Coronavirus

Delays are hardly anything new right now, considering that the pandemic that still holds its grip over the world has forced many forms of media to be delayed from their initial release date. Unfortunately, we’re not quite out of the woods yet, and so even more films have been delayed: this time, it’s both Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Uncharted movie that’s been in development since before 2020.

Thanks to the Coronavirus, numerous different events that were supposed to take place this year have been cancelled. Many of those events have been game-related of course, since gathering in one place is always quite dangerous, but surprisingly, EVO 2020 is getting cancelled for something else entirely. EVO 2020 was supposed to be held online this year because of the aforementioned COVID-19 situation, but it wasn’t supposed to be cancelled. But now, it, unfortunately, has been. That’s because it was reported that EVO CEO Joey Cuellar was being placed on administrative leave due to more than one accusation of sexual misconduct. Because of this, the event has been cancelled, and naturally, Cuellar will not be involved with EVO from here on out.

It’s a sad tale that has become all too common in the current state of society: game after game is delayed time and time again, pushing expected release dates further and further from what they had originally been. Unfortunately, this sad reality is affecting a game that a great many people were looking forward to, that being Cyberpunk 2077. The game was originally scheduled to release in September, but now we are looking at a November release date, specifically on November 19th for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For now, there’s no real indicator of how this delayed release date will affect the plans for the game to release on the PS5 and Xbox Series X as well.

At a point in time when the Coronavirus seems to be affecting everything, Sony’s Jim Ryan has covered quite a few details about how the upcoming PS5 will not be affected by COVID-19, be it launch date or price. Of course, we still don’t know what the exact launch date for the next-gen console is supposed to be, as both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X have tenable release windows. Both Sony and Microsoft have stated that the intended launch window for these consoles is late 2020, most likely during the holiday season.

As if the entertainment industry hasn’t been hit enough, now music fans of the legendary Bob Dylan are now hit with another disappointment since the singer has decided to cancel his American tour due to the roaming threat of COVID-19. In a report from The Washington Times’ Andrew Blake, “Bob Dylan called off his upcoming U.S. tour on Tuesday, making the legendary musician among the latest major artists to cancel shows because of the coronavirus pandemic.”

For millions of Americans and people all over the globe, this has been a period of not only incredible stress but also some much-needed self-reflection. While innovation and advances in digital and remote work have been changing the way our modern workforce communicates and accomplishes work, this current pandemic has potentially sped up the rate of which many jobs afterward will be accomplished either by employees working from their home, or will be outsourced to machinery and software completely.

This week, at least 25 physical retail stores for Apple will be reopened. Head of Retail, Deidre O’Brien, released a letter on the company’s website, which covers the details of how Apple plans to safely reopen their stores. Back in March, Apple closed down all of its physical stores outside of those in Greater China. Most Chinese stores have reopened already, though Apple is still in the process of laying out their plan for opening others in other areas.

For millions of Americans, the $1,200 stimulus check many received was just not enough to get by, especially as many states and cities are extending their lockdown requirements from just a few weeks to as far as several more months. This means the need for cash on hand may matter more now than it did even several months ago. With the world’s most booming economy halting even longer, there are very serious discussions about a second wave of stimulus checks coming your way.

It wasn't too long ago when you were simply able to book a flight online, go to the airport, check-in for your flight, (be overcharged for your checked baggage, in the process), zip through security and board your flight to your destination. Most people have been through this process countless times and never thought twice about the worries or possibility of getting seriously ill. Because of Coronavirus (Covid-19), however, the times have changed, dramatically. Just as after 911, air travel, amongst many other industries will never be the same.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen: it really seems like we’ll be stuck in quarantine for several more weeks, which isn’t too welcome. That said, social distancing and confinement is a perfect time to need more new games to play, and thanks to another great sale on the PS4, new games are available for those who don’t have them, and at pretty good prices. The discounts are mostly for games developed by Japanese companies, such as Dark Souls, Megaman, Final Fantasy and much more.

Just this past week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statement that his state would slowly start allowing non-essential businesses to begin opening their doors and servicing customers again while the rest of the nation stands timid as tax payers struggle between choosing what is currently worse- the health scare or the economic crisis? While many industries have suffered, very few have been hit as hard as movie theaters, who would jump at the first opportunity to open up especially with the governor’s blessing.

Crude oil is cheaper than most items on a McDonald’s dollar menu. Airlines are flying empty planes in order to maintain hanger privileges. And now people are starting to realize that hoarding toilet paper may not have been such a good idea since the stores keep managing to stock shelves on a daily basis. However, as we hit month two of a nation under lockdown, we as a nation might soon begin to encounter the true impact of this pandemic as supply lines and providers worry of a potential food shortage coming to a neighborhood near you in the near future.

Maybe you’re tired of hearing this, especially if you spent the last couple days or so watching Netflix non-stop, but if you’re financially comfortable and you find yourself with a bunch of extra time on your hands because of recent events, now might be the time to grow as a person to ensure the version of you that comes out of this pandemic is stronger than ever. That means stronger when it comes to your mind, body, soul, and especially your finances.

There is one thing I can promise you that is going to happen after this pandemic, and you don’t even need to trust me to know its true, just trust history; industries that were struggling before this situation will have businesses die, or have businesses thrive like never before. Americans want to go out and do things again, they will want to travel by train and by air, there will be cruises to schedule, and if you’re like me- you’re looking forward to getting to go back to your local movie theater.

Across the country, millions of Americans are facing what is being considered the worst financial (not including health) crisis of their lifetime. After a four-year bull market and record low unemployment, now many are worrying as to how they will be able to pay their rent, provide for their families, and a whole list of other stresses brought about primarily by factors outside of their control.

As one would probably expect by now, yet another video game title has been delayed due to the massive worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus. This time, Sony has pushed back the release date of the highly anticipated The Last of Us 2. The bad news is that no new release date has been set, meaning this delay has pushed back the debut of the title indefinitely. Sony’s explanation for this delay is that the Coronavirus would prevent “the launch that the players deserve.”

With the Coronavirus crisis getting progressively worse, certain medical items are in high demand: namely, masks. The situation is so bad that some actual medical installations don’t have the masks they need in the midst of this tenable situation. Lots of providers are struggling to restock these all-important masks, but in the meantime, it seems that companies like HP will step up to the plate: yes, the same HP that makes printers.

Now is the time to either freak out or take a sigh of relief when looking at your emergency savings. Reports from over the last couple of years have shown that 2 out of 3 Americans don’t have at least $1,000 dollars in savings. Now those who did not prepare are feeling the pain as we end the eleven-year bull market and face a very unpredictable recession.

With seemingly everything society cares about being affected by the Coronavirus, it’s nice to hear that someone is confident their investments won’t be. According to Sony, the COVID-19 pandemic won’t affect the release date of the PS5: or rather, it shouldn’t, at any rate. Sony still expects the console to launch during 2020’s holiday season.

Scammers are always looking for new targets, and even though we are in the midst of a global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, scammers are still looking to do what they do best- take advantage of people’s good intentions and even their fears, and use it to steal their money.