Culture

An Unfinished And Playable Build Of Dead Island 2 From 2015 Has Leaked

An early, unfinished build of Dead Island 2 has leaked online and now folks are playing and sharing footage of this old corpse of a game. As spotted by Eurogamer, this build appears to have leaked in the last 72 hours or so via 4chan. The build is dated June 2015 and was being developed…

2020 Really Sucks

This week we listen to Black creators and how Twitch is failing them, we talk to game companies about what they are doing to really help support Black People, make fun of some cops and try not to think about how awful 2020 has been. I wanted to have a fun image, but right now…

Sudoku Plus Zelda Is Actually Pretty Good

I’m not going to lie, sudoku isn’t my cup of tea. I like watching clever people solve these numbers-based puzzles, sure, but it’s not something I go out of my way to do in my free time. When I stumbled upon an elaborate sudoku puzzle based on The Legend of Zelda, however, I found myself…

Somebody Turned Half-Life: Alyx Into P.T. In Case You Never Want To Sleep Again

Even though P.T. was just a playable teaser for a game that we will never actually get to play, it still haunts many people’s memories. Now, someone is trying to recreate the terrifying game using the Half-Life: Alyx engine. Spotted by PC Gamer, this creation is simply titled PT. It’s a Source 2 VR map…

It looks like the giant spaceship currently hurtling toward Earth in Destiny 2 will get blown up tomorrow. Saturday, June 6 at 1:00 p.m. ET “we take aim at the Almighty,” Bungie tweeted today. It’s not clear what that means exactly, but it sounds similar to a Fortnite-style live event.

The Very First Harry Potter Game Was A Weird LEGO Joint

Long-running video game franchises all have to start somewhere, and it’s not always pretty. Looking back to that origin point can show us not just how the greats began, but how far they’ve come since. Today we unearth the very first Harry Potter video game. So, What Was The First Harry Potter Game? LEGO Creator:…

Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest Cancelled, New Update Still Delayed

Final Fantasy XIV’s annual Fan Festival in North America has been cancelled, and the game’s upcoming patch 5.3 has been delayed again, due to the ongoing outbreak of covid-19. “The North American Fan Festival was scheduled to be held in San Diego half a year from now in November, but after much deliberation we have…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for…who knows? Maybe some video games, if you need a break for a bit. I’m feeling playing some Spelunky. It’s one of my perennial favorites, and I could use the comforting rhythms of a game I know well (though have still, I’m shocked to say, never beaten, because I inevitably make a mistake).…

Sony Fined $2.4 Million By Australian Court For Misleading PlayStation Players About Game Refunds

Australia’s Federal Court announced today that it’s ordering Sony to pay $3.5 million in fines (approximately $2,445,00 in U.S. dollars) for breaking the country’s consumer law by misleading people about video game refunds. “Between October 2017 and May 2019, Sony Europe’s Terms of Service implied that users did not have consumer guarantee rights regarding the…

Nintendo’s New Clubhouse Games Is A Damn Fine Collection Of Light Diversions

Coming June 5 to the Nintendo Switch, Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics is no cheap-and-dirty mini-game bundle. It’s a polished collection of beloved multi and single-player card, dice, board, and sports games in a wonderfully presented package. It’s good stuff. This article was originally published on May 21, 2020. Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, developed by…

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Adds Black Lives Matter Message

Infinity War has added a message about Black Lives Matter and racism in its Call of Duty community to Modern Warfare and Warzone, in a new update following the ongoing nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality. When players start either game after installing the update they’ll encounter a message saying…

Nice View

Victorin Ripert is an artist from France. You can see more of Victorin’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Game’s $2,200 Limited Edition Includes Full-Size Foosball Table

What would an over-the-top soccer game be without an over-the-top collector’s edition? Bandai Namco has put together several Europe-exclusive packages for the August 28 release of Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, the largest of which includes a full-size, customizable foosball table For the low, low price of €1,989 EUR—that’s just over $2,200 USD for…

Highlight Reel is taking a break for the week. We’re still answering emails and reaching out for clips and the show will air next week. As always, feel free to send your clips to our email line here Looking for ways to advocate for black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister…

Some Activision Shareholders Think Bobby Kotick Makes Too Much Money

In a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, an investment group representing some Activision Blizzard shareholders argued that the video game company “finds multiple ways to unnecessarily enrich” chief executive officer Bobby Kotick. More directly, this translates to “Why the fuck is this one dude making so much money?” CtW Investment…

Game Gear Micro Is Missing The Best Portable Sonic Game

Earlier this week, Sega announced the release of the Game Gear Micro as a part of its 60th anniversary celebration. The ludicrously small handheld console comes in four different colors, each of which has four different games. I’m sad to say that Sonic: Triple Trouble isn’t one of them. Two of the four Game Gear…

Black 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…

Here’s the opening 22 minutes of The Outer Worlds on Switch running in handheld mode It’s…not pretty. While the game plays mostly fine, the vibrant visuals of the original have been lost in a blurry haze of down-scaling.

Rockstar Games Will Temporarily Shut Down GTA Online And Red Dead Online In Support Of Black Lives Matter

Rockstar Games said today that it will shut down the servers for its popular online games, Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online, for two hours in response to the current protests over police brutality and the death of George Floyd. In a tweetposted today on the company’s official Twitter account, Rockstar wrote that…

How’s It Going?: Sleep Edition

It’s Thursday, somehow. Welcome back to our daily open thread. I’m sure I’m not the only one having trouble sleeping lately, or having more trouble sleeping lately than they were before. Cop cars and helicopters are making my neighborhood very noisy, and there’s too much to worry and seethe about to be able to get…