The Splatoon Amiibo We’ve Been Waiting For

Unlocking new in-game challenges is nice and all, but where are the Amiibo that unlock new musical numbers? They’re Callie and Marie, Splatoon’s Squid Sisters, and they’ll be hitting stores on July 8. They’re in-game TV personalities. They’re virtual idols. They’redelicious-looking food. The Squid Sisters are the best thing to come out of Splatoon besides…

This Week In The Business: Lowered NX-pectations

QUOTE | “The challenge is that the roadmap for a successful Nintendo console is unclear.”—EEDAR analyst Patrick Walker, suggesting that Mario, Zelda and the like won’t be enough of a unique selling point to move the NX on their own Elsewhere in the business of gaming this week… STAT | 800,000 – The number of…

Valve Steps Up Counter-Strike‘s Anti-Cheat Measures

Counter-Strike is one of the biggest competitive shooters on Earth, so of course, would-be cheaters flock to it like thieves to an Uncharted 4 delivery truck Counter-Strike has recently begun dabbling in phone-based account authentication. First and foremost, there’s been word of a beta for “Prime,” a feature that matches players who’ve linked their accounts…

It’s Cool When A Multiplayer Game Breaks A Language Barrier 

One of the great things about multiplayer games is how effectively you can communicate with people, even when you don’t speak each other’s language. You can race over sand dunes together in Journey. You can clear bounties in Destiny. Or take the moment the clip above. In that short video, you’ve got me, an American,…

Better Hope Batman Doesn’t Find Out Who Your Dad Is, Kid

It’s going to be interesting to see what transpires when Batman finds out the identity of this particular teen vigilante. This unauthorized Robin will be lucky if getting fired is the only thing that happens to him. Ever since it launched last summer, DC Comics’ We Are Robin series has been concerned with picking up…

How A Mario Maker Rivalry Got Me Punched In The Balls

I’ve been fending off the diabolical Mario Maker creations by Giant Bomb editor Dan Ryckert for months now. Our rivalry has always taken place over the Internet, however. At PAX East, it was a face-to-face showdown. Mario Maker has captivated my attention longer than any other game, fueled by imaginative levels crafted by its players.…

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Map Teases Infinite Warfare

It’s almost May, which means it’s time for your annual dose of leaks and teases leading up to the yearly Call of Duty reveal. As of today, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3‘s Nuketown map has a teaser for this year’s game, which isn’t announced yet but will be called Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

It’s the end of the week. And the end of the month! That’s a lot of endings, which hopefully paves the way for an equal number of beginnings. Time to begin… some games! (Damn, that was a tortured lede.) I’m on the cusp of an extended vacation, during which time I’m sure I will miss…

It’s Friday, So Watch This Silly Video Of Disney Characters Singing Smash Mouth

I’ve watched this like ten times today already. It’s both brilliant and unsettling. Happy weekend.

Great Cascade is an open world game where characters remember and react to your decisions. It’s not like in, say, Mass Effect or The Witcher, where things are scripted. Everybody has their own traits, memories, and goals, all of which are randomized. It’s on Steam Greenlight right now, and it looks really cool.

How The Beautiful Space Game Astroneer Works

Astroneer is an open-world game about exploring some of the coolest-looking low-polygon planets you’ve ever seen. It turned heads at PAX East in Boston, where we spoke to the game’s ex-AAA developers at System Era and secured some direct feed footage. Enjoy what may be the best-looking gaming footage you see today. The video shows…

Ubisoft Says They’re Getting Tougher On Division Cheaters

Tom Clancy’s The Division has been having a rough go of it lately, with cheaters and exploiters toppling its endgame balance and leaving legit players feeling burned. In a new post on the company blog, Ubisoft Massive has outlined new detection methods and increased punishments for cheaters and exploiters alike. “We have great plans for…

The Arguments For And Against A Dark Souls Easy Mode

It’s been a few weeks since Worth Reading, your weekly guide to the best writing in video games, but we’re back. Hey, You Should Read These “The Story of Fumito Ueda” by game no ryuugi (translated by Shmuplations) Though we haven’t heard a lick about The Last Guardian since Sony re-premiered the game for PlayStation…

TFW You’ve Been Playing Dark Souls Until 4am

Roman Bondarenko is an artist working at Plarium, a studio that makes “hardcore” social games. And yes, that pic up top (full version below) is a personal piece that he says is “inspired by Dark Souls”. You can see more of Roman’s work at his ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their…

Drake Looks Like He’s About To Run A Heist In GTA V

Drake finally released his latest album last night, and fans were quick to point out something funny about the accompanying artwork: the pictures totally look like GTA loading screens. Take the picture above, for example. Kind of similar to this GTA artwork, no? Lets take a closer look. Yeah, I totally see it. GTA V…