BioWare's long-awaited online multiplayer looter-shooter, Anthem, is finally here, and now made widely available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as PC (for those who haven't already picked it up on Origin Premier when it launched last weekend). The game sees players take control of a fully customizable Javelin, a mech-suit capable of varying forms of heavy combat in a luscious open world teeming with wildlife and dangers. Broken into four distinctive classes, these include the balanced beginner class, the Ranger; the fast, melee-damage focused Javelin, Interceptor; the Storm, capable of enormous AoE attacks and airborne combat; and the Colossus, a tank with a massive health pool and an arsenal of heavier machine guns. Since the gameplay loop requires players to grind for increasingly rare and effective weapons and gear, it is by nature designed to be a loot-and-shoot in the vein of Destiny or The Division. However, what sets Anthem apart from the its genre counterparts is the Javelins themselves, as well as BioWare's pedigree for creating immersive worlds and narratives that propel the game to emotional highs and lows. "I feel remarkably similar to when we launched the original Mass Effect trilogy," said Casey Hudson, General Manager of BioWare. "I'm excited, anxious and incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished. I sincerely hope our players enjoy what we have created, and I look forward to the countless stories we'll tell in the world of Anthem in the weeks and months to come." Anthem is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned to Nexus as we're busy with our review of the game as we speak!

It’s been a while since we last spoke to the team about their thoughts and opinions on what’s happening in the gaming scene. Late 2018 and 2019 so far have brought some serious scandals and controversies about, and one of the most dominant things that pops up is micro-transactions. Amidst this, Apex Legends launched with all the terrible things that gamers hate, yet has enjoyed over 25 million players since launch. With this in mind, I asked the team if they thought that micro-transactions and loot boxes were okay in a free-to-play game. Douw: As someone who plays a lot of Hearthstone, I can't stand against loot boxes in all free to play games whether it be cosmetic only or more central to the design as is the case in Hearthstone. Free to play games need a source of revenue and the use of selling items via microtransactions is something that I will never begrudge a studio for doing (see my extensive League of Legends champion skins collection for that). That said, having items hidden behind loot boxes is another story. The random nature and grind that is associated with it mimics practices that aren't all that great, and while you do need to keep your player base hooked and coming back for more having a good gameplay loop and new content that they'd willingly pay for feels a lot better practice. What I will point out as perhaps a step in the right direction is the new way that Loot Llamas are being made use of in Fortnite. With the ability to see what the contents are before you open it, and a reroll occurring in good time if you're willing to wait and play the game, you're going to be able to still get what you want from your hard earned rewards. Vincent: Microtransactions in any form, shape or size - sies! Sam: Microtransactions and loot boxes are the bane of gaming’s existence, regardless of cosmetics only or not, but I think not all F2P games should be discredited immediately. One game that comes to mind is Warframe; an excellent game on its own and I can see why people might want to support the game with payments. Sadly, this practice has bled into the triple-A gaming scene and affected the way corporate heads think about micro transactions - what is acceptable in a premium product and what isn’t. The lines are slowly blurring and my greatest fear is that it will target the age old ‘it’s just cosmetics’ argument. Yes, it is just cosmetics but there’s an exploitable market there that will still buy into the practice, thus giving greedy companies more leniency to push its boundaries. In some cases, I can support it if I feel the devs are passionate enough about their product, but I can’t support the corporate machine that can’t tell right from wrong. Andrew: I'm glad the question specified free-to-play games as I want to state up front, microtransactions in any full-price game can get stuffed (can we have actual expansions again?). As for free-to-play games, it's more complex. Every product needs some way to recoup investment costs in order to stay viable. However, in a world that has already accepted progression systems that inherently unbalance multiplayer games, I despise pay-to-win style microstransactions that give players the opportunity to buy their way into competitiveness. Like doping in professional sports, what are you proving? Cosmetics I don't mind, though the ridiculous pricing is often questionable. I guess I have to give kudus to whoever realised they could establish a system within videogames as shallow and illogical as the real-world fashion industry. Lois: (ed – Lois lost his answer because we needed someone to pick on this week) Keegan: (ed – as in depth as always) No. Rob: I believe that micro-transactions, if cosmetic only, aren’t the worst thing we have endured. However, since then I have been educated by a few of my colleagues on how micro-transactions and there practice have started to spill into other elements of development, to where they do become a problem. At the end of the day, we used to buy games that came as a full package. Regardless of good or bad – it was complete, full, and the developer gave you what they felt you needed. While I am for including the community in things, I feel that there is a line we have crossed where developers are simply going off a community checklist, rather than just creating something for us to enjoy. Micro-transactions have caused problems, and while I use to say “yes, but if I want a skin, I should be able to buy it, and if you don’t, then don’t buy it”; however, I truly believe that micro-transactions should be an in-game currency model, just like the good old days. Make games whole again. What are your thoughts on micro-transactions? Let us know in the comments below.

Devil May Cry is undoubtedly one of the most influential gaming franchises within its respective genre. The hack and slash combat, hyper-stylish action, and gripping narrative saga about brotherly bonds, destiny, and demonic uprising has come to define this series - instantly recognizable traits boosted by a devoted fan following, even through some of its less than appealing moments. Today, we're aiming to rank all the Devil May Cry games in the saga from worst to best, including Ninja Theory's own spin on the formula. So sit back, relax, and let's rock. 5. Devil May Cry 2 At a time when sequels were constantly breaking new boundaries for gaming, along came Devil May Cry 2, which aimed to one-up its already acclaimed predecessor by taking gigantic leaps forward, both in gameplay and story. Unfortunately, it overshot its mark and landed in the mediocrity bin. Here, we see an aging Dante - with notably less enthusiasm and more brooding edge - retread familiar plot points from the first game. Dante must go to a location, figure out some mystery, and fight a nonsensical villain that couldn't be more obvious, even if you taped "I'm bad" on his forehead. The dialogue was horrendous, the story made little sense (why, Lucia?!) and the combat was a marginal step back for the franchise, riddled with countless bugs, poor hit detection, and abysmal controls. It's a slog to get through, and I don't recommend playing it since it actually has no impact to the overarching mainline story. At least, from what we know. 4. DmC: Devil May Cry This was a difficult entry to really place on this list. DmC: Devil May Cry comes from the mind of Ninja Theory (those swell chaps that made Hellblade), so the anticipation was pretty high for this to succeed. When the reveal trailer released, though, there was an ocean of fans sighing at the sight of the remodeled characters and story elements. Dante, specifically, donned an emo haircut, and was ridiculed for his off-kilter style, despite somewhat retaining a cocky sense of humour. For the most part, DmC did surprise many people, but not through its bizarrely told and unnecessary narrative. The combat, to date, is still freaking fantastic, and stands above a lot of the entries on this list. The flexibility in its combat allowed various special weapons to be stringed together in one combo, making for some flashy, over-the-top, and insanely entertaining gameplay. It's a shame, then, that the poorly written story and characters bogged down the fun factor. 3. Devil May Cry 4 It's hard to follow up a near-masterpiece action title, but Devil May Cry 4 tried its best to, well, best its predecessor. Even though it never quite reached those dizzying, ambitious heights, Capcom still managed to produce a competently made and often exhilarating fourth installment. With the focus taken off of series protagonist, Dante, Nero had the stage to make a good first impression. It's still somewhat debatable among the community if he did, but thankfully, a good story and fantastic combat elevates it above most of its nagging issues. Players switch between Nero and Dante in the main campaign, never sidelining our favourite main hero but also, never undermining him either. It was a clever balancing act that Capcom mostly pulled off, though it's clear that Nero still needs some time in the cooker before fans can wholeheartedly accept him with open arms. Let's hope Devil May Cry 5 changes that. 2. Devil May Cry Fun fact: Devil May Cry was initially born as a concept for Resident Evil 4. Game director Hideki Kamiya envisioned a completely different style of gameplay for the fourth entry in his horror series, but it eventually evolved into what we now know as the original Devil May Cry - a breath of fresh air in the hack and slash genre which kickstarted the entire series. Devil May Cry, for its time, was a groundbreaking title known for its absurdly fast-paced combat, flashy action, and unique art design which set it apart from its genre counterparts. The versatility in combat was astounding, presenting players with plenty of options and freedom to perform whatever stylish combos their hearts desired, with a wide range of weapons and tools at their disposal. Granted, it hasn't aged as gracefully as the other titles in the series, but it does still hold a very special place in the hearts of fans. 1. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening The Devil May Cry games have always been known for their challenge. They weren't unconquerable, but they were brick-hard. The third installment in the series, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, emphasized that level of challenge by taking it to the next level, and then some. Confusing difficulty adjustments in Western/Eastern ports aside, Devil May Cry 3's notoriously intimidating challenge played a key part in solidifying its place in gaming history. Told as somewhat of an origins story, we meet a younger (and cockier) Dante as he goes up against his evil twin brother, Vergil. Not only did the combat get a significant boost in quality, but also its storytelling, direction, and overall quality. Devil May Cry 3 remains one of the best games of all time, and for good reason. It's ludicrously stylish, hard as nails, and incomparably satisfying, especially when overcoming a particularly nasty (but freaking awesome) boss battle. Devil May Cry has never been able to top its third installment in almost all aspects, but here's hoping that Devil May Cry 5 gives us that worthy successor. To close things off, I present to you the music of Devil May Cry 3. Listen, listen again, and love it: Devil May Cry 5 launches on March 8, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The rumours for the next generation of Xbox have been circling the mill since last year, when some of the supposed specs were leaked. We spoke about the supposed rumour about the next generation of Microsoft’s gaming console, but now, it seems that they will be officially revealed at E3 this year. According to Frech website, JeuxVideo, the specs that were leaked were actually closer to the upcoming consoles than most would like to admit. Lockhart will be the cheapest version of the console, having no disc tray, and the Anaconda is more powerful variant, which does include a disk tray. However, both consoles will be running SSD’s to enhance performance. Below are the supposed sepcs that the two consoles are rumoured to launch with. Xbox Lockhart specs CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 16 Zen 2 threads GPU: Custom NAVI 4+ Teraflops RAM: 12GB of GDDR6 memory Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive Xbox Anaconda specs CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 16 Zen 2 threads GPU: Custom NAVI 12+ Teraflops RAM: 16GB of GDDR6 memory Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive Supposedly, the Lockhart will offer 1080p native resolution and the Anaconda will be their 4K native monster. Obviously, these are subject to change, so specs may change in the future, or at launch. Costing will, supposedly, be similar to the Xbox One X models, sitting at $500 for the Anaconda at launch.