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An email sent from the ****** Myth: Wukong marketing team tells content creators they must not include “feminist ***********” or use what are called “trigger words” such as COVID-19. The email, which hit social media after it was sent to a number of content creators by a representative of ******** games company Hero Games, was verified by IGN over the weekend via a source who asked not to be named. It includes a Steam key to pre-download the game on PC ahead of the ****** Myth: Wukong release date of August 20, and a link to a Google document that outlines the “Do’s and Don’ts” for content creators who intend to cover ****** Myth: Wukong during its August launch *******. There is just one entry in the “Do’s” category: “enjoy the game!” However, there are five entries in the “Don’ts category,” reproduced below: Do NOT insult other influencers or players.Do NOT use any offensive language/humor.Do NOT include politics, *********, nudity, feminist ***********, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse.Do NOT use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation' or 'COVID-19'.Do NOT discuss content related to China's game industry policies, opinions, news, etc. While some of these entries, such as the request not to insult other creators or players, or use offensive language, are standard across many content creator agreements, some are not. Asking content creators not to include “feminist ***********,” mention Covid, or discuss China's game industry policies, for example, are unusual requests and have already been criticized by some on social media in the context of previous reporting on Shenzhen, China-based developer Game Science. IGN has asked Hero Games for comment. IGN understands this email is intended for content creators who plan to cover ****** Myth: Wukong at launch, as opposed to pre-launch reviewers. There is no non-disclosure agreement (NDA) tied to the provision of the Steam key. Beijing-based Hero Games claims to be the largest external investor in Game Science, which has yet to respond to IGN’s previous report compiling numerous sexist comments made by the studio's founders and other developers spanning the last decade. IGN has asked Hero Games if the ****** Myth: Wukong guidelines are standard for all games it promotes, or if they are a directive from Game Science. Game Science itself has yet to respond. IGN’s ****** Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, ****** Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.” Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

The annual Opening Night Live show is set to feature a long list of games, but one particularly high-profile upcoming sequel will not be there: Hollow Knight: Silksong. Anticipation for Silksong is so great that those who host livestreams packed full of game announcements, reveals, and new trailers are having to manage expectations by saying Team Cherry’s game will not appear. In recent years, shows like ONL have seen their chat overrun by requests for Hollow Knight: Silksong, perhaps to the detriment of games that do end up appearing. So it makes sense that Geoff Keighley, who runs ONL as well as the annual Game Awards show, would want to tweet to confirm the Hollow Knight: Silksong no-show. “Just to get this out of the way, no Silksong on Tuesday at ONL,” Keighley said. “Team Cherry Games is still cooking.” Just to get this out of the way, no Silksong on Tuesday at ONL. @TeamCherryGames is still cooking. [Hidden Content] — Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 17, 2024 Hollow Knight fans were already left with an all-too familiar feeling of dismay after 2024's E3-esque video game summer showcases came and went with no word on Silksong. Fans have admitted to concern for the game, which hasn't received any official updates in over a year when developer Team Cherry delayed it out of early 2023. Silksong was announced on February 14, 2019 as a Hollow Knight expansion turned full sequel focused on Hornet from the original game. "Almost from the very start, Hornet’s adventure was intended to take place in a new land, but as we dove in, it quickly became too large and too unique to stay a DLC, as initially planned," Team Cherry said at the time. "We do know that makes the wait a little longer, but we think the final, fresh world you’ll get to explore is worth it." The developer then went quiet for two years, only emerging in 2021 to announce it wouldn't have anything to say about Silksong at E3 that year. Another year passed and Silksong finally reared its head, as the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase of 2022 revealed the game would be coming to Microsoft's console and Game Pass on day one. Further hope was inspired as Xbox had said everything shown at the event would be released within a year. That, obviously, did not happen. The last time Team Cherry issued an update on Silksong was in February this year, when the studio's PR and marketing chief Matthew 'Leth' Griffin posted a brief comment to say it was still "hard at work on the game." No Hollow Knight: Silksong for Opening Night Live, then. But what WILL be at the show? Keighley confirmed ONL appearances on Tuesday include: Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6Monster Hunter WildsIndiana Jones and the Great CircleLittle Nightmares 3DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZEROBatman: Arkham ShadowDune AwakeningMarvel RivalsSquid Game: UnleashedNew Game from Tarsier StudiosSid Meier's CIVILIZATION 7Kingdom Come Deliverance 2Lost Records: Bloom & Rage According to Keighley, ONL will run for two hours, and "there will also be many new game announcements, surprises and special guests." ONL kicks off at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CEST on Tuesday, August 20. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

When did you last send a package to someone? It must have been years since I sent one. But enough about me. What’s it called when you package something before sending it? The NYT Mini Crossword is desperate to know. ‘Package before sending’ NYT Aug. 19 Mini Crossword hints and answer Six across. Screenshot by Dot Esports Hint 1: 3, 2.Hint 2: Two words.Hint 3: It starts with the letter “B.”Hint 4: Enclose. Stop scrolling! I’m seconds away from uncovering the answer. View the full article

The First Descendant recently received a mid-season content update, and now season one is rapidly approaching. The game’s first huge content update is packed with new additions, including new Descendants, Ultimate weapons, seasonal content, new progression, and more. Here’s everything coming to The First Descendant in season one. View the full article

Season one of The First Descendant is less than two weeks away, and Nexon finally revealed more details about what we can expect in the game’s first season. On Aug. 16, the trailer for the first season, Invasion, dropped. This The First Descendant season continues the main campaign story, with Vulgus now targeting the depths of Ingris’s dungeons. With this comes new Invasion Dungeon challenges, which see you clearing enemies as fast as possible to get maximum rewards. This new mode will be available for two randomly picked Infiltration Operations (on Hard difficulty). View the full article

New week, same old ******* of that cyclopean glutton known as the Maw emerging from its cosmic bolthole and swallowing the entirety of Devon. As ever, we have a way of thwarting the Maw's advance, and it's... pasta sauce? Graham, why is their pasta sauce in the Trello? Have Ziff Davis subfranchised us to Dolmio? Oh, I'm sorry! That's just my shopping list. What I meant to say was: new video games! Video games (PC games, specifically) are the only thing that can preoccupy the Maw, the only thing newsworthy enough to distract it from the tempting clifftop maisonettes of Torquay. Let's see what the week has in store for us, eh. Read more View the full article

This Deck13 Spotlight indie RPG boasts 80 hours of gameplay and is fully voiced in *******. View the full article

Hunt: Showdown 1896 is making significant changes to its user interface following a wave of negative user reviews. While the update initially drove the game to its highest-ever player count, the revamped UI has sparked widespread dissatisfaction among players, leading to a decline in Hunt: Showdown 1896's Steam review score. View the full article

Updated Aug. 19, 2024: We added new codes! What makes A Universal Time stand out among other Roblox fighting games? This game features multiple modes, which means endless fun for players. I had a blast collecting different characters from my favorite anime series and testing their abilities in all those modes. View the full article

When Bloober and Konami announced that they were remaking Silent Hill 2 as part of a comprehensive series reboot, it made immediate if slightly deflating sense to me. Silent Hill 2 is the more feted of the Hills - if I were a calculating franchise custodian tasked with 'bringing back' one of the acclaimed original trilogy, that's probably the instalment I and my spreadsheets would fix upon. I mean, it's the game with Pyramid Head in it - the nearest thing Silent Hill has to a mascot, and it's not like there's an issue of cutting out plot material: each game in the Silent Hill series is, on some level, a distinct story with a distinct protagonist. Still, the decision to 'skip' the first game in the series, whose world, narrative themes, music and art direction set the parameters for all the rest, made my brain ***** a bit, and when I ran into Bloober's creative director Mateusz Lenart and lead producer Maciej Głomb at a Konami event, I had to ask about it. Read more View the full article

This indie RPG features aerial dogfights and a stylized cell-shaded art style. View the full article

Ever since the release of the Resident Evil 2 remake, developers have returned to the well en masse to give their classic games a new lease of life, more often than not with mixed results. From what I’ve seen so far, the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t come close to hitting the heights of Resident Evil 2 – a blueprint for how a great remake is made – but it certainly feels like developer Bloober Team has made a lot of the right decisions when building on the survival horror classic’s undeniable legacy, even if at times it feels a little too safe. I played the opening three hours of Silent Hill 2 and it was immediately apparent from the off that the remake gracefully captures all the important elements; an oppressive tone and straightforward game mechanics, even when the task itself is being obtuse. As with any Silent Hill game, atmosphere is king, and Silent Hill 2 immediately and consistently puts you into a state of unease. A thick fog surrounds the town like the original, now benefiting from modern lighting and volume thanks to today’s technical improvements. The streets are now filled with a new level of detail, shops are explorable, and strange sounds, cries, and groans are dynamically lurking around every corner. The diegetic sounds of Silent Hill are where the game really sings, or rather, drones. I can imagine it would have been incredibly tempting to layer music into the Silent Hill 2 remake, bringing the scares more in line with contemporary horror hits. But its slavish resistance is commendable, as the diegetic sounds of Silent Hill are where the game really sings, or rather, drones. Every room in the Wood Side Apartments creates its own version of uneasy tension, subtly assaulting you with an oppressive, unearthly soundscape of pulses and organic audio. From the moment protagonist James enters Silent Hill, the onslaught of bad vibes is present and never lets up for a second. Often ***** is driven by anticipation, but Silent Hill 2 is all anticipation, with the sounds of the Lying Figures and co being ever-present. In some ways, it’s a difficult state of mind to be locked into. It’s fair to say that Silent Hill 2 has stepped up its visual and audio game, but that’s to be expected for a 2024 release. The ******* and perhaps more impactful change is perspective, with Silent Hill 2 adopting the trusty over-the-shoulder playstyle that’s become a staple of the genre. What could have once been considered sacrilege for the series now serves the gameplay well, helping the unearthly combat encounters feel surprisingly familiar. Like the original, James’ arsenal is limited, with the only weapons available in the section I played being a handgun and his trusty wooden plank. Combat is certainly light and rudimentary, but Silent Hill 2 was never about that. It’s serviceable in a way that compliments the character’s ability – although I imagine it would have been extremely tempting for Bloober Team to strap James up Rambo-style, it would have been a disservice to the character and story it’s telling. That’s not to say James doesn’t have a new move in his locker though. Silent Hill 2 implements a new dodge mechanic, allowing James to quickly dart out of the way of an ******’s projectile ****** or Pyramid Head’s swinging blade. It’s a simple quick shuffle, not a Dark Souls-like forward roll, but it’s a tool that helped me to quickly establish a swing-swing-dodge rhythm before the Lying Figures threw up all their guts on me. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give is that it’s a move that feels like it always should have been in Silent Hill 2. From what I’ve seen so far the story is largely faithful, and I visited all the locations I expected to in the first few hours. The opening jaunt through the streets of Silent Hill is expanded, though, tasking you to solve a puzzle involving a jukebox in Neely’s Bar and forcing you to visit several of the town’s locations. Along the way, there’s plenty to examine further and marvel at the detail layered into this once sparse location. While purists might scoff at this addition, I feel it’s a smart move that encourages you to spend a little more time roaming the iconic, foggy streets. It’s a welcome addition before you spend a large portion of the game funnelled down dark hallways in a largely linear path. My usual urge to brute force the puzzles was quickly replaced by a wish to legitimately solve them. Fans of the original will be happy to hear that the remake doesn’t hold back with its returning puzzles. Like the original, the remake scales clues based on your difficulty level ( you can individually choose how challenging both combat and puzzles are in the main menu, although I didn’t get to test out how this is implemented in-game), but even on the normal difficulty setting I found some puzzles momentary head-scratchers that encouraged me to truly absorb my surroundings, especially after hard switching from my ‘***** everything that moves’ head space. Fans of the 2001 classic and the Resident Evil series know exactly what kind of thing to expect – using environmental clues to solve riddles and combinations – but it felt like there was a little less signposting in Silent Hill 2 than its peers. It’s hard for me to quantify this, but all I can say is my usual urge to brute force the puzzles was quickly replaced by a wish to legitimately solve them. Hopefully that speaks to the puzzle’s design and not the pressures of the play session’s environment. Bloober Team’s decision-making when rebuilding this classic has been clever, but it’s not perfect. The dialogue and performances still feel too campy and silly for my taste, often taking me out of the super serious tone. Unlike Resident Evil, where the campy nature is a big part of the vibe, Silent Hill in 2024 requires a subtle touch to complement the same masterful approach in atmosphere and sound design. Purists might celebrate its faithful remaking of the original’s lines, but I felt there was an opportunity here for some subtle rewrites and tweaks. I only got a small taste of the dialogue though, and Silent Hill 2 isn’t exactly known for its long conversations, so perhaps it’s not any kind of deal breaker. Another irksome inclusion is the logical, but slightly tedious activity of opening countless kitchen cupboards and drawers to collect handgun ammo and healing items, similar to modern games like The Last of Us. It makes sense on paper, organically placing your collectible items in realistic locations, but I can’t help but feel the process took me out of the atmosphere, altering my thought process from ***** to loot every time I entered a new room. Maybe it says more about me than the game, but several times after entering a room I was jumped by a hidden mannequin because I had prioritised scouring for pick-ups instead of enemies. Disappointingly, from what I’ve seen so far Silent Hill 2 doesn’t appear to incorporate my favourite feature the best remakes tend to have: Taking your expectations based on what you know about the original and subverting them. 2002’s Resident Evil Remake, which played around with the ‘dogs jumping through the window’ jump scare that all fans expected, is the perfect example of how this can be expertly crafted. The approach allows for the tension of a fake out, and the creative space to drop new scares where you least expect it. This Silent Hill 2 remake doesn’t appear to have any real moments like that and, ultimately, no real big swings that change the landscape for ********* fans. At least not in the opening three hours. As a remake, Silent Hill 2 falls more in line with BluePoint’s faithful Shadow of the Colossus rather than Capcom’s rejuvenated Resident Evil 2. It substitutes bold new swings for a slavish dedication to the original, which is by no means a bad thing, just not the ******** step some might expect. Silent Hill 2 certainly needed a fresh coat of paint and a tune of the engine, and Bloober Team has provided that in spades, but everything else is an extremely faithful reimagining that mostly resists the urge to alter the successful formula of a stone-cold classic. Dale Driver is IGN's Executive Producer of Video Programming. Follow him on Twitter. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

I get the impression Bloober Team knows what you think of it. Ever since the studio was announced as the driving force behind Konami's remake of the impossibly beloved Silent Hill 2, it feels like the game's fanbase has been sucking air through its teeth, keeping one wincing eye on development to see how badly Bloober messed up... Read more.View the full article

Today’s LoLdle quote is going to be a tough one for those who don’t play any particularly growly League of Legends champions—and it’s even worse, this loud voiceline could actually apply to several dangerous League champs. Who says, “I will roar the world into stillness…so must it be” in LoL? The LoLdle quote on Aug. 19 is, “I will roar the world into stillness…so must it be.” The League champion who says this line is Volibear. View the full article

Upcoming action-adventure title Funko Fusion is a bright and busy grab bag of fan-first distractions thus far. The upcoming debut from studio 10:10 Games presents plentiful light action-adventure gameplay centered on the longstanding sensation of collectible vinyl figurines in general, and its license with NBCUniversal in particular. This means that players will be able to control characters and explore backdrops sourced from a rainbow of different properties, including The Walking *****, Invincible, Jurassic Park, and films from Edgar Wrights Cornetto trilogy. View the full article

Pokémon fans got an early look at the upcoming TCG Pocket game at the 2024 World Championships, and now we officially have a release date. At the 2024 World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Pokémon community not only got to compete against the best players in the world but also indulge in all things Pokémon across the big franchise. One of the many things fans could do at the convention center was get a sneak peek at TCG Pocket gameplay, and it looks ***** as a brand new way to enjoy collecting cards. View the full article

The 2024 Pokémon World Championships has been a rollercoaster of hype, and it became infinitely better during the closing ceremony where it was revealed Pokémon Owner’s cards would be returning in the Trading Card Game next year. There were many exciting reveals during the Aug. 18 Pokémon Worlds ending ceremony, not least the Pokémon Pocket release date, the return of the nostalgic Pokémon Owner cards in 2025 is one that has fans the most excited, especially with the first of the newly revealed cards centering around trainers like Lillie, N, and Marnie. View the full article

new roguelike invites you to do some terrifying and claustrophobic diving in caves beneath the sea, which is either the least appealing thing you've ever heard of or an exciting premise for a spooky game with probably very little space in between. In Feed the Deep you go diving beneath the waves to find resources that you use to keep the cosmic horrors slumbering beneath the world doing just that: Slumbering. As opposed to rising from the depths and devouring mankind and all that... Read more.View the full article

If performance woes weren’t enough, a new censorship controversy has embroiled ****** Myth Wukong just ahead of its release. The controversy was sparked by a guidelines doc allegedly sent to content creators that, if agreed to, prohibits the streamers from mentioning what amounts to an absurd list of hot topics. Initially brought to light by French creator and game journalist Benoit “ExServ” Reinier and later corroborated by Forbes’ Paul Tassi and GLHF’s Oliver Brandt, the doc in question allegedly blocks streamers who receive the game key from Game Science from engaging in talking points like politics, “feminist ***********,” and COVID-19, among others. View the full article

*********** Olympic breakdancer Rachel “Raygun” Gunn is now trending in World of Warcraft after effects were added to her iconic 2024 Paris Olympics video, showcasing how her viral b-girl moves resemble a Mistweaver Monk casting its abilities. In WoW, Mistweaver Monks are core healers. Armed with cool breakdance-like moves and a soothing green mist, they’re one of the more visually appealing classes—a status only enhanced after one WoW player shared a clip illustrating the similarities between Mistweaver’s and Raygun. Mistweaver mains were quick to respond, with some admitting they never felt so “attacked” or “seen” and many claiming her moves are “1,000 percent accurate.” View the full article

The 2023/24 Pokémon esports season has concluded in Honolulu, Hawaii, and The Pokémon Company has already confirmed where the 2025 World Championships will be held next year. The Pokémon World Championships 2025 location was revealed at the closing ceremony of the 2024 season, as is tradition, in front of a packed out Hawaii crowd after the end of the Scarlet and Violet Masters tournament. View the full article

The Pokémon celebration is in full swing for the 2024 World Championships, but it’s not just the here and now making waves in Hawaii. As is customary for Pokémon‘s big events, we’ve been treated to some big announcements. From Pokémon video games to trading cards, all the big branches of the ever-growing Pokémon franchise are covered in depth at Worlds. There are also plenty of reasons to be excited for the future, as big announcements have been made. Whether you’re in Hawaii and want to see all the news in one place, or watching on from home and want to make sure you haven’t missed something, we’ve collected all the news here. View the full article

Galar Pokémon appear to be finally on their way to Pokémon Go after a new teaser trailer dropped information for upcoming releases of some the Pocket Monsters. In the trailer, Morpeko was briefly shown in its two forms and a small teaser for Eternatus and Gigantamax Pokémon. Sadly, no information such as a release date has been released, as well as if other Galar Pokémon outside of these two are coming anytime soon. View the full article

The uproar over modern League of Legends ranked continues, with players this week declaring they’ve been “**********” for much of the Season 14 grind. The biggest issue, fans agree, is there’s simply too many competitive League splits now, with the near-constant resets slowly driving everyone away. As yet another ranked reset looms in League Season 14, players are putting their feet down and demanding Riot Games take another look at the ranked model. View the full article

Mondays are kind of rubbish, unless you can score a game bargain to brain-hack yourself into thinking, hey, this wasn't so bad after all. I've got a bunch of discounts that can fit this (smaller) bill. Personally and after watching Luke Reilly's round-up on Alien games, I'd go for that 42% off Aliens: Dark Descent. Such a criminally underplayed gem that nails the survival horror factor of Jim Cameron's ****-tier action blockbuster. In retro news, I’ve baked a big, 15-shaped cake for Shadow Complex, a Metroidvania that broke XBLA sales records. Built by Chair Entertainment, a dev who’d go on to make the (sadly delisted) Infinity Blade trilogy, this 2.5D romp hooked me with its “suspiciously well-trained hikers discover a ****** site” plot. Basically, it had rock solid gunplay, a delicious drip of OP power-ups / tougher foes, and a decent runtime for its low, low asking price. For science, I bought and replayed Shadow Complex Remastered over the weekend—still great and worth the bucks. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games. - Wolfenstein (PC,PS3,X360) 2009. Get - Shadow Complex (X360) 2009. Remaster - Dragon Quest IX (DS) 2010. Ebay - Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) 2011. Get Table of ContentsNintendo SwitchPCXboxPlayStationLEGOThe Weekly Top 10Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch Expiring Recent Deals Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card. Switch Console Prices How much to Switch it up? [/url] Back to top Purchase Cheap for PC Expiring Recent Deals Or just get a Steam Wallet Card. PC Hardware Prices Slay your pile of shame. [/url] Back to top Exciting Bargains for Xbox Expiring Recent Deals Or just invest in an Xbox Card. Xbox Console Prices How many bucks for a 'Box? [/url] Back to top Pure Scores for PlayStation Expiring Recent Deals Or purchase a PS Store Card. PlayStation Console Prices What you'll pay to 'Station. [/url] Back to top Legit LEGO Deals Expiring Recent Deals Back to top The Top 10 Games in Australia (According to IGEA and Game Sales Data.) GTA VHogwarts LegacyElden RingCollege Football 25COD MW3GTA OnlineRed ***** 2South Park: The Fractured But WholeNBA 2K24Hitman WoA Part 1 Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]