90°

The Gamesmen, E3 2015 Special – Nintendo, Square Enix, and PC

Join Amras89 and Hardlydan as they go over the Nintendo, Square Enix, and PC E3 press conferences!

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thegamesmen.com
170°

Nintendo Has Acquired Shiver Entertainment From Embracer Group

Nintendo Has Acquired Shiver Entertainment From Embracer Group

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press-start.com.au
Profchaos15d ago

Great news it shows that Nintendo intends to continue developing ports of AAA games to its next gen platform

H915d ago

Buying studios from embracer now is a great deal, they must be dirt cheap at this point, Nintendo is a opportunist, they wait until someone fall so they get their best deal

OtterX15d ago

That is some serious brain gymnastics you have going on there. 🤔

H914d ago

I didn't do any gymnastics I can assure you, honestly I don't know why you think that, not hating I seriously don't see why you think that

ZeekQuattro14d ago

Yeah I don't know where that came from. It's rare for Nintendo to flat out aquire studios. Guess they were trying to be edgy but why flex on this studio. 🤣

Kneetos13d ago

At least they are safer from layoffs with Nintendo then any other company

banger8815d ago

I hope someone buys Piranha Bytes, their future isn't looking good right now. I love their RPGs, they're janky as f***, but they have heart and soul.

Relientk7715d ago

Nintendo saw the Mortal Kombat 1 Switch port and were like, "Yeah, these guys are worth acquiring."

You can't make this crap up lol

Profchaos15d ago

Mortal Kombat 1 was never going to port well I'm sure they told wb it wasn't going to work but wb wants that sweet sweet 140 million install base

In the end wb approved the project cleared the milestones and allowed the product to release

SonOfOsiris14d ago

Yeah this guys ported MK11 which is great, Hogwarts Legacy which is great, and MK1 is now ok, play it every day

150°

AMD Could Revolutionize Handheld Gaming In 2024

Shaz from GL writes: "AMD could spur the beginning of a new era in handheld gaming with their upcoming APUs"

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gameluster.com
rlow119d ago

To me the most important hardware is the battery. Doesn’t matter how powerful the chips are.

ABizzel119d ago

Eh…. It’s a combination of multiple things.

The battery is hugely important as it allows you to have ideally 4 - 5 hour gaming sessions.

The more powerful the processor the more games developers can share to the handheld, nd of course the better said games perform.

From there display, software, and ergonomics matter, as a good display/software will allow games to be more vivid, run at variable fps 30/40/60 ideally, and good ergonomics means it’s comfortable to play for said 4 - 5 hours. Everything else is gravy at that point.

rlow118d ago

I know we all want more power. But it’s sad that 4-5 hours is considered good now. It really shows how batteries have progressed at a much slower pace than hungry components.

redrum0619d ago

Of course it matters how powerful the chips are for it to be future proof. Don't you want to be able to play new games?

Neonridr19d ago

the Switch proves that you don't need the most cutting edge power out there to be successful.

RaiderNation19d ago

@Neonrdr that doesn't prove anything because only Nintendo could get away with that. Their games aren't the most complex/graphically ambitious and Nintendo fans don't care.

Vits19d ago

@Neonridr

If anything, the Switch proves the exact point "redrum06" was making. Yes, it might be successful, but it's definitely not future-proof. Just look at how many games and franchises completely skip the platform.

redrum0618d ago

I have a Switch, and recently got the Legion Go. I havent touched the Switch ever since, purely because of its inability to play even older games at a decent frame rate. For anyone wanting to play multiplatform games as well, people should skip the Switch.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 18d ago
Marcus Fenix19d ago

There’s no way you’re getting that 40CU 16-core APU in a handheld. That’s too hot and power hungry for that. The highest end APU they’re suggesting is going to end up in gaming laptops that can cool a 100W chip.

Jingsing19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

I think these articles get things a little out of perspective, Steam Deck has sold around 3 million and Switch has sold 140 million. But if you are browsing certain parts internet you'd think the Steam Deck had sold over 100 million. If articles are going to continue to circulate like this and continue to put the Steam Deck in the same arena then I'm comfortable calling the device a flop.

Neonridr19d ago

Steam Deck, while considerably more popular due to it's lower barrier of entry, is still a niche device with the likes of the ROG Ally and others.

I own one and it's really nice to be able to play some games on the go or in bed, but it'll never fully compete with a system like the Switch.

Skuletor19d ago

Especially when they're not in the same price range, the Switch is considerably cheaper.

gold_drake18d ago

sure but theres still a limit to what u can put in there ha. power consumption would be the biggest hurdle. and cooling.

Demetrius18d ago

I wana try out a pc handheld but I would like to experience a steady framerate etc I don't wana have to keep going into my settings trying to make things smoother in gameplay, that's the only thing that's been keepin me from getting one I've heard others having to go into the settings time from time that'll be annoying

140°

Square Enix Is Going Multiplatform; The Layoffs & Its Past Don't Inspire Confidence

After its latest games didn't meet sales targets, Square Enix is going multiplatform but the company's track record isn't convincing.

Scissorman19d ago

Square Enix been multiplatform for decades, a few exclusively-deals doesn't make them any less multiplatform.

fr0sty19d ago

Nor is selling their games on a console with only 25 million install base going to bring their sales to where they hope they will be... Unless they somehow manage to dumb down FF7 trilogy to work on switch, they aren't going to have much luck. They already released it on PC, after all.

anast19d ago

Where are you getting that number?

SegaSaturn66919d ago

It kind of does, giving preference to a certain platform by timed exclusivity. Console ports generally feel superior. Legend of mana PC port extremely broken

neutralgamer199219d ago

Sega

It doesn’t when square themselves didn’t want to fund the development of remake. It’s only after the success of the 1st they realized their mistake but now contract is signed. If it wasn’t for Sony there would be no FF7 remakes. Same goes for silent hill 2 with Konami. They don’t want to fund AAA budget. Companies like PlayStation and Nintendo get blamed when in reality they are saving some of these franchises

Remember sega didn’t want to fund bayonetta and epic games didn’t want to fund another gears of war. It’s easy to blame console makers but they are the ones taking the risk and paying huge upfront costs without seeing the final product. FF7 remake trilogy won’t be coming to Xbox now or in the future. PlayStation and PC is what square signed up for. Sony paid them more than they would make from Xbox sales.

ravens5219d ago

I just wonder when everyone is going to demand that the Square Enix exclusives with Nintendo come to PS and Xbox. Or it's just the PS exclusives that matter lol

phoenixwing19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

I'd love for the nintendo exclusives to come to pc or ps5. They'd actually be playable then.

neutralgamer199219d ago

Raven

Exactly and that’s where square enix does more exclusive than any other platform. Gaming is square has always been very unrealistic with their sales expectations. Remember when tomb raider reboot sold 7.5 million and square said it wasn’t enough. They need to spend less on development and have more realistic expectations from sales.

And those thinking games being not on Xbox makes a difference don’t understand we have a decade plus of data showing square enix games having less than 20% of their multiplatform sales on Xbox (final fantasy series) and Nintendo consoles aren’t strong enough to run any current games. Nintendo switch should be as strong as Xbox one x atleast but we all know that’s most likely won’t happen

RoadRacer19d ago

@raven

thing is, as neutral said in their comm, the switch isn't strong enough to run flagship SE games
i think what SE does is, it makes unique games for switch only so that it has something for that console too. Thats where all the "underlined sans" rpgs go to mostly

maybe things will change when Swtich 2 drops cuz that's gonna be as strong as ps4 afaik from the rumors flying around

TheGamingHounds19d ago

@Scissorman

Your point is valid enough but when the icon of this company is limited to one console in timed-exclusivity, it means the company has crossed the line. By some degree at least

All things aside, Square itself stated "aggressive multiplatform strategies" so we all know what it's talking about

Scissorman19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

Then the headline should read "Square To Drop Exclusively Deals in Pursuit of A Sweeping Multiplatform Strategy". I don't recall this argument when Square Enix released Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler, and Triangle Strategy on one platform. And even if FF is the icon, not all of its titles have gone to one platform. We're talking about three games, one of which is already on PC. Did Square suddenly go 'multiplatform' after it released subsequent Tomb Raider sequels on more than just the Xbox? It's just a silly way of putting it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 19d ago
TheGamingHounds19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

SE needs to go all in optimization. Broken PC ports won't help its case, especially with big releases like mainline Final Fantasy

Asterphoenix19d ago

It's actually simple. What doesn't inspire confidence is Square allocating their budgets on the wrong projects such as Forspoken, Avengers, Babylons Fall and Foamstars.

Square has always been multiplatform since PS3/360 days which 80 % of their games are. People kick up a fuss over PS exclusivity but not Nintendo which has more exclusive projects console exclusive from Square.

FF16 has done ok but not enough to fix the blunders that the past mistakes Square has made with some of their projects. FF7 Rebirth is unclear we'll see a PC release for sure so it's hard to say so far not as good as they would of liked.

Then again unrealistic expectations. If it weren't for Sony these games would at least had another 2 years development time. So some people need to be realistic in that regard.

Scissorman19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

It's the blunders that set those expectations so high. If you remove those from the equation, I bet the sales numbers would be more than stellar. Square believes it's okay to release a pile of risky, middling, garbage because the big boys will ultimately subsidize the cost. Don't worry if Forspoken sells poorly, FF16 will surely sell 10 million copies to balance that right out. Oh wait, it only sold like 4 million. Well that's a disaster. Meanwhile games that sell 2 million units with comparable budgets are deemed successful.

thorstein19d ago

I would also add that FFXVI, which I loved has a hint to one of their biggest problems: the number 16.

It's a great franchise, but that's all they've become known for. Dragon Quest is my favorite all time series but it's like they don't know what to do outside of those two IPs.

Valve never makes trilogies. The idea is that they don't want to become stagnant. Gabe Newell hates the number 3.

I can't imagine their talent wouldn't want to try a new RPG.

RoadRacer19d ago

Square Enix just really need to revise its expectations. Maybe consider a change in strategy on dev end as well. Multiplat will help for sure but only good games that are marketed well will sell

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