VR mouse adventure ‘Moss: Book II’ comes to Quest 2 on July 21st

You no longer need cords (or a PlayStation) to continue the Moss saga. Polyarc has revealed that Moss: Book II is coming to the Quest 2 VR headset on July 21st. The core experience remains intact — you help the mouse heroine Quill as evil forces try to claim the Glass she holds. The difference, of course, is that the Quest 2’s stand-alone design and dual controllers promise more gameplay freedom compared to the PSVR version.

You can add Book II to your wishlist now. The launch comes months after the game’s March 31st debut on PSVR, but it’s arguably worth the wait. The PlayStation release not only tethers you to a console, but relies on a conventional gamepad. This brings the game to a wider audience while taking better advantage of VR’s potential.

Watch the Summer Game Fest showcase here at 2PM ET

E3 would normally be held around this time, but it isn’t going ahead this year. Still, there are a ton of showcases over the next few days that will shine the spotlight on dozens, if not hundreds, of upcoming games. One of the biggest events on the docket is the Summer Game Fest showcase, which is set for 2PM ET today.

Host and producer Geoff Keighley has tried to keep fans’ expectations in check by noting that, while there will be some new game announcements, the focus will primarily be on previously revealed titles. There will be details on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, The Callisto Protocol, Gotham Knights, Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course, Street Fighter 6, Marvel’s Midnight Suns and much more.

Rumors suggest the stream will also feature Hollow Knight: Silksong and perhaps a release date for God of War Ragnarök. One thing that definitely won’t be included is a Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, according to Keighley. Don’t expect to hear a peep about Half-Life 3 either.

Keighley says the event will run for over 90 minutes. Be sure to stick around afterward for the indie-focused Day of the Devs event. The Summer Game Fest showcase is available to stream on a ton of platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, Steam and even in IMAX theaters. To make things even easier for you, the YouTube stream is right here:

‘Strange New Worlds’ takes a big swing toward something profound

The following article discusses spoilers for Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach, and topics of a sensitive nature.Last week, Strange New Worlds hit something of a groove with a lightweight comedy episode that showed how well this show can work. This …

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ is actually all about ‘Warzone 2.0’

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A new Ghostbusters animated show is coming to Netflix

The resurgence of Ghostbusters is set to continue with a new animated series that’s coming to Netflix. Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-writer and director Jason Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan are heading up the show as executive producers. Sony Pictures Animation is involved as well. Other details remain a mystery for now, including the title, the basics of the plot or and when it will be released.

It seems to be early days for the new project, which will be the third animated Ghostbusters series after The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. Netflix made the announcement as part of its Geeked Week event. 

Today is also Ghostbusters Day, an annual celebration of the franchise. According to Variety, Reitman and Kenan are expected to announce more projects. A few Ghostbusters games are in the works as well, including Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and Ghostbusters VR, both of which are set to arrive later this year.

LinkedIn expands live audio events as it tries to bring in more creators

LinkedIn is expanding its Clubhouse-style live audio feature as it looks to draw more creators to its platform. The company, which first launched live audio events in January, will now open up hosting capabilities to all creators.With the update, all L…

E3 is really, truly coming back in 2023, says ESA

Although there are some major gamingshowcasestaking place this week, there are a few big names missing. One of those is E3, which was for a long time the most important gaming trade show on the calendar. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and some other factors, E3 has had a rocky few years and it isn’t going ahead in 2022. However, the group behind the expo, the Entertainment Software Association, plans to bring E3 back in 2023 with both in-person and digital components.

“As much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there’s a really strong desire for people to convene — to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great,” Stan Pierre-Louis, CEO and president of the ESA, told The Washington Post.

The ESA has not announced the dates for next year’s planned show. However, the event usually takes place in early June. The 2020 edition was scheduled for just a few months after the onset of the pandemic but it and this year’s show werecanceled. (E3 did convene in 2021, albeit as an online-only event.)

Even before all of that, there were signs that E3 might be on the outs. For instance, Sony decided not to take part in the 2019 edition. The company instead adopted the Nintendo approach of holding digital showcases under its State of Play banner. Other publishers have shied away from E3 as well. That gives them the chance to take up a bigger share of the gaming news cycle whenever they host their own events.

Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to still be on board the E3 hype train. It was part of last year’s virtual E3 and is hosting a showcase around the time this year’s edition would have taken place.

Other issues have impacted E3 over the last few years. In 2019, personal details for thousands of journalists, analysts and content creators were leaked in a data breach. A media portal used for last year’s all-digital affair reportedly made some folks’ personal details visible to anyone who registered.

There’s perhaps still a place for E3 though, if it can bring together enough of the gaming industry in 2023. It still has value as a destination for studios, publishers, press and fans to get together, show off or play brand new games and take part in conferences. For indie developers, trade shows are a great opportunity for them to secure publishing deals that can perhaps turn their promising game into a success on the level of Stardew Valley or Undertale.

Summer Game Fest’s Geoff Keighley says to temper expectations for this week’s showcase

This year’s Summer Game Fest showcase takes place on Thursday. It’s an industry-wide event that will include reveals from a bunch of publishers and studios, but host and producer Geoff Keighley has urged fans not to set their hopes too high in terms of new game announcements.

“What I would say is that a lot of the games we’re going to show you are going to be [already] announced… games are going to show new content to you, like some of the ones I’ve mentioned,” Keighley said in a Twitter Spaces chat, according to VGC. “We’ve got a couple of new game announcements in the show and hopefully some surprises if everything holds. But it definitely is a show that’s primarily focused on stuff that is announced.” Keighley added that it might be best for fans to “definitely manage your expectations in terms of the megaton shocks that you’re expecting.”

Still, there’s a lot to look forward to. Keighley noted some of the games that will be featured. The stream will include the first full level playthrough of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and a gameplay demo for The Callisto Protocol (a survival horror game from Dead Space creator Glen Schofield’s new studio). There will also be news on Gotham Knights and new footage from Cuphead expansion The Delicious Last Course.

Keighley said there will be looks at Xbox and Nintendo exclusives as well. However, he pointed out that Microsoft is likely hanging on to the biggest news for its own showcase, which takes place on Sunday. Nintendo, meanwhile, hasn’t confirmed whether its next Direct will take place anytime soon.

The Summer Game Fest showcase will include some guests too, such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently started playing a character in Fortnite. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the next video game movie he’s working on. The event, meanwhile, is set to run for between 90 minutes and two hours.

Trying to manage expectations is a smart move on Keighley’s part. Sony has been doing a similarly good job of keeping conjecture in check ahead of its State of Play streams. While there are always going to be some people who are disappointed by events like this, it’s better to have lower expectations and be surprised than get too amped up and get deflated if you don’t see a game that excites you.

That’s not to say there won’t be major reveals. It was at last year’s edition of Summer Game Fest that fans got their first look at Elden Ring in two years, along with a release date (which was, inevitably, delayed by a few weeks).

Even if you feel like this year’s Summer Game Fest showcase is a bust, there are more than a dozen other gaming events over the next week or so, even without E3 taking place. You’re bound to find some games that interest you if you dig a little deeper.