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Shovel Knight has sold over one million copies; Specter Knight and King Knight expansions will be finished by the end of the year
Yacht Club Games is in a rather celebratory mood this morning as they’ve announced that Shovel Knight has now sold more than one million copies. According to a blog post on their official site, the current number is actually over 1.2 million copies, with 200,000 sales coming from the game’s recently released retail edition.
For statistics nerds, this blog post is a treasure trove of information including a sales breakdown for each platform, region, and retailer, as well as sections for Steam User Stats, the Plague of Shadows expansion, and the Amiibo figure.
And speaking of expansions, Yacht Club has pledged that development work on the Specter Knight and King Knight expansions will be completed by the end of the year. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll launch by the end of the year, but they’re much closer to release than they were yesterday.
The developers at Yacht Club condensed a lot of this information into a great infographic, which you can find right here.
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
Square Enix will have playable demos of Final Fantasy XV, Star Ocean 5, I Am Setsuna, more at PAX East 2016
Square Enix has announced they’ll have a big booth (#4044) at this year’s PAX East convention. The RPG specialists will have demo stations for more than ten new and upcoming titles on hand, and they also plan to host four panels focusing on their biggest franchises.
Fans of Agent 47 will find a triple shot of Hitman titles on the PAX East show floor as Square Enix will bring demos of Hitman, Hitman: Sniper – Death Valley Challenge Mode, and Hitman Go: VR Edition to Boston. A Hitman-themed panel will target congoers on April 23 as well. Attendees will also get the chance to play the action-packed adventures of Rico Rodriguez with a Just Cause 3: Sky Fortress demo.
For all the RPG fans out there, the publisher will have demo stations available for the upcoming Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness and I Am Setsuna, as well as the currently available Kingdom Hearts Unchained X and Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (a Heavensward panel will also take place on April 23).
Finally, racing fans will be able to burn rubber through demos of this June’s MXGP 2 and the recently released Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo.
Two more panels round out Square Enix’s PAX East preparations, including one that’s all about Lara Croft, and another that’ll look at the cast of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
The 2016 PAX East expo will kick off on Friday, April 22. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Final Fantasy XV, Hitman, Hitman Go, I Am Setsuna, Just Cause 3, PAX East 2016, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Fallout 4 wins “Best Game” at 2016 BAFTA Games Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held their annual Games Awards ceremony last night, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 looted the trophy for “Best Game.” Surprisingly, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Fallout 4’s main rival throughout the 2015/2016 awards season, came away empty-handed.
The same doesn’t need to be said for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Her Story, and Rocket League, each of which won three awards last night.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’s accolades all revolved around its excellent use of sound as the post-apocalyptic title won for “Audio Achievement,” “Music,” and “Best Performance” (which went to Merle Dandridge). Rocket League’s universal appeal informed its three award including “Family Game,” “Multiplayer,” and “Sport.” Finally, Her Story’s unique storytelling structure lead to wins in the “Best Debut,” “Game Innovation,” and “Mobile & Handheld” categories.
Other winners during last night’s ceremony include Ori and the Blind Forest, Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Until Dawn, Prison Architect, and Life Is Strange.
Congratulations to all the winners, which you can find after the break. (more…)
Tumblestone will be playable at PAX East 2016 and it’ll be released this Summer
Tumblestone is a massive match-3 puzzler from The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild that continues to get more massive with each passing day. Set to launch this Summer, Tumblestone will include a 40-hour Story Mode, an endless Arcade Mode, and over 1,000 completely unique Quests. The game will also be playable at this year’s PAX East convention, which kicks off April 22, in the Indie Megabooth area.
Naturally, such a massive game will launch on a truly massive number of platforms. Tumblestone will be released for the PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, and the PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) through Steam. It’ll also be available for mobile devices (Android, iOS, and Windows) and microconsoles like the Amazon Fire TV and the Ouya. A Facebook app is also in the works.
And with a little prodding, I’m sure we could get The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild to develop a version of Tumblestone for your toaster.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2016, Tumblestone
Insert Quarter: Inside the (Probable) Failure of Apple TV
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Frustration gripped stock market analysts and game journalists alike as Apple seemed to be uninterested in producing an Apple TV set-top box that could play console-style games. For years, members from each group argued that a gaming-capable microconsole from Apple would be a massive hit. Some went so far as to claim it could possibly topple the console market served by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
These same predictions were spread far and wide when Apple released their revamped Apple TV microconsole last year. With full controller support and a wide array of console-quality titles, the new Apple TV seemed destined for big sales and wide acceptance. But along the way, something happened that made the Apple TV more irrelevant than ever.
With developers dropping support for the device in droves (including Disney Infinity 3.0, the biggest game available at the Apple TV’s launch), Ars Technica’s Kyle Orland thinks the microconsole may never find an audience:
But momentum certainly isn’t on Apple’s side as far as that argument goes. Back in September, in an overall bearish analysis of Apple TV’s gaming potential, I gamely offered that “for a parent with a young child begging to get into the Disney Infinity universe… an Apple TV with its intuitive remote, its suite of easy-to-use media apps, its relatively low $150 price, and its familiar Apple name could look more appealing than the likes of the Xbox One or the PS4.” So far, it seems that even that limited use case has failed to make much of an impact in the marketplace.
The full article is available for your perusal at Ars Technica.
Posted in Insert Quarter, Mobile
Indie Megabooth will showcase 87 games at PAX East 2016
The Indie Megabooth has announced they’ll provide space on the PAX East show floor for more than 80 developers during this year’s convention.
The PAX East 2016 lineup includes 87 titles, and several of them have previously appeared in our twice-yearly Best of PAX roundup. This year’s PAXpocalypse alumni include 20XX from Batterystaple Games (PAX East 2015), Refactor from NextGen Pants (PAX East 2014), Scale from Cubeheart Games (PAX Prime 2013), and Tumblestone from The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild (PAX East 2014 again). Graceful Explosion Machine, a semi-sequel to Vertex Pop’s We Are Doomed (a PAX Prime 2013 selection) also has a spot in the Indie Megabooth’s Minibooth this year.
Personally, I’m also a huge fan of single-stick shooter Deathstate and heady puzzler Gnog, so be sure to check those two out if you’re attending this year’s PAX East convention, which will be held April 22nd through the 24th.
A complete list of titles included in the PAX East 2016 Indie Megabooth is available after the break. And more information on every one of those games can be found at the group’s official website. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged 20XX, Graceful Explosion Machine, PAX East 2016, Refactor, Tabletop Games, Tumblestone
Square Enix will release a Final Fantasy XV pinball game for mobile devices soon
Square Enix’s epic Final Fantasy XV “Uncovered” event took place a few hours ago, and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get right to it…
The final piece of the Final Fantasy XV transmedia experience is Justice Monsters Five, a pinball game for mobile devices (iOS, Android, and Windows 10).
According to Square Enix, Justice Monsters Five is the favorite pastime of Final Fantasy XV’s main character, Noctis. In fact, he loves Justice Monsters Five so much that Final Fantasy XV players will even be able to man the flippers themselves during breaks in the RPG’s story on the PS4 and Xbox One. In the middle of a war, Noctis somehow finds time for pinball.
Thankfully, in the real world, the mobile version of Justice Monsters Five won’t require players to dodge a warzone. The pinball game will “combine role-playing elements with some of the franchise’s most iconic monsters” and the first trailer has been embedded above.
Nintendo’s Miitomo app will be available on March 31
Nintendo has announced that their communication app, Miitomo, will be available to download exclusively for iOS and Android devices beginning this Thursday, March 31. Miitomo is Nintendo’s first smartphone app, and it’s already been downloaded more than a million time in Japan, where it was released this weekend. Players will be able to use the app to create “conversation starters” with their friends using Miis:
Once their Mii is ready, users can add friends who already have the app in person, or by linking the app with their existing Facebook or Twitter accounts. After that step is complete, it’s time to answer some questions! Miitomo creates conversations and turns discussions into a form of play by prompting users to answer all kinds of fun questions. How would you define your fashion style? What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? If you were given ten grand to spend in one day, what would you do? The answers get shared among friends, sparking interesting conversations – part of the fun is discovering unexpected facts about your friends. When users hear how their friends responded to questions, they can give answers a “heart” or a written or picture comment.
Miitomo’s release will coincide with the North American launch of Nintendo’s brand new Nintendo Account service and the My Nintendo rewards program. Players can even get a head start on the My Nintendo program and receive bonus Platinum Points if they pre-register for Miitomo at Miitomo.com. Alternately, Nintendo fans can just pre-register for a Nintendo Account at Accounts.Nintendo.com to also receive the Platinum Points:
Aiming to be much more than a standard rewards program, My Nintendo is a comprehensive service that rewards users for interacting with Nintendo products and services in a variety of ways. Miitomo users who link the app to their Nintendo Account will be able to take advantage of My Nintendo to enhance their experience. Platinum Points can be earned by interacting with Nintendo apps and services, including Miitomo. Gold Points are earned when purchasing digital versions of games from Nintendo.com or Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Both Platinum and Gold Points can be redeemed for rewards like games, download content, in-app items and eShop discount coupons.
Finally, Nintendo will relaunch the eShop this Thursday on Nintendo.com with enhanced search options for the more than 2,000 titles available through the digital storefront.