Gaming

Gran Turismo, Just Dance are now part of the Olympics

Culminating event in June

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Over the decades, the world has persistently debated the legitimacy of esports. Do they really belong in the realm of other sports? In 2023, it’s impossible to ignore the impact of the industry on the world. Now, the world’s biggest sports organization, the International Olympics Committee (IOC), is opening up to games as a way to test the human ability.

In June this year, the IOC will hold the culminating event for the Olympics Esports Series in Singapore. The event will include a series of games that mimic real-world sports. These include archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsports, sailing, taekwondo, and tennis.

Being an esports series, the event needs games to test the mettle of their participants. While some are more specialized software designed to bring human movement to the virtual world, a few others are easily accessible for the casual fan.

For example, those participating in the Olympics Esports dance competition will play in the vibrant levels of popular dancing game Just Dance. Meanwhile, those participating in motorsports will use the realistic driving simulator series Gran Turismo. Chess.com, an emerging trend on streaming platforms, is the site of the series’ chess competitions.

This isn’t the first time the Olympics tried their hand at virtual competitions. Back in 2021, the organization hosted the Olympic Virtual Series, which also included most of the above categories.

The expansion into virtual worlds is part of the IOC’s ongoing efforts to appeal more to younger people. It also provides a gateway to bridge virtual and real-world sports together, while establishing the former as its own discipline.

SEE ALSO: Sony is getting into the eSports business

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Shadows gets Attack on Titan-themed content

The story is available only until December 22.

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Ubisoft is no stranger to quirky DLCs, especially for the Assassin’s Creed franchise. One of its most infamous is Assassin’s Creed III’s The Tyranny of King Washington, which imagines an alternate reality (or as alternate as an Assassin’s Creed entry can get) where George Washington became a dictator. Now, the franchise is getting even wackier with an official tie-up with Attack on Titan.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the ongoing entry for the series. The title has players go on a journey of revenge in medieval Japan as the stealthy Naoe and the brutal Yasuke. Since launching, the game has gotten an expansion which adds an epilogue to the story. Today, a new update adds more content and a timed story.

A chunk of the update was already revealed previously. It contains a new story that has Naoe and Yasuke learn each other’s skills (or a version of them, at least). Adding to that story is a new quest tied to the popular Attack on Titan series. It also comes with custom gear and mounts based on the series.

Naoe and Yasuke travel to the enigmatic Crystal Cave to help a strangely garbed woman named Ada. A cult is threatening to initiate a deadly experiment on one of Ada’s friends, which might see the arrival of an actual Titan in medieval Japan. The story’s trailer ends with a brief tease on the aforementioned monster.

Though most of the update is for keeps, the Attack on Titan content will be available only from now until December 22.

SEE ALSO: Assassin’s Creed Shadows is coming to the Switch 2

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Entertainment

Ubisoft confirms Far Cry live-action anthology series

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Months ago, Ubisoft accidentally announced that it is working with FX on a live-action adaptation of the Far Cry series. Today, the publisher finally confirmed the news and attached some notable names to the project.

Confirmed directly by the publisher via an official announcement, Ubisoft announced that FX has ordered a series based on the first-person adventure series. The show will be an anthology series with different characters and stories for every season. With that description, it sounds a lot like The White Lotus but with more guns.

The games themselves follow this same format. Each game has a different setting and set of characters. The last, for instance, featured Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo, the dictator of a fictional South American country named Yara.

Helming the live-action project are two big names for Hulu: Noah Hawley and Rob Mac. Hawley recently earned his flowers through the recently concluded first season of Alien: Earth. Meanwhile, Rob Mac has been earning success after success with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

With those two helming the series, the upcoming Far Cry adaptation has the potential to make a name for itself in the videogame adaptation scene. These days, adaptations are rocking the airwaves with notable adaptations including Fallout and The Last of Us.

SEE ALSO: Ubisoft accidentally announces Far Cry TV show

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Gaming

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 bags record-breaking 12 nominations at Game Awards

These include Game of the Year and three Best Performance nods.

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Gamers today will rightly point out that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the game that will most likely bag the coveted Game of the Year award for 2025. Ahead of December 11, the popular turn-based RPG has not won yet. However, the nominations have just been announced, and it’s now safe to say that Expedition 33 has a real shot for the award.

The annual Game Awards has a lengthy list of awards it usually hands out. Of course, the highlight is Game of the Year. Besides Expedition 33, five other titles are vying for the crown: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.

Besides the coveted award, Expedition 33 also got 11 other nominations, totalling 12, which is the most a single game has gotten in the twelve-year history of The Game Awards. This includes Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Independent Game, Best Indie Game Debut, and Best RPG.

If you’ve been counting, that’s just nine nominations. The remaining three of the 12 need their own spotlight. For Best Performance, the game single-handedly got three nominees in: Ben Starr, Charlie Cox, and Jennifer English. That’s half of the list, rounded out by Ghost of Yotei’s Erika Ishii, Silent Hill f’s Konatsu Kato, and Indiana Jones’s Troy Baker. Notably, even 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3 didn’t get multiple nominees in the category.

While Expedition 33 has a real chance with running away with a good chunk of the awards, viewers can control 10 percent of the vote via the fan voting process already up now. Plus, the awards will soon include a Players’ Voice award, which goes up on December 1.

SEE ALSO: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review: Beautifully haunting

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