#and has microtransactions embedded in the game

[andrevasims]

Okay here's my EA conspiracy theory lol:

You know how they've tried implementing online features in every Sims game but held back due to negative reaction, same with microtransaction DLC, and they've been increasingly focused on mobile gaming (where online connectivity is basically a given and microtransactions are more "accepted")?

I think their choices with the franchise have been attempting to shift the game's userbase to one that wants multiplayer and will pay for microtransactions. That's why they put so many resources into The Sims Mobile and made TS4 on console virtually identical to the PC version, why they introduced Kits, and showed mobile connectivity in the TS5 announcement.

Not every Sims player likes those things, but the ones who do are the ones giving them money, and at this point I think they've managed to shift the userbase towards that enough that they may actually manage to make a multiplayer, microtransaction Sims installment that will receive positive reception this time. And I think they'll accomplish that by catering to mobile gamers and build out from there, maybe even cross-platform support or whatever.

So basically I think The Sims 5 will be like Fortnite lol

[jcmarchi]

PlayStation And K-Pop Singer NakedBibi Team Up For Stellar Blade Music Video

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/playstation-and-k-pop-singer-nakedbibi-team-up-for-stellar-blade-music-video/

PlayStation And K-Pop Singer NakedBibi Team Up For Stellar Blade Music Video

PlayStation and K-Pop singer NakedBibi, or Bibi for short, have teamed up to create a new song and music video inspired by Stellar Blade, the upcoming action game from developer ShiftUp. Stellar Blade hits PlayStation 5 exclusively next week on April 26 so this new track, appropriately titled “Eve,” is coming at a perfect time to keep excitement for the game going. 

The song itself is pretty great, too, and the music video visuals are very reminiscent of Stellar Blade itself. If you’re excited about the game, or a fan of NakedBibi, it’s definitely worth your time. 

Check out the “Eve” Stellar Blade music video by NakedBibi for yourself below: 

[embedded content]

If you haven’t yet checked it out, there’s a free Stellar Blade demo available right now on PS5 to give you a taste of what’s in the final release. For more about the game, read Game Informer’s exclusive interview with Stellar Blade’s director for behind-the-scene details and more. After that, read about how Stellar Blade will have no microtransactions, with one exception. 

Stellar Blade hits PS5 on April 26, 2024. 

What do you think of this song? Let us know in the comments below!

[shyguycity]

Goty 2019

Hey. It’s game of the year 2019 baby. By now you know the kinda justice we seek on these streets, so no long-winded introductions, except to remind you that these aren’t reviews, and honorable mentions have been moved down to the bottom this year because we're evolving.

12. Super Kirby Clash (Switch) - A free to play online Kirby spinoff centered around combat that features microtransactions sounds like an awful idea on paper, and yet it’s somehow my most played multiplayer game of 2019. I won’t try and present the game as anything more than what it is, which is basically a very (very very very!) simplified, arcade-y Monster Hunter game with a very (very very very very!) cute aesthetic. But as a recent convert to Monster Hunter and a longtime Kirby lobbyist, it turns out that that’s all I need to play a game for nearly 100 hours. The four classes all have varied abilities, gameplay and roles to play, and there’s nothing more satisfying than freezing time as the mage in the middle of an enemy’s jumping animation. I found the microtransactions to be completely fair, as I spent around 10 dollars total on the game and never found myself hurting for apples (the game’s main currency and the only one you can buy with real money) to upgrade my equipment. This isn’t a game I would be able to recommend to everyone, but if it’s your type of thing then it’s going to be very much your type of thing.

*Image credit: 505 games

11. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Despite horrible first impressions from my backer copy of the Switch version, Bloodstained really ended up delivering the true Castlevania: Symphony of the Night successor it promised to be, and I had a fantastic time with it (after trading in my Switch version and begrudgingly purchasing a PS4 copy). While I love almost all of the Castlevania games in their own ways, even the best entries post-SotN didn’t end up feeling much like SotN. Bloodstained, meanwhile, wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Or rather on its wolf hood and gas mask combo.

Obscure, bizarre, and goofy secrets are around every single corner of the castle. I mean, like, really esoteric ones that I can’t imagine having found without a guide. From the myriad of hidden (and very challenging!) boss fights, to trophies popping for playing a piano while having a fair familiar out to entire sprite based areas, the surprises never stop being thrown at the player. It adds so much goofball flavor to the game that’s missing from just about any other entry in the genre, and it does the brunt work in giving this game its identity.

Not only are the secrets plentiful and good, but the combat is also excellent; much like a couple entries in the latter Castlevania games, just about every single enemy in Bloodstained has a chance of dropping you a shard upon defeat, and each one gives your character Miriam a new ability. Some of these are simple passive buffs, while others completely change your combat options. From ghostly portrait guardians to giant dentist drills coming out of your hand to summoning disembodied dragon’s heads, the shard system is never not entertaining, and leaves the player so much room for experimentation and realizing their ideal build it’s actually a wonder they were able to bug test this thing at all. And truly, the main issues holding Bloodstained back from true greatness are its technical issues. Which is a shame, and seemingly an issue on all platforms. But if you can handle a hard crash here or there, you’re in for a treat.

10. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) - I never thought I would care at all for any Fire Emblem game. Certainly, I saw the appeal of them prior to Three Houses, but they just never seemed like something I would want to devote a lot of time to. But putting the game in a school setting and recontextualizing your soldiers as students really made a huge difference for me, and I bonded with the characters in the game in a way I normally reserve for my Pokemon teams. And unlike Pokemon, I can marry my students, which is beautiful and horrifying.

There are definitely issues with Three Houses. A silent protagonist has no right starring in a game like this, especially with all the emotional story beats the game is trying to pull off. The writing in general was also all over the place, ranging from odd decisions with both the characters as well as the overarching story (some of this is remedied by replaying the game multiple times and going down different routes, but I put 60 hours into the game and couldn’t even finish two paths, so that’s a bit unrealistic). Lastly, the monastery that serves as your school needs just a tad more variety in activities to do in between the battles, as what started out as my favorite part of the game became a chore for the last dozen or so hours.

All of that said, I am anxiously waiting for the sequel, as the foundation that’s been put down here could lead to something truly special. As it stands, this is the best secret Harry Potter game ever made, and that alone is going to have a lot of appeal to a lot of people.

*Image credit: Gamespot

9. Resident Evil 2 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Truly, I have never been more stressed out when playing a game than the first time I had to start dealing with Mr. X. Yes, on each subsequent playthrough (of which I did many!) and even encounter he became less of a threat and more of an annoyance, but much like a good horror movie, that first time will remain embedded in my brain as one of my most memorable gaming moments.

And that kinda sums up Resident Evil 2 as a whole for me. An amazing, unforgettable start in the police station, followed by a somewhat middling second act in the sewers, and ending on kind of a weirdly short whimper in a very tonally different setting than the rest of the game. And that’s without getting into how disappointingly similar the “B” playthroughs of either character were to their “A” counterparts. It was all still great, mind you, and the gameplay and scares remained excellent throughout. But man was that first act in the police station something truly special, and I’m hopeful that the eventual remake of 3 keeps more of that tone throughout.

8. Pokemon Sword/Pokemon Shield (Switch) - Cutting hundreds of Pokemon was pretty close to the bottom of my list of concerns going into the latest Pokemon. The series hasn’t really grabbed me in a major way since Black and White on the DS almost 9(!) years ago, and I had largely accepted the idea that I was finally growing out of the franchise. While this 8th generation of Pokemon titles is far, far from perfect, and in fact doubles down on a lot of the aspects I don’t like about modern Pokemon games, Sword has become my favorite entry in the series in a very long time.

This is down to two things: my favorite batch of new Pokes the series has ever had (Galarian Farfetch’d, my prince............) and the introduction of multiplayer coop content with raids. The former is subjective I suppose (but seriously, Galarian Farfetch’d), and the appeal of the raids is going to be dictated by how into repetitive content you are and if you have people to raid with. I’m fortunate enough to love repetitive tasks in video games, especially repetitive tasks that amount to fighting and capturing giant monsters for rewards, and to have a partner to enjoy those repetitive tasks with. We lost entire weekends to hunting down new raid opportunities in Sword, and this feels like the first major step the series has taken in nearly a decade to try and reengage me in a meaningful way.

And don’t get me wrong: Pokemon has a long way to go to bring me entirely back into the fold. The dungeons are nonexistent, the routes are largely completely straightforward affairs, the post game content is so light that “barebones” feels like a generous descriptor, and the performance issues in the wild area (the game’s more open, free roaming space) are inexcusably awful when played online. I hope by the time the 9th generation games roll around that we’ll get a bigger advancement than what’s been seen here, but to me, this feels like an all around better made product than any of the 3DS entries, with or without Galarian Farfetch’d.

7. Risk of Rain 2 (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The original Risk of Rain is a personal all-time favorite, so seeing the developers successfully make the jump from 2D to 3D while still maintaining everything I love about the first game is a truly remarkable feat. Both games sport essentially MMO-lite combat with abilities dictated by cooldowns and items that you get from chests and bosses, with rogue-like progression and permadeath. That’s a lot of jargon even for me talking about video games, so essentially: keep shooting things and powering up by grabbing items and defeating bosses, and when you’re dead you’re dead (bar a specific item), rinse and repeat.

It’s deceptively simple while being endlessly replayable. The true fun comes in when playing with other people, as every character plays completely differently, and figuring out builds for each person on the fly is extremely fun and rewarding. This also means that if you start getting bored of one character, simply play a different one on your next run. Add in an extremely moody sci-fi aesthetic (including one of my favorite soundtracks of the year) and that’s Risk of Rain.

The main issue with Risk of Rain 2 at this point is that it’s simply unfinished, and won’t even have an actual ending state until spring of 2020. This doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of the game much, hence it being on this list, but I imagine a lot of people would be bothered by it. The developers have done a great job of updating the game at a decent pace so far though, and every major patch has come with a new character, among a ton of other things. And if I’ve already gotten this much enjoyment out of an early access title, it’s exciting to think about a feature complete version down the line. And hopefully that feature complete version of Risk of Rain 2 includes the Chef character from the first game *ahem*.

6. Astral Chain (Switch) - In a year full of some real dang weird yet shockingly great games, Astral Chain stands tall as probably the weirdest surprise of them all. You’re a future cop fighting invisible ghost demons from an alternate dimension with your own invisible ghost demon chained to you through some high tech handcuffs. That’s just the first half hour of the game, and it ratchets up the anime nonsense many magnitudes over in the course of its 20ish hour runtime. And it’s great and stupid.

It’s not just the plot that’s over the top, though. Coming from developer Platinum Games, renowned for their nonstop super sweaty action portfolio, Astral Chain spends just as much time tasking the player with exploring its world, characters, and lore as it does asking you to punch enemies the size of skyscrapers (or bigger). It’s a formula that works shockingly well, as I found myself enjoying the downtime segments just as much, if not more, than the action portions of the game. And the action that is there doesn’t really play like your typical Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, either; the player character, while critical to pulling off combos and the like, is not your primary damage dealer, with that role being fulfilled by your five “legions” (the aforementioned ghost demon buddies), all of which have different strengths, weaknesses and abilities. The gameplay ends up feeling kind of like a realtime Pokemon game by way of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and no sentence I’ve ever written has been as cool as that one.

I do think Astral Chain falls a bit short in the combat department, at least compared to other games in the genre. It’s a bit too simplified, despite how crazy looking and overwhelming the actions you and your legions end up doing can be, and I think that the obligatory Platinum-style grading system in this is very poor - it doesn’t seem to grade overall performance so much as it just wants you to constantly be switching your legions in the midst of battle. Which is a great lesson to teach your players, but I would also like if anything else about my combat performance seemed to have significant weight on my grade. Having said all that, it’s a flaw that I found much easier to overlook in the midst of battle when I sent my wolf legion ahead of me, biting and tearing its way through a cluster of enemies, while I hung back inside of my punching legion, finally able to fulfill my years-long Star Platinum “ora ora ora” fantasies.

5. Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (PC) - There’s a lot going on in Anodyne 2, and I fear trying to describe it in words, not only because of all the jargon I’d inevitably have to use, but also because I’m not sure I can do the game justice. To that end, here’s a brief trailer of the game to get you started:

If you find that trailer at all intriguing, Anodyne 2 is definitely for you. And if you’re still skeptical, know that the game has far more to offer than just its (beautiful) low-poly aesthetic. While visually it’s obviously most evoking Playstation 1 era games such as Mega Man Legends, in terms of the tone of its writing it strikes a pretty peculiar balance between Earthbound and Nier: Automata (names I do not invoke lightly!). The visuals aren’t just an aesthetic choice, either - throughout the game you find yourself in 2D overhead areas, solving puzzles inside of the minds of other characters, and these varying layers of abstraction serve to further the game’s message and atmosphere. And it’s all of these things combined that pushed Anodyne 2 over the edge of “memorable” and into the realm of “haunting” for me.

It’s a game that wants to be played and experienced by everyone; you can tell how much love was put into every single corner of the world, every line of dialogue, and each and every single goofy joke. Steven Universe (another seeming inspiration of the developers) is the only other piece of media that has reminded me of just how lost and alone I’ve felt at various stages of life, while choosing not to dwell on that and instead using it as a launching pad to remind me of just how far I’ve come. As the game itself says, Anodyne 2 is a game about life, and I’ve rarely come across one that felt so full of it.

4. Judgment (PS4) - With the release of Yakuza 0 a couple of years ago, the Yakuza games went from a series I was vaguely aware of in my periphery to maybe my all-time favorite video game comfort food. They’re silly, melodramatic, sad, and beautiful, tonally swinging back and forth like a large imposing guard wildly trying to hit Kiryu with a couch section. Most importantly, they manage to feel heartfelt and personal in an age where high budget games seldom feel anything of the sort. I was initially hesitant, then, to play a spinoff that threw aside its entire cast of established characters for a crew that dabbles in detective and lawyer work; I didn’t think there was much of a chance that this new band of very handsome crimeboys with hearts of gold would be able to compare to Kiryu, Majima and the like. How glad I was to be wrong, as Judgment is now maybe my favorite of the Yakuza games I’ve played.

By pulling further out (but not completely away) from the culture of organized crime as the central driving factor of the story, you no longer need to memorize a dozen different yakuza organizations and all of their subsidiaries and patriarchs within, nor do you have to try and remember which side is feuding with who. And that isn’t to say that the story doesn’t have just as many twists and turns; it does, and despite the larger scale of the stakes, ends up feeling more focused and personal. I also found it easy to bond with the two main characters, Yagami and Kaito, as not only do their personalities play off of each other very well, but they simply share more screentime together than I’ve ever seen Kiryu get a chance to do with anyone. Truly, the story ended up being one of my favorites in the entire medium, and I fell in love with the characters to the point where I got misty eyed during the credits.

With regards to gameplay, it’s a Yakuza game. Which means a lot of running around Kamurocho, talking and shopping and playing minigames and brawling. Since the player character in this entry is a detective, there are various mechanics and events related to the profession, such as investigating crime scenes and tailing suspects, but they’re by far the weakest part of the game, and you shouldn’t come to this game looking for incredible detective gameplay. Instead, come to the game for literally everything else it offers, because it’s a fantastic experience all around, and a great jumping on point for anyone unfamiliar with Yakuza.

*Image credit: Steam user Symbol

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Frankly, I did not much care for Sekiro for the majority of my first play through. Specifically, I dreaded its boss fights. To go from the sheer joy of being able to dispatch a courtyard full of enemies in any way I pleased in the game’s relatively free form stealth sections, to being killed in a matter of two or three hits to every single boss and miniboss was frustrating; how could I not groan when I started that duel with Genichiro at the top of the castle, knowing full well that I was going to be stuck there for a few (or more) frustrating hours? It wasn’t until the fight against the protagonist’s father figure, Owl, hours later at the same location as the aforementioned Genichiro fight, that something clicked. It only took around 30 hours, but suddenly, instead of approaching the situation like a Dark Souls or Bloodborne boss, I was not only being defensive, but I was being aggressively defensive, parrying nearly every single blow. Suddenly it was me standing in place, baiting out my opponent’s attacks only to throw the force of his own momentum back at him. Suddenly combat made sense in this damn game. And suddenly I was dead again in a quick three hits after inhaling some magic gas that prevented me from being able to heal. But that was ok! Because suddenly this game was amazing, and suddenly I had completed it four times and adored every second of it (except for that fucken four form final boss with no checkpoints).

I still stand by my (and a lot of other’s) original complaint that the disparity between the freedom offered in the rest of the game compared to the unflinchingly rigid roadmap you have to follow in fighting the bosses is jarring game design, and it’s very fun to imagine a version of Sekiro that lets you approach bosses any which way you like. On the other hand, no other game that I’ve ever played, not even Sekiro’s predecessor and my favorite game of this console generation, Bloodborne, has come anywhere close to making me feel this cool when fighting bosses. And that’s a mighty impressive accomplishment on any game’s part, speaking from the perspective of an overweight, sweaty, hairy, very uncool man.

But really, fuck that final boss though.

2. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Switch/PS4/PC) - When we were around 10-years-old, one of my best friends, Patrick, used to host fairly regular Lego-building sleepovers, where everyone built whatever they wanted, and our creations were then showcased to the rest of the group. Being that the group consisted entirely of pre-pubescent boys, this meant building various robots or cars, all of variable quality/ability to stand upright. During one of these nights, in lieu of the usual deathbot piloted by the ghost minifig, I instead constructed a little bunker for the ghost - a place where, after a long day of being forced (by me) to pilot his mech suit and commit unspeakable acts, he could hang up his ghost hat and be forced (by me) to ponder the morality of his actions. It was just a tiny little room with the necessities: bed, table, bookshelves and pizza, but when presenting it to my friends I proudly declared that the bunker was also located at the bottom of the ocean, a factor that couldn’t be visually represented due to the harsh limits of time, Lego pieces and my ability. I was pretty proud of my cool-down chamber, but if memory serves correctly, it was Patrick’s no doubt boorish creation that was the apple of everyone’s eye. And who am I to try and convince a room full of my peers that actually, a secluded room where you could read in peace for all eternity was much cooler than a punching gorilla bot?

This is all to say that I have never been a creative type, especially when it comes to building. I had previously played Minecraft and the first Dragon Quest Builders, and while I enjoyed them, there wasn’t quite enough there to make me want to engage with them on a level beyond just playing them like any other game - I don’t think I ever built anything in DQB1 that wasn’t required for the sake of progression in the main story, and the less said about my Minecraft efforts the better. Builders 2 expertly sidesteps this issue by wrapping its building mechanics around an engaging and hearfelt story (I got teary-eyed multiple times!), great characters (especially the main character’s mysterious best friend/partner in crime, Malroth) and a lovely localization. It also encourages more freeform building than the previous game by tying the progression of the story to the progression of your main, customizable island. You don’t ever really have to go off into the weeds on your own in regards to building, but the game gives you so many opportunities to fill in the blanks on premade templates that you eventually just become comfortable in doing so. It’s hard to stop myself from gushing about the game, to the point where as I type this I’m questioning why it’s “only” number 2 on this list.

And thanks to DQB2, for the first time in 20 years I revisited my first creative endeavor: the underwater solitude bunker, this time no longer held back by the technology of the day, instead fully realized in digital form. Built as far down as the game would allow my character to dig, hidden beneath the still waters of a reservoir inside of a pyramid, it is truly a testament to mankind’s ingenuity. And it is wicked. Naturally I had my artist (and DQB2 fanatic) girlfriend visit my game’s world so she bask in my true brilliance. I gleefully guided her down to the catacombs and down the intimidatingly long chain that dangled into the deceptively still depths. After a brief swim into the murky unknown, we arrived at our hidden destination at the bottom of the earth, where she was greeted by the sight of my submerged masterpiece. A wry smile snaked itself around my lips, as I knew, was absolutely certain, that within seconds, once she had made it through the de-pressurization chamber at the entrance to my paradise, I would be hearing the words of someone simultaneously shocked, awed, and hopefully only a bit jealous. Instead, I was met with a few seconds of silence followed by a patronizing “Well, I’d have never thought to build something like this.”

So, I guess that’s why Builders 2 couldn’t quite reach the number one spot: true art is never appreciated in its time.

1. Hypnospace Outlaw (PC) - No piece of commercial art has ever felt like it was made for me in the way that Hypnospace Outlaw does. I grew up on the internet during the time period this game’s alternate reality take on the 90s internet is drawing its inspiration from; I have talked at length, to anyone who will listen, about how this early incarnation of the internet felt more like a physical space than it does now, and how much I miss the days of stumbling on to weird Geocities sites, meeting people in AOL chatrooms, and the early days of pirating. I met my first girlfriend through the internet, as well as my current one. The vast majority of the friends I’ve made in my life would not have happened without the internet, and not just because of distance; the internet allowed the younger me to be the person I was too insecure to be in person, and to develop my own voice. I owe who I am to the people I met in freeware fanmade Dragonball Z games and IRC chat rooms, and I think that’s kind of fucked up and magical, and it’s all kind of a miracle that I’m not even more of a mess of a person than I am today. And the developers of this game have clearly had those experiences, too.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Hypnospace Outlaw is for everyone, because it’s absolutely not. It’s essentially a detective game, but you’re solving cases by investigating user made internet pages circa 1997, and the “cases” you’re working on are largely things like bullying and copyright infringement. In other words, you’re mostly just reading gaudy websites and figuring out more about the back end and exploits of the Hypnospace experience. It is incredibly specific and niche and, as someone that sorely misses staying up until 3 AM downloading Winamp skins, I can’t stop thinking about this game, even months later.

I wrote a longer piece on the game on this very blog, and instead of rehashing anymore of it here, I’ll just direct you that way. Though if I may, I’d like to give one last endorsement for the game for any hypothetical person reading this that’s on the fence about trying it - if you’re the kind of person that somehow finds yourself reading this game of the year list, and have made it this far down the page without getting bored, I promise you that you’ll find something to love about Hypnospace Outlaw.

Honorable mentions (for games that were either not originally released in 2019 or I still wanted to briefly touch on):

Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition (Switch) - Somewhere in between listing the original release of Dragon Quest 11 as my 7th favorite game of 2018 and now, it went from being “a really great JRPG” to “one of the best games I’ve ever played”, and in all honesty should have probably been at the top of last year’s list. A beautiful, unmatched experience all around.

Overcooked! 2 (Switch/PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The Overcooked games are possibly the best coop games I’ve ever played by merit of them actually requiring communication between players. Framing the game’s mechanics around cooking food, a universally understood act, is brilliant.

Baba is You (Switch/PC) - This is the most clever puzzle game I’ve ever played. Hell, it’s probably the most clever game I’ve ever played period. What prevented me from truly falling in love with it was that every single puzzle after the first couple of worlds became the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do in my life. And while that did make solving those puzzles equally satisfying, the thought of dedicating multiple hours each to stumbling through dozens and dozens more of single screen puzzles was a bit more than I was able to handle. Still, for any puzzle fans, there are some genuinely jaw-dropping moments in this that shouldn’t be missed.

Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (Switch/SNES) - The things I didn’t like about DL3 as a single player game are exactly what makes it a great coop Kirby game, which was a way to play this game that I never had the pleasure of experiencing until this year when it was re-released on the SNES Switch app. It’s skyrocketed up my list of favorite Kirby games, as well as become my favorite SNES coop game. Also, Gooey.

Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) (PC) - I don’t quite qualify this as a game, as it’s more of a message in a bottle app with a very warm and charming aesthetic. But if you’ve ever wanted to anonymously reach out to strangers and tell them things are going to be all right while listening to some calming music, this is the thing for you.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch) - I have a deep, deep fondness for all three of the Luigi’s Mansion games (the GameCube and the original game were my first launch day purchases!), and 3 is by far the best game in the series. Every single moment of it was some high degree of charming and/or cute, and it’s a game I would feel confident in recommending to just about everybody. However, while I truly loved my time with the game and will no doubt replay it years down the road, there was nothing inside of it that really left any kind of deep impression on me. It’s a summer blockbuster in a kid-friendly spooky form, and that’s great for what it is.

Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) - Mario Maker 2, sequel to what I would consider to possibly be the best game Nintendo’s ever made, is by far and away my most disappointing game of the year. It’s still an amazing toolkit, and I’ve been very satisfied with the levels I ended up making. That said, the gaming landscape has changed a lot in the 5 years between the original and the sequel, and with Nintendo’s nigh complete silence regarding updates coming to the game, I can’t consider it to be anything but a massive disappointment. And maybe that will change! But as of this posting, there’s been almost nothing to keep me coming back to the game a mere few months into its life, and that’s a huge problem. All of that said, it’s still a fantastic game and value, especially if (like most) you didn’t get a chance to play the original due to the console it was stuck on.

[apex-legends-generator-blog]

Apex Legends Generator

Apex Legends Generator Download

Program Download - Apex Legends Generator

I envision eyes were rolled at the surprise dropping of Peak Legends if you're suffering from Battle Royale exhaustion. Contrasts in between Apex Legends as well as every other battle royale video game need to upright a surface area degree. Actually, the base versions of the majority of weapons in Apex Legends could do with some buffing to make their clips bigger by default, them being unrealistically little with the SMGs extremely tough to obtain a down with many thanks to their spread as well as low damages outcome.

This itself is a benefit to access and also a salve to toxicity, however atop it, Peak features a text-to-speech comms choice for players with trouble talking or fretted about harassment, which sadly feels like a cutting edge act when massive multiplayer video games like Anthem and also Fallout 76 release without text chat at all.

Unlike other video games in the genre, the loot system in Peak Legends is brilliantly done as well as discovering the best weapon and best attachments legally feel amazing Apex Legends Generator. Straddling the cartoonish appearance of Borderlands and also the clothes dryer advanced armed forces aesthetic of the Titanfall series makes it difficult to inform Apex Legends aside from a schedule of FPSes.

General Apex Legends has a nearly Blizzard-like gloss(The old Blizzard Home entertainment that is), and also it truthfully really feels near to Overwatch in terms of just how smooth the gameplay really feels and also it definitely strikes PUBG, and Apex Legends Generator Hack many various other battle royale's out of the water with just Fortnite having a similarly polished feeling. Apex Legends exceeded over 25 million players by the end of its very first week, and 50 million within its initial month.

Just time will inform just how Respawn Enjoyment chooses to take care of the release of Legends in addition to the price of old ones. I generally play the assassin duty whether it be in Overwatch, League of Legends or another thing however in Apex Legends I do not mind playing the support function, as well as actually, Lifeline is my most played Tale right now.

In traditional battle royale video games, I always seem like a lot of assault rifles feel like the exact same, all SMG's feel the same and more. In Apex Legends I always have an actually strong preference towards certain guns because of how unique the recoil and feeling of the weapons are. To go from being routinely lowered by myriads of preteen racists in Fortnite to scratching wins with unfamiliar people in utter silence in Pinnacle Legends is a videogame wonder.

This is thanks to how the gear works in "Peak Legends." All the things, sans the weapons, drop on a rate system, so the need to boost your package is always there. Claiming that, a few of the weapons in Peak Legends resemble trying to battle with a wood spoon. Pinnacle Legends map design is one more piece of their success as well as truthfully fairly ingeniously crafted.

Apex Legends Generator - Pinnacle Legends Period 2 Advises Us That Not Every Online Video Game Needs To Grind Out

There's an obvious demand for monetisation as Pinnacle Legends is a complimentary video game, but the loot boxes in addition to the newbie's packs, general microtransactions, as well as a Fight Pass still to find is merely way too much. Characters like Wraith as well as Gibraltar aren't specifically brand new", yet their characters shine with sufficient to make them feel original, a sentiment that bristles throughout Pinnacle.

Each of the leading challengers in the fight royale category provides something various, yet there's a factor Apex Legends has actually blown up in appeal so promptly. Pinnacle Legends is a lot like the majority Apex Legends Generator Cheat of battle royale games. In a one-two ko blow, Respawn exposed and also launched "Apex Legends," a fight royale video game mixed with light hero shooter functions, and also all embeded in the Titanfall universe.

Peak Tale's character abilities and also clever use the environment combined with the substantial selection of gizmos, explosives, as well as weapons is where it really begins to shine. Just as I was starting to really feel worn out by the oversaturated fight royale( BR) style as well as wanted another thing Respawn Enjoyment proceeds and launches Pinnacle Legends, and I have rarely had the ability to stop playing given that.

[realjohnmda]

Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming

Personally, I’ve always preferred single player gaming experiences. There’s something about going on your own journey – forging your own path at your own pace, which I feel like you don’t get playing online. I also don’t see the appeal in e-sports. To me, if you’re going to spend that sort of time getting really, really good at something - it probably shouldn’t be playing video games. BUT! Maybe that’s just the old man in me – and, I appear to be very much in the minority. The e-sports market is expected to surpass $1.5b by 2023, driven in large part by the social component of live streaming and online multiplayer gaming (Soto Reyes 2020). The cultural landscape is changing. Gaming has been legitimised – and its big business.

The current state of video games ties in with discussion from previous weeks about the changing media landscape, more broadly. This involves an empowerment of traditional audiences to become broadcasters and producers themselves. All around the world, people are able to share facets of their lifestyle through social media previously unexposed to others. Taylor (2018) refers to this as a rise in ‘networked broadcasting’, which transforms otherwise private play into public entertainment through streaming. Games such as Animal Crossing also have a deeply embedded social component and knowledge community. Not only does the game reflect real world aspects such as trade and capitalism, but also demonstrates a fascinating way of participating in life-like scenarios through games during the COVID-19 lockdown (Hardwick 2020). Online gaming communities are loved for their ability to facilitate friendship, group unity, connection with like-minded people, relative social anonymity, and the ability to ignore disliked people (Brignall & Van Valey 2008).

Previously, when games were sold on physical media, they were a matter of plug and play without any online functionality. Nowadays however, developers push out regular updates releasing new content, add-ons and actively listening and engaging with their player-base. This internet integration is also used to encourage in-game purchases or ‘microtransactions’ to have access to exclusive content. King et al. (2019) argue that modern monetisation tactics have many implications for consumer protection of those within gaming communities. This can potentially lead to financial hazards and psychological distress. As online gaming becomes more accessible through streaming and e-sports, it is also argued that this provides greater opportunities for content producers to gather user information for game design and promotional purposes through behavioural data tracking (King et al. 2019). Here, perhaps most interesting to me, is the intersection between online gaming communities and their (at times negative) implications in the real, offline world.

References:

Brignall, T & Van Valey, T 2008, ‘Online Gaming Communities and the Neo Tribalism Movement’, Theory and Science, vol. 10, no. 1.

Hardwick, T 2020, 'Lecture 10, Gaming Communities, Social Gaming and Live Streaming', MDA20009 Digital Communities, Learning materials via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 13 May, viewed 4 June 2020.

King, D, Delfabbro, P, Gainsbury, S, Dreier, M, Greer, N & Billieux, J 2019, ‘Unfair play? Video games as exploitative monetized services: An examination of game patents from a consumer protection perspective’, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 101, pp. 131-143.

Soto Reyes, M 2020, Esports Ecosystem Report 2020: The key industry players and trends growing the esports market which is on track to surpass $1.5B by 2023, viewed 1 June 2020, <https://www.businessinsider.com/esports-ecosystem-market-report?r=AU&IR=T>.

Taylor, T 2018, Watch Me Play Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, pp. 1-23.

[an-apocalypse-of-magpies]

@Activision I will come for your heads

So I’ve been playing Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled. It’s an amazing game - it looks superb, plays like it used to, and has a whole bunch of extra stuff to practically have Crash Nitro Kart embedded into it as well. And there’s a free monthly event called the Grand Prix which allows sequential release of even more new characters, karts and tracks. There is a cosmetic store to unlock stuff, but it doesn’t require microtransactions - it uses a currency earned in-game.

I should have known it was too good to last without a catch.

With the first Grand Prix introducing 5 new characters, 3 new karts and a whole smorgasbord of stuff for existing characters, this meant a lot of grinding for Wumpa Coins, and while the game gives you 5xWC for racing online, that’s only for the first half hour of race time. At between 32-80 WC for a win, and most cosmetics floating between 1500-5000 WC, that’s a lot of drudgery, and a common fan complaint want the sheer grindy nature of the game.

Well they fixed it! ... by putting microtransactions in. Now you can buy packs of WC to use in the shop.

Now, that fact that you can’t sink real money into this game after purchase was something I’d hyped up about CTR:NF. In a world where so many games are clamouring at your purse-strings, begging for more money even after spending £40-60 for a retail copy, it was a genuine breath of fresh air to find a game with a cosmetics shop that didn’t allow you to throw money at the problem.

I suspect this was their plan all along - make the game boringly grindy for a month or so, wait til everyone complained about it being boring and grindy, and then announce a ‘solution’. It’s not made the game less grindy, not by any means. But they’ve made a way to make that grind go away, and all it takes is some more hard-earned cash to do so. Scummy, exploitative, and just what one would expect from Activision in this day and age.

So this is a warning to my fellow Crash Karters out there - Activision WILL be putting microtransactions into Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled starting early August. Like, this won’t stop me playing - I’m having too much fun still, and besides, I paid good money for this game - but I guess this is a warning that CTR will beg and wheedle and cajole you to give it more money. Do not feed it.

[gamerzcourt]

Fortnite, EA Bosses Appear At UK Government To Defend Loot Boxes And MicrotransactionsFortnite, EA Bosses Appear At UK Government To Defend Loot Boxes And Microtransactionsvideo games

New Post has been published on https://www.gamerzcourt.com/fortnite-ea-bosses-appear-at-uk-government-to-defend-loot-boxes-and-microtransactionsfortnite-ea-bosses-appear-at-uk-government-to-defend-loot-boxes-and-microtransactionsvideo-games/

Fortnite, EA Bosses Appear At UK Government To Defend Loot Boxes And MicrotransactionsFortnite, EA Bosses Appear At UK Government To Defend Loot Boxes And Microtransactionsvideo games

Executives from Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, and mega-publisher Electronic Arts, appeared in a United Kingdom government committee meeting today where they got grilled by lawmakers over loot boxes and microtransactions in their games.

The game executives, which included EA vice president of legal and government affairs Kerry Hopkins and EA UK Country Manager Shaun Campbell, as well as Epic executives Matthew Weissinger (director of marketing) and Canon Pence (general counsel) spend more than two hours answering all manner of questions about their games and how they handle loot boxes and microtransactions.

EA’s VP of legal and government affairs refuses to use the term ‘lootboxes’ in favor of ‘surprise mechanics’, compares them to Kinder Eggs, says they are not gambling and ‘quite ethical’https://t.co/IbRqMwvJea pic.twitter.com/bJ8t3Fkib6

— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 19, 2019

In one particularly interesting breakout, Hopkins says she sees loot boxes not as gambling, but instead as “surprise mechanics.” This is similar to things like toys that come with surprises such as Kinder Eggs and Hatchimals. You can watch the breakout segment in the video embedded above.

She also described EA’s loot boxes–which are most popular and prominent in EA’s sports titles with the Ultimate Team mode–are “quite ethical.” She added that EA believes loot boxes do not constitute a form of gambling, as gambling commissions around the world have already said. People enjoyed being surprised, and this is no different in video games with loot boxes, she said.

The executives from both EA and Epic also confirmed during the committee meeting that neither company works with psychologists or behavioural scientists to understand the mental state of the player.

Fortnite’s executives added during that they were taken aback by Prince Harry’s comments about Fortnite being addictive. They also discussed how they are not interested in maximizing profit in the short-term but instead they aim to offer microtransactions that are “generous” and “sustainable.”

You can watch the entire broadcast here, and you really should to get a full and complete idea about the context surrounding their comments. It is a fascinating examination of loot boxes, microtransactions, and other topics that is well worth a watch for people interested in these subjects and hearing from two of the biggest companies in gaming.

Earlier this year, the UK government announced it would launch an investigation into things like loot boxes, as well as game addiction and more, and this hearing was one part of that. This was only an oral evidence session, so it remains to be seen if any legislative action will take place.

GameSpot – All News

[jcmarchi]

Stellar Blade Director Reveals New Game Plus Mode, Says No Microtransactions With One Exception

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/stellar-blade-director-reveals-new-game-plus-mode-says-no-microtransactions-with-one-exception/

Stellar Blade Director Reveals New Game Plus Mode, Says No Microtransactions With One Exception

Stellar Blade director Kim Hyung Tae has announced that developer ShiftUp’s upcoming action game, Stellar Blade, will get a New Game+ mode sometime after launch. Plus, Tae says there will be no microtransactions in the game, save for one theoretical exception. 

This news comes from a new interview with Korean publication Ruliweb, where Tae explained that while Stellar Blade will have a New Game+ mode at some point, it won’t be available at launch, as translated by Genki_JPN on Twitter. Tae also told Ruliweb that players should not expect any microtransactions in Stellar Blade, but notes that one exception would be paid collaborations with another company’s IP. 

[embedded content]

“We want to make it clear at this point that Stellar Blade will not require any additional expenses that gamers are not aware of beyond what they paid for the package,” Tae told Ruliweb. “The only exception is if we create collaboration costumes with another company’s IP; those may be sold for a fee. Also, there is no New Game+ in the launch version, so please look forward to it being updated very soon.” 

Given that no collaborations have been announced at this point, Tae is likely just checking bases for hypothetical collaborations ShiftUp may or may not be pursuing. At any rate, given the popularity of ShiftUp’s Goddess of Victory: NIKKE game on mobile devices, it’s possible we see an internal collaboration between those two properties. 

Stellar Blade is an action game launching on PlayStation 5 exclusively on April 26. It was announced in 2021 as Project EVE. There is a demo for Stellar Blade available on PSN that you can download right now if you’re curious about how the game plays. 

For more, read Game Informer’s Stellar Blade feature for behind-the-scenes details and new insight from Tae. 

[Source: Ruliweb]

Are you excited for Stellar Blade? Let us know in the comments below!

[phonerepairnearestme]

Watch The First Trailer For Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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Click here to watch embedded media

At last year’s EA Play press conference, Respawn Entertainment’s CEO Vince Zampella shared the first details for his company’s first Star Wars project in a peculiar way. The camera panned from the stage to Zampella sitting in the crowd with host Andrea Rene. The two talked briefly about Respawn’s game, and Zampella revealed it would take place shortly after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and would follow a padawan who was on the run. Zampella also said that the game was called Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and it would release during 2019’s holiday season.

With focus shifting to the surprise release of Respawn’s Apex Legends, Star Wars took a back burner until earlier this week when Respawn shared a Tweet with a tease: the game’s logo with the cryptic message “Don’t stand out.” This likely refers to the padawan not wanting to be found by the Empire. Earlier this week, we saw concept art for the game, priming us for a reveal at this year’s Star Wars Celebration event.

While we already know the game is a story-driven game with no microtransactions, today we finally learned what Respawn has planned for its Star Wars title and saw the first trailer. Zampella was joined onstage at a panel at the celebration by Jedi: Fallen Order’s game director, Stig Asmussen, who said in a press release that “Many Star Wars fans, ourselves included, are really interested in the dark times, so we wanted to explore that mysterious, dangerous period.”

This setting is seen through the eyes of Cal Kestis, one of the lucky Jedi to survive the Emperor’s Order 66. When the game begins, Cal is on the planet Bracca, a new location in the Star Wars universe. Cal has adapted to a normal life here salving parts from junked vessels, but soon finds himself on the run when he uses his Force powers. He is then hunted by the Empire, who has dispatched the Purge Troopers, a new group designed to wipe out Jedi, and an Inquisitor, the Second Sister, to wipe him out. Cal won’t be alone. He is joined by a droid named BD-1, and a mysterious companion named Cere, who is a Jedi that plays a mentor role.

Cal is brought to life by actor Cameron Monaghan, who made a name for himself as Ian Gallagher on Shameless and Jerome Valeska on Gotham.

Fallen order is a third-person action-adventure game, which is a bit of a departure from Respawn’s first-person shooter wheelhouse, but fits with Asmussen’s track record with the God of War series, most notably as director of God of War III. Since Cal is a Jedi, Fallen Order focuses on mixing up your lightsaber melee attacks and Force powers, though there is some exploration and puzzle-solving involved. The trailer did show a bit of wall-running (a staple of Respawn’s Titanfall series), so it’s likely we’ll see that in the game itself.

Asmussen describes combat as “thoughtful,” with you having to consider counters to different enemies. Cal’s lightsaber (which may not be Cal’s to begin with, according to Asmussen) will also grow and evolve, and is in a way a reflection of Cal himself.

The trailer also confirmed the rumors swirling around the game’s release date: It’s coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 15.

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

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The post Watch The First Trailer For Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order appeared first on Phone Repair Nearest Me.

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[digitalmark18-blog]

Blizzard: 'Diablo Immortal' Developed From Scratch, Not Built on Bones of Any Game

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/blizzard-diablo-immortal-developed-from-scratch-not-built-on-bones-of-any-game/

Blizzard: 'Diablo Immortal' Developed From Scratch, Not Built on Bones of Any Game

“Diablo Immortal,” the smartphone “Diablo” title unveiled at BlizzCon 2018, is an entirely new game developed from the ground up, not a reskinned title or one built on the bones of any existing game, Blizzard told Variety this weekend.

“Blizzard, in partnership with NetEase, has built ‘Diablo Immortal’ from the ground up for iOS/Android,” a Blizzard spokesperson said, noting it is being built from scratch.

The company confirmed that “Diablo Immortal” is an entirely new game in the face of concerns from some fans on Reddit who, in the face of fan backlash surrounding the game, suggested “Diablo Immortals” was simply a reskin of the game “Crusaders of Light.”

In an interview with some of the developers, the team also talked about the reasoning behind creating this smartphone game and other plans for the “Diablo” franchise.

There was a year-long gap in the story between “Diablo” and “Diablo 2,” the gap between “Diablo 2” and “Diablo 3” was much longer with twenty years passing between the two games. That’s the main reason why Blizzard chose to explore Diablo’s forgotten storylines with “Diablo Immortal,” their newly announced mobile game.

Related

“We sort of had a lot of loose ends, and this gives a chance to explore that gap,” said principal game designer Wyatt Cheng. “What happened to Tyrael? That was one of my big questions, at the end of ‘Diablo 2,’ Tyrael is presumed dead. But we see a comet at the beginning of ‘Diablo 3’ and it’s explained that it’s Tyrael. How’d we get there? It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Diablo Immortal” is Diablo’s first foray into the mobile space. It promises a complete Diablo experience on phones with new additions like touch controls and unique stories that haven’t been told before.

While Cheng and Blizzard hoped to discuss the mechanics and story of “Diablo Immortal,” much of the conversation around the game has focused on its shortcomings. A fan actually asked if the announcement was an out-of-season April fools joke at BlizzCon’s Diablo panel and some fans believe they found evidence that points to Immortal being a reskin of an older free-to-play mobile game created by Blizzard’s development partner, NetEase.

“This is a mobile game built from the ground up,” Blizzard senior vice president Allen Adham said in response to questions about the NetEase partnership. “People are very interested in how this partnership came about and how it works. We’ve worked with NetEase for more than a decade now. They are among the best developers in the world when it comes to this.”

Blizzard didn’t have answers for a lot of the questions asked during a group interview that Variety participated in. They wouldn’t confirm whether or not the game would be free-to-play or have microtransactions and they wouldn’t specify the percentage split in development work between them and NetEase. They did later tell Variety that “Immortal” is not a reskin of any other game, adding that it was built from the ground up in partnership with NetEase.

Fans posted a thread on Reddit shortly after the game was announced yesterday, claiming that UI elements, art, and even player skills were incredibly similar to NetEase’s other products. The rumor quickly spread, adding more unrest to the response to the “Diablo Immortal” announcement. Blizzard’s message that “Diablo Immortal” is a full-fledged mobile ARPG experience remained consistent through the fan backlash. Although, they didn’t mince words about their ambitions with the game in China.

“We know how to make ‘Diablo’ play like ‘Diablo,’ and we have a good sense about how to take that to a midcore audience,” Adham said. “NetEase is a big player in China. So the two teams  goal is to create a title that’s top ten in more than one region, which is incredibly rare.”

Blizzard didn’t directly mention “Diablo 4” during the interview, but they did point to a blog post they made earlier in October where they said they’d reveal more details about various Diablo projects “when the time is right.”

“We think we know what you’re hoping to see. We want to remind you that we have multiple Diablo teams working on multiple projects,” Adham said, careful not to mention “Diablo 4” specifically, “Good things come to those who wait, but evil things sometimes take longer. We hear the same concerns internally, so we know.”

Even with the backlash they’ve seen from the community, Blizzard insists that Immortal is aimed at their hardcore audience.

“If you look back at when we announced Hearthstone, it was met with questions. People weren’t sure why we were making a collectible card game,” Adham added. “Almost everything we’ve announced, every major new release that was on a new platform or in a completely different genre, were met with questions. This is just another example of that.”

Cheng and Adham emphasized several times throughout the interview that they were early in the development process and much could change before release. As of right now, “Diablo Immortal” has no confirmed release date, just 2019.

Source: https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/diablo-immortal-clone-reskin-1203019345/

[jamesjmcghie-blog]

Robux is the currency which is used around Roblox for just about everything, today back in the day we used to enjoy some thing referred to as Tix, tix was another currency which used existing in Roblox however, we won't seep into that.

So lets obtain back in line about Robux.

If you want to experience a great deal of cool gear for the persona of yours, you're likely to need some Robux initially. Robux is type of like money inside life that is real, the more you've the more often you can do in Roblox.

Should you login to Roblox, as well as go to the catalog tab, you are able to discover all of the delicious things available for purchase.

Users are competent to advertise as well as sponsor the own game of theirs on the internet site by bidding. Drivers are additionally ready to generate gamepasses, which may be employed to offer consumers benefits for buying the gamepass, or perhaps robux gift card. "Developer Products", which will be purchased unrestricted instances, similar to the likes of badges and microtransactions, to reward players for undertaking a certain task. A portion on the revenue at gamepasses and also designer items is made available to Roblox. Roblox is played by making use of a keyboard's WASD and arrow keys or by using a mouse, touchpad, or other input equipment. Players are able to transition between first-person and third-person modes. Roblox makes it possible for players to invest in, advertise and make virtual items. Shirts, T-shirts, and pants is able to be obtained by anybody but just players with Builders Club membership can sell off pants, T-shirts, and shirts. Mainly Roblox admins can offer packages, gear, and hats on the platform. Caps having a "Limited" health, or perhaps "Limited" caps, may solely be offered on the Roblox catalog with Builders' Club.

The importance of Robux has increased after the initial release of its. With 3,297 Robux, a Roblox Blog review at one time declared Miked while the wealthiest Roblox player. Nowadays, numerous customers have upwards of 40,000 Robux in the users of theirs without being considered as wealthy by the community. Latest theories around the significant shift in Robux great are embedded in the concept of demand and supply. Insist upon and also provide are typically inversely linked, along with the balance of both establish the equilibrium selling price. ROBLOX Mobile lets games are played by you, send/receive communications, make new pals, interact with your groups, store grown in the Catalog, customize your persona and purchase Builders Club/Robux in app. The hottest edition additionally gives the a whole lot anticipated in game talk option. In addition, you can have fun with games with many other people on PC, iPad, Mac, iPhone and iPod touch. No matter what kind of device you are making use of, you are always connected to all your friends.

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

We often take for granted the player’s ability to intuitively understand transactional moments in free-to-play games. For a player, these transactional moments occur whenever they are evaluating the exchange between their time, real money, and access to gameplay or content.

This is important for building and tuning monetization through microtransactions, as well as through ad revenue. 

If the player is asked to spend money for something they can earn in the game, they will evaluate whether the amount asked for is fair, given the amount of time it would take to otherwise acquire that content. They will also evaluate whether the content is worth it to them for the amount being asked.

If the player is asked to spend money on content that can’t otherwise be earned in the game, they will determine the value of the content, and the value of the game itself (“is this game worth spending x amount on?”).

But transactional moments are not limited to real money transactions. Anytime an exchange is proposed (be it time for content, real money for time, or real money for content), it is a transaction, even when money is not directly involved.

As I said, these value propositions are important to understand not just for microtransactions, but for ad revenue as well. If a player is asked to watch a video ad for access to content or gameplay, they will evaluate whether the reward for watching the video is worth the 15 or 30 seconds the content will take to “earn” by viewing.

The player will also consider the value of content earned through watching video ads (time for content), versus the same or similar content purchased through microtransactions (money for content). Being overly generous with video rewards can negatively impact monetization, while not giving fair value for the player’s time will reduce their engagement with video ads, negatively impacting ad revenue.

Alternately, if the game has forced video ads (unskippable videos embedded within the game flow), the player will also evaluate whether continued engagement with the game is worth the amount of time lost to advertisements. If, for example, a player has to watch a 30-second ad every time before engaging in gameplay that lasts roughly two minutes (and yes, I've seen a developer do that), that player will determine for themselves whether the ratio of time-to-gameplay constitutes fair value, and justifies further engagement with the game itself.

Moral of the story: your decisions around ad revenue can negatively impact both retention and monetization, so step wisely.

Just as “fun” is a subjective assessment specific to every player, “fair value” will also vary depending on the degree of value a player places on the game itself. User testing both gameplay and transactional moments can play a big role in determining the proper tuning for the greatest success; you can’t win by spreadsheets alone.

Even in pre-production, it’s worth considering transactional moments when building the game’s systems. Crossy Road (which monetizes incredibly well across both MTX and ad revenue), provides generous value for ad impressions, but can afford to do so by having no overlap with the game’s MTX content — video ads reward the player with coins, which they can only otherwise earn through gameplay and not MTX. 

For more on Crossy Road’s history and successful experiments in value propositions, check out the developers' 2015 GDC talk.

One final note on fair value: I believe there is a significant difference in the value proposition for content that will only benefit the player, and content that will benefit multiple players, particularly in a social context.

Consider this example: A player is asked to spend $2.99 on content in a single-player game. Later that day, the player has friends over playing a party game, and is presented with an opportunity to unlock more multiplayer content for $2.99.

Are these two value propositions the same? The one grants additional content exclusively to the player, while the other will add content to a game being enjoyed by a group of friends, providing further entertainment and social experience.

Imagine you're the player. Which $2.99 transaction is easier to make?

[jcmarchi]

Mobile TCG Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Announced

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Mobile TCG Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Announced

While the main headline event from today’s Pokémon Presents showcase was the announcement of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, it wasn’t the only new game that got announced. It shares that status with Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, a new mobile game that allows players to collect, trade, and battle with the franchise’s signature trading cards.

Check out the reveal trailer below:

[embedded content]

While there are several features available in the game, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket seems to focus the most on the collection aspect, which is fitting given the renaissance of physical card games in recent years. While no details on microtransactions are given, the end of the trailer notes that players will get two free packs a day – implying that more than that might come at a cost.

You’ll also be able to trade cards with other players and battle them online as well. The trailer also shows off immersive cards, which seem to feature a 3D cinematic inside the cards.

The app is being developed by DeNA (best known for their work on Pokémon Masters) and is due out sometime later this year. For more Pokémon cards, check out our Trading Card hub, which features some of our favorite pulls from the game’s big releases.

[jcmarchi]

Nier Reincarnation Shuts Down In April

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/nier-reincarnation-shuts-down-in-april/

Nier Reincarnation Shuts Down In April

Nier Reincarnation, the story-driven mobile RPG set in the popular Nier universe, will have its services ended this April. While the game will continue to receive support until then, its final story campaign will serve as its last big hurrah. 

Reincarnation first launched on July 28, 2021 for iOS and Android and takes place within an unspecified point in the Nier timeline. Like the previous titles, Reincarnation is an RPG set within a mysterious prison world called The Cage, with players controlling different protagonists divided across multiple story arcs. The game has also hosted several crossover events with games such as the remake of Nier Replicant, Final Fantasy XIV, and Persona 5.

The shutdown news came the same day as the launch of the latest chapter of its final story arc, The People And The World, dubbed Act II: The Return. Check out the trailer below.

[embedded content]

In a shutdown notice, Square Enix states, 

We regret to inform you that NieR Re[in]carnation will be ending service with the conclusion of The People and the World.

The final chapter of The People and the World is planned to be released Mar. 28, 2024. The game will run for a month following the final chapter’s release until Apr. 29, 2024 22:00 PST when service will officially end. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our players for your patronage over the 2.5 years since we launched on July 28, 2021.

Until the end of service, we will continue to add content and characters, as well as hold various events and campaigns, so we hope you will continue to enjoy NieR Re[in]carnation until the end.

Until service concludes, Square Enix will offer 10 free summons per day, weekly gem gifts, and other perks. Sales of items on the Premium Shop have ceased. You can read the full rollout of final updates and events in Square Enix’s blog post. 

Former editor Jason Guisao was impressed with Nier Reincarnation, hailing it in an opinion piece as one of the strongest mobile titles available, writing that “Lengthy narratives and skill-based gameplay loops have come in console/PC-ports like Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile. Nier Reincarnation, however, employs a happy medium. Heartfelt plotlines with striking visuals, Keiichi Okabe’s mesmerizing score, unintrusive microtransactions, and simple, but rewarding, combat controls establish Reincarnation as one of the best console-like games on mobile devices.”

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The Sports Desk – The Switch Sports Roundup

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When the Switch came out, I expected the viable sports game options to be scarce. Fast-forward to today, and the genre still isn’t a strong suit of the system, but the Switch has put together a decent roster. Surprisingly, it’s not just all the same franchises you might expect. 

Although the Switch will never have the online support or features of games on the other systems, here are some of the standouts on the console (sans racing titles, BTW). If you want to check out some less-traditional/popular sports, there are a variety of options from OlliOlli: Switch Stance to Rapala Fishing Pro Series, and Trials Rising. 

Super Volley Blast ($9.99)* Developer: Unfinished Pixel In a video game context, volleyball could be simple to the point of bland, but Super Volley Blast avoids such a fate. The 2-on-2 title (including 4-player multiplayer) requires some positioning teamwork and strategy with your partner to set up your volleys across the net. There is some variety where A.I. opponents place the ball, and the timing of jump spikes can be hard to master (and a little inconsistent in my experience). Moreover, Super Blast Mode’s gameplay variations (there’s also a story mode) include Chicken Ball, Bomb Ball, Max 2 Hits, and others. Chicken Ball, in particular, replaces the ball with poultry with a penchant for erratic movements, making for a fun variation.

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NBA 2K19 ($59.99) Developer: Visual Concepts FIFA 19 ($59.99) Developer: EA Romania I’ve included these two games in one entry because they are already known quantities and for what they share in common: They’re modeled after famous triple-A counterparts on the other home consoles, and while they’re not 1-for-1 ports, suffering in areas such as graphics, online play, and other differences, they still offer solid sports experiences on and off the court/pitch. Click here for some of my thoughts about FIFA 19 on Switch in particular.

Football Manager 2019 Touch ($39.99) Developer: Sports Interactive The text and menu-heavy nature of this port of Sports Interactive’s revered soccer management title isn’t ideally suited for the Switch (here are some thoughts about this year’s game overall), but it’s worth it due to the options the game gives you as a manager. Oversee as little or as much of your team’s operations, from training to in-match tactics for the team and individuals. Football Manager can be a daunting game, but the Switch’s portability and streamlined nature of this port help it be more accessible.

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Mario Tennis Aces ($59.99) Developer: Camelot Aces (click for Kyle’s review) gives the franchise a return to form thanks to the inclusion of a full-on Story mode, augmenting the stellar gameplay, boss battles, racket break system, and first-person Zone Shots. Nintendo doesn’t deal in a lot of first-party sports titles, but Mario Tennis is good enough that it easily beats out less-accomplished licensed games like Tennis World Tour on the system.

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Rocket League ($19.99) Developer: Psyonix Not much more needs to be said about this fabulous and famous soccer-with-cars title other than it won’t take you long to get hooked on its crazy charm. It’s also worth noting that it has cross-platform play with the other platforms.

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NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 ($29.99) Just before release 2K stepped in to publish this title, adding it as an arcade-gameplay counter to the publisher’s sim-based NBA 2K series already on the Switch. This sequel retains the gameplay of the first title, which is a good thing, surrounding it with more modes like Playground Champion and Season. Getting good players is a grind (aided by microtransactions, of course), but the arcade basketball itself isn’t bad.

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New Star Manager ($19.99) Developer: New Star Games This title was a free mobile game, and as such, it revolves around card packs for fundamental elements in the game from players to training, etc. The Switch version doles out packs as you level up, changing the tone of the title, and the optional analog stick gameplay is better than mobile’s touch controls. Overall, the game is about working your way up the promotion ladder while managing your players, staff, and stadium along the way.

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Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition ($29.99) Developer: Digital Dreams The Dynasty Edition of this spiritual successor to 1993’s Mutant League Football adds a multi-year Dynasty mode (complete with trades, and XP system, custom playbooks, free agency, and more), four new teams, and additional dirty tricks giving depth to the on-the-field experience that already pushes the envelope of the sport with traps and player deaths. For more on the game, here’s our review BEFORE the inclusion of Dynasty mode.

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Football Heroes Turbo ($14.99) Developer: Run Games Similar to Mutant Football League, Football Heroes offers a non-traditional gridiron experience. The title lets you punch players out of your way by button tapping – including when you’re on defense – and gives players power-ups like powerful hurdles, fumble-inducing tackles, and sure-handed catches as they level up. Your team also gets better as you make your way up the seasons ladder, adding more money to its salary cap and training points for the players. I played the Early Access PC version of the game, and was charmed by its look and rough-and-tumble gameplay, and intrigued by its team-building options.

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*Prices may vary 

THE TICKER

Out Of The Park Baseball 20 Coming On March 22

MLB the Show 19’s Diamond Dynasty Revamp Includes Eliminating Souvenirs, Immortals & The Ticket Counter

MLB the Show 19’s March To October Mode Detailed

A Sports Newbie (Javy) Plays NHL 19 For A Week

GT Sport Update Coming March 5

Madden 19 Getting Series Of Fixes

Football Manager 19 Gets A Winter Update

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The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

We often take for granted the player’s ability to intuitively understand transactional moments in free-to-play games. For a player, these transactional moments occur whenever they are evaluating the exchange between their time, real money, and access to gameplay or content.

This is important for building and tuning monetization through microtransactions, as well as through ad revenue. 

If the player is asked to spend money for something they can earn in the game, they will evaluate whether the amount asked for is fair, given the amount of time it would take to otherwise acquire that content. They will also evaluate whether the content is worth it to them for the amount being asked.

If the player is asked to spend money on content that can’t otherwise be earned in the game, they will determine the value of the content, and the value of the game itself (“is this game worth spending x amount on?”).

But transactional moments are not limited to real money transactions. Anytime an exchange is proposed (be it time for content, real money for time, or real money for content), it is a transaction, even when money is not directly involved.

As I said, these value propositions are important to understand not just for microtransactions, but for ad revenue as well. If a player is asked to watch a video ad for access to content or gameplay, they will evaluate whether the reward for watching the video is worth the 15 or 30 seconds the content will take to “earn” by viewing.

The player will also consider the value of content earned through watching video ads (time for content), versus the same or similar content purchased through microtransactions (money for content). Being overly generous with video rewards can negatively impact monetization, while not giving fair value for the player’s time will reduce their engagement with video ads, negatively impacting ad revenue.

Alternately, if the game has forced video ads (unskippable videos embedded within the game flow), the player will also evaluate whether continued engagement with the game is worth the amount of time lost to advertisements. If, for example, a player has to watch a 30-second ad every time before engaging in gameplay that lasts roughly two minutes (and yes, I've seen a developer do that), that player will determine for themselves whether the ratio of time-to-gameplay constitutes fair value, and justifies further engagement with the game itself.

Moral of the story: your decisions around ad revenue can negatively impact both retention and monetization, so step wisely.

Just as “fun” is a subjective assessment specific to every player, “fair value” will also vary depending on the degree of value a player places on the game itself. User testing both gameplay and transactional moments can play a big role in determining the proper tuning for the greatest success; you can’t win by spreadsheets alone.

Even in pre-production, it’s worth considering transactional moments when building the game’s systems. Crossy Road (which monetizes incredibly well across both MTX and ad revenue), provides generous value for ad impressions, but can afford to do so by having no overlap with the game’s MTX content — video ads reward the player with coins, which they can only otherwise earn through gameplay and not MTX. 

For more on Crossy Road’s history and successful experiments in value propositions, check out the developers' 2015 GDC talk.

One final note on fair value: I believe there is a significant difference in the value proposition for content that will only benefit the player, and content that will benefit multiple players, particularly in a social context.

Consider this example: A player is asked to spend $2.99 on content in a single-player game. Later that day, the player has friends over playing a party game, and is presented with an opportunity to unlock more multiplayer content for $2.99.

Are these two value propositions the same? The one grants additional content exclusively to the player, while the other will add content to a game being enjoyed by a group of friends, providing further entertainment and social experience.

Imagine you're the player. Which $2.99 transaction is easier to make?