After a break for Game of the Year celebrations, The Gamesline Podcast is back in full swing. This week, John sits in the host chair and is joined by Lilith, Nikolas, and Rose to talk about everything they’ve been up to. John finished up Trails in the Sky First Chapter and started up Bravely Default while Rose played Trails Beyond the Horizon. She also got up to Abiotic Factor, Blue Fire, and Dragon Quest 1 HD. Lilith has been playing Trails to Azure, Pathologic 2, Void Bastards, and Game of the Generation Nioh 2. Meanwhile Nikolas finished Fire Emblem 3 Houses and started Fire Emblem Engage and is also playing Koudelka while they wait to start Final Fantasy 8.

In the news, MindsEye’s CEO is accusing people of sabotaging his game, Nintendo had a partner showcase direct and Overwatch 2 became Overwatch. It seems we’re also getting a Poker Night at the Inventory remaster along with rumors starting about more Xenoblade coming. I guess Sony is also doing AI Podcasts now too.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on social media @gamesline.net, Scott, Rose, Nikolas, and Lilith.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend about the show!

If you want to send in questions, send them to our email podcast@gamesline.net!

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

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

Edited by Lorelai with video production by John

The post The Gamesline Podcast Episode 82: Classic Flavor is Back appeared first on Gamesline.

Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away

Confirmed by his production studio, Bird Studio, Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1 due to acute subdural hematoma. He had since been interred to rest in a private ceremony amongst close loved ones.

Toriyama’s influence on the world is unmistakable largely thanks to Dragon Ball, while he has also changed the trajectory of games in Japan with contributions to Dragon Quest. On top of his other projects such as Chrono Trigger and Dr. Slump, Toriyama’s iconic style and stories have often been cited as huge sources of inspiration in not just comics and games, but sweeping the feet of whole swathes of cultures and communities.

Close friend and One Piece creator, Eiichiro Oda, eulogized Toriyama, describing him like “a tree” that has taken root, establishing a legacy of “branches” that has and would continue to influence many. Shōnen Jump has published a compilation of numerous other statements from various industry figures, such as Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and Dragon Quest co-creator Yuji Horii. Translations of their statements can be viewed here.

Among one of several of Toriyama’s final projects he had creative involvement in, the video game adaptation of his manga, Sand Land, is set to release this April.

What the Hell Is Happening With Warner Bros?

Corporations continue to stay corping, and Warner Bros. Discovery has been announcing a smattering series of wild decisions.

First off: CEO and President of the Global Streaming and Games division J.B. Perrette has made a statement boldly stating that he hopes to move the company away from the “volatile” AAA market, instead hoping to focus on the free-to-play and live service games space. Perette acknowledges that the WBD’s success is dependent on reliably working with well-established franchise IPs—although their recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League hasn’t met the publisher’s expectations.

WBD goes on to shut down Rooster Teeth, in a process and transition that current general manager Jordan Levin states may take several months. Rooster Teeth was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. since 2022.

Having its roots initially starting out as an independent production comedy group that also produced various series such as Red vs Blue and RWBY, Levin asserts that The Roost Podcast Network will remain in operation. Numerous alum from the original Rooster Teeth have since gone on to produce their own independently-run work. It is currently unclear what will happen to Rooster Teeth’s library of content after this shutdown.

WBD is also intending on retiring games from its Adult Swim label, which would officially pull them from all platforms and storefronts. A company representative told developers that they are not transferring ownership to developers due to “logistical and resource constraints.”

Calling WBD unscrupulous is an understatement: The film and television sectors of WBD has long been taking scrutiny for various other measures, mostly infamously for the nefarious scrapping of the unreleased film Batgirl, with similar actions more recently reflected in their intentionally just as criminal handling of Coyote vs. Acme.

Meanwhile, fans are just hopeful for MultiVersus‘ return, catching on that several of the game’s social media channels are reawakening with some activity.

*taps mic* testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

— MultiVersus (@multiversus) March 5, 2024

The Fallout Franchise Flourishes

Fallout’s TV series adaptation is officially real: The series is scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime on April 11.

Conclusions to a Couple of Gaming Crimes

A judge has officially settled the terms between Nintendo and Tropic Haze, the developers behind the Switch Emulator yuzu. The defense must now pay Nintendo $2.4 million and cease all development and distribution of the emulator.

Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who was traced to have leaked major classified documents on a Discord server agrees to accept a 16-year prison sentence. Teixeira has pleaded guilty to all six counts charged against him in exchange to not be charged with additional counts by the prosecution under the Espionage Act.

In other news…

Voice actress TARAKO has also been confirmed to have passed away. In games, she has played Monokuma in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and various roles for the Super Robot Wars titles. She has performed for numerous characters in anime throughout her long career, most known for having held the role of the titular protagonist of Chibi Maruko-chan for over 35 years.

More games studios continue to announce they are shuttering: Deck Nine Games, developers who have contributed to Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, Life Is Strange: True Colors, and Telltale’s The Expanse have announced closures around the same time Sony has gone through a period of hundreds of layoffs last week. Eggnut Games, developer of Tails Noir has also made the difficult decision to close due to “persisting complications in funding.”

The 20th BAFTA Games Awards has officially announced their nominations list for this year. Baldur’s Gate 3 has secured about 10 nominations across several categories. The awards ceremony is taking place on April 11.

Following Sting’s official sendoff and retirement from wrestling, one of his sons goes on to reveal himself as having been running a Destiny YouTube channel for some time.

Fellow games journalists who used to work at Hard Drive have launched a new, independently-run publication called Palette Swap. The team hopes to focus on both serious writing and satire their Hard Drive alum is known for.

Mass Effect is getting a co-op board game. To be published by Modiphius, the game’s storyline is set to take place during the events of Mass Effect 3.

Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is coming to PC on May 16.

Currently trending card game Balatro has been removed from some console storefronts due to strict anti-gambling restrictions in various regions. Publisher Playstack states that this is due to a ratings bump of the game stemming from the mistaken belief that the game contains or encourages actual gambling.

Following an unsurprising, tepid response, Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has been seen already getting price cuts on storefronts.

But more baffingly, Overwatch 2 has an upcoming collaboration with Cowboy Bebop.

The post The Bulletin: Rest In Peace, Akira Toriyama appeared first on Gamesline.

Happy Pokémon Day, You Freaks

The latest Pokémon Presents happened on the 27th, with most of the shown updates focusing on mobile titles.

• Pokémon Go will get a crossover event with the latest season of the anime to coincide with its release outside Japan.
• Pokémon Sleep adds the Legendary Beasts to the roster of napping monsters, starting with Raikou in March, with Entei and Suicune coming later.
• Pokémon Masters will add two new pairs: Silver and Shiny Mega Tyranitar and Geeta and Glimmora, plus reruns of older powerful characters and a new photo editor.
• Pokémon Cafe Remix gives the Paldean starters new outfits, new chances to add either Koraidon or Miraidon to your cafe, and the ability to collect Gimmighoul coins for a chance to get Gimmighoul and Gholdengo on your team.
• Pokémon Unite adds Miraidon to its roster, with Falinks and Ceruledge debuting in the coming months.

The final two announcements were the big ones: First, Pokémon TCG Online game gets a new mobile client. They swear it is not going to be NFT-related.

Finally, the next mainline Pokémon title, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, was announced. Players return to Generation 6’s Kalos region for a game supposedly all set in Lumiose City, X/Y‘s central hub. Mega Evolution will also return. Z-A is scheduled to launch in 2025.

So Back to the Bad

Playstation plans to lay off around 900 people. These cuts include staff at Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerilla Games, and the complete shuttering of their London studio. Firesprite, another subsidiary of Playstation that saw cuts, cancelled the production of live service Twisted Metal game.

EA has also laid off a large swath of their employees: five percent of their workforce in total. Battlefield studio Ridgeline Games folded into another Battlefield focused team, Ripple Effect, and a rumored Mandalorian game from Respawn was cancelled.

Embracer Group continues to shed weight across their properties. Saber Interactive, developers of the continuously in question Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, reportedly will be sold to private investors for $500 million. There is also talk that Gearbox will be sold as well, with an official announcement due in the coming days. Gearbox recently shifted focus purely to Borderlands games, with a fourth mainline entry and a sequel to Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands still in development.

Maybe Some Good?

Toys for Bob, previously downsized by Microsoft after the Activision acquisition, is going independent. No reports on what this fully entails, but they are attempting to keep an active relationship with Microsoft, potentially meaning they will continue to work on Crash, Spyro, and potentially Tony Hawk titles.

Alan Wake creators Remedy have acquired full control of…Control. The studio purchased the rights to the franchise from 505 Games ahead of the eventual sequel that is still in development. as well as another project codenamed “Condor“, which is a multiplayer PvE spin-off of Control.

In other news…

Stardew Valley also has its own anniversary to celebrate, and ConcernedApe confirm that a 1.6 update to the PC version of the game will be coming March 16.

Critical Role is holding a public open beta playtest of their tabletop roleplaying game, Daggerheart, and playtest packets will be available on March 12.

Terminator: Survivors, an open-world survival game, is set to release this fall.

Nintendo sues the creators of Yuzu, a popular Switch emulator. While emulators have been proven to be legal, Nintendo’s case focuses on Yuzu’s circumvention of Switch game encryption as well as promotion of piracy, as the emulator’s Patreon saw a doubling of profits once Tears of the Kingdom leaked online.

Jen Cohn, the voice actor for Overwatch character Pharah, came under hot water when she called for Palestine to be “freed from Hamas” on a livestream. Her statement, which sidelines the very real genocide being perpetrated by Israel, has led to Overwatch fans calling for the character’s recasting.

The post The Bulletin: Zygarde Finally Has A Game appeared first on Gamesline.

It’s cold out! The Gamesline crew is trying to stay warm with games, and you should be too! This week, John, who entered a local Granblue tournament, is joined by Rose, who has been playing Ryza on her Steam Deck, and Maverick, who is still Fortnite gaming. Plus, the news! Alan Wake is in Dead by Daylight, Gameshark is doing some AI crap and claimed to know when Nintendo’s next console would drop, a Gravity Rush movie seems to be happening, there’s misinfo about the Capcom DRM debacle, and we’re already seeing layoffs in the new year.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @TheGamesline, @john_michonski, @horngal, and @MaverickDrifter.

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 gamesline.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 Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or directly to our RSS feed.

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 29: Inclement Weather Gamers appeared first on Gamesline.

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another podcast. This week, John and Solon to sit down and talk about the news and the myriad of games Solon’s been playing. John’s been getting up to a little bit of thieving action with Octopath Traveler 2, while Solon’s been digging into Homestar Runner Hide & Seek, CRYMACHINA, and Like a Dragon: Gaiden – The Man Who Erased His Name.

In the news, the Overwatch League is done, multiple press outlets have all been shut down by their venture capitalist overlords, while Aftermath is here to fill what void they can. We’ve got a new Steam Deck with an OLED coming as well as an announcement for the announcement of Grand Theft Auto 6. We’re also getting a live action Legend of Zelda movie and the team could not be more enthusiastic about it. Our hearts are also with Scott Benson and the Glory Society as Scott deals with some serious health issues.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @TheGamesline, @john_michonski, and @ChorbySP.

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 gamesline.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 Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or directly to our RSS feed.

Edited by Lorelai

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 24: Revolver Ocelot’s D-Day Adventure appeared first on Gamesline.

It’s the post-PAX podcast as Solon has returned to regale us about one ReedPop run show while E3 removes itself from their clutches. Plus, John’s still digging through Xenosaga and the Pokemon TCG Game Boy game, Maverick’s shooting through Armored Core 6, Nintendo’s new console was demoed at Gamescom, Roblox is trying to get into the dating sphere, and Blizzard tries to properly age the Overwatch cast to hilarious results.

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @TheGamesline, @John_Michonski, @maverickdrifter, and @ChorbySP.

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 gamesline.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 Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or directly to our RSS feed.

Edited by Maverick

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 16: Parlez-vous ReedPop? appeared first on Gamesline.

Returning from a week off, the Gamesline Gang returns for a long episode running down mostly the news we missed! The Limited Run Showcase, Genshin voice actors getting their pay withheld, the Microsoft and Activision update, and talk about the strikes happening across the world.

Plus, John is struggling with Rain Code‘s writing (spoilers in this episode), Elvie is bummed at the quality of the suitors and their dialogue in Love Shore, Maverick’s chilling Shin-chan’s Summer adventure, and lots more!

You can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @TheGamesline, @lvmaeparian, @john_michonski, and @MaverickDrifter.

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 gamesline.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 Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or directly to our RSS feed.

Edited by Maverick and Scott B

The post The Gamesline Podcast Ep. 11: A Summary Of Summer Strikes appeared first on Gamesline.

The combined power house of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, with further elaborations made by the latter in regards to confusion that stirred over strike guidances.

Voice actors have chimed in on the ongoing issues that continue on the table, expressing concerns over AI uses of their voices without their consent.

Representatives of the strikes have continued to urge consumers that effective means of supporting the strikes is not through boycott, but by either showing up at local picket lines or monetarily supporting through funds such as the Entertainment Community Fund, Groceries for Writers, and the official SAG-AFTRA Emergency Relief Fund.

What is Even Going On With Overwatch Anymore?

While it has been noticed that the game is now listed on Steam, Overwatch 2 is not igniting the fire that Activision Blizzard is hoping it would in the pro scene, with a recent report indicating the engagement is on the decline.

Teams in the Overwatch League are also voting on a $114 million exit payment, as the League could be faced to make major structural changes by the end of the current season based on a recent Activision quarterly report. Activision also recently laid off about 50 employees from their Esports department.

Meanwhile, Team Fortress 2 had a big summer update: Seals. The Valve shooter has not just introduced a new game mode and about 14 new maps to the game, but a new Player Destruction map that involves the simple objective of feeding Selbyen, a seal, the most amount of fish. Team Fortress 2 appears to be hitting new all-time player peak numbers thanks to this latest update.

In other news…

Neopets is in full force right now marketing their soft relaunch of the name, which includes a revival of the Neopets Trading Card game.

Bandai Namco is planning to open a store in London, the first of its kind outside of Japan. Bandai Namco publishes and distributes various brands such as Pac-Man, Tekken, and game rights to Dragon Ball.

On the other hand, Bandai Namco will be shutting down Gundam Evolution, announced less than a year it has been online. A free-to-play game, sales of the game’s premium content will cease to be available by the end of July, and the final season of the game is still on set to go on as schedule in late October. The game will officially go shutter by the end of November this year.

Roblox is planning on giving developers tools to create subscription models within their experiences. Through this system developers would be given the channels to deliver content in monetized chunks as they see fit, similar to subscription model tools like Patreon. “Experiences” are what Roblox labels the many games, projects, and virtual labs utilizing its platform. Roblox has repeatedly come under fire due to its dominantly young userbase, which critics have pointed out are susceptible to being exploited by its own monetization practices.

Pokémon Go has rolled out a new feature letting players to customize their own Routes. In Go, Players can “record” their paths, choosing a PokéStop or Gym as a starting point. Senior producer Chad Jones says hopes that “the intention that [Routes] becomes a nice addition to how trainers think about their normal play sessions.”, encourage players to curate and exhibit more interesting landmarks in their local areas. Pokémon Go developer Niantic has recently come under fire in a recent lawsuit that accused the company of nurturing “boy’s club” culture, in wake of a recent major layoff.

The upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot has received their first roster of guest characters, which includes comic book characters Omni-Man from Invincible, Homelander from The Boys, and DC Comics’ Peacemaker.

In a surprising development, the girls seem to no longer be fighting, and The Idolmaster and Love Live! idol game franchises will be joining forces for an upcoming joint concert at the Tokyo Dome in December this year. The lineup is slated to feature singers from the different generations of the respective series.

The post The Bulletin: Is Overwatch Going to Be Over? appeared first on Gamesline.

More Releases

Persona 3 Reload, a new re-imagining of the original Persona 3, gets a gameplay trailer.

Also announced during a panel at Anime Expo 2023 last weekend, Type-Moon declared that Tsukihime -A piece of the blue glass moon-, a remake of the original Tsukihime, will be getting an English-language release sometime next year in 2024.

Street Fighter 6‘s addition to their first wave of DLC characters will be Rashid. He will be part of a character pass that will include other characters like A.K.I., Ed, and Akuma, in this initial roster.

Katamari Damacy and Wattam creator Keita Takahashi has announced a new project, called to a T.

The Mortal Kombat reboot gets a new trailer confirming several more characters on its roster, such as Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Smoke.

Overwatch 2 is still insisting on making fetch happen, and “Genesis – Part One: Dawn”, the first part of an animated mini-series that hopes to further delve deeper into the lore of the games, debuted on YouTube.

The Tokyo Broadcast System Television unveiled a games division under TBS Games. This will be TBS’ first full-scale plans to enter gaming, as opposed to merely having had thier past programming be adapted into games.

Finance Crimes

The South Korean games rating board, the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) has been found guilty of embezzlement. Players of the mobile gacha game, Blue Archive, tried to file complaints about the game’s rating, leading into the audit and accidental uncovering of GRAC’s scheme, through a paper trail in mining bitcoin.

In attempts to alleviate their net debts, Embracer Group announces a $182 million through share issue in the midst of shuttering further subsidiaries and ongoing employee layoffs.

The disgraced Yuji Naka receives a suspended sentence, accompanied by fines, instead of facing jail time for insider trading. Naka pleaded guilty several months ago to insider trading while working at Square Enix, while accompanied by former coworkers Taisuke Sasaki and Fumiaki Suzuki, were also arrested for buying shares ahead of the release of Dragon Quest Tact.

And in other news…

Emile Morel, a creative director on the ongoing development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, has passed away. Morel worked at Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio since 2009, and was substantial to the creation behind Rayman Legends. Morel replaced Beyond Good and Evil 2′s previous creative director only on February as of this year, as the game’s completion continues to be unclear.

The post The Bulletin: On Good Behavior appeared first on Gamesline.

And the biggest talk of the week of course being all of the reports of the severe injuries as a result of a poorly constructed a foam pit at TwitchCon. The foam pit was part of a booth for Lenovo, and streamers were encouraged to jump in the pit while being livestreamed despite its shallow build. Streamer Adriana Chechik has the most severe case of injuries reported thus far, having broken her back in a couple of places and is now getting surgery to stabilize it.

Former QA worker for Nintendo of America, Mackenzie Clifton, has reached a dispute settlement with the aforementioned company. In a complained filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) back in April, Clifton alleged that Nintendo of America fired them for their associations with union activities. Nintendo of America is now ordered to post a notice both in email and on-site reassessing QA workers’ rights under the NLRB.

Square Enix Montreal is rebranding as Onoma.

Konami is now trying to enter the NFT market.

Overwatch 2 players are still catching no break, and several characters were locked out from being playable when the game’s servers when back online.

Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard faces another lawsuit filed by a former employee of the company alleging sexual harassment and the threat of revenge porn by their former manager.

Playrix Games, developer behind mobile titles such as Gardenscapes and Homescapes, is closing all offices based in Russia and Belarus due to the further escalations of the Russia-Ukraine war. They are attempting to relocate employees to other locations.

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier is ending service in January next year. The game was approaching its one-year anniversary this coming November.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is coming to the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series systems.

Kingdom Hearts fans rejoice: Animator Seth Kearsley has digitized his copy of what was assumed to have been a “lost” pitch for a Kingdom Hearts animated series back in 2003. Kearsley’s storyboards and rough drawings of the concept have been circulating online for quite some time without any indication that the pitch was fully realized—until now.

The post The Bulletin: Perils Beyond the Pit appeared first on Gamesline.