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Kongregate CEO and cofounder Emily Greer is leaving the company

Kongregate announced today that its CEO and co-founder Emily Greer will be leaving the publisher to start a new gaming venture.Read More Kongregate CEO and cofounder Emily Greer is leaving the company published first on https://androiderpage.tumblr.com/

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Suda51 Game Announcement Confirmed For Momocon 2019

Industry veteran and fan favorite Suda51, known for games such as No More Heroes and Killer 7, has teased that he will be making a new announcement at Momocon 2019. Whether it is something in regards to No More Heroes, as No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again did launch on the Nintendo Switch earlier this year, or something entirely new, fans of his work will no doubt have something interesting to look forward to.

At last year’s Momocon event, Suda revealed Killer 7 would be coming to Steam, so perhaps this year’s announcement will be another port of an older title. (That is only speculation on my part.) Suda51 has been working in the games industry for 26 years. The first game he was credited on was Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout on the Super Famicom, which is what the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was called in Japan. Other titles from Suda51 include Let It Die, The Silver Case, Sine Mora EX, and Lollipop Chainsaw.

Personally, I hope that Suda’s announcement is something completely new. He never fails to come up with interesting characters set in unique worlds, so I think it would be great to see something original, instead of something like another No More Heroes game. His creative potential is truly limitless, and I am curious to see just what his latest announcement at Momocon 2019 will end up being.

Momocon 2019 will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Georgia World Congress Center and will run for a total of four days, from Thursday May 23, 2019 to Sunday May 26, 2019. For those who are unable to attend the event in person, you can watch Suda’s panel live on Twitch on Saturday May 25, 2019 at 5:30 pm ET.

Are you anxiously anticipating Suda51’s new announcement? Will you be attending this year’s Momocon event? Let us know in the comments below!

[Source: Destructoid]

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Kojima Gets Deep When It Comes to Norman Reedus’ Role in Death Stranding

Last week, we reported on some minor tidbits of information revealed about Death Stranding at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was reaffirmed that Death Stranding will be an open world game, which is certainly easy to wrap your head around, compared to the rest of what we’ve seen. Kojima noted that “connection” will be a significant theme, as well. Today, Geoff Keighley, mastermind of the annual Game Awards ceremony posted a snippet from a talk he had with Kojima during a panel at the film festival.

Keighley asked Kojima about why it was important to have Norman Reedus’ tattoos in-game, when presumably, we aren’t playing as Reedus, but rather the character, Sam Bridges. Kojima said the following through a translator:

In Death Stranding I’m trying to put every aspect [of Norman] in there, and you will see his … everything, in the game. You’ll see Norman as Sam in the game, and you’ll see his acting, and you’ll enjoy that. You have to become Norman when you play. And Norman says a lot of things that you’ll probably feel, playing as Norman. So he’s Norman and Sam as the same time.

Reedus asked, “So, they’ll play as me?” To which Kojima responded, “No, they’ll be you.”

Hideo says that if Norman gets a new tattoo, he will patch it into Death Stranding as DLC. From our talk at @tribeca last week. pic.twitter.com/uQvPszCHSw

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 1, 2019

This conversation was sparked because Reedus got a new tattoo, which Kojima insisted on rescanning to put it into the game. This is something that most game directors would never consider, but we’ll just chalk this up to it being a typical Kojima move. They then joked that if Reedus got another tattoo after the game shipped, they’d implement it as DLC.

All of that being said, we still don’t have much of an idea as to what this game actually is, other than some sort of open world adventure. It’s unclear if it really will be mind-blowing of if Kojima is just speaking like this to generate interest. Whichever it is, we are curious to find out more about Death Stranding, which should be in a month or so, according to Techradar’s post.

[Source: Twitter and Techradar]

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Former NetherRealm Contractors Share Horrifying Stories of Working on Mortal Kombat and Injustice

2019 seems to be the year of crunch and unhealthy work practices in the video game industry. Not because it’s just now happening for the first time, but because many former and current developers are speaking out against companies that have allegedly mistreated them or mishandled issues in the workplace. The latest report comes from US Gamer, and it covers the alleged poor work practices at NetherRealm Studios, the team behind Mortal Kombat and Injustice.

The report highlights issues from the point of view of four former NetherRealm contractors, all of which wished to remain unnamed, for fear of retaliation. The crux is that contractors are useful to the company because they don’t receive benefits, are paid far less, and can be motivated by the reward of eventually being a full-time employee.

Many new college grads just trying to break into the video game industry are hired at NetherRealm as contractors, 75% of which are reportedly “first-time employees.” Being new to the industry, some contractors are willing to deal with discomfort at first, because it might mean they’ll get hired on as full-time employees later. Here’s a snippet from US Gamer’s report:

Another source said that the ‘lowest tier of contractor employees were put in the same windowless room,’ a box-like, renovated garage that was often filled to the brim with temp workers.

Even more damning is the small amount of pay pay contractors receive, getting as little as $12 an hour. This is the minimum wage in Chicago, where NetherRealm is located. Because of this, when crunch would roll around, contractors would be willing to take on more hours just to survive. One source said this:

A big part of that too was because we were paid so little. I barely made enough to get by on my wages and I relied on crunch to have some extra income just to get by.

Another source noted that they were often at the office quite late:

We’d be there all day, we’d hardly see the sunlight sometimes, you’ll be going home really late and that can be kind of dangerous depending on where you live in the city.

During the development of Injustice 2, there was a substantial leak online. This prompted NetherRealm president Shaun Himmerick to have a meeting with contractors, to get “screamed at,” according to one source. Many alleged that the meeting was not constrictive and that it involved Himmerick unfairly accusing them of causing the leak and that it was “demoralizing”.

It was humiliating to get grouped in a room and get screamed at by the studio head Shaun Himmerick. We were threatened with legal action and being blacklisted in the industry.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it was only the contractors who were treated this way, as none of the permanent employees of NetherRealm received the same “talking-down to”.

Of course, unhealthy working conditions are present with full-time and temporary employees, but it seems like the latter might have it worse off. Companies can leverage the reward of full-time against them and treat them unfairly. And when a contractor quits or once their contract expires, the company can just hire more “bodies,” per a report on similar practices at Epic Games.

It’s horrifying to hear how unfairly many employees are treated at game development studios. However, it’s a positive thing that there is more awareness of this, which will hopefully lead to a solution.

[Source: US Gamer]

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PSA: Mac App Store facing issues for many users [U]

The Mac App Store is having trouble today properly displaying content. The main featured Discover tab and more are showing up as almost mostly pages.

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Aetna insurance customers can now earn a free Apple Watch with new Attain wellness program

In January, health insurance company Aetna announced a new “Attain” wellness initiative relying on the power of the Apple Watch. That program has officially launched to customers this week, allowing them to earn real world rewards – including a free Apple Watch – in exchange for healthy behavior.

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Blizzard Has Been Building Towards a Greater Narrative Within Overwatch

Is Overwatch building up to something bigger? Despite criticisms for a lack of a dedicated story mode, it appears that Blizzard Entertainment is in fact planning some kind of Overwatch narrative. However, instead of simply launching it with the game itself, the studio opted to build out the world and its heroes first. Despite this piecemeal approach, it all has apparently been in service to a larger story that will soon reach its culmination. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Blizzard was heavily inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Describing all of the Overwatch media as a “phase,” similar to how Marvel operates, Overwatch lead writer Michael Chu sees all of this lore-building as laying groundwork for a bigger story. There’s no clear indication of when or in what form we’ll see this narrative, but we’re evidently heading towards something big. And when we ultimately do get it, it looks like it’ll mark the next chapter of Overwatch’s life.

When speaking about Blizzard’s goals for the narrative, he noted, “We feel like that phase is coming to an end. We’ve moved a lot of the pieces that we need to explain into place.”

If and when this grand narrative comes to fruition, it would address one of the biggest complaints from the Overwatch fanbase. Ever since it launched in 2016, the hero shooter has gotten repeated criticism for its lack of a dedicated story. Rather than putting it in the game proper, lore-related material has instead been released in the form of supplemental works like short films and comics.

The only time Overwatch itself dabbles in any story-related material is during its annual “Archives event,” with 2019’s being the Havana-set “Storm Rising.”  While almost all of the Overwatch stories we’ve gotten are set in the past, the recent “Bastet” story does take place in the present. In fact, it could signal the beginning of a new direction for Overwatch lore, leading to this “culmination” that’s been teased.

While a big story is promised, how we’ll get it is unknown. Will it be a part of an Overwatch update, or maybe even a separate product?  What would you want from this Overwatch campaign of sorts? Is it too little, too late? Let us know!

[Source: IGN]

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Anthem Loses Key Development Staff Going Forward

Michael Gamble, Lead Producer at BioWare, has confirmed in a tweet that he is no longer working on Anthem. Going forward, Ben Irving, Lead Producer on Anthem, and Chad Robertson, Head of Live Service at BioWare, are the ones to follow, in regards to the game’s future developments.

Mark Darrah, Executive Producer on Anthem and Dragon Age, also said, “We aren’t working on Dragon Age 3. We aren’t working on Dragon Age 5. I guess that’s that.” So it is safe to say (but take it with a grain of salt) that Dragon Age 4 is what’s next for BioWare.

Check out the Twitter thread!

@BenIrvo and @crobertson_atx are your dudes to follow.

— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) May 1, 2019

Anthem‘s post launch situation has been something of a mess lately. Recently, a Reddit user made a survey for Anthem players to take, and the results were not a promising sight. When players were asked, “How much longer do you think you will be playing Anthem on an active scale?” 52.9% of players surveyed answered saying that they would “never” play the game again. Couple this with the fact that Twitch views for Anthem are at an all time low, and it is not difficult to see that the game is not in good shape as of late. Losing some of its key development staff is not going to help the game either.

Anthem has been a sore spot on the gaming community for some time now, whether it was thanks to ridiculous grind or the lack of additional armor sets for players’ in-game Javelins, the game just hasn’t provided fans with that long term experience they were hoping for. When you compare Anthem to a game like Destiny 2, which is also a live service game full of customization, Anthem has definitely missed the mark when it comes to delivering post launch content.

One of the main reasons for Anthem‘s poor post launch situation is the fact that the content roadmap has been delayed in favor of fixing the game first. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help consumers who bought the game and beat everything within a short period of time. Players need a reason to stick around when it comes to online service games, and Anthem has simply been unable to deliver on that front.

What do you think of this announcement that different people are taking over for Anthem going forward? Let us know in the comments below!

[Source: Twitter]

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IDC report: Huawei increases lead over Apple, with Samsung in its sights in battle for top spot

First quarter 2019 results reveal that smartphone shipment volumes are down 6.6% compared to 2018. Four of the top six companies show declining results, but Huawei had a 50% increase over the past year as it approaches the top spot. IDC report: Huawei increases lead over Apple, with Samsung in its sights in battle for top spot published first on https://androiderpage.tumblr.com/

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GamesBeat Summit: Watch all the Day 2 talks

Here you can watch all the video from the second day of sessions at GamesBeat Summit 2019. We talk more about communities and reinvention.Read More GamesBeat Summit: Watch all the Day 2 talks published first on https://androiderpage.tumblr.com/

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AMD CEO Says the PS5 Will Have a ‘Special Sauce’

During an interview with CNBC, AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) CEO Lis Su discussed some of what the company’s plan is for working with Sony on the PlayStation 5. If you’re unaware, AMD is the company building a computer chip for Sony’s next box, which we recently learned a lot about from a Wired interview. Apparently, it is something “special.”

The CNBC interview had this interesting tidbit from Su:

What we have done with Sony is really architect something for their application, for their special sauce. It’s a great honor for us. We’re really excited about what the next generation PlayStation will do.

This “special sauce” has gotten a lot of people excited. It’s not really much to go off of, but the simple fact that the system might have a major identifiable feature is telling. Up until this point, all we’ve heard is that it will be a beefier, more powerful version of what came before, so we’re thinking about what Su could have been alluding to. It could have just been an off-hand remark—but there is a lot of speculation on what it could mean.

From what we’ve learned so far, the PS5 will use an AMD chip with a CPU from the third-generation Ryzen. The CPU is “based on the third generation of AMD’s Ryzen line and contains eight cores of the company’s new 7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture,” according to the Wired interview with system architect, Mark Cerny.

It will also support physical media, have backwards compatibility with PS4, use a solid state drive, which will significantly lower loading speeds, and apparently support 8K visuals. It’s unclear how all of those features will be implemented, but they are confirmed to be present in the PS5, which isn’t officially even called the PS5 yet.

Going back to AMD, you might recall that they’re working with Google on their new Stadia platform, which will focus on streaming.

It’s unclear what this chip will be and involve, or if this “special sauce” is something that doesn’t have much significance, but it’s interesting, nonetheless.

[Source: CNBC via GameSpot]

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Microsoft’s TORC will let you feel squeezable objects in AR and VR

Conveying the elasticity of an object in AR or VR could made the difference between carrying a virtual ball and actually feeling its texture in your hand.Read More Microsoft’s TORC will let you feel squeezable objects in AR and VR published first on https://androiderpage.tumblr.com/

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GamesBeat Summit: Watch all the Day 1 talks

Here you can watch all the video from the first day of sessions at GamesBeat Summit 2019. This includes the big talk between Ted Price and Vince Zampella.Read More GamesBeat Summit: Watch all the Day 1 talks published first on https://androiderpage.tumblr.com/

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Latest Apple Pay promo takes $15 off 1-800-Flowers orders ahead of Mother’s Day

Ahead of Mother’s Day next weekend, Apple’s weekly Apple Pay promotions have made a return. This time, Apple is offering $15 off at 1-800-Flowers when you shop the “Mother’s Day Collection” and checkout with Apple Pay.

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Apple Watch Series 4 hits all-time low price, MacBook Air $250 off, and more in Thursday’s best deals

Today’s best deals include new all-time lows on Apple Watch Series 4, Amazon takes $250 off MacBook Air, and new Anker discounts. Head below for more.

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Journeys to the PlayStation 4 This June

Fresh off of the Japanese release, XSEED Games has announced that The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II will be coming to North America quite soon. The hugely popular JRPG sequel will be making its way Westward on June 4, 2019. It follows the release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel back in March 2019. In addition, fans can also preorder the upcoming physical “Relentless Edition,” which comes with plenty of exclusive items.

In addition to a physical copy of Trails of Cold Steel II, the special edition also comes with a special Ouroboros Emblem Pin, along with seven exclusive Sept-Terrion cards. There’s also a soundtrack containing 23 full-length musical tracks from the game. The whole thing comes in a SteelBook case just for this special edition. It may be just the thing for The Legend of Heroes superfans to show their love of this series.

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Trails of Cold Steel II is the second entry in the Trails of Cold Steel series, itself part of the larger The Legend of Heroes franchise. The first two Trails of Cold Steel games originally launched on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. XSEED then announced that it was bringing these games to the PlayStation 4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel was released in North America back in March 2019. If you haven’t checked this game out yet, be sure to read our review of the Vita version!

Excitingly, players who play the previous game in the series can transfer their save, no matter the system. Trails of Cold Steel save files can be transferred from the PS4, PS3, and Vita versions to Trails of Cold Steel II. Events in the sequel will relate to what players accomplished in the first Trails of Cold Steel game. This will allow players “to see the results of some of their earlier choices and accomplishments” in the sequel.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II will release on June 4, 2019 for the PlayStation 4. Trails of Cold Steel III and Trails of Cold Steel IV have already released in Japan, though release dates for North America has not yet been announced.

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Report: Apple Watch quarterly shipments grew almost 50% YoY, continues as the number one smartwatch

Apple doesn’t share specifics on Apple Watch sales, but Counterpoint has shared its estimates on global smartwatch sales for last quarter. The report shows Apple Watch saw more impressive growth, 49% YoY for the March quarter which again made it the number one smartwatch by a large margin.

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