Bethesda’s biggest update yet for DOOM and DOOM II across all platforms – including the Nintendo Switch – has officially gone live. It features add-on support – including John Romero’s unofficial fifth episode SIGIL, 60fps support, added aspect ratio options, quick save and load, level select, “plus a ton” of quality of life features and performance optimizations.

Below are the full patch notes from the Bethesda.net forum:

Patch Highlights:

Add-on Support: Add-ons can now be downloaded and played from the main menu. We will continue to add content that is a mixture of official DOOM and DOOM 2 add-ons, as well as some of the best community episodes and megawads released for the original DOOM games. We’ve curated the initial list and will be asking you guys for your picks for best community made wads soon! Check out the FAQ below for more info!

60 FPS Support: For the first time, DOOM and DOOM II now run at 60 FPS on all platforms, instead of 35 FPS as in the original releases.

Added Aspect Ratio Option: Stretches the display vertically to match the original 4:3 aspect ratio that the game was intended to be played in.

Added Quick Save and Load: Pause the game, and press R/R1/RB to immediately save where you are, and unpause the game. Load your quick save by pausing the game and then pressing L/L1/LB.

Added Level Select: Pick an episode, map, and difficulty of your choosing, and immediately play on it without having to clear the previous levels first.

Added Weapon Carousel: You no longer need to cycle through every weapon to get to the one you want. Press Previous or Next Weapon to highlight the weapon you want, and it will swap immediately to the selected gun.

Added Quick Weapon Select: The Directional Pad can now be used to quickly swap between weapons.

• Up: Shotgun and Super Shotgun
• Right: Chaingun
• Down: Rocket Launcher
• Left: Plasma Gun

Added Overall Brightness and Level Brightness: Turn up Overall Brightness to make the colors brighter, but if that isn’t enough, you can also raise Level Brightness to change the brightness of the lights in the world.

Added Random SFX Pitch Toggle: Turn off randomized sound pitches during playback, which was a feature present in early versions of the original DOOM release.

New split screen HUD: A minimal HUD will be used when playing split screen multiplayer. The bottom status bar is removed, allowing more room for the game to be displayed in.

Changes:

Changed Health Graphics: The pill has been changed into a green plus, making the graphics closer to their original appearance.

Changed Wolfenstein Secret Level: Enemies in the Wolfenstein level have been restored to the original DOS release. The original textures and enemy audio have been re-added to the level, but with [censored] references removed.

Performance Optimization:

• Several optimizations to DOOM’s software renderer have been made in order to better support 60 FPS and increase battery life.
• Game rendering resolution on Nintendo Switch version now displays at 640×400 to support 60 FPS and improved battery life.
• Improved behavior when starting the game out of sleep mode. There still may be cases that cause the game to lock up after awakening.
• Sped up various UI animations to make navigating through menus quicker.

Fixes:

• Fixed an issue from the original DOS release where map objects would not correctly track the player after loading a saved game. This also fixes an occasional crash with loading a save game with an active BFG projectile.
• Fixed an issue where the game would skip ahead several tics after unpausing.
• Fixed an issue where attract mode demos would desync, causing demo playback to deviate from the original DOS release.
• The trophy for “When I’m With You” for beating every level on Nightmare in co-operative mode has been fixed and will now be awarded properly.

The size of the patch in the Switch version of the game is said to be 378 MB. There’s also apparently a known issue with a DOOM II achievement:

The DOOM II Achievement/Trophy “The City” (Beat all the city levels – MAPS 12-20) does not unlock when taking the Secret Exit in MAP15: The Industrial Zone in the Single Player Campaign. Workaround – If you’re gunning for that trophy, please elect to skip the secret exit in MAP15: The Industrial Zone and you should have no problem getting it after completing MAP20.

Apart from this, there’s a full FAQ on the forum about add-ons, and Bethesda says it will release more of them on a “regular basis” over the next few months, so keep an eye out for even more hellish content. To get the rundown about add-ons, check out our existing post.

Will you be returning to Hell to try out this new update? Leave a comment down below.

Sega has announced the release date for the next two games in its Sega Ages range.

Shinobi and Fantasy Zone are two arcade classics which earned legions of fans back in the day and established two classic franchises. Both will come with the usual slate of enhancements, such as online leaderboards, replays and save states, but they’ll also have features exclusive to each title.

In Shinobi, a melee button has been added so you can use Joe Musashi’s blade independently from his throwing stars. You can also play in a special “Ages” mode which puts Musashi in a white outfit (like the one seen in Revenge of Shinobi) and benefit from extra health and increased damage. There are also difficulty options, a stage select feature and a time rewind aid so you can quickly amend mistakes.

For Fantasy Zone, a “coin stock” feature makes things easier for novices, while the Time Attack mode is perfect for those seeking a challenge. You’ll also be facing off against extra bosses and there’s the option to play as Opa-Opa’s sibling, Upa-Upa.

Both games launch on January 23rd at $7.99 each. Will you be picking them up?

Step right up folks. pic.twitter.com/ImVTNMJiLk

— Better Call Saul (@BetterCallSaul) January 9, 2020

The last several years have brought massive change – and opportunity – for the retail industry. Gone are the days when retailers chose when, where and what to sell; now consumers are in the driver’s seat, and retailers are being challenged to figure how to best engage with them. Additionally, they’re juggling pressures driven by industry trends such as the drive for more sustainability in retail, the proliferation of data, increased energy around “anywhere commerce,” the need to better equip store associates with technology and much more. But change often accelerates innovation, and because of this I believe that there’s never been a more exciting time to be a retailer at the intersection of retail and technology.

Microsoft continues to innovate side by side with retailers to help them embrace their biggest opportunities and enable intelligent retail by empowering businesses to take control of their own digital evolution. Our solutions enable retailers to transform across all parts of their business – from how they better understand their customers and empower employees, to putting the right technology in place to deliver an intelligent supply chain and ultimately reimagine their businesses. In the last year and a half, we’ve established ourselves as a trusted partner to some of the world’s largest retailers such as Walmart, Kroger and Walgreens Boots Alliance, among others. And we’ve empowered their transformation by providing the platforms on which to build innovation for all parts of their businesses.

We’ve learned a lot along the way both through our retail customers as well as our own physical retail presence about how technology can help this industry both embrace its biggest opportunities as well as tackle its biggest challenges. And today we’re sharing how our first-party innovations are helping to drive the future of intelligent retail across all parts of a retailer’s business.

Gaining a better understanding of your customers

If customers are the heart of the retail industry, data is the oxygen. Data has the potential to profoundly impact every single aspect of retailers’ businesses, including – and perhaps most importantly – how they respond to customer demands with differentiated and unique experiences.

We’re helping retailers surface actionable customer insights with data solutions like Azure Synapse Analytics, which helps retailers not only analyze vast amounts of data, but also apply machine learning to quickly surface insights that can drive immediate impact for their businesses, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, which helps maximize customer lifetime value by surfacing a 360-degree view of the customer to drive personalized engagements at scale. This means that even the most complex retailers, with thousands of suppliers in their end-to-end supply chain and millions of item-store combinations, can quickly make the decisions needed to not only run their businesses most efficiently but also delight customers in the process.

And with Dynamics 365 Connected Store, retailers like Marks & Spencer – which is piloting the solution in a store in London – can generate data within its physical stores that produces the same kind of actionable business insights as it gets from its digital storefronts. M&S is achieving this by analyzing data from smart devices such as video cameras and IoT sensors to provide real-time and predictive insights on everything from the current length of the checkout line to the traffic around endcap product displays to help associates make better decisions. We’re welcoming new retail customers into our Connected Store preview every day, so sign up here to request access.

One of the customer demands becoming more and more evident as retailers reason over their data is the desire for a seamless shopping experience regardless of where, when and how they choose to buy. We’ve invested in helping retailers bridge embrace this concept of commerce anywhere (aCommerce) with Dynamics 365 Commerce, the evolution of Dynamics 365 Retail and a true multi-channel solution that transforms the customer experience by unifying retailers’ back-office, in-store, call center and e-commerce experiences. One experience across all channels – that’s what customers are demanding today. The result? More personalized engagement with customers, employees who are better equipped to provide the best customer experience possible and deep insights to empower advanced decision making across every piece of a retailer’s business. I’m excited to announce that Dynamics 365 Commerce, currently in preview, with become generally available to our retail customers on Feb. 3.

 Empowering employees with the tools they need to better serve customers

Despite the rise of e-commerce over the past couple of decades, we know that most shopping – across generations even – still happens in person. Research from Forbes Insights shows us that 60 percent of consumers still prefer to shop in physical retail environments, and this number stays fairly consistent across generations. This means that first-line workers are still one of a retailer’s most valuable assets – many times, they are the first impression a shopper gets of your brand and they play a significant role in customer acquisition and retention.

Retail associates need modern tools and experiences in order to remain productive and deliver the best customer service possible while on the store floor. With Microsoft 365, the world’s productivity cloud, and new first-line capabilities coming to Microsoft Teams later this year, we are in a unique position to help this often-overlooked part of the workforce get their jobs done. Today I’m thrilled to announce that we’re adding even more productivity and collaboration value into Teams, including task targeting, publishing and reporting, new workforce management integrations to streamline shift management and a new Walkie Talkie feature. By building push-to-talk functionality into Teams, we’re helping our retail customers turn company-owned smartphones and tablets into a secure walkie talkie, extending the range of traditional walkie-talkie communication and streamlining licensing and provisioning for retailers’ IT staff.

Finally, as we extend modern tools and experiences across the first-line workforce, we know that we need to make it easy for IT to manage and help enable a secure and compliant experience for all employees. I’m excited to disclose enhanced identity and access management capabilities – such as shared device sign-out for Android and inbound provisioning from leading workforce management providers such as SAP SuccessFactors and Workday – that will make onboarding retail associates and operating shared devices more secure and scalable, something our retail customers have been asking us to add for some time now. And, later this quarter, retailers will be able to enable SMS sign-in to Microsoft 365 and custom applications for retail workers and empower their store managers with delegated user management capabilities, making it easier to reset passwords and manage workers’ identities without additional demand on IT staff.

Infusing more intelligence into the supply chain

A retailer’s supply chain can play a major role in customer satisfaction – outdated supply chain processes can mean delays, unfulfilled orders and more. By connecting devices and collecting data, retailers can analyze that information to create new insights and ultimately a truly intelligent supply chain that enables them to provide the best service possible to customers. This is the Internet of Things (IoT), and as IoT becomes more mainstream it continues to be a huge driver of data for retailers today. In fact, our IoT Signals for Retail study found that 92 percent of retailers have adopted IoT and are using it in various stages of trials and deployments, with the most common IoT scenarios being driving store analytics (57 percent), supply chain optimization (48 percent) and security and loss prevention (46 percent and 45 percent, respectively).

We’re making building and deploying IoT applications in retail environments easier than ever with new Azure IoT Central solution templates that help retailers simplify IoT deployments to start driving immediate impact. Today, the Azure IoT Central Micro Fulfilment Center template joins five existing retail-focused templates – including for scenarios across connected logistics, digital distribution centers, in-store analytics and smart inventory management – to help retailers more easily optimize their fulfilment processes through a managed service that includes everything a retailer needs to get started today.

Reimagining retail business models and customer experiences

The success of today’s retailers’ physical store environments rests on their ability to disrupt themselves and their own status quo by pushing into new business models and providing new experiences and formats that engage customers and keep them coming back for more.

We understand this better than most technology vendors, because we’re continuing to move through this same transformation journey with our own Microsoft retail stores. Over the past several years, we’ve digitally transformed and extended our physical retail store strategy from an exclusively consumer storefront to a commerce engine that connects with all customers – from commercial enterprises to small businesses and consumers. Partnering with enterprise sales, we’re offering new experiences in and through our stores targeted toward our enterprise customers such as J. Crew, Office Depot and Marks & Spencer. Our stores are also at the forefront of adopting new Microsoft technology across cloud, predictive analytics, machine learning, cognitive services and more to solve our most complex challenges – and we’re learning from those experiences to ultimately pass those lessons along to our customers. And of course, that’s a two-way street – we’re also learning from our retail customers to inform how we manage and operate our stores too, which is indicative of the true partnerships we strive to establish with every retailer we work with.

While reimagining retail can lead to the kind of business transformation we’ve seen in our own store, it can take different forms as well, such as how retailers are tapping into new revenue streams and digitizing their own physical stores to drive new customer and employee experiences.

Microsoft PromoteIQ is an end-to-end commerce marketing platform enabling retailers to create a new critical growth engine for their businesses through at-scale vendor marketing programs. With Microsoft PromoteIQ, retailers can empower their brand partners with powerful marketing technology to natively promote products to in-market shoppers, reaching them at the right time to increase digital sales – all supported by a deep analytics suite to deliver impactful audience insights. And now, thanks to the integration with Microsoft Advertising, we can offer our retailer partners a powerful new source of incremental demand for their programs. Take Home Depot, for example. While you may expect the world’s largest home improvement retailer to do most of its business in person, HomeDepot.com is the fifth largest e-commerce site in the U.S. Consequently, the company needed a solution to help it maximize the nearly 170 million visitors per month its site was seeing by integrating an end-to-end commerce marketing platform with capabilities to manage and scale its vendor-funded digital marketing. Since deploying PromoteIQ, Home Depot has seen very positive results, including double-digit sales growth for promoted products through this program.

Of course, reaching customers at the right time is only half the equation; a retailer must also be able to deliver on what that customer is looking for. In fact, 80 percent of shoppers will abandon a site that produces poor search results. And that’s why we’re investing in this critical piece of digital commerce – product search. Microsoft Bing for Commerce is an intelligent artificial intelligence-driven solution for product search, personalization and product recommendations that gives retailers the power to meet today’s shopper expectations and grow revenue through more relevant and customized results that drive conversion. We’re also enabling our retailers to meet customers where and how they want to shop through visual search innovation included in Bing for Commerce, to help capture sales from new, emerging shopping behaviors.

Connect with us at NRF

Microsoft will have a significant presence at NRF once again this year, headlined by our own CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote session to open the show. You won’t want to miss hearing his perspective on business and cultural transformation, and how our retail customers are putting our technology into action to reimagine their businesses. And if you’re attending the show, make sure you stop by our Microsoft booth (#4501) to see how we’re bringing intelligent retail to life across all parts of a retailer’s business and how you can achieve the same – we’re offering complimentary envisioning workshops, where retailers will have an opportunity to work directly with us to create a shared vision and digital road map to unlock a future of endless possibilities.

You’re also invited to attend one of our sessions on the show floor – I’m leading a Big Ideas session where I’ll share my thoughts on the increasing importance of sustainability to the industry and how technology can help accelerate retailers’ sustainability visions. In addition, my colleagues Alysa Taylor, corporate vice president for Microsoft Business Applications and Global Industry, and Emma Williams, corporate vice president of Microsoft Office Vertical Solutions, and I will participate in the FQ Lounge at NRF along with many other “women rocking retail” for panel discussions about diversity and inclusion in the retail industry (we’re proud to be a sponsor of this space as well). And of course, visit Microsoft’s NRF page to keep up to date on the latest developments.

Tags: NRF 2020, Retail

The critically acclaimed and much adored To The Moon is just a week away from launching on Nintendo Switch, and we’ve just been treated to a new trailer to celebrate.

If you’re unaware, To the Moon is an adventure game that was actually originally developed on RPG Maker. Thanks in part to its emotional storytelling and soundtrack, the game went on to be quite the success, and now it’s headed to Switch in a fully remastered form. You see, X.D. Network has been working with Unity to recreate the original game with a fresh lick of paint while hoping to keep its retro charm.

Here’s the official blurb:

Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts have peculiar jobs: They give people another chance to live, all the way from the very beginning… but only in their patients’ heads. Due to the severity of the operation, the new life becomes the last thing the patients remember before drawing their last breath. Thus, the operation is only done to people on their deathbeds, to fulfill what they wish they had done with their lives, but didn’t.

This particular story follows their attempt to fulfill the dream of an elderly man, Johnny. With each step back in time, a new fragment of Johnny’s past is revealed. As the two doctors piece together the puzzled events that spanned a life time, they seek to find out just why the frail old man chose his dying wish to be what it is. And Johnny’s last wish is, of course… to go to the moon.

It’ll launch on Switch on 16th January for $11.99 / €11.99 / £10.79, although a two-week 20% off sale will be taking place at launch to celebrate the game’s arrival on a new platform. We’re looking forward to seeing this one on Nintendo’s machine – so much so we included it in the video below.

Will you be checking this one out next week? Tell us below.

Following on from our reader-voted Top 50 Games of the Decade, Nintendo Life staff members will be picking their personal favourite Nintendo games between the years 2010-2019. Today, Darren looks back at the golden age of the Wii U era in 2014 and beyond…

Ah, the good old Wii U. While it was a bit of a commercial flop, the much misunderstood dinky console did sure have some amazing games during its brief lifetime. Of course, since the days of the Super NES no Nintendo console generation can pass without a Mario Kart game and Mario Kart 8 sure was a belter.

While it’s possibly not the most exciting choice for my Game of the Decade, it is probably the game which I’ve had the most fun with over the years (mostly with the kids!). Of course with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe coming so soon after the Nintendo Switch launch, this has ensured that we always have a convenient way to enjoy this gem, whether at home or on our travels.

Back in May 2014, I remember eagerly looking forward to playing what would be the first Mario Kart in glorious HD in the comfort of my home. I’d played a bit in advance sessions at Nintendo’s headquarters, which convinced me that this one was going to be the best entry ever, what with its fancy anti-gravity sections and smooth 60 FPS gameplay. Having young kids at the time, it was a game which we could enjoy together, too. Sometimes we’d race each other with me feigning a complete inability to beat them in VS mode, other times they’d cheer me on as I worked through the 150cc mode and tried to get all the gold trophies and 3 stars.

It’s impossible to overstate how delighted I was when the Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing DLC packs were announced for Mario Kart 8. The new courses were a welcome addition and being able to play as Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach and Link was a revelation. Of course, the jewel in the crown of these DLC packs was the F-Zero themed level which fit perfectly with the anti-gravity vibes. Such a nice surprise.

Something about the game made it feel more polished than ever. Perhaps it was the high-definition lick of paint it brought to the table, or the way it drew on the best elements from previous games and felt like a true culmination of series’ best bits. Maybe Luigi’s adorable death stare had something to do with it, but Mario Kart 8 had that special Nintendo sauce which kept me coming back time and again.

The Deluxe version on Switch bundled all that DLC goodness in and added a proper Battle Mode, the absence of which one of the only marks against the Wii U original. A dusting of the 200cc class, extra items and characters was the icing on an already delicious cake, with other additions like optional Smart Steering making the game even more accessible for novices than before.

With a whopping 19 million units of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold on the Switch, Nintendo’s kart racer has cemented itself as the most popular game on the Switch, way above even the excellent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild… that’s quite the achievement. Even in its original form, though, for me Mario Kart 8 was always ahead of the pack. Now while we wait for Mario Kart 9, let’s have some more lovely DLC please Nintendo!

Every month on the first Tuesday, Epic Games give away several items from the Unreal Engine marketplace and January 2020 is no exception.  This month there are 5 free for January items as well as 1 more free forever item.  So long as you “purchase” the item before the start of next month’s giveaway, it is yours forever.

This months free items are:

Permanently Free

Free For January

You can learn more about the Unreal Asset giveaway on the Unreal Engine blog, or by watching the video below.

GameDev News Unreal

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What looks like Mahjong, smells like Mahjong and plays like Mahjong but isn’t actually Mahjong? Dragon Castle, that’s what. If you watched someone playing, taking matching tiles with at least one free edge off a pile, it looks exactly like solitaire Mahjong. Even down to the oriental iconography. The designers admit that the Chinese classic inspired them. But when it gets down to the claws and scales, this is a very different dragon indeed.

Most of the time, players will do the solo Mahjong thing on their turn and pick up a pair of tiles from the stack. If you’re familiar with the genre, you’ll understand the same strategy concepts apply. You want to try and set up future moves to free tiles you want down the line. At the same time, though, because this is a competitive multiplayer game, you don’t want to free up easy pairs for your opponents to collect.

If there isn’t a pair then, obviously, the game doesn’t end. Instead, you can either take a victory point and toss the tile or take the single tile and a shrine. Shrines, and whatever tiles you’ve got, get used in the second and not at all Mahjong-like half of the game. This is all about arranging your tiles on a cramped play mat to score points.

Your aim is to try and create groups of tiles of the same colour. The bigger the group, the more points it will be worth. This creates an immediate dilemma: do you risk trying to build a single big group, or go for smaller, quicker scoring opportunities? The right answer depends on what tiles look to be available in the stack and what other players are collecting. It’s a tricky balancing act you’ll need to master for success.

It’s also only half of the high-wire wobbling you’ll want to consider. Once you’ve scored a group of tiles, they’re turned face down and you can place new tiles on top. You can also add one of those shrines that you take when you only pick up a single tile. Shrines score points depending on how many face-down tiles there are beneath them. So again, with an uncertain and player-driven game end, you’re balancing building high against wasting shrines.

Together, these factors interlock to create a fascinating, compelling and rather novel whole. There’s a lot to consider with each and every move. And while there’s no direct, in-your-face interaction, the game doesn’t feel dry. Strategy is very much dependent on watching what others are doing and reacting accordingly. There’s no sense of lacking interaction when the player before you snatches the last tile you needed for a high scoring set out of pure spite.

This mobile adaptation has most of the key elements in place, but it’s a little spoiled by some minor shortcomings. It looks good on screen and plays fast but on phone screens, you have to cycle between the main board and player mats. That’s a bit of a pain, but it’s essential to good play. Bigger-screen formats get to see the player mats in each corner, which is much better. There’s also, bafflingly, no undo option which can be a bit frustrating.

There are three levels of AI but even that hardest won’t stay challenging for long, and there’s no other single-player content. Thankfully, then, the online play is fine. It’s easy to set up and join games and the asynchronous experience is smooth. It’s only a shame there’s no option to let games run longer than seven days.

Once you’ve got to grips with the base game, Dragon Castle has a bunch of variants to keep you interested. You can build the stack of tiles in a variety of different shapes for one thing, some of which work better with particular player counts. If you’ve played the physical game, you’ll understand why having an app stack piles for you is a blessing.

There are also a slew of Dragons and Spirits you can add to the game. The latter award all players extra victory points for fulfilling certain conditions. The Dragon of Fortitude, for example, gives an extra point per shrine placed on the edge of your mat. Spirits, meanwhile, offer a special power players can pay for by discarding a tile or shrine. The tiger-like Spirit of Destruction lets you remove a tile from the main stack, denying it to your opponents.

All the Dragons and Spirits are well designed and change the strategies needed to win, often quite drastically. The Dragon of Tranquility offers everyone bonus points for building smaller, separate stacks of tiles. It then follows that it makes more sense to build higher and shrines becomes more useful. Each combination makes games feel fresh.

Dragon Castle is a great board game that deserves more time in the limelight. This app is a great way to check it out. Hopefully, the few small missing features in this adaptation won’t stop it winning a legion of new digital fans.