video games – Page 18 – The Gaming News Corner

PlayStation Classic Announced and Why It Will Fail

It’s going to be the 25th anniversary of the PlayStation 1. Released back on December 3rd, 1994, it was the first home console to sell over 100 million units. It had incredibly popular games, especially JRPGs and pushed the boundary for disc gaming. Following Nintendo’s and NeoGeo’s shoe, PlayStation is releasing their Classic System. It will have 20 games including Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, and Wild Arms.

It will release in the US and Canada for $99.99 USD (MSRP) / $129.99 CAN (MSRP) on December 3, 2018. It’ll have two controllers and everything below.

Why it will Fail

Unlike Nintendo, PlayStation releases their games for the PlayStation Store. Many of their past games can be purchased while Nintendo seems to shut down their online store with every new main console generation. If you can already acquire these games, why would you want to buy another console? Final Fantasy VII has an up-rezed version for PlayStation 4 and PC which makes only the original a nostalgic factor (Which Sony is aiming to capitalize on)

Another reason it may fail is the controller. While the original PS1 had no dual sticks, the addition was welcomed for the next controller. The PlayStation D-pad isn’t the best and having one option is disappointing. Unless Sony and PlayStation plan to release PlayStation Classic with games that don’t use the dual sticks, I can see players annoyed.

Lastly, the cost is relatively high. $100 for a classic seems absurdly high. The SNES and NES classic are cheaper. The other classics have rarer games for a cheaper price which makes the PlayStation Classic less appealing.

Are you buying a PlayStation Classic?

Source:

PlayStation

Potential Lawsuit against EA for Loot Boxes

If there is any company that digs themselves into horrible PR messes, it has to be Electronic Arts. Following the disaster regarding the loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront 2, EA promised fans they would cut back on loot boxes for future games at E3 this summer. But apparently, they didn’t state they would remove loot boxes from their current games.

Belgium developed a law that bans “video game gambling for profit” which includes loot boxes. Companies such as Blizzard and 2K have removed their loot boxes from their games earlier this year but EA’s FIFA games still have card packs. Card packs give players the chance to obtain certain players to develop their “Ultimate Team.” EA’s CFO, Andrew Wilson stated that the loot boxes in FIFA are not a form of gambling.

“Firstly because players always receive a specified number of items in each pack, and secondly we don’t provide or authorize any way to cash out or sell items or virtual currency for real money..We’re working with all the industry associations globally and with regulators in various jurisdictions and territories, [and] have established that programs like FIFA Ultimate Team are not gambling,” said Wilson (Ars Technica)

Article intro image — Example of FIFA Card Pack

EA recently announced the odds of earning certain cards in July but some fan spent over $10,000 on developing his ultimate FIFA team. EA could potentially be sued by the Belgian government. There are penalties of up to €800,000 and five years in prison, which can be doubled if “minors are involved.” Considering that FIFA is rated E for everyone, the lawsuit could be a major loss in EA’s massive wallet. Whether Belgium will sue remains to be seen.

Sources:

Ars Technica

Rock Paper Shotgun – EA Odds

Eurogamer

Kingdom Hearts VR announced for the Holiday Seasons

Sony and Square Enix will release a VR Kingdom Hearts experience for free this Holiday season. Called Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience, players can relive moments and music from the series for 10 minutes. Based on screenshots, you can fight Heartless and rewatch the cutscenes from all of the Kingdom Hearts games. Hopefully, this isn’t canon in the series. The game will only be available on the PlayStation Store.

Sources:

PlayStation blog

Kingdom Hearts Insider

Riot NA LCS Finals Email Disaster

Riot continues to dig themselves in a deeper hole. This summer, there were several reports of sexism against women and sexual misconducts at the HQ. Riot promised to do a better job at representing their female employees and started with a female only event at PAX West. That led to more controversy as people on the League of Legend subreddit complained that Riot is sexist and preventing males from seeing Riot’s panels. Two Riot employees stated on Twitter that the subreddit is “filled with manbabies.” Systems designer Daniel Klein and communications associate Mattias Lehman—both outspoken advocates for gender diversity at Riot were fired after their statements on the community (Kotaku). Now Riot just released several people’s emails…including me.

September 8-9th is the NA LCS Finals in Oakland Oracle Arena. Players who purchased the balcony seats for the event received an email stating that they’ll be relocated.

Over 200 people were CC instead of BCC-like most massive email launches. Blind Carbon Copy protects the email privacy. It also prevents people from REPLY ALL all recipients and prevents spam from being spread.

While Riot and the NA Events team promises to offer the affected compensation, it is still undetermined. We received better seats for the tournament closer to the stage but I still feel the effects of people sending memes and email responses.

Sources:

Kotaku

Riot’s Apology