Nintendo Won’t Rule Out Amiibo Support for Future Smartphone Games
In an interview with IGN, Nintendo Creative Fellow Shigeri Miyamoto said the Japanese game maker was interested in using Apple’s NFC technology with amiibo, the company’s toys-to-life platform.
“There's nothing we can announce today but It’s certainly an area we’re interested in,” Miyamoto said, “and today Apple announced some new news about their NFC technology.”
But what’s he referring to exactly? During Apple’s September event, where the company made several big announcements regarding its popular phone and tablet lines, the company said that iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2 will support FeliCa Type-F NFC contactless technology in Japan. This type of NFC is used for more than 160 million daily transactions across Japan, according to Apple’s press release.
A Beginner’s Guide to Hearthstone
Hearthstone is an intimidatingly deep game: it’s multi-faceted and strategic, there’s a lot to learn and there’s also a big card pool you don’t have access to out of the gate. It’s the sort of game that takes months to really come to grips with, and even then you’ve still got an enormous amount to learn.
There are, however, some fundamental pieces of advice that will help accelerate that learning process, and that’s what this feature is about. It’s primarily aimed at new-ish players and those that have been playing for a while but aren’t making much headway on the ladder.
To be extra clear: This isn’t a guide for people who have yet to play Hearthstone at all. I’m assuming you’ve played through the tutorial, unlocked all the heroes, and know the basics—at the very least. The game’s tutorial and its practice mode do a good job of introducing the mechanics, as does Blizzard’s own Hearthstone site – How to Play, Hero overviews, Lessons and tips for new players.
The Witness Will Get PS4 Pro Forward Compatibility
The Witness will receive a patch to add PlayStation 4 Pro support that, “if all goes well,” should go live on November 10 when Sony’s new HDR and 4K-ready PS4 model is available, game director Jonathan Blow told IGN.
Since The Witness already runs at 60fps on current PlayStation 4 consoles, the focus of the patch is “increasing visual fidelity.” According to Blow, the patch will allow The Witness to render at 1440p “or possibly higher” on a 4K display, while maintaining a consistent 60fps. You can read a full post with more technical details on The Witness blog.
Pokemon Sun and Moon Features Prof. Oak’s Mulleted Cousin
A new Japanese trailer for Pokemon Sun and Moon featured a familiar face, revealing that the new games will include a cousin of the original PokeProfessor.
Fans noticed a split-second shot of what looked like Professor Oak in beach casual clothing and sporting a mullet, but 4Gamer (translated by Siliconera) reveals that it is in fact one Nariya Oak.
Nariya Oak in all his Tommy Bahama glory.
Endless Space 2 Shows A Lot of Sci-Fi Strategy Potential
The problem with space games, in the words of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is that “space is big.” Space is empty. This was the problem with the first Endless Space game, a strategy game with some good ideas but a distinct lack of personality. Developer Amplitude remedied that in a big way with the award-winning fantasy game Endless Legend, which was nothing but personality. Now with Endless Space 2, Amplitude is heading back into the void.
In Endless Space 2, this starts with the different races. As with most other science fiction grand strategy games, you start as a single race on a single planet, just beginning to explore the stars. What separates the Endless games is that the different races are tremendously different. Endless Space 2 has races with extreme focuses on science, militarism, and commerce, with traits like the warlike Cravers exhausting and destroying planets, forcing them to move on. There’s also the vampiric Voydanoi, who don’t actually live on planets, instead enslaving the races below.
World of Warcraft: Legion Sells Over 3 Million Copies Day 1
Blizzard has revealed it sold over 3.3 million copies of the latest expansion for World of Warcraft, Legion, on the first day of release.
The company also said this figure matches the record achieved by previous expansions, and claims it is "one of the fastest-selling PC games ever."
In addition, Blizzard says the "launch-week player concurrency climbed to its highest point since the 2010 launch of the Cataclysm expansion." Back in 2010, World of Warcraft reached 12 million subscribers, however Blizzard doesn't disclose this kind of information anymore.
Legion is the sixth expansion to World of Warcraft, which originally launched back in 2004. As well as new locations, dungeons, and quests, it raises the level cap to 110. However, it took one player just five and a half hours to reach it.
WoW Secret Hunters Accidentally Unleash World-Eating Boss
Blizzard has previously promised that World of Warcraft's Legion expansion would come with some deep secrets to find, but a group of treasure hunters found something (literally) bigger than they expected after solving a complex puzzle.
Members of the Wowhead community - searching for the Reins of the Long-Forgotten Hippogryph item that should unlock an unreleased Mount that was last seen back in 2007 - discovered a set of well-hidden caves (for reference, "hidden-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean-behind-some-kelp-inside-a-hole-inside-a-sunken-ship" levels of hidden) with mysterious orbs inside.
Super Mario Run Will Easily Hit 1 Billion Downloads, Says Analyst
Video game analyst Dr. Serkan Toto has predicted that Super Mario Run will reach 1 billion downloads in its lifespan - twice that of Pokemon Go at time of writing.
The noted game consultant made sure to clarify that his prediction for Nintendo's second fully-owned iOS game was based on the ability to download it for free, before paying for full access later, so that doesn't denote a billion sales.
Includes my prediction for Super Mario Run downloads (entire lifecycle): 1 billion+. https://t.co/p6uPiU9Rdz
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) September 8, 2016
Interplay Selling Earthworm Jim, Descent, Freespace and More
Interplay has announced it is selling its library of video game assets and intellectual property.
What this means is the likes of Earthworm Jim, Freespace, Clayfighter, Descent, and Battlechess are up for sale. In total, the sale represents 70 titles and dozens of game characters.
"With the proliferation of mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality and other new forms of consumption, we believe that consumers are ready to experience and interact with Interplay's characters, stories and game play in ways never possible before," said Eric Caen, President of Interplay.
"We look forward to seeing how this unique portfolio of interactive entertainment icons will evolve for the worldwide audience."
LEGO Harry Potter Collection Coming to PS4
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 are being remastered on a single disc for PlayStation 4, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games announced today.
The LEGO Harry Potter Collection will launch on October 21 with "enhanced graphics, environments, lighting, and visual effects." Two downloadable content packs will also be available. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 focused on the story of the first four books and films, while LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 builds upon Harry's early years at Hogwarts and concludes with the epic battle against Lord Voldemort.
LEGO Harry Potter Collection