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I am all for the inclusion of difficulty settings in games. Personally, I don’t see a problem if people want to play every game on easy or if they’re set on making a challenge for themselves by playing on a higher difficulty. Having the freedom to choose what type of gaming experience you want is great and I think it would make sense for most games to include this choice. However, that option certainly begins to feel less invigorating when you realize that playing on hard mode is simply going to mean more of a time sink than you’d have on normal mode....

A popular yet faceless Chinese streamer known as “Your Highness Qiaobiluo” who was thought to be a young woman accidentally revealed herself to be much older thanks to a glitch in one of her streams. The woman, whose real name is Qiaobiluo Dianxia, posted photos and short clips to the Chinese streaming platform DouYu that showed her as much younger, and her fans bought the ruse. She used Snapshat-style face filters to create the images and had gained over 130,000 followers, who affectionately referred to her as a “cute goddess....

Donkey Konga’s drum controller has been used in peculiar ways over the years, but this time, it’s being utilized in the rhythm action game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory. Kingdom Hearts streamer Limen123 tested the unusual drum pad during a livestream after getting the set over Christmas. Later, he somehow achieved a Full Chain on one of the hardest songs in the game “Dark Domination.” That’s an impressive feat as most would have trouble with an ordinary controller!...

For years, fans have been anxiously anticipating and speculating about Rocksteady’s new DC project. They already had won people over with the Batman: Arkham series, so all it took was one reveal to get most fans back on board, and it worked. Coming in 2022 is Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a new co-op action-shooter for next-generation consoles only. The trailer from DC FanDome was fast, energetic, action-packed, and it raised the expectations for the game big time, much like the Gotham Knights trailer did on the same day....

Universal Studios Japan will finally announce Super Nintendo World’s new opening date this fall. Super Nintendo World is an upcoming theme park that was set to open this year at Universal Studios Japan. The area will be based upon the popular Mario franchise. It was originally scheduled to open this summer to coincide with the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, at the end of June, news broke that the park’s opening would be delayed indefinitely....

The Smash community may be quite the, well, unique video game fandom, but there’s no denying the sheer quantity of quality Smash Bros. memes on the daily. There’s just so much content within Smash to meme, and character reveals are some of the most popular meme formats. The Smash community thrives on the thrill and anticipation of Sakurai’s next addition to the absolutely bonkers roster, to a point where Sakurai thought it necessary to bring up fans’ ridiculous requests on Twitter....

Netplay for Palestine is launching tomorrow on Twitch, a Super Smash Bros. Melee charity event where 100% of the proceeds and donations will be given to Middle East Children’s Alliance. Doubles start at 4 pm EDT while singles are at 7 pm EDT and Amateurs begin at 9 pm EDT. On top of that, CreestabGaming is donating $1 for every person that enters, but you can also donate directly at MECA’s website to help....

While Marvel Comics might be able to claim dominance over the movie industry, the company’s longtime rivals at DC have far outclassed its video game efforts with the critically lauded Arkham series of Batman games. Now, all signs point towards the follow-up to that series focussing on Superman. Rumours began to circulate last week that Rocksteady would be moving on to a Superman game, now that their time working on Batman adaptations is at its end....

The action RPG Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is the first video game adaptation of the popular anime series Sword Art Online. Recently, it was revealed that only one player in the world has unlocked the game’s secret ending. On September 19, there was a livestream for Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris with the game’s Producer Yousuke Futami and Medina cosplayer Sayuki. Futami notified players of the game’s 1.09 update, which brought various improvements to frame rate and balancing gameplay, and said only one player in the world unlocked the Medina route and Lycoris Ending....

Red Dead Redemption 2 may have been one of the biggest games of last year, but that apparently hasn’t done much for the stock price of its publisher, Take-Two Interactive. The company has seen its shares slump by 14% due to lower quarterly projections than what some analysts were anticipating. The company reported estimated earnings of $450 million to $500 million for the quarter ending in March, which is well under the $609....

Team Fortress 2 has been dealing with a nasty bot problem for the better part of a year, but this week’s update does much to combat the issue. From limiting votes and name changes during each match, Valve is hoping to give more control back to its real players. The TF2 update went live on Tuesday, bringing a laundry list of changes. Most important to the bot battle, however, are the updates that put various cooldowns on calling votes and changing names....

Procedural generation is an incredible tool in video game programming that keeps titles fresh, with newly generated worlds making games still feel new and hard to predict whether you’ve been playing a game for six hours or six hundred. While Minecraft ’s procedurally-generated elements have given it a high profile, many other games use procedural generation to stunning effect. These games are fantastic examples of this mechanic. 10 Spelunky One of the most acclaimed roguelikes of all time, Spelunky’s replay value and longevity come not just from its procedurally generated caves, but how the other elements within the areas, when arranged in unpredictable ways, interact with each other....

It’s hard to believe that we have been using the next-gen consoles since 2013, but we have! The PS4 and Xbox One came out about a month apart and the PS3/Xbox 360 gen slowly started to fade away. Xbox went the smart route and allowed their system to be backwards compatible. The PS4 has PlayStation Now as a steaming service, but it doesn’t work very well without great internet. They did finally add the ability to download games, but Xbox still has the edge in letting you use your old discs....

In the new multi-part History Channel documentary, The Center Seat, actor Armin Shimmerman — famous for playing Quark on Deep Space Nine — makes a poignant observation: Star Trek is really popular, but it’s not “beloved in Hollywood.” Shimmerman wasn’t throwing shade at the Hollywood establishment in general, but the point he was making was a little more nuanced: Despite being the most long-running, multi-faceted, and socially relevant science-fiction franchise in the history of both TV and film, Star Trek doesn’t get nominated, nor does it win, mainstream acting awards… like, ever....

The Ascent is an upcoming cyberpunky action RPG that will apparently be optimized for the Xbox Series X, according to the Xbox Wire Editor in Chief, and Neon Giant’s Creative Director. After the hefty promise of the Xbox Series X being “the most powerful console the world has ever seen” when it finally releases this holiday season, that’s probably the least that prospective fans will be expecting. Along with 4k resolution, 60 fps, and HDR enhancement, the next-generation tech that will apparently be setting the Xbox Series X apart is going to be giving players a “much more responsive gameplay experience” overall says The Ascent’s Creative Director....

Samsung has revealed its 2023 flagship series, with the launch of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra. But if you want the best colours - or the most exclusive colours - for this new phone, then you’ll have to look further afield. All models come in four standard colours - that’s Phantom Black, Green, Lavender and Cream. Regardless of the model you buy, you’ll be able to get those colours....

Tom Clancy’s The Division is one of the rare instances in video games wherein a title actually gets markedly better as it ages. Despite some problems during the game’s initial release, Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment have righted the ship and created an engaging, popular MMO-lite experience that has seen a huge influx of returning players in recent months. Part of that has been Massive’s willingness to immediately and effectively address issues within the game, and now that The Division’s PTS update feedback has started rolling in, it appears Massive will be doing more of the same - The Division will now be getting an Update 1....

In a community podcast, Mathias Karlson, lead designer on The Division, admits that no one at the studio has completed Falcon Lost, the first Incursion mission arriving next week. After shattering sales records left, right and center back in March, Tom Clancy’s The Division is getting ready to release its first major post-launch content addition, known as Update 1.1. The update promises to add a variety of items to the game including a number of bug fixes, Dark Zone updates, and much more....

Ever since The Evil Within 2 was revealed at E3 2017 last month, fans have been wondering about some of the technical specifications for the series’ return to the plight of Detective Sebastian Castellanos. The answer for most of these technical questions has now arrived in the form of the game’s Xbox One store listing, where developer Tango Gameworks has provided a few details pertaining to The Evil Within 2’s graphical fidelity....

This The Exorcist review contains spoilers. The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 3 The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 3 “Unclean” shows how to expand on source material. This episode goes far outside the original book and, at least in the main plot, looks at possibilities barely hinted at. “Unclean” also throws an odd twist on a recurring theme, that former Father Marcus is a renegade priest unfettered by the Holy Roman ecclesiastical hierarchy given to flights of extreme....