Everything you need to know about Super Nintendo Classic

If you’re looking forward to the SNES Classic (Super Nintendo), this version will be different from the NES Classic released last year. The SNES Classic will release for $79.99 on September 29 with 21 games. It will come with an two controller. If you’re worried that they will run out of consoles again similar to the NES Classic, Nintendo has stated they will release SIGNIFICANTLY more units than the NES classic.

It’ll come with HDMI, two SNES controllers, and a USB charging cable. A unique feature of the console will be the game, Star Fox 2, which was never released. It won’t be available to play unless you beat the original Star Fox on the console. Only the first level is needed to beat to unlock the game.

Below is the list of games that will be on the console.

They will discontinue manufacturing after 2017 so if you’re really eager to get one, you should pre-order it. As of right now, the pre-order is not available in the United States.

Source: Polygon

Arm’s Sales and Giving IP’s a Chance

Nintendo took a big risk with launching a new IP so close to the launch of the Switch. ARMS, a new 3D fighter, by Nintendo sold 100,652 units in Japan on its first week. It nearly outperformed Tekken 7 (Namco Bandai) and Street Fighter V (Capcom) combined for their opening week. Their total was 100,762 units. For new fighting games, these sales numbers are fantastic and its thanks to Nintendo’s unique marketing that many companies don’t replicate.

What Ninten-does

While Nintendo is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, the company’s first party games are relatively quite small in comparison to Playstation and Microsoft. However, they’ve been in the market for so long and their franchises have become so well-known that they can try different marketing styles than them. The best marketing Nintendo did for ARMS was the Nintendo Direct. They are conference shows completely Nintendo focused and two of them this year were about ARMS, the game’s mechanics, characters and story. The Directs bring unique insight and unique focus on one title. Rarely will companies market their new IP with such dedication.

Selling Points

Of course, other selling points of ARMS is the variety of combinations with the arms, the ease of understanding the controls, the different game modes, and ARMS being a Nintendo title. I personally believe if more companies had more dedicated trailers or small direct conferences for a new IP, they’ll see greater success.

What do you think helps make new IP’s popular enough to be successful? ARMS is currently out for the Nintendo Switch.

Sources:

Siliconera

PVPlive

How Important is Art in Gaming?

One of the most surprising titles that was announced at E3 was Dragon Ball Z Fighter. Created by Arc-System Games with art by Akira Toriyama. Graphically, it is beautiful and the effects from fights, energy blasts, and speedy combat looks visually amazing.

When in comparison to Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, it’s hard to believe these fighting games are being released on modern consoles. MvCi (Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite) looks awful. The character models are clearly recycled from Marvel vs Capcom 3 but their faces look horrendous.

Even the models from MvC3 look better in comparison and that was released for the last generation consoles. Interest for MvCi has definitely dropped but Capcom has generally been consistent with releasing solid fighting game titles such as Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and MvC. From players’ feedback at E3, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite seems slower but still fun. Source: Maxillian Dude

Another game had recent flack as well. Nidhogg 2‘s new design from its prequel was relatively simple. Two solid color, no faces, blood(?) and fairly simple design. However, its sequel looks like a completely different game. Eyes, facial features, and even background design has been added. The game looks even more violent than before. The initial reaction was dismay from fans. However, fans have soften on their intial feelings after seeing the game contains the same mechanics with more weapons in the game.

For me, art is a huge factor in games. If it doesn’t look appealing than I won’t feel as obligated to buy the game. Art dictates the gameplay feel and style. Great examples are the Devil May Cry series. The characters are highly stylish in comparison to Ryse: Son of Rome. I had no interest in Ryse because it looked generic regardless of the gameplay features. How important is art or style to you? Does it affect your purchase? Or do you consider other factors more important?

Hitman Developers are now independent!

This is my 11th article. If you have been following me since the beginning, thank you for taking the time to read and check out my Video Game News Blog. You may remember my first article about Io-Interactive potentially being sold off by Square-Enix. Link

Io-Interactive will be an independent studio which means they will own the rights to the Hitman series. They came to an agreement with a manager buyout with Square-Enix. A manager buyout is a transaction where a company’s management team purchases the assets and operations of the business they manage. Although there were more DLC content scheduled for June for the Hitman (2016), multiple lay-offs, abandonment of the episodic style of story, and the structure change may delay the release.

However, this also means the series has not died and they’ll be allowed to work on any of their titles as they wish. Io-Interactive may resort to Kickstarter in the future for fundings for titles in the future as Square-Enix will no longer be supporting their releases. If you are a fan of Io-Interactive games, be on the lookout for future opportunities to support them.

Here is the statement from Io-Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak:

In its 19 years of history, Io-Interactive has brought you original and exciting entertainment; from Mini Ninjas and Freedom Fighters to gaming’s most notorious criminals Kane & Lynch and of course our beloved Agent 47. With our latest game, we have not only transformed Hitman, but also moved our entire studio into the AAA digital era. Our live product has disrupted the video game business and has received recognition and praise from press, community and our fans.
There are many tales of hope, dreams, hardship and joy within these walls. We have never strived for the expected or predictable. Instead, we are always in pursuit for what feels original and real. Our passion and determination has never been greater and so that is why we have decided it is not the time to stop as we have many more exciting and original tales to tell.
Therefore I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP.
This is a watershed moment for IOI. As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP – we’re about to forge our own future and it’s incredibly exciting. We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community.
I would like to say a big and sincere thank you to all of our players, community, friends in the media and everyone else connected to the studio for the messages of support that we have received in the last few weeks. I would also like to thank Square Enix; it has been a great family to be a part of and we are proud of what we have achieved together in the last eight years. IOI started as an independent studio and we will now return to those roots with an extremely passionate and talented team.
We are counting on the continued support of all our players; simply by having fun with everything we’ve released so far for HITMAN – and we want to encourage more of you to try our game. We have more details to come on our plans for that next week.
Thank you.
Hakan,
Io-Independent

Sources:

Eurogamer.net

DLC Content Delay

What Ninten-does

Selling Points

Sources:

Therefore I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP.

We are counting on the continued support of all our players; simply by having fun with everything we’ve released so far for HITMAN – and we want to encourage more of you to try our game. We have more details to come on our plans for that next week.

Thank you.

Hakan,

Io-Independent