Video Game Updates and News 10/30/14

Our show hasn't done a video game episode in a while, so I thought I'd post about some of the interesting news that is going on in the video game world.

(The opinions written in this blog are of Rob Potchak, and not even the Turd. They do not express the opinions of any company he may have, does or will work for in the future. He may credit sources like IGN, Famitsu or Kotaku throughout this article. If someone is not credited for their information, it is purely on accident and not intentional.)

Nintendo reported this week that the quarter results on WiiU sales are at 610K, which may not sound exactly stellar when Microsoft and Sony are talking millions, but it's much higher than the last quarter, and can be attributed to the sale of MarioKart 8, and the upcoming hit, Super Smash Bros. U. They also announced that the 3DS had a down quarter comparable to last year, even with the launch of Smash Bros for it, and the anticipated launches of Pokemon in November.  This was on the heels of the news that a NEW 3DS (and XL) were on their way, with no stateside date attached, as they obviously want to get through this holiday selling as many as they can. Expect the new system stateside in April (maybe even late March), as that's when the fiscal year for Nintendo closes.

Microsoft announced that effective November 2nd, all new Xbox One bundles will be $50 off for the holidays as a way to jump out in front of the holiday season and really try to grab consumers that thought the PS4 was still going to be the best "value" of new gen systems. Some retailers are sticking firm to the 11/2 dating on that, and others may honor it already. Did anyone else notice that this was just in time for a little title starring Kevin Spacey? That's no accident, and the $50 savings perfectly allows folks that fully paid off any of these systems the ability to get the Season Pass of Call of Duty at no more cost than what they originally intended to spend.

Finally, not to be left out in the cold, Sony dropped PS4 update 2.0 on us, and have you checked out some of the features it entails?  You can now determine when the USB ports turn off on the system when it hibernates. Oh, that's not a big deal, right? Okay, let's try some of the other updates. The chat quality now rivals Xbox One in it's clarity. Still not enough? Fine, let's talk about the most important updates. Youtube is now available to push your personal video shares to, and the biggest one to date is that you can now play "couchfree" co-op with a person even if only one of you has a copy of the game you want to play, as long as you both have PS+. This is a feature similar to Nintendo's download play option on their handhelds, and it will be really interesting to see how well it works. Especially for games like Destiny.

I know I didn't chock this full of as much opinion as I normally do, but the information here is pretty straight forward. I can't wait to try the Co-op without the game option on PS4, and the temporary price drop on XB1 is substantial because it does make them a better value than PS4 for the holidays, but it remains to be seen if no end date is given on the price drop, will there be backlash AFTER the holidays on MS?

We will be discussing on an upcoming episode our feelings on Sunset Overdrive, Disney's Fantasia and more, we just haven't had time to spend on them, yet. I've played Fantasia and love it, but Ward really hasn't gotten on there and given it his full attention yet. On that note, I'm out, remember to help us with our Movember support, go to Movember.com and search for "Potsy and the Turd." You can join team PATT and you can also donate to this great cause.

- Rob