The Developer Of Pokémon GO Is Now Worth About $4 Billion

US-based software developer Niantic became a global phenomenon when it released the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO in 2016. Since then, the company hasn’t looked back – continually improving the experience and building upon its own IP, while acquiring new licenses to work with at the same time. To this day, GO continues to be a money-maker for the company, banking $80 million in the month of November.

If that’s not impressive enough, The Wall Street Journal is reporting Niantic is now worth close to $4 billion. The company recently managed to raise $200 million via venture capital from GO. In contrast, last year it raised $200 million for a valuation of around $2.7 billion. This illustrates how investors still have faith in the mobile developer and the GO craze in general. In the US, the title is in the top 200 apps (according to downloads).

Earlier this month, Sensor Tower said GO’s introduction of PvP multiplayer battles would result in “unprecedented” player spending. To put the company’s value in perspective, this was Epic Game’s amount in Spring. In saying this, the Fortnite creator is now worth around $15 billion.

Nintendo’s Holiday Television Advertising Promotes Pokémon: Let’s Go

The holiday season is now in full swing and VentureBeat reports Nintendo is once again in second place in terms of television advertising within the US. According to GamesBeat and its partner iSpot.tv – a real-time television ad measurement company – Nintendo was the second highest most-seen video game industry brand in November.

In the end, the company spent close to $20.4 million on 19 spots which ran more than 7,500 times and gained nearly 1.2 billion impressions. The most expensive spend was $5.8 million on Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! These advertisements prioritised networks such as Nick and Adult Swim, during shows like Spongebob.

Yet again, Sony was in first place, spending around $43.1 million on 10 advertisements that ran over 4,100 times. The spend generated close to 1.7 billion impressions and the biggest commercial cost $11.8 million. Microsoft’s Xbox was in third, spending $17.1 million on five advertisements that ran around 4,000 times. It generated 923.4 million impressions and the top advertisement spend came in at $8.3 million.

In general, gaming brands almost doubled their budgets in the month of November, spending close to $102.3 million on a collective of 94 advertisements which aired more 22,420 times. In total, this generated 5.4 billion impressions.

Daily Deal – Just Shapes & Beats, 25% Off

4 cool new projects to try in COPR for December 2018

sudo dnf copr enable deadmozay/mindforger sudo dnf install mindforger 

sudo dnf copr enable timn/clingo sudo dnf install clingo 

sudo dnf copr enable youssefmsourani/sgvrecord sudo dnf install sgvrecord 

sudo dnf copr enable eklitzke/watchman sudo dnf install watchman 

Steve Jobs wanted ultra-optimized US manufacturing, Apple vets say

 

By Roger Fingas
Sunday, December 16, 2018, 03:50 pm PT (06:50 pm ET)

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was, for a time, deadset on U.S.-based manufacturing of computers, an effort which collapsed after just eight years.

A factory in Milpitas, Calif., circa 1984.

Jobs had “deep convictions” about Japanese-style manufacturing, according to Randy Battat, who told the New York Times about his time as an electrical engineer at Apple and helping to launch early laptops. The company established U.S.-based Macintosh manufacturing in the early 1980s, beginning with a heavily automated factory in Fremont, Calif.

“The Japanese were heralded as wizards of manufacturing,” Battat explained. “The idea was to create a factory with just-in-time delivery of zero-defect parts. It wasn’t great for business.”

In fact the result was “really shameful” and slipshod, said Jean-Louis Gassee, a French office automation specialist who became president of Apple’s product division in 1988, well after Jobs’ departure. He blamed the issue at least in part on overall deficiencies in U.S. infrastructure.

“We don’t have a manufacturing culture,” Gassee complained, “meaning the substrate, the schooling, the apprentices, the subcontractors.”

President Donald Trump and others have urged companies like Apple to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. Decades of corporate offshoring have drained the country of its capabilities in that area however, and higher labor, safety, and environmental standards would likely increase Apple’s expenses and already high pricetags. The company has nevertheless done some U.S. manufacturing in the post-Jobs era, namely building the cylindrical Mac Pro in a factory in Austin.

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 Maplestory 2 Berserker - Dead or Alive?

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 Priests are among the most popular Maplestory two Class since Priests can do damage, provide several buffs and the part to their allies, heal them! It will have a propensity though this is fun at the start. They do have but insufficient to block the function of being a true frontliner class.
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Finding Maplestory 2 Berserker on the Web

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Runescape Kril - Dead or Alive?

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Your target here is not to kill her, yet to live and do a little bit of damage.  This is among the most dangerous attacks but there's a manner of decreasing the damage.  In addition, it deals quite a massive quantity of damage for a Basic ability.
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 If you want to train on the opposite bugs in the dungeon, other forms of armors may be used.  Note you can only do one form of herb farming at the same time, 1 sort of brewing at the same time, and one of either picking papayas or coconuts.  Herblore can be rather an intriguing skill, enabling you to brew your own potions and mixtures by combining the right ingredients together.
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 If you use up all your prayer and don't have any potions left, teleport immediately.  When provoking, in case you have to choose between a kiln cape and a skill cape you should select the skill cape.  The quest is going to teach you just how to craft Summoning pouches.
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 Furthermore, attacking familiars are usually useless too.  Vindicta also has three special attacks which should be prevented if you need to kill them efficiently.  Gergorovic also has three special attacks which should be prevented if you wish to kill him efficiently.  This can be quite useful because he won't be capable of using his attacks while stunned.  Because this is a magic attack, it is going to hit.
If you are feeling confident, wait until you have to eat 2 sharks at a moment.  Furthermore, it takes a while to respawn.
 The Principles of Runescape Kril That You Can Learn From Beginning Today

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 The Wilderness obelisks can likewise be convenient, especially in the event the Hard Wilderness Tasks are completed.  Odds are extremely small you will need more than 1 dose per trip, which is the reason why it isn't advised to use super anti-poisons.  The Prayer is going to be blacked out if you can't utilize it.
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Red Dead Online Microtransactions Now Live

Rockstar continues to tweak and refine Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online. A new update for the game is now available on PS4 and Xbox One, and along with making general stability improvements and other fixes, it enables microtransactions.

As Rockstar detailed on its blog, Red Dead Online's in-game store is now live as part of the latest update, giving players the option to purchase gold using real-world money. The gold is sold in various bundles, ranging from 25 bars ($10) to 350 bars ($100). You can see the prices for each bundle below:

• 25 gold bars -- $10 US / £9 / €10
• 55 gold bars -- $20 US / £18.49 / €20
• 150 gold bars -- $50 US / £45 / €50
• 245 gold bars -- $75 US / £70 / €75
• 350 gold bars -- $100 US / £90 / €100

In addition to these bundles, Rockstar is offering a special one-time deal on 25 gold bars for $5. The developer is also gifting everyone who has participated in the Red Dead Online beta thus far an additional 15 gold bars. To qualify for this gift, you'll need to play the mode by Thursday, December 20. Rockstar says that all gold bars should be delivered to players by December 24.

That isn't the only freebie Rockstar has for players. As an added bonus, those who pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption 2 or purchased the game's Special or Ultimate editions will receive extra RDO$. Players who picked up the Special edition will receive $100 RDO$, while those who bought the Ultimate edition will get $1,000 RDO$. Finally, everyone who pre-ordered the game will take home an extra $100 RDO$ on top of the other bonuses. Rockstar says the cash will automatically be added to players' accounts starting December 21.

There are plenty more updates on the way for Red Dead Online in the near future. Rockstar says it will continue working to address the community's feedback, noting that new anti-griefing measures and gameplay balance improvements are coming. The developer also says it will introduce new features, modes, and other content for Red Dead Online in the new year.

Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 15th)

As we come to the end of yet another week, it’s time to take a moment or two to discuss which amazing games we’ll be enjoying over the weekend. That “Ultimate Smashing” game may well have released just last week, but there are plenty of other experiences being had by Team Nintendo Life this time around. Turns out we’re a pretty cultured bunch after all… Anyway, feel free to give our entries a read, and then put forward your own entries via our poll and comment section below. Enjoy!

Gavin Lane, contributing writer

After claiming I was done with new games until the new year, discounts on ABZU and Wolfenstein II had me flushing that plan down the pan. Both Everspace and Kingdom Two Crowns are still drawing me back after playing them for review and, having tracked down a jolly Solaire of Astora amiibo, I should probably jump back into Dark Souls, or perhaps get beyond the opening of Mario + Rabbids. Oh, and this morning I saw that Quarantine Circular had launched and used my remaining US credit on that, too.

Last night I also came home to a freshly delivered Flip Grip, so until Downwell launches I’ll be testing it out with arcade Donkey Kong. I should probably get some shmups, too – I hear Ikaruga is rather good…

So, as you can see, I almost definitely won’t be heading to the eShop again until 2019. Youbetcha.

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

Sorry to go for the obvious choice, but I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that my weekend will consist of more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The last couple of Smash releases didn’t really grab me as much as Melee did in my younger days, but I’m absolutely loving every moment of my time with Ultimate. From playing random local multiplayer games to blasting my way through the surprisingly long World of Light mode, the whole thing has been a blast.

At some point, I really hope to be brave enough to explore new characters and properly learn all there is to know about each fighter and stage to give me an edge in battle. Currently, I only truly feel safe playing as Kirby, but I’m starting to see some weak points that could well be sorted by using someone else. Where to begin, though!?

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend I’ll be returning to one of my favourite games of 2016 – the engaging and emotive story of Firewatch. It’s about to make its debut on Nintendo Switch so I’ll be putting Henry and Delilah’s journey through a forest full of mystery through its paces once more. Look out for my full verdict next week.

Elsewhere, I’ll be carrying on my love affair with Warframe. Seriously, how does it run and look this good on Switch? Someone definitely sold their soul to the Devil…

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

While I could simply write “Smash!” and walk away, I can’t ignore the amount of quality that rolled up this week onto the eShop. One of my personal favourite games of 2017 is now on the Switch and I’m losing my mind all over again in the procedurally generated sectors of Everspace. We also have the brilliant Desert Child, the astonishing Conduct Together!, the solitude of Starman and the gorgeous visuals of Omensight: Definitive Edition. Despite being late to the party, it’s excellent to have Juan back on the Switch; Guacamelee! 2 is just as incredible as its predecessor!

Yet, despite this incredible quality, none of the aforementioned titles reaches the visual/audio heights of GRIS, my game of the week and quite possibly another personal GOTY candidate! It truly is the season… of bankruptcy.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

No surprises for guessing what I’m playing this weekend. Yep, it’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. For the majority of the first week, I’ve been familiarising myself with the technical aspects of the game and training up with a bunch of new and old fighters. If you must know, I tend to practice with Link, Kirby and Inkling.

If I’m in need of a break, I think I’ll spend my time rolling about in Katamari Damacy Reroll. Else I might finally spend some of my precious gaming moments playing the Switch eShop version of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. It’s definitely one I’ll be enjoying when I’m out and about.

Which games are you playing this weekend? (162 votes)

Wolfenstein II

1%

Everspace

2%

Kingdom Two Crowns

2%

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

2%

Quarantine Circular

2%

Downwell

  0%

Donkey Kong

1%

Ikaruga

1%

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

35%

Warframe

4%

Desert Child

1%

Conduct Together!

  0%

Starman

  0%

Omensight: Definitive Edition

  0%

Guacamelee! 2

6%

Katamari Damacy Reroll

3%

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

1%

Something else (comment below)

23%

Splatoon 2

6%

Please login to vote in this poll.

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days…

Nintendo Switch Surpasses Lifetime PlayStation Vita Sales Within Japan

The Switch has this week reinforced its position as the top portable video game system in Japan by surpassing the local lifetime sales count of Sony’s PlayStation Vita.

The Vita had a significant headstart, launching in Japan in 2011, compared to Nintendo’s hybrid device which released domestically last March. There’s been a recent surge in Switch sales leading into the holiday period and following the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!

In less than two years of availability within Japan, the Switch has now shifted more than six million units (approx. 6,112,100). In the past week, the system sold another 281,222 units. The Vita’s current total sits at 5,955,448 units and is unlikely to see a return to form with Sony announcing in September it was stepping away from the handheld game business in 2019 and had no plans for a future portable device.

On both occasions, Sony’s handheld systems have failed to make an impact like Nintendo’s portable hardware. This includes the company’s inability to match the sales momentum of the DS and 3DS, allowing Nintendo to once again dominate the small-screen video game market with key franchises on Switch such as Mario and Pokémon.

Are you at all surprised to hear the Switch has already surpassed Vita lifetime sales within Japan? Tell us below.