We Happy Few developer's South of Midnight BTS documentary debuts next weekExpect "an exclusive first look at brand-new gameplay footage and interviews with the team".Image credit: Xbox News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Nov. 10, 2024 A documentary detailing the development process of We Happy Few developer Compulsion Games' next project, South of Midnight, will debut next week.In a message posted to its social media channels, Compulsion said the documentary - called Weaving Hazel's Journey: A South of Midnight Documentary - lets the team "explore the vision, art direction, music, gameplay, and talent behind our upcoming action-adventure".South of Midnight - Gameplay Reveal - Xbox Games Showcase 2024.Watch on YouTubeFurthermore, there will be an "exclusive first look at brand-new gameplay footage" as well as interviews with the team."As we eagerly await our 2025 release, we invite you to take an even closer look into the making of our modern Southern Gothic folktale," the team said. To see this content please enable targeting cookies."Tune in on [12th November] for the premiere of Weaving Hazel's Journey: A South of Midnight Documentary, where we explore the vision, art direction, music, gameplay, and talent behind our upcoming action-adventure. Plus, get an exclusive first look at brand-new gameplay footage and interviews with the team!"Compulsion also confirmed that the documentary - which will debut on the studio's YouTube channel - will feature subtitles and audio description, although there'll be "more news about in-game accessibility features" closer to launch.We discovered that We Happy Few developer Compulsion Games is working on a new "narrative, third person, story game" back in 2021. The Canadian developer has reportedly doubled in size since We Happy Few, and is committed to making "unique games in little-used settings".South of Midnight is set to arrive on PC and Xbox Series X/S at some point in 2025.

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Bank of America Bracing for $800,000,000 Loss As Investigators Probe BofA, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargos Alleged Refusal To Reimburse CustomersThe second-largest US bank by total assets says its preparing for significant losses due to ongoing regulatory issues.In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bank of America says it faces a reasonably possible and estimable loss of up to $800 million due to investigations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other federal regulators.The Corporation has been responding to an inquiry from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding the Corporations processing of electronic payments of funds through the Zelle network. The CFPB staff has initiated discussions with the Corporation to pursue a resolution of the inquiry or file an enforcement action. The Corporation is evaluating next steps, including litigation.Bank of America also says its engaging with several unnamed federal regulators over its anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs and a resolution of the discussions could result in one or more public orders by the regulators.Investigators are reportedly probing BofA, along with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to determine whether the banks are properly reimbursing victims of fraud on the Zelle payments network and whether the banks are effectively eliminating scammers accounts.Zelle has also attracted the attention of US lawmakers.The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in July that Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase had collectively declined to reimburse $880 million in disputed transactions on Zelle between 2021 and 2023.The subcommittee found that the three trillion-dollar banks only reimbursed victims 38% of the time for reported Zelle scams in 2023. In 2019, the three reportedly reimbursed victims of Zelle scams 62% of the time.Don't Miss a Beat Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox Check Price ActionFollow us on X, Facebook and TelegramSurf The Daily Hodl Mix&nbspDisclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.Generated Image: Midjourney

A high-ranking Google director was texting with two of the companys executives about digital-ads prices when he mentioned that the changes they were discussing could lead to lawsuits. Suddenly, he realized the chats history function was on, so the conversation would not be automatically deleted, and could be found by adversaries in any legal actions.History is on, jesus, the director texted. Sigh.Incidents like this, filed as evidence in three ongoing anti-monopoly cases brought against Google, have highlighted what state and federal authoritiessay are the Mountain View technology giants long-running machinations to conceal and destroy internal communications that could be used by regulators or against it in court.The tactics led a Virginia federal court judge to conclude that an awful lot of evidence has likely been destroyed, and provoked a San Francisco federal court judge to criticize Google for lying to the court and deliberately hiding evidence from opponents.Its like theyve developed their own moral code, and that moral code is to justify whatever decisions they make, said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, a trade association representing online publishers, who has been closely following the cases.Google said this week it takes seriously its obligations to preserve and produce relevant documents in legal actions, and highlighted a 2022 court filing from the San Francisco case in which it said it had fully complied with obligations to produce documents by taking robust steps to preserve relevant chats. Judge James Donato did not agree.Donato, in San Francisco federal court, said he will punish Google over destroyed evidence. Virginia federal court Judge Leonie Brinkema has yet to decide whether to sanction the company over what she described as a whole bunch of problems with how Google approached the preservation of evidence. In District of Columbia federal court, Judge Amit Mehta, who ruled in August that Google holds an illegal monopoly on internet search, declined to punish Google for what he saw as extraordinary efforts to prevent a paper trail, ruling that sanctions would not change his assessment of the companys liability.Once they have reasonable grounds to believe internal communications may be sought by another party in a lawsuit, companies are legally required to keep them, whether legal action has started or not.The federal courts in particular have very high expectations about the care and prudence with which corporate America needs to preserve documents, said UC Berkeley law school lecturer John Steele, a specialist in legal ethics and professional liability. Federal judges, Steele said, typically want to see commitment from high levels in a company that evidence is preserved.Google used two tactics to keep unfavorable information out of court, according to judges in current anti-monopoly cases: letting employees discuss matters related to lawsuits or possible lawsuits on a messaging platform in which chats would be deleted by default, and encouraging employees to inappropriately add lawyers to discussions in an effort to hide communications under the doctrine of attorney-client privilege.In all three cases, Google is fighting desperately to avoid being broken up as a monopoly, and judges have frowned deeply upon its handling of evidence.San Francisco: California and three dozen other states and Epic Games against GoogleLast year in San Francisco U.S. District Court, Judge Donato, presiding over an anti-monopoly lawsuit targeting Googles Play app store, described Googles suppression of evidence as the most serious and disturbing he had seen as a judge.In a court filing, the states and Fortnite computer game publisher Epicaccused Google of maintaining a company-wide culture of concealment coming from the very top, including CEO Sundar Pichai. Entered as evidence was an internal group chat while Google was already being suedin which Pichai wrote can we change the setting of this group to history off, then failed nine seconds later to delete the incriminating message, according to the plaintiffs.Google left employees with no legal expertise largely on their own in sorting out which chats needed to be kept, and did nothing to monitor chat preservation, Donato wrote in his March 2023 decision.The company intended to subvert the process of providing materials to its lawsuit opponents, and evidence was lost with the intent to prevent its use in litigation, Donato wrote. Google also falsely assured the court it had protected evidence and was not truthful about chat settings, the judge said.Google pledged in a February 2023 court filing to turn chat history on for its nearly 400 employees whose communications are subject to mandatory retention in the case, with no ability to turn history off, Donato said in his order.In December, a jury in the case found Google held an illegal app-distribution monopoly. The judge said he would use court-ordered sanctions to punish Google over deleted chats.Virginia: U.S. government, California and 16 other states against GoogleIt was in the Virginia federal court lawsuit alleging Google holds an illegal monopoly on digital ads that the directors comment about history being on was filed as evidence. An August court filing by the plaintiffs accused Google of making its internal chats delete by default after 24 hours starting in 2008, a change announced in a memo from its lawyers that opened with reference to significant legal and regulatory matters. The company continued the policy until early last year, two weeks after the lawsuit was filed, the filing said.In a Nov. 5 filing, the federal government and states tied Googles tactics to its market dominance, claiming it trained workers to abuse the attorney-client privilege and destroy documents in order to protect its alleged monopoly.Judge Brinkema, overseeing that case, said in an August hearing that Google employees added lawyers into discussions as a smokescreen to invoke attorney-client privilege. She called the maneuver a clear abuse.Google this week pointed to its August filing in that case that noted the 2008 memo told employees to take steps to preserve relevant Chat messages, and added: That is the opposite of an intent to destroy evidence.District of Columbia: U.S. government against GoogleRelated ArticlesAnother anti-monopoly lawsuit against Google, over internet search, saw D.C. federal court Judge Mehta state in August that he was taken aback by the lengths to which Google goes to avoid creating a paper trail for regulators and legal foes. The judge cited auto-deletion of chats, and noted that Google instructed employees dealing with a sensitive issue via email to include a lawyer, mark the message attorney/client privileged and ask the lawyer a question. Workers assiduously followed that advice, and as a result, Googles legal team at first withheld tens of thousands of purportedly privileged records it later handed over to the plaintiffs, Mehta said.Mehta, in his August ruling, said his decision not to punish Google should not be understood as condoning Googles failure to preserve chat evidence.Google, the judge warned, may not be so lucky in the next one.Originally Published: November 10, 2024 at 6:15 AM PST

Solid Who?Are you young and know nothing about Metal Gear Solid? Then you're the exact reason that Konami is making Metal Gear Solid DeltaYou gotta get on that Metal Gear grind!Image credit: Konami News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 10, 2024 There's lots of reasons to remake a game, but for Konami, its choice to make Metal Gear Solid Delta comes from a concern about young people.Kids these days - can they even tell you which one is Big Boss, The Boss, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, or Venom Snake by looking at pictures of them anymore? Okay, most people probably can't do that, let alone young people, but with the Metal Gear Solid series having been essentially dead since 2018's Metal Gear Survive, a game without creator Hideo Kojima's involvement, interest in the series hasn't exactly been at an all time high. There are plenty of fans, of course, but most of them probably grew up with them, and in a recent interview with Play magazine (via GamesRadar), series producer Noriaki Okamura spoke about the fact that a lot of younger games just don't know much about Metal Gear.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "One of the things that really sparked us to do the remake in general is because we realised that a lot of the newer, younger generation of gamers arent familiar with the Metal Gear series anymore," Okamura explained. Ignoring Survive, which didn't do all that well, there hasn't been a new game since 2015's Metal Gear Solid 5, a whole decade of time in which plenty of new gamers won't have been around to see a new main series title coming out."It was basically our mission, our duty, to kind of continue making sure that the series lives on for future generations," Okamura continued. "After all, we leave behind much more than just DNA, as Solid Snake would say - but again, who is Solid Snake?" It's a good question, and genuinely not one that's easy to answer.Fans will also obviously know that Metal Gear Solid 3 is chronologically the earliest in the series, which is also partly why they chose to remake that one. While Metal Gear Solid Delta was originally meant to be released this year, it's now likely to be released in 2025, though it's still yet to get a release date.

Bloody SeaBioWare rounds off the end of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's first week by kindly telling you all what's killing you the mostAs well as some other, less morbid facts.Image credit: EA News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 10, 2024 Players have had their hands on Dragon Age: The Veilguard for a little bit now, so BioWare has shared some interesting facts and figures about everyone's playthroughs.It's become pretty popular for developers to share how players are actually playing these days, as it offers an interesting insight into the masses' mindset, and the ways it does or does not differ. BioWare has hopped on that trend this week by sharing some stats from The Veilguard, kicking things off by sharing the breakdown of classes - it turns out that mage comes out on top with 40% of players picking that class, leaving warrior and rogue at 30% each, which is honestly pretty even, even if it's clear that people fancy themselves as magic users more than anything else. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Following that, it shared what lineage players opted for. Perhaps unsurprisingly, human was the most commonly picked lineage at 43%, but elves weren't far off at 40%. By comparison, much less people decided to play as qunari, with only 11% of players doing so, leaving dwarves with being picked by only 6% of players. Interestingly, BioWare also shared what mission is killing players the most: Sea of Blood. This mission is actually quite early on, so it might be more of a case of players getting to grips with things still more than it being all that difficult. In terms of particular enemies, though, High Dragon Corius the Icetalon has killed most players, so keep your wits about you if you're yet to face that one.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Lastly, there was also a breakdown of which factions player chose, which was a bit more all over the place. Both Grey Wardens and Shadow Dragons were picked by 24% of players, making up almost half of all total players. After that, 16% of them picked Antivan Crows, 15% picked Veil Jumpers, with the Lords of Fortune and Mournwatch only being picked by 11% and 10% of players respectively.BioWare also shared that there's "even more to share in future" when it comes to the game's statistics, so keep your eyes peeled for future tidbits like these.

Choices, Choices"We really heavily focused on freedom to play the game the way you wanted" - Fallout: New Vegas' director on Obsidian's goals in the face of bug criticisms and Fallout 3 comparisons"You always have to prioritise things." News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Nov. 10, 2024 Obsidian knew what it was in for as it was developing Fallout: New Vegas, but that didn't stop it from sticking with its guns.Despite how long games take to make these days, Fallout: New Vegas was on the opposite end of the spectrum, taking only 18 months to develop, which was way too quick even then. The end result had plenty of bugs, which is something that Obsidian knew it would have to accept, but also reused assets from Fallout 3 - and in a recent interview with Edge (via GamesRadar), director Josh Sawyer knew that that had to be the case if it was going to ship at all, particularly considering this might be his last chance to helm a Fallout game.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I knew that people would say 'Hey, this basically looks like Fallout 3.' And there were a lot of complaints about bugs," Sawyer said. "It was very frustrating because we weren't unaware, but you always have to prioritise things." That doesn't mean any of this stopped Obsidian from doing exactly what it set out to, as a big thing the developer wanted to achieve is making the game highly replayable. "All of our work had gone into the intricate and the freedom of the quests and the critical path, and the faction alliances."Those are things that, if you just do one playthrough, you are going to be like 'yeah, whatever, who cares?' So it did take time for people [to] go 'oh, wow, actually you can beeline straight to the strip.'" Freedom was particularly important for Sawyer, as he noted that "you don't even have to do the critical path. You can kill anybody in the game and the game accounts for it. We really heavily focused on freedom to play the game the way you wanted, and I think that's what stood out over time."Since then, Fallout: New Vegas has obviously gone on to become a beloved entry in the series, with plenty hoping that Obsidian would make a new Fallout after being acquired by Microsoft (though I think it's probably a bit busy making Avowed and The Outer Worlds these days).

Tune in for a 10-minute tour.A Nintendo Direct is on the way, folks. This one, however, won't feature any upcoming Switch games, nor any information on the elusive 'Switch 2'.Instead, Nintendo will be showcasing a 10-minute look at the new Donkey Kong Country expansion for Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

"40 years in the making".Digital Eclipse is releasing Tetris Forever on the Switch eShop early next week on 12th November and the file size is now in.According to an official listing, you'll need roughly 5.3 GB of free space to install this collection on your Switch. As previously confirmed, there will be more than 15 playable games in Tetris Forever, including several that haven't ever been released outside of Japan until now.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Image: Nintendo LifeWelcome once again to Catch-up Crew, where Nintendo Life staffers assemble for a mission to explore an old classic, with veterans leading new recruits into the unknown.Last time we examined Rareware's Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. For today's mission, we're taking a look at WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, or Minigame Mania! as it was known in Europe.This winning 21-year-old GBA classic was Wario's first venture into the world of microgames and is available to play on Switch if you've got a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube784kWatch on YouTube Following the customary various promotions and demotions, this is the crew we assembled for this mission to Diamond City circa 200X:Capt. Gavin Lane - WarioWornCmdr. Alana Hagues - WarioWiseLt. Ollie Reynolds - Mi$$ed this oneEns. Jim Norman - WarioWhere?Images: Nintendo LifeGavin: Good afternoon, crew. Are we all assembled?Alana: Correct and present, sir.Jim: Presently correct, captain.Ollie: Aup!Gavin: Good. Were here a little later than expected following our mission to assist with terraforming efforts in the Rostk system, and Id like to keep todays briefing as short and sweet as possible given the micro nature of the assignment.First up, lets get some background. Ensign Norman, is this your first encounter with the WarioWare series?Jim: With the series? No, sir. I dabbled in the wonderful Wii entry, WarioWare Smooth Moves, back in the day, and I also have a particular soft spot for the DSis WarioWare: Snapped! (though, in retrospect, its not very good is it?). But this was my first encounter with where it all began.Gavin: Ah, Smooth Moves - my first brush with the series also! I first played this GBA debut during my time serving as 3DS Ambassador. Youre familiar with other entries in the series, Lt. Reynolds?Ollie: Yep! Ive dipped in and out of the WarioWare franchise, and if my memory is correct, Ive played D.I.Y. and Gold the most. I have very vague memories of the original, but I dont think I actually played it myself; perhaps I watched a friend play it during school or something. Who knows. Its a cool series, though!Gavin: And youre a seasoned veteran, Commander?Alana: Seasoned is a generous term, sir, but I played Mega Microgame$ back when it came out on GBA. I havent played any of the WarioWare titles on 3DS or Switch - its a series I sort of dropped off. But I have some fond memories of this one and Touched!, in particular.Images: Nintendo LifeGavin: Interesting, you're the only one to have played this on original hardware. Okay then, its worth beginning with constructive criticism, because I believe I speak for the crew when I say this one holds up exceptionally well. I only intended to dip in briefly via NSO to refresh my memory, but ended up playing the whole thing.So, negatives. Anyone?Ollie: Heh Honestly? Not really. Like yourself, I think it holds up very well. The ability to communicate exactly whats required from the player in literal seconds is astonishing. I also love the whole vibe of this one. It kind of reminds me of early MTV Animation shows, but its also before Wario became known for, yknow farting and stuff.Alana: Im on the same page as both of you. I actually love how gimmick-less the original is. It really is just a bunch of little minigames all bundled together with no microphone, no touchpad, no motion controls just you and two buttons and a d-pad.Jim: Gosh, I better come up with something negative to say, then. Erm the Paper Plane minigame is a bit too addictive? My hands got a little too sweaty in the final level? Ive got nothing! I was expecting to play this one over the course of a week, but ended up playing it from start to finish in a single sitting. How moreish.Images: Nintendo LifeGavin: Indeed. The simplicity of the inputs work so well. If you misunderstand an instruction due to the speed, theres almost zero confusion the next time. In terms of negatives, hmm. Compared to the others, Orbulon's observational games aren't quite my cup of Earl Grey. And the very slow upload bar when you unlock the next round of games is pointless. Thats all Ive got.Moving on, lets talk about favourite characters and specific minigames. Ive a soft spot for Jimmy T. myself.Jim: Jimmy is great, and perhaps the best-defined character in the game, but 9-Volts selection was a highlight for me. Having played the later series entries, I was wondering when all the Nintendo references were going to pop up, and there they are! I love the shameless plug for the GBA SP on completion, too.Alana: The Nintendo games are always a highlight, arent they, Ensign? Ill give a shoutout to Mona for being this kooky, energetic character. Shes also got some of those classic WarioWare games, too, like the eye drops, nose picking, fried eggs. I like it when WarioWare gets stupid. But I do hate the nail and hammer boss round.Ollie: The Nintendo games are really neat, but I have to admit that I prefer the more original, bespoke games. Theres a sense of the unknown the first time that you play them that is missing with those established Nintendo-themed ones. My favourite characters are Dribble & Spitz, purely because I love the effect of the rain on the taxis windscreen as the wipers clear it away. It looks so cool!Images: Nintendo Life Our Top 25, but what's at number WAAAAH-n?Jim: Ill give a little shoutout to those microgames that use a real image in the background. Getting the cat to sleep or the dog to shake made me laugh. Every. Single. Time.Alana: Its a very cool-looking and sounding game with a lot of different art styles, vocal songs, and colour. It really stands out on the GBA, honestly. I remember the first time I saw those animated photograph games and it reminded me of the Game Boy Camera.Gavin: Yep, the mixed-media approach to the art felt so anarchic. I love the simple narratives that thread the thing together, too. I havent played either of the Switch games, unfortunately, as the increased complexity and gimmickry tended to put me off, especially with the backlog. Has anyone here sampled the latest entries?Jim: Not me, unfortunately. Though after checking out the OG, Id be keen to now.Alana: I havent, and I dont know if I will. This is more a broader point, but I feel like once youve played a handful of WarioWare games, you know what youre getting. WarioWare knows what it is, and thats great, but I think Ive had my fill from the earlier games, and its a big jump to pay full price for something I might only play for a few hours and stop playing.Ollie: Yeah, same here. Now that Ive sampled a few of the earlier games, I have a hard time imagining playing Move It! or Get It Together! and thinking, Wow, so unique! Theyre not all the same, mind, but yknow. YKNOW. Yeah, I wont play them.Gavin: Here we are, on the flagship, and apparently only Chief OReilly has played the Switch WarioWares! Ill make a note in my log. Youre absolutely right, though - that simplicity and the purity of the concept was nailed in the very first entry. Nintendo has a habit of doing that, which is fantastic but also makes iteration tricky.Okay, lets wrap up this micromission. Any final thoughts? Particular memories?Jim: Monas backstory involves her killing a lot of people and we dont discuss that nearly enoughAlana: Shes a working woman, what can I say?Gavin: Remind me to review your Starfleet records, Hagues.Alana: *gulp*Images: Nintendo LifeGavin: And on that note, lets adjourn until next time. Speaking of which, I believe its freshly-promoted Lt. Normans turn to take command for the next mission?Jim: You would be correct. Im taking the wheel and turning us all towards a wonderful world of safari. Anyone up for a spot of Pokmon Snap? It will be a first for some of us, no?Gavin: It will. Some fresh air and snapping holos of the local wildlife on a pleasant M-class planet sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Thank you, all. Dismissed.WarioWare, Inc. Mega Microgame$ - Recruit ReportImage: Nintendo LifePromoted Officer:Lt. Cmdr. Ollie ReynoldsLt. Jim NormanBest bit:Those sweet windscreen wipersThe sleepy catWorst bit:Cutscenes are a bit lengthyErm, my sweaty palms?Would play again?Who says I'm not playing it now..?I won't rest until I beat my Paper Plane high score Fun incorporatedRANK!Catching up with the DK crewCaptain's log, stardate 202411.10. After spending some time with the most verb-filled of video games, the crew is energised and ready to go boldly on to our next assignment. With the festival of GO'TY fast approaching a time of great joy and gratitude we look forward to our continuing mission.Related GamesSee AlsoShare:21 Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesRound Up: The Reviews Are In For Mario & Luigi: BrothershipHere's what the critics thoughtIt's Official, 'Switch 2' Will Be Backwards CompatibleSwitch Online will also be available on the "successor"Mario & Luigi Fans Aren't Happy About Brothership's Battle Button TweaksIt should be 'B' for the Bro, right?Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch GamesXenoblade X! Brothership! Donkey Kong Country!Plans To Announce The 'Switch 2' Have Not Changed, Says Nintendo's PresidentSo expect it before the end of March 2025 System:Game Boy AdvancePublisher:NintendoDeveloper:NintendoGenre:PuzzlePlayers:1Release Date:Game Boy Advance 26th May 2003 23rd May 2003 21st Mar 2003Wii U eShop 10th Apr 2014, $6.99 10th Apr 2014, 6.29 3rd Apr 2014, 700Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (Subscription)8th Feb 2023Series:Wario, WarioWareAlso Known As:WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania! (Europe), Made in Wario (Japan)Where to buy:Buy on eBay