Talking Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires with Producer Akihiro Suzuki
Needless to say, Dynasty Warriors Producer Akihiro Suzuki knows a thing or two about the Three Kingdoms. He’s been working on the Dynasty Warriors series since the historically-based franchise’s birth, helping grow the 1 vs. 1,000 game into a global brand, while helping celebrate the original game’s 20th anniversary at TGS with the surprise news of the forthcoming Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires. I caught up with Suzuki to find out more about this action-strategy game hitting Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in early 2021.
Jon Robinson, Public Relations, Koei Tecmo America: Dynasty Warriors: 9 Empires marks the fourth Xbox system the franchise has been on. Walk us through the highlights of how each new Xbox system has allowed you to do more with the game.
Akihiro Suzuki, Producer, Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires: With the specs improving with each successive generation, we have been able to greatly increase the chaotic enemy actions that is a key element to what makes the series fun. At the same time, the increase in processing speed used to control the AI of the various troops that appear on the battlefield has allowed us to simulate a more realistic battlefield.
Robinson: What graphical upgrades can gamers expect to see in Empires on the Xbox Series X|S?
Suzuki: There will be improvements on the Xbox Series X|S versions in the visual quality, framerate stability, and crowded chaotic gameplay.
Robinson: The Dynasty Warriors franchise has been around for over 20 years now. What is it about this franchise that people keep coming back for?
Suzuki: I think that one of the reasons is that we have been able to retain and deliver the series concept of “the exhilaration of 1 vs 1,000” throughout while adding new features into each new game. There are features such as new actions and new game modes, but the addition of new characters allow us to show new episodes from the Three Kingdoms story and their relationships with existing characters, has allowed us to bring forth new drama to the storytelling in each game.
Robinson: As a history fan, have your opinions of certain characters in the games changed throughout the years as you learn more behind the real men featured as characters in your games?
Suzuki: My opinion has changed about Sima Yi. In the early games, I had the impression that as a rival to Zhuge Liang, he was a supporting character. But not only did he have many military exploits, he was victorious in the faction within Wei, and lived through the Three Kingdoms era to create the foundation of the Jin dynasty, so now I think that he is a hero that rivals Cao Cao.
Robinson: How is the Empires gaming experience different than the experience of playing a typical Dynasty Warriors game?
Suzuki: It combines the simple controls and 1 vs 1000 exhilaration of the Musou action of the DW series, and the tactical strategy elements of conquering territories. Players can enjoy weaving together their very own Three Kingdoms.
Robinson: What can you tell us about the game’s evolved battle system?
Suzuki: The battles have changed compared to past games, and now the area around a castle used as the battlegrounds to conquer the castle has evolved into siege battles. Since the high-stakes situation changes constantly, players should make use of various strategies and their forces in the pursuit of capturing enemy castles. I hope everyone enjoys this new style of battle.
Robinson: How will the character relations influence gameplay?
Suzuki: It will impact the effect of strategies and abilities in battle. Also, becoming sworn siblings or spouses will influence the in-game events and ending.
Robinson: What can we expect from the expanded character creator?
Suzuki: The facial editing will allow for more customization compared to previous Empires games, and it’s similar to Nioh 2’s Character Creation. In editing body parts, it has been a system where the upper body, lower body, arms and feet could be changed, but in this game, we added a new feature. While I can’t talk about the specific details yet, I hope that you can imagine what is possible from the screenshots released showing off the character creator.
Robinson: What is your favorite type of character to create to rule the Three Kingdoms?
Suzuki: I create a lot of characters from the Three Kingdoms story. Using tales and legends of those characters as the base, I then come up with the parts that are lacking as I create the characters. It’s also fun to create family members of DW characters, such as Lu Xun’s son Lu Kang, and Ling Tong’s father Ling Cao. Also, I always create King Wutugu.
Unity teams up with Lego to teach kids about game development
Unity has teamed up with the folks at Lego for its latest Microgame project, joining forces with the iconic brick building brand to help introduce game development concepts in an easily accessible and fun way.
In a blog post, Unity says even those with no game development experience should be able to get a game up and running within an hour. The Lego Microgame requires creators to download Unity, and from there introduces them to how the game engine works using a series of in-engine tutorials.
Once the fundamentals have been explained, Unity encourages Microgame users to customize and create their own 3D levels in the editor with the help of downloadable mods that introduce new mechanics and concepts like customizable enemies, new characters, and more.
The Microgame project itself isn’t new; Unity has previously used the program as a way to introduce game development concepts to a wider audience. As with the latest Lego flavored Microgame, past versions of the program give fledgling game makers a starting point and allow them to edit their projects with a variety of mods and customizations.
Unity says that bringing Lego into the mix aims to help some game development concepts compare to something many people are already familiar with.
“Combining famous Lego elements with Unity’s extensibility and workflows made the Lego Microgame a perfect vehicle to demonstrate how virtual bricks connect like the real ones,” explains Unity. ”By simulating this physical-to-virtual world Lego creation, we’re giving new users a relatable, authentic experience right out of the box, with an ever-expanding list of ways to integrate additional features into your games.”
Gamasutra: Simon Carless’s Blog – Call for data: (Steam) game revenue over time!
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[The GameDiscoverCo game discovery newsletter is written by ‘how people find your game’ expert Simon Carless, and is a regular look at how people discover and buy video games in the 2020s.]
So we haven’t done a ‘call for anonymized data’ post recently on the GameDiscoverCo newsletter, but one subject has been coming up quite a bit recently. Sure, let’s say your game made $50k in its first week on Steam. But at the end of Year 1, will you have $100k or $250k? And how about at the end of Year 2 or Year 3?
I’d like to use all of your (anonymous and abstracted) data to try to get a good sense of if there are any trends on revenue scaling/’long tail’, or if they are changing over time. If you can help (submit data on one or multiple games!), please fill out this survey now.
So again, help us out by completing the short survey, tell your friends, and we’ll reflect the compiled data back your way. Please spread the word – we’ll leave it open until Friday, November 6th.
Bonus: results from previous GameDiscoverCo surveys!
Since many of you are new to the GameDiscoverCo newsletter, I thought it might be useful to recap the two public Steam surveys I’ve done so far.
Il’ll quickly go through the results, and whether I still trust the data in them:
‘Steam sales to reviews’ explained
Firstly, the ‘how many sales does a game have, looking at its Steam reviews?’ question. The results of this particular survey can be summarized in just one handy graph:
As I said back in August 2020: “If you launched your game in 2020, you have an average of 41 sales per review and a median of 38 sales per review. And it seems like the current non-outlier range is between 20 and 60 sales per review – for a game launching from scratch this year.”
So a game with 1,000 Steam reviews released in 2020 might have sold anywhere between 20,000 and 60,000 copies. (The actual gross/net revenue depends on things like average sales price and discounting, so we’re not going into that here!)
Going back further in time, as you can see, the ratio increases. This is partly because of the ‘would you like to review this?’ Steam prompt that turned up at the end of October 2019. But that same button has meant older games people still play regularly have been reviewed a lot more, which can also skew things.
Anyhow, here’s the 2020 sales/review ratio for all respondents so you can see it’s nicely spread out:
I still feel good that – within a larger range (for example, 20x to 60x for 2020 reviews), this survey is fairly accurate. I’ve heard of larger studios starting to use it in planning, and SteamDB integrated a version of it onto each game’s detail page (However, SteamDB ended up using just the 2020 estimate for all game pages.)
So I would give this survey an A- for accuracy, as long as you use a range and the correct years when expressing the possible outcomes!
The responses were extremely varied and produced the following across all ages/wishlist sizes. (So in the below graph results, 1 could be ‘1000 wishlists at launch, 1000 sales in first week’ and 0.1 could be ‘1000 wishlists at launch, 100 sales in first week’):
As I explained at the time: “For all of these games (of varying ages, some Early Access, some full release), you get an average of 0.36 sales per wishlist, and a median of 0.2 sales per wishlist for your first week on Steam. But with some wiiiide ranges, as you can see from the graph.”
And if you split by number of wishlists, you see similar volatility in eventual results. This is the reason why Steam are recently saying there’s no particular number you should ‘predict’. For example, here are the wishlist/sales ratios for all games that launched with more than 10,000 wishlists:
So really, that could be anywhere between 0.75 down to… 0.05, if you take the majority of the data points? That’s so much of a wider range than the Steam ‘sales to reviews’ data, which only varied by a factor of three-fold.
In addition, I noted at that time: “One thing that did decline somewhat is wishlist conversion rate for the two years we have the most significant survey responses, though: 10% in 2019, 7.3% in 2020.”
I’m hearing more and more about devs having disappointing launches compared to the number of Steam wishlists they built up, particularly when they added them via demos and pre-release Steam features. So I think a re-assessment is in order here – although this data gives you a clear ceiling and floor.
Therefore, I would rate this data more like B- in relevance/accuracy to today’s dev launching a Steam game. And I’m planning to conduct an extra follow-up survey before the end of the year to anyone who launched a game in 2020, asking for more detail.
[This newsletter is handcrafted by GameDiscoverCo, a new agency based around one simple issue: how do players find, buy and enjoy your premium PC or console game? We’ll be launching a ‘Plus’ paid newsletter tier with lots of extra info/data – watch out for it soon.]
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Intel's 11th-Generation Rocket Lake CPUs Are Following In AMD's Footsteps
AMD is just over a week away from launching its highly anticipated Ryzen 5000 series of CPUs, but its closest competitor Intel still has a few months to go before it releases its own new generation of CPUs, dubbed Rocket Lake-S.
Announced earlier this year, Rocket Lake is presumably another generation of processors built on Intel's 14nm process, which it has clung to for multiple years. That means core counts on Rocket Lake aren't changing drastically, with a maximum of 8 cores and 16 threads. But like AMD, Intel is hoping that optimizations to instructions-per-cycle (IPC) is how it will achieve more performance with the same high clock speeds the company has touted over its competitor.
Intel is still the best choice for pure gaming performance thanks to its slight lead in single-core performance, and with Rocket Lake, an improvement to IPC might widen the gap. While Intel isn't ready to get specific with numbers, it does say that it expects double-digit percentage improvements when it comes to IPC, allowing for higher framerates in CPU-limited scenarios and less latency in.
Win a copy of Action-RPG Torchlight III on Nintendo Switch!
We love Switch games, which is why we were so excited to start writing about them on the site last month. But this week marks something even more exciting: our first Switch giveaway! We’ve partnered with the lovely folks at Perfect World to give away some Switch copies of the recent installment in the popular RPG series, Torchlight 3.
One hundred years after the events of Torchlight 2, Novastraia is once again threatened by invasion, this time from the Netherim and its allies. You must choose your own hero, and become the land’s defender, fighting off fearsome foes, adventuring, and just generally exploring the wilderness with your friends, or by your lonesome. Torchlight 3 also features collectible animal companions, and even lets you build and upgrade your very own fort.
So if you’re hankering for a fun, fleshed-out RPG experience, Torchlight 3 might just be for you. So what do you need to do to get a copy? Well, just enter below and you’ll be in with a chance of winning when our giveaway ends on Thursday, October 5.
In order to enter, simply follow the instructions in the box below. Though, please do take a glance at our terms and conditions first!
If you can’t wait to play Torchlight 3, you can find the game on the Switch store and Steam. For more similar recommendations, see our list of the best Switch RPGs!
However, this isn’t the first time a Japanese video game company has attempted this trick (it’s also not Nintendo’s first dalliance with RC cars). Back in the late ’80s, Sega created the Sega Super Circuit, an arcade racing title where players controlled RC cars around a massive 80-metre race track, using a CCD video camera mounted on the vehicle.
Players would park themselves in a sit-down arcade cabinet not similar to those used in titles like OutRun and Daytona USA, and up to eight people could take part at any one time. An electronic scoreboard would show each player’s position in the race.
Like Mario Kart Live, a lot of human interaction was required – the track had to be manned by paid operators who would have to line up the cars for each race. These individuals were also called upon to supply live commentary for the on-track action.
Sega Super Circuit’s origins can be traced back to a deal between Sega and Nissan Motors; the game – then known as Super Game Z – was showcased at the Dream Factory ’87 exposition. It was rebranded in 1989 and installed at Sega World Tokyo Roof in Yokohama, Japan. It didn’t last long – it was removed in 1990 – and its current whereabouts are sadly unknown.
Thanks to Slopes Game Room for reminding us about this amazing arcade machine!
The latest Nintendo Download update for Europe has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region.As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Switch Retail eShop – New Releases
INSTANT Chef Party(JUST FOR GAMES, 6th Nov, £19.99 / €24.99) – No matter if you like French, Italian or Mexican cuisine, cook your way up to the top! In INSTANT Chef Party, you will have to compete with up to 4 players in a series of mini-games themed around food and cook. Be ready to enjoy serving, cooking, harvesting, doing dish-washing and many more activities in coop or versus your friends & family!
Mad Rat Dead(£35.99 / €39.99) – A rat’s dream has been left unfulfilled before his death. . . that is, until he gets a second chance at life! Granted the opportunity to redo his last day on Earth, you must utilize the rat’s newfound power to pump his heart in time with the music, lest his own time runs out. You’ve got one day to live and a huge score to settle. Time to put the “beat” in beatdown! Jump, dash, and smash to the rhythm in this music-based action platformer!
My Universe – Fashion Boutique(Microids, 27th Oct, £35.99 / €39.99) – MANAGE YOUR OWN SHOP Create and manage your own fashion store: decorate your showroom to match your personality, welcome customers and help them find the perfect outfit. The more customers you attract, the more you can expand and improve your shop! CREATE YOUR FASHION BRAND FROM SCRATCH Design the fashion collection of your dreams: pick up the shapes, patterns and materials you need to create thousands of own clothing items. You even get to cut and sew them yourself.
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty(Oddworld Inhabitants, 27th Oct, £17.99 / €19.99) – A mudokon chosen by the fickle finger of fate, Abe was a first class Floor-Waxer for RuptureFarms who was catapulted into a life of adventure. Late one night he overheard plans from his boss, Molluck the Glukkon, to turn Abe and his fellow Mudokons into Tasty Treats as a final effort to rescue Molluck’s failing meatpacking empire! Can Abe change the fate of thousands and rescue the Mudokons? Can he escape the dark recesses of RuptureFarms and the desolate, uninviting, and downright terrifying surrounding environment?
Pikmin 3 Deluxe(£49.99 / €59.99) – Grow a squad of adorable, plantlike Pikmin to traverse a strange world and save your planet Command a capable crop of 5 different types of Pikmin to strategically overcome obstacles, defeat creatures, and find food for your famished home planet! You can even bring a second player along to divvy up tasks as you explore a world that seems larger than life from a pint-sized perspective. – Read our Pikmin 3 Deluxe review
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?(£35.99 / €39.99) – Gather all your knowledge and get the jackpot while avoiding all the trick questions facing you! With 15 questions to answer, it will become harder and harder to increase the prize fund: over 3,000 themed questions waiting to be answered (geographic, science, history, but also entertainment or arts), a growing difficulty and the pressure from the audience and the host…
Switch eShop – New Releases
#Halloween, Super Puzzles Dream(£5.39 / €5.99) – #Halloween! is the hashtag for the most terrifying topic! Puzzles move onto the next level with ‘Super Puzzle Dream’, a mix between classic jigsaw and a ‘Tetris’-style dynamic mechanic. Two levels of play, ‘senior’ (for adults) and ‘junior’ (for children aged 3+), guarantee hours of entertainment for all. Become an expert and finish the puzzles in the shortest possible time and you will find yourself amongst the best in the world on the online leaderboard.
Angry Video Game Nerd 1 & 2 Deluxe(£13.49 / €14.99) – The Angry Video Game Nerd has been sucked into Game Land! It’s up to you to guide him through three terrible and treacherous retro game worlds! Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures and Angry Video Game Nerd II: Assimilation come together for the ultimate Nerd experience! This is the definitive way to play the series… and more!
Banana Treasures Island(Max Interactive Studio , 26th Oct, £7.90 / €9.90) – Welcome to the Banana Treasures Island, and begin your journey of funs. Run, jump, swim, and fly all the way through Banana Islands and fight the angry baboon and his minions. Help the baby monkeys and companion in the jungle quest! Dash through the jungle, smash the enemies and complete the level to unlock more! Collect as many bananas gold coins as possible to unlock more items, get specials, upgrades, and power-ups. . . find the super golden banana to break the evil spells that possess islands!
Barbearian(£8.99 / €9.99) – Hijacked to a to strange world. Forced to fight for your life. Discover the secrets of the Arbitrators and find your way back home! Barbearian is a fast-paced hack’n’slash with massive battles in a colorful, hand-drawn world. – 100+ levels full of action and adventure – Collect loot, purchase upgrades and experiment with numerous weapons – Rescue prisoners and build your own army – Encounter colossal boss monsters and take them down – Plenty of challenge, not for the easily discouraged!
Carto(Humble Games, 27th Oct, £17.99 / €19.99) – Use this power to explore mysterious lands, help a quirky cast of characters, and guide Carto on her journey back to her family. Separated from her Granny during a storm, young Carto must use her innate cartography powers to map and manipulate the world around her on her quest to be reunited
CASE 2: Animatronics Survival(£26.99 / €29.99) – Two years before the attack on the police station, there was a terrible tragedy in the city, which led to the closure of the amusement park. Some believe it was an accident – others, that it was a well-planned act of intimidation. Leaflets about missing people filled the city streets. You play as Jack. He is a man who has lost everything. Soon he’ll have to pay for his crime. The past has finally caught up with him. . . Try to save him. Features: A well-considered story with its own characteristics; Unexpected situations that will make you think; A lot of different game locations; Use the tablet: watch security cameras, manage and monitor the situation;
Clea(£13.49 / €14.99) – Mum and Dad have been experimenting on Chaos Servants, but now, the monsters have been let loose. Clea, with her brother in tow, must escape from the Whitlock Mansion. Watch your back, Clea. Those closest to you may be the real terror. Outwit the Chaos Servants: The Chaos Servants are on the hunt. Listen for their footsteps, peek under doors, and stay far, far away. Escape the Whitlock Mansion: The Whitlock family has trapped Clea inside the mansion. Hunt down key items and solve the puzzles designed to lock you from the outside world.
Control Ultimate Edition – Cloud Version(Free Trial) – You can download a free launcher application to test the game for a limited amount of time. This game uses cloud streaming technology, and a stable and permanent internet connection is required to play it. If your internet connection becomes unstable, the service will disconnect after a few minutes. Control Ultimate Edition contains the main game and all Expansions (“The Foundation” and “AWE”) in one great value package. A corruptive presence has invaded the Federal Bureau of Control… Only you have the power to stop it. The world is now your weapon in an epic fight to annihilate an ominous enemy through deep and unpredictable environments. Containment has failed, humanity is at stake. Will you regain control?
Crimzon Clover – World EXplosion(£17.99 / €19.99) – From Japanese indie developers YOTSUBANE and AdventurePlanningService, this unique top-down shooter is a wild ride you won’t want to miss out on. Your first step in Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion is choosing how you want to play, as well as which powerful ship will be yours to command. Choose your version from ARCADE (true to the original arcade game), NOVICE (better if this is your first step into the world of hardcore shmuppage), or ARRANGED (a whole new can of worms with unique mechanics and novel challenges never seen before in the Crimzon Clover saga), then choose your mode from Boost, Original, Unlimited, and Time Attack.
De: Yabatanien(£11.69 / €12.99) – [Warning: This game contains scenes that may be disturbing to players. Player discretion is advised. ] Try to rescue the girls trapped inside the mansion by solving puzzles and uncovering secrets. But remember, one wrong step, and it might cost their lives. It won’t be easy to rescue them all. De: Yabatanien contains two chapters, with over 100 rooms to explore, and multiple endings waiting for you to discover the truth behind all these horrifying traps.
Detective Puz(£3.59 / €3.99) – Detective Puz started a long journey to find the truth. In the way of finding clues, he found a strange book and after opening it, he entered the past, and now he should find his way in the middle of enemies that captured in. Detective Puz should found special diamonds to come back to the present and by that open the time portal. Now you should use your intelligence to help him to reach his goal. Features: – More than 40 beautiful levels. – Different environments. – More than 40 amazing levels: both easy and hard puzzles awaits you. – Different enemies mixed into unique types – It will challenge your intelligence!
Diamond Girl ★An Earnest Education in Love★(£18.15 / €19.99) – This is a love story game in which relationships form between the”love-allergic” heroine who wears track suits around and the handsome men. This is an otome game in which the handsome men surrounding you suddenly go from friend to boyfriend. You can simulate love scenarios you never can in real life, such as dating a butler, cocky boy, younger guy, or mean but loving boyfriend!
Dungreed(Nicalis, 27th Oct, £13.49 / €14.99) – In Dungreed, the player assumes the role of an adventurer who must explore a continuously evolving dungeon to prevent an entire town from being destroyed. The game features procedurally generated levels with a variety of environments such as prisons, jungles and lava zones. Players can advance through the living dungeon by defeating enemies with powerful magic items and an arsenal of weapons, ranging from rusty swords to cutting-edge sniper rifles. To prepare for the journey ahead, adventurers can train to become stronger and better equipped prior to exploring deeper and encountering the sinister denizens that lurk in the unpredictable dungeon.
Family Mysteries 2: Echoes of Tomorrow(£13.49 / €14.99) – Framed scientist travels through time to save his beloved wife and reveal kidnapper’s identity. Find hidden objects in the post-apocalyptic world, solve cyberpunk puzzles and embrace the future full of adventures! Get ready for thrilling sci-fi adventure in the big city, which offers riveting and refreshing approach to the hidden object puzzle adventure genre. “Family Mysteries 2: Echoes of Tomorrow” is an emotional cyberpunkish ride with a hint of romance that takes you straight into not-too-distant future.
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator(£6.29 / €6.99) – What starts out as a simple pizza tossing fun turns into something much, much more. Push through the glitchy arcade game to reveal that you are at your own Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria! Browse our catalogs and purchase your first attractions and animatronics, customize your decorations, and above all make sure that all the equipment is working properly before opening the doors of your brand new Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria!
Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure(Stuck In Attic, 28th Oct, £15.29 / €16.99) – Crazy cultists. Cthulhu. A talking cat. Gibbous takes you on an expansive, traditionally animated, hand-painted adventure. Play as three protagonists and explore a lushly rendered Lovecraft-inspired world, unraveling ancient conspiracies. A comedy cosmic horror adventure made in Transylvania!
Gnome More War(Keybol Games, 27th Oct, £2.29 / €2.49) – It was a fine day in the farm, and Freija was just chatting with his friend Filipo about the upcoming harvest when out of nowhere, a gnome passed by and stole from their barn! Will they let it slide? Not on their watch. Experience the classic arcade shooter game play with loads of twists in Gnome More War. Deal with incoming gnomes in waves, protect yourself from attacks, and prevent your barn resources from being depleted.
Haunted: Poppy’s Nightmare(£2.69 / €2.99) – …my parents and I moved into our new home a few weeks ago. Now I can finally celebrate my first Halloween here. I’m so excited! Mommy has already got me a new witch costume. Hahahaha. Mum says I should take care. As a true witch, many things could happen. Mommy told me about her first Halloween and how she was followed by ghosts. But I do not believe it…. I hope I get many great things with which I can decorate the garden. I am Poppy – and this is my first Halloween.
The Language Of Love(£9.99 / €9.99) – Mitsuki moves from the country to Tokyo to attend a rigorous cram school, with the hopes of passing his university entrance exams next spring. He soon finds, however, that his other classmates treat him like a social outcast, being the oldest at his school by far. It proves impossible to make friends, and Mitsuki consigns himself to an isolated, lonely existence. . . That is, until he meets the single mother, Himuro Kyouko, who just-so-happens to live in the same apartment complex as him. Mitsuki offers to help Kyouko babysit her daughter, Tama. Kyouko, in turn, helps Mitsuki study for his upcoming exams. Over the course of a year, the two bond — first, as friends, and then as something more.
Legends of Ethernal(£17.99 / €19.99) – On a day like any other, a young boy returns home to find it in ruins and his parents, gone. Armed with courage and driven by the pain of his loss, he sets out on a journey to uncover the truth behind his family’s disappearance… But what he discovers will forever change the World of Arkanys…
No More Heroes(£16.19 / €17.99) – After being ranked #11 in the United Assassins Association, Travis Touchdown puts his trusty beam katana to the test as he faces off against the world’s top 10 assassins in deadly battle. It’s a long way to the top, but this all-American otaku won’t stop until he’s the #1 assassin, baby! Burn rubber through the coastal city of Santa Destroy on Travis’ motorbike, the Schpeltiger! Unlock a devastating arsenal of pro-wrestling moves—from Power Bombs to Brain Busters. Unleash the powerful Dark Side to mow down the competition and show ’em who’s boss!
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle(£16.19 / €17.99) – Three years after Travis Touchdown was ranked #1 by the United Assassins Association, he finds himself falling down the ranks to #51. To make things worse, another assassin—Skelter Helter—swears revenge against Travis for the death of his brother. Fueled by his own desires and a thirst for vengeance, the ultimate otaku assassin unsheathes his beam katana once again and plunges headfirst into an all-new battle! Dual-wield beam katanas as Travis Touchdown to dial the hack-and-slash insanity up to 11! Jump through combat as the agile Shinobu or leave foes in the dust as Travis’ brother, Henry. Experience a blast from the past by playing 8-bit minigames to earn money and power up!
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm(Cornfox & Bros., 28th Oct, £26.99 / €26.99) – A GRAND ADVENTURE Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, set a thousand years before the events of the first chapter, takes you on a magical journey across the vast world of Gaia, brimming with mythology and lore. A young Knight faces an impossible challenge, as Warlock Mesmeroth has returned with a formidable Dark Army. Will our hero be able to unite the Owrus, Gillfolk, and men in a fight for the fate of the world? THIS TIME YOU’RE NOT ALONE You will not be taking this journey alone. Trin, the granddaughter of Arcadia’s leader Archimedes, and Gen, a mysterious robot wielding an old samurai weapon, will join forces with you, and fight at your side against Mesmeroth’s Dark Army. Contextual commands will allow you to direct these allies into battle, or have them help you with the solution of the game’s most clever puzzles! – Read our Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm review
Part Time UFO(£8.09 / €8.99) – Stacked with new features The charming stack ‘em up Part Time UFO claws its way onto Nintendo Switch, adding Joy-Con controls, two-player local play*, brand new challenges and console-exclusive modes. Part time worker, full time UFO! In Part Time UFO, fly Jobski the UFO around and complete odd jobs. Help out at a farm, support cheerleaders, cook up the ultimate dessert at a restaurant, build castles, and much more! Wherever Jobski goes, there are sure to be plenty of jobs waiting. At the centre of all this is Jobski’s super special awesome claw. Use the claw crane to grab, move, and stack objects to complete jobs.
Party Games: 15 in 1(Piotr Skalski , 28th Oct, £17.99 / €19.99) – Party games features 15 fun-packed party games for up to 4 players! It’s the ultimate MUST-HAVE game for family and friends of all ages. Everything from action, to puzzle, to sports. . . it’s all here in Party Games! It wouldn’t be a party without friends! Up to 4 players can join in the fun for some friendly competitive play. Party anytime, anywhere! Enjoy single-player or local multiplayer gaming from just about anywhere on the planet with just one system and one game.
Poltergeist Crusader(£3.59 / €3.99) – Crawl into the endless dungeon filled with ghosts and nightmare creatures. Use the holy cross and samurai sword of your grand father to slay the evil beings. However, remember that every tunnel you encounter will be a totally different maze of darkness. Are you able to survive the almighty power of Poltergeist and reach the final portal?
Red Rope: Don’t Fall Behind +(£11.99 / €12.99) – Red Rope: Don’t Fall Behind is an arduous challenge, a cathartic ritual that only the most valiant players will be able to carry out, be they fearless lonely travellers or couples with a strong elective affinity. Explore the Labyrinth, get acquainted with its bizarre inhabitants, its secrets and its rules. Face enemies, traps, puzzles and ferocious bosses. To escape the Labyrinth you will have but one weapon: the rope that binds you together.
Slither Loop(£0.94 / €0.99) – Slither Loop – draw lines between the dots to form a single loop without crossings or branches. The numbers indicate how many lines surround it. – 90 challenging puzzles, Easy/Medium/Hard difficulties – Beautiful abstract artstyle – Chill background music
Star99(Schine, 28th Oct, £8.09 / €8.99) – Arcade-style battle-royale shoot ’em up. Perform chain kills on enemies, send special and boss attacks to wreak havoc on your opponents. Compete with up to 99 players, dominating matches until a single winner remains! Play in matches of up to 99 players. Private online lobbies. Cross-platform. 6 playable characters, all with unique abilities and playstyles.
Super Puzzle Pack(£24.99 / €29.99) – Super Puzzle Pack brings together hundreds of unique puzzles played across 4 different puzzle types. Play with up to 4 players for hours of Jigsaw Fun. Enjoy two stunning hand-drawn match-3 games in a solo adventure. Challenge friends to a 1-vs-1 battle in the 2048 challenge, or in a unique match-5 game with a twist.
Wonder Blade(£11.6 / €12.99) – Oh my god! The princess was captured by villainous maniac again! What are you waiting for? Grab your weapon and free the princess, save the world! You really do not know what’s waiting for you! With all those sweet combos, killer finishing moves and devastating magic abilities the bad guys won’t know what hit them. Don’t forget to wear a costume to make you a one-of-a-kind adventurer. Will you be a sneaky ninja, smacking enemies with a frozen fish?
Yuppie Psycho: Executive Edition(£13.49 / €14.99) – Join Brian Pasternack, a young man with no future in a dystopian 90s society, on his first day at one of the world’s largest companies, Sintracorp. Uncertain, unprepared, and massively unqualified, will Pasternack have what it takes to shine in Sintracorp’s hierarchy? It all depends on how he performs on his first assignment… and whether he survives it. The Yuppie Psycho: Executive Edition includes new areas, new bosses, and hours of carefully crafted new content to build on the Yuppie Psycho universe.
Switch eShop – Demos
DLC / Add-On Content
Nintendo Switch games with new DLC this week:
So that’s your lot for this week’s Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-30-2020, 06:59 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine Delayed Past March 2021
Ubisoft has pushed two of its biggest games, Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine, out of the current fiscal year and into FY 2021-2022. That means we'll see them coming sometime between April 2021 and March 2022. During an earnings call, CFO Frédérick Duguet narrowed that timeline slightly, saying the company expects both to hit in the first half of the fiscal year.
The company announced the delays as part of its recent financial earnings statement. It also updated its expectations to reflect the delays of these two "high-contribution titles," which it says were delayed "due to production challenges related to work from home."
The Far Cry team explained the delay in a statement posted to Twitter:
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-30-2020, 01:51 AM - Forum: Python
- No Replies
Freelance Developers Specialize! But Where?
As a freelance developer, many routes lead to success. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t decide which route to take and stick to it!
Quite contrarily, the worst is to be a jack-of-all-trades—a freelance developer who doesn’t have the guts to focus on one specialized skill set. Specialization is critical for your success as a freelance developer. Specialists earn more money, learn faster because they can build on knowledge they’ve already acquired, are more efficient because they don’t need to spend hours and hours learning about a new field for each gig they take, and enjoy a higher status as they’re perceived as “experts in their fields”.
In the following, you’re going to learn about the most popular niches in the freelance developing space.
Freelance Web Developer
The most popular freelance developer specialization is web developing. This makes sense because most freelancing gigs are brokered over the web. So, why not sell your skills creating websites and solving other types of problems in the web.
As a freelance web developer, you must discuss requirements with clients, propose website ideas, design web pages, fix broken databases, work with CMS, write HTML code, add JavaScript widgets, and collaborate with designers. You can focus on front-end, or back-end, or full-stack web development.
Front-end web development: Create websites but focus on user interfaces, usability, and design. You use front-end technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS and Bootstrap.
Back-end web development: Create web application but focus on server-side logic—databases, scaling the application to hundreds of thousands of users, distributed systems.
Full-stack web development: Create web applications but be able to do both front-end and back-end web development. These highly skilled professionals are sought by many small companies that cannot afford to hire multiple web developers. Also, it helps you understand the big picture of a web application which is a vital skill for leaders and higher management.
Freelance Full Stack Developer
“A full stack web developer is a person who can develop both client and server software. In addition to mastering HTML and CSS, he/she also knows how to: Program a browser (like using JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, or Vue) Program a server (like using PHP, ASP, Python, or Node)” (source)
Freelance Frontend Developer
“A front-end web developer is responsible for implementing visual elements that users see and interact with in a web application. They are usually supported by back-end web developers, who are responsible for server-side application logic and integration of the work front-end developers do.” (source)
Freelance Backend Developer
“Back-end developers work hand-in-hand with front-end developers by providing the outward facing web application elements server-side logic. In other words, back-end developers create the logic to make the web app function properly, and they accomplish this through the use of server-side scripting languages like Ruby or.” (source)
Freelance Qt Developer
“Qt (pronounced “cute”) is a free and open-source widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems with little or no change in the underlying codebase while still being a native application with native capabilities and speed (source).”
As a freelance Qt developer, you create application that use Qt as a GUI framework. Qt is a widely distributed framework that is used for many Linux systems, Adobe, Google Earth, Photoshop, and many popular applications. Because of the wide distribution of the Qt framework—and the high barrier to entry—freelancing as a Qt developer can be very profitable. However, the learning curve is quite steep as well and you must be willing to read many books and spend hundreds of hours learning this exciting framework.
Freelance Quant Developer
Quants are finance geeks that use quantitative analysis to gain insight into financial data. Quants have a thorough statistical education because they must understand the statistical significance of their insights. The financial niche pays above average and you can work for large financial firms that crunch numbers to come to predictions regarding undervalued stocks or financial instruments.
The potential to work as a freelancer is relatively limited because most large financial institutions rely on quant employees. However, more and more financial startups (FinTechs) hire quant developers to create trading bots and automize financial analysis. Those startups often prefer to hire freelance quant developers.
Should you become a freelance quant developer? In my opinion, this is a financially very attractive opportunity paying much more than six-figures—but only if you’re very interested in finance and you have a knack for maths, data science, and statistics.
Freelance Software Developer
A freelance software developer is a person who professionally creates software through computer programming by selling his services to companies, organizations, or individuals in an independent contractor relationship. There are a multitude of programming languages and frameworks designed to create software—so, the niche description is still very broad and general. You must choose your specific niche in more detail. However, the term “freelance software developer” is mostly used for larger-scale software projects where the freelancer is hired on a per-project basis.
Freelance Java Developer
“Java is a class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is a general-purpose programming language intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation.” (source)
Freelance Developer Embedded
“An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electrical system. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including electrical or electronic hardware and mechanical parts. Because an embedded system typically controls physical operations of the machine that it is embedded within, it often has real-time computing constraints. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today. Ninety-eight percent of all microprocessors manufactured are used in embedded systems.” (source)
Freelance eLearning Developer
“A Learning Engineer is someone who draws from evidence-based information about human development — including learning — and seeks to apply these results at scale, within contexts, to create affordable, reliable, data-rich learning environments.” (source)
Freelance Email Developer
“The Email Developer is responsible for design and execution of responsive design and development of email promotions ensuring that projects are completed.” (source)
Freelance eCommerce Developer
“The eCommerce developers are normally web developers with additional skills for the tools and platforms commonly used in eCommerce businesses. The main skills of an eCommerce developer should include: HTML, CSS, XML. JavaScript, Node.” (source)
Freelance ETL Developer
“An ETL Developer is an IT specialist who designs data storage systems for companies, and works to fill that system with the data that needs to be stored. ETL Developers generally work as part of a team. They are sometimes employed by a single company.” (source)
Freelance React Developer
“In a nutshell, a React developer designs and implements user-facing features for websites and applications using React.js. They are known as front-end developers, a sub-group of developers that manage everything that users see on their web browsers or applications.” (source)
Freelance Developer WordPress
“WordPress Developers are responsible for both back-end and front-end development, including creating WordPress themes and plugins. They have different programming skills such as namely PHP, HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.” (source)
Freelance Tableau Developer
“A Tableau developer creates computer system and data visualization solutions to improve business processes. This job involves tasks such as creating Tableau dashboard reports, working with developers, creating business intelligence reports and visualizations, and attending feedback sessions to improve systems.” (source)
Freelance Tally Developer
A Tally Developer uses a comprehensive development suite to develop, and deploy solutions for Tally. “Tally is a windows-based Enterprise Resource Planning software. The software handles Accounting, Inventory Management, Order Management, Tax Management, Payroll, Banking and many such requirements of the business. It supports all day-to-day processes from recording invoices to generating various MIS reports.” (source)
Freelance Zoho Developer
As a Zoho Developer, you create apps on the Zoho Developer platform that “is a free cloud platform for developers to create ready-to-deploy cloud applications on top of the Zoho platform. Unlike conventional cloud platforms, the Zoho Developer Console lets you quickly build enterprise level applications through drag and drop tools.” (source)
Freelance Unity Developer
“A unity developer creates apps for the unity platform. “Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Inc.’s Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X-exclusive game engine. As of 2018, the engine had been extended to support more than 25 platforms.” (source)
Freelance UI Developer
A UI developer creates user interfaces to interact with the user of a given application. “Marketable programming skills for UI developers include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, JSON, jQuery, Java, Ruby on Rails, and SQL database development. UI devs will also benefit from learning Photoshop, Flash, Flex and Illustrator from the Adobe Creative Suite.” (source)
Freelance Unreal Developer
An Unreal Developer creates apps for the Unreal engine. “Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation platform for photoreal visuals and immersive experiences.” (source)
Freelance Umbraco Developer
An Umraco Developer works with the Umbraco platform, maintains it, and extends it with new features. “Umbraco is an open-source content management system (CMS) platform for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets. It is written in C# and deployed on Microsoft based infrastructure. Since version 4.5, the whole system has been available under an MIT License.” (source)
Freelance Flutter Developer
A Flutter Developer creates apps for the Flutter platform. “Flutter is Google’s UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase.” (source)
Freelance Filemaker Developer
“The primary qualifications for a FileMaker developer include experience with FileMaker database solutions, knowledge of database administration, and skills in related programming languages such as SQL, Java, and Perl.” (source)
Freelance Firmware Developer
“Firmware engineers develop the software that manages electronic devices. These positions require proficiency in programming languages and applications, as well as good communications skills.” (source)
Freelance Flask Developer
A Flask Developer is a programmer who develops apps in Python’s Flask framework. “Flask is a micro web framework written in Python. It is classified as a microframework because it does not require particular tools or libraries. It has no database abstraction layer, form validation, or any other components where pre-existing third-party libraries provide common functions. However, Flask supports extensions that can add application features as if they were implemented in Flask itself. Extensions exist for object-relational mappers, form validation, upload handling, various open authentication technologies and several common framework related tools.” (source)
Freelance Django Developer
A Django developer creates, maintains, and improves apps written in Python’s Django framework. “Django is a high-level Python Web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Built by experienced developers, it takes care of much of the hassle of Web development, so you can focus on writing your app without needing to reinvent the wheel. It’s free and open source.” (source)
Freelance Game Developer
“Game developers are people like you with math, computer, or creative arts skills. They spend their time programming and developing games. This includes programming console, computer, and mobile video games. They are persistent, they are a little bit lucky, and they manage to get hired to do develop video games.” (source)
Freelance Go Developer
A Go Developer is a programmer who uses the Golang programming language to create, maintain, and improve Go applictions. “Go is a really flexible language, able to solve a lot of problems. You can use it for system and network programming, big data, machine learning, audio and video editing, and more.” (source)
Freelance GIS Developer
“The job of a geographic information systems developer is to design and execute applications used to support GIS data; “GIS” refers simply to applications and software which collect data from specific locations. The applications developed by those in this position are also used to edit and analyze data and create maps.” (source)
Freelance Hubspot Developer
A Hubspot developer is involved in managing access to the HubAPI. “This domain is owned by Hubspot. The company provides a range of online marketing and sales technology and services. The main purpose of cookies set by this host is: Targeting/Advertising.” (source)
Freelance HTML Developer
“HTML developers are responsible for the complete end-to-end coding of websites. They provide technical support to website users, direct HTML projects, code sites, develop web-based applications, and perform testing on Web sites and their background code.” (source)
Freelance LabVIEW Developer
A Labview developer has passed the LabVIEW exam. “The Certified LabVIEW Developer (CLD) exam verifies the user’s ability to design and develop functional programs while minimizing development time and ensuring maintainability through proper documentation and style. Certified Developers can provide technical leadership to less experienced engineers, helping ensure their team is following best practices and becoming more competent and efficient LabVIEW programmers.” (source)
Freelance VR Developer
A VR developer specializes in virtual reality. In particular, the VR developer is involved in “development of VR and AR applications (UE4, Unity, C++, C#), development and implementation of prototypes and new functions, agile development planning, and running tests and code reviews.” (source)
Freelance VBA Developer
“A VBA Developer works with the Excel application and adapts it to the specific needs of a challenge or requirements to automate repetitive tasks and accelerate the workflow of a business. This is done using the Visual Basic for Applications and Macros – hence the term VBA developer.” (source)
Freelance UI Developer
“A UI developer’s role is to translate creative software design concepts and ideas into reality using front end technology. They understand the user interface design solution both in its practical intent and creative vision, and convert it into engineered softwares.” (source)
Freelance Blockchain Developer
“A developer responsible for developing and optimizing blockchain protocols, crafting the architecture of blockchain systems, developing smart contracts and web apps using blockchain technology are commonly called blockchain developers.” (source)
Freelance .Net Developer
“A .NET Software Developer is a software developer who specialises in building software for Microsoft’s Windows platform. They work with programming languages compatible with Microsoft’s .NET framework, including VB.NET, C# (C sharp) and F# (F sharp).” (source)
Freelance Mobile Developer
“Mobile developers are a type of software developer. They specialise in mobile technology such as building apps for Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone platforms. For this reason job titles for this type of role also include Android developer and iOS developer.” (source)
Freelance Magento Developer
“Magento developers are in charge of developing, maintaining, and improving their clients’ eCommerce websites. … Magento developers are in charge of developing, maintaining, and improving their clients’ eCommerce websites. Their responsibility is huge, as most of the time, Magento websites generate a lot of revenue.” (source)
Freelance iOS Developer
“An iOS developer is responsible for developing applications for mobile devices powered by Apple’s iOS operating system. Ideally, a good iOS developer is proficient with one of the two programming languages for this platform: Objective-C or Swift.” (source)
Freelance IONIC Developer
An IONIC developer creates apps for the IONIC platform. “Ionic provides tools and services for developing hybrid mobile, desktop, and Progressive Web Apps based on modern web development technologies and practices, using Web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and Sass. In particular, mobile apps can be built with these Web technologies and then distributed through native app stores to be installed on devices by utilizing Cordova or Capacitor.” (source)
Freelance Odoo Developer
An Odoo developer is involved in Odoo development. “Odoo is a suite of business management software tools including CRM, e-commerce, billing, accounting, manufacturing, warehouse, project management, and inventory management to name a few.” (source)
Freelance Outsystems Developer
An Outsystems Developer creates and ships scalable, responsive software developed with OutSystems. The rapidly developed apps integrate well with existing systems and possess high scalability.
Freelance App Developer
“An app developer is a computer software engineer whose primary responsibilities include creating, testing and programming apps for computers, mobile phones, and tablets. These developers typically work in teams, and think of ideas and concepts either for the general public, or for a specific customer need.” (source)
Freelance Android Developer
An Android developer creates mobile applications for the Android operating system. “You can make a very competitive income, and build a very satisfying career as an Android developer. Android is still the most used mobile operating system in the world, and the demand for skilled Android developers remains very high.” (source)
Freelance Angular Developer
An Angular developer is involved in the following activities: “Designing and developing user interfaces using AngularJS best practices. Adapting interface for modern internet applications using the latest front-end technologies. Writing JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. … Ensuring high performance of applications and providing support.” (source)
Freelance Database Developer
“Database developers ensure that database management systems (DBMS) can handle massive quantities of data. Also called database programmers, developers usually work as part of a software development team. … Modifying and editing databases. Designing and developing new databases.” (source)
Freelance Drupal Developer
“A Drupal developer is someone who writes a lot of PHP and other server side languages. They write custom modules, automated tests, consume web services, automate deployment etc. They may also be know as “backend Drupal developers”. They may also get involved in some of the more advanced side of the theme layer as well.” (source)
Freelance Delphi Developer
A Delphi developer creates code in the Delphi programming language. “Delphi is a high-level programming language distributed by Embarcadero Technologies as part of RAD Studio, an IDE for professional developers. It is primarily used to build applications for Windows systems but can be used to build applications for a variety of operating systems.” (source)
Freelance Oracle Developer
“An Oracle developer is responsible for creating or maintaining the database components of an application that uses the Oracle technology stack. Oracle developers either develop new applications or convert existing applications to run in an Oracle Database environment.” (source)
Do you want to develop the skills of a well-rounded Python professional—while getting paid in the process? Become a Python freelancer and order your book Leaving the Rat Race with Python on Amazon (Kindle/Print)!
Where to Go From Here?
Enough theory, let’s get some practice!
To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?
Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!
Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?
Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.
