Culture

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…

Kingdoms Of Amalur Is Getting Remastered As Re-Reckoning

A new listing on the Microsoft store has revealed a remaster of the 2012 action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning coming August 18. According to the listing, the remaster will have “improved graphical fidelity” and “refined gameplay.” It’ll also come with all the DLC from the original release. It’s also getting a ridiculous new title: Kingdoms…

Volleyball Rules

Kofi Ofosu is a freelance artist from Ghana. You can see more of Ofosu’s stuff at his ArtStation page

LEGO Asks Stores To Stop Advertising Police, White House Sets

In recognition of everything that’s going on right now, LEGO’s actions for #BlackOutTuesday involved not just a $4 million donation to organisations devoted to racial equality, but a request for sellers to not advertise any sets involving police or the White House. As The Toy Book report, emails went out on Tuesday from Rakuten (who…

New Video Offers Another Glimpse Of Long-Lost Avengers Game

The gaming historians over at Past to Present Online recently produced new footage from an early build of The Avengers, a canceled THQ game that was meant to coincide with the release of the first Avengers movie in 2012. “This is footage from an early build of THQ’s The Avengers, running on Xbox 360,” Past…

Call of Duty Studio Vows To Crack Down On Racists

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward will take more steps to find and ban players using racial slurs in their in-game display names, as well as other measures to keep racist language out of its game, it said today. Since the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare last year, players have been…