To the surprise of absolutely nobody at all, the gaming community reacted with hostility when Phil Spencer retired from Microsoft Gaming and previous CoreAI president Asha Sharma took his place as CEO.
There were a ton of mentions of her race and gender on X (formerly Twitter), which I feel is pretty irrelevant to what’s happening. Others, however, felt angrier about Sharma’s background (probably subconsciously fueled by the first two things, but I digress). Not only was she leading Microsoft’s CoreAI department but hasn’t really had a lot of experience in the gaming side of things.
A lot of people frustrated with the news pointed out how the CEO of Microsoft Gaming should have more experience with, well, gaming.
Did Sharma ever play any video games?
Before working at Microsoft, Sharma was the Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and Vice President of Meta. During her two years at Microsoft, she was president of CoreAI.
Microsoft described this role as:
She oversees the teams and technologies that power AI across Microsoft and its enterprise comapnies, spanning critical infrastructure, foundation models, and end-to-end toolchains for building, managing, and deploying AI.
As if the fear of Microsoft’s consoles and games implementing more AI wasn’t enough, there is no gaming in this portfolio. Sharma’s lack of gaming industry experience has made her new role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming a bit puzzling for some gamers.
Some even started digging into her background with gaming a bit more — or should we say her lack of gaming background. According to one X account, Sharma seemingly started playing on Xbox one month ago. In that month, Sharma — or whoever is using the account — played 29 games. The lack of achievements left some players feeling like she may not be into gaming as much as she previously said she was when she announced her new position.
Some also noticed that those 29 games only included one title from her allegedly three favorite games: Halo, Valheim, and Goldeneye.
One gamer tweeted: “All of this is just so fake. It’s a PR campaign to make her look like a young female version of Phil Spencer.” Another simply said she was trying too hard to “pander to gamers” on social media and with this new, questionable account.
New #Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has now publicly shared her Gamertag. She has a 10,860 gamerscore and seemingly only started playing on Xbox or this GT one month ago.
She (or whomever runs the account) has played 29 games in the span of that month. pic.twitter.com/3EMvDVLNo3
Some people did point out, however, that her gamerscore doesn’t really matter, especially as the CEO of a company. Others added that she still has somehow played more games than other leaders and CEOs in the gaming industry, even with this small amount of performative gaming on this public account.
Do I think that gamers are digging deeper into her “fake gamer” status due to her gender and race? Partially. Do I think that it actually matters that she doesn’t have any background in gaming? Yeah, but only time will tell if she truly is the rigiht fit for the role.
It’s not like Spencer was doing anything that great, unless you like seeing Xbox prices increase.
Ever since Jetpack Cat was released, the Overwatch community has been demanding major nerfs. That could be happening very soon.
Jetpack Cat was one of five heroes to arrive in Season 1, Overwatch’s massive refresh. While the Overwatch fandom had been begging for Jetpack Cat since her concept art was revealed years ago, she didn’t arrive quite as expected.
The seemingly very basic hero was generic in looks but extremely OP in terms of gameplay. Gamers started ranting about her insane mobility, game-breaking ultimate, and brain-dead gameplay, which they felt required no real skill to use. While the usual “get good” responses poured in as well, it looks like Blizzard agrees that Jetpack Cat was a bit too much.
What changes are coming to Jetpack Cat?
Associate Game Director Alec Dawson discussed the state of Jetpack Cat during the latest episode of “The Omnic Post.”
In response to community feedback, Dawson stated that Jetpack Cat’s two perks, Claws Out and Territorial, are being nerfed. Territorial will be completely removed later on. This would be replaced with another major perk.
Claws Out is one of Jetpack Cat’s minor perks. It’s a quick melee move that becomes empowered every six seconds, wounding enemies for 40 damage and slowing them by 30% for one second. This could get quite irritating since she has the ability to unleash a melee attack and then zip away into the sky.
Territorial is one of her major perks. It makes her Purr ability damage nearby enemies for 50% of the healing amount, but knockback is removed. This made Purr a super-strong ability capable of turning the tide of a battle.
“The perks that people are picking the most are the most aggressive ones,” Dawson explained. “The amount of aggression she has right now, she can be very, very lethal in a short window.”
Dawson didn’t go over the specifics of the nerfs or any new perks.
When is Jetpack Cat getting nerfed in Overwatch?
While no exact timeline was given, it sounds like the removal of Jetpack Cat’s perks is coming in the form of a hotfix very soon.
The removal of Territorial is set for the mid-season patch, meaning the first change must happen before then. Season 1, known as Reign of Talon: Conquest, runs from February 10, 2026, to April 14, 2026. This puts the mid-season patch at around mid-March.
This means we could receive the hotfix in a matter of days or weeks. Blizzard has yet to confirm when Jetpack Cat is getting nerfed.
For now, it’ll be no surprise to see Jetpack Cat continue to be the most-banned hero. Dawson believes that this could be due to the hero’s perception in the community, where even if she is nerfed, the community may continue to ban her for a bit.
It’s safe to say Xbox isn’t doing well right now. With dwindling sales and desperate price hikes, the console wars could be coming to an end soon. Amid the decline of Xbox, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has announced his retirement.
“It’s rare in life to know when a chapter is closing, but after 38 years at Microsoft, that moment has arrived for me,” Spencer tweeted on February 20th. “I’ve made the decision to retire and begin the next chapter of my life. It’s a milestone that’s given me a chance to reflect on the incredible journey I’ve been fortunate enough to share with so many of you.”
Spencer started working as an intern at Microsoft back in 1988, initially developing early CD-ROM games. In 1994, he moved to the Desktop Finance Division as a manager for Microsoft Money. He pivoted to a product unit manager role in Consumer Productivity in 1999. He worked as General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios EMEA for a while before he became the general manager of Microsoft Studios worldwide in 2008. A year later, he was Corporate Vice President.
In recent years, he led Xbox through multiple console launches, acquired a bunch of game studios, created the business model behind the Xbox Game Pass, and then Xbox Cloud Gaming,
He tweeted of his journey: “Thinking back to my start as an intern in 1988, I never could have imagined the path ahead. I’ve been lucky to work with so many passionate creators, partners, colleagues, and players across the industry; people who challenged me, taught me, and made this work full of joy and wonder.”
This is gaming we’re talking about, however, so you can definitely expect to see very mixed reactions on social media. While gamers acknowledged all of the work he’s done, many felt his console launches were failures and blamed him for studio closures and increased prices. One angry gamer even said: “I wish you left sooner.”
While Spencer is not winning any medals in my book, I think it’s about to get even worse.
New Microsoft CEO wants to keep up with “rapid change” but not use “AI slop”
Spencer’s position as Microsoft Gaming CEO is being filled by Asha Sharma. She joined Microsoft in 2024 and was the President of CoreAI before taking the CEO position. Before that, she was Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and Vice President of Product and Engineering at Meta.
Said Spencer: “She’s joining an incredible group of people; teams full of talent, heart, and a deep commitment to the players they serve. Watching her lean in with curiosity and a real desire to strengthen the foundation we’ve built gives me confidence that our Xbox communities will be well supported in the years ahead.”
In a letter, strangely shared by Geoff Keighley (is he being paid by Microsoft now, too?), Sharma said she felt “humility and urgency” after taking her new role as CEO: “Humility because this team has built something extraordinary over decades. Urgency because gaming is in a period of rapid change, and we need to move with clarity and conviction.”
Of course, gaming skeptics took this to mean she was implementing much more AI as the technology becomes more prominent in the industry. It’s not a far-fetched accusation after learning of Sharma’s history with AI. It’s not like Xbox has never used AI before.
She did, however, say she was focused on making great games and bringing Xbox back to its core. She said she wants to take risks and encourage “bold ideas” from studios, all with the intention of giving players “what they care about.”
This was followed by saying she wants to “reinvent” play, another statement that had gamers suspicious. She wrote: “To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters, and worlds that people love. But we will not treat those worlds as static IP to milk and monetize. We will build a shared platform and tools that empower developers and players to create and share their own stories.
“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”
It’s strange that someone who works in AI would call it “slop,” but I take this to mean that they will use AI, just not in a lazy, unappealing way. I think some gamers would be even more critical than that.
It’s much too early to truly know how Sharma plans to lead Microsoft going forward. It’s going to be tough for her to turn around what Spencer has already done for the past few decades, and he may have left her with some pretty tough challenges. Can AI solve some of these issues? Will she truly avoid “AI slop?” Only time will tell.
Slay the Spire 2 is launching in Early Access very soon, which sees the return of Defect.
Early Access will land on Steam on March 5th, 2026 after years of anticipation from the roguelike deckbuilder’s fanbase. The original game came out back in 2019.
“Slay the Spire requires a lot of player feedback so we can balance content, add quality of life features, and make sure the game runs without issues,” developer Mega Crit noted. “Early Access is also a chance for us to test experimental features, try exotic designs, identify niche problems, and help us make sure the game is headed in the right direction.”
Slay the Spire 2 will be in Early Access for about two years, which is how long devs believe it will take until the game “feels great.”
Slay the Spire 2 brings back Defect, reveals new content
Slay the Spire 2 will feature plenty of new content that sets it apart from the original. This includes a new co-op mode for up to four players to team up. This mode will even have its own cards that inspire team synergy. The sequel will also have new characters, new potions, and new alternate acts.
While the new content is welcome, most Slay the Spire fans are excited to see the return of Defect, an ancient automaton that gained sentience in the first game. The Defect had a unique Orb mechanic and was a go-to for many players.
In the trailer, the Defect appears much bulkier, and fans are wondering if this means he had upgrades. Either way, it was the hypest reveal in the trailer for most of the community.
“I’ve had a bit of a rough patch in life on many levels last year, this year, this week, and also today, and so when I saw the Defect return, I legit had a good cry,” said one comment under the trailer.
Ever since the sequel was announced, gamers have been begging for the return of Defect. Developers hinted at the possibility two years ago when someone asked about Defect and Watcher coming to Slay the Spire 2. The long wait apparently had some fans going a bit crazy with anticipation, especially as gacha clones kept popping up.
“Defect NEEDS to be in the second game. I will complain to the devs if my main doesn’t return,” one fan said back in 2023.
Over the next few years, the community continued to speculate about Defect’s return. Wrote one sharp-eyed fan on Reddit in 2024: “There’s some speculation that the new ?????? character they showed is the new and improved defect or a replacement character with a similar kit. I think this is possible. The new guy has got a blue and gold color scheme that kinda matches Defect and is somewhat robotic looking.”
Turns out, it was Defect in a new form after all. While he is larger in the sequel, it’s still unclear what the gameplay differences will be. Either way, fans are excited to have Defect confirmed after all this time.
Sony has shut down Bluepoint Games, upsetting the gaming community.
Bluepoint Games is a well-respected studio founded in 2006 that has been remastering classic PlayStation games since Sony acquired it in 2021. This includes popular titles like God of War, Uncharted, and Demon’s Souls. The gaming community has consistently praised Bluepoint Games’ work and was disappointed when its live-service God of War game was canceled in January 2025.
Now, Sony is shutting it down completely.
Community backlash following the closure
As part of Sony’s decision to shut down Bluepoint Games, 70 employees have lost their jobs.
“Bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg. “We thank them for their passion, creativity, and craftsmanship.”
The shutdown came after a “recent business review,” the spokesperson noted. While Bluepoint Games’ remakes are beloved for their quality and nostalgia, the sales just weren’t there for Sony. In two years, the Demon’s Souls remake sold a little over 2 million copies. It’s not anything to scoff at, but it was apparently not exciting for Sony, which sold 3.2 million copies of Ghost of Yotei in 30-ish days.
Despite not having the most sales ever, Bluepoint Games makes stuff that gamers like and does a good job at making that stuff. For this reason, the shutdown has been met with widespread criticism from the gaming community, who feel Sony has shot itself in the foot once again. Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls are often said to be the best remakes of all time.
Said one gamer: “Great… Another talented and well-respected studio gone, while Sony is still chasing the live-service gravy train…”
Yep, while Bluepoint Games shuts down, Sony still has the upcoming Horizon Hunters Gathering slop coming from Guerrilla. This game’s lazy art style, ugly character designs, and boring gameplay (as shown in trailers) have been heavily criticized by gamers sick of live-service games.
The state of the gaming industry has not left players with much hope.
It’s a bit of a distant memory, but remember when that woman on the Arena of Valor team was caught cheating at the 33rd SEA Games? Well, the truth behind the situation is even crazier, bringing the situation back into the spotlight once more.
Back in December 2025, Warasin “Tokyogurl” Naraphat was caught using unauthorized software and having third-party involvement while competing at the SEA Games. After getting caught cheating, Tokyogurl was disqualified (even though Thailand had just lost 0-3 to Vietnam anyway). The rest of the team continued to the Lower Bracket Final, but Thailand ultimately decided to withdraw from the women’s tournament altogether.
Even though Tokyogurl denied any wrongdoing – and even claimed it was due to her being sick and panicking mid-game – it seemed like a pretty cut-and-dry case of cheating and banning. However, it’s now come out that she was, in fact, cheating, but with help from her boyfriend.
In fact, her boyfriend had been playing for her this entire time. Tokyogurl had made it to the SEA Games without ever having played a game by herself.
Tokyogurl’s boyfriend admits to cheating at SEA Games
Tokyogurl’s boyfriend goes by Cheerio. He’s a semi-pro esports player who’s competed in tournaments before, although nothing as big as the SEA Games.
After months of silence, Cheerio took to TikTok to admit he was playing for Tokyogurl at the prestigious international tournament.
“I want to come out and clarify the issues that have happened in the past during the SEA Games period and other competitions, where everyone suspected that a third party was playing in place during several matches. I admit that it’s true,” he confessed.
“I didn’t intend for things to escalate to this point and cause disappointment to many people. I humbly accept all criticism and the consequences that follow, without any excuses.”
After Cheerio’s groveling apology, Tokyogurl shared one of her own: “I’m sorry.”
Not only is Tokyogurl banned from Arena of Valor tournaments, but the President of the Asian Electronic Sports Federation has stated that it’s taking legal action against Cheerio and Tokyogurl. So it’s being taken quite seriously.
Why are dudes so obsessed with beating women in esports?
My initial thought when I learned of Tokyogurl and Cheerio was: Why? I am not quite sure what the benefit of doing something like this is.
But then I thought back to the time the Fortnite community decided to be a transphobic pile of shit after the Milk Cup. The responses were quite telling. Instead of congratulating Vader for not only winning a pretty impressive tournament but finding a community that accepts and supports her, incels all over X accused her of “pretending to be a woman” so she could beat all the girls at the Milk Cup.
And this got me thinking: Subpar, insufferable men that don’t feel worthy of other men due to various shortcomings want to feel better about their lowly status by beating women at random stuff. That’s why they think trans women are doing the same thing: projection. This is their own fantasy, not the fantasy of trans women.
You see men constantly claiming they can beat up a female wrestler or get more points than her at tennis or win a Counter-Strike tournament, and you wonder: “Why is that even on your mind? Why do you care?” Maybe it would make them feel better about themselves to actually have a chance for once in their life. Or maybe they want to prove women aren’t good at things to make themselves feel better about getting constantly rejected. I can’t tell you. But this seems to be a pattern.
Remember Vaevictis eSports, the all-female League of Legends team that competed in the Russian League (LCL) in 2019, emerging without a single win? The team was made up of female players that weren’t even the highest rank in the game and they were all support players. It seemed basically built to fail – and it was. It was a stunt to essentially mock women and point out that they can’t play video games as well as men.
As the insults and think-pieces rolled in, the Vaevictis eSports players were quick to point out that it wasn’t about gender at all.
Former member Anastasiya “HellMa” Pleyko said: “Take five men with diamond rank, put them against these teams, and they play just as bad as we do. I know a lot of women who are better and would have performed better. “
As the harassment and mockery continued, Riot Games disqualified the team for its performance.
The tournament, Legion of Valkyries CS:GO May 2020, required players to have a webcam on. The male player wore a black wig, glasses, and a mask. When he was asked to remove the mask, the tournament organizers immediately saw he was a man.
Despite the blatant disrespect, most people online found this funny. Many joked that he was “transgender” and should have been allowed to compete. Women’s esports are clearly not taken seriously, and men found it funny to make a mockery of the event. I’m assuming he was hoping to wipe all the women in the tournament to prove how much better he was than female CS:GO players. To prove what? I’m not sure. I guess that he’s not a total loser? To prove that he has more skills than other random players in a small tournament?
Beats me.
I don’t know Cheerio and I cannot tell you what his exact line of thinking was when he decided to cheat at the all-female Arena of Valor tournament at the SEA Games. My assumption, however, is that he is unable to reach his esports goals against other men and felt that this was an easy opportunity to win some money and beat competitors while he’s at it.
Again, the team had lost 0-3 against Vietnam while Tokyogurl was “competing.” Guess it wasn’t as much of a free win as Cheerio had thought. But even if it were, now what? He gets to tell people that he failed to beat anyone with the same advantages as him and had to compete against a scene with less support and fewer resources instead?
Congrats??
I’m not here to tell you if men are better at esports or not. I don’t really care. I am shocked that this even occupies a part of their brain at all. I’m shocked that they spend time thinking about how they’d be able to beat random women at a random game.
SSSniperWolf 2.0
Remember SSSniperWolf? She currently makes lazy “reaction” videos while putting on an irritating fake baby voice. And somehow, that’s enough for people to forget where she came from: pretending to play games to bait simps.
Years ago, it came out that she wasn’t playing Call of Duty or any of those games. It was her boyfriend’s gameplay. She wasn’t competing for money, so it wasn’t as career-breaking as it should have been, but I think this also deserves a mention in this article.
Why?
Because her boyfriend was, once again, a jealous, snivvly loser. Compared to Sssniperwolf, nobody was very interested in watching him play. A man playing Call of Duty? Boring. A hot woman playing Call of Duty with her cleavage showing? Subscribe! This concept makes many men salty, even though it’s the same men who subscribe to these women. Make it make sense.
Nobody would watch this dude’s gameplay unless he were a sexy woman. So he agreed to do streams and make content with her. Now, he was helping make money and getting attention. Just like Cheerio would never make it to the SEA Games, but now he could make it to the Games as a cute woman.
The real question is: Who is providing Snoop Dogg with the gaming footage?
Anyway, that’s the end of my rant. At the end of the day, Cheerio apologized and he wasn’t all that great against the other teams at the SEA Games anyway. But I can’t help but think about this continued obsession with these surplus men fantasizing about playing in women’s esports tournaments when nobody is even concerned about this. Just go get therapy between your solo rounds of Fortnite and leave everyone alone.
Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma is known to overreact a bit, so when I saw him going insane on X about an online tournament, I admittedly kept skimming. However, I have since seen multiple people going equally insane over this moment so I had to check it out for myself.
And yeah, it’s insane.
Luigi uses taunt to win intensely close final match
Luigi is a beloved Nintendo character in general, and he’s pretty popular in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as well. He has a bit of a cheeky playstyle to match his personality, including the only taunt in the entire series that can damage opponents. This came in handy in a surprising way during an online tournament hosted by Hungrybox.
The matchup between Mario “Waka” Cervantes and Carlos “Sonix” Perez was incredibly close. Both had two wins, meaning this final game would determine the winner. Waka and Sonix had enough damage to get KOd from a well-timed attack. Even the commentators kept saying: “It just takes one grab.”
Sonix landed a pretty good combo that knocked Luigi off the stage. But Waka recovered, mixing it up by landing above Sonix. He landed on him, pulling off a pretty incredible aerial-heavy combo that had Sonic getting knocked all the way to the other side of the stage. At this point, Sonix was struggling to find a way back onto the stage.
Then it happened.
Sonix jumped back up to grab the ledge, but Luigi denied him by taunting. The little, bashful kick connected, turning the screen red as Sonic was blasted off the screen entirely. Luigi won the game with Luigi’s taunt.
Not only was it incredible to see Waka win with such a tricky move to land, but he’d landed it against Sonic, a very fast, avoidant character that everyone hates. And not just any Sonic, but one controlled by Sonix, a top player in the scene.
It was just a crazy moment that was worth Hungrybox’s massive reaction.
After screaming loud enough to damage my ears, Hungrybox fell to the floor, collapsing in disbelief. “Clip that shit, please!” he begged, out of breath.
Meanwhile, Sonix was quite angry that he got taunted to death by a low-tier character. He immediately ended the stream after the KO, leaving Hungrybox’s tournament. It was a salty crash out that only added to the moment.
Being able to time Luigi’s taunt to KO such a talented player was most definitely a moment to remember (and clip). Luigi’s taunt is very slow to start up, and it doesn’t reach very far, making it difficult to hit. However, a successful kick will knock an opponent back quite far no matter their damage.
Said one viewer: “I don’t play Smash anymore, but I’m glad to see Sonic lose.”
Lords of the Fallen 2 publisher CI Games has responded to accusations that it plagiarized a character design from Elden Ring Nightreign.
CI Games revealed Lords of the Fallen 2 at Gamescom Opening Night Live, announcing that the sequel was coming this year. In an attempt to build up hype for Lords of the Fallen 2, CI shared an image of one of its characters on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption: “Devoted to Menasilde, moon goddess of tides and passage, the Crescent Host once walked only spiritual paths. A 1000 years beneath death’s shadow changed them. Peace gave way to steel.”
Many gamers immediately noticed similarities between the unnamed character and Elden Ring Nightreign’s Wylder class. Both have very similar armor, color schemes, stances, and weapons. At a quick glance, it’s pretty easy to see the resemblance. Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time that players have confused the two games.
Looks like the next evolution stage of Wylder, so this fella is devoted to Menasilde, moon goddess, Artorias served Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight. This fella was changed by death's shadow, Artorias was corrupted by the Abyss, seeing some similarities, I mean I'm still hyped tho pic.twitter.com/e1MBrfbycz
— Northwest Registered Agent (@northwestagent) January 7, 2026
Lords of the Fallen 2 has proof it’s not plagiarism
As the comparisons and accusations continued, CI Games’ CEO Marek Tyminski decided to address the controversy. And he did so with receipts.
On X, Tyminski stated: “I’m pleased to prove that yesterday’s accusations of plagiarism are 100% false,” he said.
He went on to say that the armor in Lords of the Fallen 2 was finalized on July 17th, 2024, five months before Nightrein was announced. The completed model was then added to the game’s engine by October 2024, still ahead of Elden Ring Nightrein’s release.
This was accompanied by screenshots from Slack that backed up his timeline.
I’m pleased to prove that yesterday’s accusations of plagiarism are 100% false.
A newly revealed standard enemy was claimed to copy Wylder from Nightreign. This armour was finalised on July 17, 2024—over 5 months before Nightreign was announced—and the completed model was… https://t.co/zPIwLLIwBbpic.twitter.com/SO0So6X5BS
Upon seeing the proof, gamers joked that Lords of the Fallen had plagirized the concept of a suit and armor, and a sword. Oh, and the concept of a video game also existed before Lords of the Fallen 2 as well! Others applauded the team for its design and hard work, expressing excitement for the sequel.
“Visual overlap can occur in medieval fantasy design,” Tyminski concluded. “We respect FromSoftware, but we do not copy other studios. The armor designs in Lords of the Fallen were widely praised, and we’re confident Lords II will be no different. We stand fully behind our artists, their originality, and the integrity of their work.”
A goldfish that’s better at video games than you has now passed away.
YouTuber PointCrow shared in late November that his Elden Ring-playing goldfish, Tortellini, has died. In a tweet, PointCrow said that Tortellini was sick for the past few weeks with a systemic bacterial infection.
“I’m doing my best as a goldfish keeper, but fancies are incredibly fragile, and it seems that after three years it was his time to go,” PointCrow lamented. “Rather than wax on all the mistakes I’ve made keeping fancy goldfish and how devastated I am over this loss, I really want to highlight all the accomplishments Tortellini has.”
Unfortunately, my goldfish Tortellini has passed away.
He's been unwell for the past couple weeks fighting a systemic bacterial infection, and took a turn for the worse last night. I'm doing my best as a goldfish keeper, but fancies are incredibly fragile, and it seems that… pic.twitter.com/2ovsZItz8v
Tortellini is well known for playing Elden Ring. PointCrow’s 2024 YouTube video, “I Taught My Goldfish To Play Elden Ring,” currently has 1.7 million views.
Essentially, several motion-tracking devices were connected to Tortellini’s fish tank to track his movements. Depending on where Tortellini was in his tank, it would select an input on a controller based on a grid program.
Live on Twitch, Tortellini singlehandedly took down some of the toughest bosses in Elden Ring, including Melania and Consort Radahn. It was an incredible accomplishment that shocked the gaming world more than all those streamers who use dance pads and whatever to beat the game.
But what stands out even more in the video is PointCrow saying near the beginning: “I love him more than life.”
In Tortellini’s obituary, PointCrow wrote:
He was there to make us all laugh and bewilder us with how a small fish could do so much. He’s lived a god damn good life. I miss him so much. I’m sure he’s swimming in the great tank in the sky right now as happy as he can be.
The gaming community took the loss hard. Many remembered Tortellini’s accomplishments and said he had a place in gaming history now.
Xbox console sales may be down, but Microsoft has announced its solution: Crocs.
Xbox has been struggling lately. The Xbox Series X|S sales aren’t anywhere near the PlayStation 5, causing Microsoft to make drastic decisions. This includes raising the price of consoles multiple times (and likely again) and increasing Game Pass subscription costs – all of which have backfired.
Now, Xbox is hoping to get some money (and reputation) back with… Crocs?
Xbox ignores actual console issues and makes Crocs
On November 24th, Xbox announced that some Xbox-themed Crocs would be out on November 25th. These Crocs feature the Xbox logo, “Player Left” and “Player Right” on each shoe, joysticks and buttons… I guess it’s basically like some deformed and nightmarish controller? For $80.
And honestly, I don’t care to know more. And neither does anybody else.
Xbox: We don’t want Crocs. We want a fairly priced console with games worth playing. And when I say “we,” I mean any fans you have left. I already don’t care about you and have moved on to PC gaming.
“Is this the type of exclusives Xbox can look forward to?” one fan joked.
Seriously. At this point, there is no reason to own an Xbox. The games are no longer exclusive, not even Halo or Call of Duty or any other game you can play while drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cool Ranch Doritos.
That era is over.
But, hey, at least you can get some tacky shoes on top of your overpriced Game Pass subscription if you plan to stick with Xbox.
Kirby Air Riders is a game filled with chaos and mayhem, where nothing makes sense or has any purpose or meaning. I recently won a race without pressing a single button for the entire two laps. Don’t try to understand it.
However, Nintendo feels the mayhem has gone too far now that players have started using the custom machine mode to make Chef Kawasaki in a micro string bikini.
Nintendo is trying to censor bikini Chef Kawasaki machines because it hates fun
People have been getting very creative with the custom machine mode, called My Machine. However, there’s one design that has been seen over and over again: Chef Kawasaki in a sexy bikini.
Nintendo has been working around the clock to remove these designs after they became popular and featured.
Strangely, this is an ongoing issue for Nintendo that isn’t unique to Kirby Air Riders…
The widespread trend of Chef Kawasaki in a micro bikini began in 2020, when a user started using the hashtag “Kokamabi” on X (formerly Twitter) to share images of a bikini-clad Chef Kawasaki. An illustrated series called “Cook Kawasaki Micro Bikini Karuta” began circulating on the internet, inspired by the phenomenon.
HAL Laboratory demanded the series be removed from the market and sales stopped. This was apparently due to using Cook Kawasaki commercially, not necessarily that he was wearing a bikini.
Then in 2022, someone revived the joke with a new card game: Chef Kawasaki’s Microbikini Karuta. This featured very sexual artwork created by numerous artists. This started being sold, which goes against Nintendo’s guidelines once more.
The latest incident involves custom machines at Kirby Air Riders. However, this time it’s not for profit. This may prove that Nintendo’s issue with the bikini Chef Kawasaki meme isn’t just the commercialization of their character, but the bikini itself.
It’s gonna be hard for Nintendo to keep up, as more and more show up in My Machines faster than they are removed. As one devoted bikini Chef Kawasaki fan said on X: “They can’t stop all of us.”
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(@KagerisuS) 
