Morning DLC: Video Game News & Rumors 2/4/2016
"Today, more than 80 types of amiibo have been released in Japan with over 25 amiibo-compatible games. Approximately 31 million units of figure-type amiibo have shipped to date worldwide as of the end of third quarter of this fiscal year.…This slide shows top selling amiibo characters sold in Japan, US and Europe last year."
Not only has the success of the amiibo been so stark in constrast to that of the Nintendo Wii U, it’s a pretty intriguing statement about what the fans want out of Nintendo. In the US, all but one of the Top 10 amiibos in terms of sales belong to the Super Smash Bros. series, while there is only one Smash Bros. amiibo in the Top 10 in Japan. The very best selling in that region are all belonging to the Splatoon series, which is more than indicative of both toys and video game franchise viability for that series going forward into the NX.
"The wait is over! On February 10, we’ll premiere the first of our YouTube Red Originals. In addition to getting all of YouTube uninterrupted and a premium YouTube Music experience, a YouTube Red membership will now give you exclusive access to new original series and movies from some of our top creators, beginning with these first [two gaming-related properties]:Lazer Team: In this feature-length action-comedy from Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen Films, four small-town losers stumble upon an alien ship carrying a mysterious cargo, leading to a battle to save Earth from an all-powerful enemy.Scare PewDiePie: In this reality-adventure series from the creator and executive producers of “The Walking Dead” at Skybound Entertainment and Maker Studios, experience thrills, chills and laughter as PewDiePie encounters terrifying situations inspired by his favorite video games."
I’ve looked at the trailers for both the Rooster Teeth film and the PewDiePie series, and both require a very hard pass. The acting, budget, production quality and overall entertainment value is so low that I have to wonder what exactly Youtube is thinking. The PewDiePie series will be successful because, well, he is just shy of 42 million subscribers. I’m fairly certain that Rooster Teeth, however, won’t bring enough cache to their project to prevent a crash and burn, unless their film is as truly low budget as it looks.
"Here’s some great news for pad players out there: the Evolution Championship Series staff has made the decision to legalize DualShock 4 usage at this year’s event. Though normally banned due to their Bluetooth capabilities, folks who rely on these devices to compete will now be able to utilize their controller of choice.But that doesn’t mean there won’t be regulations in place to ensure they don’t interfere with the competition. It will be every DualShock 4 users’ responsibility to make sure their controller is no longer paired with the console after their match. Anyone who doesn’t risks automatically disqualified from the tournament."
While I think that anything that makes players comfortable in playing their specific games is a noble cause, the disconnect and reconnection of DS4’s, because of their Bluetooth requirement, will certainly extend the length of dead time during the competition. Additionally, it would be quite unfortunate if someone were to be DQ’d for a simple slip up in such a format. Oh well; fighting game tournaments are for the bold.