Move out of the way, Mickey Mouse! There’s a new crew speeding through to a TV near you, and it’s Mario and his gang! This week, Disney hops aboard the eSports hype train, the ‘Terran God’ retires, and Microsoft asks for your best HoloLens ideas.
Continue reading TriplePoints of Interest – Week of November 30
It’s just one trade show after another! This week is of course the special E3 edition of TriplePoints of Interest. Now sound off in the comments: what is your favorite announcement from the show? A game? A VR headset? Or something different entirely like photos of the awesome crowd and the industry’s gamer spirit shining through? In any case, here are some highlights!
Through the eyes of VR
Much like most trade shows these days, E3 continued to show love to VR. Gizmodo’s Sean Hollister released his list of his favorite games coming out for Oculus Rift, which includes Chronos, a “Zelda meets Dark Souls” game, platformer Lucky’s Tale, and EVE Valkyrie. Any one of Sean’s picks catching your eye?
GameSpot, in particular, was very impressed with Microsoft’s HoloLensHalo demo, saying it should be aptly renamed “HaloLens.”
Shenmue blows the doors off Kickstarter
Following the same trend as Mighty No. 9 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue 3, the long-awaited sequel to 2001’s Shenmue 2, reached its funding target of $2 million in under 12 hours, according to GamesIndustry International. This marks yet another major franchise revival game finding great success via crowdfunding. Funds poured in from fans who waited over 14 years for a three-quel after the announcement of the game at Sony’s press conference.
E3’s attendance grows yet again
Over 52,000 people attended E3 this year, up 3,000 from 2014, says VentureBeat. ESA chief, Mike Gallagher, said this year’s show was a testament to the way gamers are revolutionizing how news and media is shared with over 1 million clips uploaded to YouTube from the exhibit halls and 6.3 million tweets referencing the show. The show will return next year to Los Angeles June 14-16, 2016.
For those of you who missed the show…
Didn’t have time to watch all the press conferences? Polygon has you covered with summaries from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, and Ubisoft.
Photo from Tech In Asia
A lot of fun news coming from Nintendo this week. The Nintendo World Championships are back this year and it looks like Bowser finally beat Mario to the top. Sort of! Here are our favorite news pieces from this week!
Nintendo World Championships is back from 1990!
Nintendo unveiled new details surrounding the Nintendo World Championships, a competitive event the company is reviving after 25 years. According to Polygon, the qualifying rounds kick off May 30 at Best Buy stores in 8 different cities from New York City to San Francisco. The first 750 customers who sign up must battle it out on Ultimate NES Remix for a spot in the big event!
eSports: the new frontier of advertising?
Game revenues will be taking on TV broadcast revenues, says research firm, SuperData. According to VentureBeat, video games are slated to push past broadcast TV into the #2 spot in entertainment market share thanks to the eSports phenomenon. Cable TV currently holds the top spot. SuperData states that this data shows eSports as a more lucrative platform for advertisers.
This conclusion is backed by EEDAR who, according to GamesIndustry International, stated that eSports viewers spend twice as much on PC peripherals and 30% more on their game systems than their non-eSports-watching counterparts.
The Mass Effect takes of Virtual Reality?
The importance of augmented reality in video games was amplified this week when it was announced by Polygon that Casey Hudson, former lead on the Mass Effect series, had moved to Microsoft to work on the HoloLens. Mr. Hudson is now the creative director at Microsoft Studios, leading the production of what he calls “mixed reality and holographic computing.”
Nintendo hires Bowser. And is dead serious about it.
Nintendo announced they hired a new Vice President of Sales, cleverly titling their press release, “Nintendo Hires Bowser,” according to The Guardian. Mr. Doug Bowser thanked fans for the news’ warm reception with a brilliant tweet.
Photo from The Punk Effect