Monthly Archives: January 2016
Gotham: Jada Pinkett Smith Returning as Fish Mooney
Jada Pinkett Smith will reprise her role as Fish Mooney in Gotham: Season 2.
According to TVLine, the actress has signed on to appear in multiple episodes during the latter half of Gotham's second season. Aside from the fact that Fish Mooney will be back, FOX didn't offer any details about her role.
Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney in Gotham
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain Has Shipped Over 6 Million Copies
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has shipped over six million copies since its release in September, Konami has announced.
According to the company's latest financial report, the six million figure includes downloads and those shipped to retailers. The figure helped lead a 37.5% increase in revenue for Konami's digital entertainment segment. The increase was also aided by things like strong global sales of Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card games, and the success of its smartphone title Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu, which has been downloaded 19 million times.
The shipped units also factored into Konami's increased total operating profit, which jumped to $143.7 million for the first three fiscal quarters, up from $88.3 million previously. The digital entertainment segment was the highest revenue source for Konami, followed by health and fitness.
EA May Have Outed Xbox One Sales Figures
It appears Electronic Arts may have unintentionally revealed how many Xbox One consoles have sold through 2015.
In EA’s Q3 financial report for the fiscal year of 2016, CFO Blake Jorgensen commented on console sales and stated EA estimates 55 million units have sold between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“As I said, we have a level of conservatism about just the global economy, which at some point in time, there's trouble in the global economy that would impact everybody probably. I think our business seems to be operating pretty consistently, as it has been over the last couple of years. The console purchases up through the end of calendar year 2015, our estimate is 55 million units out there, which has exceeded virtually everyone's forecast for the year, and is now almost 50% higher than the previous console cycle,” Jorgensen said.
Loot Crate Introduces New Service Aimed at Gamers
Loot Crate has unveiled its newest monthly subscription service, Loot Gaming.
Loot Gaming follows the same model as Loot Crate's other subscription services, like Loot Anime and Loot Pets, by delivering a monthly box of collectible swag to subscribers.
For a monthly fee of $25, Loot Gaming crates "will feature a curated selection of items from the best video game brands" including AAA games, indies, new releases, and retro games, according to the company.
Each crate contains between 4 and 6 items, as well as a "game manual style booklet" and an exclusive Loot Gaming pin. All told, Loot Crate says the retail value of the items is around $60 USD. The company also says most items will be manufactured exclusively for Loot Gaming.
Get Fractured Space MOBA Free This Weekend
Edge Case Games has announced that its MOBA Fractured Space will be free on Steam this weekend.
Fractured Space has been in Early Access since November 2014, but is due for full release later in 2016. If you grab it this weekend for free you'll be able to keep it forever.
The game received an update this week that has reset the game's Tech Tree to its final version. All ships, experience, and credits that you unlock from now onward will be reflected in the final game. The reset also puts players back to level one.
“Today’s update brings us one step closer to the full release of Fractured Space and we want to celebrate the game’s progress by giving everyone a chance to play and own the game for free,” said James Brooksby, CEO of Edge Case Games. “Whether you have played in the past or not, this is a great moment to start your adventure with Fractured Space, with a chance to make your mark as a new Captain on equal footing with all players.”
The Story of the Forgotten PSP Game, Saints Row Undercover
New information has come to light about the cancelled PSP game Saints Row: Undercover.
The news comes via Unseen64, who, after some detective work, brought the new information to the public with the help of Saints Row developer, Volition.
Saints Row: Undercover was planned to be Volition’s answer to Grand Theft Auto on PSP. The original idea was to port Saints Row 2 to the Sony handheld, but that lofty goal wasn’t possible. Instead, Volition decided the best course of action was to start from scratch, and create a sequel to Saints Row 2 designed specifically for the PSP.
UK Deals – Call of Duty Black Ops III for £20
Hearthstone: Designing Reno and the Golden Monkey
Hearthstone’s newest adventure - The League of Explorers – introduced 45 new cards to the game, but it has been the legendary cards in that set, that have had the biggest impact on how Hearthstone is played. Reno Jackson, in particular, has created all new archetypes and significantly altered the pace of gameplay. I caught up with Hearthstone's Senior Game Designer Ben Brode and Associate Designer Dean Ayala to chat about the process of designing those cards.
IGN: The League of Explorers’ legendary cards have had a big impact on the way Hearthstone is played – it’s an incredibly strong set. I want to go through them card by card, but first of all, from a broader perspective when you were starting the design process, did you have any particular character archetypes in mind that specifically fit the League of Explorers pulp adventure theme? In other words, did you start with the flavour of the legendaries first or the abilities?
2K Extends WWE License in ‘Multi-Year’ Deal
2K Games and WWE will continue their licensing agreement for years to come, according to both companies. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
Long-time developer Yuke's began working on the series in 2000 — at first under THQ, and then with 2K and its studio Visual Concepts three years ago. Their first, collaborative dip into the series was WWE 2K14.
In addition to the regular console franchise 2K stressed it will continue to invest in WWE SuperCard, the card-battling game developed by Cat Daddy Games studio. WWE SuperCard has been downloaded more than nine million times on mobile devices.
The latest WWE game has received a mixed response, though IGN's own WWE 2K16 review was distinctly positive.
Only 5% of Developers Working On a Wii U Game, Survey Says
The Game Developers Conference has released its State of the Industry Report, laying out development trends ahead of its annual conference. Survey says that PC games are in, and Wii U is out.
PC games continue to lead the industry, with 52 percent of surveyed developers working on PC games. They're followed closely by mobile, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One rounding out the stats. PlayStation 4 is the only console to have increased its development numbers since last year, though only by a few percent.
Developer interest in Nintendo platforms, the GDC survey says, has been declining. Just 5 percent of developers surveyed are working on Wii U titles, with 3 percent bringing a game to the Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo NX fairs even worse, with less than 1 percent of respondents working on a game for the unannounced platform.