Month: July 2020

The newest entry in the Trackmania series is officially out today on PC at the Epic Games Store and the Ubisoft Store. The game was previously delayed due to the outbreak of coronavirus. As a remake of the highly-regarded free Trackmania Nations, fan interest is running high for this new game, titled simply Trackmania. However, some in the community are expressing concerns and confusion about its three-tiered subscription model.

As shown by the rather complex diagram below, the three tiers of the new Trackmania are Starter Access, Standard Access, and Club Access. Standard Access and Club Access are each a subscription of $10 and $30 a year respectively, while Starter Access is free. Essentially, Starter Access allows players to sample 25 of the game’s pre-made tracks, while Standard Access unlocks daily competitions, the Track of the Day, player creation servers, and the track editor. Club Access grants players the ability to create their own custom servers, participate in online rooms, and compete in the official Trackmania leagues.

Given that previous Trackmania games revolved so heavily around user-created content, it would appear that the Club Access is key to enjoying the game to its fullest, especially if you plan on hosting your own server with your friends. However, if you’re just trying to sample what Trackmania has to offer, both the Starter and Standard Access might help you get your bearings.

Resident Evil Village details were recently divulged in a Famitsu interview with producers Tsuyoshi Kanda and Pete Fabiano. The interview was translated and shared on Twitter by Resident Evil historian Alex Aniel. There were a few interesting tidbits revealed about the upcoming game, including how Village will conclude Ethan’s story, which started in Resident Evil 7: biohazard.

According to the translated interview, Resident Evil Village is about 60% complete and has been in development for about 3.5 years. It also serves as the conclusion to Ethan Winter’s story that started in Resident Evil 7: biohazard; however, the developer didn’t make it clear which of the two mid-game choices is canon. In Resident Evil 7, you’re asked to choose who to save between your wife and another character, which results in some striking differences. They also said that the title emphasizes the village because it is “another protagonist” in the game.

Village also brings back two staples of the RE franchise–inventory management and puzzle solving–but no specifics were given. They also said that making the game exclusively for next-gen allowed them to make loading times nearly nonexistent, giving the game a deeper level of immersion. Unfortunately, they didn’t expand on what they meant by this.

Resident Evil Village releases in 2021 on Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC.

GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

Nintendo is hosting another competition in its colorful Switch shooter Splatoon 2 later this month. The Turf War July 2020 tournament kicks off on Saturday, July 18, and the prize is $25 USD in My Nintendo Gold points.

Every member of the winning team will take home 2,500 My Nintendo Gold points, which can either be redeemed for rewards on the My Nintendo website or used as credit toward select games and DLC on the Switch Eshop. The tournament is open to players in North America, and each match will be contested in Turf War.

Registration is open now until July 18, 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. To enter, you and your teammates will need to create an account on Battlefy. You can read the full rules for the Turf War July 2020 tournament here.

Although Splatoon 2 is no longer receiving content updates, Nintendo continues to periodically release patches for the game. The company recently rolled out the version 5.2.2 update, which resolved two exploits–including one that allowed players to reach the opposing team’s spawn point in Starfish Mainstage–but didn’t make any other balance adjustments. You can read the patch notes on Nintendo’s support website.

In other Switch news, Tetris 99 is kicking off its next in-game competition this week. The game’s 14th Maximus Cup takes place from July 3-6, and everyone who amasses at least 100 points during the competition will unlock a cool Xenoblade Chronicles theme.

A new update is now live for the Switch version of Pokemon Home. This patch brings the cloud service up to version 1.1.1 and resolves an issue that should make it much easier to complete the Isle of Armor Pokedex.

According to the patch notes on Nintendo’s website, the new update fixes a bug that prevented Pokemon imported from Home from being registered in the Isle of Armor Pokedex. Once you’ve installed the update, open Pokemon Home, connect it to your copy of Sword or Shield, and save; this will cause any Pokemon that weren’t properly registered to be counted in your Isle of Armor Pokedex.

The Isle of Armor is the setting of Sword and Shield’s first expansion, and it’s home to more than 100 returning Pokemon not available in mainland Galar. Although these monsters can only be found in the wild in the Isle of Armor, there are ways to get them without owning the DLC, such as by transferring them from previous games through Home.

The Isle of Armor has its own Pokedex separate from the main games, and if you can catalog every monster, you’ll get a couple of neat rewards. First is the Mark Charm, a brand-new item that increases the chance that you’ll find a marked Pokemon. You’ll also receive the Replica Gold Crown, an appropriately ornate piece of headgear your trainer can wear instead of a hat.

In related news, everyone who transfers a Pokemon from Home to Sword or Shield (or vice versa) before July 6 can claim a free Shiny Zeraora in the mobile version of Pokemon Home. You’ll also get all three Galar starters with their Hidden Abilities, which up until now have not been available in Sword and Shield.

Pokemon Home Ver. 1.1.1 Patch Notes

• Fixed a bug about Pokemon not being registered to the Isle of Armor Pokedex when taking Pokemon from Pokemon Home to Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield.
  • After downloading the update data, connect Pokemon Home to Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield and save in Pokemon Home to register the Pokemon that was not registered in Pokedex.

FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, a dieselpunk action-platformer starring an anthropomorphic rabbit with a massive metal fist, has been announced for PlayStation 4. Detailed in a PlayStation Blog post, the game takes place on a planet inhabited by animals that must battle an invading race of machine-like creatures.

The main character Rayton is a battle-hardened rabbit with a massive third arm made of metal attached to his back. Rayton must battle and traverse through an industrialized city to rescue a friend captured by the machines.

The rabbit warrior has other weapons–a drill and a whip–at his disposal, allowing for a variety of combos and the chance for players to adapt their play style to different enemy types. The game features 2D combat and traversal with 3D characters and environments.

FIST was announced as part of the PlayStation Indies Initiative, where Sony is showcasing a number of new indie games. The game doesn’t have a set release date but is said to be coming to PS4 soon. The game is also releasing on Steam according to the developer’s website.

GameSpot has officially kicked off Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

Finding the perfect ring to ask that all-important question can be a daunting task, but if you and your partner are both big Pokemon fans then The Pokemon Company might have just made things a little easier. At least, with some of its new Pikachu-inspired engagement rings.

The new line–a collaboration between The Pokemon Company and Japanese jewelry company Ginza Tanaka–features three ring styles all inspired by the anime’s most recognizable character. Each band can be bought with either pure silver or gold bands, with prices that range from ¥115,500 to ¥346,500 (around $1,054 to $3,225). You can see all the designs below.

Although the simple Pikachu emblem design is cute, it’s not something that immediately screams engagement ring status. The more elegant Pikachu tail design certainly strikes a balance of “if you know, you know” while also remaining a striking look without the Pokemon context. The Pikachu ear design though? That’s certainly a bold choice, and especially prickly if you don’t immediately identify it as the ears of the yellow electric mouse and see…something else entirely.

The range is on sale now in Japan through The Pokemon Centre. If you’re not looking to make a life-long commitment and just want to keep trying to catch ’em all, Pokemon Sword and Shield’s first DLC recently launched on Nintendo Switch, and Tencent is funding a Pokemon-based MOBA for Switch and mobile later this year.