Gaming news round-up: Pokemon CEO confirms hybrid NX, Destiny Rise of Iron launch and RIP Battle.net
Your guide to the week's biggest video game news stories.
Here's your round-up of the biggest video game news stories from the past seven days, including the troubled launch of Bungie's first and only Destiny expansion of 2016 – Rise of Iron; Blizzard dropping the Battle.net name after nearly 20 years; and Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara revealing more about the Nintendo NX.
Below are the original stories and some intro text. For more details, click the headlines.
Destiny players suffer log-in woes as Rise of Iron expansion launches
Destiny players around the world experienced problems logging in to Bungie's hit game as the highly-anticipated Rise of Iron expansion launched worldwide. The new content went live at 10am BST on 20 September, leaving hundreds of thousands of fans frustrated.
Developer Bungie's support team tweeted: "We are actively investigating issues preventing players from connecting to Destiny on all platforms." Players encountered the TAPIR error code, which usually means the game is down for maintenance.
The problems likely stem from an unexpectedly high level of demand for what was Destiny's first expansion in a year, and its only expansion of 2016. It seems likely Rise of Iron will also be the last expansion before Destiny's sequel, set for release in 2017.
Blizzard is dropping the iconic Battle.net name after 20 years
Blizzard is doing away with its classic Battle.net name and is beginning the process of "transitioning away from" using the term when referring to its online gaming service. Announced in a post on the World of Warcraft website, the developer said they were dropping the iconic name that has been used since 1996.
While the platform will remain intact and continue to work as "the central nervous system for Blizzard games", the company will now refer to its services using the name Blizzard instead; for example Blizzard Streaming and Blizzard Voice.
The company explained that over the years there has been some "occasional confusion and inefficiencies" over the fact that it has two separate identities.
Pokemon Company CEO confirms Nintendo NX is a home-handheld console hybrid
Pokémon Company chief executive Tsunekazu Ishihara has confirmed that Nintendo's next gaming console, codenamed NX, will be both a home console and a handheld. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal he also confirmed that The Pokémon Company will be making games for the system.
"The NX is trying to change the concept of what it means to be a home console device or a hand-held device," said Ishihara. "We will make games for the NX."
Nintendo has yet to reveal exactly what the NX is, despite a litany of reports disclosing what the device is likely to be surfacing since Nintendo first announced the NX's existence in March 2015. Back in July, Eurogamer lifted the lid on what NX will be.
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