biteho.com

SNK Corporation has formally revealed The King of Fighters XV by debuting gameplay and showing off six characters. The game will launch later this year.

The announcement was initially postponed on Wednesday and suffered a brief delay. Characters shown off in a new trailer (below) include K’, Kyo Kusanagi, Leona, Benimaru, Shun’ei and Mai Shiranui. Not much in the way of detail is added, but we get a good look at the game’s visual style, which looks to be a little more stylised than KOF 14.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/08/the-king-of-fighters-xv-official-gameplay-reveal”]

Following the reveal trailer, KOF XV Creative Director Eisuke Ogura and Producer Yasuyuki Oda revealed a little more about how the game will play when it launches in 2021.

“We’re focusing on keeping the series’ staple of being fast-paced while also adding elements to make it more exciting,” Ogura notes. The developers are currently “brushing up features and optimizing the game,” but plan to ship in 2021. Another trailer for The King of Fighters XV will land next week to supplement the reveal.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=king-of-fighters-xv-6-screenshots&captions=true”]

Today’s trailer also included news on King of Fighters 14 Ultimate Edition – out now digitally – a new release for King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match on PS4, and then revealed Cham Cham and The Last Blade 2’s Hibiki Tanake as DLC characters for the Samurai Shodown Season 3 Pass. Samurai Shodown will also receive a game reblance in March.

KOF XV was announced during EVO 2019, and we got our first glimpse of the game back in December 2020, which revealed that in addition to the characters mentioned above, Benimaru would be playable. It’s not clear what platforms the game will be available on just yet.

Here’s our review of King of Fighters 14, which debuted in 2016. We scored it an 8, noting its “dated graphics and dodgy netcode”.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Amid new speculation caused by comments from a Duracell spokesperson, IGN understands that there is no deal forcing Xbox to use AA batteries in its controllers.

Speaking to Stealth Optional, Duracell UK marketing manager Luke Anderson sparked speculation by saying, “There’s always been this partnership with Duracell and Xbox… It’s a constant agreement that Duracell and Microsoft have in place […] [The deal is] for OEM to supply the battery product for the Xbox consoles and also the controllers’ battery. So that [deal is] going to go on for a while… it’s been going on for a while and I think it needs to go for a while [more].”

Many took this to mean that the deal mentioned was the sole reason that Xbox uses AA batteries in its controllers, and some speculated that it could change that fact once the deal finishes. However, sources tell IGN that this is inaccurate.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/05/xbox-series-x-controller-review”]

Duracell batteries are included with Xbox controllers, and Xbox has indeed been a part of Duracell OEM, a partnership program run by the battery manufacturer, but that appears to be a byproduct of Microsoft’s decision to use AA batteries, rather than the cause of it. Contacted for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson said:

“We intentionally offer consumers choice in their battery solutions for our standard Xbox Wireless Controllers. This includes the use of AA batteries from any brand, the Xbox Rechargeable Battery, charging solutions from our partners, or a USB-C cable, which can power the controller when plugged in to the console or PC.”

That message echoes the words of, Xbox Series X designer Jason Ronald last year, when he explained why Xbox controllers still use AA batteries, saying that it was ultimately about flexibility for players.

Neither Anderson nor Duracell OEM replied to a request for comment from IGN by time of publish.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

We’ve made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.

— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021

Roku has officially acquired Quibi’s library of content, less than three months after the bite-sized entertainment streaming service shut down.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roku has now bought exclusive global distribution rights to more than 75 short-form shows in an effort to expand the company’s free-to-stream, ad-supported offering on The Roku Channel. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, a source familiar with the agreement was said to have valued the content library at “significantly less than $100 million.”

The Roku blog notes that the “quick bites and big stories made famous on Quibi” will be available to stream on The Roku Channel later this year, giving audiences access to “hundreds of hours of new content,” which will be free to watch on the platform. The catalog includes everything from Sophie Turner’s thriller Survive to Chrissy Teigen’s courtroom comedy Chrissy’s Court.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/08/quibi-review-2020″]

In addition to the content that released on Quibi last year, Roku has acquired the rights to “more than a dozen shows” that never aired on the now-defunct platform, which will be available to viewers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. for the first time. Those programs, per Variety, include Spielberg’s After Dark, a horror series created by Steven Spielberg, and lso Slugfest, a docuseries from the Russo Brothers.

“We are thrilled that these stories, from the surreal to the sublime, have found a new home on The Roku Channel,” Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said in a statement.

When Quibi debuted back in April 2020, co-founder Jeffery Katzenberg told the Los Angeles Times he hoped the streamer would become “the third generation of film narrative,” by combining the strengths of movies and episodic television into one cohesive force. The service launched with $2 billion in financial resources, however, the company was ultimately met with diminishing returns.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=quibis-movie-and-tv-shows-reviewed&captions=true”]

After six months, Katzenberg and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman announced that the streamer was being shut down, shortly after news circulated about a potential buyout or merger. The two of them issued an official statement and apology regarding the closure of the platform, in which they extended their gratitude to the Quibi team for pouring their “blood, sweat, and tears” into the business.

For more about Quibi and its offering, check out our review of the short-lived streaming service.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Pokemon Go is spotlighting another region of the Pokemon world next week. The game’s Sinnoh Celebration event kicks off at 10 AM local time on January 12, and it will feature lots of Gen 4 Pokemon to catch, challenges to complete, and more.

Throughout the Sinnoh Celebration, the following Pokemon will be appearing in the wild more frequently than usual:

• Turtwig
• Chimchar
• Piplup
• Bidoof
• Cranidos
• Buizel
• Drifloon
• Glameow
• Purugly
• Hippopotas
• Skorupi
• Snover

Shiny Buizel will also be appearing during the event, while the following Pokemon will be hatching from 5 km eggs:

• Kricketot
• Budew
• Cranidos
• Shieldon
• Bronzor
• Bonsly
• Hippopotas
• Croagunk

On top of that, various Gen 4 Pokemon will be featured as Raid bosses, including the Legendary Heatran. There will also be a Sinnoh-themed Collection Challenge to complete, as well as event-exclusive Field Research tasks that will reward you with Stardust and Gen 4 Pokemon encounters.

The Sinnoh Celebration runs until 8 PM local time on January 17. You can read more about the event on the Pokemon Go website. Niantic will continue celebrating different Pokemon regions in the run up to next month’s big Kanto Tour event. A Hoenn Celebration is scheduled to follow starting January 19, but no further details have been shared yet.

In the meantime, Pokemon Go’s Unova Celebration is underway until January 10, while January’s Community Day is scheduled for January 16. The featured Pokemon this time is Machop, and if you’re able to evolve it all the way into Machamp during the event, it’ll learn the Dark-type attack Payback.

Even though 2020 saw a lot of tabletop RPG groups move online, the team over at WizKids has been busy.

In addition to their annual block of D&D minis, an update to its modular terrain system, and releasing one of the coolest tabletop accessories we’ve ever seen, the team was also working on a new run of Pathfinder Battles minis. Set to launch early next month, the Darklands Rising series features a host of creatures and monsters often found in the sprawling subterranean caverns below its core setting, along with a few famous faces from the Pathfinder universe.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=pathfinder-battles-darklands-rising-tabletop-minis&captions=true”]

We’ve got an early look at the set, which you can check out in the gallery above. It contains roughly half of the 52 minis that can be collected, which are sold in “booster boxes” of four minis each. The Darklands Rising run features some of the most detailed 25mm-scale minis to date, and also reintroduces the “Huge” size category back into the Pathfinder Battles series. The final piece of the set is an impressive “premium” figure of the gold dragon Mengkare, also known in Pathfinder lore as The Great Wyrm.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=pathfinder-battles-darklands-rising-mengkare-the-great-wyrm&captions=true”]

This “gargantuan”-sized (based on the rules for Pathfinder creature sizes) figure stands more than 10 inches high, with a wingspan just as wide. Considering most player miniatures stand roughly 1.5″ tall, The Great Wyrm would truly make an impressive centerpiece for any tabletop encounter.

The Darklands Rising set releases on February 3, 2021; booster boxes (or bricks of eight boxes each) and Mengkare can be pre-ordered from WizKids, Amazon, or at your friendly neighborhood game store (safety permitting).

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

JR is a Senior Editor at IGN and a huge tabletop RPG nerd. Tell him about your TRPG campaign on Twitter.

Though some players have reported the challenge required to unlock it being bugged, the powerful Streetsweeper shotgun is available to unlock via Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The shotgun seems like it’s going to decimate enemy players, and the challenge to unlock it is actually pretty easy to unlock.

How to unlock the Streetsweeper

Unlocking the Streetsweeper shotgun requires getting a three-kill streak using Black Ops Cold War shotguns at least 15 times. This means that any shotgun in Black Ops Cold War is eligible for the challenge, along with those same shotguns within Warzone. You can only do this once per match, however, so getting repeated kill-streaks in the same match won’t add to your total. Warzone matches are also eligible if you don’t play Black Ops Cold War.

You can also get a special version of the weapon called the Surge Protector as part of the Shock Value pack for 1,200 Call of Duty Points. If you go this route, that variant will be available instantly without having to complete the challenge. The pack also includes a legendary charm, legendary emblem, and epic sticker.

Once you have the shotgun, you’ll see it’s capable of truly ridiculous damage. Some adjustments could change that in the future. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War recently nerfed several weapons, including a DMR that was considered very overpowered. Playlist updates also shifted the modes available in both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, and added some fan-favorite modes back to the games.

Every Fortnite battle pass has added a number of new skins that come alongside an emote, back bling, glider, and other accessories that are unlocked as players level up. These additions could be used with any skin, but Season 4 introduced special versions of these items that were tied to specific characters. Players worry that these new cosmetic restrictions will continue into future seasons, limiting their ability to customize as they see fit.

This change was introduced with various Marvel characters. Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir could only be used by characters that were worthy like Captain America and Thor. Dr. Doom’s glider and emote, alongside a number of other items, were also tied to specific heroes.

“I get Marvel, but Mave’s glider is stupid,” said Redditor ExtraTime101. This change was believed to only apply to Marvel characters, but now it’s continued into Season 5. Mave, one of the hunters you can unlock, features a glider specifically made for her. It can’t be used on other characters.

“I don’t know why people are so obsessed with their skin being unique,” said Redditor JerCoMambo. “If we buy the battle pass we should be able to mix and match any cosmetic.”

Mave’s glider is similar to the glider for Dr. Doom, Storm, Iron Man, and Thor. They each feature the character striking a pose as different special effects surround them. These gliders were clearly designed with these heroes in mind–but players want to see their favorite Fortnite characters wielding these superhuman abilities as they float to the ground at the start of a match.

Every battle pass has also come with additional unlocks tied to specific challenges and levels that would become locked once the season ended. Players argue that they should be able to unlock items at whatever pace they’d like–especially if they had to pay for the opportunity in the first place. They apply the same argument to this skin-specific restriction.

Part of the appeal of purchasing the battle pass is getting additional accessories for every character in your locker. As more content continues to roll out, many players don’t want to be unable to use new additions just because they decide to stick with their skin of choice.