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CultureHere’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon
In case you got the wrong impression, Xbox Game Pass isn’t just a vehicle to play games that start with a Bethesda loading screen. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks: March 16 Undertale (Cloud, Console, PC) March 18 Empire of Sin (Cloud, Console, PC) Nier: Automata (PC) Star Wars:…
By Ari Notis Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureStadia Exclusive Super Bomberman R Online Is Coming To PC And Consoles So People Can Play It
Launched exclusively on Stadia on September 1, Super Bomberman R Online is all the explosive cartoon fun of Super Bomberman R plus a 64-player online battle royale mode that plays out across multiple game boards. Today Konami announced the game is coming soon to consoles and PC with crossplay, so those poor Stadia players can…
By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsDark Alliance Is A Spiritual Successor To Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance In Name Only
I went into my recent Dark Alliance demo with development studio Tuque Games expecting to briefly relive the grim, bloody hack and slash glory of the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games. The new game, while pitched as a spiritual successor, feels very different, however. Not bad, just different Dark Alliance, priced at $40 and…
By Ethan Gach Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureAnimal Crossing‘s Next Free Update Is A Boon For Designers
Animal Crossing: New Horizons will celebrate its one-year anniversary with cake delivered to all players in its March 18 update, but the real present is 50 new slots for the normal and pro designer, and the ability to customize fans, umbrellas, flags, and photo stands. We’re heading back into the spring, where all of this…
By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2021 -
Culture2K Signs Tiger Woods, Buys The Studio Behind PGA Tour 2K21
From 1998 through 2013 golf superstar Tiger Woods was the face of EA’s PGA Tour series of video games. Now Woods is back in the video game business, only this time he’s signed an exclusive long-term contract with 2K as the face, executive director, and consultant on the PGA Tour 2K series. Along with the…
By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanFormer Pop Idol Arrested In Japan Over Fraud Allegations
Former pop star Juna Yamada has been arrested for allegedly swindling money from a man she met through a dating site. Previously, the 22-year-old Yamada was a member of idol group SKE48, which she left in January 2019. According to CBC TV, Yamada told the man that she knew how to make money through investing…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2021 -
Kotaku EastThis Pikachu Caterpillar Plushie Looks Freaky
The listing for this AliExpress product says “Pikachued”, and that’s exactly how I feel after looking at it. Japanese site Hachima Kikou doesn’t think this is official merch (it certainly doesn’t appear like one!), but for what it apparently lacks in licensing, it makes up for in OMG and WTF. The plushie is a caterpillar-type…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2021 -
AnimeAnimator And Character Designer Minako Shiba Dies
Today, both P.A. Works and Studio Pierrot announced on Twitter that Minako Shiba has died. Shiba got her start in the early 1990s, working on shows like Metal Fighter Miku. Initially, she had hoped to work in the games industry, but ended up in anime. She did key art and well as worked as the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureTrack: It’s Better People | Artist: Oasis | Album: Roll With It (single)
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 16, 2021 -
CultureFortnite‘s Season 6 Is Wilderness Themed
Fortnite’s Season 6 is here, following a solo event rather than a multiplayer one. Called “Primal,” it features a forest area, weapons crafting, and wildlife. While most Fortnite seasons start with multiplayer events, Season 6’s event was a solo one, playable the first time players boot up the game. Without spoiling too much for those…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 16, 2021 -
CulturePlayStation Communities, A Service I Didn’t Even Know Existed, Is Going Away
This week marks the first and last time I have ever heard of PlayStation Communities, a service that apparently let users hang out in custom forums/group chats on the PS4 and talk about specific stuff. When passing the news around here, only a couple of colleagues had even been aware of its existence, let alone…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2021 -
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 -
CultureFan Fixes GTA Online Load Times, Rockstar Makes It Official
Earlier this month, GTA Online player t0st found a way to cut down the game’s load times by 70%. It must have been a clean, effective fix, because Rockstar themselves have taken a look, agreed with it, and will soon make it part of an official update. As PC Gamer report, Rockstar investigated t0st’s work,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureFortnite Team Banned From Major Tournament After Player Tells Epic Exec To Kill Himself
I don’t know much about Fortnite, but I’m going to guess harassing an Epic executive probably isn’t a winning strategy. A Fortnite competitor named Wrigley tested this controversial technique on Saturday night, tagging Epic chief creative officer Donald Mustard in a tweet that read “literally fucking k!ll your$elf” for some undisclosed reason. Several letters were…
By Ian Walker Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureGhost Of Tsushima Devs Didn’t Think Those Fast Load Speeds Were So Special
If you played Ghost of Tsushima, you were likely floored by how fast it loads. Despite taking place on an enormous open world, you can fast-travel from one end to the other in seconds, which might give you the impression that Sucker Punch, the game’s developer, employs literal wizards. That’s not the case. What’s more,…
By Ari Notis Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureHow A Halo Symbol Ended Up In The Snyder Cut
If you look closely, you might spot a random symbol from Halo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It appears on Deathstroke’s sword and seems to have been added accidentally. As spotted by PCGamesN, it really looks like a rune symbol from the Halo series has snuck its way into director Zack Snyder’s bigger and newer…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureReport: Alienware Ends League Of Legends Sponsorship Over Riot CEO’s Sexual Harassment Investigation
According to a report in Dot Esports, Alienware, the high-performance gaming PC brand owned by Dell, has severed ties with Riot Games over Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent’s ongoing sexual harassment investigation and other public relations concerns. The deal, originally scheduled to end in January 2022, seems to have been terminated early amid concerns regarding Riot’s…
By Ash Parrish Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureTwitchTwitch Streamer Banned Twice In Two Days For Harassing Himself, Somehow
It might be an understatement to say that popular Minecraft YouTuber and streamer George “GeorgeNotFound’’ Davidson had a weird weekend. Within two days, he got banned from Twitch, possibly un-banned, definitely banned again, and unbanned (again?). Why? “Harassment via username,” according to Twitch. Problem is, the only person he could have possibly been harassing was…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureUndertale Makes Its Xbox Debut Via Game Pass Tomorrow
Undertale, the quirky 2015 role-playing game from indie dev Toby Fox, finally heads to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S tomorrow, and it will be free for everyone with an active Game Pass subscription on console. After debuting on PC several years ago, Undertale was ported to several additional platforms, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita,…
By Ian Walker Published March 15, 2021