Nintendo has announced it made a ¥41 billion ($350 million) profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, returning the company to an annual profit for the first time in four years.
According to its latest fiscal report, global sales of the Nintendo 3DS family, which includes the 2DS, reached 8.73 million units. The and promised to communicate better with fans on supply information.
This first video teaser is a prelude to the intense space combat in command of huge battle cruisers - true metal behemoths - several kilometers long and armed to the teeth.
If you chip away at Remnants of Isolation's outer shell--its piano-heavy soundtrack, turn-based combat, and vibrant color palette--you're left with a lifeless love story. This dyadic core leaks into each subsequent layer, from the party system that never expands beyond a twosome to the title screen overpowered by two tightly clutched hands superimposed over a gang of silhouetted fiends unmoved by the romance. The narrative drives the experience, but the ride is neither touching nor inspiring. The bond between hero and heroine is hampered by the female character's lack of a voice, and the inconsistent writing makes it difficult to care when the male lead fumbles his way through conversations. The surrounding elements have their charm, but Remnants of Isolation falls far short of making a believable or memorable emotional connection.
The stage is set with a scene of isolation. Stowed away in a castle is a lilac-skinned girl with eyes of mismatched colors, absent a voice but masterful with an acoustic instrument that she can summon from thin air. She's alone and seems to have been that way for some time, but that changes once she's mysteriously freed from her prison and runs into a brash, out-of-sorts mage, quick to make friends. Unfortunately, the girl cannot speak to the nature of the castle (or speak at all, for that matter), so the couple must explore its many corridors to discover their purpose for being there and, more importantly, how to escape.
The game plays out in a window--and a tiny one at that.
Learning both characters' connections to the castle can be interesting, but Remnants of Isolation runs just shy of three hours. That gives these two strangers a remarkably short window to get to know each other, let alone foster any sort of tender relationship. Additionally--and I'll continue to press this issue--the female lead is mute. Maybe it's her prolonged confinement that's kept her silent, but robbing such a substantial character of opinions, personality, and any opportunity to connect with the player at a deeper level is a missed opportunity. The text boxes are dominated by the hero, Melchior, who alternates between exposition-heavy blurbs and uncomfortable romantic gestures that he often retracts in embarrassment. The scattered notes that provide context for your environment tend to be well-written and mostly interesting, but the dialogue leads to more eyes rolled than hearts warmed.
The link that the duo shares during battle is much more substantive. Along with a standard physical attack, each character can launch either an "innate" ability or a spell. Using your fire, ice, or lightning magic on its own doles out significant damage, but leading with one character's innate ability and following with the other's spell produces a combination attack that might do double damage, hit multiple targets, or cause myriad status effects. As you gain levels and acquire new abilities, your arsenal of offensive and defensive maneuvers expands, and you often need to experiment mid-battle to come up with combos that hit the hardest.
It just doesn't strike as many chords or hit as many notes as it should. Remnants of Isolation is a truncated RPG that never allows its story or progression system to properly develop, and while the focus on a pair instead of a full party pays off in combat, the woefully undercooked bond between the protagonists never does enough to make you care about any of the three possible endings. It can be sweet, but Remnants of Isolation has far too many potholes to be worth its notably short ride.
San Francisco-based social game studio Zynga on Wednesday announced an extensive cost-reduction plan that the company says should help it save around $100 million in the short-term.
Some of the best games for each console come out just as the systems are on their deathbed, cursed to be overlooked as people abandon the old to embrace new systems. Such was the case with
The addition of the Triangulum story elevates Record Breaker from the rest of the intergeneration re-releases that have become popular in the market as of late. While most games are content to offer just an HD (or, in this case, a 3D) upscale, the developers of Record Breaker created what’s essentially an entire second game for this package. While that’s impressive and commendable, it’s brought down a bit by the fact that there’s not really much new in terms of gameplay in the second half--you’re controlling (mostly) the same cast with the same traits, fusing similar demons to what you had before, and fighting similar enemies. There are a few new bosses, which offer some exceptionally challenging and satisfying fights, but for the most part, it’s just more Devil Survivor 2. That’s not a terrible thing, given that the core game is so solid, but it’s still a smidge disappointing given just how much went into creating a whole new story for the game.
The other major issue is that the requirements for getting the “true endings” are too obtuse in both scenarios. While a few very clear paths lead to obvious conclusions, just getting the option to see the “best” endings requires you to make a lot of correct choices and talk to the right people at the right times. If you mess up just once, sorry buddy, better luck next time. The presence of only five save slots doesn’t really help either, especially if you want to run both scenarios. By the time I understood the requirements for getting the true ending in the Triangulum story, every save I had was at a point where it was impossible to go back.
When it comes down to it, though, these complaints seem relatively minor. Devil Survivor 2, in both the original and Record Breaker incarnations, is a great strategy RPG, delivering a potent mix of intense, brilliantly designed combat and a fantastic, endearing cast of fellow survivors. If you missed out the first time around, you should absolutely hop on board for this extended trip to the Apocalypse. If you’re coming back for seconds, you’ll have a terrific time welcoming our new Triangulum overlords with Megido blasts right to their stupid geometric faces.
(down from $60) is coming from an "unknown source." It said that as such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to CD Projekt Red.
In a statement to GameSpot, Green Man Gaming CEO Paul Sulyok explained that it tried to work with CD Projekt Red, but the developer chose to focus on its own platform, GOG.com, rather than give players more options for where they can buy the game.
"Following a six-month dialogue with [CD Projekt RED] about the launch of The Witcher 3, we were disappointed that despite the offer of significant cash advances, and other opportunities to officially work together, (we even offered to fly to Poland to discuss in detail how we could and wanted to support this launch), CDPR chose not to engage with a number of significant, reputable, and successful retailers, including ourselves, as they instead focused on supporting their own platform GOG. " Sulyok said.
"We, like millions of customers, are huge fans of The Witcher series, and have been eager for the launch of this amazing title. We believe that CDPR’s desire to support their own platform by working with retail outlets that would not conflict with their own is greater than that of meeting the demands of their audience, therefore we made the decision to indirectly secure the product and deliver it to our customers."
Sulyok explains that GMG chose to essentially go around CD Projekt RED by acquiring digital copies of the game from third parties and retailers that were approved by CD Projekt RED. According to Sulyok, this means that CD Projekt RED is getting the revenue from sales of these games, and that any additional discount is absorbed by GMG. Earlier today, CD Projekt RED told GameSpot it was getting "zero" revenue from these sales.
"We would heartily welcome a renewed dialogue with CDPR, and are keen to continue to not only support the launch of The Witcher 3, but to keep celebrating and bringing the whole catalogue of CDPR titles to a worldwide audience, as we have done since 2011," Sulyok said.
We've reached out to CD Project RED and will update this story with anything we hear back.
Mary Kish and Rob Handlery have been playing around with Grand Theft Auto 5 mods all week. They join Danny and Chris to talk about the past, present and future of GTA mods.
to test new features before they are released publicly. We've followed up with Microsoft, asking for formation.
Access to the Xbox One Preview Program is by invitation only.
Microsoft has not yet announced the new features coming to Xbox One through its expected May update. It now certainly sounds like 60fps GameDVR support is going to be included.
Justin Haywald rushes on to the set of The Lobby to tell us about an Electronic Arts earnings call that's leaked information about Mirrors Edge 2 and a new Plants vs. Zombies.
This first video teaser is a prelude to the intense space combat in command of huge battle cruisers - true metal behemoths - several kilometers long and armed to the teeth.
This video highlights the multiplayer modes in the game.
Despite CD Projekt RED accusation, Green Man Gaming claims Witcher 3 codes will work.
You can no longer download P.T. even if you have it in your PS4 library, and why have Sony decided to skip their regular Gamescom conference?
Mary Kish and Rob Handlery have been playing around with Grand Theft Auto 5 mods all week. They join Danny and Chris to talk about the past, present and future of GTA mods.
Chris Watters and Andy Bauman have played the first few hours of this standalone Wolfenstein expansion. So, what's the big nazi-robot-dog verdict?
Justin Haywald rushes on to the set of The Lobby to tell us about an Electronic Arts earnings call that's leaked information about Mirrors Edge 2 and a new Plants vs. Zombies.
