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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare repeats as the best-selling game of November 2019
Not even the combined might of two new Pokemon games could stop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from holding on to its position as the best-selling game of November 2019… but Nintendo and Game Freak certainly made it interesting.
According to The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella (via Twitter), three Pokemon games actually managed to crack the top five last month. Pokemon Sword sliced its way to #3, while Pokemon Shield built a stronghold at #5. Sandwiched in the middle at #4 was the Pokemon Sword + Pokemon Shield Double Pack, which was counted as a separate game by the tracking firm.
If you were wondering what would have happened if all three games were combined onto a single line, Piscatella said that the combined sales of Sword, Shield, and the Double Pack would have landed at #2 for the month (though who knows what the sales charts would have looked like if Nintendo contributed eShop sales to the dataset). Even with that caveat, new releases dominated last month’s ranking, with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (#2), Death Stranding (#7), and Need For Speed Heat (#9) in the top ten. Going further down the list, you’ll also find Just Dance 2020 at #14.
Overall, the game industry collected $2.3 billion in sales last month, a 19% drop from November of 2018. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console during the month, and it remains the best-selling console for all of 2019.
You can find the full list of best-selling games from November 2019 after the break. (more…)
Tetris 99 adds Team Battle Mode ahead of this weekend’s 10th Maximus Cup
Nintendo has a big surprise in store for Tetris 99 players ahead of the puzzler’s 10th Maximus Cup event. The consolemaker announced today that Team Battle Mode has been added to Tetris 99, which will allow friends and strangers to compete together as comrades-in-arms:
In Team Battle Mode, players choose their favorite of four teams at the start of each game. Some teams may end up with many more members, but smaller teams receive a boost in attack power when being attacked, adding an unexpected element to each match. As players get eliminated through the course of battle, the final team standing with at least one player remaining wins. And even better, all members of the winning team can share in the victory! Players who are KO’d early in the game will go into Spectator Mode and can send “Likes” to cheer on their teammates. Players will want to stick around until their team has obtained a rank to receive their XP points. Or, if Team Battle is the active mode for a Maximus Cup event, stay for their event points.
As you might have guessed, Team Battle Mode will be the focus of this weekend’s Maximus Cup, which begins in just a few days on Friday, December 13, at 2:00 AM (Eastern Time). The contest will continue until Tuesday, December 17, at 2:00 AM (Eastern Time), and the 999 players who earn the most Event Points will receive 999 Gold Points (the equivalent of $10) to spend in the eShop.
In addition to Team Battle Mode, this update will also give Tetris 99 players the chance to unlock some of the in-game Themes that were only available through previous Maximus Cup events. The Tetris for Game Boy, Splatoon, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Super Kirby Clash Themes are all available to purchase through the Customize menu for 30 Tickets apiece.
So, where we dropping?
Geoff Keighley launches The Game Festival to make limited-time demos of upcoming games available through Steam
Way back in 2006, Microsoft gave Xbox 360 fans a chance to try a limited-time demo of one of their E3 offerings, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, as part of their “Bringing It Home” marketing campaign. The campaign was such a success that the consolemaker repeated it in 2007 and in 2008. Now, more than a decade later, Geoff Keighley is bringing the concept back to coincide with this year’s Game Awards.
Dubbed “The Game Festival,” Steam users will be able to download more than a dozen limited-time demos this week, including highly-anticipated upcoming releases such as System Shock, SkateBird, Carrion, and more:
Demos Available During The Game Festival
- Acid Knife (Powerhoof)
- Carrion (Phobia / Devolver Digital)
- Chicory (Greg Lobanov)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof)
- Eastward (Pixpil / Chucklefish)
- Haven (The Game Bakers)
- Heavenly Bodies (2pt Interactive)
- Moving Out (SMG Studio / Devm Games / Team17)
- Röki (Polygon Treehouse / United Label)
- SkateBird (Glass Bottom Games)
- Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
- System Shock (Nightdive Studios)
- Wooden Nickel (Brain&Brain)
“Six years ago I bet everything I had to create The Game Awards as a way to celebrate our passion for gaming,” Keighley said. “Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space. Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.”
The demos included as part of The Game Festival will be available to play through Steam beginning on Thursday, December 12, at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time). The demo period will end two days later on Saturday at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time).
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Game Awards 2019
Bethesda will bring John Romero’s Sigil and Final Doom to Doom and Doom II on consoles
Bethesda has promised that Doom and Doom II will soon become a little bit more complete on consoles and mobile ddvices. Yesterday, the publisher hosted a 26th Anniversary Celebration for the seminal first persona shooter on Twitch, and they confirmed during the livestream that four of the franchise’s more famous fan-made expansions will soon be available to download on the PS4, Switch, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.
These expansions will be available to download, for free, through a brand new Add-Ons tab in both games. According to Bethesda, the list of “curated” add-ons will initially include Sigil, which was released just this year as the unofficial “Fifth Episode” for Doom by co-creator John Romero, and No Rest For the Living, a Doom II expansion that made its debut on the Xbox 360 in 2010.
Final Doom, a 1996 retail repackaging of TnT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, will also be available to download in Doom and Doom II as part of the update. Best of all, Bethesda confirmed that more add-ons will be added to both games at a later date.
On top of all that, Bethesda is also planning a few quality of life updates for the shooters, including bumping the graphics to 60 FPS and adding options for additional aspect ratios.
It’s currently unknown when the add-on update or the quality of life update will be available, but Bethesda said that it’ll be “soon.”
Axiom Verge 2 will come to the Nintendo Switch in Fall 2020
Nintendo highlighted more than a dozen new indie games earlier today during a brand new Indie World video, and the consolemaker confirmed that they’ll all be making their way to the Switch sometime in 2020. The biggest announcement was, without a doubt, Axiom Verge 2.
Once again developed by Thomas Happ, Axiom Verge 2 takes place in Antarctica, but players will also be forced to explore a breach in reality that leads to “an ancient, alternate Earth, complete with mountains, lakes, deserts, and the ruins of a civilization.” That’s quite the mystery, but here’s what else the developer was willing to share so far:
You may think you already know the world of Axiom Verge. Think again.
Indra alone can navigate the breach. She fights for her life, empowered by the same microscopic machines that are gradually consuming her humanity. Life. Afterlife. Real. Virtual. Dream. Nightmare. It’s a thin line. It’s Axiom Verge 2.
An Announcement Trailer for Axiom Verge 2 has been embedded above, and the game will make its Switch debut in Fall 2020. The developer also said that fans can expect details on “additional platforms” for the game in the future, so it looks like Axiom Verge 2 won’t be exclusive to the Switch.
NetEase will unveil Naraka: Bladepoint at the 2019 Game Awards
We’re getting closer and closer to the 2019 Game Awards, and host Geoff Keighley continues to tease the World Premiere Trailers he has lined up for this year’s show.
Last night, he revealed that Naraka: Bladepoint, a new game from publisher NetEase Games and developer 24 Entertainment, will be announced during the ceremony.
Where cold steel collides and blood runs dry, Souls BLOSSOM.
Tune in for the World Premiere at #TheGameAwards to witness the Soulbloom in #NARAKATHEGAME pic.twitter.com/NtaX3fE2O4— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) December 10, 2019
Naraka: Bladepoint is still shrouded in mystery, but artwork found on the game’s official Twitter account points to a game about warring groups in Ancient China. And though publisher NetEase is famously known for working in the mobile space, they’ve recently provided funding to console developers such as Quantic Dream and Bungie, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about Naraka’s destination just yet.
Thankfully, we won’t have much longer to wait, as the 2019 Game Awards will be held this Thursday, December 12.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Game Awards 2019
Super Crush KO will bring pastel punches to the PC and Switch on January 16, 2020
Vertex Pop has announced that Super Crush KO, their upcoming ultra-colorful brawler, will be released for the PC and Switch on January 16, 2020. If you’re unfamiliar with Super Crush KO, the development team also sent over this handy primer for the game’s pastel post-apocalypse:
Combining beat ’em up and run and gun action, Super Crush KO, has players take control of Karen, a tough and fashionable brawler in a colorful world overrun by frantic robot enemies. Karen must wipe them out using punches, kicks and long-range combat in fluid combos on the way to save her cat Chubbz and (while she’s at it) humanity. Featuring delightful hand-drawn graphics, a pastel color palette and a catchy soundtrack, this is a feel-good action game complemented with bright and stylish aesthetics.
“We are very excited to announce that Super Crush KO will soon be available on Nintendo Switch and Steam, packing fast-paced thrilling fights, intuitive controls and colorful aesthetic,” said Game Designer Mobeen Fikree. ”Super Crush KO is easy to pick up yet hard to master, but no matter the player level, everyone will have a great time smashing hordes of robot enemies in style.”
To celebrate the release date announcement, Vertex Pop also unveiled a brand new Gameplay Trailer, which has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, Switch
Tagged Super Crush KO
Cloud Chamber is 2K’s newest internal studio and their first project is BioShock 4
The best news to arrive in our inbox this morning is that 2K Games has finally confirmed that BioShock 4 is officially in development. However, the bad news is that the project is just getting off the ground and that it’ll likely be in development “for the next several years.”
While we didn’t learn anything substantial about the next entry in the BioShock franchise today, 2K did share that the game is currently in the works at a brand new internal studio known as Cloud Chamber. The Cloud Chamber team will be split across two locations, San Francisco and Montreal, and Kelley Gilmore (formerly of Firaxis) will head up the joint effort from her home base in California.
“We founded Cloud Chamber to create yet-to-be-discovered worlds – and their stories within – that push the boundaries of what is possible in the video game medium,” said Gilmore. “Our team believes in the beauty and strength of diversity, in both the makeup of the studio and the nature of its thinking. We are a deeply experienced group of game makers, including many responsible for BioShock’s principal creation, advancement, and longstanding notoriety, and honored to be part of the 2K family as stewards of this iconic franchise.”
“As we continue growing our product portfolio, we remain inspired by opportunities to invest further in our valuable IP, great people and their collective, long-term potential,” added 2K’s President, David Ismailer. “BioShock is one of the most beloved, critically praised and highest-rated franchises of the last console generation*. We can’t wait to see where its powerful narrative and iconic, first-person shooter gameplay head in the future with our new studio team at Cloud Chamber leading the charge.”
With a multi-year development schedule ahead of it, BioShock 4 is most likely in development for the PC and one or both of the next-generation console platforms.
Posted in News
Tagged BioShock 4, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X