The PlayStation 4 has reached a huge milestone. According to Sony’s latest earnings report, the console shipped 3.2 million units worldwide during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2019, up from the 2.6 million it moved during the final quarter of FY2018. When combined with the 96.8 million units the system had sold as of this past April, that brings its global lifetime numbers up to a staggering 100 million.

According to video game analyst Daniel Ahmad, the PS4 has now become the fastest console to hit the 100 million mark, surpassing both the PS2 and Nintendo’s Wii. It took the PS2 five years and nine month to reach that milestone, while the PS4 was able to do so in five years and seven months. Sony expects to sell 15 million PS4 systems this fiscal year, which would bring console up to 111.8 million units by March 31, 2020.

Hardware wasn’t the only milestone Sony surpassed. In the same earnings report, the company revealed that digital purchases of full PS4 games during this past quarter hit 53%, the first time more players had purchased digital copies of games over physical ones. Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus reached 36.2 million subscribers–up year-over-year from the 33.9 million it had in the first quarter of FY2018.

These are especially impressive results considering the PS4 is entering its seventh year on the market, and its successor, the PS5, is looming on the horizon. While the next-generation console isn’t expected to launch until at least 2020, Sony has already begun revealing tidbits of information about it. The company has already confirmed it will be backwards compatible with PS4 games, and we know the system will still have a disc drive and use a solid state drive.

While PS5 may be approaching, there are still a few major releases in store for the PS4. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima’s enigmatic Death Stranding launches on November 8, while the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake arrives on March 3, 2020. The Last of Us: Part II is also on the way. While it doesn’t yet have a concrete release date, Ellie actress Ashley Johnson teased it could be launching in February 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-ships-100-million-units-worldwide/1100-6468760/

Obsidian’s RPG The Outer Worlds is coming relatively soon, but if you can wait a little while longer you’ll be able to play it on the go. The studio announced that it will be bringing the game to Nintendo Switch sometime following its launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

A brief video with senior producer Matthew Singh details the basics of the game and its port to Switch. This version is being developed in partnership with Virtuos, a studio that has pitched in on Switch versions of games like Dark Souls Remastered and Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. The video didn’t detail a firm release date, only that it will come sometime after the other versions that are slated for October 25.

“It kind of blends two of my passions,” Singh said. “I’ve been a lifetime Nintendo fan ever since I was three, I’ve had the NES all the way through every single console and every single handheld. I’m super excited to be able to take the type of experience we have and to be able to finally play it on a handheld platform. Today we can play a full experience, on-the-go, anywhere you want. Hopefully we can find an audience for people who may have never had this type of experience before.”

The Outer Worlds looks similar to the modern Fallout games–sensible for the studio that made New Vegas–but the setting is instead a space-hopping adventure. Like those games, though, it’s defined by open-ended choices, and you can even become the villain. Microsoft recently purchased Obsidian, but The Outer Worlds is being published through Take-Two’s Private Division label.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/obsidian-rpg-the-outer-worlds-coming-to-nintendo-s/1100-6468761/

As promised, Nintendo shared a load of new details about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s next DLC character, the Hero from Dragon Quest, during today’s special video presentation. Not only did game director Masahiro Sakurai give us a detailed look at the Hero’s moves, he confirmed when the DLC fighter will go live, and it’s very soon.

The Hero will join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster today, July 30. This news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. It was expected the Hero would release this month when he was featured among July’s other big Nintendo Switch releases in a recent promotional video.

The Hero’s default look is based on the Luminary from Dragon Quest XI, while his alternate costumes are the heroes from Dragon Quests III, IV, and VIII. Each of his special attacks are inspired by different spells from the Dragon Quest series. His neutral special fires off a Frizz that can be powered up to Frizzle or Kafrizz depending on how long you charge it; his side special unleashes Zap spells; and his up special unleashes Woosh spells. However, you won’t be able to use these spells if your MP gauge is too low.

The Hero’s down special, meanwhile, is the Command Selection. This pulls up a command menu just as you’d see in a true Dragon Quest game. The commands are randomized each match and allow you to select a spell or other move, such as Oomph, which buffs Hero’s attack power for a limited time, or Kaclang, which will temporarily turn him metal. Between all of these possible attacks, Sakurai says the Hero has the highest number of moves of any character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Arriving alongside the Hero is a new stage called Yggdrasil’s Altar, which is based on a location in Dragon Quest XI. Occasionally a chest will appear on the stage; if you open it, you may either receive an item or be attacked by a Mimic. Additionally, a handful of new Dragon Quest Spirits are being added to the Spirit Board. A couple of new Mii Fighter costumes based on the Dragon Quest series will be available for purchase as well; these will each run for 75 cents apiece.

The Hero is included as part of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Fighters Pass, which costs $25 USD and grants owners access to five DLC characters as they’re released, including the already available Joker from Persona 5 and the upcoming Banjo-Kazooie. Each DLC fighter can also be purchased individually for $6 USD and comes with a brand-new stage, an assortment of music tracks drawn from their series, and a handful of new unlockable Spirits.

The aforementioned Banjo-Kazooie are the next DLC characters coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The bear and bird duo are slated to arrive sometime this fall, although no release date has been announced just yet. Nintendo still has two other unannounced fighters on the way to the game by February 2020.

Releasing alongside the Hero today is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s 4.0 update, which adds a few new features to the game, including a Final Smash meter time limit and a Very Easy difficulty setting for the World of Light adventure mode. The patch also introduces an Online Tournament mode, which will occasionally host special event tournaments, as well as a new spectate mode that allows you to try to predict who will win a match; guess correctly and you’ll earn tokens that you can then exchange for items. You can rewatch the Hero presentation above.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/super-smash-bros-ultimates-hero-dlc-releasing-toda/1100-6468755/

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will bring back killstreak rewards in multiplayer, publisher Activision has confirmed, though one of the weapons revealed has caused some controversy. The three killstreak rewards announced so far are a juggernaut care package, an armored assault vehicle, and the chemical weapon white phosphorus.

All three have been seen in some form or another in past Call of Duty titles: Juggernauts were used extensively in the Modern Warfare subseries, as were light armored vehicles. White phosphorus was previously used as a tactical grenade in the Black Ops series–where it caused “a small amount of damage on detonation”–but the framing of the weapon as a “reward” this time around paints it in a somewhat different light. GameSpot has contacted Activision for comment.

In real life, the use of white phosphorus–also known as “Willy Pete”–against civilians and in civilian areas contravenes the Geneva Convention, thereby classing it as a war crime. Some Modern Warfare multiplayer maps take place in civilian areas, albeit without civilian characters present.

Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward told GameSpot recently that it doesn’t want to shy away from hard-hitting issues in the upcoming shooter. “Today, modern warfare means that the war isn’t just over there,” said the studio’s narrative director, Taylor Kurosaki. “The war is everywhere. It’s in our own backyards. It’s in places that can suddenly become a battlefield at a moment’s notice. It’s about enemies who don’t wear uniforms. It’s about civilian collateral damage kind of being, unfortunately, part of the equation.”

Later in the same interview, Kurosaki said the game will punish you for making mistakes on the battlefield: “If you were a soldier and you actually deployed into a theater of war and you shot down a bunch of innocent civilians, you would be arrested and court marshaled. The game kind of does the same thing. The game does not allow you to get away with going rogue. You have a command structure that you have to follow and orders that you have to follow and if you try to just be a bad apple, the game is going to smack you down for that.”

However, Kurosaki was talking about the game’s single-player campaign–which also depicts child soldiers, among other serious topics. It’s unclear if the multiplayer mode will treat the use of white phosphorus as harshly as it sounds as if the story mode will treat “mistakes.” It’s this that is the root of some of the latest controversy.

For more, you can read our full Call of Duty: Modern Warfare single-player interview. A full reveal of Modern Warfare’s multiplayer offering is coming on August 1, but we’ve been given a sneak peek already with the new 2v2 Gunfight mode. Modern Warfare launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 25.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-multiplayer-killstreak/1100-6468754/