The series has been consistently getting sequels up until 7th gen, none of them giant hits like Blood Omen or Legacy of Kain, but has been fairly respectable. Its only 8th gen game so far has been an MMO set in its world which was pretty mediocre but has a niche.
Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga
- Thread starter RySenkari
- Start date
Cosmic Book News aren't a good source. They make stuff up a lot and also paddle to "anti-sjw/woke " folks.
Because we don't know the deal at all either, that is why better expect till June 1st
brooklyn99
Banned
While we're at it, I can envision Thatcher herself also being reworked along more reasonable lines. Such as the fact that Nazi victory would've butterflied away the Keynesian post-war consensus thereby also butterflying Thatcher's brand of Neoliberalism which has made her such a controversial subject as is well known. That and the fact that she'd fit more in a HMMLR path, because out of all the figures who are depicted as part of the collab establishment (Douglas-Home, Mac etc) her I feel is more "out there" considering that before the war, she and her family actually sheltered a Jewish girl who fled Nazism who she even helped out with cash for her travels so it doesn't look like what we would consider "collab material" to me.
It just could very well be that in TNO she could just not be relevant for anything more except being a minister within an NDL administration.
Curious, do Nintendo games not get price drops like IOTL or have butterflies made them see price drops without waiting years for them to do the Player's Choice/Nintendo Selects?
Not sure. Haven't gone through some parts of the timeline.
Btw, does ROBLOX still exists ITTL?
Btw, does ROBLOX still exists ITTL?
They do, actually. Still not as many as there should be, but because Nintendo games were on CD earlier and could be produced more cheaply, price cuts for games have embedded into Nintendo culture more. Also, Sony's influence and the fact that the company had to compete with a Tom Kalinske-ran Sega for five more years also made Nintendo more receptive to first party software price drops.
It does not.
Still Comcast.
In that case, what was the absolute cheapest price a Nintendo first-party game has ever been? And for a hard mode of sorts, you can't include pack-in games or online apps of any sort.
If we're talking MSRP, Super Mario World 3 was down to $14.99 in 1998.
January 2017 - The Best Laid Plans
Optimism High As John F. Kennedy Jr. Begins Presidency
Yesterday's presidential inauguration, which formally began the term of John F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation's 45th president, was the most attended presidential inauguration ever, as Americans welcomed their new president into office. Kennedy's speech, in which the new president expressed his confidence for the future of America and stressed the importance of public service, was compared to the speech given by his father, the late John F. Kennedy, 56 years ago. Kennedy is the first son of a president to take the nation's highest office since John Quincy Adams, and his initial approval rating is hovering around 60 percent, kicking off what's known as the “honeymoon” period for newly inaugurated presidents. Of course, the honeymoon won't last long, as Kennedy sets about the tricky business of meeting his goals and enacting his agenda. First up are expected to be his promised health care reform and minimum wage bills, and Kennedy will be pushing hard to get them both passed this year. One of his major campaign goals was to finally establish universal health care in the United States by expanding Medicare to all citizens, and another of his campaign goals was to increase the minimum wage from its current $9.00 an hour to $15.00, providing a “living wage” for all American workers. Both proposals have the support of the Democratic party, which holds a majority in both houses of Congress, but are expected to face stiff opposition from Republicans, who will likely use the filibuster to force a compromise on both bills. However, Kennedy is much more likely to see his space exploration agenda set into motion. Kennedy expressed a desire during the campaign to continue the progress on space exploration made by the Huntsman administration, which doubled NASA's funding, began the development of a new advanced spacecraft, and entered into partnerships with private technology firms such as Hyperlight and Elon Musk's SpaceX to help create new technology to get more astronauts into space than ever before. Kennedy's space initiatives will see the completion of NASA's next-generation Orion spacecraft before 2020, in preparation for a series of Moon return missions sometime before 2025, which is when Kennedy's second term would conclude if he is re-elected in 2020. Kennedy also plans to ask for funding for a new space telescope to replace Hubble, as well as an advanced space station designed to succeed the ISS. Though some Republicans are in opposition to increasing funding for the space program, many others are in favor of the new projects, and with Democrats nearly unanimously in support of Kennedy's space initiatives, it's expected that the new NASA funding and construction bills will pass without any major hurdles. According to a series of recent polls taken the week before Kennedy's inauguration, 39 percent of Americans are said to be “very optimistic” about the next ten years, while 27 percent are reported to be “somewhat optimistic”, the highest numbers reported since early 2010, when the economy was beginning to recover from 2008's recession, and Jon Huntsman was riding high approval ratings early in his first term.
-from a January 21, 2017 article on ABC News
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Alex Stansfield: We're back on this week's "The Business Of Gaming" podcast with industry analyst Ricky Sharman, and right now I want to talk a little bit about the handhelds, and particularly, when are we going to see the new handhelds? The Connect and Gemini have both been out for more than five years now, which is about how long it usually takes us to get a new generation of consoles or handhelds, but we've heard absolutely nothing official about either one in terms of when the next generation is going to be starting. Ricky, what gives?
Ricky Sharman: *laughing* You know, it is a bit surprising not to have heard anything from either Nintendo or Apple, especially Apple who's usually a bit more forthcoming with this type of thing. I do have to say, Nintendo's Connect is still rocking it in terms of sales. Last year, they had just about their best Christmas ever, and the thing's showing no sign of slowing down, it's going to blast past 100 million units sold and may well have a chance to knock off the Ultra Nintendo as the best selling gaming hardware of all time. The Gemini, though, it's definitely slowing down. They've lost a lot of market share to Nintendo, and even with the price drops and redesigns, it's just not clicking with all segments of the gaming public. So.... you know, I'd expect Apple to reveal something, but they've said nothing and I don't think they'll be revealing anything at E3 this year either. As for Nintendo, who knows what they're going to do? They could announce the Connect successor tomorrow for all we know, but I don't expect to hear anything about the next Nintendo handheld this year either.
Alex: You think they're going to keep pushing the Connect?
Ricky: Absolutely. There's no reason for them not to.
Alex: Besides the sales figures, is there any reason Nintendo would be holding off?
Ricky: I think they might want to try and get the release of the next handheld a bit closer to the release of their next console, which is probably looking at 2019, 2020. We'll be seeing a 4K Reality this year for sure, so it'll probably be at least two years and I think maybe that could be a good timeframe for the Connect successor. 2018, 2019 perhaps. The Connect still has a lot to go.
Alex: And... I'm hearing some rumors that Apple might not have a Gemini successor at all, what are the odds of that happening?
Ricky: Um, honestly, not that great, I'd still expect them to do some kind of handheld after the Gemini. The Gemini's certainly not a failure. It's driven iTunes downloads in a major way, software is selling like crazy, it's still a success even if Apple's lost money on the hardware itself. The one thing that might lead credence to that rumor is that Apple has been focusing more software development energy on the iOS platform than on the Gemini as of late, but remember, you can play every single iOS game on the Gemini, so developing for iOS isn't necessarily a bad thing for dedicated handhelds. If anything, I'd expect Apple's next handheld to integrate iOS more, maybe be more like a successor to the iPod Play than to the Gemini.
Alex: Something like an iPhone Play then.
Ricky: That would be my guess.
-from the January 23, 2017 episode of Games Over Matter's "The Business Of Gaming" Podcast
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It's clear that Google Fiber is a major part of the company's gaming strategy. Google has increasingly touted its expanding network of fibre-optic cables as the "ultimate next gen gaming accessory", and is making a huge push to get Google Fiber in as many homes as possible. The company has been aided in its push by a series of laws passed in 2015 and 2016 by the outgoing Huntsman administration designed to free up local infrastructure for internet companies and to break up monopolies of internet access. This has allowed Google to push its own internet service into dozens of new cities over the past 18 months, and more cities are expected to be added to the list, giving Google an opportunity to become one of the country's largest internet providers.
Google Fiber offers some of the highest upload and download speeds, and has promised that there will never be any data caps on its network, which could prove a huge boon for gamers looking to download and stream high definition gaming content to their consoles (including the Nexus Pro). Google has cited gaming as the "#1 reason" to switch to Google Fiber in its advertising, and has even launched a promotion offering a free Nexus Pro console to families who sign a two year contract to install Google Fiber in their homes. The company's gaming chief, Eric Bright, says that "a fast and reliable internet connection is crucial to gamers looking to get the most out of the games they play, and we can't in good conscience claim to be the #1 gaming company unless we push to help more gamers acquire that fast connection to give them the edge over their opponents".
Google is also looking to spread the Fiber service to under-served rural areas, and is using the company's recent record profits, much of which has been driven by the company's success with the Nexus, to make that push and build up their internet infrastructure. Though Google itself has stated that total 100% Fiber availability in North America is "at least a decade away", it remains the company's primary goal over the next decade to make Fiber available to as many homes as possible.
-from a January 13, 2017 article on Gamespot
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"And now we're hearing from a number of former Eidos developers, under condition of anonymity of course, that ever since Acclaim acquired the company last year, they've totally upended a number of ongoing projects, many of which were quite popular or highly anticipated. Planned updates for Nosgoth, the popular Legacy of Kain MMO, those have been scaled back or in some cases scrapped entirely, and numerous people who have been working on that game have been let go. This year's Tomb Raider game I'm hearing has had entire completed cutscenes altered or tossed out, because Acclaim wants to go in a 'new direction'... bunch of bollocks that is, honestly, and then there's The Gatherer. Remember The Gatherer, that game about ancient humans that's been in development for the last five years? *footage from Doggerland is shown on screen* No, not that one, the other one, the one that used to be called Project Virgin Earth. *a picture of Richard Branson smiling and holding the Earth in his hands is shown on screen* Well that game, the one we've been looking forward to for a very long time, that game that's still supposed to come out in a few months, it's hit a number of snags thanks to creative differences between the new Acclaim staff and the old Eidos staff who've been working on the game. As though they couldn't leave well the fuck enough alone. God. And that game is still on track for release later this year, so you know it's probably being rushed out the door with all sorts of bugs and problems... I mean, Acclaim already has so many great games coming out this year, why not... why not save this game for next year? *another picture of Doggerland is shown* Right, because you're too cowardly to compete with Rockstar... so you've got to rush this one out, and it's going to be a mess, and then you still get your ass kicked anyway, right? And this is why, ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary friends, this is why I will always say it time and time again, big game company mergers are always bad. It doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter what you get out of it... and when Acclaim bought Eidos, that's all I heard from everyone, everyone on Twitter saying 'oh, but Jim Sterling, think about the crossovers, think about the crossover potential!' When Acclaim bought Eidos, so many people were cheering, 'yay! We get to see Lara Croft crossover with Turok *shows picture of Turok* or Hellboy *shows picture of Hellboy* or superhero bondage lady' *shows picture of Empowered* ...because that's a thing. That's a thing now that exists. *shows footage of Empowered from her animated series as something kinky happens to her* Y'all want to have her fight with Lara Croft, and, I don't know, get tied up or something. *shows footage of William Sarson using his finisher on Empowered in Acclaimed Champions, blasting her with light from a cross* And you don't get it. Crossovers are the thing that these big greedy companies dangle in front of you to make you accept everything else. They dangle the idea of these fun crossovers, and in the meantime, they're putting hundreds of people out of work, and they're canceling projects left and right, and jacking up DLC prices on everything, and all the quality of the games that survive goes way down, and you don't notice because they're dangling these fun crossover things in front of you. They're dangling them. ...dangling. Dannnnngggling. ...fucking hell, I was really looking forward to The Gatherer too."
-Jim Sterling, from the January 27, 2017 episode of The Jimquisition, hosted on Games Over Matter
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"As part of the Huntsman administration's push for technology-based businesses, tax incentives were given to computer chip production companies to move their operations here. Just last year, two massive, brand new facilities were completed, one in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one in Corpus Christi, Texas. Both are expected to bring thousands of jobs to their local communities, but more importantly, these two factories, and two more expected to be built in the coming years in Nevada and Georgia, will shift production of computer chips to the United States, and away from China, which has dominated the market for chips as demand has increased significantly. These new facilities may help to avoid future chip shortages, like the brief interruption in 2014 that led to certain goods such as graphics cards becoming slightly harder to find and more expensive on the secondary market. There's also a new factory expected to open in Florida in 2019. What will it produce? The machines that make the computer chips, adding a further layer of redundancy that will help to head off future supply interruptions. Though the Kennedy administration is expected to increase business taxes in its first year, there's been talk of carving out an exemption for certain 'essential industries', with technology manufacturers thought to be a likely exemption, in just one of the ways that the new Democratic president is picking up where his Republican predecessor left off."
-from a January 22, 2017 news report on CNN
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Game Spotlight: Apis
Apis is an adventure/RPG title exclusive to the Apple Virtua. It focuses on a colony of bees seeking to protect their hive from attackers that include both rival colonies and eventually, a gang of giant hornets. Best described as "Assassin's Creed, but with bees", the game has some similarities to the OTL title Maneater, which was itself an RPG based around the life of a great white shark. Apis takes itself somewhat more seriously than OTL's Maneater, and juxtaposes scenes of realistic, lifelike bee flight and exploration with cutscenes of anthropomorphized bees talking amongst themselves and experiencing human-like emotions and relationships. The main character of Apis is a young worker bee named Vespa, who serves as an attendant to the colony's queen, and also as one of the queen's primary defenders. Even as Vespa performs the tasks of a worker bee, she also experiences intrigue from within the hive, as traitors seek to undermine the hive's social order. She also befriends other worker bees, as well as male drone bees, and even befriends other bees from other hives and other insects and animals as well. The game's action centers around the beehive, which is structured much like a city, with living quarters and shops. There's also a large area outside the beehive to explore, including a forested area and even some houses where humans can be encountered. As Vespa explores and completes tasks (including main story quests and side missions), she'll build up her statistics, including damage output and life points, and can even gain unique skills allowing her to gain an edge in combat, including faster flying and sting combos. The player can build Vespa's relationship with others, allowing for more missions to be unlocked and story insights to be gained. They can also use the Virtua's controls to maneuver Vespa through the world and to engage in various combat encounters, with most reviewers considering the motion controls one of the better parts of the game. The world of Apis, though vast and granting a lot of exploration opportunities, definitely isn't as big as that of the average Assassin's Creed title, but there's still lots to see and do. The game's graphics are decent, appropriate for the game's content, but nothing all that groundbreaking. The game does have a strong soundtrack, with sweeping symphonies mixed with modern-sounding beats, with much of the game's soundtrack inspired by "Flight Of The Zinger" from Donkey Kong Country 2. The game features full voice acting, with Vespa herself voiced by Erica Mendez. The plot is rather similar to that of an Assassin's Creed title, though somewhat simpler, and features Vespa as an emotionally conflicted heroine, torn between her duty to the hive and her desire to act out on her own and do what's right for everyone, even in defiance of the established order. Her relationship with the queen, which is quite similar to that of a big sister/little sister relationship, is heavily explored, and Vespa's desire to protect the queen under any circumstances, no matter what the cost to the hive itself, becomes a big source of tension in the game's plot. Even the giant hornets aren't a monolith in terms of emotion/personality, with some of the hornets expressing reluctance to attack the bees and even fondness for Vespa. It's definitely a much deeper game than a game about bees has any right to be, and Vespa stands out as one of the strongest aspects of the game, going through a full character arc as the player experiences her journey. In the end, Vespa reluctantly kills the queen at her own behest to save her from a fate worse than death, and repels the threat from the colony before helping to establish a new queen for the hive and swearing a vow of protection to her as she swore to the previous queen.
Apis is released exclusively for the Apple Virtua on January 16, 2017. It's released at a price of $39.99, as a slight budget title due to its shorter length and smaller budget than most Virtua exclusives (and the fact that it's developed as a sort of "AAA indie" title). Reviews are quite good, praising the game's open world exploration, surprisingly good combat, and Vespa's characterization and voice acting, and the game would average an 81 on Metacritic overall. Sales would also end up being quite strong, thanks in large part to Apple hyping up the game considerably as one of the biggest titles of the month, and it would ultimately lead January 2017 in sales for new titles, eventually selling more than a million copies and making back its budget several times over. Later on, the game would get some content DLC that includes more equipment and a new adventure for Vespa, and the prospect of a sequel would be discussed almost immediately after the game's release.
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Other Significant Titles for January 2017:
Bladegash: A 2-D beat 'em up cel shaded samurai game, somewhat similar to games like OTL's Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The game features fast paced combat and tons of loot, which can be discarded and equipped rapidly (this is even incorporated into some combos). One of the more addictive Connect exclusives in recent memory, it gets excellent reviews (Metacritic: 90) and decent sales, and is considered one of the best handheld games of the year.
Fly Witches Fly: A fantasy-based adventure game aimed at younger players, this Nexus title features a group of witch girls who must team up to stop an evil phantom. While the gameplay seems fairly simple at first glance, it's actually quite a deep game, with well developed characters and some really strong gameplay mechanics. Reviews are quite good, and the game becomes a franchise. It also becomes the start of a trend that would be a storyline for Google throughout 2017: excellent games aimed at younger players, a trend that would earn accolades from many industry critics, but some scorn from the gaming community in general.
Wipeout Electro: The latest in Psygnosis' hit futuristic racing series, Wipeout Electro would come to the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus, and would be the first game in the series aimed at the new wave of 4K-capable consoles. It's an absolutely beautiful game, and the gameplay is deep too, with a focus on customization and vehicle improvement. Though it would achieve good reviews and sales (sales would be the best for the series in more than a decade), it would soon be overshadowed by the upcoming Gran Turismo Real, despite that game's exclusivity and focus on sim-style driving as opposed to Electro's more arcade-style gameplay.
Night In The Woods: OTL's cutesy story-based adventure title makes its way to TTL as well, releasing for the handhelds and mobile, along with a sort of "deluxe" version for the Google Nexus. It's basically the same as OTL's game, with a few butterfly changes here and there. The Nexus version would become most well known of the bunch, and like Fly Witches Fly, pushes the narrative of the Nexus' more family-friendly turn in 2017... ironically, as the game itself is decidedly NOT family-friendly, and it's only the artstyle that gives people that impression, leading to a minor controversy surrounding the game that eventually dies down thanks to all the hype over Gran Turismo Real taking the gaming world by storm in February.
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STEVE JOBS BACK IN CANCER TREATMENT, SEEN LEAVING TREATMENT FACILITY
TMZ has spotted Apple CEO Steve Jobs leaving a cancer treatment facility in San Francisco, California ... as you can see, he is attempting to conceal his identity, but our reporters caught him and snapped these exclusive photos. Jobs underwent successful treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2009, and has been cancer free for several years. We don't know if his pancreatic cancer has returned or if this is another type of cancer ... Jobs has reduced his day-to-day duties with the company in recent months, focused mostly on promoting Apple's latest products.
Steve Jobs' last major public announcement was for the Apple Virtua S, an upgraded model of the company's video game console that can play games in 4K resolution and features improved motion controls ... Jobs has continued to promote both the Virtua S and the latest model iPhone in his most recent public appearances, and has also given interviews with CNN and Forbes magazine.
-from an article posted on TMZ.com on January 26, 2017
Yesterday's presidential inauguration, which formally began the term of John F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation's 45th president, was the most attended presidential inauguration ever, as Americans welcomed their new president into office. Kennedy's speech, in which the new president expressed his confidence for the future of America and stressed the importance of public service, was compared to the speech given by his father, the late John F. Kennedy, 56 years ago. Kennedy is the first son of a president to take the nation's highest office since John Quincy Adams, and his initial approval rating is hovering around 60 percent, kicking off what's known as the “honeymoon” period for newly inaugurated presidents. Of course, the honeymoon won't last long, as Kennedy sets about the tricky business of meeting his goals and enacting his agenda. First up are expected to be his promised health care reform and minimum wage bills, and Kennedy will be pushing hard to get them both passed this year. One of his major campaign goals was to finally establish universal health care in the United States by expanding Medicare to all citizens, and another of his campaign goals was to increase the minimum wage from its current $9.00 an hour to $15.00, providing a “living wage” for all American workers. Both proposals have the support of the Democratic party, which holds a majority in both houses of Congress, but are expected to face stiff opposition from Republicans, who will likely use the filibuster to force a compromise on both bills. However, Kennedy is much more likely to see his space exploration agenda set into motion. Kennedy expressed a desire during the campaign to continue the progress on space exploration made by the Huntsman administration, which doubled NASA's funding, began the development of a new advanced spacecraft, and entered into partnerships with private technology firms such as Hyperlight and Elon Musk's SpaceX to help create new technology to get more astronauts into space than ever before. Kennedy's space initiatives will see the completion of NASA's next-generation Orion spacecraft before 2020, in preparation for a series of Moon return missions sometime before 2025, which is when Kennedy's second term would conclude if he is re-elected in 2020. Kennedy also plans to ask for funding for a new space telescope to replace Hubble, as well as an advanced space station designed to succeed the ISS. Though some Republicans are in opposition to increasing funding for the space program, many others are in favor of the new projects, and with Democrats nearly unanimously in support of Kennedy's space initiatives, it's expected that the new NASA funding and construction bills will pass without any major hurdles. According to a series of recent polls taken the week before Kennedy's inauguration, 39 percent of Americans are said to be “very optimistic” about the next ten years, while 27 percent are reported to be “somewhat optimistic”, the highest numbers reported since early 2010, when the economy was beginning to recover from 2008's recession, and Jon Huntsman was riding high approval ratings early in his first term.
-from a January 21, 2017 article on ABC News
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Alex Stansfield: We're back on this week's "The Business Of Gaming" podcast with industry analyst Ricky Sharman, and right now I want to talk a little bit about the handhelds, and particularly, when are we going to see the new handhelds? The Connect and Gemini have both been out for more than five years now, which is about how long it usually takes us to get a new generation of consoles or handhelds, but we've heard absolutely nothing official about either one in terms of when the next generation is going to be starting. Ricky, what gives?
Ricky Sharman: *laughing* You know, it is a bit surprising not to have heard anything from either Nintendo or Apple, especially Apple who's usually a bit more forthcoming with this type of thing. I do have to say, Nintendo's Connect is still rocking it in terms of sales. Last year, they had just about their best Christmas ever, and the thing's showing no sign of slowing down, it's going to blast past 100 million units sold and may well have a chance to knock off the Ultra Nintendo as the best selling gaming hardware of all time. The Gemini, though, it's definitely slowing down. They've lost a lot of market share to Nintendo, and even with the price drops and redesigns, it's just not clicking with all segments of the gaming public. So.... you know, I'd expect Apple to reveal something, but they've said nothing and I don't think they'll be revealing anything at E3 this year either. As for Nintendo, who knows what they're going to do? They could announce the Connect successor tomorrow for all we know, but I don't expect to hear anything about the next Nintendo handheld this year either.
Alex: You think they're going to keep pushing the Connect?
Ricky: Absolutely. There's no reason for them not to.
Alex: Besides the sales figures, is there any reason Nintendo would be holding off?
Ricky: I think they might want to try and get the release of the next handheld a bit closer to the release of their next console, which is probably looking at 2019, 2020. We'll be seeing a 4K Reality this year for sure, so it'll probably be at least two years and I think maybe that could be a good timeframe for the Connect successor. 2018, 2019 perhaps. The Connect still has a lot to go.
Alex: And... I'm hearing some rumors that Apple might not have a Gemini successor at all, what are the odds of that happening?
Ricky: Um, honestly, not that great, I'd still expect them to do some kind of handheld after the Gemini. The Gemini's certainly not a failure. It's driven iTunes downloads in a major way, software is selling like crazy, it's still a success even if Apple's lost money on the hardware itself. The one thing that might lead credence to that rumor is that Apple has been focusing more software development energy on the iOS platform than on the Gemini as of late, but remember, you can play every single iOS game on the Gemini, so developing for iOS isn't necessarily a bad thing for dedicated handhelds. If anything, I'd expect Apple's next handheld to integrate iOS more, maybe be more like a successor to the iPod Play than to the Gemini.
Alex: Something like an iPhone Play then.
Ricky: That would be my guess.
-from the January 23, 2017 episode of Games Over Matter's "The Business Of Gaming" Podcast
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It's clear that Google Fiber is a major part of the company's gaming strategy. Google has increasingly touted its expanding network of fibre-optic cables as the "ultimate next gen gaming accessory", and is making a huge push to get Google Fiber in as many homes as possible. The company has been aided in its push by a series of laws passed in 2015 and 2016 by the outgoing Huntsman administration designed to free up local infrastructure for internet companies and to break up monopolies of internet access. This has allowed Google to push its own internet service into dozens of new cities over the past 18 months, and more cities are expected to be added to the list, giving Google an opportunity to become one of the country's largest internet providers.
Google Fiber offers some of the highest upload and download speeds, and has promised that there will never be any data caps on its network, which could prove a huge boon for gamers looking to download and stream high definition gaming content to their consoles (including the Nexus Pro). Google has cited gaming as the "#1 reason" to switch to Google Fiber in its advertising, and has even launched a promotion offering a free Nexus Pro console to families who sign a two year contract to install Google Fiber in their homes. The company's gaming chief, Eric Bright, says that "a fast and reliable internet connection is crucial to gamers looking to get the most out of the games they play, and we can't in good conscience claim to be the #1 gaming company unless we push to help more gamers acquire that fast connection to give them the edge over their opponents".
Google is also looking to spread the Fiber service to under-served rural areas, and is using the company's recent record profits, much of which has been driven by the company's success with the Nexus, to make that push and build up their internet infrastructure. Though Google itself has stated that total 100% Fiber availability in North America is "at least a decade away", it remains the company's primary goal over the next decade to make Fiber available to as many homes as possible.
-from a January 13, 2017 article on Gamespot
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"And now we're hearing from a number of former Eidos developers, under condition of anonymity of course, that ever since Acclaim acquired the company last year, they've totally upended a number of ongoing projects, many of which were quite popular or highly anticipated. Planned updates for Nosgoth, the popular Legacy of Kain MMO, those have been scaled back or in some cases scrapped entirely, and numerous people who have been working on that game have been let go. This year's Tomb Raider game I'm hearing has had entire completed cutscenes altered or tossed out, because Acclaim wants to go in a 'new direction'... bunch of bollocks that is, honestly, and then there's The Gatherer. Remember The Gatherer, that game about ancient humans that's been in development for the last five years? *footage from Doggerland is shown on screen* No, not that one, the other one, the one that used to be called Project Virgin Earth. *a picture of Richard Branson smiling and holding the Earth in his hands is shown on screen* Well that game, the one we've been looking forward to for a very long time, that game that's still supposed to come out in a few months, it's hit a number of snags thanks to creative differences between the new Acclaim staff and the old Eidos staff who've been working on the game. As though they couldn't leave well the fuck enough alone. God. And that game is still on track for release later this year, so you know it's probably being rushed out the door with all sorts of bugs and problems... I mean, Acclaim already has so many great games coming out this year, why not... why not save this game for next year? *another picture of Doggerland is shown* Right, because you're too cowardly to compete with Rockstar... so you've got to rush this one out, and it's going to be a mess, and then you still get your ass kicked anyway, right? And this is why, ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary friends, this is why I will always say it time and time again, big game company mergers are always bad. It doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter what you get out of it... and when Acclaim bought Eidos, that's all I heard from everyone, everyone on Twitter saying 'oh, but Jim Sterling, think about the crossovers, think about the crossover potential!' When Acclaim bought Eidos, so many people were cheering, 'yay! We get to see Lara Croft crossover with Turok *shows picture of Turok* or Hellboy *shows picture of Hellboy* or superhero bondage lady' *shows picture of Empowered* ...because that's a thing. That's a thing now that exists. *shows footage of Empowered from her animated series as something kinky happens to her* Y'all want to have her fight with Lara Croft, and, I don't know, get tied up or something. *shows footage of William Sarson using his finisher on Empowered in Acclaimed Champions, blasting her with light from a cross* And you don't get it. Crossovers are the thing that these big greedy companies dangle in front of you to make you accept everything else. They dangle the idea of these fun crossovers, and in the meantime, they're putting hundreds of people out of work, and they're canceling projects left and right, and jacking up DLC prices on everything, and all the quality of the games that survive goes way down, and you don't notice because they're dangling these fun crossover things in front of you. They're dangling them. ...dangling. Dannnnngggling. ...fucking hell, I was really looking forward to The Gatherer too."
-Jim Sterling, from the January 27, 2017 episode of The Jimquisition, hosted on Games Over Matter
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"As part of the Huntsman administration's push for technology-based businesses, tax incentives were given to computer chip production companies to move their operations here. Just last year, two massive, brand new facilities were completed, one in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one in Corpus Christi, Texas. Both are expected to bring thousands of jobs to their local communities, but more importantly, these two factories, and two more expected to be built in the coming years in Nevada and Georgia, will shift production of computer chips to the United States, and away from China, which has dominated the market for chips as demand has increased significantly. These new facilities may help to avoid future chip shortages, like the brief interruption in 2014 that led to certain goods such as graphics cards becoming slightly harder to find and more expensive on the secondary market. There's also a new factory expected to open in Florida in 2019. What will it produce? The machines that make the computer chips, adding a further layer of redundancy that will help to head off future supply interruptions. Though the Kennedy administration is expected to increase business taxes in its first year, there's been talk of carving out an exemption for certain 'essential industries', with technology manufacturers thought to be a likely exemption, in just one of the ways that the new Democratic president is picking up where his Republican predecessor left off."
-from a January 22, 2017 news report on CNN
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Game Spotlight: Apis
Apis is an adventure/RPG title exclusive to the Apple Virtua. It focuses on a colony of bees seeking to protect their hive from attackers that include both rival colonies and eventually, a gang of giant hornets. Best described as "Assassin's Creed, but with bees", the game has some similarities to the OTL title Maneater, which was itself an RPG based around the life of a great white shark. Apis takes itself somewhat more seriously than OTL's Maneater, and juxtaposes scenes of realistic, lifelike bee flight and exploration with cutscenes of anthropomorphized bees talking amongst themselves and experiencing human-like emotions and relationships. The main character of Apis is a young worker bee named Vespa, who serves as an attendant to the colony's queen, and also as one of the queen's primary defenders. Even as Vespa performs the tasks of a worker bee, she also experiences intrigue from within the hive, as traitors seek to undermine the hive's social order. She also befriends other worker bees, as well as male drone bees, and even befriends other bees from other hives and other insects and animals as well. The game's action centers around the beehive, which is structured much like a city, with living quarters and shops. There's also a large area outside the beehive to explore, including a forested area and even some houses where humans can be encountered. As Vespa explores and completes tasks (including main story quests and side missions), she'll build up her statistics, including damage output and life points, and can even gain unique skills allowing her to gain an edge in combat, including faster flying and sting combos. The player can build Vespa's relationship with others, allowing for more missions to be unlocked and story insights to be gained. They can also use the Virtua's controls to maneuver Vespa through the world and to engage in various combat encounters, with most reviewers considering the motion controls one of the better parts of the game. The world of Apis, though vast and granting a lot of exploration opportunities, definitely isn't as big as that of the average Assassin's Creed title, but there's still lots to see and do. The game's graphics are decent, appropriate for the game's content, but nothing all that groundbreaking. The game does have a strong soundtrack, with sweeping symphonies mixed with modern-sounding beats, with much of the game's soundtrack inspired by "Flight Of The Zinger" from Donkey Kong Country 2. The game features full voice acting, with Vespa herself voiced by Erica Mendez. The plot is rather similar to that of an Assassin's Creed title, though somewhat simpler, and features Vespa as an emotionally conflicted heroine, torn between her duty to the hive and her desire to act out on her own and do what's right for everyone, even in defiance of the established order. Her relationship with the queen, which is quite similar to that of a big sister/little sister relationship, is heavily explored, and Vespa's desire to protect the queen under any circumstances, no matter what the cost to the hive itself, becomes a big source of tension in the game's plot. Even the giant hornets aren't a monolith in terms of emotion/personality, with some of the hornets expressing reluctance to attack the bees and even fondness for Vespa. It's definitely a much deeper game than a game about bees has any right to be, and Vespa stands out as one of the strongest aspects of the game, going through a full character arc as the player experiences her journey. In the end, Vespa reluctantly kills the queen at her own behest to save her from a fate worse than death, and repels the threat from the colony before helping to establish a new queen for the hive and swearing a vow of protection to her as she swore to the previous queen.
Apis is released exclusively for the Apple Virtua on January 16, 2017. It's released at a price of $39.99, as a slight budget title due to its shorter length and smaller budget than most Virtua exclusives (and the fact that it's developed as a sort of "AAA indie" title). Reviews are quite good, praising the game's open world exploration, surprisingly good combat, and Vespa's characterization and voice acting, and the game would average an 81 on Metacritic overall. Sales would also end up being quite strong, thanks in large part to Apple hyping up the game considerably as one of the biggest titles of the month, and it would ultimately lead January 2017 in sales for new titles, eventually selling more than a million copies and making back its budget several times over. Later on, the game would get some content DLC that includes more equipment and a new adventure for Vespa, and the prospect of a sequel would be discussed almost immediately after the game's release.
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Other Significant Titles for January 2017:
Bladegash: A 2-D beat 'em up cel shaded samurai game, somewhat similar to games like OTL's Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The game features fast paced combat and tons of loot, which can be discarded and equipped rapidly (this is even incorporated into some combos). One of the more addictive Connect exclusives in recent memory, it gets excellent reviews (Metacritic: 90) and decent sales, and is considered one of the best handheld games of the year.
Fly Witches Fly: A fantasy-based adventure game aimed at younger players, this Nexus title features a group of witch girls who must team up to stop an evil phantom. While the gameplay seems fairly simple at first glance, it's actually quite a deep game, with well developed characters and some really strong gameplay mechanics. Reviews are quite good, and the game becomes a franchise. It also becomes the start of a trend that would be a storyline for Google throughout 2017: excellent games aimed at younger players, a trend that would earn accolades from many industry critics, but some scorn from the gaming community in general.
Wipeout Electro: The latest in Psygnosis' hit futuristic racing series, Wipeout Electro would come to the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus, and would be the first game in the series aimed at the new wave of 4K-capable consoles. It's an absolutely beautiful game, and the gameplay is deep too, with a focus on customization and vehicle improvement. Though it would achieve good reviews and sales (sales would be the best for the series in more than a decade), it would soon be overshadowed by the upcoming Gran Turismo Real, despite that game's exclusivity and focus on sim-style driving as opposed to Electro's more arcade-style gameplay.
Night In The Woods: OTL's cutesy story-based adventure title makes its way to TTL as well, releasing for the handhelds and mobile, along with a sort of "deluxe" version for the Google Nexus. It's basically the same as OTL's game, with a few butterfly changes here and there. The Nexus version would become most well known of the bunch, and like Fly Witches Fly, pushes the narrative of the Nexus' more family-friendly turn in 2017... ironically, as the game itself is decidedly NOT family-friendly, and it's only the artstyle that gives people that impression, leading to a minor controversy surrounding the game that eventually dies down thanks to all the hype over Gran Turismo Real taking the gaming world by storm in February.
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STEVE JOBS BACK IN CANCER TREATMENT, SEEN LEAVING TREATMENT FACILITY
TMZ has spotted Apple CEO Steve Jobs leaving a cancer treatment facility in San Francisco, California ... as you can see, he is attempting to conceal his identity, but our reporters caught him and snapped these exclusive photos. Jobs underwent successful treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2009, and has been cancer free for several years. We don't know if his pancreatic cancer has returned or if this is another type of cancer ... Jobs has reduced his day-to-day duties with the company in recent months, focused mostly on promoting Apple's latest products.
Steve Jobs' last major public announcement was for the Apple Virtua S, an upgraded model of the company's video game console that can play games in 4K resolution and features improved motion controls ... Jobs has continued to promote both the Virtua S and the latest model iPhone in his most recent public appearances, and has also given interviews with CNN and Forbes magazine.
-from an article posted on TMZ.com on January 26, 2017
Hopefully JFK Jr. will push some Right-to-Privacy laws through as well, otherwise VPNs are about to become an outright necessity.
I see what you did there.