Month: September 2020

Version 1.1 is now available to download for Persona 4 Golden on Steam. The first patch for the PC version of the classic JRPG addresses gameplay and stability issues including random crashes, progression issues, improved optimisation, and so on.

Those participating in the game’s Open Beta Branch will have already encountered these fixes, but they’ve now made their way to the Main Branch of the game for everyone. Version 1.1 tackles a number of issues relating to various parts of Persona 4 Golden, such as problems with cutscene playback, including a new lower playback mode that smooths out the performance on older machines. There are also fixes for crashes that could occur when removing an Xbox One controller, a progression issue that sometimes happened when entering Yukiko’s castle, and another issue that would prevent some players from being able to complete Quest 3.

Below is the full comprehensive list of fixes made in the first patch.

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Destiny 2: Beyond Light will introduce three new sub-classes when it launches in November, with each power-up focusing on assisting other players and controlling the flow of combat. Hunters can access the Revenant sub-class and Titans can tap into the power of Behemoths, while Warlocks will be able to channel the Stasis energies of Shadebinders.

Bungie revealed in a blog post more details on the new Warlock subclass, which specializes in the art of immobilizing enemies and then shattering them with Stasis energy. Warlocks can also wield a Stasis staff that fires energy projectiles or get up close and personal with enemies, freezing them in place with Penumbral Blast melee attacks.

Stasis sub-classes will also have an exclusive benefit in the form of Aspects and Fragments. Aspects are class-specific physical items that can be slotted into your inventory. Once equipped, Aspects will unlock new abilities, that can also be freely mixed and matched. Fragments, which aren’t locked to specific classes, can be added to these Aspects and offer passive perks at the cost of a stat penalty.

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Early last year, Samsung announced the original Samsung Galaxy Z Fold with an eye-watering $1980 price tag. Now that the Fold 2 has been announced, Samsung has rounded up, selling the second edition of its folding phone for an even $2000 (well, $1999 to be precise).

The device was revealed at the recent Unpacked Part 2 event, as detailed by GameSpot sister site CNET, after first being announced at last month’s event alongside the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra. The new phone includes a number of improvements on its predecessor, including an improved hinge design and display, as well as the addition of 5G functionality.

While $2000 is a lot for a phone, rivaling the price of a decent gaming PC, it’s not as bad as it could be, as CNET points out. When compared to the price of last year’s Galaxy Z Fold, the new edition is only $20 more expensive, and includes some decent upgrades. The Fold 2 is a refinement on the original, addressing most of the concerns raised by early adopters of the first model.

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Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has written a tribute to his friend Chadwick Boseman, who passed away last Friday after a private battle with cancer. In a statement posted on Marvel.com, Coogler reminisces on his work with Boseman, and how the T’Challa actor brought so much to the film above and beyond what would be expected.

In particular, Coogler reveals that one of the film’s most striking lines was suggested by Boseman–not for his own character, but for Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger. “In early drafts of the script, [Erik] Killmonger’s character would ask T’Challa to be buried in Wakanda,” Coogler explained. “Chad challenged that and asked, ‘What if Killmonger asked to be buried somewhere else?'” In the finished film, Killmonger says “just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.”

Throughout the whole process, Boseman put a lot of thought and effort into the film, not just for what it was, but for what it would come to represent. “We would often speak about heritage and what it means to be African,” Coogler said. “When preparing for the film, he would ponder every decision, every choice, not just for how it would reflect on himself, but how those choices could reverberate.”

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The Sims 4 is getting a new Star Wars expansion, Journey to Batuu, which will take your Sims to a galaxy far, far away. We’ve already seen many of the additions coming with the expansion, including lightsabers, droids, and Stormtroopers, but now a new trailer has shown off how it’ll play, and what will make the experience unique beyond the aesthetics.

The trailer below shows off the game’s Star Wars-style missions, where you pick a side (there’s the resistance, the First Order, and the “scoundrels”) and complete tasks. The trailer shows the player meeting an informant at a catina, but compared to, say, The Mandalorian’s equivalent scenes, it’s pretty light.

The trailer also shows how you can choose and build a droid, and gives us a preview of some remixed versions of various pieces of Star Wars music.

Both Rey and Kylo Ren will feature in the expansion–and, of course, you can make and use your own lightsaber. Your reputation can grow, and you can meet other Star Wars characters along the way.

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The Seattle-based mobile and social game developer Big Fish has laid off 250 people just one day after courts ordered the studio to pay $155 million from multiple class-action suits. The two matters are not connected, management says.

Geekwire obtained a memo from Big Fish’s co-president Andrew Pedersen and Jason Willig, who said the cuts were part of the company’s ambition to “strengthen our business and position Big Fish for long-term success.” The executives said they are making the cuts as Big Fish enjoys a “position of financial strength,” adding that cost-cutting is “the primary driver behind the changes.”

Pedersen and Willig said in their memo to say that succeeding as a multiplatform publisher of mobile games at scale “requires greater agility and different operating and creative capabilities.”

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A new policy change for the Nintendo Switch Eshop means that players now have the option of cancelling pre-orders. As Vooks points out, the previous rule was that Eshop pre-orders would be charged right away, and there was no way to recover those funds if you changed your mind. Now, pre-orders do not charge until shortly before release.

An update to the Nintendo support page details the change, linking to a guide on how to cancel pre-orders. This can be done through your browser or the Switch itself, and can be done up until the game is available for preload–typically seven days before the game is released.

This seems to be a change made internationally, affecting the Eshop in every country.

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Disney’s next big movie is Mulan, a live-action take on the 1998 animated classic. The film was initially expected to premiere in theatres earlier this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted those plans. Now, the movie will screen in some theatres and more widely through Disney Plus as a paid movie. The hybrid model for the film’s release is not unprecedented, as other studios are experimenting with that, too, but Mulan is a $200 million blockbuster. As such, many will be watching to see if its unique release model proves successful.

Producer Jason Reed, a former Disney boss who now produces films through his own business, spoke with Deadline about this. He confirmed he was not directly involved with the decision to bring Mulan to Disney Plus, and it was Disney that ultimately made the call.

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Has Resident Evil Village really launched early with a 40% off sale on Steam? It’s far more likely that Steam’s quality control measures have failed again, allowing the obviously copyright-infringing Steam title Biohazard Village to be put up for sale.

Picked up by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter, the Steam title has borrowed “Biohazard,” the name Resident Evil is known by in Japan. It’s even copied the VIII stylization in the “Village” part of the title, distinctively used by Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil 8.

The Steam description simply reads, “this is a third-person shooter in which you will play as a girl fighting against a zombie in a town where a man-made disaster has occurred. People turned into zombies.” The developer, Forest Games, has released just one game on Steam before: Panic Station. While the space horror shooter doesn’t seem to be a direct knock off of an existing game, reviews suggest it’s basically unplayable anyway.

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