Lots of big games hitting our consoles this year, Sony’s new virtual reality platform is called Playstation VR2, Minecraft is one of the most watched video games on YouTube.
Most anticipated video games coming in 2022, so far
Last year was a bit of a disaster for game developers, and many games that we expected to play in 2021 were delayed to this year.
In order of expected date of release, here are the games I’m most excited about.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus (January 28)
Dying Light 2 (February 4)
Sifu (February 8)
Horizon Forbidden West (February 18)
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (February 22)
Elden Ring (February 25)
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (March 25)
Forspoken (May 24)
Starfield (November 11)
There are two others expected this year that haven’t yet been dated:
God of War: Ragnarok
Bayonetta 3
Sony reveals name of new virtual reality system and Horizon gets the virtual reality treatment
From those lists, my desert island game is Horizon Forbidden West, and this week Playstation revealed that the franchise is going to appear on the next generation virtual reality system, which Sony has named PS VR2
Horizon Call of the Mountain is being developed by Firesprite with support from Guerrilla, the studio which created Aloy and the world of Horizon.
Here’s Jan-Bart Van Beek, a studio director at Guerrilla, to introduce the game.
PS VR2 will deliver a 4K HDR experience, will connect to the PS5 with a single cable, and has eye tracking built in. The PS VR2 Sense controllers have a six-axis motion sensing system, position tracking, and the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers that PS5 players will recognize from the DualSense controllers.
Watching Minecraft
Minecraft is not only one of the most popular games ever created. It’s also one of the most watched.
YouTube recently revealed that the game has had more than one trillion views since it first appeared on the video streaming platform in 2009.
There are more than 35,000 channels about Minecraft, with creators coming from more than 150 regions of the world, including Canadian med student, aCookieGod.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is on right now, and while it’s back to being a live event in Las Vegas, many companies that would normally have made the trip have opted to participate from afar. Samsung had a couple of new products to show off. And the Blackberry operating system is well and truly ended.
Samsung’s got a new kind of video projector in the Freestyle
The Freestyle is a projector and smart speaker all in one. The cylindrical device weighs less than two pounds, automatically adjusts the screen to the surface it’s displaying on and the environment it’s in, and delivers a picture that can be up to 100 inches.
Odyssey Ark is Samsung rethinking the gaming monitor
The Odyssey Ark is a 55-inch curved gaming screen that can be set up either horizontally or vertically; you can configure the display so if you’re using it vertically, you can have it display multiple screens stacked on each other.
Final nail for many Blackberry device users
If you or anyone you know is still using an old Blackberry, you’re going to want to seriously think about an upgrade. As of January 4, any device running Blackberry operating systems are no longer supported.
This includes “data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 functionality.” While some devices may continue to work, they “will no longer reliably function” according to the company.
Blackberry abandoned the device manufacturing business and licensed the brand to TCL Communications in 2016. Those Blackberry handsets run Android, and are not impacted. TCL let the license expire in 2020 and a U.S. startup, OnwardMobility, picked it up with plans to release a 5G handset.
The company transitioned its business into software, including security. In a post, CEO John Chen wrote that, “we secure 96% of the threat landscape, preventing more than 165 million cyberattacks in 2021 alone.”
This week on The Shift, Shane Hewitt and I talked about the clever game, Inscryption, last-minute gift ideas for gamers, updates to NHL 22, the Gaia Cast podcast about the world of Horizon, watching Disney+ online with friends and family, Santa Alexa, and the Sonos Boxing Week sale.
The wonderful Inscryption is not the game you think it is, last-minute gift ideas for gamers, get your hockey fix with NHL 22, learn about the world of Horizon with a new podcast.
Inscryption is a marvelous mashup of card mechanics, creepy setting, and horror narrative
If ever there was a game that was greater than the sum of its parts, it’s Inscryption.
On the surface, this game, for Windows computers from indie developer Daniel Mullins (it’s published by Devolver Digital), is a card battler where the cards in your deck, based on a forest wilderness, go up against the cards your opponent plays. The objective, as with all similar games, is to take out your opponent before they take you out.
Your opponent here is strange and ominous, represented by a pair of eyes and dialogue that we’ve come to expect from those who would wish to do us harm. You can move about the cabin where you find yourself, and you can interact with the objects in the room, but you can’t leave.
The trailer, posted below, will give you a sense of the tone here. It’s kind of like being in a horror movie.
You’ll “die” plenty while learning how to play the card game, and each time you come back as a different victim, but with all the knowledge and experience of the victims you’ve played previously.
Even though your character might die, you get to keep playing, uncovering more of the dastardly situation every time. As Mullins himself said in his message to reviewers: “It doesn’t end when you think it might.”
There’s a demo available on Steam if you want to give Inscryption a try. I highly recommend exploring this wonderful experience.
Last-minute gaming gift ideas
You might think that gamers are the most difficult to buy gifts for, but these days, when technological products are backordered because of chip shortages and other consumer products are tied up in the supply chain, gamers are actually the easiest.
The simplest way to give the gamer on your list access to a wealth of game experiences is with a subscription, the best of which are Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.
And serious gamers can never have too many game controllers.
Nintendo Switch owners have a range of Joy-Con controllers, and while the set based on the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are sold out, there are multiple colourful combinations that are available.
PS5 players have a new Galaxy Collection of DualSense controllers to choose from, and Playstation has just released a line of matching console covers to slip over the white PS5 hardware so your system is all matching.
There’s also the opportunity to get a gamer the game they really want without needing to visit a store, because every game published these days is available digitally.
Digital storefronts exist for each of the console manufacturers:
There are Winter Sales going on at both Steam and GOG is on right now which offers deals up to 90% off some top games. Steam has Deathloop for C$40 and GOG has Horizon Zero Dawn for C$30.
And, finally, if you don’t know what they want to play, but you know what they are playing, you can always get gift cards for free-to-play favourites, like Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, and Halo Infinite.
Get your hockey over the holiday with NHL 22
The NHL is in a short hiatus so if you need a fix you should turn to NHL 22 from EA Sports. Also because when the annual World Juniors tournament begins on Boxing Day you can play as your favourite national team.
This update to the hockey sim also includes playable women’s national teams, just in time for the Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships tournaments that begin early in the new year.
Guerrilla Games podcast about the Horizon world
Horizon Forbidden West is my most anticipated game of 2022 so I was happy to learn that the developers at Guerrilla Games had started a podcast talking about the world they created and the incredible star of the story, Aloy.
The podcast, called Gaia Cast, gets into the larger narrative of the franchise as well as the world building that anchors the games.
You can watch the conversations on YouTube but they are also syndicating through the PlayStation Podcast (Apple Podcasts, Spotify).
Watch Disney movies online with friends and family, have Santa Alexa tell you a story, get in on Sonos’ Boxing Week sale, which starts early.
Disney+ app update supports Apple’s SharePlay
People in the Apple ecosystem can share Disney movies with each other over the holidays even if you can’t get together in person.
The latest update to the Disney+ app adds support for Apple’s SharePlay, which means you can host up to 32 people in a FaceTime while watching something together on Disney+.
This is in addition to the GroupWatch feature of Disney+ which also allows for a synced viewing experience for up to up to seven people.
No matter which system you’re using, everyone has to be a subscriber to take part in these online viewing sessions.
Alexa dons a white beard and red suit this holiday season
If you like to talk to your Amazon Echo devices, you can have Alexa take up Santa’s mantle.
By speaking, “Hey, Santa,” you can have Alexa-Santa sing to you (“Hey, Santa, sing Jingle Bells.”), or tell you a holiday story (“Hey, Santa, tell me about your sleigh.”), or share favourite cookie recipes (“Hey, Santa, what’s your favourite recipe?”).
You can even find out which of Santa’s lists you’re on (Hey, Santa, am I on the naughty or nice list?”).
Sonos’ Boxing Week sale begins tomorrow
If you get a bunch of money in your stocking this year, you’d do well to consider getting yourself a new Sonos speaker.
The wireless speaker company will be selling its portable Sonos Roam for C$199 starting tomorrow, and through December 27 both online and at participating retailers.
The Mind Control Division is the intelligence arm of Blaine Kyllo's Solo Corps Creative Incorporated. This department conducts investigations and experiments into media and technology culture.
