Earlier this month, the world lost a one-of-a-kind creative talent with the news of Akira Toriyama's passing. While Dragon Ball will always be Toriyama-sensei's best-known work, he leaves behind a legacy full of many other imaginative worlds across games, anime, and manga. Before leaving us, he worked with Bandai Namco to flesh out one of his short manga creations further: Sand Land. Alongside a new anime series, Toriyama-sensei gave input on a videogame adaptation of Sand Land that would allow players to explore this unique world for themselves.

The classic manga Sand Land lives on in Bandai Namco's new game, which ventures beyond where the original story concludes. Read on to find out what new adventures await our mech-powered demon hero in the wetlands, caves, and Forest Land. Speaking of Forest Land, we also have a reveal of new gameplay from the woodland biome.

Bandai Namco has released a new action-packed trailer revealing the existence of Forest Land! This new world and characters have been imagined by creator Akira Toriyama specifically for the video game and animated series, expanding the world of Sand Land with new adventures. Beyond the dunes and the scorching desert sun, lies a lush and green nation called Forest Land. Although peaceful at first glance, this place is governed by a ferocious army opposing Sand Land. Leading this force is Muniel, fearsome despite his childlike features, he is determined to save his land by getting his hands on a supply of Aquanium, a powerful but dangerous resource, and he will not back down without a fight.

This is another challenge for Beelzebub, his friends and his new allies, promising a handful of explosive battles against each of the Forest Land's army generals. Supported by Ann, players will be able to count on her courage in battle and her excellent mechanical skills to make their vehicle more efficient and powerful. Sand Land is set to release on 26th April 2024 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A demo is available now on all platforms to take your first steps in Sand Land.

The stage is set and the anticipation palpable as DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO adds new names to its latest lineup of fighters. Power and speed are often worthless without precision and timing. These new characters are well aware of that. In the DRAGON BALL universe, you have encountered characters who seamlessly blend both speed and power, creating a formidable fusion of strength and agility. However, among all of them, some make their raw strength or rapid movements their defining trait. The newly revealed characters are charted below.

Producer Jun Furutani revealed more details about the game's mechanics
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO brings back enhanced gameplay elements that the franchise has been known and cherished for, making battles even more spectacular, faster, impressive and authentic to the anime. Evolved features such as "Skill Count", "Revenge Counter" and "Vanishing Assaults" have been added, giving chances for players to counterattack their foes, and add more strategy to their fights. As you discover more about DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, ask yourself: will you prefer raw, overwhelming power or lightning-fast agility?

Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced the release of a playable demo on consoles and PC for Sand Land, the upcoming action RPG based on Akira Toriyama's original work (Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump). Sand Land is coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on April 26, 2024. For more information visit Sand Land's official site; pre-orders for Standard, Deluxe and Collector's Edition of the title are available now.

Beelzebub, Rao, and Thief are just about to hit the road. Fancy tagging along?
This explosive new demo invites players to experience a slice of the exciting vehicle and melee combat and exploration in Sand Land. Step into the roles of the Fiend Prince Beelzebub, his chaperone Thief, and the fearless Sheriff Rao as the band of heroic misfits journeys across this colorful world via Battle Tanks, Battle Armors, and Motorcycles. Fans who play the demo will receive 30 B-grade steel and 30 B-grade bolts in the final game after launch, which can be used to enhance vehicles in Spino.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. is inviting potential CRADLECOFFIN Drifters to participate in the upcoming SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada closed beta test, with registrations now open. The extraction shooter, set in a dystopian futuristic world where humans and AI must cooperate to survive, will have limited slots available for players to be among the first to venture into the ruins of Amasia to fight both environmental threats and human enemies, reap rewards, and escape with all the AO Crystals they can carry.

As a CRADLECOFFIN mech pilot, players will be able to bring their choice of Magus into battle—an AI companion that provides useful combat information including radar locations, resource tracking, combat assistance, and more. They can also select from a wide variety of chassis, arms, and legs, with two weapons as well to optimize their loadout for each sortie. The CBT for SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada will run March 28 through April 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is the second chapter to the feverishly popular fantasy action RPG by Hidetaka Miyazaki, with world-building by George RR Martin. Publisher Bandai Namco is going to publish its first gameplay trailer later today. A reliable source with franchise leaks, billbil-kun, claims that the the game releases on June 21, 2024. It's likely that this date is part of the gameplay reveal trailer which the studio is posting today. The trailer is said to contain some three minutes of gameplay footage captured within engine.
We will update this story with more insights when the trailer comes out.

Within the first few minutes of Tekken 8's story mode, I was whooping at the screen as I watched the iconic Jin Kazama sprout wings, throw three cars at his dad with his mind and then proceed to body slam him through a skyscraper. I knew that if the game has started on this foot, I was in a for a good time. Tekken 8 is a rambunctious, over-the-top, callback to the absurdity of the likes of Tekken 3, and you're going to absolutely love it.

Tekken 8's story mode follows Jin Kazama's journey to take down his father, Kazuya Mishima, who is once again hosting a tournament to find the world's greatest fighter. Contestants from countries all over the world will compete, and those that fail will face horrible consequences unless Jin puts a stop to his antics, all the while fighting to rediscover his own devilish powers. There is more to this story, of course, but one that you'll absolutely want to experience for yourself. Don't worry, if you're not up to date with the story so far, Tekken 8 offers a series of short videos that'll catch you up on the main plot.

The scorching sun of SAND LAND is shining on the beginning of this year. The videogame based on Akira Toriyama's original work will release for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and PC on April 26th, 2024. Joining Beelzebub, the Fiend Prince, his chaperone Thief and Sheriff Rao, prepare to explore the vast desert and take on the Royal Army in various customizable vehicles. This unlikely team uniting humans and demons sets out on an adventure in search for the Legendary Spring capable of ending the terrible drought that has taken over the world. Together, they will travel beyond Sand Land to uncharted territories.

In this action-RPG, players will find a nostalgic and heartwarming world imagined by the creator of Dragon Ball, where you will become the main character Beelzebub. Learn how to control his powers and lead your company of heroic misfits exploring the legendary world of SAND LAND. Beware of the many dangers that populate it: between bandits, fierce wildlife, and the Royal Army, reaching the spring won't be easy! Use your tact and imagination to develop tanks and other vehicles that will help you navigate this vast land, using a wide array of part combinations. Pre-order SAND LAND now.

Join the thirstiest of adventures! Discover the story of the sunbeaten land. 50 years ago, the hubris of humankind combined with natural disasters transformed the world into a desert. A desert world, an extreme water shortage, a demon-human alliance. Whether or not you're familiar with the SAND LAND universe, we're pleased to share a short recap/introduction of the story and its characters, to prepare you for the release of our upcoming video game!

1. What is SAND LAND?
SAND LAND is originally a popular manga created by Akira Toriyama, the author of DRAGON BALL and Dr. Slump. After being serialized intensively for a short period in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2000, the one-volume comic has gained worldwide popularity since its publishing. In desert world where both demons and humans suffer from an extreme water shortage, Beelzebub, Fiend Prince, and Rao, a small-town sheriff, and demon Thief form a team and set off on an adventure in search of the Legendary Spring somewhere in the desert.

We are honored to announce Tales of Arise - Beyond the Dawn. Through this expansion players will enjoy a story that depicts the world after the main story of Tales of Arise, which was released in September 2021. This is the first DLC in the Tales of series that is a direct continuation of the main story in this scale. We will discuss what players can expect from the storyline and why we made the decision to create it.

Sometimes a story is over, but not quite done. Over a year has passed since the conclusion of Tales of Arise, but there's more to the story that hasn't been told yet. Enter Tales of Arise - Beyond the Dawn the upcoming expansion to The Game Awards 2021 RPG of the Year from Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. Adding 20+ hours of game content, the new expansion adds new quests, dungeons, boss fights, and an epic new story arc all within the backdrop of an evolving, beautiful fantasy world. The game will be available on November 9, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Steam. To learn more, please visit the official website.

After 10 years, we return to fight once more. This is where your souls belongs. The reviews are in. Armored Core is back. Ready to take Rubicon by storm? Suit up, Ravens. Success in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon comes from tinkering with highly customizable mech builds, a signature feature of the series, and learning the right strategies and techniques such as staggering enemies with the right weapons, combining ranged and melee attacks, and taking every advantage in battle.

A new action game based on the concept of the Armored Core series that uses the knowledge gained from FromSoftware's recent action game development. Combining FromSoftware's longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon brings a brand-new action experience to the series.

Global video game publisher and developer Bandai Namco Europe S.A.S. announced today the latest addition to the Little Nightmares franchise. Developed by Supermassive Games, Little Nightmares III will be released in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.For the first time in the franchise, players can face their childhood fears with a friend, as the game will be playable in online co-op, letting players take on the role of one of the two new characters, Low or Alone, in this dreadful world. The game will also be fully playable in single player with AI controlling the second character.

In Little Nightmares III, players will follow the journey of Low and Alone, two friends looking for a way to get out of the Nowhere. They will travel through the Spiral, a world filled with dangerous threats such as Monster Baby in the Necropolis. Each character carries its own iconic item - a bow and arrow for Low, a wrench for Alone - that they will use to solve puzzles and help them in their quest to escape.

Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware, Inc. (ELDEN RING, DARK SOULS) have revealed a new extended gameplay walkthrough trailer for ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON. Narrated by the developers, the video is the deepest look yet at the game's intense action, sprawling levels and challenging battle sequences.

As the video showcases, success in ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON will come from tinkering with highly customizable mech builds, a signature feature of the series, and learning the right strategies and techniques such as staggering enemies with the right weapons, combining ranged and melee attacks, and taking every advantage in battle.

The new story trailer for ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON shows players the exciting and dangerous world awaiting them. The realities of turning a profit on Rubicon 3 are fraught with peril, especially when Handler Walter is involved. Watch as Walter's Hounds execute their mission with ruthless tenacity and get a glimpse of the events that will lead up to the beginning of ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON.

Combining FromSoftware's longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay, ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON brings a brand-new action experience to the series. A new game based on the concept of the ARMORED CORE series that uses the knowledge gained from FromSoftware's recent action game development.

Take advantage of the Open Beta and secure the exclusive Golden Omnicar. Park Beyond is park management, where you can build and manage the parks of your dreams. Whether you love to manage your staff, build crazy roller coaster, or decorate your own theme worlds. Park Beyond has something in store for you. PC gamers can download and play the Open Beta on Steam. This test period will be open until June 15 (3 PM). Be creative!

Park Beyond is a theme park simulation game that gives you the freedom to create and manage the Parks of your Dreams! Whether you love to manage finances and visitor experience or just create fun and cozy parks, the game has something in store just for you! In Park Beyond, you are the creative force behind a series of amusement parks, a Visioneer! You're a combination of a creator, a manager, and a designer, wrapped up in one powerful package. Every aspect of developing and maintaining successful theme parks will be under your control.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment's Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is due for release this summer - many fans are looking forward to jumping back into mecha-heavy combat scenarios with a linear progression system. This long-running action game series has stuck to a traditional mission-based format (for the most part) since premiering on the original PlayStation console back in 1997. FromSoftware's sixth mainline entry is set to be no different, although the design team has recently revealed that other options were explored at the beginning of development.

Masaru Yamamura, director of Armored Core VI, stated in an interview conducted by South Korea's Ruliweb: "In the process of developing the sequel, there was also an opinion to make it in a different game style. However, as a result of discussions, it was concluded that it should not be made into a title centered on movement and exploration, such as the Elden Ring or Soul series. In the Armored Core series, depending on the assembly, the movement performance of the character changes and affects the play. Because that is the charm of the series." His team has taken the traditional design route in order to concentrate on assembling detailed and fun gameplay environments: "I think you will be able to feel a different pleasure from exploring every nook and cranny of the carefully crafted map as you move."

A new adventure with publisher Bandai Namco Europe kicks off this GFN Thursday. Some of its popular titles lead seven new games joining the cloud this week. Plus, gamers can play them on more devices than ever, with native 4K streaming for GeForce NOW available on select LG Smart TVs.

Bandai Namco is no stranger to delivering hit games. And GeForce NOW delivers high-performance cloud game streaming, making it the ultimate way to play the publisher's high-quality titles. "Our collaboration with NVIDIA will allow more players to enjoy Bandai Namco titles like "Little Nightmares" across their devices, thanks to the power of the GeForce NOW cloud," said Anthony Macare, senior director of digital business and customer experience at Bandai Namco Europe.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have released a new major patch for Elden Ring, implementing ray tracing on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, as well as adding some gameplay improvements and fixing some bugs. Unfortunately, the game still does not support any upscaling technologies, so there is no support for DLSS or FSR, meaning that those ray tracing effects will have a rather high impact on frame rates.

The ray tracing patch for Elden Ring was announced back in November last year, and it certainly took a while before it was implemented. As detailed earlier, the ray tracing update for Elden Ring adds ambient occlusion and ray traced shadows, but does not include ray traced reflections.

Leading video game publisher and developer Bandai Namco Europe and FromSoftware, Inc. today announced a new action game, ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON. Jointly developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. and FromSoftware, Inc. this is the latest title in the ARMORED CORE series, now revived and reimagined as a new action game after 10 long years since the last entry in the franchise.

ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON will offer a game experience based on the mech game know-how FromSoftware cultivated over 25 years of developing games in the series, but now introducing groundbreaking gameplay found in the developer's recent action games. The new ARMORED CORE title will combine these elements into thrilling action that only mechas can provide. The game promises to be a unique entry in the mech action game genre.

Leading video game publisher and developer Bandai Namco Europe S.A.S. today announced SYNDUALITY, a new game that is part of a recently announced transmedia Sci-fi franchise developed by Game Studio. SYNDUALITY is a Sci-fi Shooter set in a dystopian futuristic world where humans and AI must co-exist and cooperate to survive. The game will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

SYNDUALITY takes place in 2222, years after a mysterious poisonous rain called "The Tears of the New Moon" wiped out most of humanity and birthed deformed creatures that now hunt the population. Amidst the calamity, humans are forced to build an underground haven named Amasia, where they discover and begin to collaborate with forms of artificial intelligence called Magus.

We've been covering the loot box controversy for a while on TechPowerUp now. Independently of which side of the fence you're on - that loot boxes are akin to gambling and thus unethical in some of their implementations, or just cold to the entire issue - it's likely good news for everyone that these so-called "surprise mechanics", as they've been called, will now see their odds being disclosed by console makers and publishers.

Denuvo's technology has fallen out of efficacy, at least, with recent game releases sporting the technology being, overall, quickly cracked (some exceptions, that confirm the rule, exist, of course). However, the usual sales pitch of "protecting games' launch windows, where most of the revenue is made" hasn't been reflected on some of the high profile game releases as of late. While the market has kept using Denuvo technology as a DRM ftowards curbing piracy efforts, it seems that the technology's cost-to-profit ratio isn't working out so well for some companies to include it - such as Bandai Namco.

the company has recently launched God Eater 3, which shunned the Denuvo DRM solution in favor of more classic solutions (Steam). Ace Combat 7 still included the protection, and stands uncracked as of yet (12 days and counting). God Eater 3, which launched 4 days later, didn't include the protection, and the company's Jump Force videogame, launched just yesterday, didn't pack Denuvo either. This means that these two latest game releases have already been cracked, while Ace Combat 7 is holding out strong. Perhaps this signals an experiment being taken on at Bandai Namco's headquarters regarding the benefits of Denuvo usage, though it seems that a game like Ace Combat 7, which will likely sell particularly well in the western market compared to the other releases, did justify Denuvo more than the other releases - but only Bandai Namco knows whether this signals a shift in direction or not.