index video games
[Link] Paralives includes features that The Sims has lacked for decades
Read: 22/8/2023 www.techradar.com
If you're a fan of life simulations then Paralives can be considered one of the bigger upcoming games in the genre as a major rival to the behemoth that is The Sims 4.
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[Link] ‘Gloomwood’ Is More Than Just a Spiritual Successor to ‘Thief’
Read: 10/9/2022 www.vice.com
In Gloomwood—the Thief-inspired stealth-action survival horror shooter by New Blood Interactive—you play as a doctor. In the game’s opening moments you awaken, hazy, on a floor covered with meat. It compresses grossly and softly beneath your feet, masking your footfalls.
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[Link] 25 years later, this museum figured out how to stop screen cheating in GoldenEye
Read: 10/5/2022 www.pcgamer.com
Screen cheating has always been the bane of split screen gaming. There's nothing quite like sneakily creeping around corners only to find out your opponent has been right there waiting for you. Not out of any deduction or skill, just their ability to look at your portion of the screen. GG indeed.
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[Link] 'Elden Ring' Players Are Getting Banned for Picking up Hacked Panties
Read: 18/4/2022 www.vice.com
It’s advice as old as time itself: don’t pick up underwear after a stranger drops it on the street. Some players in Elden Ring never learned this lesson and they’re getting banned from the game’s online services because of it.
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[Link] Report: SEC investigating Activision Blizzard investors for insider trading
Read: 9/3/2022 arstechnica.com
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating three investors for alleged massive insider trading just ahead of Microsoft's January announcement of merger plans with Activision Blizzard, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
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[Link] 'Escape From Tarkov' Players Feel the Squeeze of the Ruble's Collapse
Read: 9/3/2022 www.vice.com
Russia’s currency, the ruble, has collapsed. It’s worth less than Roblox's in-game currency, robux. The economic collapse has also affected the video game Escape from Tarkov, which uses the ruble, euro, dollar, and bitcoin as in-game currencies and uses real world exchange rates within the game.
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[Link] Doctor Apologizes for Ranting About ‘Console Wars’ From Operating Room
Read: 9/3/2022 www.vice.com
The anesthesiologist, who goes by Dr. Shreeveera on Twitter and his YouTube channel, filmed himself supposedly in an active operating room where he had just anesthetized a patient and was preparing for an invasive procedure to remove a gallbladder.
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[Link] Valve bans Cities: Skylines modder accused of hiding malicious code in mods
Read: 14/2/2022 www.pcgamer.com
If you used Cities: Skylines mods from a user known as Chaos or Holy Water, it's probably worth unsubscribing from them, as a post on the Cities: Skylines subreddit explains.
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[Link] 'America's Army,' the Pentagon’s Video Game, Shuts Down After 20 Years
Read: 8/2/2022 www.vice.com
America’s Army: Proving Grounds, a game used as a recruitment tool by the United States government, is shutting down its servers on March 5, 2022 after existing in various iterations for 20 years. After that date, the game will be delisted on Steam and removed from the PSN store.
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[Link] DMCA-Circumventing Cheat Maker Uses DMCA to Take Down Cracked Copy
Read: 2/2/2022 torrentfreak.com
Copyright law exists so that creators of all kinds can enjoy the fruits of their labor.
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[Link] How ‘Vampire Survivors’ Went From Obscurity to 27,000 People Playing at Once
Read: 27/1/2022 www.vice.com
There are, as of this writing, more than 27,000 people playing a $3 game on Steam called Vampire Survivors. That’s more than games like The Elder Scrolls Online, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Phasmophobia, and just below God of War and The Witcher 3.
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[Link] I Can't Stop Playing This Wikipedia History Game
Read: 19/1/2022 www.vice.com
WikiTrivia is a deceptively simple game that has consumed my entire morning. Wordle is fun, but it’s over quickly. WikiTrivia you can play over and over again. Players sort random events in history along a timeline.
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[Link] AK-47 maker denies accusation that it stole a gun design from a videogame
Read: 9/12/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Real-world weapons ending up in videogames is nothing new, but IGN has an interesting and very odd report about the process going the other way.
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[Link] Bridging Game Worlds With The ‘Impossible’ Pokémon Trade
Read: 8/12/2021 hackaday.com
Transferring hard-earned Pokémon out of the second generation GameBoy game worlds into the ‘Advance Era’ cartridges (and vice versa) has never been officially supported by Nintendo, however [Goppier] has made these illicit trades slightly easier for budding Pokémon trainers by way of a custom
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[Link] How Activision Blizzard employees made CEO Bobby Kotick powerless in just 30 minutes
Read: 2/12/2021 esports.gg
Amidst calls for resignation, CEO Bobby Kotick seemed to be all but untouchable. Blizzard employees proved him wrong in 30 minutes. Someone like Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will do whatever it takes to hold onto their power.
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[Link] Coder Spends 1,200 Hours Piecing Together Diablo's Source Code
Read: 29/11/2021 kotaku.com
If not for a few oversights on Blizzard’s part, the original Diablo’s source code would likely be lost to time. However, thanks to those oversights and some serious dedication from one coder, people can now see (and tinker around with) what makes Diablo tick.
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[Link] Ocarina Of Time's Source Code Has Been Reverse Engineered
Read: 29/11/2021 kotaku.com
In 2019, the source code for Super Mario 64 was reverse engineered, leading to all kinds of wonderful mods and even ports to systems like the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. Now it’s Ocarina of Time’s turn.
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[Link] DRM Breaking Games Again, This Time Due To New Intel Chip Architecture
Read: 22/11/2021 www.techdirt.com
We were just discussing how Denuvo's inability to renew one of its domains suddenly prevented lots of paying customers from playing several of their paid-for video games.
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[Link] Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires
Read: 21/11/2021 torrentfreak.com
Last evening the web was alive with angry players who couldn't play their games due to an unexpected error.
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[Link] Orgs Affiliated With Craven Activision Blizzard Board Members Remain Silent
Read: 19/11/2021 www.vice.com
As shareholders, employees, and the top executives of both Playstation and Microsoft condemn the leadership of Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, the board of directors still stands behind him. Bobby Kotick is having a bad week.
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[Link] Halo Infinite's Battle Pass Sucks, Fans Say
Read: 19/11/2021 kotaku.com
Did you just eek out a nail biting victory in a Big Team Battle Slayer match? Bash a bunch of your fellow Spartans’ heads in with a flaming skull in Oddball? Capture a ton of objectives in Total Control, putting big numbers on the board for all your PVP comrades to see? Halo Infinite’s battle pa
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[Link] Workers Walk Out As Board, Company Stand Behind Activision Blizzard CEO Accused of Covering Up Sexual Abuse
Read: 16/11/2021 www.vice.com
Activision Blizzard’s board of directors says it stands by CEO Bobby Kotick after a Wall Street Journal report alleged that he hid assault and harassment at the company from the board. Meanwhile, employees have reportedly walked out.
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[Link] Kainga is a city-building game that’s also a deadly roguelike
Read: 15/11/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
Kainga: Seeds of Civilization is a city builder. It’s also a roguelike. You build up a civilisation in an ancient world full of mysterious monsters and enemies, you probably die, and you take what you’ve learned from the process into a new run.
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[Link] ‘New Game+’ Is a Terrible Name but Offers a Great Advantage
Read: 14/11/2021 www.wired.com
Every single action-adventure game comes with its own unique playing style baked in. Combat is intricately orchestrated; tools and weapons—from health boosts to special bombs and traps—are abundant.
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[Link] Battlefield 2042 players are demanding a traditional scoreboard
Read: 14/11/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Battlefield 2042 has only just launched for those who buy into the game early (you can read out review-in-progress here), and players already have a wishlist of changes for DICE to implement. Chief among them, judging by BF2042's official subreddit, is a traditional in-game scoreboard.
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[Link] Halo 3: ODST is still unlike any other Halo
Read: 14/11/2021 www.polygon.com
Since it first released on the Xbox 360 back in 2009, Halo 3: ODST has remained a unique entry in the sci-fi shooter Halo series — and according to developers who worked on the game at the time, that was entirely the point.
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[Link] There will never be another Pokémon Go
Read: 9/11/2021 www.theverge.com
Creating a follow-up to Pokémon Go is an impossible task. The game was the kind of breakout success that had never been seen before — and might never happen again; it’s hard to overstate how the game was absolutely everywhere when it first launched in 2016.
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[Link] The ‘Dune’ Porn Game Is Not a Terrible Adaptation
Read: 8/11/2021 www.vice.com
With the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune in theaters this month, a look back at the erotic visual novel based on the book, that deserved more fanfare than it ever received. Dune is a horny franchise.
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[Link] A DRM Error Made Major Single-Player PC Games Unplayable
Read: 8/11/2021 www.vice.com
Over the weekend, online forums were flooded with reports that numerous video games on PC were not launching. Gamers narrowed the problem down to an issue affecting Denuvo, a DRM solution used by some publishers.
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[Link] Nintendo's YouTube Video For Its Switch Online Upgrade Is Its Most Hated Video Ever
Read: 8/11/2021 www.techdirt.com
Well, this is moving fast. We had just been discussing Nintendo's announcement for a new tier of Nintendo Switch Online services.
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[Link] Stellaris Invicta, a fake documentary about fake space empires, wraps second season
Read: 7/11/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
One of the most powerful things about grand strategy games is their ability to generate amazing stories, even if it’s only in your head.
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[Link] 'UBOAT' Recasts the Sub Sim as a Roguelike Management Game
Read: 7/11/2021 www.vice.com
From their very first combat deployment in the American War of Independence, when the tiny Turtle tried and failed to attach explosives to the hulls of British warships, submarine warfare has always been a dicey prospect.
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[Link] Garry Kasparov is diamond 5 in Hearthstone, but reckons 'if I make a push I can go to legend rank'
Read: 7/11/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Garry Kasparov may be the best chess player in history, but it turns out he's partial to throwing down in Hearthstone's tavern, where he of course faces considerably more RNG than during the day job.
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[Link] Command & Conquer: Red Alert remains one of the most intense and imaginative strategy games ever made
Read: 6/11/2021 www.pcgamer.com
For more of Command & Conquer's past, and a look back at the whole strategy genre, check out our beefy history of the strategy game, from 1972 to now. Released in November 1996, Command and Conquer: Red Alert was developed in just 14 months. That's a staggeringly short turnaround for a game.
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[Link] Hey, Jeff Bezos: Send Hideo Kojima to Space Already
Read: 4/11/2021 www.vice.com
Kojima's fascination with space is no big secret. The branding for his studio Kojima Productions features a mysterious space explorer planting a flag on an alien world, and his 1994 game Policenauts takes place in space.
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[Link] Modded GBA SP Does Its Best Switch Impression
Read: 2/11/2021 hackaday.com
The whole idea behind the Nintendo Switch is that the system isn’t just a handheld, but can be converted into a more traditional home game console when placed into its dock.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard ends forced arbitration as CEO takes a massive pay cut
Read: 31/10/2021 www.theverge.com
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent a letter updating employees on the further steps he and the company will take to change its image in the wake of multiple sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits.
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[Link] Looks like Steam is getting a QR code login option
Read: 29/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
A recent update to Steam's code includes signs of an upcoming new login method: Scanning a QR code with the Steam mobile app. That's according to a tweet by SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik.
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[Link] Alleged TikTok ‘Skyrim IRL’ Murders Shows the Real Danger of Stalkerware
Read: 28/10/2021 www.vice.com
Last week Ali Nassar Abulaban, a popular TikTok and other social media personality with over a million followers combined across his accounts, allegedly murdered his wife and a man.
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[Link] Why does Amazon make games?
Read: 27/10/2021 www.theverge.com
When Amazon makes a new movie or TV show, the reason is pretty clear: the tech giant needs to build out its streaming service Prime Video. One of the best ways to do that is to make (or buy) exclusive series and films. But when Amazon develops a new video game, the reasons aren’t so clear.
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[Link] RTS Is Beginning To Solve The ‘Absent Endgame’ Problem
Read: 27/10/2021 www.kotaku.com.au
A quick game’s a good game, they say. Apparently “they” never heard of Neptune’s Pride 2. But while there’ll always be a place for long, deep, thoughtful gameplay, it’s becoming more and more important to respect the players’ time.
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[Link] Why Does FaZe Clan Think It’s Worth $1 Billion?
Read: 27/10/2021 www.vice.com
FaZe Clan, the esports and gaming influencer group, announced plans on Monday to become “the only digitally native, youth-focused lifestyle and media platforms publicly traded on a U.S.
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[Link] Call of Duty marketing finds a new level of tastelessness
Read: 26/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The latest marketing push for Call of Duty: Vanguard wants you to believe its graphics are so realistic that conflict photographers can't tell the difference between the videogame and reality.
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[Link] Indie dev finds that Linux users generate more, better bug reports
Read: 26/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
An indie developer has found an interesting observation: Though only 5.8% of his game's buyers were playing on Linux, they generated over 38% of the bug reports. Not because the Linux platform was buggier, either.
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[Link] Halo 3's been moddable for a week, so here's Dust2
Read: 25/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
If a game has mapping tools, the wisdom goes, you can be sure someone, somewhere, has remade Counter-Strike's Dust2 using them. That's how, after 14 years as one of the most enduring console shooters ever made, Master Chief can finally hold Bombsite B against Covenant invaders.
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[Link] Google Stadia’s salvaged future as a back-end cloud service is here
Read: 25/10/2021 arstechnica.com
Quick Google Stadia recap: Things have not been great. Google's AAA cloud gaming service launched in 2019 to middling reviews and since then has severely undershot Google's sales and usage estimates by hundreds of thousands of users.
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[Link] Cyberpunk Mod Gives V A Different Apartment Depending On Lifepath
Read: 25/10/2021 www.thegamer.com
One thing that was a little overblown in Cyberpunk 2077's promotional material was the significance of your lifepath. Originally, it seemed like this would dictate how the whole world treated you, influencing your outcome in Night City.
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[Link] Destroy All Humans! 2 Remake Skipping Old Consoles So Devs Can Create Bigger, More Detailed Maps
Read: 25/10/2021 www.kotaku.com.au
The devs behind THQ Nordic’s Destroy All Humans! 2 remake, out sometime next year, explained recently in an interview why the remake of the cult classic game is avoiding PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
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[Link] Cyberpunk 2077 is no GTA, but GTA 2 was a cyberpunk game
Read: 25/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Society is in rapid decay. With the crime rate soaring and biochemical dependency in healthy proliferation, you are about to have the time of your life. The city is on the edge of collapse, with law and order beginning to break down completely.
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[Link] Leaker Details Battlefield 2042's 'Troubled Development'
Read: 21/10/2021 gamerant.com
It was no secret that DICE's Battlefield 2042 beta had its fair share of problems as many players were very vocal about the issues they experienced while playing the game.
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[Link] When Does Battlefield 2042 Unlock?
Read: 21/10/2021 www.gamespot.com
Battlefield 2042 suffered a small delay but will finally be arriving on November 19 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC.
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[Link] Custom PS5 Plate Company Dares Sony to Sue It, Gets Sued, Trolls Sony Again
Read: 20/10/2021 www.vice.com
The PlayStation 5 is an ugly machine. Thankfully, the hideous white plates flanking either side of the gaming console come off and there are several companies that sell variations on Sony’s white, default theme.
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[Link] 'Legacy code' in Diablo 2: Resurrected is causing widespread connection headaches
Read: 17/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The first few weeks of Diablo 2: Resurrected have not gone especially smoothly. At launch, players reported troubles with disappearing or locked-out characters, and some were unable to start the game at all.
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[Link] Google countersues Epic Games for lost Play Store money
Read: 17/10/2021 arstechnica.com
Epic Games keeps piling up lawsuits with app store owners. This time, Google is countersuing Epic for breach of contract. Epic signed contracts with both Google and Apple, pledging to use the default payment systems for in-app purchases.
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[Link] In Defence Of ROMs, A Solution To Dying Games And Broken Copyright Laws
Read: 17/10/2021 www.kotaku.com.au
Various game emulation sites are pulling down their software libraries, or ceasing to exist entirely, following a lawsuit filed by Nintendo against one of the largest of their kind.
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[Link] Battlefield 2042’s Troubled Development and Identity Crisis
Read: 17/10/2021 gamingintel.com
This is a behind-the-scenes insight into Battlefield 2042’s troubled development and identity crises. It’s been several days since the Battlefield 2042 Beta ended, giving many players their first-ever experience in the near-future conflict.
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[Link] Battlefield 2042 leaker claims beta build isn't as old as EA stated
Read: 17/10/2021 www.gamesradar.com
The new report comes from GamingIntel, where seasoned Battlefield and Call of Duty leaker Tom Henderson claims new information about Battlefield 2042 from an associate working on the game.
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[Link] Hackers Have Started to Invade the Battlefield 2042 Beta
Read: 17/10/2021 www.ign.com
After months of confidence from the Battlefield development team on Easy Anti-Cheat, images and videos have already started to circulate online of hacking during the Battlefield 2042 Beta.
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[Link] Netflix Is Sure 'Content' Doesn't Affect the World, Unless it Does
Read: 15/10/2021 www.vice.com
In a letter to Netflix employees about the backlash associated with Dave Chappelle's new stand up special, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he believes that media does not cause harm, in part because of the popularity of first-person shooter video games.
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[Link] The ‘Leak’ of Warzone’s New Anti-Cheat System Was Actually Part of the Plan
Read: 15/10/2021 www.vice.com
On Wednesday, Activision bombastically announced its new anti-cheat system—called RICOCHET—and promised to eradicate most cheaters from its massively popular online games such as Call of Duty: Warzone.
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[Link] The Gamers Who Regularly Stream to No One
Read: 14/10/2021 www.vice.com
Alex has been streaming for an average of six viewers for nearly three years. Alex, who goes by cobaltgear on Twitch, has been streaming mostly pre-2010 games from his California home since 2017. The numbers tend to vary.
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[Link] Cheat Maker Is Not Afraid of Call of Duty’s New Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat
Read: 13/10/2021 www.vice.com
Activision announced its new anti-cheat system, called RICOCHET, on Monday. The company also said the new system will run in the kernel, the core of the operating system, which controls and has access to most of the computer's functions.
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[Link] Playing ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ How It’s ‘Supposed’ To Be Played Is Lifechanging
Read: 12/10/2021 www.forbes.com
Yesterday, I got a new PC from PowerGPU after my old one died last week. I could have repaired it, and I probably still will, but I figured it was time for an upgrade anyway. The first game I installed after I got it set up? Cyberpunk 2077.
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[Link] 'There's a gaping hole in our knowledge': the scientists studying why gamers invert their controls
Read: 12/10/2021 www.theguardian.com
It is one of the most contentious aspects of video game playing – a debate where opposing sides literally cannot see each other’s perspective.
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[Link] Rockstar finally puts Agent to rest
Read: 10/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
We all knew it wasn't happening but Rockstar has put the final nail in the coffin of Agent: the game has been listed on Rockstar's official site since announcement but has now, like a troublesome contact, simply disappeared.
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[Link] Paradox abandons multiple unannounced projects to focus on 'proven game niches'
Read: 10/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
One month after the surprise departure of former CEO Ebba Ljungerud, Paradox Interactive has announced the cancellation of work on several unannounced projects.
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[Link] Valve's Index successor rumoured to be a standalone VR headset
Read: 10/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Valve may have another VR headset design in the works to follow up the excellent Index, but this time it could be completely standalone.
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[Link] DICE says Battlefield 2042’s beta is ‘a few months old’ and ‘amazing progress’ has been made
Read: 10/10/2021 www.videogameschronicle.com
Electronic Arts has said Battlefield 2042’s beta is representative of an older version of the game and that players will notice significant improvements when the finished product is released.
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[Link] Grand Theft Auto modders that tried to get around a DMCA claim get walloped with Take-Two lawsuit
Read: 7/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The existence of the GTA Trilogy remaster was more-or-less confirmed by the Korean ratings board last week, but the rumours have been gathering pace for a while: not least because Rockstar parent company Take-Two has been getting very heavy-handed with modders of the original games on PC.
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[Link] This $40 Trojan virus is a reminder to two-factor all your gaming accounts
Read: 7/10/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Online security firm Kaspersky, makers of one of the best antivirus software options out there,has in recent years been emphasising that gaming accounts are an extremely attractive target for the bad 'uns. Last month for example it reported blocking 5.
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[Link] Valve Says Opening a Steam Deck Could Kill You
Read: 7/10/2021 www.vice.com
Valve even goes so far as to say that opening a Steam Deck could lead to your death. “Opening up [the Steam Deck] and replacing parts might mess things up, like, profoundly.
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[Link] Battlefield 2042 Dev Confirms Early Access Release Date
Read: 22/9/2021 gamerant.com
This past week had the Battlefield community tense up as rumors spread of a forthcoming delay for Battlefield 2042. While that delay did come through, it shifted Battlefield 2042's launch just three weeks -- from October 22 to November 19.
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[Link] U.S. Copyright Holders Want Tougher Anti-Piracy Measures in China
Read: 20/9/2021 torrentfreak.com
The IIPA, which represents the MPA, RIAA, and other entertainment industry groups, would like China to take a stand against online piracy. This includes targeting pirate sites and apps.
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[Link] BioWare Reacts to Knights of the Old Republic Remake Announcement
Read: 13/9/2021 gamerant.com
During Sony's PlayStation Showcase on Thursday, a remake of the classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG was announced for PC and PlayStation 5. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the announcement wasn't the game itself, but rather the developer.
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[Link] Is Morpheus Not in The Matrix Trailer Because He Died in The Matrix MMO?
Read: 9/9/2021 www.vice.com
So you just watched the new Matrix Resurrections trailer and you're wondering where Laurence Fishburne character Morpheus is. I've got bad news for you: Canonically, he's been dead since the mid 2000s.
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[Link] Steam Achievement names can be upsettingly long, Cookie Clicker discovers
Read: 8/9/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Achievement names often feel like an afterthought. Usually forgettable, at best a mildly funny pun beeping onto your screen as an award for collecting 15 trinkets.
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[Link] Why Won’t the Cops Fight Each Other in 'Grand Theft Auto 5'?
Read: 1/9/2021 www.vice.com
Last year, the video of Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd sparked another wave of of protest against police violence and its role in upholding systemic racism.
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[Link] FitGirl Pirate Repacker Warns Domain Name Could Be Lost, Perhaps Forever
Read: 30/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
FitGirl Repacks is currently one of the most popular torrent sites on the Internet but its operator is warning of turbulent times ahead. Site operator FitGirl says that due to a serious domain issue, the site's main domain could go offline temporarily or even forever.
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[Link] 'The Sims' Fans Are Mad About This One Window Specifically
Read: 27/8/2021 www.vice.com
A new, small selection of new furniture and architectural details came out for The Sims 4 yesterday in the Industrial Loft Kit, a small collection of new items with a Brooklyn loft theme. The Industrial Loft Kit initially felt like it might include architectural details players were excited about.
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[Link] I've Played My PS5 for Dozens of Hours on My iPod Touch
Read: 26/8/2021 www.vice.com
The Playstation 5 has so much that a console gamer may want: one of the best controllers ever made; a super speedy SSD to essentially eliminate some load times, and the ability to run a good chunk of games at a higher frame rate and resolution than the aged previous console.
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[Link] ‘Warzone’ Bans 100,000 Cheaters in Largest Ban Wave Yet
Read: 25/8/2021 www.vice.com
The makers of the popular first-person shooter Call of Duty just banned more than 100,000 accounts for cheating in what is the largest ban wave in the game's history. On Wednesday, Raven Software, the developer of the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone, announced the bans in a tweet.
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[Link] Researcher's First Hack Was to Make Minesweeper Incredibly Easy to Beat
Read: 23/8/2021 www.vice.com
Harpaz, who is now a security researcher at cybersecurity firm Guardicore, was already working in tech and had a degree in computer science when she got curious about hacking. A colleague suggested she try reverse engineering, the art of analyzing and deconstructing software.
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[Link] This artist funded his sister's degree and added a floor to his parent's house with Warframe skins
Read: 22/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Digital Extremes' Warframe is a live service game which makes money largely through cosmetics, and part of its success has come from the studio's willingness to embrace all forms of fan expression, whether that's guides or incredible 3D art.
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[Link] New Stellaris update will let you play a race of decadent Star Wars clone troopers
Read: 22/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
Grand strategy game Stellaris is gearing up for another free update next month, which will include new content for past Stellaris DLC in addition to the usual round of fixes and improvements.
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[Link] Developer Turns Half-Life: Alyx’s City 17 Into Quest Home Environment
Read: 21/8/2021 uploadvr.com
We probably won’t see a native version of Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Quest headsets anytime soon, but one developer did bring the game’s iconic setting to the platform.
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[Link] Valheim Update Making a Big Gameplay Change
Read: 21/8/2021 comicbook.com
The upcoming Valheim Hearth & Home update is making a big gameplay change. Valheim remains 2020's surprise big hit, and while buzz around the game isn't what it was a few months ago, millions continue to play the early access survival game.
[Link] Activision Blizzard’s QA Department Seems Like A Hellhole
Read: 15/8/2021 kotaku.com
Long hours. Low pay. Tremendous instability. Working in quality assurance (QA) for a video game studio is notoriously difficult and painstaking enough as it is without factors like these complicating matters.
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[Link] This Week In Modding: Legendary Skyrim Mod Deleted, DMCAs Issued, And More
Read: 15/8/2021 www.thegamer.com
New ways to play Skyrim, and DMCA takedown notices - yep, it’s been a pretty standard week in the modding community.
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[Link] Team Fortress 2 Fans Are Rebuilding The Game With Latest Tech
Read: 15/8/2021 kotaku.com
An independent group of developers recently announced their intentions to port Team Fortress 2 to the upcoming Source 2 engine, and the early results of their work—an aptly named project known as Team Fortress: Source 2—already look amazing.
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[Link] Studio Dunks On Cyberpunk 2077 While Explaining Open-World Game Delay
Read: 15/8/2021 kotaku.com
If players are going to dunk on Cyberpunk 2077, it was only a matter of time before other game studios did it too.
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[Link] Half-Life 2 'Breaking The Bar' Event Aims to Set A Record
Read: 15/8/2021 techraptor.net
Lambda Generation is a Half-Life fansite that has an intriguing event going on this weekend: the fine folks of this community want everyone's help to smash the Half-Life 2 peak player count.
[Link] You only have a few days to play the most influential RPG ever on Game Pass
Read: 14/8/2021 www.inverse.com
Microsoft has done a tremendous job of keeping a robust Xbox Game Pass lineup in rotation, with hundreds of games, spanning nearly every genre. While all first-party titles remain on the service no matter what, its third-party offerings tend to change, constantly keeping things fresh.
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[Link] After 20 Years Of Attempts, 'Impossible' Goldeneye Trick Hails New World Record
Read: 14/8/2021 kotaku.com
For more than two decades, Goldeneye 007 players have been trying to figure out how to get the fastest time on the game’s hardest level without grabbing an out of the way piece of body armor to help them survive.
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[Link] Battle Royale Players Upset Their Early Kills Were Actually Just Bots
Read: 14/8/2021 kotaku.com
Naraka: Bladepoint, a parkour melee battle royale out today for PC, starts you off in a match against bots.
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[Link] EVE Online's record-setting war ends with a whimper
Read: 13/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
A war of unprecedented magnitude in EVE Online is coming to an unexpected and anti-climactic end.
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[Link] Discord malware is a persistent and growing threat warns Sophos
Read: 13/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
A few weeks back, leading cybersecurity company Sophos issued a warning that Discord is becoming an increasingly common target for hackers.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard shareholder calls cultural reform plans 'deficient' and 'inadequate'
Read: 13/8/2021 www.gamasutra.com
As reported by Axios, a letter penned by SOC executive director Dieter Waizenegger suggests the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker hasn't outlined any changes that would address key issues and usher in meaningful change.
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[Link] 'Hell Let Loose' Asks 50 Players to Work Together, or Die
Read: 11/8/2021 www.vice.com
This is a bad game with a bad commander. We don't need more people at the tiny steppe village on the Kursk map. We have about 40 infantry on our team across eight squads, and Yamki is really nothing more than a row of small wooden houses, burning ruins, a couple ditches, and a vegetable garden.
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[Link] Diablo 2 Resurrected Open Beta Date Leaked
Read: 9/8/2021 comicbook.com
It looks as though the open beta date for Diablo II: Resurrected, which is the upcoming remaster of the classic loot-action game, has leaked ahead of its formal announcement.
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[Link] Real Polygon Keeps Getting Spammed By Shady Polygon
Read: 9/8/2021 kotaku.com
Polygon is an American video game website that publishes blogs, news, reviews, and such. Polygon, according to its website, is “a protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks.
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[Link] Hackers targeted Titanfall and Apex Legends in a scheme to revive a cancelled free-to-play spin-off
Read: 9/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The Titanfall community may have finally uncovered the hackers behind both last month's massive Apex Legends hack and server-breaking bot attacks that have been hitting Titanfall 1 for years. Earlier this week, SaveTitanfall.
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[Link] One of Skyrim's most popular modders is pulling his work from Nexus Mods
Read: 8/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Popular mod-hosting site Nexus Mods announced recently that users who upload files will no longer be allowed to delete them.
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[Link] PS2’s Two Towers was the coolest way to miss the whole point of the Lord of the Rings
Read: 8/8/2021 www.polygon.com
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
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[Link] Fan Booed At Blizzcon 2010 Q&A Reflects on the Reaction from Developers and Fans
Read: 8/8/2021 www.wowhead.com
The woman who asked the question about female diversity in a recently-resurfaced 2010 Blizzcon Q&A has spoken up about the experience, reflecting on the crowd booing her, the unsatisfactory replies from the developers, and why the interaction is back in the news due to the lawsuit.
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[Link] Super Monkey Ball x Jet Set Radio Crossover Is Like A Tasty Peanut Butter Cup
Read: 7/8/2021 kotaku.com
Jet Set Radio protagonist Beat will appear in the upcoming Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania as a playable character, Sega announced this morning.
[Link] African Game Dev Prototype Fund hopes to boost and support continent’s indie scene
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Annapurna, Raw Fury, Toge, and others declare financial support A party of independent developers has banded together with Games Industry Africa to announce the formation of the African Game Dev Prototype Fund: an initiative to help fund and support video game developers operating out of Africa.
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[Link] Back 4 Blood's PvP Versus mode has too many hiding places for humans
Read: 7/8/2021 www.rockpapershotgun.com
I had a grand old time blasting through the open beta of Back 4 Blood's campaign mode earlier this week, and I'm pretty sure everyone from Left 4 Dead diehards to complete newbies like myself will have an equally fun romp with it when the open beta starts for real on August 12th.
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[Link] Zelda: Breath of the Wild in Google maps street view form? Yes
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Created by Nassim’s Software, the interface will be very familiar for those of you who mess with Google maps. It has minimalistic zoom options, as well as a full overview of the world of Hyrule. But it also has a secret weapon compared to many other fan-created maps: street view.
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[Link] Get Packed: Fully Loaded is a pleasant co-op surprise
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
As of this weekend, I’ve played through two co-op party-action games about moving, and you know what? I don’t think Moving Out and Get Packed: Fully Loaded will be the last.
[Link] Finally, the inevitable PUBG Mobile x Sakura Wars crossover we’ve been waiting for
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Fuck it. What if ’90s anime RPG franchise Sakura Wars crossed over with military battle royale mobile title PUBG? It appears that question was asked sometime, somewhere, around some table in some developer’s office.
[Link] Battlefield has free-to-play in its future, says EA
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vg247.com
As EA positions Battlefield to be more of an ongoing live service, the publisher is investing in other entry points.
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[Link] Free Guy review – Ryan Reynolds bounces through fun videogame existential crisis
Read: 7/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
Reynolds plays a normal, boring guy whose name is Guy (amusingly, it is never clear if this is his actual given name, as in Guy Crouchback, or the more generic “guy”).
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[Link] Video Game Cities Are Too Convenient to Feel Real
Read: 7/8/2021 www.vice.com
When I wake up in Shibuya, before I even know what today's mission is, I am building a battle plan. All my favorite stores have new clothing to try on, and I want to do a little shopping today, walking all the way from Udagawa to Takeshita Street to Shibuya Stream.
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[Link] Evil Dead: The Game slipped to 2022, but at least now it’ll have a solo option
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Evil Dead is one of those entities that I just can’t shake (not that I’m trying to), and all these years later, a whole lot of other people still seem to feel the same way.
[Link] Activision may have fired a few employees, but with people like Fran Townsend still in charge, some don’t expect real change
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Activision Blizzard has offered forth its initial salvo of sacrificial lambs. Blizzard President J. Allen “I despise frat boy culture/Heroes of the Storm killer/half-hearted Hearthstone debacle apologizer” (what a mark in just a few years!) Brack and the head of Blizzard HR are out.
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[Link] Fullbright co-founder steps down following report of employee mistreatment
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor has stepped back from his role as creative lead and manager on Open Roads. This news broke last evening, just ahead of a Polygon report detailing issues at the studio, including complaints of Gaynor’s behavior towards women on the team.
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[Link] Women often play support — does it really matter?
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
Can boys play support? Versions of this question headline Reddit posts from the past few years: “Do girls always play [Overwatch support character] Mercy?,” “Why do women usually play support?,” “Why is the support role considered ‘feminine’?”
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[Link] Mario Kart chocolate? I’d eat this in a hot second
Read: 7/8/2021 www.destructoid.com
When I was in Japan, I was a sucker for all sorts of themed food. I mean it’s everywhere: Capcom cafes, Gundam cafes, Pokemon cafes.
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[Link] The Pokémon Company Company Actually Says Gay Rights
Read: 6/8/2021 kotaku.com
Pokémon Unite is blowing up right now, and with a new patch hitting servers in early August, many players have followed the associated accounts to keep up with news of the MOBA.
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[Link] Mass Effect's Citadel is one of the best virtual cities BioWare has ever created
Read: 5/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
This article first appeared in PC Gamer magazine issue 359 in July 2021, as part of our 'Why I Love' series. Every month we talk about our favourite characters, mechanics, moments, and concepts in games—and explain why we adore them so much.
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[Link] Halo announcer says “trans rights” in the Halo voice
Read: 5/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
If you’ve heard Jeff Steitzer’s voice – and the odds are pretty good that you have – he’s probably been saying things like “triple kill” and “killing spree” during Halo multiplayer game matches.
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[Link] 'Mini Motorways' Is a Beautiful Game About the Futility of Roadbuilding
Read: 5/8/2021 www.vice.com
As the centerpiece of its act, Mini Motorways crafts the same cruel illusion as its predecessor, Mini Metro.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard Employees Form Coalition, Reject CEO's Choice of Law Firm
Read: 5/8/2021 www.ign.com
We are The ABK Workers Alliance, an organized group of current Activision Blizzard, Inc. employees committed to defending our right to a safe and equitable workplace.
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[Link] The Japanese Esports License System Is A Mess
Read: 5/8/2021 kotaku.com
In Japan, there is a gaming license system that defines what a pro player is. The system was established in February 2018 and nearly two years later, the awkward stop-gap seems like a mess.
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[Link] Nintendo Lawsuit Forces Japanese Dev To Cough Up $30 Million
Read: 5/8/2021 kotaku.com
In December 2017, Nintendo sued Japanese developer Colopl over patent infringements in the free-to-play mobile game Shironeko Project. According to an official statement, Colopl has agreed to pay Nintendo 3.3 billion yen ($30 million).
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[Link] EA CEO Wants Investors to Think of Battlefield as a Service
Read: 5/8/2021 gamerant.com
Battlefield 2042 launches in October of this year and has become one of 2021's most anticipated releases. For Battlefield fans, Battlefield 2042 offers up the opportunity to experience huge battles set in a near-future science fiction setting, an experience unavailable in other products.
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[Link] The Hearts of Iron 4 Soviet rework is so big it needed its own design team
Read: 5/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
Paradox Interactive employees are coming back from their summer break, which means only one thing – dev diaries are starting up again! The Hearts of Iron IV team has kicked things into high gear with a new diary – the first that will look at all of the changes coming to the Soviet Union as part
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[Link] EA thinks it “doesn’t get enough credit” for how good it is with acquired studios
Read: 5/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
EA has a bit of a reputation when it comes to acquiring and shutting down studios.
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[Link] PS5 Dev Kits Quickly Pulled From Ebay
Read: 5/8/2021 kotaku.com
Earlier today, a pair of PlayStation 5 development kits reportedly popped up on eBay before being taken off the auction site within a few hours.
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[Link] Activision Blizzard Faces Second Lawsuit Over First Lawsuit
Read: 4/8/2021 kotaku.com
A class action lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court of Central California on behalf of investors alleges that Activision Blizzard’s intentional failure to disclose its ongoing problems with sexual harassment and discrimination artificially inflated the company’s stock value.
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[Link] At This Japanese All-Girls Esports Club, Members Learn More Than Headshots
Read: 4/8/2021 kotaku.com
Jin-Ai Girls’ High School, which resides in the city of Fukui, established an esports club last October. It’s even garnering national media attention. As Mainichi reports, such clubs aren’t unusual among school boys in Japan, but are rare at all-girls institutions.
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[Link] Second Life is banning gacha style transactions next month
Read: 4/8/2021 www.pcgamer.com
It may be approaching its 20th birthday, but Second Life is still enormously popular: It still attracts daily player counts of over 50,000, and its self-contained economy was worth $500 million back in 2018.
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[Link] Pokémon no go? Players revolt as Niantic sends them back outside
Read: 4/8/2021 www.theguardian.com
The developer of Pokémon Go is facing a player revolt after rolling back safety measures implemented at the onset of the pandemic last year. Niantic, the Google subsidiary which released the smash hit mobile game in 2016, had reacted to the onset of the pandemic by tweaking how its games work.
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[Link] F.E.A.R.-inspired FPS Selaco adds its iconic Nailgun and a killer banana
Read: 3/8/2021 www.pcgamesn.com
There are loads of great indie FPSs out there or on their way – from classics like Dusk to more recent releases like Vomitoreum – but Selaco is looking truly special. It’s somehow running on the Doom engine and is heavily influenced by Monolith’s classic F.E.A.R.
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[Link] Meet FitGirl, The Repack ‘Queen’ Of Pirated Games
Read: 1/8/2021 torrentfreak.com
Repacked games are in high demand on pirate sites as they save considerable bandwidth. One of the leading names in this niche is FitGirl. In recent years, the Russian-born repacker transformed from a home archivist into the best-known releaser on the Internet.
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[Link] Battlefield 2042 Will Be Missing A Big Feature at Launch
Read: 1/8/2021 gamerant.com
There are certain game modes that fans expect from first-person shooter games nowadays as standard for the genre. One of these modes is a dedicated Ranked mode, where players who are interested in playing competitively can find more serious and intense multiplayer matches.
[Link] How one game’s delisting pokes a hole in the Xbox Game Pass promise
Read: 31/7/2021 arstechnica.com
Microsoft has long boasted about the backward compatibility of its Xbox consoles, letting you play hundreds of past-gen games on newer systems like the Series X/S.
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[Link] Blizzard confirms developer named in lawsuit was removed for “misconduct”
Read: 31/7/2021 arstechnica.com
Last year, reports started to bubble up among Blizzard-watchers that longtime World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi, who was first hired in 2004, had quietly left the company without any official explanation.
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[Link] Halo Infinite's first multiplayer technical preview starts tomorrow
Read: 31/7/2021 www.rockpapershotgun.com
With its launch planned for the end of this year, Halo Infinite is now just about to put some Spartan boots on the ground. As we found out last weekend, 343 Industries are planning a technical test for parts of Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer.
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[Link] Bobby Kotick finally responds to Activision Blizzard employees: our initial response was 'tone deaf'
Read: 31/7/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has issued a letter to all employees in the wake of a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at the company.
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[Link] Even Flying to the Battlefield Is About to Become Dangerous in PUBG
Read: 31/7/2021 www.ign.com
Dropping into the battlefield in PUBG is about to become even more perilous, as the game adds an emergency landing feature to its latest update. The patch notes for update 13.
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[Link] Someone Has Been Faking a Relaunch of Fallout Studio Interplay
Read: 31/7/2021 www.ign.com
Publisher Interplay Entertainment has announced that a Twitter account claiming to announce a relaunch of the storied developer is a fake.
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[Link] The joy of playing Escape From Tarkov in single player
Read: 31/7/2021 www.rockpapershotgun.com
Tarkov Interchange, Norvinsk Economic Zone, 1500 hours. As I made my way to the extraction zone after wading through the remnants of a Swedish furniture store - a venture which had cost me most of my ammunition and the use of my left leg - I spotted a figure scrounging for supplies 300 metres away.
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[Link] Newegg Thanks Kid For Finding Graphics Card Lottery Loophole, Closes It
Read: 29/7/2021 kotaku.com
Buying high-end gaming hardware is a pain in the ass at the moment. New Xbox Series X/S stock sells out fast. Early access to PS5 orders are pay-gated at places like Amazon and GameStop. And the graphics card market is, well, you know how it is.
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[Link] Over 1,000 Activision Blizzard Employees Sign Letter Condemning Company's Response To Allegations
Read: 27/7/2021 kotaku.com
“Following the announcement from Activision Blizzard, and in light of the internal memo circulated by Frances Townsend, a group of over 800 employees from across all of Activision-Blizzard-King and its subsidiaries came together to take action,” a representative of the group told Kotaku.
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[Link] New ML-based console cheat puts the AI in ‘aim assist’
Read: 27/7/2021 thenextweb.com
Tristan covers human-centric artificial intelligence advances, politics, queer stuff, cannabis, and gaming.
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[Link] Blizzard Boss Accused Of Failing To Address Sexual Harassment Calls New Allegations ‘Troubling’
Read: 24/7/2021 www.kotaku.com.au
In the email, first reported by ’s Jason Schreier, a copy of which was also viewed by Kotaku, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack wrote, “I personally have a lot of emotions coming out of yesterday, and I know you do, too.
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[Link] Amazon Lumberyard is dead, long live the permissively licensed Open 3D Engine
Read: 9/7/2021 www.theregister.com
Amazon is abandoning its Lumberyard 3D engine project before it even leaves beta, but in a way that means it could live on for years to come: it's donating it to the newly formed Open 3D Foundation for release and continued development under a permissive open-source licence.
[Link] DRM Strikes Again: Ubisoft Makes Its Own Game Unplayable By Shutting Down DRM Server
Read: 8/7/2021 www.techdirt.com
It's not exactly a secret that we've been very anti-DRM here at Techdirt for some time. It's honestly perplexing how anyone can be otherwise.
[Link] Half-Life 2's Citadel is 3 times taller than everyone thought, says guy who spent 9 years thinking about it
Read: 2/7/2021 www.pcgamer.com
When visiting City 17, don't forget to check out the Citadel. You can't miss it: it's a massive black alien structure in the center of the city, looming over the remnants of the human race with Dr. Breen's cozy office occupying the top floor.
[Link] Payday 3 is in Early Development, Set In a 'Hollywood-Like Environment'
Read: 11/6/2021 gamerant.com
The next installment in the Payday series is officially in early development, with strong support from Koch Media and its newest publishing label. E3 season is a wonderful time for just about anyone in the gaming world.
[Link] Roblox Queen MeganPlays Is Making Millions With a Blocky Digital Empire
Read: 28/4/2021 www.bloomberg.com
In 2018, Megan Letter (then known by her maiden name, Leeds) was making about $400 a month posting videos of herself playing the life simulation game The Sims on YouTube. It wasn’t enough to support herself, and she was thinking of getting an internship as a wedding florist.
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[Link] Abandoning Cyberpunk 2077 'not an option' says CDPR, latest patch now live on all platforms
Read: 16/4/2021 www.destructoid.com
CD Projekt RED has reiterated that it is fully committed to fixing, improving, and growing its ambitious RPG Cyberpunk 2077 over the coming years, adamantly stating that the idea of shelving the troubled title and moving on is not even on the table.
[Link] Resident Evil 4 VR announced for Oculus Quest 2 as a first-person remake
Read: 16/4/2021 arstechnica.com
On Thursday, Capcom announced that its megaton horror series Resident Evil will soon return to virtual reality. But instead of adding a VR mode to the upcoming Resident Evil VIII: Village, slated to launch next month, the game maker threw horror fans a curveball.
[Link] Morrowind Rebooted The Original Xbox Without You Ever Noticing
Read: 16/4/2021 hackaday.com
The original Xbox was well-known for being based on basic PC hardware, and among developers, well known for having just 64 megabytes of RAM which even at the time wasn’t a lot to be working with.
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[Link] Editorial: Pokémon Go Should Be AR’s Guide For Decades
Read: 12/4/2021 uploadvr.com
Pokémon Go is in a class by itself with near-universal appeal and it will be a guiding light for AR development in the years to come. Perhaps I’m a bit warped by my attachment to the creatures I started capturing on my Gameboy before the turn of the century.
[Link] We feel absolutely no serenity now that we've had another look at Sinfeld, the Seinfeld-themed horror game
Read: 12/4/2021 games.avclub.com
When we first covered Sinfeld Chronicles—a horror game based on Seinfeld and other New York City-set comedies—it had already established itself as one of the more delightfully strange pop culture send-ups we’d ever seen.
[Link] Battle royales are masters of horror
Read: 11/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Slinking through the undergrowth, keeping an eye on my ammo count and the hills in the distance, I can feel the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Moments ago, I was hunting another Hunt: Showdown player.
[Link] How Hearthstone descended into complete lunacy
Read: 9/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The Hearthstone dev team was out in force prior to the launch of Forged in the Barrens, and one of the key interview topics was the planned dramatic reduction in the amount of random card generation and effects.
[Link] Pretending to be Pixar in 3D Movie Maker, Microsoft's weird 1995 animation studio for kids
Read: 9/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
This article first appeared in PC Gamer magazine issue 354 in March 2021. Every month we run exclusive features exploring the world of PC gaming—from behind-the-scenes previews, to incredible community stories, to fascinating interviews, and more.
[Link] I love pretending to be an NPC in games
Read: 7/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Call it a reverse Turing test: rather than AI trying to appear indistinguishable from a human, it's a human trying to act like an AI.
[Link] This game is about coordinating a raid in an MMO you've never played
Read: 7/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Update: It's back on sale! As this game's creator explained on Twitter, what started as a joke about false scarcity became an example of it. It's $US2 and available on itch.io.
[Link] Sega forces Yakuza: Like a Dragon off of SteamDB over piracy fears
Read: 7/4/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The Steam Database, or SteamDB, is a third-party tool that provides all sorts of information about games on Steam, from developer info and player numbers to release dates and modification times, update history, and configuration details.
[Link] PS5 Scalpers Unwilling To Admit They’re Grade-A Douchebags
Read: 15/2/2021 kotaku.com
In a recent interview with Forbes, a man who claims to have purchased 25 PlayStation 5 consoles in January and resold them for upwards of $350 profit apiece says “reselling” is an incredibly valuable industry that does not deserve the bad press it gets. Fuck him right in the face.
[Link] I can't get enough of Slipways, a chill grand strategy space game you can play in an hour
Read: 15/2/2021 www.pcgamer.com
I love the idea of grand sci-fi strategy games like Stellaris and Endless Space, but I have no patience for them. The micromanagement overwhelms me, and I always give up before finishing a game.
[Link] Terraria creator cancels Stadia port after being locked out of Google account
Read: 10/2/2021 www.pcgamer.com
Terraria co-creator Andrew Spinks has announced that the game will no longer be coming to Google Stadia after his Google account was disabled.
[Link] Goldeneye 007’s lost Xbox 360 remaster has leaked—as a full-game speedrun
Read: 2/2/2021 arstechnica.com
Goldeneye 007's official remake project, as co-helmed by Rare, Microsoft, and 4J Studios before being quietly canceled, is one of the gaming industry's wildest lost projects.
[Link] A Look At How Nintendo Mastered Dual Screens
Read: 1/2/2021 hackaday.com
When it was first announced, many people were skeptical of the Nintendo DS. Rather than pushing raw power, the unique dual screen handheld was designed to explore new styles of play.
[Link] Saying one last goodbye to Dishonored
Read: 31/1/2021 www.pcgamer.com
In Now Playing articles PC Gamer writers talk about the game currently dominating their spare time. Today Chris savours the systemic integrity of the first Dishonored.
[Link] The Sims 4 Is Now A Horror Game, Thanks To The Paranormal Stuff Pack
Read: 29/1/2021 kotaku.com
Apparently it’s Halloween in winter because The Sims 4 just released its latest DLC, the Paranormal stuff pack, which some fans are calling the Luigi’s Mansion pack.
[Link] How Did the Duck Hunt Gun Work?
Read: 26/1/2021 getpocket.com
The Duck Hunt gun, officially called the NES Zapper, seems downright primitive next to today’s technology. But in the late ’80s, it filled plenty of young heads with wonder.
[Link] The Swashbuckling Escapism of Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Read: 26/1/2021 www.wired.com
Sid Meier has one of the most recognizable names in the video game industry. But who is he beyond a name on a box, anyway? A recent thread on Reddit asking the community about the first game they ever played gathered over 45,000 comments, with classic names like Tetris, Super Mario Bros.
[Link] PSA: Cyberpunk 1.1 patch introduces save-killing Down on the Street bug
Read: 25/1/2021 www.pcgamer.com
The latest patch for Cyberpunk 2077 has introduced a bug which can potentially cause you to be unable to progress in the game. At the end of the quest Down in the Street, the character Goro Takemura calls the player. Previous to 1.1 he just wouldn't call sometimes, halting the game.