Pokémon Studio Criticized After Visiting Controversial Shrine

When Japanese politicians visit the Yasukuni Shrine, the country’s most controversial Shinto shrine, it causes an international incident. The same is true for Pokémon developers. In Japanese, the first Shinto shrine visit of the year is called hatsumode. People visit Shinto shrines that are close to either where they live, or if they are going…

Steam Bug Keeps Popular Indie Game From Being Recognized As ‘Real’ For Five Months

Wandersong is a side-scrolling rhythm adventure game that is—pardon my language—charming as all heck. Its combination of inventive mechanics and comedic, heartfelt writing have caused many to fall in love with it, myself included. And for five months Steam wasn’t sure it was a real game. As part of Valve’s ongoing effort to weed out…

The ridiculously adorable Yoshi’s Crafted World will launch March 29 on Switch, Nintendo said today. This would be a good time to start stocking up on insulin for the impending sugar overload. Also, Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn, an upgraded version of the Wii game for the 3DS, will hit on March 8.

Civilization V’s Narrator Has Died

British actor William Morgan Sheppard, the voice of Firaxis’ Civilization V, has died. He was 86. Sheppard’s career spanned six decades, across TV, theatre, film and video games, and included appearances in everything from Doctor Who to Star Trek to Medal of Honor, whose earlier games he provided the briefings: But it’s his role as…

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Has New Level Scaling

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has a weird approach to way its enemies level. Now there’s an option in the game to change this. To recap, here’s how the game approaches enemy levelling by default: Every region on Odyssey’s map has two numbers associated with it. Those numbers indicate, in part, how leveled up you need to…

Atlas, As Told By Steam Reviews

When Atlas first launched last month, it didn’t cannonball into the high seas so much as belly flop. The resulting wet slapping sound continues to echo around in the game’s Steam review section to this day. Even though the game is still eliciting cringes and jeers from its reviewers, Atlas has somehow also become hugely…

Hollow Knight Speedrun Has A Tense Finale

Hollow Knight is a quiet game of exploration and difficult bosses that can take dozens of hours to complete. Last Sunday at Awesome Games Done Quick, a speedrunner beat it in under 90 minutes. The run was a highlight of precise, masterful movement. And the ending had the audience on the edges of their seats.…

Top Smash Player Gets Temporary Twitch Ban For Drinking Too Much On Stream

Joseph “Mango” Marquez, one of the “five gods” of Super Smash Bros. Melee, is on an unpaid vacation this week after Twitch banned his channel for allegedly drinking too much during a weekend stream and passing out. Marquez shared the news on his Twitter account, tweeting out a screenshot of the email from Twitch letting…

The Year-Long, Undercover Plot To Blow Up EVE Online‘s Most Notorious Space Station

In theory, anything can happen in EVE Online, but some things are considered impossible. Well, last month, one of the “impossible” things happened: The destruction of the game’s first-ever Keepstar battlestation, which was kept in a wormhole. Of course, it took 11 months of meticulous planning. Ever since the massive Keepstars, the largest structures that…

The Animal Crossing Version Of ‘Sicko Mode’ Is A Bop

Every wondered what it would sound like if Animal Crossing’s K.K. Slider covered Travis Scott? We got you, fam. Travis Scott’s song “Sicko Mode” off his 2017 album Astroworld has been a huge hit, thanks to its unusual structure thatof transitions between three separate beats, its trippy video, and a verse from Drake that isn’t…

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, One Month Later

Smash Ultimate is a living game, and one month later, it’s just starting to walk on two legs. Sure, its launch was explosive, but Smash takes on new meaning as fans’ ideas about it evolve. Who’s top tier in the meta? What’s the wackiest ruleset anyone’s come up with? Will we decide a year from…

Call Of Duty‘s Latest Microtransaction Is A Tiny Red Dot

For a game that’s already taking heat from its player base for the price of its extra cosmetic items, Black Ops 4‘s latest offering seems especially difficult to swallow. A red dot reticle showed up in the Black Ops 4 Black Market on December 25, wearing a price tag of 100 COD Points, or about…

The Stories Behind Assassin’s Creed Mercenaries Are Terrific, But Easily Missed

You don’t need to know the backstory of Shoeless Ogarneos, a mercenary who may try to kill you in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but the word in the game is that this ancient Greek killer-for-hire only wore bandages on his feet and “liked the red tint they had at the end of each day.” I can…

The Week In Games: Mario Brothers Of Days Past

Not one but two older entries into the Mario Bros. canon resurface this week, because in the world of video games what’s old is eternally new again. And I do hope you like new old games, because otherwise you’re out of luck. In a test of just how many Nintendo fans will buy games they…