What We're Playing: PlayerUnknown's Soundboxing
Danielle "Cash Me Ousside" Bregoli is suing three companies for $1 million for using her catchphrase and likeness without permission. The new Xbox Games Pass is the Netflix of gaming, except for missing one important detail: new, original content. Michael Skimbo, 25, took a year off work, started playing Madden full time, then won an EA tournament that netted him $150,000.
What are you playing?
Patrick Aloia, Staff Writer, @PatchesAloha
I am playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and wow what a fun game. It's even fun to play alone! Just being in that environment is inspiring and interesting. It's kind of like playing manhunt with your friends throughout your neighborhood, but it ends and starts at a reasonable time, and there is more variety, and no one can leave you alone out there for the most part. PUBG has been an absolute blast so far. I love the silences, I love just being with myself, thinking, planning, and even losing. I'm excited to do it with a squad in the future. But loving this right now.
Russell Archey, Staff Writer, @NeoScyther
Around this time last year I started an interesting—and what turned out to be a somewhat boring—project, where I began WWE 2K16's Career Mode. One year in real time and five years in-game time later and I'm finally wrapping up that project this weekend. With that out of the way, I've begun work on another project: Going through every Skylanders game using only one Skylander per game. Okay, it's not the most difficult of challenges, but since I hadn't gone through most of the series yet I figured I might was well make it interesting.
Sean Colleli, Staff Writer, @scolleli
I have discovered a fantastic HD mod for one of my favorite FPSes of all time, Quake II, so I've been playing that like it's my job. It makes me nostalgic for the days when shooters had impeccable level design and action that left you gasping for air. I still feel like Quake II's campaign doesn't get the love it deserves, and in any case, it has the best double-barreled shotgun in existence, bar none.
The backordered NES-style case I bought finally shipped too, so I'll be cobbling together the Retropie machine I'm building for my little brother's birthday/graduation. NES Classic? We don't need no steenking NES Classic!
Chapel Collins, Staff Writer, @ChapelCollins
I have been attempting to complete Tales of Vesperia since the summer of 2011. I have made three major attempts to complete it over these last six years, and I'm knee deep in the fourth right now. I stop at almost the exact same place every time I try to finish it, and I'm approaching that point in my current playthrough. But I'm hoping I'll have enough determination to get through it. I don't know why I have such difficulties with it, either; it's truly a great game. It has some of the best writing and characters I've ever seen in a game, with a subtlety not often found in JRPGs. Whatever free time I have this weekend will be devoted to finally getting the conclusion I've been wondering about for so many years.
Kinsey Danzis, Staff Writer, kdanzis@gamingnexus.com
In between my continued exploration of Mass Effect: Andromeda, and my continued determination to get the golden Mercy icon in Overwatch, I'm heading back to Dishonored 2 (because guess who still hasn't beaten the final mission?) in hopes of finally seeing the end. I stopped playing it for a few months because who-knows-why. But when I finally picked it up again, the plot twist with the captain of the Dreadful Wale roped me into finishing. We'll see if I'm skilled enough, I guess.
Charles Husemann, Editor-in-Chief, @chusemann
I started a new character in Destiny to see how the experience has changed since launch. It's definitely a bit smoother than at launch, but there are still some quirks and hiccups in the chain. Switching from a Titan to a Warlock is changing my tactics significantly, but I'm adjusting slowly.
Outside of that, I'm going to be logging some time with Two Dots, a three-year-old iOS game that my wife and I discovered last week. It suffers from some of the major limitations of the mobile genre (e.g. limited lives) but the puzzle structure is unique and fun.
Time permitting, I'm going to check out Soundboxing on the Vive. It's a game that Job Stauffer over at Telltale Games lost 50 lbs. playing, and I've been meaning to try it out as a way to lose weight and build up some cardio.
Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, rkalista@gamingnexus.com
I bought into Humble Monthly last week for Stellaris, and that universe is richly overwhelming in all the right ways. I'm learning lessons about playing nice with my galactic neighbors, repressing pirates with Machiavellian military force, and, in general, keeping even political splinter groups more or less happy within the United Nations of Earth. My next playthrough may be decidedly more conniving.
For me, Fallout has always taken a distant second place to The Elder Scrolls. That said, I reinstalled Fallout: New Vegas. I'm not typically into gambling, (near-) murder mysteries, or 1940's Americana. But New Vegas, even from the starter town of Goodsprings, has got some layered adventuring and dialogue that's atypical for even Fallout 3 and 4. This is my third earnest attempt at playing New Vegas. Hopefully I don't get stuck in another endless cycle of game-over screens with Caesar's Legion death squads spawning on me every five minutes.
Rob Larkin, Staff Writer, @Rob_GN
I'm back in the wasteland, finally finishing up Fallout 4. I'm powering through the Institute and Railroad endings now before I'll reload an earlier save to take the endgame path with the Brotherhood of Steel that would have been my first choice. That way when I go back I can just keep straight on with my preferred "ending" for the DLC and unfinished side quests. But the reality is, once I finish all the factions, I'll probably just start a new game afresh on Survivor mode. For now, it is fun to run through the game being completely un-stingy with all that heavy ammo and power armor I've carefully stockpiled all game knowing I'm going to get it all back once I reload that earlier save. And that's probably needed reinforcement not to be so dang stingy in the first place, especially considering how I'll need those boosts for Survivor mode.
Aside from that, I'm working on a review for Dawn of Andromeda and taking too long each morning to get out of bed, tapping away on mobile games. I know it's June, but someone tell England that because it is still freaking cold in the mornings.
Nicholas Leon, Staff Writer, nleon@gamingnexus.com
I'll be flying to L.A. this weekend for E3, so I obviously won't be playing anything huge, unless it's at E3. If my airline lets me bring my 3DS, maybe I'll get around to Ocarina of Time or Dragon Quest VIII, I'll be happy during my five-to-seven-hour flight, layover included. Otherwise, it's all E3!
Kevin O’Connell, Staff Writer, koconnell@gamingnexus.com
Still knee deep into Dirt 4 and having a blast with that. The older Abarths and Quattros are so much more enjoyable than the newer stuff. I was going to tinker with Mass Effect 2 again, but am going to wait and see if a remaster set comes around. Debating if I want to shell out for a PS4 or a newer PC. Who knows?
