Just over twelve months ago, we had a story about unionized video game voice actors under the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) discussing strike action against video game publishers over what they claimed was inadequate compensation and unsafe working conditions. Now, SAG-AFTRA has announced that they are on strike against nearly a dozen game developers and publishers which might slow production on upcoming games.
Business of Gaming
Nintendo Unveils the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo NX name is no more as Nintendo officially unveiled its next console, the hybrid Nintendo Switch.
As had been rumoured for months, the Switch is a hybrid portable and home console that will allow you to play the same games at home and on the go with a near seamless switch from the Switch dock to portable ready.
StarCraft ProLeague and Five Top StarCraft Teams Disbanded
The longest active StarCraft competition has come to an end. KeSPA has announced that the StarCraft ProLeague, a Korean team-based league that started in 2003 with Brood War and ran for fourteen years, would discontinue operations effective immediately. This announcement was made simultaneous with the announcement that five top Korean SC2 teams would also disband effective immediately.
Digital Homicide Suing Steam Users, Considering Suing Valve after Valve Pulls Games from Steam
Two-man indie developer Digital Homicide has made more news and gained more notoriety from their response to criticism than from their games themselves. Despite having nearly two dozen games on Steam, they are perhaps best known for representing themselves in a lawsuit against critic Jim Sterling for $15 million in damages related to his reviews and first impressions videos of their games.
Now, Digital Homicide is taking their legal game to the next level. The developer is now in the early stages of filing lawsuits against 100 Steam users for $18 million and is considering taking legal action against Valve itself.
Sony to Launch PlayStation 4 Slim Alongside PS4 Neo
Sony will be unveiling not one but two new PlayStation 4 consoles at the upcoming PlayStation event on September 7th. While it has been long expected that Sony would unveil an upgraded PlayStation 4, codenamed Neo and colloquially referred to as the 4K, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony will be launching a previously unannounced smaller version of the PS4 at the same event.
Reports Say Nintendo NX is a Portable Console that Connects to Your TV
People have been speculating and reporting about the upcoming Nintendo NX for months now but a new report by Eurogamer seems to bring the NX into focus before its targeted launch of March 2017. Their report says that the NX will be a powerful portable console that can also serve as a home console by connecting it to your TV and detaching the controllers from the mobile unit.
Console Prices Through the Years (Infographic)
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re quite big fans of video games here at The Lowdown. While we can argue all day as to what was the best era of gaming, we can objectively examine if gaming is more expensive now than it was when many of us started. After all, the Xbox One was effectively killed on arrival with a $500 price tag but is that price unprecedented in gaming? We have a handy infographic to answer that question.
E3 2016: Has The Industry Killed E3?
I don’t know about you but it seems like this year’s edition of E3 was generally underwhelming. It felt like we knew what was coming from the triple-A publishers before most of it ever appeared on stage at a press briefing. Sure, the videos were new content but the actual titles announced and demonstrated on-stage were almost all public knowledge before they were supposed to be public knowledge. The industry has been shifting to a continuous hype train for upcoming games and it’s made E3 needless as a result.
E3 2016: Microsoft Introduces “Play Anywhere” Cross-Buy Plan for Xbox One and Windows 10
One of the recurring themes of the Xbox press briefing on Monday was that games that are Xbox One exclusive will also be exclusive on PC to Windows 10. For PC gamers who have upgraded to Windows 10, this was the press conference that they’ve been waiting for from Microsoft. However, there was another treat in store for PC gamers. Microsoft announced their new Xbox Play Anywhere program that allows gamers to buy a select game once and play it on both Xbox One and Windows 10.
Is Microsoft Making a Mistake Pushing the Microsoft Store on PC Gamers?
How many of you have heard of the Microsoft Store? I don’t mean a physical retail location like the Apple Stores. I mean a digital store. If Steam’s operating system stats for its users are to be believed, about 34% of you might have heard of it since the Microsoft Store is only available to Windows 10 users.
I bring this up in the wake of the recent announcement that Microsoft is launching Quantum Break on PC alongside Xbox One. While Quantum Break will be the first game in Microsoft’s own renewed push towards making Windows a prominent gaming platform, the vast majority of PC gamers won’t be able to play it. That’s because Quantum Break won’t be coming to Steam but will be a Microsoft Store exclusive.
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