Best Buy currently has several top Nintendo Switch titles, with the likes of Immortals Fenyx Rising, NBA 2K22, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered and more up to 63 percent off, as shared by RedFlagDeals user ‘JoJoCan.’
It’s worth noting that the titles mentioned above have different ‘sale end’ date. Make sure to check until when a specific title is on sale if you’re going to sit on the idea of purchasing.
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Canadian Twitch streamer xQc has admitted to losing $1.8 million USD (roughly $2.3 million CAD) to gambling last month. After he admitted the substantial loss of money, his father called him during a stream to ask if he was okay and show that he was worried about his son’s gambling problem.
The Quebecois streamer Félix Lengyel (xQc) appeared on a podcast on May 1st with another famous Canadian streamer, Pokimane. In the podcast, Lengyel explains that he gambles a lot saying that it’s “it’s fun, I can afford it, I can afford doing it.” xQc then expressed that he doesn’t only gamble when he’s on stream, but does it all the time, even when he’s not streaming and admits to being “addicted.”
“Stop, stop. Nah, yeah, I lost some money yesterday,” answered xQc. “What about it?”
His dad responded, “You’re my little boy!”
“Dad, stop reading f******* clickbait articles, man,” the streamer interrupted. “I lose money sometimes. It happens. What’s up?”
His father then switches to French. My French is pretty rusty, but I’m pretty sure he says to not talk to him like that, and then asks Lengyel if he’s alright?
Afterwards, it gets a bit confusing and asks “between 1 to 5?” and xQc replies 110. His dad then says that he should speak to him in French.
Next, xQc’s dad says “and I don’t have to worry?” and the phone call ends shortly afterwards.
The 26-year-old streamer started his career with Overwatch and is now one of the biggest streamers on Twitch. He claims to have more than two million dollars in bitcoin and has an assumed net worth of $9 million USD (roughly $11.5 million CAD), according to Sportskeeda.
While losing $2 million is obviously a huge hit, it seems the Canadian streamer has a few more million to lose.
After finding a way to come back to iOS and iPadOS via Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud streaming service, iPad and iPhone Fortnite gamers will be pleased to know that Xbox is offering Fortnite for free as part of its Xbox Cloud Gaming service.
Starting today, anyone with a Microsoft account and an iOS or Android device, in addition to PCs can access Fortnite directly from Xbox Cloud Gaming without any installation or membership needed. All you need is a device with a browser and you’ll be able to access Fortnite through the cloud service.
Additionally, since the game is available on all supported platforms, you can play Fortnite with your desired controls, including touch, controller or mouse and keyboard.
While the streamed version via Xbox Cloud won’t be as smooth and responsive as an in-device app, it’s still better than nothing for those longing to play Fortnite on their iPhones and iPad again. Further, Xbox says that it is looking to add more free-to-play titles to its cloud service, but it didn’t mention which games it is targeting.
Learn about how to access Fortnite through Xbox Cloud Gaming here.
Canadian video game personality and event organizer Geoff Keighley’s ‘Summer Game Fest‘ is scheduled for June 9th at 2pm ET/11am PT.
Though the event has already overshadowed the now-cancelled Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in some ways for the past few years, Summer Game Fest is now poised to act as a replacement for E3 in some ways. The “live cross-industry showcase” is expected to feature several notable game reveals, and is once again tied to a separate ‘Day of the Devs’ indie game-focused event.
We Have A Date!
Don't miss #SummerGameFest streaming live on Thursday, June 9 at 11a PT / 2p ET / 6p GMT.
I'm hosting a live cross-industry showcase. Game announcements, reveals + Day of the Devs.
In a recent tweet, Keighley confirmed that both the Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards will stream at select IMAX theatres in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
Summer Game Fest won’t be the only gaming event in June. Microsoft recently announced its Xbox and Bethesda Showcase is set for June 12th at 1pm ET/10am PT.
The above headline is not something I thought I’d ever write.
Halo Infinite Season 2, a much-needed update to 343 Industries’ beleaguered shooter, features an easter egg for fellow olds who remember the early days of Microsoft’s Office suite.
Clippy, the cartoon paperclip virtual assistant from 90s to early 2000s versions of Office, is a Legendary/Epic level Battle Pass award in Season 2 Lone Wolves. The stylized version of Clippy is listed as “Clipster” in the game’s battle pass, and is both an emblem and a very cool-looking weapon charm.
James Shields, Microsoft’s senior product manager of Xbox hardware, showed off Clippy’s in-game Halo Infinite appearance in a recent tweet.
Lonewolves includes the return of classic game modes like ‘King of the Hill’ and the small-scale, battle royale-like ‘Last Spartan Standing.’ Other features include two new maps, ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Breaker,’ a new 100-tier paid battle pass with additional armour and other cosmetic unlockables, and more.
343 Industries’ long-awaited and long-overdue second season of Halo Infinite content is now available in Canada.
As of 2pm ET/11am PT, Halo Infinite Season 2 Lonewolves is live in Canada. Lonewolves includes the return of classic game modes like ‘King of the Hill’ and the small-scale, battle royale-like ‘Last Spartan Standing.’
Other features include two new maps, ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Breaker,’ and a new 100-tier paid battle pass with additional armour and other cosmetic unlockables. Thankfully, 343 Industries has also added new mode variants to several playlists, including ‘Rocket Repulsors,’ ‘Ninja Slayer,’ and ‘Vampireball.’
Finally, Season 2 offers quality of life improvements to overall gameplay, and ranked multiplayer has been reset.
Those hoping for campaign co-op will need to wait until August for the update to arrive. Further, Forge, Infinite‘s custom map maker, won’t launch in open beta won’t until September 2022.
If Halo Infinite’s Season 2 update doesn’t install automatically, be sure to push it through manually (I needed to do this on the Xbox Series X).
Though Season 2 brings much-needed fresh content to the beleaguered multiplayer game, it’s also set to last six months, similar to Season 1. It’s unclear if 343 Industries has enough new content planned to keep Halo Infinite players engaged over that period.
For everything coming to Season 2 so far, check out 343 Industries’ latest blog post.
Wii Sports was a cultural phenomenon when it released 16 years ago as a pack-in title for Nintendo’s Wii.
For a few years, the game was everywhere, including on mainstream news broadcasts featuring anchors awkwardly waving Wiimotes and talking about the latest “Nintendo,” retirement homes, and living rooms worldwide.
While the novelty of motion-controlled gaming has faded over the past decade, with a few Switch titles and virtual reality controllers being the notable exceptions, it remains the most pick-up-and-play way to control a game, especially for those not familiar with the medium.
Fast-forward to 2022 and we have Switch Sports, a reimagining of Wii Sports designed for the Switch. Though late in the home console-portable’s life, Switch Sports is, for the most part, just as compelling as its predecessor — especially when it comes to online and, more importantly, local multiplayer.
First, let’s look at the several sports included in Switch Sports. Currently, there are only six activities available: tennis, badminton, soccer, bowling, volleyball and chambara.
As you likely already assumed, all of these sports require you to perform some sort of physical motion with the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers.
Badminton plays like tennis, but feels faster-paced.
For example, tennis plays very similarly to its Wii Sports counterpart, though with an added level of control. You really feel like you have the ability to shift the ball’s direction based on your timing and whether you opt for a forehand or backhand shot. Badminton plays similarly to tennis and offers real precision over the birdie’s direction, though it’s far more frantic and can only be played solo.
Soccer feels like the most full-fledged title in Switch Sports’ lineup, but it’s also an outlier. The game is controlled with two Joy-Cons, with one being used to move your player around and the other for motion-based kicking and the camera.
Soccer feels like a slightly less chaotic, albeit slower-paced, take on Rocket League, and has a surprising amount of depth and strategy to it, whether you’re playing 4-on-4 or 1-on-1.
Bowling is just as fun as you remember.
Because its controls are more complicated, soccer is also the most difficult sport to pick up and immediately understand. However, this makes it great for solo online play, and I can see it evolving into a go-to sport when I have time to kill and want to play on my own. If you’re deciding between the physical or digital version of Switch Sports because you think you need the included leg strap, just opt for the digital version. Soccer’s shoot-out mini-game is purely timing-based and isn’t very fun.
Next, there’s bowling, the true Wii Sports classic. Bowling is just as fun as it was years ago, but there’s an interesting twist this time around: you can bowl simultaneously against other players. This means there’s no waiting involved and everyone is bowling at once, making the game move much faster. Further, when you’re playing online, things become battle royale-like, with players with lower scores slowly being eliminated in subsequent rounds.
Volleyball is nearly entirely focused on timing.
Chambara — which was included in Wii Sports Resort — is a strategic sword fight with either a single sword or dual-wielding swords. Though the sword is surprisingly responsive to my Joy-Con movements, I found that most games devolve into a flaying match devoid of blocking, similar to Wii Sports‘ Boxing. As a result, I’ve spent the least amount of time with chambara so far.
Finally, there’s volleyball, the most timing-focused of all of the title’s sports. When you’re playing with a partner co-operatively, volleyball can feel great as you time your bumps, volleys and strikes perfectly as a team, but solo, it quickly becomes repetitive. Unlike tennis and badminton, volleyball doesn’t seem to offer precise control over where the ball is headed and primarily emphasizes timing and rhythm. It’s worth noting that my partner is a big fan of volleyball’s focus on timing, so whether or not the sport appeals to you will come down to personal preference.
There’s a lot to like about Switch Sports’ various sports, but there are a few notable omissions, including Wii Sports’ favourites like boxing and baseball. Nintendo may have plans to bring these games to the title down the line, but nothing has been confirmed yet. So far, we only know that the ability to play soccer with the leg strap and golf are coming later this year.
Chambara is too chaotic for me.
Strangely, Wii Sports‘ ‘Challenges’ are absent from Switch Sports. As someone who spent most of his time playing Wii Sports solo, this is disappointing and a perplexing move on Nintendo’s part. Some of my fondest memories of Switch Sports involve various tennis challenges like returning a specific number of serves or hitting moving targets.
Like the arrival of additional sports, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Challenges make their way to Switch Sports in the future, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Thankfully, what Switch Sports does feature is a surprisingly robust online mode that’s playable solo or with another player locally. I’ve spent most of my time online playing tennis and soccer with my partner and can confirm it’s a great experience. You can opt to play a specific sport or rank several different sports in the order of how interested you’re in playing them. After 10 matches in any given sport, you unlock a ranked mode that ensures play remains balanced and that gives you something to work towards, though I’ve only unlocked this feature with tennis and soccer so far.
Soccer is great but more complicated than other sports.
Playing and accomplishing specific goals in sports, like hitting the ball on the line in tennis or even just winning, gains you points that let you earn new in-game items like rackets, swords, balls, reactions and player titles that can often be reworked into amusing phrases (for example, my partner’s title is ‘Former Child’).
It may sound silly, but this kept me playing longer than I expected as I continued to try to unlock that coveted black toque for my tennis pro. It’s important to note that these items can only be unlocked in online play and that there’s no way to get them offline.
I like to imagine that my character looks like they’re unapproachable and smokes roughly a pack of cigarettes a day, despite being a tennis pro.
Overall, the customization options for your character in Switch Sports are rather limited, but Nintendo could have plans to add more in the future (you’re likely sensing a theme here).
Switch Sports offers solid foundation that’s missing a few key features Wii Sports fans will likely wish were included in the game. That said, the sports that are here are great, especially classics like tennis and bowling. Hopefully, Nintendo has plans to continue to add new sports and challenges to the game in the future.
Switch Sports is available now for $64.99 on Amazon on Nintendo’s Switch.
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Square Enix is selling its Montreal-based studios, including Crystal Dynamics, Edios-Montreal and Square Enix Montreal, to Sweden’s Embracer group for $300 million (roughly $386 million CAD).
The deal is expected to close between July and September and affects 1,100 employees across the three studios. This acquisition means that the Embracer group now owns an extensive catalogue of video game series, including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain, Thief and “more than 50 back catalogue games.”
“We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world-class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” said Lars Wingefors, the co-founder and group CEO of Embracer Group, in a recent press release.
Edios Montreal most recently released Guardians of the Galaxy and has also worked on recent entries in the Deus Ex series. On the other hand, Square Enix Montreal has developed several critically acclaimed mobile titles, including Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. Finally, Crystal Dynamics is best known for the Tomb Raider series.
Embracer owns Gearbox Software, THQ Nordic, Koch Media, Deeper Silver and more. When the company’s acquisition of Square Enix closes, it will have more than 14,000 employees, 10,000 developers and 124 internal studios.
Square Enix says that selling off these studios will allow the company to establish “a more efficient allocation of resources,” adding that it plans to launch “new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.”
Since its reveal back in 2017, not much information about the Ubisoft pirate title has appeared, though it’s clear the game has undergone a troubled development cycle. It’s also important to note that developer Ubisoft Singapore is under investigation for issues tied to workplace harassment, discriminatory pay and more.
As first reported by Kotaku, a recent video leaked via Reddit user ‘Wesam_L’ offers the best look at the pirate title yet. Based on the leaked footage, Skull and Bones seems to borrow elements from Ubisoft live-service titles like The Division 2, and 2013 third-person pirate action game, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
In the leaked video, a voiceover outlines how the game’s “infamy” system works. This stat is increased by taking down fellow pirates, uncovering treasure and completing contracts. Some contracts seem to be multiplayer-focused and can be played with other human players.
The video also outlines how the player will upgrade their ship with scavenged materials throughout the game and states that ensuring your crew has food, water and ammo prevents mutiny. There also seem to be segments where the player leaves their ship and visits pirate encampments and towns. It’s believed that previous versions of Skull and Bones didn’t allow players to leave their ship.
Ubisoft confirmed to Kotaku that the leaked footage of Skull and Bones is legitimate. The official Skull and BonesTwitter account also tweeted a brief clip of the title following the footage’s leak (its first tweet since September 2020).
A source that spoke to Kotaku says that Ubisoft plans to release Skull and Bones by the end of 2022.
As a fan of all things pirates and boats, I’m cautiously optimistic for Skull and Bones. Based on what I saw in the brief video, it seems like the pirate game I’ve always wanted. However, given the title’s tumultuous development cycle, there’s a strong possibility that it won’t end up being a game worth playing.
The release of Sony’s new PlayStation Plus on June 22nd is fast approaching.
While we finally know how much the service will cost in Canada, it remains unclear what retro titles will make their way to the higher tiers of the subscription service. However, thanks to Reddit user ‘the_andshrew‘ uncovering a PSN leak that even includes game thumbnails, we have an idea of what titles are coming to the new PlayStation Plus’ various subscription tiers.
Most of the titles that have appeared so far come from publisher Bandai Namco, including Tekken 2 and Mr. Driller for the PS2 and Ridge Racer for the PSP. PSOne titles Worms Armageddon and Worms World Party also leaked recently.
PlayStation Plus’ $21.99/month ‘Premium’ tier includes access to roughly 340 additional titles across the PSOne, PS2, PS3 and PSP, while the $17.99/month ‘Extra’ tier only offers access to a library of roughly 400 PS4 and PS5 titles.
It’s unclear when Sony plans to reveal the official list of titles included in the refreshed PlayStation Plus that aims to better compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, but an announcement will likely appear in the next few weeks.
