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.
The agency to which Kimura belongs is known to be strict about portrait rights.
Until a few years ago, they prohibited images of their singers and actors from appearing on the Internet.
If a magazine with them on the cover is sold online, this is the image that will be used. pic.twitter.com/QE7LBbnhof— 産まれたてヤリマンボウ (@M_lanceolatus) July 12, 2021
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.
Steam Deck is coming December 2021 https://t.co/k3U9h0YDkq pic.twitter.com/lWQpjb1YNk
— Wario64 (@Wario64) July 15, 2021
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.
Ubisoft Report States It's At A "High" Risk Of Losing Talent Due To Toxic Work Culturehttps://t.co/qPnw4DaoAd pic.twitter.com/xHr3MNMljH
— Kotaku (@Kotaku) July 11, 2021
Magpie Games is Kickstarting an Avatar: The Last Airbender roleplaying game.
We are thrilled to announced that Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game will be coming to Kickstarter on August 3rd, 2021!
Want to see what all the fuss is about? Head over to https://t.co/rItdPWY8kC and you can get your copy of the Avatar Legends RPG Quickstart today! pic.twitter.com/PQIbN5zLuO
— Magpie Games (@MagpieOfficial) July 12, 2021
Google Stadia announced a new initiative that will give developers a cut of Stadia Pro revenue… with several caveats.
Stadia to give devs a cut of Stadia Pro revenue (based on how often their game is played) https://t.co/XeEDXTyoc9 pic.twitter.com/xQzY9dKHhi
— Gamasutra (@gamasutra) July 14, 2021
Netflix is getting into the business of video games.
New story with @Lucas_Shaw: Netflix is planning to add video games to its service in the next year and has hired Facebook’s VR games content head, and former head of mobile games at EA, to run its new gaming division. https://t.co/hvs7n1pzVB
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) July 14, 2021
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.
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