2023-01

These are the best PS5 games to pick up and play right now....

Don't expect The Last of Us HBO show to extend beyond the story of the two games in the series. That's because The Last of Us game director Neil Druckmann says there are no plans for stories beyond the games in this show. This news comes by way of a new interview with Druckmann from The Hollywood Reporter, as reported by GameSpot. Here's what Druckmann told THR specifically: "We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games. We won't run into the same issue as Game of Thrones since The Last of Us Part: II doesn't end on a cliffhanger."  Druckmann and TV series writer Craig Mazin have mentioned that a second season of this show might cover the events of The Last of Us Part II (personally, I think The Last of Us Part II could cover two seasons...

Sony released a sneak peek of its upcoming Gran Turismo movie yesterday evening during its CES 2023 press conference, and as expected, it features a lot of fast vehicles.  Starring David Harbour (Stranger Things), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings), and David Barnet (Never Have I Ever), and directed by Neil Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie), Gran Turismo is based on a true story. That story is about the GT Academy contest, which was a real contest held between 2008 and 2016 by Sony and Nissan. Winners were given entrance into Nissan's Driver Development Program, as noted by Video Games Chronicle. The film appears to be telling the tale of someone who won entrance into this program and then went on to become a real success in the racing world.  Check out the Gran Turismo sneak peek for...

Sony Interactive Entertainment has revealed that it has sold more than 30 million PlayStation 5 units since the console's launch in 2020.  This news comes by way of the company's recent CES 2023 appearance, where PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan revealed these numbers alongside words that seem to indicate the PS5 shortage might be over, or at least coming to an end soon. PlayStation also touched on its upcoming PSVR2 release and accompanying 30-plus game lineup, and pulled back the curtains on its new customizable accessibility controller kit, Project Leonardo.  "We truly appreciate the support and patience of the PlayStation community as we managed unprecedented demand amid global challenges over the past two years," Ryan said on stage during Sony's conference. "PS5 supply improved toward the end of last year, and I'm happy to share that December was the biggest month ever...

PlayStation has unveiled Project Leonardo, a "highly customizable accessibility controller kit."  The company revealed this during its CES 2023 presentation yesterday, stating that the kit is "designed to remove barriers to gaming and help players with disabilities play more easily, more comfortably, and for longer periods on PS5." It seems to be PlayStation's answer to Xbox's Adaptive Controller also aimed at accessibility for gamers. The company says it has worked with accessibility experts at organizations like AbleGamers, Special Effect, and Stack Up, as well as community members and game developers to design a controller kit like this that works "out of the box."    "It is built to address common challenges faced by many players with limited motor control, including difficulty holding a controller for long periods, accurately pressing small custers of buttons or triggers, or positioning thumbs and...

Arcade1Up, the company behind various arcade machine replicas featuring titles spanning multiple publishers, has revealed a new line of premium cabinets known as the Deluxe Editions. In addition, the company announced a more compact version of its popular Infinity Game Table and its first foray into the world of at-home casino gaming. Arcade1Up's new Deluxe Edition cabinets serve as the new flagship line for the company, offering up a taller, single-cabinet design that removes the long-standing need to buy a riser. Arcade1Up kicks off its Deluxe Edition lineup with four distinct cabinets: Pac-Man Deluxe, Ms. Pac-Man Deluxe, Class of '81 Deluxe, and Mortal Kombat Deluxe. Each Deluxe Edition cabinet features a faux front coin door and lit marquee, as well as Wi-Fi for online gameplay and leaderboards. The LCD screen also features a laid-back position in cabinets where that...

The Last of Us turns 10 years old in June, and Naughty Dog plans to celebrate the milestone with an array of special announcements along the way. One of those updates involves a closer look at the upcoming standalone multiplayer title. In a blog post, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann reflects on The Last of Us’ legacy as well as the franchise’s future. In addition to the HBO adaptation premiering on January 15 and the PC port of The Last of Us Part 1 hitting in March, Druckmann states fans will learn more about the long-awaited multiplayer experience that serves as a follow-up to the original game’s Factions mode. Druckmann writes, “We’ll have some fun surprises for you along the way, but later this year we will begin to offer you some details on our ambitious The Last of Us...

Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, has reportedly canceled five unannounced games alongside layoffs affecting "fewer than 15 people," according to a new Bloomberg report.  The people that will lose their jobs will be given a chance to apply for new roles within WotC, but this apparent business restructuring will affect others outside of the company as well. Bloomberg reports that this reorganization will hit Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment, both working on games for WotC, hard. News of this change follows the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance's release last year, which didn't fare too well with critics and players, amidst Larian Studios' continued development on Baldur's Gate 3 (which does not seem to be affected by this reorganization despite WotC serving as the game's publisher).  These two games, in part, represented WotC's bigger...

A supermajority of quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Studios, which is comprised of several studios like iD Software, Arkane, and Bethesda, have voted to join the ZeniMax Workers United/Communication Workers of Amerca union.  Roughly 300 QA workers at ZeniMax voted to indicate they wish to join this union, equating to a supermajority vote, and Microsoft has opted to recognize it. This lines up with what Microsoft said last month, where it announced that if these workers vote to unionize, it would voluntarily recognize the union. ZeniMax is the first studio in Microsoft's umbrella of teams to unionize and it's also now the largest group of unionized QA testers at any US-based studio.  "Before us is an opportunity to make big changes and bring equity to the video game industry," senior QA audio tester Victoria Banos writes in a CWA press release....

Fall Guys is becoming Invincible with the arrival of skins from the acclaimed animated series this week. With season 2 of Invincible set to premiere on Amazon Prime sometime this year, Fall Guys is whetting fans’ appetite with skins for Mark, Omni-Man, and Atom Eve. The outfits hit the in-game store on January 5, and that hopefully means a release date announcement for the series won't be too far behind.  Invincible, Omni-Man and Atom Eve are flying into the Fall Guys Store on the 5th of Jan! @skyboundgames 🦸‍♂️ SAVE the date 🦸‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/YThNNC1LPi — Fall Guys - Season's Yeetings 🥔 (@FallGuysGame) January 3, 2023 Fall Guys enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in 2022. In addition to its usual deluge of seasonal content updates, it went free-to-play in May and launched on Xbox and Switch, gaining a larger player base of contestants and renewed...