A Closer Look at the Dream Vapor Xbox Wireless Controller
The Vapor Xbox Wireless Controllers have undoubtedly become one of the best designs Microsoft has come out with. We’ve seen the recently bring the Vapor designs to the Xbox Design Lab where there are six options to choose from including Dream Vapor. We finally got our hands on one of the latest releases from Microsoft and that’s the Dream Vapor Xbox Wireless Controller. It was released back on February 6, 2024, just in time for Valentine’s Day and it makes sense with the colors it’s designed with. You can see how well the pink and purple blend in together in the swirly design. The buttons also have a unique look to them with the back of it pink, but the actual letters are purple and the D-Pad, Analog Sticks, Home, Menu, and Share button all have that nice light pink color which blends in so well. The back of the Dream Vapor Xbox Controller features the rubberized purple diamond-pattern grips giving it that comfortable feeling when playing on your Xbox Series X|S or even on PC. Overall I would suggest purchasing this controller if your collection is in need of style or you just need a controller. The regular price is $69.99 USD but you can more than likely find it on sale on Amazon.
XDefiant was supposed to launch at the end of March 2024
XDefiant has been delayed several times since its reveal in 2021 and now it’s unclear when we can see the game release. Executive Producer at Ubisoft San Francisco, Mark Rubin denied reports of the development team holding off releasing XDefiant because they were trying to copy features from Call of Duty. Rubin continued to say the delay is still due to tech issues. While tensions have been rising among the community, the XDefiant Development Team put out a statement saying they hoped to have XDefiant released by the end of March 2024. There are still some improvements they need to test before we can see a launch and there will be a 12-hour server test session that will be worldwide on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC coming soon. The development team states that after this short test, they expect to lock a launch date down. Update on XDefiant- pic.twitter.com/kVBt9GlQvn — XDefiant (@PlayXDefiant) March 29, 2024 Initially, this game was supposed to be released during the Summer of 2023 after they did an open beta in late June. In September, Ubisoft San Francisco said the game would be slightly delayed by mid to late September and then rumors swirled a release date was supposed to happen on October 28, 2023.
How to unlock the Bonus Levels in Pepper Grinder
Pepper Grinder features a handful of levels in each region of the island the game takes place on, but what you may notice is a locked level. These locked levels are what we tend to call a Bonus Level and to unlock these you will need a certain amount of Skull Coins in order to play on them. What’s nice about these is that there’s some extra content to play through. How do I unlock the locked level in Pepper Grinder? To unlock the Bonus Level in Pepper Grinder you’ll have to visit the Curiosity Shop where you can buy armor, stickers, and a Gold Key. The Gold Key at least in the first region will cost you 10 Skull Coins and once you obtain that many you’ll be able to unlock the extra level. In the first region, you’ll unlock Cannoneer’s Folly.
Spyro 4 is reportedly in development at Toys for Bob
It has been reported that Spyro 4 is in development at Toys for Bob who recently became an independent developer and is going to partner with Microsoft for their next game. According to popular Spyro and Crash Bandicoot content creator, Canadian Guy Eh, Spyro 4 has been in active development since January 2024. The content creator attended PAX East and met with developers who heard Spyro 4 is in development. During the same weekend, Jez Corden of Windows Central reported that Toys for Bob worked out a deal with Microsoft to work on their first new independent game that is “similar to their previous games”. Canadian Guy Eh backs up Jez Corden by saying he is one hundred percent correct about this new Spyro project. It remains to be seen if this new Spyro game will be console exclusive to Xbox and if the development truly started this year we wouldn’t expect to see this game for a few years. Source: ResetEra
Review: Unleaving
Developer – orangutan matter Publisher – orangutan matter Platforms – PC (Reviewed) Review copy given by Developer What happens when you make every frame hand-painted, seamlessly integrating pencil and graphite puzzle elements, and make a game about a hopeless child that is awakened by the whispers of the last leaf, drawn into an imaginary world? You get Unleaving, a game that invites the player into a narrative-driven puzzle platformer where each challenge unfolds within a hand-painted landscape, exploring perception and meaning, as well as visuals that come to life through traditional painting animation. Unleaving is a metaphorical game crafted through illustrations and puzzles context. where each chapter is based on a specific theme that guides the mood, emotion, and story and, by extension, influences the colors and style. Unleaving takes its title from, Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem: ‘Spring and Fall: To a Young Child.’, a poem that opens with the lines: ‘Márgarét, áre you gríeving Over Goldengrove unleaving?’In Hopkins’ words, as the seasons change, ‘Goldengrove’ loses its leaves, which is a metaphor for the transient nature of life. The best way to explain the gameplay of Unleaving is to think of side-scroller puzzle platformers, similar to Limbo or Little Nightmares, but about the growing of age, as mentioned by the developers, the game is influenced by the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, which is about how the changing of the seasons is just like life, and how a tree losing its leaves as Summer changes to Autumn is like human aging. The game unfolds with a scene of a young child perched on a cliff, witnessing the poignant spectacle of the final leaf gently descending from a tree, transforming into a moth as it floats down. This opening sets the stage for the player to engage in abstract thinking, delving into the child’s imaginative world brimming with curiosity and adventure. As the player follows the moth’s journey, they are prompted to contemplate the child’s perspective, navigating through the changes and uncertainties of life. Amidst this exploration, a symbolic antagonist emerges in the form of a dog, prompting players to further exercise their abstract thinking to decipher its significance within the narrative. Immersed in a fantastical realm or perhaps traversing the depths of the protagonist’s memories, the game offers minimal contextual clues, leaving much to the player’s interpretation. Despite the absence of a defined storyline or named protagonist, the game captivates through its ability to craft moments rich in emotion. Through sparse yet poetic writing, the game encourages players to introspect, drawing connections between the unfolding events and their own personal beliefs and experiences. This narrative approach not only sparks contemplation but also fosters a unique and deeply personal engagement with the game’s world and themes. Well, the hand-painted visuals play a large part in the game and help build the story, the game is very focused on the puzzles, which to 100% be honest, were much harder than I was expecting from the first look of the game. A fair amount of the puzzles rely on specific timing, or placement/movements to complete the puzzle. Thankfully, after dying/failing multiple times at a puzzle, the game does offer you some hints or assistance but doesn’t flat-out give you the correct solution. As mentioned the game requires precise movement and timing, which means a controller, is highly recommended vs a keyboard. To also throw a wrench into things, the game’s physics and animations aren’t perfect, but also aren’t horrible, I would put the reasoning for this into the hand-painted art style, making it hard to code it perfectly, but it does affect the gameplay slightly, and did cause more error’s or deaths, which thankfully the game has a good auto-save system that doesn’t make you loose to much progress. Finally, when it comes to sound design it’s almost non-existent and not impressive. There’s no voice acting and for long sections, there’s no music, which sure you can argue this gives the focus on getting through the puzzles and building that abstract thinking that the game relies on, but some more work on sound effects and music would have been nice. Overall, Unleaving is a unique game with an amazing visual display of handpainted frames to make an abstract story. While the puzzle design is good, the puzzle’s difficulty level might make players quit the game early in frustration.
