Monthly Archives: November 2017
9 Games Missing From Sony’s Paris Games Week Conference
Sony delivered on its promise of a major conference this year at its Paris Games Week Showcase. From updates on Spider-Man and God of War, to a brand-new game from Sucker Punch called Ghost of Tsushima, to a killer new Last of Us Part II trailer, we got to see some awesome games. However, there were some notable absences. Here are nine games that didn’t show up.
EA Says It Will Bring EA Access Subscriptions to Other Platforms
EA has revealed that it plans to expand its subscription services - like Xbox One's EA Access and PC's Origin Access - to "other platforms", although doesn't specify exactly what they'd be.
Speaking on an EA earnings call (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha), CEO Andrew Wilson discussed the success of the existing subscription services, before revealing its future plans:
"Our subscription services like EA Access and Origin Access are bringing more players from across our network to join in. Our subscription player base continues to grow. And you should expect us to continue driving this model to more platforms going forward."
The Walking Dead: Telltale Series Collection Announced
Telltale Games has announced The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series Collection, which includes all 19 episodes of the game series so far.
The $49.99 collection will be available on December 5 for PS4 and Xbox One digitally and physically across North America and Europe.
It features the most recent third season, A New Frontier, as well as visually enhanced versions of Season One, Season Two, 400 Days, and the three-part Michonne miniseries.
Wrestling Wrap Up: Braun Strowman Has Magical Garbage Powers Now
Happy Halloween Week! So much is happening. Candy, the end of Daylight Saving(s), candy, Braun Strowman being beautifully and tenderly birthed from the womb of a contracting garbage truck, candy - it's a precious parade of moments and memories!
RAW didn't even land on Halloween this year but it, more or less, like it do, co-opted the holiday from SmackDown Live - which DID land on Halloween.
If You’re New to Monster Hunter, This Is The Place to Start
At a basic level, Monster Hunter makes more sense than most games. Hunting and gathering - the looping rhythm of every game in the series since the 2004 original - is quite literally built into our DNA. Thing is, our caveman ancestors didn’t have to wade through four pages of stats to work out if their clubs had a 30% chance of knocking out a bison, or navigate a set of weirdly specific menu screens in set locations to bring mates along. The base idea is simple, the result immensely satisfying, but for over a decade, Monster Hunter’s main problem has been one of communication.
It’s a long-since trite point that the best way to get into the series is to have someone who already understands it explain things to you, because the game simply never will. Given that Capcom’s made very clear that it won’t be dumbing down the core experience (and, after about 15 hours of play, I can personally vouch for that), Monster Hunter World’s key concern will be in how it brings new players into the fold painlessly.
EA CEO Comments on Shutting Down Visceral Games
EA CEO Andrew Wilson has commented on the closure of Visceral Games, and discussed the refocusing of its in-development Star Wars game.
Speaking on an EA earnings call (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Wilson was asked about the decision by a shareholder:
"Anytime you close a studio, it's a very, very tough decision," he replied, "and something that we take very seriously, and we spend a lot of time working through before we make such a decision. But it does happen from time to time as part of the creative process."
Dreams Is Still In Development
Despite being a no-show at E3 2017 and at this year's Paris Games Week, Dreams is still in development.
In an interview with VG247, Sony's senior vice president of worldwide studios, Michael Denny confirmed the game is still currently being worked on despite the studio sharing very little about its latest project for two years.
“It is still in development and it is still very, very exciting," Denny said. “We’re big fans of everything Media Molecule has done and it’s so wonderful and it’s very much in development, very much still progressing and will very much be exciting when we next talk about it.”
Konami’s Profits Keep Growing After Mobile Game Focus
Konami's profits are growing after the company's increased focus on mobile games.
GamesIndustry.Biz reports Konami's financial results for the last six months ending on September 30 shows considerable growth. The company's games revenue is up to ¥57.8 billion ($509 million) from ¥44.9 billion ($395 million), resulting in a year-on-year growth of 28.7%.
Konami's company-wide revenue is up to ¥115.3 billion ($1 billion) from ¥101.4 billion ($894 million) the previous year, which is a year-on-year growth of 13.8%. Finally, its profits from games are up from ¥15.5 billion ($136 million) to ¥19.3 billion ($170 million), a year-on-year growth of 24.5%.
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Need for Speed: Payback Is Street Racing Paradise
Need for Speed: Payback addictively combines elements from a wide variety of classic arcade racers with the freedom of open-world exploration. The game does an excellent job of catering to all sorts of smaller niches in the larger world of car culture. Whether you prefer track-ready racers, stanced tuners, janky drift rockets, off-road warriors, or even the most exquisite of hypercars, Payback has something to pique your automotive interest.
The car-to-car driving physics in this game are challenging, but fun and rewarding at the same time. This isn’t in the neighborhood of a true-to-life wheel-only simulators, since even turning on sequential shifting seems a bit pointless, but it at least does a good job at translating the nuances of different cars’ handling through the controller. A few cars I drove early on in the game demonstrated the differences perfectly. The Speedhunters BMW M5 I drove felt determined, the bring-a-trailer Datsun 370 required actual effort to defeat a first-gen Miata, and the Koenigsegg Regera was just stupidly fast.