Counter-Strike case openings are nothing new with the in-game mechanic itself being quite a number of years old. However, in recent times, there seems to be a surge in popularity, with some streaming personalities spending big in hopes of securing rare knives, and even more elusive skin patterns.
The CS2 case opening scene has been building for a while with streamers such as Trainwreckstv, also known for his ties with Kick, and massive gambling sessions on sister company Stake, opening thousands of high-value cases.
However, TimTheTatman and Nadeshot, accompanied by Counter-Strike veteran ohnePixel and CS2 case whales, went even further on July 11, opening approximately $500,000 worth of cases, claiming it to be a ‘world record’ session.
During the extremely lengthy broadcast, the stream team opened a plethora of different case varieties, starting with the more ‘common’ eSports 2014 Summer Case, leading up to the extremely rare and expensive DreamHack 2013 Souvenir Package, Cobblestone Souvenir Package, and EMS Katowice 2014 Container, which can house some of the game’s most sought-after cosmetics.
Some notable wins during the whole thing were various Bayonets, multiple Vox Eminor (Holo) Katowice 2015 Stickers, and Team Dignitas (Holo) Katowice 2014 Sticker, with the latter potentially being worth around $30,000 on its own. Stickers of this ilk go for so much money on the market due to the capsules being incredibly old and released in limited quantities, with most of them having been opened some time ago.
While the big item prices are attractive, a LOT of cases were opened, expensive ones at that, with the vast majority yielding very little return on investment. Obviously, the regular CS2 player isn’t going to be opening this number, or even the type of cases these streamers do, but the odds are definitely in the house’s favor no matter what.
As for how the Counter-Strike skin market will progress post this, in our opinion, it’s only going in one direction, and that’s upwards. The cases and containers are only getting fewer, increasing the price of both the loot boxes themselves and the rare contents inside.
If you’re reading all of this and thinking about dabbling in some CS2 cases yourself, do remember that it is a form of gambling, akin to that of opening packs on EA FC games. But hey, at least you’ll hopefully get some form of return through CS2 cases since you can list the goodies on a market, contrary to that of EA FC where they’ll disappear into the aether every year.
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I started collecting the tank department of the Imperial Guard, and I noticed an interesting tank called "Ragnarök," which looks very much like either the KV-2 or the FV4005.
Is it possible to create tanks for the Imperial Guard based on the "Rybinsk Tank" or the "Fiat 2000" tank, or other tanks? In particular, I want to use it as a filling for the playing field, like destroyed equipment.
When Mario Kart World was teased during the Nintendo Switch 2, in the brief and beautiful moments before we knew what the Switch 2 would cost, the internet immediately glommed onto one specific detail: Cow. You could play as a Cow.
Now that the game’s out, the glory of Cow—and other delightfully absurd additions like Penguin, Snowman, and my personal favorite, Cheep Cheep—is everything we believed possible. Well … almost everything. Because another one of Mario Kart World‘s new conceits is a new item, a bag of take-out food which transforms the driver into a new costume. Imagine me, during my first Mario Kart World Grand Prix. I’m obviously driving as the Cow. I pick up a glowing doggy bag from Yoshi’s, and … nothing.
Turns out, all the “creature” characters—like Cow, Penguin, Snowman, Goomba, even Dry Bones—don’t get costumes. And even among the main cast who gets fabulous outfit changes, there’s some major discrepancies. For example, Mario gets 10 outfits, the most in the game. Donkey Kong gets two.
Everyone loves dress-up
On the whole, Mario Kart World is a peak point in a beloved franchise. An open-world Mario Kart feels much more immersive than you’d think, and it makes for some epic tracks. New twists like the cut-throat Knockout Tour—where the bottom four racers are culled every lap—breathe additional new life into a franchise as old as Nintendo’s home console history.
Still, polished as Mario Kart World is, the bizarre unevenness of the costumes makes it feel like a game that has an obvious opening for additional content out of the box. It makes it feel not quite finished.
The idea that people have favorites and will want to play dress-up with them shouldn’t surprise anyone, least of all one of the biggest game producers in the world. Hell, popular games like Infinity Nikki and, arguably, Monster Hunter Wilds use outfits as a primary motivator to progress gameplay, and people love it. Of course, people will want another costume change for Pauline other than “Aero.” But here’s the thing—Pauline’s Aero costume looks ridiculously cool! All these costumes are fantastic. They’re perfectly campy and delightfully dumb. Bowser’s “Biker” get-up involving jeans torn at the knee cap and greased-back hair, which screams “cool dad trying a little too hard”? Phenomenal. Wario can dress up as a bee. A bee! King Boo as a monocle-touting aristocrat? Please, yes!
The thoughtfulness of all these costumes is precisely why the chasm between Mario’s 10 outfits and Pauline and DK’s two feels so pronounced. There’s not much rhyme or reason to it all, either: why does Koopa Troopa get six costumes, but Dry Bones—the skeleton version—get none? It’s fine if every character doesn’t have as many as Mario, but to underplay the mascot of the Switch 2’s first adventure game like that feels strange. Honestly, it might be a sign that Nintendo’s planning to add more.
Give the Cow a costume, you cowards
As likely as it seems for Nintendo to add costumes for the main cast as Mario Kart Tour rolls along, we inevitably turn back to the game’s biggest meme: Cow. For us Cow-lovers, the bigger question is whether they’ll ever bother to add some outfits for the “creatures”.
It doesn’t have to be much, Nintendo. Just throw a scarf on that cow. Maybe some sunglasses and a floppy little hat. We’ll be so happy. It unfortunately feels doubtful: after all, the game has 50 playable characters. If each character had five outfits, we’re looking at 250 driver options. I’d be surprised if Nintendo had that in mind from the get-go. At the very least, the character select menu would need a major overhaul, but that’s necessary anyway. (How are costumes not a sub-menu for each character? How is it not at least organized by character? It’s mayhem!)
Still, I hope against hope. Please, Nintendo, if you’re going to put the Cow and the Penguin in the game, let them play dress-up, too.
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Solken’s lands are made up of five main continents, briefly outlined below.
Temorel. Once the home of many feuding kingdoms, the old Church united the Temorel Empire into a collection of parishes. While the Church is no longer an active force in Temorel, the political machinations of the parishes never truly went away, and the fields and forests of the continent often trade hands in strategic deals and counter-claims. Those outside of Temorel often take a dim view of its citizens’ intelligence, characterising them as rubes and simpletons.
The Northern Territories. Connected to Temorel by a land bridge at its southern tip, the Northern Territories are thought of as cold and inhospitable by those beyond its borders. In truth, while the settlements of this area are few and far between, their clans are tight-knit and fiercely loyal. Far to the north the dwarf-kings sit alone in their palaces that once belonged to giants, making proclamations that echo through the vast tunnels below the earth.
Aerix. The heat of the Timaron desert has forced the inhabitants living on its borders to find ingenious methods of survival. The multi-hued dragons of Whitewing have evolved against the sun, their super-sized city casting shadows of sanctuary. Further north, in the city of Angley, gnome inventors celebrate ingenuity and creative problem solving for the common good. However, since the coming of the Shards, great strides in technology have made some of the surrounding traditionalists nervous – particularly the rumours of living metal men…
Yagora. Once a continent of thinkers and scientists, Yagora was ravaged by the Year of Catastrophe more than any other (arguably; see below), leaving it cracked and desolate. The fey courts, seeing an opportunity, began to twist the land in strange, surreal ways to suit their own ends. Perhaps if they hadn’t, the fall of the gods might have allowed Yagora to heal again – instead, the land remains as wild and dangerous as ever.
New Elar (not pictured). The home of the Children of the Sun. New Elar is an island cluster that rose from the remnants of Elar, an old continent which sank into the ocean during the Year of Catastrophe. While it was never recovered fully, roughly a third of the continent was struck by a set of Shards and returned to the surface, where a community of idealists from across the world began to craft it in the name of New Elar.
If Solken sounds like your kind of place, why not come and join us on our upcoming adventure, starting on March 3rd? Book your place here.
The Nintendo Switch 2’s dedicated Direct has come and gone. Games were revealed, a release date was set, and there was no pricing information (though this hit the internet, and everything is quite expensive). But how do the games PLAY? Thankfully, yours truly was part of a select few who got to play the Switch 2 at a special New York event. I tried out a good mix of first-party titles and came away impressed by most of what I experienced.
Mario Kart World
Of the titles I played, Mario Kart World was the one I spent the most time with. For the first section, I played two two-player exhibition races on the television screen and two single-player matches on the handheld, meaning I got a feel for the Switch 2 Pro Controller and the Joy-Con 2. Playing on the television racing against an attendee next to me and the various CPUs was thrilling. Every track was new to the series. There were various character options, including the amazing Moo Moo cow. Many outfits were selectable, too.
The Switch 2 Pro Controller was a joy to hold and control. It and the Joy-Con 2 felt more comfortable for people with big hands, which was great for me. Races start a little differently now: instead of waiting at the starting line, you drift into the race with everyone else, though Lakitu still shows up to count you down and you can still boost if you hold the gas at the right time. Lunch bags are a new pickup you can grab; doing so will cause your character to eat a snack and change their outfit during a race. I noticed some new powerups: a Gold Shell that launches forward and drops many Gold Coins (these boost your speed) and a wand-like item that calls in the sorcerer Kamek to do some damage.
The best part of Mario Kart World was Knockout Tour. 24 racers, back-to-back courses flowing together seamlessly, and if you don’t place high enough by the time you reach each of the five checkpoints, you’re eliminated. It’s the most frantic I’ve ever seen Mario Kart; people were downright bloodthirsty. The race allowed you to go anywhere, meaning falling off a track or going off the beaten path wouldn’t necessarily spell your doom. Getting to each checkpoint felt exhilarating. I placed fifth overall!
Donkey Kong Bananza
We haven’t had a new 3D Donkey Kong title since Donkey Kong 64 so Donkey Kong Bananza is a pleasant surprise. It’s reminiscent of Super Mario Odyssey, except you’re collecting and eating Gold Bananas instead of nabbing Power Moons. Donkey Kong is a simian with one philosophy: punch everything in his path. He can punch forward, punch downward, and even slam the ground from the air. The amount of destruction he can wreak is unparalleled; you’ll be leaving craters in the ground and smashing through terrain. Donkey Kong can even grab a rock slab and ride it like a surfboard. He can also pick up explosive purple crystals and lob them at enemies or rock formations. Donkey felt great to control, especially while climbing the scenery (no Stamina Wheel, thank goodness). My only gripe was that the A button was jump and the B button was ground pound. It was hard to get to grips with but you can remap the buttons.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
As a big fan of the Metroid series, I had to make a beeline to the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond play area. The game did not disappoint. It’s gorgeous, running at a full 60 FPS in 4K Quality Mode and an astounding 120 FPS in 1080p Performance Mode. If you’re a Metroid Prime expert, everything will click into place: you have a dedicated button for Morph Ball mode, a button to switch to the Scan Visor, a jump button, a missile button, and a button for shooting and charging your beam. Prime 4 looks to follow Prime 3 in the way it presents its plot: there are other characters you can interact with and a bevy of cutscenes. It’s a different feel from the original Metroid Prime, which evoked a feeling of isolation, so whether you like this approach or not depends on your preference. The best part of the gameplay was realizing you can switch from standard controls to gyro aiming by just flicking your wrist and aiming at the screen, no menu changes required. It certainly helped with the demo’s boss fight, which required shooting different points on its body.
Drag x Drive
Nintendo wanted to show off its mouse functionality with the Switch 2, so it’s no shock to see a game run hog wild with that gimmick. Drag x Drive is that game. There was an extensive tutorial for this title, and for good reason. It takes time to get acclimated to the controls, especially turning left and right, since you use the opposite Joy-Con 2 to turn in that direction. You can’t expect to go fast in short bursts, either, as you need to do long strides with the controller to build up speed. Once you get used to the layout, it’s fairly intuitive. The 3 v 3 match I was thrown into after the tutorial seemed to last for less than five minutes, but it was fun to pass the ball and use the Joy-Con 2 to angle shots at the basket. It was entertaining, but I had a huge flat surface to glide my Joy-Con 2 across. I wonder if the game will feel as good in tighter spaces or on different surfaces.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World
This is the only enhanced Switch 2 Edition game I played, but it’s great. The demo throws you right into the Star-Crossed World expansion, and the game runs at a smooth 60 FPS now, improving the gameplay, especially with setting up your dodge rolls. The new spring powerup feels great, bringing to mind Rattly the Rattlesnake from Donkey Kong Country 2 (though using the timing from that title will cause you to miss your jumps and plummet to your death). For all you completionists out there, this add-on has you covered, with many hidden paths and collectibles to uncover. No word yet on how long this expansion will be, but hopefully it’s hefty.
Gameplay-wise, I was impressed with the Nintendo Switch 2. All the peripherals felt solid, and many of Nintendo’s first-party games are stellar. However, the price of the console, accessories, and games is frankly unaffordable, so I believe the Switch 2 will not reach the heights of its predecessor. Hopefully, prices will go down in the future.
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Published: Jul 16, 2025 12:52 pm