Category: Games

E3 2019 begins in just a few days, but even before that, Pokemon fans can look forward to some announcements. On Wednesday, June 5 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, Nintendo will be holding a special Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct that will contain “roughly 15 minutes of new information” about the Nintendo Switch games. The original Sword and Shield announcement showed off the three new starter Pokemon, the new Galar region, and a few other details, but there’s still a lot left to learn. Here are our big predictions for the Pokemon Direct.

A Release Date

When Pokemon Sword and Shield were announced, they were given a late-2019 release window. That’s fast approaching, so it stands to reason that the June 5 Direct will confirm the exact date. The most recent Pokemon games–Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee–all released in November, so I’ll go ahead and predict a November 2019 release date.

More Pokemon, Including Legendaries

So far, the only new Pokemon we’ve seen for Gen 8 are the three starters: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. The Pokemon Direct will include a mix of run-of-the-mill Pokemon–think the Pidgey and Rattata of Galar–and Sword and Shield’s legendary Pokemon, which would presumably be on the games’ boxes. It would also be great to see the starters’ evolved forms, but because they’ve already had their day in the sun, I think we’ll have to wait to see those.

A New Battle Mechanic

The basic Pokemon formula has largely stayed the same over the years, but the series has been good about regularly introducing new battle mechanics to keep things interesting. X and Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon had Z-Moves (and Battle Royals), and Sword and Shield will probably have something spicy to try out. There’s even a circular red-and-blue symbol seen throughout the announcement trailer, including in the games’ Japanese logos, that would seem to indicate a new mechanic–a crystal logo appeared in Sun and Moon’s Japanese logos, representing Z-Crystals–but there’s otherwise no indication of what it might be. I don’t have a guess, either.

Story Details And Version Differences

Finally, I’m willing to bet the Pokemon Direct will include some story info. What’s the deal with the Galar region? What sort of Team will you be up against, if any? The Pokemon Direct will have character intros and some basic details to lay out Sword and Shield’s vibe. I’ll go one step further and say that we’ll also learn what some of the version differences are, whether it’s a gameplay gimmick like Sun and Moon’s day-night shift or simply what Pokemon you might find in each.

What’s Left For E3?

It seems a bit premature holding a Sword and Shield Direct right before E3, right? What will be left? While it’s unlikely Nintendo will reiterate much from the Pokemon Direct during its June 11 E3 presentation, that presentation will be followed by three days of Treehouse streams. In previous years, those streams have featured in-depth gameplay demos, sometimes with developer commentary; Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee got the spotlight last year. The Treehouse streams would be a great opportunity to expand upon what we learn during the June 5 Direct without having to spend precious time going over specifics.

What do you think we’ll see during the Sword and Shield Direct? Let us know in the comments. Stay tuned for all the news, and come back after to see how right or wrong we were!

After Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s reveal last week, Activision confirmed the shooter will feature cross-play between PS4, Xbox One, and PC players. Now, developer Infinity Ward has shed a bit more light on the mechanics of that feature.

Modern Warfare’s cross-play system will work much like Fortnite‘s, according to a Forbes article endorsed by Infinity Ward producer Candice Capen. You’ll therefore only be put into matches against players using the same control input method as you–meaning PC users won’t be able to use the quicker keyboard and mouse combination to walk all over console players.

This does change slightly if you’re a console user wanting to play with a PC-owning friend, however. In that situation, Infinity Ward has no choice but to mix the two communities, so you might find yourself having a slightly tricky match. But at least the option is there.

Activision also revealed last week that the new Call of Duty will not have a season pass system. Instead, all post-launch maps and events will be free for all players.

Both this and cross-play should go a long way to helping keep the Call of Duty player base together, without limiting them to only playing with people on the same platform and who own the same maps that they do. In general, there should be a whole lot more people to play against. It may also make the Call of Duty esports scene a little more welcoming, as players will be able to compete on their preferred platforms.

One thing that is not changing is that it will have timed exclusive content on PS4. We don’t know all the details at this point, but like last year’s Black Ops 4, the window will be only seven days, which is much shorter than the 30-day window CoD’s exclusivity used to be.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s release date has been set for October 25.

Sony might not be attending E3 this year, but it still has plenty going on to share with players around the world. The company has now detailed some upcoming changes to the PS4‘s party system, and it sounds intriguing.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, social media director Sid Shuman revealed Sony is currently testing enhanced chat audio quality, improved network connectivity, and the ability to create and participate in parties of up to 16 people, up from the current limit of eight.

The new features are part of the next PS4 update preview program, which gives beta access to select users for new updates. North American players will be able to test a couple of extra features, too: the PS4 Second Screen mobile app will allow you to enter text which will then be spoken aloud to other party members. Additionally, the app can transcribe the incoming chat audio from your friends. Sony says these app-focused updates are available to US- and Canada-based users only for the time being, and only in English.

Sign-ups for the upcoming beta update will go live today, June 4, in North America, and “soon” in Europe. Note, however, that if you participate in the preview program, you’ll only be able to join parties that contain other members of the program. If you are successfully selected for the beta, however, Sony will allow you to share your access code with 20 friends, meaning you can all test the update together.

In other PlayStation news, the PS4 exclusive Blood & Truth became the first ever VR-only game to top the UK sales chart last week. The shooter launched just a few days ago, and we awarded it a 7/10 in our Blood & Truth review.

The huge success of the 2015 blockbuster Jurassic World and last year’s sequel proved there was plenty of life left in the long-running dinosaur movie series. They will soon be joined by the new animated show Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

The show is latest collaboration between Netflix and DreamWorks Animation, and it will hit the streaming service in 2020. The show will be set at the same time as the events of Jurassic World.

The official synopsis reads: “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. But when dinosaurs wreak havoc across the island, the campers are stranded. Unable to reach the outside world, they’ll need to go from strangers to friends to family if they’re going to survive.”

Neither casting news nor a more specific release date. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a variety of other successful Netflix/DreamWorks shows, such as Guillermo Del Toro’s Trollhunters, Voltron: Legendary Defender, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

Netflix is increasingly moving into producing animated content. Earlier this week, an anime series based on the popular fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering was announced, which will be produced by Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. In addition, it was previously reported that Netflix plans to launch its own animation studio, which will enable it to make projects in-house without having to outsource much of the technical work to existing animation companies.

What does Xbox smell like? You may soon be able to find out. Microsoft has partnered with Lynx to create a new fragrance called Lynx Xbox. The range includes body spray, deodorant, and shower gel, so really all of your bases are covered.

The official description is simply delightful:

“Lynx Xbox is a fresh scent of pulsing green citrus, featuring top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood. Containing a range of natural essential oils, the Xbox Lynx range comes with a sleek new look and features a body spray, deodorant, and shower gel.”

Xbox ANZ boss Tania Chee said in a statement that users can spray or wash themselves with Xbox Lynx to “power up” before heading out the door in the morning.

Xbox Lynx will be available from July at grocery stores and pharmacies across Australia and New Zealand. There is no word yet on if it’ll be released in other parts of the world.

Next up for Xbox is its E3 2019 briefing where Microsoft is expected to “go big.” Among other things, Microsoft is expected to announce a next-generation Xbox and show more of Halo Infinite.

Microsoft showed the first gameplay for Minecraft Earth at Apple’s annual WWDC conference, and in the process announced a couple of new iOS-exclusive features for the upcoming AR game.

The people occlusion feature lets you walk through or around your own life-size 3D creations. You can also use a motion capture feature to map your actual gestures to triggers for pre-set animations from characters in the game.

A closed beta for Minecraft Earth is scheduled for this summer on iOS and Android. The full game will let you tap on treasure chests, blocks, and mobs, take part in Adventures with resources to collect, and progress in your career with experience points. You can also build structures on Build Plates, and connect them with physical locations so that other people can see your work.

Apple’s WWDC conference had another big video game reveal, with the announcement of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controller support for iOS and Apple TV. WWDC was just the first of several planned events for this week, in which various publishers and developers are getting ahead of the E3 2019 rush with their own dedicated events. Those include a Google Stadia announcement, a Pokemon Nintendo Direct, and more.

After drip-feeding information over the past few months, Sega has finally announced the final games coming to its Mega Drive / Genesis Mini console. Among the last 12 titles to be revealed are a couple of surprises, including Tetris and Darius.

Darius never actually came to the original console–it’s a brand-new port, specifically for the Mega Drive / Genesis Mini. The original console’s version of Tetris, meanwhile, is exceedingly rare, with only three physical copies available in the wild. Both games will be pre-installed on the new Mini console.

The other games revealed today are Road Rash II, Strider, Virtua Fighter 2, Alisia Dragoon, Columns, Dynamite Headdy, Kid Chameleon, Monster World IV, Light Crusader, and Eternal Champions. They bring the final count up to 42 games, with other big titles like Earthworm Jim and Sonic the Hedgehog also included.

The Mega Drive Mini / Genesis Mini launches worldwide on September 19, costing $80 / £70 / AU $140. It’s based on the Model 1 version of the original console, except approximately 55% smaller. The box contains the console, a power adapter, two replica three-button USB controllers, one USB to micro-USB power cable, and one HDMI lead.

The game ports that are on the Genesis Mini were handled by M2, a team that is well known for its work on emulation and re-releases. M2 previously worked on Sega Ages and Sega 3D Classics Collection.

Releasing Mini versions of classic consoles has become something of a trend recently. Nintendo led the way with the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, both of which were received well by critics and went on to be hot commercial items. Sony followed suit with the PlayStation Classic, which wasn’t received as warmly.

Full Sega Mega Drive / Genesis Mini Games Lineup

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Ecco the Dolphin
3. Castlevania: The New Generation
4. Space Harrier 2
5. Shining Force
6. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
7. ToeJam & Earl
8. Comix Zone
9. Altered Beast
10. Gunstar Heroes
11. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
12. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
13. Thunder Force III
14. Super Fantasy Zone
15. Shinobi III
16. Streets of Rage 2
17. Earthworm Jim
18. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
19. Probotector
20. Landstalker
21. Mega Man®: The Wily Wars
22. Street Fighter II®: Special Champion Edition
23. Ghouls ‘n Ghosts®
24. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
25. Story of Thor
26. Golden Axe
27. Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
28. Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball
29. Vectorman
30. Wonder Boy in Monster World
31. Tetris®
32. Darius
33. Road Rash II
34. Strider
35. Virtua Fighter 2
36. Alisia Dragoon
37. Kid Chameleon
38. Monster World IV
39. Eternal Champions
40. Columns
41. Dynamite Headdy
42. Light Crusader

Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a much-loved spooky kids anthology book series, and the movie adaptation arrives in August. It’s produced by Guillermo Del Toro, and a new trailer has been released.

The first trailer was released in March didn’t really make it clear how the movie would be presenting the various stories from Schwartz’s book. However, this latest promo reveals that it’s all a single narrative. A bunch of kids visit an old house and find a spooky book, which is filled with terrifying stories that start coming true. It all looks like massive scary fun–check the trailer out above.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is directed by André Øvredal, who previously proved his genre credentials with The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Trollhunter. It stars Zoe Margaret Colletti (Annie), Michael Garza (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay), Gabriel Rush (Moonrise Kingdom), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black). It hits theaters on August 9.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Del Toro explained why the movie had a single narrative rather than making it a collection of stories. “[Anthology] is something I love, but they’re always as bad as the worst story,” he said. “[This is] a Young Adult movie about childhood around a time when things were changing forever, around 1968 and 1969. It’s the end of childhood in many ways, a crucial time for America. We didn’t retrofit the characters to the stories. We adapted the characters to the story.”

The first volume of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark was published in 1981 and contained 29 stories. It was followed by a second volume in 1984, and a third in 1991.