Weekly Recap: Xbox One Finally Outsells PS4, Witcher 3 Delayed

(Some Of) The Big Stuff:

It finally happened. For the first time since launch last year, the Xbox One outsold the PlayStation 4 in the United States (and Europe, too!) during November 2014. Not only were hardware sales strong, but more Xbox One games were sold during November in the US than PS4 or Wii U titles. In addition, in November 2014, more gamers logged into Xbox Live across Xbox One and Xbox 360 than any other month in the history of Xbox. Wow!

CD Projekt Red’s ambitious upcoming open-world RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was delayed again this week. The game’s latest pushback sees the exciting-looking game shifted from February 2015 to May 2015, a delay of three months. CDPR says it will use the extra time to fix the game’s remaining bugs.

During the PlayStation Experience event, Sony and Capcom announced that upcoming fighting game Street Fighter V will be exclusive to PS4 for its console release. The game is also coming to PC, and will support cross-platform play. The announcement has, as you might expect, ruffled some feathers. Microsoft has spoken out to address the news, saying “business deals happen,” while also promising to make amends.

The Other Stuff (Stories We Like, But Didn’t Cover With a Standalone Post):

What’s next for the Microsoft-owned Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel Games? It’s beginning to come into focus, as Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently visited the Texas-based studio and teases on Twitter that the game is unlike anything the company has ever made before. Spencer adds that Twisted Pixel’s new game is also looking like the biggest undertaking the company has ever worked on. Phil is such a tease.

Legendary American football player Bo Jackson has never appeared in a Madden football game before, but that’s going to change. EA Sports announced this week that Jackson is coming to Madden NFL 15‘s Ultimate Team mode and to mobile game Madden NFL Mobile. To play with Jackson, all you need to do is log into either game between December 22 and January 1 and you’ll receive a Rookie Bo Jackson item.

In other sports game news, it appears 2015’s PlayStation baseball game MLB 15: The Show will be getting an in-game radio show. That’s according to the game’s product description on GameStop.com, which reveals the feature but doesn’t say much more. Are you interested in a feature like that? Let us know in the comments below.

From BuzzFeed’s video team comes this hilarious video that gives shows us the real meaning of Smash Bros. It’s “Mario and Luigi in their greatest battle yet–sibling rivalry.”

Larry Probst, longtime EA chairman and former CEO, is stepping down from active duty at the Battlefield publisher–though he will remain on the company’s board. Probst was named interim executive chairman after CEO John Riccitiello left EA in 2013 and worked in that post until the point Andrew Wilson was named top executive at the company later that year.

Video streaming giant Twitch, which itself was acquired earlier this year, this week announced the acquisition of eSports talent agency GoodGame. Twitch says buying GoodGame will allow the streaming site to “harness GoodGame’s unique service package” in an effort to improve the overall platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Have a Disney Infinity fan on your Christmas shopping list? If that’s you, you may want to considering heading to GameStop today, December 13. GameStop is holding a “Disney Infinity Day” today at all GameStop stores across the US with various games, toys, and bundles on sale for one day only. See the full list of deals below.

  • Receive a free individual figure with the purchase of any starter pack
  • $20 off Marvel Starter Packs
  • $10 off Disney Original Starter Packs
  • $10 off all Play sets
  • $2 off all individual game figures
  • Buy 2 Power Discs Get 1 FREE

The Twitch app for Xbox One got a huge update this week that introduces, among other things, an advanced filtering system. As detailed in a post on the Xbox Wire, Microsoft explains that the Twitch Xbox One app now uses new Xbox Live functionality to offer filters for player stats, game modes, maps, player skill level, and lots more.

2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider may be accompanied by a new live-action series, according to a new report. Stephen Lunsford of MTV’s Teen Wolf is reportedly behind the project, according to a since-removed Instagram post. While details are limited at the moment, the series is rumored to be a prequel to the game.

We now know A LOT more about Human Element, the next game from Robert Bowling, the former longtime Call of Duty developer. Following the game’s debut trailer at The Game Awards last week, the Human Element website has been updated with tons of game details. In terms of story, we now know that Human Element is set 35 years after a zombie apocalypse, during a time when the remaining human population has created safe havens scattered around the world to secure resources. In terms of gameplay, Human Element will let you shoot guns and drive vehicles in its 5v5 game modes. Read more about Human Element at the game’s website here.

If you’re like me and you love video game art, this one’s for you. Artist Donglu Yu has shared a handful of concept art images he created for Ubisoft’s blockbuster open-world shooter Far Cry 4. You can see all these images at his website. It’s definitely worth a look.

Omni-directional virtual reality treadmill company Virtuix announced this week that it’s raised $2.7 million in venture capital funding as the futuristic-looking technology gets closer to its commercial launch. The $2.7 million is being spent on operational support and will also go towards funding for the acceleration of research and development, among other things. The omni-directional treadmill, called Omni, lets users walk, run, and jump within a 360-degree (virtual environment), which makes for a VR experience like no other, the company says. The final version of the Omni will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 FPS Killzone: Shadow Fall received a big update this week that, among other things, makes changes to the way the title’s in-game currency system works. Check out the video above to see a breakdown of what’s new with the “Valor” update.

Mobile game Spider-Man Unlimited received a new update this week that brings storylines and characters from Marvel’s Spider-Verse series to the game. That’s a first for a mobile game, publisher Disney says. Spider-Man Unlimited, a free game, has been downloaded 30 million times so far, the publisher adds. You can read more about the game at Spider-Man Unlimited’s website.

It’s that time of year … Facebook this week announced a ton of Year In Review trends, including the most popular game of the year on the social networking site. The top game was Cookie Jam, followed by Bubble Witch 2 Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga. The Top Global Topic, unsurprisingly, was The World Cup, while the most-viewed Ice Bucket Challenge video was president George W. Bush’s. Of course. You can see all of Facebook’s 2014 Year In Review lists here.

Are you still playing BioWare’s free-to-play PC MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic? If you are, you’re probably happy to learn that the game’s latest expansion–Shadow of Revan–is now available. It increases the game’s level cap and represents the game’s “most ambitious story-driven expansion yet,” according to BioWare’s Jeff Hickman.

Deep Silver this week published the intro cinematic for upcoming zombie game, Dying Light, which sets up some of the story for the game. Not much else to say here; you can watch the trailer above.

A FreeSpace tabletop game is in the works, but it needs your help to become a reality. Developer Interplay and designer Chris Taylor of Fallout and Starfleet Command fame have launched a Kickstarter campaign to create FreeSpace Tactics, a board game based on the classic series. They’re looking for $75,000 to make the game, and have until January 12 to get there. You can read more about FreeSpace Tactics and pledge at the Kickstarter campaign website.

A UK politician has found himself in hot water after he was caught playing super-addictive mobile game Candy Crush Saga during an official meeting. And he was playing on an iPad paid for with taxpayer money. Whoops! He’s since apologized.

This week, United States president Barack Obama became the first president in US history to write a computer program. It was a very simple program, as it only draws a square on the screen, but according to experts, that’d kind of the point. “All programming starts simple,” Code.org co-founder Hadi Partovi told Wired. “No one starts by creating a complicated game.”

Interested in learning about the fall of once big-time publisher THQ? You’re in luck, as Polygon has written an excellent feature diving into the story surrounding the company’s downfall, as told by the people who were there. Read the story here.

Have a great weekend!

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