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Xbox Showcase Reveals, Jet Set Radio Spiritual Successor

TODAY: Ubisoft outperforms own financial forecasts despite executive shake-up — The only thing that’s missing from all those reaction gifs is you — Jet Set Radio fans rejoice, for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is nigh!

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Xbox Games Showcase highlights

Microsoft just streamed their world premiere-packed Xbox Games Showcase as part of IGN and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest.

Geoff Keighley also hosted an hour-long pre-show ahead of the main event, which featured some world premieres of its own.

Pre-Show Premieres

  • Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (Square Enix) – Xbox Announcement – December 4, 2020 (Xbox One)
  • EXOMECHA (Twistedred) – World Premiere Trailer – Late 2021 (Xbox Series X, PC)
  • Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft) – Resistance Trailer – October 29, 2020 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
  • Echo Generation (Cococucumber) – Reveal Trailer – TBA 2021 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X)
  • Hello Neighbor 2 (Dynamic Pixels) – Announcement Trailer – TBA (Xbox One)
  • ID@Xbox Console Launch Exclusives – Teaser Trailer
  • BALAN WONDERWORLD (Square Enix) – Announcement Trailer – Spring 2021 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, PS4, Switch)

Xbox Games Showcase

Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?

Who composed Lethal League Blaze’s “AIN’T NOTHIN’ LIKE A FUNKY BEAT”?

  • Tomoya Ohtani
  • Makoto Tomozawa
  • Hideki Naganuma
  • Hidenori Shoji

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Daily Fact

Jin Sun-Kwon was intended to be a sniper with a great set of ear drums

Monolith’s classic horror shooter F.E.A.R. pits you against a group of rogue, telepathic supernatural commandos, but you’re not alone. Your teammate Jin Sun-Kwon, for example, acts as medic – but she was actually supposed to be a sniper with superhuman hearing.

The level design didn’t really feature a lot of good sniping positions, so she had to shelve the rifle. She’s still got elbow pads and gloves with red trigger fingers, but that’s all that remains of the super-sniper.

She’s not the only character who got cut down: There was supposed to be a second villain named Conrad Krieg, but the psychic cannibal Paxton Fettel stole the limelight.

Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.

Ubisoft Financials

Ubisoft had a record-breaking quarter

While Ubisoft has been catching heat in the last few weeks, they have also enjoyed a “significantly higher-than expected performance” so far this year.

Sales are up 17.6 percent to $494.7 million in the first three months of the fiscal year of 2021, alongside a record $474.7 million in net bookings – up 30 percent from last year. The vast majority of revenue came from the back catalogue, which accounted for 97.1 percent of bookings for the quarter.

  • 86.7 percent of purchases were digital, down from 93.1 percent last year
  • Rainbow Six Siege net bookings up 30 percent year-on-year
  • Assassin’s Creed increased “more than” 60 percent year-on-year
  • Just Dance net bookings surged over 500 percent year-on-year
  • Hyper Scape took top spot on Twitch during PC Technical Test

Heavy hitters: “…the Assassin’s Creed franchise saw an impressive acceleration on the back of the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reveal. In parallel, Rainbow Six Siege continued to grow robustly despite increased competition, and the Just Dance franchise continued its solid comeback,” said Ubisoft CFO Frédérick Duguet. Ubisoft recently announced Far Cry 6, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is out later this year.

Doublicat Your Face

Mobile app Doublicat rises in popularity as it ‘deepfakes your face’ onto popular GIFs

Everyone loves a good gif, and now you can put your face in one thanks to the AI-powered deepfake app Doublicat.

Give your reaction gifs that personal touch by downloading the iOS or Android app and take a picture of your adorable mug – but beware: according to the terms and conditions, you’re basically giving the developer the rights to your face.

Fake it: Legalities aside, think about the possibilities! You can become Geralt. You can become Joel, or even better – get buff like Abby. Hell, you can merge with Keanu Reeves and become breathtaking like Johnny Silverhands! What more could you want?

Until you make it: Doublicat is free with some ads and limitations, but you can pay to get rid of the ads and access more features. Maybe you’ll be able to replace your friends and family in dull group photos with your favorite videogame characters instead? The possibilities are endless!

Game Review

Dex Review

Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Dreadlocks

Cyberpunk 2077 keeps getting delayed, but fortunately there are other cyberpunk RPGs on the market. Dex was released for PC in 2015, and is just about ready to come out on Switch, which is a very suitable platform for the side-scrolling adventure.

Dex is the eponymous heroine, who is hunted by a spooky corporation called Complex because she can connect to cyberspace wirelessly. It’s fairly standard cyberpunk fare, dealing with themes like transhumanism, surveillance, corporate power and magical wi-fi – but it struggles to stand out and is let down by uneven voice acting.

Fortunately, gameplay is more engaging and it turns out that a side-scrolling RPG is a good idea. As expected, you level up your skills and formulate a playstyle based on your preferences. The most interesting system is actually the dialogue system, which ties into the Convince skill. You need to navigate dialogue trees and get to know people to figure out how to persuade them, giving the characters a lot more depth and nuance.

The best part of Dex is the side quests where you learn more about life on the streets of Harbor Prime, from the dodgy spice trade to whatever weird cosmetic surgeries are in fashion. The world-building is the best part of the game, and it’s a bit of a shame that it takes a back seat to the combat.

While the combat allows you some freedom to pick how to approach situations, it’s not exactly remarkable and the latter half of the game leans a bit too heavily on it. Hacking is much more fun, being presented as a twin-stick shooter where you need to defend yourself from viruses while breaking into turrets, cameras and other systems.

Exploring Harbor Prime is a lot more fun than fighting goons and hacking turrets, and you’ll find yourself longong for quiet exploration and conversation. In other words, Dex is only worth recommending if you’re looking for a handheld RPG and really love cyberpunk. It’s an enjoyable experience, but its core gameplay is just not interesting enough to recommend.

Score: 7/10

Thumbs Up

  • Convincing is cool
  • Engaging world

Thumbs Down

  • Mediocre combat
  • Formulaic story
  • Uneven voice acting

What Else Happened Today?

Deal Spotlight

Today’s Gaming Deal Highlights

There are so many great deals now that it felt wrong not to share some of them ahead of the weekend’s bargain extravaganza.

Final Fantasy Franchise Sale (Nintendo Switch) 50% off @ Nintendo eShop

Nintendo Switch Neon (Going in and out of stock, follow our Twitter Account for updates) (Nintendo Switch) $299 @ Amazon US

All-Star Fruit Racing (Nintendo Switch) £0.77 @ Nintendo eShop

Skater XL Pre-order (PS4) $32.88 @ Amazon US

LA-MULANA 1 & 2: Hidden Treasures Edition (PS4) $44.97 @ Amazon US

The Elder Scrolls: The Official Cookbook (Books) $17.99 @ Amazon US

RPG Sale (PC) 90% off @ Humble Store

Paradox Interactive Publisher Sale (PC) up to 75% off @ Humble Store

Humble Space Sale (PC) up to 80% off @ Humble Store

If you buy any of these games by following our links, DailyBits will earn a small commission, so thanks in advance! Saturday will bring even more amazing video game deals, so stay tuned!

Quiz Answer - Did You Get It Right?

Who composed Lethal League Blaze’s “AIN’T NOTHIN’ LIKE A FUNKY BEAT”?

Answer: Hideki Naganuma!

Lethal League Blaze is a damn good multiplayer game, and its electrifying soundtrack is perfect for the unique combination of fighting and sports game. There’s nothing quite like laying down the smack to Hideki Naganuma’s “AIN’T NOTHIN’ LIKE A FUNKY BEAT”.

Hideki Naganuma’s big beat techno is heavy on voice samples and you might recognize him from Jet Set Radio and its sequel. He composed the music alongside Ollie King and Sonic Rush, and it’s safe to say the rollerskating graffiti action game wouldn’t be the same without his madcap beats. Sega will probably never revive Jet Set Radio, but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk looks like the next best thing – or maybe even a better thing?

Today’s issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, Christian Vaz and Jamie Davey.