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Nintendo issues apology for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Smash World Tour gets cancelled, God of War becomes franchise best seller, and the FTC may block Microsoft!

Void

• 4 min read

🕹️ The Console War Rages On

  1. God of War: Ragnarok has become PlayStation's fastest-selling first-party launch title. In a tweet by PlayStation's official Twitter account, they congratulated Sony Santa Monica on the success of God of War: Ragnarok. The game has sold 5.1 million units as of its first week, becoming the fastest-selling first-party launch and breaking records for the franchise. (Source)
  2. FTC may go after Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard acquisition. A new report by Politico indicated that the FTC is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft's USD 69 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Though the case has not been filed, according to insiders, the acquisition is being thoroughly investigated, with FTC being skeptical of the arguments provided by Microsoft. This is an ongoing story. (Source)
  3. Microsoft may offer EU concessions in Activision-Blizzard acquisition - According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Microsoft is willing to concede to specific demands made by  European Commission. The concession would mainly consist of offering a 10-year licensing deal to Sony. (Source)
  4. Nintendo Cancels Smash World Tour 2022 - In a Medium Post, Smash World Tour organizers stated that the day before thanksgiving, they received a notice from Nintendo saying that their Tour was unauthorized and they would have to cancel the event, or instead, they implied it. Kotaku reached out to Nintendo and received some Press Speak, effectively denying that they outright said to cancel events. However, many players in the Smash scene have noted that the Panda Cup organizers and CEO have been using their 'license' for Smash Brothers to coerce and bully players, and organizers, into signing onto Panda Cup. These issues muddy the waters regarding Smash World Tour, as the ongoing accusations regarding the personalities involved in the Smash Pro Scene have understandably caused damage for any significant company willing to associate with the scene, including Nintendo and their 'family-friendly' moniker. Despite this, however, Nintendo has issued an additional statement to Kotaku stating that Smash World Tour's decision to cancel their events remains with them. They doubled down on their partnership with Panda Global and indicated that Nintendo cares about the Smash Community and its fans. The decision to reevaluate their relationship with Smash World Tour resulted from the 'Protection of the health and safety of the community'. This has raised criticism of Nintendo as the Smash community has asked Nintendo to look into the actions of Panda Global. Additional information is found, and you are encouraged to read for yourself in the Medium Post, the Kotaku article, and @LDeeep Twitter. (Medium, Kotaku, Twitter)
  5. GameStop leaks their customers' data to their other customers - According to GameStop, a bug has caused multiple users to receive the data of other users. Users noticed that when refreshing their order pages, they would see orders from other users. GameStop has indicated that this was a bug, and the data was test data that was used internally to validate the system. Despite this explanation, some users report searching for the data provided would connect to real people. (Source)
  6. Monster Hunter: Rise to get a 4K60 release on current-gen consoles & Game Pass in 2023 - Monster Hunter: Rise will be available on the 20th of January, 2023, with the Sunbreak expansion launching in the Spring of 2023. The game will also be coming to Game Pass. (Source)
  7. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet get Version 1.1.0 and an apology from Nintendo. In the recent patch notes for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Nintendo has noted that some players may encounter issues with performance, and they have apologized for the inconvenience. Nintendo has also stated that they are working on improvements for the games. (Source)

✨ Going to Events Spiritually

  1. PlayStation has launched their End of Year Sale. Be sure to browse and pick up any games you might be on the fence about. A lot of games are discounted by up to 84%. (Source)
  2. Xbox Games with Gold gets Colt Canyon and Bladed Fury. (Source)

🎮 Where's My Controller?

  1. Oh, you know where. I've been pouring hours upon hours into Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Well, I started with Pokemon Violet. I am so far having a lot of fun, the game's mechanics are leaps and bounds better than Sword & Shield, and it makes me very excited for the expanded DLC and the next generation. However, the unfortunate poor performance and unacceptable launch state might have killed any chance for another Pokemon Mania like we saw in the 1990s.   It is important to note that the game performs very well, except when it doesn't. If you watched any gameplay footage, you'd begin to see just how large of a scope this was for GameFreak, and though it might have had better-looking games on Switch, there is a lot to unpack here. From the ability to see every corner of the world while having a few dozen pokemon rendered with their own AI within your range to the surprisingly gorgeous cities with lots going on. This game needed a delay, three to six months might not have fixed everything, but it should have been enough to get a majority of those issues and at least give us a fully stable framerate. I hope GameFreak learns from this and continues to update Scarlet & Violet, carrying what they learned here into the next generation since we know that Generation X is already in development.

🎵 Turn it up to 11!

It's finally back! Back Again!

  1. While I've been away from this section, I've been discovering new albums and OSTs; one I completely forgot until I heard someone recommend it is Ecco The Dolphin. I loved playing this when I was younger, though I had to emulate it. The entire soundtrack for the first Ecco the Dolphin is good, but for me, the stand-out tracks were "Open Ocean", "Ice Zone", and "Time Travel". "Time Travel" is easily the best song on that entire OST, and I recommend you start with that one. It's constant swinging between your ears makes for a haunting, ethereal journey, as time travel would be. Listen to the full soundtrack on YouTube.

📝I don't know what a pen looks like.

  1. I've been getting back into the groove of writing. So what can you expect during December? Well, my original goal was to write decently long pieces. However, I might scale that back since I've been having trouble completing and editing my Yakuza 0 piece. The following essay is being written, and that's as much as I can say. In the meantime, please check out my article on Pokemon Legends Arceus and why it was important for Nintendo.  

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