PS2J 339 News – Karts Over Boards

March 19, 2021
Tagged as: 2021, 2d, 4:3, abzu, action, adaptive trigger, Adventure, advertising, AI, Alan, aloy, analog sticks, ancient, app tracking transparency, Apple, arid, art book, astro bot, backup, beetle, Bethesda, Boba Fett, bow, Braid, bullet hell, buy-out, bytedance, cable, caid, caravan of courage, cellular, charm, China, china advertising id, Clone Wars, co-op, Comics, complete edition, computer, controller, couch party edition, crew, database, DC, developer, dexter’s lab, digital, Disney Plus, DLC, Dreamcast, enter the gungeon, Epic Games, ewoks, exception, exploration, Facebook, fallout 76, financial times, First Person, flower, Free Games, friends, frozen wilds, Gamestop, genndy tartakovsky, Government, gradius, grip, hacker, haptic feedback, hbo max, holiday special, horizon zero dawn, idfa, illusion, imax, information, Instagram, Internet, invasive, iOS, Josh, Journey, Justice League, knuckle, LAN, Legend Of Zelda, logic, machine, moss, mouse, Multiplayer, music, myst, Netflix, oculus touch, official, open-world, optica, paper beast, PC, pcloud, Phone, photo, pilot, platform, platformer, play at home, Playstation, pounding, Privacy, procedural, ps+, PS2, PS4, ps5, PSVR, puzzle, quill, rail, redwall, rescue mission, rez, rez infinite, rhythm, rogers, roguelike, role-playing, RPG, Samurai Jack, secret, sharing, Shaw, shoot ’em up, Shooter, side scrolling, sneaky, snyder cut, social, Sony, Space, spatial, spear, Star Wars, subnautica, survival, swimsanity, synesthesia, table, techno, the battle for endor, the fall, the new responders, the story of the faithful wookie, the witness, third person, thumper, tiktok, tracking, trippy, Twitch, two of them, underwater, verify, versus, warning, YouTube, zack snyder

Free Games

Twitch
- Swimsanity – Couch Party Edition
  - 2020
  - Multiplayer 2D underwater shoot-em-up with co-op and versus game modes, and both online and local play. It’s like Gradius in the ocean with your friends
- Optica
  - 2018
  - Puzzle game of logic and illusion with a basic geometric design, that has you putting your spatial thinking to the test with everything from curious shapes to optical illusions
Epic Games
- The Fall
  - 2014
  - Action-adventure side-scrolling platform game where you play Arid, an artificial intelligence installed in an advanced combat space suit, as you explore a decaying industrial facility in search of medical attention for the suit’s injured pilot
Sony Play at Home 2021
- Free for everyone who owns a PS4 or PS5, not just PS+ subscribers
- March 25
  - ABZU
    - 2016
    - From the art director of Journey and Flower, ABZÛ is a wordless underwater adventure that evokes the dream of diving, taking you on a journey through the ruins of an ancient civilization.
  - Enter the Gungeon
    - 2016
    - Roguelike bullet hell with procedurally generated levels, following four adventurers with different special abilities as they descend into the Gungeon to find a gun to kill their past
  - Rez Infinite
    - 2016
    - An expanded release of the musical rail shooter originally released on the Dreamcast and PS2, it has you following a hacker’s journey into a malfunctioning AI system in a way that tries to create a sense of synesthesia
  - Subnautica
    - 2018
    - Open world survival action-adventure game that drops you on an alien planet covered with water where you have to build, survive, and uncover the secrets buried under the waves
  - The Witness
    - 2016
    - First person puzzle exploration game, a la Myst, developed by the creator of Braid
  - PSVR
    - Astro Bot Rescue Mission
      - 2018
      - Third person platformer with a ton of charm that has you exploring 5 different worlds to rescue your lost crew
    - Moss
      - 2018
      - Adventure game that feels like a mix between Redwall and The Legend of Zelda, that transports you to a fantasy land to help a young mouse named Quill defeat a fire-breathing snake and save her uncle
    - Thumper
      - 2016
      - Rhythm game that has you guiding a beetle-like creature along a set of rails and through different obstacles, all to trippy visuals and the beat of pounding techno
    - Paper Beast
      - 2020
      - First person adventure game where you explore a large ecosystem made up of various digital life forms originating from lost internet code
- April 19
  - Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
    - 2017
    - Open world action RPG that follows Aloy, a young hunter in a world overrun by machines, who sets out with her bow and spear to uncover her past
    - The Complete Edition comes with the full game, the Frozen Wilds expansion, a digital art book, a PS4 dynamic theme, and bonus weapons, outfits, and resources

A state-backed group in China wants to get around App Tracking Transparency and track app users with a controversial new “China Advertising ID”, or CAID

There’s currently a feature on iPhones that’s a little sneaky where developers can store text information in your keychain and access it across any of your devices
- The really sneaky piece that’s just ripe for abuse comes in where these objects are not only accessible from any of the developer’s apps (not just the one that stored it), but they’re also not cleaned up when you delete an app
  - So for example if you installed Instagram and deleted it, then installed Facebook, Facebook would be able to identify that you’re the same person
  - And the worst part about this is it applies to things like advertising or authentication code, so if you have an app that uses Google for ads or Facebook for logins then it can read and write that same information shared by all apps by those specific developers
Well in response to Apple giving users control over who can track them by official means, it sounds like Chinese companies may be working with the China Advertising Association to use this information to build a database of users for tracking purposes
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, released an 11-page guide to app developers that was obtained by the Financial Times, suggesting that advertisers “can use the CAID as a substitute if the user’s IDFA is unavailable”
Apple has denied that they would be granting any exceptions to the new tracking rules, saying that apps found to disregard a user’s choice would be rejected, and one person familiar with the situation said that Apple would be able to detect which apps use the CAID and potentially block them.
- Unfortunately if this takes off it could be Apple vs the Chinese government, and if the majority of apps in China start using the CAID it could lead to some serious repercussions
Yang Congan, the chief executive of a Beijing-based data privacy company, suggested that CAID had been designed to get around Apple’s rules because it might not “uniquely” identify users, but that’s sophistry at best and an outright lie at worst
I think the best way forward to be to rethink how exactly apps from the same developer can access data on your account, and give users more control over that piece as well. The feature may have been designed with the intention of streamlining the user experience and letting developers recover sessions or logins, but using it to smuggle data across apps should be a clear violation of developer agreements

Sony’s unveiled the planned controller for their next generation of PSVR, and it looks pretty slick

The controller looks like an evolution of the latest Oculus Touch, but they’ve put the tracking ring a little further back around your hand and wrist
- It looks like it’ll be pretty well balanced, though after having third-party knuckle grips for my Oculus I can definitely see wanting them here, too
They’ll also have adaptive triggers on both sides, haptic feedback, finger detection, and analog sticks on both controllers
- With modern VR those analog sticks wouldn’t be worth mentioning, but coming from the previous PSVR they’re a big improvement

This Week In Gaming History

March 13 – 2012 – Yakuza: Dead Souls – PlayStation 3 (United States)

The district of Kamurocho has survived gang violence, terrorist bombings, and open mafia war, but the latest threat may be the one that finally destroys the district for good: a zombie apocalypse.
- As the city burns four men search for answers: Shun Akiyama, the enigmatic moneylender from Yakuza 4; Goro Majima, Leader of the Tojo clan’s Majima family; Ryuji Gouda, exiled former-chairman of the Omi Alliance and antagonist of Yakuza 2; and the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu.
Yakuza: Dead Souls is the sequel to Yakuza 4, taking place one year afterwards but with a decidedly more fantastic premise.
- The game also has a radically new combat engine, as the living dead can easily shrug off kicks and punches.
- Each character can equip up to four weapons at a time, from pistols with unlimited ammunition to wide-spread shotguns, powerful anti-armor rifles, and incendiary grenades.
- While inside the quarantined areas of Kamurocho the player can be swarmed by zombies at any time, with more than twenty attacking at once.
- In addition to zombies they will also face mutants, such as the quick and agile Monkeyboy or the zombie-summoning Cry Baby, who are stronger and will require different tactics.
- Even more dangerous Prototypes will appear as bosses during the storyline.
Like previous Yakuza games sidestories are often available between story missions.
- The quarantine has disrupted many people’s lives, and they need help getting back into the infected areas to save someone or finish some business.
- A new feature to Dead Souls are Perfect Partners, as some of these people in need will permanently join the protagonists, entering the quarantine when called and leveling up and gaining new abilities alongside them.
- Most of the minigames of previous Yakuza games, such as dining, hostess bars, batting cages, crane machines, and more are all present.
- The coliseum does not return, but in its place is the Subterreania, a randomly generated dungeon filled with enemies that rewards the player the deeper they go.

March 14 – 1986 – Night Fire – DOS

As artillery games are wont to do, Night Fire sticks each player into the stuffy interior of a tank, placed somewhere on a randomly generated terrain, and pits the participants (2 to 8 of them) against one another in a merry free-for-all of ballistic abandon.
- The objective? stay alive, and prevent your opponents from doing the same by feeding them carefully-measured portions of flaming death.
Each player in turn can either move or shoot – moving is useful for improving tactical positions (and avoiding an untimely demise when enemy shells start getting too close).
- For shooting, the barrel angle and shell velocity can be modified as needed.
- Presiding over the battle is the full moon, which provides more than ambiance: it helpfully displays on its disc two gauges, indicating air friction and the wind’s speed and direction, which also have to be taken into account.
Josh played this, if not a very faithful recreation of it.

March 15 – 1997 – Snowboard Kids – Nintendo 64 (North America)

A racing game where you control one of five cutesy snowboarders competing against each other.
- Being a snowboarding game, each track is a downhill slalom with a ski lift at the bottom which takes you back to the start for however many laps a track has.
The tracks are varied, the first few taking place on snowy mountainsides, while the latter taking you to wackier locales such as grassy countryside, a desert and a theme park.
- The money collected on the course or won at the end of the race can be spent to buy better boards, which differ in stats, or to collect items/weapons while racing.
- There are also stunts that can be performed while racing which earn money as well, and certain parts of each course encourage the player to do so.
Other modes include stunt mode, shoot mode and speed mode, all focusing on a particular part of the gameplay from the main game, and a multiplayer mode where up to 4 players can race each other.
- There are also unlockables for dedicated players.

March 16 – 2010 – Metro 2033 – Windows, Xbox 360

Plot:
- In the year 2013 almost all of humanity was wiped out as a result of a devastating war, and Earth’s surface became a nuclear wasteland.
  - The few survivors in Moscow retreated to the city’s subway tunnels.
  - But even underground, human society continued to develop in predictable ways.
  - Factions were formed, and stations and entire lines were occupied by ideologically opposed groups of people.
  - War continued on a much smaller scale, adding to the difficulty of living under nearly impossible conditions, fearing the dark subway tunnels which harbored terrifying creatures.
- Artyom was born a few days before the apocalypse, but raised in the underground.
  - Up until now he had never left the relative safety of the Exhibition, the northernmost station in the Moscow metro, where he lived together with his stepfather.
  - However, everything changes when a soldier called Hunter arrives at the station, warning its inhabitants about a group of mysterious creatures known as the Dark Ones.
  - When Artyom realizes that Hunter will never return from his mission, he decides to travel through the tunnels to the central Polis station and get help there.
Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter with survival horror elements, based on the Russian book of the same name by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
- Most of the game takes place underground, but several times Artyom will have to venture outside, into the perpetual nuclear winter.
- Game progression is fairly linear, though areas may be explored more thoroughly for items and ammunition.
- Setpieces include a few on-rails sequences, missions that involve defending a location from an onslaught of monsters, and others.
- A few stages can be completed in a stealthy fashion.
Mutants and hostile humans are the enemies of the game; Artyom can use a variety of weapons to deal with them, including AK-47, sniper rifle, automatic shotgun, and others.
- The player can only carry a sidearm and two primary weapons at the same time.
- Dynamite sticks and knives complete the set.
- All weapons come in different variations with scopes, silencer and other upgrades attached.
- While the upgrades cannot be bought individually, already upgraded weapons can be purchased at shops in the stations in exchange for the old weapon and powerful military-grade ammunition, the only currency in the game.
- If Artyom is hit, he slowly regenerates his health automatically; however, medikits are available to instantly heal him and increase the regeneration rate for a few seconds.
When traveling on the surface or through poisoned areas, Artyom needs to equip his gas mask in order to survive.
- The filter of the gas mask wears down as it is being used (indicated by Artyom’s special watch and his heavier breathing) and can even be damaged in melee fights, straining the filter even more.
- Other tools available to Artyom are a pair of night vision goggles, a flashlight, a light-meter, a lighter, his journal with a compass, and a charging device.
- The latter is required to manually recharge the flashlight and the night vision goggles once their energy gets low.
- The light-meter, on the other hand, helps Artyom to determine if he is hidden in the shadows, helping him to avoid some dangers.
Other environmental hazards include seeking anomalies and strange, sometimes deadly visions.
- These visions play a role in the game’s plot, and also serve as moral judgment of Artyom’s behavior, along with his actions during certain situations involving hostile human organizations.
- Depending on these choices, the game will reach one of the two available endings.

March 17 – 1995 – Descent – DOS

Plot:
- The Post-Terran Minerals Corporation (PTMC) digs up minerals on all nine planets of the solar system, employing humans and robots to do its job.
  - Unfortunately, the mining robots are now being controlled by a hacker, and have taken the human workers hostage.
  - The PTMC has tried to get the robots back under their control, but communication with the mining stations has been lost.
  - In desperation, the PTMC modifies a Pyro-GX ship for combat and hires a mercenary, codenamed “Material Defender”, to fly it.
  - The mission is to destroy the infected mines and rescue human hostages, destroying any hostile robot that gets in the way.
Descent is a 3D first-person game that puts the player at the controls of the Pyro-GX spaceship.
- Descent is notable in that the player travels through various interior locations (mines) but can do so in 720 degrees of movement.
  - The ship however only moves forward and backward in any of the directions it is facing.
  - The ship is able to use a variety of weapons scattered as power-ups throughout each level.
  - They include: standard lasers, the Vulcan Cannon (a chaingun-like weapon), the Spreadfire Cannon (a rapidly firing, shotgun-like energy weapon), the Plasma Cannon (a rapidly firing energy weapon more suited for medium-range combat), and the Fusion Cannon (fires a ball of energy that’s more powerful the longer it is charged it up, but could destroy the ship).
  - All of these weapons, except for the Vulcan Cannon, use the ship’s energy supply.
  - The Pyro-PX is also capable of firing regular concussion missiles, homing missiles, proximity bombs (sits in the sky, then explodes when something gets close to it), smart missiles (more powerful homing missiles that fire out homing energy balls upon impact with their target), and Mega Missiles (the ultimate weapons of mass destruction).
The goal of each level is to locate and destroy the mine’s reactor.
- Once completed, there are only 45 seconds to find the escape hatch to get out of the mine before it explodes.
- As progress is made through the game, the AI will adapt to player’s strategies and attempt to prevent the player from reaching the goals.
This was the first 3D game Josh can remember playing.

March 18 – 1992 – Minesweeper – Windows 3.x

Minesweeper is a puzzle game in which the player is presented with a board filled with mines, without knowing what fields they occupy.
- When the player clicks on a field a number appears on it, indicating how many mines are located in the fields nearest to it.
- The player then clicks on other fields, trying to avoid mines.
- If the player makes a mistake, the mine will explode and the game is over.
- The game features three difficulty levels, distinguished by the size of the board – the bigger the board, the higher the difficulty level.

March 19 – 2007 – Tetris Evolution – Xbox 360

Tetris Evolution is one of the many officially-licensed Tetris games. The game features seven game modes, several of which return from Tetris Worlds.
- Marathon – Standard, timeless Tetris, where the goal is to clear as many lines as possible.
- Ultra – Try to earn as many points as possible in a timed game.
- Cascade – Clearing lines can cause placed pieces to fall, potentially clearing more lines for big points.
- Race – Clear a set number of lines as quickly as possible.
- Score – Reach a designated score as quickly as possible.
- Hotline – Clearing specific highlighted lines will earn bonus points.
- Go Low – The lower the stack is, the more points are gained from clearing a line.
Also included are both local multiplayer and online play over Xbox Live for up to four players.
- There are also a variety backgrounds and BGM to choose from.

Tidbits

Fallout 76 role-playing group The New Responders is making an in-game procedural drama, bringing in other members of the community to join the story and solve the mystery
- Episodes are broadcast weekly live on Twitch and then archived afterwards on YouTube
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars cartoon is finally coming to Disney Plus on April 2nd, along with other Star Wars side-projects like Caravan of Courage and The Story of the Faithful Wookie
- Though it’s no longer canon to the Star Wars universe, the series of shorts from the mind that brought us Dexter’s Lab and Samurai Jack is just fantastic and very much worth watching
The Snyder Cut of the Justice League movie is out today on HBO Max, so we’ll have to see if doubling the length of movie can make it into a better one
- Don’t adjust your TV when you’re watching though- the whole film is shown in a 4:3 display ratio, because Snyder wanted it fully IMAX-ready
Part of the ongoing GameStop stock saga has seen the leak of new GameStop Social spaces, including mini LAN centres and tables for card and board games (presumably once it’s safe to do so)
- If these kinds of things come to EB Games north of the border as well, along with the new push to digital and same-day delivery, this could be a renaissance for the video game retailer
Photo backup service and self-professed online privacy experts pCloud have apparently run an analysis of Apple’s app privacy labels and determined that Instagram and Facebook are “the most invasive apps” when it comes to third party data
- Surprising no-one
Rogers Communications is apparently looking to buy out Shaw, becoming Canada’s second-largest cellular and cable provider
- Canada already has some of the world’s highest costs for cell phone and internet plans, and the $26B plan probably wouldn’t improve the situation
Netflix is reportedly testing a new feature that will show warnings to anyone allegedly sharing their login with someone outside of their home
- The warning pops up asking you to verify their access through a code texted to their phone, but so far there haven’t been any repercussions to just clicking “Verify later”

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PS2J 336 News – Junk Mail to Win

February 26, 2021
Tagged as: 2020, 4K, action, Adventure, Alan, amp, Anime, anthem, app store, Apple, Australia, back into the ashes, breed, Bungie, cancelled, CD Projekt Red, cinematic universe, class-action, companions, controller, covid, creature, Cyberpunk 2077, damages, delay, doom eternal, Dragon Age, dualsense, Epic Games, exploration, Facebook, final fantasy xiv, first riddle, founder, FPS, frames per second, Free Games, from the ashes, funimation, gmail, Google, Government, hack, haptic, Harry Potter, headset, hello games, hmd, id software, information, infrastructure, Internet, iOS, Josh, Journey, label, Law, Link, Marvel, Mass Effect, mcu, motion, nathan drake collection, news, next, No Mans Sky, patch, pay, permadeath, phoenix, play at home, Playstation, premier, preorder, Privacy, professor layton, ps+, PS4, PS4 Pro, ps5, PSVR, puzzle, Ratchet and Clank, Red Dead Redemption 2, resolution, roguelike, RPG, scarlet witch, Sci-Fi, science fiction, sean murray, Shooter, Sony, source code, spoilers, stadia, steamship, Streaming<, sunless sea, survival, the academy, third person, tracking, train, triggers, Twitch, Twitter, Uncharted, underwater, vision, VR, wakanim, wanda maximoff, wandavision, website, Xbox One X

Free Games

Twitch
- The Academy: First Riddle
  - 2020
  - Adventure puzzle game along the lines of the Professor Layton series, with modernized Harry Potter style aesthetics
Epic Games
- Sunless Sea
  - 2015
  - Survival / exploration RPG with roguelike elements that has you piloting an underwater steamship as a captain whose background, ambitions, and victory conditions are customizable, but you have to contend with procedurally generated maps and permadeath
Bonus round: Sony’s announced the return of their Play At Home program, kicking off four months of Playstation offers on March 1st
- First introduced last April when they gave away Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey to everyone, not just PS+ members
- This time around we’ll see Ratchet and Clank (PS4) for free during the month of March
  - 2016
  - Reimagining of the original PS2 game, a third person science fiction action adventure shooter with a lot of weird, over the top weapons, solid writing, and great gameplay
- And then on March 25th they’ll be offering an extended free trial of the Funimation and Wakanim anime streaming services
- Those are just the first couple of perks, so we’ll make sure to give you updates as we see them

Australia’s working on a law that would require any site linking to a news publication to pay for the privilege

Going pretty hard against the principles of the open internet, from what I understand the proposed law would require sites like Google and Facebook to pay news sites for the ability to host links to them
- Keep in mind, this is just linking. Google’s AMP pages and other ways of getting around ad revenue aside, vanilla links are the backbone of the internet
The most bonkers part of this law is that news sites could create their own Facebook pages, link to their news sites, and then charge Facebook for the link
I can’t imagine this law getting passed in its current form, but Google has already started making deals to pay for the links and though Facebook initially fought back (yay Facebook, is a phrase I never thought I’d say), they walked their position back and started quietly making deals too

There’s a proposed class action lawsuit in play alleging that Google lied about Stadia’s capabilities in order to lock in subscribers

The suit claims that, when it was first announced in 2019 Google, Bungie, and id Software misled gamers by claiming that the cloud-based gaming service was more powerful than the Xbox One X and the PS4 Pro combined, and that every game on Stadia would be playable at 4k resolutions
Directly prior to launch Google apparently quietly walked back those claims, particularly for people with slower internet connections
- Apparently there was even a Twitter announcement about Red Dead Redemption 2 specifying that users didn’t need high speed internet for 4k/60fps, which was later deleted
- The suit says that because of the earlier inflated specs Google was able to lock in a large customer base through preorders for its subscription service, essentially hooking gamers into being beta testers before the later free release in 2020
The plaintiff is seeking monetary damages for current and former Stadia subscribers, as well as a court order requiring Google to publicly display the resolution and FPS of each game they sell on Stadia

Sony’s announced some details on their next-generation VR headset, and it sounds pretty slick

They’ll be bringing features from their excellent DualSense controller to the new motion controllers
It will apparently connect to the PS5 using a single cord
They say it will have an enhanced field of view, tracking, input, and resolution
But it won’t be out any time this year
My thoughts
- Haptic triggers would be really cool in VR, and better tracking would be a godsend for the platform after they used the old PS3 technology in the first gen, but the freedom of wireless VR is a hard perk to give up. They’re going to have to work hard to make it worthwhile

Everyone hoping for Anthem to join the ranks of No Man’s Sky and Final Fantasy XIV and rise from its ashes can now stop holding their breath- it’s officially cancelled

Bioware released a statement this week letting everyone know that they’ve stopped development work on Anthem NEXT, citing the additional pressures of 2020 impacting their productivity and preventing them from doing everything they had planned
- Honestly though, it just seems like they bit off more than they could chew and they’re cutting their losses on Anthem. It had a ton of potential, but I’m sure their other titles are just a higher priority based on the amount of money they can pull in.
Anthem’s current live service is still up and running, but the improvements that have been teased won’t be released to the general public while the developers focus instead on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles

This Week In Gaming History

February 20 – 2003 – Train Tracking – Windows

Train Tracking is a game about one of Britain’s more bizarre past-times, Trainspotting.
- You start the game with only an overhead view of the station and a list of serial numbers.
- The point of the game is to check them off as the matching train passes through.
- For each Day (Day is the name for a level in this game, there’s totally 29) you play the number of serials and tracks to view increase.
- There is a time limit for this and if you fail three times it’s game over.
There’s over 2500 random train stations, with five settings (Country, Town and City Stations, Industrial Depots and Express Bonus Rounds) meaning that each round will different from the other.
- The game has the typical British weather condition of rain, snow and lightning.

February 21 – 2017 – Halo Wars 2 – Xbox One, Windows

Halo Wars 2 is a real-time strategy game based on the Halo universe and it is the sequel to the 2009 Halo Wars.
- Players use Spartans, Warthogs and other classic Halo units in order to battle the enemy.
- A single-player campaign and online multiplayer battles are available.
- The campaign consists of twelve missions and can also be played cooperatively.
- Typical mission objectives include surviving waves of enemies, defending structuring and capturing specific targets.
- There are also various side objectives.
- Many missions involve leading Spartan supersoldier units as well.
The game once again relies on two factions and is now set in the year 2559.
- On the one hand there is the human faction United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and on the other a new alien faction called the Banished, replacing the Covenant from the first game.
- Both factions have leader units with special abilities tied to a cooldown period.
- These abilities can mass heal or do a lot of damage in a short time.
- In multiplayer there are multiple game modes for up to six players online or bots.

February 22 – 1996 – Johnny Bazookatone – PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO, DOS

The original guitar hero with the Elvis attitude and purple hair pompadour, Johnny Bazookatone, has been imprisoned in the year 2050 in Sin Sin Prison by El Diablo, the Lord of the Underworld, who is jealous of his talent and kidnaps other musical legends as well in this 3D side-scrolling platformer.
- Johnny’s guitar Anita has been taken from him and he sets out to escape and vanquish foes on his way to be reunited with Anita.
He can perform moves such as 360-degree spin jumps, and hover jumps among others, while using his bazooka guitar as a weapon.
- When powered up, it can emit a special sonic blast that fries anything within hearing range.
- As you make your way through the demonic levels such as Hotel Demonique, Hell’s Kitchen, and Mr. Diablo’s fiery Penthouse, you can acquire more weapons, power-ups and find secret passages that lead to bonus levels.
- The game’s soundtrack includes the title track contributed by Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and Tico Torres.

February 23 – 1995 – Mario’s Game Gallery – DOS, Macintosh, Windows

The game is a collection of board games, in which you play with Mario.
- The Mario, of Super Mario fame.
- He talks to you, playing Checkers, Go Fish, Dominoes, Backgammon, Yacht.
- Most of games can be played for Yoshis or Koopas – tribes of animals.

February 24 – 2015 – Dragon Ball: Xenoverse – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE revisits famous battles from the series through your custom Avatar, who fights alongside Trunks and many other characters.
- Will the strength of this partnership be enough to intervene in fights and restore the Dragon Ball timeline we know?
- New features include the mysterious Toki Toki City, new gameplay mechanics, new character animations and many other amazing features to be unveiled soon!

February 25 – 2002 – Circus Maximus – PS2, Xbox

Circus Maximus is a racing game that takes place in ancient Rome, and as such you’ll be racing chariots around various tracks, including the famed Colliseum.
You’ll be in control of both the driver and your partner, the warrior, whose job is to attack the other racers to make them fall over.
Chariots are controlled by whipping horses and trying to balance an on-screen meter that keeps your chariot balanced while taking turns fast.
There are four different race modes available; Training, which gives you the basics on how to play, Arcade, which is your standard race, Multiplayer, which lets you face off against three friends (or foes), and Career, which tracks your progress over a period of time.
There are seven different environments and 19 tracks, all set throughout the Roman Empire.
Each course is littered with obstacles, power ups, weapons, and special moves, designed to give you an edge in combat.

February 26 – 2008 – Turning Point: Fall of Liberty – PS3, Windows, Xbox 360

Winston Churchill was struck by a taxicab in 1931.
- What if he had died and without his leadership, Britain fell to the Nazis along with the rest of Europe?
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is an alternate-history first-person shooter in which the player takes the role of a New York construction worker named Dan Carson in 1953, when the German Reich invades and occupies the American East Coast.
- He joins the National Guard troops trying to put up a defensive perimeter around subway and railway systems so civilians can escape.
Many advanced WWII weapons appear, including some that were under research, and some that never appeared.
- There are super-heavy tanks such as the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus and Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte, and also the Nachteule troop-transport zeppelin, the Flugzeugträger aircraft-carrier zeppelin, as well as various advanced jet fighters and bombers, all used by the German invasion force.
- Multiplayer is available in standard deathmatch and team deathmatch modes on 4 maps, with Nazi soldiers versus the American Resistance to a maximum of 8 players.

Tidbits

No Man’s Sky: Companions is yet another free update for the game, bringing us the ability to adopt, train, and breed creatures, on top of improvements to the UI and load times
Google’s finally started updating their iOS apps, updating the App Store listings with the new required privacy information
- There aren’t any real surprises, but when you see in writing that your email client is gathering information about your purchases and location I can see people starting to look for alternatives
CD Projekt Red has officially delayed the release of the anticipated patch 1.2 for Cyberpunk 2077, after the cyber attack we reported on a couple weeks ago wreaked havoc on their infrastructure
- The patch, set to include numerous fixes and quality improvements, is now being aimed at the second half of March

Mini-review

If you’re not watching WandaVision already, you should be
- Starring Scarlet Witch and Vision from the MCU
Completely unexpected but the pilot was charming and the plot got its hooks into me early
If you like the MCU at all you need to be watching

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PS2J 325 News – Shadow of Servers

November 6, 2020
Tagged as: 14.2, 2K Games, 4K, a knight’s quest, accessibility, achievements, acrobat, active noise cancellation, ad tracking, adobe, Adventure, africa, age of calamity, airpods pro, airtags, Alan, alliance, Amazon, Ape Escape, app, Apple, apple event, apple one, apple silicon, Apps, aragami, Arcade, assassin, assassin’s creed, assassin’s creed odyssey, asynchronous, atmosphere, aurion, big sur, bing bong boy, blind, block, brawler, Breath of the Wild, british, bugsnax, build, bundle, Burnout, camera, card, Celeste, charging, cinematic pack, citizen, cloud gaming, cloud version, clumsy, combi, control, control center, crackling, dark cloud, data, dead by daylight, Diddy Kong Racing, DLC, dolby atmos, Donkey Kong Country, dungeons 3, EA, ecg, economix recovery, end of the world, Epic Games, epic slapple fight, eshop, exposure, extreme exorcism, Facebook, fairy tale, fireteams, folklore, Fortnite, Free Games, friday the 13th, full spectrum warrior, Gamepass, gatcha, geforce now, ghost, gothic fantasy, Halo 4, hand painted, hitman 3, hollow knight, homepod, Horror, Hyrule Warriors, iCloud, iMac, impaired, Indie, intercom, iOS, iPadOS, iphone 12 pro, island, j.r.r. tolkein, james harden, Josh, Kickstarter, Kinect, korea, leak, legacy of the kori-odan, legion, Lego, lego indiana jones, lethis, lidar, lootbox, lord of the rings, low vision, luna, Mac, Macbook, magsafe, maid of sker, mark zuckerberg, Master Chief, metroidvania, Microsoft, microtransaction, middle-earth, military, mini review, missing, Mobile, Multiplayer, music, mythology, N64, Nacho Libre, narrative, nba2k, nemesis, night mode, nintendo, Nintendo DS, nintendo switch, note 20, nutritional labels, nvidia, One, one more thing, Online, open-world, overkill edition, pacific blue, path of progress, people detection, performance, phantasy star online 2, Pikachu, platformer, Playstation, Pokemon, pokemon snap, pretty, prevention, Privacy, Pro, PS2, PS4, ps5, psa, puzzle, qi, ram, reader, real time, resident evil 7, retail, RPG, RTS, Russia, safari, Samsung, security, series, shadow edition, shadow of mordor, shadow of war, Shazam, Shooter, simulator, slasher, smoke and sacrifice, SNES, Sony, soulsborne, sound, source code, squad based, static, stealth, steampunk, storage, strategy, stream, super meatboy, Super Nintendo, surround, survival, swimsanity, Tactics, the game, the hobbit, threat, tracking, training, transparency, truth, TV, Twitch, Ubisoft, ubitus gamecloud, ultimate edition, ultra, underground, underwater, underworld, united states, Update, vendetta, victor vran, victorian, viva pinata, voiceover, voidheart edition, wallet, Watch Dogs, watchos, wbplay, welsh, whale, wraith, XBox, Xbox 360, xcloud, zagravia

Security PSA: Update your Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader software

There have been a bunch of new security threats patched recently, open up Reader or Acrobat and go to Help > Check Updates to make sure you have the latest version

Free games

PlayStation
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (free 4K Cinematic Pack is also available)
  - 2017
  - Assassin’s Creed-style action RPG set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings that has you continuing the story from Shadow of Mordor to forge a new ring of power and amass an army to fight Sauron, including an improved nemesis system that has you gathering followers and making lasting enemies
  - It initially had microtransactions and lootboxes, but they were removed about a year later.
  - There’s also a free 4k cinematic pack, and the DLC season pass is 80% off until the 21st
- Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
  - 2017 Metroidvania with some influences from the Soulsborne games, where you traverse an ancient plague-infested kingdom, fighting bosses and unlocking new abilities. It’s got great atmosphere and tight controls, and deaths aren’t overly punishing
  - Voidheart Edition is the 2018 port of the game to PS4 and Xbox One, including the four DLC packs
- Bugsnax (PS5)
  - 2020
  - An indie adventure game where you explore a mysterious island and attempt to find and capture the titular half-bug-half-snack creatures, taking inspiration from Pokémon Snap, Ape Escape, Dark Cloud, and Viva Piñata
Xbox
- Aragami: Shadow Edition
  - 2016
  - Action adventure stealth game with solid reviews where you take the role of Aragami, an assassin with supernatural abilities like teleporting between shadows
  - Shadow Edition includes the prequel Nightfall DLC
- Maid of Sker
  - 2020
  - First person survival horror based on Welsh and British folklore, where it’s 1898 and you’ve been invited by your lover to uncover the mysteries of the Sker Hotel after she notices her family’s strange behaviour
- Swimsanity
  - 2020
  - Multiplayer 2D underwater shooter with co-op and versus game modes, and both online and local play
- Lego Indiana Jones
  - 2008
  - Lego-themed action adventure game that loosely follows the first three Indiana Jones films with the same kind of tweaks, humour, and classic drop in/out co-op play that characterizes Lego games
- Full Spectrum Warrior
  - 2004
  - Squad-based real-time military tactics game where you’re commanding two fireteams to cover eachother and complete objectives
  - It was initially developed to be a simulator for the United States military in an experiment to leverage the original Xbox for training simulations, and then was retrofitted into a retail release with improved graphics and sound
Twitch
- A Knight’s Quest
  - 2019
  - Action adventure game that puts you in the role of Rusty, a clumsy adventurer who accidentally sets about the end of the world. Solve mind-bending puzzles, fight challenging enemies, defeat huge bosses and platform your way through a fantastic open world.
- Smoke and Sacrifice
  - 2018
  - Open-world narrative-driven RPG with hand-painted graphics that has you playing a mother forced to give up her son, adventuring into a grotesque underworld on a quest that will lead her to a darker truth
- Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
  - 2016
  - Action RPG that was successfully Kickstarted in 2015 and is based on African mythology, it has you playing a prince betrayed by your future brother-in-law and forging alliances to bring him down, with real-time brawler-style combat that has an emphasis on making combos to defeat enemies
- Victor Vran Overkill Edition
  - 2017 port of the 2015 PC release
  - Action RPG resembling a Gothic-fantasy fairy tale where both magic and science have a place in the world, and it’s up to you to help the city of Zagoravia fight off a demon infestation of unknown origin
- Lethis – Path of Progress
  - 2015
  - Old school 2D city builder set in a Victorian Steampunk universe called Lethis, that has you building and managing cities to provide resources for the inhabitants and make your citizens happy
- Extreme Exorcism
  - 2015
  - “A paranormal platformer where every move you make comes back to haunt you”
  - 2D pixel platformer that has you jumping around and taking down ghosts with a deadly arsenal from rocket launchers to boomerangs, but at the end of each round a ghost appears and mimics your every move from the round before. The longer you survive the more extreme the game becomes
Epic Games
- Dungeons 3
  - 2017
  - A combination dungeon builder and RTS, you’re tasked with creating an underground dungeon for creatures to live in as well as defending it against invading heroes from the world above. You can also send units out of the dungeon and take over areas of the world map, RTS style

Epic slApple fight

Plans are in place to get Fortnite back on iOS and iPadOS using Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service
- Apparently Nvidia has developed a version of GeForce Now that works in Safari on Apple’s mobile devices, likely similar to what Microsoft’s xCloud and Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming services are aiming to use
Though there’s been no official announcement of the Safari launch, if this is true then GeForce Now will be the one and only way to play Fortnite on iPhones and iPads
- I’d be curious to see what the details of this deal are, if Nvidia is getting the 30% cut now or if they’re just happy with the subscription cost for the service

Apple’s released a bunch of software this week

iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 are here with new emoji, wallpapers, bug fixes, and more
- There’s a fantastic new accessibility feature included specifically for people with impaired vision, and it sounds like an amazing idea
  - The feature is called People Detection, in your accessibility settings under the Magnifier, and it uses augmented reality and machine learning to detect where people and objects are around you
  - Particularly well-suited for the LiDAR sensor in the 12 Pro, it can help blind or low vision users understand their surroundings better, such as knowing how many people are in line at a grocery store or where the end of a subway platform is
    - It can even tell you if you’re within six feet of another person
  - Users can set up a minimum distance for alerts, and receive feedback though vibrations or through their AirPods
    - People Detection is fully compatible with VoiceOver, Apple’s screen-reader tech
  - This seems really useful on the iPhone, but with rumours continuing to mount of eventual AR glasses from Apple this could be a gamechanger for people with vision problems
- Intercom is here, letting you send and receive messages between HomePods
- HomePods can now be connected to the Apple TV 4K for wireless surround sound and Dolby Atmos audio
- Built-in Shazam music recognition can be launched from the Control Center
WatchOS 7.1 is out now, with improvements and fixes like notifications if your headphone volume could permanently affect your hearing, and a fix for issues some people were having with their watch not unlocking their Max as expected
- They’ve also added ECG support for the Republic of Korea and Russia
macOS 10.15.7 Supplemental Update is available for download, improving the security of your Mac

Cloud gaming on the Nintendo Switch has come west with two new games for the device

Previously the Switch saw games like Phantasy Star Online 2, Resident Evil 7, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey playable through the cloud, but only in Japan
- They were using the Taiwan-based Ubitus GameCloud service so they could run the technically demanding titles on the portable hardware of the Switch
Now they’re releasing Control and Hitman 3 on the service as well, this time including the rest of the world in the fun
- The games need a <100MB install on the Switch, then they stream gameplay to and from the cloud using checkpoint saves in case you lose connectivity
- Control Ultimate Edition – Cloud Version is out now and includes the base game and the first two expansions, The Foundation and AWE. It also includes the Expeditions end game mode, photo mode, and all of the additional updates since the release of the original.
  - According to early reports, thanks to the cloud infrastructure it can get up to 30fps with ray tracing and 60fps without
- Hitman 3 – Cloud Version is the conclusion of the World of Assassination Trilogy. The game is expected to be released on Windows PC as an Epic Games Store exclusive in January 2021. No launch date for the Switch version was offered. Expect the final product to include plenty of sandbox locations to explore, and creative ways to bring down your assassination targets.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will be losing online features, and thus the access to come achievements, on December 31st

The 2014 title will be losing:
- The Nemesis Forge, which means players won’t be able to transfer their nemeses from Shadow of Mordor to Shadow of War
- Vendetta missions and leaderboard
- And WBPay will no longer be available, but the epic runs “Orc Hunter” and “Gravewalker” will automatically be given to all players
Those vendetta missions being removed means that there will be some achievements that it’s no longer possible to get, so if you want to 100% Shadow of Mordor you have till the end of the year

Apple has launched a new service program for AirPods Pro sound issues, which had many users hearing static or crackling noises as well as problems with Active Noise Cancellation

I experienced this myself multiple times in a row, with replacements thankfully being smooth and relatively painless through the mail
- The biggest issue I saw was when I had the AirPods in my ears and then anything somewhat loud happened, either me clearing my throat or listening to loud audio
The issue may affect AirPods manufactured before October 2020 (so, basically all of them), so if you’re having issues it’s definitely worth reaching out to Apple Support and having them replaced

This Day In Gaming History

October 31 – 1997 – Diddy Kong Racing – N64

It’s an island takeover when the evil space wizard, Wizpig, discovers Tiger Island!
- After the islands prized racetracks become sealed up, Timber Tiger contacts his friend Diddy Kong to help him reclaim the racetracks and save the island before his parents return.
- Along for the ride are the Kremling spy Krunch, Bumper Badger, Banjo (prior to meeting Kazooie in Banjo-Kazooie), pre-sweary Conker, Tiptup Turtle, and Pipsy Mouse.
Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game with similarities to Mario Kart 64, in that you race with a variety of cheery racers while using weapons.
- However, the similarities end there.
- DKR includes an adventure mode, which features bosses, an overworld to explore, many hidden secrets, the addition of hovercrafts and planes, and a unique way of racing called the “Silver Coin Challenge”. In this mode, in addition to coming first, you must also find the eight Silver Coins deviously hidden throughout the courses (some in alternate paths).
The game also features a strategic method of using weapons.
- Each colored balloon on the track matches a specific weapon, and collecting the same type of balloon multiple times in a row powers it up (to a maximum of three times).
- This gives the player the choice of snatching every balloon available and using it immediately, or storing the existing weapon, and using a more powerful version of it later.
Up to four players can compete in the races, but in order to play new tracks, they must first be unlocked in the single player game.
- There are also four battle modes of play – two standard deathmatch maps, a capture-the-flag style battle where you must nab eggs and hatch three of them in your home nest, and another where you must be the first to return ten bananas to your treasure chest (with the limitation of only being able to hold two at any one time).

November 1 – 1994 – Donkey Kong Country – SNES

King K. Rool has stolen Donkey Kong’s banana stash, and Donkey Kong needs your help to get them back.
- In search of K. Rool, the Kremling horde impedes your progress. Kremlings, crocodile-like creatures, include Kritters (they succumb to a simple jump on the head), Krushas (they are virtually indestructible), and others.
- There are also other enemies that block your path, such as beavers, snakes, vultures.
- Leading them are dastardly bosses, including Very Gnawty, Necky, Queen B., and Dumb Drum, and they all bar the way with their own special blend of villainy.
Donkey Kong is joined by Diddy Kong: these two primates differ significantly.
- For example, Donkey Kong is generally stronger; he can destroy most enemies with a single jump and can lift barrels straight over his head to throw them farther.
- On the other hand, Diddy is faster and not as strong as Donkey; he can run really fast and do cartwheels. Diddy carries barrels in front of him, creating a shield against frontal attacks.
The original Super Nintendo game was later released for Nintendo’s handheld systems.
- The Game Boy Color version has an exclusive level (Necky Nutmare) and additional bonus games, Funky’s Fishing and five Crosshair Cranky minigames.
- There was also the addition of collectible DK sticker packs scattered throughout the levels.
- These sticker packs could be printed out using the Game Boy Printer.
- The game also has two more difficulty options that become available after beating the game.
- Beating the game once lets the player turn off DK barrels and beating the game a second time will let the player turn off checkpoint barrels.
The Game Boy Advance version also had additional bonus games.
- It to has a version of Funky’s Fishing but instead of the crosshair themed games, there is now Candy’s Dance Studio, which hosts six dance games.
- There is also the additions of a time attack mode called DK Attack, a harder difficulty mode called Hero Mode (can only play as Diddy Kong and the game no longer offers Donkey Kong barrels and checkpoints throughout the levels), and the sticker book idea from the Gameboy Color version was replaced with collecting scrapbook pictures instead.

November 2 – 2001 – Burnout – PS2, Later on Xbox

Burnout is an arcade style racing game in the mold of the Test Drive or Need For Speed series.
- In this game, you are racing on realistic streets with real traffic to contend with.
There are 6 courses on which to race, 3 of which are reminiscent of Europe, and 3 from the USA.
- There are several vehicles to choose from, ranging from compact cars to pickups.
- However, they are not based on real makes and models.
One notable feature of Burnout is the “Burn Meter.”
- The Burn Meter is a gauge that is filled by performing reckless stunts, like racing into oncoming traffic or power-drifting through corners.
- Once the Burn Meter is filled, your car gets a super speed boost.
- If you crash, the Burn Meter is reset and must be filled again to achieve a boost.

November 3 – 2006 – Nacho Libre – Nintendo DS

Based on the upcoming feature film starring Jack Black, Nacho Libre offers fans comedic wrestling mayhem–exaggerated moves, wacky props and lots of pratfalls delivered with a unique photo puppetry look.
- Jack Black stars as Ignacio (friends call him “Nacho”), a cook by day in a Mexican orphanage, who moonlights as a lucha libre wrestler to raise money for the orphans.
Six play modes:
- Story Mode (single player, tied to the movie plot)
- Vs. Mode, Team Mode (2 vs. 2)
- Battle Jam (2-4 player wireless brawls)
- Quick Match
- Championship Match (multiplayer only)
Wrestle in four different arenas from the movie
- Play as 20 different luchadors based on characters from the movie.
- Each has his/her own wrestling moves and special attacks.
- Take on your opponents with headlocks, grapples, holds and pin moves or create combos for devastating, and comical, results
- Use the Touch Screen to play eight themed mini games including Nachoball, Footrace, Bee Swat, Bullrun, Cliff Climber, Chariot Jump and more
- Unique “photo puppetry” art style lends the game a distinctive, humorous look
- Includes recreated cut scenes from the movie in between the action
- Unlock bonus material after playing through Story Mode

November 4 – 2010 – Kinect – Xbox 360

The origins of the Kinect started around 2005, at a point where technology vendors were starting to develop depth-sensing cameras.
- Microsoft had been interested in a 3D camera for the Xbox line earlier but because the technology had not been refined, had placed it in the “Boneyard”, a collection of possible technology they could not immediately work on.
In 2005, PrimeSense was founded by tech-savvy mathematicians and engineers from Israel to develop the “next big thing” for video games, incorporating cameras that were capable of mapping a human body in front of them and sensing hand motions.
- They showed off their system at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, where Microsoft’s Alex Kipman, the general manager of hardware incubation, saw the potential in PrimeSense’s technology for the Xbox system.
- Microsoft began discussions with PrimeSense about improvements in the capabilities of depth-sensing cameras, a reduction in size and cost, and a means to manufacturer the units at scale was required.
Nintendo released the Wii in November 2006, where motion control was the focus.
- Microsoft felt pressure from the Wii, and began looking into depth-sensing in more detail with PrimeSense’s hardware, but at that time, could not get to the level of motion tracking they desired.
- Microsoft also looked to create an equivalent of the Wii Remote, but it was discarded as it was still ultimately Microsoft’s goal to remove any device between the player and the Xbox.
Nearing the planned release, the problem of widespread testing of Kinect in various room types and different bodies accounting for age, gender, and race among other factors, while keeping the details of the unit confidential. Microsoft engaged in a company-wide program offering employees to take home Kinect units to test them.
- Microsoft also brought other non-gaming divisions, including its Microsoft Research, Microsoft Windows, and Bing teams to help complete the system.
- Microsoft established its own large-scale manufacturing facility to bulk product Kinect units and test them.
Somewhat recent Kinect news!
- On May 7, 2018, Microsoft announced a new iteration of Kinect technology designed primarily for enterprise software and artificial intelligence usage.
- It is designed around the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, and is meant to “leverage the richness of Azure AI to dramatically improve insights and operations”.
- It has a smaller form factor than the Xbox iterations of Kinect, and features a 12-megapixel camera, a time-of-flight depth sensor also used on the HoloLens 2, and seven microphones.
- A development kit was announced in February 2019.

November 5 – 1998 – Hey You, Pikachu! – N64

Hey You, Pikachu! is a Pokémon adventure game.
- The game allows you to speak directly to Pikachu via the Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) included with the game, in order to tell Pikachu what to do and help direct the adventures the two of you embark on.
The game features 20 different minigames which you and Pikachu play together.
- Some involve you catching water Pokémon, while another might send you search for ingredients for stew.
- When the minigame is over, you go back home and sleep, waking up the next day to play another game.
- As the game progresses more of the features and minigames are unlocked, and Pikachu’s friendship meter will grow.
Pikachu will understand around 200 different words or simple phrases like “come here”, “stop that”, and “eat it”. Voice communication is the primary method of interacting with the game, though the analog stick is used for navigation.

November 6 – 2012 – Halo 4 – XBox 360

The game sets the stage for a new story in which Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient awakened evil that threatens all life in the universe.
- The main campaign also heavily explores the relationship between Master Chief and his AI companion, Cortana.
- Cortana is nearing the end of her life, before devolving into a state called Rampancy in which an AI begins to think itself to death.
- The campaign features both first-person shooter and driving elements, and can be played either single player or co-cooperatively (either over Xbox Live or split-screen).
- It features new weapons and an entirely new class of enemy characters called Prometheans.
And for some PS2J History
- We did our first Live episode on Alan’s phone
- I made the link ps2jshow.com/halo4 for anyone interested in some of our podcasting history

Tidbits

Development on Friday the 13th: The Game is coming to an end, with its last patch releasing sometime this month
- The dedicated multiplayer servers will be shut down, but online play will continue with peer-to-peer hosting
The Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity demo is now up on the Switch eShop, and it looks pretty cool
- It includes the first chapter of the game, and progress will carry over to the full release on November 20th
- Without getting in to spoilers, they may be settings things up so that the story doesn’t end how we’re all expecting after seeing Breath of the Wild
There’s yet another Apple Event going on this year, scheduled for November 10th
- Titled “One more thing”, there aren’t many clues about its focus but people are expecting AirTags (Apple’s new lost item tracking devices) and new computers with Apple’s fancy custom processors
- We may also see more information on macOS 11, Big Sur
The new Apple One subscription bundles went live this week, offering a few different plans to save money if you subscribe to services like Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and iCloud Storage
Apple’s also spinning up their new “nutritional labels” for apps, giving people a breakdown on each app’s product page for what data types they may collect, what data may be used to track you, and what data isn’t linked to you at all
2K Games and EA are under fire for misleading info when it comes to NBA2K card packs
- Apparently one of the players, James Harden, was completely missing from the gatcha packs that he was supposed to be included in for the first 23 minutes of release, and enough whales were trying to get him right away that thousands of dollars were wasted
The source code for Watch Dogs Legion has already leaked, leading the way for mods and cracks ahead of its November 10th release
Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make the case that Apple’s ad tracking blocks will damage economic recovery from COVID-19
- He specifically pointed the out mandatory notification when an app or website wants to track users, saying that letting people know they can opt out will hurt “small businesses and economic recovery in 2021 and beyond”, though I’m guessing this is just a redirect for how hard Facebook itself will be hit by the changes

iPhone 12 Pro mini review

The Pacific Blue is very pretty, and makes me want to use my phone without a case
- The frosted glass back feels very nice, but I worry about drops and scratches
The extra RAM (6GB instead of 4GB) is actually noticeable when resuming games
The overall performance has been great too, and according to PhoneBuff tests have it out performing the Samsung Note 20 Ultra (that actually has double the RAM)
The camera is a huge upgrade over the X, especially night mode
- It automatically runs long exposures if needed, and if the gyroscope detects it’s attached to a tripod it offers even longer options
The extra size isn’t really noticeable
Magsafe is slick for chargers, especially if you already use a lot of wireless charging, but from what I’ve seen online accessories like the leather wallet don’t really seem to stick in day-to-day use

Dead by Daylight mini mini review

Asynchronous 1v4 slasher game
Bit of a cash grab with its DLC, but on GamePass it’s a lot of fun
Wraith is my boy!

For more content, Patreon supports get access to upcoming ideas and more!

Thank you for your continued support Karen, we may not be podcasting today without your drive to make a podcasting community in Alberta. Listen to her and her daughter on Thats A Thing?!

And thanks to the rest of our ‘fanily’ that support us.

And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

We are a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network. Locally grown. Community supported.

And talk to us in the comments!

PS2J 324 News – Facebook Game-Vertisement

October 30, 2020
Tagged as: 30%, 360, 4, 5, action, ad, adaptor, Adventure, advertising, Alan, alex hutchinson, Amazon, among us, anker, antenna, antitrust, app, app store, Apple, Arcade, assassin’s creed, asynchronous, battery, beta, Bethesda, bill murray, black hills forest, Blair Witch, break, brick, broken, browser, bullshit, cable, Canada, CD Projekt Red, Charger, cloud gaming, console, control, controller, court, creative director, cross-platform, Crossplay, Cyberpunk 2077, dan aykroyd, day 0, default, delay, department of justice, developer, dsl, EA, elite, Elon Musk, Epic Games, ernie hudson, Facebook, fair use, Fallout 3, fanart, farmville, fees, fibre, fifa, file, first amendment, Free, Free Games, free speech, Gambling, game pass, gameplay, gaming, Ghostbusters, gizmodo, Gold, Google, Government, Grand Theft Auto, Graphics, GTA, harold ramis, headphone, hello games, Horror, improvements, infrastructure, Internet, iOS, jacksepticeye, jason rubin, Josh, journalist, journey to, judge, keyboard, latency tolerant, legion, liability, liberty, license, lock, loot box, low earth orbit, luna, Marvel Super Heroes, Microsoft, missing child, Mobile, moderate, moderation, money, monthly fee, mouse, needful things, netherlands, network, new york city, next generation, next-gen, nintendo, No Mans Sky, Oculus, optic, packaging, parapsychologist, patch, platform, play, Playstation, port, positive, power, profit, project, protection, PS2, PS3, PS4, ps5, psychological, publisher, quest 2, real time, Reddit, remastered, ruling, s, sales, Samsung, satellite, savage planet, save, search, section 230, senate, Shooter, signature, Simpsons, slow, Sony, Soulcaliber III, SpaceX, sports, stadia, starlink, stealth, strap, stream, streamer, Streaming<, subscription, Super Mario Odyssey, support, survival, Switch, terrorist, the occupation, the video game, third movie, third party, threat, Timeline, touchscreen, turtles all the way down, Twitch, Twitter, Ubisoft, ultimate edition, united states, upgrade, uplay, USB, valhalla, Vice City, vice president, waste, Watch Dogs, watermark, Wii, Windows, would you like to know more, X, XBox, Xbox One, xbox series, xplornet

Free Games

Twitch
- The Occupation
  - 2019
  - Stealth game that takes place in a government building in real time over the course of four hours, advancing with or without player input, where you play a journalist researching a controversial government act threatening civil liberties in the wake of a terrorist attack
Epic Games
- Blair Witch
  - 2019
  - Psychological survival horror game set two years after the events of The Blair Witch Project, following a former police officer searching Black Hills Forest for a missing child
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
  - 2019 remaster of the 2009 release
  - Third-person action adventure game where you play a new recruit to the team of parapsychologist ghost hunters two years after Ghostbusters II, that has you working with the original cast to investigate paranormal activities in New York City
  - The developers worked in many details from the Ghostbusters III script that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis had been working on, leading Aykroyd to consider this as “essentially the third movie”

Facebook is jumping on the cloud gaming bandwagon, aiming at AAA free-to-play on browsers and mobile

The idea is that anybody can play for free, as long as they have a Facebook account (so much like Needful Things, you don’t pay with money)
Facebook’s vice president of play, Jason Rubin, says their initial focus will be games picked to be “latency tolerant”, so they don’t need rock-solid infrastructure or connections to be playable
Much like the days of Farmville, people can start playing games by clicking an ad in their Facebook timeline
And Rubin was quick to point out this isn’t a game streaming service, and they won’t be releasing a first-party controller. Everything will be played with mouse and keyboard, or with your device’s touchscreen
They also won’t be bringing in big name console titles from publishers like Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, or Ubisoft
And, ominously, Rubin said “No investment, no promises”, presumably meaning that there’s no monthly fee or contracts, but also seeming to imply that they’ll do whatever they want with this platform as they’ve done with all of their other products
And theoretically the games won’t be locked to the Facebook platform- every game at launch will allow users to take in-app purchases with them to other platforms to play elsewhere. They don’t care if you stay on their platform, because you’ve already clicked the ad to launch the game
- Rubin said “…ultimately, we ran the ads, the ads are more effective. And we’re an advertising business. That’s how free-to-play games find people.”
- Facebook makes money by keeping you on their platform, so if they can get you playing games there too they win regardless of if you’re paying
Interestingly enough, in this era of pushback on app store fees, Facebook is reportedly taking a 30% cut of purchases on the web, though purchases through the Google Play store will see that 30% going to Google instead
They’ll apparently be skipping over iOS this time around though, due to the rules we’ve reported on regarding cloud gaming on Apple devices
The Android Beta of Facebook Gaming launches this Monday

Heads up for anyone planning on taking their Control save file from the current generation of consoles to the new ones in November, you need to buy and play the current Ultimate Edition first

According to 505 Games support, you can’t just import your base PS4 or Xbox One save into the new Ultimate version on the PS5 or Xbox Series
Using the Playstation as an example, you need to buy the Ultimate Edition for PS4 and then play it at least once to upgrade your save files. At that point they’ll be compatible with the PS5 Ultimate Edition
So if you just own the base game on PS4 and the Ultimate Edition on PS5, you’re stuck losing progress. You need to buy the Ultimate Edition on PS4 instead so that you can update your save.
At least the Ultimate Edition includes a free PS5 upgrade?

CD Project Red is under fire for once again delaying Cyberpunk 2077, this time to December 10th

Even though the game has gone gold and has all its content, this new delay is related to day 0 patches to try and improve the quality and gameplay
Day 0 patches can lead to some sizeable changes and improvements, as we saw with No Man’s Sky, but can also cause issues for those without great internet that are hoping to just buy a disc and play it
On one hand I, like many others, want them to take the time to release a great game that they can be proud of, but on the other they probably shouldn’t keep announcing new release dates and crunch times over and over again
- This is an especially bad look when not even a full 24 hours before the latest announcement they were on Twitter telling people that the November 19th date was fully confirmed and 100% on track
The game was initially announced over 8 years ago
- A trailer at E3 2019 gave a release date of April 26 2020
- Then it was delayed to September 17
- Then November 19
- Now December 10
- And this is all even with the crunch development that they promised they wouldn’t do and are doing anyway. Developers are working upwards of 100 hour weeks, and things are still slipping
At this point it feels like they’ve prioritized the release date over actually finishing the game, but keep letting it slip regardless
That said, there have been reports of people sending death threats to the developers over these delays and that is NOT okay

Alex Hutchinson, a Google Stadia Creative Director, had a spicy take this week saying that streamers should pay developers and publishers extra licensing for the games they stream

Funnily enough this is a man using uncredited fanart of JackSepticEye’s Savage Planet playthrough (a game Hutchinson worked on) for his Twitter banner
- He even cropped out the signature
And many were quick to point out the positive impacts that streaming and let’s play videos can have on game sales, as well as the fact that in a world where publishing executives make millions a year developers wouldn’t even see any of that money anyway
Plus it’s literally fair use- these people are adding commentary and personality to the gameplay, not just silently playing a movie

SpaceX is sending out the first invites for its public beta of Starlink, the low earth orbit satellite internet network

Currently limited to some areas of the US and Canada, it will be offering 50-150Mbps with an estimated latency of 20-40ms by summer 2021
It also comes with an iOS app that can help you install the antenna, check for obstructions, and help troubleshoot and test your connection if you need support
Initial buy-in is $500USD for the antenna and router, with a subscription price of $100/month, which honestly isn’t that bad if you don’t have cable, DSL, or fibre internet in your area- services like Xplornet offer slower speeds with much higher latency for about the same price

Following up on their huge Origins update, Hello Games has announced their next update for No Man’s Sky: Next Generation

Update 3.1 will being a graphically enhanced and smoother experience to the next generation of consoles and PC, with bigger bases, lusher planets, more players, faster warp speeds, cross-generation crossplay, and more
Xbox One saves are automatically compatible, and PS4 players can upload their save data in-game for download on the PS5
Best part is, it’s another completely free update!
I’m looking forward to loading up my original save from 2016 and trying out all this new stuff

This Week In Gaming History

October 24 – 1995 – Marvel Super Heroes – Arcade

Marvel Super Heroes is a 2D fighting game and the second Capcom title to feature characters from the Marvel comic universe.
- The gameplay is very similar to X-Men: Children of the Atom, but with a simplified Super Combo gauge and the addition of infinity gems.
- Each character starts with a set of gems.
- These can be activated during a fight to improve speed, power and defense, or provide special abilities to create crushing stone walls, open up a rift in space, or reverse the opponent’s controls.
- The use of the gems is inspired by the The Infinity Gauntlet comic book series.
There are ten playable characters.
- Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Psylocke, Spider-Man and Wolverine.
- The villains are Blackheart, Juggernaut, Magneto and Shuma-Gorath.
- Anita from the Darkstalkers series is a hidden character in the Japanese version.
- The bosses are Doctor Doom and Thanos. During the boss fight Thanos steals all the player’s gems (except for mind) and uses them with new effects.m

October 25 – 2005 – Soul Caliber III – PS2

In ancient times, a powerful weapon known as the Soul Edge existed, and tales of it’s power lured many.
- But Soul Edge was an evil weapon, and when Siegfried claimed it, he was turned into a creature named Nightmare.
- As time passed, Nightmare rampaged across Europe leaving a path of destruction, despite the efforts of other fighters.
- One day, a mysterious man carrying a scythe confronts Nightmare and splits Siegfried from his cursed form.
- He then resurrects the Azure Armor to carry on as the “Nightmare” creature.
- At the same time, a young girl Tira pledges herself to Soul Edge’s dark power, and a woman named Setsuka swears to avenge her master.
- All the while new rumors of the Soul Edge spread across the world, causing many who had searched for it before to once more venture out…
Soulcalibur III is a 3D fighting game featuring a variety of characters, each carrying a distinctive weapon and unique fighting style.
- The basics of the combat is a derived, in different stances, from a combination of Horizontal Attacks, Vertical Attacks, Throws, Kicks and a Soul Charge.
- Characters engage one another in 1vs1 fights that end when the energy of one side is lost, removed from the ring or run out of time.
This game added the Character Creation Mode
- This allows the player to choose from several classes, clothing and armor, and physical features.
- Most of the classes can use up to five disciplines, three of which are unique, and two of which are “Soul of …” disciplines: an exact replica of a main story character’s moves.
- The created fighter’s personality can be altered, which influences their quotes and their actions during battle.
- Unfortunately, the personality is chosen by the equipment the character wears, and not directly by the player.
In the first ever Spike Video Game Awards in 2003, SoulCalibur II won in the category Most Addictive Game. The original releases on MetaCritic, are 93% on GameCube, 92% on PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
I got some of these notes from PS2J 233, when I did the history of Soulcaliber.m

October 26 – 2000 – PlayStation 2 – North America

A sixth-generation console, it competed with Sega’s Dreamcast, Nintendo’s GameCube, and Microsoft’s original Xbox.
Announced in 1999, the PS2 offered backward-compatibility for its predecessor’s DualShock controller, as well as its games.
- The PS2 is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide.
- Over 3,800 game titles have been released for the PS2, with over 1.5 billion copies sold.
The PlayStation 2 offered some particularly high-profile exclusive games.
- Most main entries in the Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, and Metal Gear Solid series were released exclusively for the console.
- Several prolific series got their start on the PlayStation 2, including God of War, Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts, and Sly Cooper.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the best-selling game on the console.
Random PS2 Fact:
- People in Brazil could actually boot up Netflix on their PS2 consoles.
- This service also required a disc plus a memory card.
- Netflix support for the PS2 was officially ended in 2012, which angered a user on the Gamespot forums.
  - However, Googling the subject, it seems some folks were able to circumvent this and keep watching House Of Cards and BoJack Horseman long after official support was pulled.
  - Reference for this: https://kotaku.com/until-2012-you-could-watch-netflix-on-a-ps2-in-brazil-1837331353

October 27 – 2017 – Super Mario Odyssey – Switch

Explore incredible places far from the Mushroom Kingdom as you join Mario and his new ally Cappy on a massive, globe-trotting 3D adventure.
Use amazing new abilities—like the power to capture and control objects, animals, and enemies—to collect Power Moons so you can power up the Odyssey airship and save Princess Peach from Bowser’s wedding plans!
Thanks to heroic, hat-shaped Cappy, Mario’s got new moves that’ll make you rethink his traditional run-and-jump gameplay—like cap jump, cap throw, and capture.
- Use captured cohorts such as enemies, objects, and animals to progress through the game and uncover loads of hidden collectibles.
- And if you feel like playing with a friend, just pass them a Joy-Con™ controller!
- Player 1 controls Mario while Player 2 controls Cappy.
- This sandbox-style 3D Mario adventure—the first since 1996’s beloved Super Mario 64™ and 2002’s Nintendo GameCube™ classic Super Mario Sunshine™—is packed with secrets and surprises, plus exciting new kingdoms to explore.
  - Explore astonishing new locales like skyscraper-packed New Donk City to your heart’s content, and run into familiar friends and foes as you try to save Princess Peach from Bowser’s dastardly wedding plans.
  - Find something interesting? Toss your cap at it and see what happens! There are lots of fun and surprising ways to interact with your surroundings.
  - Be sure to bring any coins you find to a Crazy Cap store, where you can exchange them for decorative souvenirs for the Odyssey and new outfits for Mario! Some destinations have very exclusive dress codes, after all…
  - Hand a Joy-Con™ controller to a friend to enjoy simultaneous multiplayer: Player 1 controls Mario while Player 2 controls Mario’s new ally Cappy.
  - Use Snapshot Mode to freeze time while playing the game and take screenshots that you can customize using various options and filters. Screenshots can be shared via social media or uploaded to PCs and smart devices* using all of the Nintendo Switch™ system’s built-in screenshot tools.
  - A special edition Nintendo Switch™ hardware bundle will launch alongside the game. This special edition includes a download code for the full game, red left and right Joy-Con™ controllers, and a Super Mario Odyssey™ themed Nintendo Switch carrying case.
Controls are the best in the series. Ratings are generally perfect across the board.
First Mario game with a pop song as the main title.
- Jump Up, Super Star was released worldwide on October 20, 2017, on the iTunes Store, while the short version was downloadable for free until January 31, 2018.

October 28 – 2008 – Fallout 3 – PS3, Windows, XBox 360

The game that made Fallout the way everyone knows it now
Bethesda Softworks started working on Fallout 3 in July 2004, but principal development did not begin until after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and its related extras and plug-ins were completed.
- Bethesda made Fallout 3 similar to the previous two games, focusing upon non-linear gameplay, story, and black comedy.
- Bethesda pursued an ESRB rating of M (for “mature”) by including the adult themes, violence, and depravity characteristic of the Fallout series.
- They shied away from the self-referential gags of the game’s predecessors that broke the illusion that the world of Fallout is real.
- Fallout 3 uses a version of the same Gamebryo engine as Oblivion, and was developed by the team responsible for that game. Liam Neeson was cast as the voice of the player’s father.
Neat Fallout 3 things I have from PS2J 216, the History of Fallout
- There were originally at least 12 versions of the final cutscene, but, with further development, this expanded to over 200 possible permutations in the final release, all of which are determined by the actions taken by the player.
- Game director Todd Howard confirmed that, in addition to thematics about slavery and cannibalism, there would be the presence of splatter scenes and exposition of evident mutilations on enemies with release of gibs.
- The inspiration to include scenes with such explicit violence came from the “crash mode” of the driving simulator series Burnout.
  - Instead of cars that disintegrated because of the damage, the idea of applying kinematics on bodies who suffered wounds and mutilations due to ballistic trauma or beatings.
- The game fell into some controversies with a world wide release.
  - Fallout 3 was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board, thus making it illegal to distribute or purchase the game in Australia.
  - According to the board report, the game was refused classification due to the “realistic visual representations of drugs and their delivery method [bringing] the ‘science-fiction’ drugs in line with ‘real-world’ drugs”.
  - A revised version of the game had to be released without the animations of administering the drugs.
- In light of cultural sensitivities, the game was not released in India.
  - Although the specific reason was not revealed in public, it is possible that it is because the game contains two-headed mutated cows called Brahmin, or that Brahmin is also the name of an ancient, powerful hereditary caste of Hindu priests and religious scholars in India, or its similarity to the spelling of brahman, a type of cow that originated in India.
- The side quest “The Power of the Atom” in the Japanese version of Fallout 3 was changed to relieve concerns about depictions of atomic detonation in inhabited areas, as the memory of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains strong in the country.
  - In non-Japanese versions, players are given the option of either defusing, ignoring, or detonating the dormant atomic bomb in the town of Megaton; in the Japanese version, the character of Mr. Burke is absent, making it impossible to choose the detonation option.
  - Also in the Japanese release, the “Fat Man” nuclear catapult weapon was renamed “Nuka Launcher”, as the original name was a reference to Fat Man, the bomb used on Nagasaki.
  - According to Tetsu Takahashi, responsible for localizing Fallout 3 to Japan under his company Zenimax Asia, the available actions prior to localizing “The Power of the Atom” and the ability to kill civilians almost got the game banned by CERO before it received an Adult Only Rating.

October 29 – 2002 – Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – PlayStation 2

The follow-up to the game that changed gaming
Tommy Vercetti is a gangster who just got off a fifteen year prison sentence for not squealing on his friends.
- Because he didn’t rat out his “family”, Tommy’s sent to work with Sonny Forelli, his old boss.
- Sonny gives him an easy drug job, but everything goes wrong, and Tommy loses everything.
- Upon returning to Sonny, he gets mad and wants his money back.
- Unfortunately, everybody in Vice City, from gangsters and Cubans to bikers and politicians are in his way, and it’s up to Tommy to clear a path.
The 80’s aesthetic makes this game so special to me
- I love the era, but love the internet so wouldn’t want to live in that time. Just visit, which this game lets me.
- My favorite part of the description is about the soundtrack.
  - To effectively capture the mood of the 1980s, the soundtrack has been altered to fit the time period.
  - Players will listen to an estimated nine hours of music (nearly three times the amount featured in the previous game) across ten radio stations.
  - The eclectic mix features such noteworthy titles as I Ran by Flock of Seagulls, The Message by Grandmaster Flash, You’ve Got Another Thing Coming by Judas Priest, and Out of Touch by Hall & Oates.

October 30 – 2007 – The Simpsons Game – PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, XBox 360

This at a glance, would the game for The Simpsons Movie that came out the same year
- I remember playing all of it up the end, and enjoying it.
- I do not remember finishing it or not
Bart Simpson goes to a video game store and buys a new ultra-violent Grand Theft Scratchy game, which is promptly confiscated by his mother Marge.
- Suddenly, a video game manual lands right in front of him.
- Miraculously, after having read the manual, the members of the Simpsons family discover that each of them possesses a unique superpower.
- Toying with these, however, attracts the attention of the aliens Kang and Kodos, who decide to invade the Earth.
- Now the unlikely superheroes must not only protect the town of Springfield from an alien assault, but also find the true reason behind their newly acquired powers, and perhaps their very existence.
The Simpsons Game is a 3D action game with platforming and light puzzle-solving elements, based on the long-running cartoon.
- The game is divided into sixteen episodes, each containing cutscenes reminiscent of the original Simpsons TV series.
- Every episode is set in a different environment; some of the scenarios are based in Springfield, while others take the player into meta-virtual worlds.
- Some of the episodes parody a popular game or genre, having names like Medal of Homer or Neverquest. Each stage features two members of the Simpson clan working together to achieve the goal.
- Players must switch back and forth using each family members’ unique powers to complete the level.
- Most of the game’s versions allow two-player cooperative play.
The four controllable characters have their own unique abilities, which are used for combat, puzzle-solving, or exploration-related purposes.
- Homer can expand into a rolling blob or inflate himself with helium and float for a while; later, he learns a few other transformation abilities.
- Bart can become Bartman, using a grappling hook to access certain areas, as well as move upwards in air streams with his cape.
- Lisa’s main ability is called “Hand of Buddha”, which is used mainly for moving around large objects; she can also play her saxophone to stun or confuse enemies.
- Finally, Marge can gather people with her megaphone and control their actions, as well as send the little Maggie into crawlspaces only she can access.
- Some of these abilities have limited uses and must be either recharged or replenished with special items, while others are available only at specific trigger points.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions also contain free-roaming gameplay – exclusively in those versions player characters can leave the Simpsons’ house between missions and freely wander through virtual Springfield.
- Familiar landmarks (such as Moe’s Tavern, etc.) are present and can be explored as well.
- These locations may contain additional dialogue and events. It is possible to use the bus to travel quickly to various destinations.

Tidbits

After openly mocking Apple for removing charging bricks from new iPhones being sold, Samsung is reportedly considering the exact same move
- This isn’t really anything new, after they pulled advertising focused on Apple removing the headphone port when they did the exact same thing in the Galaxy Note 10 series
- It kind of makes sense though- it leads to less packaging and e-waste, while also driving people toward reliable and cheaper companies like Anker for their power adaptors
With reports of broken Quest 2 Elite straps continuing to mount on Reddit, users are saying that Oculus Support is being overwhelmed and pushing response times further and further back
In a case related to the FIFA games, a judge in the Netherlands has officially ruled that loot boxes are a form of gambling, and since online gambling is strictly regulated there they have given EA three weeks to remove them or be subject to up to €5M in fines
Ubisoft’s UPLAY+ has morphed into Ubisoft+, launching a multi-platform subscription model with a beta on Amazon Luna and later on Google Stadia
- PC subscribers get unlimited access to 100+ games for $15/month, including premium editions and upcoming titles like Watch Dogs: Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Once Luna and Stadia support are brought in you’ll be able to play all of the included games on one of those streaming services at no additional cost, so you won’t need a powerful gaming PC to play brand new AAA titles
As part of the antitrust lawsuit against Google that we talked about last week, it’s being reported that Google currently pays Apple an estimated $8-12B per year to be the default search engine
- This is believed to be the single biggest payment Google makes to anyone, and accounts for 14-21% of Apple’s annual profits

Would you like to know more?

Gizmodo’s breakdown of the US senate’s proposed changes to the laws that protect online platforms against liability for content uploaded by their users and how the platforms moderate it

https://gizmodo.com/senate-republicans-bullshit-talking-points-on-their-sec-1845430280

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PS2J 322 News – Anarchy! Only If I Run It

October 16, 2020
Tagged as: 11, 12, 2d, 3D, 5g, a14 bionic, acid, Adventure, Alan, aluminum, amnesia, api, Apple, apple maps, apple music, apple tv+, ar, at&t, audio, augmented reality, back door, ban, banking, block, brick, camera, ceramic, charging, cinematic, class-action, Cloud, companies, computational photography, Computer Operator, criminal, daring fireball, dark descent, deadlight, department of justice, detective, directions, director’s cut, DLC, doj, dolby vision, Doom, DOS, drive, driver’s license, Duck Dynasty, duckduckgo, earpods, Encryption, end-to-end, epic, Epic Games, Facebook, FaceID, federal, fever dream, fly, Fortnite, Free Games, freedom, freud, ftc, Gamecube, Gamepass, Gold, gone, gonzalez, Google, grudge, hack, hdr, headphones, hi speed, homepod, homework, Horror, hypocrite, identity, intercom, invasive, iOS, ipad pro, iPhone, Jet Force Gemini, john gruber, Josh, ju on, judge, jung, kind of, Kingdom, kona, lead time, League of Legends, lidar, lightest, loading screen, lurk, m2, machine for pigs, MacOS, magsafe, May, Microsoft, microsoft store, miles morales, mini, mmwave, mod, Monster, N64, new lands, nightmare, nights into dreams, Oculus, one way, pandora, Paper Mario, passport, personalize, phone number, Pixel, platforming, playlists, playstation 5, Pokemon, power adaptor, Privacy, private investigator, Pro, proraw, ps5, qi, quebec, quest 2, rebirth, rem, Saturn, search engine, seattle, security, Sega, sequel, shipwrecked, sidescrolling, Silver, Siri, sleep, smaller, smallest, smart data, solid state, songshift, Sony, Spider-Man, Spotify, ssd, Steam, steel, stereo, sub-6GHz, surveillance, survival, Tech, thinnest, third party, Thousand Year Door, touchid, trial, Twitch, united states, USB, USB C, usb-a, Verizon, video, Wii, wild rift, Windows, wireless, wizeman, xbox series x, xcloud, youtube music, Zombie

Free Games

Twitch
- Kona
  - 2017
  - Adventure game set in the 1970 centred around a private investigator who arrives at a snowy town in northern Quebec only to find it deserted, except for some thing that’s lurking
- Deadlight: Director’s Cut (previously free in October 2019)
  - 2016 rerelease of the 2012 title
  - Side-scrolling cinematic platforming survival horror game that has you attempting to traverse a zombie-infested Seattle to rejoin your family
Epic Games
- Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
  - 2016
  - Survival horror game originally meant to be a mod of The Dark Descent, it instead became an indirect sequel set in the same universe with a new cast and in a new time. It has you exploring eerie locations and solving puzzles while trying to maintain a grip on your own sanity
  - Amnesia: Rebirth is out on October 20th
- Kingdom: New Lands (previously free in June 2019)
  - 2016
  - 2D pixel survival game that has you playing as a shipwrecked monarch trying to establish a long-lasting kingdom while being attacked by otherworldly monsters
Sega
- As part of their 60th anniversary they’re giving away NiGHTS into Dreams if you sign up for their newsletter on sega60th.com
  - 1996
  - Action game that has you flying through a fever-dream acid trip to stop the evil ruler Wizeman from destroying the dream world and consequently the real world too
  - The development team conducted research on dreaming and REM sleep, and was influenced by Freud and Jung
  - The HD remaster is playable on Steam, and even includes the original Sega Saturn version

Apple: Hi Speed

HomePod Mini
- Little ball with a flat touch surface on top
- Lots of fancy tech to support better audio in a smaller package
  - It’ll also automatically keep in sync with other HomePods and play stereo audio if two are in the same room
- Siri has voice recognition to personalize responses according to who’s asking
- New Intercom features let you send messages to HomePods in other rooms
- $99 USD, preorder on November 6 and ships on November 16
iPhone
- 5G is here, for what that’s worth with the infrastructure not fully rolled out
  - We also get Smart Data Mode, so if you don’t need the 5G speed it saves battery by switching back to 4G
  - Unfortunately mmWave 5G, the tech that they were really talking up with Verizon on stage, isn’t available outside of the US so we just get sub-6GHz 5G (a boost over the old 4G LTE and with better range than mmWave, but not as fast)
- iPhone 12
  - Design is similar to the iPhone 5, or the iPad Pro, with flat edges and curved corners
  - Same screen size as the iPhone 11, but still 15% smaller and 11% thinner
  - Screens are made of a new ceramic shield material to improve toughness (4x better drop performance)
  - Blazing new A14 Bionic processor that enables console-quality games
    - Showed off League of Legends: Wild Rift quickly, which could become the next Fortnite if Epic doesn’t get their situation sorted
  - Better camera lenses, and improved computational photography
  - MagSafe is back (kind of)
    - Similar to the Apple Watch, the iPhone now has a magnet array in its back to automatically line up with supported wireless chargers and cases
  - They’re now no longer including wired headphones or power adaptors with new iPhones, ostensibly to reduce waste and minimize packaging
    - Apparently the changes cut the equivalent of 450,000 cars worth of carbon emissions annually
    - Unfortunately the phones are coming with Lightning to USBC cables, whereas most people probably have a ton of USBA bricks laying around
    - On the plus side, the wall adapters and EarPods both went down by about $10 each
- iPhone 12 Mini
  - Smaller and lighter than the iPhone 8, but with a bigger screen and all the same features as the full-sized 12
  - Reportedly the smallest, thinnest, lightest 5G phone in the world
  - Mini starts at $699USD $979CAD, 12 starts at $799USD $1129CAD
  - One big asterisk on those prices, in the United States at least, is that those prices are if you buy the phone through AT&T or Verizon. Any other carrier, or an unlocked phone direct from Apple, costs $30 more
- iPhone 12 Pro
  - Stainless steel edge instead of aluminum
  - 6.1” Pro, 6.7” Pro Max (slightly bigger screen than the 11 Pro Max)
  - Even better cameras than the 12, with an additional telephoto lens
  - They’ve combined RAW photo formats with their special sauce to make Apple ProRAW, which can be edited directly in Photos and other pro tools
  - First phone camera to record in Dolby Vision HDR
  - LiDAR
    - 3D sensing tech we’ve seen in the iPad Pro, which adds a lot of features for computational photography and augmented reality
    - And it improves the focus and light quality in low-light conditions
  - Pro starts at $999USD, $1399CAD with 128GB, Max starts at $1099USD, $1549CAD
- 12 and Pro preorder on October 16, shipping October 23
- Mini and Max preorder on November 6, shipping November 13
Unfortunately there was no mention at all of putting TouchID in the power button, which would have been a killer feature right now

Epic slApple fight

A federal judge in the United States has officially ruled that Apple can continue to block Fortnite from its app store as they fight Epic’s antitrust lawsuit
Judge Gonzalez also ruled that Apple must not punish Unreal Engine or Epic’s affiliates though, so the fight remains focused on Fortnite and Epic’s decision to bypass Apple’s App Store payment system
The suit is expected to go to trial in May 2021

The United States Department of Justice has officially issued a statement asking tech companies for back door access to encrypted systems

Ringing the gong of “exploited children”, multiple governments are now demanding that tech companies “embed the safety of the public in system designs”
- Translation: add even more surveillance of all your users and give us access
In effect, the group is asking for access to encrypted data via some form of backdoor meant just for law enforcement, while still keeping it secure to prevent access by hackers and other online criminals.
It boils down to the same fight that’s been happening for years- technology has given people a locked box that the government can’t access and some people have used that box to do bad things, so they want to take that box and drill a hole in the side labelled “Hackers keep out plz”
That would be adding a hell of a weak link to the kind of chains people use not just to message their loved ones, but also do their banking and keep their homes secure

Spotify, while they bang the freedom drum and crusade against Apple for allegedly tyrannical practices, has decided to threaten third party services built to transfer playlists between streaming services

SongShift is a slick little utility you can use to move your playlists and library between Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and more, but Spotify has decided that unless they remove the ability to transfer out of Spotify they’ll be completely blocked from the service
- Transferring in to Spotify is, shockingly, unaffected

With the release of the Quest 2 VR headset, more reports are coming in of seemingly random Facebook bans bricking devices

The worst instance I’ve read about was a reddit user creating a brand new Facebook account after never using the service before
- They then merged it with their 4 year old Oculus account
- 10 minutes later, they were banned
- After sending in their drivers license, which is an absurd requirement for any gaming service, the ban was updated to say “We have already reviewed this decision and it can’t be reversed.”
- And just like that, all previous Oculus purchases were locked away by Facebook with little to no recourse
Another redditor in the comments reported that they had something similar, where they created a Facebook account for the first time to play with their new headset but didn’t add a phone number
- 10 minutes later their account was disabled and required a phone number to verify
- Then Facebook demanded a video of the user so they could verify that they’re a real person
Facebook’s invasive data requirements have really snuck up on a lot of people, but when you have to send your passport to a social network in order to play games you’ve already paid for it just highlights the absurdity of their data gathering

Sony’s released more specs for the upcoming PS5, and the new solid state drives look amazing

Load times in next-gen games will likely be all but eliminated now, with their specs showing double the data loading in about 1/8th the time
Footage posted from the PS5 version of Spider-Man: Miles Morales shows what used to be a loading screen between areas now just throwing you in immediately
And since they didn’t go the proprietary route like Microsoft, you can use any M2 drive that hits at least 5.5GB/s
- Granted that’s not a lot at the moment, but as the market catches up they’ll get much more common and Sony will be releasing a list of specifically supported models
- And a little extra salt for the console wars, the Xbox Series X is quoted as running at 2.4GB/s

This Week in Gaming History

October 10 – 1994 – DOOM II – DOS

In this sequel to the original DOOM, the protagonist is still the same hero – the last remaining space marine.
DOOM II looks and plays very similarly to its predecessor, utilizing the same 3D graphical engine with 2D sprites for enemies.
- The gameplay once again consists entirely of navigating the hero from first-person view through 3D environments and shooting at the demons while attempting to find the way out by flipping switches and looking for keys.
- Unlike in DOOM, which is divided into three episodes, the 30 levels of this game (plus the 2 secret levels) form one long episode.
It took 24 years for someone to find the final secret for the first 100% completion, confirmed by series creator John Romero.
- August 31st, 2018, Romero Tweeted:
- CONGRATS, Zero Master! Finally, after 24 years! “To win the game you must get 100% on level 15 by John Romero.” Great trick getting to that secret!
- and a follow up Tweet:
- Secret explained: A secret teleporter is marked as a discoverable “secret”, but when you touch it, you never enter the sector. So you would never get inside the teleporter sector to trigger the secret. The only way to trigger this secret is to be pushed by an enemy into it!

October 11 – 2004 – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – GameCube

A thousand years ago there was a city.
- One day the city was buried.
- Another city was built on top, and all that remains of the previous city is a door.
- This is where the title “the thousand-year door” comes from. It’s not known what could be behind this door, but everyone has different theories.
Mario can jump, run, hammer, talk to people, etc..
- Mario finds many partners on his quest.
- Battles play out on a stage in front of an audience.
- In battle, Mario must keep his fans happy by executing action commands (hitting buttons at the right time during his attacks).
- Occasionally, in battle, the crowd will throw things at Mario.
- The player can attack the crowd at this time.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
It also has rave reviews, from 4.5 to 5 out of 5.
- From gamer’s I know of, this is the best of all the Paper Mario games.
- Out of the 6 that have been released.

October 12 – 1999 – Jet Force Gemini – N64

Twins Juno and Vela, and their dog Lupus, are Jet Force Gemini, intergalactic police.
- Their mission? Stop the evil space bug, Mizar, from his goal of galactic conquest with his seemingly-infinite army of Drones.
- They’ll have to stop along multiple planets along the way, and assisting King Jeff and rescuing his subjects, the Tribals.
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter which revels in making gigantic creepy bugs explode into dribbly mucousy bits.
- The Jet Force team are given progressively more powerful weapons, from the Machine Gun, which rips through both enemies and ammo, the Plasma Shotgun, which you can charge up for some explosive fireworks, and the Tri-Rocket Launcher, which fires three rockets with every shot, sending explosive doom in the direction of your target.
- There’s also the Fish Food, which, as the name implies, is used to feed fish.
Each member of the team has their own special abilities – Juno can walk through lava without any trouble, Vela can swim underwater, and Lupus can hover for short distances and travel through tight spaces.
- These abilities are required to fully access areas that they previously couldn’t reach.
- The team also get the help of Floyd the Droid, a hovering robot that can be controlled by player two as a floating gun with infinite ammo when he joins your team.
The game also includes three different multiplayer modes: Battle – featuring most options of an average First Person Shooter but with a third-person perspective, Target Shoot – a shooting gallery with a first-person view, and Racing, which includes some kart-like racing as well as old-school top down racing games.
I feel like this game gets forgotten a lot.
- When people make lists of Rare Ware Titles for the N64, it rarely includes this bug stomping adventure.

October 13 – 2009 – Ju-on: The Grudge – Wii

When someone dies with a powerful grudge, a curse is born.
- A series of Ju-On horror movies all by the same director have been popular since 2000 first in Japan and then remade in Hollywood first in 2004 as The Grudge.
- This is a “haunted house simulator” adventure game where Erika Yamada comes into contact with a curse when looking for her dog in an abandoned warehouse.
- Then when she returns home, all her family members who she meets also become cursed.
- You play as each in first-person view encountering their own challenging episode.
The locations vary from a rundown factory to an empty hospital, an apartment building, a mannequin factory, and the cursed house from the movie.
- The game is basically an interactive horror movie which tries to scare you as you explore the locations and attempt to survive against the supernatural forces.
- The Wii remote controls the player’s flashlight and movement through the game.
- If the player flinches at scare moments with the remote, their score goes down.
- A person with a second remote can also trigger scary events for the main player.
- The player must keep moving while finding keys to open doors and also find batteries to replenish the flashlight or else you will be attacked and die.

October 14 – 2014 – Duck Dynasty – PS3, PS4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Because
Hunt, race and prank to become a Robertson!
Take on the role of Willie’s son John Luke as he learns how to become one of the Robertson men!
- Interact with Willie, Uncle Si, Jase and the rest of the family from the hit TV show Duck Dynasty®. Go duck hunting, varmint shooting, off-roading and play office pranks in the Robertson’s hometown of West Monroe, LA. Will you learn the way of the beards?
Call in ducks to your blind using a variety of calls and then fire away.
Hunt Louisiana wildlife including squirrels, frogs and fish for Miss Kay to cook her famous dishes.
Join Jase in duck call room antics as you sneak around the warehouse to trick Willie.
Race against Willie in an airboat as you drive across the Robertson family swampland.
Uncover Uncle Si’s bizarre “treasures” with a metal detector.
Track down pesky beavers with Phil to stop their damns from ruining the duck ponds.
Play through 3 game modes including the main story, duck shooting galleries and airboat racing.

October 15 – 2000 – Pokemon Gold and Silver – Gameboy Color

Pokémon Gold takes place several years after Red, Blue and Yellow, and puts the user into a brand new world, Johto.
- The gameplay is very similar to the previous games, but with several improvements.
- These include new functions for the player’s PokéGear, a Pokédex that can now be sorted by evolution type, and, of course, new Pokémon.
- Once again, the objective of the game is to become the champion trainer, and try to complete the Pokédex.
- To become the champion, the player battles Gym Leaders to obtain various badges.
- Completing the Pokédex requires a different set of actions, and involves capturing wild Pokémon, battling various trainers to obtain money, and trading Pokémon with NPC’s and other owners of Pokémon games.
As many people our age, Pokemon was a big deal.
- Pokemon Yellow was my first Pokemon game, but I would say Gold is my formative Pokemon game.
- The IR mystery gift had me meeting with kids I barely knew, and forming new relationships.
- And it was huge, literally having the new region Johto, to explore, while being able to revisit the previous region of Kanto.
- This game has set me up for disappointment, as more powerful consoles have had Pokemon games, but never the ability to return to an old region.

October 16 – 1982 – Computer Operator – DOS

This BASIC game simulates the experience of running a large, multi-user mainframe system of its day.
- As the operator, you first configure the system by choosing the memory size, the number of disk and tape drives, the maximum number of concurrent users, and the overall game speed.
- These factors determine the difficulty of your job – which is to cope with user demands and keep the system running. If too many problems pile up, the system crashes and you lose.
After the system is booted, users begin to log in and do their work; you monitor the system’s status in real time, and carry out your maintenance tasks using text commands.
- User jobs place demands on CPU time, on storage devices, and on the printer; you’ll need to balance the load, repair failed equipment, bring devices offline and online as needed, and meet the users’ storage requirements.
- You can also force users offline, and even communicate back when they complain at you through the messaging system.

Tidbits

If you have an Apple TV+ subscription set to end or renew in November through January, Apple is reportedly extending them for free through February 2021 instead
Microsoft is working on a browser-based solution to bring xCloud to iOS early 2021, which could also mean it would run on macOS as well
People looking for Google alternatives will be happy to hear that DuckDuckGo, a popular privacy-first search engine, now has walking and driving directions through a partnership with Apple Maps
Sony announced that they’re revamping their web and mobile offerings with a brand new PlayStation Store
- October 21st-28th we’ll no longer be able to use those systems to buy
  - PS3 games
  - PSP games
  - PS Vita games
  - Apps
  - Themes
  - Avatars
  - And the Wishlist feature is going away too
- You can still access everything you already own, and you can buy new things through the PS Store directly on each device

Homework

Microsoft’s new “10 principles for the Microsoft Store on Windows”, with translation provided by the Daring Fireball
- https://daringfireball.net/2020/10/microsoft_principles_translation
- John Gruber: “Nothing is changing on Windows, which remains every bit as open as it always has been. Nothing is changing on Xbox, which remains every bit as closed as it always has been (which is actually quite a bit more closed than even iOS). But we’re sure hoping government regulators will force Apple to open up iOS and treat it more like a PC platform where third-party developers are free to do what they want, because we know Apple won’t do it of their own volition because we wouldn’t either if we were them.”

For more content, Patreon supports get access to upcoming ideas and more!

Thank you for your continued support Karen, we may not be podcasting today without your drive to make a podcasting community in Alberta. Listen to her and her daughter on Thats A Thing?!

And thanks to the rest of our ‘fanily’ that support us.

And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

We are a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network. Locally grown. Community supported.

And talk to us in the comments!

PS2J 321 News – Pet the Spirit Dog

October 9, 2020
Tagged as: 250gb, abzu, account, active, Activision, Adventure, AirPods, Alan, anticompetitive, Apple, apple event, Apple II, army of the republic of vietnam, assassin, asymmetric, australian army, battle royale, Blizzard, Call Of Duty, Canada, cinematic universe, class, co-op, congress, danger, dive, dye, Epic Games, face, Facebook, flower, four player, Free Games, geep, ghost of tsushima, Government, hate, hi speed, house of representatives, hunter, ipad, iPhone, iphone 12, Josh, journalist, Journey, Lawsuit, leak, legends, Leisure Suit Larry, management, marines, Marvel, mcu, Microsoft, Microtransactions, mini, modern warfare, Multiplayer, national liberation front, new game plus, nintendo, north vietnamese army, Oculus, One, peter parker, Playstation, playtest, population, Prince of Persia, PS2, PS4, qanon, quest, raid, recycling, resell, resold, review, ridiculous, rising storm 2, ronin, samurai, Sony, Spider-Man, stolen, storage, story, studio, survival, theft, THUG, Tom Holland, tony hawk, two-player, underground, underwater, united states, Update, us army, vanity, vietnam, violence, VR, War, watch, XBox, YouTube

Free Games

Epic Games
- ABZU
  - 2016
  - From the art director of Journey and Flower, ABZÛ is a wordless underwater adventure that evokes the dream of diving, taking you on a journey through the ruins of an ancient civilization.
- Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
  - 2017
  - Tactical first person shooter set during the Vietnam War, with an emphasis on teamwork and asymmetric gameplay in its 64-player matches pitting the National Liberation Front and the North Vietnamese Army against the US Army, Marines, the Australian Army, and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam

Apple is suing a company it hired to recycle and dismantle old devices for instead reselling more than 100K iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches

Apple previously partnered with GEEP Canada and sent them over 500K iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches from 2015 to 2017
After running an audit they found that 18% of those devices were still accessing cellular networks
- Since many Apple devices don’t even have cellular capabilities, the actual percentage of devices resold could be even higher
GEEP Canada denies all wrongdoing here, but doesn’t deny there was a theft- they reportedly filed a third-party suit claiming three employees stole the devices on their own behalf
Apple disagrees, arguing that these employees were senior management at the firm, and is looking for at least $31M
- Considering how many devices are involved, Apple’s starting pretty reasonably at $300/device
- Especially considering that, according to their policies, the products sent for recycling are ones that Apple’s decided are no longer up to their standards for consumer use, and depending on how they’re refurbished could even be dangerous for the end users

Population: One, a VR battle royale game that actually looked pretty solid, is taking heat after it was found that the game will use microtransactions on top of its $30 price tag

The most damning part is that they introduced the microtransaction menu after the early review build was sent to journalists and YouTubers to increase the hype
Reviewers and playtesters were all under the impression that there would be no microtransactions or lootboxes, which some pointed to as a pretty big selling point

The United States government may be weighing in on Facebook’s account requirements when it comes to the Quest 2

The US House of Representatives is suggesting that requiring a Facebook account to use the gaming hardware may be anticompetitive, saying that Congress should clarify that “conditioning access to a product or service in which a firm has market power to the use of a separate product or service is anticompetitive.”
This is a bit different from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo’s user accounts in that Facebook is leveraging their ownership of Oculus to drive more people back over to their primary product, rather than using an account to support the game playing or buying experience

Ghost of Tsushima is getting an update on the 16th, bringing all new game modes to the beautiful game

Titled Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, it includes new two-player story missions and four-player survival missions
In Legends you’ll also be able to pick between different classes, such as:
- Samurai- the tank
- Hunter- the sniper
- Assassin- the rogue
- Ronin- the healer who also gets a spirit dog
The developer has also teased a multiplayer raid to be released following launch, made up of “an epic three-part adventure that will require excellent teamwork and communication to overcome.”
The update also brings a new game plus mode, with a new horse, new powerful charms, and a new merchant with new game plus exclusive dyes and vanity items

This Week In Gaming History

October 3 – 1989 – Prince of Persia – Apple II

Prince of Persia is a 2D platformer that is commonly regarded as a progenitor of the cinematic platform genre.
- Rather than following the more common jump-and-run mechanics, it focuses on careful advancement through fairly complex levels, emphasizing the protagonist’s vulnerability and survival aspect.
- Rotoscoping technique is used to give more realism to the animation of the characters’ movements.

October 4 – 2004 – Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 – GameCube, PS2, Xbox

This is the last skateboarding game I played
- I remember, my reaction was is was more of the same, but the running around aspect was getting out of control. And there was platforming needed to get to new spots to skate.
As an aspiring pro skater, you’re invited to join Tony Hawk in an around-the-world underground skating competition known as the “World Destruction Tour.”
- It’s Team Hawk against Team Bam in a no-holds-barred contest to gain the most points by performing insane stunts and raising havoc in cities all over the world.
THUG 2’s story mode basically follows the same formula as THUG, in which you have to complete a number of goals before you can move on to the next city.
All the Create-A-Modes from THUG are present, with the addition of the new Create-A-Graphic mode where you can make your own graffiti design with layers of text and predefined graphics, then use it to “tag up” during gameplay.

October 5 – 2004 – Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude – PS2, XBox, Windows

Larry Lovage learned everything he knows from his uncle, Larry Laffer, the famous polyester-clad fellow who starred in the previous games. Young Larry finally makes it to college, the best place to meet and pick up girls.
- He finds them everywhere .. in restaurants, night clubs, dormitories and at fraternity parties. All those scantilly clad, gorgeous babes! But, does Larry have half a chance to score with even one of them?
- Will he get a peek at what’s underneath that braless, too-tight tank top?
Larry’s sexcapades include varied types of arcade mini-games.
- Some simply require good reflexes while others involve memory and/or correct timing.
- For instance, steer a little joker sperm through an obstacle course of flying objects, all the while trying to keep the “course” of the conversation on track.
- Or .. put the correct ingredients into a bar drink in order – and in the time allowed.
- Several of the games become more difficult as the game progresses.
This action/adventure features three endings, over 20 locations, 3D graphics, and hilarious adult situations and conversations.

October 6 – 2009 – Saw – PS3, XBox 360, Windows

Based on the popular movie franchise of the same name, Saw casts the player as the former detective David Tapp, shortly after the events of the first movie.
- The Jigsaw Killer has healed his gunshot wound and has locked him up in an abandoned asylum to teach him a lesson about life appreciation.
- Tapp’s primary tasks is to explore the building and find an exit, while avoiding or solving Jigsaw’s traps and puzzles.
Upon starting the game Tapp is instantly faced with the task of removing a trap known as the Reverse Bear Trap, a mechanism that is set to go off and tear a human head apart.
- After getting the trap off his head, he is free to wander a mental institution filled with obstacles such as shotgun doors, broken glass that cuts Tapp’s bare feet, and other victims of Jigsaw who are after Tapp because Jigsaw has hidden the key to their traps inside his chest.
- Mysteries surrounding the films need to be uncovered, there are different characters to meet and it is possible to see the sets recreated from them.
Tapp’s actions affect the outcome of the game.
- If he is not careful, in some traps innocents will be killed, and some of those wandering the halls are not violent.
- Killing them affects the game’s outcome, as well Tapp’s ability to save others from certain traps.
- The game has two endings, a positive and a negative.
- The positive ending is the only ending which is canon to the films, the negative ending is not canon.
Players control Tapp from a third-person perspective, and the game has a combat mechanism very similar to Silent Hill: Homecoming.
- He can use various weapons in the environments, however they will break after being used a few times.
- Some enemies have traps that may affect their skills; enemies with square shaped traps on their head cannot see but will attack if they can find you, while enemies with dynamite strapped to their hands will explode after death which can harm you, and so on.
Traps can be used against enemies as well; fuse boxes can be switched on above a pool of water and anyone who steps in will be electrocuted, and later in the game the player can re-set shotgun doors and hide from enemies.
- While progressing through the game, new kinds of traps can be found, as well as new weapons, light sources, and even the ability to create new traps or weapons from junk around the asylum.
- Some of the larger, more complex traps require Tapp to save both his own life as well as another person’s life, and others may force him to make a decision between his own life or the others.
- These traps are often presented as complex puzzles.
- The game rewards the player for finding clues and documents strewn around the Asylum, and in many cases Tapp will not be able to escape a trap without the help of the clues.

October 7 – 2014 – Alien: Isolation – PS3, PS4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Fifteen years after the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda is looking for answers.
- She is an engineer working for Weiland-Yutani Corporation.
- When she finds out that the logs from USCSS Nostromo have been located and transported to Sevastopol space station she decides to join a small crew sent by Weiland-Yutani to retrieve the data.
- Little does she know that the ship that has found the logs reached Sevastopol with a terrifying passenger on board, the one that murdered the majority of station’s population and left the survivors cowering in fear.
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game.
- It is set on the Sevastopol space station where Amanda is searching for USCSS Nostromo logs.
- Sevastopol is split into many areas, and a certain degree of freedom is given to the player: areas may have several alternative routes to the goal, hidden rooms and ventilation shafts; also Amanda may (and later needs to) backtrack through the station.
- As the game goes on Amanda’s tools will be upgraded and she will be able to get access to previously out of reach areas.
Amanda is an engineer, so she is able to loot containers and bodies for resources and craft devices like noisemakers, smoke bombs, or Molotov cocktails, mainly used to distract the enemy.
- Later she acquires a flashlight, a motion detector and several types of weapons to defend herself against humanoid enemies (groups of hostile survivors or androids).
- However, Amanda is not a fighter, and each encounter should be carefully planned.
- Many actions take some time, for example to use a medpack Amanda needs to stand perfectly still.
When Amanda draws attention of the alien, stealth is the only way to survive.
- The alien cannot be harmed, and it kills Amanda in a single hit.
- In most cases it doesn’t follow a predetermined scripted route, but instead relies on its senses to track Amanda down.
In addition to the main story mode there’s Survivor mode in which the player needs to escape from a specially designed map fulfilling secondary objectives along the way, while being aggressively hunted by the alien.
- This mode includes online leaderboards.

October 8 – 2006 – Scarface: The World Is Yours – PS2, Wii, Xbox, Windows

Miami in the ’80s: gangs, drugs and hookers dominate the scene and a Cuban called Tony Montana rises up to be the most powerful drug dealer, controlling the whole of Miami.
- This is the story of the 1983 movie Scarface in which Tony Montana dies during a attack from a rival gang on his mansion at the end.
- The game now puts the player in the shoes of Tony a few moments before the gang hits his office.
After he successfully defends his mansion, his empire lies in ruins.
- But Tony wouldn’t be Tony Montana if he would just give up, so it is the player’s goal to reclaim Miami once again.
- To do so, he has to earn money and respect.
- The only way to earn money in Miami is to deal drugs.
- At the beginning the stuff is bought in small amounts and personally sold to the dealers.
- Eventually, however, Tony can set up so-called “Fronts” which are legitimate shops (like a car seller) in which drugs are sold in very large amounts.
- By overtaking “Fronts”, Tony also increases his control over the current district of Miami.
- To completely overtake one part of town, all the enemy gangs scattered around in small groups must be eliminated.
After a deal, Tony has to launder the money at the local bank and have it transferred to his account.
- He then can buy “exotics” for his mansion like an expensive vase or a new car with a driver.
When talking with a dealer or trying to get cop heat down, the player has to play a mini-game that determines if Tony is successful and if so, how much he gets for the drugs or how much heat he loses.
Respect is earned by increasing Tony’s territory, buying exotics and earning “balls” in fights and while driving.
- The enemies have different target zones which give a different amount of balls on a hit.
- This also fills up Tony’s ‘ball-meter”.
- Once this is full he can enter a kind of god mode in which he is invulnerable and has unlimited ammo.
- Tony also gets health when killing someone in this mode.
- If he is driving a car he gets balls when making stunts like driving on the wrong side of the road or dodging an incoming car.
As in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the player is free to roam the city of Miami and there are also some side-missions with racing events.

October 9 – 1997 – Fallout – DOS, Windows, Mac

The Fallout that started everyone’s post apocalyptic fantasies
- This was a heavy RPG, as the newer games still are, but the originals made by Interplay, are a division for fans of the Fallout Franchise
The Story:
- A devastating nuclear war had wiped out almost the entire population of the Earth.
- The civilization, as we know it, has been destroyed.
- The Earth has become a huge wasteland populated by mutated creatures.
- Only small number of humans survived and they formed communities living on the surface, where they mostly scavenge what remains from the pre-war civilization.
- Some lucky people managed to reach safety of the Vaults, huge underground dwellings, during the war.
- Recently, the water purification controller chip in Vault 13 broke.
- Without clean water, the people of the Vault cannot survive.
- One person is sent to find a replacement chip and ventures outside to face a dangerous world, hoping to return within a hundred and fifty days.
The game has an open world which can be freely explored from the onset.
- Only a few quests are required to complete in order to advance the main plot; a vast amount of side quests is available.
- Thanks to the game’s emphasis on social interaction, many problems can be solved in a non-violent way; in fact, it is possible to complete the game without engaging in battles at all, running away from enemy encounters and concluding the final confrontation in a relatively peaceful fashion.
- Conversely, the player can opt for a destructive path, killing everyone in sight.
- A Karma system is used to track the player’s moral decisions during the game.
Combat in Fallout is turn-based.
- Participants have a limited amount of action points (AP) per turn; each action (including movement) depletes a certain number of AP, eventually ending a character’s turn.
- The player can target specific body parts of enemies during battles.
- Characters may join the protagonist, traveling together and participating in combat as a party.
- Though the player may assign general commands to the companions, their actions are controlled by the AI, and they cannot be customized.

Tidbits

Facebook is finally banning all QAnon accounts from its platforms in order to limit the ability of the group and militarized social movements to operate and organize on their platform
- QAnon is a hate group that spreads misinformation and incites violence against a lot of different groups of people, often under the guise of protecting children
The unoptimized mess that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare no longer fits on a 250GB drive, leaving many players that had previously set up an entire SSD just for the one game unable to update
- People are calling on Activision to split up the singleplayer, multiplayer, and warzone game modes to address some of this bloat, but even then apparently the game has a lot of duplicated models and textures that could be reused to save space
The director of Marvel’s Spider-Man has reportedly been receiving death threats over Peter Parker’s face change in the PS5 remaster
- Some are speculating that this is Sony trying to make him look more like the MCU’s Spider-Man, Tom Holland, but either way this is a ridiculous reaction to a complete non-issue in a game where the character spends the vast majority of his time wearing a mask
Apple’s officially announced their next event, coming to us on October 13th
- So far the leaks have us expecting a few different iPhone 12 models, including an iPhone 12 Mini, and the over-ear Airpods Studio

For more content, Patreon supports get access to upcoming ideas and more!

Thank you for your continued support Karen, we may not be podcasting today without your drive to make a podcasting community in Alberta. Listen to her and her daughter on Thats A Thing?!

And thanks to the rest of our ‘fanily’ that support us.

And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

We are a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network. Locally grown. Community supported.

And talk to us in the comments!

PS2J 304 News – eScooters-19

June 12, 2020
Tagged as: a big adventure, a short hike, abtracetogether, action, afterlife, aim higher, Alan, aloy, amakusa’s revenge, Amazon, Amazon Prime, Apple, Arcade, ark, assassin, assets, bird, Black Lives Matter, Black Mirror, black out tuesday, blm, blood, break out, brother, bundle for racial justice and equality, cat adventure, Celeste, China, collection, combat, Comics, community bail fund, contact tracing, Counterfeit, covid-19, crafting, curse of brotherhood, dating, deathloop, delay, Demons Souls, detective, dishonored, Doom, dream daddy, dystopia, dysutopia, earth, edit, Edmonton, Encryption, Epic Games, equality, escooters, executive order, exposure notification, father, Finn, First Person, flame in the flood, Flood, forbidden west, forsaken, Free Games, george floyd, ghostwire: tokyo, Google, gran turismo 7, grand theft auto 5, grand theft auto online, greg daniels, hack, hand sanitizer, heretic, hk project, holdays 2020, horizon, Horror, incognito, infinity ward, interrogate, iOS 13, ios 14, itch.io, john boyega, Josh, justice, kingoftheyetis, Labyrinth, larp, Lawsuit, Lime, livestream, loading, magic, masks, max, memorial, mercenary, Microsoft, miles morales, mind, minit, modern warfare, monetizing, motorcycle, music, naacp legal defense and educational fund, neogeo, night in the woods, normalcy, not for you, nuclear throne, observer, oddworld, Online, open-world, photoshop, physics, playstation 5, Post Apocalyptic, poster, project athia, project warlock, ps5, psychological, puzzle platforming, racial equity and justice initiative, racism, raft, ratchet & clank, red dead online, refrigerator, remake, remastered, rescue, retro-futuristic, returnal, review, rift apart, rockstar games, roguelike, RPG, sackboy, samurai shodown, secret, Shooter, simulator, sleek, social media, Sony, soulsborne, soulstorm, speaking up on racism, speech, Spider-Man, Star Wars, steel rats, stray, Streaming<, survival, survival evolved, synthetic selfies, the good place, tim cook, time loop, tracking, trophy, Trump, Twitch, Twitter, udystopia, upload, utopia, v, v perfect, v special, visual novel, warzone, wiretap, xbox series x, yokai, zero dawn, zoom

Free games

Twitch
- Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
  - 2014
  - Puzzle platforming game where, in a Labyrinth-esque plot, Max accidentally sends his little brother away with a magic spell he finds online and has to go rescue him
- >observer_
  - 2017
  - First-person psychological horror game following a detective that can hack people’s minds as a form of interrogation
- Project Warlock
  - 2018
  - First-person shooter that takes inspiration from games like Blood, Doom, and Heretic, featuring non-linear levels, keys, power-ups, and secret areas as well as some light RPG mechanics
- Forsaken Remastered
  - 2018 remaster of the 1998 release
  - Single or multiplayer first-person shooter that has you playing a mercenary looting the post-apocalyptic husk of Earth
- Dream Daddy
  - 2017
  - Visual novel developed by Game Grumps where you can choose between seven different fathers to date, with a customizable appearance and multiple endings
- The Flame in the Flood
  - 2016
  - Roguelike survival adventure game where you play a young girl using a raft to navigate an apocalyptic flood that has turned the world into a series of islands
- Steel Rats
  - 2018
  - Touted as a ground-breaking evolution of the 2.5D action arcade genre, it puts you into a retro-futuristic world with a wide array of skills and physics-based motorcycle combat
Epic Games
- ARK: Survival Evolved
  - 2017 release of the 2014 early-access title
  - Action adventure open world survival game that has you using firearms and improvised crafted weapons to defend yourself and your base against hostile humans and creatures
- Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection
  - 2020
  - The classic weapon-based 2D fighting games known to its fans as SamSho
  - SAMURAI SHODOWN was originally released on the NEOGEO in 1993, followed by its sequel SAMURAI SHODOWN II in 1994. The series became a trilogy in 1995 with SAMURAI SHODOWN III, followed soon after SAMURAI SHODOWN IV AMAKUSA’S REVENGE released in 1996. Seven years later the series returned with 2003’s SAMURAI SHODOWN V, and SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL released the following year on the NEOGEO… The new SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION also includes a title never before released to the public. SAMURAI SHODOWN V PERFECT is a mysterious final version of SAMURAI SHODOWN V SPECIAL.
  - Also includes online fights and a museum mode with over 2,000 development documents and images, and hours of interviews with the developers
As part of the Black Lives Matter movement, itch.io has released the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, looking to raise $5M in an even split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Community Bail Fund
- Over 1500 different works from almost 1200 creators, worth thousands of dollars, all for a minimum donation of $5 USD
- Includes popular games like Nuclear Throne, Night in the Woods, A Short Hike, Minit, and Celeste
- Also has a lot of other things like comics, assets you can use to make your own games, tabletop RPG or LARP rulesets and scenarios, and more
- It’s enough content that they actually updated their game library pages to include a search function, since anyone that buys it will immediately have a very full library

BLM Updates from the tech and gaming world

Infinity Ward updated the Modern Warfare and Warzone loading screens to show a message in support of Black Lives Matter
- This has led to some complaining about getting politics shoved in their face, but as KingOfTheYetis said on reddit “My feeling on it is that if this screen bothers you, then you’re the problem.”
- They’ve also made an official statement saying there is no place for racist content in their game, and they’re adding additional resources to monitor, ID, and ban racist content
John Boyega, the actor who plays Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy, made an excellent speech that was captured online and quoted by the official Star Wars Twitter account, calling for an end to racism and reminding us that black lives have always mattered
- Some on Twitter pointed out the hypocrisy though, after Disney edited the The Force Awakens movie posters in China to make him smaller than BB-8
Rockstar Games shut down access to Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online for two hours on June 4th to honour the legacy of George Floyd during his memorial service
Tim Cook released a statement on Apple.com titled ‘Speaking up on racism’, calling on everyone to look past a return to comfortable normalcy and aim for a higher future that lives up to the ideals of equality and justice
- They’ve also put their money where their mouth is, or at least a very small fraction of it, with their new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative backed by a $100M commitment
Many music and streaming services around the world went dark for Black Out Tuesday on June 2nd, with Apple music calling on everyone to speak and act out against racism and injustice of all kinds
Sony delayed their PlayStation 5 event that was scheduled for June 4th, saying they didn’t feel that it was the time for a celebration, and that they wanted to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard

Sony’s livestreaming PlayStation 5 announcements today, and we’ve got some highlights

We’ll be seeing a sequel to the wildly popular Marvel’s Spider-Man on the new console, starring Miles Morales from Ultimate Spider-Man and Into the Spider-Verse
Gran Turismo 7 will bring us more shiny cars, beautiful landscapes, and an interesting new campaign mode that lets players unlock and customize cars by winning races
An expanded and enhanced Grand Theft Auto 5 will hit sometime in 2021, bringing the 6.5 year old title to yet another generation
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will have the titular duo transported through multiple dimensions with full detailed game worlds loading instantly
Returnal is a sci-fi third person shooter where you play a pilot stranded on a mysterious world where, somehow, each time she dies she resurrects but somehow changed
Square Enix showed off the very pretty Project Athia, which we don’t have much detail on but is from the studio that worked on Final Fantasy 15
Stray is finally bringing us the full release of what was previously known as HK Project, a cat adventure game with you wandering a city as an actual housecat that I’ve been following updates since 2015
Another Little Big Planet title is on its way, called Sackboy: A Big Adventure, with full 3D movement and a ton of new gameplay mechanics
Oddworld is back with a return to its cinematic 2D platforming roots in Oddworld Soulstorm
Ghostwire: Tokyo looks like a first-person action adventure game from the developers of The Evil Within that has you saving the city from all sorts of yokai from Japanese mythology
Demon’s Souls, the original Soulsborne game from 2009 that spawned Dark Souls and Bloodborne, is getting a fancy new remake for the PS5
Deathloop has you playing as a Dishonored-style assassin stuck on an island filled with people trying to kill you over and over, and you need to break out of the time loop by killing the 8 bosses before midnight
Horizon Forbidden West is bringing us back to the world of Aloy from Zero Dawn, and it looks like a lot of fun. It might finally motivate me to play the first one
And the PS5 itself was shown off, and it’s pretty… well, pretty. They’ve kind of gone the opposite way from Microsoft- the Xbox Series X is like a blank computer tower or other appliance, whereas the PS5 has white curves holding a tall, thin black rectangle, kind of reminiscent of an awards trophy
- Also has two versions, one with and one without the 4K bluray drive
- The one without looks a lot smoother and sleeker, but I have a bunch of PS4 discs still laying around that I wouldn’t mind being able to continue playing, so it’s a tricky choice
The console itself will be launching this holiday season, and the games they showed will be coming in the next year or two

There’s a $5B lawsuit in the mix accusing Google of violating US federal wiretap laws by tracking the activities of users in Incognito mode

The class action argues that Google is surreptitiously gathering info about what people view online and where they browse while in Incognito, and deceiving customers into believing that they’re controlling what information is shared
A Google spokesperson said that Incognito mode isn’t built for that, but rather to prevent activity from being saved to your browser or device. “As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity.”
Some may have thought that Google themselves wouldn’t be one of those websites, but considering their business model for many years has been in large part giving away services for free and monetizing usage data, if people don’t want to be tracked they might have to try a little harder
The plaintiffs say the lawsuit likely covers millions of Google users who, since June 2016, have browsed the internet using Incognito mode. So with the class action seeking $5,000 each in damages for violation of wiretapping and privacy laws, the lawsuit will amount to at least $5B

Tidbits

eScooters from Lime and Bird are back in Edmonton, and their COVID-19 precautions seem to be putting everything on the riders
- While they mention cleaning them when they’re put out, they’re expecting people using the scooters to use hand sanitizer before and after riding, and also mention that people should wear masks when out and about
Apple has recently been awarded a patent for “synthetic selfies”, allowing people to coordinate a live composite shot of multiple people that aren’t physically near each other
- Apparently they applied for the patent back in 2018, but this is some pretty solid timing for a feature like this
According to the latest leaks, the upcoming iOS 14 expected to be announced this month at WWDC 2020 will be compatible with all devices currently running iOS 13, including the 5 year old iPhone 6S
Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at social media and how they police content, with many asking if what he’s doing is even legal
- The new directive is looking to change a federal law that has prevented tech companies from being sued or held liable for most posts, photos, and videos shared by users on their sites
- This was, of course, soon after Twitter called out the US president for making false and inflammatory statements about mail-in voting
- It’s not all black and white though, as changing this law could also impact third-party counterfeit items sold on Amazon and force Uber to be responsible for sexual assaults that take place in the company’s rides
Zoom is developing a new end-to-end encryption service, but only for their corporate clients
- According to CEO Eric Yuan “Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose”
A quick reminder, I’m still keeping my eye on ABTraceTogether and once they start using the proper exposure notification tech I’ll start using the contact tracing app and let everyone know

Upload on Amazon Prime

A sci-fi comedy series created by Greg Daniels, of The Office and Parks and Rec, that feels like Black Mirror meets The Good Place
Futuristic time when you can choose to have your consciousness uploaded to the one of a number of proprietary afterlives before you die, combining life after death with some good old fashioned capitalistic dystopia
Solid series, with good writing and pacing, though it sometimes feels like the writing team couldn’t decide on how to best use some of their story beats
The first season is definitely worth checking out, and another one is already on the books.

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PS2J 299 News – Virtual Cataracts

May 1, 2020
Tagged as: 19, 2, 4, 40000, 40K, action, Adventure, advertising, AirPods, Alan, amiga, amnesia, amvr, android, anker, Apple, assassin’s creen, aukey, Australia, austria, bandai namco, battery pack, battlegrounds, beta, bots, cast, championship edition, chiptune, cities, city building, class, conquer, contact tracing, cotton, covid-19, crafting, crashlands, creepy, dark, dark ages, dark descent, delay, Diablo, don’t starve, dslr, EA, empire, England, enhanced, Epic Games, escape, estonia, european, evil, exposure notification, Facebook, FaceID, fake, faming simulator, fast pair, find my device, football, Free Games, Games Workshop, germany, gift, gmail, Google, Health, Horror, horse, huawei, inquisitor, iOS, Josh, knuckle grip, Last of Us, lovecraft, Malaysia, martyr, mask, Maxis, Microsoft, minion, Mobile, Monster, Monument Valley, national health service, naughty dog, nhs, niger, oat, oculus quest, odyssey, old school musical, opt-out, overlord, pac-man, part 2, passcode, PC, Phone, photo, pixel buds, playerunknown’s, Playstation, Privacy, PS4, ps5, PUBG, race, raider, rally, Retro, rhythm, roman, romania, room, RPG, sanity, security, sensible world of soccer, series x, settings, simcity, simulation, skylines, soccer, Sony, spoiler, stadia, stadia pro, stanford, Steam, story, survival, switzerland, The Room, top-down, Twitch, Ubisoft, UK, USB C, v-rally, valhalla, Viking, VR, Warhammer, widmovr, wifi, workaround, XBox, Xbox One

Free Games

Cross-platform
- Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is available for free until May 10 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One
Twitch
- Old School Musical
  - 2015
  - A rhythm game that takes you through 50 different chiptune tracks on a tour of old favourite retro games to teach you where all the bugs in those classic games come from
Epic Games
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
  - 2010
  - Survival horror adventure game that has you exploring a dark, foreboding castle while trying to avoid monsters and maintain your sanity
- Crashlands
  - 2016
  - Action-adventure RPG originally built for iOS and Android described as a story-driven crafting game comparable to Don’t Starve, wherein you need to collect items in order to make weapon and armour
PS4
- Cities: Skylines
  - 2017 port of the 2015 PC game
  - Open-ended city building simulation in the spirit of SimCity after the critical failure of EA’s 2013 franchise reboot
- Farming Simulator 19
  - Pretty much what it says on the tin- it’s a full farming simulator with huge American and European environments, over 300 vehicles and machines, online co-op play, and a surprisingly large mod community
  - This entry brought in horse farming as well as oat and cotton crops
Xbox
- V-Rally 4
  - 2018
  - Rally racing game with 51 different cars that takes you from through Monument Valley, Niger, Romania, Malaysia, and more
- Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr
  - 2017
  - Action RPG with a top-down view and a focus on melee and ranged combat set in the Warhammer 40K universe, frequently compared to Diablo
- Overlord 2
  - 2009
  - Action RPG that has you destroying or conquering the land by commanding your hordes of minions and taking down the Roman-styled “Glorious Empire”
- Sensible World of Soccer
  - 2007 HD enhanced version of the 1996 Amiga classic
  - 2D European football game with a comprehensive manager mode, with data on 1,500 teams and 27,000 players. This game is notable as the only sports game included on the list of “the ten most important video games of all time”, as compiled by the curator for the History of Science and Technology Collections at Stanford along with notable game designers and researchers

Apple and Google’s new exposure notification framework, previously referred to as contact tracing, is continuing to evolve and and develop

They’ve settled on the different name because of what it is- a framework for notifying people if they’ve been exposed. It’s a tool that can be used in conjunction with contact tracing, but because they’re focused on privacy as a top priority that’s not a part of the developing specifications
- More details have been coming out with the framework’s introduction into the iOS 13.5 beta, and it sounds like notifications will be handled by phones downloading a new list of identifiers for positive tests regularly and then notifying you if any of them match ones you’ve come into contact with
- Users will be able to opt out of exposure notifications under Settings, Privacy, Health
Germany, originally set on developing a home-grown contact tracing app with centralized data available to health authorities, has changed course and now is working with the Apple-Google approach
- Also running with the decentralized plan is Switzerland, Estonia, and Austria
The UK, unfortunately, is dead set on having their National Health Service manage all the data and not working within those parameters
- The NHS says it has a way to make the software work “sufficiently well” without users needing to keep it active and on-screen, without “excessively affecting battery life”, but that “excessively” has me concerned
  - Apparently it will work by having the app wake up in the background every time another device running the same software is detected. Then it runs some code to log the contact before going to sleep again
  - Australia said they also had a workaround, but they’ve since acknowledged power consumption problems as well as interference if users have other Bluetooth and location-tracking apps open
- Not to mention the fact that they’re so set on taking all this data in that I worry they’re not giving full weight to the privacy argument- if you’re going to expect your citizens to use this app, you can’t treat it like an ankle-bracelet on a felon.
- I get that having all the data kept in-house seems like a good idea, but Apple and Google are pretty smart and they’re building a seemingly solid platform that allows for notifications and battery performance without compromising integrity and privacy

Good news, Google Stadia has now launched PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds! Bad news, it’s filled with terrible bots!

Everyone with a Gmail account still has a free two-month trial of Stadia Pro, which now includes the ability to play PUBG on the service
Unfortunately it looks like they’re filling matches with bots- players with underscores in their names that don’t actually jump out of the plane, but appear randomly through the world with pre-filled inventories
- The game normally drops 100 players on an island to fight it out for supremacy, but ArsTechnica had matches with 98 or even 99 bots
I can get why they have bots, to ease new players in without throwing them to the wolves that have been playing religiously for years, but this really seems like a terrible way to do it

Oculus Quest Follow-up

Knuckle grips are great and really help with Beat Saber
- AMVR
Battery pack counterweight works well, but hampers the pick-up-and-play a bit
- Anker, Aukey
Prescription lenses are really comfortable
- WidmoVR
The Room VR is a creepy escape room that’s a lot of fun
- Casting to my phone turned it into a co-op game, but the visibility is a little rough with fast movements causing lag and text not being very readable
Oculus store really needs a way to gift games to someone

Josh’s day was ruined very early

VSGO professional lens pen, the buffing pad scratched my left lens on my Oculus Quest

Now its like I have cataracts in my left eye playing VR
I tried a rubbing alcohol and water solution and it helped a LITTLE bit

Hope is on the horizon

a redditor had a family member clean their quest with a shirt or something abrasive.
polyWatch is a product that fixes surface scratches
- polyWatch Plastic Polish offers a simple and reliable solution for removing scratches from plastic watch crystal.

Some people have been using watch glass protectors for their lenses

I’m nervouse about adding anything like that to the lenses

Josh guested on Podzilla 1985’s Mr 100 and the 5 Star man

Mr. 100 (or should we say the PHOENIX) and the 5 Star Man are finally back after a TWO MONTH hiatus with a special guest from up north – Josh from PS2J! Come for the Canadian politeness, stay for the talk about American Horror Story, Final Fantasy, Buffy, and more!

Listen to it here!

Assassins Creed Valhalla

The history of the Assassins versus the Templar travels to Norhtern Europe

Settlements play a big part in the game

Trailer opens up on a viking village in Norway.
The trailer follows the protagonist Eivor
It seems that the viking religion plays a part in the game
- Unsure of it being supernaturally or just spirtually

Eivor

A viking raider from Norway, leaving to the shores of England
Eivor is able to be male or female as the player prefers

The story is trying to show a full culture of people

The English are shown as terrified of Viking settlers and trying to show them in a bad light
At the time of the game 870 AD, England is not united, and is run by many kings
The game seems to be about Viking trying to settle on England
- And fighting for the territory already held by the Saxons.

Alfred the Great, the King of Wessex

He is the main antagonist to the vikings in the game and history

There is a lot of viking tactics in the game

Longships are used to strike and retreat quickly
Some battles of soldier to soldier combat on fortifications
Raiding, where the objective is to steal resources rather than fight an enemy

Combat is quite a focus

You will be able to dual-wield any one handed weapons
- Even dual-wield shields
And I feel there will be the ability to steal the weapons from the enemy
There is a face-off where Eivor is tossed around by a very large opponent
- Heavily armored and seems to wield a claymore as a long sword
- Avor wins with the “surprising” reveal of a hidden blade gauntlet
  - It is strapped to the top of his arm, rather then concealed below
  - It doesn’t mean Eivor is a born an raised assassin, but it is confirmed that they are working together

There will also be RPG elements

The usual skill trees and gear collecting to fit your playstyle
You will also be forming strategic alliances
Wins in combat and conversation both pave your path the greatness.
You get to grow and customize your settlement
- recruit clan members
- upgrade structures
- make a barracks to get better recruits
- have your blacksmith improve your weapons
- new customization options at the tattoo parlor
- and they promise more
Seems like in Blackflag, you will be able to send your recruits on missions for your friends
- create and customize your own viking mercenaries
- share them online
- share in the spoils when they help your friends in their own sagas
- all while recruiting your own player made mercenaries
There are also side quest activities
- hunting
- fishing
- dice
- drinking games
- and the traditional Norse competition of flyting
  - basically Viking rap battles

Will be a launch title for Xbox Series X and PS5, and coming to current generation consoles this holiday season.

Tidbits

The Last of Us Part 2, originally slated for release back in February and then pushed to May 29th, has been delayed once more to June 19th of this year
- This latest delay is due to the COVID situation, but has some really bad timing considering there was a massive story leak purporting to show the entire game just a few days ago. People wanting to avoid spoilers will need to be careful for the next couple months
Google has launched its second-gen Pixel Buds this week, bringing a couple of my favourite AirPods features to Android
- They use a pairing process Google calls Fast Pair- you just hold the case near your phone and open it, then a screen pops up to automatically pair them and link them to your Google account
- They’ve also brought the wireless earbuds into their Find My Device app, similar to Apple’s Find My app that lets you ring them and see the last location they were connected
The latest iOS beta software will now detect if you’re wearing a mask and skip from FaceID to the passcode prompt faster
- You can also speed up the passcode prompt before this releases if you tap on the text saying “Face ID” on your screen while it tries to identify you
Huawei, for the fourth time, is taking heat for advertising campaigns that make it look like photos are being taken with their phones but in reality the photos are being taken with professional Nikon or Canon DSLR cameras and lenses
- Their excuse is that they never actually say the photos are taken with the phones they’re advertising, but when you have you model hold their hand out toward the camera as if they were holding it you’re definitely setting some expectations on purpose

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PS2J 283 News – Professionalism 2020

January 10, 2020
Tagged as: a normal lost phone, adorable, afro-brazilian, AI, Alan, among thieves, anarcute, ancient powers, Anime, ape out, Apple, automatic adjustment, Batman, Bethesda, bluetooth, boardgame, bullethell, canadian podcast awards, Cat, ces, chaos, chapters, choice, climb, clone, competition, computer, concept, consumer electronics show, consumer technology association, court order, crash, credentials, cta, damage, dandara, daring fireball, destruction, display, drake’s deception, drake’s fortune, dynamic, e-ink, eldritch edition, electric, electric car, Encryption, engineering, engineers, enter the gungeon, Epic Games, escape, exit, experimentation, exploration, FaceID, fallout 76, FBI, female, folding, found, Free Games, Galaxy, gatebox, gato roboto, goat, goat simulator, Google Home, gorilla, grapple, greywater, gun, hack, hand drawn, hearing aid, heave ho, holiday, hydraloop, iCloud, identity management, image, immoral. obscene, indecent, inventory, invisible, iPhone, ivanka trump, jailbreak, Jazz, jet set radio, Josh, katamari damacy, keynote, Kingdom, knight, landscape, laptop, Lego, lenovo, lgbt, logo, lounge chair, manufacturing, master of shadows, mech, Metroid, metroidvania, microphone, Microsoft, monarch, monsters, Multiplayer, new lands, nonpotable, notifications, open-world, original trilogy, owner, pass, pensacola, phonak, Phone, Pixel, plagiarism, platformer, Playstation 4, polish, politcal, porn naughty america, portal 2, portrait, profane, prototype, PS4, ps5, quibi, rage, real doll, recycling, retailers, riot, roger, roguelike, Russia, russian apps, s-pod, Samsung, security, segway, sexist, shard of darkness, simulator, Sony, sovereign internet law, spaceship, splasher, Splatoon, spy, Star Wars, stealth, story, stylized, styx, sundered, Sunken treasure, super meat boy, survival, swing, tekken 6, telltale, the nathan drake collection, thinkpad, Tomb Raider, top-down, touchid, trap, treatment, turnstyle, Twitch, Uncharted, universe, vengance, video, virto black, vladimir putin, voyeur, VR, watch, water, web content, witcheye, wizard, women, Xbox One, xbox series x

Free Games

Twitch
- Dandara
  - 2018
  - 2D platformer and Metroidvania based on the Afro-Brazilian warrior of the same name that has you traversing the world by warping between white surfaces
- Anarcute
  - 2016
  - In a kind of Katamari Damacy/Jet Set Radio mix, it’s a riot simulator combining adorable aesthetics with large-scale chaos and colourful destruction
- Kingdom: New Lands
  - 2016
  - 2D pixel survival game that has you playing as a shipwrecked monarch trying to establish a long-lasting kingdom while being attacked by otherworldly monsters
- A Normal Lost Phone
  - 2017
  - Puzzle game that has you voyeuristically searching through a found phone and discovering bits and pieces of the owner’s life
- Splasher
  - 2017
  - Challenging 2D twitch platformer that looks like Super Meat Boy meets Splatoon by way of Portal 2’s gel mechanics
- Enter the Gungeon
  - 2016
  - Roguelike bullet hell that follows four adventurers as they descend into the Gungeon to find a gun to kill their past
- Ape Out
  - 2019
  - Top-down stylized beat-’em-up with a dynamic jazz soundtrack where you control a gorilla running through a maze while evading or attacking the gun-wielding human guards
- Witcheye
  - 2019
  - Colourful old-school pixel platformer where you transform into a flying eyeball of vengeance to recover your spell ingredients that were stolen by a smarmy knight and his wizard friend
- Gato Roboto
  - 2019
  - A streamlined Metroid style game that has you playing a cat in an armoured mech in an effort to save your stranded captain and his crashed ship
- Heave Ho
  - 2019
  - 1-4 player shared screen game that shines when playing multiplayer where you need to grab, swing, and grapple your way to the finish
Epic
- Sundered: Eldritch Edition
  - 2017
  - Hand-drawn Metroidvania where you either resist or embrace ancient eldritch powers at the cost of your humanity, now with local co-op
Sony
- Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
  - 2015
  - Remastered port of the first three Uncharted games from the PS3 era: Drake’s Fortune, Among Thieves, and Drake’s Deception
  - Uncharted is known for its Tomb Raider style third-person action adventure gameplay including shooting, combat, and puzzle solving
- Goat Simulator
  - 2015
  - Open-ended third-person exploration and experimentation game, where you play a goat aimed at doing as much damage as possible around an open world map
Microsoft
- Styx: Shards of Darkness
  - 2017
  - Sequel to the 2014 Styx: Master of Shadows, it’s a stealth game that lets you use powers like cloning and invisibility to trap your enemies and either engage or avoid them
- Batman: The Telltale Series
  - 2016
  - Episodic point-and-click graphic adventure game published by Telltale before the studio’s downfall and resurrection, featuring a new Batman story with the usual Telltale Games mechanics of choice-driven branching stories
- Tekken 6
  - 2009
  - The first main-series Tekken game produced for a non-Sony console, it’s a classic fighting game that introduced a new Rage system that increases a character’s strength as their health gets low
- Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
  - 2006
  - Classic family-friendly LEGO video game gameplay that has you exploring, building, and collecting LEGO studs in the Star Wars universe from episodes 4-6

CES- Highlights from the Consumer Electronics Show 2020

The weirdest thing about CES in recent years is how it doesn’t really seem like it’s for consumers at all- it’s full of concept work and ideas that are in no way ready to ship. In many cases the companies behind them have no idea when they might ship in the future
- You see a lot of folding phones, displays, laptops, but they’re all prototypes and in many cases kept entirely out of the hands of the public
- The big problem, as pointed out by The Daring Fireball, is that a lot of these pieces have yet to get past the design phase- engineering and manufacturing still have to weigh in on if the tech is even really possible, never mind if it can be mass produced
  - So you get things like the Galaxy Fold, or the ThinkPad X1 Fold, that get shown off in a look-but-don’t-touch environment and huge planned pricetag, and then we get to wait for the eventual maybe release / maybe fiasco
The Consumer Technology Association, the organization behind CES, also drew fire this year for inviting Ivanka Trump to deliver a keynote address
- Trump’s talk, titled “The Path to the Future of Work” discussed job creation, apprenticeship program, and skills training in the US
- Many felt that it was a political decision though, and ill-suited, as the CTA has routinely rejected proposals from other women for years citing that they didn’t have the credentials or tech-focused topic that their male counterparts brought to the table. How that jives with Ivanka Trump’s credentials and general talk about jobs is anyone’s guess
- The CTA has previously taken heat for seemingly sexist policies by calling a female-focused hands-free orgasm device “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image.” while at the same time allowing Naughty America to set up a VR porn exhibit in a main hall.
Samsung introduced “Samsung Pass”, billed as “identity management as a service” to enable secure access through biometric authentication
- All that is to say, they’re doing the same thing that Apple already does with Touch ID and Face ID by allowing developers to use those biometric locks to authenticate users instead of using their username and password
- The most egregious part of this is that when they were explaining the tech during their CES keynote they bought up a slide with the Apple FaceID logo alongside other symbols representing the biometrics they use. Not even a ripoff of it, but the actual straight-up logo itself.
Lenovo introduced the ThinkBook Plus, a business laptop with an e-ink display on the back of the lid
- The idea here is apparently that it can show email and calendar notifications from Outlook, and you can use a stylus to take notes on it.
- It seems kind of gimmicky, and in practice I’d worry about it showing information on the closed lid to everyone around you when you aren’t expecting it to
Gatebox is bringing their holographic anime girl AI assistant to North America, now featuring westernized characters like a business-woman or a beefy gym-dude, aimed at doing things like acting as 24/7 concierges on cruise ships or facilitating gym check-ins without staff present
Segway introduced the S-Pod, a futuristic lounge chair that will take you up to 43 miles on a 2 hour charge, topping out at 24mph
- It’s got a ton of polish, with Segway’s experience in single-person transport really showing, but the use cases are a little tricky to see
Hydraloop’s claim to fame is a water recycling system for houses that takes up about as much room as a flat refrigerator and hooks into the existing piping.
- The idea is it takes outgoing waste water and processes is a bunch of different ways, then runs it through a bioreactor and disinfects it with UV light. The resulting water can be used in toilets, washing machines, pools, and even in the garden, saving up to 20,000 gallons of water per year
Phonak’s new Virto Black hearing aids are bridging the gap between accessibility tool and smart wearable with high quality sound and automatic adjustments that adapt to ambient sound in your surroundings, as well as music streaming and call handling
- They also offer a wireless puck loaded up with microphones that you can put anywhere within 30 feet of yourself that will stream audio directly to you
- There’s also an optional dock for charging or connecting the device to other audio sources, so you can pipe your TV directly in for private listening
Quibi’s new Turnstyle technology aims to let users watch videos in either portrait or landscape, dynamically switching while viewing
- Instead of showing black bars the technology relies on creators filming two versions of their content, then both play with a synchronized audio track and only the compatible video is shown
Sony made an electric car, but it just kind of looks like any other fancy electric car out there with assistive sensors for driving and the usual bells and whistles.
Anything from CES catch your eye? Let us know!

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed legislation taking effect this July that bans the sale of smartphones, computers, and smart TV’s without Russian apps pre-installed

The law will supposedly help Russian developers to better compete with foreign tech firms, and it’s been pitched as a way to spare unsophisticated users from the need to install apps themselves
Unfortunately tech retailers were never consulted on the new law, and with the list of required apps not even available yet it could force many companies like Apple out of the country
- An Apple source told Kommersant that “A mandate to add third-party applications to Apple’s ecosystem would be equivalent to jailbreaking” and would pose a security threat that the company cannot tolerate
There are also concerns that Russia could use the apps to spy on its citizens, after the “sovereign internet law” was recently passed giving the government power to block access to web content in any situation it sees as an emergency

Tidbits

The next Xbox has been announced, and it’s the Xbox Series X
- They’re creating this generation of consoles as just ‘Xbox”, of which the Series X is one product line
- The device seems to be continuing the evolution of consoles into computers, being basically a gaming PC tower you use with a controller, and one bonus it’s maintaining backward compatibility with all existing Xbox One software and accessories
Sony’s also announced their next console, the PS5, and showed off the shiny new logo which is exactly the same as the old one but with a 5 instead of a 4
The end of 2019 saw a crazy Fallout 76 inventory hack that allowed hackers to use other players as if they were containers, looting everything within with no consequences
- Bethesda patched it after about a week in the wild, but we haven’t seen any reports of items being restored to their rightful owners
The FBI is taking another crack at Apple and their encryption policies related to the shooting at a naval base in Pensacola last year
- Apple has apparently already shared the relevant data they can access in the user’s iCloud storage, complying with the court order obtained by the FBI, but holds steady to the fact that they have no access to what users store on their phones regardless of how often the FBI asks

Exit: The Sunken Treasure

Boardgame overview

The game included:
- Rulebook
- Puzzlebook
  - has the activities and scenery
- a decoder disk, 4 rings to line up.
  - Puzzle ID symbol and 3 sea creature/numbers
- The inside of the game box looked like a ship
- 5 gemstones
- a punch-out sheet for a coin, ship mast and flag
- A sealed pack of cards
  - 1 deck of riddles
  - 1 deck of solutions
    - Some cards are answers, some are almost answers that require another step to complete.
  - And 10 piles of hints, with symbols that correspond to puzzles
    - Contains 3 hints
      - 1st gets you in the right direction
      - 2nd shows you how to see the puzzle components
      - 3rd tells you how the puzzle is solved and the solution
The rules told us how to set up the table
- all the components we do not need yet
- and how to deal with the components as we complete them.

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PS2J 279 News – Edited as Desired

November 8, 2019
Tagged as: 2, 90’s, action, active noise cancelling, AI, AirPods, Alan, alphastar, amazing, anc, announce messages, apocalypse, apology, Apple, apple store, apple tv+, attack of the clones, audio, battery, battle of geonosis, best selling console, blitzchung, Blizzard, Canada, canon, capitalism, carrier, carry over, cast, China, co-op, commentator, costmetics, crime, cult, cyberpunk, cybersecurity, darksiders ii, deathinitive, deepmind, devil’s daughter, donald trump, doublecross, echo, edge of sleep, end times, Epic Games, excalibur, explore, First Person, flight, Free Games, game mode, ghostwriter, gold pass, gothenburg, grapple, grovel, Hack and Slash, Hearthstone, heroes, hey siri, hong kong, Horror, iCloud, irish, j allen brack, Japan, Jedi, Josh, joy ride turbo, kart race, king arthur, knight, lockout, maps, Mario Kart, markiplier, Mega Man, Microsoft, mind palace, mission, monte carlo, Multiplayer, mystery deduction, nintendo, nintendo switch online, nioh, nuclear throne, oil, omnic, outlast ii, Overwatch, passenger, planet alpha, platformer, Playstation, podcast, president, Privacy, Pro, procedural, production, progress, PS4, pseudo-sequel, push, pvr, qcode, qi, Reboot, relentless, review, rio de janerio, rogue-like, RPG, rudy giuliani, ruiner, sailor, sengoku, sensitive, sherlock holmes, Shooter, simulator, skins, sojourn, Solo, Sony, sound effects, Space, Star Wars, starcraft ii, starfighter, story, stream, struggle, subscription, survival, swing, sword legacy: omen, tactical, talents, team ninja, the final station, toothless, top-down, toronto, tour, train, transparency, turmoil, Turn Based, Twitch, tycoon, walljump, Wii, wipe, wireless charging, Xbox One

Free games

Epic Games
- Nuclear Throne
  - 2015
  - Top-down roguelike shooter that has you going through procedurally generated levels either solo or in co-op, working your way ever closer to the Nuclear Throne
- RUINER
  - 2017
  - Top-down cyberpunk shooter where you play a silent, masked protagonist attempting to rescue your kidnapped brother from the failing conglomerate that controls the entire metropolis
Twitch
- Double Cross
  - 2019
  - A Mega Man style action platformer that has you controling Zahra Sinclair, an agent of RIFT who can jump, walljump, and use her proton slinger to grab objects or swing herself around
- Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
  - 2015 remaster of the 2012 title
  - Action hack and slash RPG that has you exploring open-world regions, solving interactive puzzles, and kicking butt in a kind of God Of War / Ocarina Of Time hybrid
- Planet Alpha
  - 2018
  - A side-scrolling adventure platformer where you’re pursued by relentless enemies and must harness the power of night and day as you struggle to survive
- Sword Legacy: Omen
  - 2018
  - Turn-based tactical RPG in a re-imagined King Arthur mythos where you play a vengeful knight in search of the long-lost Excalibur
- Turmoil
  - 2016
  - Simulation game inspired by the 19th century oil rush in North America, where you start from scratch to become a successful oil entrepreneur
Xbox One
- Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter
  - 2016
  - Adventure mystery game in the same series as Crimes & Punishments, that has you exploring crime scenes and examining clues to link deductions and attempt to find the culprit
- The Final Station
  - 2016
  - A side-scrolling shooter with a train simulator and exploration elements, where you have to balance taking care of the train and its passengers with exploring the apocalyptic world at each train station in order to keep moving
- Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
  - 2002
  - A single-player or co-op spaceflight combat game set just prior to Attack of the Clones and during the Battle of Geonosis
- Joy Ride Turbo
  - 2012
  - Combat kart racing game similar to the Mario Kart series
PS4
- Nioh
  - 2017
  - Action RPG developed by Team Ninja where you play an Irish sailor pursuing a sorceror into the final battles of the Sengoku period in Japan
- Outlast II
  - 2017
  - First person survival horror game that has you trying to find your wife while beset by a village of deranged end-times cultists with no way to fight back

AirPods Pro review

Very comfortable, though with the in-ear design it’s slightly harder to get them seated right (but I had pretty much perfect ears for the old style, so others may see it as an improvement), and the noise cancelling is solid
Transparency mode is ridiculously good, and it automatically switches to that when you’re just using one so you don’t have one blocked up ear
Announce messages seemed like a gimmick until I was busy on my computer and Siri read my incoming texts unobtrusively
The case looks bigger, but the just turned it on its side and stretched it a little, so it totally still fits in that 5th pocked on jeans
Also enjoying improvements from Gen 2, since I’m coming from G1- Hey Siri and wireless charging are handy to have
If you’re in the market for some new ANC headphones these are solid, but if you’ve got a good pair or are already using AirPods 2 then they’re a little harder to justify

Blizzard president J Allen Brack took a moment before the Blizzcon opening ceremonies to apologize for their punishment of professional Hearthstone player Blitzchung’s public support of Hong Kong’s protests

In the toothless statement he went on to say though that “Blizzard had the opportunity to bring the world together in a tough Hearthstone esports moment”
A few problems here:
- It wasn’t a “tough Hearthstone esports moment”
- He passed up another opportunity to “bring the world together” by saying anything at all in support of Hong Kong
- He said nothing about the groveling they did to China on social media after the fact
- And they still punished not only Blitzchung but also the commentators that were interviewing him

Overwatch 2 was announced, as expected, and we’ve got all the details

So it looks like this is kind of a pseudo-sequel; they’re releasing an updated game UI with revamped/remastered graphics and gameplay, along with multiple new heroes, maps, and a game mode, all for free for existing Overwatch players.
- The new Push game mode, coming to quick play and competitive, has the two teams competing over a neutral payload that gets pushed in either direction based on who controls it
- There will be four new maps: Toronto, Gothenburg, Monte Carlo, and Rio De Janerio
- We also got a sneak peak at a couple of the upcoming heroes- Sojourn, the first Canadian OW hero that uses a cool gun that looks like a covenant sniper rifle, and Echo, an omnic that’s been teased in the base game for a while now
- All skins, cosmetics, and other progress will carry over seamlessly
Where Overwatch 2 itself comes in to play is a new look for all heroes, a new co-op story mode and hero missions, and new hero talents for the PVE modes
- The new modes seem to be permanent co-op modes like Halloween Terror or the Archives missions
- Hero talents will have you levelling up and customizing hero abilities and ultimates to suit your playstyle
One nice thing with the new stuff coming is they can grow the canon inside of the game itself- right now we get lore dumps online but it has no real impact in-game
- Overwatch re-forming and characters meeting or reuniting will have actual impact, instead of the current PVP grab-bag of characters having amusing interactions inside the dropship
If you want all of that stuff, you’ll have to buy the new… expansion, I guess? Plug-in? when it comes out at some point in the future for some currently undisclosed price
All in all it looks like they’re doing a fair amount to breath new life into the 3.5 year old shooter, though you’ll end up buying it again to see everything they have to offer

Tidbits

Real-time multiplayer is coming to Mario Kart Tour, but for now it will be limited to a beta offering only for Gold Pass subscribers
- There aren’t any details on if it will require a subscription once it’s fully released, but if it does I can see it being a pretty sparse game with the subscription price costing more than their main console offering, Nintendo Switch Online
Sony’s PS4 is officially the second best selling console of all time, with about 2/3rds of the sales of the PS2
- It’s doubtful that it’ll ever be number 1 though, as even though Sony says they’ll support it until at least 2021 the PS5 is expected to hit in 2020’s holiday season
DeepMind’s AlphaStar AI has officially hit Grandmaster status in Starcraft II, beating 99.8% of ranked human players with all three races, and I for one welcome our new robot overlords
Rudy Giuliani, one month after being named Trump’s cybersecurity advisor, apparently had to go to an Apple Store to wipe and restore his iPhone after getting it locked down from 10 unsuccessful passcode attempts
- Many experts criticized the move, saying that there’s too much risk of employees gaining access to sensitive government information on the phone or in his iCloud backups
I don’t know how I missed this, but ghostwriter is getting rebooted on Apple TV+!
- 90’s kids might remember the series running from 92 to 95 on PBS

Alan recommends QCode podcasts (Carrier, Edge of Sleep)

Literally Misleading

Last Week:

This Week:

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A huge thanks to Dalton, for supporting us for so long.

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1 2 3 »

Tag: survival

Free Games

Twitch

Swimsanity – Couch Party Edition

Optica

Epic Games

The Fall

Sony Play at Home 2021

March 25

ABZU

Enter the Gungeon

Rez Infinite

Subnautica

The Witness

PSVR

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

Moss

Thumper

Paper Beast

April 19

Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition

A state-backed group in China wants to get around App Tracking Transparency and track app users with a controversial new “China Advertising ID”, or CAID

Sony’s unveiled the planned controller for their next generation of PSVR, and it looks pretty slick

This Week In Gaming History

March 13 – 2012 – Yakuza: Dead Souls – PlayStation 3 (United States)

March 14 – 1986 – Night Fire – DOS

March 15 – 1997 – Snowboard Kids – Nintendo 64 (North America)

March 16 – 2010 – Metro 2033 – Windows, Xbox 360

March 17 – 1995 – Descent – DOS

March 18 – 1992 – Minesweeper – Windows 3.x

March 19 – 2007 – Tetris Evolution – Xbox 360

Tidbits

For more content, Patreon supports get access to upcoming ideas and more!

Free Games

Twitch

The Academy: First Riddle

Epic Games

Sunless Sea

Bonus round: Sony’s announced the return of their Play At Home program, kicking off four months of Playstation offers on March 1st

Australia’s working on a law that would require any site linking to a news publication to pay for the privilege

There’s a proposed class action lawsuit in play alleging that Google lied about Stadia’s capabilities in order to lock in subscribers

Sony’s announced some details on their next-generation VR headset, and it sounds pretty slick

Everyone hoping for Anthem to join the ranks of No Man’s Sky and Final Fantasy XIV and rise from its ashes can now stop holding their breath- it’s officially cancelled

This Week In Gaming History

February 20 – 2003 – Train Tracking – Windows

February 21 – 2017 – Halo Wars 2 – Xbox One, Windows

February 22 – 1996 – Johnny Bazookatone – PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO, DOS

February 23 – 1995 – Mario’s Game Gallery – DOS, Macintosh, Windows

February 24 – 2015 – Dragon Ball: Xenoverse – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

February 25 – 2002 – Circus Maximus – PS2, Xbox

February 26 – 2008 – Turning Point: Fall of Liberty – PS3, Windows, Xbox 360

Tidbits

Mini-review

For more content, Patreon supports get access to upcoming ideas and more!

Security PSA: Update your Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader software

Free games

PlayStation

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (free 4K Cinematic Pack is also available)

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition

Bugsnax (PS5)

Xbox

Aragami: Shadow Edition

Maid of Sker

Swimsanity

Lego Indiana Jones

Full Spectrum Warrior

Twitch

A Knight’s Quest

Smoke and Sacrifice

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan

Victor Vran Overkill Edition

Lethis – Path of Progress

Extreme Exorcism

Epic Games

Dungeons 3

Epic slApple fight

Apple’s released a bunch of software this week

Cloud gaming on the Nintendo Switch has come west with two new games for the device

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will be losing online features, and thus the access to come achievements, on December 31st

Apple has launched a new service program for AirPods Pro sound issues, which had many users hearing static or crackling noises as well as problems with Active Noise Cancellation