The Biggest Stories Of The Week (November 1-7, 2020)

The past week has seen PS5 and Xbox Series X reviews, lots of game delays, the Switch selling like hotcakes, and the return of Mass Effect.

You Are Reading :The Biggest Stories Of The Week (November 17 2020)

What a week! After months of anticipation, the PS5 and Xbox Series X are finally being packed up and shipped off to gamers waiting around the world. The word on the metaphorical Internet street is that they’re both awesome. That was literally the most exciting thing that happened last week. The rest of the world was just kind of meh.

The biggest stories of the week involve hands-on reviews of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, PS5s skipping stores at launch, a number of games being delayed, the Nintendo Switch selling like hotcakes, and the Mass Effect trilogy is being remastered for modern systems.

The PS5 & Xbox Series X Are In The Wild

The PS5 and the Xbox Series X have started shipping around the world. Systems have been sent out to journalists for final reviews before the launch day, and TheGamer had the chance to experience both of them.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X both have amazing visuals and super-fast load times. The main difference lies with the hardware. The DualSense controller is a revelation when it comes to immersion, with the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers putting you in the game like never before. It also has some actual launch titles, like Astro’s Playroom and Demon’s Souls. What the Xbox Series X has is Game Pass and the massive library it offers, along with the promise of more to come. It seems that the PS5 and Xbox Series X live up to the hype, but their scarcity means most fans won’t get to experience them until next year.

You can read TheGamer’s thoughts on the Xbox Series X here and the PS5 here.

PS5s Won’t Be In Stores At Launch

The embarrassing PS5 pre-order situation has been made worse, though not through any fault of Sony. The PS5 won’t be sold in physical stores at launch, due to issues regarding the second wave of COVID-19 and the lockdowns that are ongoing in many parts of this world. This means that it will only be possible to purchase a PS5 online until things calm down. The terrible PS5 pre-order situation that Sony apologized for means that a lot of units were bought up by bots and thrown on eBay for inflated prices, so good luck getting one for RRP this Christmas.

The Delays Keep Coming (Just Blame Cyberpunk)

A lot of games have been delayed over the past week, and some of the reasons for this can be tied to Cyberpunk 2077 being pushed back to December. The Xbox Series X’s biggest 2020 exclusive, The Medium, has been pushed back to January 2021. The upcoming Kerbal Space Program 2, was pushed to 2022. The next-gen ports of Control: Ultimate Edition have been delayed to 2021, infuriating the people who bought it the current-gen version at launch. The delay of Cyberpunk 2077 was directly responsible for Everspace 2 being pushed back to January 2021, while the delay of Avatar 2 (the movie) has also led to its video game adaptation being pushed back to 2022. It seems that smaller developers are terrified of going up against Cyberpunk 2077.

The Switch Is Doing Mega Business & Animal Crossing Is Close To Beating Mario Kart

Nintendo didn’t release any high-profile games last week, but that doesn’t mean the Switch is slowing down. Nintendo released its latest fiscal earnings report and the Switch’s sales numbers are insane. The Switch has almost sold 70 million units around the world, putting it ahead of the Famicom/NES and within spitting distance of the GBA and 3DS. The 2020 holiday period promises to be a big one for the company.

The other revelation to come out of the earnings report is that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has almost outsold Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Mario Kart 8 has had a chokehold on the Switch’s sales charts since launch, but Animal Crossing is close to dethroning it. Mario Kart 8 has sold 28.99 million units, while New Horizons has sold 26.04 million units. This holiday season could see Tom Nook lapping Mario on the racetrack.

The Mass Effect Trilogy Is Being Remastered & A New Mass Effect Is On The Way

The worst kept secret in the industry was finally announced, as Mass Effect Legendary Edition is on the way. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a remastered version of the Mass Effect trilogy for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and it’s coming in Spring 2021, with PS5 and Xbox Series X enhancements to follow. It will include improved visuals and load times, as well as all of the DLC for each game. It won’t feature any of the multiplayer modes from Mass Effect 3, nor any content that wasn’t in the original games, so don’t expect any new endings.

Bioware also announced that a new Mass Effect game is on the way. The game is in the early stages of development, so don’t expect any updates for a while. We’re not even sure if it’s a direct sequel or a spin-off.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/the-biggest-stories-of-the-week-november-1-7-2020/