Stonefly Is An Intriguingly Difficult Game To Define

Following 2019’s Creature in the Well, a dungeon crawler that utilizes pinball mechanics to inform its hack-‘n-slash combat, developer Flight School Studio is now making Stonefly. If I had to come up with an elevator pitch for the upcoming game, it would be Studio Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty meets Neon Genesis Evangelion.

In Stonefly, you play as Annika Stonefly, a girl who lives on a planet where the human-like people are incredibly small. To survive and overcome the much larger insects that also live on the planet, folks pilot mechs.

“There’s a combination of inspiration for the mech designs–a lot of them are [styled after] bugs, but then they have the giant robot anime look too, Evangelion and Gundam are mixed in there for sure,” Flight School Studio creative director Adam Volker said.

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PS5 Will Reportedly Allow Internal Storage Expansion This Summer

The PlayStation 5’s currently unused internal storage expansion slot will reportedly be enabled this summer. Its use will allow players to add additional space to a console that quickly fills up due to massive game sizes and updates.

According to Bloomberg, a firmware update will enable use of the M.2 SSD expansion slot by allowing the internal fans to run at a higher speed. Overheating concerns were a factor in not enabling the slot at launch, and you cannot play or store PS5 games on an external drive. These more-traditional external drives can be used for storing and playing PS4 games, but users (including me) have seen issues with the console hard-crashing with the drives plugged in.

You’ll want to wait until Sony releases a list of officially approved NVMe SSD units before you make a purchase, as they’re still quite expensive, and not every model will work. They need to be able to run as quickly as the permanent drive installed in the system, which is how the PS5 is able to load games so quickly, and they also need to physically fit in the slot. The Xbox Series X|S uses a similar drive, but it also comes with a proprietary expansion slot that was enabled on launch day.

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PlayStation Plus Free Games For March 2021 Include Final Fantasy 7 Remake

PlayStation has revealed next month’s freebies for PlayStation Plus subscribers. A whopping four games are featured in March 2021’s PS Plus lineup: Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Remnant: From the Ashes, Maquette, and Farpoint. All of the new freebies will be available to claim starting March 2. Subscribers can also claim one of February’s freebies, Destruction AllStars, on PS5 throughout March.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be playable on PS4 and PS5 thanks to backwards compatibility. However, the PS Plus version of the excellent 2020 action-RPG won’t be eligible for a free upgrade to the newly announced PS5 version. You’ll have to purchase it to upgrade to Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade. If you already know you’re going to want to play it on PS5, Amazon is currently selling FF7 Remake for $30. It was one of our favorite games of 2020 and earned a rare 10/10 in our Final Fantasy 7 Remake review.

Published by Annapurna Interactive, Maquette launches on March 2 and will be free for subscribers only on PS5. The first-person puzzle game is set in a recursive simulation where everything appears to be both small and large. Players manipulate objects in the world to solve puzzles.

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Biggest Pokemon Direct Announcements From 25th Anniversary Stream

The Pokemon franchise is turning 25 this year, and it celebrated on Friday with a Pokemon Presents video presentation. Fans were calling it a Pokemon Direct, and it delivered some big news, with both a remake and brand-new game revealed for Nintendo Switch. The Pokemon Presents has now wrapped up, and you can watch the 20-minute broadcast here. We’ve also put together a recap of the big announcements below, including the new Diamond/Pearl remakes and Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

POKEMON LEGENDS: ARCEUS

The biggest news closed out the show, and that is Pokemon Legends: Arceus. This is a brand-new Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch that takes place in the Sinnoh region and serves as a prequel of sorts, telling an earlier story than that of the Sinnoh we know. It’s set for release in 2022. It’s unclear if there will be two versions of the game, as is usual for new Pokemon releases.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus Announced For Nintendo Switch

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Mortal Kombat Trailer Is The Most-Watched Red-Band Promo Of All Time

The recent red-band trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie has broken records. The promo was viewed more than 166 million times in its first week, making it the most-watched red-band trailer of all time.

As reported by Deadline, within four days, the Mortal Kombat trailer had overtaken the Logan and Deadpool 2 redband trailers, the previous record holders. In addition, the trailer trended in 52 YouTube markets and 28 Twitter markets.

Mortal Kombat will be released in theaters and hit HBO Max on April 16, where it will stay for a month before moving to regular on demand platforms. The movie is directed by Simon McQuoid and stars Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Josh Lawson as Kano, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, and Chin Han as Shang Tsung. Check out GameSpot’s Mortal Kombat trailer breakdown here.

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Studio Ghibli’s Anime Classic Spirited Away Is Becoming A Stage Play

Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning 2001 anime film Spirited Away is being adapted for the stage. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a theatrical version of the Studio Ghibli classic will premiere in Tokyo in February 2022.

The stage adaption of Spirited Away will be written and directed by theatre veteran John Caird, with the full cooperation of Studio Ghibli. Caird was the original director of the hugely successful Les Misérables in the ’80s, and his extensive credits include many years working for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in the UK.

The movie follows the adventures of a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro as she enters as a strange and sometimes scary fantasy world heavily influenced by Japanese folklore. In a statement, Miyazaki’s producing partner Toshio Suzuki said, “We, Hayao and I, both liked John’s vision–he is a person we can trust. I am looking forward to seeing Chihiro grow on stage under his direction.”

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WandaVision Episode 8: 22 Easter Eggs, References, And Clues From “Previously On”

Unfortunately, there were no musical numbers this week in WandaVision, but we did get a whole lot of information about what’s actually been going on in Westview. Not only did we get a firsthand look at Wanda’s history–including her oft talked about but never before seen origin story back in Sokovia–we also got some actual insights into what Agatha Harkness has been doing as she’s been pulling “every evil string.”

Of course, there are still plenty of questions to consider as well–specifically about SWORD’s director Hayward who has been spinning some interesting lies all his own, the fate of Vision when (and if) the HEX ever does come down, and the future of Wanda’s kids who may or may not be in the same precarious boat as their “dad.” There’s also the issue of Wanda’s position in the MCU at large, the nature of her powers, and what they could mean for her moving forward.

With only one episode of the show remaining, let’s take a look at some of the biggest Easter Eggs, references, call-backs, and tiny details you should note this week.

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Browse Freely With Two Award-Winning VPNs For Less Than $60

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Everyone needs a VPN they can trust. For private web browsing, to protect your personal data and to bypass content restrictions, it’s an online game-changer. Today, we’ve found a great deal that will do just that – and then some. Right now, a KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription (2-Pack) is on sale for just $59.99 – that’s an amazing 85% discount off the regular price of $399. 

This will give you not one but two subscriptions to the top-rated KeepSolid VPN Unlimited for life – so you can give the other to a friend and give them the power of unrestricted browsing, too. 

This great VPN will give you full security and anonymity online, and with no speed or bandwidth limits – which means you can still enjoy your full internet browsing speed, without the dangers of leaving your data exposed and keeping hackers away from your sensitive data.

Thanks to its 400+ VPN servers across more than 80 locations globally, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong, this is also an ideal way to bypass geographic restrictions, so that you’re free to stream movies and TV shows that would otherwise be blocked in your region. That makes it a must for visiting your favorite sites when you’re abroad, too. 

With so many top features, it’s no surprise that KeepSolid’s VPN Unlimited has gained rave reviews and awards from industry experts. It won PC Mag’s Top VPN award, the Editor’s Pick Award by Software Informer, and Laptop Review Pro’s Best VPN for Laptop award, too. As Tech.Co reviewed, “From its simple interface to its genuinely practical features, VPN Unlimited has plenty to recommend it.”

Ready to protect your privacy today? Get a KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription (2-Pack) on sale with 85% off right now, for just $59.99 (regular price $399). 
 


 

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription (2-Pack) – $59.99

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Become A UI/UX Designer With This $35 Training Bundle

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Do you want to start an exciting new career in web design? With the world moving online at an unprecedented rate, there’s never been a better time to learn valuable web industry skills. Even better, right now The Complete Become a UI/UX Designer Bundle is on sale for just $34.99.

If you’re wondering what the difference between UI and UX is, it’s simpler than you might think: a UI (user interface) focuses on a user’s visual experience, while UX (user experience) designers focus on the interaction between people and everyday products.

This complete elearning bundle includes nine different courses and more than 19 hours of content, covering UI and UX design, sales funnels, business development, and more. 

Even if you’re a beginner, the course Introduction to the Web Industry will serve as a practical guide to the web development industry and provides perfect knowledge for making that dream career change. 

Meanwhile, the UI Design (User Interface Design) course will teach you how to make beautiful UI designs for landing pages, websites, apps, and more, with step-by-step, hands-on examples. The course UX Design (User Experience Design) also promises to take you from beginner to expert, teaching you about the customer journey and sales funnels, as well as behavioral psychology and influence triggers, so that you can create an excellent user experience every time. 

All the courses in this bundle are taught by Juan E. Galvan, an accomplished digital entrepreneur with an impressive 4.5/5 instructor rating from previous students. Galvan has started several companies, created many products, and also founded Washington-based agency, Sezmi SEO.

Get started on your path to becoming a UI/UX designer today with The Complete Become a UI/UX Designer Bundle, on sale for just $34.99 (regular price $1800).

 


 

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This Backend Developer Bootcamp Is On Sale Today For Less Than $30 

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Do you want to start an exciting new career as a web developer, or take on lucrative new web development freelance work? You can learn how in your own time, from the comfort of your home with the top-rated The Backend Developer Bootcamp Bundle – and right now, it’s on sale with an incredible 96% discount, for just $29.99 (regular price $995). 

This incredible value elearning bundle includes five different courses, each with a usual $199 value, and more than 31 hours of training in web development, covering C#, SQL, .NET Core, and more. 

If you want to build your practical C# skills, the course Learn C# By Building Applications will teach you how to understand the concepts of C#6 and C#7, and will show how you write programs in C# on your own, as well as write clean code that will make your development work more elegant, readable and respectable, and use your new skills in a real-world application.

You’ll then take these real-world skills further with the course Master C# and SQL by Building Applications, which will teach you to become a better software developer by learning how to build real-world applications using C# & SQL, putting the skillsets you’ve learned in the other courses in the bundle together to solve real problems and build a full-stack application. 

These courses are taught by Avetis Ghukasyan, a successful web developer with an impressive 4.5/5 instructor rating from previous students. Ghukasyan holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from Wentworth Institute of Technology and specializes in helping people write software that helps create growth. 

Start your web development training today with The Backend Developer Bootcamp Bundle, on sale for just $29.99 right now – that’s an amazing 96% off the regular price of $995. 

 

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