Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of May 20th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top stories of the week.
Returnal may get a save feature, Summer Games Fest is ready to roll, and free Palestine! Let’s get into the news.
IGN editorial staff came together and posted an article with ways to support Palestine, earlier this week. The article originally went up on May 15th and was taken down without IGN’s editorial staff’s permission on May 16th. A public statement from IGN was not given until the early morning hours of May 17th. The content was removed because it was, “not in-line with our intent of trying to show support for all people impacted by tragic events. By highlighting only on population, the post mistakenly left the impression that we were politically aligned with one side.”
This enraged IGN’s editorial staff and they responded with an open letter over on Medium.
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of May 13th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top stories of the week.
I’m still experimenting with how I want this set up, so this week will feature 3 stories, plus what I’m playing/impressions.
PS5s are still hard to get? The Yakuza series will be turn-based going forward? A new Donkey Kong game is in the works? Let’s get into the news!
Low stock and scalpers are making it very hard for others to get their hands on the PS5 and it looks like things won’t get better any time soon. Sony Group Corp. recently told an analyst group that the shortage is expected to last into 2022. The company also mentioned that this issue has been a stress point for sales targets.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said, “I don’t think demand is calming down this year and even if we secure a lot more devices and produce many more units of the PlayStation 5 next year, our supply wouldn’t be able to catch up with demand.”
This is very unfortunate as I would love to see everyone who wants one actually get their hands on a PS5 console. I was fortunate enough to get one late last year and was hoping supply would be better by the Summer time. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has made things a lot more difficult especially with the semiconductor shortage. With vaccines out in the wild, we can only hope things will improve.
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of April 29th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Lost Soul Aside looks amazing, Sony and Microsoft are making a lot of money, and Nintendo keeps doing Nintendo things. Let’s get into the news!
Lost Soul Aside Gets a Fantastic New Gameplay Video
Lost Soul Aside is a project created by one man, Bing Yang, from China. The project was originally shown off way back in 2016 with much attention. Shortly after that, he was approached by Sony to help with development, and Bing Yang was able to create his own studio, Ultizero Games. Within the last 5 years, we have not seen or heard anything about Lost Soul Aside, until this week. The official Twitter account was updated with a statement apologizing for the wait and an 18 minute gameplay video to watch.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
We have returned with the latest update on Lost Soul Aside. Check out 18+ minutes of new gameplay that the development has prepared for everyone to see. We apologise for the long wait & thank everyone for the continued patience. https://t.co/11dlOam4Sjpic.twitter.com/kHQ39QjHcC
The new gameplay video set the gaming world ablaze. The game itself still maintains it’s Final Fantasy ascetic, but the gameplay itself looks like Devil May Cry. I am pretty amazed by the showing and I am interested in seeing more for sure. There is no release date or release window just yet, but Lost Soul Aside will be available on PS4, PS5, and PC.
Nintendo continues to do Nintendo things. Originally released in 2018, Super Mario Party is receiving a big update. Update v. 1.1.0 will include 70 new mini games, a 2 vs 2 Partner Party mode, and online play!
Keep the party going! A free update to #SuperMarioParty adds online play to the board game mode, 70 minigames , and the 2 vs 2 Partner Party mode. Available now!
Since there is no end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemic just yet, this is a pretty nice surprise. Fans have been wondering why Super Mario Party did not ship with online play to begin with. My theory is that the update was going to come out way sooner, but COVID slowed down production. Either way, better late than never and this should breath new life into the game altogether.
Monster Hunter Rise got it’s big new 2.0 update this week. The update features a great deal of new content including an unlocked HR, Elder Dragons Chameleos, Teostra, and Kushala Daora, Apex monster hunts, and new weapons and armor to craft. The Apex monster hunts are a nice touch as they were only available to fight in the Rampage mode quests. The Apex monsters available to hunt are Apex Arzuros, Rathalos, and Diablos. They will be a bit tougher than their regular counter parts, so prepare accordingly. There is more content that was not necessarily covered in the trailer so you will have to find out on your own. More content will be on the way as update 3.0 will be released in late May. Happy hunting!
The next Guilty Gear Strive beta will be available on PS4 and PS5, 8pm PST on May 13th to May 16th at 7:59PM PST. All characters, including the newly announced I-No and Anji, will be available to play. Offline versus mode, tutorial, training and online matches will be playable. Some features added from feedback on the first open beta have been implemented as well, such as a rematch function. This is great, because after each match in the first beta, you would go directly back to the lobby and you would have to start the match up all over again. A rematch option is a great addition and gets players back into the game a lot faster. Check out the link above for more details on the beta.
Numbers!
Considering how hard it is to buy these consoles, PlayStation and Xbox and moving a lot of units.
Sony has sold a total of 7.8 million PlayStation 5 consoles, as of March 31st. This puts the PS5 selling a bit faster than the PS4, as that system sold 7.6 million units as of March 31st. 2014. NPD has stated that the PS5 is the fastest selling console in US history through it’s first five months of availability.
Microsoft’s fiscal Q3 showed a 50% increase year over year. The personal computing division jumped up 19% to $13 billion, and Microsoft has credited gaming as the primary driver of that growth. Hardware was up 232% year over year, for the quarter. Those results are accredited to the continued demand of the Xbox Series X | S consoles.
On today's festive episode (which features Hashim in the best mood he's possibly ever been in), the guys talk about their initial impressions of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and the first part of the Summer Games Fest for 2021, which includes (but not limited to): Elden Ring, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Battlefield 2042, the Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, and more! The guys also talk about Overwatch finally getting crossplay, and Back 4 Blood rumors.
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theskilltree/message
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of April 22nd 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week. This week only features 3 top stories. Next week we will get back to the normal 5.
Jeff Kaplan leaves Blizzard, a new game has been revealed from the developers of Celeste, and we got a a small win in the fight for game preservation. Let’s get to it!
After nearly 20 years, Jeff Kaplan has confirmed his departure from Blizzard Entertainment. No need to be alarmed as Overwatch 2 is still in development. With Kaplan’s exit, Aaron Keller will be stepping in as game director. Aaron Keller has been at Blizzard for 18 years and he is the founding member of the Overwatch team so Overwatch fans shouldn’t have to worry about anything going wrong.
Kaplan’s departure definitely comes as a shock to the video game industry. Blizzard has been a different company after being acquired by Activision in 2008. Recently they have been pushed to get more games out the door and a number of layoffs has rubbed a lot of people in the industry the wrong way. Fortunately, some of it’s those ex-Blizzard employees have gone to start up their own studios like Frost Giant and Dreamhaven. I wonder what exactly happened behind the scenes to make Kaplan want to leave, but we more than likely will never know. I also wonder will we see him join either of the aforementioned studios or start up his own studio. I do know I will miss hearing, “Hi, I’m Jeff from the Overwatch Team.”
Happy trails, Jeff. Can’t wait to see what you do next.
The PS3 and PS Vita Stores Will Not Be Shut Down After All
A couple of weeks ago, Sony dropped the news that the PS3, PS Vita, and PSP stores will be going offline this summer. A lot of consumers, including myself, were pretty upset about this, especially from a game preservation standpoint. It seems like PlayStation’s current CEO Jim Ryan actually heard our frustrations about this move. He released statement on the matter this week:
Recently, we notified players that PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer. Upon further reflection, however, it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices. PSP commerce functionality will retire on July 2, 2021 as planned.
Unfortunately the PSP still gets the short end of the stick and support will end this summer as planned, which is understandable. As far as I know, a majority of the PSP library is available in the Vita store. Ryan goes on to mention the decision was based on, “a number of factors, including commerce support challenges for older devices and the ability for us to focus more of our resources on newer devices where a majority of our gamers are playing on.” After the initial announcement of the store closure, they were able to see how passionate we all are about these older products and the storefronts will be open for the foreseeable future.
This was the right move by Sony, but it’s still not a good look, because it seems like it was a way to get people to spend more money. Many still use the PS3 and the PS Vita to this day for older classic games that are not available in the current iteration of the PlayStation Store. I personally think Sony should not think about shutting these stores down until they come up with a viable solution for backwards compatibility. Until then, I will keep my Vita and PS3 close by for some old school video game fun.
Extremely OK Games, the team behind Celeste, Revealed Their Next Title, Earthblade
Extremely OK Games founder Maddy Thorson describes as a, “vibe reveal,” as they, “didn’t want to reveal much about the game or its story yet, but we think that this well establishes the world and the feeling of being in it.” Earthblade has been described by the team as a, “2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world.” It’s going to be a long time before we see anything on Earthblade and we can expect it, when it’s ready, in “20XX.”
Check out the teaser poster and a snippet from the game’s soundtrack here!
Noteworthy:
Discord and Microsoft end acquisition talks: Game Informer
On today's festive episode (which features Hashim in the best mood he's possibly ever been in), the guys talk about their initial impressions of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and the first part of the Summer Games Fest for 2021, which includes (but not limited to): Elden Ring, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Battlefield 2042, the Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, and more! The guys also talk about Overwatch finally getting crossplay, and Back 4 Blood rumors.
—
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theskilltree/message
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of April 15th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Ryu and Chun-Li are Power Rangers? PlayStation getting into mobile games? Nintendo to create more original IPs? Find out next time on Dragon Ba… er let’s get into the news!
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of April 8th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Monster Hunter Rise prints money, E3 is all online, 99 Pac-Men appear out of thin air? That’s a lot of Pac-Men. I assume that’s the plural of Pac-Man, but anyways let’s get into the news!
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of March 4th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Fall Guys gets bought out? Yuffie is in Final Fantasy VII Remake? Will we get the greatest Pokemon game of all time, next year? We’ll have to wait to find out. Let’s get into the news!
The studio behind 2020’s smash hit, Fall Guys, is being acquired by Epic games. Epic jumped out ahead to assure nothing about Fall Guys will change by stating, “For Fall Guys fans, your gameplay isn’t changing and Epic will continue to invest in making the game a great experience for players across platforms. Your favorite colorful beans will still stumble through the chaos on PC, PlayStation, and soon Nintendo Switch and Xbox. Check out this blog post for answers to all your Fall Guys questions.”
Both parties seem to be very excited about this move as they share the same goals. Tonic Games CEO Dave Bailey feels like they have found a new home and they share a mission to “build and support games that have a positive impact, empower others and stand the test of time and we couldn’t be more excited to be joining forces with their team.” Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeny also hones in on those same goals, “It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal. As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”
It will be interesting to see where Epic will go from here and if Fall Guys eventually goes free to play. Other than being the creators of the Unreal Engine, Fortnite battle royale has been Epic’s real stepping stone into the gaming space. With that they have been able to build by acquiring Psyonix, the team behind Rocket League, and now Tonic Games Group. Rocket League eventually went free to play under the Epic umbrella, so it could be safe to assume Fall Guys will do the same. Either way, this is a huge get for Epic and the sky is the limit for Tonic Games Group.
Last week we got a brand new Pokemon Presents presentation and they showed off some really cool games. First we were greeted with a new gameplay trailer for New Pokemon Snap showing off the world, new characters to the Pokemon universe, and some of the Pokemon you will run into on your adventure. New Pokemon snap is slated for an April 30th, 2021 release.
Next we were greeted with the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes, titled: Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. This remake will not be handled by Game Freak themselves, instead Pokemon BD/SP will be handled by ILCA Inc. Their previous work includes Pokemon Home and they have also done support for many other games like NieR: Automata, Dragon Quest XI, and Yakuza 0 to name a few. This great news to see Game Freak out sourcing content. They are still a relatively small studio, so they can’t juggle too many projects at once. Also, good on ILCA for securing a lead big project like this. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are scheduled for a late 2021 release.
Lastly, we got to see what Game Freak has been working on and it is a treat. Pokemon Legends Arceus is a brand new open world action RPG Pokemon game! It takes place in the very early days of the Sinnoh region. The trailer shows off a little bit of early gameplay with your character running around the world, catching Pokemon, and a few battles. There is even a dodge roll mechanic! This was easily the most exciting part of the presentation and I cannot wait to see more. Pokemon Legends Arceus is expected to arrive early 2022.
Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and a Couple of New Mobile Games
Our wishes have been granted! Final Fantasy VII Remake will get PS5 updates with it’s next iteration, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. The PS5 version will bring visual improvements, photo mode, as well as new story content featuring Yuffie. Owners of the PS4 version will be able to upgrade for free, but the Yuffie episode will be sold separately. Final Fantasy VII Remake is also now available in March’s PS Plus offering. That version is not eligible for the PS5 upgrade. Intergrade launches June 10th 2021.
Square Enix also announced a couple of new mobile games. Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis and Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier
Square Enix to have Multiple Remakes in the Works with Forever Entertainment
Square Enix has recruited Forever Entertainment to publish multiple remakes on the studio’s classic IPs. Forever Entertainment has published the recent Panzer Dragoon remake and will also be publishing Panzer Dragoon 2. At this time, there is no information on what IP Forever Entertainment will be working on. Square has an incredible catalog of games. Fingers crossed it’s Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger.
And to round out The Geek Dojo Weekly this week, turns our Monster Hunter Rise will not be exclusive to just the Switch as the game will appear on the PC in 2022 as well. The game is still in development, according to the producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yasunori Ichinose.
On today's festive episode (which features Hashim in the best mood he's possibly ever been in), the guys talk about their initial impressions of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and the first part of the Summer Games Fest for 2021, which includes (but not limited to): Elden Ring, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Battlefield 2042, the Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, and more! The guys also talk about Overwatch finally getting crossplay, and Back 4 Blood rumors.
—
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theskilltree/message
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of February 25th! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Anthem is dead, PlayStation hits us with a slew of new information, and some Konami games are getting a second chance at life. Let’s get into the news!
Konami Plans to Outsource Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania to Third Party Studios
Konami is reportedly looking to outsource development on new Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania games, according to VGC’s Andy Robinson. These new games will not be seen for quite some time. There is very little information with no planned ideas or who will be developing.
This is pretty exciting to hear especially since Konami has pretty much been out of gaming for a long time. They have quite a few IPs that many of us love. I have personally wanted the MGS series to come back in a big way so it would be great to see another studio get the rights to it. If Konami really wants to shake the table, they would outsource the Suikoden franchise.
PlayStation News Extravaganza
Via: Game Informer
Sony hit us with a slew of information of what to expect in the coming months/years. First up, a new PlayStation VR headset is in development. It is currently in development for the PS5 and will not be launching in 2021. The headset will feature improved resolution and field of view. It will also only have one cable to connect to the PS5 console which is a huge plus. The headset is a long ways out, but devs kits will be sent out soon.
Next is the Play at Home initiative returns next month. Last year at the start of the pandemic, Sony announced Play at Home as a way to give back to the community. They offered Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey free for a limited time. Since the pandemic continues to spread, this program is being brought back again. Play at Home 2021 starts March 1st in the PlayStation store. Ratchet and Clank PS4 will be available for free until March 31st. Beginning on March 25th, Sony will be offering an extended access period for new Funimation subscribers.
Sony also announced more games will be coming to PC, starting with Days Gone. CEO Jim Ryan opens up about the topic in a recent GQ interview stating, “…our studios made some wonderful, great games. There’s an opportunity to expose those great games to a wider audience and recognize the economics of game development, which are not always straightforward. The cost of making games goes up with each cycle, as the caliber of the IP has improved. Also, our ease of making it available to non-console owners has grown. So it’s a fairly straightforward decision for us to make.”
Lastly, to top it all off, a brand new State of Play will premier this Thursday. Well today since this newsletter goes out every Thursday. I will cover it in next week’s post. It will be 30 minutes and will give us a deep dive on 10 upcoming games. I’m fully expecting a Kena: Bridge of Spirits release date. Tune in today at 5pm EST to find out more.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has Been Delayed
Paradox Interactive released a statement this week noting Bloodlines 2 will be delayed out of 2021. It seems the game has run into some development issues as the lead development team, Hardsuit Labs, has been dismissed from the project. No new release date has been given and no more pre-orders will be taken at this time.
I have never played the first game, but this one was on my radar for 2021. It is disappointing to see this happen, but take your time Paradox.
CD Projekt Red announced the next big patch for Cyberpunk 2077 will be delayed into the second half of March. “While we dearly wanted to deliver Patch 1.2 for Cyberpunk 2077 in the timespan we detailed previously, the recent cyber attack on the studio’s IT infrastructure and extensive scope of the update mean this unfortunately will not happen — we’ll need some additional time.” They also mention, “We’ve been working on numerous overall quality improvements and fixes, and we still have work to do to make sure that’s what you get.”
CDPR has definitely had a rough go at things since this game launched. Even though things have been rough, I’m am glad to see they are working to make things right. I have not made it very far into the game myself, but I am content with waiting on this big patch to see how much has the game improved.
Anthem had a troubled launch in 2019. It was a new direction for BioWare and EA. Upon release, the game seemed like it had something special in the beginning, but everything quickly feel apart after an hour or so in. EA looked to revamp this game with an Anthem 2.0 update. Two weeks ago there was a report that judgement day for Anthem was coming. EA would decide if they will save the game or discontinue development. Fast forward to Feb. 24th, it has been reported EA will be pulling the plug on Anthem completely. BioWare’s Christian Daily blames the pandemic for the project not coming together completely. The team working on Anthem will be moved over to Dragon Age 4. RIP Anthem.
Noteworthy:
PS5 and Xbox component shortage to be investigated by President Biden: Gamespot
On today's festive episode (which features Hashim in the best mood he's possibly ever been in), the guys talk about their initial impressions of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and the first part of the Summer Games Fest for 2021, which includes (but not limited to): Elden Ring, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Battlefield 2042, the Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, and more! The guys also talk about Overwatch finally getting crossplay, and Back 4 Blood rumors.
—
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theskilltree/message
Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of February 10th! This is a weekly video games news column featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
E3 is back? WB Games puts a ring on it? Can Sony beat Nintendo in a drift competition? I don’t know, let’s get into the news!
The past few years have been rough for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Data leaks, major publishers deciding not to show up, and the most recent issue, the covid 19 pandemic. Hopefully with the backing of publishers, The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) looks to bounce back in 2021 with an online only event on June 15-17.
And is coming very soon! EA released a trailer detailing everything included in the collection:
Mass Effect 1,2, and 3 are included
Remastered in 4K
Gameplay and quality of life improvements
All previous DLC included
Available May 14, 2021
I am ecstatic about this news. The Mass Effect trilogy is one of my all time favorites and I can’t wait to experience it again in all of it’s 4K glory. The trailer gave me goosebumps, so be sure to check it out. Game Informer will have exclusive content on the collection all month.
Google will be shutting down their internal Stadia studios and focusing on their partners instead. This is a pretty shocking move considering they brought in talent, such as former Ubisoft producer Jade Raymond, to lead the charge. Google will offer their Stadia tech to other publishers in hopes other companies will use the streaming service. Stadia head of operations, Phil Harrison, will work on pursuing new partnerships.
I believe the Stadia platform is practically on life support, at this time. One thing they should strongly consider is switching to a subscription based service. Paying for the service and games separetely is not a good way to run this. Not many people will want to buy a $50-$60 game on a streaming service when they can actually own it on another console.
Just Go Ahead and Forget About Anything Bayonetta 3 For a While
Last week I reported on possible Bayonetta 3 news this year. Looks like we may need to reel those expectations back in a bit. According to a recent interview with VGC, Hideki Kamiya joked we should, “forget about Bayonetta 3,” for now.
“I understand it’s driving the fans crazy! In light of that, my suggestion would be that maybe we should all reset and forget about Bayonetta 3. Then when something finally does happen, it will be a nice surprise, won’t it?”
Kamiya also mentions that it is still early in the year so it may be still be possible we get news about it this year. Just don’t get your hopes up too high.
EA Sports College Football is in the very early stages of development. EA is working with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to obtain the use of over 100 FBS teams, stadiums, mascots, and uniforms. Player likeness or real names will not be used. With or without the real players names, this is great news for the fans of the series.
Gearbox Software, the developer of Borderlands, will be joining Embracer Group as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Randy Pitchford will remain as Gearbox’s boss after the merger.
“Lars [Wingefors]’s vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fuelling and accelerating the ambitions of a series of decentralized, successful entrepreneurial companies while magnifying the collective value and advantages of diversification across the entire group is the most brilliant strategy and design for short, medium, and long-term success in this industry that I have ever encountered in my 30 years in this industry,” Pitchford stated. “The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellant for the exciting future we have planned.”
Noteworthy:
Apex Legends Launches on the Switch March 9th: EA.com
On today's festive episode (which features Hashim in the best mood he's possibly ever been in), the guys talk about their initial impressions of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and the first part of the Summer Games Fest for 2021, which includes (but not limited to): Elden Ring, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, Battlefield 2042, the Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, and more! The guys also talk about Overwatch finally getting crossplay, and Back 4 Blood rumors.
—
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theskilltree/message
The Geek Dojo 