Logan Paul Compares Pokémon Card Trading to a Ponzi Scheme

Will Cyberpunk 2 be a game for the PlayStation 7? Is Monster Hunter Wilds really set to launch on Switch 2 next year? And why does Logan Paul manage to make everything he discusses, including Pokémon cards, sound so sketchy? Welcome to another edition of Morning Checkpoint, your daily dose of gaming news and culture.

Former Sony Interactive Entertainment chairman Shawn Layden is reportedly pitching a Mad Men-style series focused on game development. While it may never see the light of day, I’d definitely tune in. Imagine Bobby Kotick playing himself! For now, Mythic Quest continues to be a solid satire of the gaming industry.

“Pokémon as an asset class has outperformed the stock market by over 3,000 percent in the last 20 years.” That’s how the online content creator recently hyped the upcoming auction for his PSA 10 Illustrator Pikachu card, which he claims is the most valuable Pokémon card in existence, during a segment on Fox Business.

Before promoting the auction, Paul had been sporting the nearly $6 million card around his neck during wrestling matches. If anyone can burst the bubble surrounding Pokémon cards that inflated during the COVID lockdown, it’s the guy who had to refund fans for his failed NFT game just a couple of years ago.

Data mining from the recent Title 4 Update suggests that a Switch 2 version might be in the works. With Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata also heading to the new console, this isn’t too surprising; Capcom has been heavily backing Switch 2. However, Monster Hunter Wilds’ performance issues on PC and console don’t inspire much confidence about how it will run on the less powerful platform.

This might not be the only major third-party port we see next year. Leaker NateTheHate reports that a rumored shortage of Switch 2 dev kits has “largely been resolved.”

Polish analytics firm Noble Securities predicts it could launch as early as 2030 with a budget of around $420 million. That seems to greatly overestimate the pace and efficiency of modern AAA development. Personally, I think we won’t see it until 2032, and it will cost over half a billion before marketing.

The director of Justice League recently posted on Instagram, “Big thanks to @kimkardashian for carrying me to all those Royales on @fortnite over Christmas break.” The Kardashian cosmetic is reportedly the most popular skin in Season 7.

The remake of the tactical mech RPG classic for PS1 is set to drop on January 30 and has recently released a free demo for fans. Unfortunately, the Front Mission series remakes have been among the weakest, and I’m not holding my breath that Front Mission 3 will change that. Early reports from the demo indicate that while the game still has its charm, it feels like it was cobbled together on a tight budget.