Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds brought Sega's iconic characters to the racetrack last month, and now, the company is teaming up with Puma for a limited-edition set of sneakers and apparel inspired by the game.

Sega and Puma have officially unveiled the Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds collection, which includes themed trainers for Sonic, Tails, and Shadow, all in their signature colors. Puma describes them as a blend of "motorsport styling with graphic cues inspired by racing and design elements from Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds."

Beyond the sneakers, the collection features a jacket, T-shirts, a hoodie, and more.

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Dan Forden, the longtime audio director for Midway and NetherRealm Studios, has been synonymous with Mortal Kombat since his iconic "Toasty!" catchphrase first appeared in Mortal Kombat II in 1993. Now, after 36 years, Forden has announced his departure from the studio he joined in 1989.

Forden shared the news on his Instagram account alongside a picture of a homage to his first "Toasty!" appearance.

"Wednesday was my last day at NetherRealm," said Forden. "We made a lot of fun stuff over the years. I'm really proud of what we accomplished as well as how much fun we had making that stuff. There are so many smart, talented people there--look for more great things to emerge over the next several years. I love the little touches that people left around the studio like this little Toasty homage on the bathroom mirror. I wouldn't have lasted 37 years in the industry if fans weren't out there playing the games we made. Thanks to all of you for supporting what we've done. Live long and… Toasty!"

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I've come to Sensei Takahashi to learn the way of the yari, but we are sitting on the edge of a cliff facing the ocean, painting sumi-e. Ghost of Yotei gives you plenty of opportunities to take a break from slaying ronin to partake in the East Asian painting style, but this is the first time it's been part of protagonist Atsu's training.

It makes sense, though. Sucker Punch's highly anticipated sequel to 2020's Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of a woman warrior on a quest for revenge, and in between bouts of brutal killings, Atsu follows many of the same practices as the original game's protagonist, Jin Sakai. She meditates at hot springs, honors deities at shrines, follows animals to points of interest, and releases captive creatures.

But Atsu is even more connected to nature than Jin, and her affinity for the arts, coupled with her dogged, deadly determination, makes Ghost of Yotei a divine take on the power of femininity.

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Cheaters never prosper, as the saying goes, and that's true in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's early-access beta, as Activision has already found and banned a few of them.

Players have been sharing clips of the myriad cheaters they've encountered, many of whom are using cheats to see through walls and get instant kills. One video, posted to X on October 2 by user HateToSeeMeComing, demonstrated the aimbot and wallhack they used to get the drop on unsuspecting players. Meanwhile, streamer Stodeh shared a clip on the same day of a random player folks in chat claimed was cheating since "hour 0." It looked like his team was getting crushed by this cheater.

In response to at least Stodeh's video, the Call of Duty Updates account said their "system caught this account" and that they've been "banned." Other cheaters, like HateToSeeMeComing, should face the same ban hammer with Activision telling Dexerto that various other accounts have been canned. You love to see it coming.

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Microsoft is gearing up to announce an ad-based version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, according to a new report. The Verge's sources said Microsoft is now testing an ad tier for the streaming service, with employees trying it out now before it may launch publicly for everyone.

The report said the free ad-based tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming will allow players to stream "some" of the games they already own, along with select titles from the "Free Play Days" promotion that allows people to play select titles on weekends at no cost. Xbox Retro Classics titles may be included, too.

In terms of the ads themselves, the report said the current iteration has people watching two minutes of preroll ads before jumping into a game. The report also mentioned that there could be streaming limitations, including a cutoff of one-hour sessions each and up to five hours for free each month. It's possible things change before the ad-based program goes live, if it does at all.

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A recently discovered job ad at Netflix is seeking a candidate who will lead the company's efforts in finding ways to use generative artificial intelligence for its gaming efforts.

"This role sits at the intersection of technology, product, and creativity--driving how we leverage cutting-edge AI to create meaningful, novel, and scalable experiences for players," Netflix said.

The ad for a Head of Gen AI (spotted first by a BlueSky user) states that a successful candidate will be paid a salary in the range of $430,000 - $840,000.

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So, you're bored at work, probably sitting in front of your computer scrolling nothing to look busy. (Did I just snitch on myself?) Maybe you'd rather be playing Sucker Punch Productions' new samurai fantasy sequel Ghost of Yotei, but you've got however many hours until you get home. Well, if you wanted to make the wait easier, you should definitely check out the recently released "Music from Watanabe Mode" soundtrack. It's a total vibe.

Ghost of Yotei is the PlayStation 5-exclusive sequel to 2020's Ghost of Tsushima. Many things in Yotei are similar to Tsushima, but there are a few differences. One of them is the newly introduced Watanabe Mode, a collaboration with Samurai Champloo director Shinichirō Watanabe that features original lo-fi music created under his direction. You could only listen to these beats on your PS5 if you selected Watanabe Mode--one of three playable options based on samurai film directors like Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike--but now, Sony has dropped the soundtrack on music streaming services.

Released on October 3--one day after Yotei hit PS5--the "Ghost of Yotei - Music from Watanabe Mode - EP" houses nearly 30 minutes of chill beats to kill (time) to. You can listen to it just about everywhere: Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube Music, and a streaming service I've never heard of called Deezer.

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Unlike the previous two entries in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy that launched exclusively for PlayStation consoles--with Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S versions on the way--the third game will adopt a multiplatform release strategy. This means that Square Enix will be developing for multiple consoles and PC for a wide release, but the company doesn't expect this approach to hinder production on the game.

"We do have designated teams working on each platform so that our multiplatform approach won't impact the development whatsoever," Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi said to Easy Allies (via Eurogamer). Hamaguchi did acknowledge that Square Enix was facing some challenges with bringing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to Xbox Series X|S, suggesting that a "lack of memory" was to blame.

"As for the Xbox version, like many other publishers, I think we did see some issues with the lack of memory compared with other platforms," Hamaguchi said.

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Microsoft has raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate by 50% and offered some additional perks like more games, access to Fortnite Crew, and better cloud streaming--but Microsoft is also removing a previous perk as well.

CharlieIntel has discovered that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members no longer get 10% off Call of Duty Points or BlackCell bundles. The change appears to have gone into effect recently. This discount was a pretty nice perk for regular Call of Duty players who buy DLC. In fact, this perk has been removed across the board, for every game, a spokesperson for Microsoft said. Instead, people can now earn points through the Game Pass Rewards program.

"This is not specific to any one game and reflects all games and DLC purchases. Instead of a discount on the purchases, Ultimate and Premium subscribers will earn 10% and 5%--respectively--in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library," a spokesperson for Microsoft said. "Ultimate members continue to have 20% discount on select games from the Game Pass library. On top of that, all Rewards members will earn points when shopping games and add-ons on the Store, while Premium and Ultimate subscribers will earn even more, 2x and 4x respectively. See more detail on the Game Pass Rewards program here.”

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With Battlefield 6 hitting PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 10, analysts believe that EA's military shooter could sell a whopping five million copies within its first week on the market.

Veteran games journalist Christopher Dring sat down with games industry researcher and analyst Joost van Dreunen to mull over EA's $55 billion deal on October 2. During the conversation, hosted on Dring's The Game Business Show website and podcast, the two discussed Battlefield 6's highly successful beta--which attracted an estimated 25 million players, surpassed 2.4 million Steam wishlists, and has 1.7 million Steam preorders. These figures, according to van Dreunen and London-based market researchers Ampere Analysis, suggest that Battlefield 6 could absolutely dominate at launch.

"However, Battlefield 6 clearly has huge momentum," Dring wrote. "Ampere believes the game will sell five million units in its first week, and the excitement for the game is growing as we near its October 10 launch. It's pretty much guaranteed a big day one, and if it can deliver a strong start, that will likely have a knock-on effect on Call of Duty (which arrives over a month later)."

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Microsoft and Halo Studios teased an upcoming announcement earlier this summer to coincide with the Halo World Championships event later this month. While that announcement is set for a panel on Friday, October 24, an unofficial report indicates that a remake of the original game, Halo: Combat Evolved, is in the works from The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered developer Virtuos.

According to Rebs Gaming, Abstraction, a studio under Virtuos' umbrella, is co-developing the Halo remake with Halo Studios and handling most of the work. Xbox Era subsequently corroborated the report, which also states that the remake will utilize a hybrid game engine that utilizes the Halo Reach Engine for the game's mechanics and Unreal Engine 5 for the visuals. This could potentially be the first version of Halo to hit PlayStation consoles, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Abstraction previously created accessibility features for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which included the 2011 remake of the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, in which you could switch between the remastered and original visuals on the fly.

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Backbone Pro: Pink Edition

$170

See at Target

Backbone One: Purple Edition

$100

See at Target

Backbone controllers for smartphones come in black and white, but if you've been looking for something more vibrant, then you can pick two limited-edition colorways right now. Available exclusively through Target, you can choose from the $170 Backbone Pro: Pink Edition or a $100 Backbone One: Purple Edition controller. These will go on sale soon, with online orders starting on October 5 and in-store sales starting on October 6.

Backbone Pro: Pink Edition $170

The Backbone Pro launched earlier this year, and as its name suggests, it's designed to be a premium add-on for your smartphone. This updated model offers a USB-C connection for compatible iPhone 15 and up, and it's also compatible with Android phones. Some of the noteworthy changes include larger grips with a textured finish, full-sized ALPS analog sticks, Hall Effect triggers, two remappable back buttons, and "carbon-pill" face buttons that are quieter when pressed. All the inputs you'd expect from a modern-day controller are here, so you can jump right into a game of Genshin Impact or Call of Duty.

App functionality also expands on the functionality of the Backbone Pro, and overall, this model improves on the ergonomics and customization of the original Backbone One.

See at Target Backbone One: Purple Edition $100

While the Backbone One isn't as advanced, it's still a budget-friendly controller that can easily give you a traditional gaming experience on your smartphone. The design has been tweaked to feel more comfortable in your hands, and these Gen 2 controllers use an enhanced D-pad and face buttons that Backbone claims are more responsive. Using one is very easy, as all you have to do is snap it onto your smartphone and you're good to go. You don't even need to remove the protective cover of your smartphone, and these devices are compatible with PlayStation Remote Play, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and other streaming services.

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If the colors above don't appeal to you, then you can pick up a Backbone Pro or a Backbone One in neutral shades of black and white. These are priced the same as the models above, as you can get a Gen 2 Backbone One for $100 or a Backbone Pro for $170.

Backbone One

Gen 2 (USB-C)

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After a science experiment goes wrong, it's up to you, Morgan Pigman, to save the world from a laboratory disaster. Wild fireballs have gone haywire, and you must shoot them down using your special hookshot. Shoot the hookshot straight upwards to attach it to the ceiling, where it will stay briefly, destroying any fireballs that touch the hanging rope. Gain access to various powerups, such as freezing movement, replenishing countdown time, faster shots, upgraded defenses, and more. Can you clear each level before time runs out without getting burned?