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Showing posts from October, 2022

How to Play the Resident Evil Games in Chronological Order

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Through its (near-)consistent excellence, innovation, and longevity, Resident Evil games has earned its crown as the king of survival of horror. Capcom debuted its world of mutants and mercenaries in 1996 and has since grown Resident Evil into a multimedia franchise that spans over two dozen console games, six films, two recent Netflix series, novels, comics, and even stage plays. It can be an exciting franchise to explore given the amount of content it houses, though for the same reason, it can be an equally daunting series to approach. This article focuses exclusively on video games and cuts out the convolution by presenting two ways to play only the most narratively significant and accessible Resident Evil games in order. Jump to : How to play in chronological order How to play by release order How Many Resident Evil Games Are There? There are 10 core Resident Evil games : RE 0-7, Village, and Code: Veronica. However, the total number of Resident Evil console games — inc

Exclusive: Former Capcom Producer Behind Resident Evil and Killer 7 Opens Up About His New Studio

Following Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi and No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda , popularly known as "Suda51," Capcom veteran Hiroyuki Kobayashi announced his move to NetEase Games back in August this year. Today, NetEase revealed Kobayashi's new studio as GPTRACK50, located in Osaka. At Capcom, Kobayashi worked as the producer on the Resident Evil series as well as Devil May Cry. “I was at Capcom for 27 years. During my time, the company became a lot bigger and a lot of new staff came in,” Kobayashi told IGN in an exclusive interview. “I worked on a wide array of titles at Capcom, but I wanted a new challenge,” he explained. “Of course, it’s not like Capcom didn’t allow me to try out new things, but now that the company is a lot bigger, things are different from the way they were when I joined the company as a freshman back in 1995. Everything now needs to be approved and things just take more time to get greenlit. I’m the kind of creator that wants to be

Microsoft says it will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation 'as long as there's a PlayStation out there'

Microsoft's Xbox boss Phil Spencer has made his most far-reaching promise about keeping Call of Duty on Sony platforms yet, saying during an interview with the tech and gaming podcast Same Brain that Microsoft intends to keep the games on PlayStation consoles for "as long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to." The future of Call of Duty is a big sticking point in Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Sony, understandably, is worried about Microsoft making the huge hit series an Xbox exclusive; Microsoft has insisted that it has no such intentions . But those commitments have previously come with a time frame of some sort: In September, for instance, Microsoft guaranteed Call of Duty on PlayStation "for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract." In response, Sony said the actual time frame of the offer was just three years . Perhaps Microsoft is facing more resistance from regulators than it expected,

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Review

The claustrophobic press of frenzied melee, whistling of missiles, and thunderous charge of cavalry are often represented in games, but rarely so personally as in the Mount & Blade series. It’s not often I get the feeling I’m experiencing what must’ve been the needs of a commander at eye-level on the field trying to maneuver his forces, or being forced to desperately scramble among bodies for a quiver of arrows or fresh shield. This is the appeal of Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, and it outweighs all of the holes, bugs, and underwhelming strategy and roleplaying mechanics you have to wade through to get here. When you reach the battlefield, this low-fantasy medieval simulation is unmatched. Bannerlord drops you into the shoes of a capable, temporarily impoverished wannabe in a sandbox world based on late antiquity, complete with a fragmenting Roman Empire stand-in. It's an engaging scenario for its variety of combatants, mercenary bands, and warring societies, each with a

Phil Spencer: Call of Duty Will Continue to Ship on PlayStation 'As Long As There's a PlayStation to Ship To"

Xbox’s Phil Spencer has said that that should Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard go through, the company will continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation as long as there are PlayStation consoles out to ship to. On the Same Brain YouTube channel , Spencer said (starting at 28:40), “We're not taking Call of Duty from PlayStation. That's not our intent. Our intent is not to do that and as long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to, our intent is that we'll continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation. Similar to what we've done with Minecraft since we owned that.” Congratulations to @InfinityWard and @Activision on the biggest PlayStation Store launch EVER for a Call of Duty game (including preorders and day one sales). Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is now available for PS4 and PS5! pic.twitter.com/CU9GG853DI — PlayStation (@PlayStation) October 31, 2022 He goes on to reiterate how Microsoft has kept Minecraft available on other pla

South Korean MMO shuts down Halloween event following Seoul tragedy

As reported by Massively Overpowered , Korean developer Pearl Abyss will end Black Desert Online's in-game Halloween event early following the trampling deaths of 154 people at a Halloween gathering in Seoul. CNN reports that Seoul's Itaewon district was filled with revelers on October 29 during the first Halloween celebration since the end of major Covid-19 restrictions in  South Korea. Eyewitnesses described streets packed like crowded subway cars, and South Korean authorities are still investigating what caused the trampling deaths. South Korea has entered a week-long mourning period following the tragedy. Like many live service games, Black Desert Online features a yearly in-game Halloween event, with an opportunity to participate in seasonal activities and earn special items. 2022's event was originally set to run from October 26 through November 9. The event will now be cut off a week early: this Tuesday, November 2, at BDO's regular weekly reset. "In li

NASCAR Driver Scores Championship Race Spot With Last-Second Video Game Move

NASCAR driver Ross Chastain has credited a childhood video game habit for his bold last-corner move at Martinsville Speedway today, which saw him catapult from 10th to fifth in the final seconds of the race by riding the wall at high speed. The move secured Chastain a spot in next weekend’s 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, the first appearance in the series finale for his team Trackhouse Racing. Chastain also broke the stock car track record at Martinsville Speedway. ABSOLUTELY WILD! BELL WINS! CHASTAIN WITH AN INCREDIBLE MOVE! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/aFW9YP6PUZ — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 30, 2022 “I played a lot of NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube with [younger brother] Chad growing up, and you could get away with it,” explained Chastain in a post-race interview . “And I never knew if it would actually work; I mean, I did that when I was eight years old.” “I just made the choice; I grabbed fifth gear down the back and full committed.” Riding walls at high speed

The Valiant Review

One part small-scale, isometric sword-and-shield skirmishing and one part continent-spanning treasure hunt for a powerful religious artefact, The Valiant is a medieval squad-based RTS that’s as much clicking as it is conquering. If you microwaved your copies Kingdom of Heaven and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and made a scented candle out of the molten goop you might get a whiff of what developer Kite Games is going for here. However, while the result is a competent strategy game overall, it’s also a bit repetitive and shallow – and subsequently not quite as fun as that previous fusion sounds. An adequate way to quickly describe The Valiant might be as a 13th century Company of Heroes. A more accurate parallel, however, might be 2018’s Ancestor’s Legacy thanks to its broadly comparable Middle Ages setting and its very similar range of unit types. They differ considerably in terms of story, though; while Ancestor’s Legacy is more overtly inspired by historical events (albeit l

Today's Wordle answer and hint for Monday, October 31

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All your daily Wordle help is right here; from tips, hints, and clues designed to nudge you in the direction of the October 31 (499) word at your own pace, to the answer to today's puzzle in bold capital letters. And if you'd like to learn how to play the internet's favourite word game, you'll find links to our handy guides and archives below too. I had every correct letter staring me in the face today, a neat row of yellows with one helpful green and yet the answer may as well have been a million miles away. I did get there—just—but today's Wordle felt like the longest final guess of my life. Wordle hint A Wordle hint for Monday, October 31 Today's answer is the term used for a neat or appropriate summation of someone's talents or a description that suits or fits a particular place or person well. There's just one vowel to find today so once you've got it, concentrate on those consonants.  Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day  If

Cherry makes community switch official with the Cherry MX Ergo Clear

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Mechanical keyboards are a pretty big staple for PC gamers in this day and age. We can't get enough of those sometimes very clicky keys with actuation that just feels so much more certain than non mechanical variants. This is all thanks to the switches that sit under the keys, which come in all different variants and brands. There's not really a bigger name when it comes specifically to key switches than Cherry MX, and the brands just launched a new official switch from a community based design. The Cherry MX Ergo Clear is a quiet switch that came about thanks to DIY efforts from the community, and now it makes its way to the official Cherry line-up. The Ergo Clear first showed up back in March 2011 when a user going by mtl showed off their modification on the Geekhack forums .  The mod involved swapping out the springs that came with the MX Clear board at the time, and replacing them with springs from the MX Black switches. You can still go see the post now , which detail

Machine Learning researchers are using wonderful terrible puns to title papers

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Injecting fun and play into life at any opportunity is a crucial part of the creative spirit that defines humanity. As a species, we are capable of truly terrible and wonderful things. Our individual creations are wondrous and unique, and our combined efforts are categorically monumental in what we are able to achieve.  In a world where great minds have learned to harness AI to be the even greater minds behind machine learning techniques to control nuclear fusion or give voices back to those who've lost them , it's nice to see we're still having fun with it all. Jimi Vaubien who runs the Bitswired blog and goes by Bitswired on Twitter is one such great mind, who recently posted an excellent Twitter thread showcasing some of the fun names researchers are giving their papers. They include plenty of puns and pop-culture references, as well as nods to famous bands and music over the time, but they're all still charmingly relevant to their studies. The first on the l

Crawl down a toilet in the demo of adventure game Endacopia

You too can crawl down a toilet and go on an adventure that may nor may not be worth going on, friend, in the demo for surreal point-and-click game Endacopia. It's a game filled with surreal, offbeat humor that at any time threatens to verge into violent, dark, traumatic horror.  Endacopia is packed with some pretty unique animation in a style some ancient, dusty people may remember is decidedly influenced by the early days of great internet flash animation. By the time I was done with the demo I'd evaded several tentacles, fistfought a clock with razor claws, done what can only be described as electrical engineering for toddlers, and used a plunger on several things. It's the kind of adventure game that's all the more fun for its emphasis on absurd solutions to abstract puzzles, some of which aren't intuitive at first but are certainly funny by the end—or at least mildly bemusing for the most cynical among us. Here's how Endacopia describes itself: "Yo

Amsterdam hotel could take legal action over appearance in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

An Amsterdam hotel is displeased with its ersatz inclusion in the latest Call of Duty, and Dutch media reports it's considering legal action against developer and publisher Activision Blizzard. Though the Conservatorium Hotel appears under the name "Breenbergh" in-game, it's undeniably the same building. "We have taken note of the fact that the Conservatorium Hotel is undesirably the scene of the new Call of Duty," hotel manager Roy Tomassen told de Volksrant . "More generally, we don't support games that seem to encourage the use of violence. The game in no way reflects our core values and we regret our apparent and unwanted involvement." de Volksrant reports that the hotel is still considering what steps to take next. It's clear from the phrasing, however, that the hotel has not ruled out legal action. The Conservatorium stand-in Breenbergh appears in both the singleplayer mode and as a map in multiplayer. A quick look at images of

This solo-developed, Indonesian FPS has the best portals I've seen since Portal

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The Doom engine's flexibility is legendary at this point, with source ports like GZDoom facilitating ambitious FPS campaigns like Selaco or The Golden Souls . Solo developer Sanditio Bayu is throwing his hat in the ring with a new total conversion of Doom, Mala Petaka , first spotted by Alpha Beta Gamer . I was immediately won over by Mala Petaka's visual style⁠—it almost reminds me of Futurama with its right colors and silly, one-eyed aliens. The demo features three different levels, each visually distinct from one another. My favorite is the first, a satellite base with a fantastic deep space skybox and some surprising visual effects, like a room near the end that's just suspended in the void like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The music here is top notch as well, with developer Bayu shouting out "Indonesian Chiptunes veterans" like Remedmatika, Shakaboyd, and Son of a Bit. I still don't know much about Indonesia's chiptune scene, but the

The next Dota 2 hero is a ghostly gunslinger named Muerta

Dota 2 has announced a new hero at world championship The International 11, with the revenant gunslinger Muerta set to bring the moba's hero total up to 124 early next year. She's a black-and-gold creature, maybe some kind of automaton, that wields a pistol and deals in travel between life and death. For now, all we've got is a trailer , but that trailer's packed with some neat details. "An enduring revenant reveals herself with promises of a ruinous reckoning to follow. Pierce the veil between the living and the damned as a new hero — Muerta — arrives to haunt the lanes in early 2023," says the official description. With a flowery aesthetic that blends the aesthetic skulls of Mexico's day of the dead with a profoundly video-gamey neon, and Spanish-speaking players are already sounding off in video comments with excitement and requests for a Spanish-language voice pack for her. Muerta promises to be a hero that has a lot in common with the current D

Build big, stupid custom spaceships with friends in Cosmoteer

Space, strategy, sandbox, and building nerds, have you seen Cosmoteer yet? It's a starship designer-simulator that puts you, or you and some friends, in a big universe to command an ever-growing custom built fleet against a variety of AI or player opponents. It's a cool loop, one where you defeat enemies, complete contract missions, and go mining to get resources, then use that loot to upgrade your ship so you can take on ever-harder tasks. You can do all that with buddies in co-op. You can also test your ship designs against players in PvP, and make wild ideas work before you invest in them via the creative mode. It's a pretty dang solid game for Early Access, probably because it's one of those cult classics that has been in development for a decade and was previously only available via the developer's website. That developer is indie outfit Walternate Realities, by the way, and the guy who runs it is Walter, and I'd like to congratulate him on a superb p

Today's Wordle answer and hint for Sunday, October 30

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Whether you're too busy to play today and just need the answer to the Wordle of the day on a convenient plate or you've got the time to browse our helpful selection of tips and hints, you'll find everything you need to solve the October 30 (498) Wordle right here. Today's Wordle turned out to be a huge miss for me. I'd carefully eliminated so many useful letters over the course of my guesses but I still couldn't see the word I needed to find, even though there was little left to work with. Wordle hint A Wordle hint for Sunday, October 30 You'll need to dance your way to today's answer. This word is a specific kind of ballroom dance performed by a couple, and also a casually confident way of walking into a room. It's time to break out those underused consonants.  Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day  If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tip