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Based on the hit book series, HBO’s Game of Thrones has deeply embedded itself within American popular culture. The television phenomenon is now nearing its final season, leaving hardcore fans wanting more. Luckily, there is actually more to come. Referred to as The Long Night, a prequel spin-off series to Game of Thrones has been green lit for production. In 2017, HBO gave the go ahead for a total four episodes of the prequel. The series is rumored to take place 5,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones and is set to star Naomi Watts. Speaking to EW, HBO programming president Casey Bloys revealed that the series is expected to begin production early this summer. Bloys previously claimed that the series will not air until one year after the finale of Game of Thrones. With that in mind, fans can expect a summer 2020 release for the spin-off…

The Nintendo Switch is a smashing success. With millions of consoles having sold worldwide, Nintendo has put a truly historical gaming machine on the market. That being said, it would appear that the company is far from done iterating on the console. The Nintendo Switch went on sale back in March 2017. A hybrid console, the Switch is uniquely designed to be played from the couch as well as on the go. Just as with the Wii and WiiU, the Switch has been experiencing incredible hardware sales. As of the end of 2018, over an estimated 32 million consoles have been sold worldwide. As well as the console is selling, Nintendo is potentially now looking to buff things up even further. As reported by Japanese news outlet Nikkei, a smaller version of the Switch is potentially being targeted for a 2019 release at a lower price point. The console will…

Assassin’s Creed has become a staple of modern gaming. The series has been around since way back in 2007. As with any franchise that has been around for 12 years, the game series has had its ups and downs. Now, however, it would seem the game is once again on the rise. Now 21 games strong, Assassin’s Creed has flooded the market with a bevy of amazing titles. That being said, not every Assassin’s Creed has been a smashing critical success. Ubisoft, parent company to the franchise, has a reputation for annually releasing sequel after sequel when it comes to their properties. Assassin’s Creed was certainly no different. First off, let’s take a quick look back at when it all started. Assassin’s Creed has become a staple of modern gaming. The series has been around since way back in 2007. As with any franchise that has been around for 12…

Indeed: as of this week, the game’s first DLC fighter, Piranha Plant, has gone live. Since its inception in 1996 on the Nintendo 64, the Super Smash Bros. series’ biggest draw — its hook that no other games can swing — is that it is the ultimate crossover (sorry, Marvel) of Nintendo characters. In no other game can stealth operative Solid Snake be slapped around by a sentient pink puffball. That description could even be referring to multiple characters, which shows how diverse the Smash fighter roster really is. Now, we’ve gone into ultra instinct diverse with the addition of Piranha Plant as the first of the DLC characters. Nobody expected this. Piranha Plant didn’t even expect to be included — it always shrubbed it off as some warped kind of pipe dream. But here we are, as its vines are being unleashed in Smash the world over. There is…

Pokemon is a series that is loyal to its traditions, perhaps like no other — if you get a mainline Pokemon game, you know exactly what you’re getting. In a world where a franchise might take a sudden, confusing shift into a direction that you don’t gel with, staying true to the formula can be seen as trustworthy and a good thing. On the opposite end, it’s also possible for a franchise to play it too safe and things could start to get stale. While Pokemon is definitely still enjoyable, it’s a peculiar series of games in that it’s kept up with the times in some ways, but in others is very archaic and has hardly progressed. I get it: why mess with the formula of one of your biggest cash cows? But in 2019, much of its features feel like anachronisms from the past and are outdated. In some…

Bethesda has been getting a bad wrap lately. And, it’s not just because of Fallout 76. A bevy of lawsuits, middling fan reception to their latest two releases and a seemingly big push towards mobile all have hardcore Bethesda fans scared. That being said, artistically, the company is doing just fine. Seriously, there’s no need to worry. Before we get into the nitty gritty details of what’s going on with Bethesda right now and the seemingly chaotic turmoil their PR is dealing with, let’s slow it down. Let’s break down what got Bethesda on most gamers’ radars. Bethesda Game Studios earned their place as the proverbial top dogs of RPG games back in the early 2000s. With the release of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, later followed by the more commercially successful title Oblivion, Bethesda claimed their spot among the great developers for wide eyed, RPG playing video game fans around…

Ubisoft’s Far Cry series has experienced a great resurgence since the release of the highly praised Far Cry 3. Well, it would appear that the next title in the series may offer a few new takes on the now well versed franchise. Far Cry New Dawn is set to take place 17 years after the events of Far Cry 4, offering a somewhat post-apocalyptic take on the series. Speaking in a recent promotional tweet, creative director Jean-Sebastien Decant has now revealed that Far Cry New Dawn will feature some RPG elements. “We pushed what we call the light RPG approach in the game to create more depth, so you’ll be able to craft guns that have ranks, and these ranks they will be useful to fight against enemies that also have ranks.” Decant said. “We have what we call the escalation system for the outposts,” Decant later continued, noting changes…

Farming Simulator, just as it sounds, allows players to garner some virtual experience down in the fields. While a game all about mimicking manual labor may sound niche, don’t be fooled. Farming Simulator 19 launched near the end of 2018 and sold a massive 1 million copies within just 10 days. Needless to say, the not so niche game about planting crops and driving tractors has a cult following unlike almost any other. Well, Farming Simulator developers Giants Software have since announced an Esports league in Europe that will feature a massive 250.000€ grand prize. Giants Software CEO Christian Ammann recently offered a few words to Gamasutra on the matter. “Competitive farming is something people enjoy for years now, but it hasn’t been done in eSports so far,” Ammann said. “We have lots of eSports enthusiasts in our company who can’t wait to show the world that farming can indeed be…

In the beginning, if you wanted to play video games with someone, you had to do so sitting next to each other. As technology has evolved, so has multiplayer — not only can you now play with others online rather than in-person, playing online is now the multiplayer standard. PC games were the early adopters of online play due to the convenience of being on a system that inherently connects to the Internet by design. Consoles, however, had online play come at a slower pace. Many people were still playing splitscreen multiplayer on consoles when PC users were playing online. The turning point for online play on game consoles was Xbox Live on the original Xbox, most notably with Halo 2 becoming an online phenomenon. As times progressed, game consoles have caught up and are now fully online-enabled with streamlined services (including streaming), eliminating the need for in-person multiplayer. You don’t…

So you’ve already beat your favorite game a few times. You have tried others, but you keep finding yourself back in that familiar world on that old console. You know every inch of that map, know exactly how the story unfolds, all of the secrets, and yet you cannot get enough. Then one day out of nowhere, you hear the news – they are re-releasing that game! But what must the re-release have to encourage you to spend that hard-earned money? For me, there are a handful of games that I would buy the re-release no matter what. That’s how special a few of the games I have played are to me. Mainly Zelda games, I would re-purchase Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask until the end of time (same with A Link to the Past, but A Link Between Worlds was mostly a remake). However, a key thing with re-makes that I expect is obviously the graphics. Graphics enhancement…