The release of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp occurred a day before originally scheduled but its popularity was enough to cause server issues. The free to play iOS and Android title saw disconnects and an error message that would pop up when logging in or loading a new area.

Servers have since stabilized, though Nintendo noted in a message in-game (courtesy of Eurogamer) that it was still occurring “intermittently. Please be aware that we are investigating it and will resolve it as soon as possible. Thank you to those users who have contacted us or left feedback regarding this issue.”

To apologize for the issues, Nintendo has offered 20 Leaf Tickets to all players. Login within the next month or so and you’ll be able to claim these Tickets. Leaf Tickets in Animal Crossing are like your premium currency and help you get things done. Not a bad apology especially since the game hasn’t even been live for a week.

If you login to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on a daily basis, you can also get a streak bonus going which will award you an Animal Crossing skin for your van.

As if the numerous media properties and pre-order bonuses for Final Fantasy 15 weren’t enough, Square Enix has announced the development of a Final Fantasy 15 MMO for mobile devices. The mobile version will be developed by Machine Zone of Game of War: Fire Age fame.

The mobile MMO will use “the characters, storyline, and sountrack from Final Fantasy 15 with Machine Zone’s technology” according to Square Enix. It will be more along the lines of Game of War: Fire Age and Mobile Strike, Machine Zone’s other titles, rather than something like Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. Considering the former two titles are fairly successful for Machine Zone, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda noted that, “Machine Zone has a stellar track record in the mobile gaming space, and we are putting Final Fantasy 15 in trustworthy hands. We are very excited to work with the MZ team to bring together two leaders in the gaming world and look forward to Final Fantasy 15 on MZ’s amazing gaming platform. We’ll work together to create MZ’s next great global mobile MMO game.”

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 15 is slated to release on November 29th for Xbox One and PS4.

Nintendo will be partnering with mobile games publisher DeNA, known for Mobage, and developing gaming applications for mobiles based on Nintendo IP. This means we may finally get to see the likes of Mario and Zelda on smartphones. “Both companies will develop and operate new game apps based on Nintendo’s IP, including its iconic game characters, for smart devices,” said the company in a recent statement.

But that’s not all, as Nintendo has revealed it is working on “a core system compatible with a variety of devices including PCs, smartphones and tablets as well as Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems”. The hardware has been dubbed the “NX” and Nintendo will be working with DeNA to “jointly develop a membership service utilising this system, with a launch targeted for the fall of 2015.”

Nintendo has purchased a 10 percent stake of DeNA to make this happen (while the latter has purchased a 1.24 percent in the former) and we’ll need to wait to see how this brand new concept plays out. Regardless, Nintendo is finally coming to mobiles. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.

Borderlands will finally be receiving an online-only title with Borderlands Online but it will only be available in China according to a recent announcement from 2K China, Shanda Games and Gearbox Software.

The MMO will be live next year but beta sign-ups are currently available for those who want to give it a try before release. It’s worth noting that Borderlands Online will be available for PC and mobile devices. It will also add some new classes though more information – such as whether the game will be a first person shooter like all the games in the series – is still to come.

The last major game in the franchise was Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel which was a significant entry but not a full-fledged sequel. It took place between the first and second games, fleshing out the story of Handsome Jack and how Hyperion rose to power. What are your thoughts on the announcement of Borderlands Online? Let us know in the comments.

(Screenshot via news17173)

It’s been known for some time that Activision is working on a new Tony Hawk game, and now the former professional skater has confirmed that a new game in the franchise is indeed being worked on and that it will be out exclusively for mobile devices.

“We’re working on a mobile game now,” Tony Hawk told Bloomberg. “We’re working on a game for mobile devices this year.

“We’ve never gone exclusively in that direction yet so I’m excited because, with the amount of time people are spending on their phones and their tablets playing games, we’ve never had our own game in that space so I’m excited to provide one finally.”

Considering that this will be the last ever Tony Hawk game, it seems strange that Activision has chosen to go in this direction, but it’s still an interesting decision.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated as more info comes our way.

Oculus Rift continues to take in powerful executives and designers within the industry. After id Software co-founder John Carmack, former Origin boss and EA senior VP David DeMartini has signed on to head worldwide publishing for Oculus VR. DeMartini will be working to ensure plenty of games and compatible applications for Oculus Rift, which isn’t actually much different from he was doing with EA.

In conversation with Gamasutra, DeMartini stated that, “I’m figuring out how to partner effectively with big developers, small developers, all the way down to the individual who just wants to make something great for the Rift.”

Along with networking with developers worldwide for content, DeMartini is also interested in looking at other applications for Rift outside of gaming. As of now, Oculus Rift is expected to arrive in 2014 with versions for PC and mobile platforms to be made available. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

The Xbox One and PS4 may have both sold extremely well since launch, with the latter garnering +2.1 million in unit sales worldwide, EA CEO Andrew Wilson believes it won’t be long before they face stiff competition from every quarter. This includes mobile devices, smart TVs, Apple, Google, etc.

Speaking at Credit Suisse 2013 Technology Conference, Wilson stated that, “Our market is evolving at a very, very, very rapid rate. I think that Microsoft and Sony have a real opportunity to build a strong following and a strong install base while they continue to be the single best way to get high fidelity, high definition interactive entertainment to your 80-inch television.

“If you think about Microsoft’s strategy – and I think Sony shares some of this in their long-term view, of being a broader entertainment device in your living room – I think they have that time. I think that three years from now, four years from now, they’re going to be under some fairly stiff competition for the living room, from mobile providers, from Apple, from Google, from Roku, from Comcast, to try and own that living room experience.”

EA is still very much committed to next gen consoles, but the focus will always be on content rather than the platform. “For us, we are less focused on the device and more focused on the modality of play because we think that will continue irrespective of what piece of technology is used to deliver the [content].”

Of course, other views – such as that from PS4 chief system architect Mark Cerny – indicate that consoles will offer an experience that just can’t be matched by smartphones and mobile devices. Do you agree? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

(Source)