Videogame News Thread

[Ruien]

Wtf I need video game news anand you people chased Smelly away.

[Destor]

Todays stories:

Read Dead 2 is having hdr issues. Despite his is the biggest 3 day open in entertainment history

Nintendo is planning major dlc for some "huge releases" most assume mario

Sony announces ps4 to crack 100 million units sold next year

Undertale sequel coming soon...maybe?

ipad pro is allegedly as powerful as the xbox 1s

[Destor]

There ya go

[Fignuts]

Fuck yeah @ Undertale sequel

[Destor]

https://kotaku.com/undertale-creator-releases-new-game-1830123586

Its available now but seems to be more teaser than the true thing.

[Ultra Mantis]

I keep forgetting about Undertale, have been meaning to play it. Probably a good thing though because I'm sure it was being spoiled all over the place at the height of its memedom and now I can't remember any details.

[Savio]

Yeah if you play it don't do it with an audience that played it before.

[Destor]

Undertale fans are seriously the worst fandom that has ever existed

[Destor]

Great game. Awful community

[Fignuts]

Most communities are, unfortunately.

[Big Vic]

Boooo!

We are writing to inform you that PlayStation™Store, PlayStation™Vue, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Now, and PlayStation™Music, will start collecting sales tax in your state starting November 2, 2018. The sales tax charged on each order is determined by your state, county and city tax rates.

[Destor]

Most communities are, unfortunately.

When people talk about the undertale community people in the undertale community always say this

[Fignuts]

I'm not a part of it, but I'm certain its shit.

[Big Vic]

Undertale

Any time a new person wants to do a blind playthrough on the game their chat always tries to convince them not to kill any enemy instead of just letting them play naturally.

[Destor]

agressively

[Destor]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1uquH3945ns" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe>

[Destor]

Timestamps:
0:00 Welcome to News Wave!

1:12 New 2 T PS4 model

2:34 Pokemon Let's Go will not support Pro Controller

3:44 Sunset Overdrive coming to PC

4:58 Nintendo Treehouse Event

7:55 Target Black Friday ad leakes

11:20 Switch Emulators are getting really advanced

13:26 Fallout 76 does not want to be player

[Destor]

@ruin you lazy bastard

[Ruien]

<3

[Fignuts]

esports arenas are strating to open in Walmart Supercenters. Could be interesting. Basically functions like an arcade where there are regular open hours, along with daily events, weekly league nights, and tournaments on the weekend.

Could be a great way to get casual gamers into more competitive gaming. Could fail miserably.

[ClockShot]

I still don't know why Wal-Mart still has a small area in some stores for crane games, a couple arcade machines, photo booths.

Those things are pretty much a thing of the past except for places like Casinos, malls, Dave & Busters.

[Destor]

The ones here have the space but theyre empty. They might have a coinstar in them

[Sepholio]

I still don't know why Wal-Mart still has a small area in some stores for crane games, a couple arcade machines, photo booths.

Those things are pretty much a thing of the past except for places like Casinos, malls, Dave & Busters.

I always take my kids in there lol. Let em play a couple stupid games or whatever for a minute to entertain them. Then I'll win the little ones a couple things from the crane game (which are stupid easy once you figure out the mechanics). It serves its purpose for me.

[Kalyx triaD]

If those lil arcade games made no money at all, they'd be gone.

[Destor]

The ones here have the space but theyre empty. They might have a coinstar in them

[Kalyx triaD]

We got them.

[ClockShot]

Hajime Tabata, founder of Luminous Productions and director of Final Fantasy 15, has left Square Enix.

Furthermore, 3 of the 4 future DLCs for Final Fantasy 15 have been cancelled.

[ClockShot]

Microsoft adding 2 more game studios to it's portfolio.

Acquired Obsidian Entertainment. Best known for Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and The Pillars of Eternity series.

InXile Entertainment has produced Wasteland 2, Bard's Tale 4, and Torment: Tides of Numenera.

[Destor]

I can tell by the line up of studios that owning an xbox next gen will actually have value. Will be interesting to see if they can win their first console cycle.

[Kalyx triaD]

Obsidian is a good catch. Give those guys AAA funding.

[Sepholio]

Obsidian is a good catch. Give those guys AAA funding.

[Destor]

Half the crew at obsidian and half the crew at inxile are the crew that made the first two fallout games.

[Destor]

So hopefully the arent given a big budget and are left to make some classic CRPGs

[Sepholio]

They should pick up the team that made the new Wasteland games and have them and Obsidian/InXile reboot wasteland collectively with a proper budget.

I actually am worried that they won't make any CRPGs though considering they will clearly be console focused. I know they have ported some of these modern CRPGs over and they have turned out OK, but to be frank, CRPGs are a shell of themselves outside of the PC environment.

[Destor]

InXile made wasteland 2

[ClockShot]

Yeah. If you guys want more information, I guess Microsoft had some kind of shindig yesterday. They got a release date for Crackdown 3 among other things.

You're all savvy enough to track it down, I think.

[Fignuts]

lol crackdown 3

[Kalyx triaD]

That show was boring. No Halo Infinite. Random news on 3rd parties. Weird and boring.

[Destor]

It affirmed what we already knew. Current gen is last gen to microsoft. Theyve moved on from this gen cycle and are rebuilding to try to have a competitive console next cycle.

And they're right to do so.

[Sepholio]

InXile made wasteland 2

Had them confused with Larian in my head for some reason. I thought they were the ones who made the divinity: original sin games. My mistake.

Well then their next game is Wasteland 3 lol.

[Destor]

I really want a new wasteland

[Sepholio]

Wasteland 3 is slated for release next year, I doubt theyd cancel it if it's that far along.

[Destor]

Right im just saying I WANT IT

[Tom Guycott]

Microsoft adding 2 more game studios to it's portfolio.

Acquired Obsidian Entertainment. Best known for Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and The Pillars of Eternity series.

InXile Entertainment has produced Wasteland 2, Bard's Tale 4, and Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Obsidian is a good catch. Give those guys AAA funding.

Half the crew at obsidian and half the crew at inxile are the crew that made the first two fallout games.

Taking bets on Microsoft being cute and going on to purchase the name and logos for Interplay?

[Tom Guycott]

Right im just saying I WANT IT

Not alone, brother.

[ClockShot]

The wait is over. If you've been waiting. :shifty:

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will arrive for PS4 in December with a few editions and pre-order goodies available.

I think these days Fortnite rules PS4 in terms of the Battle Royale genre with Black Ops 4 sorta starting to find it's place in that market.

I dunno.

[Destor]

I think Black Ops will overtake fortnite soon. PUBG has mostly been dead for some time

[Kalyx triaD]

Blops 4's Blackout mode is already the second most popular Battle Royale game by Twitch and Mixer numbers (gonna guess the numbers are similar on YouTube streaming). PUBG, as I suspected looong ago, would immediately struggle the second either CoD or BF does BR. The only BR game safe from competition is Fortnite due to its unique gimmick and being free.

[ClockShot]

Sony has announced that they're gonna skip E3 2019.

No booth, no press conference, nothing. First time in 24 years.

[Destor]

Metroid 4 is looking for a release window

[Savio]

Thinking of picking up the Mario/Rabbids game while it's on sale, I really liked Advance wars and it seems similar. Anyone play it?

[Destor]

I legit love it.

[Savio]

It's downloading will play tmw.

Played fortnite for the first time tonight, I'm awful but it's quite fun.

[Savio]

Mario vs Rabbids is quite fun.

[Savio]

Fire Byron Saxton

[Destor]

Mario vs Rabbids is quite fun.

I need to play the dlc. Game deserves more money

[Big Vic]

One thing I don't like is the section between matches, I want to just jump into the next match without playing "search and find" but that's just a personal preference not a mark against the game.

[Destor]

I like the "game-y" feel to those sections. So many games these days are afraid to be games and try to be living and breathing worlds or cinematic experiences (and I welcome both approaches) but i found it refreshing to have the approach in rabbids where it's a fun diversion for a few min between battles.

Plus finding coins was always fun since it allowed you to be more effective in combat so I always felt like I was benefiting from it.

Plus SECRETS! Game is great...I need to replay it

[Big Vic]

Yeah I don't fault anyone for liking it because I know if I wanted I could jut blow right through to the next mission with out doing any of the little puzzles but I really don't want to miss out on any weapons.

[ClockShot]

BioWare GM Casey Hudson got the gaming world abuzz teasing a new Dragon Age will be announced soon. Possibly at the upcoming Game Awards.

[Destor]

I was reading that earlier. Dragon Age: Origins is my fav game. That said im not looking forward to DA4 now that all the key staff is gone

[Savio]

So I was told I should go back and do the challenges right after completing a world otherwise if I try to come do them later I will be too OP.

But I get orbs for doing them so will it make me OP when doing World 2? Don't want to throw off the balance.

[Destor]

No i think kts balanced well. I did them immediately and never felt too OP

[ClockShot]

Happy anniversary to the PlayStation. Hit the market today 24 years ago back in '94 in Japan.

I had NES and the Sega Genesis at the time.

But the PlayStation changed everything.

[Destor]

I was late to the psx party. Missed a lot of great jrpgs.

[ClockShot]

HumaNature studios has announced that Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove will be hitting consoles in March 2019. Toejam & Earl creator Greg Johnson is in charge of the project.

Here's a trailer.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zRV2XHDccZo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sepholio]

Looks like a direct follow-up to Far Cry 5 might be revealed at the game awards tomorrow. Whatever it ends up being, the teaser was intriguing.

[Destor]

I still need to play 5

[ClockShot]

That should be interesting. Seeing as how the end of Far Cry 5 was a lose-lose situation.

[Kalyx triaD]

Post-Apocalypse is the logical step.

[Sepholio]

I know most people disliked the ending of Far Cry 5 apparently, but I thought it was brilliant.

[Destor]

I put a bid on it on ebay for $20. Ends tomorrow. IF I WIN ILL PLAY IT

[Sepholio]

Game Awards stream is live for anyone who is watching. I'm watching it on IGN (uhg).

[Sepholio]

Game called Journey to the Savage Planet just announced. Cinematic teaser only, but if I had to wager a guess, it looks like a cross between Borderlands and maybe Ratchet & Clank. May be completely off the mark though.

[Sepholio]

Award spoilers:
Best Action Game: Dead Cells
Best RPG: Monster Hunter World


Dunno how I feel about that second one but I get why considering how huge the property is in other markets.

[Sepholio]

Not even gonna continue to list these awards, some of them are lame af. They just blasted out like 5 in the span of 30 seconds for best e-sports game, tournament, host, coach, moment.

[Sepholio]

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe announced for consoles. I recommend everyone watch this trailer. One of the legit funniest trailers I've ever seen.

[Sepholio]

Announcement for a game called Among Trees. Really nice art direction. Looks like it may be in the same vein as Firewatch.

[Sepholio]

Here comes the big wigs from Nintendo, Sony, and MS. Hope the Nintendo and MS dude start kicking each others asses and the Sony guy just stands back and says he doesn't support crossplay.

[Kalyx triaD]

MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3

YAAAAAASSSSSS

[Sepholio]

Switch Exclusive :o

[Sepholio]

That face never translates well here lol

[Sepholio]

Here we go with new Far Cry.

[Sepholio]

Direct sequel. Far Cry: New Dawn. Seems maybe like 20 years in the future after FC5.

Was a meh reveal at first.....until the very end of the trailer. Now I'm all in.

[Sepholio]

Hades announced from Supergiant Games.

Looks very much like Bastion. I like that. I'll be playing this one.

[Sepholio]

I don't know what Scavengers is but I want to play it. NAO.

[Sepholio]

crash team racing is back lol

[Sepholio]

New Obsidian game. The Outer Worlds. Looks incredible. My favorite reveal so far by far.

[Sepholio]

Hello games announce the last campfire. Appears to be Zelda-lite game. Either way the song in the trailer is amazing.

[Sepholio]

wtf....this guy....esports award winner...hes like ultra nervous and he comes out wearing a giant furry mask....like hes a blue wolf.....wtf is this

[Sepholio]

then he takes it off and literally says
I don't know I u guys know or not but I AM SUPER GAY.

[Sepholio]

He is legit a furry. He just said "So, I'm gay, I'm black, I'm a furry and pretty much everything Republicans hate! YAY!"

[Destor]

He is legit a furry. He just said "So, I'm gay, I'm black, I'm a furry and pretty much everything Republicans hate! YAY!"

Im not a republican but based off this i def hate him

[Sepholio]

omg new MMO called Atlas. Looks AWESOME.

[Sepholio]

Atlas timed exclusive on Xbox apparently.

[Destor]

Obsidians game and alliance 3 look hot

[Sepholio]

Just had a trailer for Ashen which ive been watching for a few months.....then they surprise drop the announcement that Ashen, Hades (announced earlier) and Hello neighbor hide and seek are all SURPRISE OUT NOW

[Sepholio]

ffs why do they do this to me at Christmas. Makes me want to bootleg stuff just cuz :/

[Sepholio]

Was that the dragon age teaser?

[Sepholio]

Stranger things game. super old school.

New Mortal Kombat!!!! Bout the biggest pop of the night.

[Sepholio]

PSYCHONAUTS FINALLYYYYYYY

[Sepholio]

DMC5 demo out on Xbox now

[Sepholio]

JOKER FROM P5 IN SMASH BROS :o

[Destor]

JOKER FROM P5 IN SMASH BROS :o

Yes plz

[Fignuts]

I love that Ed Boon came out to present an award before the MK reveal just to troll people.

Also, looks like time travel is involved in the plot, so no one is off limits regardless of whether they're dead or not.

We could even end up getting ALL THE WARRIORS

[Fignuts]

I dunno about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Looks kinda shitty. Feel like the switch shoould be capable of looking better than that. It actually looks like a step down from Marvel Infinite lol

I'm honestly pretty hyped for Rage 2. Looks like a cross between Doom and the Mad Max game. Both of which I really enjoyed.

I want to be hyped for Anthem but.....EA

Give me The Outer Worlds now please.

Honestly don't care about Dragon Age anymore. First one was amazing. Second, not so much. I never even finished Inquisition.

Disappointed that there were no updates on Square Enix's Avengers project. Maybe Marvel didn't want it to steal Alliance's thunder.

[Destor]

X men legends/Ultimate Alliance has never been about graphics

[Kalyx triaD]

I think it looks fine anyway. Very bright and vibrant, as a Marvel Universe should look. My only concern is how well Team Ninja can maintain the action RPG mechanics perfected in MUA1, and why the hell did they screw with the camera angle.

[Fignuts]

X men legends/Ultimate Alliance has never been about graphics

True, but previous games never looked bad to me. I dunno.

[Destor]

I think it looks fine anyway. Very bright and vibrant, as a Marvel Universe should look. My only concern is how well Team Ninja can maintain the action RPG mechanics perfected in MUA1, and why the hell did they screw with the camera angle.

*perfected in x-men legends 2

[Destor]

And im hoping you can toggle the camera

[ClockShot]

Judgement AKA Project Judge, the new game from Sega's Yakuza team, will be coming West in 2019.

And, for the first time since the original Yakuza on PS2, the game will have the option of the original Japanese voice cast or an English dub cast.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/08/segas-judgment-by-the-yakuza-team-headed-to-the-west-in-2019

[Sepholio]

South Korea has made boosting someones character in an online game illegal. Punishment includes $18k fine and a 2 year suspended prison sentence.

[ClockShot]

Awesome.

[Destor]

Fascism is just as popular in the south as the north it seems :mad:

[WinterDecay]

I have a next 3 days off and all I want to do is RDR2

[Fignuts]

Oh shit, Celeste is free on Xbox this month. Almost bought it a couple days ago but went with dead cells instead.

[Emperor Smeat]

Based on a letter from Square Enix's president Yosuke Matsuda, the company is focusing a lot towards international expansion and cloud-based gaming as their main plans for 2019 and the near future.

Already working on plans to open a new branch in China and relaunch their dormant branch in India.

In the letter, he vows to look into several emergent technologies, including blockchain, cloud gaming and the next generation of consoles. Most notably for the near future, Matsuda says that Square Enix is "expanding aggressively" overseas, including a presence in China and plans to relaunch their "dormant" Indian subsidiary. Matsuda explains that their Japanese team will "represent" Square Enix in India proper, so it's not just lip service.

https://www.destructoid.com/square-enix-president-vows-to-expand-aggressively-overseas-and-look-into-cloud-streaming-537518.phtml

[Ruien]

OMFG YOU ARE BACK THANK THE LORD

[Emperor Smeat]

* For those interested, a new Marvel game is currently in development for mobile devices by a new studio called Second Dinner and staffed with former Hearthstone developers.
https://www.destructoid.com/ex-hearthstone-developers-open-a-new-studio-and-get-the-marvel-license-for-their-first-game-537686.phtml


* According to Kingdom Hearts III's co-director Tai Yasue, the official reason for the game's lengthy delay is mostly due to engine-related issues during its development. Square Enix vastly underestimated how much time it was going to take for the dev team to get used to developing and porting existing work on a new engine.
https://www.destructoid.com/kingdom-hearts-iii-developer-states-new-engine-partly-responsible-for-sequel-s-lengthy-delay-537628.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Newest Kickstarter update for Shenmue III revealed the specs and hard drive space needed for the PC version.



Minimum: OS: Windows 7x64, Windows 8x64, Windows 10x64 (64-bit OS Required)
Processor: Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) or better; Quad-core or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better (DirectX 11 card & VRAM 2GB Required)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband internet connection
Storage: 100 GB available space
Sound card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Additional Info: Requires Steam Client to activate.



PS4 version likely will need around the same amount for hard drive space.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/2376718

[ClockShot]

100 Gigs of storage space?

This better be on par with Red Dead Redemption 2 if it's gonna be that big.

[Emperor Smeat]

During a recent interview with Nikkei, Nintendo's president teased future Nintendo consoles will be based on a Switch mindset than traditional console mindset. Same for wanting to be more flexible when it comes to console tech.

Also going to continue investing in mobile and non-gaming areas to build up more reliable revenue streams for the company.

"We aren't really fixated on our consoles," Furukawa said. "At the moment we're offering the uniquely developed Nintendo Switch and its software – and that's what we're basing how we deliver the 'Nintendo experience' on." Furukawa did mention that hardware constantly gets better, though, so the company will always look to be flexible with how it delivers its "Nintendo Experience" in the future.

"It has been over 30 years since we started developing consoles. Nintendo's history goes back even farther than that" Furukawa continued, "and through all the struggles that they faced the only thing that they thought about was what to make next. In the long-term, perhaps our focus as a business could shift away from home consoles – flexibility is just as important as ingenuity."
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-s-president-thinks-the-company-may-move-away-from-traditional-console-development-538089.phtml
Translated interview: https://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-president-on-risk-innovation-and-reducing-instability/

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Sony, PS4 has sold around 91 million consoles since its launch while Spiderman sold around 9 million copies as of late November.

https://www.destructoid.com/holidays-push-playstation-4-console-sales-past-the-91-million-mark-538194.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Ubisoft recently released a new trailer and specs for the PC version of The Division 2. Also the bigger news of the game ditching Steam and instead will launch on the Epic Games Store.

Minimum -- 1080p at 30 FPS:
OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10
CPU: AMD FX-6350, Intel Core I5-2500K
RAM: 8GB
GPU: AMD Radeon R9 270, Nvidia Geforce GTX 670
VRAM: 2GB
DirectX: DirectX 11, 12

Recommended -- 1080p at 60 FPS:
OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, Intel Core I7-4790
RAM: 8GB
GPU: AMD RX 480, Nvidia Geforce GTX 970
VRAM: 4GB
DirectX: DirectX 11, 12

Also released specs for "High" and "Elite" (4K) settings.

In a statement to PCWorld, Ubisoft says "Ubisoft has no plans on releasing the Tom Clancy's The Division 2 on Steam. It was a business decision to focus on Epic Store and Ubisoft Store for distribution of The Division 2 on PC. Ubisoft fully supports Epic and their third-party distribution model, which is in the long-term, beneficial for publishers both large and indie and the video games industry. We hope this partnership helps to validate and evolve the model."

However, The Division 2 won't be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. It's still available for sale on the Ubisoft Store. Of course Ubisoft is keen to release its games through its own storefront and launcher -- where it has to relinquish zero parts of the profit to a third-party distributor.

https://www.destructoid.com/the-division-2-s-pc-specs-reveal-options-for-uncapped-frame-rates-and-resolutions-538354.phtml
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3332200/gaming/the-division-2-no-steam-ubisoft.html

[ClockShot]

Activision and Bungie are getting a divorce.

Bungie is taking Destiny and the publishing rights and going their own way.

[Kalyx triaD]

Good.

[Fignuts]

Thank fucking christ

[Emperor Smeat]

On the plus side, no more meddling from Activision but its not like Bungie wasn't doing dumb decisions on their own with how they handled both Destiny games.

Probably better off for Bungie to start on a clean slate with a new IP than keep dealing with the baggage from the Destiny series, at least for the next several years. They need to build up a lot of goodwill to show it wasn't just Activision that was causing them problems.

[Kalyx triaD]

That's what Destiny 3 is for.

[Fignuts]

If they were focused on making a new IP they wouldn't have bought Destiny from Activision. Depending on their resources they could potentially start work on a new IP after getting far enough into development on Destiny 3.

Also, while the playerbase has certainly shrunk over the years, it's still more than large enough that there would be signifigant backlash for leaving the Destiny series to start something else.

[Emperor Smeat]

They can still work on a Destiny 3 since the IP is a good safety net to have around for them.

Just feel they might be better off releasing a new IP first and then go back to Destiny afterwards since that would be easier to build up the good will they've lost over the years than having to pin everything on Destiny 3 needing to be a huge success.

In terms of money, they lose out on Activision's money vault but still have another wealthy partner around who gave them a huge sum of money last year for a new project.

[Fignuts]

I think whether they make it now, or wait a few years, Destiny 3 has to knock it out of the park. Might as well make it now while they still have a strong fanbase thats going to throw down the cash regardless.

[Emperor Smeat]

Gearbox currently dealing with two lawsuits involving their CEO and former company attorney. Mostly regarding allegations of skimming money from the company and illegal contract breaches but also one really damaging allegation assuming its true.

There's going to be some messy litigation in Texas. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and former Gearbox in-house attorney Wade Callender are suing each other in two separate actions, both alleging that the other has breached their legal obligations to the company.

As discovered by Kotaku, Gearbox originally filed a lawsuit against Callender in November 2018 for misusing company funds. It's said that Callender borrowed money from the company for a home loan and tuition that wasn't fully paid back. Further, Callender is accused of abusing a Gearbox company credit card for personal expenses such as "family vacations, gun club memberships and firearms accessories, and trying to get six-pack abs."

Callender then sued both Pitchford and Gearbox in December 2018, possibly in retaliation to Gearbox's lawsuit ... The crux of the lawsuit is that Callender says Pitchford took a secretive $12 million bonus from Take-Two Interactive in 2016 that was funneled into Pitchford Entertainment Media Magic, LLC. According to Callender, that money should have rightfully been paid out to Gearbox employees and to help fund the development of the next Borderlands game.

However, things take a dark twist. Callender also states that Pitchford accidentally forgot a USB drive at a Dallas-area Medieval Times restaurant in 2014. Callender alleges that the USB drive contained both highly-sensitive business documents and "underage pornography." Pitchford was supposedly in San Francisco at the time the drive was recovered, and Callender -- without yet knowing the contents of the drive -- directed Gearbox staff to duplicate the files so they could be sent to Pitchford. Pitchford allegedly intervened and ordered the duplicate files to be immediately destroyed. Callender goes on to also accuse Pitchford of using Gearbox company funds to throw personal parties at his house where older men would expose themselves to minors.

Making things a bit more interesting is the voice actor for Claptrap from the Borderlands series recently went public about the allegations but kept it ambiguous enough on which allegations were true or if they all are.

https://www.destructoid.com/wild-lawsuit-against-gearbox-ceo-randy-pitchford-alleges-wrongful-12m-bonus-and-underage-pornography-538626.phtml
https://kotaku.com/former-gearbox-lawyer-accuses-ceo-randy-pitchford-of-ta-1831679539

[Ultra Mantis]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That Pitchford story keep ms getting weirder. He admitted on a podcast to losing the porn memory stick at Medieval Times. He says the download was research into a magic trick and the girl was not underage. <a href="https://t.co/sVRX7yPyWr">https://t.co/sVRX7yPyWr</a></p>&mdash; Kyle Orland (@KyleOrl) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleOrl/status/1083860624264908800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">11 January 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He was researching porn for a Magic trick!?!? What?

[ClockShot]

That...……...sounds like a weird, and nasty lawsuit(s) in the works.

[ClockShot]

Keep seeing this Black Desert game on XB1 everywhere I go online today.

What is it?

[Kalyx triaD]

An overly ambitious MMO that let's you do just about any skill no matter how boring it sounds. Nice visuals tho.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Bethesda found another way to mess up things with Fallout 76.

This time it involves a developer-only room somehow being accessible in the PC version of the game. Can't access it through normal means which is why Bethesda has been handing out bans and threats of bans to anyone who enters the location. Even Bethesda's handling with the bannings and patches to fix it created new issues with the game.

Being speculated this happened because Bethesda might have just reused coding for Fallout 4's dev room without making serious tweaks or rewrites to handle an online-only game.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-01-11-fallout-76-players-have-worked-their-way-into-a-secret-developer-room-which-contains-a-human-npc
https://www.destructoid.com/ruh-roh-player-uncovers-fallout-76-developer-room-with-tons-of-goodies-and-an-actual-npc-538861.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Also in gaming news, smurfs were recently discovered to be actual real beings and love playing DOTA 2.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today we reset roughly 17,000 accounts that were found to be abusing matchmaking to get into ranked. These techniques were mostly used by smurfs or account buyers.</p>&mdash; DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOTA2/status/1083846843723767808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:shifty:

[Kalyx triaD]

Smurf accounts are such a weird phenomenon.

[Tom Guycott]

Smurf accounts are such a weird phenomenon.

Doo doooooooo doo doo doo



... but what exactly do you mean by "weird phenomenon"?


Doo doodoo doo

[Emperor Smeat]

* Rockstar and Take Two are currently dealing with two lawsuits regarding Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar is being sued over claims of copyright infringement regarding the name of a character in the game and Take Two filed a counter-suit over claims of fair use protection for the character's name.
https://www.destructoid.com/rockstar-s-parent-company-sues-pinkerton-over-red-dead-redemption-2-characters-539011.phtml

* Nintendo is currently rumored to be adding SNES and possibly other past console games to their Switch Online paid service within the near future, based on recent data mining.
https://www.destructoid.com/list-of-potential-nintendo-switch-online-snes-games-discovered-538906.phtml

* According to Anthem's lead producer, every event or activity in the game will support online matchmaking.
https://twitter.com/BenIrvo/status/1084557238113574912

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a report from Kotaku, EA is rumored to have canceled their unannounced open-world Star Wars game. Seems its due to a mix of the game's troubled dev history, plans not staying on track, and EA getting upset at how long it was taking.

According to a report from Kotaku, Electronic Arts has cancelled production of its open-world Star Wars title. Originally designed by Dead Space-helmers Visceral Games and Uncharted's Amy Hennig, EA Vancouver took over the project in October of 2017, after Visceral's closure.

The project, originally known as "Ragtag", then bounced around various teams, directors and re-designs. Conceived by Visceral as a single-player action-adventure, EA wanted to mold Ragtag - completely rebooted by EA Vancouver as "Orca" - into a large-scale open-world game. Kotaku's report suggests that Orca had become so ambitious, that EA's head honchos finally brought the hammer down, wanting a conceptually simpler title that can be pushed out to the public much sooner.

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

[Fignuts]

Asdfghkk

[Kalyx triaD]

EA's hold on Star Wars is a fucking mess.

[ClockShot]

EA's hold on Star Wars is a fucking mess.

Disney needs to step in and either give EA a boot in the ass or just pull the rights.

BioWare is doing fine (I think) with The Old Republic these days, so leave them alone.

[Emperor Smeat]

* For those in Europe, Nintendo will be holding a Direct episode tomorrow focusing on some of the indie games arriving this year for the Switch.
https://twitter.com/NintendoEurope/status/1087711547797970947

* Based on recent data digging, Namco is currently planning for another 6 DLC characters to be added to Soulcalibur VI and might have teased who they are based on coded entries in a recent game update.
https://www.destructoid.com/rumour-coded-entries-supposedly-point-to-incoming-soulcalibur-vi-characters-539812.phtml

* In a Did You Know Gaming type fact, the Super Smash Bros series celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday.
https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1087140521020088320

* Capcom announced Resident Evil 2 Remake will be getting several classic costumes and a new mode as free post-launch DLC packs.
In addition to a few costumes, a brand new randomized mode called "The Ghost Survivors" will be in tow.

The Ghost Survivors sets itself up as a "What If?" side story that will see players take control of other characters from Resident Evil 2. Using a mix of randomized elements and a point system for unlocking upgrades, the scenario is poised to be a new take on the classic "Extreme Battle" mode from the original release. Some of the characters teased include the mayor's daughter, Robert Kendo and an unnamed U.S.S. member. There are even exclusive enemies not present in the story mode.
https://www.destructoid.com/resident-evil-2-to-receive-free-post-launch-mode-and-costumes-539824.phtml

[Fignuts]

Disney needs to step in and either give EA a boot in the ass or just pull the rights.

BioWare is doing fine (I think) with The Old Republic these days, so leave them alone.

Old republic hasn’t had an expansion in years. Going forward they are putting the majority of their time and resources into Anthem, with SWOR getting less and less support. Unless Anthem bombs. Then they’ll just close BioWare altogether because that’s what EA does best.

[Emperor Smeat]

EA rumored to have recently cancelled another Star Wars game, this time supposedly from Bioware.

Bioware was rumored to have been secretly working on a new Knights of the Old Republic game except they did not have EA's full approval or commitment. Supposedly it got cancelled as part of the fallout from Visceral Games' Star Wars project being dropped.

https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/games/62877/star-wars-bioware-kotor-3-knights-of-the-old-republic-project

[Fignuts]

lol

[ClockShot]

:nono:

Maybe Trip Hawkins should return and try to salvage this mess. Sometimes it works when the founder of a company returns.

Sometimes. Not all the time.

[Fignuts]

Ugh. Almost don't want to buy Anthem just out of spite. But I still want to support Bioware. Fully believe they're fucked if it doesn't do well.

[Emperor Smeat]

Bethesda is currently denying rumors of plans to make Fallout 76 a free-to-play game soon.

Basis of the rumor involves retailer EB Games recently pulled the game from their shelves in Australia implying a big announcement will be made very soon by Bethesda.

https://www.destructoid.com/bethesda-flat-out-denies-fallout-76-is-going-free-to-play-539854.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Cyberpunk 2077's creative director has recently left CD Projekt RED for Blizzard Entertainment based on a recent LinkedIn update. Spent the past 12 years with the company prior to leaving last month.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/cyberpunk-2077-creative-director-joins-blizzard.95228/
https://www.destructoid.com/cyberpunk-2077-s-creative-director-leaves-cd-projekt-red-for-blizzard-entertainment-540033.phtml

* Bungie recently confirmed that both High Moon studios and Vicarious Visions studios will no longer be helping out with the Destiny series due to being owned by Activision. Also revealed their main plan to fix Destiny 2 involves adding "catch-up mechanics" instead of fixing the real issues people have with the game.
https://www.destructoid.com/bungie-reassures-players-that-they-re-still-on-track-even-with-activision-in-the-rear-view-539991.phtml

* For those interested in becoming pro Farming Simulator players, developer Giants Software announced they will be launching an e-league for the series later this year.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/23/18194259/farming-simulator-league-esports-prizes-giants-software

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Nintendo, they have recently switched developers for Metroid Prime 4 with Retro Studios now in charge of the project.

Official reason related to quality issues and other problems during its development causing drastic changes to be needed.

Bandai Namco was rumored to have been the game's original developer before the switch was made.

https://www.destructoid.com/retro-studios-is-taking-over-development-for-metroid-prime-4-540198.phtml

[ClockShot]

? *scratches head*

Bandai Namco has a pretty good track record of churning out quality games.

Ah well, maybe they'll put some extra bodies on Code Vein now.

[Fignuts]

eh, they make good games, but nothing that I would hold up to Nintendo levels of quality besides Tekken and Soul Calibur.

Have they ever eeven made anything that resembles Metroid Prime? Probably for the best that it's in the hands of the original devs, even if that team has changed since the last games.

[Emperor Smeat]

Bandai Namco recently announced they are working on a new Dragon Ball game called Dragon Ball Game - Project Z for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. This will be a RPG type game based on the Z series and currently planned for a release later this year.
https://www.destructoid.com/-dragon-ball-game-project-z-is-a-grand-retelling-of-the-z-saga-540548.phtml

Namco also released a new trailer showing off 6 new fighters arriving for Season 2 of Dragon Ball Fighters Z. Four of the Six fighters were revealed to be Jiren, Videl, Broly, and SSGSS Gogeta.
https://www.destructoid.com/dragon-ball-fighterz-s-second-season-is-starting-off-with-a-bang-540539.phtml

[ClockShot]

NetEase, a Chinese based internet tech company is slowly starting to have a say in the gaming industry.

They recently invested $100 million in Bungie for a minority stake and a seat on the Board.

Today, they invested in Quantic Dream. Makers of Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and recently Detroit: Become Human. NetEase now has a minority stake with them as well.

https://www.playstationtrophies.org/news/news-27064-NetEase-Purchases-Minority-Stake-in-Detroit--Become-Human-Studio-Quantic-Dream.html

[Kalyx triaD]

They need a new consultant.

[Emperor Smeat]

* After previously holding a defiant stance over the issue, EA announced they will no longer be selling loot boxes for their FIFA series in Belgium in order to be compliant with the country's gambling laws.
https://www.destructoid.com/ea-has-stopped-selling-fifa-loot-boxes-in-belgium-540783.phtml

* Twitch is currently dealing with online backlash following the company's recent attempts to cater only to their top streamers. This time it involved plastering ads hyping up big events for their top streamers on all community channels and streams. Predictably, this caused a lot of complaints and resentment from other channels who felt Twitch was purposely trying to damage smaller streamers in order to benefit their chosen ones.
https://www.destructoid.com/twitch-responds-to-backlash-after-advertising-major-livestream-events-on-community-channels-540734.phtml

* Capcom announced Resident Evil 2 Remake has shipped around 3 million copies since its launch last week.
http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/news/html/e190129.html

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested in playing the private beta for The Division 2, small warning as it will contain some end game content.

The good news is that stuff can be skipped if you don't want any major storyline spoilers.

Along with those early missions, some endgame content will be available to try. Relegated to a special "Invaded" mission, this early look at the endgame will start on February 8 at 8 pm PST. This will put players at the level cap of 30 and let them try out the new specialist classes in The Division 2. You can safely skip the content if you don't want any spoilers for the story.

The private beta will be running from February 7 at 1 am PST until February 11 at 1 am PST. You'll be able to pre-load the beta on February 6 so that you can jump straight in when it starts. Available on all platforms (PS4, PC, Xbox One), access is limited to pre-orders from participating retailers.

https://www.destructoid.com/the-division-2-s-private-beta-will-feature-some-endgame-content-540956.phtml

[ClockShot]

Should be getting my invite for The Division 2 beta any day now with that news.

[Fignuts]

Damn only two spots left in dbz season 2 and there’s already rumors that one of them is another Goku. Looking more and more like my boy Janemba isn’t gonna make it despite fan popularity.

[Kalyx triaD]

There's quite a few characters above him if we're going on fan popularity. The Super Sayijin waifus for instance.

[Fignuts]

It’s a shame because he’s got one of the most unique and cool power sets in the series history.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a report from Japanese newspaper Nikkei, Nintendo is currently expected to sell around 32 million Switches by the end of this fiscal year (March). For some perspective, that would put it in a tie with the N64 as the 3rd highest selling console in company history.

Nintendo is also reported to be working on plans to expand their paid online service this year and a "slim" version of the Switch could arrive as early as this year.

https://www.destructoid.com/smaller-nintendo-switch-model-reportedly-due-as-early-as-this-year-541132.phtml

[Fignuts]

Videl has a really awesome moveset.

[ClockShot]

Anthem demo is available to download if anybody is interested in potentially donating to the Save Bioware fund.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Based on recent data mining, the next DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros Ultimate after Persona's Joker is rumored to be Erdrick from the Dragon Quest series. Also a recent update for the game removed the code names for upcoming DLC fighters.
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-seemingly-recognizes-the-super-smash-bros-datamining-scene-removes-dlc-codename-hints-541065.phtml

* Based on a recent fiscal report from Nintendo, 5 of their games have sold over 10 million copies on the Switch since the console's launch and currently have around 8 million subscribers for their paid online service.
https://www.destructoid.com/in-under-two-years-nintendo-boasts-five-games-that-sold-over-10-million-copies-541064.phtml
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-boasts-over-eight-million-paid-subscribers-for-switch-online-541211.phtml

* NetherRealm Studios announced Kano will be joining the roster of fighters for Mortal Kombat 11 and similar to Russia getting an exclusive Skarlet alt skin, Brazil will be getting an exclusive pirate-based Kano alt skin.
https://www.destructoid.com/massive-prick-kano-has-been-konfirmed-for-mortal-kombat-11-541197.phtml

[ClockShot]

Respawn Entertainment supposedly got a top secret free-to-play game called Apex Legends in the works. Rumor is that it'll be announced and released this Monday.

It's a mishmash of Titanfall without the mechs with some Overwatch and Blackout mode from Black Ops 4.

Here's a link to the ign article with you wanna read more.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/02/02/rumored-free-to-play-titanfall-battle-royale-could-be-out-as-soon-as-monday

[Kalyx triaD]

What is an 'Overwatch mode'?

[ClockShot]

What is an 'Overwatch mode'?

The game, ya silly goose.

[Fignuts]

So it’s going to be a battle royale game with unique characters with different abilities?

[Kalyx triaD]

The game, ya silly goose.

I read it wrong, monster.

[Emperor Smeat]

* During a recent interview with Eurogamer, Respawn Entertainment stated they currently have no plans to develop a new game in the Titanfall series. Unofficial reason due to EA ditching development of Titanfall 3 in order to cash-in on the Battle Royal craze instead.
https://www.destructoid.com/nope-respawn-isn-t-making-titanfall-3-541600.phtml
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-02-04-respawn-explains-apex-legends-surprise-release-and-why-there-are-no-titans

* EA is currently rumored to be considering plans to remaster Jade Empire or develop a new game in the series based on recent trademark filings.
https://www.destructoid.com/jade-empire-trademark-filed-re-release-or-new-entry-on-the-way--541534.phtml

* According to Sony's recent fiscal report, PS4 has sold over 91 million consoles since its launch while their Playstation Plus service is currently over 36 million subscribers.
https://www.destructoid.com/playstation-plus-subscriber-base-swells-past-36-million-541265.phtml

[ClockShot]

Had Jade Empire but never really got deep into it.

If the rumor is true, I'd grab it again.

[Fignuts]

God damn it, I like Apex Legends but not at the expense of Titanfall 3.

[Kalyx triaD]

They are making TF3. They're just switching it to a new engine since they're not pleased using the Source engine again so close to the next gen of consoles. Apex Legends is their last game using the Source engine. It is not a replacement.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Microsoft announced they have rebranded their Microsoft Studios division to Xbox Game Studios going forward.
https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-studios-rebrands-as-xbox-game-studios-541621.phtml

* EA announced Battlefield V failed to meet their sales expectations and put the blame on the game not having its battle royale mode available at launch. Game sold around 7.3 million copies but EA wanted over 8 million in sales by now.
https://www.gameinformer.com/2019/02/05/ea-battlefield-v-did-not-meet-sales-expectations

* Based on Capcom's recent fiscal report, the company stated they were happy with the "strong" sales for both Mega Man 11 and X Legacy Collection.
https://www.destructoid.com/mega-man-series-seemingly-not-in-trouble-as-capcom-reports-strong-mega-man-11-and-x-legacy-collection-sales-541620.phtml

* Gaming website Screwattack announced they are shutting down and will rebrand themselves as Death Battle Channel due to the immense popularity of their Death Battle series. All legacy Screwattack content will be shifted over to their portal channel on Roster Teeth. On a personal note, I used to write articles for their gaming news for almost 2 years before they shut down their news department in order to focus more towards their Death Battle series.
https://twitter.com/CraigSkitz/status/1092492236917489665
https://www.destructoid.com/screwattack-may-be-gone-but-it-will-never-be-forgotten-541656.phtml

[ClockShot]

:rofl:

EA.

Ohhhhhhhh boy. What are they gonna say if Anthem "fails to meet their sales expectations"?

[Kalyx triaD]

It wasn't lack of BR mode, EA.

[Fignuts]

There is a laundry list of reasons why it didn’t sell .

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to Take Two, Read Dead Redemption 2 has shipped around 23 million copies since its launch with around 17 million copies being sold/shipped during its first 2 weeks.
https://www.destructoid.com/red-dead-redemption-2-ships-23-million-units-for-take-two-541817.phtml

* Based on EA's recent fiscal report, the company currently has plans for a new Star Wars game, Need for Speed game, and Plants vs. Zombies game to be released this year. In regards to Star Wars, this will be the game that is currently in development at Respawn Entertainment.
https://www.destructoid.com/ea-is-launching-need-for-speed-star-wars-and-plants-vs-zombies-games-in-2019-541748.phtml

* Bioware recently released new details and a trailer regarding Anthem's raid system and endgame content. The biggest detail being "Strongholds" which are meant to be the toughest and longest missions for the game.
https://www.destructoid.com/anthem-shows-off-its-raids-and-other-endgame-content-541876.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Despite the complaints and mess EA has made with their handling of the Stars Wars license, it seems Disney isn't that bothered by it and claims to have a "good relationship" with EA.

As long as EA doesn't hurt Disney financially or wreck the Star Wars name, Disney doesn't really care about the status of their games. Also means almost no chance Disney would ditch EA's hold of the license prior to the deal expiring in 2023.

In a recent earnings call reported by Variety, CEO Bob Iger said that Disney is good at a lot of things, like "making movies and television shows and theme parks and cruise ships," but hasn't quite been able to figure out how to successfully publish videogames.

"Over the years, as you know, we’ve tried our hand at self-publishing, we’ve bought companies, we’ve sold companies, we’ve bought developers, we’ve closed developers," Iger said. "And we’ve found over the years that we haven’t been particularly good at the self-publishing side, but we’ve been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn’t require that much allocation of capital."

"Since we’re allocating capital in other directions ... we’ve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space is licensing and not publishing. We’ve had good relationships with some of those we’re licensing to, notably EA and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we’re probably going to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere."
https://www.pcgamer.com/disney-has-a-good-relationship-with-electronic-arts-ceo-says/

[Kalyx triaD]

Ha.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

<img src="https://i2.wp.com/galeri.uludagsozluk.com/17/jabba-the-hutt_61590.jpg" alt="See the source image">

"No KOTOR. No Sandbox. Another Battlefront, ho ho ho"

[Emperor Smeat]

During a recent interview with VG247, Capcom's director Hideaki Itsuno revealed he's pretty much the reason why a new Dragon's Dogma game hasn't been made yet.

Apparently he went to the company's founder one day asking for permission to make either Dragon's Dogma 2 or Devil May Cry 5 and expected the company to make the decision for him. Instead the company was very interested in both ideas and left the decision up to him.

Itsuno felt way more interested in making a new Devil May Cry game which is why DMC 5 got made and not DD 2.

Unsurprisingly, the topic has come up during internal discussions -- but not in the way you might expect. Speaking to VG247, game director Hideaki Itsuno explained that he went to Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto and said "look, I want to make either Devil May Cry 5 or Dragon's Dogma 2 next."

As relayed by Itsuno's translator, "[Tsujimoto] said 'Okay, do whatever you want. Do whichever one you want.' So I thought, alright, y'know what... let's do [Devil May Cry 5]. So we did that."

https://www.vg247.com/2019/02/07/dragons-dogma-2/

[Emperor Smeat]

* For those with a PS+ membership, Sony gave a heads-up that PS3 and Vita games will no longer be offered as monthly freebies after March 8th. This month is the last to feature new offerings from both consoles though.
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-reminds-us-that-in-just-one-month-playstation-plus-will-no-longer-cover-ps3-and-vita-542060.phtml

* During a recent interview with VG247, Devil May Cry 5 director Hideaki Itsuno implied he is not interested in Dante being a playable fighter for the Smash Bros series unless Capcom releases a game from the series on the Switch first.
https://www.destructoid.com/devil-may-cry-director-if-people-want-to-see-dante-in-super-smash-bros-his-series-should-be-on-switch-first-542059.phtml

* From Software recently released the PC specs for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
https://www.destructoid.com/sekiro-shadows-die-twice-s-pc-specs-are-far-from-hardcore-541989.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

According to recent report from Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard are currently expected to be laying off hundreds of employees tomorrow.

Official reasons due to the company's stock taking big hits since last October, investors being worried about the loss of the Destiny IP, and notable shakeups in upper management the past few months.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-08/activision-is-said-to-plan-job-cuts-as-sales-of-key-games-stall

[RP]

800 is what i'm hearing.

[RP]

Blizzard customer service is about to be like AOL.

[Fignuts]

Guarantee the jobs of everyone actually responsible for the losses are firmly secure.

[Emperor Smeat]

Guarantee the jobs of everyone actually responsible for the losses are firmly secure.

Or a very sweet compensation package if they are actually held accountable.

Activision spent $15 million just on the signing bonus alone for their new CFO.

[Fignuts]

Saroru Iwata was the last of his kind.

[Fignuts]

The most hilarious part is that Activision/Blizzard did better financially than they've ever done. Wasn't good enough I guess.

No company ever hits their expectations anymore because they're all unrealistic. And everyone but the people setting said expectations has to pay.

[Sepholio]

MARIO MAKER 2!!!!

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to a couple of developers, Sony's claims of being more open for cross-platform play on the PS4 was pretty much a lie. Also Sony currently dealing with some backlash from developers after recently putting all the blame on them for the lack of cross-platform support on the PS4.
https://www.destructoid.com/did-sony-give-us-false-hope-with-fortnite-s-cross-play-beta-developers-are-claiming-they-re-not-as-open-as-they-say-542652.phtml

* THQ Nordic reportedly has recently purchased Warhorse Studios (Kingdom Come: Deliverance devs) to add to their growing pile of studios and former THQ properties.
https://www.destructoid.com/thq-nordic-buys-kingdom-come-deliverance-developer-warhorse-studios-542638.phtml

* Another game in the Zelda series is getting the remake treatment from Nintendo.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_U-_XfDGgDw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Fignuts]

MARIO MAKER 2!!!!

Fuck you destor, I told you they could do it.

[Sepholio]

So down for that Zelda remake.

Also Sony didn't lie at all about being more open to cross-play. Their previous stance was NO CROSSPLAY FOR YOU. Now they at least let some games do it. It's still bullshit, but it's far better than what it was if you consider cross-play important.

[Emperor Smeat]

So down for that Zelda remake.

Also Sony didn't lie at all about being more open to cross-play. Their previous stance was NO CROSSPLAY FOR YOU. Now they at least let some games do it. It's still bullshit, but it's far better than what it was if you consider cross-play important.

They did in the sense of managing to fool a bunch of developers of being more open to talks and then blaming them for why only 2 games support the feature on the PS4.

CEO of Chucklefish studios pretty much stated Sony never wanted any real talks nor gave them any concrete answer that they were not allowed prior to Wargroove's launch on PS4.

Even the 2 games they approved were mostly due to outside reasons than Sony being sincere about their support. Fortnite had the purchases debacle and Rocket League had the favoritism debacle that left Sony in no position to keep rejecting it.

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to Ubisoft's recent fiscal report, Far Cry V managed to be their best selling video game of 2018 and outsold Assassin's Creed Odyssey by a sizeable margin.
https://www.destructoid.com/far-cry-sells-better-than-assassin-s-creed-apparently-542926.phtml

* Unlike with Black Ops 4, Activision announced this year's Call of Duty game will include the return of a single player campaign mode.
https://www.destructoid.com/this-year-s-call-of-duty-release-will-feature-a-single-player-campaign-542881.phtml

* Nintendo revealed that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will be released this Summer while Sony recently revealed the game's official box art.
https://www.destructoid.com/after-four-long-years-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-finally-has-a-release-window-542867.phtml

[Fignuts]

Can’t wait for bloodstained. Looks great.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Koei Tecmo caused a pretty bad scene during this year's EVO Japan tournament. Caused their portion of the stream from the event to get pulled from Twitch.

Seems EVO officials were not fond of how raunchy Tecmo's segment promoting Dead or Alive 6 was veering towards the longer it kept on going.

The first offense came when a few of the female presenters on stage began talking about various aspects of DOA6 and were spanking each other while jumping around. Everyone was in on the act, which was clearly trying to play up the raunchy side of this series. After that, Koei Tecmo employees were demoing the new free camera option in DOA6. Hulk Hogan wannabe Bass Armstrong had performed a pile driver on Nyotengu and the camera was paused at an angle that looked rather sexual. The stream was abruptly pulled during this bit.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/02/15/evo-japan-stream-pulled-offline-dead-alive-6-promo-veers-content-branded-inappropriate/#below-article

[Fignuts]

lol

[Fignuts]

Fucking EVO officials apologizing and stating that Tecmo's presentation didn't meet their "core values"

Yet Mortal Kombat will be at EVO, with all it's characters being brutally maimed, decapitated, vivisected, etc, etc. Swear to god, we are the most sexually repressed first world country in existence.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Happy 20th Anniversary, Gearbox Software!

Also, Borderlands 3 announcement immediately, please.

[Ultra Mantis]

DAMN iNATOR didn't read page 330 apparently.

[Damndirty]

So hyped for Link's Awakening! And... did I see fucking Goombas in the trailer???

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, a trademark filed by Alfonso Ribeiro for The Carlton Dance was recently denied by the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Official reason was due to the USPTO feeling the breakdown of the dance does not fit their legal definiation of choreographic work for trademarks.

"The dancer sways their hips as they step from side to side, while swinging their arms in an exaggerated manner," states Performing Arts Registration specialist Saskia Florence. "In the second dance step, the dancer takes two steps to each side while opening and closing their legs and their arms in unison. In the final step, the dancer's feet are still and they lower one hand from above their head to the middle of their chest while fluttering their fingers. The combination of these three dance steps is a simple routine that is not registrable as a choreographic work."

Also hurting his claim was the very long wait from when he created the dance to filing an official trademark for it.

The Hollywood Reporter article goes further into surprisingly deep red-tape surrounding the application. This includes referencing the fact Ribeiro didn't attempt to copyright the dance when he invented it in the '90s, even utilising the fact that he submitted a clip from show Dancing With the Stars as evidence, which the refusal bogs down in technicalities about him having an on-screen partner.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/copyright-office-refuses-registration-fresh-prince-star-alfonso-ribeiros-carlton-dance-1186666

[Emperor Smeat]

* The voice actor of Ken from Street Fighter and Dante from Devil May Cry series was almost killed in a recent car robbery incident in Guatemala.
https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/feb/17/voice-actor-ken-masters-and-devil-may-crys-dante-uninjured-nearly-killed-car-robbery-attempt/

* According to Game Informer, Nintendo is currently reviving a previously long canceled project for the Switch.
https://nintendoeverything.com/rumor-nintendo-reviving-dead-and-buried-game-kingdom-hearts-switch-talk/

* Google is currently rumored to be revealing their big gaming-related plans during next month's Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. Current speculation is Google is either revealing a new gaming streaming service or a new console-like device.
https://www.destructoid.com/google-will-finally-reveal-its-gaming-plans-in-exactly-one-month-543519.phtml

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

So hyped for Link's Awakening! And... did I see fucking Goombas in the trailer???

Yep. What's that about?

[Fignuts]

There were goombas in the original, I believe.

[Big Vic]

There were goombas in the original, I believe.

That is correct.

Wart is in the original too along with peach.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Ubisoft is currently working on a tv series for their unreleased Skull & Bones game. Atlas Entertainment is producing the series with Ubisoft and is currently planned to debut well before the game itself gets released.

Working with production company Atlas Entertainment (known for Dirty John and 12 Monkeys), Skull and Bones is set to debut as a TV series before the game even comes out. The series is said to be a female-driven drama set in the "lawless frontier of the Indian Ocean" during the 1700s. Amanda Segal (executive producer of The Mist) will write and produce the pilot episode with help from Atlas' Andy Horwitz, Richard Suckle and Robert Amidon.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ubisoft-developing-a-female-driven-skull-bones-tv-show-1187642

[ClockShot]

If Ubisoft thinks they're looking to replace or be a better show than Black Sails, they're sadly mistaken.

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to Game Informer, Nintendo is currently reviving a previously long canceled project for the Switch.
https://nintendoeverything.com/rumor-nintendo-reviving-dead-and-buried-game-kingdom-hearts-switch-talk/


Current rumor going around the net hints that this might be Scalebound which got cancelled by Microsoft 2 years ago.

https://www.nintendo-insider.com/report-scalebound-resurrected-as-a-nintendo-switch-exclusive/

[Big Vic]

Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America and one of the faces of the video game company, will retire in April.

[Kalyx triaD]

Damn.

[Fignuts]

No fucking joke, his replacement is a guy named Doug Bowser.

[Emperor Smeat]

Looks like EA has its sights set on killing off another studio possibly soon. Kotaku reporting that a big wave of layoffs recently hit EA's mobile games studio in Australia.

Based on some numbers, 80-100 people were laid off and represents around 10% of the total gaming dev workforce in all of Australia.

Following the hundreds of job losses at Activision Blizzard and the start of redundancies at Guild Wars developer ArenaNet, EA has begun a massive round of layoffs at its development studio in Melbourne.

FireMonkeys, which was created in 2012 after EA merged IronMonkey Studios and FireMint, is one of the largest development houses in Australia. Focused exclusively on mobile development, the company is responsible for making Real Racing 3, as well as The Sims: Freeplay and Need for Speed: No Limits.

In 2016, the company moved to a new office in Docklands and was hailed as the largest mobile game developer in the country, with Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley praising the studio's history as "one of innovation, creativity and global success".

The studio was also developing Real Racing 4, although it's understood that the project was officially cancelled earlier this week. Following that decision, executives from EA have flown in from overseas to affect wholesale changes across the studio. Those decisions included the cancellation of Real Racing 4 and a reorganisation of staff across the titles currently under their management, which includes The Sims Mobile.

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/02/eas-australian-studio-hit-by-massive-layoffs/

[Fignuts]

Awesome.

[Kalyx triaD]

Mobile games? Can't say I'm devastated, though it's another price of working for EA. It's the one fear I have for Respawn.

[Big Vic]

No fucking joke, his replacement is a guy named Doug Bowser.

How stupid can nintendo be? It's obviously King Koopa in disguise in an attempt to kidnap shigeru miyamoto

[Fignuts]

https://i.imgur.com/3OmvQnB.jpg

[Fignuts]

Free demo of DOA 6 is live today and tomorrow. Hell of a lot of content too. All 24 characters available as well as multiple game modes

[Fignuts]

No CORE VALUES though.

[ClockShot]

Bouncing boobs aplenty, right?

[DAMN iNATOR]

How stupid can nintendo be? It's obviously King Koopa in disguise in an attempt to kidnap shigeru miyamoto

Don't worry, his executive vice-president, Mary O. Jumpman, will keep him in line. :shifty:

[Emperor Smeat]

Nintendo and Microsoft are currently rumored to be collaborating on a big project not related to Xbox Game Pass or a Switch port of Ori. Also rumored that RARE might be involved in this collaboration.

Another rumor floating around the net implies that Nintendo might be considering the idea of buying RARE and/or still have plans for a N64 Classic but need RARE on board due to their iconic legacy on the N64.

[Emperor Smeat]

During a recent interview with IGN, 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross revealed Microsoft seriously considered the idea of Gearbox becoming the new developer for the Halo series after Bungie left.

At the time, Microsoft was looking for a new developer to handle the series and Gearbox was their top choice. Main reason was due to Gearbox handled the PC port of Halo and had the most experience with the series after Bungie.

In the end, Microsoft decided to form an internal studio to handle the series, which led to the creation of 343 Industries.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/02/25/borderlands-developer-was-considered-for-halo-4-ign-unfiltered

[Kalyx triaD]

That would have been interesting.

[Emperor Smeat]

THQ Nordic just pulled off arguably one of the biggest PR blunders in gaming history.

They recently held an AMA session on a website which on any normal day would be a fun occasion and full of useful info about games and the company itself.

Except for today since THQ Nordic decided to hold it on 8chan without realizing the infamous rep the site has on the net to the point it got blacklisted by Google at one point.

Worst part is Nordic could have legit avoided the whole thing since they got immediate backlash when they first announced they were holding the AMA and yet still went ahead with doing it in the end.

Supposedly THQ Nordic claims they were unaware of the infamous nature of the website nor the questions asked but also haven't punished/fired the guy responsible for it at the moment. Same for the guy in Nordic responsible for it claiming he didn't bother to do any background checking on the site and only agreed to do one because the site said nothing bad would happen during it.

The second question in the AMA contained a direct reference to pedophilia and it accompanied a drawing of two young women with ridiculously large breasts being fondled by a man towering behind them. In response to the question -- "Where the big tiddie lolis at?" -- Brock said, "You got them already we'd say."

In between legitimate questions about the state of THQ Nordic's franchises, users dropped further references to child pornography and Nazism. Pollice and Brock played along, answering the relevant questions, for about an hour.

While that should have been an end to the whole sorry saga, people have inevitably been digging through THQ Nordic’s comments in the AMA itself, and it makes for some unsavoury reading. It talked about “working it like an alien prostitute” when asked about the Destroy All Humans franchise and even mentioned that a homophobic slur “could be from one of our upcoming games”. Not exactly a great look, we’re sure you’ll agree.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;I personally agreed to this AMA without doing my proper due diligence to understand the history and the controversy of the site. I do not condone child pornography, white supremacy, or racism in any shape or form. (...)</p>&mdash; THQNordic (@THQNordic) <a href="https://twitter.com/THQNordic/status/1100478744693796874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/26/thq-nordic-8chan-ama-but-why/
http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/02/thq_nordic_did_something_crazy_and_it_didnt_involve_an_acquisition

[Emperor Smeat]

In a lighter tone, website VentureBeat recently held an interview with former Naughty Dog and EA writer/director Amy Hennig discussing the future of traditional single-player focused games.

During the discussion, Hennig dropped some insight into the current gaming climate and how traditional single-player titles are shifting toward the "live service" model.

"I don't think a game like the first Uncharted [...] would be a viable pitch today," Hennig told VentureBeat. "The idea of a finite eight-ish-hour experience that has no second modes, no online — the only replayability was the fact that you could unlock cheats and stuff like that...That doesn't fly anymore." She continues to say that most games need some kind of extra component, which usually takes the form of a multiplayer suite. You can even see this happening with the current trend of "games as a service" and even battle royale titles.

Pretty much stated games like last year's God of War are going to be an exception since the biggest obstacle to story-driven games in years has been that the vast majority of players don't finish them and gaming companies have done a bad job addressing this problem.

https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/22/amy-hennig-interview-surviving-the-trauma-of-making-a-video-game-and-inspiring-newcomers/view-all/
https://www.destructoid.com/amy-hennig-believes-single-player-games-like-uncharted-are-a-harder-proposition-today-544299.phtml

[Fignuts]

Are Spider-man and Read dead redemption 2 exceptions as well? How about Resident Evil 2 Remake?

Some of these people won’t be satisfied until there are no single player games and everything is a “live service” designed to squeeze as much money as possible from the consumer.

[Emperor Smeat]

Red Dead Redemption 2 was actually used during the interview as a case for why too much side content and padding in story-driven games can be bad.

Something like barely 22% managed to actually finish the story because there was way too much stuff distracting players from completing it. Plus once Red Dead Online got released, I'd assume the percentage of new players finishing the story dropped even lower.

[ClockShot]

There's always going to be single player games out there. Sony's first party studios are good for churning out titles on a regular basis. We'll always know that Rockstar is good for their product, too. Bunch of others to mention, but you get the idea.

With "all the rage" these days being Fortnite, battle royale style games, free to play, etc., they're in a league of their own.

If Amy Hennig is implying to games such as Destiny, The Division, Monster Hunter World, and now Anthem. Well, yeah, that's the way some developers are going in making their games.

[Emperor Smeat]

Probably something more like Ubisoft games in recent years and CoD Black Ops 4 where a once flourishing single player narrative or even one at all has been getting a lot less of the focus in favor of "live services" and current trends.

In Ubisoft's case, its more of them bloating their games with too much side content and focusing on the "live services" model. In Black Ops 4's case, tossing single player away in favor of hoping on the Battle Royale money train.

[Emperor Smeat]

EA and Respawn Entertainment announced they will be revealing more details regarding Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at this April's Star Wars Celebration event in Chicago.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Did you hear? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StarWarsJediFallenOrder?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StarWarsJediFallenOrder</a> will be at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StarWarsCelebration?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StarWarsCelebration</a> Chicago! See the game for the first time on April 13th.<br><br>Plus, hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/MattLanter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MattLanter</a> about his work on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StarWarsBattlefrontII?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StarWarsBattlefrontII</a>. <a href="https://t.co/vE0oPnYDSZ">https://t.co/vE0oPnYDSZ</a></p>&mdash; EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) <a href="https://twitter.com/EAStarWars/status/1100851523989323777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[DAMN iNATOR]

Apparently 3 guys spent over $100k for a factory sealed copy of Super Mario Bros.. Let that sink in.

[Fignuts]

Red Dead Redemption 2 was actually used during the interview as a case for why too much side content and padding in story-driven games can be bad.

Something like barely 22% managed to actually finish the story because there was way too much stuff distracting players from completing it. Plus once Red Dead Online got released, I'd assume the percentage of new players finishing the story dropped even lower.

I whole heartedly agree with that. It’s in fact why I considered God of War to be GOTY over Red Dead Redemption. That said, the answer is to get rid of all that padding and make more focused content, not shift everything towards live service models.

The thing with live service models is that while they aren’t inherently bad, it makes a lot of developers lazy, knowing they can patch things, and add stuff later on.

[Kalyx triaD]

Apparently 3 guys spent over $100k for a factory sealed copy of Super Mario Bros.. Let that sink in.

Let what sink in?

[Fignuts]

Yeah, people who pay 100k for Marvel Comics #1 don't do so because they want to read it.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Let what sink in?

Would you spend $100,000 or more on a game?

[DAMN iNATOR]

http://i64.tinypic.com/a9o5jr.jpg

"2:00PM Gearbox Main Theater Show" OH, HELL YEAH!

http://i68.tinypic.com/10dhz48.jpg
"Gearbox Software and Gearbox Publishing". If it was just the publishing side of Gearbox, that would've been cause for concern, but it's not. Also note that Pitchford appeared ready to be there last year and announce the game until the issues with one of the playable characters forced them to not show up. They're not going to let this opportunity slip out of their hands again.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A bunch if us will be there. We have a number of exciting things to share. I have had to miss PAX East and West for over a year, so I am very excited to return. <a href="https://t.co/h8Yn5MqOwF">https://t.co/h8Yn5MqOwF</a></p>&mdash; Randy Pitchford (@DuvalMagic) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuvalMagic/status/1101206223716663297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

All but guarantees the official announcement of Borderlands 3 at PAX East, and it's about damn time!

[Kalyx triaD]

Would you spend $100,000 or more on a game?

If I was a collector, sure. That's what they do. Surely you're aware.

Unless you think he paid that much to... play it?

[DAMN iNATOR]

If I was a collector, sure. That's what they do. Surely you're aware.

Unless you think he paid that much to... play it?

Of course I knew that, I watched a RTUSA video last night and 3 people went in on it. Something about a world record for biggest video game collection or something. Of course they're not going to open it and destroy its value.

I was obviously saying the average consumer, not a collector, or even 3 consumers, would never have any reason to spend that much for one game.

[Kalyx triaD]

Well... yeah.

[Fignuts]

Hey Kalyx, were you aware that fire is hot?