Author: dpugh007

  • Reggie: Third-Party Gaps In Switch Game Library Linked To Timing Of System Reveal

    “Games are in development for multiple years”.

    The Switch might be a relatively new system, but once again, it’s Nintendo hardware that has seemingly been shunned by a sizable portion of the video game industry, resulting in a number of developers and publishers not even acknowledging the hybrid platform.

    Following the conclusion of the 2018 Game Awards, IGN caught up with Nintendo of America’s President Reggie Fils-Aimé to ask why exactly there are so many gaps in the Switch’s third-party line-up. According to the man himself, it’s all down to timing and the fact people seem to forget the Switch isn’t even two years old yet. Most of these gaps are because development on certain titles was already well underway before the Switch was even released:

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Epic Games Launching Free Cross-Platform Online Services For Developers

    Rolling out next year.

    Epic Games has grown into a global video game powerhouse thanks to the Unreal Engine and internally developed video games such as the insanely popular free-to-play title Fortnite. Since the breakout success of the battle royale game, the American-based developer hasn’t wasted any time expanding its empire.

    In a recent news post over on the official website, it was revealed the company would be making a large set of cross-platform game services free to all developers in 2019. These services were originally built for Fortnite and have already been thoroughly tested by 200 million players across seven different platforms. Here’s exactly what the company had to say:

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Nintendo Takes Legal Action Against California Man For Selling Hacked Systems

    Laying down the law.

    In recent months, Nintendo has taken a strong stance against video game piracy worldwide. In an effort to continue the good fight, Nintendo is now taking legal action against a man located in Orange County, California who has allegedly been selling hacked consoles, pirated versions of the company’s games and tools to help users modify their own systems – violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

    Mikel Euskaldunak has reportedly been selling modified services for the Switch, allowing users to play unauthorised games. He’s also been selling hacked NES Classic Mini preloaded with 800 pirated titles and selling them above the retail price.

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Rumour: Nintendo Might Be Renaming The eShop

    Is this the end of an era?

    The eShop has become an important part of Nintendo’s online experience since the release of the 3DS in 2011. It’s where you go to buy new games, download DLC and acquire various other goodies. The Japanese company even managed to make purchases across multiple devices possible with a single network ID.

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Video: Gorgeous Platformer Gris Receives Launch Trailer Ahead Of Tomorrow's Switch Release

    Not long to wait.

    Devolver Digital has shared a launch trailer for Gris, a highly anticipated platformer set to arrive on Nintendo Switch tomorrow.

    We’ve been keeping an eye on this one for some time here at Nintendo Life, instantly captivated by its gorgeous art and sound and the potential for an emotionally driven narrative truly worth exploring. The game tells the story of a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life; the official description reads: “Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.”

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Video: Smash Ultimate Is Rife With Tiny Details And Easter Eggs

    Blue hedgehogs can’t swim.

    One of the best things about video games is finding something small, insignificant, and unspeakably minor that the dev team threw in for no reason other than it’s a right old bit of fun. But if you’re not interested in slowly discovering these things for yourself, we’ve done the hard work for you; at least for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

    That’s right, we’ve compiled a whole mess of tasty little details, Easter eggs, and inconsequential bits of stuff that we found amusing, and thrown it all together in the video above, so go give it a watch will you?

    Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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  • Street Fighter 5 Introduces Ads, People Don't Like It

    [UPDATE] Right on schedule, Capcom updated Street Fighter V’s Arcade Edition today with ads. The advertisements on stages, character outfits, and loading screens, are switched on by default, but you can toggled off in the Battle Settings menu. As you probably might have guessed, the Street Fighter subreddit is awash with criticism of the newly launched ads.

    The original story is below.

    Capcom is trying something new on the business side for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. The publisher announced that the game is adding optional “sponsored content” on December 11, and it will come in the form of advertisements to tell you about the Capcom Pro Tour competitive gaming event, content bundles for the game, and extra costumes you can buy.

    The ads will show up in “several locations” throughout the game, including loading screens, tournament stages, and even on characters themselves. Specifically, characters will now have a new “Ad Style” option that will display sponsored content on clothing or the character model itself. The ads on stages, meanwhile, will display sponsored content in clear sight. And the loading screen ads are exactly what they sound like; Capcom clarified that the loading screen with ads enabled won’t be longer than when they’re disabled.

    An example of Capcom Pro Tour ads in Street Fighter V

    The important thing here is that these ads are entirely optional. If you do decide to view the ads, you’ll be rewarded with extra Fight Money (the game’s currency) when you play Ranked and Casual matches. There is an upper limit on the Fight Money payouts, however, though Capcom did not say what it is.

    Capcom’s blog post suggests that the sponsored content functionality is switch on by default. It can be toggled off in the Battle Settings menu. You can choose to only see ads where you want them, too; so you could choose to only see the costume ads or the stage and loading screen ads. Go to Capcom’s blog post to learn more.

    As Gamasutra reminds us, advertisements in games is nothing new, but what’s notable here is that Street Fighter V is not a free-to-play game. Still, it is not unprecedented for full price games to feature ads. EA’s FIFA franchise displays well-known global brands on the sidelines. Additionally, back in 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign spent money to buy ads in 18 different video games, and he eventually went on to win the Presidency that year.

    An example of more ads in Street Fighter V stages

    Most major video game publishers are looking at ways to make more money from games in new ways, and in-game advertising is just one of those ways, alongside microtransactions.

    Ads in Street Fighter V launch on December 11, and it will interesting to see how players react. We also don’t know yet what other gaming or non-gaming brands might sign up to put ads in Street Fighter V. Another question some may be asking is if Capcom is adding ads to Street Fighter V to make up for how it failed to reach Capcom’s sales targets.

    The game was originally released in 2016 for PS4 and PC, while the better-received Arc

    Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

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  • Smash Bros. Ultimate Has Record-Breaking Start In Japan

    The new Super Smash Bros. game for Nintendo Switch is off to a fast start, at least in Japan. New sales numbers from Famitsu reveal that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 1.24 million copies over its first weekend (December 7-9).

    According to the publication (via Gematsu), this represents the highest launch sales in the history of the Smash Bros. franchise in Japan. Not only that, but it’s the best opening for any Switch game in the island nation, according to the report.

    The Famitsu report also states that, as expected, the launch of Smash Bros. Ultimate helped drive console sales. Nintendo sold 278,313 Switch units during the week, which is more than 2.5x more than the 107,450 that Nintendo sold in Japan the week prior.

    Sales numbers for Smash Bros. Ultimate in other parts of the world have not been disclosed as of yet, but keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

    In other Smash news, the next Ultimate update is coming next week. The full list of patch notes haven’t been released yet, but what we do know already is that it will kill any in-game replays that have been saved.

    Despite the already vast fighter roster, Ultimate is getting plenty of post-launch character expansions–including Piranha Plant and Persona 5‘s Joker. We have our own list of characters we want to see.

    In our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review-in-progress, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10, writing, “Situational downers don’t stop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from shining as a flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be. Its entertaining single-player content helps keep the game rich with interesting things to do, as well as bolstering its spirit of loving homage to the games that have graced Nintendo consoles. Ultimate’s diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb.”

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  • First WoW: Battle For Azeroth Content Update, Tides Of Vengeance, Available Now

    The first big content update for World of Warcraft‘s Battle for Azeroth expansion has arrived. Tides of Vengeance is now live in the Americas, bringing a new Warfront, quests, heritage armor, island expeditions, and much more to Blizzard’s long-running MMO.

    Headlining the content update is Battle for Darkshore, a brand-new Warfront in which players can unlock “powerful hero transformations” based upon their combat role, Blizzard explained on the official WoW website. The developer has also added new quest lines and World Quests to the game, as well as another chapter in the War Campaign; you can access the latter by going to your ship either in Boralus or Zuldazar.

    On top of that, two new island expeditions are now available: Jorundall and Havenswood. Blizzard has also added two new events that players may encounter as they explore the various islands on the Great Sea. Both Jorundall and Havenswood, along with all of the previous island expeditions, feature new enemies, achievements, items, and vendors as well.

    Additionally, the Tides of Vengeance update brings a new pet battle dungeon to the game: Gnomeregan. In order to access it, you’ll first need to have earned the All Growns Up achievement, which you can do by raising a pet to level 25. Blizzard has also added two new heritage armor sets for dwarves and blood elves. To get them, you’ll need to be level 120 and complete either the Keep Yer Feet on the Ground or the Pride of the Sin’dorei quests in Ironforge and Silvermoon, respectively.

    You can find the full patch notes for the Tides of Vengeance update on the WoW website. There’s even more content on the way to the MMO in the near future. Beginning January 22, players will be able to take part in a new raid, Battle of Dazar’alor. The raid will arrive alongside the start of Season 2 of PvP and Mythic Keystone Dungeons.

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  • PS4's Detroit: Become Human Hits New Sales Milestone

    PS4's Detroit: Become Human Hits New Sales Milestone

    Detroit: Become Human has crossed a new sales milestone. The PlayStation 4 exclusive from French developer Quantic Dream has now passed 2 million in sales, with the achievement coming around five months after the game was released in May.

    According to Quantic Dream, Detroit is now the studio’s fastest-selling game ever, meaning it is performing better commercially than the PlayStation 3 games Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain. But was Detroit profitable after 2 million sales? Someone asked the studio this on Twitter, and the developer mostly dodged the question. “We left an imprint in 2 to 3 million people’s minds (and counting). We made them cry and laugh and feel for a number of characters. We made them feel truly alive. That is what counts.” Given how much secrecy there is in gaming regarding sales figures and profitability, it makes sense that Quantic Dream might not want to publicly disclose whether or not Detroit was profitable.

    No Caption Provided

    Detroit tells the story of three androids coming to terms with their newfound sentience in a futuristic Detroit, Michigan where robots are treated as second-class citizens.

    The game picked up mostly positive review scores across the board. Here at GameSpot, we scored Detroit an 8/10, with reviewer Peter Brown commenting, “Detroit is well worth playing, but it struggles to strike the right balance between giving you freedom of choice and reminding you that it’s all a game in the end.”

    Quantic Dream has not announced any new projects yet. Recently, the studio has found itself embroiled in controversy after multiple French outlets worked together on investigative stories that made accusations of poor studio culture and harassment.

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