Gaming

The Avatar universe is set to get “the biggest video game in franchise history” — an AAA RPG where players will be introduced to a whole new Avatar.

IGN reported Thursday that Paramount Game Studios and Saber Interactive are working on the game for both PC and console that will have the players take on the role of a new Avatar in an original story. It’s being made in conjunction with Avatar Studios, the company founded in 2021 by Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko to expand the universe into other media.

While the game will feature all-new story elements and characters, Paramount and Saber told IGN that it’ll still be familiar to players. Players will have to master all four elements, engage in fights with companions, and “experience the challenges and decisions that come with being the keeper of balance in the world.”

Saber’s catalog is full of licensed games. Earlier this month, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, from Saber developers, launched to critical acclaim. The day following release, publisher Focus Entertainment revealed that around 2 million players have logged on. Other games Saber is developing include one based on John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, and continued development on a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.

“At Saber, we are all truly fans of the IP we work with,” said Josh Austin, head of IP development and licensing at Saber Interactive. “Our team members are some of the most devoted, passionate creatives out there and it’s an honor to join forces with Avatar Studios and Paramount Games to further expand the Avatar Legends universe in video games.

This isn’t the first attempt at bringing the Avatar universe to video games, although it is the biggest. There have been video game adaptations since 2006, and with the series’ mostly consistent popularity, there have been many others even recently. Avatar Generations was a mobile turn-based RPG from Square Enix that shut down around a year after it launched in 2023. There’s also an Avatar: The Last Airbender fighting game in the works at Maximum Games set to release in early access next year.

Despite the company’s recent decision to abide by the demands of the Brazilian Supreme Court, X still isn’t back online in Brazil — and according to Reuters, that’s at least in part because it paid its fines to the wrong bank. After weeks being banned in Brazil, X in late September named a legal representative for the country as ordered, and took down accounts the court accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech. Its final hurdle was to pay off the fines that it had racked up, reportedly amounting to roughly $5 million.

Citing Friday court filings, Reuters reports that X says it’s paid the fines and requested to have services restored. But, Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the funds went to the wrong bank, and the decision will have to wait until they’ve been transferred. X maintains that it paid its fines correctly, according to Reuters. X has been banned in Brazil since the end of August. While the company initially resisted the court’s orders, it recently changed its tune and said it was working with the Brazilian government to get the platform back online in the country.

The chaotic world Gremlins is back with Season 2 of the Max Original Gremlins series dubbed Gremlins: The Wild Batch.

Thanks to Comicbook, here’s a clip from the show showing off a scene of little Gizmo finding himself trapped by The Warden, played by Will Forte, enamored by this little Mogwai, holding him up in Alcatraz.

Beyond the Sausage Party: Foodtopia alum, we also have Ronny Chieng, Michael Paul Chan, Keith David, John Glover, Kelly Hu, and Jimmy O. Yang within the voice cast. This impromptu visit to the San Fran prison also introduces Simu Liu playing Chang. Based on the description, this also takes place one year after Season 1 and sees the trio of Gizmo, Sam, and Elle making their way home from Shanghai.

“Taking place one year after the events of season one, GREMLINS: THE WILD BATCH follows Gizmo, Sam, and Elle as they travel from their home in Shanghai to San Francisco, bringing even more magic, mystery and Mogwai mayhem. Hot on the trail of a new brood of evil Mogwai, our heroes journey deep into the American West, coming up against new supernatural creatures and picking up a few mysterious characters along the way.

Gremlins: The Wild Batch is available to stream right now on Max.

When you talk about MMA simulation titles, you can never go past EA Sports UFC. This franchise began its reign in this genre in 2014 after THQ’s immense success with UFC Undisputed. EA even went on to hold its highly popular Fight Night boxing simulation franchise to begin this MMA simulator franchise.

The MMA simulation title from EA marked its 5th installment in 2023, which is by far probably the best MMA game in terms of realism and gameplay. But just like every other EA Sports title, this game is also not free from bugs and glitches. And this might be the biggest problem for the game right now.

Recently, a fan took to Reddit and shared their disgust about the extreme glitches and bugs of EA Sports UFC 5. The fan has shared a GIF clip of a match in this game where a fighter looks like a Runner from The Last of Us.

This is a $70 game ladies and gentlemen…
byu/BBQ_Boi ingaming

It’s actually true. The character looked like a zombie more than a fighter because of a weird glitch as it was also unable to hit its opponent. It crawled in front of the opponent, throwing punches in the air mindlessly.

In the comment section of that post, another fan has stated this glitch to be worse than FIFA. This fact can’t be denied because we have seen many game-breaking glitches in EA Sports FC (previously FIFA), where the player goes straight into the goal post or an outfield player slams a chop kick directly on the goalkeeper.

On the other hand, there is another fan who commented on the Reddit post, where he shared a YouTube video. This video shows the condition of the very first game of this long-hailed series. Yes, EA Sports UFC, which was released more than a decade ago, was also infested with bugs and glitches.

The shocking part is that both the games, UFC and UFC 5, look almost similar. That means there has been no change for the last 10 years as far as fixing the bugs and glitches are concerned We hope EA looks into one of their most popular franchises and gets rid of these bugs and glitches. If you are new to the game, then you can check our review of the game for a better overview.

EA might not be that efficient in fixing the bugs and glitches in the game, but it always makes sure that there is no shortage of new content. That is why a new content update for this month is available in the game.

This update will focus on the Prime Series Alter Egos, which will revisit the early days of MMA legend Nick Diaz during his Strikeforce era. Along with Diaz, Daniel “DC” Cormier and Leon Edwards will also join the roster.

Besides this Alter Ego collection, 25-year-old lightweight prospect, Chase Hooper, will join the UFC roster too. Not only that, the undefeated champion in the undefeated category, Lerone Murphy, who holds a perfect 14-0-1 record, is also coming to maintain his undefeated streak.

Now everything will be sorted out if EA looks after the bugs and glitches in the game just like they do for the game’s content. What’s your opinion on this? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

Ever since I saw Windblown in action at this year’s Game Developers Conference, I’ve been eager to get my hands on it. Motion Twin’s Dead Cells follow-up looked like an entirely different rouguelike on its colorful surface, but I could see the studio’s DNA in its fast action and progression hooks. Now players don’t have to wait long to try it for themselves. Windblown will launch into early access on October 24, and a free demo will be available even sooner on October 14.

Ahead of its launch, I went hands-on with a truncated version of the early access build. I wouldn’t have access to every weapon and I’d only get to explore two biomes (there will be five in the early access version), but that was more than enough to hook me. While it may look like a fairly standard action roguelike on its surface, Windblown’s lightning-fast action demands to be played. Once you do, you’ll immediately understand why it’s likely to become the next great roguelike.

Quick as lightning

Windblown wastes no time getting into the action. I’m immediately thrown into a run after choosing what animal hero I want to play as (I went as an adorable axolotl, of course). From there, I’m introduced to what initially feels like a fairly simple genre loop. I slash rooms full of enemies with my trusty cleaver and collect upgrades that make me stronger in that run. The main difference, especially from Dead Cells, is that I’m doing it in a 3D world that looks like it was pulled from a joyful cartoon. It’s a night-and-day change for Motion Twin, but it nails the vibrant style.

The more I play, the more Windblown unfurls into something special. The star feature is my character’s dash ability. By pressing a button, I can zip forward incredibly fast. That’s not just used for evading attacks; it’s how I navigate levels, which are fractured, floating islands. Even without aiming too precisely, it always feels like Windblown understands where I’m trying to go, creating perfectly smooth traversal. The more confident I get with it, the more fantastic it feels. I can zip around biomes like a lightning bolt, making Windblown a speedrunner’s dream. Battles can fly by just as fast too, as I can bolt away from an enemy to avoid its attack in an instant and just as quickly pop back in to continue my assault.

Not long after getting the hang of that, I really start to see what sets Windblown apart from its peers. At any given time, I can equip two main weapons (as well as two side trinkets that operate on cooldowns, like bombs or a whirling slash). Each weapon is assigned to a button, so I don’t need to swap one out to use the other. They don’t just have different ranges and attack speeds; each one achieves critical hits in different ways. One weapon will only deal critical damage via backstabs. Another, a crossbow, has a rhythm game component to it. If I fire when a circle on the screen lights up, I’ll dish out extra damage.

The combat widens even more when I learn about alterattacks. My two-weapon loadout isn’t just for show. Any pair of weapons I mix and match unlocks an extra attack for each. When I hit a specific attack sequence, a blue marker flashes on screen. For instance, it will always flash after I land two critical hits in a row with my bow. If I attack with my other weapon while it’s on screen, I pull off a bit of a special attack like a massive crossbow shot or jumping spin slash. Both of these twists make combat more rhythmic and strategic, almost like Hi-Fi Rush without the actual beat markers. You can button mash your way through battles if you want, but you’ll dish out far more damage if you actually learn the nuances of each weapon and nail them accordingly.

Even then, that’s not the bottom of Windblown’s deceptively complex combat system. After getting deep into its second biome after a few runs, I unlock a new ability: Crystallize. When an enemy is weak enough, I’ll occasionally be prompted to hit the left trigger. If I do that instead of finishing it off with standard attacks, I’ll slam into it to perform a finisher and get more resources for doing so. It’s another way that Windblown makes players stop and think about their actions instead of hastily spamming buttons. Alterattacks and Crystallization are both split-second decisions that require quick reaction time from players. While I have trouble keeping up with both at first, I eventually find that they become second nature to me as I hit them consistently. I feel like I’m mastering an instrument, going from an amateur guitarist barely being able to strum basic chords to someone capable of nailing a riff without thinking about it.

Building on a formula

All of those twists pair with Motion Twin’s genre expertise, building off the foundational Dead Cells. There are tons of progression hooks to chase that already have me popping into runs over and over without a second thought. My accumulated currencies let me unlock more weapons, perks that can appear during runs, and even some permanent upgrades that open up where I can explore — it’s the same Metroidvania hook that Dead Cells uses so well. I still have plenty to unlock after playing for hours, including upgraded healing flask capacity, more starting weapon choices at the top of each run, and more.

The more I’ve unlocked, the more build potential I’ve found. When I unlock the Goo Brush, a paintbrush weapon that makes enemies more susceptible to critical blows, I’m able to pair it with perks that make my goo corrosive. That, combined with a secondary Goo Bomb, meant that I could burn enemy health down quickly with the right strategy.

All of this comes together in co-op play. Up to three players can adventure together and there are lots of little design decisions that buff up that system. One trinket sets an enemy ablaze, but also puts a round aura around me for a short time. Any teammates standing in its perimeter get burn damage applied to their weapon while it’s active. Health flasks also create healing circles that any player can stand in to recharge their health, giving Windblown some light MMO influence.

Even the small touches stand out in co-op. When buying things from shops between biomes, players can actually pool their own resources to help others. In my co-op game, my teammate didn’t quite have enough golden shells to recharge their healing flask. He deposited 275 or so into the shop and then I put in the other 25, letting him take it. There’s a lot of potential for thoughtful team play here.

While Windblown is already winning me over, keep in mind that it’s an early access game. Weapon and perk choices are still limited, which can make runs feel a bit repetitive early on. The first two biomes I played also tended to feel the same from run to run, with a small set of room layouts that shuffled around each run. The early access release will be bigger, though, and Motion Twin will undoubtedly expand the experience based on player feedback on its road to 1.0. If you want to be part of the crowd that shapes it, Windblown is already worth diving into. It’s a blood-pumping bolt of adrenaline that’s destined to help shape the roguelike genre, just as its predecessor did all those years ago.

Windblown launches into PC early access on October 24.

Bloomberg recently reported that Apple is close to releasing an updated iPhone SE, which will be its first update to the low-end model since 2022. According to 9to5Mac, Apple is also planning to use the phone as a launching pad for its in-house 5G modems. The company purchased the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business for $1 billion back in 2019 after taking steps to be more self-reliant and aggressively recruiting staff to make that happen. But it has yet to release devices that use the modems designed by its internal team.

Apple and Qualcomm have somewhat of a complicated history. Qualcomm sued Apple in 2017, accusing it of violating its patents related to its phones’ ability to quickly connect to the internet after they’re switched on, as well as patents related to battery efficiency, graphics processing and apps’ capability to download data faster. They eventually settled their patent dispute after Apple agreed to pay Qualcomm royalties and to enter a six-year licensing deal, as well as a multi-year wireless chipset supply deal.

At the moment, Apple still equips its devices with Qualcomm-made 5G modems. Qualcomm also announced last year that it will continue providing modems to Apple until 2026. It’s possible that Apple wants to put its in-house modem to the test with just one iPhone first before it puts its technology in more devices.

The iPhone SE 4 will look similar to the iPhone 14 (pictured above), 9to5Mac says, and will be powered by an A18 chip with 8GB of RAM that will make it possible for it to have some Apple Intelligence features. It will reportedly feature Face ID and will no longer have a home button like previous iPhone SEs, and the device will apparently have the iPhone 15’s 48MP wide camera and 12MP front cam. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to be unveiled next year, possibly sometime in the spring.

Astro Bot‘s soundtrack is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and other music streaming platforms.

The soundtrack is 87 tracks long, the majority of which were composed by Kenny CM Young.

The album features all of the new music included in Astro Bot, as well as the tracks from Astro’s Playroom and Astro Bot Rescue Mission, which also appear in the game.

Additional tracks are contributed by Hirofumi Sasaki, Tadashi Yatabe, Kemmei Adachi, and Sachiko Miyano.

Astro Bot will receive 5 new speed run levels later this year.

The DLC will consist of 5 new online speedrun levels. Speaking on the PlayStation Blog, director Nicolas Doucet said”Many of you asked for the return of speedrun levels so we hope you enjoy those. Time to sharpen those jumping skills and shave milli-seconds at every turn,”

10 new cameo bots will also be included in the DLC, including bots based on Helldivers and Stellar Blade.

Astro Bot has been critically acclaimed, earning it a score of 94 on the review aggregation site Metacritic. VGC’s Astro Bot review called it “the best 3D platformer in a decade”.

VGC recently got the chance to visit the studio behind Astro Bot, Team Asobi, for an inside look at the game’s development and the franchise’s history.

Marvel’s Avengers will forever be remembered as one of history’s most expensive and embarrassing gaming flops. Coming off the heels of the widely successful live-action Avengers films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Square Enix partnered with Marvel Games to bring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to the video game format.

The project had the advantage of the Marvel brand, a plethora of popular heroes, and more; however, it failed spectacularly. The gaming community had high expectations for this game and thought it would be on the same caliber as Marvel’s Spider-Man from Insomniac Games, but it was the complete opposite.

Three years after launch with a lackluster sales reception, a low player count, and technical drawbacks, the game developers decided to pull the plug.

The game was initially called The Avengers Project and was teased in 2017. Fans of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were ecstatic after the announcement that a triple-A Avengers video game was in the works and the final product was extremely underwhelming. While the game did have a few redeeming factors, like the gameplay and characterization of each Avenger, that was about it.

Everything else fell apart quickly, especially when the developers envisioned this project to be live service.

Even the live-action version of Ms. Marvel didn’t really enjoy playing the game as much as she thought she would. After she pointed out the lack of enemy variety, Iman Vellani’s complaints and criticisms are all relatable.

Even Marvel’s Spider-Man, a game about one playable hero, had that in spades, especially with the supervillains whereas the Avengers had only Taskmaster, Abomination, and MODOK. The gameplay was extremely repetitive without value as players go through one A.I.M. facility to wipe out hordes of enemies and whatnot; it is all button mashing.

The game developers reused the same assets from each map, slightly redesigned them, and thought no one would notice.

Each mission has the same objectives of standing in a circle until the meter is filled like capturing the flag in some other live-service game like Destiny, destroying each module to liberate captured Inhumans, or saving rogue A.I.M. scientists. The mission structure is not conducive to the setting, gameplay, and combat.

The developers prioritized making a live service video game with superheroes in the mix and thought it was a billion-dollar idea. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics had to learn the hard way that this is not what the gaming community wanted, and it shows after players are propelled into the multiplayer feature after beating the campaign.

While the studio promised free post-launch support like constant updates, patches, new story content, and Avengers, it did not take long to fall apart.

The player base was not fond of spending extra money on cosmetic items. Most of the Avengers, like Captain America and Iron Man, have an extensive wardrobe inspired by their outfits from the live-action films and comics.

While there are more original and cheaper skins to purchase through the in-game currency that can be obtained by opening chests and lockboxes containing gear, it is not worth the hassle.

The gear system is tedious and players were not having fun with the individual itemization of whether to upgrade or scrap a piece for extra storage. In the end, the developers gave away all the skins for free, leaving those who paid full price on the short end of the stick.

The newly added Operations, like Taking A.I.M. featuring Kate Bishop followed by Future Imperfect with Clint Barton’s Hawkeye, were both terrific DLCs; however, they were extremely short and not entirely worth the wait.

Fans thought the developers were shifting gears after the War for Wakanda expansion was released and had a decent campaign along with new supervillains to fight. Unfortunately, these efforts could not save the game and other plans, like the additions of She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and other heroes, will never see the light of day.

Ultron was meant to be added into the game in a future operation and the work had already been done. It is a shame that players never experienced it before the game was shut down permanently and removed from all storefronts.

While the game is no longer available for purchase online, the only way to play Marvel’s Avengers is through a physical copy that is likely sold for dirt-cheap. Crystal Dynamics released a final patch allowing players to replay all the campaigns in the best condition possible.

If you want to play a game that allows you to become your favorite superhero for a low price with all the suits from the films, then Marvel’s Avengers is worth grabbing today. There are no more future expansions, meaning there is no reason to rush through the brief campaign and DLCs.

Square Enix fumbled hard after forcing this game into the live service structure, not putting enough content in the single-player mode, and being plagued with bugs. Hopefully, future superhero games will look at this as a cautionary tale.

Have you played Marvel’s Avengers? Let us know in the comments section below!