E3 2021 Cancelled

Well it’s official, E3 has been cancelled for the second time in a row due to the coronavirus. While it was cancelled in 2020 physically and digitally they had plans to host a digital even this summer for E3 which has now also been cancelled. This doesn’t bode well for the yearly event held in Los Angeles as it has slowly been losing developers to showcase at the event with PlayStation not attending in 2019 which in turn lead to fewer attendees for the event. PlayStation instead has been focusing on it’s own digital events called State of Play which showcases their upcoming games to audiences online. E3 is still planning to host the yearly event in some capacity for 2022 and 2023. Hopefully the big three game developers like Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo will attend. These companies have all been hosting their own digital events to big turn out with less money spent than attending E3, so only time will tell.

Published 03/04/2021 10:12PM EST

How Gaming Has Helped People Stay Connected During The Pandemic

In March 2020 the United States went into lock down and stay at home order were put into place across the country. This was the beginning of a long hardship filled year. With this people weren’t able to hangout as normal and had to find ways to stay connected virtually. Luckily this was able to be done through video chat, texting and finally video games.

Video game sales rose to an all time high during 2020 even though many had lost their jobs. This hobby/pastime was an easy and fun way to stay connected with friends. One of the biggest games to take hold was Animal Crossing for the Nintendo Switch. In this game you are able to build your own island chalked full of island visitor for you to make your neighbors. The online component made so players could visit each other and hangout on each others island simulating the feeling of being in person. It was the prefect game for the pandemic and lead to Animal Crossing being the 3rd best selling game of 2020. Thanks to video game people were able to spend time with each other virtually and make the horrible year of 2020 just a little bit better.

Published 03/05/2021 5:44PM EST

Gaming an Escape for 2020

With the pandemic occurring in 2020 many people escaped to another world through the means of gaming. This helped people escape for just a brief moment from the terrifying and uncertain future. Currently the pandemic is still going in 2021 and gaming has still been there during this time. Games sale went up by 27% according to NPD (National Purchase Diary Panel Inc.) even though unemployment was at an all time low. With the extra time at home, video games became a highly sought after at home hobby in 2020.

I asked several people how video games helped them through the pandemic and this were their responses. “Gaming helped me by giving me an escape from quarantine. I could be free in a different world and for a few hours things weren’t so bad.” said Zack Dillon an employee at Best Buy. Another person Dylan Vaughn said, “Video games have been on e of the most important sources of enjoyment during the pandemic and have been a huge stress relief. Not to mention I’ve bee able to play with new friends and stay connected with my homies.” It’s evident that gaming helped people find some sort of relief during the pandemic and according to the sales numbers it’s not going anywhere.

Published 03/08/2021 9:38PM EST