Julius

Some third party mobile gaming accessories Xbox are promoting ahead of next month:

Solid result for City, Varane's mistakes cost Real big time, but I'm surprised City didn't capitalise more with how many chances Madrid were throwing their way. From watching the match I thought that Varane's errors felt less like nerves without Ramos around, and stem more from Militao's shakiness. They were hitting their stride going into half-time, but Madrid came out of the tunnel completely lacking that edge and desire, which was a real shame, especially when compared with their form going into this game. Can't fault Zidane since he's returned though, I think it's astounding that he managed to win La Liga with the weakest Real Madrid team in a long time. Something I can't go without mentioning are De Bruyne's two efforts from the corner flag. Clearly trying to unnerve Courtois and draw him in, but looking at how aggressive he was every single time the goal was in his sights, I think it's still safe to say he's not friends with the big guy. And I couldn't blame him. Pleasantly surprised by Lyon getting through, of course would have loved to see Ronaldo against this City team in the quarters, but there was a clearly more consistent team across those two legs. Really not looking forward to tomorrow for us. This return to Munich is lining up to be really bittersweet. And of course I would love to see Messi produce some magic against Napoli

Oh damn, the opening credits look awesome! Narrated by Charles Martinet too! Synopsis mentions which games they'll be diving into: Very much looking forward to the Final Fantasy episode, I'm 100% going to be watching this thanks for mentioning it Ashley, sure I would have missed it otherwise!

Well, guess that's finally confirmed then, after persisting rumours that a multiplayer Suicide Squad was on the way. More info coming at the DC Fandome. Now, where's Batman?

Seems to have gone away for me now, cheers Shorty

That's crazy good, and apparently it's the most digital sales they've had for a game (2 million units I think I read) too. As for your question: I would have to guess so, if that that report about XV saying that it broke even on its launch day with the five million units it shipped is anything to go by (in stark contrast to the 10 million I think Tabata mentioned was needed to break even before launch). That game was in development hell for the best part of a decade, and had a new engine built for it, so if there's any truth to that report I think FFVIIR should be fine. Also important to remember that that was multiplatform, too, whereas Final Fantasy VII Remake is exclusive for a year, so I'm sure there's some sort of financial deal going on between PlayStation and Square Enix for it to have at least broken even at this point. The only real hiccup with Remake's development was CyberConnect working on the project with oversight from SE, only to then be taken off it for SE proper to take charge. Since the move for Square Enix Japan as a whole - apart from Luminous Productions who are still trying to make sure Luminous Engine doesn't go to waste after their massive investment - to move AAA projects to Unreal Engine 4 (Dragon Quest XI was from the start; Kingdom Hearts 3 was moved to it by the end of production, as was Final Fantasy VII Remake), production seems to have gone much smoother. I think it's a sign going into this next generation that we can finally expect some more typical turnaround times in line with the rest of the industry on their AAA projects using Unreal Engine, and so I would be very surprised if any of Dragon Quest XII, Final Fantasy XVI, and Final Fantasy VII Remake Pt. 2 weren't released by the end of 2023. I think it's kind of hard to gauge profitability on this game too just because of how many high quality assets (in particular the character models of the main cast), mechanics, and animations will likely carry over to the next however many parts we end up getting. If I recall correctly, animation rigs for scenes from later parts were found in the datamine of the demo earlier this year too, so I would guess that a lot of ground moving forward has already had pre-production (of course made somewhat easier considering that this is a remake too). Because of this, I think it's difficult to hone in on this first part and judge it's profitability in a fair way, considering how much of the heavy lifting has likely already been done across the board. Even if they haven't broke even yet, I'm confident they will soon. The game has only just had its first drop in price on the PlayStation Store as part of this month's deals, and the closer we get to Christmas, the closer I'm sure it will get to a solid price for an impulse buy. Then next year there'll be the PC release, which I'm sure will sell really well too.

Yep, same issue here, and I think it's getting worse. It's gone from every hour or so to every fourth or fifth page I visit. Haven't tried my desktop yet, will probably do that tomorrow, but I've run some anti-virus scans and nothing is coming up, so I'm not sure if it's us or if security has just tightened a bit too much for the site? Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fixed sooner rather than later

Thought it showed really well and was a pleasant surprise during PlayStation's State of Play, I knew of the game but did not know of its art style, and having not played it before, I'm very interested. That commentary sounds awesome too. Also coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Linux, for those curious.

Easy Allies have put up a video about Luminous Productions, for those who would like to know a little more behind the team working on this game. Great stuff, guessing this is Damiani who worked on the script, think he's done a really good job! Always nice to see the Allies growing out and trying different things.

Pretty major update on Aeon Must Die considering we literally just saw it as part of the State of Play. Testimonials in the linked Dropbox are very concerning. Of course, grain of salt, will wait until we have more clarification, etc., but that sounds horrible, and puts this game straight into my 'Avoid' pile.

List of what was shown, let me know if I missed anything: Overall, a pretty solid State of Play, I think one of the best paced ones they've had so far not focusing on a particular title like the ones for TLOU2 and Ghost, especially considering the length of it. Those 40 minutes flew by, at least until Godfall showed up. Agree with @Happenstance that it just doesn't seem to demo well, I hope it finds its audience. Getting increasingly tempting to pick up a PSVR now Vader Immortal is around the bend, but going to continue trying to hold out until a PSVR2. For now A couple of missing games here which I found a little odd, like Avengers (why not mention the beta and Spidey exclusivity?) and Mafia Definitive Edition, which both come out next month. Atlus still MIA on bringing Persona 4 Golden to PS4 too, but that was a pie in the sky hope; I was more surprised by the lack of a 13 Sentinels demo, but then maybe these things are being kept until Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show. Now that's out of the way, hopefully we get something on the PS5 before the double hitter of DC Fandome and Gamescom rolls around?

Don't get me wrong, Godfall needed this deep dive. But I don't think it's showing very well, looks very generic to me. That's an interesting point, I do feel like PlayStation does offer a good diversity to their indie titles in particular, and I think it's one of the better things about the indie scene in general that older design styles are being revisited.

Yeah absolutely agreed, love the look of it.

Oh dang, Auto Chess on consoles. That's big.

Well get @drahkon in here, they're showing Genshin Impact! Also now we have Hitman Assassination Trilogy coming to PSVR, half expecting RE8 to get a PSVR mode announced here.

Was just thinking lately we hadn't seen Spelunky 2 for a while! When was the last time, PGW 2017 or something?

Yeah! Felt super low-key as a reveal which I think is a pretty big sell for PSVR. Also, as someone who has never played Braid before, I'm all about the Anniversary Edition. Did not know the game had an art style like that! But...was it originally released in 2008, meaning this is a 13th anniversary celebration of the game with it releasing next year? Seems really odd if so, but hey, I'm in.

Watching this, and find it weird that Activision just expect the audience to know that MTX is cool kid talk for microtransaction. Just struck me as a bit odd. Crash 4 lookin' really good though, love the level diversity on show, and the dimensions idea I think is really cool.

Had no idea where to post this, so it goes here! I mean, it's retro-ish. Rare have just put out a 35th Anniversary Collection of music encompassing their history

Oh. Well this hurts. Game looks so cosy and I can't wait to play it, so I appreciate the heads-up drahkon. Saves me from the breakdown later over it not showing up

The quarterly report covering 1st April 2020 - 30th June 2020 is out. The big takeaways: - 5.68 million units sold this quarter between the Switch and Switch Lite. The Switch now has lifetime sales of 61.44 million units sold. - Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 22.4 million units as of 30th June 2020. More copies sold now than there were GameCubes sold in its lifetime (some 21.74 million units). - Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition sold 1.32 million units in the space of a month. Which is awesome, and fully deserved! - Clubhouse Games sold 1.02 million units. Which is also pretty bonkers. - Pokémon Sword/Shield have sold 18.22 million units, making them the third highest selling pair of main series Pokémon games in over 20 years (since Gold/Silver, 23.10 million units, and behind Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, at 31.38 million units). Top 10 best selling Switch games as of Q1 for FY21 1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 26.74M 2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 22.40M 3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 19.99M 4. Breath of the Wild - 18.60M 5. Pokemon Sword/Shield - 18.22M 6. Super Mario Odyssey - 18.06M 7. Pokemon Let’s GO - 12.20M 8. Super Mario Party - 10.94M 9. Splatoon 2 - 10.71M 10. New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe - 7.44M On the back of all of this, Bloomberg reports that Nintendo is increasing production to 25 million units for this Financial Year.

I mean, realistically, I'm not sure what else would have been on the table for this year? At least from what we know of, maybe I'm missing something. Breath of the Wild 2 could well have been targeting the end of this year originally, but I think it's more realistic that it was being lined up for 2021. Metroid Prime 4 wasn't going to be ready this year, neither was Bayonetta 3. Maybe SMTIII HD was delayed out of this year? Of course we've got Bravely Default II on the publishing side of things still coming, and though I feel like it's not coming until next year now, I do feel like the worldwide release of Yo-kai Watch 4 could have been targeting the latter half of this year too. And then I kind of feel like it's potentially just other ports again? Zelda ports for the 35th Anniversary next year, Metroid Prime Trilogy, etc. Don't get me wrong, I want them, but like I said before, I totally get why some don't want to pay for every remaster of games they already have. Apart from instances like Xenoblade, where the game clearly hadn't had a fair chance before, these shouldn't be tentpole releases, but filler. They certainly shouldn't be making up the bulk of their first party offerings (of course this might continue to be the case due to COVID for a while, but I don't think it impacted this year's plans too drastically). It's weird to me thinking about how the Switch was supposed to be the coming together and streamlining of Nintendo's home and portable software development teams, and that Nintendo have quite frankly been their own biggest obstacle to having this be the case. Retro most likely getting a big project shelved, Metroid Prime 4 having to start from scratch because of not being in the right hands to begin with, Pikmin 4 going MIA, and so on. It's a shame, but I think this road bump in reforming and streamlining their workflow has been the best biggest detriment to the Switch's software thus far.

I'm not sure if that first part was responding to what I said about the Spidey exclusivity, but if it is, I'm not really sure it's a beneficial advantage for consumers. Of course, it makes perfect business sense, but in some cases I think it can do more harm than good. First party exclusives of course I'm all for, and third party exclusives in some cases too (PlayStation 4 being the place for Yakuza to grow throughout the course of generation exclusively, up until recently, comes to mind), but timed and DLC exclusivity often rubs me the wrong way if presented in the wrong light. A single player game, something like Final Fantasy VII Remake? Honestly makes sense to me as a timed exclusive on PS4, considering how JRPG players likely don't only have an Xbox One as their only home console, seeing as it unsurprisingly hasn't done a great job of supporting them. That's changing a bit with Game Pass, sure, but Square Enix aren't going to put a game like this out on Game Pass on Day 1, and the Final Fantasy brand, and in particular VII, has made itself almost synonymous with PlayStation since '97. It's a great business move, sure, but I'm not the biggest fan of that at all. I'll come back to Final Fantasy and some other things in a moment. On the other hand, DLC? I'm all for exclusive DLC based on marketing deals, I think it's fine if PlayStation owners get some DLC ahead of Xbox owners, but that's not what's happening with Avengers: they've locked in exclusivity to (free! This game has been designed with a free DLC rollout in mind, structured instead around microtransactions!) DLC for Marvel's biggest superhero, and it's not timed, it just straight up won't be coming to Xbox at any point. This is different to, say, CoD's 30 day or so exclusivity to some maps, items or mode - at least I feel it is - because it means that even though Spidey was always planned as part of this DLC, there has to be some level of compromise. For example, you can't exactly tease the next DLC for Spidey with the same messaging and have him mentioned in other pieces of DLC available on Xbox too, only for him to just not turn up (I mean, you can, but expect backlash). It also divides the player base, which is the last thing a GaaS game should aim to do. I'm on the fence about whether or not I'm buying the game (I'll be checking out the open beta next weekend with some friends), but it is something that rubs me the wrong way. Having insiders come out with confidence saying "oh, this is only the beginning when it comes to these deals on PS5" has me even more nervous. I'm sure RE8 will have a PSVR exclusive mode, which I think is fine, but then if something like Final Fantasy XVI is announced as a timed or full PS5 exclusive? I would totally understand the uproar, even if it makes business sense. At the same time, it's crazy to me that Yakuza 7 won't be on PS5 day 1, considering this is where the franchise has blossomed over the last few years, but will be on just about everything else, and that we'll be waiting for a newer version/upgrade for our PS4 version, which I'm sure will outsell it's Xbox counterparts. I imagine this all has to do with Xbox tripping over themselves by agreeing deals for Game Pass more than anything else, rather than going toe-to-toe with Sony in trying to secure AAA exclusives, which I think could be a big mistake. With regards to it affecting the industry: you're right, it already has, and will probably continue to do so. I'm just not the biggest fan of it. But on online games especially, and in a game offering free DLC specifically, having the biggest Marvel character locked behind one console just seems like such a poor way to handle Spidey's exclusivity. I'm sure it's probably related to Sony's sit-down with Marvel last year over letting them use Spider-Man, but it doesn't make it any less strange for me

Played a few more hours tonight, got up to lvl 15, and finally got that sweet victory. Came super close to another an episode or two later, lost out by a couple of inches. Definitely agree with what @drahkon mentioned in the other thread, I think the races are easily the best courses. They all require some weird sense of focused competitiveness and uneasy alliances with the other players, and have the greatest variety of course layouts. Tail grabbing and anything to do with rolling a ball around isn't amazingly fun like some of the other stuff, some of the weaker stuff here I think alongside the memorisation game. It's funny because even though there are nearly identical courses for egg and ball hoarding, egg hoarding is much more fun I find, having a smaller and thus more chaotic course helps you feel much more involved too. No idea how long I'll keep at it, but it's charm, idea of fun and how quickly you can find other games to jump into it at the moment (I have lost track of the number of times where I've found myself "sure, I'll play one more") have me hooked until at least lvl 20 I feel. I think this game's biggest potential downfall in the long run, fun as it may be, is that it's overwhelmingly luck which gets you victories, and not player skill. It's a fresh take on battle royale and I'm loving it (and clearly others are too, those numbers drahkon posted are crazy!), but I'm not sure how effectively that might sustain its player base. Still, it's not going anywhere anytime soon, and I'm curious to see what they eventually bring in the second season, whether or not I'm still playing in two month's time.

Never played a Pikmin game before, seems cosy and don't think there'll be anything dropping around that time which might compete for my time (I'm not big on Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, et al, which are the games that we normally find filling up late October and early November). Big fan of the art style, only really familiar with the series from Smash and having read/heard about it a bunch from other people's love for the series. Yeah, it unfortunately has me thinking the same thing. Don't get me wrong, Animal Crossing, Xenoblade, this and potentially that 3D Mario collection will have made this a great year for me playing my Switch, but it has been a year a bit barren of reasons to be excited, at least for me. I mean, three of the four games I've mentioned there are some form of remaster/port, so I can totally empathise with those like @Nicktendo not wanting to fork out again. I doubt we'll ever know just how much COVID affected their plans, and maybe they make up for it next year having held some things back, but some of their decisions, as well as those of third parties - someone want to try explaining to me why Square Enix STILL hasn't brought over the first six Final Fantasy games after the success of Octopath, and after bringing every main game after VI to the Switch, except MMO's and XIII?! (Also yes we're counting XV Pocket Edition ) Can't believe SE of all companies is leaving money on the table like this - continue to baffle me a bit. Because I think it is a pretty sizeable gap from now until the end of October.