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GameStop is changing its pre-order refund policy, Kotaku has learned. Now, if you want to get your money back for a pre-order you’ve placed, you’ll have 30 days after the launch of the game to get a full cash refund. After 30 days, you’ll get store credit. A GameStop spokesperson adds that “we have also…

If You Don’t Love Bulbasaur, ‘Bulbasaur Propaganda’ Might Change Your Mind

A word typically reserved for stoic World War II posters and modern Russian cable TV takes on new meaning with the delightful Pokémon-themed Twitter account Bulbasaur Propaganda. @BulbaGanda is a nonstop feed of Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur facts, fan art, memes, heartwarming images, and general cheerleading for Pokémon’s vegetation-based starting monster. If ever you had…

The Pleasure Of Playing A Randomized Version Of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

To defeat the final enemy in Ocarina of Time, you need to have the light arrows. You get them right near the end of the Zelda game by the series’ famous princess. When Carbonwater was playing the Zelda classic one time not too long ago, he just couldn’t find those arrows. Princess Zelda didn’t have…

Monster Hunter And The Witcher Are The Perfect Combination

Monster Hunter: World’s latest crossover event combines dangerous monster fights with the in-depth roleplaying of The Witcher 3 for a special quest that perfectly captures the tough work of a Witcher. The story, which went live yesterday, begins with a mysterious creature stumbling into the Monster Hunter universe. The creature, a grimy little nekker from…

It Takes Six Transformers Trading Cards To Build Devastator

Predaking? Weak. Superion? Bah. Before the Autobots and Decepticons started transforming teams of five into one giant robot, there were the Constructicons, six construction vehicle robots who combined into the mighty Devastator. The original gestalt is a “towering warrior” in the Transformers Trading Card Game’s upcoming Rise of the Combiners expansion. The Rise of the…

How Apex Legends’ Microtransactions Work

Respawn’s new battle royal game Apex Legends has tons of cosmetic unlockables, ranging from new character outfits to special animations for when you execute a downed player. All of them can be earned either by progressing in the game or by spending real money on loot boxes. Here’s a breakdown of how Apex Legends’ microtransactions…

Nintendo Exec Says ‘A Very High Number’ Of Its Designers Are Women

One of the key reasons behind Nintendo’s success over the decades isn’t just that it makes fun video games, but that it makes video games that broadly appeal to both men and women. One possible explanation? There’s a “very high” number of women employed at the company, Nintendo says—although they haven’t offered statistics. Nintendo’s executives…

Classic anime Yokai Ningen Bem, which first debuted in 1968, is getting a new anime series this year. It’s called BEM and features new character designs. New, but not necessarily better!

How Chinese Online Retailers Get Around Game Bans

Violent games keep getting banned in China. Last month, as r/gaming pointed out, China banned nine games and forced changes in 11 more. Many gory games have no chance of release. To slip past the country’s draconian censors, Chinese online retailers must get creative. According to website Abacus, Taobao sellers have been trying to skirt…

Listen To Banjo Read Magic: The Gathering Cards

Banjo, the titular bear from N64’s Banjo-Kazooie, can speak, but not in words. When he moves his mouth only gibberish comes out. It’s a cursed virtual life he leads, especially when he’s forced to read the words on Magic: The Gathering cards. Reddit user haochies created a program called Banjo MTG. It’s pretty straightforward: type…

OK, We Can Shut Down Overwatch Toys Now

Wrap it up. Nearly three years after it was first released, and long after I stopped playing the actual game, my one and only Overwatch request has come true, and so there is no need for any further merchandise. There’s a Figma based on Mercy coming next year. Selling for $90 (!) from Blizzard’s online…

Beautiful Battlefield “Trailer” Was Shot Entirely Using Unsuspecting Real Players

By day, Gage Allen makes video game trailers. But for this Battlefield clip, he wanted to do something different. Instead of carefully staging every shot and lining everything up just right, he tried to just play Battlefield, capture a ton of footage of random strangers running around and see what he could do with it.…

Epic Games Store Release Crashes Without Files Called “Steam”

Axiom Verge has been free on Epic’s new game store this week, only with a surprise catch: the game crashed early on because the developer removed a bunch of files called “steam” when bringing the game over from Valve’s shopfront. As PC Gamer report, the issue arose when entering the game’s third area, which contains…

The Division 2‘s President Has A Different Concern About The U.S.-Mexico Border

The creators of The Division 2 have been clear that their “goal isn’t to make a political statement,” but the game’s new private beta is surely making at least a political joke, or maybe it’s a political wink? When your character walks into the empty, insurgency-wracked Oval Office, they find on the president’s desk an…

World Of Warcraft Guild Beats Newest Raid Boss Before Anyone Else, Twice

Earlier this week, top World of Warcraft guild Method defeated the Mythic difficulty version of the game’s newest raid boss, Jaina Proudmoore, who became available to fight on January 29. Yes, the Jaina Proudmoore, an Alliance leader you’re probably familiar with even if you haven’t touched Warcraft since it became an MMO. It took Method…

Team Fortress 2 YouTuber Returns Three Years After Faking Terminal Illness

The popular Team Fortress 2 YouTuber known as Sketchek has returned to the platform after a three-year hiatus with a new video in which he admits to having lied about being terminally ill. In a now-deleted video originally uploaded to YouTube in November 2015, Sketchek told his fans in the Team Fortress 2 community that…

Apex Legends Players Keep Finding Tiny Hidden Animals

Apex Legends just came out earlier this week, and players are already finding some mysterious easter eggs: small model dogs and dinosaurs. Awww. The new battle royale game from Respawn Entertainment is so new I feel like I’ve just barely scratched the surface of what I can do in it. Some players who’ve spent their…

Club Penguin Speedrunner Sets New Record In Fan Remake

In May 2016 a player who goes by supermanover00 decided to speedrun the children’s online browser game Club Penguin by seeing how fast they could complete all 11 missions in the game, which they did at 45:43. Club Penguin is no more, but nearly three years later, supermanover00 has returned and beat their previous record…

Why Nostalgia For Video Games Is Uniquely Powerful

This year, Netflix will premiere the third season of its hit documentary series The Toys That Made Us. This series of 45-minute deep dives into the toys we’re most nostalgic for has covered He-Man, Barbie, Hello Kitty, and more. But video games have been noticeably absent from any of the show’s episodes thus far. That’s…

Sul sul! Tim and I are about to start the Sims 4 Black Widow Challenge! Come watch on Twitch as my Sim murders her way through Oasis Springs.