Pokemon Go developer Niantic has told Brazilian newspaper O Globo that PvP battles and legendary Pokemon will come to the mobile game this summer.
Niantic’s VP of strategic partnerships, Mathieu de Fayet, told the newspaper (translated by Reddit users Constyy and Hisucchi and verified by Google Translate) that the features were originally meant to launch earlier, but that Pokemon Go’s success meant they had to be delayed.
“Due to the large success of the game, we had to delay some planned innovations,” he said. “Right now we are working on some that are due to hit this summer (in the northern hemisphere), such as giving more value to the choice of the teams, releasing Legendary Pokemon and introducing PvP. One thing we learned with Ingress was that the game can sustain itself if we are able to create social interactions amongst players, and we are working on that.”
GameSpot has contacted Niantic to clarify whether the features will definitely come to Pokemon Go this summer.
“We recently noticed that a few Legendary Pokemon got into a few accounts when they shouldn’t have,” the company said at the time. “To preserve the game’s integrity and as a measure of fairness, we have rectified the situation and revoked the legendary Pokemon from the Trainers’ accounts.”
Beginning today, everyone can sign up for an Xbox Game Pass membership, starting with a 14-day free trial. There are more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games in the catalog, including Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and Payday 2, BioShock Infinite, and so many more. You don’t stream the games, but instead download them, so you may want to consider investing in an external hard drive solution if you’re planning to pick up a lot of the games.
Microsoft has said it plans to add more games to the catalog every month, and some could drop out.
If you’re enjoying a game and want to own it permanently, you’ll save 20 percent on game purchases and 10 percent on DLC. This only applies to Xbox One games and expansions.
You can sign up for Xbox Game Pass here, while Microsoft will offer subscription cards at brick-and-mortar retailers later this year.
The Pokemon Company has announced another iOS and Android app called Pokeland, in which players use toy versions of their favourite monsters to duke it out across multiple islands, much like Pokemon Rumble.
According to a description on the game’s Japanese website, Pokeland is a game where players “collect Pokemon by exploring various islands [along with] toy Pokemon.” The FAQ also states that Pokeland will not be playable offline, and that gear can be used to strengthen Pokemon.
Pokeland will also connect to Nintendo’s own account, which means you can use your Mii characters in-game. Although it’s yet to be confirmed, it may be that My Nintendo rewards are also offered through the game.
An alpha test of Pokeland is current taking place in Japan on Android devices. It is not currently available for testing on iOS. The Alpha test features six islands and 52 different stages, according to the official website. Additionally there will be 134 Pokemon appearing, and players will be able to fight up to floor 15 of the Champion Tower.
Those that play the alpha test won’t be able to transfer their progress across to the final game as all data will be wiped before the official game is released.
Another Pokemon mobile game, Magikarp Jump, was recent released for iOS and Android devices. Before that was Pokemon Go, which became a worldwide phenomenon and remains one of the highest-grossing apps. A new update for Pokemon Go added 80 new Pokemon and new gameplay features.
Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 will be available on June 2, bringing The King of Iron Fist Tournament to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for the first time. The latest entry in the long-running fighting game series has been available in arcades since 2016, but has received a number of updates for its console release.
Among these are new customisation options, stages, and characters. Arguably the most exciting new character is Street Fighter’s Akuma, who has been introduced as a critical part of the game’s story, seemingly arriving to end the feud between the various members of the Mishima family. Of course, Tekken 7 also retains the tried-and-true three-dimensional fighting game system, albeit with some tweaks and new mechanical additions.
But is Tekken 7 worth your time? We’ve collected some reviews to answer just that question. Take a look below to see what critics think of the game and for a wider view check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
“However, thanks in part to Tekken 7’s penchant for quirky distractions, there’s more to do in the game than simply training to be the best. The story mode is the most obvious stop, and it contains both a grand tale surrounding the series’ embattled Mishima family as well as a few dozen quick looks at the game’s secondary characters. All told, these will keep you entertained for a handful of hours with unexpected bouts of comedy and melodrama. Aside from the lifeless narrator, Tekken 7’s stories are a very welcome addition to the console version of a game that’s primarily bred for player-vs-player competition.” — Peter Brown [Full review in progress]
IGN — Review In Progress
“This is a nostalgia motherlode, and viewing some of this material quickly pulled me back in time to memories of years spent with Tekken, whether hours of matches of Tekken 3 with friends in high school, countless quarters sank into Tekken Tag Tournament machines, or getting destroyed repeatedly by the Bay Area Tekken scene when other Street Fighter players and I tried to transition into Tekken 6.” — Darry Huskey [Full review in progress]
Game Informer — 8/10
“Tekken 7 does a good job of bringing the franchise up to standard on the current round of consoles. Though it falters in its story mode and getting new players in on the satisfying thrill of dodging your opponent’s attack and hitting them with a round-ending combo, it offers enough incentive for experienced players (or those willing to stick out the initial rough patch) to keep playing. The online works well enough that regular players should have enough of a reason to learn the deep combat system and get ready for the next battle.” — Suriel Vazquez [Full review]
Destructoid — 8/10
“I was pleasantly surprised with Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, and will be keeping up with the meta and pro scene for the first time in years. While Harada and his crew could have easily given us a little more to do long term other than chase more treasure, it doesn’t feel like grinding in the slightest given how fun it is to play.” Chris Carter [Full review]
GamesRadar+ — 4/5
“By getting excited about the core systems at the expense of everything new, I feel like I’m celebrating a game for barely evolving over the last 20 years, but Tekken has always been that good. I’d rather be playing it than writing about it. But despite this, there’s something a bit sad about Tekken 7. By trying to compete with modern beat ’em ups, it’s simultaneously more and less than it once was, and the failure of the new additions feels jarring when compared to modern fighters. This might be the last entry for Tekken that can still trade on a that joyful fighting system alone, but for now I’m happy to enjoy it for what it is: a powerful, gratifying, deeply cinematic fighting game.” — Matt Elliott [Full review]
Ahead of E3 next month, EA today posted a cryptic teaser image for what could be the next Need for Speed game.
If you turn the brightness down on the image below, you can see what appears to be the Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle. This is the same image that the official Need for Speed Twitter account posted.
EA officially confirmed the next Need for Speed game earlier this month. We don’t know much about it, but developer Ghost Games has stressed that it won’t require a constant internet connection like the 2015 reboot did. The game will have customisation options and police pursuits, and EA has said it will launch in 2017 for unspecified platforms.
Tekken is back, and if you’ve kept up with the series over the years, you will feel right at home in Tekken 7. While we haven’t had the chance to test its performance online, and thus aren’t ready to offer a comprehensive review covering everything the game has to offer, we can say that Tekken’s latest outing is a great fighting game offline that falls in line with the series’ favorable reputation. Familiar faces, combo strings, and storylines both serious and absurd work just as well today as they did in the past, adding up to an experience that feels quite different from the likes of Street Fighter V or Injustice 2.
A lot of this unique feel boils down to Tekken’s button scheme, which assigns one button to each limb. It’s an intuitive system that’s easy to wrap your head around, but one look at a character’s movelist is evidence of the depths that await intrepid competitors; most lists of attacks and combos are nearly 100 items long. New mechanics in Tekken 7 include Rage Arts, which allow you to issue a powerful attack when your health is running low, and Power Crush attacks, moves that complete their animation regardless of whether you’re hit (by high and mid attacks specifically) before you strike your target.
While Rage Arts are simple enough to execute given their single-button input, Power Crush is a property assigned to otherwise traditional attacks and combos. You can identify which attacks fall into this category by scrolling through a character’s move list until you see the relevant icon. It sounds simple enough, but given that most fighting games are good about separating distinct moves into categories for easy reference, the process is slightly more arduous than it ought to be.
It’s also fair to say that Tekken 7 doesn’t adequately explain the rules surrounding these new mechanics or when you should use them. Save for the briefest of tutorials in the story mode and a teaching tool in training mode that shows you how a combo should look in action, you are left to pick apart the game’s rules and mechanics on your own. A fighting game like Skullgirls is the ideal model to follow, with extensive training modes and scenarios for each character. But even when compared to previous Tekken games, Tekken 7 falls short. There’s unfortunately nothing like the Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s Combot here to ease you into the game’s eccentricities.
However, thanks in part to Tekken 7’s penchant for quirky distractions, there’s more to do in the game than simply training to be the best. The story mode is the most obvious stop, and it contains both a grand tale surrounding the series’ embattled Mishima family as well as a few dozen quick looks at the game’s secondary characters. All told, these will keep you entertained for a handful of hours with unexpected bouts of comedy and melodrama. Aside from the lifeless narrator, Tekken 7’s stories are a very welcome addition to the console version of a game that’s primarily bred for player-vs-player competition.
Barring a few too many instances of characters with uncannily clear and shiny complexions, Tekken 7 also looks great running in Unreal Engine, a shift that comes with the series debut on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. We’ve only had the chance to play the game on PlayStation 4 so far, and while it’s not the best-looking fighting game we’ve seen, improved lighting and particle effects round out the improvements made to character models since Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag 2.
While we wait for more players to populate ranked and casual servers, we will continue to both practice our moves in combat and outfit characters with collectible gear–Tekken 7’s other light-hearted pursuit. If you’re playing this weekend, don’t be surprised if you may spot a Marshall Law player donning a knight’s helm, a massive pizza on his back, and a samurai sword to complement his shiny new leather jacket.
Check back shortly after launch for our full review of Tekken 7 across all platforms.
The Kingsman movie series is the latest to get the Funko treatment. The toy company announced today that toys based on characters from Kingsman: The Secret Service will be available in Funko Pop form, including Harry, Eggsy, Valentine, and Gazelle.
The figures will be available this summer. Pricing was not announced. You can see them all in the image gallery below. Click the thumbnails to bring up full-size images.
Funko Pop toys exist for basically every major media franchise under the sun. Some of the other recently announced ones include those for Destiny, Justice League, and Alien: Covenant.
The next Kingsman movie, The Golden Circle, comes out in September. It’s directed by Matthew Vaughn, and stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore.
PlayStation 4‘s latest system update is available to download now, but don’t expect it to do too much. According to Push Square, Firmware Update 4.70 improves the quality of the system performance, and it reportedly introduces new icons for many of Sony’s own apps such as the PlayStation Store.
The patch weighs in at around 340 MB, and it’s mandatory to install–just turn your PS4 on and the update should begin downloading automatically.
The Boost Mode feature aims to improve the quality and performance of games that have not been patched to support PS4 Pro. “This can provide a noticeable frame rate boost to some games with variable frame rates, and can provide frame rate stability for games that are programmed to run at 30 Hz or 60 Hz,” Sony explained at the time.
Injustice 2 has maintained its position atop the UK physical sales chart for the week ending May 27, as Nintendo Switch’s new fighting game Ultra Street Fighter II debuts at No.10.
Other than Ultra Street Fighter II, the week’s only new releases were Rime, which finished at No.27, and Switch’s Disgaea 5: Complete at No.36.
Injustice 2’s success follows a positive critical reception; our critic, Peter Brown, called it “a fighting game that can be enjoyed by new players and pros alike.” Read more in our full Injustice 2 review or check out these 9 Easter eggs and references you might’ve missed.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of sales monitor Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Nier: Automata, the new Square Enix RPG developed by Bayonetta studio PlatinumGames, has passed a new sales milestone. It was announced this week that the PlayStation 4 and PC game has hit 1.5 million combined units shipped and digital copies sold.
This is up from 1 million combined physical units shipped and digital copies sold in April.
No information was provided about how the game’s sales break down by platform. But whatever the case, 1.5 million units is a big number, and it’s notable that the figure rose by 500,000 units in the space of a month and a few weeks.
