One of the biggest criticisms early on with the Nintendo Switch was also admittedly one of the console’s greatest strengths: it just plays games. For some, this laser focus on being a gaming platform was a breath of fresh air; it does exactly what it says it will, and it does so exceedingly well. For others, the omission of some relatively simple things, like a browser or other entertainment apps, was seen as a drawback. Either way, Nintendo said streaming apps would eventually show up for the platform, and now the first Western one has shown up with Hulu, a North American service – the Japanese store got a NicoNico app earlier in the year.

It adapts the updated UI of the mobile Hulu app (as opposed to the outdated look of the website version), with plenty of frosted glass and a broad spectrum of colours that cycle as you move through menus. Shows are laid out according to what you’ve been watching or are in the process of watching, and recommendations are made based on the things you’ve shown interest in. If you want to search for something specific, a tap of the X button will take you straight to the search tab. All in all it’s clean, it’s quick, and it’s easy to navigate, all making for a great first impression.

Switching between the TV screen and the Switch is a simple and painless process, adding greatly to the versatility of the app. Whether you’re dropping it in or out of the dock, the video will continue with no notable hiccups unless you pause it. So, if you’re in the middle of watching a show and want some snacks from the kitchen (and simply can’t be bothered to pause the show for two seconds), you can take it with you for that long walk, prop it up on the kickstand as you assemble that massive plate of nachos, and resume watching on the TV in a seamless go. Shows look great on either screen although it is generally more preferable to watch on a TV, not just because there’s more real estate, but the text in menus is a little smaller than comfortable on the Switch screen. Not enough to be much of a hindrance, but enough that it doesn’t feel quite like it’s the right size.

Aside from that, one (minor) gripe is the complete lack of touchscreen functionality with the interface. You can only navigate using the buttons and sticks as of now, and it feels like a bit of a lazy move. Sure, the UI doesn’t have the chunky design that’s finger-friendly, but it feels rather strange tapping on a show icon and having no response as a result. Hopefully this will be rectified in a future update; it’s not a big problem by any stretch, but it would add a welcome extra bit of convenience to navigation. Maybe the company was rushing a bit to be the first streaming service on the platform.

All told, this is a perfectly functional and satisfying way to watch your favourite shows on Hulu (newcomers can have a free trial, but it’s a paid service). Being able to switch between the portable screen and the TV is a nice touch, and the ease of use in either configuration is welcome. Though the portable mode suffers from tiny font sizes and a lack of touchscreen use, this is a great first pass at the app and it bodes well for the future of streaming services on the platform.

Electronic Arts announced today that it’s cut a deal to acquire longtime partner Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall, Titanfall 2) for $151 million in cash, plus as much as $304 million if Respawn hits certain performance milestones through 2022.

This is a big deal, literally and figuratively. It marks the end of Respawn’s seven-year run as an independent venture, which began in 2010 when the studio was launched by ousted Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West.

In the years following, a good chunk of Infinity Ward’s staff made the jump to Respawn to work on the studio’s flagship Titanfall franchise. Though West eventually left the studio, Zampella has remained a lead figure for the Titanfall games, which have been published by EA.

In a blog post published to the Respawn website, Zampella stated that he plans to continue running Respawn in addition to his new work as a member of EA’s studio leadership team. He also claimed that work will continue unabated on both the Titanfall franchise and the studio’s unnamed Star Wars project.

“We’ve had success as an independent company but as we look to how we want to compete in the future, and the challenges that face us in a rapidly changing landscape, now is the time for us to combine forces with a global industry leader like EA. While it wasn’t necessary, going with EA made a lot of sense,” he wrote.

“I will still be running things at Respawn and will also be a part of the studio leadership team at EA. There will be no layoffs or major organization changes within Respawn. All games currently in development are continuing as planned.”

The terms of the acquisition state that Respawn will now be a part of the EA Worldwide Studios division, alongside outfits like Motive Studios and Ghost Games.

In addition to the afore-mentioned $151 million in cash up front, EA has agreed to pay “up to $164 million in long-term equity in the form of restricted stock units to employees, which will vest over four years”, as well as more cash (up to a maximum of $140 million) based on “achievement of certain performance milestones, relating to the development of future titles” through 2022.

Incidentally, this news comes less than a month after EA made a public show of shutting down Visceral Games and overhauling its Star Wars game.

Many of gaming’s most compelling stories come from those who’ve helped to create our favorite Xbox One games. In our Inside Xbox One X Enhanced series, these creators will share the behind-the-scenes accounts of the work involved in enhancing these epic games for Xbox One X, how they’ve helped chart the course of the world’s most powerful console, and what that means for the future of gaming. Today, we’ll be chatting with Seth Christie from EA Sports, Technical Director on the perennial football powerhouse Madden 18.

What specifically is your development team doing to enhance Madden NFL 18 for Xbox One X?

For Madden NFL 18, we are reaching new heights on Xbox One X through visuals and gameplay. The resolution of the game can be played in 4K Ultra HD, which really comes through in the player detail.  The gameplay will run at a constant 60 FPS (Frames Per Second), which means that when you go from scoring on the field to celebrating in the end zone, you’ll experience a smooth, seamless transition from gameplay to cinematic moments.

How do these enhancements impact the gaming experience?

As mentioned above, the visuals are improved due to 4K Ultra HD support and the performance is improved due to constant 60 FPS across the gameplay experience. When you combine 4K Ultra HD, constant 60 fps with additional enhancements such as an increased level of camera detail, you’ll immediately notice and feel a difference in the immersion. This means that elements such as the player’s helmet and faces become more realistic –giving you the feeling that you are right there in the stadium.

Why did your development team choose to focus on these enhancement areas?

We wanted to give our fans the highest fidelity Madden NFL 18 visual experience, and we knew these were the key areas which would deliver the most noticeable upgrades.

How do you expect fans of Madden NFL 18 will respond to seeing on Xbox One X with these enhancements?

There are still times when we do a double-take after casually seeing Madden NFL 18 on Xbox One X. The console has made the experience even more like the real-life broadcasts you seen on TV. We expect our fans will react similarly.

How has the process been to get the game up and running on Xbox One X?

The team at Microsoft planned their console transition well, and the we found it easy to upgrade Madden NFL 18 to take advantage of the power of the console.

What enhancement were you most excited about to explore leveraging for Madden 18 on Xbox One X?

The powerful GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) in the Xbox One X has allowed a jump in fidelity already, and we are sure there is still room to improve the experience in the coming years.

What does 4K and HDR mean for your game, games in the future and development at your studio?

We are now able to deliver vibrant, detailed visuals only previously imagined by our team. Our games will continue taking advantage of these technologies to deliver realistic experiences into our fans’ living rooms.

Thanks to Seth for taking the time to chat with us about Xbox One X Enhanced. We’ll be bringing you more interviews with more developers in the future, so stay tuned to Xbox Wire!

While some major third-party publishers have backed Switch enthusiastically from the beginning, others have been rather more reserved. Capcom has certainly been cautious early on, offering some support with ports and tweaked older games while waiting for indications of early sales.

With the Switch having enjoyed a positive debut year so far, it seems Capcom is looking to produce more titles to cash in on that popularity. Speaking to Japanese publication Jiji, a company executive outlined plans to bring more titles to the Switch after April 2018. The only specific franchise mentioned was Ace Attorney.

There’s certainly plenty of scope for easy wins with the series. In addition to the various 3DS entries and remasters the IP has had multiple HD versions on smart devices. Of course, the Switch could potentially be on the cards for any completely new entries, too. Beyond Ace Attorney there are various ports that could be quick projects for Capcom (we already have Resident Evil Revelations and its sequel around the corner), though many will naturally hope for new games.

What Capcom titles would you like to see on Switch?

Play Squad for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Squad at 50% off the regular price!*

If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Squad. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Westwood, Massachusetts

Our mission is simple: to create immersive, story-driven video games for people who love games that ask something of them.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Ghost Story Games (formerly known as Irrational Games), best known for the BioShock franchise, is seeking a highly experienced and talented Senior Programmer. In this role, you are directly responsible for creating efficient and effective code in support of our development and QA teams with a focus on QA automation & tools and game analytics. In this role, you will also be responsible for additional programming support, which may include general gameplay features, tools, graphics and rendering or other engine technologies.

WHAT WE OFFER

• The opportunity to work on a creatively ambitious project in the immersive sim genre.
• A world-class team. We are proud to be home to some of the most talented, smartest, nicest and hardest-working colleagues. We make mistakes sometimes, but we help each other by finding mistakes early and depending on each other to fix them quickly.
• We are a core development team of just under 30 people and work closely with specialist outsource groups and contractors when necessary.
• Open Communication: Our team members are welcome to join any meeting, and we have a flat structure. Do you have a question or a concern? Just walk up to anyone and ask! Team-based decision making is important to us, regardless of your position – every opinion counts and is considered.
• Flexible Hours: We understand that sometimes people need to juggle work and family life, so we have flexible work hours and a support structure that allows people to work from home if needed. Every Friday is a default WFH day for us, so no meetings planned that day!                                           
• The Space: We love our studio space and all the comfortable perks that come with it, such as a fully stocked kitchen (drinks, fruit, snacks, breakfast food), plenty of shops, restaurants and (urgent care) services within walking distance, a game room, a quiet room, outdoor deck, free parking, public transportation connections including the Amtrak train into Boston + NY and maybe, just maybe, we have a bathysphere whiskey bar.
• Free Merchandise: Every new employee is welcomed with an onboarding swag package to make sure they blend right in. Additionally, each of our team members can expect to receive a new merchandise item every time one goes live in our fan store. For fans of other Take-Two studios, there is a discounted employee store where you can find the latest games and swag from our sister studios.
• On-Site Support: Our world-class IT and Operations teams make sure that you get what you need to do what you do best. They keep us working, fed, hydrated and happy. Full team-catered lunches for new employee welcomes or significant team meetings? Receiving your online shopping orders? Getting you an aspirin when needed? They have your back!

Great Place to Work® has certified our workplace culture. At Ghost Story Games, 96 percent of employees say their workplace is great, which ties us for first spot in the games industry.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support high quality and robust game features and systems, by gathering requirements, designing solutions, implementing efficient code, testing and debugging.
• Implementing automation and other tools to streamline the QA process for a highly systemic game.
• Support build automation processes as needed.
• Support analytics backend development as needed.
• Participate on development of low level systems like streaming, generic serialization, entity system and more.
• Participate in group collaboration and utilize engineering best practices, such as code reviews.
• Work with all departments to ensure we are using the most effective & efficient systems and tools needed to realize the vision of the game
• Create efficient, scalable, optimized code while working with 3rd party libraries and tools.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• 5+ years of experience in the game industry.
• Has shipped at least one highly rated PC game (Metacritic rating of 85+)
• Have architected (or significantly improved) build systems and systemic QA tools
• Candidates with graphics and rendering experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with C/C++ and C# skills.
• Experience programming with Unreal 4 is a strong requirement.
• Ability to quickly understand existing code and enhance/extend an existing architecture.
• Experience with Perforce.
• Ability to research, analyze and optimize code to meet performance requirements.
• Ability to work within a schedule and deliver effectively to deadlines.
• Self-motivated toward solving problems.
• Must be eligible to work in the US and willing to relocate to Boston.
• Deep knowledge of and experience with development of FPS/action/RPG/strategy/immersive sim titles.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent communication, collaboration, interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Commitment to code quality, documentation and thorough testing procedures.
• Passion for narrative first-person shooters a plus.
• Experience working with outsourcing a plus.

WHEN APPLYING FOR THIS POSITION

Please have played or at least be familiar with our legacy games, System Shock 2, BioShock, and BioShock Infinite.

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

ARMS is the game that keeps on giving; since its launch back in June we have seen quite a few updates introducing new stages and brawlers. Here is the latest teaser from the Japanese Twitter account:

Here’s the translation from the default Bing offering:

Splendid pillars feel the weight of this history! Petapeta touch I’m also part of the history.

Uff… By the way God is faith in the region’s face has been carved into this column, it seems. Man filled with the overpowering feeling to oozing! … And the sense of intimacy! Somehow not kinda similar to what? The Hora and divinity.

Given that you all laughed at this humble scribe for daring to use Bing last time, we can compare with Google Translate too:

A wonderful pillar that feels the weight of this history! Petapeta touched and a member of history also became a member of history … Uhufu … By the way, the face engraved on this pillar seems to be a god who is believed in this district. Overflowing godness, intimidating sense of pressure! … And affinity! Does not it resemble myself for a moment? Hora, Shintoism and so on …

So this is all basically gibberish, but it does look like we are going to have quite an interesting new stage to battle in. Eagle-eyed readers might also spot something hiding behind one of the pillars – could this be the faintest glimpse of a new fighter?

As always, speculate with a comment below.