For some time it has been widely speculated that Nintendo would release a new Switch model at a cheaper price in an effort to boost sales and increase the console’s install base. However, a new rumor suggests that the Nintendo Switch console family will instead grow to include two new models, one for the more casual gamer and one for the hardcore. Wall Street Journal follows up on previous reporting to say that the Nintendo Switch will expand to include a “Pro” style console and a cheaper model meant to replace the 3DS. The Nintendo Switch Pro will not be as powerful as the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, but it will offer a premium, enhanced experience. Moreover, the Nintendo Switch Premium is said to sport a design that will “surprise” gamers, which suggests that is more than just a 4K Nintendo Switch. Perhaps the quality of the screen is higher or its design is markedly different from the Nintendo Switch we know currently – anything is possible.For the … [Read more...] about Cheaper Nintendo Switch and ‘Premium’ Model Releasing This Year
Apex Legends Could Include Challenges In The Future? Here’s Why We Think So
Fans of Apex Legends are finally getting to see what EA and Respawn Entertainment have released in the season one battle pass. The Apex Legends pass includes several balancing changes and other fixes. One major highlight of the pass is the addition of a new character, Octane. Apex Legends finally gets Octane added after all the leaks and whatnot. Respawn has taken the strategy to follow in the recent certain looter-shooters and Battle Royale games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4‘s Blackout by focusing on a strictly experience-based system. The development team didn’t want to inundate players with a long list of challenges to complete so early on in the game’s lifespan Lead Product Manager Lee Horn explained the “guiding principles behind the Apex Legends Season one Battle Pass” in a post on EA’s website. Season 1 is about keeping it focused and allowing players to earn a lot of rewards at a great value (you even … [Read more...] about Apex Legends Could Include Challenges In The Future? Here’s Why We Think So
Death Stranding Development Reaches Key Time, Kojima Playing It Daily
Death Stranding, the mysterious game by Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has finally entered “critical phase” in development. The creator revealed this information in a recent Tweet and confirmed that the game has not reached its debugging phase. However, Kojima himself is testing Death Stranding daily by playing it. The team at Kojima Productions is still not done as they have yet to combine all of the elements they have created to form Death Stranding. Kojima is playing the game daily to test what features work best for the final build. Here’s the translated version of his Tweet by Aki Saito, head of marketing and communications at Kojima Productions. Death Stranding is not yet in the debugging stage, but is currently having all the game elements and tools from different development systems combined into the game. It’s a process that involves connecting the parts, adding feeling, looking over the production, the specifications, looking out for trouble, taking … [Read more...] about Death Stranding Development Reaches Key Time, Kojima Playing It Daily
How Resident Evil 2 exposes the horror of our bodies
"The idea that you carry the seeds of your own destruction around with you, always, and that they can erupt at any time, is... scary. Because there is no defense against it; there is no escape from it" - David Cronenberg. THIS FEATURE AND THE IMAGES IN IT ARE NOT SAFE FOR WORK. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. How many swipes or bites can your avatar sustain before its body is devoured and you fade to a death screen? Resident Evil has always involved physical maintenance: locked doors and blocked passages are overcome by shifting keys from room to inventory to item-box, and back again. But it's also a game of bodily preservation, as well as the destruction this necessitates. Why waste time with a handgun plinking away at a zombie's noggin when you can simply slip by? It can even be advantageous to take a hit. An attack might drop your obscure electrocardiography signal from "fine" to "danger", but there's always time to hit the menu button in panic and recover your health with a delicious … [Read more...] about How Resident Evil 2 exposes the horror of our bodies
Have You Played… World Cup 98?
My first love It’s one of my most distinct early memories. I was about four or five years old, watching my dad play World Cup 98 on our big bulky cream-white brick we called a computer monitor back then. I was absolutely enraptured, and asked if I could play. It was the first time I’d played a “real” (read: non-educational) game on the PC. He finished up his match, and set up a game on the lowest difficulty setting. I believe I was Brazil, playing against China P.R. – the strongest team against the weakest team, according to the game’s rankings. I played, I lost, I loved every moment of it. And now, nearly two decades later, my PC gaming journey has gone full-circle with me writing about it on RPS. It sounds very profound and poignant when I describe it that way, doesn’t it? The reality was a little more… yes, “bloodthirsty” is the word. See, I realised quite quickly that the cluster of black and white pixels the game tried … [Read more...] about Have You Played… World Cup 98?