Hogwarts Legacy Cover Issue
This months cover features Hogwarts Legacy, the highly anticipated triple A action RPG in development at Avalanche Studios. Fans of the popular movie franchise may be in for an impressive interactive adventure. Set in the late 1800's, players will be allowed to choose their Hogwarts House and attend classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and explore an open world consisting of locations including the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village and so much more.
This months cover features Hogwarts Legacy, the highly anticipated triple A action RPG in development at Avalanche Studios. Fans of the popular movie franchise may be in for an impressive interactive adventure. Set in the late 1800's, players will be allowed to choose their Hogwarts House and attend classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and explore an open world consisting of locations including the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade Village and so much more.
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BECAUSE WE LOVE VIDEO GAMES
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE<br />
BIOMUTANT<br />
SNIPER GHOST WARRIOR<br />
CONTRACTS 2<br />
BACK4BLOOD
FORWARD<br />
COVER<br />
HOGWARTS LEGACY<br />
PUBLISHED BY<br />
SCARLET NEXUS<br />
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<br />
Derrick Smith<br />
Welcome to the May<br />
edition of Game Insider Digital.<br />
This months cover features <strong>Hogwarts</strong> <strong>Legacy</strong>,<br />
the highly anticipated triple A action RPG in<br />
development at Avalanche Studios. Fans of the<br />
popular movie franchise may be in for an<br />
impressive interactive adventure. Set in the<br />
late 1800's, players will be allowed to choose<br />
their <strong>Hogwarts</strong> House and attend classes at<br />
<strong>Hogwarts</strong> School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,<br />
and explore an open world consisting of<br />
locations including the Forbidden Forest and<br />
Hogsmeade Village and so much more.<br />
Other upcoming spotlighted games are Lord<br />
of the Rings: Gollum, the upcoming actionadventure<br />
from Daedalic Entertainment. The<br />
studio is trying to break the stigma with their<br />
upcoming LOTR franchise, The Lord of the<br />
Rings: Gollum. Known for their point-and-click<br />
and turn-based adventure games, such as<br />
Shadow Tactics, Gollum is their biggest<br />
projects ever, so lets hope they can deliver.<br />
Also featuring Ghostwire Tokyo - after<br />
delivering more survival-horror with The Evil<br />
Within, celebrated developer Shinji Mikami is<br />
back to creating something new. Ghostwire:<br />
Tokyo is the first action-adventure title from his<br />
studio, yet it’s also the first to be mired in just<br />
as much real-life intrigue as it’s in-game world.<br />
In addition, we dive into the The Ascent, the<br />
twin-stick action-RPG of the Diablo vein,<br />
allowing you to wander around the shattered<br />
streets of the arcology cutting down a steady<br />
stream of baddies with your choice of futuristic<br />
firepower and special augmented abilities and<br />
collecting all the goodies that pop out of their<br />
mangled corpses. This should be fun!<br />
Elsewhere in the magazine, we discuss the<br />
rise of Game Pass, as Microsoft's secret<br />
weapon to combat the competitive video game<br />
prowess of Sony and Nintendo. As a stroke of<br />
genius, at the moment Microsoft has a<br />
formidable platform with Game Pass and its<br />
growing momentum could be a real game<br />
changer for the gaming landscape.<br />
Do you have any story ideas or interested in<br />
any upcoming games you would like for us to<br />
write about and discuss? If so, please get in<br />
touch with us at:<br />
gamer@game-insider.com<br />
Enjoy the issue!<br />
Editor-in-Chief<br />
Derrick Smith<br />
:<br />
EDITORIAL TEAM<br />
Ron Middleton<br />
Jih Wei Peng<br />
Johann Sulaiman<br />
Rhett Quiban<br />
Emanuel Stone<br />
Ade Putra<br />
CREATIVE DIGITAL AUDIO<br />
Anthony Rossi<br />
VIDEO PRODUCTION<br />
Daniel Shepard<br />
MARKETING & SALES DIRECTOR<br />
Munira A. Assar<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
Derrick Smith<br />
CEO<br />
Chris Micieli<br />
42
FEATURE<br />
SCARLET NEXUS<br />
30<br />
38<br />
PREVIEW<br />
GHOSTWIRE: TOKYO<br />
22<br />
POINT OF VIEW<br />
GAMEPASS<br />
18<br />
PREVIEW<br />
LOTR: GOLLUM<br />
14<br />
26<br />
PREVIEW<br />
THE ASCENT<br />
INSIGHT<br />
NECROMUNDA: HIRED GUN
upcoming<br />
MAY<br />
All the amazing new games<br />
launching soon<br />
SUBNAUTICA: BELOW-ZERO<br />
MECHWARRIOR 5<br />
MAY 14<br />
MERCENARIES<br />
NS MAY 27<br />
PS5 PS4 XSX XO PC<br />
XSX XO<br />
RUST<br />
MAY 21<br />
PS4<br />
XO<br />
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE<br />
MAY 7<br />
PS5 PS4 XSX XO PC<br />
BIOMUTANT<br />
MAY 25<br />
PS5 PS4 XSX XO PC<br />
MASS EFFECT<br />
LEGENDARY EDITION<br />
MAY 14<br />
PS5 PS4 XSX XO PC<br />
HOOD: OUTLAWS & LEGENDS<br />
MAY 10<br />
PS5 PS4 XSX XO PC<br />
DAYS GONE<br />
MAY 18<br />
PC
UPDATE<br />
PS5 Continues to Widen Gap<br />
As Best Selling Console of<br />
Current Generation<br />
PlayStation 5 continues to be the best-selling console of the<br />
current generation, outperforming both of the major<br />
competitors on the market.<br />
The playStation 5 is continuing its<br />
reign as the best-selling console<br />
of the current generation, as it is<br />
confidently widening the gap<br />
between itself and its competitors.<br />
That being said, the newest<br />
console is not that much more successful<br />
than the launch period of the PS4, only<br />
slightly outperforming its predecessor.<br />
Although the current PS5 sales have<br />
reached nearly 7.8 million units shipped<br />
worldwide during its extended launch period,<br />
the PS4 managed to perform almost as<br />
impressively with 7.6 million units during the<br />
same time window. The difference might<br />
sound insignificant, but it could’ve been<br />
much greater if not for the current stock<br />
shortage. In that regard, PS5 is doing pretty<br />
well despite the difficulties with supply. If<br />
production capacities increase in the near<br />
future, the newest console might easily<br />
outperform the last-gen PlayStation device.<br />
According to the latest report by<br />
VGChartz, the extended launch period has<br />
been significantly more favorable for Sony’s<br />
PlayStation 5 console in comparison to the<br />
competitors. Since the premiere in November<br />
2020, PS5 has accumulated 7,763,924 units<br />
sold, which is far better than the achievements<br />
of the Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch<br />
during the same 23 weeks. Switch has reached<br />
5,008,963 units sold while the duo of modern<br />
Xbox devices took third place with 4,668,388<br />
units.<br />
It is worth mentioning that the Switch is<br />
technically a last-gen device, but it is included in<br />
the current-gen simply because Nintendo has<br />
yet to unveil a successor. In that regard,<br />
considering the overall lifetime sales, the Switch<br />
is obviously outperforming the PS5 and the<br />
Xbox Series X/S combined, as it launched four<br />
years ago.<br />
Although the current-gen consoles are<br />
performing quite well, the sales are nonetheless<br />
affected by the current shortage of computer<br />
components that are required for both PS5 and<br />
Xbox Series X/S production. However,<br />
according to PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan, the<br />
situation might change for the better as soon as<br />
this year. The company is negotiating with<br />
industry partners to ramp up production in order<br />
to cover the supply shortage and offer more PS5<br />
consoles for consumer needs by the end of 2021.<br />
The latest data indicates that the gap in sales<br />
will continue to grow, favoring PS5 in the long<br />
term. It’s not that surprising, considering that the<br />
list of the top 5 best-selling home consoles<br />
includes all the four previous PlayStation<br />
devices. However, it’ll be interesting to see if<br />
Microsoft’s investments in first-party studios and<br />
Xbox exclusives ever pay off. Hypothetically, this<br />
new strategy might help the company shorten the<br />
gap, but it is worth noting that the notorious<br />
console stock shortage might result in unwanted<br />
adjustments to the overall picture. - Dmitry<br />
Lapunov
NEWS<br />
FORMER 343 EMPLOYEE<br />
SAYS HALO INFINITE IS BEING<br />
MADE UNDER CRUNCH<br />
CONDITIONS<br />
DIGITAL VIDEO GAMES<br />
TO HIT $146B IN REVENUE IN<br />
2021, AT 40% INCREASE IN TWO<br />
YEARS<br />
Back in 2019, 343 Industries' Bonnie Ross told the Academy<br />
of Interactive Arts and Sciences that Halo Infinite's<br />
development was slow and deliberate in order to avoid<br />
creating the same sort of crunch conditions that produced<br />
Halo 4 and Halo 5. Now, we’re finding out that despite the<br />
delay, Halo Infinite’s development is being just as crunchy as<br />
its predecessors.<br />
That’s according to a ResetEra user translating a video on<br />
Chinese social media site Bilibili from someone claiming to<br />
have worked at 343 Industries. However, what’s presented<br />
certainly sounds like crunch conditions by all definitions.<br />
"The team at 343 (especially the low-level employees)<br />
works very hard," writes ResetEra user random0_point, "and<br />
many of them have experienced working overtime until the<br />
early hours of the morning in the past few years."<br />
Additionally, the former 343i employee talked about the<br />
disastrous demo from last summer that led to Halo Infinite's<br />
extended delay into 2021. He called company executives<br />
"overly ambitious" in wanting to create both a new game<br />
engine and a semi-open world game at the same time. This<br />
meant that resources were constantly being swapped back<br />
and forth as engine defects were discovered and needed to<br />
be corrected.<br />
The engine itself can largely be blamed for Halo Infinite's<br />
poor demo performance last year as the engine hadn't been<br />
fully completed yet.<br />
Lots of content was cut from the single-player and<br />
multiplayer games in order to get the game content complete<br />
back in January. "This has led to some things I've made over<br />
the years that no one will probably ever see."<br />
However, the anonymous employee says that he still<br />
thinks that Halo Infinite is going to be a great game when it<br />
eventually arrives later this year. "In fact, I think the finished<br />
product will still be great. The story is a big improvement,<br />
and the gameplay is much richer, though the development<br />
cycle is too long. Don't expect it to be an epoch-making<br />
masterpiece."<br />
The nameless dev eventually transferred to Certain<br />
Affinity, the independent developer that has been<br />
contracted to help finish Halo Infinite, and is happy to be<br />
free of “343’s baggage.” - Sean Murray<br />
The global digital video games industry continues<br />
growing at a rapid pace, with no signs of slowing<br />
down in the years to come.<br />
According to data presented by 123scommesse,<br />
the entire market is expected to generate nearly $<br />
146bn in revenue in 2021, a 40% increase in two<br />
years.<br />
Mobile Games Revenues Jumped by 44% Since<br />
2019, Entire Industry to Hit $ 151B Value by<br />
2025<br />
Unlike many other sectors drastically affected<br />
by the COVID-19 crisis, the video game industry<br />
has been far more resilient to the pandemic. Most<br />
video game developers and publishers witnessed a<br />
record number of users and downloads last year as<br />
millions of people turned to video games amid the<br />
lockdown.<br />
In 2019, the digital gaming industry generated $<br />
104.4bn in revenue, revealed the Statista survey.<br />
After the pandemic struck, revenues surged by<br />
23% YoY to $ 128.3bn in 2020. Statistics show this<br />
figure is expected to increase by $ 17.6bn in 2021,<br />
and by 2025, the unified market is set to reach $<br />
207.6bn value.<br />
As the largest revenue stream of the digital<br />
video games industry, mobile games witnessed the<br />
most significant growth in the last two years. In<br />
2021, mobile gaming revenues are expected to hit<br />
nearly $ 104bn, 44% more than in 2019. By 2025,<br />
the entire market is forecast to grow by another<br />
45% and reach a $ 151.8bn value.<br />
Online gaming has seen record numbers of<br />
players during the pandemic as a popular activity to<br />
counter physical distancing amid lockdowns.<br />
Statistics show online gaming revenues grew by<br />
36% in two years, rising from $ 16.8bn in 2019 to $<br />
22.9bn in 2021. In the next four years, this figure is<br />
projected to hit $ 30.3bn.<br />
Download games are expected to generate $<br />
16.1bn in revenue this year, compared to $ 13.2bn<br />
before the pandemic. Gaming networks follow with a 43%<br />
increase in two years and $ 2.9bn in revenue in 2021.<br />
435 Million People Started Playing Digital Video<br />
Games Amid Pandemic<br />
The Statista survey also revealed that more than 435<br />
million people started playing digital video games since<br />
the pandemic struck. In 2019, the number of users<br />
worldwide amounted to 1.7 billion. Last year, this figure<br />
jumped over two billion. Statistics indicate the number of<br />
users is set to reach 2.15 billion in 2021 and continue<br />
rising to over 2.5 billion by 2025.<br />
As the world`s largest digital video games industry,<br />
China is expected to generate $ 49.1bn in revenue in<br />
2021, a 46% increase in two years. By 2025, the Chinese<br />
market is forecast to hit $ 71bn value.<br />
The United States follows with $ 30.3bn in revenue<br />
this year, compared to $ 23bn in 2019. By 2025, the US<br />
mobile games, download games, online games, and<br />
gaming networks markets are forecast to reach $ 42.4bn<br />
value.<br />
As the third-largest digital video games market, Japan<br />
is expected to generate $ 18.2bn in revenue this year.<br />
South Korea and the United Kingdom follow, with $<br />
6.15bn and $ 6.14bn, respectively. - Jastra Kranjec
INSIGHT<br />
NECROMUNDA:<br />
HIRED GUN<br />
LOTS OF GUNS, A COOL DOG<br />
COMPANION AND MORE<br />
FUN GAMEPLAY DETAILS<br />
N<br />
ecromunda - Hired Gun<br />
is a first-person shooter<br />
game set in the<br />
Warhammer 40,000<br />
universe. The game is<br />
going to be based on the skirmish tabletop<br />
war game Necromunda, a spin-off from<br />
the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop war<br />
game. In Necromunda - Hired Gun, you<br />
play the role of a mercenary, making the<br />
most out of a terrible situation in a<br />
downtrodden world. You will hunt<br />
criminals, gangers, heretics, and destroy<br />
terrifying mutants in the Imperium’s most<br />
famous and dangerous hive world.<br />
As a bounty hunter and mercenary in<br />
one of the most dangerous places in the<br />
world, you are going to need all the<br />
equipment and help you can get. In<br />
Necromunda - Hired Gun, you are able to<br />
make your character more powerful and<br />
effective by using the right weapons and<br />
upgrades. You will be given the freedom of<br />
customization via weapons and augments.<br />
There are going to be a ton of weapons<br />
that you can choose and wield in<br />
Necromunda - Hired Gun such as auto<br />
guns, long-las rifles, bolters, plasma guns,<br />
grenade launchers, power knives, and so<br />
much more.<br />
On top of the upgrades that you can earn<br />
in the game, you are also accompanied by<br />
man’s best friend. In Necromunda - Hired<br />
Gun, you are assisted by a dog<br />
companion in the form of a cyber-mastiff.<br />
Take note, this mastiff is no ordinary dog.<br />
Your trustworthy companion has seen as<br />
much action as you, a seasoned<br />
mercenary, and his various augments are<br />
a testament to that. Your mastiff has the<br />
ability to track and sniff out enemies, and<br />
he’ll even assist you in eliminating them.<br />
Just like the main character, your dog also<br />
has his own upgrade tree, which means<br />
your companion can become more and<br />
more powerful as the game progresses.<br />
The wide array of weapons and<br />
augments that you can earn and wield in<br />
the game won’t always come free. For<br />
this, you will need to navigate the lawless<br />
land of crime and corruption where<br />
millions live and die every day to make a<br />
living. In a nutshell, your character’s main<br />
motivations are to pick contracts, hunt<br />
targets, collect bounties, and repeat. As a<br />
fast-paced FPS title, that is exactly the<br />
motivation the main character needs in<br />
order for the player to enjoy the wreckage<br />
brought upon by the gun-ho gameplay.<br />
The wide array of weapons and augments that you<br />
wield wont always come free.
INSIGHT<br />
You can also enhance your character by<br />
using customizable augments which you<br />
can earn and purchase in the game.<br />
These augments can be used to run on<br />
walls, leap over massive chasms<br />
normally untraversable, and move around<br />
more quickly using the grappling hook.<br />
Not only are these augments useful in<br />
traversal but they can also come in handy<br />
during combat.<br />
This game is developed by Streum On<br />
Studio, the makers of other FPS titles<br />
such as Syndicate Black Ops, E.Y.E:<br />
Divine Cybermancy, and Space Hulk<br />
Deathwing. With this in mind, the<br />
developers behind this game are widely<br />
experienced when it comes to first-person<br />
shooters. The gameplay of the game<br />
itself is highly reminiscent of new FPS<br />
games with incredibly fast action such as<br />
Doom: Eternal and Quake Champions. It<br />
is published by Focus Home Interactive,<br />
a studio known for publishing games<br />
such as A Plague Tale: Innocence, World<br />
War Z, Hood: Outlaws & Legends,<br />
Vampyr, among so many others.<br />
As mentioned before, this game is<br />
based on the Necromunda franchise,<br />
which is set in the Warhammer 40,000<br />
universe. Necromunda is set in a world<br />
known as the Underhive in the dark future<br />
of the 41st millennium. This steampunk<br />
world is filled with environmental hazards,<br />
towering obstacles, ruled by archaic<br />
gangs, warring gods, and vicious tyrants.<br />
Surviving it will require skill, dedication,<br />
and of course, a whole lot of powerful<br />
armaments.<br />
This game is perfect for those who are<br />
highly interested in fast-paced firstperson<br />
shooter games. This looks like<br />
one of those games that put the<br />
gameplay aspect at the front and center<br />
and everything else in the backdrop. Be<br />
that as it may, that doesn’t mean this<br />
game’s backstory and worldbuilding are<br />
underwhelming. It is set in the<br />
Warhammer 40,000 universe, after all.<br />
The developers of this game have a ton<br />
of material to base on. Although<br />
Necromunda was recently relaunched in<br />
2017, this franchise as a whole has been<br />
active since 1995.<br />
All-in-all, Necromunda - Hired Gun is<br />
an FPS player’s playground. Aside from<br />
the incredible-looking gunplay, the game<br />
also provides the opportunity of making a<br />
playthrough unique to the player because<br />
of the wide customization options. Fans<br />
of the tabletop war games, in particular,<br />
should find a lot to look forward to with<br />
this title. The game is set to come out on<br />
June 1, 2021, for PlayStation 4,<br />
PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/<br />
S, and PC.<br />
This steampunk world is filled with environmental hazards,<br />
towering obstacles, warring gods, and vicious tyrants.
PREVIEW<br />
THE LORD OF THE RINGS<br />
I<br />
f we think about The Lord of The<br />
Rings game, the first protagonists<br />
that come to mind would be either<br />
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Sam,<br />
or maybe Talion, from the most recent<br />
LOTR games, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and<br />
Shadow of War. But have you ever thought about<br />
having Gollum as the main character that you will<br />
play as? Daedalic Entertainment is trying to break the<br />
stigma with their upcoming LOTR franchise, The Lord<br />
of the Rings: Gollum. Daedalic Entertainment, A<br />
German video developer, founded in 2007, is known<br />
for their point-and-click and turn-based adventure<br />
games, such as Shadow Tactics, Ken Follett’s The<br />
Pillars of the Earth, and The Whispered World. And<br />
now, this could be one of their biggest projects ever<br />
by having a Lord of the Rings franchise on their back.<br />
Though we are accustomed to the hack and slash<br />
genre being embodied with most of the Tolkien-based<br />
franchise games, we can assume that LOTR: Gollum<br />
will steer a bit away from that. As most of the LOTR<br />
fans know, our friend Gollum didn’t have that much of<br />
fighting power, but he does have special traits: being<br />
stealthy and deceiving. Judging by Gollum’s trait<br />
alone, we can expect that the gameplay will be<br />
having a similar feel with A Plague Tale: Innocence<br />
where we avoid most of the combat and use stealth<br />
tactics to overcome the obstacles, while also adding<br />
an exploration element to find the best way to<br />
traverse around the map.<br />
So far, we have got a teaser trailer and some<br />
screenshots-in-development to see what we can<br />
expect in the game. Coming from a game developer<br />
who isn’t used to make AAA games, the teasers are<br />
certainly looking good. The setting itself would be in<br />
Mordor, where Gollum dwells most of his time and<br />
set before the events of the Lord of the Rings movies<br />
where Gollum was still in the acquisition of the ‘One<br />
Ring’. This shows that it will stay true to the original<br />
books and movies while adding a more in-depth story<br />
towards Gollum, who has always been a key<br />
character in most of the LOTR franchise, from The<br />
GOLLUM<br />
A LOTR game with the most unexpected<br />
protagonist<br />
By Naufal Arvy Rasyidin<br />
PLATFORM<br />
PS4, PS5, XBOX ONE, SERIES X/S, NINTENDO SWITCH, PC<br />
GENRE<br />
ACTION ADVENTURE<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
BIG BEN INTERACTIVE, NACON<br />
DEVELOPER<br />
DAEDALIC ENTERTAINMENT<br />
RELEASE<br />
2022<br />
The setting itself would be in Mordor, where Gollum dwells most<br />
of his time and set before the events of the Lords of the Rings<br />
movies where Gollum was still in the acquisition of the One Ring.
PREVIEW<br />
Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and even he<br />
played a significant part in Talion’s crusade in<br />
Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.<br />
Based on the teasers we got so far, there is a<br />
screenshot where Gollum, or rather the players, the<br />
story would likely start with the creature being<br />
imprisoned against his will, so the first chapters<br />
would be about him escaping the prison using the<br />
skills that he most excels at. Then we will also have<br />
a choice of dialogue options available, so we can<br />
assume that the game will be taking a similar<br />
concept with Telltale’s famous choice story options<br />
that inspired many adventure games. And yes,<br />
although Gollum is considered as an evil, deceiving<br />
creature, we often forget that Gollum has a split<br />
personality of his former self, the hobbit Smeagol,<br />
before he, or they, become obsessed with the ‘One<br />
Ring to Rule Them All’. From here we can conclude<br />
that players will be able to choose the Gollum way<br />
or the Smeagol way, depending on their choice of<br />
dialogues and decisions, and I think that this is<br />
exactly why Daedalic Entertainment wants to use<br />
Gollum as the main character, as we will be having<br />
so much conflict just from the character itself.<br />
Daedalic Entertainment also reports that some<br />
key characters from the Tolkien world would also<br />
make an appearance, such as the Nazguls and<br />
even Thranduil, which is Legolas’s father, the King of<br />
the Elves. They also said that they will make the<br />
game different than the usual LOTR games by<br />
utilizing the Tolkien’s world that full of fantastic<br />
creatures and beasts as an obstacle for Gollum and<br />
also Gollum’s tragic backstory to optimize the story<br />
narrative. And judging by how Daedalic<br />
Entertainment makes such interesting storytelling in<br />
their previous game that was also inspired by a<br />
book, Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth, we can<br />
expect so much conflict within ourselves when we<br />
have to choose the decisions that will have<br />
consequences on how the story goes in the game.<br />
We can expect to see more of The Lord of the<br />
Rings: Gollum by Daedalic Entertainment sometime<br />
later this year as the game has been officially<br />
delayed with a 2022 launch window.<br />
Daedalic Entertainment reports that some key characters from the<br />
Tolkien world would also make an appearance, such as the Nazguls<br />
and even Thranduil, which is Legolas’s father, the King of the Elves.
PREVIEW<br />
THE ASCENT<br />
With corporate collapse comes a new breed<br />
enemies and you're caught right in the middle<br />
W<br />
hen I sat down to begin writing this<br />
preview my Spotify playlist happened<br />
to start blasting “Sixteen Tons,” which<br />
seems appropriate for a game<br />
depicting a dystopian future in which<br />
the collapse of an exploitative mega-corporation is<br />
greeted with cries of horror from the indentured<br />
masses as their already miserable existence seem<br />
set to get more miserable yet.<br />
Aha. Future. Yes.<br />
Developer Neon Giant’s upcoming Xbox Series<br />
X game, The Ascent, is set on the planet of Veles in<br />
The Ascent Group arcology, a corporate fief in<br />
which workers are brought from across the galaxy<br />
to live and die for the Ascent Group corporation.<br />
This happy state of affairs suddenly goes south<br />
when the corporation itself mysteriously shuts<br />
down, leaving the workers without direction, security<br />
enforcers without paychecks, automated security<br />
going haywire and nearby rival corporations and<br />
criminal syndicates sharpening their knives for a<br />
hostile takeover in the most literal sense.<br />
You, the player, are somehow caught up in these<br />
events and are thus tasked with figuring out what<br />
exactly happened to the corporation, fending off<br />
invaders both corporate and criminal, and maybe,<br />
just maybe, somewhere along the way helping the<br />
arcology itself become a new and independent<br />
polity free of outside corporate influence.<br />
Whether this brings about a meaningful<br />
improvement to the lives of the “indents”, as the<br />
corporate slaves are called, is up to your<br />
imagination and the optimism of the game’s writers,<br />
but then life is more about the journey than the<br />
destination and your journey seems set to have<br />
plenty to distract you from the systemic excesses of<br />
unbridled capitalism in a cyberpunk future, both in<br />
real life and in the game.<br />
By Jih-Wei Peng<br />
A look at the gameplay reveals a pleasant mix of special abilities<br />
– energy shields, homing missiles, grenades aplenty, fast dashes<br />
and most spectacular of all, a rocket-assisted smash jump that<br />
shatters the enemy and the ground he’s standing on.<br />
PLATFORM<br />
XBOX SERIES X/S, WINDOWS 10<br />
GENRE<br />
FIRST PERSON SHOOTER HORROR<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
EBB SOFTWARE<br />
DEVELOPER<br />
EBB SOFTWARE<br />
RELEASE<br />
2021
PREVIEW<br />
The Ascent is a twin-stick action-RPG of the Diablo<br />
vein, allowing you to wander around the shattered<br />
streets of the arcology cutting down a steady<br />
stream of baddies with your choice of futuristic<br />
firepower and special augmented abilities and<br />
collecting all the goodies that pop out of their<br />
mangled corpses. A look at the gameplay reveals a<br />
pleasant mix of special abilities – energy shields,<br />
homing missiles, grenades aplenty, fast dashes,<br />
and most spectacular of all, a rocket-assisted<br />
smash jump that shatters the enemy and the<br />
ground he’s standing on, leaving a spectacular<br />
mess for the arcology’s already-overworked street<br />
cleaners to handle whenever they can do their jobs<br />
without fear of lead poisoning. And that’s just what<br />
was shown in the available gameplay footage –<br />
more cyberware modifications and customizations<br />
are promised for those who want to go full chrome<br />
and make themselves as much of a weapon as the<br />
guns they wield.<br />
Combat appears pleasantly smooth – while<br />
some foes are tougher than others they generally<br />
aren’t bullet sponges, and when combined with<br />
your selection of movement abilities firefights<br />
become flowing affairs of movement and firepower,<br />
seguing from a burst of lasers into a destructive<br />
rocket jump into a rapid dodge out of the way of<br />
incoming fire until you end your ballet of violence<br />
atop a pile of corpse, ready to move on to the next<br />
spot of ultraviolence. Co-op with up to three friends<br />
has been promised for local and online multiplayer,<br />
calling forth the possibility of either yet more<br />
beautiful coordinated action or utter chaos, both of<br />
which I for one find perfectly acceptable.<br />
The Ascent doesn’t have a confirmed launch<br />
date yet, though it’s set to be released sometime<br />
this year on both Steam and Xbox via Microsoft’s<br />
“Smart Delivery” feature. With any luck the<br />
pandemic won’t have destroyed the global<br />
economy by then, allowing us to experience an<br />
escapist adventure into a world in ruins. Fingers<br />
crossed!<br />
Combat appears pleasantly smooth, while some foes<br />
are tougher than others, they generally aren't bullet<br />
sponges...
PREVIEW<br />
GHOSTWIRE<br />
TOKYO<br />
It begins, as always, with a question:<br />
What happened?<br />
DA fter<br />
delivering more survival-horror with<br />
The Evil Within, celebrated developer<br />
Shinji Mikami is back to creating<br />
something new. Ghostwire: Tokyo is the<br />
first action-adventure title from his<br />
studio, yet it’s also the first to be mired<br />
in just as much real-life intrigue as it’s in-game world.<br />
It begins, as always, with a question: What<br />
happened? Set in modern Japan, our protagonist finds<br />
himself gaining supernatural abilities just as 99% of<br />
Tokyo’s population vanishes. As we hit the streets in<br />
search of answers, we run into headless schoolgirls,<br />
glowing torii gates, and masked individuals leaping off<br />
towers.<br />
“Don’t fear the unknown,” says the game’s early<br />
tagline. “Attack it.”<br />
And, immediately, we get a sense of what makes<br />
Ghostwire different from past Tango Gameworks<br />
releases. No hiding; no running. Just full in-your-face<br />
combat with attacks straight out of a shounen anime.<br />
Combat director Shinichiro Hara describes<br />
Ghostwire: Tokyo as “karate meets magic.” He worked<br />
on the push-forward combat and Glory Kill system in<br />
DOOM, and he’s clearly porting that experience over to<br />
Ghostwire. Enemies bowl over and recoil as you combo<br />
spectral attacks. And once you chip away enough HP,<br />
they fall instantly to scripted takedowns.<br />
In place of large, hulking guns are hands that swiftly<br />
form gestures “inspired by traditional Kuji-kiri” — the<br />
ninja hand seals we often see in pop-culture. Hara<br />
combines it with martial arts to dispel the idea that<br />
magic casters are physically weak. To double up on the<br />
whole ninja aesthetic, players can also chain multiple,<br />
distant takedowns on vulnerable enemies.<br />
The results should look like a slicker version of<br />
Skyrim or Dark Messiah meets The Secret World.<br />
Unfortunately, the gameplay trailer only has quick cuts<br />
divorced from the larger combat loop, so it’s still hard to<br />
tell. We mostly see fire spells and takedowns, plus a<br />
few long cuts of torii gates that are, presumably, being<br />
closed.<br />
That’s where the exorcism comes in. The enemies,<br />
Visitors, are contemporary takes on “traditional<br />
Japanese ghost stories and legends,” a fact yokai fans<br />
have no doubt picked up on. We have names for some<br />
of them: Schoolers (headless schoolgirls); Shiromuku<br />
(the bride), Kuchisake (the masked hat lady), and<br />
Amewarashi (child in a yellow raincoat).<br />
There’s also a large flying spirit shaped like a teru<br />
teru bouzu charm, a humanoid-shaped creature made<br />
from boxes, and the many faceless salarymen that are<br />
probably Nopperabou. Yokai aren’t typically linked to<br />
one another, but in Ghostwire the rain seems to be a<br />
common thread. Maybe the weather plays a role in this<br />
By Ade Putra<br />
Set in modern Japan, our protagonist finds himself gaining<br />
supernatural abilities just as 99% of Tokyo’s population<br />
vanishes.<br />
PLATFORM<br />
PS5, PC<br />
GENRE<br />
ACTION-ADVENTURE<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
BETHESDA SOFTWORKS<br />
DEVELOPER<br />
TANGO GAMEWORKS<br />
RELEASE<br />
2021
PREVIEW<br />
supernatural crossing? Besides, it’s a great excuse to<br />
show off the PS5’s ray-tracing capabilities.<br />
That leaves us with the masked group. Are they the<br />
cause behind all this, or are they fellow spectral warriors<br />
fighting a greater foe? The Hannya mask represents a<br />
jealous or sorrowful female demon, which could put them<br />
in bed with the yokai. On the other hand, in Buddhism the<br />
term refers to the wisdom to see the true nature of all<br />
things — like the ability to see ghosts, perhaps? You<br />
could argue either way.<br />
If you take a second look at the tower scene, however,<br />
you’ll notice they all have different masks. We don’t get<br />
close enough to see what they are, but it’s safe to<br />
assume they all represent the wearer’s background or<br />
personality. The broken horn could also symbolize a<br />
reforming oni, lending credence to the idea that these are<br />
all people like you. Or maybe it just looks cool, who<br />
knows?<br />
If any of this sounds exciting, it’s because Ghostwire:<br />
Tokyo is the brainchild of Ikumi Nakamura. She has an<br />
up-and-rising track record working under Shinji Mikami,<br />
first as a background artist on Okami and then for<br />
concept work on Bayonetta and The Evil Within.<br />
However, the creative director left shortly after revealing<br />
the game at E3 2019, which is never a good look for a<br />
project.<br />
Speculation points to internal trouble. After all, some<br />
fans of 2019’s announcement trailer were left confused or<br />
outright disappointed after seeing 2020’s gameplay<br />
trailer. There’s a sense of disconnect between concept<br />
(creepy urban horror) and gameplay (punching ghosts<br />
with fireballs), and this friction could have influenced<br />
Nakamura’s departure.<br />
But there’s another way of looking at it: after the<br />
sudden fame and popularity, Nakamura simply decided to<br />
pursue other opportunities. Her work as a creative<br />
director could have been largely complete by late 2019,<br />
and rather than staying through the rest of development,<br />
she opted to leverage her newfound industry exposure.<br />
(Last we checked, she’s still adamant about making<br />
Okami 2 happen.)<br />
But wait, there’s more! In September of last year,<br />
Microsoft formally announced their plans to acquire<br />
ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks. That, by<br />
extension, includes Tango Gameworks, putting<br />
Ghostwire: Tokyo in an awkward situation with the whole<br />
PS5 exclusivity thing. Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed<br />
in a Bloomberg interview that they’ll maintain the<br />
agreement… but we’ll probably see the game hitting<br />
Xbox Game Pass as soon as that expires.<br />
The cherry on this whole mystery cake? The game’s<br />
release date. Ghostwire: Tokyo comes out sometime in<br />
2021 for PC and PS5.<br />
Combat director Shinichiro Hara describes Ghostwire:<br />
Tokyo as “karate meets magic.”
POINT OF VIEW<br />
POINT OF VIEW<br />
GAMEPASS<br />
A STROKE OF GENIUS<br />
by Emanuel Stone
POINT OF VIEW<br />
Sony is in trouble. Yup, I said it, and I<br />
mean it, literally.<br />
Now, I know this is a strong statement,<br />
and considering the fact, Sony just<br />
dominated the video gaming industry with<br />
the PS4, based on games and sales,<br />
some would consider my statement ludicrous, that's a very<br />
understandable reaction to this statement but I ask you to<br />
please take a moment and hear me out, and in doing so, I<br />
believe you too will agree, Sony is indeed in trouble.<br />
For as long as I can remember, dating back to 1977<br />
with the Atari 2600, the success of video game systems in<br />
the marketplace, their sales specifically, are predominantly<br />
dependent upon the video games that are made for their<br />
respective systems. The better the games you create, the<br />
more of your systems you will sell. This has been the<br />
'business model' used for companies such as Atari, Sega,<br />
Nintendo, Sony, etc. throughout the history of video<br />
games. It's a business model that started in the arcades,<br />
well before home console systems existed, by companies<br />
such as Namco with Pacman, Atari with Asteroids,<br />
Nintendo with Donkey Kong, Williams Electronics with<br />
Defender, and many others. It's a solid business model<br />
which has created the multi-billion dollar video game<br />
industry that now rivals Hollywood's Movie Industry.<br />
The effects of this business model are not limited to<br />
market share only, it plays a major role amongst the video<br />
games industry's consumer base of loyal and rabid fans.<br />
These consumers are some of the most adamant<br />
consumers on planet earth and their support for their<br />
favorite video game system has been known to cross the<br />
lines of decency and can get pretty toxic as well. If it's not<br />
God of War vs Halo it's Gears of War vs The Last of Us,<br />
and so on and so on. Rabid fans continuously justifying<br />
their system of choice based on the games made for that<br />
particular system all because of a business model that<br />
began over 40 years ago in the arcades with Pong in 1972.<br />
Imagine for a moment, if you had the resources to<br />
create your very own brand new state-of-the-art video<br />
game system such as the Xbox or the Playstation. To be<br />
successful you'd need a blockbuster game available to<br />
play immediately and exclusive to your system only. As a<br />
result, customers would clamor to purchase your system<br />
so they can experience your game thus increasing your<br />
sales. This is the video game industry's 'business model' in<br />
its purest form and it's been this way for the past 40<br />
years... until now.<br />
If you study business or have been involved in a<br />
particular area of business, even as a consumer, for a<br />
considerable amount of time, you will see historical things<br />
happen that no one saw coming. These historical events<br />
can cause industry giants to topple reshaping the entire<br />
landscape in favor of a few, or even just one, and to the<br />
detriment of others. It's a brutal ecosystem yet one that<br />
opens exciting new doors due to the creation of innovative<br />
products and business methods alike. Today, we are<br />
witnessing such an event and it's called Game Pass, by<br />
Microsoft, and it's a stroke of genius.<br />
Let me explain.<br />
I want everyone who is reading this article, at this very<br />
moment, to set aside your fanboy hat and put on your<br />
businessman or businesswoman hat for this part of the<br />
article.<br />
Video game development is not cheap. These games<br />
don't grow on trees nor do they come into being based on<br />
enthusiasm and pure love and the joy of video gaming.<br />
Depending upon the game, budgets can range from<br />
$50,000 to $300 million and even higher! This is a serious<br />
investment that comes with serious risk. The game could<br />
flop and there is no guarantee for success. As gamers, we<br />
have seen games flop in the past, and yes it's a major<br />
disappointment, a loss of about $65 in most cases but for<br />
the publisher of the game, they lose millions upon millions<br />
of dollars, as well as, the trust of their consumers. This is<br />
the financial war Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and other new<br />
jack would-be videogame companies, who dare to try their<br />
hand at video game development and publishing, find<br />
themselves in year after year. It's a cutthroat industry that<br />
shows no mercy for the weak and at the heart of it all,<br />
again, is the tried and true 'business model' that has been<br />
guiding the video game industry for over 40 years.<br />
The year is 2017 and it's the beginning of the end for<br />
the 40-year-old 'Business Model'.<br />
By a stroke of pure genius, someone or a group of<br />
people at Microsoft's headquarters, in Redmond,<br />
Washington, realized this 40-year-old videogame industry<br />
business model has become archaic, outdated, antiquated,<br />
and there must be a better way to make money in this<br />
ultra-competitive industry. The scenario at hand was a<br />
simple one: Microsoft could either keep battling Sony on a<br />
game per game basis, spending billions in the process,<br />
increasing the risk of loss, when considering the amount of<br />
money and resources it takes to produce triple 'A' games<br />
or they could develop a way to supplement the cost<br />
needed to create triple 'A' games with a new business<br />
model mitigating the chance for financial loss. The fact of<br />
the matter is it takes years to create the types of games<br />
that warrant the title of 'System Seller' and it's still not<br />
guaranteed.<br />
Again, this is not the type of chance you take with<br />
billions of dollars on the line, yet this is the way things have<br />
been done for decades . Microsoft realized they no longer<br />
wanted to operate within those guidelines, at least not<br />
completely.<br />
I remember setting inside the Microsoft Auditorium in<br />
Los Angeles at E3 back in 2017 as the lovely Sarah Bond<br />
strolled out onto the stage and announced the introduction<br />
of Game Pass for the Xbox. As she explained its<br />
functionality you could feel the buzz in the air, I had<br />
goosebumps all over my body. I could not believe what I<br />
was hearing. Anyone who was there with half a brain could<br />
see what Microsoft was planning. They wanted to become<br />
the 'Netflix' of video games. As Sarah Bond continued, she<br />
explained how every Microsoft's first-party game would<br />
launch with Game Pass on day 1 at no extra cost other<br />
UPCOMING<br />
UPCOMING<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SAGA<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
MLB THE SHOW 21<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
HALO INFINITE
POINT OF VIEW<br />
than the monthly subscription fee, ala Netflix. Keep in mind,<br />
Microsoft had just announced the acquisition of about 10<br />
studios they just purchased to go along with their<br />
announcement of Game Pass. This was the beginning of<br />
Microsoft's very own 'End Game' and Microsoft is playing<br />
the role of Thanos using Game Pass as the 'snap' that will<br />
wipe away half of the video game industry's competiton.<br />
Still, the video game industry didn't see the monster that<br />
Game Pass could or would be and took the news in stride.<br />
No big deal was really made and video game consumers,<br />
especially Sony Playstation consumers downplayed it and<br />
didn't take it too seriously. I didn't though. I saw what was<br />
brewing behind the doors at Microsoft's headquarters and I<br />
knew Game Pass was a gamechanger, however, only if<br />
Microsoft would do one important thing...make more<br />
games, more great games!<br />
For many people, the hope of Microsoft making an<br />
abundant amount of great games for their Xbox systems<br />
has been a painful notion, and rightfully so. We lived<br />
through the glory days of the Xbox 360, which is considered<br />
Microsoft's heyday as compared to the Xbox One.<br />
Microsoft, no doubt, has earned this skepticism, but I knew<br />
this time around it would be different. I spoke extensively<br />
with Derrick Smith, CEO and editor-in-chief of Game<br />
Insider, about this and I expressed that I truly believed<br />
Microsoft was going to take the Xbox to the next level this<br />
time around due to being crushed by Sony with the PS4,<br />
yet, even I didn't realize how effective Microsoft's plan<br />
would be after witnessing what happened in November<br />
2020 when Microsoft purchased Zenimax for $7.5 billion.<br />
Now, all of a sudden Game Pass becomes real for the<br />
uninitiated, a serious threat, and would now be a steady<br />
blip upon the radar of every video game consumer, no<br />
matter their system of choice. Microsoft's vision for Game<br />
Pass is now fully realized, and for Sony's PS5, this spells<br />
trouble.<br />
Microsoft's net worth as of 2020 is over $1 trillion.<br />
Obviously, Microsoft has a lot of money at its disposal and<br />
in case some of you may not have realized it by now,<br />
Microsoft's Xbox brand is not their main source of revenue.<br />
In fact, for Microsoft, the Xbox is treated much like a 'pet<br />
project' to the surprise of those looking from the outside in.<br />
The truth of the matter is if the Xbox brand was to vanish<br />
tomorrow Microsoft would still make billions of dollars. This<br />
is not the case with Sony.<br />
The PlayStation 5 plays a much more significant role in<br />
Sony's financial portfolio than does the Xbox with Microsoft,<br />
which is why Sony supplies its Playstation brand with the<br />
necessary resources to make blockbuster games. Here's<br />
the problem for Sony as of this new generation of video<br />
gaming, Microsoft has now opened the money vault and is<br />
giving Phil Spencer the necessary cash flow needed for<br />
Xbox to compete against Sony, and whoever else, as we<br />
saw that with the $7.5 billion purchase of Zenimax. It<br />
appears the sleeping giant has awoken and it has a very<br />
big wallet.<br />
Consequently, Xbox now has serious money supporting<br />
it and is now being taken seriously by Microsoft, resulting in<br />
Game Pass having the fuel it needs to succeed. Gamepass<br />
is a true paradigm shift within the video game industry and<br />
is the first of its kind much like Xbox Live was with home<br />
video game consoles with the original Xbox.<br />
While Sony is pouring millions upon millions of dollars<br />
into developing new games which will take years to<br />
develop, Microsoft will be doing the same, of course, yet<br />
will also be raking in $14.99 every month from each of their<br />
current 18 million subscribers. That is roughly<br />
$269,820,000 per month, while the service is increasingly<br />
growing. That is quite a bit of C.R.E.A.M annually. As<br />
Microsoft continues adding to its library they could easily<br />
eclipse over 30 million subscribers within the next few<br />
years.<br />
With Game Pass Microsoft has effectively moved from<br />
the old archaic video game business model in which Sony<br />
is following and has gone with a 'Games as a Service'<br />
business models, guaranteeing a more secure revenue<br />
stream of cash every month, without the need to drop a<br />
single blockbuster game during that same timeframe. This<br />
is truly a historical event, the type that changes entire<br />
business landscapes. I've seen it happen over my lifetime<br />
and we are seeing it happen again.<br />
What I truly like about this move by Microsoft is the fact<br />
no one saw it coming which makes it that much more<br />
brilliant. Remember the numerous amounts of consumers<br />
who touted they had a PC which means they could play all<br />
of Xbox's games on their PCs without the need of an Xbox<br />
via a Game Pass subscription? It was pretty much their way<br />
of ragging on the Xbox brand while bragging about their<br />
PCs at the same time. Little did their small minds know that<br />
Microsoft could not care less if you played on a PC or an<br />
Xbox, just as long as you subscribed to Game Pass.<br />
Microsoft basically has your money no matter which system<br />
you prefer or feel is better than the other.<br />
Again, my hat's off to Microsoft, from a business standpoint,<br />
and from a consumer standpoint as well because as a<br />
consumer of Xbox products I am now a kid in a candy store<br />
when it comes to Game Pass, it's a consumer's dream. Not<br />
a fanboy's dream but a consumer's, and for that, I can't say<br />
enough great things about Game Pass... but I will anyway.<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER<br />
UPCOMING<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
STARFIELD
POINT OF VIEW<br />
Gamepass is simply liberating. It's freedom! Like I said<br />
earlier, I've been a video game consumer for over 40 years,<br />
and never have I had the freedom Game Pass gives me.<br />
What do I mean by freedom? Well, games cost money,<br />
that's the cold reality of this love affair we have with<br />
interactive gaming. There are only so many games I can<br />
purchase at any given time and play as well. Unfortunately,<br />
my uncle is not Bill Gates. However, now, this all changes<br />
with Game Pass. Much like Netflix with movies, I'm excitedly<br />
able to do the same with Game Pass. I now have the<br />
freedom to play so many different games without having to<br />
spend upwards of $70 each. I'm even playing games I<br />
would've never tried due to being on a budget monetarily<br />
speaking. It's truly an amazing experience. Again, it's<br />
liberating!<br />
Not only that, Game Pass is now launching games by<br />
third-party developers on day one. The most recent two are<br />
Outriders developed by People Can Fly and published by<br />
Square Enix, as well as MLB: The Show 21 developed by,<br />
wait for it... Sony Interactive Entertainment. Are you kidding<br />
me?! Microsoft is now taking their chief competitor's game<br />
and having it launch day one on GamePass?! Do you now<br />
see the historical event I am talking about taking place right<br />
before you? It's a groundbreaking moment in video game<br />
history and one that must be acknowledged regardless of<br />
your system loyalties as a video game consumer.<br />
Furthermore, there might be a few of you who are<br />
reading this article with aspirations of becoming video game<br />
creators, I applaud you and I am cheering you on in spirit.<br />
All the while, I am asking you to please consider the<br />
following:<br />
As an indie studio working on a tight budget to create an<br />
amazing video game experience, understand, with Game<br />
Pass, Microsoft can offer you payment to be exclusively on<br />
Game Pass. Imagine that?! What kind of world is this?! It's<br />
the world of Game Pass, it's the new business model<br />
Microsoft has created for video games. Much like Netflix<br />
does when it licenses movies such as the television show<br />
'The Office' Microsoft will do the same with Game Pass.<br />
Here's why it's profitable and a win-win for Microsoft and the<br />
game developer, especially indie game developers.<br />
With Microsoft's Game Pass install base of 18 million,<br />
these gamers have more of a chance of playing your game<br />
because they don't have to pay for it, as it's part of the<br />
subscription, there's not a high entry fee needed to<br />
experience your game. This is key to indie developers who<br />
don't have a giant marketing machine promoting their<br />
games nor the established reputation. Game Pass is here to<br />
change all of that once and for all. With more obscure and<br />
interesting games populating Game Pass, while being<br />
supported by Microsoft's first-party blockbuster games such<br />
as Halo, Gears of War, Forza, including the boatload of triple<br />
'A' titles coming from the acquisition of Bethesda, id<br />
Software, MachineGames, Arkane Stuidos, Ninja Theory<br />
and a slew of other newly acquired Microsoft studios, well,<br />
you get the picture by now. I hope.<br />
This, my friends, is the ebb and flow of high-stakes<br />
competitive business, and in the case of Sony vs Microsoft,<br />
it's a battle of the giants. Each company doing all it can to<br />
win over the loyalties of video gamers around the world and<br />
in the end, we the consumers, are the beneficiaries of such<br />
high stakes competition. Game Pass by Microsoft is proof of<br />
this fact. As of this writing, Game Pass already has over 18<br />
million subscribers and continues to grow, winning over<br />
gamers worldwide at an alarming rate, due to it being a new<br />
and innovative video game industry business model and<br />
bringing with it a value proposition never before seen in the<br />
history of video games. I honestly can't see how Sony and<br />
Nintendo will be able to offer anything better than Game<br />
Pass and because of that Xbox will be in an amazing<br />
position moving forward in this next generation of gaming.<br />
So, there you have it, Sony is in trouble, and it's nothing<br />
they can do about it. They can scramble and try to come up<br />
with their own version of Game Pass, but it won't work, it's<br />
too intricate and can't be created in the spur of the moment.<br />
Microsoft has out thought Sony this time around and has<br />
beat Sony to the punch if you will. Sony is stuck in an<br />
antiquated business model while Microsoft has broken free<br />
of it and has opened a new door in which they have created<br />
and now control. It was methodically executed and planned<br />
with extreme perfection much like the 10-year Avengers<br />
theatrical anthology culminating with 'End Game' and Sony<br />
didn't see it coming.<br />
Historically speaking, this is not the first time Sony has<br />
been caught sleeping at the wheel of business evolution. It<br />
happened to them as the world transitioned into the digital<br />
age and Sony, coming off the mega-successful Walkman<br />
brand of portable audio listening devices, didn't see a<br />
company by the name of Apple coming to the forefront<br />
armed with a new product called the iPod. As a result, a<br />
giant was toppled, Sony with its Walkman, and replaced by<br />
a new giant, Apple with its iPod and iTunes platform.<br />
UPCOMING<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
THE GUNK<br />
UPCOMING<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
WARHAMMER 40K: DARKTIDE<br />
UPCOMING<br />
FREE ON GAMEPASS<br />
THE ASCENT
FEATURE<br />
SCARLET NEXUS<br />
An intriguing narrative atop incredible JRPG action<br />
By Rhett Quiban<br />
PLATFORM<br />
PS5, PS4, XBOX SERIES XIS, PC<br />
GENRE<br />
ACTION ROLE-PLAYING ADVENTURE<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
BANDAI NAMCO<br />
DEVELOPER<br />
BANDAI NAMCO<br />
RELEASE<br />
JUNE 25, 2021<br />
Using superpowers as motifs in<br />
various forms of media is a<br />
prevailing system in today’s pop<br />
culture, and that’s not necessarily<br />
a bad thing. A lot of people love<br />
playing out this fantasy and there’s<br />
\ no better way of doing that than by<br />
playing video games. Scarlet<br />
Nexus is a game that will allow you to live out your<br />
fantasy of being a superpowered individual, and the<br />
developers behind the game know this fact full well,<br />
which is why it is the game’s central theme and<br />
mechanic.<br />
Scarlet Nexus is an action JRPG. That fact alone<br />
already turned a few heads when the game was first<br />
announced in May 2020 during Microsoft’s Xbox 20/20<br />
event. The game’s art direction is as anime-ish as they<br />
come, which should delight those who are fans of the<br />
media. Interestingly, there is also going to be an anime<br />
adaptation of the game that will come out in July of this<br />
year.<br />
According to the game’s producer, Keita Iizuka, who<br />
also produced Code Vein, the name “Scarlet Nexus”<br />
refers to the red strings that will become a big part of<br />
the game’s story and gameplay system. “Scarlet” can<br />
also refer to the game’s heroes and “Nexus”<br />
corresponds to bonds and connections, a central<br />
theme in the game’s narrative.<br />
Being an action RPG, Scarlet Nexus’ gameplay is<br />
fast-paced and adrenaline-inducing. You play from a<br />
third-person perspective and will have the chance to<br />
play one of two different characters: Yuito Sumeragi or<br />
Kasane Randall. These two heroes are members of the<br />
Other Suppression Force, or OSF, a group of<br />
superpowered individuals tasked to defend their land<br />
from otherworldly creatures known as the Others. Both<br />
Yuito and Kasane are known as psionics, individuals<br />
who are capable of using psychokinesis. This power<br />
will allow you to move and lift objects with your mind,<br />
which you can then use to your advantage in combat.<br />
When you’re not using your psychokinetic<br />
superpowers, this game essentially functions like a<br />
high-action hack-and-slash using the melee weapon<br />
that you are provided with. Your superpowers can be
FEATURE<br />
In Scarlet Nexus, you will be faced with a group of powerful and<br />
terrifying mutants known as the Others. The Others are mindless<br />
creaures who terrorize and hunt humans.<br />
upgraded via the game’s skill tree system, which the<br />
game refers to as a “brain map”. As you progress through<br />
the game, you will come across various companions who<br />
will join your party and assist you in combat. Each<br />
companion will have their own unique abilities, which you<br />
will be able to acquire and control using a system in the<br />
game called the “brain link”.<br />
In a game as adventurous as Scarlet Nexus, the world<br />
of the game is just as important as the game’s story. In<br />
Scarlet Nexus, you are taken to a near-future, alternate<br />
reality version of modern-day Japan. In this world,<br />
technological advancements have enveloped society and<br />
superpowers are more technological rather than mystical.<br />
Thanks to their higher understanding of technology and<br />
science, humanity was able to gather substances found<br />
in human brains. These substances are responsible for<br />
the powers that are present in this universe. Societies<br />
have also formed around these substances.<br />
This game is set in a land called New Himuka. The<br />
design of New Himuka is the perfect union of a futuristic<br />
science-fiction world and modern Japanese architecture.<br />
Despite being a futuristic game, Scarlet Nexus is filled<br />
with Japanese cultural elements.<br />
In Scarlet Nexus, you will be faced with a group of<br />
powerful and terrifying mutants known as the Others. The<br />
Others are mindless creatures who terrorize and hunt<br />
humans and hail from a place known as the Extinction<br />
Belt. These monsters come in various shapes, forms,<br />
and sizes, but they are also extraordinarily designed. The<br />
developers of the game intended the Others to look both<br />
alien and foreign, but also very familiar in terms of figure<br />
and form, and they surely succeeded in this arena.<br />
The Others a powerful aura about them, as if letting<br />
those who behold their eyes upon them know that regular<br />
humans will never stand a chance against them, which is<br />
as truthful as it is horrifying. These creatures are<br />
constantly in pain, brought upon by their awful mutation.<br />
They hunt the brains of living organisms because it is the<br />
only thing that calms their madness.<br />
The system, atmosphere, even narrative beats of<br />
Scarlet Nexus is nothing groundbreaking, but everything<br />
that is shown to the public thus far screams promise and<br />
potential. This game aims to provide gameplay that’s as<br />
fun as can be for its players by utilizing mechanics and<br />
themes that are well-known and well-loved, while also<br />
being individualistic with its core story and lore.<br />
If you’re a fan of fast-paced third-person games that<br />
allow you to use superpowers to take down enigmaticlooking<br />
creatures, Scarlet Nexus should be right up your<br />
alley. This game is set to be released on June 25, 2021,<br />
and you can play it on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox<br />
One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
COVER<br />
HOGWARTS<br />
LEGACY<br />
This adventure is your story, for you to take on as you see fit<br />
By Jih-Wei Peng<br />
PLATFORM<br />
PS5, PS4<br />
GENRE<br />
ACTION ADVENTURE<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT<br />
DEVELOPER<br />
GUERRILLA GAMES<br />
RELEASE<br />
2021
COVER<br />
The Potterverse has always felt<br />
practically custom-made for the<br />
purposes of shaping your own<br />
identity - think about how many<br />
online quizzes exist telling you what<br />
your Patronus is or what House<br />
you’d be sorted in, with assorted<br />
badges to proudly declare that you are as brave as a<br />
Gryffindor, as loyal as a Hufflepuff, as wise as a<br />
Ravenclaw, or as cunning as a Slytherin. Throw on the<br />
general school setting where one is expected to start<br />
discovering your real talents and interests, as well as<br />
the very real possibility of being taken from your<br />
mundane Muggle world into a literally magical world of<br />
wonder, and it’s not hard to say that one of the great<br />
things the Potterverse sells is the fantasy of being able<br />
to reinvent and identify yourself as whoever you want to<br />
become.<br />
Avalanche Software seems to have homed right in<br />
on this aspect of the Potterverse when creating their<br />
new open world action RPG, <strong>Hogwarts</strong>: <strong>Legacy</strong>, as<br />
their newly released trailer and website hammers on<br />
the theme of crafting your personal wizarding identity<br />
over and over. Whether it’s asking what House you’ll<br />
be in, what aspects of wizardry and witchcraft you’ll<br />
specialize in, what friends and what choices you’ll make<br />
as you face the troubles of the world, the devs are<br />
insistent that this adventure is YOUR story, for you to<br />
take on as you see fit.
COVER<br />
They’re greatly helped in this by their decision to set the<br />
game in the late 19th century rather than the modern<br />
era. Shorn from the constraints of having to build<br />
around the events and characters in the books and<br />
films, they’ve a free hand to make the player the central<br />
character in the unfolding drama rather than a<br />
supporting character who can never be allowed to<br />
overshadow Harry, Ron and Hermione. In fact, the 19th<br />
century as a whole is something of a blank slate in the<br />
Potterverse generally, allowing the devs to tweak and<br />
adjust things as necessary to fit the game best.<br />
Don’t take this as a sign that they’re going to go right<br />
off the rails, however. The other point the devs are<br />
hammering on is the continuity and unity provided by<br />
<strong>Hogwarts</strong> itself, a chain that binds all magic together<br />
past and present, and certainly from what we’ve seen of<br />
the available materials <strong>Hogwarts</strong> hasn’t really changed<br />
all that much in the space of a hundred years - not<br />
surprising, given the notorious conservatism of<br />
wizarding culture. Avalanche appears to be dedicated<br />
to making the game an organic part of the Potterverse,<br />
a creation of their own but following all the established<br />
rules of the setting, thus allowing players to be simply a<br />
student of <strong>Hogwarts</strong> as many have dreamed of. Not<br />
only that, but with their emphasis on the fact that you’ll<br />
be walking in the footsteps of all wizards who came<br />
before, they’re subtly implying that in turn, Harry and the<br />
gang will in their time be walking in YOUR footsteps,<br />
and it’s likely that the epilogue of the game will show<br />
how your actions, in some way, had a distant ripple<br />
effect on their own adventures - rather a clever way of<br />
tying players to the main storyline without making them<br />
anything but the heroes of their own story.<br />
But what is that story exactly? Details are sparse at<br />
present, but the player is apparently a late addition to<br />
<strong>Hogwarts</strong> instead of arriving as a first year - an earlier<br />
leak suggests you’ll be entering as a 5th year - and that<br />
you have ties to an ancient, mysterious form of magic<br />
whose secrets could well rock the wizarding world.
COVER<br />
As for the ancient magic you are apparently capable of ,<br />
other parts of the trailer showed <strong>Hogwarts</strong> students<br />
dueling with fur-clad, animal-mask wearing wizards of<br />
some sort - given the conservatism of magical culture,<br />
perhaps a remnant of old, wilder pre-Roman magical<br />
traditions trying to overcome the staidness of modern<br />
magic? We also know there’s some kind of morality<br />
system as well, thus far looking like a straightforward<br />
Light vs Dark side setup rather than a more nuanced<br />
Paragon vs Renegade. All else, sadly, is speculation at<br />
the moment. The devs do make clear what you’ll be<br />
doing during your time in <strong>Hogwarts</strong>, however - making<br />
friends, studying in class, brewing potions, mastering<br />
spells, and taming magical beasts. Pride of place<br />
seems to go for the potion-making and the magical<br />
beast-taming, as the trailer spends a fair amount of time<br />
focusing on students briefing Mooncalves and<br />
Graphorns, while their website’s scrolling list of possible<br />
students make much of potion-making and herbology<br />
(I.e. getting ingredients for potions). Spells aren’t<br />
specified in as much detail, but the trailer certainly has<br />
an example of Transfiguration turning a mirror into a<br />
training dummy, as well as the combat applications of a<br />
Levitation charm and other, unspecified combat charms.<br />
It’s been stated as well that you’ll be bringing<br />
companions with you to join your adventures,<br />
What this all implies is that you’re probably not going<br />
to be spending a lot of time listening to History of Magic<br />
lectures to prepare for your OWLs and are instead<br />
going to be spending quite a bit more time kicking the<br />
snot out of the local wildlife, as pretty much all the listed<br />
activities are combat-related in some way - Shenmue<br />
this probably ain’t. The trailer already suggests a<br />
number of dust-ups against foes from Graphorns to<br />
dragons, from Inferi to Dementors, and of course the<br />
mysterious masked and furred wizards who can safely<br />
be assumed to be antagonists of some stripe.
COVER<br />
The emphasis appears to be on the action part of the<br />
RPG, and while it’s currently unknown what role the<br />
class structure of what is ultimately a school will play in<br />
the game, it’s likely that the classes will be directly<br />
related to improving your combat skills somehow and<br />
any class schedules that exists won’t be getting in the<br />
way of your adventures from <strong>Hogwarts</strong> to Hogsmeade<br />
to the Forbidden Forest and environs beyond.<br />
Unfortunately any discussion of a new Harry Potter<br />
game, especially one that focuses as much as it does<br />
on creating your own identity, has a hard time ignoring<br />
the elephant in the room - Rowling’s recent unpleasant<br />
stance and comments regarding trans people.<br />
Avalanche Software has been quick to stress that while<br />
their world is inspired and based on Rowling’s works,<br />
she has no direct input on the game beyond approving<br />
of its existence, though Warner Brothers has refused to<br />
comment on whether or not she will be receiving<br />
royalties from the game. It’ll have to be a matter of<br />
personal conscience whether the lure of the game is<br />
worth indirectly supporting Rowling - a hard choice for<br />
some, and something of a shame given that the devs<br />
seem to regard the game as a labor of love.<br />
In any event, you’ll have plenty of time to mull over<br />
your decision as there’s no concrete release date yet,<br />
with the game being scheduled to come out sometime<br />
in 2022 on the PlayStation5, PlayStation4, PlayStation4<br />
Pro, and the Xbox One family of devices, including<br />
Xbox Series X and Xbox One X, and PC.