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There’s no denying that it’s been a great week to be an Xbox owner. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax, which brings all of Bethesda’s games and studios to Xbox, we got a load of Bethesda games on Xbox Game Pass. Days later Microsoft announced that Square Enix’s promising shooter Outriders would be arriving on Xbox Game Pass (console and Cloud) on the day it releases, a bunch of Bethesda titles were given 60fps support on Series X|S, and we got news of another wave of Game Pass titles which includes Octopath Traveller, Undertale, and more....

Microsoft has officially confirmed that Xbox Live, the network in use by Xbox consoles and Windows 10, will be known as Xbox network (yes, with a lowercase ‘N’) going forward. The platform holder told The Verge that it’s doing this in order to “distinguish the underlying service from Xbox Live Gold memberships.” This follows Xbox users noticing the new Xbox network branding on their console’s dashboard. To see this content please enable targeting cookies....

Speaking with Gamespew, according to the spokesperson, Xbox Series X enhancements on backwards compatible titles won’t be applied with the less expensive Xbox Series S model. Xbox Series S was designed to be the most affordable next-generation console and play next-generation games at 1440P at 60fps. To deliver the highest quality backwards compatible experience consistent with the developer’s original intent, the Xbox Series S runs the Xbox One S version of backward compatible games while applying improved texture filtering, higher and more consistent frame rates, faster load times, and Auto HDR....

NetEase, and rival Tencent have been looking to expand beyond China, and the two have been poaching top-level talent from Japan. Nagoshi would be given the funding to establish and lead a new team at NetEase. The deal has not been finalised yet, according to the report, and it’s not yet clear exactly what Nagoshi’s role is going to be, beyond leading the team. Both Tencent, and NetEase have been on a spending spree to acquire content from Japan, as well as talent....

The open beta announcement was made by developers Cold Symmetry via the official Mortal Shell Twitter page, which you can check out below. “We have some amazing news,” the post reads. “The Mortal Shell PC Beta is now open for everyone.” “We expected demand but nothing like this,” it continues. “We really didn’t want so many people to feel left out. We’re delighted to open the beta for everyone on PC, starting now....

OK, so it’s not like you’ll be able to easily get your own buster sword to do this, but streamer, YouTuber, and controller maker SuperLouis64 has made it possible to play Final Fantasy 7 Remake using a real life buster sword. Whether you should or not is an entirely different question, but SuperLouis64 has, and that’s what counts. You can see it in action above, and it is incredibly fun, though obviously is incredibly physically intensive....

Arkane’s games all tend to have some similarities here and there, being one of the few big developers to actually make immersive simulators, but Deathloop and Dishonored obviously shared some DNA in more obvious ways. But according to Deathloop’s director himself, the games are both in fact in the same world, something likely to please fans that have theorised as such. Bakaba confirmed the connection on the most recent episode of the Xbox Podcast (thanks PCGamer), where he said that Deathloop is “one of the futures of the Dishonored world....

Konami changes its banned rotation every couple of months, though, so if you land a monstrously strong UR card that you can’t put in your deck now, it’ll probably be un-banned before too long. The Banlist is unique to this version of the game though, so you might not always be able to build the exact same deck you can in the physical TCG. What are Forbidden Cards in YuGiOh Master Duel?...

The video was widely ridiculed online because it was clearly being played by someone who’s not used to first-person shooters. You can tell by the way they rarely look around while moving about, using the sticks independently. As always in video games, the discourse led to harassment, and things got so bad that comments and likes were turned off on the video. You can see it below, but if you clicked this story you’ve either seen the video or videos mocking it already....

Red Dead Redemption 2 players have found a way to avoid that most common of deaths in Rockstar’s open-world Western: falling from a cliff and breaking every bone in your poor body. The trick is to puke. A lot. Eating certain plants in Red Dead Redemption 2 causes your avatar to sick their guts up. Take the bullrush, stuff it into your mouth, and this reaction is what happens once you start breaking it up in your gob: To see this content please enable targeting cookies....

Already, the game has been met with a generally positive reception, but not everyone was wholly impressed – myself included. I gave the title a 3/5 in my VG247 review, and in our review round-up, Wonderlands seems to be settling into a cosy 4/5 spot overall. If you’ve played a Borderlands game before, be it briefly or religiously, you’ll know what the deal is when it comes to slashing away at mobs and looting their corpses....

The news comes from ResetEra, where a poster compiled a string of tweets from alt-right Halo players who reacted to the revelation in an incredibly poor fashion. Obviously the plate was removed from the game due to the atrocious degree of police brutality that erupted in the US earlier this year - an ostensibly sensible decision, but one that has caused a stir among the exact people who would likely use it to harass others....

One of the coolest moments in the original Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay reveal didn’t end up in the final build thanks to cuts that had to be made by the development team because of ‘design reasons’ during production. But enterprising modder Saturne is working on re-introducing the traversal mechanic to the game (thanks, PCGamesN). The mod, hosted over on Nexus Mods, allows players to double-jump near a wall in order to start dashing across it in style....

According to Deadline, the Resident Evil film is set to take place in 1998 on a “fateful night” in Raccoon City. The film is being helmed by writer-director Johannes Roberts and some of the main characters have been cast. Per Deadline, Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner) will play Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) will star as William Birkin....

A Reddit user named NicolasYang248 recently did exactly that. I’m not sure whether or not Nicolas did this out of spite or curiosity, but who cares. What matters is that there is a professor somewhere in the world sat looking at a Dragon to English translator right now, trying to decipher organic chemistry diagrams or close readings of Romantic poetry written entirely in Dovah. The best part about this is the delivery, though....

The trailer gave us a look at the new setting for A Plague Tale: Requiem. Things are much more varied and vibrant, with bright sunny shores and beautiful gardens. We once again join Hugo and Amicia as they fight through a war-torn setting. Hugo’s rat-controlling abilities appear to have grown since the last game, as has Amicia’s fighting style. There’s plenty of sneaking and stabbing in the new gameplay trailer....

I’m not sure why I wasn’t on board before. It might have been because the Alien franchise has a fairly checkered history in games, and recently also in film - though of course, it also gave us Alien Isolation, so I shouldn’t write the franchise off without due diligence. Maybe, though, it is because XCOM is just so damn good that every time I see an XCOM-alike, I wonder why I’d play it over the strategy genre perfection put out by Firaxis in the form of XCOM 2....

Razer gaming mouse Prime Day deals You were absolutely spoilt for choice in this year’s Prime Day sale, especially when it comes to Razer gaming mice. There was a great selection of budget, mid-level and top-tier options to choose from. Razer Basilisk Ultra / Viper Ultra wireless gaming mouse When it comes to speed and precision, Razer’s Basilisk and Viper Ultimate wireless gaming mice are near unbeatable. Let’s start with the Basilisk, featuring a 20k DPI optical sensor, Chroma RGB lighting and 11 programmable buttons including a tilt-scroll wheel and multi-function paddle....

And for once our friends in the southern hemisphere will be able to play right along with us, since their Autumn Fishing Tourney will also be held on April 10th. The Fishing Tourney runs from 9AM to 6PM local time, but is it worth spending hours of your day taking part? Here we list the prizes, points and trophy rewards, just in case you’re curious. The fishing tourney will happen again, but this day is the only opportunity between now and July to get involved and get some of the unique fishing tourney prizes – since the tourneys happen quarterly with the seasons....

Respawn Entertainment released a cinematic trailer last week officially revealing the newest character Newcastle, but the developer has now given us a look at the man in action, as well as a big change that’s coming to Storm Point. In the cinematic trailer, we saw the Legends taking down a giant, kaiju-like creature. Well, it turns out that part of Storm Point is now that thing’s carcass, just to spice things up a bit....