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CultureReport: Stadia Blew Millions On Red Dead Redemption 2 And Other Ports
Just how badly did Google’s Stadia video game streaming service flop when it launched back in 2019? According to a new report by Bloomberg, it underperformed its sales target by hundreds of thousands of users, despite spending “tens of millions of dollars” secure ports of big blockbuster games. It’s not hard to see why either,…
By Ethan Gach Published February 26, 2021 -
OpinionSquare Enix Is Finally Making The Final Fantasy VII Cinematic Universe Playable
Yesterday’s most important Final Fantasy news wasn’t delivered at the end of Sony’s lackluster State of Play livestream presentation but was instead casually tweeted out afterward: a new mobile game called Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is coming. This latest FFVII remix will tell the story not just of the original game but also of…
By Ethan Gach Published February 26, 2021 -
CultureSwitch Is Getting Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl Remakes In Late 2021
PokĂ©mon Diamond and Pearl for the DS are getting “faithful” remakes in the form of PokĂ©mon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on Switch later this year, the PokĂ©mon Company announced in a livestream today. The games take place in the Sinnoh region, one of the series’ more naturalistic settings, with players adventuring while accompanied one…
By Ethan Gach Published February 26, 2021 -
CultureHere’s March 2021’s PlayStation Plus Lineup
PlayStation Plus seems to be on a roll right now with another great slate of games. There are, count’em, four games, headlined by the excellent Final Fantasy VII Remake, which released less than a year ago. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active PlayStation Plus membership. February’s PS Plus games…
By Ethan Gach Published February 26, 2021 -
CultureDestiny 2 Is Sunsetting Sunsetting
Bungie announced today it’s getting rid of Destiny 2‘s most beleaguered mechanic: sunsetting. Starting in Season 14, new weapons will no longer have an expiration date. “This is a big change for Destiny and one that we did not make lightly,” assistant game director Joe Blackburn wrote in a sweeping new State of Destiny post…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
CultureDestiny 2‘s Next Big Expansion The Witch Queen Delayed To 2022
Destiny 2 has gotten a big expansion every year since it released, but 2021 will be different. Bungie announced today that The Witch Queen, originally planned to launch in the second half of this year, will be delayed until 2022 due to its size and ongoing issues around working from home during the covid-19 pandemic.…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
CultureCourt Orders Valve To Hand Over Data On 436 Steam Games To Apple
Apple has been asking a bunch of companies to give it confidential information in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games over how much money each company gets to collect off of Fortnite skin sales on the iPhone. Yesterday, a California magistrate judge ordered Valve to comply with one of these requests and hand over…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
CultureCall Of Duty Is Getting Too Big For Your Base PS4, Activision Warns
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare/Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are now so big, Activision is telling base PS4 owners they may no longer be able to fit both full games on their console’s hard drive. Call of Duty: Warzone’s season two update is live, and it’s another hulking 17GB on PS4…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
CultureThe Pokémon Company announced a video livestream over on its YouTube channel on February 26 starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. Who knows what will be shown in it, but this week marks the series’ 25th anniversary, and the company is putting on a concert with Post Malone on Saturday to celebrate
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsBravely Default 2 Is Another Fun But Flawed Old-School JRPG
Bravely Default 2 is a trip, man. Going in, I thought I knew exactly what this game was, and it turns out I pretty much did—except for all of the tiny moments that occasionally delight, and just as occasionally elicit big, heaving sighs. Every time the familiar old-school JRPG wins me over it follows that…
By Ethan Gach Published February 25, 2021 -
CultureGameStop Stock Explodes Again Following Board Member’s McDonald’s Ice Cream Cone Tweet
After weeks in the pits following the initial meme stock frenzy, GameStop stock surged again today, doubling to $91 a share in just a few hours. Why? Who knows. All I can tell you is that it happened shortly after GameStop board member Ryan Cohen tweeted out a picture of a McDonald’s ice cream cone.…
By Ethan Gach Published February 24, 2021 -
CultureStar Wars: Republic Commando Comes To PS4 And Switch Over A Decade Later
Tactical first-person shooter Star Wars Republic Commando is finally coming to other platforms, port studio Aspyr Media announced today. Originally released on PC and Xbox, the Clone Wars-era game will launch on PS4 and Switch on April 6. The new port will be $15 and only include the single-player campaign, which is a shame for…
By Ethan Gach Published February 24, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsInternet Unites For Amazing Mii Channel Song Jam Session
Composer, musician, and YouTuber Alex Moukala let loose a funky, bass-tastic remix of the Nintendo Wii’s Mii Channel theme music on Twitter yesterday and then invited other artists to do the same. The result is an impromptu jam session full of super-talented people showing their love for one of gaming’s quirkiest songs. Moukala, whose music…
By Ethan Gach Published February 23, 2021 -
CultureTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Will Cost $10 To Upgrade To PS5 And Xbox Series X/S Versions
Last year’s remaster of the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games is heading to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch, Activision announced today. Unfortunately, those looking to upgrade their existing copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 to the next-gen version will need to shell out an extra $10. The PS5 and Xbox Series…
By Ethan Gach Published February 23, 2021 -
CulturePS4-Exclusive Days Gone Coming To PC This Spring
Open world zombie slaughter sim Days Gone will be the latest first-party Sony game to get ported to PC, British GQ reports in a new interview with Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan. The news was later confirmed on Twitter by Days Gone maker Sony Bend Studio. “What about PlayStation games on PC? A whole…
By Ethan Gach Published February 23, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsDestiny 2 Players Are Jumping Off Cliffs To Avoid Playing Trials Of Osiris
It happened to me: I was looking for groups on the Destiny 2 app to play Trials of Osiris with, joined one, and then found myself jumping off a clif for the next few minutes in a tribute to just how unfun the game’s competitive PVP loot grind can be. Trials of Osiris was lauded…
By Ethan Gach Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureReport: CD Projekt Red Issuing DMCA Takedowns To Keep A Lid On Hacked Source Code
Maker of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, is hitting Twitter users with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns for sharing links to Gwent source code, according to a recent report by Vice Multiple Twitter users reported that their tweets, at least some of which linked to source code likely leaked in…
By Ethan Gach Published February 22, 2021 -
CultureDysfunctional Game Development Comedy Mythic Quest Returns In May
Mythic Quest, the dark workplace comedy about pouring your heart and soul into a creative project only to be undermined by everyone around you, comes back to Apple TV+ for its second season starting May 7, Apple announced today. While the first season saw a game studio fall into chaos as it tried to ship…
By Ethan Gach Published February 19, 2021 -
CultureApple Wants Valve To Hand Over A Bunch Of Steam Info For Its Fight With Epic
Epic Games’ legal battle against Apple over App Store fees continues to drag on into ever weirder and more esoteric fronts. The latest development? Apple is actively trying to subpoena years of in-depth sales information from Valve about all of the games listed on Steam, in order to show that Epic has plenty of other…
By Ethan Gach Published February 19, 2021 -
CultureBungie Is Looking To Expand The Destiny 2 Universe
Yesterday, Bungie announced some big plans over the next few years, including new offices, new games, and a new leadership team seemingly in charge of branching out the the Destiny 2 universe into other media. “[O]ne of the primary drivers of Bungie’s expansion is to increase the commitment to the long-term development of Destiny 2,…
By Ethan Gach Published February 19, 2021