Top Story
US PlayStation 4 sales reach 30 million, 30 percent of total market
The United States is a nice, big juicy market for PlayStation 4, with a sell-through of over 30 million units – and yes, that’s 30 million consoles in the hands of customers.
Not long ago, Sony reported that they had shipped over 100 million PlayStation 4 consoles globally, meaning the US market constitutes at at least 30% of their overall market. Other top markets include Japan with 8.3 million, Germany with 7.2 million, and the UK at 6.8 million sales according to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad.
Why does that matter, though? Well, since the West is by far the biggest market for the Japanese console, we can expect to see a lot more Japanese games get localized for our pleasure.
The finest imports from the distant orient
For instance, the Yakuza games had long been a rare, imported delicacy until Sega finally realized that there was a huge Western appetite over-the-top crime opera – and now it’s bringing all its Yakuza titles to the West in the Yakuza Remastered Collection.
It’ll take a good while for the upcoming PlayStation 5 to reach a similarly hefty user base, so the PlayStation 4 is probably going to reign supreme for quite a few years yet – quite a comeback for Sony, who struggled mightily to catch up with Xbox 360 sales figures last generation!
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
What is Mega Man known as in Japan?
- Jumpman
- Rockman
- Beck
- Zero
The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!
News Bits
Nioh 2 open beta on November 1st
Sony has announced an open beta for Nioh 2 between November 1st and 10th. The first game also had public alpha and beta tests, helping the developer tweak and balance the game ahead of launch. Team Ninja is currently busy polishing it up for an early 2020 release, as revealed at Tokyo Game Show, and it appears that Nioh 2 will be a PlayStation 4 exclusive, but it’s not entirely clear. In any case, Team Ninja promises a ‘masocore’ experience featuring a new, ‘half-breed’ protagonist possessing demonic powers.
Gearbox claims Borderlands 3 has ‘around 248k’ concurrent PC users
Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, claims that Borderlands 3 has had about twice the peak concurrent players that Borderlands 2 had at launch. While he doesn’t actually reveal any hard data, Borderlands 2 peaked at 124,000 concurrent players which suggests that Borderlands 3 might have reached 248,000. Meanwhile, disgruntled players report that Borderlands 3 bug count has also peaked.
Daily Fact
Super Mario Galaxy inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto’s vague feedback
How exactly did Nintendo come up with Super Mario Galaxy? According to game director Yoshiaki Koizumi, it’s all thanks to Shigeru Miyamoto’s often vague and abstract feedback.
He apparently made a remark about ‘spherical worlds’ and creating something out of them, prompting the developers to start experimenting – and continuously prodded by Miyamoto’s insistence that they should “make something out of this whole spherical worlds concept”.
According to Koizumi, that’s just how Miyamoto’s feedback is: vague and abstract on purpose, to avoid stifling the team’s own creative thinking and problem-solving – or possibly because he “may not know himself what he’s trying to say.” True genius!
Koizumi’s already busy adopting the same zen-master leadership style.
Game Spotlight
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is another 3D arcade beat-em-up, but that’s okay
(Team Ninja/Nintendo – Switch)
It’s been ten years since Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 came out, and Marvel fans had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing another in the series – so it was a shock when Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order was announced, and more so that it was going to be a Nintendo-published Switch exclusive!
Well, that’s the reality we’re living in now, and Dead or Alive developer Team Ninja are behind it. While MUA3 is very faithful to the Ultimate Alliance series – in that they’re all essentially 3D versions of side-scrolling beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage or X-Men: Arcade – it tweaks enough, and is so much fun in co-op particularly, that this comic-book fan is happy to keep diving in.
I can do this all day
If you’ve never played a Marvel Ultimate Alliance game, four Marvel heroes (and some villains) make their way through various stages beating up bad guys, solving puzzles, upgrading their skills, and eventually taking on major villains of the Marvel universe – such as Doc Ock, Magneto, and ultimately Thanos. It seems simplistic – and honestly, it is a bit, but it never stops being fun despite that.
Most importantly, how you have that fun and separate those four heroes is up to you. You can go single-player and swap between characters as often as you like, or up to four players can control single characters throughout the levels in co-op. While co-op is definitely the best way to play – just like in any game with the option – single-player works just fine too, as long as you don’t mind just smashing soldiers, ninjas, robots, and aliens. A lot. I didn’t, but you do have to play in moderation a little…
I am inevitable
The main appeal of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 isn’t in the fun but straightforward gameplay or the co-op. Let’s be honest, it’s all about playing a bunch of Marvel heroes. There’s a good range on offer, even right at the start of the game – where you can mix between the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel and a few others, and you’ll quickly build up quite a roster. It adds so much to the game having these iconic Marvel characters, and it personally really pains me that DC Comics doesn’t have a similar game that’s not LEGO.
Considering it’s essentially a beat-em-up, there’s a lot to do in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. The campaign is sizeable already, with the story of the search for the Infinity Gems being the focus, and it’ll be hours before you even lay eyes on one of the titular Black Order of Thanos. On top of that there are also Rift challenges, where you can earn upgrades, new characters, and new outfits (yay). And that’s even before you play it again in co-op!
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is a lot of fun, so if you’re a Switch-owning Marvel fan – especially one with friends – you really need to pick it up.
