Ash Parrish

Esports Community Pissed Over Saudi Partnership Deal [Update: Riot Cancelled Deal]

Yesterday two major European esports brands—the Counter-Strike Global Offensive tournament organizer BLAST Premier and Riot’s League of Legends European Championship division—announced a sponsorship deal with NEOM, a 500 billion dollar techno-city funded by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The announcement is drawing waves of criticism from esports personalities and fans. Update: 7/29/2020, 9:50…

Put Chemical Plant Zone In The Sonic Movie Sequel You Cowards

Sonic The Hedgehog, possibly the only good motion picture that will come out of 2020, is getting a sequel. While I have every confidence the sequel will be just as sneakily good as its predecessor, I have one… no, two! suggestions on how Paramount Pictures can ensure a smash-hit follow-up. Suggestion Number 1: Make Miles…

Star Fox 2 Almost Had A Black Female Pilot With Incredible Hair, And I. Am. Smitten.

One drip of information in the deluge coming from Nintendo’s latest “Gigaleak” was source code and unused assets for Star Fox 2, including a never-before-seen human character. Completed in 1995, Nintendo shelved the game out of fear it’d look inferior to the next-gen graphics of the PlayStation. (The game was subsequently released as an unlockable…

Fastest-Ever Overwatch League Match Is 19 Minutes and 23 Seconds of Misery

The fastest match in Overwatch League history took place over the weekend, with last year’s champions, the San Francisco Shock, beating the brakes off the Vancouver Titans in a blisteringly fast match that ran just 19 minutes and 23 seconds. The extremely brief match surpassed a record set just the week before when the Los…

Apex Legends Developers Respond To Criticism Of Pandemic Work Schedule

Screenshots of a post on Glassdoor criticizing Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment appeared on Reddit yesterday. The anonymous poster described a negative work-from-home environment that severely impacted their mental and physical health. “I feel extremely stressed and burnt out trying to keep our seasonal releases on the same aggressive timeline as pre-shelter in place productivity,”…

Paper Mario: The Origami King Is A Rare Game I Actually Want To 100%

I don’t 100% video games. Most of the time, I don’t even finishthem because I hate ending journeys I’m having so much fun on, or my brain goes “ooh shiny” and I bunny-hop to the next big thing. For the most part, all I want in a video game is to mainline rails of story.…

On July 29th, Nintendo Online subscribers will have the chance to play Pokkén Tournament DX for free. The announcement comes in the midst of the Pokémon Players Cup, giving spectators the chance to get in on the action themselves. The trial lasts until 11:59 P.M. on August 4th.

Freelance Game Writers Band Together To Strike Over Poor Pay

Contracted freelance writers for Voltage Entertainment, publisher of notable dating game mobile app Lovestruck, are striking to protest what they describe as a history of low wages and unreasonable deadlines. In the Reddit post announcing the strike, the writers stated, “The writers of Lovestruck have come together to unanimously demand better working conditions, greater transparency,…

Yoshi’s Tax Fraud Story: A Hardboiled Detective Tale

He came into my office, shadows trailing in behind him like he was being followed by the specter of Death. He was a short, squat man; Italian, by the look of him. Honest guy, works with his hands for a living. My guess: plumber. I don’t see too many plumbers on my beat. It’s mostly…

Battle Chef Brigade Helps Me Navigate A Complicated Relationship With Food During Covid-19

(Note: This post contains discussions of disordered eating.) During the pandemic, there are days when I don’t eat. I’ll be hungry, and I’ll have food, but I’ll just simply decline to eat. Quarantine robs me of my desire to eat, and depression from said quarantine robs me of the energy to cook. But what I…

World Of Warcraft‘s Improved Character Creator Will Enable A Lot More Diversity

My first World of Warcraft character is still around, largely unchanged even after 13 years. WoW’s character creator, too, exists in nearly the same, unchanged state. But with the upcoming Shadowlands expansion, character creation is getting a long-overdue upgrade that’ll give me something I’ve been yearning for: a real afro. This has been a long…

Pokémon Esports Broadcasts Are Simply The Best At Reaching Out To Newcomers

Maybe it’s weird, but I enjoy watching Pokémon far more than playing it. I haven’t seriously played a Pokémon title since SoulSilver in ‘09, and haven’t finished one since Pokémon Blue way back in the ancient yester-year of 1996. Yet despite my apparent aversion to all things Pocket and Monster I am obsessed with Pokémon…

NBA 2K21 Will Cost $70 On PS5 And Xbox Series X

With the release of NBA 2K21, games on next gen consoles might see a price increase. In a press release this morning, Take-Two Interactive announced NBA 2K21 on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as their current-gen counterparts. Noticeably, the next-gen standard versions of the game came with a suggested retail price of…

I Loved The Last Of Us 2 Except For All The Parts I Deeply Hated

I do not like The Last Of Us 2. I didn’t like the first one either (it kinda fell apart for me in the final act) and everything I’d heard about its sequel made it sound like a carnival of violence I’d feel okay about abstaining from. And yet, despite the foul taste left from…

An Excerpt From Glengarry Glen Nook

“Let me have your attention for a moment. I wanna talk about something important. Put that lily-of-the-valley down. Lilies-of-the-valley are for checkers only. Do you think I’m Flip-ping with you? I am not Flip-ping with you. I’m here from Nook Inc. I’m here from Timmy and Tommy. And I’m here on a mission of mercy.…

Wizards Of The Coast Will Finally Address Racist Stereotypes In Dungeons And Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons developers Wizards of the Coast will change how they describe and characterize fantasy races in future story modules. In a blog post last week, the publishers of the largest tabletop roleplaying game explained how some of their past characterizations have been racially insensitive and set forth a list of actions they’re taking…

Avatar: The Last Airbender comes to Smite During today’s Summer Game Fest showcase, Smite announced they’re adding Avatar: The Last Airbender skins to their upcoming battle pass. Players will be able to select Aang, Zuko, and Korra skins for Merlin, Susano, and Skadi respectively.

How The NYXL Built A Successful Overwatch Team (In 5 Easy Steps)

In Spring 2018, the New York Excelsior had just won the Overwatch League Stage 2 Championship. In preparation for the next stage, the NYXL Twitter account released a promo. The video is a 15-second spectacle, a highlight reel of the breakout stars of the inaugural season of the Overwatch League laid over M.O.P’s “Ante Up,”…

Horizon Zero Dawn Sequel Forbidden West Is On PS5

Aloy embarks in a new westward adventure in Horizon Forbidden West. From Sony, “Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy’s story as she moves west to a far-future America to brave a majestic, but dangerous frontier where she’ll face awe-inspiring machines and mysterious new threats.” Those threats include a deadly rot-like disease that ravages the flora and…

JETT: The Far Shore, New Game From Superbrothers, Coming To The PS5

From Superbrothers, the developers of Sword & Sworcery, comes Jett: The Far Shore a new action adventure game that invites you to “carve out a future for a people haunted by oblivion.” JETT: The Far Shore is an open world, single player game steeped in atmospheric environments and sounds. Play as Mei, a scout aboard…