Gaming - Page 933

Nintendo officially announced the Super NES Classic Edition with a hiked price point of $79.99 and a total of 21 SNES games pre-loaded.

The Super NES Classic Edition includes many golden age classics like Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero, Final Fantasy III, EarthBound, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Mario Kart, Secret of Mana, and even the unreleased Star Fox 2 (yes, really). The mini console will cost $79.99, up $20 from last year's NES Classic Edition, and includes less games than its predecessor (21 SNES games versus 30 NES games on the NES Classic Edition). However, the SNES mini-console comes with an extra SNES controller for multiplayer action.

The SNES Classic Edition is slated to release on September 29, 2017 for $79.99. Let's just hope Nintendo has made enough units this time...back in 2016 retail stores only received 2-5 units per store, leading to a widespread catastrophe for brick and mortar retailers.

Microsoft confirms that Xbox One X owners will download 4K assets in games that support them--such as Forza Motorsport 7--even if they're playing on a 1080p HDTV instead of a 4K UHD television set.

One of my biggest concerns about the new push to native 4K console gaming is installation size. Games are already pretty huge--Halo 5 Guardians was at 90GB+ before I uninstalled it, and Final Fantasy XV is at 68GB now on my PS4--but file sizes are about to get a whole lot bigger thanks to native 4K textures. This means that Xbox One X owners will likely fill up their 1TB hard drives pretty fast.

In fact, a single game will fill up roughly 11% of the Xbox One X's 1TB (real capacity is 931GB) hard drive: Microsoft has confirmed that Forza Motorsport 7 will have a whopping 100GB install size at launch, and that includes the Xbox One X version.

The company behind any new console wants to bring all the latest and greatest games on their platform, and Nintendo is no exception. The Japanese console-maker has expressed interest in attracting key external third-party developers to bring their "best and brightest" games onto its new Nintendo Switch hardware.

Nintendo has had a hard time convincing key Western publishers and developers to bring new big-name Western games like Far Cry 5, Overwatch, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Assassin's Creed: Origins and Call of Duty: WWII to the Nintendo Switch. At the same time, however, publishers like EA and Take-Two Interactive are experimenting with Switch support with new games like FIFA 18 and NBA 2K18.

Other companies seem reticent to support the Switch for many reasons, including the hybrid console's lower-end power, the console's smallish 3.6 million install base due to early lifetime sales, the fact that it can be played entirely offline on-the-go and forgoing any earnings from live services like microtransactions, and the fact Nintendo has yet to implement an attractive online framework that allows for adequate long-term games monetization and facilitates a strong social online network like Xbox LIVE or the PlayStation Network.

Nintendo could double its forecasted fiscal year profits due to strong Switch and 3DS hardware and software sales, analysts predict.

Nintendo expects to pull in $404.38 million in (45 billion yen) in profits in the fiscal year ending March 2018, but due to the strong demand and performance of the Nintendo Switch and the 3DS handheld, analysts predict that the Japanese games company could more than double its FY2018 profits. The Japanese games-maker recently reported a massive 521% boost in profits for the fiscal year ending March 2017.

According to Nikkei Asian Review, analysts predict Nintendo could make as much as $836.62 million (93.1 billion yen) in profits this fiscal year.

Nintendo's new first-party ARMS game is a big hit in Japan, selling over 100,000 copies in its first week of availability.

ARMS is a new IP for Japanese games-maker Nintendo, and from critical reception and strong sales, the company's bet into the online multiplayer fighter appears to be paying off. According to the latest data from Media Create's weekly sales list, ARMS has sold over 100,000 units in its first week in Japan.

This sales volume is quite high and dwarfs first-week sales of recently released fighting games like Tekken 7, Ultra Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2--in fact, Nintendo's new fighter sold more copies than all of those games combined in their respective first weeks of availability.

Titanfall 2 is getting a performance enhancement update for Xbox One X, and from the sound of it, Respawn is having some surprising results with Microsoft's new $499 high-end box.

Respawn Entertainment recently confirmed that its most recent shooter, Titanfall 2, will receive an enhancement upgrade to leverage the new Xbox One X's 4K-ready 6TFLOP GPU for better in-game visuals and performance. "Titanfall 2 will support Xbox One X. This means 4K resolution for increased fidelity as well as support for dynamic super scaling," the developer said in a recent DLC announcement post.

Now a purported Respawn developer has taken to NeoGAF to expand on Titanfall 2's dynamic super scaling on the Xbox One X, saying that they were actually push Titanfall 2's new War Games DLC past 4K resolution to 3200p (~6K resolution) on the Xbox One X...but at full 100% workload on the console's beefy graphics processor.

It appears the "war on GTA mods" is over: thanks to Rockstar Games, Take-Two has relented and will no longer pursue legal action against singleplayer mods. OpenIV has been updated, and the publisher has also issued out some new rules for singleplayer modders.

A bit ago Take-Two Interactive kicked the hornet's nest by forcing OpenIV, a popular modding tool used to mod GTA IV and GTA V, to go offline. After countless days of negative press, strong words from millions of fans, a huge petition, and the absolutely destruction of the game's Steam reviews, the Rockstar parent company relented. As of now OpenIV has been updated but the mod still isn't available for public download. Rockstar told Motherboard that it and Take-Two will work with OpenIV's creator to resolve the issue.

Rockstar has since delivered a new public statement affirming that singleplayer mods aren't being targeted by Take-Two--only those that affect Grand Theft Auto Online will get the axe. Interestingly enough OpenIV developer Yuriy "Good-NDS" Krivoruchko said that OpenIV could actually be used by some modders to disrupt GTA Online, but he never intended for the modding tool to be used in such a way.

Almost half of the world's total video games playerbase will spend money while they play games in 2017, according to analyst firm Newzoo.

In-game purchases such as microtransactions, add-ons and expansions are a lucrative part of the video games industry, and modern games typically ship with some sort of digital online component to facilitate long-term revenues.

For example, more and more games in the console sector are switching to models with online multiplayer with free updates and content paid for by in-game spending, such as EA's new Star Wars Battlefront II and Activision's new Destiny 2. These specific games mimic the successful revenue models of mobile games while charging a $59.99 premium for the base game, but consoles also offer numerous free-to-play experiences like SMITE.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has become an early access sensation, selling 4 million copies in its first three months of availability.

Reverb Inc today confirmed that Bluehole's massively popular multiplayer shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has sold 4 million copies, massing $100 million in revenue in just 13 weeks of availability.

The early access game, which sells for $29.99, has attracted a considerable number of players on PC storefront Steam, with 230,000 concurrent peak users and over 100,000 game sessions being played every day. Reverb also notes that spectatorship on PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds remains quite strong at 350,000 peak viewers, and affirms that 15% of all Twitch users--or 120,000 spectators--watch streams of the game every day.

Nintendo's total market cap has risen above one of it's major competitors in the games space: Sony Corp.

Thanks to consistent climbing share values, Nintendo's total market capitalization is now valued at 5.5 trillion yen ($48.98 billion), according to the latest Google Finance listings. Nintendo is now ahead of its Japanese rival Sony Corp who's market cap sits at $48.28 billion, or 1.14% less than Nintendo's current market cap.

But what is market capitalization, and why is it important?

It looks like PC gamers should begin getting excited for optimizations for the PC that Bungie and Activision are promising for Destiny 2, which is finally coming to the PC later this year, after Destiny being a console exclusive.

Destiny 2 Project Lead, Mark Noseworthy, said that the PC version of Destiny 2 will not only include a FOV slider, but the guns will have no recoil on the PC because the "controller feels good". In what I take away from that, console gamers have slower reactions because of the input delay of joysticks on a controller through to the TV and sub 60Hz displays, where the PC is instant one-for-one with mouse and keyboard to 60Hz through to 240Hz displays.

Noseworthy noted: "For instance, there's no recoil on guns on PC because recoil on the controller feels really good. 'I'm firing, I'm firing, I'm firing, oh, I'm losing control of my gun a little bit.' That feels great, especially with magnetism and all the magic in the controller that makes you feel it. With a mouse and keyboard, you don't want the mouse moving without you moving it, so recoil doesn't feel good, so there is no recoil on PC".

Project CARS 2 is shaping up to be one of the best-looking games of 2017, but even the new and powerful (at least for a console) Xbox One X is coming in November, can't run Project CARS 2 at 4K, let alone 60FPS.

Dutch website GamersNet had some words with Slightly Mad Studios' Game Director, Stephen Viljoen, said that Project CARS 2 would be running at 4K and 60FPS on Xbox One X. But it looks like this was a big of a fluff, and something SMS' Ian Bell said was a "misquote". We don't know what Sony's refreshed PS4 Pro will run the game at, but I'd say 1080p 60FPS would be a safer bet.

Slightly Mad Studios' Ian Bell posted on GTPLanet's forums, where he said: "Yup, this was a misquote. We're running sub 60 FPS at 4K and we'll probably always be unless we drop livetrack and a host of other things... We'll probably upscale from something very reasonable". Bell wouldn't comment on locked 60FPS at 4K on Xbox One X, adding: "We don't like the term 'locked'. It would put us in first party territory where chest beating is more important than a great experience. We'll be 60 most of the time in normal racing and we'll push the consoles to and beyond their limits for more interesting racing. Even if that means dropping a few frames".

Respawn Entertainment today confirmed that Titanfall 2's userbase is still strong and healthy, despite comments on the game's underwhelming launch sales from publisher EA.

Titanfall 2's free post-launch DLC plan is turning out to be a boon for the game's playerbase. Titanfall 2 receives regular free content updates in exchange for microtransaction earnings gleaned from optional cosmetic in-game purchases. While announcing yet another free content update with new maps, developer Respawn Entertainment says that Titanfall 2 enjoys over a 1 million monthly active users.

"Since launch we've released 5 content drops, free for all players, and continue to see a vibrant, engaged playerbase with currently over a million active players a month," Respawn said in the post.

Warner Bros. Interactive has opened a new studio in New York that will bolster its live services.

Publishers today are strongly investing into live services to power their games and ensure long tails of revenue. But these investments often come at a cost of manpower, servers, and other technologies. Today Warner Bros. Interactive has announced that it will open a new studio in New York to help buffer the live services that power features such as online multiplayer in games like Injustice 2.

According to Gematsu, the studio will be called Warner Bros. New York and will host cloud-based backend technology to power online and live services of key games.

Koei Tecmo today revealed a brand new trailer for Dynasty Warriors 9, confirming some big changes for the landmark Musou series.

Omega Force confirms that it will bring Dynasty Warriors 9 to a dynamic open world setting, complete with new combat mechanics and exploration content across impressively beautiful environments. As Koei Tecmo states, the new Dynasty Warriors features new combat systems that are built off of the "signature one vs thousands style gameplay," starting with the new State Combo System. Players can dish out destructive chaos in three different attack styles including Trigger Attacks, Flow Attacks, and Finish Attacks--all of which contribute to an interesting combo system.

"Trigger Attacks allow players to create the start of an explosive combo, leading to Flow Attacks, which adapt to the enemy's current state," the publisher said in a recent press release.

SEGA's new potentially lucrative SEGA Forever mobile program has stuttered out of the gate with some missteps.

Just yesterday we wrote up a piece highlighting the ways that SEGA Forever could be a huge asset for SEGA, but the initiative, which allows users to play classic games for free on their phones, has a few problems at launch. I personally tried a few games and can say that the experience was awkward at best, even with a Bluetooth and OTG Xbox 360 controller plugged in.

But perhaps the most disappointing aspect of SEGA Forever was the claims that users can "play offline" for free. Of course this is technically true, but if you play the free version of the game offline, you can't save your game. The free versions can only save progress via the cloud, which of course can't be accessed offline. If you want to save your games offline then you need to shell out $1.99 to buy the game, and if you buy all five games, you'll spend $10. There's a few other hiccups, too. Sonic: The Hedgehog used to cost money on Google Play and iOS, and the paid game switched over to the SEGA Forever free version...but existing owners are having trouble accessing the game they previously paid for.

There are some gamers who never played LA Noire, and I'm one of them, but I admired the game from a technological standpoint. LA Noire is a neo-noir action-adventure game that was originally released in 2011, and developed by Australian gaming studio Team Bondi, and published by Rockstar Games.

After the release of LA Noire, developer Team Bondi shutdown - and even though the game was a big seller, the studio had many things going on behind the scenes that caused them to crumble. Now we're seeing Rockstar Twitter tipset Yan2295 saying that Rockstar Games is working on a remastered version of the game not just for the PS4 and Xbox One, but for the Nintendo Switch.

And not just a single remastered verison, but the improved version of LA Noire would reportedly include a first-person and VR mode. The one-two punch of first-person and VR modes would be huge, and so would the release of LA Noire on the Nintendo Switch. We should hope to hear something more concrete in the coming months.

SEGA today revealed its new ambitious plan to further monetize its mobile games focus in the West.

SEGA's new SEGA Forever initiative is a tactical move on the publisher's part, and could end up sparking other major games-makers to follow in its footsteps. The program is SEGA making good on its promise to revitalize and resurrect key IP on PC, consoles and most importantly, smartphones, and follows the company's massive success in the free-to-play mobile gaming sector. But what is SEGA Forever, exactly? It's simply SEGA bringing back its old-school retro games to smartphones as free-to-play titles on Android and iOS, complete with lucrative in-app purchases.

Essentially SEGA is doing what Nintendo should've done long ago, and is a genuinely well-strategized free-to-play "Virtual Console" service that offers key SEGA classics for free on mobile devices. SEGA Forever is a collection of games that will soon grow to include titles from Master System, Genesis/Megadrive, Dreamcast, and more. New games will release every month for free--there's no subscription plan--all of the content is free-to-play, and SEGA gets revenue from ads. Users can also buy the game for $1.99 to get an ad-free experience.

Rocket League developer Psyonix has partnered with NBC Sports Group to broadcast televised eSports tournaments centered around the popular multiplayer game.

As eSports flourishes, more and more major entertainment broadcasters are getting involved. eSports content is typically consumed via spectators on the internet, but NBC wants to do their part to bring the growing games phenomenon to the television world. Per the recent agreement, NBC Sports will televise Rocket League tournaments starting with the first-ever $100,000 2v2 international Rocket League tournament. The Grand Finals phase of the tournament will be shown on NBC Sports on August 26-27. NBC has kept their eye on the eSports world for quite some time, and wants to grow well past Rocket League to help bolster its network viewership.

"We looked at lots of different games in lots of different genres," Rob Simmelkjaer, senior vice president of NBC Sports Ventures, told Mashable.

Nintendo of America affirms that the hugely anticipated Metroid Prime 4 and new upcoming mainline Pokemon RPG will release in 2018 on the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo has spared no time or expense creating a massive IP selection to power its new Switch handheld-console hybrid, releasing key first-party titles like ARMS, Splatoon 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, and Super Mario Odyssey in 2017 alone. During its E3 2017 livestream, Nintendo announced two heavy-hitting powerhouses, Metroid Prime 4 and a new Pokemon RPG, both of which are Switch exclusives. But until now we had no clue when those big-name games would actually release.

In a recent interview with VentureBeat, Nintendo of America's corporate communications director Charlie Scibetta confirmed both games would release next year. "If you want to be able to play games and not have a dry spell between any of the big launches, we think Nintendo Switch is a good place to be. We have a nice drumbeat of first and third party. You'll never have to wait long," he said.