-
CultureNew Nintendo Switch Firmware Actually Adds Useful Features
We can all appreciate general system stability improvements that enhance the user’s experience, but tonight’s Nintendo Switch firmware update actually adds some features to the console, like new ways to manage your screenshots. You can read the full changelog here, but the highlights are being able to transfer screens and video to a phone (albeit…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2020 -
CultureThe Xbox Series X Can Run…PS2 Games?
What a world we live in, when Microsoft’s next-gen console has better PlayStation backwards compatibility than the PlayStation 5. Both the Xbox Series S and X have a developer mode users can activate, which can let you run UWP (Universal Windows Protocol) apps. That’s an application designed to be able to run not just in…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsEmpire Of Sin Is Not Great
Ahhh, I really wanted to like this game. But as hard as it tries, and as much fun as it has with the source material, Empire of Sin is a mess of ideas that just isn’t much fun to be around. Set in 1930s Chicago, it’s a game that tries to marry management, turn-based combat…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 30, 2020 -
CultureUntitled Goose Game’s Map Is Just Beautiful
I’m not talking about the actual game world—though it also is lovely—but in this case a special hand-drawn map that was commissioned, included in the game’s physical edition, and now available for sale on its own as a big fancy print. Created byGoldie Bartlett—currently working on Wayward Strand—the image was designed to hark back to…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2020 -
CultureTwo Of The Worst Zelda Games Have Been Recreated On The PC
Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon were the first two of three Zelda games Nintendo published on the ill-fated Philips CD-i system in the early 90s. They are very bad—so bad Nintendo doesn’t recognise them as series canon—but they’ve still got a certain charm to them, and so this fan effort to rebuild them…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 29, 2020 -
CultureRIP, Disney Infinity, And Thank You
Disney Infinity was, in 2013 at least, trying to be the biggest thing in both games and toys. Yet only three years after launching, in 2016 it was gone, its servers closed down, its playsets discounted then removed from stores entirely. Where once half the point of the game was building new levels and worlds…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 28, 2020 -
CultureCrusader Kings III’s New Ruler Designer Is, Ahem, Very Nice
Crusader Kings III got a free update this week, introducing a new “ruler designer” that lets you completely customise the leader you begin the game with. From their beards to their sexuality to their statistics. It’s all very personal and cool, but let’s just focus on those statistics for a second, which can be pushed…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 26, 2020 -
CultureThe Art Of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Ah, this is always one of my favourite times of the year, the evening where we get to share a ton of artwork that went into the production of a game in one of my favourite series, Assassin’s Creed I’ve run Fine Art features on almost every major game in the series dating back to…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 25, 2020 -
CultureMy PS4 Was Fun, But It Was Also A Piece Of Junk
The Xbox 360 was as famous for its catastrophic hardware failures as it was its A-tier catalogue of video games. My PlayStation 4 is very close to being remembered in the same way. Let me ask you a question, and I want you to be 100% honest with me: if you have ever owned a…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 25, 2020 -
CultureCrusader Kings III’s Cucumber King Is Not A Kinslayer, And You Can No Longer Mistake Your Infant Child For A Serial Killer
That’s right, it’s Crusader Kings III patch notes time. The game—very likely my Game of The Year nomination—has already set a very high bar for patch notes, but this latest round has seen the mark improved. I could list them all straight from Steam’s changelog, but really, it’s better—and more thematically appropriate—to hear them in…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsMonkey Island Fans Should Definitely Check Out This Enormous 30th Birthday Peek Into The Game’s Source Code
Monkey Island turned 30 this year, and as part of the celebrations the Video Game History Foundation have put together this exhaustive look at the game’s source code, featuring 100x more pieces of early art and unused animation than I ever thought we’d see for a game this old. From preliminary designs for Guybrush—some elements…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2020 -
CultureSlimy Agents Have Tried Bribing Football Manager’s Developers
There’s a lot wrong with modern football, but few influences have been as toxic as big-time agents, whose conduct has gotten so out of control in recent years that FIFA—itself hardly a paragon of virtue—is trying to crack down on them While I could go on all day about their exorbitant fees and conflicts of…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2020 -
CultureNintendo Completely Bailed On Console Generations, And Nobody Gave A Shit
The last time we said goodbye to a whole generation of video game consoles, it was 2013, and we said our farewells to three machines. This time around, we’re only saying goodbye to two, because Nintendo walked away from this game a long time ago. Remember the Wii U? Nintendo would rather not, but it’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 24, 2020 -
CultureGrand Theft Auto V Has Outlasted An Entire Console Generation
It’s 2020, and one of the biggest video games on the planet is Grand Theft Auto V. In 2021, Rockstar will be releasing an “expanded and enhanced” version of the game for next-gen consoles. Grand Theft Auto V, in case you forget, was first released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in September 2013. It…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2020 -
CultureSoccer Superstars Unaware How FIFA Licensing Works
Earlier today, Sweden’s undying demigod Zlatan Ibrahimović, perhaps for the first time ever, realised that his likeness was being used in video games without his explicit permission. And didn’t like it. His sudden realisation came of course on Twitter, where Zlatan wondered aloud who had actually given EA Sports permission to use his likeness in…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 23, 2020 -
CultureOdds and EndsDoom Running On A Nintendo Game & Watch
Nintendo’s new Game & Watch re-release is of course built on new hardware, not stuff from the 80s, so folks have been able to do some interesting things with the handheld’s code. Like, first things first, getting Doom up and running. stacksmashing had to make a few modifications to pull this off—like stripping the world…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 22, 2020 -
CultureNintendo’s Theme Park Is Looking Fantastic
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan wassupposed to be open by now, but you know, stuff has happened. It’s almost done though, and even if none us are likely to be travelling there anytime soon, we can at least press our disgusting faces up against the glass and admire it from a distance. The…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 22, 2020 -
CultureCongratulations Sony, The DualShock 4 Didn’t Suck
The last time we did one of these generational roundups, I wrote a piece on how the DualShock 3 “sucked”. This is a sentiment dating back to my time with the DualShock and DualShock 2, both of which also sucked. Here’s some of what I said back in 2013: The DualShock 3 – and Sixaxis…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 19, 2020 -
CultureHalf-Life 2: Episode 2 Just Got a New Achievement, Because Gabe Newell Is Shooting A Gnome Into Space
That’s a headline. In case you weren’t already aware, Valve Software boss Gabe Newell has been hunkered down in New Zealand for most of the year after the country closed its borders to help stop the spread of Covid. While there, he’s been working, but also doing other stuff. The latest of which is teaming…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 19, 2020 -
CultureNintendo To Companies/Groups: Please Refrain From Bringing Politics Into Animal Crossing
Because Animal Crossing has been used a lot by companiesand organisations lately, from politiciansto furniture stores to talk shows, Nintendo has decided to lay down some rules for what kind of content these groups can and can’t use in their game. This being Nintendo, there are some catches. The full breakdown can be read here—Animal…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 18, 2020
Luke Plunkett
Luke Plunkett's posts