In The News
The NES Classic returns in 2018. “The SNES Classic was slated to end shipments this year, but more consoles will be released on September 29 for North America. The NES Classic will return next summer, after being discontinued this spring,” Brian Ashcraft at Kotaku reports. Nintendo plans to release more information at a later date.
Did you know Polish developer Metropolis once bought the rights to The Witcher and attempted to make it into a game back in 1997? “A new Polish documentary from gaming site ARHN.eu … has provided new details about the first attempt to turn the novel series into a game,” VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb writes. “In Metropolis’s The Witcher, players would explore a dangerous world as Geralt. The game’s producers, Adrian Chmielarz and Pawel Smyla, put most of their early efforts into figuring out how a game like that would work from a technical standpoint.”
PewDiePie issued his first statement since videos surfaced of him using a racial slur during a PUBG game on a live stream. He apologized, saying, “‘I should know better … I can’t keep messing up like this,’” Kotaku’s Patricia Hernandez reports. “‘It was something that I said in the heat of the moment. I said the worst word I could possibly think of, and it just sort of slipped out. I’m not going to make any excuses for why it did, because there are no excuses for it. I’m disappointed in myself.’” Watch the full video here.
Microsoft is working on a fix for the Windows 10 stuttering issue. “Microsoft support engineer Paul Aaron acknowledged that there is in fact a problem, and that a fix is in the works,” PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk reports.
What do we have here? Super Mario 64 is now multiplayer thanks to modders like Kaze Emanuar. Up to 24 players can “roam around the blocky Mushroom Kingdom, with a cast of characters that extends far beyond the Mario brothers,” Polygon’s Allegra Frank reports. “Every character has unique powers and abilities in the game, which players can test out both by themselves and with others.”
Bossa Studios has $10 million more to support its new MMO, Worlds Adrift, after a successful venture funding round. “European venture investor Atomico led the investment, with participation from existing investor London Venture Partners,” Dean Takahashi at VentureBeat reports. “Henrique Olifiers, CEO of Bossa Studios, said in an interview that the money will be used to recruit top talent to work on technologies such as artificial intelligence, user-generated content, and open development.”
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is releasing patch notes for the next update today.
And now I’m hungry. General Mills is promoting Reese’s Puffs to gamers through 2K Games’ NBA 2K18. “Mike Siemienas, brand media relations manager at General Mills, told AListDaily that the Reese’s Puffs brand looks to “fuel the fandom” of consumers by focusing on sports gaming,” AListDaily’s John Gaudiosi reports. “The Reese’s Puffs locker code promotion works across the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC versions of NBA 2K18. Specially marked boxes of Reese’s Puffs cereal contain a 25-digit code printed inside that unlocks 2,500 worth of in-game currency.”
Nindies seem to be outperforming indie titles on other consoles, GamesIndustry.biz’s James Brightman reports. Nindies are indie titles for the Nintendo Switch. “Multiple developers have now stated that the Switch versions of their titles have turned out to be the most successful … Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap from Lizardcube and Forma.8 from MixedBag have yielded better results on Switch for the respective studios.”