I’m really looking forward to this whole Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard being settled once and for all, though I will admit that there was some joy to seeing all the little slip ups and revelations from the FTC v. Microsoft court case this pas week. Failed redactions, accidental revelations, and some odd statements have given us a bit of a look into the video game sausage making process.
In the News This Week
Naturally those court case stories were everywhere in the headlines, but if you were bored by this rolling story, then at least there was the Annapurna Showcase to bring some game announcements.
- Annapurna Showcase – Flock, Ghostbike, to a T, Blade Runner 2033 & more
- Baldur’s Gate 3 release both brought forward and delayed at the same time
- Microsoft CEO blames Sony for Xbox having exclusive games
- Bethesda weren’t thrilled by Microsoft’s double standard on Call of Duty exclusivity
- A failed redaction leaks how much Horizon Forbidden West & TLOU Part 2 cost to make
- It looks like IO Interactive’s fantasy RPG project is an Xbox exclusive
- Payday 3 will have parity across platforms, past console mistakes acknowledged
- PS Plus Essential July 2023 games confirmed with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Games in Review and Featured Articles
We had a good batch of games in review this week, including:
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie – PS5, PS4, NSW, PC – 9/10
- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Review – NSW – 8/10
- Synapse – PSVR 2 – 8/10
- Storyteller – NSW, PC – 7/10
The start of the week, though, was all about Pikmin, as I explored Pikmin 1+2 for the first time thanks to the Switch remaster, and was then able to dip into a little bit of Pikmin 4, which is bringing a fresh new perspective to the series.
I also went hands on with the quirky follow up Everybody 1-2-Switch and the direct yearly sports management sim sequel F1 Manager 23, and Nick P gave us his first thoughts on Mortal Kombat 1, which has had its first stress test last weekend.
Rounding things out, What We Played featured Final Fantasy 16, C-Smash VRS and Synapse.
Trailer Park
Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth interquel revealed by Annapurna Interactive
Cities: Skylines 2 will fix eternal traffic jams with much better traffic AI
Avatar the Last Airbender: Quest for Balance revealed for consoles
Your Achievements
Let’s see what you’ve been playing:
- When not naming seagulls in real life, MrYd has been playing Midnight Suns and Jedi: Survivor, both of which are good, but the first of which has really captured his gaming time.
- willbuchanan is trying to find someone to blame for getting hooked on Marvel Snap, but has been gradually been chipping away at Doom when not feeding this mobile game addiction.
- And TSBonyman has been “romping” through Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, and made a start on Demon’s Souls.
Have a good weekend and I’ll catch you all soon!
