Tag: xbox

The PlayStation State of Play, Xbox Games Showcase & Nintendo Direct Formerly Known as E3 – 2024 Edition

A few weeks ago, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, all held their annual May/June video presentations to show gamers what titles they can get excited about playing in the coming months and/or years. While these late spring announcements used to coincide with the long-running, world-famous Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, sadly that event is no more. Thankfully, the video game industry remembers and still carries on the long-standing tradition, with or without a central physical venue to do it from; and as long as they continue do so, we will strive to do our part and cover them. Please read on for some of the highlights.

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AJ’s Picks: The 12 Best Games of 2022 (In Just Under the Wire Edition)

Well, 2023 is drawing to a close and I haven't even released a best games of 2022 list yet. (And you thought last year's was late!) Well, consider that box now officially checked off. It took a long time to get it right. Way longer than it probably should have. It's pretty likely that many out there will still take issue with these choices but, whatever, I'm pretty proud of these picks. All I can do at this point is apologize for the extreme tardiness of this article and promise to do my best to at least release a 2023 list in the first half of next year. But in the meantime, please read on for my selections for the 12 best titles that 2022 had to offer:

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AJ’s Picks: The 12 Best Games of 2020

It's so nice to be out of 2020. Between the pandemic and a multitude of various other reasons, it was surely a year most people would sooner forget. But that being said, 2020 wasn't actually a total loss. Despite several titles having to see their release dates pushed back due to the challenges of working through social distancing and quarantines, it was overall a pretty fantastic year for video games. Don't believe me? Well, just read on and see for yourself as I recap 12 of the very brightest spots in an otherwise pretty dark year.

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Using the Force: 6 Of My Favorite Star Wars Games

Well, it may have started a long time ago, in this very same galaxy that we are in, but the final episode of the epic, 42-years-in-the-making, Star Wars nonology finally releases today. To celebrate this historic occasion in popular culture, I've decided to take a look back at a handful of games that have made the jump from that universe since then. While there are dozens of releases I could consider from the past four decades, I've decided to narrow it down to just a few that I have particularly enjoyed and/or played the most over that time frame. So, without further ado, I humbly present to you, 6 of my very favorite Star Wars games.

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Twinstiq Staff Picks for their Top Games of 2018

Hey everybody it's me, Scrooloose and the rest of us here at Twinstiq. How's it going? Good? You want a soda? No? Would you settle for a slap-dash list of games we liked from last year (and some prior) written in no particular order, some ranked and some not, hastily put together and edited in collaboration over the last few days with no real format? Yeah, we thought you'd like that. Read more

The Sole Reason Why Consoles are Garbage

While you read this, try to remember that you are a consumer of goods and not a member of a blue or green team okay? Giant corporations like Microsoft and Sony are not your friends, and they market themselves to make you feel defensive when people like me criticize what they do.   Don’t. They do not care about you, just your money. And I’m here to explain with one, and just one, simple reason why all Modern Consoles are absolute trash compared to PCs. And even compared to mobile phones... Read more

The Real Problem With ‘Sea of Thieves’

Sea of Thieves is under a lot of heat right now from gamers and gaming journalists  alike. And not without reason. The game has been heavily criticized for a severe lack of content attached to a sixty dollar price tag. 

But no one seems to want to talk about the real reason why Sea of Thieves is problematic.

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Boats

And yes, I'm all the serious.

Now anyone who reads or watches our content here on Twinstiq (all eight of you) will know that I have a very deep bias against the demons of the sea known as boats. Now I want to be as forthcoming about this as possible, that way you know where I stand on the issue of the normalization of boating within gaming culture.

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Speaking of Boating Normalization, let’s talk about the absolutely disgusting rise of  boating within gaming these last few years.

For quite a while, Boats were largely an afterthought or extension upon a game and it’s many systems. Having little to no effect on the habits of the player. But as gaming fidelity rose, we saw better physics engines that could simulate the horrid movements of water more accurately. With this progression we saw game developers carelessly allow themselves to implement more and more boat-based missions. Eventually we saw games like ‘Archeage’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed 3’ have entire sections of the game solely devoted to what can only be described as boating propaganda.

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'Black Flag' allowed players to live out Pirate fantasies using virtual boats.

'Black Flag' allowed players to live out Pirate fantasies using virtual boats.

The reaction from the gaming community when Black Flag was released should be seen as disgusting to any decent human being. Gamers loved the Boating-Based gameplay, and no one ever questioned if it was good for their health. The "Pirate Fantasies" it allowed players to partake in took no issue in exploiting a lifestyle that was the result of 264 Pirate attacks irl the year the game was released (2013).

Sea of Thieves presenting a boat in a

Sea of Thieves presenting a boat in a "peaceful" manor

Now ‘Sea of Thieves’ is attempting to once again bring Boats to forefront of young people's minds. Thankfully everyone seems to hate how the game is nothing but an empty shell of promises that’s better off left alone, just like the boats it glamorizes. And while this should be a warning to all who think boating is just a “harmless hobby”, I have a feeling that another game down the line will try to corrupt the minds of young gamers and basically train them to use boats in harmful ways.

Make no mistake. Boats are violence. And video game boats are nearly guaranteed to have an effect on real life boats. According to a Fox News article that I will not link to and you should not Google, Boating in video games makes your child more likely to become a boat.

And this should clearly have cause for concern. According to the US Coast Guard, 2016 saw 701 boating related deaths. “The highest number of yearly boating fatalities in the last five years.” 

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That’s almost nearly about approximately roughly around twice as many as the 371 rifle deaths the FBI reported for the same year!

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The trend between increased boating deaths, and boats being normalized in video games are so obvious that it’s irrefutable by any logic. And unless we want to see more games like ‘Sea of Thieves’ bring Boats into the limelight of gaming culture, we need to be diligent. Despite negative reviews, people have not rejected the lure of this boat porn. Despite the sheer amount of hate the game has been receiving, it has still topped sales charts. This is highly concerning. 

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We have too oppose boats in video games at every front. That is why I have never, and will never play ‘Sea of Thieves’ or any other such “Boat Games” that may rear their ugly head.

The Surge: Itch Scratching For Souls players – A Review From Scroo

So back in May this year I started paying attention to a pretty intriguing new title that was commonly billed as a Cyberpunk Dark Souls. I looked at web sites, I watched trailers and kept an eye on forums and soon beyond a shadow of a doubt I knew that The Surge was for me. Read more

My Review of Dark Souls 3, and Why I Love the Series

I love Dark Souls

Maybe it's a latent masochistic part of me who likes this sort of punishing and unforgiving game play, maybe it's the fact that nowadays games are so full of assistance and hand holding that they basically play themselves, but there's something about this series that grabs me and won't let go. Admittedly the Dark Souls 1 PC port was a travesty that was only really even playable with a fan made patch, but I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to a series. When I started hearing about Dark Souls 2 I was glued to news sites trying to learn as much as possible, and even though it had a different director I loved it. I've been anticipating Dark Souls 3 since I first learned about it, and I'll probably play it for as long as it's up and running. I've never played Demon Souls and I don't have a PS4 so I haven't played Bloodborne, but I'd love to change those things as well.

I've been playing, and dying repeatedly in Dark Souls 3 now for over 100 hours and I feel like I can finally get my thoughts down. Continue further for my review and thoughts on the series in general. Read more

Witcher 2 Free on Xbox for a time

Guys, seriously.... Microsoft has begun the backwards compatibility list for Xbox, I'll link the list at the end. More importantly, as of now they have given access to Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for free on Xbox One and 360 from January 21st until February 5th. Even better, it's not like one of those deals where: [My best speed talker impression] This offer only applies to people born outside on a Wednesday under a 200 year old oak tree with no more than three witnesses during a thunderstorm and along side a stampede of Zebra running East.

If you're one of those who didn't play Witcher 2, then I would I advise that you resolve that issue and get yourself a copy. It's an excellent title and it will help some things in Witcher 3 make a little more sense. It's FREE, people!

You can see the titles added to the Backward Compatibility List here. And keep an eye out there for more to come.