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The Final Fantasy franchise has given gamers countless adventures, unique and vibrant worlds, and a host of friends and foes to experience. This iconic RPG series shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Weapons have come and gone along the way, but many have remained (in one form or another) for the long haul. Not all are created equal, and that’s why we’re taking a look at 5 of the strongest weapons in the Final Fantasy franchise, and 5 of the weakest....

Two long-time employees of Square Enix have taken to Twitter to announce that the they have both respectively left the company to pursue other endeavors. Both of the employees had been at Square Enix for a combined 38 years, with their work spanning everything from Final Fantasy to Star Ocean. So far, it seems the timing of their notices is due more to the ending of the Japanese fiscal year than any kind of mass exodus, though only one of them is likely to remain in the video game industry....

In 1997, Final Fantasy VII was one of the most revolutionary games around and was an introduction for many into the next generation of games. Now, 23 years later, comparing it to the Final Fantasy VII Remake is akin to comparing Kraft Mac n’ Cheese to a dish cooked by world-class chef, Gordon Ramsay. Though FF7 Remake certainly isn’t the first time these characters were updated or redesigned, it’s certainly striking to see them in 4K and on modern consoles....

Catherine is a powerful figure in the story of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. No matter the path the player chooses Catherine will appear as a powerful warrior fighting alongside Rhea to defend the church and right perceived wrongs. It’s impossible for the average player not to be aware of who this woman is and what she’s capable of, but there are some things that can pass by for those who aren’t paying attention....

Despite being one of the most successful and lucrative video game franchises around, Call of Duty has its fair share of critics. But with the recent introduction of Sledgehammer Games into Activision’s circle of Call of Duty developers - which in turn means each new game getting a three-year development cycle instead of just two years - even gamers who went off the series years ago should pay attention to upcoming title Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare....

When Microsoft first took the stage to advertise its coming slate of Xbox One games at E3 2013, there weren’t many legitimate ‘bombshells.’ Some games had been rumored, others downright expected - but then came Sunset Overdrive. Not only did the Xbox One-exclusive come from Insomniac Games - makers of the Playstation-exclusive Resistance series - but the first cinematic trailer showed the studio had left behind gritty realism, and returned to their cartoon-ish roots....

Football Manager 2020 is currently free to play on Steam and will be until Wednesday, March 25, 2020. When the COVID-19 outbreak was in its infancy in the US and Europe, which feels like months ago but was really just last week, it was suggested players and teams would simply play behind closed doors. Since games in stadiums require large amounts of people to gather, many seasons were put on hold....

Ubisoft confirms that the new IP they revealed last summer at E3 2015, the hack and slash medieval game For Honor, will have a single player campaign. Ubisoft is often criticized for relying too heavily on their tried-and-true franchises, but it doesn’t get enough credit for producing brand new IP. 2014 saw the release of the new IP Watch Dogs, which went on to become a blockbuster hit for the company, and in the future, Ubisoft will be releasing another new IP in the form of For Honor....

As many gamers are likely well aware, Fortnite continues to evolve due to Epic Games regularly updating the title with fresh items such as the forthcoming addition of Balloons, and the current Halloween event for the game, Fortnitemares 2018. Of course, with changes constantly being made to the free-to-play Battle Royale title, there are bound to be unforeseen issues that crop up in the process. Speaking of which, the developer recently discovered a problem with the game’s Zoey skin, and has decided to temporarily disable it until a fix is found....

It’s always been a reliable rule in online games that fixing one problem (or adding a new feature or item) creates another issue and that seems to still hold true even for Fortnite (though not as often as in Pokemon GO). The game is still in early access, but Fortnite devs have been doing a fantastic job frequently patching the product and making buffs and nerfs as needed. Unfortunately, one exploit that was previously fixed seems to be reintroduced with the addition of the Heavy Shotgun weapon....

Last weekend, Epic Games’ Fortnite had 3.4 million concurrent players log into the game. Not only did this break a record previously held by PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, but it also crashed the game’s servers. According to Epic Games, it came down to the technical details and the challenges of having to “rapidly scale” Fortnite, as the game has managed to grow beyond the company’s “wildest growth expectations.” In the long run, Fortnite’s popularity seems like a good thing, especially considering the Battle Royale mode is free....

In the first year of Fortnite competitive play alone, the studio is going to give out $100 million worth of prize money. But despite there being a ton of cash on the line for those who show off their Fortnite skills on the main stage, some players are more than happy competing for community records instead. The latest record to be broken within the Fortnite community is the kill record for squads....

During the Game of Thrones series finale, there’s an exchange between Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister that is as much about the series’ legacy as it is the characters’ inner turmoil. Only a handful of scenes earlier, these same two men conspired to murder the woman they called their queen, Daenerys Targaryen. Now living with the consequences of that heavy deed—with Jon again banished to the white hell Beyond the Wall and Tyrion conscripted to a lifetime of public service—a tormented Jon asks his friend was it right what they did?...

Former Sony Pictures exec Amy Pascal wins the rights to produce a movie based on the memoir of GamerGate target Zoe Quinn, with Scarlett Johansson reportedly attached. Movies based on the world of video games are hardly a new idea, although critically successful adaptations are thin on the ground. The latest switch to cinema, however, takes a real-world look at video games, and focuses on possibly the biggest controversy in gaming culture of this millennium....

The controversial ending of Mass Effect 3 has us rethinking when a game becomes less about its creators’ vision for the canon and more about its debt to the fans. It’s another argument for another article, but the rarity of such an event goes to show how only a handful of video game fanbases possess the right confluence of numbers and passion for such debate. Another similar fanbase: that of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3....

The annual Gamescom 2020 convention held in Cologne, Germany may have been canceled this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic won’t stop the event from going online. Gamescom organizers have now confirmed a list of 85 total partners for its digital Gamescom 2020. The event will feature an opening night ceremony on August 27, followed by daily presentations through August 30 — all of it provided digitally for video game fans across the world....

GameStop’s Labor Day and Avengers Day Sale, which starts this weekend, features deep discounts on games, accessories, collectibles, and more. The sale also coincides with the release of Marvel’s Avengers, which will be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on September 4. The sale kicks off at 1 am EST September 4. GameStop recently re-launched its website, which features a new layout intended to provide a “modern digital shopping experience....

GameStop just posted its first-quarter 2021 financial results, and it was sort of a mixed bag. First the positive. Net sales are up 25% from the same period in 2020, up to $1.28 billion from $1.02 billion. A lot of that came thanks to new hardware sales, which account for over 55% of all sales (or $703.5 million). Software and games accounted for a little over 31% of sales at $397....

In case you didn’t know, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has a pool table that functions just like a real one would. Well, almost. This gaming detail, which was pointed out on Reddit last week, is certainly a cool one that many players have likely missed while playing the 2016 RPG. At one point in the game, you’ll come across a standard-looking pool table which - shockingly - even acts like a standard pool table, too....

Gearbox Game Director Maxime Babin took to LinkedIn to defend Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford. Allegations that Gearbox had underpaid promised royalty checks to its employees began to circulate online recently, leading to criticism of Pitchford. Pitchford has made the news frequently for a number of reasons, from the royalty checks to allegations of physical abuse against a former Borderlands voice actor. In the post, Babin elaborates that Gearbox’s royalty system is more “transparent, mathematical, and objective” than any other he has experienced....