E3 2021 Announced To Begin On June 12

The ESA has officially announced its plans for a virtual E3 this year, confirming that the event will take place between June 12 and June 15 of this year.

Revealed In a press release, the ESA confirmed that multiple publishers will show up show which includes Xbox, Nintendo, Capcom, Ubisoft, Konami, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, Koch Media. They also went on to say that there will be "more to come" who will be "showcasing their latest news and games directly to fans" with the group promising the event's content will be available for free. Lastly, they confirmed that more details such as how viewers will be able to watch the event at a late date.

There are a few notable publishers that seemingly won't be participating in this year's E3 that include Sony, EA, Sega, and Square Enix. Sony hasn't held a show at E3 since 2018 so that isn't too surprising and a similar situation follows with EA focusing on their EA Play event. I am hopeful that SEGA or Square Enix could show up in some fashion at one of the main conferences for Xbox or Nintendo.

Either way, I'm super excited to see E3 return after the garbage fire that was the 2020 gaming announcement shows. Hopefully, this means it won't be spread out over the course of multiple months and is more condensed. I can't go another year of watching 12 different showcases over the course of three months.

Bethesda Officially joins Team Xbox

Xbox has announced that the Bethesda acquisition is completed, and confirmed some additional details on the partnership.

a statement from both parties was posted on the Xbox News Wire blog, with Xbox's Phil Spencer kicking things off by saying "Now that everything is official, we can begin working together to deliver more great games to everyone. At every step building toward this moment, I’ve been inspired and motivated by the creativity, insight, and community-first approach of the talented people at Bethesda. Our goal is to give these teams the best foundation for doing their greatest work and to learn from them as we continue to build Xbox into an inclusive platform for all players."

Spencer also reiterated his previous statements on the deal, saying that "Xbox consoles, PC and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games" and continued by saying "Some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players" but sadly did not confirm any exact games that these could possibly be.

on Bethesda's side, Pete Hines' posted his own statement on Bethesda's website saying "First, let me say that we’re not making any landmark announcements or changes right now. As we’ve all shared, the expectation is that Bethesda Softworks and our studios will continue as we have in the past, just with more support and resources than we’ve ever had before. Obviously, Game Pass has been an important initiative for Xbox, and we’ll be working on putting even more of our games into Game Pass than ever before. Beyond that? Stay tuned, we’re just getting started together."

Lastly, Spencer went on to say "We are bringing addition Bethesda games into Xbox Game Pass this week" and to "Stay tuned for more details"

Nintendo Buying Developer Next Level Games

Nintendo has confirmed today that it will be acquiring Canadian developer Next Level Games, the studio behind Luigi's Mansion 3.

Nintendo is hoping the deal will be sealed by March 1, 2021, pending shareholder approval. Nintendo stated that the deal would "secure the availability of Next Level Games development resources for Nintendo, including development expertise, as well as facilitate an anticipated improvement in development speed and quality by enabling closer communication and exchange of staff with the Nintendo development team."

I'm pretty excited to see what Nintendo has up its sleeves for the developer and hopefully, this means that more Luigi-based adventures in a mansion are on it's way.

Xbox Games With Gold For January 2021

Microsoft has announced the next batch of games coming to games with gold for January 2021 and they're okay, not great though.

the following games are available to grab now if you're a member of Xbox Live:

Little Nightmares (A weird but cool indie game): Available January 1 to 31

Dead Rising (Go Play Dead Rising 4, it's great and super festive): Available January 16 to February 15

The King of Fighters XIII (I'm probably terrible at it): Available January 1 to 15

Breakdown (Had enough of those in 2020): Available January 16 to 31

Games With Gold has been super lackluster since Xbox Game Pass was revealed, Go Get Game Pass Ultimate and treat these additional games as a bonus. Also While we're here, go play Yakuza Zero on the game pass, it's probably the best game on there.

Overwatch's Solider 76 Joins Tracer as an LGBTQ hero - Hello Ghostly Games Podcast 11.01.19

What's Up everyone, I wanted to start by adding a somewhat disclaimer to this episode. The following episode gets into a mature discussion in regards to depression, anxiety, and death. I talk about the recent loss of my father in law and how that's affected me over the past year and also my previous attempts of suicide.

It was rough for me to listen back to but I hope this episode helps you if you're going through similar feeling or issues. Life always gets better and there is always someone who cares, even if it feels like there isn't.