Month: March 2018

It seems that Fortnite‘s mobile test is expanding quickly. With the first invites having already gone out on iOS, Epic Games is now allowing select participants to begin bringing their friends into the game–so if you know someone who’s in, now is the time to start bugging and/or bribing them.

Some Fortnite mobile players, including one of us here at GameSpot, has received an email informing them that friend invites are now available. “You have new friend invites ready to send!” the email reads. “Share them with your friend to give them instant access to the Fortnite Invite Event on iOS.”

At least in our case, we received three invites. These aren’t sent through the email itself; instead, you have to open up the game on your mobile device, log in, and send them out from there. As pictured below, if you have invites to send, you’ll be alerted by a notification in the upper-right corner of the screen. Click that, and you’re presented with links to send out each invite. Once it’s accepted, you and the recipient will automatically be added to each other’s friends list.

Fortnite mobile is only in beta currently, but as Epic promised, it does essentially deliver the full Battle Royale experience (as you’d expect, because cross-play is set to be offered with other platforms). It does feature some minor changes, such as a new indicator to point out things (like nearby chests) in case you’re playing without sound. You can check out some Fortnite mobile gameplay in the video above. An Android version is also in the works and will be released in the coming months, and the ongoing iOS test will continue to expand.

Another Sonic racing game is possibly on the way. Following rumors that a sequel to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed was in development, the official Sonic Twitter accounted tweeted out a brief video that seems to confirm the hedgehog is heading back to the race track.

The tweet, which you can see below, only features the words “[TOP SECRET]” along with a brief, 22-second-long video clip. The video begins with a closeup of a car’s headlight, while sounds of a revving engine can be heard in the background. The video ends with what looks like the silhouette of the game’s logo, with only the letter R visible.

The latest Sonic racing game, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, was first released back in 2012. Like its predecessor, it’s a Mario Kart-style arcade racer that features iconic characters from throughout Sega’s history. You can read more about the title in our original Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed review.

This was a big day for Sonic fans. In addition to the above tease, Sega announced Sonic Mania Plus, a physical re-release of last year’s acclaimed 2D Sonic game. On top of the existing game, Plus features new content in the form of an Encore mode and two additional playable characters: Mighty and Ray. Sega also announced a partnership with Puma to sell Sonic-inspired sneakers.

Sonic Mania, last year’s acclaimed entry in the Sonic series, is finally set to get a physical release. Sega has revealed Sonic Mania Plus, a physical re-release of the existing game that packs in some brand-new content.

Among the new features are two new playable characters, Mighty and Ray. There’s also a new Encore mode and an expanded version of the four-player competition mode where you go head-to-head with other players. This was all shared during a Sonic panel at SXSW and then teased on Twitter, so we don’t yet know all the details.

Sonic Mania Plus will be available in a physical package this summer for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. That’s notable, as the only physical version of Mania was the Collector’s edition (which came with a digital copy of the game itself). This new Plus version includes holographic packaging, a 32-page art book, and a reversible cover that makes the game look like it’s for Genesis.

Other news that is sure to excite Sonic fans is a partnership with PUMA to sell Sonic-inspired sneakers and–more notably–a teaser for something related to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Whether this turns out to be a remaster, a full-on sequel, or something else remains to be seen.

The next Pokemon Go Community Day is right around the corner. Ahead of the event, developer Niantic has shared more details about what bonuses players will have a chance to get, including the exclusive move for this month’s featured Pokemon.

The next Community Day takes place on Sunday, March 25. As detailed on the official Pokemon Go website, the event will run during a specific three-hour window of time, kicking off at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET and concluding at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET. During those hours, players will earn triple the normal amount of XP for capturing Pokemon, and Lure modules will last for three hours.

In addition to those bonuses, players will encounter increased spawns of the Grass-type starter Bulbasaur, which is the featured Pokemon for this month’s Community Day. However, as was the case with last month’s event, Bulbasaur won’t be able to learn the exclusive Community Day move; rather, its final evolution, Venusaur, can, provided you’re able to evolve it during the event.

If players manage to evolve Ivysaur into Venusaur before Community Day ends, the Pokemon will learn the powerful Grass-type attack Frenzy Plant. This applies to any Ivysaur you own, even those that were obtained prior to the event. However, the Pokemon will only learn Frenzy Plant if it evolves during the event hours, giving you only a brief window of time to get the exclusive move.

In the meantime, a new Legendary Pokemon is now available in Pokemon Go. From now until April 2, players have another chance to capture Lugia, the Legendary Psychic- and Flying-type originally from Pokemon Gold and Silver. This time, Lugia knows the “newly improved” Flying move Sky Attack, but if players are able to successfully bring it down, it should be much easier to capture than before.

Street Fighter V has begun its Monster Hunter World crossover event, offering a rad alternate Ken costume in exchange for going on a very Monster-Hunter-like quest for armor pieces. The ultimate result will be a Rathalos Armor set, but you’ll have to take part in special events every week through April 12 to unlock it all.

Completing the armor will work much like it does in Monster Hunter World. You’ll need to collect each piece to finish the whole set. Each piece will be available in Extra Battle Mode on a rotating basis every week. This week, the boots are available. Next it will be the gauntlets, then chest-piece, and finally, the helmet. Once you’ve gotten all four pieces you’ll unlock the alternate costume.

This is the third and final announced Street Fighter 5 crossover, after Ibuki and R. Mika received similar monster duds. There’s a catch: each attempt at one of the challenges costs 2,500 in Fight Money per attempt. Assuming you can finish them all in one try, it will cost you 10,000 FM. If you need to retry some of the challenges, it could be significantly more.

The Monster Hunter series is well known for its crossovers with other famous video game franchises, and World offered a special Horizon: Zero Dawn crossover costume soon after launch. Just recently it detailed plans for its Mega Man crossover event, and announced a Devil May Cry event will be following sometime after. For most of its lifespan these extras seemed like a nice way to reward fans and raise interest in the niche RPG franchise. Now that Monster Hunter World is breaking company sales records, it may just be the other way around.