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30 years of Final Fantasy
December 18, 1987 marked the establishment of a video game franchise that would come to define role-playing games for millions over the next 30 years — but the creators of Final Fantasy didn’t know that at the time. Here’s a look back at this influential series and how it has changed over the years. Read More
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Mario Bear has come to save 2017
It’s been a long year – it feels like it actually spanned about 50, in fact. But now, at the end, some relief: Mario Bear. Yes, it’s just a bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop. And a ‘brand collaboration,’ that horrific thing that usually just means some executives get a larger Christmas bonus and more people are convinced to part with their hard-earned money for… Read More
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Nintendo sells 10 million Switch consoles since launch
Nintendo has sold 10 million units of the Switch console since launch, according to the company. The console launched back in March, and is selling at a similar pace to Nintendo’s most recent hardware superstar, the Wii. The Wii sold more than 100 million units over its life cycle. In fact, NPD Group suggests that the Switch could possibly beat Wii sales by 20 percent over the first… Read More
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Alohomora! Harry Potter game hits your phone next year with Jam City
Niantic’s much-anticipated Harry Potter follow-up to Pokémon GO is coming next year, but Harry Potter fans who want their first taste of Hogwarts on mobile don’t have to wait, because Harry Potter is coming to the Los Angeles-based mobile gaming studio, Jam City. Read More
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Here’s everything new Niantic just added to Pokémon GO
Niantic is rounding out the year with one of Pokémon GO’s biggest updates to date. We knew earlier this week that the update was right around the corner, but we didn’t know exactly when. The answer: now. From new Pokémon to crazy new weather systems and minor text fixes to battle system changes, there’s a good amount happening here. Here’s everything we’ve seen… Read More
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Zelda expansion, Death Stranding and other titles hyped at The Game Awards
The Game Awards, an event that’s exactly what it sounds like, took place shortly ago and, like any gaming event, it was shot through with trailers and announcements. What’s the biggest announcement, you ask? It’s probably a tie between the sudden release of a new expansion for Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a teaser for the next project from From, the creators of Dark Souls… Read More
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Sony has sold over 70 million PS4 consoles, 2 million VR headsets
Sony released some new stats today detailing the progression of sales for its PS4 console and PS VR headset systems. The numbers that matter: 70.6 million PS4 consoles, 617.8 million PS4 titles, 2 million PS VR headsets and 12.2 million PS VR titles. Read More
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Facebook adds support for live streaming and video chats to Messenger games
Last November, Facebook launched Instant Games, a new platform for gaming with friends inside the Messenger chat app. Today, the company is announcing a couple of notable new features for this gaming platform, including support for live streaming via Facebook Live and video chatting with fellow gamers. The idea with Instant Games is to boost people’s time spent in Messenger by giving… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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Watch Ultrahaptics use ultrasound to let you feel imaginary objects
Ultrahaptics lets you touch what you see in virtual and augmented reality, or even give a 2D poster 3D feeling. It uses small speaker-like ultrasound wave emitters to give the sensation of pressure and texture when you’re just waving your hands in the open air. Ultrahaptics CTO Tom Carter demoed the technology onstage today at TechCrunch’s Disrupt Berlin conference. Read More
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Nvidia’s Shield TV offers Wii and GameCube games in HD in China
Nvidia just rolled out a very interesting selection of software for its over-the-top Shield TV box in China – Wii games, running in 1080p resolution, including New Super Mario Bros. Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and PUNCH-OUT!!. It’s only in China, where Shield TV is launching for the first time, but it’s an official tie-up between Nvidia and Nintendo, which… Read More
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Nexto replaces boring audio guides with tourism games
What if you could play with landmarks instead of just touring them? Nexto is turning audio guides into games to make sightseeing more interactive. Launching today as part of TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin‘s Battlefield competition, Nexto is partnering with tourist destinations to help them attract more visitors and earn more money to fund culture. “We wanted to make heritage more… Read More
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New Destiny 2 Alexa skills let you ask Ghost to do stuff in-game
Destiny 2 fans will know that you get your own virtual assistant of source in the game world – Ghost, who sort of floats around and guides you. The new Alexa skill for Destiny 2 allows you to ask Ghost to do a number of things for you, including provide guidance about your in-game mission, calling backup, equipping different armour and weapon sets and providing lore and fictional… Read More
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Fox announces an ‘X-Files’ mobile game coming in 2018
Not content to just revive The X-Files on television, Fox is also bringing the franchise to phones and tablets. The new title from FoxNext Games and Creative Mobile Games is planned for release early next year, after the TV show returns for its eleventh (!) season. According to Variety, the story will take place in 2010 — long after the original series, but before the events of last… Read More
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Nintendo’s Animal Crossing mobile title hits 15 million downloads less than a week after wide release
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp marked Nintendo’s most significant mobile title launch since Mario Run and it seems like the game has already delivered some significant downloads, with data from SensorTower suggesting that the title, which lets users chat with animals, catch fish and shake trees for fruit, has already been downloaded 15 million times in its first six days of availability. Read More
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Pokémon Go creator raises $200 million ahead of Harry Potter game launch
Pokémon Go creator Niantic has raised a new $200 million in funding, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Series B raise was led by Spark Capital, and includes participation from Founders Fund, Meritech, Javelin Venture Capital, You & Mr. Jones and NetEase, Inc. Spark partner Megan Quinn is also joining Niantic’s board as part of the new financing deal. Niantic is known for its… Read More
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Shadow upgrades its cloud computer for gamers and opens signups to everyone
French startup Blade, the company behind Shadow, announced at a press conference that it is launching new offers, updating specifications and the ability to become a client and buy a subscription without any waiting list. Shadow is a gaming PC in the cloud for a monthly fee. The company has been running thousands of computers with an Intel Xeon processor and an Nvidia GTX 1070 in a data… Read More
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Internet of Elephants uses AR to get up close to endangered species, turns their migrations into a game
Wildlife conservation groups have made a lot of strides in raising awareness of animals whose populations or natural habitats are endangered, and what we can do to help. Now a startup out of Kenya is tapping into advances made in augmented reality, mapping and app-based games to further the cause. Internet of Elephants, a startup based out of Nairobi, is building an app-based game of the same… Read More
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Hours before launch, EA strips micro-transactions from ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II’
Just hours before the full launch of Battlefront II, Electronic Arts has announced that they’re removing in-game micro-transactions entirely from the title for the time being as they look to rethink their pricing strategy. What drove EA to take micro-transactions out of one of the company’s biggest releases this year? A backlash that was rippling through the online gaming community… Read More
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