Mike Suszek
Articles by Mike Suszek
Sony: PS4 demand is challenging European supply
The PlayStation 4 is in high demand for the second holiday season in a row, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO Andrew House. Without offering specific sales numbers, House told Reuters that the console is potentially "going to be quite inventory challenged." Shipments for the PS4 reached 13.5 million consoles as of the end of October. "I'm not going to say you won't be able to find a PlayStation 4," House added. "I think it's going to be kind of hand to mouth in terms of that market." The CEO noted that sales for the system in December were in line with Sony's projections, though it was a "tougher" month thanks to the $50 holiday price cut by its main competitor in the United States, Microsoft's Xbox One. While its gaming division is thriving, Sony upped its loss forecast to $2 billion in September due to struggling smartphone sales and opted to not renew its FIFA sponsorship at the beginning of this month to spend more money on structural reforms. [Image: Sony]
Investors plug $6 million into Majesco
Majesco Entertainment completed an investment round that resulted in $6 million in funding, the Cooking Mama publisher announced today. $1 million of the funds were issued to the company with the rest stashed in escrow until certain, as-yet-unknown conditions are met by Majesco. The company also appointed two people to its boards of directors to replace two that stepped down, one of whom is Jesse Sutton, who will remain Majesco's CEO after resigning from the company's board. SEC filings in November admitted that Majesco "suffered losses that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern." It reported a 27.2 percent drop year-over-year in net revenue in September, as well as net losses of $2.7 million. As a result, Majesco laid off several staff in October to reduce fixed costs. The company also noted last month that it is "currently not developing any significant new games for release in fiscal 2015," which ends on October 31, 2015. [Image: Majesco]
Far Cry 4 plans a prison break for January 13
Far Cry 4's "Escape from Durgesh Prison" DLC will be available to download on January 13, Ubisoft announced today. The DLC will have players racing across Kyrat to finish challenges and recover lost weapons, upgrading their gear and skills along the way. Escape from Durgesh Prison will be playable in both single player and cooperative multiplayer modes, but should they die in the DLC, players will have to start the mission over from the beginning. Escape from Durgesh Prison was revealed as part of Far Cry 4's season pass in October, which gives buyers access to multiple add-on missions including the season pass-exclusive DLC, The Syringe. Those without the $30 season pass can still pick up Escape from Durgesh Prison separately for $10. Far Cry 4 launched in November and received praise for its "interesting and absorbing" world in our review. [Image: Ubisoft]
GTA 5 'Festive Surprise' brings Christmas fear to Los Santas
As the snow drifted quietly this wintry morn, Rockstar Games offered a new "Festive Surprise" update for Grand Theft Auto 5. Players will now be able to use proximity mines and a homing missile launcher in the game, which will feature occasional snowy days. The update also adds holiday pajamas, Christmas sweaters, hats, scarves, masks and other festive gear for free, available through Monday, January 5. GTA 5's Festive Surprise update also features special gifts on Christmas Day (December 25) and a firework launcher and firework rocket ammo to celebrate New Year's. Lastly, players can pick up four new vehicles, such as the Hot Rod Christmas Ratloader and the Slam Van. The open world game's update also tweaked a few of the game's mechanics, adding an on/off switch for the first-person mode's auto-level setting as well as deadzone and acceleration slider controls. Better yet, players are now able to own a third property in GTA Online, allowing them to own up to 30 cars and 9 bicycles. While the Festive Surprise update is available to all players, a recent developer Q&A addressed concerns over next-gen-exclusive updates, such as first-person mode. Rockstar stressed that "there may be some updates that are only technically possible on the new hardware," though it does "hope to continue delivering as many updates as we can for all four consoles for as long as possible." GTA Online's heist missions will be available for all players in early 2015. [Image: Take-Two]
Simogo launches The Sensational December Machine on PC, Mac
Hot on the heels of launching its last narrative-driven game roughly one month ago, Simogo offered another game today for free, The Sensational December Machine. The Device 6 developer just teased the PC and Mac game on its Twitter account yesterday before offering it as a holiday gift to its fans today. Simogo's last game, The Sailor's Dream, was received rather well in our review and is available on iPad for $3.99. The Sensational December Machine is a "short interactive story about an inventor and her unusual new creation." The brief interactive story took three weeks to create and includes hand-drawn art and text as well as "dynamic music" that evolves alongside the story provided by Daniel Olsén, the composer for Device 6 and Year Walk. "We hope you'll snuggle up with this little seasonal, and very three-dimensional, tale in fullscreen mode," the developer added. "Perhaps with some good headphones, and a warm drink by your side." The Sensational December Machine can be downloaded through Simogo's website. [Image: Simogo]
Mega Man channels Cut Man to deal with Virtual Console prices
Capcom kicked off a sale on games in its Mega Man series through the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops today. The sale coincides with the 27th anniversary of the iconic blue hero as well as the debut of another game on Nintendo's Virtual Console: Mega Man Zero. The Game Boy Advance classic is now available on the Wii U eShop for $7.99. The "Mega Manniversary" sale hacks 50 percent off the price of six Mega Man games until Monday, December 22 at 11:59 a.m. ET (8:59 a.m. PT). On sale are the Game Boy versions of Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 4 for 3DS, each down to $1.49. As for Wii U, players can download NES games Mega Man 5 and Mega Man 6 for $2.49 each as well as Mega Man 7 for $3.99. Of course, kids these days may have troubles with these difficult retro platformers. [Image: Capcom]
Veteran producer Tak Fujii departs Konami
Veteran producer Tak Fujii announced his departure from Konami today following a "great 20 years of creation." Fujii revealed the career move via Twitter, giving thanks to "all who supported, loved my titles." Fujii's time with Konami began in 1997, serving as audio director for 11 years with the publisher. Fujii worked on a number of games with Konami, including the Pro Evolution Soccer series, Q-Entertainment's Ninety-Nine Nights 2, the PS3 port of No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise and Volition's Darksiders, which Konami published in Japan. As for Fujii's future, the producer added that he "will be freelance for a while." Of course, Fujii may be best known for providing an interesting presentation at E3 2010, about which he also tweeted, "don't think that was the best of me." [Image: Konami]
Assassin's Creed: Unity patch is 40 GB on Xbox One for some
The fourth patch for Assassin's Creed: Unity arrived yesterday as a sizable 6.7 GB download. At least, that's the case for non-Xbox One players; some players using the Microsoft console are facing 40 GB downloads for the patch, effectively the size of the full game on the system's hard drive. Ubisoft explained the situation in an update on its support site, noting the "issue with the patch downloading process is replacing the entire game instead of just the parts affected by the patch." The publisher is "working with Microsoft on a solution to reduce the total download to the intended size so that you can get back into the game faster," though it does not have an estimated timeline for the patch's fix just yet. Ubisoft did provide an alternative workaround for disc-based Assassin's Creed: Unity owners: By uninstalling and then re-installing the game, the patch will revert to the correct 6.7 GB download size. The publisher briefly delayed the launch of the patch earlier this week to "refurbish" the game's Paris map. The update is expected to fix ""most of the remaining issues [Ubisoft's] players have been reporting." [Image: Ubisoft]
The Sims 4 update gets paid time off, adds holiday cheer
EA updated The Sims 4 this week, adding a significant amount of new content to the life simulation game. Your sims can now go after an athletic or business career like Hall of Famer or Business Tycoon and accrue paid time off for any of their occupations, plus they can take family leave from their jobs to celebrate new life entering their families. The developer also changed career objectives, cleaning out repetitive or overly specific goals and tweaking ones that were too difficult to complete. The update also introduces the free, downloadable Holiday Celebration Pack, which adds a wreath, snowman, holiday decorations and festive sweaters to the game. Additionally, sims are now able to eat the fruits and vegetables they harvest from gardening activities, and can also die at venues. EA also fixed a few game-crashing bugs and other issues, such as a crash that occurred when players tried placing roofs away from their lot. Head to The Sims 4's patch notes page to see the full list of changes. [Image: EA]
Halo: Master Chief Collection patch aims at stability, matchmaking
Halo: The Master Chief Collection received another patch this week aimed at fixing the game collection's matchmaking, parties, roster and other issues. The latest update is expected to improve the "reliability" of matchmaking and also guarantee that split-screen, local multiplayer friends are always on the same team in Halo 2. Microsoft said that players should have fewer problems when joining or managing their parties as well. The Master Chief Collection's update should improve stability across the game's menus, campaign playlists, matchmaking and custom games. Full patch notes are available on 343 Industries' blog. The four-game Halo collection launched in November for Xbox One and was met with a number of issues, primarily in the game's online components. It led to an apology from 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross, who said the developer did not deliver "the experience [players] deserve," and that the developer would "make this right" with its fans. 343 Industries also received criticism for a promotion earlier this month that gave Xbox Live Rewards members that purchased the collection $15 in marketplace credit. The developer says another update is in the works to fix a "Legacy" control option issue in Halo 2 and Halo 4, and will offer further content updates to improve the collection. [Image: Microsoft]
Countdown to 2015 Xbox sale starts: Dark Souls 2, Resident Evil, more
Microsoft kicked off its "Countdown to 2015" sale today on the Xbox Store, discounting a myriad of games with bigger price cuts for Xbox Live Gold members. This week's deals are good until December 22 and feature Lords of the Fallen at 40 percent off, Thief at 67 percent off, Wolfenstein: The New Order for half-price and The Evil Within at half-off as well for Xbox One, among a slew of other games. Microsoft also discounted The Crew/Assassin's Creed: Unity as well as The Crew/Far Cry 4 bundles by 25 percent for the week. Two Xbox One games are also on sale for today only: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its season pass are each 33 percent off and Lego: The Hobbit is 50 percent off. Among the many Xbox 360 games on sale this week, Dark Souls 2 is half-off, Tomb Raider is 67 percent off, Halo: Spartan Assault and Dance Central 3 are each 67 percent off and BioShock Infinite's price is slashed by 85 percent. A handful of games in the Resident Evil series are discounted this week as well, such as Resident Evil 5, Revelations and Code Veronica X by 67 percent each, Raccoon City by 75 percent and Resident Evil 6 by 50 percent. Lego: The Hobbit is also discounted by 67 percent on Xbox 360 for today only, and Lego Lord of the Rings is 75 percent off. The full list of this week's deals can be found after the break.
Assassin's Creed: Unity patch on hold to 'refurbish' Paris
Ubisoft delayed the fourth Assassin's Creed: Unity patch today, citing additional issues that need to be corrected in the game before the update can be made available. The publisher anticipated that it could offer the patch today across all platforms. Unity's update was expected to fix "most of the remaining issues our players have been reporting," according to Ubisoft last week. "We are committed to delivering major performance improvements, which requires that we refurbish the Paris map and that will take a few more days to hit the high level of quality our players deserve," the publisher said in a brief community update. The update's delay strikes at an unfortunate time, as Assassin's Creed: Unity is half-off ($30) on Amazon today, and Ubisoft recently added a note to the game's description on the retailer's site that promises "performance has been improved on all platforms." [Image: Ubisoft]
Assassin's Creed: Unity trimmed to $30 on Amazon today
Ubisoft's latest rooftop-jumping stealth game Assassin's Creed: Unity is half-off on Amazon today. For just $30, players can take a leap of faith on the publisher's word that its more critical errors are a thing of the past, as the game's history of fatal flaws, such as game-crashing bugs and faceless characters, have seemingly been rectified. Ubisoft issued an apology for the issues and free DLC to players in late November. The sale arrives in time for Unity's fourth patch, which reached all platforms today. Ubisoft noted last week that the update should fix "most of the remaining issues our players have been reporting." The publisher even added a product update on Amazon that noted the game's "performance has been improved on all platforms. When you start the game, you will be given the option to automatically download and install all the latest improvements." The sale is good for all three of Unity's platforms: PS4, Xbox One and PC. [Thanks, Jason!] [Image: Ubisoft]
EA Sports UFC kicks back on EA Access next week
The full version of EA Sports UFC will be available through EA Access starting next Thursday, December 18. The mixed martial arts game will enter the Xbox One streaming service's "Vault," allowing subscribers to play the game as much as they like. EA unveiled its $5 per month ($30 per year) subscription service in July, and EA Access went live for all players in August. EA Sports UFC just received its sixth free content update this week, which added popular and legendary fighters such as Mark Coleman and Brock Lesnar to the game. Thanks to its various updates, EA Access players have 18 new brawlers to use as well as new fighting mechanics like manual taunts and kick catching compared to when the game first launched in June. [Image: EA Sports]
First Evil Within DLC 'The Assignment' due in early 2015
The Evil Within's first piece of downloadable content will launch early next year, Bethesda announced. Named "The Assignment," the add-on is one of two pieces of content that follows Juli Kidman, the partner of Detective Castellanos, the game's main protagonist. The DLC will be available individually at an as-yet-unannounced price, and as part of the survival horror game's $20 three-pack season pass. The Assignment's follow-up is The Consequence, which sticks by Kidman's side before the third DLC, The Keeper, arrives. The Evil Within launched in October and was met with mixed reviews, including our own that noted the game "requires so much repetition that it can't possibly maintain any sense of tension or unease, and its story is told so aimlessly that you'll likely forget the plot between scenes." The game recently received a 1 GB update to fix various bugs and improve its performance. [Image: Bethesda]
Final Fantasy 15 demo exclusive to day-one copies of Type-0 HD
Final Fantasy 15's demo will be exclusive to those with a copy of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, Square Enix revealed. In fact, the publisher confirmed via PlayStation Blog that the demo is "intended to be a special gift for those of you who purchase early," so only the first shipment of Type-0 HD will include the "Episode Duscae" demo. In September, reports began circulating that Square Enix would offer the Final Fantasy 15 demo in 2015. Episode Duscae will feature around an hour's worth of narrative content, and thorough explorers will get around three to four hours of gameplay out of the demo. Square Enix stressed today that the publisher is "never going to release [the demo] as a stand-alone piece down the line." Square Enix also divulged details on Type-0 HD's $100 Collector's Edition bundle. The Collector's Edition includes a steel book case, 15-track song collection, 200-page manga set during the events of the game's opening moments, 80-page art book and five collectible cards. Those that pre-order the Collector's Edition will gain access to Final Fantasy 15's demo as well. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD will launch on March 17, 2015. [Image: Square Enix]
iPads, Please: Paper-pushing game hits iOS sans nudity
Immigration inspection game Papers, Please will reach iPad tomorrow, the game's creator Lucas Pope revealed on Twitter. The game, which has players accepting and rejecting immigrants attempting to enter the fictional state of Arstotzka, first launched in August 2013 on PC and Mac and reached 500,000 copies sold as of March. The iOS version of the game is slightly different than its PC sibling, however. Pope noted that the search scanner photos in the game no longer have the full nudity option, as Apple "rejected that build for containing 'pornographic content.'" Papers, Please will receive a PlayStation Vita port, though Pope expressed uncertainty in February on how that version would work, given that the handheld system presents a lot of "interesting UI challenges." The developer also tweeted today that he handled the iPad version on his own, but that there's no estimated launch date for the Vita version, adding he "probably announced it too early." [Image: 3909]
Mortal Kombat developer grapples with WWE Immortals next year
WWE is partnering with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios to create a new spin on the wrestling company's brand of brawling, WWE Immortals. The game will launch on iOS and Android devices for free next year, and will feature "epic Superstar battles in a fantastically re-imagined WWE world." In this case, we're hoping "Hell in a Cell" is taken more literally by the Mortal Kombat developer. While no other details are known about WWE Immortals, NetherRealm will handle the development in conjunction with Phosphor Game Studios. Phosphor is the developer behind first-person survival shooter Nether and The Dark Meadow, a creepy mobile adventure game. WWE has found ways to capitalize on its wrestling roster in the mobile space this year, as the company launched trading card battler WWE SuperCard in August, reaching 1.5 million downloads in its first week. [Image: WWE, WBIE]
The Witcher 3 dev: The market is afraid of badly-polished games
When CD Projekt RED delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to May 19, 2015 earlier this week, the developer said it saw "many details that need to be corrected" in the game before it was ready to launch. The group's President and Joint CEO Adam Kicinski added to that statement, telling Polish financial journalists (as translated by Eurogamer) that the studio's fans "took our decision very well. [The] market is afraid of badly polished games on next-gen platforms." While Kicinski did not name any games or developers in particular, games such as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Unity, Sony's DriveClub and Microsoft's Halo: The Master Chief Collection encountered varying, severe issues at their respective launches on PS4 and Xbox One this year. The CD Projekt head also said the developer wants "to disarm the opinion that [The Witcher 3] doesn't exist. It will be closed by the end of the year in line with the schedule." Kicinski said there are "a lot of small errors" in the game, which are "the only reason behind the delay," and that the company doesn't want to "release the game with bugs that undermine the gameplay." CD Projekt admitted it "set the release date too hastily" when it aimed for February 2015, which itself was a delay from The Witcher 3's previous 2014 launch window. [Image: WBIE]
Nintendo of Europe to keep 'regular supply' of Amiibos
Nintendo of Europe plans on replenishing its sold-out Amiibo stock following word that some of the figurines will be discontinued. The publisher told GameSpot that its "supplies of Amiibo are currently available in the European market." The statement runs slightly counter to that of Nintendo of America yesterday, which acknowledged that "due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment." "We are continually aiming to always have a regular supply of Amiibo brought into the marketplace and there are many waves of Amiibo to come," Nintendo of Europe added. The concerns began with a tweet from Canadian retailer VideoGamesPlus, which said that Nintendo discontinued the Marth, Wii Fit Trainer and Animal Crossing Villager Amiibo toys. Nintendo of Europe noted the popularity of the figures, adding that "it's always possible that a few retailers may have sold out." Regardless, we'll always have our ass-kicking, borderline-sentient Mario Amiibo to toy with. [Image: Nintendo]