Pokemon Go is celebrating Valentine’s Day this week with a higher chance of catching certain Pokemon and earning extra Stardust. Alongside this special holiday event, Pokemon Go also received a new update.
Update 0.91.2 on Android devices and 1.61.2 on iOS was released today, announced on developer Niantic’s Twitter account. It’s a small update, and the iOS and Google Play stores haven’t listed patch notes yet, but Niantic states that it focuses on fixing bugs.
Trainers, Pokémon GO is being updated to version 0.91.2 for Android and 1.61.2 for iOS to implement bug fixes.
Meanwhile, the big holiday event is happening from now until Thursday, February 15. It increases the chances of running into the Pokemon Luvdisc and Chansey, and it grants triple Stardust for each of those that you capture.
In other news, the next Pokemon Go Community Day event is coming up soon. It’ll take place on February 24 and, like the first Community Day in January, players will have a chance to capture a special Dratini that knows a move normal Dratinis don’t know.
If you’re a fan of the SMG in Fortnite‘s Battle Royale mode, you should get some time in with the game now. Epic Games plans to at least temporarily remove it from the popular online shooter on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, although some variants of it will remain usable for the time being.
As part of its recent development update, Epic shared some plans it has for the game, including a 60 FPS mode on consoles and the introduction of new items. It also noted that a specific gun–the SMG–will be put into the “Vault.” The developer has since expanded on what this means exactly.
Effectively, the SMG will be gone completely from the game, though it will return in the future. “As we add more weapons, consumables, and other item types, we want to make sure that the balance of itemization isn’t ruined,” an Epic representative wrote on Reddit. “Expect more items to be released (and likewise vaulted!) in the future. And of course, items will often come back out of the Vault when the timing is right.”
It’s important to note that this change specifically involves the basic SMG; another post from Epic on Reddit confirmed, “Tactical SMG and the Suppressed SMG will still drop.” Unfortunately there’s no indication provided of just how long a stay in the Vault may last, be it days, weeks, or months.
Fortnite’s new update just added a weapon type in the Crossbow, which is silent and features unlimited ammo. New weapons and consumables are also in the works, Epic confirmed in its development update, though it also teased, “Additionally, we’re looking to add different types of items down the road (beyond just weapons and consumables) that will allow for exciting new ways to play.”
Beyond that, Epic also has plans for many new Limited-Time Modes. Among those on the way in the near future are a modified version of 50v50, Blitz (where matches are shorter), and one where there is less time between circles. The studio is also listening to feedback regarding proposed changes to Fortnite’s matchmaking.
We’re still coming to grips with how Monster Hunter World will engage players long-term with its endgame. New monsters to fight and new video game-themed gear are on the way, but in the meantime, Capcom will provide a regular supply of new limited-time quests and bounties to keep players busy. Here’s what’s new this week on PS4 and Xbox One.
In terms of event quests, the next batch of three have rotated into the game and will be available until February 15. All of them involve hunting multiple monsters, but the first two are five-star quests that can be taken on starting at Hunter Rank 8. Kirin the Myth, as the name suggests, involves slaying two Kirin in Coral Highlands; there is a faint limit of three, a 50-minute time limit, and a reward of 14,400 Zenny. Wicked Wildspire Warfare has the same failure conditions but a reward of 9,360 Zenny (plus some Armor Spheres). You’ll have to hunt two Barroths and a Diablos to emerge victorious.
Those looking for a higher-end challenge can take on the Triple Threat Throwdown event quest. This is a Special Arena mission where you’ll have to hunt a Great Girros, Great Jagras, and Dodogama. You again have 50 minutes to complete this and will fail after three faints, and you’ll need to reach HR 13 in order to take this on. The reward is 14,040 Zenny in addition to unspecified decorations.
Also new are the latest set of Limited Bounties. If you’re unfamiliar with these, they’re bounties which are automatically assigned to you from the Resource Center and provide specific challenges to complete during the week. (The exact timing for the reset seems to differ between Xbox One on Thursday and PS4 on Friday, US time.) All three Limited Bounties are Ecology Surveys that call for you to hunt specific monsters (or categories of monsters). You’ll have to hunt three Great Girros, four Rathalos, and five Elder Dragons. Completing each of these objectives rewards you with some combination of Research Points, Armor Spheres, and trade-in items, and completing all three nets you an additional reward. Here’s exactly what’s on tap:
Ecology Survey: Hunt Great Girros
350 Research Points
2 Armor Sphere+
1 First Wyverian Print
Ecology Survey: Hunt Rathalos
450 Research Points
4x Armor Sphere+
1x Steel Wyverian Print
Ecology Survey: Slay Elder Dragon (high rank)
600 Research Points
4x Hard Armor Sphere
1x Silver Wyverian Print
General: Limited Bounty
500 Research Points
1x Gold Wyverian Print
1x Golden Egg
Finally, there’s a limited-time mission–Challenge Quest 1: Beginner–which you can access from the Arena Counter in the Gathering Hub once you hit HR 2. You’ll have to slay a Kulu-Ya-Ku and Pukei-Pukei with one of a handful of weapons, with the goal being to finish as quickly as possible. The faint limit is nine, and the reward is 1,080 Zenny.
Also of note right now is a new update that’s been released on both platforms. It makes some balance changes to Bowguns, resolves Squad issues on PS4, and addresses various other issues. That includes fixing an issue that prevented some players from accessing the free 5 Million Celebration Item Pack; as a result, its availability has been extended through February 22. There’s also a new pack now available to celebrate the game’s 6 million milestone; you can grab both by playing online and claiming your Daily Login Bonus.
Capcom has announced that the next DLC character for Street Fighter 5 is Blanka and he’ll be available from February 20. A new trailer for the character provides us with a showcase of the latest iteration of the beast, whose visual design looks mostly the same, other than some longer arm and leg hair.
“In SFV: AE, Blanka is living peacefully with his mother, and has adapted well to being introduced back into society,” Capcom explains on its website. “One day, a suspicious salesman approaches him and offers a way to make Blanka famous by mass producing a doll made in Blanka’s likeness. Will it work? Find out in his character story mode.”
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He’s also as savage as ever in battle, biting, head butting, clawing at enemies. His Coward Crouch ability is now his V-Skill and, according to Capcom, can be used to “avoid many attacks, including fireballs.” After the Coward Crouch, Blanka can execute either Wild Lift with a punch button or Raid Jump with a kick button. The former will move Blanka forward while attacking to launch the opponent into the air. The latter, meanwhile, allows Blanka to leap into the air “where he can use any mid-air attack to advance.”
His V-Trigger I is called Jungle Dynamo and is a roll attack that does more damage can then be followed up by additional attacks, including the Critical Art. Additionally, Jungle DynamoIt “powers up his Electric Thunder and changes the animation so Blanka steps forward while unleashing the electric current.” If it hits, the enemy is popped into the air and can be hit with a Blanka ball.
His V-Trigger II is Lightning Beast, which “unlocks a special move, Rolling Cannon (Direction + HP+HK), which can be performed after using Rolling Attack, Back Step Rolling, and Vertical Rolling.” This new move can extend combos or move Blanka into more advantageous positions. Finally, his Dynamic Rolling Critical Art combines electricity with rolling for devastating results. Check him out in the video above.
Blanka is available for $6/£6 or 100,000 Fight Money. For those who have the Season 3 Character Pass he’s available at no additional cost. The pass also includes Sakura (available now), Falke, Cody, G, and Sagat, who will become available at a later date. If you purchase Blanka is purchased as part of the Season 3 Character Pass or with real money, his Battle Costume with colors 3-10 and default costume colors 3-10 are also included.
Square Enix has released new screenshots for Kingdom Hearts 3, showing off more of the gameplay from its upcoming action RPG, as well as the new characters and worlds it revealed recently. During the D23 event held on February 12, a new trailer confirmed there will be a Monsters Inc. world in Kingdom Hearts, complete with Mike, Sully, and Boo making an appearance. The new screenshots below feature these iconic characters, in addition to monster versions of Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
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There’s also another look at The Little Mermaid’s Ariel, who looks to appear in the game as a summon. Traditionally, summon characters can be called into battle to lend a hand, similar to the way they’re used in Final Fantasy. The screenshots also include scenes from the Tangled world, where Sora, Donald, and Goofy team up with Rapunzel. If you’d like to see all this in motion, instead of static screenshots, you can watch the latest Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer at the top of the page.
During D23 Square Enix said development of Kingdom Hearts is split into three sections: early, middle, and late. The early phase worlds are around 90 percent complete, while middle section worlds are at roughly 60 percent done. The company didn’t confirm what stage the end section is at, but Tetsuya Nomura, director of the series, said it was “something he’s always wanted to do and put into Kingdom Hearts, ever since the days of working on Final Fantasy.”
Although it is expected to launch in 2018, Kingdom Hearts 3’s release date hasn’t been confirmed yet. Nomura–who is also working directing the Final Fantasy VII Remake—explained the extremely long wait last year, saying there were numerous factors, including a change in engines. As for directing the two games at once, he actually thinks it’s proven advantageous for him.
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For fans of the music in the Kingdom Hearts series, Square Enix confirmed that Utada Hikaru will be returning for the third game’s theme song, which is called “Don’t Think Twice.” You can hear the song in this second new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer released at D23.
After a strong 2017 with prequel title Yakuza 0 and Yakuza: Kiwami, Sega is continuing Kazuma Kiryu’s journey through the Japanese underworld in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life this year. The game picks up some time after the events of Yakuza 5, with Kiryu returning to the Sunflower Orphanage to find Haruka is missing. Naturally, Kiryu takes it upon himself to solve the mystery of her disappearance, which inevitably embroils him in Yakuza politics once again.
We recently got to spend some hands-on time with Yakuza 6 and have put together a video of the first 30 minutes of gameplay for you to watch. It must be clarified that this isn’t actually the opening of the game, as much of that is spent recounting the events of previous titles and catching players up on the various characters that have been involved in Kiryu’s journey so far. This is instead the first significant chunk of gameplay that becomes available to the player.
As you’ll be able to tell, it’s a familiar setup to previous titles in the series, with players exploring a large, detailed depiction of Kamurocho to find missions, fight gangs of no-goodniks, engage in weird but entertaining side stories, and pump hours into activities such as bowling and karaoke. In the video, we get a decent look at a small slice of the game, mainly focused on combat and exploration, as well as an introduction to the main antagonists.
Early impressions are good, Kamurocho looks better than ever, there’s a greater amount of voiced dialogue, and the game is overflowing with that eccentric Yakuza charm that fans love. Combat has also been streamlined to place less of an emphasis on switching styles, but still feels rewarding and, most importantly, brutal.
Shadow of the Colossus’s PS4 remake was a critical success when it launched last week, and now it appears it’s also performed well at retail. The game has finished top of the UK physical sales chart for its debut week (ending February 10).
Sales monitor Chart-Track says the PS2 original also finished at No.1 when it was released in 2006, but the remake’s first week sales were up 73% over its ancestor. Elsewhere, EA Sports UFC 3 maintains its position at No.2, although Monster Hunter World slips to No.3. The rest of the top five remains the same, with FIFA 18 staying at No.4 and Grand Theft Auto V at No.5.
In our Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake review, critic Edmond Tran said the game is a “tremendous journey, and one well worth taking and retaking.” He continued: “The visual overhaul is stunning, thoroughly enhancing every facet of Wander and Agro’s excellent adventure. Galloping through the tranquil world is always breathtaking; felling a monumental colossus is always humbling. Shadow of the Colossus is a beautiful reconstruction of an already exceptional title. It continues to be a modern classic and is an extraordinary game that everyone must experience.”
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of UKIE and Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
In the English translation of a recent investor Q&A, Shigeru Miyamoto, who is producing the film, started off by saying he has been thinking about an animated movie for “many years now.” He said some wondered why Nintendo didn’t do this faster, as some believe “making a game is like making a movie.” But that’s not necessarily the case.
“Interactive experiences are completely different from non-interactive media, and to make a movie I want a film expert to do the work,” Miyamoto said about Illumination.
Miyamoto went on to say that he began discussions with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri (who picked up an Oscar nomination for Despicable Me 2) more than two years ago. “Chris is extremely cost-conscious and time-conscious in his quest to make successful movies,” Miyamoto said. Meledandri is also producing the untitled Mario movie.
Perhaps more notably, Miyamoto added that Nintendo and Illumination might decide to back away from making a Mario movie if the script doesn’t live up to their standards. Right now, the screenplay is “progressing,” Miyamoto said, though it remains to be seen who the writers are. In Hollywood, just because a movie has been announced, doesn’t mean it will ever happen.
“We’ve talked together and share the feeling that if we can’t make something interesting we’ll just call it quits,” Miyamoto said. “But we’ve already met a number of times to hash out the screenplay, our talks together are progressing, and I hope to make an announcement once we’ve ironed out some things like the schedule.”
1993’s live-action Super Mario Bros. movie was a critical and commercial failure, with star Bob Hoskins–who played Mario–said it was the worst movie he’s ever been a part of.
Over the years, Nintendo has been very hesitant to bring its franchises–which with Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and others are among the biggest names in all of entertainment–to movies and TV. Given their prominence in the entertainment world, Hollywood has surely come knocking for adapatations, and now it appears Nintendo is finally moving ahead. Netflix was reportedly interested in making a Zelda TV show, though this never happened.
Typically, console generations run for around 5-6 years. With some amount of deviation, this has generally been true for consoles from the big three: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
But Nintendo believes its new system, the Switch, could potentially run for a longer period of time. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto said during a recent investor Q&A that he believes the Switch stands to be successful for a long time to come due to its unique hybrid nature and Nintendo’s efforts to create compelling content that leverages the system’s unique attributes.
“When you think about what can be done with the Nintendo Switch as a device that can be taken on the go and that every person has in their hands to play, you realise it has many features not available on any other hardware to date,” Miyamoto said. “Nintendo also has a system in place whereby the software developers focus on these hardware features in their development efforts for the continuation of the Nintendo Switch business.”
He added: “Up until now, the hardware lifecycle has trended at around five or six years, but it would be very interesting if we could prolong that life cycle, and I think you should be looking forward to that.”
Nintendo director Shinya Takahashi went on to say that the company is working with “junior” developers inside the company to continue to “create interesting products” that are both fun to play and reach a wide audience.
“Behind the unceasing stream of Nintendo Switch software releases to date is an approach to development that concentrates on development, itself the fruit of efforts several years ago to integrate the software development teams, which has made it easier to organise teams.”
Some of Nintendo’s biggest franchises have already been released on the Switch (Super Mario, Mario Kart, and Zelda are among them) but fans are still waiting for a Super Smash Bros. game. Given that it is one of Nintendo’s biggest and best-known franchises, we can expect it to eventually come to Switch, though it remains to be seen when that may happen.
For more on Nintendo’s latest investor Q&A, check out the stories linked below.
Last week, Fortnite developer Epic Games announced that some changes are coming to the popular Battle Royale game’s matchmaking system. Some voiced concerns about the proposed changes, and now Epic has said it will take this feedback into “careful consideration” before making any concrete changes to matchmaking.
In a tweet, Epic said, “We heard you loud and clear concerning changes to matchmaking! We’ll be sorting through all of the feedback we’ve been given and take it into careful consideration before taking any steps.”
We heard you loud and clear concerning changes to matchmaking! We’ll be sorting through all of the feedback we’ve been given and take it into careful consideration before taking any steps.
The root of the concerns come from a single line in a recent Fortnite “State of Development” blog post. Epic said said in the post, “We are working on changes to matchmaking that are aimed at creating matches with a more balanced distribution of skill.”
The suggestion here is that Fortnite might be adopting a skill-based matchmaking system, meaning that players would be matched with those who have a comparable skill level. Many games used skill-based matchmaking, so it wouldn’t be a new phenomenon. But for Fortnite, some expressed concerns that such a system would make the game feel more serious in nature instead of a more casual experience.
We have followed up with Epic Games in an attempt to get more details about what might be changing in Fortnite’s matchmaking system. We’ll report back with anything we hear from the developer.
If Fortnite does end up adopting a skill-based matchmaking system, one possibility is that this is limited to a specific playlist. Other games have “serious” and “casual” playlists, giving players an option for how they want to play. It could be that Epic adopts something similar for Fortnite, though no announcements have been made as of yet.
