Opinion by Matt S. Dragon Quest is precious to me. Much like Final Fantasy, I consider the series formative in giving me a deep, abiding, and likely life-long love of Japanese RPGs. The imagination, humour, and storytelling that Dragon Quest pioneered has stuck with me over much of my life,…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. The release of a new Yakuza game is always a good thing, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 is just around the corner. This video has plenty of footage of what to expect from the game. But I also wanted to take the opportunity to discuss something that…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. This is a bit of an odd topic, but the word “content” to describe what’s in video games has annoyed me for a while now, as it represents a lack of respect for the artistry that goes into the making of a game. With this video…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. One of the most common criticisms you’ll see when people talk about games is “this game is repetitive.” It is never delivered as a positive reflection on the game in question, and is either a “but” in “I really enjoyed this game but…” or is one…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. Over the last week we’ve seen a lot of stuff in the press regarding the launch of No Man’s Sky NEXT; a massive, near re-release of a game that was first released back in 2016 amongst a hailstorm of virulent criticism. Some of the stories coming…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. As we all know by now, loot boxes have become such an issue of contention in the games industry that a number of countries have declared them to be gambling. The idea of getting random stuff in exchange for cash has been around for a long…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally defined “video game addiction” as a diagnosable condition (the specific term is “gaming disorder”). This was always going to be a controversial decision, and there has been plenty of measured debate out there about whether video games…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. It’s impossible to get away from these battle royale games. The genre got its start with PUBG, before Fortnite really took the mantle as the blockbuster that everyone wanted to emulate. And now Call of Duty, Battlefield, and all the other hyperviolent shootybangs are desperately trying…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. So of course the big new AAA-industry news had to happen while I was on my flight back from Japan. EA revealed Battlefield V, with the news that it will be based on World War 2, and it has a woman soldier in the promo art,…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. A number of Japanese developers (predominantly visual novel developers) have been getting notices from Valve to the effect that their “game features pornographic imaging, and this is in violation of Steam’s rules”. If the developer doesn’t fix its content, according to the note, their game will…
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