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Showing posts from September, 2022

Ubisoft, Bungie, and Others Working on Stadia Game Save Transfers

Ubisoft, Bungie, and others are working on letting players transfer Google Stadia saves. After the unexpected shutdown of Google Stadia , developers from across the industry are trying to help players by allowing them to transfer game saves to other platforms. “While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect,” said Ubisoft. “We'll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.” While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect. We'll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date. — Ubisoft Support (@UbisoftSupport) September 30, 2022 Google Stadia unexpectedly announced yesterday that it’s shutting down on January 18,

12 upcoming games without names that we're excited about

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The last couple years have been heavy on game delays, but we've also seen another trend come out of the Covid era of game development: Games being announced really early to recruit talent. Developers large and small can’t wait to tell us about their upcoming games, sometimes before they have anything but an idea, some concept art, and an enigmatic codename. Other games are surely farther along but are still shrouded in mystery. And when there's a mystery, we always want to know more. So here’s a rundown of 12 mystery projects: games we know exist in one form or another, but haven’t yet been fully unveiled. Not a single one has a title yet, but they could end up being some of the biggest games of 2023 and 2024. Creative Assembly’s ‘new action game’ and mystery project (Image credit: Creative Assembly) Working title: None known Previously covered: August 26th, 2022 Creative Assembly has a lot of range. From the Total War series to Alien: Isolation and the recentl

FIFA 23 Review

FIFA is dead; long live FIFA. EA’s football simulation behemoth has returned for one last hurrah after a nasty public divorce with its licensor, calling itself ‘The World’s Game’ ahead of a painful name change to EA Sports FC, coming next year. But the tagline transcends its bittersweet pomp because, for all intents and purposes, FIFA 23 fittingly does feel like the same game the world has been playing for the past few years, with its reliable end-to-end gameplay and familiar frustrations. Even at the end of an era, FIFA 23 marks another year of careful attrition from EA, as several tactical and aesthetic revisions supplement its sturdy gameplay blueprint. Yet it’s also an entry that feels both propped up and consumed by its Ragnarok status, begrudgingly pulling down a ruby-red final curtain as the football game genre descends into a maelstrom of chaos. Theatrical additions to gameplay, like the ferocious Power Shots, ensure that the FIFA name goes out with a bang rather than a wh

All the cool Hunt: Showdown players are sending kamikaze beetles to kill their enemies

Before Hunt: Showdown's 1.10 patch even hit test servers yesterday, players were already scheming about the terrible things they might be able to do with the game's new toy: a remote-controlled flying beetle that can be used to spot enemies. The Stalker Beetle is expected to be introduced in October, and it has the opportunity to shake up stalemate situations where one team sits well-protected in a compound and their opponents sit outside, daring them to shed their advantage. Players wondered: Could the Stalker Beetle be used to revive teammates, extending the reach of the Necromancer trait? (No.) What about Serpent, the trait that lets you siphon bounties and clues from a distance? (Nope.) Surely something clever was possible with this brand-new insectoid tool. Wait, could you chuck a sticky bomb onto the beetle, then fly it straight into an enemy?  At first, the answer seemed like no. Hunt experts like HomeReel on YouTube tested the bomb delivery technique, but saw

Former eBay exec who harassed and spied on bloggers is going to prison

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As reported by the Boston Globe (readers may encounter a paywall), James Baugh, the former head of safety and security at eBay, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison yesterday over his execution of a bizarre harassment campaign against bloggers David and Ina Steiner. Baugh is one of seven former eBay executives and high level employees to plead guilty in relation to the case. I mostly understand eBay as a place to get cheap second hand PC parts ( buyer beware, by the way ) or even absurdly overpriced collectible big boxes . In a truly more innocent time, Weird Al Yankovic graced the digital marketplace with one of those darling parodical songs of his . It's a bit shocking then, to read about the truly gangsterish intimidation campaign its executive-level employees masterminded. The Steiners, who publish an online shopping-focused newsletter, EcommerceBytes , put out a series of articles critical of eBay in 2019. Baugh and his fellow eBay employees proceeded to retaliate,

Sonic Announces Clothing Collaboration With Rowing Blazers

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Rowing Blazers, a New York-based clothing brand, has announced a new line of Sonic the Hedgehog apparel. The collection draws inspiration from Sonic's aesthetic from the 1990s, with graphics inspired by art from the time.  Those who are interested in the collection can look forward to clothing items like a cotton sweater with Sonic's image, a zip-up polar fleece, heavyweight rugby jerseys, a French terry loopback hoodie, cotton tees, and mesh shorts. The line also includes baseball caps, canvas tote bags, a necktie, and a hand-embroidered Sonic patch for blazers and other clothing items. You can see a gallery of some of the items in the collection below.   According to Jack Carlson, founder and creative director of Rowing Blazers, which has done collaborations with FILA, Umbro, the NBA, and more, the company's creations all hold important links to his personal life. "A lot of it has to do with the things I loved growing up: the sports

Hyper Demon review

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fall into a black hole? If so, Hyper Demon is a game for you. Playing it is like dancing on reality's edge. Perspective, time and space all break down as you push past the limits of conventional shoot ‘em ups, leaving their corridors, cover and combat in the dust. It's fundamentally about chasing high scores and slaying monsters, something games have done since their inception, but like best-in-class high score chasers Thumper and Tetris Effect, its execution transforms this template into something dreamlike. Edge magazine might never have bothered to ask "if only you could talk to these creatures" had the violence in 1994's shooters felt as transcendent as it does in Hyper Demon. Need to know What is it? A score based first person shooter Expect to pay: £11.39 | $14.99 Developer: Sorath Publisher: Sorath Reviewed on: Intel i7-4790k, Nvidia GeForce GTX-970, 16GB RAM Multiplayer? No Link: Steam Hy

Cyberpunk 2077 is now one of the most-played games on Steam Deck, too

Valve just released its list of the top Steam Deck games in September by total hours played, and it seems like Cyberpunk 2077's moment extends to handheld gaming, too. CD Projekt Red's 2020 sci-fi open-world RPG found itself fourth on the list along with some repeats from last month, like Vampire Survivors, Elden Ring, and Stardew Valley.  It's not too surprising to see Cyberpunk rank so highly, considering we recently reported that it pulled in more than 1 million players daily just last week. This is starting to feel like a second launch after CD Projekt Red's 1.6 "Edgerunners" update finally added the much-awaited transmog system. I can confirm that at least two of those Steam Deck hours were me meticulously organizing my V's outfits.  Update aside, the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime on Netflix seems to have driven some Cyberpunk 2077 owners back to Night City . Our unofficial anime editor, Wes Fenlon, thought it was a fun watch. CDPR even added som

In this underwater survival city builder, reboot civilization at the bottom of the ocean

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Earth had a good run. It spun happily around the sun for 5 billion years and for a while there it produced some pretty cool-looking dinosaurs. But the party's over: in the past couple centuries a swiftly spreading species of primate started digging gunk out of the ground and setting it on fire, and it's only a matter of time until the planet is more or less uninhabitable. Typically in science fiction when their home goes completely to hell, the remnants of humanity look for a whole new planet to colonize, but in Aquatico you use submarines instead of rockets to reboot civilization. With the Earth's surface desolate and uninhabitable, your job is to create a booming metropolis on the seafloor in this underwater survival city builder, due out later this year. A free demo of Aquatico popped up today on Steam, developed by Digital Reef Games and published by Overseer Games (who created Patron , another fun survival city builder). I spent some time with the demo creating my

This adorable platformer has you playing a Goomba-like minion fighting for freedom

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Mario presents a compelling caricature of a blue collar guy, sure, but who are the real working stiffs of the Mushroom Kingdom? That's right: the Goombas. Salt of the earth mushroom men walking back and forth on a platform day and night, all but turning to the camera and muttering "eh, it's a livin'!" They exist only to be trod upon by their betters. Goombas are the extras in a heated love triangle between an Italian, a turtle, and a neighboring monarch. Indie 2.5D platformer Rog and Roll (spotted by Alpha Beta Gamer ) puts the spotlight where it should be: it focuses on the mooks and the minions, having you take control of Rog, an adorable little tomato man. Absent protagonists or final bosses, the cute monsters of Rog's world built an egalitarian henchmen society, one which is now threatened by the return of an evil overlord. Developer Punch the Moon recently put out a free demo for Rog and Roll consisting of its first world, a Green Hill Zone-type de