Month: February 2019

During the latest Nintendo Direct event, which was packed with Switch news, the publisher provided an update on what the future holds for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, revealing information about its 3.0 update, narrowing down when the next DLC character will be available, and showing off a few new Amiibo coming soon.

First up is update 3.0, which Nintendo didn’t actually detail. Instead it teased more information in the future. In terms of DLC characters, Nintendo already revealed that the next fighter to join the roster will be Persona 5 protagonist Joker. However, it has now confirmed that he’ll be available in the game before the end of April.

As previously detailed, Joker will be the first DLC character released for the game (outside of Piranha Plant) and will be available as part of Challenge Pack 1. Each DLC pack will be solid individually and contains a DLC character, a stage, and accompanying music. Nintendo is also offering a Fighters Pass that will include all the Challenge Packs.

For those looking to add more Amiibo to their collection, there’s a few new figures for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighters on the way. Namely Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series, Pokemon Trainer, Squirtle, and Ivysaur. For the Castlevania fans out there, Simon Belmont will also be immortalized in Amiibo form.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched for Nintendo Switch in December 2018 and has already been very successful. The game was Amazon’s best-selling video game of 2018 and the fifth best-selling game in the US (not accounting for digital sales). Nintendo also revealed that the game has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide as of December 31, 2018. This made it the third best-selling Switch game to date.

It was also a critical success, having received widespread acclaim. GameSpot’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review awarded it a 9/10. Edmond Tran said it is a “flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be.

“Its entertaining single-player content helps keep the game rich with interesting things to do, as well as bolstering its spirit of loving homage to the games that have graced Nintendo consoles. Ultimate’s diverse content is compelling, its strong mechanics are refined, and the encompassing collection is simply superb.”

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order was unexpectedly revealed at The Game Awards in December of 2018. However, during an announcement heavy Nintendo Direct, we learned some new details about the upcoming brawler for Switch. During the stream it was confirmed that the game will have an all-new story that pits Marvel’s iconic heroes and villains against each other for the fate of the world.

During the initial reveal trailer characters from the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and X-Men were shown as playable. However, it has now been confirmed that the Defenders squad will also be represented. For those not familiar, the team is made up of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. Additionally, Captain Marvel will also join the fight, which makes sense given that she’ll be hitting the big screen in her own Marvel Cinematic Universe movie this year.

During the video, we got to see the various special attacks called the “Alliance Extreme Attack” and there’s also a team attacks called the “Ultimate Alliance Extreme” attack.

As with the first two entries in the series, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order will support a range of multiplayer options including four-player local co-op, with four Nintendo Switch consoles connecting to each other. There will also be local couch co-op and online multiplayer, with the ability drop in and out of gameplay.

Currently, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order has only been announced for the Switch. It is being developed by Team Ninja, the studio behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series’ and, more recently, acclaimed Dark Souls-a-like, Ni-Oh. The game is being published by Nintendo and is scheduled to launch in Summer 2019.

Other characters that’ll be playable in Ultimate Alliance 3 include Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Spider-Man. From the villain side, Thanos, The Black Order, Sandman, Green Goblin, and the Sentinels, among others, will be in the game and getting up to no good.

Nintendo has announced Super Mario Maker 2 for Nintendo Switch. The sequel made its debut as part of today’s Nintendo Direct event (you can see all the news from the Nintendo Direct here), during which a June 2019 release date was also confirmed. One of the big new additions for the second game is the ability to create slopes–something which was noticeably absent from both the original Wii U title and the 3DS version.

Angled surfaces for Mario to hop, skip, and jump along might not sound like a big deal, but its something that fans have been very vocal about wanting, and now it’s finally here. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of devious levels players come up with to make use of this new terrain option.

The other big new feature for Super Mario Maker 2 is its inclusion of Super Mario 3D World assets to craft custom levels, which is nice way to represents the modern-era of Mario titles.

The first Super Mario Maker was released for Wii U in 2015 and earned a 9/10 from GameSpot. In his review, Justin Haywald described it as “a game of joyous creation and fun surprises.”

He continued: “The first time I discovered that not only could I make a giant, flame-spewing piranha plant, but I could also make it fly, I cackled with horrible glee at the possibilities. And for the first time in a creation-focused experience, I look forward to returning again and again for more than just the amazing levels I know other people will create. I want to keep making my own levels better. The game won’t necessarily turn you into the next Shigeru Miyamoto, but you can almost feel a little bit of that magic rubbing off every time you upload a new creation.”

Pokemon Go‘s next Community Day is just around the corner. Niantic is hosting this month’s event on Saturday, February 16, and like usual, it’ll offer players around the world a chance to capture rare Pokemon and earn some generous in-game bonuses.

Each Community Day typically runs for only three hours, but the specifics of these events vary month by month. To help you prepare, we’ve rounded up all of the most important details about February 2019’s Community Day below, from the time it starts in each region to what bonuses you’ll be able to earn.

What Is The Featured Pokemon?

Niantic typically designates one “featured” Pokemon for each Community Day. Not only will this monster spawn much more frequently than it normally does throughout the event, but players will also have a chance of finding its Shiny form. The Pokemon will be able to learn a special, otherwise unattainable move if it evolves by the end of the event.

For February’s Community Day, the featured Pokemon is Swinub, a Ground/Ice-type first introduced in Gold and Silver. For the duration of the event, Swinub will be much easier to find in the wild, and if players manage to evolve it into its final form, Mamoswine, up to an hour after the Community Day ends, it will know the Rock-type attack Ancient Power.

What Are Sinnoh Stones?

Swinub was one of several Pokemon to receive a new evolved form in the series’ fourth-generation titles, Diamond and Pearl. Niantic has been gradually introducing these Gen 4 evolutions in Go over the past several weeks, but they’re obtained a little differently than most others. Namely, they can only be triggered using a new evolutionary item called Sinnoh Stones.

Sinnoh Stones can be obtained a few different ways in Go, but the most common is by participating in PvP Trainer Battles. To make it easier to get a Mamoswine, Niantic is giving players a chance to earn up to five Sinnoh Stones from Trainer Battles during this month’s Community Day, on top of an additional five that can be earned from practice battles against Team Leaders.

What Time Does It Start?

Unlike many of Pokemon Go’s other real-world events, Community Days aren’t hosted at a specific location but rather during a designated window of time, which means you’ll be able to participate in the event from any local park or other gathering place. The time it begins varies depending on what part of the world you live in, but regardless of your region, the Community Day will only run for three hours. You can find the full schedule for each region below.

The Americas and Greenland

• 11 AM – 2 PM PT
• 2 PM – 5 PM ET

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

• 10 AM – 1 PM UTC

Asia-Pacific

• 12 PM – 3 PM JST (February 17)

What Other Bonuses Are There?

On top of increased Pokemon spawns, Niantic also typically offers a couple of other bonuses during each Community Day. For this month’s event, players will receive triple the usual amount of Stardust for capturing Pokemon. Additionally, any Lure modules you use will remain active for three hours, rather than their standard 30 minutes.

Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might not seem like the most obvious of comic book team-ups, but they do have their similarities. Both fight crime at night in a big city, are known to inflict considerable pain on their enemies, and have animal-based superhero names (of course, the Turtles ARE actually turtles). Fans can now enjoy their first onscreen team-up in the new animated movie Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As reported by Syfy.com, the film is a collaboration between DC Entertainment and Nickelodeon. It’s based on the 2015 Batman/Turtles crossover comic by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II, and will see the heroes meet up via a “transdimensional encounter,” and end up fighting various villains from Batman’s rogues gallery.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles releases on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital in late spring. The voicecast includes Troy Baker (The Last of Us), who will play both Batman and the Joker, Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) as Raphael, Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live) as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn (Grace and Frankie) as Donatello, and Eric Bauza (The Woody Woodpecker Show) as Leonardo. A first image from the movie has been released–check it out below.

The cast also includes Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom as Batgirl, DC animation veteran Tara Strong as both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants) as The Penguin, and John DiMaggio (Adventure Time) as Mr. Freeze.