Gaming

Drummer James Edge got down on Apple’s “Marimba” ringtone in this TikTok, and it’s now the soundtrack for the rest of my work day.

And as a bonus, here he is doing Toe Jam & Earl, too.

Developer Innersloth announced that the game won’t receive updates or further support on the platform starting October 4th, 2023. As for why, the developer cites “the discontinuation of the Rift S headset, and many Rift players already moving to SteamVR.”

Players can get a SteamVR key for the game by submitting proof of purchase, using this form, by October 20th, 2023.

This week’s new entertainment releases cover a lot of ground. To start, there’s plenty on Netflix: the dark animated series Castlevania: Nocturne, the crime thriller Reptile, and Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

Meanwhile, Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi epic The Creator is in theaters, Counter Strike 2 is out on PC, EA Sports FC 24 is available on PC and console, and a new batch of Playdate games dropped.

The PlayStation 4 exclusive, first released in 2017, will stop offering online services on January 31st, 2024. From that point on, you’ll no longer be able to access Gran Turismo Sport’s community, open lobby, or sport mode.

But before that wider shutdown, developer Polyphony Digital says it will stop selling in-game add-on items, such as new vehicles and DLC, on December 1st, 2023.

Secret Lab made a gaming chair that’s themed around Fortnite’s humanoid banana Peeley. Maybe this is where Peeley unwinds after a day in court.

Analogue’s slick, retro-styled transparent version of the Pocket handheld goes on sale very soon: you can buy it starting at 11AM ET on the company’s site. It’s a limited edition, so you’ll want to move quickly.

AMD chief gaming architect Frank Azor confirms to me that Forspoken and Immortals of Aveum will be the first, with 12 other games announced and 16 studios committed to the tech.

FSR3’s big new feature is like Nvidia’s DLSS 3 frame generation, but not proprietary — it can imagine new frames between existing ones, boosting your framerate, with rival GPUs too. Wonder how my 3060 Ti will do.

The Revolt has a integrated handle that folds flush into the case, a pop-out headphone holder, toolless side panels, and separate cooling zones for the CPU and GPU — and the $2,099 Platinum configuration seems a solid price for a prebuilt RTX 4070 machine with i5-13600K, 32GB of DDR5 and RGB.

The highest-end configs seem overpriced, though, and what’s with the low storage capacities? BYOSSD. Hyte also sells the case by itself for $130.

The Pokémon Company tried to make the perks (read: promo cards and merch) from its collaboration with the Van Gogh museum to be accessible to everyone. But it seems like scalpers have been swarming the exhibit in Amsterdam to snatch up cards, and forcing the museum to change its sales policy for the exclusive goodies. Good job, folks.

Remember the whole microscandal about Zuck’s VR legs?

Well... Meta is now using “machine learning models that are trained on large data sets of people” to let developers give you generative AI legs in the Meta Quest 3.

More new dev toys here.

What is likely the last Overwatch League Finals tournament has just begun. This year, eight teams will participate in a double elimination bracket live in Toronto to decide this year’s champions.

This year, the Atlanta Reign are likely to take the trophy making them the first (and probably only) expansion team to win the championship. Hopefully, the Grand Finals match will send the League off with a bang and not a whimper.

Among Us VR adds to the growing library of games available to PlayStation’s next-gen VR system, which includes No Man’s Sky, Beat Saber, Resident Evil Village, and a lot more.

Martin Jonassan, the developer behind games like Holedown and Rymdkapsel, just announced his next project. It’s called Subpar Pool, and it looks like a combination of pool and golf, but with procedurally-generated levels and some cute little blobs. It launches October 12th on mobile, Steam, and the Switch.

We already knew that the upcoming PS5 game Spider-Man 2 was getting clever features like the ability to slow down the action, but now Sony has released a more detailed list of the accessibility options players can expect. This kind of focus on accessibility has become a welcome trend for big PlayStation releases — and looks like it will continue when Spider-Man 2 launches on October 20th.

Netflix hired Evil Genius to make a tabletop RPG based on Zack Snyder’s upcoming Rebel Moon, but now a lawsuit claims the streamer unfairly canceled the project over an alleged breach of its confidentiality agreement.

As reported by Gizmodo, Evil Genius Games claims the game — along with a 430-page player’s guide and a 337-page game master’s guide — was nearly finished when Netflix pulled the plug. Evil Genius is suing Netflix to receive compensation for its work and to release the game.

Hellboy Web of Wryd, a rogue-lite brawler starring a devil with the meanest right hook and voiced by the late and seriously great Lance Reddick, has been delayed two weeks, pushing its release date from October 4th to October 18th.

October is already a ridiculous month for video game launches and this delay lands Web of Wyrd in the same company as Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Sonic Superstars, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get around to it sometime in late 2025.

The Video Game History Foundation does great work when it comes to preserving the history of the medium, and now the institute is offering a unique way for people to show support. Right now on GOG you can purchase a “supporter pack” filled with all kinds of rare art and promotional materials for franchises like Yakuza and The Elder Scrolls, with proceeds going towards the VGHF.

Check out this interview for more on the work they’re doing.

Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox chief Phil Spencer is in Japan for the Tokyo gaming show. He’s been meeting with Xbox fans, with one asking him to sign a PS5 cover. Spencer happily obliged. Now an Xbox fan has a super rare and unusual PS5 cover, and the internet has a meme-worthy picture that will live on forever.

Are you a lactose-intolerant Sim of the famed The Sims 4 universe? I mean, I’m not either, but I identify strongly with them. Fortunately for all of us, EA has issued a giant kitchen-focused update to its simulator title, and it includes a change to the recipe UI that makes it much easier to find dairy-free and vegetarian foods. Our virtual friends can kiss stomach cramps and diarrhea goodbye!

Also, child Sims can use the ice cream machine now. I’m jealous of them.