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
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
As announced earlier today, PlayStation has delayed Destruction AllStars to February 2021 and all preorders will be refunded. If you were looking forward to this game as a launch title, this news is unfortunate. The bright side is, upon its February release, Destruction AllStars will be available to PS Plus customers at no additional charge.
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