Month: February 2021

What do you associate with the term “ninja game”? Perhaps you think of speedy action and superhuman agility, crazy character maneuvers, intense swordplay, or sneaky stealth. Odds are, however, that you also associate video game ninjas with games that are really, really hard. You wouldn’t be wrong; in the long history of ninja-themed games, a lot of the standout titles are known for the formidable challenges they present. Knowing that, you’d likely expect a retro-throwback 2D platformer starring a cyborg ninja to be a tough test of your skills. Enter Cyber Shadow, a game that delivers everything above, especially the difficulty.

Cyber Shadow puts you in the role of the titular Shadow, a cyborg ninja awakened from stasis in the ruins of a massive city. A mad scientist is on the rampage, having fashioned an army of robotic supersoldiers in a crazed quest to revive the dead, and it’s up to you to foil his ambitions. It’s a simple premise, but Cyber Shadow’s story has a complexity that reveals itself as you progress. As you find the souls of your fallen comrades and discover records of the city’s destruction and the lunatic doctor’s experiments, you learn of a backstory far more interesting and tragic than a simple “mad scientist gone rogue” yarn.

Shadow starts the game quite weak, having simple jumping, slashing, and running capabilities. Thankfully, the first level is a merciful introduction, with plentiful health drops, relatively weak enemies, and lots of checkpoints. But it’s not long before things start to ramp up considerably, with early bosses and their bullet-spewing, fast-moving patterns giving you a taste of what’s to come very soon. By the second area, you start to feel the pressure–quite literally, as crushing factory debris and instant-kill compactors make it clear that your mission is not going to be a walk in the park.

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Amid the ongoing drama around GameStop’s stock price, the video game retailer has announced the hiring of new executives to help lead the company’s efforts in the digital and e-commerce markets, as well as other units.

GameStop has hired Matt Francis, the former engineering lead at Amazon Web Services, to become the retailer’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer. His first day will be February 15.

In his role, Francis will lead and oversee the team that runs GameStop’s technology and e-commerce units.

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Final Fantasy XIV‘s next seasonal event is set to kick off next week. The MMO’s Valentine’s Day and Little Ladies’ Day celebrations are being combined into one event this year, and it’ll feature a new questline to complete and seasonal rewards to unlock.

The event begins at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET on February 10 and runs until 6:59 AM PT / 9:59 AM PT on March 8. To participate in the event quest, A Delivery of Love, you’ll need to speak to Lisette de Valentione in Old Gridania. You’ll also need to be at least level 15 and have completed the Gridanian Envoy, Ul’dahn Envoy, or Lominsan Envoy story quests before you can participate.

You’ll be able to earn two special items as part of the event: the Lovely Moogle Cap headgear and the Stuffed Kupka Kupp tabletop decoration, both of which you can take a look at below. You’ll have until the end of the event to complete the seasonal quests and unlock these items. You’ll also have another chance to purchase some items from past years in the Seasonal Shop.

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Sacha Baron Cohen has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards. This distinction puts the actor in intriguing company who share rarefied air–previously, Helen Mirren earned three nominations in 2007, and Jamie Foxx as well in 2005.

Cohen has been nominated for his work separately as an actor and a producer to last year’s surprise release (but unsurprising hit) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a follow-up to its 2006 shock comedy tightly laced with satirical content. Additionally, Cohen has been nominated for his supporting role in The Trial of the Chicago 7, a polar-opposite role where he played Abbie Hoffman, the political and social activist. On Twitter, Cohen said he was “shocked and humbled” by the news.

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Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series is returning to US theatres this week for a special engagement that will bring the movies to IMAX screens for the first time in 4K. Whether or not you want to or feel comfortable going to a cinema, however, is a decision you’ll have to make for yourself.

The screenings begin on February 5 in select markets–you can see if your local cinema has the movies on this website. Right now, it appears this event is only for The Lord of the Rings and not The Hobbit.

These will be the new, remastered 4K versions of the trilogy, presented in 4K and with all of the other improvements like color grading that makes each film now look more cohesive.

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Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager portrayed by Christian Bale in The Big Short, has made a fortune on GameStop’s stock after holding it for years.

MoneyWeb reported that Burry’s company, Scion Asset Management, purchased 3 million shares in GameStop back in 2019, which were worth $16.56 million at the time. He’s now turned that into $271 million thanks to the meteoric rise of GameStop.

According to reports, Burry made $800 million from the bets he made during the 2008 financial crisis, and now he’s even richer thanks to his investments in GameStop.

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