Flagship ‘Dota 2’ tournament sets cash prize record
Dota 2’s flagship tournament, The International 2016, is now the most lucrative eSports competition in history with a record-breaking $18.6 million prize pot. The total purse of last year’s tournament was under $18.5 million, and under $11 million in 2014. The prize pool will continue to grow for another two weeks as it’s funded by fans buying Battle Passes, Dota 2’s new in-game digital program that will last until August 13th.
When purchased, Battle Passes grant players access to different rewards and features, like exclusive quest lines, treasures, and cosmetic items. Twenty-five percent of all sales go to the prize pool, with Valve contributing an additional $1.6 million. For helping to beat last year’s $18.5 million record, all Battle Pass owners will receive three treasure chests that include different in-game items, like the rare Monarch Bow and Rainmaker.
The International 2016 will start on August 13th in Seattle’s Key Arena.
Source: Dota 2
Nintendo’s NES retrospective book looks like a game cartridge
Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition isn’t the only nostalgia bomb the company is dropping this fall. Nope, Playing With Power: Nintendo NES Classics from strategy-guide publisher Prima Games is en route for this November as well. The hardcover boasts 320 pages of interviews from the NES era, bits of old-school advertising and “priceless excerpts from Nintendo Power magazine back issues.” Oh hey, hand-drawn maps and character art are on tap as well. Here’s to hoping some of those are from Howard and Nester artist Bill Mudron.
To complete the yesteryear theme, the whole thing looks like an old NES cartridge. In addition to the bits mentioned above, retrospectives on some 17 games will be packed as well, covering Super Mario Bros. 3, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda among others. Yearning for your childhood yet? The book is available to pre-order now for $26.99, and it ships out November 18th — a week after the NES Classic does.
Via: IGN
Source: Prima Games
Nintendo’s lack of breakthrough games hits profits hard
Despite Nintendo’s attempts to lower expectations ahead of announcing its financial results, its latest quarterly earnings aren’t good. At all. Net sales are down 31 percent compared to the same quarter last year, down to 62 billion yen ($587 million), while it saw an operating loss of 5.1 billion yen (roughly $48 million). Nintendo managed to sell 220,000 Wii Us, nudging the total number of consoles sold over 13 million, while the aging 3DS sold just under an additional 1 million handhelds. Despite the company owning parts of Pokémon Go, it isn’t reflected in the earnings as the game was released after the quarter that ended in June. However, the company took to Twitter to announce that its curious Pokémon Go Plus accessory has been delayed two months until September.
The #pokemongo Plus accessory will now be released Sept 2016 instead of the originally expected end of July launch. https://t.co/QgjZf1aAV6
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 27, 2016
The games maker is blaming a stronger yen that’s negatively affected its overseas sales, but what’s probably to blame is the lack of major game releases in the last quarter — no single game sold more than a million copies over the last three months. 36.9 million Amiibo figures have been sold so far, as well as over 30 million Amiibo cards — somehow.
When Nintendo launched Miitomo, its first smartphone title, huge initial demand fostered over 10 million users by the end of April 2016. However, income from smart devices (along with IP licensing) came to just $15.6 million last quarter. The company didn’t elaborate further.
Nintendo is very much back in the public eye following Pokémon Go’s explosive launch on smartphones — which Apple has said is the most downloaded app in one week ever. Then, there’s also the coalescing rumors of Nintendo console sequel, which may be neither a home console or portable, but something in between. The company revealed nothing new about the NX in its financial reports — or those incoming smartphone iterations of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing.
In short, it’s still waiting on its next hit, whether that’s a new console, a smartphone game or the next Zelda title. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was initially expected to launch last year, but has already been pushed to 2017 — just like the NX. There may be more bad news to come for Nintendo.
Source: Nintendo
‘Destiny’ splits off from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 today
If you’re still playing Destiny on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, today’s update is the last you’ll see. That’s aside from any emergency fixes, according to a post on Bungie.net. The patch also addresses a number of minor glitches involving loot, gear and quest items. From today forward, though, your progress won’t be shared between last-gen hardware, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This patch also marks the cut-off for weekly events like Trials of Osiris and the Iron Banner on older hardware, and expansions like this fall’s “Rise of Iron.”
It’s a not-so-subtle push from the folks at Bungie, but really the developer has gone out of its way to accommodate legacy consoles. That’s even going as far as offering free upgrades from PS3 to PS4 or Xbox 360 to Xbox One during the game’s launch window back in 2014. There’s a point when every console generation must close its eyes, and it looks like that day is here for the 360 and PS3.
Source: Bungie
PlayStation’s Adam Boyes now runs the ‘Killer Instinct’ studio
Key PlayStation exec Adam Boyes already said he was leaving Sony to return to game development, but it’s now clear that he’s making this switch in style. Iron Galaxy Studios has confirmed that Boyes will become its CEO as of August 8th. That’s right — one of the PlayStation world’s best-known figures is now working for a developer whose best-known work involves the Microsoft-exclusive Killer Instinct reboot. It also created Wreckateer, an early showcase for Kinect, and played a big role in producing the hilariously simple fighting game Divekick.
As to why Boyes is coming aboard? Iron Galaxy founder Dave Lang says it’s all about helping the company spread its wings. Boyes can “expand and evolve” the studio’s publishing work, freeing Lang and new Chief Product Officer Chelsea Blasko (an Iron Galaxy veteran) to focus on in-house game creation. You might just see the company become a bigger player in the game business.
Source: Iron Galaxy Studios (PDF)
‘Second Life’ removes support for Oculus Rift
When Second Life patched in support for the Oculus Rift, Linden Lab was cautious to pitch its online world as a haven for virtual reality. “We’re trying not to make too big of a deal out of it,” Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg said in 2014. “It’s still early.” That beta support went through several iterations over the years — but now it’s gone. Earlier this month, Linden Labs removed VR support from Second Life, and the company can’t say when or if it will be back. The problem? It just wasn’t good enough.
According to a Linden Lab community manager, the virtual reality ‘project viewer’ was always an experimental feature. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t living up to the company’s standards. “Due to some of the inhernet limitations with [Second Life],” the company explained, “it may well not be possible to achieve the performance needed for a good VR experience.” Fair enough — Linden Lab’s virtual world is over 13 years old. Making it play nice with new technology can’t be easy.
That doesn’t mean the company is giving up on virtual reality, though. Back in 2014, Ebbe told us that Linden Lab was hard at work developing a VR-focused spiritual successor to Second Life — something he hoped would serve as a creative playground for virtual reality enthusiasts. Today, that exists as Project Sansar, and while it’s still only just taking applications for its beta, it’s clear this is where the company’s VR ambitions currently lie.
Via: UploadVR
Source: Second Life
Report: Nintendo NX is a tablet with detachable controllers
Remember those early reports that described Nintendo’s next game console as a TV / portable hybrid device? According to Eurogamer, they were right on the nose. Eurogamer sources claim that the Nintendo NX is a handheld game console with detachable controllers, a TV base station and NVIDIA Tegra graphics. In other words, it sounds like a standalone Wii U gamepad dialed up to 11.
Specifically, Eurogamer describe’s the NX as a powerful, portable game console with its own display and detachable controllers on either side — sort of like a mix between the Wii U gamepad and Razer’s defunct Edge tablet. The detached controllers can apparently be used for multiplayer gaming (one side for each player) or possibly discarded for a more touch-focused tablet experience.
At home, users will be able to plug the device into a docking station and play games on the big screen, but the outlet’s sources say the console will be marketed with the hook of “being able to take your games with you on the go,” basically unifying Nintendo’s home and portable markets with one device.
If true, however, the report reveals that Nintendo may, once again, be bringing a last-gen console to a current-gen market. Eurogamer’s sources say that Nintendo is sacrificing power for portability, claiming that development kits use the NVIDIA Shield TV’s Tegra X1. NVIDIA’s mobile super-chip certainly isn’t a slouch when it comes to power — but it’s not going to be able to keep pace with the PlayStation 4 Neo, either.
We’re taking the report with a side of sodium — but the console Eurogamer describes does sound familiar. The proposed portable meshes well with previous rumors and Nintendo patents that describe a console capable of using supplementary processors. It also echos reports that the NX would favor game cartridges over discs, and re-confirms Nintendo’s own claims that the device won’t be running Android, despite its mobile GPU.
Nintendo says it can’t respond to “rumors and speculation,” as usual — but Eurogamer claims we’ll know more in September, when sources say the NX will be officially revealed to the public. We’re looking forward to it.
Source: Eurogamer, Digital Foundry
Xbox One S ‘Halo’ and ‘Madden 17’ bundles arrive August 23rd
Microsoft dropped the price of the original Xbox One to $249 over the weekend, and now the company is offering more details on the new Xbox One S. The first two bundles that pair games with the smaller 4K-ready console will ship August 23rd, but they’re up for pre-order today. First, a Madden NFL 17 option comes with a One S that offers a download of the game, 1TB of storage, seven Madden Ultimate Team Pro Packs and one month of EA Access for $349. Unfortunately, there’s no 500GB model available with the popular football title and the bundle will only be available in the US and Canada for now.
Not into sports games? There’s a Halo Collection Xbox One S bundle as well. You’ll have the option of 500GB or 1TB of storage alongside five games with Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Both models will be available at retailers (including Microsoft Stores) in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for $299 and $349. In the US, Microsoft says the 1TB bundle will only be available in limited quantities online and at the company’s retail stores. If you don’t live in one of those places, don’t fret: Microsoft said more bundle news is on the way as we get closer to the Xbox One S launch.
Crowd Play puts the audience in control in Telltale’s ‘Batman’
There are plenty of gripes that your choices in Telltale’s point-and-click adventure games don’t make a difference in how their stories play out. But with the studio’s take on Batman, that appears to be changing. What’s more, you won’t be the only one making the often incredibly difficult narrative decisions. The studio is introducing feature called “Crowd Play,” and according to Shack News it’s something you turn on at the outset of a game. Doing so creates a shareable web link, and people with the URL can vote on different dialog options, which are then tallied live onscreen.
Before you think that you could totally screw over someone’s custom-created Dark Knight, however, know that the host might still have control. There are two types of Crowd Play. One will give the peanut gallery the final say, while the other will let the player override the voting masses. On paper, it sounds perfect for folks streaming on Twitch or YouTube. But the reality is that latency between a stream and the viewers is still too great to offer any sort of real-time response. Telltale debuted it at San Diego Comic Con over the weekend, using the crowd in attendance as fodder. Creative communications head Job Stauffer says that Crowd Play will work with anywhere from “two to 2,000-plus” people helping the host make their choices.
When we spoke with Telltale at E3 this year, marketing head Richard Iggo said that the studio has big ideas for the Caped Crusader. “Our plan and our goal, and what we are going to do is turn things completely on their head for you, as the player and also for Bruce Wayne. There’s going to be things which are very, very different to the established canon.” If you find yourself in the crowd on August 2nd, maybe shy away from making choices that’d bring a smile to the face of director Joel Schumacher. You know, the guy responsible for Batman Forever and nipples on the Batsuit.
Via: Game Informer
Source: Shack News
Now Xbox Live Gamertags will expire after five years
It’s always frustrating when you can’t get your preferred nickname for any online service, and after nearly 14 years many of the good ones on Xbox Live are already taken. Worse, they might be tied to accounts that are no longer active, and are just waiting to go back into circulation. Microsoft freed up a cache of 1 million stale Gamertags earlier this year and back in 2011, which could become a regular occurrence. As a part of an update to its Terms of Service, the company is adding a requirement to sign in at least once in a five year period to keep an Xbox Live Gamertag associated with your account.
vii. Software Updates. For any device that can connect to Xbox Services, we may automatically check your version of Xbox console software or the Xbox App software and download Xbox console or Xbox App software updates or configuration changes, including those that prevent you from accessing the Xbox Services, using unauthorized Xbox games or Xbox apps, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices with an Xbox console.
viii. Gamertag Expiration. You must sign into Xbox Services at least once in a five-year period, otherwise you may lose access to the gamertag associated with your account and that gamertag may become available for use by others.
The new agreement kicks in September 15th, joined by some tweaks to the privacy agreement plus adjustments to its terms for the Skype and OneDrive services. The full document is available here, plu this FAQ going over just the changes, and you can even read the current TOS. If you’re sick of being HunterFlowerDeath912345 then this is the page to check on your preferred name’s availability, and if you’re a lapsed XBL gamer it may be worth signing in every half-decade or so to keep things fresh.
Via: Eurogamer
Source: Microsoft Services Agreement, Summary of Changes
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