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Game Trailers Roundup: December 9, 2014

Apparently Friday’s The Game Awards was actually not terrible. After how many years of laughable VGAs and last year’s VGX (which was only redeemable by Joel McHale undermining the whole thing), it took Keighley putting his own money on the line to get something closer to a proper awards show.

Of course, this can’t be a Keighley produced award show with a whole pile of trailers and gameplay exclusive videos. While I might run the gameplay exclusives later, I do have a whole pile of trailers today. By my count, there are 13 trailers for just released, announced or upcoming games for you to watch. Chances are you will find something to watch in here.

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Facebook Fails of the Week

Every so often, we look at the most spectacular fails that the internet has to offer. Well today, we look at the most spectacular fails that Facebook has to offer. This week, we have five of the best fails Facebook has to offer.

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Sunday Link-Off: The Old Republic

isabeli-fontana-leonisa14-01It’s been an interesting week in the world of news. A 100-year-old news publication was gutted by someone who thought they knew better. Racism is almost as hot button an issue as it has ever been. Rolling Stone’s rape story fell apart just as the hockey press has seen a bunch of sexual harassment stories come to light. There’s no shortage of stories to read this week.

So let’s not waste any more time. Here’s Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana.

The New Republic is dead (effectively). Long live The New Republic. (The Daily Beast)

Hands up is quickly becoming something more than a sign of surrender. It’s a plea for justice and quality. (The Baffler)

While systemic racism in law enforcement is tearing America apart right now, an entire half of the political spectrum is fanning those flames by blaming the victims. (The Guardian)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Rising Tide

maria valverde exodus gods and kings premiereIf you’re in Australia this weekend, you get a first look at Exodus Gods and Kings a week ahead of the folks in North America. You can also catch Maria Valverde in the film, so let’s kick off the ELO with her.

After the jump, some news on Bond 24, Ryan Reynolds just might be getting his wish to play Deadpool, some more tidbits on Edgar Wright’s falling out with Marvel, Chris Rock writes about the race problem in Hollywood, Stephen Colbert explains how the new light saber works and finally Nick Offerman shares how whisky keeps his heart ticking. Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

Basketball Pro Management 2015 Review: Brick

basketball-pro-management-2015-headerWhile I did a lot of sports gaming in my teenage years (who didn’t?), one sports I’ve never really been into is basketball games. That’s not to say that I haven’t watched basketball. I did see the Malice at the Palace on local TV. I know enough to have called a few basketball games (including a provincial championship) for radio in university. Most importantly, basketball was by a Canadian so it’s really in my blood.  So it’s not like I don’t understand basketball.

That preamble doesn’t mean that I understand this basketball video game. Unlike the NBA Lives and NBA 2Ks that I’ve played in the past, Basketball Pro Management 2015 doesn’t put you on the court. Similar to the Football Manager series, Basketball Pro Management takes you off the court and onto the sideline and in the front office of a basketball franchise. I’ve played games close to BPM15 and enjoyed them but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

Steam Launches Steam Broadcasting Streaming Service

steam-broadcasting-headerThe biggest digital store and the most popular game client in gaming isn’t enough for Valve. Last year, Steam announced the launch of their own operating system, controller and Steam-branded Steam Machine gaming PCs for the living room. Now, Steam is taking on Twitch with its latest project.

This week, Steam announced Steam Broadcasting, a new streaming service that will let you watch people play games in and through the Steam client.

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Story Behind the Story

anna-kendrick-britishfashionawards14-02We’re getting to that point in the year where posts are a little harder to come by. I try to plan posts a week or two ahead but that doesn’t mean that I’m always able to figure out all that I want to put on the blog ahead of time. For example, I know that there will be a video game review this week and one early next week. However, I’m missing a Thursday post in the mean time. I have to pull something together quickly.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s bring back old blog favourite Anna Kendrick.

Kathryn Borel talks about when the CBC ignored her when she told them about Jian Ghomeshi harassing her on the job. (The Guardian)

A little while back, we ran a link to a story about a rape and the rape culture at the University of Virginia. Here’s the story behind the story. (Washington Post)

A program in Tampa claims to help homeless people find jobs and get back into society, it looks like it’s all a front to make the program money. (Tampa Bay Times)

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Humour

Fails of the Week

Every so often, we take a look at the most epic fails from the week that was in the Fails of the Week. This week, we have five pictures and videos that we think are the most epic fails of the week.

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Formula One: 2014 Abu Dhabi Post-Season Test Recap

While the 2014 Formula One World Championship may have wrapped up last week, that doesn’t mean that work has finished for the teams of the Formula One World Championship. After the season finale, the teams stayed on for another couple of days to learn some last lessons from their 2014 cars and start work on 2015.

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Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Important Topics of Discussion

rachel-mortenson-fredericks14-11I think that I’ve mentioned it before but there are three linkdumps a year that are exceptionally difficult to do: The one following July 4th, the one of the two following Christmas because you can only run so many year-in-review links and this one following US Thanksgiving. We do have some links for you but not as many as usual.

However, to make up for the relative lack of links, here’s the return of an old favourite. It’s American model Rachel Mortenson.

With the recent protests in Ferguson and support protests in Toronto, we shouldn’t be settling for “we’re not as bad as them” as a positive for Canadian society. (Toronto Life)

It’s not just 18-year-olds or Ferguson that has to deal with police racism. A 12-year-old in Cleveland was shot for having an airsoft gun and the police are trying to justify it. (Gawker)

And I’m not the only person who thinks there a shift in the discourse about sexual assault. It looks like the Ghomeshi story has started making investigating sexual assaults a big deal. (MacLean’s)

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