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CultureDiablo II Remaster Coming To All Major Platforms In 2021
Blizzard kicked off BlizzConline (a portmanteau I whole-heartedly protest) with the announcement everyone has been waiting for: remasters of Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion are coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC this year, all of which will support cross-progression with the others. In…
By Ian Walker -
CultureFortnite Gets Street Fighter Crossover [Update]
Update (02/20/2020, 9:05 p.m. ET): Epic Games has confirmed that Fortnite’s next crossover is with the Street Fighter franchise alongside a new trailer. Starting today, this collaboration includes Ryu and Chun-Li player skins, an E. Honda glider, two pickaxe skins, and a bunch of emotes. Our original story follows below. Fortnite has absorbed just about…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsA Princess Charm Game Would Be Great, Thanks
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, Mario Kart Live developer Velan Studios revealed its next game, Knockout City. But all I really care about is the spunky (and wholly unrelated) little princess that was used to market it. Knockout City publisher EA decided to fill the multiplayer dodgeball game’s reveal trailer with clichéd CG characters that…
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CultureOdds and EndsYep, Splatoon Is Set After A Climate Apocalypse
Splatoon 3’s reveal yesterday took many folks by surprise, both because there was little indication beforehand that the aquatic shooter would get a third installment and because of the presence of an upside-down Eiffel Tower in the trailer. No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you: Splatoon is set on Earth, thousands of years after the world…
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CultureSaudi Arabia Acquires $3.3 Billion Stake In EA, Take-Two, Activision Blizzard
Saudi Arabia has utilized its Public Investment Fund to invest over $3.3 billion (that’s $3,300,000,000 for the more visual learners out there) in Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, and Activision Blizzard, Al Jazeera reported (h/t Eurogamer). This move, undertaken by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (known colloquially as MBS), equates to millions of shares in…
By Ian Walker -
CultureFinal Fantasy XIV Could Go At Least Five More Years, Director Says
Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida recently spoke about the future of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game with The Washington Post, saying that at its current growth rate, users can expect the online world to continue expanding with new content for at least five more years, if not indefinitely. “Even now, [Square Enix CEO…
By Ian Walker -
CultureSquare Enix Tactical RPG Project Triangle Strategy Arrives On Switch In 2022
Square Enix surprised viewers during today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast by revealing a brand-new game, the tentatively titled Project Triangle Strategy. The game won’t be out until next year but a demo is expected to drop on the eShop later today. Project Triangle Strategy (a working title) is the next game to fall under Square Enix’s…
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CultureNo More Heroes III Launches On August 27
No More Heroes III is coming to Switch on August 27, according to today’s Nintendo Direct presentation. Wrapping up a trilogy that began in 2007, No More Heroes III tells the continuing story of otaku Travis Touchdown as he battles his way through an alien invasion. Grasshopper Manufacture’s eccentric co-founder and CEO Goichi “Suda51″ Suda…
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CultureNew Xbox Backward-Compatibility Feature Improves Framerates On Select Games
Microsoft announced today that it is further improving Xbox Series X/S enhancements to backward-compatible games with a new feature known as Xbox FPS Boost, which does exactly what it says on the tin. “With certain titles, we can make the experience even better, all with no work required by the developer, and no update needed…
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CultureNew Microsoft Program Could Help Devs Make Games More Accessible
Microsoft is starting a new program that will allow developers to send in Xbox and PC games to be evaluated by a team of accessibility experts, the company announced today. “Where issues are found, they are noted with reproduction steps, screenshots, and other information to help the developer understand what aspect of a given experience…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsThe ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’ Video Is Now 20 Years Old
The early aughts were a weird time. George H. W. Bush’s loser son somehow became president, god-awful bands like Crazy Town and Staind had songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and we made do with, like, one meme a year. In 2001 that meme was “All Your Base,” a Newgrounds video that ironically celebrated the…
By Ian Walker -
CultureSilent Hill Creator Returning To Horror With New Studio’s First Game
Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush series, left Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2020 to open his own company, Bokeh Game Studio. Now, he’s ready to pull the curtain back a bit on its first project, which he says is inspired by his past as a horror game designer. In a…
By Ian Walker -
CultureThank God, Blaseball Returns On March 1
The cultural event of Blaseball returns on March 1, developer The Game Band announced today. Blaseball is an absurdist baseball simulator that took the weirder corners of the internet by storm last year. It spawned a passionate community that contributed heavily to its complex lore—both through in-game voting and largely unofficial world-building—and was a great…
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CultureIn Militsioner, Tall Cops Are Bastards
Russian studio TallBoys has released a few more minutes of footage from Militsioner, its upcoming “try to escape a town watched over by a gigantic policeman” simulator (h/tRock Paper Shotgun). Since last July, the game has been updated with voice acting as well as a system that allows you to speak to the giant cop…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsThose Are Strawberries (Not Hearts) On Arthur’s Boxers In Ghosts ‘N Goblins
Ghosts ‘n Goblins creator Tokuro Fujiwara recently shared a mind-blowing factoid from the development of Capcom’s fiendishly hard platformer: Arthur’s iconic heart-patterned boxers are actually covered in strawberries. Okay, maybe it’s just mind-blowing to me. “There’s one very important detail I need to share with you that people might not know: the pattern on his…
By Ian Walker -
CultureSuper Mario 3D World Penis Uncut On Switch
Super Mario 3D World, out today on Switch, is pretty much the same game that appeared on Wii U with a few minor changes. As such, the large, dong-shaped bridge in the World 4 castle remains gloriously intact. (h/t Akfamilyhome) And here’s a different angle, just for funsies. Look, there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit…
By Ian Walker -
CultureOdds and EndsHere’s Dan’s Legendary Taunt In Street Fighter V
Dan Hibiki is back in Street Fighter V, which means we now have a new incarnation of his legendary taunt to appreciate. Let’s take a look. And for comparison, here’s how Dan’s legendary taunt has evolved from game to game. Dan has been Street Fighter’s go-to joke character since his debut in 1995’s Street Fighter…
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CultureBorderlands Movie Casts Actor Who’s Actually Funny To Play Claptrap, Which Feels Off
Jumanji and Orange County star Jack Black has joined the cast of the Borderlands movie, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Black, who will be playing Borderlands’ perennial robotic sidekick and ostensible comic relief Claptrap, is the latest actor to sign onto the project after Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin…
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CultureKingdom Hearts Series Coming To PC On March 30, Exclusive To Epic Games Store
A handful of Kingdom Hearts games are coming to PC on March 30, and will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. During today’s spring showcase, Epic Games announced that Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue, Kingdom Hearts III, and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory will be…
By Ian Walker