Reminder: The Tetris 99 Splatoon-Themed Maximus Cup Starts Later This Week
This weekend, Tetris 99 is celebrating the final Splatfest in Splatoon 2 with a special themed Maximus Cup. As previously noted, this event runs from 12 a.m. PT on July 12 to 11:59 p.m. PT on July 15. If you participate in this event and earn 100 event points, you’ll get a new Splatoon theme for Tetris 99. A greater number of event points are earned when you place higher.
While we’re on the subject of Tetris 99, Nintendo’s Japanese website has shared some additional details about the second DLC pack (thanks, Nintendo Everything). The “Gather Battle” mode will allow you to play locally with eight players and the “Share Battle” will allow you to pass around a single Joy-Con as you play the game with one other friend.
We’ve also got a look at the Japanese box art and game card, courtesy of Nintendo’s Japanese website. This version will be released in-store on 9th August.
Will you be participating in this upcoming event? What do you think of the Japanese physical release? Share your thoughts below.
Digimon Survive Producer Explains Why The Game Has Been Delayed Until 2020
Last weekend, during the “Future of Digimon” panel at the 2019 Anime Expo, Bandai Namco revealed the adventure-tactical RPG Digimon Survive had been delayed until next year.
A few days on, producer Kazumasa Habu has now taken to Twitter, to explain why the game was delayed for the Switch and multiple other platforms. Here’s a translation, courtesy of Siliconera:
“Regarding Survive, the planned release date has been changed to 2020 because of a reorganization of our game development structure. Sorry to keep you waiting. Once again, I feel deeply the hardships of game development… We will continue to develop the game in order to make it a good product, so please look forward to it.”
On the subject of the newly announced Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition – arriving on the Switch this October, the producer said the DLC from the original PlayStation 4 and Vita releases would be included in the new base version. He also mentioned how certain designs in the game had changed, due to contractual reasons:
“The Switch version of Hacker’s Memory is basically the same as the PS4 and Vita versions. The only difference is that DLC that were released later on are available in the base game, and that some of the billboards in game have changed designs due to contractual reasons. Please look forward to the game.”
Were you looking forward to playing Digimon Survive this year? Does Cyber Sleuth make up for it? Leave a comment below.
IBM has closed the acquisition of Red Hat today for approximately $34 billion. Post-acquisition, Red Hat will operate as a distinct unit within IBM and will be reported as part of IBM’s Cloud and Cognitive Software segment. Maintaining its branding and independence within IBM, Red Hat will continue to be led by Jim Whitehurst and its current management team. Whitehurst is joining IBM’s senior management team, reporting to Ginni Rometty. IBM will maintain Red Hat’s headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, along with its facilities, brands and practices. IBM has a long history of supporting Linux. Back in 2001, IBM committed to investing $1 billion in Linux.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-09-2019, 03:47 PM - Forum: Windows
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All the details for ‘Gears of War’ at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con
With Gears Pop! and Gears 5 releasing this year, join the developers and minds behind the Gears of War Universe as they discuss the past, present, and future of this storied franchise at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, July 18th from 1:00 p.m. PST – 2:00 p.m. PST in Room 5AB. Studio Head Rod Fergusson (The Coalition) along with editor Steve Saffel (Gears of War: Ascendance, Titan Books), author Jason M. Hough (Gears of War: Ascendance, Titan Books), editor Chase Marotz (Gears of War: Hivebusters, IDW Publishing), and author Arthur Gies (Gears of War: Retrospective, Udon Entertainment) share their views on the Gears Franchise. The panelists will discuss their approach to storytelling and go in-depth on the characters and stories behind IDW’s brand-new Hivebusters comic book series and Titan’s upcoming Ascendance novel. Moderated by Gears’ Franchise Narrative Lead Bonnie Jean Mah (The Coalition), this panel will give fans new insight into what’s to come from one of the biggest sagas in gaming. Join the Q&A for a chance to win special giveaway items during the panel!
Then join select panelists in the exhibit hall for signings and purchase a limited advance copy of Gears of War: Ascendance, the newly released Gears of War: Retrospective,and Hivebusters Issue #1.
Gears of War Signing Schedule:
Gears of War: Retrospective at Udon Booth 4529 @ 2:30-3:30 PM
Author Arthur Gies, Rod Fergusson
Gears of War: Ascendance book signing with at Titan Booth 5537 @ 4:00-5:00 PM
Author Jason Hough, Rod Fergusson, and Bonnie Jean Mah
Gears of War: Hivebusters at IDW Booth 2729 @ #2729 6-7 PM
Rod Fergusson and Bonnie Jean Mah
Collect all Gears of War published works on Gearsofwar.com
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-09-2019, 03:47 PM - Forum: Windows
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Microsoft and ServiceNow announce strategic partnership
Together the two companies will accelerate digital transformation for enterprise and government customers ServiceNow moves workloads to Microsoft Azure for highly regulated industries
Redmond, Wash., and Santa Clara, Calif. — July 9, 2019 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) today announced a broader strategic partnership intended to significantly enhance the integration and optimization of the companies’ products, platform and cloud capabilities. Through this expanded partnership, the companies will enable enterprise customers in certain highly regulated industries, as well as government customers, to accelerate their digital transformation and drive new levels of insights and innovation. And, for the first time, ServiceNow will house its full SaaS experience on Azure in addition to its own private cloud. The expanded partnership will elevate ServiceNow to one of Microsoft’s strategic partners in its Global ISV Strategic Alliance Portfolio.
“There is an enormous opportunity for customers — including in the public sector — to apply the power of the cloud to become more efficient and responsive,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Our partnership combines ServiceNow’s expertise in digital workflows with Azure, our trusted cloud, so that customers can accelerate their digital transformation, while meeting their security and compliance needs.”
“Expanding our strategic global relationship with Microsoft enables ServiceNow to more fully leverage and integrate our platform and products with Microsoft’s leading enterprise technology and capabilities,” said John Donahoe, president and CEO of ServiceNow. “Together, ServiceNow and Microsoft will help our enterprise and government customers accelerate their digital transformation, creating great experiences and unlocking productivity.”
The expanded agreement builds on a partnership announced last fall by Microsoft and ServiceNow. As leading enterprise technology platforms, Microsoft and ServiceNow make it easier for customers to integrate and optimize across the two companies’ products and platforms. By collaborating on next-generation experiences, Microsoft and ServiceNow will leverage technology to bring further cognitive services and intelligence to products across the Now Platform® with Microsoft 365 and Azure.
ServiceNow Selects Microsoft Azure for Certain Highly Regulated Industries ServiceNow will use Azure Cloud as part of its preferred cloud platform for certain highly regulated industries, benefiting from Microsoft’s deep expertise in data protection, security, and privacy, including the most comprehensive set of compliance offerings of any cloud service provider. ServiceNow will first be available through Azure Regions in Australia and Azure Government in the United States, followed by additional markets in the future.
With ServiceNow available through Azure Government, U.S. government agencies will be able to leverage the compliance coverage across regulatory standards available through Azure. Microsoft is committed to supporting the full spectrum of government data to help agencies quickly and easily achieve their necessary requirements. Azure Government was built specifically to address the capabilities, performance and compliance needs of U.S. government customers and their partners. Azure Government enables innovation with deeply integrated cloud services, data and advanced analytics, and an open application platform that provides the building blocks to rapidly develop, deploy and manage intelligent solutions.
The U.S. federal government continues to look to ServiceNow as a strategic partner as it modernizes its IT infrastructure and accelerates its use of modern technology to digitally transform how it operates.
Microsoft Selects ServiceNow to Digitize Its Workflows As part of a separate transaction, Microsoft will implement ServiceNow’s IT & Employee Experience workflow products across its own business to improve operations, enhance employee experiences, and deliver stronger business outcomes. With ServiceNow, Microsoft will bring even more digital workflows into its organization, so employees can spend less time on manual tasks.
About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About ServiceNow ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is making the world of work, work better for people. Our cloud‑based platform and solutions deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and the enterprise. For more information, visit: www.servicenow.com.
Use of Forward‑Looking Statements This release contains “forward‑looking statements” regarding our future plans and performance. Forward‑looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward‑looking statements. If any such risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, our results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward‑looking statements we make.
Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward‑looking statements include: (i) our ability to integrate our products with Azure in a manner that satisfies customers and potential customers in regulated markets and (ii) changes in the regulatory landscape in the United States and internationally with respect to data data residency, data sovereignty, data localization or other regulations relevant to enterprises operating in highly regulated industries around the world.
We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward‑looking statements.
For more information, press only:
Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com
Kari Ramirez, ServiceNow, (408) 607-1315, press@servicenow.com
What happens when you take a popular board game and strip away the multiplayer elements for a lore-rich experience? You get something like Talisman: Origins, which is Nomad Games’ latest take on the challenging tabletop adventure Talisman.
This new expedition into the Talisman board game universe has been tailored for solitaire and has been specifically designed to offer a similar experience for anyone who may not have the friends or interest in playing with others. And while it’s a great way to offer a crash course in Talisman history, it’s a bit bizarre to take away the multiplayer elements of a board game where it’s so ingrained in the DNA. While it contains several solid features that make for an entertaining affair, it all feels a bit directionless in the end.
The game is based off the Revised 4th Edition ruleset, and you can choose from 12 unique characters across your journey as you explore a vast expanse of lore. The 12 Talisman characters that you can take on for each campaign include the new Great Wizard character, which is exclusive to Talisman: Origins. He’s pretty cool, but with that in mind, if you prefer, you can also take on the role of the villain instead. It’s up to you. There are 7 total books with around 5 quests in them apiece to complete. Each quest is broken down into 5 to 7 challenges that you can take on once the original quest has been completed.
Essentially, these are mini campaigns that each recall a period of narrative throughout Talisman‘s history. Ever wonder how the legendary Crown of Command was summoned into being? You’ve got the chance to learn all about that (as well as the intriguing Lord of Darkness as well) as you power through each campaign book.
On the left side of the screen, you have several pieces of helpful information about your character: Strength, Life, Craft, Fate, and Gold as well as your Objects, Followers, Trophies, and Other cards he happens to have. You can also find your character’s alignment here, which tends to stay at Neutral if you commit fairly Neutral acts. This can change over the course of the game to Good or Evil as well.
The board itself, which can be a bit difficult to discern, is split into three different regions. Typically you’ll begin your journey in the Outer Region, which you can move in either direction around the board. Then you have the Middle Region and Inner Region, which will come into play as you roll the dice, make moves, and get further into your game.
To move, you roll the dice via quick tap on the right side of the screen. After you determine the amount of spaces you’ll move, you can tap on a space to move there immediately. The game will highlight spaces on the board that you can move to, which takes away some of the fun of tapping around and exploring for yourself.
If you’re not sure what will happen if you decide to go there, the game will help you out with a quick explanation at the bottom of the screen that helps to further explain. And if you don’t like your roll, you can always use something called a Fate Point to try it again, but you’re stuck with the consequences with the second try if you end up not liking that one, either. Luckily, you can earn Fate Points back at other areas on the board if you end up needing more later on.
Combat is interesting enough, but it plays out with random dice rolls in the background – and because it’s essentially AI working to take out your character, you never feel as if you’re particularly in any peril or have a reason to try your best to devastate the enemy. But in the end, you’re not really strategizing, even though you’re continually drawing cards to make a great hand and trying your best to overtake the AI. You’re just playing against a computer and hoping the game of RNG you keep playing turns up in your favor.
Even with the handholding of the game’s first helpful tutorial and subsequent help windows, I still found some of the rules a bit obtuse – and, dare I say it? – not all that fun. Beyond that, while I followed the rules to a T and ended up learning quite a bit more than I already knew about Talisman along the way, it simply isn’t as exciting without other players involved. I did appreciate the attempts at bringing additional bits and bobs of lore into the mobile sphere and the thought that went into putting together a solo version of the popular game, though.
When you have no opponents to play against, suddenly the stakes are nonexistent. You’re playing against yourself, and while it’s intriguing to see the game’s lore play out in the background, there isn’t much going on here to truly hold your attention. I frequently found myself zoning out through a few “decisive” battles, feeling well and completely exhausted after finishing up some of the campaigns that felt like a little too much like work to be entertaining.
That’s where the issues with Talisman: Origins lie. Mechanically, it’s not a terrible game. It isn’t a low-quality title by any means. It doesn’t feature free-to-play trappings or ads. All told, there’s around 40+ hours of story content and quests to play through, with around 100 challenges you can complete throughout the narrative. It’s just boring, and it desperately needs the spice that’s added by playing with others, or at the very least an exciting AI. As it is, it’s a lot like eating plain old piping hot oatmeal when you wake up on a winter’s day. It’s hearty and it’ll warm you up, but it lacks the panache that adding fruit or cinnamon would bring.
If you’re intrigued by the Talisman board game universe and want to get on board, Talisman: Origins isn’t the worst way to jump in, but if you’re looking for a more engaging tour through the series, you might want to actually try a game with other people first.
They Are Billions is a Steampunk strategy game set on a post-apocalyptic planet. Build and defend colonies to survive against the billions of the infected that seek to annihilate the few remaining living humans. Can humanity survive after the zombie apocalypse?
Developed and published by BonusXP in collaboration with Netflix, Stranger Things 3: The Game is the official companion game to Season 3 of the hit original series. This adventure game blends a distinctively retro 16-bit art style with modern gameplay mechanics to deliver nostalgic fun with a fresh new twist. Fans will be able to experience their favorite show through a mix of exploration, puzzles, and combat.
Just like in the show, teamwork is at the heart Stranger Things 3: The Game. Fans can team up in two player local co-op or in single player mode alongside an AI partner, in the role of one of twelve characters from the show, each with unique abilities and attributes. Together, they'll play through familiar events from the series while also uncovering never-before-seen Stranger Things secrets, ensuring a fun experience for those new to the world of Stranger Things and series super fans alike!
Key Features:
* Experience the show in a new way, exploring the eerie world of Hawkins to uncover new mysteries beyond what's seen in Season 3.
* Jump right into the action of this pick-up-and-play adventure: simple gameplay mechanics allow fans of all skill levels to get in on the fun.
* Take your game to the next level by trying out different character combinations and collecting all the secrets the expansive world of Hawkins has to offer.
* Team up with a friend, leveraging drop-in/drop-out local co-op to take on the mysterious monsters of Hawkins together. While playing solo, use a collection of "buddy commands" to control both characters and still experience all the fun.
* Choose from 12 playable characters, each with their own unique talents and stats.
Build your cities and set up defensive structures to protect them from the constant threat of monsters. Brought to you by ACE Team, SolSeraph combines action and strategy for a rich gameplay experience reminiscent of the 16-bit era.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-09-2019, 07:37 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Top 10 UK Games Chart: Super Mario Maker 2 Builds On Its Success
Super Mario Maker 2 built on its early sales success, finishing at the top of the UK all-format sales chart for the second time. The Nintendo Switch exclusive held its place atop the physical chart despite strong competition from Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, according to sales monitor Chart-Track.
The CTR remaster still manages a podium finish at No. 2 in its third week on sale. F1 2019, meanwhile, maintains its No.3 spot for the week ending July 6.
Super Mario Maker 2 is another great addition to the Switch's library of exclusive games, according to our critic, Peter Brown. "The Mario series is worth all the admiration it gets, and Super Mario Maker 2 is an excellent tool for picking it apart by pushing its enemies, mechanisms, and Mario, to their limit," he said. "I've yet to make a stage of my own that I think is worthy of sending out to other players, but I'm committed to getting there. Whether exploring the full potential of a single element or throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, I've got the itch to join the creator's club.
"Mario Maker 2 makes the learning process intuitive and enjoyable. Most importantly, it's enabled designers amateur and professional alike to share their creativity with the world. The community is off to a great start, and thankfully, the fun has only just begun." You can read more in our full Super Mario Maker 2 review.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
