Yakuza 7 announced, is a turn-based RPG not an action game

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 5:20 PM CDT

Yakuza 7 trades the series' well-known action combat for a more turn-based RPG system straight out of Final Fantasy.

Yakuza 7 announced, is a turn-based RPG not an action game

With its next big Yakuza game, SEGA's Ryu ga Gotoku team is trying something new. Yakuza 7 not only stars a new protagonist ( Ichiban Kasuga instead of Kiryu) but it'll sport turn-based JRPG fighting instead of the real-time chaos of the previous games, but the system should still bring a kind of hybrid action bent. Toshihiro Nagoshi says the team is trying something new with Yakuza 7 and that it'll be a "watershed moment" for the series.

The new RPG focus should bring more replayability and add even more gameplay mechanics to the Yakuza games. We've seen previous titles like Assassin's Creed merge into RPG hybrids for this express purpose (as well as monetization) but I expect Yakuza 7's new combat won't entirely break the themes, flow, and style of the series. It's definitely an experiment and SEGA will change things back if fans don't like the new turn-based fighting.

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Witcher and Cyberpunk are still CD Projekt RED's only two game IPs

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 4:11 PM CDT

CD Projekt RED's new games will only be in one of two major franchises: Cyberpunk and The Witcher.

Witcher and Cyberpunk are still CD Projekt RED's only two game IPs

In its latest 1H 2019 earnings report, CDPR reiterates its current lineup of games and IPs. The company still plans to release another AAA RPG after Cyberpunk 2077 ships in April 2020, and previous reports indicated the new unannounced RPG is another Cyberpunk project. We originally thought CDPR would move from Cyberpunk onto another Witcher title, but the studio invested heavily into the next-gen Red Engine powering Cyberpunk 2077 and we could see some more assets and content from the FPS RPG recycled into the new game.

CD Projekt RED has multiple teams working on different projects including Gwent, Cyberpunk, and the unannounced project. The company is still a dual-franchise developer and each IP is separate from one another.

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New Resident Evil game may have 4-player online multiplayer

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 11:39 AM CDT

Capcom will debut its new Resident Evil game at Tokyo Game Show 2019 this September, but it may be an online live service game instead of a mainline sequel.

New Resident Evil game may have 4-player online multiplayer

Capcom is no doubt working on the next big singleplayer Resident Evil game, but it probably won't drop before next-gen consoles. In the meantime the publisher will release Project REsistance, a new title that hints at a multiplayer focus. Although no details were confirmed we've spotted some thumbnail grabs that strongly hint at a four-player L4D-style gameplay mechanic.

The pictures show four distinct survivors (possibly from Raccoon City) huddled together, hinting at a co-operative PVE focus. Nothing's been confirmed by Capcom, but don't be surprised if the game is a kind of multiplayer version of RE2 REmake's Survivors mode. REsistance should feature online-driven engagement with repeatable levels, challenges, and more, and will likely use the REmake's established third-person views, RE Engine graphics and physics, and assets.

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Telltale Games will soon have select games revived and released

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 8:18 AM CDT

LCG Entertainment has just announced that they have acquired multiple trademarks, assets, technology and some select IP's from Telltale Games.

Telltale Games will soon have select games revived and released

LCG Entertainment has said that Telltale Games will remain under the same name and that this acquisition was made possible thanks to the contributions of various investors and buyers. Athlon Games was one of the main factors in making this acquisition possible and will be Telltale Games' main marketing and publishing arm.

According to Jamie Ottilie, the new CEO of Telltale, "All of us were big fans of the games Telltale created, as we strongly believe in games as a storytelling medium and nobody did it better...We believe there is still so much life to the brand and its franchises, and we look forward to building upon the company's storytelling legacy."

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Spotify is testing an in-app 'create podcast' button

Jak Connor | Software & Apps | Aug 29, 2019 7:12 AM CDT

Spotify seems to be encouraging its user base to jump into creating their very own podcasts with a new button that has been leaked online.

Spotify is testing an in-app 'create podcast' button

The news comes from leaker Jane Wong who spotted the new button its Spotify's podcasts library. From the screenshot we can see if you press on Podcasts, then click on shows you will see the 'Create Podcast' button. Looking at the button description, we see that Spotify will allow for users to create their own podcast using Anchor, which is a podcast creation technology company that Spotify acquired earlier this year.

Spotify seems to be testing this button in select countries as I went to my own Spotify to check it out and it wasn't available. According to Spotify who spoke to The Verge, "We are always testing new products and experiences to improve the overall Spotify experience. Some tests will eventually make way for upgrades to our product, others are only tests. We have no further news to share at this time."

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Gears of War 5 final system requirements: 80GB of HDD space & more

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 6:20 AM CDT

Microsoft, along with The Coalition have released the final system requirements for their upcoming Gears of War 5 title. The official PC system requirements are located below for both 'recommended' and 'minimum' PC's.

Gears of War 5 final system requirements: 80GB of HDD space & more

Right off the bat, Gears of War 5 will require 80GB of free HDD space, so clear off any old games you have on your hard drive before installing. A side note to the games size, this 80GB is not including the HD Texture Pack which can be assumed to increase file size considerably, especially if these textures are 4K.

Moving on, minimum graphics card requirements sit at the AMD Radeon R9 280 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760. Recommended are the AMD Radeon RX 570 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970. Obviously if you have a graphics card that is much newer than these models than the game will perform much better and you won't have to worry. For the official 'minimum' and 'recommended' requirements, check out the entire article below.

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Microsoft confirms 'Dark Mode' for Office and Outlook on iOS/Android

Jak Connor | Software & Apps | Aug 29, 2019 5:08 AM CDT

Microsoft has officially confirmed that they will be debuting a 'dark mode' feature for iOS and Android devices who use Outlook and Office.

Microsoft confirms 'Dark Mode' for Office and Outlook on iOS/Android

The news was confirmed through an extremely cinematic trailer which has been released onto the official Microsoft Office 365 YouTube Channel. The trailer gives us some quick looks what the the 'dark mode' will look like on both desktop, iOS and Android devices.

According to Microsoft Office's head of design, Jon Friedman "A cross-company design collaboration propels us to seamlessly bring Dark Mode to the broader M365 product suite, and today marks the initial rollout of Dark Mode on Outlook for iOS and Android, as well as Office.com! The upcoming launch of iOS 13 will then extend this rollout to Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner, and To-Do on mobile."

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NASA will allow students to name the next Mars 2020 rover

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 4:16 AM CDT

NASA has announced a new contest to engage students in, this contest will allow for students from public, private and home schools to name the Mars 2020 rover.

NASA will allow students to name the next Mars 2020 rover

The premise of this contest is to encourage students into joining the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The contest is called 'Name the Rover' and will require students to write an essay and submit it to NASA for evaluation. Whoever is deemed the winner of this contest will be able to name the rover and also be invited to see the spacecraft launch in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talked about the contest and said "This naming contest is a wonderful opportunity for our nation's youth to get involved with NASA's Moon to Mars mission. It is an exciting way to engage with a rover that will likely serve as the first leg of a Mars Sample return campaign, collecting and caching core samples from the Martian surface for scientists here on Earth to study for the first time."

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Astronomers created what alien astronomers would see if they saw Earth

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Aug 29, 2019 3:04 AM CDT

Humans will forever be on this discovery chase of finding life outside of our own planet, and to do that we must invent the instruments that will make it much easier to detect potential life on other planets. Astronomers from the McGill University have just taken that step in the right direction.

Astronomers created what alien astronomers would see if they saw Earth

These two McGill University students, Evelyn Macdonald and her supervisor Prof. Nicolas Cowan have devised a "fingerprint" for Earth. Both of the astronomers have used over a decade of observations of Earth's atmosphere which has been taken by SCISAT satellite that is currently monitoring the planet. With this data the astronomers constructed a transit spectrum of Earth, or a"fingerprint" containing information about Earth's atmosphere in infrared light.

Better known as a "bio-signature", the "fingerprint" also contains information about our ozone and methane levels which scientists expect to be the basic building blocks of life. Prof. Cowan said "A handful of researchers have tried to simulate Earth's transit spectrum, but this is the first empirical infrared transit spectrum of Earth. This is what alien astronomers would see if they observed a transit of Earth."

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Shovel Knight sequel announced 'Dig' will feature 'familiar faces'

Jak Connor | Gaming | Aug 29, 2019 2:07 AM CDT

Yacht Club Games, the developers of Shovel Knight have announced a sequel for their extremely popular indie title. The sequel is called 'Shovel Knight Dig' and will take players (unsurprisingly) underground.

Shovel Knight sequel announced 'Dig' will feature 'familiar faces'

Above we have the Shovel Knight Dig trailer which reveals to us that Shovel Knight Dig will be a co-developed title. Not only are Yacht Club Games involved, but so is Nitrome, a fellow indie games developer based in London. Shovel Knight Dig has been in development for about a year now, and players should know that their main foe in this game will be Drill Knight who appears at the start of the trailer.

It has also been confirmed that Jake Kaufman will be returning to the sequel as the games soundtrack composer, this should please fans from the last game as the soundtrack was simply incredible. Yacht Club Games says that there will be new foes for players to battle against, new game mechanics, locations as well as some "familiar faces" to dig into. At the moment there isn't an announced release date yet, but we can assume that the title will be at least released on the Nintendo Switch

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