This week meant the closure of the #Nintendo Wii/3DS portion of multiplayer servers, rendering most Nintendo developed & server-dependent games limited to local games and some extreme cases, games got just literally as collector's item. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹 🎮

Yesterday, Respawn Entertainment fixed an error that a #ApexLegneds servers update brought, which affected some players by having their progress reset at zero & delayed the new Ranked Split on a future date. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹 🎮

Fixing the servers in Helldivers 2?

In a new signal that FTC is not giving up on reversing #ActivisionBlizzard acquisition in the future, the regulator wrote to the 9th Circuit of Appeal Court that Microsoft contradicted on its promise that both Microsoft & ABK will operate independently post-merger. All this as a result of the recent layoff at Microsoft Gaming that also included redundant jobs and the eSport department of Activision Blizzard. After failing to win a Preliminary Injunction in Summer 2023, FTC has said that it will continue its inner process that if successful (an uphill road at best as per observers), could force Microsoft to divest ABK, but either way the process could take years. There is a chance that if by 2024 US Elections, there is a change in FTC administration and a republican one takes over, the FTC could abandon the efforts. The FTC under Biden Administration, has grown intolerant on mergers that means big companies just becoming bigger but, the low success rate has been questioned by Congress with tax money being used just to fail and FTC requesting more funding regardless. Meanwhile, Microsoft has denied FTC's accusation on the #ABK independence promise post-merger, indicating that Activision was already on plans for running layoffs before the deal's closure is incorrect to fully attribute to Microsoft Gaming's process. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹🎮

Accusations of copying Pokémon designs (expected), back-n-forth with servers issues not enough for every player diving in, 6 million of copies sold in 4 days & more people diving in to play, is how you can summarize #PalWorld weekend debut. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹🎮

Unfortunately for Sony this week, Rhysida hacker group went on their deadline after only 2% of the stolen data on their hack to #Playstation Studios' Insomniac Games was actually sold and the remaining 98% was released on the Dark Web. The loot is actually more than 1.3 million files totaling 1.67 terabytes and includes much more than anticipated than a swift hacking usually manages to copy. As expected in this kind of big stole, future games, and internal HR documents, budgets, more are in the public yes and as well Insomniac’s future projects, including the upcoming Marvel Wolverine game, a publishing agreement with Marvel that promises future games. Of course, the "promised games" is on the stipulation that Sony and Playstation needs to comply with goals set by both Disney and Marvel and maybe isn't just that Sony has strategically held the movies and videogames rights for Spider-man. Along with Wolverine, seems that Sony is ready to answer EA's take on Marvel Iron Man and now Bethesda/Xbox Game Studios's take on Marvel Blade as Insomniac landed a exclusive X-Men game, pending to be announced. As for more Marvel games, the Venom game is slated for a 2025 release, followed by a 2026 release of Wolverine and early estimate for X-Men is at 2030, which probably might see Iron Man and Blade being in this 7 years interval. Other documents reveals that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was not a total financial success despite being the flagship game for the launch of PS5 with a miss of 10% below Return Of Investment or in plain language, the game was not profitable at least in normal sales channel. A follow-up Ratchet & Clank main game is currently in development with a target release year of 2029. Finally and honestly I wasn't expecting anything centralized on the Playstation business and much-less being housed on one of Playstation Studios's servers but, here is the bad luck for Sony. Apparently, Insomniac Games had probably copies of documents that appears to be for Sony Interactive Entertainment to actually hold and there was a report on Steam sales of Playstation games brought to PC. Numbers includes: -Horizon Zero Dawn - 3.3 million units -God of War 2018 - 2.5 million units - Days Gone - 1.7 million units -Marvel Spider-Man Remastered 1.3 million units -Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves 483k units -Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales 450k units -Sackboy A big adventure - 62.9k units Surprisingly, there are documents related to the Activision Blizzard acquisition by Microsoft and as excepted, concentrate on the Call Of Duty side of thing including the fear that Microsoft could find ways to differentiate Xbox and Playstation versions of COD. Game Pass subscription and the public perception that Xbox has indeed "lost the console war" as a way to transform the gaming business in one that could have Playstation left behind because their premium sale model and pro hardware model as subs are more feasible for gamers The insistence that the Playstation model is outdated is because Sony feels that Activision Blizzard gives Microsoft strategic value in live service, mobile and PC Storefront and Microsoft can supply, console, PC and subscription services. Reminder, currently the main tasks that Activision Blizzard is working along side Xbox is the new Mobile game app store, reportedly being made from the best of Battle Net & Microsoft Store with King leading the project, which Microsoft has said was the main reason to buy ABK. And with this recap.... BE CAREFUL, Wolverine's leaks apparently are in the wild and there is a PROBABILITY of seeing videos of an early version BOOTABLE of the game as well pics and assets for the game. I am not spoiling anything after this post. #Gaming #GamingNews #Gamestr

This week the FTC went on on appeal of the dismissal of the preliminary injunction against #Microsoft & Activision Blizzard despite the deal already closed. The agency questions the need to proof why the merger is monopoly when both parties are "monopolies". But the main thing here is that FTC failed to prove in his turn last summer that Activision Blizzard King being owned by Microsoft would trouble competition by making sooner or later, games exclusive for Xbox. Which Microsoft since Year 1 since announcing the deal, have been entering in 10 year-deals with Xbox competitors included Playstation (whom originally rejected signing in expecting a victory from the FTC) and the same FTC failing to prove its point at the hearing. Observers believes that FTC is in a uphill battle and this is one of many other cases in which FTC under the Biden Administration has shown intolerance to big mergers but, delivering poor cases, losing them and being called out on Congress due requesting more funding despite all. #Gaming #GamingNews

Sony consoles annoy the shit out of me. I have a fully functioning PS3 and physical copies of the Ratchet and Clank games. Can I stream from the console? Of course not! the system's HDCP stops me from capturing anything. I tried multiple different work arounds and nothing pushes past the HDCP unless I use the A/V cables and an HDMI upscaler which looks like I'm playing a snuff film. So I can either hit the high seas and play the games through ROMs or pay for Sony's trash subscription service so I can STREAM the games to my PS4 and rely on their dog water servers.

The FTC will renew its fight against #ActivisionBlizzard acquisition with in-house trial to try to force a divestiture if merger already took by 21 days after the 9th Circuit of Courts Appeals issue their decision on the Preliminary Injunction denial appeal. While there is a small chance of success in the best case scenario for the FTC, the litigation could take years anyways taking in perspective all the step backs since day one. All this meanwhile, we have to count at the UK CMA to give an approval after the Ubisoft entered an agreement about purchasing ABK's Cloud Gaming rights, entered the picture. Observers sees difficult on how FTC can justify a case were virtually should not use data and steps taken in the Preliminary Injunction hearing, should not try to proxy the CMA's process to favor their arguments & how effective is the spending of taxpayers on a virtual lost case. #Gaming #GamingNews