After tallying “millions” of votes from around the world, Greninja has been named 2020’s Pokemon of the Year.
The final evolution of Pokemon X and Y water-type starter Froakie, Greninja earned over 140,000 votes, topping second-place finisher Lucario by 38,000, according to The Pokemon Company. Mimikyu, Charizard, and Umbreon rounded out the top five.
Aside from its recognition as a Stage 2 starter Pokemon, Greninja is a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and is featured prominently in the Pokemon XY anime as Ash’s main companion in the Kalos region.
The top vote-getters from each region are as follows:
Kanto – Charizard
Johto – Umbreon
Hoenn – Rayquaza
Sinnoh – Lucario
Unova – Chandelure
Kalos – Greninja
Alola – Mimikyu
Galar – Dragapult
Other notable Pokemon in the overall top 30 include Bulbasaur (13), Pikachu (19), Eevee (20), and Blaziken (29).
An explosion big enough to fit fifteen Milky Way Galaxies in a row has been discovered.
CNN World reports the record-breaking explosion originated inside the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster 390 million light-years away. Experts also say the explosion was likely created by a supermassive black hole.
Black holes are well known for sucking in matter, but they also shoot it outwards in the form of jets or beams. The energy behind this explosion breaks all previous records, beating the previous largest known explosion five times over.
Astronomers observed the explosion from both ground and space-based telescopes like NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory, Australia’s Murchison Widefield Array, as well as the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope located in India. However, the explosions were also noticed several years ago in 2016 but were so large astronomers at the time believed it was too unlikely to be one.
It wasn’t until now that the X-ray data was combined with radio wavelength data from ground-based telescopes to help confirm the cavity created by the explosive black hole. These observations also tell us that the explosion is no longer occurring as the jet activity has stopped meaning there’s no longer any gas to power the explosion.
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising came out on top of the domestic box office Wednesday, opening with $1.7 million from 1275 theaters, according to early morning estimates (via Deadline).
Heroes Rising’s $1.7 million put it above Disney’s Call of the Wild, which came in second place Wednesday with $1.5 million, and Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which earned $1.1 million the same day, according to Deadline.
Wednesday, Feb. 27, was also Heroes Rising’s first day in theaters so its earnings are at $1.7 million. That’s less than Funimation’s other hit anime movie, Dragon Ball Z Super: Broly, which brought in over $7 million on its first day, but $1.7 million is nothing to scoff at. That tracks higher than the first My Hero Academia movie released in theaters, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, which earned roughly $2 million in its first two days at the box office.
Two Heroes only opened at 500 theaters though whereas Heroes Rising nearly tripled the amount of U.S. theaters for its theater release. We thought Two Heroes was good, giving it a 7.7 out of 10. We thought Heroes Rising was even better and gave it an 8 out of 10.
Heroes Rising comes off the momentum of the latest My Hero Academia season, which is still ongoing with episode 19 being the latest to drop. We imagine this movie will bring more eyes to the upcoming My Hero Academia game, My Hero One’s Justice 2. If you haven’t seen that game in action, you can check out some of our gameplay from a Deku vs Overhaul fight.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN who’s trying really hard to catch up on My Hero Academia so he can catch Heroes Rising out while it’s in theaters. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Welcoooome to Nintendo Voice Chat! This week, Casey DeFreitas is joined by Peer Schneider, Brian Altano, and Tom Marks to talk about all things Nintendo. First up, the Nintendo Switch is almost three years old, and the panel reflects on the system’s launch, some of Nintendo’s wacky experiments on Switch, and their biggest surprises and disappointments so far.
00:02:16 Reflecting on the first three years of Nintendo Switch
00:24:00 News time! Yacht Club Games, Platinum, and more
00:31:20 Games out this week
00:42:10 What we’re playing
00:51:24 Question Block!
From now on, we’ll share the list of games discussed in the episode right here in the episode description! That includes games out this week, and what the panel is playing.
Peer: Fire Emblem: Three Houses DLC, Darksiders: Genesis, Broken Lines
Brian: Voxelgram, Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl
Tom: Something he can’t talk about…
Finally, NVC shirts and sweatshirts are now available at the IGN Store! Use the code nvc10 to get 10% off your purchase of NVC clothes. Multiple styles and colors are available.
You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at [email protected] and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We’re all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.
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Logan Plant is the Production Assistant for NVC. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.
The Jungle Cruise tour at Disney World can get a little wet, but for some passengers today, it went underwater.
Unlucky passengers earlier today at Disney World in Orlando clung to their boat as it began taking on water. A few guests tweeted about the boat sinking as it was happening.
Disney confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it immediately called the Reedy Creek Fire Department to help passengers. The boat was then towed away after everyone was safely evacuated.
The sunken boat only interrupted the attraction for 105 minutes according to an unofficial Twitter account. Despite the incident, the Jungle Cruise ride reopened for guests looking to get right back into the water.
If you’re worried about your Jungle Cruise trip going a similar route, watch the upcoming movie instead. The trailer below provides a look at the movie coming on July 24, 2020, casting actors Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, among others.
James Mangold and Robert Rodriguez will reportedly direct parts of Season 2 of The Mandalorian alongside Bryce Dallas Howard, who is returning to the series after directing an episode in season 1.
Black Series Rebels (via StarWarsNewsNet) report that both Mangold and Rodriguez have contributed in the directorial effort of Season 2 of the hit Disney Plus show. Whether this means episodes or just sequences of scenes is currently unconfirmed, although Black Series Rebel seems to think the latter. We also don’t know if Mangold and Rodriguez’s names are attached together because they helmed an episode or sequence together or separately.
Season 1 of The Mandalorian had different directors direct different episodes, so having multiple director names attached to the season is not surprising. We’ll likely learn more info closer to the release of Season 2 this October when it drops on Disney Plus.
Black Series Rebels also shared that Howard is returning to direct an episode. Howard previously directed Episode 4: Sanctuary on Season 1 of The Mandalorian last year. We thought that episode was good, giving it a 7.5 out of 10.
We’re excited for The Mandalorian Season 2 because it means more Baby Yoda, and because we thought the first season was great. We also can’t wait to find out what happens next after that ending.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN who is excited to see Baby Yoda on his tv screen once more. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
The original Shovel Knight saga from Yacht Club Games wrapped up in 2019 with Shovel Knight: King of Cards, the game’s final expansion. Two spin-offs have been planned, with Shovel Knight Dig and Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon both in the works, but fans might be curious about whether a direct sequel will ever follow.
Shovel Knight 2 has not been announced or confirmed, but a member of the game’s development team believes it will happen. Speaking to Dualshockers, Yacht Club Games artist Sandy Gordon says that we have definitely not “seen the end of Shovel Knight.”
Asked whether this means there will be a sequel, he says that he is “sure that’ll happen at some point: it’s something we talk about a lot.”
Gordon also says that the studio is looking forward to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, although they’re not ready to discuss any games they might be working on for these systems.
Shovel Knight sold exceptionally well on Switch, and considering the studio’s retro focus, it’s likely that the studio would want to continue working on games for Nintendo’s portable system.
Yacht Club Games is working on an entirely new game now, the retro-style action game Cyber Shadow. A release date has not been confirmed for the title.
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Baldur’s Gate III has been unveiled, featuring a turn-based combat system and some powerful cinematics. Now, with the game being shown at PAX East, more information is coming to light about the game as outlets talk to the creative forces behind it. One that that has come up a few times is the fact that the game is skipping PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but will be available for Google Stadia.
Talking to Eurogamer, design producer David Walgrave says that he isn’t convinced the game would run efficiently on the other consoles. “I don’t think that current-gen consoles would be able to run it,” Walgrave says. “There’s a lot of technical upgrades and updates that we did to our engine, and I don’t know if it would be capable of being able to actually run on those things.”
He concedes that it might work if they tweaked the textures, but “It wouldn’t look as cool anymore.” He also says that the game will come to PC and Stadia simultaneously in early access; although Stadia does not have an official term for Early Access as of yet, he says that it will largely be the same as it is on PC.
Meanwhile, speaking to USGamer, Walgrave has spoken further on working with the Stadia platform. “We know where they’re going, we know what to implement with their API, so we just implement that,” he told the site. He says that the team “follow(s) the news” and is aware that not everyone loves the system, but that’s okay–“”We also think that there are certain features that we’re building thanks to Stadia.”
For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s own interview with Larian creative director Swen Wincke about how the game will continue on the series’ legacy.
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As February ends and March begins, a whole bunch of new games are hitting the Nintendo Switch Eshop.
A total of 15 games will be released on February 28 alone, including Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux, marking the end of February 2020 with a bang for the Nintendo Switch releases. March on the other hand is starting off with just a handful of games, 13 more games will follow over the week, making for a whopping total of 28.
Finally, March 6 sees the much anticipated Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, a remake of the DS/Game Boy Advance original, release on Eshop and as a physical edition The demo is still currently available to play on the EShop, with your progress from the demo able to be carried over once the full edition has released.
You can find the full list of releases for this week below. The week after is going to be a quiet one in the lead up to the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom 64.
This Week’s New Nintendo Switch Releases
February 28
BE-A Walker
Bucket Knight
Blood Roots
Depixtion
Frozen Friends
Ganbare! Super Strikers
Grizzland
LocO-SportS
Metro 2033 Redux
Metro: Last Light Redux
Profane
Ski Sniper
Skull Rogue
Spartan Fist
STAB STAB STAB!
March 2
AvoCuddle
The Story Goes On
March 4
Baron: Fur Is Gonna Fly
I am Ball
Lost Horizon
March 5
Murder By Numbers
Dude, Stop
Unlock The King
Wunderling
Kairobotica
Ibb & obb
March 6
Save Koch
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
Breeder Homegrown: Director’s Cut
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened has not yet been given an official release date, the Nintendo Eshop still only has February 2020 for the release.
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Australian developer Hipster Whale created the mobile juggernaut endless-Frogger game Crossy Road, and it was a smash hit with 250 million downloads since its release in 2014.
A sequel of sorts, Crossy Road Castle, is launching this week through the Apple Arcade subscription service. Like the original, Castle is an endless running game, but this time you’re making your way through and up towers full of “chaotic arcade fun.” The levels are procedurally generated, which means they’ll be different each time you play.
The game supports solo and multiplayer, and it also features both touch and console controller inputs. Check out the trailer below to see Crossy Road Castle in action.
Crossy Road Castle is rolling out now on iOS through the Apple Arcade subscription service. The service costs $5 USD per month, and provides you with access to a growing library of games. Some of the other titles in the catalog include Sonic Racing, Rayman Mini, Lego Brawls, What the Golf, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and Grindstone, among others.
