PlayStation
- Sony has released a PSVR demo disc 2 which users can download for free and includes demos for unreleased titles like Moss and Star Child. The full list is below.
• Battlezone (Rebellion)
• Dino Frontier
• Eve: Valkyrie
• Fantastic Contraption
• Job Simulator
• Moss
• Raw Data)
• Rez Infinite
• Star Child
• The Persistence)
• Thumper
• Tiny Trax -
Sony has updated the PlayStation app with major functional updates. Users can now see their gamer profiles, a feature introduced on PS4 a few updates back, as well as compare trophies and more.
Nintendo
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The Golf RPG that Tristan and I really enjoyed, Golf Story, has received it’s first update to version 1.0.1. Unfortunately, there are no patch notes, something which really annoys me as both PS4 and Xbox seem to require patch notes so players can read what’s changed on the console itself without having to hunt the release notes on the internet.
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Breath of the Wild received a new update to version 1.3.3 that added a bonus mission and new armor based off of Rex in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Another feature not noted is the ability to re-purchase rare items like armor and weapons.
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Popular video streaming service Hulu has released an app today for the Nintendo Switch. We’re sure Netflix isn’t far behind.
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This is the time where companies have their quarterly earnings calls and it appears both Take Two and Ubisoft are pleased with the performance of NBA 2K18 and Mario + Rabbids on Nintendo’s hot new console. This is good news indeed for Switch.
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As promised, Miiverse has officially been retired. Those who used the service will receive a URL to download an archive of their post history to the address they registered their account with in the coming weeks. Nintendo combined thousands of drawings into a collage. You can download the large high-res file directly from Nintendo here.
Xbox
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If you’re running Windows 10 and have a Windows mixed reality headset we have good news, the platform will add support for SteamVR games on November 15 which should give you a nice selection of games to choose from.
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In an interview with Bloomberg, Xbox head Phil Spencer said the company is looking to invest again in exclusive IP.
“Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths. We haven’t always invested at the same level. We’ve gone through ups and downs in the investment.”
Industry News
- Popular cross-platform gaming chat app, Discord, introduced a new feature today dubbed Rich Presence by the Discord team. Rich Presence is a software development kit (SDK) that will allow for easier integration of games and Discord users. The idea is to do away with friend codes and, essentially, limit the number of windows people need to open to start playing a game with one another. The SDK will allow players to see other “game status on players’ profiles” and join or participate in “in-game spectating directly from Discord,” according to a press release from the company.
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In an interview with Bloomberg, EA chief Andrew Wilson floated the possibility that his company might drop annual sports game releases in favor of updates or subscriptions. The publisher could treat the games as a “365-day, live service,” he said. Instead of buying FIFA or Madden every year, you might pay a regular fee or download content to keep it relevant.
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Portkey is the new Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment label that’s dedicated to creating Harry Potter video games. It’s said that the games will be developed for both mobile and console. It also seems as though a focus for this initiative will be to tell stories that are tangential and supplemental to the going-ons in the books. Portkey says the games will feature “familiar characters at different points in their lives.” It’s important to note that this isn’t a studio from WBIE. Instead, it’s a label that will seemingly fund Harry Potter games from already-established developers. The first title is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite which is an augmented reality game from Pokemon Go creator Niantic. Portkey promises more reveals are coming soon.
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GTA V has leapfrogged Wii Sports sales (83M) by selling a staggering 85M to become the highest selling video game here in the United States. I have friends who are heavily invested in the game’s online mode.
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Earlier this year we told you that developer IO Interactive was going independent, and more importantly, the Hitman IP was going with them. Now head boss Hakan Abrak said the studio is working on a new Hitman game that doesn’t sound like it will be a ‘Season 2’ relating to the popular title released last year. He went on to say:
“We have exciting new features and some franchise firsts, which we can’t wait to tell you all about. Your support will directly help us to continue on our independent journey towards the next Hitman game and beyond.”
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SuperHyperCube, a trippy yet fun VR puzzle game by Polytron (the creators of FEZ) is now available for Vive.
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PUBG has surpassed 20M copies sold.
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Telltale games has layed off 90 people, or around 25% of it’s staff.
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EA has purchased Titanfall studio, Respawn, for around $455M including the Titanfall IP.
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During Blizzcon Blizzard announced plans to create an official vanilla WoW server called WoW Classic. It’s currently in development.
