Thursday, December 26, 2013

Daily News 12/26/13

In this new daily segment I'm starting, I'll pull the top five news stories of the day about gaming and give you my quick spin. I know it's the holidays and it's probably the worst time to start this, but there was enough gaming news today to justify this abrupt start. So, without further ado...

These news stories are listed in no particular order of importance and will be filled with opinions that are not reflected by everyone, just Brent Metcalfe.



Number ONE!

Nintendo pulls the brand new Pokemon Bank app from the Japanese eShop due to high usage putting a large amount of stress on the electronic ecosystem. The company released a statement (translated by Google) saying that the app was removed to bring a relief to Nintendo's online services. All 30-Day free trials for the app are suspended while it is removed from the store, allowing first time adopters to pick it back up once the app is returned. No word yet on whether this will affect the US and European release of the app that is supposed to release in the regions on December 27th.

It probably will. It's Nintendo.
(Source: Nintendo)

Number TWO!

Sony announced today through Joystiq that the company will be shutting down it's online servers for a few of it's online multiplayer games in 2014. The shutdowns will begin on January 28th, when the servers for MAG, SOCOM: Special Forces, and SOCOM: Confrontation, rendering the online-only MAG and Confrontation to be useless. The next shutdown will take place on March 28th, shutting down the entire Resistance trilogy, though it's campaign modes will be rendered unaffected.   The final round of shutdowns will come May 20th, shutting down the servers for Grand Turismo 5.

Though I'm sure there will many upset gamers out there today, it is the hard reality that comes with new technology propelling games. Servers cost money and the sales of games help offset this. Older games don't sell, so it's expenses have to be cut. Demon Souls will be coming soon as well, so prepare.
(Source Sony)

NUMBER Three!

Nintendo announced today through the official game website that Princess Zelda will be a playable character for the new Super Smash Bros. on WiiU and 3DS. She is in her Twilight Princess style, similar to Link. The franchise have always had a great roster with some great characters, though it would have been nice for a brand new character rather than a returning one.
(Souce SSB Website)

NUMBER Four!

The new PlayStation Plus perks for January 2014 were announced today. Per the Official PlayStation Blog, members will get Don't Starve for PS4,  BioShock Infinite, DmC and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons for PS3 and finally SmartAs... and Worms: Battle Island for PS Vita.

As Sony has shown over the past year, PlayStation Plus is just an amazing deal for any gamer. The added PS4 offering is nice considering the console launched only a month and a half ago and the PS3 offering 3 of the great games from this year's launch lineup. I personally loved DmC and incredibly excited to try out BioShock Infinite, though I am a little upset about the PS Vita offerings.
(Source PS Blog)

 NUMBER FIVE!!

The Japanese version of Final Fantasy X and X-2 launched today, alongside the Ultimania collector's book. In the book contains many different interviews, including one with Scenario Writer Kazushige Nojima stating that if interest were high enough, Square Enix would consider making a Final Fantasy X-3. Thank you @aibo_ac7 who was kind enough to share via Twitter.

I'm a huge fan of both X games, especially X-2 with it's fast paced, job class based battle system. X-3 could be interesting, but after the over-bloated threequal that is Final Fantasy XIII, I would much prefer the company continue to make some numbered entries, like the awesome looking Final Fantasy XV eventually coming to PS4 and Xbox One.
(Source Twitter)
 

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