Metaphor: ReFantazio, the newest game out of Japanese video game company Atlus’ Studio Zero, owes a lot to the Persona games that came before it. From the mind of longtime Persona designer Katsura Hashino, it’s a sprawling role-playing game that combines dungeon crawling with social sim elements, using a daily …
Read More »‘The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’ Trades Tropes for New Tricks
Nintendo, after nearly four decades, is taking The Legend of Zelda somewhere new. With Echoes of Wisdom, the video game company not only builds on the experimentation of its last Switch release, Tears of the Kingdom—it also does something no other Zelda title has done before: Give the princess power …
Read More »Nintendo Is Suing ‘Palworld’ Creator Pocketpair
Palworld, colloquially known to fans as “Pokémon with guns,” is in hot water. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced Thursday that they’ve filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Tokyo against Pocketpair, the company behind the game, claiming Palworld “infringes multiple patent rights.” The lawsuit isn’t completely unexpected. In Palworld, players …
Read More »Sony’s $700 PlayStation 5 Pro Is Finally Coming in November
Sony’s PlayStation 5 mid-cycle upgrade, the PS5 Pro, is coming November 7. Lead PlayStation architect Mark Cerny revealed the console today during a brief video presentation. “Simply put, it’s the most powerful console we’ve ever built,” Cerny said of the $700 device. It’s been four years since the PlayStation 5’s …
Read More »‘The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom’ Gives the Princess Powers That Link Never Got
Princess Zelda has to escape from jail. She was tossed into prison over her alleged involvement in the appearance of mysterious “rifts” all over the land of Hyrule. Under normal circumstances, she’d be stuck down there until longtime hero Link could come rescue her. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of …
Read More »‘Black Myth: Wukong’ Devs Told Streamers to Avoid Politics in Their Playthroughs. It Backfired
Amid a long list of Twitch streams for Black Myth: Wukong, a new action role-playing game released this week, one stood out: “Covid-19 Isolation Taiwan (Is a Real Country) Feminism Propaganda.” The stream, run by a creator called Moonmoon, did not include anything out of the ordinary for a video …
Read More »Thousands of People Are Playing Valve’s Secret New Shooter Right Now
A new game from Valve appears to be on the horizon. Thousands of players have received invites to a game called Deadlock, a team-based shooter with multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) elements. While Valve has yet to formally announce it, screenshots, gameplay, and even playtimes are already popping up online. …
Read More »‘Crush House’ Is a Game For People Who Love Drama
Recently, while stuck inside sick with Covid-19’s new FLiRT variant, I honored its ridiculous name with a binge-watch of Love Island USA. I dabble in reality TV, especially when sick; a single season graciously offered 36 hours of no-brain-cells-required entertainment. It was my first time watching the show, and one …
Read More »How 'World of Warcraft' Devs Launched One of the Biggest Unions in Video Games
They started with fliers. The group of World of Warcraft developers at Activision Blizzard, determined to unionize, were testing the waters after Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition. Microsoft had pledged to honor a labor neutrality agreement, active 60 days after the deal’s close, that would allow workers to explore collective bargaining …
Read More »Video Game Performers Are Going on Strike Over AI
Actors in the video game industry are going on strike. On Thursday, the union representing voice and motion-capture performers announced they would be walking off the job after talks with major video game companies broke down over concerns regarding AI protections. The work stoppage is set to begin Friday. “We’re …
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