Review Of The Year 2016 – April

So the 1st of April rolled by and we made the front page of TSA look like this:

It was glorious.

The pink fluffy unicorn horn obscures part of the Quantum Break header, with reviews for the innovative TV show-video game hybrid going live on April Fools, and it was met with largely good, if not amazing reviews. It was outshone by the highly anticipated Dark Souls III a few days later, that’s for sure, and while Tuffcub adored Sony’s exclusive of the month: Ratchet & Clank – the movie was less good.

Other game review highlights include Yo-Kai Watch, Enter The Gungeon, The Banner Saga 2, The Collider 2, Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard, Housemarque’s highly anticipated Alienation, and DrinkBox Studios’ PS Vita slice ’em up Severed.

But an awful lot of people didn’t really care about any of that. Uncharted 4 was due to come out in May – Sony made sure you knew with plenty of trailers including one for a multiplayer taunt – and that’s all that mattered for many. Some even took it a bit too far, as an armed robbery saw a shipment of the games stolen and being sold early on eBay. “Straight up, as the creator, that sucks,” Bruce Straley told us as a press review event.

Of course, 2016 was the year in which absolutely everything possible leaked ahead of time. The leaks about the “PS4K” continued, as we learned that it had Neo for a codename, and then the Nintendo NX release plans leaked as well. Speculation was abound anyway, as AMD confirmed they had three new custom chip contracts to fulfil.

The VR revolution got into full swing… or more accurately, it sputtered and kind of stumbled off the line. HTC admitted that they should have been much clearer about their plans in the run up to the Vive launch, while Oculus Rift launch got off to a bad start. Still, you could always go and try HTC Vive in your local Harrods…

PlayStation VR topped brand awareness surveys, and Driveclub VR was rated by the ESRB, causing people to ask who on Earth was developing it? In related news, Evolution Studios reformed as a new studio at Codemasters, but Lionhead and Fable Legends were sadly beyond saving.

Titanfall 2 got its early hype train rolling with a teaser trailer, while Infinity Ward’s upcoming projected leaked, and people discovered that this was the year of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and not Ghosts 2.

Destiny and The Division butted heads having decided to both release major content updates at the same time – I couldn’t find the will to return to Destiny and The Division had already lost much of its lustre by this point – and Take Two was sued over royalties by an ex-Rockstar North President.

The real world was an awful lot less fun in April. The UK was at least able to celebrate Danny Willett’s victory at the 2016 Masters in golf, while the families of those who died in the Hillsborough Disaster finally saw some form of justice and closure at the conclusion of the second Hillsborough Inquest. Queen Elizabeth II turned 90, and we discovered who would be joining her on the 2020 £20 note if she makes it to 94.

Speaking of money, we all got to enjoy the senior politicians squirm as their financial dealings were uncovered in the Panama Papers, and it even led to Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson stepping aside, in one of the more high profile cases. At the same time, junior doctors went on strike over working hour reforms and campaigning for the EU referendum got under way… And we all know how that went…

There was an outpouring of emotion as people learned of the deaths of Prince, Victoria Wood and David Gest. All three deaths were a complete shock to their fans, with Victoria Wood’s cancer kept private from the public eye, David Gest dying from a stroke in a hotel room and Prince taking an accidental overdose.

The Middle East continues to be wracked with war, and the so-called Islamic State waged a campaign of mass executions and terror attacks through Iraq. Aleppo is currently in the news around the world, but in April it was the site of a chemical attack.

Natural disaster also struck as Ecuador was hit by an earthquake with hundreds dead and thousands injured.

Rounding things out, we turn to the weather, with Mark telling us all about how it snowed… in April!

https://youtu.be/IH2Hd1dJKh8