I'm looking to create some light guns for my arcade cabinet and there's been a few solutions out there that I've been researching. I finally settled in on Gun4IR and have the internals on hand, but I've been looking for a great shell to use.

Having recently purchased a Bambu Labs X1 Carbon 3D printer, I was perusing the various 3D printing sites to see if there's a good gun I could print out to use. I came across someone's modification of an Aliens pulse rifle and I knew that was one I had to make. I'm currently sourcing the filament to make it, but then I came across something really cool about the creator of the Aliens pulse rifle prop.

Chris over at Props3D makes some really solid looking movie props. And he puts some of his props up on Thingiverse for everyone to print out, which is really cool. There are some great looking models you can make yourself like the Mandalorian blaster, Dredd's Lawgiver, and a Star Trek TOS phaser to name a few.

As I was checking out the Props3D channel, I saw that they were getting into the light gun game. Dubbed Blamcom, it does look like it uses four IR sensors like the Gun4IR, but instead of an Arduino board, they are going with a Raspberry Pi Pico W. I rather like that solution over the Arduino board myself. Props3D is going to sell the electronics core and the guns, but that doesn't mean you can't make it all yourself. They are going to provide all the info needed to make your own, which is really awesome of them.

You can check out the video below and see some of the guns they are looking to produce. There's no timetable on when they will release the guns and hardware for sale, but I'm going to keep my eye out on this project for sure. His demo makes it look very accurate and if they are able to deliver this, us arcade enthusiasts will have another great option for light gun games at home.

South Korean studio PressA has announced that its side-scrolling free-to-play battle royale shooter SIDE BULLET is launching for PlayStation 5 on October 4^th. SIDE BULLET is a 2D twist on the popular genre where players battle in an urban setting against other players, but also AI-controlled monsters. At launch, you’ll be able to choose combatants from one of nine cartel factions, each with their own perks and special weapons. The game only offers solo and trios modes at the moment, so you duos battle royale folks will have to put up with a rando, but PressA says more content is coming post-launch.

Of course, as a free-to-play title, it will feature microtransactions, but only for cosmetic items such as costumes, weapon skins, emotes, and the like. Seasonal battle passes will be available in both free and premium varieties as well. Check out the new launch trailer below:

The time is nearly upon us, folks. The 4v4 multiplayer shooter FOAMSTARS, from Square Enix, is hosting an open beta on PlayStation 5 this weekend beginning today at 9:00PM Eastern Time. The beta is available for all PS5 users to download from the PlayStation Store with no PS Plus membership required. It will last until Monday, October 2^nd at 2:59AM Eastern Time, so you’ll have the entire weekend to join in the foam party.

The beta will feature two game modes, Smash the Star and Happy Bath Survival, as well as eight playable characters. It also includes support for haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and gyro aiming (do people really like that?) on PS5’s DualSense controller. Players who participate in the test will earn an exclusive skin for the Soa character when the full game releases in 2024.

See you at the party!

Publisher Saber Interactive and developer Tuxedo Labs announced that voxel-style destruction heist game Teardown is heading to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 15^th. Pre-orders are available now on Xbox, while PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers will get to enjoy it as a day one release onto the service.

Teardown includes a 40-mission heist campaign that requires you to solve environmental puzzles through various forms of destruction. Run a car through the side of a building to gain access? You can do totally do that. Also available are a Sandbox Mode that combines all the areas from the campaign into a large playground, as well as Creative Mode, which lets you build your own voxel structures.

Tuxedo Labs also announced the game’s first season pass, which will add four DLC packs to the game over the next year. The first is called Time Campers and features a Wild West theme. It will be available alongside the console launch on November 15^th. The second is called Folkrace, and it introduces destruction derby-style racing modes, three racetracks, and new vehicles in the Spring of 2024.

I’ve been keen for Teardown since it popped up at a PlayStation event earlier this year, and can we all just agree that voxel art on modern hardware is simply gorgeous? Good, it’s settled then.

Arcade 1UP has announced that they will be holding the first ever Arcade 1UP World Championships in collaboration with BackAlley 7/11.The event will focus on fighting games and will begin this weekend.  

The games that will be played for the World Championships will be...

• Marvel vs. Capcom
• Street Fighter 2
• Killer Instinct 
• X-Men vs. Street Fighter

Qualifying matches will take place for the next four weeks on the BackAlley 7/11 channel. Then for four weeks after that matches will take place on Arcade 1UPs official Youtube channel. 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Game will be getting new content in October and one of them will be a bundle for Leatherface including a new execution, a new chainsaw and a new skin designed by Greg Nicotero.

Greg Nicotero is a special effects and make up artist who has been in the industry since the 80s and has worked on movies such as Jason Goes to Hell, Scream, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake, Hostel and more. 

No release date except it will be released sometime in October. Prepare your wallets. The bundle will run you a whopping $15.99. Look I get this is special since it's designed by Greg Nicotero but my god that price is unreal. Still the new Leatherface outfit does look pretty awesome. 

She's here. A.K.I. has arrived. Her entire character guide, and combo trials. Her snake like avoid all projectile crawl, that can be canceled out of into a normal, or a throw. She comes with the ability to poison you via bubble, or putting poison on the ground. Her level 2 even poisons you if you block the entire thing. You've seen all the footage Capcom has to offer for her arrival. But it also comes with a couple of patch notes. 

One that stands out the most to me is this, straight from Capcom's poisonous fingers. And it reads like this: 

• In order to mitigate unintentional Super Arts from being performed, the input recognition frame of certain Super Art commands have been shortened. Due to this adjustment, players must input their commands faster or the Super Art may not be performed.

This is HUGE, because there were many complaints about how some super arts were so easy to pull off, that sometimes you would do them by mistake. Capcom has mad good of this, by making some of them more precise. Say what you will, but the game I gave a perfect 10 for the World Tour Mode, accessible characters (even you, JP) and feeling like the most complete fighter in a while, is doing ok by me. Check out my shoddy play below, and remember, you probably have her by now, and if you don't, you can definitely try her our with one of the may rentals you've received. 

Today at Meta Connect 2023, Meta provided all the details on their next generation consumer VR headset, the Meta Quest 3. Mark Zuckerburg took the stage to talk about how the Quest 3 improves upon the best selling Quest 2.

Zuckerburg called it their first consumer mixed reality headset. It's still a stand alone headset and offers tracking for both controllers and your hand, like a Quest 2.

The exterior cameras are a much higher quality so mixed reality is possible. That means full color, high resolution pass through video will be possible instead of the black and white, low resolution video you got from Quest 2. Having experienced some mixed reality in the past, it's really cool to see virtual objects in real space that you can interact with.

The cameras offer 10X more pixels than the Quest 2 and auto maps the space using two dedicated cameras along with a depth sensor. Scanning your room will be a snap and the Quest 3 will easily know where to place objects in your physical space. Mark expands on the mixed reality by showing things like virtual digital picture frames hanging on the walls of your room. There's static pictures as well as video shown in the virtual frames and the Quest 3's mapping of the room makes this all possible.

For those who just want to watch content, you can drop large virtual screens in place and enjoy all your media this way without having to dedicate a large space in your room to do so. With the Quest 3, you'll also have access to sporting events where you're right next to the action. I've used my Quest 2 to watch some sporting events and it's really immersive to sit court side in some NBA games.

For gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming is also coming in December so for those who have that subscription, you can play your games on a large virtual screen. Of course, there's a large library of past games that you can tap into. Assassin's Creed Nexus was shown and the game's due out on November16th. Roblox is launching today so another large title will be VR capable. 

Inside the Quest 3 is a Snapdragon XR2 gen 2 that features 2X the graphics performance. The lenses are pancake lenses so they're thinner as well. The new HMD is said to be 40% slimmer than the previous one, but slightly heavier. We'll have to see if that has any effect on long term usage.

Shipping on October 10th, it'll cost $499, which is $200 than what the Quest 2 currently costs. Pre-orders start today.

If you’re a regular reader of Gaming Nexus, you might already know that I’m a massive Battlefield 2042 mark. As such, I have been keeping my ear to the ground in the Battlefield community regarding what is coming next alongside Season 6. The “too long; didn’t read” version is that something eerie is brewing in the world of Battlefield 2042. For nerds like me who enjoy this stuff, developer DICE has been drip feeding lore since the game launched in 2021, all of which has led us to this moment.

For starters, No-Pats, the soldiers of the 2042 universe, have been disappearing in the middle of operations for some time now, leaving their weapons and equipment behind and essentially vanishing from the battlefield. Additionally, secret research facilities and covert operations have been introduced to the lore in recent weeks, culminating today with the release of redacted top-secret documents which include the words “contain”, “biological”, “execute”, “on”, and “sight”. DICE has also shared a new memo detailing the Warriors Reborn program that has utilized neural link and prosthetics technologies to “restore” more than 20,000 soldiers to operational capacity.

So, what does it all mean? Well, that I’m a huge nerd, for one, but more importantly, that something which sounds to me like cyborgs or zombies (or cyborg zombies) is coming to Battlefield 2042 in Season 6. This has also been the most prevalent rumor percolating through the Battlefield 2042 community as we head for the October spooky season. Hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer to find out officially what is happening in the new season.

Open-world multiplayer survival game Smalland: Survive the Wilds is launching on December 7^th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It is currently available in Steam Early Access but is ready for the 1.0 limelight in just two months’ time, while the console versions are a nice surprise as well.

In Smalland, players explore various biomes as one of the Smallfolk, a race of tiny people who are trying to conquer land left behind by the giants. Create your own custom character, craft armor and weapons, and fight enormous creatures while trying to survive. You can also tame creatures such as geckos and spiders to be your rideable mount. As you scavenge more and better resources, you’ll gain the ability to claim a Great Tree and build a base that will be available regardless of what server you are playing in. If trying to survive solo doesn’t sound like fun, grab up to nine other friends to help you fight spiders and build your tree base.

This sounds like a fun co-op romp with friends, and it could be hitting at just the right time after the overwhelming amount of upcoming Fall blockbusters. Check out a new console announcement trailer below: