News:: Ghost Recon Wildlands managed to outsell Breath of the Wild in the US in March

According to NPD Group, an analyst firm that tracks the sales stats of games, Ghost Recon Wildlands outsold Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the US for March. While this shouldn't be so surprising (Wildlands launched on three platforms versus Zelda's two), there are a lot of factors that make it seem unbelievable. The first is that Zelda reportedly has the highest attach rate for a console launch game that the NPD has ever tracked (coming in at around 99%). The second is how you couldn't even casually skim through Twitter while taking a dump and not see a Zelda related post last month.

The third is that this is also on back of some rather tepid reception to Wildlands. Destructoid gave it a 2.5 in our official review, so we clearly weren't hot on it. Fan reception hasn't been great and even critical response has been pretty mixed. Somehow the game shifted more than a million copies (although NPD Group bases their rankings on revenue earned rather than copies shipped).

Another thing to note is that digital sales for Zelda weren't counted, which could close the gap between the two titles. I'm not sure many people bought the game digitally (Nintendo fans tend to fear digital copies), but you never know. Regardless, this is shocking. With how popular Zelda was (and remains), I guess we all just assumed the entire world was busy saving Hyrule instead of wandering around in Bolivia.

There are other surprising (and welcome) games in the top 10 that should makes fans happy. Seeing NieR: Automata end up on the list is crazy, even if it is god tier. Also, how the hell is Grand Theft Auto V still in the top 10? Doesn't everyone already own that game?

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News:: Kirby is also getting an 'action fighting game' this year

While there hasn't exactly been a shortage of Kirby games, we'll be seeing even more of the little pink guy thanks to the series' 25th anniversary celebration. You'll hear no complaints from me!

Last week, there was Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, a boss bashing "free-to-start" multiplayer action game for 3DS that should bring back fond memories from prior games. In the summer, we'll face a big ol' King Dedede with another title, Kirby's Blowout Blast, which interestingly has a 3D world.

Finally, HAL Laboratory is planning one more as-yet-unnamed Kirby project. As mentioned in a developer note on Miiverse, this third title, an "action fighting game," is slotted for a winter release.

All that, and there's Kirby-themed lingerie.

HAL Laboratory [Miiverse via Go Nintendo]

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News:: Everybody's Golf confirmed for August in the West

Well, this is nice! Just a couple days ago, I was hoping we'd get the next Hot Shots Golf soon after the Japanese release on August 31, but it turns out we're getting the game slightly beforehand here in the West. Everybody's Golf launches for PS4 on August 29 in North America and August 30 in Europe.

The price is already known ($40), and if you're hoping to try before you potentially buy, there will be a closed online test "toward the end of May," according to Sony.

It's curious that they waited until now to go with the "Everybody's Golf" moniker over the North America-familiar "Hot Shots Golf" branding, not that I really mind. I'm more concerned about keeping this specific installment straight given how bare-bones its name is.

Everybody's Golf Coming to PS4 on August 29 [PlayStation Blog]

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News:: Sims 4 sex fiends bankroll porn modder to almost $4,200 a month

If you would like to see your The Sim 4 character bound in a pillory and getting railed from behind or get sucked off backwards by a sexy green ghost, WickedWhims (NSFW!) is the mod for you.

"This very much unofficial mod adds specific sex acts, like anal, and smaller details, like letting players decide where to come," according to a Kotaku interview (NSFW!!!) with its creator, Turbodriver. It's a good read. Turbodriver figured there'd be demand for horny Sims mods featuring hardcore sex acts, saw that there were none, and leapt at the business opportunity. It's now his full-time job, thanks to 1,009 patrons donating paying out almost $4,200 per months (nice!).

He also talks about the difficulties in being, "the person that decides what is right and what is wrong," when it comes to others' sexual fantasies they're pining to see represented in the mod (for example, getting sucked off backwards by a sexy green ghost?), among other things. Like I said, give it a read, if only because all the GIFs of Sims sucking and fucking are hilarious.

Modder Makes Over $4,000 A Month Adding A Lot Of Sex To The Sims 4 [Kotaku]

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News:: Oh sweet, Kamiko is coming to Nintendo Switch next week

As some of you predicted, Kamiko isn't far off here in the West.

Nintendo has confirmed the cute little action game will launch next Thursday, April 27 for $5. If you'd rather play right now and have the means to buy Kamiko on the Japanese eShop, that's a viable option.

"While the game is quite short, what is here is worth playing for the cost of entry," Jed wrote in his review. "Kamiko might not hold you over till the Virtual Console's inevitable launch at E3 this year, but it will at least give you another decent game to play on your Switch."

I'd somehow forgotten about the missing Virtual Console, and now I am sad.

Kamiko [Nintendo]

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News:: 'Grand Theft Auto' returns to its top-down roots next week

If Grand Theft Auto: Online's last big event, the sophomorically named Cunning Stunts, stoked a flame in your racing heart, next week's add-on might set it ablaze with nostalgia. For a few different reasons, no less. With April 25th's "Tiny Racers," the camera reverts to a top-down point of view like the GTA games of yore. More than that, Tiny Racers is a pretty overt homage to the Micro Machines series of stunt-minded arcade racers from the 8-and-16 bit era. I mean, just look at the name; that wasn't an accident.

Source: Rockstar Newswire

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News:: Patrice Desilets' Ancestors gets its first teaser trailer, new details revealed

Patrice Desilets has been relatively quiet about his projects in recent years. The man who's most well-known for creating the Assassin's Creed series had a very public quarrel with Ubisoft over the rights to his properties. However, any actual details about those games, 1666: Amsterdam and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, had mostly taken a backseat while the Man versus Corporation drama played out.

Desilets is finally ready to talk about one of those games with some degree of specificity. As reported by VG247, Desilets gave a presentation at Reboot Develop in Croatia where he shared details about Ancestors. Accompanying the talk was the release of the game's first teaser trailer (which is embedded above).

Some key points about Ancestors is that it's third-person action adventure game set 10 million to 2 million years ago. A large chunk (if not all) of it is set in Africa. It's said that the goal is to "create the story of your ancestors." 

How Desilets' studio Panache Digital Games sets that up largely remains a mystery. The fact that Ancestors includes resource management and survival elements is probably biggest reveal. Also, there may eventually be some sort of tribal conflict, but it's not yet in the game. Cannibalism has also been discussed. This quote from Desilets isn't exactly telling, but it's sort of amusing: "It's the first time I've created a character who interacts with the jungle. There are no walls. What's the light like? I've never worked on that before. There's no sword, no swordfights. Eventually you get a branch."

The other notable tidbits that Desilets shared regard how Ancestors will release. It was originally said to be an episodic game, but that has apparently been scrapped. It's now "open, bigger." Also, Desilets has already set the stage for a sequel by saying "And this is Ancestors 1." That seems awfully ambitious though; we should probably nail down exactly what this first game is before we start talking about follow-ups.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey teased with new trailer -- open world, possible cannibalism, jungle gameplay detailed [VG247]

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News:: Grand Theft Auto online is getting a top down racing mode

The original Grand Theft Auto and its first sequel employed a different viewpoint to the games we have today. Instead of being third-person, they went for a top down view due to hardware limitations of the time. PC's and consoles weren't able to render massive cities with huge draw distances, so limiting the view to only the ground cut down on the need for a skybox and any verticality in level design. It was a compromise that gave Rockstar the confidence it needed to keep pushing themselves to do better.

While some people prefer that style of game, the only other GTA title to even attempt it was Chinatown Wars on the DS, PSP and iOS/Android. Rockstar basically moved on from that style and relegated it to the past. That is, they were content doing that until this new expansion for Grand Theft Auto Online got a surprise announcement.

Launching on April 25 (just a few days after the long anticipated return of Micro Machines), Tiny Racers sees the cars shrunk down and the viewpoint shifted to make for some childlike toybox shenanigans. Players will have access to various courses with power-ups, stunt maneuvers and head-to-head competition. In all honesty, this looks better than heists to me.

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News:: Oh boy, Akiba's Beat's English dub is atrocious

Here I was starting to think people take game roles more seriously when this new Akiba's Beat story trailer came along and slapped me in the face. Its predecessor, Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed, also had a pathetic English dub, but since it was dual-audio I just played with Japanese audio. Looks like that's what we'll have to do with this one as well.

Seriously, even kids could do a better job. It's so bad you'd think they're making it awful on purpose...Wait, is that the point? Are they banking on the fact that no one who plays these games would want to listen to an English dub anyway, or that they can't afford good voice actors and instead try to make it as intentionally awful as possible for extra publicity? Have I been swafferdonked?

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News:: Free game for Amazon Prime members this week is worth the download

If you are among the tens of millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, you also have something called Twitch Prime. For the purposes of this post, all you need to know about the latter is that it means you get an amazing game, for free.

From April 20-24, Twitch Prime members can download the incredible Kentucky Route Zero for free. Only four of the five episodes have been released, but  the moody point-and-click is one of the best games to come out in recent years, so you should take advantage. And if you want, here's other shit you get out of your automatic Twitch Prime subscription.

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News:: G2A is really digging its hole deeper

Buckle up, kids, because this story is a doozy. Over at the Reboot Develop Conference in Croatia today, one of the representatives of G2A held a panel to discuss the recent backlash the oft-scrutinized game key reseller has been receiving. Senior Account Manager of G2A, Mario Mirek, did his best to defend the company's business practices amidst a crowd of displeased developers who were looking for answers. That just sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it somehow gets worse.

To start, Mirek insisted that G2A does not operate as a "gray market." According to him, all the business they do is legitimate. Mirek was also surprised Gearbox ended its business deal with G2A and assumed the reasoning was because of TotalBiscuit and not its "shady" business dealings. This still does nothing to address why G2A is refusing to make the changes Gearbox issued, but that is another story.

In response to a question on why the company has taken so long to alter its policies, Mirek bafflingly commented that 40 percent of G2A's workforce was female.

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News:: Palmer Luckey gave Trump $100,000 in the name of Chrono Trigger

Co-founder and former face of Oculus VR Palmer Luckey is still trying to make America great again. The millennial with an estimated $730 million net worth donated $100,000 to Donald Trump's celebratory inaugural committee, as reported by Mother Jones.

Luckey, whose donation, "[puts] him in the upper tier of contributors to the event," sent the money through a company called Wings of Time. It has no name associated with it, but a second address listed is the same used by Luckey Arms LLC. Meanwhile, the Wings of Time LCC is managed by another company, Fiendlord's Keep, Inc, of which Luckey is the sole officer.

The Wings of Time is a time-travel machine from SNES classic Chrono Trigger -- one of Luckey's favorite games -- while Fiendlord's Keep (also known as Magus' Castle) is a castle in the game with two monster-filled wings (East and West) that must be cleared before unlocking a third.

Luckey was exposed last year as having given $10,000 to a pro-Trump online outfit using "shitposting" and "meme magic" to attack Hillary Clinton. "I thought it sounded like a real jolly good time," he said at the time, before an attempt to distance himself from the story, followed by an apology in which Luckey claimed to be, "a libertarian who has publicly supported Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in the past" and "[planned] on voting for Gary in this election as well," in a further attempt to distance himself from the pro-Trump aspect of the group.

Luckey basically went radio silent since, the once-face-of-VR popping up occasionally; for example, in court, where it was found Luckey violated a non-disclosure agreement, as part of a suit against Oculus that awarded Zenimax $500,000 million. As of the first of April, he is no longer with Oculus or Facebook. He has, however, since returned to Twitter, where he did field a question about the donation, again downplaying explicit support of Donald Trump, responding, "Probably the same reason companies like Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Coca-Cola, etc do!"

Who Is This "Shitposting" Tech Bro That Gave Trump $100,000 for His Inauguration? [Mother Jones]

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News:: The limits of nostalgia: Podtoid reviews Yooka-Laylee

What happens when you go back to the well and try to make a clone of a 20 year old game? Well, not exactly good things. But, maybe, still what crowdfunding supporters were after? You'll have to listen to the latest Podtoid special to see who really didn't like Yooka-Laylee and who thought it was ok, I guess. Can you guess who got a perfect gamerscore on it before it even released? It's Brett. He really has nothing better to do.

Before someone yells at me, this is technically a "spoilercast," for all you pedants and obsessives who think "there's an ice level" is a spoiler. Sorry not sorry. And check out our last special episode on Resident Evil 7, if you haven't already.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or download it here.

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News:: Blizzard is giving out 20 characters in Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard is looking to bring new players into Heroes of the Storm with next week's major "2.0" launch. Things like Genji and Hanamura from Overwatch, a refresh of the progression system, loot chests, and emoji are all well and good. But even better than that? Free stuff. Loads of free stuff, in fact.

By simply logging into the game between April 25 and May 22, you'll earn 100 Gems which you can then spend on a Mega Bundle. There will be four of these themed bundles, each with 20 (!) characters.

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News:: Free Saints Row 2 on PC as fourth game in series arrives on GOG

Saints Row IV and Gat out of Hell have arrived on GOG in DRM-free format and as per GOG tradition, free games and discounts are offered aplenty to drive up sales. For the next 48 hours you can pick up a free copy of Saints Row 2 over at GOG (and Steam) -- just log in your account and click on the giveaway banner on the main page of the site.

Accompanying the Saints Row titles is also a decent Deep Silver games sale, with the Metro and Risen franchises also joining suit at up to 75% off. Our personal favorite is, of course, Metro: Last Light Redux at $4.99. The Deep Silver sale will run for a full week until next Thursday, April 27 at 10am UTC, whereas the freebie Saints Row 2 offer ends this Saturday, April 22 and 10am UTC.

• Risen 3: Titan Lords Complete Edition (DRM-Free) — $7.49  (list price $30)
• Risen 2: Dark Waters Gold Edition (DRM-Free) — $7.49  (list price $30)
• Metro Last Light Redux (DRM-Free) — $4.99  (list price $20)
• Metro 2033 Redux (DRM-Free) — $4.99  (list price $20)
• Saints Row IV - Game of the Century Edition (DRM-Free) — $4.99  (list price $20)
• Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (DRM-Free) — $3.74  (list price $15)
• Saints Row: The Third The Full Package (DRM-Free) — $3.74  (list price $15)
• Sacred 2: Gold Edition (DRM-Free) — $3.74  (list price $15)
• Deadlight: Director's Cut (DRM-Free) — $3.59  (list price $12)
• Risen (DRM-Free) — $2.49  (list price $10)
• Saints Row 2 (DRM-Free) — FREE  (list price $10)

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News:: Jonathan Blow gives us a small glimpse of his next game

For the last couple of years over in Croatia, the Reboot Develop Conference has been host to speeches and discussions with some of the games industry's leading figures. While Jonathan Blow may not be a household name, he certainly helped shape the indie development scene with his breakout hit Braid in 2008. Its only natural that he would be hosting a talk at Reboot Develop, but I'm sure most people weren't expecting him to show off anything about a new game.

In the below video (at the 5:32:45 mark), Blow gives us a small glimpse at the next game he's working on. It looks to be another puzzle game in the vein of his past projects, although very little is even known about the concept behind it. Blow mentioned that, "It's a nice little grid-based game. I've got a guy who can run around and push blocks and stuff." Along with that, he said he has planned out around 25 hours of single-player gameplay.

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News:: League of Legends' Xayah and Rakan are an unconventional duo

In an interesting turn, Riot Games has released two heroes at once this week in League of Legends, and they're intrinsically connected. Billed as "birds of a feather," Xayah and Rakan are lovers, and sport several promotions, like the ability to gift them to friends, or unlock an extra player icon if you play two games with them on the same team.

I've already heard a bunch of heartwarming stories of couples playing them together, but lets look at them individually.

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News:: Brainiac is looking for the fight of his life in newest Injustice 2 story trailer

The long-awaited final part of the neat story trailer series, "Shattered Alliances," brings us the main crux of Injustice 2's story, Brainiac. Unless Darkseid comes in as an Act 3 final fight or something, I could definitely see Brainiac being the final boss here. Brainiac was the big challenge in the Justice League Unlimited, had a great two-parter in Static Shock (woo woo), looked goofy as hell in Super Friends, and is one of the few credible threats where you'd need every hero (and villain, most likely) on deck to fight him. 

The most interesting thing in this trailer, however, is how much Swamp Thing pops up here. I'm interested in what seems to be a grapple heavy moveset for Brainiac, sure, but I can't wait to see how Swamp Thing reacts to a machine entity threatening the green. These story trailers have been crafted in a great way, so here's hoping NetherRealm has improved on the bland storytelling of the first game.  

Too bad about those Source Crystals though. 

Injustice 2 is out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One May 16.

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News:: Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 pre-order deal includes $30 in free DLC

Love it or hate it, video game publishers still prefer you to pre-order and they're willing to throw all sorts of incentives to get you to consider a purchase. Well, pre-ordering CI Games' Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 will get you a free copy of the Season Pass.

Still on the fence? How about a 22% discount on top of it all? That's what you get in the highly competitive PC gaming market where GMG is offering a 22% price break if you buy the game through the digital retailer.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Pre-Order Deal

• Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 + Season Pass (Steam) — $38.99  (list price $50)
• Login required to see full discount

At GMG you'll notice there is a regular price of $39.99 and a "VIP Price" of $38.99. To be a "VIP" at GMG you'll simply need to create an account or login to an existing one. The extra $1 savings is probably worth it since you'll need to hand your email over to GMG anyway to buy the game - so the account creation requirement is probably a moot point.

After the April 25 release the Season Pass will have a list price of $29.99. So you're essentially getting an $11 discount with $30 in free DLC. Not bad if you think the five major DLC add on's in the Season Pass are worth it. If you're a fan of the series, this is a deal worth considering.

• Two Major Single Player Expansions
• Two Multiplayer Maps
• An All-terrain Vehicle
• McMillan TAC-338A Sniper Rifle
• Compound Bow

Random tidbit:  the McMillan TAC-338A Sniper Rifle is Chris Kyle's rifle in American Sniper.

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News:: If you can believe it, Konami is giving us free DLC on Friday for Super Bomberman R

As was confirmed several weeks ago, Konami will be supporting Super Bomberman R post-launch with more content and tweaks. I was initially shocked to see that after booting the game up that there were no microtransactions on board, and now I'm just as surprised that the very same Konami that parades its franchises as gambling platforms is giving us free shit.

Alas, if you play Bomberman R on Switch, you'll be able to update to version 1.3 on Friday, which brings a new stage along with it, as well as difficulty changes and other bug fixes. The game has plenty of room for improvement overall, but more free stuff isn't a bad thing.

Let's see if Konami can keep this up for their other upcoming releases. I can't keep a straight face while saying that out loud, but it could happen.

Bomberman [Twitter]

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News:: Review: Urban Trial Freestyle 2

Do not adjust your computer or phone screen. The game you are looking at is from 2017 and not, as its outward appearance would indicate, from 1998. Urban Trial Freestyle 2 not only has the graphic fidelity of a game from 20 years ago, but it feels like one from back then as well, like a lost artifact from the era that brought us Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Jeremy McGrath Super Cross 98, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, and Gerry Lopez Surf Riders.

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News:: Twitch is going to allow you to sort League of Legends streams by skill

Sorting through scores of League of Legends channels (one of the most popular Twitch games for years running) can be really off-putting, but Riot is making strides to change that as of this week.

The publisher, alongside of Twitch, has implemented a new feature that allows viewers to sort channels by both rank and Champion. In other words if you just want to see folks using newly released characters (or your personal favorites), you can do that. Or likewise, if you're a high-ranked player and want to see how the 1% lives, you can sort and easily find them, or vice-versa if you're still learning the ropes.

It's a genius idea, and just one reason why Riot is typically ahead of the competition. Even if you aren't big into streaming, hundreds of thousands of others are every day.

League of Legends [Twitch]

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News:: Nintendo Download: Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

The Switch keeps the hits coming week by week, even if they're multi-platform releases at this point. It's a fairly light offering with Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Fatal Fury, but the pace has been better than the Wii U and 3DS eShops comparatively around their launch.

3DS and Wii U are the big platforms though, with the former getting Breakout Defense, Ping Pong Trick Shot 2, and Don't Crash Go. The Wii U will host the release of Booty Diver, Orbit, MOP: Operation Cleanup, Zombeer, Rayman 3, and Rayman Advance.

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News:: 'Virtual Rick-ality' is a VR treat for 'Rick and Morty' fans

Rick and Morty is one of the funniest shows on television -- and it's also one of the weirdest. Co-created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon (Community), the series is like a demented spin on the Doc Brown/Marty McFly relationship from Back to the Future. Rick Sanchez is a dimension-hopping alcoholic genius who's the grandfather to Morty, a nebbish kid who's always in over his head. Comedy! While I was initially worried that the show's first VR experience, Virtual Rick-ality, might not live up to the series' wildly inventive attitude, it didn't waste much time proving me wrong.

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News:: Super Rude Bear Resurrection jumps to life in early May

Super Rude Bear Resurrection is a game that we've had our eye on for quite a while now. We got our first proper look at Tokyo Game Show in 2015 and were quite impressed. Super Rude Bear Resurrection's one-two punch of insanely tough platforming and useful death mechanic make for an intoxicating combination. See, every time you die, you leave behind a new corpse that can be hopped on to make subsequent runs easier.

Ray put it best in his PAX East preview last month when he said "It's Meat Boy masochism turned up a notch, but with the caveat that failing can sometimes be the key to success." This could very well be tougher than Super Meat Boy but at least those past failures might eventually add up to something positive.

It won't be much longer until we learn exactly how difficult this game really is. Developer Alex Rose just revealed that Super Rude Bear Resurrection will release early next month -- May 2 on PS4 and May 5 on Steam. It'll be priced at $15. Commemorating the announcement is the new launch trailer that's embedded above.

Anyone who's itching for a tight-controlling masochistic platformer will want to keep tabs on this one. Just be prepared to die. And stop looking at death like it's such a bad thing.

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News:: Review: Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality

I don't know how I stumbled upon Rick & Morty, but I'm glad I did. More so, I'm glad it's getting a decent amount of play considering how bleak it is, and that it's branching out into more than just one series that we have to wait forever to watch.

Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality might be a niche within a niche, but it's a fine, albeit more muted, substitute for the show.

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