gaming

Just days after Valve opened pre-registrations for its upcoming Steam Deck, eBay has already become flooded by listings from scalpers. According to new reports, offers for the handheld console started appearing on eBay within 24 hours of Valve’s pre-registration, which only required a $5 USD deposit in order to secure a chance at purchasing the device. While the base model itself retails for $400 USD, listings from these scalpers went as high as $2,500 USD. Many listings also carry titles suggesting that the Steam Decks have been securely purchased and will ship by December, which as Kotaku points out is simply not true. Valve has made clear that while it hopes to convert as many pre-registrations as possible to full purchases, the process isn’t 100 percent guaranteed, and order invit...

Starting today, Pokémon TCG shoppers who purchase ¥1,500 JPY (approximately $13.60 USD) or more at Pokémon Centers in Japan will receive a special Pikachu promo card illustrated by the minimalist artist Yu Nagaba. Known for his simple line illustrations of people and pop cultural characters, Yu Nagaba has left his mark on the Pokémon TCG world with this pika promo. The card itself is mostly yellow but in the box where a colorful illustration typically sits, Pikachu can be seen in Yu Nagaba’s signature style over a white background. This promo is part of a larger collab with Yu Nagaba called the Yu Nagaba Box. This limited pack sees card sleeves with the artist’s work, a playmat, deck box, storage box, and smartphone ring. While many have already secured their spot to purchase the special b...

The storyline for the Iki Island expansion in Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut has been further revealed. Revealed just weeks ago in a video teaser, Sucker Punch Productions created Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut for the next-gen of Sony PlayStations with improved graphics and 60 fps gameplay. While many have already played the main storyline, fans are excited about the updated Iki Island expansion that sees Jin Sakai travel to Iki to battle against a mysterious Mongol tribe and its leader known as “The Eagle.” Sucker Punch Productions senior writer Patrick Downs comments, “Our semi-fictional version of Iki Island provides a stark contrast to Tsushima. It is a wild, lawless land of raiders and criminals, scarred by memories of war, and fiercely independent; the samurai have not been in c...

Konami has officially brought an end to its PES brand. Originally launched back in 1995, PES (or Winning Eleven as it’s known in Japan) was Konami’s take on a football game, mainly competing against EA‘s FIFA franchise over the years. Last year, Konami began the game’s transition into eFootball PES 2020, but has now finally decided to take the plunge and kill off its PES branding for good, instead simply naming the new free-to-play game eFootball. “Our ambition was to re-create the perfect soccer environment, from the grass on the field, to the players’ movement, all the way to the crowds in the stadium,” reads the new game’s official website. “To this end, we decided to create a new soccer engine with a newly built animation system and revamped game commands. The final resu...

Video game developer Valve is on the hunt for new weapon skins for Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and they’re enlisting the help of fans across the world. The company on Wednesday revealed a $1 million USD art contest, in which 10 selected winners will each receive $100,000 USD for their designs. Other than the dream or nightmare-themed skin requirement, the rules are fairly loose. Creators can submit as many designs as they’d like and people can participate individually or as a team. That also means there’s the possibility to have multiple winning designs. Submissions grant Valve a non-exclusive license to utilize the design in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, meaning that creators will still own the rights to their designs. To enter, a Steam account that is in good standing is requir...

Epic Games and Fortnite have launched their first-ever Pride event to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Named Rainbow Royale, the new event kicked off yesterday and will continue through July 27 and offers players a host of free content on its Item Shop including four colorful sprays (Vibrant Heart, Vibrant Llama, Vibrant Boogie and Vibrant Star) as well as a Sunshine & Rainbows weapon wrap and a Take a’bow emote, which largely resembles the rainbow gesture meme from SpongeBob SquarePants. Those on Fortnite Creative will have access to a new rainbow flag, while the full game’s radio stations will feature a series of songs and tracks celebrating Pride and LGBTQ+ artists such as Lil Nas X, Big Freedia and Ben Platt. “Everyone is welcome on the Battle Bus,” reads a blog post from Epic ...

Short Nite is back with a series of entertaining animated short films are coming to the Big Screen on Fortnite‘s Party Royale. The Short Night 2 broadcast includes the continuation of the popular Glideguy saga with Glideguy Gets UP! featuring music from Emma Stevens. Aside from theater-style viewing on Party Royale, players can also watch Short Nite in Battle Royale mode via picture-in-picture. Subtitles are available for short films that contain dialogue in multiple languages. It’s important to note that no streams or recordings of these films are allowed, with anti-piracy and DMCA regulations in place. ‘Short Nite 2’ will run for around 40 minutes, repeating non-stop for 48 hours beginning July 23 at 2 PM EDT. Head over to the Epic Games website for more information. In other news, Hasbr...