Welcome to another Wednesday, beloved nerds. While I have been immersing myself in a delightful tale of debauchery and puns (I’m playing Ladykiller in a Bind), gaming news has forged ahead without me. It’s the one-year anniversary of Overwatch, so let’s go ahead and get all of that way, shall we?
Overwatch Gets New Skins, Some Of Which Are Bad
As with every new event in Overwatch, there’s a slew of new skins, emotes, and voices lines to keep us scrambling for loot boxes. This time, we’re celebrating the game’s one-year anniversary with a new game of the year edition. If you’re a fan of Blizzard’s other titles, there’s a lot of neat stuff in there to tempt you, even if you’ve already got a copy. And if you don’t already have a copy, what are you waiting for?
But all is not well in the world of Overwatch. One of Hanzo’s new skins features a kanji character that reads arrow, which sounds appropriate (if weirdly literal–did he need a label for his quiver?) until you realize that this particular character means a directional arrow, not the kind you shoot. Once again, we see a game that prides itself on representing many different kinds of people failing to actually do the legwork–it’s a simple fix, but it looks like laziness (and a lack of a Japanese-speaking designer) won out.
Likewise, Lucio’s new jazz-inspired skin has drawn some negative attention for being both stereotypical and ostentatious to the point of ugliness. Though I personally love the jazzy riff to the songs that play with the new skin, there’s no denying that there is a lot happening here. Some of it’s good, some of it’s bad, but all together it looks a bit messy.
Also, this woman is making Overwatch VR porn and it sounds incredible.
News About Your Favorite Franchises–Oh, and Seaman
The long fabled Uncharted movie has once again taken a new direction. This time, Spider-Man star Tom Holland is said to be playing a younger version of hero Nathan Drake. The film has been rewritten to be a prequel to the series, drawing on the flashback sequences of Uncharted 3 and 4 for some perspective on Drake’s childhood as a treasure-hunting, rascally youngster. Only time will tell if this version will actually see the light of day.
Ubisoft announced Far Cry 5 this week, where it looks as though the game is pitting the player against a violent, radical Christian church deep in America’s rural heartland rather than slaying locals in a tropical setting. In an even bigger departure for the series, you can customize your character, making it a much more personal (and perhaps cathartic) experience for people most likely to be harmed by such a militia, as Waypoint’s Austin Walker discusses.
But that’s not all. Everyone’s favorite bizarro virtual pet game Seaman may finally be getting the current-gen reboot we’ve all been dying for. As our resident human-faced animal expert, You can expect my full review when and if this game ever comes out.
Gaming News Tidbits
Penny Arcade Expo is the world’s most prominent public gaming convention, and, after successful shows in different areas of the US and an expansion to Australia, PAX has set its sights on world domination.
King of Kong, the documentary about the humble father who wants to destroy a man with ostentatious ties and his own hot sauce at Donkey Kong, is becoming a musical. We can only hope there will be a musical version of “We’ve got a Donkey Kong kill screen coming up.”
Lastly, a major Korean gaming team isn’t paying its players on time, or, in some cases, at all. Esports is growing as an industry, and it’s past time that its players receive proper treatment from management.
That’s it for this week! Have a good one, folks.
