Joystick & Mouse | Video Games News & Reviews

Long Live The King

The king has returned. Epics force reduction is ... well ... epic. 3 strikes and your out and we have a new platform to stream to ... sort of.

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Show Notes

The king of MMO game development has returned to his castle after leading a successful quest into the gaming wilderness. That's right, the one and only Chris Metzen has returned to Blizzard entertainment to be creative director of World of Warcraft.
https://www.xfire.com/chris-metzen-returns-creative-director-world-of-warcraft/
https://www.pcgamer.com/chris-metzen-returns-to-blizzard-full-time-to-create-the-next-generation-of-adventures-in-world-of-warcraft/

Epic Games Inc., the company behind global megahit Fortnite, the Epic Games Store, and the wildly popular Unreal Engine, is laying off 16 percent of its current workforce. This report, first coming from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, sees almost 900 employees losing their jobs.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/tech/epic-games-layoffs-fortnite/index.html
https://kotaku.com/epic-games-store-fortnite-unreal-engine-layoffs-1850882501

So in the two weeks since we last recorded, the SAG-AFTRA union voted to strike against the Interactive Media Agreement which is escentially the video game industry. The union did go on strike and earlier this week negotiations broke down without an agreement. So what is the current state and where does this leave upcoming titles?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/sag-aftra-members-authorize-video-game-strike-1235598617/
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sag-aftras-talks-with-video-games-industry-ends-with-no-resolution/1100-6518071/

Oh Elon, what are you up to? The pllatform formerly known as twitter ran a test this week that showcased a game streaming event. So how did it go and do we think we will be moving to X in the future?
https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/twitter-x-live-video-game-streaming-feature-demo-8965109/
https://www.themarysue.com/x-streaming-is-twitch-style-live-game-streaming-coming-to-twitter-answered/

Just EA doing EA things in the most condecending fashion. FIFA 24 launches and players are up in arms about it already. Here's why.
https://kotaku.com/ea-fifa-24-fc-loot-box-ultimate-team-pack-odds-scam-1850891916

Last episode we talked about AI and how that will impact video games. Well those concerns came to fruition this week and although not in thee video game world, they will have impact on the games we play in the future.
https://www.ign.com/articles/tom-hanks-warns-fans-beware-dental-plan-ad-featuring-ai-version-of-him
https://www.ign.com/articles/robin-williams-daughter-calls-out-disturbing-ai-recreate-late-fathers-voice

Review

Steamdeck Revisited - Diddi

The Business of Video Games

We are going to focus a bit on the business side of video games today with a small detour into the world of will they ever learn with a dash of back to the future with XBox. So lets get into it.

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Show Notes

Who is the most hated company in all of gaming? Activision-Blizzard? Nope. Its not Riot Games either and even though EA is notorious for its microtransaction nonsense (and recent layoffs at Bioware) its not them either. You could also argue that Konami, Apple, and Ubisoft all have a good reason to receive plenty of hate from gamers too. But despite reputation of those companies, the most reviled company in the game landscape right now is Unity.
https://www.themarysue.com/planned-parenthood-gaming-hated-company/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/18/23879029/unity-pricing-model-change
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-18/unity-overhauls-controversial-price-hike-after-game-developers-revolt?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTY5NTA1NjI4MCwiZXhwIjoxNjk1NjYxMDgwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTMTZYUzFUMVVNMFcwMSIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.TW0g4uyu_9WyNcs1sDARt9YUgkkzXQlA9BcsFmcr7pc
You might no think that the current SAG-AFTRA strike wouldn't affect the video game industry but that doesn't take in the big picture. See, a lot of the voice actors that bring the characters to life are members of the actors guild. Video games have been exempt from this so far but if they vote to strike in solidarity what would it mean for the video game industry?
https://deadline.com/2023/09/sag-aftra-president-fran-drescher-urges-members-approve-strike-authorization-video-game-companies-1235548504/

Oh, when will politicians learn? Haven't we had enough studies by now that prove that video games are not detrimental to youth development. Well someone should tell that to French president Macron because he spit out one of those ignorant statements earlier this year and had to back track this week.
https://news.sky.com/story/emmanuel-macron-backtracks-on-video-games-after-blaming-them-for-french-riots-12964322
https://fortune.com/2023/09/18/video-games-integral-part-of-france-emmanuel-macron-riots/

The Microsoft - Activision/Blizzard merger is the gift that just keeps on giving. Two little tid bits that have come from court documents are the next XBox console release date and a tripple A title that won't be shared with Playstation. Although neither one of these things is happening any time soon let's look at how this could impact video games.
https://kotaku.com/xbox-series-x-s-game-pass-gen-10-release-date-microsoft-1850849528
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/microsoft-targeted-a-2028-launch-for-its-next-xbox-console/
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/elder-scrolls-6-not-coming-to-ps5-and-wont-release-until-2026-at-the-soonest-microsoft-says/1100-6517794/?ftag=NL&campaignName=GameSpot_Report&date=091823&lctg=20cb827897db11f28a37f08b80d1d1fe8847e789eebd69af2959f3e006c92065
According to former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden, non-endemic companies like Netflix or Google are one of the biggest threats to the video game business today. Listing his top three concerns for the industry in the years ahead, he claimed that "consolidation can be an enemy of creativity," and that "rising costs in gaming are an existential threat to all of us." He then referred to non-endemic companies like Netflix, Google, Apple, and Amazon as "barbarians at the gate." Let's take a look at whether we think these companies represent a threat to video game business.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-playstation-boss-says-gaming-faces-existential-threat/1100-6517539/?ftag=NL&campaignName=GameSpot-Report&date=090723

Game Review

Starfield - Diddi

Gamescom 2023

It's all Gamescom this week. With the cancellation of E3 this year Gamescom became the big focus of the gaming world. We take a look at all the announcements and what got us excited.

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Show Notes

Wow, just wow. Gamescom opened with a bang and long ass opening ceremony. There were a ton of announcements and trailers so here is the list. We'll see which one we were interested in.
https://www.lifestyleasia.com/bk/entertainment/gamescom-2023/
https://www.gameshub.com/news/news/gamescom-2023-all-the-news-trailers-announcements-2626965/
https://www.polygon.com/2023/8/22/23841795/gamescom-announcements-trailers-onl-2023

https://www.ign.com/articles/gamescom-2023-everything-announced

Geoff Keighley's Game Awards has become the defacto measuring stick of the best games of the year but Gamescom did come up with it's own list. Let's take a look at that and see what they came up with. 
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/2023-gamescom-winners-1235575636/

Best Games, First Half of 2023

I didn't write an introduction this week ... bad host.

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Show Notes

Netflix is kicking off the first public tests of its cloud-streamed games. Beginning Monday, some Netflix subscribers in Canada and the UK will be able to check out Netflix games streamed to select TVs, connected TV devices, and on the web from Netflix.com.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/14/23829262/netflix-cloud-gaming-testing-tv-web

As you may remember, we brought you a story a while back about China restricting the amount of hours minors could play video games. Well there is enough data now to do a study and the results may surprise you ... nah they won't. As predicted the restrictions had little or no affect on players gaming habits.
https://scitechdaily.com/billions-of-hours-little-change-new-study-questions-video-game-restrictions/

AI is all the rage right now but the technology brings up some interesting questions, especially when it comes to the actors that voice our favorite characters. The current Hollywood writers strike brings up some interesting points concerning this dilemma so let's take a look at that and how it will impact or games of the future.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-08-14/actors-strike-voice-acting-games-ai-call-of-duty-activision-ea-sag-aftra-interactive-agreement

You know we like a good list around here and with the year being a little half over we figured we would take a look at the best games of the year so far. Well polygon had the idea first but we decided to piggy back on their idea. Mostly filled with remasters and sequels but the big new IP's are scheduled to hit later this year.  Lets see where we agree and disagree with Polygon.
https://www.polygon.com/23648669/best-video-games-2023

Microsoft Merger Drama

More Microsoft - Activision/Blizzard merger drama. There's a new switch on the horizon. Politics invades our video game worlds and Xbox home screen gets a face lift.
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Show Notes

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to extend their merger agreement pending the outcome of negotiations with UK regulators. Both parties will now have until October 18th to finalize the transaction, after missing last weeks original deal deadline. Microsoft will argue its case for its proposed Activision Blizzard deal to be reconsidered for approval to the UK this coming week using the details from the FTC failed attempts to block the deal.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/19/23797238/microsoft-activision-blizzard-merger-agreement-extension
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/31/23813956/microsoft-activision-blizzard-cma-argument-uk-regulator

Nintendo’s next console will reportedly be portable like the Switch and is targeting a release in the second half of 2024, according to a new report today from VideoGamesChronicle. VGC cites “multiple people with knowledge of Nintendo’s next-gen console plans” that reveal Nintendo’s Switch successor is aiming for a release in the second half of next year, to ensure there’s plenty of stock at launch. Nintendo wants to avoid the stock shortages that plagued the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S release for months (and years for some). 
https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2023/07/31/nintendos-next-console-will-reportedly-be-portable-like-switch-targeting-second
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sources-nintendo-switch-2-targets-2024-with-next-gen-console/

Russian propaganda is spreading into the world’s video games. In Minecraft, the immersive game owned by Microsoft, Russian players re-enacted the battle for Soledar, a city in Ukraine that Russian forces captured in January, posting a video of the game on their country’s most popular social media network, VKontakte.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/technology/russia-propaganda-video-games.html

Starting July 23rd, a new Home experience is rolling out to all Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. This update is designed from player feedback and makes it easier to discover new games, rediscover games you already love, connect with communities, and create a more personalized experience.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2023/07/26/welcome-to-your-new-xbox-home/

Video Game Review
Pikman 4 - Diddi

June 2023 Nintendo Direct

Black Panther finally gets a game. Another game developer has labor news. One of our favorite comics and TV shows makes a crossover appearance and everything announced at the Nintendo direct.

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Show Notes

In exciting news EA has just announced a new studio along with an upcoming game based on the Black Panther franchise. The studio is called Cliffhanger Games, and it's based in Seattle. It's made up of veterans of Monolith Productions, the developer which previously made both Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. There are also veterans from God of War, Halo, Call of Duty, and more on the dev team.

https://www.gamesradar.com/ea-black-panther-game-announcement/

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/10/23787287/ea-black-panther-game-single-player

There have been countless reports and allegations of low pay, long hours, and poor working conditions within the gaming industry over the past several years, especially when it comes to QA testing departments and other key areas of game development. As a result, a growing number of video game studios have decided to unionize, with some of the most publicized examples including Zenimax and Activision Blizzard. Sega of America joined those ranks this week as their members voted to unionize the workforce.

https://gamerant.com/sega-of-america-union/

He can fly. He can shoot lasers from his eyes. He is incredibly strong and bullets just bounce right off him. He also is one ... big ... asshole. Bet you thought I was talking about that other guy. Nope, we were describing the one and only Homelander , who along with Starlight and Black Noir are coming to Call of duty this week. You will be able to take on the persona of these characters to battle royal in the popular Call of Duty multiplayer games.

https://www.gameinformer.com/2023/07/10/the-boys-invades-call-of-duty-this-week

Nintendo held its summer direct presentation this past week and the 40 minute show had lots of reveals (well a few anyways) and lots of information about upcoming Nintendo games. So lets take a look at what was announced and see if we are intrigued by any of it.

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-direct-june-2023-everything-announced

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/21/23768463/nintendo-direct-june-2023-announcements-trailers-news

Video Game Review

So Much Great TV Right Now

Xbox Games Showcase 2023

The FTC goes full United States and sues to block the Microsoft - Activision Blizzard merger. Sony is ramping up it's cloud gaming game but the big event of the last week was the XBox games showcase which of course we'll dig into and give our thoughts on.
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The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Microsoft from completing its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard, the latest antitrust challenge to the proposed merger but one that could hasten a conclusion to the drawn-out dispute.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/12/ftc-to-file-injunction-blocking-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard.html
https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-activision-blizzard-xbox-ftc-ab5dd455ed5a2785983d8373915e3531

The revamped PlayStation Plus is one year old as of June, and Sony Interactive Entertainment is observing the milestone with a 10-day stretch of activities and giveaways. More importantly, it’s begun testing cloud streaming of PlayStation 5 games, a big step for PlayStation Plus premium members.
https://www.polygon.com/23760883/playstation-ps-plus-extra-games-june-2023-premium-collection

Xbox brought a ton of games to the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, giving us a good idea for what to expect on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC for the rest of the year and beyond. Let's go through what they announced and see what we are looking forward to.
https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-games-showcase-2023-everything-announced
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2023/06/11/xbox-games-showcase-starfield-direct-recap-everything-announced/

Apple Says ”Hold My Beer”

In the UK the plot thickens as it pertains to the Microsoft acquisition of Activision/Blizzard. A new trailer was released for the telltale treatment of the Expanse. Apple turns to Sony and says "Hold my Beer" and what about the current state of the gaming landscape as we know it now will be cringe worthy when we look back on it.

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Show Notes
Microsoft could consider pulling Activision from the UK market as one extreme option to bypass the country’s block of its proposed $69bn acquisition. That’s according to a new Bloomberg report, which states that Microsoft president Brad Smith will meet with UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt next week to voice his frustration over the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to block the deal.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/microsoft-could-withdraw-activision-from-the-uk-to-counter-acquisition-block-its-claimed/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-02/microsoft-s-smith-set-for-talks-with-uk-chancellor-over-deal-ban#xj4y7vzkg

Ever since this game was announced The Game Awards in 2021, I've been looking forward to it. A new trailer for The Expanse: A Telltale Series was released this week, detailing the upcoming game based on the hit TV series ahead of its launch on July 27, 2023, on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. It did not disappoint
https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2023/06/the-expanse-a-telltale-series-video-game-trailer-reveals-a-choose-your-own-adventure-scifi-prequel.html
https://www.comingsoon.net/games/news/1292670-the-expanse-a-telltale-series-story-trailer-previews-video-game

You know that feeling you have when you are watching the rednecks spin a back hoe around with someone riding the tire attached to it? Well I had exactly that feeling today watching Apple reveal their new VR headset at the WWDC. That's freaking awesome and you are out of your minds.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23738968/apple-vision-pro-ar-headset-features-specs-price-release-date-wwdc-2023
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/apple-vr-and-mixed-reality-headset-release-date-price-specs-and-leaks
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apple-finally-reveals-long-awaited-ar-headset-vision-pro/1100-6514811/?ftag=NL&campaignName=GameSpot-Report&date=060523

Gaming has come a long way in the last few years. What was once a niche media platform strictly enjoyed by the sort of geeks you'd only find in a bad '80s high school movie has now become a form of blockbuster entertainment (and, in many cases, an art form) revered the world over by millions upon millions of players. Despite this, there's plenty of room for improvement. Gaming today is fraught with issues, and money-grabbing schemes by publishers are just the tip of the digital iceberg. These are the failures, the tricks, and the schemes that the industry — and all those who are a part of it — are going to really, really regret in just a few years.
https://www.grunge.com/93628/things-gaming-industry-will-regret-10-years/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_7633041&utm_content=1

Video Game Review
Diablo 4 - Diddi

One Step Closer

Microsoft/Blizzard moves a couple of steps closer to becoming a reality. Everyone is so angry at just about everything and everyone in the video game world but hopefully they won't be when they conviene in Anahiem later this year and there were soooooooo many game announcements this week. We have all that and a game review to talk about today.
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Show Notes

The Microsoft aquisition of Activision/Blizzard took an interesting turn when China of all places gave it's OK for the merger to go ahead. This is on the heels of the EU's decision to approve the deal ... of course it isn't that big of a deal that China approved because the Chinese can't play any of the Blizzard games anyways. But Hey, there's always Candy Crush for them.
https://www.eurogamer.net/microsofts-proposed-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard-approved-in-china
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/china-reportedly-approves-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/37-countries-have-now-approved-microsofts-deal-to-buy-activision-blizzard/1100-6514380/
I noticed this lately and it seems so has someone else at Kotaku. Us gamers just seem to be really angry at just about everyone, all the time. So, is that true and if so why is that? 
https://kotaku.com/pc-gaming-gamers-ea-activision-steam-angry-mad-valve-1850397771

In one of the worst kept secrets in gaming, Blizzard announced that in person Blizzcon will return this year. The particulars are the same as far as time and place but no word on tickets yet.
https://www.engadget.com/blizzcon-returns-as-an-in-person-event-later-this-year-180934125.html
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/17/23727227/blizzcon-2023-in-person-dates-anaheim

There was an idie round up this past week and well there were way too many games to mention them all but we'll includse the linksd so you can check them out yourselves. There also was another connect type event this week hosted by netease. Yes that netease. Here's what was announced and how we feel about them.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/05/round-up-indie-live-expo-2023-every-nintendo-switch-game-showcased
https://www.ign.com/articles/all-19-games-revealed-at-netease-connect-2023-justice-mobile-ashfall-and-beyond

Mentions

Race to world first - Liquid wins
Diablo 4

Game Review

Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom

Go Pound Rocks

There's more Microsoft/Blizzard acquisition news and also some insight into the cost of making video games. Steam deck has a competitor and you can now invite a friend to play games with you in game pass ... sort of.

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Show Notes

Despite recent signs that it was softening its stance on Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the U.K.’s antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, has announced that it has decided to formally block the deal.
https://www.polygon.com/23698816/microsoft-activision-blizzard-deal-uk-cma-block

When the Asus ROG Ally windows PC gaming handheld was originally revealed, it seemed like just another quick cash-in on the popularity of the Steam Deck. The specs turned out to be quite impressive, however, and now the price looks almost too good to be true. The Verge reports the Ally will only cost $700, just $50 more than the most expensive version of Valve’s handheld.
https://kotaku.com/steam-deck-asus-rog-ally-price-windows-switch-gaming-pc-1850382546

One thing to come out of the Microsoft/Blizzard acquisition is that there has been quite a bit of information about the video game industry itself made public because of filings and court proceedings. Well one of those things has been just how much it costs to make a AAA title and as we expected, it is quite a lot. 
https://kotaku.com/microsoft-activision-blizzard-call-duty-gta-vi-halo-1850391113

Game Pass PC is full of great games, and a new referral program now lets you invite friends to play them with you free for two weeks. The new benefit arrives alongside Redfall, Xbox’s latest co-op shooter featuring an eerie open world and lots of vampires.
https://kotaku.com/xbox-game-pass-free-trial-redfall-minecraft-starfield-1850397083