PlayStation Indies Initiative Revealed, 9 Games to Be Announced Today

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has announced the PlayStation Indies initiative, which will spotlight new games from smaller developers. During the course of today, 9 new indie games for PS4 and PS5 will be revealed. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Yoshida writes, "With PlayStation Indies, we hope to spotlight and support the best of the best indie games being published on PlayStation and the entire indie community as a whole. Our goal is to make PlayStation the best place to develop, find, and play great indie games." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/bugsnax-announcement-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"] How exactly that will manifest itself is yet to be confirmed, but Yoshida confirms that a new indie game will be added to the PlayStation Now service every month, beginning with Hello Neighbor this month. We will update this story wth the games announced today, with Yoshida writing that they will be "nine imaginative and exciting titles coming to both PS4 and PS5."

Full List of PlayStation Indies Revealed

• F.I.S.T: Forged In Shadow Torch (PS4) - This 2D action-platformer sees an anthropomorphic bunny with a giant metal fist fight his way across a Metroidvania map. It launches for PS4 "soon".

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/ps5-ps4-playstation-indies-initiative

Fallout 76 and Soulcalibur VI Lead July 2020's New Xbox Game Pass Games

Fallout 76, Soulcalibur VI, CrossCode, and Out of the Park Baseball 21 are all being added to Xbox Game Pass in July 2020. As revealed by Xbox Wire, Out of the Park Baseball 21 (PC) and Soulcalibur VI (Console) are both now available, and CrossCode (Console) and Fallout 76 (Console & PC) will both be available on July 9. Fallout 76 was originally released in 2018 and is an open-world online game set in West Virginia 25 years after a nuclear war. The Wastelanders DLC, which was released in April 2020, brought with it human NPCs with full dialogue trees, a new main quest, and choice and consequence, some of which were missing from the original game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/25/fallout-76-wastelanders-review"] In our review of the Wastelanders DLC, we said it "at least solidifies Fallout 76 as something that’s worth recommending to series fans who are interested in multiplayer. The new storyline is great, but not as easy to play with friends as it should be." Soulcalibur VI was also released in 2018 and is the newest entry in a franchise that began in 1995 as an arcade game. This new game features such guest characters as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher and 2B from NieR: Automata. In our review of Soulcalibur VI, we said "despite some minor issues, the soul of Soulcalibur 6 is so strong that they don’t do much to bring down what is one of the best entries in the series." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/10/17/soulcalibur-vi-review"] CrossCode was originally released on PC in 2018 and is headed to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on July 9. It is a retro action RPG that's set in the distant future in "the veins of Secret of Mana and Zelda." Out of the Park Baseball 21 is the newest release from the award-winning baseball strategy franchise that features authenticity licensed by MLB and the MLBPA, and "a bounty of offline and online experiences found nowhere else" [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=23-best-xbox-game-pass-games&captions=true"] While we will be getting these new games in July 2020, there will be a few games leaving Xbox Game Pass on July 15, including Blazing Chrome, Dead Rising 4, Metal Gear Solid V, Timespinner, Unavowed, and Undertale. If you wish to keep these games, you can purchase them for up to a 20% discount before July 15. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/fallout-76-and-soulcalibur-6-lead-july-2020s-new-xbox-game-pass-games

Atari's New Console, The VCS, Launches This Fall

The Atari VCS, the console/PC hybrid from the legendary game company, is finally releasing this fall. Atari VCS backer units for those who supported the system's Indiegogo campaign will ship by October, while all subsequent pre-orders and retail units will arrive holiday 2020.

The Atari VCS home screen

Not only that, but the neon reimagining of its classic title, Missile Command: Recharged, will be a launch title. Missile Command: Recharged launched on Switch, PC, iOS, and Android in May to positive reception. The VCS version delivers platform-exclusive features including Classic Joystick compatibility. The VCS version of Missile Command: Recharged will launch digitally this fall through the Atari VCS store, with additional games to be announced soon.

The Atari VCS is available now for pre-order. The system is available in three color schemes: Black Walnut (pictured above, available on Atari's official website), Onyx (GameStop exclusive), and Carbon Gold (Walmart exclusive). The All-In Bundle, which includes the Atari VCS system, the Wiresless Classic Joystick, and Modern Controller, is available for $400. If you'd rather not get the full bundle, the base VCS 800 system will set you back $300, with the Modern and Classic Joysticks costing $60 each. Atari VCS is both WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled and is compatible with most PC peripherals.

Click here to watch embedded media

The Atari VCS features the Atari Vault, which includes access to more than 100 home and arcade classics. Users can use Atari World, a Linux-based operating system, or install their own OS using Atari PC Sandbox Mode.

Atari VCS is set to launch this fall.

Disclaimer: GameStop is Game Informer's parent company.

Cyberpunk 2077's Wall-Running Mechanic Removed 'Due To Design Reasons'

CD Projekt Red has cut the wall-running mechanic seen in previous Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay trailers "due to design reasons." In an interview with GameReactor, Cyberpunk 2077 level designer Max Pears explained the decision. "Ah, the wall running - that is something that we removed due to design reasons, but there's still going to be a lot of flexibility in how you move, that's for sure." Previously, gameplay has shown the player-character using Mantis Blades (the game's sword-like appendages that can be hidden inside your own arms) in combination with wall running, in order to perch in hard to-reach spots. You can see the wall-running in action via this timestamped link to the 48-minute gameplay demo from 2018. In the clip, V uses her Mantis Blades to run along a wall, scan  some goons, before leaping down and assassinating them. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/27/cyberpunk-2077-gameplay-demo"] It's not clear from Pears' comments whether Mantis Blades could still be used to perch in some way - perhaps in designated spots rather than anywhere a wall-run could reach. Pears did make a point of noting that there will be other methods of traversal available to the player when the game launches on November 19. In other Cyberpunk 2077 news, you can check out the PC-exclusive ray-tracing effects that were revealed last week by Nvidia. If you still haven't got your fix, check out this article running through 10 essential anime series that you should watch if you plan to check out Cyberpunk: Edgerunners when it launches in 2022. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/25/cyberpunk-2077-night-city-wire-episode-1-full-broadcast"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/cyberpunk-2077-wall-running-mantis-blades-cut

Amazon's Crucible Is Headed Back To Closed Beta a Month After Release

Amazon's free to play team shooter Crucible has been pulled back into closed beta just a month after its official release. Crucible's developer Relentless Studios revealed the news on the Crucible blog yesterday, announcing that as of today, the game will shift back into a closed beta state once more, in order to "focus on providing the best possible experience for our players." Despite the drastic change, Relentless is still following the roadmap it announced in early June when it decided to pull two of Crucible's three game modes from circulation after its player base dwindled just weeks after launch. The team are focusing on "map, combat, and system changes," and made it clear that the Crucible experience will remain much the same for those who have been playing since launch. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/27/crucible-review"] "You'll keep all the progress and customization items you've already earned, and the battle pass, reward tracks, and in-game store will continue to be supported," the statement reads. Relentless is also setting up a "community council" of players who they'll be consulting for feedback, and the team will be scheduling dedicated time each week to play the game with the current community. Crucible's most popular game mode, Heart of the Hives, has remained and Relentless is working on a number of new features, trying to improve the game using feedback from fans. You can check out the public Trello board here, which shows what the developers are working on at the moment, and which issues have priority. We reviewed Crucible upon its official release in late May, giving it a 4/10 and calling the team-based shooter "a slog." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/crucible-closed-beta-after-release