Over 200.000 people are already playing it, and it has overtaken GTA V on Steam as the most played game. As a big fan of the previous installment, I had to pick it up (with 20% off, as owners of the earlier installment get an extra 10% off)! And I wasn’t the only one. TaleWorlds Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, which has been in development for over eight (!) years, has now become accessible through Steam in early access. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord now in early access! For now, staying inside and playing some more seems to be the best thing to do! How much impact the initiative can have is to be seen however, as many gamers are still angered by the naming of ‘gaming disorder’, and already play video games.

Now the WHO, in collaboration with many companies from the gaming industry, will launch the initiative #PlayApartTogether, promoting online play and informing the players about health guidelines.

In the past, the WHO named ‘gaming disorder’ a disease, which angered many players around the world. In light of the current crisis, the World Health Organisation urges people to stay at home and play video games, and connect to others by online play. WHO urges people to stay at home and play video games Read the whole article over at Eurogamer! Your own collection of magazines is part of video game history, even if you might think it is irrelevant compared to the Nintendo Play System. In the coming years, researching personal histories might become more commonplace. Collections of magazines and other media outlets can become very important in the coming years, as hard- and software are susceptible to data rot, incompatibilty and other problems. The article by Nicholls goes on, and makes an interesting point on the preservation of hardware and software such as the PlayStation: placing those on a pedestal is easy, but personal video game histories are important as well. They talked to Frank Cifaldi of the Videogame History Foundation, who describes it as a ‘view into an alternate timeline’.

Florence Smith Nicholls from Eurogamer wondered how video game historians thought about the media frenzy. Interestingly, a lot of value has been given to this almost mythical piece of hardware. Not so long ago, we posted about the Nintendo PlayStation, the doomed collaboration between Sony and Nintendo, being auctioned for over $380,000.

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