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[Update]: The Japan update has now arrived, and as expected, the new landmarks are fun to explore.
As previously announced, Microsoft Flight Simulator will be releasing a major update every couple of months in order to further flesh out a specific region and make it much more interesting to explore. The very first of these updates will be focusing on Japan and will even arrive fairly soon, on September 29th!
"The Japan world update features an upgraded digital elevation map across the entire country, high-resolution 3D photogrammetry for six prominent Japanese cities (Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokushima, Tokyo, Utsunomiya and Yokohama), and six handcrafted local airports (Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima, and Suwanosejima)," reads the brief announcement. "Players will also be able to try their hand at executing a trio of exciting new Landing Challenges set at Japanese airports."
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[Update #2]: Total War: Troy is adding Artemis, Orion and a highly customizable new Photo Mode.
[Update]: Total War: Troy and its Amazons DLC have now made their way to macOS as well.
If you're looking for an excuse to dive back into Total War: Troy, you'll be happy to hear that the Amazons DLC has now arrived. The good news doesn't end there, however, as the Amazons DLC will also be entirely free to grab for another two weeks!
In order to claim yourself a copy you'll need to create a Total War Access account, combine it with your Epic account, and you'll be good to go after a brief download. The only problem is that the Total War website is currently experiencing a ridiculous amount of traffic and as such is a wee bit unstable. So unless you're incredibly eager to start right now, you might be better off just waiting until tomorrow to grab yourself a copy.
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[Update]: Overwatch update has brought in some excellent buffs for McCree, Orisa and Roadhog.
It only takes a couple of games on Overwatch's Hollywood or Volskaya maps to realize how irritating elevators can be. If you're trying to reach a high ground in order to participate in a win-or-lose battle, the last thing you want to see is an elevator that's just leaving, yet that is unfortunately what tends to happen quite often given their endlessly looping nature.
Thankfully, this will soon be a thing of the past as Overwatch's next update will make elevators politely wait for players before moving. Not only that, but the elevators will be significantly faster once in motion, which should help alleviate the difference between heroes with high and low mobility on the aforementioned maps. A small change, but certainly a welcome one!
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[Update #2]: The Shadowlands expansion will be launching for real this November 23rd!
[Update]: Blizzard has revealed the full list of changes arriving with the Shadowlands pre-patch.
World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion is set to arrive this October 27th, and in order to pave the way for all of the new content, Battle for Azeroth will be getting a sizable (and final) update in the near future. Sadly the exact date hasn't been announced just yet, but if you're willing to indulge in a bit of speculation, then the Shadowlands pre-patch will most likely be landing on October 6th as that would follow the same pattern as the previous one.
On the other hand, if you're curious about what exactly the Shadowlands pre-patch will even bring to the table, you'll be pleased to hear that Blizzard has now released a lengthy post detailing just that. You can find the full list of changes over at the official website, but for now, here's my very brief summary:
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[Update]: Bethesda has opened up the ability to transfer your Bethesda.net Launcher games over to Steam.
In a move that I doubt many people could've truly anticipated, Microsoft has now announced that they are in the process of acquiring ZeniMax Media. Since ZeniMax is the parent company of Bethesda, id Software and Arkane, this means that Microsoft has just acquired The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Quake, Starfield and a whole bunch more.
"Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world," reads the brief announcement. "Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game to the original Xbox, the groundbreaking The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind."
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[Update]: Ubisoft has released a free demo for Immortals Fenyx Rising onto Google Stadia.
In a move that I'll probably never quite understand, Ubisoft's elegantly titled mythological adventure Gods and Monsters has been renamed to Immortals Fenyx Rising, written all cool-like. However, while the name itself may be terrible, Fenyx Rising is shaping up to be a rather interesting romp through Greek mythology.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, and videos tend to have quite a few of those, allow me to share with you two of the recent previews. The first is a cinematic trailer with miss-matching music that sets up a bit of the story, while the second video is heavily gameplay focused and will give you a pretty good impression of what Fenyx Rising is all about. Have a peek, it's a rather curious game:
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[Update]: Left 4 Dead 2's The Last Stand update has now brought in an absolute ton of new content.
After a brief round of teasers, Valve and The Last Stand devs have revealed that the massive Left 4 Dead 2 update will be landing on September 24th. And when I say massive, I really do mean that as The Last Stand is quite impressive for what is essentially a community update!
The Last Stand brings with it a brand new campaign, 26 new survival maps, 4 new scavenge maps, 2 brand new melee weapons, and most importantly of all, the official implementation of CSS weapons! You can also expect to see the Left 4 Dead 1 infected, a variety of previously unused voice lines, a couple of new and improved animations, balance changes and PvP enhancements, and even a whole assortment of bug and exploit fixes. Like I said, this is a big one!
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[Update]: Rocket League has gone free-to-play alongside a major new update.
If the price tag ever stopped you and your friends from giving Rocket League a try, you'll be happy to hear that it'll be going free-to-play next week, on September 23rd. However, there is a bit of a catch - the PC version will only be available through the Epic Games Store.
As for the current players, everyone who has bought Rocket League online before the launch of the free-to-play version will be awarded with Legacy status and granted a couple of rewards. This means you'll get all of the Rocket League branded DLC released so far, a couple of new cosmetics, as well as a fancy title to help you brag to newcomers. A pretty sizable gift, all things considered!
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[Update]: A brand new update has now added HD models & textures to this classic RPG!
Much like Baldur's Gate, the classic cRPG Neverwinter Nights received an Enhanced Edition upgrade back in 2018. However, while the Enhanced Edition certainly made Neverwinter Nights a lot more pleasant to play on modern machines, it unfortunately did very little to improve the highly dated visuals.
A fair few months have gone by since then, which is why I'm both shocked and pleased to announced that not only has Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition just received a massive new update, but that it has significantly improved the visuals as well! Just take a look at some of the comparison screenshots over at the Beamdog website as the difference in quality is quite staggering!
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[Update]: No Man's Sky's Origins update has made planets significantly more unique and interesting to explore!
I have to give credit where credit is due, Hello Games have pushed through all of the negativity surrounding No Man's Sky's original launch and slowly but surely improved upon pretty much everything. They added base building, ground vehicles, a ton of new quests and areas of interest, and most importantly of all, the long-promised multiplayer mode!
The good news doesn't end there, however, as Hello Games have just announced there is even more content just around the corner. While the exact details are still few and far between, the freshly revealed Origins update will be launching at some point next week!