Pokemon Go has received an exciting new creature: shiny Pikachu is now catchable in the wild! The downside is that the Pokemon is only available in Japan right now, with no word as yet on a worldwide release.
As you can see below, the shiny version of Pikachu is pretty similar to standard Pikachu, except maybe with a little more fake tan–he’s looking pretty orange. The creature is significant for being only the third shiny monster available in Pokemon Go, after shiny Magikarp and shiny Gyarados. Shiny Pikachu do, of course, evolve into shiny Raichu.
Wild shiny Pikachu has been found spawning at The Pokemon Company’s “Pikachu Outbreak” event in Yokohama! No word yet on worldwide release! pic.twitter.com/d3dqoutCPf
In other Pokemon Go news, a new update is out now, bringing with it a number of bug fixes and re-introducing Team Instinct’s leader, Spark. Check out the full Pokemon Go patch notes here.
Riz Ahmed, who played Bodhi Rook in Star Wars: Rogue One, is reportedly being considered for a part in the Spider-Man spinoff movie Venom starring Tom Hardy. According to Variety, Ahmed is in “early talks” to join Venom. Sources told the site that Ahmed will play a “popular” character from the Marvel series, though the identity was not disclosed.
The Venom movie, which is due out in October 2018, is being made by Sony, which owns the rights to Spider-Man and associated characters. Marvel had to strike a deal with Sony to allow Spidey to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Spider-Man: Homecoming and last year’s Captain America: Civil War. However, Spider-Man will not be in Venom.
Gangster Quad and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is attached to direct the untitled Venom movie.
The first images from this Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones have come online, giving fans a glimpse at what’s to come on the fifth episode airing on August 13.
[SPOILERS FOLLOW BELOW]
The images show Tyrion walking across a battlefield, Dany and Jon having what looks like a serious conversation, Sam and Gilly at a table together, and Varys and Tyrion have a deep chat about … something. You can see them all in the gallery above.
“Ron is such a legend, and he knows exactly what the vision for what he is doing is … [but Phil and Chris] hired us, so you sort of feel like, ‘I know I’m not your first choice …’ And you worry about that,” Glover said.
“To be honest, I don’t know exactly what happened. I feel like I was the baby in the divorce, or the youngest child. The oldest child is like, ‘We know what’s happening, but we are keeping you out of it.’ And I’m just like, [Glover’s voice rises several octaves] ‘Was that scene good? How did you feel?’”
The untitled Han Solo movie is apparently still on track to arrive on schedule in May 2018. The film explores how the space smuggler got the name “Han Solo.” Principal photography for the film began this past February.
Alden Ehrenreich plays Solo, while Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games‘ Woody Harrelson also star in it.
The full interview with Glover is in-depth and very fascinating, touching on many other elements of his life, career, and more. You can read the full thing here.
While you have to wait until 2018 to see the Han Solo movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theatres in December. New images have been released–you can see them here.
Netflix has announced another high-profile project. Joel and Ethan Coen, the Oscar-winning directors behind movies like Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men, are bringing their new western show The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to the streaming service.
An anthology series, the TV program will premiere in 2018. The Coen brothers are writing and directing, with production done by Annapurna Television.
Here is the official description, written by Netflix: “The Western anthology will feature six tales about the American frontier told through the unique and incomparable voice of Joel and Ethan Coen. Each chapter will feature a distinct story about the American West.”
Tim Blake Nelson, who starred in the Coen brothers movie O Brother, Where Art Thou, is the only confirmed actor for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
“We are streaming motherf**kers!,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen said in a statement.
Netflix original content VP Cindy Holland added, “The Coens are visionary directors, masterful storytellers, and colorful linguists. We are thrilled for Netflix to become home to the full range of their talents.”
Following the announcement of the first seven city-based Overwatch League team owners last month, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Blizzard today announced two more. Jack Etienne, the owner of eSports organization Cloud9, bought the team for London. Additionally, Stan and Josh Kroenke of sports and media behemoth Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, purchased the second team based in Los Angeles.
There are now teams in Boston, New York, Miami-Orlando, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Seoul. Los Angeles now has two, as Immortals already secured the first LA spot as part of the initial Overwatch League team ownership announcement.
You might not know the Kroenke’s by name, but their Kroenke Sports & Entertainment company owns or has a significant investment in traditional sports teams like the Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), and Colorado Avalanche (NHL), as well as the professional football club Arsenal. So they are a very big deal, to say the least.
“The Overwatch League continues to have great momentum,”Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. “They will enhance our ability to celebrate and reward players and fans in Los Angeles, London, and beyond.”
Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime added: “Overwatch is a global game, with heroes–and players–from around the world, so it’s important to us that as many Overwatch League fans as possible have local or regional teams to root for.”
Josh Kroenke said in his own statement that he was blown away by Blizzard’s “vision and strategy” for the Overwatch League. Etienne, meanwhile, said he “couldn’t be happier” to be partnering with Blizzard for the London Overwatch League team.
The Overwatch League is the first major international pro eSports league with a city-based structure. This is a big step for competitive gaming, as it brings it more in line with traditional sports leagues, though Overwatch League is unique in that teams from different countries will compete in certain events.
Here is a rundown of the first nine Overwatch League team owners.
Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group and the New England Patriots (Boston)
Jeff Wilpon, Co-Founder and Partner of Sterling.VC and COO of the New York Mets (New York)
Noah Whinston, CEO of Immortals (Los Angeles)
Ben Spoont, CEO and Co-Founder of Misfits Gaming (Miami-Orlando)
Andy Miller, Chairman and Founder of NRG Esports (San Francisco)
NetEase (Shanghai)
Kevin Chou, Co-founder of Kabam (Seoul)
Stan and Josh Kroenke, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Los Angeles)
As for the number of teams that Blizzard hopes to have in the Overwatch League, Nanzer wouldn’t give a specific number, though he said you can expect the league to grow in size to become similar to the size of traditional sports leagues. By comparison, MLB has 30 teams and the NFL has 32.
Announced at Blizzcon last year, the Overwatch League will kick off later this year. For the league’s first season, matches will take place at a venue in the Los Angeles area, as the local squads take the time they need to create their own local venues. There will eventually be home and away matchups, just as with traditional sports. Full details on the schedule and ticket sales opportunities will be announced later this year.
Overwatch League teams will make money through ticket sales, advertising, and broadcast rights revenue. According to Blizzard, this money will be shared evenly, though local teams get to keep all the revenue from their home territory and venue up to “a certain amount.” If/when this figure is eclipsed, a percentage will be given to a shared league revenue pool. Another element here is that franchises can operate and make money from five non-professional events in their home region every year.
Additionally, there will be league- and team-based Overwatch content sold in the game, with 50 percent of revenue going to a shared revenue pool for all teams.
Nintendo’s Switch fighting game, Arms, has received a new update, and version 2.1 adds new training exercises and changes a bunch of fighters. There are also lots of balance changes not specific to any one fighter, such as the rush gauge filling slower when your attacks miss.
In terms of specific tweaks, plenty of fighters and Arms have been buffed. Master Mummy and Mechanica now have faster movement, as do the Boomerang and Coolerang Arms. There also a few Arms that have been nerfed to some extent, such as Bubb and (ironically, given the name) Buff–they now extend slower. Take a look at the full list of changes, via Nintendo, at the bottom of this article.
In our Arms verdict, critic Kallie Plagge called the title a “strong, substantial fighting game,” but one that “takes a while to really hit its stride.” Read more in our full Arms review.
Added five exercises to Training and added difficulty level indications.
Adjusted the way the rush gauge fills, decreasing the amount gained for punches that do not connect with the opponent.
When 3-4 players start a battle, instructions on how to switch targets will now be displayed. A cursor will also be displayed above the current target for a set time.
Adjusted hitbox sizes for fighters, improving issues where hits were not registered despite looking like hits.
Changed the pause, results, and replay menus in Training to be more convenient.
For Best Stage in Stats, made it harder for less frequently played stages to be selected, even if you have a high win ration on them.
Corrected issue that caused the game to hang-up when the ending was skipped at a particular time.
Fighter/Arms-Specific Tweaks
Master Mummy
Increased dash speed. Increased movement speed when jumping.
Mechanica
Increased movement speed when jumping.
Kid Cobra
Adjusted floatation when performing a jump attack.
Byte & Barq
Trained Barq to get up quicker.
Boomerang
Increased speed when throwing in a wide curve. Increased extension speed. Increased homing.
Coolerang
Increased extension speed. Increased homing.
Revolver
Increased extension speed. Improved curving performance. Increased retraction speed. Shortened the time needed from starting a rush to firing the first shot.
Made it so the electric shock when a charge attack connects lasts longer. Corrected odd behavior that occurred when a rush attack connected with a wall or platform.
Blorb
Corrected odd behavior that occurred when a rush attack connected with an opponent that was not targeted.
Seekie
Increased retraction speed. Made it so the electric shock when a charge attack connects doesn’t last as long.
Ramram
Increased retraction speed. Decreased expansion rate for charge attacks. Decreased speed of charge attacks.
Cracker, Popper, Hydra
Increased retraction speed.
Bubb, Buff
Decreased extension speed. Decreased expansion rate when extending.
Ubisoft has hired former EA/DICE veteran Patrick Bach to run a new studio in Stockholm, Sweden, the developer’s second outfit in the country after The Division studio Massive, in Malmo.
Bach spent 15 years at EA’s DICE studio, which is located in Stockholm, leaving the studio after Battlefield 1 shipped. The game has been a huge hit, recently passing 21 million players, so Bach went out on a high note. Bach worked a lot of Battlefield games and more recently the Star Wars: Battlefront series before moving on.
Ubisoft’s new office in Stockholm
Ubisoft Stockholm, as it is called, will collaborate with Massive Entertainment to work on AAA games, including the newly announced Avatar title. In a press release, Ubisoft said it plans staff up to 100 people in its first two years.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Ubisoft family, where I feel I will be able to use my experience in the game industry in a new and different way,” Bach, the Studio Manager for Ubisoft Stockholm, said in a statement. “My goal has always been to create the best possible gaming experiences for players. When talking toUbisoft about what we value most, it was clear that we share the same passion for nurturing teams’ creativity with that goal in mind.”
Ubisoft also pointed out today that Massive Entertainment is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The Malmo-based studio was acquired by Ubisoft in 2008. The developer is growing still, as Ubisoft said it plans to hire 20 more people in the next two years.
“I am confident that Patrick Bach’s leadership skills, his desire to nurture the passion and creativity of the people he works with, and the attraction of Ubisoft’s renowned brands will encourage world-class talent to join Ubisoft Stockholm,” Massive managing director David Polfeldt said. “The combination of these different elements will lay strong foundations for the new studio, enabling the team to focus on the quality and innovation of the games they create, and grow to become one of the best studios in the world.”
You can see the job opportunities that the two studios have in the links below.
Disney is set to pull its content from Netflix. It has been confirmed that the studio will remove all of its movies from the service with the intention of providing both entertainment and sports content via two new streaming services of its own.
As reported by Bloomberg, an ESPN-branded service is set to arrive first in 2018, which the site reports will feature 10,000 live sports events a year. This will be followed by an entertainment service, which will take advantage the studio’s massive film library. As well as its classic animated films, Disney’s catalogue includes such hugely popular cinematic brands as Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel.
In a statement, Disney boss Bob Iger said, “Our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy for the company, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands.”
Netflix responded to the reports, and explained in a statement that its content would remain on its service for another two years. The statement said, “US Netflix members will have access to Disney films on the service through the end of 2019, including all new films that are shown theatrically through the end of 2018. We continue to do business with the Walt Disney Company on many fronts, including our ongoing relationship with Marvel TV.”
Although Disney originally signed the deal with Netflix in 2012, it didn’t come into effect until last year. However, it is not surprising that the studio wants to take advantage of the shifting landscape for streaming media and offer its content direct to consumers.
Disney has had a strong 2017 at the box office, but its takings have dipped compared to 2016. Although such guaranteed hits as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Thor: Ragnarok, and Pixar’s Coco are set to be released at the end of the year, the company has nothing lined up for a fall release. In addition, Disney’s cable networks are a hugely important part of its business, and subscriber numbers for ESPN–which Disney owns–are continuing to decline.
Valve today announced Artifact, a Dota card game based on the hugely popular MOBA . A teaser trailer was released, but it doesn’t show much at all. It does, however, confirm that the digital card game will launch sometime in 2018.
The announcement came today during Valve’s The International Dota 2 tournament. Teams are competing for a share of more than $20 million, making it one of the biggest gaming tournaments in history.
We will report back with more details on Artifact as they are announced.
