Nintendo (& the rest of the gaming Industry) Continue to Prove that Gaming is Anything but “Mid” This Gen

We’re 71% of the way through 2025. And while I am glad that my main gaming accomplishment is that I completed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and have embarked on two other runs (one on PC via my Steam copy and another on the PS5 Pro), I am still in wonderment at how overwhelmed I amContinue reading “Nintendo (& the rest of the gaming Industry) Continue to Prove that Gaming is Anything but “Mid” This Gen”

The Fading Red Team: AMD’s GPU Struggles and the Xbox Lifeline

I often lament the days when we had more GPU manufacturers on the board, providing more suppliers and helping keep prices down. The days of Voodoo and Savage are long behind us. And not too soon after they were taken off the board were nVidia and ATI charged with colluding in an effort to arrangeContinue reading “The Fading Red Team: AMD’s GPU Struggles and the Xbox Lifeline”

Mafia The Old Country and Lost Soul Aside: Quiet Entries in the UK Charts

We won’t see NPD sales data until the 8th of October. Fortunately, between the last update of 27 August and before October, we can take a look at UK and Japan sales data to get some indicators of how some titles are faring on the market. NintendoLife just published the most recent UK weekly salesContinue reading “Mafia The Old Country and Lost Soul Aside: Quiet Entries in the UK Charts”

Unionization at Xbox: Momentum, Math, and Misconceptions

One of my biggest pushbacks to those who were proponents of the ATVI acquisition was this notion that it would lead to mass unionization of the employee base. I’ve made staunch arguments that high-salary technical professionals who have huge bargaining power on the human capital market are not interested in unionization. When we dilute ourContinue reading “Unionization at Xbox: Momentum, Math, and Misconceptions”

From Comstock to Console: How Age Verification Laws in Gaming Echo Old Moral Crusades

Gamers in China already lead a life where they are required to verify their identity in order to game online at all. Not just to reach certain types of content. Because gaming time and online access are regulated in China, gamers have to verify their identity more often than not to game at all overContinue reading “From Comstock to Console: How Age Verification Laws in Gaming Echo Old Moral Crusades”

Before Warzone, There was Hexen (and Heretic)

Earlier today, NintendoLife ran an article indicating that two of the classic shooters of the late 90s was back. Unannounced. No fanfare. No bravado. Just a simple, stripped down posting to the Nintendo eShop. A shadowdrop. Heretic and Hexen were two of the seminal shooters that helped cement the FPS shooter as an institution inContinue reading “Before Warzone, There was Hexen (and Heretic)”

Why Ken Levine’s Judas Deserves Praise—And Why That Bugs Me

I’ve been a fan of Ken Levine’s games since the very beginning. With the exception of Tribes: Vengeance, his repertoire reads as the list of some of my favorite games that it is. Eurogamer ran an article today that discussed his upcoming game, Judas. A game whose reveal trailer at the 2022 The Game AwardsContinue reading “Why Ken Levine’s Judas Deserves Praise—And Why That Bugs Me”

Backlogs, Beavis, and Beholders: A Week in Gaming and Tech

My Gaming Diary – Gamedate 78978.5 What I’ve Been Up To Games Tech – I’ve been noodling on getting into some retro-tech projects and spent the morning looking for old PDAs and MiniDisc player-recorders on eBay. I’ve bookmarked an HP Jornada and a Sony Walkman Net MiniDisc player/recorder for the time being. I have myContinue reading “Backlogs, Beavis, and Beholders: A Week in Gaming and Tech”

Clarity in the Chaos: What This Week in Gaming Means to Gamers Secure in Their Identity

As much of a whirlwind as it has been in gaming land this week, I think that this post will be relatively short. A lot has gone on, but the two biggest things were obviously the layoffs & game cancellations in the XBox division and Helldivers 2, a PlayStation first-party title from an external studio,Continue reading “Clarity in the Chaos: What This Week in Gaming Means to Gamers Secure in Their Identity”

Friend Codes and Baby Steps: Nintendo’s Slow March Toward a Real Online Strategy

My Gaming Diary, Gamedate 78864.2 Nintendo’s live service strategy should not be confused with its more foundational need to get its provisioning of network services right. They have been making incremental, baby-step strides in this area for years, while they are admittedly still woefully incomplete. Yesterday, The Verge ran an opinion piece about how “AnimalContinue reading “Friend Codes and Baby Steps: Nintendo’s Slow March Toward a Real Online Strategy”