- Culture
This Week In The Business: The End Of Esports’ Innocence
QUOTE | “Apparel is an essential part of running an esports team. That side of the business has to work for the rest to work.” – Erik Londré, head of events and influencers for esports team Fnatic, which just opened its own pop-up retail store in Shoreditch to sell merchandise and host events. STAT |…
Brendan Sinclair Published December 17, 2016 - Culture
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
It’s really cold in New York right now. That’s a great excuse to stay inside and play video games. I’m going to try to get back to The Witcher 3 this weekend, which fell by the wayside for other games. I’m also going to dive into more Astroneer, an early access survival game that just…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 16, 2016 -
UncategorizedThe State Of Virtual Reality In 2016
In truth, 2016 was not “The Year of VR.” It was the year of the start of VR. Multiple major tech companies released impressive VR systems that were clearly the first of their kind; flawed and fascinating, destined to be improved upon and replaced. The age of immersive technology is upon us, but its future…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 16, 2016 -
UncategorizedSpace Survival Game Astroneer Will Kill You In All The Best Ways
While playing Astroneer, I kept messaging my colleagues about cool ways it had killed me. It was a morbid thing to be excited about. But a satisfying death is the hallmark of a good survival game, and, even in its early stages, Astroneer has a lot of them. Astroneer is a space survival game that’s…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Overwatch Players Band Together To Send Cookies To Blizzard
You might not always agree with the choices the developers of your favorite games make, but they work hard, dammit. As a show of gratitude, a bunch of Overwatch players have pooled their resources to buy cookies for the development team. Christopher Culley started the Blizzard Cookies Project on Indiegogo yesterday with the goal of…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 16, 2016 - Culture
p1ck uP ThaT C4n
Shaun Mooney is an artist who has worked for companies like Traveller’s Tales (the LEGO games) and Atomhawk. We featured Shaun’s work a few years back, but since he’s had a complete portfolio refresh, I figured we’d pop back in and have another look at his stuff. You can see more of Shaun’s art at…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 16, 2016 -
UncategorizedWhat Makes Final Fantasy XV‘s Aranea Highwind Boss Fight Great
Final Fantasy XV has some wonderful boss fights. Aranea Highwind offers an memorable encounter thanks to an onslaught of smart design choices. We take a closer look in this video. Transcript: The combat system in Final Fantasy XV lends itself to some grand moments. More often than not, you’re battling hoards of monsters or clashing…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Denuvo Says Doom Dropped Their Anti-Piracy Tech Because It Got The Job Done
Denuvo, once the iron-clad terror of pirates everywhere, was recently removed from two high-profile games, Doom and Inside. Why? After more than a week of speculation, Denuvo’s decided to clarify things. “The simple reason why Denuvo Anti Tamper was removed from Doom was because it had accomplished its purpose by keeping the game safe from…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 16, 2016 -
UncategorizedIt’s Not Every Decade A New Surfing Video Game Is Announced
In honor of today’s announcement of Climax Studios’ Surf World Series, coming to the Xbox One, PC and PS4 next year, I decided to explore the history of surfing video games, starting with the nine listed on Wikipedia. This won’t take long. I suppose they’ll be adding Surf World Series to the list soon enough,…
By Mike Fahey Published December 16, 2016 - Esports
League of Legends Lands Seven-Year, $300 Million Streaming Deal
Today, League of Legends publisher Riot announced an unprecedented $300 million deal with Major League Baseball spin-off streaming company BAMTech, who will handle LoL broadcasting. Among other things, BAMTech will releasea streaming app for the esport and oversee tournament streams on Twitch, the Wall Street Journal reports BAMTech, in which Disneyrecently bought a $1 billion…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Visual novel Rose of Winter is now available on iOS Time to fall in love with Crow all over again.
By Gita Jackson Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Why Arby’s Twitter Is All Over Gaming Right Now
With many popular brands struggling to find a voice on social media, Arby’s spent 2016 charming an entirely new audience via gaming and pop culture papercraft creations. I spoke to Arby’s senior director of social and digital media about how they went from pictures of curly fries to cardboard chocobos. I follow a lot of…
By Mike Fahey Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Farewell, Weird-Faced Assassin’s Creed NPC
Last month, this dear precious boy appeared in Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection and immediately became an Internet sensation. It is with great and terrible regret that I now inform you of his passing. A patch (spotted by Eurogamer) did the deed. Have a look: The NPC could show up in Sequence 1, Memory 1 of…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 16, 2016 -
UncategorizedNew, Witchy Film From Studio Ghibli Veterans Looks Just As Magical As Miyazaki’s
Starved Studio Ghibli fans now have something new to look forward to. Yesterday, Ghibli veterans, under the auspices of Studio Ponoc, released a trailer for a fantastical, Ghibliesque movie called Mary and the Witch’s Flower, slated for Summer, 2017. Based on Mary Stewart’s The Little Broomstick, in which a girl discovers a magical broomstick in the…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XV Gets New Game Plus Next Week
Square Enix will add a New Game Plus mode to Final Fantasy XV via patch on December 22 alongside a “Holiday Pack” DLC that will contain a bunch of goodies, the publisher announced today. Naturally, you’ll get more if you pay. The New Game Plus mode is free and will be available to everyone, although…
By Jason Schreier Published December 16, 2016 - Uncategorized
Here’s Where You Can Play The Nintendo Switch Starting Next Month
Nintendo will let the public gets hands on time with its next console/handheld starting in January as part of a multi-city tour, the company announced today. It sounds like space will be limited, so be prepared to wait on line if you want to play the Switch. The world’s most acclaimed maker of iPhone games…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 16, 2016 -
Kotaku EastThe New Pokémon Animated Movie Looks Like A Reboot
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Pokémon anime. And next summer’s big Pokémon movie looks like it will celebrate that milestone by going back to the beginning. The first Pokémon TV anime aired in Japan in 1997, and the following year, the first feature hit theaters. To date, there have been nineteen Pokémon animated…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2016 - Kotaku East
Starting late January 2017, Japanese stores won’t get new copies of the PS Vita Kantai Collection title, which debuted this February in Japan. The download version also won’t be for sale starting late next month. The official site apologized but didn’t give a reason for the sudden announcement.
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 16, 2016
