Issue 11

How Things Are Going At BlizzCon 2019

Can Blizzard Still Maintain Hype After The Hong Kong Situation?

The big news from Blizzcon was a really cool trailer for Diablo IV got announced, protestors made themselves known outside of the convention, Blizzard's president apologized directly to the crowd regarding how they handled the Hong Kong situation, and Overwatch 2 was officially announced. There's still a large fanbase that's hyped for Blizzard's new announcements, and I can't deny that Diablo IV looks pretty nice. But it brings back the question, should we continue to support this company? Blizzard has apologized for the way the handled the situation, but they've yet to say anything about their support of China. What do you think? Should we forgive and forget? It's hard to make a decision when it's such a big company, and it's hard to track everything that Blizzard is apart of. Let me know what you think about this situation

Image credit: Blizzard Twitter

Nintendo's First-Party Game Sales Have Almost Doubled

Pop The Champagne!

It's a good newsletter when we can celebrate the success of the Switch. These sales just show the quality of Nintendo's first-party games. They know what their fanbase wants, and there's a great variety for all gamers. You want a fun party game? Boom, Super Mario Party and Mario Kart 8. You want a beautiful RPG you can sink hours upon hours into? Bang, Breath of the Wild and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The best part is, Nintendo isn't done yet. They just released Luigi's Mansion 3 and it's getting great reviews, and we still have Pokemon: Sword/Shield and Animal Crossing to look forward to. Nintendo has created assurance for gamers by continually releasing solid first-party titles. So with everything we have to look forward to, we know that they'll be good games. Can you say the same about PS4 and Xbox first-party titles? The little that are left have me worried about their quality. Death Stranding reviews are decisively split, and The Last of Us 2 has so much to live up to. I hope that all these titles will blow me away, but I'm too reserved to sell myself on them yet. What do you think? Has the Switch impressed you as much as it has me?

Image credit: Nintendo.com

Kotaku and Deadspin Owner G/O Media Under Fire For Autoplay Ads

Another week, another corporate controversy

This controversy is still related to freedom of speech, but this time it has a workers union involved. Regardless of your opinion of unions, it's still a bad look for a parent company (who I've never heard of before now) is trying to silence a majority of Kotaku and Deadspin staff as well as the reader base. Deleting an article with no explanation or warning will always backfire in your face. You would think that companies would learn this by now! A lot has happened this week with G/O Media (owner of Kotaku, Deadspin, others). The Daily Beast does a good job of doing a quick recap in this article. One aspect not mentioned here was the journalists and other employees who quit their jobs in solidarity of this uproar. The courage to quit your job to stand what you believe in is astounding, especially in this industry. The linked article discusses the starting cause of this week's controversy: autoplay ads. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of the G/O Media controversy. What do you think about this? Has G/O Media made a mistake? Do you see them recovering? Shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Image credit: https://g-omedia.com/

Is It Christmas Yet?

Welcome to another edition of Load Save! Halloween is officially over, but now you have the decision to jump straight into Christmas music. I'll wait until the middle of November, but to each their own! This week, we take a look at what's going on at Blizzard's annual convention, BlizzCon and how it impacts the Hong Kong controversy. We also discuss everything that's been going on at Kotaku and Deadspin for this past week. If you're not too interested in the drama of the industry, we also celebrate Nintendo's success and look at some review roundups for Death Stranding and Luigi's Mansion 3! Remember to checkout the Load Save Facebook page to see what articles didn't make the cut this week and see more breaking news!

Also, tell me what you think about the sub-headlines I've added to some of the articles! Do they add interest or are they just pointless extra words? Let me know by responding to this email or tweeting me at @SethMcMorris

As always, enjoy the read!

Development

Australian Gamers Can Get A Refund On Fallout 76

Australia Beats Bethesda

If there wasn't the Switch article this week to brighten my spirits, I might've gone off about Fallout 76 again. But, I can keep my cool this time. Congrats to Australia for fighting for the right to return a terrible, lying, broken game. Everyone should have this option, no matter how many hours you've played, just because of how badly Bethesda has handled this whole situation. Think of all the other incredible games out right now. And I'm $60 short because I made the terrible decision to buy this game. I guess I can thank Fallout 76, because it encouraged me to write my second and most viewed Medium article!

Image credit: Fallout.com

Xbox All-Access Lets You Pay Monthly For An Xbox and Upgrade to Xbox Scarlett For Free

Microsoft Is Lowering the Barrier Of Entry For Gaming

This is a great way to get people who are on the fence to jump into the Xbox ecosystem and get in on next-gen on day one. I've seen contracts where you can pay monthly for a console, but I've never seen one that includes an upgrade to next-gen at the end of the 12 or 24 months. It isn't confirmed how interest will play into the cost. Will you owe accrued credit at the end of the interest or will it be included in the monthly payments? I'm curious to know. Other than that, this seems like a great deal. Game Pass alone is enough to sell me on this. What do you think? Would you pay monthly for a console or would you rather pay a lump sum? Let me know!

Image credit: Xbox.com

Reviews

Luigi’s Mansion 3 Review Roundup

Should we be surprised that Nintendo delivered another classic? This game looks so fun, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Luigi's Mansion 2 on the 3DS didn't have much hype, so I wasn't sure if this game would get a better treatment. Turns out, it did! Even if you don't care about Luigi's Mansion, watch this video that I have dubbed "the best video of 2019.

Image credit: Nintendo.com

Death Stranding Reviews Roundup

It's been a long journey if you've been following Hideo Kojima's game creation path. Silent Hills was unjustly taken away from us and Kojima left Konami. The hopes of more MGS games faded before our eyes. But this glimmer of hope: Norman Reedus crying, naked, while holding a baby, may be the Kojima story that we've been missing for so long. By the next newsletter, we'll have our hands on it and will all be asking. "am I having fun?" I have no idea what to expect, but I'm so excited. I've decided to pick this one up, so I'll be playing beside you on launch day hopefully!

Image credit: Playstation.com

Community

Elon Musk Has Donated 1 Million Trees to Fortnite Players Raising Money to Plant Trees - IGN

Treelon. That's All

Elon Musk and THQ Nordic are in the same boat in my mind. No one knows what they're going to do next, but sometimes it's really awesome. This week, we rolled a "really awesome" for Elon. Only one person would tweet, "Ok, sounds legit, will donate 1M trees." Let's zoom out for a minute. How incredible is it that so many people are donating trees to this cause? Elon's contribution is great, but it wouldn't be here if streamers like MrBeast and LoserFruit didn't market it so well. As of November 1st, almost $2.5 million dollars have been donated to this cause. That's incredible! If you want to support, you can check out the website here.

Image credit: teamtrees.org

Before You Go

Looking Ahead To A Packed November

Thanks for stopping by! Next week is the official release of Death Stranding, and I'll be picking it up to experience the crazy mind of Kojima. I'll include my initial thoughts in the intro for next week's Load Save. Ahead of that, we have Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Pokemon: Sword/Shield, Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC, and the official launch of Stadia! It's going to be a packed November, so make sure to subscribe if you haven't to stay updated! If you like Load Save, why not share it with a friend? Hit that "Forward" button and send it to everyone you know!

I'll see you next time!