Microsoft, Sony bringing Ads to Free-To-Play Games, Nintendo gets hit with Labour Lawsuit, Sega to make Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio Live Service Games!

Corporations continue to Corporate, as Nintendo is hit with a Labour Lawsuit that has potentially opened the flood gates for issues within Nintendo. Microsoft and Sony are set to debut live service advertisements directly into video games. Sega confuses fans with the announcement of older IPs returning in the form of Live service games modelled after Fortnite. Several significant games head multiplatform, get more release dates, and Game Boy Emulators for the Switch leaks.

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🕹️ The Console War Rages On

1. Square Enix to make 'Play-To-Earn' games - Yosuke Matsuda, Square Enix's President, continued to stoke the flames of NFTs, as he has continued to advocate for NFTs in Square Enix's properties openly. A new interview details his desire to make 'Play to earn' blockchain games. He mentions allowing users to create content in the game and then attaining rewards for that effort using technologies like Blockchain. (Source)
2. Nintendo accused of interfering with workers' rights - A worker has stated that Nintendo of America and the global hiring firm Aston Carter has infringed on their protected legal rights as a worker. The accusations could include surveillance claims, threats, retaliation and layoff or refusal to hire. The current charges on the filing were left intentionally broad. The investigation is ongoing. UPDATE: Nintendo has responded, stating that the disgruntled employee was fired due to leaking confidential information and not for attempting to unionise. @StephenTotilo has said that many have since reached out to him regarding Nintendo of America since the story broke. He continues that there is more to hear about Nintendo of America and possibly Nintendo Japan issues.  (Source)
3. Microsoft to launch advertising network for 'Free-To-Play' games - Microsoft has reportedly been working with and looking to work with advertising technology companies to allow brands and advertisers to buy and place ads in free-to-play game titles. The report noted that the ads could come in the form of Billboards in open-world games. There isn't much other information about how the as could play out. (Source)
4. Sony also set to debut advertisements in their free-to-play titles - Earlier in the week, Microsoft announced intent for new advertising tech to be integrated into their Xbox free to play properties. Now, Sony is set to do the same. Sony's goal is to give developers a way to monetise their free to play titles. Additional information was revealed, which indicates that Sony will also be considering what much of what Microsoft is for the other parts of the advertisements. (Source)
5. Sega set to reboot Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio into live service games - A new report from Bloomberg states that Sega is planning to reboot Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio following the Fornite model as part of their "Super Game" project. Development on the game is still "two to three years" away, although the game has been in development for over a year already. (Source)
6. No More Heroes III will go multiplatform later this year - After launching on Nintendo Switch last year, No More Heroes III will finally make its way onto PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC later this year. It seems to be launching with a box set as well. (Twitter)
7. Shin Megami Tensei V sells one million units. Since launching on Nintendo Switch in November 2021, the game has officially sold one million units making it the best selling game in the franchise. (Twitter)
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gets a collectors edition - TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection LE Collectors set shown off by Konami. It will feature original box art, a cloth poster, an Acrylic diorama, an enamel pin set, 12 tournament fighters cards, and a 180-page art book. (Twitter)  
9. Gameboy and Gameboy Advance emulators for Nintendo Switch have leaked - A thread on 4chan dumped the in-development emulators that are meant to be released for the Nintendo Switch Online service. Users were able to install the emulators on hacked Switches or devkits. The GBA emulator is Sloop, and the GB/C emulator is Hiyoko. It seems that Nintendo Europe R&D. is developing the emulators. Another point brought up was that these leaks have come up from a Switch development kit and not from Nintendo's servers. (Twitter)
10. Digimon Survive gets a launch date on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC - A Japanese magazine has revealed the launch date and price for Digimon Survive for Japan. The game is set for release in Japan on 28th July 2022 for 6980 yen. A few days after this was released, the game producer announced in a YouTube video the Worldwide release. The game is set for 29th July 2022 across PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch.  (Source, Update, YouTube Announcement)
11. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 gets a new release date - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 gets its release date pushed up to 29th July 2022. The game will launch with a special box edition which will include a steel-book case and an art book via the My Nintendo Store. (YouTube Announcement)
12. Sonic Origins gets a release date - Sonic Origins will be released on 23rd June 2022. The collection will contain Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. The games have been digitally remastered. However, the game is marred by the seemingly complex Pre-order bonus chart. Sega has decided to place things as simple as Character Animations in the main menu behind an additional "Premium Fun Pack". Hard missions as well are only part of this pack. This led to Devolver Digital making fun of the chart on Twitter. (Homepage, Devolver Digital Twitter)

✨ Going to Events Spiritually

1. Xbox Game Pass announces new games for the second half of April. More games from Ubisoft are also set to arrive on the service. (Source)
2. Gamefly has a pretty big sale on pre-played games called the Pre-Play Sale. (Source)

🎮 Where's My Controller?

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is getting a new release date, so I've decided to play the original two games. So there is that.
2. I've put down Ghostwire: Tokyo, but I want to complete it. My job search continues to take up a lot of my free time.

🎵 Turn it up to 11!

1. Nothing is more legendary than the impossible to play "U.N Owen was her". The original piece from the Touhou game franchise continues to be an absolute trip across its run time. I implore you to look into the other songs from the Touhou franchise. (YouTube)

📝I don't know what a pen looks like.

1. Nothing in the writing department. You may have noticed I've changed how I report the news headlines. I'll be trying a few new things over the next month as I prepare more things for Void0 as a whole.

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