2023-06

Some employees at Bethesda's Arkane Studios reportedly hoped that Microsoft, after acquiring Bethesda in 2020, might cancel Redfall or reboot it as a single-player game, according to a new report from Bloomberg.  That didn't happen, however, and Redfall launched on May 2 to poor reception from critics and players. Game Informer gave it a 5 out of 10 in our review. Xbox head Phil Spencer said on Kinda Funny Games' Xcast that he was disappointed with the Redfall launch. "I'm upset with myself," he told the Xcast. Despite hopes for a new approach to the game following that 2020 acquisition, Microsoft remained hands-off and allowed development on the title to continue as normal, save for canceling a PlayStation 5 version of Redfall.  Bloomberg reports that Arkane began development on Redfall in 2018, a time when ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, was still private and...

Meta has revealed the Meta Quest 3 and it's coming this fall. It will cost $499 for the 128GB headset, but an additional storage option will be available for purchase for those who want more space.  The Meta Quest 3 offers higher resolution, stronger performance, and a slimmer and apparently more comfortable form factor, according to Meta. It features no required wires for us.  "Quest 3 combines our highest resolution display and pancake optics to make content look better than ever," a press release reads. "To power those extra pixels, this will be the first headset to feature a next-generation Snapdragon chipset developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies. That next-gen Snapdragon chipset delivers more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2 – meaning you'll get smoother performance and incredibly crisp details in immersive...

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka could serve two and a half years in prison as part of his sentencing for insider trading charges.  Abema Times reports that prosecutors on the case asked that Naka go to prison for two years and six months in a Tokyo District Court today, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. Prosecutors also demanded that Naka pay a fine of 2.5 million yen (roughly $17,900) as well as a supplementary penalty of 170 million yen (roughly $1.2 million). Naka's defense asked that this fine and prison sentence be reduced, but a final decision on the matter isn't expected until July 7, VGC reports.  Naka, who also directed Balan Wonderworld, was arrested in November in connection to an insider trading investigation involving the reveal of a new Dragon Quest game. Naka was accused of purchasing 10,000 shares worth 2.8...

Final Fantasy XVI will be the first mainline-numbered Final Fantasy game with a Mature rating. The presumption might be that developer Creative Business Unit III wanted this game to have more violence to accompany its new action-heavy combat, but that’s not the case. The team put little thought into the rating – it just came naturally, according to various members of CBUIII I spoke to for our FFXVI cover story.  “We actually get this question kind of a lot – people ask us if the rating went up because [we] wanted to make a more violent game, and the answer to that is no,” producer Naoki Yoshida says. “On the outside, it doesn’t appear [the rating system] has changed. You still have your E, you still have your Teen, and you still have your Mature. The problem is that over...

Square Enix and Final Fantasy XVI developer Creative Business Unit III have been open about the game spanning decades of protagonist Clive Rosfield’s life for years. It’s an interesting aspect of this story because it speaks to how broad its horizons might be. What starts as a revenge story will grow into one of war, its effects on people, and ultimately, Valisthea’s place in a fight between Eikons, Dominants, and more over crystals.  It also means we’ll be seeing a lot of Clive’s life. During my cover story trip, I played a few of FFXVI’s opening hours, much of which took place in the past, when Clive is just 15 and his younger brother Joshua even younger. I learned a lot about their relationship with each other as well as with their parents, and more I won’t spoil here. But...

For a licensed racing game, 2021’s Hot Wheels Unleashed was a fun and respectable debut, and now we’ll get to see how developer Milestone builds on that foundation with an upcoming sequel.  Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged arrives on October 19 and retains the fun “little toy car in a big world” presentation with new additions under the hood. Players can now get behind the wheel of motorcycles and ATVs, and the game has over 130 vehicles total at launch. Players race across five diverse environments using new skills: double jumping and lateral dashing. The double jump can be performed at any time to leap over rivals and obstacles, while dashing is great for sideswiping nearby opponents or dodging hazards. Milestone touts increased interactivity between vehicles and objects on and off the track, and playstyles can be customized using perks...