Spiritfarer, Ooblets, and More OSTs are Gathered in the Wholesome Games "Slice of Life" Collection

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Wholesome Games has announced a brand new OST collection, which gathers music from soothing and sweet games such as Spiritfarer, Ooblets, A Short Hike, Kind Words, and more. "Slice of Life: Songs from Wholesome Games Collection" features 21 songs in total and all proceeds will be donated to Galaxy Fund, a new grant for women, BIPOC, and LGBT+ founders of game development studios:

If you're interested in the vinyl album compilation, you can pre-order the collection here.

Spiritfarer is a "cozy management game" that has players taking on the role of Stella, a spiritfarer that helps transport various creatures and characters through their journey into the afterlife. While the game addresses some heavy themes and topics, the game itself aims to deliver an immersive and thought-provoking journey with stunning animation and visuals.

Our staff writer Cameron Hawkins reviewed Spiritfarer and gave it a near perfect score. From his time with the game, Cameron came away impressed by its "beautifully crafted, memorable experience" that takes players on a compelling, profound journey. Spiritfarer is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia, PC, Mac, and Linux.

Ooblets, which launched for early access on July 15th Epic Game Store and Xbox Preview Program,  features daily quests, an expandable farm, and must-see dance-offs. Players grow various crops, build up a team of dancing Ooblets, and meet the wonderful folk who make up your town.

Released in September 2019 on PC and Mac, Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) delivered an unusual but heartwarming premise. Aside from featuring a relaxing, soothing space for players to enjoy, the game is centered around sending anonymous letters to other players for encouragement and positivity, with a new update bringing even more encouragement for an impressive in-game milestone. Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) is available now on PC and Mac through Steam.

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Activision Suing Netflix for Allegedly Stealing Chief Financial Officer

activision

Activision-Blizzard announced that they are filing a lawsuit against Netflix for allegedly poaching their Chief Financial Officer back in 2018. According to the company, Spencer Neumann resigned from Activision on December 31st, 2018 and two days later announced his new CFO position with Netflix. This is despite signing a three year contract with Activision that would have ended on April 30th, 2020.

In January 2019 they terminated Neumann's contract, which according to Reuters was due to the breached contract. The lawsuit against Netflix confirms this as according to the filing the company "knowingly induced Neumann to breach his employment contract with Activision," and "engaged in tortious conduct when Activision — with Neumann's assistance — was negotiating with Netflix over a commercial partnership to distribute Activision's linear media content."

Because of the sudden departure, Activision was forced to pay millions of dollars more to his replacement as well as millions more to other executives in order to prevent them from leaving as well. The company wants Netflix to cover those and other costs, and it's also after punitive damages and an injunction against what it says is "a pattern and practice of unlawfully inducing employees of other competitors to breach their fixed-term contracts."

According to the lawsuit: "Unless Netflix is restrained by appropriate injunctive relief from continuing to raid Activision's workforce by targeting its executives who have voluntarily entered into enforceable and ongoing fixed-term employment agreements, Activision will continue to suffer irreparable harm, including, but not limited to, losing the value of its valid fixed-term employment agreements, damage to its business reputation, workforce, and business opportunities, while Defendants will continue to be unjustly enriched by their tortious and unjust conduct."

Activision-Blizzard has had a rough year. After laying off roughly 800 members of its staff in early 2019, the publishing giant has now closed another wing of its company this week. Reported by Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard told employees in October in its office located in Versailles, France that it would be closing the location down.

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Final Fantasy XIV Producer/Director Discusses Rebooting Process and Who He Admires

Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.4 screenshots 2 pretty boys BL undertones

The next interview in the Archipel Caravan stars Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida, who helmed the successful reboot of the title after its disastrous initial release and continues to lead it to this day. In the interview he discusses the process of redoing the MMORPG in detail, which is always a fascinating story. Check out the 30 minute interview below:

According to the official description: "Final Fantasy XIV currently stands at the top ranks of the MMORPG genre, ten years after its initial release and an unprecedented full reboot after being heavily criticized.

"We've spent some time with Naoki Yoshida, who took the helm of the project in December 2010, who recollected on his career, his beginnings at Square Enix and the evolution of FFXIV, now at the end of its third extension. Yoshida also told us about his admiration for Yasumi Matsuno, creator of Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, who is now heavily collaborating on FFXIV, in addition to his views about the future of the MMORPG genre."

Archipel Caravan specializes in creating and publishing documentaries about various Japanese creatives. Their previous interviews was with the Yakuza creator, Danganronpa creator, and with the Resident Evil creator here. You can support them financially through Patreon here. If you enjoyed this video, Archipel has an entire lineup planned, which they posted on their official Twitter account:

For those who have already invested in next-gen consoles, Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida has revealed his desire for the title to come to PS5 and he believes it could still come to Xbox consoles according to an interview published in July.

The most recent patch, Patch 5.4, will add several new quests and dungeons including a fight against Final Fantasy VII endgame superboss Emerald Weapon. Patch 5.2, Echoes of a Fallen Star, released on February 18th and featured new main quests, a new raid dungeon, new general dungeons, and VII's other endgame superboss Ruby Weapon. The previous Shadowbringers update, titled 5.1 "Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty," introduced a brand new NieR Automata-themed patch featuring new gear, a new dungeon, new game+, and the Fellowship.

Announced by Yoshida via a press release, Final Fantasy XIV has now surpassed 18 million registered players in total. This number is comprised of players across all of the game's platforms which include PS4, PC, Mac, and even the PS3. Meanwhile, be sure to check out our official review of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers here, as well as our E3 2019 interview with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida here. Shadowbringers is available now for PS4 and PC on Amazon.

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Original Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age Has Been Delisted in Favor of the S Version

Square Enix has delisted Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age from many different digital storefronts now that the new S version is out in the wild.

There is a note on the Steam page for the game that reveals that it was delisted "at the request of the publisher" and will not appear if players try to search for it. The note states: "At the request of the publisher, DRAGON QUEST® XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age™ – Digital Edition of Light is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search."

There is another note below this one that points toward the newly released Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age.

If you were to travel to both the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store, you will also notice that the game has been delisted there as well. Humble also shows that the game is unavailable.

The feedback has not been very good for Square Enix. The definitive S version is a port of the Switch version finally making its way to PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game includes some improvements and extra content, however, there are graphical differences that you might consider a downgrade depending on your tastes. The move has caused players to leave negative reviews on the game's Steam page.  Players also do not like that they will have to shell out for a full-priced game if they would like to access more content.

Players can still pick up a physical copy of the original Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Plus, you can still play your digital version if you picked it up on release.

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Naughty Dog Promotes Neil Druckmann to Co-President

Yesterday, Naughty Dog released an announcement on its website with news of a few major promotions within the company.

Neil Druckmann is joining Evan Wells as Co-President of Naughty Dog. Druckmann has previously been vice-president for the company for almost three years now. Druckmann was also the director of The Last of Us Part II, which just released earlier this year.

On top of that, Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling have been promoted to Vice Presidents for the development studio. Before the promotion, Mori worked as the Director of Operations and Gyrling has previously been the Co-Director of Programming.

It's not surprising Druckmann has been moved up to Co-President. The man has almost become the face of the company as he had led development on the biggest game ever for the company.

But now that he is sharing the top position at the company, has he moved into a position that would take him out of game development? I am sure this job lands him with a laundry list of new responsibilities. Plus, the new The Last of Us HBO show that he is producing will also pour some more responsibility on him. I am interested to see what direction he will steer Naughty dog in the near future.

Naughty Dog had just released The Last of Us Part II earlier this June for the PS4. The game is also backward compatible on the newly released PS5. Make sure to check out DualShockers' official review of the game right here

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Chrono Odyssey Released its First Trailer and the Korean MMORPG is Gorgeous

The first trailer for an ambitious MMORPG title called Chrono Odyssey made its debut. Korean studio NPIXEL is behind the game, which is set to launch for PC in 2022, features unique job systems and random dungeons that utilize timespace. You can check out the impressive announcement trailer below (thanks to PS360HD):

Chrono Odyssey, which was formerly known as "Project S," is an epic fantasy massively multiplayer online RPG about time and space. This project visualizes the story of members of the special organization, "Idraiginn," waging a huge war against 12 gods. The title bears a strong resemblance to Final Fantasy XIV, which is definitely a good thing in my own opinion.

For those who have already invested in next-gen consoles, Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida has revealed his desire for the title to come to PS5 and he believes it could still come to Xbox consoles according to an interview published in July.

The most recent patch, Patch 5.4, will add several new quests and dungeons including a fight against Final Fantasy VII endgame superboss Emerald Weapon. Patch 5.2, Echoes of a Fallen Star, released on February 18th and featured new main quests, a new raid dungeon, new general dungeons, and VII's other endgame superboss Ruby Weapon. The previous Shadowbringers update, titled 5.1 "Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty," introduced a brand new NieR Automata-themed patch featuring new gear, a new dungeon, new game+, and the Fellowship.

Announced by Square Enix and Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida via a press release, Final Fantasy XIV has now surpassed 18 million registered players in total. This number is comprised of players across all of the game's platforms which include PS4, PC, Mac, and even the PS3.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out our official review of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers here, as well as our E3 2019 interview with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida here. Shadowbringers is available now for PS4 and PC on Amazon.

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Video Games Have Reportedly Contributed Over $90 Billion to U.S. Economy

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Public opinion of video games has really shifted as the years have gone on. Once a hobby that many of us thought was a "niche" or "nerdy" hobby has gone on to become one of the most profitable sources in the entertainment industry. A new study from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) shows that the video game industry has provided a significant impact on the U.S. economy, both in terms of growth and jobs.

The report states that the U.S. video game industry in 2019 generated $90.3 billion in economic output. On top of that, the industry supported close to 429,000 jobs. This number includes 143,000 people who are directly employed by the industry and average over $121,000 in annual compensation. $12.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes have also come from video game-related activity.

On top of that, the report from the ESA also breaks down the top ten states that have contributed the most to the U.S. economy directly from the video game industry. You can take a look at the list below. I think you can guess which state is sitting on top of the list.

ESA

Stanley Pierre-Louis shared some thoughts on how video games have affected the economy. He stated: "The statistics in this detailed report reinforce the significant impact video games have on the U.S. economy, including jobs creation and providing family-sustaining wages in wide array of careers. As a convergence point for leadership in software, hardware, entertainment and creative arts, the video game ecosystem generates the kind of innovation critical to economic growth and this report helps share that story in a new and comprehensive way."

Video games have been proven to make you happier and improve your mental health. Now that video games are having such a positive impact on the U.S. economy, I don't know what else people can negatively say about them.

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Dragon Age Will Once Again Be Shown at The Game Awards

Dragon Age

Dragon Age fans have not received a proper game in the series since the release of Dragon Age Inquisition back in 2014. A couple of years ago at The Game Awards, the next game in the series was revealed. This year, Geoff Keighley will be bringing the game back for another look.

The host of The Game Awards tweeted that fans will get a special look at the next Dragon Age game from Bioware at the show along with what appears to be some new artwork.

It wasn't specified what this special look will be. The first announcement was just a short teaser clip with artwork and voice over. We have still yet to see gameplay in any capacity. Unless you would like to count this small snippet from a video showing off EA's tech.

I am interested to see how this game is holding up. Bioware has gone through plenty of trials and tribulations over the last five years. Everyone knows what happened with Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda, but the company has had many internal issues that could be problematic for development. Multiple top developers have left the studio, including Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah.

EA has stated that the next Dragon Age game will not release until 2022 at the earliest and 2023 at the latest. One can assume that it is being developed for the next generation of consoles. Bioware has been run through the internet gauntlet after Inquisition was released. Hopefully, this Dragon Age game can help set the developers as one of the top RPG makers once again.

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Radio Telescope That Inspired Battlefield 4 Map Experiences Levolution

Battlefield 4

For those that played on them, the maps in Battlefield 4 were iconic. They were large, sprawling playgrounds that players could blow up, skydive through and make their own Battlefield moments in. But the standout feature of the maps in Battlefield 4 was their levolutions. This made-up term defines the massive changes each map could go through when something gets blown up or if the weather decided to take an especially nasty turn. Ironically, one of the real-life inspirations for a map in Battlefield 4 experienced its own levolution on the first of December.

Players may remember Rogue Transmission, one of the larger maps in Battlefield 4 that centers around a massive radio telescope. In the game, this map is set in the Guizhou Province of China. In reality, the map is based on the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Just a few days ago, Arecibo's 900-ton equipment platform — that massive thing dangling some 500 feet above the dish — collapsed. The last of the platform's functioning support cables finally gave out, crashing the platform down on the disc below it. Nobody was hurt in the crash, according to an NPR report on the matter.

As unfortunate as it is that a massive scientific icon has been destroyed, the similarities between this accident and the levolution from Battlefield 4 are undeniable. footage of the Arecibo Observatory's collapse can be found below.

During its nearly 60 years in service, the Arecibo Observatory was an important tool for scientists studying radio astronomy and atmospheric science. Outside of its scientific uses, the enormous facility was also used as a setpiece in the James Bond movie GoldenEye.

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Code Geass Band FLOW Whip Up Zero Cosplay For Lelouch's Birthday, New Project Reveal Stream Coming This Saturday

FLOW code geass zero cosplay

December 5, 2020 marks the birthday of Code Geass protagonist Lelouch, and Sunrise will be holding a special live stream for the occasion. The Code Geass New Project Reveal stream is happening at 0600 ET (Click here for a time zone conversion table). The stream will be on YouTube.

The latest big Code Geass project is Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, a movie which released in February 2019 in Japan. This new stream should be revealing a sequel. We don't know yet what form it'll take, whether it'll be a TV series or another movie. And it's unlikely the first announcement will precise as much.

For the occasion, Japanese band FLOW, who handled multiple Code Geass theme songs including first OP Colors (JIBUN WO), shared a photo of themselves cosplaying Zero.

FLOW is made of singer Keigo, singers and guitarists Kohshi and TAKE. Bassist and singer Got's, And drummer Iwasaki. The five man band knows how to have fun and share it:

While Code Geass is regularly featured in Super Robot Wars, it's been a while since the series got a game. I wouldn't be surprised if an announcement on that front came soon. Earlier this year, Lelouch also got to pilot a new Gundam Wing Zero in his colors.

Be sure to check the #ルルーシュ生誕祭2020 tag on Twitter for your dose of fanart and cosplay. A new official artwork for Lelouch was published by the official Code Geass Twitter account:

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