Author: Trafficblast

How did the video game industry fare in August? The NPD Group has released its report for August 2018 US sales, and starting with games, it was EA’s Madden NFL 19 that sold the best during the month. That is no surprise at all, as EA’s Madden series has topped the sales charts for every August dating back to 2000 with the exception of 2011 and 2012 when the new instalments were released in NPD’s September tracking period.

A specific unit sales figure was not disclosed for Madden NFL 19, but the NPD Group reported that its launch-month sales were the highest since Madden NFL 13. While the NPD Group does track some digital game sales now, it does so on a publisher by publisher basis, and EA is among the companies that does not share this information. That’s notable because the industry is trending towards digital distribution, so Madden NFL 19’s chart-topping achievement is all the more impressive.

Rounding out the top five best-sellers in the US during August 2018 included Monster Hunter: World, Rainbow Six Siege, Grand Theft Auto V, and Mario Kart 8. GTA V’s performance is especially notable considering the game launched all the way back in 2013. It is now the fifth best-selling game of 2018, while the game has now been in NPD’s top-seller charts for 59 of the game’s 60 months on the market. GTA V is the highest-selling game in the history of NPD tracking.

Also notable for August 2018 was the 2009 game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 charting at No. 8. The game was added to the Xbox One backwards compatibility catalog at the end of August, and its physical sales on Xbox 360 helped it substantially. In July 2018, Modern Warfare 2 was the 321st best-selling game of that month.

Total video game software spending in the US during August 2018 amounted to $330 million, which is up 16 percent year-over-year.

On the hardware side, spending rose 28 percent to $214 million. The PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and the NES Classic all saw sales rises compared to last year. Plug-and-play systems like the NES Classic performed particularly well, with sales of such consoles growing by a factor of 21x compared to last year; year to date, dollar sales of plug-and-play consoles jumped 400 percent year to date. The NES Classic leads the way in terms of total units sold in 2018, while the SNES Classic, which is more expensive, has driven the most dollar sales.

Across hardware and software, total video game spending reached $796 million, which is up 26 percent year over year. The biggest months of the year for hardware and game sales are coming up, with many major new releases coming in September, October, November, and December.

August 2018 Top 20 All-Platforms

*No digital sales

1. Madden NFL 19*
2. Monster Hunter: World
3. Rainbow Six Siege
4. GTA V
5. Mario Kart 8
6. Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker
7. God of War
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
10. Super Mario Odyssey*
11. Minecraft*
12. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
13. Far Cry 5
14. Monster Hunter: Generations Ultimate
15. Call of Duty: WWII
16. Mario Tennis Aces*
17. Overwatch*
18. Lego The Incredibles
19. We Happy Few*
20. The Crew 2

Xbox One

1. Madden NFL 19
2. Rainbow Six Siege
3. GTA V
4. PUBG
5. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
6. Overwacth
7. Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker
8. Far Cry 5
9. Call of Duty: WWII
10. Star Wars: Battlefront II

PlayStation 4

1. Madden NFL 19
2. God of War
3. Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker
4. GTA V
5. Rainbow Six Siege
6. Horizon: Zero Dawn
7. Detroit: Become Human
8. Far Cry 5
9. MLB The Show 18
10. We Happy Few

Nintendo Switch

No digital sales

1. Mario Kart 8
2. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
3. Super Mario Odyssey
4. Monster Hunter: Generations Ultimate
5. Mario Tennis Aces
6. Octopath Traveler
7. Splatoon 2
8. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
10. Minecraft

3DS

No digital sales

1. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
2. Warioware: Gold
3. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
4. Mario Kart 7
5. Super Smash Bros.
6. Super Mario 3D Land
7. Minecraft
8. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
9. Super Mario Maker
10. Mario Party: The Top 100

Camilla Luddington, the actress who portrays Lara Croft in Crystal Dynamics’ rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy, has revealed that her time as the iconic video game heroine might be coming to an end. Luddington has provided both the motion capture and the voice of Lara in 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Luddington said, “When I started, I always knew that it was going to be a trilogy, so that’s how I thought of it. So I did leave thinking [Shadow of the Tomb Raider] could possibly be my last journey with Lara. But who knows!”

Luddington describes Shadow of the Tomb Raider as her favorite game in the trilogy, commenting on how her third time as Lara pushed her more emotionally and physically than the previous two games. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of Lara’s darkest chapters to date, forcing the troubled survivor through the final gauntlet that transforms her into a legendary hero.

Because of the new direction that Crystal Dynamics has taken the franchise, fans have asked for Luddington to consider portraying Lara in a live action role, either in a series or a movie. When asked if she’d ever be Lara Croft on the small or big screen, Luddington said, “I would love to. I get asked about the Alicia Vikander movie, and I joke that I would have made a very pregnant and slow Lara Croft. But yeah, I think I would love to. But I also got the chance to be a part of [these games] and this is so iconic to me that I feel like I’ve done my part too.”

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is currently available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. We’ve compiled nine tips you should know before starting, and suggest you try playing the game on its hard difficulty your first time through for the best experience.

Marvel fans had much to celebrate today, with the debut of the first trailer for the upcoming Captain Marvel and a brand-new poster. With so much happening in the trailer, it’s understandable if you didn’t spend long looking at the poster. But eagle-eyed fans might have spotted something to the left of the image hidden in the shadows. Is that a cat?

The feline infiltrator was spotted by io9’s Jill Pantozzi, who adjusted the brightness of the poster image to reveal the back-end of what seems to be a cat, disappearing off the side of the image. You can check out the original tweet here, and look at a highlighted version below.

Of course, there would need to be a reason for a cat to appear on the poster, and there’s every suggestion that this is in fact Chewie, Captain Marvel’s faithful pet. Chewie was first introduced in Marvel comic books in 2006 when Carol Danvers left Earth to go exploring the galaxy, and she gave Chewie that name because she reminded her of Chewbacca from Star Wars.

During a subsequent encounter with the Guardians of the Galaxy, it was revealed that Chewie isn’t in fact a cat at all, but an alien species known as a Flerken. Flerkens are dangerous animals with scary inter-dimensional powers, leading Rocket Racoon to attempt to kill Chewie. Luckily she escaped, but not before laying 117 eggs which soon hatched into an ridiculously large brood. How much of Chewie’s powers we’ll see in the movie remains to be seen, but it’s a great touch to include her on the poster.

Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 6, 2019. Its cast includes Brie Larson as Carol Danvers and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, plus Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, DeWanda Wise, Gemma Chan, and Clark Gregg. For more check out our guide to everything we know so far about Captain Marvel.

Destiny 2‘s Forsaken expansion has brought with it a wide variety of new ways to spend your time. That’s especially true following the weekly reset on Tuesdays, as you again find yourself with an array of refreshed activities. Among those are the weekly bounties offered by Spider, the vendor in the Tangled Shore. One of these poses a larger challenge than the rest, and for Week 3, that is the Wanted: Silent Fang bounty. Here’s where to go and how to complete it.

Whereas many of Spider’s Wanted bounties are not entirely clear about where to go and what to do, there’s always one that presents itself in a different way. Rather than tracking down a Lost Sector, these present you with an Adventure on the designated planet. Silent Fang is found on the EDZ, in an Adventure appropriately titled Wanted: Silent Fang (recommended Power level: 540).

Start out by purchasing the bounty from Spider–as always, it costs five Ghost Fragments, which you can find inside Tangled Shore chests and by completing Public Events in the area. With the bounty in hand, head to the EDZ and start up the Adventure to begin. From there, this plays out like a typical Lost Sector, albeit one inside a Darkness Zone. That means dying will cause you to restart, so it’s best to come with a well-equipped Fireteam. Silent Fang is a giant Fallen Captain; simply take him out to complete the bounty. You can watch all of this above.

The unlocked chest’s rewards likely won’t be anything special, as the Adventure only promises Rare gear. But the corresponding bounty awards Powerful gear when completed, making this all well worth the trouble.

If you’re looking for other sources of Powerful gear, you can also try out this week’s Ascendant Challenge. Its specific location and objective have again changed, but you’ll still need a Tincture of Queensfoil in order to get started. There’s also a new Destiny 2 update out now that relocates Petra, and Iron Banner is officially underway with level advantages enabled–all the more reason to secure all the Powerful gear you can.

Nintendo’s first paid online service is just hours away, but you may notice a short interruption in online service while it gets rolled out. The Switch online launch will be preceded by a period of server maintenance, after which you’ll be able to jump in, sign up for the service, and play some of the classic games being offered.

The Nintendo Support page says that the 6.0 update will go up at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET, followed by a three hour maintenance period. Once the maintenance completes, around 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET, you can log on to purchase your Nintendo Switch Online membership, but you’ll need to update to version 6.0 first.

Nintendo Switch Online offers a free trial week, after which you’ll be charged if you don’t cancel. It will cost $4 for one month, $8 for a three-month period, and $20 for a 12-month period. You can also get a 12-month family plan for $35. The online service will be required to play most Switch games online, though some like Fortnite are getting a special exception. The online service also offers cloud saves, but it’s not universal and you’ll lose your saves if you let the subscription lapse.

The service will also launch with a selection of classic NES games for download. It will host 20 upon launch tonight, with more planned to come next month. Check out our wrap-up of everything we know for more details.

Xbox One’s backward compatibility list has just received two new additions, including a cult favorite from Double Fine. The 2009 action-strategy game with a dose of metal influence, Brutal Legend, is the latest to join the line-up. It’s flanked by Greg Hastings Paintball 2.

Brutal Legend was a relatively big-budget project from Double Fine, featuring the voices of Jack Black and Tim Curry along with a bigger, more ambitious campaign story than some of its other releases. The GameSpot Brutal Legend review gave kudos to its humorous writing and world-building, but noted that the side missions were a bit dull. Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is a smaller release, having gotten only a handful of mixed reviews on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

As always, any new games are playable on your Xbox One immediately. If you own the disc version you can pop it into your console, and if you own it digitally it should be available for download at no additional charge.

Xbox One backwards compatibility was a major feature announcement when it debuted in 2015, and since then Microsoft has been steadily adding to the list. It now boasts tons of Xbox 360 games, and even some original Xbox games as well. Check out our complete list to see if your favorite games have made the cut so far.

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Arrow fans are in for a very different Season 7. With Oliver (Stephen Amell) in prison, cut off from the rest of his team, the Green Arrow isn’t able to protect Star City; he also can’t protect himself.

The first batch of photos for the new season have been released, keeping a literal divide Oliver and those he cares about most. While his face can’t be seen clearly, it’s easy to tell the slammer isn’t doing Oliver any favors–he’s battered and bruised. What else did they think would happen when they tossed in the rich vigilante with all of the guys he’s captured over the years?

Another face seen in the photos, visiting Oliver, is Diggle (David Ramsey). Ramsey previously confirmed to GameSpot that he would be one of Oliver’s only allies in prison as the two have put their differences behind them and are now friends once again. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be much help to the imprisoned Green Arrow, though.

The only other character shows in the photos is Oliver’s wife, Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). She looks quite a bit different than fans last saw her, though. Felicity and William, Oliver’s son, have gone into witness protection after he was imprisoned, which seemed to come with a makeover. Now she has pink hair and a nose ring. We are here for punk rock Felicity. She’s almost as cool as goth Felicity was in Season 5.

While these images don’t show much in the way of action, the first trailer for the new season was packed with it. As Oliver faces off against some of his old foes–including Cody Rhodes returning as Derek Sampson–the fights are going to be utterly vicious. Hopefully, Oliver gets out of all of those alive and reunites with his team sooner, rather than later.

Arrow returns Monday, October 15, on The CW. Before then, make sure to check out all of the spoilers and teases we know about the show so far.

The Sega Genesis Mini has been delayed to 2019. Originally announced with a 2018 release date, the little system is now scheduled to arrive next year, Sega announced in a tweet.

Gematsu translated the Japanese tweet and quotes Sega as saying it decided to push back release in part to allow the company to launch the console around the world simultaneously.

Sega added that it wants the Sega Genesis Mini to have a “level of quality that Sega fans expect,” according to Gematsu. The delay also apparently relates to the fact that Sega is looking to “rethink the design of the device,” according to the site.

The Sega Genesis Mini, or Mega Drive as it was known in Japan, was announced back in April. At the time, Sega said it was scheduled to launch in 2018 but did not share any other details.

It won’t be the first mini version of the Sega Genesis. The officially licensed Sega Genesis Flashback console from AtGames was a major disappointment.

Plug-and-play consoles have proven to be incredibly popular, at least in the United States. Sales of such consoles grew by a factor of 21x in August 2018 compared to last year; year to date, dollar sales of plug-and-play consoles jumped 400 percent. The NES Classic leads the way in terms of total units sold in 2018, while the SNES Classic, which is more expensive, has driven the most dollar sales.

Disney’s new streaming service will include brand-new TV shows based on “beloved superheroes” who haven’t received their own movies. That’s according to a report from Variety, whose sources said there will be shows for Loki and Scarlet Witch, both of whom have appeared in numerous Marvel films, but haven’t had their own movies as of yet.

Intriguingly, Variety reports that Disney is looking for the movie actors to play the same roles in the TV shows, instead of going for a different cast. That means Tom Hiddleston is lined up to play Loki and Elizabeth Olsen tapped to play Scarlet Witch.

Each show will be 6-8 episodes, according to the report. They will be produced by Marvel Studios, and studio boss Kevin Feige is reportedly going to have a “hands-on” role in them.

Another important note from the report is that the new shows will focus on “second-tier” MCU characters, not topline ones like Captain America and Iron Man. No story details for the new shows were referenced in the report. You can read Variety’s full story here.

Disney’s upcoming streaming service is poised to be a rival of sorts to Netflix. It is reportedly due to launch at the end of 2019; details on subscription pricing has yet be announced.

The rumoured new superhero shows join the previously confirmed Season 7 for Star Wars: The Clone Wars for the Disney streaming service. What’s more, there will be a live-action Star Wars series on the new service, which will be set seven years after Return of the Jedi.

Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest on Disney’s streaming service. In other Marvel news, the first full-length trailer for Captain Marvel has arrived–watch it here.