Cat Quest 3 Getting A Physical Release, Includes A World Map And Collectible Stickers

Get yourself another big dose of cat-themed puns with Cat Quest III, the third game in the 2.5D open-world action RPG series. Announced during April's Nintendo Indie World Showcase, the third game in the award-winning series is set to release on August 8 (which just happens to be international cat day) for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Preorders for the physical version of Cat Quest III for PS5 and Switch are currently live on Amazon for $30, and buying an early copy snags you some fun bonus items.

Cat Quest III preorder bonuses



All Cat Quest III physical preorders include a navigation map of the game's world and a sticker sheet featuring various characters from the game. These preorder bonuses are bundled with the PS5 and Nintendo Switch versions, but only boxed copies. There are currently no digital preorder bonuses.

Preorder Cat Quest III Physical Edition



$30



The Cat Quest III standard edition includes the base game on either PS5 or Nintendo Switch, plus the physical edition preorder bonuses.

You can also grab the digital version of the game for $20 on Switch, PS5, or PC, which is $10 less than the physical edition, but you'll miss out on the preorder bonuses. Preorder for Switch on Amazon Preorder for PS5 on Amazon

Cat Quest III eschews the swords and fantasy trappings of the first two Cat Quest games to take to the high seas instead, as you sail the Purribean and battle pi-rats as a swashbuckling purrvateer. You'll also have access to a ship of your own to facilitate your exploration and search for treasure. Check out our Cat Quest III coverage for more information about the game, or head over to the Nintendo eShop and download the free demo to try the game out yourself.Continue Reading at GameSpot


https://www.gamespot.com/articles/cat-quest-3-preorder-guide/1100-6522997/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Putting Microsoft’s cratering Xbox console sales in context

Enlarge / Scale is important, especially when talking about relative console sales. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)




Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it made 31 percent less off Xbox hardware in the first quarter of 2024 (ending in March) than it had the year before, a decrease it says was "driven by lower volume of consoles sold." And that's not because the console sold particularly well a year ago, either; Xbox hardware revenue for the first calendar quarter of 2023 was already down 30 percent from the previous year.


Those two data points speak to a console that is struggling to substantially increase its player base during a period that should, historically, be its strongest sales period. But getting wider context on those numbers is a bit difficult because of how Microsoft reports its Xbox sales numbers (i.e., only in terms of quarterly changes in total console hardware revenue). Comparing those annual shifts to the unit sales numbers that Nintendo and Sony report every quarter is not exactly simple.


Context clues




Significant declines in Xbox hardware revenue for four of the last five quarters stand out relative to competitors' unit sales. (credit: Kyle Orland)


To attempt some direct contextual comparison, we took unit sales numbers for some recent successful Sony and Nintendo consoles and converted them to Microsoft-style year-over-year percentage changes (aligned with the launch date for each console). For this analysis, we skipped over each console's launch quarter, which contains less than three months of total sales (and often includes a lot of pent-up early adopter demand). We also skipped the first four quarters of a console's life cycle, which don't have a year-over-year comparison point from 12 months prior.

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https://arstechnica.com/?p=2020342&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Switch 2 reportedly replaces slide-in Joy-Cons with magnetic attachment

Enlarge / The slide-on Joy-Con connection point shown in the center of the image may be a thing of the past on the Switch 2




The iconic slide-in "click" of the Switch Joy-Cons may be replaced with a magnetic attachment mechanism in the Switch 2, according to a report from Spanish-language gaming news site Vandal.


The site notes that this new design could make direct Switch 2 backward compatibility with existing Switch Joy-Cons "difficult." Even so, we can envision some sort of optional magnetic shim that could make older Joy-Cons attachable with the new system's magnetic connection points. Current Switch Pro Controllers, which do not physically attach to the Switch, should be fully compatible with the Switch 2, according to the report.


Vandal cites several unnamed accessory and peripheral makers who reportedly got to touch the new console inside of an opaque box, which was used to balance design secrecy with the need to provide general knowledge of the unit's dimensions. According to those sources, the Switch 2 will be "larger than the Switch, although without reaching the size of the Steam Deck."

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https://arstechnica.com/?p=2020227&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Blizzard Announces It's Skipping BlizzCon This Year

Blizzard has decided to cancel this year’s BlizzCon. The company states the event will return in the future, but it plans to showcase upcoming games in a different manner over the coming months. 



First announced in a blog post, Blizzard plans to share details on upcoming games like World of Warcraft: The War Within and Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion at other trade shows, such as Gamescom. The company also plans to launch “multiple, global, in-person events” for Warcraft’s 30th anniversary, which are described as being “distinct” from BlizzCon. 



“Our hope is that these experiences – alongside several live-streamed industry events where we’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening in our game universes – will capture the essence of what makes the Blizzard community so special,” Blizzard states in the blog post.



A Blizzard representative tells Windows Central that Blizzard made the call to cancel BlizzCon and not Microsoft, which completed its acquisition of the company last year. In a statement to the outlet, the representative says, “This is a Blizzard decision. We have explored different event formats in the past, and this isn't the first time we're skipping BlizzCon or trying something new. While we have great things to share in 2024, the timing just doesn’t line up for one single event at the end of the year.”



BlizzCon began in 2005 as an annual convention celebrating all things Blizzard. Last year's show saw the reveal of World of Warcraft’s next expansion, The War Within, as well as two other expansions coming after it. It's good that event is only taking a year off as opposed to being canned for good, and we're curious to see how the alternative events shape up over the coming months. 


https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/04/26/blizzard-announces-its-skipping-blizzcon-this-year?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Alien: Romulus release date, cast, and everything else you need to know about the new movie

There are still a few months to go before Alien: Romulus arrives on the big screen, but we couldn't be more excited. The movie is the seventh installment in the Alien franchise and the first entry since 2017's Alien: Covenant and, this time, Evil Dead helmer Fede Álvarez is taking a seat in the director's chair – so expect plenty of screams and scares.  

Set between the events of the first and second movies, Alien: Romulus centers around a group of young explorers in an abandoned research facility where they come face to face(hugger) with some familiar foes. While the movie is predictably still shrouded in a suitable amount of mystery, we have a trailer to dissect and some exclusive quotes from star Cailee Spaeny and Álvarez, as well as everything you need to know about the film's release date and the rest of the cast list. 


Alien: Romulus release date




(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)


Alien: Romulus will be released in cinemas on August 16, 2024. The film was initially going to get a straight-to-streaming release on Hulu, but this was switched to a theatrical release right before filming kicked off. 


Alien: Romulus trailer





The first Alien: Romulus teaser trailer gave us a short but sweet idea of what to expect from the movie – bloodcurdling screams, plenty of blood, and some gnarly Facehuggers. The trailer opens with some shots of abandoned corridors, while voices cry out for help in the background. "Help! Someone help me, please!" someone shouts.  "No, no, I don't… I don't know what it is!" says another, while a third cries, "Get it away from me!" Cailee Spaeny's Raines gets a very cool introduction, too, as she steps into frame holding a pulse rifle in an homage to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Aliens. You can read director Fede Álvarez go long on the trailer here.


Alien: Romulus plot




(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)


Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens. "We were talking about, 'How could this be a child of the two?' So we have those heightened moments, but then proper horror," Spaeny told Total Film. Álvarez has also described the movie as a "survival horror." 

The film is set to follow a group of young space colonizers who find themselves getting up close and personal with the xenomorph while scavenging a derelict research station, the Renaissance – and it seems like Spaeny's character Raines seems set to follow in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley. "I definitely did everything that I could to bring that character to life. Watching Sigourney play that role – she’s part of the changing of the game that those films did," Spaeny told Total Film. "I could never be her. But I injected whatever I have in me into that character, and tried to make it three-dimensional – as three-dimensional as possible. So I hope that that’s there, and it comes alive."

Alien: Romulus is a standalone story, too, according to Álvarez. "This is the way this movie works: if you haven’t seen any Alien movie ever, you’ll have a great time," he told Total Film. "You won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything. But if you’ve seen one or more – oh, boy, you’ll have a blast. At least, I hope you will! The reality is that it is a standalone story, but it’s filled with references to every movie. It is truly a love letter to all the other movies."

If you were wondering about the relevance of the title, Álvarez confirmed that it's inspired by the myth of Romulus and Remus. "If people aren’t familiar, it’s the creation myth of Rome. Romulus killed Remus. It’s not a siblinghood that went down the right path. [Alien: Romulus] is a film about siblinghood. A lot of the character stories are related to siblinghood," he teased.


Alien: Romulus cast




(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)


Priscilla and Civil War star Cailee Spaeny leads the cast of Alien: Romulus, alongside a group of other rising stars as her fellow space travelers.


* Cailee Spaeny – Rain Carradine
* David Jonsson – Andy
* Isabela Merced – Kay
* Archie Renaux – TBC
* Spike Fearn – TBC
* Aileen Wu – TBC




---



For more, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies on the horizon and our look at 2024's movie release dates at a glance.


https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-release-date-trailer-cast-plot/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Today's Dragon's Dogma 2 Update Makes Dragonsplague More Visible, Pawns Less Annoying

Dragon's Dogma 2 launched a little over a month ago and has already managed to sell 2.5 million copies, but Capcom is still releasing updates to patch minor issues with the game. While a large volume of complaints have been about the lack of a performance mode, this update (like the last update) does not address that issue. However, it does aim to clean up a number of irritating errors involving the behavior of pawns, the player's AI companions.




An update for Dragon's Dogma 2 is now live on all platforms!



It includes adjustments to the dragonsplague, Pawn behavior and fixes to various issues.



See details on the official website:
https://t.co/waEdG0ntSv />


We will keep you posted for future updates.
— Dragon's Dogma (@DragonsDogma) April 25, 2024



For starters, this update makes it easier to detect dragonsplague, an affliction that, if untreated, can lead to devastating consequences for your pawns and your world. It's also contagious, so it's a good idea to nip it in the bud as soon as you first encounter it. When afflicted, pawns' eyes will glow red – after this update, they'll glow more noticeably. The update also causes the disease to infect pawns less frequently.



Pawns should also be a lot less annoying now, thanks to a whole slate of minor refinements to their behavior. They'll jump off cliffs less often (which is hilarious but a wild inconvenience), say some lines less often, say other lines at more appropriate times and become less likely to offer to be hired while passing by on the street. They're one of the highlights of the game, so anything done to make their constant presence more consistent is always welcome.



There are also smaller adjustments, like adding the ability to zoom in on a character's face in shops, preventing monster attacks in town from leading to the player's arrest, and other miscellaneous bug fixes. You can read the full list of updates, as well as all past updates, here.


https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/04/25/todays-dragons-dogma-2-update-makes-dragonsplague-more-visible-pawns-less-annoying?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Deathbound, A Single-Player Party-Based Soulslike, Hits PlayStation, Xbox, And PC This Year

Developer Trialforge Studio and publisher Tate Multimedia revealed Deathbound, a new Soulslike with a unique class-based twist, last August. At the time, PC was its only platform but now, Game Informer can exclusively reveal Deathbound will also come to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S day-in-date with PC later this year. 



As we learned with Deathbound's reveal last year, the game wears its Soulslike inspiration on its sleeve. However, it aims to differentiate itself within the ever-growing genre with what Trialforge calls a single-player party-based system. Players will control a single vessel that channels various heroes known as the fallen. These are individual characters, each with unique skill sets, combat styles, and lore, that share the player-controlled vessel. As such, players can switch between different characters, but they'll need to do so with caution as they aren't all necessarily in alliance with each other. 



Check out the newest Deathbound trailer for yourself below: 





"The relationships between characters also must be taken into effect as it greatly impacts gameplay," a press release reads. "The Church of Death and Cult of Life are at odds with one another. Aligning opposing factions close to one another in the vessel will cause conflict, resulting in consequential combat effects. Alternatively, strong synergies with shared beliefs may offer combat buffs that can spell disaster for the ruthless boss awaiting steel and magic. No matter the creed, the fallen must fight as one." 



Trialforge says in combat, players will charge something called a sync meter that's shared across the fallen within the vessel. When the right opportunity shows itself, players can dispel the sync meter to unleash a devastating "Morphstrike, with the combined power of the party." 


 



Deathbound will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store sometime this year. If you're curious how it plays, there's a demo available right now on Steam. 



For more, read Game Informer's write-up about Deathbound's reveal from last year. After that, check out our list of the top 10 best Soulslike games. 



Are you excited for Deathbound? Let us know in the comments below!


https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/04/25/deathbound-a-single-player-party-based-soulslike-hits-playstation-xbox-and-pc?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

A major reason Bill Skarsgård took on his first big action movie is because he loves MMA and UFC, says Boy Kills World director

While he may have played the Marquis in John Wick 4, Bill Skarsgård didn’t get to partake in much action in that hit franchise. In fact, the actor is probably better known for his horror performances, thanks to his terrifying portrayal of Pennywise in It, as well as roles in Barbarian and Hemlock Grove.

This all means that when it came to casting his action thriller Boy Kills World, director Moritz Mohr tells GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast that Skarsgård wasn’t his first thought. 

"I saw him obviously in the It movies and a couple more movies and I was like, 'Yeah, fantastic actor,' but I would be lying if I told you I was pointing at him going like, 'Yeah, he needs to be the next action guy,'" Mohr says. "I didn't even know he was interested in that and we were looking at one point at action guys. Who can do a lot of the action themselves? So we don't have to double everything and it was coming from a very practical side and somebody suggested Bill, I was like, 'Well, would he do it?'"

After he was mooted for the lead role, Mohr said he started plotting out how it could work to cast him as Boy. The lead character is a deaf and mute man on a mission of revenge to kill those who destroyed his family. Trained by an elite warrior (played by The Raid star Yayan Ruhian), he’s a weapon of destruction, which he proves in some seriously brutal action sequences. 


(Image credit: Signature Entertainment)


"He's amazing," adds the director. "He's super expressive with his face, that alone is one big selling point for Boy and he’s a very physical actor but no action movies come to mind. [On] that first call with him, he was amazing and I was like, 'So yeah, we got the acting part covered, of course, you would knock it out of the park and I know that, but are you up for doing action?' and he's like, 'Absolutely. Big MMA, UFC fan. I want to get in shape. I want to train. I want to do this the right way.' I was like, 'Okay, if you say, so I'm inclined to trust you there.'"

Mohr goes on to say that he was so impressed with the actor’s transformation for the final movie. "We sent somebody over to Stockholm to train with him, the basics, and he really committed to that part," he adds. "When I saw him on the first day of shooting without a shirt, that was something, he really delivered on his promise."

Alongside Skarsgård as Boy, the movie also stars Jessica Rothe as June 27, Michelle Dockery as Melanie van der Koy, and Stranger Things actor Brett Gelman as Gideon van der Koy, members of a brutal family ruling the dystopian locale. Hilariously too, Bob’s Burgers star H. Jon Benjamin voices Boy’s inner voice, a delightful disconnect from Skarsgård's action hero. 

Elsewhere in our conversation with Mohr, he shared some insight into the R-rating and working with producer Sam Raimi. For our full chat listen to the Inside Total Film podcast, out later this week. 

Boy Kills World is in US theaters and UK cinemas on April 26. You can also check out our guides to all the other upcoming movies on the way in 2024 and beyond as well as the best action movies of all time.


https://www.gamesradar.com/bill-skarsgard-boy-kills-world-ufc-mma-director-interview/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Helldivers 2 dev asks players to stop deliberately shooting at soldiers with that sweet blue pre-order bonus armor that's apparently a yogurt salesman uniform

Helldivers 2 players and Super Earth denizens, we have a new order from High Command: stop killing soldiers wearing blue pre-order bonus armor just because you're jealous. It's really not cool, nor is it democratic in the slightest.

For some context, there's a stylish blue suit of armor that was only available as a pre-order bonus and is thus not purchasable to anyone that didn't pre-order the game. In Helldivers canon, the armor is part of a successful marketing campaign promoting a frozen yogurt brand. However, what's not so chill is that some players have started a coordinated effort to intentionally fire at these blue freedom fighters "on site" out of spite.

Well, as if it wasn't clear enough that this is absolutely unhinged, treasonous behavior, we now have official word from the puppet masters at Arrowhead that, yeah, please stop doing that.

"It has come to the attention of Super Earth High Command that official SUMY Corporation Frozen Yoghurt salesmen have been deliberately targeted while on the battlefield," reads a tweet from Arrowhead. "This man is your friend! He fights for your freedom, librrrrrty, and frosty treats!"


It has come to the attention of Super Earth High Command that official SUMY Corporation Frozen Yoghurt salesmen have been deliberately targeted while on the battlefield.This man is your friend! He fights for your freedom, librrrrrty, and frosty treats!
https://t.co/oaoCnK6TtA pic.twitter.com/74C0w23Wv9April 22, 2024See more


Speaking candidly, this right here is precisely where the Helldivers 2 community's weird commitment to the "bit" crosses a line. The folks online villainizing blue armor wearers are doing so while roleplaying as Super Earth soldiers - which can be fun! - but when it starts interfering with others' enjoyment of the game, that's when it's gone too far. There were probably a bunch of people who pre-ordered the game specifically for the cosmetics, one of which is now a handicap simply because people are being weird. 

Yogurt salesman killers, you're why we can't have nice things.

Democracy needs all the help it can get as Helldivers 2 developer warns we're "intentionally going to lose ground" in this Major Order with both Bots and Bugs wanting revenge.


https://www.gamesradar.com/games/co-op/helldivers-2-dev-asks-players-to-stop-deliberately-shooting-at-soldiers-with-that-sweet-blue-pre-order-bonus-armor-thats-apparently-a-yogurt-salesman-uniform/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

How The Intricate, Secret-Packed Destiny 2 Collector's Editions Are Made

Lots of games are released with collector's editions, but few are as involved as those that accompany Destiny 2 expansions. The universe of Bungie's shooter MMO is incredibly dense and has seen reams of lore and tons of secrets come and go over its 10-year history. With its collector's editions, Bungie translates a lot of the experience of uncovering Destiny's story and unlocking its secrets into physical objects. A Destiny 2 collector's edition doesn't just come with a statue of some real-world version of an in-game object you can put on your desk--it's also usually full of lore, mysteries, and puzzles that offer extra rewards and a deeper understanding of the game world.

With the collector's edition for The Final Shape, the next big Destiny 2 expansion and the culmination of the last 10 years of its story, Bungie looked forward at what's coming in the story--the final confrontation with the Witness, the story's ultimate villain, inside the ever-present god-like robot, the Traveler. But it also looked backward to the original Destiny and how far players have come. The package includes items that fit both themes. There's the Entelechy lore book, a compilation of pieces of information about the Witness compiled by Eido, an Eliksni scribe who was a big part of one of the seasonal stories last year. And there's an autograph book signed by and full of well-wishes from various in-game characters, some of whom have only appeared in deep-cut lore entries.The Final Shape marks the culmination of the 10-year story arc that began with the release of Destiny in 2024.

The centerpiece of The Final Shape Collector's Edition is a replica of the first Destiny's social space, the Tower, which is a real-life version of a replica statue seen in-game in the office of Commander Zavala. It also features three small figurines that represent the three leaders of the Vanguard: Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6.Continue Reading at GameSpot


https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-the-intricate-secret-packed-destiny-2-collectors-editions-are-made/1100-6522927/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger