For years Microsoft hoovered up more and more of the games industry. It was shocking when they purchased Bethesda - a huge third party publisher and development house. By the time they secured the deal to buy Activision-Blizzard, it was much less so, and it was clear that Microsoft believed they could buy all the properties they needed to make GamePass a success. It didn't take long to see that their strategy wasn't working.

Yesterday, Sony dropped a few bombs on the gaming world - first, they are discontinuing support of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores by next year, at the latest, with support ending immediately in some areas. Second, they will cease production of physical games by January 2028 for all releases on PlayStation consoles, leaving only another year and half before you'll no longer be able to grab the latest games pressed to a disc.

So after eight years, Rockstar has finally released a follow up to their beloved sandbox Western Red Dead Redemption. The game is a critical darling, has outsold the entire Metroid franchise in two weeks, and all seems right in the world. Yet, I found quite a few issues that many reviews were mitigating or did not bring up which kept me from personally having fun. To the point where seven hours into Red Dead Redemption, I called it quits. This will not be a review, just offering my two cents for those on the fence.

Following the crash landing of Solo at the box office you may have read of “Star Wars fatigue.” It’s a phantom illness that is being blamed for audiences’ alienation of affection for Star Wars movies after 41 years of wedded bliss. The fans are not tired of Star Wars—they are in an uproar over the direction that the president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy has taken the franchise. The fans are centrally angry that after 30 years of waiting for the continuation of Luke Skywalker’s story, he never saw any action and died at the end (was killed by director/writer Rian Johnson). The other issue with fans has been the political shift from focus on authoritarianism/militarism toward identity and party politics. Snoke is Trump, Poe Dameron’s mutiny represents the Bernie Bros, and the leadership of the Resistance are all elderly, affluent women (Clinton, Warren, Pelosi). continued after break...

To say that EA is having a bit of a problem with public perception would be a massive understatement. In the past year they have come under fire for predatory micro transaction practices, cancelled a highly anticipated Star Wars game, stated that single player games are a dying breed, and shuttered yet another well-regarded development team. Their lackluster E3 presentation didn’t do much to help matters. Sure, EA is doing gangbusters as far as sales and revenue, but they have burned up so much good will with their customers that it’s easy to see a scenario where they find themselves in a tough position, relying on their yearly Madden and FIFA games to keep them afloat. As someone who has a complicated relationship with their brand, I have some ideas on how EA can win players over, and move strongly into the upcoming next generation.

We are fast approaching November 7, which in recent years has been marked as “N7 Day” by EA and BioWare, and is usually a celebration of all thing Mass Effect. We’ve done things for N7 Day in the past, and I’m sure we will this year, as BioWare is set to finally show off the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda in a big way. Considering that the game is expected early next year it’s a little worrisome that we have seen so little of it by now. With that being the case, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at my favorite game in the series: the first Mass Effect. That game had some serious issues, but instead of fixing those issues for Mass Effect 2, BioWare’s solution was to throw most of them right out the window. So let’s take a look at some of those problems with the original Mass Effect. I will identify the major issues, explain what BioWare’s solution was, and provide an alternative fix that I hope makes its way into Andromeda.

At last year’s PAX East I attended a panel hosted by one of the marketing magicians for Sega of America in the '90s, Al Nilson. At that panel I got up to ask a question about the NEMO project he worked on in the late '80s, but before I did I told this quick story about the time I borrowed the first Sonic the Hedgehog game off my friend when it was first released:  While I was at home being blown away by the technical achievement of Sonic Team’s new baby, my friend called me and said his mother was mad he lent out his new game and was making him come by in a couple hours to pick it up. Since my time was now limited to how much of this amazing new game I was going to be able to play,  I decided to hunker down and try to beat the game before he came to get it. I focused and played as carefully as I could. I ended up beating the game without continuing and with all the Chaos Emeralds. I had the honor of telling Al Nilson it was one of the best "Gaming Zen" moments of my life. He appreciated my story and my love for Sonic.

In my nearly five years writing for PixlBit I think I can safely say that I have installed myself as the resident Final Fantasy superfan. I have written about the long-running role playing game series more than any other topic over the years, and have always met each main title entry with excitement. So why do I feel so much apprehension towards the impending release of Final Fantasy XV? Shouldn’t I be breathlessly counting the days, instead of dreading it? Well, that’s a complex question to answer, but I want to believe in FF XV. I’m just not sure if I can.

We’re all familiar with this famous quote from one of our founding fathers, but what would you add to it if given the chance? As gamers, we thrive on a certain level of consistency from our favorite standbys, whether that be a gaming franchise, system, or company as a whole. For me, it would be this: "…death, taxes, and the fact that I will purchase any handheld system that Nintendo puts on the market."

Thanks to the steam sales, I've purchased the moderately received game to end the Arkham Franchise and it's pretty good.

I enjoy watching E3 every year and trying to see the “theme” of each show. From second screen experiences to asynchronous multiplayer, there is always something that ties everything together. For E3 2016 that theme seemed to be that of change. While there may not have been a lot of surprises at this show thanks to a lot of companies pulling out and a record number of leaks, we did see a lot of high profile projects that looked, well, different. So let’s take a look at some of those well-worn properties looking to impress us by shaking things up.

After completing this game, one word came to my mind, and that word was “wow.” That was one of the most compelling games I've ever experienced, with every singular aspect building up to an impressive unified artistic expression the likes of which we rarely see in this medium.