Platinum games to take on “larger and risker games” as it hires veteran Nintendo exec.

PlatinumGames know for action games like “Bayonetta” series, “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance” and “NieR:Automata“.They have been teasing a new era for the company after under going a number of high level staff changes over the past year, the latest of these being new vice president/Chief Business Officer former Managing Director of Nintendo of Europe Takao Yamane. Along side this at the beginning  of year the year producer Atsushi Inaba was announced as Platinum’s new CEO.

Who is Takao Yamane

While not a super recognisable name in Nintendo he spent nearly 30 years there beginning as Vice President of Nintendo France until 2007, then moving onto being the Managing Director of Sales at Nintendo of Europe for 18 years.

Platinum “new directions”

When asked about join Platinum Yamane said he felt he required in order to help veteran game designer Hikdeki Kamiya (mind behind the Bayonetta and Devil May Cry series) and new CEO Atsushi Inaba “make their dreams become reality. He cited the upcoming unnamed game Project GG originally teased in 2020 declaring the project as being “incredible”. Project GG is set to be platinum’s first fully owned self published title. Essentially Yamane’s arrival signifies a “significant” change for PlatinumGames .

What this means and why

All of this is the say that the developer is not so subtlety hinting at a new direction for their new creative projects even teasing “PlatinumGames Reborn” for an interview tomorrow on the Japanese magazines Famitsu’s website. This is all notably happing after the failure of their last game Babylon’s Fall, a live service action role-playing game published by Square Enix, which released to not so great reviews. With IGN bluntly stating “isn’t good. It’s not terrible or broken, it just “is,” and “does little to justify investing your time into it” giving it a meagre 4/10.

Most likely this new leaf they are turning is a direct response to their last change in direction that had lead to Babylon’s failure with fans even calling out the decision earlier in February when it was announced they where moving form the “one-off, well designed tiles” that they were know and specialised for and moving to live service games.

PlatniumGames literally just said "We do not want to make well designed titles"

What company literally admits they don't want to make good games any more? https://t.co/lRVa9Y7FFS

— Christina Tasty (@ChristinaTasty) February 7, 2022

All of this is leading up to the release of Bayonetta 3 the return of their flagship series after almost 8 years in October (releasing exclusively on Nintendo switch) with fans extremely hopeful for a good game in light of this new direction.

Babylon's Fall made them restructure the whole business , talk about a hit! https://t.co/lY3vKUdQOE

— Joseph (@Koimonoseph) July 19, 2022

Day 1680:
106 days remaining pic.twitter.com/5v3PHXlx67

— The Daily Status Of Bayonetta 3 (@DailyBayonetta) July 14, 2022

BAYONETTA 3'S NEWEST TRAILER IS OUT AND I'M HAPPY TO SEE HER. pic.twitter.com/84ZsPLS6kK

— WAHOO! MANYA! RUPURUDU! (@TommoTheCabbit) July 13, 2022

Form the looks of it the failure of Babylon has driven Platinum to going back and expanding their roots into bigger titles, what the company has in store and what Project GG will be is something we will have to see. The full Famitsu’s interview will take place on tomorrow on the 20th July.

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A remake of the cult classic ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’has been announced by Dragami games.

Publisher Dragami games has announced that it is developing a remake of the cult-classic action game Lollipop Chainsaw.

The remake is slated for a 2023 release however no consoles have been announced for the game to be released on so far.

Yoshimi Yasuda was previously the CEO of the company Kadokawa Games, which published Lollipop Chainsaw. He was also the executive producer on the game.

Yasuda left Kadokawa Games recently, and established a new company ‘Dragami Games’ , and now he has confirmed that remaking Lollipop Chainsaw is one of the company’s first projects.

In a tweet posted online , Yasuda said: “Unfortunately, various factors resulted in things making it so that fans can no longer easily play Lollipop Chainsaw, and it has been some time since players have not been able to access the game on current consoles.”

He also goes on to say:

We, the original development staff on Lollipop Chainsaw, think of the game as very precious to us, and did not want to leave it in limbo, where players who want to play it cannot.

Yasuda purchased the intellectual property rights from Kadokawa games, so they could remake the game. He also contacted  Warner Bros [who were the game publishers outside of Asia] about development, and are being supported by them to remake the game.

Yasuda said that while most of the original staff are working on the remake, some parts of the game will be different from the original ,released just over 10 years ago.

For example, many of the licensed tracks from the original soundtrack will have to be substituted with new original music.

He then talks more about the remake:

“Additionally, since we have access to consoles with higher specifications, we will be taking a more realistic approach to the graphics this time.” This could make the game seem very different, as the originals wacky charm was only exemplified by the arcade look and feel.

“In any case, our goal is to make it easier for gamers who want to play Lollipop Chainsaw to do so. Please look forward to the game’s 2023 release.”

The game was originally released in 2012 for ps3 and Xbox 360, and never saw a re-release or a PC release.

The post A Lollipop chainsaw remake has been announced for 2023 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

With Japanese video game company Square Enix (the company behind the Final Fantasy franchise) finally reaching a deal with Swedish based gaming ‘The Embracer Group’ to sell Western Studios for a reported $300m. Along with this deal includes the IP of many notable and recognisable game series’ such as Tomb Raider which has sold around 88m units (which is more than double popular Square Enix title Kingdom Hearts) along with Dues Ex, Legacy of Kain and Thief.This news which came associated with their published accounts for their last financial year. Square Enix reveals their plans to “establish new studios” while acquiring others. All of this comes in the same month of a ‘big rumour’ of Sony apparently looking to buy Square Enix. https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/03/playstation-buying-square-enix-is-the-big-rumour-admits-insider-16577300/

Jeff Grubb a man who is often on the money when it comes to rumours and information not reported on yet did add that he doesn’t claim to have any insider knowledge of whether this is actually happening.

https://twitter.com/JeffGrubb/status/1521284936795258881?s=20&t=ffaHnOVOmBEMf3BrdsmmPw

For now its just a case of sitting tight and waiting with Final Fantasy XVI announced the title that has essentially kept Square Enix in business. You only need to look at the most recently released financial reports where the heartbreaking decline in non-MMO titles was offset by the most recent release in the Final Fantasy franchise (which is available on the Go2games website if you’re yet to acquire your copy) saving Square Enix from the disappointing releases of the Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy game that didn’t reach its initial sales expectation. Also, coincidentally the developer for that title was Eidos Montreal which was one of the studios picked up in the Embracer deal. Which is probably why the right to Marvel games are now in the hands of Embracer for an eye-watering loss for Square Enix. This loss is reportedly at an overall $200m across both Marvel games release the other title of course being Marvel’s Avengers. That $200m estimate was reported by the Metro  https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-05-13-final-fantasy-14-drives-strong-financial-year-for-square-enix  But it appears as if Square Enix are best positioning itself for acquisition which if bought by Sony would potentially impact returning characters for the Super Smash Bros title with Cloud, Sephiroth, Hero and Sora at risk. This is of course if Sony do in fact purchase Square Enix and with IPs such as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts still owned by Square Enix, who needs Lara Croft?

The post Square Enix and their future plans first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Gaming and filming rights to J.R.R Tolkien projects including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are reportedly up for sale and the rumors suggest that Amazon is leading the race for both.

According to Variety, J.R.R owner Saul Zaentz Co. has hired ACF Investment Bank to orchestrate the sale of its Tolkien holdings. The holdings include; merchandising, live events and theme parks, reports suggest that the cost of the holdings are valued at $2 billion. The Saul Zaentz Co was set up by producer Saul Zaentz who died back in 2017. He was responsible for Oscar-winning films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient.

As stated above, Amazon have an interest in obtaining the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit licenses, Amazon are also set to launch a new Lord of the Rings TV show in September. Currently, Amazon are leading the race to obtain the rights at this time.

It has been put forward that Amazon could have possibly spent over or at least £500 million pounds on the first eight episodes of the upcoming TV adaption; The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Interestingly enough, last April, Amazon Game Studios said it had cancelled a Lord of the Rings MMO it was co-developing with Athlon Games, a US subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Leyou Technologies. The cancellation of that project was due to a dispute between Amazon and Tencent  which acquired Leyou in December 2020.

The post Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film and gaming rights up for sale. first appeared on Get2Gaming.

The Pokemon Company has announced that it will release a Pokemon Trading card game themed around Pokemon Go. The announcement caught everyone by surprise when it was made official the Japanese Twitter account, accompanied by a brief teaser video released. This set in particular will be named “Pokemon Go” and to feature card art taken from Pokemon Go. The set appears to be a mini expansion, as booster packs released in Japan will only contain 6 cards, and will feature Mewtwo as one of the set’s mascots. Nothing else was announced about the set, such as if it will include any mechanics inspired by Pokemon Go. 

The special set release date is June 17th 2022. As of right now, there is no plans on an international date at this current time. The cards will likely either be integrated into a full US set or released through a series of special box products, its important to note that retailer listings has confirmed that the US/International audience would their special set in June, which has not been announced yet. So there’s a possibility that they could have a simultaneous release for both US and Internationally.

For those unaware; Pokemon Go is an 2016 augmented reality (AR) game developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company for iOS and Android devices. A part of the Pokemon franchise, the game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company. It uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle virtual creatures, called Pokemon, which appear as if they are in the player’s real-world location. The game is free-to-play, with options to purchase certain items at certain times in the game.

The new card set continues a collaboration between Pokemon Go and the Pokemon Trading Card Game which started last year with release of Professor Willow themed card, during that time, Niantic has stated that further collaborations were possible, so it does look like we’re seeing it come into fruition now.

The Pokemon Trading card game is set to release its first English set sometime this month. The new expansion will add a new “VSTAR” mechanic to the game, which gives players the chance to use a VSTAR power once per game. The mechanic acts as a combination of sorts for the Pokemon VMAX mechanic currently used in the game, as well as the GX mechanic used in the previous “Sun and Moon” period. The next set for release is will feature Pokemon from Pokemon Legends; Arceus,a new Pokemon mechanic labelled as “Sparkling Pokemon” is also set to be introduced in the game at some point.

The post Pokemon Go is set to get its own Pokemon TCG expansion first appeared on Get2Gaming.

As reported by various news outlets like  Bloomberg and CNET ,the FTC will conduct an investigation of the deal to determine whether the purchase of the publishing giant constitutes unfair competition, according to an anonymous source.

To be clear, it is understood that the investigation will not be carried out by the justice department, who do work with the FTC to handle similar cases. Currently as I am reporting this, Microsoft has declined further comment on the matter when reached out for a statement. Respectively the FTC have also do not comment on the situation at hand either.

The purchase of Activation Blizzard means that Xbox will gain exclusive ownership of some of the biggest game franchises to date like Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero and many, many more . The deal is expected to close in Microsoft’s fiscal year of 2023, however, the deal would only be closed if it meets the closing conditions and completion of the regulatory review.

Competition laws are looking to control market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. On the basis of mergers and acquisitions, regulators can prevent deals that are considered to threaten market competition or suggest remedies such as an obligation to divest part of the new business. Reacting to Microsoft’s plans, DFC Intelligence said the following;

“Will this deal go through? Regulators will take a close look and franchises like Call of Duty may not be exclusive to Xbox platforms because of antitrust concerns.”

David Cole, owner of the DFC had said the following;

The big issue is if COD becomes a Microsoft exclusive. Right now, I don’t think [it will]. For one thing, it would be hard to get it past regulators if they want to lock the competition out.” Talking to GamesIndustry.Biz.

Microsoft still have plans to create “some” games for PlayStation following the purchase of the publishers, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox claims that “it’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform”.

The post The FTC has reportedly stepped in to review Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Xbox Game Pass has reportedly received £4,780 ($6,317.35/AU$8,823) worth of games in 2021, which is an insane amount considering when you think about this year’s subscription Microsoft services only being £49.99/$59.99/AU$80.

The cost of the new Xbox Game Pass titles was calculated by The Loadout which was based off of the value of every title that was added to the pass on console and PC during the course of 2021 on the Microsoft Store.

The loadout also reported what was the best month for Xbox Game Pass in terms of value which turned out to be March 2021, March oversaw several Bethesda Game Studio titles hit the subscription service which included The Evil Within 2 and Rage which collectively came up to around £740 alone (around $964/AU$1,347).

The month that oversaw the least amount of value was back in April 2021, with the games totaling £247.69. When you consider the price of a month’s subscription is only £7.99($9.99/AU$15.95) it still comes up to a sizable fee. To fully experience every game added to the subscription service, you’d need to pay for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (which is currently on sale at this present time). Granted it’s more expensive the standard Game Pass but it still only comes up to £101.70 for the entire year, when you put in perspective the value of the game titles that are added to the Game Pass, it’s a very reasonable trade-off. Xbox Game Pass doesn’t come without it perks, with the Ultimate Game Pass, you gain access to Xbox Cloud Gaming and exclusive in-game rewards.

An Outsider’s Analysis: Xbox Game Pass is fantastic value for money

 I’m not going to lie to you, I have not played Xbox or paid their subscription fee since 2014 but as someone who currently pays for PlayStation and Nintendo services I have to admit, the deal you get for the Xbox Game Pass compared to PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Online is currently second to none, I have to say that there’s no deal out there at this current time that offers what the Game Pass offers in exchange for a reasonable subscription fee. Not to say that each respective companies Game Passes have their own impressive rewards and offers but with the Xbox Game Pass, not only do you have an abundance of game titles to choose from this year alone but Microsoft have also given its subscribers incredible savings that they can enjoy.

The Xbox Game Pass included magnificent game titles like Halo Infinite, Forza Horizons 5, Battlefield 2042 and Psychonauts 2, those titles alone at full price is more than one full year of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and with that being said, I can see why people would opt for the Game Pass in the first place; with that you have the option to buy these AAA titles day one.

Now, here’s the thing; if you’re affected by the fact that the Game Pass only allows you to rent titles, it can be overshadowed by the fact that any game that hits the service can be bought digitally with a 20% discount to go with it, not a bad deal for Xbox users there ay? If that’s not enough, Game Pass subscribers can also enjoy discounts on various DLCs too.

Well, my verdict is if you’re looking for a new console, I’d highly recommend giving some serious thought to an Xbox One, Xbox Series S or X if you don’t own one already. Microsoft has seriously improved its product over the last few years, righting the wrongs that has been pointed out over the years. Xbox right now is widely considered as “Sleeping Giants” but how things are going right now, they won’t be sleeping any longer. Now If you excuse me, going to have to see a certain store about certain Microsoft product I would possibly like to invest my time in.

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The post The value of the titles added to Xbox Game Pass in 2021 reportedly passed £4,780 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

The UK Pokemon Center is open for business!

The Pokemon Center, a vast online market for various Pokemon-themed merchandise that can’t be found in regular stores, has been available for US and physical stores have been placed across Japan. However now the UK have also been included in the chain of online stores featuring the cuddly creatures everyone knows and loves.

The website is still very early in its development – “We’re excited to welcome you with the best possible experience, but this site is still in its early stages, so you may see a few hiccups,” A note on the website states as its first customers load the page.

Go back to the year of 2019, where hours and hours of queues were itching for the look into the beloved pop up Center based in London. However as of now its simply a press of a purchase button and wait for “delivery in 3-6 days”.  – Pokemon Center UK Launch FAQ.

With a range of items between plush toy to clothing and even pins, searching for a Pokemon gift for a loved one this Christmas is easier than ever.

But keep in mind though – the best time would be to “order by 11:00 am GMT December 18 to allow for delivery by December 24,” as stated by the Holiday Shipping FAQ, otherwise your order may not make it in time for the 25th.

The post Soft-Launch for UK Online Pokemon Center first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Nothing comes close to this celebratory event

The day has finally come for Halo fans to get a hold of their copy of Halo Infinite and immerse themselves once more as Master Chief. We have already written loads regarding all the different events and collaborations Xbox has done to celebrate the release, but this one really tops them all.

For a limited time only, Halo fans in the UK will be able to visit London’s Saatchi Gallery to admire a 6-metre wide piece of art specifically commissioned for the first-person shooter series.

Halo at the Saatchi

Xbox commissioned renowned artist Iva Troj to produce a large 6m by 3m painting to display at the Saatchi Gallery for the celebration of Halo Infinite’s launch date.

The painting has been created in a Renaissance art style, the style Troj is most famous for, and depicts Master Chief engaging in battle with his enemies. The painting was so big that Xbox had to build a special cubicle for Trouj and her team to work on it.

The piece of artwork was revealed on the Xbox YouTube channel titled “Masterpiece”, in which a choir stands next to the painting singing the iconic Halo theme.

 

Creating this painting was a labour of love for me. I love the Halo universe and the storytelling in it, and I also know what this work will mean to fans of the series. I wanted to get everything right, from the colours to the characters – I must have drawn and redrawn Master Chief 50 times – and it also had to tell a story. I hope that people see the painting has been created with love and respect for the world of Halo. It was an amazing experience for me. – Iva Trouj

 

It is currently being displayed at the Saatchi Gallery located in Duke of York Square (near Sloane Square Tube Station) for one week only so you better visit quickly! There is also a smaller replica of the piece on display at the Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre in Paris until December 19.

Halo Infinite is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Grab these voucher codes for our website for some discounts! Offer ends December 20th!

Use code FAMILYGAMES – For 5% off Sonic Colours Ultimate (all platforms)

Use code FAMILYGAMES – For 5% off Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Launch Edition (all platforms)

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The post Halo Infinite: Xbox Commissions Art for London’s Saatchi Gallery first appeared on Get2Gaming.

With the buzz about Activision and its growing toxic reputation, a more exhaustive look at the gaming industry’s treatment of women is necessitated.

CEO of PlayStation, Jim Ryan, was also critical of Activision’s lacking response to the situation and their continued defence of CEO Bobby Kotick. However, change starts at home – and PlayStation is now facing accusations of the same problems.

Former IT security analyst, Emma Majo, has filed a lawsuit against Sony in California on Monday. The suit claims that the company is liable for discriminating against female employees and for wrongfully firing Majo after she spoke up about the discrimination within the company.

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Sony has violated the United States’ Equal Pay Act. Female employees are not as well compensated financially and are often passed up for promotion in favour of promoting male employees. Majo even claims to have been ignored by a manager who only ever responded to men. She was continually passed over for promotions, which she claims is a common experience for female employees, and was fired after submitting a gender bias complaint to the company.

Majo notes that Sony claimed her termination was due to the closure of an internal department, but Majo never even worked in that department.

Sony representatives have yet to provide an official statement regarding these allegations.

Majo is also seeking court approval to extend the suit to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all women who have worked for PlayStation in recent years.

Unfortunately, gender bias seems to be an ongoing issue in the gaming industry since its origins. As players and staff, women have often been made to feel less respected than their male counterparts. Having a feminine voice, I’ve endured my fair share of abuse in the online gaming sphere. And where voice chat is not involved, men assume every player is male until stated otherwise. It’s an exclusionary environment, and the problems with the player base are also reflected in the development sphere.

Only last year, Ubisoft was called out for similar issues. According to the organisation ‘ABetterUbisoft’, none of the staff demands for a better and more inclusive environment have been met. Will we ever see real change in the industry, or is it going to be this routine series of waiting for the controversy to blow over without enacting change?

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The post Former PlayStation Employee is suing for Gender Discrimination first appeared on Get2Gaming.