Consoles Hub

Matt Thorson, the director and designer of the platform game Celeste, has revealed on Twitter that the title has sold over 500,000 copies in 2018. The game was released on January 25 and has been met with critical praise and has won several awards. To celebrate the achievement, the developers intend on releasing some new levels.

Thanks to the 7.10 patch, the list of Android phones officially supported by Fortnite now also includes the Nokia 8.1, Oppo R17/R17 Pro, Samsung A8s/A9, Vivo Z3, and the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE. The update also comes with the "14 Days of Fortnite" holiday special event, but the Driftboard has been delayed.

Tencent Games has asserted that it has drawn level with Epic Games' Fortnite in terms of mobile user numbers for its own game, PUBG. This means that PUBG has made it to about 200 million users. It is estimated that both games also have the same approximate number of users who play at least once a day (30 million).

The upcoming Xbox 'Scarlett' family of consoles will feature two variants codenamed 'Anaconda' and 'Lockhart' as successors to the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S respectively. Lockhart is expected to be as powerful as the current gen Xbox One X while Anaconda is aimed at providing a more cutting-edge experience. Apart from Scarlett, Microsoft is also expected to announce the disc-less Xbox One console as early as 2019.

We know very little about the upcoming iterations of the Xbox console apart from the fact that there will be a traditional as well as a cloud streaming-only version. A rumor is now doing the rounds that the streaming-only SKU will be powered by a semi-custom AMD Picasso APU. The exact specifications are still not available but this APU is expected to provide hardware accelerated deep learning for Project xCloud that allows for real-time AI predictions of player actions and thereby, helps in reducing latency while streaming.

War Thunder 1.85 "Supersonic" is a major update to Gaijin Entertainment's flagship product and — as its name suggests — it comes with supersonic aircraft. Other noticeable changes include the Italian ground vehicles tree, thermal guided air-to-air missiles, new ships, new locations, and many minor adjustments.

Tetsuya Nomura, the Game Director for the hotly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III, has taken to Twitter to ask the game's fans not to share the recent leaks. This material includes gameplay footage, a secret movie and other spoilers. Nomura claims that this request will enable everyone to 'experience the game equally'.

Get your NES and SNES Classic Edition consoles while you can. Reggie Fils-Aimé, Nintendo of America President and COO, has announced that the company has stopped manufacturing both Classic Edition consoles. Fils-Aimé confirmed that the consoles will be available this holiday season in the Americas, but that Nintendo will not be producing anymore once they go out of stock.

The developer of a new home-made app claims that it allows for the streaming of PC games to the Nintendo Switch. Unlike many other similar attempts in the past, this version apparently has reduced latency and allows for the full control of said games. It is currently available for Windows only, however.

Although some issues that have been around for ages — such as idle players, a broken matchmaking system, and bots — have not been addressed, World of Tanks 1.3 comes with large-scale decals, a few reworked maps, a new map for the Grand Battles mode, tweaked Personal Missions, and other minor changes.

It has been reported that the new Sony PlayStation Classic has already been hacked, even though the console has only just been released. Apparently, hackers have been able to run software on the device using a USB flash drive, after discovering that the PlayStation Classic’s security key is on the system itself. The console has been met with a generally lukewarm response so far.

Less than eight years since its release, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been turned into a free to play title. However, the best part is that the favorite first-person shooter of millions has also received a battle royale mode named Danger Zone that brings together up to 16 players in a fight to the last.

The Game Awards 2018 has hosted a plethora of announcements, which included details about titles such as Dragon Age 4, Far Cry: New Dawn, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Mortal Kombat 11, Psychonauts 2, Rage 2, The Outer Worlds, and many others. BioWare also teased the action RPG Anthem, which has apparently been in development since 2012.

Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to scoop up four prizes at The Game Awards 2018 while God of War took home the coveted Game of the Year title among its three wins. Fortnite and Celeste also had a successful evening, winning two awards each. Marvel’s Spider-Man was unable to win any of the seven categories it had been nominated in.

Epic has announced plans to create its own game platform, which will be known as the Epic Games Store. Fueled by the incredible success of Fortnite, Epic is hoping to take on big names in the video-game digital distribution world such as Steam and Google Play. The company is offering 88% of store revenue to developers, with no tier system being incorporated.

Anthem is now very close to its final release, as the developers just announced the Alpha test scheduled for December 8-9. Unfortunately, spots for the test are limited and those who do not get selected for this test could still participate in the beta test that is scheduled for early February, if they pre-order the game.

Microsoft has become more valuable than Apple in terms of market capitalization. At the time of writing, Microsoft’s value stood at US$846.76 billion compared to Apple’s US$844.39 billion. The Redmond-based company has passed Apple a number of times over the last few days, only for the Cupertino rival to temporarily bounce back.

The fourth major update for Microsoft's Sea of Thieves arrives under the "Shrouded Spoils" banner and includes new Merchant Alliance items, six new skeleton forts (in addition to the three existing ones), improved skeleton ships, new custom ship items, more frequent Kraken appearances, new Megalodon variants, and more.

Earlier this year, third-party developers started receiving PS5 development kits, but Sony claimed that the hardware specifications were not the final ones. A new leak coming from a Russian site depicts what looks like one of the development kit PS5 consoles running in bootloader mode. While the design seems credible, the bootloader screen is iffy at best.

In a blog post released earlier today, Sony revealed that it would be using the PAL version of nine titles on the PlayStation Classic. The PAL versions will be included in the North American PlayStation Classic as well. Considering that North America televisions operate on the NTSC standard, the format difference could cause these games playing at different speeds or glitch out, rendering them unplayable.

A group known for Nintendo Switch piracy has obtained and distributed a full file dump of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, set to release in two weeks on December 7th. While early game leaks are not uncommon, a leak this far in advance is quite unusual, especially a leak of a game as hotly anticipated as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Some innovative gamers have gotten Pokémon: Let's Go to boot and run on the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu. Despite the game only being a week old, it is somewhat playable, although there are numerous glitches and oddities. The framerate is highly inconsistent and the audio is a mess, but the fact that a week old game is playable via emulation is impressive.

Stardew Valley is a bonafide hit, and the success keeps rolling in. In its first three weeks on iOS, the game brought in over $1 million in revenue. In total, Stardew Valley has sold over 4.6 million copies, although it's likely sold many, many more.

Three years after it began, crowdfunding for the highly-anticipated Shenmue 3 has finally closed. After the initial Kickstarter raised $6.3 million in 2015, Yu Suzuki (the mind behind Shenmue) opted to re-open the Kickstarter and accept payments via Paypal. This garnered an additional $850,000, bringing the crowdfunding total to about $7.17 million.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! are now the fastest selling Nintendo Switch titles, having sold over 3 million copies in their first week of release. While the titles have outsold Switch champions like Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, they have a bit more ground to cover to join the success of other Pokémon titles.

Fallout 76 is getting hammered by critics and gamers alike. In its first week after release, the game has fallen close to the bottom of Metacritic's ratings. The PC version currently has a Metascore of 55, while the PS4 and Xbox One have Metascores of 49 and 48, respectively. All three versions have failed even harder with gamers; user scores across the three platforms sit at about 2.4-2.9.

Blizzard should just officially acknowledge the fact that Diablo 4 is in the works in order to appease the enraged fans. Kotaku's sources claim that Diablo 4 has been in the works since late 2013 and the game changed direction in 2016. In its early stages, Diablo 4 looked like Dark Souls, but the vision changed to a more traditional isometric ARPG with dark art style.

Microsoft has been busy updating some of its global online stores and has been placing deep discounts on a number of its Xbox consoles in time for the Black Friday shopping event. Customers in the US could save between US$70 and US$100 depending on their choice of console, whilst potential buyers in Canada and Australia can also get their hands on a discounted Xbox One.

Tetsuya Nomura, the director of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake, said in an interview with Famitsu that Square Enix was still working on the title and that development was "progressing favorably." He did mention that the company's marketing efforts were heavily focused on Kingdom Hearts III, which releases this January. After January 2019, Square Enix's PR team will likely shift its focus to Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The PS4 console proved to be more successful than the XBox One over the past five years, and Sony prepared a special infographic covering some interesting sale figures including total units sold, total game titles sold, best-selling games, most downloaded games and favorite controller color. The company also announced a new CoD – Black Ops 4 bundle that will be available on November 27.

In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime all but extinguished hopes for an N64 Classic release any time in the near future. He explained that while the NES Classic and SNES Classic were wildly successful, they were intended to be bridges between the dying Wii U and burgeoning Switch. As such, Nintendo has no intention to pursue the retro mini console business.

It is possible Microsoft is working on an Xbox One variant that will not use discs for accessing media. The disc-less console will rely on digital downloads and come in at a cheaper price point than current Xbox One consoles with optical drives. Under a special Microsoft program, gamers will be able to exchange physical Xbox discs for download codes.

Microsoft is offering a sneak peek at its Black Friday deals for 2018. They include US$330 off the Surface Pro 6 bundled with its Type cover (in any color so long as it's black) and $310 off the Surface Pro Core M. There is also a range of XBox offers, including a Game Pass for $1 to new users.

PlayStation 4 players who have been waiting for Warhammer: Vermintide 2 to hit their consoles since early March can now take this title for a spin, although this console version is still in a Beta phase. Its release date has been set for December 18 — more than five months after the arrival of the Xbox One version.

Microsoft reaffirmed the company's presence at E3 2019 via its official Xbox Twitter handle shortly after Sony confirmed that they are pulling out of E3 for the first time in the show's 24 year history. We aren't sure of Microsoft's plans for the event but expect a lot of information on upcoming consoles and exclusives.

Sony has confirmed that it will not be part of the E3 2019 trade show. The organizer of the event, the Entertainment Software Association, has issued a press release to highlight which companies will be in attendance, including Sony’s console rivals Nintendo and Microsoft. According to a press statement, the PlayStation maker is apparently searching for new ways of engaging with its community.

The award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4 are back with Fallout 76, an online prequel to the epic series of post-apocalyptic RPGs that was introduced by Interplay Entertainment back in 1997. Fallout 76 is now available via the Microsoft Store as an Xbox One X Enhanced title and also comes as a Tricentennial Edition with various in-game bonuses.

Corsair has announced that its wide range of gaming keyboards and mice will support the Xbox One. Microsoft recently announced keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox One and developers can choose to support their game for such input if desired. Corsair also said that the Elgato Stream Deck can now be integrated with Mixer for improved live streaming.

The latest update to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a massive one and comes with a rather long list of changes, which includes Nuketown, Daily Tier Skip, Blackout with Nuketown Island zombies and the Bowie Knife, stability tweaks, and much more. The update is already rolling out to PlayStation 4 consoles, and the other platforms should get it next week.

Nintendo has won $12 million in a settlement with LoveRoms.com and LoveRETRO.co, two ROM distribution sites it sued this past summer. The couple that operated the two sites admitted that they participated in copyright infringement and agreed to the $12 million judgement against them. While it's unlikely the couple will have to pay the full judgement, this ruling will surely send a message to other ROM sites that distribute ROMs of Nintendo games.

PlayStation 4 owners will soon be able to get their hands on the smash-hit battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). PUBG Corp and Sony have jointly announced that the title is now available for pre-order and will be launched on December 7. Four different editions will be available, and there are bonuses for those who pre-order the game.

Microsoft is making good on their September promise to bring mouse-and-keyboard input support to the Xbox One. Starting this Wednesday, November 14, select titles will receive updates that will allow them to be played with a mouse and a keyboard instead of a traditional controller. The first titles to receive the update will be Fortnite and Warframe. Microsoft will also partner with Razer to release "Designed for Xbox" branded mice-and-keyboard sets.

Sony's PlayStation Now video game subscription service is leading the market by 52% followed by EA Access at 16% and Xbox Game Pass at 15%, according to a report by analyst firm SuperData. The firm also found that the price of subscription plays a major role in consideration for gamers and that subscribers tend to spend twice as much on in-game purchases compared to other gamers.

Want to play Fallout 76 when it comes out later this week? Be prepared to stare at a loading bar. The game comes with a mandatory day-one patch that is a massive 56 GB in size. This is in addition to the 45 GB base game, meaning that gamers will need about 100 GB of free space. This patch has only been confirmed for the PS4, but considering the game's buggy beta, the PC and Xbox One versions are likely to have similar day-one patches.

A feature in the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Let's GO, may get you to load up your game of Pokemon GO on your smartphone. Pokemon that trainers have captured in Pokemon GO can be transferred to Pokemon Let's GO on the Switch. There are a few caveats, but almost every pokemon in Pokemon GO can be transferred.

Microsoft Studios has revealed a release date for the much-delayed third installment in the Crackdown series. Crackdown 3 will be launched on February 15, 2019, and it is currently available to pre-order for Xbox One or PC gamers. The action-adventure title offers single-player and multi-player modes in a huge futuristic world created by Unreal Engine 4.

Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring both Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment today at X018, Microsoft's Xbox conference. Obsidian is perhaps best known for titles like Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. Microsoft may be acquiring these studios to prop up the Xbox One's library of console exclusives.

The Nintendo Switch finally got a YouTube app yesterday, bringing the world's most popular video streaming service to the console. However, Netflix and Amazon are still absent. The lack of video streaming services on the console is becoming a sticking point for some, especially considering that the Nintendo Wii, which is 12 years old, offers Netflix, Hulu, Amazon video, and YouTube.