THIS is why I've been warning about the all-digital future. Sony is now making more money from each active PlayStation user than ever before. Average annual revenue per active user jumped from ¥23,580 in fiscal 2018 to ¥37,485 in fiscal 2025, an increase of roughly 59%. Games, DLC, microtransactions and PlayStation Plus are all helping drive that number higher. And now PlayStation users are reporting something even more concerning: different prices appearing on the PlayStation Store depending on whether they're logged in. When you don't own the product and one company controls the storefront, they control the price. Welcome to the digital future. Sources: - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2097355783226679355 - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2097372837480906789 - https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/1w8z03u/i_really_dislike_these_new_pricing_practices_on/ - https://www.tiktok.com/@lukestephenstv/video/7682940555424288031 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srb5t09lOrs

METROID PRIME IS DEAD. After what I see as Retro Studios completely fumbling what made the Prime series special, Nintendo just revealed Metroid Ravenous, a 2D Metroid! The people have spoken. 2D Metroid works, (Likely) MercurySteam understands the assignment, and thankfully this side of the franchise seems untouched by the problems w/Prime. Ravenous was the bright spot in an otherwise boring Nintendo Direct. I wonder if we'll EVER see Metroid Prime 5. Sources: - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2097796496729182608 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku-vSTDNsT8 - https://x.com/Narwitz0747/status/1989435331666419846 - https://www.smashjt.com/post/thank-god-megan-fausti-is-no-longer-part-of-retro-studios - https://x.com/Stealth40k/status/2097721978719289809 - https://x.com/DAKKADAKKA1/status/1996417979035406718 - https://x.com/PlayerEssence/status/2097780003685740580 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2097720771791728865 - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7476191859548028928/

THE SILENCE OF THE BUNGIE. Marathon dropped to just 2,900 concurrent Steam players Tuesday evening, roughly 96.7% below its March peak. Destiny 2 has now beaten Marathon for 94 consecutive days, and Season 3 is only 13 DAYS away. Yet Bungie's big Tuesday came and went. No Season 3 trailer. No PvE showcase. No major blog. The official Marathon account posted fanart while the player count slipped below 3,000. Leaks have generated excitement. Bungie's silence hasn't. It puts the Season 3 trailer on the website... Sources; - https://steamdb.info/app/3065800/charts/#max - https://steamdb.info/app/1085660/charts/#max - https://x.com/Art3misEntr3ri/status/2097388414186160401 -https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2097694434943221771 - https://x.com/TipsiPigeon/status/2097773664280408190 - https://x.com/DadsOfMarathon/status/2097690617534943417 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOUsLzdYZPQ - https://x.com/Grummz/status/2030041230353080538 - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2097652488484933868 Thumbnail by @NobodyHasSpoken

XBOX WON. PlayStation heavily promoted Hideo Kojima's PHYSINT, only for Sony to reportedly walk away from the project. Now Kojima isn't giving up, and XBOX has stepped in as the new partner. If this plays out as reported, XBOX just picked up one of the biggest names in gaming after a HUGE PlayStation fumble. How do you let HIDEO KOJIMA walk?! Sources: - https://x.com/Wario64/status/2097875565877534853 - https://x.com/Wario64/status/2097876364242374949 - https://x.com/Wario64/status/2097880008316637621 - https://x.com/GermanStrands/status/2097882383227756562 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEpK67JDLu8 - https://x.com/KojiPro2015_EN/status/2097886501174677510 - https://x.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/2097877506401681753 - https://x.com/geoffkeighley/status/2097875515118129401 - https://x.com/NikTek/status/2097880842123333990 - https://x.com/PlayStation/status/2097875212427735146 - https://x.com/asha_shar/status/2097875597590659271 - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2097884708981854459

It's all so tiring... The Wolverine discourse continues, and somehow we're STILL having the same argument. Criticism of character designs gets reduced to “gamers just want every woman to be young and attractive,” while criticism itself gets dismissed as coming from “professional haters.” Today we're looking at the latest responses from Victor Lucas and NIB, the Lady Deathstrike controversy, and why I think the actual argument surrounding modern character design and ideological messaging keeps getting ignored in favor of the same tired straw man. Sources: - https://x.com/Victor_Lucas/status/2096753392668627029 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2097021104561029183 - https://x.com/Wokenessisevil/status/2097032182988497106 - https://x.com/nib95_/status/2096886555478528507 - https://x.com/Sir_Dammed/status/2097115416795496659 - https://x.com/SrcasticGamer/status/2097134790830932017 - https://x.com/nib95_/status/2097065703526559943 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2096272541702889488

Things are looking extremely grim for DON'T NOD. The company behind Life is Strange, Jusant, Lost Records and Aphelion says operating revenue plunged 56% year-over-year, approximately 90 jobs could be cut in France, and without additional revenue or outside fund, its current runway only extends to January 31, 2027. FRIES. IN. THE. BAG. Sources: - https://x.com/VGC_News/status/2097302334820753686 - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2097315641338282108 - https://steamdb.info/app/1966410/charts/#max - https://steamdb.info/app/1902960/charts/#max - https://x.com/RinoTheBouncer/status/2066484064484278418 - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2049273378629202325 - https://x.com/SmashJT2/status/1896562151822971339 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/1938725925509841401 - https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1w8df1h/dont_nod_is_running_out_of_funding_and_may_cease/ - https://news.instant-gaming.com/en/articles/21727-don-t-nod-is-running-out-of-funding-and-may-cease-operations-on-january-31-2027

Nintendo finally showed off the Ocarina of Time remake for Zelda's 40th anniversary, and the reaction is already completely divided. Personally? I think the game looks incredible. Link is a little plastic-y, and the Direct was missing that huge final surprise, but I'm VERY interested to see just how much Nintendo has changed beyond what they've shown. Meanwhile, some of the media reaction is already turning negative, and we're diving into the discourse surrounding the remake. Sources; - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2097332499860836855 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQvD3p2yGwc - https://x.com/PlayerEssence/status/2097429098247442534 - https://x.com/Kotaku/status/2097359337156932068 - https://x.com/Grummz/status/2097489206729908537 - https://x.com/StutteringCraig/status/2097391302123893056 - https://x.com/Bad_Banner/status/2097406565649100841 - https://x.com/DexterJManning/status/2097377976702611731 - https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2097480326142443935