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CultureOf Course Ikumi Nakamura’s Rainbow Six Siege Skins Are Dope
I don’t play Rainbow Six Siege, but Ubisoft’s recent collaboration with Ikumi Nakamura might change my mind. Nakamura, the creative director who won the gaming world’s heart with her energetic GhostWire: Tokyo presentation at E3 2019, has been bouncing around the industry as a freelancer since leaving ZeniMax Media subsidiary Tango Gameworks later that year.…
By Ian Walker -
CulturePC Developer Issues Takedown Notice Against Its Own Game, Claims Publisher Pirated It
The Sinking City developer Frogwares has publicly accused former publisher Nacon of pirating the Lovecraftian adventure game for its recent re-release on Steam, the arrival of which put the Ukrainian studio in the weird position of asking potential customers not to purchase its own game last week. UPDATE 8:30pm – Valve has told Vice that…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsFight Sans Undertale Right In Your Browser
Sans is unique in that he’s the most popular character in Undertale while also providing one of the most frustrating boss fights the game has to offer. If you’d like to relive the experience of wrapping up a Genocide run without playing through the whole game again, this “Bad Time Simulator” lets you face the…
By Ian Walker -
CultureState Of Decay 2 Remembers Punching Nazis Is Good, Actually
I think most of us can agree that punching Nazis is a good thing. Heck, a bunch of great video games are founded on that very premise. That’s why it was weird when a State of Decay 2 player discovered that the game gives characters a negative effect for having taken out the trash in…
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EsportsMysterious Street Fighter V Player Dominates Tournament, Donates Winnings To Charity
Last night, an anonymous competitor came out of nowhere to win a popular Street Fighter V tournament. And then, just as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone, but not before asking organizers to donate their winnings to charity. Wednesday Night Fights is a weekly, Southern California-based tournament series that, in the wake of the…
By Ian Walker -
CultureXbox Live Has Been Down For Over 5 Hours (Update: It’s Back)
Update (9:47 p.m. ET, 02/25/2021): Shortly after Kotaku first reported on Xbox Live’s outage, the service appears to be back up and running. You’re welcome! Our original story follows below. Trying to get some gaming in this lovely Thursday night? Well, if you’re on Xbox, that’s too bad, because various functions of Xbox Live have…
By Ian Walker -
CultureEverything Sony Announced During Today’s PlayStation State Of Play
Here’s everything Sony announced, revealed, or otherwise discussed during today’s PlayStation State of Play broadcast. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is getting some PlayStation 5-exclusive upgrades when it launches on March 12. These include faster loading times, DualSense features like improved haptics and adaptive trigger usage, and enhanced 3D audio. Players will also be…
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CultureMarvel’s Avengers Adds ‘What Am I Doing With My Life’ Armor
Square Enix’s weekly Marvel’s Avengers blog post went live this morning. That said, there isn’t much to talk about besides the game’s silly new Iron Man outfit, so let’s do that. Seriously, just look at this thing. I wouldn’t bat an eye if someone told me Tony skinned a Furby for the helmet. It looks…
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CultureOdds and EndsGiant Motor Gives PC Enough Rumble To Shake The Very Heavens
Jatin Patel is an iOS developer who works on big, silly projects for his YouTube channel. His latest million-dollar idea was to connect a giant, 2,880 rpm induction motor to his DualShock, magnifying the controller’s comparatively pitiful rumble to extraordinary proportions. I mean, it only makes sense. As you can see in the video, all…
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CultureBioWare Says It’s Giving Up On Anthem
Further development on Anthem has been canceled, BioWare Austin studio director Christian Dailey announced today. “I know this will be disappointing to the community of Anthem players who have been excited to see the improvements we’ve been working on,” Dailey wrote. “It’s also disappointing for the team who were doing brilliant work. And for me…
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CulturePokémon Go Devs Have Punished Over 5 Million Cheaters Since 2020
Niantic, the studio behind augmented reality mobile games like Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress, has reportedly punished over 5 million cheaters since the beginning of 2020, with over 1 million players receiving permanent bans across the three games. “We are committed to ensuring fair gameplay across our game portfolio,” Niantic’s blog post…
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CultureGameStop Exec Leaves With $2.8 Million Severance
GameStop chief financial officer Jim Bell is set to resign from his position on March 26, the video game retailer announced today. He’ll do so $2.8 million richer thanks to a lucrative severance bonus. According to SEC filings first reported by IGN, the contract Bell signed with GameStop in 2019 affords him a severance bonus…
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CulturePersona 5 Strikers Got Siri’s Original Voice Actor To Play Its In-Game AI
Artificial intelligences like Apple’s Siri have become so ubiquitous in many people’s lives that it’s no wonder the story of Persona 5 Strikers (out today on Playstation 4, Switch, and PC) features its own AI assistant in the form of EMMA. But what you might not immediately notice is that EMMA is played by the…
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CultureDon’t Worry: There Are Enough Analogue Pockets For Everyone
Last August, many of us missed out on pre-ordering a Pocket, the beautiful all-in-one handheld console from Seattle-based hardware manufacturer Analogue. With a restock now confirmed for 2021, the company has promised to beef up its servers and crack down on resellers to help ensure folks are able to buy the coveted system rather than…
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CultureOdds and EndsHacker Rewrites Crappy SNES Racer To Improve Its Framerate Sevenfold
Brazilian software engineer Vitor Vilela has, for almost a decade, sung the praises of Nintendo’s SA-1 enhancement chip, but never before have the benefits of the souped-up Super Nintendo processor been more obvious than when applied to Race Drivin’, the lackluster 1992 SNES port of Atari Games’ 3D arcade racer that originally ran at a…
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CultureLumines: Electronic Symphony Was Almost Daft Punk Lumines
Daft Punk, the famed French electronic music duo formed in 1993, has broken up. While many of their fans are obviously upset by the news, Q Entertainment producer (and ex-game journalist) James Mielke took the opportunity to share his own fond memories of the musicians, explaining that they were meant to be part of a…
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CultureDoom Eternal Director Has ‘Put A Lot Of Thought’ Into Making A Female Doom Slayer
During a playthrough stream earlier this month, Doom Eternal director Hugo Martin was asked if the team had ever considered developing a female Doom Slayer for the game. His answer was surprisingly thorough. “I’ve thought about it, actually,” Martin told Bethesda community manager Joshua Boyle following a viewer question. “I think if we did it,…
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CultureHogwarts Legacy Lead Designer Used To Run Anti-Social Justice YouTube Channel
Troy Leavitt is a lead designer at Warner Bros. development studio Avalanche Software currently working on controversial Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy. He also ran a reactionary YouTube channel focused on attacking feminism and social justice for over a year. This information was first provided by Did You Know Gaming? contributor Liam Robertson, who highlighted…
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CultureOdds and EndsGuilty Gear Strive Already Has An Infinite
A beta version of the upcoming Guilty Gear Strive is currently being explored by the fighting game community and, surprise surprise, someone has already discovered an infinite combo. The wildly normal Giovanna is a newcomer to the Guilty Gear universe, but she and her ghostly wolf are making their presence known with a simple loop…
By Ian Walker