Monthly Archives: February 2020

Nintendo Switch Hacker Faces Jail Time and $260,000 After FBI Investigation

A 21-year-old California man awaits his sentence after pleading guilty to computer fraud and possession of child pornography. A press release from the United States Attorney's Office (via Eurogamer) says that Ryan Hernandez, who used a phishing scam in 2016 to gain access to Nintendo Switch developer information, still had thousands of Nintendo documents on his computer as of last year. Hernandez originally stole Nintendo employee credentials, and then used that information to download and leak confidential information about the Nintendo Switch. He also bragged about his hacking on social media platforms like Twitter and Discord. Authorities warned Hernandez to stop accessing Nintendo documentation after a 2017 FBI investigation, and documents say that he, "understood the consequences of any future hacking." However, he continued to hack Nintendo servers until June 2019. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/26/man-steals-122-million-from-google-facebook-by-forging-invoices"] The FBI investigated Hernandez's computers last year, discovering the aforementioned Nintendo documents, as well as more than one thousand images and videos of child pornography in a folder titled, "Bad Stuff." Hernandez's sentencing is set for April 21, 2020. He has already agreed to pay nearly $260,000 in remediation costs to Nintendo. After pleading guilty, prosecutors and defense attorneys will recommend three years in prison, which is far less than the maximum possible sentence. This isn't the first time hackers have targeted Nintendo since the Switch's launch. Last year, a security researcher was arrested for hacking into Nintendo while on bail. In 2018, hackers were reportedly uploading pornographic images as their Nintendo Switch profile pictures. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

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Wizards of the Coast Announces Studio to Develop New RPG

Wizards of the Coast and its newly announced game studio, Archetype Entertainment, are developing a multiplatform sci-fi RPG. The untitled game will be a "story-driven epic," in which player choice will "have real consequences on how their story unfolds," according to the announcement.

Check out the trailer below for a look at another recently announced Wizards of the Coast game, Magic: Legends.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/14/magic-legends-gameplay-trailer"]

Based in Austin, TX, Archetype Entertainment is led by James Ohlen, an ex-BioWare director and designer whose credits include Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins, among others. Accompanying Ohlen at Archetype is Chad Robertson, another ex-BioWare dev, who serves as the new studio's general manager and VP. Roberston most recently worked on Anthem as the head of live services. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dark-alliance-reveal-trailer-screens&captions=true"] Wizards of the Coast has made several recent announcements surrounding its game development business. At The Game Awards 2019, it announced Magic: Legends, a MMO action-RPG based on Magic the Gathering, and Dark Alliance, a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance coming to consoles and PC this fall. "Seven or eight" other games based on Dungeons & Dragons are currently planned, according to Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.

Posted in Uncategorized

Wizards of the Coast Announces Studio to Develop New RPG

Wizards of the Coast and its newly announced game studio, Archetype Entertainment, are developing a multiplatform sci-fi RPG. The untitled game will be a "story-driven epic," in which player choice will "have real consequences on how their story unfolds," according to the announcement.

Check out the trailer below for a look at another recently announced Wizards of the Coast game, Magic: Legends.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/14/magic-legends-gameplay-trailer"]

Based in Austin, TX, Archetype Entertainment is led by James Ohlen, an ex-BioWare director and designer whose credits include Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins, among others. Accompanying Ohlen at Archetype is Chad Robertson, another ex-BioWare dev, who serves as the new studio's general manager and VP. Roberston most recently worked on Anthem as the head of live services. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dark-alliance-reveal-trailer-screens&captions=true"] Wizards of the Coast has made several recent announcements surrounding its game development business. At The Game Awards 2019, it announced Magic: Legends, a MMO action-RPG based on Magic the Gathering, and Dark Alliance, a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance coming to consoles and PC this fall. "Seven or eight" other games based on Dungeons & Dragons are currently planned, according to Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.

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Platinum Games Is Teasing a New Game

Update: PlatinumGames has now revealed a Kickstarter for The Wonderful 101: Remastered, a campaign to bring the Wii U exclusive to Nintendo Switch, as well as PS4 and Steam. Platinum's Kickstarter outlines the available stretch goals, backer perks, and more information about the project. This teaser website has also been updated to indicate more announcements outside of the Kickstarter appear to be in the works. Original story follows: [poilib element="accentDivider"] Platinum Games is teasing something, or four, thanks to a mysterious new website the developer launched this morning. There’s no information yet on what it could be other than it is drumming up anticipation using the #Platinum4 hashtag. Platinum Games hasn’t announced anything concrete just yet, but the studio’s mysterious teaser has already created a wave of speculation over the meaning behind #Platinum4. The site, which leads to a page that simply has the number 4 floating in space around four Platinum “sparkles” is the only clue we have so far about the hashtag. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-developers-of-platinumgames&captions=true"] Fans are speculating a variety of things based on this single number. Some believe the four could be a reference to Drakengard 4, a sequel to the long-running Drakengard series of which Nier and Nier: Automata are spinoffs from. The glitch effect that happens on the Platinum Games website also led some to speculate the page could be for a Nier-related project. Yoko Taro, who is a co-creator of the Drakengard series and director of the Nier spinoffs, has been touring with a Nier: Automata live orchestra concert. So suffice to say there’s a lot of Nier stuff happening right now.

However, with nothing else to go on aside from the Platinum4 website, we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from the studio. Platinum Games is currently confirmed to be working on Bayonetta 3 for Nintendo Switch and Babylon’s Fall which was announced in 2019.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/10/babylons-fall-gameplay-trailer"]

Platinum also recently announced the studio received a capital investment from Tencent which would help secure the company's future and allow it to venture into self-publishing. Platinum also said at the time to expect more announcements in 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Posted in Uncategorized

Platinum Games Is Teasing a New Game

Update: PlatinumGames has now revealed a Kickstarter for The Wonderful 101: Remastered, a campaign to bring the Wii U exclusive to Nintendo Switch, as well as PS4 and Steam. Platinum's Kickstarter outlines the available stretch goals, backer perks, and more information about the project. This teaser website has also been updated to indicate more announcements outside of the Kickstarter appear to be in the works. Original story follows: [poilib element="accentDivider"] Platinum Games is teasing something, or four, thanks to a mysterious new website the developer launched this morning. There’s no information yet on what it could be other than it is drumming up anticipation using the #Platinum4 hashtag. Platinum Games hasn’t announced anything concrete just yet, but the studio’s mysterious teaser has already created a wave of speculation over the meaning behind #Platinum4. The site, which leads to a page that simply has the number 4 floating in space around four Platinum “sparkles” is the only clue we have so far about the hashtag. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-developers-of-platinumgames&captions=true"] Fans are speculating a variety of things based on this single number. Some believe the four could be a reference to Drakengard 4, a sequel to the long-running Drakengard series of which Nier and Nier: Automata are spinoffs from. The glitch effect that happens on the Platinum Games website also led some to speculate the page could be for a Nier-related project. Yoko Taro, who is a co-creator of the Drakengard series and director of the Nier spinoffs, has been touring with a Nier: Automata live orchestra concert. So suffice to say there’s a lot of Nier stuff happening right now.

However, with nothing else to go on aside from the Platinum4 website, we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from the studio. Platinum Games is currently confirmed to be working on Bayonetta 3 for Nintendo Switch and Babylon’s Fall which was announced in 2019.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/10/babylons-fall-gameplay-trailer"]

Platinum also recently announced the studio received a capital investment from Tencent which would help secure the company's future and allow it to venture into self-publishing. Platinum also said at the time to expect more announcements in 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

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Nintendo Isn’t Worried About PS5, Xbox Series X

How will the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X affect the sales of the Nintendo Switch when they launch in Holiday 2020? According to Nintendo, not that much, actually.

This is what Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said during the Japanese Q&A section (translated by VGC) of the investors meeting the company held last week.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/27/how-will-nintendo-deal-with-ps5-and-xbox-series-x"]

“We will explain the specific figures for the next fiscal year in our next fiscal year announcement, but I think there will certainly be a change in the environment as new products of our competitors appear,” Furukawa said.

He then explained the reason for this thinking is that there isn't much audience crossover between those two next-gen consoles and the Nintendo Switch, saying “we do not believe that the business trends of other companies will have a significant impact on our business.”

In another response, Furukawa said that the Nintendo Switch is about halfway through its life cycle. As the Switch was released in March 2017, what Furukawa says here could indicate that Nintendo don't plan on releasing a new console until 2023.

Considering that the Switch has now reached over 50 million sales, surpassing the Super Nintendo's lifetime sales, there's plenty of reason for Nintendo to be confident in its latest console.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=15-big-nintendo-switch-games-coming-in-2020-and-4-guesses&captions=true"]

Plus, Nintendo has just revealed a new Animal Crossing: New Horizons special edition Nintendo Switch, which is due out on March 13, 2020 and will probably sell like mad. Previously, there had been rumours of a Nintendo Switch Pro model due out this year, but Nintendo has now squashed those rumours.

What Nintendo has in store for the rest of 2020 is a bit of a mystery. But we know that the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metroid Prime 4, and Bayonetta 3 are still on the way - though not necessarily in 2020.

Hopefully our list of Nintendo Switch games coming out in 2020 expands soon.

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.