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August 23, 2019

“A Day in Shenmue” Trailer Takes the Player Deeper into Ryu’s World
Pre-Order and Purchase Shenmue III to Receive Unique Items*

Larkspur, Calif. – Aug. 21, 2019 – Deep Silver and Ys Net today revealed the official Shenmue III gamescom trailer, “A Day in Shenmue.” The “A Day in Shenmue” video gives a glimpse into the beautifully detailed world of Shenmue III and the thrilling fighting system which lets players fully experience the power of Ryo’s martial arts. Shenmue III launches November 19^th 2019 on PlayStation®4 and PC.

With pre-order, Shenmue III will include all the following in-game items when purchased at participating retailers*:

Snake Power: Threebottles of ‘Snake Power’ elixir to replenish energy during battle

Playing Tokens: 5,000 playing tokens for the in-game gambling area

“Blazing Kick” Advanced Training Scroll: Unlocks the advanced ability of the “Blazing Kick” to better challenge Ryo’s foes

Toy Capsule: Set of 24 tickets to exchange for in-game capsule toys

In addition to the items listed above, Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop and EB Games will each offer bonus pre-order items for Shenmue III. Full details are below:

Gamestop (US) / EB Games (Canada)

Dragon/Phoenix Mirror Medallion: This exquisitely-crafted physical item is inspired by the iconic Dragon and Phoenix mirrors of the Shenmue series.

Best Buy

Limited Edition Steelbook: This illustrated Steelbook case captures the beauty and elegance of the Shenmue series and features portraits of Shenmue III heroes Ryo and Shenhua.

Amazon

Kenpogi Training Wear DLC: Original training gear based on actual Chinese Kung Fu wear.

Players can secure their retail item of choice by reserving their copy today using the following links:

GameStop: https://www.gamestop.com/ps4/games/shenmue-iii/174205

Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/shenmue-iii-playstation-4/6342250.p?skuId=6342250

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shenmue-3-PlayStation-4/dp/B07PRN8W7L/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=shenmue+3&qid=1563305938&s=gateway&sr=8-1

EB Games (Canada): https://www.ebgames.ca/PS4/Games/764826/shenmue-3-with-an-eb-exclusive-bonus

*at participating retailers in the US, Canada, and Latin America. DLC codes printed on receipt or delivered via email by retailer. Steelbook & Dragon/Phoenix Mirror Medallion quantities limited, while supplies last. Pick up at time of purchase.

You can learn more about Shenmue III by visiting the game’s official website (https://shenmue3.deepsilver.com/us.html).

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About Shenmue III

Shenmue III is the eagerly anticipated sequel to Dreamcast classics Shenmue (1999) and Shenmue II (2001). The brainchild of award-winning game director, Yu Suzuki, Shenmue set out to combine action gameplay from his arcade classic Virtua Fighter with RPG mechanics to weave a long-form epic for home consoles. Commonly known as one of the most ambitious game projects in history, Shenmue captured the imagination of players from around the world with its unique setting, intimate and cinematic character-focused story, realistic battles, and fun mini-games. Many of the features pioneered in Shenmue is now commonplace in modern games, including open world and Quick Time Event gameplay. Shenmue III was officially announced on stage at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference and simultaneously launched on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, breaking two Guinness World Records upon raising over $6 million dollars. The game is currently in development at Yu Suzuki’s independent company, Ys Net, located in Tokyo along with many original Shenmue team members.

Shenmue III will release on November 19, 2019.

About Deep Silver

Deep Silver develops and distributes interactive games for all platforms. The Deep Silver label means to captivate all gamers who have a passion for thrilling gameplay in exciting game worlds. Deep Silver works with its partners to achieve a maximum of success while maintaining the highest possible quality, always focusing on what the customer desires.

Deep Silver has published more than 200 games since 2003, including its own brands like the open world extravaganza Saints Row, the zombie action franchise Dead Island, and the grim post-apocalyptic future of the Metro series. Upcoming highlights from Deep Silver include Dead Island 2. Deep Silver also owns the development studios Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK; Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany, Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA, and Warhorse Studios based in Prague, Czech Republic. For more information please visit www.deepsilver.com

Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (games, films and software). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe, North America and Australia. The Koch Media group has more than 20 years of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number one publishing partner in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, Kaspersky Labs, Konami, Koei Tecmo, Milestone, Sega, Square Enix, etc. in various European countries. With Headquarter in Höfen, Austria Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux, Australia, Czech Republic and the United States.

About Yu Suzuki

Yu Suzuki joined Sega Enterprises Inc. (currently, Sega Games) in 1983, and produced many big hit games as a programmer, director and producer. His unique and creative works influenced the game industry in technology, art and culture, and his attitude to produce with the heart of pioneer is well respected by many top creators beyond game industry. He received “Computer World Smithsonian Award from the Smithsonian Consortium in 1998 and received Hall of Fame award at the AIAS Summit in 2003 as recognition of his contribution to the game industry. His master pieces of works include “Hung-on”, “Space Harrier” and “Virtua Fighter” series and many more.

About Ys Net Inc.

Ys Net Inc. was established in 2008 in Tokyo as an independent firm for Yu Suzuki to lead game software planning, producing, and development. It expanded development studio in 2015 along with start of Shenmue III project.

NETMARBLE UNVEILS NEW BTS STORYTELLING IP MOBILE GAME

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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August 23, 2019

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NETMARBLE UNVEILS NEW BTS STORYTELLING IP MOBILE GAME

Teaser Video Revealed Through Netmarble’s Global YouTube Channel
The Game First Revealed at BIG HIT CORPORATE BRIEFING WITH THE COMMUNITY

SOUTH KOREA – AUG. 21, 2019 – Today, Netmarble Corp. is thrilled to announce another collaboration with Big Hit Entertainment for an all-new mobile game involving global superstars BTS. A first look at the mobile game is now available for global viewing

The new game was revealed at “BIG HIT CORPORATE BRIEFING WITH THE COMMUNITY” earlier today with a trailer showcasing stylistic concept art of BTS members.

Following Netmarble’s successful launch of the BTS WORLD mobile game in June 2019, Netmarble Monster is leading active development of the company’s second game involving BTS.

“We are also preparing a new game project with Netmarble utilizing BTS’ storytelling IP. Set in a new genre, this new work will provide another encounter with the BTS Universe rendered through lush, emotion-filled art.” said Bang Si-Hyuk, CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, as he unveiled the concept art video

More information on the new BTS mobile game, including the schedule and additional details, will be revealed by Netmarble at a future date.

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About Netmarble Corporation
Netmarble Corporation strives to entertain audiences of all ages around the world by providing great mobile gaming experiences. Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble is one of the fastest-growing mobile game companies and consistently ranks as a top mobile developer and publisher worldwide. With more than 6,000 employees, Netmarble has been producing and servicing some of the most successful mobile games including Lineage 2: Revolution, Blade & Soul Revolution, MARVEL Future Fight, BTS WORLD, Everybody’s Marble, and Seven Knights. As a parent company to Kabam, a top mobile game developer in massively multiplayer free-to-play games, and the largest shareholder to Jam City, a leading casual social game developer, Netmarble has a strategic partnership with CJ ENM Corporation, Asia’s largest entertainment company, Tencent Holdings, Asia’s largest internet company, and NCsoft, a prominent MMORPG company. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com

About Big Hit Entertainment
Founded in February 2005 in South Korea by CEO and Producer Bang Si-Hyuk, Big Hit Entertainment’s core business focuses on music production, artist management and publishing. Big Hit’s business ventures incorporate and develop a range of content produced from top-notch artists’ IP, including global superstars BTS and its newest addition TOMORROW X TOGETHER. With its mission of ‘Music & Artist for Healing,’ Big Hit strives to impart a positive influence through content while providing comfort and inspiration to music fans worldwide.

Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pass Adds Terminator T-800 and Joker

Travis Bruno

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August 22, 2019

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Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pass Adds Terminator T-800 and Joker

NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros have officially unveiled possibly every fighter that will be included in the first Kombat Pack DLC that has been available since Mortal Kombat 11 launched. This includes already released fighters such as Shang Tsung and Nightwolf as well as the previously announced Sindel and Spawn but perhaps the biggest addition happens to be the T-800 Terminator and Joker.

The best part of this announcement happens to be the fact that now every character in this pack has been given a set release date so those who have already purchased the pack can now know exactly when to expect these fighters to be added to the game, with Terminator dropping next and Spawn closing out the current roster. Very little about most of these fighters is known at the moment besides how they will look but you can check out the trailer below. Currently Mortal Kombat 11 is available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Shenmue III Trailer Takes Us Through a Day in Shenmue

Travis Bruno

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August 22, 2019

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Shenmue III Trailer Takes Us Through a Day in Shenmue

A new trailer from Ys Net and Deep Silver has been released for Shenmue III and this one is designed to take us through a standard day in the game. This includes interacting with various townsfolk, taking part in arcade games, eating some food, training your skills, and of course tracking down clues.

It is also worth noting that while Shenmue III may seem like an odd jumping in point, especially since the first two games have since been remastered and released on current consoles, Ys Net has included a “recap digest” movie to retell Ryo Hazuki’s journey from the beginning of the game as well as various NPCs that will explain certain events. The trailer can be found below and keep an eye out for Shenmue III when it is released on the PlayStation 4 and PC on November 19th.

FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE AND SABER INTERACTIVE’S MUDRUNNER SEQUEL SNOWRUNNER FULLY REVEALED AT GAMESCOM

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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August 22, 2019

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FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE AND SABER INTERACTIVE’S MUDRUNNER SEQUEL SNOWRUNNER FULLY REVEALED AT GAMESCOM

Brave chilling maps, vehicles, terrain and challenges in the ultimate off-road sim’s official debut gameplay trailer!

COLOGNE, Germany — Aug. 21, 2019 — SnowRunner, the highly anticipated follow-up to the surprise trucking sim hit MudRunner, developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive, was fully revealed today at gamescom. Teased previously as MudRunner 2, SnowRunner is the ultimate off-road experience, made bigger and better with stunning visuals, advanced simulation physics, massive maps and vehicles, and the introduction of snowy terrain.

Get a first look at SnowRunner’s intense automotive action in its debut gameplay trailer:

SnowRunner puts you behind the wheel of a huge roster of customizable vehicles from heavy-duty manufacturers like Pacific, Navistar and more in some of the world’s most untamed, unforgiving environments. There are more than 15 new sandbox maps to explore, some up to four times larger than those in the original MudRunner. Master extreme hazards like snowdrifts, ice, rivers and mud — each with their own unique challenges — to get your cargo safely to its destination as quickly as possible. Take on the elements alone or with friends online in fully-synchronous four-player co-op multiplayer!

SnowRunner is expected to launch in 2020 on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Windows PC through the Epic Games store.

About Focus Home Interactive

Focus Home Interactive is a French publisher based in Paris, France. Known for the quality, diversity and originality of its catalogue, Focus has published and distributed original titles (A Plague Tale: Innocence, Vampyr, Farming Simulator, Call of Cthulhu, Insurgency: Sandstorm) that have become benchmark titles worldwide, available both in store and for download across the world. Focus publishes games on all major platforms, consoles and PC. The publisher’s catalogue will get even richer in the coming months and years with eagerly awaited games such as The Surge 2, SnowRunner, GreedFall and many more.

About Saber Interactive

Based in the U.S., Russia and Spain, Saber Interactive is an independent developer whose credits include the 2019 hit World War Z, Quake Champions, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and others. Saber’s NBA Playgrounds is one of the best-selling digital console titles of 2017. The company has multiple development studios across the world making great games and bringing fun interactive experiences to life.

RAD Review

Travis Bruno

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August 21, 2019

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RAD

Developer: Double Fine
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $19.99 – Available Here

Overview

Over the years many words pick up a few different meanings, especially when they are shortened and Double Fine games has managed to make RAD, a shortening of a word that can mean extreme change, radiation, or simply calling something awesome apply in all three forms to their game of the same name. RAD takes and challenges players to tackle a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with radiation, all while going through radical body changes accompanying some rad 80s themes.

Story

Humanity can be a stubborn thing to the point that even after a nuclear apocalypse destroys most of the world, they can cling on to try and thrive once again. Of course hit those survivors with yet another worldwide apocalypse and then those survivors that still manage to cling onto life will simply start living day to day since tomorrow will never be a certainty. RAD, which is soaked in 80s aesthetic and rocking themes, is such a world where the Ancient ones perished only for The Menders to try and fix the world and have things once again blow up.

Now the player’s village manages to survive thanks to working machinery built by the Menders but time is running out as these machines are slowly losing power. Through the help of “The Elder” an ancient being that has been around as long as the survivors can remember, the teenagers of the town must venture out in an effort to restore the town’s power source.

RAD doesn’t take too long trying to set itself up as players will quickly find themselves out exploring the wastes within a few minutes of beginning the game. After that the narrative doesn’t really take much of a central focus outside of giving players extra bits of information either through narration while exploring the game or through random item descriptions. The feel to the game however is fairly well handled as the “rad 80s” vibes are incredibly strong here with numerous references to various bits of pop-culture scattered around the environments as well as how over the top the Elder can be. Double Fine’s signature comedy comes through fairly well in RAD through the Elder’s various chimes about how great or “not rad” the player is doing while alongside the uniqueness of many of the townsfolk you can interact with but don’t expect it to creep into the limited narrative.

Gameplay

After the Elder uses a keytar to activate the Menders’ machines to allow the player to absorb the radiation in the world players will venture out, wielding a trusty baseball bat, into a very rogue-style experience that sees the maps randomly generated as well as the enemy placement and variety change every time you sit down to play. As you fight through these mutant creatures and destroy mutant plants to help vibrant normal plant life grow the radiation in them will transfer to the player and after a certain limit, their body will then mutate. These mutations are similarly randomized with players being able to use up to three “Exo” mutations at a time. These mutations vary wildly from being incredibly powerful and helpful to feeling useless in nature and often the first mutation can make or break a run depending on which one you get.

These Exo Mutations are all wildly different from another and each one can be fairly useful though there can be a clear power discrepancy between some of these abilities. Having the ability to grow spikes to counter incoming attacks or simply hurt close enemies may appear useful but can pale in comparison to simply creating a toxic slime trail that damages everything that steps in it while bat wings may seem nice at first but being able to lay eggs that spawn spiders that will seek out your enemies is all the better. Of course, since these mutations are random players will quickly have to learn the ins and outs of various abilities and to try to make the best of what they end up getting though ending up with some dud mutations or ones that simply don’t fit your playstyle can lead to a potentially disastrous run.

Alongside these Exo Mutations players can also obtain numerous Endo mutations that are simply passive in nature and can provide various buffs or debuffs. These can be things like making the player do increased damage or have longer range with ranged mutations or invulnerable to certain damage types but also can hurt the player’s abilities at the same time. The thing is, with Endo abilities players have no real way to find out if one will be beneficial before they pick it up, making things even more random at times. This makes for some great replayability for those who want to see everything but given the difficulty of the game, players will likely be seeing plenty of variations as they try to survive the mutant filled wasteland.

Despite its aesthetics and having a narrator that will chime in with tidbits of information all while the Elder provides some punctuation from time to time RAD is not an easy game by any means and even as a roguelike things can be rather difficult at times. Part of this is due to the aforementioned randomness of some mutations but also due to the fairly limited health pool as well as enemy AI. Even if you manage to find yourself with a solid set of mutations and some extra health, the hard hitting mutants that can randomly damage you even while stunned or a wrong turn into a hazard can quickly spell doom.

Of course death does allow players to keep at least a few things from time to time. Experience gained from destroying mutants can unlock various items that can then be either purchased from shops or found in the wild while cassette tapes (currency) can be deposited when returning to town and squirreled away for safety or, with certain nano mutations, partially deposited at death. Alongside the fitting currency type large floppy discs can also be used to unlock various machines or locked chests to potentially obtain something useful.

This allows RAD to tap into the beauty of a roguelike as players can generally grow a bit stronger over time by completing tasks for residents at the main hub while unlocking new items all while gathering money even as they fail and die to the mutants and larger creatures guarding the various areas in the game.

Visuals & Audio

Double Fine has always had something of a knack for developing unique looking characters and crafting an interesting world but unfortunately RAD falls a bit short in both of those areas. Outside of a few unique NPCs the players themselves are generic looking at best with the only truly shining moments being how they mutate and seeing the crazy combinations that are available in the game. Alongside those same lines the world itself is fairly bland for an apocalyptic landscape filled with mutants and considering the long load times between areas, could be far more appealing. The only real shine here happens to be the designs of the Makers and the various references to 80s pop culture and little callouts to Bandai Nacmo that can litter the world.

The voice work for RAD is fairly simple but also features some great contrasts at times. The Elder’s booming voice that narrates menu choices, item pick-ups, and failure sound great and the occasional bit of narrative in the more soothing female voice helps set the groundwork for the world a bit more and is handled well. The soundtrack features a number of great bits of background music that fits well for the theme of the game as well as its love of 80s style rock music.

Overall

As a roguelike RAD certainly nails the high highs of successfully navigating dangerous locations with a variety of abilities that fit your style as well as the low lows that can see a player falling to their death due to a springy plant or enemy attack while suffering from debuffing nano mutations and a collection of the more useless exo mutations. This unique take on some solid gameplay allows RAD to feel fresh no matter how many lives you lose against the mutants as the challenge lies both in seeing how the random generated levels and abilities play out but also your skill to take advantage of it all.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

The Yakuza Remastered Collection Takes Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 to the PlayStation 4

Travis Bruno

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August 21, 2019

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The Yakuza Remastered Collection Takes Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 to the PlayStation 4

Fans of the Yakuza series will be delighted to hear that Sega has not only announced that they will be releasing Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5 in The Yakuza Remastered Collection via a limited physical box set that includes all three games on two discs on February 11, 2020 but that those who really want to dive into the remastered releases, which have all been given rigorous re-localization as well as had any of their previously removed content completely restored and translated, won’t have to wait until then.

This is because all three of those games will be released digitally on the PlayStation 4 throughout the year with Yakuza 3 released today, Yakuza 4 coming on October 29th, and Yakuza 5 launching on February 11, 2020. The full package costs $59.99 through the digital The Yakuza Remastered Collection and each game will be unlocked as they are released on their aforementioned dates. A trailer showcasing each game and some screenshots can be found below.

Marvel’s Avengers Prologue Gameplay Walkthrough

Travis Bruno

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August 21, 2019

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Marvel’s Avengers Prologue Gameplay Walkthrough

Since the first playable demo for Marvel’s Avengers is currently accessible at Gamescom Square Enix wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to see how the game played and they have done so with a new nineteen minute long gameplay video. This video features Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor battle Taskmaster and his army of mercenaries in the opening level, a Hero tutorial where players learn the unique powers of the Avengers.

Marvel’s Avengers begins at A-Day, where Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor are unveiling a hi-tech Avengers Headquarters in San Francisco—including the reveal of their own helicarrier powered by an experimental energy source. The celebration turns deadly when a catastrophic accident results in massive devastation. Blamed for the tragedy, the Avengers disband. Five years later, with all Super Heroes outlawed and the world in peril, the only hope is to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Trailer Focuses on the Cell Saga

Travis Bruno

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August 21, 2019

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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Trailer Focuses on the Cell Saga

Since officially being revealed we’ve seen bits and pieces showing off just how far the story in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will go and now at Gamescom Bandai Namco has released a new trailer showing off plenty of new gameplay footage that focuses not only on showing off Goku as a father to Gohan but also confirming that the game will continue all the way through to the Cell Saga at least.

You can check out the video and screenshots below, including a look at the time Goku and Piccolo had to get a driver’s license. Currently Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is set to be released on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One in early 2020.

Garden Story Revealed by Viz Media and Rose City Games

Travis Bruno

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August 21, 2019

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Garden Story Revealed by Viz Media and Rose City Games

The partnership between Rose City Games and Viz Media has continued to grow stronger over the past year and now they have announced another new game in the works from developer Picogram by the name of Garden Story. Garden Story is a pixel style adventure game that is currently set to be released in spring 2020 for the PC and Mac.

Players will take on the role of Concord the Grape as they explore and cultivate four different regions and help fulfill the islanders’ various requests, foster relationships, and make friends with other fruit characters that make up this colorful cast. Gardening, gathering resources, solving the riddles behind the corrupting Rot, and more still allow players to set their own pace for progressing the game.