Bad news, Baldur's Gate 3 fraudsters, the latest hotfix stops you hoodwinking merchants using container tricks

Hello there, Baldur's Gate 3 people. We're doing this dance again. There's a newly released hotfix, and it does things. What things? Well, for one, it fixes a bunch of exploits involving containers that you'd previously been able to use to defraud the game's merchants.

Yep, after the last hotfix helped out the not quite evil Minthara romancers who'd been getting rejected by her in really quite brutal - although to be fair this is Minty we're talking about - fashion, a new one's arrived to save some NPCs from you instead. Though to be fair, you're no longer in danger of getting permananetly trapped in conversation with Lae'zel like she's an in-law you've been seated next to at a wedding, so both sides are benefitting here.

If you take a peek in the full set of notes for hotfix 23 - which has gone live today - Larian's described all the downright sneaky methods folks have been using to save or score some extra gold. The studio's whacked bugs that allowed you to "generate gold by buying multiple items but only paying for one of them if you dragged the items into a container" and acquire "a stack of items for free when dragging the stack into a container and using the item splitter".

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No Man's Sky Orbital update drops today, will let you customise your ship and explore revamped space stations

If you're a fan of cool space things and/or retro TV shows about rather tacky vehicle maintenance, here's some good news. A fresh update for No Man’s Sky, dubbed the Orbital update, arrives today - March 27. What does it do? Well, it lets you customise your spaceship, for one.

Yup, after last month's Omega update, which sent you on a nice expedition that kicked off on Nafut Gamma and involved unpicking "the threads of a mystery involving the past, the present, and what could be…", this update's a bit less cryptic, thankfully.

As outlined in the patch notes for it, it brings a hugely-requested feature to the game, in the form of "a ship editor [which] allows players to customise their ships" and "even create never before seen starship types".

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Cash-strapped Dragon's Dogma 2 players, here's how you can apparently make close to 500k gold per hour just by selling fruit

You. Yes, you. Do you need money in Dragon's Dogma 2? Well, first of all, stop getting so many haircuts, and second of all, you'll be glad to hear that one player's apparently worked out out how you can make even more money from the fruit-based cash farming method some players are employing.

Yep, if you're after an easier path to becoming a DD2 millionaire than by teaching pawns how to kill an ogre without getting pounded into pulp, it turns out that making sure folks in DD2 are easily able get their five a day is the way to go.

So, if you're out of the loop, this fruit selling exploit looks to have originated on YouTube, where creators having put together tutorials with entirely unhyperbolic titles like 'INSANE Dragon's Dogma 2 GOLD GLITCH, 300,000 PER HOUR, best money glitch so far' showing you how to do it. The basic gist is this: buy a bunch of apples and grapes in Melve, waiting a bit, then fast travelling to Bakbattal and timing that just right so that they're all ripe when you arrive and can be sold for the maximum profit.

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Bond? No raised eyebrows from Mr GoldenEye

As speculation grows over Aaron Taylor-Johnson's casting as the next James Bond, Pierce Brosnan shares his thoughts on the potential fresh face.



Most people probably think of Daniel Craig when they think of James Bond these days, mostly because 1. he is the current incarnation, and 2. he's had the longest consecutive stint as 007. Of course, if you're around my age (which isn't that old, to be clear), you probably would have grown up with Pierce Brosnan as the leading man. It's been a couple of decades since he's been in the role, but the actor recently spoke about Taylor-Johnson's potential casting on RTE Radio 1's The Ray D'Arcy Show, and he had nothing but supportive words.



"I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so," Brosnan said about Taylor-Johnson as Bond. The two have actually worked together, with Brosnan going on to note this himself, saying, "One of the first movies we made, one of the earliest movies, was The Greatest. And he was the greatest in it. So, yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow."


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Dragon's Dogma 2 players have figured out that catapults can be used to uncover hidden areas on the game map

If you’re playing Dragon's Dogma 2, you’ve more than likely come across catapults. Well, did you know you can use them for more than just tossing things at your enemies? And no, we’re not talking about putting one of your pawns in there and throwing them across the map. That doesn’t work, apparently.

What you can do, is use the siege device to launch a projectile onto the map to unlock new paths or areas, as X user Peppo demonstrates.

I just found out you can use catapults to unlock new parts on the map in Dragon's Dogma 2! #DD2 pic.twitter.com/RhH1OsiDEg

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Baldur's Gate 3 devs planned for you killing everyone, didn't expect you to "jump through the entire thing"

Baldur's Gate 3's developers did a whole bunch of planning to ensure the player couldn't totally ruin the game's story if they randomly decided to murder every single NPC, but not even Swen Vincke predicted that speedrunners would literally bounce through the entire thing.

To be fair, did any of us? It feels like every time we've watched one of these madcap dashes through Larian's RPG, there's been a new and very weird strategy on display. From, the now infamous 'Shadowboxing' strategy to flying stealth bear one-shots, it's a shame we aren't going to get see what kinds of ways folks could have worked out to speed up the process of shagging a bear all over again, since Baldur's Gate 4 isn't going to be a thing.

Vincke, BG3's director, discussed how he's found watching people make a very entertaining mockery of his game in the name of pure speed during an interview with IGN that also saw him discuss why the studio elected to scrap some DLC for the game it'd started working on, before pivoting away from that idea. "No, no, I didn't expect them to do it that way," Vincke said of the folks who first cracked under the ten-minute mark speedrun wise by using Gale to bounce through the game way faster than you could ever run.

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Blur vs Split Second was Deep Impact vs Armageddon for mid-2000s arcade racers

Big Western style open-world RPGs from beloved Japanese studios who tend to be known for other things (inhale) are like buses: there's none for ages, and then two come along at once! See also: Clinton-era disaster movies about Earth getting clobbered by an asteroid. See also: Clinton-era disaster movies about America getting clobbered by volcanoes. See also: those ones about the White House (former home of Bill Clinton) getting clobbered by some guys with guns. I dunno. You don't read this anyway.

Listen. It's just an excuse for everyone to shout at me. Listen at your own inconvenience here.


Stay tuned for a new episode of The Best Games Ever Show every Friday. Subscribe right here on VG247, or wherever you get your podcasts:


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Missed out on the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics? You can now check them out online, and it won't cost you a penny

Avatar: The Last Airbender didn't finish when the show did, and you can now read the comics that continued its story for free online.



The original animated Avatar: The Last Airbender did wrap things up mostly conclusively, but having as big a world as it does, there was still plenty of room to tell more stories. And more stories there were, as back in 2012, The Promise, a trilogy of comics set a year after the events of the original show was released. It follows Aang, Zuko and co having to work with the Earth King to stabilise the world after the Hundred Year War, though of course things aren't that simple. It was written by the show's original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, alongside Gene Luen Yang, so it is a part of the main canon, making it well worth checking out.



It's pretty easy to pick up physical copies of The Promise still, but if you aren't able to there's good news: webcomic hosting site Webtoons is releasing all of The Promise for free, with the first three issues already available to check out here. The entire comic is planned to be released for free on Webtoons, with new issues being released every Saturday, though you can pay and use the site's Fast Pass system to read them sooner if you wanted to.


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Facing outrageous haircut prices, Dragon's Dogma 2 players are farming cash by helping pawns become Witchers

Dragon's Dogma 2 can sometimes be a bit like real life - sometimes everyone has the plague, and you never quite have enough money. Unsurprisingly, folks who’re keen not to have to save up their gold every time they want to try out a new hairstyle are already finding ways to quickly earn a fortune.

Weirdly, it feels like a lot of the chatter around DD2 since it came out has been linked to finances in some way. I’m mainly talking about the furore surrounding those controversial microtransactions, which was arguably a bit overblown, given that a lot of the stuff affected can be found in decent quantities just by playing the game and modders have quickly stepped up to provide alternatives.

Now, however, some players have found a way to use the game’s pawn system a bit like an investment scheme, and apparently it’s pretty lucrative, provided you don’t mind teaching a few hapless helpers how to slay monsters like a Witcher. Yep, someone call Gerry from the Riviera, DD2’s pawn babysitters are coming for his job, and they don’t need any mutations, unless you count Dragonsplague as one.

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The Rising Tide DLC Trailer

Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide - the game's second DLC - takes place before the ending of the main game. Square Enix has revealed that fans will be able to play the DLC from April 18, bought on its own or as part of the existing Expansion Pass. Either way, you'll need to also own the original game.



"An unmarked letter arrives at the hideaway containing a most curious request: the Dominant of Leviathan, the long-lost Eikon of Water, needs rescue," Square Enix says. "To heed this call, Clive and his companions must journey to Mysidia - a hidden land under a blue sky - where they will uncover the tragic history of a forgotten people."


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Yoshi-P correctly assumes what we'll all be playing ahead of Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail: "I'll give you one week to enjoy the Elden Ring DLC"

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail is launching exactly a week after Elden Ring's DLC, and yes, it does sound like producer Naoki Yoshida did that on purpose.



Last week at PAX East, Yoshida, aka Yoshi-P, got up on stage and finally announced that Final Fantasy 14's next expansion Dawntrail will finally be releasing June 28 for those with early access, with the full release coming July 2. Those of you that fit within the venn diagram of Final Fantasy 14 fan and Elden Ring fan might have noticed that that early access date is exactly a week after Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree drops. It sounds like Yoshi-P is very much aware of that himself, as he kind of made it sound like the expansion was delayed slightly to accommodate the fact that everyone will be playing that Elden Ring DLC.



"We figured everyone would be interested in playing the Elden Ring DLC," he said via a translator. "I'll give you one week. I'll give you one week to enjoy the Elden Ring DLC and then just go into your summer vacation into Dawntrail." While laughing, he added, "I just want to make it clear, it's not because I want to play Elden Ring DLC and then play Dawntrail. Although I am looking forward to it."


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This Dragon’s Dogma 2 mod takes away the need for that controversial DLC - just don't buy too much at once

There’s a good chance Dragon's Dogma 2 has just consumed an entire weekend of your life, but that’s ok, we don’t blame you. Well, assuming you haven’t been put off by the performance issues or microtransactions. If the latter’s the case, a new mod’s definitely worth checking out.

Even if the furore about them was arguably a bit overblown, given that a lot of the stuff affected can be found in decent quantities just by playing the game, you can understand why people weren’t fans of the idea of potentially being tempted into paying for stuff. Thankfully, there's now a mod that can help you totally avoid feeling any pressure of that nature.

The mod in question is ‘Crazy's Shop’, by XxCrazyPotatoxX, whose name is straight out of a 2009 Call of Duty deathmatch. What does it do? Well, you know useful stuff like rift crystals, ferrystones, wakestones, and camping kits - which makes up a lot of those optional purchases, it adds more of those to the inventories of vendors in Vernworth than you could ever realistically need.

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Oops, the Sonic Fall Guys clone leaked and - surprise - it actually looks pretty good!

That Sonic the Hedgehog Fall Guys clone has leaked, and somehow, it actually looks like it might not be half bad.



There's been rumours about a Sonic game inspired by Fall Guys for a little while now, but yesterday, the YouTube channel The Sonic Show shared a leaked trailer for the strange clone. Titled Sonic Toys Party, the multiplayer game is quite literally just Fall Guys, but if everything were Sonic themed. That means having Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, Shadow and more as playable characters, and all of the stages being themed around classic Sonic levels. It's a weird choice for a spinoff game to be honest, but more surprising than its existence is that… it looks kind of fun!



While it's a bit slower-paced than most 3D Sonic games, the gameplay does appear to be pretty similar, and it even has some 2D sections too, so clearly there was more thought put into it than just slapping the blue hedgehog on a Fall Guys bean and calling it a day. Yes, you of course collect rings too, because what kind of a Sonic game would this be otherwise? And it looks like you can even get companion Chaos to run around with you as you play through the stages, which seems like a smart strategy to bring in all those Sonic Adventure fans that can't get over the Chao garden (I am Sonic Adventure fans).


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Are Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail's bonus items hinting at a FF9 Remake? Maybe! But Yoshi-P says the reason behind them is a secret for now

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail finally has a release date, but some Final Fantasy 9-themed items are raising some eyebrows.



Yesterday at PAX East, Square Enix finally confirmed that Final Fantasy 14's next expansion, Dawntrail, will be arriving July 2, a week after Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree (which yes, does seem like it was on purpose). That's exciting enough for Final Fantasy fans, but one of the more subtly interesting parts shown off by Square Enix is that Dawntrail will feature a number of Final Fantasy 9-themed items. One such item is a pre-order bonus of a wind-up Zidane minion, and there are other in-game bonus items like a wind-up Garnet Minion, and an Ark Mount, all from Final Fantasy 9.



During the panel, producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida didn't ignore the inclusion of the Final Fantasy 9 items, but he did play coy about them, saying "You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here… but the reason is a secret." Now, that obviously raises some questions. What secret could there possible be behind such a secret? There could always be a Final Fantasy 9-themed raid planned for the expansion that hasn't been revealed yet. Or, perhaps that long-rumoured remake is finally actually happening.


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First Nintendo emulators, now one of the biggest Pokemon fan game sites around gets hit with a DMCA takedown

Relic Castle, the biggest Pokemon fan game site around, has apparently been shut down due to a sudden DMCA takedown notice.



Earlier this month, the Switch emulator Yuzu was shut down following a lawsuit that was settled by its creator and Nintendo. This also resulted in the 3DS emulator Citra being shut down too, marking another win for Nintendo in its quest to remove all ability to play its library of games that it has made almost impossible to play. And now it seems that Relic Castle, a Pokemon fan game website, has also been shut down, though it's not particularly clear who by at this point in time (thanks, Kotaku).



For those that haven't heard of Relic Castle before, it was a forum set up back in 2014 where people could share their love for Pokemon fan games. It was also common practice to share links to these fan games that people could download from third-party websites, though Relic Castle never hosted any of these games itself, it's important to note. Essentially, it was just a convenient place to find any fan games you might want to play.


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Overwatch 2 fails to justify its existence as Blizzard reportedly plans to scrap PvE altogether

Overwatch 2 is starting to feel a touch pointless, as a new report is claiming that the game is abandoning PvE altogether.



The big selling point of Overwatch 2 was initially the game's PvE Hero Mode, but barely a year later that was completely scrapped. There were still some PvE elements through the game's story missions, except there hasn't been all that much of them. And now, according to a report from Bloomberg, PvE content is being scrapped entirely in favour of PvP. Bloomberg's report claims that last year's paid pack of three PvE story missions sold poorly, a major reason as to why the PvE elements are being scrapped.



Apparently the layoffs that took place across Microsoft earlier this year resulted in a majority of the Overwatch 2 PvE team being laid off, and Bloomberg says that the team has been informed that Blizzard has no intention to finish off any PvE content in development, instead focusing on the game's competitive element. How that might affect the rest of the PvE team isn't particularly clear at this point in time. Currently, though, the most concerning thing for Overwatch 2 devs is the lack of bonuses.


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What are you playing this weekend?

It’s finally spring. Of course, you know this already if you live in the States because March 10 was “spring forward” day. Yup. When you think it’s 7am, it’s really 8am, and you should have been at work 30 minutes ago. And, earlier this week was the first day of spring, so yeah.

However, some of us knew it was spring before the calendar did because we had to mow our yard at the end of February. The last time we mowed was in late December. Seriously, Mother Nature? You couldn’t give us more than two measly months for a mowing reprieve? What did we ever do to you? Oh, right, littering and other terrible things.

So, yes some of us will be mowing again and readying their flowerbeds for planting season. Which will likely come early, the way things are going. But we’ll also have time to play video games too, thankfully.

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Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail soars into action on July 2 - pre-orders open March 26 with Early Access

Square Enix has announced a release date for the Final Fantasy 14 Online expansion, Dawntrail.

Going live on July 2, pre-orders kick off on March 26 and include three days of Early Access beginning June 28. Bonuses for pre-ordering and picking up the Collector’s Edition were announced, and are Final Fantasy 9-themed.

One pre-order bonus is the Wind-up Zidane Minion, a vanity pet that’s a miniature version of Final Fantasy 9’s Zidane. The other is Azeyma's Earrings which feature attributes that will vary according to your class/job and current level. They also increase EXP by 30% when defeating enemies up to level 90, but are only able to be equipped by Disciples of War or Magic classes and jobs.

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Final Fantasy 16's The Rising Tide DLC concludes Clive's story with new battles, locations, and more on April 18

Square Enix has announced that the upcoming DLC for Final Fantasy 16, titled The Rising Tide, will be released on April 18, following the launch of the first paid DLC, Echoes of the Fallen.

This is the final DLC chapter for the action RPG and unlocks an all-new story, battles, sidequests, weapons, accessories, a new level cap, and more. In The Rising Tide, an unmarked letter arrives to Clive at the hideaway containing a request to rescue the Dominant of Leviathan, the long-lost Eikon of Water. The rescue takes Clive and his companions to the hidden land of Mysidia where they will uncover the history of a forgotten people.

The Rising Tide will become available after unlocking Origin as a destination on the world map and completing the quest Priceless in the main scenario. You can look over the steps needed to experience the DLC in the link above.

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Grand Theft Auto 6 spring 2025 release window in flux per rumors hinting at fall 2025 or 2026 delay

Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently slated for a spring 2025 release, but it’s possible the game could slip into 2026.

According to an exclusive report from Kotaku, citing sources with insider knowledge of the development of GTA 6. The sources stated that heads of the studio are concerned that the game could face delays and may not be released until 2026.

The sources have cited "falling behind" with development as the primary reason for the potential delay, causing Rockstar's leadership to worry about the release timeline slipping past its planned date.

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Dead Island 2’s second DLC takes you to a Californian music festival turned gore-splattered rave

Dambuster Studios has announced a release date for the second batch of story DLC coming to Dead Island 2.

Out April 17, the DLC centers around what’s left of the SoLA music festival, built upon ancient grounds by the event’s organizers, who, apparently aren’t a very savvy bunch. Here, LA’s beautiful bohemians ran afoul of a deadly virus sweeping through The Valley, to turn its inhabitants into ravenous zombies as a chthonic rhythm calls from beyond: the beat of the Autophage.

SoLA features one of its biggest and most open arenas yet, with the aesthetic of a summer festival and more than a few dashes of splatter-movie vibes. There’s an interconnected world behind the stages, where you can see the band members, slay said band members, and explore where they’ve stayed and played.

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Yes, Stardew Valley mayonnaise drinking speedruns are now a thing, and already sub 20 minutes

Hi there. It’s Friday afternoon, everyone's being very loud about Dragon’s Dogma 2 and I’m about to tell you about something that’s kinda disgusting. It’s about Stardew Valley. People are racing to drink mayonnaise in it as fast as they can.

Yeah, this is what life is now, apparently.

First, here’s some background info on how we got here. In 2016, Stardew Valley became a thing. In March 2024, we learned that drinking mayonnaise in Stardew Valley would be becoming a thing. Then, with the release of Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update, it became a thing. Then, lots of people flocked to the game, probably to drink mayonnaise. Now, people are seeing just how fast they can reach the mayonnaise and drink it. Soon, we’ll all be dead.

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Slave Zero X is a gore-soaked trip down memory lane, for better and for worse

Do you like gore, biopunk visuals, and retro fighter-like combo systems? Slave Zero X might be for you. Be warned though: It's tough as nails, and not for the right reasons in many occasions.

Released a month ago, the game from the retro vibes experts at Poppy Works nails a fast & furious combat system and the striking aesthetics of its 1999 third-person shooter relative for PC and Dreamcast, but forgets that some chunks of the past were meant to be left behind.

The biopunk, 2.5D future of Slave Zero X takes players to Megacity S1-9, where the Sovereign Khan "rules with fists of iron and flesh," and the city below. The star of the show? A vengeful, sword-wielding warrior that embarks on a journey to murder the false God with the help of a stolen Slave Unity Prototype, turning the enemy's most powerful weapon against them. This lethal armor first comes across as a biomecha suit, but we quickly learn it's much more than that.

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Baldur's Gate 3's director was once on board with doing a sequel, but now he's aiming for "a very big RPG that will rule them all"

So, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian isn’t doing any DLC for the game, or a Baldur’s Gate 4, or anything to do with D&D in the near future. It’s ok, stop crying. As it turns out, CEO Swen Vincke was once on board with some of those ideas, but now he’s got his eyes on creating "a very big RPG that will rule them all", well, as soon as the tech it’ll need is actually a thing.

Yup, the thing you were salivating over isn’t going to be a thing, but it’s ok, there’s a new thing vaguely floating on the horizon for you to salivate over, praise be. To be fair, having just grabbed yet more hardware during the GDC awards, Larian’s earned a chance to pursue its interesting pipe dreams and mysterious ideas, though that seemingly wasn’t always the plan.

Speaking to GameSpot, Vincke’s given a bit more context to yesterday’s big announcement, and how Larian arrived at the point where it was so sure that it wasn’t in the making DLC for and following up on one big success kind of studio. “When it came to BG3, everybody was telling me ‘you gotta make DLC’, you’ve gotta make DLC, and really you should be starting on a sequel,” Vincke recalled, adding that, as you’d expect, this was powered by the game’s success and money-making ability.

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The first three hours of Dragon's Dogma 2

You might be aware that things are changing here at Gamer Network. As well as a certain looming sale that became public knowledge a few weeks back, we're also shuffling things around to unify our video teams from across all the brands, making a sort of videography supergroup that encompasses everyone from Dicebreaker to Eurogamer.



That may not really be important to you folks, but it means I get to work more often with our friends across the network, which includes showing up for Eurogamer's Dragon's Dogma 2 livestream with Ian Higton, whose work I've long been a fan of.

On Thursday, we teamed up to take a look at the opening hours of Dragon's Dogma 2, including pawn creation, early side quests, and making that precarious initial journey to the capital city. Having already started my own playthrough about a week earlier, it was fascinating to see just how much of the early-game content I'd missed, and how much I'd stumbled upon that Ian hadn't. There are many forks in the road in Dragon's Dogma 2, as ever.


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Dragon's Dogma 2 prepares for takeoff... but not on Steam Deck (for now): Streaming the only option for handheld players

Dragon's Dogma 2 lands tomorrow, but hold on to your excitement, handheld PC gamers, because your new pride and joy won't be the perfect travel companion for this adventure.

That’s because your handheld is likely unable to run the game well in the first place.

According to RPGsite, outside of streaming Dragon’s Dogma 2 from another PC or a console, you won’t be playing it on handhelds such as Steam Deck, the ROG Ally from Asus, or even Lenovo Legion Go. If you own the Ayaneo 2, a gaming handheld more powerful than Steam Deck, you’ll be able to run the game, but this handheld too has its problems, so it’s not recommended either.

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Yay, a fresh Helldivers 2 patch is coming soon to fix freezes, here are some guns to avoid using until it does

There've been a lot of issues afflicting Helldivers 2 since its latest patch dropped yesterday, but the good news is that Arrowhead's now revealed that it's working on a fresh patch that should take care of the biggest one - the game freezing up on regular basis.

When should this new patch arrive? Soon is the answer by the looks of it, and there are some guns the developer suggests that you stay away from until that point. Given how quickly it managed to sort the recent issues with the game's Galactic War not registering progress properly, I'd listen.

The reveal of this came via the official Helldivers 2 Discord server, where community manager Baskinator writes: "We have identified the cause of the freezes many players have been experiencing, and we're in the process of building a patch to fix it that should be ready to deploy early next week."

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Ultrahand physics had Nintendo staff marveling at flying horses pre-release

You know how a lot of us spent a good few months at least last year just building weird, wacky and/or impressive things in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? Well, during a panel at GDC, some of the fine folks who worked on the game at Nintendo have offered a bit more insight into how the amazing physics system that made all of that possible came to be.

The answer involves flying horses, just in case you need a reason to read on. But yeah, getting back on track, all of this happened well before the game was, according to Nintendo in that lawsuit against the creators of the Yuzu emulator that ended up leading to that emulator no longer being a thing, pirated a million times before it even came out.

"Multiplicative gameplay". What's that? Well, it's Nintendo's phrase for the philosophy behind both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, which essentially boils down to letting people mess about with actions and objects to create a bunch of interesting possibilities and scenarios. As outlined in this GDC talk (thanks, IGN), Ultrahand came about as an extension of that idea, letting people slam mutiple objects together like you did when you were an unruly five year old.

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Rise of the Ronin review - Team Ninja without the bite, or the Nioh heights

Rise of the Ronin is a frustrating game. If you’re familiar with the work of Japanese studio Team Ninja, that sentence may not be surprising to read. This is a team that has long prided itself on creating challenging, and sometimes unforgiving, action games laser-focused on delivering a specific experience. You’re either onboard with that or you aren’t.

But this game is not frustrating because of its exacting difficulty, myriad of interlocking systems or rage-inducing boss fights. No, what makes it so is that - in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, Rise of the Ronin appropriates the worst parts of its contemporaries.

Rise of the Ronin is simultaneously Team Ninja’s most modern, and its most dated, game. The jump in graphical fidelity compared to the Nioh games is massive, and it’s all the more impressive when you factor in how large and open the game’s world is. It’s the sort of upgrade many Western studios had to undertake between the PS3 and PS4 generations. That this is happening in the PS5 era, lessens the effect, but the benefits are nonetheless palpable.

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Baldur's Gate 3 wins game of the year at the Game Developers Choice awards

Baldur's Gate 3 has taken the Game of the Year award at the Games Developer Choice Awards, beating out Cocoon, Dredge, Marvel's Spiderman 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The awards were given out during this year's Games Developer Conference (GDC), in front of an audience of developers, industry professionals, and press.


Baldur's Gate 3 also took home awards in Best Design, Best Narrative, and the Audience Award.


Previous winners of the GDC Game of the Year awards include Elden Ring, Hades, God of War and Overwatch. Winners are determined from select video game creators and developers, making it a highly sought after prize be nominees.


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Stardew Valley's concurrent players skyrocket following collaborative 1.6 update with popular mod maker

The long-awaited Stardew Valley 1.6 update was released yesterday, and tons of players were excited to jump into the game and experience the new content.

On Steam, the update’s release helped Stardew Valley reach 147,612 concurrent players, a 139.3% uptick from the game’s previous all-time high of 94,879 in January 2021. If you include players who purchased the game through GOG, that figure will be even higher.

Alongside news of the player count, comes word that FlashShifter, creator of the popular mod Stardew Valley Expanded, helped develop the 1.6 update with the game’s creator Eric “ConceredApe” Barone. FlashShifter announced the news on X, while also confirming a patch making Stardew Valley Expanded fully compatible with the update was released and comes with some new additions.

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Alien: Romulus trailer suggests we might be getting the first good Alien film in 37 years

The first trailer for the mysterious Alien: Romulus is here and you know what? It looks like we might actually be getting a good Alien film for the first time in a long while.



While we've heard bits and bobs about the upcoming Alien prequel series, up until today there's not been much to know about Alien: Romulus, the first new film in the franchise since 2017. 20th Century Studios released the first teaser trailer earlier today, finally offering a first look at what to expect and what we got was… not much. But! What the trailer does show is incredibly atmospheric, and is inspiring some confidence that we might be getting the first good Alien film, since, well, to be honest Aliens.



For the most part we just see shots of what looks to be an abandoned space station, but as it progresses we get more and more of a sense of what actually went down (which is, that a lot of people died). We then got some shots of the cast having an absolutely terrible time having to deal with face huggers and xenomorphs, all of which looks like it's adding up to some classic Alien horror.


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Cult-classic Alpha Protocol is back from the dead – here are 5 lessons it can teach modern action games

After spending years trapped in the gaming purgatory of expired licences, cult-classic espionage-thriller Alpha Protocol is back from the dead, once again available for purchase on GOG.

It might be bruised and bearded like Pierce Brosnan at the start of Die Another Day, visually showing its age like most games from the 360/PS3 era, but underneath the muddy textures and outdated Unreal Engine jank lies the same sophistication that built both Obsidian Entertainment and Alpha Protocol’s legendary reputation.

Playing Alpha Protocol now, it’s immediately obvious why it’s simultaneously considered an unplayable flop by some and one the best games of all time by others (including many of the more elderly members of the VG247 team). It’s a unique mix of unabashed, unbelievably reactive roleplay and disconnected, incongruent gameplay mechanics.

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If you're under 40, you'll have no idea who this bloke is or why he's getting a new movie

Remember Popeye the Sailor? No? Can't say I blame you, but he's getting a live-action film adaptation anyway.



Popeye, to explain to those under the age of 40 or so, is a fictional cartoon sailor who gets super strength by eating spinach first conceived way back in 1929. Yeah, it kind of just sounds like an op to get kids to eat their greens, but hey, whatever gets the job done right? He's had several cartoons over the years, but perhaps most notably there was a 1980 live-action film starring Robin Williams as the titular sailor - I only just found out today that this was the film that launched his career, which is a bit of a funny one. And now, as reported by Variety, it appears that Popeye is getting a new live-action film.



The film will apparently be produced by Chernin Entertainment, probably best known for being behind the Planet of the Apes reboot films, alongside King Features, an animation studio and print syndication, who owns the rights to Popeye. It also already has a writer attached, Michael Caleo (The Family, The Sopranos), though no director has been attached as of yet. What it will be about is also anyone's guess, as there's really only so much you can do with a spinach-loving, large-muscled sailor like Popeye, but where there's an IP there's money to be made, right?


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Stardew Valley update 1.6 is live with a treasure trove of content such as new pets, festivals, mystery boxes, and more farm-fresh delights

The wait is finally over: Stardew Valley's much-anticipated update 1.6 is officially live on PC, bringing a wealth of new content to the charming agricultural life sim.

Over the long wait, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has steadily dropped cryptic hints, and now the full list of additions and changes is available for you to peruse.

The update boasts over 500 additions and tweaks, ranging from new fish, pets, neighbors, and landscape beautification alongside tons of fixes and balancing, multiplayer, and quality-of-life improvements.

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Why Black Ops' David Vonderhaar doesn't want his new studio Bulletfarm to compete with Call of Duty

When you’ve made some of the biggest games on the planet, juggling budgets of millions of dollars and selling millions of copies, what comes next?

For David Vonderhaar it was nearly a year off in an RV with his dog; but then he decided to do it all again - only on his terms this time around.

After stepping away from Treyarch, where he served as multiplayer design director on the legendary Call of Duty: World at War before moving up to studio design director on the subsequent Black Ops franchise, Vonderhaar is now ramping up a new studio, BulletFarm, under the banner of NetEase Games.

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Whether it pans out or not, Aaron Taylor-Johnson would be a great James Bond

Believe it or not, it's been more than 2 years and a half now since 007: No Time to Die opened in theaters and we said goodbye to Daniel Craig's James Bond after a long but memorable run that reshaped the character and, for the first time ever, gave him closure. That doesn't mean James Bond is going anywhere, and it's about time we start thinking about who's next in line to play the legendary role. The latest name gaining traction? Kick-Ass' Aaron Taylor-Johson.

Famously unreliable source of movie news The Sun has the 'exclusive' which has got the town talking again, so why are we even paying attention to this? Well, it's far from the only time these rumblings have been heard in recent years, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been slowly but steadily gaining audiences' trust as a new type of modern action hero... and antihero.

We'll next be seeing the 33-year-old actor in David Leitch's The Fall Guy (after working together on Bullet Train) and Sony Pictures' Kraven the Hunter (which aims to make up for Madame Web's flop). These gigs all come after secondary but impactful roles in other recent major studio action flicks such as Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Matthew Vaughn's The King's Man (which was about spies too). There's a tendency here.

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Helldivers 2 isn't the only Unofficial Movie Adaptation in gaming, but it might be the best one

Please enjoy this week's Best Games Ever Podcast, your Tuesday lunchtime pick-me-up panel show where a bunch of regular guests try to convince me, the host, that their Gaming Opinion is the best one. This week I'm asking the question: what's the best game that's an unofficial adaption of a movie or TV show?

I already know what you're thinking, but no: not a single person put forward Deadly Premonition as an unofficial adaptation of Twin Peaks. Or Alan Wake as an unofficial adaptation of Twin Peaks. Or Life is Strange (Twin Peaks). Or Silent Hill (Twin Peaks). Or, er, Link's Awakening? Nope, no, that's enough Reddit for today.

It’s clear from Helldivers 2’s marketing that the game is directly inspired by Blair-era Dutch arthouse anti-war movie Starship Troopers. It’s also clear from playing it that Warhammer 40,000 and the future war bits of Terminator have made their mark on the project, and with its sprawling, player led, strictly PVE campaign engendering a keen sense of community among players, it’s rather like a wholesome war-themed social club for 90s teenagers. As a Nearly 40 it feels laser-targeted at my exact levels of pop culture cutoff, shooting skill, and associated decrepitness.

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Original The Crow director doesn't seem happy about the upcoming remake: "the fan’s response speaks volumes"

Following the release of the trailer of the upcoming The Crow remake, the original film's director has expressed his disappointment at its existence.



Last week, the first trailer for the Rupert Sanders directed remake of The Crow was released, giving everyone a first look at Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven in action. But Alex Proyas, director behind the 1994 classic original, recently shared his thoughts on his Facebook page about the new film in a now private post (via Variety). "I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmakers work," wrote Proyas. "And I'm certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film.



"So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan's response speaks volumes. ['The Crow'] is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain."


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After the disastrous Madame Web, Sony is re-releasing every live-action Spider-Man film to remind you some of them are good, actually

Madame Web was an absolute flop, so Sony is putting all eight live-action Spider-Man films back in cinemas to bring you back to the glory days.



Remember the days when you could head to the cinema with the intention of watching a Spider-Man film knowing you've probably got a good chance of watching something good? These days, with Sony attempting to capitalise on its catalogue with titles like Morbius and Madame Web, it's becoming increasingly hard to remember that anything to do with Spider-Man is good. So, what better way to fix that than by re-releasing all eight of its live-action Spider-Man films, starting from the original Sam Raimi trilogy, in cinemas, in release order every week for two months?



That's exactly what Sony is doing, in the US at least, starting with the very first Spider-Man release all the way back in 2002 on April 15. I imagine a good many of you weren't even born when it came out, so if you've been wishing for a chance to see the older Spider-Man films in cinemas, this certainly seems like your best chance to do so. After the first Spider-Man film, Spider-Man 2 will come a week later on April 22, and so on and so forth until it wraps up with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which obviously culminates in all three live-action Spideys hanging out together for the first time.


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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's own Aerith shares her take on gaming's longest running shipping war

Arguing over who Cloud ends up with is a tale as old as time, but the voice actor behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Aerith has her own take on the debate.



The younger Final Fantasy 7 fans out there, including myself, won't really remember what the shipping wars were like back in the day. It was a warzone, from what I can tell, with people constantly in disagreement over whether Cloud should be with Aerith or Tifa. None of the extended Final Fantasy 7 material has ever really settled on an answer to that, and while romance is certainly in the air in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is in the air, it isn't particularly conclusive either. But what does Briana White, the voice behind Aerith in both Remake and Rebirth, think of the love triangle?



As spotted by a user on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake subreddit, White was recently interviewed by Dan Allen Gaming, where she was asked about Cloud's potential love interests, and her answer was quite a pragmatic one. "I get asked this all the time. Like, who do you ship?" White responded. "And to be honest, I know some people think it's a cop-out answer, but it's whoever you think is right… is right! That's the way the game is designed! There's a reason it's an option for you to go on a date with Aerith, or with Tifa, or with neither of them.


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Stardew Valley's next update will let you drink mayonnaise, and I do not like that

Stardew Valley is soon set to receive its 1.6 update, and apparently you'll be able to drink mayonnaise.



Look, I love mayo. I know you lot over in the US mostly use it for sandwiches, but it's simply the best condiment for fries and fried chicken. It comes in countless varieties and flavours, and even your bog standard mayo differs from country to country. I realise this is incredibly white of me to say, but I've got five different kinds in my fridge right now, so that have a different type depending on my needs. And yet, discovering that Stardew Valley's next update will let you… drink… mayo… that fills me with a level of dread I've never experienced before.



You see, the game's 1.6 update is due out tomorrow, March 19, and the game's creator Eric Barone (aka ConcernedApe) has been tweeting out random patch notes in the days leading up to it. That includes bug fixes like the fact that it was faster to harvest left-to-right than the opposite, spouses getting a "honeymoon" period, and things like pickles or jelly being coloured differently depending on the ingredient. And for some reason, Barone decided that the patch note to be shared two days before the update launches is "You can now drink mayonnaise."


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Dragon's Dogma 2 spoilers are everywhere, and you might find out that, er, Dragon's Dogma fans may like it

Warning: Spoilers for Dragon's Dogma 2 may follow.

It’s Dragon's Dogma 2 release week. That’s exciting, right? Well, what isn’t so exciting is the fact that, thanks to some leaks, there’s a bunch of potentially spoilery footage of the game now buzzing around on the net, and it might accidentally reveal to you that well…this looks like a game for Dragon’s Dogma fans.

Yup, this game about not riding a horse, that looks a bit like a Dragon’s Dogma game, and has Dragon’s Dogma in its name might appeal to people who like a bit of the Dragon’s Dogma. Ok, we’re being a bit facetious, but it is quite an amusing conclusion to have reached after deep-diving into an hour and a bit worth of leaked footage at this stage of the game.

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Bandai Namco celebrates Katamari Damacy's 20th anniversary by... opening a Twitter account

It's the 20th anniversary of one of the best games ever made today, Katamari Damacy, so what better way to celebrate than by opening a Twitter account?



In the ancient year of 2004, a little game developer known as Namco released a strange game called Katamari Damacy where you are a little prince and you must roll anything and everything up to create stars and planets. It was, and quite honestly still is, a very weird game, and probably quite safely holds the position of having one of the best video game soundtracks of all time thanks to its shibuya-kei stylings. To commemorate 20 years of existence, Bandai Namco has opened a (Japanese language) Twitter account to celebrate all things Katamari.



The Twitter account will of course offer up information related to the game series itself, but any goods and merchandise that might crop up too. That's good news for those of us that are fans of the cult classic series, and implies that both the Katamari Damacy Reroll and We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie remasters did well enough to warrant more dedication.


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Missed out on the last Zenless Zone Zero beta? Then you might want to sign up for the next one

If you missed out on the previous Zenless Zone Zero beta test, developer miHoYo is holding another one.



Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail's miHoYo is keeping itself busy, as outside of the two free-to-play titles, it's also still working on the Jet Set Radio-esque Zenless Zone Zero (even the names feel similar). Last year, the game held a closed beta test which, if you were lucky enough to be accepted, let you try out the upcoming roguelite, and now the developer has announced it will be holding another one. You can already sign up to take part in the beta test over on the game's website right now, though it should be noted you need to be 16 or older to take part.



Notably, there's also a prize draw that actually has some pretty good sounding bits - you could win a rug, a $50 GoGift Card, a phone stand, a finger skateboard charm, a folder set, and even a PS5. You get higher chances of winning for every five friends that you invite, so those of you with lots of friends that are also interested in playing Zenless Zone Zero will probably have a better chance than the rest of us. Also important to note is that signing up for the test won't guarantee you entry, so don't be too disappointed if you aren't selected (plus, the game is due out in 2024, so it's likely not too far away anyway).


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Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection seems to have included a mod without the creator's permission

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection has been a bit of a mess, to the point it included an old mod without the creator's permission, despite saying it wouldn't.



To the disappointment of many, the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection hasn't launched in a completely functional state - when it did arrive, servers were an absolute mess, though developer Aspyr did put out a statement explaining why this was the case. There's been a myriad of other issues too, but one of the more concerning ones from an ethical standpoint is the fact that the game appears to have used a mod from veteran Battlefront modder iamashaymin. Fans noticed in the game's first trailer that a mod to do with a specific character was used, which Aspyr later claimed would not be in the final release.



To briefly explain, the mod was for a character called Asajj Ventress, a character that was originally exclusive to the original Xbox version of Battlefront 2. Iamashaymin later brought Ventress to to PC by reskinning a pre-existing character to look like the DLC character, meaning her animations weren't the same as her original Xbox release - it's these mismatched animations that people caught on to in the trailer, and why Aspyr had to put out a statement.


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Helldivers 2 is selling "well ahead of expectations" having potentially hit 8 million in sales

With all of the server issues the game has had, you likely won't be surprised to hear that Helldivers 2 has (probably) sold exceptionally well.



Helldivers 2 has obviously been the surprise hit of the year, with developer Arrowhead constantly having to limit how many people can actually play the game within its first few weeks of launch, and scores of players working together to unlock things like mechs and more. Now, as reported by Bloomberg, we should have a better idea of just how well the game is doing. According to TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz, Helldivers 2 is estimated to have sold as many as eight million copies, with numbers continuing to grow every week. "We believe the game has performed well ahead of expectations," Creutz wrote in a note last week.



That number is hardly surprising, given that the game has hit a concurrent player count peak of 458,709 on Steam alone, not even counting how many players have been attempting to liberate the galaxy on PlayStation. Sony and Arrowhead are yet to release any kind of figures, though when you have a hit like this it's surely only a matter of time before the PlayStation manufacturer comes out with gloating about how well the game is doing - that, or if the game hasn't actually hit eight million units sold it'll just let this report do the talking.


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What are you playing this weekend?

Tomorrow is Sunday, a day of worship and repentance for many. A day to tell the Lord what you did wrong during the week, ask for forgiveness and say a few prayers before returning home to have a large lunch and a good nap. For some, there's no better start to the week than a Sunday with a clear conscience.

For others, there will be no Hail Marys or Our Fathers, well, at least in the traditional sense. Instead, there will be exclamations. These will go along the lines of "Dear God in heaven!" and "Holy Mother of God make it stop!" and there may even be a "fecking hell!" thrown in for good measure.

Laments such as these come from the lot that got completely sloshed on St. Paddy's Day Eve and turned their Sunday into an entirely different ecumenical matter by hovering over the gaping maw of a porcelain throne to expunge the evil from their stomachs.

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New Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 images show off stunning in-game scenes captured using Photo Mode feature

Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 isn’t too far off from release, and to help the time go a bit quicker, Ninja Theory has shared four new screens from the game.

The released screenshots were captured using Photo Mode, which returns for Hellblade 2. That’s great news for players who love taking artistic in-game photographs.

In the sequel to the award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Senua undertakes a brutal journey of survival through the myth and torment of Viking Iceland. Intent on saving those who have fallen victim to tyranny, Senua faces a battle of overcoming the darkness “within and without.”

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PlayStation and Switch owners: Prepare for a stunning cinematic puzzle adventure when Planet of Lana arrives in April

PlayStation and Switch owners will soon be able to enjoy what PC and Xbox users have since last year: Wishfully’s cinematic puzzle adventure game, Planet of Lana.

Releasing on PlayStation 4, PS5, and Switch next month, the game tells the story of Lana and her loyal animal companion, Mui, who are on a mission to rescue Lana's sister.

Featuring a colorful watercolor landscape, the duo will explore an alien world of wonder and adventure through mysterious caves to arid desert landscapes, encountering strange creatures and even dangerous machines lurking in lush forests.

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