Category Archives: Cyberpunk

Taterchimp thinks its time to talk about Cyberpunk 2077 again.

Flegma may start a series looking back at what was written in Pelit gaming magazine back in 2002.

Tomas Immortal reviews the action-adventure game, The Surge.

Kerrik52 starts a Legacy of Kain retrospective blog.

Cockaroach shares their experience going back playing Dark Souls.

Lord Spencer reviews Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins as part of his PS1 REVIEWS blogging series.

TroyFullbuster of a brief review of Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

PhilsPhindings discusses the similarities between the soundtrack of A Link to the Past and Jazz/Fusion games.

Alphadeus releases his latest music album, Anthems, composed of songs specifically written for members of the Dtoid community.

Black Red Gaming writes a satirical take on Sonys reaction to Microsofts acquisition of Activision.

ChronoLynxx opens this weeks TGIF community forum for open discussion.

A meatier number of blogs this week. Awesome work, friends! Thanks to Lord Spencer for the recap as always, and, if you want to help boost next weeks Cblog recaps, then just head on over to the blog section and have at it with your thoughts on all things gaming. Or anything really! Thanks, folks and enjoy the weekend!

Destructoid Community

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What are your thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077s rocky road to recovery? - Destructoid

The quality assurance (QA) lead at Cyberpunk 2077developer CD Projekt Red has announced they are leaving the company.

ukasz Babiel announced the news on his Twitter, saying: I really worked with the best people.

The veteran member of CD Projekt Red worked at the company for 11 years and helped develop games such as Gwent, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Cyberpunk 2077.

In a Tweet that confirmed the news, Babiel said. Last month I decided to leave CD Projekt RED after [a] great 11 years there. Ive got these amazing gifts as a farewell 3D printed and hand-painted figure and a comic by two talented Polish authors, which just melted my heart. I really worked with the best people.

He shared two images, one showing a custom figure displaying Babiel in Johnny Silverhands outfit from Cyberpunk 2077and a comic page that used his likeness.

Babiel started at CD Projekt Red in 2010 when he joined the developer as a beta tester. He then continued to become the Cyberpunk 2077 QA lead in 2017. During his time in this role, he managed a team of over 60 employees, planned testing, introduced pipelines, and worked closely with lead produces and studio directors, according to his LinkedIn.

A recent mod added survival game mechanics to Cyberpunk 2077. Called Live In Night City, the mod adds fatigue, hunger, and thirst levels. If the players needs arent met, they will suffer stat penalties. If fatigue gets too high, which comes from not sleeping or taking a shower, critical hit chance and stamina regeneration suffer. System malfunctions can also occur, creating flashes or forcing the player to the ground on normal/hard difficulty.

In other news, a vulnerability in Dark Souls 3 has been discovered that could allow bad actors to execute code on another players PC. Though the exploit can be guarded against with anti-cheat software, the problem could also impact next months in Elden Ring.

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'Cyberpunk 2077' QA lead leaves the developer after 11 years - NME

Indie gamers will soon be able to take on a furry and four-legged persona with Stray, BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactives upcoming adventure video game. This unique story explores what its like to be a stray cat living in a cyberpunk world. Stray has become one of the years highly-anticipated titles, and many fans cant wait to hear more about it. Heres everything we have for Stray so far, including a release date window, a game trailer, and more.

Annapurna Interactive announced Stray in June 2020 during PlayStations Future of Gaming showcase. As revealed in a PlayStation blog post at the time, developer BlueTwelve studios founders, Koola and Viv, started working on the game years ago. However, the game was known back then as HK_Project.

Stray gives players the role of a cat who gets separated from his family. In his quest to return home, he must travel through a dystopian-looking futuristic city inhabited by robots and drones. Some will help him along the way, but others arent so friendly.

In the blog post, Viv explained why they chose a cat as the protagonist.

Cats are always so playful, cute, and lovingly annoying that its an endless stream of gameplay ideas for us. It is also a very unique point of view for an adventure game, Viv explained. Exploring the strange world we are building feels really fresh when youre sneaking under a car or walking the rooftops with the inhabitants below unaware of your presence. Or if you want them to be aware, you can just meow endlessly to annoy them.

Stray does not yet have a specific release date. However, the studio assured via Twitter in July 2021 that it aimed for an early 2022 release.

As we dont want to compromise on quality, nor the teams well-being, we now aim for early 2022. Thank you for understanding, and we cant wait to show you more next year! the tweet read.

And as for what platforms fans can expect Stray to be on, it will be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Unfortunately, it looks like Nintendo Switch and Xbox fans wont get this one, at least at first. Its unclear if the game will only be a timed exclusive.

After a year of waiting, fans finally received the first look at Stray gameplay in a new trailer in 2021, as seen above. The game takes an open-world approach, allowing players to explore the highs (rooftops) and the lows (underground) of this unwelcoming city.

Gameplay will involve puzzle-solving and platforming, as well as some action. In some of the trailers scenes, the cat outruns deadly enemies and, later, finds a futuristic weapon to eliminate them. Stray seems to have a little bit of everything.

Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for more updates on Stray.

RELATED: Why OneShot Is One of the Best Indie Games You Never Played and When Its Coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2022

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'Stray' Game Lets You Play as a Cat in a Cyberpunk World Here's Everything We Know - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

We might soon be virtually walking on the moon without leaving our homes, thanks to the Metaverse push. With boots that give off a Pacific Rim vibe, you wont even have to leave the spot youre standing on and just moonwalk your way to distant worlds.

Virtual reality has been around for decades, but it was only recently that it had made giant strides in making what was once science fiction a reality. While visuals have significantly improved, the illusion of VR is immediately broken when it comes time to interact with the world. A lot of R&D has been poured into making touch input more believable, but that still leaves the problem of moving around the virtual world unresolved. These funky-looking books straight out of a cyberpunk prop set might offer one solution, and you might not look too ridiculous while using them.

Designer: Ekto VR

We almost have the visuals of VR down to a T, but there are still a lot of missing elements to make these digital realities almost feel like the real thing. The metaverse is promising to bring us to new worlds, both real and virtual, but our eyes wont be the only ones that will be making the journey. Hyundai, for example, is envisioning a way to help humans feel a snowstorm on Mars without actually being there, but that still involves people sitting in place, whether in a room or in a moving car.

Moving around virtual worlds feels very artificial when all that we move are our hands or even just our fingers. In some cases, that might be OK since you probably dont want to walk miles inside a virtual shopping mall or on a tour of the worlds famous landmarks. When exploring unfamiliar places or inspecting industrial sites, however, you might want to actually get a feel for the environment, including the act of walking.

Ekto VR is one of the latest attempts at solving this problem of Location Interface or LI. Some VR systems try to use treadmills to emulate the action of walking, but that feels just as artificial and as awkward as not walking at all. In contrast, the Ekto VR boots ingeniously use motorized wheels to go in the opposite direction and speed as your feet. The effect is that you feel like youre walking, and your brain feels like youre walking, but to the people outside, you look like youre dancing the moonwalk instead.

The boots wont be winning any awards for design, at least not yet. This hefty and bulky footwear looks more like prototypes than a finished product, and rightly so. Theyre still in the early stages of development, so looking nice isnt really as a priority yet. Then again, you can always mask your apparel in the metaverse, so it might not matter much what things really look like in the real world.

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These cyberpunk boots will let you walk inside the metaverse without moving from the spot - Yanko Design

To mark its 30th anniversary, the cult director sits down to discuss the inspirations behind his 1991 adventure-horror, including kaiju monster movies and Ridley Scotts Alien

It was way back in 1989 that Shinya Tsukamoto announced himself to the world with a vision of scrapheap dystopia set to the industrial sounds of beating iron. The film was Tetsuo: Iron Man, a fiercely independent and boundlessly creative body horror that bore parallels to works like Eraserhead, The Fly,and The Terminator. It would be the defining work of Japanese cyberpunk filmmaking, launching the career of one of Japans great contemporary filmmakers while also helping spark a major global revival for Japanese live-action cinema thereafter.

But in 1991, between Tetsuo and its similarly revered follow-up Tetsuo: Body Hammer (1992), 30-year-old Tsukamoto took a left turn with what remains one of his most fascinating projects to date. A comparatively large budget (approximately US$2m) studio production expelling much of the sensational style of his 16mm cyberpunk classic, Hiruko the Goblin was a psychotronic horror fantasy combining a teenage boys countryside adventure with spectacular physical effects and Lovecraftian themes. It was a box office disappointment in Japan, and the experience would recalibrate the direction of Tsukamotos subsequent career as arthouse works such as the idiosyncratic boxing drama Tokyo Fist and rain-drenched erotic mystery A Snake of June defined his auteurist output thereafter.

A much-sought-after obscurity in the West for many years, Hiruko the Goblin now receives a digital remaster for its 30th anniversary as it arrives in the UK on Blu-ray this month via Third Window Films. To mark the occasion, Tsukamoto sat down with Dazed to discuss what has often been considered the black sheep of his canon. It was kind of a natural progression, he explainsand not so different from his cyberpunk masterworks after all.

An adaption of two stories from Daijiro Morohoshis long-running Ykai Hunter manga series, Hiruko the Goblin follows a professor of archaeology named Hieda, who bands together with his young son-in-law, Masao, to investigate a series of strange disappearances at the Masaos school. The hapless pair gradually stumble across the decapitated corpses of Masaos fellow students, as well as a grotesque, spider-like monster sporting the head of his high-school crush, Reiko. And as the bodies pile up, a disturbing secret is revealed that could spell the end of humanity as they know it.

It might sound like par-for-the-course for a director whose debut would become renowned for its disturbing, body-brutalising content, but visually, Hiruko feels light-years away from Tetsuo. Urban dystopia has made way for lush green countryside full of clear blue skies and blooming flowers in what is an almost Studio Ghibli-esque setting in Hiruko, with the industrial music of Chu Ishikawa similarly replaced by nostalgic synth-pop and fantasy musical cues. Instead of solid metal nightmares, Hiruko feels like a whimsical childhood adventure gone amok. But theres a common denominator for both films, says the director, that goes back to his early experiments with filmmaking as a schoolboy.

Tsukamoto points to The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo (1987) a colourful 8mm short about a student plagued with an electricity pole growing out of his back as a work that combines the elements of fantasy, science fiction, and bodily transformation seen in both Tetsuo and Hiruko. But more than that, he says, Hiruko maintains the feeling of the films he used to make as a teenager. Everything stemmed from Genshisan, he says, describing a short film he made when he was 14 years old, about a giant caveman who wreaks havoc and destroys a city. Its the prototype of all my work, and (the product) of my favourite things when I was young.

Indeed, giant monsters and strange beasts link together much of Tsukamotos early works something that he attributes to his love for kaiju monster movies as a child. The directors memories of being taken to see a film about a colossal nuclear terrapin, in fact, sound strikingly familiar to those adventures undertaken by Hirukos leading boy Masao. I remember really looking forward to going to see Gamera in the summertime, on a holiday, he says, referring to Daiei Film studios big-screen rival to the iconic Toho studio atomic dinosaur franchise, Godzilla. Even more influential might have been a 60s TV drama called Ultra Q, a project by Eiji Tsuburaya the man behind Godzilla himself that was lapped up by the young director in his youth.

I was watching loads of 80s horror movies, so there are a lot of homages to those films. I really liked Alien, and, with Tetsuo, I could see the direct connection Shinya Tsukamoto

The basis of each episode, as Tsukamoto describes it, was an ordinary life being transformed by the appearance of a kaiju monster, or a creature from another world. Episodes boasted titles such as The Gift From Space, Mammoth Flower, The Primordial Amphibian Ragon, and Baron Spider signposting much of the aliens, supernatural phenomena, and giant beasts that would appear within. Little wonder, then, that a manga series like Hiruko's basis Ykai Hunter about a believer in gods and demons, and his various investigations into the paranormal would have held so much appeal for Tsukamoto.

But theres also a palpable Western influence in Hiruko and therein lies much of the appeal for those unfamiliar with the works of Daijiro Morohoshi or shows like Ultra Q.

Frantic first-person creature attacks in Hiruko hark back to the famous POV shots of The Evil Dead, while the human-headed spider is a dead ringer for the nightmare fuel seen in John Carpenters The Thing. Perhaps most striking, though, is the influence of HR Gigers designs for the Alien films an influence Tsukamoto readily acknowledges:

I was watching loads of 80s horror movies, so there are a lot of homages to those films, he says. I really liked Alien, and, with Tetsuo, I could see the direct connection. Indeed, countless images bind all three works together. Phallic, tongue-like appendages unite Hirukos spider-creatures with Aliens face-huggers, while the metallic penis drill that deforms the titular Tetsuo resembles the iconic chestburster sequence from Ridley Scotts 1979 classic. Both Tetsuos dilapidated setting and the subterranean nesting grounds of the Hiruko creatures, meanwhile, resemble locations seen in Alien and Aliens. And the production and pro-creation of the creatures in Hiruko, as Tsukamoto points out himself, involves consuming and recycling human bodies much as do the dreaded xenomorphs of HR Gigers creation.

These influences might not have materialised so well on-screen if it had not been for the work of Hirukos impressive crew but ironically, it was this facet to the production that was the most alien to the director himself. Tetsuo was a very, very, very independent film, he explains of his prior work, made with a minimal crew. But with Hiruko, there were about 80 experts always with me at the studio, so in terms of production they were hugely different.

Among those experts were Godzilla series special effects veteran Eiichi Asada, and make-up and prosthetics artist Etsuko Egawa whose CV, by that point, included credits on David Lynchs Dune and Ghostbusters. Creature effects artist Takashi Oda, meanwhile, would form a working relationship with Tsukamoto on Hiruko that would span much of the directors later projects including Tokyo Fist, Bullet Ballet, Gemini, VitaI,and Haze. But perhaps the most compelling name among the personnel is make-up and prosthetics artist Kazuhiro Tsuji.

While Hiruko was one of his earliest film credits, Tsujis subsequent career would see him work on Hollywood films like Batman and Robin, Men in Black,and Tim Burtons Planet of the Apes in the decade that followed. Its a testament, in many ways, to the overall quality of physical effects work on Tsukamoto's film. Even more impressively, though, Tsuji was coaxed out of retirement in 2017 by Gary Oldman to work on Darkest Hour for which he received his first Academy Award for best make-up and hairstyling. A second would come just two years later for his work on the film Bombshell, starring Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, and Nicole Kidman.

Despite its many impressive attributes, and an inherently talented crew, Hiruko failed to set the world alight upon release, and Tsukamoto would scarcely make a film like it again. I was really satisfied with the results, he recalls, but I wanted to go back to the really tiny films where I could control every single thing by myself. He headed to an abandoned iron factory shortly after wrapping on Hiruko, then, to shoot the fiercely DIY cyberpunk sequel Tetsuo: Body Hammer, before emerging as a mainstay at international events like Venice Film Festival in the years thereafter where his continued metamorphosis would see him win awards including the Horizons Best Film prize for Kotoko in 2011.

But with a nascent audience making their voices heard on social media in recent years, the director feels that the reason I made Hiruko is fulfilled. That said, fans clamouring for another Tsukamoto Lovecraftian adventure or cyberpunk thriller might find it worth keeping fingers crossed:

I have something in my mind that continues the war theme, extending from (recent films)Fires on the Plain and Killing, the director reveals of his potential next project. But then, he concludes with a grin, (Im looking at) moving onto horror, or an erotic film like the ones I used to make.

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Cyberpunk icon Shinya Tsukamoto on his black sheep horror Hiruko the Goblin - Dazed

Netflix is keen to find its next non-English original that will have mass-global appeal like Squid Game. Non-English-language titles are critical for the streamer to be able to grow outside the U.S./Canada region, which only drove about 7% of Netflixs net paid subscriber growth during all of 2021.

But other streamers are also increasingly trying to find that TV hit which will catch fire globally to help them grow outside of the saturated domestic SVOD market.

To help make sense of what may ascend to Squid Game heights next, Variety Intelligence Platform put together a list of its most anticipated non-English-language original titles set to drop across various streaming platforms in 2022. Certain streaming platforms, like the U.S.-only Peacock, werent considered for this article because theyre simply not in enough markets to set off a Squid Game-like phenomenon.

Below is a list of the top 15 non-English-language streaming TV series in no particular order beyond platform of release that could be the biggest attractions for their platforms in 2022.

This series, which follows a group of high school students trying to survive a zombie virus outbreak, will benefit from the increased interest across global territories placed on Korean-language content that recent series like Hellbound and Squid Game helped drive. Additionally, Lee You-mi, who plays Ji-yeong in Squid Game, stars in All of Us Are Dead and has already promoted the new zombie series to her 6.7 million Instagram followers in a post that received over 800,000 likes. Its likely that Lee You-mi has gained many followers outside Korea since Squid Game, and that suggests that All of Us Are Dead could eventually rank in Netflixs Top 10 rankings in non-Asian countries.

This horror TV series follows two sisters who must deal with the reality of their parents being involved in a cult ritual that ended in death. While the darker subject matter of this series may not be for some of the global viewers whore open to viewing some of the other series on this list, horror TV is still capable of putting big numbers on Netflix especially in the U.S. The Haunting of Bly Manor was viewed for roughly 1.2 billion minutes and ranked as Nielsens second-most-viewed series during the week of October 5 in 2020, for example. Feria doesnt star any actors with big mainstream U.S. appeal, though awareness of previous Spanish-language Netflix hits like Who Killed Sara could spur some Americans to sample the new horror TV series.

1899 follows the story of an immigrant ships voyage from Europe to New York and is likely to be one of Netflixs most-viewed non-English language series during the week following its debut. The German-language series comes from Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, who created the German-language Netflix original Dark, which debuted its first season in December 2017. Over 90% of viewers of Dark S1 werent from Germany, Netflix disclosed in March 2018, and thats just one sign that the 1899 creators have a robust fan base in many markets globally. As of Jan. 5, Netflixs 1899 was the most anticipated foreign-language streaming series debuting in 2022, by measure of the number of global users of TV Time (an app that lets user users track content they watch) following a certain title.

There is likely a group of Korea-based Netflix viewers awaiting the release of The Sound of Magic, given it is based on the webtoon (a type of digital comic originating in South Korea) Annarasumanara that had hundreds of thousands of likes as of this writing. The Sound of Magic follows the story of a high school girl who wishes to grow up as fast as possible and meets a magician. The Netflix series stars up-and-comer Choi Sung-eun and the more-established Korean star Ji Chang-wook, who serves as a valuable promotion asset to viewers globally due to his 18.6 million Instagram followers. As of Jan. 5, The Sound of Magic was the fourth-most anticipated foreign-language streaming series debuting in 2022, by measure of global TV Time users following a title.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a standalone series set in the same universe as the Cyberpunk 2077, a once-intensely-anticipated game that was ultimately marred by technical issues following its December 2020 release. Despite the troubled rollout of Cyberpunk 2077, which is estimated to have sold 17.3 million copies in the year following its release, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is likely to still attract meaningful viewership due to the high-profile of the gaming IP that its based on. Just consider how exceptionally well certain Netflix originals based on established game IP have previously done: The Witcher S1 and S2 rank among Netflixs 10 most-watched English-language series of all-time, while Arcane was one of the streamers top 10 most-watched English language series for six weeks straight following its debut.

What little information is currently available already suggests that this Korean Money Heist remake could very well end-up being one of the top three most-viewed non-English Netflix originals of 2022. S3, S4 and S5 of the original Money Heist currently rank among the top 5 most-watched non-English Netflix series of all-time, which suggests to us there is a large global viewer base at least more willing to sample the Korean Money Heist over a show based on entirely new IP. What should also help the Korean Money Heist get out the gate quickly is that Park Hae-Soo (who acted as one of the Squid Game protagonists) is starring in the series.

Little (such as plot details and exact release date) is currently known about Our Blues, but the series has cast notable actors that could help it find success in territories beyond Korea. Our Blues will feature Lee Byung Hun, who acted a minor role in Squid Game as the Front Man, and Shin Min Ah, who some viewers in the U.S. might have become familiar with over the past few months because he has starred in another Korean Netflix original, Chief of Staff. Its possible that some U.S.-based Netflix viewers have checked out Chief of Staff recently because it also stars Lee Jung Jae, who played the protagonist in Squid Game.

This story follows individuals whore hoping to upgrade their position in society by using an exclusive matchmaking agency to marry or remarry into the top tier of society. The series, which looks to satirize Korean society, seems like it will hit on certain themes (i.e., the difficulty in significantly changing ones social and financial status) that contributed to making two prior Korean megahits Squid Game and Parasite successful. So that satire angle may help Remarriage and Desires resonate with audiences. But the new series could also benefit from the existing fan bases of its stars like Kim Hee-Seon and Jeong Eu-Gene, which had nearly 630,000 and 390,000 Instagram followers as of this writing.

Glitch follows the story of a girl who tries to track down her missing boyfriend with the help of a UFO club. This series plot feels a little creepy and like something that might even get a little dark. But that could help Glitch because being uniquely creepy and dark could help set it apart from the many other Netflix originals, in a way similar to how Squid Game was set apart from other TV series. Glitch will also benefit from the megastars in its cast including actress Jeon Yeo-been (1.4 million Instagram followers as of this writing) and K-pop signer/model NANA (3.1 million Instagram followers).

This series may have a relatively nondescript name, but it could take off in 2022 because it revolves around a developer and her friends who become involved in a murder case thats linked to a dating app. The dating app element seems like something that could make the show feel particularly topical, given the increasing number of romantic relationships that begin online. For example, a February 2021 Morning Consult survey found that 13% of U.S. adult respondents said that they met their partner online, slightly up from 10% in 2020. But keep in mind that Kim-Young-kwang, the lead actor of Somebody, has over 1 million Instagram followers and will also help market the series to get its viewership tally initially going.

Germany mystery thriller The Therapy is an adaption of Sebastian Fitzeks debut novel Die Therapie, which follows the story of a therapist who must reevaluate his daughters disappearance after being paid a visit by a schizophrenic stranger. The Therapy could perform well on Prime Video because Fitzek is one of Germanys biggest psychological thriller authors and has sold over 11 million copies of his various books, which have been translated into over 24 languages. In other words, there may be a decent amount of consumers in different countries whore interested in seeing how the onscreen adaption Fitzeks debut novel turned out, and positive initial reviews from these fans could spark further viewership growth of the show. The Therapy will build on momentum created by previous Prime Video German-scripted originals like We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, which premiered in the U.S. last April.

This title marks Apple TV+s first Russian-language series and will follows a surrogate mother who must navigate the house dynamics of a rich government family that she is carrying a baby for. It could draw some U.S. eyeballs off the bat because it stars Oksana Akinshina, who was in 2004s The Bourne Supremacy, which grossed nearly $300 million globally. Additionally, Container may appeal to Apple TV+ viewers who were impressed by the streamers critically acclaimed series Tehran and are looking for another foreign-language thriller. Container was selected to be showcased at MIPDrama in 2021, an annual event spotlighting upcoming high-end dramas to international buyers, and that implies that some other media execs already view the Russian series as having potential global appeal.

Already featured in our non-foreign language-focused top 20 anticipated streaming titles of 2022 list, Apple TV+s Pachinko could not be passed up in our 2022 list of anticipated foreign language titles. The development of Pachinko might not be known to many TV viewers who dont follow Apple TV+ closely, but its reportedly big budget is something that shouldnt be ignored THR in August 2018 reported that the series would have a budget comparable to that of Netflixs The Crown. And VIP+ in September 2021 argued why Apple TV+ needs to start regularly pumping out more big-budgeted TV series. Apple TV+s Pachinko, is reportedly slated for 2022 and is an adaption of Min Jin Lees novel of the same name that follows the story of a Korean family in Japan. The NYT named Pachinko as one of its 10 best books of 2017.

This title, based on a graphic novel of the same name, follows the story of a reporter who works with a cryogenically frozen spy from the 60s to prevent Spain from falling back into a dictatorship. The story seems like its out-there enough to catch the attention of viewers who might not typically watch Spanish TV series otherwise, but the visual effects of Garca! could help it gain steam as well. Madrid-based Zeta Studios (which produced Netflixs Spanish-language phenomenon Elite) is producing Garca! and called the to-come Spanish-language series a very ambitious project and one of its biggest bets, which implies impressive visuals.

HBO Maxs forthcoming Bnker follows the story of a father who retreats to a fallout shelter in his basement, where he encounters and teams up with seemingly disparate groups (like Korean and Russian scientists) for a common cause. The protagonist of the series is played by Bruno Bichir, who was in 2018s Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which grossed over $75 million globally. And that may act as a hook that gets some U.S. HBO Max viewers started on Bnker. What could keep many viewers watching the series is its seemingly chaotic-but-entertaining storyline thats being served in a 30-minute-comedy format something that might appear as more digestible than the hourlong dramas that many have likely come to expect from HBO.

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What's the Next 'Squid Game'? These New Overseas Originals Might Be It - Variety

Top-down shooter The Ascent has been rated for PlayStation platforms.

Earlier today on January 7, it was first noted by Gematsu on Twitter that The Ascent had been rated by the Electronic Standards Rating Board for launch on both PS4 and PS5. If you're unfamiliar, this is the sole board that governs all video game ratings throughout North America.

This makes it seem pretty clear-cut that The Ascent is set to arrive on PlayStation platforms at some point in the near future. Typically, ratings boards offer up ratings for games when they're not too far out from launch, once all the content for the final product is present and finalized by the development team.

Note that this isn't actually the first time The Ascent has been rated for launch on PlayStation platforms. As Gematsu also noted on Twitter last year, Curve Digital's looter shooter was actually rated for both PS4 and PS5 at the beginning of last month in December 2021.

For those that might have missed out on The Ascent, it launched last year as a console exclusive for Xbox platforms, bringing top-down looting and shooting action to the PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. In fact, the shooter from Curve Digital was a day one launch for the Xbox Game Pass subscription service across all the aforementioned platforms. You can read up on what we made of Curve's shooter at launch in our full The Ascent review.

You can head over to our full upcoming PS5 games guide for an extensive look at all the games confirmed to be arriving on Sony's new-gen console within the next year or so.

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Stylish cyberpunk RPG The Ascent has been rated for PS5 - Gamesradar

The PlayStation Store January Sale is currently live and will run through now until January 19, 2022. The promotion has a number of great titles, including the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, Far Cry 6, and plenty of more AAA and indie titles. The sale began on December 22 2021 and new titles will be added to the promotion on January 5, 2022.

Right now, players can grab some of the best games of the last year for PS4 and PS5 such as Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy. There are a number of great cross-gen games that are currently on discount. Cross-gen games are available on both the PS4 and PS5, meaning if players have a PS4 right now but plan to buy a PS5 in the future, they will be able to play the upgraded version of that game on their new console.

Also Read: Sony Confirms PlayStation Plus Games for January 2022 are Persona 5 Strikers, Deep Rock Galactic, and Dirt 5

To claim these discounts, simply head to the PlayStation Store and head to the Deals section of the Store.

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I possess the dexterity of a toddler when it comes to fighting games, but the confidence of a hundred Jay-Z's. Absolutely love narrative-driven games - with a particular obsession with indie side scrollers and retrowave scores. Currently playing: Disco Elysium for probably 5th time in the last 6 months.

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PlayStation January Sale - Deals on Cyberpunk 2077, Far Cry 6, COD, and More - MySmartPrice

Brand new ASUS Zenbook and TUF Gaming laptops are coming in 2022. Here's what you can expect.

ASUS continues the tradition of making otherworldly stuff this year as well with a slew of new features and design changes. The biggest surprise of 2022 is the Zenbook 17 Fold, a big tablet PC about which well talk a minute, and the brand new TUF Gaming series featuring a host of new design and performance upgrades. Heres a quick rundown.

The important thing first, the 17-inch Zenbook, which is also foldable, might possibly be one of the most interesting things I saw during the CES 2022. Just hearing the specs of this laptop makes my ears ring, the Zenbook 17 Fold, as its name suggests, comes with a 17-inch foldable PANTONE validated OLED display with a 2.5k maximum resolution and 350 nits of maximum brightness. Further making this Cyberpunk-looking device more appealing is its 3:2 aspect ratio. Such screens are perfect for productivity as you get a ton of vertical space to do a whole lot more.

In its press release, ASUS also mentioned that the laptop folds thanks to a 180-degree hinge, and once it's fully closed, the entire tablet becomes smaller than a piece of photocopier paper. Now, the tablet PC does come with its own keyboard and also uses Windows 11, so you can easily rearrange various onscreen windows as per your requirement. The ZenBook 17 Fold uses an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 U series processor designed for efficiency, 16GB memory, 1TB SSD PCIe Gen 4.0, and a 5MP camera with ASUS Noise reduction feature alongside an HD camera for increased productivity.

I and a lot of my friends like big 17-inch laptops but carrying them around in our small backpacks was always an issue. Heres where I think the ASUS Zenbook 17 Fold can really carve out a segment for itself.

If youre the kind of guy (or girl, come on it's 2022) who lives on the edge then the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition could be your perfect companion. The laptop is built using US Space Systems Command Standard SMC-S-016A testing protocols that are tougher than the standard Military-grade testing. As a result, this laptop can handle four times the vibrations as a standard military-grade laptop. Additionally, it can operate in extreme climates ranging from -24C to 61C. Its probably the laptop theyre going to use in the next Fast and the Furious Movie when the Family goes to space permanently.

In terms of performance, the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition features up to an Intel 12th Gen Core i9 H-series CPU, a 14-inch, 2.8K OLED display, available in both touch and non-touch panels. The laptop also features up to 32GB LPDDR5 memory, 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The Space Edition also features a tiny 3.5-inch OLED display on the laptops lid thus allowing the user to give those around them a window into their lifestyle, according to the press release. Yeah, I know.

The standard Zenbook 14 also broke cover alongside the astronaut version and it comes in more or less the same form factor. The Zenbook 14 OLED features up to an Intel 12th Gen Core i7 P-series processor, a 2.8k, 16:10 inch OLED display (touch/non-touch), and a 2.5k IPS Nanoedge 60Hz display (non-touch). It features up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The Zenbook 14 is also available with an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor as well but that model only comes with PCIe Gen 3 compatible SSD. Both models come with the ASUS Numberpad 2.0 and ASUS Ergosense touchpad, which is pretty nice.

ASUS also unveiled the brand new TUF series with a host of new changes including a MUX switch, a brand new thin and light mecha-inspired chassis, and the powerful Intel 12th Gen Core i7-12700H processor. The brand new laptop also features an Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU with 140W TGP, up to 1440p resolution display with 165Hz refresh rate with 100% DCI-P3 colour space coverage.

Also Read:CES 2022: Dell XPS 13 now lacks a physical trackpad because it looks cooler this way

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CES 2022: ASUS announces Zenbooks straight out of a Cyberpunk movie along with TUF Gaming laptops for 2022 - Digit

A new interview with The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, conducted by Polygons sister site The Verge, has been ricocheting around the Internet for a variety of reasons. One is Reeves laughing skepticism about NFTs and how easy it is to reproduce their images. Another reason is Reeves chemistry with Moss as they discuss tech he the wide-eyed visionary, she the unsure skeptic.

But theres another moment that caught folks attention: Reeves brief admission that he never played the game in which he starred, Cyberpunk 2077, which launched a year ago. First spotted on Reddit by a now-deleted account, the admission directly contradicts statements made by CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciski in late 2020.

During the interview, which promotes Epic Games playable Unreal Engine 5 demo The Matrix Awakens, the conversation turns to other games in which the two have portrayed characters. Theres a brief mention of Moss time in the Mass Effect series, and Reeves mentions that Warner Bros. is like Wheres the ball? Oh, you mean the ball you dropped 15 years ago? in response to questions about another Matrix video game.

But when asked if he plays video games himself, he offers a quick, direct, one-word answer: No.

When asked in a follow up, even Cyberpunk? He responds: No. Ive seen demonstrations but Ive never played.

Now, compare that with what Kiciski told investors in CD Projekt Reds third quarter earnings call. Translated by Seeking Alpha, a question from an unknown source emerges late in the call: Has Keanu played the game? Kiciski says, Yes. Yes. He played the game. But as far as I know havent finished yet. So but definitely, he played the game and he loves it.

Polygon has reached out to CD Projekt Red for comment.

Reeves playing the game made headlines at the time. TheGamer, (which spotted the contradiction, first noted in 2020 that it was a rewarding and rather meta thought to picture Reeves interacting with his in-game character Johnny Silverhand.

If Reeves had played the game before launch, he might have noticed what gamers worldwide discovered: the game was riddled with launch bugs that lasted well into 2021. The flaws were so egregious that Sony took the step of offering full refunds to those who bought the game digitally, as well as pulling it from their store. The game returned to the Sony store in July 2021.

Reeves is definitely no luddite in the interview, he gleefully embraces the idea of Johnny Silverhand being wanted for sex by Cyberpunk players, and finds it awesome, in several possible connotations of the word, that kids today reject the duality of real and fake offered by the first Matrix movie.

But he seemingly draws a line at playing video games. In his defense, Cyberpunk at launch wouldnt have been a very good introduction.

Originally posted here:

Keanu Reeves says he never played Cyberpunk 2077 - Polygon