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CultureHitman‘s Next Job Is On PS5
A new Hitman game is coming to PlayStation 5. It’s Hitman 3, and the developers call it the “dramatic conclusion” of the trilogy. A trailer showed Agent 47 sneaking around a very tall building in Dubai. He used costumes, of course. Otherwise, enemies would have been like “Hey, wait a minute, that’s Agent 47, star…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 11, 2020 -
CultureReturnal, A New PS5 Game That’s A Horrific Groundhog Day In Space
As part of today’s PlayStation 5 reveal event, Sony showed off a Groundhog Day-esque game about repeatedly dying and reawakening called Returnal In the trailer, a woman talks about how she dies every day, and each time she comes back, the planet she’s stuck on changes and becomes part of her. “My only hope is…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 11, 2020 -
CultureGrand Theft Auto V Is Coming To PS5
The Sony presentation today began with a brief GTA V trailer. At this rate, GTA V could become the new Skyrim in terms of anticlimactic port announcements, so that’s something to look forward to. The trailer’s YouTube description includes some information about Grand Theft Auto V’s PS5 port, including a “second half of 2021″ release…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 11, 2020 -
CultureRacist Spam Bots Are Running Rampant In Team Fortress 2
If you hop into a Team Fortress 2 match right now, there’s a good chance that you’ll be greeted by some very unwelcome guests: spam bots who overwhelm chat with everything from annoying troll-speak to full-on racism. Bots of various types have been giving players fits since early this year, but they took a turn…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 10, 2020 -
CultureTwitchAfter Massive DMCA Takedown, Twitch Streamers Are Deleting Thousands Of Clips
Over the weekend, many streamers discovered an unpleasant surprise in their inboxes: an email from Twitch saying they’d received one or more copyright strikes on clips from their streams. If streamers receive three strikes, they risk an indefinite ban. The problem? The offending clips were not recent, but streamers hadn’t received any previous indication that…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 8, 2020 -
CultureBlizzard Removes Controversial Hero Pools From Overwatch‘s Competitive Mode
Earlier this year, Blizzard gave Overwatch fans clamoring for a hero pick/ban system what they were asking for—sort of. The hero pool feature did indeed ban certain heroes, but Blizzard was doing the choosing. This led to regular consternation from pros and regular players alike. As a result, Blizzard has decided to retire the system…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 8, 2020 -
CultureTwitchBlack Streamers Are Grateful For New Twitch Viewers, But Heartbroken It Took Police Violence To Make It Happen
With protests raging over the murder of George Floyd and the racist institution of policing in general, Twitch streamers find themselves faced with the same choice as the rest of us: Speak up or stay silent. Difference is, many streamers have audiences numbering in the thousands or even millions. They can make a difference, but…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 4, 2020 -
CultureValorant Beta Cheaters Sad, Mad Over Bans Persisting Into Final Game
Yesterday, Riot Games’ new tactical shooter, Valorant, emerged from its post-beta slumber and into full release. This meant a fresh start for most players, who saw their ranks reset and an influx of new names to attach to (and, in the midst of battle, detach from) faces. Cheaters, however, were not so lucky. Players who…
By Nathan Grayson Published June 3, 2020 -
CultureTwitchAs Streamers Spread Dangerous Conspiracy Theories, Twitch Does Little To Stop Them
In the past few days, an alarming headline has made the rounds: “Half of Fox News viewers think Bill Gates is using pandemic to microchip them, survey suggests.” This idea is nonsense, of course, but coronavirus conspiracy theories have spread almost like the virus itself across the meticulously calibrated algorithmic networks of sites like YouTube,…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 29, 2020 -
CultureOverwatch Player Uses New Feature To Fuse Entire Team Into A Single, Hulking Monstrosity
Overwatch is, at its core, a game about teamwork. Individual heroes do their own things—Reinhardt shields, Mercy heals, and Genji dies—but they’re ultimately contributing to a greater whole. One player, Andy Bohan, has gone and made that idea all too literal. I’m talking “end of Akira” literal. As part of the Overwatch public test server’s…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 22, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWhat The Golf Turns Everything Into Golf, And It’s Great
I knew What The Golf? was brilliant just a few minutes after it began. An early hole was structured such that I could bank a shot off a mound and a get a hole in one, as opposed to sloppily shooting around an obstacle—in this case, some cats chilling out nearby. Setting up this shot…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 21, 2020 -
CultureValorant Will Be Available To Everyone On June 2
Since early April, Valorant, Riot’s new mashup of Counter-Strike and super powers that not even tactical peeking can stand up to, has been in closed beta, available only to those who luck out while watching streamers play on Twitch. In a couple weeks, however, that’s going to change. Per a press release from Riot, Valorant…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 21, 2020 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Refuse To Regret Spending $450 On A Bright Pink Gamer Chair
Gamer chairs have always struck me as an incredibly funny concept. In 2006, a desperate luxury car seat company called DXRacer decided to roll the dice on pivoting to video games, laying down the racing car-esque blueprint for gamer chairs as we know them. So now professional players and streamers achieve maximum performance in disembodied…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 20, 2020 -
CultureTwitchTwitch’s Safety Advisory Council Rollout Has Been A Disaster
Last week, Twitch announced a new Safety Advisory Council intended to provide input on some of Twitch’s most pernicious issues, including work-life balance, safety and moderation, and protection of marginalized groups. The council is made up of social media experts as well as a small handful of streamers. One of those streamers, Steph “FerociouslySteph” Loehr,…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 19, 2020 -
CultureSteam’s New ‘Play Next’ Recommendation Feature Mostly Sticks To Hits
Steam’s latest new feature is undeniably useful: The “Play Next” library widget generates a list of games already in your possession that you might be interested in trying. As someone who has a miniature existential crisis every time I finish a game, it’s perfect for me. This week, Play Next graduated from Valve’s experimental Steam…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 15, 2020 -
CultureTwitchTwitch’s New ‘Safety Advisory Council’ To Focus On Work-Life Balance, Protecting Marginalized Groups
Today Twitch announced the formation of a “safety advisory council” meant to more formally tackle some of the platform’s most complicated issues, including moderation, work-life balance, and safeguarding the interests of marginalized communities. In a press release, Twitch said the council will advise on “a number of topics” which include “drafting new policies and policy…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 14, 2020 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Despise Joy Con Drift, But I’m Learning To Live With It
Back when this era of social distancing began two months and also an incalculable number of years ago, I was playing Dragon Quest XI on my Switch. I noticed that, every once in a while, my character would take a few steps forward or turn slightly of his own accord. I’d read the horror stories,…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 13, 2020 -
CultureThe Internet Reacts To Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remaster
Today, everyone in the entire world has “Superman” by Goldfinger stuck in their head—a marked increase from the usual 70 percent on any given day. Why? Because Tony Hawk, famous for being unrecognizable while in airport security lines (and also skating), is back. Publisher Activision, developer Vicarious Visions, and the beloved board lord himself announced…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 12, 2020 -
CultureFirst Valorant Ban Wave Takes Out 8,873 (Very Salty) Cheaters
Valorant’s “Vanguard” anti-cheat system has been responsible for controversy and melted PCs, but we now have tangible evidence that it’s also doing its job of booting cheaters. Last night, Riot announced that nearly 9,000 cheaters have been removed from the tactical shooter’s closed beta. Riot anti-cheat engineer Phillip Koskinas made it official on Twitter: “Located…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 12, 2020 -
CultureTwitchTwitch Is Cracking Down On Simp Emotes Over Harassment Fears
“Simp” is, to put it lightly, a divisive term. On Twitch, TikTok, and Twitter, people mostly use it to express hyper-exaggerated thirst, often to get laughs out of friends or communities. But the word also has more negative connotations, and even though it’s undeniably become part of the broader Twitch lexicon, Twitch itself doesn’t seem…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 8, 2020
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