Summer 2019 News

News

The Hot & the Cold

SGDQ ‘19 Hits $3 Million!

Speedrunning event Games Done Quick held their summer event and earned three million dollars for the organization “Doctors Without Borders.” This is a fantastic milestone for the event!

Minecraft with RTX

Minecraft is getting an update! The game will be implementing ray tracing, a lighting upgrade that allows “real-time global illumination.” This means, realistic lighting. The update is said to release within the next year.

Disney Classic Remasters

Disney announced their plans to re-release their classic Lion King and Aladdin games in remastered form in the fall. The games will be released for consoles and the PC. This comes after the animated counterparts were remade as “live action” movies earlier this year.

ProJared Comes Clean

Back in May, the popular gaming YouTuber was accused of cheating on his wife as well as soliciting nudes from minors. Months later he returns with a video that claims he is innocent and blames “cancel culture” for his troubles. Is anyone else tired of these fake apologies?

Walmart & Violent Games

Walmart made the decision to remove images of violent video games from their stores after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. The franchise still displays and sells guns. Something feels wrong with this picture...

“Video Games Could Be Linked to Mass Shootings” is Still a Thing

Earlier this month, video games were once again made the scapegoat of mass shootings and violent behavior. After two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio happened only a day apart from one another, politicians were naturally asked to respond and offer solutions to this epidemic. Republican Kevin McCarthy of California came on Fox News and said, “The idea that these video games that dehumanize individuals to have a game of shooting individuals...We’ve watched studies show what it does to individuals, and you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games and others.” It seems this argument will not be going away anytime soon. It is one that is tired and blames video games in order to push a specific agenda rather than truly confront the issue at hand. The New York Times published a piece back in early 2018 regarding this discussion. The piece pointed to research that says video games are not to blame. “Media scholars say the claims about video games and violent movies — a common one in the wake of mass shootings — does not hold up to scrutiny.” The article also looks at the Columbine shooting, where two students shot and killed 13 people at the Colorado High School of the same name. It was this event back in 1999 where violent media became a popular victim to blame for these horrific actions. Video games as a medium are still new and growing. Due to this, it is easy to place blame on something that is relatively foreign. But it would be nice if our politicians pointed the finger at the real culprit instead of ignoring the issues that they directly benefit from. Something tells me this won’t be happening anytime soon.

Level Story’s Top 5 E3 Announcements!

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD 2

Nintendo is developing a sequel to Breath of the Wild. Folks have been predicting this announcement for a long while. The fact that it is now a reality is overwhelmingly exciting. The game seems to be working in the same realm as Majora’s Mask in that it is using previous Zelda assets with a much darker

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

Final Fantasy fans have been aching to see this game be remade in beautiful high definition. That desire is slowly becoming a reality. With the release of a new trailer, this remake is looking better than ever. Let’s just hope people don’t get too upset over Tifa’s breasts.

BANJO-KAZOOIE IN SMASH

Fans of the bear and bird have wanted a proper sequel to Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie for a long time. No, Nuts & Bolts doesn’t count. With no sign of a sequel on the horizon, it seemed their best bet was to see their favorite characters duke it out in a Smash game. Thankfully, these characters were not forgotten and received an epic trailer for their announcement!

YOOKA-LAYLEE AND THE IMPOSSIBLE LAIR

It is fair to say that the original Yooka-Laylee is a head scratcher of a game. Although the game is certainly enjoyable, it contains overwhelming flaws. The sequel seems to bring the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie back to form a la Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. No longer are Yooka and Laylee 3D platforming but entering the realm of the side scroller!

NI NO KUNI COMING TO PC, PS4, AND SWITCH

This notable title, animated by Studio Ghibli, has only been available on the PS3 for the longest time. Finally it is being ported to the next generation of consoles and we couldn’t be more excited. While the Switch is only getting a standard port of the game, the PS4 and PC will be getting a remastered version.