Weekend coOPS

06/03/2026

Silent Hill: Townfall Looks Part Resident Evil 7, Part Scary Myst In Release Date TrailerA new trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall is providing a pretty good look at the next entry in Konami's survival-horror series, and alongside a release date, gave a sense that this new Silent Hill could help expand the series the way Resident Evil 7 did for Capcom's storied franchise.

Publisher Konami dropped a new trailer for Townfall during Sony's June State of Play livestream, which included a release date of September 24. The trailer includes a lot of gameplay from Townfall's first-person perspective, ranging from combat to stealth to puzzle-solving. Check it out below.

https://youtu.be/cm1Z1IFTtX4?si=2k0xiy7wPNZgDHkb

In the trailer, the first-person perspective is particularly reminiscent of Resident Evil 7, which reinvigorated that series with a similar perspective. Solving puzzles has also always been a big part of the Silent Hill experience, and Townfall doesn't look like it'll disappoint on that front, if the trailer is any indication. That side of the equation makes Townfall look similar to something like Myst.

For my part, anyway, the prospect of first-person Silent Hill with Myst-like puzzle gameplay is a phenomenal combination.

Silent Hill has had some big wins of late with Bloober Team's remake of Silent Hill 2 and Neobards Entertainment's Silent Hill f. With Silent Hill f in particular, Konami expanded what defines a Silent Hill game. From the trailer, Townfall looks poised to do the same, providing more kinds of horror experiences that still fit within the bounds of the Silent Hill series,.

Developed by Screen Burn and published by Annapurna Interactive, Silent Hill: Townfall is a set in 1996, and it follows Simon Ordell as he explores the Scottish town of St. Amelia. Under siege by strange monsters, Ordell will have to decide when to fight or when to run, and a handheld TV will help him stay one step ahead of his adversaries.

Enemies appear on its screen as blobs of static, and Ordell can also use the device to solve the mysteries of St. Amelia. If you're interested, Silent Hill: Townfall preorders are open, and the game is priced at a modest $50.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/silent-hill-townfall-looks-part-resident-evil-7-part-scary-myst-in-release-date-trailer/

A new trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall is providing a pretty good look at the next entry in Konami’s survival-horror series, and alongside a release date, gave a sense that this new Silent Hill could help expand the series the way Resident Evil 7 did for Capcom’s storied franchise. Publisher Ko...

06/03/2026

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War returns from the PlayStation 2.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War returns from the PlayStation 2.

06/02/2026

Fortune Seller VIDEO Review
HIGH A satisfying blend of inventory management, score chasing, and uneasy horror atmosphere.

LOW It could be a grind to see all available options.

WTF All the deformed rats.

The post Fortune Seller VIDEO Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.
https://gamecritics.com/eugene-sax/fortune-seller-video-review/

HIGH A satisfying blend of inventory management, score chasing, and uneasy horror atmosphere. LOW It could be a grind to see all available options. WTF All the deformed rats.

06/02/2026

How dare you!

06/02/2026

PlayStation State Of Play June 2026: Start Time, How To Watch, And What To ExpectThe spirit of E3 is very much alive, as Sony is back this week with a new State of Play livestream on June 2. Alongside several other big names in gaming, the PlayStation-focused broadcast will show off what's next for the gaming brand across its first-party studios and third-party partners. We’ve rounded up all the details you need to know for the livestream, so you can see when to tune in exactly, where to watch, and what to expect.

How to watch State of Play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsLdKNArSMY&pp=ygUIZ2FtZXNwb3Q%3D

As always, State of Play will be streamed live on Sony’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

YouTube

Twitch

State of Play start time

State of Play kicks off on June 2, at the following times:

2 PM PT

5 PM ET

10 PM BST

11 PM CEST

6 AM JST (June 3)

What to expect

Officially, Sony says that you can watch over an hour of updates, announcements, and gameplay reveals from studios across the world. Marvel's Wolverine will kick things off, but beyond that, Sony is keeping quiet. It's likely that Arc System Works Marvel-themed fighting game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, will make an appearance since it's out on August 6, and we wouldn't be surprised to see more of Horizon: Hunters Gathering.

Other potential games from Sony's portfolio that could potentially make an appearance include Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and it's rumored that Haven Studios' FairGame$ has been rebranded, so a re-reveal might be on the cards. Sony Santa Monica Studio has also been quiet since God of War Ragnarok was released, so it might be time for the studio to finally reveal that spin-off rumored to be in the works.

On the third-party side, Persona 6 and a Rayman Origins remaster are also said to be in development, so a State of Play reveal wouldn't be unlikely. Then there's the GTA 6-sized elephant in the room, as Rockstar Games' open-world crime caper hasn't been seen since its second trailer dropped long, long ago. With a marketing deal in place with Sony, seeing a new look at the game ahead of its November release would end the show on a very high note.



The Not-E3 Guide To Summer Game Fest Showcases




















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https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-state-of-play-june-2026-start-time-how-to-watch-and-what-to-expect/

The spirit of E3 is very much alive, as Sony is back this week with a new State of Play livestream on June 2. Alongside several other big names in gaming, the PlayStation-focused broadcast will show off what’s next for the gaming brand across its first-party studios and third-party partners. We’...

06/02/2026

Navi 48 proves it's still a great GPU with this cut-down-for-China card's global release. If its divisive MSRP holds.

06/01/2026

So Videogames Episode 490: Counterpoint

The So... Videogames! Podcast · So Videogames Episode 490 CounterPoint
The post So Videogames Episode 490: Counterpoint appeared first on Gamecritics.com.
https://gamecritics.com/brad-gallaway/so-videogames-episode-490-counterpoint/

The So... Videogames! Podcast · So Videogames Episode 490 CounterPoint

06/01/2026

Product Placement Can Help Save The AAA Games Business, Former BioWare Dev SaysFormer BioWare veteran Mark Darrah has weighed in with his thoughts on what the AAA video game business can do to make more money and become more sustainable: sell product placement.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Darrah said the fascination with live-service games and "over-reliance on microtransactions" is stopping other genres from flourishing. Development budgets keep going up and up, and without an increase to the current $70 going rate for new releases, developers could look to product placement to help make money, Darrah said.

He said the live-action Smurfs movie "paid for itself entirely through product placement," and he wonders if product placement could become a bigger deal for games.

"So, is there an opportunity for games to take a step back and think about different ways that we could make money? I think there is," Darrah said, as reported by IGN. "Product placement is a very small part of video games right now compared to movies and television. Maybe it could be a larger part of development. Maybe there are relationships there to be formed."

Product placement in video games does already exist, and a recent high-profile example was 007 First Light, which featured many famous real-world brands just like the movies do. The game's budget is unknown, but a recent report said it was the most expensive piece of entertainment ever made in Denmark.

Mario Kart 8, meanwhile, featured a Mercedes-Benz partnership, while Alan Wake had Verizon and Energizer in-game product placement. Death Stranding featured Monster Energy drinks in the game.

Beyond product placement opportunities, a Bank of America stock analyst has said GTA 6 should cost $80 to help encourage other companies to raise prices to help with the sustainability issue.

Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick said major new releases have actually come down in price over the years when you consider how inflation has affected pretty much everything else you buy these days. Games have held steady in the $60-$70 range for 10 years, and that “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” according to Zelnick.

"Everything can't be a live-service"

Darrah went on to say that no one wants to see a video game industry dominated by live-service games.

"Everything can't be a live-service, which is something I hope we've proven pretty definitively over the past year and a half, and if monetization is coming predominantly from live-services, we run the risk of living in a world where there are no AAA games that aren't live-services. And I don't think that's a world that any of us want to live in," he said.

Also during the video, Darrah said PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass are not doing all that much for developers in terms of money, and that developers taking deals to come to either program could encourage "degenerative design in order to try to juice the numbers."

Former BioWare veteran Mark Darrah has weighed in with his thoughts on what the AAA video game business can do to make more money and become more sustainable: sell product placement. In a video on his YouTube channel, Darrah said the fascination with live-service games and “over-reliance on microt...

06/01/2026

The AM6 socket looks like it'll be an end-of-the-decade release.

But will it outlast the AM4 socket?

05/31/2026