Category: Gamespot

Nintendo has detailed its plans for E3 2017 and, as with last year, it includes a mixture of Nintendo Direct-like streams, treehouse events, and tournaments.

An image posted on Twitter reveals that Nintendo’s E3 2017 plans kick off on June 13 at 9AM PST/5PM BST, when it will have the “Nintendo Spotlight.” According to its brief description, this will showcase “Nintendo Switch games for 2017, including Super Mario Odyssey.” This is likely to be its equivalent of Sony and Microsoft’s press conferences, where all the big announcements are made.

Immediately after the Nintendo Spotlight stream will be Treehouse: Live @ E3. During this “Treehouse members and developers” will appear to show off their titles and discuss development. This is where Nintendo delves deeper into games that have just been announced or are scheduled to be released soon.

On both June 13 and 14, there will be broadcasts of the Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational and the 2017 Arms Open Invitational. All of these events will be will no doubt be available to watch on Nintendo’s Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as its website. Of course, GameSpot will also be at hand to bring you all the news and analysis from these events.

Many Switch owners will no doubt be eagerly anticipating big announcements from Nintendo at E3. Since the launch of the new platform, there has been a small selection of first-party titles, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8. Splatoon 2, Arms, and Super Mario Odyssey are next major Switch releases, but beyond that not much is known about what Nintendo has planned.

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Coming up on two years after the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, developer Treyarch continues to support the shooter with new updates and content. Ahead of and in preparation for the launch of Black Ops III’s Zombies Chronicles expansion next week, Treyarch today released a new update for the game.

First, the update adds support for the Zombies Chronicles ad-don, which arrives on May 16 on PS4. In terms of gameplay changes, the update addresses “a number of general performance issues,” though no specifics were provided. Additionally, it changes the Black Market system so that unopened Supply Drop bundles are not lost; those that vanished have been added back.

The update also makes attachment icons load faster in create-a-class and the Gunsmith menus, while a bug that allowed players to equip camos they didn’t actually have has been fixed. Finally, there is one weapon change: ballistic knife blades can now be recovered.

The full patch notes follow below (via DualShockers)

Black Ops III May 10 Patch Notes

MULTIPLAYER

General

• This update addresses a number of general performance issues.

Black Market

• Unopened Supply Drop bundles will now remain in the Black Market after the events have ended.
  • Supply Drops that had disappeared have been returned to players’ inventories.

Frontend:

• Attachment Icons will load more quickly in Create-a-Class and Gunsmith menus.
• Addressed an exploit that allowed users to equip some camos before unlocking them.

Weapons:

• Ballistic Knife
  • Ballistic Knife blades are now recoverable.
  • Ballistic Knife now properly registers headshots with the Kill Counter or Clan Tag attachments equipped.

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Square Enix has announced intentions to divest ownership of IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the Hitman series.

In a statement to its investors, the Japanese publisher reported what it described as an “extraordinary” $42 million loss for the financial year ending March 31, 2017. This is a result of the company’s decision to to narrow its focus on key franchises and studios.

“To maximize player satisfaction as well as market potential going forward, we are focusing our resources and energies on key franchises and studios,” it said in the statement. “As a result, the company has regrettably decided to withdraw from the business of [IO Interactive], a wholly‐owned subsidiary and a Danish corporation, as of March 31, 2017.

“This decision has resulted in booking of the extraordinary loss amounting to 4,898 million yen, including disposition of the content production account related to the business and impairment loss of intangible assets, in the financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.”

The statement indicates that the loss comes not only from its decision to offload IO Interactive, but also cease production on its ongoing projects, which likely includes more Hitman episodes. Square Enix went on to state it has begun discussions with new investors that could potentially purchase IO Interactive.

“Whilst there can be no guarantees that the negotiations will be concluded successfully, they are being explored since this is in the best interests of our shareholders, the studio and the industry as a whole.”

The wording doesn’t provide any assurance on the future of IO Interactive if a new investor isn’t secured, though it could mean the studio is closed and its staff displaced. Furthermore, it’s unclear whether the sale of IO Interactive would also include intellectual properties for any of the games it has developed.

In August of last year, IO Interactive said it was planning to release two more seasons worth of Hitman content. However, splitting the property from its developer could mean this never comes to fruition. Of course, it could also be that a new investor is able to negotiate the purchase of the property along with the studio.

The news comes as a shock, given the positive response to Hitman and the excitement for more of it. Additionally, IO Interactive recently rebranded itself and moved to a new studio in Copenhagen.

For it’s part, IO Interactive indicated it is staying focused on developing games amidst the uncertainty.

Square Enix became IO Interactive’s parent company when it acquired Eidos Interactive in 2009. In addition to Hitman, the studio is known for developing the Kane & Lynch series, as well as underrated action-adventure game Mini Ninjas. A job listing spotted in February also indicated IO Interactive was working on a new IP.

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Fox’s Batman prequel TV show Gotham is coming back for a fourth season, the network announced today. The DC show stars Ben McKenzie as a young James Gordon, and its third season is currently airing. There is no word yet on when Season 4 will premiere, but it’ll likely stretch into 2018.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Gotham Season 3 is averaging 4.6 million viewers. That’s not a huge number, but it’s good enough, it seems.

Fox also announced today that its end-of-the-world comedy The Last Man On Earth has also been renewed for its fourth season. As EW points out, a renewal order was not guaranteed, as the show averaged only 3.2 million viewers. The show stars SNL alum Will Forte, who also created it.

Kristen Wiig, who also starred on SNL, appeared in the Last Man On Earth Season 3 finale. The season ended on a big cliffhanger (via TVLine) so fans are surely happy to see the show coming back.

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The upcoming Netflix show The Defenders will unite all four of the streaming service’s Marvel heroes. A quartet of motion posters featuring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist have been released—check them out below:

The Defenders stars Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), and Finn Jones (Iron Fist). They will be joined by a variety of characters from the individual Netflix shows, including Daredevil‘s Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Jessica Jones‘s Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Luke Cage‘s Misty Knight, played by Simone Missick.

Sigourney Weaver plays the shows main villain Alexandra, while Elodie Young returns as Daredevil’s nemesis Elektra. The first season hits Netflix on August 18.

The first full trailer was released last week, while Marvel has also launched a viral marketing site that offers a few more backstory details about the show.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cox spoke about what unites these four very different heroes. “They want to genuinely make a difference and help people out,” he said. “I’m not convinced that Jessica Jones feels quite as earnestly about that, but in some ways paradoxically, these great powers are also our great shame.

“These characters are living with a shame and a loneliness and have felt kind of ostracized. I think they felt like freaks and have been misunderstood. And as sad as that sounds, there’s also something quite beautiful about that. There’s something quite human about that.”

In terms of other Marvel Netflix shows, The Punisher is also expected later this year. Beyond that, a third season of Daredevil and second for both Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are also in the works.

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Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday (don’t forget to call your mom!), and in the spirit of the week, Harmonix is releasing new Rock Band 4 DLC tracks that are in some ways to connected to mothers.

The two new DLC tracks this week are “Kids” by MGMT and “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham. The MGMT tracks starts off with a reference to mothers, with the lyrics “You were a child / Crawling on your knees toward him / Making momma so proud / But your voice is too loud.”

“Mother Mother” is even more closely connected to moms. The first verse starts with “Mother mother how’s the family? / I’m just calling to say hello / How’s the weather? How’s my father?”

You can listen to the songs through the Spotify embed below and see a preview of their gameplay in the video above. The two songs will be available to buy on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for $2 each this Thursday, May 11.

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The Deadly Premonition board game didn’t need very long to become a success. The project surpassed its $50,000 target on Kickstarter in just a day.

As of this writing, the Deadly Premonition board game has brought in $65,000 from more than 1,000 backers. The campaign ends on June 9, so funding is only going to climb higher. As shown on the Kickstarter page, there are a number of stretch goals.

For passing $55,000, two new bonus action cards were added, while the $60,000 stretch goal added two more. Passing $65,000 means the game will now include one new weather condition. You can see a full rundown of all the stretch goals on Kickstarter.

Pledges of $30 or more included the game itself and a Steam key for Deadly Premonition’s Director’s Cut. Alternatively, pledges of just $3 include a free copy of the Director’s Cut on Steam.

The 2-4 player Deadly Premonition board game is inspired the video game and starts with players being dealt an “alignment” card that designates them as a Killer or Agent. Players must then either prove their innocence or incriminate the suspects. You can see a full rundown of the setup here.

The board game is being handled by Deadly Premonition’s publisher, Rising Star Games, and is due out later this year. It’s being made with the support of creator Hidetaka Suehiro, who is perhaps better known as Swery. However, Swery has spoken up to say that he is not very much involved with the board game.

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Funcom’s The Secret World is returning in a new form. The publisher announced this week that the game will relaunch on June 26 through Steam as Secret World Legends.

It’s a free-to-play game that Funcom describes as a “reboot” of the 2012 MMO The Secret World. The new version of the game is labeled a “shared-world action RPG.”

More than just a name change, Funcom says it will feature “a redesigned combat system to make action feel more natural, more intuitive systems to interact with, enhanced visuals, and an improved flow of the quests, as well as the structure of the early game for new players.”

In Secret World Legends, players fight against supernatural enemies in a story where “ancient myths and legends cross over into modern day.” Players have weapons and superhuman abilities at their disposal. You can read more about the game on its Steam page and through its official site.

Are you going to check out Secret World Legends when it launches for free on Steam? Let us know in the comments below!

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