Author: Zach Barbieri

Years ago, on G4 TechTV, I remember seeing a review for Devil May Cry 3, arguably the best game in the entire series. The review itself wasn’t negative, but it was critical of the game to some degree, though one specific criticism stood out to me, remaining in my head all these years later. In particular, Devil May Cry 3 was one of many games that shifted the difficulty UP in their regional releases, with North America getting a version with a normal mode being the original hard mode for Japanese players. The bigger thing, though, is that there was…

SAND: Raiders of Sofie is, in part, an extraction game. You select a mission in which you spawn onto a large map, you, your friends, and your Trampler. Afterwards, the player mostly wanders the map in their mech, checking locations for gear and occasionally getting into scrapes. So, what does one do when they are ready to leave? Just take their collection of parts and weapons off the map and add them to their storage? Well, it’s not hard, but not particularly straightforward. The first thing you need to do is survive. While other extraction shooters I have played start…

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Consoles will be getting a signifigant price rise, especially compared to previous price rises, which they are stating is due to the ongoing “Component Crisis.” The company stated in a blog post that, starting on August 1st, the price of Xbox Consoles will raise $100 for the 512GB Model and $150 for the 1TB model. The company additionally announced that the all-digital 2TB model will be fully discontinued. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LWpeBX6ZwY Adjusted Cost Of Xbox Series Consoles: Xbox Series S 512GB: $499.99, previously $399.99 Xbox Series S 1TB: $599.99, previously $429.99 Xbox Series X 1TB Digital: $749.99, previously $599.99…

Following the announcement that Grand Theft Auto VI would receive a physical edition, but would not include a disc with the purchase of it, and instead contain a code in the box, several developers have found themselves on the receiving end of questions attempting to sort out if this will become some new standard. One of these developers, Insomniac Games, recently answered fan questions concerning Marvel’s Wolverine potentially shipping the same way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiBo_NgYI5Q&t=6s Grand Theft Auto VI is currently expected to be one of the biggest entertainment releases of all time. Suggested to be developed on a budget of $1-1.5…

If you met me 20 years ago, Dead or Alive would have been my fighting game of choice. Dead or Alive 2, in particular, especially when it was rereleased on Xbox, literally consumed much of my life. By the time the fourth iteration came out, the one I actually played online, I was a pretty solid SPARTAN-458 main. Oh, to be young and still have a G4 Tech TV that actually had video gaming on it… And still existed. This was my game for years, and then, right around when Itagaki left, I fell off hard. The ironic part is,…

Rockstar announced that preorders for the mega juggernaut Grand Theft Auto VI will begin at midnight on June 25th, giving gamers the rest of today to get their affairs in order before attempting to preorder it tonight. As part of this announcement, we also got a lot more details about what to expect, including the all-important question of pricing that has dominated gaming discourse for the last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQRLujxTm3c&t=6s As it turns out, Grand Theft Auto VI will launch at $79.99 on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. This is a $10 increase from what has been the norm for…

Lords of the Fallen II, the upcoming soulslike from developer CI Games SE, will no longer release sometime this year. Instead, the developer has announced that the title will be pushed to sometime in early 2027. The CEO of CI Games, Marek Tyminski, confirmed this, stating the extra time will be used for refining and strengthening the game. While the title never had an official release date, it probably doesn’t hurt that the delay will move the game out of a crowded period dominated by the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qfz_uPYej0 Tyminski stated: As development progresses, we…

Over the summer, during Summer Games Fest, we got a much more in-depth look at where Lara Croft is going. Ironically, where she is going is back to the beginning with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a retelling of her original action game from 1997. Returning to the traditional format next year makes this year a great one to remind yourself where Lara has been for the past decade. After a long wait, Nintendo Switch 2 players finally have access to the second part of her Survivor trilogy, in which the titular character no longer backflips by dual-wielding and instead…

The last time I saw Elliot was at the tail end of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales demo. At that time, I was already hooked by the cliffhanger of our main protagonist taking a giant blade to the chest and falling to his death. Obviously, the demo didn’t cover the entire game; actually, it only featured the first two hours or so, though you do get the chance to explore and pad that out. Picking up the main game, Elliot was sinking to his death while a butterfly was offering him a way out, telling Elliot that he…

Publisher Koei Tecmo has announced that the digital preorders for the upcoming compilation release of Blue Reflection Quartet will go live starting today. The title, consisting of three games developed by the team behind the Atelier franchise, Gust, will be available on July 30th, 2026, for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Alongside this announcement, a brand new trailer for the compilation was also released, as well as a new illustration from character designer and General Supervisor on Blue Reflection, Mel Kishida. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlXuI9mRQDk For those unfamiliar with the Blue Reflection series, the main story revolves around Shirai Hinako,…