The NPD Group has released its report for September 2019, revealing which games and consoles sold the best during the month in the United States. The report also provides an update on the overall health of the gaming industry–and September 2019 was harsh.
All categories–hardware, software, accessories, and game cards–experienced declines in sales. In total, spending across all sectors reached $1.278 billion, which is down eight percent year-over-year. On a year-to-date basis, total spending in all categories fell six percent to $8.3 billion. Drop-offs on hardware spending drove the decline, the NPD said.
This is expected given that the PS4 and Xbox One are in the end-stages of their lifecycles, with next-generation consoles from both Sony and Microsoft expected in Holiday 2020.
Moving to games specifically, NBA 2K20 was September’s best-selling title in the US. Its first-month sales were the highest for any sports game in history; the previous record-holder was NBA 2K19. Again, this list covers only the United States, where FIFA–a chart-topper in Europe and other parts of the world–is not as popular.
Also notable for the NBA 2K series is that, with September’s sales accounted for, the NBA 2K franchise passes Guitar Hero to become the sixth-biggest gaming franchise of all time in the US based on dollar sales.
Coming in at No. 17 for September was the new Plants vs. Zombies game, Battle for Neighborville. It doesn’t officially release until October 18, but players who buy the Founder’s Pack can get in now, which explains why a game that hasn’t officially released landing on the charts.
Total dollar sales on video games in the US during September fell four percent to $732 million. The Xbox One and Nintendo Switch saw growth in games sales during September, but PS4 game sales slid. That drop-off was to be expected, given Sony’s blockbuster hit Spider-Man launched in September 2018.
Moving to hardware, the Switch was the best-selling console of September–it’s been on top now for months. It is also the best-selling console of 2019 overall.
Despite the strong Switch sales, total spending on consoles fell 22 percent to $240 million. The Switch was the only console to post sales gains in September and for the entire year so far in 2019.
Spending on accessories and game cards, meanwhile, dropped seven percent to $306 million.
The industry still has time to turn things around in 2019, as a number of big new releases are coming up, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (October 25) and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (November 15). There is also the Black Friday shopping bonanza that leads into the holiday shopping season where games should fly off shelves and help improve the fortunes of the industry.
Pokemon Go‘s Halloween 2019 celebration is now underway. Not only does the event bring costume-wearing starter Pokemon and Shiny Yamask to the game, a new Legendary has also made its debut: Darkrai. As usual, however, it won’t be around for very long.
Darkrai will appear in five-star Raid Battles until the end of the Halloween event, on November 1, so you’ll have until then to add one to your collection. Before you can catch one, however, you’ll need to defeat it in battle. Darkrai is a pure Dark-type, which means it has very few weaknesses. Your best bet when challenging it will be to bring along Fighting, Bug, and Fairy Pokemon such as Machamp, Heracross, Scizor, and Gardevoir.
Darkrai isn’t the only special Pokemon you can encounter right now. Costume-wearing versions of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle are also available in lower-tier Raids, while Pikachu wearing a Mimikyu costume can be found in the wild. As previously mentioned, you also now have a chance to encounter Shiny Yamask, and Ghost and Dark Pokemon like Gastly and Murkrow will spawn more frequently throughout the event.
Niantic has a number of other events lined up for Pokemon Go soon. Once the Halloween festivities end, the Regi trio–Regirock, Regice, and Registeel–will return to Raids until November 4, and this time you’ll have a chance to encounter their Shiny forms. Shortly after that, Regigigas will debut in EX Raids, but you’ll be able to catch it early through a Special Research story event called “A Colossal Discovery”–but you’ll need to buy a virtual ticket to participate in that event.
Pokemon Go’s November Community Day, meanwhile, is set for November 16–the day after Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch. The featured Pokemon this month will be Chimchar, the Fire-type starter from Diamond and Pearl. You’ll have your first chance to catch a Shiny Chimchar during the event, and eggs will hatch at a quarter of the distance they normally require.
Capcom has many titles under its umbrella, including well-known and active franchises like Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and many more. Capcom has now said it wants to revive some of its dormant classics too.
In a recent investor report, company president and COO, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, spoke about Capcom’s plans for the future. Though he did not detail anything specific, Tsujimoto seems adamant about bringing back the classics.
“For the time being, while we are placing a priority on maximizing the revenue from current core IP, we are also actively looking to utilize dormant IP,” Tsujimoto said. “Further, as the creation of new IP is indispensable in generating medium- to long-term growth, we are working to develop new brands as well.”
Tsujimoto’s intentions seem firmly placed in the utilization of “dormant IP,” but it’s also worth noting that Tsujimoto notes the company is actively seeking ways to “develop new brands.” This could mean Capcom is working on all-new franchises to introduce to its fanbase, but Tsujimoto did not clarify this statement.
Tsujimoto also talked about microtransactions and the monetization models for Capcom’s titles, confirming that the company frequently “refrains” from implementing gacha mechanics in its mobile games.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie had a successful opening weekend, averaging over 6.5 million viewers over its first three days of release on Netflix.
As reported by THR, Nielsen revealed that El Camino “had an average minute audience — the closest thing to Nielsen’s linear TV ratings for streaming shows — of 6.54 million over its first three days of release.” Nearly 40% of those viewers watched El Camino on the day of its release, while Nielsen also confirmed that “8.2 million people watched at least a few minutes of the film.”
THR points out that “Netflix contends that Nielsen measurements of its programming aren’t accurate because they count TV viewership only and don’t include viewing on other devices. Nielsen also only measures U.S. audiences; the limited data Netflix has released for its shows and films are worldwide figures.”
Amazon’s The Boys has cast Ratatouille’s Patton Oswalt in a “#SecretRole” for its second season.
The Boys creator Eric Kripke took to Twitter to reveal the news that Oswalt would be joining the cast of The Boys for at least its second season, saying “Thank you @pattonoswalt, that was AMAZING! #TheBoysTV #Season2 #SecretRole”
While Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will see players traveling the galaxy as Cal Kestis, it will not feature fast travel as Respawn Entertainment wants players to “explore and traverse (and re-traverse) the different planets.”
During a hands-on event featuring the first few hours of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, USgamer.com noticed that fast travel was not an option while exploring one of the early planets, Zeffo. Instead, players must traverse back to their ship, the Mantis, before leaving and flying back out into space.
We reached out to EA for a comment on this, and they responded by saying “while we don’t have fast travel in the game, we do want players to explore and traverse (and re-traverse) the different planets, which players can do from the Mantis. We also wanted each planet’s explorable areas to feel interconnected through discoverable shortcuts back to key areas. No matter how deep you got into a planet, you can traverse back to where you want to go with ease or through a little planning on your map.”
The Brazil Game Show, which is one of the world’s largest video game conventions, is launching an investigation into an incident where a cosplayer was reportedly attacked at the event.
The event’s organisersreleased a statementconfirming they have suspended the third-party security firm that was allegedly responsible for the attack on cosplayer Michael Giordano Martins Pereira.
The statement is posted in Portuguese, and GameSpot Brasil told us that Brazil Game Show is confirmed to be investigating the situation. BGS organisers are now apparently examining the situation to determine a fair decision.
Pereira, who was dressed as the Joker from the Batman universe, claims to have been tortured by security at the show. Online reports state that Pereira got into a scuffle with security upon trying to re-enter the venue. Graphic images circulating on social media document the alleged abuse.
Pereira is working with lawyer Daniela Conti in this matter.
The 2019 Brazil Game Show welcomed a number of big names from the international game development scene, including Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, Grand Theft Auto V actor Steven Ogg, and Doom designer John Romero. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and Warner Bros. are among the companies that exhibited at the event.
The producers of the Resident Evil movie franchise are asking the courts to throw out a lawsuit from the stunt performer who sustained injuries so bad on the set of the latest movie that she needed to have one of her arms amputated. The legal team for director Paul W.S. Anderson and producing partner Jeremy Bolt filed documents asking for Olivia Jackson’s lawsuit to be dismissed.
Jackson’s “American lawyers are suing the wrong people in the wrong place,” the legal team for Anderson and Bolt said in its request for dismissal. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in August this year; Jackson is asking for unspecified damages to help pay for her medical bills, which are ongoing. Jackson suffered serious injuries on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter when performing a motorcycle stunt that went wrong. It was so bad that doctors amputated her left arm above the elbow.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson’s lawsuit claims that “Anderson and Bolt created an unsafe working environment on the set of the last installment of the popular movie franchise, and also failed to procure adequate insurance to cover the injuries that resulted from her crash.” Anderson and Bolt, meanwhile, claim that because Jackson was reportedly hired for The Final Chapter by an “unrelated” company based in South Africa, they are not responsible for paying damages.
The lawyers for the director and producer also state that this company, Davis Films, tried to get Jackson a $3.2 million liability policy from a South African insurance company called Hollard Insurance. However, Hollard reportedly would not pay Jackson’s claim because the terms apparently stated that the policy does not cover “all cast and crew.”
Davis did, however, pay $248,265 to Jackson to help her cover her medical expenses, according to the suit. Anderson and Bolt’s lawyers say Jackson’s attempt to resurface the issue in California court is a “publicity stunt masquerading as a lawsuit.”
Jackson also did stuntwork for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Performing a motorcycle stunt for Resident Evil actress Milla Jovovich in The Final Chapter, Jackson smashed into a camera after it failed to lift in time, according to her lawsuit. Jackson suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for 17 days before waking up to realize the extent of her career-ending injuries.
October 2015, Jackson released a Facebook post that detailed the extent of her injuries, which included “brain bleed[ing], brain swelling, severed main artery in the neck, crushed and degloved face, several broken ribs, paralyzed arm, shattered scapula, broken clavicle, broken humerus, broken radius and ulna, with an open wound and a 7.5 piece of bone missing, [and an] amputated thumb.” In an interview she stated: “My facial scarring is horrible and I wish I had my old face. But I’m truly grateful to be alive.”
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was released in January 2017, and was the most successful movie in the series to date, making $312.2 million worldwide. In total the series, which kicked off in 2002, has made more than $1.2 billion worldwide.
It took a bit of experimentation, but I found my ideal way to play Overwatch on Switch: hunched over the console, undocked and propped up by its kickstand, using a Pro Controller. It’s a peculiar setup that feels as awkward as it sounds, but there’s a method to my madness.
The concessions made to get Blizzard’s shooter on Nintendo’s modestly powered hardware are immediately evident. There’s no denying that–unsurprisingly–it doesn’t look or perform as well as its counterparts on other platforms. But while the technical performance on Switch may falter, Overwatch’s core design still shines… under the right circumstances.
Overwatch on Switch bears the familiar hallmarks of a game ported from decidedly beefier platforms onto the less powerful Switch. When docked, the visual blemishes are noticeable, ranging from reduced details in the environment and character models to low-resolution textures and an abundance of jagged edges. Displayed on large screens, the vibrancy of Overwatch’s world and the charm of its characters are diminished.
The game also frequently reminds you that compromises have been made. Often it takes a good few seconds for character models to load in, so you’ll spend the start of each match looking at orbs floating around the spawn room and darting out into the field of battle. The orbs linger just long enough to be noticeable before the models pop in. In more intense clashes, the effects tied to special abilities and weapons become lost in each other. For those not already intimately familiar with the visual language of Overwatch, and thus capable of picking out what’s important in heated moments, that loss of clarity could be frustrating.
These big team battles are usually decisive ones, with their outcomes dictating whether your team or the enemy team goes on to victory. Unfortunately, it’s also here where the dips in performance are most likely to occur. The game runs at 30 frames per second but, under the strain of a chaotic skirmish, that number is liable to drop. Again, in the midst of a crucial push, this can be distracting enough to let victory slip away.
In handheld mode, Overwatch Switch moves a step closer to the experience offered by its counterparts, though it’s a small step. Crammed onto the smaller screen, it goes from just-rolled-out-of-bed to buttoned-up, tucked in, and straightened out. Visual details pop more, the iconic cast of heroes and villains regain some of their panache, and what is there becomes more noticeable than what isn’t. The performance hitches occur much less frequently and those that did happen were more of a flick of the ear than a push of the shoulder. It’s for this reason that I opted for handheld over docked, with my face inches away from the Switch’s screen.
With the Switch in my hands I faced new problems, however. Although Overwatch may be among the most approachable multiplayer shooters on the market, it’s still demanding. Whether it’s Support characters such as Mercy or Ana, Tanks like Reinhardt or Zarya, or DPS like Reaper or Soldier, playing well requires quick fingers and thumbs as much as it does quick minds. After a short play session, holding the Switch in my hands became a hindrance. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the thin profile of the device and its hard edges started to press into my palms enough to become a nuisance. The stiff and clicky face buttons felt harsh on my thumbs, and, similarly, the lack of travel on the shoulder buttons sapped all satisfaction from pulling a virtual trigger. The diminutive analog sticks became constrictive, making the act of moving my fingers and thumbs to where they needed to be feel like playing thumb war with the Switch.
I tried using the gyroscope to aim, as well as Joy-Cons for a laser pointer-like control style, but felt they were more of a novelty than a viable way for me to play, owing to the jittery movement and occasional bouts of reticle drift. The former, however, definitely feels like it could be beneficial to someone that sinks in the time to tweaking the settings and finding the sweet spot, then practicing. In conjunction with the more drastic movements from the analog sticks, a gyroscopically-inclined person could fine-tune their aim for precision shots. That person is very much not me, though; I ended up using it primarily to spin around in an office chair in the hopes that my character looked like an out-of-control Beyblade.
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Pick up a Pro Controller, though, and playing Overwatch Switch feels natural and comfortable. The controller is ergonomically designed and, as a result, far better suited for fingers and thumbs to dance around as you carefully aim gunfire, launch Ultimate abilities, and frantically reposition your character. And that’s why I found myself hunched over a Switch placed precariously on a table with a Pro Controller in hand.
That’s also when Overwatch on Switch felt most like Overwatch that’s available everywhere else. To be clear, I would not and could not recommend it if the PS4, Xbox One, or PC versions are available to you, but I also can’t deny that I had fun playing. Overwatch remains a thrilling game and, even on the small screen, with bells and whistles binned, I gleefully hooked a Pharah out of the sky as Roadhog, inched forward in my seat as my team fought for that final push of the payload, and held my breath as I desperately tried to take out a Mercy before she could resurrect that annoying Reaper that had been victimizing me the whole game. The fundamental design of Overwatch is so strong that, even in its most compromised form, it still offers a compelling gameplay experience.
The question, however, is if you really need to have it on Switch. If this is your first and only way to play Overwatch, I can’t begrudge you for doing so. It’s one of my favorite games of all time and much of what I love can still rise to the surface when playing on Switch. If you have the ability to play Overwatch on any other platform, however, you should. Those worlds could always use more heroes.