Posts Tagged ‘gaming’

November Is An Epoch-Making Month For New Game Releases

Posted: August 16, 2026 in Game Articles, Opinion Piece
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This article was originally published by Joy Alexis Barker on November 1, 2022

The gaming industry and gamers alike are in for the year’s busiest, most exciting month!

There’s a load of highly anticipated games for everyone to look forward to, some of which will finally be unveiled one by one, while others in multiples on the same day. Many shoppers will buy these as Christmas gifts, or just for themselves, this month.

Today, EA/Maxis’ The Sims 4’s Pastel Pop Kit was leaked along with screenshots that showcase never-before-seen content. There’s also an update that includes bug fixes for the base game and also for expansions such as High School Years and Werewolves. And just in case any simmers are wondering, improved babies won’t be coming until sometime in 2023 on a date that is yet to be announced.

The second interesting release is Harvestella, best described to be the love child between the married farming simulation games like Harvest Moon, and imaginative role playing games like Final Fantasy, is set to be available for PC and Switch when it launches on the November 4th.

Moving on to two games that peak my interest, Skull and Bones, and the open-world Sonic Frontiers, the latter coming to all platforms on the November 8th.

Unfortunately the former and highly anticipated Skull And Bones from Ubisoft has been pushed into 2023 for a March 9th release.

However, both of these games find themselves in somewhat of the same boat, as it’s clear from the reactions online that fans are skeptical of both of them. So it will definitely be interesting to see if these games defy expectations or if they end up being disappointments.

Garfield Lasagna Party, featuring multi generations of fans’ favorite chubby, orange, greedy, food scarfing cat, who they grew up with, as well as other notable characters, is coming November 15th.

The beloved and rambunctious Goat Simulator was so successful, it has a third sequel that will introduce four player cooperative mod. Goat Simulator 3 will break out into the world on November 17th for Windows PC, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PlayStation 5.

Nintendo fans will devour the next generation of Pokémon, known as Scarlet and Violet, on the November 18th.

And finally, Just Dance: 2023 Edition is bopping onto the floor to take it over on November 22nd.

These are only some of the overarching popular titles mentioned, and there’s more that wasn’t in this article, for the sake of sparing your time, but keep your eyes peeled passionate gamers for new games this month!

Things We Need In The Sims 5

Posted: August 16, 2026 in Game Articles, Opinion Piece
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The Sims 5; Image credit: EA/Maxis

by Joy Alexis Barker

Earlier this month, Publisher, EA, and developer Maxis, revealed Project Renee, also known as The Sims 5, during the highly anticipated The Sims Summit Stream where devoted simmers old and new got a glimpse at the sneak peek. It was a monumental event in Sims history, marking the beginning of another era that will no doubt surpass The Sims 4’s.

It’s impressive indeed to see what’s been developed so far, and at this point, I’m absolutely certain that the final product a few years from now will far exceed the early previewed stages.

According to the Maxis team, the name ‘Renee’ represents their renewed dedication to and passion for The Sims, and that’s beautiful and heartening to hear because it seems like they’ll be taking this seriously. The developers will most certainly be putting their all into Sims 5’s design, with anticipated expansions to complete the game.

The Sims/Project Rene; Image credit: EA/Maxis

The Sims 5 will also outshine The Sims 4, as it should, in terms of graphics and gameplay so we will most definitely be taking a steps forward with its improvements, additions, and overall progression in the series.

Hopefully, there will also be less bugs and patches needed for The Sims 5, and it’s a lot more user-friendly for players. Thus to prevent this, Maxis knows not to rush it so the game is created efficiently in as much time as it requires to turn out a high quality product.

Now, there are numerous features I want to see in The Sims 5, some of which have already been confirmed, but others are still obscure.

The Sims 5; Image credit: EA/Maxis

I do think there are things that should already be in the base game; The open world; all life stages; maybe even additional stages like an infant stage after the newborn stage and before the toddler stage, and a tween stage which is the stage between the child and teen stages; more practical objects to buy; the color and design wheel in both create a sim and build buy mode; inclusion of different ethnicities and cultures; height adjustments; more personality traits; more venue types; the choose to play either solo or multiplayer; auto save; weather; seasons; townies that have their own lives going on without the player’s involvement, and I could go on all day.

I look forward to the next generation Sims game. It’s exciting to know that at this very moment as I type this, Sims 5 is in development. But for now, I will keep enjoying The Sims 4 which isn’t over yet and even after it has been replaced by the Sims 5, I won’t be abandoning it.

Today, people still play the Sims 3, 2, and even 1, although these are not the latest games in the series, and that’s because they bring good feelings of nostalgia, and they are timeless classics that have built the backbone of The Sims saga as a whole. Without these games, there wouldn’t even be a Sims 5 being developed, so our ongoing appreciation for these earlier games remains strong.