We’ve got a ton of news to cover today! The past few days have piled up into a hefty round-up today, with some interesting stories down below!
Netflix Moves Into Games
A story by Lucas Shaw and Mark Gurman on Bloomberg reports that streaming giant Netflix will be making a big move to push beyond just TV shows and movies.
Mike Verdu, a former executive of Electronic Arts and Facebook, is joining Netflix as the vice president of game development. Verdu’s previous experience at Facebook involved bringing games to the Oculus series of devices.
Apparently, the idea is to offer video games on Netflix under a specific category in 2022 — similar to how documentaries appear as a separate genre at the moment. At this time, it appears that Netflix doesn’t plan to charge extra for the content.
While Netflix is still one of the premier film/TV streaming services out there, even ahead of rivals like Disney+, it added fewer subscribers than expected last time their numbers were reported via Bloomberg. Could a move into gaming be the addition Netflix needs?
How would it even work, exactly? Will it function any differently than other cloud-based gaming services? Will these merely be games chopped into watchable cutscene ‘movies’? Will we need a controller to play these?
Who’s really to say? The move itself is only just beginning. Netflix plans on building its gaming team within the coming months, Bloomberg’s report goes on to say.
Netflix has explored gaming before briefly via interactive programming via shows that allow viewers to make choices — such as Carmen Sandiego and Black Mirror. Minecraft Story Mode was adopted for Netflix as well. Many of Telltale’s games could be adopted for the platform in the future, especially after Minecraft: Story Mode was made to work upon it.
Still, Netflix having games is something the other streaming services do not have. It’ll be something we’ll keep an eye on, and you’ll be sure to hear more here once more details come out.
Steam Announces Their Portable Console, The Steam Deck
Steam has announced its new portable SteamOS-based console, the Steam Deck. Looks very familiar to a certain other console, doesn’t it? Well the similarities don’t stop there.
The Steam Deck has its own dock for recharging, and connecting to external displays. The dock allows for USB peripherals to be connected to the Steam Deck as well. Steam claims a USB-C adapter can be utilized instead if a person has one. More information about the dock will be coming at a later date.
The Steam Deck features all of the standard buttons you’d expect from a modern controller, but also features two trackpads on either side of the device to be used for mouse-based games. Buttons to open a “Quick Access” menu, Steam itself, a “View” menu and an “Options” menu are also on the console. The button placement seems quite odd, with how high up on the device they are. It feels awkward to look at, but I suppose it’d be better to judge the device when it’s actually in our hands.
Speaking of that, pre-ordering this console requires an additional fee. Steam believes the reservation fee will “ensure an orderly and fair ordering process for customers when Steam Deck inventory becomes available”. Don’t fret, though, the reservation deposit is only $5 for the time being.
While the console does run on SteamOS and gives you full access to your Steam library along with the Steam store, the device also allows users to utilize an unrestricted computer desktop where third-party applications can be installed, according to Tom Marks of IGN. Which means, the Steam Deck could in theory be utilized to access Origin, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Epic Games Store and more — while also holding the potential to be an emulation powerhouse.
The Steam Deck comes in three models — a 64 GB model for $399, a 256 GB model for $529, and lastly, a 512 GB model for $649.
Steam Deck Specs:
- 7-inch 1280x800 resolution, 60hz LCD screen
- AMD APU, 4–15W
- CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4–3.5 GHz
- GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0–1.6 GHz
- 64, 256, or 512 GB of storage, depending on the model
- 40Whr battery (2–8 hours of gameplay)
IGN claims that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was able to run on “High” graphical settings with little to no issues. The device is capable of suspending running games just like consoles are. There are four back buttons on the Steam Deck that can be mapped however the player sees fit, while the display itself is indeed touchscreen. Storage can be expanded via a Micro SD card to expand the capacity further.
Rapid-Fire Round-Up
- Ghostwire: Tokyo, the action-adventure game from Tango Gameworks set in a spirit-infested Tokyo, has been delayed to early 2022. Due to contractual obligations, this Bethesda-published game will remain exclusive to Playstation 5, making it the last Bethesda game that will release on a Playstation console.
- A new entry in the Persona series may be on the horizon, with Atlus announcing… announcements, dated for September. 7 announcements total will be made starting in September 2021, before concluding in early 2022.
- Remember that rumored listing about Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on GameFly? Well, it’s real! It got a trailer today, showcasing plenty of characters coming to the game like Patrick Star, Danny Phantom, and Zim. It looks a lot like Super Smash Bros. in terms of being a platform fighter, and will apparently launch with 20 different stages. The game launches in Fall 2021 for Playstation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 got a trailer for its soon to be released NVIDIA DLSS functionality. Looks great!
- Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection has received a patch that adds multiple graphics settings to the options menu.
- NieR: Automata is receiving a patch soon to fix some long-standing performance issues with the game — most notably the FPS.
- Treyarch announced Season 4: Reloaded for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, showcasing new content coming to the game in the form of new weapons, new blueprints, a new multiplayer map, and a new Zombies map by the name of Mauer der Toten. Weaver, a character that is entwined with the Black Ops Cold War storyline, along with being a supporting character in 2010’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, will be a playable Operator in this update.
- WWII Real-Time Strategy series Company of Heroes will be receiving its long-awaited third entry in the series with Company of Heroes 3. The game was announced via a livestream today, with a subsequent trailer.
- Rockstar has announced a mini-DLC coming to GTA Online on July 20th — GTA Online: Los Santos Tuners. The update features a racing-focused set of content, including a social space area where players can escape the Oppressor-wielding griefers of the worldpsace to show off their hard-earned cars to other players.
- Those looking forward to Resident Evil Re: Verse will have to wait a lot longer, since the launch date has been pushed back significantly — from July 2021, to 2022. While it wasn’t explicitly stated that it was launching in July 2022 and merely just “2022”, we’ll have to see.
- 6V6 F2P FPS Gundam Evolution was announced to be launching in 2022 for PC only. A closed beta appears to be coming in August. The game has listed 12 different playable suits so far. This looks like Overwatch… doesn’t it?
- Battlefield 2042 will indeed feature crossplay, according to Battlefield news website bravoIntel. Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, and PC will allow crossplay between one another. Xbox One and Playstation 4 players will be in a separate crossplay pool with one another.
- NBA 2K22 will feature NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dirk Nowitzki on the cover, alongside current Brooklyn Nets All-Star Kevin Durant. (As a basketball fan, these are odd choices — what’s the correlation here?) A Gamestop-exclusive cover will feature WNBA star Candace Parker, in celebration of the WNBA’s 25th Anniversary.
- Head of Xbox Phil Spencer praised Sony’s Dualsense in a recent interview, before going on to say that “we kind of look at some of that and [think] there are things that we should go do.” Makes it sound like an Xbox controller rework could be in the works sometime in the future.
Recent Releases
- Red Dead Online’s Blood Money update is available now on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC. I wrote some details about this update in a previous Round-Up. People aren’t happy with some of the pricing in this update. Those who haven’t owned Arthur’s outfit previously (pictured above) will have to pay 52 gold bars to purchase it. With the gold bar earning rate being such a hefty grind, and the required gold bars via microtransaction being $19.99, players are rightfully angry.
- Metroidvania Blaster Master Zero 2 is available for the first time on Xbox consoles via Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The game will cost $9.99, but has a temporary 20% discount, making the price $7.99 instead.
- Action JRPG Trials of Mana is now available on mobile devices, via iOS and Android for the price of $23.99.
