NPD’s yearly “Online Gaming Report” has come out today, detailing for us the many habits of those gamers who play games online, what they’re playing, how much they’re playing, and how they like to play. Here’s the breakdown:
– 72% of gamers in the U.S. play online, up 5% over last year
– Hours-played-per-week is up 9% overall, 6% for online gaming
– People are playing games more often, for longer across “virtually every type of device”
– PC is the top platform for online gaming
– Online gaming through PC is shrinking, while online gaming through mobile devices is growing
– 62% of gamers prefer buying physical games to digital
– Survey questioned 8,867 people ages 2 and older
GameStop is handing out a special bonus to those who pre-order Sniper Elite V2 for Wii U. All consumers will receive a medal, posted below, at launch. The offer is valid both in-store and online.
You can also opt to pre-order Sniper Elite V2 from Amazon here
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There’s a new piece of downloadable content up for purchase in Fire Emblem: Awakening today in North America known as “Summer Scramble”. For the US release, Nintendo decided to censor one particular moment of a CG scene involving Tharja.
Let’s take a look at how the scene originally appeared – in the Japanese version:
“With the scale and scope of the world we are building, the completely new setting, the new gameplay mechanics, and our new characters (both our hero and his supporting cast), we are definitely on track to get the job done and avoid fatigue altogether.”
– AC4 creative director Jean Guesdon
Another very public-relations-driven statement regarding the state of a franchise. Nothing wrong with being safe with your words regarding a game that you want to sell!
It is something often ignored by game designers today: “Bad” graphics can actually be a good thing for a game world, allowing players to stretch their imaginations and feel more involved with the world than they would with every last detailed rendered out for them. In an interview with Shunpure news, Famicom “creator” Masayuki Uemura touched on that sentiment himself:
– Famicom designer Masayuki Uemura
It’s a sentiment I could not agree with more, and something I’m very sad to see leaving the gaming industry as we move forward. Indie games are, thankfully, bringing the concept back perhaps without even knowing it, but to no longer see a game that feels as atmospheric and imaginative as The Legend of Zelda from a big-name developer will be a sad event indeed.
With the official release of Balloon Fight on the 3DS eShop, Ambassadors can download an update for the game. New functionality specifically relates to proper save states.
3DS Ambassadors can now Update Balloon Fight from”Your Downloads” on eShop. It now supports 2-Player Download Play! twitter.com/GameplayDev/st…
— Brian Davis (@GameplayDev) May 2, 2013
To download the update, boot up the 3DS eShop and search for Balloon Fight in the “Your Downloads” section.
