Joystick & Mouse | Video Games News & Reviews DiddiDoesGames/JayDimes

It's that time of year when the game companies put on their dog and pony shows to try an entice us (the consumer) to get enamoured enough with a game to plunk down our hard earned money on it at release. Well there were three of them since the last time we were together so we're going to wade through all of that as well as a quick story and some insight into one of our favorite topics, the state of the video game industry. http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
A real quick mention of an article I ran across this week. EA Execs earned 60 million in compensation as the company laid off over 5% of it's work force this year. But that number doesn't tell the whole story so let's take a look at that.https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ea-execs-earned-60-million-in-2024-despite-layoffs-and-office-closures
The Ubisoft Forward 2024 is a wrap and the two big releases coming this year got a lot of air time. Let's discuss what's coming in the worlds of Star Wars and Assasins Creed.https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-forward-2024-everything-announcedhttps://www.gamesradar.com/gaming/events-conferences/ubisoft-forward-summer-game-fest-2024-live-coverage-everything-announced/
After months of rumors and speculation fueled by the company's radio silence, Sony's latest State Of Play presentation took place on May 30. 14 games for PlayStation 5 and PSVR 2 were shown throughout the 30+ minute video, which included updates on Concord, Marvel Rivals, and God Of War Ragnarok on PC. Read on for a full recap of all the biggest announcements and games from the event.https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/state-of-play-may-2024-all-the-biggest-ps5-announcements-and-games/2900-5435/?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=category%3Dnewsletter;name%3DGameSpot-Report;id%3D10025581;date%3D060124;lctg%3Db3a7b738bd17d2fa16eb5ab92783891fb0c35bd6f93fb6c92ad5b2d8754d0c30#1
There were big expectations for Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase this year, the first summer event since the Activision Blizzard merger in 2023. The Xbox Games Showcase included a slate of games from Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, Xbox Game Studios, and third-party developers. It did not disappoint. let's take a look at everything announced.https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/06/09/xbox-games-showcase-2024-recap-everything-announced/

Some news about the health of the video game industry. Sony tries to invigorate their VR offering and we have a couple of good lists to take a look at. Oh and we actually have a game review to go over.http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
It's been a rough year for the video game industry. The games industry saw almost same number of layoffs in first five months of 2024 as in all of last year Take two is the latest company to have large cuts. Is the video game industry in a downturn?https://www.vg247.com/take-two-reportedly-looking-to-sell-or-shutter-private-divisionhttps://gameworldobserver.com/2024/06/03/over-10k-games-industry-layoffs-in-2024-so-far-vs-2023
Sony is trying to breathe some new life into their underperforming VR system. This week they announced a hardware solution to allow PSVR2 users to access their steam library. Will this revive the flailing system or will it just be another unutilized peripheral?https://blog.playstation.com/2024/06/03/playstation-vr2-players-can-access-games-on-pc-with-adapter-starting-on-august-7/
We've talked recently about the adaptation of video games for television but gamespot came out with a list of the 12 shows that they deemed as awesome. let's take a look at their list and see what we think of it.https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/12-video-game-tv-shows-that-were-actually-awesome/2900-5438/

Apple relents on it's app store stance. The Microsoft/Blizzard merger starts to pay off and we have a list ... and another list. that's right, we have 2 lists for you tonight although they are on the same topic.http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
Remember how we talked about Apple would never allow user to download games from an app store that wasn't apple, well under pressure from gamers and regulatory agencies, Apple has agreed to allow downloads from rival Epic's app store.https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/apple-reverses-course-clears-way-epic-games-set-rival-iphone-app-store-rcna142741https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/apple-reverses-course-allows-epic-games-launch-fortnite-app-eu
Gamers reap their first benefit of the Microsoft aquistion of Blizzard. This week Microsoft announced that Diablo IV will be available on Game Pass. This is available on both XBox and PC. You can go grab that now.https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/04/26/blizzard-announces-its-skipping-blizzcon-this-yearhttps://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/diablo-iv
We hear about the triple A titles all the time but this week Nintendo held it's announcement of upcoming Indie titles. Here's the list and a couple of them that really peaked our interst.https://www.gameinformer.com/2024/04/17/everything-announced-during-the-april-2024-nintendo-indie-worldhttps://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/Indie-World/Indie-World-1440347.html
Not to be outdone, Microsoft held it's Indie show this week. Here's what they announced.https://kotaku.com/xbox-game-pass-palworld-vampire-surivors-1851444052https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/29/24144369/id-xbox-indie-showcase-april-2024

We are having another TV centric episode. We will discuss another huge video game based hit on streaming and we may even have a list based around TV shows. Beside TV we have another tone deaf statement from an ex Blizzard exec that sort of epitomizes how out of touch they were.http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
Oh Blizzard, here we go again. In a completely tone deaf message Mike Ybarra, former Blizzard president, said that gamers should tip developers when they like a game.https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/tech/video-game-exec-slammed-suggested-players-tip-developers-always-put-burden-on-customers/https://www.thegamer.com/no-we-are-absolutely-not-tipping-video-game-companies-blizzard-president-mike-ybarra/
We have another huge crossover hit as the fallout series on Amazon prime has taken the world by storm. It's just exception done so let's discuss the show.https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-fallout-tv-show-gave-the-fallout-games-a-huge-player-bump-as-everyone-remembers-they-like-fallouthttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-12/amazon-s-fallout-show-is-a-fantastic-video-game-adaptation
We had "Last Of Us" and now"Halo" and "Fallout" that have been huge hits. So what video games are out there that we would like to be turned into a TV series. Well The National News has a list so the's go through that and see what we agree with and which ones we aren't so hot about.https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/04/13/video-games-tv-shows-adaptation/

Some sad new in the comic world. There's some Playstation news and we have a couple of great lists to take a look at.http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
The comic world lost a pioneer and inspiration when akira toriyama passed away this past week. His Dragon Ball comic is revered as one of the best animes ever. His creativeness and vision will be missed.https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/08/arts/akira-toriyama-dead.html
 
 
Some PS5 news. The PS5 pro specs were leaked (yes, there is a PS5 pro coming) and the PSVR2 production was halted. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-vr-2-headset-production-paused-report/1100-6521906/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/impressive-sounding-ps5-pro-specs-and-release-window-reportedly-leaked/1100-6521894/
One of the studios that has brought us some of the best games ever produced is Naughty Dog. Well IGN put out a list of all the games they have developed and well you know we couldn't pass up a great list so let's dig in and talk Naughty Dog.https://www.ign.com/articles/all-naughty-dog-games-in-order
We love video games. We love the story and escape that comes with playing them but sometimes you just want to throw the controller at the damn screen. We all know that feeling. Which begs the question, What is the hardest game you have played? Well yardbarker came up with a list and well you know how that goes around here.https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_25_most_challenging_video_games_of_all_time_031524/s1__38319193#slide_5

Nintendo picks it's battles and the Game industry takes another hit.
http://www.joystickandmouse.comhttp://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
Show Notes
Sony lays off approxamately 85 of its work force. This include the closing of a full studio in London a week after the CEO visited and said all is well. Just another in the blood bath that is the gaming industry this year.https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/27/24084494/sony-playstation-layoffs-2024https://fandomwire.com/playstation-ceo-jim-ryan-closes-london-studios/#:~:text=Jim%20Ryan%20shuts%20down%20London,hand%20and%20an%20uncertain%20fate.
Speaking of that gaming industry bloodbath, add almost 700 employees at EA to that total for the year. Along with a few other smaller companies that's over 2000 employees in February alone. So what is this all about and what does it mean for our games going forwards?https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/03/04/game-industry-layoffs-over-2000-february-compared-to-2023
Just over a week ago, Nintendo sued the developers of the leading Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, for “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale.” Now, it appears that Yuzu will give up without a fight — and give Nintendo everything it wanted. And it affects the Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra, too.https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/4/24090357/nintendo-yuzu-emulator-lawsuit-settlementhttps://hard-drive.net/hd/video-games/yuzu-shuts-down-to-better-emulate-video-game-industry/
The Last of Us was definitely one of the biggest and most talked about shows of 2023. Starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal it was an amazing adaptation of a video game and we now have the cast for season two that details the game sequal.https://www.buzzfeed.com/noradominick/the-last-of-us-season-2-cast