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 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.
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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 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.
Another year down, more video games to countdown. There was plenty to play in the year of 2016, but unfortunately I cannot play them all. Here are 5 of my most definite favorites though. Lets start with some honorable mentions:
Street Fighter V: Street Fighter V just missed the cut because it got off to a rough start. It got pushed out to the public a bit early and ultimately was an unfinished product. Capcom has been working hard to fix some of the issues with it and its now shaping up to be a pretty great game. The future of Street Fighter V is looking bright.
Dark Souls 3: I’ve never been that big of a fan of this series, but I was able to have quite a bit of fun with DS3. It wont make me like the Souls games over Bloodborne though. Still hoping a sequel will be made.
And the FINAL honorable mention goes to Final Fantasy XV. FFXV is a fantastic game, but it left more to be desired from me. We do know that Square-Enix has future DLC plans for the game, which is exciting.
Nintendo hit us with quite a bit of new information about Pokemon Sun and Moon today. New starters were revealed and a release date of November 18th, was given.
The water starter is Popplio, a Sea Lion Pokemon. Rowlet is the owl Pokemon. He is a grass flying type. Last, but not least, is Litten. A flaming hairball spitting fire type cat Pokemon. All 3 starter Pokemon are pictured in the image below.
The new region of Pokemon Sun and Moon is called Alola and is Hawaiian inspired.
Also, shown off today is the box art of both games featuring the Sun and Moon legendaries on the front. The Sun cover features a lion Pokemon, while the Moon box art features a bat looking Pokemon. You can get a better look at those two in the trailer at the top of the page.
Initial response from Pokemon fans seem to favor Litten the most, Rowlet second, and Popplio dead last. I personally agree with the masses. I have started every Pokemon game with a water starter and think Popplio is the worst looking one, but as the day has gone by he is starting to grow on me. I will probably still pick him to keep the water starter streak alive.
What’s you take on the new Pokemon starters? Do you love them or hate them? SOund off in the comment section.
The logos leaked yesterday, but the games have officially been confirmed this morning during the Pokemon Direct. Unfortunately, Nintendo had nothing to show us from the next installment other than some concept art. We don’t know if Pokemon will take place in space or not, since there was no setting shown either. Nintendo will have more information on the next Pokemon games as the year progresses.
Pre-orders for Pokemon Sun and Moon have already been opened from the following retailers:
Two logos for what are being called Pokemon Moon and Pokemon Sun have been discovered today in the European Union’s trademark database. With accompanying logos and not just names of the games, this very well may be what Nintendo will announce during tomorrows Nintendo Direct Pokemon special.
With this small bit of information, could Pokemon be going to space? If so, this could be a very cool change in scenery. If not space then each game will for sure revolve around one Pokemon that gets its power from the moon and the other from the sun. Be sure to tune in to the Nintendo Direct Pokemon special tomorrow at 10am Eastern to find out.
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