It’s not often that we cover the stock market here on PS5 Gamers, but when it’s this big, and of all companies, GameStop is involved, I just have to throw in my two cents. I mean, I did work at GameStop for almost a decade, so it’s only fair that I report on yet another news story that somehow manages to include them. Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets subreddit has been at war with Wall Street over what began as a self-proclaimed “meme stock,” which let’s be honest, is all the value a share of GameStop had a few weeks ago. Well, now the battle has gotten way bigger than I think anyone anticipated. Not only that, but we’re bringing other dying stocks like AMC into the fold to join in on the fun. There’s a lot of money at stake here (won’t someone please think of the hedge funds!), but what’s really going on? I took a course in stock market jargon so you don’t have to, so let’s find out! An Overview of the GameStop Stock Bonanza Among the explanations about shorts and squeezes, and other terms you wouldn’t expect to be associated with the stock market, I came across this surprisingly easy to follow explanation, courtesy of @notasdfghjklx (trying saying that five times fast): My simple explanation $GME $AMC pic.twitter.com/FLQ1LSyH7g — notasdfghjklx (@notasdfghjklx) January 28, 2021 The stock market has always been a playground for the rich, so there’s something vindicating about average people coming together to drive up the stock prices and hopefully make some money for themselves. Where people cry foul here is that the hedge funds who shorted the trades are now forced to buy back all the stock they bet on, and lose ludicrous amounts of money because never in a million years did they expect it to go this high. If things had gone in the hedge funds’ favor, the stock would have gone down in price, and they would have bough back the stocks at a savings, keeping the profits for themselves. Shorting stocks is risky though, because if, for some unforeseen reason the stock goes up in price, you can lose a lot of money. In this case, billions. The term “squeeze” that we’re hearing a lot has to do with people driving up the price of the stock, knowing that there’s timeline for the investors to pay back the short. These types of cat and mouse games usually just happen between billionaires, but in the case of GameStop, a bunch of online redditors who trade for various reasons decided to rally together for this cause. Access to apps like Robinhood and E-Trade make getting into the stock market easier than ever. Don’t worry, we’ll get to Robinhood’s fiasco in a moment. While some people are just buying share on their own, the true rub here are the people who are placing their own options, betting on the opposite side of the shorts. This creates a need for brokers to secure shares in … Read More
Is Sega the most underappreciated company in gaming?
I was going through some boxes in my garage earlier and came across a Wolverine comic book. It was issue #88 – December – 1994. On the cover, Magneto appears to have defeated Wolverine and is holding his lifeless body overhead. I have this comic a bunch of times and I just couldn’t help but to read it again. Good times. As I read through the pages, I came across some advertisements for the Sega Genesis. It reminded me of a very different time. A time where Sega was a major household name for game consoles. The biggest question was always “do you have Sega or Nintendo?” My answer? “Both.” Nintendo was always the more popular of the two consoles back then. Sega consoles were awesome, but Nintendo had the edge until the Sony PlayStation was released. Console war stuff aside, I look back at what Sega brought to the table and if you aren’t familiar with the companies endeavors, you might be surprised to hear that Sega was (at least in my opinion) the most innovative company the game industry has ever seen to this day. That’s a lot to swallow, but hear me out. When it came to consoles, Sega really put in a lot of work into giving gamers more than they were really ready for, but would eventually adopt in the future. They brought us Sega CD and the amazing Sega Game Gear. When they really began to understand and utilize disc based games with Sega Dreamcast, it was sadly too late. With the high cost of manufacturing the Dreamcast and less than stellar sales, Sega had opted out of the console industry and became a game publisher instead. The one angle most important imprint Sega really had on the industry, though, was the Sega Channel! Sega Channel just happened to debut at the same time that Wolverine comic was released. December, 1994. Coincidence? It did lead me to writing this article and I just now found out that both the comic and Sega Channel debuted in the same time frame. What are the odds? Back on track here. Sorry for the detour. As I was saying, Sega Channel might be the important thing Sega did back in the day. It was the Netflix of games. For $15.00 (USD) per month, you would get 50 games to play on your genesis every month. The games available would rotate out each month and often rotate back in. Using an adapter that was hooked up through coax cable, you would just put the adapter into your Sega Genesis like it was a game and press power. A menu with all the games available was simple and we just clicked and played. The service entered homes before the internet became a common household utility, but after 3+ years of operation, Sega Channel came to an end. While it would seem that Sega Channel ultimately failed as a Pay to Play service, it literally … Read More
Sony Reveals New PS5 Game Release Dates at CES 2021
While the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is virtual this year, that didn’t stop Sony from dropping some PS5 news! At the end of their presentation, a sizzle reel showed some familiar titles and confirmed release windows for more than a few! Not a bad way to close out their stream. Let’s see what they confirmed! PS5 Release Windows Confirmed for Major Titles! Sony put all the sizzle and pop you would expect from one of their marketing efforts into the final sizzle reel. The part that we’re interested in comes from a disclaimer slide and its fine print: Here we can see targeted dates for more than few upcoming titles, which I’ve listed below: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is still slated for 2021 Horizon Forbidden West is still targeting 2021 as well Returnal is confirmed for 3/19/21 Pragmata has been moved from 2022 to 2023 Solar Ash is on track for June 2021 Kena: Bridge of Spirits is confirmed for March 2021 Stray is set for October 2021 Ghostwire Tokyo is coming October 2021 Little Devil Inside is set for July 2021 Project Athia is set for January 2022 Hitman III comes out next week (January 20th, 2021) First off, this is a stacked list for 2021, and while it’s not mentioned, God of War Ragnarok is also supposedly coming this year. Any other year, and I would have a lot of faith in these windows, but after the events of 2020, I expect more than a few of these to get pushed back. Nothing against the developers, but we all heard that 2021 would feel the impact of the ongoing lockdowns from the prior year. Even so, if Sony can manage to get all of these out this year, it will be strong showing for PS5. Stay tuned for our previews and impressions on these upcoming titles! In the meantime, if you’re still looking for a PS5 of your own, keep your eyes glued to our Order Page for the latest updates! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 1/12/2020
Maneater PS5 Review – Becoming The Sharknado
Maneater made a splash when it hit the PS4, offering a quirky, but surprisingly in-depth shark RPG experience that took me back to the days of games like Ecco the Dolphin, only with more blood. For those who owned the game on PS4, a PS5 upgrade is free, and for those who have a PS5, Maneater’s next-gen version is free on PS+ for January 2021. Of course, hard drive space is precious on the PS5, so is Maneater something you should download if you’re a subscriber? Better yet, if you read this after January 2021, should you grab a copy on the new system? Time to bite into this unique experience and find out if it’s the Jaws simulator we all want it to be. An Experience with Personality and Teeth, but Last-Gen Problems Remain I played a chunk of Maneater on PS4 and enjoyed it for the most part. It does what’s advertised by placing you in the role of a young shark who lost its mother to a fisherman and took his arm in the process. The entire story is structured like a TV series, complete with a cheeky narrator and film-style cutscenes. The humor is quirky and varied enough that it should appeal to most people. The narration is cynical and tongue-in-cheek, which I enjoyed. The jokes even permeate into the gameplay as you find hidden caches of nutrients, notable landmarks, and other collectibles like license plates. An early landmark find that had me laughing was a Cthulhu statue in the swamp zone that came with hilarious commentary from the narrator. The story is more than you would expect from a game about playing as a shark, and the humor works well, but it’s not going to be the main draw of something like Maneater. The fantasy of being an apex predator, that’s the true draw here. Now, there are apex predators in Maneater, but when you finish the prologue, you won’t be one of them. Beginning as a young shark, you’ll need to avoid things like alligators and munch on things like turtles and small fish. The progression in Maneater feels good, and skills become increasingly ridiculous as you go on, making you some sort of super shark. Bioelectricity and bone armor are just a couple examples of the upgrades you can expect. While the progression and power ups are creative, the gameplay lacks the same level of excitement as you go on. Missions are often identical and involve killing a certain number of fish, predators, or people in a specific area. Encounters with fishers that come after you like mercenaries offer some unique battles, as do the encounters with apex predators, but the mission structure never really varies throughout the experience. Even so, the sheer thrill of exploring the open world zones, finding collectibles, and getting into tense encounters with things like barracuda, alligators, and other sharks, is compelling. Hunting people can be especially satisfying if you’re a Jaws fan. You can throw yourself onto … Read More
Gamer Resolutions for 2021
Welcome to another PS Weekly article! We’re skipping the news updates and preparing for the New Year! I think it’s safe to say most of us are glad to see 2020 pass onto 2021. It has been a trying year and while things won’t likely get much at the start of 2021, we can certainly try to make sure the New Year kicks off in the best possible way, right? To help bring in the New year, here are some Gamer Resolutions I am going to “try” and commit to and maybe you too? We as gamers are pretty lucky. We have a hobby that seems to be virtually pandemic proof. It has caused some delays and definitely created problems in regard to ordering next gen consoles, but these issues aside, we are armed to teeth with a massive library of games at our fingertips. Which brings us to our first subject: the gaming backlog. I don’t know about you, but I have an enormous backlog of uncompleted games that I really need to get to. I don’t even care if I don’t through all of them, as much as I have a handful of ones that I really want to complete, but I often find myself distracted with a new game that I decide to play instead. Because I seem to have a little extra free time at home these days, I’m going to try and set aside a couple of hours a week to catch up on some of my older titles. While it isn’t a life changing resolution, it seems simple enough to commit to. How’s your backlog looking? Another resolution I have is to keep trying to be a better person when it comes to online gaming. Not a better gamer mind you, a better person. I need to work on not feeding the trolls and spreading positivity where I can online, instead of allowing myself to stoop down to a troll’s level from time to time. I take no real pleasure in shutting a troll down by using my wits. I need to work on ignoring them rather than battle them. While it seems funny in the moment, the reality is, I’m not helping anyone if I’m just putting them down to shut them down. It’s something for me to think about. What about you? Speaking of positivity and resolutions, another item on my list is to commit to live streaming several days a week and bringing a fun, safe and positive atmosphere to those that wish to watch and join me. My goal will be to deliver a new game every month to stream and have discussions about the game currently played, other games to be played and give players a chance to see these titles being streamed if they’re on the fence about buying one. We can look forward to that in the beginning of 2021! Try new games! I think when it comes to video games, everybody … Read More
PS Weekly’s Holiday Special!!
The holidays are upon us once again and I’d like to start off by saying that I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful time! This year is a lot different for many people around the globe. I think we’re all happy to move onto the New year, but until then, let’s all put our troubles aside and try to enjoy the rest of our time in any way we can. Not everyone can find the silver lining in these troubling times, but for those that cannot find some joy right now, I hope it finds you soon! With Christmas about to drop, I can only imagine how many people out there (mainly kids, but ya know, gamers alike) must be hoping there is a PS5 wrapped up under the tree. The troubles with purchasing the new console this year have been like no other. With the shortage of supply, market analysts expect to see the demand met in April of 2021, but in the meantime, many will go without. Now, without further ado, I bring you a little holiday parody to try and share a little laughter with everyone that has or wants a PS5 for Christmas this year. I know the frustration is real with this subject, but I hope this helps the mood a little bit. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Party On, Be safe and be you! As always, I will see you online! ‘Twas a Gamer before Christmas – An Ode to ordering the PS5 online in 2020 By Travis Wall Twas a Gamer before Christmas, quarantined in the house. I lay quietly with my laptop, just clicking the mouse… The PS5 in my cart, what is the cost, I don’t care! As I click on the checkout, I hope it’s still there. The PS5 was still there as I jumped out of bed While visions of gaming danced in my head. My family in disbelief, as I began to clap My brain unsettled, what is this crap? I couldn’t checkout as my keys made a clatter! My family rushed over and asked what’s the matter? I opened a new window as quick as a flash Just take money, I’ll even pay cash! The PS5 is still available and in my cart it goes But now it’s saying error, this online ordering really blows. When, what to my hopeless eyes should appear? I’m at checkout again, with another error I fear. So I put in my payment info, with one last click I knew in a moment, I had to be quick! More rapid than Eminem, the curse words they came And I hollered and shouted bad words and nasty names! Not Amazon! Not Target! Not GameStop or Best Buy! Not on Walmart or NewEgg! Could I get one, and here’s why! The websites keep crashing! We can’t drive to the mall! To hell with it! To hell with it! To hell … Read More
Happy ThanksGaming! err… Thanksgiving -2020
It is that time of year again. Holidays are trickling down upon us and today marks Thanksgiving in the United States. A day to be thankful and express our gratitude. Normally spent with friends and family, the holiday tradition has slightly altered this year. With the Covid-19 pandemic still haunting everyone across the globe, many people are keeping things to immediate household members this year. It’s hard on all of us, but it is important to remember to stay thankful and grateful on this day. Here are some things that I and we as Gamer’s, could and should be thankful for! Video Games! As gamers, what could top this list other than simply saying Video Games? This is easily the one thing that all of us Gamers have in common and should be thankful for. If you’re not going to spend as much time with others in person this year holiday, then you can certainly find some people to party up with and play games online. Video games certainly do bring the world together and have helped forge long lasting friendships since they first became a thing. Without them, I wouldn’t be writing this article. There are so many reasons to be grateful for video games. Video games are good for your mental health! Remember when the World Health Organization deemed video games as the cause for mental health issues they called Gaming Disorder? Well, a recent study from the University of Oxford has come to find that video games may actually be good for your mental health and make you happier. While it was a rather limited study, the Director of research at Oxford Internet Institute, Andrew Przybylski said “Our findings show video games aren’t necessarily bad for your health; there are other psychological factors which have a significant effect on a person’s well-being.” Another reason to be thankful for video games! Am I right? Solo campaigns! Sometimes, it’s just nice to play a video game alone. We all need a break from social interaction, whether it’s online or in person, it’s just nice to get away from everyone and while it’s true, you can play multiplayer gamers alone, this is where a well written story from a solo campaign comes in. You can get lost for hours while playing a solo game. Personally, I have been grinding the Demons Souls remake on PlayStation 5, as my solo game right now, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t calling in friendly phantoms to give me a hand when I need it. So, I am thankful for solo campaigns this year, because I can only take so much toxic behavior from call of Duty. You know what I’m talking about… looking at you right now, Treyarch. I am also thankful for Treyarch, though. Just saying. Multiplayer games. How could I mention solo campaigns, but not multiplayer? I couldn’t and I won’t! I enjoy multiplayer games through and through. I have had moments that … Read More
Avoiding PS5 Scams
As we all know, the PS5 is one hot commodity and is continuously selling out of stores the moment each time the console goes live online. Let’s not even mention the odds of finding one in a store such as say, GameStop. It seems like the easiest place to find a PS5 online is through third party sellers. Companies such as eBay have got a pretty decent amount of PS5’s for sale, if you’re willing to fork over amounts of money that far exceed the initial retail price. But, there is another type of third seller and if you think scalpers are bad, these sellers are the worst. I’m talking about scammers. There have been scammers since the dawning of human beings. Even if humans didn’t have an official language in the beginning, they knew how to communicate and I assure you that there were a handful of deceitful scamming cavemen, that probably did awful things in order to get what they wanted. Things like making trades for weapons in exchange for food, except those weapons were probably so poorly made, they fell apart when a hunter needed them most. You can imagine how that might have played out. Sadly, scams are something that will likely never go away and the PS5 has been no exception in regards to scamming. So, where are these scams and how are they taking place? Well, with a handful of different currency apps online, it’s actually easier than ever for scammers to operate. Let’s start with social media outlets. If you go onto facebook marketplace, You’ll surely be able to find a PS5 console for sale somewhere. Not within your driving range, but they’re willing to ship? Well, I’m not saying everyone is trying rip you off online, but there’s a pretty good chance that if you use an app like Zelle or even PayPal, to transfer money to the seller, they might close their accounts or block you, in order to evade ever sending you the PS5 and avoid paying a refund. You will also find plenty of scams on websites like Craigslist. I know that isn’t surprising to some, but it still happens on a daily basis. You’ll come across a listing, the buyer says they will ship and convince you to pay ahead of time because you might not pay them when the order arrives, etc. Honestly, these scammers will find a way to make you feel like you’re dishonest if you’re not willing to pay upfront. Even if you suspect they are scammers, they will try and either talk you into it or they will play it off like it’s not a big deal if you don’t buy it from them because it is a PS5 after all and it will sell quickly. That’s what they want you to think, but you are absolutely better off buying from a reputable source, even if it means waiting longer to get one. I know you don’t want to … Read More
Next Gen in short supply until April? PS5 bugs and more in PS Weekly #7
Welcome back to another issue of PS Weekly! I have to say that it has been a crazy week for all of us here at PS5 gamers. With the release of the PS5, a handful of new games, the upgradeable games to PS5 and not to mention the PS Plus Collection, it feels like there just isn’t enough time to cover everything in just 5 days. So, before we cover this news update, I’d just like to say that we have a lot of content coming to the website, but please bear with us while we roll it all out. We’re a small team, but we’re dedicated to giving you the fact, real opinions and distinguishing between the two. Without further ado, let’s move onto the news! The PS5 console had its first release drop on Thursday, November 12th, and to nobody’s surprise, the console completely sold across all retailers within minutes of each store going live. With scalpers hard at work securing orders and jacking up the resale price more than double on average, there is rightfully a lot of frustration from Gamers that actually wanted to buy a console for themselves. One thing that the entire gaming industry seems to agree on, is that we can expect next gen consoles to be in shortage until April, 2021. That is of course just a prediction, but seems viable. In the meantime, the PS5 is set to launch this Thursday (Nov. 19th), in Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa and the Middle East. There will likely be a shortage in all regions, so if you’re hoping to buy on release day in any of these regions, start preparing now. Congratulations to all that will be playing on day one in these regions. It’s a pretty big deal! Speaking of the PS5, the first post launch update for the PS5 console was released today. The update is mandatory, but pretty small. It comes in at under 900mb, but we don’t have any patch notes at the time of writing this article aside from the note that says it improves system performance. So, nothing special to actually tell you, I hope I didn’t get anyone’s hopes up. With every new console release, there is bound to be some issues. While I personally haven’t had any bad experiences with my PlayStation 5, that doesn’t mean that others aren’t. There have been a slew of reports that some of the consoles are plagued with buzzing noise coming from the console. While Sony has yet to comment on the issue, I have read several complaints myself that have come with attached video of the sound buzzing. No one actually knows what is causing the noise, but many seem to think it has something to do with the units cooling system. One of the examples shown in the video was someone playing Bugsnax, a fairly small game title that won’t push the limits of the console. After playing a minute of Bugsnax, the … Read More
Observer: System Redux Review – The Next Generation of Horror is Here
While it has been difficult to find PS5 consoles, those of us lucky few who were able to secure one can absolutely assure everyone else that the wait is worth it. One of the games that piqued my interest for the new system was the remastered and expanded Observer: System Redux. I reviewed Observer for PS4 back in 2017 and found it to be one of the best horror games in recent memory. After all, you combine the voice of the late Rutger Hauer with a dystopian cyberpunk setting and horror, and you’ve got a recipe for something truly special. The question is, does this new release surpass the original and wipe out some of those performance and gameplay issues? Let’s find out. A Gorgeous Return to a Fully Realized Cyberpunk World Cyberpunk and horror aren’t something you would immediately associate with one another, but Observer makes the combination feel as natural as peanut butter and chocolate. For those who haven’t played the PS4 release, Observer takes place in 2084 after humans have augmented themselves with cybernetic parts and suffered a plague known as the nanophage which only affects those who have been augmented. You play as Daniel Lazarski, who is a futuristic detective known as an observer. He himself is augmented with the ability to jack into suspect’s mind and interrogate them via their own subconscious. The game chooses to keep its story smaller in scope than you would think with this premise, focusing on the pursuit of Daniel’s son, who mysteriously reaches out to him in the beginning of the game and sets you on a hunt to discover what is happening to him. A lockdown in a giant apartment building forces you to interact with the myriad of different residents, some of whom will offer unique stories that add more to the world. Side quests are also on offer, with some new ones added in this PS5 version that I really enjoyed. Particularly, one quest involving shrines spread through the building was very haunting and intriguing in equal measure.