Once you have the mechanics down in Palworld and you want to get around the map quickly so you can level up your character and your pals as quickly as possible it’s good to know that the game contains many fast travel spots to negate some of the world-running from place to place as you hunt around for new Pals in order to chalk off some of those achievements that we mentioned.

Fast Travel in Palworld

There is nothing overly flashy about fast traveling around Palworld. Fast Travel towers are reasonably plentiful and can be identified by an orange glow around the statue which is the tower itself.

Once you locate and trigger the Fast Travel tower its aura will turn blue instead of orange and you will be able to use it in the future to get to quickly without having to yomp across the entire map, which will certainly come in handy as the game progresses.

It’s worth noting that if you want to fast travel back to your base and you don’t build it close to a tower, the Palbox also works in the same way so you can instantly return from your travels.

Of course, while you are fast traveling you may be missing out on capturing that rare Pal you have been looking for. Sometimes though speed is important so it’s the best way to go.

Finding Fast Travel Towers in Palworld

Apart from stumbling upon them by accident, it is worth keeping an eye on your compass at the top of the screen as it will highlight if there is a tower within 300 meters of your character at any time.

Don’t forget if you haven’t jumped in on Palworld yet you can get it on Steam for $29.99 or play it for “free” on Xbox Game Pass.

The post How to fast travel in Palworld appeared first on ReadWrite.

Character creation is a big part of gaming, but sometimes, when you are under a lot of pressure to just come up with the perfect character name before getting into the game proper, you end up with something that after about three seconds of gameplay you hate. It’s always good therefore to know how you can just pop back to edit your character and make any changes while adding in that super-cool name you only just dreamt up.

Let’s see how we do that right here.

How to change your name in Palworld  (and your Pals)

At the beginning of the game when you create your character you can alter the look, voice, and all the other good stuff. Then, weirdly, you are given a random name that you simply cannot change for your character. It’s all very odd, and we don’t know why that should be the case, but the devs are promising that in a later build of Early Access character editing and name-changing will become a thing. It’s an example of how janky some things are at this stage of development as we touched on our everything you need to know about Palworld page.

You can however change the names of your Pals (which makes the omission on the character front stranger still. To do this all you need to do is go to the Party Menu and select the Pal you wish to rename and then select the edit name option that is next to its name on the screen.

Note that you will have to level up your Pals before having access to this feature – again this is something that may change sooner rather than later as new builds get released into the wild.

The post Can you change your name in Palworld? appeared first on ReadWrite.

When the original Senua’s Sacrifice appeared, amazingly, some six years ago it was rightly lorded as being groundbreaking, not only in terms of gameplay and graphics but also in regards to the way it dealt with a protagonist dealing with mental illness – a severe form of psychosis that was integral to both gameplay and storyline.

We have had to wait all these years for the long-awaited sequel, but now it looks like we are into the final stretch before the arrival of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, which will take us back deep into the 10th-century Icelandic timeline.

When is Senua’s Saga: Helblade 2 released?

The date that was announced at the Xbox Developer_Direct that we can all put in our diaries now is May 21st when the Hellblade II will be released for PC and Xbox on the Game Pass subscription service.

Developer Ninja Theory says the game will only last about eight hours, so in many ways, it is an experience as much as it is a full-blown game, but much like the first it will doubtless be harrowing in parts as Senua deals with her mental illness while trying to solve the game’s puzzles.

Much more work has been put into the combat system and we are looking forward to seeing how that handles now. As good as the first game was, it was elevated to cult status as much for the way it told its story as for the way its gameplay mechanics worked.

At $49.99 for eight hours gameplay is risky though and will garner some inevitable internet flak but as Dom Matthews, Studio Head at Ninja Theory said in a blog post, “Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be a game crafted from the heart – a game similar in length to the first Hellblade, with a focused narrative, and sold digital-only at a price of $49.99 USD. 

“And you can once again expect to join Senua in understanding her world through perception puzzles led by her experiences of psychosis, in brutal and visceral combat and in traversal gameplay, this time across the harsh but beautiful landscapes of 10th Century Iceland. Crucially, all these elements are intertwined in a unique visual and audio experience, where everything is in service of Senua’s story. 

“So, you can expect more of the same, but this time with the support to push our ambitions for immersion, fidelity, and richness far further than before.”

The post Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be with us in just a few months appeared first on ReadWrite.

Palworld is well and truly with us and the internet sensation has a bagful of achievements that 

need unlocking, even though it has arrived in Early Access. If you are playing Palworld and need to level up quickly or even find out more about how levels work we have you covered there, but as you level up you are going to unlock some of these achievements, but others you may need to work a little harder for.

In the main the achievements are not obvious, they will only appear when you actually, well achieve them. Let’s have a go at giving you a better idea of what you need to be doing in order to bag the lot.

All achievements in Palworld

There are 10 achievements in Palworld, each worth 100 points so all 10 will get you the max gamerscore of 1000 maths fans.

Five of these are hidden around the map and the other five revolve around collecting Pals. The hardest of the collection tasks sees you needing to catch 90 different species of Pal from the 113 that are in the game at launch – you better get your searching pants on.

We are still trying to figure out the names of the last four hidden ones but we have given you the task so at least you know what you are looking for. Now check out the table below and get cracking collecting those 10 achievements.

Will there be more achievements added to Palworld

Quite possibly. The game is in Early Access right now so these are all subject to change or even be removed and added to as development moves on. We would be surprised if more aren’t added further down the line.

The post How to unlock all Palworld achievements appeared first on ReadWrite.

Back in the day when the Indiana Jones movies were on every Christmas (what do you mean they still, are?) I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time as a kid and being enthralled.

I watched the gameplay reveal of Lucasarts/Bethesda/MachineGames at the Xbox Developer Direct and was transported back to that Christmas childhood once again. Grandparents sat around, Mattel Intellivision temporarily turned off.

For two and a half minutes this was everything I have ever wanted from an Indy game. I remember the point-and-click Fate of Atlantis absorbing me as well – that was a game where you needed to buy a second sound card (a Roland MIDI device) for your early PC to get the best music. We did. In fact, my brother sent me a text last night saying, “Do you think we will need a new soundcard?”

Set as a  sequel to the aforementioned Raiders, the Indiana Jones and The Great Circle (disclaimer, I don’t like the title) trailer takes us on a ride with Indy in mortal danger, yet still managing to headbutt a Nazi in the face. We had puzzles, running, leaping – okay we had a new Tomb Raider, but then Lara was always loosely based on Indiana Jones anyway.

The voice acting seems decent. Sure it’s not Harrison Ford, but nor is it the AI-cloned cyborg monstrosity that it could have been, with Troy Baker, famous for his role as Joel in The Last of Us, picking up the whip and doing a more than passable impersonation. 

We had views of the Vatican and the Himalayas alongside jungle terrain and sunken temples. Indy is clocking up the air miles in this one and it looks the part. It looks like Indiana Jones, sounds like Indiana (mostly) Jones and we all hope it feels like Indiana Jones. Oh, and that music.

This could be the start of a new franchise of games and an opportunity for new gamers to experience the thrill I got when I first saw Raiders, but in the medium of the 2020s rather than the 1980s.

And with a release date of 2024 (vague, but still soon enough), we should not have too long to wait.

Featured Image: AI-generated by Midjourney

The post The new Indiana Jones game trailer is everything I wanted growing up appeared first on ReadWrite.

As we recently discussed, the max level in Palworld is 50. And while you may not want to race to that number on the first day of Early Access, then get bored of the game, end up uninstalling it, and moaning on X that there is not enough content, you also need to know how to level up yourself and your Pals at the maximum rate so that you can catch better Pals quicker.

So with that in mind let’s have a look at the best ways to level up fast and efficiently in Palworld.

Level up quickly in Palworld

We did mention yesterday that Level Sync comes into play and Pals that are stronger than you scale down to match your level so it is advantageous to at least get to a decent level first up, especially as many of the enemies you will come across initially can be much higher than you, especially when you wander off the beaten path and into areas you are maybe not quite ready for.

Base building

You get XP for building your base so it is quite possible you could just hang out there doing a bit of construction work here and there and still climb the levels, but the key to this page is getting those levels quickly, so we are going to have head out and catch some new Pals for our collection.

Adventuring

For every new Pal you capture you will get XP, but di you know if you catch several of the same Pal quickly, you get a bonus that increases with each you bag. So you want to look for, let’s use the word flock, as nobody has told me the correct collective noun of a group of Pals yet, let me know when we have one,  of levels Pals and take them out quickly in succession.

Once you get your level into double figures it’s safer to start taking on the higher level Pals and adding them to your collection and even locating the Alpha Pals that lurk in the South East corner of the map and are easy to find.

Start knocking a few of those off and you will soon get your levels rising quickly.

The post How to level up fast in Palworld appeared first on ReadWrite.

So we know Palworld is almost with and we looked at some of the key information you might want to know before joining the fun earlier today. But the game is coming out in Early Access so does that mean there is an initial level cap and if so, what is it? Let’s dive in and see what we know about the leveling system in Palworld so we know what we are aiming for when we all start playing.

Does Palworld have a max level?

When the game arrives on Steam and Xbox Game Pass the maximum level you are going to be able to reach, certainly in this phase of Early Access is Level 50. The Level 50 cap applies both to you and your Pals.

There have been some rumors flying around that the ultimate level cap once the game is released properly and comes out of Early Access will be set at 100. This is unconfirmed at this stage.

Later down the track if Pocket Pair decides to release DLC it is possible it could get pushed even higher, but we are seriously into the hypotheticals now.

For now, we will have to be content with level 50, and our advice is don’t try to be the first there and leave yourself with little to do. Early access suggests all the content is not in place yet so sit back and enjoy a leisurely stroll to the level cap instead. You will appreciate it more if you do.

Once you hit the 50 cap your XP will stop rising, but if you have any Pals who aren’t at the max level you can still work to get them to the top as well.

What is Level Sync in Palworld?

Level Sync is just the name used in the game to make sure things don’t get too frustrating. When you equip a Pal if it has a higher level than you it will magically come down to match your own level, meaning that you won’t feel the benefit of higher-rated Pals until you hit the higher levels as well.

The post What’s the max level in Palworld’s early access? appeared first on ReadWrite.

So in a mere matter of hours, we will get Palworld – the game that has (perhaps a tad unfairly) been categorized as Pokemon with guns.

It’s not that, there is so much more to it than that, or at least there will be as it progresses its way through Early Access. So we have been out and about collating everything we think you might need to know before actually playing the game and have put it all together in this handy guide.

Is Palworld on Xbox Game Pass?

Yes, it is and that is great news. The fact that it will be on Microsoft’s huge subscription platform means a couple of things – a) lots more people will get to play it than might have done otherwise, as the option to just download and play it is there and b) well, it is legitimized by being there. Any fears about it being taken down for being too much like Pokemon, or even that the game is a scam – something the devs have had to unfortunately had to defend themselves against according to PCGamesN should now be eased somewhat.

Is Palworld any good?

The million-dollar question. There is no doubt that when it launches on January 19th that Palworld will look and behave in many respects like an Early Access game. A lot of the animations and even some of the graphics appear to have not been added in yet. Harnesses are missing from pets, trees just fall down, and so on, and picking things up off the floor just means they move from the floor to your hand, but we are sure all that will be added in.

The graphics, ignoring the animation glitches, are stylish and colorful, and even after a few hours of playing and watching, it doesn’t grate on you.

The last thing I can think of that launched that was janky,  in Early Access AND on Game Pass was Grounded, and that turned out to be an amazing game. It just took a while.

How big is Palworld?

Well in terms of download size, the Xbox app is reporting it as 16.35 GB, so it is no Call of Duty, but neither is it small.

What kind of game is Palworld?

Forget the Pokemon with guns line, that is just a distraction. At its heart, Palworld is a survival game. In the words of the devs, Pocket Pair, “You can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories.

You can even sell them or eat them.”

Is Palworld on Steam?

If you don’t have an Xbox Game Pass subscription you can pick Palworld up on Steam instead for $29.99 during Early Access which of course also gives you access to Steam’s refund policy as long as you play it for less than two hours you can claim your money back if it turns out it is not for you.

And that’s all you need to know at this stage. And now the world waits to play Palworld and see if it lives up to initial expectations, or whether we all got overly excited by a few streamers getting carried away.

How do Palworld’s levels work?

If you want to know more about level caps and how Palworld’s level sync works, we have a full guide that you can check out.

The post Palworld – Everything you need to know ahead of launch appeared first on ReadWrite.

What do you get if you cross the amazing gaming worlds of Call of Duty and Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k? Something that could be amazing that’s what.

Call of Duty’s Season 1 Reloaded update recently went live soi, as per usual, data miners immediately dug deep into the files, loading screen art featuring a could of MW3 operators bedecked like Warhammer 40k grunts.

This has only just started circulating on X fully but Semtex Leaks s has put together a decent-sized list of, not only the artwork, but icons, skins, and data that suggests strongly that a full Warhammer 40k event is coming to Call of Duty. If true, this would be a pretty major collaboration. Warhammer 40k is huge right now with a surge in popularity among video gamers after games such as Darktide and Rogue Trader in the last year have propelled it more in the digital space.

WARHAMMER x #MW3 CROSSOVER

In the upcoming Warhammer x @CallofDuty crossover, the Baton Jailer, Swamp Monster (Fenbeast), Orgre Butcher and Mummy will make an appearance in-game! pic.twitter.com/d713AASfhD

— Semtex (@SemtexLeaks) January 17, 2024

From the leak, it looks as though we will also be getting new animations including one for a chainsaw – a favored weapon of the Warhammer Space Marines. There are snippets of code there that show items and how they will work in the game. It’s unclear how all this will fit into Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone at this stage but it’s a safe bet it will be hugely popular for fans of both camps.

Call of Duty is not a complete stranger to crossover events with a Diablo one already in the bag, but they are both Activision Blizzard games so it was seen as more obvious than this one perhaps.

One thing we can probably count on though is that to get the coolest Warhammer 40k skins on our operators means it is going to cost us. You better start saving up for those in-game transactions folks.

Remember though, it is a leak and not confirmed news, so we all know what that could mean.

The post Is Warhammer 40k coming to Call of Duty? Leak suggests this might be epic appeared first on ReadWrite.

Oh, how we have waited for Skull and Bones. So long in fact even the most faithful doubted it would ever make it to the shore. It looks like it has however, and within a couple of weeks we could well all be knee-deep in the bilge in Ubisoft’s amazing-looking pirate adventure. 

February 16th is the date for your calendar and if you don’t know much about Skull and Bones yet, then think Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, but just the cool shippy bits.

Which version of Skull and Bones should you get?

It comes in two flavors, the Standard and Premium. Standard is coming in at $59.99/£49.99 and gets your base game. If you pre-order it then you get the pre-order bonus as well (see below) as you might expect.

The Premium Edition ($89.99/£74.99) will bag you the base version of the game alongside three days of early access (starts February 13th) along with the cosmetics listed below:

• Ashen Corsair Ship Set
• Bloody Bones Captain Outfit
• 11 ship items

You also get two missions, The Ashen Corsair and the Bloody Bones Legacy, which presumably will tie in with the above cosmos, and completing these missions will get you some more unlockables.

You also get the Smuggler’s Pass which is Skull and Bones’ name for a Battle Pass, as well as the obligatory Soundtrack and Digital Art Book.

Is Skull and Bones on Ubisoft +?

The quick answer is yes it is. Ubisoft changed all its subscription models earlier this week and promised that not only will you get all the games on Day One, but they are the Premium versions as well, so you should get all the above as long as you sub to the Ubisoft + Premier tier, which means you will be playing for £14.99/$17.99 per month)

What is the Skull and Bone pre-order bonus?

If you pre-order Skull and Bones you will get some cosmetics including the Notoriet Garb and Coronation Firework as part of the Highness of the High Sea pack.

We think Skull and Bones is going to be huge and cannot wait to get our hands on it soon.

The post Skull and Bones – All editions, pre-order bonuses, and info you landlubbers need ahead of release appeared first on ReadWrite.

Before the Holidays we reported that Starfield was due to get some major updates every six weeks or so. Bethesda’s end-of-year update said we could expect that to start in February but they would first be tested out in a beta branch on the Steam version of the game before being pushed to Xbox Live and other versions.

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of the Steam beta updates, but a post on the Bethesda Game Studios X account stated, “We discovered an issue we want to address before releasing our update into the Steam Beta. We’re aiming to release it later this week but we’ll confirm the timing when we know for sure. Thanks for your patience!.”

This followed a post last week stating, “Next week, on January 17, we’ll be putting our biggest @StarfieldGame update yet into Steam Beta with over 100 fixes and improvements, with a planned release date for all players two weeks later.”

Further news followed a few hours later suggesting the issue has been resolved and that the update will be pushed out to Steam any time now. With the fix being so quick hopefully that means we may not even get a delay when it gets pushed through the main branch and other services besides Steam, meaning everybody gets to play the same version of the game sooner rather than later.

Update: the issue has been resolved and the Steam Beta for our next update will be going live tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for the full patch notes when it opens!

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) January 17, 2024

What does the Starfield update contain?

Bethesda says this first major update will include:

“This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests. Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos.

“Additionally, this update brings stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements ranging from additional widescreen support to improved textures, lighting, and shadows.

“Other fixes and improvements include sun disk geometry, planet ring shadows, bulldozed objects reappearing when returning to an Outpost, ship hatches marked inaccessible, and another fix for asteroids following ships.”

We have yet to get any full patch notes but we will pick through the best bits when they are finally released.

The post Major Starfield update gets a delay, but only a short one after a quick fix appeared first on ReadWrite.

The first major livestream from Microsoft Xbox takes place today and we are expecting a whole host of good stuff to be shown off during it. So it is a pretty exciting day.

We can expect news from many of Microsoft’s partner studios – although Blizzard will be hosting its own event around Season 3 of Diablo IV before the Xbox livestream, rather than hijacking it with pure D4 content.

One of the games most people are looking forward to seeing is the new Indiana Jones title. Equally exciting, and one we have been waiting for for a few years now is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, the follow-up to the amazing well-ahead-of-its-time Senua’s Sacrifice.

It is still probably MachineGames/Bethesda’s Indy title that will garner the most attention though. We have had some leaks about what it may be called, but the prospect of a ‘proper’ Indiana Jones game excites the 80s kid in me who grew up thrilled by the movies the first time around.

The other big title we cannot wait to get a real glimpse of is Avowed from Obsidian. RPGs are big time at the moment as Baldur’s Gate 3 set the bar high, but this first-person affair looks more Skyrim than BG3. If Obsidian gets this right, it could be huge.

How to Watch Xbox Direct

The show will be broadcast on the official Xbox and Bethesda channels – basically, tune in to any streaming set-up or turn on your Xbox and you should be able to find it with minimum fuss.

Here are the times of the showcase for your region so you can make sure you don’t miss out.

8 pm GMT (London)

12 pm PST (Los Angeles)
3 pm EST (New York)
9 pm CET (Paris)

If you can’t make the show live, you will be able to watch it on demand on all the key channels after the event.

The post How to watch Xbox Direct appeared first on ReadWrite.

Despite a small panic from the Diablo IV fanbase last week, Blizzard always insisted that Season 3 was on track, just that with the holiday period, it hadn’t had the time to talk about it as they normally would in one of its Camp Fire Chats.

We now know for certain when it’s coming and what its focus will be, so if you have been waiting patiently or even anxiously to see if they have finally come up within a season that nobody will moan about, you will find everything you need to know about Diablo IV Season 3 below.

When is Diablo 4 Season 4 out?

Season 3 is due to start as expected on January 23rd, so less than a week away, so you only have a short while to finish off anything you need to do in Season of Blood before your character will be removed to the Eternal Realm and you can continue to play with them there.

What is Diablo 4 Season 3 called?

Season 3 is called Season of the Construct and it comes with the following description:

“The legacy of Zoltun Kulle reawakens as sinister forces aberrate his long-lost Constructs and threaten the denizens of SanctuaryPrepare to discover the mechanical monstrosities of his dark imagination alongside a new Seasonal Companion with a new Season Journey, Questline, Battle Pass, and quality-of-life updates.

Later in the Season, steel yourself for The Gauntlet to earn a spot in the Hall of the Ancients. Get ready to prove your mettle among fellow wanderers in new challenge dungeons and ascend Weekly Leaderboards for glory..”

Sounds cool.

What is in the Season 3 Battle Pass in D4?

Nothing has been given away about the Battle Pass this time around, but as usual Horse armor, cosmetics and the like will be handed out as you progress. We don’t know much either about any new seasonal mechanics at this stage.

When is the Diablo IV livestream?

The next Developer Update livestream, and one we have all been waiting for will take place at 9AM PST on January 18th.

You can watch it on the official Diablo Twitch and YouTube channels and there is even a Q&A at the end where you can quiz the devs about Season 3’s quests and the like.

The post Diablo IV Season 3 – everything you need to know appeared first on ReadWrite.

If its not leaks about the Nintendo Switch 2 or the PlayStation 5 Pro, now we are getting them for a potential Steam Deck 2.

The Steam Deck has been a huge success for Valve with people finally ready to jump onto a mobile PC gaming device in droves. Even though it is not that old, it is beginning to show signs of age when attempting to play many newer games, so it is no surprise that word of a version 2, or at very least a refresh could be on the horizon.

Chinese forum Chiphell.com is where this one has emerged from (already you might want to at least have a pinch of salt ready at hand) but we are potentially looking at an OLED display running at 900[ and 90Hz.

The innards, if any of this is close to being true will be a custom APU, again manufactured by AMD featuring 6 cores.

When will Steam Deck 2 be released?

And the news everybody is really after? A release date? Well, the post is suggesting (and you can read more on Reddit from u/LolcatP, is that we could be waiting as long as Q3-Q4 of 2026 before we see it.

No news on a price yet but the post goes on to speculate it could be around the $600 seeing as the higher-priced Steam Decks proved popular among buyers.

Even if any of this is true, there is still a long enough time period for specs to change anyway. A lot can happen in over two years in this industry. These could be an initial indication of ideal specs as based on predictions, but in two years time, we might be expecting to see that screen a little higher up the food chain. Whatever happens, Valve knows its stuff, and it’s pretty much a certainty that when the Steam Deck 2 does show up for pre-order, it will sell out immediately.

The post Steam Deck 2 – rumored specs leak – any truth? appeared first on ReadWrite.

After a super reception from everybody who has played it so far, Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is set to make an early run for the best game of the year crown.

Releasing on all formats on January 18th it comes, as is now the norm, in a couple of different flavors, including the Standard version and Deluxe version which provides three days early access and a cosmetic Prince of Persia Warrior Within outfit, should you so desire.

Each version comes with a different price tag naturally and you can check out all of those in the table below.

Meanwhile, you do not wish to splash all that cash in one go, Ubisoft recently restructured its own gaming subscription packages as we talked about yesterday, and as its top tier includes deluxe versions of all its games on Day One of launch, for a subscription fee of $17.99 you can play it tomorrow that way. There is no minimum period to subscribe for, Ubisoft is hoping you find enough value in the coming months to stick with it, but if you want to play the full game, and not the freely available demo to see what you think, that is the most cost-efficient way of going about it.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – what’s the best edition to get?

Being cheapskates we would always say hit the standard version unless you absolutely must see your prince in a different costume to your friends. You do also get a Digital Adventure book and a couple of other cosmetics, but well, meh, it looks cool enough but the extra cash is better in your pocket in our opinion.

Here are the prices of the full game, but don’t forget the Ubisoft+ option as well.

Standard Edition

Deluxe Edition

The post Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – which version to buy appeared first on ReadWrite.

If you have been around computer gaming since the days of the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga, or even earlier you are duty-bound to have heard of MicroProse.The simulation kings of the 1990s brought in-depth thinking simulations to computers in the days when they could barely handle them. If you wonder how NASA managed to get to the moon in the 20th Century but can’t now, well the same theory applies here.

Going back two or so years plans emerged for MicroProse to reappear after a 20-year hiatus, and even better news, it planned to remake some of its old classic games, as well as create a new series of IPs.

Well, the first of those classics B-17 Flying Fortress – The Bloody 100th is set to hit Steam in Early Access at the end of the week and we even have a new trailer to celebrate.

Taking place in the skies high over France and Germany you take control of the crew and the whole mission of a B-17 Bomber, and that includes dodging the flak. So while in the air, this isn’t wholely a flight simulator such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which is eagerly on the wish list of many virtual pilots.

In the words of the game’s blurb, you will need to, “Manage and take control of the 10-man crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress as they attempt to complete 25 harrowing missions inspired by the real-life battles of The Bloody 100th Bomber group.”

To do so you will go through the entire process that the brave flyers would have done during World War II including attending briefings and even walking to your aircraft with the rest of your crew. Bombing runs are unique in that you need to both get there, hit your targets, and get back in one piece, and if you have ever seen the movie Memphis Belle, well it’s not that easy.

We are really hoping MicroProse can pull this off. The gaming space is very different these days and there will be no dog’s speedrunning this one.

More when we see the game for real.

Featured Image: MicroProse

The post Return of historic war game B-17 and publisher Microprose after decades away from the keyboard appeared first on ReadWrite.

The time is fast approaching for HoYoVerse to unleash its latest Genshin Impact Livestream – this time for version 4.4 of GI – upon the world, so how can you watch it, what can you expect and will there be any nice surprises? Let’s see what we know so far.

The official Genshin Impact X account posted:” This special program will feature juicy details about new game content and developments in Version 4.4. It will also “drop” some redemption codes and other goodies!

How to watch the Genshin Impact 4.4 livestream

The livestream will be broadcast on the official Genshin Impact Twitch channel at the time shown in the table below. It is due to last around 45 minutes and we will learn more about what we can expect going forward into 4.4.

Version 4.4 Special Program Preview #GenshinImpact #GenshinSpecialProgram

Dear Travelers,
It's announcement time! The special program for Genshin Impact's new version will premiere on the official Twitch channel on 1/19/2024 at 07:00 AM (UTC-5)! https://t.co/xo4YDsKpRF

This… pic.twitter.com/2elosLANLF

— Genshin Impact (@GenshinImpact) January 17, 2024

What new characters are in Genshin Impact 4.4?

We found out in December that the two new characters arriving would be Gaming and Xiangun. We will find out more about them on Friday.

What time is the Genshin Impact 4.4 livestream

Depending on where you are in the world you will want to make sure you tune in on time so you can get those tasty Primagem codes. The table below will let you know when you can see the broadcast in your region.

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Games publisher Square Enix recently announced that it would be using the benefits of AI in its upcoming games in order to leverage any advantage possible and it looks like one of the first examples of this is about to pull into view in the shape of PlayStation exclusive shooter, Foamstars.

The move is controversial as gamers and employees rail against the use of AI in game production as it means a reduction in working opportunities. GTA V actor Ned Luke was the latest to call out AI this week in a much-publicized rant about an AI chatbot with his voice.

Square Enix’s Foamstars producer Kosuke Okatani confirmed to VGC that the game’s dec team had used Midjourney to create in-game icons relating to in-game album covers for the music.

Okatani says the vast majority of the game was hand-crafted and AI use represents just a tiny proportion of the end product, “All of the core elements in Foamstars – the core gameplay, and the things that make the game enjoyable – those are all made by hand. However, we did want to experiment with AI as well.

“In terms of the content in the game, this makes up about 0.01% or even less, but we have dabbled in it by creating these icons in the game.”

Square Enix later sent a statement to VGC saying: “AI was used in the creation of the in-game album covers for the music featured in the FOAMSTARS’ soundtrack. As developers, we’re always looking at new technologies to see how they can assist with game development.

“In this instance, we experimented with Midjourney using simple prompts to produce abstract images. We loved what was created and used them as the final album covers players will see in the game. Everything else was created entirely by our development team.

Featured Image: Square Enix

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You might not know that gaming has a whole subset of players called Speedrunners who eschew playing video games for all their intricacies and moving storylines ignoring all those distractions, and just trying and blast their way to the end as quickly as possible.

Games that take 100 hours to play normally are swallowed up by these people sometimes in half an hour and records are kept as to who did it fastest. Impressive eh?

Hold this dog’s beer.

Peanut Butter, the Shiba Inu is no ordinary pooch. Recently, his owner, Twitch speedrunning streamer JSR, announced that PB would attempt to beat his, er, PB at an NES game from 1985, Gyromite. The attempt was a part of the Awesome Games Done Quick – an annual speedrunning community fest that fundraisers for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

According to Gfinity, Gyromite has a B-Mode where the game’s character will automatically move from left to right and you (or in this case the dog!) need to control the positioning of the pipes so the character can get to the next room – watch the video and it will make it clearer!

Using a customized version of the Nintendo R.O.B. controller with just large A and B, paw-sized buttons, Peanut Butter has been trained to play the game after JSR originally got him during lockdown and realized quickly that he was in fact, a very clever boy.

During the game, JSR will give PB instructions on what to press, and, with the occasional itch aside, Peanut Butter will hit the mark right on cue.

PB’s previous best was 25 minutes and 29 seconds. Unfortunately for JSR and the dog, it only managed 26 minutes and 24 seconds this time around.

Rumors JSR is now looking for a new dog are as yet unconfirmed.

The post Dog becomes gaming’s first animal speedrunner – who’s a clever boy? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Game publishers Remedy and Take-Two are heading for the courts to sort out a trademark dispute over the former’s recent logo change and its use of the letter R. While you might expect Remedy would want to use an R in its logo, TT has taken umbrage with a similarity between it and Rockstar Games’ (a Take Two studio) famous R logo.

Presumably, this similarity is because, well they are both using the letter R. Remedy changed its logo last April to a more modern design that removed the bullet from the original, saying, “The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old.” A portfolio that includes last year’s amazing Alan Wake 2, which almost scooped Game of the Year.

“It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy.”

The Finnish studio’s new R caught the attention of Take-Two who disputed the trademark in the UK according to RespawnFirst citing, “There exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public” as its grounds for opposing it.

Remedy Entertainment and Take Two Interactive are in a trademark dispute over Remedy's logo.

Disputed Logo 1: https://t.co/wY29pyReIv

Disputed Logo 2: https://t.co/oOlzd47usG pic.twitter.com/FuIMLRtBdj

— Jake (@usemyhandle) January 15, 2024

These kinds of cases can rumble for years sometimes. Gucci and Guess battled it out for nine years over the letter G and the World Wildlife Fund and the World Wrestling Federation were at t for 13 years.

Take-Two spent a portion of 2021 battling to stop Hazelight Studios’ platformer It Takes Two forcing the devs to abandon the name according to Eurogamer.

So can you reserve the letter R for your sole use? We will have to let the courts decide that one.

If you wanted a little extra comedy to spice things up, Remedy has an agreement with Rockstar to remake both Max Payne 1 and 2, with the announcement saying, The game’s development budget will be financed by Rockstar Games, the size of which will be in line with a typical Remedy AAA-game production.“

Now, who let that elephant in the room?

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