biteho.com

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

Though the Dead or Alive series hasn’t reached the same heights as Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, it’s still a fighting game series that’s carved out a place for itself alongside the others since its debut nearly 23 years ago. With Dead or Alive 6 slowly approaching its March 1 launch–releasing on PC, PS4, and Xbox One–the developers at Team Ninja plan for the next game to offer more single-player and online content, with the aim that this will attract greater interest for large-scale competitive play.

While attending a recent hands-on session for the soon-to-be-released fighter, we talked with game director Yohei Shimbori, who spoke about the lessons learned from the free-to-play experiment with DOA5, and what the series hopes to accomplish in 2019.

“There’s many different kinds of fans for fighting games,” said the director. “Some play it for the story, some play it for esports. We saw that when Street Fighter 5 came out, it didn’t have a story mode, and there was a lot of controversy around that. Once we saw that, we knew that people really wanted a story mode in their fighting games. There are also a lot of fans who really gravitate to certain characters. We focused more on that in DOA5 and the free-to-play versions, and with the expanded customization in DOA6, we wanted the fans to create their own personal versions of that character.”

Recently, the game’s launch was delayed till March 1, away from its original release on February 15. According to the developers, this was to ensure that the game would be in stable shape for its debut. While the DOA series has had a particular reputation for blending fast, fighting action with characters that leaned heavily into fan-service territory, the developers want the series to be taken more seriously as a contender with DOA6, which they hope will push the franchise further into the spotlight.

“I’m very proud of how we’re able to release this game after DOA5, as there was a pretty long gap when that game launched,” Shimbori said. “Also, I’m very happy to see that the esports movement has gotten bigger in recent years. I really want to work with fans to help DOA expand and reach that type of stage. My dream is for the DOA fanbase is for it to grow even larger than from what it is today.”

For more on Dead or Alive 6, such as the current roster and what to expect from the comprehensive customization options, be sure to check back with GameSpot.

You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

Sorry, but you can’t access this content!

It was another huge year for Nintendo in 2018, with the company’s Switch raking in the most sales of any console for the year in the U.S. According to a report from analyst firm The NPD Group, Nintendo helped lead an 8% increase in hardware sales, pushing the overall total to $5.1 billion.

Nintendo wasn’t the only console maker seeing gains in 2018, though. Analyst Mat Piscatella wrote in NPD’s press release on its report that Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft’s Xbox One, and other plug-n-play devices all saw sales gains in 2018 over where they landed in 2017. NPD did not reveal any sales totals or dollar amounts in its report.

The Switch was inarguably the winner in hardware according to NPD, though, especially in December. In 2018, Nintendo made more money on console hardware than any company had since Sony took 2015 with the PS4. Nintendo’s December 2018 Switch sales were higher for that month than any year since 2009–the year Nintendo had another huge December with sales of its Wii console.

Nintendo’s big win was reflected in software sales, as well. It had seven of the 20 top-selling games of 2018, which includes December’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which came fifth in sales for the year.

Another big factor in hardware sales, according to NPD: Fortnite. The firm doesn’t track software numbers for the free-to-play game, but Piscatella took to Twitter to remark on Fortnite’s impact on the industry.

Apparently, Fortnite has players buying lots of new gamepads and headsets. Piscatella wrote in his release that 2018 saw a 33% increase in sales of accessories and game cards in 2018, up to an all-time high of $4.5 billion. “The DualShock 4 Black, Switch Pro Controller and the Xbox One S Wireless Controller White were the three best-selling accessories of 2018 in dollar spend,” he wrote, with headsets also contributing.

A huge part of that spending took place in December 2018, when consumers spent $1 billion on accessories and game cards–an increase of 29% over December 2017. The big seller in December: the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

NPD also ran down the best-selling software of 2018 and for December, with Red Dead Redemption 2 coming in first for the year.

Follow its rollout on PC and mobile last month, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds‘ newest map, Vikendi, has now arrived on consoles. Developer PUBG Corp. has released a new update for the battle royale game on PS4 and Xbox One, bringing the aforementioned snow map to both platforms, along with the Vikendi Survivor Pass and other new content.

Vikendi is the fourth map to arrive in PUBG to date. Beyond its snow-covered terrain, its most distinctive feature is its size. Unlike the other maps in the game, Vikendi is 6×6 km large, making it smaller than both Erangel and Miramar, but larger than the 4×4 Sanhok.

Vikendi also comes with an exclusive vehicle: the snowmobile. It can seat two players and is better suited to the map’s snowy landscape than PUBG’s other vehicles, but it doesn’t perform as well over other kinds of terrain. PUBG Corp. has also added two new weapons: the Skorpion, which is available on all maps, and the G36C, which only appears on Vikendi.

Arriving alongside Vikendi is the Vikendi Survivor Pass. Much like Fortnite’s Battle Pass, it gives players a variety of challenges to complete over 10 weeks. Doing these challenges will level the pass up, which in turn will unlock cosmetics and other rewards.

Rounding out the update are an assortment of tweaks and fixes for the game on both PS4 and Xbox One. Among other things, PUBG Corp. has revamped the parachute system and made various performance improvements. You can find the full patch notes on the PUBG website.

The huge success of the first Deadpool in 2016 took many surprise–the modestly budgeted X-Men spin-off was not only the most successful R-rated movie of all time, it made more money than most of the “regular” movies in the franchise. Last year’s Deadpool 2 was also a huge hit, and inevitably a third movie is in the works. Star Ryan Reynolds has now hinted about what fans can expect from Deadpool 3.

In a recent interview with Variety, Reynolds revealed that development on Deadpool 3 had already started. Unsurprisingly he didn’t give many details away, but he did suggest that the film won’t be what is usually expected from the third part of a successful franchise. “[We’re] looking to go in a completely different direction,” he said. “Often, they reboot or change a character maybe like four movies too late.”

It had previously been reported that Deadpool might appear in an X-Force movie ahead of Deadpool 3, with Bad Times at the El Royale’s Drew Goddard directing. However, earlier this month, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld revealed that X-Force had now been cancelled, due to the impending merger between Fox and Disney. Fox currently own the rights to all X-Men characters.

As for Deadpool 3, the film does not have a release date and it hasn’t been confirmed if director David Leitch will return. Leitch joined the production of the second movie after the exit of director Tim Miler, who helmed the first film but left Deadpool 2 due to reported clashes with Reynolds.

In related news, there are two X-Men movies set for release in 2019. All the main X-Men cast return for Dark Phoenix, which releases in June–check out the latest trailer. This will be followed by the much-delayed New Mutants, which is currently set to arrive in August.