Gaming Ride Home

GDC has been delayed to the ambiguous late summer, the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo is available now for PlayStation 4, Death Stranding PC has a release date and includes a number of Half-Life bonuses, The Witcher season 2 on Netflix has cast its Vesemir and it’s not Mark Hamill, Platinum explains why The Wonderful 101 won't come to be Xbox One, and the duct tape ceiling Counter-Strike player is getting a documentary.

Links:

• Important GDC 2020 Update (gdconf.com)
• GDC Postponed Due To Coronavirus Concerns; E3 Organizer The ESA 'Watching The Situation Very Closely' (Game Informer)
• @finalfantasyvii’s tweet announcing the launch of the demo
• PlayStation store link to the Final Fantasy VII demo
• @505_Games’ tweet about Death Stranding
• The Witcher Finds Its Uncle Vesemir (Gizmodo)
• @Hamillhimself’s Witcher tweet
• @LHissrich’s reply to Mark Hamill’s Witcher tweet
• Platinum Games interview with Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya at PAX East 2020 – The Wonderful 101: Remastered, Project G.G., and Tokyo office (Gematsu)
• Internet Legends: Duct-Taped Gamer’s official website

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Rockstar might be teasing something with some logo changes, Plague Inc. has been pulled from China’s App Store, which is very likely related to the coronavirus, Epic is unsure about data that is being shared about Fortnite, and we look at what games released today.

Links:

• Rockstar Games is updating its website with mysterious new imagery (GamesRadar)
• Pandemic simulation game 'Plague Inc' pulled from China's App Store (Mashable)
• Statement on the Removal of Plague Inc. from the China App Store
• Epic questions SuperData on Fortnite figures (gamesindustry.biz)

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More content is coming to Stardew Valley, today is Pokémon Day, Platinum Games is self-publishing its first game, Sanzaru is an Oculus studio now, and a few Ghost Recon Breakpoint updates have been delayed at the last second.

Links:

• @ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley tweet
• The Mythical Pokémon Zarude discovered! (pokemon.com)
• Google and the Pokémon of the year poll (YouTube)
• Hideki Kamiya’s blog announcing Project GG (platinumgames.com)
• Welcoming Sanzaru Games to Facebook (oculus.com)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Immersive Mode Update (Ubisoft)

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GOG is making it a lot easier to return games, Horizon: Zero Dawn might be coming to PC, Uncharted 4’s director opens the door a little bit for an Uncharted sequel, more developers and publishers are backing out of PAX, and Kunai gets a full, proper scored review.

Links:

• GOG’s Updated Refund Policy has your back (even more) (gog.com)
• @Wario64’s tweet about Horizon Zero Dawn
• The Last of Us | The Definitive Playthrough - P15 (Troy Baker, Nolan North, Neil Druckmann, Ashley Johnson)(YouTube)
• Cyberpunk 2077, PUBG Devs Pull Out Of PAX East (GameSpot)

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The coronavirus is causing more publishers and developers to back away from shows like PAX and GDC, the fan-made Half-Life remake, Black Mesa has a release date, there is a new unstoppable Pokémon champion who is only seven years old, and Shenmue is doing okay, even if it doesn’t have a mass market appeal.

Links:

• @CapcomUSA_’s tweet about PAX 
• PlayStation and Facebook cancel GDC appearances citing coronavirus concerns (gamesindustry.biz)
• Kojima Productions' tweets about exiting GDC, (2)
• Fear Not The Long Road (Steam)
• Seven-Year-Old Wins A Pokémon Championship, Makes Everyone A Fan (Kotaku)
• @slasher’s tweet about Simone Lim
• Pokémon Oceania International Championships: VGC Junior Division Finals (YouTube)
• @DarkDetectiveNL's tweet about Shenmue III
• Developer Update | Experimental Mode: Triple Damage | Overwatch (YouTube)
• Overwatch’s first experimental mode is all about damage dealers (The Verge)

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Microsoft details the technical specifications of the Xbox Series X, the coronavirus is causing problems for PAX, and EA reportedly cancelled another Star Wars game.

Links:

• What You Can Expect From the Next Generation of Gaming (Xbox.com)
• Xbox Series X to Feature Dedicated Audio Hardware Acceleration (WCCFTech)
• Building Audio Gateways Into Immersive Worlds With Spatial Sound (GDC panel description)
• @CyberpunkGame’s tweet about Smart Delivery for Cyberpunk 2077
• Sources: EA Canceled A Star Wars: Battlefront Spinoff Last Year (Kotaku)

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There are tons of new Animal Crossing New Horizons details thanks to a recent direct, we add more rumors to WB Games Montreal’s potential Batman game, and there is a surprising amount of video game movie news probably thanks to the success of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.

Links:

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Direct
• New Batman logo spotted at WB Games Montréal
• Tom Holland: Uncharted Movie Will Start Filming in 'Four Weeks' (IGN)
• @IGN's Uncharted movie director tweet
• Borderlands Movie In Production Directed By Eli Roth (IGN)
• 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,' a video game that defined a generation, gets its own documentary (mic.com)

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A new patent shows something that might be a new PSVR controller with new capabilities, GameStop continues to struggle, Biomutant is still being developed, and Persona 5 Scramble is out… in Japan.

Links:

• Sony Patents Valve Index-Like VR Controller With Finger Tracking (UploadVR)
• GameStop employees report extreme pressure from ‘desperate’ bosses (Polygon)
• The Truth About Working at GameStop: Workers Reveal Their Experiences (IGN)
• Tiger’s retro LCD handheld games are making a comeback (The Verge)
• @biomutant confirms continued development

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There will be a lot of new Animal Crossing details later this week, a new Switch Lite Color is on the way, the Switch version of Witcher 3 just got a big meaningful update, and Final Fantasy VII is going to be a big game.

Links:

• @NintendoAmerica announces Animal Crossing Direct
• @NintendoAmerica announces new Switch Lite color
• @A_i announces Sayonara coming to Xbox One
• @Simogo ready for new adventures
• @baldursgate3 is coming to PAX
• @NaughtyDog is bringing The Last of Us Part II to PAX
• The Last of Us Part II Ellie Edition Restock, PAX East Hands-on, and More (naughtydog.com)
• Final Fantasy VII Remake Box Confirms the Game Is 100GB in Size (PushSquare)
• @XboxGamePass for February
• The Witcher 3 on Switch Is Getting PC Cross-Save Support and More Graphical Options (IGN)

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The popular mobile quiz show gaming app HQ Trivia shut down with little warning, it looks like Bioshock, Catherine, and XCOM may be making their way to Switch, and the creator of the Gran Turismo series thinks 4K might be enough.

Links:

• Game over for HQ Trivia (CNN)
• @ScottRogowsky's tweet for Rus Yusupov
• Catherine: Full Body and XCOM 2 Collection Rated For Nintendo Switch In South Korea (Siliconera)
• Gran Turismo’s Future: “4K Resolution is Enough”, But 240fps is the Target (GTPlanet)

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