Gaming Ride Home

Microsoft and Sony offer somewhat reassuring comments about game delays, there is a little more to the Epic publishing announcement yesterday, Switches are scarce right now, and Plague Inc. is doing its part to help fight COVID-19.

Links:

• Statement Regarding the Impact of the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (Sony) 
• Xbox Releases Statement On COVID-19's Impact On Exclusive Game Development (GameSpot)
• Remedy Entertainment signs with Epic Games to publish two new multi-platform games (Remedy)
• @Playdead’s next game tease tweet
• Nintendo Switch Is Sold Out Almost Everywhere, Dramatically Increasing Prices (GameSpot)
• Plague Inc. gives a quarter of a million dollars to fight COVID-19 (ndemiccreations.com)

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Nintendo released a surprise Direct this morning with Xenoblade, Smash Bros., Pokémon news, and a lot more, and Remedy, Playdead, and GenDesign all sign game publishing deals with Epic.

Links:

• Nintendo Direct Mini 3.26.20 (YouTube)
• Epic Games Publishing Announces Partnerships with gen DESIGN, Playdead, and Remedy Entertainment (Epic)

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Animal Crossing’s creators spoke with The Washington Post about time travel, potential delays, and more, Minecraft adds free educational content, Plague Inc. is helping with COVID-19 research, and I stayed up way too late last night playing Half-Life: Alyx.

Links:

• Nintendo explains philosophy behind Animal Crossing’s big changes, such as gender expression and terraforming (The Washington Post/Launcher)
• A Message to the Gaming Community on What We’re Doing to Help Today (news.xbox.com)
• Plague Inc. gives a quarter of a million dollars to fight COVID-19 (ndemiccreations.com)
• Inside the Surrealistic World of Paper Beast, Out Tomorrow for PS VR (PlayStation Blog)

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PlayStation is lowering download speeds in Europe, Konami is pushing back against Silent Hill rumors, photo mode is not PC-exclusive for Death Stranding, and Kyle has early impressions for the upcoming Control DLC, The Foundation, which is coming out Thursday.

Links:

• Preserving Internet Access for the Entire Community (PlayStation Blog)
• @KazHiraiCEO’s PSN bandwith tweet
• Konami Claims Recent Silent Hill Rumors are False (Rely on Horror)
• @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN’s photo mode in Death Stranding tweet

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The PlayStation 5 will play more PlayStation 4 games than we thought, GameStop is closing stores to fight the COVID-19 spread, Nintendo doesn’t want Dreams creators making Mario games, Twitch streamer Kaceytron gets banned, and a new Half-Life game is out today.

Links:

• Unveiling New Details of PlayStation 5: Hardware Technical Specs [UPDATED] (PlayStation Blog)
• GameStop Provides US Store Operations and Customer Service Update (GameStop)
• GameStop Shuts Down Stores In California (Kotaku)
• Sony going after Dreams creations that use Nintendo IP at the request of Nintendo (gonintendo)
• @Piece_of_Craft’s Dreams/Nintendo tweet
• @kaceytron’s tweet about suspension

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GameStop is staying open and calling itself essential retail, Valve is giving Artifact another shot, Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell is coming to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Fallout 76 players are hoarding toilet paper, A Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remaster might be in the works, SonicFox takes the next step in his esports career, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal are out today.

Links:

• GameStop: We Can Stay Open During Lockdowns Because We're 'Essential Retail' (Kotaku)
• GameStop Instructs Employees to Ignore Law Enforcement And Not Shut Down (Vice/Waypoint)
• Official GameStop statement about preventative measures
• @jasonschreier’s GameStop tweet
• @yozetty’s GameStop tweet
• Valve's digital card game Artifact "reboot" is so large, it's internally being called Artifact 2, says Gabe Newell (GamesRadar)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Deep State Teaser (YouTube)
• Fallout 76 players are also hoarding toilet paper (Polygon)
• Call of Duty: MW2 Campaign Remaster rated in South Korea (ResetEra)
• SonicFox signs with Evil Geniuses (The Washington Post/Launcher)

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Xbox Series X had a release date for a little while yesterday, Square Enix clears some confusion around Final Fantasy VII Remake delays, the White House asks for gamers to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Untitled Goose Game takes home the big GDC award, and Leo Vader calls in to talk about the unexpected closure of MapleStory 2.

Links:

• The Xbox Series X releases this Thanksgiving (Mashable)
• Square Enix’s @finalfantasyvii tweet
• White House Doctor: We Need Millennials To Stay Healthy Because They Know How To Speedrun Video Games (Kotaku)
• Untitled Goose Game nabs Game of the Year at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards! (gdconf.com)
• MapleStory 2 Service Closure on May 27, 2020 (maplestory2.nexon.net)
• @peter_dalton from Bluepoint’s PS5 tweet

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Sony and Mark Cerny detail the PlayStation 5, Hearthstone’s big Ashes of Outland expansion adds a new class, Call of Duty: Warzone’s solo mode is live, we know exactly when Half-Life: Alyx will release, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is having a free weekend.

Links:

• Inside PlayStation 5: the specs and the tech that deliver Sony's next-gen vision (EuroGamer/Digital Foundry)
• Announcing Ashes of Outland – Hearthstone's Newest Expansion! (Blizzard)
• Introducing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks Plus New Titles for Console and PC (news.xbox.com)
• @CallofDuty’s tweet about solos in Warzone
• @valvesoftware’s Half-Life: Alyx tweet
• Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey Free Weekend – Everything You Need To Know!

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The PlayStation 5 is getting an in-depth reveal tomorrow, Nintendo announced a bunch of Indie Stuff, Super Smash Bros. announcements and DLC might be delayed, Trials of Mana is getting a demo, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is getting some DLC, and Square Enix released the first part of its Final Fantasy vii remake documentary series.

Links:

• @PlayStation’s tweet about the PlayStation 5
• Link to Japanese excerpt from Sakurai’s Famitsu column 
• @PushDustIn’s tweet about Super Smash Bros. reveal delays
• Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Will Add Super Saiyan God, Training With Whis, Beerus Fight, and More as DLC (Siliconera)
• Trials of Mana demo launches March 18; ‘Final’ trailer and pre-launch gameplay (Gematsu)
• Inside FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE – Episode 1: Introduction (YouTube)
• ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Just Raced Past A Major Box Office Milestone (Forbes)

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Microsoft goes into even further detail with the Xbox Series X, Animal Crossing: New Horizons reviews are dropping online, Resident Evil 3 remake is getting a demo and Resident Evil Resistance is getting an open beta, there will be an indie focused Nintendo direct tomorrow, Control is getting its first big expansion, and Gamescom is still planned for later this year.

Links:

• Inside Xbox Series X: the full specs (EuroGamer/Digital Foundry)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review – A Wholesome Island Oasis (Game Informer)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review – Horizon Zero Yawns (IGN)
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review In Progress (GameSpot)
• Explore the Resident Evil 3 Raccoon City demo starting March 19! (Capcom)
• @nintendoamerica’s indie world direct tweet
• @ControlRemedy’s tweet about The Foundation
• @gamescom’s tweet about COVID-19 concerns

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