News:: 'PUBG' console version will run at 60 fps on Xbox One X

In a magazine interview, PlayerUnknown himself Brendan Greene dropped a few details about the console version of his popular shooter. One tidbit is that when PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds arrives in Game Preview December 12th, developers are expecting to have it running at 60 fps on Microsoft's just-released Xbox One X, however it may be lower on Xbox One. From the November 194 issue of Games™ (via Wccftech):

On Xbox One, we're not sure. We may have to limit it at 30FPS, maybe, but the last time I saw it, it was running at about 30 to 40. We're still constantly improving it so, you know, the aim is to get to 60. That's why we're doing Game Preview, because I think the great thing about console is it's a locked hardware system, so we can do really specific tweaks that tune it for those systems.

Via: Wccftech

Source: Games™

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News:: Persona 5 has two million reasons to be jolly this holiday season

Persona 5 has been one of the highlights in a year so full of them it's practically blinding. The JRPG from Atlus absolutely exploded this year, shipping 1.5 million copies just a few days after it launched outside of Japan this past March. Today, it's been confirmed the title hit another major milestone.

Just days before it could be named Game of the Year at The Game Awards, Atlus is reporting Persona 5 has sold more than two million copies worldwide across the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. In comparison, Persona 4 Golden, the previous best-selling game in the series, only managed to move about 1.25 million copies.

Good on Altus and Sega for smartly buying the developer/publisher when it had the chance. Fans will get more of the Phantom Thieves in 2018 with Persona 5: Dancing Star Night on the PS4 and Vita, and in Persona Q2 for the Nintendo 3DS.

Atlus U.S.A., Inc. [Twitter]

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News:: The Shadow of the Colossus remake's intro is pretty as heck

The entire point of the PlayStation 4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus is so that developer Bluepoint can overhaul the visuals (although there is also a new control scheme). That's why it shouldn't surprise you that the opening cinematic looks very good. But it does and here we are.

For posterity's sake, here's the intro on PS2:

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News:: Earth Defense Force 2017 and Sonic Adventure 2 are now playable on Xbox One

For all its jank and clunkiness, Earth Defense Force 2017 is a game worth cherishing. Just hearing its name pop up makes me want to dig out my copy and play that one beach level with a million red ants. I love how their carcasses soar. I love the way the robots flop about. This game is such mindless joy.

As of today, it's possible to play EDF 2017 on Xbox One through backward compatibility. And for all you Sonic Adventure 2 fans out there, 2012's Xbox Live Arcade version is also now supported.

Earth Defense Force 2017 and Sonic Adventure 2 are coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ http://pic.twitter.com/Ytk8hsyCts

— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) November 30, 2017

Good day for backward compatibility. Damn good day.

Larry Hryb [Twitter]

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News:: Twitch and Coca-Cola will raise money to fight AIDS with a MOBA tournament

With World AIDS Day coming up on December 1st, Twitch is partnering up with (Coca Cola)RED for one week to help fight the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. On December 2nd, you can stream Twitch's Arena of Valor channel and watch eight popular streamers face off playing the mobile MOBA designed by Tencent Games. There will be a way to make donations during the stream, of course, and if you're a streamer, you can gather donations for the entire week, too. Coca Cola will match up to $50,000 of all donations gathered during the week.

Source: Twitch

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News:: Comments of the Week 26: Stress Test

I don't have much to say this week. As we hurtle towards the end of the year and work, school, family, friends, life, and everything else all simultaneously become more hectic and overwhelming, please remember to play plenty of video games and take your weekly dose of Comments of the Week.

Let's go!

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News:: Super Meat Boy will have 'something pretty special' for Switch

If you're up for another round of Super Meat Boy, you'll have your chance soon enough. Team Meat's Tommy Refenes says the Switch port of the famed platformer should make it out in December.

"The game itself has been done for quite some time, but we're making something pretty special for the Switch version! We'll have more details on that later...but I think it'll be a pretty enticing reason for Switch owners to get the game again if they already own it on other systems."

As if I don't already have a hard enough time with indie game double dipping on Switch.

Still, at this point, I'm more intrigued by Super Meat Boy Forever. I've kinda had my fill of SMB by now. But maybe I'll have a change of heart once we hear more about the Switch version. On that note, "To all of you asking about physical versions, we totally hear you and we're working on it so don't worry!"

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News:: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is free on Humble right now

The black sheep of the XCOM family is The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, at least ever since the series relaunched back in 2012. It's a third-person shooter in a sea of turn-based strategy games, and it was off enough to be largely disregarded. Its troubled development didn't help matters.

All of those sorta-unflattering things aside, you can own The Bureau at no cost right now. Humble's giving it away for free until December 2. All you have to do is add it to your cart, go through the checkout process, and then redeem your Steam key. Not a lot of work!

Often, the games criticism cycle sees something get overpraised until a few weeks later when the tempered "Well, actually..." takes start rolling in. Occasionally the opposite happens, though: A game will be mostly snubbed upon release until the consensus turns around. Like Alpha Protocol. These are the Pinkertons of video games. The Bureau shows hints of that. It might not be great, but it also might be better than you think.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified [Humble]

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News:: Today's Star Wars Battlefront II patch is mostly small fixes

Were you expecting a rework of Star Wars Battlefront II's currently-disabled microtransaction model? Today's not the day. But DICE has put out an update to clean up a few noticeable issues.

Along with some balancing adjustments, the update brings a fix for the error message that pops up on the main menu once you've left a game, another pass on "collision and traversal issues" to keep players from getting stopped or caught by invisible barriers, and a tweak to the end-of-round MVP screen that focuses on the highest-scoring players rather than specific "honors." Under the old system, you'd often see the same one or two people show up in every single MVP slot. It looked so silly.

Also, for those of you sticking it out in Galactic Assault, you'll now earn more reinforcements after each phase is cleared. The mode needs more work than that, but it'll help attackers in the interim.

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News:: Why aren't you watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (from here on out known as Agents because screw those periods) is kicking off its fifth season tomorrow night and I couldn't be more excited. However, as we learned over the summer, not as many people are as excited as me. The show was almost cancelled before Disney stepped in and told ABC to keep it on for a fifth season. I had known ratings had been slipping, but didn't realize it was low enough for a cancellation.

And it really shouldn't be cancelled. By taking an informal poll of the few humans who are willing to talk to me on a daily basis I can tell I may be in the minority as a regular watcher, but I really should not be. Agents is doing some of the best Marvel television around now and we should all be tuning in for season 5.

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News:: Boss fight action game Furi coming to Nintendo Switch

The boss-rush action game Furi is coming to Nintendo Switch in early 2018 and that means I've got a whole new group of potential players to flag down. This game is great! Also, aggravating. But mostly great! It's part melee combat, part twin-stick shooter, with a slew of multi-phase boss fights.

The Nintendo Switch version will have "all the contents and improvements released so far" which means it'll pack in another boss, The Flame, and some quality-of-life enhancements.

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News:: Life is Strange's original actresses are returning for the farewell episode

Life is Strange: Before the Storm's protagonist sounds a bit different than we're used to. That's because the voice actors' strike prevented Ashly Burch from reprising her role as Chloe Price in the prequel. (Although I think Before the Storm actress Rhianna DeVries has done a phenomenal job in Burch's absence, especially considering she's replicating a character rather than creating it.)

Now that the union has reached an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement, Burch and co-star Hannah Telle (the voice of Max Caulfield) are back for one last trip down memory lane. Square Enix and Before the Storm developer Deck Nine revealed today that the duo will voice Max and Chloe in the bonus Farewell episode that's meant to provide closure on these two characters. Accompanying the announcement is the above-embedded video that has Burch and Telle talking about their creative process in making Chloe and Max come to life. 

This is a neat surprise as we (presumably) add finality to both of these characters. Suddenly, saying goodbye is going to hit just a little closer to home.

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News:: Nintendo's eShop is currently dominated by the Switch, here's some data

Most of you know that I run a weekly Nintendo Download column, where I take a look at the new releases on the eShop, spread across several systems. I've been doing it for years now without missing a week, even on vacation, and I started to notice certain trends recently.

To quantify those hunches, I audited the last two months of the entire eShop, from September 28 to November 30. Here are the results.

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News:: Miiverse: may we never forget

In the last issue we looked back at various spooky mythos in video games, PC Gamer's continuing unprofessional attitude towards a plea for help, and the topic of death itself!

However, for this issue we'll be mourning the death of the Miiverse (which shut down earlier this month) and looking back through the years at the pure insanity and magic of it all.

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News:: Pinball FX3's Switch port finally lands a release date

In what is hopefully the final update in this saga, Pinball FX3's Switch port will be releasing on December 12. The big reason for that last minute delay; it looks like there was an issue with holding the console vertically and only having one joy-con attached (which is an odd limitation the Switch forces in handheld mode).

When the game finally lands, you'll be able to remove one joy-con and experience pinball like an actual table. The table list from previous updates will be ready for launch and Zen Studios promises more tables will be coming.

All in all, this looks to be shaping up as the best version of Pinball FX3.

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News:: My Hero Academia: One's Justice announced for PS4, Switch

Last week we reported on a teaser website that Bandai Namco had put up, featuring a microwave and an egg. Keen-eyed observers noted that it was likely a My Hero Academia reference, with MHA being a part of the URL. Given Namco's history of licensed anime games, and having released a game for the franchise on the 3DS last year, everything seemed to add up.

The latest issue of Weekly Jump has confirmed those observations to be true, with the reveal of My Hero Academia: One's Justice.

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News:: Neo Geo classics World Heroes and World Heroes 2 Jet available now in the ACA range

Two more classic releases from the glory days of SNK have landed on modern gaming platforms. World Heroes, yet another one-on-one fighter, is being made available for download on Switch, while its sequel, World Heroes 2 Jet, is coming to PS4 and Xbox One.

The World Heroes series, which launched in 1992, has the wacky backstory of a mad doctor gathering fighters from throughout the ages, in order to ascertain who was the greatest warrior of all time. To me, it seems a helluva lot of work to invent time-travel just to essentially win a bet with yourself. But he's a mad scientist and I'm just some internet hack so... y'know?

The game features two modes: Normal Game, which is your standard Arcade Mode, and Death Match, in which the arena is filled with environmental hazards. Each of the game's eight fighters is supposedly based on a real individual. So if you ever wanted to see Hulk Hogan take on Joan of Arc, brother, this is the game for you.

1994's World Heroes 2 Jet is a revamped version of the series' first sequel, featuring faster gameplay and a Dash ability. Jet features new stages and characters, including the ridiculous football player Johnny Maximum, who looks like the killer in an NFL-themed slasher movie.

World Heroes is available today on Nintendo Switch, priced at $7. World Heroes 2 Jet is available today on PS4 and Xbox One, also priced at $7.

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News:: Fortnite is slowly becoming my battle royale game of choice

Battle royale games can be a tough sell. Or not, because PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds broke two million concurrent players on Steam, so people are playing them -- but the prospect of getting someone you know to drop their cash on something is hard regardless of the subject matter.

The entire conceit of Fornite's free battle royale mode turned me off for a while as I didn't love the early stages of the core game's campaign, but once I picked it up, it really hooked me. It helps to have a heap of friends to play with.

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News:: Amazon currently lists Super Mario Odyssey as 2017's best-selling video game

Digital retail overlord Amazon.com currently list Nintendo's highly-acclaimed platformer Super Mario Odyssey as the best-selling video game of 2017.

The Switch title, launching pretty late in the day on October 27, is currently surpassing sales of many of 2017's biggest money-makers, including Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Call of Duty: WWII, Destiny 2 and Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy.

Obviously, the year is not quite over just yet. So, unless a sudden monster comeback is mounted by Breath of the Wild, Call of Duty or Valkyria Revolution, it's looking pretty snug that Mario will be spending Christmas celebrating his incredible success, alongside Peach, Yoshi and John Leguizamo.

Best selling video games of 2017 [Amazon.com]

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News:: Nintendo Download: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

As one of the last big relases of 2017, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 stands tall. It's out on December 1 on Switch, along with a free Japanese voice pack and a paid expansion pass. You can also pick up Nine Parchments, OPUS: The Day We Found Earth, ARcade Archives Traverse USA, Serial Cleaner, Caveman Warriors, ACA NeoGeo World Heroes, Syberia 2, MUJO, and Star Ghost on Switch.

For Wii U you can pick up Draw a Stickman: Epic 2, Battle Lode Runner, and Bomberman '93.

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News:: Here are the winners of the official PlayStation Awards 2017

Last night, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan held the PlayStation Awards 2017, an event to honour 2017's biggest-selling games in the Japan and Asia territories. These awards are directly linked to actual product sales, rather than any sort of critique or panel-based judging.

A lot of the year's best titles walked away with prizes, including NieR: Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted, Yakuza and Resident Evil 7. Awards are given to games based on milestone sales met or, in some cases, for "special contributions" to the PlayStation platform.

The award-winning games are listed below. A video of the ceremony, complete with English narration, can be watched right here.

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News:: Capcom is hosting a 30th anniversary Mega Man stream that 'you won't want to miss'

We went through this already at TGS this year -- Capcom is hosting a Mega Man anniversary stream, and you shouldn't get your hopes up.

On December 4 at 11AM PT, Capcom will stream live on Twitch to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. Capcom is enticing people by simply stating "you won't want to miss it," but Legacy Collection 2 producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya recently tried hyping it up a bit more, saying that "Capcom has not forgotten about Mega Man."

Interestingly enough speaking to both Japanese and western fans alike, apparently the former followed that advice and didn't think there would be more than pageantry at TGS, and the latter thought there would be a new game announcement somehow. Don't let that happen again!

Mega Man [Capcom Unity via Gematsu]

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News:: Indie hit 'What Remains of Edith Finch' gets limited physical release

Limited-run physical indie game releases may be an endangered species thanks to the ESRB and console makers, but that's not stopping at least one hit title from getting the hard copy treatment. The team at iam8bit has started pre-orders for both a limited disc version of Giant Sparrow's What Remains of Edith Finch for PS4 and a vinyl edition of Fargo composer Jeff Russo's accompanying soundtrack. The game ships in late December for $30, and it includes reversible cover art in addition to a region-free copy of the title itself.

Source: iam8bit

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News:: (Update) Rumor has it that the next amiibo might be a cereal box

[Update: Confirmed! Nintendo has directly given us information on the box, explaining that they will be hitting shelves "as early as December 11," as a limited edition cereal from Kellogg's.]

I feel like a kid again, reading cereal news sites, as this story was too amazing to pass up.

According to the breakfast blog Cerealousy (one of the coolest things I've ever typed), there's a Mario-themed cereal box in the works that actually functions as an amiibo. It'll be in the form of a Super Mario Cereal that seems to have puffs and marshmallows shaped like question boxes and mushrooms.

According to the image, which may or may not be fake, the box is an amiibo (whether the NFC chip is in the bag or somewhere else is unknown), which will work with Super Mario Odyssey. As a collector, I welcome the challenge to track down this damn cereal just for the amiibo itself.

Rumor Mill: Kellogg’s Super Mario Cereal Will Feature Select Amiibo Sticker Boxes [Cerealously.net]

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News:: Springtron comes out swingin' in ARMS update 4.1

Nintendo have released update 4.1 for their arena-based punch-up ARMS, bringing with it new features, badges, balance tweaks and a new member of the long-limbed roster.

The new contender is Springtron, who looks kinda angry and sports the same quiff that Egon had in The Real Ghostbusters. As for the changes made to the other fighters on the game's colourful roster, the full patch notes (courtesy of Gematsu) are as follows:

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News:: A familiar face appears as a Rare Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2

The line of what a spoilers is or isn't is one of the greyest areas in the gaming community. Some believe that if the company announces it or shows it no longer cares for keeping it a secret, then it is no longer a spoiler. Others go to the other extreme that anything that wasn't in the initial reveal trailer is a spoiler.

Meanwhile you have those spoilers. You know the ones I'm talking about. The reveals that would've been way cooler, regardless of your stance, if the company had kept quiet and let you discover it on your own. The ones that confirm showing less is the better approach. The recent announcement from the Japanese Twitter account Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of those. So if you're one of those that hates those kind of spoilers, turn back now.

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News:: Christmas comes early to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

One of my favorite things about the Animal Crossing series is how it handles the different seasons. I haven't seen real snow in years so it's always nice to have a game I can pop in during the winter if I ever want to build a snowman or check out some holiday lights. With Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp launching right in the middle of the holiday season, I wondered if we would get Christmas themed items this early into its run.

Wonder no more because the holiday season starts tonight, according to the official Animal Crossing Twitter feed. I'm willing to put the brakes on making furniture for potential campers if it means I can get a Christmas tree and Santa suit. Hopefully, Jingle will be making an appearance as well.

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