Proven News Wrap-Up: 5/25

News, and subsequently news stories, can be very fluid. With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, sometimes stories will slip through the cracks. Well, the Proven News Wrap-Up is here to fix all that! Below are what we have determined to be the top stories for the week of 5/25. Although they are numbered, they are not ranked in any particular order.

1) Best Buy Ends Gamers Club Unlocked

This is a story that came out of left field. Earlier this week, the option to purchase a new membership to Best Buy’s Gamers Club Unlocked, the feature that allowed gamers 20% off of new games and pre-orders was removed from the companies website. Since the removal of the feature, it has been confirmed that Best Buy is no longer taking new memberships to the service. However, they will continue to honor existing services until their expiration. At this point, there still isn’t much clarity as to why the program was removed. Hopefully, in time, we may see a return or reformat of a service that many gamers were enjoying.

2) Battlefield V Gets Revealed… Kinda 

DICE’s reveal event for Battlefield V on 5/24 was chalked full of information. It was confirmed that the franchise would be returning to WWII with no Premium Pass. In its place, a new, live service known as Tides of War will shift the focus of the game to various fronts and parts of WWII overtime. All of this will be free to the player. Along with the new format, new gameplay mechanics and modes were discussed. Of all the modes, the new take on Operations was emphasized heavily. The mode will now span up to four matches over four in-game days, with the conditions of each match changing depending on the previous day’s events. There was a whole lot discussed during the reveal. However, that is also the problem. A whole lot was discussed, but nothing was shown outside of a reveal trailer and pieces of concept art. The event talked about tons of things that will be in the game but didn’t show any of it. E3 is just a few weeks away, but to hold back basically everything from something deemed as a reveal event seems like a misstep. Hopefully, there will be much to show at the EA Play event at E3.

3) Sony Talks Future of Hardware

Earlier this week, PlayStation CEO John Kodera made two statements regarding the future of PlayStation. First, he said that the company will continue to focus on PS4 games till 2021. While this doesn’t mean that a new console won’t be announced or released before that time, it does give gamers some room to breathe knowing that there will be three more years of support for Sony’s current console.  A day later, a second Kodera’s comment stirred up PlayStation Vita fans. He talked about the importance of not thinking of portable gaming as separate from consoles. He went on to talk about the potential of portable gaming as a way to give fans more experiences. The obvious connection to Kodera’s comments is the success of the Nintendo Switch. Although he never referenced it directly, talking about not separating portable and console gaming is exactly what the Switch has accomplished. Maybe Sony does have another adventure into the portable space up their sleeve.

4) Sony and Nintendo Crush April NPD’s

The April NPD’s are out and God of War finds itself at the top of the mountain. In terms of dollars, God of War had the most successful launch month in the history of PlayStation. However, it wasn’t the only PlayStation exclusive to find its way to the top of the sales list. MLB: The Show 18 came in at number three, below Far Cry 5. This is back-to-back months Sony’s baseball exclusive has found itself in the number three spot. With its success, The Show is now the second best selling exclusive this year. Not to be outdone, Nintendo also a had a successful April. The Switch port of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze founds its way to number five. However, it was the number four slot on the list that caught this writers eye. The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit came in at number 4. Whatever your opinion of Labo, it is cool to see such a whacky idea have success.

Did we leave out any of the big stories of the week? Leave them in the comments below!