Category: Gamespot

Nintendo of America exec Reggie Fils-Aime, has discussed the backlash against Metroid Prime: Federation Force, saying the company needs to reinvent franchises to propel them forward.

Speaking to Mashable, Fils-Aime admitted the reaction to the the Metroid Prime spin-off’s reveal at E3 2015 was undoubtedly negative.

“What the fan at home saw was something in the Metroid Prime universe that they weren’t expecting,” he said. “The reaction has been negative. There’s no sugar coating it.”

Fils-Aime added, however, this may have been different if people got to play the game instead of just seeing it in a video.

“This is an example where fans who aren’t able to get their hands on the game may be at a bit of a competitive disadvantage,” he said.

“Everyone who has played what we are showing regarding [Freedom Force], they’ve come across really pleased. My ask is that fans trust us.”

Continuing, Fils-Aime indicated that reinventing games in the way Nintendo has with Metroid Prime: Freedom Force and The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes–another take on a classic franchise revealed at E3 2015–is necessary in maintaining the health of the franchise.

“We believe that in order to propel the franchises forward, we have to be the ones to constanty challenge the paradigms, challenge the conventional wisdom, challenge what we thought was the essence of the particular franchise, and a particular form of gameplay.”

“The reaction has been negative. There’s no sugar coating it.”

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is being developed by Next Level Games, creator of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, with Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe overseeing the project. Unlike previous entries in the series, which focus on isolation and exploration, the game is a co-operative shooter with a chibi visual style.

Federation Force will also feature Blast Ball, a 3v3 competitive game where teams compete to shoot a large ball into a goal. Both games are reminiscent of Metroid Prime Hunters, the first-person Nintendo DS game from 2006.

Fils-Aime also previously said Nintendo knows what Metroid fans want, but “will also push the envelope in developing something that we know is high-quality and that we know will deliver in the marketplace.”

He went on to draw a comparison to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which also received backlash from fans complaining about its cel-shaded visual style.

“Remember when that art style was first shown. The uproar from the Zelda community was intensely negative. If there had been social media then, there probably would have been a petition to make that game go away.”

Finally, Fils-Aime indicated that Nintendo was just waiting for the right time to announce the traditional Metroid experience fans have been yearning for. That time may be 2016, when Nintendo plans to discuss its next console, codenamed the NX, further.

The game is scheduled for release in 2016. Nintendo has not clarified whether there’s a single-player component, or if Federation Force and Blast Ball are multiplayer experiences only.

Powered by WPeMatico

Ahead of Dark Souls III‘s release in 2016, developer From Software has announced that the entire franchise has now shipped around 8.5 million copies across its previous installments.

The new figure comes by way of a recent presentation attended by Japanese video game publication Famitsu. According to the slide you can see below, the 2011 original Dark Souls (including sales of the Artorias of the Abyss version) have reached more than 5.6 million units sold.

Meanwhile, Dark Souls II sales, also counting the 2014 Scholar of the First Sin version, have combined for more than 2.9 million worldwide sales.

Add it all up and the entire Dark Souls franchise has shifted more than 8.5 million units globally. This figure, of course, does not include sales of From Software’s other popular games, Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne.

The next entry in the Dark Souls series is Dark Souls III, which will launch for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in 2016. The game is directed by Souls mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki and we were excited by what we saw at E3 last month. For a closer look at it, check out some images in the gallery below.

Powered by WPeMatico

Nintendo has announced it is redesigning the Miiverse to “make communicating about the games you’re playing more enjoyable than ever.”

The redesign is scheduled for summer 2015, and will include a number of new features including a screenshot album, a play journal, and a general visual refresh.

A breakdown of all the changes and new features can be found below.

Your Screenshot Album

Saving your screenshots in this album will be so easy, you’ll build up a collection of memories from the games you love in no time.

• You can save up to 100 screenshots in this album.
• This album is your own private space. It won’t be visible to other users.

Your Play Journal

Keep a record of your own unique gaming experiences by writing journal entries about games as you play them! Creating a Play Journal entry will be as simple as opening Miiverse during gameplay.

• Each Play Journal entry will include a screenshot that shows what was happening in the game when it was written. Only software titles that don’t support the taking of screenshots will be exempt from this rule.

A New Look for Communities

In the main community for each game, posts will be categorized to make browsing them easier and more fun.

• Play Journal Entries: Here you’ll find everyone’s Play Journal entries for the game. Try to find people who are at the same part of the game as you are or who are playing the game in interesting ways!
• Drawings: In this section, you’ll be able to see all the artwork other users have created about the game, in order of popularity. This should make it even easier to find great artists to follow. You won’t be able to post handwritten posts to the Play Journal Entries or Discussions sections.
• Discussions: If you want to ask questions or start conversations about the game, this’ll be the perfect place for you to be. Remember, tags on posts make it easy to find other people who want to talk about the same stuff you do.

Other Changes

Other changes noted by Nintendo include the removal of posting to your activity feed, as the Play Journal feature is means to be a replacement for this. Additionally, Nintendo plans to loosen its restrictions on posting in quick succession, allowing users to post a total of 30 posts or comments per day. In-game posts are not included in this total.

Nintendo has made efforts to improve the Miiverse’s functionality and accessibility since launch. Unlike when it debuted on the Wii U, the pseudo-social network for Nintendo fans can now be accessed through mobile devices and browsers.

The platform holder also unified the 3DS eShop with the Wii U’s Nintendo Network ID, meaning that users can now have one login across both platforms. Doing this also meant users could combine their Wii U and 3DS eShop balances and wish lists.

Powered by WPeMatico

Victims of Steam item trade scams will no longer be reimbursed for their loss, Valve has said.

In an FAQ on the Steam support page, Valve explained that replacing items lost in scams–particularly the rarer variety, which tend to be the main target–could devalue the worth of the item overall.

“Our community assigns an item a value that is at least partially determined by that item’s scarcity,” it explains. “If more copies of the item are added to the economy through inventory rollbacks, the value of every other instance of that item would be reduced.”

“We sympathize with people who fall victim to scams, but we provide enough information on our website and within our trading system to help users make good trading decisions. All trade scams can be avoided.”

Elsewhere, Valve detailed the course of action it takes in the event it ascertains a user is in fact a scammer.

“If evidence exists that the Steam user is a scammer, Steam Support will ban the account from using the Steam Community, including Trading and using the Steam Market,” it said.

“The length of the ban is dependent on the severity and quantity of the scams. In some cases, scammers will be banned permanently. If a scammer has multiple accounts, all of their accounts may be subject to the ban as well.”

It continues: “In some cases, scammers will hijack an account and use it to commit scams, fraud or more hijackings. In these cases, we lock the account until the rightful owner contacts us about the hijacking.”

Valve recently introduced a new refund policy for Steam that allows you to return games and DLC within two weeks of purchase, provided you haven’t played the content in question for more than two hours.

Powered by WPeMatico

CLG looked shaky this week, losing both of their games to Team Liquid and TSM. And although Team Liquid pulled off a convincing win against CLG, their game against former sister team, Gravity, pointed to much larger problems in their team dynamic. Problems they’ll have to fix if they want to make Worlds this year.

Because CLG’s uncharacteristically poor performances late in the season is a reoccurring theme every split, fans have chalked it up to the team’s tendency to fall apart or “choke” under pressure when playoffs are nearing. No matter what the reason, they’re still in second place, only behind their long time rival, TSM.

On the other hand, TDK have finally debuted their starting roster with Emperor and Ninja, taking their unexpected first win of the split against Team Dignitas. That begs the question: is this a fluke or is this the start of an upward trend in TDK’s favor?

Here are the current standings:

Team SoloMid 8-2

Counter Logic Gaming 7-3

Team Gravity 7-3

Team Dignitas 7-3

Team Liquid 6-4

Team Impulse 5-5

Cloud 9 3-7

Enemy Esports 3-7

Team 8 3-7

Team Dragon Knights 1-9

Powered by WPeMatico