Tag: loot boxes

Tuesday 9-11-18: EA Fights Belgium Over Loot boxes and Spider-Man to get New Game Plus

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On September 11, 2018

In daily update, News

It’s Tuesday, but still feels like Monday, odd. Here’s the news.

  • EA Fights Belgium About Loot Boxes
  • Spider-Man is getting New Game Plus
EA’s Loot Box Controversy: Part 52


I’ll keep this short. Despite developer requests, Publisher EA has insisted on keeping loot boxes inside FIFA 18 and FIFA 19. This decision has now led to Brussels public prosecutor’s office considering legal prosecution against the organization.

Belgium recently modified their legislation to state that if you can purchase a randomized loot box in a game with real-world money, it is considered gambling.

No formal claims have been taken as of yet. But if the prosecutor’s office doesn’t take action, the gaming commission has stated that they “will advocate revising the gambling law, so that we can tackle the loot boxes.” You can read more about it here, if you can translate.

Spider-Man New Game Plus


Everyone’s raving over the new Spider-Man game. It’s a great game, after all. Now we learn that it won’t be over when it’s over. Developer Insomniac Games has confirmed plans for a New Game Plus mode after being asked on Twitter. It isn’t clear what they consider New Game Plus to be exact, but we’ll see in due time.

That’s all for today, folks! Tune in tomorrow for another news post of video games. I have some good news I’ll be sharing, but I want to wait and let it solidify first. Stay tuned for the next couple of days. Otherwise, have a great day!

Tuesday 9-4-18: 2K Tells Fans to Ask Belgum for Paid Loot Boxes, Dream Daddy Noclip Documentary, and Anthem’s Free DLC

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On September 4, 2018

In daily update, News

It’s not labor day anymore, so prepare for MORE labor! And also some news.

  • 2K Games Asks Fans to Write to Belgium Allowing Loot Boxes
  • The Dream Daddy Noclip Documentary
  • Anthem’s Free DLC
2K Asking Nicely


If you’ve been tuning in to the loot box controversy, you may already know that Belgium has initiated new laws that don’t allow certain forms of loot boxes and microtransactions, classifying them under local gambling laws. This change forced NBA 2K to update their game, removing the ability to purchase randomized packs for real-world money.

Well, being a corporation wanting to increase profit margins, 2K has issued a statement. In this, they express their disagreement with Belgium’s new legislation (though they do comply) while also asking their fans to write to the Belgian government asking them to revert their decision

They’re literally asking their player base to rally for them charging you more for game content. That’s cool.

Dream Daddy Documentary

A new Noclip documentary has been released, and it’s about the development of Dream Daddy, the dad dating simulator by the Game Grumps. Running 35 minutes long, producing and hosting was by lanah Pearce while filming and editing was by Jeremy Jayne. You can watch it above.

Anthem’s Story DLC Will be Free


According to an announcement by BioWare, their upcoming shooter RPG Anthem will not have a season pass option, because all story DLC will be free. While they did not expand on what exactly players can expect from future DLC, the fact it specifies as “story” leads me to believe campaigns will be free, while optional features like cosmetics will be available for real-money purchases. Either way, good to see an EA game not being entirely greedy.

That’s all for today, tune in next day (tomorrow, that is) for the next news post. Otherwise, have a great day!

thelizardrock daily news thursday

Thursday 7-5-18: Nintendo has More for 2018, We Happy Few Rated in the AU, and France Weighs in on Loot Boxes

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On July 5, 2018

In daily update, News

Hello everyone! Sorry for not saying that there won’t be news yesterday, holiday and all. Here’s some news for today, since today isn’t a holiday.

  • Nintendo has More for 2018
  • We Happy Few Rated in Australia Again
  • France Decides if Loot Boxes are Gambling
Nintendo’s Plans for the Year


Nintendo has a pretty killer lineup for 2018, but it’s not over yet. A stakeholder meeting translated by DualShockers includes former president Tatsumi Kimishima reassuring investors that the company still has unannounced products for 2018. While I don’t know what they have planned, I’m certainly interested in finding out.

We Happy Few


Last month, the Australian Classification Review Board refused classification for We Happy Few, due to its Joy system. It was considered a form of rewarding the player for drug usage. Last week, developer Compulsion Games issued a repeal, and now we have a follow-up. The game will not be refused classification anyone, and will instead receive an R18+ rating. The reason for the change has not been released at this time.

France’s Decision


When the whole Star Wars Battlefront II thing happened, a number of countries started looking into whether or not loot boxes are considered gambling. While we’ve heard from places like Belgium, only now are we hearing what France thinks. According to the ARJEL, Frances gambling authority, loot boxes are NOT gambling, due to their lack of real-life rewards, and the fact that you always get SOMETHING. They do, however, acknowledge that loot boxes are dangerous. They use many of the same addictive traits that gambling does, and the ARJEL is encouraging other nations to take action toward regulating or even criminalizing the system.

thelizardrock daily news thursday

Thursday 6-21-18: No Xbox VR, Street Fighter Loot Boxes, and Pokemon Go Assault Case

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On June 21, 2018

In Uncategorized

I didn’t do news again. It’s been a lethargic week, honestly. But not today! Here’s the news.

  • Microsoft Moves Away from Xbox VR
  • Street Fighter 5 Gets Lootboxes
  • Men Beat up Another Over Pokemon Go
No Xbox VR


According to an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer of gaming Mike Nichols says that the company has no specific plans to bring VR or Mixed Reality to the Xbox consoles. This is a touch surprising to me, as the PlayStation VR continues to be one of the most accessible and affordable VR options on the market, and sony is reaping in the benefits accordingly.

Street Fighter 5 Loot Boxes


A recent update to the popular fighting game adds a somewhat controversial feature: randomized loot. Menat, one of the playable characters, has started up a fortune shop, where players can spend 500 Fight Money, the in-game currency, and you get a reading. These readings award the player with randomized items. These items, including cosmetics, can only be used in single player game modes, so this will not affect multiplayer functionality. Why add this so late is beyond me.

Pokemon Go Assault


A 71-year-old man and his adult son beat up a Pokémon Go player in Kirkwood recently. According to bystanders, the victim had accused the pair of cheating at the game and threw a Gatorade bottle into their car. This prompted the two to exit the vehicle and assault the man, one holding him down while the other struck him repeatedly. The two are facing third-degree assault charges while the victim is being treated for his injuries. Jesus Christ people, can we not just play a game without being angry at each other? The victim shouldn’t have been, forgive my language, a dickhead. But the pair of men took it way too far attacking a dude.

That’s all for today. Check back tomorrow for another news segment thing probably. I have another guest review coming, just need to format it, so stay tuned for that. Otherwise, have a great day!

thelizardrock daily news monday

Monday 1-8-18: DragonBall Specs, Fortnite Lag, MH Beta, Belgium, and GDQ.

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On January 9, 2018

In Uncategorized

So much weekend news! Jeeeez. Here’s everything from both today and the 2 days prior.

  • Dragonball FighterZ PC Specs Revealed
  • Epic Addresses Recent Fortnite Issues
  • Monster Hunter World Gets One Final Beta
  • Belgium Clarifies its Previous Lootbox Statement
  • Controversy with the GDQ Twitch Chat

Dragonball FighterZ Specs
Bandai Namco have announced the minimum and required specs for Dragonball FighterZ. They are as follows:
Minimum Requirements

  • Windows 7/8/10 (64bit OS)
  • AMD FX-4350, 4.2 GHz/Intel Core i5-3470, 3.20 GHz
  • 4 GB RAM
  • Radeon HD 6870, 1GB/GeForce GTX 650 Ti, 1 GB
  • DirectX11
  • DirectX Compatible Soundcard/chipset

Recommended Requirements

  • Windows 7/8/10 (64bit OS)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 3.2GHz/Intel Core i7-3770, 3.40 GHz
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Radeon HD 7870, 2GB/GeForce GTX 660, 2GB
  • DirectX11
  • DirectX Compatible Soundcard/chipset

This is for PC, if you hadn’t guessed.

Epic Explains Fortnite Issues
Recently there has been a technical vulnerability called Meltdown. This bug allowed you to access CPU processes one would otherwise not be allowed to access. When Epic updated their cloud software to protect themselves from the bug, it caused a huge spike in CPU usage. This has resulted in gameplay issues and login issues. Epic apologizes for the problems, and is working towards fixing it as soon as they can.

Yet Another Monster Hunter Beta
That’s right, another one. This one will be from January 18 at 6:00 PM PST until January 21 at 6:00 PM PST. Only PlayStation members will be able to participate. This is only a few days before the game’s console release of January 26. There will be new monsters in this beta session, including the game’s flagship monster, the Nergigante. I’m sold on this game at this point, though some early game time is certainly fine by me.

Capcom has also announced that one of the returning beasts to Monster Hunter World will be the Deviljho, the powerful monster known for eating its own severed tail.

Belgium Clarifies They’re Plans
Last year we heard that Belgium’s gaming commission is looking to ban loot boxes in video games because they are gambling. Recently they have clarified that they have not made an official conclusion, but that they are beginning investigation towards that concept. They are also looking into eSports betting. There will be more to report on this once the gaming commission reaches a conclusion.

GDQ Chat Causes Controversy
At This year’s GDQ, the organizers decided to set the official Twitch stream into Sub Only mode in order to reduce spam and make it easier to moderate. They stated that all sub earnings would be donated to charity. Regardless, people were unhappy they had to pay to chat, so people flooded over to account channels made purely with the intent of hosting GDQ and allowing users to chat as they want. Funny enough, one major host account, GDQ_Poverty, was flooded with hateful comments and remarks, resulting in the channel being banned. Its a big mess, you can read more about it in the news post I wrote here.

So… Much.. News…
Today was a rough day. My day job ran 2 hours longer than normal, and as you can see, lots of weekends news. Forgive me if my writing isn’t its strongest. I finished a new longform article about mobile apps that are video game styled life organizers, you can read about it here. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the latest news. Otherwise I’m writing to a brick wall. Otherwise, have a great night!

thelizardrock daily news thursday

Thursday 12-21-17: iOS Loot Boxes, Stardew Valley Update, and Psychonauts 2 Delays

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On December 21, 2017

In daily update, News

Thursday.
That’s it. I tried to think of a funny quip, came up with nothing. Here’s the news!

  • Apple Changes iOS Guidelines for Lootboxes
  • Stardew Valley Dev Lists Upcoming Changes
  • Psychonauts 2 is Delayed

Apple Guidelines
In a recent change to the iOS guidelines, app developers are required to display the odds of loot boxes if they are purchasable with microtransactions. Odds are this is to comply with Chinese regulations, something Valve and many other developers have had to conform to in order to have their games in China. The downside to this is that it only pertains to direct purchase loot boxes, so any randomized crate like items purchased via premium currency are not required to follow this rule.

Stardew Valley Updates
Developer ConcernedApe recently tweeted out some details about what to expect with the upcoming update to Stardew Valley. They are as follows:

The game has been received warmly on the Switch, but regardless what you’re playing on, expect these changes soon.

Psychonauts 2 Delay
Double Fine Productions announced in a backer update post that the scope of the game has exceeded what previously expected and that the game will not be ready by 2018. They don’t have a solid release timeframe, but we know it isn’t next year. In the same update, they detail some of the protagonist’s family. You can see all of this here.

Thanks for reading, everyone! It makes me happy that I can write about the things I’m passionate about, and I’m glad that you all can share in that with me. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the last post of the week. Odds are there won’t be a post Monday since its Christmas. I might, if I have time. Otherwise, Have a great night!

thelizardrock daily news monday

Monday 11-13-17: Turtles in Injustice, Noctis in Tekken, Outfits in Pokemon Go, and EA Messed Up

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On November 13, 2017

In daily update, News

Welcome back from the weekend everyone! It’s been a long weekend, and whoo-ey has it been an interesting one. mostly thanks to EA. Here’s whats on tonight’s news:

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming to Injustice 2
  • Prince Notcis, the protagonist of Final Fantasy XV, will be coming to Tekken 7
  • Pokemon Go is doing a promotion for the upcoming Pokemon game.
  • EA hits massive controversy regarding microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II

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