Greetings and good evening to all at Shacknews! It's night 17 or so of nightly fireworks here in my neighborhood. Maybe this is the night it ends, maybe it isn't. For now, it's time for a fresh round of news, memes, and entertainment. It's the Friday edition of Evening Reading.
In case you missed it at Shacknews:
- Dave the Diver review: Fishy business
- UK CMA extends decision deadline on Microsoft & Activision Blizzard deal to August
- Stray Gods delayed to avoid being so close to Baldur's Gate 3's launch
- Xbox's Major Nelson is leaving Microsoft
- Judge rules Ripple (XRP) token is not a security except for in institutional transactions
- Payday 3 will be an 'always-online' game, even in solo play, devs confirm
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin designer discusses RTS accessibility
- Appeals court denies FTC bid to delay Microsoft-Activision acquisition
- Shack Chat: What is your favorite baseball video game?
And, because it's the weekend, go find yourself something to play!
- Weekend Console Download Deals for July 14: Xbox Ultimate Game Sale
- Weekend PC Download Deals for July 14: Oxenfree 2 launch week
Around the gaming horn
Relive the Yakuza/Like a Dragon panel from Anime Expo 2023.
Dragon Quest Treasures is now up and running on PC!
It's also launch day for Exoprimal!
And finally, to celebrate 20 years of Stronghold, Devolver Digital has announced a 20th anniversary Definitive Edition. It's coming to PC in November!
And now... Other Stuff From The Internet!!!
A tribute to Major Nelson
Also, thanks to Xbox team members for trusting me to have a direct dialogue with our customers. The future is bright for Xbox and as a gamer, I am excited to see the evolution.
— Larry Hryb 💫✨ (@majornelson) July 14, 2023
Thank and I’ll see you online
Larry Hryb
(2/3)
If you missed the story earlier today, Major Nelson is calling it a career at Xbox after 20 years. Where he goes next, who knows, but the green brand won't be the same anymore without him. He was the face of Xbox for decades, whether it was through his social presence, his website (the former majornelson.com), or his various other efforts in the Xbox world.
We go around the gaming horn for various tributes and well wishes to Major Nelson, who now goes back to simply being Larry Hyrb.
Thanks for all you have done over all these decades for our industry - still fondly remember hosting many Xbox launches with you. pic.twitter.com/4jogC62D2b
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) July 14, 2023
Larry, all the best to you! Always enjoyed seeing you at industry events. And I’m glad we did the @Xbox Podcast last year!
— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) July 14, 2023
Joining every other industry person - the end of an era. Major Nelson was the very first brand ambassador, known and loved throughout the industry. He was kind to AbleGamers when we were just a fledgling charity with dreams of changing the world. Thank you for everything, Major. https://t.co/hxY0JLagk2
— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) July 14, 2023
My favorite @majornelson moment was 2007 when I visited the Xbox campus and my sad attempt at playing Guitar Hero
— Parris (@vicious696) July 14, 2023
Larry you had the patience of a Saint that day, wishing you all the best but for the Xbox community you are a legend and will be missed pic.twitter.com/AmUq6wVmcZ
Thanks Larry for everything you have done to make Xbox what it is today. Incredible impact, always a positive attitude, and a pleasure to work with.
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) July 14, 2023
Well done!
💚🫡
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 14, 2023
Miss, Marvel
Ms. Marvel, a.k.a. Kamala Khan, won't be dead for long — and her new comic series will be co-written by Iman Vellani, who plays her on screen: 'This was way scarier than joining the MCU for me.' https://t.co/VW7a007153
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 14, 2023
After spending the entirety of her existence as an Inhuman, Ms. Marvel (having JUST DIED, mind you, and not even in her own book, either) is about to come back to life as a mutant because Disney got the rights to the X-Men. No, really, it's as cynical as it sounds. They have the X-Men now, so the Inhumans push is essentially finished, and now Ms. Marvel gets to be a mutant like her MCU counterpart. It's not every day one gets to see a new mutant with the mutant power of corporate synergy.
But good for Iman Vellani, who, on top of being the actual Ms. Marvel on the Disney+ series, is a genuine Ms. Marvel fan. Looking forward to seeing what she does with the character.
SAGuardian of the Galaxy
Sean Gunn’s perfect response to Bob Iger’s dumbass, bootlickers statement https://t.co/QsFnH8nSMQ pic.twitter.com/t9l95D34VS
— junostump on Threads / Bluesky: juno.bsky.social (@juno_stump) July 14, 2023
If anybody knows what it's like to get paid little and get no respect, it's poor Kraglin here.
But in all seriousness, support the writers, support the actors, and keep monitoring what's happening in this war against ghoulish rich dirtbags and their crusade to automate away our lives.
Webslinging into the weekend
Slingshot!
— Sony (@Sony) July 14, 2023
Traversal in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is more exhilarating than ever #SpiderMan2PS5 pic.twitter.com/CPtYpQYbnJ
Oh sure, that works for Spider-Man, but if I ever try and set something up like that, it comes out like this.
Looney Tunes - Wile E Coyote rubber band
Nothing but the Hotfix
We love randomizers at Shacknews and there's no game more ripe for a randomizer than Donkey Kong 64 with its glut of collectibles, many of which are required to finish the game. Let's check out this 1v1 randomizer race for the controversial DK64. GDQ's Hotfix shows air every week and you can catch them all at the Games Done Quick Twitch account.
Under the learning tree with Masahiro Sakurai
Masahiro Sakurai started a YouTube channel! Let's learn from his decades of experience together by looking at one of his latest videos. This week, Sakurai discusses the appeal of starting games over in genres like roguelikes.
This week in Shaqnews
Missing #AX2023? Here's a behind the magic interview with @djcarisma and @djdiesel aka @SHAQ ! DJ Diesel was a headliner for #AX2023 Neon District. pic.twitter.com/bTJMOMWJF0
— Anime Expo (@AnimeExpo) July 15, 2023
Going back to Anime Expo, let's check out Shaq's time at the convention.
IT'S STILL REAL TO ME, DAMMIT!
"Do I look like someone you can control?"
— WWE (@WWE) July 15, 2023
Is #DamageCTRL ready to finish what they started with @ShotziWWE?👀🫣#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/KH7vIR7dhu
Oh, Shotzi, no. What are you doing?
(After-the-fact edit: The answer is apparently supporting her sister who's battling cancer, so good on you, Shotzi!)
Tonight in video game music
It's been a minute since we've checked in with ToxicxEternity and he's just put out a kickass cover of the "Battle on the Sea" track from Octopath Traveler 2.
That's it for the second Friday Evening Reading for the month of July! Be sure to keep the spirit of the classic Evening Reading alive by jumping into the comments about whatever you see here or whatever randomness you'd like to discuss. Join the conversation and dive into the Shacknews Chatty comment thread below. I'll see you all next week!
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Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Evening Reading - July 14, 2023 (A salute to Major Nelson)