BioWare's big PAX West presence was all about its new IP Anthem, and now we have a better idea of how the story and NPCs will affect gameplay.

In many ways Anthem is a shift from the RPG singleplayer games BioWare is best known for. The new IP is an action-based online game that aims at delivering a persistent yet evolving world for players to experience alongside engaging co-op combat. But what about the story? Anthem won't be like Mass Effect or Dragon Age, but BioWare promises a story where actions have consequences--and a story you can enjoy with friends.

"The world narrative advances for your whole team. Together you'll confront countless enemies--those who threaten to take control over the Anthem as well as ancient beasts," BioWare said in a new Anthem trailer from PAX West. "You'll get further in our world by taking on explosive missions offered by agents who need your help. These missions take you deep into the heart of Anthem, while also developing the personal stories of each agent."

With Artifact on the way and Steam's issues somewhat shored up, Valve should start ramping up investment in a new slate of games. Could one of them be Half-Life 3?

We've known for a while now that Valve plans to make new games. Back in March, Gabe Newell made a surprising announcement that the Half-Life developer has multiple new projects in the works: "Artifact is the first of several games that are going to be coming from us. Hooray! Valve's going to start shipping games again." Following a big site redesign in May, Valve reminded everyone that new games are in dev and some of them are top secret affairs: "We have some new games in the works, too. A couple have been announced, while others remain top secret."

Now Valve's Brandon Reinhart, who's working as a programmer on the new Artifact card game, reiterates this point. In a recent interview with IGN Reinhart said that now that Valve has ironed out key features and issues on Steam as well as panned out a roadmap for Artifact, the company can (and will) focus back on games.

After three years of development, Capcom's new Resident Evil 2 Remake is coming along quite nicely.

REmake 2 looks to be the definitive Resident Evil game, not just because it's based on perhaps the best RE game of all time, but because it looks so damn good. All the footage I've seen so far shows Capcom has made huge strides with its proprietary in-house RE Engine; the Resident Evil 2 remake is fluid, smooth, and oh-so-gorey. Everything from character animations and real-time zombie reactions to lighting and physics effects have all been honed and sharpened to a fine point.

Now thanks to Capcom's UK Community Manager we're gifted with a huge 42 minutes of gameplay footage from an early build of the game. The video shows the beginning of RE2 and takes us through the infamous Raccoon City Police Department, which has been infested with undead terrors. We also get to see some interesting zombie killing animations (their heads will actually deform when you shoot them!) and some classic puzzles to boot.

Despite strong push-back from the Fortnite community, Sony isn't about to change its staunch disposition on cross-play with other platforms. And right now it can afford not to.

Sony's infamous Fortnite cross-play debacle might've infuriated millions of fans across the globe, but the Japanese company won't relent on its stance. And honestly it has no real reason to. With a 82.2 million strong PS4 console install base and 80 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network, Sony's walled garden strategy is doing quite well right now (but it's not exactly future proof, more on that later). This means Sony is more resistant to change in the short term.

Now current Sony CEO Kenchiro Yoshida says that PS4 is the best place to play Fortnite, suggesting that cross-play for Epic's massively popular BR game won't happen.

Insomniac shows off an amazing photo mode found in Spidey's hugely anticipated PS4 exclusive.

As a big fan of game visuals and art direction, I often get excited about photo modes. PS4 console exclusives typically have great ways to capture in-game moments (looking at you Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last of Us: Remastered) and Insomniac's latest Spider-Man is no exception. Well it kind of is in a way: Insomniac's photo option might be the best one I've ever seen.

The level of customization is absolutely huge and the devs are giving us a wide net of tools to make some absolutely mind-blowing captures. We'll all be amateur Peter Parkers taking snaps of the web-head's crazy acrobatic stunts across the Big Apple, slapping on comic book filters and stickers and stylized THWIPs and POWs. Think of the possibilities! We'll essentially be able to make our own comic books, complete with custom covers and pages.

BioWare's new IP Anthem is a massive undertaking for both EA and the studio, and the team is using everything they've learned in their 23-year history to make it.

As a service game that blends RPG and action mechanics together, Anthem is a risky venture simply because its success depends less on game sales and more on continued engagement. Any live game lives or dies depending on how well it can monetize and keep its playerbase active. Luckily EA is a master of the online games business and BioWare are quite adept at making memorable interactive experiences so the tag-team duo should handle things quite well. But as a service game with cosmetic microtransactions and a focus on a continually-changing world, will Anthem be anything close to the deep RPGs we're used to seeing from BioWare? According to BioWare's Jonathan Warner, Anthem will dig deep into the studio's core strengths and represents a natural evolution for its games.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Mr. Warner affirms that Anthem is less of a shift away and more of an evolutionary step forward.

Classic retro SNES and NES controller support may be coming to Nintendo's Switch handheld-console hybrid via a new firmware update, likely coinciding with the launch of its Switch Online service.

Dataminers have uncovered some interesting tidbits from Switch firmware update 6.0.0, including new SNES and NES controller icons and even the possibility of a new messaging system.

If the info is accurate, it's quite likely Nintendo will release special wireless NES, SNES, Famicom and Super Famicom Switch controllers to not only tap the same nostalgia that revved up NES/SNES Mini sales, but also for its new Switch Online service. Sadly Wiimotes weren't spotted, so we may have to re-buy controllers for use on the Switch...however one of the icons looks suspiciously like a Wii classic console gamepad.

Devolver Digital and Gamepires the publisher and developer respectively, have announced that their title SCUM has debuted to Steam Early Access and has already been a massive success selling over 250,000 copies.

The publisher and developer for SCUM have taken to their Twitter accounts to celebrate the release of their title onto Steam Early Access. According to a Twitter post from Devolver Digital, this is the biggest launch the publisher has ever experienced and have congratulated Gamepires on their tremendous effort with the title. Gamepires also Tweeted the announcement and have said "The SCUM community has been incredible and we're thankful for the over 250k copies sold in less than 24 hours!" Quite an achievement for an inherently smaller game development studio.

Its unfortunately not all good news though, many gamers that have participated in the titles Steam Early Access have been experiencing FPS drops and connection issues. This is to be expected from a game that has just released onto Steam Early Access, which is why it is in early access in the first place. Here is a quick description on SCUM if you have never heard of the title: "SCUM aims to evolve the multiplayer open world survival game with unprecedented levels of character customization, control and progression, where knowledge and skills are the ultimate weapons for long-term survival." If you are interested in checking SCUM out, visit the official Steam listing here.

One of the most classic games back on the Sega Genisis was ToeJam & Earl, and now fans of the series will be over the moon to know that the revitalization of the classic game will be coming to the Nintendo Switch. It is titled Toejam & Earl: Back In the Groove.

According to the ToeJam & Earl Twitter page, ToeJam & Earl: Back In the Groove will be coming to players "before the end of November!" In another separate Twitter post, Humanature Studios, the developers for the title have announced that they have teamed up with Limited Run Games, a company who concentrates their efforts into bringing physical releases of indie games.

Players will be glad to know that there will be an exclusive ToeJam & Earl Genesis case which also comes with a 18 x 24 inch poster and a "high gloss trading card set stored in a cartridge style box (that sits nicely in the case's cartridge spot)." The Twitter post also reveals that there will only be 500 of these physical releases made, making them extremely limited edition. ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove will be released sometime before the end of November, it will be arriving on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch. For more information regarding ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove, visit the official Kickstarter for the website here.

A recent rumor has surfaced about Nintendo adding a brand new messaging system to the Switch within their next coming firmware update. Apparently, the messaging system will debut to the Switch within update version 6.0.0.

The rumor surfaces from the website NintendoSoup, who claims that a well known community console hacker titled 'SciresM' has "spilled the beans on Nintendo Switch's upcoming version 6.0.0 update." The article claims that SciresM said that this new messaging system will be arriving within the next system update that is installed. The claims also suggest that Nintendo Switch Online and two other web applications will be installed at this time.

Even though this rumor seems to just be hear-say at the moment, it still very well could be true. SciresM didn't mention any of these new services immediately being available to players, so Nintendo could very well just be testing the Switch's response to these new applications on a firmware level. Nintendo Switch Online is planned for release this September, which I would personally believe will coincide with the new messaging system that has been discussed here.