By the time you're seeing (and hearing) this, 2019 is just about done... or perhaps it's already over. It's another year in the books. So let's move past it, shall we? Instead of gandering backward, we should instead peer forward into 2020 and all it has to offer us... or all we think it has to o...
2019-12-27 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Nothing pleases grandma and grandpa more than spoiling their grandchildren. Indeed, it's the key rule of Grandparenting (made up word!). The most blessed among us get four of these mystical beings from which to learn from, be fed by, and circumvent the rules with, and the rest of us make do with ...
2019-12-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey,
I'm writing this brief message from my desk in Santa Monica, though by the time you all see it, I'll be on an airplane headed to Virginia. It's a bit of a solemn occasion, as I've written, recorded, and simply sat in this room for so very long since Colin's Last Stand was fou...
2019 was a fairly solid year for gaming, particularly when you consider that we're in the calm before the storm. As we roll into 2020 -- a year of brand new consoles, huge titles, and undoubtedly some major announcements -- it only seems right to look back fondly at all the last 365 days or so of...
2019-12-20 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
In 1897, a most unusual British novel was written by an at-the-time unknown author named Bram Stoker. It was simply called Dracula, and for most western readers, it was their introduction into the centuries-long mythology, mysticism, and straight-up horror stories coming from Eastern Europe and s...
2019-12-19 22:12:50 +0000 UTC View Post
As PlayStation 5 lumbers toward us like an AT-AT stomping across Hoth (but in a good way), the calendar has left us with precious few PS4 exclusives of consequence. The Last of Us: Part II is obviously the King of the Unreleased, and Dreams is a commercial long-shot, but Ghost of Tsushima might j...
2019-12-17 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey!
Today, we’re super excited to finally reveal the first Sacred Symbols video game. It’s called Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure, and we’re aiming to release it in the first quarter of 2020 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. We intend on charging $9.99, which will net ...
The Star Wars license has seen some topsy-turvy days as of late. Since Disney acquired the brand nearly a decade ago, The Mouse has endeavored to expand The Galaxy Far, Far Away in all ways imaginable: Core movies, spin-off movies, TV shows, cartoons, theme park attractions, and on and on and on....
2019-12-13 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
John Carpenter hit a bit of a home run with The Thing back in 1982, though contemporary critics didn't give him or his movie any shine. In fact, his film's reception was so bleak that it kinda-sorta destroyed Carpenter's career... at least for a while. But hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and wit...
2019-12-12 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Since 1997, Sony has published an annual baseball game -- once eponymously called MLB and more recently dubbed The Show -- that has lived exclusively in its ecosystem. Indeed, for the last 15 years or so, PlayStation has dedicated a first party studio to essentially (and obsessively) focusing on ...
2019-12-11 06:24:38 +0000 UTC View Post
There was a time when Finnish studio Housemarque was the belle of PlayStation's second party ball. They created Super Stardust! Dead Nation! And yes, Resogun! But then, the team decided to pivot, and we can no longer rely upon them for the classic arcade experiences they once made. Will the studi...
2019-12-06 17:05:46 +0000 UTC View Post
For many of us, going to church (or temple, or mosque, or whatever) was a part of childhood. And while some of us got something useful out of our often-weekly visits, the most lingering memories tend to revolve around everything but what we were actually supposed to be there for. The parental bri...
2019-12-05 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
In December of 1994, the original PlayStation launched in Japan, and the rest (as they say) is history. Fast-forward 25 years, and the PlayStation brand is an absolute powerhouse. PSone, PS2, and PS4 have all surpassed 100 million sold (only one other home video game console has ever done the sam...
2019-12-03 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
There are few (if any) names in development bigger than Hideo Kojima, and Kojima Productions' first post-Konami project has finally arrived on PlayStation 4. Love it or hate it (or something, somewhere in between), there's no denying that Death Stranding is unlike any game that's ever come before...
2019-11-29 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
For thousands of years, humans have been smoking, eating, and enjoying the fruits (well, buds) of the marijuana plant, also known as cannabis. Once associated with deviant behavior and long mislabeled as a gateway drug, marijuana -- like virtually any other substance, legal or illegal -- has diff...
2019-11-28 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Swinging lightsabers.
2019-11-26 18:41:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Beloved publisher-slash-developer Capcom has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts over the last few years, fueled not only by new games like Monster Hunter: World, but by a litany of re-releases and remakes, too. At the top of the pile is Resident Evil 2, an astounding revisiting of a '90s su...
2019-11-26 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Are video games a waste of time? It's a valid question, even if it hurts our precious, video-gamin' feelings, and it's worth having a conversation about. So today, we do just that in another mailbag episode of Plus. What do we get out of our hobby? Is it a valid use of our precious hours on Earth...
2019-11-22 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Pawnee, Indiana doesn't actually exist, but after watching Parks & Rec on NBC, many of us wish that it did. That's because Pawnee is full of some of the most hilarious, charming, and ridiculous characters in modern TV history, and their antics offered more accessible and often kind-hearted ta...
2019-11-21 17:25:50 +0000 UTC View Post
I'll let this brief episode do the talking. Thank you for supporting Fireside Chats.
2019-11-20 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Did you know that -- in the United States -- Anthem is the eighth best-selling game of the year? This little factoid tells us a whole lot. It indicates that our instincts as enthusiasts don't always speak for the wider market. It suggests a void in our understanding of meaningful metrics in the w...
2019-11-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Sony may have abandoned PlayStation Experience for the time being, but its arch-rival Microsoft has fully embraced directly interfacing with its fans. In London, the company is conducting its revived and revitalized "X" exposition, this year titled X019. And -- much like PlayStation Experiences o...
2019-11-15 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
In what will undoubtedly be an ongoing, years-and-episodes-long saga, we've decided to talk about some of our very favorite songs, a nice complement to Episodes 39 and 56 of KnockBack, which were all about our most beloved albums and concert experiences. Narrowing songs down is a lot harder, of c...
2019-11-14 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Here we are, at the penultimate episode of Fireside Chats. Since we're so close to the end, it makes sense that our final proper interview should occur with someone young, someone fiery, someone with a Carpe Diem attitude. Someone, in short, that can inspire you. Mike Bacior is a college graduate...
2019-11-13 19:38:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Death Stranding is finally here, and we use the word "finally" lightly. Conceived and developed at light speed compared to many of its AAA contemporaries, Hideo Kojima's new game came to fruition relatively quickly, and with lots of expectations in tow. What it delivers is one of the most unusual...
2019-11-12 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey!
I wrote, and rewrote, and rewrote… and rewrote… this letter, and I don’t really know why it’s been so hard, because the message is exciting (at least for me) and quite straight-forward (objectively): After 12½ years of living in California, I’m leaving. It’s actually happ...
How important is journalism to gaming? It's essential. Yet, in parallel with other fandoms -- film, music, comics, and elsewhere -- the mainstream games press has exercised a scorched Earth tactic that has left large sects of its traditional readership reeling. In the wake of Kotaku's sister site...
2019-11-08 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
The original PlayStation completely dominated its generation. So did PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4. PlayStation 3, on the other hand, fought tooth-and-nail for every single unit its pushed, and its particular battle -- waged against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii -- ended up being Sony...
2019-11-07 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
For many people, writing a book is a dream, one that goes unfulfilled by plenty of capable would-be authors the world over. But some especially talented and hard-working people are able to make this dream a reality, many on a part-time basis. Today's guest -- Eldar Basic -- recently published a y...
2019-11-06 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Nary a decade ago, many an industry analyst wondered if console gaming was dying. Would mobile take over? Could Facebook become the new dominant platform? With PlayStation 4 now securely occupying the spot of second best-selling home console of all-time (behind PlayStation 2), questions like thos...
2019-11-05 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post