Episode 28 – Anthem Launches Today!

recorded on 2019-02-22

Headliners
Anthem, BioWare’s open-world sci-fi looter shooter, officially launches today to okay reviews (MetaCritic)

IGN= 6.5
GameSpot= 60
Destructoid= 70
PC Gamer= 55
Guardian= 40
EuroGamer- In Progress
GamesRadar= In Progress
Giant Bomb= In Progress

User Score= 3.7
MetaCritic Score= 6.2

Eric’s Score= Early Impressions = no higher than 7

Anthem is getting a big day 1 patch today to fix issues including the big ones listed below(GameSpot)
Improved loading times….some redditers have reported loading times around 4 minutes, damn!
Fixed many infinite loading screens
Fixed multiple challenges not tracking properly
A number of issues have been fixed that were causing players to disconnect or crash
Weapons and gear now have numbers present for modifiers

Little Bits

Google to reveal something big that will launch them into the gaming world during GDC (ExtremeTech)
It is rumored to be the reveal of the game streaming service and/or some gaming hardware

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Grand Heist update went live Wednesday and brings new content (GameSpot)
New specialist Outrider + new multiplayer mode One in the Chamber
Those that have the season pass have access to 2 new multiplayer maps Casino and Lockup
Loot boxes were also stealth added in the update and the community is fucking mad

First DLC for Jump Force has 9 new characters and releases in May (DualShockers)
Characters are still unknown but this does say first DLC so expect more – Speculate!
More characters from Black Clover, My Hero Academia, Fist of the North Star
Tsuna from Hitman Reborn!

Fallout 76 player gets shafted by Bethesda
Player with over 900 hours went on Reddit showing an email from Bethesda notifying them their account was banned until the next patch. The reason: too much ammo. Apparently his account was flagged and the user was accused of exploiting a duplication bug, but he acquired the ammo legitimately. He claims the numbers are wrong

UPDATE: Red Dead 2 next update also brings PS4 timed exclusive content and other fixes (GameSpot)
Open Target Races= variants of the Target Races also added to the update
New melee weapon the “Jawbone Knife” and more clothing and 3 new emotes
New challenges, showdown modes, and more but Xbox players will have to wait for it all

Dreams gets early access slated for the spring at $30 on PS4, not all features present (MediaMolecule)
Things you can do are stream, share, teach, create, and collaborate with others infinitely
If you are a creator….GET THIS! This truly looks like an amazing creator tool

Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime announces his retirement
Retires in April after 15 years
Considered one of the main driving forces for revamping Nintendo’s image in North America
Loved in the nerd world for his dedication to gaming and gamers. He will be missed.
Enjoy your retirement Regginator!

The newest Overwatch map Paris went live via update on Tuesday and also brings bug fixes (GameSpot)

Nintendo Switch Online Service to launch in Hong Kong and South Korea this Spring (NintendoLife)

TERA x PUBG crossover event starts March 5, TERA players earn PUBG rewards in game (Playstation)

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey NG+ goes live next week with update 1.1.4 (PlaystationLifestyle)

Upcoming Releases and Deals

Hot Steam Deals:
Dying Light (standard ed) = $13.59
Ghost Recon: Wildlands (standard ed) = $17.49

Epic Games Store Deals:
Thimbleweed Park is free until March 7
Slime Rancher is coming to the store for free soon

Games coming to Xbox Game Pass:
Feb 21 = Batman Return to Arkham, Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Headlander
Feb 28 = The Walking Dead Season 2 and Alien Isolation

Xbox Games with Gold deals live this week listed below (GameSpot)

Destiny 2: Forsaken = $20
Madden NFL ‘19 = $15
Red Dead Redemption 2 = $40.19
Lego Games = $10-$15

If you buy a 12-Month Playstation Plus subscription you get Rainbow Six Siege free until March 3

Get PS4 controllers on sale at Wal-Mart for $47 today and possibly the weekend (IGN)

Rumor Mill

Xbox Lockhart and Anaconda to be revealed at E3 with a release in 2020 (VG24/7)

Xbox Lockhart specs
CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 16 zen threads 2
GPU: Custom NAVI 4+ Teraflops
RAM: 12GB of GDDR6 memory
Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive
Xbox Anaconda specs
CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 16 zen threads 2
GPU: Custom NAVI 12+ Teraflops
RAM: 16GB of GDDR6 memory
Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive

Microsoft is working on an Xbox app, game pass, maybe xcloud for the Nintendo Switch (ComicBook)
Microsoft rumored to bring more software to Switch, first maybe Ori and the Will of the Wisps
This rumor is has also been mentioned by Game Informer so its got more potential

Alien: Isolation animated series is in the works

Cancelled fan desired Xbox exclusive Scalebound being remade to be an exclusive on Switch

COD Modern Warfare 2 and 3 remastered included with launch of COD Modern Warfare 4

Overkill’s The Walking Dead allegedly so bad it may not release to consoles despite saying it at launch

Samsung to partner with Valve to stream steam games from PC to S10 line of phones (WCCFTech)