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The Game Awards Are Tonight. Vote Before It’s Too Late.

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It’s that time of the year again: The Game Awards are upon us. Developers have given us their all, and we will find who comes out on top in just a few hours. At 8:30 PM EST, the awards ceremony will begin, but you still have time to vote for your favorite games. Yes, you; unlike other award ceremonies, The Game Awards actually cares about your opinion, and you can vote for who you want to win. Just visit the voting page and select your choices, but think long and hard, because this year has plenty of solid contenders. Each category is bursting with nominees that deserve the award for one reason or another, be it Persona 5‘s stylish visuals vs. Cuphead‘s Fleischer-esque aesthetic for the Best Art Direction award or Melina Juergens’ portrayal of Senua against Ashly Burch’s role as Aloy for Best Performance. The Game of the Year category alone has some strong competition as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildSuper Mario OdysseyPersona 5Horizon Zero Dawn, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds all vie for the coveted award

While the categories includes plenty of games from big name companies, they also includes numerous smaller, independent games that demonstrate raw, unbridled talent. Games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn stand as much a chance of sweeping the awards as Cuphead and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. However, some games are going to be left in the dust; games such as Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: World War II have come under fire for poor business choices, which will no doubt negatively color voters’ opinions of these games.

Of course, game awards aren’t the only reason to tune in to The Game Awards; expect plenty of exclusive looks at upcoming games and possibly a few surprises (coughDeathStrandingcough). Grab some popcorn; visit the official Game Awards Livestream, and enjoy the festivities.

All you have to do to get my attention is talk about video games, technology, anime, and/or Dungeons & Dragons - also people in spandex fighting rubber suited monsters.

Gaming

Sony Has a “Monopoly” on the High-End Japanese Gaming Market, According to a US Senator

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The never-ending saga surrounding Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has a new participant.  Today, Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from the state of Washington, said some things about the subject that were hard to understand.

The senator, whose remarks were reported on by ResetEra, spoke at a Senate finance committee hearing on “the president’s 2023 Trade Policy Plan,” which we are sure was quite interesting.

Senator Cantwell said that she had been told that Sony “controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market” despite the fact that “Japan’s government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers, establishing games that are among the most popular in Japan.”

This 98% statistic is highly deceptive because it ignores PC, Nintendo, and mobile games and instead refers to Sony’s adoption rate over Microsoft in Sony’s native country of Japan, a fact that shouldn’t surprise anyone who is even somewhat familiar with the video game business.

What can we do to rectify these problems and create a level playing field, she said of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai after charging Japan’s Federal Trade Commission with improperly failing to look into this purported “exclusionary conduct”?

It is absurd to claim that Sony has a monopoly on the Japanese video game market, as Luke Plunkett of Kotaku correctly points out, “because Sony doesn’t even have a 98% share of the market for the God of War series, a title they own, as Steam is getting 30% of every sale on PC.”

It goes without saying that we can’t expect elected officials to be experts in every field, but this is a visible step at a time when the ongoing attempt to buy the company is at a very important point.

Is it significant that Microsoft, along with Nintendo, maintains its headquarters in Redmond, Washington—Senator Cantwell’s district—or that Microsoft has given Cantwell more than $500,000 over the past two decades?  Let us leave that up to you.

 

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Consoles

Eating trash, Pizza Possum destroys the PS5

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Pizza Possum is an arcade action game in which you, a possum, attempt to consume as much trash as you can without being discovered.  It is a web-based sequel to the anarchy simulator Untitled Goose Game.It will eventually be available on the PS5.

We couldn’t help but notice that the possum in the title doesn’t look like the cute Australian possum that comes out at night to visit people.On the other hand, it looks like the horrible North American opossums are the ones that will attack trash cans and cause general chaos.Even though we think the second choice was better in terms of theme, we prefer the first one and are happy to explain why.

Your thoughts on Pizza Possum?  Does it possess the necessary mass appeal to successfully skitter along the back fenceline while setting the dog off in the process?

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Consoles

The Mercenaries, a free piece of DLC for Resident Evil 4 Remake, launches on April 7

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Resident Evil 4 is now out, and the excellent remake can be bought right away.Even though you probably plan to play it all this weekend, you can take comfort in the fact that The Mercenaries, Resident Evil’s almost-required challenge mode, will be available as free DLC on April 7.

The mode’s exact details are still unknown, but if it’s anything like previous versions, you can expect some pretty hard tasks to test your skills.

You’re stumped about something? If you are still debating whether to purchase Resident Evil 4 Remake, be sure to look at our exhaustive guide for the answer or our in-depth review. Are you spending this weekend playing Resident Evil 4? Are you anticipating The Mercenaries?

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