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CultureModder Gives Counter-Strike‘s Most Popular Maps A Holiday Makeover
Counter-Strike might have Christmas chickens, but it’s severely lacking in Christmas maps. Enter a selection of phenomenal modded maps by BadtRIP Thanks to their handiwork, you can now play festive versions of Train, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Cobblestone, and Dust2. Changes are wholly cosmetic and include snow, lights, sleighs, and even Christmas trees. The weather outside…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Ex-Crytek Artist Looks To Sue Over Unpaid Salary
A former Crytek artist wants to sue the company for not paying its staff—and he’s crowdfunding a lawyer to make it happen. Ludvig Lindqvist, an FX artist who worked at Crytek’s main studio in Frankfurt, Germany, launched a GoFundMe campaign today in hopes of paying his legal fees against the studio. Crytek, he says, has…
By Jason Schreier Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Twitch’s AutoMod Is Already A Game-Changer, Streamers Say
Twitch’s crusade against garbage live chats saw a victory on Monday. The streaming platform released an automated moderation feature called AutoMod that is already, some streamers say, a game-changer. AutoMod filters toxicity and slurs from Twitch chat for human moderators to sift through and judge. It automatically flags any messages that may be considered hate…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published December 14, 2016 - Culture
He Will Deal With Your Rebel Friends Soon Enough
This incredible 3D sculpt was done by artist Chris Nix. You can see more of Chris’ work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the images in their native resolution, click on the “expand” button in the top-left corner. Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Stardew Valley developer, Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone says patches for known issues with the PS4 and Xbox One releases will be rolling out, “in the next few weeks.” Among the issues to be addressed are the problems with controller support and a bug that causes a crash between day 3 and day 4 of the game.…
By Gita Jackson Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Pro Wrestler Tweet Gets People Talking About ‘Black Excellence’
Last night, the pro wrestler Big E tweeted a picture of himself, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, Sasha Banks and Rich Swann holding their respective WWE championship belts with the caption, “#BlackExcellence.” While wrestling is staged, having this many black champions at once is still an accomplishment, and marking the occasion with a photo is appropriate.…
By Gita Jackson Published December 14, 2016 -
UncategorizedThe State Of The PlayStation 4 In 2016
The PlayStation 4 evolved this year. Sony’s flagship console got a little bigger and a little more powerful, though its potential is as yet undertapped. It also got its very own VR headset, though that headset noticeably fails to match its PC counterparts. It’s not clear whether Sony has moved their gaming system in all…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
The Overwatch Fandom Is Horny For Widowmaker’s New Highlight Animation
Overwatch’s holiday event, Winter Wonderland, started yesterday, and with it came new character skins and emotes. Widowmaker’s addition is a highlight intro in which she holds mistletoe over her head, then punches the viewer in the throat and steps on them. The fandom is having a moment with this. Widowmaker is a character based around…
By Gita Jackson Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Lost Odyssey Is Free On Xbox Right Now
If you like free video games, and you want to play a killer RPG that’s worth playing if only for the fantastic short stories that come packaged in interludes throughout the game, go get Lost Odyssey for free on Xbox One and/or Xbox 360 right now. It’ll be free until December 31.
By Jason Schreier Published December 14, 2016 - Opinion
Slice Robots Into Tiny Bits In Clone Drone In The Danger Zone
Clone Drone In The Danger Zone is a chaotic arena slice-a-thon made by Doborog Games. Players face an unceasing flow of dangerous robots and fight to survive for as long as possible. It is this week’s Cool Indie Game. The gameplay in Clone Drone is simple. You’ll be tasked with defeating enemy robots in increasingly…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 14, 2016 -
UncategorizedOverwatch‘s Holiday Brawl Is A Bit Of A Letdown
Overwatch’s seasonal brawls, the sporty Lucio Ball and PVE-centric Junkenstein’s Revenge, have been almost universally beloved, taking the game in directions nobody saw coming. Comparatively, the latest one, Mei’s Snowball Offensive, is kind of a buzzkill. A snowball fight was, of course, a natural pick for this season’s brawl, but Mei’s is not all that…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 14, 2016 -
UncategorizedFinal Fantasy XV‘s Trailers Gave Away Way Too Much
At E3 earlier this year, I asked Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata if he was worried that Square Enix had showed too much of the game. There had been two different demos and tons of footage, I pointed out, which was leading fans to worry that there were few surprises left. Here’s what he…
By Jason Schreier Published December 14, 2016 -
UncategorizedOld Arcade Machines On The Factory Floor
Every dusty old arcade cabinet sitting in the corner of a pub or rotting in a warehouse somewhere was once shiny and brand new, assembled by workers on factory floors just like these. The Arcade Blogger has compiled a collection of old photos and videos of these production runs, showing how companies like Nintendo, Atari…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 14, 2016 -
UncategorizedForza Horizon 3‘s Snow Driving Is Almost Too Real
During my first ten minutes in Forza Horizon 3‘s wintry Blizzard Mountain expansion pack, I found myself in a snowstorm so thick I pulled over to wait it out. It was only a few seconds before I remembered that I was an immortal super driver with an army of tree-devouring vehicles at my command, but…
By Mike Fahey Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Dishonored 2’s New Game Plus Lets Players Combine Corvo And Emily’s Abilities
Dishonored 2 is adding a New Game Plus Mode as part of its latest free game update. The mode won’t just let you play a new game with your old powers. It will let you play with every power there is. Game Update 1 is the first of two major free updates. It releases today…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Four Years Later, The Wii U Hasn’t Gotten Any Big Price Drops
The Wii U is in an odd spot. It never found the audience Nintendo was hoping for, and after two or three years it was already being phased out in favor of the Switch. Despite that, it’s yet to receive a significant price drop, even as the more-successful PlayStation 4 and Xbox One take detours…
By Nathan Grayson Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Valkyria Revolution Is Coming West
If you’ve been jonesing for a new Valkyria Chronicles game, you’ll be able to get your fix pretty soon: Valkyria Revolution is coming to North America and Europe this spring. It’ll be on PS4, Xbox One, and—believe it or not—Vita. Valkyria Revolution, which comes out January in Japan, is more of a spinoff than a…
By Jason Schreier Published December 14, 2016 - Uncategorized
Age Of Empires II Is Getting Another Brand New Expansion
Maybe it’s because Age of Empires II is still hugely popular, maybe it’s because Bill Gates wants it done, either way there’s going to be another brand new, original expansion to 1999’s Age of Kings released on the PC soon. This will be the third new expansion released for the HD version of the game…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 14, 2016
