Sony has wrapped up another State of Play, showcasing a new look at games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Street Fighter 6 characters, and further gameplay in the Resident Evil 4 remake.

The newly released Atomic Heart is facing controversy due to its purported pro-Russian connections and security issues in the midst of the continuing escalation of the Russo-Ukraine War. Ukraine’s Digital Ministry has requested the companies Steam, Microsoft, and Sony to remove the game from platforms. Questions have been called into whether or not the game is harvesting data to Russian security forces. The game’s composer, Mick Gordon, has donated his fees made from the game.

Atomic Heart has also come under scrutiny due to an aesthetic that appears to romanticize the Soviet Union and due to its timely release close to Russia’s official invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This date also coincides with Defender of the Fatherland Day, a holiday that originally celebrated the Russian Armed Forces. Ukraine has otherwise no longer observed the holiday since 1994.

Games Done Quick has officially banned not only Hogwarts Legacy, but also every other Harry Potter video game adaptation from future events. A full list of GDQ’s currently banned games can be referenced and found on their submission guide.

Rovio Entertainment Oyj, best known for the Angry Birds franchise, has decided to delist the original game from mobile platforms—because “it is negatively impacting their other games”, hoping to redirect attention to their other free-to-play titles.

Nintendo is further expanding its reach by having officially signed a contract with Microsoft to now allow previously exclusive Xbox games to be playable on Nintendo platforms.

Sega is increasing the average monthly salary of its Japanese employees by about 30 percent. This increase will not officially take effect until July 2023 of this year.

Studio head of Xbox Game Studios’ Tango Gameworks Shinji Mikami is set to leave the company. Mikami founded the company back in 2010. Tango Gameworks will continue to support Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Super Nintendo World has officially made a grand opening at Universal Studios Hollywood. The themed area’s biggest feature is currently a Mario Kart simulation powered by augmented reality and projection mapping technology. More importantly, you get to hang out with Toad. Super Nintendo World opened in Universal Studios Japan on March 2021, and is currently slated to open Universal Studios Singapore in 2025 with construction underway.

The post The Bulletin: Throwdown With Toad appeared first on Gamesline.

In the news, Shinzo Abe got assassinated and a bunch of racist channers tricked people into blaming Hideo Kojima for it. In tragic news, Yu-gi-oh‘s manga creator Kazuki Takahashi died in a tragic accident. Gamestop laid off a ton more people from Game informer, Rockstar is stopping development on Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto 4 remasters because the GTA Trilogy remasters sucked and shifting everyone to Grand Theft Auto 6‘s Development. E3 is coming back in conjunction with ReedPop and Yuji Naka is having a complete breakdown on twitter while Intellivision might be making a comeback. SGDQ happened, and some guy just straight up cheated a run of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Elden Ring hero Let Me Solo Her was gifted a sword and a ton of cool extras after killing Malenia 1000 times. Monster Rancher Ultraman Kaiju is officially being released in the US as well as Witch on the Holy Night. A fan bought enough Nintendo stock to join an investor meeting and ask about F-Zero while some Final Fantasy XIV players bought multiple billboards to advertise an in game event for their ERP venue.

As always, you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @JudgementScythe and @mavsplaniamania.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

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Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, direct download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 401: We Huntin’ Monsters. appeared first on Gamesline.

As always, you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @lvmaeparian and @scottblah.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, direct download, or listen below!

Edited this week by Scott B and Walker.

The post VGCC Episode 396: Morbius Curiosity appeared first on Gamesline.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first annual Golden Whistle Awards! We hope you enjoyed the holiday, because the podcasts are going to have Christmas music! I really wanted to do that and we didn’t do a Christmas episode so now you’re stuck with that.

Anyway, here’s the deal. The three of us hopped on Skype and hashed out winners for our Game of the Year Awards. (Because we are store-brand Giant Bomb, as you all know) We’ll have actual write-ups here, but we’ll also attach the podcasts so you can understand how we came to these conclusions!

If you want to listen to the episodes first, the podcast link is right there, at the top of the page. Today, we have some fun categories in addition to Steven Epps’ personal Top 10 for 2013 and Friend of the Chooch Andrew Clare’s personal top 10 for 2013! Enjoy!

Best Soundtrack: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Runner-up: DuckTales Remastered)

Best New Character: The Baz from Divekick (Runner-up: Pavel from Metro: Last Light)

A storm is coming. Can you feel it? The inclusion of an almost-fan character almost-hilarious reference to old Street Fighter lore in a game may seem like the dumbestin-joke ever. And you’re right. But The Baz in Divekick made us laugh, with his lightning attacks, references to the cheapness of Zero in MvC3, and his disgraceful fall from the Divekick tournament. The storm may be coming, but it’s really a drizzle, and that’s why we love The Baz.

Best Returning Character: Both Shaundis from Saints Row IV (Runner-up: Shaun from Assassin’s Creed IV)

It’s hard to pick exactly which returning character from Saints Row IV is the best; the Saints Row supporting cast got really good in The Third, and it’s always nice to hang out with those characters some more. But Shaundi was the winner here…both of her. It was nice to see Fun Shaundi again, and Regular Shaundi gets some pretty great moments of her own.

Best Writing: The Stanley Parable (Runner-up: Gunpoint)

White Room Ending aside, The Stanley Parable manages to successfully juggle both completely different tones and styles of humor. Some endings definitely hit better than others, but when The Stanley Parable is at the top of its game, it’s really damn funny.

Most Writing: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Runner-up: Ace Attorney 5)

Most Writing is a category to recognize the games that talked the most in 2013, and we came to the conclusion that Animal Crossing: New Leaf definitely had the most to say. There are a lot of villagers. They all have a lot of words. There’s custom writing for holidays, events, and a whole lot of other triggers. It should also say a lot that New Leaf won over a visual novel.

Best Art Direction: BioShock Infinite (Runner-up: Antichamber)

For our first awards, we decided to go with Best Art Direction as opposed to any award that focuses on graphics. We aren’t the best judges when it comes to awarding a ‘Best Graphics’ award, but a game with fantastic art direction can look good no matter what. Mike played BioShock Infinite on Xbox 360, Steven played it on PC, and they both really liked the way this game looks. Columbia is a fantastically realized world, and it looks great on any platform.

Best Boss Fight: Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising (Runner-up: Bob Bardas from DmC Devil May Cry)

UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOU TO DIE, JACK

And that’s Part One of our Game of the Year awards in the can! Hope you disagreed with us, because we have a comments section open to all who like to respectfully debate videogames! Come back tomorrow for Part Two, as we discuss Best Use of 4, Best Multiplayer, Best New Mechanic, Best Moment, Scene, or Level (WE CAME UP WITH THIS BEFORE WE SAW THE GIANT BOMB WORDING), Most Disappointing Game, Best Game Not Released in 2013 We Played in 2013, and Best Episodic Thing That Will Be Eligible For 2014 GOTY!

The post Video Game Choo Choo’s Game of the Year Awards: Part One appeared first on Gamesline.