Red Dead Redemption 2 was a blockbuster game, a masterpiece both visually and in terms of realism. It encapsulated everything good about the old Wild West and some of the not-so-good. It broke player records and was both lauded as an example of modern gaming and criticized for its depiction of smoking.

It seems strange that an element added for realism, cigarette smoking, could be controversial, but it was. One mission, where the protagonist Arthur Morgan had to collect cigarette cards, was especially criticized. It involved buying cigarettes from shops, but you could only hold so many, leading to some players chain-smoking them to get rid. It is only a video game, but does it have an influence?

If so, then Rockstar is as bad as big tobacco companies because characters in their Grand Theft Auto games have been seen smoking for years. They’re not alone – three of the 13 soldiers players can control in Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty are smokers. While developers try to limit the exposure of young people to characters smoking, it is a futile gesture. Call of Duty: Black Ops III is rated as mature, with characters seen smoking, but many under-18s play the title.

If smoking is so prevalent in video games, what is the risk, specifically to the gamers, that it appears to influence?

Smoking among gamers

Interestingly, there does seem to be an increased prevalence of smoking among gamers; of participants in a survey who reported smoking, 74.5% also reported playing video games compared with 60.4% of non-smokers. That seems to indicate a slight upturn in the number of smokers who are gamers and vice versa.

Smoking can have a significant and often overlooked impact on gamers, affecting both their physical health and cognitive abilities; the most immediate impact of smoking on gamers is the potential reduction in lung capacity and cardiovascular health. Smoking leads to the accumulation of tar and other harmful substances in the lungs, which can result in long-term illnesses such as lung cancer.

Beyond the physical effects, smoking has been linked to cognitive impairments also. While some gamers may perceive a short-term boost in focus and attention, chronic smoking can lead to long-term cognitive decline, affecting memory, problem-solving skills, and overall cognitive function. These problems can be particularly detrimental in gaming scenarios where split-second decisions and sharp reflexes are crucial.

Finally, the impact of smoking on sleep quality is another aspect that can affect gamers. Many gamers engage in extended play sessions, especially chasing those collectibles on Red Dead Redemption, and smoking can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to insufficient rest. Poor sleep quality has been associated with decreased reaction times, impaired decision-making, and a higher likelihood of making mistakes during gaming sessions.

How can gamers stop smoking

Assuming that gamers are not so influenced by their on-screen heroes that they won’t stop smoking, there are many cessation methods available. Most involve some nicotine alternative, a method of replacing the cravings without tobacco and combustion. These are not always likely to be seen in video games, but some might be more conducive to play. For instance, nicotine gum is available, a product that is chewed like normal gum and disperses nicotine orally. There is some evidence from Boise State University that chewing gum can help eSports players concentrate, although the study doesn’t look at nicotine gum. The CDC reports nicotine gum side effects include jaw stiffness and stomach discomfort.

Of course, other methods of cessation have the same risks. Nicotine pouches are popular in the US, with brands such as ZYN and On! becoming more known. They’re a small pouch of synthetic nicotine that sits between the lip and gum, delivering anything from 2mg to 21mg at a time. That’s usually over a period of 30 minutes, but the side effects of ZYN pouches include stomach discomfort and hiccups. Both may upset your gaming routine, but both are effective methods of stubbing out the cigarettes. Pouches also come in different flavors, which can be enjoyable while you play.

Ultimately, both those methods, and others such as lozenges and patches, have certain side effects, but they don’t tend to include lung cancer. Also, using nicotine alternatives tends to free up your hands, so you can stay focused on your gaming session, whether that’s blasting through Black Ops III or riding your horse across the Wild West looking for cigarette cards.

Conclusion

Smoking will always be a part of video games. Some titles, like Red Dead Redemption, use smoking to set a scene of historical accuracy. Others use smoking as a part of character progression, but in no instances is smoking used to try to entice a gamer to light up. Therefore, when picking up the controller, it’s time to put down the cigarette and try an alternative, even if Arther Morgan doesn’t have that option on screen.

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Another week, another COGconnected cosplay article! This week we’ll be taking a look at Czech gaming cosplayer Germia, who’s been cosplaying since 2015 and has attended more than 100 cosplaying events. Before we get started, here’s a heads up on the other articles we’ve done on cosplayers such as Andrasta, AmoredHeartCosplay, and Laney Jade.

Now, let’s get started with Germia’s cosplay as the For Honor character Apollyon!

See Page 2 for more!

The post Germia’s Gorgeous Cosplay Does Nothing But Impress appeared first on COGconnected.

Ubisoft executive Maxime Beland has resigned from his vice president position on the company’s editorial team following physical abuse and sexual harassment allegations, according to a Friday statement that Ubisoft sent to Gamasutra.

Beland had been accused of choking a female employee at a Far Cry event and also faced multiple sexual harassment allegations. Despite his recent resignation, Ubisoft has said that it will “continue to investigate the allegations made against him.”

According to his LinkedIn, Beland was the creative director on Splinter Cell Blacklist and did work on Far Cry 4 & 5 before leaving Ubisoft to join Epic Games last March. Eight months later, he left Epic and returned to Ubisoft in January as an executive on its editorial team.

Due to several other Ubisoft employees who’ve been accused of sexual misconduct, president Yves Guillemot has recently stated that Ubisoft will be making changes that aim to combat workplace misconduct and diversify the company.

SOURCE

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DIRT 5’s 12 different car classes were revealed recently in an official blog post and it seems like players will have a wide variety of cars to choose from when the game launches on October 9th on PC along with current and next gen consoles.

Here’s a complete list:

• Cross Raid
• Rock Bouncer
• Formula Off Road
• Classic Rally
• 80s Rally
• 90s Rally
• Modern Rally
• Rally GT
• Sprint
• Pre-Runners
• Unlimited (Trucks)
• Super Lites

According to DIRT 5 producer Stuart Boyd, the variety of the car roster plays an important role in the game since each car handles so differently (especially in different weather conditions).

“Combine those car classes with our 10 brand new locations, huge slate of event types, and dynamic extreme weather which completely transforms the handling and gameplay feel,” Boyd said in the blog post. “The amount of different experiences to drive in just goes off the scale – we can’t wait for you take it all for a spin!”

SOURCE

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PlayStation announced on Thursday that it’s pulling its advertisements from Facebook for all of July in order to protest how the social media site deals with controversial political content. PlayStation joins other major companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola that are also boycotting Facebook.

“In support of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, we have globally suspended our Facebook and Instagram activity, including advertising and non-paid content, until the end of July,” the company told GamesIndustry.biz. “We stand for working (and playing) together for good.”

The boycott campaign (which started in June) reportedly has more than 500 participants. The boycott’s goal is to make Facebook adopt stricter guidelines for content moderation.

SOURCE

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Famous gaming voice actress Laura Bailey posted an image on Friday that showed multiple death threats she claimed were sent to her because of her role as Abby in Naughty Dog’s divisive new game, The Last of Us Part 2.

Man. I try to only post positive stuff on here… but sometimes this just gets a little overwhelming. I blacked out some of the words cuz, ya know, spoilers.

Side note. Thank you to all the people sending me positive messages to balance it out. It means more than I can say. pic.twitter.com/kGyULWPpNu

— Laura Bailey (@LauraBaileyVO) July 3, 2020

The response to Bailey’s tweet mostly condemned the death threats and Bailey’s co-star Ashley Johnson (who voiced Ellie, the protagonist of the game) tweeted, “I love you Laura Bailey. Your performance in the game was an absolute revelation and it transformed me. It was an honour to be on that stage with you. So much love and adoration.”

While The Last of Us Part 2 has been a major sales hit and received positive reviews, its reception among fans has been mixed because of several controversial story decisions. On a podcast co-hosted by ex-Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime, creative director Neil Druckmann spoke about the backlash he and other people involved in the game have received after it launched.

“I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around that,” Druckmann said about the harassment that one of the voice actors allegedly received. “The thing I try to do is just ignore it as much as I can. When things escalate to being serious, there are certain security protocols that we take and I report it to the proper authorities. Then you just try to focus on the positives and focus on distracting yourself with other stuff. But it’s kind of just the reality.”

SOURCE

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Two Twitter accounts, one with a “Perfect Dark” Twitter handle and another with a “Fable” Twitter handle, were recently found with both accounts having the username, “Placeholder”. This discovery lead to gamers believing that Microsoft was planning on revealing new entries for both franchises.

I’m not sure who discovered the @fable and @PerfectDarkGame placeholders, but a Microsoft Xbox employee is following one, and the other is registered to a Microsoft email address ? pic.twitter.com/MagqUbPiZf

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 27, 2020

However, according to Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg, these accounts haven’t been used for years and were only made in order for Microsoft to have official Twitter accounts for their IPs.

“I know everyone is hungry for news, but sorry to get your hopes up,” Greenberg tweeted on Saturday. “These accounts have been inactive for years, it’s standard practice to secure social handles for our IP.”

Well, it certainly sounds like Microsoft isn’t planning on revealing any new Perfect Dark & Fable games any time soon but maybe one day it will? What do you think? Sound off in the comments section below.

SOURCE

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Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 is coming out on July 10th, its developer & publisher Inti Creates revealed on Friday. The game’s premiere trailer didn’t have a release date but a recent second trailer revealed when the game is coming out.

The game’s cast of playable characters has expanded with Dominique, Hachi, and Robert joining the fight against demons alongside the first game’s four heroes: Miriam, Zangetsu, Gebel, and Alfred. The sequel also features a new two-player local co-op mode.

What do you think of this sequel so far? Are you planning on getting this game next month? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

SOURCE

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With E3 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus, Square Enix has had to adapt like other game companies and change how it’ll reveal its new games this year. According to a recent investor Q&A, Square plans on revealing several titles in July and August.

Square was asked about how the pandemic has changed its plans for 2020 and the company gave the answer posted below (thanks, Gematsu):

“We would normally announce new games at E3, yes. We had planned to have a press conference as a replacement event, but were unable to do so since assets were not complete. We’ll be announcing new titles individually as the timing permits. Several will debut around July to August.”

Sounds like Square has some surprises in store in the coming months for its fans! What do you think the company will reveal later this summer? Go ahead and speculate in the comments section below the article.

SOURCE

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The Last of Us Part 2 finally launched on Friday and while Naughty Dog’s latest game was mostly received well by critics, so far its reception among the wider gaming audience has been divisive to say the least. Before the game came out, several major plot details that were leaked by hackers in April set off a firestorm of criticism against the game’s story.

So, naturally, when the game released there were a lot of suspect user reviews on Metacritic despite the game having just come out with a singleplayer campaign that can last from 25 to 30 hours. The game’s creative director, Neil Druckmann, took to Twitter to poke fun at the review bombing.

Oh man… in just a few hours we have almost DOUBLE the number of user reviews for #TheLastofUsPartII than the first game received in seven years. Love that passion! ? pic.twitter.com/cXRfuUijNG

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) June 20, 2020

As of writing, the Metacritic user review score for The Last of Us Part 2 is 3.6 with more than 37,000 user reviews submitted.

SOURCE

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If you’ve been worried about EA cramming in microtransactions into its upcoming first person aerial combat game Star Wars: Squadrons then don’t worry, according to developer Motive Studios, the game won’t have microtransactions of any kind.

The studio’s creative director Ian Frazier was asked by Game Informer if Star Wars: Squadrons would have microtransactions and Frazier told the magazine that the developer team’s mindset “has been very old school.”

“We’re trying to say with this game that we have a $40 price point,” Frazier continued, “we want to feel generous to players, and we want it to feel like a complete experience. Like ‘You gave us your $40. Here’s a game that you will love. Thank you.’ That’s it.”

However, Frazier also hinted at possible Star Wars: Squadrons DLC.

“This isn’t something we are building around a live-service strategy,” he also said. “It’s built around a game that is complete and great in its own right. That’s not to say we will never add anything, I guess we could, but it’s not presented as a live service.”

What do you make of this news? Speak your mind in the comments section below.

SOURCE

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If you’re a gamer who’d like to learn more about the ocean then Beyond Blue would be the perfect game for you. It features a varied library of sea life along with short, informative videos that include interviews with marine biologists that all aim to teach players about the ocean and its importance to our planet. However, if you’re expecting an educational game that also has challenging, involved gameplay then you might be left a bit disappointed with Beyond Blue’s short eight-mission campaign.

As a deep-sea diver and scientist named Mirai, you’ll spend most of your time swimming around in a beautiful ocean and scanning whales, sharks, dolphins, and turtles. There are no timed objectives, no threat of death, and no difficult choices to make. While this gameplay is so simplistic that it makes Beyond Blue lack replay value, I still had a fun time playing because of the game’s relaxing, laid back atmosphere and impressive-looking sea life.

Despite being an indie game, Beyond Blue’s sea creatures were well-animated and the game’s various environments (such as its pitch black deep sea trenches and well-populated ocean floor) were stunning. One of the game’s most visually-impressive moments is whenever it asks you to closely examine one of its whales. The game does a great job at giving these massive creatures a foreboding sense of size whenever you have to get up close and personal in order to give them more detailed scans.

Unfortunately, while the sea life looks good, it doesn’t react to Mirai all that much. Schools of fish will swim away whenever she approaches but dolphins and sharks don’t pay her any mind even when she’s inches away from them. There’s also not much interactivity with the sea life in general since all Mirai can do is scan them and none of the animals hunt each other or interact with each other in any meaningful way. Beyond Blue does a good job of depicting sea life but the game doesn’t have a dynamic ecosystem, which results in levels that look great but feel static.

There’s also a surprisingly in-depth story that’s about Mirai struggling to balance her personal & professional lives that had some touching moments but I wouldn’t describe the story as something that stuck with me because of the campaign’s short length.

Beyond Blue is a relaxing, short $20 edutainment game that’ll be a fun time for gamers who are curious about the deep blue sea and its inhabitants. Just don’t go into it expecting gameplay that’s deeper than a puddle.

*PS4 code provided by publisher*

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The PS4 & Xbox One versions of CD Projekt Red’s upcoming open world RPG Cyberpunk 2077 will be playable on PS5 & Xbox Series X, the studio announced Friday. The studio also revealed that the game will eventually receive a free upgrade for next gen consoles that will take “full advantage” of their power.

We are happy to confirm that Cyberpunk 2077 will be backwards compatible with both next-gen consoles! Your PS4 copy of the game will work on PS5 on launch day. Anyone who buys the game on Xbox One will be able to play their copy on Xbox Series X when the console launches too!

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) June 19, 2020

“We are happy to confirm that Cyberpunk 2077 will be backwards compatible with both next-gen consoles!” the game’s official Twitter account stated. “Your PS4 copy of the game will work on PS5 on launch day. Anyone who buys the game on Xbox One will be able to play their copy on Xbox Series X when the console launches too!”

This news was revealed the day after CD Projekt Red announced that Cyberpunk 2077’s release would be getting delayed for the second time because the studio needs more time to fix bugs. The highly anticipated RPG has been pushed back from September 17th to November 19th.

SOURCE

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Dying Light 2 narrative designer & writer Chris Avellone was accused on Saturday by two women of committing sexual assault. In a lengthy Twitter thread, a Twitter user and convention goer accused Avellone of taking advantage of her and other young women while they were drunk.

One woman claimed that she witnessed Avellone doing this to other people during a time period between 2013 and 2015 and was told by others about similar instances of this alleged behavior, which allegedly “occurred up until 2017 or 2018.”

During those years, Avellone was working at several major game studios such as Obsidian Entertainment, Arkane Studios, and Larian Studios, according to his LinkedIn page.

An indie game developer corroborated this behaviour, accusing Avellone of repeatedly groping her in 2014 and claimed that Avellone only stopped groping her after being spotted by another person.

Currently, Avellone has not substantially addressed the allegations but, according to his recent tweets, he appears to be aware of them (at least in regards to Karissa’s allegations).

SOURCE

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A new Crash game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, got leaked on Friday by Taiwan’s game ratings board and now another major leak has seemingly revealed the game’s release date: October 9th.

The release date can be viewed in the image below and a ResetEra thread contains several leaked screenshots, which could be from a reveal trailer that Sypro Reignited Trilogy developer Toys for Bob has hinted will be shown on Monday. It should be mentioned that the studio had developed the Nintendo Switch port of the Crash Bandicoot remake trilogy so this rumored release wouldn’t be its first time making a Crash game.

As for Crash 4’s story, Gematsu reported on Friday the story premise that was leaked by Taiwan’s game ratings board:

“Crash is relaxing and exploring his island in his time, 1998, when he finds a mysterious mask hidden away in a cave, Lani-Loli. The mask is one of the Quantum Masks and apparently knows Aku-Aku, Crash’s mask friend! With the Quantum Masks returning and a Quantum Rift appearing near our heroes, they decide to bravely head through to different times and dimensions to stop whoever is responsible.”

SOURCE

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A new story trailer for Mafia: Definitive Edition dropped on Saturday and showed off more of the game’s stunning graphics but didn’t show any gameplay. However, if you’re a fan of the original game then you’ll likely recognize quite a few of the new scenes that were shown.

Set in the open world fictional city of Lost Heaven during the 1930s, players will step into the shoes of Tommy Angelo, a cab driver turned mafia hitman who works for the Salieri crime family and eventually finds himself embroiled in a gang war involving the rival Morello crime family.

The remake launches on August 28th with the Mafia Trilogy bundle but it can be bought separately. We’ve reviewed the other two games that come with the trilogy and the reception hasn’t exactly been positive. Our Mafia 2: Definitive Edition review was posted earlier this month and we’ve also got a review for Mafia 3: Definitive Edition.

SOURCE

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Indie cyberpunk parkour game Ghostrunner got some new gameplay revealed on Saturday for IGN’s Summer of Gaming event but, notably, no release date was announced. A recent trailer for the game has it scheduled for a 2020 release without a specific date or month.

Ghostrunner is about a robot ninja fighting its way through a bleak, chaotic cyberpunk city where the remnants of humanity live after a disaster wipes out most of mankind. The goal of the game is to take down the city’s brutal leader, the Keymaster, in order to stop what’s left of humanity from going extinct.

As you can see in the gameplay posted above, there’s plenty of gun-toting enemies for players to slice through while quickly wallrunning and jumping from platform to platform like they’re playing an ultraviolent Mirror’s Edge.

SOURCE

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Larian Studios revealed during the Guerrilla Collective gaming event on Saturday that the early access period for Baldur’s Gate 3 will possibly start sometime in August. The reason no specific date was given was because the studio can’t guarantee when early access will be available due to the realities of making a game during the coronavrius pandemic.

“COVID-19 has impacted the Larian team as it has many people around the world, but the shift to work-from-home has gratefully been a successful one, allowing Larian to continue building toward an early access period of (maybe!) August,” the studio explained in a statement.

“Larian will have more information about the specific content of early access in the future,” the statement continued, “but the team is committed to working directly with community feedback to evolve the game during its early access campaign.”

Source: Press release

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Survival RPG Little Devil Inside had a mostly positive reception on Thursday when it was shown during the PS5 reveal event but several people took issue with the game’s design for characters who looked like African tribal characters.

An image of the characters can be viewed below.

I was so excited for Little Devil Inside.

Then I noticed these enemy types.

bruh. ??‍ pic.twitter.com/q5RK50orQy

— Balvin | Big Boss (@LordBalvin) June 12, 2020

Critics considered the character designs to be racist and stereotypical depictions of African tribal people. In response to the criticism, Neostream, a South Korea-based indie studio that’s developing the game, apologized on Saturday and said that it plans to change the character designs by removing the dreadlocks along with changing the skin tone, the red lips, and the dart blower. If those changes still end up not working then the design might be completely changed, the studio said.

“Racist stereotypes of any kind were absolutely not intended, we were not aware of the stereotypical connotations and wish to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by the character design,” the studio said on Facebook. “In addition, no one (not just limited to team members) has ever commented or hinted on the character designs. However, these characters have not been revealed publicly elsewhere prior to the event.”

Neostream further explained that it hadn’t intended to create designs that “referenced on any real African and/or Afro-American human tribes.”

“The focus was on creating colorful masks and our designers were researching masks from all various cultures,” Neostream also said. “As characters in the game, they move in groups and use blow darts that paralyze when hit. We wished to add character to the mask design and give it life to it – something like the little Kakamora characters in Disney’s Moana.”

SOURCE

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EA announced on Friday that a new Star Wars game is getting a big reveal on June 15th at 8 AM PT/11 AM ET. Titled, “Star Wars: Squadrons”, EA’s latest game set in a galaxy far, far away got leaked before the official Friday announcement due to an early Microsoft Store listing.

Pilots Wanted. Tune in for the reveal trailer of #StarWarsSquadrons this Monday, June 15th at 8:00 AM Pacific Time: https://t.co/ULwkIhQy2y pic.twitter.com/L0Z3jC2c3j

— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) June 12, 2020

Going by the game’s title and the official artwork, it looks like Star Wars: Squadrons will be a Star Wars game that’s focused on aerial combat between factions that could be the Rebel Alliance and the Empire of the original trilogy. Or they could be the Resistance and the First Order of the recent movies. We’ll just have to wait until this upcoming Monday to find out for sure about when this game is set.

According to what sources have told VentureBeat, Star Wars: Squadrons has a singleplayer campaign “but the main focus for Squadrons is on the multiplayer.”

SOURCE

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COGconnected doesn’t usually feature the same cosplayer twice in its weekend cosplay articles but South African cosplayer Kinpatsu is so good that we figured that she deserves another look! We wrote about her back in 2018 and ever since then she’s gone on to pull off even more fantastic cosplay. Before we get to her though, here’s a heads up for our other recent cosplay articles about popular cosplayers such as Taryn Cosplay, Starbuxx, and Ani-Ma. We’ve also recently posted some awesome body painting cosplay!

Let’s kick things off with some cosplay of Android 21 from Dragonball FighterZ!

Head to Page 2 to see her Harley Quinn and League of Legends cosplay!

The post Kinpatsu’s Sizzling Cosplay Is Back and Better Than Ever appeared first on COGconnected.

A recent interview with The Last of Us Part 2 creative director Neil Druckmann has revealed that the story details that were leaked in April didn’t reveal everything about the game’s story including its ending.

Druckmann spoke to Eurogamer about how the leaks impacted the developer team at Naughty Dog and mentioned that there were “so many false things out there” about how the game’s story will play out.

“We don’t want to go out there and correct anything because that would be spoiling the game in a way – by saying what it isn’t, we’re kind of saying what it is,” he added. Druckmann also addressed criticism about the game’s characters, who’ve been criticized for being diverse in a way that some argue is politically correct.

Druckmann denied that Naughty Dog was “somehow sacrificing” The Last of Us Part 2’s story “to win diversity points.”

“Everything is in service of the story,” he explained. “Getting better diversity gives us better story, gives us fresher perspectives on conflict. And I hope once they play the game, they’ll realize it.”

Reviews for Naughty Dog’s latest game will come out on June 12th at 12:01 AM PST/3:01 AM EST.

SOURCE

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Skater XL has been delayed from its July 7th release date and will now come out on July 28th for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, according to a Friday announcement from developer Easy Day Studios. Also, a new date for the Switch version is going to be revealed “in the coming weeks.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

? ANNOUNCEMENT ? What is up, guys! We just wanted to let you know that 1.0 will be launching on July 28, a few weeks later than the original date. . Despite our best efforts, and due in part to things out of our control, we will be moving the physical and digital launch of #SkaterXL 1.0 on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC to July 28th. We will also be announcing a new launch date for Nintendo Switch in the coming weeks. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to finalize the game. . Not to worry – between now and July 28th, we will be showing more unreleased content and features that will be available at launch of 1.0, continuing to polish the content and features, and make Skater XL the game that you all deserve at launch. . We appreciate your understanding and want to thank you for all your support! Here is a first look at Easy Day High School to hold you over ?

A post shared by Skater XL (@skater.xl) on Jun 5, 2020 at 11:00am PDT

No specific reason was given for the delay but the announcement did mention that a new date was needed “due in part to things out of our control” so it is possible that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the game’s development.

Easy Day Studios also released some new gameplay footage from a school level to make up for the delay announcement and the studio plans to reveal “more unreleased content and features” in the lead up to the game’s new launch date.

SOURCE

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After announcing in April that this year’s Summer Games Done Quick would be delayed to August, the event’s organizers provided another update on Friday that revealed that SGDQ 2020 will be online-only.

In light of COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the on-site portion of #SGDQ2020 and instead proceed with an online-only event, Summer Games Done Quick 2020 Online.

For more information, including submissions and volunteer information: https://t.co/umiMSaefOZ pic.twitter.com/vLKIKNNAqO

— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) June 5, 2020

The official Games Done Quick website explains that the speedrunning charity event will start on August 16th at 11:30 AM EST and will be broadcasted from the organizers’ studio. SGDQ 2020 is scheduled to end on August 23rd.

The website also confirms that previous game submissions made by participating runners haven’t been disregarded as a result of the event changes but runners will have until June 18th to complete a necessary submission form to have those games be considered by the organizers. Emails containing these submission forms will be sent on June 8th.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thought sin the comment section below the article.

SOURCE

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New gameplay from a June 2015 build of zombie FPS Dead Island 2 recently leaked online. The gameplay shows off the melee combat and gunplay against the game’s zombie enemies along with some car driving.

It is currently unclear where this leak comes from or who leaked it but it appears to be legitimate. The gameplay shown in the video above looks similar to what was officially shown at Gamescom 2014.

There were also some screenshots taken from the build and the leaked screens can be viewed in the Twitter thread below.

Obligatory screenshots. pic.twitter.com/aq9iPalYbs

— Jason Harrdington (@JHarrdington) June 5, 2020

There’s still no release date for Dead Island 2 (which was announced back in 2014) but it’s been confirmed for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. However, no new trailer or gameplay has been shown since 2014.

At first, the game was being developed by Spec Ops: The Line studio Yager but eventually that version of the game was cancelled in 2015 and Sumo Digital was announced as the new developer in 2016. But then, last August, the game’s developer studio changed for the third time with THQ Nordic announcing that Dambuster Studios would take over its development.

Sources: YouTube, Twitter

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