VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
Verity Townsend
Automaton West Editor and translator. She has a soft spot for old-school Sierra adventure games and Final Fantasy VIII (yes, 8!). Can often be found hunting down weird forgotten games and finding out everything about them. Frequently muses about characters and lines from Metal Gear Solid and Disco Elysium. Aims to keep Automaton fresh and interesting with a wide variety of articles.
Final Fantasy 7 art director reminisces about the game’s early days as a 2D pixel art prototype
"An FF7 like this would have been possible in an alternate timeline," art director Yusuke Naora looks back on a very early Final Fantasy 7 prototype.
Evangelion singer boycotts event over use of gen AI imagery, expressing solidarity with other artists
Evangelion opening theme singer Yoko Takahashi has withdrawn from an anime concert in protest of the gen AI used on the event's poster
Square Enix’s Team Asano regrets announcing the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake too early
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake's November 14 release date was revealed yesterday, just over 3 years after the game's initial announcement.
Elden Ring’s active playerbase doubles as Shadow of the Erdtree draws nearer
Elden Ring's active playerbase is on the rise as anticipation builds for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC's worldwide release on June 21.
Hideo Kojima and Junji Ito reveal which books and manga shaped them as creators
Death Stranding video game director Hideo Kojima and Uzumaki manga creator Junji Ito discuss the works that strongly inspired them growing up
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ attitude towards decapitations paints Japanese history in the wrong light
Assassin's Creed Shadows has been criticized by Japanese commenters for its casual use of decapitation and attitude towards cutting off heads
Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy’s ending will surpass the original’s, director reveals
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth co-director Motomu Toriyama reveals that the FF7R trilogy's ending will provide answers and exceed the 1997 original.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Collector’s Edition merchandise criticized for historical and linguistic errors
What are the mistakes in the Assassin's Creed Collector's Edition and where did they come from? We take a closer look.
Tango Gameworks staff spend last day at studio before closure
Tango Gameworks closed its doors forever on June 14 2024. One employee documents the final day at the Hi-Fi Rush developer's Tokyo office.
Bunny Garden gets physical release in English on Switch
Qureate’s bunnygirl-packed dating sim Bunny Garden is getting a physical release in English for the Nintendo Switch on July 25.
Stellar Blade creator is angry with Elon Musk
Stellar Blade director and Shift Up CEO Hyung Tae Kim took to X to disagree with the recent change to the social media platform's Likes.
Capcom is 3D scanning traditional Japanese sweets to make Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess as authentic as possible
Capcom’s upcoming Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess just got sweeter thanks to a collaboration with traditional Japanese confectioner Tsuruya Yoshinobu.
Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s tatami error not in the full game, says Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed Shadows' director recently addressed Japanese users' viral complaints about the inaccurate tatami mats seen in the trailer.
Clock Tower Rewind resurrects Japanese survival horror classic, now in English for the first time
New trailer shows how Clock Tower Rewind will finally bring the pioneering survival horror game to modern systems with optional QoL features.
Atlus changes Metaphor: ReFantazio cast due to scandal
Veteran voice actor Toru Furuya will no longer be part of the Metaphor ReFantazio cast, likely due to his recently publicized affair.
SAEKO: Giantess Dating Sim demo promises dark, sexy and surreal experience where your decisions can be fatal
Can you survive being the tiny plaything of a girl with some... interesting hobbies?
Metal Gear Solid Delta trailer praised by Japanese fans, except one character’s appearance seems a little “strange”
Metal Gear Solid Delta's first trailer showed us Snake, Major Zero, Ocelot, Para-Medic and The Boss- but why does she seem to look so different to how she did in MGS3?
Jujutsu Kaisen manga goes on hiatus due to creator’s sudden illness
Jujutsu Kaisen will not appear in Weekly Shonen Jump until July 1 at the earliest due to mangaka Gege Akutami's sudden illness.
Nintendo Switch used to teach programming and promote logical thinking in Japanese elementary schools
A city in Kumamoto prefecture has launched a successful initiative to teach programming to 6th graders using Nintendo Switch consoles.
Meta Quest 3 campaign overestimates the size of an average Japanese home
Meta Quest Japan's latest campaign has been called out for underestimating how much space the typical gamer in Japan has to play VR games
Tekken’s Harada opposes normalizing toxic behavior in online gaming – “What’s average is not for you to decide”
Tekken 8 producer Katsuhiro Harada takes a strong stance against harassment in online gaming, explaining that it shouldn't be normalized.
Minecraft is still the most played game among Japan’s grade schoolers in 2024
Recent survey suggests that Japan's elementary school children are still frequently playing Minecraft, as well as Splatoon and Fortnite.