CharlesK

It took me 10 hours in the Land of Shadow before I begrudgingly faced the Dancing Lion. That 10 hours was spent exploring the new world as thoroughly as I could, finding all but one map fragment, diving shallowly into various dungeons, and feeling that unique joy that comes with exploring a FromSoft world for the first time. The magnitude of the panorama seen after beating Rellana was lost on me, because I had already discovered that part of the world in reverse. Elsewhere, I had already explored most of Shadow Keep before hitting the back door of the Golden Hippopotamus. If we're to take Elden Ring's bosses as the main course—which I think increasingly they are—then I had basically nibbled around the chocolate chips of the cookie. Those first 10 hours were the most absorbing 10 hours I've spent with any game this year. By that time I had my scadutree blessing level up to eight, and I had respecced away from a shoddily constructed mage into one of those famously OP blood builds that some true Elden Ring heads look upon with derision. I was having fun. The Land of Shadow is stunning; it's one of those game worlds I can barely believe exists. It may be a cliché to make this comparison, but it really does look like a fantasy paperback cover brought to life. I can't imagine a fantasy game ever looking more inviting than this. Then I had to start beating the bosses. Let me be clear: I don't have a problem with Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty and I find the conversation around it tiring. I agree with Miyazaki when he says that overcoming insurmountable challenges is a huge part of the appeal of his games. But as I entered the yellow mist for my umpteenth attempt at the Dancing Lion, I wasn't feeling challenged: I was feeling bored. I was rolling my eyes. I wondered whether FromSoft has come to rely too heavily on bosses. Can we imagine a FromSoft game with fewer bosses or, dare I say, none at all?

Year 2 of Street Fighter 6 will soon be getting underway in earnest, with the competitive pro tour getting back on the road and four new characters set to join the roster over the next twelve months. But this time, something truly different is happening: guest characters. Crossover shenanigans are nothing new for fighting games, but Street Fighter has always resisted inviting characters from outside its universe to its core numbered entries. With the announcement of Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, both of Fatal Fury and King of Fighters, that’s all changed. It makes for an exciting twist in the tail at the end of a successful and exciting first year for SF6 - and a sea change for the franchise. We caught up with Street Fighter 6 director Takayuki Nakayama and producer Shuhei Matsumoto, taking time to talk about the guest characters, the return of M. Bison, the success of the SF6’s bold new modern control scheme, and more besides. Here’s our full chat: https://www.vg247.com/street-fighter-6-season-2-interview-summer-game-fest

Good news, long-time fans of games about giving up at least one of your fingers so you can run across rooftops and jump on unsuspecting guards, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says some Assassin's Creed remakes are coming. Yes, there's a chance one of them might be the game with all the piratey goodness in it. While the major focus AC-wise right now is on Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is set to take us all to feudal Japan in November to play as a pair of cool protagonists with different playstyles, we all love replaying things we've played before and revelling in how much we like them all over again. Which, it seems, Ubisoft is keenly aware of. What remake of AC would you like to play?

In Harry Potter, I always liked the idea of a patronus, a spirit guardian. It's a very symbolic representation of who you are, of your fears and desires.

I actually do believe that some people, unfortunately, have biological or chemical imbalances in their body. And those imbalances can cause them to act out or do things. How we used to treat patients in the 1800s is very different from how we treat patients today, and I'm sure another one or two hundred years of medical advances will continue to open up the wonders of the human body

Everyone slowly backs away from Jerlene .... LOL

This is a fun indie comedy PC game starring a teenager who wants to got space 🌛 🌠 in a car (yes!) Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip tells the classic story of a strange teenager who skips out on summer school while his family is away on vacation to focus on his dream of driving a car into space. That’s the basic premise of Turbo Trip. You are Tiny Terry and after lying to get a job with a taxi company, you get a car. It’s now your job to go around collecting junk and cash to help you upgrade your taxi cab and make it go faster and faster. If you upgrade it all the way, you can drive it up a giant building and into space. Probably. That’s the plan, at least. And that’s your goal in Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip.

A new report on old privacy incidents suggests that at least one Nintendo leak came from a Google employee showing off private YouTube videos to a friend. The leak in question dates back to 2017, when images of a trailer for the then-untitled Yoshi's Crafted World hit Reddit shortly before the game's official reveal. In the comments, the poster of that thread said "My friend work at google and he send this photo to me. It's a video that it's already in Nintendo channel and is going to be in public after the reveal." The image included an 'admin.youtube.com' URL, which certainly suggested that this particular call was coming from inside the house. Now, 404 Media has published a breakdown of several privacy incidents at Google based on internal reports at the company, including this one. The employee, apparently a former temporary contractor, was able to "download video with admin account, and shared unreleased Nintendo feature with friend," Google's internal report concluded. "GI interview concluded non-intentional. Reactive comm sent." The community has long suspected that many notable leakers get their information from sources like unpublished YouTube videos, and this report would appear to confirm that - at least in this instance. Judging by the admin URL in the leak screenshot, I'd wager this particular leaker had no intentions of this image being widely spread. But then, you'd also hope that your friends are cautious enough to keep you shielded from Nintendo's ire, too. If your friend showed you a leak of a game, would you post it on social media?

Oh gosh, everything that I play is online but it's all massive MMORPG or MOBA or open world shooters I miss the day of LAN parties in college!!

There are so many fantastic games that I absolutely love - I don't know if I would necessarily care for any one on ones, but one thing I love about Steam is they invite developers to host sessions and you can watch them play and explain their philosophy and design and experience when building the game, which is awesome.

I agree with the others hosted before me where I think it's inevitable, already I almost never use cash (only credit cards or now Samsung Pay!) so I'm already living as a 'cashless' citizen. When I lose my smartphone, I freak out LOL. So much of what we do is tied to our digital identities, and it's moving in that direction whether we agree with it or not

This goes back to the eternal debate of 'nature vs nurture'. How much of your destiny is prewritten for you based on your parents, your upbringing, even the neighborhood in which you go to school. There are a lot of determinants and factors that influence and strongly shape you, but one of the best aspects of humanity is our own free will - we can and do break free of these bounds when we want!

Yes! One of them has become an amazing friend - I met him totally on accident while we were playing a MOBA game together, had no idea he lived in my local area, and we still sometimes grab lunch.

There's definitely a sense of therapy and escapism when playing video games, and I think it can be soothing when done in moderation. The danger when you play too much, or it starts to intrude upon your normal life

Helldivers 2 has taken the gaming community by storm, captivating players with its intense gameplay and striking similarities to the Warhammer series. Released to much anticipation, it quickly climbed the charts, garnering positive reviews for its challenging gameplay and immersive universe. Players take on the roles of elite soldiers in a dystopian future, tasked with defending humanity from an array of monstrous foes. The comparison to Warhammer, a franchise known for its deep lore and hardcore following, has only bolstered its reputation, drawing in fans from that franchise as well. Recently, a popular streamer encapsulated the community’s sentiments by saying that this game is more Warhammer than any other Warhammer game he has ever seen.