Month: January 2018

Nintendo Switch got off to a hot start at launch last year, and that success carried through the end of 2017. Through its first 10 months on the market, Switch is now the best-selling home console in US history, according to Nintendo.

In those 10 months, which cover the period from launch in March 2017 through the beginning of this month, Nintendo has sold 4.8 million Switch units in the US. That figure tops the mark set by any previous home console in its first 10 months on the market, including the record set by the Wii, which sold 4 million units in the US in a comparable span of time. Through September, Switch sales stood at 2 million units.

Nintendo also shared news about how some of the platform’s major games have performed. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Switch’s big launch game, has seen at attach rate of “over” 55% in the US, meaning sales are at least 2.64 million units. Super Mario Odyssey, despite having launched at the end of October, is already over 60% (2.88 million). Take note that Breath of the Wild is also available on Wii U, which may be a factor in its lower attach rate. Also performing well were Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (over 50%, or 2.4 million copies) and Splatoon 2 (over 20%, or 960,000 copies).

The new high sales mark is not the first record to be broken by Switch, as it also set a new mark for Nintendo’s fastest-selling console for its first two days on the market. Nintendo expects the system to top lifetime sales of Wii U worldwide by the end of this March. The company has reportedly taken steps to increase Switch production to meet demand.

The villainous Wilson Fisk is one of the best bad guys ever to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as the crimeboss was the highlight of the first season of Daredevil. In October, it was confirmed that D’Onofrio will reprise the role for Season 3 of Netflix’s superhero show, and new on-set images have provided a few hints about what to expect when it returns later this year.

Daredevil Season 3 is currently in production in New York, and images have appeared on Twitter that show a crowd of anti-Fisk protestors gathered outside a hotel. Last time we saw the character–briefly in Season 2–he was still in prison, so presumably he is now a free man. Check the images out below:

Daredevil Season 3 will see Charlie Cox return in the title role, with Deborah Ann Woll back as Karen Page. It has also been rumored that Rosario Dawson is to reprise her recurring role as Claire Temple in both Daredevil and Iron Fist Season 2, which is currently shooting too.

In a recent interview with Collider, D’Onofrio spoke about playing Fisk.”I love the idea that I get to play him,” he said. “I wanted to do the right thing, and I want to keep doing it. I remember the first season and how all of the Daredevil and Fisk fans were talking about it. It’s a big deal to them, and that really inspired me. It really brought my enthusiasm up, a lot.”

The actor went on to talk about what fans could expect from him in Season 3. “I’ve shot some pretty cool scenes, so far,” he said. “It’s different, but it’s very Fisk. It’s still very emotional. The character is evolving. His whole deal is based on emotion, so we’re taking him down that role further.”

Nintendo has announced that the Switch is now the fastest-selling home console in the US, shifting 4.8 million units in 10 months.

In a press release, the company said that the figure beat its own record with the Wii, which sold 4 million units in the same period.

Nintendo added that 60% of US Switch owners own Super Mario Odyssey and 55% own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

With some wondering where Nintendo’s console goes in its second year, Nintendo says that owners “can look forward to Nintendo-published games like Kirby Star Allies, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 and a new game starring Yoshi. Fans can also expect continued support from major publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, SEGA, Take 2 and Bethesda”.

Continue reading…

Although Ridley Scott returned to take control of the Alien franchise with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, for a while fans were also looking forward to a new Alien movie from director Neil Blomkamp. Blomkamp’s film was going to be a direct sequel to the 1986 classic Aliens, but sadly it didn’t progress past the development stage.

Now the District 9 director has tweeted about moving on from the project, as well as releasing some unseen production artwork. “I have moved on. What I meant was that I wish there was a way for fans to see some of what we had designed,” he said. “It was an amazing chance to work in the world Ridley and James Cameron created. And collaborate with Sigourney [Weaver].”

Blomkamp also stated that a large amount of art was created for the “never to be made Aliens sequel,” including “environments to characters to set design.” The director had also previously released several pieces of concept art from it.

Blomkamp’s Alien film was first announced in 2015. At that point, Scott’s next movie was to be a direct sequel to Prometheus, but when the title was changed to Alien: Covenant, Blomkamp’s film was put on hold. In early 2017 he admitted that the chances of it happening were “slim.” Scott later stated that it will never “see the light of day.”

In related news, Scott recently said that he hopes the Alien series will continue despite the box office failure of Covenant. “There’s no reason why Alien should now not be on the same level for fans as Star Trek and Star Wars,” he said. “I think the next [question] as to where we go is, do we sustain the Alien [franchise] with the evolution of the beast or do we reinvent something else? I think you need to have an evolution on this famous beast, because he’s the best monster ever, really.”

A number of changes and additions are on the way to Smite, developer Hi-Rez Studios announced today. As part of Hi-Rez Expo 2018’s opening keynote, some major updates for the MOBA have been revealed, including the game’s next character and a revamped version of its Conquest map.

The new map is more than just a visual change, although that is part of it. This updated version is symmetrical, meaning your experience will be the same regardless of the side that your team calls home. Lanes and jungle paths are now identical on both sides, which lead designer AJ Walker says “balances the map and removes timing differences to each side. Overall, this creates a more consistent gameplay experience.”

Art all around the map has also changed, as you can see in the images below, with monsters such as the Gold Fury getting “lore-inspired makeovers.” More importantly, jungle fog makes a return, making it clearer what areas you have vision of. PC players will be able to test all of this out starting on January 17, when the map is released on the Public Test Server.

Coming before then is Smite’s next character, Cerberus. He joins the existing roster of 92 gods very soon, as update 4.25 is slated for release on PC on January 9. A PS4 and Xbox One release date wasn’t shared, but it should be coming soon as well. At some point in 2018, we’ll also see new characters introduced from two new pantheons, Slavic and Voodoo.

In addition to Hi-Rez Expo, the Smite World Championships are now underway. PS4 owners with PS Plus can still get a bonus Smite pack with a bunch of free stuff, while those on Xbox One can pick up the Smite X Edition pack that grants a free character and skin.

In-development, multi-game project Star Citizen raised $34.91 million dollars in 2017 – more than twice that of all games on Kickstarter combined, which took $17.25 million.

Per Polygon – which obtained figures from Star Citizen’s developers and Kickstarter itself – Star Citizen doubled the takings of over 350 games on the crowdfunding platform.

More amazingly, this is the second year in a row that Star Citizen’s managed the feat, after it earned $36.11 million in 2016.

Star Citizen currently comprises a single-player game, Squadron 42 (which stars Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman and Gillian Anderson among others) and a persistent universe multiplayer game, which has been in Alpha testing for several years. Neither game has a release date.

Continue reading…