Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to the The Geek Dojo Weekly for the week of April 15th 2021! This is a weekly video games newsletter featuring my top 5 stories of the week.
Ryu and Chun-Li are Power Rangers? PlayStation getting into mobile games? Nintendo to create more original IPs? Find out next time on Dragon Ba… er let’s get into the news!
Sony Sets it’s Sights on the Mobile Market
Via: Eurogamer
According to a recent job listing, spotted by Eurogamer, Sony is looking to make a big splash in the mobile games market. The job advertisement seeks someone to fulfill the Head of Mobile position at Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Studios. The candidate will look to “focus on successfully adapting PlayStation’s most popular franchises for mobile”. The advertisement goes on to say, “You will be responsible for building and scaling a team of mobile leaders and will serve as the Head of this new business unit within PlayStation Studios.”
It’s kind of hard for me to visualize what to expect from this. The job listing specifically mentions PlayStation Studios so that would included all of Sony’s big first party titles like Uncharted, Horizon, The Last of Us, God of War, etc. I’m sure they would like to come up with something more unique than just an Uncharted endless runner or something. Will Sony knock this out of the park? We’ll see whenever they fill this position.
Nintendo to Focus on Creating More Original IPs
Via: VGC
In a recent interview with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, he states the company will be creating more original games in future. Creating new game series will help the Switch remain competitive. “With the expansion of time spent at home, the range of ‘entertainment’ as an object of consumption is expanding,” Furukawa states. “Games are not a necessity of life. In order for customers to choose games in their finite time, they have to be interesting. Competition is tough, and I am not optimistic.”
“I myself am looking at and studying various forms of entertainment. In the future, we will focus on creating new game series as well as long-sellers such as Mario and Zelda.”
Later in the interview, he also mentions Nintendo is always looking into new hardware.
“We are constantly building up ideas for the new consoles the market is expecting, but there are some things we can’t do now due to technology and cost constraints,” he said.
This is pretty exciting news from Nintendo. Every Nintendo console always comes with the usual suspects like Mario, and Zelda, but there have been a few new experiences they have managed to give us over the past decade, plus. Pikmin (2001), Wii Sports (2006), Splatoon (2015), while even crossing over into more fitness oriented games like Wii Fit (2007) and Ring Fit Adventure (2019). I’m interested to see what the future brings from Nintendo, for sure. Especially if the Next Switch model rumors are true.
Bioshock 4 will be Open World?
Via: Games Radar
According to a new job listing for the next Bioshock game, it will feature an open world setting. The job advertisement is for a Senior Writer at developer studio Cloud Chamber. The listing asks for someone who can, “weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting.” Another listing shows that Bioshock will still stick to its FPS foundation. The Senior Technical Audio Designer asks for a, “vision for an ambitious AAA narratively-driven FPS project full of character and personality.”
I feel this was pretty inevitable for the series. The Bioshock formula was going to need to shake things up going forward, and what better way to shake things up and advance that formula than by going open world. As apparent from the job listings, the next Bioshock game is still heavy in development so it may be a few more years before we get any sort of trailer.
Capcom Closes Ransomware Investigation
Back in October 2020, Capcom came under a ransomware attack. The hacking group responsible, Ragnar Locker, made off with about 1TB of data that included personal information of several employees, customers, business partners, and even source code. Capcom has stated no credit card information was accessible.
Capcom says the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is to blame for this attack. Here is a statement:
“According to the IT specialists, unauthorized access to the Company’s internal network was acquired in October 2020 through a cyberattack carried out on an older backup VPN (Virtual Private Network) device that had been maintained at its North American subsidiary (Capcom U.S.A., Inc.). At that time, the Capcom Group, including the North American subsidiary, had already introduced a different, new model of VPN devices; however, due to the growing burden on the Company’s network stemming from the spread of COVID-19 in the State of California, where this North American subsidiary is located, one of the aforementioned older VPN devices remained solely at this North American subsidiary as an emergency backup in case of communication issues, and it became the target of the attack. The device in question has already been removed from the network at this time.“
Capcom has taken measures to increase security on all VPN devices and reached out to all parties affected.
“Capcom would once again like to reiterate its deepest apologies for any complications or concerns caused by the incident,” Capcom wrote. “As a company that handles digital content, it is treating this incident with the utmost seriousness, and will take the appropriate action to address any requests or directions provided by law enforcement and other relevant authorities in each country.”
Ryu and Chun-Li are Coming to Power Rangers Battle for the Grid
Via: YouTube
After fan request, it seems Capcom and nWay Inc. have worked out a deal to bring some Street Fighter representation to Battle for the Grid. Originally Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, Akuma, Cammy, and M. Bison showed up in the mobile fighting game, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, but ever since then fans have wondered if Battle for the Grid would get the same treatment. The wait will be over starting next month as Ryu and Chun-Li will be made available on May 25th. The trailer only features Ryu gameplay, and he looks absolutely nuts, but we will have to wait to get a Chun-Li showcase.
The Street Fighter DLC pack will be coming to PC, XB1, PS4, Switch, and Stadia on May 25th, at a $12.50 USD price point.
Noteworthy:
PS5 gets it’s first firmware update: PlayStation Blog
PS4 CMOS battery woes: VGC
Sony invests another $200 million in Epic Games: Polygon
Everything shown off in the Nintendo Indie Showcase: Business Wire
NieR: Automata PC version is finally getting an update: Game Informer
Capcom Sountracks added to streaming services: Game Rant
New Final Fantasy VII Intergrade details: Game Informer
Netflix is working on a live action Gundam film: Variety
Neo: The World Ends with You Launches this Summer: Game Informer
Notable Releases:
Thursday, April 15th:
SaGa Frontier Remastered: PS4, Switch, PC
Friday, April 16:
Super Meat Boy Forever: Xbox One
Catch me every Monday on The Skill Tree: A Gaming Podcast
Madness (Episode 17) – The Skill Tree (A Gaming Podcast)
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