In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we go back in time to the theatrical release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and the rather ridiculous rapid-fire movie games that were used to promote it. There are an astonishing three movie games released to promote this movie including Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator 3: War of the Machines, and Terminator 3: The Redemption. As an honourable mention, shortly before the movie Terminator: Dawn of Fate was also released. Game stores in 2004 had up to four new Terminator titles on their shelves all at once. With the Switch 2 reveal looming, everyone seems to be fired up over some unverified leaked images. A mix of CAD and PCB designs allegedly leaked from a Chinese website before making their way onto Reddit. The drawings show magnetic Joy-Cons, two USB-C ports (one top, one bottom), and a larger screen. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have officially sued the Palworld developer over multiple patent infringements. Early speculation estimates that one of these alleged infringements could be regarding the capture of creatures in a similar way to Pokéballs capturing Pokémon. Tango Gameworks was purchased by PUBG publisher, Krafton, after Microsoft wanted to shutter the studio. Many in the community would be right to assume that Krafton was after the profits from a highly anticipated sequel to Hi-Fi Rush. However, the publisher said that they don't believe Hi-Fi Rush 2 will generate them a profit, instead they said they made the purchase as a means to strengthen the legacy and creativity of the gaming industry.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we take a look at the speedrunning community surrounding the game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We'll explore some key milestones like the discovery of wrong warp, super slide, and much more! Sony has officially unveiled the PS5 Pro with an upgraded GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI-driven upscaling. This new model promises to help bridge the gap between performance and fidelity modes to allow players to have their cake and eat it too! But that cake will cost a tonne of cake, with a pricepoint coming it at $699.99 USD. Microsoft has cut 650 jobs from its gaming division. Phil Spencer addressed employees in a company memo expressing that the decision was not easy to reach, but was necessary to ensure long-term success. The Watch Dogs movie was announced 10+ years ago...and now it's finally complete, as filming has wrapped for the project. Time (and reviews) will tell upon release how well Watch Dogs has been adapted from its original video game medium and whether or not audiences are interested in paying a ticket price to see the film.
Concord, Sony's Overwatch-like competitive shooter, has been taken offline as of September 6, 2024 - just days after its debut on August 23, 2024. The developer has stated that they will be exploring options that include ways to better reaching their players. My estimate? It'll be back and free-to-play. Microsoft says that Apple's 30% fee makes Xbox Cloud Gaming iOS app impossible. One of the perks of Game Pass Ultimate is Xbox Cloud Gaming, a feature that many assumed would eventually appear on the App Store. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case as Microsoft claims that Apple's rules are still too restrictive. Star Wars Outlaws has released to a mixed bag of reviews - currently the game sits at a 76 on Metacritic (critic reviews as of Sept 9, 2024). According to analyst Daniel Kerven Star Wars Outlaws "has struggled to meet our sales expectations despite positive critical reviews." resulting in Ubisoft's share price taking a hit.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact we explore one of the first public cases of development hell by analyzing a game that took a whole 14 years to release! Duke Nukem Forever went through two development teams, two engines, and some terrible reviews before all was said and done. This goes to show us that video game development isn't easy, and even if a project should only take a couple years - it can easily spin out of control. GameStop has pivoted once again, this time to focus on retro gaming. GameStop Retro locations are stores that will stock physical consoles, discs, and cartridges from classic Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and Sega platforms. As the hobby of video game collecting seems to be heating up online, is this a good move for the aging (and struggling) retailer? With the recent masterpiece that is the Borderlands movie (this is a joke), why wouldn't we want more video game TV and movie content? This time some Remedy franchises, namely Control and Alan Wake, are taking to the big and small screens as we just recently learned that some TV and movie projects are being worked on! Furthermore, "other audiovisual formats" based on these franchises were also confirmed - I bet it's a podcast or two!
In this episode of the Day One Patch Podcast, we kick things off with a Video Game Fun Fact, where Matt takes us through the story of Microsoft's infamous one billion-dollar mistake—better known as the Red Ring of Death (RROD). Learn how this major hardware flaw led to massive recalls and ultimately shaped the future of Xbox. Top Stories: - Fortnite's iPhone Comeback: After years of litigation and regulatory changes, Fortnite is finally back on iOS—but only in the EU. We discuss the return of the game through new third-party app stores and what this means for mobile gamers. - Krafton Saves Tango Gameworks: In a surprising move, Krafton, the publisher behind PUBG, has acquired Tango Gameworks and the Hi-Fi Rush IP from Xbox. This acquisition prevents the studio's closure, ensuring the continuation of its popular titles and the development of new projects. - Activision's War on Download Sizes: Activision is making moves to address the ever-growing size of Call of Duty downloads. We explore the upcoming changes, including the separation of Warzone from the main game and new file optimization techniques aimed at reducing the game's footprint.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we explore the first ever easter egg and the origins behind it. Back when video games were in their infancy, developers were often completely overshadowed by the brand they worked for, often never being given credit directly - but some found creative revolution, just like in the game "Adventure" for the Atari 2600. Video game voice actors are going on strike over AI protections after 18 months of negotiations. Fallout London is finally out on GOG! The mod project the size of a full game has finally released, compatible with both the GOG and Steam versions of Fallout 4 (with all DLC). More Epic drama as Fortnite is set to leave the Galaxy Store after Samsung turns on their Auto Blocker feature by default (as of the OneUI 6.1.1 update). In previous updates, Auto Blocker was opt-in, meaning it was off be default but users could toggle it on.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact we take a look at one of the first gaming VR experiences that not only delivered major IP titles such as Mario, but was also a portable solution over 20 years before the Oculus Quest 2's release. We are of course talking about the famous (some say infamous) Nintendo Virtual Boy. Amazon is now selling a "no console required" Xbox bundle, as the Xbox Game Pass app lands on the Fire TV Stick. The bundle includes a Fire TV stick + remote, Xbox controller, and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month pass. Is this the beginning of the streaming-only future that some believe is coming in fast? Xbox Game Pass is under fire from the FTC once again due to their price increase and new tiers that erodes "day one on Game Pass" for some users. The FTC's new filing includes a comment that reads "Product degradation — removing the most valuable games from Microsoft's new service — combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged" Microsoft has integrated Nvidia's GeForce Now service into its Xbox game pages, allowing users to choose between Nvidia’s cloud gaming service and Xbox Cloud Gaming. This new feature lets players launch supported games directly from Xbox.com using either platform.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact we explore the world of Bethesda's game engines, starting all the way back with Elder Scrolls: Arena - before the days of the famous (infamous?) Creation engine. Xbox Game Pass is receiving a price increase and a new standard tier that will not be including day one releases. The new tier replaces the console tier, however, existing console tier customers will still be receiving day one releases. We feel as though the price increase is fair, but this new tier ads another layer of potential confusion and seems to punish console-only players. Nintendo Switch has had one long run, so long in fact that it is now Nintendo's longest running console ever. This is beating out the previous longest running Nintendo console, the Famicom that had a run of 2,686 days. Hellblade 2 sales data reveals some concerning numbers for what was a highly anticipated title. The sales numbers also revealed Game Pass "sales" as well, showing numbers that were much lower than we expected. It is important to note, however, that Hellblade 2 did not receive a physical release. Is there an Xbox curse? Is the brand damaged?
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact we discussed the infamous PS3 development woes, namely how difficult it was to create PS3 games for developers. This was due to the console's complex Cell Processor, ununified memory, and more. Then in the week's gaming news, we discussed: Nintendo believes that longer game development cycles are inevitable, however, there are ways to keep on top of them. They believe that they've been doing a good job time balancing modern (and complex) game development. It's a well known fact that Steam users purchase a lot of games that they never play - typically due to deep discounts during times like the Steam Summer Sale. It has been roughly calculated by PCGamesN that Steam users have spent $19 billion on games that they've never played. Some believe that modern gaming is the worst era of video games to date, and that the golden age was during the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation. One Metro reader submitted their opinion piece of how they think that the Xbox 360 era was the peak of gaming and how it has gotten worse ever since - we took some of their opinions and discussed them. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has seen some nerfs in its first patch - specifically nerfing the extremely effective perfumes into the ground, as well as taking away an exploit that allowed players to use a spiky shield in such a way that boss fights were extremely easy. We discussed if nerfs like this make sense in a (mostly) PvE game like Elden Ring.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact we explore early wireless gaming controllers, specifically the Game Mate 2. Many people believe that the Wavebird for Nintendo GameCube was the first wireless controller, but in fact wireless controllers go all the way back to 1982 with the Atari 2600. Nintendo Direct June 2024 was a loaded presentation that Tim was kind enough to take us through. Major announcements included Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, Mario and Luigi Brothership, Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, and much more! PS VR2 may be in trouble as Sony has reportedly cut its investment in VR. This comes off the heels of Ubisoft's own VR woes, with the disappointing sales of Assassin's Creed Nexus VR. The Elden Ring DLC is here and has officially de-throned The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion as the top-rated DLC on IGN. CD Projekt Red took to social media to congratulate From Software on their achievement.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we explore the bit wars! Namely the period of time where consoles were fighting for dominance through rigorous hardware upgrades and full force marketing campaigns - many of which rallied around how many bits their console had under the hood. Despite the bit wars' lack of an official start and end date, this period lasted roughly from the mid 1980s until the mid 1990s with the release of the Atari Jaguar. Then in the mainstream news, the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 rocked the house with a seemingly never ending slew of killer game announcements that may just put Xbox in a great competitive position in the 2024/2025 gaming landscape. These titles included a surprise look at Gears of War: E-Day, a peek at Atomfall, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 deep dive, and much much more!
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we discuss the history of gaming handhelds. Many people think that the original Game Boy kicked off the handheld gaming scene, but it started much earlier back with the Microvision in 1979. Sporting a 16 x 16 pixel screen and cartridge-based games, the Microvision pre-dated the Game Boy by ~11 years. Hot off the presses, Geoff Keighley and his team delivered the Summer Game Fest 2024 presentation filled to the brim with game reveals, trailers, and more for the entire 2 hour presentation. Some of the games shown off included: Alan Wake II DLC, Lego Horizon Adventures, Quidditch Champions, and more!
In this week's Video Game Fun Fact, we explore the world of blowing into cartridges. If you've ever used a console that relied on cartridges, then you've almost definitely tried to boot up a game, have it fail, take the cartridge out to blow on it, then get it magically works. Well what exactly is happening there? Should you blow on your cartridges when they don't work? The PlayStation State of Play (May 2024) happened just days ago, with showcases on many titles on the way to the PS5 and PSVR2 including: Concord, Marvel Rivals, Until Dawn, and more! We go through most every reveal at the show, offering our impressions and opinions.
In this week's gaming fun fact we discuss massive game worlds, specifically the largest ones ever made. Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is known for it's absolutely massive landmass that equates roughly to the size of Great Britain. However, it's predecessor Elder Scrolls: Arena comes in at a staggering ~9.6 million square kilometers (approximately the size of Australia) by using on-demand procedural generation. However, there is one game that trumps both these game world sizes... Naughty Dog's new upcoming game is looking to change the mainstream perception of gaming, we discuss and speculate as to what this means exactly. Will the game tie into TV and movies? Are they aiming to make games less of a toy and more of a "serious" medium? AI has come up a lot this week in both Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann's and PlayStation's Asad Qizilbash's comments. Neil believes that AI will revolutionize how content is created, bringing powerful tools to those that may not even understand game development. Asad's comments focused on Gen Z and Gen Alpha, making note of their desire to personalize everything. In retro feeling news, Atari has purchased Intellivision, a story that feels like it is straight out of the late 1980s. Atari hasn't purchased the entire Intellivision company or the Amica, instead they purchased the name and the rights to over 200 games.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we discuss some Halo facts that may catch you by surprise including all the work that was put into the Halo 3 engine, the last minute addition of multiplayer in Halo: Combat Evolved, Destiny easter eggs in ODST, and more! Assassin's Creed is finally headed to Japan with the reveal of Assassin's Creed Shadows, shown off in a fully cinematic trailer. Players will have two different protagonists to choose from, will have to contend with seasonal changes, and will have a map about the size of Assassin's Creed Origins. Following the success of the Fallout TV show, Prime Video has ordered a Tomb Raider show with Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the writer and executive producer. Square Enix has been taking a beating in the wallet lately, but they have a plan to turn it around. Just like Xbox, Square appears to be seeking new exposure to their games by going multi-platform.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we explore the days before the internet was widespread, but gaming was still alive and well. Today we push updates to our games all the time, to fix problems of all sizes, and even to overhaul entire experiences. But before high-speed internet, how did games get updated? Microsoft has closed down a collection of studios including Arkane Austin - the creator of Redfall, Tango Gameworks - the maker of The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush, as well as mobile developer Alpha Dog Games. This news comes as a sudden surprise to many, especially for Tango Gameworks given their recent success with Hi-Fi Rush. Nintendo has finally broken their silence on the Switch successor, presumably named the Switch 2, will be unveiled before April 2025 - according to Nintendo's President Suntaro Furukawa the reveal will happen within this fiscal year. EA is considering the addition of in-game ads within their AAA titles. As ads are working their way into more of our day-to-day experiences like Windows 11 and Prime Video, it seems only as natural as it is unfortunate that video games would befall the same fate. During a May 7th earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson answered a question regarding "dynamic ad insertion" within their top-of-the-line experiences to which he responded that he sees advertising in games as a "meaningful driver of growth" but he wants to be "thoughtful" about how these potential ads could be implemented.
In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we explore the world of the very first commercially available arcade game - Computer Space. Computer Space was a precursor to Pong, being shipped in an arcade cabinet that looked like something straight out of Star Trek. Computer Space sold over 1000 units and was controlled entirely by buttons (no joystick) where a player would control a ship trying to take down hostile flying saucers. Microsoft has announced an E3-like Xbox Games Showcase coming in hot this summer on June 9, 2024. Game announcements will include games from Xbox Game Studios, Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda. We also got a look at a graphic that was intentionally redacted, but looks very much like Call of Duty (maybe Call of Duty: Gulf War). Redfall, the vampire game with quirky characters, a horrible launch, and an apparently terrible update schedule has started to concern some players that purchased the $100 Bite Back Edition of the game. As of recording, the last update for Redfall was approximately 6 months ago, with no reveal or date set for the release of the expensive edition's included DLC. Square Enix is re-evaluating how it approaches games, being more selective about which games to develop. Unfortunately, this comes at a great cost to the tune of $140 million dollars and several cancelled gaming projects.
Xbox is entering the VR space by partnering with Meta to create a limited-edition Meta Quest headset bundle - this news comes to us as apart of Meta's recent announcement that they will be powering third-party headset makers such as Lenovo and Asus. Fallout fever has gone and got us down! The Prime Video show has ignited a flurry of Fallout popularity resulting in Fallout 76 hitting one million players in a single day and a surge of players on Fallout 3, 4, New Vegas, and Shelter. Even we've been playing Fallout 76 again in anticipation of the new update that's already in the PTS! The much anticipated Fallout 4 next-gen update has finally come out...and in typical Bethesda style has been suffering from a collection of issues. On PS5 some users can't even claim a free copy if they own it via PS Plus (a bug that is being addressed for PS Extra and (maybe) PS Plus Collection owners), Xbox users are having issues with the update's capabilities only having a 60fps mode with no 4k resolution...and PC users are having a myriad of random issues including missing textures and some guns firing stop signs instead of projectiles.
Sarah Bond has confirmed through emails to her staff that Xbox has created a dedicated game preservation team that is working to ensure our digital libraries will be accessible on as many future consoles as possible. As also confirmed in Sarah's emails, Xbox is working on a next-gen console that promises to be a massive technological leap. We offer our insights and speculation as to what the future of Xbox hardware looks like. The Fallout series has premiered this past week on Prime Video, some have heralded it as one of the best video game adaptations to-date...while others are plagued by holes that they've found in the lore. We explore the first and second episodes, offering our opinions and thoughts on the series we've seen so far.
Video Game Fun Fact: This week's fun fact revolves around Fallout 3's iconic handheld nuclear launching device - the Fat Man. As ridiculous as it sounds, the Fat Man's design was inspired by a real cold war era weapon called the M-388 Davy Crokett Tactical Nuclear Recoilless Rifle that was put into service in two models including the M28 (light) and M29 (heavy). We also discussed the recent news out of Apple regarding it's take on emulators on the App Store. Previously, emulators were banned from the App Store causing users to look to workarounds, or Android devices. But now Apple has loosened up these rules, opening up the App Store to emulators provided that all laws are followed in their distribution. Despite the long silence from the KOTOR remake, it is apparently alive and well according to the Saber Interactive CEO himself. Then in the Query Corner Question, we discuss the current gaming landscape and our obsession with re-releases of old games. Should old games be brought onto modern platforms for game preservation? What about remasters and remakes of the same games time and time again?