Terminal Breach is an intense, action-packed video game that puts players in the role of a skilled and determined hacker, tasked with infiltrating a top-secret facility in order to extract vital information and avoid detection. With challenging puzzles, thrilling combat sequences, and a gripping narrative, Terminal Breach offers a truly immersive gaming experience that is sure to keep players on the edge of their seats. Set in a dystopian future where technology has become all-powerful and the line between the virtual and the real world has become increasingly blurred,
Terminal Breach takes place in a vast, sprawling complex known only as “The Facility”. This is a high-security, top-secret research and development center that houses some of the most advanced and dangerous technologies ever created. Players must navigate their way through this maze-like structure, battling security forces, hacking security systems, and overcoming other obstacles in order to reach their ultimate objective.
Terminal Breach Pre-Installed:
In Terminal Breach, combat is fast-paced, fluid, and highly dynamic, with players using a combination of melee attacks, ranged weapons, and stealth tactics to take down their enemies. The game features a robust combat system that allows players to customize their play style and approach each encounter in their own unique way. Melee combat in Terminal Breach is intense and visceral, with players using a variety of close-quarters weapons such as knives, batons, and other improvised tools to take down their opponents.
Features and System Requirements:
Melee combat system
Play with different playstyles
Challenging puzzles
1 :: Operating System :: Windows XP/7/8/8./10. 2 :: Processor: Intel Core i5 3570 / AMD FX-8350 3 :: Ram :: 4 GB RAM 4 :: DirectX: Version 9.0 5 :: Graphics:: GeForce GTX 1050Ti / AMD Radeon R9 380 6 :: Space Storage:: 200 MB space
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
This week, for the first time in a long time, I stayed up way past my bedtime playing a video game. I had left weird abiogenesis idle clicker The Barnacle Goose Experiment running in the background for a few days, dithering a bit any time I stumbled back across the browser tab, until one day it hit me. I don’t remember what it was, but one discovery was so strange and exciting that I then sat there for four hours, thinking “I’ll go to bed when this result comes in”, and then. Woof. I am now far too old to stay up past my bedtime playing video games, and am still tired. Anyway! What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!
Improve your daily Wordle (opens in new tab) guesses with our guides and tips, take a look at a hint for today’s game designed to give you a nudge in the right direction, or skip straight to the best part and read the answer to the April 15 (665) game—however you want to win today’s Wordle, we can help.
The answer to today’s puzzle was an obvious one… eventually. I had all the information I needed quite early on, but this was one of those days where I couldn’t see what I had until I was in danger of running out of guesses. It was frustrating, but at least I got today’s Wordle answer in the end.
Wordle hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
A Wordle hint for Saturday, April 15
If someone was in an extreme and most likely prolonged level of physical or mental pain, today’s word would be a good way to describe their suffering. You’ll need to find two different vowels to solve this one.
Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle?
No, there is no double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If there’s one thing better than playing Wordle, it’s playing Wordle well, which is why I’m going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success:
A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants.
A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
The solution may contain repeat letters.
There’s no time pressure beyond making sure it’s done by midnight. So there’s no reason not to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is the #665 Wordle answer?
Start your weekend with a win. The answer to the April 15 (665) Wordle is AGONY.
Previous answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today’s Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that’s already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh.
Here are some recent Wordle solutions:
April 14: THIEF
April 12: BORAX
April 11: QUALM
April 10: UNDER
April 9: SNAFU
April 8: LEDGE
April 7: LOCUS
April 6: LEAFY
April 5: SMASH
April 4: RATIO
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it’s up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them.
You’ll want to start with a strong word (opens in new tab) like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and the boxes will show you which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
You’ll want your second go to compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer.
After that it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips (opens in new tab), and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle (opens in new tab), as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle (opens in new tab), refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures (opens in new tab). Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
When we learned that a top secret US military leak had come from a Discord server, we reacted as a lot of gamers probably did: Oh brother! Here we go again. This happens all the time on the War Thunder forums.
But these leaks were a tad more sensitive, and interesting, than those: According to The Washington Post (opens in new tab), the documents included US intel on the war in Ukraine, details about US efforts to spy on allies, and more. Newspapers are now racing to report every detail of this major event and its global consequences, and the Massachusetts Air National Guard member suspected of posting the documents to his Discord server faces a possible 15 years in prison.
It’s all very serious, but I still couldn’t help but laugh yesterday when I saw “FBI Arrests Leader of Online Group Where Secrets Appeared” on the front page of The New York Times (opens in new tab). “Leader of Online Group?” You mean, the Discord admin who was showing off to his Arma pals?
That’s not to say that the Times ‘doesn’t get Discord’—the mainstream reporting I’ve seen has been quite good at contextualizing the gaming connection for a wide audience. The Washington Post might’ve overemphasized the chat app from my perspective by labeling its coverage “The Discord Leaks,” but I guess it makes sense: To most people, it’s probably a little surprising that a chat group where gamers played Project Zomboid and posted racist memes was the source of a world-changing intelligence leak, and not, say, Wikileaks.
Sounds about right to us, though, doesn’t it? This isn’t the first time that Discord, the application people use to talk to their Minecraft friends, has played a lead role in events with global consequences. During the meme investing spree that took down GameStop shorters, Discord briefly banned the WallStreetBets server for “hate speech,” and prior to that, reports of white supremacist groups organizing in Discord servers led the company to collaborate with the Southern Poverty Law Center for its efforts to remove them.
The Washington Post’s coverage of “The Discord Leaks” on April 13, 2023. (Image credit: The Washington Post)
In South Korea, 2020’s shocking Nth Room Case (opens in new tab) primarily played out on encrypted chat service Telegram, but also featured some crossover on Discord (opens in new tab)—chat rooms on the platforms were used to coordinate and disseminate sexual blackmail. The 2022 Buffalo terror attack was planned on a Discord server and livestreamed on Twitch, leading to calls for stronger surveillance and content moderation.
On Discord and elsewhere, gaming has become entangled with political reactionary groups, instances of violence (swatting, as another example), scams (of the NFT variety, lately), illegal gambling and match fixing, and coordinated harassment. And now, especially this week, intelligence leaks.
I won’t attempt to express all the implications of this new normal, and will just point out one thing I noticed this week, which is that this entanglement between gaming and these kinds of world events led us to pretty accurately intuit what was going on when not everyone was pointing in the right direction. A week ago, we were hearing that anonymous US officials were pointing (opens in new tab) the finger at Russia. And just before the leaker’s identity was revealed, Microsoft president Brad Smith responded to a question (opens in new tab) about the incident by referring to “efforts by the Russians to basically penetrate gaming communities” which they can use to distribute information.
“So you basically know it was the Russians?” the interviewer asked Smith.
“I won’t go further than what I’ve just gone here,” Smith said, “But in truth it’s not the number one thing we should worry about. They’re going to publish information somewhere. It just happens to be a good place for them to get the information into circulation, and then ultimately, journalists find it.”
But it wasn’t “the Russians.” It wasn’t even, by present appearances, a Snowden-esque whistleblower like we might’ve expected in the 2010s. It was seemingly a PUBG player flexing for his Discord friends, which we kinda figured.
That’s the 2020s for you: Hedge funds don’t get taken down by thrilling corporate espionage, they get taken down by Reddit dudes who still post Pepe the Frog memes, and Cold War movies aren’t the right referent for political intrigue—look to Discord admin drama if you want to understand the motions of today’s world.
It’s hard to believe but we’re just a few months away from the 5-year anniversary of Codebrew Games aka developer Bobby Li launching the original Pocket City in the App Store. A full premium city-building sim is something that was severely lacking on mobile over the years, and that original Pocket City delivered the goods with a wonderful touchscreen interface, gorgeous visuals, and satisfying city building. And no micro-transactions in sight! There was a reason we chose it as our Game of the Week and awarded it 5 stars in our review when it came out, and since that time the original Pocket City is still pretty much the only serious option for those wanting a premium city builder on mobile.
Just because there’s no real competition in that space doesn’t mean that Codebrew have been resting on their laurels though. In the fall of 2020 a sequel was announced, and this time around the entire game would be built in 3D. I was excited by the announcement, but to be honest Pocket City 2 slipped from my mind in the time since, so I was especially taken off guard when a new trailer was released last month and revealed just what was in store for this 3D sequel. The isometric city-building of the first game was retained, but like a magic trick, at any moment you could zoom right into the city you were building to reveal a 3D open world mode where you as the Town Mayor could roam around partaking in activities or completing missions.
To say that this feature blew my mind would be an understatement. I’d been playing open world games for more than two decades, and playing city builders for closer to three, and it never occurred to me how awesome it would be to design and build your own city AND THEN actually explore the entire thing on foot or by vehicle. This is like a peanut butter and chocolate moment that was just begging to be explored, and so now we have that on mobile with the release of Pocket City 2 this week. I guess the big question is does this ability to roam your own city open world-style add anything to the experience, or is it just a pretty gimmick?
At the risk of teasing, I think I’ll let that question be answered by our pal Mikhail in his full review of Pocket City 2, coming to your eyeballs soon. What I will say though is that the open world feature can be as much of the game as you want it to be, meaning it’s totally possible to just ignore it altogether if you want and just play through Pocket City 2 like a normal isometric city builder. In fact that’s pretty much how I play about 80% of the time, mostly because there’s just so much to be building and managing and monitoring that I don’t really have time to think about “Oh I’m going to go shoot hoops at the park I just built!” or “Oh I’m going to go stop some random muggings on the street!” I love that those options are there, and I think once I get further into my city where it doesn’t need so much micromanaging I’ll probably explore them more.
For now though, Pocket City 2 is exactly what fans of the original game could hope for. It’s bigger and better in pretty much every way just on its city-building mechanics, with the extra open world stuff being like icing on the cake. This is maybe not the most in-depth city builder when it comes to strategy, but it makes up for it in sheer fun and approachability. You can still change between landscape or portrait on the fly, and Pocket City 2 retains that wonderful quality from the original where it’s easy to play for just a few moments at a time or for long stretches. A lot of sim games wouldn’t have that sort of pick up and play nature but it works perfectly for Pocket City 2 as a mobile game.
If you enjoyed the original, I think it’s a no-brainer to pick up this sequel. It seems so far to be better in every way. If you missed out on the first game, it’s safe to just skip it I think and dive right into Pocket City 2 instead. For a mere five dollars you are getting a lot of game here, and I suspect there will still be no real contenders to take its crown as the best premium mobile city builder until the inevitable Pocket City 3 comes along someday in the future. Also, for even more insight about Pocket City 2 and its development, be sure to check out our interview with Codebrew Games from earlier this week and keep your eye out for our review of the game soon.
“Greatness from Small Beginnings.” Engraved in Latin on the ring that hangs around the neck of series protagonist Nathan Drake, these four words have come to define Naughty Dog’s immensely popular Uncharted series. It’s a rather fitting catchphrase considering the franchise itself has grown significantly since its debut in 2008.
Whether it’s battling pirates in the depths of the Amazon Jungle or exploring hidden cities in the center of the Rub’ al Khali desert, Nathan Drake has had no shortage of daring adventures in the years following his PlayStation 3 debut. With so many entries in its universe, it’s easy to get lost deciphering Uncharted’s lengthy timeline. To help make sense of it, here’s a chronology of the full Uncharted game series, showing you the sequential order to play the games in.
Jump to:
Uncharted Games in (Chronological) Order
How Many Uncharted Games Are There?
There are 8 Uncharted Games: Five on home console, two on PlayStation Vita and one on mobile. We won’t include two of these games as they don’t tell original stories and thus don’t affect the canon of the Uncharted universe. The entries not included are the PlayStation Vita spin-off card game, Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, and the mobile puzzle tie-in, Uncharted: Fortune Hunter.
There are also additions to the Uncharted universe in other media, including comics and novels. While these are canon, the list below will only cover the timeline set out by the games. The same goes for the 2022 Uncharted movie, which takes place in a reimagined version of the Uncharted universe.
It’s also worth noting that Uncharted’s later entries often cycle back and add new lore to the beginning of Nathan Drake’s story. While Uncharted 3 and 4 flash back to the beginning of the timeline, we’ve judged their position on the list based on when the bulk of the story takes place.
Uncharted Games in Chronological Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.
1. Uncharted: Golden Abyss
The earliest adventure in the timeline and the first to reach a handheld console, PlayStation Vita’s Uncharted: Golden Abyss follows Nathan Drake’s journey to find the mythical city of Quivira.
Set in Panama a few years before Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the tale opens with Drake joining his former friend, Jason Dante, to help excavate a dig site. It doesn’t take long to figure out that Dante has a shady deal with the leader of a group of local revolutionaries, Robert Guerro. Learning about Dante’s secret agreement, Drake abandons the dig and sets off on a new quest, teaming with Dante’s former partner: a treasure hunter named Marisa Chase.
Forming a tentative alliance, Chase reveals to Drake that she possesses an amulet given to her by her grandfather before he mysteriously vanished. The amulet appears to be the key to an ancient mystery revolving around Quivira. With this knowledge, the pair attempt to find the city and uncover its lost secrets while avoiding Dante, Guerro and the militia at the pair’s disposal.
Taking place a couple of years later, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is the first mainline entry in the series, following Nate’s quest to track down the mythical city of El Dorado.
Beginning on a boat off the coast of Panama, Nate and ambitious reporter Elena Fisher find the coffin of famed adventurer and Nate’s alleged ancestor, Sir Francis Drake. Cracking it open, they discover the coffin doesn’t contain a body, but instead a diary documenting all of Francis Drake’s adventures. The final entry in the diary reveals that Francis Drake traveled to the Amazon Jungle in search of El Dorado; a city of untold riches.
Abandoning Elena back on shore, Drake and his partner Sully set off in search of the city, quickly learning they aren’t the only treasure hunters searching for it. Left stranded in the jungle after an explosive run-in with the villainous Gabriel Roman, Nate gets separated from Sully and reunites with Elena, beginning an adventure to defeat Roman and track down El Dorado.
Two years after his hunt for El Dorado, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sees Drake set out on a new adventure to find the legendary Cintamani Stone.
The story opens with Drake teaming with some old friends, Chloe Frazer and Harry Flynn, to steal a rare artifact from a museum in Istanbul. While raiding the museum, Drake and Flynn find a hidden map and learn the truth about a series of lost ships in Marco Polo’s fleet that never made it back to Persia. The historical explorer was using these ships to transport a rare object known as the Cintamani Stone from the mythical city of Shambala.
After their discovery, Flynn double-crosses Nate and steals the map, leaving him locked in a prison cell. Teaming with Chloe and Sully, Nate embarks on an adventure to track down Flynn, uncover the true mystery of Shambhala and find the Cintamani Stone. The trio’s journey takes them to Borneo, Nepal and the Himalayas, where they face a private army hellbent on securing the stone for their ruthless leader, Zoran Lazarević.
Set a further two years later, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is the franchise’s third mainline adventure. It focuses on Nathan Drake’s pursuit of the Atlantis of the Sands in the Rub’ al Khali desert.
The beginning of the story sees Nate and Sully lock horns with a mysterious villain named Katherine Marlowe, who is after a discovery once tracked down by Sir Francis Drake in Arabia. This discovery is the mythical Atlantis of the Sands; a lost city located deep in the Rub’ al Khali desert that’s said to house unimaginable treasures.
As he learns more about the city and Marlowe’s reasons for wanting to find it, Drake begins to realize the hidden metropolis houses dark secrets. Forced to face his demons and reflect on his past, Nate teams with Sully and Elena to defeat Marlowe and uncover the truth behind the Atlantis of the Sands.
Set three years after Drake’s Deception, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the epic conclusion to Nathan Drake’s adventures, acting as a send-off to the charismatic treasure hunter. It sees Nate team up with his long-lost brother, Sam, and chase after the missing treasure of legendary pirate captain, Henry Avery.
The story begins with a newly-retired Nathan Drake settling into a normal life with his wife, Elena. Everything changes when Sam, who seemingly died during a prison escape in Panama, returns and offers Nate one last job: hunt down Captain Avery’s lost treasure. Enticed by his desire to return to a life of adventure, Nate lies to Elena and joins Sam, embarking on a globe-trotting journey to recover the missing gold.
However, it doesn’t take long for things to go south, with Nate and Sam going up against a rival treasure hunter known as Rafe and his ruthless business partner, Nadine Ross. As the adventure continues, we learn more about Nate’s relationship with Sam, as the pair’s loyalty is tested. The game’s ending seemingly fully wraps up Nathan Drake’s role as the protagonist of Uncharted, although doesn’t shut the door entirely on continuations of the franchise not led by Nathan Drake.
A standalone spin-off, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy sees Chloe Frazer take up the role of lead protagonist, teaming with Uncharted 4 villain, Nadine Ross. The story follows the unlikely duo’s attempt to find and recover the long-lost Tusk of Ganesh.
Set in India, the story opens with Chloe embarking on a personal mission, wanting to finally secure the Tusk of Ganesh after her father died pursuing it many years ago. Along the way, she forms a tentative alliance with Nadine and is attacked by the imposing Asav, who is using an army of revolutionaries to find the tusk and incite civil war.
Utilizing a semi-open-world format, Lost Legacy shows Chloe and Nadine forming a strong friendship as they hunt down the tusk and attempt to stop Asav. The game closes on an interesting note, leaving the door open for future Uncharted games with Chloe, Nadine and other side characters as the leads.
Sony has yet to announce any new Uncharted games. The series’ popularity has recently reignited thanks to the release of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Edition, which brought Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy to PlayStation 5 and PC. However, it appears Naughty Dog is currently done with the franchise and has no intention of revisiting it in the foreseeable future.
In a recent interview with Buzzfeed, co-president of Naughty Dog Neil Druckmann stated that the studio has “moved on” from the franchise. That said, the story has left the door open for a sequel, so Naughty Dog or another studio could always revisit it in the future.
In the meantime, video games aren’t the only medium where we might see Uncharted reappear. The strong box office returns of Uncharted’s movie adaptation suggest we could see Tom Holland suit up as Nathan Drake for a sequel in the coming years.
It’s been a busy month at the box office, with John Wick: Chapter 4, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie making waves back-to-back-to-back. But what about at home? It’s Cocaine Bear season, of course, as the comedy thriller arrives on Peacock.
This week’s other new offerings include Netflix’s Last Kingdom movie Seven Kings Must Die, following up on the smash-hit series. There’s also the cult-hit horror movie Flux Gourmet on Hulu, the Ryan Kwanten (and briefly Scott Adkins) actioner Section 8 on Hulu, the Julia Roberts-George Clooney rom-com Ticket to Paradise on Prime,Zach Braff’s new feel-good movie on VOD, and plenty more.
Let’s dig into it.
New on Netflix
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Historical drama Run time: 1h 51m Director: Edward Bazalgette Cast: Alexander Dreymon, Harry Gilby, Mark Rowley
After five seasons of The Last Kingdom, adapted from Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories novels, the saga concludes with this movie, Seven Kings Must Die. Alexander Dreymon returns as Uhtred of Bebbanburg, hoping to unite England after the events of the fifth season.
Genre: Black comedy Run time: 1h 51m Director: Peter Strickland Cast: Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie, Ariane Labed
Acclaimed director Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric) returns with this fascinating drama set at a culinary institute. The trailer promises “sensory overload,” Strickland’s typical impeccable costuming and attention to detail, and the unsettling air you often find in his movies.
Genre: Action thriller Run time: 1h 38m Director: Christian Sesma Cast: Ryan Kwanten, Dolph Lundgren, Dermot Mulroney
True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten leads this action movie featuring an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Dermot Mulroney, Mickey Rourke, and Scott Adkins. Kwanten is Jake, a struggling former special forces soldier who is recruited by a secret organization after the tragic murders of his wife and son. As he gets entrenched in this secret organization, a deep conspiracy starts to unravel. The movie comes from prolific action director Christian Sesma, and features an incredible fight from Adkins.
New on Prime Video
Ticket to Paradise
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Universal Pictures
Genre: Romantic comedy Run time: 1h 44m Director: Ol Parker Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever
George Clooney and Julia Roberts star in this romantic comedy as a divorced couple who put aside their differences to work together with one goal in mind: stopping their lovestruck daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) from getting married and making the same “mistake” they did.
Genre: Comedy horror Run time: 1h 35m Director: Elizabeth Banks Cast: Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
The whole internet loves Cocaine Bear, or “Cokey,” the lovely bear who ate 70 pounds of cocaine that fell out of a plane into the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest… We regret to inform you that the bear has started killing and eating people.
New on Mubi
Dogville 4K restoration and Manderlay
Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi
Image: Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment
Genre: Drama Run time: 2h 58m Director: Lars von Trier Cast: Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany
While on its surface a crime/mob drama, Lars von Trier’s Dogville uses a minimalist, experimental approach on a stage to tell this story of a woman on the run (Nicole Kidman). It was a polarizing movie on release and now gets a 4K restoration (along with von Trier’s follow-up Manderlay) on Mubi.
Genre: Sci-fi/horror Run time: 1h 15m Director: Jason Eisener Cast: Dominic Mariche, Phoebe Rex, Calem MacDonald
Looking for some more ’80s throwback sci-fi horror with a requisite synthwave score à la Stranger Things? Well, take a gander at the new movie from Hobo With a Shotgun director Jason Eisener about a group of kids whose raucous slumber party takes a turn for the worse when bloodthirsty aliens descend on their quiet little suburb in a plot to take over Earth.
New on VOD
One Fine Morning
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Genre: Romantic drama Run time: 1h 52m Director: Mia Hansen-Løve Cast: Léa Seydoux, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud
Léa Seydoux (Crimes of the Future, Death Stranding) stars in this new romantic drama from Bergman Island director Mia Hansen-Løve as Sandra, a young widowed mother struggling to secure a decent nursing home for her ailing father (Pascal Greggory) while raising her 8-year-old daughter. Upon reconnecting with Clément (Melvil Poupaud), an old friend from her past, the two find themselves unmistakably drawn to one another — in spite of Clément’s marriage to another woman.
Emily
Where to watch: Available to rent for $5.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Biographical drama Run time: 2h 10m Director: Frances O’Connor Cast: Emma Mackey, Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
What inspired Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) to write Wuthering Heights, widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written in English? Frances O’Connor’s 2022 drama imagines an answer to that question, following a depiction of the iconic fiction writer as she struggles to cope with the loss of her mother and the gendered limitations of an era that constrict her freedom to write and create.
A Good Person
Where to watch: Available to rent for $19.99 on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Drama Run time: 2h 8m Director: Zach Braff Cast: Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Celeste O’Connor
Actor-director Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State) reunites with Morgan Freeman for his first feature-length directorial effort since 2017’s Going in Style. A Good Person follows Allison (Florence Pugh), a thriving young woman whose bright future turns into grief and sorrow in the wake of a tragic car accident. As her life and the lives of those she loves begin to unravel in the wake of this tragedy, Allison finds an unlikely friend in Daniel (Morgan Freeman) — her would-be father-in-law. Can these two learn to forgive one another, and themselves, in order to forge ahead to a future on the other side of tragedy?
With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom officially less than a month away, now is the perfect time to finally finish playing Breath of the Wild. While you can certainly move on to the sequel without finishing the first title, wouldn’t it feel good to reach the conclusion of the very best Legend of Zelda game before you do?
Completing this massive game is easier said than done, however. The average playthrough of just the main story can take about 50 hours, and that doesn’t even include all of the extra bits. Whether you’re coming back to an old save or starting the game anew, you’re likely going to need some help to finish the story in time for the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom release.
To help you on your quest through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, we recommend utilizing our expansive BotW Wiki Guide. Below are some key resources within our guide that can help speed up your playthrough.
Follow Our Breath of the Wild Walkthrough
One of the best aspects of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is how massive the open world is. You can pretty much run, climb, and swim anywhere you want shortly after you leave the Great Plateau. While this freedom is definitely core to the gameplay, it doesn’t necessarily help with streamlining the story. Because of this, we recommend referencing our Breath of the Wild Walkthrough for all of the main quests and challenges.
This will help guide you through the main storyline with everything you need, while also offering tips for important unavoidable battles like the Divine Beasts.
Use Our Interactive Map to Find Everything
Hyrule is enormous. There are a ton of different regions and locations for you to visit, with even more little things to discover. Although you don’t need to find everything to beat the game, the fights get a lot easier if you have the best weapons and armor. You’ll also need to complete Shrine quests to increase your hearts and stamina.
We don’t know everything about Tears of the Kingdom, but we do know that Link is heading back to Hyrule. That means that any characters or side plots from Breath of the Wild may end up being relevant again in the sequel. Because of this, we recommend checking out our exhaustive list of all Side Quests in BotW to find the ones you might have missed.
Obtain the Master Sword
Although you don’t actually need to get the Master Sword to defeat Ganon, it’s likely going to be an integral part of Tears of the Kingdom. We know from the trailers that the Master Sword is broken in the new game, and it was previously indestructible in Breath of the Wild. You can check out our guide on How to Get the Master Sword, which requires having completely full hearts.
None of the monsters in Breath of the Wild are particularly easy to fight. Throughout the game, you are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges from mostly avoidable enemies. The exception to this is the fights you have to have with Ganon to make your way through the story. Not only do you have to defeat different versions of him within each Divine Beast, you eventually have to defeat his final form to finish the story. For a full walkthrough, you can check out our guide on How to Destroy Ganon and finish the game.
If you need help fighting the different versions of Ganon to free the Divine beasts, you can also check out our guides for Vah Ruta, Vah Medoh, Vah Naboris, and Vah Rudania.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrives on May 12. You can already preorder the game ahead of time to make sure you can play it on day 1. Check out the latest trailer for the most recent gameplay footage:
Sega is reportedly close to acquiring Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment for about $1 billion.
According to Wall Street Journal, the deal between Sega and Rovio Entertainment is expected to finish early next week, provided that discussions between the two companies don’t fall apart or prolong.
Neither Sega nor Rovio has made an official announcement yet. Rovio was previously in talks to be acquired by Israeli mobile company Playtika for $800 million, but those negotiations ended last month. Sega has acquired a few companies over the past few years, including Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment, Two Point Campus developer Two Point Studios, and most notably Persona developer Atlus.
Angry Birds could soon be acquired by Sega for $1 billion. Photo credit: Matthias Nareyek / Getty Images
Angry Birds was first released in 2009 and is one of the most popular mobile games ever. Rovio Classics: Angry Birds was released in March 2022, which includes the original Angry Birds game with all chapters alongside all Easter eggs and extras at the time.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for April 14th, 2023. We’re doing the usual Friday business today, which means mopping up the remaining releases for the week and checking in on some hot sales. The highlight of the new release list today is Capcom’s excellent Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, but there are other interesting titles to consider as well. Let’s finish up the week!
New Releases
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 1 ($39.99)
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 2 ($39.99)
If you’re forty or over, the name Mega Man likely conjures up the likes of Mega Man 2 or Mega Man X. But if you’re around thirty, I suspect you connect that name with a highly successful series of Game Boy Advance RPGs and the animated series based on them. Now for the first time ever, we’ve got collections of those games. The first three are on the first set and the remaining three are on the second set, including all of the variants of each. Just the Game Boy Advance versions, mind you. Don’t expect the Nintendo DS version of 5. Anyway, the games have been given a number of enhancements, and you can look forward to all the details when I post my review of them early next week.
Castle of the Underdogs Ep1 ($9.99)
Lots of indie RPGs recently. Well, here’s another one. It uses a voxel-ish style for some of its graphics but not all of them. Structurally it follows the turn-based RPG style of games like Suikoden or Final Fantasy X, and it leans hard into comedy. That’s always a risky bet, but let’s see how that plays out for them. At the very least, it seems to have had a warm reception over on Steam since its initial release there in 2021. Will there be an episode two? It… might be a bit. So savor the flavor if it’s one you favor.
Contract Killer ($11.99)
A quirky beat-em-up where the main characters are all writing utensils for some reason. Up to four players can join in via local multiplayer, and there are unlockable characters and various modes to enjoy. Really odd, but it’s decent enough to play. I’d imagine if you can get enough people together this would be a real hoot. Yes, I call things hoots. I’m getting old.
IGS Classic Arcade Collection ($29.99)
Well, this is the heartbreak of the day for sure. International Games System is a Taiwanese game publisher who mainly put out arcade games on a NEOGEO-like multi-game system back in the late 90s and 00s but is still kicking around these days doing various things. Its games are not the best of the best, but they’re quite good and their obscurity makes them qualify as that most dreaded of term, “hidden gems”, for most. This collects eight of those games and even features online play, so it seems like a winner. Unfortunately, the emulation has some major issues including frame skipping and messed-up audio, and the display options don’t allow you to use the proper aspect ratio for most of the included games. If it gets patched, this is an easy recommendation. Otherwise, and I truly hate to say this, give it a pass.
Puzzle by Nikoli S Shikaku ($4.99)
Another unique, clever puzzle game from the folks at Hamster. In this one, you need to divide each puzzle into rectangles or squares, each one containing a single number and a corresponding amount of cells. I imagine many people are sleeping on these Nikoli puzzle games because of how plain they look, but they really are some of the finest, most original logic puzzles on the eShop. This is a fine addition to the line-up.
Ultra Pixel Survive ($4.99)
This game makes me nostalgic for the days where everyone was rushing for those Minecraft bucks but mobile devices weren’t quite where they needed to be power-wise so everyone did 2D takes. And yes, as it turns out, this is also available on mobile devices. Anyway, it’s about what you would expect or remember when someone asks you to imagine a completely average Minecraft-style game in 2D. For a fiver, that’s probably enough.
Mixx Island: Remix Plus ($13.99)
Hmm. This is around four or five bucks on Steam, and I’m not sure what’s been added to make it cost three times as much on Switch. The thing is, at around a fiver this would be a decent enough little boss rush run-and-gun game. At fourteen bucks… no, this just isn’t substantial enough to hang with the competition at that price tier. An okay enough game, at least. You can have fun with it.
Bugvasion TD ($9.99)
Yet another tower defense game, but this one has a neat twist thanks to its premise, which sees alien-possessed insects attacking your house. That means all of the environments are the usual household locations, and you are like a giant next to the invading waves of foes. In addition to the usual defenses, you can also unleash some slightly silly but thematically appropriate super moves like stomping with your feet and such. I’m pretty tapped out on this kind of game, but if you’re not then you might get a kick out of this one.
TAPE: Unveil the Memories ($19.99)
This narrative horror adventure game came out around a year ago on other platforms, and the general response wasn’t excessively good or bad. The gimmick is that you have to use a special video camera to move objects through time in order to solve puzzles. Be there monsters? There be. A solid premise and compelling enough story that ultimately are let down a bit by the puzzles and enemy encounters getting a little too rote too quickly.
Farm Slider ($4.99)
If you’re going to take on a well-trodden concept, at least make it look good. And that’s more or less what we’ve got here. You get forty-eight sliding tile puzzles to play. Move the tiles around until the farm matches the target picture, and away you go. Nothing new under the sun with this one, but it’s cute and affordable.
Lost Dream Darkness ($4.99)
Play as a dark-looking fox-like creature in this atmospheric game. It’s about twenty minutes long all-up and there’s really nothing to it but walking around and heading towards your destination. Not for me, but surely for someone.
Drone Master Racing ($5.99)
The idea in this game is that you have to pilot your drone through all the checkpoints as fast as you can without wrecking it. The description mentions competing against other players, but you have to take turns playing. No simultaneous racing. There are a few secrets in play here, so some effort was made to add extra things to do. This is another one that doesn’t do a whole lot for me, but I’m just some clown writing words on the internet.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Not as big of a batch of new sales as I was expecting, with a lot of the usual suspects at the usual discounts. I’ve pulled out some of the more interesting ones for this list, and I’ll just let you go ahead and look through that on your own. As far as the outbox goes, Team 17’s latest sale is finishing up. Those sales will be around again in a month or so, but if you want to play them now, the time to grab them is now.
Select New Games on Sale
Pawarumi($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/17) Sunrise GP($13.49 from $14.99 until 4/21) Slime Rancher: Plortable ($12.49 from $24.99 until 4/25) Time on Frog Island($8.49 from $24.99 until 4/25) Monster Harvest ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/25) The Lightbringer($4.49 from $14.99 until 4/25) Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX ($6.79 from $19.99 until 4/25) Cubers: Arena ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/27) Dicey Dungeons($4.99 from $14.99 until 4/27) Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break($2.99 from $29.99 until 4/28) Pankapu($2.39 from $11.99 until 4/28) Old School Musical($3.89 from $12.99 until 4/28) PictoQuest($3.49 from $9.99 until 4/28) Piczle Cross Adventure ($3.99 from $9.99 until 4/28) Alt-Frequencies ($2.39 from $7.99 until 4/28)
Accidental Queens Collection ($4.49 from $14.99 until 4/28) Ashwalkers($12.99 from $19.99 until 4/28) A Normal Lost Phone($2.03 from $5.99 until 4/28) Another Lost Phone Laura’s Story($2.03 from $5.99 until 4/28) Lost Phone Stories ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/28) Mech Armada ($11.99 from $19.99 until 4/28) Linelight($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/28) Rustler($2.99 from $29.99 until 4/28) NeuroVoider($3.49 from $13.99 until 4/28) ScourgeBringer($8.49 from $16.99 until 4/28) Alba: A Wildlife Adventure ($8.99 from $19.99 until 4/28) Iris and the Giant ($7.49 from $14.99 until 4/28) Knights of Pen & Paper Bundle ($5.62 from $22.49 until 4/28) Old School RPG Bundle ($8.99 from $29.99 until 4/28) Astria Ascending ($23.99 from $39.99 until 4/28)
Guild of Ascension($10.19 from $16.99 until 4/28) The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: TAoC ($23.99 from $39.99 until 4/28) Instant Sports ($5.99 from $14.99 until 4/28) Cassiodora($12.74 from $16.99 until 4/28) They Always Run ($14.99 from $19.99 until 4/28) Souldiers($14.99 from $19.99 until 4/28) Cris Tales($7.99 from $39.99 until 4/28) Raiden IV x Mikado Remix ($14.99 from $29.99 until 4/28) Raiden V: Director’s Cut ($8.99 from $29.99 until 4/28) Void Scrappers ($3.19 from $3.99 until 5/4) Fates of Ort($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/4) Sable’s Grimoire: Dragon’s Treasure ($4.79 from $5.99 until 5/4) Kao the Kangaroo Bundle ($18.14 from $32.99 until 5/4) Antigravity Racing ($2.96 from $8.99 until 5/4) Pachi Pachi on a Roll ($2.09 from $6.99 until 5/4) Pachi Pachi 2 on a Roll($2.39 from $7.99 until 5/4) Samurai Maiden Deluxe ($59.99 from $74.99 until 5/4)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone ($9.99 from $19.99 until 4/15) Dark Fantasy: Jigsaw Puzzle($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15) Dark Fantasy: Jigsaw Puzzle 2($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15) Deep Space Shooter ($2.79 from $3.99 until 4/15) Gang Beasts($14.99 from $29.99 until 4/15) Golazo 2 Pixel Soccer ($12.78 from $15.98 until 4/15) Mokoko X ($4.59 from $11.49 until 4/15) Mudness Offroad Car Simulator ($1.99 from $14.99 until 4/15) Passpartout: The Starving Artist ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/15) Automachef($2.99 from $14.99 until 4/16) Bounce Journey ($1.99 from $2.99 until 4/16) Crown Trick ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) Epic Chef($6.24 from $24.99 until 4/16) Golf With Your Friends ($5.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) King of Seas ($4.99 from $24.99 until 4/16)
Modern Combat Blackout ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) Monster Sanctuary ($6.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) Moving Out ($6.24 from $24.99 until 4/16) My Time at Portia($7.49 from $29.99 until 4/16) Neon Abyss ($6.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) Orn: The Tiny Forest Sprite ($2.20 from $8.99 until 4/16) Out of the Box ($5.99 from $14.99 until 4/16) Overcooked 2 ($6.24 from $24.99 until 4/16) Raging Justice ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/16) The Survivalists($6.24 from $24.99 until 4/16) Worms Rumble ($2.99 from $14.99 until 4/16) Worms WMD ($5.99 from $29.99 until 4/16) Yooka-Laylee & the Impossible Lair($5.99 from $29.99 until 4/16)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases including Advance Wars 1 & 2: Re-Boot Camp and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, plus more reviews, sales, and perhaps even the odd bit of news. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
Diablo IV is still a couple of months away, but Blizzard is already stomping down some of the game’s most popular classes ahead of its June 6 release date. The studio posted a new blog on its website reflecting on the game’s recent beta, and shared what’s basically a full set of patch notes it will implement ahead of Diablo IV’s launch. While there aren’t a lot of hard numbers to go off of, you can at least get a sense of where some of the game’s character classes will be by the time fans get to play them again.
8 Minutes Of Diablo IV’s Character Creator
What is Blizzard doing to my precious baby angel Necromancer?
At the end of March, Blizzard said Necromancers and Sorcerers were the most popular classes among beta players. This was especially significant for Necromancer, as the class was only available during one of the game’s two test periods, while the Sorcerer was available for both. Kotaku’s own Levi Winslow used Necromancer most, and said the class was “truly busted” thanks to its ability to revive dead skeletons to fight alongside them. While Blizzard’s new blog says these dead minions will die more often, there are no specific numbers or any mention of a smaller skeletal headcount being forced upon players. The developer notes the dead’s increased vulnerability will make raising them “a more active component” in playing the Necromancer, rather than something you can just set and forget.
The Sorcerer’s debuffs seem less all-encompassing, with Chain Lightning dealing less damage and specifically reduced effectiveness against boss characters. But beyond that, the class is getting some buffs with abilities like Charged Bolt and an increased Lucky Hit chance for Meteor Skill’s Enchantment bonus.
While players will be getting some changes in the final game, some enemies will, as well. The Butcher, an enemy who gave some players a tough time during the beta, may be getting some kind of rework before the game launches. The blog states that the team has “re-evaluated” the enemy for difficulty, and it will “present a greater challenge in World Tiers III and IV.” So it sounds like it might become easier on lower difficulties, but even harder on higher ones.
What’s happening in the Diablo IV pre-release patch notes?
Beyond balance changes, Blizzard is also tweaking Diablo IV’s dungeon layouts to avoid backtracking, which it says was a common complaint during the betas. Here is the full list of patch notes for those curious:
Dungeon Layouts
One of the most common pieces of feedback Blizzard received is that players felt they were doing a lot of backtracking within certain dungeons. The team has optimized multiple dungeons across all zones to minimize the need for backtracking. Here is a list of dungeons specifically in the Fractured Peaks zone which received layout updates:
Caldera Gate
Defiled Catacombs
Derelict Lodge
Forbidden City
Hoarfrost Demise
Immortal Emanation
Kor Dragan Barracks
Maulwood
Rimescar Caverns
Developer’s Note: Our primary goal with the Layout changes was to reduce certain kinds of backtracking which detract from a player’s experience. An example of this change is that players previously needed to enter side rooms to interact with Structure Objectives, causing them to retread the same path. Now, many of our Structure Objectives have been repositioned along main dungeon pathways, making them easier for players to reach and allowing them to readily explore the dungeon after defeating the Structure.
Dungeon Events
The chance for an Event to spawn inside of a dungeon has increased from 10% to 60%.
Dungeon Gameplay
To reduce the need to backtrack, small numbers of straggling monsters will seek out the player to help complete the Kill All Monsters objective.
When Animus is gathered, the player and nearby allies will:
Gain 10 Resource.
Reduce all active Cooldowns by 1 second.
Depositing Animus channel time was reduced from 3 to 0 seconds.
The time to Rescue was reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds.
All Rescue objectives now drop a Health Potion upon completion.
While carrying the Ancient’s Statue, Bloodstone, Mechanical Box, or Stone Carving, you will receive a Momentum bonus granting a 25% move speed increase to you and nearby allies.
Pedestals have had their channel time reduced from 2 to 0 seconds.
Returning a Portable Object to its Pedestal now fully restores Health, Resource, Potions, and resets cooldowns for all nearby players.
All doors will now generate a minimap ping when they are opened.
All Structure Objectives in dungeons now have additional combat mechanics players must overcome.
Developer’s Note: While our dungeons offer a variety of Objectives to complete, player feedback stated that the action of completing each Objective felt tedious. We hope that providing bonuses, such as the increase to mobility while carrying certain Objective items, will streamline and vary the experience of completing Objectives. This adjustment is merely a starting point, and we intend to extend this philosophy to keys in a future update.
General
Effects like Stun and Freeze can be applied to Elite Monsters twice as long before they become Unstoppable.
Reviewed class skills to confirm that all classes have access to sufficient skills that remove control impairing effects.
Many Legendary Powers have had updates to their effectiveness.
Barbarian
A flat 10% passive damage reduction has been added for the Barbarian Class. Some Skill Tree passives had their damage reduction effects reduced to compensate.
The Whirlwind Skill now deals more damage and consumes more Fury.
The Double Swing Skill Enhancement refunds its full Fury cost when used on Stunned or Knocked Down enemies.
Druid
Companion Skills will now deal heavily increased damage.
All Ultimate Skills have had their cooldowns reduced.
Usability improvements have been made to Maul and Pulverize.
Using a non-Shapeshifting Skill will transform a Druid back into their human form.
Necromancer
Summoned Minions will die more often, requiring players to utilize Corpses more often.
Many bonuses in the Book of the Dead have had their stats increased.
The damage dealt by the Corpse Explosion skill has been reduced.
The brightness of the Skeletal Warriors and Mages has been reduced.
Rogue
Upgrades for Subterfuge Skills have had their bonuses increased.
Multiple passive Skills have had their bonuses increased.
All Imbuement Skills have had their cooldowns increased.
Sorcerer
Charged Bolt’s damage was increased and the Mana cost to cast has decreased.
Decreased the damage of Chain Lightning and reduced its effectiveness against Bosses.
Decreased the cooldown for the Incinerate Skill’s Enchantment bonus.
Firewalls will now spawn underneath enemies more frequently when using its Enchantment bonus.
Increased the Lucky Hit chance for the Meteor Skill’s Enchantment bonus.
Developer’s Note: Whenever we introduce changes to our Classes, it is with the goal of making both them and their Skills feel impactful and powerful—your feedback has helped us uphold this ideal. Some players have adeptly noticed that certain Skills were too powerful. One of our goals for Skills is to have them be interesting to wield and interactive in terms of itemization and combat feel. We’ve made some changes to help in this regard, with one example being the Necromancer’s Minions. We’ve made a change that makes them more vulnerable in combat, which will make raising the dead a more active component of the Necromancer’s gameplay. Launch is just the first step of our Class balance journey, and you can expect further updates that iterate on this pillar of Diablo IV.
UI
Fixed an issue where the built-in Screen Reader was not reading key prompts, game options details, and other UI text.
Fixed an issue where actions could not be bound to the mouse wheel.
Fixed an issue where Evade couldn’t be bound to the right Analog Stick on controller.
Chat will now display on the left side of the screen when using the centered action bar configuration.
A character’s stats will be displayed by default when players click the Materials & Stats button within their Inventory.
The Move and Interact inputs can now be mapped to one button while the Primary Attack input is mapped to a secondary button.
The sans serif font used in-game has been replaced with a new serif font.
Encounters
Fixed multiple issues that allowed bosses, like the Butcher, to become unresponsive.
The Butcher has been re-evaluated for difficulty and will present a greater challenge in World Tiers III and IV.
Bosses such as T’chort, Malnok, Vhenard, and others were reevaluated for melee character difficulty, resulting in changes to attacks and fight mechanics.
Fixed an issue where Vampire Brutes using the Shadow Enchant affix would chain-cast Impale.
Cellars
Increased the chance for a dungeon Event to occur in Cellars.
Cellars will now consistently reward a chest upon completion.
Fixed an issue where Cellars would prematurely be marked as complete.
Fixed an issue where the guaranteed elite monster would be absent from a Cellar.
General quality of life
Fixed an issue where players could increase attack speed by move-cancelling attacks early.
Fixed an issue where characters weren’t immune and untargetable after loading into an area.
The Reset Dungeon button has been disabled.
Fixed an issue that caused Gale Valley and Serac Rapture to have less monsters than intended until the campaign quests in those territories were completed.
Sega parent company Sega Sammy Holdings is nearing a deal to purchase Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish mobile game maker behind Angry Birds, in a deal worth $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. That deal could be completed next week, the Journal said.
Rovio is best known for Angry Birds, the physics puzzle game that launched on iOS in 2009. Rovio has delivered multiple sequels, spinoffs, and tie-ins with other brands, including Star Wars, Transformers, and the animated movie Rio. Sega and Rovio also teamed up in 2015 to bring Sonic the Hedgehog characters to Angry Birds Epic, a turn-based RPG. An animated series and two feature films were also released using Angry Birds characters.
Angry Birds’ global success hasn’t translated to Rovio’s other games, which include action-role-playing game Darkfire Heroes and colorful matching games Small Town Murders and Sugar Blast. Sega’s current mobile game lineup includes a variety of Sonic the Hedgehog running games and retro games from the Sega Genesis era.
If the Sega-Rovio deal goes through, it would be yet another billion-dollar mobile game studio acquisition from a major game publisher. In 2021, Electronic Arts acquired Glu Mobile and Playdemic for $2.1 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively. In 2022, Take-Two Interactive spent a whopping $12.7 billion on Zynga. Microsoft hopes to complete its acquisition of Candy Crush maker King this year, as part of its $68.7 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard.
In the wake of a massive hype wave following the latest The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer, Nintendo has seemingly ratched up the number of rogue copyright claims it puts out against content creators on Youtube, and at least one of them is hitting back. In his latest video, Eric “PointCrow” Morino pleaded with Nintendo to leave his channel alone after it recently issued dozens of additional claims against his videos.
Skyward Sword HD Revisits The Stumble That Led To Breath Of The Wild
“Please remove these strikes and claims or at least start a dialogue with us so we can all move forward with the excitement I’m sure you would love to see about your future games,” Morino said in a video to Nintendo posted on YouTube on April 14 that he said was vetted by his lawyer. The request comes after the Switch manufacturer apparently doubled down on issuing copyright claims and strikes against Morino’s channel, increasing the total number to 28, including ones against older videos that had nothing to do with Breath of the Wild, like one about Wii Sports.
Nintendo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nintendo first began targeting the Zelda speedrunner’s YouTube channel on April 6 after he uploaded footage of a Breath of the Wild multiplayer mod he commissioned and released to the public. Despite making videos featuring challenge runs and other modded content for years, it appeared to be the first time Nintendo signaled it took any sort of issue with the content. Morino posted about it on Twitter at the time, criticizing the move and calling on the publisher to reverse its decision.
He now says Nintendo has done the opposite, proceeding to copyright claim over 20 additional videos spanning his entire content making career. While most of them included the word “mod” in the title, at least one contained just vanilla gameplay with commentary. “These takedowns may have started with modded content, but they’ve spiraled into something else entirely,” Morino said in his latest video.
On April 23, another Zelda Youtuber, Croton, said 10 of their streams and two of their videos were “nuked” from the platform. “No answers, no context, just a copyright removal,” they tweeted. “And one of these videos has literally nothing to do with mods and was simply a Zelda challenge run.”
In his own video, Morino accuses Nintendo of flouting its content creator guidelines to target him, and defends his modded Breath of the Wild runs, which have collectively garnered tens of millions of views and helped maintain excitement around a game that’s now six years old. “To be clear I have never encouraged piracy of Nintendo’s games,” he said. “The mods I’ve commissioned are not being sold, and all of the code is custom, meaning they are free of Nintendo’s assets.”
At the exact time when many content creators are gearing up for a massive influx of interest from fans and viewers ahead of the release of Tears of the Kingdom next month, Morino’s now weary of making content for the game at all, lest the arbitrary copyright claims continue. “This is a little scary because the precedent that they set with this case may apply heavily for their upcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” he said. “As per their decisions to take down challenge and gameplay videos alongside the modded content it will be difficult for any content creator to post creative concepts without having the fear of Nintendo exercising their copyright over video that is in line with their own policies.”
Morino initially planned to appeal the copyright claims, defending his videos on fair use grounds, but he now says those legal efforts could cost millions and could jeopardize the future of his over 1.6 million subscriber YouTube channel. He recently tweeted, “it’s hard to become excited for Tears of the Kingdom when the Zelda community is being nuked off YouTube.”
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is one of the best deals in gaming, and today you can subscribe for less. Right now, you can pick up a one-month subscription for just $3, down from its usual $15. The caveat here is that existing subscribers are ineligible, and the codes are not stackable. To redeem the code, you need to be a new member or have an expired account.
Even with those caveats, this is still solid deal, especially since Microsoft recently stopped offering its own deal on your first month of Game Pass Ultimate. For a long time, new Game Pass subscribers could get their first month for only $1. If you subscribe on the Xbox Store today, you’ll have to pay the standard $15 rate.
It’s important to stress that it’s not possible to get around “no stacking” stipulation. All codes purchased through StackCommerce must be redeemed within 30 days, so you’ll have to circle back after your month is up to see if you can still cash in on some savings. Keep in mind that after redeeming any Game Pass codes, Microsoft signs you up for automatic renewals at $15 per month, so make sure to cancel that if you don’t want to be on the hook for future months.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes more than access to hundreds of games on your console, and you’ll also benefit from EA Play, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and a PC Game Pass membership–allowing you to game on your smartphone, console, or PC.
The last couple of weeks have been pretty nice to Game Pass subscribers. MLB The Show 23 and Ghostwire: Tokyo landed on the service on their respective launch days. Meanwhile, there are multiple notable titles arriving in the coming weeks, including Minecraft Legends on April 18 and Redfall on May 2.
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This week was packed with Redfall backlash, PlayStation Plus announcements and massive hype over new looks at Tears of the Kingdom and Final Fantasy 16. Let’s recap.
On Wednesday, April 12, Redfall developer Arkane Austin confirmed the upcoming vampire-hunting adventure will launch with Quality Mode only on Xbox Series X|S. This means that the game will be hard-locked to 30 frames per second as a high resolution is prioritized; 4K on Xbox Series X and 1440p on Xbox Series S.
The dev went on to reveal that the game will receive a Performance mode option in a later update, but unfortunately a release window was not given.
The news caused huge discussions across the web that ranged from civil conversations to toxic behavior and console war baiting.
But regardless of which threads you pay attention to, the major takeaway is that performance mode is generally favored amongst gamers, especially for fast-paced shooters. This echoed in a poll from Jeff Grubb as well as the comment section to a GameSpot News episode in which I asked about quality vs performance before this news was revealed.
At this point in the lifecycle of the Series consoles, 60 frames per second feels like the new standard. Is 30 frames the end of the world? No. Will it make a fun game boring? No. However it is a bummer to know you own what is marketed as the most powerful console, yet you’re locked at last-gen frame rate for the time being on a major first party AAA release.
However it’s important to keep in mind that game dev is complicated and the scope of the sandbox that Redfall takes place in could be one of the reasons why resolution is being favored over frame rate. In a previous interview, creative director Harvey Smith also mentioned that the game was developed under COVID-19 pandemic challenges and frequent power outages.
If you’ve had your eye on Redfall, hit the comments and let me know if you’re still excited for the game’s release in May or if the latest updates on it have killed your enthusiasm.
For those of you that only have a PlayStation, you weren’t going to be playing Redfall anyway, so what can you play soon? This week Sony announced the addition of 16 games to its PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. Headlining the new selection for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, 2022’s delightful action-adventure in which you take on shaman duties and grow a small tribe of adorable creatures to help you solve puzzles.
Following a delay, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is finally set to release on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on May 25 in a standard edition and an aptly-named “Precious edition” that includes a few extra goodies. It’s also releasing on Switch at a later date. If you know you want to head back to Middle-earth, Lord of the Rings: Gollum preorders are available now at Amazon.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a brand new LOTR adventure that sees players exploring the world of Middle-earth through the eyes of the nefarious Gollum with gameplay focused on stealth and agility instead of combat.
Here’s everywhere you can preorder The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, plus all the pre-purchase bonuses available.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Preorder Bonuses
All The Lord of the Rings: Gollum preorders include a pack of six exclusive in-game emotes for Gollum. The bonus comes with physical and digital copies of the standard and Precious editions.
If you simply want the game, you can preorder the game for $60 at major retailers. You can also pre-purchase digital copies at storefronts, including Steam. Unlike the console versions, Gollum for PC only costs $50.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has one version for Xbox platforms (works on both Xbox Series X and Xbox One). But like a lot of other games, there are separate PS5 and PS4 disc versions. If you get the PS4 disc, you’ll be able to play on both PS4 and PS5. Naturally, the PS5 disc doesn’t work on PS4.
Players who want to immerse themselves deeper into The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s vision of Middle-earth can grab the digital-only Precious Edition on PS4, PS5, Xbox, for $70 and PC for $60. This version includes the base game plus an “Art Expedition” app that contains more than 100 sketches and other behind-the-scenes details, a lore compendium, and an official soundtrack featuring music from the game. There is also a Sindarin voice-over DLC expansion that adds Elvish dialogue spoken in authentic Sindarin, one of the languages JRR Tolkien created for the series.
The action takes place during The Fellowship of the Ring storyline, although instead of following Frodo and friends, we’ll be treated to a story told solely through the eyes of Gollum.
Since Gollum isn’t well-versed with a sword or bow, you’ll find yourself slinking around in shadows instead of jumping headfirst into battle. The gangly creature excels at clambering around in the nooks and crannies of each level, and you’ll need to be careful about each step if you don’t want to be noticed. There are also a bunch of narrative sequences that can change the game based on your choice of dialogue. The Lord of the Ring: Gollum arrives on May 25, so we don’t have much longer to wait before we can go hands-on with the latest LOTR video game.
In the meantime, take a look at our list of the best Lord of the Rings games of all time. We’ll know soon if Gollum’s adventure joins the list.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum 7 Things We Learned
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You can preorder Pikmin 4 for just $49 from Super Shop (normally $60). Pikmin 4 preorders are already discounted to $55 on Super Shop, but using the GameSpot exclusive promo code GMSPTPIK at checkout drops the price down to $49.
Saving $11 on your Pikmin 4 preorder at Super Shop is a great deal, but there is one caveat: unlike preorders from some other retailers, you won’t receive your order on release day (July 21). Luckily, Super Shop offers fast and free shipping, and all orders will be shipped on launch day–so you won’t have to wait very long to start playing.
If you know you won’t be able to wait an extra day or two, our Pikmin 4 preorder guide details all the ways you can buy your copy of the game before launch. Of course, you’ll have to pay full price, but that extra cash may be worth it to some.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
The wait is nearly over. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally hits the Switch on May 14, 2023. Three epic trailers plus a look at some gameplay have only made us even more excited to finally dive into the next chapter in Nintendo’s adventure series. This time around, Link has a number of sweet new abilities. One of them is a clever take on crafting, which the game calls “Fuse.”
Link’s new “Fuse” and “Ultrahand” abilities, as teased in trailers and fully explained in a gameplay deep dive on March 28, is actually a pretty sweet crafting system. Instead of just following preset recipes for crafting, players will be able to combine all manner of unique objects they find around Hyrule to forge makeshift weaponry, Mad Max-worthy vehicles, and who knows what else? Footage so far has shown the ability to create custom designs with simulated physics like buoyancy and air propulsion. Other examples show off weapon upgrades that trigger status effects like freezing.
With such a versatile system, the sky’s the limit for what you might be able to craft come May 12. To give you some idea of just how handy Link can get, we’ve cataloged everything we’ve seen our hero Fuse thus far. You’ll see he’s actually very handy.
For Xbox owners, the wait is finally over to play Tango Gameworks’ 2022 release, Ghostwire: Tokyo. This release comes alongside the game’s newest update, the Spider’s Thread, which I was super excited to try out.
As something of a Game Pass subscriber myself, Ghostwire: Tokyo’s release on Xbox serves as the perfect opportunity give it a go. It’s hard to shell out that $60 or $70 dollars on a game before trying it out, so it being included in a subscription I’ve already got is a huge plus. Plus, quick resume on my Series S makes jumping in and out of the game a breeze, which might come in handy for a game as open and diverse as Ghostwire.
Image via Bethesda Softworks
From what I’ve gotten to play in the time since the game’s release on Game Pass, I really enjoy Ghostwire: Tokyo. It’s a fun take on the first-person shooter, while staying modern with the layout of the open world and map, and keeping to the trend of having a sentient sidekick. The combat is interesting — admittedly the grinding does get old after a time — but the map is so large and interesting to explore, combat doesn’t have to be the sole focus.
As a new player, I actually found myself almost overwhelmed with everything there was to experience in the city. The Spider’s Thread update brings a new area to explore, as well as a few new side missions, and even just trying to find the new Middle School on the map is a challenge because of all the different missions and collectibles there already are. This content is more for someone who loved the game and wants 100 percent completion, but there was so much to do before the update that much of the new content falls between the cracks for me.
I didn’t get a chance to play Ghostwire on PlayStation, and my PC most likely wouldn’t do it much justice, so I’m playing this for the first time on Xbox. While I am enjoying the atmosphere and overall lore of the game, I do wonder just how different it feels on another system. Even with some fiddling in the controls, the combat doesn’t seem as smooth as it looked from what I’ve seen.
Image via Bethesda Softworks
While playing Ghostwire, I also found the traversal to be a bit clunky. Things like glides starting a beat after I press the A button and not being able to judge key distances for jumps. During the main story it was just a little inconvenient, but in The Spider’s Thread it might lose me the whole run. That’s where I’d use that nifty quick resume feature again after I have to put the game down to cool off.
You have to complete the second chapter of the story before you unlock the mode, which makes sense for the game because you need to know why you have the powers. For me, it was to get enough time under my belt to get nice and comfy with all the controls. The left trigger being the interact button, while also acting like every other left trigger in a first-person shooter? That took some time to get used to, but I still zoom in on bags of food instead of picking them up all the time.
Having 120 stages to randomly choose 30 from means that playing the Spider’s Thread is an entirely unique experience every time I go back in. The enemies are constantly changing, and the goal isn’t always just to fight my way through, so there’s plenty of variety to entice new players like myself, as well as someone who’s played before.
Image via Bethesda Softworks
Unlike some of the more bullet-hell-style roguelike games like Hades or Enter the Gungeon, Spider’s Thread doesn’t rely solely on combat and filling the screen with countless enemies. Instead, it takes a more diversified approach and challenges players to use all of the skills that they have learned so far. Alongside some combat oriented levels, there are some that where you have to absorb a certain number of souls, answer questions correctly, grapple and glide to far-off objectives or beat time trials.
The optional challenges serve as incentive to try new methods of beating levels as well, because you are healthily rewarded with currency to spend on improving your stats after completing them. You’ll also find some Nekomata along the way that reward you for returning them to the Cat’s Paw: the shop level that you arrive at periodically.
While having all this diversity is enjoyable, after a few runs with varying success and failure, the mode left me longing to go back and play the main story instead. A great deal of the levels started to feel reused and repetitious, and I felt the main story to be more engaging than that of the Spider’s Thread.
Image via Bethesda Softworks
That isn’t to say that I dislike the Spider’s Thread mode at all. For the people who enjoyed the combat but finished the main story and still wanted a linear excuse to play the game, it’s a great fit and plays perfectly into the strengths of Ghostwire: Tokyo. As a new player, I found myself more compelled to play the main game and use the Spider’s Web to supplement my skills and abilities.
The Spider’s Thread update comes with great new content, and previous players have plenty to explore in the Middle School and new side missions. Maybe you didn’t like the having to grind for XP, but now it’s a fully dedicated game mode. For Game Pass subscribers, Ghostwire: Tokyo coming to the platform is the perfect opportunity to try the game if you never got a chance.
This week on All Things Nintendo, Brian is joined by Kyle Hilliard to discuss the final pre-launch trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Before that, we play catch-up on all the biggest Nintendo news from the past few weeks.
If you’d like to follow Brian on social media, you can do so on his Instagram @BrianPShea. You can follow Kyle on Twitter: @KyleMHilliard.
The All Things Nintendo podcast is a weekly show where we can celebrate, discuss, and break down all the latest games, news, and announcements from the industry’s most recognizable name. Each week, Brian is joined by different guests to talk about what’s happening in the world of Nintendo. Along the way, they’ll share personal stories, uncover hidden gems in the eShop, and even look back on the classics we all grew up with. A new episode hits every Friday!
00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:18 – Pokémon Stadium Now on Switch 00:05:31 – Kyle’s Mario Movie Thoughts (Minor Spoilers) 00:09:22 – Mario Movie Box Office Numbers 00:11:13 – The Success of Mario Movie’s “Peaches” Song 00:16:24 – Mario Movie Physical Soundtrack Available for Preorder 00:17:34 – Sonic Origins Plus Announced 00:23:06 – Sonic Frontiers First Free Content Update 00:24:52 – Super Bomberman R 2 Release Date 00:26:06 – Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters Features 00:31:36 – The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Trailer Reaction 00:59:07 – Definitive Ranking: Mario Kart Items 01:07:28 – eShop Gem of the Week: Bad North
If you’d like to get in touch with the All Things Nintendo podcast, you can email AllThingsNintendo@GameInformer.com, messaging Brian on Instagram (@BrianPShea), or by joining the official Game Informer Discord server. You can do that by linking your Discord account to your Twitch account and subscribing to the Game Informer Twitch channel. From there, find the All Things Nintendo channel under “Community Spaces.”
For Game Informer’s other podcast, be sure to check out The Game Informer Show with host Alex Van Aken, which covers the weekly happenings of the video game industry!
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