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UncategorizedPUBG Removed From China, Replaced With Hilarious Clone
Having tried for months to get approval to release (and more importantly, monetise) PUBG in China, publisher Tencent has had enough and pulled the game, replacing it with something that looks very similar. As Reuters reports, the new game is called Game For Peace, which “pays tribute to the blue sky warriors that guard our…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedThere’s An Actual Satellite In Space Called “XCOM”
Hello, Commander. We have received reports that the US Naval Research Laboratory has launched two new satellites into orbit around the Earth. One of them is called: XCOM. Since it’s researching X-ray communications, the “XCOM” name kinda writes itself! But the team behind it also knew exactly what they were doing when they named it,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 8, 2019 -
CultureThe Witcher 3’s Creators Have Imagined Geralt As A Samurai
CD Projekt Red have opened a new online store, and while that’s not usually something we’d pay much notice to, there’s one item launching alongside it that caught my attention: a very fancy statue of Geralt that was designed by some of the artists who worked on The Witcher 3 Because of that direct involvement,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedOverwatch Map Returns After Mysteriously Vanishing For Weeks
“What happened to Numbani?” “Where is Numbani???” “When was the last time you played on Numbani?” These are just a handful of the many thread titles that have popped up on the Overwatch subreddit since the game’s “Storm Rising” update in the middle of April. Players, for some reason, could no longer bless the rains…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 8, 2019 -
CultureTwitchThe GTA V Role-Playing Scene Has Lost Some Of Its Biggest Streamers
Stream long enough, and you become mercurial. Either that, or you watch the passion you once felt for your favorite game slowly fade into a hazy silhouette of duty. Over the past few weeks, big streamers who helped turn Grand Theft Auto V role-playing into a Twitch phenomenon have started to burn out even as…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedApex Legends‘ Mirage Has A Dating Profile Now
Apex Legends doesn’t have much lore. The characters have notes on their backgrounds on the game’s official site, which has some interesting little details. Did you know that Mirage is the youngest of four brothers? Today we learned a little more about the hologram obsessive, thanks to a dating profile Respawn made for him. The…
By Gita Jackson Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedMagic: The Gathering Is So Complex It Could Stump A Computer
Anyone who’s ever tried to play Magic: The Gathering or listened to a friend explain it to them has had to reckon with the learning curve of all its intricate rules and even more confounding cards. Human players might not be alone in feeling overwhelmed: A new research paper argues that the game is so…
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedBethesda Pulls Free Elder Scrolls Tabletop RPG That Ripped Off A D&D Module
Yesterday Bethesda released a free promotional tabletop role-playing game module set in Elsweyr, the setting for thenext expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online. Now the module has been pulled from The Elder Scrolls Online Facebook page due to its striking similarities to a Dungeons & Dragons adventure published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016.…
By Mike Fahey Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedI Like It When The Numbers Get Big
Video games are art. Video games can tell complex stories about the nature of the soul or bring players to tears with their honest belief in heroes. They also have numbers in them. Lots of numbers. And I am a big buffoon who loves when numbers go up. I’ve been denying this simple fact for…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 8, 2019 -
CultureThe Division 2’s Developers Walk Back Planned Loot Change That Inflamed Fanbase
Citing fan feedback, player data and “intense internal discussions,” the makers of The Division 2 will not be introducing 515-level gear in the game’s big update coming next week. That decision that may seem granular to outsiders but is actually a significant acquiescence by the game’s creators in an ongoing drama around the game that…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 8, 2019 -
ReviewsKeyboardsLow-Profile Mechanical Keyboards Are Getting Really Good
Traditionally, flat keyboards are never as satisfying to type on as full-profile mechanical models with nice, chunky keycaps. But low-profile mechanical switches, like the Cherry MX models used in Cooler Master’s new line of slight keyboards, are shortening the gap. I’ve spent the past couple of months typing on each of Cooler Master’s three new…
By Mike Fahey Published May 8, 2019 -
Culture‘I’d Have These Extremely Graphic Dreams’: What It’s Like To Work On Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat 11
Mortal Kombat 11 is a brutal game. That’s what you come for—sensational, over-the-top violence that’s inventive and gratuitous on a level that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It can be shocking in its detail and funny in its execution, but it’s always arresting. It’s also short. Fatalities, gory, physically improbable finishers that usually involve cartoonish dismemberment,…
By Joshua Rivera Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedJohn Wick Hex is a newly announced “fight-choreographed chess brought to life” strategy game inspired by the films and being developed by Thomas Was Alone’s Mike Bithell. It’ll feature voice work by Ian McShane and Lance Reddick and come to consoles and be on PC as an Epic Store exclusive.
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedDestiny 2’s New Exotic Quest Brings Back One Of The Best Guns From Destiny 1
Destiny 2’s latest update has added a new exotic quest whose reward is a re-issue of one of the best guns from the first game: Outbreak Prime. The new quest begins, like so many in Destiny do, with the hunt for a transponder. This one is located on Titan in a hidden room at the…
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2019 - Uncategorized
In the grand tradition of Ubisoft games leaking early, a store listing has revealed Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, the new Tom Clancy game that the publisher has been teasing recently. It’s a sequel to Wildlands, according to the leak. More tomorrow at 2:30pm ET
By Jason Schreier Published May 8, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Got Caught In A Silent Pokémon Go Battle With A Stranger A Few Feet Away
Like many people, I played Pokémon Go for a few months when it first came out in 2016, then I abandoned it for three years. Since I work from home and the game’s leveling mechanics revolve around a pedometer, I could never seem to level up my Pokémon fast enough. For the past six months,…
By Maddy Myers Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedU.S. Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Loot Boxes And Pay-To-Win Microtransactions
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) today announced a bill that would ban loot boxes and pay-to-win microtransactions in “games played by minors,” a broad label that the senator says will include both games designed for kids under 18 and games “whose developers knowingly allow minor players to engage in microtransactions.” Hawley will introduce the bill, “The…
By Jason Schreier Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedMinecraft Is Now A Browser Game, Is Still Good
Now you can play some old-school Minecraft in your browser. Minecraft, a game developed by a disembodied spirit and dropped here on Earth under mysterious circumstances, was once the game people asked me about when I told them what my job is. “Oh you play games?” they’d ask. “Do you know about Minecraft?” Now that…
By Gita Jackson Published May 8, 2019 -
UncategorizedNintendo Switch Online’s next batch of NES games arrives on May 15 and includes Donkey Kong Jr., Clu Clu Land, and VS. Excitebike The selection makes sense since it leans into the service’s online multiplayer. Still, it’s no substitute for finally getting SNES games on the Switch.
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2019
