After multiple delays, Nintendo finally rolled out its paid online subscription service for Switch last September. While the company doesn't typically disclose usage numbers, it did share some insight on how the service has been faring thus far.
In its recent financial results briefing, Nintendo revealed that the Nintendo Switch Online service has more than eight million subscribed accounts. According to the company, this figure doesn't include accounts that only participated in the free trial, but it does factor in every account included under a family membership, which allows up to eight account holders across different Switch consoles to share the benefits of one subscription.
"Nintendo Switch Online has had a good start," president Shuntaro Furukawa said in the briefing. "In keeping with the goal of providing Nintendo Switch owners with 'More Games. More Features. More Fun,' we are working on continuing to expand the service offerings."
Nintendo didn't share any further details on how it will expand NSO, but during the briefing, the company teased that it is working on an unannounced Switch game that is "suitable" for the service (via Siliconera), presumably meaning it will emphasize online play. Rumors have circulated that SNES games could also be coming to the service, although Nintendo hasn't confirmed this.
Much like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live, the Nintendo Switch Online service is required to play Nintendo Switch games online. It gives subscribers a few other benefits as well, such as the ability to back up their save data to the cloud and exclusive access to a library of classic NES games. NSO subscribers are also eligible for "special offers," such as an exclusive set of NES-style controllers for Switch.
Sharing screenshots and videos from Xbox One has been notoriously difficult throughout the console's life cycle. Thankfully, Microsoft has listened to people's concerns and made it a little easier, though you'll need to use a separate app to take advantage.
The Xbox App--known earlier in its life as SmartGlass--has been updated, and it can now share media from your Xbox One to social networks and your smartphone directly. Xbox director of programming and community figurehead Major Nelson shared the news on Twitter with a screenshot that showed Instagram, Discord, iMessage, email, and Twitter as some of the sharing options in the newly updated app.
Steam is offering another free game to download through its client. This time it's the 2015 indie horror game Kholat from Polish studio Imgn.Pro. The creepy game is narrated by actor Sean Bean. You can pick it up now on the Steam Store until February 4 at 9 AM PT.
Kholat has you exploring the Russian Ural Mountains to uncover the mystery of nine students who went missing in 1959. The game is based loosely on the real-life Dyatlov Pass Incident, in which nine students ventured into the Kholat Syakhl ("Dead Mountain" in Mansi) and were each found dead over the span of four months. The game goes in a much more supernatural direction with their disappearance.
"In many stories, blizzards and the frigid cold provide a specific kind of terror, and Kholat's moaning winds cry out tales of lost souls that the game ignores in favor of shapeless nonsense," critic Kevin VanOrd wrote in GameSpot's review. "Its ideas reveal the game Kholat wanted to be, but its aspirations soar far higher than the game it became. What good is a mystery if you don't care about what it might tell you?"
Ubisoft is offering another new free game, for a limited time. This time it's the 2D stealth-action game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, one of the very few Assassin's Creed games that doesn't take place in Europe or the Americas. Make sure to claim your free copy through the Ubisoft Store anytime by February 5.
This was one of a trilogy of Chronicles games, which each featured a new setting and Assassin. China features the female assassin Shao Jun, who trained under the series' biggest star, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. She returns to her homeland to take out a group of Templars called the Eight Tigers. Subsequent Chronicles games would be set in India during the Sikh Empire and Russia just after the October Revolution.
Ubisoft has made a regular practice of giving away free games through its PC storefront, and this comes just as Epic Games has started to do the same for its own burgeoning store. Steam and Epic have been starting to battle it out publicly lately. Ubisoft's own store is competing with them to an extent, but as a publisher it's also able to partner with either store. The Division 2 is eschewing Steam for the Ubisoft Store, for example.
"Chronicles' passive pacing is a shame, because the pieces, combat notwithstanding, are mostly strong," critic Kevin VanOrd wrote in GameSpot's review. "Furthermore, the exquisite environments craft a setting that makes me eager to see the two upcoming sequels--Chronicles: India, and Chronicles: Russia--in action. If they follow in Chronicles: China's footsteps, they will be beautiful to behold. I hope, however, that unlike the first entry, they take the leap of faith required to make them play as boldly as they look."
Most of the Destiny 2 community spent this week chasing The Last Word, the latest Exotic weapon added to the game. Getting the legendary hand cannon from the first Destiny is quite an undertaking, though, thanks to a tough, lengthy quest called The Draw. Luckily, it's the weekend, and that means Xur is back with Exotics you can buy instead of earn.
As always, Xur is selling a random Exotic gun, plus one piece of Exotic armor for each character class. They're all from the Year One collection, which means they come from before the big Forsaken expansion. You'll find Xur this week on Earth in the EDZ, in the Winding Cove area. From the spawn point, head north and climb the cliff until you reach a crashed Fallen ship to find Xur waiting.
Xur brings The Huckleberry this time, an SMG that can deal some serious damage in a short amount of time. Holding down the trigger on the gun increases its rate of fire as well as recoil, meaning that at close range it's almost universally deadly. Racking up kills also refills part of the gun's magazine so you can fire even more.
In the armor department, Titans can snag An Insurmountable Skullfort, a helmet that kicks on your health regeneration and restores melee energy for every Arc melee kill you manage, making it great for Titans who love to punch things. Hunters get the Stomp-EE5 boots, which greatly increase jumping height and run speed--perfect for those tough platforming sections in spots like The Whisper quest. Finally, for Warlocks, there's the Claws of Ahamkara gauntlets, which offer you a second melee charge when equipped. Keep in mind that while Exotic weapons have set perks, Exotic armor gets random perk rolls, so even if you already have all the armor pieces that Xur is carrying, his rolls might be better.
Here are all the Exotics Xur offers this week and what they'll cost you:
The Huckleberry (Exotic SMG) -- 29 Legendary Shards
An Insurmountable Skullfort (Exotic Titan gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Stomp-EE5 (Exotic Hunter leg armor) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Claws of Ahamkara (Exotic Warlock leg armor) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Xur also packs a couple of other handy items. One is a Fated Engram, an expensive pathway to a new Exotic. Dropping 97 Legendary Shards on the item will grant you one Year One Exotic you don't already have for that character. You can also snag a Five of Swords challenge card for free, which allows you to add difficulty modifiers that increase your score in Nightfall runs.
If you're still working on taking home The Last Word, check out our guide to completing The Draw. The story tied to the gun is one of the best in Destiny lore, so you might want to get caught up with our story rundown about it as well. Destiny 2 players also have Crimson Days, the game's Valentine's Day event, to look forward to, which starts on February 13. After that, there's the Season of the Drifter, which starts in March--and which will bring back another Destiny 1 fan-favorite Exotic weapon, Thorn.
It's been something of a rough week for Xbox Live, which has encountered issues on multiple occasions (including one particularly severe incident). That's again the case today for Xbox One and PC owners, as sign-in issues have emerged on Friday that Microsoft says it's working to resolve. [Update: Microsoft now says these sign-in issues have been resolved, so you should be able to get online and start playing without any further problems. That said, not everything is working as it should, as Microsoft confirmed that you might have trouble buying things: "Previous issues with sign in should now be resolved. We're aware of users also running into issues with purchasing new content over Xbox Live and teams are actively engaged on that as well. We'll have additional updates to provide soon."]
While sign-in problems sound somewhat innocuous, that can mean you're unable to get online to play games like Fortnite or to even access certain content. In a tweet, Microsoft's support account stated, "If you're running into errors attempting to sign in or access previously purchased content, our teams are aware and working to identify the cause. We'll update here when we have more to provide."
A subsequent tweet provides a further update, stating, "We have teams actively engaged on issues related to sign in and accessing previously purchased content. We'll update again when we've identified the cause. Our status page will also have updates related to these issues."
The Xbox Live status page doesn't offer much more information, except to confirm that both Xbox One and Xbox services on Windows 10 in the "core services" category are impacted. Besides the sign-in problems, you might also have trouble creating or managing an account right now.
There's no word on exactly when the problems will be resolved; as always, it could be a very short wait or a matter of hours. Some small consolation is that these problems don't appear as serious as those earlier in the week, which caused some users to receive a black screen when powering the system on. This rendered it completely unusable, though some reports suggested that disconnecting the system from the internet would allow offline functionality to resume.
We'll report back with any further details as Microsoft shares them.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's first DLC character, Piranha Plant, arrived this week alongside the big 2.0.0 update. Nintendo offered the new fighter for free to players who purchased and registered their games on My Nintendo by January 31, but if you missed your opportunity to get it, you now have the option to buy it.
Piranha Plant is now available to purchase in the Switch Eshop. Unlike the other planned DLC characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Piranha Plant isn't included in the game's Fighters Pass, so you only have the option to pick it up individually. If you do want to add it to your roster, it costs $5--slightly cheaper than the price of other upcoming fighters, presumably because it doesn't come with a new stage and music tracks.
Beyond Piranha Plant, Nintendo is working on five other DLC characters for Smash Bros. Ultimate. The first of these will be Joker from Persona 5. Each new fighter will come in a pack alongside a stage and multiple music tracks for $6. You'll also be able to get all of them at a discount through the $25 Fighters Pass. Picking up the Fighters Pass will also get you a bonus Mii costume based on Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
All of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC characters are slated to arrive by February 2020. Nintendo hasn't officially revealed the identities of the remaining four fighters yet, but during the Game Awards in December, NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime teased they will all be newcomers to the series and are characters "who you wouldn't anticipate."
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched for Nintendo Switch on December 7 and has set new sales records for the series. Not only was it Amazon's best-selling video game of 2018 (and the US's fifth best-selling game) despite launching near the end of the year, it has already sold 12 million copies around the world, making it Nintendo's third best-selling Switch game to date.
By Anonymous on Feb 01, 2019 09:30 pm (Presented by Anthem) Join our team of uncommon allies as we play through the first story mission in Anthem and figure how to be the best team in the first video in our 4 part series.
By Anonymous on Feb 01, 2019 09:30 pm Season 1 of Dirty Arty may have ended, but his trail of destruction, incivility, and horse murder lives on! Check out the best (and worst) moments from this season.
Microsoft's latest Games with Gold offerings are now available, giving you a host of freebies for your Gold subscription. This month's inclusions offer a few retro throwbacks along with some action games from older generations. As always, some of the games are available throughout the entire month while others will rotate in and out midway, so check the schedule to make sure you don't miss out on any.
The Xbox One games include Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, an 8-bit style game modeled loosely after Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse. It's a prequel, both spiritually and plot-wise, to the upcoming Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and we found it rather good. It will be available throughout the entire month. Super Bomberman R also joins the rotation on February 16 through mid-March. It's an update of the classic Bomberman franchise, best used as a madcap party game so you can curse your friends for bombing you.
On Xbox 360, you get Assassin's Creed Rogue, a game that came out alongside the widely derided Assassin's Creed Unity. It was an interesting game in its own right, though, and explored more of the Templars' perspective. It's only available through February 15, after which it will be replaced by the original Xbox game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
As always, the Xbox and Xbox 360 games offered through Games with Gold are playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility. You can still grab one of last month's games for a while longer as well: WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship for Xbox One is available until February 15.
Check out the full line-up and schedule below.
February 2019 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Feb. 1-28)
Super Bomberman R (Feb. 16-Mar. 15)
WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship (Jan. 16-Feb. 15)
By Anonymous on Feb 01, 2019 07:30 pm After having a chance to play Crackdown 3, Peter and Michael talk about the impressive multiplayer, and how it may overshadow the single-player campaign.
By Anonymous on Feb 01, 2019 07:30 pm With the release of Resident Evil 2 Remake, we look at the numerous ways Dead Space and Capcom's horror series have competed, co-existed, and learned from each other.
After cooking for half a decade, Crackdown 3 is almost here. Trailers have shown that it will more closely resemble the first game than its divisive sequel, and the prevailing opinion seems to be that that's a good thing on face value. Commercials play up the comic-book cop connection with help from Terry Crews' over-the-top personality, which effortlessly conveys the explosive attitude fans are apparently asking for. Now that I've played Crackdown 3 for a few hours it's easy to identify similarities to the 2007 original, but rather than the campaign stealing the show, it's the competitive multiplayer component that will be my reason for paying attention to Crackdown 3 at launch.
When Microsoft hosted the demo at a recent event, the plan was to get a taste of multiplayer before stepping into the campaign. At the heart of competitive Crackdown is the cloud, or more specifically, Microsoft's Azure server infrastructure. With the power of roughly a dozen standard Xbox One systems dedicated in the cloud to each multiplayer match, large, highly vertical environments are yours to destroy. Every structure can be punctured or completely leveled into rubble. It's an impressive calamity to witness, but it's how the new rules of engagement influence your approach to combat and perception of distance and obstacles that really counts, and that only works because every player is experiencing the same physics simulations in real time.
Everyone has the use of a generous lock-on ability that remains in effect even after an enemy leaves your line of sight, allowing you to strategize how you might use your destructive abilities to capitalize on your informed advantage. To balance the engagement, a visible blue tether connects target and shooter during lock on, turning red once the attacker opens fire. When you detect that you're in someone's sights, your reaction is either to mad dash for a boost pad or to explode through buildings to carve out a path to safety. But don't forget: With a predator tracking your every move, you might be better off facing them head on instead. Doing so leads to frantic bouts of blowing up buildings to disrupt movement or clear away a protective barrier so you can strike with lesser weapons while your heavy guns cool down.
Incorporating my destructive capabilities wasn't natural at first, but once the practice became habitual after a few matches it was like a lightbulb went off in my head: Destruction is at the heart of everything in multiplayer, and seeing how it elevates the core Crackdown experience made me realize how the cloud is capable of more than simply streaming games as we know them today.
No matter how fast, nor hard-hitting the action got in our matches, there was never a sign of the Azure servers buckling under pressure. Controls were responsive and there was nary a hiccup in frame rate or resolution to note. A real-world test this was not--we were in a Microsoft-controlled environment after all--but it was a promising sign of what's possible under ideal conditions. The only evidence that I was playing a game running in the cloud was the impressive destructibility on display, the likes of which I've never before seen in a multiplayer setting.
Despite only having access to a single map and match type, the 90-minute multiplayer session flew by. We were then given the keys to the campaign and, at Microsoft's suggestion, started off with a save file a few hours into the adventure. This was when my second revelation hit: Old Crackdown isn't as fun as I remember it, especially when compared to the exciting multiplayer component. I have seen only a sliver of the campaign, but what I saw was tepid and outdated. The world is rendered with some modern flourishes like bloom lighting and seemingly infinite draw distances, but it generally sticks very close to the original game's visuals. It's a stylistic choice for sure, though it's hard to say that it's an inspiring one.
The same goes for the reality of playing as a budding supercop: The powers you remember from the past, or those you can experience in multiplayer, will only be yours if you once again go through the process of searching a wide and tall city for orbs to build up experience/skill meters. Coupled with a generic objective system in the open world, which itself also feels like something pulled from 2007's open-world playbook, my time with the campaign was more underwhelming than I could have expected. To be fair, that gameplay formula is part and parcel of the Crackdown experience, the game a lot of us championed as the model Microsoft should follow for a sequel. In my case at least, it's clear I didn't realize what I was asking for.
One of my favorite questions to ask game developers is whether they, as creators, know better than fans what's best for their games. The most common answer I get is that they know best because the audience asks for everything without understanding the constraints of development. Crackdown 3 creative director Joseph Staten didn't hesitate to give fans the nod, because a launched game "becomes whatever people make of it." Considering the two halves of Crackdown 3, I then asked him whether his role as a creator is to innovate in tech or creative game design. "Microsoft is a big technology company," he replied, acknowledging the reality of his particular position. "Games are entertainment, but Microsoft has this capability that other companies don't."
In those two answers Staten pretty much summarized my understanding of Crackdown 3. Fans asked for something, and by all evidence, Microsoft is aiming to give them what they want: the experience of reliving the original Crackdown with a fresh coat of paint. It will be interesting to see how others revel or revile when confronted with the seemingly matter-of-fact approach to the campaign. I expect impassioned positions on both sides. Multiplayer, though, will be the real test of whether Crackdown 3 is a success, purely for how it validates Microsoft's almost-unique position in the industry.
Whispers about the future of cloud gaming are heard with ever-increasing frequency. As big companies rear up to deliver what they hope is the next evolution in gaming tech, now is the time to look out for the fruits of years spent experimenting behind closed doors. Perhaps smartly, Microsoft hasn't made much of ado about Crackdown 3's cloud-based multiplayer mode. It's almost tough to understand why that is once you get a taste of it in action, because it's so immediately awesome. Perhaps the reason is that Microsoft has been listening. Maybe it's heard the outcries of skepticism of the cloud, and our collective adoration of the old ways. So they give us what we ask for, but like a Trojan horse, Crackdown 3's attractive exterior belies an unexpected surprise. Only in this instance, that surprise is one worth welcoming with open arms.
The biggest test for Crackdown 3's cloud-based gameplay will be how it all holds up under pressure. In the recent case of Anthem's demo weekend, we saw how one of the biggest game publishers, if not the biggest, can still struggle with the crippling network demands that come with an influx of new players. Microsoft's challenge is even harder, given that players are not just connecting to servers, but also relying on their computational power to drive the gameplay. Staten told me that the Azure service is robust enough to support every Xbox One sold to date playing Crackdown 3 online at the same time. It's impossible to test that lofty promise, but if true, that means everyone with a good-enough internet connection should get the same experience I had under Microsoft's supervision just the other day. And if that happens, Microsoft will find itself in the enviable position of having proved that the cloud isn't just a buzz word or a fad, but that it's a worthwhile opportunity for the future of gaming.
The first trailer for Hobbs and Shaw is here. The movie is the first spin-off from the blockbuster Fast & Furious series and stars Dwayne Johnson as Agent Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as mercenary-for-hire Owen Shaw.
The trailer delivers a ton of action--it's three minutes long, so be warned if you don't want to know much about the movie going in. It sets up the bad guy played by Idris Elba, a villain called Brixton who has been given some kind of genetic upgrade. Hobbs and Shaw aren't exactly friends, but they are brought together to stop him, and the rest of trailer delivers a non-stop barrage of stunts, fights, and over-the-top action, plus a lot of self-aware one-liners. Check it out above.
Hobbs & Shaw is directed by Deadpool 2's David Leitch, and also stars Vanessa Kirby (Mission Impossible: Fallout), Eiza González (Baby Driver), and Eddie Marsan (Deadpool 2). It releases on August 2, 2019.
In related news, it was confirmed this week that production on Fast & Furious 9 starts this month. The next movie in the main series is set for release in 2020 and stars Vin Deisel once more, but won't feature Johnson or Statham.
Sony has reported its most recent earnings to investors, including an update on the number of PlayStation 4 consoles it has sold worldwide and how many people subscribe to PlayStation Plus. More than 90 million PS4 units have been sold--a figure we already knew--and now we know over a third of those people subscribe to PS Plus.
As of December 31, 2018, 36 million people are paid members of PlayStation's premium membership plan. That's an increase of nearly 5 million people since the same date in 2017.
By comparison, Nintendo announced recently that a total of 8 million people are paid members of Nintendo Switch Online, though of course PlayStation Plus has been available for far longer, with a lifespan of close to nine years rather than Switch Online's four-and-a-half months. Microsoft says Xbox Live has 64 million active users, but does not disclose how many of those pay for Xbox Live Gold.
PlayStation Plus' impressive numbers are despite the company announcing it will stop giving away free monthly PS3 and PS Vita games next month. Conversely, PS Plus members will get an increased amount of cloud storage from March 2019.
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