Press Any Key Podcast

Show Notes

Gaming critic TotalBiscuit passes away at 33. (http://bit.ly/2LPvAxt)

Sony: Next PlayStation is at least three years off. (http://bit.ly/2LOlltf)

Pokémon’s first Switch game launches in November, connects to Pokémon Go. (http://bit.ly/2LNEzzl)

One hundred meeeeellion dollars: Epic dumps serious cash into Fortnite esports. (http://bit.ly/2LNkJEy)

W.T.F

Atari VCS pre-sale rakes in over two million dollars from 7000 backers. (http://bit.ly/2LMQo8Z)

Star Citizen will be offering a $27,000 DLC bundle, for those who already spent $1,000. (http://bit.ly/2LKoCtD)

Show Notes

Sources say that Nintendo is not planning a 'Switch 2.0,' will get by on peripherals. (http://bit.ly/2FKe0Zg)

Nintendo: letting our fans review video games might not be a good idea [Updated]. (http://bit.ly/2FJswR7)

ESRB defends “fun” loot boxes as it starts labeling all “in-game purchases” [Updated]. (http://bit.ly/2FKe9fg)

Can gaming’s own “academy awards” become a cultural event? (http://bit.ly/2FJvFjQ)

The Papers, Please short film is now available. (http://bit.ly/2FLbjqw)

Valve bans developer after employees leave fake user reviews [Updated] (http://bit.ly/2CZcX4C)

PlayStation 4 news: HUGE Sony update adds new PSN feature. (http://bit.ly/2FHpdJW)

You Can Now Interact With PS4's Social Features From A Web Browser. (http://bit.ly/2FdC05V)

For this special edition of Press Any Key Podcast co-hosts Mike and Conner chat with special guests from indie developer Multivarious Games. Cody, the producer and lead game designer and Bria, narrative designer and community manager, joined us to talk about No Mercy, their studio's upcoming story-driven brawler expected to launch on Steam later this year. Cody and Bria discuss inspirations for the game, the ongoing development process and much more. Check out the conversation here and be sure to visit Multivarious' site for additional details about the game.

Show Notes

The legislative fight over loot boxes expands to Washington state. (http://bit.ly/2GAjtSt)

Xbox Game Pass Expands to Include New Releases from Microsoft Studios. (http://bit.ly/2GClwWe)

Mad Catz, maker of gaming peripherals, is back from the dead. (http://cnet.co/2Gz5Q5X)

Nintendo’s Labo playset slaps the Switch into build-your-own cardboard toys. (http://bit.ly/2GAjfe5)

Unlocked PS4 consoles can now run copies of PS2 games. (http://bit.ly/2GzOPIQ)

The Overwatch League claims higher ratings than ‘Thursday Night Football’ … but it’s complicated. (http://bit.ly/2GClIVs)

GDC Re-Examines Award for Atari Founder After Outcry Over Past Conduct. (http://rol.st/2GClP3k)

W.T.F

An Indie RPG Game Developer Is Using Real-Time Bitcoin Prices To Scale Loot And Difficulty. (http://bit.ly/2Gz2znd)

Nike to produce light-emitting Sony PlayStation shoes. (http://bit.ly/2GH2hLf)

Show Notes

PSA

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is free to download on PC through December 18. (http://bit.ly/2CdmR3x)

Sony is discounting PlayStation VR to $200 for the holidays. (http://bit.ly/2CgshuL)

Topics

Loot boxes may not return to Star Wars: Battlefront II. (http://bit.ly/2CdHlZX)

Putting Nintendo Switch’s 10 million sales in context. (http://bit.ly/2CgsyxN)

Fortnite developer: Players “deserve” cross-console play. (http://bit.ly/2Cd8KuZ)

Here are the 2017 Game Awards winners. (http://bit.ly/2CfnhWS)

Recap: Everything that happened at The Game Awards 2017. (http://bit.ly/2CgmlSf)

Shadow of the Colossus remake gets comparison video and Special Edition. (http://bit.ly/2CdH1KR)

W.T.F

Detective Pikachu movie gets Summer 2019 release date. (http://bit.ly/2CezR8P)

Show Notes

PSA

It appears Assassin's Creed Origins is getting a Chocobo mount. (http://bit.ly/2zWxJBh)

Ubisoft is handing out Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and World in Conflict on PC. (http://bit.ly/2zUVyJG)  

Topics

Nintendo brings HD Wii games to China’s Nvidia Shield—is Switch next? [Updated]. (http://bit.ly/2zUfyMu)

How does Nintendo’s mobile gaming experiment look after Animal Crossing?.(http://bit.ly/2zUfH2u)

Bungie opens up about Destiny 2 changes after hidden “scaling” debacle. (http://bit.ly/2zXIa7H)

Destiny 2 misrepresented XP gains to its players until the devs got caught. (http://bit.ly/2zTXx0R)

Games industry is going 100% digital - Take-Two. (http://bit.ly/2zWwXo0)

W.T.F

Destiny 2’s Ghost is actually an Amazon Alexa speaker and skill now. (http://bit.ly/2zU3SJN)

Show Notes

Topics

The McLaren Formula 1 team just hired the World’s Fastest Gamer. (http://bit.ly/2zt9Kxx)

After fan outcry, EA kicks real-money purchases out of Battlefront II. (http://bit.ly/2zsoQmB)

(Update) The Belgium Gaming Commission has declared loot boxes as gambling. (http://bit.ly/2zt9SNx)

Did Disney push for EA’s Battlefront microtransaction decision? (http://bit.ly/2zuGfeo)

EA expects 'no material impact' on financial earnings after turning off Star Wars Battlefront II's microtransactions. (http://bit.ly/2zulC2c)

EA buys out a game studio after shutting another one down 3 weeks ago. (http://bit.ly/2zswZYn)

There could be a Super Mario movie from the Despicable Me and Minions studio. (http://bit.ly/2ztwlKe)

Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavs, invests in eSports team 100 Thieves. (http://bit.ly/2zuc6MA)

Show Notes

Sony comes to Paris with tons of PlayStation announcements, new footage. (http://bit.ly/2ylGN69)

Ubisoft says DRM isn’t the reason Assassin’s Creed: Origins pushes CPUs. (http://bit.ly/2ymGWWX)

EA shuts down fan-run servers for older Battlefield games. (http://bit.ly/2ylXJtc)

Nintendo promises improved Switch availability for holiday season. (http://bit.ly/2yncEmU)

Report claims that Japanese third-party devs are scrambling to support the Switch now. (http://bit.ly/2ymiHYM)

Most people prefer to use the Switch as a hybrid console according to Nintendo. (http://bit.ly/2ylD4Fj)

Blizzard is going to make it easier to follow Overwatch eSports matches. (http://bit.ly/2ymppy3)

Microsoft has stopped making the Kinect, and that makes me sad. (http://bit.ly/2ymPSLG)

Topics

21 years later, original developer works to fix 16-bit Sonic. (http://bit.ly/2kZmGEq)

Super Nt is a $190 FPGA, HDMI SNES (and probably other acronyms). (http://bit.ly/2kX3RBE)

Tekken producer claims that fighting game fans don't use tutorials. (http://bit.ly/2kYWidT)

So, IGN acquired Humble Bundle. (http://bit.ly/2l0igx2)

Activision Patents Matchmaking That Encourages Players To Buy Microtransactions. (http://bit.ly/2l3b7w7)

EA shuts down Visceral, will reboot its Star Wars game due to “marketplace”. (http://bit.ly/2kX2CCu)

Big-budget, single-player gaming isn’t dead (yet). (http://bit.ly/2kYmeGp)

W.T.F

Exclusive Assassin's Creed-branded Yeezy sneakers to be won in competition. (http://bit.ly/2kZEi2N)

Taiwan wins for the most excessive Gran Turismo Sport bundle. (http://bit.ly/2l0ogFQ)

Show Notes

PSA

Oculus Rift sees permanent price drop: $399 with Touch controllers. (http://bit.ly/2xBNWi1)

Topics

Zuckerberg announces $199 Oculus Go as “sweet spot” standalone VR headset. (http://bit.ly/2xAu0vT)

Valve announces the first big SteamVR 2.0 feature: waaay more space. (http://bit.ly/2xBeal0)

Xbox chief says Sony won’t allow cross-platform Minecraft, probably never will. (http://bit.ly/2xBmpxn)

Loot boxes in video games will soon get a review flag from OpenCritic. (http://bit.ly/2xBBUVW)

Bethesda: Anti-Nazi game wasn’t meant to “incite political discussions”. (http://bit.ly/2xBNlwI)

W.T.F

KFC's Colonel Sanders is in WWE 2K18...this is not a joke. (http://bit.ly/2xB0pTr)

A $1000 Sagat statue is a little too rich for my blood. (http://bit.ly/2xASbdT)