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CultureOdds and EndsSo Help Me, I Like The Fortnite Joy-Cons
Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t like Fortnite. But I am seriously considering these new Fortnite Joy-Cons, because good Lord, those colours are wonderful. Thats a lovely, rich shade of blue there on the left, but on the right, have mercy. Not even that stupid banana face can ruin it. Yellow—and I…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsRatchet & Clank Weapons, Ranked
This weekend, I played through the “re-imagined” 2016 Ratchet & Clank for PlayStation 4 (free via PlayStation Plus this month). And I started feeling that familiar itch, the itch to compile an underexplained list. As such, here’s how I rank the weapons in its arsenal based on various criteria: Omniwrench Pixelizer Buzz Blades Warmonger Pyrocitor…
By Ian Walker Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsWarren Spector Thinks Deus Ex Is Too Real For 2021
The Game Developers Conference kicked off today as a week of virtual talks. In a live chat alongside a rebroadcast of his 2017 GDC talk, Deus Ex designer Warren Spector talked about why he wouldn’t make the game today. “I’m constantly amazed at how accurate our view of the world ended up being. Frankly it…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsExpert Doom Players Continue To Complete Challenges Once Thought Impossible
Classic Doom players are continuing to pick away at some of the hardest remaining community challenges left, beating missions without attacking a single enemy in some of the hardest retail Doom levels ever released. In the early 90s, shortly after the release of Doom II, some of the best Doom players in the world joined…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 14, 2021 -
CultureOdds and Ends14 Years Ago Rockstar Ran Weird TV Ads Of Just A Clock Counting Down
Back in 2007, Rockstar Games teased Grand Theft Auto IV with a series of late-night ads that appeared on channels like FX. All the ads amounted to were 30 minutes of watching a clock tick down, with every second punctuated by a gunshot. Young Zack, ever the sucker, fell for the hype hard. Yes, cast…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 14, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsPeeled Pokémon Are Disturbing, But I Can’t Stop Looking
Nothing really prepares you for stumbling upon a Lopunny that has had parts of its fur and flesh peeled off it, leaving a smooth monstrosity. And yet, that happened to me one day on Twitter. Now I can’t stop looking at all the other peeled Pokémon. (Peeled Pokémon gave me permission to share their artwork…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 14, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Division 2, Two Years Later
The Division 2 was released on March 12, 2019, making it just over two years old this week. In that time a lot has happened. Multiple updates, changes, bugs, controversies, teasers, puzzles, and more. Here’s what happened since The Division 2 came out. Even before The Division 2′s 2019 release, it started to stir up…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 13, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThe Amazing Astro’s Playroom Soundtrack Is Now Streaming Everywhere, Bringing Joy To All
You can now easily listen to “I’m Your GPU” all day, every day. One of the best things about the PS5 wasn’t raytracing graphics or fast loading times. It was Astro’s Playroom, the short, free, and amazing platformer included in every console. And one of the best parts of that game was the killer soundtrack.…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 13, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsMario Kart Speedrunners Are Racing To Blow Themselves Up With Blue Shells
Do you know you can hit yourself with a Blue Shell in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Speedrunners do, and they’re going all out to blow themselves up with the first place-targeting item as quickly as possible. Skilloz, the current world record-holder for the hilariously named “Blue Yourself” category, uploaded a video yesterday (h/t Polygon) showing…
By Ian Walker Published March 12, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsBloodborne’s Doll Used To Have A Lot More To Say
Everyone’s favorite video game archaeologist Lance McDonald is back with a new Bloodborne video. This time around, he’s exploring unused dialogue for the Doll, the 2015 game’s level up-granting NPC. And while the alternate voice acting is neat, it’s what she used to say that really piqued my interest. Bloodborne, like most From Software games,…
By Ian Walker Published March 11, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsI Am Sorry, Christopher Nolan, The Ideal Way To Watch Tenet Is On A Game Boy Advance
Film director Christopher Nolan spent much of 2020 pleading the world to risk illness and death to go watch his ho-hum movie about special agents who can play with time in a theater, because that was the place it needed to be seen. He was, of course, wrong. As WULFF DEN shows in this video,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 11, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsFan Reimagines The Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Remakes
Earlier this year, Game Freak announced Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. These remakes use a chibi-3D art style, but still kept the top-down point of view while exploring the Sinnoh region. Some liked the art style, while others were less thrilled. You can see how the remakes compare with the original Diamond and Pearl.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 11, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsAstro’s Playroom Composer Shares How That GPU Love Song Became Such A Bop
PlayStation 5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom is full of amazing tracks, but the standout is most definitely its ode to the console’s powerful graphics processing unit (“GPU” to friends). In celebration of the game’s official soundtrack coming out on March 12, composer Kenneth C. M. Young recently shared behind-the-scenes details about the process of bringing his…
By Ian Walker Published March 10, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThis Totally Random Guy’s Hollow Knight Cover Is Pretty Good
When you think of terrific musical covers, you probably think of “All Along the Watchtower” or that one screamo cover of Britney’s “Toxic” you heard in high school. A tune that maybe doesn’t come to mind: “Greenpath,” from Hollow Knight’s original soundtrack. Guitarist, bassist, ukulelist, pianist, flautist, clarinetist, saxophonist, wine…glass…ist, drummer, vocalist, shaker player, percussionist,…
By Ari Notis Published March 9, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsDestiny 2 Players Stomp Alien Ship To Death
The Fallen Skiff never saw it coming. Destiny 2 players have been dodging laser cannon fire from Fallen ships since the series launched. But unlike every other alien thing in the game, they’re not meant to be destroyed, appearing only briefly in-between hyperspace jumps to drop off fresh fodder for the Destiny loot grind. A…
By Ethan Gach Published March 9, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSpongeBob Players Discover Filthy Game Discs Make Speedrunning Tricks Easier
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom may be one of the most improbable video games of all time, a licensed project that turned out to be both a great game and a worthwhile challenge for the speedrunning community. But the absurdity doesn’t stop there: SpongeBob speedrunners recently discovered that smudging their Xbox discs could result…
By Ian Walker Published March 9, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsCrunchy Dreamcast Loading Noises Make For A Charmingly Retro Twitch Stream
Twitch streamers go to great lengths to make their channels unique and interesting, but sometimes separating yourself from the pack is as simple as miking up your console to capture the sounds it makes while loading data from its disc drive. Hungry Goriya is a retro video game collector who regularly showcases her collection on…
By Ian Walker Published March 8, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsAssassin’s Creed Syndicate Has The Best Ending Of The Series
When I think of Assassin’s Creed games, I often remember big cities, cool assassinations, climbing tall towers, and maybe some sea shanties. Rarely do I remember how these games end because they often have forgettable or boring endings, sometimes with bad boss fights. So Assassin’s Creed Syndicate stands out as an exception with its fantastic…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 7, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsMorrowind Mod Lets You Buy Argonian McNuggets
McDonald’s is a massive fast-food empire with 38,695 locations spanning 122 countries. It’s become so ubiquitous in the real world that I’m sure the corporation would investigate franchising opportunities in fictional worlds if it could, even the famously chaotic realm of Tamriel. A recent The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind mod imagines such a scenario, placing…
By Ian Walker Published March 5, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsA Reminder That A Lot Of Big Games Exploit Overseas Labor
While most big games released have a main studio that’s often based somewhere like the United States or Canada or the UK, they also frequently make use of outsourcing studios in other countries to get their games made. Studios where, surprise, the working conditions can be not great. This is explored in the latest episode…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 4, 2021