|
|
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
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
|
February 26th, 2020, 21:30 Posted By: wraggster
When UK trade group TIGA announced its Five Principles for Safeguarding Players yesterday, my first impression was that it was a defensive PR measure, a shield to point to whenever governments started to scrutinize the business a bit too closely.
After all, that's what I've come to expect from the trade groups in this industry. And at a glance, these five principles would not be out of place coming from a group interested in empty posturing without the need to actually make substantive changes to anything the industry is currently doing:
- Protecting Children
- Treating Consumers Fairly
- Safeguarding Online Communities
- Respecting Personal Data
- Spending and Time Management
However, upon reading through TIGA's explanation of each point, it quickly becomes clear this is not a list of things the industry already does so much as it is a list of things it should be doing. Some of those "Positive Practices" (as TIGA labels them) were embraced by the industry years ago. Others feel like they are years away from becoming standard. Virtually all of them would likely strike outside observers as the sort of thing one would assume a reputable industry would be doing anyway.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...adical-opinion
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
 Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
 |
|
|
|
February 25th, 2020, 17:39 Posted By: wraggster
The UK's National Videogame Museum is bringing together a network of museums, collectors and other institutes to pool resources on video games preservation.
The NVM has formed the Videogame Heritage Society, a group that will share knowledge and best practices about both preserving and exhibiting the history of video games.
Members of the society include the British Library, Museum of London, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, Bath Spa University, and a range of independent collectors.
The NVM has already invested resources in preserving classic games developed in the UK, presenting them as a special collection at the museum.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ion-initiative
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 24th, 2020, 18:33 Posted By: wraggster
Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling game in January in the UK.
Based on GSD market data, the consistently popular action game (first released in September 2013) sold more copies in January 2020 than it did in January 2019.
This is part of exclusive data supplied to GamesIndustry.biz for our new monthly market analysis of UK game sales. The data comes from ISFE and GSD, and includes software sales (physical and digital), hardware sales and accessories. To receive this data in your inbox, sign-up to our UK Retail and Publishing Newsletter.
In total, 2.13 million tracked retail and digital games were sold in the UK during January (see participating companies below), a drop of 8.3% compared with the same period the year before.
This is primarily due to a drop in physical game sales, which are down more than 21% year-on-year. January was a very quiet month for physical releases, with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot from Bandai Namco the biggest new game launch during the month. Last year, January featured two significant releases in the form of Resident Evil 2 by Capcom (the biggest game of the month) and Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe.
Despite the lack of big release, download sales rose by 3.7% during January 2020. Overall, download sales accounted for 57% of tracked game sales last month.
Although GTA V was the best-selling game overall, the No.1 physical game of the month was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Check out the digital, physical and combined charts below.
The biggest publisher of January was Electronic Arts, which achieved a 15% share of game unit sales thanks to FIFA 20, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Battlefront II and EA Sports UFC 3. However, Nintendo's first-party games are currently not included in the digital data and in terms of physical software sales alone, Nintendo was the biggest publisher of the month with a huge 21% share of the market. In terms of downloads alone, Ubisoft was narrowly the No.1 publisher, thanks to Rainbow Six: Siege, Uno and Monopoly Plus.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-quiet-january
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 24th, 2020, 18:31 Posted By: wraggster
In its first week, Pokemon series companion app Pokemon Home achieved an estimated 1.3 million downloads, and brought in an estimated $1.8 million in revenue, according to Sensor Tower.
Launched on February 12, the Pokemon cloud storage service saw approximately 34% of its total downloads come from the United States, while 23% came from Japan. Great Britain came in third, at 5.7% of all downloads.
Though not itself a game, Pokemon Home is a free app that allows users to store Pokemon from across multiple games in the franchise, transfer them into the latest titles, and obtain other, new Pokemon via in-app rewards. Though its base features are free, it includes a paid subscription that allows for greater storage space and access to more features. The subscriptions cost $2.99 per month, $4.99 for three months, or $15.99 for a full year of the service.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...s-reached-1-3m
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 24th, 2020, 18:30 Posted By: wraggster
The tenth anniversary bundle of Bayonetta & Vanquish was the biggest new boxed release of the week in the UK.
The action titles from developer Platinum and publisher Sega were bundled together for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and reached No.10 in its first week at retail.
On the surface, this week's UK physical retail charts look familiar with the classic trio of FIFA 20 at No.1, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at No.2 and Grand Theft Auto V at No.3.
But there are a number of returning games to the charts as a result of some Half-Term deals at major games retailers.
Deals around Team Sonic Racing at stores including Smyths sees the Sega kart racer reach No.7 -- a 99% increase in sales week-on-week. Microsoft's Forza Horizon 4 jumps 229% in sales and returns to the charts at No.8. Meanwhile, some deals around Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (including a Call of Duty bundle at GAME) sees the 2018 shooter re-enter the charts at No.11 (up 169% week-on-week).
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...urn-to-top-ten
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 24th, 2020, 18:27 Posted By: wraggster
Activision has gone to court to find out who let the CoD out of the bag.
As reported by TorrentFreak, last week the US District Court for the Norther District of California granted the publisher's request to subpoena Reddit for the identity of a user who posted a screenshot to the Modern Warfare Reddit forum saying, "I found this image online. Not sure what it is. Possibly Battle Royale." The image featured a number of soldiers standing atop a crashed helicopter in an urban setting, with the words "Call of Duty: Warzone" featured prominently.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...of-duty-leaker
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 17th, 2020, 19:45 Posted By: wraggster
The Entertainment Software Association released a handful of details about E3 2020 today, including a list of 10 major companies who will be attending the show.
The group said it has received commitments from several outfits, including Xbox, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bethesda Softworks, Sega, Capcom, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive Software, Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc., and Warner Bros. Games.
In previous years, many of those names would have been assumed to be at E3, but the show has dealt with a number of high-profile departures of late. Sony skipped E3 last year, a surprise compounded by the news that it would be skipping this year's show as well despite having a new console to promote launching in the holiday season. Electronic Arts left E3 several years ago to run its nearby-but-technically-unaffiliated EA Play event; Activision Blizzard has skipped having a booth on the show floor a number of years (including in 2019), although it has participated with kiosks in the venue's lobby and meeting rooms off the show floor.
Earlier today, The Game Awards organizer Geoff Keighley announced that he would not be running the E3 Coliseum live stage show this year after handling it at the past three events.
"Given what has been publicly communicated about plans for E3 2020, I just don't feel comfortable participating in the show at this time," Keighley explained.
Keighley said his decision to announce his absence from the show was prompted by the leak of the ESA's E3 2020 website this morning. The site was taken live and freely accessible, but once it began circulating on gaming forums, the site was password-protected.
The apparent mistake is reminiscent of the ESA's mishandling of thousands of E3 attendees' personal information last year. In that instance, the group left private details of more than 2,000 journalists, analysts, and streamers accessible on its website through an unsecured download link.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...l-attending-e3
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 17th, 2020, 19:42 Posted By: wraggster
Disney is seeking more partnerships with games developers and publishers following the success of Marvel's Spider-Man and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Speaking at the 2020 DICE Summit, the company's senior VP for games and interactive experiences Sean Shoptaw reiterated that Disney's focus when it comes to the games industry is in licensing out its IP.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shoptaw told developers his role is to "empower you to do really unique things with our [catalogue]," adding: "We want to tap into the power of creatives across the industry."
He offered the two aforementioned titles as examples of the freedom games makers could have when working with Disney's owned IP, which includes Star Wars, Marvel and now various 20th Century Fox properties.
Marvel's Spider-Man by Insomniac Games has sold over 13 million copies, and is the fastest-selling first-party title in PlayStation history, shifting 3.3 million units in the first three days. The game reinvents Spider-Man and many of his enemies, and has even crossed over with the comics and Sony's Into The Spider-Verse movie.
The more recent Jedi: Fallen Order was one of the biggest selling games of last year, and is expected to soon reach 10 million copies sold. It was developed as part of the exclusive publishing deal with EA, and tells an original story set after the prequel trilogy.
In both cases, Shoptaw said an important aspect of the projects was original storytelling and developers "reimagining" established Disney-owned characters and settings.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...or-video-games
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 17th, 2020, 19:39 Posted By: wraggster
2020 game sales are off to a rough start in the US. The NPD Group today released its US sales report for January, showing steep drops in spending on game hardware and software.
For the January reporting period, NPD tracked total game spending (hardware, physical software, full-game digital sales from selected publishers, accessories and game cards) of $678 million, down 26% year-over-year.
When looked at individually, hardware and software performance was even worse. Hardware sales were down 35% to $129 million, with Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One all declining year-over-year. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella pointed to late-cycle hardware dynamics for the decline, noting that Switch led its competitors in both systems sold and money brought in.
Software sales were down 31% year-over-year to $311 million, with a lighter release slate named as a culprit. January 2019 saw the releases of Kingdom Hearts III and Resident Evil 2, providing a tough comparison. January's best-seller charts only featured one new release, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, but it was the best-selling game of the month. Elsewhere in the software charts, Piscatella noted that Nintendo's Ring Fit Adventure finished ninth, which represents the fitness game's highest chart placement since its October debut.
Accessories and game cards were the best-performing part of the market compared to last year, bringing in $238 million for a decline of 11%. That total was helped by Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller, which was the best-selling accessory for the third straight month since its launch. According to the NPD, it is the fifth-fastest-selling game accessory in US history.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...year-over-year
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 17th, 2020, 19:38 Posted By: wraggster
A collection of remastered Yakuza games was the biggest new physical release in the UK last week.
Sega's PS4 exclusive debuted at No.3, behind the usual boxed chart toppers Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (No.2) and FIFA 20 (No.1).
It's one of four new releases in the charts this week, the other being Media Molecule's Dreams at No.8 (also a PS4 exclusive). Dreams was made available in Beta in April 2019 and received its full release last week, complete with a physical version. As a result, the game will likely have performed stronger as a download.
Also new this week is Darksiders Genesis at No.11. THQ Nordic's spin-off action game sold best on PS4, representing 51% of sales, ahead of Switch (28%) and Xbox One (21%).
Street Fighter V also received a fancy new version this week on PS4, with Street Fighter V Champion Edition arriving at No.37 (the game was also released on Steam).
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-crack-top-ten
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 12th, 2020, 21:32 Posted By: wraggster
GeForce Now users will no longer be able to play their Activision Blizzard titles through Nvidia's newly-launched streaming service.
Emerging out of beta last week, GeForce Now enables players to stream games they have purchased through digital stores, allowing them to enjoy titles that may not run on their own hardware.
However, support for all Activision Blizzard titles -- including World of Warcraft, Overwatch and the Call of Duty series -- has been removed. Nvidia explained the change on its forums, emphasising that this was the publisher's decision, but was unable to give a reason.
"As we take GeForce Now to the next step in its evolution, we've worked with publishers to onboard a robust catalog of your PC games," community manager Cory Banks wrote. "This means continually adding new games, and on occasion, having to remove games - similar to other digital service providers.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...k-after-launch
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 11th, 2020, 21:05 Posted By: wraggster
FIFA 20 is back at No.1 in the UK for the first time since the second week in January.
EA's football simulator enjoyed a 32% increase in boxed sales week-on-week, and overtakes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare by just over 1,000 units. It was still a good week for Activision's game, however, which rose 5% in sales week-on-week. Modern Warfare continues to outpace last year's Black Ops 4 by 3% (GfK physical sales data only).
It's a very quiet start to 2020, with the big boxed games not set to appear until the second quarter of the year. The only new game in the charts is Zombie Army 4: Dead War from Rebellion and Sold Out, which debuts at No.8. It's the sequel to 2015's Zombie Army Trilogy, which also debuted at No.8. This new game has sold 43% fewer units at launch than its predecessor, however, digital downloading has increased significantly since 2015 and those digital numbers are not tracked here.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...nters-top-five
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 11th, 2020, 21:04 Posted By: wraggster
The UK's Video Games Tax Relief initiative reached new milestones last year as the number of projects receiving final certification and spending on those projects rose to record highs.
UK spend on games that received final certification was reported as £582.6 million according to the BFI, via UKIE. That's a 189% increase on the £201.9 million reported in 2018.
The number of games that received final certification increased to 247 -- the highest number for a single year to date.
However, the amount of titles that received interim certification lowered last year, dropping from 174 to 139. This has been attributed to the late stage in the console cycle as games companies focus on preparing for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
UKIE also reports that overall product budgets have risen, quadrupling to £1.16 billion, and the related proportion in UK expenditure dropped from 76.5% to 50.2%.
"This indicates that development work in the UK is an integral part of multinational projects that may otherwise have been made elsewhere," the trade body said.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...582-6m-in-2019
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 4th, 2020, 21:30 Posted By: wraggster
The games industry continues to rally behind relief efforts around the Australian bushfires, with donations from Activision and Wargaming, and upcoming efforts from 2K, Bethesda and PlayStation.
Activision created an Outback Relief Pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, sales of which have raised more than $1.6 million (USD).
All of the net proceeds from the pack will be given to the humanitarian organisation Direct Relief, Activision has said, which will use it to help address the ongoing problems in Australia.
Wargaming has also made a substantial donation, InGames reports, blowing past an initial target of $10,000 on a charity livestream to reach a total of $90,000 (AUD). BlazeAid was a combined effort between Wargaming's Asia Pacific team and World of Tanks players in the region.
InGames, the leading industry-facing website for the APAC region, also has information on two upcoming charity drives organised by regional and international games companies.
The branches of Bethesda and 2K Games representing Australia and New Zealand are running the #2KBethesdaUnite campaign, with all proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross. Donations are already open, and the Bethesda and Borderlands Twitch channels will run charity livestreams on February 15.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ushfire-relief
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
February 3rd, 2020, 21:41 Posted By: wraggster
A decade ago, Australia was enveloped in a debate over whether to introduce an 18+ rating for video games. At the time, the most restrictive rating category for Australia was a 15 certificate, and if your game was too much for the 15 certificate criteria (like Left 4 Dead 2), it couldn't be sold. It was seen by many as an unusual double-standard considering films had a more permissive 18 rating available to them but games did not, and there was a push to change the system.
One of the political voices against the 18 rating for games was South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. Years earlier, Atkinson had been involved in a push to ban biker gangs that labelled them "terrorists within our community," blaming them for murder, extortion, weapons smuggling, and other crimes. Despite that track record, Atkinson said he was more worried about gamers than bikers after one left a threatening note under his door in the middle of the night."Atkinson wasn't worried about the biker gangs he was cracking down on, whose members had demonstrated a willingness to kill. He was worried about gamers"
"I feel that my family and I are more at risk from gamers than we are from the outlaw motorcycle gangs who also hate me and are running a candidate against me," Atkinson said. "The outlaw motorcycle gangs haven't been hanging around my doorstep at 2am. A gamer has."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...an-biker-gangs
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
January 31st, 2020, 21:29 Posted By: wraggster
EA just gave its investors a rough outline of what to expect from its release slate beginning in April of 2020, and it looks to be a bulkier release year than this last one has been.
In the current fiscal year (which for EA, ends in March), the publisher launched only seven titles, with a planned eighth in NBA Live indefinitely delayed and nothing more planned for the final quarter. But during its Q3 earnings call, COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen announced EA's plans to publish a total of fourteen games in the coming fiscal year, ten of which appear to be internally developed.
Four of those titles will be sports titles, with both FIFA and Madden already confirmed as two of the four. And EA has already tipped its hand slightly as to the remaining two, though its total count of titles is a bit off. During its last earnings call for Q2, the publisher suggested NHL would retain its place as a regular sports title, but it also said that it would be adding at least one more sports title to its annual slate. Jorgensen and Wilson also indicated EA would offer more details on the return of NBA Live in the coming year, though it's not clear if that means a release, or just an update on the IP.
The next four titles will "draw from the breadth of EA's IP," and here's where things get fuzzy. Again going back to that Q2 earnings call, EA said then it would have "exciting remasters of fan favorites, including the Command and Conquer game we've already disclosed," and there's also that Medal of Honor VR game that's already been announced. EA has also said it has projects in the works at Motive, DICE, Bioware, and Criterion, though it's unclear which of these, if any, is part of the four Jorgensen was referring to.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...xt-fiscal-year
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
January 31st, 2020, 21:24 Posted By: wraggster
The proposed points-based immigration system is expected to have little impact on the games industry, according to trade body UKIE.
As Britain prepares to exit the European Union, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has released its report considering the implementation of an Australian-stlye points-based system (PBS).
Key suggestions from the report were to open up the Tier 2 (general) visa for skilled workers outside of Europe, and reduce the proposed salary threshold from £30,000 to £25,600.
"There is potential here that a cosmetic PBS will be introduced with little actual effect, or that the MAC's recommendations will be followed and that a PBS will be introduced through the Tier 1 [highly skilled] visa route," said UKIE. "Either way, it appears that any future PBS will have little effect on the games industry."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ation-proposal
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
January 31st, 2020, 21:23 Posted By: wraggster
Fate/Grand Order was one of the highest-grossing free-to-play games of 2019, though it may be a less familiar title if you're primarily focused on Western trends.
Sensor Tower reports that the free-to-play RPG from Sony's Aniplex studio just passed $4 billion in lifetime player spending on the heels of its second-best year since its 2015 launch. The game generated $1.1 billion in 2019 alone, down only slightly from $1.2 billion last year. For comparison, its launch year only saw $110.7 million in revenue, though it was only out for half of 2015.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ion-in-revenue
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
next » |
|
|
