Category: Games

While Microsoft has been slowly acquiring game studios for some time now, its record-breaking $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax showed just how serious Microsoft’s first-party development ambitions are. In an appearance on Twitch’s Glitchcon opening address, Xbox head Phil Spencer touched on the Bethesda acquisition, but also confirmed it’ll be adding more studios to its roster in future.

Spencer clarified first that, while the Bethesda acquisition is in motion, it hasn’t yet been finalized and most likely won’t be until early 2021 due to regulatory processes. “Coming together now and having them become part of Xbox I think will just be an amazing opportunity with the great games that they’ll continue to build,” Spencer said. “The great thing is, those games will become part of Game Pass on the day that they launch, which I think creates more opportunity for people to go play.”

“In terms of continuing to invest in new studios and new games and new content, absolutely we have to do that,” Spencer confirmed. “It’s important that we continue to build out the library of games that are available on Xbox. We’ll double the size of our studios organization when we add Bethesda, and we’re going to continue to invest in great games so that people can find their next favorite game on our platform.”

Spencer’s comments go to show that Microsoft’s gaming ambitions go well beyond the Xbox as simply a piece of hardware, and that the company is also looking to consolidate a software empire with Xbox Game Pass as its backbone. Spencer has previously commented on the Bethesda acquisition, saying that the point is not to make all its games console exclusive, or force anyone to buy Microsoft’s hardware.

In the video, Spencer also apologized for the Xbox Series X/S shortages, addressing Xbox fans’ frustrations with the console’s limited availability.

In August 2020, actor Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away at the age of 43. The actor, who was best known for playing the Black Panther T’Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was due to feature in the upcoming sequel. Now, one of the film’s producers has promised that they won’t go down the path of a CGI recreation–Boseman will not feature in the movie.

In an interview with Argentine newspaper Clarín, reported on in English by Deadline, executive producer Victoria Alonso stated that Marvel Studios would not be using any sort of technology to recreate Boseman within the film. “There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s no longer with us,” Alonso says. “Sadly, our king has died in real life, not only in fiction, and we’re taking a little time to see how we continue the story and how to honor this chapter of what has unexpectedly happened to us, so painful and terrible to be honest.”

Alonso continued, praising the actor on a personal level. “Chadwick wasn’t only a wonderful human being, every day of the 5 years we spent together, but also, I believe, that what he did as a character elevated us as a company, and has left his moment on history.”

The first Black Panther earned over $1.3 billion at the international box office. It’s the fourth highest grossing film ever at the US box office.

CGI recreation has been used in other films to bring actors back, but rarely under circumstances like this. Furious 7, the seventh movie in the Fast & Furious franchise, used body doubles and CGI to bring back Brian O’Conner after the death of Paul Walker, but this was after the actor had already filmed several scenes in the movie, and the ending was re-written to send the character off. Star Wars has used digital recreation of actors like Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing, with varying levels of fidelity and grace, in recent films.

Black Panther 2 is currently scheduled to film in 2021 and release on May 26, 2022, although that date is likely to be pushed back. Ryan Coogler, the director and writer of the first film, is attached to return.

The NPD Group has published its latest monthly sales report, revealing which games and consoles sold the best in the United States during October 2020.

Starting with games, FIFA 21 was the top-seller of the month. This is a big event, as it marked the first time in NPD’s history that a FIFA game was No. 1 in the US in October. Last year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was October’s best-seller due to its earlier-than-usual release date.

Madden NFL 21, Watch Dogs: Legion, NHL 21, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit rounded out the top five best-selling games in the US during October 2020.

Watch Dogs: Legion might have finished higher if not for the fact that it launched with just three days to go during the October tracking period. Another notable fact is that NHL 21’s launch-month dollar sales were the best for the NHL series since 2015’s NHL 16.

Also of note is that Nintendo dominated again, with nine of the top 20 games of the month having been published by Nintendo.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was yet again the top-seller during October 2019. Its dollar sales during the month set a new October hardware sales record for the US, surpassing the previous record from the Nintendo Wii in October 2008.

The Switch is dominating, as it’s now been the best-selling console in the US for 23 straight months.

Hardware spending overall in October 2020 reached $259 million, which is up 41 percent thanks to growth in the Nintendo Switch. The Xbox One and PS4 experienced declines, which was expected given the age of those consoles and the arrival of next-gen platforms.

Across games, consoles, and accessories, total spending on video games in the US amounted to $3.8 billion for October 2020, which is up 14 percent.

October 2020 US Video Game Sales

*Digital sales not included

1. FIFA 21
2. Madden NFL 21
3. Watch Dogs: Legion
4. NHL 21
5. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
6. Super Mario 3D All-Stars*
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons*
8. Star Wars: Squadrons
9. Call of Duty: ModernWarfare
10. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
11. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*
12. Ghost of Tsushima
13. NBA 2K21*
14. Marvel’s Avengers
15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
16. Ring Fit Adventure
17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
18. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2
19. Super Mario Party*
20. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

The Xbox Series X and S consoles are finally here, and the launch is going extremely well for Microsoft. Consoles are selling out fast, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has now spoken about this, apologizing for the shortages.

“We need more consoles [laughs],” Spencer said during an appearance at GlitchCon. “The number one request I get over and over is it’s so hard to get the consoles right now. And I really apologize for that. We’ve been building them for almost two months now and trying to get as many into the stores as we can, but the demand is just so high.”

Spencer went on to say that, with COVID-19 impacting the world as it has, 2020 been a challenging year with all kinds of obstacles for developing games and releasing a new platform. Despite those challenges, Spencer said he is proud of his teams and those at Sony and third-party publishers for releasing new games and consoles this holiday season.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Xbox boss Liz Hamren also acknowledged the shortages, saying Microsoft is “working tirelessly” with its retail partners globally to bring more next-gen Xbox consoles to people soon.

Despite the shortages, Xbox Series X/S launch represented the biggest-ever for Microsoft. The company sold more consoles, in more countries, than ever before over the first 24 hours. For comparison, the Xbox One sold more than 1 million units over its first day in 2013, so the Series X/S consoles did better, but Microsoft did not mention a specific sales number.

The Xbox Series S console specifically was a big hit at launch, as it added the “highest percentage of new players for any Xbox console at launch.” Additionally, Microsoft said 70 percent of Xbox Series X/S consoles are attached to an Xbox Game Pass subscription. That in particular is a very big deal, as Xbox Game Pass might be Microsoft’s secret weapon on next-gen.

The stock shortages for the Xbox Series X/S consoles were expected, as Spencer warned people many weeks ago to expect demand to outstrip supply.

Due in part to the expected shortages, the Nintendo Switch is expected to be the best-selling console platform during holiday 2020 in the US.

The PlayStation 5 is now available in many regions throughout the world, and many people are jumping into the next generation of Sony consoles. Not everyone is lucky enough to have secured a launch console, though, and may be looking for a glimmer of that magic new-console feel while they play Sackboy and Spider-Man: Miles Morales on their aging PS4s.

That’s where PS5 Simulator, a new free game, comes in. The game, by developer Alex Grade, is a fun little take on the joys of getting a system and needing to unbox and set it up before you can enjoy playing games on it.

“Wait no more, your ultimate PS5 experience is here,” the description on the game’s itch.io page reads. “Poor cable management, snacks on floor and try to not break your next-game console in this non-AAA-game!”

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The game weighs in at 947MB, and there’s a lot of cable management to deal with in there. It’s pretty tongue-in-cheek, so it might make you feel a bit better about not having a console to set up yet. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War are both pretty great on PS4 too, you know.

If PS5 Simulator isn’t good enough for you, and you want a real console, check out GameSpot’s guide on where to buy a PS5. For more on the system, check out GameSpot’s PlayStation 5 review.

After a busy week of launches, the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have so far been difficult to come by, with new stock being bought up almost as soon as it drops. Some have blamed the stock shortages on bots buying up consoles for scalpers, and while we can’t know how many of the purchases were made by bots, there sure are a lot of next-gen consoles being listed for high prices on Ebay.

While it was inevitable that the consoles would end up on Ebay with inflated prices, it looks like the re-sellers are doing a decent trade, too. A look through the PS5 listings that have sold in the day shows the consoles going for between $850 and $1200 in most cases. The console’s recommended retail price is $500 for the disk edition or $400 for the digital-only console.

One of the highest-earning recent listings we found was a digital-only PS5 with its price pushed up to $1645, thanks to 34 bids made through Ebay’s auction system. Another more lucky customer found the PS5 digital version for “just” $850.

Listings seem to have gone for up to a staggering amount of $14,493, which one Ebay user paid for a preorder of the PlayStation 5 digital edition back in September–before the console had actually released. Some listings are still offering to pawn off their pre-orders, without actually having a console in hand to sell.

The Xbox Series X and S have seen slightly more reasonable prices on resale. Sold listings show people buying new Xboxes for around $800 for the Series X, or closer to $450 for the Series S, with the official pricing sitting at $500 for the X and $300 for the S, the cheapest of the new-gen consoles.

While Ebay’s unsold listings show people still asking up to $10,000 for the new consoles, the sold listings show most people aren’t willing to pay too much more than $1000 for the resold consoles. The fact that people are paying scalpers’ inflated prices shows how much demand there is for the next-gen consoles.

It appears Amazon isn’t currently allowing third-party sellers to list PS5s for sale, likely to cut down on the kind of price-gouging that’s taking place on Ebay. If you want to try your hand at getting a next-gen console without paying an inflated price for it, check out our PS5 buying guide or Xbox Series X and S guide.