During a livestream for a PAX South panel, publisher NIS America announced that it is bringing the third entry in the cult-hit Japanese RPG series Trails Of Cold Steel to PC. Fully titled, The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III, it originally released on PS4 in September 2017 for Japan and October 2019 in the West, and a Switch version is due later this year. However, those who are looking to continue the Cold Steel saga on PC can do so on March 23, 2020.
Cold Steel III continues the story of main character Rean Schwarzer and friends from Class VII navigating tense political drama and the terrors of war as they grow into young adults and take on new roles in life. The series incorporates story elements from the Trails In The Sky series (and other Japan-only entries) as all these games take place in the same universe.
When it comes to this version in particular, Cold Steel III gets the enhancements that came with the previous two games on PC. This includes native 4K support, ultrawide 21:9 support, an uncapped framerate, and a bunch of graphics options. Another important inclusion is turbo mode, which lets you fast forward 2x, 4x, or 6x the game’s speed at any point.
Ubisoft has announced it plans to change-up the structure of its editorial team–the group of individuals largely responsible for the design and story direction for all of the company’s games. By changing how the group is organized, Ubisoft hopes to better differentiate its games from one another.
“We are reinforcing our editorial team to be more agile and better accompany our development teams around the world as they create the best gaming experiences for players,” Ubisoft said, according to VGC. For context, in the past, the 100-or-so group of designers and producers that comprised the editorial team were the leading influence behind the similar design in Ubisoft games: open-world with lots of side quests, multiplayer or online in-game elements, and storylines themed around real-world issues, according to VGC’s report.
“In the previous system that editorial had, there were often the ideas of just one or two people getting put into every game,” an anonymous source told VGC. “That’s why you tended to see such similarity, because it’s the same taste and opinion being replicated.”
Granted, these design philosophies have been the basis for some of Ubisoft’s recent successes, such as Watch Dogs 2 and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. However, as 2019 made abundantly clear, using a design that’s worked before for all of your franchises does not mean they’ll all be successful. Ubisoft reported disappointing sales numbers for both The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint–later implying one of Breakpoint’s most significant flaws was that it was too similar to The Division 2. “While many of our titles are strongly differentiated, we need to ensure this is the case for all of them,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a conference call.
Following the reveal of the disappointing sales numbers, Ubisoft announced that it would be delaying Watch Dogs: Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Gods & Monsters so as to ensure that they all launch with the right amount of polish and are distinct–both from each other and what came before them.
Under the new set-up, Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoet will no longer solely lead editorial. Instead, he will simply oversee the group while seven vice presidents each lead individual teams within editorial that are devoted to one franchise. Under this new system, Ubisoft is hoping that all of its franchises will evolve in different ways, creating a more distinct feel for each.
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The Simpsons actor Hank Azaria will no longer perform the voice of convenience store owner Apu on the long-running animated show. Azaria has confirmed that he will step down from the role after years of controversy relating to what many view as a stereotypical and racially insensitive portrayal of the character.
As reported by Slashfilm, Azaria stated at a Television Critics Association event that he would no longer perform Apu on The Simpsons. “All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s someway to transition it or something,” he said. “What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore.”
Azaria also stated that this was a joint decision made between himself and the show’s writers and producers. The actor has also appeared as many other Simpsons characters over the years, including Moe, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, and Carl Carlson.
Apu has appeared in the Simpsons since the very first season in 1990, but the issue of the racial stereotyping of the Indian-American character was brought to prominence in the 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, which was directed by comedian Hari Kondabolu.
Azaria himself addressed the controversy the following year at the TCAs. “The idea that anybody, young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased or worse based on the character of Apu on The Simpsons, the voice or any other tropes of the character is distressing.” he said. “[Creating negative stereotypes] certainly wasn’t the intent. The intent was to make people laugh and to bring joy. So that it caused any kind of pain or suffering in any way, it’s disturbing, actually.”
The Simpsons was one of the many shows that hit Disney+ in November last year. But although all 30 seasons to date are on there, there was some controversy over the fact that all the episodes are in 16:9 aspect ratio, meaning that the older seasons are cropped from their original 4:3 ratio. The studio subsequently stated that the first 19 seasons of the show will be made available in their original ratio in 2020.
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In early 2019, Hulu announced a slew of Marvel animated series would be coming to the streaming service, and one of these shows would be about the villain with a giant-head MODOK. During the TCA winter press tour, we learned more about the upcoming series.
Patton Oswalt will voice the character in the upcoming series and will also write and executive produce with Jordan Blum (American Dad). Senior vice president of originals at Hulu Craig Erwich gave an update on the production of the series. “I have seen quite a few episodes of MODOK, which I’m really excited about. Patton Oswalt is a lifelong Marvel fan and was obsessed with the character of MODOK. So, for him to finally get his hands on that character and for he and Jordan Blum to do what they always wanted to do with it, which is a whole new take and a very funny one, on what it means to be a comic book villain is really special. I’m excited to see that.”
Hulu officially describes the character on the new show as “an egomaniacal supervillain with a really big head and a really little body, who struggles to maintain control of his evil organization and his demanding family.” MODOK won’t be the only Marvel character getting an animated series. Hit-Monkey, Tigra & Dazzler, and Howard The Duck will all be starring in their own series on Hulu. At this time, there is no release date set for any of these shows, but from the sound of it, MODOK could arrive this year.
The bizarre Marvel super-villain made his full debut in Tales of Suspense #94 in 1967. The character was created by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. MODOK stands for “Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing” and the leader of the terrorist organization AIM. The character has the ability to use his mental prowess to control people, and create force fields. He’s also super-intelligent and the butt of many jokes within the Marvel Universe, mainly because he’s a giant head on a rocket-powered chair.
In other TCA Hulu/Marvel news, Erwich also gave an update to the live-action son of Satan series Helstrom, and it’s going to be straight-up horror.
With Final Fantasy VII Remake delayed until April 10, you’ll no longer have to speed through it in time to play Doom Eternal on March 20. Of course, you’ll still have to balance the new Doom with Animal Crossing: New Horizons (the perfect duo of games), which releases the same day. You can, however, give your wallet some relief on March 20 if you’re planning to play Doom Eternal on PC. Green Man Gaming is currently offering some nice deals on both the standard and Deluxe editions of Doom Eternal, both of which use Bethesda’s Launcher.
Both editions of the game are already 14% off, but using promo code DOOM20 at checkout will drop the price to $48 for the standard edition and $72 for the Deluxe edition. Overall, you’re saving $12 on the standard edition and $18 on the Deluxe edition, which is probably the best discount you’ll find on Doom Eternal prior to launch.
The deluxe edition comes with the Year One Pass, Demonic Slayer skin, and a classic weapons sound pack that changes the sound effects for each Doom Eternal weapon. The Year One Pass is the main draw here, as it grants access to the two campaign expansions that will release within a year of the base game.
Doom Eternal isn’t the only upcoming game discounted ahead of its 2020 release. If you’re looking forward to Resident Evil 3, Green Man Gaming is currently selling pre-orders for the remake for $47.39.
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Disney’s latest move with one of its acquisitions in certainly an interesting one. In March 2019, Disney purchased a majority of Fox’s franchises. Now, it’s changing the names of various studios to make Fox a relic of the past.
Film studio 20th Century Fox will become 20th Century Studios, and Fox Searchlight Pictures will simply be known as Searchlight Pictures in the future, according to Variety. This could change on the TV side of things as well, but official names for 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios have been chosen, according to the report.
Staff members of Fox Searchlight have already had their email addresses changed, moving from the fox.com address to searchlightpictures.com. The name change is allegedly underway as far as promotion for future movies goes. The December trailer for the Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus movie Downhill still has the Fox Searchlight Pictures logo in it, and Variety reports the movie poster for the film has been altered, and the logo reads Searchlight Pictures. All the official posters for the upcoming film that we found still have “Fox” in the logo, but that could change very soon.
Not everything from Fox was sold to Disney; other assets from 21st Century Fox were purchased by Comcast, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Yankee Global Enterprises. What was leftover became part of Fox Corporation, so Disney distancing itself from Fox is a smart movie, since the company is still in existence in some form.
It’s been a busy week in Destiny 2. While there was nothing scheduled for this week on the Season of Dawn content calendar, the Destiny community has been hard at work trying to solve a new secret quest located in the strange Corridors of Time. While you can unlock some lore and an emblem from the quest right now, we still don’t know where it will eventually lead–but lots of speculation suggests it might result in a new Exotic weapon.
In the meantime, there are easier Exotics to get, like Devil’s Ruin. And since it’s the weekend, Xur is back in town, ready to sell you a few Exotics from his ever-changing inventory. Here’s where to find Xur and everything he’s offering this week.
Xur Location
Xur is located on Nessus in Watcher’s Grave this weekend. His Exotic weapon this week is The Colony grenade launcher. For Titans, he’s selling the Mask of the Quiet One helmet; Warlocks can get Lunafaction Boots leg armor; and for Hunters, there’s the Shinobu’s Vow gauntlets.
You can find Xur hanging out on Calus’s barge. When you spawn in at Watcher’s Grave, take your sparrow north and climb up onto the floating golden barge. Xur is waiting on the left edge.
Xur Inventory
If you don’t have The Colony already, Xur’s Exotic weapon this week is worthy of your attention, particularly as a tried-and-true Crucible weapon thanks to its seeking spider bots. Lunafaction Boots are also a great get for Warlocks, especially when paired with Well of Radiance in boss encounters.
If Xur’s wares aren’t compelling, you can always roll the dice on the expensive Fated Engram he brings with him. This gives you a single Exotic from the limited pool of ones you haven’t already earned, for the price of 97 Legendary Shards. If there’s something you’re missing from your collection and you want it sooner rather than later, it can be a good deal–starting with the Season of Dawn, all Exotic Engrams are Fated Engrams, but you’ll have to level up your Season Pass or wait for a random drop to get some. Be sure to purchase it on the character who’s missing the Exotic, and note that you can only get one per week, so choose wisely which of your characters makes the buy. If you’re a PC or Xbox One player taking advantage of cross-save, you can now potentially get Wavesplitter from the Fated Engram as well, thanks to the fact that it’s no longer exclusive to PS4.
Xur Item Lineup (January 17-21)
The Colony (Exotic grenade launcher)
Mask of the Quiet One (Exotic Titan helmet)
Lunafaction Boots (Exotic Warlock leg armor)
Shinobu’s Vow (Exotic Hunter gauntlets)
The Colony
You’ll see The Colony a lot in PvP matches because it’ll usually guarantee you a kill if you can find Heavy ammo. The grenade launcher doesn’t just shoot explosive projectiles–it fires tiny spider robots that run around looking for targets. It’s a great weapon particularly for the Crucible, where you can fire it in the vicinity of enemies and let the spiders do the work of locating people to blow up.
Mask of the Quiet One (Titan)
Titans don’t have any abilities that can heal them in an emergency, but Mask of the Quiet One can help. The Exotic helmet gives you ability energy when you take damage, and if you’re in critical condition, landing a kill will completely heal you. That makes it great in both PvE and PvP, and rewards you if you’re an aggressive kind of player.
Stats:
Mobility: 6
Resilience: 8
Recovery: 10
Discipline: 6
Intellect: 6
Strength: 12
Total: 48
Lunafaction Boots (Warlock)
There was a time when Warlocks were expected to take Lunafaction Boots into every battle, paired with the Well of Radiance Super. That’s not really the case anymore, but the Exotic can still be extremely useful in tough fights. Wearing the boots causes your Rifts and Wells to increase reload speed for everyone standing in them, and makes the guns of you and your fireteam more effective over longer ranges when standing in an Empowering Rift. If you’re trying to fight a raid boss and everyone needs to stand in a Well, Lunafaction Boots can be extremely helpful.
Stats:
Mobility: 6
Resilience: 13
Recovery: 7
Discipline: 6
Intellect: 6
Strength: 10
Total: 48
Shinobu’s Vow (Hunter)
Hunters get the simplest Exotic in Xur’s bag this week. Shinobu’s Vow has one particular use: it makes your Skip grenades more effective. Paired with an Armor 2.0 loadout that favors grenades, Shinobu’s Vow can help make your grenades pretty deadly, but the use case is also a fairly specific one.
Stats:
Mobility: 11
Resilience: 7
Recovery: 6
Discipline: 16
Intellect: 2
Strength: 6
Total: 48
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Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN’s weekly video game podcast. There are lots of game delays to discuss this week, and also some big 2020 games we’re still waiting on release dates for. We’re also talking about Sony blowing off another E3 and a new retro game streaming service. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.
