Culture

Wolfenstein Is Now A Board Game

Now that the recent Wolfenstein games have fleshed out the series’ canon and roster of characters, it’s time for a board game to come in, promise some plastic miniatures and, as they always do, ask for money on Kickstarter it’s a co-op dungeon crawler, so anyone who has played anything from Space Hulk to Imperial…

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Gave 10,000 Employees His Personal Cell Phone Number

Companies in the video game industry are handling the ongoing covid-19 pandemic in various ways, from retailers dragging their asses in protecting their employees to studios implementing work-from-home policies. Activision Blizzard’s plans include giving 10,000 workers a direct line to CEO Bobby Kotick. During a recent appearance on CNBC, Kotick spoke at length about how Activision Blizzard…

Riot Addresses Concerns Over Valorant‘s Always-On Anti-Cheat System

Players who install Valorant, the new first-person shooter from Riot, also add to their computer an anti-cheat system that activates whenever they boot up their computer. It’s practically always on, which caused quite a stir within the gaming community after being discovered yesterday. A Riot rep tells Kotaku that their anti-cheat system, called Riot Vanguard, needs…

A New XCOM Game Is Coming Out Next Week

I definitely didn’t wake up today expecting to suddenly have a new XCOM game on my radar for next week, but here we are. XCOM: Chimera Squad is a new standalone game set five years after XCOM 2. It’s coming to PC on April 24. Chimera Squad, announced today by publisher 2K and developer Firaxis,…

How’s It Going?: Life Lessons Edition

Good morning! Welcome back to our daily open thread. Yesterday, a friend of mine on Facebook asked people what things they’ve learned from or during this pandemic that they’d like to hold on to once life shifts to whatever “normal” is going to look like. I like this question a lot, and I tend to…

Minecraft Gets Graphics Overhaul Later This Week On PC

Players will be able to explore Minecraft with dazzling new visuals when its RTX Beta gets underway on April 16. Nvidia announced it was working on bringing real-time ray tracing to the popular open-world crafting game at last year’s Gamescom, and according to a new blog post by the company, the fruits of that labor…

The Nintendo Switch Finally Lets You Remap The Controls

At long last you can customize the button layout for your Joy-Con or Pro Controller on the Switch. The much-requested feature was added last night in a firmware update and means players can now change their controller layouts at the system level rather than only if specific games that allow for it. While great in…

Track: Lover, You Should’ve Come Over | Artist: Jeff Buckley | Album: Grace (Legacy Edition) 

Hideo Kojima’s P.T. Recreated In HyperCard Software

Since its release in 2014, Hideo Kojima’s P.T. has been recreated and inspired other games. But those games tend to keep the original P.T.’s shadowy, dark color palette. Game developer Ryan Trawick went a totally different direction.  Instead of making his own murky P.T. homage, Trawick created it in Apple’s HyperCard software. The result is monochromic,…

The Birthplace of Japanese Whisky. Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line 

A Very Close Look Inside The Mandalorian’s Ship

Know what I love? Cross-sections, aka cut-aways. Know what else I love (though that love has been worn to a paper-thin nub in recent years)? Star Wars. Let’s combine ‘em. This intricate look at the guts of the Razor Crest is provided by Max Degtyarev, an illustrator we’ve featured before here for similar stuff. Only…

Fallout 76 Players Brace For Possible Evictions In Wastelanders Update

Fallout 76’s sweeping Wastelanders expansion arrives tomorrow, bringing a bunch of new content to a game that hasn’t seen much of that in the last six months. While most players are eagerly awaiting the update, some are sitting with their fingers crossed hoping the new changes won’t force them to relocate the elaborate campsites they’ve…

Streamer Wins Call Of Duty Warzone Gulag Match Using A Steering Wheel

A steering wheel is not the best device for playing Call of Duty, but YouTuber Noel Miller recently got some laughs as he tried to steer his way through the series’ battle royale, Warzone On Friday, Miller put on military fatigues, set up a steering wheel and went on Twitch to broadcast his experiment. Once…

I Adore Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Dorky Eco-Terrorists

Final Fantasy VII Remake is my first time playing the game that made Final Fantasy a household name. Growing up, my house was a Nintendo house. I cut my teeth on Super Mario Bros. 3 and played through Kirby Super Star more times than I can remember. My only memory of Final Fantasy VII is…

NASCAR Driver Suspended For Saying N-Word On Stream [UPDATE]

Yesterday evening, professional NASCAR racer Kyle Larson used the n-word during an event hosted by prominent simulation esports league iRacing and broadcast on Twitch and eNASCAR.com. He’s since been suspended by NASCAR, as well as his racing team. With covid-19 forcing people across the world to pump the brakes on everything, professional racing organizations have…

ESRB Ratings Will Now Tell You If A Game Has Loot Boxes

Today the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced a new ratings description specifically for games with loot boxes. Currently, games that have microtransactions in them come with an ESRB description that states “In-Game Purchases.” The ESRB is now going to add the follow-up description “Includes Random Items” if there are items players can buy in…

How’s It Going?: Hanging Out Edition

It’s a very rainy Monday where I am, which seems appropriate for a Monday. Welcome back to our daily open thread. I had two virtual hangouts this weekend. I hung out with a friend and some of her friends on Zoom, and I (finally) watched Parasite with some folks over Discord. (That movie is crazy! I…

Track: Take Five | Artist: The Dave Brubeck Quartet | Album: Time Out

Spiritual Refreshment. Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft | Twitter JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line 

The Week In Games: Fallout 76 Takes The Country Road To Steam

Fallout 76 is coming to Steam this week. And coming to all platforms is the big new update, Wastelanders, that adds human NPCs to irradiated West Virginia. Over the last six months or so I’ve tried to play Fallout 76, but even with a new video card and more RAM in my PC, the game…