So… we’ve finally come down to this: the Xbox Games Showcase rebuttal to PlayStation’s pretty rad summer PS5 Reveal Event from 6 weeks back.
And The Geekdom Gamescast closes out #G3G2020 with a bang.
Joined by streamer and fellow GHGer Patrick Obloy, your host Myke Ladiona and his p.n.c. Travis Moody on S02E10 with the good, the bad-ass and the “meh” from Xbox’s reveal event. But arguably more interesting is what we discovered deep beneath the surface– exactly how Sony and Xbox operate completely different from each other, their strengths, weaknesses and company goals heading into the next-gen consoles, and even lessons learned from analyzing both brands coming out of these summer long events.
It’s a deep one!
Agree on the Xbox Game Reveal Event grades? Disagree? Let us know how we did in the comments below.
We hope you finished The Last Of Us, Part II because it’s time to talk about it!
On a very special episode of The Geekdom Gamescast — well, your trusty host Myke Ladiona — is joined by an awesome pair of GHGers and fellow PlayStation lovers, Michelle Kisner and Dee Assassina, to talk (almost) all things The Last Of Us in yet another Zoomcast…
***WARNING*** Major spoilers commence! If you haven’t finished the game yet — well, Myke hasn’t either?!? –bookmark this page and come back to us. You won’t regret it!
We’ll see you all next time for our re-cap on Xbox’s next big Summer Reveal Event and Ghosts of Tsushima!
#G3G2020 continues with our focus on Ubisoft Forward!
In Episode Eight of Season Two, host Myke Ladiona and yours truly Moody are joined by our resident “Viking” Dan Witt to dig into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and talk Watch Dogs Legion, Far Cry 6, Ubisoft’s newest IP Hyper Scape and more with Dee Assassina and Michelle Kisner!
And stay tuned, because our long awaited The Last of Us, Part II spoilercast will be zoom-zoom-zoomin’ up on YouTube and GHG tomorrow.
CD PROJEKT RED, Studio Trigger, and Netflix announce an all new original anime series CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS set in the same universe as the upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077. The series will premiere in 2022.
CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS tells a standalone, 10-episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future. Having everything to lose, he chooses to stay alive by becoming an edgerunner—a mercenary outlaw also known as a cyberpunk.
CD PROJEKT RED, the company behind the Cyberpunk 2077 video game, is producing the series, with a creative team formed of talent from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Cyberpunk 2077. The team at CD PROJEKT RED has been working on this new series since 2018.
Acclaimed Japan-based animation company, Studio Trigger, will serve as the animation studio on the series and bring the world of Cyberpunk to life with their signature, vibrant style. Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, Promare) will direct the series along with assistant director Masahiko Otsuka (Gurren Lagann, Promare), creative director Hiromi Wakabayashi (Kill la Kill), character designers Yoh Yoshinari (Little Witch Academia, BNA: Brand New Animal) and Yuto Kaneko (Little Witch Academia), and the adapted screenplay by Yoshiki Usa (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Promare) and Masahiko Otsuka (Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, Promare).
The original score will be composed by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill series).
“We are so excited to finally reveal that we are working on an anime in the Cyberpunk world,” said Adam Badowski, Cyberpunk 2077 Game Director and CD PROJEKT RED Head of Studio. “We’ve devoured just about all the cyberpunk fiction there is to watch, read, and play; it’s a genre that leaves so much room for creativity, and has had such a strong influence on us. CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS is our love letter to cyberpunk as a whole, and to stories told in animated form.”
“We at TRIGGER are thrilled to work with CD PROJEKT RED to create a brand-new story set in the world of the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077. It’s a huge challenge to adapt this universe into an anime, but we are eager to face it head-on,” said Masahiko Otsuka, CEO, Studio TRIGGER. Director Hiroyuki Imaishi adds, “I’ve always loved cyberpunk as a genre, but always found it difficult to create as an original work. This is why I’m very excited to be working with CD PROJEKT RED on this project. It won’t be easy to please both game and anime fans, but I love a challenge, and I’m looking forward to the production. We’ll do our best to meet and exceed expectations.”
This Marvel game likely won’t wind up game of the year, but can it become game of the.. decade? After today’s gameplay event of Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ next big franchise, it appears the “Endgame” possibilities for Marvel’s Avengers are endless. Sit at my War Table and allow me to explain…
First things first. A year ago this game looked like crap; do you remember my sadness with the Avengers‘ E3 2019 presentation? Let’s just say today went a little bit better. OK, a lot better. Beyond the poor facial representations, we had no idea what the hell this game was. I’m not sure Crystal Dynamics (developers of those pretty damn awesome Tomb Raider games) had a clue at the time either. Fast-forward a year later to Bizcoronaworld and we finally some answers…
WAR ZONES
In this mode you customize your superhero like you would in Destiny and team up with your buddies — or A.I. teammates, yes! — in dynamically scaled, faction-led missions. Much like the Tower in that co-op shooter, you’ll have your Helicarrier and your squad will be able to rebuild it. Factions leaked in the presentation were S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans (guess Marvel hasn’t completely given up on them quite yet, eh?).
But, easily, the best part of War Zones are the cosmetics. We’ve always wanted a Batman game where we could switch Bat-Uni’s mid-game, and, instead, Rock Steady gave us the option to New Game+ Arkham Whatever in a whole new outfit. Yeah, shite. At least here in Marvel’s Avengers, you can enter each mission with a different get-up each time and earn new tights along the way. Hulkbuster here I come! The Donald Blake duds on Thor showed off a little humor from CD, too, a team most used to penning serious tales in exotic, cavernous lands.
Oh, Anthony.
Those open stretches will be here in Avengers too, but speaking of humor, players will battle MODOK‘s mindless A.I.M. jerks in more confined spaces ala Marvel Ultimate Alliance. The variety seems key. Along with cosmetics, unlocking signature powers for each supe is another key to the game’s replay value; you can approach these War Zones and their given spaces and enemy selections with different tactics.
There are Ultimates as well as double Team Finishers. Your Cap won’t play like her Cap or his Cap or my Cap. Original Sin Tony Stark? Dope. Manual attack Mjolnir (inspired by Jason Aaron’s famed comic run!)? Whoo-boy. Considering they only halfway addressed the face-scans, it looks like Avengers‘ highly promising customization will more than make up for those.. faces.
MECHANIZED ORGANISM DESIGNED ONLY (for) KILLING
Did somebody say MO’ DO(f)K? He’s seemingly the big bad in Marvel’s Avengers, at least from the get. Because this appears to be a games-as-a-service situation, we could see many other villains in updates for years to come. Probably not Mysterio or Green Goblin, because of that whole Sony Spider-Man thing, but at least we could be blessed by the presence Thanos, Magneto and Doctor Doom. Ha.
Well, the X-Men and FF haven’t been quite figured out for this edition, but if Ms. Marvel is any indication, we might not be relegated to a dated Avengers-only title like it had first appeared. So much has happened in the funnybooks and on the big screen since the very first announcement of “The Avengers Project”, that now feels like 17 years ago.
Beam me up, Snowflake.
But, baby steps. I get it. I’m not expecting Sabretooth and Fantomex, but some more surprises (like we saw with Ms. Marvel and MODOK) appear to be on the way. Like I said, this is one game that might have no endgame. The key beyond War Zones for me, though, could be just how much single player we’re going to get beforehand. Today’s War Table showed off and discussed Thor’s “Once An Avenger” campaign, and it’s a guess how short these Hero Missions will be and how many more character stories could be added later down the line.
If Square Enix can work out a respectable subscription system (for future expansions and DLC; we already know many cosmetics will come at a cost), obtain the licenses to some characters beyond the world wide webbed, and offer more stories for those who don’t always want to go online, this is certainly one franchise that could assemble this writer and his Xbox Live peers for many years to come.
-Travis Moody
Marvel’s Avengers is set for release on September 4 for GPlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia. There will also be a free upgrade option for PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well.
No EA PLAY in Hollywood this year, but you can bet your favorite LA-based video game podcast has your back with #G3G2020! In Episode Seven of Season Two, host Myke Ladiona and yours truly Moody were joined by one of GHG’s most passionate gamers — and real life 501st Stormtrooper — Patrick Obloy to talk what’s next from Electronic Arts…
We did that, but barely; we spent the majority of the show previewing Star Wars Squadrons and who could blame us? EA Motive’s title looks promising and we’ve got details for ya that was not presented in the event. We promise, these are the gamer dudes you’re looking for!
