GYGO: Niantic Knows, Blizzard Backlash, and a New Console

Howdy, gamers! What games have we been playing lately? I haven’t been playing much, but I’m thinking about jumping back into Bloodborne (you’re in the know, right?) after catching up on the comic adaptation written by Bloodborne enthusiast Aleš Kot. Aside from that, I’ve also been trying to collect all of the adorable Halloween costume variants and ghost-types running rampant in Pokémon Go.

What Does Niantic Know About You? More Than You Think, Probably.

However, earlier this week a Kotaku report by Cecilia D’Anastasio and Dhruv Mehrotra highlighted just how much of your location data game developer Niantic collects and stores. Though it might not be surprising that Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite collect data, many players were surprised by the depth of the data collected.

Players Continue to Protest Blizzard, Blizzard Continues to Punish Pro-Hong Kong Players

Blizzard is still facing backlash after punishing Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai for making pro-Hong Kong statements during an interview. Since this happened on October 8, the company has continued to punish players for speaking out. Despite reinstating Blitzchung’s prize money and reducing his initial ban from twelve months to six, it issued six-month bans to three college Hearthstone players for holding up pro-Hong Kong signs during a competition a week later.

Last Wednesday, Blizzard postponed its 15th anniversary World of Warcraft event, which was supposed to be held in Taiwan over the weekend. It did not give a reason for the cancellation. It also canceled a launch party that was going to celebrate Overwatch‘s release on the Nintendo Switch.

Then, on Friday, the Verge reported Blizzard began issuing 24-hour chat bans to any player posting pro-Hong Kong statements in the Hearthstone Masters Tour Twitch stream chat. This prompted U.S. lawmakers, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, to send Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick a letter calling for the company to reconsider its decision.

Seattle-Based Company Analogue Announced Its New “Pocket” Console

Analogue Interactive, which was previously known for its gorgeous, handcrafted Neo Geo, NES, SNES, and Genesis consoles, announced a new retro-inspired console this week. The Analogue Pocket will be compatible with more than 2,780 Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. Additionally, it features mappable controls, USB-C charging, and a 3.5-inch display with 10 times the resolution of an original Game Boy. Plus, it isn’t just for gaming—Analogue says the console will include a synthesizer and sequencer for making music on the go.

In Other News…

• Players can now be terrorized by Untitled Goose Game’s goose in Resident Evil 2
• You can also annoy the village in a tabletop game called Horrible Geese

• Fat Pikachu! Long Meowth!
• Nier: Automata’s 2B is coming to Final Fantasy XIV
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will not include randomized loot boxes
• Okami sequel?

And that’s what you missed this week. Until next time!