Ready, set, EJECT! Get back on the track and in the air with the traveling action sports game Stuntfest – World Tour Developed by Pow Wow Entertainment. Starting today at 7 PM CET, test your skills and check out the Stuntfest – World Tour demo as part of Steam Next Fest for the next seven days! The demo includes 12 different tracks, 4 cars, and 5 characters – start your engine and play for free as long as you want during Steam Next Fest.
Stuntfest – World Tour combines racing, crashing, and destruction with a unique aimed ejection mechanism. 18 players compete against each other in an elimination-based stunt show through various nerve-wrecking game modes. The goal? To shine on stage and become the winner of the festival! Characters turn into living bullets, ejected out of the vehicles, and catapulted hundreds of meters through the air. The players maintain control when maneuvering their character while hurtling over vast distances and after crashing through huge obstacles. Up in the air, the players can take advantage of quirky gadgets to reach secret shortcuts and turn the tables at the last second. And the best part: Recover after a high jump and dive back into the next vehicle on the road!
We’re excited to announce October marks the 25th anniversary of the Fallout franchise! Join us all month long as we look back on twenty-five years of this iconic franchise, featuring developer retrospectives and tons of activities across the entire franchise, including:
Free week of Fallout 76
New Fallout Shelter Quests
Huge sales
Giveaways
And so much more!
Each week in October fans can visit www.fallout25th.com to learn what we’ve got planned for that week’s festivities.
Read on for more details about what players can expect throughout this anniversary month.
FALLOUT 76 FREE WEEK
Haven’t taken a dive into Fallout 76? Explore post-nuclear Appalachia with your friends during Fallout 76’s Free Week, concluding October 10. We’ll also be offering Fallout 76 on sale during the Free Week, allowing you to keep playing without missing a beat of progress at a discount.
A NEW UPDATE COMES TO FALLOUT SHELTER!
We’re adding new content to Fallout Shelter for the first time in over four years! Take on an alien threat in an all-new quest line featuring new enemies, take up arms with new weapons, recruit new Dwellers and decorate your Vault with a new celebration room theme. We’ll have more to show off when the update launches next week, so stay tuned!
SAVE BIG DURING FALLOUT’S FRANCHISE SALE
Newcomer to the Fallout universe or longtime fan looking to fill some missing entries in your collection? We’re offering deep discounts across the entire Fallout franchise! Players on Steam have until October 18 to take advantage of the anniversary sale, while sales on Xbox and PlayStation platforms end on October 12.
For all the latest on activities and events around the 25th anniversary of Fallout, visit www.fallout25th.com.
Valve’s handheld PC gaming console, with its sleek black style is a strange, yet beautiful creature. It allows gamers to take their Steam library into a handheld platform and comes in three varieties based, mainly, on available storage. The lowest cost model features 64GB of eMMC storage and retails for $399. The mid-level Steam Deck features a 256GB NVMe SSD and an included carrying case and retails for $529. The high end Steam Deck features a 512GB NVMe SSD, carrying case, and costs $649. This higher-end model also features a special anti-glare etched glass screen that the others do not. It’s this high end model that we’ll be taking a look at in our review. Does the extra storage and anti-glare screen justify this high cost? For that matter, will PC gamers adopt such a handheld platform at all? Sure, many have consoles in addition to their gaming PCs, but does the Steam Deck provide any advantage to them that their PCs won’t?
From a design standpoint, Valve did an incredible job making the Steam Deck not only portable, but also beautiful. It features a large, 7-inch display in the middle with hand controls on each end. On the left-hand side of the Steam Deck, you’ll find a directional pad, analog stick, and a haptic feedback equipped trackpad as well as the Steam button. On the right-hand side, you’ll find another analog stick and trackpad as well as the usual A, B, X, and Y buttons found on most gamepads. Also on the right side of the Steam Deck is the is the Quick Action button. This button brings up an abbreviated array of on-screen controls which a gamer would find useful no matter if they are in or out of game (things like screen brightness). The Steam Deck feels like an expensive piece of equipment with quality build materials. Along the top of the Steam Deck are volume and power buttons as well as the headphone and USB-C power port. Also featured on the Steam Deck are shoulder/bumper buttons, triggers, and some other buttons on the back of the unit. One thing Valve did not skimp out on during the design of the Steam Deck was buttons. The anti-glare coating does seem to prevent glare from pinpointing and becoming a problem – instead, it diffuses the light and makes it less noticeable, relying on the built-in screen lighting to overpower it. It works well, but isn’t anything earth-shattering.
Powering on the Steam Deck and logging into my Steam account was very simple, and the device even had a few updates to install along the way. Overall, a very low learning curve to get going. Once all set up, the Steam Deck features a slick user interface with the ability to go through the Steam library, store, device settings, and a lot more. Valve has designed the interface to be very user friendly and I had no trouble navigating around its various functions. Valve has been very busy curating the level of Steam Deck compatibility of all of the various games in its library. They display different icons on the store cards for each game to illustrate this point. Many are still not yet rated and are basically play at your own risk experiences.
After installing several titles to the Steam Deck, I dove into a long night of game playing to see if the handheld lived up to the hype. First, I started up Bethesda Softworks The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. It was listed as not yet being rated for use on Steam Deck, but I really wanted to take my Skyrim experience on the go. Something I did not consider initially was that, because the Steam Deck is connected to the Steam Cloud, it downloaded all my cloud saves! This is terrific news – it means I don’t have to start over with an entirely new character unless I wish to. Skyrim came to life and detected the game pad style control scheme. It worked! It… Worked. I was strolling through Skyrim, battling evil creatures and bandits, engaging with merchants. I spent a couple hours just exploring and enjoying the overall experience. The volume of the Steam Deck can be pushed up to a decent level and sounded great. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was another stand-out hit in my Steam Deck usage. I played the game for hours on end while laying in bed trying to get to sleep. A word of warning – if you keep the Steam Deck on your night stand, expect to lose sleep.
One of the interesting dynamics of playing on the Steam Deck is that it does become a game console style controller experience. Even though they offer things like virtual keyboards and touchpads which can act as mouse emulators, it just doesn’t replicate the PC gaming experience. This means that not all of the PC games you enjoy are going to translate to the Steam Deck unless they are games with game controller capabilities already. It also means that if you are expecting the Steam Deck to become your PC away from home, you could be disappointed. While there is a Windows-like OS that can be switched to at will, it remains to be seen exactly what apps will be available for it. One fun thing about the PC feature set is that it allows your to bring up the virtual keyboard in-game. It means that you can enable any tweaks or cheat codes built into the game at will – something you can’t do on the console versions of the titles usually.
Overall, if you are looking to take most of your PC games on the road with you and enjoy them on what is essentially a grown-up version of the Nintendo Switch, you will love your Valve Steam Deck.
LG Electronics (LG) is introducing LG OLED Flex (model LX3), an innovative new TV boasting the world’s first bendable 42-inch OLED screen. Perfect for immersive console, PC and cloud gaming, and for enjoying live TV broadcasts and content streaming services, LG OLED Flex ushers in a whole new era of screen customizability. The LX3’s remarkable display can go from completely flat to spectacularly curved (900R),1 letting users choose their ideal arc from twenty levels of curvature, for a truly personalized viewing experience.
The game-changing form factor of the LG OLED Flex is made possible by LG’s backlight-free, self-lit OLED technology. Whether flat or curved, the LG OLED evo technology-equipped LX3 delivers the same exceptional picture quality and performance that have made LG OLED the choice of discerning consumers the world over. Providing infinite contrast, deep blacks, highly-accurate colors (100 percent color fidelity certified),2 a lightning-fast 0.1 millisecond response time and low input lag, LG OLED Flex will make users feel like they’re part of the on-screen action.
In addition to lifelike image quality, powered by α (Alpha) 9 Gen 5 intelligent processor and unique picture algorithms, LG OLED Flex offers outstanding eye comfort as evidenced by its multiple flicker-free, glare-free3 certifications. Easier on the eyes, the LX3’s OLED screen enables users to enjoy longer gaming sessions and binge-watch their favorite shows without experiencing eye fatigue. Meanwhile, the application of LG’s super anti-reflection (SAR) coating helps to reduce visual distractions, so that users can focus all their attention on what’s on screen.
With compelling customization options for a more personalized user experience, the bendable 42-inch display is unlike anything else on the market. Users can quickly adjust the LX3’s curvature to one of two available presets using the dedicated button on the remote control or manually change the degree of curvature in five percent increments over 20 different levels. Additionally, the screen of LG OLED Flex can be tilted toward up to 10 degrees or away up to 5 degrees from the user and has a height-adjustable stand – up or down by 140 millimeters – guaranteeing ergonomic comfort for those who like to sit up, and those who like to lean back.
What’s more, the LX3 comes with exclusive features and functions that give users greater control over their gaming experience. For example, they can adjust the size of the onscreen image4 according to their individual preferences or the genre of game they’re playing. Fans of role playing games (RPGs), racing games or platformers will likely want to use all 42 inches of the screen, while real time strategy (RTS) or first-person shooter (FPS) gamers might prefer a 32- or 27-inch image that allows them to see everything going on in the game-environment at a glance. The image resize feature can be easily accessed from the ultra-convenient Gaming Dashboard menu, where users can also choose the position high, low or centered of the smaller image on screen.
The new Game app, which is exclusive to the LX3, supports custom screensavers, offers shortcuts to popular apps, such as Twitch and YouTube, and provides a list of connected external input devices, all on the same screen. Revamped for LG OLED Flex, LG’s Gaming Optimizer adds customized sound settings for specific game genres to its diverse range of gamer-centric picture and audio options. Its dedicated game sound settings menu includes an equalizer, switches for AI Game Sound and Dolby Atmos, and offers access to advanced audio settings, enabling users to tailor the gaming experience precisely how they want it.
Gamers will also appreciate the LX3’s Multi View mode, which allows them to view content from two different sources simultaneously and select which audio they want to hear. This means they can play a PC or a console game while watching YouTube videos5 streamed from their smartphone at the same time.
For maximum convenience, the Switching Hub function makes it possible to use the LG OLED Flex’s built-in microphone and any devices connected via its USB ports such as a headset, keyboard or mouse with a PC connected by HDMI cable. By pressing the source switching button on the side of the LX3’s stand, users can switch device connection back and forth between PC and LG OLED Flex without having to physically disconnect and reconnect anything. Additionally, the built-in mic provides effective echo-cancellation for crystal-clear voice chatting while gaming.
The LX3 also delivers excellent sound with two front-firing 40W speakers that help further elevate the gaming and content-viewing experience. And with built-in support for Dolby Atmos, the TV adds greater clarity, depth and liveliness to audio on compatible titles.
LG’s outstanding OLED TV lineup, including the new LG OLED Flex, offers one of the best big-screen gaming experiences around, with support for Dolby Vision gaming at 4K 120Hz and the latest HDMI 2.1 features, such as variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM). Moreover, LG’s bendable display is G-SYNC® Compatible and AMD FreeSync™ Premium certified, ensuring tear- and stutter-free visuals that help bring games fully to life.
To complete the personalized user experience, LG OLED Flex incorporates a customizable lighting feature into its shield-like rear design. The LX3’s lighting enhances the atmosphere by synchronizing with the video or audio of the content playing on screen, offering five modes6 for users to choose from.
LG Flex will be on display at IFA 2022 in LG’s booth in Hall 18 of Messe Berlin.
Middle-earth is opening up for new adventurers. Free League Publishing today launched the pre-order for the 5E adaptation of the award-winning second edition of The One Ring™ RPG, entitled The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying, alongside the Shire™ Adventures compendium. The pre-order gives immediate access to the complete PDFs of both volumes.
The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying is 236-page hardback volume that contains what you need to create 5E adventures set in the world’s most popular fantasy setting: six original heroic cultures from the land of Eriador, six new classes, a host of terrifying adversaries, and comprehensive rules for journeys, councils, wondrous artefacts, and the subtle magic of Middle-earth.
Shire™ Adventures is a 104-page hardback volume that describes the Shire in great detail, as well as five short adventures and seven pre-generated characters, including famous Bagginses, Tooks, and Brandybucks! The contents of Shire™ Adventures are adapted from the Starter Set for The One Ring™ RPG.
The new edition of The One Ring™ RPG, set in the world of The Lord of the Rings™ by J.R.R. Tolkien and designed by Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi, became the most successful tabletop roleplaying core game ever on Kickstarter in March 2021. Now Middle-earth is open for new roleplayers with a brand new 5E adaptation.
The official retail release of both works is planned for Q1 2023, but the pre-order in the Free League webshop gives immediate access to complete PDFs of both volumes.
Wargaming, the publisher and developer of the leading naval MMO World of Warships, is celebrating the scariest season of the year in its console title World of Warships: Legends. Leading this update is a three-week Halloween event offering no tricks and a range of treats, with newly researchable German alternative battleships and a new Legendary Bureau project.
Something wicked this way comes
Kicking off the freakish festivities is the three-week event “A Light in the Dark ‘22”, with a cooperative battle against AI to defeat the legendary Rasputin. Running from October 17 to November 7, the event offers up impressive rewards, with the enviable Commonwealth Tier V Premium cruiser Perth waiting among prizes. To celebrate Halloween, World of Warships: Legends is also introducing a range of creepy content. Both Commanders and ships can get in on the costumed action, with three special guises for naval personnel and a range of themed ship skins available.
Legendary Bourgogne enters the Bureau
Closing out this update is a new addition to the Marine Nationale with Legendary Tier battleship Bourgogne. Bourgogne is the fastest battleship at the highest Tier in the game, and capitalizes on this advantage with both Main Battery Reload Booster and Engine Boost consumables. Able to swiftly relocate around the map and sustain a high rate of fire against enemy ships, Bourgogne is a worthy Bureau project to endeavour and can be obtained through the Store.
The Chant – the single-player, third-person, cosmic horror action adventure launching Nov. 3 – has a brand-new preview accolades video enticing players to travel to a remote island on the Pacific coast and join a spiritual retreat, far from a regular holiday destination.
Developed by Brass Token and published by Prime Matter, The Chant is said to be “a big surprise; making its way to the most anticipated upcoming titles,” by Press Start from Australia and, “a full blast of cosmic cultist horror,” by the German outlet ingame.
Diverse international media had the chance to put go hands-on with The Chant for the first time during Gamescom, held in Cologne, Germany at the end of August.
The Chant is set on Glory Island at remote spiritual retreat. After a mystic ritual goes wrong and awakens The Gloom (a colorful psychedelic dimension of terror that feeds off negative energy), the main character, Jess, must face her own fears to reverse the ritual. “Brass Token has put a lot of care into the game,” highlights Wccftech from the US.
To survive, players must craft, fight, and escape the sinister legacy of an older 1970s cult and the spiritual and physical beings they unleashed. The game is, IGN France says, “the new gem from Prime Matter.”
Mike Skupa, Creative Director says, “It’s been inspiring to hear people’s impressions after playing The Chant. Seeing fans of the horror genre reference inspirations from classic survival horror games to weird fiction and beyond, reminds us why we created this game in the first place.”
The Chant is “looking and sounding pretty interesting,” (Pushsquare, UK) since it is a thrilling blend of twisted and colorful characters and a ’70s-inspired atmospheric soundtrack designed by renowned composer Paul Ruskay.
Pre-orders for The Chant are available now.
The Chant´s digital pre-order is already live. Bonuses for pre-ordering include a 1970s-themed in-game VFX filter mode and an exclusive 1970s-inspired spiritual retreat outfit.
Leading video game publisher and developer Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. today announced THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY titles MAN OF MEDAN and LITTLE HOPE are now available for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S. These games mark the beginning of the anthology’s series of standalone branching cinematic horror games designed to present a new terrifying experience on a regular basis. Each game is unconnected from other entries in the anthology and features a brand-new story, setting, and new cast of characters.
Timed with these releases is a free game update that brings improved UI and gameplay, added difficulty settings and QTE warnings, wider accessibility, and more for players of the legacy versions of both titles on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via STEAM®. Additionally, MAN OF MEDAN will have a surprise in store for players with an extended chapter titled “Flooded” that introduces new gameplay and a shocking twist to the game’s ending.
“With THE DEVIL IN ME releasing this November, now is the perfect time for players to experience the intimate horror and chilling stories in the first two chapters of THE DARK PICTURES anthology in MAN OF MEDAN and LITTLE HOPE,” said Dan Ham, Senior Brand Manager at Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. “While each story in THE DARK PICTURES stands on its own, these enhanced versions of the first two titles along with a free update are a great way for new and existing fans to whet their appetite with this unique brand of horror as the final, and perhaps darkest, chapter of the first season of the anthology looms.”
MAN OF MEDAN, the first game in the anthology, brings supernatural horror to the South Pacific. Five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip with a rumored WWII wreck to discover. As the day unfolds and a storm rolls in, their trip soon changes into something much more sinister. Who will live? Who will die? It comes down to you. Can you save them all?
In LITTLE HOPE, the second game, after their bus crashes in bad weather, four college students and their teacher become stranded in an isolated town miles from anywhere. Trapped by a mysterious fog in the town of Little Hope, they search desperately for a means of escape while visions of the past haunt them from the shadows.
In THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: THE DEVIL IN ME, a documentary film crew must escape a nightmarish experience in a place called “the murder hotel,” a grim setting where they encounter gruesome discoveries and murderous traps set for them by their mysterious host. THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: THE DEVIL IN ME is scheduled to release on November 18, 2022, for PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via STEAM®.
In CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker and creator, executive producer and co-showrunner Guillermo del Toro has curated a collection of unprecedented and genre-defining stories meant to challenge our traditional notions of horror. From macabre to magical, gothic to grotesque or classically creepy, these eight equally sophisticated and sinister tales (including two original stories by del Toro) are brought to life by a team of writers and directors personally chosen by del Toro.
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’s CABINET OF CURIOSITIES will debut Tuesday, October 25, launching a special four day, double episode Netflix & Chills Halloween event. Two all-new CABINET OF CURIOSITIES tales will debut daily through Friday, October 28, when the entire collection of eight stories will be available to Netflix members around the world.
The anthology series is created and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro; executive produced by Academy Award winner J. Miles Dale (The Shape of Water; Sex/Life), who also serves as co-showrunner; and executive produced by Gary Ungar. Regina Corrado serves as co-executive producer. Del Toro also serves as host.
Victura, Inc. today announced that one of the world’s most respected authorities on conflict, London’s Imperial War Museum, has opened its exhibition War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment. Open today until May 28, 2023, this exhibit, which seeks to challenge perceptions of how video games interpret stories about war and conflict, includes exclusive game footage and interviews with the development team from Six Days in Fallujah, Victura’s upcoming tactical military-shooter video game.
Conceived by a Marine who was badly wounded during the combat, Six Days in Fallujah recreates true stories from 2004’s Second Battle of Fallujah, which became one of the world’s toughest and most impactful modern battles. In the game, players assume the roles of real Marines, Soldiers, and Iraqi civilians as they participate in critical moments during the battle. Over 100 Marines, Soldiers, and Iraqi civilians who were present during the Second Battle of Fallujah have shared their personal stories, photographs, and video recordings with the development team. The game gives voice to these stories through gameplay and first-person accounts captured in original documentary interview footage.
“Six Days in Fallujah lets players become virtual participants during a world-changing historical event, offering context and insight that hasn’t been possible until now,” according to Victura CEO Peter Tamte. “It’s inspiring to see one of the world’s most respected authorities on conflict demonstrate the important ways games like Six Days in Fallujah can use interactivity to help players understand the events shaping our world.”
Chris Cooper and Ian Kikuchi, Imperial War Museums’ co-curators of the War Games exhibition, say: “Paintings, books, plays, films and tv shows have all told gripping stories about conflict. Video games have continued this tradition in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, becoming today’s largest and fastest growing entertainment industry. We hope this exhibition prompts visitors to consider the influence this media might have on our perceptions and understanding of war and conflict.”
More information about Six Days in Fallujah is available at www.sixdays.com. More information about IWM’s War Games exhibition is available at https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/war-games.
