Key Note Gaming

Two Umamusume concerts in Los Angeles have been canceled after workers could not get their visas approved in time for the event, leaving American fans distraught. On October 18, the official Umamusume: Pretty Derby Twitter/X account announced that staffers working the shows — scheduled for October 22 and 23 — were having difficulties securing their travel visas. At the time, it did not cancel the events, but warned concertgoers that this may impact the festivities. The possibility that these concerts would be canceled sparked concern among the game’s fanbase, with many joking (or perhaps being fully serious) that this event might politically “radicalize” them, given the extremely long wait times for visas in the United States right now. The next day, Cygames confirmed that the Los Angeles concerts had been officially canceled, offering refunds to fans who’d purchased both on-site viewing tickets and streaming tickets to watch the show remotely. Responses to fans who made travel plan...

Rockstar Games gave GTA 6 s' developers so much freedom to add cool details that not even the studio's top executives are aware of everything in the game. The latest behind-the-scenes information on GTA 6 comes from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who expanded upon his trip to the Rockstar North offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, after previously sharing other highlights last week . One of the more noteworthy bits shared in his 18-minute video's runtime is that the team who spent a decade or so making next month's Grand Theft Auto game had quite a bit of freedom to add details simply because they thought they might be cool. Schreier said he'd guess that "not even top developers" at Rockstar know every tiny detail added to Vice City and its wealth of NPCs. He noted that giving large teams the autonomy to flesh out every street corner isn't too uncommon for open-world games. In the case of GTA 6 and its huge budget and lengthy development time, that ...

Two weeks ago, a Tekken player created a mod that allowed users to play the game online with rollback netcode, sparking a community-wide debate between Western players and competitors based in Japan and Korea. The mod, made by a community member named Ekspym, became an instant hit among Tekken players, reaching more than 10,000 players as of October 17 and a recorded 4,547 downloads as of October 15. According to the mod’s readme, “the package contains neither the PS3 firmware nor the game,” though it acts essentially like an emulator. It sparked a viral conversation regarding the current state of Tekken 8 (with many players seeming to prefer Tekken 6 out of the two games), but perhaps more surprisingly, received massive pushback from players in Japan and Korea. One of the loudest voices speaking out against this mod was celebrated fighting game pro Dogura. “The pirated version of Tekken 6? That thing crosses the line way too much, and I'm horrified that no one overseas is rais...

Last December, co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, Vince Zampella, passed away in a car accident . He left behind an enduring legacy as one of the people who shaped first-person shooters and changed video games forever. This week saw the release of Modern Warfare 4, the latest entry in a series that Zampella led the inception of almost 20 years ago in 2007. His contribution is honoured by his former studio, Infinity Ward, in the credits for its campaign. Upon completion of the game’s final mission, which takes place midway through the credits, his name and the others belonging to those who have sadly passed away during its production are the first to appear on screen. These include Rainer Yang, Matt Canale, and Preetam Raj Bordoloi, who also helped craft Call of Duty over the years. Zampella was instrumental in turning COD into the megafranchise it is today, initially leaving EA after leading design on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to create the series,...

One Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign player has already finished YOLO mode, an ultra hard setting with realistic damage, where you go right back to the start when you die. Unlocked once you’ve completed the campaign on any difficulty, YOLO mode is the real test of your COD skills. Warning! Spoilers for the Modern Warfare 4 campaign follow: The player, Lost-Equivalent2352 on Reddit , said they managed to beat YOLO mode by taking advantage of their AI allies. “My technique was staying behind a wall for several minutes so that my dumb allies shoot at the enemies,” they said. They would also use flashbangs and grenades to mop up the stragglers, limiting the chance the enemies could one-shot them. It took them around 20 hours to finish the successful run. According to Lost-Equivalent2352, one of the toughest elements of the run was the mission “Retreat.” The nighttime mission charts the fall of Hajin, covering the tactical withdrawal of South Korean troops. Because it takes place d...

Silent Hill developer Bloober Team wants to make physical versions of its games "for as long as possible." Studio CEO Piotr Babieno opened up about the company's appreciation for physical media and collectibles during an interview with GamesRadar . He started his thoughts by touching on how the gaming landscape and player desires have changed as technology has advanced over the years, explaining that "we have reached a moment where you can't really do much more" in terms of visual and auditory fidelity. "Like, OK, the game can have a slightly higher resolution and maybe better lighting and whatever, but will it make it a more engaging game? I don't think so," Babieno said. The CEO for the studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake and its in-development original Silent Hill remake also talked about how stats show "the majority of players are playing on hardware which is five, seven years old, if not older." He continued, saying, "B...