Tag: Video games

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Xbox CFO suggests chip shortages would persist throughout the year

Supply chain issues have crippled the video game market.

Gamers still struggle to get their hands on the latest-gen consoles, and according to Xbox CFO Tim Stuart, the supply chain issues are likely to persist throughout the year, as reported by GameIndustry.Biz.

“The supply chain environment could remain rocky through 2022 and the holiday season,” said Stuart in an investor call hosted by financial services company Baird. Stuart adds that the recent lockdowns in China are contributing to the issue, with manufacturers facing “limited parts” and “elevated logistics pricing pressuring margins.”

Similarly, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger recently said that he believes the chip shortage could take up to 2024 to subside. “We believe the overall semiconductor shortage will now drift into 2024, from our earlier estimates in 2023, just because the shortages have now hit equipment and some of those factory ramps will be more challenged,” Gelsinger said in an interview with CNBC’s TechCheck.

Additionally, Sony had previously estimated to sell 22.6 million PS5 units in the next financial year, though that number has been rescinded to 18 million.

The global chip shortage first began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, chip manufacturing factories globally continue to face numerous disruptions and closures, while demand for products continues to rise as the need for semiconductors for consumer tech products is never-ending.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: GameIndustry.Biz

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Xbox announces Summer Game Fest Demos will be available from June 21-27

Xbox has announced that its ID@Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo offerings will run from June 21st – 27th. The event offers more than 30 demos of upcoming unreleased games for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

Xbox says it will announce the full list closer to June 21st, but below are some of the key titles:

  • Batora: Lost Haven
  • Broken Pieces
  • Severed Steel
  • Tinykin

The demos will be available on the Xbox Dashboard for a week. Some might be republished to the demo channel later, but many will disappear at the end of the week.

Additionally, these game demos are more like “show floor demos” and are not indicative of the final product, says Microsoft.

Source: Xbox

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The next Nintendo Direct rumoured to take place on June 29th

Nintendo’s next Direct event is reportedly scheduled for June 29th, according to a leak first reported by VideoGameChronicle (VGC).

Sony’s Santa Monica Studio writer and former games journalist Alanah Pearce, recently stated that Nintendo’s next Direct is scheduled for June 29th. According to VGC, Pearce was asked by a viewer in her chat if a Nintendo Direct event had been announced, to which she replied: “No, but I believe there is a Nintendo Direct coming on the 29th.”

Pearce added that she isn’t technically leaking the information, as the date wasn’t provided to her by Nintendo. “It’s not technically a leak, because Nintendo didn’t tell me, which is how I make that call. But it’s also, I’m not leaking anything that’s in it, which is what I think is shitty,” said Pearce.

According to VGC, Pearce’s claim backs up what the publication has been told by its sources. It’s likely Nintendo will make an official announcement soon.

For a recap of Nintendo’s last direct, follow this link.

Source: VideoGameChronicle

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Bethesda shows off ‘extended first look’ gameplay of Starfield

During Microsoft’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase, the first gameplay footage of Starfield was finally shown off by the tech giant.

The brief trailer introduced by Bethesda director and executive producer Todd Howard, offers a look at a barren moon-like planet ‘Kreet’ and its arachnid-like wildlife. The gameplay footage also shows off the title from a first-person and third-person perspective, and gives us a glimpse of its surprisingly smooth-looking shooter gameplay, including several automatic weapons.

As someone who has spent a lot of time playing Bethesda titles over the years, it appears that the developer has improved character animations — especially when it comes to their face — significantly, offering far more realism than the developer’s past titles.

The gameplay trailer finished with a look at Starfield’s detailed character creator, which, similar to the improved facial animations, seems well beyond what has been featured in other Bethesda titles, and information about building your own spaceship and base.

Finally, Todd Howard confirmed that Starfield features more than 1,000 planets for players to explore.

Starfield will release in 2023 for Xbox consoles, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Image credit: Xbox (YouTube Screenshot)

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What did you think of WWDC and Summer Game Fest?

This past week, WWDC and Summer Game Fest went down, offering viewers a look at various new Apple products/OS updates and, of course, video games. However, both events felt pretty stale compared to years past to many observers, including myself.

WWDC 2022’s keynote gave us a look at Apple’s iOS 16, the new M2 chip, a redesigned MacBook Air and quirky features like ‘Continuity Camera,’ which allows you to use an iPhone as a webcam on a Mac. For me, the most exciting reveal was iOS 16’s highly customizable lock screen. Beyond that, none of the other announcements caught my eye, though this could be because I’m primarily an Android device user. Overall, I enjoyed Google’s I/O 2022 presentation more.

Meanwhile, Summer Game Fest offered a few notable game reveals, but for the most part, it was a pretty low-key event — especially compared to last year. Some of my highlights include Cuphead: The Delicious Course and Callisto Protocol, but these weren’t new game reveals, just extended looks at both titles. Further, the event ended with The Last of Us Remake, an announcement that leaked ahead of Summer Game Fest.

Last year’s Summer Game Fest included titles like Salt and Sacrifice, Vampire: The Masquerade, Solar Ash, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Elden Ring (which I was hyped about). You could also argue that last week’s excellent PlayStation State of Play left Summer Game Fest with a lot to live up to.

With all of this in mind, for this week’s community question, we want to know: how did you feel about WWDC and Summer Game Fest?

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God of War: Ragnarok could release in November: report

During Sony’s PlayStation Showcase event in 2021,  Santa Monica Studio gave us our first real look at God of War: Ragnarok. Now, after roughly nine months, a Bloomberg report suggests that the long-awaited sequel to 2018’s God of War will see an official release in November.

The title, which up until recently was rumoured to have been delayed to 2023, will release in November, and an exact date will be announced this month, says the report. Bloomberg, via information received from inside sources, suggests that the game was originally scheduled for release in September but was pushed back to November, likely due to complications of producing a big-budget title in a pandemic environment.

God of War: Ragnarok could still be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, according to the publication, though it almost certainly is on schedule for a November release.

God of War: Ragnarok is the sequel to the 2018-released God of War that saw Kratos transition to a caring father and a wise fighter who only kills those who threaten him or stand in his way. Ragnarök doesn’t pick up where its prequel left off, however. The trailer suggests that the event of Ragnarök take place a few years after its prequel, and from what we know so far, Thor will be the main antagonist in the title.

Image credit: Sony

Source: Bloomberg

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Best Video Game Soundtrack category to be added to 2023 Grammy Awards

The 2023 Grammy Awards will feature a new ‘Best Video Game Soundtrack’ category at the musical award ceremony.

The Recording Academy says that the ‘Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games And Other Interactive Media’ award “recognizes excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominately of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current video game or other interactive media released within the qualification period.”

Also new to the Grammy Awards for 2023 are ‘Songwriter of The Year (Non-Classical),’ ‘Best Alternative Music Performance,’ ‘Best Americana Performance,’ and ‘Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.’

‘Best Song for Social Change’ was also included as a special merit award addition.

Image credit: Grammy Awards

Source: Grammy Awards

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Here are all the trailers from Summer Game Fest 2022

Canadian Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest 2022 kick-off event showed off a variety of trailers for upcoming games launching in the near future.

Summer Game Fest showcased gameplay, exclusive game reveals, release dates and more, including Callisto Protocol, Aliens Dark Descent, Witchfire, Cuphead the Delicious Last Course and The Last of Us remake.

Here are the trailers showed off at Summer Game Fest:

Street Fighters 6 Guile Gameplay – 2023 (PS4/PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Aliens Dark Descent – 2023 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Series S/X, PC)

Callisto Protocol – December 2nd, 2022 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Series S/X, PC)

Callisto Protocol Gameplay – December 2nd, 2022 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Series S/X, PC)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 – October 28th, 2022 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Flashback – Winter 2022 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, PC)

Witchfire – Early Access soon (PC)

Fort Solis (PC)

Routine (PC, Xbox One S/X, Series S/X)

Outriders Worldslayers – June 30th (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC, Stadia)

Stormgate – 2023 Beta (PC)

American Arcadia – Coming Soon (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Goat Simulator 3 – Coming Fall 2022 (PC)

Highwater World – Coming 2022 (PC, Mobile)

Cuphead Delicious Last Course – June 30th (PS4, Xbox One S/X, Nintendo Switch PC)

Marvel’s Midnight Suns – October 7th (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

HoYoverse Honaki Star Rail – Coming Soon

HoYoverse Zenless Zone Zero

Neon White World – June 16 (Nintendo Switch, PC)

Midnight Fight Express – August 23 (PS4. Xbox One S/X (Game Pass), PC, Nintendo Switch)

Warframe The Duviri Paradox – PC

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge World with Casey (Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One S/X, Game Pass)

One Piece Odyssey –  Coming 2022 (PS4/PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

The Quarry – June 10th (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Metal: Hellsinger – September 15th (PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC) (beta available now)

Saints Row (reboot) August 23 (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC) (Boss Factory free to download now)

Nightingale (PC)

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide World – September 13th (Xbox Series X/S, PC Game Pass)

Layers of Fears  – Early 2023 (PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Gotham Knights – October 25th (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

The Last of Us Remake – September 2nd (PS5, PC)

Soul Hackers 2 – August 26th (PS4/PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, PC)

Image credit: Summer Game Fest

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Sony’s PlayStation 5 is now in stock at Walmart

If you’ve been trying to get your hands on Sony’s PlayStation 5, now is your chance.

The sought-after console is currently in stock at Walmart Canada for $779. This bundle includes a copy of Horizon Forbidden West and an additional PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller.

This story will be updated when the Ps5 is sold out.

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Source: Walmart

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Microsoft expands Xbox Design Lab with new gamepad colours, side caps and more

Microsoft has revealed that it’s expanding the customizable controller Xbox Design Lab with several new “pastel” colours, including ‘Soft Pink,’ ‘Soft Orange,’ ‘Soft Green’ and ‘Soft Purple.’

Along with the new top case colours, the Design Lab will now offer several different side cap hues, including ‘Mineral Camo,’ ‘Arctic Camo,’ ‘Forest Camo,’ ‘Sandglow Camo’ and ‘Blaze Camo.’

The Xbox Design Lab is also making its way to 11 new countries: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland and Taiwan later this year.

Alongside this news, Microsoft also confirmed that it’s releasing an Xbox Cloud Gaming app on Samsung Smart TVs and a demo of titles for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Xbox Design Lab custom controllers start at $84.99.

Along with this reveal, Microsoft also confirmed that it’s releasing an Xbox Cloud Gaming app on Samsung smart TVs and monitors and demos of titles for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Image credit: Microsoft