Game News

Game News

Development of AetherSX2 PS2 emulator dropped due to death threats

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AetherSX2 development stopped ps2 emulatorAetherSX2 development stopped ps2 emulator

A planned PlayStation 2 emulator has been cancelled due to its developer being harassed. Project AetherSX2 was a PS2 emulator for Android that allowed people to play their favorite PS2 classics on Android devices. However, developer Tahlreth has stepped away from the project and “indefinitely suspended,” it.

Their reasoning behind the suspension is revealed on the emulator’s official web page. What was previously a website detailing all of its features is now a text entry announcing the end of the project. The opening line reads “Due to never-ending impersonating, complaints, demands, and now death threats, I’m done”. This is followed by the explanation that Tahlreth no longer wants to work on AetherSX2 as it just isn’t fun anymore.

The announcement closes by linking users to the current build and warns everyone about the risk of installing APKs from random sources. This warning is linked to how this project’s end came about in the first place. A lot of third-party sources have been attempting to impersonate AetherSX2. This has led to the victims of said APKs wrongfully blaming Tahlreth believing that they were using the official product.

Unfortunately, misunderstandings like this are pretty common in the mobile emulation space. Unlike PC gamers, mobile gamers aren’t particularly knowledgeable about emulation or technology as a whole. This can lead to them being easily deceived and getting upset. Combine that with the standard internet trolling and you can imagine how stressful the situation can be for developers.

Goodbye Discord

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With the development of AetherSX2 now stopped it’s not surprising to see its Discord channel gone too. According to Tahlreth, the Discord channel was disabled because of some people complaining that his emulator wasn’t available on ioS. It may seem like a small thing to get annoyed over but you can imagine how frustrating it is to receive hundreds of naïve complaints like this every day.

Game News

Sonic Frontiers roadmap revealed by Sega detailing plans for 2023

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In November Sega released the latest instalment in its signature series, Sonic the Hedgehog. This time around it was Sonic Frontiers which brings an open world spin to the Sonic franchise. It launched to mixed reviews but a lot of fans believe that it could become great with the right additions. The recent reveal of the Sonic Frontiers roadmap shows us exactly what Sega has planned.

There will be three big updates coming to Sonic Frontiers. The opening update will focus on adding quality of life features that are missing at launch. This includes a Juke Box to play you favorite tunes, Photo Mode, and new challenge modes.

The second update will shift the focus to celebration and adding further side content. For the former Sega will run an event celebrating Sonic’c birthday. The blue hedgehog’s birthday is on June 23 with this year’s marking his 32nd anniversary since the original Sonic the Hedgehog was released. Unfortunately, the Sonic Frontiers roadmap doesn’t detail the specifics as to how Sonic’s birthday will be celebrated.

Also coming in the second update is a new Open Zone Challenge and new Kocos. These side activities will give players who have completed everything more to do. It’s a nice addition but it isn’t what most people are looking forward to. The best upcoming update is undoubtedly update three which has fans very excited.

Update 3

sonic frontiers roadmap update 1 2 3 2023

Sonic Frontier’s third update will be huge. Sega intends to add a whole new story for players to playthrough which in itself is impressive. Even better the Sonic Frontiers roadmap reveals plans to add three more playable characters. These are Sonic’s faithful sidekick Tails, the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds Knuckles, and Amy Rose. All of the announced content will be free and not require any additional purchases, DLC, or microtransactions to access.

Game News

Smash Bros. legend Masahiro Sakurai is officially semi retired

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sakurai semi retired from development

When talking about game development greats certain names come to mind. Be it Sid Meier or Gabe Newell, the industry has produced a lot of incredible minds that will stand the test of time. However, none have been quite as influential on the fighting game genre as Masahiro Sakurai. But Samurai has now announced that he is officially semi retired.

In an interview with Japanese outlet Denfaminicogamer, the Nintendo employee spoke on several topics. Amongst these topics was his plans to make future games and how he wants to do something else. As translated by Twitter user PushDustin, Sakurai states that he feels as though he needs to try something new before his life is over.

The Smash legend acknowledges that his legacy working on the fighting game series is important to him. Even so, he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life just making Smash. By going into a state of being semi retired Sakurai will free up time to explore other adventures.

One of these planned adventures is a possible jump into content creation. Sakurai states in the interview that he wants to make a YouTube channel whilst he has the chance. Exactly what kind of content he would create is unclear but there’s no doubt fans would be interested. After all, who wouldn’t want the chance to learn more about one of the industry’s greatest developers?

A stressful job

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It’s no secret that game development can be one of the most stressful jobs in the world. This is doubly the case for someone in a prominent position such as a studio head. After several years of active development on Smash Sakurai becoming semi retired isn’t too surprising. Hopefully, this transition pushes other developers to take better care of themselves. It’s not uncommon for developers to push themselves too hard and trigger health issues.

Game News

MW2 Dune Stalker Pack gives double CoD Points as a holiday bonus

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Games across the industry have begun running special deals to celebrate the holiday season. Amongst these is Call of Duty: MW2, the latest instalment in Activision’s hit first person shooter franchise. MW2 players can now purchase the Dune Stalker Pro Pack and earn double CoD Points in the process.

The Dune Stalker Pack has six items available. It costs $10, € 10, £8.40, and C$13.50 respectively which is standard for a new bundle. This includes an FSS Hurricane variant, a MCPR-300 variant, a charm, emblem, and an APC skin. Truth be told most of the items in this bundle aren’t all that interesting but there is a standout inclusion.

After purchasing this bundle players will immediately earn 2200 CoD Points. Given its pricing this is a fantastic deal that players won’t want to miss out on. For context, purchasing 2200 CoD points on its own would usually cost around £16 or $20. Yet the Dune Stalker Pack is offering MW2 players that plus more for around half the price.

Unlike most bundles in MW2 this cannot be purchased with CoD Points. It can only be purchased using real money. This makes sense given the whole point of the bundle is that it offers great value CoD Points. Some players may find this disappointing but it’s a generous enough deal by itself. Especially as you can flip those extra CoD Points after to buy another bundle that you want.

The Christmas spirit

stalker pro pack mw2 items available

Call of Duty is embracing the Christmas Spirit by offering several holiday themed bundles. There’s both the Merry Mayhem bundle for 2200 CoD Points plus the Tracer Pack: Klaus Operator Bundle for 2400 CoD Points. You can spend the CoD Points earned through the Dune Stalker Pack to purchase these fun MW2 bundles. Klaus’ pack even features unique Christmas-themed tracers that shoot coal and snow respectively.

Game News

Assassin’s Creed China gameplay has leaked and it looks great

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Some gameplay of an upcoming Assassin’s Creed game has leaked. Codenamed Assassin’s Creed Jade, the gameplay of it was posted by a Facebook user named Tiger White the on Assassin’s Creed Syncposting page. The leaked gameplay shows off what appears to be an Assassin’s Creed game set in China.

The original post is now private but the content was reposted by Reddit user /datuu on the official Assassin’s Creed subreddit. The gameplay looks very genuine to be the point where it’s difficult to imagine it being fake. It’s unlikely that most people would have the talent or budget to fake a leak of this quality.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though everybody will get to play it. According to the leak this Assassin’s Creed game will be a mobile exclusive. No console or PC launch or ports are expected which will be disappointing for many.

Admittedly this isn’t too surprising for an Assassin’s Creed game set in China. Whilst China’s gaming market is huge it is mostly focused on the mobile industry. Given this it makes sense for Ubisoft to take advantage of that and release a mobile Assassin’s Creed game. For most western fans however, this isn’t what they would have wanted.

A positive is that for a mobile game Jade looks incredible. Its overall graphical fidelity and presentation is comparable to other recent franchise entries like Origins. It’s a nice change given that the mobile market is filled with shovelware and tacky pay to win schemes.

More Assassin’s Creed to come

assassin's creed china mirage coming 2023

Alongside Assassin’s Creed China more instalments are expected to arrive in the near future. There was also Codename Red, Codename Hexe, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and a DLC for Valhalla. It appears as though Ubisoft is expanding its signature franchise to appeal to more markets. When each of these games will release though is currently unknown.

Game News

Nadia has had her Twitch ban lifted just hours after it was given

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Popular Twitch streamer Nadia Amine was recently suspended from Twitch. Her ban was given for doxing an individual who donated to her with a hateful message. This act got Nadia a two week ban on Twitch but it didn’t last long.

Within just a few hours of the ban being handed out Twitch has already lifted it. Nadia’s Twitch channel is once again active and she is free to stream as she pleases. Many users are surprised to see the ban lifted as the Twitch’s rules clearly state that sharing personal information is not allowed. More specifically, content creators can’t “someone else’s sensitive data without their permission,” a rule Nadia clearly broke.

Nadia’s ban on Twitch became the center of attention when fellow Twitch stream Asmongold commented on it. The popular World of Warcraft streamer stated outright that Nadia should have received a permanent ban for doxing. Following criticism of this stance Asmongold doubled down on Twitter and stated again that she should have received a “a permaban without even a question”.

Incredibly, Nadia herself has yet to acknowledge the legitimacy of the ban or apologize for the incident. Her only response was a sole Tweet that reads “Got banned on Twitch for 14 days for sharing personal information? Whatever that means. Cool”. That response doesn’t exactly come across as apologetic but rather that she feels as though the ban was unfair.

Twitch doesn’t enforce its rules

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Seeing Nadia have her Twitch ban lifted isn’t too surprising. Despite the severity of her actions Twitch has a track record of letting its streamers break its rules. Several streamers in the past have had bans lifted for creating adult content on stream and the use of highly offensive language. Twitch’s reasoning for lifting bans so often is unclear and an official reason is rarely if ever given.

Game News

The Last of Us: Part 1 will run on Valve’s Steam Deck

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The Last of Us Part 1 Steam Deck support confirmed

The Last of Us Part 1 launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive in September. It is a remake of the original The Last of Us released back in 2013. A PC port was confirmed to be coming on March 3, 2023 but that port won’t just be limited to desktops and laptops. You will also be able to play The Last of Us Part 1 on the Steam Deck.

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming PC released by Valve earlier this year. It allows users to play their full Steam library including Windows PC games on a portable device. And it isn’t just some glorified cloud streaming platform either. This is a physical piece of hardware that runs games using its AMD Zen 2 CPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and AMD RDNA 2 graphics card.

Despite it being a technical marvel, the Steam Deck is not flawless. Some games are unsupported on it such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and The Sims 4. Thankfully, this is not the case with The Last of Us Part 1 which will be officially supported.

This reassurance has come from Neil Druckmann, the co-president of Naughty Dog. Druckmann responded to a fan on Twitter who was hesitant to pre-order as they weren’t sure it would be supported on Steam Deck. The co-president swept their doubts away by saying that “Ellie and Joel will grace the Steam Deck, don’t worry!”.

The Steam Deck’s impressive library

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Although not everything runs on the Steam Deck most things do. Just recently Valve added support for some huge titles including Apex Legends, Elden Ring, and God of War. Seeing ex-PlayStation exclusives like The Last of Us: Part 1 come to Steam Deck is a great sign for its owners. Hopefully, we see more big title follow in the future and the Steam Deck becomes an even better deal.

Game News

Crash Team Rumble brings PvP to Activision’s hit platformer

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crash team rumble reveal trailer

A lot of exciting games were revealed at this year’s The Game Awards. One of the less expected reveals was a new Crash Bandicoot game. However, this isn’t a mainline instalment or even a platformer. Instead, Activision has announced Crash Team Rumble and it’s bringing PvP to Activision’s hit platformer.

Team Rumble is be a four versus four team-based PvP game. Each team has to battle one another to capture key points around the map. At the same time, you need to defend your Wumpa Bank forcing teams to balance attack and defence. This instalment will implement aspects from multiple genres including MOBA and action.

Unfortunately, the trailer itself didn’t reveal too much. Outside of what the cinematics will look like and the general concept of Crash Team Rumble we don’t know what to expect. From what we can tell it’s an arena brawler with a focus on platforming but even that much is unclear. Until more details are dropped or we get another trailer it’s difficult to get too excited.

What we do know is that not everybody will be able to try it out. The trailer reveals that Team Rumble will be a console exclusive with there being no mention of a PC release. This is by no means a first for the series with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled being released in 2019 but never on PC. Nitro-Fueled was heavily criticised on release for being capped at 30 frames per second so hopefully that’s not the case with Rumble.

Crash Team Rumble Rebranded

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We’ve actually known about the possibility of Crash Team Rumble being a thing for some time. It was originally leaked back in November as Crash Bandicoot Wumpa League. It appears as though Activision has since rebranded it match the names of the other Crash spin-offs. Perhaps the Crash Team series will become its own thing if this is successful.

Game News

Ramattra will be easier to unlock in Overwatch 2 than Kiriko

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ramattra overwatch 2 how to unlock easier than season one kiriko

Season One of Overwatch 2 saw Kiriko added to the roster. The Japanese support quickly became a fan favorite, at least for those that could play her. New players have to progress the battle pass to tier 55 which takes a while. Now Blizzard has confirmed that Ramattra will be easier to unlock in Overwatch 2 than Kiriko was.

Ramattra will be available earlier in the battle pass than Kiriko. Rather than him unlocking at tier 55 like Kiriko did, he will instead be available at tier 45. Without taking challenges into account a tier takes roughly an hour to progress through. This means that Ramattra could take ten hours less grinding to access.

That’s an oversimplification though as daily, weekly, and seasonal challenges greatly speed up battle pass progression. If you actively completing challenges Ramattra should take around 30 hours to unlock in Overwatch 2. It’s more accessible than the tier 55 required for Kiriko but it’s still not ideal for a lot of players.

Two weeks after Ramattra’s release the new tank will be playable in competitive mode. This means that players who want to use him in competitive will have to grind those 30 hours in just two weeks. Considering that equates to over two hours a day most players just won’t have that option. This creates a huge problem if Ramattra ends up being especially strong.

A potential pay to win situation

kiriko overwatch 2 battle pass tier

If Ramattra is just as strong as Kiriko and Sojourn we could have a pay to win situation on our hands. The easiest way to unlock Ramattra in Overwatch 2 is to buy the battle pass. The battle pass costs 1,000 Overwatch Coins which is the equivalent of $10 USD. Those that pay up will have immediate access to a potentially overpowered hero whilst free to play players will have to grind or lose.

Game News

Nvidia GTX 1060 loses top spot on Steam for the first time in years

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Since its release in 2016 the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 has been the most used graphics card. The now low-end GPU has always been popular due to the performance it offers relative to its low price. However, November’s Steam Hardware & Software Survey has revealed that the Nvidia GTX 1060 is no longer king.

However, the GTX 1060 hasn’t been replaced by a newer more powerful card. Instead, it it is the GTX 1650, a budget GPU that was released in 2019. Despite being newer than the GTX 1060 the 1650 is a considerably weaker graphics card.

The games that best show off the performance gap between the two cards are GTA V and PUBG. At 1080p resolution the 1060 manages around 70 FPS in GTA V whilst the 1650 only reaches around 50 FPS. As for PUBG, the GTX 1650 caps out at 50 FPS whilst the superior 1060 can sustain 80 FPS.

The Steam survey is a bit misleading though as it looks as though the GTX 1650 has dethroned the Nvidia GTX 1060. In reality the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU and regular RTX 3060 are listed separately. When you combine their market share it turns out that over 8% of computers using Steam have an RTX 3060. That exceeds the 6.3% using a 1650 and the 5.7% using a 1060.

PC Gamers are finally moving on

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A big reason why so many PC gamers were holding onto old graphics cards was the crypto explosion. Crypto mining became huge a few years back massively increasing the demand and cost of high-performance graphics cards. Now that the craze has died down Steam users can finally swap out their aged GTX 1060 for a newer and more powerful GPU. You can expect the market share of RTX series cards to sky rocket in the coming years.