recorded on 2019-06-07

recorded on 5/17/2019

recorded on 2019-05-03

Headliners

recorded on 2019-04-26

recorded on 4/19/2019

Headliners

Mark Cerny, architect of PS4 and PS5, reveal some details about the next gen console (Wired)

• Next gen console will sport a blazing fast SSD (faster than anything on market right now)
• Will also have a custom AMD chip with build in 3D audio to deliver better sound
• Supports 8K graphics (upscaling) whenever 8K TVs arrive, native 4K should be a given
• AMD Zen 2 CPU and custom AMD NAVI GPU with some extra secret Sony sauce
• With these new AMD parts, some ray tracing features can be used in future Sony games
• In addition the PS5 will be at least backwards compatible with PS4 games and PSVR
• Price was not revealed but Mark Cerny said it would be “appealing” to gamers
• This, to me, points to a Spring 2020 release date

Inside Xbox detailed a lot of things leading up to E3 and dropped some announcements (Xbox)

• The Xbox One S All Digital Edition or Xbox SAD Edition lol, price = $250….dumb!
• The Xbox One SAD Edition will always be the cheapest Xbox by $50
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate = Live Gold and Game Pass for $15, launches later this year
• Gears 5 multiplayer reveal is coming soon as well as invite tournament in July

Discuss:  Very interesting Sony dropped this info the same day Xbox unveils the SAD Edition

• Which system will launch first?  Which system strategically should launch first?

Little Bits

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order info revealed at the Star Wars Celebration on April 13 (Respawn)

• Release Date = November 15 of this year! Very excited!
• Story trailer looked cool and details about the game from the panel were encouraging
• No multiplayer, no microtransactions, single player story focused action-adventure game!
• Respawn specifically stated that microtransactions will not be added post launch either
• Not a true open world, but more of a wide linear approach similar to God of War 
• No stealth aspect but you can sneak around but more about the lightsaber force fantasy
• Combat is described as “thoughtful” got to size up your enemy and expose weaknesses
• Game is developed in Unreal Engine NOT EA’s in house Frostbite engine

GameStop starts it’s “Garunteed to Love it” campaign with Days Gone (Cheap Ass Gamer)

• If you return a game within 48 hours of it’s launch, get full value in store credit return

New Smash Bros character Joker arrived Wednesday night along with other patches (Nintendo)

Rapid Fire News 

Jump Force adds seven new DLC characters and they are as follows (Gematsu)

• Biscuit Krueger (from Hunter x Hunter)
• Toushirou Hitsugaya (from Bleach)
• Majin Buu (Good Buu) (from Dragon Ball Z)
• Katsuki Bakugou (from My Hero Academia)
• Trafalgar Law (from One Piece)
• Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez (from Bleach)
• Madara Uchiha (from Naruto)

Redditor SyntaxTheGr8 conducted a player survey see how many still playing Anthem (Reddit)

• Over 1000 responses were collected (not big) and 53% of people have stopped playing

Anthem team posts a job listing for a senior system and loot designer…..LOL (mmorpg.com)

Sony files a patent for VR spectator tech that would allow watching eSports in VR (VentureBeat)

Ubisoft donating 500,000 Euros, help in reconstruction of Cathedral of Notre- Dame (Kotaku)

• AC Unity is getting positively review bombed because of Ubisoft’s donation to help

Sony is cracking down on sexually explicit user names by temping them (TechRadar)

New God of War dynamic

recorded on April 12, 2019

Headliners

PSN name changes live for US owners on Wednesday while for Europe owners on Thursday (GameSpot)

• The first name change is free while subsequent ones will be $10 and $5 for PS Plus members
• READ THE BLOG POST!  There are some games that may have issues with the name change

Little Bits

Star Wars Jedi:  Fallen Order news has been teased by EA and the official Star Wars account (Polygon)

• More details will be revealed, maybe release date, on April 13 during the Star Wars celebration
• The reveal will be livestreamed on EA’s Star Wars Twitch channel at 1:30 p.m. CDT or 2:30pm ET

Another patent for a new PSVR headset has been spotted in addition to the one in March (t3.com)

• Does this interest you? Discuss if this would get you into VR, how much would it cost? 

Control has a different release schedule for Xbox than it does for PS4….this is super dumb (Remedy)

Rapid Fire News

New Rage 2 gameplay trailer Everything vs. Me shows off new stuff…...looks cool (Bethesda)

Vampyr and Call of Cthulu are coming to the Switch later this year (Gematsu)

All Might from My Hero Academia comes to Jump Force as DLC in May (Gematsu)

Settlers of Catan will be claiming territory on Nintendo Switch on June 20 (Engadget)

Sekiro sells more than 2 million copies in the first 10 days….not need for an easy mode huh (PushSquare)

HZD2 has been teased by a voice actress from Frozen Wilds Expansion, maybe a launch title? (wccf tech)

Former Valve employee has stated that the Epic Store is “saving PC gaming” due to its revenue split

From Software owner Hidetaka Miyazaki says he would like to do a narrative focused game like RDR2

Millionaire hosts real life battle royale tournament on private island using aerosoft (Daily Star)

Upcoming Releases and Deals

Switch eShop sale started yesterday and runs until April 25 so check it out (GameSpot)

Newegg sale on games is 20% off with code EMCTYUT27; not all games listed below (GameSpot)

• Devil May Cry 5 - Deluxe Edition -- $56 (Xbox One)
• Resident Evil 2 -- $48 (PS4)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice -- $48 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2 -- $48 (PS4, Xbox One)

New games are being added to Xbox Game Pass for April and they are below (GameSpot)

• April 11 = Prey, The Golf Club 2
• April 18 = Monster Hunter: World, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
• April 24 = Life is Strange 2: Episode 2
• April 25 = Resident Evil 5

Xbox Live Gold Spring Sale is upon us and contains lots of discounted games (TrueAchievements)

Rumor Mill

recorded on 4/5/2019

Headliners

 Borderlands 3 revealed its release date on Wednesday to be September 13 for PS4, Xbox, PC (Polygon)

• Borderlands 3 will be an Epic Store exclusive on PC until April 2020 which is about 6 months
• Gearbox tease more worlds than Pandora, more guns and enemies, new level sync co-op system
• The game will support split screen gameplay but only for consoles and not PC…...what the hell?
• Characters are Moze the Gunner, Amara The Siren, FL4K the Beastmaster, Zane the Operative
• Multiple editions of this highly anticipated game are available at various prices: 
  • Standard Edition = $60 -> Include base game 
  • Deluxe Edition = $80 -> Cosmetic skins for character and guns, XP and Loot drop boosts 
  • Super Deluxe Edition = $100 - > 4 campaign DLC packs, special weapon skin 
  • Diamond Loot Chest Collector’s Edition = $250 -> Figurines, Models, physical merch 

 Anthem expose by Kotaku shines light on why the game was poised for failure from the start (Kotaku)

• There were many factors as to why Anthem is and continues to be a raging trash fire
   Lack of leadership
• Lack of vision
• Internal studio strife
• High levels of stress
• Low levels of morale
• BioWare team mismanagement 
• Forced to use Frostbite engine
• Senior and veteran devs leaving
• EA poor support and backing
• BioWare responded to this article almost immediately after it was published saying this:
• IF DECIDED, READ STATEMENT ON LAST PAGE

 Little Bits

 
 Sony has updated their purchasing policy in light of the next fiscal year that started Monday (Sony)

• Purchases can be refunded fully up to 14 days after purchase date as long as not downloaded
• Pre-orders can be cancelled and PSN ID name changes are still in the works
   
   

Xbox Live Gold price increasing by 25% for UK gamers due to changing market conditions (bit-tech.net)

• The price will go from 40 to 50 pounds for a year subscription beginning on May 8
• The new price will be charged to existing customers on August 7

 The Razer Turret, wireless keyboard and mouse for Xbox One, will be available soon (IGN)

• For a limited time it is available now at the Microsoft Store
• Sports 30-50 hours of battery life, a fast 2.4GHz signal, Razer Chroma colors, priced at $250
• Games that are compatible with this are listed below with more high profile ones to come
• Sea of Thieves
• Metro Exodus
• Minecraft
• Strange Brigade
• Fortnite
    

The Division 2’s first major update with new content dropped today with a bunch of new stuff (Polygon)

• Tidal Basin comes with a new in-game event, new stronghold, and fourth player specialization
• The release date for the first raid will be April 25, raids consist of 8 player high level missions
• World Tier 5 will also be introduced along with new map and new exotic weapons

 Officially licensed Switch Pro Controller by PDP adds headphone jack bypassing Mobile App (Engadget)

• This is the chat feature and audio SDK (Software Development Kit) developed by Vivox
• There are no release dates but pre-orders begin in May and comes in red and purple camo

 QuakeConn 2019 will be known as the Year of Doom commemorating Doom’s 25th anniversary (Polygon)

• Registration for this event begins on April 11 with the four day event starts on July 25-28

 Todd Howard says Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI will not be shown off at E3 this year (GamesRadar)

 GameStop reports its biggest financial loss ever losing 673 million in last fiscal year (ScreenRant)

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