuspüren. Übrigens wird Azhdaha, der Geo-Drachenechsenkönig, der in Zhonglis zweitem Kapitel seines persönlichen Auftrags debütierte, auch ein neuer Boss in Liyue werden.

    Zeit, sich neuen Feinden zu stellen

    In Verion 1.5 werden ein neuer Gegner in der Gebietssäuberung und ein Bossgegner eingeführt, die noch gefährlichere Herausforderungen und neue Quellen für Belohnungen bieten! Azhdaha, der Geo-Drachenechsenkönig, ist ein mächtiger, furchterregender Gegner, der in alter Zeit unter dem Drachenbezwinger versiegelt wurde. Azhdaha führt Angriffe mit verschiedener Elementarenergie aus und verändert die Umgebung des Schlachtfeldes. Und als Boss der Gebietssäuberung bietet er einmal pro Woche seltene Belohnungen für Reisende!

    Kürzlich wurde auch ein neuer Bossgegner auf dem Drachengrat entdeckt. Als Mitglied der Hypostasen hat die Kryo-Hypostase auch einen einzigartigen Kampfstil. Ihr werdet außerdem auf die bittere Kälte im Kampf achten müssen.

    Darüber hinaus möchten wir euch den Abgrundsänger: Lila Blitze vorstellen, einen neuen Gegner aus dem Abgrund. Anders als der Abgrundbote, den wir in Version 1.4 eingeführt haben, bevorzugt der Abgrundsänger: Lila Blitze Fernkampf und verfügt über die Kräfte von Elektro und Hydro. Einige seiner Angriffe entziehen den Spielern sogar Elementarenergie.

    Ein Zuhause in einer Kanne

    Erinnert ihr euch noch an die magische Teekanne, die Madame Ping besitzt? Jetzt habt ihr die Möglichkeit, eine „Kanne der Vergänglichkeit“ von ihr zu erhalten, euer eigenes Reich zu besitzen und das Zuhause eurer Träume zu bauen!

    Mit der Kanne der Vergänglichkeit als Medium haben die Adepten aus Liyue mithilfe der Adeptenkraft ein Reich eingerichtet. Als Besitzer der Kanne werdet ihr beim ersten Betreten gebeten, zwischen verschiedenen Gestaltungsplänen zu wählen: Schwebende Felsen, Smaragdberg und Kühle Insel. Jedes dieser Reiche besteht entweder aus einem Gebäude im Mondstadt- oder Liyue-Stil mit vielen Räumen und einem großen Platz für die Erholung im Freien.

    Um euer Reich zu eurem Zuhause zu machen, müsst ihr den Ort von innen nach außen renovieren. Und ihr habt Knolle, den Kannengeist, als euren kleinen Helfer, der euch hilft, euer Reich umzugestalten. Während ihr durch Teyvat reist, werdet ihr verschiedene Dekorationsbaupläne entdecken. Je mehr Dekorationen ihr für euer Zuhause anfertigen könnt, desto mehr Vertrauen könnt ihr von Knolle erwarten und desto mehr Hilfe und Ressourcen kann Knolle im Gegenzug anbieten. Bei ausreichender Vertrauensstufe kann Knolle euch sogar dabei helfen, den Gestaltungsplan eures Reiches zu verändern.

    Die Adeptenkraft, die euer Reich erzeugt, wird fortlaufend Kannentaler hervorbringen. Wenn ihr mehr Dekorationen in eurem Reich platziert, kann die Adeptenkraft weiter erhöht werden, um noch mehr Kannentaler zu erzeugen. Mit eurem Kannentalern könnt ihr Dekorationen in Knolles Schatzkammer eintauschen oder wertvolle Waren und seltene Ressourcen mit dem Kannengeist auf der Durchreise tauschen, wenn er vorbeikommt. Ihr könnt auch eure Freunde euer Reich besuchen lassen.

    Die Kanne der Vergänglichkeit und das darin befindliche Reich werden ab Version 1.5 verfügbar sein. Wir werden weitere Gameplays und Funktionen in zukünftigen Aktualisierungen hinzufügen.

    Um das Spielerlebnis weiter zu verbessern, bringen wir auch einige Anpassungen und Optimierungen ein. Ab Version 1.5 kosten die ersten drei Einsammlungen von Belohnungen bei der Gebietssäuberung jede Woche nur noch 30 Punkte ursprüngliches Harz. Außerdem wird der Freundschaftswert, den ihr durch Spielen im Mehrspielermodus erhält, verdoppelt. Neue saisonale Herausforderungen und Aktionen mit üppigen Belohnungen werden freigeschaltet, aber alles möchten wir jetzt noch nicht verraten.

    Mit Version 1.5 freuen wir uns auch, ankündigen zu können, dass die offizielle PlayStation®5-Version von Genshin Impact am 28. April erscheinen wird! Spieler können Genshin Impact auf PlayStation®5 nun in 4K-Auflösung mit verbesserten Texturen und schnellerer Ladezeit spielen. Wir werden euch später sicher noch mehr dazu verraten! Bleibt dran, Reisende!

    Website: LINK

  • Der Weg zum glorreichen Krieger in der Closed Beta von Chivalry 2

    Der Weg zum glorreichen Krieger in der Closed Beta von Chivalry 2

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Endlich ist es soweit, möge die Schlacht beginnen! Mit großer Freude geben wir heute bekannt, dass ihr Chivalry 2 ab sofort für PlayStation 4 und PlayStation 5 vorbestellen könnt! Bei beiden Versionen ist euch ein Platz in der Cross-Play-Closed-Beta vom 23. bis 26. April sicher.

    Die Chivalry 2 Closed Beta ist bei allen Vorbestellungen des Spiels inkludiert und wird am 23. April 2021 um 19:00 Uhr MESZ verfügbar sein. Um sie auf eurer PlayStation 4- oder PlayStation 5 herunterzuladen, besucht die Chivalry 2-Seite im PlayStation Store und fügt die Beta einfach eurer Bibliothek hinzu.

    Zur Feier dieser Neuigkeiten stellen wir euch heute diesen besonderen animierten Trailer vor, der die Beweggründe der Agatha Knights zeigt – neben dem Mason Order eine der beiden spielbaren Fraktionen von Chivalry 2.

    Der Weg zum glorreichen Krieger in der Closed Beta von Chivalry 2

    Beim Kauf der PlayStation 4-Version von Chivalry 2 erhaltet ihr ein kostenloses Upgrade auf die PlayStation 5-Version.

    Chivalry 2 ist für PlayStation 5 optimiert und bietet:

    • 4K UHD
    • DualSense-Haptik-Funktionen
      • Sinkt eure Ausdauer, wird es zunehmend schwerer, mit dem linken Trigger zu blocken.
      • Der rechte Trigger erhöht den Druck, wenn ihr den Bogen spannt.
      • Durch lokalisiertes Feedback bei Schlägen werdet ihr fühlen, wo jeder Schlag landet.

    Chivalry 2 ist ein Mehrspieler-Slasher in der Egoperspektive, der am 8 Juni erscheint und die Spieler tief in die epische Zeit der mittelalterlichen Kriegführung versetzt. Kämpft euch in riesigen 64-Spieler-Schlachten durch verschiedene Karten, die direkt aus den besten Mittelalterfilmen kommen könnten! Belagert eine befestigte Stadt, um den Thronfolger zu töten, oder brennt unter lautem Protest der Bauern (und Hühner) ein Dorf nieder – in Chivalry 2 habt ihr die gewohnt typische Steuerungsfreiheit der Egoperspektive und könnt zu einem stählernen Wirbelwind auf dem Schlachtfeld werden.

    Unser Team der Torn Banner Studios besteht aus erfahrenen Branchenveteranen sowie aus Mitgliedern des ursprünglichen Entwicklerteams vom Vorgänger Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (2012). 2017 begannen wir mit der Entwicklung von Chivalry 2, und im Juni 2021 ist es endlich soweit: Wir werden das fertige Spiel veröffentlichen.

    Die Cross-Play-Closed-Beta (23. bis 26 April) sehen wir als globalen Test, der weltweit auf unseren Servern stattfindet.

    Hier erhaltet ihr eine kleine Vorschau auf das, was euch in der Cross-Play-Closed-Beta erwartet:

    • Führt Krieg in Die Belagerung von Rudhelm, einer epischen Karte im „Team Objective“-Modus, bei dem ihr eine ganze Stadt samt Burg beschützen oder stürmen müsst.
    • Führt den Kampf auf weiteren „Team Objective“-, „Team Deathmatch“- oder „Free-for-All“-Karten fort.
    • Passt das Spiel eurer Spielweise an und wählt eure Krieger aus 12 Unterklassen aus. Es gibt zum Beispiel den Skirmisher (Plänkler), der sowohl Nah- als auch Fernkampfangriffe einsetzt, oder auch den Poleman (Stangenwaffenkämpfer), der Gegner mit hoher Nahkampfreichweite auf Abstand hält.
    • Schärft eure Waffen in einem kompletten Tutorial – lernt alle Techniken in- und auswendig!

    Die Vollversion beinhaltet all das … und mehr! Insgesamt werdet ihr im „Team Objective“-Modus auf fünf einzigartigen Karten kämpfen, die sich über Level mit mehreren Phasen erstrecken. Angreifer müssen jede Phase erfolgreich durchbrechen, sonst droht ihnen ein frühes Ende ihrer Mission. Belagert ganze Städte in diesem überwältigenden Spielmodus und erlebt den Krieg in einem unglaublich großen Ausmaß.

    Die Vollversion von Chivalry 2 enthält außerdem noch drei zusätzliche Karten in „normaler“ Größe, die ihr in den klassischen „Team Deathmatch“- und „Free-For-All“-Modi erobern könnt. Aber damit ist der Konflikt noch nicht vorbei! Nach der Veröffentlichung erwarten euch noch viele, viele weitere Inhalte, darunter mehr Karten, Waffen und Spielmodi.

    Und während die Schlacht naht, haben wir fünf Tipps für euch parat, die euch zum Erfolg in der Cross-Play-Closed-Beta führen werden:

    1. Schwingt mit der Hüfte, nicht mit den Augen! Denkt euch das Fadenkreuz als die Richtung, in die die Hüfte eures Charakters zeigt. Wenn ihr eine Waffe schwingt, solltet ihr eure Hüfte mitbewegen, um euren Schlag zu beschleunigen.
    2. Werdet ihr überwältigt, könnt ihr zum Blocken übergehen. Allerdings müsst ihr darauf achten, den Block auch am Schlag eures Gegners auszurichten. Gelingt euch das, könnt ihr direkt mit einem Konterangriff parieren und so die Oberhand gewinnen.
    3. Schaut euch um! Nutzt interaktive Fallen wie Stacheln, Bärenfallen, Kronleuchter und mehr zu eurem Vorteil, um Gegner auch ohne direkte Konfrontation auszuschalten.
    4. Was ist ein Kampf ohne ein paar Sticheleien? Nutzt per Menü Sprüche und Emotes und lasst euren Charakter nach Bedarf Hunderte an überaus lustigen Sprüchen brüllen.
    5. Ihr seid verzweifelt? Schleudert eure Waffen auf den Gegner und greift euch, was auch immer ihr gerade finden könnt, um es als improvisiertes Todeswerkzeug zu nutzen. Wie wäre es mit einem Wagenrad, einem massiven Ast oder einer ganzen Kirchenglocke? Alles ist erlaubt!

    Für Ruhm und Ehre!

    Website: LINK

  • ÜBERARBEITETE EUROPEAN CHALLENGER LEAGUE QUALIFIER FÜR TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX E-SPORT ENTHÜLLT

    ÜBERARBEITETE EUROPEAN CHALLENGER LEAGUE QUALIFIER FÜR TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX E-SPORT ENTHÜLLT

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Düsseldorf, 16. April 2021 – Ubisoft® enthüllte heute Details zu den neuen Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® European Challenger League Online-Qualifier, die 5 Teams die Möglichkeit geben, sich für die Season 2021 der European Challenger League zu qualifizieren.

    Die European Challenger League Online-Qualifier werden aus 3 offenen Qualifikationsturnieren bestehen, die bis zum Ende des Sommers stattfinden. Teams können sich unter folgendem Link bis zum 30. April um 4PM CEST hier anmelden.

    Nach der Anmeldung erhalten die Teams eine Benachrichtigung, wann sie zum Check-In zurückkehren müssen.

    Der erste offene Qualifier findet vom 30. April bis 2. Mai 2021 statt. Die Termine für den 2. und 3. Qualifier werden zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt bekannt gegeben.

    Jeder Qualifier besteht aus einem Single Elimination Bracket. Bis zum Achtelfinale werden die Spiele als Best-of-One ausgetragen. Ab dem Achtelfinale und bis zum Finale werden die Spiele als Best-of-Three ausgetragen.

    Jeder Qualifier vergibt Punkte und Preisgelder an die teilnehmenden Teams. Die Anzahl der Punkte, die jedes Team am Ende der 3 Turniere erhält, bestimmt die Position in der Endrangliste.

    Wie sich das Lineup der European Challenger League zusammensetzt:

    • Die 5 besten Teams am Ende der 3 Qualifier

    • Die 9 Gewinner der in ganz Europa organisierten nationalen Ligen (inkl. der GSA League 2021)

    • Chaos Esports Club, die Absteiger aus der European League Season 2020

    • MnM Gaming, der Verlierer des 2020er Promotion/Relegationsspiels

    Story image

    Weitere Details zu den neu gestalteten European Challenger League Qualifiers finden Sie hier: https://rainbow6.com/EUCL2021

    Weitere Informationen zu Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six E-Sports gibt es unter ubisoft.com/de-de/esports/rainbow-six/siege, auf Twitter sowie auf Instagram.


    Story image

    Pressemitteilung PDF 210416_R6EULQualifier_PM.pdf – 89 KB


    About the Rainbow Six Esports global program
    Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege’s Esports includes 4 main regions, Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. All four regions run in parallel their own dedicated regional leagues, all feeding into one unique and global race towards a qualification for the Six Invitational, the pinnacle of the Rainbow Six Siege competitive year. As teams across the four regions face off in regional and global competitions, featuring 3 Majors and regional leagues, they will be ranked based on an in-depth point system that rewards sustained performance. Each competitive Season runs for nearly a year, from March through the following February. Each Season will be divided into 4 quarters. The first three quarters correspond to the 3 “Stages” of the regional leagues and conclude with a Six Major bringing together 16 of the world’s best teams – four per region across the four regions. Each stage awards prize money and points for the Global Standings. The Global Standings determine the sixteen teams earning a spot to the annual Six Invitational. Following the 3 stages, the last quarter of the season will be dedicated to regional finals and relegations. The season will then conclude with the Six Invitational that will crown the world’s best team. Four additional teams will also have a chance to qualify for the Six Invitational through Regional Open Qualifiers, making the Six invitational a 20-team competition.

    © 2021 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries.

    Website: LINK

  • Play Call of Duty with a Raspberry Pi-powered Nerf gun

    Play Call of Duty with a Raspberry Pi-powered Nerf gun

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    YouTuber Alfredo Sequeida turned a Nerf gun into a controller for playing Call of Duty: Warzone. This is a fun-looking modification project, but some serious coding went into the process.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld0Pcy6F-3g?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Head to the 13-minute mark for an in-game demonstration

    Trigger happy

    Funnily enough, the Nerf gun that Alfredo chose was a special edition Fortnite model. This irked him as a Call of Duty player, but this model had the most potential to accommodate the modifications he knew he wanted.

    mini screen embedded on nerf gun
    The screen is an old Android phone which lends its accelerometer to the project

    The controller uses the Nerf gun’s original trigger. Alfredo designed extra 3D-printed buttons (white dots on the far right) to let him perform more in-game actions like moving, plating, and jumping.

    Software

    A Raspberry Pi 4 powers the whole thing, running Python scripts Alfredo wrote for both the Raspberry Pi and his gaming PC. Here’s all the code on GitHub.

    Gameplay movement is controlled by getting accelerometer data via the command-line tool ADB logcat from an old Nexus 5 Android phone that’s mounted on the Nerf gun. The data is logged using a custom app Alfredo made on Android Studio.

    raspberry pi embedded in nerf gun
    A Raspberry Pi 4 wired up to all the buttons on the other side of the Nerf gun

    Part of the action

    The controller’s design makes players feel part of the action as their Call of Duty operator scouts around locations. It’s a much more immersive experience than holding an ordinary game controller in your lap or tapping away at a PC keyboard. Alfredo even plays standing up now his NERF gun controller is in action. He might as well be on a real life Special Ops mission.

    call of duty POV game play
    The Nerf gun complements the gameplay view that Call of Duty players have

    More Call of Duty mod ideas…

    So what’s next, Alfredo? We vote you make some modded night vision googles out of an old Viewmaster toy. That’ll totally work, right?

    woman holding a view master toy up to her face to look through it
    I am 90% sure young Alfredo doesn’t know what a Viewmaster is (even I had to Google it)

    Website: LINK

  • RE Village: Neue Demo im PS Store

    RE Village: Neue Demo im PS Store

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Resident Evil fühlt sich auf PlayStation-Plattformen schon immer sehr wohl und wir freuen uns, dass ihr PS-Spieler die ersten seid, die einen Blick auf die neue Resident Evil Village Demo werfen können – auf PS4 und PS5! Das ist nur eines von mehreren Ankündigen aus dem heutigen Showcase. Also lest weiter und erfahrt mehr zur Demo, zum The Mercenaries Game Mode und mehr.

    Ihr habt den Resident Evil Showcase Stream verpasst? Schaut ihn hier nach:

    RE Village: Neue Demo im PS Store

    Ethan Winters Reise nimmt im neuen Trailer Form an 

    Resident Evil Village ist nur einen Monat entfernt und ein weiteres Mal betreten wir eine Welt voller Survival-Horror und bringen euch einen neuen Trailer mit. Der Tod im Dorf ist noch das kleinste Problem von Ethan Winters, während er weiter ins Unbekannte eintaucht, um seine entführte Tochter zu retten. Außerdem sucht er nach Antworten, was mit dem einstigen Helden Chris Redfield passiert ist. Wen oder was wird Ethan am Ende seiner Reise finden und welche furchtbaren Gegner wird er dabei treffen? Der neueste Trailer hat ein paar Hinweise parat – schaut ihn euch also an.

    RE Village: Neue Demo im PS Store

    Resident Evil Village Gameplay Demo & Pre-Download

    Wir wissen, dass ihr darauf gewartet habt: Eine neue Demo für PS4 & PS5 ist auf dem Weg. Sie hat eine spezielle Struktur, die es euch eine begrenzte Möglichkeit gibt, die Welt von Resident Evil Village zu erkunden. Dafür habt ihr verschiedene Zeitfenster zur Verfügung. Ihr müsst die Demo nur ein Mal herunterladen und sie ist nur während der speziellen Tage und Zeiten verfügbar. Hier ist der Plan:

    30-Minuten Demos

    Village: 18. April 19:00 bis 19. April 03:00 (MESZ)

    Castle: 25. April 19:00 bis 26. April 03:00 (MESZ)

    60-Minuten Demo

    Village & Castle: 2. Mai 02:00 bis 3. Mai 02:00 (MESZ)

    Die erste Demo schickt euch in das schneebedeckte Dorf aus dem Titel für 30 Minuten. Dort erhaltet ihr einen Einblick in die frostige Welt, die einmal war und zeigt, was euch im Kampfsystem erwartet. Bleibt konzentriert! In der zweiten Demo entdeckt ihr das Schloss Dimitrescu, in dem ihr 30 blutige Minuten verbringen dürft. Im Gegensatz zum weitläufigen Dorf erwarten euch hier enge Räume und Korridore, bei denen ihr nie wisst, was hinter der nächsten Ecke lauert.

    In der finalen Demo habt ihr 60 Minuten Zeit, das Dorf und das Schloss zu erkunden – ihr könnt die 60 Minuten frei nach euren Wünschen verbringen. Wie viel Zeit verbringt ihr auf der Suche nach Antworten im Dorf und wie lange wollt ihr den dunklen Geheimnissen im Schloss nachgehen? Es liegt an euch! Wir raten dazu, eure Zeit gut aufzuteilen und überall hinein zu schnuppern.

    Früher Download der Demo auf PS4 und PS5

    Macht euch für den Survival-Horror bereit und ladet die Demo schon vorab auf PS4 und PS5 herunter.

    The Mercenaries Mode explodiert in Resident Evil Village

    Im The Mercenaries Game Mode trifft Survival-Horror auf jede Menge Punktekämpfe! Dieser beliebte Spielmodus erschien bereits in verschiedenen Resident Evil Spielen seit seiner Einführung in RE3: Nemesis auf PlayStation. Jetzt kommt es mit Resident Evil Village zurück. Wie in den bisherigen Versionen von The Mercenaries, bringt euch der Arcade-Style-Modus in eine Welt, in der ihr Punkte sammeln und die Stages schnell abschließen müsst. Das macht es zu einem Kampf gegen die Zeit für hohe Punktzahlen – im Gegensatz zum Survival-Aspekt des Hauptspiels. Behaltet also die Uhr im Auge, sonst ist eure Zeit schnell vorbei.

    Dieser Spielmodus hat einige Zusätze bekommen. Wenn ihr euch gegen Feinde durchschlagt, könnt ihr praktische Skills erhalten, die eure Feuerkraft oder Geschwindigkeit erhöhen, sowie euch andere Boni geben. Jeder dieser Skills wird euch beim Besiegen der Feinde helfen und dafür sorgen, dass ihr mehr Punkte bekommt. Ihr nehmt sie zudem über Stages mit. Nach einer Stage habt ihr die Möglichkeit, eure hart erarbeiteten Münzen The Duke zu geben – einem Händler, der bereits aus dem Hauptspiel bekannt ist. Dort könnt ihr Vorräte kaufen und eure Waffen upgraden, bevor es weiter geht.

    The Mercenaries ist ein endloser, immer wieder spielbarer Modus, den ihr sicher immer und immer wieder versuchen möchtet. Lernt die Stages kennen und findet neue Wege, die Massen zu schlagen.

    The Mercenaries ist ein Bonus in Resident Evil Village – ihr müsst das Hauptspiel beenden, um diesen Modus freizuschalten. Wir hoffen, ihr habt Spaß an diesem besonderen Twist, den die Kampagne zu bieten hat.

    Gebt euren Waffen ein Upgrade, um Feuerkraft und mehr zu erhöhen

    Es gab eine Menge zu sehen beim Resident Evil Showcase! Nur noch ein paar Wochen, bis euch die Angst umzingeln wird. Resident Evil Village erscheint am 07. Mai 2021 auf PlayStation 5 und PlayStation 4. Wenn ihr Resident Evil Village kauft, erhaltet ihr außerdem kostenlosen Zugang zum Online Multiplayer Spiel Resident Evil Re:Verse, sobald es verfügbar ist.

    Werft einen Blick auf die Demo und macht euch bereit, am 07. Mai 2021 in die Survival-Horror-Welt von Resident Evil Village einzusteigen.

    Website: LINK

  • Giant Hornet Detector

    Giant Hornet Detector

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Sean has been keeping bees for around seven years and began developing a small photo booth – the HoneyBee Booth – that would use artificial intelligence to detect and count Varroa mites, and notify him of the findings. He adapted it to detect other species on hearing about the murder hornets’ arrival.

    Geolocation data of any affected hives is sent to a Microsoft Azure IoT Central dashboard. Washington’s Department of Agriculture can use this in their efforts to eradicate the invasive species. “Using Raspberry Pi 3, Arducam [camera], small motion sensor, and 3D-printable case, I’m able to classify an image in about two seconds,” claims Sean. However, keen to make this an easily and cheaply replicable project, he suggests a $5 Raspberry Pi Zero will work almost as well, with the caveat that identification takes closer to a minute.

    The booth can be fitted with a weather protection cover

    Sharing the resulting images poses a problem, since many beehives are remotely located, but Sean is hoping LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) will help. LoRaWAN is designed to work with low-power devices over vast areas and will work well in locations not covered by 3G or wireless LAN. “All the image classification takes place on Raspberry Pi, leaving only the need to transmit telemetry data, which should fit nicely within packet size limitations that exist with LoRaWAN.”

    Track and trace

    Sean is keen to ensure others can replicate his project, envisaging “a non-tech savvy beekeeper” putting one together and watching for Asian giant hornets. Cost, open-source code, and a simple build were therefore priorities. “I love the idea of a community contributing to a large pool of images that can be used to further train and improve the learning models,” he says. It also means Raspberry Pi Zero can be used, keeping all-important costs low.

    An as-yet-unresolved issue is how to photograph booth visitors, such as this earwig, from the bottom as well as the top to aid identification

    He sketched and 3D-printed his own basic, but weatherproof, case as the camera booth and to house Raspberry Pi. There’s a hole on the top for the LED, while the camera and wires for the motion sensor were inserted via the booth door and attached at the end. Sean enabled SSH and I2C using the command prompt (see the setup instructions) so Raspberry Pi can be accessed remotely. A funnel added at the end helps ensure insects are hustled into the booth to be photographed. Getting the camera focus right and clear images of booth visitors was time-consuming but, as Sean’s enthusiasm shows, the results have proved rewarding.

    Exciting sightings

    Sean is excited about the possibilities of the project based around a camera, motion sensor, and a learning model. “Maybe you want to spot an incoming locust migration, get up-close pictures of a very rare insect species, [or] spot elephants on a train track and alert the conductor or train station to stop?” he enthuses. “I can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

  • New RE Village demo comes to PS4 and PS5 April 17

    New RE Village demo comes to PS4 and PS5 April 17

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Resident Evil has always had a home on PlayStation platforms, and we’re happy to announce that the PlayStation Nation is going to be the first to get access to a new demo for Resident Evil Village on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4! This was just one of the many announcements at today’s Resident Evil Showcase, so read on for more info on the demo, the return of the ever-popular The Mercenaries game mode, and more.

    Miss today’s Resident Evil Showcase stream? Catch up now:

    New RE Village demo comes to PS4 and PS5 April 17

    Ethan Winters’s journey takes shape in a new Resident Evil Village trailer

    Resident Evil Village is less than a month away, so we’re once again entering the world of survival horror to bring you a brand-new trailer that debuted earlier today. The creeping dead of the village is the least of Ethan Winters’ worries as he plunges further into the unknown in order to rescue his kidnapped daughter and seek answers to haunting questions about why the heroic Chris Redfield has taken such a dark turn. Who, or what, will Ethan find waiting for him at the end of his journey, and what terrifying foes will he encounter along the way? The latest trailer provides a few clues, so be sure to check it out.

    New RE Village demo comes to PS4 and PS5 April 17

    Resident Evil Village gameplay demo + pre-download

    We know you’ve been waiting for this one – a new demo is on the way for both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, with a special structure that gives you a limited opportunity to explore the world of Resident Evil Village in the weeks leading up to the game’s launch across three different windows of availability. The demo only needs to be downloaded once, and will only be available during specific dates and times. Check out the schedule below for more info:

    30-Minute demos

    Village:

    North America: April 17 @ 5pm to April 18 @ 1am (Pacific Time)

    Europe: April 18 @ 7pm to April 19 @ 3am CEST

    Asia: April 18 @ 5pm – April 19 @ 1am HKT

    Castle:

    North America: April 24 @ 5pm to April 25 @ 1am (Pacific Time)

    Europe: April 25 @ 7pm to April 26 @ 3am CEST

    Asia: April 25 @ 5pm to April 26 @ 1am HKT

    60-Minute demo

    Village & Castle:

    North America: May 1 @ 5pm to May 2 @ 5pm (Pacific Time)

    Europe: May 2 @ 2am to May 3 @ 2am CEST

    Asia: May 2 @ 8am to May 3 @ 8am HKT

    The first demo period allows you to check out the snow-covered remnants of the titular village for 30 minutes, giving you a glimpse into the frost-capped remains of what once was, and perhaps giving you a taste of what the game’s combat has to offer. Better keeps your wits about you. The second demo period will drop you into the halls of Castle Dimitrescu where you’ll be given a separate 30 minute experience that is sure to be a bloody good time. Unlike the expansive village, the castle is full of narrow hallways and cramped corridors that make it difficult to tell what could be around each corner.

    The final demo period will give you a total of 60 minutes to explore both the village and castle, and you’re free to use those 60 minutes however you wish. How much time will you spend seeking answers in the village, and how long will you brave the castle’s corridors to uncover its dark secrets? That part’s up to you, but we encourage you to share your experience playing and speculate on what secrets the full game holds.

    Pre-download Demo on PS4 and PS5

    Prepare to enter the world of survival horror by pre-downloading the Village demo today on PS4 and PS5.

    The Mercenaries mode explodes in to Resident Evil Village

    Survival horror meets high-stakes combat in the return of The Mercenaries game mode! This fan-favorite mode has appeared in multiple Resident Evil games since its introduction in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on the original PlayStation, and now makes an action-packed return in Resident Evil Village. As with previous versions of The Mercenaries, this arcade-style mode tasks you with racking up points and finishing stages quickly, changing the game’s focus to a fight against time to achieve a high score rather than the fight for survival of the main campaign. Just keep an eye on the ticking timer – running out the clock means your time is up.

    Some new additions have been made to this mode compared to previous games, as well. As you fight your way through locales filled with enemies, you’ll be able to acquire useful bonus skills that can increase firepower, boost your move speed, or provide other beneficial effects. Each skill you add will help you take down enemies and rack up a high score for your current attempt, and will carry over between stages. Once a stage is completed, you’ll be given the opportunity to spend your hard-earned coin with The Duke – a mysterious merchant from the main game – to buy supplies and upgrade your weapons before moving on to the next stage.

    The Mercenaries is an endlessly replayable mode that you’re sure to want to try again and again. Learn each stage and discover new ways to take down waves of enemies as you chase down the highest rank possible.

    The Mercenaries will be included as a bonus mode for Resident Evil Village, and you’ll need to complete the game’s story before you can unlock it. We hope you enjoy this exciting twist on what the main campaign has to offer!

    Upgrade your weapons to increase firepower and more in Mercenaries 

    That’s a lot to unpack from the Resident Evil Showcase! There’s only a few weeks left until fear surrounds you. Resident Evil Village launches on May 7, 2021 on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 (with a free digital upgrade to PlayStation 5 in North America). Your purchase of Resident Evil Village also grants you access to download the online multiplayer game Resident Evil Re:Verse for free once it’s available.

    Be sure to keep an eye out for the demo once it’s live, and get ready to once again enter the world of survival horror with Resident Evil Village on May 7.

    Website: LINK

  • Customizable artificial intelligence and gesture recognition

    Customizable artificial intelligence and gesture recognition

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Arduino TeamApril 15th, 2021

    In many respects we think of artificial intelligence as being all encompassing. One AI will do any task we ask of it. But in reality, even when AI reaches the advanced levels we envision, it won’t automatically be able to do everything. The Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems has been giving this a lot of thought.

    AI gesture training

    Okay, so you’ve got an AI. Now you need it to learn the tasks you want it to perform. Even today this isn’t an uncommon exercise. But the challenge that Fraunhofer IMS set itself was training an AI without any additional computers.

    As a test case, an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense was employed to build a demonstration device. Using only the onboard 9-axis motion sensor, the team built an untethered gesture recognition controller. When a button is pressed, the user draws a number in the air, and corresponding commands are wirelessly sent to peripherals. In this case, a robotic arm.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES_Aw7Hq_OA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Embedded intelligence

    At first glance this might not seem overly advanced. But consider that it’s running entirely from the device, with just a small amount of memory and an Arduino Nano. Fraunhofer IMS calls this “embedded intelligence,” as it’s not the robot arms that’s clever, but the controller itself.

    This is achieved when training the device using a “feature extraction” algorithm. When the gesture is executed, the artificial neural network (ANN) is able to pick out only the relevant information. This allows for impressive data reduction and a very efficient, compact AI.

    Fraunhofer IMS Arduino Nano with Gesture Recognition

    Obviously this is just an example use case. It’s easy to see the massive potential that this kind of compact, learning AI could have. Whether it’s in edge control, industrial applications, wearables or maker projects. If you can train a device to do the job you want, it can offer amazing embedded intelligence with very few resources.

    Website: LINK

  • World of Tanks Deploys the Largest Tanks Update Yet with Modern Armor

    World of Tanks Deploys the Largest Tanks Update Yet with Modern Armor

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    On April 27, World of Tanks: Modern Armor arrives on the battlefield, placing fifty tons of pure power in your control. This massive update gives you access to an impressive array of modern weaponry, including the legendary American M1A2 Abrams and Russian T-72BU armored vehicles.

    And that’s just the start. These epic modern tanks will roll out to your console along with four brand-new, never-before-seen, monumental battlefield maps, each one larger than any warzone previously encountered in the game! Looking for even more? Dive into an all-new 3D Commander system, which allows Commanders to declare victory in the most heroic ways you’ve seen. Ready for all the details? Then read on!

    World of Tanks: Modern Armor

    The addition of modern armor to World of Tanks brings new and exciting paths of progression for you to follow as you advance your tanking career. First up: the American line. This line of vehicles culminates in the renowned M1A2 Abrams, a third-generation main battle tank named after the distinguished General Creighton Abrams. Joining these tanks on the battlefield is the rightly feared Soviet line, which features the T-72 main battle tank and its variants, all of which have proven their might in over forty countries and numerous real-world conflicts.

    These modern tanks will be available in their own, exclusive eras to ensure fun and balanced matches. And these are just the first in a series of major additions coming to the game, with a vast array of episodic content arriving monthly.

    World of Tanks: Modern Armor

    If modern tanks are just the tip of the iceberg, then what else is coming, you ask? These legendary main battle tanks are about to head out across four enormous new battle maps.

    First on the list is Dezful, a major desert warzone with a colossal city at its center, where factions will vie for control in intense head-to-head conflicts. Next, players will take to the lush jungles of Cao Bang, where rolling hills and dense jungles give way to vast, sprawling cities and infrastructure channelling the devastation of tank warfare. Mannheim, the third new map, sets the stage for heated urban conflicts in which you’ll fight for control of key roads and points of interest. Finally, prepare to discover the remote landscape of Fredvang, where enemy tanks will fight for victory beneath the wintry beauty of the Northern Lights.

    World of Tanks: Modern Armor

    Once you’ve conquered the Abrams and T-72 vehicle lines and dominated each of the incredible new battlefield maps… what’s next? Declare victory in style, of course! With an awesome new 3D Commander system, you’ll have access to a host of amazing Commanders to serve as your avatars and embody your personal approach to battle.

    Commanders will be available in a range of styles, with something for everyone. After you’ve crushed your enemies and proclaimed yourself master of the battlefield, take a moment to revel in your hard-earned glory as your Commander claims victory in your name for all to see!

    World of Tanks: Modern Armor

    World of Tanks: Modern Armor is an extraordinary update to an already legendary game. With formidable main battle tanks commanded by a legion of powerful 3D Commanders waging war across tremendous new battlefields – it’s never been a better time to dive into World of Tanks again or for the first time!

    The robust roadmap of monthly episodic content coming post release promises that you’ll have lots to look forward to, in both the World War II and modern eras, and that the excitement will just keep building. Jump into World of Tanks: Modern Armor today, Commander. We’ll see you on the battlefield – gear up and let’s roll!

    Xbox Live

    World of Tanks

    Wargaming.net

    856

    Xbox One X Enhanced

    World of Tanks is a global online multiplayer free-to-play game dedicated to tank warfare in the mid-20th century. Custom built for Xbox, World of Tanks features realistic vehicles and environments, enabling players to command history’s most powerful tanks and experience combat on Xbox like never before. Features: • Strategic, fast-paced 15 vs 15 online action. • Over 700 authentic tanks to choose from among 12 nations. • Battle across a variety of environments with varying terrain and weather effects • Built-in support for Xbox One X pushing the boundaries of graphic fidelity. • Regular updates offer new content and frequent special events.

    Related:
    Spellbreak – Chapter 2: The Fracture Adds NPCs to Battle
    On the Road with Hitchhiker
    How Music Helps Fuel the Perfect Heist Environment in Operation: Tango

    Website: LINK

  • DC Universe Online: Enter the World of Flashpoint

    DC Universe Online: Enter the World of Flashpoint

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    The Flash’s time travel accidentally created an altered timeline where everything and everyone is different. Thomas Wayne, Batman’s father, is Batman. Cyborg is the quintessential super hero. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are at war. So it’s up to you to fix the timeline in DC Universe Online’s new episode, World of Flashpoint.

    Free for All

    What’s better than new content? Free new content! World of Flashpoint will be free for all players on Xbox One. All you need is a Level 15+ character to join our event version, which can be accomplished in a flash (see what we did there?). There’s also a standard mode and elite mode with all World of Flashpoint content for our experienced players.

    Flashpoint-Inspired Locations

    Get ready to travel across a diverse set of Flashpoint-inspired locations starting with the new open world area of Flashpoint Gotham City. Batman has agreed to save the world we know under one condition: help him keep his home safe. So, get ready to dive down from the rooftops and confront various Gotham City gangs as well as the prehistoric Kryptonian, Doomsday, as you try and patrol these crime-riddled streets.

    The attack isn’t just a ground assault, though. Heat Wave is mounting an aerial attack with plans to crash the Hall of Doom into Flashpoint Gotham City, which means you’ll need to join forces with Flashpoint Batman and Cyborg in the Queen’s Row Penitentiary [2-player duo] to neutralize the threat.

    Players can also adventure into new areas of Atlantis and Themyscira in The Royal War [4-player alert]. And, after you’ve earned Flashpoint Batman’s trust, he’ll share his own plan to stop the conflict: if the Atlanteans and Amazonians both have their own massive, “super” weapons, just take out both assets and end the stalemate. It’s just crazy enough to have a shot at working, but it does go against Professor Zoom’s masterful plan…

    Finally, and without giving too much away, Flash and his allies need someone from the future to leverage enough Speed Force to revert the paradox. That means you can travel to Nightmare Central City [8-player raid] and fight alongside Flash and Kid Flash as you make your way through Rogues Gallery super villains like Pied Piper and Captain Boomerang. Then head into the 31st Century [8-player raid] and confront Brainiac himself!  

    New Villainous Rewards

    If success prevails, there’s a chance to earn new rewards including a normal and enhanced version of the “Pyromaniac,” a Heat Wave-inspired gear suit, as well as the “Ultimate,” a Doomsday-inspired gear suit. 

    New or Returning to DCUO?

    Download DCUO for free from the Microsoft Store on Xbox One. Once you start the game, choose your morality, mentor, and powers to use in battle. Then create and customize your unique character to begin your adventures in the iconic DC universe!

    For additional content details and guides to get started in DCUO, please visit us at DCUniverseOnline.com. And if you want to learn more about all things Flashpoint, be sure to check out dcuniverseinfinite.com to read the comics that inspired this latest episode!

    Xbox Live

    DC Universe Online

    Daybreak Game Company, LLC

    726

    DC Universe™ Online is now on Xbox One! Join thousands of other players in this Free-to-Play, massive online action game set in the popular DC Comics universe. Choose your side – Hero or Villain – and create your character to experience true action combat, as you fight alongside and against legendary characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Lex Luthor, and Circe. Jump in and explore the DC Universe; walk the darkened streets of Gotham City, investigate the mysteries of the futuristic cityscape of Metropolis, and travel to legendary locations such as Arkham Asylum and the Watchtower. The Xbox One version of DC Universe Online includes the following: – Xbox One Exclusive items: Powered-Up Character Emblem + Powered-Up Cape + Vapor Aura! Become a part of our thriving community at DCUniverseOnline.com! Please note the download is around 35GB and could take several hours, but it’s worth the wait! Bandwidth requirements may exceed 192 Kb.

    Related:
    World of Tanks and World of Warships: Legends Deliver New March Updates
    Happy 10th Anniversary DC Universe Online
    New DC Universe Online Episode: Long Live The Legion

    Website: LINK

  • Spellbreak – Chapter 2: The Fracture Adds NPCs to Battle

    Spellbreak – Chapter 2: The Fracture Adds NPCs to Battle

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    We just released our next major update to Spellbreak, Chapter 2: The Fracture, and one of the new features that we’re adding is NPCs the player can fight over the course of the story and as a part of the new capture and control game mode, Dominion. Normally, adding NPCs to a game focused on magical combat wouldn’t be especially interesting or worthy of discussion, but Spellbreak is first and foremost a PvP game that’s been live since September, so this is entirely new ground for us.

    Spellbreak

    It’s worth noting Spellbreak currently has bots for giving new players a way to learn the mechanics of the game, so in making NPCs, we want to clearly differentiate them from existing bots. Bots are meant to fight similarly to how a player would and use a variety of spells and sorceries as well as runes to move around and make themselves a challenge for players. NPCs on the other hand should very explicitly not mimic player behavior. The most obvious differentiation is that the NPCs are visually different from players in most cases. They wear their own outfits and have special UI elements denoting that they’re NPCs.

    As I mentioned above, there are two scenarios that players will encounter the new NPCs in and they both have different requirements for how the NPCs should act. For story quests, the NPCs can often “ambush” a player after the player has done something. They’ll warp in around the player and after a brief time during which they taunt the player with animations, they’ll attack. This momentary pause is important because it allows the player to see and understand what just happened (and what’s about to happen!) as well as giving them an opportunity to “shoot first.” When we were testing, we originally had the NPCs attacking right away which was not only more difficult but also decidedly less fun because you were put on the back foot right away instead of getting to be the aggressor.

    Spellbreak

    The second place you’ll meet NPCs is in Dominion where they serve two purposes. The first is that they act as a resource for players, dropping loot and providing currency. Players must keep in mind respawn times and weigh the opportunity cost of pursuing the NPCs against controlling the zones. The second purpose is that the NPCs act as a hindrance that must be dealt with lest they pepper players with magic while players try to capture and control the zones. Dealing with incoming attacks adds an additional layer to how players strategize for taking the zones.

    In both the story quests as well as Dominion, the NPCs themselves are fairly weak. This allows us to use them as cannon fodder, giving the player an increased sense of power. It’s incredibly gratifying to take out a pack of NPCs with a single well-placed boulder. We’re also starting to experiment with what it means to be a difficult NPC encounter in Spellbreak without just increasing the NPC’s stats, but instead from a behavioral point of view. This is a whole separate set of challenges that we’re actively exploring.

    Spellbreak

    We’re excited to start exploring the idea of NPCs fighting players in Spellbreak and seeing how players respond. Our second chapter kicks off today and you’ll be able to battle the new foes in both the story and in Dominion, so grab Spellbreak from the Xbox Store and join us on Discord to give us feedback, discuss the new enemies, and squad up with fellow players. Hope to see you in game!

    Xbox Live

    Spellbreak

    Proletariat, Inc.

    316

    Chapter 2: The Fracture plunges Spellbreak’s battlemages into the struggle between the Order of the Vowbreakers and the enemy Vowkeepers. Capture and control territory in the new 5v5 Dominion game mode, compete in ranked Leagues, and complete new story quests to discover what tore the Hollow Lands apart. Unleash your inner battlemage in Spellbreak. When magic is forbidden, locked in the iron grip of the Vowkeepers, it’s up to you to resist and reclaim what’s yours. Harness the raw power of your gauntlets and tap into the unimaginable forces of the elemental planes . Soar into fierce battles, through floating islands and impossible terrain, to unleash the Breaker within. BUILD YOUR BATTLEMAGE Choose a class: Frostborn, Conduit, Pyromancer, Toxicologist, Stoneshaper, or Tempest. Each has its own playstyle, which you can customize with talents as you grow in power. Which will you master? COMBINE THE ELEMENTS A mighty battlemage isn’t limited to just one ability. Seize hold of two powerful magic gauntlets and blend devastating spell combinations to control the battlefield with fiery tornadoes, electrified gas clouds, and more! OUTPLAY YOUR RIVALS Explore the map and find tactical advantages to outplay your opponents. Discover hidden chests that contain magical runes and game-changing equipment. These items give you the ability to fly, teleport, control time, become invisible, and more. ENTER AN EVER-EVOLVING WORLD The fractured battleground of the Hollow Lands is just the beginning of your adventure in the greater world of Primdal. New chapter updates will reveal more of the deep, rich lore behind this powerful place and its people. BATTLE ACROSS THE HOLLOW LANDS Form a party of powerful battlemages and vanquish other players to stand victorious in this unique battle royale! Future updates will unlock exciting new game modes. Can you summon the strength, skill, and cunning to unleash the battlemage within?

    Related:
    On the Road with Hitchhiker
    How Music Helps Fuel the Perfect Heist Environment in Operation: Tango
    Fortunes to Be Found in Sea of Thieves Season Two

    Website: LINK

  • On the Road with Hitchhiker

    On the Road with Hitchhiker

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Today marks the Xbox One release of Hitchhiker, a narrative mystery game about the world’s strangest road trip. In Hitchhiker, you play as a traveler with no recollection of who you are or where you’re headed. Your job is to piece together the memories of your own backstory and solve environmental puzzles by following clues from drivers you meet along the way. The production of Hitchhiker itself has been a long and winding journey, full of twists and turns and many things learned.

    Hitchhiker

    It was early 2016 when Patrick Rau (Mad About Pandas’ managing and co-creative director) pitched me on the idea of Hitchhiker. “Everyone’s made a driving game,” he pointed out. “Nobody’s made a passenger game.” The idea was simple, with clear limitations that I liked: As a hitchhiking passenger, you can’t drive, you can’t walk— you can’t do much of anything. When working on a new idea, there’s often nothing more liberating than constraints: taking a bunch of options off the table at the start makes it easier to find inspiration, since you are no longer staring at a blank canvas of unbounded possibilities.

    Hitchhiker

    Our first conversations about the game were all about mood: a particular autumnal vibe we imagined, a surreal highway full of hidden correspondences. You open up the glovebox in one person’s car… there’s a photo inside that you saw in the last car. The driver nonchalantly acknowledges this fact, but doesn’t seem to find it strange. How did it get here? When I think back to this process, it seems back-to-front in terms of how one would normally create a game: we began with an atmosphere, then created snippets of dialogue to support this atmosphere. Next, characters were imagined who could say these lines. Only when the feeling of Hitchhiker was thoroughly grounded did we start to fill in plot specifics and puzzle interactions, allowing them to take shape organically from the mood that had been established.

    Hitchhiker

    Patrick and I have both spent time living in the San Francisco Bay Area (indeed, our friendship and creative partnership originates out of this shared experience). Northern California is a great place for road trips, and I remember clearly some of the conversations that I had while sitting in the passenger seat on the highways of that part of the country. There’s a special kind of switched-on mental state that happens here, when your senses are filled with the highway flying by, your body is at rest, and so your mind is completely free to engage with the process of talking to another person. It is this feeling of deep conversational immersion that we wanted to recreate as the core game experience in Hitchhiker.

    Hitchhiker

    The development of Hitchhiker followed a progression similar to a long car journey, where you can hardly imagine reaching your faraway destination as you pull out of the driveway — yet, before you know it, you’re speeding along the highway, making good time. An initial art trailer caught the attention of Kill Screen, who did a short write-up that got Humble Bundle interested in the project. The Hitchhiker First Ride prototype was released as a Humble Original in 2018 and led to support for the full production. Today, we’re happy to release the full five-ride game to the world, and want to thank everyone who’s hitched along for the ride so far.

    Xbox Live

    Hitchhiker – A Mystery Game

    Versus Evil

    $19.99

    Hitchhiker is a mystery game set along lost highways, where your goal is to solve the puzzle of your own backstory. As a hitchhiker with no memory or destination, you catch a series of rides across a strange and beautiful landscape, tracking the mysterious disappearance of a person close to you. Your drivers range from stoic farmers to off-duty waitresses, and each one has a story to tell. Clues appear, alliances emerge, and nothing is quite what it seems. As your journey continues, you must decode the events of your past while confronting the dangers that lie ahead. Hitchhiker is a road-trip odyssey about exploring the unknown in order to find yourself. • Hitchhike across a strange and beautiful landscape in five rides with five total strangers who will challenge your grasp on reality… And maybe your philosophy on life. • Solve environmental puzzles, and keep an eye out for clues, in order to uncover your mysterious past. • The choices you make when speaking with the drivers will reveal your own dark secrets.

    Related:
    Spellbreak – Chapter 2: The Fracture Adds NPCs to Battle
    How Music Helps Fuel the Perfect Heist Environment in Operation: Tango
    Fortunes to Be Found in Sea of Thieves Season Two

    Website: LINK

  • How Music Helps Fuel the Perfect Heist Environment in Operation: Tango

    How Music Helps Fuel the Perfect Heist Environment in Operation: Tango

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Good video game theme music is iconic, but it’s often the atmospheric background score that pushes a game to new heights. In Operation: Tango, two players are working together as Agent or Hacker to try and save the world by hacking, heisting, and high-speed chasing; the music playing throughout helps to foster the high-intensity feeling of being a secret agent or elite hacker.

    Music and score are mediums that command emotion and can build the tone of the story being told. Many fans look at the soundtrack within a movie or television show as a foundation to set the scene. This is no different in the ever-evolving world of video games. The characteristics of video games allow a more immersive experience than a film or television show. You are in control of the actions of a character rather than passively watching events unfold. A great soundtrack and score blend perfectly into the atmosphere of your video game world, almost to the point where you don’t notice it directly, but a bad score sticks out like a sore and awkward thumb. For a video game developer, you must have a soundtrack that can create an atmosphere to captivate the player and help seamlessly fit into the world you’ve built, this is something we wanted to ensure we achieved with Operation: Tango and did so by building tension with each note, and with each crescendo.

    Operation Tango
    When sneaking through a packed morning commute train, the music in Operation: Tango gives you both the sense of stealth and urgency as you search for your target.

    Video game composers must consider their audiences as active participants in the way the music is performed. For some games, this means composing a score that doesn’t have a distinct beginning or end so even if players take their time on a level they won’t be rattled by a track restarting half a dozen times. In other cases, composers make use of highly dynamic scoring where the music needs to smoothly transition to a new theme whenever the player reaches a new area or enters combat. Operation: Tango presents an interesting task to our composers, the amazing team over at Vibe Avenue, because not only did we need to have a score that creates the world our agents are playing in, we also needed to have it work on different screens and viewpoints, as the game is played asymmetrically.

    Composer Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye 007, and many more), says that “The images tell the story, but the music tells you how to feel,” and he couldn’t be more correct. If you think back to some of the tensest moments in your favourite video games, the way your heart beats fast in tempo to the music as a big crescendo happens and the final boss is slain, it’s the music that fuels that tension. Nothing is more impactful than the perfect music to set up a heist, much like the soundtrack and score of Operation: Tango.

    Operation Tango
    Safecracking wouldn’t feel the same without the high tension tunes in the background as your try to find the right combination to unlock your prize.

    From the planning phase to infiltration, to sneaking past guard drones, we want the players of Operation: Tango to feel that they are right in the action of their very own heist, depending on their partner to keep them alive. If we think back to some of the inspirations behind Operation: Tango, classic Hollywood spy thrillers such as “Mission Impossible,” the soundtrack helped the audience feel on the edge of their seats for that iconic heist scene, and we want our players to feel just as powerful in our game.

    The right music and score can make even a normal task, like sneaking some snacks from the fridge at 3 AM, feel like a high-stakes heist, and we can’t wait for you to feel that rush as you and your partner save the world in Operation: Tango, no matter which role you choose.

    Related:
    Spellbreak – Chapter 2: The Fracture Adds NPCs to Battle
    On the Road with Hitchhiker
    Fortunes to Be Found in Sea of Thieves Season Two

    Website: LINK

  • Double Fine’s The Amnesia Fortnight Movie Trailer

    Double Fine’s The Amnesia Fortnight Movie Trailer

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Summary

    • “The Amnesia Fortnight Movie” is a new feature length documentary that dives into the world of game design.
    • Produced by 2 Player Productions, the documentary pulls the curtain back on game design at one of the industry’s most well-regarded studios.
    • Double Fine Productions has created such iconic games as Psychonauts, Broken Age, Brütal Legend, and the soon to be released Psychonauts 2.

    From the crew behind ‘Double Fine Adventure’ comes a brand-new feature length documentary, “Amnesia Fortnight,” that dives into the fast-paced world of game design and the fresh challenges that come with turning ideas into reality. Double Fine Productions (known for Psychonauts, Broken Age, Brütal Legend and more) take an annual two-week break from project work to refresh and reenergize. During these two weeks, some of the team takes part in a process called “Amnesia Fortnight,” where anyone at the studio can pitch a game concept with a goal of turning those ideas into working prototypes. In 2019, during the team’s work on Psychonauts 2, Double Fine held an “Amnesia Fortnight.” The result? New projects embodying the studio’s ethos of comedic adventures and unique games. 

    Split into teams and working on a tight deadline, Double Fine’s stable of artists, programmers, producers, and musicians must come together and overcome technical hurdles in a game jam bonanza. What follows is madcap puppet theater, devious journeys into the underworld, a sinister puzzle game, and grand battles on the back of giant slugs as four very different games grow from concepts to prototypes. Four ideas enter and four games leave, and the entire process is outlined in this feature length documentary (by in-house crew 2 Player Productions) that pulls back the curtain on game design at one of the industry’s most well-regarded studios. 

    The film premieres in all its splendiferous glory on Thursday, April 29 as a YouTube event. For additional information on the film and to get notified upon release, visit The Amnesia Fortnight Movie Premiere Watch Page. Don’t forget to follow Double Fine on Twitter to keep up with details on this and everything else we have going on!

    Related:
    Here are the Games Coming Exclusively to Xbox in 2021
    Remembering The Classics: The Xbox Podcast Featuring Tim Schafer
    “20 Double Fine Years” Now Available for Pre-Order

    Website: LINK

  • How the Darkside Detective Honors Its Point-and-Click Legacy

    How the Darkside Detective Honors Its Point-and-Click Legacy

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Just as the gunplay from Doom to Halo to Call of Duty has deepened and refined over the years, the point-and-click adventure gameplay of The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark, available now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, has similarly been deepened and refined. But in charting the path from Monkey Island to The Darkside Detective, what’s changed about the design of point-and-click adventure systems over the last 25 years? More importantly, how does the challenge of thinking outside the box to find cool solutions to complex puzzles grow up over all that time?

    It’s that challenge at the heart of point and click adventures. You have a toy robot, a knife, and a hotdog bun. Somehow, this is going to help you jumpstart a motorized elephant that’s blocking your path. You need to think through the options at hand and come up with a clever solution to that problem, otherwise, you’ll never progress. And there’s a difficult line to thread to make a satisfying puzzle in the modern era. In a blog on Gamasutra about the game’s design, artist Paul Conway writes: “We watched people play and tried to keep the difficulty level such that it was a challenge to solve something, but not so hard that you jumped to a walkthrough.” You’re not just designing a point and click adventure title devoid of context. You’re designing a point and click adventure title for people who have been playing these games for twenty-five years just as much as you are designing for folks who are picking it up for a few laughs. How do you help players navigate through spaces and cases where they might otherwise be stuck?

    The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

    One answer is a clever writing trick the game pulls off: giving hints when the player is on the right track. In game design, perceivable consequence is when the game reacts to decisions the player makes in such a way that it communicates useful decision-making information to players. In The Darkside Detective, if a player tries to use an item to solve a puzzle, they will get a small bit of dialogue noting the failure. Usually, this dialogue comes from a small subset of generic lines matched to the theme of the case. But if the item is useful to the puzzle, just not in the way that the player is trying to use it, the failure dialogue will instead be unique, telling the player they’re on the right track, but need to find some other avenue to progress.

    It’s a small design decision, but one that creates two clear categories for any item that enters Detective McQueen’s inventory. An item with generic failure text is one that you can disregard for this puzzle. An item with unique failure text is one that’s crucial to it. And creating that category now allows you to orient players in the right direction. Maybe the failure text will mention something that triggers your memory and head back to an item they previously thought was irrelevant. This also allows the puzzles to be more complex and interesting, since you have a better way to bolster failed decisions by players. If the failed decision points them in the right direction, you make it easier for players to make those failed decisions without getting stuck on the puzzle.

    The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

    And that’s just one instance of a game design decision that marks the progression of the point-and-click adventure since its heyday in the 90’s. Paul writes: “We made a list of puzzles seen in adventure games and marked off those we didn’t like – pixel hunting is gone, no dialogue puzzles, that kind of thing. Minigames were a way to break the mechanical pace and add a sense of reaching a milestone.” If you’re new to the genre or an old diehard for it, you can rest assured that The Darkside Detective will scratch that point-and-click itch for the first time on Xbox! The Darkside Detective and The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark are both live on Xbox for you to play today!

    Xbox Live

    The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

    Akupara Games

    $12.99 $11.69

    "Twin Lakes is a cursed city. Less cursed than say, “Demons are tearing it apart” but more cursed than “always loses its keys” or “often steps in puddles”. It’s roughly in the middle of the cursed scale, is what we’re trying to say. Cursed enough that it’s a nuisance. Cursed enough that somebody has to deal with it… That’s where The Darkside Detective comes in. Whenever you hear a bump in the night, feel a tingle up your spine, or smell something fishy, Detective Francis McQueen isn’t far behind. No, he doesn’t smell of fish – it’s a phrase, come on… Picking up after the events of The Darkside Detective [link], McQueen has to save his usually-present (in body, if not mind) sidekick Officer Dooley from the Darkside, so the two can get back to what they do best – investigating the city’s many strange, often paranormal, always paradoxical goings-on. Join them in this frighteningly funny point-and-click adventure as they investigate six more standalone cases bringing them to a carnival, the local retirement home, an amateur wrestling circuit and even as far away as Ireland as they do what they can to keep the Darkside at bay."

    Related:
    Next Week on Xbox: April 13 to 16
    Express Yourself in The Kitchen with Soup Pot This August
    Cuddle Up and Get Ready for the ID@Xbox Cozy Game Sale

    Website: LINK

  • Finde Dein Glück mit dem Season Two-Update für Sea of Thieves

    Finde Dein Glück mit dem Season Two-Update für Sea of Thieves

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Zusammenfassung

    • Season Two, das neueste Inhaltsupdate für Sea of Thieves, ist ab dem 15. April für alle Mitglieder des Xbox Game Pass, auf Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 und Steam kostenlos erhältlich.
    • Du kannst Dir neue Herausforderungen, zusätzliches Ansehen und attraktive Belohnungen verdienen. Außerdem wartet ein Beute-Pass auf Dich, der den Bestand an Belohnungen noch größer macht.
    • Brandneue Forts of Fortune halten spannende Herausforderungen für kampferprobte Pirat*innen bereit, während bisher unerforschte Routen der Handelsallianz neue Wege zu noch größeren Reichtümern bieten.

    So wie sich draußen die Jahreszeiten ändern, so befindet sich auch Sea of Thieves im kontinuierlichen Wandel. Willkommen in der neuen Saison! Mit der Veröffentlichung des kostenlosen Season Two Updates, das ab sofort für alle Mitglieder des Xbox Game Pass, auf Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 und Steam erhältlich ist, bereichern neue Events, Spielmöglichkeiten und Belohnungen die Welt der Seeräuber*innen.

    Das umfangreiche Season Two Update beinhaltet mehr als 100 Level, in denen es vor Belohnungen nur so wimmelt. Zusätzlich sicherst Du Dir den erwerbbaren Beute-Pass und kämpfst Dich als Pirat*in durch die unterschiedlichen Level. Um Dein Ansehen zu steigern, gilt es wie immer, die unterschiedlichsten Prüfungen zu meistern. Die verschiedenen Quests, die sich über das gesamte Spiel erstrecken, wurden speziell für die zweite Saison aufgefrischt.

    Ausblick auf die zweite Saison

    Die Forts of Fortune sind da und kündigen sich durch eine Totenkopfwolke am Himmel an. Du schärfst besser Deinen Säbel, denn die anstehenden Herausforderungen werden explosiver und die Feinde entschlossener, als Du es von bisherigen Skelett-Forts gewohnt bist. Auf alle Crews, die sich dieser todesmutigen Herausforderung stellen, warten seltene Schätze der Athena und weitere wertvolle Belohnungen. Du willst Deine Chancen im Kampf gegen die Horden aus Untoten erhöhen? Dann solltest Du stets ein Auge (bestenfalls auch ein Ohr) offenhalten, um die Vorzeichen richtig zu deuten.

    Solltest Du eher auf der Seite der Händler*innen stehen, freust Du Dich auf bisher unentdeckte Routen des Händlerbundes. Als Botschafter*in wirst Du schnell reich, indem Du Rohstoffe so günstig wie möglich einkaufst, und sie anschließend an Außenposten verkaufst – sie sind dort besonders begehrt. Übrigens:  Der Händlerbund verkauft zukünftig Ressourcenkisten, mit Hilfe derer Du Dich mit Bananen, Holzplanken und Kanonenkugeln eindeckst.

    Um noch mehr Piraten für ihre Sache gewinnen zu können, führen die Handelskompanien brandneue Belohnungen für die Botschafterbücher ein. Du bist noch kein*e Botschafter*in? Dann wirst Du von den Entscheidungsträgern schon bald eine geheimnisvolle Notiz erhalten, die Dich dazu berechtigt, Deine Botschafterlizenz zu erwerben, um so unter ihrer Flagge zu segeln!

    Die Kirsche auf der Torte ist allerdings das zeitlich begrenzte Event Reapers vs. the World, in dem die Reaper’s Bones gegen die übrigen Handelskompanien in einem epischen Katz-und-Maus-Spiel der Botschafter*innen gegeneinander antreten. Sollte Dir das noch nicht reichen, kannst Du Dich außerdem auf weitere Twitch-Drops unserer Sea Of Thieves-Partner-Streamer freuen!

    Die Plünderung des Piratenreichs

    Wie bereits angedeutet, hält die neue Saison auch einen neuen Beute-Pass bereit, der vollgepackt ist mit Items zum Plündern und Brandschatzen. Durch den Erwerb des Beute-Pass werden die Items, darunter unveröffentlichte Gegenstände wie die Galionsfigur des Schwarzen Phönix, Segel und Flagge sowie die begehrten Popcorn- und Backflip-Emotes, automatisch zu den übrigen Belohnungen des Season Two Updates hinzugefügt. Für alle, die in dieser Saison Level 100 erreichen wollen, ist der Beute-Pass ein absolutes Must-have!

    Ebenfalls neu ist die Möglichkeit, sämtliche Pirat*innen, die sich durch die Welt von Sea of Thieves bewegen, in Angst und Schrecken zu versetzen. Hierfür steht Dir mit der Dark Warsmith-Collection ein komplettes Schiffsset, ein furchteinflößendes Piratenkostüm und eine Sammlung der gefährlichsten Waffen zur Verfügung. Solltest Du deine Skills an der Klinge präsentieren wollen, kommt Dir das neue Dolchtrick-Emote-Bundle entgegen. Aber Achtung: Bei Pirat*innen handelt es sich um ausgebildete Profis – versuche die Tricks bloß nicht zuhause!

    Mehr zum Season Two Update

    Für weitere Informationen zum Season Two Update, inklusive der vollständigen Release Notes, besuche die offizielle Sea of Thieves Website. Das Update ist für alle Spieler*innen kostenlos verfügbar, die Sea of Thieves im Xbox Game Pass spielen oder es für Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 PC oder via Steam erworben haben. Installiere einfach das jüngste Sea of Thieves-Update und stürze Dich in ein schaurig schönes Vergnügen.

    Du bist neu bei Sea of Thieves? Mach Dich auf zu Deiner ersten Jungfernfahrt im gleichnamigen Modus. Die Geschichte bietet Dir ein Tutorial, fernab der wilden Piratenabenteuer und dem Arena-Modus. Als neuer Spieler beginnst Du Deine Reise in einem Szenario, das jungen Seeräuber*innen Orientierung bietet und alle wichtigen Informationen für die Abenteuer auf offener See zur Verfügung stellt. Weitere hilfreiche Tipps findest Du in der Piratenakademie. Werde jetzt Teil der Crew und schließe Dich der fantastischen Community auf www.seaofthieves.com/de an.

    Weitere Informationen und die neusten News rund um Xbox und Sea of Thieves findest Du hier auf Xbox Wire DACH.

    Website: LINK

  • Fortunes to Be Found in Sea of Thieves Season Two

    Fortunes to Be Found in Sea of Thieves Season Two

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Summary

    • Season Two is the latest Sea of Thieves content update, available April 15 and free for all players with Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam.
    • Seasonal progression allows all players to earn Renown and rewards, with optional Trials to boost progress and a purchasable Plunder Pass to expand the reward pool.
    • Brand new Forts of Fortune offer new challenges for battle-hardened pirates, and Merchant Alliance Trade Routes grant Emissaries a new way to earn riches on the seas.

    With the seasons changing outside, Sea of Thieves is changing too as we enter a new Season of our own! New Events, ways to play and rewards are all coming with the release of Season Two, available now as a free update for all players with Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam.

    Season Two comes free of charge to all players including 100 levels of rewards to be earned, with a purchasable Plunder Pass also available to boost the pool with additional premium rewards. As in the previous Season, you work your way up through the levels by living the pirate life, achieving things in your own way and steadily increasing your Renown. You can gain extra Renown by completing Trials: themed sets of Deeds that cover almost every imaginable action in Sea of Thieves, refreshed for Season Two!

    Season Two Showcase

    The Forts of Fortune have arrived, marked by an ominous new form of Skull Cloud looming in the skies over the Sea of Thieves. These encounters provide an even more rigorous challenge than other Skeleton Forts, with extra explosive potential and ever fiercer foes as the waves of resistance keep coming. Guaranteed Athena’s Treasures and other high-level loot await any crews who can conquer this gauntlet. If you fancy your chances against the undead hordes, keep an eye (and ear) out for the tell-tale signs of this rare encounter emerging as you sail!

    Should you prefer trade to battle, Season Two also brings in new Merchant Alliance Trade Routes. Emissaries can earn their fortune by buying Commodity Crates as cheaply as possible at Outposts, then selling them at another Outpost where those Commodities are highly sought-after. The Merchant Alliance now sell Resource Crates too, so stocking up on bananas, wooden planks and cannonballs has never been easier!

    To attract more pirates to their cause, the Trading Companies are rolling out brand new rewards for those Emissaries who place highly in their Emissary Ledgers. Not an Emissary yet? They’ll send out a Mysterious Note when you’re eligible to purchase their Emissary Licence and set sail under their Flag.

    All this along with Season Two’s dramatic time-limited Event, Reapers vs. the World – pitting The Reaper’s Bones against the other Trading Companies in an epic game of Emissary cat and mouse – and more Twitch Drops on the horizon from our Sea of Thieves Partnered streamers!

    Pirate Emporium Plunder

    With a new Season comes a new Plunder Pass, packed with Pirate Emporium items to boost the pool of rewards available via Seasonal progression. Picking up the Plunder Pass adds these premium items to the obtainable rewards for Season Two, including unreleased items like the Black Phoenix Figurehead, Sails and Flag, along with the Popcorn and Backflip emotes. For those looking to hit level 100 this Season, the Plunder Pass is an enticing accoutrement to your adventures!

    Also new to the Pirate Emporium this month: the opportunity to strike fear into all who sail the Sea of Thieves with the Dark Warsmith collection, comprising a full ship set, a terrifying all-in-one pirate costume and a bundle of red-hot weaponry. Players who want to show off their skills with a blade can do so with the new Dagger Tricks Emote Bundle, but remember – our pirates are trained professionals, don’t try this at home!

    Find Out More

    For more information on the Sea of Thieves Season Two update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 or via Steam, or players who have access to it with Xbox Game Pass. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

    New to Sea of Thieves? Find out about the latest free content updates on our What’s New page and pick up some tips from our Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay as you prepare for your maiden voyage. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at www.seaofthieves.com where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

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    Website: LINK

  • Introducing the Rogue Company Season One Event

    Introducing the Rogue Company Season One Event

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Introducing the Season One Arms Dealer Update, the newest addition to the first season of Rogue Company! In the Arms Dealer event, all Rogue Company players will be able to access all new Arms Dealer missions, featuring a variety of objectives which can be completed during Rogue Company matches. Complete mission objectives and you’ll be rewarded by the Arms Dealer with credits, which can be spent on your choice of shipments. Featuring a selection of all-new cosmetic items, shipments contain emotes, weapon wraps, avatars, and more! 

    Want even more content? The Arms Dealer event also includes the option to purchase exclusive shipments for Rogue Bucks, which feature additional cosmetics – including the new Neon Override Gl1tch outfit. Purchase all shipments in the Arms Dealer event and you’ll also unlock the special reserve shipment for free, which includes the newest legendary outfit – Combat Medic Saint!

    Rogue Company Season One Event

    This update also features the addition of the newest 2v2 skirmish map, Rooftops, and the new Dodgeball game mode. Featuring scenic sprawling seaside views of Miami, Rooftops may be a relaxing travel destination for some, but for Rogue Company it’s a deadly battleground located 20 stories above ground level and primed for quick, close-quarters encounters. Watch your step –  it’s a long way down! Dodgeball, the latest limited time game mode, features fast team-based gameplay that puts a unique spin on team deathmatch: get eliminated by the enemy team and you’ll be placed in a respawn queue, where you’ll have the opportunity to respawn… as soon as your teammates eliminate an enemy player! It’s a back-and-forth battle for dominance at truly breakneck speeds!

    Rogue Company Season One has seen the addition of new maps, a new Battle Pass, and new Rogues, and on top of that we are proud to launch our first major event of the year! Play the Season One Arms Dealer Event Update free today in Rogue Company, including the new Rooftops map and the new Dodgeball game mode!

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  • Days Gone PC gameplay revealed, launches May 18

    Days Gone PC gameplay revealed, launches May 18

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Days Gone is coming to PC! We cannot wait to see more players experience the epic journey of Deacon St. John, a former outlaw biker now drifter and bounty hunter trying to survive in a post- apocalyptic open world where danger lurks around every corner. Explore the sprawling Pacific Northwest high-desert on your trusty Drifter bike as you try to maneuver around collapsed bridges, abandoned vehicles, ambush traps and blocked tunnels. Scavenge supplies from abandoned buildings to craft assorted items, barter with local camps and gear up for the ride through an infested ever-changing environment.

    We are very excited to share our first look of Days Gone on PC with our features trailer. Catch a glimpse on what PC features you can expect to see when booting up Days Gone for the first time on May 18, 2021. Days Gone is available now for Pre-Purchase from a range of digital retailers, including Steam and Epic Games Store.

    Days Gone PC gameplay revealed, launches May 18

    Our team has been hard at work to deliver our new and returning players a unique experience with Days Gone on PC. Here are the added features that can be seen from the trailer:

    This World Comes For You

    Take on the relentless Old Sawmill horde with 21:9 ultra-wide monitor support. Come across various enemies in this harsh open world including humans, wildlife and feral creatures known as Freakers, with unlocked framerate. Fighting hordes that range up to 500 Freakers at one time has never felt so real.

    Be in Control

    Traverse the vast Farewell Wilderness with our new display customization options that include increased level of detail, foliage draw distances and graphical customization. Play Days Gone the way you want to play. Use 1st and 3rd party controllers, or ride the Broken Road with input support for mouse and keyboard.

     Photo Mode

    Capture the realistic and detailed world of Days Gone through the new super resolution photo mode. Share your photos with us across our Bend Studio social channels; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We can’t wait to see what shots you come up with!

    Captured on PC using ultra-wide monitor support.

    Days Gone on PC will release May 18, 2021 on a range of digital retailers, including Steam and Epic Games Store.

    Website: LINK