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CultureVideo Game Consoles Won’t Get Pricier In America, At Least For Now
A 10 percent tax on video game consoles and other consumer electronics has been delayed until December 15, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced today. According to President Trump, the purpose of the delay is to prevent the tariffs from hurting the holiday shopping season. The next round of tariffs in…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureNew Glitch Leads To Fastest Mario Kart 7 Track Time
Did you know Daisy has a cruise ship? And also that it’s full of holes? Nearly eight years after the game’s release, Mario Kart 7 players have found a new way to glitch through the vessel’s hull and complete the course in under a minute. That’s the shortest time of any track in all of…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureFallout 76 Player Uses Glitches To Build Her Own World Under The Map
Fallout 76 player MrsP123 has a campsite in a location uniquely suited to fending off intruders. Recently, a player character in a skeleton mask holding an assault rifle tried to rampage through her campsite. The interloper tried to fight her, but she didn’t fight back. Instead of initiating a duel, she subjected the masked intruder…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureLong-Promised Minecraft Graphical Overhaul Is Canceled
Today, Mojang announced that it has ceased development on Minecraft’s Super Duper Graphics Pack, citing technical difficulties. It’s been just over two years since the feature was announced on stage at E3 2017, “Some of you might remember us announcing the Super Duper Graphics Pack during E3 2017,” the studio announced on its website today.…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureFinally, A Nintendo 64 That Can Breathe Fire
This modded Nintendo 64 looks more like a botched entry for Robot Wars than a nice retro gaming console for people to gather around and play classics like Banjo-Kazooie. But it still works as a console—flamethrowers and all. It was spotted by Attract Mode and created by retro gaming YouTuber BitHead1000 He built a heavy-duty…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsAnthem’s Cataclysm Update Wasn’t Worth The Wait
A massive storm rages overhead. Spend too much time in it and you’ll die. Enemies stalk a handful of ancient ruins scattered around a rocky beach. Take too long trying to kill them and the mission comes to an end, booting you back to the overworld map. At nearly every turn, Anthem’s new limited-time, score-based…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsFallout 76’s Meat Week Lets You Grind For Loot By Barbecuing
Live games have come up with all sorts of creative ways to repackage the grind of killing things over and over again in the hopes of earning rare loot. Fallout 76’s Meat Week cookouts are by far some of the strangest I’ve seen, and I absolutely love them. Fallout 76 is often criticized for not…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureESA Says Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo Will Start Disclosing Loot Box Odds
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony will be required to implement new policies requiring the disclosure of all loot box odds for games on their platforms. “I’m pleased to announce this morning that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have indicated to ESA a commitment to new platform policies with respect…
By Ethan Gach -
Rocket League Is Ditching Loot Boxes
Psyonix announced in a blog today that its car soccer game Rocket League will be leaving loot boxes behind in a move aimed at “creating the best possible experience for our players all over the world.” The change will happen sometime before the end of the year with a new system coming in to replace…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureAfter Months Of Delay, Anthem’s Cataclysm Event Is Finally Live
Without any fanfare, today BioWare dropped Anthem’s biggest update since the game was released in February. Update 1.3 adds a bunch of new loot, a guild system, and the game’s long-awaited Cataclysm event, which was originally due out in May After a rough launch, BioWare announced a series of updates that would be coming to…
By Ethan Gach -
Pokémon Card Requiring Players To Speak Banned To Prevent Linguistic Confusion
The PokĂ©mon Company announced late yesterday that it’s banning one of the PokĂ©mon trading card game’s newest cards at this year’s World Championship. That’s because this card introduces some potential language barrier issues between international players that would, overall, make it a huge pain in the ass if anyone decided to actually try and use…
By Ethan Gach -
CulturePAX Cancels Controversial Hosts’ Live Podcast, Won’t Say Why [Update]
The Seattle gaming convention PAX West has canceled a planned live recording of the “Sacred Symbols” gaming podcast, hosted by politically controversial commentators Colin Moriarty and Chris “Ray Gun” Maldonado, that was set to take place at the show on September 2. It hasn’t yet given a reason for the cancellation, which has caused a…
By Ethan Gach -
The beautiful blocky destruction game Riverbond is getting ported to Switch later this year. Like so many interesting games that get overshadowed on other platforms, Riverbond’s arcade-y four-player dungeoneering feels perfect for Switch. Plus, it’ll arrive alongside some new DLC world.
By Ethan Gach -
CultureDestiny 2 Players Are Having Fun Punching Raid Bosses To Death
Destiny 2’s raid boss fights are supposed to be brutal, drawn-out affairs. They take a while to complete even for stronger players. Over the weekend, though, Destiny players discovered a character build that can be used to kill any raid boss with just a few punches. The build is by Gladd, who we’ve reported on…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureTwitch Uses Mario Reference To Let Viewers Know Ninja Left
Last Thursday, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins announced he was leaving Twitch to stream exclusively on Mixer. Twitch has subsequently added a tongue-in-cheek reference to the original Super Mario Bros. at the top of his channel to mark the popular streamer’s departure. “The Ninja you’re looking for is in another castle,” a banner at the top of…
By Ethan Gach -
EsportsSmash Bros. Takes Center Stage At The Biggest Fighting Game Event Of The Year
For the first time since it was released in 2016, Street Fighter V won’t be the final headlining event that concludes the Evolution Championship Series this weekend. Instead, that honor goes to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is the first time in the history of the series that it’s ever received top-billing at the event.…
By Ethan Gach