Gaming in Britain. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Given the reputation Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door continues to enjoy to this day, two decades on from its GameCube launch, the level of excitement surrounding the release of its upcoming Nintendo Switch remake isn’t surprising in the slightest. And as the RPG draws closer to launch, Nintendo is continuing to show more bits and pieces.

If you've been eager to watch the animated Ark: Survival Evolved TV series, but your attempts have so far been thwarted by your failure to live in the US or Canada, there's some good news: it's now officially available in 11 other countries, including the UK, via Paramount+.

A modder of Street Fighter 5 has added a fully playable version of one of Street Fighter 3's most popular characters, Dudley. While fans have been enjoying and modding Capcom's latest release in the long-running franchise, Street Fighter 6, there are still a bunch of modders who are working on the 2016 fifth mainline game. While Street Fighter 5 was one of the most polarizing entries in the series' history, there are a number of fans who are still modding the game, adding a number of costumes or full fighters based on past entries like Street Fighter 3.

Helldivers 2 is an extremely popular game, far more than probably either Arrowhead or Sony hoped for. That said, it isn't perfect, and the developers are well aware of that.

Dragon Age: Pals Adventure is opening up for pre-registration today on mobile. This card-hunting title is hitting Android devices in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Developed and published by Pixel Spirits, it currently supports English, Simplified Chinese and Thai languages.

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The idea of an industry-led body with a mandate to come up with solutions to skills shortages in the UK, as presented in this week's Skillfull report, is self-evidently a good one.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau has been on many radars since its announcement at The Game Awards last December, and now, with its launch right around the corner, EA – which is publishing the indie title under its EA Originals label – has released a launch trailer to hype up its release. Check it out below.

Capcom has detailed an upcoming patch for Dragon’s Dogmas 2 that makes a number of changes and fixes, but there’s no mention of the performance mode so many players are waiting for.

The stunning open-world dress-up game I covered a little under two years ago has finally announced an offline playtest, and I can't wait to see more of it. 

Game Rant can exclusively reveal a Mars Express behind-the-scenes clip featuring director Jérémie Périn tackling Another World, an Amiga classic that influenced a number of prominent game designers, such as Hideo Kojima. The video offers insights into the kind of art that informed Périn's directorial style, consequently permeating his upcoming cyberpunk animated film.

AI Roundup, April 19: In today's AI news, Cisco announced their new security product called HyperShield which uses AI to safeguard applications, devices, and data of businesses. The system primarily focuses on protecting the IT environment. In other news, HarperCollins has partnered with audio AI company ElevenLabs to develop audiobooks. All this, and more in our AI Roundup today.

Persona 3 Aigis: The First Mission is coming to Steam and the Nintendo Switch. However, this long-forgotten Persona 3 spin-off will not be treated to an official English localization.

Fallout 4, the post-apocalyptic wasteland action RPG from 2015, is gaining popularity, with sales in Europe jumping by over 7,500% in the last week.

MCU fans could be in for a treat as the is not expected to move. Despite Marvel delaying several Phase 5 projects to 2025 and beyond, Avengers 5 will reportedly stick to its current release date.

Netflix has confirmed that The Witcher TV series will get a fifth season, but stated that it will be the last.

If you're looking for something new to watch this weekend, you're in luck: whether you're in the mood for a movie night or a new binge-watch, Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and more are stacked with new releases.

Publisher dramatic create and developer MAGES. will release otome visual novel Meiji Tokyo Renka: Full Moon for Switch and PC via Steam in 2024 worldwide with Japanese audio and English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitles, the companies announced.

Rockstar Games has announced it's joining EA in raising the price of its GTA+ subscription service, from £4.99 / $5.99 per month to £6.99 / $7.99. Representing a 40 per cent increase in the UK, new users will immediately be charged the new price while existing members will begin paying extra from 11th June 2024. Since GTA+ only offers users monthly memberships, there's no way to save a bit of money with a 12-month commitment to the service.

UK studio and publisher Kwalee has revealed recent staff cuts were made to «reshape» the company's business around «significant growth opportunities.» The company has layed off approximately 10% of its workforce, around 40 people, in recent months. Despite that, Kwalee stressed it expects to grow its headcount (currently about 400) to somewhere between 410 and 420.

Boy, those first few months of 2024 were crazy, right? The torrent of big, flashy new games is finally relenting, though, and the UK's physical games chart is beginning to settle into a groove. EA Sports FC 24 is number one, once again, and Hogwarts Legacy is equally consistent at number two.

Today is the day for April 2024's PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium game refreshes to come into effect, with 14 PS5, PS4 and Classic titles landing across the two tiers. The games are available now in the UK and Europe, and availability in the USA will be rolled out later on in the day. Day one title Dave the Diver headlines today's update, but there's actually even more to come. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU joins the service on 23rd April 2024 and then Animal Well is coming on 9th May 2024. Starting today, you can play the following:

ATLUS has revealed plans for what it is calling the «ATLUS Exclusive: Metaphor: ReFantazio» broadcast, with the publisher/developer promising approximately 30 minutes of never-before-seen gameplay. How's that for something to look forward to?

Japanese studios ALTERCIWS and Lobstudio have announced mystery adventure game Zombie Police: Christmas Dancing with Police Zombies for PC (Steam). It will launch this summer with English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese language support.

Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke recently discussed various topics in an interview published by GamesIndustry. The director of Baldur's Gate 3 talked about avoiding overlap with Bethesda's Starfield (Larian's game launched in early August on PC, while Starfield was released in early September) and his respect for the studio.

Fallout 4 sales have soared in select European countries following the debut of the Fallout TV show on Amazon Prime.

The second wave of closed beta testing for large-scale multiplayer mech action game Mecha BREAK for PC will run from April 26 at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET to April 28 at 10:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 a.m. ET, Seasun Games announced. Users can register here.

Polish developer Warhorse Studios has revealed that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is on the way, with a ballpark release window estimated for 2024.

The end is approaching for Netflix's uneven The Witcher adaptation; the streaming service has officially renewed the show for a fifth season, which will be its last.

A new retro compilation coming to the Switch next week will see the return of cult sports title California Games.

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer SHIFT UP have released a new music video for Stellar Blade titled “Eve” in collaboration with Korean pop artist BIBI.

Dot Hero Adventure and Persona 5 Royal Collab Hits the Scene on April 29th! The Metaverse is merging with the Emon Continent later this month, bringing fan-favorite characters Joker and Violet to the fray. This exciting event is more than just a cameo. Joker and Violet will be playable heroes, ready to lend their power to your fight against the forces of darkness.

The developer of PC city builder Cities Skylines 2 has offered refunds for the game’s latest DLC amid a backlash from players over the state of the game.

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The next step in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War is here, and it’s just about the most straightforward yet: kill bugs. Lots of bugs.

Merchandise created for last year’s collaboration between The Pokémon Company and the Van Gogh Museum is now available to buy online.

Playdate maker Panic has revealed that over 150,000 games have been sold since the launch of its storefront, Catalog, in March 2023.

Sales of Fallout games have shot up across Europe, with Fallout 4 reclaiming the No.1 spot.

Nier Automata's director believes Japanese game developers have had difficulty implementing "Western systems" because it was hard for them to move away from Japanese-made game engines.

The second wave of closed beta testing for large-scale multiplayer mech action game Mecha BREAK for PC will run from April 26 at 3:00 a.m. PT / 6:00 a.m. ET to April 28 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, Seasun Games announced. Users can register here.

For nearly two years, Microsoft's unprecedented $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard stayed in the news, mostly due to the Windows and Xbox company's battle with certain regulators (chiefly the US FTC and the UK CMA). That came to an end, even though the FTC is still trying to unmake the deal, on October 13, when Microsoft announced the closure of the acquisition.

Platform, the UK gaming bar chain with two locations in London, has reportedly ceased trading and entered liquidation.

Avatars in video games are precious things. They embody us digitally and allow players to get creative with their appearances, but fans of Pokémon Go have largely not been afforded that luxury, as the character creation system in the game has not been updated since it was released in 2016.

GamesIndustry.biz is once again teaming up with Brightmine (formerly XpertHR) on a salary benchmarking project designed to help UK games companies find and retain talent.

As Sea of Thieves prepares to set sail for PlayStation 5, developer Rare has announced it has seen 40 million players since launching in 2018.

A new movie spin-off in popular anime series Spy x Family is wowing critics ahead of its release, earning a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. The reviews, of which there are 12 at the time of writing, are calling it a "captivating", "wall-to-wall fun" film, full of "unique whimsy". 

Sonic Dream Team's Content Update 2, or Version 1.3, has introduced a host of new content to the game, including a new zone. The last big content drop for the title was released in February.

EU antitrust regulators have concluded that Microsoft's $13 billion investment into OpenAI is not an acquisition, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, signaling the deal will avoid a formal European probe that could have led to onerous remedies for the U.S. tech giant.

While may have come to an end, that doesn't mean its cast of characters can't go on any further adventures. Following the announcement that Larian Studios won't be developing any DLC for its critically-revered RPG, the community was understandably disappointed that they wouldn't be able to spend any more time with the likes of Astarion and Shadowheart. Fortunately, due to the game being an official part of the universe, there will seemingly be more opportunities for the characters to return either in a sequel or a different medium entirely.

Publisher Nintendo and developer ARIKA have released a five-minute overview trailer for Endless Ocean Luminous.

With the casting of the upcoming Fantastic Four film finally rolling out, fans are harkening back to one of the newly cast stars’ comments on joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the first family’s impending debut looms closer.

No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray has found himself as the unwitting face of the risk coders face from the rise of AI.

Blaze Entertainment has made a bunch of announcements regarding its Evercade retro gaming consoles. Among other things, the company has revealed refreshed and less expensive hardware.

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Anime-inspired fast-paced first-person shooter Mullet Mad Jack will launch for PC via Steam on May 15, developer Hammer95 announced. It will support English, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Russian, and Japanese language options.

Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe has stated that he is seeing Chinese studios copying Palworld, and thinks that that’s a good thing.

So-net Entertainment Taiwan Limited is all set to release the highly awaited global version of Assault Lily Last Bullet W. Yes, finally, after years of waiting! You can now pre-register for the game and even grab some pretty awesome goodies while doing so!

UK developer and publisher Kwalee is cutting around ten per cent of its staff.

Nintendo's next Indie World Showcase — the cooler, more rebellious sibling to the average Nintendo Direct — will air today, Wednesday 17th April, at 3pm UK time.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set to introduce a bunch of new characters to the long-running franchise, from Owen Teague's primate protagonist Noa to Freya Allan's human Mae. It'll also welcome a new villain, too: Kevin Durand's Proximus Caesar. 

Publisher CFK and developer PUMPKIN will release puzzle adventure game SOWON: The Toy Wonderland for Switch on May 2, the companies announced.

Another The Sims 4 update reached the PC and console versions of the game on April 16. The new build is primarily geared toward polishing the hit life sim and packs nearly two dozen changes that resolve some annoying The Sims 4 bugs and other issues.

A new adaptation of Isuna Hasekura's beloved Japanese light novel series Spice and Wolf has arrived – and with two of the original voice actors from the English dub of the 2008 anime.

UK-based Blaze Entertainment has announced a refresh of its Evercade line of retro consoles.

Nintendo has announced that the next Indie World Showcase will take place tomorrow.

A new Pokemon arcade game is coming out this summer — but only in Japan. In addition to the mainline Pokemon games, Nintendo’s long-running, monster-collecting JRPG series has spawned numerous spin-offs in a variety of different genres. These run the gamut from less-remembered one-offs like Hey You, Pikachu to more successful ventures like Detective Pikachu and Pokemon GO, the latter of which continues to be a global sensation thanks to new events and content being released regularly.

25 games are set to leave PlayStation Plus next month as part of one of the biggest clearouts of the subscription service.

We’ve already reported on how the PC and console Fallout games have received a shot in the arm following the success of the Fallout TV show. Now it’s the turn of mobile game Fallout Shelter.

Shift Up’s Stellar Blade is just ten days away, meaning the time is right for a new trailer. On top of highlighting the visual fidelity and fast-paced action, perhaps most noteworthy is that it showcases the game’s Japanese voice acting. Check it out below.

A Nintendo Indie World Showcase will be broadcast tomorrow, the company has announced.

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Ubisoft has responded to the ongoing backlash against the Star Wars Outlaws season pass, insisting Jabba the Hutt is part of the experience for all players.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released yet another update for the PlayStation 5 and PC third-person co-op shooter, this time patch 01.000.203.

During the Fallout TV series, Walter Goggin's character Cooper Howard holds an infomercial all about the vaults, encouraging viewers to call the on-screen number to get a spot for when the apocalypse finally rears its three ugly radioactive heads. Naturally, fans rang the number to see who was waiting on the other end.

People have been thirsting over FromSoftware characters for years, but we rarely see the developer or publisher get in on the action. Today is a very different day.

Japanese clothing store Uniqlo has announced a new range of officially licensed t-shirts based on some of the more currently popular Final Fantasy titles.

Rockstar Games has taken a significant step forward in the development of the highly anticipated GTA 6, with reports indicating that developers are returning to office spaces as of April 15, 2024. The decision, initially disclosed by reputable gaming industry insider Jason Schreier in February, aims to bolster security and productivity in the final stages of the game's creation.

Atlus has announced a special event taking place on April 22, where there will be a special livestream event focused on the upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio. Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brand-new RPG IP from Atlus' Studio Zero, with the game being developed by the same staff who had worked on the modern Persona entries. Both Metaphor and Persona share the same DNA in terms of mechanics, having similar social simulation and RPG dungeon crawling mechanics. The main difference between the two is that Metaphor is a high-fantasy setting as opposed to Persona's urban fantasy.

Publisher HYPER REAL and Korean developer IKINAGAMES have announced Telebbit, a fast-paced action platformer where teleportation is key. It will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC via Steam in 2024.