Author: Zach Barbieri

I can always appreciate a sim game that offers a zen-like form of escapism that lets me exit the hustle and bustle of conventional games. I have played so many high-octane action games, grindy RPGs, and mini-game heavily challenge fest that all I wanted to do was unwind. Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator, which came out on PlayStation 5 at the perfect time to scratch that itch,and offers all the things I was looking for at its core. A game where you place a Taxi driver, drive around the city, have a pleasant chat with the locals, taking a…

Final Fantasy VII has had an impact on this industry for 27 years. It is home to some of the most memorable moments in gaming and remains one of the most nostalgia-inducing games to be released on the original PlayStation in 97, an indicator of what was to come of an industry coming into its own. So how do you adapt such a powerful experience, better yet, how do you adapt a game like that across multiple entries? How do you take that experience further, and tell that story meaningfully, or speak to a new audience that doesn’t have those…

Night Dive Studios’ reboot of the classic Sci-Fi game System Shock, a title that served as a spiritual successor to the still popular Bioshock franchise, finally has a date for its console Release. The game was already released on PC last year and even though it was largely found to be a solid remake, there were polish issues with the title, many of which have been addressed since then. This announcement was made via a trailer exclusively released through IGN, giving us a look at the game on console, as well as its May 2lst release date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zct6_8yhQG0 To those…

According to a new report from the Washington Post, Sony has acquired the exclusivity rights to the Final Fantasy VII trilogy as the series moves toward its final act. While the possibility of this has been assumed for quite some time, the second act Rebirth, was marketed as having only three months of exclusivity before it could be ported to other platforms. While there have been no details as to what this major deal entails, it appears that at least for the Xbox platform, this seemingly confirms that there will not be any ported version of the series to appear…

During a recent Morgan Stanley speaking event, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming J.B. Perrette discussed the strategy for the company moving forward. This strategy focused on live service, free-to-play, and mobile titles. He stated: We’re doubling down on games as an area where we think there is a lot more growth opportunity that we can tap into with the IP that we have and some of the capabilities we have on the studio where we’re uniquely positioned as both a publisher and a developer of games. He addressed WBD’s recent output of gaming, which has focused on AAA…

Microsoft has announced an Xbox Partner Preview in the year, announcing that the event will be on March 6th. According to the official press release the event will feature 12 new trailers from Xbox partners including companies like Capcom, Nexon, EA, as well as others over around 30 minutes. Games that have been specifically mentioned to be part of the showcase are the upcoming 2D platforming game Kenzera: Zau from EA, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess from Capcom, and The First Berserker: Khazan from Nexon. Anything else will remain a mystery until the showcase is officially aired. Microsoft stated: Our…

It’s been a very long time since we have had a game that requires a large number of disks for a physical version. In recent years two disks have become rare, such as in the case of Horizon Forbidden West and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but do happen from time to time. In the case of Baldur’s Gate 3 however, it appears that a total of four disks are required for the physical edition on the Xbox Series X. The retail version of 2023’s game of the year-winning RPG which uses the 5th edition Dungeon & Dragon ruleset was originally…

In a year proving to offer even less job security than the year prior, Sony is the latest company to announce they are cutting a large number of jobs across several of their company. In total, around 900 jobs, or 8% of its employees will be terminated. Soon to depart Sony Interactive Entertainment President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Ryan sent out a note on Tuesday, announcing the decision to cut these jobs to the staff of Sony. It stated: After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to…

Announced as part of the Pokemon Presents event for Pokemon Day, the next major release in the Pokemon series will be Pokemon Legends Z-A, and it is scheduled to release at some point in 2025. This will be the first major title from the Pokemon Company and Game Freak since 2022 saw the release of the well-liked Legends Arceus earlier that year, and the next mainline entries Scarlet and Violet ending the year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyVd6Ly_h0 The trailer itself offers very little information to go off of about the game. The trailer begins with papers in the in-universe language being translated for…

The long-awaited expansion to Elden Ring, entitled Shadow of The Erdtree, has finally received a trailer thanks to its developer FromSoftware, as well as publisher Namco Bandai. The trailer is 3 minutes long and showcases both narrative elements as well as gameplay elements to be featured in the expansion to 2022’s Game of The Year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZenOn7WUo In the opening moments of the trailer, we are told of an enemy who uses love to “shrive clean the hearts of men,” and that “There is nothing more terrifying.” Since the world of Elden Ring is already dark, the idea that love is…