Monthly Archives: December 2017
Can AAA Games Survive Without Microtransactions?
After a series of controversies surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2, microtransactions and loot boxes have been thrust into the spotlight this year, with discussions about both their ethical ramifications and legal standing. Even under the extra scrutiny, there are a lot of people who say "well, I’d prefer to have optional microtransactions than to have to pay $80 USD for games," but I don’t think this is a choice we need to make, and it’s certainly not one we should accept.
what if
Star Wars: Why General Hux is the Perfect Face of the First Order
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is finally here, and while many people love it (myself included), there are also a lot of others who don’t. But across both camps, I’ve frequently heard one complaint time and time again: Why is General Hux so dumb?
SPOILERS for the The Last Jedi follow, so read on at your own risk!
The bumbling incompetent that leads the First Order’s armies is a strange character to some people. He’s short-sighted, easy to enrage, constantly tricked, and often clearly has no idea what he’s doing or where he’s gone wrong. So why on Earth would Star Wars make a character like that be the big bad face of the oppressive First Order?
Catherine: Full Body Confirmed for the West
Atlus has announced Catherine: Full Body is coming to the West.
While a release date for the West has yet to be revealed, the first official Japanese trailer (below) says the forthcoming Catherine remake will launch "next winter," which could be as late as early 2019.
Catherine: Full Body was revealed earlier this week for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. Studio Zero, Atlus' new internal development team, is developing the remake, which will add a number of new features to the 2011 story-driven puzzle game.
Brand-New Switch Games You May Have Missed, Plus: Mega-Sized Question Block
Weeeeelcooome to Nintendo Voice Chat, Episode 387 -- our last news and impressions-focused NVC of the year. Don't worry, we'll return next week, but with a "Year in Review" focused special episode instead of our regular programming.
This week, Casey DeFreitas joins the panel as we talk about the latest game releases on Nintendo Switch (and some on 3DS), the awards Nintendo secured in our own annual "Best of Awards", sales data from Japan, and Splatoon 2 and Arms updates, before answering many of your most burning questions.
As always, you can watch NVC here on IGN and on our YouTube channel (subscribe and hit the bell!) or listen to it on your commute in audio format. If you enjoy the show, share it with other Nintendo fans, make a constructive comment, and give us a thumbs up or leave us a review.
2017 Wrestling Year in Review
Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the year to end.
As 2017 closes up shop, let's look back at the WWE and be all like "Oh, yeah. That happened, didn't it? Ain't life a kick? An unpredictable journey filled with sweeping highs and drastic lows. Really makes you think. Okay, I guess we should stop wasting time and hide this body before the cops show up."
Before I get started though, I have a gift for y'all. Right out of the gate, right off the blocks, first up at bat, here's a magical link to - *moist hoarse gasp!* - all the Wrestling Wrap Ups! I cracked the code. The unsolvable is now oh-so-knowable. For years, you peeps have been hitting me up on twitter and asking "Hey, is there are a place that lists all the Wraps? They're so hard to track down once they dissolve and disintegrate out of all the timelines. Please help make my life better!" Well, now I can because now there is. I don't know how far back this list goes, but I know it's at least a few years. Who knows? Maybe it just keeps going. Turtles all the way down, yo.
PUBG Gets Second Patch for Xbox One
A second patch for the Xbox One version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been released.
According to the PUBG team's forum post, this latest patch focuses on quality of life fixes, addressing stability issues, weapon recoil, crash fixes, and more. There will be more updates coming to the game, with the next patch expected to be released in the beginning of next year.
The full Xbox One patch notes are as follows:
Optimization
- Continued performance optimizations
Xbox Games With Gold for January 2018 Announced
The lineup of free games available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in January 2018 have been revealed.
According to Microsoft's announcement on Xbox Wire, the following titles will be free for subscribers next month:
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III — January 1-31 (Xbox One)
- Zombi — January 16 to February 15 (Xbox One)
- Tomb Raider Underworld — January 1-15 (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
- Army of Two — January 16-31 (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III—NeocoreGames' action RPG, which was released first on PC in 2015—will make its way to Microsoft's console, complete with Xbox One X enhancements upon launch.
The Star Wars Effect: How Nostalgia Can Distort Objectivity
Worry not! This article is totally spoiler free.
I think many of us have felt it... the quickening pulse as the screen lights up with the phrase, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” That moment of anticipation and excitement coming to a joyful head before the orchestra hits and those famous yellow letters take the screen. It’s euphoric… and it’s happening again. Can you feel it? It’s like there’s been a re-awakening.
So what lies at the root of all this excitement? Sure, part of it is space wizards, nerf herders, and a big walking carpet, but most of it lives within us, held within the precious treasure trove in our hearts called nostalgia.
For many people, we first experienced this diverse and fantastic universe as children and were amazed and delighted by crazy creatures, thrilling adventures, and the promise of good overcoming evil. We packed those memories up in a tight wrapping of warm feelings and shoved them in a place we could never forget them. Sure, there were rocky times between 1999 and 2005, but our love for Star Wars weathered the assault on our youth. Now, it seems, another era is dawning for Star Wars and the reception is… confusing. While there may be many contributing factors to the mixed reactions of this new generation of films, we’re here to talk about the one that lives in so many of us: nostalgia.
Last Jedi Director Reveals Inspiration for That Weapon
SPOILERS are discussed ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
Don't read this if you haven't seen the movie! Bookmark this page and come back and check it out after you do!
From the very beginning, Star Wars has taken its inspiration from other stories. C-3PO and R2-D2 were famously inspired by the hapless peasants in The Hidden Fortress. The run on the Death Star at the end of the first film was based on the World War II drama The Dam Busters. Luke Skywalker’s adventures on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes back were inspired by the Russian/Japanese film Dersu Uzala.
The list of explicit influences goes on and on, straight on through Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Filmmaker Rian Johnson has already detailed some of the influences on his new Star Wars sequel, including the silent film - and first-ever Best Picture Oscar winner - Wings, which gave him the idea for how to film the casino scene at Canto Bight.
7 Ways the MCU Can Include the X-Men
Now that Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that, if and when a Disney-Fox merger goes through, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios would take the lead on the longtime Fox franchise, there's one burning question on the minds of every Marvel fan: How will the X-Men be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Will we see Marvel Studios start fresh with Wolverine and the gang? Or is it possible that we'll see the MCU pick up where Fox will be leaving off with these characters and giving us more sequels to films like Deadpool and Dark Phoenix? How would that even be possible?