Xbox Games Showcase live coverage - All the news out of the Xbox and Bethesda event

The Xbox Games Showcase is due to begin shortly, with the Summer Game Fest schedule slot lined up at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST. The Bethesda and Xbox event will then lead directly into the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct live, which will be the full reveal of this year's Call of Duty title. There's no specific time for that to start so just stay on the line caller. We'll be covering the Black Ops 6 Direct live over on our other dedicated live blog so make sure to switch over when the time comes. 


* How to watch the Xbox Games Showcase





In terms of the Xbox Games Showcase itself, Microsoft has said that it'll be the first of its showcases to feature "games from our portfolio of studios across Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, and Xbox Game Studios, in addition to titles from our third-party partners". 

Obviously part of that will be covered by the Black Ops 6 Direct, but it'll be interesting to see what the rest of the lineup includes. 


What time is the Xbox Games Showcase?



The Xbox Games Showcase for 2024 starts today, June 9, at:


- 10am PDT

- 1pm EDT

- 6pm BST


So with around two hours left to go until the Xbox Games Showcase, let's take a little walk around the Xbox gardens to see what we could expect to pop up at today's event. 


(Image credit: Future / Phil Hayton)


Let's start with the biggest rumor but also potentially most interesting, and that's the reports that Xbox could be about to reveal an Xbox handheld console. 

Now, it's a little farfetched perhaps, but rumors of an Xbox handheld have been doing the rounds for a number of years now. 

What's not clear is what kind of form that could take. A mini Series S? An Android powered streaming device? A cloud-based dedicated console? Or a genuine Game Pass powered Steam Deck rival?

Now myself and our Hardware Editor, Phil, agree that if an Xbox handheld finally shows up during the Xbox Games Showcase, we hope it’s not a PlayStation Portal rival. I just want to be able to access my Game Pass games on a plane, train, or anywhere I damn please. Please. 


(Image credit: Microsoft)


I personally think it's pretty unlikely that Xbox announces new hardware today, but hey I've been wrong before. I personally would love to see the controller refresh that was detailed in the documents that were leaked as part of the Activision acquisition. 

That is said to retain the same design as the current pads, but be quite the upgrade in terms of features. It'll allegedly have Xbox Wireless 2, Bluetooth 5.2 and Direct-to-Cloud functionality to improve overall connectivity and reduce latency regardless of what you're connected to. 

But, more importantly for my wireless loving ass, it'll apparently include a rechargeable, swappable, battery as standard. Goodbye AA batteries, be GONE. 


(Image credit: Microsoft)


According to that report, it's also supposedly going to include wide "build improvements" and "improved longevity", with things like new modular thumbsticks, haptic feedback, quieter buttons, and more.

The docs had it listed as a May 2024 launch, but seeing as those docs were from May 2022 no doubt things have changed since then. 


The report goes though that this snazzy new Universal Controller will be sold standalone but also debut with the Xbox Series X refresh that was also detailed in the leak. 


(Image credit: Microsoft)


The big takeaways from that leak were that it's going to ditch the chunky cuboid design, and opt for a tall cylindrical shape that completely ditches the disc drive.

It'll still have a power button, pairing button, and USB-C port but it's unclear how much difference there will be in size between the two from the concept designs alone. 

We also don't know what the price difference will be - good or bad. The documents say it'll be the "same great price", but again these are from 2022. The RRP of the Xbox Series X is still $499, but if you get a good deal you can get one now for around $399. 


In his predictions for this Xbox Games Showcase, our own Xbox expert (Xpert?) Josh West said he wants to see a little less conversation and a little more action, please.


So now, we basically just need some games. 


https://www.gamesradar.com/gaming/events-conferences/xbox-games-showcase-bethesda-live-coverage/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Battle Suit Aces Is A Card-Based Mecha RPG From The Makers Of Battle Chef Brigade

Battle Chef Brigade developer Trinket Studios has unveiled its next project, Battle Suit Aces. Instead of a culinary puzzle battle, you’re hopping into anime-inspired mech suits to take on other mech suits in card-based combat.



Revealed during the Future Game Show, players lead a crew of mech pilots, who take the form of cards, to engage in 5v5 battles against enemies. Not only can you improve their mech suits, of which 30 types exist, but you can grow meaningful relationships with your plucky pilot squad.





The game includes over 50 voiced characters to bond with over 50 story missions, and players can steer the narrative by making decisions such as choosing to side with one of five factions. Gameplay is all about building the most strategically viable hand based on your personal playstyle to wipe out what Trinket Studios describes as a "star-consuming threat." 



Battle Suit Aces is slated to launch for PC via Steam at an unknown date. You can read our review of Battle Chef Brigade here.


https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/06/09/battle-suit-aces-is-a-card-based-mecha-rpg-from-the-makers-of-battle-chef-brigade?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Final Fantasy 14 devs made the Viper job because the MMO's community wanted to feel like a Sword Art Online icon, but immediately ran into a problem: "Kirito is kind of overpowered"

Final Fantasy 14 director and producer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida says Dawntrail's new Viper job was partly shaped by the MMO community's desire to play a two-sworded melee DPS character who felt like Sword Art Online's Kirito. 

Speaking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Yoshi-P shares that the team considered fan desires when designing the new job. The result? A job that starts with two blades but can stick 'em together after building up points for bigger damage. Skills have a low cooldown, but combos are flexible enough to allow you to take a string of moves in whatever direction you fancy. 

For Yoshi-P, it's the result of delivering on the power fantasy that fans want without succumbing to how overpowered Sword Art Online's Kirito actually is – there are heaps of other jobs within the MMO you've got to factor in, after all.

"We received a lot of feedback from players around the world that if we were to implement another melee DPS, they would want to have a job where they could use two swords," Yoshi-P explains. "And what's more, at the same time, it was often that they would provide an example, like Kirito from Sword Art Online.

"So, we went with an approach where we would be focusing on stylish, speedy action, and also making it look cool. But when it comes to Kirito from Sword Art Online, Kirito is kind of overpowered and very strong in the game. So, for Viper, we thought about showcasing that sensation of becoming strong and for the player to become focused on their actions and getting absorbed into battle. And that was a challenge for us to consider."

I've played a wee bit of Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail and the Viper job myself, and dare I say the team has pulled it off. Job balance has been a popular topic of late, as Yoshida himself admits that years of over-simplification have meant jobs have lost a sense of individuality - a feeling he plans to return in Dawntrail and beyond. 

As a Samurai main, I await what happens with bated breath. If anything, though, The Viper and Pictomancer fill me with enough hope to tide me over. The wait isn't long, either – Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail releases June 28 in early access and July 2 in full.

2 years later, Final Fantasy 14's Yoshi-P is "really torn" over whether removing one of the MMO community's most beloved skills was the right call.


https://www.gamesradar.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14-devs-made-the-viper-job-because-the-mmos-community-wanted-to-feel-like-a-sword-art-online-icon-but-immediately-ran-into-a-problem-kirito-is-kind-of-overpowered/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Xbox Games Showcase 2024: How To Watch, Start Times, And What To Expect

The season of summer showcases is here, and following Summer Game Fest, Devolver Direct, and several other events, is this year's big Xbox Games Showcase. The 2024 edition will be a double feature, as once the Xbox broadcast ends, Call of Duty will be tagging itself in for the worldwide reveal of this year's Black Ops 6 game. Ahead of the livestream on Sunday, here's a closer look at when you can tune in and what to expect from the Xbox Games Showcase.

Xbox Games Showcase 2024 start time



The Xbox Games Showcase will be livestreamed on June 9 from the following times:

* 10 AM PT
* 1 PM ET
* 6 PM BST
* 2 AM JST (June 10)
* 3 AM AEST (June 10)




How to watch Xbox Games Showcase 2024



You'll be able to catch the broadcast from several official Xbox, Activision, and Bethesda channels across YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook. Additionally, GameSpot will also host an embed of the stream to watch directly through this page. Subtitle support will be provided in many languages, from Albanian to Zulu. We don't know how long the livestream will be yet, but these typically run for at least an hour.Continue Reading at GameSpot


https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-games-showcase-2024-how-to-watch-start-times-and-what-to-expect/1100-6523915/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Every Game Shown Off During The Wholesome Direct

This year's Wholesome Direct was a real doozy, showing off over 70 games. Whether you're in the mood to open up a traveling book store in Tiny Bookshop, raise an assortment of faithful crablings in Crab God, perform tricks on your witch's skatebroom in Ila: A Frosty Glide, or test your mettle in a 3D Legend of Zelda meets social sim in Dungeons Of Hinterberg, the Wholesome Direct has a little bit for everyone. Below, we round up every game shown off during the Wholesome Direct, listed in the order of their reveal.

During the Direct, four of the games that were shown off were shadow dropped onto Steam as well--frog-focused farming simulator Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge, pool-inspired physics puzzler POOOOL, '90s rural India-set slice-of-life adventure The Palace on the Hill, and card-based talk-'em-up RPG Tracks of Thought. All four games look fantastic if you're looking for something to play while awaiting the next Summer Game Fest announcement or livestream.

Mythmatch



Revealed for the first time during the Wholesome Direct, Mythmatch sees you play as Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt and wisdom, who uses her innate talents to solve environmental match-three puzzles. Her efforts help her learn more about the lives of mortals and her fellow Olympians, allowing her to "match" and bring them together as well.Continue Reading at GameSpot


https://www.gamespot.com/articles/every-game-shown-off-during-the-wholesome-direct/1100-6524063/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The Angry Birds Movie 3 Is In Production

The Angry Birds Movie 3 is officially in production. The threequel to the hit animated films is being produced by Rovio Entertainment, creators of the Angry Birds franchise, in collaboration with Sega and Prime Focus Studios.



Red and Chuck are back, with Jason Sudeikis and Josh Gad reprising their roles, respectively. It will be directed by John Rice (The Angry Birds Movie 2, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe) with a screenplay written by Thurop Van Orman (The Angry Birds Movie 2, Adventure Time, The Misadventures of Flapjack). DNEG Animation will bring the film to life, as opposed to being handled by Rovio and Sony as with the last two films. Prime Focus Studios, which co-produced The Garfield Movie, is set to produce. 



A press release provides no details on the plot nor a release window. If you’re wondering why Sega is now involved, the company purchased Rovio last year. Given that the two previous films were box office successes and have grossed a combined $500 million worldwide, it’s a little surprising we haven’t gotten a third film already. 



While we wait for more information on the film, you can read our review of The Angry Birds Movie 2 here. You can also read the latest news on other upcoming video game films, such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Nintendo's live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, Mortal Kombat 2, Minecraft, and Borderlands. 


https://www.gameinformer.com/gamer-culture/2024/06/06/the-angry-birds-movie-3-is-in-production?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

A New Report Details How A Troubled Development Led To Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's $200M Flop

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the live-service multiplayer game from famed Batman: Arkham series developer Rocksteady Studios, hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC back in February to middling reviews and disappointment from players. Now, a new report from Bloomberg details the game's behind-the-scenes troubles, including a culture of "toxic positivity," shifting visions, and more, ultimately resulting in the game being a $200 million loss for parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. 



Bloomberg reports that following the release of DC's Suicide Squad in 2016, which made $750 million at the box office on a budget of $175 million, Warner Bros. wanted to build on that IP's success. Warner Bros. Montreal, which developed 2022's Gotham Knights, was working on a Suicide Squad game that Bloomberg says was struggling to come together. Notably, Warner Bros. Montreal's 2013 game Batman: Arkham Origins ended with a tease about an in-universe Suicide Squad. As a result, Warner Bros. looked to Rocksteady to capitalize on the Suicide Squad name instead. 





At the time, following the 2015 release of Batman: Arkham Knight, studio co-founders Jamie Walker and Sefton Hill were working on "a prototype of an original multiplayer puzzle-solving game, codnamed Stones," Bloomberg writes. But around the end of 2016, Walker and Hill told Rocksteady staff they were switching gears to develop a Suicide Squad game with plans to release it in 2019 or 2020. This game would be a live-service multiplayer title, or a games-as-a-service as titles in the genre are sometimes referred to, aiming to capture the seasonal excitement (and money) of games like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and others. 



With no experience in multiplayer games, Rocksteady's staff ballooned from roughy 160 employees to more than 250, according to Bloomberg. As the team developed Suicide Squad, employees under Walker and Hill questioned decisions like making Captain Boomerang, one of the four playable characters who traditionally fights with a boomerang in comics, a shotgun user, or attempting to add a vehicle system in a game where each of the four playable characters already has their own unique traversal system to get around Metropolis. 



Rocksteady revealed Suicide Squad in 2020 with a 2022 release year, and in an effort to hit this deadline, Bloomberg reports engineers focused on short-term fixes that actually became "hindrances" as the game's release was eventually delayed to 2024. Elsewhere in the studio, employees waited weeks or months for Hill to review their work, slowing overall development. Hill scrapped large parts of the script and struggled to convey his ideas, according to Bloomberg, and the studio grew into a culture of "toxic positivity" where employees felt criticism was discouraged. 





Throughout the game's troubled development, leadership reportedly showed no signs of worry about the game's live-service multiplayer ambitions, even as others in the genre struggled to find success. Even Rocksteady fans felt worried about the game, just from seeing trailers and gameplay previews. Then, years into development, Walker and Hill left Rocksteady to form Hundred Star Games, further putting into question Suicide Squad's future. 



In early February of this year, Suicide Squad finally hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and the tea leaves were almost immediately clear: the game was a disappointment. Though Rocksteady is still supporting it today with updates, like adding a playable Joker character, the conversation around the game has shifted to fans of the studio wondering if Warner Bros. will layoff employees there to cut costs. Bloomberg reports, however, that during a Warner Bros. Games meeting in February, Warner Bros. Discovery head of games David Haddad said job cuts at Rocksteady wouldn't make sense as the company's gaming division is already understaffed. 



According to Bloomberg, many of Rocksteady's employees are helping to develop a "Director's Cut" of the 2023 Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Legacy, the best-selling game of the year. The studio is also working to pitch a new single-player game. 



[Source: Bloomberg]



Have you played Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League? Let us know in the comments below what you think of it!


https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/06/06/a-new-report-details-how-a-troubled-development-led-to-suicide-squad-kill-the?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Octopath Traveler II Now Available On Xbox And Game Pass, First Game Finally On PlayStation

Last year's Octopath Traveler II is now available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, Square Enix has announced. Plus, Square Enix has released the first Octopath Traveler on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, meaning both mainline Octopath Traveler games are now playable on all console platforms. 



If you're on Xbox, Octopath Traveler II is also available on Xbox and PC Game Pass alongside the first game. If you've been waiting to jump into this series – whether on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or PC – now is the best time. And both games are great; read why in Game Informer's Octopath Traveler review and Game Informer's Octopath Traveler II review. 





To celebrate the series being available on all current platforms and PC (via Steam and Windows), developer Team Asano has released a free update to Octopath Traveler II that includes an "Extra Battle" mode that becomes available after defeating the game's final boss. In this mode, players can test their skills against newly added extra-tough opponents – including the main characters from the first game. This mode has been available on Xbox consoles since launch but is now available on PlayStation, Switch, and PC. 



"Since its launch in 2018 with Octopath Traveler, the Octopath Traveler series has sold over four million copies worldwide, popularizing the unique HD-2D art style: a striking blend of 2D character designs in beautiful 3D worlds," a press release reads. "Both games are a standalone experience set in different worlds with eight distinct protagonists, each with their own stories to explore and Path Actions to use. Players will embark on a grand adventure and steer their own journey, depending on whom they choose to play as." 



Are you going to check out the series on a new platform? Let us know in the comments below!


https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/06/06/octopath-traveler-ii-now-available-on-xbox-and-game-pass-first-game-finally-on?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

You can inherit a dead relative’s GOG account—if you have a court order

Enlarge / At least my son will be able to use my copy of Fallout: New Vegas to distract him from mourning... (credit: Getty Images)




A few weeks ago, we called some attention to the legal difficulty of passing on your digital Steam game library after you die. While Valve hasn't responded to a request for comment on the matter, PC gaming platform GOG tells Ars that it is ready and willing to help users transfer their accounts in the event of their death.


As long as they bring a court order, that is.


"In general, your GOG account and GOG content is not transferable," GOG spokesperson Zuzanna Rybacka tells Ars. "However, if you can obtain a copy of a court order that specifically entitles someone to your GOG personal account, the digital content attached to it, taking into account the EULAs of specific games within it, and that specifically refers to your GOG username or at least email address used to create such an account, we’d do our best to make it happen."

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https://arstechnica.com/?p=2029619&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Sony removes still-unmet “8K” promise from PS5 packaging

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The new PS5 packaging, as seen on the PlayStation Direct online store, is missing the "8K" label in the corner. [credit:
PlayStation Direct
]









When we first received our PlayStation 5 review unit from Sony in 2020, we reacted with some bemusement to the "8K" logo on the box and its implied promise of full 7630×4320 resolution output. We then promptly forgot all about it since native 8K content and 8K compatible TVs have remained a relative curiosity thus far in the PS5's lifespan.


But on Wednesday, Digital Foundry's John Linneman discovered that Sony has quietly removed that longstanding 8K label from the PS5 box. The ultra-high-resolution promise no longer appears on the packaging shown on Sony's official PlayStation Direct store, a change that appears to have happened between late January and mid-February, according to Internet Archive captures of the store page (the old "8K" box can still be seen at other online retailers, though).


A promise deferred




This packaging change has been a long time coming since the PS5 hasn't technically been living up to its 8K promise for years now. While Sony's Mark Cerny mentioned the then-upcoming hardware's 8K support in a 2019 interview, the system eventually launched with a pretty big "coming soon" caveat for that feature. "PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch, and after a future system software update will be able to output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software," the company said in an FAQ surrounding the console's 2020 launch.

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https://arstechnica.com/?p=2029499&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger