July’s Top Sales Belonged to Nintendo’s 3DS
The top-selling video game hardware for the month of July was Nintendo's 3DS family of handhelds. Nintendo issued a statement crediting its success to the release of Monster Hunter Generations and the price drop of the 2DS console.
The success of Pokemon Go no doubt helped Nintendo take the month. Nintendo reported in its release both Pokemon Alpha Ruby and Omega Sapphire made reappearances on the top 10 list for software sales, at numbers 8 and 10, respectively. Pokemon X and Y also saw a 200 percent increase in sales from the same period the year previous.
Why Mr. Robot’s Latest Big Twist (Mostly) Worked
Warning: Spoilers for the latest episode of Mr. Robot, "eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme."
"This will be the last time I keep things from you, I promise."
If Season 1 of USA's trippy, compelling Mr. Robot taught us anything, it's not to trust our own eyes. But after the big reveal that Mr. Robot himself (Christian Slater) was actually only a figment of Elliot's (Rami Malek) imagination -- a more confident and aggressive side of her personality who appeared in the form of his dead father -- would the show be so bold as to dip into the "things aren't what they seem" well again during its sophomore run?
Well, yes. It did. And in a big way. Of course with viewers having learned a huge lesson about the show's unreliable narrator last summer, trust issues were going to be abundant heading into Season 2, and so many folks were able to guess the true nature of Elliot's "regimen" ahead of time. As far back as the season premiere, in fact. Still, just like in Season 1, knowing the outcome or predicting the "gotcha" twist doesn't necessarily diminish things on a show like Mr. Robot. By the time we found last year out that Mr. Robot wasn't an actual person, most viewers already had the puzzle sorted. Now the Darlene twist was another story, but for the most part, the show's audience was hip to the Tyler Durden-ness of it all from early on.
New No Man’s Sky PC, PS4 Patch Now Available
Hello Games has released a new patch for the PlayStation 4 and PC versions of No Man's Sky today, both of which are currently available to download.
Sean Murray, Hello Games co-founder, announced the PC's patch release earlier today, promising the PS4 patch was also on the way. IGN has confirmed the console patch is downloadable. Full patch notes have not been made available for either version, yet, but are "incoming," according to Murray.
Murray did tweet out, however, that the PC version "adds support for more hardware
Former LucasArts, EA Exec Joins CastAR
Former LucasArts president and Electronic Arts executive Darrell Rodriguez has been appointed CEO of mixed reality platform developer CastAR. Steve Parkis, formerly of The Walt Disney Company and Zynga, has signed on as president and COO.
Rodriguez stepped down from LucasArts in 2010, and most recently served as CEO at Trendy Entertainment. Prior to his time at LucasArt, Rodriguez served as COO of Electronic Arts Los Angeles. "CastAR is primed to make mixed reality the place where the next breakthrough in entertainment will happen," Rodriguez said.
CastAR is described as a "versatile 3D platform that uses mixed reality to create endless new types of socially playful experiences." With the addition of Rodriguez and Parkis, CastAR is looking to deliver a "groundbreaking player experience" as the company moves toward the platform's consumer launch.
Arrow: Season 5 Adds DC’s Human Target
Arrow is introducing Christopher Chance, AKA Human Target, in Season 5 and he'll be played by someone familiar with comic book adaptations - Jessica Jones actor Wil Traval.
According to TVLine, Traval will make his debut as the DC Comics hero in Season 5's fifth episode, when Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) becomes his new client. For those unfamiliar with the character, Human Target is a bodyguard who can disguise himself, using this ability to take on the identities of people who are being targeted by assassins.
Wil Traval as Will Simpson in Marvel's Jessica Jones
Final Fantasy XV DLC Will Tailor Gameplay to Each Character
Following up on the news that Final Fantasy XV’s DLC will allow you to play as other party members, Square Enix has confirmed that Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto will each play differently than main character Noctis in their respective DLC episodes.
Speaking to IGN at Gamescom, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata explained that each of the episodes featuring a different party member will offer gameplay tailored to that character’s strengths and weaknesses.
“For example, with Gladio, we really want to push the action element and have a much higher level of action gameplay for his episode,” Tabata told IGN. “Final Fantasy, the way the game is structured, is about the idea of characters and levels, and as you level up your characters, you get stronger. That’s the logic by how you defeat harder enemies, by leveling up to a higher level than them."
Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Collection PS4, Xbox One Possibly Outed
Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection may be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, according to a listing on the Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee website.
Spotted by NeoGAF user catmario, the collection presumably includes Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations — the three games starring Italian assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The Ezio Collection was first announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive and released in 2012.
Daily Deals: Exploding Kittens, Massive PC Component Sale, Batman v Superman
This Amazon Gold Box is Full of Amazing Component Deals
Whether you need a new monitor, a big SSD, or a sweet gaming mouse, this Amazon Gold Box has it all. Every item broken out below is at the lowest price I've seen on Amazon. The slashed out price is the average price that Amazon typically sells it for.
Monitors
Why Overwatch’s Summer Games Are a Problem
Now that the Summer Games event in Overwatch is coming to a close, I think it’s a great opportunity to reflect on what the event did well and what it got wrong. And moreover, what our feedback as a community means for the future of this game right now.
First off, I’m in favor of recurring seasonal events, especially for games like Overwatch. The Summer Games provide new attractions for inactive players like Lucioball, rewards for active ones like exclusive skins, and give Overwatch an additional stream of revenue to fund the development of future modes, maps, and heroes. Events like these are objectively good for the health of the game’s development and the size of its community in both the short and long term.
Cities: Skylines Getting Natural Disasters DLC
New Natural Disasters DLC is heading to Cities: Skylines later this year.
The content, which includes earthquakes, fires, and meteor strikes, will feature a "catalog of catastrophes to challenge mayor-players everywhere."
The DLC will also introduce early warning systems, emergency routes, evacuations and the ability to rebuild your city once again after a disaster has struck, a feature included in Sim City.
“Buildings and infrastructure will be destroyed, fire can spread across locations, and countless lives may be lost unless players implement the right emergency plans and responses and keep an ear on the new radio alert system,” publisher Paradox stated about the DLC.