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Tuesday 5-8-18: Fortnite: Infinity Wars, Kinect Usage, and Pokemon Go Fest

By Branden

On May 8, 2018

In daily update, News

Not much news going on today. It’s mostly just things I didn’t report on yesterday, to be honest. Here is that news.

Fortnite/Infinity War Promotional Mashup
The Kinect Lives On
Pokemon Go Fest is Back

Fortnite: Infinity Wars

The popular battle royale game has it’s first licensed promotional event, called the “Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup.” Here’s how it works.

When you enter a the solo-only game mode, a meteor will fall within the safe zone. This meteor will have the Infinity Gauntlet. Whoever claims the gauntlet first will transform into Thanos. Should Thanos be defeated in battle, they will drop the gauntlet, leaving it ripe for the picking by someone else.

The Kinect

Microsoft recently announced that the Kinect technology will live on in a project called Azure. This will integrate the hardware into their cloud computing system for the development of better AI. They also stated that a new generation connect will help provide a better HoloLens experience. To be honest, it’s all a bit out of my scope, So you may want to read this article if you want a better understanding of what’s it’s all about.

Pokemon Go Fest 2: The Refestening

Despite the otherwise disaster of last year’s Pokemon Go Fest, developer Niantic has announced that they’re doing it again. Taking place in Chicago from July 14 to July 15. Pokémon GO Fest 2018: A Walk in the Park is already in the works for those wanting to attend. A representative has stated that while it’s a two-day event, players can only purchase one day. This is to promote more people from being able to participate in the events and festivities. You can find more information about this on their website.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading! Check back tomorrow for more news, views, and some jazzy blues (not really). Otherwise, have a great day!

Monday 5-7-18: Oculus Prototypes, E3 Floor Plans, and Nintendo Job Listings

By Branden

On May 7, 2018

In daily update, News

We edge ourselves ever closer to the next day. Here’s the news.

Oculus’ Latest VR Prototype
E3 Floor Plans
Nintendo Hiring Zelda Level Designer

Oculus: Half Dome

Popular VR developer Oculus has announced a new prototype VR headset, one that features 140-degree viewing, varifocal displays, and potentially even eye tracking. The prototype can allegedly achieve a far wider view range, thanks to more advanced fresnel lenses within. It also has varifocal displays, which means two lenses moving back and forth, much like a camera. this should allow for dynamic focus shifting. When combined with eye tracking, seen in various other prototypes, this should allow for better focus on both near and far objects alike. I may not like Oculus as a corporation, but this is certainly a nice device.

E3 Floor Plans

This is exactly what it says on the tin. E3 floor plans have been making their rounds online. Event marketing partner GES has released the floor plans for the event online. This does offer some insight as to who is where, and who has the big spots. It also confirms which publishers and studios are scheduled to attend, like CD Projekt Red and Marvelous America. If you don’t want to have to download the PDFs, ResetEra has image files of the contents on their site.

Zelda Level Designer

Twitter user @bk2128 has translated a Japanese job listing found on the Nintendo website. The listing appears to call for ‘Level designer of “The Legend of Zelda” series.’ The job starts as a three-month trial contract, in which it will be reviewed for whether you’ll be kept for the remainder of the project. Since Breath of the Wild has already finished their last DLC, this listing is presumably for a new Zelda game. All we have to go off of beyond that is speculation, though.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Tune in tomorrow for more video game news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 5-4-18: Battlerite Royale, Beyond Good and Evil 2 Gameplay, and Pikachu’s Third Evolution

By Branden

On May 4, 2018

In daily update, News

It’s the last weekday! I look forward to the weekend. Not because of relaxation, but because I won’t have to be at my day job. Here’s the news.

Battlerite Battle Royale
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Dev Footage
Pikachu’s Long Lost Evolution

Battlerite Royale

The popular MOBA, Battlerite, has announced a battle royale mode to release this summer. This mode consists of 20 (not 100) players dropped off in a map about 30 times larger than a standard Battlerite map. The players will fight each other for 10 minutes, aiming to be the last one standing. Expect this next season.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

The developers of the long-awaited RPG have checked back in with us. This time they’re showing off a bit of the movement and controls. Explaining how players can travel and coordinate. I’m happy to see progress being gradually made on the game, it certainly looks like its coming together. You can watch the video here, it’s not long. Good luck with the French accents, though.

Momochu, Pikachu’s Third Evolution

In an interview with Pokemon designers Koji Nishino, Atsuko Nishida, and Ken Sugimori, We discover the truth behind Pikachu’s forgotten third evolution, Momochu. “The Pokémon known as Gorochu bared fangs and even had a pair of horns,” according to Nishida. There was nothing wrong with the design, but the Pokemon was removed for balance reasons. You can read the entire interview on SiliconEra. It’s not bad.

Thanks for reading, everyone. A new episode of The Cozy Co-op has gone live, in which we talk about Mass Effect. It has an amazing ad break too. Check it out! Check back Monday for the next news post. Otherwise, have a good weekend!

Thursday 5-3-18: Mii Maker, Nintendo Pro Steam Support, and Cities: Skylines

By Branden

On May 3, 2018

In daily update, News

I stayed up too late playing Stardew Valley multiplayer. Man, I’m tired. Here’s the news.

Online Mii Maker
Nintendo Pro Controller Support on Steam
Cities: Skylines Natural Disasters for Consoles

Mii Maker Online

Nintendo’s social networking app, Miitomo, will be closing for good soon. The game company has announced that with this loss, they plan to release a web browser Mii maker tool. Expected towards the latter half of May, interested users can even load up their Miitomo characters if they so desire. I’m happy that Nintendo is still offering an option for those wanting to make Miis.

Pro Controller on Steam

If you’re one of the few individuals that consider the Nintendo Pro controller to be the ideal gamepad option, then I have news for you. Steam now offers controller support in their current Beta option. This means native support for the controller, custom game layouts through the Steam interface. So that’s cool.

Cities: Skylines Natural Disasters

Cities: Skylines is a pretty good game, and certainly the spiritual successor to the Sim City games. One of its expansions, Natural Disasters, offered a plethora of weapons from mother nature’s arsenal to wreak havoc on your city. Developers Paradox Interactive has announced that Natural Disasters will be coming to consoles on May 15. Have fun, mayors.

Thanks for reading. Check back tomorrow for more news! Otherwise, have a great day!

Wednesday 5-2-18: Strangling Children, Battle Royale Board Game, and Dark Souls Beta

By Branden

On May 2, 2018

In daily update, News

Wednesday! And a busy one at that. Here’s the news.

Harry Potter has you Pay Money to Stop Strangling Children
The Battle Royale Board Game
Dark Souls Remaster Beta Test

Strangling Children

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a recently released mobile game based on the magical worlds by J.K. Rowling. The problem is that the game utilizes some (pretty awful) mobile game monetization tropes. Nearly everything requires energy, to regain energy, you have to either wait a period of time or pay real life money. When your character faces real danger for the first time, you’re also scripted to run out of energy. This is only made worse by the fact that this danger is you being strangled by living vines. So now you’re forced to either wait 30 minutes while your child avatar chokes out, or pay money to proceed. Considering this is a kids game, that’s kind of messed up.

Battle Royale Board Game

An interesting board game has appeared on Kickstarter recently, and it looks oddly familiar. Last One Standing: The Battle Royale Board Game has two to eight players dropping down onto a map, collecting gear and weapons, and fighting each other until only one remains. The Kickstarter is asking for about $18,700, which I expect they’ll hit soon enough.

Dark Souls Beta

Bandai Namco has announced a network test for Dark Souls: Remastered, due to take place on PS4 and Xbox One later this month. From now until May 8, users can download the test client, and on May 11 and 12, from 6 pm to midnight each day, players can play the undead parish sections of the game. Have fun, chosen undead.

That’s all for today. Check back tomorrow for more news and such. Get ready for Mass Effect on this Friday’s episode of The Cozy Co-op Podcast! Otherwise, have a great night!

Tuesday 5-1-18: Stardew Valley Mutliplayer, The Forest v1.0, and the Fortnite Comet

By Branden

On May 1, 2018

In daily update, News

There is much to report. Here’s the news.

Stardew Valley Multiplayer Beta
The Forest Leaves Alpha
Fortnite Comet Resolution

Stardew Valley, with Friends!

At long last, the multiplayer feature to the popular farming sim game has arrived, almost. The update containing the setting has been pushed into an open beta phase. This means everyone can opt-in to try it out on Steam. Here is publisher Chucklefish’s official instructions if you want to try.

1. Log into your Steam account

2. In your Games Library, right click on Stardew Valley

3. Select Properties → Betas (see: https://imgur.com/a/H1gH4)

4. Enter the Beta access code jumpingjunimos and press Check Code

5. After this, select the beta branch option on the Beta selection drop down list above

If you have any problems with gaining access or experience any bugs, email us at contact@chucklefish.org

The Forest Launches

After four years in development, the survival horror game is finally having a full release. This means Version 1.0, folks! The developers made the announcement in a Steam Blog post. The update will come with a flurry of content additions, and a promise for VR support toward the latter end of May. Congratulations EndNight Games!

Fortnite Comet Conclusion

I previously reported on weirdness with Comets at Fortnite. While I predicted the conclusion would come May 4, it seems that it happened today. Epic Games released an announcement trailer for the next season of the game. The trailer shows a meteor shower ending in one noticeably large comet crashing down, and cracking when players came to investigate. I told y’all it would be a season 4 thing.

That’s all we got for today. Sorry if it’s short, I’m a bit rushed this morning. Come back tomorrow for another day of news. Email me fun facts about Mass Effect! I have to record that tomorrow. Otherwise, have a great day!

Monday 4-30-18: Data Mining in Mario and Kirby, and PUBG Hack Devs Arrested

By Branden

On April 30, 2018

In daily update, News

It seems today is hacker/data miner day. At least all our news seems to think so. Here is that news.

Data Miner Reveals Upcoming Super Mario Odyssey Costumes
Data Miner Discovers Upcoming Kirby: Star Allies Friends
PUBG Hack Developers Sued for Malware Injection

Super Mario Odyssey Costumes

Since it’s release last holiday season, Super Mario Odyssey has received regular yet infrequent updates. While some are more extensive, such as Luigi’s balloon world, this one is simply more costumes. These costumes aren’t available yet though, data miners have simply found their reference images within the game’s code and files. They are as follows.

Zombie Outfit
Conductor Outfit (the musical kind)
Racing Outfit
Santa Outfit
Broodals Outfits (three of them)

Kirby: Star Allies Data Mine

The cute Kirby game launched last month, and Nintendo promised regular updates to the game that will add new friends you can play with. A data miner has discovered just which friends those will be. They are coded in waves. the second wave contains Adeleine, Daroach, and Dark Meta Knight, while the third wave will be Magolor, Taranza, Susie, and the Jambastion Mages. No word on when they’ll arrive, however.

Sueing PUBG Hack Devs

It’s no secret that PUBG Corp. likes to take legal action against whatever they can. Though this has been for the greater good, this time. Fifteen hack developers were arrested and fined a total of $5.1 million for injecting a Trojan virus into their PUBG hacking software. This isn’t the first time hacking software came with some sketchy side code, and it won’t be the last.

Thanks for reading, everyone! it’s been a lovely morning. Come back tomorrow for another bundle of news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 4-27-18: Zelda BotW Sells, Nintendo E3, and Splatoon x TMNT

By Branden

On April 27, 2018

In daily update, News

Another week nearly over! I can’t wait to bunker down in my home and not leave. WE’re all Nintendo today, it seems. Here’s the news.

Breath of the Wild is the Best Selling Zelda Game
Nintendo’s E3 Plans
Splatoon X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Beast of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold 8.48 million copies on Switch and 1.5 million copies on Wii U. That’s nearly 10 million copies worldwide. Technically speaking, this is the best selling Zelda game of all time. The only one that beats it is the Ocarina of Time, assuming you included sales of both the N64 game, as well as the 3DS remake. That would total around 11.6 million units.

Nintendo at E3

Nintendo released their official E3 webpage for 2018, They’re listed for June 12-14, and detail… well nothing much new. There will be a video presentation on June 12, at 9:00 am PT / 12:00 pm ET. There will also be a Splatoon 2 World Championship finals and a Super Smash Bros Invitational on June 12. I honestly have no idea what Nintendo might announce at E3 this year. We’ll see soon enough.

Teenage Mutant Ninja SplatFest

Those familiar with the popular Nintendo shooter know that every so often, special events take place that pit the players into two groups. This time, players are choosing between four options, each of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Raphael will compete against Leonardo on May 4 until May 5, while Michelangelo goes up against Donatello May 11 until May 12. The finals, pitting the two winners against each other, will take place May 18 through May 19.

This is another promotional partnership with Hasbro, who are pushing their upcoming TMNT reboot on Nickelodeon.

Hey folks, if you like podcasts, and haven’t checked out mine, do that. We released our next episode today, it’s about Doom. Even if you don’t, maybe pull it up on the site, iTunes, or google play, and let it play on mute, inflate my listener count! (I’m not serious) Check back on Monday for a weekend wrap up. Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Thursday 4-26-18: Nintendo Resignations and GPU Prices

By Branden

On April 26, 2018

In daily update, News

There’s a few interesting happenings in gaming today. Here’s the news.

GPU Shipments Falling
Nintendo President Ready to Resign

Graphics Card Plunge

According to DigiTimes, Taiwanese graphics card factories are seeing a 40% decline in shipments. It seems that the cryptocurrency mining fad is starting to fall out, and miners are no longer buying cards. And with exuberant prices on graphics cards right now, gamers aren’t interested in buying any either. This very well might mean that the price of these cards may finally go back down to their previous, more affordable prices. I’d certainly like to upgrade my PC without paying $800+.

Nintendo President

The current President of Nintendo, Tatsumi Kimishima, has announced his resignation from the company. He will step down at the end of June, in which Nintendo’s global marketing department head Shuntaro Furukawa will take his place. Fukukawa is also The Pokémon Company’s outside director and Nintendo’s managing executive officer. He’s been with Nintendo for about 23 years. Best of luck to Furukawa with his new responsibilities, and we wish Kimishima a happy retirement.

We have a new episode of the podcast tomorrow. This time, we talk about Doom. It’s a good time. Check back tomorrow for more video game related news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Wednesday 4-25-18: McElroys, Wolfenstein on Switch, and Battlefield One Support

By Branden

On April 25, 2018

In daily update, News

Whoops! I forgot to do the news in the morning. Evening news it is! Here is that news.

The McElroys Leave Polygon
Wolfenstein II Nintendo Switch Launch Date
DICE Ends Battlefield One Support

The McElroy Brothers

It saddens me to hear, but Griffin and Justin McElroy have announced their resignation from popular gaming news outlet, Polygon. They have been vital inspirations to me and is largely responsible for me becoming a journalist myself. You can read their full statements at Polygon. I wish you the best, you wonderful boys.

Wolfenstein II on Switch

We have a release date! That’s all. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will release on Nintendo Switch on June 29. Nintendo released a nice little trailer for it, which appears to display Switch quality graphics.

Battlefield One Support

In a statement by DICE, developers of popular WWI shooter, Battlefield One will no longer be receiving regular updates. The latest DLC, Rupture, has just launched, and at the end of their blog post about it, they state that monthly patches will end this June. This makes sense, given the game’s age.

That’s all we got today. Come back tomorrow for another wonderful news day. Otherwise, have a great evening!

Tuesday 4-24-18: Quantic Dream Sues and Symmetra is Defense Now

By Branden

On April 24, 2018

In daily update, News

Ahoy me mateys. It be another day in.. I don’t know where I’m going with this. Here’s the news.

Quantic Dream Sues French Media
Symmetra to Become a Defense Character

Legal Action

Detroit: Become Human developers Quantic Dream has sued the French newspaper Le Monde and the website Mediapart for reports on the studio’s working conditions. A while back, these french media outlets reported racist and sexist remarks made by the studios CEO. Another outlet wrote about the issue, photoshopping the faces of Quantic Dream employees on Nazis and nude women captioned with “today is sodomy” in an article. The studio believes this to be a smear campaign, and legal action is currently taking place against the journalists.

Symmetra Defense Line

Symmetra, The odd-one-out in the support class of Overwatch, is being put under the knife. According to a statement by Timothy Ford, the Lead Software Engineer, She’ll be changed over to a Defense character after the changes. No word on what exactly will be changed to make this a more appropriate decision, but now we at least have a verbal confirmation of their plan.

Not much on the wire today, it seems. That’s alright. Check back tomorrow for more news and stuff. Otherwise, have a great night!

Monday 4-23-18: Night Trap, Ben Brode, and Valve Owns Campo Stanto

By Branden

On April 23, 2018

In daily update, News

The weekend has ended. I was enjoying it, too. Here’s the weekend wrap up

Night Trap on a Nintendo
Hearthstone Game Director Resigns
Valve Acquires Firewatch Devs

Night Trap, dododo do doo. Watch Out Behind You!

It was 25 years ago when the popular Sega game, Night Trap, released in stores. The event caused a newfound controversy with its definitions of violence and sexuality, even though both accounts of such were pretty mild. At the time, Nintendo stated that the game would never come to a Nintendo game system, due to its depiction of violence against women.

Now the game returns with a special 25th-anniversary edition converted for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Screaming Villians, the game has no confirmed release date.

Ben Brode Leaves Blizzard

Ben Brode, the game director of Hearthstone, has announced his leave this weekend. While having loved his 15 years working for Blizzard, five of which were on Hearthstone, he has decided to pursue other ventures. You can read the full details at his Battle.net post about it.

Campo Santo is a Valve Brand Now

The developers best known for Firewatch, the first-person mystery adventure game, has been picked up by game distribution giant Valve. The studio will still finish their current project, In The Valley of the Gods, uninterrupted, but it will release as a Valve game. It seems Valve has learned that if they can’t make their own games, they can build a nice pile of devs under their umbrella. More details about the aqcuisition can be found on their blog post.

That’s all for today, folks. Check back tomorrow for the next news posting. Also, I wrote a silly article called 13 Heckin Good Boyes in Gaming, it’s about dogs. Check it out! Otherwise, have a great day!