Anthem Sales Open Strong In The US, Second-Biggest BioWare Release Ever For First Month

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The NPD Group has released its US sales report for February, revealing the best-selling hardware and software for the month and providing an overall health update on the industry.

Starting with game sales, BioWare’s Anthem was the best-selling title of the month, beating out other new releases like Jump Force, Far Cry New Dawn, and Metro Exodus.

Anthem enjoyed the second highest launch-month sales in BioWare’s history, only behind 2012’s Mass Effect 3. It is now 2019’s second best-selling game, trailing only Kingdom Hearts III. One caveat to mention with Anthem is that PC digital sales are not included. Publisher Electronic Arts has not shared any hard sales data for Anthem.

Also notable on the software side is that Metro Exodus debuted at No. 8; it was outsold by a number of 2018 games such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Red Dead Redemption II. Still, Exodus’ first-month sales were the highest in franchise history, eclipsing the first-month sales of Metro: Last Light by almost 50 percent, according to the NPD. As with Anthem, PC digital sales for Metro Exodus are not included.

In total, February software spending in the US across console, portable, and PC games reached $457 million, which is up 15 percent. Year-to-date, spending stands at $896 million, and that’s up 10 percent compared to last year.

You can see the best-seller charts for February 2019 at the bottom of this post.

Moving to hardware, the Nintendo Switch was February’s best-selling platform. It is also the highest-selling system of 2019. Also notable is that Nintendo posted its highest February month for hardware sales since February 2011. Across all platforms, hardware spending dropped 12 percent year-over-year to $277 million.

February 2019 US Sales

Top 20 Games All Platforms

  1. Anthem^
  2. Jump Force
  3. Kingdom Hearts III
  4. Far Cry New Dawn
  5. Red Dead Redemption II
  6. Resident Evil 2
  7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  8. Metro: Exodus^
  9. NBA 2K19
  10. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  11. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
  12. Mario Kart 8*
  13. Grand Theft Auto V
  14. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
  16. Minecraft#
  17. Super Mario Party*
  18. Rainbow Six Siege
  19. Madden NFL 19^
  20. Spider-Man

2019 Year-To-Date Top 10 Games

  1. Kingdom Hearts III
  2. Anthem^
  3. Resident Evil 2
  4. Jump Force
  5. Red Dead Redemption II
  6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  8. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
  9. NBA 2K19
  10. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

All Platforms 12 Months Ending February 2019

  1. Red Dead Redemption II
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4^
  3. NBA 2K19
  4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
  5. Madden NFL 19^
  6. Spider-Man
  7. Far Cry 5
  8. God of War
  9. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  10. Mario Kart 8*

February 2019 Xbox One

  1. Anthem
  2. Jump Force
  3. Far Cry New Dawn
  4. Red Dead Redemption II
  5. Kingdom Hearts III
  6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  7. NBA 2K19
  8. Resident Evil 2
  9. Metro: Exodus
  10. Grand Theft Auto V

February 2019 PS4

  1. Anthem
  2. Jump Force
  3. Kingdom Hearts III
  4. Red Dead Redemption II
  5. Resident Evil 2
  6. Metro: Exodus
  7. Far Cry New Dawn
  8. NBA 2K19
  9. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
  10. Spider-Man

February 2019 Nintendo Switch

  1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  2. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
  3. Mario Kart 8
  4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  5. Super Mario Party
  6. Super Mario Odyssey
  7. Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu
  8. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee
  9. Splatoon 2
  10. Minecraft

February 2019 3DS

  1. Yo-Kai Watch 3
  2. Etrian Odyssey: Nexus
  3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey
  4. Pokemon: Ultra Sun
  5. Pokemon: Ultra Moon
  6. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
  7. Super Smash Bros.
  8. Super Mario Maker
  9. Mario Kart 7
  10. Super Mario 3D Land

* Digital sales not included

^ PC digital sales not included

# Minecraft digital sales on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One included

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/anthem-sales-open-strong-in-the-us-second-biggest-/1100-6465696/

Google’s Stadia Controller Hides The Konami Code, Which Has Some New Tricks

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At Google’s GDC 2019 keynote, company VP Phil Harrison revealed a new cloud gaming streaming service called Stadia. During the presentation, Harrison also unveiled a new controller specifically designed for Stadia. The floor model that’s currently being displayed at the show, as confirmed by GameSpot’ sister site CNET, has the Konami code engraved on it. You can see the engraving in the tweet below.

According to Polygon, you can go to Stadia’s website and actually input the Konami code with your computer keyboard to find a cool Easter egg: a 3D model of the new controller. You can spin the controller around on your screen in order to get a better idea as to how it’s shaped. For those who don’t know, the full Konami code is up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start. You only need to input the first 10 keys, however, to see the controller model on Stadia’s website.

The Konami code engraving isn’t the only unique aspect of Stadia’s controller. It also comes with a share button that allows you to upload footage straight to your YouTube channel. Another button allows you to ask Google Assistant a question at anytime. Stadia’s controller links to the platform via Wi-Fi as well.

During the Google keynote, the company described Stadia as a platform meant to unify players, spectators, and developers. So, for example, you’ll be able to watch a YouTube trailer for a game and then, if you want, just start playing said title via cloud streaming within a few seconds. Stadia will feature cross-platform support as well, allowing you to play with others regardless of system. As Stadia will support cloud saves for game state and save files, it should have cross-platform progression for specific games as well.

At launch, Stadia will stream games up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS, and Google has scheduled plans to increase that threshold to 8K resolution. Stadia is scheduled to release sometime this year and will be supported across several platforms, including desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets, and phones. In an interview with GameSpot, Ubisoft chief executive officer Yves Guillemot said that Stadia should be viewed as a platform that exists alongside consoles and PCs, and not a replacement. For now, anyway.

You can read up on how cloud gaming works if you have additional questions about it, and also see which companies are making the largest strides and investing the most time and resources behind it. We’ve collected all of the Google gaming news announced during the GDC keynote too–including the reveal that Doom Eternal will release on Stadia. We’ve captured gameplay of Doom Eternal on Stadia as well if you want to know what it looks like.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/googles-stadia-controller-hides-the-konami-code-wh/1100-6465695/

GDC: Google Forms First-Party Games Studio For Stadia

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Google has finally given the world its first look at its big video game initiative: Stadia, an ambitious cloud gaming platform that will allow players to stream games across smartphones, tablets, computers, and TVs. The company has already announced a handful of third-party titles coming to the platform, but it’ll also be venturing into game development with its own internal studio.

During its Game Developers Conference presentation, Google announced the formation of Stadia Games and Entertainment, a first-party studio that will develop titles exclusively for the platform. No projects have been announced just yet, but Google revealed the studio will be led by Jade Raymond, a former studio head at Ubisoft and EA.

We first learned that Raymond was hired by Google last week, when she announced she was joining the company as a vice president. At the time, her exact role was unclear, but her hiring further signified Google was making a serious attempt at entering the video game space.

Few other games have been announced for Stadia at this juncture, but Google also showed off Assassin’s Creed Odyssey–which was the same game the company used for its Project Stream test last year–running on the platform. We also got confirmation that Doom Eternal is coming to Stadia, as is a new game from Star Fox co-creator Dylan Cuthbert’s studio, Q-Games.

Google says it will share more details about Stadia’s launch lineup this summer. The platform is slated to launch later this year and will initially be available in the US, Canada, the UK, and “most of” Europe. You can read more about how cloud gaming works and check out all of the Google gaming news from today’s event.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-google-forms-first-party-games-studio-for-stad/1100-6465687/

GDC 2019: Google Stadia Will Be “Complementary” To PCs And Consoles, Says Ubisoft CEO

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Google announced its cloud gaming platform, Stadia with an in-depth presentation detailing the tech and its features. The idea promises to open up high-fidelity gaming to everyone regardless of whether they can afford a gaming PC or console. Still, some areas of the US have low broadband penetration, which is why Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot says the platform is likely to be used alongside consoles and PCs, not as an outright replacement–at least for the time being.

“You have to look at Stadia as complementary,” Guillemot told GameSpot during an interview at GDC. “If you get internet you play on the machine that gives you a chance to experience your game. What’s good in this industry, either you play on the mobile or you play on PC, and now it’s starting to be the same game. I think this is a way to play differently depending on where you are as well.”

He said Ubisoft recognizes that quality internet isn’t available everywhere, but that the studio will be able to “scale the game to the quality of the internet experience.” He also suggested that 5G, the next generation of cellular communications tech, could be a big boon and that cities will have to compete with each other for it.

“I think 5G has to come fast, but what we see is there will be lots of possibilities to use it,” he said. “So if cities are really putting 5G, the oldest cities will have to react quite fast if they want keep all the people they have in cities. So this, I think, is going to push 5G a lot.”

Ubisoft partnered with Google last year for Project Stream, a practical test of the tech used ultimately used in Stadia. That allowed testers to play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for free, but they needed a 25 Mbps connection. That benchmark may give us an idea of what to expect for optimum performance when Stadia launches later this year. Guillemot also shared thoughts on how Ubisoft could price its games for Stadia.

To catch up on the news surrounding Google’s cloud platform, read all we know about Stadia. Plus check out why cloud gaming is the next big thing, which companies are investing in cloud tech.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-2019-google-stadia-will-be-complementary-to-pc/1100-6465691/

All Of The Best PS4 Game Deals In The PlayStation Store This Week

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It’s a great time to be a PS4 owner. Some of the best games in recent years–Bloodborne, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man, etc.–have been released as PS4 exclusives, and over in the PlayStation Store, there are always special sales going on in addition to the rotating weekly deals.

This week is particularly loaded with deals, starting with the Great Indoors Sale, which has hundreds of games steeply discounted, like Horizon Zero Dawn ($17), Borderlands 2 ($5), The Last Guardian ($14), and The Witcher 3: Complete Edition ($20). There’s even an entire section of budget-friendly deals with games that are mostly under $10, so be sure to take a peek at that if you’re trying to curb your game spending. Plus, most of these games are even cheaper if you’re a PS Plus member. Game deals within the Great Indoors Sale will be live until March 29 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET, so you have a little extra time to claim those.

Fans of online multiplayer, take note: The PlayStation Store has also slashed the price of one-year PS Plus membership by 25% for the next week. Instead of paying $60 for a one-year subscription, you’ll only pay $45–and even if you already have a membership, you can stack subscriptions to save yourself money down the road. This particular offer is only valid until March 26 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.

The EA publisher sale continues in the PlayStation Store this week as well, with major discounts on some of its best titles. All three Dragon Age games, including the Game of the Year edition for Dragon Age: Inquisition, are marked down, along with Titanfall 2: Ultimate Edition, Battlefield V, A Way Out, and many more. The EA sale also ends March 26 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET.

There are plenty of other game deals worth picking up in the PlayStation Store this week, including Kingdom Hearts III for $45 and the Kingdom Hearts III All-in-One Package for $75. The bundle option provides instant access to Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue along with the newest game. Both the standard game and the bundle also come with a limited time Midnight Blue Keyblade.

Shop this week’s PS4 deals in the PlayStation Store »

PS4:

PS3:

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/all-of-the-best-ps4-game-deals-in-the-playstation-/1100-6465679/

Destiny 2: Ascendant Challenge Week 5 Guide (March 19-26)

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We’re deep into the Jokers Wild expansion of Destiny 2, with lots of new content for players to tackle. There are new Gambit activities, Gambit Prime and The Reckoning, which give out new loot. There’s the allegiance quest, which comes complete with special rewards depending on if you choose to side with the Drifter or the Vanguard. And there’s the quest to capture Thorn, the powerful Exotic hand cannon that’s becoming a big part of the story of the Season of the Drifter. It even has a hidden start.

With the increase in the Power level cap with Jokers Wild, there’s plenty of reason to dig back into various activities, including the Ascendant Challenges in the Dreaming City. Finishing the challenge earns you Powerful gear, which can help you climb your way up to the new top level of 700.

Like in past weeks, the Ascendant Challenge involves using a specific item (a Tincture of Queensfoil) to receive the Ascendance buff. This allows you to see a Taken portal that sends you to the Ascendant Plane to do a mission of sorts. But the portal’s location and your objective has been different each week, and that’s true for Week 5. Before starting, though, be sure to grab the corresponding bounty from Petra, as that’s the key to earning a piece of Powerful gear.

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This week’s portal is found inside a Lost Sector (Bay of Drowned Wishes) located right near Dreaming City’s landing zone in Divalian Mists. You’ll move to the midway point of the Lost Sector, killing things until a little before you reach a door that’s locked. (You can skip the enemies, but killing them will likely be easier.) If you’ve used your Tincture of Queensfoil, you’ll see the portal and can jump through to reach the Ascendant Plane location, Agonarch Abyss.

Unfortunately, there’s a good deal of platforming involved here. You’ll make your way down to a temple where a large tree is. Blight balls spawn in that slow your movement, and you’ll have to deal with a pair of wizards who spawn in additional Thrall enemies. Take out the wizards and you’re all done. You can see this all in our video guide.

The chest that you can then open is, as always, nothing special. But finishing the Ascendant Challenge completes the bounty from Petra, which nets you a piece of Powerful gear.

There’s still some time before the end of Season 5, the Season of the Forge. The next big event in the game is Crimson Days, the Valentine’s Day-themed celebration that runs from February 13-20. As usual, it’ll offer unique cosmetic rewards, as well as some duos-themed events to celebrate friendship and love, and a unique bow you can earn for fighting in the Crucible.

Meanwhile, if you’re still working on snagging Destiny 2’s latest Exotic weapon, The Last Word, be sure to check out our guide to completing the steps fast. You might also want to get caught up on The Last Word’s story, which continues into Season 6.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-2-ascendant-challenge-week-5-guide-march-1/1100-6462216/

GDC: Google Showcases One Of Stadia’s Coolest Features

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Google pulled back the curtain on its video game plans during the Game Developers Conference, unveiling its ambitious Stadia cloud gaming platform. Through Stadia, players and developers will not only be able to stream video games across a variety of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and TVs, they’ll even be able to share precise in-game moments with others.

During the company’s keynote address, veteran game designer Dylan Cuthbert took the stage to discuss Stadia’s State Share technology. Using the feature, developers will be able to “instantly share a playable moment from the game,” down to the world state, the player’s position and inventory, and any other aspects. The state can then be shared as a link that will allow other players to pick up from that exact moment.

Cuthbert discussed some of the examples possible with State Share. “I can create moments specifically for this kind of sharing–challenges to beat my incredible speed runs, or chances for other players to also experience those same tough boss battles. I can build as many shareable moments as I want and let the internet turn my whole game into an infinitely replayable treasure hunt.”

According to Google, Stadia will also enable game streamers to better engage with their audience with a feature called Crowd Play. This will allow viewers to jump into the same game session as a streamer by clicking a button on the screen and joining a queue.

Stadia will launch later this year. The platform will initially be available in the US, Canada, the UK, and “most of Europe” and will support various input devices, including its own proprietary controller. Additional details about Stadia and its launch lineup will be shared this summer.

For more on cloud gaming, be sure to check out how cloud gaming works and read up on the companies investing heavily in the cloud. You can also catch up on all of the Google gaming news from today’s GDC event.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-google-showcases-one-of-stadias-coolest-featur/1100-6465685/

How Google Stadia Game Pricing Could Work, According To Ubisoft’s CEO

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Google’s Stadia announcement shared an in-depth look at the streaming platform, technology, features, and more. One conspicuously missing component was price: There was no word on what the first-party controller or–more importantly–games themselves will cost. Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot, whose company partnered with Google for the Project Stream test last year, shared some thoughts in an interview. Project Stream was a free test of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but how will we pay for future games offered through Stadia?

“I think we will have a multitude of ways,” Guillemot told GameSpot. “Either you buy full price and you play; or you will be able to also register, possibly, to play either one hour or two hours a day. There will be plenty of ways.”

The question of price is looming over the Stadia platform, since streaming games from the cloud is such a different model than traditional game sales. As opposed to buying a physical copy that you can hold, or even a digital copy that downloads data onto your console, consumers will have to get accustomed to paying for the ability to stream a game. Guillemot’s comments suggest that traditional purchases and perhaps a Netflix-style subscription model are on the table, and he’s had plenty of time to think about the subject.

“We have been working with Google for a long time now,” he said. “The first time we went to see them [Google] was six years ago, about what was the beginning of what this is today. We even created at that time a joint venture with Square Enix to do that job. We have been looking at that technology for a long time.”

For more on Google’s cloud platform, catch up with all we know about Stadia. Or you can read our primer on why cloud gaming is the next big thing, and see some of the competition Google will face with the companies investing in cloud tech.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-google-stadia-game-pricing-could-work-accordin/1100-6465689/

Castle Crashers Releases For PS4 And Switch Soon

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It’s nearing four years since Castle Crashers made the jump to current gen with a remaster on Xbox One. It’s been even longer since San Diego-based developers, The Behemoth, launched the side-scrolling beat-em-up on last generation’s hardware. Now, in celebration of the game’s 10th–going on 11th–year on the market, the studio has announced that Castle Crashers is re-re-releasing, this time for Nintendo Switch and PS4.

In a Twitter post, The Behemoth stated Castle Crashers Remastered, the version of the game that launched on Xbox One back in September 2015, is making its way to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Unfortunately, no release date accompanied the announcement.

The developers penned a blog post on its official website detailing the announcement. Castle Crashers Remastered for Switch and PS4 will contain the Back Off Barbarian mini-game, all previously released DLC, and various gameplay improvements and performance updates. This re-release will also run at 60 frames per second and feature textures much improved over the original game’s. Essentially, it’s the Xbox One version of the game and more.

For the Switch version, Castle Crashers Remastered utilizes the system’s HD Rumble feature and four-player local Joy-Con support. So you, your friend, and your friend’s friend can play on one system using multiple Joy-Cons. PS4 owners who purchase the game will see the color of their controlled character displayed on the controller’s lightbar. Who doesn’t love a pink lightbar?

The Behemoth co-founder Dan Paladin gave some very specific reasons why this remaster is happening. It boils down to game preservation, a hot-button topic in the industry. “When we make games we want them to stick around,” Paladin wrote in the blog post. He also notes that “higher resolutions, higher framerates, chances to make tweaks, and better overall quality” are “very satisfying.”

At the end of the post, Paladin confirms that the studio is working on a new game. As of right now, it’s codenamed “Game 5.” There’s no other information on this title, but Paladin ensures the studio will “have more information on this later in the year hopefully.”

In our initial Castle Crashers review, we said the game is “an absurdly hilarious romp you won’t soon forget.”

Castle Crashers Remastered is available now on Mac, PC, and Xbox One. If you happen to have a PS3 or Xbox 360, you can play it there, too.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/castle-crashers-releases-for-ps4-and-switch-soon/1100-6465688/

GDC: Google’s Confirmed Stadia Games Include Doom Eternal

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During the Google GDC 2019 keynote, company VP Phil Harrison revealed a new cloud gaming streaming service called Stadia. Following its use in the Project Stream test last year, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was featured prominently during the event, but it wasn’t the only triple-A game promised to run on the hardware. At a later point in the presentation, id Software executive producer Marty Stratton took the stage to announce Doom Eternal would be one of the games coming to Stadia.

Stratton said that Doom Eternal both plays and looks “great” on Stadia. The sequel to 2016’s Doom will play in true 4K HDR at 60 FPS on the cloud gaming platform. Stadia itself is designed to unite players, spectators, and developers all on one platform. For example, during Google’s keynote, the company showcased how you will be able to watch a trailer for a game on YouTube and then start playing said game through streaming within a few seconds.

Stadia will also feature cross-platform support. Harrison confirmed cross-platform play, allowing you to play with others regardless of platform. Stadia will also support cloud saves for game state and save files, so specific titles could have cross-platform progression as well.

Stadia will be supported across several platforms, including desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets, and phones. At launch, the service will be able to stream games up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS with surround sound, and Google has scheduled plans to increase that to 8K resolution in the future. Although you can use existing controllers with Stadia, Google is also releasing its own controller–which supports Google Assistant. Stadia scheduled to release this year.

For more information on cloud gaming, you can read up on how it works as well as which companies other than Google are investing in the technology behind it. We’re collecting all the Google Stadia gaming news announced at GDC today as well.

Doom Eternal is also loosely scheduled for 2019, coming to Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and now Stadia. Neither Bethesda or id Software has announced whether the game is coming to the Switch the same day as the other platforms, or if that version will be delayed. Eternal is more immersive and gruesome than its predecessor. The new game also offers additional means of moving around the map–including a grappling hook and free running.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-googles-confirmed-stadia-games-include-doom-et/1100-6465686/