Let’s check in on GameStop. It has been a while since the CEO resigned, and … Ah.
GameStop has had no CEO since Matthew Furlong was fired almost two months ago. Now, the embattled brick-and-mortar video game retailer has lost its Chief Financial Officer.
In a story from GameIndustry.biz, we learned that Diana Saadeh-Jajeh had been GameStop’s CFO for less than thirteen months before handing in her resignation. She took up the position in July 2022.
Unlike Furlong’s departure, Saadeh-Jajeh’s appears to be voluntary. A reason for her departure, however, was not given.
The vacation of the CFO position means that GameStop’s VP, Daniel Moore, will be moving into the role in the interim. Considering the company is still without a CEO, who knows when and if these positions will be filled or just assimilated into the duties of other people full-time?
Like Saadeh-Jajeh, Moore has not been with GameStop for a lengthy period. He, too, started with the company less than four years ago.
Previously, Saadeh-Jajeh had been GameStop’s Chief Accounting Officer and even the interim FCO during the second quarter of 2021. Before all that, she spent 18 years with VISA, rounding out her career there as the Vice President in 2015. She had bounced around between a few companies before coming to GameStop.
GameStop’s stock closed at $21.93 on July 28th. That’s a far cry from the $81.25 high it experienced in 2021. Even after the meme-inspired price increase, GME maintained a $40-$50 value throughout 2021, then gradually declined into $20 territory throughout 2022.
The physical stores have been seemingly aimless regarding who they’re trying to appeal to. What is the point of visiting a GameStop unless you’re trading in games or buying pre-owned ones?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen that brick-and-mortar locations have had an identity problem. They changed focus from games to Funko Pops and pop culture collectibles. Many of those items end up in the clearance bins.
[Source: GameIndustry.biz] [Source: LinkedIn] [Source: LinkedIn]
Are you excited about more new characters getting revealed for Mortal Kombat 1? Which fighter do you want to see be added to the main roster or as extra DLC? Tell us your 
Surprisingly, Haunted Mansion has a number of great moments that come close to being truly scary. Although the tone of the whole film is more comedic than horrifying, the timing and cinematography really play up the scary aspects of the mansion being haunted. But it never goes fully scary in any case. When the action picks up, you get some very neat-looking visuals that are heavily inspired by the attraction the movie is based on.
But a few things from the Disney ride are a bigger focus in the story of Haunted Mansion, including the Hatbox Ghost and the woman in the crystal ball, Madame Leota. Both are iconic parts of the original ride that play a major part of the plot in various ways, with Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost and Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota.
Ben Matthias is played by LaKeith Stanfield and is able to get a good range of emotions throughout the film. There are funny, sad, and suspenseful moments with him that work out very well as the movie goes on. His backstory is something that is hinted at throughout the film, leading up to a great monologue that feels heartfelt and sad. Unfortunately, Ben is probably the only character that gets to really flex a range of emotions and elicit empathy from the audience. His performance is complimented by Owen Wilson who plays Father Kent, who gets some of the best funny moments in the story. The banter between the two of them is fun, but over quickly. When Ben and Father Kent are together, the comedy of the movie really takes off, especially in scenes that involve ghosts chasing everyone around.
Two of the biggest wastes of potential in the film are Tiffany Haddish and Danny DeVito, as Harriet the psychic and Professor Bruce respectively. Both get some funny moments throughout the film that are great, with a few really good ones due to Tiffany Haddish’s timing and exaggerated reactions. The problem is that they are far between and over too quickly. While Tiffany gets to do things towards the climax of the film that are very important, it feels rushed. Danny DeVito almost gets forgotten after a certain point in the plot, where things begin to get dire for everyone. It would’ve been great if the story had more ways to incorporate the two more often or have other bits with them involving some of the ghosts that haunt the mansion.
Haunted Mansion is a movie that you can have fun watching during Halloween with friends and family. It’s not one of Disney’s best films based on their iconic attractions, but it’s not a terrible movie at the same time. It has some good moments that will give you a thrill, and maybe a scare or two. Disney fans will appreciate the care that went into it to be more faithful to the original attraction. But this is not a deep story that will have you wanting to rewatch it again outside of the spooky holiday where it best fits.
The three games that are part of the Ray’z Arcade Chronology include Rayforce, Raystorm, and Raycrisis. Although the gameplay of each is primarily the same, the latter two games have extra features and changes introduced into the series. This includes 3D graphics and new attacks that started with Raystorm, as well as more stages and alternate endings that came with Raycrisis. If you find yourself enjoying one of the games, chances are you’ll feel the same about the rest. They’re easy to get into but can be very tough to finish.
Although Ray’z Arcade Chronology has trophy support for all three games, there are no other extras related to them. There is no Gallery with artwork, no section that tells the history of the Ray series, or anything else related. It’s confusing why no other effort went into including any bonus content for fans of the series, including things that could have been unlockables for playing or finishing all three games.
Those that love being competitive with their arcade games have Replay downloads and Rankings to explore. You can compare your scores and playtime to everyone online, as well as save your playthrough to share with others in every version of these games. There’s not much you can get from interacting with any of this unless you really care about personal rankings and speed runs. Although this stuff is great to have, it would have been far better to have other bonuses related to the Ray series than just this alone. And although the games all have local multiplayer co-op play, it would have been even more interesting to allow online co-op multiplayer for each game. This would’ve made the entire package feel more valuable.
If you love classic arcade shooters, then you may enjoy checking out Ray’z Arcade Chronology. All three games are fun to play through and considered classics in the genre that still hold up well. The Ray games are quick to get into and challenging enough to test your skills to their limit. But if you were hoping for more from this bundle to explore more about the series, you’ll be disappointed at what is here. Without any additional extras or bonus features to enhance the experience of playing these games, Ray’z Arcade Chronology just feels like a meager package.
Some of the biggest issues you run into involve rushing through stages to pick up enough trash to earn money, as well as chaotically fighting enemies that continuously annoy you. It can get difficult to pick up trash when enemies harass you at every chance they get, forcing you to deal with them before you get any trash. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that the garbage truck you escort begins to move forward when you least expect it. You might not have enough time to grab nearby trash because of this, especially if you waste your time fighting every enemy on screen. Sometimes the truck will advance forward even if you haven’t defeated every enemy that appears, forcing you to rush forward and make quick decisions on what to do before the stage ends.
But can this get easier to deal with as you play more of the game? Unfortunately, not as much as you might think. Scoring money from the trash you pick up can let you purchase new characters, weapons, and other mods for the garbage truck. But these upgrades are mostly cosmetic and won’t change your attributes, with the exception of weapons you purchase to have on hand at the start of a stage. Some weapons have faster attacks and more power, but you’ll have to complete stages over and over again to unlock new ones to purchase.
One extra thing that PixelJunk Scrapper Deluxe has is cooperative multiplayer, both online and offline with up to four players. But good luck trying to connect with people online if you don’t already have a pre-planned session in mind. You often won’t find others online to get matched with, even if you host a room for others to join. The other issue with the online mode is how the game automatically locks one slot off to friends you must give a six-digit room code to, rather than allowing all slots of the room to be open to anyone to join. Why online multiplayer was limited in this way is confusing, when it could’ve been easier to just have open slots for anyone to join a room when searching for others online.
There are the makings of a great game with PixelJunk Scrapper Deluxe. The concept is a neat take on the brawler genre that can be fun to play with others. But the areas where it stumbles hold back the experience from being a great recommendation for anyone who loves this style of game. And with the multiplayer mode being so limited online, it makes recommending PixelJunk Scrapper Deluxe a little harder. If a few updates could change up some of these things, then you’d have a far better game to try out here.
“The first three days will grant a War Track from the ’80s (Foundation), ’90s (Golden Era), or 2000s (Life After Y2K). On the fourth day of logging in, you will receive a special Weapon Blueprint that can be used in any online mode. Players will automatically be granted these items upon log-in…” This isn’t the first time Call of Duty has included hip-hop music tracks as part of War tracks since it was first introduced back in 2019. War tracks allow you to listen to music while playing through Warzone game modes, letting players mix up what they hear when playing any mode.
The official blog also goes on to detail aspects of the operators for Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, and 21 Savage. Each operator will go live at various points of the game’s Season 5 game content, showcasing their own style and flair for which they are known. Snoop Dogg will be out at launch, Nicki Minaj will be out during the season, and 21 Savage will be live mid-season. Their appearance in Call of Duty also coincides with new changes for Prestige rewards and challenges that are also coming with Season 5, which includes new icons and weapon blueprints. Snoop Dogg originally appeared in Call of Duty as a playable operator back in 2022 to a very positive reception.
Other changes and tweaks to the gameplay of Call of Duty Warzone and Modern Warfare are expected to be added as well. New maps for various game types will appear, as well as new quests and game-type variants. All of the specific details for what is coming with Season 5 are on the 
