Key Note Gaming

In 1991, I went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. The Turtles were barely using their weapons now, Casey Jones was gone, and April O’Neil wasn’t Judith Hoag anymore – which was like coming back after holidays to find the classmate you had a crush on had changed schools. Put simply, it wasn’t what I’d expected, and I find myself in a similar position with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed. What I expected was a basic 3D beat ’em up that would be over in a few hours. What we got is actually a 14-hour light RPG, with a basic 3D beat ’em up tying together long sections of exposition and relationship building. Unfortunately, like with The Secret of the Ooze, moving in an unexpected direction doesn’t automatically make the end result good. Despite a clear effort on the part of developer aheartfulofgames to make Mutants Unleashed a juicy and authentic follow-up story to 2023’s Mutant Mayhem film, it quickly becomes tedious thanks to a significant...

After the success of Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th kicked off the 80's by taking the slasher genre to gorey new heights. Jason Voorhees first appeared (sort of) to terrify teens at a Crystal Lake summer camp, and its safe to say the original Friday the 13th is essential viewing for any horror fan. 12 movies and 11 directors later, the hockey-mask wearing horror villain has become a zombie, gone to space, and battled a fellow slasher icon. For those looking to watch or rewatch the films ahead of Halloween or the next Friday the 13th in December, here's where you can stream all of the Friday the 13th movies right now. Where to Watch the Friday the 13th Movies Online Over the years, the Friday the 13th movies have been pretty hard to find online. This October, the first eight Friday the 13th movies ("the original series," if you will) have finally found a home at Paramount+. The more recent films, including the 2009 reboot, are available to stream on Max. Al...

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is following a recent trend by adding an arachophobia setting to Zombies, but its solution somehow seems even worse. As part of its blog detailing Black Ops 6's various acccessibility features , Activision showed off its new arachnophobia mode, explaining, "For the first time in Black Ops 6 Zombies , a new arachnophobia toggle feature will be available. This setting will allow players to change the appearance of spider-like enemies in Zombies without affecting their game play." The description is accompanied by a screenshot that shows a spider beast crawling toward the player on one side, and what it looks like when the arachnophobia mode is turned on. It seems the toggle simply removes the spider creatures legs, turning it into a floating torso that resembles a flying leech with huge, spiky teeth. In a word, eww . But at least it's not a spider, right? Black Ops 6 releases October 25, but fans who use the New Zealand trick can gain ac...

With the recent success of Metaphor: Refantazio and Sonic x Shadow Generations , it’s safe to say Sega is having a pretty good year. While those may be the final big game releases from the publisher in 2024, Sega officially caps off its year of releases with a TV show based on the Yakuza game series. That’s a cause for celebration, and, more importantly, some discounts. With the new TV show Like a Dragon: Yakuza premiering today on Prime Video , Amazon has dropped prices on most of the Yakuza games. The critically acclaimed turn-based RPG Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is at its lowest price yet. $40 Off Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth on PS5 or Xbox Series X Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the most recent addition to the Yakuza timeline , and $40 off brings the game down to its lowest ever price . In my experience, 60% off a same-year release of this quality is about as good as video game deals can get. To clear up some confusion, the Yakuza series rebranded as "Like a...

The connections within Remedy's shared universe continue to grow strong amid the release of Alan Wake 2's new DLC, titled the Lake House . Included in the DLC is what looks like a pretty substantial teaser for Control 2 , the upcoming sequel to the cult favorite supernatural horror game. You can watch the full scene in the video below. Spoiler warning: This video contains spoilers for both the Lake House DLC and possibly Control 2. The optional scene near the end of The Lake House DLC features FBC Investigations Agent Kiran Estevez being transported first to the Oceanview Motel and then to Panaopticon in The Oldest House — the setting for the original Control . There she has an extended conversation with Control protagonist Jesse Faden' brother — Dylan Faden — who offers a glimpse into what lies in store for the future of the Remedy-verse. Remedy hasn't been shy about the connections between Alan Wake and Control as it continues to build its shared universe. Earl...

The long-delayed sequel Beyond Good & Evil 2 officially has a new creative director, with veteran designer Fawzi Mesmar announcing that he is taking the reins in the wake of the sudden death of Emile Morel in 2023 . "Today I’m glad to share that I joined Beyond Good & Evil 2 as Creative Director. I have been working with those peeps for years now on this ambitious game and witnessed their talent firsthand," Mesmar wrote on Linkedin . "I am standing on the shoulders of creative giants that have supported the team before me, and I look forward to continuing to craft a game that is truly unique for players to enjoy." IGN has reached out to Ubisoft for further comment and an update on the status of the game, which has remained largely under wraps since first being revealed in 2017. Mesmar has held numerous positions over the course of his lengthy career in the games industry, including the head of design at DICE between 2019 and 2021, and over the last t...

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has been away from the company for five years now, but he's still got plenty to say about how things are going in Sony's gaming division. And in a recent interview at Gamescom Asia conducted by IGN Japan , he reflected on the 2021 reorganization and subsequent mass exodus of talent from Sony Japan Studio , giving a bit of context as to why he thinks the dissolution happened in the first place. The remnants of Japan Studio were recentered around Astrobot developer Team Asobi , which later that year was moved into PlayStation Studios. Though Layden was not involved in any of the aforementioned decisions, having departed Sony in 2019, he still had thoughts on why the studio was effectively disbanded. "That was sad," he said. "It wasn't necessarily a surprise. I love Allan [Becker, former head of Japan Studio], and he worked really hard, but there was so much legacy malaise. It's tough when a studio hasn't had a h...