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Unrecord Police Bodycam Realistic FPS Causes Controversy

Jakejames Lugo
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Unrecord Police Bodycam Realistic FPS Causes Controversy

It’s no secret that the games industry and any topic related to the police have often been a volatile mixture. Whether it’s real-world events dictating the opinions of games industry figures or various game releases depicting police officers in various contexts, there’s always a controversy that pops up one way or another. This appears to be the case with a new game being made by developer Alexandre Spindler for Steam. Many discussing the game on social media appear to be split on how they feel about it.

The game in question is a hyper-realistic first-person shooter called Unrecord. At first glance, anyone would believe that this is either a very elaborate hoax or some kind of virtual reality game that puts you in the shoes of a police officer trying to solve a case. But what Unrecord actually is according to its developer is a realistic FPS being made in Unreal Engine 5. The first footage of the game was shared by Alexandre on his Twitter back in 2022, with a glance at the very detailed graphics and tense gameplay.

Alexandre later shared new footage of the game, prompting many responses from the gaming community. The game’s Steam page gives a solid description of what the game is for curious players. “Unrecord is a single-player FPS that tells the story of a tactical police officer from the perspective of his body camera. As you work to solve a complex case, you’ll need to use your tactical and detective skills to succeed.” The studio publishing the game is DRAMA, a French independent game studio that is made up of three people. Unrecord is their only game listed on Steam. Unrecord also has no announced release date as of yet according to a post shared on Twitter from the studio.

But despite the shocking reception to the game’s visuals, many are very apprehensive about the concept and subject matter of Unrecord. DRAMA describes the game as a mixture of first-person experiences like Firewatch and tactical shooter elements of Read or Not, along with a narrative to follow. For some people online, a game about the police is an instant red flag and has been the cause of heated discussion. One user on Twitter responded to footage of the game with major concern. “This is strictly my opinion, but a cop simulator…really?? All this talent and ingenuity and impressive tech with no creative spark to do something far cooler kinda sucks. Like this hyper-realism would escalate horror to the next level, but instead we get a cop simulator…” Many others on social media and forums echoed similar views about the game.

In response to a lot of the scrutiny about Unrecord, the studio released a statement addressing many of the concerns brought up. The post touched on the validity of Unrecord being an actual game they plan to release, as well as their stance about tackling the subjects related to the police and criminal acts.

“As a French studio addressing a global audience, the game does not engage in any foreign policy and is not inspired by any real-life events… The game will obviously avoid any undesirable topics such as discrimination, racism, violence against women and minorities… The public generally trusts film, series, and novel writers on the intelligence of the point of view when it comes to detective, gangster, or police stories… Why not for a video game? If the game presents political messages, they will be made consciously or in your interpretation. If the game aims to be subversive in certain countries, we will assume the label…”

Additional footage of the game was shared on Twitter by Alexandre and the official Unrecord Twitter account, showcasing more gameplay and even clips of the Unreal application as Alexandre tweaked certain aspects. For some, it’s unbelievable how close to reality video game visuals have gotten over the years. Gamers that were interested in Unrecord continue to debate online whether this is a real game or not, but one thing is for certain. Unrecord definitely has a lot more attention on it now. We’ll know if it can deliver a solid experience or not when DRAMA is finally able to release it for everyone to play.

What do you think of the gameplay footage of Unrecord? Do you think this is a real game or an elaborate hoax by some clever developers? And do you think it’ll tackle the police subject matter with class? Share your thoughts about everything in the comments down below!

Crash Team Rumble Beta Impressions – Know Your Role Crash!

Jakejames Lugo
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Crash Team Rumble Beta Impressions – Know Your Role Crash!

Crash Bandicoot is a series with a lot of versatility, being one of the big mascot franchises from the early PlayStation era. We’ve seen Crash in action-adventure games, kart racing games, and chaotic party games that can be played with friends. But now we’re going to see Crash Bandicoot and the rest of his companions in a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, something very different for the orange bandicoot. To get a taste of what’s to come, developer Toys for Bob had a closed multiplayer beta for the game that allowed players to dive into the arena and scramble to collect wumpa fruit. And even with a small portion of the game available to play, there’s a lot to say about this new outing for Crash and friends.

In the beta for Crash Team Rumble, there’s access to five characters to play with, most of which need to be unlocked at first by playing and winning matches. You can play as Crash Bandicoot, Coco Bandicoot, Tawna Bandicoot, Neo Cortex, and Dingodile. Each character has their own role and perks for that role to help contribute to a match, by either scoring or affecting other aspects of the match. Characters like Crash and Tanwa are Scorers, whose biggest goal is to collect as much wumpa fruit and score in the goal. They are able to capture Gem points easier and multiply the score for the team faster. Coco and Neo Cortex are Boosters, characters who can gather more relics on the map are gain access to various perks that either boost the team or affect the opposing team. And Dingodile is a Blocker, whose only concern is being a menace to opponents and protecting key points to ensure victory.

Matches are 4-on-4 skirmishes on a variety of maps based on different parts of the Crash Bandicoot series. It’s very important that the whole team works together in their given roles to win a match. Collecting wumpa fruit is everyone’s concern, but not the only thing they should do when roaming around. Deviating from a character’s role can be a major issue for the team and almost guarantee a loss, especially if you play characters in the opposite way they’re intended. Dingodile is strong but moves slower than most other characters, so he’s not ideal for gathering wumpa fruit fast. In the same way, Crash can move fast but can’t take a lot of hits or deal a lot of damage against other characters. So you shouldn’t really be using him to get into a lot of fights. Finding out the pros and cons of each playable character will take some trial and error, which comes with time as you play more.

Matchmaking in the beta can be sluggish at first, but once you’re put into a match things pick up to a faster pace. Matches can either last a short while or end very quickly, depending on how well your team works together with their given roles. The biggest factor to winning quickly is getting control of the multipliers on the map, with each multiplier stacking upon one another. Fighting for points like this is where most of the skirmishes between teams will happen, which is why Blockers and Scorers need to work together well to gain the upper hand. Once a team has that, gathering wumpa fruit is the main goal to gaining a massive lead.

At the same time, everyone can pick up relics to use the various utility platforms, or Relic Stations, that are on the map. For Booster characters, this is very important because they can gather more relics faster than everyone else. You don’t need to have the exact amount of relics right away to open a platform up, you can gather and stack them up between everyone on the team. Once you have enough, getting big relic boosts can be devastating to the other team. Some of the perks include having a UFO comb the map and damage enemies, while another will unlock Uka Uka invincibility for your entire team and allow you to run through everything. By the time things like this begin to happen, matches might already be on the verge of finishing, especially if one team has been proactive in getting multipliers and wumpa fruit.

Characters also have other perks that they can use occasionally over time, such as dropping enemies to harass the opposite team or a health boost for allies. These come after an ability bar fills up over time as you play. It’s possible that some characters in the final release will have perks to make this fill up faster and drop more things on the map, but that’s not the case in the beta. Most of the abilities between characters affect gathering items on the map and how much damage they do to enemies.

When it comes to balance, the beta shows that there is a lot that still needs to be adjusted. One of the biggest issues is when a team has no answer to the opposing side camps their scoring ring using someone like Dingodile. Because a blocker can take a lot of damage and push back everyone far with ease, a group of scorers or boosters will have a lot of trouble. You can’t win a match when the team is unable to score. While it’s a good strategy to hinder a team from doing so, it shouldn’t be a nearly game-breaking option. Possibly having some of the enemies that are laid on the map adjusted to do more damage or knock characters back will help with this, giving the defending team some sort of option to prevent their score ring from being camped out constantly. But the other option would be to adjust the attributes of Blockers like Dingodile, to still allow them to be tough but not untouchable in such scenarios.

In addition to matches, players can unlock various cosmetic gear that can be equipped to characters. These are only for looks, but allow for some flair to be added to every character, giving some visual variety. New items can be unlocked by completing challenges and leveling up the Battle Pass that Crash Team Rumble has. Higher levels open up the better-looking gear, but you can also unlock more items by playing with specific characters and leveling up their rank. Luckily, items you unlock can be mixed and matched between everyone, so you’re never locked out from one item on any given character. After playing just a few matches the unlocks pop up more often, which may or may not change in the final release. Everyone on the roster looks goofy, but adding different items can give them an even more outlandish look.

Overall, the closed beta for Crash Team Rumble is very solid. The game is fun to play and can get very competitive if you get matched up with a good team. Unfortunately, the inverse can be said if you wind up with a bad group, but that is the nature of the genre that you have to expect. There will definitely be more content to explore in the final version of the game when Crash Team Rumble releases on June 20th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One.

Will you be checking out Crash Team Rumble on any platform? Which character are you going to try out first or which one will you main? Let us know your thoughts about Crash Team Rumble in the comments down below!

Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always – Not Fully Morphed

Jakejames Lugo
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Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always – Not Fully Morphed

The Power Rangers series has been around for over 30 years with many spinoffs that continue bringing teenagers with attitude into cosmic adventures. The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series remains one of the most popular in the franchise, being the foundation that helped bring about many of the staple aspects the franchise continues to this day. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a Netflix special that follows some of the original Rangers many years later after the ending of the original series. But while there are some fan service moments and decent action that Power Ranger fans will enjoy, a few unforgiving problems nearly ruin the fun. Some creative choices are borderline disrespectful and are glaring issues that stick out in the worst way possible.

The plot of this Power Rangers special mostly follows Billy and Zack, played once again by David Yost and Walter Emanuel Jones respectively. After a battle with a robotized Rita Repulsa that results in the death of Trini Kwan the Yellow Ranger, Zack takes in her daughter Minh and acts as her guardian. All of the original rangers move on with their lives until the Robo Rita resurfaces and attacks them. Jason, Kimberly, and Tommy are captured by Rita’s new monsters and used to power a mysterious device. Billy and Zack need to gather help from other Power Rangers to find and stop Rita before her plan can unfold and wreak havoc on Angel Groove and the rest of the world.

Anyone that has watched an episode of any Power Rangers show knows there is an element of camp and lightheartedness that is part of the franchise’s DNA. So there isn’t a lot of deep storytelling here, but Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a bit darker than previous Power Ranger stories. The death of Trini, once played by Thuay Trang in the original show, is addressed in the series in a fashion that fits the story being told. Having Rita as the one who kills Trini makes sense since Rita was the nemesis of the original group. At the same time, having her daughter become linked to the Rangers seems very fitting, leading to a predictable outcome that still makes sense within this universe. But while the bulk of the story uses the death of Trini as a jumping-off point, there are other outside forces that hold this special back in a significant way.

With the original team comes the unavoidable issues about the actors who played them. Kimberly, Jason, and Tommy are present in this special, but none of their actors are part of the story. It’s very jarring to have their characters appear, but be captured for the entirety of the story and never once remove their helmets like Billy and Zack. It’s very difficult to make a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers story and not have these actors reprise their roles in a significant way. This is very apparent when you see Kimberly, Jason, and Tommy at the very end through archival footage with Kimberly playing the guitar and singing for the group. However, Amy Jo Johnson who played Kimberly in the show was not included in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always whatsoever. To include her character with voice sound clips and archive footage from the original series but not have her appear at the end of the story feels a tad bit disrespectful and lazy, especially when her character is present at the beginning.

The same can be said for Austin St. John, who played Jason the Red Ranger in the original show. Unfortunately, because of the legal issues Austin faced in his personal life, he couldn’t appear in the special. And worse yet, the passing of Jason David Frank also contributed to him not reprising his role as Tommy the Green Ranger. Since these issues are unavoidable, it would have been a better creative decision to not include these Power Rangers at all, and instead go with different characters from the Power Rangers franchise.

With sound clips of all three actors being used during the fight scenes at the start, as well as an off-camera morph beforehand, it once again feels lazy and borderline disrespectful to fans and the legacy of the show. There is a dedication screen (In Loving Memory) to Jason David Frank at the very end after showing the original team during Kimberly’s song, along with Thuay Trang, but it would’ve been a better overall choice not to include Tommy or the Green Ranger in the story at all.

But what about the Rangers we do have for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, are they good in their roles? Besides Walter and David, we also get Catherine Sutherland and Steve Cardenas, who played the second Pink and Red Rangers in the later seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Both of them contribute greatly to the team when called upon by Billy to help out in the fight against Robo Rita, especially towards the end when the action revs up. Both actors bring a lot of camp with them as well, particularly Steve’s character Rocky, who plays off a lot of comedic moments.

In addition, we get cameos of Johnny Yong Bosch and Karan Ashley, who played the second Black and Yellow Rangers in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Their appearance doesn’t do much for the story, other than to give reasons for some of the other rangers being unable to help. They appear a second time at the very end once everything is resolved after having traveled from space when they received Billy’s call for help.

And then there’s Charlie Kersh, who plays Trini’s daughter Minh. A lot of her scenes feel over-acted and a bit hammed up more than her costars, but her action scenes are done very well. There are moments where her line delivery feels awkward, often appearing like another take could’ve been filmed to make things a little better. Her relationship with Billy and Zack has the most emotional moments in the special, giving reason for her wanting to fight Rita and become a Power Ranger. There’s a sense of whiplash in scenes that both she and Zack share, where one-second things get serious and emotional, only to immediately get back to the camp and one-liners. For most Power Rangers fans this will be nothing new, but for everyone else, this will be very jarring.

Like the rest of the franchise, the action is a big standout. The fights with the Rangers taking on Rita’s Putties are great and arguably a bit more brutal than what the original show ever had. The Rangers get to use their weapons more and land vicious attacks on their enemies, stabbing and slashing through putties and causing them to fall apart into the dirt. For mature fans of the show, this is a natural evolution from what they grew up with. When things kick into high gear towards the end with Rita growing monsters and the Rangers calling upon their zords, it can be fun.

Unfortunately, the CG visuals with the Megazord don’t look as good as they could. Some may find similarities in the effects to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie from 1995, but in 2023 things should look much better. The scenes when the original zords are called upon look better and emulate some aspects from when they appeared on the show, but what comes after doesn’t match up to that.

When all is said and done, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is an average special that could have, and should have, been great for long-time fans. Outside forces may have dampened a lot of things and made it more difficult to put the special together, but better planning and creative choices could have compensated for that. Not having some of the actors that played roles in the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show really drags down the impact this special could have made to celebrate the legacy of the series. And the corners that were glaring cut because of that were very poor decisions that stand on the edge of being disrespectful and lackluster. It’s great to see Billy, Zack, and some of the other Power Rangers morph once again, but hopefully, this isn’t the last special celebrating Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that everyone can go out on. Such a thing can definitely be done a whole lot better.

Are you a fan of the Power Rangers? Who is your favorite ranger of the original group? And will you be watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always on Netflix? Share your thoughts in the comments down below!

Discotek Media Announces Blu-Ray Release ‘Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy’

Jacob Airey
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Discotek Media Announces Blu-Ray Release ‘Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy’

Discotek Media is bringing all seventy-seven episodes of the sports parody anime ‘Ultimate Muscle.’ The release includes ‘The Kinnikuman Legacy’ and ‘Second Generation: Ultimate Muscle 2.’ The Blu-Ray box set will feature the visuals in standard definition as well as both the original Japanese original and the English dub from 4Kids Entertainment.

The box set has a planned release on May 30, 2023, though it is currently available for pre-order on the Right Stuf Anime website.

The anime was directed by Toshiaki Komura and produced by Toei Animation between 2002 and 2004. The series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo and on the Fox Box animation block of Fox in the United States.

It is based on the comedy manga by writer Takashi Shimada and artist Yoshinori Nakai and published by ‘Weekly Shōnen Jump’ between 1979 and 1987. Though it was relaunched in 2011 within the pages ‘Shū Play News’ magazine.

You can check out the intro for the series here:

Wikipedia describes the synopsis as follows,

“Mantaro Muscle (also known as Kid Muscle, Mantaro Kinniku in the Japanese version) is the spoiled son of superhero wrestler King Muscle (Kinnikuman in the Japanese version). After 28 years of peace, the Seigi Choujins’ (Muscle League) old enemies regroup and form the Demon Manufacturing Plant (dMp, known in the English version as Destruction, Mayhem and Pain). The Muscle League has lost its edge and are overwhelmed by the young, well-trained fighters. Recognizing their weakness, the Seigi Chojin reopen the Hercules Factory (a school for superheroes) and begin training a new generation of heroes to take on the dMp. At first unwilling, Mantaro (Kid Muscle) is one of the young heroes and defeats his father to prove his readiness to graduate.”

‘Ultimate Muscle’ is a sequel to the 1990s anime ‘Kinnikuman’ and its follow-up ‘Kinnikuman: Scramble for the Throne’ produced by Toei Animation.

Street Fighter 6 World Tour Demo Impressions – Visiting Metro City

Jakejames Lugo
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Street Fighter 6 World Tour Demo Impressions – Visiting Metro City

Street Fighter 6 is set to release in June 2023, and many fighting game fans can’t wait to get their hands on it and hop online for some multiplayer sets. Not too long ago, Capcom had an open beta for Street Fighter 6 that allowed players to check out the Battle Lobby online features and get a feel for the game. Those who got into the beta on PlayStation 5 and other platforms were treated to a great time. But what about the other modes that Street Fighter 6 will have in its full release? Luckily Capcom has given everyone a taste of what to expect with a new demo to explore on PlayStation 5.

While the open beta for Street Fighter 6 focused on multiplayer content, this new demo puts an emphasis on single-player content. The demo lets players get the World Tour mode, as well as local single matches and Extreme Battles. Because of this, the demo also doesn’t have many characters to use from the roster, only allowing Ryu and newcomer Luke as playable characters in any of the modes. The tutorials that are included for both characters are very comprehensive, detailing every aspect of a character’s playstyle and unique moves. This is very good for new players or anyone looking to try out a different character outside of their main. Every character in the full version will have a guide that can be referenced when needed.

For World Tour, however, players are able to make a custom character that can be ported over into the final version of the game. Unfortunately, any progress made in World Tour in the demo won’t carry over. Most players will spend the majority of their time in the World Tour section of the demo, which takes you through the beginning sections of World Tour, letting your character join up with Luke and his training school. There is a lot of cinematics that lay the foundation of a story that will play out through World Tour mode, giving your character a possible rival and hinting at things to come.

When the demo finally gets past the tutorial section of World Tour, you’re thrown into Metro City. In the full game, the city can be explored and offer many challenges and side quests to get lost in. For the demo however, you only get to see a very small section of Metro City and are introduced to the mechanics of getting into fights, leveling up your custom character, and some of the quest elements you’ll discover. Running into different Street Fighter characters will allow them to become your master and open up their style of fighting to you. This is interesting and can be switched up as you play through more of the final version of World Tour. There’s a lot of potential to have some neat surprises in the final game, especially if everyone in the roster for Street Fighter 6 makes an appearance during your quest.

Fighting in World Tour is similar to any fight in Street Fighter 6 but with a few minor changes specific to the mode. While you can use Classic Controls that are more traditional Street Fighter inputs, you can use Quick Combos during a match, allowing you to hit a few inputs for combos when you land an attack. Some battles also have you teaming up with an ally against a stronger opponent, which is very similar to the dramatic battle scenarios of older Street Fighter games. The full game will have more abilities and other battle scenarios, but the demo only offers a small portion of what might be.

But a few things the demo shows dampen a bit of the experience, especially in the presentation during World Tour. Although a demo, some sections of the mode experience a severe drop in frame rate and have the occasional pop-in with characters in the city. It can feel like the framerate of the game goes from 60 FPS to around 24 FPS when you enter into a fight with a character you find while roaming.

In the small area you can move around within Metro City, you can see citizens popping in and out as you move further out into a distance. This happens while you roam as well as in quick cutscenes when you’re interacting with non-playable characters. Hopefully, this is ironed out by the time Street Fighter 6 is released because it happens frequently.

Despite a few hiccups in the demo, Street Fighter 6 is looking very good so far. Many of the fighting mechanics are pushing the fighting genre forward with its competitive scene, but also offering something different for casual audiences looking to dive into the world of Street Fighter. Capcom revealed that the first batch of downloadable fighters added to the roster will be coming in 2023 and into 2024, but there may be even more surprises over the horizon. Street Fighter 6 is set to release on June 2, 2023, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Are you going to pick up Street Fighter 6 on release day? Which character are you going to pick up as your main for online play? And are you excited to see more of the World Tour mode? Share your thoughts about Street Fighter 6 in the comments down below!

Arcade1up Reveals ‘The Fast & The Furious’ Deluxe Arcade Machine

Mike Phalin
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Arcade1up Reveals ‘The Fast & The Furious’ Deluxe Arcade Machine

Arcade1Up is taking another stab at the racing game genre with a deluxe version of The Fast & The Furious arcade machine. Relive the early days of the long-running franchise … for a price.

There’s no riser required for this machine since, thankfully. But then again, I don’t think a riser with peddles would work anyway. The entire cabinet is pretty eye-catching. It’s loaded with The Fast & The Furious early 2000s flair.

The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Game includes another game: The Fast & The Furious: Drift. But what would these two games be without multiplayer?

Up to four cabinets can be linked together via a local network but not with an internet connection. That’s lame, but considering the iffy online feature we’ve experienced with the NFL Blitz cabinet, it’s probably a good thing it wasn’t incorporated for The Fast & The Furious.

Arcade1Up machines have been all over the place as far as price goes. In the past two years, we’ve seen them go from $299 to $899, depending on the retailer. Yes, even basic machines with two games were commanding high price tags. Ugh.

The Fast & The Furious isn’t going to be inexpensive. The 64.4″ tall arcade machine will cost you $599.99 and has to be pre-ordered from Best Buy. The expected release date for The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Game is May 8th.

The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Machine
Photo Credit: Arcade1UP
The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Machine
Photo Credit: Arcade1UP
The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Machine
Photo Credit: Arcade1UP
The Fast & The Furious Deluxe Arcade Machine
Photo Credit: Arcade1UP

Here’s the complete list of features:

  • Link up to 4 cabinets through local network for the ultimate arcade setup! (*cabinets need to be connected on the same local area network and will not connect over the internet.)
  • Wi-Fi Leaderboards to challenge others across the country!
  • Sleek Cabinet Design
  • Light-Up Marquee
  • Molded Faux Coin Door for Authentic Arcade Look
  • Powerful dual speaker sound system
  • Crisp 17-inch LCD Monitor
  • Racing steering wheel with rumble, gas and brake pedals, and performance 4 -speed shifter
  • Over 5 feet tall
  • 2 Classic Arcade Games
[Source: Arcade1UP]

Cartoon Network Debutes Tiny Toons Looniversity Teaser Trailer

Sarah Leone
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Cartoon Network Debutes Tiny Toons Looniversity Teaser Trailer

Cartoon Network unveiled the teaser trailer for Tiny Toons Looniversity, which is a reboot of the 90’s animated series Tiny Toon Adventures that ran from 1990 to 1995 with 98 episodes in total. The characters in this series are considered the descendants of the Looney Tunes characters. The original series took place in elementary to high school years while the new reboot will take place during college years.

Here is the trailer for Tiny Toons Looniversity:

“The series follows Babs, Buster, and the rest of the crew to Acme Looniversity,” reads the synopsis. “At the esteemed institution of higher hijinx learning, they form long-lasting friendships and perfect their cartoony craft while studying under the greatest cartoon characters in history, the Looney Tunes.”

Presumably, Buster and Babs are still going to be portrayed as siblings, whereas they clearly were not siblings in the original series. The teaser does not really give an indication as to whether they went through with this twist. The sibling revelation came out in July of last year during the SDCC panel in which a rep from WB mentioned in passing “Buster’s twin sister Babs”. This statement was confirmed by staff artist Len Kiraly Lee. Tiny Toon Adventures creator Tom Ruegger reacted to this development by responding with, “Ummm… Ew?”

Tiny Toons Looniversity is set to air on Cartoon Network and HBO Max this fall.

Tiny Toons Looniversity is executive produced by Sam Register, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank, with Erin Gibson as showrunner. The half-hour comedy will feature the voices of Eric Bauza as Daffy Duck, Jeff Bergman as Bugs Bunny, Ashleigh Crystal Hairston as Babs Bunny, Candi Milo as Granny, Tessa Netting as Sweetie Bird, Danny Cooksey as Montana Max, and David Errigo Jr. as Hamton J. Pig.

What do you think of the new teaser trailer? Will you watch it even if none of the original creators are involved? Will you watch it if they changed the decision to make Babs and Buster siblings? Let us know!

Review: God of Rock – Competitive Rhythm Fighting Game?

Jakejames Lugo
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Review: God of Rock – Competitive Rhythm Fighting Game?

Rhythm games can be a lot of fun to play, either alone or with a group of friends. A good chunk of the genre was kickstarted by the popularity of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, only to recede back in the years since. But what happens when you take the precision and spectacle of a rhythm game like that and mix it with a competitive fighting game? The result is a wild combination like God of Rock. On paper this sounds like a unique and fun idea, but in execution, you have a game that is very limited by its flaws. One can safely say that you probably won’t find a lot of fighting game enthusiasts looking to take this to big tournaments over other fighters they know.

God of Rock as a package feels a bit shallow, especially if you’re not really big into playing rhythm games. But the appeal of being a fighting game as well should give you a basis to start from, right? The unfortunate truth is that God of Rock is more of a rhythm game than a fighting game at heart. It’s true that you face off against someone in a one-on-one fashion, but don’t expect to use traditional fighting game tactics here. You’ll mostly be concerned with hitting as many notes coming at you on a track over your opponent. There are moments where you’ll occasionally use an ability to throw off the opponent’s track and overwhelm them with notes, but your biggest enemy is the track you need to follow. Essentially, matches in God of Rock are a more glorified version of the Versus mode from games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

But does that mean the fighting game characteristics here are moot? Not entirely if you enjoy a game with a good presentation. The visuals and music in God of Rock are very good. You have a roster of a dozen eccentric fighters with around 48 music tracks that you can play through, along with a decent selection of backgrounds to battle in. As far as looks are concerned, the game delivers. But if you’re someone that cares more about the substance in the gameplay looks, you’ll more than likely struggle with God of Rock in a few ways.

The biggest issue that God of Rock runs into is how annoying it can be to follow notes on the track while at the same time executing special moves against an opponent. Every character has their own inputs for special moves and ultra-attacks, but doing them while in a match can be tedious and difficult to pull off at times. The track you follow is somewhat small on the screen, which is much smaller than most other rhythm games that have a larger area for you to see the notes you need to hit.

When the track gets filled up with incoming notes, it can be very difficult to tell what to hit next, let alone be precise with complicated button inputs to stay ahead of the other person. Pair this up with special attack inputs that sometimes don’t respond at the worst of times and you can end up with a real struggle mid-match. Ultra-attacks for some characters require a full-circle input that can sometimes get dropped when you’re trying to hit notes being thrown your way.

The majority of this wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the game is supposed to be a competitive fighting game at the same time. You’re not going to end up fighting for control of space or priority of attacks when you get into a match in God of Rock. The music track is what you’re mostly going to focus on, not the movements of your opponent. Looking for incoming special attacks from an opponent does help sometimes, but it’s not like you’re going to react often with a counterattack or movement in the same way as any other fighting game. The flow of the gameplay ends up feeling more like Guitar Hero than Street Fighter. For some people that’s totally fine, but the majority of others will be disappointed by that.

There aren’t many game modes in God of Rock to dive into. You have your standard Arcade mode, which rewards you with a brief character ending when you finish it, as well as local and online multiplayer. Matches between both are the same formula, just with either a CPU or human opponent. Going online with matchmaking will be annoying for some because you don’t get to choose the music you both get to play through. At the same time, there is definitely a wide range of skill levels that you’ll get paired with, so you can expect to run into players who are way more familiar with the tracks than you.

The only other part of God of Rock is the Track Editor, which allows you to customize the tracks you play on with each track. You more than likely won’t get a lot out of this unless you take a lot of time to edit tracks to your liking, but you also don’t get to use the custom tracks in online multiplayer, which is a bummer. What’s disappointing is that there are no other extras or gallery to view arcade endings or anything else, no unlockables or any bonus content whatsoever. This makes the package feel hollow and very slim overall.

Anyone that likes music and rhythm games will find some fun to be had in God of Rock. But fighting game fans won’t fair that much better here, especially if you were hoping to have more fighting game aspects be at the forefront. There is an element of competitiveness to be experienced with the head-to-head battles, but it’s more akin to rhythm games we’ve seen before, which won’t be for everyone. The meager package here only dampens what is a pretty neat idea. In execution, however, God of Rock comes up short and not fully realized.

What are your thoughts about God of Rock? Do you like the concept enough to try it out for yourself? Post a comment down below and let your voice be heard!

Original Pokémon Artwork Rediscovered Decades Later

Jakejames Lugo
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Original Pokémon Artwork Rediscovered Decades Later

The Pokémon series has been around for a long time, maintaining its popularity with general audiences for decades. Many fans of the Pokémon series have grown up trying to catch them all across multiple generations of the games and iterations of the franchise. But did you know we never saw the original Pokémon watercolor artwork from Ken Sugimori as it was intended to be seen? The way you’ve known how Pokémon looked back in the 90s may have been very different than you remember.

Luckily for fans of the Pokémon world, YouTuber and archivist Lewtwo has a thread of recently unearthed original Pokémon artwork from the late 90s. When Pokémon was released in the West for North America, the original artwork that was used for any kind of advertising of the series was scanned and came out discolored from its original look. The scans that most people saw were often washed out of their original color and not fully accurate to the Ken Sugimori source material.

While posting on Twitter, Lewtwo shared images that were provided to him by software developer Christopher Wells, also known as ExcaliburZero. The artwork in its original form comes from a Japanese guide and includes the original 251 Pokémon from the Gen 1 and Gen 2, which covers Pokémon Red, Blue, Gold, and Silver.

Speaking with Kotaku for an interview, Lewtwo spoke about why these new scans are so significant to preserving the legacy of the Pokémon series. “You can literally see all of Sugimori’s imperfections with the tools he used, right down to the way the watercolor bleeds in and around the line art, to the point we’re convinced that this is the closest we will ever get in being able to scan the original piece… The scans of this artwork were remarkably poor, and every source we found appeared to have largely stretched or misshapen art, which stemmed from the sources themselves, and not even from poor scan quality…”

The biggest reason why the poor scans of the Pokémon artwork circulated around in the West for so long was because it was used for various advertisements and extra media. Everything from magazine ads to posters, and other marketing material during the late 90s when Pokémon was so incredibly popular among young audiences. Many who grew up during then have always had their view of what classic Pokémon generations looked like, and now this gives them a chance to revisit that era and see it all in a new way they never saw before.

With the massive amounts of images sent to Lewtwo, he’s taken on the long process of scanning all images of the 251 Pokemon and uploading them to an asset archive. At the same time, Lewtwo is working in collaboration with places like Bulbapedia to upload better versions of the artwork to their website, restoring the original pieces for everyone to see. Accomplishing this is going to take a long time, which Lewtwo predicts may take months to get through. While there was some concern among Pokémon fans that the artwork we’ve seen originally for years will be erased, Lewtwo ensured everyone that won’t be happening.

“We understand the backlash—that people have an affinity for the way the artwork has always looked to them, but our priority has always been preserving how this art is supposed to look as much as possible… I never grew up with these guides so I can’t really relate, but the inaccurate versions will always exist on Bulbapedia’s file history for those that want them there… We’re all trying to do the best we can, and we appreciate all of the nice, patient comments so far. It means the world to us to see people excitedly asking what their favorite classic Pokémon was supposed to look like with this level of care and attention.”

Are you a big fan of the Pokémon series and grew up with the first few generations of games? Will you be checking out all the new versions of the Ken Sugimori artwork that is being shared online? Post a comment down below and share your thoughts about everything!

The Reaper Comes For BuzzFeed News

Mike Phalin
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The Reaper Comes For BuzzFeed News

We’ve been covering the rocky times for BuzzFeed multiple times over the past few years. It all came to a head today as the reaper swung his scythe. Buzzfeed News is being shuttered.

Unsurprisingly, the word that the newsgroup was shutting down came as a memo. The document in question, linked below, is allegedly from Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s CEO. In the multi-page document, Peretti says he regrets that he did not “hold the company to higher standards for profitability, to give us the buffer needed to manage through economic and industry downturns…”

Peretti says he overinvested in the organization because of his admiration for what the crew did and their “mission.” However, the lack of return on that investment and other factors like declining ad revue cemented his recent decision. After chasing multiple cost-saving avenues, Peretti concluded that Buzzfeed News is shuttering and only HuffPost will remain.

Now, this does not signal the end of BuzzFeed altogether. The pop culture website will remain open, but all news ventures will strictly stay in the domain of The Huffington Post. Thankfully, members of BuzzFeed News will have the opportunity to apply for newly opened positions within both companies.

Considering that BuzzFeed may start employing more AI to generate stories, who knows how long it will be until those new positions get the ax?

On occasion, BuzzFeed would do what we as journalists should and investigate real issues. Instead, however, the past few years have seen the company become a parody of itself, especially on YouTube.

BuzzFeed News pushed the Steele Dossier, which was questionable at best, and possibly a paid-for smear job at worst. However, the news arm of the company coveted it because, in my opinion, money and ideology became more important than ethics. This led to several lawsuits against the company.

What do you think of BuzzFeed News’s fate? Let us know below.

[Source: Twitter]
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