Hello, Shacknews. Welcome back to another round of news, memes, and entertainment! This is the Friday edition of Evening Reading.
In case you missed it at Shacknews:
- Shack Together 047 - Nintendo Switch 2 Announced, Civ 7, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, feat. Greg Burke
- Supreme Court upholds law to ban TikTok unless a sale happens imminently
- Sony cancels new games from Bend Studios and Bluepoint Games
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche leaves BioWare
- Dark and Darker Mobile soft launches in Canada, will release globally this year
- Deadlock launches four new characters in public build
- Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara, Japan to close in March
And, because it's the weekend, go find yourself something to play!
- Weekend Console Download Deals for Jan. 17: PlayStation New Year Deals
- Weekend PC Download Deals for Jan. 17: Assetto Corsa EVO hits the starting line
Around the Gaming Horn
Here's some rapid-fire news to wrap up your week.
In Season 02, we're enabling the ability to disable cross-play in Ranked Play on consoles for players who want to compete only against other console players.
— Treyarch (@Treyarch) January 17, 2025
This is planned to go live for both BO6 Ranked Play and Warzone Ranked Play during S02.
Details: https://t.co/sMFPTEDxSZ
Treyarch has outlined some big changes set to hit Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 ahead of Season 02.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is adding to its already-packed roster. Check out all the characters coming in the Hero of Justice Pack.
The Sims 25 Hour Livestream starts Feb 4 @ 2PM PT! 🎉
— The Sims (@TheSims) January 17, 2025
Ready to get chaotic? Comment who you're most excited to see! 😈
➡️ https://t.co/qvfUAmpW3T pic.twitter.com/B0FfMeWAuh
And check out the lineup for the big 25-year anniversary 25-hour livestream for The Sims.
And now... Other Stuff From The Internet!!!
Today in Bubbletron

Be sure to play Bubbletron today!
HEY YOU!
— HIDEKI NAGANUMA|CEO OF FUNKY FRESH BEATS (@Hideki_Naganuma) January 17, 2025
SORRY!
Rats within rats
Joycon Rats... https://t.co/SdFGkMQTy5 pic.twitter.com/iAZ3YSeFG2
— Cyrus (@_CyrusFire_) January 16, 2025
They're not fuzzy... that we know of.
Nothing but the Hotfix
Now that Awesome Games Done Quick has come to a close, the Hotfix is back! And, boy, is it ever back with something weird. You'd look at this thumbnail and assume that it's a video featuring Super Mario 64 and Stardew Valley runs back-to-back. No, silly. This is a combined archipelago randomizer!
GDQ's Hotfix shows air every week and you can catch them all at the Games Done Quick Twitch account.
This week in Shaqnews (and Chucknews)
Hear from Bill Belichick about the Charles Barkley play that the Patriots used to run for Gronk... and then watch the Inside the NBA crew try to run it themselves.
IT'S STILL REAL TO ME, DAMMIT!
Penta has a new home!
Tonight in video game music
Let's continue through MAGFest with a performance from Tumbao Multiplayer.
That's it for the third Friday Evening Reading for January and the first official one for 2025! Be sure to keep the spirit of the classic Evening Reading alive by jumping into the comments about whatever you see here or whatever randomness you'd like to discuss. Join the conversation and dive into the Shacknews Chatty comment thread below. If you want to go new school and find different ways to leave your feedback or talk about whatever, join us in the Official Shacknews Community Discord. I'll see you all next week!
-
Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Evening Reading - January 17, 2025