The first official image from Pacific Rim: Uprising has been released. The picture from the upcoming sci-fi sequel was tweeted by star John Boyega–check it out below:
The image was accompanied by the words “I am Pentecost. 2018.” It has been rumored that Boyega is playing the son of Stacker Pentecost, the character portrayed by Idris Elba in the first movie.
The film has seen a troubled development over the years, with Guillermo Del Toro, who directed the 2013 original, ultimately handing the reins over to DeKnight but remaining on board as a producer.
Boyega joined the cast in June last year. At the time, Del Toro spoke about the decision to cast the Star Wars actor. “I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox,” he said. “The Pacific Rim universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”
Pacific Rim: Uprising also stars Scott Eastwood, Zhang Jin, Cailee Spaeny, and Jing Tian. It hits theaters on February 23, 2018.
Fire Emblem Heroes, the free-to-play mobile Fire Emblem adaptation, will apparently be getting plenty of post-launch content.
Kouhei Maeda, the game’s co-director told IGN, “We plan to add new stories continually after release, at a pace of about two a month or one every two weeks. We also plan to add things like new characters and skills, as well as new game modes that go in different directions from the current gameplay.”
Another co-director, Shingo Matsushita, reportedly added that Nintendo and developer Intelligent systems will continue to support Heroes as long as consumers keep playing it.
Below is an image of Breath of the Wild’s wrap party, which took place at a hotel near Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto, Japan on February 3, according to Eurogamer. The image comes from one of the attendees, Monolith Soft (Xenoblade Chronicles) developer Yasuyki Honne. As Game Informer explains, Monolith Soft contributed to Breath of the Wild, so it’s not surprising people from the team would attend the event.
Most of the people in this picture are dressed fairly casually. If you zoom in, you can see someone wearing a Link hat; this person appears to be standing next to Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
Like Square Enix, Sega today reported earnings for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2016. The report is not all that eye-opening, though there are some notable takeaways.
Sega’s video game division, Entertainment Contents, benefited from new releases such as Football Manager 2017 and Yakuza 6 (which comes to North America in 2018), as well as continued sales of Phantasy Star Online 2. In all, Sega sold 8.13 million packaged games, up from last year (6.12 million).
In terms of smartphone games, Sega said Hortensia Saga and Puyopuyo!! Quest continued to see “robust sales.”
Overall, Sega’s Entertainment Contents division–which also includes arcade machines and animated movies–posted revenue of ¥155.4 billion ($1.39 billion) and operating income of ¥15.4 billion ($137 million). That’s up 13.7 percent and a massive 449.4 percent respectively.
Sega has multiple business units outside of gaming. Looking at them all, the company posted revenue of ¥285.7 billion (up from ¥245 billion) and a profit of ¥36.5 billion (up from ¥6.5 billion).
Keep checking back with GameSpot soon for more earnings reports, as Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Nvidia are all scheduled to release earnings results this week.
Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix today reported earnings for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2016, with revenue and profit both rising for the period.
Revenue was ¥190 billion ($1.7 billion), up from ¥152 billion ($1.3 billion) during the same period a year ago. Profit came in at ¥17 billion ($151 million), up from ¥13.5 billion ($120 million) last year. Those are increases of 24.4 and 26 percent, respectively.
Square Enix called out major new releases such as Final Fantasy XV and Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s PlayStation 4 version in its earnings report, though it did not mention any specific sales figures. In January, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XV shipped 6 million copies.
In its earnings report today, Square Enix added that digital sales for back catalog games were “strong,” though it did not mention any titles by name.
Revenue for Square Enix’s MMO games have shown “steady performance,” but income took a hit due to no major new expansion packs coming out during the nine-month period.
Additionally, net sales and operating income for smart devices and pC “increased significantly” thans in part to Final Fantasy Brave Exvius (Ariana Grande is in the game), Hoshi No Dragon Quest, and Dragon Quest Monsters Super Light.
Square Enix’s gaming division, Digital Entertainment, posted revenue of ¥146 billion (up 32.7 percent) and operating income of ¥21.8 billion (up 5.8 percent).
Keep checking back with GameSpot soon for more earnings reports, as Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Nvidia are all scheduled to release earnings results this week.
Psychonauts 2, the much-anticipated platforming sequel from Double Fine, has a new publisher. Payday 2 publisher Starbreeze will take over marketing and distribution for the game, which will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018.
Starbreeze says it will invest US $8 million into the project, before recouping “100 percent of its full investment including marketing costs with an initial revenue share of 85 percent after distribution and platform fees and Fig crowdfunding revenue share.”
The company states that Double Fine will continue to develop the game and own the IP, however: “Starbreeze share of revenues will become 60 percent after the investment is recouped. Double Fine will retain 100 percent of the intellectual property relating to Psychonauts 2.”
The injection of funds follows a successful crowdfunding campaign. Over 24,000 fans contributed nearly $4 million to make the project happen, while Double Fine has also invested some of its own funds.
In a series of three videos released this weekend, Guerrilla Games discusses how the studio–known mostly for its first-person-shooter series Killzone–can pivot to make a high-end open world action game like Horizon Zero Dawn.
The first video is entitled “From Corridors to Mountains,” and focuses on how the intensity of Killzone’s first-person combat can translate to an open world action game that uses a third-person camera. Game director Mathijs De Jonge describes how the location-specific hit system from Killzone–that allowed players to shoot enemies in certain areas to make them more vulnerable–will be represented in Horizon Zero Dawn.
Players will be able to destroy enemies more by knocking off armor plating, or systematically take them down by exploiting weak spots. “That’s one of the things that we’ve adopted for Horizon, when building the combat with the machines, De Jonge said. “We’ve tried to expand it further, because these machines way are more complicated than the Helghast.”
The second video describes the studio’s history, and what it had to change in order to make a game that was so different to its past works. An external group of experts were brought into the studio, including developers and engineers, as well as an entire narrative team.
Narrative director John Gonzalez said that the main pillars of the world already existed when he and his shiny new narrative team came on board, but it was up to them to work out how to fit it all together. “We had the lush verdant nature, we had these mechanical beasts that are like robotic dinosaurs, and also these human beings that are living in this more primitive or tribal state,” he said. “At that point, how exactly those elements had come to exist in this world together hadn’t really been worked out.”
Once the primary story beats had been identified, it was time for lead quest designer David Ford and his team to turn that full narrative into something that would work with an open world quest system. “When I arrived, John and his team had written the overarching narrative for the game and had an understanding of where the story was going to go, but it was written as a story, not a series of quests,” Ford said. “So the quest team had the opportunity to work with the writers to break that story apart into smaller chunks, figure out where the gameplay would be, where the cutscenes would be, how it would all fit together.”
The third video looks at turning Aloy into someone the company believes will stand up alongside other iconic characters from PlayStation exclusives such as Uncharted. “I think it’s really hard to design an iconic character, said studio art director Jan Bart Van Beek. “You can hope for it, but it’s not something you can really put a stamp on it, like ‘okay, it’s iconic now.’” This caused concern for Guerrilla staff, according to Gonzalez, “There are people even within this building who were feeling like, ‘How do we try get something that’s even to 90% of Nathan Drake?’”
Managing director Herman Hulst believes they have it right with Aloy, learning that the company’s previous work on Killzone may have gotten characterization backwards. “With Aloy, we had a protagonist now that is as strong, as iconic a character as the Helghast were as antagonists.”
Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 maintains its position at the top of the UK sales chart for the week ending February 3.
With a lack of major new releases, much of the top ten is filled with the same games as the previous week. Grand Theft Auto V finishes the week at No. 2 while FIFA 17 moves up one spot to No.3, making way for Hitman: The Complete First Season to debut at No. 4.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Rocket League, and Battlefield 1 maintain their positions at No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7 respectively. Final Fantasy XV climbs back into the top ten, rising from No. 15 to No. 8, ahead of WWE 2K17 at No. 9–no doubt seeing some resurgence in interest thanks to the recent Royal Rumble event. Rounding off the top ten is Mafia 3.
Take a look at the full top 10 below. This table does not include digital sales data, and thus should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
[UPDATE 2] The Patriots defeated the Falcons tonight 34-28 in Super Bowl LI. The Madden simulation predicted the Patriots would come from behind and win, 27-24.
[UPDATE] EA Sports has released the results of its simulation. The Patriots will come from behind in the final minute to defeat the Falcons 27-24, according to the simulation. Tom Brady connects to Julian Edelman for the game-winning TD. Here’s to hoping the actual game is this exciting.
The original story is below.
Football fans have to wait until Sunday to find out who will win Super Bowl LI. But what team does EA’s Madden game think will win? The developer will announce the results of its annual Madden Super Bowl simulation today, crowning either the New England Patriots or Atlanta Falcons the champions.
The developer will use Madden NFL 17 to simulate the game, using up-to-date rosters, ultimately determining a final score. We should also learn who the MVP is, among other things. We’ll update this post with the results of the simulation as soon as they are announced.
Last year, the Madden Super Bowl simulation got it wrong, picking the Carolina Panthers to win, when in reality it was the Denver Broncos who emerged victorious. A year before that, however, the simulation picked the Patriots to beat the Seahawks 28-24–and that’s exactly what happened.
Super Bowl LI takes place on Sunday, February 6, in Houston, Texas. The Patriots are three-point favorites, while the over/under is 58.5; that’s the highest-ever for a Super Bowl.
We’re expecting a lot of new movie trailers to air during the big game, and we’ll round them up in a post here on GameSpot so you can watch them all in one place.
Which team do you think will win Super Bowl LI and why? Let us know in the comments below!
Looking for a new challenge in Uncharted 4‘s Survival mode? You’re in luck, as Naughty Dog has launched a Hardcore mode for it as part of the game’s newest update.
The official patch notes explained that Hardcore mode is an “intense new difficulty tier [that] introduces higher stakes, giving players only one chance to make it through all 50 waves.”
If your team gets wiped, you have to go all the way back to the start. Wow.
“Hardcore mode is not for the faint of heart–it’ll take skill, close teamwork, and careful strategy,” Naughty Dog said.
The new patch also brings back Classic mode to Uncharted 4’s beta test playlist. This is a “back-to-basics” mode featuring no in-game store, Mysticals, or Sidekicks. The update also adds a new ranked and qualifier systems.
There’s also a bunch of bug fixes and balance changes; check out the full patch notes below.
Back by popular request, Classic Mode has returned to the Beta Test Playlist in Multiplayer. For those who missed it when it first launched in November, Classic is a back-to-basics mode that focuses on core combat and movement–there’s no in-game store, Mysticals, or Sidekicks. Find it in the Multiplayer playlist menu today.
New Ranked Season
For the competitive crowd, the next Ranked season has begun, introducing new rewards and improvements to progression. This season, you’ll have a chance to earn a new set of Ranked weapon skins to complement the Ranked Trucker Hats, Shades, and Bandanas offered in prior seasons. What’s more, this season, we’re awarding a special Ranked Huzzah taunt for those that reach Gold rank or higher. Alongside new rewards, we are also improving the Qualifier and Master Rank systems – Qualifiers will focus on points earned, rather than matches won and Master Rank will now have points earned based off an average of matches ( Master Rank will give a match rating averaging your 20 previous Ranked matches). This way, your progress is based entirely on your own performance.
New Qualifier System
Qualifiers are now based on points earned rather than matches won. This allows your personal performance to impact your advancement to a much larger degree.
To pass from Gold I to Platinum III, for example, you need to earn at least 35 points over the course of 5 matches.
Points earned are still based on your grade for that match, with an S grade on a win awarding the maximum of 40 points.
Overachieving on points required will gives you bonus points upon advancing to the next rank (to a maximum of 50 points).
Failing a qualifier series with negative points will penalize you by that many points.
Master Rank System Update
We have revamped the way points are handled in Master Rank. Instead of being a grind for points, the system focuses on your average performance.
Players will enter into Master Rank with a 200 match rating average.
At the end of a match, you will receive a Match Rating and this will be factored into your “20 game average”. This average represents your Master Rank points.
The maximum possible Match Rating is 1000, and the lowest is -1000. Get better scores, higher kills, revives and assists, while minimizing deaths to maximize your Match Rating.
General:
Bug fix for awarded chests not opening for the player
Bug fix for players that are unable to connect to multiplayer or are taking a long time to connect to multiplayer
Fix for profile data loss
Accounts that were affected by the profile loss will have their level restored
Fixed several crashes
Bug fix for multiplayer audio settings resetting when backing out to the main menu
Adjusted weapon skins to fix bright weapon skin issues in certain levels
Survival
Hardcore Mode Introduced
Take on a new challenge in Survival’s Hardcore Mode, available now. This intense new difficulty tier introduces higher stakes, giving players only one chance to make it through all 50 waves. That’s right, if your team is defeated, you’re back to square one. Hardcore Mode is not for the faint of heart—it’ll take skill, close teamwork, and careful strategy.
Bug Fixes:
Bug fix for clients using c4 and mines against djinn boss
Fix for players being able to melee Disciple warlords against walls
Indra’s Eternity no longer slows the vulnerable timer of warlord bosses while in the vulnerable state
Fix for enemies occasionally bind posing during combat
Fix where players will lose HUD and become invincible if the Indra Warlord’s teleport grab is interrupted by an explosion
Fix for Explosive Expert not awarding the advertised bonus damage
Player’s damage bonuses for level, weapon level, and boosters are now calculated correctly
Fix for late joiner losing their gear, cash, and weapon when respawning before completing the wave
Armor NPCs will now drop appropriate score
Balance Changes:
Arsenal price ramp based on difficulty
Easy costs will be multiplied by .75
Normal costs will be multiplied by x1
Hard costs will be multiplied by x1.25
Crushing costs will be multiplied by x1.5
All bosses now avoid Indra’s Eternity and El Dorado player mysticals
Brute enemies stagger less often from headshots
Increased grenade, mine and C4 arsenal cost
C4 is now earned at the same rate as Grenades and Mines
Increased the cost of Indra’s Eternity
Decreased Sprit of the Djinn and Path of Indra price ramp when purchased from the arsenal
Double ammo for Barok, Harbinger and Desert 5 when purchased from the arsenal
Reduced ammo for Stoner from 150 to 100 when purchased from the arsenal
Reduced costs of all Heavy Weapons in the arsenal
Increased duration of Sprit of the Djinn from 20 seconds to 30 seconds
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