Author: Branden Page 7 of 22

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Tuesday 8-14-18: Undertale Collector’s Edition and Monster Hunter World Blocked in China

By Branden

On August 14, 2018

In daily update, News

Take a game, give a game. That’s today’s manta, apparently. Here’s the news.

Undertale Collector’s Edition for Nintendo Switch
Monster Hunter: World Removed from China

Undertale Collector’s Edition

We learned earlier this year (at E3) that Undertale would be coming to Nintendo Switch. Now we learn that a special Collector’s Edition will be offered. This edition will only be available through Fangamer. It includes the game, an art booklet, a 2-disc soundtrack CD, sheet music, a slipcase, and a 14k gold plated brass music box locket. Ritzy. You can preorder this edition now, and the game itself will release some time this September.

Monster Hunter: World Not in China

Controversy has developed as the popular Capcom Action adventure game is removed from marketplaces in China. Government regulators have pulled the game’s license recent, citing “customer complaints.” Unnamed sources claim this is the result of bureaucratic infighting. All I know is that it’s a mess.

That’s all for today, tune in tomorrow for another news post. Otherwise, have a great day!

Monday 8-13-18: Bethesda Justifies Legal Action, How Fallout 76 Handles Griefers, and Bandai Namco Teases New Horror Game

By Branden

On August 13, 2018

In daily update, News

Sorry for the break, let’s get back to it, shall we? Here’s the news

Bethesda Justifies Stopping Used Game Sale
How Fallout 76 “Turns Assholes into Interesting Content”
Bandai Namco Teases New Horror Game

Bethesda’s Legal Action

If you’ve been tuned into gaming news lately, you like heard about publisher/developer Bethesda’s legal team issuing a C&D for an Amazon listing of a sealed copy of The Evil Within 2. This has the community upset over that they were trying to stop people from reselling games. Marketing executive Pete Hines has since issued a statement. He states that the listing was forcibly taken down because it was a pre-owned copy listed as new. Sealed or not, if it’s not directly coming from a trusted retailer, sales of games have to be listed as pre-owned, which the Amazon listing failed to do. He then reiterates that they have zero intention of limiting used game sales.

This response makes sense to me, but many in the gaming community aren’t having it. Others believe this to be a facade, and that the company is still discreetly trying to limit game sales. Considering this was an action taken by their historically stiff legal team, I believe Hines.

Fallout 76 Griefing Measures

With QuakeCon happening the previous weekend, we learned a few new things about various Bethesda franchises. We saw a trailer detailing the new card-based perk system, but we knew that. We also learned how they plan on making griefers a gameplay mechanic.

When you’re killed by a player, they will then be marked as a “wanted murderer.” This status does the following: They are marked on the minimap to all other players, they have a cap bounty on their head that scales with their level, the bounty is taken out of the murderer’s personal cap stash upon death. If the person they killed returns and avenges themselves, they will get double the cap bounty.

I like this idea, it really incentivizes other to attack them, while hindering them all the same. My only concern is whether a player will instigate someone into attacking, but the defender successfully protects themselves. Will the defender now be targeted as a murderer? I don’t know. We will see this October.

Bandai Namco’s New Game

A new teaser site was recently made like by popular game company Bandai Namco. It shows a loading screen for something called domas_SCENE01, which then displays a static-y video feed of a standard suburban home. The site is called domas.bn-ent.net, so people are taking that the game’s name is Domas. The website’s meta keywords include horror and zombie. Lastly, There appears to be the date of August 30, 2018, at 4 PM. So whatever this is, we’ll likely find out then.

That’s all for today, thanks for tuning in. I hope you all enjoyed the latest episode of the Cozy Co-op, which featured Luke “DaThings1”. Tune in tomorrow for another news post. Otherwise, have a great day!

Taking a Couple-Day Break

By Branden

On August 9, 2018

In Uncategorized

Short announcement for y’all.

You may have noticed no news post yesterday. With direct commissions coming in and QuakeCon starting today, I’m going to be extra extra busy with clients. To help manage this increased workload, I’ll be taking today and tomorrow off from news reporting on the site here. I apologize for the inconvenience this may bring you, and I appreciate the understanding.

Sorry! I’ll be back Monday.

Monday 8-7-18: Fallout 76 Wont Launch on Steam, BETA is Entire Game/Carry Over, GTA Online’s Game Breaking Vehicle.

By Branden

On August 7, 2018

In daily update, News

Welcome back to the place where news is in! Here’s that news.

Fallout 76 Won’t Launch on Steam
Fallout 76 BETA is Full Game, BETA Carries Over
GTA Online Discovers Brokenly Potent Vehicle

Fallout 76 Won’t Launch on Steam

Folks had noticed a lack of Steam in all of the information pertaining to Fallout 76. Now, according to a source at GameSpot, Bethesda have actively chosen to omit the game from the distribution service. Instead, the game’s PC version will be available on the Bethesda Launcher application. This is later confirmed by Marketing Exec Pete Hines on Twitter.

Presumably, this was to avoid the profit cut that Steam takes. While having multiple game launchers is a bother, this isn’t actually that much of a problem. It may inconvenience some people who are accustomed to the Steam interface and friend list, but the gameplay experience shouldn’t change. And who knows, maybe it’ll be added to Steam at a later date, like with Fallout Shelter.

Fallout 76 BETA and Launch Details

The FAQ for Fallout 76 recently updated to include more questions and answers. Though the answers they give are putting players off more than anything. According to the FAQ, the Break it Early Test Application (BETA) will contain the full game, and your progress will carry over into the launch game.

This has further reinforced the idea that this isn’t a beta session as much as it’s a pre-order bonus. The idea has first sprouted when it was discovered that the BETA would take place in October, a month before the game’s launch. While I’m sure they’ll use BETA feedback to improve the game before launch, it still feels like a marketing decision more than a technical one.

Broken GTA Vehicle

A new update came to Grand Theft Auto’s Online game mode, and people are upset about one of the vehicles found within the game code. It’s a flying rocket jet motorbike. Well, it’s actually the second iteration of an already existing one. It allows the user not only fly about with ease, this one is faster, more agile, and now comes with anti-missile measures.

Since GTA Online requires you be at the risk of other players interfering with business missions, many players fear that this new vehicle will make griefing all the more unbearable in online play. While the vehicle has yet to be released, it’s likely going to be soon.

That’s all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more of the latest news. There’s going to be a Smash Bros direct tomorrow morning, so we’ll likely see something new from that. Otherwise, have a great day!

Monday 8-6-18: The Walking Dead’s Degan in Tekken 7, Astaroth and Seong Mi-Na in Soul Calibur VI, and Sagat and G in Street Fighter V

By Branden

On August 6, 2018

In daily update, News

Today is all about fighting! With EVO, a major fighting game event, having taken place this weekend, nearly every fighting game used the chance to announce new characters.

The Walking Dead’s Degan in Tekken 7
Astaroth and Seong Mi-Na in Soul Calibur VI
Sagat and G in Street Fighter V

Degan in Tekken 7

Here’s a crossover I wasn’t expecting. Tekken 7 will be featuring Degan, the antagonist in AMC’s The Walking Dead TV series. This reveal was alongside the announcement for Anna Williams and Lei Wulong. I haven’t watched the show. So I don’t know if he is a good fit or not. I suppose we’ll see.

Astaroth and Seong Mi-Na in Soul Calibur VI

Two classic characters were confirmed for the upcoming Soul Calibur game: Astaroth and Seong Mi-Na. Astaroth has been in literally every game in the series, so his inclusion is by no means a surprise. Seong Mi-Na, however, wasn’t in Soul Calibur 5, despite going as far back as the first game. This led to some wonder if she’s out, or returning. Of course, now we know.

Sagat and G in Street Fighter V

Two new fighters have entered the roster for the latest Street Fighter game: Sagat and G. Sagat was the final boss in the original Street Fighter, and now he’s back as a playable character.

Then there’s G. Drawing power from the earth itself, he is the self-proclaimed president of the world. He fights for the people and his planet. He comes complete with sleeveless suit and top hat, of course.

Both characters are available now for $5.99 or 100,000 Fight Money, and as part of the season 3 pass.

That’s all for today. Sorry to folks who aren’t that into fighting games. Tune in tomorrow for some (probably) non-fighting game news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 8-3-18: BioWare’s Working on Mass Effect/Dragon Age Stuff, Yakuza 6 for PC, and GameFly Streaming Shuts Down

By Branden

On August 3, 2018

In daily update, News

It’s Friday, I think? Who knows anymore. Here’s what I do know: there’s news to be had. Here is that news.

BioWare hasn’t Dropped Mass Effect/Dragon Age
Yakuza 6 is Coming to PC
Gamefly is Shutting their Streaming Service Down

Not Only Anthem

With such a strong focus being pushed onto EA and BioWare’s upcoming shooter, fans are fearful of a forgotten franchise. But according to general manager Casey Hudson, there’s no need to be concerned.

“We hear loud and clear the interest in BioWare doing more Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so rest assured that we have some teams hidden away working on some secret stuff that I think you’ll really like,” Hudson said in BioWare’s Mid-Summer Update. “We’re just not ready to talk about any of it for a little while.”

The question is whether it will be another Inquisition or another Andromeda. Time will tell.

Yakuza 6 for PC

Sega has released their 2018 Q1 fiscal report, and Reddit user khawaja07 has discovered that deep within the report tells the future for the recent PS4 exclusive, Yakuza 6: Song of Life. It lists the game as a release for fourth quarter 2018 for PS4 and PC in North America and Europe.

We’ve seen Yakuza making it’s way to PC with the recently released port of Yakuza Zero, so we shouldn’t be too surprised. I’m happy all the same.

GameFall

Y’all remember GameFly? They sent people video games in the mail in a monthly subscription service, like old school Netflix. Also like Netflix, they offered an online streaming service, but for games. Or they used to. The company recently announced that they’ll be closing their streaming service August 31. Participating users won’t be charged after that date. Their physical mail games will still be available, though.

With every major game company wanting to set up their own game service, it makes sense that others would fall to the side.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading! Tune in Monday for a new week of video game news. Check out our podcast, we have a new episode. Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Thursday 8-2-18: Spyro Remake Requires a Download, and a Super Seducer Sequel

By Branden

On August 2, 2018

In daily update, News

It really doesn’t feel like Thursday. What even it time bro? Here’s the news.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy Requires Downloads
Super Seducer Gets a Sequel

Spyro’s Need for Internet

In a recent update to the Spyro the Dragon website, we learn that the physical copies of the upcoming remaster trilogy will only contain the first game on disc. The remaining two games will require an internet download. The developers presumably did not want to compress their content down enough to fit on a single disk, and the publisher probably didn’t want to have multiple disks in one case. Either way, I hope you have a good internet connection. My apologies to those with metered connections.

Super Seducer Sequel

That’s right ladies and gentleman, Super Seducer gets a sequel. Boy will this be interesting. Now, the developers are claiming to offer a more inclusive game, boasting a female protagonist. Super Seducer 2 “has cleaned up its act and is back to give players a new, inclusive and well-informed” experience. But if we base our judgment off of the trailer, it still looks kinda sleezy. Super Seducer 2 will release on Steam on September 12.

Real talk, this is a perfect example of how controversy can sell. Despite the overwhelmingly negative attention, the first game apparently sold well enough to merit a sequel. If you genuinely are against this game, don’t buy it, don’t watch lets plays, just ignore it. As for me, I’m going to approach it with a Leasure Suit Larry mindset: satirically sleezy.

That’s all for today, tune in tomorrow for more than just news. We also will have a new episode of the Cozy Co-op! Otherwise, have a great night!

Wednesday 8-1-18: Animal Crossing New Leaf Beats Wild World, Yakuza 0 on PC, and Stardew Valley Multiplayer

By Branden

On August 1, 2018

In daily update, News

Alrighty y’all. Some stuff released, and some sales were made. Let’s hear about it in today’s news.

Yakuza 0 Available on PC
Animal Crossing New Leaf Better than Wild World
Stardew Valley Formal Multiplayer

Yakuza Steam

The award-winning prequel to the Japanese RPG has officially released on PC via Steam. Go fight thugs, eat food, karaoke, all that fun stuff. It’s a great game and I’ll likely get it for myself. It costs $19.99. Have fun.

Animal Crossing Leads

Nintendo’s Q1 financial report is published. And with it, we learn that everyone’s favorite Animal Crossing game wasn’t actually the most popular one. As of June 30, New Leaf had sold 11.78 million units, surpassing the 11.75 million total units sold for Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS. This came as a surprise to me. I assumed that New Leaf was the most popular one by far, since I heard about that one more in online and in-person communities than any other game. Though I’m not TOO surprised, Wild World was an absolute treasure. New Leaf is no doubt an improvement, though.

Stardew Multiplayer, For Real

As I’m sure interested parties have heard, Stardew Valley has multiplayer. But now, it’s official. Until now, it’s only been available as part of the public, opt-in beta. Now it’s being updated into the base game on PC. Publisher Chucklefish has stated that it will be coming to Nintendo Switch next, with other console versions to follow. Have fun farming, everyone!

Thanks for reading. It’s a good day for news. Tune in tomorrow for another news post regarding video games. Otherwise, have a great day!

Tuesday 7-31-18: EA DMCAs SimCity Fan Remake

By Branden

On July 31, 2018

In daily update, News

Time to be real with yall, I’m overloaded with work today and there isnt much news. So here’s one.

Publisher EA Takes Down Fan Recreation of SimCity 2000

There’s a fan-made, open source. recreation of the classic city management game called OpenSC2K. It was recently taken down off of GitHub under the report of EA. The notice claims that “the current audio visual output of the repository creates content that infringes on Electronic Arts copyright.” According to creator Nicholas Ochoa, he was never contacted by GitHub or EA before the take down, and would have gladly changed things if asked.

This hard take down is likely because you can now purchase SimCity 2000 on Origin, EA’s game distribution service, for $6.

Sorry for the mediocre news post. I’ll do better in the future. Thanks for reading all the same. Tune in tomorrow for more. Have a great day!

Monday 7-30-18: Animal Crossing Co-Director Quits, Gran Turismo Sport Microtransactions, and Gears of War 5’s New Monster

By Branden

On July 30, 2018

In daily update, News

My hands are too dry. But is that really video game news? No, it’s not. Here’s some news instead.

Animal Crossing Co-Director Leaves Nintendo
Gran Turismo Sport Has Microtransactions Now
Gears of War 5’s New Monster: The Swarm Flock

Isao No-Moro

According to a recent Facebook post, game director Isao Moro has left Nintendo. Moro is best known as the co-director for nearly every single Animal Crossing game, as well as The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. His last game was Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. The posting was made on July 26. While any talk of a future Animal Crossing game remains an absolute mystery, this will undoubtedly impact what any potential future titles would be like. For all we know, this was a long time coming internally. This may also be why we haven’t heard anything about a new Animal Crossing for a while. All we can do now is wait and see.

Gran Turismo Sport Microtransactions

Microtransactions, the ability to make real-money purchases for in-game items and effects, is already a sour and disliked topic in the video game industry. Now, nine months after it’s initial release, Gran Turismo Sport has implemented their own Microtransaction system. Currently live in Japan, players can choose to purchase in-game vehicles using real-world money instead of in-game credits. Only vehicles below 2 million credits can be purchased this way, requiring players to still work for the good ones. A screenshot by Sony shows a Mercedes-AMG GT S ’15 being purchasable for $0.99. I don’t like it, but I won’t get into the long rant of capitalism right now.

Gears of War 5’s Swarm Flock

The official Gears of War Twitter account posted a GIF recently, showing off a “new” enemy in the game: Swarm Flocks. Described as “your worst nightmare,” this flying group of Swarm Leeches will quickly barrage the player for damage before retreating. While they’re cool enough, I can’t help but notice their striking resemblance to the Kryll. These were flying swarms of tentacled locust beasts that would overwhelm the player whenever they stepped in darkness. This introduced a new “stay in the light” mechanic. The Swarm Flock just seem like a less lethal Kryll.

https://twitter.com/GearsofWar/status/1022213809371406336

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy our latest episode of the Cozy Co-op. Also, I’m nearing completion of the “Chica Update” for the Animatronic. So stay tuned for that. Tune in tomorrow for more news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Thursday 7-26-18: PUBG isn’t eSports Ready, Denuvo Hacker Voksi Arrested, and Hellblade VR

By Branden

On July 26, 2018

In daily update, News

I woke up early today. So you get the news early today! Here is that news.

PUBG Isn’t Ready for eSports
Game Hacker Voksi Arrested in Denuvo Investigation
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Coming to VR

PUBG eSports Infancy

Some of you may know that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently launched the PUBG Global Invitational. Despite this, creator Brandon Greene stated that “we’re not esports ready, and we’ve never said we’re esports ready.” Greene believes that Battle Royale eSports is a new idea and need some experimentation to figure out. Greene wants to, in order to make the game more ready for competitive play, focus on resolving bugs and implementing quality-of-life changes that the players want.

Voksi’s Arrest

Controversial anti-piracy software firm Denuvo has recently taken legal action against established hacker Voksi. The hacker has a history of disabling the Denuvo software present in many modern games. While Denuvo claims they were arrested by the Belgium Cybercrime unit, Voksi stated on Reddit that they turned themselves in voluntarily to the police and have contacted Denuvo for a peaceful resolution. I understand protecting your product and livelihood, but this only bothers me more. Denuvo is frequently the suspected cause of performance issues and connectivity problems pertaining to games that use its anti-tampering software. I don’t promote piracy, but I’m actively against Denuvo specifically.

Hellblade in VR

According to an announcement video Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be coming to VR Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on July 31. This is a free game for anyone who owns or purchases the normal game on Steam. They recommend a GTX 1080 graphics card. This is an interesting one to report on. Hellblade is a fantastic game that handles mental illness better than nearly all others in the game industry. It’s a very good looking game too. But what will VR add to this? Developer Ninja Theory says they did this out of curiosity, which I can’t blame them for. But I’ve always felt that if you’re to have VR, it needs to add to the game. Given the third person perspective, the only thing VR could add was the “wow” factor from seeing the world you’re in. Of course, I can’t know if they’ve achieved that without playing it myself. All things considered, I approve.

That’s all for today, tune in tomorrow for the final news post of the week. Otherwise, have a great night!

Wednesday 7-25-18: Overwatch’s Wrecking Ball,Guacamelee! 2 Release Date, Retro Commodore 64 Mini

By Branden

On July 25, 2018

In Uncategorized

Do you like announcements? Then today is a good day! Here’s the news.

Wrecking Ball is Available in Overwatch
Guacamelee! 2 Release Date Announced
The Retro Commodore 64 Mini is Coming to the States

Hammond is Here

You may recall a while ago, Blizzard announced that a new fighter was coming. He was Hammond the hamster, and he rolled around in a giant mechanical ball. Dubbed “Wrecking Ball,” the new character is now available for all players in standard games. Have fun!

Guacamelee! 2 Release Date

According to a recent announcement on the PlayStation YouTube (and presumably other places), The sequel to the popular Mexican food platformer will be released on August 21, 2018. Preorders are available now for those interested. I never got into the game, personally. So I can’t tell you much about it.

The Retro Commodore 64 Mini

Smaller versions of retro game consoles are all the rage lately. Nintendo really kickstarted it with the NES Mini. A while back, Europe was given a Retro Commodore 64 Mini product. It would receive average feedback, with such complaints as stiff controls and games lacking any staying power. Regardless, the console will be coming to the States on October 9 of this year. Estimated price is $80.

That’s all for today, folks. Thanks for reading. Tune in tomorrow for another news. Otherwise, have a great day!