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DCEmu.Com is a site that brings you the very latest in Gaming news that isnt console specific and the latest Current Gen news from around the world, Part of the
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August 23rd, 2020, 21:27 Posted By: wraggster
The UK National Videogame Museum is reopening on August 22, 2020 after having been closed since March due to COVID-19.
The reopening comes alongside a number of new safety precautions being mandated by the museum, including pre-bookings, limited visiting slots, face mask requirements, sanitization procedures, and more.
Earlier this year as COVID-19 lockdowns began to take effect, there were concerns that the museum would be forced to close permanently due to a lack of funds.
However, a fundraiser for the museum raised over £200,000 to support the institution, well over the £80,000 fundraising goal.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...s-this-weekend
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August 23rd, 2020, 21:23 Posted By: wraggster
It's hardly an original observation, but 2020 has been one hell of a year. It stands to reason that one of the more catchy coinages has been the term "doomscrolling" -- the act of opening Twitter first thing in the morning and scrolling down to find out what fresh hell has unfolded while you slept, even though you know for certain that it's going to put you in a bad mood before you've even had your first mouthful of coffee.
For the games industry, too, it's felt like brand new reasons to drink heavily have been coming thick and fast. Even cushioned by some great sales numbers thanks to a global population suddenly finding itself with a lot of indoor leisure time to fill, we've still faced a year in which the industry has been forced to rapidly adapt to remote working (with very mixed success), rocked by a host of scandals over inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment, witnessed an ongoing spat over digital distribution revenues that's become increasingly bitter, angry and cynical, seen its growth in markets like China threatened by geopolitical sabre-rattling and attacks on democracy, and now faces a major demand-led recession just in time for two new console launches -- for at least one of which headline software titles have been delayed into next year."It's been a year of upheaval -- and upheaval almost always creates opportunities for someone"
What I'm saying is that there hasn't been a whole lot of good news to write about. There have been some fantastic games released, of course, and a handful of important success stories, but for the most part, almost every good story has had a caveat, and few of the clouds have had much of a silver lining.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...clouds-opinion
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August 23rd, 2020, 21:22 Posted By: wraggster
Another quiet week for UK games retail means that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken the No.1 spot despite a 2% drop in sales week-on-week.
Few games tend to launch during the Summer months, and this week there's only one new game in the charts in the form of PGA Tour 2K21, which debuts at No.2. It marks a rare appearance of a golf game in the UK Top 40.
That means the other niche sports game in the Top Ten, UFC 4, falls two place to No.3 after a 38% drop in sales week-on-week. The EA game topped this physical retail chart last week.
Otherwise, it's a pretty standard weekly chart. One notable difference is that price activity on PS4 exclusives has seen a spike in sales for those games including Spider-Man at No.7 (up 75% week-on-week), Days Gone at No.13 (up 162%) and God of War at No.24 (up 60%).
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-lands-at-no-2
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August 18th, 2020, 22:18 Posted By: wraggster
As a wise and very bald man will eventually say, it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.
I've written several times this year about how the most remarkable feature of the run-up to this year's next-gen console launches is how adeptly both Sony and Microsoft are handling everything. No balls have been dropped, no feet firmly wedged into mouths, no vainglorious statements made that will come back to haunt everyone involved. Nobody's tried, inexplicably, to turn their console into a glorified viewing device for live TV, or claimed that it's a miracle wonderbox that consumers will gladly get second jobs to afford.
The future visions articulated for Xbox and PlayStation are quite divergent, but each of them has thus far been outlined adroitly and sensibly. Yet even though both companies are deftly navigating around the pitfalls of a pre-launch year, it's hard to escape the sense that the cards are increasingly stacked against them, and successful launches of the scale they would naturally desire may now be impossible. Put bluntly, 2020 might be shaping up to be the worst year imaginable in which to launch a new console -- let alone two of them.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...unches-opinion
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August 18th, 2020, 22:17 Posted By: wraggster
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Electronic Arts, asserting that the Ultimate Team mode in its sports games breaks gambling law.
The lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California, and specifically cites the state's gambling laws as proof that games such as FIFA and Madden should be governed by them.
The plaintiff is one Kevin Ramirez, who represents a proposed class of more than 100 other individuals, according to court documents seen by VGC.
He is calling for a jury trial and damages of $5 million.
The case claims EA "relies on creating addictive behaviours in consumers to generate huge revenues."
Ramirez himself assets Ultimate Team compelled him to spend money, having spent more than $600 in both FIFA and Madden since 2011.
"EA's Ultimate Team packs are loot boxes," the case reads. "Buying the packs are nothing more than a gambling bet.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...eam-loot-boxes
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August 15th, 2020, 00:02 Posted By: wraggster
A list of 2020's best-selling video games in Japan has emerged and Animal Crossing: New Horizons is comfortably topping the charts with more than five million units shifted.
The figures come from data released by Famitsu, offering insight into the Japanese video games market for the first six months of the year.
The report only takes physical games and download cards into account. It shows that Animal Crossing sold more than five times as many copies at retail as the next biggest title, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which shifted an estimated 931,165 copies.
New Horizons broke sales records for Switch in Japan at launch, becoming the console's fastest-selling game to date, and has since been confirmed as the best-selling Switch game of all time in Japan.
Famitsu also shared market figures for revenues generated at retail. Consumers spent ¥95.47 billion ($905 million) on software and ¥79.3 billion ($751.9 million) on hardware.
This amounts to a combined ¥174.8 billion ($1.6 billion) spent at games retail during the first six months of the year.
Both hardware and software show significant increases from the first half of 2019, when software made ¥73.99 billion ($701.4 million) and hardware generated ¥66.1 billion ($626.7 million). The total revenue for H1 2019 was ¥140 billion ($1.3 billion)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...he-year-so-far
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August 14th, 2020, 23:50 Posted By: wraggster
Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad reports the use of real name verification in games has been in force in China since 2007.
In a tweet, he described this as "an update to an existing system at the national level to ensure all video game companies are [compliant] with the new system."
The article below has been amended accordingly.
Original Story: China is preparing to roll out an update for its state-run authentication system that requires consumers to log into video games with their real names.
The South China Morning Post reports this is part of ongoing efforts to limit the amount of time children and young people spend playing.
The system was introduced back in 2007, according to Niko Partners, and new developments were shared by the Communist Party's Central Publicity Department at ChinaJoy on Friday.
The Department's Feng Shixin said the update will be implemented in September, and developers and publishers will be asked in batches to ensure their games adhere to the new rules.
There are no further details on how the updated system will work, but some Chinese games firms already operate their own identification verification process.
Tencent introduced this for its flagship title Honor of Kings back in 2018, checking player identities against police records to restrict the amount of time minors spent playing the game. The SCMP reports the game has since had a facial recognition system added.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...s-in-september
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August 14th, 2020, 23:49 Posted By: wraggster
Online games media outlet Gayming Magazine has announced it will host the Gayming Awards next year, positioned as the first games awards ceremony with an LGBTQ focus.
The event aims to celebrate industry efforts to champion the LGBTQ world through video games, as well as support talent from those communities.
Voting will take place through November and December, with a panel of over 20 LGBTQ judges ready to select the winners.
The winners of the streamer and readers awards will be voted for by the site's readership.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ards-next-year
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August 14th, 2020, 23:15 Posted By: wraggster
Nintendo Switch dominated in yet another quiet week for the UK games retail market.
This year's biggest hit game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, is back at No.1 after an 11-week absence. The game has been a mainstay in the charts since its launch in March. Last week, Nintendo revealed Animal Crossing sales have exceeded 20 million globally, making it the Switch's second best-selling game after just over three months on shelves.
In total there are six Switch-only games in the UK physical retail Top Ten. The others being Mario Kart 8: Deluxe at No.3, Minecraft on Switch at No.5, Paper Mario: The Origami King at No.7, Ring Fit Adventure at No.9 and 51 Worldwide Games at No.10.
Last week's No.1, PS4 exclusive Ghost of Tsushima, slips to No.2 after a 46% sales drop. Meanwhile, FIFA 20 is now back in the Top Ten at No.4 after some price discounting at retail. EA's game was at No.19 last week, and unusually disappeared from the Top 40 entirely for two weeks before that.
In fact, FIFA isn't the only EA game where this has happened. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is at No.20 after several weeks out of the Top 40, while Need for Speed: Heat has returned at No.16. Both enjoyed a bump in sales of 78% and 91% respectively. It's possible these games suffered from distribution and stock issues.
There was just one new game in the charts this week in the form of Fast & Furious: Crossroads, which limps over the line at No.17. The game is from Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios (now owned by Codemasters) and published by Bandai Namco. Its performance seems disappointing, although this data only tracks physical game sales and does not include digital.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...of-the-top-ten
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August 14th, 2020, 23:11 Posted By: wraggster
Amazon has rebranded Twitch Prime to Prime Gaming as part of a move to broaden its audience and appeal across a wider audience and more platforms.
The naming convention has already switched over on the official landing page for the service, though the nuances of Prime Gaming remain the same: the service is bundled with Amazon Prime, which costs $12.99 a month, and includes free games and in-game rewards for a number of titles each month, as well as a single free channel subscription each month on Twitch and exclusive cosmetic platform rewards.
"It has nothing negative to do about Twitch," said Larry Plotnick, director of Prime Gaming, as reported by The Washington Post.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...o-prime-gaming
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August 14th, 2020, 23:10 Posted By: wraggster
US games spending reached another record quarterly high for the period running from April to June, according to The NPD Group.
The data firm shared a blog post today announcing that overall consumer spending on games in the US for Q2 reached $11.6 billion, up 30% year-over-year and up 7% from Q1, where $10.9 billion in games spending marked a record Q1 as well.
Video game content made up $10.2 billion of the total, up 28% year-over-year, and was driven by sales of new physical content, digital console and PC content, mobile, and subscription spending.
Leading titles included Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Warzone, Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Final Fantasy 7: Remake, Grand Theft Auto 5, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, Minecraft, NBA 2K20, Pokémon Go and The Last of Us: Part 2.
As of June, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the best-selling game of the year so far, followed by Animal Crossing: New Horizons and The Last of Us: Part 2.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...uarterly-highs
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August 14th, 2020, 23:03 Posted By: wraggster
A new study by the UK's National Literacy Trust linked video games to improved literacy, creativity, positive communication, empathy and mental wellbeing in young people.
According to this survey, 79% of young people who play video games also read material related to the medium. This includes in-game communications for 40% of the respondents, reviews and blogs for 31%, books for 22%, and fan fiction for 19%.
35% of the respondents also said that playing games made them better readers. This link between gaming and improved literacy was particularly strong for boys and "reluctant readers," the study added.
Games seem to be a good way to engage reluctant readers with stories, with 73% of the respondents who don't like to read saying that playing games helps them feel "more part of a story" than reading a book.
Video games also improve young people's creativity through writing, the research found. 63% of young people playing games also write about them. That includes video game scripts for 28% of them, advice to help others for 22% of them, fan fiction for 11%, and blogs or reviews for 8%.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...prove-literacy
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August 14th, 2020, 22:57 Posted By: wraggster
Video games were the most purchased entertainment products during the first 12 weeks of lockdown measures in the UK.
A new report from the Entertainment Retailers' Association shows that, while Disney had the two best-selling products, the rest of the chart was dominated by video games.
From March 23 go June 13, three of the top five best-selling entertainment items were video games: FIFA 20, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Grand Theft Auto 5, respectively.
They were outsold only by the home releases of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Frozen 2.
Video games accounted for half the top ten best-selling product, and 21 positions in the Top 40.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...hs-of-lockdown
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July 20th, 2020, 22:46 Posted By: wraggster
F1 2020 is this week's No.1 in the UK physical retail charts.
The annual racing series by Codemasters enjoyed its biggest opening week since 2017, with launch boxed sales up 22% over last year's entry.
The game may have been buoyed by the restart of the F1 racing series following its hiatus due to the lockdown.
It does mean that the The Last of Us Part 2 ends its stay at the summit after three consecutive weeks at No.1. In fact, the PS4 game dropped in sales 48% week-on-week and slips to No.3, behind Animal Crossing: New Horizons at No.2.
Last week's big new release, Marvel's Iron Man VR, takes a fall from No.2 to No.9 after a 75% drop in sales week-on-week. The game is still tracking well ahead of last year's big PlayStation VR release, Blood & Truth. PSVR games do tend to bounce back in the charts whenever the hardware is discounted at retail.
Speaking of games that bounce up and down the charts depending on hardware performance, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe is back at No.4 after a 50% spike in boxed sales week-on-week. The game tends to perform strongly whenever Nintendo Switch consoles come back in stock, particularly the standard model (as opposed to the Lite version).
Lower down the charts, there are a couple of other new releases for Nintendo Switch. At No.21, you will find Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, which is a remake of a popular Harvest Moon game that was released on Game Boy Advance in 2003.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...no-1-uk-charts
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July 20th, 2020, 22:41 Posted By: wraggster
More than 214 million people in the US in 2020 play video games at least one hour per week, and three-quarters of all US households include at least one person who plays video games.
That's according to the ESA's 2020 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry report, which includes data from a July 2020 survey of 4,000 Americans conducted by Ipsos.
It concludes that 64% of US adults, and 70% of those in the US under age 18 play video games regularly, with 38% of all gamers falling into the 18-34 age range and 21% under the age of 18. 6% of gamers are 65 or older.
That makes approximately 169 million gaming adults in the US -- up from 164 million reported in 2019.
By gender breakdown, the survey reports that 41% of all gamers in the US are women -- down from 44% last year and 45% in 2018.
The gender split seems to fluctuate evenly from year to year -- with additional data from the ESA shared with GamesIndustry.biz demonstrating that the percentage of women who play games in the US has bounced between 44% and 41% over the last five years.
And according to data shared by AbleGamers, there are around 46 million video game players in the United States with disabilities.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ys-video-games
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July 20th, 2020, 22:35 Posted By: wraggster
GameStop has announced it is requiring all customers to wear face masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, but reportedly will not allow employees to enforce the policy.
In a press release today, GameStop said it will begin to implement its new requirement on July 27, to give the company time to inform customers of the change through signage and training for store employees.
However, according to employees speaking to Kotaku, they will not be able to enforce the policy by refusing service to customers who don't wear masks.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ont-enforce-it
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July 20th, 2020, 22:33 Posted By: wraggster
Google Play has blocked a game about the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia from releasing on its platform in Germany, France, Austria, and Russia.
Originally released on PC two years ago, Attentat 1942 from Charles Games was developed with historians at the Czech Academy of Sciences.
The game sells itself as a historically accurate story, told from the perspective of survivors of Nazi oppression.
However, in an email to Charles Games, Google said Attentat 1942 had been rejected because it includes references to Nazis.
The first rejection came on July 7 after the developer spent six months porting the game to mobile, with Google saying it contained content that was "prohibited" in these regions.
Until 2018, Germany enforced a blanket ban against Nazi iconography in games, and many titles such as Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus were altered to meet certain standards.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ences-to-nazis
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July 20th, 2020, 22:31 Posted By: wraggster
Metacritic has changed the way its user reviews system works for games, now preventing people from adding their own ratings until more than day after a title launches.
The change appears to have first been noticed by members of the ResetEra forums earlier this month. A post showed that the PlayStation 4 version of indie puzzle game Superliminal was not open to user reviews until 12pm PST on July 9, 2020, despite the game launching on July 7.
Forbes confirmed this with a screenshot of the reviews page for last week's Ghost of Tsushima, which showed user reviews were blocked until 12pm PST on July 18, approximately 36 hours after its launch on July 17.
Both instances bear the message: "Please spend time playing the game."
The change is believed to be a reaction to the ongoing use of user reviews as a form of protest from some consumers. Metacritic users have been known to post reviews on the day of release, and sometimes even before, often with negative comments and scores to bring the user rating down.
The most recent example was PS4 exclusive The Last of Us Part 2, which has sparked controversy among certain corners of the series fanbase due to some of the story decisions made and the content of leaks that emerged ahead of the game's launch.
In Forbes' example, the user score stood at 3.4 out of 10 based on more than 5,000 reviews, despite the critics' average score amounting to 95 out of 100. At the time of writing, the user score has risen slightly to 5.5 based on more than 130,000 user reviews.
Review-bombing is a common form of protest on online games sites. Last year, Valve attempted to prevent it on Steam by marking a flood of new negative reviews for the seven-year-old Borderlands 2 as 'off-topic review activity.'
The reviews followed complaints that Borderlands 3 would be temporarily exclusive to Epic Games Store.
Update: Metacritic has responded to GamesIndustry.biz and confirmed the change, adding that it only applies to the games section and not other forms of entertainment.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-game-releases
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