We’re excited

Note: The accompanying image with this story is of a Nintendo Switch OLED console, available now

So, first of all of there’s always the chance that all of what you’re about read might be a little fake-news. There’s really no way to tell right now, since Nintendo hasn’t officially announced anything about the successor to the gaming juggernaut that is the Switch.

Website GamesIndustry broke the story today, covering a post that a company called Mobapad had added to its Facebook page. If you don’t know the name, and we didn’t, Mobapad is a Chinese company that produces controllers for the current Switch console. Said post gets into a few different areas, including a handful of very highlightable lines, some of which you might’ve admittedly heard before.

For one thing, and this is probably the biggest point made, Mobapad calls the Switch 2 more of a Switch Pro than a full generational leap. That’s something that should have already been in the minds of most Nintendo fans, as the upcoming hardware has been rumored to be just that for some time. If it turns out to be true, it’s hardly going to be a shock.

Other points from the post include a note that the new console will have a bigger screen, and one that will run in 1080p. That would be a little nice bump up, for those of you who prefer to play on the go instead of docked. Speaking of handheld play too, and again if the post is accurate, the Switch 2 will sport magnetic joy-cons. So there could be a bit of an ease of use upgrade on the way there. Though while it sounds neat, we do have to wonder if magnetic joy cons might be a challenge to keep attached to the console for some, while in use.

And finally, while it shouldn’t come as a surprise either, the upcoming game carts will reportedly be different. According to Mobapad, the Switch 2 will have a new form factor for its cartridges, making them unusable on a Switch 1. But before you get too twisted, the company added that original Switch games will be playable on the new unit. Backwards compatibility is always something that we’ll get behind here at BG, so hooray for that.

Hooray if any of this is true, that’s to say. Lending some credence it all though, is that the original Facebook posting from Mobapad has been edited. And as of right now, all mentions to the Switch 2’s details are gone. Interesting.

Source: GamesIndustry

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Disqualification

Are you a WWE fan? How about a lapsed fan? Either way, chances are that you do pay attention to the video game series from 2K. The series has traditionally included not only modern superstars, but classics as well.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the modern product, but I love the iconic 80s and late-90s stuff. And even with all the modern stuff in there, 2K19 was a joy for me. 2K20 though… well it didn’t exactly get the best reception.

Loaded with oodles of technical issues and without elements that fans missed, 2K19 was the first game to come out of the post-Yukes era. If you remember, 2K Games had split from the usual WWE developer, and didn’t have a heck of a lot of time to produce the game afterwards.

So with that, fans were looking forward to the 2020 edition of the game to see just how 2K Games would do with a full year of dev time behind it. Well you can keep waiting if Justin Leeper can be believed.

According to Leeper, who is a former writer for the series, there will not be a game this year. Leeper cites his own sources for this, and that’s fairly believable given his experience with the studio in question. He also points to the ongoing global coronavirus issues as a hindrance.

What’s NXT?

Aside from throwing cold water on this year’s WWE release, Leeper also says that another game is coming instead. But what could that be? Well, as we told you some time ago, 2K Games has been working on a second in-house wrestling game series. Yes, in addition to the WWE games.

So presumably, that’s what we’ll be getting instead. The question of course, is just what that game includes. Is it totally original? Something featuring NXT, or maybe even a secret NWA or AEW license? Or might it be another ‘Legends’-type game that is stocked with classic grapplers only?

We just don’t know right now. Though, if this mystery game is coming up later this year, we should hear something pretty soon. Maybe via a digital event around what would have bee E3 time? Stay tuned.

Source: MCV

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Switching again

For a while now, there have been rumors swirling around Nintendo’s Switch. Even though the console just released in 2017, and even though it’s cleaning up at retail, some have insisted that Nintendo was hard at work on a revamp… or two.

The rumors were, more or less, that there was a more portable (cheaper) Switch coming, alongside a more powerful version of the hardware. Those rumors though, seemed to be dashed since Nintendo hasn’t really done much publicly to even hint that such a move was coming. And, of course, the E3 show for 2019 just passed without so much as a mention.

That isn’t stopping the Wall Street Journal though, who continue to report that something new is on the horizon. According to industry site MCV, the paper just ran a report citing “anonymous sources” that contradicts Nintendo.

Though the original story is behind a pay-wall, MCV says the Journal has sources from within Nintendo’s “supply chain”. It’s those sources who say that there are indeed two new Switch’s being prepared for launch.

Just as previous rumors have said, one is said to be “much more powerful”, while the second will be a streamlined version, presumably with purely portable gaming in mind.

There’s still no confirmation from Nintendo on any of this, and I wouldn’t expect any. Unless the new Switch’s are being readied for a Holiday ’19 launch, it’s unlikely that we’d hear word of them till after the New Year.

Read the full story at the link below, and then stay tuned.

Source: MCV

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Switching gears

The Switch has, to put it mildly, been another hit for Nintendo. While the Wii generations went from great to dismal, the Switch has been a star. The little console has surged in sales and cemented the Nintendo name in the modern gaming arena once again.

And now, there may be something else on the way, if a report from the Wall Street Journal can be believed. As this hasn’t even remotely been confirmed by Nintendo though, take all of this with a grain of salt. As for what’s rumored, well we might be getting not 1, but 2 new Switch’s.

Nintendo is alleged to be showing the consoles off at its E3 Direct presentation, and they’ll be both more and less powerful than the standard model.

The lighter-weight unit will supposedly be aimed squarely at casual gamers, and will have a cheaper cost than the base Switch. As for the powerhouse of the family, don’t get too excited – it still likely won’t be able to touch the higher end Xbox and PS4 models in terms of raw power.

What it will do though, is stock some features that the current Switch does not. What might those be? Your guess is as good as ours.

Stay tuned, we’ll have much more on this, if it’s accurate, come E3 2019. For now, you can read more at the source link below.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

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Infinitely exciting

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Halo game. And honestly, the last one was a little lacking in the enthusiasm department, seemingly even with fans. Distance does make the heart grow fonder though, and it sure feels like Halo Infinite is going to be a monster of a launch.

So it’s pretty exciting then, that we could see it at E3 this year. Not that it’d be strange, since it was announced a while ago, but exciting nonetheless. Know what’s even more exciting? That it could be accompanied by the next generation of Xbox hardware. Well, two next generation units to be exact.

Website IGN is reporting that that could be the case, if a French video game website is to be believed. Going deeper into the rumor mill, that same site also says that Scarlet (that’s the code name) will come in two flavors.

Cross-generation

The first is “Lockhart”, which will be less powerful than “Anaconda”, the top of the line unit. So pretty much the way the current generation is ending, just from the beginning. It also reminds me of the original Xbox 360 launch a little, with the “Arcade” console hitting along with the standard system. Bottom line- Microsoft has done this kind of stuff before. Often even.

Reportedly also, Halo Infinite will launch on both the new-gen (whatever it’ll eventually be called) Xbox and the Xbox One. That makes sense too, though I’d have loved to have seen Infinite be a Scarlet exclusive. It makes more sense to me, if you’re trying to get fans to buy into the new experience.

Whatever happens, we don’t have long till we find out for sure. E3 2019 is only a few months away.

Source: IGN

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The next big thing

Part of this rumor, and it is a rumor, is almost undeniably true. We all but know for certain that Sony is working on a PS5. That much has basically been said plainly at this point.

Of course, what we don’t know is how far off that new console might be. And more than that, which games are currently in development for it. If this commentary is to be believed though, there could be a whole lot.

Website GamesIndustry is reporting that an industry analyst named Daniel Ahmad says that Sony’s first-party studios are already switching dev time from the PS4 to the PS5. He goes on to say that some games currently in development for the 4 will be shuffled over to the 5. Adding that there’s a possibility there might be some cross-generation play possible.

That should bring a number of triple-A titles to mind, including The Last of Us sequel. And then there’s what he said after that, which is even more interesting.

Blockbusters to come

Ahmad claims that Sony “has a couple of unannounced games (already existing IP) with PS4 in mind but I’m conscious that there have been discussions around making them cross gen/next gen titles”. Unannounced stuff from already existing properties? What could he mean by that?

Uncharted? Spider-Man? God of War? Two of those three just had games release last year, but if the new PlayStation is looking at a 2020 release (or later) then it’s entirely feasible that new entries would be in work now, to prep for launch.

Again though, all of this is hearsay at the moment, and certainly none of it has been validated by Sony itself. It’s a tantalizing peek at what might be though.

While Sony will be skipping E3 this year, they will be in attendance at GDC. So there’s a possibility we might be hearing some more solid rumblings sooner than later.

Stay tuned.

Source: MCV

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Next big thing

A while ago, we told you about No Man’s Sky Next, a fresh dose of content for the impossibly huge, exploration focused space sim. Basically, it’ll include a whole mess of new stuff, though all of it has yet to be detailed. I actually don’t think there’s even been an official announcement made yet about it. Not that I can recall anyway.

I think it’s also pretty safe to say that most people thought it’d be at least a little ways off. It’d be understandable if you did, since it was only revealed to be “in development” about a month ago. That’s not to be however, if you believe a release date that’s leaked out thanks to Amazon’s Italian wing.

From that, it looks like gamers will be able to dive into the new content as early as this June the 29th.  Presumably, that date would also include the downloadable updates for legacy owners. And those are downloads, by the way, that will be free.

If you’ve already got a copy for PS4 or PC, you can grab the new revision at no cost. Obviously though, that date should also mean the new retail boxes will hit, including the Xbox One version. So if you’ve been waiting to trek across the colorful cosmos of NMS, your second chance is almost here.

Source: IGN

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You can wait a little longer of the new Zelda. Right?

Well, this is kind of a mixed-emotion sort of announcement.

On the one hand, if Breath of the Wild needs more time in the oven, then that’s what it should get. On the other, REALLY? Seriously? One of the most hotly anticipated games of 2017, on any console, is really going to miss the launch of Nintendo’s new system? Then again, this is Nintendo we’re talking about. The company that sent single digits of NES Classics to some stores at launch.

In any event, this latest news of delay came to us via MCV, who’s reporting on a rumor. That rumor though, should be taken with just a lil’ seriousness since it comes from Emily Rogers, who seems to know from what she speaks when it comes to the Big N. So what’s she say?

According to Rogers, localization on Breath of the Wild is taking longer than anticipated. It’s looking like it’ll be complete some time around December. According to the source, that means that appropriate testing won’t be done for another four to six months after that, as BotW is a monster of a game.

And all that places launch in the Summer, not in March. That’s the window for the Nintendo Switch’s release. So again, there’s two ways you could take this news. Think of it this way, it’ll be nice to have something meaty to play over the usually dead Summer months. I guess.

Source: MCV

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Leaks aplenty

We should point out that as of now none of this info is ‘official’. Remember that there’s a date that’s been set for further Switch talk, and it’s not till January. Bottom line, even though most of this sounds very likely, it should all be taken with a grain of salt.

Still though, it does all sound very realistic. And I imagine that when we do finally get the full tech-specs, this is going to be all pretty much spot-on. So what’s the news? Well…

Storage and charging

Reportedly, the Switch will support Micro SD cards up to 128 gigs, and that’s it. Nope, apparently there’ll be no external hard drive support built into the console, and there’s a surprisingly good reason for that. It’s all about portability.

According to website Lets Play Videogames, the console supporting external HD’s wouldn’t be conducive to portability. And that seems like something that Nintendo is taking very seriously with the Switch.

Still, 128 gigabytes doesn’t sound like it’s going to be enough for today’s digital offerings. Today’s games don’t exactly skimp on the GB’s after all, and if your plan is to buy everything digitally so you don’t have to swap carts on the go, well it looks like you might have to carry around more than a few SD cards.

Another interesting note in the same article, is that the charging port is apparently on the base of the tablet. That makes total sense since the tablet slides into the dock while you’re home, so it can charge up and you can play on the TV. Here’s the thing though, that tablet also has a kickstand.

For now anyway, it looks like there’s going to be no way to actually charge and play the Switch while in tablet configuration. You could seemingly do it while in handheld mode though, so you’d most likely have to change things up when you run low on juice.

A touching screen

Another huge question that I definitely had with the Switch was whether or not that big screen would support touch controls. And it sounds like it will indeed do just that.

Eurogamer reports that the console’s portable screen (which is 6.2 inches) sports multitouch. So gaming options that players have come to expect from mobiles and tablets should be easy to adapt here. But what about when you’re home and the Switch is docked? How would you use touch controls then?

Well that might be a non-issue since one of the Joy-Cons (the Switch’s controllers) will allegedly have Wiimote-like functionality. So the touchscreen of the Switch’s portable configuration should translate pretty well to your TV at home. The only difference being that, instead of your finger, you’ll just use the Joy-Con. Not the most elegant of things, but probably the only way to translate things effectively.

It’s also been reported that the portable screen will be 720p in resolution. You probably suspected that it’d be HD, but it’s good to actually hear that from an outside source.

In any event, that’s the latest on the Switch. It’s a little good, and a little not-so good to be honest, but it all sounds very solid in terms of what we’ll actually be seeing. And as we await the typically mysterious Nintendo and their January presser, at least we have a little something to go on.

Source: MCV

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Xbox games, in the classic style

The console that brought Microsoft into the gaming space, the Xbox was a pretty big hit with fans. Of course, it wasn’t the smash that the Xbox 360 was, but it had some excellent titles. It had some great graphics for the time period too.

Its successor, the 360, eventually got backwards compatibility with that original big black box of course. As to Microsoft’s current home console though, well there hasn’t been the slightest mention of it. Enter Phil Spencer. The head of everything Xbox, Spencer has just gone on record saying that the possibility of having original Xbox games playable on the Xbox One hasn’t been ruled out.

Now, don’t get too crazy and start digging up that box at the bottom of the closet. Nothing has been confirmed in any way whatsoever. In fact, this basically amounted to Spencer saying that he’d like to see it happen at some point. Still though, it does make you wonder.

It certainly didn’t seem like there was a chance for Xbox 360 compatibility, and yet that happened. So possibly, should enough gamers make enough noise at the though, there’s a chance that we’ll see this new expansion of back-compat come to pass.

What do you think? Is this something that you’d want to see? And if it did happen, what’d be the first game that you play?

Source: MCV

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