Monthly Archives: January 2018
Capcom Reports Over 300% Increase in Profit
Things are looking up Capcom this fiscal year, with the company reporting an operating income of 7 billion yen, or $64.5 million.
Games Industry.biz reports that Capcom's operating income has increased by 328.2 percent, due to "strong" performances of titles like Resident Evil 7 and Monster Hunter XX, while Ultra Street Fighter 2 on the Switch was called a "smash hit." Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite's sales were described as "soft" by comparison, with the game only just reaching one million units sold worldwide.
Monster Hunter: World, which shipped 5 million copies in the three days post-launch, will be included in Capcom's full year report in March, but the series' online and mobile titles - Frontier Z and Explore - have experienced "solid" and "steady" sales.
Journey Creator on Next Game’s Biggest Breakthrough
Sky, the next game from Journey developer thatgamecompany, will charge players in a unique way, which studio co-founder Jenova Chen believes will be "biggest breakthrough" of the upcoming social adventure game.
"I think many people will be surprised how this game makes money," Chen said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered. "I think my biggest breakthrough or innovation on this game is about how it actually charges people. This is something you probably have never seen before," he added.
"Once you play the game, you will be interested because it's a game where you pay money for other people, not yourself," he added, but refrained from elaborating any further.
PUBG’s Revenue Almost Totals Overwatch, CS:GO Combined
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has seen massive success since its early release in March 2017, and has amassed 4 million players on Xbox One since it came to the console in December. And in the space of 8 months, it's raked in $712 million in revenue according to a new report.
The title has surpassed Overwatch and CS:GO sales, earning almost the sum of the two games' revenue combined, according to analytics firm SuperData's 2017 year in review report (via VG247).
House of Cards Season 6 Resumes Production
House of Cards' sixth and final season has resumed production, with two new stars also joining the cast.
Variety reports filming is now underway for this eight-episode season after production was shut down last October following allegations of sexual harassment and assault were made against Kevin Spacey.
A premiere date for Season 6 has not been set yet. As for the two new cast members, Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear have joined the Netflix series and they'll be playing siblings on the show. However, not much else about their roles is currently known.
Why You Should Care About The World Ends With You
In the late '00s, Nintendo’s ridiculously-popular DS handheld was a hotbed for creative, quirky games. Many developers were gleefully experimenting with the system’s trademark dual-screens, and it was in the middle of this zeitgeist that Square-Enix took a chance on a unique action-RPG titled The World Ends With You. Developed by Jupiter (and inspired by their previous Square-Enix title, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories), The World Ends With You was released in 2007 to critical acclaim, strong sales, and quickly became one of the DS’s most beloved games.
And yet 10 years later, it still hasn’t received a sequel. Other than a mobile port and a small cameo in Kingdom Hearts, the series has gone dark, and many fans feared Square may have forgotten it completely. That is, until it resurfaced in the most recent Nintendo Direct, where it was announced the game would be getting another shot on the Nintendo Switch. Titled Final Remix, this new version will contain new content and be the first time the game has appeared on the big screen. Fans were elated not only for ourselves, but also because this will likely be the best way for new players to experience the game.
The DualShock 4 Line-up Gets Two New Colours
Sony has announced the addition of two new DualShock 4 colours - Midnight Blue, and Steel Black - to its controller line-up.
The news was shared on both the US and EU PlayStation blogs. Midnight Blue is a brand new addition to the range, while Steel Black is making a return after its initial run in 2016 alongside the Crystal version.
First UK Charities for Call of Duty Endowment Announced
The Call of Duty Endowment charitable fund, founded by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, has selected the first UK charities to benefit from the program.
A press release from The Call of Duty Endowment announced that RFEA - The Forces Employment Charity, and Walking With The Wounded, are the first recipients of the "Call of Duty Endowment Seal of Distinction, the standard of excellence in the veterans’ employment sector."
“Meaningful employment is the single most important way to ensure that service members successfully transition back to civilian life,” said Dan Goldenberg, executive director of the Endowment. “The Seal of Distinction recognises RFEA - The Forces Employment Charity and Walking With The Wounded as go-to organisations for veterans seeking high-quality jobs, and models for veteran-serving organisations to emulate.”
15 Craziest Comic Book Retcons
Anyone who reads superhero comics long enough becomes familiar with the term "retcon." Basically, a retcon is any case where new stories change the details of old ones and rewrite the history of that universe. We're seeing the latest example of a major comic book retcon in the pages of Avengers right now. Avengers #676 introduced readers to Voyager, a heroine who is supposedly the forgotten sixth member of the original Avengers team.
Whether or not Voyager is who she claims to be, this is just the latest in a long, often complicated history of Marvel and DC adding new details to classic characters and storylines. From Jean Gey's confusing relationship with the Phoenix to Superboy-Prime's punch heard round the multiverse, here are the 15 biggest and craziest examples of comic book retcons.
Ready Player One: Exclusive New Photo – IGN First
All month long, IGN First is spotlighting the Films to Watch in 2018. Today, we take a look at Warner Bros.' Ready Player One, the science-fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Ernest Cline's best-selling novel. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T. J. Miller, Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance.
In the year 2045, things are bad for the people of Earth. Humankind is on the verge of chaos, but folks find solace in OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe. Created by eccentric genius James Halliday (Mark Rylance), OASIS takes on a new importance when Halliday dies and leaves his fortune to whomever first finds a "digital Easter egg" hidden in the VR world. Enter Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an ordinary young man who joins the contest and, of course, soon finds himself on a fantastic and dangerous adventure.
Opinion: The Australian Government’s Response to the Video Game Industry Is Garbage
“It all comes down to this. Australian jobs. 21st Century jobs. High-tech, cutting-edge jobs.”
That was Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this week. In case you’ve entered this article in an optimistic mood let me qualify straight away that he was not talking about Australia’s video game industry. He was talking to the media about Australia’s newly-announced Defence Export Strategy and the government’s plan to grow Australia's defence industry to become a top 10 global defence exporter by 2028.
It’s a big, bold plan supported by a big pile of cash and all outlined in this big, juicy PDF packed with actionable items and brimming with buzzwords.