The NPCs - Video Game Commentary, Video Game News, And More!

#SquareEnix #Xbox #Fortnite

Full VOD here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-h5wR5Q0c

#Overwatch2 #ActivisionBlizzard #DisneyDreamlightValley

Full VOD here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c7zRlGZ3LY

On today's episode: It seems like only yesterday that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds launched, and with it a wave - nay, a tsunami - of change that is still with us to this day. 100 players depart from a cargo plane, hover bus, drop ship, helicopter, or some other type of flying object and split across a massive map in hopes of finding the right weapons and gear and making it to the center of the zone before they die or succumb to the wall. However, in those 5 years since PUBG’s release, player expectations for Battle Royale modes have shifted, and some players leverage a multiplayer game’s success against the inclusion of a Battle Royale. Some devs even consider this expectation as they see player counts drop, and retention skews into the red, meaning a post-content change to include a Battle Royale ends up becoming a make or break event. But is this the right way to go, or is this more of a grasping-for-straws scenario to maintain interest in a game? Let’s get into it with today’s episode: The Battle Royale Dilemma.

In this week's news roundup: 343 shares the roadmap for Halo Infinite Seasons 2 and 3, including when we'll see campaign co-op and Forge. Also, Call of Duty is going to be promoting (for some strange reason) Godzilla vs. Kong in Warzone starting in May, and the handhelds of yore including the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance are rumored to be on their way to Nintendo Switch Online!

On today's episode: We’re not shy to admit that we’ve given our fair share of criticism about games in past episodes. When a feature, modification, or change is promised -or- implemented in a well known game series, and it changes the core experience, we’re there to talk about it and what its potential impact might mean for the game - and games like it - going forward. However, as games continue to age and new games come out, the fans of the series look to the devs for more content, more updates, and at the overall health of the game. This can lead to some massive speculation about the state of a game given access to player counts, product roadmaps, and competition. Voices begin to echo about how a game is fairing, and give rise to the clickbait articles and videos about a game being “dead.” What has this type of focus added to the overall discussion on games, and how do we best move forward on approaching these topics? Today, we’ll talk about just that with The Struggle with A Game’s Longevity.

Intro & Outro: Run by J+1

#PlayStationPlus #HaloInfinite #BreathOfTheWild2

Full VOD of the News Roundup here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INYj5maJrFw

On today's episode: We last spoke about NFTs in January and Online Only games in July, but there’s been enough that’s changed in the last half a year that has us talking. From big names in the gaming sphere embracing NFTs, and outages on popular titles causing frustrations and game rankings to drop, we felt it necessary to come back around and discuss what these new developments show for the present and future of gaming. In today’s episode, we’re revisiting "NFTs and Gaming," along with "Online Only."

Intro & Outro: Run by J+1

#GranTurismo7 #DrDisrespect #HogwartsLegacy

In this week's news roundup: Gran Turismo 7 is down for over 30 hours due to a bugged patch limiting even "offline" play to... well, nothing. Also, Dr. Disrespect takes his newly created game dev company and starts... selling NFTs? We also talk about the Hogwarts Legacy State of Play, and the first major reviews for the Halo TV Series are out!

#DrDisrespect #Overwatch2 #SteamDeck

(Note: Kyle's audio for some reason wasn't working at the start of the livestream, so his audio appears around the 4 minute mark or so. Sorry about that...)

In this week's news roundup: Dr. Disrespect & Twitch appear to come to some type of resolution regarding his ban back in 2020, however The Doc will not be returning to Twitch. Also, the remake of Dead Space is set to drop in early 2023, Overwatch 2 devs say changes in how they approach content with the sequel are incoming, you can now install Windows on your Steam Deck (but do you want to?), and more! 

Full VOD of the News Roundup here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L2kw_cRkGk

On today's episode: The video game industry hasn't been shy to embracing controversy in their video games. In 1976, developer Exidy stoked fears from the media with their arcade game, Death Race, and its portrayal of violence against enemies in it's virtual world. Midway Games took it to another level with it's fatalities in Mortal Kombat in 1993 - so much so, that it spawned the ESRB. As graphical and compute power has increased greatly since those games came out, so has the potential to stir even more controversy - increased violence, sexual representation (over-sexualization), controversy for the sake of controversy. If we say the words "No Russian" or "White phosphorus," we're sure for many of you listening you know what we are directly referring to. Given the ongoing situations at home and abroad, as well as the portrayal of real-world events in video games, its time for us to discuss Controversy's Place in Gaming. 

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Intro & Outro: Run by J+1