Overwatch does not belong in loot box controversies

Robbie’s note: This post was updated on Nov. 16.

If you would have told me a year ago I would be sticking up for a multiplayer-only game with a payable loot system from a company that’s owned by Activision, I would think you’re crazier than Call of Duty: WWII having people watch others open loot crates to complete a daily task for rewards.

Loot boxes, a system in various video games that grant players randomized items that can be earned by simply playing the game or purchased with real money, have been a heated topic in recent months. Overwatch, Blizzard’s juggernaut shooter franchise, has fallen into such discussions with its cosmetic loot system.

Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime recently spoke to Game Informer at Blizzcon and shared his thoughts on loot boxes.

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GameStop’s new rental service really is power to the players

In a surprising move, GameStop has announced a new rental game service called PowerPass.

For $60 over a course of six months, customers can rent one game at a time as long as they want from any nearby GameStop. Titles can be selected online for pickup or from browsing in-store. At the end of the six months, customers can choose one used game to keep forever. You must also be a PowerUp Rewards member, but that can be done for free or with one of two paid memberships. Signups for Power Pass go live Nov. 19.

There’s now little excuse to not play the best Star Wars video game ever made

A long time ago on an Xbox console now 16 years old, arguably the greatest video game to don the Star Wars license first came to the original Xbox on July 15, 2003. Since then, BioWare’s Jedi-masterful RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, or “KOTOR” as it’s often called, has made the jump to PC, Steam, GoG, Mac, backward compatibility on Xbox 360, and even iOS and Android devices.

Today, KOTOR was added to Xbox One via backward compatibility along with 12 other games:

Review: Cuphead a devil of a great time

• Developer/publisher: Studio MDHR

• Genre: Action platformer • Available on: Xbox One and PC

• Played on: Xbox One

Robbie’s note: “Cuphead” has co-op gameplay, but I played through the game solo. My review is based on the single-player experience.

It’s hard to fathom how Cuphead is a video game. The hand-drawn, gorgeous aesthetics inspired by 1930s cartoons carry a bizarre charm from the moment the menu boots up to the final fray. Everything on screen from the water-colored backdrops to the character designs and animations look as if they were brilliantly extracted from original cartoon reels in which weird characters nonchalantly gambled and smoked cigars — a time where that sort of influence on children was an afterthought.