News:: Destiny 2 players launch full-on revolt against its microtransaction system

It's crazy to see this many people united against loot boxes. Bungie's reputation seems to be irreparably damaged, even more than it was with Destiny 1 -- with the implementation of the latest "free" event for Destiny 2, The Dawning.

Built up as a cute holiday celebration, what lies beneath is an event almost entirely based around pushing microtransactions, employing casino techniques to provide players a "taste" of various items. The sad part is that while some events (pre-Eververse Destiny 1) used to be actually free and provide rewards through gameplay, Destiny 2 has somehow taken a step backward and has gated nearly everything good through silver or dust, the game's Eververse currencies.

The playerbase is now in full-on revolt mode, with nearly every post on the official forum asking for a removal of the Eververse. Bungie's response has been tepid at best, promising vague things that were already in the works (or already in the game). While other developers, even during this holiday timeframe are happy to issue real responses and deliver instant hotfixes, Bungie is sitting on this make or break issue until 2018.

Realistically Bungie won't take out the system entirely, though I could see an EA "we'll remove it while we think about how we can sleaze you less" situation coming at some point if their forums are literally full of daily complaints a month from now. 

Forums [Bungie.net]

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News:: Ubisoft's new AI wing melds gaming and scientific research

Game developers were researching AI well before it became a tech industry trend, but they haven't had much incentive to share their work with the academic world. It's a competitive advantage, after all. Ubisoft, however, is trying to find a happy middle ground. It recently established an AI research wing, La Forge, that aims to harmonize research for both gaming and science. The new unit has academics and Ubisoft employees working together on projects that will ideally advance gaming and lead to real-world breakthroughs that scientists can publish.

Source: TechCrunch

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News:: NES Golf 'tribute' removed from Nintendo Switch firmware

In what is surely to become an interesting piece of gaming folklore, Nintendo have now quietly removed the hidden version of NES classic, Golf, from the firmware of the Switch.

The hidden emulation of the 1984 release was found tucked away within the console's data earlier this year, with no official confirmation of the reason behind the game's integration.

However, it was ascertained that the title was likely included as a tribute to the late Satoru Iwata, who worked on both Golf in the early days of his career and had a hand in the early development stage of the Nintendo Switch. Golf was accessed via a series of complex steps that involved setting the clock to July 11, the day we lost the former Nintendo CEO, and performing his famous "Direct to you" pose with the Joy Con.

It has been suggested that Golf was embedded within the console as an "Omamori", like a good luck charm, to help guide it through its launch period. The hybrid-console not only went on to sell over 10 million units in its debut year, but it also brought fans two of the 2017's best releases, in Super Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I'd say Iwata's work was done. Wouldn't you?

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News:: Let's share our favorite Christmas gaming memories

Growing up, before I got a job that gave me enough money to buy just about any game I wanted, Christmas was one of the two or three days a year I could look forward to getting a new game. My birthdays were pretty dependable on providing me a new game and sometimes Easter as well, but Christmas, that was the day I could almost always expect a brand new spanking game under the tree. There are plenty of fun memories from the NES and SNES era I can look back on fondly, but the best Christmas gaming moment from my youth has to be the one where my parents spoiled the shit out of me and my brother.

It was the year 2000 and my brother and I were still rocking our -- technically his -- PlayStation. The Dreamcast had released the year before and the PlayStation 2 was about to drive Sega out of the console market. Having played Soulcalibur at a campground over the summer, I wanted the Dreamcast. I wanted it and Sonic and Marvel vs. Capcom. My brother wanted the PS2, putting us at odds.

Growing up, we only had one gaming console at a time. It went NES, SNES and then the PlayStation. So two sons getting two different consoles didn't seem likely. But that Christmas morning, that's exactly what we got. I got my Dreamcast and my brother got his PlayStation 2. If that wasn't enough, we both got our own 19" heavy-ass CRT television so we didn't have to share.

If Christmas is about getting stuff, that year was the best Christmas ever. And while in the years following that I would realize just how spoiled my brother and I were and how that is possibly not the healthiest way to raise a child because it'll be difficult for them to adjust to a life where they can't get everything they want without working for it, that morning, in that moment, I was the happiest boy in the world.

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News:: Check out Dragon Ball FighterZ's intro movie, and me goofing with Beerus

Bandai Namco have released the intro movie for the upcoming Arc System Works title, Dragon Ball FighterZ. The game launches in just a little over a month, and hopefully this video will help to stoke the flames of HYPE.

The suitably chaotic movie introduces the game's roster, as well as showing off some blistering, cataclysmic action, backed by music that your dad will call "just noise". It certainly gets the blood pumping, that's for sure. Check it out below.

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News:: Ben Heck's SNES Classic teardown

How does the SNES Classic compare to the NES Classic? Find out in this episode, wherein Ben picks up the newer edition and performs a teardown. Discover what components are in the box and how different the design is different from an electronics and mechanical perspective. Join Ben for a trip down memory lane with a discussion about Nintendo games. Have suggestions on what hardware should be torn down and unboxed on the show? Let us know over on the element14 Community.

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News:: New trailers and more Persona news than your stolen heart can handle

Atlus held their Persona live stream today. It featured festive fun, a baffling card game that made my head explode, and a giant Morgana angrily shoving a young woman over on a soccer pitch. I'd put it all into context for you but, brothers and sisters... I can't.

What I can do is relate the plethora of news that came out of the wacky stream -- which was about 75 minutes of goofiness and 15 minutes news-- concerning the Persona 5 anime, the upcoming Dancing Night titles, Blu-ray sets, and the canon name of Persona 5's awesome protagonist, Joker.

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