Category: Gamespot

The Nintendo Switch launched in March with no video streaming services whatsoever. Nintendo said this was because it wanted to focus on games and games alone for launch, and that strategy seems to have worked, as the console has sold incredibly well thus far. The video streaming service Hulu was added in November 2017 but Netflix is still nowhere to be seen. All hope is not lost however, as Netflix has now confirmed that it remains in discussions with Nintendo about bringing a Netflix app to the Switch…someday.

“We are still exploring the opportunity with Nintendo, but don’t have definitive plans to share at this time,” a Netflix spokesperson told Polygon.

The Netflix support Twitter account recently alarmed some Switch owners when it tweeted about there being “no plans” to launch a Netflix app on the hybrid console. That tweet has since been removed. The statement from Netflix is more open-ended and positive-sounding.

It seems like it is only a matter of time before Netflix comes to the Switch. Before the Switch was released, Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime said the company was in discussions with Netflix and others to bring their services to the console.

The Nintendo Switch is the fastest-selling console ever in the US for its first 10 months. Worldwide, the system has now sold 7.63 million units, though this figure is only accurate as of September 30 so it does not include any holiday sales. Nintendo will update the sales figure when it reports earnings next, on January 31.

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Gears of War creator Epic Games’ popular, stylized shooter/building game Fortnite has passed a new player milestone. More than 40 million people have downloaded the game as of January, the studio told Rolling Stone. This is up 10 million from 30 million in December.

Epic wouldn’t provide any details on how the 40 million downloads are spread between the paid Save the World version and the free PUBG-like Battle Royale mode. Whatever the case, 40 million is a massive figure, the likes of which many games never come close to reaching.

Also in the interview, Epic says it has no current plans to add a new map (Battle Royale currently only has one) or introduce vehicles. Regarding the lack of vehicles, Battle Royale lead designer Eric Williamson said, “We don’t have a need to add vehicles to get around the map because our travel times allow you to get mostly wherever you want to go.”

The interview covers other subjects as well such as under-the-hood improvements to make the game look and run better and more. You can read the full interview here at Rolling Stone.

Battle Royale’s map is getting big new update this week on PS4, Xbox One, and PC that introduces new points of interests such as new named areas. Additionally, the map’s biomes will be divided up more clearly with the aim of helping players distinguish them. “The swamp feels swampier, the mountains feel more mountain-y. Really, the different areas of the map feel more unique,” he explained. For more on the changes, check out the embedded video above.

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[UPDATE] A translation one of the original reports was not entirely accurate regarding the claims levied against Quantic Dream co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere. A translation originally claimed that the executive was accused of “pushing kisses” on employees during parties. But the more accurate translation relates to the tradition of air-kissing when people meet. de Fondaumiere stands accused of taking this to a more inappropriate level, though he told Eurogamer, “Please note I categorically refute all allegations, in particular ‘hitting on staff.’”

The original story is below.

Quantic Dream, the French studio headed by David Cage and responsible for games like Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and the upcoming Detroit: Become Human, has found itself in the middle of controversy over claims that it has an unhealthy working culture. Reports published in French media today, translated and reported on by Eurogamer, accuse Quantic Dream and co-founders Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumiere of acting inappropriately. Cage and de Fondaumiere told French newspaper Le Monde that they are “very surprised” and “shocked” by what they called “rantings” of developers who have since left the studio. Quantic Dream put out a statement today, January 14, responding to what it described as “various allegations” against it, denying everything.

“We categorically deny all of these allegations,” the statement says. “Quantic Dream filed a complaint several months ago and further complaints will follow. We invite interested parties to read the response of our Employee Representative and Health & Security Committee to questions submitted by the journalists prior to publication. Inappropriate conduct or practices have no place at Quantic Dream.”

“We have taken and always will take such grievances very seriously. We value every single person who works at Quantic Dream. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe environment that allows us all to channel our shared passion for making video games.”

One part of the report is regarding hundreds of photoshopped images that show some of Quantic Dream’s “collaborators” in sexual positions and with references to homophobic or sexist slurs,” Le Monde reported. These images, which reportedly date back to 2013, were apparently sent in group emails and even made their way to Cage and de Fondaumiere. It was in early 2017 that many of the images were discovered, at which time complaints were made. According to the report, Cage and de Fondaumiere said they only saw the images that “were funny or more or less amusing” before that time.

Also in the reports, it is claimed that Cage demands long hours from his employees and does not always listen to others. He also stands accused of making dirty jokes and not doing enough to consider the opinions of female colleagues. Quantic Dream has a staff of around 180 people; around 83 percent are male, apparently.

For his part, Cage said the claims are “ridiculous, absurd, and grotesque.” He added: “You want to talk about homophobia? I work with Ellen Page, who fights for LGBT rights. You want to talk about racism? I work with Jesse Williams, who fights for civil rights in the USA… Judge me by my work.”

de Fondaumiere is alleged to have hit on staff at parties. He said in response, “It’s absolutely false. None of any of this happened at any evening event.”

You can read Eurogamer’s full report here, while stories in the French media (which are published in French), can be read through the links below. Note that some of the stories contain images that may not be safe for work.

• Le Monde
• Mediapart
• Canard PC

Quantic Dream’s next game is Detroit: Become Human, which arrives this year for PlayStation 4. It tells the story of androids who are coming to terms with their own sentience.

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Although DC’s live-action superhero universe has had some ups-and-downs over the past few years, the studio’s stable of animated features is going strong. The latest title to be released will be Batman: Gotham By Gaslight. It arrives on home entertainment formats later this month, and a new clip has now been released.

The feature is based on Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola’s classic 1989 graphic novel, and is set in an alternative DC universe. In a Victorian-era Gotham City, Bruce Wayne has been falsely blamed for the crimes of Jack the Ripper, and, as Batman, hunts the real Ripper. In this clip, three young street thieves come to face-to-face with the Dark Knight. Check it out below:

This clip follows the first Gotham By Gaslight trailer, which was released in November. Like 2016’s animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, it carries an R-rating. And as with The Killing Joke, this latest release takes some liberties with the source material. While the graphic novel only featured a few other characters from the Batman universe, the movie introduces a host of classic villains, including Selina Kyle, Poison Ivy, Harvey Dent, Harvey Bullock, Leslie Tompkins, Hugo Strange, and Solomon Grundy.

Bruce Greenwood (Gerald’s Game) reprises his Young Justice role as Bruce Wayne. He’s joined by Dexter alum Jennifer Carpenter, who voices Selina Kyle, Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls) as James Gordon, and Anthony Head (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) as Alfred Pennyworth.

Gotham By Gaslight is released digitally on January 23, 2018, with Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Packs, Blu-ray Combo Packs, and DVDs hitting stores on February 6. Digital copies, as well as the combo packs, will include an audio commentary, along with a featurette that goes behind the scenes of creating a 19th century gothic-inspired Gotham City.

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Following this week’s PC update to Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, the developer has now addressed a number of specific issues in the Xbox One version of the game. On the game’s official forums, a community coordinator noted that the team is pushing the fix to address “an in-game issue that was undermining the core experience for some players.” And while addressing that more serious bug, today’s patch also fixes some smaller issues.

But bugs haven’t slowed down the growth of PUBG’s userbase; despite some prevalent issues, the game has surpassed 3 million players on Xbox One. The game is still included in Xbox One’s Game Preview program, with no specific word on when it will go into its full retail release on console.

The full patch notes are listed below:

Gameplay

• Pistols have been removed from Y button’s weapon rotation and grouped with the melee weapon.
• Players can now equip pistols by pressing ‘up’ on the D pad.

Optimization

• Continued improvements related to player “rubber banding.”
• Enhanced server performance while parachuting.

Option

• Added a new controller preset to options menu.
  • Type B (new preset) now supports:
    • Holding LT to aim down sight.
    • Holding LB to use 3rd person perspective aim sight.
• Controller guide has been updated to include the new controller preset.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where players repositioned out of the battleground after certain actions and remained invulnerable until the end of the match.
• Additional memory and non-memory related crash fixes.
• Fixed the inability to join duo/squad through invites outside of game.

The update also highlighted two things that will be addressed in the games next patch:

• Dropping objects causes the player to switch weapons.
• User is unable to switch grenade types when tapping right on the D-Pad.

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After a cryptic tweet on Wednesday, January 10, the internet guessed Nintendo had something going on, and it turns out they were right. A surprise Nintendo Direct presentation has gone live, and you can watch it in its entirety below. The focus is primarily on Nintendo Switch games due out in the first half of the year, and if you want a rundown of all the news and the big reveals, you’re in the right place. Here’s everything Nintendo revealed during today’s presentation.

The World Ends With You | 2018

Stretching into the Nintendo DS’ back catalog, the cult hit The World Ends With You is getting a re-release on Switch. The game will let you choose from either touchscreen or traditional controls, and it will include a “sizeable new scenario.” No specific release date was announced, but the game will be available sometime this year.

Pokken Tournament DX DLC | January 31, March 23

Pokken Tournament DX is getting some new DLC characters. The Deluxe Battle Pack paid DLC is available for purchase now and will have content release in two waves. On January 31, Wave 1 will bring the new battle character Aegislash along with the support set Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu. The second wave, due on March 23, will introduce the battle character Blastoise along with a support set of Mew and Celebi. And if you purchase the battle pack now, you’ll have immediate access to a new set of avatar items.

Kirby Star Allies | March 16

Kirby Star Allies was announced back at E3, but a new trailer for the game showed off a slew of new abilities. Artist and Spider change-up Kirby’s available moveset, and there will also be a way to mix and match abilities when playing with friends in the Kirby’s co-op mode. The game is set to release on March 16.

Dragon Quest Builders Demo | Out Now

A demo for the Mincraft-meets-DQ RPG is available on Nintendo Switch now. The game is set to release at the end of this month.

Hyrule Warriors Ultimate Edition | Spring 2018

If you’d been holding off on trying out the Zelda-themed Musou game Hyrule Warriors (or if you were just looking for another reason to jump back in), you’re in luck: Nintendo Switch is getting a definitive edition of the game this spring. Hyrule Warriors Ultimate Edition will include all of the DLC content from both the 3DS and Wii U releases, including every map, mission, and character. And new additions to the game include the ability to play co-op on the same screen as well as Breath of the Wild-themed costumes for Link and Zelda.

Mario Tennis Aces | Spring 2018

A new Mario Tennis game from developer Camelot–the team behind the GBA game Golden Sun as well as numerous other Mario sports titles–is heading to Switch this spring. It will be the first Mario Tennis game to include a story mode Mario Tennis: Power Tour on GBA.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | Summer 2018

The PS4/Vita/PC RPG from 2017 will make its way to Switch sometime this summer.

Super Mario Odyssey Update | February 2018

After the main story of Super Mario Odyssey ends, you’ll be able to continue your adventures in Mario’s epic new world with the help of Luigi. Mario’s brother will open up access to a competitive Balloon World mode where you can work to asynchronously hide balloons for other players to find, or search for balloons hidden by other players. You’ll be able to move up in a global leaderboard by both being good at putting balloons in hard-to-find spots and by quickly finding hidden balloons.

In addition, the free update will introduce several new snapshot filters as well as three new outfits:

• Sunshine Shades + outfit (modeled after Super Mario Sunshine)
• Musician Hat + Outfit (to look like one of the New Donk City musicians)
• Knight Armor + Helmet

SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy | Summer 2018

This new brawler from NIS is heavy on the fan service, but should also please fans of the classic SNK fighting series. Battles will focus entirely on the female fighters from SNK’s various fighting game series. In addition, the Neo Geo game Art of Fighting 2 is available today as a port on Nintendo Switch.

Mario + Rabbids DLC | Spring 2018

If you’ve been eager for a roster update to the surprisingly difficult Mario + Rabbids, the new character Donkey Kong will be available for the game this spring. The game’s DLC release last year introduced co-op and end-game content.

Payday 2 | Feb. 27 2018

The Payday 2 port for Nintendo Switch now has a firm February 27 release date. In addition, we learned that there will be a timed-exclusive new character for the portable platform. The “Japanese computer whiz” named Joy will be available first on Switch. You can see more of the game in action in portable and tabletop modes here.

Fe and Celeste | February, January

The EA Originals is an incubator for the types of indie games you don’t typically see from a publisher like EA, and this year the company is highlighting Fe. Announced last year, the game now has a February 16 release date. And Celeste, from developer Matt Makes Games, will head to Switch on January 25.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze | May 4

Continuing the tradition of updated Wii U games that get Switch ports like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Pokken Tournament DX, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is due out for Switch on May 4. The game will add a new playable character, Funky Kong, who introduces his own unique twist on the original’s platforming gameplay.

Dark Souls Remastered | May 25

We only know one thing about this Switch port of Dark Souls: it’s coming out on May 25.

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In a much-anticipated blog post, Destiny 2 game director Christopher Barrett talked abut what’s coming to the sci-fi shooter in the time ahead. Things kick off on January 30 with an update that will expand the Masterwork system to include armor for the first time.

This armor offers better damage reduction when you’re using your Super ability. Additionally, you can re-roll your Masterwork armor stat type, and it can be upgraded as well using Cores and Shards tied to Masterworks. The January 30 update also changes how Raid rewards work with the aim of making them “more unique and interesting.”

“They will now feature mods with Raid-specific perks, and we are adjusting the rewards to ensure a Raid item drops from each major encounter,” Barrett explained in a blog post. “The Raid vendor will also directly sell Leviathan and Eater of Worlds armor and weapons for purchase with Raid tokens and Legendary Shards.”

What’s more, there will be new perks that can drop from the final encounters in the Leviathan and Eater of Worlds raids. Barrett added that Bungie is working on other rewards specific to some raids and some activities are coming in the future.

An update coming in February, meanwhile, will add scoring and high score tracking to Nightfall Strikes, which will replace the existing time-limit mechanic. “The scoring is similar to the Destiny 1 system but with adjustments to emphasize competitive execution of Strike objectives and support for player selectable score modifiers,” Barrett said. “In February, Nightfall High Scores will be exposed in-game via new emblems and will unlock rewards. We also have plans for Clan and Community High Scores in the works.”

Destiny 2’s February update will also add a 2.0 version of mods, which is described as a “full rework” of how mods work for armor and weapons. “This will focus on reducing redundant mods, more unique theming, and greatly increasing their impact on your power,” Barrett said. “We are aiming for a February release, but the scope of the rework could push parts or all of it out to early spring. We will be evaluating how Mods play into the Bright Engram economy as a result, because we’re sensitive to pay-to-win outcomes.”

Here are some of the other changes coming to Destiny 2 in the February update, with descriptions written by Bungie:

• Quickplay Improvements
  • We are adjusting game mode rules to increase the pace of gameplay and power ammo acquisition in Quickplay.
• PC Tower Chat
  • We are adding text chat to the Tower for the PC version of the game.
• Exotic Repetition Reduction
  • This will prevent players from receiving the same Exotic twice in a row. You may still receive duplicates, just not consecutively.
• Fireteam Members on Destination Map
  • You will finally be able to see the other members of your fireteam on the destination map. No more having to ask your fireteam where they went when they fast travel to another landing zone.

Then in Spring 2018, Bungie will launch Destiny 2’s next paid expansion following last year’s Curse of Osiris. While some of the content will of course be locked behind the paywall, everyone is getting new updates to other parts of the game. For Crucible, Barrett said Bungie is hoping to give players “new reasons to play, more variety, and balance improvements.” One part of this is a new ranking system; starting with Season 3, there will be seasonal Crucible ranks, broken into two categories: Valor and Glory. Here is a rundown of the two:

• Valor – A progression rank that goes up as you complete matches. Winning helps you move up faster, but there are no loss penalties.
• Glory – A progression rank that goes up when you win and down when you lose. Performance is how you move up here.

Also new in the update will be private matches for everyone, which you can invite friends to and choose a map and mode. Bungie is also launching a 6v6 playlist (an increase from some of the current 4v4 modes), a “Mayhem event” for a limited time, and some behind-the-scenes improvements and fixes to improve the experience overall.

That’s not all that’s coming and changing in the spring update; the following are some “highlights” that Barrett called out in his blog post, including increasing the vault space, support for multiple emotes, and more:

Additional Highlights

• Weapon and Ability Balance Pass
  • Sandbox adjustments based on player feedback and data from the live game. The Sandbox team will share specific changes as we lead up to Season 3.
• Exotic Weapon and Armor Balance Pass
  • Exotic weapons and armor are receiving a comprehensive design pass to ensure they stand out from the rest of the gear and offer new, exciting, powerful ways to play.
• Seasonal Reputation
  • Specific vendors will now display a Seasonal ranking. Earning reputation will unlock unique Seasonal rewards and will reset each Season.
• Improved Iron Banner and Faction Rallies
  • In addition to the changes that you will see when Iron Banner and Faction Rallies return this month, we will continue iterating on these to make them unique, exciting experiences that you all look forward to.
• Playlist Repetition Reduction
  • This feature solves the problem of experiencing the same playlist entry multiple times in consecutive or frequent succession for both Crucible and Strikes.
• End Game Player Pursuits
  • We agree with your feedback on the imbalance between Achievement and Bright Engram rewards, and we will be making adjustments to shift more rewards into specific endgame pursuits instead of generic XP grinding for Bright Engrams. We are excited to share the details as soon as we have them worked out.
• Multi-Emote
  • When multi-emote launches, you will be able to choose which emote you have equipped to each of your four emote slots.
• Vault space
  • We are targeting an additional 50 slots to player vaults. We don’t believe just adding more space is a complete solution and are actively working on other changes to reduce load on your vault space.
  • We are adding an Exotic accessory tab to Vault collections so you will no longer need to spend Vault space on Exotic Ships, Sparrows, and Ghosts.
• PC Clan Chat
  • In addition to the Tower chat that is targeted for February, we are adding clan chat to the PC version of the game.
• Heroic Strike Changes
  • We’ll be introducing modifiers to add more gameplay variety to the experience.

Then in Fall 2018, or potentially sooner according to Bungie, there will be “a lot more” in terms of updates and changes. However, Barrett said Bungie is “not quite ready” to talk about these things with any specificity, though he did provide an outline of what players can expect:

• Item Collections and Records
• Weapon Slot and Archetype Improvements
• Additional Crucible Playlists (e.g. Rumble)
• Better Clan Rewards
• Masterwork Exotics
• Pinnacle Weapon and Gear Improvements
• Trials of the Nine improvements
• Shaders and dismantling
• The Future of Guided Games
• Address Solo Vs Fireteam matching

Bungie also today announced some changes coming to Destiny 2’s microtransaction system, quality-of-life improvements, the next Faction Rally, and more.

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