A re-release version of Sanctuary, an artbook to celebrate 40 years’ worth of artwork from Inomata Mutsumi, will come out on August 21, 2024. The book will be available via Amazon and will cost 4070 JPY ($27.80). [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The book contains 256 pages and over 2000 pieces of work from various genres that Inomata worked on in her lifetime. This includes anime, games, novels, and magazines. It serves as a chronicle that looks back on her career, which heavily focuses on designs for sci-fi and fantasy characters.

Inomata Mutsumi died on March 10, 2024, though the news broke on March 18, 2024. Her career started in 1979 and lasted until she died. She was known for her work on the Tales series, including Destiny, Graces, Hearts, Innocence, Xillia, Berseria, and Zestiria. She also worked on the animation for Urusei Yatsura and City Hunter, as well as designed for the My-HiME and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED franchise. Her art style included the usage of watercolors, and her characters tended to have large eyes and slender figures, making them look like they came from a shojo manga.

Sanctuary, which collects artwork from Inomata Mutsumi over the past 40 years in a single artbook, will come out on August 21, 2024.

The post Inomata Mutsumi Artbook Sanctuary Will Be Re-Released appeared first on Siliconera.

Ever since The Sims 4 came out in 2014 (oh my goodness...), I’ve been adamant that The Sims 2 and 3 remain the superior titles in the series, especially once you start using core mods to improve performance or quality of life. For those who want to get their life simulation fix but The Sims 4 is broken or too boring, I highly suggest playing The Sims 3 instead!

Those who know anything about The Sims 3 may know that Electronic Arts and Maxis did not optimize this game very well. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that it’s an open-world 32-bit game. This can lead to your files bloating up and causing the game to crash to desktop. The Sims 3 is also notorious in that the game does not naturally cap your FPS, which can overheat your graphics card if you’re not careful. Some of these mods are not mere recommendations. They’re straight up essential for the overall health of your computer.

Though not a mod, I recommend using MATY’s FPS Limiter and 3Booter. This will help to keep your frame rate at the game’s default 30. If you’re like me and you’re using a NVIDIA graphics card, you can also go into your control panel and cap The Sims 3’s frame rate at 30 through there.

Here are some of the best mods for The Sims 3 in 2024

• NRaas Master Controller
  NRaas’s entire library of mods is fantastic, but I have a few that I recommend for even people who aren’t too keen on installing mods. Master Controller is exactly as it says on the tin. With this mod, you can control virtually everything in your town, from relationships to careers to ages. It’s a handy tool for little accidents (oops, my Sim is wearing a raincoat at her garden wedding) to more heavy-duty tasks (I need to reset every single object and sim in my neighborhood).
• NRaas Story Progression
  As mentioned earlier, The Sims 3 has an open world for its neighborhood, which means that things can happen in inactive households completely out of your control. You can turn this off if you want, but for those who don’t mind letting Sims live out their own little virtual lives, I recommend Story Progression from NRaas. This replaces EA’s slow and stagnant Story Progression, preventing your neighborhood from devolving into a ghost town over time.
• NRaas Overwatch
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Overwatch goes through your neighborhood at an interval you set to clean up things like deserted cars. In general, you can think of Overwatch as a garbage truck that throws away junk files which can cause bloating down the line.
• NRaas Error Trap
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Error Trap is, like Overwatch, a mod that’s for keeping your save file as clean as possible. It catches and corrects data corruption errors that can prevent you from loading up a save. Think of it as insurance. Under ideal circumstances, you won’t need it. But when you need it, man, you’ll be glad to have this thing in your folders.

• Simpishly's More Traits for All Ages
  If you raise a Sim in-game, you’re forced to only pick from limited pools of traits in the earlier life stages, which can get boring after a while. Enabling traits for all ages can lead to some wacky Sims like a toddler who’s Flirty and has Commitment Issues. But if you don’t mind that, this is a great mod for more varied Sims.
• LazyDuchess Smooth Patch
  As a note, the LazyDuchess Smooth Patch does not work with some NRaas mods if you’re using 2.x versions. I recommend using a 1.x build if you want to use it with, say, Master Controller. Smooth Patch alters some of the script in the game to make the game run faster. For example, it’ll load hairs and outfits in CAS as you scroll through rather than making you wait for the game to pull everything out.
• LazyDuchess Lot population
  This is a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going to a community lot to scope out a joint, only for everyone to be elsewhere in town. In The Sims 2, the game will populate lots after you arrive. However, the open world concept works against that since, again, Sims have their own lives. The Lot Population mod pushes Sims to lots your active Sim is at so you won’t be partying alone. It can also add walkbys like in The Sims 2, making your neighborhood feel more alive.
• Retuned Attraction
  The attraction system in The Sims 3 is ridiculous and can cause more trouble than it’s worth. With this mod, the attraction system is more sane and logical, as well as less indiscriminate. It will also prevent Sims from continuously harassing you for dates or sending you random stuff in the mail.

• OMSP, S3DT
  For people who like to build and decorate fancy houses, OMSP and S3DT are both absolutely essential. OMSP allows you to create more space on surfaces for clutter. This can include beds and sofas (so you can put blankets and cushions), or mini-fridges (if you want to put a radio or something on top). S3DT gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to moving things around a lot, as well as lets you change the height and angle of objects. If you only care about gameplay, these aren't necessary.
• Ghost Reaction Remover
  This is fantastic for people who play legacy style like I do, as you’ll naturally end up with a lot of ghosts in your house. If you’re annoyed by Sims constantly stopping what they’re doing to go “Ew, you’re getting ectoplasm all over the floor, Great-Great-Grandpa,” then this mod can curb that behavior. Other reaction removers from this maker include mods to curb relation loss from the Emperor of Evil and stop sims from freaking out over Bonehilda.
• Children Can mods
  The Children Can series of mods is fantastic for people who want to give their Sim kids more freedom and independence, as well as get them started in life. With this mod, Sim kids will be able to do laundry, make sculptures, call services, and more. It’s really handy for people who are doing challenges like, again, the legacy challenge or the 100 Baby Challenge, since it’ll make playing with kids more fun.
• NeuroBlazer Random Genetics
  I highly recommend the Random Genetics mod for people who want more varied faces around town or in your Sims. However, NeuroBlazer seems to have removed this mod and they’re not hosting it anymore. Fortunately, there is a backup (this link will directly download the file to your computer).

• Brntwaffles environment mods
  Pretty much all of Tumblr user brntwaffles’s default replacement mods (whether environment or genetics) are really good! They make the game really pretty and it looks even better if you install Reshade. My personal recommendations from brntwaffles for eyes are the MS93 and Sarhra default replacements. I also really like their Perfect Day and Dream Dimension lighting mods.
• Twinsimming mods
  Twinswimming’s mods are great for adding flavor to your game. I recommend basically all of them. Some of them can make your game more difficult, such as Pest Control and Utilities adding new things you have to watch out for. Their best mods are Growing Pains and the Level Up! mods, in my opinion.
• Velocitygrass No Automatic Memories
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. As mentioned in the beginning, memories can really bloat your save file, causing the eventual corruption of your neighborhood and mess with your computer. Even if you turn off notifications, the game still accumulates memories, including from inactive families. This mod completely removes the feature.
• Icarusallsorts's User-Directed Scolding
  If you don’t have kids in your game, this might be a non-issue. But Generations added a mechanic that lets parents scold and ground their kids when they do something bad. On paper, that sounds really neat. In practice, it’s freakishly annoying. This mod gives you more control over how your sim punishes their kid without turning it into unnecessary drama.

• Ultimate Careers
  The Ultimate Careers mod is a very intensive mod that overhauls how careers work in this game. This makes them a lot more similar to how professions work rather than just pushing your Sims to go to a rabbit hole where you can’t peek in on them. Fortunately, you don’t have to micromanage as much as you do with a profession, so it’s friendly for players with large families too.
• TheSweetSimmer mods
  TheSweetSimmer makes a lot of mods that focus on pregnancy interactions and toddlers, making them more fun to play with. It also frees up your teen or adult Sims, since children and toddlers will be able to perform acts that would usually require an older Sim's help. This is mostly useful for people who play families, but it might incentivize YA and Adult sim players to have a kid or two.
• Moar Interactions
  This is one of those mods that add things you’d figure would have been in the base game. It’s great for group meetings and parties, as you can do so much more with other sims around town.
• PhoebeJaySims Social Clubs Mod
  PhoebeJaySims, like TheSweetSimmer and Twinsimming, has a lot of really cool mods. My favorite of them is the Social Clubs mod. This lets you create a club, but without the objectives that are in The Sims 4 clubs. Clubs with this mod are more chill and are a great way for you to set up regular meetings and playdates, or add a layer of storytelling to your neighborhood.

The Sims 3 is readily available on the Windows PC.

The post Best Mods For The Sims 3 in 2024 appeared first on Siliconera.

During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.

You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.

The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.

The post Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW appeared first on Siliconera.

Ever since The Sims 4 came out in 2014 (oh my goodness...), I’ve been adamant that The Sims 2 and 3 remain the superior titles in the series, especially once you start using core mods to improve performance or quality of life. For those who want to get their life simulation fix but The Sims 4 is broken or too boring, I highly suggest playing The Sims 3 instead!

Those who know anything about The Sims 3 may know that Electronic Arts and Maxis did not optimize this game very well. There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that it’s an open-world 32-bit game. This can lead to your files bloating up and causing the game to crash to desktop. The Sims 3 is also notorious in that the game does not naturally cap your FPS, which can overheat your graphics card if you’re not careful. Some of these mods are not mere recommendations. They’re straight up essential for the overall health of your computer.

Though not a mod, I recommend using MATY’s FPS Limiter and 3Booter. This will help to keep your frame rate at the game’s default 30. If you’re like me and you’re using a NVIDIA graphics card, you can also go into your control panel and cap The Sims 3’s frame rate at 30 through there.

Here are some of the best mods for The Sims 3 in 2024

• NRaas Master Controller
  NRaas’s entire library of mods is fantastic, but I have a few that I recommend for even people who aren’t too keen on installing mods. Master Controller is exactly as it says on the tin. With this mod, you can control virtually everything in your town, from relationships to careers to ages. It’s a handy tool for little accidents (oops, my Sim is wearing a raincoat at her garden wedding) to more heavy-duty tasks (I need to reset every single object and sim in my neighborhood).
• NRaas Story Progression
  As mentioned earlier, The Sims 3 has an open world for its neighborhood, which means that things can happen in inactive households completely out of your control. You can turn this off if you want, but for those who don’t mind letting Sims live out their own little virtual lives, I recommend Story Progression from NRaas. This replaces EA’s slow and stagnant Story Progression, preventing your neighborhood from devolving into a ghost town over time.
• NRaas Overwatch
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Overwatch goes through your neighborhood at an interval you set to clean up things like deserted cars. In general, you can think of Overwatch as a garbage truck that throws away junk files which can cause bloating down the line.
• NRaas Error Trap
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. Error Trap is, like Overwatch, a mod that’s for keeping your save file as clean as possible. It catches and corrects data corruption errors that can prevent you from loading up a save. Think of it as insurance. Under ideal circumstances, you won’t need it. But when you need it, man, you’ll be glad to have this thing in your folders.

• Simpishly's More Traits for All Ages
  If you raise a Sim in-game, you’re forced to only pick from limited pools of traits in the earlier life stages, which can get boring after a while. Enabling traits for all ages can lead to some wacky Sims like a toddler who’s Flirty and has Commitment Issues. But if you don’t mind that, this is a great mod for more varied Sims.
• LazyDuchess Smooth Patch
  As a note, the LazyDuchess Smooth Patch does not work with some NRaas mods if you’re using 2.x versions. I recommend using a 1.x build if you want to use it with, say, Master Controller. Smooth Patch alters some of the script in the game to make the game run faster. For example, it’ll load hairs and outfits in CAS as you scroll through rather than making you wait for the game to pull everything out.
• LazyDuchess Lot population
  This is a personal pet peeve, but I don’t like going to a community lot to scope out a joint, only for everyone to be elsewhere in town. In The Sims 2, the game will populate lots after you arrive. However, the open world concept works against that since, again, Sims have their own lives. The Lot Population mod pushes Sims to lots your active Sim is at so you won’t be partying alone. It can also add walkbys like in The Sims 2, making your neighborhood feel more alive.
• Retuned Attraction
  The attraction system in The Sims 3 is ridiculous and can cause more trouble than it’s worth. With this mod, the attraction system is more sane and logical, as well as less indiscriminate. It will also prevent Sims from continuously harassing you for dates or sending you random stuff in the mail.

• OMSP, S3DT
  For people who like to build and decorate fancy houses, OMSP and S3DT are both absolutely essential. OMSP allows you to create more space on surfaces for clutter. This can include beds and sofas (so you can put blankets and cushions), or mini-fridges (if you want to put a radio or something on top). S3DT gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to moving things around a lot, as well as lets you change the height and angle of objects. If you only care about gameplay, these aren't necessary.
• Ghost Reaction Remover
  This is fantastic for people who play legacy style like I do, as you’ll naturally end up with a lot of ghosts in your house. If you’re annoyed by Sims constantly stopping what they’re doing to go “Ew, you’re getting ectoplasm all over the floor, Great-Great-Grandpa,” then this mod can curb that behavior. Other reaction removers from this maker include mods to curb relation loss from the Emperor of Evil and stop sims from freaking out over Bonehilda.
• Children Can mods
  The Children Can series of mods is fantastic for people who want to give their Sim kids more freedom and independence, as well as get them started in life. With this mod, Sim kids will be able to do laundry, make sculptures, call services, and more. It’s really handy for people who are doing challenges like, again, the legacy challenge or the 100 Baby Challenge, since it’ll make playing with kids more fun.
• NeuroBlazer Random Genetics
  I highly recommend the Random Genetics mod for people who want more varied faces around town or in your Sims. However, NeuroBlazer seems to have removed this mod and they’re not hosting it anymore. Fortunately, there is a backup (this link will directly download the file to your computer).

• Brntwaffles environment mods
  Pretty much all of Tumblr user brntwaffles’s default replacement mods (whether environment or genetics) are really good! They make the game really pretty and it looks even better if you install Reshade. My personal recommendations from brntwaffles for eyes are the MS93 and Sarhra default replacements. I also really like their Perfect Day and Dream Dimension lighting mods.
• Twinsimming mods
  Twinswimming’s mods are great for adding flavor to your game. I recommend basically all of them. Some of them can make your game more difficult, such as Pest Control and Utilities adding new things you have to watch out for. Their best mods are Growing Pains and the Level Up! mods, in my opinion.
• Velocitygrass No Automatic Memories
  ESSENTIAL MOD; YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD DOWNLOAD THIS FOR YOUR COMPUTER. As mentioned in the beginning, memories can really bloat your save file, causing the eventual corruption of your neighborhood and mess with your computer. Even if you turn off notifications, the game still accumulates memories, including from inactive families. This mod completely removes the feature.
• Icarusallsorts's User-Directed Scolding
  If you don’t have kids in your game, this might be a non-issue. But Generations added a mechanic that lets parents scold and ground their kids when they do something bad. On paper, that sounds really neat. In practice, it’s freakishly annoying. This mod gives you more control over how your sim punishes their kid without turning it into unnecessary drama.

• Ultimate Careers
  The Ultimate Careers mod is a very intensive mod that overhauls how careers work in this game. This makes them a lot more similar to how professions work rather than just pushing your Sims to go to a rabbit hole where you can’t peek in on them. Fortunately, you don’t have to micromanage as much as you do with a profession, so it’s friendly for players with large families too.
• TheSweetSimmer mods
  TheSweetSimmer makes a lot of mods that focus on pregnancy interactions and toddlers, making them more fun to play with. It also frees up your teen or adult Sims, since children and toddlers will be able to perform acts that would usually require an older Sim's help. This is mostly useful for people who play families, but it might incentivize YA and Adult sim players to have a kid or two.
• Moar Interactions
  This is one of those mods that add things you’d figure would have been in the base game. It’s great for group meetings and parties, as you can do so much more with other sims around town.
• PhoebeJaySims Social Clubs Mod
  PhoebeJaySims, like TheSweetSimmer and Twinsimming, has a lot of really cool mods. My favorite of them is the Social Clubs mod. This lets you create a club, but without the objectives that are in The Sims 4 clubs. Clubs with this mod are more chill and are a great way for you to set up regular meetings and playdates, or add a layer of storytelling to your neighborhood.

The Sims 3 is readily available on the Windows PC.

The post Best Mods For The Sims 3 in 2024 appeared first on Siliconera.

During GamesCom 2024, HoYoVerse released a new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, teasing new character Feixiao and the upcoming Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration. More details on both will appear closer to the release date.

You can watch the Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom trailer here:

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer starts with Guinaifen describing Feixiao’s exploits on the battlefield, though she can’t really remember everything. Feixiao actually appears to defeat a borisin about to attack, but she’s just asking for directions. Then, the trailer temporarily shifts to an anime style to show Pom-Pom, Caelus, March, and Dan Heng on the Astral Express. They hear a kind of explosion noise and though you can’t see who appeared on the train, it’s most likely to be EMIYA between his voice and the line he says.

The Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works collaboration event will come out some time in Summer 2025. At this point in time, we don’t know if the crossover will only be skins, or if we will actually get a playable character like how Aloy appeared in Genshin Impact. As for Feixiao, she will be a 5-star Wind Hunt character. Before her debut though, we have her subordinate Jiaoqiu coming out in the second phase of Version 2.4. He’ll be a 5-star Fire Nihility who specializes in a unique DoT.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. Feixiao will appear as a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail Versioin 2.5.

The post Honkai: Star Rail GamesCom Trailer Teases Feixiao and UBW appeared first on Siliconera.

During the GamesCom opening night livestream on August 20, 2024, a trailer for Masters of Albion appeared to show what the gameplay is like. You’ll have complete control over a civilization in an open world setting.

Here is the trailer for Masters of Albion, which includes a short interview with Peter Molyneux afterwards:

In it, you can see how you can micromanage the town of Oakridge. Everything from the food people eat, to their economic bracket, to their weapon of choice is something you can choose. At night, the horrors of Albion will attack, meaning that you have to fight them off. You’re able to take direct control of villagers as well. When the going gets tough, you can always possess a stronger creature.

Though this is not a new Black & White, it has some similarities with that game. Peter Molyneux, who worked on Masters of Albion, also designed that game during his time at Lionhead Studios. As for the Albion setting for the game, it’s the same world that Fable took place in. Fable was also a game that Peter Molyneux worked on, though that was an action RPG rather than a sandbox.

Masters of Albion will come out on the Windows PC and you can now wishlist it on Steam.

The post Masters of Albion Feels Like a Black & White Revival appeared first on Siliconera.

At Opening Night Live at gamescom 2024, the Marvel Rivals release date and Captain America and Winter Soldier gameplay appeared. The game will launch on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on December 6, 2024.

Here is the new Marvel Rivals release date, Captain America, and Winter Soldier gamescom 2024 trailer. It begins with Wakanda being mentioned and Black Panther shown. From there, we get to see more of Captain America and Winter Soldier. First, Bucky gameplay comes up. After that, Steve takes the stage. The video closes with the confirmed release date for the title.

The trailer also included a number of promises and commitments at the end of it. Netease noted that the game will launch with every playable character unlocked. People won’t need to pay to unlock them or earn them via playing. It will also be free-to-play. The publisher noted this will apply past launch as well.

Seeing Captain America and Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals marks two additional series staples. Others showed up as of late in the past few weeks and months. For example, a more obscure character named Jeff the Land Shark will be a part of it.

Marvel Rivals release date falls on December 6, 2024, and people will find it on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Epic Games Store and Steam.

The post Marvel Rivals Release Date Set, Captain America and Winter Soldier Shown appeared first on Siliconera.

During gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live, HoYoVerse announced a Genshin Impact Xbox Series X release date. The game will come to the console on November 10, 2024, following the 5.0 launch on August 28, 2024.

The Xbox Series X version of Genshin Impact came up in the gamescom 2024 trailer for the title. For the most part, the video focused on the 5.0 update. We got to see the three new characters joining in August 2024 in action. These are the five-stars Mualani and Kinich and four-star Kachina.

This is the second Genshin Impact trailer to appear recently. On August 19, 2024, there was a Natlan-focused one. It highlighted certain areas we’ll visit and creatures we’ll encounter in the new region.

This announcement means Genshin Impact is only missing on one major console. The Switch version of the title was announced not long after launch. However, it’s since been absent over the years with no updates. It is unknown if this means it might not appear on a Nintendo platform until a Switch successor appears.

Genshin Impact is available on the PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the Xbox Series X release date is November 10, 2024. 

The post Genshin Impact Xbox Series X Release Date Set at Gamescom appeared first on Siliconera.

Scar Tries: The Rogue Prince of Persia

Despite the enormous success of Dead Cells, I only started playing it recently. It’s easy to overlook just how much influence Dead Cells had on the indie gaming industry. While I enjoy roguelikes, I’m a little burnt out on them. So many are out there now that it’s working out which ones are worth playing.

We’re still in the Steam Summer Sales, and I’ve been making a spreadsheet of stuff I’m interested in. I’m weird like that, but it helps me prioritize what games I want to play. I’m at the point with my library where I want to buy games I know I’ll play sooner than later. I will probably write up my Steam Sale pickups once the sale is over, but for now, I get to enjoy the endless search. Onto today’s episode of ‘Scar Tries’, that brings me to The Rogue Prince Of Persia. There was a reason I mentioned Dead Cells because the team that took over from Dead Cells development in 2019 (Evil Empire) is behind Rogue Prince! Some of my rambles are on topic.

Onto Rogue Prince. The Prince of Persia franchise has long been a popular one, and Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown back in January was a pretty good time, all in all. The Rogue Prince of Persia takes players back to the Persian realm as they try to fight off the massive Hun invasion. Launching in Early Access on the 27th of May, Evil Empire managed to push through some tricky times and the result is a solid piece of kit. Despite the technical problems and optimization facing players at launch, I was lucky to avoid most of it.

As this is a ‘Scar Tries’ article, I’m sharing only my early impressions of the game, so this won’t be a very long piece. I’ve finished just a few levels so far. The current Early Access version features the first act of the story with six levels, a bunch of secret areas, and two boss fights.

With Sargon under relentless attack by the mighty Huns, the player must save their beloved city from the horde. Rogue Prince is incredibly fast-paced even by action roguelike standards, blending aggressive swordplay and acrobatics to create a solid gameplay loop. The usual roguelike structure is in here: finding increasingly powerful buffs and artefacts, unlocking new tools for future runs, and finding new characters to interact with. It’s a difficult game for certain, but I like how well Rogue Prince balances challenge with accessibility. Evil Empire wants The Rogue Prince of Persia to be playable for everyone, and I’m having fun. Movement feels fluid and enjoyable. While I had success playing with a mouse and keyboard, Evil Empire recommends you play with a controller.

The enemy Huns come in different forms. Some like the classic grunts will die easily, while others need their stance broken before you can wail on them. Both you and your opponents can go down quickly if not careful, so keeping mobile is key. With the excellent movement and different tricks you can do during gameplay, the combat feels challenging and fair in equal measure. I got my ass handed to me several times during these initial impressions, particularly the first boss fight. Even when I lost, I still had fun.

Ultimately, that was the biggest takeaway I had. The Rogue Prince of Persia has a long way to go, and the current Early Access version only contains a sliver of the content available. Despite the early setbacks, Evil Empire is easing into this new development cycle. If you’re in the mood for a good-looking action roguelike with great movement, The Rogue Prince of Persia might just be worth looking into.

Gamescom is continuing on its mission to build a global brand of international events, with its Asian show due to take place in Singapore this October.

Between a very successful inaugural Gamescom Latam earlier this year, the original trade show returning to Cologne in just a few weeks, and Gamescom Asia from October 17 to 20, 2024 will mark the first year with all three events taking place in full force.

While Gamescom parent Koelnmesse only acts as co-organiser for the Latam edition, it is fully behind Gamescom Asia, with project director Daria La Valle telling us that the event wants to be a platform for Southeast Asia "to come together." The German Games Industry Association is also behind the wheel, as the owner of the Gamescom brand globally.

Read more

A 1/7 scale figure of Anby Demarra from Zenless Zone Zero is open for pre-orders in Japan. It will come out in July 2025.

The Zenless Zone Zero Anby Demarra figure is from Apex, which had worked on multiple figures for HoYoVerse games in the past. It costs 22,400 JPY, which is approximately $153.90.  AmiAmi has warned that the shipping costs may be on the pricier side for this figure, as it’s quite big and heavy.

Anby is looking like she’s ready for battle in this figure. She’s got a hand on her sword and her other one outstretched. Her expression is her usual neutral one. Apex seems to have put a lot of care into the sculpting, between all the details of her outfit and the way her skirt billows around her thighs. The stand for the figure looks like a film reel, with the welcome slogan for New Eridu on it.

Anby is the poster girl for Zenless Zone Zero (in that her face is on the icon like Paimon in Genshin Impact and March 7th for Honkai: Star Rail). When you start the game, you can get a copy of her for free. She’s a member of the Cunning Hares along with Billy Kid and Nicole. Though she’s usually very stoic and quiet, she has a bit of a silly side. For example, she sometimes conflates movies with reality.

Zenless Zone Zero is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. The Zenless Zone Zero Anby figure will come out in July 2025.

The post Zenless Zone Zero Anby Figure Will Come Out in July 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced The Pilgrim Pack, which is a new piece of DLC for Cult of the Lamb with additional Follower forms and unique quests. It’ll come out on August 12, 2024 alongside the new update.

The Pilgrim Pack will be a bit different from what people expect from Cult of the Lamb. It’ll be an interactive digital comic, through which you can access new secret quests, Follower forms, outfits, and accessories.

You can check out the Cult of the Lamb new DLC trailer below:

Instead of playing as a cult leader like you do in the main game, it seems like the Pilgrim story will focus on Followers instead. You’ll be helping Jalala and Rinor journeying in search of a new home, only for dangerous cultists to stalk them in hopes of sacrificing them to their gods. As The Pilgrim Pack will include two unique Follower quests, it’s likely that you’ll be able to further explore Jalala and Rinor’s stories outside of the comic as well.

As a reminder, The Pilgrim Pack will be paid DLC. It will come out on the same date as the Unholy Alliance free update, but if you want to experience it, you’ll need to pay some money. The Pilgrim Pack will cost $6.99 on PC and $8.99 on consoles.

Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Pilgrim Pack will appear in Cult of the Lamb on August 12, 2024, and it will not be part of the free Unholy Alliance update.

The post Cult of the Lamb Pilgrim Pack DLC Adds Follower Forms and Quests appeared first on Siliconera.

Kadokawa announced that the official NieR Reincarnation art book will come out on November 28, 2024, instead of its expected launch date. The Ebten DX pack, as well as the bonus version of the art book exclusive to Ebten, will also be delayed until November 28, 2024.

When the book comes out later this year, there will be over sixty more pages than the original estimate. In total, the NieR Reincarnation art book will contain 528 pages, as opposed to 464. The price will remain the same at 4,950 JPY ($34.35). Kadokawa apologized for the delay, but promised to aim for more satisfying content in the final product.

The Ebten DX pack will cost 9,350 JPY ($64.90) and contains multiple pieces of merchandise along with the art boo. You’ll be able to get an F3 canvas board, a set of calendar postcards, an acrylic keyholder, and an A6 illustration card. This illustration card is also the exclusive bonus that comes with the art book if you purchase it from Ebten.

The NieR Reincarnation art book was supposed to come out on August 28, 2024 to commemorate the end of the game’s service. Inside of the book, there will be stills and images from the game, as well as behind-the-scenes notes on the design process. NieR Re[in]carnation ended service on April 29, 2024 after around three years.

NieR Reincarnation was available on mobile devices, but you can no longer download it. The art book for NieR Reincarnation will come out in Japan on November 28, 2024.

The post NieR Reincarnation Art Book Delayed to November 2024 appeared first on Siliconera.

A new timed event for Zenless Zone Zero focused on unique coffee bonuses called Coffee Sorcery: Tuning is about to begin. HoYoVerse noted it will involve bonuses for drinking special event coffee in-game between August 7-12, 2024.

Two new coffee varieties will be available from Coff Cafe during the Zenless Zone Zero event, each of which will offer special bonuses. Ginseng Americano will allow players to obtain double Drive Disc rewards during Routine Cleanup missions. Meanwhile, Mint Espresso will award double Plating Agent drops in Combat Simulation missions. Due to the rewards on offer, the event will only be open for players who have unlocked the Routine Cleanup missions. As with all coffees in the game, only one coffee can be purchased a day, and its effects will last the whole day.

The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run almost up until the release of the first major update for Zenless Zone Zero. The 1.1 Update will release on August 14, 2024 and feature new Agents Jane Doe, Qingyi and Seth Lowell. These Agents will feature heavily in a new storyline featuring the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team.

Zenless Zone Zero is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run from August 7-12, 2024.

The post Coffee Sorcery: Tuning Event in Zenless Zone Zero Offers Special Limited Bonuses appeared first on Siliconera.

A new event focused on trashcan photography will appear in Honkai: Star Rail, and it is called The Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer. It will run August 7-19, 2024, and HoYoVerse revealed the unlock requirements.

The event will take place across multiple stages in Honkai: Star Rail, and players must use their photography skills to capture trashcan pictures. The trashcans are special ones added for the event, with three varieties making appearances within the crowds. Bronze trashcans will award someone 100 Capture Points, silver 150, and gold 200, with the gold offering a bonus for capturing its special poses. These Capture Points can then be used to obtain rewards, including up to 500 Stellar Jades and leveling items.

To take part in the trashcan photography event, Honkai: Star Rail players need to be at least Trailblaze Level 21 and are recommended to have completed the mission "Penacony – Tales from the Golden Age”. The mission will be offered by a trainee doctor from Penacony hanging out in Starskiff Haven on the Xianzhou Luofu.

This is the latest timed event added as part of the Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 update. It will run alongside another timed event, Saga of Primaveral Blade: Swordsage Saga, which stars March 7th. This event is currently ongoing until August 9, 2024.

Honkai: Star Rail is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer" event will run from August 7-19, 2024.

The post Honkai: Star Rail Trashcan Photography Event Begins Soon appeared first on Siliconera.

Il Fascino del Serpente nella Poesia: Un Viaggio tra Simbolismo e Versi

Introduzione:Un Serpente in Poesia

Esplorando Inganno e Tradimento

Trasformazione e Rinnovamento

Pericolo e l'Ignoto

Sensualità e Tentazione

Misticismo e Saggezza

Conclusioni

A 1/7 scale figure of Anby Demarra from Zenless Zone Zero is open for pre-orders in Japan. It will come out in July 2025.

The Zenless Zone Zero Anby Demarra figure is from Apex, which had worked on multiple figures for HoYoVerse games in the past. It costs 22,400 JPY, which is approximately $153.90.  AmiAmi has warned that the shipping costs may be on the pricier side for this figure, as it’s quite big and heavy.

Anby is looking like she’s ready for battle in this figure. She’s got a hand on her sword and her other one outstretched. Her expression is her usual neutral one. Apex seems to have put a lot of care into the sculpting, between all the details of her outfit and the way her skirt billows around her thighs. The stand for the figure looks like a film reel, with the welcome slogan for New Eridu on it.

Anby is the poster girl for Zenless Zone Zero (in that her face is on the icon like Paimon in Genshin Impact and March 7th for Honkai: Star Rail). When you start the game, you can get a copy of her for free. She’s a member of the Cunning Hares along with Billy Kid and Nicole. Though she’s usually very stoic and quiet, she has a bit of a silly side. For example, she sometimes conflates movies with reality.

Zenless Zone Zero is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. The Zenless Zone Zero Anby figure will come out in July 2025.

The post Zenless Zone Zero Anby Figure Will Come Out in July 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced The Pilgrim Pack, which is a new piece of DLC for Cult of the Lamb with additional Follower forms and unique quests. It’ll come out on August 12, 2024 alongside the new update.

The Pilgrim Pack will be a bit different from what people expect from Cult of the Lamb. It’ll be an interactive digital comic, through which you can access new secret quests, Follower forms, outfits, and accessories.

You can check out the Cult of the Lamb new DLC trailer below:

Instead of playing as a cult leader like you do in the main game, it seems like the Pilgrim story will focus on Followers instead. You’ll be helping Jalala and Rinor journeying in search of a new home, only for dangerous cultists to stalk them in hopes of sacrificing them to their gods. As The Pilgrim Pack will include two unique Follower quests, it’s likely that you’ll be able to further explore Jalala and Rinor’s stories outside of the comic as well.

As a reminder, The Pilgrim Pack will be paid DLC. It will come out on the same date as the Unholy Alliance free update, but if you want to experience it, you’ll need to pay some money. The Pilgrim Pack will cost $6.99 on PC and $8.99 on consoles.

Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Pilgrim Pack will appear in Cult of the Lamb on August 12, 2024, and it will not be part of the free Unholy Alliance update.

The post Cult of the Lamb Pilgrim Pack DLC Adds Follower Forms and Quests appeared first on Siliconera.

A new timed event for Zenless Zone Zero focused on unique coffee bonuses called Coffee Sorcery: Tuning is about to begin. HoYoVerse noted it will involve bonuses for drinking special event coffee in-game between August 7-12, 2024.

Two new coffee varieties will be available from Coff Cafe during the Zenless Zone Zero event, each of which will offer special bonuses. Ginseng Americano will allow players to obtain double Drive Disc rewards during Routine Cleanup missions. Meanwhile, Mint Espresso will award double Plating Agent drops in Combat Simulation missions. Due to the rewards on offer, the event will only be open for players who have unlocked the Routine Cleanup missions. As with all coffees in the game, only one coffee can be purchased a day, and its effects will last the whole day.

The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run almost up until the release of the first major update for Zenless Zone Zero. The 1.1 Update will release on August 14, 2024 and feature new Agents Jane Doe, Qingyi and Seth Lowell. These Agents will feature heavily in a new storyline featuring the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team.

Zenless Zone Zero is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Coffee Sorcery: Tuning" event will run from August 7-12, 2024.

The post Coffee Sorcery: Tuning Event in Zenless Zone Zero Offers Special Limited Bonuses appeared first on Siliconera.

A new event focused on trashcan photography will appear in Honkai: Star Rail, and it is called The Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer. It will run August 7-19, 2024, and HoYoVerse revealed the unlock requirements.

The event will take place across multiple stages in Honkai: Star Rail, and players must use their photography skills to capture trashcan pictures. The trashcans are special ones added for the event, with three varieties making appearances within the crowds. Bronze trashcans will award someone 100 Capture Points, silver 150, and gold 200, with the gold offering a bonus for capturing its special poses. These Capture Points can then be used to obtain rewards, including up to 500 Stellar Jades and leveling items.

To take part in the trashcan photography event, Honkai: Star Rail players need to be at least Trailblaze Level 21 and are recommended to have completed the mission "Penacony – Tales from the Golden Age”. The mission will be offered by a trainee doctor from Penacony hanging out in Starskiff Haven on the Xianzhou Luofu.

This is the latest timed event added as part of the Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 update. It will run alongside another timed event, Saga of Primaveral Blade: Swordsage Saga, which stars March 7th. This event is currently ongoing until August 9, 2024.

Honkai: Star Rail is out now for PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The "Self-Accomplishment of a Trashcan Photographer" event will run from August 7-19, 2024.

The post Honkai: Star Rail Trashcan Photography Event Begins Soon appeared first on Siliconera.

Kodansha announced that it has established the Fairy Tail Indie Game Guild project. It will use this guild to help independent game creators release games themed after Hiro Mashima's manga series of the same title.

The company also revealed the first two games that will be part of the project. It will release both titles on PC via Steam worldwide in seven languages: Japanese, English, French, Korean, Thai, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.

Fairy Tail: Dungeons will be the first game in this project. It will feature a rogue-lite gameplay system where the player will collect magic cards based on attacks from the series' characters and construct a deck with them for the chosen character to fight monsters inside the dungeon. This game will be available on August 27, 2024 in Japan, South Korea, Eastern Australia, and New Zealand, or August 26, 2024 for the rest of the world.

The second game in the project will be Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc. As the title suggests, this game will feature casual beach volleyball matches between Fairy Tail characters with additional special magic effects. Kodansha will release this game simultaneously worldwide on September 16 or 17, 2024, depending on the time zone.

The Fairy Tail series already has an official RPG for PC and consoles developed by Koei Tecmo's Gust, and the same studio is working on its sequel that will appear in Winter 2024. The new indie titles will further complement the lineup of games based on the franchise. In the Japanese press release, Kadokawa added that it will release Fairy Tail: Birth of Magic, a versus game with original magic creation system, as the third indie title.

Fairy Tail: Dungeons will appear first on August 26 or 27, 2024, and Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc will follow on September 16 or 17, 2024. Both Fairy Tail indie games will be available worldwide digitally on PC via Steam.

The post Fairy Tail Indie Game Guild Will Bring New Games to PC appeared first on Siliconera.

A new trailer for Fate/Extra Record appeared at the FGO Fes 2024 event showcasing the story and gameplay elements in the remake. Additionally, the trailer reveals the release window for Fate/Extra Record as 2025, and the game will appear on Switch, PS4, PS5, and Windows PC.

The trailer offers a look at the dungeon exploration and turn-based card combat system, as well as a look at an early game boss fight against an enemy Rider servant and a mysterious Archer-type enemy. Characters like Rin Tohsaka, Shinji Matou, and servant Archer are also featured. Gameplay shows the three available servants Saber, Archer, and Caster chaining combos.

In addition, a room customization mechanic will seemingly be available as seen in the trailer. A new and revamped UI compared to the old one that appeared in footage shown in 2020 is also featured in the combat sections of the trailer.

You can check out the new Fate/Extra Record trailer here:

Type-Moon Studio BB previously confirmed that new information about the game would appear on the FGO Fes 2024 event with a teaser trailer.

Fate/Extra Record is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC via Steam and it is scheduled to release in 2025 in Japan. There are no news of an overseas release yet.

The post Fate/Extra Record Releases in 2025 for Switch, PS4, PS5, PC appeared first on Siliconera.

What is going on with Intel's GPU program? The chatter is negative but what is really happening?
Read more ▶

The post Why is Intel’s GPU program having problems? appeared first on SemiAccurate.

I recently found out I have aphantasia, or more accurately, I found out that most people don't have aphantasia.

Close your eyes and picture a red apple. Can you describe it? In how much detail? How about on a scale of 1 to 5?  — Read the rest

The post I have aphantasia: my mind's eye is permanently closed appeared first on Boing Boing.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was released from Russian captivity on Thursday as part of the largest prisoner swap between Russia and Western nations in decades. Gershkovich had been imprisoned for nearly 500 days and was recently sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony.

Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while on assignment in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Russian authorities claimed he was obtaining information for the CIA, though the allegations against Gershkovich are widely assumed to be false and have been denied strenuously by the Journal. 

Gershkovich was released around 11:20 a.m. Eastern time at an airport in Ankara, Turkey. Several other prisoners were also released, including Russia-critical journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, and American former Marine Paul Whelan, who had been imprisoned since 2018. Russian hit man Vadim Krasikov, who was imprisoned in Germany after receiving a life sentence for killing a Chechen rebel, was released back to Russia as part of the deal.

In total, the swap involved two dozen prisoners from at least six countries, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"The exchange is emblematic of a new era of state-sponsored hostage-taking by autocratic governments seeking leverage over rivals. It was negotiated as tensions soared between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine," the Journal reported on Thursday. "It also offers sobering evidence of the asymmetry between the U.S. and Russia in this new, piratical order. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin can order foreigners plucked from restaurants and hotels and given lengthy prison sentences on spurious charges—something an American leader can't do."

While this is the largest prisoner swap the U.S. has engaged in in recent years to free citizens imprisoned in Russia, it isn't its first. In December 2022, WNBA player Brittney Griner was released in a swap for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout after being held for almost nine months on drug charges. While securing the release of Griner, Gershkovich, and other American citizens from wrongful Russian captivity is vital, it may also work to incentivize Russian authorities to continue jailing Americans on false charges.

"The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy," President Joe Biden said shortly after Thursday's prisoner swap. "Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over….I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family."

The post <i>Wall Street Journal</i> Reporter Evan Gershkovich Released From Russian Captivity appeared first on Reason.com.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won applause at the Libertarian National Convention by criticizing government lockdowns and deficit spending, and saying America shouldn't police the world.

It made me want to interview him. This month, I did.

He said intelligent things about America's growing debt:

"President Trump said that he was going to balance the budget and instead he (increased the debt more) than every president in United States history—$8 trillion. President Biden is on track now to beat him."

It's good to hear a candidate actually talk about our debt.

"When the debt is this large…you have to cut dramatically, and I'm going to do that," he says.

But looking at his campaign promises, I don't see it.

He promises "affordable" housing via a federal program backing 3 percent mortgages.

"Imagine that you had a rich uncle who was willing to cosign your mortgage!" gushes his campaign ad. "I'm going to make Uncle Sam that rich uncle!"

I point out that such giveaways won't reduce our debt.

"That's not a giveaway," Kennedy replies. "Every dollar that I spend as president is going to go toward building our economy."

That's big government nonsense, like his other claim: "Every million dollars we spend on child care creates 22 jobs!"

Give me a break.

When I pressed him about specific cuts, Kennedy says, "I'll cut the military in half…cut it to about $500 billion….We are not the policemen of the world."

"Stop giving any money to Ukraine?" I ask.

"Negotiate a peace," Kennedy replies. "Biden has never talked to Putin about this, and it's criminal."

He never answered whether he'd give money to Ukraine. He did answer about Israel.

"Yes, of course we should,"

"[Since] you don't want to cut this spending, what would you cut?"

"Israel spending is rather minor," he responds. "I'm going to pick the most wasteful programs, put them all in one bill, and send them to Congress with an up and down vote."

Of course, Congress would just vote it down.

Kennedy's proposed cuts would hardly slow down our path to bankruptcy. Especially since he also wants new spending that activists pretend will reduce climate change.

At a concert years ago, he smeared "crisis" skeptics like me, who believe we can adjust to climate change, screaming at the audience, "Next time you see John Stossel and [others]… these flat-earthers, these corporate toadies—lying to you. This is treason, and we need to start treating them now as traitors!"

Now, sitting with him, I ask, "You want to have me executed for treason?"

"That statement," he replies, "it's not a statement that I would make today….Climate is existential. I think it's human-caused climate change. But I don't insist other people believe that. I'm arguing for free markets and then the lowest cost providers should prevail in the marketplace….We should end all subsidies and let the market dictate."

That sounds good: "Let the market dictate."

But wait, Kennedy makes money from solar farms backed by government guaranteed loans. He "leaned on his contacts in the Obama administration to secure a $1.6 billion loan guarantee," wrote The New York Times.

"Why should you get a government subsidy?" I ask.

"If you're creating a new industry," he replies, "you're competing with the Chinese. You want the United States to own pieces of that industry."

I suppose that means his government would subsidize every industry leftists like.

Yet when a wind farm company proposed building one near his family's home, he opposed it.

"Seems hypocritical," I say.

"We're exterminating the right whale in the North Atlantic through these wind farms!" he replies.

I think he was more honest years ago, when he complained that "turbines…would be seen from Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard… Nantucket….[They] will steal the stars and nighttime views."

Kennedy was once a Democrat, but now Democrats sue to keep him off ballots. Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls him a "dangerous nutcase."

Kennedy complains that Reich won't debate him.

"Nobody will," he says. "They won't have me on any of their networks."

Well, obviously, I will.

I especially wanted to confront him about vaccines.

In a future column, Stossel TV will post more from our hourlong discussion.

COPYRIGHT 2024 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.

The post RFK Jr. Pays Lip Service to the Debt While Pushing Policies That Would Increase It appeared first on Reason.com.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

As part of today’s blockbuster prisoner swap between the US and Russia, which freed the journalist Evan Gershkovich and several Russian opposition figures, Russia received in return a motley collection of serious criminals, including an assassin who had executed an enemy of the Russian state in the middle of Berlin.

But the Russians also got two hackers, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznev, each of whom had been convicted of major financial crimes in the US. The US government said that Klyushin “stands convicted of the most significant hacking and trading scheme in American history, and one of the largest insider trading schemes ever prosecuted.” As for Seleznev, federal prosecutors said that he has “harmed more victims and caused more financial loss than perhaps any other defendant that has appeared before the court.”

What sort of hacker do you have to be to attract the interest of the Russian state in prisoner swaps like these? Clearly, it helps to have hacked widely and caused major damage to Russia’s enemies. By bringing these two men home, Russian leadership is sending a clear message to domestic hackers: We’ve got your back.

Read 17 remaining paragraphs | Comments

HoYoVerse announced the 1.1 Zenless Zone Zero release date and confirmed the characters that will appear in the version update. The patch will show up on August 14, 2024, and the new Agents being introduced are the S-rank Jane Doe, S-rank Qingyi, and A-rank Seth Lowell. 

The first banner in the update will feature Qingyi as the focus Electric Stun Agent affiliated with the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team. The A-Rank Billy and Corin units will appear more often as well. Qingyi’s signature Ice-Jade Teapot S-rank W-Engine will also be the focus for the weapon banner. 

In the second part of the update, Jane will be the focus unit. She’s a Physical Anomaly character. The two A-rank units featured on her banner are Anby and newcomer Seth. The W-Engine banner in that phase will introduce Sharpened Stinger, which is designed with Jane in mind. 

Some of the highlighted events were noted too. There will be login events that guarantee you 10 Encrypted Master Tapes and 10 Boopons. Some of the activities coming in this update include the Obsidian: Strategic Partner commission, Inferno Reap, Shiyu Defense - Special Operation, Camellia Golden Week, a First-Class Customer Service Random Play event, and Daily Life of a PubSec Officer.

Here is the teaser trailer for 1.1, which focuses heavily on the Zenless Zone Zero characters Qingyi, Seth, and Jane Doe and upcoming Criminal Investigation Special Response Team storyline.

You can watch the full August 2024 Zenless Zone Zero Special Program below. An English translation is available for us, but closed captions must be turned on first.

Finally, there is only one code from the Zenless Zone Zero Special Program. Entering UNDERCOVERRNB nets you 2 Senior Investigator Logs, 3 W-Engine Energy Modules, 300 Polychromes, and 30,000 Dennies. 

Zenless Zone Zero is available for the PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the release date for 1.1 is August 14, 2024.

The post 1.1 Zenless Zone Zero Release Date and Characters Shared appeared first on Siliconera.

As of August 2, 2024, China's National Press and Publication Administration approved 15 new video games for import and publication. The report by Niko Partners, shared by Daniel “ZhugeEX” Ahmad, showed the list included Rainbow Six, Dynasty Warriors, Marvel Rivals, and a mobile game co-developed by Tencent and Square Enix based on Final Fantasy XIV. [Thanks, Niko Partners!]

This is the first official announcement of any kind that a mobile game or title based on Final Fantasy XIV was being developed. The eXputer forum user Kurakasis shared a rumor in July 2024 stating a project is in the works. This is the first official confirmation that the game is both in development and co-developed by Tencent and Square Enix, following a 2018 agreement that the two companies would be working together in the future. When Ahmad shared the news on social media, the tweet specifically mentioned by Lightspeed Studios. The report does not list if the game is a spin-off or a full mobile version of the MMORPG that is playable on phones or tablets.

The other games being brought over, including the upcoming team-based multiplayer hero shooter Marvel Rivals and Paper Mario: The Origami King, are imports of products that are either out or are leaving open beta testing and entering full release. The Rainbow Six title, Dynasty Warriors 8 mobile adaptation, and the mobile Final Fantasy XIV game are the two entirely new titles.

Final Fantasy XIV and its newest expansion Dawntrail are available now on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. The FFXIV mobile game is apparently in development and headed to China.

The post FFXIV Mobile Game on List of Games Approved for China appeared first on Siliconera.

HoYoVerse shared a new Genshin Impact trailer for the Natlan region that seems to show a baby Geovishap referred to as “Lil’ Buddy” accompanying the Traveler. After it steps away from Aether and Paimon, it walks around the new region and gives the viewer a chance to see notable places that will debut in 5.0. 

The Genshin Impact “Natlan Preview Teaser - Lil’ Buddy” begins with the new character standing behind Aether and Paimon as they sit on a platform overlooking some cliffs and a valley. It’s distinguished from other, enemy monsters by the red and yellow bow on their tail. After being distracted by a bird, it follows it and goes on a brief journey through a cavern with ruins and crystals, a place alongside a river, and a small settlement in a valley and beside a lake. 

After burrowing underground for a bit in the same way a Geovishap Hatchling does in Genshin Impact, Lil’ Buddy encounters one of the Natlan enemies. It looks like some sort of Elemental Lifeform, with a green color that suggested it could be a Dendro element one. After Lil’ Buddy roars at it, the opponent turns around. This causes Lil Buddy to turn around and run away. 

Here’s the full teaser trailer:

We should learn more about Lil’ Buddy and other elements soon. HoYoVerse will hold the 5.0 Special Program for the game on August 15, 2024. 

Genshin Impact is available for the PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices, and the 5.0 update is expected to arrive at the end of August 2024. 

The post Genshin Impact Natlan Trailer Introduces Lil’ Buddy appeared first on Siliconera.

The Bokeh Game Studio developers revealed they drew inspiration from seinen manga like Tokyo Ghoul when working on Slitterhead. This information comes from an interview with Game Watch. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

The three Bokeh Game Studio members who participated in the interview are Keiichiro Toyama (CEO and founder), Akira Yamaoka (composer, sound director, and game designer), and Tatsuya Yoshikawa (character designer). During the interview, they reveal that they used seinen manga to try and bridge the gap between horror fans and players who avoid a game because of its horror elements. Some seinen manga series show the characters facing off against a powerful foe, which has the same entertainment value as an action series. However, seinen manga also tend not to shy away from killing off its characters, which raises the tensions and stakes.

Toyama noted that shonen manga is more popular in foreign countries, so a seinen-inspired work may feel novel. Like our coverage of the SGF 2024 trailer, the Game Watch interviewer noted that the character designs feel like they’re from Parasyte. Toyama acknowledges that Parasyte was an inspiration, but Slitterhead actually takes more cues from Tokyo Ghoul. To be more specific, he drew reference from the uncertainty of when characters would die—calling it a “thrilling” survival horror experience—and the charm of battles in which the characters use superpowers.

Slitterhead will come out on November 8, 2024 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC.

The post Slitterhead Inspired by Seinen Manga appeared first on Siliconera.

A new series of Final Fantasy XIV commercials starring Hikakin will start playing on TV in Japan until July 7, 2024. It’ll feature real footage of Hikakin and his friend Hajime Syacho playing the MMORPG. [Thanks, PR Times!]

For reference, Hikakin is one of the top YouTubers in Japan. Hikakin is also a businessman, releasing products such as the Misokin instant ramen, which was a collaboration product with Nissin. He has multiple channels and his main channel HikakinTV has over 18.8 million subscribers. As for Hajime Syacho, he is also a very popular YouTuber. Like Hikakin, he has multiple YouTube channels, and his main one has over 14.2 million subscribers. Both of them are part of the UUUM network.

You can check out the Hikakin Final Fantasy XIV commercials here:

As a note, the Japanese version of Warrior of Light is "Hikari no Senshi," or "Hikasen" for short. It sounds quite similar to Hikakin. So the title of this series is "Hikakin Becomes a Hikasen," aka "Hikakin Becomes a WoL."

Hikakin commented that he and Hajime Syacho had so much time playing for the commercials that recorded ended really quickly. He’s also amazed and emotional about how he’s able to do something for Final Fantasy as part of his job as a YouTuber, since he’s been a fan of the series since he was a student. As for Hajime Syacho, he said that he felt like a parent and cried when his cute avatar appeared in the commercials. This is the avatar he actually uses in game, which he started playing this year. He adds that he wants people to play Final Fantasy XIV, which he likes so much that he prioritizes it over sleep.

Final Fantasy XIV is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. Dawntrail, the newest expansion for the game, will come out on July 2, 2024.

The post Hikakin Stars in New Final Fantasy XIV Commercials appeared first on Siliconera.

On June 21, 2024, X (Twitter) user nightshademagia released a Hardcore Mode mod for Stardew Valley that’ll delete your save file if you open up the Wiki for the game. This was based off a joke article from Hard Drive.

You can find the source code via Github here. There’s also a clip showing how it works. In the clip, they load up their file as per usual. Then, in another window, they open up the Stardew Valley Wiki. As soon as they do so, the game forces them back to the title screen and when they try to load up a game, their save file is gone.

The original article was from satire website Hard Drive, stating that the new default Hardcore Mode erases your save file if you open the official wiki. The article includes false quotes from players expressing their outrage, including a fake quote from ConcernedApe, the creator of Stardew Valley. Some players tend to use the Wiki to help them optimize their farm or game. For example, you can look up what gifts certain characters prefer or how to catch certain fish.

Stardew Valley is readily available for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, macOS, and mobile devices. It is one of the best-selling games of all time, selling over 30 million copies by February 2024.

The post Stardew Valley Hardcore Mode Mod Is Real appeared first on Siliconera.

The official Sonic the Hedgehog X (Twitter) account has revealed the Shadow the Hedgehog collaboration outfit for Korone. There will be merchandise of her, including an A4 clear folder of her posing with Shadow.

Like Korone’s past Sonic outfit where she’s wearing a hoodie that resembles the blue hedgehog, the Shadow the Hedgehog outfit puts Korone in a black hooded jacket and red sneakers. Her hair is black as well, and she has red eyes. She’s wearing asymmetrical socks in the Shadow outfit, but that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Shadow and is more a fashion choice from her designer.

If you pre-order Sonic X Shadow Generations from certain vendors, you’ll be able to get exclusive goods of Korone in her Shadow the Hedgehog outfit. Amazon will offer an acrylic keyholder. Hanekoto, who was the main artist for Minato Aqua’s game Aquarium, drew this Korone. Meanwhile, if you purchase from Geo, you’ll be able to get a clear folder of her posing with Shadow. The Sonic Team from Sega drew this one.

Inugami Korone is one of the top Hololive VTubers, debuting in 2019 as part of GAMERS. As of the time of writing, she has over 2.1 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. As an official Sonic the Hedgehog ambassador, she has often appeared in events or collaborations with Sega to celebrate or market the blue hedgehog.

Sonic X Shadow Generations will come out on October 25, 2024 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC via Steam.

The post VTuber Inugami Korone Sports New Shadow the Hedgehog Look appeared first on Siliconera.

A new trailer for Zenless Zone Zero is out, focusing on Rina. As a reminder, Rina, or Alexandrina Sebastiane, is a member of Victoria Housekeeping.

You can watch the Rina Zenless Zone Zero trailer:

It’s also available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The trailer stats with a scared-looking Bangboo wandering around a facility before Rina informs it of how it’s in a forbidden area. As she lists off the rules about the area, she scares it so much that it passes out. Then, it shows off how Rina fights by puppeteering two little robots. It then ends with her acting like a normal maid to the Bangboo. However, despite her profession, she’s a horrible cook.

Like other members of the Victoria Housekeeping faction, Rina is based on a combination between a normal housekeeper and a Western horror trope. In Rina’s case, she appears to be a combination of ghosts and the idea of haunted puppets. Other members of Victoria Housekeeping include Corin, Ellen, and Von Lycaon. Of the housekeepers within this faction, it seems that Ellen is the only one who’s willing to give Rina’s cooking a try.

Zenless Zone Zero will come out on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices from July 4, 2024.

The post Zenless Zone Zero Rina Trailer Shows Her Scaring a Bangboo appeared first on Siliconera.

The Ruan Mei re-run banner appeared in the first phase of Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.3. While I’m sure lots of people want to pull for the game-designated girlfriend Firefly, I highly suggest that players who don’t have Ruan Mei pull for her instead. She is one of the best characters in the game (in terms of her kit) and can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your ability to clear difficult content.

Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room first. Ruan Mei is, objectively, kind of an awful person. One could go as far as to call her a monster. In our first meeting with her, she drugs us against our will and we see all of her adorable little creations crying for her to give them even a scrap of acknowledgement. Though she’s not completely emotionless, her inability to comprehend love and her pursuit of knowledge have her abandoning the creations on Herta Space Station. My friend jokingly calls her a cat abuser and refuses to get her for this exact reason. As a character, she is very interesting! But I can also understand people feeling uncomfortable with her due to her neglect of the Creations and her almost sociopathic behavior.

Some people may only want to pull for and use characters they like. That’s fair! It’s not fun playing gacha if you don’t like the characters, after all. But for players who care about the meta and who want to have an easier time clearing endgame content such as the higher difficulties of Simulated Universe, Ruan Mei is almost a must-pull. Your quality of life post-Ruan Mei will never compare to what it was like pre-Ruan Mei. If I have to name one thing that is bad about Ruan Mei, it’s that for all of her genius, she wasn’t able to clone a second Ruan Mei to use in Forgotten Hall. Robin exists though, so at least you can use her.

In order to understand why Ruan Mei is such a must-pull, we need to look at her kit and how she compares to similar characters. Her passive Talent increases the party’s SPD and her Skill increases the party’s DMG and Weakness Break Efficiency. This Weakness Break Efficiency buff is one of the best parts of Ruan Mei’s kit, as no other character is capable of this as of Version 2.2. Her Ultimate also increases the party’s All-Type RES PEN and delays their action after a Weakness Break. Ruan Mei’s buffs are so universal she can run on all teams, including DoT teams. She can also fit on either a hyper-carry or a double attacker team. While other limited 5-star Harmony characters like Sparkle and Robin are fantastic, they’re far more Crit DMG focused, which can limit their usage.

That’s not to say that they’re bad. In fact, part of Ruan Mei’s initial appeal is that you can run her with another Harmony or support character. Back when she debuted, one of the best Harmony units was Bronya. But Bronya has a glaring issue with SP. Aside from her and your attacker, your team has to be SP positive or neutral. You can run her with Asta, who only needs her Ultimate. But Tingyun and Yukong are out of the question because you need to conserve your SP for Bronya and your attacker. Of course, depending on the battle, you might want to leave some for your sustain as well. Ruan Mei’s buffs last for three of her turns and they affect the whole party, meaning that she can run with more SP-hungry Harmony or Nihility characters without affecting the way they play.

Since the beginning of the game, I’ve been adamant that you can skip attackers, but you can’t skip support characters. While some must-pulls like Luocha and Silver Wolf have fallen behind in the ever-shifting meta (Huohuo and Aventurine made Luocha obsolete if you have them, and Silver Wolf’s niche is no longer as necessary due to most people having more character variety). Ruan Mei’s universal buffs make her a staple on any team. She came out during the Destruction era but remained relevant even during the DoT renaissance (Black Swan), the follow-up attack era (IP3, Robin), and the current Break Effect (Firefly, Boothill) era. And she’s sure to remain a top-tier support no matter what meta changes the future brings.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on the PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices. You can only pull for Ruan Mei in Honkai: Star Rail when the “Floral Triptych” banner is up.

The post Ruan Mei Is a Must Pull for Any Honkai: Star Rail Player appeared first on Siliconera.

Version 1.1 of Wuthering Waves will go live on June 28, 2024 and the official Twitter (X) account has teased what to expect from the upcoming patch. New 5-star characters will be Jinhsi and Changli.

Aside from new characters, there will be new weapons and areas to explore as well. Wuthering Waves Version 1.1 will introduce Mt. Firmament to explore. Meanwhile, the first character on banner will be Jinhsi, followed by Changli. Jinhsi will be a Spectro Broadblade Resonator and Changli will be Fusion Sword. Jinhsi’s signature weapon will be the Ages of Harvest and Changli’s will be Blazing Brilliance.

As well, the main story will continue with Main Quest Chapter 1 Act 7. We already know from Kuro Games’s previous communications that Jue will appear as a boss fight in the upcoming chapter. Like Scar, you’ll be able to challenge Jue again multiple times. Jue will also be available as an Echo to collect and use. Other new Echoes include Clang Bang, Dwarf Cassowary, and Lightcurhser. There will also be a new Companion Quest focusing on Changli. Finally, there will be several events both permanent and limited-time.

Wuthering Waves is readily available on the Windows PC and mobile devices. Version 1.1 of Wuthering Waves will go live on June 28, 2024.

The post Wuthering Waves Version 1.1 Detailed appeared first on Siliconera.

When is The Rogue Prince of Persia release date? Two Prince of Persia games in one year — yes, that’s the world we’re living in. After years of silence, the legendary side-scrolling series appears to be back in a big way. Unlike Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown which is a traditional Metroidvania, this game has been designed as a roguelike.

Developed by Evil Empire, one of the studios responsible for the critically acclaimed Dead Cells DLC, The Rogue Prince of Persia utilizes the series’ key elements, while tying in roguelike game mechanics to make the game infinitely replayable. Here’s everything you need to know about The Rogue Prince of Persia, including its estimated release date, the early access launch, and more.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time's troubled remake has resurfaced during tonight's Ubisoft Forward showcase with the news it'll finally be arriving in 2026, some six years after it was initially revealed. More happily, Price of Persia: The Lost Crown and The Rogue Prince of Persia both have new updates launching today.

Ubisoft revealed it was remaking Sands of Time back in September 2020, when it was originally due to launch the following January. However, following a less than positive reception to its debut trailer, Ubisoft announced the first of several delays for the project, eventually moving it from original developers Ubisoft Pune and Mumbai to Ubisoft Montreal.

When we last heard from the remake at the end of 2023, Ubisoft announced it had "passed an important internal milestone", but things didn't sound especially far along given the publisher had revealed the rebooted project was still in the "conception" phase in May. A year on, it seems the Sands of Time remake still isn't a state that Ubisoft is confident to show; its re-appearance during tonight's showcase was anticlimactic to say the least, taking the form of a 30-second teaser trailer showing... a candle. We did, at least, get an updated release window, with Ubisoft confirming the remake is now targeting a 2026 launch.

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Rapidus and IBM are jointly developing mass production capabilities for chiplet-based advanced packages. The collaboration builds on an existing agreement to develop 2nm process technology.

Vanguard and NXP will jointly establish VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC) in Singapore to build a $7.8 billion, 12-inch wafer plant. This is part of a global supply chain shift “Out of China, Out of Taiwan,” according to TrendForce.

Alphawave joined forces with Arm to develop an advanced chiplet based on Arm’s Neoverse Compute Subystems for AI/ML. The chiplet contains the Neoverse N3 CPU core cluster and Arm Coherent Mesh Network, and will be targeted at HPC in data centers, AI/ML applications, and 5G/6G infrastructure.

ElevATE Semiconductor and GlobalFoundries will partner for high-voltage chips to be produced at GF’s facility in Essex Junction, Vermont, which GF bought from IBM. The chips are essential for semiconductor testing equipment, aerospace, and defense systems.

NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Microsoft are under investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department for violation of antitrust laws in the generative AI industry, according to the New York Times.

Quick links to more news:

Market Reports
Global
In-Depth
Education and Training
Security
Product News
Research
Events and Further Reading

Global

Apollo Global Management will invest $11 billion in Intel’s Fab 34 in Ireland, thereby acquiring a 49% stake in Intel’s Irish manufacturing operations.

imec and ASML opened their jointly run High-NA EUV Lithography Lab in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. The lab will be used to prepare  the next-generation litho for high-volume manufacturing, expected to begin in 2025 or 2026.

Expedera opened a new semiconductor IP design center in India. The location, the sixth of its kind for the company, is aimed at helping to make up for a shortfall in trained technicians, researchers, and engineers in the semiconductor sector.

Foxconn will build an advanced computing center in Taiwan with NVIDIA’s Blackwell platform at its core. The site will feature GB200 servers, which consist of 64 racks and 4,608 GPUs, and will be completed by 2026.

Intel and its 14 partner companies in Japan will use Sharp‘s LCD plants to research semiconductor production technology, a cost reduction move that should also produce income for Sharp, according to Nikkei Asia.

Japan is considering legislation to support the commercial production of advanced semiconductors, per Reuters.

Saudi Arabia aims to establish at least 50 semiconductor design companies as part of a new National Semiconductor Hub, funded with over $266 million.

Air Liquide is opening a new industrial gas production facility in Idaho, which will produce ultra-pure nitrogen and other gases for Micron’s new fab.

Microsoft will invest 33.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.2 billion) to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure in Sweden over a two-year period, reports Bloomberg. The company also will invest $1 billion to establish a new data center in northwest Indiana.

AI data centers could consume as much as 9.1% of the electricity generated in the U.S. by 2030, according to a white paper published by the Electric Power Research Institute. That would more than double the electricity currently consumed by data centers, though EPRI notes this is a worst case scenario and advances in efficiency could be a mitigating factor.

Markets and Money

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced global semiconductor sales increased 15.8% year-over-year in April, and the group projected a market growth of 16% in 2024. Conversely, global semiconductor equipment billings contracted 2% year-over-year to US$26.4 billion in Q1 2024, while quarter-over-quarter billings dropped 6% during the same period, according to SEMI‘s Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report.

Cadence completed its acquisition of BETA CAE Systems International, a provider of multi-domain, engineering simulation solutions.

Cisco‘s investment arm launched a $1 billion fund to aid AI startups as part of its AI innovation strategy. Nearly $200 million has already been earmarked.

The power and RF GaN markets will grow beyond US$2.45 billion and US$1.9 billion in 2029, respectively, according to Yole, which is offering a webinar on the topic.

The micro LED chip market is predicted to reach $580 million by 2028, driven by head-mounted devices and automotive applications, according to TrendForce. The cost of Micro LED chips may eventually come down due to size miniaturization.

In-Depth

Semiconductor Engineering published its Automotive, Security, and Pervasive Computing newsletter this week, featuring these top stories:

• The Uncertainty Of Certifying AI For Automotive
• Why It’s So Hard To Secure AI Chips
• Toward A Software-Defined Hardware World

More reporting this week:

• Chip Design Digs Deeper Into AI
• Why IC Design Safety Nets Have Limits
• Opportunities Grow For GPU Acceleration

Security

Scott Best, Rambus senior director of Silicon Security Products, delivered a keynote at the Hardwear.io conference this week (below), detailing a $60 billion reverse engineering threat for hardware in just three markets — $30 billion for printer consumables, $20 billion for rechargeable batteries with some type of authentication, and $10 billion for medical devices such as sonogram probes.

Photo source: Ed Sperling/Semiconductor Engineering

wolfSSL debuted wolfHSM for automotive hardware security modules, with its cryptographic library ported to run in automotive HSMs like Infineon’s Aurix Tricore TC3XX.

Cisco integrated AMD Pensando data processing units (DPUs) with its Hypershield security architecture for defending AI-scale data centers.

OMNIVISION released an intelligent CMOS image sensor for human presence detection, infrared facial authentication, and always-on technology with a single sensing camera. And two new image sensors for industrial and consumer security surveillance cameras.

Digital Catapult announced a new cohort of companies will join Digital Security by Design’s Technology Access Program, gaining access to an Arm Morello prototype evaluation hardware kit based on Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions (CHERI), to find applications across critical UK sectors.

University of Southampton researchers used formal verification to evaluate the hardware reliability of a RISC-V ibex core in the presence of soft errors.

Several institutions published their students’ master’s and PhD work:

• Virginia Tech published a dissertation proposing sPACtre, a defense mechanism that aims to prevent Spectre control-flow attacks on existing hardware.
• Wright State University published a thesis proposing an approach that uses various machine learning models to bring an improvement in hardware Trojan identification with power signal side channel analysis
• Wright State University published a thesis examining the effect of aging on the reliability of SRAM PUFs used for secure and trusted microelectronics IC applications.
• Nanyang Technological University published a Final Year Project proposing a novel SAT-based circuit preprocessing attack based on the concept of logic cones to enhance the efficacy of SAT attacks on complex circuits like multipliers.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a number of alerts/advisories.

Education and Training

Renesas and the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad) signed a three-year MoU to collaborate on VLSI and embedded semiconductor systems, with a focus on R&D and academic interactions to advance the “Make in India” strategy.

Charlie Parker, senior machine learning engineer at Tignis, presented a talk on “Why Every Fab Should Be Using AI.”

Penn State and the National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU) in Taiwan partnered to develop educational and research programs focused on semiconductors and photonics.

Rapidus and Hokkaido University partnered on education and research to enhance Japan’s scientific and technological capabilities and develop human resources for the semiconductor industry.

The University of Minnesota named Steve Koester its first “Chief Semiconductor Officer,” and launched a website devoted to semiconductor and microelectronics research and education.

The state of Michigan invested $10 million toward semiconductor workforce development.

Product News

Siemens reported breakthroughs in high-level C++ verification that will be used in conjunction with its Catapult software. Designers will be able to use formal property checking via the Catapult Formal Assert software and reachability coverage analysis through Catapult Formal CoverCheck.

Infineon released several products:

• 600 V CoolMOS 8 high voltage superjunction (SJ) MOSFET product family.
• CoolGaN bidirectional switch (BDS) and CoolGaN Smart Sense device.
• New CoolSiC MOSFET discretes 650 V, with two product families housed in the Thin-TOLL 8×8 and TOLT packages to increase system power density.

Augmental, an MIT Media Lab spinoff, released a tongue-based computer controller, dubbed the MouthPad.

NVIDIA revealed a new line of products that will form the basis of next-gen AI data centers. Along with partners ASRock Rack, ASUS, GIGABYTE, Ingrasys, and others, the NVIDIA GPUs and networking tech will offer cloud, on-premises, embedded, and edge AI systems. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang showed off the company’s upcoming Rubin platform, which will succeed its current Blackwell platform. The new system will feature new GPUs, an Arm-based CPU and advanced networking with NVLink 6, CX9 SuperNIC and X1600 converged InfiniBand/Ethernet switch.

Intel showed off its Xeon 6 processors at Computex 2024. The company also unveiled architectural details for its Lunar Lake client computing processor, which will use 40% less SoC power, as well as a new NPU, and X2 graphic processing unit cores for gaming.

Research

imec released a roadmap for superconducting digital technology to revolutionize AI/ML.

CEA-Leti reported breakthroughs in three projects it considers key to the next generation of CMOS image sensors. The projects involved embedding AI in the CIS and stacking multiple dies to create 3D architectures.

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT-CSAIL) used a type of generative AI, known as diffusion models, to train multi-purpose robots, and designed the Grasping Neural Process for more intelligent robotic grasping.

IBM and Pasqal partnered to develop a common approach to quantum-centric supercomputing and to promote application research in chemistry and materials science.

Stanford University and Q-NEXT researchers investigated diamond to find the source of its temperamental nature when it comes to emitting quantum signals.

TU Wien researchers investigated how AI categorizes images.

In Canada:

• Simon Fraser University received funding of over $80 million from various sources to upgrade the supercomputing facility at the Cedar National Host Site.
• The Digital Research Alliance of Canada announced $10.28 million to renew the University of Victoria’s Arbutus cloud infrastructure.
• The Canadian government invested $18.4 million in quantum research at the University of Waterloo.

Events and Further Reading

Find upcoming chip industry events here, including:

Upcoming webinars are here.

Semiconductor Engineering’s latest newsletters:

Automotive, Security and Pervasive Computing
Systems and Design
Low Power-High Performance
Test, Measurement and Analytics
Manufacturing, Packaging and Materials

The post Chip Industry Week In Review appeared first on Semiconductor Engineering.

During the Ubisoft Forward Stream, the company has again assured us that their remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time still exists. Except it’s coming in 2026. They told us this during an extremely brief nothing of a teaser.

Considering this is the series’ 35th anniversary and they’re making a big deal of it, they probably wanted the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake to hit this year, but things don’t sound like they’re going that well with a change of developers back in 2022. I suppose with nothing else to tell us, they showed us a candle burning in reverse before revealing a pretty far-off date. That’s far enough away for me to forget that it exists.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time first came out in 2003 and brought new excitement to the franchise started by Jordan Mechner back in 1989. Since then, new entries in the series have been pretty frequent, but arguably, none have really been able to achieve the same popularity.

That’s not for lack of trying. This year saw Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown which released to critical acclaim. The Rogue Prince of Persia is currently in early access and is being handled by the devs of one of the best Roguelite platformers, Dead Cells. Even without the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, it’s a pretty great year for the series.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will be coming in 2026.

The post Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time coming in 2026, new teaser could have been an email appeared first on Destructoid.

Source

During today’s Ubisoft Summer Game Fest showcase, the publisher took a moment to acknowledge that, yes, its long-in-development and oft-delayed Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake is still being made. But if you wanted to play it soon...bad news. It won’t be out until sometime in 2026.

Read more...

In a now deleted tweet, GameStop potentially revealed the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater, which could be on November 17, 2024. As the tweet, which included a trailer, is now gone, this seems to have been an accidental reveal on the part of the GameStop Twitter account’s administrator. [Thanks, Wario64!]

The tweet also included a link to pre-order it. Unless there are any hiccups in the development process, which could lead to a delay, it seems that Konami will release the game later this year. You can watch the announcement trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater here:

Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater will be a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It follows Naked Snake, a FOX operative, whose mission is to sabotage a Soviet nuclear superweapon during the Cold War. Most of the main gameplay mechanics from the original game remain, but there will be some new additions from the latter entries. For example, you’ll be able to walk while crouching. A new mechanic also focuses on recording the player’s individual journey in the game. Physical injuries Snake sustains will remain on him as scars for the rest of the playthrough.

Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater will come out on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. If the GameStop Tweet was accurate, then the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater will be November 17, 2024.

The post Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater Release Date May Fall in November appeared first on Siliconera.

Now, when I talk about “the future” of the Gears of War series, I don’t necessarily mean the newly announced Gears of War: E-Day game. Going back in time to seeing the world of Sera in peace and witnessing young Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago become friends through the crucible of a new war against an incomprehensible enemy sounds fascinating, and I totally understand why The Coalition took this opportunity. However, I worry about about the future of the series when we eventually get to continue the plot threads left hanging in Gears 5.

In a recent interview with The Coalition, the developers reassured fans of the series that they are "not retreating” from the storylines that started in the series games Gears of War 4 and continued in Gears 5. While this can sound comforting, I can’t help but think that it will be a really long time until we see or even hear about a hypothetical Gears of War 6. When you consider how long video games take to develop and how expensive they are nowadays, I fear we might not see a resolution to the events and cliffhangers left in Gears 5, at least not in the way fans expect. The latest game in the Gears franchise shipped in September 2019, almost 5 years ago. With no announced date for Gears of War: E-Day, it could take a while for this new title to appear.

If things go swimmingly for The Coalition, a direct continuation of Gears 5 could take another four to five years to get greenlit and released. Unless the team is magically working on two titles at the same time (something which could be catastrophic when taking in account the massive financial risk), we could be talking about a direct sequel appearing sometime around 2030. That would be well over a decade after Gears 5. Of course, this is all hypothetical. But no matter the result, by the time we get to experience a direct sequel, it will have been way too long for audiences to keep the same level of interest than they had when the game originally came out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am actually very excited to experience Gears of War: E-Day. I completely understand the allure of going back to the very origin of the series. Showing the overwhelming and terrifying threat of the Locust Horde in its heyday, when humanity had no tools to fight back against a never-before-seen enemy, is promising. I can’t help but imagine how different it would be to play this game, compared to the action-focused romps of the original trilogy. The idea of combat encounters being more threatening than ever before for the series, a lower number of Locust drones feeling overpowering, compared to the hordes of enemies Marcus and the COG mowed down in the original trilogy could truly breathe new life into the franchise.

Of course, I’m not expecting the game to completely change genres into survival horror, although I wouldn’t really mind it, but I keep wondering what new ideas this new scenario could bring. Seeing Marcus and Dom fight a single enemy in the reveal trailer and barely survive the encounter really fascinates me. From a narrative standpoint, seeing their relationship flourish in real time after both experienced unspeakable loss sounds right up my alley. Even seeing the creation of the iconic Lancer or Hammer of Dawn, among other memorable tools in the franchise, to successfully face the Locust excites me. But there’s only so much The Coalition can do before they run out of material to cover for this prequel.

Once all it’s said and done, I just can’t imagine the future of the Gears of War franchise after E-Day. Once it’s time to go back to the present, there will be a whole new generation of players to bring into the fold. Maybe revisiting the past with E-Day, and with the release of the rumored remaster of the original Gears of War trilogy, could bring a renewed interest into the franchise for old and new audiences alike. But that’s hedging on too many bets at that point. And even if we end up seeing a continuation of the story of Gears 5, by that point it will be a completely different story from the one that started all the way back in 2016 with Gears of War 4.

The long development cycles, hyperinflated budgets, expectations for triple-A games, and constant layoffs are keeping the industry stagnant. Taking any type of risk is untenable for big name developers. That’s why remakes, remasters, and looking at the past of once-popular series is safer and easier. There’s no window for risk or experimentation in the triple-A market. And I worry that, with how long it takes to ship a game nowadays, the Gears of War franchise might not have much of a future after this detour to its past with E-Day.

Gears of War: E-Day is currently in development for the Xbox Series X and PC via Steam. There is no announced release date for the game yet.

The post I Worry About the Future of Gears of War Series After E-Day appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix announced four new NieR: Automata FORM-ISM figures of protagonists 9S and A2. The figures cost 4,950 yen (or about $31.53) each, and they are now available for pre-order from the AmiAmi online store.

Note: This story contains minor spoilers for some character designs in NieR: Automata.

There are two figures for each character, with the 9S figures available in his usual design and one where he’s not wearing his blindfold combat visor. The first model shows 9S in a dynamic pose holding his signature Cruel Arrogance spear, and about to use his hacking skills. The second 9S figure shows him standing wielding his spear again, with a determined look on his face. The 9S figures are expected to release in September 2024.

You can take a better look at the new NieR: Automata 9S FORM-ISM figures here:

As for the A2 figures, the first one shows A2 standing while resting on her large sword Type-4O Blade. Meanwhile, the second A2 figure depicts the character wearing short hair and in her Berserk mode, as she charges while wielding the Type-4O small sword. The A2 figures will appear on October 2024. You can check out both A2 figures here:

The new 9S and A2 NieR: Automata FORM-ISM figures are now available for pre-order, and are expected to release in September and October 2024, respectively. NieR: Automata is readily available for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.

The post New NieR Automata 9S and A2 Form-Ism Figures Appear appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix revealed a possible corn cob creature or monster design that will appear in the upcoming FFXIV Dawntrail expansion. The post shared on social media reads “many encounters with the unknown await you on Dawntrail.”

The body of the FFXIV creature is divided between the corn cob itself, which sports a short ponytail, and a separate leafy stalk monster body from which short legs and arms sprout. The creature is carrying a cloth sack across its body, and the animation showcased in the social media post has the creature jump in surprise, with the corn cob jumping out of the main stalk body and returning to it swiftly. It is unclear if the new creature will be an enemy or minion.

You can check out the new corn cob creature that will appear in the FFXIV Dawntrail expansion here:

Square Enix previously showed off another new creature that will debut with the FFXIV Dawntrail expansion, and seems to be inspired by the species of prickly pear cactus native to the Mesoamerican region, as well as by the many Cactuar monsters found in the Final Fantasy series.

As a reminder, the new Shadow European Data Center and its four Worlds will arrive to FFXIV on June 11, 2024, as well as the new Dynamis North American Data Center.

Final Fantasy XIV is readily available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC, and the Dawntrail expansion will arrive on July 2, 2024.

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