Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has said Nintendo will not raise the price of the Nintendo Switch. In any other timeline, that wouldn't be surprising at all. Console prices tend to come down over time--not increase--but due to supply chain issues and other factors, manufacturing costs are actually going up these days for Nintendo. Nintendo will not pass these increased costs along to the consumer and charge more, however. Speaking to Nikkei (via NME ), Furukawa said Nintendo wants to avoid "pricing people out," and will not raise the selling price of the Switch. Furukawa said raising the MSRP of the Switch is not something Nintendo is considering "at this point." Whether or not that changes in the future remains to be seen. "Our competition is the variety of entertainment in the world, and we always think about pricing in terms of the value of the fun we offer," Furukawa said. The executive went on to say that the Switch OLED model will remain "less profitable" than … [Read more...] about Nintendo Won’t Raise Switch Prices, Despite Growing Costs
December community day pokemon go
Another crypto game crashes and burns, won’t issue refunds to backers because there’s no money left
Audio player loading… Untamed Isles (opens in new tab) , a "monster-taming turn-based MMORPG" that found major success on Kickstarter, has been put "on hiatus" because of the crypto crash (opens in new tab) —Kickstarter backers are being told that there's no money left for refunds. The 2021 Kickstarter campaign (opens in new tab) for Untamed Isles rang up a remarkable $527,000 in backing—more than four times its initial goal. It promised a fully open world with "unique areas for friends to gather, practice PVP, trade, breed monsters, clear dungeons, and play through the story of untamed isles socially with open voice proximity communications." It also boasted a "play to earn" model in partnership with Direwolf, which would enable most of the items and all of the monsters in the game to be "tokenized" and bought, sold, or traded in various marketplaces or the in-game auction house. Unfortunately, the commitment to crypto is where it all went wrong. … [Read more...] about Another crypto game crashes and burns, won’t issue refunds to backers because there’s no money left
Wikipedia won’t take crypto anymore
Audio player loading… Wikimedia is the non-profit firm behind Wikipedia and a host of other sites that operate under similar principles, and has the goal of "developing and maintaining open content" and funding it. Now, after four months of community discussion and argument, it has announced that it will no longer be taking donations in cryptocurrency. The 'no crypto' campaign was started by the multi-talented Molly White (opens in new tab) , a software engineer, the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great (opens in new tab) , a Wikipedia editor with the unbeatable name GorillaWarfare, and a sworn enemy of crypto-bros everywhere. White made a Wikimedia ' request for comment (opens in new tab) ' which ran from January 10 to April 12, during which time the community argued both sides of the crypto donation issue. Around 400 community members took part and, per the Wikimedia document, the most common arguments in favour of the crypto-ban were "issues of environmental … [Read more...] about Wikipedia won’t take crypto anymore
Microsoft inclusive lead reveals there’s a ‘bit of a plateau’ in accessibility tech
Accessibility Week This feature is part of PC Gamer's Accessibility Week (opens in new tab) , running from August 16, where we're exploring accessible games, hardware, mods and more. I've been speaking to Bryce Johnson, Inclusive Lead at Microsoft Devices and co-inventor of the Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC), about the process behind and reception of the accessible gaming device. And although he's happy about where the project ended up and where the accessibility industry is going as a whole, he's a little concerned about where things might go from here. The XAC is Microsoft's answer to making games more accessible for players with disabilities. That description makes it sound so simple, but making an accessible controller is definitely not straightforward, even with backing from a company whose net worth is about $1 trillion. Johnson explains that it was first important to recognise the limitations of current controller configurations. Without full fluid range of … [Read more...] about Microsoft inclusive lead reveals there’s a ‘bit of a plateau’ in accessibility tech
World’s biggest mod site bans mods replacing Pride flags: ‘We don’t want to and won’t argue this with you’
Audio player loading… Spider-Man Remastered (opens in new tab) recently launched on PC, and Insomniac's excellent web-em-up instantly attracted the attention of modders. This unfortunately included an individual who took offense at the game's rendition of New York City including some Pride flags among the absolute plethora of American ones. They created a mod that removed the Pride flags, replacing them with the stars and stripes, then uploaded it to Nexusmods using a sockpuppet account called 'Mike Hawk'. Nexusmods (opens in new tab) is arguably the most popular centralised mod database online (sorry Moddb (opens in new tab) ), with a nice clean look, a good community, and all the functionality a PC gamer could wish for. Nexus swiftly removed the mod, and banned the modder's sockpuppet and main account. The sanction led to some community drama about whether someone innocent had been punished. The people who run Nexusmods subsequently decided enough is enough when … [Read more...] about World’s biggest mod site bans mods replacing Pride flags: ‘We don’t want to and won’t argue this with you’
Snag A DualSense PS5 Controller For $55 Right Now
DualSense controllers are almost listed for their regular price of $70, so it's not easy to find a deal on a second controller for multiplayer. But if you don’t mind picking up an open box version, you can snag a DualSense for just $55 on eBay. Free shipping and returns are both included with your purchase, and you’ll have 30 days to send the DualSense back if it doesn’t live up to your standards. PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller $55 (was $70) This DualSense controller is technically preowned, but its condition is actually listed as “Open Box” on eBay, so it'll appear and operate as new. It might be missing some original packaging, though. With over 20,000 positive reviews in the past 12 months, you're definitely buying from a reputable seller. See at eBay The DualSense is arguably one of the coolest pieces of tech in recent years. It provides you with improved haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and a built-in microphone for easy communication … [Read more...] about Snag A DualSense PS5 Controller For $55 Right Now
Twitch may finally start telling people why they’ve been banned
Audio player loading… Historically, Twitch policy has been to not comment on individual streamer bans—even to inform those streamers themselves what, exactly, they did to warrant a ban. It's often not too hard to figure out in cases of obvious policy violations, but sometimes a streamer gets the boot and we're never told exactly why: An indefinite suspension of politics streamer Destiny (opens in new tab) in March, for instance, prompted some fairly solid speculation, but not actual confirmation, of the reason. But that may be changing, as Twitch vice president of trust and safety Angela Hession told the Washington Post (opens in new tab) that it is looking into including clips of infractions with suspension notification emails in the future. "Safety is a journey, and this is a number-one ask from our community," Hession said. "So we’re looking at how we can attach more details for people to understand—like the video itself. That’s something we’re definitely working … [Read more...] about Twitch may finally start telling people why they’ve been banned
Game immediately review bombed on Steam after crypto company buys it
Audio player loading… Players of free-to-play autobattler Storybook Brawl are suddenly calling for it to be booted off Steam, but not because of a controversial balance change or a scandalous personal allegation. Storybook Brawl is the subject of a very 2022 happening: a cryptocurrency company bought it. Cryptocurrency exchange FTX US announced last week that it had acquired Storybook Brawl developer Good Luck Games, and the new owner isn't shy about its intentions. The acquisition is an "opportunity to be the vanguard for the ethical integration of gaming and crypto transactions," according to FTX. In a video (opens in new tab) posted after the announcement, Good Luck Games founder Matt Place said that the acquisition means increased funding for the studio, but that he doesn't know yet exactly how blockchain technology will be integrated into Storybook Brawl, except that it will be "ethical" and "create fun for players." A lot of those players are not buying either … [Read more...] about Game immediately review bombed on Steam after crypto company buys it
Chess Grandmaster suspended by Twitch for streaming Dr Disrespect playing chess
Audio player loading… Around a fortnight ago we reported that Guy Beahm, better known as popular livestreamer Dr Disrespect, had settled his long-running dispute with Twitch (opens in new tab) . He was permanently suspended (opens in new tab) for reasons unknown in June 2020, before launching legal action (opens in new tab) over the ban; sadly the resolution gave no insight into why it was imposed. "I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch," Dr Disrespect said in a message posted to Twitter. "No party admits to any wrongdoing." Moving on. pic.twitter.com/aA4KfHOSK2 March 10, 2022 See more "Moving on" was clearly doing a lot of heavy lifting there, and for both sides, because now Twitch has suspended Chess Grandmaster and five-time US champion Hikaru Nakamura for watching Dr Disrespect play chess. On March 16 Nakamura streamed himself, on Twitch, watching Dr Disrespect play against another streamer, Dr Lupo. The Grand Prix next week … [Read more...] about Chess Grandmaster suspended by Twitch for streaming Dr Disrespect playing chess