June 2022

It’s been rumored that Gears of War is going to get a Marcus Fenix Collection, similar to the Halo Master Chief Collection. It was rumored to be revealed this year at Summer Game Fest, but we had no such announcement. The Coalition stated a few months ago that they are starting work on the next Gears of War game. It wasn’t officially named, but it’s possible the next game is Gears of War 6 and not the Marcus Fenix Collection. So does this mean that the rumored game doesn’t exist? Maybe not.

Marcus Fenix

Marcus Fenix is a legendary war hero.  He is a formerly retired soldier in the Coalition of Ordered Governments army. He fought in the Pendulum and Locust Wars. Even though when we meet him he is in jail for abandoning his post, he did so to try and save his father. He was pivotal in ending the Locust War and was the star of the first three Gears of War games. After the games he retires and settles down and has a family. In Gears 5 and 6 we play as his son JD. Marcus will presumably be back in Gears of War 6.

Gears 6?

Gears 6 is presumably going to wrap up the storyline that started in Gears of War 4. In most cases there is a huge gut wrenching moment in the third of a trilogy. In Gears of War 3 this moment happens when Marcus’ friend and fellow COG, Dom, sacrifices himself. Could Marcus be the one to sacrifice himself in Gears 6? He would do it if it meant saving his son. His son is the reason he went back to being a soldier. His son could be a reason for him to sacrifice himself to save JD.

Marcus Fenix Collection

Unlike the Master Chief Collection, which was released with Chief being alive and having a new game on the way, could this collection be something different? Could The Coalition be looking to move on from the Fenix era? What if the Marcus Fenix Collection is going to be the last hurrah for him? He could die in 6 and then they remaster Gears 2 and 3 and release all 6 (maybe 7 if it includes Judgement) in a collection. Perhaps even have the collection come out as part of Gears 6. A legendary edition of it where it comes with all 6 games remastered with Gears 6 being the base game and the others as extra content? Other companies have done something similar.

Though it wasn’t six games, when South Park: Fractured but Whole came out, if you preordered it you got a remaster of South Park Stick of Truth for free. When Fallout 4 was announced, if you preordered it, you got Fallout 3 for free. Maybe The Coalition would do something where they have the remasters finished and if you preorder Gears 6, you get Gears 1-5 that day to catch up on the story. Gears 2, 3, and Judgement never had a PC release either, so to have all Gears games on PC seems like it would be a goal for them, especially since Microsoft and Xbox have been big in pushing Xbox or PC gaming in the last few years.

What do you think of the Marcus Fenix rumors? Do you think the insiders’ reports of it coming are real? What do you think the chances are that it is a bundle released before Gears 6 or as part of a legendary bundle with Gears 6? Let me know.

Is Dead by Daylight headed back to the Upside Down? Last year the Stranger Things DLC was pulled from stores when Netflix didn’t renew their contract with the game. While the characters stayed in the game if you already owned them, the Hawkins Laboratory map was removed. The perks from each character were renamed and put into base game perks. Over the weekend it was reported by DBDLeaks on Twitter that Netflix had contacted Behaviour Entertainment about a new chapter and getting their previous one back into stores. The new chapter would see Vecna, the big bad from season 4 join the game. On July 27,2022, the last part was debunked, meaning that Vecna probably is not coming to the game. The other stuff reported could still be happening though.

Investigating Stranger Thins leak right now as 'Vecna' model turned out to be fanmade. Parts of evidence provided supporting this leak is still legit for me. I would take it with grain of salt right now, although as I said, I still don't have enough information to fully debunk it

— DBDLeaks (@LeaksDbd) June 27, 2022

If the content is added back into the game, there is probably going to be confusion over the perks. As mentioned, they were renamed and made part of the base game, so would they then go back to their characters with the original name? Would these survivors have no perks? Steve, Nancy, and the Demogorgon came with the DLC and each one had some cosmetics you could purchase on top of the characters. One cosmetic was Johnathon. If the DLC does come back, could we eventually have new cosmetics, like Joyce, Hopper, Robyn, or Murray? It’s possible that they’d need the actors’ agreement on top of Netflix’s or else we’d get models that don’t match the characters, like Laurie Strode or the original Quentin Smith.

But Why?

Netflix has been focusing more on gaming, to the point it was part of Summer Game Fest. Between Netflix raising the price of their service, on top of their content being offensive to some groups, the company has been losing a lot of subscribers. They lost so much revenue that they laid off over 400 people in the last few months. It’s possibly they are looking for more revenue sources. Getting the DLC back into Dead by Daylight makes a lot of sense as a source of cash flow. It’s already done and basically won’t cost them anything, plus it is great advertising for the show. Stranger Things is one of the most popular franchises they have. It’s ending with season 5, but there have been talks of a spinoff potentially happening. The final episodes of season 4 premiere on July 1.

Are you excited for the prospect of a return to the Hawkins Lab? Maybe a reworked Hawkins Lab like they’ve done with Lampkin Lane? Personally I’d be excited. Hawkins Lab could be difficult to run, but it was a very unique map.

In 2020 the fifth Fable game was announced, tentatively just called Fable. Unlike the other main Fable games, this is not being made by Lionshead Studios. Lionshead Studios shut down in 2016 and their last game, Fable Legends, was cancelled. This time Playground Games is working on the franchise. This is their first project that isn’t Forza related.

What is Fable?

Fable and its sequels are RPG games. The stories are all mostly standalone with the world being the same one, just progressing through time through each game. In the three main games of the series, Theresa, a blind seeress is related to the hero, first as his sister, and subsequently the hero is a descendent of her brother. Fable: The Journey, which is a Kinect spinoff game, has Theresa appears again, this time not related to the main character. In Fable: The Journey, Theresa dies and the hero, Gabriel, becomes the new seer.

What about the new game?

Besides a trailer in 2020, nothing is confirmed about the new game. Since Fable was announced, Microsoft finished the acquisition of Bethesda Software, which focuses heavily on RPG games. They’ve made the Elder Scrolls and Fallout Series and in early 2023, they will be launching Starfield. It’s possible that Xbox wanted all eyes on Starfield when that launches, which is why we haven’t seen anything regarding Halo in a few years. My bet is that the next time we see it will be at E3 2023, after Starfield launches. It may even be one of the biggest games shown at next year’s show.

There’s speculation that it is a complete reboot of the series, either taking place many years after the four games where no character is connected to the past or that it will start from scratch and the previous games never happened. The trailer was just a tease and nothing has been confirmed or denied so far. It could be a remake of the original Fable game as well for all we know.

What’s on my Fable wishlist?

I love Fable. Even though I didn’t play the sequels until earlier this year, but the original game I put a lot of time into. I never did play the Kinect game though and I think a lot of people are the same. It may not have been bad, but you needed a Kinect on the Xbox 360 meaning that the game was on rails. If you’re going to do an RPG it needs to be as open as possible, in my opinion. I put a lot of time into Skyrim when I played it last year, mainly because I kept finding new and exciting things to do. I don’t see how you could do that on a Kinect game. So what is my ultimate wishlist for the next Fable game?

Don’t reboot the franchise

Let everything that happened happen. Seeing the old Guild hall through the centuries was one of the best parts of the series. I love how it goes from this place where heroes gather and get quests to destroyed in the second one to the old kings secret santuary in the third one.

Maybe not everything

Theresa was a huge part of the series. She guided the hero whether it was her brother or a king, she was there to show them the way. If that means that they need to pretend that Fable: The Journey never happened, so be it.

Make it truly open world

Going from area to area would be an amazing experience in that world. Even if the cities would be separate and the inside would be separate from the world map, like Skyrim, it would be great to go from Bowerstone to Oakfield without needing to load into multiple areas.

More side quests. When you have Bethesda as a partner under Xbox, consult with them if you need more side quests. On top of side quests I’d love to have more jobs too. In Fable 3 making the pies was great and being a blacksmith in 2 was pretty fun as well. The main game can be a lot of fun, but people get lost in side quests and it would make people play the game that much longer.

Customizable characters

Part of the fun of Fable 3 was going around fighting in a chicken suit. I’d love to be able to mix and match outfits. We should also be able to choose our gender like in the second game. Any weapons, hair styles, etc should be available within those shops and not found on the map randomly. If anything some outfits and hairstyles should be unlocked by doing certain missions.

Weapons, Weapons, Weapons

Fable 3 was odd in that your weapon grew more powerful and changed appearance. Give us choices of weapons, weights of hammers and swords. Ability to choose two handed weapons or single handed weapons and a shield. Maybe even two single handed weapons in each hand. If you’re going to have guns in the game, have them alert the enemies when it’s shot, but if you use a bow, let it be more stealthy. Maybe ability to customize the weapons via skins as well, I’d love to hit people with a tiger print sword.

What is on your Fable wishlist? Are you excited about the new game? When do you think it will be released? Let me know in the comments.

It’s no shock that my eating habits were horrible up until my heart attack. We’d have takeout multiple times a week some weeks and a lot of times that consisted of burgers for me. Sure I’d get the occasional salad from some place that delivered, but McDonald’s got rid of salads years ago. I haven’t eaten McDonald’s since January 31st. I will admit that I miss their French fries and sweet and sour sauce, but really if I am going to get a take out burger now, I am going to go some place with better quality meat, especially since I only have been eating burgers twice a month, if that. So far that has been one of the local places or Wendy’s.

Friendly’s was my absolute favorite burger place. Last year due to a lack of people willing to work for next to no pay, the Rehoboth Beach location was forced to close. This means that the next closest Friendly’s location is 45 minutes away in Dover. I may like burgers, but I am not traveling 45 minutes just for some meat and cheese. A few weeks ago I drove by the old Friendly’s building and they were working on it. It appears that it is going to be reopening soon with a drive through. This means that I can get Friendly’s take out without leaving my car. Is this lazy? Absolutely. Am I oddly excited about it? Yes. I’ve never seen a Friendly’s with a drive through window before, so for a restaurant that has been part of my life since I was a child, this is exciting the kid in me.

You get somewhat emotionally attached to a franchise and its food because you ate there growing up.

I remember going to Friendly’s for ice cream after getting my tonsils out growing up. Kris and I would go to Friendly’s in New York a lot. It’s just one of those chains that has delicious food with some memories attached to the franchise. It’s weird how that works right? You get somewhat emotionally attached to a franchise and its food because you ate there growing up. Through good times and hardships that can be the one stable constant in your life. Friendly’s is one of these kinds of things for me. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they have good food and ice cream as well.

I haven’t had a cheeseburger since May and it’s now June 21st. I am not sure when Friendly’s is reopening, but I am seriously considering not having any red meat at all, just so I can have it as close to opening day as possible. It is summer though and summer at the beach means tourists. So many people show up and just congest everything. Traffic, restaurants, super markets, everything is just very busy in the summer. We don’t even go out around the Fourth of July because of how nuts everything is here. If it opens next week, we’ll probably be waiting at least a week or two to eat it. In theory I could have a burger now and still be able to eat Friendly’s once they open, but I’m still trying to get down to my goal weight.

That’s another reason I’m looking forward to Friendly’s having a drive through, on days where it hurts to walk and we’re getting take out, I don’t need to go in and be in pain.

I am no where near as heavy as I once was, but I am still heavier than I should be. Granted it’s only 40 pounds now, but I am still trying to lose the rest. I’ve gotten to a point that it just doesn’t want to come off though. I probably need to increase my activity, which I have been trying to do, but I’ve been stagnant the last few weeks. It doesn’t help that my foot randomly flares up due to the pills I am on, which makes moving difficult. That’s another reason I’m looking forward to Friendly’s having a drive through, on days where it hurts to walk and we’re getting take out, I don’t need to go in and be in pain.

Pain or not, weight loss or not, I think it’s important to have these kinds of treats every now and then and I can’t wait to be able to finally eat one of my favorite burgers again. If you don’t overdo it, it should be fine, right?

In my last post I talked about the things that I am hyped about that were announced, but what about the disappoints? Games are great, but sometimes there’s rumors and leaks that just aren’t discussed. They may be announced at a later time, but when you’re hoping they are shown and aren’t then it can suck. So what are the ones that were missed this year that I was hoping for?

Final Fantasy VII Remake

I would love it to be announced for Xbox, but even if I need to play it on PC or PS5, I’d like to at least know when part 2 is coming. I’d also love to know how many parts there are and the projected release date for them. I put in many hours of the original Final Fantasy VII and haven’t touched the remake because I just want to play it all the way through, like I did growing up. The 25th anniversary of VII has a conference today though, it’s not officially part of Summer Game Fest, so it wasn’t on the schedule, but it is possible they show something today. With the console exclusive tag being removed from Sony’s store, it being announced for Switch or Xbox is a huge possibility.

GoldenEye Remake

Earlier this year Achievements were leaked for this unannounced game. More were leaked early this month as well. It was rumored to be a Nintendo Switch and Xbox game. Unfortunately it wasn’t shown during the Xbox conference and so far there’s nothing official saying it could be anywhere else. Nintendo is rumored to be doing a Nintendo Direct later this month though. Could we see GoldenEye at a Nintedo event? It’s a possibility they have the right to announce it first. We’ll see by the 30th if any of this comes true.

Fable

Fable was announced a few years ago with a short teaser. Since then nothing has been shown of the game. Is it even still in development at this point? Probably. Since it’s announcement, Microsoft has acquired Bethesda and they are king of the RPG. With Starfield so close to release, it’s possible that they want to put that out and then show something next year regarding the game.

Gears of War: Marcus Fenix Collection

This was a game that I was hoping would be real. Gears of War 6 is going to be using the new Unreal Engine, so I was hoping we would see a collection of games before that. I have streamed every single main Gears game to date, so to do it all again on their latest console with amazing graphics is something that I’d really love to do.

Was there anything you were hoping to see? Do you think we could see some of these games get announced before 2022 is out? I know I am still holding out some hope.

So I was going to write about each presser that happened at Summer Game Fest, but there was a lot. There’s been a lot of games announced and more press conferences popped up than originally announced, so I will give my highlights and what I’m excited for. There’s certainly a lot to be excited for even if I don’t mention it here.

First and foremost, two surprises coming to Game Pass on day 1, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was looking forward to the Ninja Turtles games coming this year and having this on Game Pass on day 1 means less money I need to spend. I will be playing that as the next game I stream after the Dead by Daylight event. As far as Texas Chainsaw Massacre is concerned, it looks fun, but without people to play with I wouldn’t be interested in playing it that much, with it being on Game Pass, there is a good possibility I will have people to play with.

Overwatch 2

Blizzard set an event on June 16th, so people expected more information on the game would be revealed then. I don’t think anyone expected Overwatch 2 to have a character reveal as well as a release date announcement at the Xbox Bethesda conference. It was a pleasant surprise. Then they announced that a new beta would be coming on June 28th. I loved the first beta and am definitely looking forward to playing more Overwatch 2. I’ll be playing the beta as well, which should be crossplay this time around.

A Plague Tale 2

This was already announced and we knew it was coming to Game Pass on day 1, but to see the trailer was amazing. The first game was incredible and I’m not really sure where this series is going, but I can’t wait to play it. This is another one of those games where if it wasn’t on Game Pass I would have never even touched it, but I am really glad I did.

High On Life

This game looks ridiculous. This game is from Squanch Games so it is ridiculous. I was laughing at the game play reveal as it has the same humor as Rick and Morty, but when it comes from the creator, that’s to be expected. The premise is humans are being used as drugs for an alien race and you have to stop them from making humanity go extinct just because of their nasty human habit. Honestly this game might just be a day one purchase for me.

Saints Row Boss Factory

So this isn’t so much a game as it is a pregame item. Basically you can create your boss in the new Saints Row before the game launches in August. I am thinking about playing this between games of Dead by Daylight during their anniversary event.

What are your highlights from Summer Game Fest? Let me know in the comments.

Sony’s State of Play for June 2022 has come and gone and what word sums it up? Capcom. Capcom showed three games during the half hour show: Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village for PSVR 2, and Street Fighter 6. I don’t know about the rest of you, but a VR 9 foot tall vampire lady sounds pretty good to me.

Resident Evil 4 Remake

Resident Evil 4 Remake does not come as a surprise after over a year of rumors and the 2 and 3 remakes. The game visually looks amazing and with updated controls, it will surely be a hit. I played every Resident Evil game in 2021 and Resident Evil 4’s controls were it’s biggest downfall for me. Well those and Ashley (who I killed numerous times). With new controls and hopefully a less annoying Ashley and Resident Evil 4 Remake could be even better than the original. One does have to wonder if this is the end of the line for the Resident Evil Remakes. It would make sense to go back and remake the remake of Resident Evil 1 in the same style as the others. I’d really love a remake of Code Veronica though, as great as that game is, a remake could make it even better. Resident Evil 4 Remake launches on March 24, 2023

Resident Evil Village – PSVR 2

Lady Dimitrescu is going to make all the horny fans drool while watching her in VR and I am here for it. With Resident Evil 7 being on the original PSVR, Village coming to PSVR2 just makes sense. I doubt much visual improvements can/will be made, but with how the game looked already, that shouldn’t be an issue. Resident Evil Village for PSVR doesn’t have a release date yet.

Street Fighter 6

After being announced earlier this year, Street Fighter 6 has officially made it’s debut. It looks incredible with a new visual design. This appears to be a new era for Street Fighter with things that haven’t been seen in any previous version, including exploring the world that they’ve created. Street Fighter 6 is set to launch on PS4 and PS5 in 2023.

Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners: Chapter 2, Retribution – PSVR 2

PSVR 2 was the star of the show, even if Capcom did deliver 3 highly anticipated games. So what is coming to the headset? Well more zombies of course. If Resident Evil 4 and Village didn’t give you enough of the undead, then you will be happy to know that Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners: Chapter 2, Retribution will be coming to it. It looks like they are expanding on the previous games crafting and group system as well as adding new enemies.

No Man’s Sky – PSVR 2

No Man’s Sky has had a lot of issues since launch. It didn’t deliver on day 1 what it promised. It eventually got everything that was announced, but that was at least a year after launch. PSVR and Oculus No Man’s Sky wasn’t that great, so will the PSVR 2 help with that? Hopefully. The good thing about the game though, even if they don’t deliver right away, they do deliver. It may take a while, but they do deliver what they promise.

Horizon: Call of Mountain – PSVR 2

This is the game that is going to make or break the PSVR 2. Let’s be real, Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are system sellers, that whole world is amazing. If they can deliver in VR what is so great about playing the others, then this will make PSVR 2 sell out. It’s already hard enough to get a PS5, so with this game coming, it will probably be just as hard to get the headset.

It was also announced that Horizon Forbidden West got a new update. With it comes New Game+ as well as an Ultra Hard mode. It also lets you respect Alloy at any time. The game also got some performance updates for the PS4 Pro and PS5.

Stray

Do you want to play as a ginger tabby cat? Stray is the game for you then. You will be able to access your inner cat on July 19 on PS4 and PS5. This is also the first game that is going to be free for Premium and Extra tier PS Plus Subscribers. Could this be a preview of them doing it more? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Callisto Protocol

Do you want a space horror game from the original creators of Dead Space? Well then say hello to The Callisto Protocol. I thought this was either Dead Space 4 or the Dead Space Remake, but it’s a new IP entirely.

Other Games

I’m not really sure what to say about these other games. They look cool, they look like they could be fun. I just don’t have much to say about them, so I will just post the trailers.

Rollerdome

Eternights

Tunic

Season: A Letter to the Future.

Spiderman Remastered

Spiderman Remastered? Yes! For PC! Sony has promised to deliver $300 million for PC in the next year, but this was the only PC announcement at the show. Their acquisition of Bungie might be a big part of their prediction, but Spiderman coming to PC could be huge. It will be interesting to see if they release Spiderman 2 on PC at the same time as the PS5 version.

Final Fantasy XVI

Sony opened the show with 2 Resident Evil games and it ended it with Final Fantasy. A lot of people were guessing that we’d get news about Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, but that was absent from the show. We might get some news on that soon, seeing as how it is the game’s 25th anniversary. There were rumors of news this month actually, but we’re only three days in so it could be coming down the line. Until we get news on that, we have a new trailer and release time frame for Final Fantasy 16. It should be launching in summer 2023.

I was hoping for news on Final Fantasy 7 remake, but there’s rumors it could be announced for Xbox at their conference. Adding fuel to these rumors is the removal of the exclusive on the Playstation Store. We’ll have to wait and see. This was a strong showing regardless, although it was short. Was there anything you were hoping to see and didn’t? Are you hoping for anything to be announced for Sony at one of the other conferences? Let me know!

June is here and that means the Summer of Gaming 2022 is officially kicking off. What are you hoping to hear about? I know I am hoping for some Fable news, a new Watch Dogs, maybe some gameplay of the new VR Ghostbusters game. In fact, I will be trying to do a write up of each one so everything is separated and in its own dedicated post. I will also be discussing things on my live streams, so come hang out and let’s discuss what’s announced. Here is the current schedule:

Wednesday, June 1

• Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2022

Thursday, June 2

• Sony State of Play and IGN Pre and Post Shows

Monday, June 6

• Netflix Geeked Week Day 1 (Series)

Tuesday, June 7

• Netflix Geeked Week Day 2 (Film)

Wednesday, June 8

• Black Voices in Gaming
• Netflix Geeked Week Day 3 (Animation)

Thursday, June 9

• Summer Game Fest
• Upload VR Showcase
• Netflix Geeked Week Day 4 (Stranger Things)

Friday, June 10

• IGN Expo
• Netflix Geeked Week Day 5 (Games)
• Tribeca Games Spotlight
• Freedom Games Showcase 2022

Saturday, June 11

• Guerrilla Collective Showcase
• Wholesome Games Direct
• Future of Play Direct
• NetEase Games Livestream

Sunday, June 12

• Xbox & Bethesda Showcase
• PC Gaming Show

Something I want to point out is that Netflix’s Geeked Week is not just about games, in fact only day 5 is dedicated to games, but day 4 is a day dedicated to Stranger Things. It may be possible they show something regarding a new Stranger Things game then. It would be great if Dead by Daylight got the license for Stranger Things back, but that is probably not going to happen. If it did happen, it would probably not be announced then.

Either way, I am excited and I think in some ways this feels larger than E3. It’s probably because it’s taking place over more days and not a week. Are you excited for what’s possibly being announced? What are you hoping to see?