Culture

Twitch Apologizes For Suspending Debate Streamers Over Fake Copyright Claims

Yesterday evening, Twitch suspended a slew of high-profile streamers who, whether occasionally or full-time, cover politics. Those caught up in the snare included speedrunner Mychal “Trihex” Jefferson, lefty podcasters Chapo Trap House, and political pundit David Pakman. This happened after an organization claiming to represent CBS issued copyright claims on streams involving last night’s Democratic…

GOG’s New Refund Policy Is Extremely Generous

PC marketplace Good Old Games announced a new refund policy today, and uh, it’s very kind. Maybe even too kind. Here’s the new policy, straight from GOG: “Starting now, you can get a full refund up to 30 days after purchasing a product, even if you downloaded, launched, and played it. That’s it.” That’s honestly…

Cosplayers Across America Are Fundraising For Bernie

Bernie Sanders isn’t running for president on the back of billionaires. He’s getting there via donations from supporters, and today, that’s a bunch of cosplayers. Earlier today, hyenasandgin started the Twitter hashtag #cosplayersforbernie. “My friends on the Ballin’ Out Super Podcast (number one leftist anime podcast) had recently raised $420 for Bernie and I was inspired…

Breath Of The Wild Player Beats Calamity Ganon In 11 Seconds

Few experiences in video games feel better than demolishing a tough boss after figuring out the perfect strategy. Reddit user Master_t0rch recently took this to the extreme by optimizing the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild fight against Calamity Ganon to such a degree that the monster is reduced to a useless pile of…

Destiny 2 Lead Says They’re Trying To Fix The ‘FOMO’ Problem

In a new Director’s Cut blog post over on Bungie’s website, Destiny 2 director Luke Smith wrote that the studio wants to change how the game’s three-month seasons filled with time-limited activities work in the future so players don’t feel like they’re constantly missing out on stuff when they’re not playing. “This year’s version of…

‘Konami Code’ Creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto Dies At 61

Kazuhisa Hashimoto, veteran video game developer and creator of the famous Konami Code, died this week at the age of 61. “We are saddened to hear about the passing of Kazuhisa Hashimoto, a deeply talented producer who first introduced the world to the ‘Konami Code,’” Konami said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with Hashimoto-san’s…

Shovel Knight Is Getting A Puzzle Spin-Off Called Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

We’re getting a new Shovel Knight game that looks like a mashup of The Legend of Zelda and Candy Crush. Sure, alright, sign me up. Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon was announced during today’s Yacht Club Game Presents livestream and it looks like a lot. Top-down dungeons? Check. Roguelike elements? Of course. Enemies grouped up like…

Platinum Games Is Finally Publishing Its Own Original Game

For years now, Platinum Games has been making games under contract or with the cooperation of publishers, whether that was Sega or Square Enix. Now, it’s finally making a game that it fully owns and will self publish. Right now, the working title is Project G.G In an official release, director Hideki Kamiya said, “Unlike…

Mass Effect Returns To Minecraft Seven Years Later

Minecraft players can now once again explore Mars as their favorite Mass Effect players on modern platforms. The Mass Effect Mash-Up Pack adds 36 unique skins for characters like Commander Shepard and Garrus, as well as a bunch of custom textures, menus, and some of the best music from Mass Effect 3 because what better…

Ghost Recon Breakpoint‘s Long-Awaited Overhaul Has Been Delayed At The Last Minute

Ghost Recon Breakpoint players just can’t catch a break. The game was supposed to get a massive “immersive mode” overhaul this month addressing a number of issues players have had with Breakpoint since it launched last fall. Now, just days before the end of February, Ubisoft has announced that the update won’t arrive until sometime…

Destiny 2 Is Finally Getting Trials Of Osiris Next Month

Last night players completed the final stage of Destiny 2’s Empyrean Foundation event, resulting in an announcement from Bungie that the beloved, high-stakes player-vs.-player mode from the first game, Trials of Osiris, will be returning on March 13. “D2 needs aspirational experiences like Trials in PVP,” the game’s director Luke Smith said on Twitter. Trials…

Still Chilly. Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft | Twitter JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line 

Our Favorite Photos From Katsucon 2020, One Of The Biggest Cosplay Shows On The Planet

Katsucon, held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, may not be as big as shows like Comic-Con, PAX or Anime Expo for the general attendee, but for cosplayers this is one of the absolute highlights of the year. Around 20,000 people went through the gates earlier this month, and…

Get Paid, Sonic

Labros Panousis is an artist from Greece. You can see more of Labros’ stuff at his ArtStation page.

YouTuber Etika’s Memorial Is Now A PokéStop

Last year, following the passing of YouTube star Desmond “Etika” Amofah, fans got together and painted a 40-foot mural in Brooklyn in his honour. And now, after lobbying Niantic, the mural is a bonafide PokéStop in Pokémon Go As upstart young Vice reporter Gita Jackson writes, the idea was first raised back in November by…

Horror Game That Was Pulled From Steam Revived In A Harvard Library, Of All Places

Devotion, the first-person horror game from Taiwanese developers Red Candle Games, was recently added to the Harvard-Yenching Library archives. This makes Harvard University the only place to play a legitimate copy of Devotion since it was removed from Steam a year ago after the discovery of an image mocking China’s leader. Earlier this week, Red…

You Can Easily Play Stadia Games Using Your Phone’s Touchscreen Now

Stadia is still missing a lot of common sense features following its launch late last year, including a built-in touch control option. But now, a fan-made Chrome extension called TouchStadia lets you bypass Stadia’s controller requirement and use touch controls on smartphones. Released over the weekend on Reddit where it was first spotted by Android…

Samurai Jack Gets Its First Video Game In Over A Decade

Samurai Jack, the popular Cartoon Network series that recently received a much-needed conclusion on Adult Swim, gets its first new video game adaptation since 2004 this summer. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is being made by developer Soleil, whose previous work includes Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, and, uh,…

The New Xbox One Home Screen Is A Lot Cleaner

Microsoft released a new update for the Xbox One home screen yesterday that makes recently played games easier to find and removes a lot of the extra junk that had previously been taking up real estate. The three rows that used to make up the home screen have been condensed and moved. Now, in the…

Fans Beautifully Remaster One Of World of Warcraft‘s Greatest Moments

It’s been a decade since World of Warcraft players stormed Icecrown Citadel to take down the Lich King Arthas Menethil once and for all. Blizzard’s ending cinematic to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion is a powerful piece, but it’s showing its age. Nothing new models, textures, lighting effects, and some very dedicated fans…