GYGO: Handhelds on Deck and Last Judgment?

Howdy and welcome to Get Your Game On! I, Maddi, can hardly believe we’re more than halfway through July, yet here I am with another installment of the week’s video game news. Recently I’ve been catching up on manga, books, and television rather than playing games, but I’m still saving a few minutes here and there (as always) for Picross. What have you been playing lately? Let us know on Twitter, or, if you’re a Sidequest Patron at the Sega Genesis tier or higher, come make recommendations in our Discord! Speaking of Sega, here’s what you might have missed in video games last week.

Lost Judgment Might Be the Last Judgment

On May 7, 2021, Sega announced Yakuza: Lost Judgment, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and Xbox One. The game, due September 21, 2021, is a sequel to 2018’s Yakuza franchise spinoff Yakuza: Judgment. However, last week Game Informer reported that this may be the final installment in the Judgment series due to a disagreement between Sega and the talent agency representing Takuya Kimura, who voices protagonist Takayuki Yagami. His likeness is also used for the character. Kimura’s agency, Johnny & Associates, is strict about how its talent’s likenesses are used, and has even censored their faces on magazines in the past. The current dispute is centered on a possible PC release and the possible use of Kimura’s likeness. According to Game Informer, the agency is pushing back against a Steam release because it does not want Kimura’s likeness to appear on a platform that connects to the internet. It seems like the agency is attempting to protect Kimura by limiting the potential for modding, but if Sega and Johnny & Associates cannot come to an agreement, Lost Judgment may be the final installment in the spinoff series.

Valve Has a New Portable Console on Deck

Last week, Valve officially announced the Steam Deck, a portable gaming PC due out later this year. The Deck is approximately Nintendo Switch-sized, but according to IGN, boasts beefier hardware that supports the capabilities of a gaming PC. According to Valve, the intention is to give players access to their entire Steam library through the device. Other features include Bluetooth connectivity, capacitive thumbsticks, mappable back buttons, trackpads for mouse inputs, and external display capabilities (similar to the Switch dock). The Steam Deck is available in three models: the base version, which includes 64 GB of storage, starts at $399. A 256 GB version of the Deck is set to retail for $529, and a model with 512 GB of storage will retail for $649. Along with greater storage capacity, the latter two models also feature an upgraded SSD, allowing for faster processing. Players can reserve all three models of the Steam Deck through the Steam store.

In other news…

Ubisoft has a toxic work culture. Coincidentally, Ubisoft is one of the producers of the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest, about the dysfunctional studio behind a fictional MMORPG that pokes fun at the often-toxic work culture in video games.

Magpie Games is Kickstarting an Avatar: The Last Airbender roleplaying game.

Google Stadia announced a new initiative that will give developers a cut of Stadia Pro revenue… with several caveats.

Netflix is getting into the business of video games.

Madison Butler

Madison Butler is Sidequest’s self-proclaimed jock editor. She co-founded the blog Critsumption and once got really into powerlifting via Fitness Boxing for the Nintendo Switch. She tweets at @_maddilo.