Gaming in North Korea. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

One of the most acclaimed world film directors is now turning to one of the most popular global forms of entertainment. At the Anime Awards hosted by Crunchyroll this past weekend, South Korean film auteur Bong Joon-ho took the stage as a featured guest to announce the Anime of the Year award, an accolade given to Jujutsu Kaisen as part of its incredibly impressive 11-award haul at the event. While there was already more than enough anticipation in the room, the director of Parasite made an announcement of his own—active development on a Japanese anime feature film project.

When we interviewed Korean developer Shift Up recently, it emphasised the point that Stellar Blade’s selection of 30 costumes would all be included in-game at launch, with no microtransactions or additional purchases necessary. However, speaking with Game Informer, director Hyung-Tae Kim has hinted more outfits could be added post-release.

During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, audiences were treated to two minutes of gameplay footage from The First Berserker: Khazan. The bloody action RPG was first revealed in December 2023 and is being developed by Korean studio Neople, best known for their multiplayer RPG Dungeon Fighter Online.

The Tensor G4 will likely be powering the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro later this year, and while Google’s chipsets have historically delivered poorer performance and efficiency metrics compared to the competition, the upcoming chipset is rumored to receive a few upgrades. Going on the path of the Exynos 2400, a new report says that the Tensor G4 will be treated to FOWLP or ‘Fan out Wafer Level Packaging.’ While we have discussed the advantages of using this technology, let us inform readers who are hearing about it for the first time as its benefits might compel them to upgrade to the Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Pro later this year.

Critics of Sony’s live service initiative are having their suspicions affirmed lately, as the platform holder struggles to get its projects off the ground. While the excellent Helldivers 2 has launched to great success, Naughty Dog’s standalone adaptation of The Last of Us has been unceremoniously scrapped, while Firesprite’s upcoming Twisted Metal reboot was recently canned and London Studio shuttered entirely. The latter was working on a co-op fantasy game.

Samsung has been reported on a few occasions to be struggling with its 3nm GAA yields, and while the logical move might have been to find ways to improve that percentage, the Korean foundry is making a monumental leap towards mass producing its 2nm node. However, according to one update, the company is not actually pursuing the production of 2nm wafers but has labeled its second-generation 3nm technology with the same name. Naturally, this can cause confusion for Samsung’s clients and mislead them into thinking that they are receiving wafers on a cutting-edge manufacturing process.

NVIDIA's qualification tests seem to be giving HBM manufacturers a hard time, as yield rates are significantly low compared to traditional memory products.

Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly decided to switch parties, now eying for Samsung Foundry as its primary AI chipmaker as it sees "uncertainty and volatility" at TSMC.

2D action RPG ASTRA: Knights of Veda will launch for PC via Steam, iOS via App Store, and Android via Google Play on April 2, publisher HYBE IM and developer FLINT announced. Pre-registration is available now.

For the past three years, we have been greeted with the Pixel design that always somehow manages to light a smile on our faces, with the exterior shell being a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, that air turns rancid in a snap as the pleasing aesthetics of Google’s flagship or mid-ranged smartphone family are not aligned with the company’s silicon vision. With the Tensor G3 being yet another disappointment compared to the competition, will we finally see the Tensor G4 turn over a new leaf when powering the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro? Our rumor roundup discusses the upcoming SoC’s specifications, potential features, and everything else you might want to learn, so let us get started.

Weekend OTT Watchlist: Are you planning to make your weekend a cozy affair indoors? Look no further as we bring you a curated list of the latest OTT releases across platforms like Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5, and more. Maamla Legal Hai, Sunflower Season 2 to Shogun, there's something for everyone. Grab your popcorn and get ready for a weekend of binge-watching!

Yohane the Parhelion: NUMAZU in the MIRAGE developer BeXide has announced 3D physics puzzle game Fruit Mountain for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC (Steam). It will launch in 2024 with English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Portugeues, Russian, German, French, Spain, and Italian language support.

Have we finally entered the Netflix K-drama era where everything is a sequel or a spinoff? No — there are still quite a few original K-dramas making their way to our Netflix queues this coming spring, from the wacky comedy of Chicken Nugget to an all-new romance from the writer of Hallyu classic Crash Landing on You.

Even with Netflix’s recommendation algorithm serving you new movies, new TV shows, and original programming tailored to your viewing habits, the streaming service’s firehose of content makes what’s coming difficult to parse.

The version 4.5 update for Genshin Impact, dubbed “Blades Weaving Betwixt Brocade,” will launch on March 13, developer miHoYo announced.

Transit Love (EXchange) season 3 is all set to release two brand-new consecutive episodes on TVING. Episodes 12 and 13 of the hit Korean dating reality show will arrive in March 2024 on the streaming platform. The ongoing show has garnered a lot of popularity among audiences for its primary theme of bringing ex-lovers to one place while they look for new connections.

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch on May 23 in Asia, day and date with its Japanese release, with English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean voice-overs and subtitles, publisher Clouded Leopard Entertainment announced.

Tactical RPG Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery will launch for PC via Steam on March 22 for $24.99, followed by Switch, iOS, and Android at a later date, publisher XD and developer Sunborn Network Technology announced. A Deluxe Edition will also be available for $39.99. From March 22 to April 5, an 18 percent-off launch discount will be applied to both editions.

The new game mode for Hardcore WoW Classic called «Self-Found» is now live on WoW Classic realms! This new game mode will prevent you from trading other players, sending or receiving mail, and prevent you from using the Auction House, making the entire journey from 1-60 a much more difficult task!

CounterSide Global has kicked off an awesome crossover event with IRyS from Hololive English -Promise-. The event runs up until the maintenance on March 20, 2024. The CounterSide x Hololive English -Promise- IRyS crossover has a lot of events going down. So, keep reading to know more!

Netflix has released a new trailer for Chicken Nugget, an upcoming Korean comedy about a woman who turns into a… chicken nugget. 

Qualcomm is apparently on track to supply its phone partners with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 just in time for the company to make the flagship chipset’s announcement in October. The latest rumor doing the rounds claims that the SoC will be finalized in April, with samples expected to be shipped to OEMs by June. This should give companies sufficient time to ready their high-end smartphones for next year with Qualcomm’s first 3nm silicon. The rumor also dives into the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 specifications, which we will discuss at length here.

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Blizzard games may be coming back to China soon via leased servers from South Korea. According to a trusted source, an unnamed Korean company believes it can operate Blizzard games in China through these servers, albeit at a high cost.

If you’re into esports then you’ll no doubt have heard of Lee Sang-Hyeok, better known as Faker. He’s known for playing the ever popular League of Legends, and has been hailed as the best player in the world — he is to League what Michael Jordan is to basketball.

The release date and poster for Netflix's live-action adaptation of Parasyte have just been announced. However, fans are not as excited as initially expected.

Another gacha game is shutting down. Vespa is saying goodbye to its tower defense RPG, Time Defenders. The game’s servers will be turned off on March 29, 2024. Vespa is a Korean developer known for King’s Raid, another RPG. Keep reading to know what led to Time Defenders EOS.

Samsung may not have much success with its 3nm GAA process, but it intends to make amends with its next-generation 2nm technology, which is said to enter mass production next year. To gain an edge against its foundry rival TSMC, a new report states that the Korean giant is introducing Backside Power Supply (BSPDN) technology, which aims to offer several benefits, which we will discuss here.

OTT Releases This Week: As we step into the last week of Feb, brace yourselves for a wave of new and exciting content hitting your favorite OTT platforms. From entertainment powerhouses like Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, Zee5, Netflix, Prime Video, and others, a diverse array of movies and web series is set to grace your screens. The global lineup spans various genres and languages, promising a delightful binge-watching experience throughout the week and into the weekend. If you're on the lookout for quality additions to your watchlist, we have handpicked a selection of upcoming releases on different OTT platforms.

Japanese developer METASLA has announced pixel art open-world action RPG Sea Fantasy for console and PC (Steam). Specific consoles are to be announced. It will launch in February 2025 with English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese language support.

As soldiers and citizens provide information from the front lines and affected areas of the war in Ukraine – two years old as of February 24, 2024 – in quasi-real time, an active open-source intelligence community has formed to keep track of troop activity, destruction and other aspects of the war.

The   have been revealed. The episode will air on Netflix. This Korean drama series follows an evolving relationship between former high school rivals Nam Ha-neul and Yeo Jeong-woo. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they both leave their jobs as doctors, leading them to become roommates in a rooftop apartment, surprisingly. As they navigate through their new living situations, old tensions resurface, giving way to unexpected romantic entanglements.   

Streaming giant Twitch has been fined over $300,000 by the South Korean government for violations of federal law, as the platform prepares to terminate its services in the country. Twitch is ending service in South Korea on February 27, and this massive fine has once again raised eyebrows in response to the streaming service's decision.

The world of K-drama is expanding with every passing day. March 2024 is all set to witness the arrival of an array of highly awaited Korean drama series. From thrillers and mystery to romance and comedy, these K-dramas are of various genres and themes. Thus, it is quite understandable that K-drama fans are in for some binge-worthy series in the upcoming month of March.

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Ring has been shrouded in mystery, but a recent leak has shed light on some of the exciting features users can expect from this innovative device.

Korean game studio Netmarble has announced that Paragon: The Overprime will be shutting down on Monday, April 22. In spite of a dedicated community and variety of characters in Paragon: The Overprime, the game will be officially ending service less than two years after its initial launch. This comes as a number of online multiplayer games have announced closures over the past several months, adding to the unfortunate trends in the industry from 2023.

 of  will air on the streaming service TVING this February 2024. The Korean dating show has gained much popularity among viewers over the last ten episodes. The reality series has an engaging theme of bringing former couples under the same roof.

Publisher GRYPHLINE and Hypergryph Network Technology developer Nous Wave Studio have released a five-minute gameplay introduction trailer real-time / turn-based hybrid premium 3D RPG Ex Astris.

Samsung appears to have failed in its quest to secure large customers for its 3nm GAA process, with TSMC having the upper hand as it reportedly aims to reach production of its next-generation node to 100,000 monthly wafers by the end of 2024. To combat its biggest foundry rival, instead of finding a way to increase its 3nm yields. Samsung is apparently focusing on its 2nm technology, and according to the latest report, the next Exynos SoC is supposedly being tested on this lithography.

After Apple Vision Pro, Apple is likely stepping into another fresh product segment - the smart ring! It may not have the overarching potential of the Vision Pro, but an Apple smart ring looks to have become important after Samsung announced its own Galaxy ring. Samsung smart ring was recently teased at the Galaxy S24 series launch event and with the official launch coming soon, Apple has reportedly accelerated its own smart ring development over the recent months. A Korean report has leaked the information without elaborating on the source of the news. It is being said that several Apple smart ring-related patents are being registered, hinting at its speedy development. Know what the new report says about the Apple iRing.

AI roundup: Samsung launched a new program at the Visvesvaraya Technological University that will provide upskilling and training opportunities to over 1100 students about AI and IoT to make them future-ready. For growth and to combat fraud, Truecaller CEO said the company is turning to AI. Know what happened in the world of AI today.

The Galaxy Ring might officially take shape during the second half of 2024, assuming the latest report’s information turns out to be legit. Typically, Samsung hosts a second Galaxy Unpacked event in July or August, but the new rumor also says that the wearable will not just be unveiled early but also come in different sizes to accommodate a bigger customer base. In short, Samsung appears to be going ‘all in’ in this new category, with earlier reports stating that various health features will be integrated into this device to make it a more appealing purchase.

A new Korean age rating for an updated version of Nintendo Switch exclusive Shin Megami Tensei V was posted online overnight before being quickly pulled, suggesting Atlus plans to re-release the JRPG in the future. Named Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, the listing mentioned «improvements and additional content» and could be the multi-platform port that was datamined out of the original release a few years ago.

Upcoming PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade has been given an adults-only rating in Korea, where developer Shift Up is located. Considering the attention-grabbing headlines the game has been generating, it should come as no surprise this is due to apparent (or suggested) nudity and extreme violence.

Yesterday, we brought you word of a brewing controversy surrounding the upcoming PS5 action game Rise of the Ronin after director Fumuhiko Yasuda made some comments alluding to a controversial 19th-century Japanese philosopher. It was supposed that these comments were why Sony confirmed the game would not be released in Korea, but now Sony says it never planned on selling the game in one of the world's most lucrative markets in the first place.

If, like ourselves, you're only passingly familiar with the complex, extremely fraught history between Japan and Korea, you might have missed the significance of specific comments made by Rise of the Ronin director Fumuhiko Yasuda in a behind-the-scenes trailer released last week. We certainly did, despite reporting on the thing, and so were surprised to learn that Sony has since cancelled the upcoming title's Korean release.

Last year, a leak showed that a remaster of Beyond Good and Evil is in the works for the 20th anniversary. At the time, the alleged game had been rated by the ESRB, and now the Ubisoft title has shown up on the Korean ratings board.

It looks like the rumors from last year of a “Complete Edition” of Shin Megami Tensei V might have been accurate after all. According to Gematsu, an official rating popped up from the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. The description for the rating indicated it was a complete edition of Shin Megami Tensei V with improvements and additional content. The rating was later removed.

We may be getting a rerelease of Shin Megami Tensei V very soon.

Samsung announced its Galaxy S24 slightly earlier on January 17, with pre-orders commencing on the same day. A slew of effective strategies has allowed the Korean giant to garner more shipments from its latest flagship series than the previous Galaxy S23 family. According to the latest data, for the 5 months that started in November, the newer models have witnessed a 13 percent uptick in panel shipments, signaling that these handsets are more coveted by customers worldwide.

Publisher GRYPHLINE and Hypergryph Network Technology developer Nous Wave Studio have released a new trailer for real-time / turn-based hybrid premium 3D RPG Ex Astris introducing the game’s world.

Kuro Game has released the opening movie for cross-platform, open-world action RPG Wuthering Waves ahead of the start of its second closed beta test on February 19.

It's not just you. A lot people think Google searches are getting worse. And the rise of generative AI chatbots is giving people new and different ways to look up information.

The developers behind the upcoming Stellar Blade revealed the real-life South Korean model they worked with in order to create the game's action heroine, Eve. Stellar Blade has been a hot topic of discussion ever since its re-reveal in 2023, with many anticipating its April 26 release. The design of Stellar Blade's protagonist has dominated conversations, especially after the game's latest State of Play trailer.

 of  will debut on the streaming platform TVING in February 2024. Over the previous nine episodes, the Korean reality dating show has become highly popular among audiences. The show has the engaging concept of bringing former lovers into the same house, where they make new romantic connections.

The iPhone SE 4 will be Apple’s first low-cost offering to transition from an LCD to an OLED, matching the company’s other high-end devices, but buyers will have to muster up sufficient patience because this particular model is slated to launch sometime in 2025. Thankfully, the company will not have to fret over the display cost of the iPhone SE 4 since Samsung and BOE are reportedly fighting over orders.

Have you watched the fantasy K-drama Arthdal Chronicles? If yes, then here’s some exciting news for you! Arthdal Chronicles: Three Factions is an upcoming RPG that’s based on the series. Set to drop by the end of April for Korean players, it’s now up for pre-registrations on Android devices.

So before everything kicks off in a few hours, let's run down what we're likely to see - and some of what we hope we'll see too. 

Samsung and TSMC have locked horns in the 2nm chip race, with both foundry giants earlier said to be preparing samples for Qualcomm on the next-generation lithography. However, when it comes to securing actual orders, the Korean giant obtains a win in that column by bringing a Japanese startup into the fold. It is said that this research firm decided to skip TSMC for its 2nm technology, and we have a few reasons why it would make this decision.

Sony has now made a new statement about Rise of the Ronin’s Korean release.

Due to a comment made by director Fumuhiko Yasuda, all physical and digital releases of Rise of the Ronin have been canceled in South Korea. The upcoming Japanese action RPG has been drumming up excitement among fans, but players in Korea will no longer be able to look forward to the game's launch.

Gord developer Covenant.dev has announced To the Star, a cooperative survival adventure game set in a fantasy realm for up to four players. It will launch first in Early Access for PC via Steam, where it will remain for approximately one year as the game is refined, polished, and balanced. It will support English, Polish, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, French, Japanese, Korean, and Russian language options.

Rise of the Ronin may have just been cancelled from being released in Korea.

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Shift Up’s upcoming PS5-exclusive action RPG Stellar Blade has been given an 18+ rating in Korea. This might not come as a surprise to many people, but it may render the game off limits for some players. In screenshots and trailers released so far, the game’s protagonist wears generally form-hugging outfits that don't leave much hidden, and the developer has even revealed that “special attention” was paid to Eve’s backside in Stellar Blade since players will spend most of their time looking at it.

Team Ninja's ambitious next game, Rise of the Ronin, will not be released in South Korea.

The upcoming Stellar Blade for PlayStation 5 has received an 18+ age rating in Korea.

Stellar Blade just earned an unusual distinction prior to release.

Upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade appears to have an age-rating in Korea — and it won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen gameplay.

We have an interesting new rumor about a game that we learned about last year, but has yet to be officially released.

Upcoming PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade will reportedly be rated for adults only, due to nudity and violence. 

Have you ever found yourself scribbling down notes in classes and then going through the process of scanning them and keeping them as PDFs? It is a hassle. Now, you can use devices like iPads to take notes directly in digital format, but unless you're accustomed to it, the experience is not the same. What if there was a device that allowed you to take notes via pen and mirror it digitally in real-time? This is where XNote smart pen comes in and it even has AI power. Know all about this AI-powered smart writing set that supports ChatGPT.

Stellar Blade’s big re-reveal during last week’s State of Play focused on its English dub, with many fans commenting they’d prefer to play the game in either Japanese or its native Korean. Speaking with developer Shift Up during an interview earlier today, we quizzed Game Director Hyung-Tae Kim on this topic.

Even to casual fans of Yoko Taro's esoteric NieR franchise, the similarities to the upcoming and eagerly anticipated Stellar Blade are apparent—both feature flashy, action-based gameplay and buxom, blade-wielding protagonists, for starters. Rather than shy away from these comparisons, director Hyung-Tae Kim of Seoul-based developer Shift Up is refreshingly forthright, proclaiming it a «great honour» to be compared to such a storied developer as Taro himself.

A chunk of Stellar Blade’s online discourse has revolved around the PS5 exclusive release’s buxom protagonist Eve, with social media scuttlebutt suggesting the character is based on real-life South Korean model Shin Jae-eun. We’ve been searching for confirmation of the Instagram star’s inclusion for several weeks now, and so we went directly to the source, asking Game Director Hyung-Tae Kim if the rumours are true.

NIKKE: Goddess of Victory, Korean developer Shift Up’s saucy gacha shooter, is one of the biggest mobile games on the planet, raking in upwards of $25 million per month according to Sensor Tower data. It’s always felt inevitable, then, that the studio will draw upon the game’s enormous audience to promote upcoming PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade – and quizzed on whether that’ll be the case, Game Director Hyung-Tae Kim cryptically confirmed in an interview with Push Square that it will.

There’s been much hand-wringing among the PlayStation fanbase about Sony’s reported obsession with live service games, but two of its upcoming titles – Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade – are single player centric, and unashamedly old-school in their design. We spoke to Korean developer Shift Up, who’s currently working on the latter title, about its approach to the title – and it stressed that traditional single player campaigns with definitive endings are still extremely important.

PlayStation fans have been frustrated by Sony’s seeming overemphasis on live service game development behind-the-scenes, but that makes Stellar Blade a real breath of fresh air. A staunchly single player PS5 character action title, it marks Korean developer Shift Up’s first foray into the world of consoles – and it’s generating an enormous amount of enthusiasm due to its dazzling visuals and throwback vibes. We caught up with Game Director Hyung-Tae Kim and Technical Director Dong-Gi Lee to learn a little more about the upcoming outing, due out on 26th April.

Google’s previous Tensor chipsets powering the company’s Pixel lineup of smartphones and, just recently, a tablet, are, in one way or another, based on Samsung’s previous Exynos SoC launches. The Tensor G3’s unique 9-core CPU cluster was likely based on the Korean giant’s unreleased Exynos 2300, so it would be completely fine to assume that the upcoming Tensor G4 would have some relation with the Exynos 2400. Unfortunately, the specification differences do not give us confidence in this claim, even though one tipster believes it.

We have an interesting rumor today, that may have been corroborated by multiple sources months ago.