Is it that time of the year again? It’s high time to start talking about the new games I’m looking forward to play in the upcoming year. I may have written fewer articles compared to 2023, but I have written better researched articles. But, looking back on 2024 is for the next article. In this article, I’m looking to the year 2025. A year when I have been writing articles for 15 years. And I have been writing these gaming related articles for 12 years. And the third year that I’m livestreaming together with my buddy Klamath. So, on this day, I’m going to reveal the 10 games I’m looking to play in 2025. What games do interest my on the release calendar. Also, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section with your list and/or thoughts on my list. So, let’s dive right into my list. Note, this list is in a random order.

#10 – Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Stole Time (Nintendo Switch – April 2025)

This game was supposed to be released this year. Yet, this game got delayed to 2025. Fantasy Life was a charm RPG on the Nintendo 3DS where you played through a charming and adorable story. You were able to play in different lives like a warrior, magician, wood cutter, miner…

This title from Level5 got a small cult following. We were beyond stocked when the sequel on the Nintendo Switch got announced. Now we can’t wait to play it and the delay is a shame. But on the other hand, the game may be even better because of the additional polish it might get. Or maybe the game will release on the Nintendo Switch 2, which is rumored to be released at that time. Who knows, we shall have to wait and see.

#9 – Professor Layton and the New World of Steam (Nintendo Switch – TBA)

On our live streams, when ever there is a logic puzzle… Klamath says I need to wait before I say my solution. For some reason, I have a knack for solving logic puzzles. I can’t tell you why. What I can tell you is that I love games where puzzles play a central role. Games like Professor Layton.

It has almost been 8 years since we got a new Professor Layton style game. And if you don’t count the spin-off of Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy… we need to go back 11 years to a cross over with the Ace Attorney series. Add another year for the final game with only Professor Layton in a lead role.

But a totally new adventure by the professor where solving logic puzzles in a central mechanic in the world is… a wild dream for me. So, please Level5… You have two amazing titles upcoming for 2025, don’t delay them or don’t undercook them. I’m beyond hyped.

#8 – Tomb Raider IV-V-VI Remastered (Multiplatform – Febraury 14th)

Take this admission however you want. But, my first original Tomb Raider game was Tomb Raider Chronicles. Yes, I first played Tomb Raider V.

I have always been of the opinion that Tomb Raider V was a decent game and shouldn’t get the hate it got back then. I can understand that due to the departure on the original formula, like less ancient tombs and small mini-adventures… That it didn’t sit well with Tomb Raider fans. But, as a starting point, it was a blessing, actually.
Now, does Tomb Raider V have problems? Yes, it has. But with the upcoming remake of Tomb Raider 4, 5 and Angel of Darkness… We finally have a chance to see a more improved version of it. So, a week after my birthday, dear Aspyr, you may be sure that I’ll be playing the remaster of Tomb Raider V on my Nintendo Switch to enjoy Tomb Raider V how it should have been. Or maybe on my PC for added nostalgia. That’s some food for thought.

#7 – Demonschool (Mutliplatform – Q1 2025)

As long as your game has an interesting concept, I don’t really care if you are a small studio or a big studio. Necrosoft Games is currently placing the final hand on their new title called Demonschool.

Demonschool is a turnbased tactics RPG game in the style of Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. The idea is very novel and adds a new depth to the genre. Where each unit has their own role, since the weakest enemies can be killed with one hit. So, it becomes more a chess match than anything else.

From the trailers I have seen, I’m beyond interested. I could try and explain it here in this article but I feel like the trailer and battle mechanics trailer they placed on the Steam store page explains it better than I can in this article. Also, give the demo a try since, I really enjoyed it myself.

#6 – Demon Tides (PC – TBA)

While I haven’t played through the original Demon Turf, just yet… I have played through various other similar games like A Hat in Time.

From watching the trailer, I have been highly interested and I got a nostalgia hit for A Hat in Time.

So, I wishlisted this game, and I’m so going to give it a try. Since I saw various video’s on the original game and I wonder by myself, why I haven’t played it. So, Demon Turf and your sequel. I can’t wait to play through you in 2025.

#5 – The Hundred Line Last Defence Academy (Nintendo Switch & PC – April 23th)

Danganronpa and the Zero Escape trilogy are two series very close to my heart. And now we get a new title with those two writers creating a game together and directing it.

Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi are working hand in hand in this game. You clearly see the influence of both their styles in this game. And it will even have a physical release.

To create this game, the studio Too Kyo Games has to take out a loan. That’s because a publishing deal fell through. Aniplex picked this game up as a publisher. And this game is being co-developed by Media.Vision, the company behind the Wild Arms series and various Valkyria Chronicles games. So we are in good hands for this title.

On purpose, I’m trying to avoid spoiling myself as much as I can. Since, I want to be as blind as possible when I play through this game.

#4 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st (Nintendo Switch/PC – TBA)

A RPG series I always wanted to get into was the Trails in the Sky series. Sadly, I was always distracted by other games or I had the bad luck of my PSP bricking and destroying my game.

When my PSP bricked, due to the internal battery leaking… I lost my save file as well and I was so annoyed that I didn’t want to restart the game right away.

So, the Trail series continued on and I saw amazing titles appear. Color me surprised that suddenly a remake of the first title gets announced and is coming to the Nintendo Switch and PC. So, I have a chance to play this game from scratch, and it’s totally remade from the ground up. Count me in. I can’t wait to start my journey in this series and see what I missed out on.

#3 – Date Everything (PC – February 14th)

When you see the title of this game, you most likely think to yourself: “Jonez, what in the name of …”. Well, I told you earlier in this article… That if your game has an interesting concept, count me interested.

In this game, you literally can date EVERYTHING in your house. If you have seen those YTShort skits by ProZD where everything is sentient, well… What if it is. And you can date those characters?

That’s what this game brings to the table. And this game is fully voice acted, has 100 (!) characters and branching paths. And get this, there are at least 3 different endings per character. You have the love ending, friends ending and hate ending.

Now, when I saw this concept and gave it a thought, I was like… Oh hey, this has a ton of potential. Since the potential for humor and amazing story telling in this is just huge. And as somebody who loves writing stories and articles myself, this clicked right away. So, I’m going to give this game a chance and see where they go with it.

#2 – Lunar Remastered Collection (Multiplatform – Q1/2 2025)

If I look at all the retro games I still want to play through, like Lufia, my list is getting pretty long. Once, I wrote an article about my backlog, and it has gotten even more out of hand.

So, if you give me a collection of games to play through to shorten my backlog, then consider me interested. Especially when it’s good old fantasy RPG.

A story where you are dumped in a fantasy world and explore it’s various stories. With the upcoming remake, I’m quite curious to dive into the Lunar series and see why various people have recommended it to me.

#1 – Paraside: Duality Unbound (Multiplatform – TBA)

Imagne a tactics RPG, where each battlefield has two sides. Yes, basically a light and a dark side so to speak. And can manipulate the battlefield by flipping the tiles.

Do me a favor and watch the trailer for this game. And then think how many interesting gameplay concepts that this game can have. How is the flipping mechanic going to work. What are the limits of this power.

I’m mostly interested in the story behind this game. Since it’s the style of story I love to write for my personal amusement. But, the gameplay is looking mighty interesting. Now, I have only to decide if I play this title on my PC or if I take it on the go with me on the Switch. We shall see, since the game will have modding support, so the PC version might be my best option.

15 years of game blogging

While this year has been a heavy year for me, I’m happy with everything I achieved. I have been recently published in a fan gaming magazine called ReLOADED by Dominus. And I’m so happy I was able to contribute my work to it.

Next year, I’ll be writing articles for 15 years. I have several special idea’s in mind and have been working on preparations for them. But, I’m not yet going to reveal what they are. Since, I want to leave them a surprise for all of you guys and girl. While 2025 is going to be a busy year for me, I’m sure that it will be filled with amazing adventures and unique opportunities.

When I look at the games that are going to release in 2025, I’m beyond stocked that I will have a lot of games to play and talk about in my blog. But, who knows, games on my backlog or retro games I find might grab my attention more and more.

And with that, I’m going to wrap up this article here. I want to thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care.

Zenless Zone Zero Update 1.1, also known as Undercover R&B, is the game’s first big update since release. HoYoverse’s newest game has been making waves, but it’s only just begun.  Undercover R&B promises a new Bangboo, Agents, W-Engines, story expansions, and tons of new game modes and events. Read on to find out when Update […]

The post Zenless Zone Zero Update 1.1: Release Date, New Agents, And Features appeared first on TopGamersGuide.com.

Bandai Namco has released a new trailer for upcoming arena fighter Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. The trailer gives us another glimpse at the upcoming title’s gameplay, while also confirming that Ultimate Gohan and Super Buu will both be part of its expansive roster. Check out the trailer below.

Celebrating the fact that Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero‘s release date is 50 days away, the trailer shows off various characters duking it out, including Goku, Hit, C ell, Bardok, Beerus, Nappa and Trunks, among others. Capping things off, we also get to see a young Gohan train with Goku, before getting another flurry of action from different characters.

Earlier this month, another trailer had been released for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, showcasing characters from the Android Saga in Dragon Ball. Throughout the trailer, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, Android 19, Dr. Gero, and King Cold, among many others, were shown off as playable characters.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 11.

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At gamescom 2024, Bandai Namco shared a new Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero trailer that featured both Super Buu and Ultimate Gohan. Both will be among the Buu Saga representatives joining as playable fighters in the game.

The focus of the trailer is more about us being 50 days out from the launch of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero in October 2024, rather than one focused on just revealing new members of the roster, though Ultimate Gohan and Super Buu are featured in it. Both quickly appear during brief gameplay segments. This is in stark contrast to the typical trailers for the title. Those tend to give people a better chance to see fighters in matches against new or previously announced fighters.

Here’s the full “50 Days from Now” trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero.

Recent trailers tended to focus on certain arcs for character reveals. For example, the Android Saga one showed four versions of Cell, Android 16, Android 17, Android 18, and Android 19. The Saiyan and Namek Sagas trailer involved five versions of Frieza and two versions of Zarbon.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will appear on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 11, 2024.

The post Ultimate Gohan and Super Buu Are in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero appeared first on Siliconera.

Genshin Impact will finally make it to Xbox later this year. HoYoverse revealed the free-to-play anime RPG will get ported in November, though a Switch version of the hit game remains MIA years after its release on smartphones and PS5.

Read more...

Zenless Zone Zero is receiving its first major update, titled “Undercover R&B.” The game, which launched last month, already has a lot in store with the 1.1 update, including story continuations, new characters, and more.

Ahead of the update, a Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.1 Special …

According to a recent report from Gameplaycassi, the two upcoming action RPGs Black Myth: Wukong and Phantom Blade Zero which were featured in the recent PlayStation ChinaJoy 2024 event caused some worries about being PlayStation exclusives. The developers responded to this by saying they do not currently have console exclusivity deals. According to the report, Journalists present at the ChinaJoy exhibition were able to communicate with representatives of developers Game Science and S-GAME about exclusivity, and they noted PlayStation provides comprehensive support in promoting the games in China and abroad. Additionally, PlayStation are reportedly helping with marketing for Phantom Blade Zero by supplying demo stations at events.

However, their partnership does not force any publishing requirements, and the developers independently decided on publishing on PC and PlayStation 5 as the platforms are the most promising for release. A Phantom Blade Zero developer who wished to be anonymous was asked why his studio doesn’t want to release an action game on Xbox, to which he responded by stating that the platform is not popular in Asia, it is difficult to develop for and that “nobody needs this platform”. It’s worth noting these claims have no official backing and should be taken with a grain of salt. Phantom Blade Zero will launch for PlayStation 5 and PC. A release date has yet to be announced. Black Myth: Wukong will launch for August 20, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Black Myth: Wukong details via the developer:

Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology. The story is based on Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past. In Black Myth: Wukong, players shall “set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past.”

Key Features

Explore a Land of Vast Wonders – A world unseen, where new sights rise with every stride. Enter a fascinating realm filled with the wonders and discoveries of ancient Chinese mythology! As the Destined One, you shall venture through breathtaking landscapes in the classic tale of Journey to the West, creating a new epic of uncharted adventures.
Confront Mighty Foes, Old and New – Heroic Monkey, might and fame, adversaries rise, to test his name. One of the major highlights of Journey to the West is its diverse cast of adversaries, each with unique strengths. As the Destined One, you shall encounter powerful foes and worthy rivals throughout your journey. Fearlessly engage them in epic battles that know no surrender.

Temper Your Mastery of Varied Spells – Spells unbound, knowledge’s flight, infinite abilities take their height. Spells, transformations, and magic vessels in all manifestations, complementary yet adversarial, have long been iconic combat elements in Chinese mythology. As the Destined One, aside from mastering various staff techniques, you can also freely combine different spells, abilities, weapons, and equipment to find the winning formula that best suits your combat style.

Discover Heartfelt Tales Behind Every Facade – Within beings of every kind lies the story of a life. Beneath the ferocity and craftiness of your foes lies an engaging tapestry of their origins, personalities, and motivations waiting to be revealed. As the Destined One, you will uncover the stories behind a variety of characters, delving beyond your battles with them, to taste the love and hate, greed and fury they once had and still carry with them.

Stay tuned at Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook for more gaming news.

The post Phantom Blade Zero Developer on Xbox: “No One Needs This Platform” appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.

Planning in RPGs is not a fun activity, so don’t do it.
Planning in RPGs is necessary so that we don’t get our characters killed.
Both of those statements are true.

The optimal way planning should work in your game is somewhere in the middle of those two statements. The optimal way is a combination of genre and play style. And if we were to discuss what that looked like up front, we could define how much planning was necessary for the game we were playing, so that our games had the right amount of planning, minimizing the un-fun-ness (take that Bob, our editor), and making it effective enough to keep the characters alive (at least most of them). Let’s talk about how to do that.

Is Planning Un-Fun?

I think so, and I say that as a person whose day job is planning things, and outside of work I plan everything else in my life. In RPGs, planning is just not that fun of an activity. It often consists of the table coming up with ideas and then saying “…but what about this?” going around and around in circles. If you are a player participating in the process, it can be a bit draining, but if you are the GM, waiting for the players to come up with a plan, then you are just sitting there on the outside. It is not how I want to spend my gaming time.

Is Planning Necessary?

Having a plan is a good idea because it aligns the group in terms of their goal and how they are going to achieve it. It allows the group the time to figure out how to best use their resources (equipment, powers, etc). These things greatly increase the group’s chances of being successful and surviving. 

The Components of a Plan

Let’s take a few moments and discuss what makes up a plan. A good plan has all of these, and lesser plans lack detail or are missing some of these parts: 

• The Goal/Objective – A plan must have an objective. What are we doing? This goal should be shared by the entire group. Are you going in to steal the money? Or are you here to rescue your ex-wife from the Prince? If you are not on the same page about the goal, the group may pursue different goals, split up their resources, or at worse come into conflict.

• Milestones – The smaller objectives you need to achieve to build up to the goal. It could be disarming the alarm system, or stealing a key from the guard. Some milestones will be in temporal order while others may occur at any time.

• Information/Intelligence – plans run on information. You can’t plan if you don’t know where you are going, what to expect, how many guards, the terrain around the location, etc. When you lack information you start to make guesses (see below).

• Risks – Risks are the things you don’t know but think are possible. Risks can be things like a hidden alarm system. Or something like, “What if we can’t take out the guards quietly?” In addition, Risks have a probability (how likely they are to occur) and an impact (how big of a problem it is when they come true). A lot of people who are bad with risks spend too much time worrying about how to handle low probability/high impact risks over high probability/lower impact risks. 

• Mitigation and Contingencies – Hand in hand with risks are Mitigations (how do we make risk less likely to occur — lower probability) and Contingencies (what do we do if that risk comes true — lower the impact). You can manage neither, one, or both of these. The trick is deciding for each risk what you want to manage. 

This is why Planning is difficult and may not be fun. It is a lot to manage and done well it takes time – time that you are not playing the game. 

The Trust Issue 

The reason that people tend to over-plan is that they fear that there is some piece of information that if the players knew before they put their plan into action, would ensure the success of the goal or prevent excessive harm/death to the characters. To combat this, players do one or both of the following: 

• Collect as much information/intelligence as possible; at times to excess. 
• Perform excessive Risk mitigation — naming risks, and coming up with mitigations and contingencies. 

In fact, as a GM, you will know this is happening in the game when these two actions take over the session. When characters feel like they know enough, is when they are ready to switch from planning to action. 

Genre and Playstyle

Before we get to the social contract part of this… we need to discuss two more things. 

Some Genres have plans as one of the tropes. If you are running a game about thieves and heists, or a military game about Spec Ops missions, then those genres require some degree of planning. These games are also best served by mechanics that help compensate for suboptimal planning or help mitigate the lack of planning that occurs at the table. Look at how Blades in the Dark and other Forged in the Dark games remove the need for extensive planning by using mechanics to simulate good planning done by the characters rather than the players.

The other thing is play-style. Some groups get off on playing the cat and mouse game, where the GM comes up with a plan and twists and the players face off to come up with a plan to outsmart the GM. Others want nothing to do with planning. Whatever brings your entire group joy, then there is no wrong-bad-fun, as long as you all, as a group are on the same page.

The Social Contract of Planning

The truth is that not all RPGs need the same level of planning, but unless you establish that fact, most players will assume they do. 

Some genres do not lean into detailed plans. Superhero games often rely on bold action and powers to overcome problems, not intricate plans. Pulp games also favor action over plans as well. So as you establish your game, consider what the genre and your setting should favor and then combine that with your play style. 

An example: My players had recently finished a Night’s Black Agents campaign. It was a game where planning was key, and the game had some mechanics to support planning. The players knew not to move from planning to action until they had enough intel. They would sometimes spend a session collecting intel and making a plan. Currently, we are playing Mutants in the Now, a game inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game and comic. In our most recent session, the players were working on a plan for how to attack a Yakuza hotel where some mutant animals were being trafficked. They started to work on a plan worthy of Night’s Black Agents when I reminded them that this game was more action-based. They quickly simplified their plan to “We rappel to the top of the hotel and fight our way to the bottom while rescuing the other mutant animals along the way”. A perfect plan for the setting and genre. 

The key to having players not over-plan is trust between GM and the player. As the GM, I am telling the players that I am not going to punish them for choosing a simple plan. For the players, it is trusting that I am not withholding some key piece of information that would break their simple plan. 

That is not to say you cannot have a twist. The twist is a time-honored trope in all plans. The twist is the unexpected thing that the players have to deal with in the middle of executing the plan which can cause the plan to alter it on the fly. The difference is that what I am promising, as GM, is that the twist will not up-end or thwart the plan. Rather it will be a fun surprise that the characters can deal with.

This is the social contract of planning as a group, for the game you are running (genre and mechanics) and the way you like to play (style). Agree with how much planning is necessary for this game, in general. You can come up with things like this:

• This game is about a sci-fi Spec Ops team, and the mechanics are gritty, you are going to want to have a good plan before executing an operation. 
• This game is about mutant animals fighting other mutant animals and criminals, you don’t need more than a simple plan, as most things you encounter are going to be resolved by fighting.

By doing this you are creating expectations for the whole group on how you should handle planning. This is the social contract that you agree to and guides how you play. Establish this in Session Zero and you can set the tone for planning in your campaign, and help keep planning to exactly what it needs to be for your game.

A quick note. Even after you establish a level of planning as part of your game, you can have a story where you change the amount of planning for that session. All you have to do is indicate to the players the change so that they can reset their expectations.. 

Plan Out Your Planning

Planning is not always fun in games, and it can be worse if you are over or under-planning based on the game you are running. But like most things in RPGs, if we do some upfront communication and set some expectations we can dial in planning to just the right amount for the game we are playing. 

This expectation along with any planning mechanics that the game provides can make planning far less tedious while being effective, and make for an overall play experience. 

How do you handle planning in your games? How do you set those expectations with your players? What planning tools do you use or what planning mechanics do you employ?

HoYoverse’s latest gacha game, Zenless Zone Zero has finally come. As of the time of writing this article, ZZZ has 17 playable Agents, not counting the main character, which you can’t use in combat. Obviously, one of the things people are trying to figure out first is which Agents they should aim to pull. And […]

The post Zenless Zone Zero: Agents Tier List (Zhu Yuan Included) appeared first on TopGamersGuide.com.

The first major post-launch update for miHoYo Games’ Zenless Zone Zero goes live on August 14th. Version 1.1 “Underground R&B” focuses on Zhu Yuan, Qingyi and Seth of New Eridu Public Security as they deal with the Mountain Lion Gang and become intertwined with the mysterious Jane Doe. Check out the trailer below.

The update adds two new S-Rank characters – Qingyi, a Stun character who inflicts Electric damage, and Jane Doe, an Anomaly character specializing in Physical damage. The latter is also a boss during the new Special Episode, though players will briefly control her during some story segments. Seth is a new A-Rank character, focused on Defense while dealing Electric damage, and there will also be a new “Officer Cui” S-Rank Bangboo.

Other additions include “Inferno Reap,” allowing players to battle Nineveh straightaway. Repeated attempts are available, with rewards to earn. Camellia Golden Week, a new event, will also be available after the update goes live, offering an A-level W-Engine, Polychromes, and other materials as rewards.

Stay tuned for more details when Version 1.1 goes live. Zenless Zone Zero is available for PS5, PC, iOS, and Android. Check out our review here.

Over the weekend, PS5 game Phantom Blade Zero made headlines for all the wrong reasons. A Brazilian outlet accused an unnamed S-Game developer of bemoaning Microsoft and saying that “nobody needs an Xbox,” which further fueled rumors that Sony had moneyhatted the game. S-Game has since issued a public clarification on the matter, and — you’ve guessed it — the whole report seems bogus.

Phantom Blade Zero is only confirmed for the PS5 and PC… for now

The Brazilian outlet’s article didn’t contain any source or information that would make its report look even remotely convincing, but it was picked up by some major websites and simply reproduced via Google translate. Meanwhile, Redditors traced the origin of the comments back to Tencent in Chinese.

Some natives have explained that the Chinese comments would roughly translate to, “there isn’t much interest in Xbox in this region,” which changes the context entirely.

In a statement on X, S-Game has reiterated that there’s no PS5 console exclusivity deal for Phantom Blade Zero, and the comments attributed to an unnamed developer does not reflect its position. S-Game has also hinted that it will work on an Xbox Series X|S version in the future, but didn’t outright confirm anything.

The post Phantom Blade Zero PS5 Exclusivity, Anti Xbox Comment Denied by Dev appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

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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.

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.

Forthcoming action-RPG Phantom Blade Zero developer S-Game says that as it believes in "making our game accessible to everyone", it has not "ruled out any platforms".

Confirmation came via the studio itself, which took to social media to clarify its stance after several media outlets reported an unnamed developer said "nobody needs Xbox".

S-Game has distanced itself from the comments, saying they do not represent "S-Game's values or culture".

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.

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.

Zenless Zone Zero is one of the most impressive free-to-play gacha games to release this year so far in 2024. HoYoVerse is back at it again with yet another blockbuster third-person gacha adventure. The action is fantastic and the visual aesthetic is so appealing. This applies to the characters as well. Given how excellent HoYoVerse is at crafting brilliant characters, here are our picks for the best Zenless Zone Zero character based on their gameplay and just general design.

Siliconera Speaks Up: Our Picks for the Best Zenless Zone Zero Characters

I'm a huge fan of Rina in Zenless Zone Zero, and she's probably my best character so far due to her versatility. Yes, she's best with fellow electric and Victoria Housekeeping characters. However, per PEN buff really helps with taking down enemies early on, regardless of her party, and I love how ranged characters work in this game. -- Jenni

Are we talking best in terms of gameplay or looks? Because I usually pick my team based on how they look. Like Jenni, I like Rina a lot. But if I had to pick my favorite, I think Soldier 11 has an excellent design and solid utility as well. Fire is an element I often like in games and I appreciate Soldier 11’s somewhat unique fire-themed attack combo. She is pretty fun to play once you get into the swing of activating her Fire Suppression Core passive. -- Cody

Zenless Zone Zero is available right now for free for Android, iOS, PS5, and PC.

The post Who’s the Best Zenless Zone Zero Character? appeared first on Siliconera.

HoYoverse's latest release, Zenless Zone Zero, launched on July 4, 2024, and is performing well, though not quite at the level of its flagship title Genshin Impact.

Nearly a month after its release, Zenless Zone Zero has surpassed $100 million in revenue, according to Gacha Revenue. In …

Victoria Housekeeping's head maid and the organization's senior member, Rina, also takes the title of the best Electric support in Zenless Zone Zero. She has exceptional mobility and the ability to buff your team's PEN Ratio, Electric DMG, and Shock uptime.

But getting the most out of her buffs will demand both the right team and a carefully crafted build. Here's the best Rina build in Zenless Zone Zero, as well as the best teams for her.

• Table of Contents:
  • Best W-Engines for Rina
  • Best F2P W-Engine
  • Best Drive Discs
  • Best Rina teams

The best W-Engines for Rina in Zenless Zone Zero

The best W-Engine for Rina in Zenless Zone Zero is her signature Weeping Cradle. Offering a 24% PEN Ratio and 684 ATK increase at level 60 (the former which will increase her Ratio buff), the S-Ranker will also boost Rina's Energy Regen value by 0.6/second and the party's damage against any enemy hit by her by 10%. The buff will last for 3 seconds and increase by 1.7% after each half-second. If the effect is triggered again within its uptime, its duration will be refreshed. All values above are related to the engine at one star.

If you don't have our main pick, the BP-exclusive Unfettered Game Bal will be my main pick thanks to its massive 50% ER boost at level 60 (which will increase Rina's EX Special's availability). After Rina triggers an attribute counter effect, the engine will also boost the whole party's Crit Rate against the target by 12% for 12 seconds. Needless to say, this makes the A-Ranker a perfect fit for those fighting their way to the upper levels of Shiyu Defense. Thanks to its good team-focused ATK passive and ER substat, Lucy's Kaboom the Cannon can also be a great fit for Rina.

Best F2P W-Engine

The best F2P W-Engine for Rina in ZZZ is the B-Ranker [Reverb] Mark II at five stars. Providing a similar ER value as our main alternatives, the engine will also allow her to boost the Anomaly Mastery of the whole party by 16 after performing either a Chain Attack or her EX Special Attack. There's a catch, however, as the effect lasts for 10 seconds and can only be triggered at 20-second intervals. If you want to double down on her Ratio buff instead, going with the A-Ranker Slice of Time can also work.

Best Drive Discs for Rina in ZZZ

As our goal lies in buffing her supporting capabilities above all else, the best drive disc composition for our Rina build is a 2-piece Freedom Blues paired with a 4-piece Swing Jazz. While Freedom Blues will buff her ability to trigger Shock through an +30 Anomaly Proficiency buff, Swing Jazz will provide 20% ER and allow her to buff the party's DMG by 15% after performing either a Chain Attack or her Ultimate.

Swing Jazz's ER boost will also allow you to always have Rina's EX Special Attack on deck, thus guaranteeing that you will be able to constantly trigger Quick Assists and make full use of her Pen Ratio buff.

Best stats and substats

I recommend that you go with Anomaly Proficiency for the fourth drive disc to maximize your team's ability to trigger Shock. For the fifth and sixth partitions, always go with PEN Ratio (to increase her buff) and either Anomaly Mastery (if using an ER W-Engine) or Energy Regen. Substat-wise, focus on Anomaly Mastery above all else.

For those satisfied with their team's ability to trigger reactions, going for the known 40/50% Crit Rate and 100% Crit DMG values with substats can never hurt.

Best teams for Rina in Zenless Zone Zero

The best team for Rina in Zenless Zone Zero features Anton as its main DPS and Grace as its sub-DPS/Shock support. Also considered the game's premier electric team, this composition will allow you to get the most out of Rina's buffs by both constantly triggering Shock and having in Anton a massive source of cumulative attribute DMG. When using this team, you must have Anton in the first slot and Rina in the third so that he will be called with Quick Assist.

If you don't have Grace, Anby will be my main pick for the open slot, as she will provide a good amount of Daze while keeping the team's core intact. Using Koleda or Lycaon in Anby's place can also work great if you are looking to make use of Disorder. If you don't have Anton, I recommend pairing Rina with Grace and Anby/Lycaon for an Anomaly-focused team.

Now that you know how to build Rina, I also highly recommend that you check out our Zenless Zone Zero trophy guide so that you can both get the Platnum and a few extra Polychromes.

The post Best Rina build in Zenless Zone Zero – Best Drive Discs, W-Engines, and teams appeared first on Destructoid.

After a strong launch, Zenless Zone Zero has revealed details for its first major content update. Here’s a summary of ZZZ’s 1.1 special programs, including new characters, events, and a whole new game mode! 

Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.1, titled "Undercover R&B," releases on August 14. It will continue Wise and Belle’s journey in New Eridu as they team up with N.E.P.S to take on the infamous Mountain Lion Gang. 

ZZZ 1.1 Polychrome code

There was one redemption code revealed during the stream: UNDERCOVERRNB. Redeem it either in-game or on the official redemption page. Make sure you’re logged in on the correct account, and act fast! This code expires on August 4 at 10:59 a.m. CT.

New characters in 1.1

There are three new playable characters coming to ZZZ in Version 1.1: Qingyi, Jane Doe, and Seth Lowell. 

Qingyi is an S-Rank Electric Stun agent in Zhu Yuan’s security squad. We met her as an NPC during the main story missions, and now, she will be playable. She appears to be a melee unit, striking quickly to build up Daze in an AoE. When she deals Electric damage, Qingyi gains stacks of “Flash Connect Voltage,” which allows her to use stronger attacks.

Jane Doe is a high-ranking member of the Mountain Lion gang, though her introduction card enigmatically says “Faction Unknown.” She is an S-Rank Physical Anomaly unit who unleashes a flurry of quick strikes to build up her Attribute Anomaly on enemies. Jane will use a Passion Stream mechanic to enter the Passion State, allowing her to unleash a series of fast attacks.

Seth Lowell is another member of Zhu Yuan’s security squad. As an A-Rank Electric Defense unit, Seth confers a shield to his teammates, preventing them from taking damage. He can also strike enemies with a sword, though, dealing Electric damage. He protecc, but he also attacc.

There will also be a new Bangboo in ZZZ Version 1.1: Officer Cui Bangboo. When there are two or more N.E.P.S officers in your team, Officer Cui will perform follow-up attacks as part of your attack chain. Officer Cui will be added to the Bangboo lineup on the Signal Search page, where you can select him as your targeted rate-up Bangboo. 

ZZZ Version 1.1 banners

The first half of ZZZ Version 1.1 will feature the Qingyi (S) with her signature W-Engine Ice-Jade Teapot (S).

The banners in the second half will feature Jane (S) and Seth (A). Their respective W-Engines will also be available for Signal Searches: Sharpened Stinger (S) and Peacekeeper Specialized (A).

ZZZ Version 1.1 events

The Camellia Golden Week event will feature a variety of minigames and puzzle levels. Delve into a new Companion Hollow to earn Polychromes and an event-exclusive A-Rank W-Engine: Camellia.

First-Class Customer Service is another event that focuses on the video store. Complete a series of QTE-type activities to help customers tune their video players.

Daily Life of a PubSec Officer takes players through, well, the daily life of a Public Security Officer. Talk to the citizens of New Eridu and take on a series of small commissions to help them out.

Scene One, Shot One! is a photo-taking event. Pose yourself and other characters, apply new filters, and get the perfect shot. 

Login events - free pulls

There will be two login events in the upcoming Version of ZZZ. The first, All-New Program, awards a total of 10 Encrypted Master Tapes over a series of seven days. The second, “Eh-Nah” Into Your Lap, awards a similar 10 Boopons over seven days. In total, we will receive 20 free pulls just for logging into the game.

New game mode: Inferno Reap

A new game mode called Inferno Reap will be available starting with the 1.1 update. It looks to be a challenging boss fight where Proxies take on Nineveh directly. There’s no TV-screen Hollow navigation, just pure combat. To access Inferno Reap, you need to have cleared the Withering Garden stage in Hollow Zero. There’s no limit to how many times you can take on this challenge, so pick your favorite teams and put them to the test!

The post Everything new in Zenless Zone Zero 1.1 – banners, characters, and free pulls appeared first on Destructoid.

Source

About the projects

Over the past few months, young people across Europe have run their computer programs  on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Astro Pi Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab.

Mission Zero offers young people the chance to write a simple program that takes a reading from the colour and luminosity sensor on an Astro Pi computer on board the ISS, and uses it to set the background colour in a personalised image for the astronauts to see as they go about their daily tasks. In total, 16,039 teams and 24,663 young people participated in Mission Zero this year. This was a 3% increase in teams entering compared to last year.

Mission Space Lab offers teams of young people the chance to run scientific experiments on board the ISS. This year, 564 teams and 2,008 young people participated in Mission Space Lab. Compared with last year, there was a 4% increase in the number of teams who managed to achieve flight status and run their code in space.

To evaluate the projects, we encouraged mentors to complete surveys once their teams had submitted their computer programs. Overall, 135 Mission Zero mentors (11% of mentors) and 56 Mission Space Lab mentors (15% of mentors) completed surveys. We also ran focus groups with mentors from both projects to understand their experiences and the impact of these projects on young people.

Impact on young people

Understanding how technology is changing the world

The mentors we spoke to told us how valuable Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab are because these experiences connect young people to real technology. Mentors felt that Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab bridge the gap between theoretical coding and tangible outcomes, giving young people the confidence to engage with technology.

“Participating in Mission Space Lab offers students a great opportunity to work with the International Space Station, to see the Earth from above, to challenge them to overcome the terrestrial limits. It’s very important.” — Mission Space Lab mentor

“We want students to use their digital skills as superpowers to make the world a better place and this competition really aligns with that because regardless of your race, your ethnicity, your gender, you can write some code that actually runs in space. And if you can do that, then you can make medical tech, or you can solve the big problem that the adults of the world are still grappling with, so it’s the opening up [of] opportunities.” — Mission Zero mentor

Mentors observed that the project inspired children to consider careers they previously thought were out of reach. Space exploration was no longer a far away and theoretical idea for the children, but something connected to their everyday lives and their own learning.

“Some of the people that I was teaching this to felt like becoming an astronaut was really difficult to learn… now it’s not necessarily a distant thing to study.” — Mission Zero mentor

Mentors also described how the young people gained confidence in their ability to engage with technologies. One mentor described the “self-esteem” and “pride” younger pupils gained from participation. Others talked about the confidence that came with achieving something like having their code run in space and receiving certificates proving they were “space scientists”.

Our mentors

None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our mentors. So, as part of our evaluation, we wanted to understand how we can best support them. For Mission Space Lab, that took the form of assessing the new guidance that we published this year and that sits alongside the project. When we spoke to mentors, they told us this guide provided clear, step-by-step guidance that enabled the young people to work through the project, and the majority of survey respondents agreed: 89% rated the Mission Space Lab project guide as somewhat or very understandable. 

We also heard from mentors about the ways they are using Mission Zero in a wider context. Some told us that their schools ran the project as part of space-themed weeks where they used Mission Zero in conversations about space exploration, the Hubble telescope, and learning the names of the stars. Others used Mission Zero across multiple subjects by designing images and holding art competitions based on the design, as well as learning about pixels and animations. 

Additionally, it was a pleasure to hear about young people who had participated in Mission Zero in previous years gaining leadership skills by supporting other young people to complete Mission Zero this year.

Next steps

Thank you to all the mentors who provided constructive feedback through surveys and focus groups. We have read and considered every comment and will continue to consider how to improve the experience for mentors and young people. 

We will publish an in-depth report with the findings of our evaluation later in the year; however, we’ve already made some changes to the programme that will be launching for the 2024/25 Astro Pi challenge and wanted to share these updates with you now.

Improvements for next year:

Mission Zero

• We’re adding a save button to Mission Zero to allow young people to work on this across multiple sessions.
• We’re adding new code examples to the Mission Zero project guide. These have been selected from team submissions from the 2023/24 challenge.

Mission Space Lab

• We’re creating an online testing tool for Mission Space Lab so that it will be easier for teams to test whether or not their code works. It will feature new data and images captured from the ISS in spring 2024.

We hope that all the young people and mentors who participated in last year’s Astro Pi challenge enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot. With the exciting updates we’re working on for the 2024/25 Astro Pi challenge, we hope to see even more young people participate and share their creative projects next year.

Project launch dates

• 16 September 2024: Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab launch
• 24 February 2025: Mission Space Lab submissions close
• 24 March 2025: Mission Zero submissions close
• April – May 2025: Programs run on the International Space Station
• June 2025: Teams receive certificates 

The post Celebrating Astro Pi 2024 appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.

HoYoverse has lifted the lid on its Zenless Zone Zero 1.1 update, titled Undercover R&B, and there are some nice rewards on the way to help you pick up some of its new agents. The ZZZ 1.1 special program keeps things comparatively shorter than we’re used to with similar showings for Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, but it’s packed to bursting with all manner of details about what we can expect when the next patch arrives.

August 3, 2024: We've added the latest new ZZZ codes.

What are the new Zenless Zone Zero codes? We love a freebie. Whether it's free Polychrome, Investigator Logs, or Bangboo Algorithm Modules, the latest in-game redemption codes are the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get free items while also skipping the gacha grind.  With that in mind, we've collected all the latest, active promo codes available to redeem right now.

HoYoverse's latest gacha adventure is a free PC game, and as our Zenless Zone Zero review attests, there's a lot of currency and materials to gather. HoYoverse periodically release ZZZ codes for their gacha games that coincide with major updates and livestreams, but the developer also loves to stealth drop codes, too. Now that Zenless Zone Zero is finally here, there are a ton of redeem codes waiting for you to scoop up alongside the 100 free pulls promotion. Here are all the Zenless Zone Zero codes you need to get started in the latest update.

When is the Zenless Zone Zero 1.1 release date? Now that ZZZ is finally here, it’s time to start looking ahead to what future updates have in store for us. HoYoverse has already begun the drip marketing for new characters and dropped a few hints at how the story might continue following the events of version 1.0. If you’re already saving up your Polychrome, we’ve got a full itinerary of everything coming to HoYoverse’s urban fantasy in the next update.

ZZZ 1.1 is the first major update to hit the gacha game following the Zenless Zone Zero release date, and there are major developments coming to New Eridu. So, here's all the latest news from the official Zenless Zone Zero 1.1 livestream, including brand-new characters for our Zenless Zone tier list, banners, and more.

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.

Zenless Zone Zero producer Zhenyu Li revealed in a recent interview with Eurogamer (via an interpreter) that AI generated content is used in the game "program-wise" to "better smoothen the game progress."

No specific programming examples were provided, as Li is "not a tech person," but he did stress that AI "only consists of a small part of the programming [in Zenless Zone Zero], mostly to help the programming team to smoothen the production process, to actually make our work more efficient."

Something we do know is that the game's signature vibrant, urban art style that sets it apart from miHoYo's other titles, Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is not something made with AI generation. Li says the team wants to "create something from our own mind" when it comes to art related content, and in a later statement provided to Eurogamer to clarify some comments, it was added that this is "something the whole team believes in."

Read more

Perfect Dark has been in the news quite a lot recently. First there was the impressive gameplay reveal for the upcoming reboot at this month's Xbox Showcase and, literally yesterday, Nintendo announced that the original Perfect Dark is now available to play on Switch.

All of this Perfect Dark news got me perfectly nostalgic, so I jumped back into the original three games and put together a little list video based on some of the most bizarre (and naughty) Easter Eggs and features that Rare's series has to offer.

Give it a watch on the player above or there's the YouTube version embedded below if you'd prefer to push that one into your peepers. Enjoy!

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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.

A Genshin Impact leak reveals a quality-of-life feature that could enhance the experience of long dialogues in quests, a common grievance among players.

Leaker Kuroo (via Game Rant) shared a video of Genshin Impact Version 4.8, showcasing a recap section for quest dialogues. This …

In the past I've described Phantom Blade Zero, the foetid and frantic new action-RPG from Chinese studio S-Game, as a Soulslike, and more specifically a Sekirolike. I must now hang my head and await the executioner's ludicrously oversized hammer, for while Phantom Blade Zero's ambience and layouts owe something to From's work, the moment-to-moment has just as much in common with older hack-and-slash games such as Ninja Gaiden. I played a bit of it at Summer Game Fest this week, and while I’m not rushing out to preorder (I never am, in fairness), I think it could be a good ‘un.

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In the past I've described Phantom Blade Zero, the foetid and frantic new action-RPG from Chinese studio S-Game, as a Soulslike, and more specifically a Sekirolike. I must now hang my head and await the executioner's ludicrously oversized hammer, for while Phantom Blade Zero's ambience and layouts owe something to From's work, the moment-to-moment has just as much in common with older hack-and-slash games such as Ninja Gaiden. I played a bit of it at Summer Game Fest this week, and while I’m not rushing out to preorder (I never am, in fairness), I think it could be a good ‘un.

Read more

The rumours were true: Bandai Namco has confirmed that Dragon Ball Sparking Zero will indeed release in October – 11th October, to be exact – and it will feature a day one season pass.

Bandai Namco also took the opportunity to announce four different editions – standard, digital-only deluxe, ultimate, and premium. While all will give you the base game, you'll need to purchase a deluxe, ultimate, or premium edition to get the three-day early-access period, season pass, and season pass bonus of Summon Shenron.

The season pass includes the first three DLC packs, which appear to include over 20 additional characters. There's also the now-prerequisite sweetener for anyone looking to pre-order the game ahead of its October street date.

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Summer Game Fest 2024's opening livestream has come to a close after bringing us trailers for upcoming games, updates for released titles and a couple of surprises too! No fear if you missed the showcase though as below you'll find everything announced during Summer Game Fest 2024.

Before we get started though - no, there was no new GTA 6 trailer. Sorry, nothing I can do about that. With that out of the way, let's take a look at what did make an appearance.

Summer Game Fest began with Lego Horizon Adventures showing off how you can play as Aloy from the Horizon series and transform the robotic wastelands into a Lego paradise. It will arrive on PC, PlayStation 5 and even Nintendo Switch during "holiday" 2024.

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Hra Phantom Blade Zero vzbudila od svého loňského oznámení spoustu pozornosti, a přestože se její aktualizace od té doby zpomalily, vývojářské studio S-Game na Summer Game Fest představilo nový herní trailer.

Trailer se zaměřuje především na souboje a ukazuje, jak jsou souboje ve hře svižné a agresivní. V traileru se mihne spousta nepřátel, což naznačuje působivou rozmanitost nejen běžných nepřátel, ale také bossů, z nichž je v tomto traileru také několik předvedeno. Kromě toho trailer ukazuje více ze steampunkového prostředí hry, některé mechanismy procházení a další. Podívejte se na něj níže.

Společnost S-Game také dodatečně potvrdila, že praktické zkušenosti s Phantom Blade Zero budou k dispozici na několika letošních akcích, včetně Summer Game Festu, Gamescomu a Tokyo Game Show.

Hra Phantom Blade Zero je ve vývoji pro PS5 a PC. Datum vydání zatím nebylo oznámeno.

Článek Trailer k Phantom Blade Zero představuje souboj, boj s bossy a mnohem více se nejdříve objevil na GAME PRESS.

Across Europe and beyond, teams of young people are receiving data from the International Space Station (ISS) this week. That’s because they participated in the annual European Astro Pi Challenge, the unique programme we deliver in collaboration with ESA Education to give kids the chance to write code that runs in space.

In this round of Astro Pi, over 26,400 young people took part across its two missions — Mission Space Lab and Mission Zero — and had their programs run on the Raspberry Pi computers on board the ISS.

Mission Space Lab teams find out the speed of the ISS

In Mission Space Lab, we asked young people to team up and write code to collect data on the ISS and calculate the speed at which the ISS is travelling. 236 teams wrote programs that passed all our tests and achieved flight status to run in space. And not only will the Mission Space Lab teams receive their participation certificates this week — they’ll also receive the data their programs captured on the ISS.

Many teams chose a feature extraction method to calculate the ISS’s speed, identifying two points on Earth from which to calculate the distance the ISS travelled over time. Using this method means using the high-quality camera on the Astro Pi computer to take some fantastic photos of Earth from the ISS’s World Observation Research Facility (WORF) window. Teams will receive these photos soon, which are unique views of Earth from space.

How fast does the ISS travel? 

The actual speed that the ISS is travelling in space while at normal altitude is 7.66km/s. Its altitude can affect the speed, so it can vary, but the ISS’s boosters fire up if it dips too low.

To help teams with writing programs that can adapt to some of these variances, and to show them the type data they can collect, we gave them a programming tool we call Astro Pi Replay. Using this tool, teams can simulate how their program would run on the Astro Pi computers up in space.

This is the first time we asked Mission Space Lab teams to focus on a particular scientific question. So how did they do? The graph below shows some of the speeds that teams’ programs estimated. 

As you can see, a variety of speeds were estimated, but the average is fairly close to the ISS’s actual speed. Teams did a great job trying to solve the question and working like real space scientists. Once they receive their data this week, they can check how accurate their speed estimate was.

Mission Zero pixel art lights up astronauts’ daily tasks 

In Astro Pi Mission Zero, a coding activity suitable for beginners, 16,039 teams of young people created code to make pixel art inspired by nature. Nearly half (44%) of the 24,409 participants were girls! 15,942 of the Mission Zero teams had their code run on the ISS after we checked that it followed the rules.

Every team whose program ran on the ISS — with their pixel art showing for the astronauts to see as they worked — will receive certificates with the time, date, and location coordinates of their Mission Zero run. 

We’ve been so impressed with this year’s pixel art creations that we’ve picked some as new examples for next year’s Mission Zero coding guide. That means young people will be able to choose one of a few pixel images to start with and recreate or remix them for their program. More info on that is coming soon, sign up to the Astro Pi newsletter to not miss it.

Let’s get ready for September

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part in the missions this year, and our special thanks to all the amazing educators who ran Astro Pi activities with young people.

For us, there is much to reflect on and celebrate from this year’s challenge. We’ve had the chance to run Mission Zero with young people in person and identify a few changes to help make the activity easier. As Mission Space Lab now involves simulating programs running on the ISS with our new Astro Pi Replay tool, we’ll be exploring how to improve this as well.

We hope to engage lots of previous and new participants in the Astro Pi Challenge when it starts up again in September. Sign up for the newsletter on astro-pi.org to be the first to hear about the new round.

The post Young people receive their data from space and Astro Pi certificates appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Before we get to the latest trailer for S-Game's soulslike Phantom Blade Zero I have a couple of complaints to lodge about the title. Firstly, this game clearly contains a non-zero quantity of blades, from whacking great axes to katanas. Secondly, I do not accept the premise that these are phantom blades. They are very obviously non-spectral, going by the amount of stabbing and clanging on show in the video. With these potentially ruinous caveats out of the way, I am now free to tell you more about a game that looks like it's out to eat Sekiro's lunch.

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IGN has shared a video, showcasing 24 minutes of gameplay from Phantom Blade Zero. In this gameplay video, we get to see the game’s dark art style, fast-paced combat, and a Kung-Fu punk style that blends traditional Wuxia combat with a unique fantasy flair. According to the devs, Phantom Blade Zero will not be a … Continue reading Here are 24 minutes of gameplay from the “Devil May Cry meets Sekiro” action RPG, Phantom Blade Zero →

The post Here are 24 minutes of gameplay from the “Devil May Cry meets Sekiro” action RPG, Phantom Blade Zero appeared first on DSOGaming.

Bandai Namco has announced the Japanese release dates for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. The game will appear in the country on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 10, 2024—a day earlier than the global release date announced at Summer Game Fest. However, the company also newly confirmed that Japanese PC players will be able to get Sparking Zero via Steam on October 11, 2024.

The latter revelation is massive in Japan because it marks a shift in Bandai Namco's policy of determining the release platforms for its games in the country. PC players in Japan have long criticized Bandai Namco and other prominent Japanese game companies for omitting PC releases of their games in their own country, even when the games are readily available to the rest of the world. This phenomenon is also known as "OmaKuni," which is short for "We are not selling this in your country."

In recent months, Bandai Namco has been taking steps to fix that discrepancy. In May 2024, it just made the Steam releases of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, FighterZ, and Xenoverse 2 available for purchase in Japan. While Sparking Zero will be available to Japanese PC players simultaneously with the rest of the world, the above games used to be unavailable in the country for a long time. However, not all Dragon Ball games on Steam have been made available, as Japanese players still cannot access the first Xenoverse and Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission as of June 2024.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero will appear first in Japan on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on October 10, 2024. The global release date that includes the PC version will fall on October 11, 2024. The latter release on Steam will also be available in Japan on the same day.

The post Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Japanese PC Release Confirmed appeared first on Siliconera.

Amid multiple leaks and rumors, we had a decent idea of what was going to be at this year’s Xbox Games Showcase with seemingly plenty to get excited about. But when the Showcase finally aired, Microsoft did the near-impossible for any company in a fickle social media-fueled …

Doom: The Dark Ages promises a bold new take on the long-running shooter’s legacy. Revealed in a short but loud trailer as part of the Xbox Games Showcase, it features dragon riding, mech battles, and a much darker, more ‘metal’ visual palette. But those grimdark ideas aren't the only …