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How Marvel Have Now Conquered the Gaming Industry

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PVP Team
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Everywhere you turn these days, Marvel seems to have an influence.

Whether it is TV series, films, or video games, the characters of Marvel have leaped from the comic book pages and into pop culture. The phenomenon started with the 2000 release of X-Men, but it was the 2008 film Iron Man that sparked the Marvel Cinematic Universe and an avalanche of films and characters that have thrilled and delighted fans ever since.

With that popularity on the big screen came TV series based on the characters, and the inevitable slew of video games. Often, officially licensed games boasting popular characters have struggled, right the way back to official film licenses such as Hudson Hawk and Dick Tracey on the 8-bit machines.

Long before Robert Downey Jnr’s portrayal of Tony Stark, video game manufacturers had seized on Marvel as a great basis for their products. X-Men was the popular choice as far back as 1992, not on home consoles but in arcades as part of a side-scrolling beat ‘em up. X-Men 2: Clone Wars arrived on the Sega Genesis, but the machine was not mainstream, let alone the game.

The real momentum has been gathered since the turn of the century, and slowly but surely Marvel characters have conquered the world of gaming. That has not just been on consoles either, but the widespread use of mobile devices opened a niche to be filled.

Both Android and iOS have lots of titles that draw heavily from Marvel characters, such as Marvel Contest of Champions. In some instances, those games do not even use the exact physics of the characters, but more the imagery and branding which fit within a different genre. The superhero slots on Foxy Games are a perfect example of this, taking one genre (in this instance slot machines) and mixing that with instantly recognized branding. Other genres do the same, with puzzle titles such as Marvel Puzzle Quest: Hero RPG. This would not be possible without the films fueling the desire for the product, but at the same time, it does not ‘conquer’ the gaming world, merely corner a niche.

The gaming world was truly conquered by Marvel in 2018 when the first actually great Marvel game arrived. There had been good games before that date, with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006), and Spider-Man 2 (2004). They were just that though – good games. To conquer the industry, a game must be great.

Spider-Man was not just a good game; it was a Game of the Year contender the minute it landed on the PlayStation 4. Eurogamer named it in their top 30 games of the year, whilst The Verge and Shacknews went one better claiming it was the best game 2018 had to offer. In a calendar year that boasted God of War, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and the blockbuster Red Dead Redemption 2, that was high praise indeed.

That dropped the benchmark ,which has since been followed by Spider-Man: Miles Morales on the PlayStation 5. It was a launch title for the new machine, a benchmark by which all games that follow for Sony’s flagship console will be measured. If that is not evidenced enough that Marvel has conquered the gaming world, then perhaps the less-heralded release Marvel’s Avengers is. It landed in August 2020 and was not all that well-received, and yet it became the second-highest launch-month dollar sales of all-time for a superhero game, behind Spider-Man.

With a PlayStation 5 release planned for 2021, Marvel games are showing no signs of slowing in a throttled market, and as more films and characters come to the fore, their video game counterparts will only go from strength to strength.

Prince of Persia Remake Delayed Again With No Launch Date Revealed

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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For the second time in a few months, Ubisoft has postponed Prince of Persia The Sands of Time Remake, but an exact release date currently remains under wraps. Following a long bout of online leaks and speculations, the publisher ultimately revealed the Prince of Persia remake back in September during one of the company’s Ubisoft Forward events. What should have been an exciting revelation filled with hype was rather met with little cheers and lots of panic.

Fans of the series particularly expressed frustration in the underwhelming visuals of the game’s trailer. As a response to the protest, developer Ubisoft India reiterated that the remake’s visuals were actually a stylistic choice.

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Neither time nor budget contributed to the graphical design, according to Syed Abbas, the studio’s managing director. Regardless, such explanations did little to turn the tide of fans’ perception, which later ended up in the studio’s decision to postpone the project out of its originally slated January 2021 release date. In delaying the game to March, Ubisoft pledged to use the extra time to make sure fans receive the game they like.

It looks like the game still is not ready for release, as the developers have once more delayed Prince of Persia The Sands of Time Remake. Ubisoft shared the news in a text-laden photo on the official Twitter account of Prince of Persia; however, the message didn’t mention anything about a release date.

It is not even certain if the game remains on track for a 2021 launch. Based on the post, this latest postponement will provide the developers the time needed to “deliver a remake that feels fresh while remaining faithful to the original.”

As usual, a postponed game is better than releasing it before the game is ready. While the absence of a revised launch date will certainly frustrate fans, this lapse in the news roll out implies Ubisoft means to give Ubisoft India all the time they need to truly deliver something remarkable. Now, fans will have to wait for when more information about the game will appear.

Anyone anxiously expecting remake-related news has a lot to look forward to in the coming months, provided that 2021 is packed with remake releases. Notably, classics like the Braid, System Shock, and the original Nier are all expected to return in an upgraded form sometime this year. A hopeful Prince of Persia Sands of Time Remake release would simply be the icing on an already promising cake.

New Call of Duty Installment Confirmed For 2021 Launch Date

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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In a not so surprising revelation, Activision has announced that a new entry in the Call of Duty franchise will be launching this 2021. The famous shooter series will not be breaking its roughly 20-year streak of yearly releases this year, in spite of some issues on their last installment. The machine had been rather well-oiled up until 2020 with the launch of Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, which still launched on time in spite of the fact that the game has been infected with glitches.

Sledgehammer Games was meant to launch a Call of Duty title last year but after supposedly butting heads with Raven Software, who Sledgehammer was partnered up with, the title went through massive changes.

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Treyarch was called up to bat by their publisher, Activision, and told they would need to launch their Call of Duty title a year earlier than anticipated. Sledgehammer’s title was overhauled into a Black Ops game once Treyarch came aboard, which saw the developer managing zombies and multiplayer while Raven Software created the campaign. The game launched on time, even after having to work around a global pandemic, and was a massive success.

All of this development pandemonium makes it uncertain which developer will be creating the next Call of Duty game. Activision revealed the untitled Call of Duty title for 2021 during their latest earning’s call but provided absolutely no information.

The publisher will typically offer a nugget of detail, such as the developer, a hint for the premise, or confirm if it will have a classic campaign. None of that was available during the earning’s call, making many think what the condition is for this year’s installment.

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It also remains to be seen if the new game will be developed exclusively for the next-gen consoles such as the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5, or if the game will still run on the older consoles. The franchise has always had rotating development studios, between Treyarch, Sledgehammer, and Infinity Ward. With the recent development problems for Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, that has been totally thrown off.

Whether Activision decides to do a small scale game, like the remaster of the multiplayer mode of Modern Warfare 2 or something that allows the development studios to have a focus on just multiplayer remains to be seen.

Sony Plans To Ship Nearly 15M PlayStation 5s This Year

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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In spite of the ongoing supply shortage, Sony reveals it still wants to sell a whopping 14.8 million PlayStation 5 units for this fiscal year. The reason the tech giant has that particular number as its goal is that that is how many units the still remarkably famous PlayStation 4 sold in its second year.

It was previously reported that the PlayStation 5 sold 4.5 million units in 2020, a huge milestone for Sony in what’s been recently confirmed as its largest console release of all time. Had the hardware not been crippled by shortage problems, it’s likely that number would be even higher.

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Because of the global pandemic affecting Sony’s production chain and hackers scalping a huge portion of the consoles that go on sale online, PlayStation 5 supply has been much lesser than the fans and company would like. In the meantime, demand for the console has stayed high, resulting in delivery thefts and retail stores being flocked by hordes of players into the present.

VGC reported that, during a recent earnings call, Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s CFO and Executive VP, revealed the company still wants to sell enough consoles to outperform the PlayStation 4’s 14.8 million mark but also confessed that there will be some difficulties doing so.

While Sony is trying to get its hands on the necessary parts to make more PlayStation 5 units, manufacturing issues at AMD have caused a lack of processors that both the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 utilize. With the assistance of a translator, Mr. Totoki said,

“Compared to the original plan, we try to procure components at the level of the second year of the launch of the PS4 at 14.8 million – we would like to exceed that level of PS4 when it comes to PS5. However, the level of demand by customers [is] so high for PS5. Therefore, for various devices, we try to procure larger volume. However, we have to look at the global shortage of semiconductors. When we try to increase our capacity, we face difficulties because of this global situation.”

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The culprits behind this scarcity are the ongoing global pandemic, a hopefully receding tariff war between China and the US, and, more, unfortunately, and it’s not certain when any of these issues will come to a decisive end. While Microsoft and Sony have made it certain they’d both like to get more consoles to get into the customers’ homes, the problem is basically out of their hands.

Mega Gyarados Arriving To Pokemon Go On Lunar New Year Event

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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The Pokemon Go Lunar New Year event is arriving soon and developer Niantic has shed some light on some of its most exciting factors which include the debut of Mega Gyarados to the game. Pokemon Go Lunar New Year events are a long-running tradition in the game which features design elements by the given year – for example, the Pokemon Go Lunar New Year for 2021 is focused around the Year of the Ox.

Pokemon Go has continued to experience success throughout its long existence on mobile, but 2020 marked a shockingly new high for Niantic’s game despite a global coronavirus pandemic that significantly challenged not only free time and player attention but also the design essentials of the title itself, which considerably featured outdoor play.

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Thanks to fast adaptations from the development team, Pokemon Go continued to prosper and offer its players an escape even without fleeing their homes, and the momentum produced from this success has carried over into this year so far, with content updates that have continued to keep players engaged.

A few hours ago, Pokemon Go Live revealed information on the Pokemon Go Lunar New Year event for 2021, and one of the most significant details unveiled is the debut of Mega Gyarados in the game. The Mega Evolution of the famous massive Pokemon is showing up in the game for the first time, following the classic version and its Red Gyarados counterpart already being added in the game. Mega Gyarados will also be appearing in Mega Raids from Tuesday, February 9 until Saturday, February 20.

The developers shared more information on the event in general, as well, as the Pokemon Go Lunar New Year event 2021 will run beginning February 9 until February 14. The event will include a new Timed Research event featuring Tauros, a bull Pokemon most closely related to the Year of the Ox from an aesthetic point of view, and a boost in red Pokemon emerging in the wild.

The events page also implies an improved encounter rate with Shiny Gyarados because of the shiny form of the Pokemon being red, so the Lunar New Year event is a great chance for players for numerous reasons.

As usual, Pokemon Go Mega Gyarados’ addition will continue to sustain an already remarkable roster that features the type of depth that the game was condemned for lacking in its early days. As the Pokemon Go Lunar New Year event starts and players get their opportunity to bolster their teams, it’s worth thinking about what the future holds for the game ahead of an unsure 2021 – continuing its sales pace from the past year is superior, but so too is introducing some new content that doesn’t feel as routine as events such as Lunar New Year additions.

New Cooking Simulator Godlike Burger Allows You To Murder Customers

By
Aletheia
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Working in an industry where you have to face customers is not easy; you have to take everything in with a smile, no matter how tired or frustrated you may already be. Fortunately, a new game has been announced that will finally let you show customers what you truly feel deep inside.

Godlike Burger is not your average cooking simulator—not only can you cook and serve the orders of your customers, you can straight up murder them too! Developed by Liquid Pug and published by Daedalic Entertainment, the indie title is all about a hopeful chef who simply wants to create the most bizarre yet delicious burgers in the whole galaxy.

The restaurant itself is more of a flying spaceship, and you travel across different planets trying to garner fame and recognition with each one. As you become more well-known, more and more aliens will want to visit the flying restaurant in order to try out your yummy burgers.

It sounds like a normal cooking game, right? Well, here’s the catch: the ingredients of the burgers you serve are comprised of the aliens you serve them to. Similar to intense cooking games like Overcooked, Godlike Burger has you serving and managing a variety of customers every day. Each one has their own preferences, such as what kind of ingredients they want and how they like their burger cooked.

After they’re done with their food, however, you have to decide whether you want to let them leave your restaurant or kill them and make use of their alien bodies as a supply for your next batch. Now, if you do decide to murder the customer, there are different ways you can do so.

One way goes the more classic route, where you simply hack at the body with your cleaver. If you want to challenge yourself, though, you can come up with strategies that will lure your target into traps. For instance, you can discreetly slip in some laxatives into your target’s meal, so that once they head over to the restroom, a boobytrap of some kind will silently take them out for you.

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Once the day is over and all the customers are either out of commission or have already left for home, you can proceed to managing the business aspect of your restaurant. You can prepare “sauces,” for example, restock on necessary ingredients, or perhaps upgrade your traps and kitchen appliances.

A demo for Godlike Burger is already available on Steam, so definitely check it out if you’re interested. The Steam Game festival 2021 is currently ongoing, which features interesting events and demos for a myriad of video games, and developer Liquid Pug is actually one of the many developers taking part in the event.

The demo for the upcoming title is only available for PC via Steam right now, but the full game is expected to launch some time this year, perhaps by Q2. And who knows? If Godlike Burger does well enough, it could extend to other platforms in the future.

Psychological Thriller Shadows of the Damned Will Be Removed From Xbox Game Pass

By
Aletheia
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Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Electronic Arts, singleplayer action game Shadows of the Damned was launched in 2011 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. What made this title intriguing to fans is that its design was created by two designers—Shinji Mikami, who has worked on popular games like Resident Evil, and Goichi Suda, who worked on No More Heroes.

Fast forward to a few years, though, and the game completely disappeared out of nowhere from the Microsoft Store back in 2020. Not only that, interested players could no longer purchase its digital version. Many fans theorized that Grasshopper Manufacture and Electronic Arts’ publishing deal was probably no longer ongoing, which made the publisher delist the game from its digital storefront.

However, around one week after Microsoft Store removed Shadows of the Damned, the title suddenly reappeared in the storefront once again—returning as suddenly as it had left. It has been available on the platform ever since then on the Xbox One through backward compatibility. Not only that, it’s also available to play via EA Play’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

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Sadly, the story doesn’t end there for Shadows of the Damned. This week, Microsoft made it known to the public that several games from the Xbox Game Pass would no longer be available starting February 16, and it appears that one of the games on that list is Shadows of the Damned.

This may seem like a harmless thing to many. After all, it’s not a new thing for a game to be removed from the Xbox Game Pass, as the platform cleans out its library of games every month or so to make space for newer games. However, what is unusual about this is the fact that the title will be completely removed from the EA Play catalog.

As a result, fans have begun to speculate that Shadows of the Damned is going to be delisted once again, which is why it’s going to be completely removed from the Microsoft Store. We have yet to prove the verity of these speculations, but if they end up to be true, then players will probably only have until February 16 to buy a digital copy of the game if they want one.

Of course, those fans who already have a physical copy of Shadows of the Damned can breathe easy. They will still be able to play the game on their PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

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On the other hand, those who don’t want to purchase a digital copy of the game can simply binge-play the title until its removal in the next few weeks. If they want to actually finish the game from start to finish, then they only need to spare 10 to 20 hours of play time.

Shadows of the Damned is about Garcia Hotspur, a demon hunter who traverses through the hellish City of the Damned to try and rescue the love of his life by “defeating the armies of darkness with the power of the light.”

It would truly be a shame if Shadows of the Damned gets delisted. The title was generally well-received by its players and critics, so we hope that the title will return to the storefront in the future.

Public Beta Version of Steam China Launches Next Week

By
Aletheia
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According to a prominent video game industry analyst, Daniel Ahmed of Nico Partners, a public beta of Steam will be launched in China this February 9, 2021, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Valve and Perfect World. This is truly an exciting event, given the fact that it will be the first time that the digital platform will launch in the country.

Of course, this version of Steam will be different from the international one. For one thing, Steam China won’t be the same application as the one the other countries are using. Meaning to say that it will be its very own application. However, that’s not even the most distinguishing aspect.

What makes Steam China significantly different from the international version is the fact that not every game on Steam will be available on the platform—only the ones that have been approved by the Chinese authorities. As such, the Chinese version of games such as Fortnite, which is known to have significant changes from its original iteration, are the only ones that can be sold.

That being said, it doesn’t matter which Steam version users choose to use; all accounts on the storefront will still function on the two versions. This means that those Chinese players who were already able to create a Steam account before can still log into Steam China using their already existing credentials—that is, if they want to.

Chinese gamers have always been a massive population in the video game market. The authorities banned the use of consoles until recently, though, which is why most gamers from mainland China gravitate towards mobile and PC gaming. Although, it’s worth noting that this fact has been changing quite rapidly, as the Nintendo Switch has been gaining popularity among the gaming community in the country.

Even though Valve’s Steam was more or less in the legal gray area before, this didn’t stop Chinese players from downloading and using it. Still, the existence of Steam China would undoubtedly be beneficial to the Chinese gaming community, especially the new and/or casual gamers.

After all, not everyone has the expertise of downloading a strange foreign app that may or may not be legal. So, the launch of Steam China will give gamers an opportunity to purchase and play titles that they want without having to go through dubiously legal ways.

Also, Steam China will offer something more to casual gamers, something beyond just mobile titles which are prominent in the Chinese market. Asides from that, this will be a great opportunity for foreign developers if they want their games to be noticed in the Chinese market.

While the release of Steam China has its benefits, it could also be a gateway to other issues. Since only the game approved by the Chinese government can be available on the platform, this could mean that the authorities could have even more power and control over what content the citizens can consume.

ZeniMax Media CEO And Founder Robert A. Altman Has Passed Away

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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A few hours ago, ZeniMax Media shared some sad news. The parent company of Bethesda confirmed that its founder, chairman, and CEO, Robert A. Altman, has passed away. Altman serves as CEO of ZeniMax Media since the company was established back in 1999, a term of more than two decades. Altman was 74 years old and is married to Lynda Carter whom he had two kids.

ZeniMax Media posted a lengthy message on Twitter about the death of Altman. In the message, ZeniMax Media described Altman as a friend, visionary, and “believer in the spirit of people and the power of what they could accomplish together.”

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It goes on to reveal how Altman was an exemplary leader and an “even better human being.” ZeniMax Media then states that those in the company will continue to observe the values that Altman taught them during his time in the company.

As part of its letter shared on Twitter, ZeniMax Media also mentioned that throughout the global pandemic, Altman would send an email to all of the employees every week. One such weekly email was revealed in honor of Altman’s memory.

The message discusses the “quiet joys” that working from home can bring even between the challenges everyone is facing. Altman also encourages ZeniMax Media employees to take a break and think about the company they have all created together, saying not to “let a day pass without taking a moment to enjoy your remarkable creation.”

Altman’s email ends on a sad tone, reading,  “Looking forward to being back together. As always, stay safe.” The message serves in part as a last farewell from Altman to his coworkers and employees. The global pandemic sadly continues and Altman wasn’t able to once again address ZeniMax Media employees in a comeback to the office, but his memory will hopefully make that memory much more substantial.

Altman witnessed ZeniMax Media make huge strives forward in the more than two decades he spent as CEO of the company. Whether it was the early fundraising drives that ensured ZeniMax Media’s future in the early 2000s, property procurement like that of Fallout back in 2004, studio procurements like Arkane Studios, MachineGames, id Software in the 2010s, or the recent purchase of ZeniMax Media by Microsoft. ZeniMax Media’s free era is identical to the leadership of Altman.

Overwatch Reveals Echo’s New Lunar New Year 2021 Skin

By
Aletheia
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The Lunar New Year event for Overwatch will begin today, and just like from the previous years, developer Blizzard will also be releasing brand-new skins for the different characters that will match the theme for this year’s event.

Yesterday, Blizzard revealed the themed skin for Ashe, which was a Tiger Huntress. This time around, the skin for another character, Echo, has been revealed. The Kkachi Echo skin is a pretty simple and straightforward one—Echo basically dresses up like the Kkachi bird. When using the skin, Echo has feathered wings that look similar to a bird, while the entire color scheme follows the dark blue and gray aesthetic of the Kkachi.

Seeing as Echo has “wings” to begin with which allow her to glide in the air, this Kkachi skin is a very fitting one for the character and goes well with the theme at the same time. She also has a new highlight intro, where she performs a dance with a pair of fans made out of blue and white light.

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The Kkachi, also known as the Oriental Magpie, are usually associated with either Taiwan or China. However, this lovely bird is actually also a common symbol in Korea, so much so that many South Korean cities and counties consider it as their official bird.

Not all the Overwatch heroes will probably get their skin for this new event, but it makes sense that Blizzard would release one for Echo. For one thing, she’s the newest character to be introduced in the Overwatch universe, which means that this year’s Lunar New Year event would be her first one.

That being said, this year is the Year of the Ox as well, so we expect that Blizzard will release at least one other skin for another character that’s themed around that particular animal. Perhaps one of the women heroes will get some kind of cowgirl skin. Orisa would be a perfect fit for this, especially since she already has an ox-like build to begin with, anyway.

Even though Blizzard still continues to support Overwatch with a variety of updates and events, fans are yearning more and more for the release of Overwatch 2. The sequel was first announced in 2019, yet Blizzard has been noticeably silent about the upcoming title and its development.

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Fortunately, the BlizzCon online event will take place this month, and excited fans expect that more news about Overwatch 2 will be revealed by then. The major announcement that fans are waiting for is a release date confirmation.

However, given the fact that there are rumors claiming that Overwatch 2’s development is going slow, as well as Blizzard’s alarming lack of updates, it wouldn’t be altogether surprising if fans will have to wait a bit longer for the game.

What’s more, Genji’s voice actor recently said that he hasn’t even recorded any voice lines for the sequel yet, which is a cause for worry. Although this could be a reference to the rumor regarding the game’s slow development progress, others have begun to worry that Genji’s voice actor might be getting replaced in Overwatch 2.

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