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We’ve known for a while now that players who purchased specially marked packages of Killzone 3 were going to be entering the Socom 4 multiplayer beta. We’ve also known that UK PlayStation Plus members would also be getting into the beta for free. Beyond that, details about the Socom 4 multiplayer beta have been virtually non-existent until now, so this news should make all PlayStation Plus members happy - not just those in the jolly ol’ UK....

The good people at Crystal Dynamics seem to have let some information slip about an experience system of some kind in the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot. The news comes from an Australia’s Official Playstation Magazine piece where they noticed a power symbol flash underneath Lara’s health bar. In explaining that the power symbol might just be a placeholder, the people at Crystal Dynamics also let it slip that there might be an experience bar in the game too....

Transformers: War for Cybertron helped reestablish the Transformers franchise in many gamers’ minds, despite a few flaws. Fans of the game and Hasbro franchise will be glad to hear that the sequel, Transformers: War for Cybertron 2 has been confirmed for a 2012 release. During their investor conference last week, Hasbro stated how they were very pleased with the sales of War for Cybertron and that the sequel will launch sometime in 2012....

The final year of this decade is about to end. And as 2019 vanishes into history books, it’s easy to become reflective about what has changed over both the last 12 months and 10 years. For instance, it’s hard to remember there once was a time when it was considered a risk for Netflix to develop original content. Now they have two new serious Best Picture contenders this fall. Change is the name of the game as the industry grapples with what is and is not cinema now....

The Dragon Quest games have always been immensely popular in Japan with sometimes releases within the West. These JRPG’s haven’t been as popular in the west as, say, the Final Fantasy games but have still been good enough to gain a following. However, they’re still JRPG’s, which means they demand a lot of attention and time from the players. Dragon Quest XI S is a release for the Switch following a great amount of success for this eleventh game in the series....

In the test to be better than the rest, you have to go through many trainers who look oddly similar, and 8 of the best trainers in that region to even qualify to fight their tougher counterparts. These 8 trainers, however, in a world where parents kick out their 10-year-old children to go dog fight and gamble, have to sit and wait for your arrival in order to fabulously lose, give you a speech, and send you off with a piece of shiny tin....

Growing up during the 90s was a magic time to be a child, and the toys that were being released during this time period were unforgettable. Who can forget one of a kind gems like the Furby or the I Choose You, Pikachu! toy that were all the rage? These are just some of the unique toys that we remember from our childhood. The toy business is something that is constantly evolving, and deciding if a toy is going to be a hit or a miss is a tough thing to do....

2018 has been a massive year for video game fans. God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Marvel’s Spider-Man are just three of a dozen amazing games released across a variety of platforms both critics and gamers have enjoyed. It really feels like there’s something for everyone, but if you think things are going to taper off in 2019, you’re in for a rude awakening. It might be hard to believe but next year is shaping up as an even better year for gamers....

Back in 2007, French actress Julie Delpy stepped behind the camera, and quietly put out 2 Days In Paris, a modest comedy-drama that mixed together the neurotic quirks and cutaways of Annie Hall, and the walk-and-talk navel gazing of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. But Delpy proved to be much more than the sum of her influences, as the film cut straight to the heart of its central relationship – that of Delpy’s nervous thirtysomething Marion and her nebbish American beau Jack, played by Adam Goldberg – while delivering both a searing portrait of its Parisian surroundings, and a consistently well-observed meet-the-parents farce....

In news that is bound to make you say “wait, that wasn’t official yet?”, the 2020 Emmy Awards are now set to be a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic. Producers of this year’s show, including host Jimmy Kimmel, composed and sent a letter to select acting nominees revealing that the show will operate virtually on September 20 and all nominees will be asked to participate remotely. Variety was first to report the news and gain access to the letter, the relevant portion of which reads:...

Some might think board games are a dying breed due to new technology. After all, what’s the point in playing those types of games when the Internet and video game consoles exist? Well, let’s discuss the logic behind that. Board games have a material feel to them. It’s a lot more fun to physically move pawns instead of moving around some data. Rolling dice to figure out your next move is a lot better than touching a pair of dice on a screen and waiting for them to randomly stop rolling....

Video games can take years of hard work and dedication before they reach fans. Publishers may feel hesitant before releasing a new title into the world. The game may not have any connection to an existing property. Players may not be so willing to spend their hard-earned cash on a bad game, especially if the price tag is the same as a highly-anticipated sequel. Game developers are willing to take that chance....

Mafia 3 might appear similar to GTA 5, but Take Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick says there is no tech sharing in play and the game “stands alone”. “We’re blessed that we have two distinct labels at this company and multiplicity of studios with a lot of talent,” explained Zelnick in an investor Q&A last night. “We do not have a tech sharing environment. A very congenial company, but we don’t think that’s the best way to get the best out of our development folks....

In a long-running franchise that basically thrives on minimal characterization, it’s only natural that the Gym Leaders, each Generation’s defacto bosses, end up some of the most popular characters in the Pokémon series. While they rarely, if ever, interact with the plot in some meaningful way, they end up some of the most appealing characters in large part due to their designs and easy to understand personalities. In typing all the Gym Leaders, Game Freak is capable of using visual shorthand to quickly convey traits and demeanors to players without slowing down the pacing....

The Terminator is one of the most inconsistent film franchises of all time. It’s had spectacular films like the first two, atrocious films like Genisys, and the others in between have been halfway decent. The constant plot in the films has always involved a cybernetic organism called Terminator being sent back in time to kill a human who grows up to be a threat to them. The franchise has also had a number of video games, that have either adapted the stories from the movies or told new stories....

Magic, witches and other things of the occult have been apart of the Sims franchise since The Sims: Makin’ Magic. It’s something that a lot of simmers enjoy playing with and so far in The Sims 4, it’s a type of gameplay that has been made available only with vampires. That is until recently, with Realm of Magic announced. Though details are limited on what it will bring to the Sims 4, teasers and screenshot leaks have the whole community buzzing with anticipation about what the game pack will bring....

Many other mediums such as film, comics, and especially music encourage remixing, adapting, and creating mashups. Think about the movie Let Me In, the comic book series Fables, or music mashups such as Danger Mouse’s ‘The Grey Album’ which mixes Jay-Z and The Beatles. Each of these is heavily derivative of what it is inspired by, yet creates something brand new artistically by creatively dissecting its source material and putting it back together in a new way....

October has been an interesting month for Twitch, to say the least. Among recent news is the announcement that prominent Twitch streamer Shroud is making the move to Mixer. His switch follows that of Ninja, who is enjoying his new home over on Microsoft’s rival platform. Twitch has also kept up with controversial and inconsistent bans, many of them targeting female streamers’ clothing choices. However, these moderation issues are minor in comparison to some truly horrific things which happened on the platform this month....

A new Perfect Dark game could be on the cards, as ascertained from a new hire’s responsibilities at The Initiative (via VG247). The Initiative is one of the Xbox Game Studios, with talent cherry-picked from Doom 2016, God of War, and Grand Theft Auto V. The developer is working on something very special and very secret, but dogged detectives from Twitter and Resetera think they’ve cracked the case. Christopher Ng, a technical designer, recently joined The Initiative (congrats, by the way!...

Rumours are swirling that Sega might be gearing up to launch a new collection of classic Sonic the Hedgehog games, thanks to a “Sonic Collection’ listing popping up on a French retailer’s website. As originally reported by Video Games Chronicle, the listing (since removed) was spotted on Sogamely, which is notabale as it’s the same retailer where a Sonic Colours remaster listing was spotted just last month. There’s no word which games will be included in the Collection, but as VGC note it would corroborate claims that industry insider Zippo has previously made that Sega are planning to make one, and that could include Star Engine (formerly known as Retro Engine and the same engine used for Sonic Mania) remakes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and, potentially, other Sonic games that “have never seen a re-release before” for modern consoles and PC....