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CulturePokémon Go Introduces Sponsored Gifts Because Capitalism
The massively popular Pokémon Go has raked in over $4 billion since launching in 2016. Now, developer Niantic is looking to get a little more with the addition of floating ads. After some limited regional testing, Niantic recently introduced “sponsored gifts” to the game worldwide, which directly advertise businesses like Baskin Robbins and Grubhub to…
By Ian Walker Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsGoing To See Demon Slayer Was The Perfect Post-Vaccination Celebration
Yesterday, my fully vaccinated partner and I (also fully vaccinated) decided to inaugurate our newly vaccinated life with one of the most bacchanalian things you can do in this mid-pandemic world—we went to the movies. The new Demon Slayer movie Mugen Train (its full title is so unwieldy that I refuse to name it here)…
By Ash Parrish Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureOne U.S. Dollar Will Buy You Unlimited Invincibility In Capcom Arcade Stadium
Having a hard time with the classic games of Capcom Arcade Stadium? Well, the developers have just the thing for you: paid invincibility. Starting on May 25, Capcom Arcade Stadium players will be able to enable invincibility across its 32 games for just a buck. That’s coincidentally the same day the collection arrives on PlayStation…
By Ian Walker Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsThe PS5’s Screenshot Overlay Is Incredibly Annoying
Last night, I tried to snap multiple rapid-fire screenshots of a [redacted big scary thing] in Returnal, the upcoming PlayStation 5-exclusive action game. (Sorry, can’t share ‘em yet. Embargos!) When I looked back at the collection, many of them were tarnished, overlaid by a little box with a check mark and a film reel in…
By Ari Notis Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureMonster Hunter Rise 2.0 Launches Today With New Monsters And Stuff
Anyone fancy a tussle with Apex Rathalos, maybe kill it, strip it like a stolen car, and wear its skin like a trophy? That’s a thing you’ll be able to do once today’s Monster Hunter Rise update 2.0 hits later today, bringing with it Apex Rathalos, Apex Diabalos, a trio of elder dragons, layered armor…
By Mike Fahey Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSong About Fucking A Minecraft Creeper Is Obscenely Catchy
It’s been more than a year since the pandemic began. Even with an end in sight in wealthy, vaccine-hoarding nations, I think it’s safe to say that it’s wearing on all of us. That, if I had to guess, is how we got an entire song dedicated to the idea of fucking a creeper from…
By Nathan Grayson Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureSuper Mario Party Finally Gets New Online Play In Free Update
After nearly two and a half years, Super Mario Party is getting new online play options in a free update When the game first launched in October 2018, it did have online—albeit in a rather limited form as only a small number of the mini-games could be enjoyed. With today’s update, Nintendo is beefing up…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 27, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsSigned Pokémon Card Sells For $250,000
We now live in a world where boxes of Pokémon cards are selling for over $400,000 and individual Blastoise cards for $360,000, so maybe it’s not the biggest surprise that this very rare and very cool card featuring Pokémon Company stalwart Tsunekazu Ishihara has also sold for an astronomical price. The card, sold by Goldin…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureMicrosoft Fixes Windows 10 Updates That Hit Game Performance
Last week, the Windows 10 updates KB5000842 and KB5001330 made a bit more of a fuss than usual, because they were found to be at the heart of several gaming-related performance issues across various games and graphics cards. Originally rolling out in late-March, it took a few weeks for folks to track down the culprit,…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureAssassin’s Creed Valhalla Will Finally Let You Skip Kill Animations
Ahead of its first major expansion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will receive a title update tomorrow introducing a raft of changes to the game, including the ability to (finally!) turn kill animations off. Valhalla’s title update 1.2.1—which clocks in at 5.5 GB on PlayStation 5 and 16 GB on Xbox Series X—will add a toggle that…
By Ari Notis Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureI Need This Vehicle-Building Destruction Game Right Now
Launching into early access on Steam later this year, Instruments of Destruction is a physics-based vehicle-building destruction sandbox from the lead tech designer of Red Faction: Guerrilla. It’s advanced knocking things down from a guy who really knows knocking things down. We’ve been following the work of Radiangames’ founder Luke Schneider for ages here at…
By Mike Fahey Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureThe Noid Is Back To [Checks Notes] Fight Crash Bandicoot and Self-Driving Cars
The Noid, Domino’s annoying pizza-destroying mascot from the ‘80s, is coming back to stop self-driving pizza delivery cars, and also to fight Crash Bandicoot. That’s not a sentence you expected to read, and I didn’t expect to write it, but here we are. Welcome to whatever version of reality this is. Announced today, Domino’s is…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureLeaked Documents Show EA Really Wants You To Buy FIFA Loot Boxes
EA purposefully drove players toward gambling-like microtransactions in FIFA 21, according to an insider who leaked internal documents to the CBC. “Video game company wants to make money” isn’t exactly a bombshell, but in light of EA’s long-held stance on loot boxes and microtransactions, the 54-page document might raise an eyebrow. FIFA 21 features microtransactions…
By Ari Notis Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureApex Legends Is Getting An Arena Mode
Apex Legends Season 9 starts next week. Ahead of its launch, developer Respawn detailed the game’s upcoming Arena mode, which sees two teams of three face off in a series of rounds. As detailed in a blog post, Arena will be a permanent mode. Players can be revived if knocked down but not respawned. Rounds…
By Riley MacLeod Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureHere’s May 2021’s Xbox Live Games With Gold
April is almost over, which doesn’t seem right. I’m 99% sure yesterday was the start of April. How is it May already? Makes no sense. Well with a new month comes new free games for Xbox Live Gold members. As ever, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 26, 2021 -
CultureThe Week In Games: Pokémon Paparazzi
New Pokemon Snap is out later this week on the Nintendo Switch. So grab your camera and get ready to snap some photos of Pokémon while singing Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi. I’ll be busy playing Returnal on PS5, but I will get around to New Pokemon Snap eventually. However, will it still be new by the…
By Zack Zwiezen Published April 25, 2021
