Do ebooks dream of the burning of Z-Library?
Just last Friday, November 4, 2022, marked the fall of Z-Library, an online free ebook repository hailed as the internet’s largest “shadow library”. Shadow libraries are online databases of readily available content, generally free of charge, offering sources normally inaccessible to readers due to financial costs or membership requirements. Z-library once boasted a collection of […]
EU Investigates Microsoft-Activision Deal
The European Union has formally launched an investigation into Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard, citing the potential distortion of fair competition as the reason for doing so. The development comes at the heels of Activision’s latest launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has already generated over $1 billion in sales. Sony […]
the Cyberpunk series: form decides content?
September 13, 2022 marked the premiere of the web anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. The anime series, produced by Studio Trigger, is based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077 developed by CD Projekt Red. The synopsis of the show reads “a standalone episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology […]
Dating Simulators…but with Supreme Court Justices?
The video game/dating simulator Supreme Courtship prides itself in being “The world’s first judicial friendship simulator!” Though its premise sounds awfully silly, the game is actually intended to educate players about the American government by getting them to date Supreme Court Justices through a dating/befriending simulator. In the game, all of the Justices have been […]
PSVR2 Release Date & Info
In a blog posted to their website yesterday, Sony announced the release of PSVR2 as their second foray into the world of Virtual Reality. On February 22 2023, the PSVR 2 will release for $550 US – interestingly, that price is $50 more than a full PS5 and $150 more than the digital-only PS5. […]
Advertising Takes to the Sky
Hey everyone, There has been a relatively recent interest from companies in using drones in the sky as a way of advertisement. For instance, the NBA implemented drones to light up the night sky of New York with 500 drones as a way of advertisement for the 2022 NBA Draft and its associated sponsor State […]
Microsoft Invests In Blockchain Developer
Blockchain technology and NFTs have been mentioned a few times in this class. It certainly seems as though NFTs face growing pushback and have lost a great deal of popularity. Gamers have also voiced displeasure at increasing monetization and the emergence of “Pay-to-Earn” video games. Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft’s gaming division, has himself […]
Feldrake For Free
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wow-will-soon-give-players-a-3000-mount-for-free-and-its-causing-a-bit-of-an-uproar/1100-6508805/ An interesting development on the in-game purchases front. Per the linked article, World of Warcraft is now offering a once rare “mount” (in this case a dragon named Feldrake) for free. Previously, players had paid thousands of real-world dollars to obtain Feldrake. There is a whole background about a defunct trading system that was […]
Embracer Group shuts down Onoma, a Montreal Game Studio
I came across news about the shutdown of Onoma (formerly Square Enix Montreal), and it was surprising to me how dynamic changes can happen in the video game industry. Founded in 2011, Onoma was known for its work on the well-regarded Go series of mobile games, which included Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus […]
Discord Coming to PlayStation Soon!
Last week we were discussing how developers tend to emphasize their game as The (capital “T”) e-sports title; exclusivity in this context is paramount. We’ve yet to see e-sports develop in the same way traditional sports leagues have (i.e. harmonization of rules, regulations, etc.). However, one thing we did not discuss is the advent of […]