Goodbye, PS3, It Was A Fun Seven Years

Last year was a sad year. Sure, I got some new consoles and handhelds, which is always fun, but I also said goodbye to my Wii, my Xbox 360 and my Nintendo DS, all replaced by newer, more expensive machines. Lots of good memories there, lots of good times to say goodbye to. My PS3, however, lingered on.

Know that I'm ruthless when it comes to old consoles. Given my line of work - and a finite number of AV ports in my house - I have to be. Same goes for old games; as fantastic as so many PS3 games were, I have so many new games coming in (especially since I do a lot of PC indie stuff) that I don't have the time to replay old titles even I wanted to.

So from the day I got my PS4, aside from a Yakuza 4 binge, I didn't play anything on my PS3. Didn't even turn it on. And yet despite my ruthlessness, it remained, plugged into my main TV in my main gaming room, waiting for the day that its last hurrah - Persona 5 - was released. I was that ready.

This week, that plan went right out the window. The game, one I am so excited for I kept a console for it, is also coming to PS4. So I'll be getting it on that.

It's already been moved into the living room to serve as a Netflix machine for my kids, which means it probably has only a few weeks/months left to live before its controller is smashed and its buttons filled with the kind of hellish paste that only juice, cereal and snot can combine to form.

Before you go then, PS3, I'd like to say goodbye. And thank you. And maybe sorry for subjecting you to such an undeserved fate. I never played you as much as my Xbox 360, but the games I did play on Sony's console were certainly some of the most memorable. I'll never forget the colour palette of the village battle in Uncharted 2, grinding my fingers to a bloody mess on Gran Turismo 5, gasping in horror/delight at The last Of Us or drifting through Journey with a very kind stranger.

I'd also like to thank you for the little things. Your XMB menu system is still the best around, a fast and logical means of getting to every setting and program you need to get to in the shortest amount of time. Your controller batteries were a blessing (even if the controller wasn't). And your boot-up sound was maybe the classiest of all time.

I remember one of my first "assignments" at Kotaku was to cover the console's launch in Sydney in early 2007. The launch was a disaster, as it had been everywhere else, and it looked for all the world like Sony had a dud console on their hands. The $1000 I'd spent to get my hands on one (living in Australia has its drawbacks) seemed like the worst investment I'd ever make.

Yet here I am now, writing a teary farewell. What a difference seven years - and a procession of classic video games - can make.

Nintendo Amiibo figures cost £10.99 in the UK

The first wave of NFC figurines from Nintendo will be £4 cheaper than Disney Infinity, and around the same as Skylanders.

Nintendo has finally revealed a price for their Amiibo figurines and… it’s actually not too bad at £10.99 each (according to the official Nintendo store, so they’ll likely be cheaper elsewhere).

That’s notably cheaper than the equivalent toys for Disney Infinity, which cost around £14.99. And it’s in the mid range of Skylanders figures which cost between £7.99 and £12.99, depending on size.

The price does of course add up though, and to get all 12 characters will set you back a not inconsiderable £131.88.

The first wave of figures was recently confirmed to include Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Pikachu, Samus Aran (from Metroid), Wii Fit Trainer (the female version), Villager (a male version from Animal Crossing), Fox McCloud (from Star Fox), Kirby, and Marth (from Fire Emblem).

You can also see Zelda and Pit (from Kid Icarus) in the line-up above, who are presumably from wave two. Nintendo has already hinted that all the playable characters from Super Smash Bros. will get a figurine eventually.

Unlike Disney Infinity and Skylanders the Amiibo figures are not specific to any particular game and are compatible with Super Smash Bros. (both Wii U and 3DS versions), Mario Kart 8, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Mario Party 10.

The focus at the moment though is on Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (since the 3DS version requires a peripheral that won’t be out until next year, or the new models of 3DS, to work).

You’ll notice that all 12 characters are featured in the game, where you’ll be able to use them to store statistics and custom movesets – and create a computer-controlled character that you can fight or set against other players, with the idea being it levels up improves every time it battles.

What purpose the Amiibos will serve in other games is unclear though, as is when the figures themselves will actually be released.

It’s supposed to be this year, but the fact that Super Smash Bros. For Wii U also doesn’t yet have a date is presumably what’s keeping Nintendo from naming a day.

Sega blames Gearbox for Aliens: Colonial Marines disaster

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has been personally blamed for Colonial Marines’ misleading marketing, as the class action lawsuit continues.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a terrible game, but the question of how it turned out so bad, and who’s to blame, is one of the more complex in recent gaming history.

Unusually, very little of the blame is put at the feet of publisher Sega, and instead Borderlands developer Gearbox is accused of a whole raft of misdeeds; these include creating a demo for E3 that bore little resemblance to the final game and subcontracting the work on the single-player to a completely different developer (who subsequently went bust) and forcing them to make it in just nine months.

On top of that Gearbox is accused of funnelling the money it got for Colonial Marines into making Borderlands, causing Sega to temporarily cancel the game when it found out.

The odd thing about all this is that Sega never tried to sue Gearbox, and GameCentral’s understanding is that this is largely due to embarrassment over the whole debacle at Sega’s Japanese headquarters, and an unwillingness to air the details in public.

But a class action lawsuit by a disgruntled gamer has dragged both companies to court anyway, where Sega has been putting the blame for the marketing blunders squarely on Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford.

Claiming it had nothing to do with the marketing has been Gearbox’s main excuse for getting out of the lawsuit, but according to leaked emails discovered by Polygon that’s not how Sega sees it.

‘I spoke face to face to [Gearbox's Steve] Gibson about their persistent panel leaking,’ wrote Sega of America’s Matt Eyre in one message to other Sega officials.

‘Effectively — it’s Randy [Pitchford] doing whatever the f*** he likes. Apparently he did it twice on [Borderlands 2] also, against, against all plans and despite the fact they asked him not to. I think our best result here is that we have no more panel sessions …’

Pitchford also personally demonstrated the infamous E3 2011 demo (we know, because we were there when he did it) that mysteriously looked so much better than the finished game.

‘During one of my conversations with Gearbox today I verified that the E3 demo is indeed the bar that we should use to determine where the entire game will be,’ said Sega’s Matt Powers in another email.

‘That is Gearbox’s plan and what they believe in. I just wanted to double-check with them and since I did I figured I would pass that along to you.’

There are several other examples of Gearbox doing its own thing in terms of marketing, although how this will affect the outcome of the lawsuit, the next hearing of which is October 29, is unclear.

New Nintendo 3DS Will Be Region-Locked

Nintendo will maintain its policy of region-locking hardware with the New Nintendo 3DS handheld, the company has confirmed to GameSpot.



It means that games released across Japan, Europe, and North America will only be playable in those territories, effectively eliminating the opportunity to import games without importing foreign hardware, too.

In contrast to Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has a long history of region-locking its hardware, implementing the restriction to both the Wii U and 3DS systems.

Despite hope that this policy would change, on Wednesday a representative for Nintendo told GameSpot that the New Nintendo 3DS, and New 3DS XL, will both be region-locked.

In July last year, a petition imploring Nintendo to change this policy was endorsed by tens of thousands of consumers. At the time of going to press, the petition has close to 32,000 signatories.


The New 3DS and 3DS XL will launch across North America and Europe next year
The petition's author argues: "This practice is restrictive to customers, including those who enjoy playing foreign games not available domestically, speak foreign languages, serve in the military, or otherwise travel or live abroad."

Incidentally, on Wednesday the game developer Atlus announced that the European release for Shin Megami Tensei 4 has been delayed to "late October." The game shipped in Japan in May 2013, and was available across North America two months later.

Last year, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata defended the region-locking policies.

"From some people's perspective, it might seem like a kind of restriction. However, we hope people can appreciate the fact that we're selling our products worldwide," Iwata said at the time.

"There are many different regions around the world, and each region has its own cultural acceptance and legal restrictions, as well as different age ratings. There are always things that we're required to do in each different region, which may go counter to the idea that players around the world want the freedom to play whatever they want."

Two new shoulder buttons add to the several new features included in the New 3DS
The New Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL will launch later this year in Japan, with a European release penciled in for 2015. Nintendo of America has not yet confirmed a North American release.

It comes with various hardware improvements, such as a small C-Stick next to its face buttons, which effectively works as a second analog stick.

Also featured are two new shoulder buttons--ZL and ZR--along with what Nintendo is calling "Super-Stable 3D," which will broaden the viewing field of the stereoscopic 3D.

Upgraded hardware will allow the system to run faster, while the in-built NFC technology will enable the use of Nintendo's "amiibo" figurines.

The 3 Companies Nintendo Should Buy

Nintendo (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY  ) has clearly seen better days -- Wii U sales remain weak, 3DS sales appear to have peaked, and third-party publishers keep passing over its consoles in favor of Sony's (NYSE: SNE  ) PS4 and Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Xbox One.

Analysts constantly offer Nintendo the same tired advice: launch mobile games, add more microtransactions to games, abandon hardware, and develop software for competitors. One less discussed strategy, which I believe is the ideal one, is for the company to merge with, invest in, or acquire another company.

Nintendo finished fiscal 2014 with $3.3 billion in cash, which means its options are limited, but I believe that three companies -- Square Enix, Capcom, and Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU  ) -- represent solid investment opportunities which could reverse the company's misfortunes.

Square Enix
Square Enix, with a market cap of $2.65 billion, is the largest of these three choices. The company owns an appealing portfolio of games which appeal to both Western and Eastern gamers, which include Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman, and Kingdom Hearts.

Sony, Square Enix's third-largest shareholder, divested its entire stake in Square Enix back in April. That stake previously helped Sony secure exclusive Square Enix titles like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts in the earlier days of the PlayStation.

If Nintendo either merges with or acquires Square Enix, it would gain access to better exclusive titles for the Wii U and 3DS, and it could generate more revenue from sales of Square Enix titles on other hardware platforms. Nintendo could keep its own flagship characters exclusive to its own hardware, get well-known characters like Lara Croft to cross over with its first party titles, and gain a stable source of non-Nintendo software revenue.

Square Enix reported $1.57 billion in revenue in fiscal 2013, but it also posted a net loss of $146 million, partially due to sluggish sales of arcade machines in its amusement business. If Nintendo buys Square Enix outright, it could sell or spin off the amusement business and focus on developing its core franchises and subscription-based MMOs like Final Fantasy IV.

Capcom
Capcom is much smaller than Square Enix, with a market cap of $1.06 billion, but it has an equally appealing portfolio of IPs, which include Mega Man, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Street Fighter, and Monster Hunter. Nintendo has also trusted Capcom to handle its first-party franchises in the past -- Capcom previously made four handheld Legend of Zelda games.

Although Mega Man has been one of Capcom's most iconic characters, the franchise has been on hold ever since series creator Keiji Inafune abruptly left Capcom in 2010. Nintendo is bringing back the Blue Bomber in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, which offers a glimpse at the massive crossover potential between Mega Man and Nintendo's flagship characters. Other crossovers -- like Monster Hunter and Pokemon (two of the 3DS' biggest titles), or Street Fighter and Smash Bros. -- would be impressive as well.


Mega Man and Rush in Super Smash Bros. Source: Nintendo

In fiscal 2014, Capcom's revenue rose 8.6% year over year to 102 billion yen ($974 million), and its net income rose 15.8% to 3.4 billion yen ($33 million). But operating income remained flat at 10.9 billion yen ($104 million) due to lower profitability in its PC and mobile businesses. Since operating income is Capcom's main weakness, merging its software operations with Nintendo could reduce operating expenses at both companies.

Glu Mobile
Nintendo has repeatedly refused to make mobile versions of its flagship games, believing that they would dilute its console titles and cannibalize sales of the 3DS. While the upcoming release of The Pokemon Trading Card Game on iOS was seen as a concession by some, it's hardly the full-featured Nintendo mobile game gamers and investors were waiting for.

But it's hard to deny how profitable mobile games can be. Research firm Gartner forecasts that the global mobile gaming market will nearly double from $13.2 billion in 2013 to $22 billion in 2015. Nintendo could profit in this market without compromising its core IPs by acquiring a promising new mobile game maker like Glu Mobile.


Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Source: Google Play

Glu Mobile, with a market cap of $500 million, is tiny compared to Square Enix and Capcom. But its growth is remarkable: Last quarter, Glu's GAAP-adjusted revenue soared 51% year over year to $35 million, thanks to strong revenue from Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores. Still, the company posted a net loss of $3.8 million, which was wider than its loss of $2.9 million a year earlier. But as with Capcom, combining Glu and Nintendo's software resources could cut costs at both companies.

Nintendo could simply let Glu Mobile operate independently, but it could eventually bring more successful mobile franchises, like Dino Hunter and Deer Hunter, to the 3DS and Wii U.

A Foolish final word
In closing, Nintendo needs to seriously consider buying its way back to video game dominance. Square Enix and Capcom could give Nintendo a huge portfolio of new IPs and cross-platform games, while Glu Mobile could be a promising way to diversify into mobile gaming.

This strategy would work much better than the company's current strategy of praying that big titles like Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and Super Smash Bros will be enough to carry hardware sales on their own.

Leaked: Apple's next smart device (warning, it may shock you)
Apple recently recruited a secret-development "dream team" to guarantee its newest smart device was kept hidden from the public for as long as possible. But the secret is out, and some early viewers are claiming its everyday impact could trump the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. In fact, ABI Research predicts 485 million of this type of device will be sold per year. But one small company makes Apple's gadget possible. And its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors.

Nintendo Says Star Fox, Zelda And More Coming In 2015

Nintendo has just unveiled a new schedule of sorts for the Wii U, one with twenty new games spanning 2014 and 2015, but only one solid release date between them.

Hyrule Warriors, with its (hopefully) firm September 26th premiere kicks off the parade that ends 2014 with a holiday release of Super Smash Bros. Many have worried that Smash may not actually make the 2014 cut, as it keeps drawing closer and closer without an actual release date in sight. Granted, Nintendo still has a few months to firm up that date, but a few fans are getting nervous nonetheless.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that Nintendo is now putting the new Wii U Star Fox in 2015 as well, alongside the hotly anticipated Wii U Zelda title. But while Zelda at least received an official preview at this year’s E3, we’ve heard/seen next to nothing regarding Star Fox, and it remains a mystery where Miyamoto will take the franchise.

It seems…ambitious for Nintendo to list both of these games as 2015. Zelda is tacked on as the last title on a chart that does seem to largely be in chronological order. The odds seem fairly low of a game that massive in scope (the new Zelda is said to be open world with a non-traditional mission structure) will be out on time given Nintendo’s forever sliding release dates. Not that it’s a bad thing for them to delay it and make it better, it’s just that at this point, you look at a chart like this and almost expect at least half the games shown to be delayed past their proposed launch windows, Zelda especially.

The chart serves an additional purpose of at least letting consumers know that good games for the Wii U are coming. Obviously Smash, Star Fox and Zelda are the heavy hitters, but all in all it seems to be a pretty solid line-up.


But obviously Nintendo’s first-party games have never been their issue. The problem is now is that you’re probably looking at nearly every game worth playing on the Wii U over the next two years. And that means you’re missing a huge collection of third party, multi-platform titles that will be appearing on PS4 and Xbox One.

Nintendo’s third party support has gotten so bad now, losing even staple franchises like Madden and Call of Duty alongside missing out on new series like Destiny, that their calender looks nothing like its competition. That could be viewed as a plus in some ways, as a welcome alternative to the boring Microsoft/Sony slugfest, but not when it comes at the expense of a lot of great games. Xbox One and PS4 share an identical third party line-up, swapping out a few exclusive series here and there, but Nintendo is becoming more and more on an island.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun little world, but imagine if this list of great first party, third-party collabs were bolstered by a more traditional line-up of multiplatform games. There’d be no stopping Nintendo. And yet, for many, it’s clear that the Wii U cannot serve as a primary game console, as if you only own it and no other system, you’ll miss out on an incredible amount of third party games.

I think this is a pretty killer list for the Wii U, spread across the next few years. But, if these really are all the major titles Nintendo has coming up, I’m slightly worried for 2015. When the two biggest titles listed for 2015 are also the two that seem most likely to be delayed, I’m wondering how the Wii U will fare if Splatoon, Yoshi and Kirby are the biggest games of the year instead, and Nintendo has nearly no third-party, multiplatform hits to back them up.

Xbox One Minecraft Is Nearly Ready

he Xbox One version of Minecraft, Mojang's open-ended sandbox game, is nearly ready to be released. Developer 4J Studios writes on Twitter that the game has been handed over to Microsoft for final certification testing. If the game passes, you can expect it to be released soon.

Mincraft for Xbox One is already late, as it was originally expected to launch on Microsoft's new console in August.

4J Studios sent the PlayStation 4 version of Minecraft to Sony for certification last month, but the game failed Sony's testing. The developer has since re-submitted the game.

If you already own the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of Minecraft, you can get the game on Xbox One or PS4 for $5, and your saves will carry forward. When it's released, the PS Vita version of Minecraft will be available as a cross-buy game with the PS3 iteration.

Minecraft has been an incredible success since its full release on PC in 2011. The game has sold around 54 million copies across all platforms, and it's even possible that it could come to Nintendo platforms like the Wii U or 3DS someday.

With New 3DS Model, Nintendo Continues to Woo Hardcore Gamers

Nintendo’s got a brand new 3DS, one that’s aimed at capturing more of the hardcore gamer market.

Announced today for an October 11 release in Japan, the New Nintendo 3DS (that’s its name) has a variety of upgrades that all seem to be aimed squarely at gamers that demand high-end experiences. It now has a second analog joystick, making camera controls in complex games like Monster Hunter significantly easier. Going along with that are two extra “shoulder buttons” on the back of the unit for more control options. The 3-D screen and camera have been given upgrades.

And most significantly, New Nintendo 3DS has more under the hood. The internals have been upgraded for flashier graphics and faster internet speeds. Nintendo being Nintendo, it hasn’t said how much of a boost New 3DS will get. But it has said that the new model will actually play some exclusive games that wouldn’t be possible on the current 3DS.

The first of these will be Xenoblade Chronicles, a version of the role-playing game that Nintendo released a few years back on its original Wii console. This is about as nerdy and hardcore-focused a piece of content as one could imagine: Nintendo launching a new platform with a 40-hour RPG? Who’d have imagined this in the days of Wii Sports?
Nintendo will release the New Nintendo 3DS in two models, roughly equivalent in size to the original 3DS and to the scaled-up 3DS XL model. They will retail for 18,800 yen and 16,000 yen respectively (about $180 and $160).

Other new features on both models include built-in support for near-field communication devices like Nintendo’s upcoming Amiibo interactive figures, more battery life and Micro SD card support.

Retreating Upmarket
Nintendo’s announcement of an upgraded portable machine designed to appeal to more discriminating, dedicated gamers comes hot on the heels of new comments by the company’s game design guru Shigeru Miyamoto that seemed to signal just this sort of shift.

Nintendo, he said to Edge magazine, no longer wants to chase after “the sort of people who, for example, might want to watch a movie. They might want to go to Disneyland.”

“Their attitude is, ‘okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me,’” Miyamoto said according to the report. “It’s kind of a passive attitude they’re taking, and to me it’s kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games].”

“Abandoning the lower-performance segments of an industry and moving upmarket is 100 percent predictable in disruption theory,” game design consultant Ben Cousins wrote on Twitter this week in response. “Was Miyamoto saying casual gamers were pathetic when the Nintendo stock was at $76?”

Advocates of disruption theory in books like The Innovator’s Dilemma—that’s one of the biz-school tomes that Nintendo name-checked when it launched the revolutionary Wii and DS hardware—would say that Nintendo is “retreating upmarket.”

Losing the “expanded audience” that it once courted to great effect with simplified gaming platforms—whether to mobile phone games or Disneyland—Nintendo is now, at least in the short term, pursuing the high-end consumer with products more geared to their needs. That’s more buttons, more joystick, more RPGs and more oomph.

You might notice that this is not a good long-term strategy, and indeed might be setting Nintendo up for death by a thousand cuts. That’s why Nintendo’s also working on its Quality of Life health-related gaming platform initiative, which might actually be able to capture a brand new audience again.

‘Til then, it’s “What, you want buttons? Here’s all the buttons.”

Amazon Buys Twitch, But What Is It?

Following rumored acquisition talks with other Silicon Valley bigwigs, video game streaming site Twitch will instead be purchased by Amazon for nearly $1 billion.

While billion-dollar deals are a dime a dozen these days, the uninitiated might be wondering why Amazon would shell out that type of coin for a service that just allows people to watch other people play video games. But a deeper look at the numbers shows that Twitch has caught on to an important, but mostly unexploited, facet of video game culture: it's fun to watch other people play.

So, what is Twitch?

Twitch is a service that allows gamers to stream their video game play for others to watch online. It connects with Xbox, PlayStation, PCs, and mobile gaming platforms. You can check some live gameplay streams right now over at twitch.tv, or check it out in app form on iOS or Android.

Is it really all that popular? Like $1 billion popular?

According to Alexa.com, Twitch.tv is the 166th most popular website in America. But that stat may be deceiving as there are various ways to access the Twitch platform other than the Web.

The network claims it has more than 55 million visitors per month and it's been reported that it is the fourth-largest source for U.S. Internet traffic —that's ahead of Hulu, Facebook, and Pandora. A May report from Sandvine, meanwhile, found that Twitch.tv generates more traffic in the U.S. than HBO GO.

But the more important figures may correspond to Twitch's very dedicated user base. According to numbers released by the company, 58 percent of Twitch users spend more than 20 hours per week on the service and the average age is 21. Those are the type of numbers that can cause any corporate marketing department to salivate.

So, it's just people showing off playing video games?

That's a major part of it, though the service also includes chat and social functions in addition to a library of recorded gameplay.

One of the most impressive numbers to think about is that 99 percent of users watch live streams, while only 25 percent use it to broadcast their gameplay. Video games have become their own form of passive entertainment. According to Twitch, 68 percent of users report decreasing TV viewing to focus on game entertainment. Basically, Twitch has become a new form of TV for many people.

Twitch also came along at just the right time to capitalize on the burgeoning e-sports phenomenon. In addition to gameplay broadcasts, the service also offers video-game centric shows and content.

Does it cost money to use Twitch?

The service is free and ad-supported, though users can also sign up for a "Turbo" subscription for $8.99 a month that removes the ads and provides a bevy of other goodies such as a custom emoticon sets and increased online video storage.

Where did Twitch come from?

The site has been around since 2011 and was originally branded with its website name: Twitch.tv. It was an off-shoot of the since-put-to-rest personal broadcasting medium, Justin.tv.

What the hell is Amazon going to do with all that?

Only Bezos and company know for sure. One might see how a small pivot could allow it to rival YouTube as a video platform with all types of content. But Amazon has been moving into the gaming space of late. It launched Amazon Game Studios in 2012, and purchased gaming studio Double Helix earlier this year. It also released a game controller for its new Fire TV $84.00 at Amazon.

Amazon to Acquire Video Game Streaming Site Twitch

Amazon will acquire Twitch for over a billion dollars today. Twitch is a video game streaming website, that allows users to broadcast games and watch others play online.

Though the deal has not been formally announced by either company, sources have told the Wall Street Journal and The Information that the deal is set in stone. Google attempted to acquire Twitch earlier this year. 

UPDATE: Just after 4 p.m. on Monday, Amazon announced the details of the deal. The official sale price is $970 million in cash, just under the $1 billion anticipated. 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered this statement,

Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old. Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said, 

Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming. Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world.”

The deal is expected to close later this year. 

Madden NFL 15 Release Date, Price: Already Available to Download on Xbox 360, Xbox One; Where to Purchase, Xbox One Bundle

EA will be releasing the next title to their football game franchise, Madden NFL 15 tomorrow Aug. 26 in the U.S. and on Aug. 29 in Europe.

Madden NFL 15 will be the 26th title in the franchise made by Electronic Arts. Madden is much like the FIFA game franchise being based on the sport itself with its many player and clubs. While FIFA takes its teams from various football leagues like Barclay's Premier League or La Liga, Madden takes it teams from the American National Football League.

The game will be released on the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, and the Xbox One. The game is now available for purchase in various retailers like Gamestop, Amazon, and Best Buy.

EA's title is priced at $59.99 for all platforms and is already available for download for the Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game cannot be played, however, until it release at 12:01 a.m. PDT / 3:01 a.m. EST on Aug. 26.

Microsoft is also introducing a bundle for the Xbox One which includes the football game. Consumers can now buy the Xbox One console for $399 inclusive of the Madden NFL 15 title. Essentially, users save the $60 they would otherwise pay for the game.

The cover box art features Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. The decision was made after a 16-player bracket vote that comprised of both offensive and defensive players. Other players included in the bracket were Jimmy Graham, Luke Keuchly, Nick Foles, Cam Newton, and Alfred Morris among others.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox Exclusivity Announcement Didn't Mean to Cause Confusion, Dev Says

Crystal Dynamics says that if there was any confusion about the nature of Rise of the Tomb Raider's Xbox exclusivity, it wasn't intentional.



If there was any confusion about the nature of Rise of the Tomb Raider's Xbox exclusivity, it wasn't Crystal Dynamics' intention, the developer has said.

In a Rise of the Tomb Raider FAQ posted to the game's official Tumblr, Crystal Dynamics was asked why Microsoft, Square Enix, or Crystal Dynamics itself didn't say upfront that this was a timed exclusive, and why it used indirect language.

"We certainly didn’t intend to cause any confusion with the announcement," Crystal Dynamics said. "The Microsoft Gamescom stage was a great place to make the initial announcement, but not necessarily to go into details."

When it was first announced at Gamescom that Rise of the Tomb Raider was exclusive to Xbox One and Xbox 360 in holiday 2015, there was some question as to whether this was merely a timed exclusive, which would allow the game to come to other platforms sometime following its Xbox debut.

Some fans were angry and upset that they wouldn't be able to play the sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC, but Head of Xbox Phil Spencer eventually announced that the exclusivity won't last forever.

Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics said that the deal will help elevate the Tomb Raider franchise. The deal between Microsoft and Square Enix, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, is a win/win situation, and not an attack on PlayStation fans. Signing Rise of the Tomb Raider as an Xbox-exclusive for next year will also help Microsoft better compete with Sony's 2015 game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Spencer said at the time.

Console Wars' revisits the '90s clash between Sega and Nintendo

In the "console wars" of the early 1990s, I was in the trenches. Joystick in hand, I fought under the banner of Super Mario for Nintendo against the evil Sega and its not-so-super Sonic the Hedgehog.



At least, that was how it felt in elementary school. In Blake J. Harris' new book, "Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation," the wars are fought in the U.S. gaming market, and he pitches Sega as the plucky upstart taking on slow, incumbent Nintendo.

The tale is told largely from the perspective of Tom Kalinske, who revived Barbie at Mattel and was recruited from a Hawaiian sunlounger to lead Sega's U.S. unit into battle. The dialogue-heavy narrative was reconstructed from some 200 interviews.

The book, published by Harper Collins, is already being turned into a movie. But, on paper at least, this is no "Moneyball."

Where Michael Lewis' tale illuminates both baseball and the power of data, "Console Wars" pays too much attention to the Sega C-suite and too little to the games and the kids who played them. It also fails to draw some useful parallels with today's smartphone wars.

The book does offer some amusing trivia. "Donkey Kong" was created when Nintendo lost the videogaming rights to Popeye and had to come up with alternative characters in a rush. Mario was named after Nintendo's office landlord.

Sonic the Hedgehog, meanwhile, was originally called Mr. Needlemouse. He sported a punky spiked collar, fangs and a busty girlfriend named Madonna before Sega's U.S. arm persuaded Japanese counterparts to remove them.


Harris describes the now-classic blue hedgehog as an improbable amalgam of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jordan and Bill Clinton: a ball of 1990s energy helping America shake off the Reagan and Bush years.

That may be a stretch but, as a "tiny underdog" who moved with "manic speed," Sonic was more than just a mascot — he was totemic of Sega's rebellious approach.

"If Nintendo represented control, Sega would represent freedom," Harris writes of Kalinske's strategy.

Nintendo is described much as Apple is today: obsessed with quality even at the expense of development speed, overbearing toward retailers and software developers, and highly litigious. Sega, like the free Android smartphone software Google pits against the iPhone, succeeded by offering friendlier terms to Nintendo's partners.

Any Silicon Valley start-up CEO would admire Sega's scrappy tactics, including pulling an all-nighter to undermine Nintendo's grand unveiling of a price cut.

While Nintendo's informal motto then was "the name of the game is the game," Kalinske's Sega was all pricing and marketing.

Sega's MTV-friendly "Next Level" ad campaign and simultaneous global launch of the 1992 sequel to Sonic succeeded for a while, as Nintendo's U.S. market share plunged from 60% in 1992 to 37% a year later.

But a $100-million marketing campaign did not prevent Sega's follow-up to the Genesis console from flopping a few years later. Sega focused on gimmicky add-ons, while the "tortoise" Nintendo reliably produced high-quality games such as "Donkey Kong Country."

Sega's focus on glitzy marketing recalls Samsung, whose "Next Big Thing" tagline propelled its Galaxy smartphones ahead of Apple's.

But just as Harris says games developers struggled with "too many different systems" at Sega, Apple's best weapon in winning over app makers is still the simplicity of its app store, in contrast to the fragmented world of Android handsets.

Today, your choice of smartphone enlists you in one of two clashing tribes. But as the Sony PlayStation's eventual success at the expense of Sega and Nintendo shows, new fronts can open at any time in the technology war zone.

Sony PlayStation Network attacked by Lizard Squad hackers: Xbox Live as well?

Sony's PlayStation Network is facing issues with mass outages for hours across North America. The reason for the downtime has everything to do with a recent DDoS attack that was carried about by hacker group Lizard Squad.

According to Sony in a blog post following the attack, the company made sure to tell fans that personal data were not leaked, so those who were worrying before should now have an ease of mind. Furthermore, Sony claims that in some locales, the problem persists for more than 10 hours after the attack.

Strangely enough, this attack also includes some form of security threats on the plane where Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley was travelling in earlier on Sunday. The plane was quickly diverted to Phoenix where the cargo was searched for a possible explosive. Apparently, the Lizard Squad made claims on Twitter that the flight had bombs on board, but it wasn't sure how true the statement was.

"Like other major networks around the world, the PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network have been impacted by an attempt to overwhelm our network with artificially high traffic," said Sony in a statement on its blog.

"Although this has impacted your ability to access our network and enjoy our services, no personal information has been accessed."

Sony is well known for being repeatedly attacked by hackers. The company's PlayStation Network was on the wrong end of a hacker attack a few years ago. It managed to bring the network to an almost complete halt for several days, and millions of user passwords were stolen during the attack. It is something Sony will never forget as it made the PlayStation Network come off as very inferior when compared to the likes of Xbox Live and even Nintendo's own network.

It would be interesting to see if the Lizard Squad hacker group target Sony in even more devastating ways than this. Hopefully, it doesn't happen, because we doubt Sony in its current financial woes is capable of withstanding another blazing attack that is similar to the past.

Since this is indeed just a DDoS attack, things should get back to normal in a few hours if it haven't already. Let's hope Sony is able to find other means to help fend off a DDoS attack in the future, because these issues are bad for business, and can cause gamers to pick up their toys and run off to the competition.

Update 1: It appears Xbox Live is also down, as Lizard Squad took to Twitter, asking if anyone is able to login to their accounts. Furthermore, the Xbox Live status page is showing that problems are afoot, and the engineers are working to have it rectified.

24 Hour Free Xbox One Game Promotion Was A Mistake

Microsoft listed an interesting promotion the other day on Xbox Live showing a 24 hour free game trial. It turns out the listing was a mistake.

As previously reported, the USA Xbox Live store showed an interesting listing. If you went to look at the game listing of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, there was a chance for you to trial the Xbox One game for 24 hours. This is of course if you are an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.

Short and Sweet Reviews reports Microsoft has now released an official statement on the listing and has admitted it as an “error”. They apologize “for any inconvenience”. However, Microsoft said they are still exploring ways of benefiting Xbox Live Gold members in the future. They will keep everyone updated when special offers are to become available for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners.

It’s likely this 24 hour thing wasn’t supposed to be up so soon. Still, a chance to play select Xbox One games for 24 hours seems like a good thing. They already give out free games each month which was a method Microsoft borrowed from PlayStation Plus.

It will be interesting if Microsoft decides to implement the 24 hour trial to select Xbox One games sometime in the future. It would be a good way to let players decide if they want to purchase the full game or not. After all, not every game available out there is worth paying for…

The Sony PlayStation 4 Continues to Put The Microsoft Xbox One to Shame

Although many in the media have dubbed the sales showdown between the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Microsoft  Xbox

Source: Sony.

One the video game "console wars," it really hasn't been a fair fight.

The PlayStation 4 gained a dominant lead over the Xbox One when the two devices were launched within a week of one another last November and hasn't looked back. Microsoft's recent revamp of a few key aspects for the Xbox One does not appear to have made any meaningful difference at present. And as investors and gaming enthusiasts learned recently, Sony's device remains as dominant as ever.

Sony surges and Microsoft meanders
Last week, Sony announced that the PlayStation 4 had surpassed 10 million total end-user sales in the 10 months since the console's market debut. This makes the PS4 Sony's fastest-selling video game console in company history and helps to further paint Microsoft's Xbox One as an increasingly inferior product (although it's hard to pin down exactly how inferior it really is).

Microsoft has been notably tight-lipped in providing periodic updates on Xbox One shipments, a sign most interpret as an attempt to avoid outright embarrassment over the console's seemingly abysmal performance versus the PS4. In April, Microsoft reported it had shipped 5 million Xbox One units into its retail channel. However, it's worth noting that Microsoft reporting shipments into its retail channel isn't necessarily the same thing as sales to consumers, Sony's preferred measuring stick for console shipment health.

Investors have attempted to establish a more current comparison between Xbox One and PS4 shipments from the recent quarterly reports from Microsoft and Sony. Although not a perfect barometer, it appeared that Sony's total console sales (PS4 and PS3) outdid Microsoft's gaming hardware (Xbox One and Xbox 360) by a rough ratio of three-to-one. Judged through this lens, it appears that Microsoft's cutting the Xbox One's price tag by $100 (to $399) to match Sony's pricing has done little to shift demand away from the PS4.

What this means going forward
If you guessed "nothing good" for Microsoft, you'd be correct.

Source: Microsoft.

Although quantifying the exact impact is difficult, Microsoft undeniably disenchanted a lot of its core user base with several decisions made in the Xbox One's rollout. Moves such as forcibly including Microsoft's Kinect motion sensing device, pricing the Xbox One $100 above the PS4, and requiring users to maintain a paid Xbox Gold subscription were all key tactical errors. That is particularly true in the context of today's gaming market, which is rife with console alternatives thanks to the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, Microsoft might find it harder than originally imagined to grow, or even keep, its once-loyal user base.

Video game hardware cycles are extremely long at about eight years between console refreshes, so there's plenty of time for Xbox One sales to catch up to the PS4. It's also important to note that Sony's console currently enjoys a substantial distribution advantage over Microsoft's device. At last tally, Sony sold the PlayStation 4 in over 100 countries and regions, while the  Xbox retails in far fewer markets. Regardless, it appears the sales discrepancy between the two cannot be entirely explained away simply because of Sony's distribution advantages.

Ultimately, this is a narrative about consumer preference, and we have little evidence suggesting user penchants will shift anytime soon. So try as Microsoft might, it still appears 2014 will be the year of the PS4 in gaming circles, and that's certainly worth noting today.

Leaked: Apple's next smart device (warning, it may shock you)
Apple recently recruited a secret-development "dream team" to guarantee its newest smart device was kept hidden from the public for as long as possible. But the secret is out, and some early viewers are claiming its everyday impact could trump the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. In fact, ABI Research predicts 485 million of this type of device will be sold per year. But one small company makes Apple's gadget possible. And its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors.

Get a Free Wii U Version of Disney Infinity If You Already Own it for Wii

If you own the Disney Infinity Starter Pack for the Wii, you can now download the game for the Wii U exclusively through the console's eShop, free of charge.



"Disney Infinity launched one year ago, and in that time the number of Wii U players has significantly expanded," Vice President and General Manager of developer Avalanche Software John Blackburn said in a press release. "Given our commitment to compatibility for our players, we wanted existing Wii owners to be able to experience the Wii U version of the first game for free. With the upcoming launch of the 2.0 Edition of Disney Infinity we want all Nintendo players to experience the game's Wii U functionality."

Disney Infinity 2.0 will release on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Wii U, and iOS on September 24. So almost everything you can play games on but the Wii. Offering Disney Infinity fans the game for free on Wii U seems like a good incentive to get them to buy Nintendo's latest console, and then hopefully Disney Infinity 2.0 and its future Play Sets.

It's also a good way for Disney Infinity to keep up with its main competitor in the toys-to-life category, Skylanders. In late July, publisher Activision announced a similar deal which gave owners of Skylanders Trap Team for Wii a free upgrade to the Wii U version.

Rumor Roundup: Google Glass Redesign and Mario Kart 8 DLC

Jon R. is back to tackle the biggest tech rumors of this week!

On this episode of Rumor Roundup, Jon talks about Apple offering more storage options in this year’s new iPhone model, and Nintendo releasing downloadable content for Mario Kart 8, which could introduce brand new courses and cups.

Jon also talks about Google completely redesigning the current version of Glass to make it look less nerdy and the Xperia line getting a new flagship next month at IFA with the official release of the Sony Xperia Z3. All this and more in this episode of Rumor Roundup!

Someone Might Have Solved The Silent Hills' Teaser's Biggest Puzzle

It didn't take long for people to "beat" the Silent Hills teaser—but nobody understood how exactly they did it. There were theories, sure, but nothing concrete...until now.

Since we initially wrote about P.T., people have solved certain aspects of the overall puzzle. People know that they have to get a phone to ring in order to get the Silent Hills ending. Doing so requires getting a clock to chime, as well getting a certain number of baby laughs. While solutions were found to the first and final baby laugh, triggering the second laugh seemed random. @tortoiseontour, however, has found a method that works—they've not only tested it out at least 30 times, they've gotten multiple people to confirm this solution. They also explain how they go it in the video below.

Buckle up, because this one is a doozy.

@tortoiseontour used translations of the messages that periodically appear throughout the demo, and figured out that they were actually instructions to how to solve the esoteric puzzle. @tortoiseontour then rearranged these messages, and was able to determine that the game tells you to stop moving once your controller starts vibrating—and then instructs you to utter a specific name into the mic. The problem was figuring out what specific name.


@tortoiseontour was able to connect the seemingly random loading screen numbers, as well as the numbers of the studio—204863 and 7780s—to specific letters of the alphabet. @tortoiseontour also recalled that at one point in the game, you get a message from someone with a name that starts with the letter "J." From there, @tortoiseontour was able to whittle down potential candidates using the letters they solved, and landed on the name "Jarith." Interesting factoid: Jarith has ties to the Book of Enoch, which potentially means that the story has something to do with fallen angels.

In any case, if you say "Jarith" at the final loop of the demo—you'll get another baby laugh consistently. You can see evidence of this in the video itself, as @tortoiseontour tries it out multiple times. The laugh usually takes a few seconds to trigger, but it'll trigger. From there, folks already know that you need to stay perfectly still in order to get the third laugh, and then boom—phone rings, and you did it.


"I haven't done a proper speedrun yet, but using this and other methods I'm sure you could beat it in about 30 minutes," @tortoiseontour told me.

"[The experience in solving PT] was really fun though," Tortoiseontour said. "I bought my PS4 specifically to play PT, and I've gotten so many hours of entertainment out of this free demo."

But why go through all this trouble? It was because many of the proposed solutions didn't seem right—so Tortoiseontour set out to solve it.

"'204863 = Kojima's birthday' didn't seem right. So much emphasis on that number and it's a birthday? Plus that solution forgoes the '0' in the number," Tortoiseontour explained. "I knew there had to be something more. That and the final puzzle still being hit-and-miss."

The hit and miss part is key—while this method consistently gets an ending, it's entirely possible this isn't the only solution to the puzzle. Not everyone will have a mic, after all. Reportedly, people have used the mic to solve the puzzle in different ways, though Tortoiseontour says that uttering anything other than Jarith never worked for them. Many people responding to Tortoiseontour on Twitter also report that this specific method worked for getting the second baby laugh as well. Personally, I asked a friend to try this method out, and it worked for them too. There is some talk that perhaps any name starting with "J" works.

It makes sense. This solution seems to hit many of the points Kojima outlined about the puzzle, such as it requiring cooperation of people around the world to decipher the hidden messages in different languages. Suggesting that players stream the experience could have been a roundabout way of telling people to use the microphone, too—since typically, the entire point of streaming is to hear someone talk. In order to talk, you need a mic. If nothing else, streaming does contribute to having multiple coming together to solve the puzzle.

This does not, of course, mean the entirety of P.T. has been solved. There's a chance the demo still hides secrets—and nobody has been able to figure out what the deal is with the multi-colored flashlights. But for now, the biggest mystery surrounding the teaser has been how to solve the final puzzle, as well as how to trigger the second laugh—and it seems like someone finally solved it. Whew! That was a trip, huh?

Is Microsoft Abandoning Kinect?

Wave goodbye to motion controls.

Microsoft’s motion-tracking Kinect 2.0 sensor was supposed to be what differentiated the Xbox One from the competition. It was more than just a way to talk directly to your console: It was a tool designed to transform the game machine into a social and media hub, the tip of the spear in Microsoft’s fight to take over your living room. More than anything, it was supposed to be way, way better than the first Kinect.

Today, though, it seems little more than an afterthought.

The decision to decouple Kinect from the Xbox One in May was surprising only in that it took the company a good year to do so. We certainly saw this coming: The company spent most of 2013 backtracking on its initial stance that the Xbox One couldn’t exist without Kinect. That simply wasn’t the case.

Unbundling Kinect also made sense on paper, allowing Microsoft to lower the price of the system to better compete with the PlayStation 4. But since that move, the company has had very little to say about its once-heralded accessory. And while Kinect is still very much available, the ongoing silence has many people wondering if Microsoft is essentially walking away from the device.

At its recent press conference before the gamescom show in Germany, for instance, Kinect wasn’t mentioned at all. At E3 2014 in June, it was mentioned in a quick announcement about a new Dance Central game but otherwise flew under the radar.

Microsoft, not surprisingly, has downplayed talk that it’s de-emphasizing Kinect.

“That wasn’t, in any way, to make any editorial statement about the future of Kinect,” Phil Harrison, corporate VP at Microsoft, told IGN after the gamescom press event. “It’s just that these were the games we wanted to highlight in our briefing. The games that we focused on in our briefing were the blockbusters and exclusives for this holiday, 2014.”

Harrison’s follow-up comment, though, was more telling.

“We let the developers choose” whether they want to use Kinect, he said. “It’s one of the tools that they have in their tool belt for taking advantage of the Xbox One, and we hope they continue to do so.”

Punting the decision to use Kinect over to publishers is a graceful way for Microsoft to take a hands-off approach to its fate. That’s because developers have no real incentive to use the controller, given that creating a Kinect-less game gives game makers 10 percent more graphical processing power to tap into. The development system update that followed the Kinect decoupling, in fact, let game maker Bungie increase the resolution of the Xbox One version of Destiny.

Even Microsoft’s most notable in-house Kinect developer, legendary game company Rare, is stepping away.

Four years ago, then-Rare studio head Scott Henson announced the company’s allegiance to the peripheral, saying, “Kinect will be the main focus for Rare going forwards as it’s a very rich canvas. This is just the beginning of an experience that will touch millions of people.”

At gamescom, though, Xbox studio head Phil Spencer, in discussing what’s next for Rare, downplayed the relationship.

“I don’t want the Rare brand to mean Kinect Sports,” he said.

Kinect hasn’t been completely buried. In a prominent television campaign, actor Aaron Paul showcases its features (inadvertently turning on existing Xbox Ones around the country).

However, when that ad comes to the all-important price screen, the $399 non-Kinect version of the Xbox One is shown, presumably the version people will seek out at retail.

And Kinect games? There are only a handful in the pipeline right now: Disney Fantasia and Dance Central Spotlight from Harmonix, Shape Up and Just Dance 2015 from Ubisoft, Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 from Halfbrick Studios, and the clever puzzle-platformer FRU from indie outfit Thought Games.

That’s a pretty meager crop, and at least one major publisher isn’t exactly gearing up for more.

“It depends which hat I put on,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, when asked for his thoughts about Microsoft downplaying Kinect at E3 this year. “When I put on the casual hat, it’s not good, for sure. We have less families with a camera. So it’s more difficult for [Ubisoft] to do content for families. [However,] when I put my gamer hat on, it makes sense.”

Without a significant slate of upcoming games to help promote it, Kinect in its current form seems destined for the bargain bin. It might not be dead yet, but it isn’t moving much.