Monthly Archives: June 2020

#BlackLivesMatter its the hashtag gaming giants were once mum about, but amid nationwide anti-racism protests spurred by the brutal murder of yet another black American, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and more have changed their tune.

But why have big-name conglomerates been silent for so long?

Perhaps they thought condemning racial injustice would be too controversial, which, if you think about it, is baffling. All Americans are entitled to a speedy trial and impartial jury, according to the Sixth Amendment. But oddly enough, advocating for those constitutional rights to apply to everyone, regardless of skin color, is somehow incendiary in 2020. Its bewildering, but then again, racism has never been rooted in logic.

Racism is far more insidious than the virus thats been plaguing the world it seeps into the minds of hiring managers, loan officers, realtors, and in the case of police brutality, our very own law-enforcement authorities. Believing in the myth of racial inferiority, they subsequently pin disadvantaged communities down in their positions of power.

Black Americans such as Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor took their last breath in the hands of ill-intentioned police officers who killed them before they could exercise their Sixth Amendment right. With Floyds murder being the greatest impetus, these widely publicized deaths sparked global outcry from all backgrounds and ethnicities not only are people demanding change within the police force, but theyre urging all the powers that be to dismantle systematic oppression.

Enter PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and other gaming giants all have made statements on Twitter denouncing racism and pledging support for the black American community.

Joshua Rivera of The Verge and Ethan Gach of Kokatu both wrote thought-provoking pieces about the video-game industrys anti-racism advocacy on social media. Rivera and Gach insinuated that these tweets lacked sincerity and gaming giants are just latching on to a trending topic as a marketing tactic, and for most companies, I suspect theyre right.

Call me a cynic, but I dont believe that big-name businesses entities that solely exist to make money will go to bat for marginalized communities purely out of the goodness of their hearts. The only way to impel businesses to support just causes is to accurately answer Whats in it for me?

Case in point: Valve, the company behind Steam, was conspicuously silent while other gaming giants chimed in on Black Lives Matter. Independent developers began yanking their games off of Steam to protest Valves muteness.

Its clearer than ever that the owners of [Steam] feel beholden to a base of angry white male gamers, Art Sqools Julian Glander announced on Twitter. This makes me especially sad because I feel that some of these people are the people who most need to hear the message of Black Lives Matter.

Glanders statement influenced a handful of other indie developers to follow suit. If I continued to profit from [Steam], Id be complicit with their silence on hate, Ghost Time Games founder Gabriel Koenig tweeted.

As a result, on June 17, Valve responded to Glanders tweet by announcing that they are sponsoring the Game Devs of Color Expo and supporting the Black Voices in Gaming event.

I reached out to Glander, and I asked him if he intended to restore his games on Steam after Valves sponsorship tweet. Im done with Steam, Glander told me. Im really happy to see them starting to sponsor POC events, but their toxic culture is pretty well documented at this point and goes a lot deeper than this current #BLM moment.

Koenig agreed. Thats great, he said about Steams POC expo support, but I dont think its enough. I know maybe its bad business, but I feel its so unethical to remain silent when your supporters are people slinging hate around.

The moral of the story? Glander gave an answer to Valves implicit Whats in it for me? question, and it was If you continue to remain silent, Ill be the catalyst behind a developer boycott that will jeopardize your bottom line.

Appealing to businesses hearts wont impel gaming giants to make any meaningful changes, but we can mobilize transformation by imperiling their pockets. We should also remind gaming giants that theyre missing out on cash-cow opportunities by not tapping into black creatives. The film industry, for example, missed out on a plethora of Black Panthers and Get Outs by stifling black directors. In the same way, the video game industry is sabotaging itself by icing out black talent.

Diverse companies produce 19% more revenue, according to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group. Also, McKinsey researchers discovered that diverse teams are 33% more likely to outperform their competitors. The value and ROI-potential of non-homogenous workplaces is clear as day.

PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Electronic Arts (EA), Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Square Enix, Riot Games, Bethesda, Capcom and Niantic all seem to understand the advantages of diversity they all have promised to foster inclusiveness alongside their Black Lives Matter tweets. But interestingly, when Gach from Kokatu contacted these companies and asked how they planned on following through with their pledges, Gach received radio silence (save for Capcom).

I decided to replicate Gachs experiment. I reached out to the aforementioned 11 gaming giants and asked them about their future plans to support the Black Lives Matter mission (as they pledged in their tweets).

As of this writing, Ubisoft was the only company to reply to Laptop Mag thus far:

Diversity is a key pillar to Ubisofts success. We recognize that our workforce and the games we create must reflect the diverse backgrounds, experiences and neurodiversity of our players. Ubisoft donated $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Black Lives Matter and have created a forum for the Black video game development community by hosting our third Black Game Pros event on July 17. On a local level, Ubisoft NCSA has committed $1,000,000 over the next five years to improve diversity and inclusion in our workplace and communities. We recognize there is more to be done and are committed to doing this work through both local and global initiatives.

As a huge Just Dance fan, Im not surprised that Ubisoft was the first to respond. The dancers and choreographers on their Just Dance teams have always been as diverse as their music selection. At the same time, Ubisoft is self-aware enough to assess its workplaces and conclude that more needs to be done.

PR contacts from Xbox, Nintendo and Niantic have kindly replied with interest and told me theyd circle back to me after reaching out to their respective teams. If I do receive a statement from these three gaming companies, I will update this article with their comments.

The other companies EA, Activision Blizzard, Square Enix, Riot Games, Bethesda and Capcom did not respond to requests for comment.

I cant help but wonder if Gach and Rivera are correct in their insinuation that these companies are unresponsive because theyre all tweet and no bite; theyre pandering to their socially conscious consumer base, but they dont have any substantial plans to promote diversity.

Gach and I may not receive many replies, but at the very least, we hope our emails and calls challenge top-level leaders to confront their own internal biases and push them to develop concrete blueprints on how they plan to fulfill their commitment to diversity.

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Gaming giants tweeted #BlackLivesMatter but are they actively supporting it? - Laptop Mag

Your first instinct might be to spend all your ongoing spare time in lockdown scrolling through your social media feeds, reading more or bingeing something new on Netflix. But theres an argument to be made for getting even more analog with your entertainment that is, opting for a board game, be it a puzzle, tabletop board game or card and dice game. Spending as little as 15 minutes playing a board game could go a long way in refreshing your day, especially during work hours. Besides, board games can be incredibly fun if you find the right one for you.

Your specific taste in games might differ from everyone else's, so try to watch a video overview of the game or download and read the rules ahead of time to see whether the game might be ideal for you, says W. Eric Martin, author of The Infinite Board Game. Martin is also the news editor at online gaming resource BoardGameGeek, home to a database of more than 115,000 tabletop games and two million registered users who rate and review games, upload game images and more. To spare yourself some frustration, Martin recommends watching a full rules tutorial before investing time or money into a game, such as those by Rodney Smith of the YouTube channel "Watch It Played," which partners with BoardGameGeek.

Given the ever-expanding world of video games and gadgets, board games might sound a little outdated on paper (or rather, on your table). But the statistics show otherwise: Market research from Reportlinker found the board game industry is expected to reach a global value of $12 billion by 2023, a nine percent uptick from 2017.

If youre new to the modern game scene, Martin recommends consulting BoardGameGeeks yearly gift guide, a curation of BBG staff picks and volunteer game experts. Their 2019 collection, for example, features go-to choices for someone curious about what games are like these days. The games in that guide, Martin said, came out between 1995 (Catan) and 2010 (7 Wonders), so they're far newer than the mainstream games with which most people are familiar. Those mainstream options wont surprise you: Monopoly, Scrabble and The Game of Life are some examples and theres nothing wrong with those, Martin reminds.

They're also old enough to have proven themselves as excellent choices for gamers of all types, he said.

When choosing the right game for you, it might be worth it to consult its weight. Its a five-point scale BBG uses to loosely assign a level of complexity to a particular game. Weight levels include:

BoardGameGeek notes, however, that weight is a subjective term. Users vote on a games particular weight by factoring in elements like the complexity of a games rulebook, how much luck is involved and how long it takes to play the game you can consider it a board gamers equivalent to a Goodreads review.

To help guide your journey to a new board game, we consulted Martin on the best board games to consider right now, noting BoardGameGeeks guidance on how many players it supports (board game expansions often allow for additional players), how long its likely to take and how users weigh it, on average.

Think of Ticket to Ride as the Monopoly of the railway system with a lot more tension. Collect the most points by placing a like-colored set of train cards on the board to connect cities, building longer routes via Destination Tickets throughout the game and boasting the longest continuous railway system at the end of the game. [Its] our go-to recommendation, especially for new gamers, says Lincoln Damerst, the director of media at BoardGameGeek. It has the slimmest rule book at only four pages (half of which are illustrations) that is super easy to digest and it has an Amazon Alexa skill to teach you and play along with you.

2 to 5 players | 30 to 60 minutes | Weight: 1.85

To build an entire town one tile at a time, grow and complete roads, grasslands, cloisters, monasteries and more by positioning your tiles on the board, which features southern French landscape. You have the option of widening the scope of your own territories or placing your token in your opponents way to shield them from dominating the map, too and you can form alliances. Sometimes, you can combine forces, though, and each profit at the expense of other players, says Martin.

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2 to 5 players | 30 to 45 minutes | Weight: 1.92

In each of the three ages of the game, players collect cards to help them build one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, which have either immediate or latent benefits. While the goal is for your civilization to reign supreme, you can still collaborate with players directly next to you, selling resources like clay, wood and glass, buying resources they produce and sharing insider knowledge and research.

2 to 7 players | 30 minutes | Weight: 2.33

Formerly known as Settlers of Catan, players expand their territory on settlements, roads and cities using resources like wood, stone and brick that may or may not yield a return on investment. Success in the game relies on trading and negotiating with other players. Damerst notes the rule book is a bit intimidating but gameplay is simple and straightforward. The player interaction through the trading of goods and on-board interplay with no conflict was like nothing we had seen before, he says, noting that after playing it the first time he was eager for a second round.

3 to 4 players | 1 to 2 hours | Weight: 2.33

In keeping with the times, this cooperative game forces you to join intellectual forces with other players in order to eradicate a widespread disease. Each player assumes a role be it scientist or medic and collaborates to devise new treatment strategies. Taking place throughout cities all across the globe, youll collect cards to treat outbreaks in various hotspots. Martin says the game has a cinematic feel since youll be playing as an unlikely hero who has to see whether you can find the solution to the problem whatever that might be in the nick of time.

2 to 4 players | 45 minutes | Weight: 2.42

In this Medieval-themed card-drawing game, youll begin with nothing but a hand of 10 copper and estate cards the latter of which youll eventually want to get rid of. The goal is amassing ever more victory and treasure cards, which allow you to buy even more valuable expensive cards. Cards allow you to interact with the hands of other players, for better or worse. Martin calls the game akin to the story of the man who started with a paperclip and traded his way to a house.

2 to 4 players | 30 minutes | Weight: 2.36

Azul is for design lovers as much as it is for thrill seekers. Each player uses their individual game board to decorate a Portuguese palace with tiles from a shared supplier. Earn points for collecting tiles that contribute to a cohesive design, such as rows and columns of the same color. While its fairly straightforward, Damerst says Azul gets tricky when you have to draft tiles you dont need, which gives you negative points. To that end, Martin adds, You want to grab exactly what you need to complete tasks so that you can reopen that workspace again next round, ideally stealing tiles from others or forcing extras in their lap so they're penalized.

2 to 4 players | 30 to 45 minutes | Weight: 1.77

Ever played a card game of Kent during recess at school? The Mind which Damerst calls one of his favorites takes this type of stealthy card game to another level. Play cards from your hand to the table in ascending order (one card on the first round, two cards in the second and so on). If youre in a bind, use the card that lets everyone play their lowest card, or forfeit a life in order to continue playing in order, explains Damerst. The catch is that you cant talk to each other or indicate in any way what you have in your hand, and you can only intuit when to play. In practice, The Mind feels like a magic trick that you're playing on yourself. You can't imagine that you can possibly do this, yet you surprise yourself again and again, says Martin.

2 to 4 players | 15 minutes | Weight: 1.09

Wingspan is the ultimate way to gain a birds eye view of nature, thanks to what Damerst calls fantastic art and production value. Here, youll be responsible for a mini ecosystem, forced to allocate varying supplies of food tokens found in a bespoke bird feeder dice tower, eggs laid via mini colored eggs and birds found on unique playing cards to build a chain of wildlife preserves across four habitats. Each species has its own needs and special abilities, and you want them all to live together as harmoniously as possible, says Martin.

1 to 4 players | 40 to 70 minutes | Weight: 2.38

Scattegories heads, this ones for you. Each teams spymaster provides clever one-word clues to assist their teammates in identifying the secret word that belongs to their team in a field of seemingly random words that include those of the other team. For example, youll need to think of a single code word that inspires players to guess words like check or trip. The goal is to guess words in your teams color while avoiding the other teams cards.

2 to 8 players | 15 minutes | Weight: 1.30

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Best board games to play in quarantine, according to experts - NBC News

Health Minister Adrian Dix, seen here on March 14, 2020, has asked B.C.s former childrens advocate, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who has also been a provincial court judge in Saskatchewan, to investigate the allegations.

The Canadian Press

A former judge and independent watchdog is investigating allegations of racist games played in B.C. emergency rooms in which health care workers guessed the blood alcohol levels of Indigenous patients.

Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the investigation on Friday, calling the allegations beyond disappointing. Such games would be racist, he said, and would have an obvious negative effect on patient care.

The Mtis Nation BC reported the allegation to the ministry on June 18, said the organizations chief executive officer, Daniel Fontaine. During an online Indigenous cultural safety training program, a health care worker described a game in which emergency room staff predicted what the blood alcohol level of Indigenous patients would be, Mr. Fontaine said in an interview. He said it appears to be played at multiple hospitals.

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One of the workers said that they play a game called Price is Right,' where we guess what the blood alcohol level is, and you have to be the closest to the actual test results, but you cant go over, he said. They were giving a very detailed accounting of this game, and that was captured in this training program and, of course, it got out and was brought to my attention.

Mr. Dix said he learned of the allegations on the evening of June 18 from his deputy minister, and asked Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that night to lead the independent investigation.

While reports of racist treatment of Indigenous patients are common, the idea of wagering on alcohol was a punch in the gut, said Cheryl Casimer, political executive of the First Nations Summit Task Group. She said she trusts Ms. Turpel-Lafond to conduct a thorough investigation, but the province will ultimately have to deal with those who participated in the game.

We need to know who these individuals are and where do they practice, Ms. Casimer said. Were calling for the highest level of discipline for those individuals, because we dont need those individuals in the health care system.

The Hospital Employees Union said the shameful and sickening behaviour needs to be addressed quickly.

The BC Nurses Union offered its support for the investigation and said the union is committed to fighting racism, but declined to comment further until after the investigation.

Premier John Horgan condemned the alleged actions in a statement: I am outraged by reports of ugly, anti-Indigenous, racist behaviour at multiple health-care facilities in B.C., he said. This behaviour degrades the standards and provisions of health care in our province. It cannot stand. There is no excuse.

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Just a day earlier, the Premier said the province needs to start collecting race and ethnicity-based data across ministries to help inform government policy. He asked the provinces privacy watchdog to help find a way to allow the data to be gathered.

Mr. Dix declined to say where the alleged incidents took place or when, saying no one has been disciplined and the allegations have not been proven.

He said he wants to await the findings of Ms. Turpel-Lafond, the first Indigenous woman appointed to Saskatchewans provincial bench, and who earned a reputation as a strong and fearless investigator when she was B.C.s first representative for children and youth.

She will follow the facts, wherever they lead, Mr. Dix told reporters. He said he will make her findings public.

Mr. Dix said the allegations underscore a broader problem. It is beyond dispute that there are people who have suffered in our province from systemic racism in many fields, and health care is one of those.

Mr. Fontaine said a March, 2019, report by the Provincial Health Services Authority found that Indigenous people face racism when seeking medical care. He said he expects the provinces investigation to look into incidents outlined in that report.

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I dont know why we couldnt have done this when that report was compiled, he said. Im hoping that Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond will find out who knew about these reports, when did they know about them, why was no action taken, and why are we talking about this in June, 2020, when this was all catalogued months, if not years, ago.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says staff at one or more ERs in B.C. allegedly played a racist game to guess the blood-alcohol level of patients, particularly those who are Indigenous. The Canadian Press

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Allegations of racist games in B.C. emergency rooms investigated - The Globe and Mail

Attendees pass by an Alibaba.com display at CES 2019 in Las Vegas.

David Becker | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell Friday:

Alibaba, JD.com Alibaba and JD.com handled a record $136.51 billion in sales during 618, one of the biggest shopping events in China. Alibaba reported a gross merchandise value of just over $98 billion during the event. JD.com said transaction volume totaled $37.99 billion.

Occidental Petroleum Occidental shares climbed more than 4% after a SunTrust analyst upgraded the energy company to "buy" from "hold." The analyst also raised his price target on the stock to $25 per share from $13 a share, implying a 12-month upside of 27% from Thursday's close. "We believe Occidental is in position to continue improving its balance sheet through internal and external means," the analyst said.

DraftKings DraftKings said it has priced a 40 million common stock offering at $40 per share. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters of the offering. DraftKings shares rose more than 1% in the premarket.

Disney An analyst at Wells Fargo hiked his price target on Disney to $118 per share from $107 a share. The analyst maintained his "equal weight" rating on the stock, however, noting "we remain more pessimistic than most on the potential length and depth of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on Parks operations + Studio production."

Penn National Gaming The Pennsylvania-based casino operator said it has resumed operations in 30 of the company's 41 properties, sending the stock up more than 3% in the premarket.

Spotify Shares of the music streaming giant jumped 2.5% in the premarket after Rosenblatt Securities hiked its price target on the company to $275 per share from $190 a share. The firm also raised its fiscal 2021 revenue forecast for Spotify to $10.46 billion from $10.17 billion as the company lands exclusive podcast deals with Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian. "We not only see attractive monetization potential from these exclusives, we envision future leverage to premium subscription pricing and label negotiations," according to Rosenblatt.

CarMax CarMax shares climbed more than 1% after the used-car seller posted a quarterly revenue that beat analysts' expectations. The company reported sales of $3.23 billion for the first quarter, topping a FactSet estimate of $2.71 billion. Comparable sales fell 41.8% on a year-over-year basis, but that was better than a consensus forecast of a 51.3% decline.

Slack Goldman Sachs downgraded Slack to "sell" from "neutral," citing the potential for an "enduring battle" with Microsoft's Teams platform for market share. "While we continue to view Slack as a best-in-class team messaging offering that is favored by the technical community, we expect MSFT Teams to continue to try and leverage its packaging within Office 365 to drive increased adoption, thus creating the potential for a more competitive environment," Goldman said in a note.

Novavax An analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald hiked his price target on Novavax to $88 per share from $45 a share, citing "recent additions of well-known and established biotech veterans to the executive team." The new price target implies an upside of 48.5% over the next 12 months. Novavax shares gained about 4% before the bell.

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Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Alibaba, Penn National Gaming, Spotify & more - CNBC

Over the years, there have been some terrific games released on a variety of platforms.

The question, however, that is often debated is what is the best video game of all time?

Well, thanks to Metacritic we now have a list of the top 100 video games ranked by their metascore, which is the weighted average that the computer game received from some of the worlds best critics.

So, without further ado, here are the games listed from 100-81.

100 Burnout 3: Takedown - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox

Starting at number 100, Burnout 3 was certainly the game for encouraging stunning crashes, massive pileups and with a multiplayer mode consisting of more than 100 events and 40 tracks, it was certainly a game packed full of incident.

99 - Tom Clancy Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox

Next up is a title from Tom Clancys Splinter Cell spy franchise. Playing as Sam Fisher, you are sent on numerous series' of missions to investigate and eliminate threats originating from North Korea.

98 - Grim Fandango - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

A LucasArts title where you as the player need to help the Department of the Deaths Manny Calavera solve conspiracy theories that threaten his existence.

97 - Metal Gear Solid - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PlayStation

Another classic spy franchise where the gamer takes control of the man known as Snake and you have the challenging task of regaining control of secret nuclear weapons from terrorist hands.

96 - Jet Grind Radio - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Dreamcast

A game released on the SEGA Dreamcast platform. You are part your own graffiti crew and must lay claim and protect your own territory from rival taggers.

95 - Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Gameboy Advance

Everyones favourite Nintendo character makes his first appearance on the list. Super Mario Advance 4 is a terrific demonstration of platform gaming at its best. It features eight huge worlds, boss battles and fun mini games.

94 - Street Fighter IV - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PlayStation 3

The classic fighting game Street Fighter comes in at 94, featuring appearances from favourites such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guil as well as the inclusion of new characters such as Crimson Viper, Abel and Rufus.

93 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

A single player title which requires the gamer to protect the world of Tamriel from demons while at the same time foil sinister-plots to take over the kingdoms throne.

92 - Ninja Gaiden Black - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox

This is the sequel to Ninja Gaiden. The game requires you to reprise the role of the ninja known as Ryu Hayabusa and includes a number of new missions.

91 - Halo 3 - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox 360

Halo 3: Combat Evolve is the third title in the ever-popular Halo series. This involves returning as The Master Chief to earth to finish what was started in Halo 2.

90 - BioShock Infinite - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

The adventure PC game known as BioShock Infinite is next. Playing as former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, you are sent to the lost city in the clouds to rescue the young lady Elizabeth. Along the way, DeWitt will need to engage in combat among the clouds as well as master the power of a wide range of new weapons and abilities.

89 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox 360

Call of Duty 4 is certainly an incident packed and exciting addition to the popular franchise. This Activision title also successfully builds on the Call of Duty 2 online experience.

88 - Quake - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

The game that is very much known for its frightening death-matches. You also have the added bonus of 32 single player levels to get stuck into.

87 - Sid Meiers Civilization II - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

The first strategy based game that appears on the list. Civilization II begins at the Old Stone Age in 4000 BC and it certainly encourages exploration of unknown territories and ultimately expanding your Empire.

86 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox 360

A single player title that requires the gamer to protect the world of Tamriel from demons while at the same time foil sinister-plots to take over the kingdoms throne.

85 - Gears of War - Metascore: 94 - Platform: Xbox 360

Starring as lead war hero Marcus Fenix alongside his fire team, you are tasked with fending off the onslaught of merciless warrior fiends. Overall, this game is a terrific blend of tactical action and horror.

84 - Madden NFL 2004 - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PlayStation 2

The 2003 PlayStation 2 Game of the Year comes in next. This Classic American Football series created by Electronic Arts provided the most realistic NFL Playbooks ever and provided multiple formation variations.

83 - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Metascore: 94 - Platform: PC

This RockStar title released on the PC in 2003 had a number of enhanced features including enhanced sound and improved graphics. It is easy to see why this game was awarded the Metacritics 2003 PC Game of the Year.

82 - Mass Effect 2 Metascore: 94 - Platform: PlayStation 3

This shooter game appears next on the list. Mass Effect 2 is part of a trilogy of science-fiction titles, which are set in world of uncharted planets and dangerous alien life.

81 - BioShock Metascore: 94 - Platform: PlayStation 3

This is the secondBioShock game that appears on this list. After your plane crashes into icy uncharted waters, you must explore a city hidden beneath the surface, which is controlled by Ecological AI.

You can see what games made 80-61 here.

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The 100 greatest video games of all time according to their Metacritic score (100-81) - GiveMeSport

You may be excited by the prospect of firing up Horizon Forbidden West on your PS5 by this Christmas, but lockdown has had me yearning for the nostalgic comforts of games a little more retro.

Im talking about a simpler time, where epic games came on floppy discs and your favorite multiplayer sessions required a pocketful of coins at your local arcade. Short of firing up an emulator and hunting for romsets, these games (especially the more obscure ones) can be hard to play on modern systems. Enter Antstream, a game streaming service specifically tailored to delivering retro computer games and arcade classics to all manner of devices.

To call something the Netflix of is a bit trite at this point, but the sheer size of the Antstream catalogue makes that an apt description for once. With over 1,000 games to play, its the largest game streaming library were aware of at the moment, dwarfing Google Stadia, GeForce Now and PlayStation Now (though of course going nowhere near the flashy new titles they offer). Streaming early arcade classics right through gaming history, up to and including a handful of Mega Drive/ Genesis titles, Antstream is available on Android, Android TV devices like the Nvidia Shield, Amazon Fire TV devices, Mac OS, Linux and Windows, for a 9.99 / $9.99 monthly charge.

Game streaming maybe isnt the most obvious way to serve retro and arcade games a sustained streaming session could use several hundred megabytes of data, and considering many of the games on offer were originally just kilobytes in size, youd be on your way to downloading the whole available catalogue in a matter or hours were they served up as traditional downloads.

But game streaming has its advantages. For starters, once the app is installed, youve got instant access to the complete Antstream library, which now numbers more than 1,000 titles. Your highscores and saves are synced across devices, as are challenges in games set by your friends. And, as anyone who has attempted to play retro games through emulation will know, set-up and compatibility across emulators and romsets over multiple devices can be a real pain. Antstream takes all the hassle out of it.

Antstreams library is one of the most diverse and esoteric of any subscription service out there. Of course, it doesnt have the modern bells and whistles of something like Game Pass or PS Now, but thats courting an entirely different audience. Antstreams games can be just plain weird, and thats what makes it special, from a game-history point of view as much as from a gameplay standpoint.

Take cult-classic Amiga game Wizball for instance. Youre a wizard, whos been turned into a green bouncing gremlin ball thing with a face. You have to bounce around what seems to be the surface of the moon, collecting paint droplets that drop from the enemies you defeat, to fill a cauldron that will cast a spell to return you to your former self. It. Is. Weird. You wont see something like that at next months Xbox Series X game reveal.

But from Bubble Bobble to Metal Slug X, there are stone cold classics nestled in between the deep cuts. As with Wizball, its one of the few services to shine a light on the Amiga system too the discerning gamers alternative to 16-bit consoles in the 90s, bringing games like Magic Pockets and Alien Breed to an all new audience.

Antstream doesnt just serve up the original games either in some cases, it builds upon them too. Having licensed all titles from their original owners, Antstream has been given the blessing to include new asynchronous multiplayer challenges to games. This could be anything from one-shotting the quick-moving UFOs in Space Invaders to making hyperspace jumps in Asteroids without dying. The service uses a free-to-earn currency with which to gamble and challenge friends though aside from entering tournaments and laying down the gauntlet to your friends and foes, theres not much else currently to do with the gems you hoard.

There are a few things missing and bugs that need addressing before Anstream can be fully recommended. Theres a major hole in its mobile offering in the shape of iOS support, which has been proposed but is still currently missing, as are console apps (an Xbox One app has been intermittently available, but has suffered from legacy retro game interface issues preventing it from running full screen). Beyond challenges theres no synchronous multiplayer support over the internet, and the overall calibre of the library may lean a little too far into curio than classic territory to justify the 9.99 / $9.99 a month subscription required to play. Weve also on occasion ran into control bugs where certain titles fail to work with a gamepad, and side-scrolling arcade titles become unplayable as a second player enters the fray without a human to guide them being present.

But Antstream is unique in its proposition. Its taking cult favourites and lost gems from the archive of gamings history and making them accessible to all, where previously theyve been the preserve of retro collectors of emulator dabblers. Its a great trip down memory lane in a year where the future of gaming draws ever closer.

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Antstream is Netflix for retro gamers but is it good enough to take on the AAA game streaming competition? - Techradar

This is not the first time that a video game has reckoned with the inhumane acts around which so much of the mediums output is based, but never has it been done with such lavish production values. In this, the sequel to 2013s divisive, post-apocalyptic The Last of Us, you play as Ellie, a young woman immune to the virus that has during the past 25 years devastated North America, turning most of the population into zombies. Only pockets of survivors are left, living in fractious scavenger communities.

This adventure game, which mostly takes place in Seattle, is a revenge story that charts, in preposterously high definition, Ellies physical and psychological descent into violence. Its brutal stuff (offset by odd moments of guitar-twanging downtime): you hear the gurgling death rattles, see the puddling blood, survey images of the kind of brutality and its aftermath that usually exist only in police files and on the dark web.

It's a profound and thoughtful attempt to cause the player to dwell on what it means to aim a gun at another human being

The game sets various new high-water marks in terms of its spectacular production. The crumbling vistas, exquisitely rendered faces and memorable action set pieces all dazzle, while the poised dialogue casts a lingering spell. But the central message, which hinges on the kind of structural conceit of a boldness and invention almost never seen in this category of big budget crowd-pleasers, is less readily convincing. During the course of the game Ellie kills hundreds of zombies and humans from different hostile factions a particularly American conception of human survival: gun-toting and ravenously dog-eat-dog. As she does so, you witness and become inveigled by the corrupting influence of her chosen behaviours.

Later, during a flashback, Ellie must use a sniper rifle to take potshots at zombies shuffling on a hill across a sunlit valley. Once you get your eye in, compensating for each bullets gravitational drop, the thrill of guiltless cause and effect is shared between character and player. The games violence is designed, through years of iteration, to be deeply enjoyable, a fact that threatens to undercut its message that violence is a corrupting, abhorrent cycle.

There is virtue in interrogating the gun violence around which the video game blockbuster has become orientated, and The Last of Us Part 2 offers a profound and thoughtful attempt to cause the player to dwell on what it means to aim a gun at another human being and pull the trigger. But it cannot wholly shake off the fact that its core message conflicts with its fundamental pleasures.

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The Last of Us Part 2 review Ellie's brutal revenge - The Guardian

Among Trees is a gorgeous survival game, but it's also very buggy and a little boring. In the hour or so I've played, it's crashed several times, and all I've really done is wander aimlessly through the forest around my cabin, picking up resources and avoiding the occasional bear. It's pretty but, at this stage, there's little else that makes it worth playing. That's not unusual for unfinished sandbox games; already the developers have a roadmap of cool ideas and interesting features.

My problem is that the Epic Games Store communicates almost nothing about the state of the project. Looking at the store page for Among Trees, you can't easily tell that it's an early access game at all. The only mention is under the logo just below the trailer. It's not mentioned in the overview of the game or its features, its hardware specifications, or the 'About Game' section, or during the checkout process.

For a comparison, take a look at any one of Steam's Early Access games, like the recently released Satisfactory (which is also on the Epic Store). Aside from the trailer and screenshots, one of the biggest elements on the page is a big blue banner informing customers that this game is Early Access. More importantly, though, it explains what Steam's Early Access program is and then reveals a questionnaire filled out by the developers that explains why they chose to release their game on Early Access, how long it'll take to finish the game, what the differences may be at release, what the game looks like now, how the community is involved, and whether the price will change once the full version is released.

All of that is information I'd like to know before buying a game before its official 'release.' To be fair, some of the early access games on the Epic Store do share that informationit's just so hidden that it might as well not exist. For example, Satisfactory and Hades have early access FAQs similar to what you'd find on Steam, but they can only be accessed by clicking a tiny link in the menu at the top of the screen. Given that each of these questionnaires is formatted differently and half of Epic's early access games don't have one, it's clear this isn't a uniform requirement. It should be, though.

If the Epic Games Store is going to continue selling early access games like Among Trees, it needs to offer buyers way more information.

Part of what makes Steam's Early Access program work is that it's standardized and made a prominent feature on each game's store page. By requiring every Early Access developer to explain its vision, capabilities, and intentions, Steam is upfront about the risks and implies that things can go awry. And aside from what the developers have to say about their game, user reviews and forums can be helpful in determining if a game's stint in Steam Early Access is going poorly.

Epic Games doesn't even explain what early access means. That's a big problem when, as of March of last year, 85 million people were using the Epic Store and 40 percent of them didn't have Steam. That's roughly 34 million people who might not be familiar with what early access is and why it's a risk. I wouldn't be surprised if a less-informed customer mistook an "early access" banner as some kind of promotion or missed it altogether. If that happened, they'd have no idea that Among Trees is incredibly early in development until they hit the in-game disclaimer. They can request a refund if it's not what they expected, but why make it confusing?

It's great that a few developers have gone the extra mile to add an early access FAQ, but Epic shouldn't place the burden of explaining how early access works on them. There should be mandatory and prominently displayed notices that explain what early access is and how the developers intend to use it.

Early access games like Among Trees have become a basic part of PC gaming. Steam's Early Access program has helped birth some cherished classics like Don't Starve, Subnautica, and Kerbal Space Program. It's also created just as many controversies. Early Access games have been abandoned altogether, developers have sold expansions before the base game was even done, or games have pivoted wildly from the original, promised vision.

Expectations are different when you buy an early access game, and the label can be applied very differently by different developers. If the Epic Games Store is going to continue selling early access games like Among Trees, it needs to offer buyers way more information about the particular situation of each of its unfinished games.

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The Epic Games Store isn't clear enough about early access games - PC Gamer

If youre looking for some fighting games to start brawling in this weekend, NetherRealm and Warner Bros. have a heck of a deal. Injustice: Gods Among Us, 2013s DC Comics fighter, is completely free to keep on Steam for a limited time. This is the Ultimate Edition with all the major DLC included, too, so youre getting a heck of a package here.

You can head to the Steam page to pick up Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition for free through June 25. While theres a limited amount of time to claim the offer, the game will remain in your library forever once youve grabbed it. The promotion is also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360 (backward compatible with X1), if youd like digital copies for your console libraries, too.

Injustice takes the modern Mortal Kombat formula and applies it to the DC universe, with a roster encompassing everyone from Superman and Batman to Killer Frost and Black Adam. The Ultimate Edition of Injustice includes six additional characters Batgirl, Lobo, Zod, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and MKs Scorpion as well as a host of additional skins and single-player STAR Labs missions.

There are more rumours than we can possibly recount here about the WB Games lineup, and theres a part of me that hopes this freebie is part of a tease for something major but the tweet announcing the giveaway simply suggests its part of a COVID-19-inspired Play at Home promotion.

If youre looking for more free PC games, you can follow that link for a big list of stuff worth checking out.

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Free games: DC Comics fighter Injustice is free-to-keep on Steam - PCGamesN

Blizzard has just banned over 74,000 World of Warcraft Classic accounts, with the "majority" of those accounts guilty of botting. In other words, the accounts were found to be using automation tools to gather resources and kill enemies without an actual player being present.

While the use of automation tools is unambiguously in violation of the WoW Classic's End-User License Agreement, there exists an online trade in software that can expedite the grind. Bots have been the source of much consternation on the Blizzard forums lately, and it was probably inevitable, given how grindy the 'classic' experience is.

Blizzard is determined to address the problem on an ongoing basis, but warns that the trade in automation software probably isn't going anywhere soon. "Real money trading drives third parties to put an enormous amount of effort into circumventing our detection systems," a Blizzard spokesperson wrote. "As much as this is a very high priority for us, it is the only priority for profit-driven botting organizations. The bans we issue are simply a cost of doing business for them."

The studio also notes that while its own detection processes are strong and evolving, there's still a lot of manual evidence gathering to be done. Indeed, some players especially keen on the grind might even resemble an automated account, which makes things trickier.

"Yes, there have been cases where a legitimate player appeared (to another player) to be botting," the spokesperson wrote. "In those cases, where a legitimate player is reported and then cleared of wrongdoing, it can be very frustrating to the reporting player to again see what they think is a bot. Weve also seen examples where the reported player was caught exploiting the game, and was removed from the game, and then quickly returned to doing the same thing on a new account with the same character name. Thats an infuriating sight for the players who initially reported it. We greatly appreciate your reports, and we understand how you feel about this."

You can read Blizzard's full statement over here.

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Blizzard has banned over 74,000 World of Warcraft Classic accounts - PC Gamer