Episode 34 – Borderlands 3 Revealed, Why Anthem Failed

recorded on April 5, 2019

Headliners

Borderlands 3 revealed its release date on Wednesday to be September 13 for PS4, Xbox, PC (Polygon)

• Borderlands 3 will be an Epic Store exclusive on PC until April 2020 which is about 6 months
• Gearbox tease more worlds than Pandora, more guns and enemies, new level sync co-op system
• The game will support split screen gameplay but only for consoles and not PC……what the hell?
• Characters are Moze the Gunner, Amara The Siren, FL4K the Beastmaster, Zane the Operative
• Multiple editions of this highly anticipated game are available at various prices:
  • Standard Edition = $60 -> Include base game
  • Deluxe Edition = $80 -> Cosmetic skins for character and guns, XP and Loot drop boosts
  • Super Deluxe Edition = $100 – > 4 campaign DLC packs, special weapon skin
  • Diamond Loot Chest Collector’s Edition = $250 -> Figurines, Models, physical merch

Anthem expose by Kotaku shines light on why the game was poised for failure from the start (Kotaku)

• There were many factors as to why Anthem is and continues to be a raging trash fire
  
  
• Lack of leadership
• Lack of vision
• Internal studio strife
• High levels of stress
• Low levels of morale
• BioWare team mismanagement
• Forced to use Frostbite engine
• Senior and veteran devs leaving
• EA poor support and backing
  
  

• BioWare responded to this article almost immediately after it was published saying this:
• IF DECIDED, READ STATEMENT ON LAST PAGE

Little Bits

Sony has updated their purchasing policy in light of the next fiscal year that started Monday (Sony)

• Purchases can be refunded fully up to 14 days after purchase date as long as not downloaded
• Pre-orders can be cancelled and PSN ID name changes are still in the works
  
  

Xbox Live Gold price increasing by 25% for UK gamers due to changing market conditions (bit-tech.net)

• The price will go from 40 to 50 pounds for a year subscription beginning on May 8
• The new price will be charged to existing customers on August 7

The Razer Turret, wireless keyboard and mouse for Xbox One, will be available soon (IGN)

• For a limited time it is available now at the Microsoft Store
• Sports 30-50 hours of battery life, a fast 2.4GHz signal, Razer Chroma colors, priced at $250
• Games that are compatible with this are listed below with more high profile ones to come
  
  
• Metro Exodus
• Sea of Thieves
• Minecraft
• Strange Brigade
• Fortnite
  
  

The Division 2’s first major update with new content dropped today with a bunch of new stuff (Polygon)

• Tidal Basin comes with a new in-game event, new stronghold, and fourth player specialization
• The release date for the first raid will be April 25, raids consist of 8 player high level missions
• World Tier 5 will also be introduced along with new map and new exotic weapons

Officially licensed Switch Pro Controller by PDP adds headphone jack bypassing Mobile App (Engadget)

• This is the chat feature and audio SDK (Software Development Kit) developed by Vivox
• There are no release dates but pre-orders begin in May and comes in red and purple camo

QuakeConn 2019 will be known as the Year of Doom commemorating Doom’s 25th anniversary (Polygon)

• Registration for this event begins on April 11 with the four day event starts on July 25-28

Todd Howard says Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI will not be shown off at E3 this year (GamesRadar)

GameStop reports its biggest financial loss ever losing 673 million in last fiscal year (ScreenRant)

Heartwarming News: the “Skyrim Grandma” is getting made into a character for The Elder Scrolls VI

• Shirley Curry on Youtube. An 80+ year old grandmother who has over 300 videos.

Rapid Fire News

Cyberpunk 2077 will not have any game over screens other than death even after failing a mission (IGN)

• A Cyberpunk 2077 themed store will be up and running in time for the game to pick up cool stuff

Ninja Theory announces Helblade Senua’s Sacrifice arrives on Switch April 11 for $30 (Gematsu)

CAPCOM removes the lens flare censor over Trish in DMC 5 for PS4 except in Europe (EuroGamer)

Black Ops 4 Blackout gets an update adds another map and goes free to play for a month (GamesRadar)

EA Dice added in microtransactions to Battlefield V on April 4 thats what falling game needs….(Engadget)

Valve to release own VR headset called Index; pre-orders in May and launching June 15 (The Verge)

The PC Gaming Show returns to E3 this year on June 10……not sure what will be shown (PC Gamer)

New game Darkbon gives you control of the monster and ot the “self proclaimed” monster hunter (IGN)

Blizzard releases 10.4” Lucio hero statue for $175 (Blizzard)

Upcoming Releases and Deals

Playstation Store massive Spring Sale started on Wednesday and runs until May 1 (Playstation Blog)

RE2 Remake is on sale for $40 (33% off) on PSN until April 8 but for other retailers it is unclear

Special Zelda Switch pro controller pre-orders available, launch late April early May…..cool (NintendoLife)

The Witness is free right now on Epic Games Store for a couple weeks

Rumor Mill

Target Australia listed Red Dead Redemption 2 for the Switch along with Xbox and Playstation (ResetEra)

Persoon 5 S, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Zelda: A Link to the Past coming to Switch this year (Wario64)

An easter egg spotted in The Division 2 may suggest that next AC title takes place in Viking era

Xbox Anaconda dev kit specs leaked:  8 core 16 thread Zen 2 CPU, 48 GB RAM, 4TB SSD, Vega 56ish GPU