Category: News

Every year there’s always a major hit indie gam that becomes the must-play title of the year. We spend most of the year talking about the major AAA titles, because those have all the money and power behind them to grab our attention. These are of course still great games, and many of them are among our most anticipated games of 2022, but to experience gaming in full we need to always be on the lookout for the next big out of nowhere title.

While there is no real way to predict how a game is going to be received until everyone starts playing it, there are ways to keep a lookout for indie games that have the potential to be a breakout hit. Then, when everyone else starts talking about it, you can be one of the lucky ones that played it early. While we think we have a pretty good idea of how to keep a pulse on what games have a chance to be big, we do acknowledge that with hundreds of games releasing every year, it can be easy for some to fall through the cracks.

Sometimes the best way to find an indie hit is to go straight to the source and play it yourself. That means you’ll need a good place to find indie games and, as of right now, there are two places better than anywhere else to play upcoming indie games. Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop are two easy go-to’s for anyone that wants to find the next huge indie game with both platforms completely embracing small developers. Nintendo has frequently made indies a huge selling point for the Switch, and they even give indie games their own showcases throughout the year. Steam is one of the largest platforms for PC games and has been traditionally friendly to giving new developers a place to show their games.

Another fantastic way to keep an eye on upcoming indie games is to browse places like Twitch and YouTube. The great thing about video games today is everyone is always playing something somewhere, and that means someone, somewhere, is playing a game you’ve probably never heard of and you can watch them run through it. As games start gaining more traction, they start showing up on places like Twitch and YouTube because they want to share their own playthroughs of these games. A good way to look out for new indie games is to pay attention to what is showing up on Twitch or YouTube. Notice a particular game that you haven’t heard of, or seen much coverage of, getting a lot of attention lately? That could be the beginnings of the biggest game of the year.

In the same spirit of Twitch and YouTube, word of mouth is a powerful tool for the rise of any indie game. As more people play a game they start to tell their friends about that game, or post about it on social media. People love to share what they’re playing with others and as a game starts to gain traction it eventually becomes a talking point. A great way to keep up with new games, before they reach the talking point phase, is to go check out the games people are talking bout. When someone tweets about a new indie game they played, try it out for yourself. See if this is a game that has the potential to be a Game Of The Year contender. The worst that can happen is it doesn’t click and you find a new game to play.

2022 has the chance to be one of the biggest years in a long time for gaming. There are so many massive AAA titles that are expected to come out and we can expect a handful of indies to pop up here and there. We know that out of nowhere title is currently in development somewhere, but we aren’t going to know what it is until we play it. The best way to be ready for it is to play as many games as possible, keep an ear to the ground, and keep an open mind. Do that, and the surprise indie hit of 2022 won’t be a surprise at all for you.

If you spent any time browsing Twitter over the holiday weekend, you no doubt came across the now-viral tweet from Pabst Blue Ribbon’s official Twitter account that read “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!” At this point, official brand accounts wildin’ out on the timeline is nothing new, it’s been done to death, but it still took us by surprise to see a brand get so direct and raunchy. (Though congrats on being sex-positive!)

Many of the replies to that original tweet concerned whether or not the person (or people) behind the tweet would get fired, no word on that yet (but I mean, come on), but PBR has since deleted the now legendary tweet as well as others posted around the same time.

In an emailed statement shared with Ad Age, Pabst Blue Ribbon’s Vice President of marketing wrote, “We apologize about the language and content of our recent tweets… the tweets in question were written in poor judgment by one of our associates… In no way does the content of these tweets reflect the values of Pabst and our Associates. We’re handling the matter internally and have removed the tweets from our social platforms.”

While the ass-eating tweet was the one to go viral, the brand was already facing some criticism for their ill-conceived “Wet January” ad campaign, which, according to Forbes, many on the internet saw as insensitive to people struggling to cut back on alcohol consumption this month.

The whole situation is a head-scratcher. How did this ad campaign get this far in the first place? Was the ass-eating tweet planned and then re-positioned as an error or disgruntled employee when folks didn’t respond well? Was it all another attempt to grab the right kind of “cool corporation” energy that simply failed?

Pabst’s most recent tweet simply reads “beer,” which is much more on brand, if similarly cryptic. What will this saga bring next? A collab with Hardee’s famed “b-holes” for an ass-based pairing menu?

Buckle up, 2022 is already proving to be more chaotic than 2021 and we’re only a few days in.

If you spent any time browsing Twitter over the holiday weekend, you no doubt came across the now-viral tweet from Pabst Blue Ribbon’s official Twitter account that read “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!” At this point, official brand accounts wildin’ out on the timeline is nothing new, it’s been done to death, but it still took us by surprise to see a brand get so direct and raunchy. (Though congrats on being sex-positive!)

Many of the replies to that original tweet concerned whether or not the person (or people) behind the tweet would get fired, no word on that yet (but I mean, come on), but PBR has since deleted the now legendary tweet as well as others posted around the same time.

In an emailed statement shared with Ad Age, Pabst Blue Ribbon’s Vice President of marketing wrote, “We apologize about the language and content of our recent tweets… the tweets in question were written in poor judgment by one of our associates… In no way does the content of these tweets reflect the values of Pabst and our Associates. We’re handling the matter internally and have removed the tweets from our social platforms.”

While the ass-eating tweet was the one to go viral, the brand was already facing some criticism for their ill-conceived “Wet January” ad campaign, which, according to Forbes, many on the internet saw as insensitive to people struggling to cut back on alcohol consumption this month.

The whole situation is a head-scratcher. How did this ad campaign get this far in the first place? Was the ass-eating tweet planned and then re-positioned as an error or disgruntled employee when folks didn’t respond well? Was it all another attempt to grab the right kind of “cool corporation” energy that simply failed?

Pabst’s most recent tweet simply reads “beer,” which is much more on brand, if similarly cryptic. What will this saga bring next? A collab with Hardee’s famed “b-holes” for an ass-based pairing menu?

Buckle up, 2022 is already proving to be more chaotic than 2021 and we’re only a few days in.

What day do you consider to be the beginning of the pandemic? For many, it’s March 11, 2020, the day Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for the coronavirus and the NBA suspended the season. But for others (me), it’s a week later, March 18, when Gal Gadot uploaded the infamous “Imagine” video to Instagram. That was the moment I knew the pandemic wasn’t going away any time soon. Here we are, two years later…

Gadot previously acknowledged that the celeb-filled cover of the John Lennon song “didn’t transcend,” and in a new interview with InStyle, the Wonder Woman star admitted that it was in the poor taste. “And with the whole ‘Imagine’ controversy, it’s funny,” she said. “I was calling Kristen [Wiig] and I was like, ‘Listen, I want to do this thing.’ The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here [to the U.S.] in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed. But [the video] was premature. It wasn’t the right timing, and it wasn’t the right thing.” Gadot added, “It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don’t hit the bull’s-eye, right? I felt like I wanted to take the air out of it, so that [event] was a delightful opportunity to do that.”

The video is still up on Gadot’s Instagram account, where it has over 10 million views. At least she didn’t invite one of her Death on the Nile co-stars to sing with her.

(Via InStyle)

Swedish House Mafia capped off their massive 2021 comeback with a (sort of) brand-new single. After dropping a collaboration with The Weeknd and announcing a slot at 2022’s Coachella, the electronic trio tapped respected classical music composer Jacob Mühlrad for a wildly different version of their hit 2010 track “One.”

The new version of the song, aptly titled “One Symphony,” takes the pumped-up EDM track and transforms it into a soothing ballad which utilizes a range of wind and string instruments.

“Having Jacob’s world meet ours has always been on our minds,” Swedish House Mafia said in a statement. “His interpretation of ‘One’ is absolutely incredible and we are so happy to finally release it to the world.” Mühlrad added, “I felt very inspired and honored when I received the commission.”

This isn’t the first time their track “One” has gone through some changes. Of course, there’s the original 5-minute version of the song, but there is also a radio edit which features vocals by Pharrell Williams, as well as a handful of other club-ready remixes. Despite the various versions of the song, “One Symphony” is perhaps the biggest departure from the original track.

Listen to Swedish House Mafia’s “One Symphony” above and check out the group’s 2022 tour dates below.

07/29 — Miami, FL @ FTX Arena
07/31 — Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
08/03 — East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
08/05 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
08/07 — Montreal, QC @ îleSoniq Festival
08/09 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
08/10 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
08/11 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
08/13 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/17 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/19 — St Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
08/21 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
08/25 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center
08/26 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
08/27 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
08/30 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
09/02 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
09/04 — San Diego, CA @ Pechanga Arena
09/13 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
09/14 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
09/16 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
09/29 — Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
09/30 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro Arena
10/02 — London, UK @ The O2
10/06 — Dublin, Ireland @– 3Arena
10/08 — Birmingham, UK @ Utilita Arena Birmingham
10/10 — Paris, FR @ Accor Arena
10/14 — Madrid, Spain @ IFEMA Madrid Live
10/15 — Lisbon, Portugal @ Altice Arena
10/18 — Milan, Italy @ Mediolanum Forum
10/19 — Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
10/21 — Krakow, Poland @ Tauron Arena
10/22 — Prague, Czech Republic @ O2 Arena
10/25 — Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
10/27 — Munich, Germany @ Olympiahalle
10/29 — Antwerp, Belgium @ Sportpaleis
10/31 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
11/03 — Vienna, Austria @ Stadthalle
11/05 — Frankfurt, Germany @ Festhalle
11/06 — Berlin, Germany @ Mercedes-Benz Arena
11/08 — Hamburg, Germany @ Barclaycard Arena
11/09 — Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
11/11 — Oslo, Norway @ Telenor Arena
11/13 — Tampere, Finland @ Uros Arena

Pooh Shiesty has taken a plea deal on his shooting case, pleading guilty to firearms conspiracy to avoid a potential life sentence, according to Rolling Stone. Pooh was charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime and robbery after apparently shooting a man in the buttock in October of 2020. The man, the 28-year-old Brandon Cooper, was recently indicted in Florida for allegedly forging checks along with seven others according to The Miami Herald, prompting Pooh’s lawyer to reconsider plea negotiations.

“We’ve entered into plea negotiations because there have been developments in the case that I think changed the dynamics of the case,” said Bradford Cohen, Pooh’s lawyer last October. The plea is a bid to get a lesser sentence — however, Magistrate Judge Lauren Fleischer Louis advised that Pooh wouldn’t necessarily get the 97 months that the prosecution and defense agreed to. Pooh won’t be able to withdraw his plea if the sentence turns out to be longer.

Pooh was indicted on the charges above after an Instagram post was used to connect him to the shooting, which allegedly took place at the Landon Hotel, where Pooh met the victim to purchase sneakers and weed. After he drove off, leaving behind a bag of money, authorities were able to match the serial number of one of the abandoned bills to bills Pooh held up in a prior post. Pooh, who had one of YouTube’s top trending videos of 2021 and a flourishing presence thanks to his hit “Back In Blood” with Lil Durk before getting arrested, still faces charges in a prior shooting incident in which he allegedly shot at a security guard in a club after fans tried to pull cash out of his pockets following a performance.

While raking Donald Trump and the Republican Party over the coals for brushing aside the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building as if it wasn’t a dangerous assault on democracy, The View co-host Ana Navarro busted out her own conspiracy about the 2016 election that put Trump in office. It’s not the greatest move, considering the hypocrisy on display, but Navarro didn’t seem to care.

After roasting Trump for continue to foment an “environment of lies and conspiracy theories” by refusing to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Navarro just came right out and alleged that Trump’s win in 2016 was illegitimate, but you don’t see her mounting a full-on insurrection.

Via Mediaite:

Look, I felt – I felt that Donald Trump had not been legitimately elected. I felt he’d gotten help from the Russians, but you know what? It would have never occurred to me to make up arms against Donald Trump. That’s just not what we do in America.

Our weapon of choice is voting, is democracy, it’s the ballot, and so I hope that people remember Jan. 6. You know why? You know how? By registering to vote. By making sure they know where they have to show up to vote because there are elections this year and they are so crucial.

However, despite her rant, co-host Sunny Hostin pointed out that Navarro continues to belong to the Republican Party even though 58% of its members feel that Biden didn’t win the 2020 election. To which Navarro responded that the solution to that problem is to continue electing more GOP officials like Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.

(Via The View on Twitter)

I Don’t Live Here Anymore was one of 2021’s big musical highlights, and now The War On Drugs have brought their latest album into 2022 by performing its title track on Ellen today, alongside Lucius, who also feature on the album version.

Adam Granduciel previously told Apple Music of the song, “I’ll be the first to say it has that ‘80s thing going, but we kind of pushed it in that way. At one point [producer Shawn Everett] and I ran everything on the song — drums, the girls, bass, everything — through a JC-120 Roland amplifier, which is like the sound of the ’80s, essentially. I saw it just sitting there at Sound City [Studios in Los Angeles]. We spent like a day doing that, and it just gave it this sound that was a familiar heartbeat or something. It sounds huge but it also felt real — in my mind it was basically just a bedroom recording, because everything was done in my tiny little room, directly into my computer.”

Meanwhile, the band also unveiled a new episode of The Super High Quality Podcast today, the first one of its second season. Press materials note of the new slew of episodes, “This second season presents a four-part audio documentary that tells the story of the players, studios, engineers, songcraft, and happy accidents that define the ten songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Told through casual conversations with band members and their collaborators, and featuring unreleased recordings, guitar tech Dominic East tracks the album’s progress from the earliest demo sessions in 2018, through the final full-band recording sessions in 2019, and finally inside the summer 2021 rehearsals that marked the band member’s reunion after 18 months apart.”

Watch The War On Drugs and Lucius perform “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” above and listen to the new The Super High Quality Podcast episode below.

The War On Drugs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Thirty years later, the best Batman ever is putting the suit back on. Michael Keaton is reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in The Flash after previously playing Homer Simpson’s favorite scientist in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns. He was offered the chance to return for 1995’s Batman Forever, but as he explained on the In the Envelope podcast (via IndieWire), he walked away due to creative differences with director Joel Schumacher.

“It was always Bruce Wayne. It was never Batman,” Keaton explained about how he got into character. “To me, I know the name of the movie is Batman, and it’s hugely iconic and very cool and [culturally] iconic and because of Tim Burton, artistically iconic. I knew from the get-go it was Bruce Wayne. That was the secret. I never talked about it. Batman, Batman, Batman does this, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘Y’all are thinking wrong here.’ Bruce Wayne. What kind of person does that?… Who becomes that?”

Keaton and Burton shared the same creative vision for Batman, but when the Beetlejuice director was replaced by Schumacher for Batman Forever (a title that Burton amusingly hated), Keaton decided it was time for him to move on, too):

“And then when the director who directed the third one, I said, ‘I just can’t do it.’ And one of the reasons I couldn’t do it was — and you know, he’s a nice enough man, he’s passed away, so I wouldn’t speak ill of him even if he were alive — he, at one point, after more than a couple of meetings where I kept trying to rationalize doing it and hopefully talking him into saying, ‘I think we don’t want to go in this direction, I think we should go in this direction.’ And he wasn’t going to budge.”

Keaton continued, “I remember one of the things that I walked away going, ‘Oh boy, I can’t do this.’ [Schumacher] asked me, ‘I don’t understand why everything has to be so dark and everything so sad,’ and I went, ‘Wait a minute, do you know how this guy got to be Batman? Have you read… I mean, it’s pretty simple.’”

Keaton must wake up every day regretting his decision. Not because of the money or the prestige or whatever, but because he didn’t get to see Tommy Lee Jones tell Jim Carrey that he “cannot sanction your buffoonery.”

(Via IndieWire)

Jeopardy! has a long history of airing music-related clues during their segments. While no one can compare to the times Alex Trebek would impersonate musicians like Lil Jon, Jeopardy! is still keeping up with their pop culture clues. On Monday night’s episode of the long-running game show, producers had the memeified band Nickelback as an answer, but one contestant confused them with fellow Canadian rockers Arcade Fire in an indie music doomsday scenario.

One category of the episode was Billboard‘s 200 albums chart in 2021. Some of the clues included, “In 2021, his Certified Lover Boy was certified a No. 1 album” (“Who is Drake?”), “This rapper lived up to his name ‘The Creator’ of ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’” (“Who is Tyler The Creator?”), “She got a license to drive to No. 1 with Sour” (“Who is Olivia Rodrigo?”), and “This R&B w.o.m.a.n. was far from the Back Of My Mind & close to the top of the chart” (“Who is HER?”).

Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider breezed through the first four clues, but all three contestants were nearly stumped when it came to a clue about a particular Canadian rock band. The clue read, “‘The Best Of’ this Canadian band, ‘Volume 1’ included ‘Rockstar,’ ‘How You Remind Me,’ & 17 other songs.” Contestant Kate thought the correct band was Arcade Fire, as they’re one of the more prominent Canadian indie rock bands. But it turns out that contestant Harsh was right on the money when he said, “Who is Nickelback?”

The Jeopardy! clue brings up a lot more questions, namely: There’s a Best Of Nickelback album? The answer is yes. Best Of Nickelback Volume 1 was released in 2013. Not only did it include the songs “Rockstar” and “How You Remind Me,” but it opened with their 2005 track “Photograph.” Arcade Fire, on the other hand, does not have a Best Of album despite having more Grammy Awards than Nickelback (one, whereas Nickelback has zero).

Watch a clip of the Jeopardy! episode above.