Multiple Final Fantasy VII Revelation DLC packs, a Premium Edition, Story Expansion Pass, and more have been listed on the Epic Games Store via the tracking website EpicDB: https://www.rpgsite.net/news/20827-final-fantasy-7-revelation-story-expansion-pass-dlc-premium-edition

dreamcast forever 🌀

piracy is the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now, you might find it morally reprehensible but there is literally no other institution that will keep games alive in 25, 50 years' time

In its current state, Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 is not definitive in any way. Our port review with comparisons and more: https://www.respec.net/review/65-sonic-frontiers-definitive-edition-switch-2-review-vs-ps5-switch-1-pc-steam-deck

Meta selling its compute capacity...Oracle warning everybody that it might not get paid by OpenAI...going on a major business TV show tomorrow...the Summer of Smiles has begun

As the director of a historical video game preservation institution, and someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to this cause, this is accurate. We have attempted to work with the industry's trade organization to find a legal path forward, but they refuse to offer a meaningful alternative.

Statement from VGHF director Frank Cifaldi on the discontinuation of physical PlayStation media, and the closure of the PS3 and PSP digital storefronts.

Still got that dog in me

I saw some people saying "errr maybe we should do something about this" with the GTA 6 no physical copy news and its like, lads we needed to do something about this a whole console generation ago. The horse has well and truly bolted.

well, at the very least it's a good thing that storage media is historically cheap right now, meaning it doesn't matter how many games you need to download, you'll have plenty of room

we've come a long way

Sarah's book is an absolute must-read, and moves like this from Meta simply demonstrate more loudly why. Here it is: www.amazon.co.uk/Careless-Peo...

The number of third party games that lost Xbox funding over the last 18 months is longer than I'd have ever expected, & I'm sure I don't even know them all. GL to IOI. I can't wait to see this, and have a game from one of my favourite studios to cover on @rpgsite.net. Wishing the impacted the best.

Oxford drinkers may finally be able to swear in the Three Goats’ Heads after the death of Humphrey Smith, the irascible owner of Sam Smiths Brewery, at the age of 81. The pub chain enforced strict bans on swearing and mobile phone use. Smith was described in a Facebook pubs group as “an absolute tit

‘Timidity is the thing that kills you’: Ian Hislop on 40 years editing Private Eye Is Hislop planning to leave anytime soon? “Fairly simple answer: no.” pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/m...

I don't know where "there" is, but we're getting there for sure.

*kisses fingers*

being on bluesky

Really lovely video tribute to the world of Final Fantasy XV. Weird old flawed diamond, that game. I don't think anyone will ever make a video like this, as effective as this, about XVI, sadly. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zsK...

the monkey's paw of everyone who suggested a Persona game in a Western School begins to curl

“You do know it’s just telling you what it thinks you want to hear…” From the latest Private Eye, out now.

I reviewed Dead or Alive 6 Last Round for @respec.net. The PS5 version delivers a good visual upgrade over the original PS4 base game, but is below the bare minimum for a re-release in other ways. Included comparisons, Steam Deck impressions, and more in my review: www.respec.net/review/64-de...

Star Fox has a lot of little detail misses vs the og, but it also has some brill new touches. On N64/3DS, the Venom 2 Star Wolf fight always had them showing up patched up w bandages & cybernetic gear. On Switch 2, they have their normal appearance... unless you defeated them on Fichina en route.

Top 10 Aura Moments

Don't quite know where the time went, but we've been at it for two decades today. 26 years including our fansite days. A look back from me here - and a bit about what's next, including for folk who maybe liked the style of stuff I did on Eurogamer and VG247.

Don't quite know where the time went, but we've been at it for two decades today. 26 years including our fansite days. A look back from me here - and a bit about what's next, including for folk who maybe liked the style of stuff I did on Eurogamer and VG247.

"Maintaining what Culdcept is, as a series, is extremely important to us" - we talk with Neos Corporation about reviving the card RPG series with Culdcept BEGINS, how it continues the story, & much more: https://www.rpgsite.net/interview/20735-culdcept-begins-interview-neos-development-new-card-rpg

Slippy, no!

Termination without cause in Japan is complex and workers have a lot of rights and protections we don't in the US. If Japan had employment laws as weak as ours, Nintendo would undoubtedly lay off workers just the same. It's not management's benevolence or farsightedness, it's labor law.

I think there's space for all kinds of critics tbh -- and those of us that are gameplay/mastery driven do exist (if they didn't, no fighting game would get reviewed!). But some of the Star Fox discourse is a great showcase of the short-sighted attitude to value that has wiped out entire genres.

Microsoft blaming the rising costs of computer components after spending $146 billion dollars on AI investments

One thing I can promise you is that if your webpage has a video ad that auto-plays audio, I will close it the moment I hear the sound, even if I was hyper invested in what I was reading

Cinemas are a ripoff

My friend has worked in game testing for many years on some of the biggest most confidential games. He unfortunately got laid off by his employer who shall not be named (you can assume...) If anyone in the UK knows of game testing roles I would love to send his info your way

wtf i need one of these

As the co-author of Postal, a book defending Uwe Boll and Postal, it brings me no joy to report that his comeback film, Citizen Vigilante, is the most racist movie since The Birth of a Nation. There's bad, and then there's Citizen Vigilante nathanrabin.substack.com/p/citizen-vi...

New era of Xbox feeling to me as increasingly defined by whiplash. Champagne parties & influencer giveaways in 6-figure venues, followed by a grim all-hands msg heralding upcoming cuts. Sharma saying, "gaming has become unaffordable & we need to fix that" followed by eye-watering price hikes, etc.

I think it's easy to be specifically mad at these price rises and the executives who signed them off, but really they are just a symptom of how the whole tech components economy is completely and totally fucked, with no end of that status quo in sight. Dreadful

Anyone laid off, apply to our game studio. Doesn't matter if you don't see a matching role, apply anyway via the "General Dev Application" If you applied before, apply again. You got nothing to lose. www.absurdventures.com/careers

Lylat Wars / Print ad / Nintendo / 1997

man i wonder if they should set up a studio in the region. some kind of japan studio.

SoftBank’s investor presentation is one of the greatest things ever made. I’ve been thinking about it all day. These are the real slides shown in a speech where Masayoshi Son said he wouldn’t retire for at least another decade. The goose stuff is truly demented. Bravo group.softbank/media/Projec...

there's a very simple answer to this problem that editors can take. Place some other bets. Spend some money on other stuff. It's not rocket science, but a lot of the media, especially in the corporately owned realm, becomes as blinkered as a racehorse as soon as a 'big' game lands

Happy 35th birthday Sonic!

Rockstar not bothering with discs is absolutely the death knell for anyone else deigning to do so now. Everybody will be able to point to that success as proof physical doesn't matter lol