Hey everyone! This is Lou Contaldi, friendly neighborhood Editor in Chief at DualShockers. We kickstarted 2020 with some patch notes to welcome the new year and... things have went off pretty differently than we originally intended!For example, one of the things we were hoping to do was reshape the way we covered in-person media briefings for one of the most highly-anticipated E3's of the decade. Lo and behold, there wouldn't even be an E3... or Gamescom... or NYCC... or, well, anything really. But that hasn't stopped the gaming community or the steady rolling pace of PS5 and Xbox Series X | S that are both peeking their head around the corner.Before I get to the patch notes, I want to repeat our constant theme. This isn't a one-way discussion. DualShockers belongs to the community just as much as it belongs to the people on staff. If there is something that you want to see, let me know in the comments. If there is something we can and should be doing better, let me know in the comments. If you are giving up the site completely, let me know in the comments. In short, come chat with me in the comments.[pullquote]"DualShockers belongs to the community just as much as it belongs to the people on staff."[/pullquote]Finally, another quick thank you from me, the Editorial Team, and everyone with us at DualShockers. Many of us write here because -- like all of you -- gaming is our passion. We want to spark conversations and share our love of gaming with anyone who will read our work. Everyone who is reading this now has helped this small startup become an established brand over the last decade.With all that out of the way, let's get to some of the upcoming (and current) changes as we run up to 2021!
DualShockers ☑
After enough occult rituals to the social media gods, we are formally a Twitter Verified outlet. On the one hand, a blue checkmark is never the make or break for a reputable outlet -- and we are almost going to miss trolling the process that locked us out for so long. On the other hand, we love the opportunity that this brings to validate our expert editorial opinions like these:
...okay, not that one. Let's forget about that one.
Meanwhile, we are taking the Verification in stride, hoping to keep our media presence true to our brand: tongue in cheek, informative, and full of well-deserved snark. While some of the larger gaming brands have dedicated PR firms aiming for the Gen Z surreal humor, you rest assured that we are just a bunch of dorks with the occasional shitpost.
If you haven't already jumped on, now's the time to follow -- or else you might miss some of our award-winning next gen coverage like this:
"Next Gen" is About to Be "Current Gen"
We are literally two weeks out from everyone getting their hands on next gen consoles. We have the Xbox Series X in house, and we are prepping our full breakdown and review of the hardware.
As expected, PlayStation hasn't returned our calls -- so you can expect a full review of the hardware post-launch -- free from the launch day spectacle, rushed embargo deadlines, and from a fully unbiased consumer perspective.
However, with "Next Gen" making the jump to "Current Gen" we aren't intending on leaving PS4 and Xbox One owners in the lurch. While PS5 and Xbox Series X | S are absolutely going to be swallowing much of the oxygen in the room, we are making it a point to continue working with developers and publishers to test games across the generational gap. So don't be too surprised if we start giving scores for how a game plays on PS4 and PS5, or Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S.
There are many people out there waiting to make the jump to next gen -- whether you couldn't land the pre-order or you just don't have the disposable income. Many of us on staff are in that same boat, and we are making sure everyone is covered -- no matter where they play.
DualSHOCK Defintives & GOTY 2020
Speaking of big things coming in the next couple weeks, let's talk about DualShockers Definitives and Game of the Year 2020.
For those out of the loop, DualShockers Definitives is our annual ranking of the Top 20 games on every current gen platform -- and this year these will be published right ahead of the PS5 and Xbox Series X | S's releases. While you can check out the lists from 2019, there has been some major movements in every list -- thanks to some games aging like fine wine and a new mix of staff.
You can expect the new lists to be updated in this order:
- PS4 Definitive: Wednesday, November 4th
- Switch Definitives:Â Friday, November 6th
- Xbox One Definitive: Monday, November 9th
Meanwhile, Game of the Year 2020 has been an all-year event -- despite the constant delay of games due to the ongoing pandemic. And while we had a pretty concrete timeline, it looks like the recent delay of Cyberpunk 2077 has moved everything back. And while other major award networks like The Game Awards will not be including it (and other similar games) in the review season, we've decided to move back our qualification window to include it (alongside other December 10 games like Bloober Team's The Medium) in this year's round of games.
In short, expect a late December award season from DualShockers this year -- and we will make sure to hit you with some more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, make sure to catch up with our latest opinions on the Q3 2020 releases:
DualSHOCK the Vote
With 2020 being so absolutely wild, we've been a bit more socially active than many long-time followers are used to us being. This includes a recent site-wide engagement in how our staff approaches civic responsibilities, like voting in that big thing that is happening today.
In other words, we've given all staff the day off for Election Day (and future major elections moving forward, US-based or otherwise) -- no matter how they choose to vote (or not vote) -- because it's the right thing to do. In fact, it's something that we challenge other media leaders in the gaming space to do as well.
But if you notice a dip in output today (and were looking for a distraction to some of the political noise), you can rest assured that it is for a good reason. Meanwhile, wouldn't be a bad idea for you to head to the polls if you haven't already:
Odds and Ends
Then we have a few things we will (hopefully) be talking about in a future update. These include:
- Disqus:Â You've been asking for it, we've been putting off the inevitable. But we are formally back on Disqus -- looks like our previous comment servicer just wasn't making the cut. With that said, we just want to confirm that we aren't shopping around for new comment sections and we are here to stay.
- Gift Guides:Â Don't know what to buy to get your fiance into the gaming scene for the first time? Looking for our recommendations on our favorite gaming chair? We are aiming to ramp up coverage in the leadup to the holidays so you can stock up your own wish list
- Brand Partners:Â We've been working with some business-minded folk on how we can keep supporting our indie coverage of games, and we are working on fleshing our what that may be. However, we are gonna make sure that we run everything by you readers first -- similar to our announcement (and disclosure) on Affiliate Links.
This is just a taste of some of the developments on DualShockers' horizons, with a lot more unannounced developments lined up after. In the meantime, I hope to see a few of you in the comments -- if there is something on the list you think is missing, let me know below.