Tag: gaming

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Pedro Pascal says The Last of Us Season 2 might film later this year

The second season of The Last of Us might begin filming later this year.

During an interview with Collider to promote The Mandalorian Season 3, Pedro Pascal, who stars as Joel on The Last of Us, was asked about the sophomore outing for the popular HBO series. While he noted that he couldn’t reveal much, he did tease that production could begin sometime in 2023.

“In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We’re getting into spring?” he said coyly. “Yes, there is a chance. Yes.”

The Last of Us was renewed last month after only two episodes had aired, with HBO saying the series had its second-biggest premiere ever after House of the Dragon. However, the network didn’t reveal any further details beyond confirming that it would adapt the 2020 PlayStation game The Last of Us Part II. Craig Mazin, co-creator of the series, has also indicated that at least two seasons may be needed to fully adapt the sequel.

For now, though, the first season of The Last of Us still has one more episode before its March 12th finale. It should be noted that we don’t actually know how far along Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann (co-director of The Last of Us) actually are in the writing process for Season 2, although Pascal’s comments suggest they might have made some significant progress already.

Another big question: where will The Last of Us Season 2 film? Most notably, Season 1 was filmed entirely in Alberta in what’s believed to be part of Canada’s largest TV production to date. Bella Ramsey, who stars opposite Pascal as Ellie, has also suggested that production could return to Canada, although HBO hasn’t made any official comment on the matter.

That said, the entire cast and crew have had nothing but positive anecdotes to share about their time in Alberta. In a recent interview with MobileSyrup, Pascal, Ramsey and Mazin raved about the province. John Paino, the series’ production designer, has also said how “shocked” he was at how clean Alberta ended up being.

It’s worth noting that Canmore — Pascal and Ramsey’s favourite filming location — stands in for Jackson, Wyoming in the series, and the first few hours of The Last of Us Part II are set in the American town. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether HBO will return to the Alberta location — or any others — for Season 2.

Image credit: HBO

Source: Collider

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Mobile Syrup

Unpacking the controversy surrounding Hogwarts Legacy

Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts Legacy allows players to explore J.K. Rowling’s fantastic Harry Potter universe in an open-world role-playing setting. As the game’s main character, you select your House and appearance, develop relationships with students and more.

For many fans of the series’ books or films, it’s the Wizarding World video game they’ve been waiting for.

I covered the controversial title for MobileSyrup, explored its detailed world and completed the main story. Overall, I had a lot of fun with the game. However, before and while I played Hogwarts Legacy, I felt conflicted because of Rowling’s stance on the transgender community.

For those unaware of the controversy, in 2020, Rowling made an egregious comment on Twitter in response to an opinion piece.

Rowling’s tweet implied that “people who menstruate” are “women,” disregarding that not all women menstruate — including trans women.

Since then, Rowling has used her expansive platform to promote her anti-trans views several times. For example, Rowling’s anti-trans stance stems from her belief trans women aren’t women and should be treated differently. Rowling, who is a survivor of sexual abuse, also claims she wants women to be safe in bathrooms, perpetuating the stereotype that trans women are predators. U.S. politicians have even cited Rowling’s rhetoric when pushing back against pro-LGBTQ+ bills.

The author continues to vocally spread her beliefs, causing harm to those in the trans community, and because of this, many that were once fans of Rowling’s work have turned away from anything to do with the Wizarding World, including Hogwarts Legacy.

With all that said, I want to dive into the controversy surrounding the title to unpack my conflicted feelings about the game, and also to educate our readers about the issues trans women face.

If you want suggested readings from trans writers to better understand why Hogwarts Legacy is so controversial, follow this link.

Are you anti-trans if you play Hogwarts Legacy?

While I don’t believe playing Hogwarts Legacy directly means you hold an anti-trans stance, many disagree with this sentiment.

“Any support of the Harry Potter franchise current projects while J.K. Rowling is in charge of it and using her ongoing platform to target and also justify her continued targeting of trans people is harmful to trans people,” tweeted YouTuber and writer Jessie Earl.

Even though Rowling didn’t create the game herself and wasn’t involved in its development, she still financially benefits from Hogwarts Legacy‘s sales and created the world the game is based on, as noted by Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier.

Hogwarts Legacy started development in 2018, with job listings tied to the title appearing as early as 2017. As noted earlier, J.K.’s cruel tweets about the trans community started in 2020; before this, most were unaware of her anti-trans beliefs.

Unfortunately, boycotting Hogwarts Legacy won’t hurt Rowling — a billionaire with many revenue streams aside from Hogwarts Legacy — as much as it will the developers who created the game and signed onto the project before her statements and blog post. If not hurt monetarily, having all your efforts go to waste can be a cause of pain.

Some might argue the development team at Avalanche Software, and even the voice actors, should have just left their jobs when the author’s beliefs came to light. But this a privileged way to look at the situation, given leaving your job is not a viable option for many, especially amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending economic recession.

The voice actor for the masculine-gendered Hogwarts Legacy character, Sebastian Croft, tweeted this before the game’s launch (check out the tweet below). Croft also stars in Heartbreakers, a Netflix show focused on a group of LGBTQ+ teens.

I echo Croft’s beliefs. When I purchased Hogwarts Legacy, it didn’t improve Rowling’s life. She’s already a billionaire, and the royalties she’ll earn from Hogwarts Legacy won’t change that.

Hogwarts Legacy also doesn’t actively spread hatred and strives to be inclusive in several ways. For instance, the title allows users to create their own in-game avatar, make that character look exactly how they want, and change their voice to sound more feminine or masculine. Unfortunately, you still need to identify as a ‘witch’ or ‘wizard,’ which disregards other genders in a sense, such as those that are genderfluid or non-binary.

The game also features a trans character that is reportedly voiced by a trans woman. However, some reports indicate that this character was just added to appease fans upset about Rowling’s comments. Further, some criticize the character for their name, ‘Sirona Ryan,’ which can be coded as ‘Sir Ryan.’ With the Harry Potter novels featuring characters named Cho Chang and Kingsly Shacklebolt, this, admittedly, isn’t a good look for Hogwarts Legacy, although others have pointed out that “Sirona” is actually an old Celtic name for a goddess.

Despite the lack of racial diversity in Harry Potter stories (except for the aforementioned few with racist names), Hogwarts Legacy does a good job of including people from different walks of life and cultures. The friend that the playable character makes from Gryffindor, Natsai “Natty” Onai, is from Africa, where they don’t need to use wands to cast spells. Other classmates and teachers are also from different races, such as Japanese Broom professor Chiyo Kogawa, Korean caretaker Gladwin Moon and Indian Charms Master Abraham Ronen.

It’s also worth mentioning that the game focuses on a goblin rebellion, and some are prejudiced against goblins in the title. Goblins aren’t a race, so you can’t be racist towards a goblin; however, since the early books, many have related goblins to Jewish people, due to specific stereotypes. It’s worth noting that goblins in many sources of fantasy literature and games are shown similarly.

Jason Schreier, a Jewish journalist, doesn’t feel Hogwarts Legacy is antisemitic but finds the game overall “dull.”

Some who worked on the game also don’t agree with purchasing the title, including Parker Hartzler.

While buying Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t make a notable difference to Rowling’s bank account, there’s a valid argument that, as an ally, you should avoid supporting Rowling in any shape or form. The Gamer editor-in-chief Stacey Hanley holds this view and said the following:

“On the other, you have a much smaller, already marginalized group, pointing out that buying, streaming, or praising the game gives money, a further platform, and a longer future to J.K. Rowling, who is on the record saying she feels empowered that people support her beliefs because they keep buying her products.”

However, some trans people still purchased the title. Mitch Burdett, a 23-year-old trans man, spoke to Washington Post regarding his dilemma surrounding the game:

“For a while, Burdett said, he faced a crisis with how to move forward with his love of the series. Then, after talking to his mom and considering what others were saying, he decided — like many other fans — to renounce Rowling but continue to enjoy the world she built. “She doesn’t rule the wizarding world; it was just her creation,” Burdett said. “What we as fans, readers, watchers, gamers decide to do with that world is entirely separate from her or any beliefs she may have.”

Ultimately, there’s no clear-cut answer regarding how a game like Hogwarts Legacy should be approached. Some trans people and allies are okay with separating the art from the artist, while others, understandably, are not.

I really enjoyed my time with Hogwarts Legacy, but I also understand if you’re vehemently against playing it.

I know several people who are afraid to talk publicly about enjoying the game (or even playing it at all) due to concerns about fear or hatred from the trans community. People like the couple behind ‘Girlfriend Reviews’ cried over reported bullying after playing the game. There’s also a platform that can find anyone who streams the game, so you can block them.

It’s important to point out the trans community has experienced more fear and hatred than most can likely imagine, and they didn’t choose to be trans, while you chose to play Hogwarts Legacy. I personally don’t support extremists on either side of the coin, or the bullying and harassment.

I stand with transgender people, and I’m a part of the LGBTQ+ community myself. I don’t feel that I’m transphobic because I’ve covered and enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy, but I’m also still very conflicted and want to highlight that trans people continue to face a lot of hate from J.K. Rowling and her supporters.

If you are unsure about how to feel, just know that supporting the trans community in itself is the right move.

Below are several notable LGBTQ+ notable organizations you can learn from and support, including:

  • Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH) — the largest national multidisciplinary, professional organization in the world, which aims to support trans and gender-diverse people
    GLAAD — an organization aiming to support the LGBTQ+ community in general
  • Trans Lifeline — a grassroots organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people (Canadians can dial 1-877-330-6366)
  • Trans Pulse Canada — a community-based survey of the health and well-being of trans/non-binary people in Canada
  • Bridges4Life — a Black lead non for profit to support Black Trans Youth.
  • In the past, I’ve chosen to support The Trevor Project —  Trevor Project provides 24/7 support for LGBTQ youth in crisis

Image credit: Warner Bros.

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Mobile Syrup

FromSoftware announces Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree

It’s time to return to the Lands Between with a new Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco haven’t shared much about the upcoming DLC, simply tweeting that it’s “currently in development” alongside concept art.

We can see in the image what looks like a dying or corrupted Erdtree in the background. There also seems to be a steed that resembles Torrent that’s being ridden by a blonde character. The character may be Miquella, Queen Marika, or even Melina with longer hair if some time has passed.

The official Japanese site confirms that the DLC will be coming to all versions of Elden Ring, including PS4, PS5, Windows PC via Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. FromSoftware also states it’ll be some time before they share more, so a release in the coming months doesn’t seem likely.

Image credit: Bandai Namco

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Like a Dragon: Ishin! connected my love of Kyoto with a grand, emotional samurai story

Over three years ago, my friends (including MobileSyrup gaming editor Brad Shankar) and I visited Japan for the first time. Over the duration of nine days, we travelled to the busy izakayas in Tokyo, the spiritual streets of Kyoto and the vibrant Blade Runner-esque, neon-light-filled Osaka.

I was left awestruck by the country, and as soon as I returned to Canada, I was eager to go back to Japan. My trip left a lasting imprint on me and reaffirmed my desire to teach English there, with my ideal location being Kyoto.

However, the world changed shortly after returning home (can you believe that the COVID-19 pandemic started three years ago?), and so did the trajectory of my life. Suddenly, travelling to Japan seemed lightyears away and the itch to experience even a little bit more of the country grew stronger.

Then, I discovered Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza 0.

What I thought would be a welcome distraction quickly became one of my favourite games of all-time. Though the gameplay is a simple 3D beat-em-up, I loved how it balanced wacky humour with deeply serious and emotional moments. It also cleverly combined the setting of Japan’s fascinating bubble economy with its gameplay, using huge stacks of cash to upgrade your move-set.

What added to my Yakuza 0 Japan trip simulation was the insane amount of mini-games that you can play, from disco dancing and karaoke to classic arcade games and billiards. At a time when I felt that big open-world games were starting to become more tiresome to play, having a smaller but vastly dense sandbox area was refreshing.

After my Yakuza 0 playthrough, I was hooked, finishing Kiwami and Kiwami 2 in quick succession, along with going back to revisit the minigames. Though I ended up taking a break from the series, I felt drawn back after seeing the announcement for Like a Dragon: Ishin!

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a remastered version of the Japan exclusive of the same name, handled similarly to the Kiwami games, including graphical improvements and added content. It’s considered a spin-off, featuring the same characters from previous Yakuza titles (this time including beloved characters from Yakuza 0) but with different backstories and personalities.

Even though we’ve gotten more Edo-based samurai games recently, such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghost of Tsushima, Like a Dragon: Ishin! was more enticing because of the distinct charm that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio adds to its games.

That said, Ishin! excels in its narrative and gameplay, though with a few shortcomings.

The undercover samurai in modern-day Kyoto

The story involves Ryoma Sakamoto (resemblance based on Yakuza hero Kiryu Kazama), a lone samurai coming back to his hometown Tosa after his sword training in Edo. In a span of a few hours, Ryoma becomes embroiled in a political civil war conflict between the Bakufu, the current authoritarian military government, and the Loyalist Party, a group dedicated to the Emperor with plans to overthrow the government. After a series of events, Ryoma ostracizes himself from Tosa to pursue his own investigation in the city of Kyo (modern-day Kyoto) with an undercover name.

This leads to an interesting dynamic in the story, as his sworn brother is the leader of the Loyalist Party while he becomes a high-ranking captain in Bakufu’s elite samurai army, the Shinsengumi. Without going into spoilers, I found the story to be quite interesting, especially compared to the more crime-focused Yakuza counterpart.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! crowd

However, while you get more out of the game if you played the past Yakuza titles, it also spoils a bit of the plot because some characters follow the same fate. This was quite apparent at the start of the game with Ryoma’s reasoning for leaving Tosa in the first place. Thankfully, the predictability does fade after you get into the real meat of the story, and despite this issue, the inclusion of the Yakuza 0 characters was fantastic, especially in regards to the boss fights.

Ryoma Sakamoto’s bizarre adventures

For a Yakuza/Like a Dragon title, sub-stories are just as important as the story, and Ishin! has some great ones.

From helping out a good-hearted loan shark to aiding a person who’s being ignored for talking literally all day, these side-quests provide lots of humour to keep players engrossed in Kyo.

There is also a lot to do in the city, and at times, it feels overwhelming when you’re trying to progress through the main story. Whether it’s the dozens of people that you can befriend or the countless mini-games, it can be a detriment because your progression is constantly interrupted (though you’re free to just ignore it).

 

On top of all this is ‘Another Life,’ a farming simulator where Ryoma can grow produce, cook food, own pets and sell various goods. It doesn’t help that despite the great narrative, Ishin!‘s pacing can be quite slow at times. If you’re trying to breeze past the story, you may find that there’s a lack of action set-pieces, especially if you’re a newer fan who started off with Yakuza 0.

Saying all of that, the advice that I have for playing this game will sound bizarre. If you have the time (which, as an adult, feels shorter as you get older), my recommendation would be to play the game at your own pace and not speed through the story. Complete the sub-stories you want, develop the farming business you desire and embrace Kyo’s wackiness and chaos without any constraints. You’ll get a more enhanced experience that way.

The art of the sword… and revolver

Like most of the Yakuza games before the switch to a traditional RPG system, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a 3D beat-em-up where you use different battle styles to defeat multiple enemies.

There are four combat styles to choose between:

  • Brawler — the traditional battle style from previous Yakuza games where you fight with your fists or can pick up nearby objects to smack the living hell out of enemies
  • Swordsman — use your katana for highly damaging strikes at the cost of range and mobility
  • Gunman — prioritize a revolver to shoot enemies from afar with ease
  • Wild Dancer — uses both swords and revolvers to perform chaotic combos

Like a Dragon: Ishin! combat

Wild Dancer is especially devastating, as you can perform combos to a single enemy or use a spinning gun attack to blow away multiple people at once.

However, a new addition to the combat with this remaster are the Trooper Cards, which act like special moves that you can manually control or perform automatically. In the original game, you can only use Trooper Cards in the dungeon-crawler minigame, but now, they’re usable in regular gameplay.

It’s a bit similar to the deck system in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, where specific cards can perform combat moves, buffs, or healing. You can also assign three cards to each battle system, meaning you can have a deck of 12 catered to a specific play style. The Trooper Cards are great to use and add a bit more strategy to boss battles, specifically. However, it’s, thankfully, not complex compared to an RPG system, so you won’t constantly be shifting cards around for specific battles once you have a comfortable loadout.

Reliving Kyo through emotional connections

If Yakuza 0 was used to recreate my trip to Tokyo and Osaka, Like a Dragon Ishin! was my way of experiencing historic Kyoto and reminiscing over my own emotional connections to the city.

Thanks to the new graphical uplift, Ishin! looks really beautiful, especially at night when you can see the lanterns lit up near the river and towns. It’s by no means groundbreaking compared to current-gen games, but for someone who has an interest in Kyoto, it’s a great way to bring the Edo-period prefecture to light.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! town

This setting enhances the game, distancing itself from the urban locations of previous Yakuza games while offering a fresh sense of discovery. Personally speaking, it’s a dream combination of my favourite place in Japan with my interest in ancient history. Because of this, I’ll always connect my emotional experience of Kyoto to this game, which will encourage replayability because of the sheer amount of content and my own sentiments on the prefecture.

Overall, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a great remaster that should be on your radar whether you’re a Yakuza fan or new to the series. It’s both familiar and distinct, allowing players to familiarize themselves with the series without knowledge of the past Yakuza games. Furthermore, it allowed me to reminisce about my first trip to Kyoto because of my ties to the area.

For that, Like a Dragon: Ishin! delivered an experience that was priceless to me, and as I revisit Japan later this year, it will be a game that I remember as I walk through the streets of Kyoto again.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.

Image credit: Sega

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Resident Evil Village on PlayStation VR2 is one of the best VR games ever

When I first tried Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on PlayStation VR way back in 2017, I was blown away. Sneaking my way through the grimy, hauntingly eerie Baker estate through a headset was a level of immersion I’d not seen in a game.

Looking back, though, it was certainly imperfect. The resolution drawbacks were fairly significant, you still had to use the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller and there were some odd cut-to-black moments for certain transitions when protagonist Ethan Winters was moving, like dropping from a ladder. To be fair, it’s clear that such concessions were necessary for a first-gen VR experience, but it nonetheless makes the experience feel a tad dated in hindsight.

None of that is an issue with Resident Evil Village, the franchise’s second outing that’s fully playable in VR on PlayStation. (Sadly, Resident Evil 4 VR is an Oculus Quest 2 exclusive.) Where RE7 translated somewhat awkwardly to VR, Village feels absolutely built for it. Across the board, Capcom has smartly leveraged the PlayStation VR2‘s beefier specs and unique features to take an already great game and deliver an experience that is, hands-down, one of the best I’ve ever had on VR, even after only a couple of hours.

That starts with the visuals. On a base level, the PS VR2’s 4K HDR support already puts it well above the 1080 HDR of its predecessor. What’s more, the PS VR2 leverages eye-tracking to improve the fidelity of what you’re directly looking at by reducing image quality in your peripheral. In other words, Village is remarkably crisp in VR, with the game’s realistic character models, solid art direction and intricately designed levels all looking quite sharp. I’m also not normally someone who notices the implementation of 3D Audio (spatial sound), but I absolutely felt the difference here, adding to the immersion as all kinds of vampires, ghouls and other creatures hissed at me from the shadows.

But beyond that, the game’s cinematic presentation truly comes to life in VR. When a gruesome Lycan tackles you to the floor, snarls through its blood-soaked fangs and takes a bite out of you, it’s frighteningly up-and-close-and-personal. Running through the sadistic Heisenberg’s trap-infested catacombs feels like a thrilling rollercoaster ride thanks to the ability to freely rotate your head as you slide down a slope. And yes, seeing everyone’s favourite tall vampire, Lady Dimitrescu, tower above you is genuinely chilling. It’s one thing for Capcom to tell us she’s 9’6″ — it’s another to see that represented, to scale, in VR. Village wasn’t a terribly scary game on the whole outside of the horrifying Beneviento house, but seeing the game’s nightmarish assortment of enemies from this new perspective absolutely makes them more fearsome.

Resident Evil Village castleMore importantly, though, VR dramatically builds upon Village‘s already satisfying gameplay mechanics. As mentioned, RE7 in VR was limited to the DualShock 4, which made the headset feel more like an add-on than the actual main event. Village, on the other hand, is playable entirely with the PS VR2’s comfortable motion-controlled Sense gamepads — a setup that offers two key benefits.

First, you can now fully interact with your surroundings by moving your arms, whether that’s reaching down to pull open a drawer, sliding a lock on a gate, or rotating an ornate tablet for a puzzle. Considering a key part of Resident Evil is scouring every nook and cranny to find precious ammo, herbs and other resources, the motion controls make otherwise basic activities feel far more engaging.

Of course, full control over Ethan’s arms extends to combat. At any time, you can swing your arms upward in a blocking position to protect against upcoming attacks or make slashing and stabbing gestures for knife attacks. Through this interactivity, Village‘s rudimentary melee combat feels genuinely engrossing, especially when you’re low on ammo and have to desperately fall back on it. Capcom has even made it so the knife will automatically return to the sheath on Ethan’s left arm should you drop it. While this may break the immersion a bit, it’s worth it so you don’t have to try fumbling around to pick it up. The same applies to the other weapons that Ethan will acquire.Resident Evil Village VR reload And on that note — first-person gunplay with the Sense controllers is an absolute blast. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard to believe I ever settled for using a controller and VR setup with RE7. That’s because it feels so intuitive. Naturally, aiming anything with motion controls will automatically feel more immersive than analogue sticks, and that’s before you factor in the differences between each gun. For example, reloading your handgun means you have to physically grab a clip from your hip, push it into the bottom of your firearm and then pull back the slide on top. Your shotgun, meanwhile, requires you to load shells one at a time and then pump the barrel between each shot.

This sounds fairly simple, but when you have a group of beasts just a few feet away, this real-time, multi-step process is a real game-changer. Indeed, there’s a nail-biting tension as you pepper an enemy until he falls, only for your clip to go empty as he starts to get back up, leading you to frantically have to reload your gun, aim and fire before he lunges at you. (For this reason, I didn’t bother with managing two weapons through dual-wielding, one of the VR version’s new features, but that’s still an undeniably cool option to have.) An added benefit to all of this? It addresses two of my only issues with Village — the downplaying of horror in some sections and the game becoming too easy by the end as Ethan becomes a walking armory. When you have to fend off macabre foes who are quite literally up in your face through skin-of-your-teeth gunplay, things definitely feel scarier and more challenging.Resident Evil Village lungeHonestly, my only gripes with Village‘s VR version are pretty minor. You have to download a separate free file on the PlayStation Store that works alongside your copy of the base game, so your previous saves unfortunately can’t be carried over. There are also some jarring moments in cutscenes where Ethan may automatically move where you’re not looking, resulting in some brief disorientation. On the whole, it’s a lot smoother and more natural than RE7, leading me to feel no motion sickness, but these (few and far in between) instances are still worth mentioning.

Resident Evil games have always been designed with replayability in mind, which is undeniably valuable for many, but I’ll confess that I’m generally not inclined to revisit the same campaigns for bonus weapons and other unlockables. However, Village is one that I absolutely intend to see through to the end another time on PS VR2. The heightened atmosphere, jaw-dropping sense of scope and gripping combat afforded by the headset make this a legitimately transformative version of Resident Evil Village. Outside of Horizon Call of the Mountain, this is easily the PS VR2’s killer app.

Resident Evil Village‘s VR mode is available for free to anyone who owns the standard or Gold Edition of the base game. It’s worth noting that yet-to-be-revealed PS VR2 content is also in development for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake.

Image credit: Capcom

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Taking a look at small-town Ontario-inspired Rollergirl [SyrupArcade Cast 4]

On this episode of the SyrupArcade Cast, Brad Shankar and Dean Daley speak to Indigo Doyle, game designer and the creative lead at Toronto-based Pushing Vertices on Rollergirl.

Rollergirl is based on the life of Doyle, a Black woman who grew up in Belleville, Ontario. In the game, you roll around town on rollerblades exploring the neighbourhood as Naomi, a Black 17-year-old doing odd jobs to afford to fix her first car.

As she skates, Naomi listens to music on her MP3 player, and she has a playlist for each of her moods.

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The world of the game changes based on the music around you, and songs are linked to the character’s mood in-game, which is then reflected visually throughout Rollergirl.

During the podcast, we ask Doyle about her journey as a game developer and discus representation and diversity. Given it’s Black History Month, we felt it was important to highlight the difficulties Black people face when breaking into the gaming industry.

Image credit: Pushing Vertices

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Amazon Prime Gaming offering seven free games in March 2023, including Baldur’s Gate

Amazon has revealed the seven PC games that will be free to Prime members through its Prime Gaming program in March.

Notably, you can claim the Enhanced Edition of BioWare’s 1998 classic Baldur’s Gate, which was developed by fellow Edmonton studio Beamdog.

Here’s the full list of free games:

  • March 2 — Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition
  • March 9 — Adios, I Am Fish
  • March 16 — Faraway 3: Arctic Escape
  • March 23 — Book of Demons, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
  • March 30 — City Legends: Trapping in Mirror — Collector’s Edition

Prime Gaming freebies are offered at no additional cost to Amazon Prime subscribers.

Image credit: Beamdog

Source: Amazon

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Apple Music, App Store, Apple TV+ and more experiencing outages

Apple services like the App Store, Apple TV+ and Apple Music are currently experiencing outages.

On Thursday afternoon, Apple users took to social media to report being unable to access these services. According to Apple’s official Support page, these services went down at 4:03pm ET for “some users.”

It’s worth noting, however, that the .ca version of Apple Support shows that there are no outages. On the flip side, Down Detector.ca mentions some outages for services like Apple Music. Therefore, your mileage will surely vary depending on where you are.

There’s no word yet on when service will be restored across the board.

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Here’s everything shown off during PlayStation’s February 2023 State of Play

PlayStation held its first 2023 State of Play on February 23rd, showing off a variety of games coming to PS4, PS5 and PS VR2.

To start, the company dropped a brief sizzle PS VR2 reel promoting games like Horizon Call of the Mountain and Resident Evil Village while mentioning that the headset just launched this week.

Following that, the show went as follows:

The Foglands (PS VR2) — TBA 2023

 

Green Hell VR (PS VR2) — TBA 2023

 

Synapse (PS VR2) — TBA 2023

Journey to Foundation (PS VR2) — fall 2023

Before Your Eyes (PS VR2) — March 10th, 2023

Destiny 2: Lightfall (PS4/PS5) — February 28th, 2023

 

DeTchia (PS4/PS5) — March 21st, 2023 (also coming to PS Plus Extra and Premium that day)

Humanity (PS4/PS5/PS VR2) — May 2023

Goodbye Volcano High (PS4/PS5) — June 15th, 2023 [Canadian game — Montreal-based KO_OP]

Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections (PS4/PS5) — TBA 2023

Baldur’s Gate III (PS5) — August 31st, 2023

 

Wayfinder (PS4/PS5) — beta coming February 28th, 2023

Street Fighter VI: Zangief, Lily and Cammy reveals — releasing June 2nd, 2023

 

Resident Evil 4 remake (new trailer and confirmation of “special demo coming soon” — game releases March 24th, 2023

As promised, the State of Play concluded with a lengthy gameplay demo for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the new game from Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady. Here’s the full demo below:

The game is releasing on PS5 on May 26th, 2023.

What was your favourite part of the State of Play? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: Capcom

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The Last of Us episode has Game of Thrones-esque editing error

An eagle-eyed viewer of The Last of Us has caught a minor but amusing error in the latest episode of the hit HBO series.

On Twitter, guitarist Scott T. Jones shared an image of a wide shot of the episode’s wintry Wyoming scenery. It looks beautiful, but there’s something wrong with it — a few crew members can be seen in the bottom left. Admittedly, they look so small in the frame that most people would have likely not noticed or simply thought they were part of the trees.

Still, it’s interesting to see accidents like this pop up in such a big HBO production, especially when it isn’t the first time. In episode four of Game of Thrones‘ eighth and final season, a Starbucks coffee cup was infamously visible in front of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). This isn’t exclusive to HBO, either. In another Pedro Pascal series, Disney’s The Mandalorian, a crew member wearing a t-shirt and jeans was standing behind Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). In both cases, the issues were digitally removed, so it remains to be seen whether HBO will do the same with The Last of Us.

In any case, what’s most notable about the latest episode of The Last of Us, at least for Canadians, is where, exactly, this scene was filmed. Indeed, standing in for Episode 6’s Wyoming setting was none other than the lovely small town of Canmore, Alberta. It’s a location that both Pascal and Bella Ramsey said was their favourite in the province to visit during an interview with MobileSyrup. “Every inch of Canmore was just this magical little town… with really great fudge,” said Pascal.

It’s worth noting that Season 2 of The Last of Us will adapt The Last of Us Part II, a game that begins in Wyoming. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether HBO will return to Canmore to shoot those scenes and, if so, whether the crew members will stay out of sight next time.

The Last of Us is now streaming exclusively on Crave in Canada.

Image credit: HBO