Some games provide intentionally scary moments, while others turn into horror masterpieces entirely by accident. In honor of the sentiment, ??here's a list of regular games turned into horror masterpieces via the miracle of video game glitches.

Skyrim NPCs can survive decapitation

‌The world of Skyrim is a magical place, though not all the magics contained? within are necessarily good ones.

Remember that guy who gets beheaded right at the start of Skyrim? Well, he does lose his head every time, as there's no way to mess with that scripting, but the? wound isn't always fatal. This guy �as well as other enemies who wind up headless �can just get up and go on with their lives.

While there's no recording of this headless horseless man going on a vendetta against Dovakhin for doing nothing to prevent his execution, I would keep my eyes open on a?? playthrough where th??at happens.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

Demon babies in The Sims 3

‌The Sims series is as far as it gets from a horror experience �or is it? Well, it turns out that babies in The Sims can become pretty hellish. There's a glitch that turns the babies in The Sims 3 into what feels like an early version of the necromorphs from the Dead Space series.

Putting our offspring in this world can be scary, yes, but I doubt this was an intentional allegory for the fears of parenthood like in David Lynch's Eraserhead.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

The Manimals in Red Dead Redemption

The original Red Dead Redemption could sometimes mix up human and animal models, which resulted in human NPCs behaving like animals. N?o, not in the Wild West sense where we expect everyone to play like barbarians.

I'm talking about people literally behaving like animals. Some move like four-legged animals, some others even fly as if they were birds. Sure, this sounds fun when you're just reading about it, but it's probably not as fun to? get mauled by a bunch of s?uit-and-tie-wearing coyotes.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

The evolved Manimals in Assassin's Creed Origins

Video games have gotten better over time, and that's why Assassin’s Creed Origins features an evolved version of the Red Dead Redemption glitch shown above. Now, instead of having humans behaving like animals, we have some ani??mal NPCs that adopt human mannerisms.

This might not be ancient Egypt done r?ight, but it sure as hell is ancient Egypt done cool.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

Inexplicable Statue in Witcher 3

‌The Tower of Mice is already one of the eeriest places in the entirety of The Witcher 3, but it gets even worse if you pay attention at the wrong time.

If you stand in the specific spot shown in the video above, you’ll get to see a weirdly lean creature phasing in and out of?? existence. What is it? Nobody knows for sure, but it's creepy as hell. The good news is that it's completely harmless. Maybe it actually likes Geralt.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: This specte??r is there for any player who wants to meet it.

‌Alma following you in FEAR 2

Alma is the little The Ring-inspired girl that serves as the poster child for the FEAR series. She shows up to spook players throughout FEAR 2, naturally, but this weird glitch makes her follow you around nonstop. The player in the video above gets rid of her by throwing a punch, which caused her to fly away in the most awkward manner possible. This ??is the perfect combination of funny and terrify?ing.

‌‌The FEAR series is already scary enough as is. It doesn't need its scare factor to get further inflated by wac??ky glitches.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: A?str?onomically low. This may be the only recorded instance of this glitch.

NBA Jam has ghosts

�em>NBA Jam came out in �3, a few months after t??he t??ragic death of Drazen Petrovic.

Imagine trying to enjoy the game when the arcade machine starts shouting his name �and no one else’s �even though he's not even playing. That’s as close as it gets to a video game haunting �and it's totally real.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: 100%. This glitch is present in ever??y early version of the game.

Fallout 4 companion becomes your greatest enemy

Most Fallout 4 fans don’t like Preston Garvey very much ??because of how pushy he gets with helping settlements, and most of them haven’t even had to deal with him going mad.

Yes, it's possible that Garvey will turn into an unkillable Terminator-like figure that will hunt players down until the heat death of the universe. Yes, that's something that happens, and someone has lived to document it.

This brave wasteland journalist tried everything, from regular bullets to explosives. Nothing would stop Garvey. The best he could do was temporarily stun the unstoppable force. He then had an idea, to build the most powerful settlement ?ever built. Maybe its concentrated firepower would destroy Garvey. Too bad the settlement refused to shoot Garvey, seemingly remembering that he's the only person in the land who cares about settlements.

The ordeal ended not with Garvey's death, but with him randomly going back t??o friendly mode. There's no way of knowing how long this peace will las??t.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Extremely low, but keep your eyes open, and don't neg??lect your settlements.

Mount and Blade’s terrifying skybox

‌In Mount and Blade: Warband, a weird glitch might turn the entire skybox into the face of an angry man who merely sta??res at the player. Who is that? Why is he so pissed? Nobody knows.

I’m as??suming that’s a very pissed-off medieval god, which is sadly ??the worst possible kind of god.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Very high. This is a surpri?singly common glitch.

The post Creepiest glitches in video games appeared first on Destructoid.

Steam Deck Chairs

Yesterday saw Britain hit with the highest temperatures the country has ever recorded, part of an increasing, (and highly worrying), weather crisis that is battering Europe. In response to the climate, Valve has issued a warning regarding the use of its recent handheld PC hardware, Steam Deck.

In a statement issued by the developer/publisher, Valve noted that the Steam Deck, though a hardy piece of kit, is designed to work at ambie?nt temperatures sub-35°C. Shoul?d the exterior temperature reach or even exceed this level, the Steam Deck will being to throttle its own performance in order to prevent damage to its fine circuitry and physical infrastructure.

//twitter.co??m/OnDeck/status/1549467955754217473?s=20&;t=iyPzzCRj5_boiWyTH??ofp5g

Should temperatures climb even higher, with the internal APU (Accelerated Processor Unit) reaching anywhere the real of 100°C, then the Steam Deck may shut down entirely, in order to prevent both itself and the user from potential injury. It's incredibly powerful tech, no doubt about it, but it sure ain't indestructible. Nintendo recently issued similar warnings regarding its own handheld platform, Nintendo Switch, given the players' penchant ?for using the respective hardware when out and about.

So, if you're lucky enough to have already received your Steam Deck, take it easy this summer. And that goes for yourself too. Stay cool, stay hydrated*, and stay well away from the midday sun. And for those of you still waiting on your own little black box, Valve recently noted that it intends to double the output of Ste??am Deck deliveries over the remainder of 2022.

Disclaimer: Your Steam Deck/Nintendo Switch DOES NOT need to stay hydrated.

The post Valve issues Steam Deck warning as hea?twave takes hold appeared first on Destructoid.

Good God Almighty, They Killed It

The book closes on a piece of pro-wrestling history next month, as 2K Games has officially confirmed that it will shut down the online servers to the abominable WWE 2K20 and its somewhat better-received predecessor, WWE 2K19, on June 30.

Speaking on Twitter, 2K Games said that going forward the development team would be focused on supporting its most recent WWE release, WWE 2K22, which launched on PC and consoles in March of this year. Once the switch is flicked on June 30, all online elements of WWE 2K19 and 2K20 will become inactiv??e, including online matches, multiplayer lobbies, and the Community Creation suite.

While WWE 2K19 did find some favor among hardened fans, and is considered one the best releases in the WWE 2K series, WWE 2K20 will go down in history as one of the most shambolic releases in AAA history. Rolling out in October 2019, the wrasslin' sim had an utterly disastrous launch �the title packed to capacity with glitches, bugs, warped animations, online lag, flailing cameras, mislabeled control prompts, frame rate issues, and many, man?y more issues. 2K Games sheepishly apologized for the quality of the product as soon as launch day, but not before raking in plenty of $60 sales.

It didn't end there. Future updates and fixes would add further problems, including an amusing bug that prevented the game from launching once the real-world calendar hit 2020. Yikes. 2K Games would decide to take a year out from the franchise, and instead released garbage brawler WWE 2K Battlegrounds �a microtransactio??ns-filled disaster that died a deserved death in double-quick time.

WWE 2K22, considered a "restart" of sorts for the beleaguered series, has received relatively positive reviews from critics and fans, but most of the community admits that there is still much to be done before the WWE 2K series hits the heady heights of the pro-wrestling video game greats. If you want to check it out for yourself, then WWE 2K22 is available now? on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platfor?ms.

Adieu, Becky No Face...

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No word on PC update as of yet

Today sees the official launch of one of the highest-rated video games of current times, maybe all times, as FromSoftware's highly anticipated Elden Ring makes its debut on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms �The developer has released a launch day? patch for the console editions, which hopes to fine-tune a few early issues.

Version 1.02, which should be available by the time you read these words, tweaks various elements of Elden Ring's controls, visuals, and overall gameplay stability. According to the patch notes, (which you can check out right here), the new update features "improved player controls", as well as fixes to on-screen text, audio and music prompts, NPC issues, and overall frame-rate problems. The Elden Ring Version 1.02 patch also includes some very s??pecific fixes, such as a bug affecting Xbox wireless headsets.

The notes end by stating that the implementation of ray-tracing technology will arrive?? at a later date.

It should be stated that there has been a fair bit of testimony doing the rounds that the PC edition of Elden Ring is going through its own set of specific teething issues. Neither FromSoftware nor publisher Bandai Namco has addressed these concerns as of yet, but you can be sure that the problems are being looked into. Elden Ring is set to be one of the biggest and most successful releases of the year, perhaps the generation, and will no doubt be of the highest prior??ity to the?? companies.

Elden Ring is available? now on PlayStatio??n, PC, and Xbox platforms.

The post Elden Ring launch patch to address stability?? issues on console appeared first on Destructoid.

Shinier than ever before

Guerrilla Games' sequel Horizon Forbidden West is now in the hands of the player??s, wowing many with its beautiful vistas, delightfully detailed characters, and?? dazzling visual effects. But as Patrick Bateman told us, you can always look better, and so a new update has been announced to iron out a few graphical inconsistencies.

While the developer has not offered any specific details on what the update will be targeting, it is assumed that Guerrilla Games will be addressing some of the technical issues bothering players using Horizon Forbidden West's "performance mode".

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_nPXWcmzvo

As testified on the game's Reddit, these issues include occasional blurring/shimmering, some texture lag, and inconsistency with HDR brightness. Aside from the visuals, some players have reported minor audio problems an??d gameplay concerns. The developer has asked players to continue posting their findings in the aforementioned thread, so that the team can better pinpoint the key problems that need addressing.

"Please continue to use the Support Form and share videos (recordings of your TV/monitor are useful) and provide us with as much information as possible," writes Guerrilla_Chante. "We understand your frustrations and appreciate your patie??nce. We are doing our best to quickly get you back out into the wilds so you can explore all the secrets of the Forbidden West."

There is, obviously, no official release date for the patch, but no doubt Guerrilla Games is already looking into the cause of these issues. It should be noted that, despite these initial glitches, the highly anticipated sequel remains a solid release, with some of the finest visuals to grace the PlayStation platform to date. If you wanna see it for yourself, then Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.

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It's tradition

Shortly after Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl launched, a Pokemo??n dupe glitch was discovered. Classic!

Spotted on Reddit days ago, and on YouTube by way of Orcastraw on November 23, the process is relatively?? straightforward,?? and requires no hacking or modding of any kind.

• Head to the Solaceon daycare, then pull up your boxes.
• Have two Pokemon in the same position in different boxes (so lower right-hand corner of box 1 and box 2).
• Then take one of them and put it in the battle box.
• The other Pokemon will be placed in the daycare. Select it, but before you leave the menu, press "box list," press Y and swap the slots they're placed in, then deposit the Pokemon.
• Re-open the boxes, then go to the battle box. Take a Pokemon you're going to delete and insert it, then take the Pokemon you want to clone and add it to the team list.
• Then view the summary screen of the Pokemon you added. It has been cloned.

Now that this has been widely shared on social media, it's likely that Nintendo will squash this bug sometime in the coming week??s, but people can still do it with the 1.0 edition of the game ?if they want.

The post Of? course Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has a dup??e glitch appeared first on Destructoid.

Hello, surf right in

Old-school fourth-gen players will likely remember the Pokemon Flower Paradise zone: a special area that houses the mythical creature Shaymin. The Flower Paradise was only meant for people to access via an item called "Oak's Letter," which is an event item that essentially "unlocked" the chance to meet Shaymin. Of course, people have been brute-forcing their way in since the DS era, including in the new Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes.

Confirmed by EternalMemes30 on Reddit, the Pokemon Flower Paradise can be entered via using a surf glitch. As the community has pointed out, you can bug game areas u??sing in-game tools, without hacks.

How to find Shaymin and the Flower Paradise in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:

• First, you'll want the National Dex, and you'll want to become Champion of Sinnoh (read: finish the core storyline).
• Then you'll head to Route 224. Do not battle the black belt trainer wandering around the beach, near a series of rock formations: saving here is a good idea to ensure you don't mess up the glitch.
• Defeat the three specific trainers near the black belt trainer (the bug trainer, the ace trainer with green hair, and the spinning dragon trainer).
• Go near the beach and position yourself below the big rock so that the black belt trainer engages you: mash A at this point.
• A prompt will pop up asking you if you want to surf, even though you're on land: accept it.
• Move slightly with the analog stick (going too fast will demount you).
• Go past the three trainers and into the staircase near the dragon trainer, then surf into the upper left-hand corner of the stairs.
• Maneuver around the stairs so that you are floating in the air: then head left until you dismount in the water to the left.
• You can surf anywhere in here (the Seabreak Path): surf to the east, then run north until you reach the Flower Paradise.

Boom, you'll be able to surf glitch into the Pokemon Flower Paradise zone. Classic glitch! You can save right before Shaymin and ???try your luck.

The post Pokemon Brilliant Diam?ond and Shining Pearl k?ept the Flower Paradise, which you can access with a glitch appeared first on Destructoid.

The new direction for the former PES series isn't off on the right foot

[Update: Konami has released a statement on the current state of eFootball 2022, acknowledging the feedback and graphical issues. "We are very sorry for the problems, and want to assure everyone we will take all concerns seriously and strive to improve the current situation," the statement reads.

//twitter.com/p??lay_eFootball/status/1443929582982221825

The company says it's planning for an update in October, while receiving further opinions through ques?tionnaires. Our original story follows.]

Today, Konami launched eFootball 2022, its new free-to-play football game that's taking over from the PES series?. And so f??ar today, it's having a rough go of it.

The moniker "eFootball' is me??????????????????????????ant to denote that this is a platform for updates, as Konami's soccer efforts seem to be moving towards seasonal updates and a free-to-play model with premium options. But as the platform's gone?? live for virtual football fans around the globe, there's been some negative reactions.

Users have been postin??g some pretty wild and wacky sc?reens, ranging from strange blurs and facial expressions to whatever this bizarre interaction is in the tweet below.

//twitter.com/notalexnd/status/?1443563162410815494

I need to share my favorite one that I found in the Steam community screenshots hub for eFootball 2022. Because honestly, it's an intensely relatable screenshot.?? I feel seen by?? the video game in this moment.

In motion, it's also got some goofy stuff ?go?ing on. Here is one player running like Naruto.

//twitter.c??om/BassRi??cky_/status/1443421207215357953

There are also plenty of pictures of strange-looking crowds and other odd interactions. Silly graphical stuff aside, there are some other complaints about the actual game itself amidst the flood of negative reviews piling up on Steam.

Early adopters complain of lacking content, fewer features, a sluggishness to gameplay, and unresponsive or poor A.I. interactions. Content creators are already venting their frustrations on social media about the state of it thus far.

Konami has indicated that this is a platform, meant to evolve over time, and that features will be rolling out in the future, with its first major update scheduled for this Fall. What's unclear is whether the fans will stick around to see whether these updates can deliver what they want from eFootball.

If you'd like to have a look for yourself, eFootball 2022 is live and free-to-pl??ay on PlaySt?ation and Xbox consoles, as well as PC.

The post Konami’s eFootball 2022 is having a rough launch (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

Catch the rest on another loop, Colt?

Arkane Studios has released the first major update for the PC edition of its highly acclaimed shooter, Deathloop. Update 1.708.4.0, which is live in-game right now, hopes to improve the "stuttering" issue that has been bothering mouse users.

According to the patch notes, however, this new update might not be a simple "catch-all" fix for the stuttering issue, with Arkane noting that it is looking into a separate issue that it believes may also be causing the frustrating problem for players. Within the community, many are pointing to the title's use of Denuvo's anti-piracy software �a resource-hungry plugin that also caused similar problems for Resident Evil Village's PC community �though this has not been officially confirmed as a contributor to Deathloop's stability issues.

A further update is expected, with Arkane asking Deathloopers to sit tight for the time being. Despite these irritating issues on the PC platform, Deathloop has been a smashing success, receiving rave reviews on both PS5 and PC from both the media and the gaming community. It is a shame to see these technical issues bother what has been one of the most successful launches ??of the year to date.

Deathloop is available now on PS5 and PC. You can check out our own Chris Carter's review right here.

The post Deathloop PC update takes fi?rst swing at stuttering and other issues appeared first on Destructoid.

Stutter Rap

This week saw the launch of Arkane's highly anticipated Deathloop. The super-stylish shooter did not disappoint the critics, and has received rave reviews across the board for its inventive gameplay, slick visuals, and engaging, old-school FPS combat. Some PC Deathloop players, however, are less than pleased, complaining of frequent "stutter" issues on the Steam version �a problem that seemingly has affected enough users to garner a "Mixed" rating on the Steam platform.

Publisher Bethesda took to Reddit last night to address the problem, letting players know that it is aware of the complaints and is currently looking into possible causes and fixes "as a priority". Fans in the Reddit thread point to the much-maligned Denuvo anti-piracy software as the problem �much as it has been for other PC titles such as Capcom's Resident Evil Village �but, while definitely a snug theory, this cannot be officially confirmed as the reason as of thi???s writing.

This PC stutter problem is one of the only low points surrounding the Deathloop launch, with a week that has been packed out with praise and plaudits. As such, it is very likely that the developers will shift into top gear in order to find a fix for the PC issues, in order to keep the positive press rolling and Deathloop's chaotic murder party going. We'll be sure to let you k?now if/when any informati?on on a new patch is forthcoming.

Deathloop is available now on PS5 and PC.

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Mr. X Nightmare bug fix expected 'in the following days'

[Update: After a week of verification strife, the Mr. X Nightmare DLC is now available to purchase on Nintendo Switch. Dotemu recommends that parties ensure software and game are updated, then attempt to purchase the DLC from the in-game menu. Do not click the purchase button multiple times (even if it's slow to respond) as tha??t has been ?activating an automatic error message.]

Dotemu has addressed and apologized for an unforeseen technical issue that is preventing Nintendo Switch owners from purchasing Mr. X Nightmare, the new DLC expansion for its awesome brawler Streets of Rage 4. According to Dotemu, the team is working on a patch for the Streets of Rage 4 DLC, but has to roll it out via Nintendo's vali??dation process.

The fix is expected to arrive at some point "in t??he following days". Here's hoping that Switch players will hit the streets as soon as possible but, unf??ortunately, it will depend on how rapidly Nintendo's verification process is completed.

//twitter.co??m/Dotemu/status/14?15992470580736005?s=20

The post (Update) Dotemu working on fix for S?treets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare Switch woes appeared first on Destructoid.

ArcSys continues to work on optimizing online play

Arc System Works has rolled out the first major update for its recently released fighter, Guilty Gear Strive. A quick look at the patch notes for Version 1.05 reveals that this update is focused on GG Strive's under-the-hood issues, rather than tweaking the scra??pping capabilities of the new title's super-sexy cast of characters.

The fixes seem mostly to pertain to GG Strive's Online mode, with tweaks to a slew of minor issues such as U.I. bugs and lobby gaffes. These range from "display errors" on the character select and matchmaking screens, to glitches that made it impossible to return to Training Mode or to Follow your most recent opponents. Additionally, a bug that caused GG Strive to ha??rd lock while in the Re?play Theater has been eradicated. ArcSys also noted that it is continuing to work on the fighter's online stability, and is aware of an issue that makes network features inaccessible for some players.

Aside from the network fixes, Guilty Gear Strive now includes a Korean voiceover option, accessible from the settings menu. Several new videos have been added to the gallery, and the game will now replay the intro movie when left idle, which at the very least will help retailers demo the exciting fighter in-store. As for character balances and bugs... Well, it has been less than a month, so it's a little premature to start fiddling with the roster. The honeymoon period of every fighter sees pleas of nerfs to "OP" (read: "popular") characters, but in the majority of cases, this is just typical knee-jerk callouts from the community. Guilty Gear Strive will see its share of character rebalances over the coming months, but for now, you're just going to haTOTSUGEKI!

The post Guilty Gear Strive’s Version 1.05 update is more about stomping bugs than heads appeared first on Destructoid.

(Money) Back to the Future

Microsoft has announced that it will end its extended Cyberpunk 2077 refund policy on July 6.

"The team at CD PROJEKT RED continues to work hard to improve the experience of Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox players and has made a number of updates," reads an official update on the Xbox site. "Given these updates, Microsoft will be returning to our standard digital game refund policy for Cyberpunk 2077 on July 6 for both new and existing purchases."

Cyberpunk 2077's tumultuous launch led to various bespoke return policies, with Sony, Microsoft, and publisher CDPR offering players their money back on the RPG's roughshod PS4 and Xbox One ports. Sony even went as far as to pull Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store shortly after its December 2020 launch, with the game finally? returning to sale (albeit with a disclaimer) jus??t last week. While Microsoft has continued to sell the Xbox One edition, it has continually offered an extended return policy for players unhappy with the purchase.

CDPR has spoken repeatedly of its mission to get the console ports of Cyberpunk 2077 up to speed, rolling out numerous hotfixes and updates. Just last week, Update 1.23 brought with it a laundry list of UI fixes, animation tweaks, and memory and CPU optimizations. PS5 and Xbox Series X ports of Cyberpunk 2077 are tentatively scheduled for launch later in 2021, and as such CDPR will be looking to repair the brand's reputation. It's worth noting that, despite the severely negative launch, Cyberpunk 2077 would still go on to sell over 13 million copies in 2020, be??coming CDPR's best-selling ?game to date.

The post Microsof??t is ending its extended Cyberpunk 2077 refund policy appeared first on Destructoid.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Arc System Works' Guilty Gear Strive is set to wow fans with its beaut?iful artwork and intense, over-the-top action. On-screen chaos is practically a series trademark, after all. But it appears that once the creepy-as-heel surgeon Faust steps into the ring against his doppelganger, a glitch could make things a little too hot to handle, quite literally.

As noted by Eventhubs, an amusing (if unlikely) bug has been discovered by GG Strive player Straycats41. It seems that should both Faust players?? simultaneously hit the scalpel-wielding maniac's "What Could This Be?" Overdriv??e, the ensuing cataclysm can actually cause the game to glitch out and crash to the dashboard! DESTROYED!

This glitch does require every projectile pulled out to be a meteor. Not only that, but the Faust glitch only takes place on Strive's "busiest" stages, so the chances of this crash happening are exceedingly rare. But still, it seems that should the moon and the...? err... meteors align correctly, then both the PS4 and PS5 editions will choose to peace out. You can check out a video of the glitch in action in the tweet below. That Faust, what a japester!

Guilty Gear Strive will jump back into the ring on PlayStation and PC platforms on Jun??e 11. But GG devotees who bagged the Premium Edition can jump into Early Acces right now.

//twitter.com/Straycats41/status/14022102??19665416195?s=20

The post Faust vs Faust in Guilty Gear Strive is too much power for PlayStatio?n to ??handle appeared first on Destructoid.

Update suspended after reported SD card & network woes

Nintendo has temporarily halted the distribution of the latest software for the Switch platform. System update 12.0.3 went live on June 7, but was made unavailable mere hours later.

A tweet from Nintendo Japan implies that the new update is incompatible with the form??atting of new microSDXC cards. Other Switch users have been complaining of network disconnections and an inability to download patches for specific games. Nintendo of America declined to offer an explanation for the system update's deletion, and has informed Switch users that the team is currently working on a fix. An alternative to system update 12.0.3 will be rolled out as soon as possible.

The post PSA: Nintendo susp?ends distrib??ution of Switch system update 12.0.3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Summer Loving

The Games Done Quick team has announced that it will once again be hosting its sunny speedrunning event Summer Games Done Quick in July. The event will bring together some of the fastest and... furiousest players from? across the globe to compete in a week-long extravaganza of speedrun challenges, tool-assisted chicanery, and fascinating longplays.

As the world remains ??rocked by the effects of the ongoing COVID-19?? pandemic, this year's SGDQ will once again be an online affair, with hosts and runners streaming directly from the comfort and safety of their own homes. While GDQ fans are most certainly missing the camaraderie of the event's traditional hotel gathering, the online GDQ events have been no less entertaining and enjoyable in terms of content.

The online setting and difficult world circumstances have also had seemingly no effect on the generosity of the gaming community, who last year donated an amazing $2.3 million USD to non-profit charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. The GDQ team is yet to confirm who will be the beneficiary of SGDQ 2021, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't retu?rn to the global medical and healthcare initiative, as has?? been the case for several years now.

As I've made it known many, many times before, Summer Games Done Quick is one of my favorite times of the year. Chilling in the sun with good drinks and good games, all for a good cause. I haven't missed it in years, and I don't intend to in 2021. You can check out all of the action yourself when SGDQ 2021 kicks off Sunday, July 4, live on the official GDQ Twitch channel.

We'll be sure to k?eep you informed once this year's schedule is announced.

Announcement: With the health and safety of all in mind, #SGDQ2021 is now SGDQ 2021 Online, happening July 4 - 11. Expect the same week??long charity speedrun event you know and love!

Runners: Submiss??ions? open March 31 at 11:59 PM EDT!

More info: //t.co/Gja49VasM8

— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) March 30, 2021

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Stutter Rap

Switch-owning Monster Hunter fans are already eager to get their mitts on Capcom's Monster Hunter Rise, which is set to launch on the Nintendo platform March 26. But while playing the recently released demo of the mini mag??num opus, some players have been disappointed to encounter lag and stuttering effects, understandably ruining their experience.

In a recent message on its Japanese Twitter account, Capcom has noted that it is fully aware of the freezing/stuttering issue, as well as several other minor bugs, and promises that none of these bugs should trouble players in the final release. Bizarrely, it appears that the glitch is directly tied to a player's friend's list. The more friends you have, the prevalent the stuttering... At least I know I'll be able to play glitch-free.

Monster Hunter Rise will see the franchise return to the Nintendo platform for the first mainline entry since Monster Hunter 4, released on Nintendo 3DS back in 2013. With the record-breaking success of Monster Hunter: World?? under its belt, series fans can take comfort in the likelihood that Capcom will be supporting the series for many years to come.

The post Monster Hunter ??Rise demo bugs will be fixe?d in full game, confirms Capcom appeared first on Destructoid.

Thanks, Reagan

Activision has launched its newest entry in the billion-dollar Call of Duty series. Black Ops Cold War is, unsurprisingly, a high-gloss, expensive-looking, and punchy action-adventure but its PS4 edition is causing chagrin for ??a battalion of wan?nabe war criminals.

In what we'll dub the "Fractured Jaw" glitch, Cold War's PS4 players are fi?nding that the console will randomly de-sync the controller and kill th??e in-game sound entirely. The game continues to play, but players cannot re-sync their controller, and must force a reset in order to continue playing.

The game-breaking bug seems to be most prevalent in the single-player campaign's third mission (the titular "Fractured Jaw"), although some players have experienced the issue during Multiplayer, Zombies, and even the previously held beta. Personally, I have experienced the issue every single time I've played Fractured Jaw, but not once in any other mode. It's hugely frustrating, and here's hoping Activision will release a fix?? very soon.

In the meantime, some players are suggesting that going into the PS4's device manager and switching the "Communication" option from Bluetooth to USB in the controller sub menu offers a workaround, though some players have still comm??ented that t?his did not eliminate the issue for them.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and? Xbox Series X. Look out for our full review coming?? later this week.

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'We fully understand players' frustrations'

Publisher Microids and developer PlayMagic have issued an apology for the launch state of first-person adventure XIII. The remake of the classic PS2, Xbox, and GameCube release arrived on PS4, PC and Xbox One last week, only to disappoint fans with a myriad of technical issues, a drastic visual redesign, and ?sub-par gameplay.

In a joint statement, the developer and publisher offered an apology to fans for the final product, citi??ng the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as having impacted the game's development in numerous ways, while promising multiple fixes and free in-game content to arrive down th?e line.

"We hear loud and clear the legitimate criticism and disappointment," begins the statement. "First and foremost, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for the game’s technical issues. In its present state, XIII does not meet our quality standards and we fully unders?tand players’ frustrations."

"The pandemic has impacted the game’s production on many levels. Pivoting to home working for the teams has added unexpected delays in the development schedule and the QA process. We hoped we would be able to provide a Day One patch fixing all the issues but the development of this update is taking more time than expected [...] We are aiming to please all the XIII fans and we’ll wor?k relentlessly to ach??ieve our goal."

The team asks players to stayed tuned to the Microids website for updates regards incoming fixes, and suggests sending newly discovered issues to Microids support team.

Why... why... WHY pic.twitter.com/XHdu5wVo9e

— Thomas (@ThomasIsOnline) November 10, 2020

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Mach my day

The essence of a lot of the Forza Horizon experience is "Go fast, go as fast as possible." That's not always true for racing and its strategic braking?? and positioning. But, for speed traps, stunt jumps, drag races, etc? Yep, just go really fast.

Reddit user CarBoy0001 has figured out how to go faster than anyone else, making him the de facto best Forza Horizon 4 player of all-time. Making use of the game's constantly-running train, he positioned his car on the tracks while wedged against a brick wall. When the train hits him, the physics sort of pinch him against the corner of the wall, sending the car in?stantly flying and nearly hitting 700KPH. That's about 430MPH, I did the maths for the Americans.

Check out ?the clip below. (Sorry, you have to click through. There's no way to properly embed reddit clips.)

I knew the glitch was gonna be wild but no??t this much from r/ForzaHorizon

Land vehicles can go a lot faster than that though. The sound barrier is broken when something reaches Mach 1, which is achieved at 767MPH. CarBoy0001 falls well short of that. On a related note, give us some Thrust SSC DLC, please. That's the cheat code for winning?? all the drag races.

I knew the glitch was gonna be w??ild but not this much [reddit]

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It was only a matter of time

The West Virginia Wasteland has had a sudden inflex of bodybuilder-type survivors who loo??k more keen to fight off body fat than radiation sickness. Alas, Bethesda has squashed all their sweet gains.

The last couple weeks of Fallout 76 has seen an easily-rep??eatable glitch at the weight bench that has left every?one completely jacked. Using the weight bench grants a temporary +2 to Strength. The problem is that Bethesda accidentally allowed for the perk to stack. 

It stacked a lot, too. The Strength would stack up to 8 times (for +16 STR), and the duration would effectively stack for how many ever extra reps you performed. When seeing those kinds of immediate gains, it's easy to keep pumping iron. (Although, to be fair, Bethesda disabled use of the weight bench a while ago; so it hasn't been easy to keep pumping?? iron.??)

How?ever, after the newest patch, it's now capped at the intended +2 ST?R and will only buff once from the most recent use of the weight bench. It was nice while it lasted. You can safely go back to ignoring your physical fitness.

The other major part of the update concerns the?? new One Wasteland feature that scales enemy level to?? player level. In short, a lot of the mid-level creatures were too tough. So, Bethesda has "smoothed out the difficulty curve."

Here are the full patch notes for Fallout 76 Update 1.4.0.23: 

• Creature Balance: Based on community fe??edback, we've implemented some balance tuning adjustments for a variety of mid-level creatures to help smooth out the difficulty curve on the path to reaching character level 50.
• PVP: Fixed an issue that could allow players to bypass the rules of PVP to kill neutral players.
• Weight Bench: The +2 Strength bonus offered by the Weight Bench no longer stacks repeatedly, and subsequent uses of the Weight Bench correctly refresh the buff’s duration. The Weight Bench has now been re-enabled, and you can once again use it to pump some iron.
• Scoreboard: Implemented additional preview images for the Armor Ace Bundle, which can be viewed by selecting Rank 100 on the Armor Ace Scoreboard.

Fallout 76 Hotfix Notes -- September 29, 2020 [Fallout]

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Charity marathon returns in socially-distanced capacity

Unsurprisingly, the Awesome Games Done Quick team has confirmed that their first event of the n??ew year, A??GDQ 2021, will be an online-only affair, as the world continues to be rocked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Much like last month's SGDQ 2020 event, the week-long charity speedrun marathon will features players from across the globe showcasing their amazing gaming prowess from the safety of their own homes. Viewers on Twitch will ?be able to check out seven days of speedruns, while entering prize draws and, most importantly, donating money to a worthy cause.

Despite eschewing the usual haunt of the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Minnesota, SGDQ 2021 still managed to raise a very impressive $2.3 million for global medical network Medecins Sans Frontieres. All of the streams from the summer event can be found bookmarked over on the GDQ VOD website.

AGDQ 2021 will take place between January 3-10. Game submissions will open on September 24. Additionally, an all-women's speedrun event, Fleet Fatales, will take place between November 15-21. For more info on all events, visit the official GDQ website.

With COVID-19 being a continuing concern, for the community's safety we have decided to move #AGDQ2021 to ??an online format with the same January 3rd-10th dat??es.

For more info: //t.co/umiMSaefOZ

Game and sele?ct v?olunteer submissions will open September 24th!

— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) September 12, 2020

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The light in the storm

Against all of the odds, and despite all of the hurdles 2020 has put in place, the annual Summer Games Done Quick speedrun marathon has delivered once again. As the curtain fell on this year's eve??nt, SGDQ 2020 succeede??d in raising an amazing $2.3 million USD for charity.

Typically held every August at the Double Tree Hilton ??Hotel in Minnesota, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the GDQ team to move their annual summer extravaganza to an online-only format, with an army of speedrunners showcasing their skills from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

As a week of awesome gaming action closed with a five-hour speedrun of Nintendo's Pokemon Shield, a grand total of $2,309,530 had been raised by a home audience watching along on Twitch. The money raised will be donated directly to international charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, a global network of medical professionals who provide relief, medicine and care wherever it is needed worldwide, regardless of race, cr?eed or political persuasion.

The week saw engaging playthroughs of modern titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, Demon's Souls, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, alongside classics Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Doom 64, Super Metroid, and Elevator Action Returns. If you missed the action, don't fret, as all of the week's runs are now bookmarked over on the GDQ VOD website.

Once again the gaming community has succeeded in co??ming together, even under the most frustrating and oppressive of circumstances, to celebrate the medium of video games while raising a staggering amount of money for those who need it most. It makes you proud. Congratulations to the GDQ crew, the streamers, and the donors for contributing to a great event and keeping hope and hearts beating during this exceptionally difficult year.

The next Awesome Games Done Quick event is scheduled for January 2021. An all-women's speedrunning event - Frame Fatales' Fleet Fatales - will take place in November.

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Slide, Slide, Slidin' into your DMs

Mortal Kombat - NetherRealm fighters in general - often faces accusations of having some unbalanced characters at the top of their respective food chains, but it's a rarity that someone is straight "broken." Trust wind god Fujin - new arrival in DLC expansion Aftermath - to litera?lly slide into that spot, with a cheeky infinite that NRS is patching out in double-quick time.

As noted in this tweet from @Azeez_Jowder, Fujin's first variation, featuring a slide/hover cancel that can be exploited with help from the relatively useless "Switch Stance" function, a holdover from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe that remains in the MK code. Essentially, Switch Stance can cancel out Fujin's "hover," allowing the boy to slide, slide, slide his opponent into oblivion. You can also see the gimmick utilised in this video from REO_MK, demonstrated as a sweet 110-hit kombo.

Fortunately, NetherRealm has already taken action, and a swift hotfix has removed Slide City from the PS4 and Xbox One version of Mortal Kombat 11, (though it currently remains live on the PC and ??Nintendo Switch edition). Fujin has so far proven a little troublesome as a character, requiring tight and difficult execution for very little damage payoff, especially when compared to contemporaries such as Baraka, who can knockout out major damage for break?fast, lunch, and dinner. Still, these are early days, so the wind god may yet see his moment in the sun.

You can check out our full guide on Fujin's finishers right here, or our full Friendship guide right here. Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath ??is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Switch.

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Razmi is forever a mood

Last week, Lab Zero's artistic adventure Indivisible arrived without warning on the Nintendo eShop, surprising fans and even Lab Zero itself. Readily available to download on Switch, this new build lacks the balance overhauls and new features of oth?er platforms, presenting a more incomplete product than fans might have expected.

But as the dust settles, it seems the action-RPG went live due to a technical error with the eShop system, and was not actually scheduled to launch until early May. A statement on the official Indivisible website confirms that the Switch port was initially delayed from April 28, but the digital store published the title o?n said date regardless, hence the release of an older build.

"A decision was made to delay the launch to early May to allow for a Day 1 update. This update will add a framerate toggle option, 1080 docked support, Roti, performance updates and localization changes when it goes live in May," reads the statement. "Unfortunately, the new launch date did not get change??d within the release tool. This resulted in the game going live yesterday to the surprise of everyone involved, including 505 Games."

The statement also addresses Indiegogo backers, stating that the team is working to get game keys out as soon as possible. Physical editions will unfortunately see a one- to two-month delay. Of note, the statement does not mention when the premature Switch build will be brought up to speed with the Indivisible build on other platforms. The team apologises to the backers for these issues. It's a shame to see such a frustrating situation be?fall such a passionat?e indie release.

Indivisible is available now on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

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Nintendo lawsuit ported to new platform

You may remember that a class action lawsuit was filed against in Nintendo in 2019, pertaining to the "drifting" technical issues that were bothering a bevy of Switch owners. Well, it seems that Microsoft is next in the firing line, as a similar suit ??has been filed against its top console brand, Xbox.

The suit was filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington by New York resident Donald McFadden. McFadden states that they purchased two of the pricey Xbox Elite Controllers that both exhibited signs of "drifting" - when analogue movements are detected by games ??despite the sticks themselves remaining stationary.

McFadden alleges that Micros??oft is fully aware of the issue but "failed to disclose the defect and routinely refuses to repair the controllers without charge when the defect manifests." The suit directs attention to similar complaints from Xbox users found online, as well as repair videos, services, and replacement parts available from third-party sellers.

Nintendo's drifting lawsuit ended up in arbitration, following a judge's refusal to outright dismiss the case. Nintendo itself no longer charges for drift repairs, thoug?h it maintains that the Switch Joy-Con is a high-quality, precis??ion product. The results of the Xbox suit - short or long term - remain to be seen.

Now Xbox faces lawsuit over drifting controllers [VGC]

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The party's over, punk

Nintendo has applied a new patch to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The update, which is live in-game right now, appears to have only one functio?n: the removal of the "item cloning" glitch that has been exploited by BAD villagers since launch.

The exploit involved one player setting an item on a raised surface before circling it at speed. If a second player then tried to grab said item, it would sometimes result in the item appearing in the latter's inventory, while the original remained in place in the game world. C?anny villagers could then sell these to unsuspecting traders and ring in the Big Bells.

The new update - applied when you next venture online - will remove this glitch entirely, requiring pl??ayers to return to good, old-fashioned hard work to fill out the Bellometer. Of course, I'm just informing you all of this fix purely out of interest, because nobody here in our beloved community would cheat the game. Cheating makes Isabelle cry.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.

Animal Crossing New Horizons item cloning exploit [Eurogamer]

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A newly-discovered skip lets you walk through walls

As if I needed another reason to boot up Bloodborne and accidentally play the whole game.

Yesterday, Bloodborne speedrunner GiantCookieJar discovered a glitch that let his brave hunter clip through some walls in the starting area and reach the Forbidden Woods, not unlike a similar skip that was patched out years ago involving a well-positioned jump onto a ledge. W??e're back in business!

This demonstration from Distortion2 shows how the new Bloodborne skip in Iosefka's Clinic works.

After alerting the?? first enemy in the game �a low-health werewol??f who won't respawn �you need to turn around, run up the stairs, and get the wolf to grab you in the left corner. While you're being grabbed, "you want to spam L2 and R2" to clip out of bounds, then walk to the right, and drop down.

"Y?ou can skip straight to the Forbidden Woods on a fresh character," according to Distortion2. That means you can bypass bosses like Father Gascoigne, Blood-Starved Beast, a??nd Vicar Amelia.

"The mashing of L2 an??d R2 is important when you get grabbed because it does a different animation where your character pushes the wolf off of you, and that allows you to actually clip through things."

Given From Software's history with patches, this trick might not last forever, so try it while you can. If you'd like to see the skip used in a speedrun, here's an encouraging early example from R?omanticore.

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Controversial PC mod no longer active

[Update: Capcom has released patch notes to accompany the February 18 update. They can be found over at the CFN website right here. Community reception to the new patch continues to be mixed.]

Street Fighter V fans were on tenterhooks this week with the sudden news that a "netcode adjustment" was headed to their favourite fighting game, assuming that some of the lag problems plaguing Capcom?'s fighter were finally about to be put down? for the count.

But now the patch is live, it is being reported that said adjustment has blocked a fan-made fix to the problem. The PC mod, created by Reddit user Altimor, worked by attempting to closer sync packet speeds between opponents, thus preventing the "teleporting" problem that SFV has been facing online. While many celebrated the success of the mod, including notable FGC names, others were concerned that it caused slow??down, and that it might give PC players an unfair advantage during cross-play with PS4 players.

So when Street Fighter Producer Yoshinori Ono announced last week that the "netcode adjustment" was incoming, fans naturally - or perh??aps optimistically - assumed that Altimor's mod had forced Capcom's hand, pushing the developer to take action and fix the online woes i?tself.

While reports are greatly varied on whether the official patch has actually improved online play, one confirmed result of its implementation is locking out players who have Altimor's mod installed, (though it should be noted no-one is being banned, SFV just simply won't launch until the mod is removed). A vague message by Ono fails to state with any specificity whether Capcom has made any changes to the game's netcode, or simply br?oken the mod and left it at that??.

This has led to criticism from many Street Fighter community members. Popular streamer Maximilian Dood noted his disappointment on Twitter, while pro-player Chris Tartarian simply called Capcom's move "the biggest fail in the history of gaming." On a new episode of Ultrachen TV, commentators James Chen and David Graham simply looked utterly exhausted as they realised the news.

It's understandable that Capcom, (or any major publisher for that matter), would not want players fiddling with the code and applying their own patches.?? But when a bedroom coder is attempting to fix the issue for the whole community, breaking said mod without clearly implementing and communicating an official fix, (if any), is a move that will inevitably discourage your audience at best and infuriate them at worst.

Capc??om launches Street Fighter V netcode fix - breaks mods [Hotspawn]

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Wrestlelameia

One of the most prolific disaster releases of 2019 was the newest entry in 2K Games' long-running wrestling series, WWE 2K20. Within mere hours of fans getting their mitts on the game back in October, it became apparent that the title was a wreck, featuring a notorious catalogue of problems and spawning some very angry feedback.

Unfortunately, the situation didn't get a whole lot better post-patch, especially when a bug concerning the console's internal clock meant that WWE 2K20 crashed out entirely at the dawn of the new year. Not since the heady days of Assassin's Creed: Unity had such a rough-loo??king AAA ??product hit the market - for $60, no less.

Speaking in last week's quarterly earnings call, (as noted by DualShockers) Take-Two Interactive's CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the company was "disappointed that WWE 2K20 did not meet our expectations, both in terms of sales and quality," before noting that 2K Games plans to work closer with developer Visual Concepts "to ensure that these issues are addressed in? future."

The WWE 2K series has arguably been stagnant for years, pumping out repetitive annual releases that consistently fail to capture the speed, dynamism, personality and excitement of the WWE's in-ring product - or at least the in-ring product when showcased at its very best. A wise move would be to can WWE 2K21 alt??ogether and work on creating a truly great, fan-pleasing comeback title to be released at a later date. But given the modus operandi of the video game industry, especially when it comes to annual Holiday releases, I can't see that happening.

I eagerly await the announcement of XFL 2K21.

WWE 2K20 dev? work?ing with 2K to ensure quality issues are addressed [DualShockers]

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