Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and a lot of video games are celebrating the holiday by holding special Valentine’s Day-themed events for a limited time. That includes Pokemon Go, which has now kicked off its own Valentine’s event, giving players a chance to capture some very rare pink Pokemon and earn extra bonuses.
From now until February 15, Pokemon Go players will encounter increased spawns of the heart-shaped Pokemon Luvdisc, one of the many Gen 3 Pokemon that were recently added to Pokemon Go. Chansey will also appear more frequently for the duration of the event. Players will be rewarded with triple the usual amount of Stardust for each Luvdisc and Chansey that they catch.
Valentine’s Day also marks the end of Kyogre‘s run as a Raid Boss, making this your last opportunity to capture the Legendary Pokemon. Another Gen 3 Legendary, Rayquaza, is also available right now in Pokemon Go; the Dragon-type will appear in Raid Battles until March 16. Rayquaza arrived alongside another batch of Gen 3 monsters, which primarily consisted of Flying- and Dragon-types such as Altaria, Salamence, and Tropius.
Beyond the Valentine’s Day event, players also have the next Pokemon Go Community Day event to look forward to this month. That event takes place on February 24. Like the first Community Day in January, players will have a chance to capture a rare Pokemon that knows a move it cannot typically use during the event. Niantic hasn’t revealed what that exclusive move is yet, but the Pokemon in question this time is the Dragon-type Dratini.
The early games in the Spyro the Dragon series are in line for a remaster set to launch later this year, according to a new report. They’ll apparently be released exclusively for PS4 at first, with the possibility of other platforms later.
Sources speaking with Kotaku have indicated that the original Spyro trilogy–Spyro the Dragon, Ripto’s Rage (known as Gateway to Glimmer in Europe and Australia), and Year of the Dragon–is being remastered by Activision. The site says this project will be in the same vein as last year’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, with improved visuals (including new assets), a remastered soundtrack, and other enhancements. The same studio that worked on that project, Vicarious Visions, is said to be putting together the Spyro remaster.
It’s noted that the trilogy could include content that was cut from the original games. Exactly what form that would take is unclear, but N. Sane Trilogy received the infamous Stormy Ascent level that was previously only accessible with a GameShark or emulator.
According to Kotaku, the project is set to be announced next month and then released during the third quarter of 2018 (which runs from July through September). It’ll be available exclusively on PS4 (with PS4 Pro support) before launching on other platforms after that–an arrangement that’s said to be the same with N. Sane Trilogy. To date, no ports of that remaster have been announced, though there have been rumors of an Xbox One release. Activision has publicly said that, given N. Sane Trilogy’s success, more remasters are likely.
This September marks the 20-year anniversary of the original Spyro’s release on PS1. That game, as well as the subsequent two that will be included in this remaster, were developed by Insomniac Games, the studio that would go on to create Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and Sunset Overdrive. Later entries in the series were handled by other studios, with the biggest recent success being the spin-off Skylanders series.
The third season will consist of eight episodes, GameSpot sister site CNET confirms. That’s one less than Season 2, which settled on nine episodes–including The Lost Sister, one of the most divisive of the series as a while. However, it matches the episode count of the first season.
Additionally, CNET has confirmed that production on the new season kicks off in mid-April. While on the surface that might not mean much, it does point to a much longer wait for new episodes than fans would like. The first season started filming in November 2016, before premiering in July 2016. Season 2, meanwhile, started production in November 2016 for an October 2017 premiere.
Given the amount of time it takes not only to film the series but add visual effects and all of the show’s other post-production needs, it seems very unlikely that it will premiere in 2018. While Netflix has not announced a projected return date for the series, chances are most weren’t expecting to go all of 2018 without new episodes.
Still, even star David Harbour tried to warn that the long wait was coming. Back in December, he told Variety, “You probably won’t get [Season 3] until sometime in 2019.”
Still, with one less episode to film, perhaps the Duffer brothers, who co-created the series, will be able to deliver it before the end of the year. Could there be a better holiday present than a new season of Stranger Things?
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Fox has pushed back the release dates for Alita: Battle Angel and The Predator.
Variety reports Alita has been delayed for five months and will now be released on December 21 instead of July 20. The movie is directed by Robert Rodriguez from a script by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga series. The movie’s cast includes Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, and Ed Skrein.
Meanwhile, Exhibitor Relations reveals Shane Black’s new Predator film moves back six weeks from August 3 to September 14. Black is directing from a script he co-wrote with Fred Dekker. It stars Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Jacob Tremblay, and Thomas Jane.
After making her big “point at the sign” debut last month at the Royal Rumble, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey is ready to grace us with her mainstream media mug at Elimination Chamber, where it was announced she’ll be signing her official contract. Mostly likely, during this in-ring segment, the seeds will be planted for her WrestleMania 34 match – which we’re assuming will be her first actual broadcasted match within the company.
Integrated graphics processors (IGPs) have never really been suited for PC gaming; instead, IGPs offer a convenient way for computers to do video output without stuffing a discrete GPU into a system. However, AMD has flipped the script with the release of the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G, which are variants on the previously released Ryzen CPUs but with its Vega graphics technology packed inside. The result is an all-in-one chip (an APU) that is now the most powerful integrated graphics solution thus far.
Both Ryzen APUs launched this week, and in the midst of the price inflation and scarcity of graphics cards due to cryptocurrency mining. The 2400G and 2200G might be a viable solution for those looking to build a new Ryzen-based system but can’t snag a decently priced video card just yet. It’s an option if you want to hold off until prices return to normal (whenever that may be) and still need a working system. Benchmarks across the internet have shown both chips to perform competently at 1080p in some of the less graphically demanding PC games.
The Ryzen 5 2400G is a four-core, eight-thread CPU with a base clock of 3.6GHz and boost clock of 3.9GHz; as far as processing power goes, the 2400G closely aligns itself with the Ryzen 5 1500X. On the graphics side, it features the Radeon Vega 11 graphics processor (with 11 compute units) clocked at 1250MHz. What this translates to is decent performance in games like Civilization VI and Rocket League. According to Anandtech, 2400G was able to average 32.66 FPS and 99th percentile-low (to eliminate anomalous frame dips) of 22.15 FPS in Civ VI at 1080p and Ultra settings. As for Rocket League, the chip maintained an average of 51.84 FPS at 1080p and Ultra settings.
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The 2400G tends to struggles in more demanding games, however. Based on the numbers from ExtremeTech, the chip produced a 49 FPS average and 18 FPS minimum at 1080p and Low settings in Hitman. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided asks a lot from PCs, and the 2400G was able to muster a 51 FPS average and 37 FPS minimum using 720p resolution and Low settings. It’s somewhat playable, but less than ideal. One surprise came from PC Gamer‘s benchmarks in which Grand Theft Auto V ran a 60.5 FPS average and 47.6 FPS minimum (97th percentile) at 1080p with Medium settings.
When you look at the history of integrated graphics performance, it’s easy to come away impressed by AMD’s new APUs. The Ryzen 5 2400G carries an MSRP of $170 USD, which is comparable to the Ryzen 5 1500X–except you essentially get a free GPU, though. In many benchmarks, these chips outperform the IGPs on Intel’s 7th-gen and 8th-gen CPUs by wide margins. However, Ryzen APUs are a ways off from displacing low-end discrete desktop GPUs; you’ll see the RX 560 and GTX 1050 video cards ahead in all tests. But when you factor peformance-per-dollar and the fact that it’s all in one processing unit, these chips aren’t a bad choice as we wait for GPU prices to settle down.
We’re going to be putting our own Ryzen 5 2400G APU to the test to see how far we can push it and which kinds of games and settings it can run. In the meantime, catch up on how AMD and Intel are partnering to bring about new graphics solutions for laptops. For more on how AMD’s processors perform, check out our review of the Ryzen 5 1600X and 1500X CPUs.
One of Monster Hunter World‘s greatest aspects is the variety of adorable armor sets you can get for your Palico companion. The armor you can get them comes in a variety of different styles, shapes, types, and sizes. To give you an idea of what kind of armor sets you’ll be able to equip your Palico once you’ve progressed far enough in the game, we’ve compiled the gallery above.
Click ahead to check out some of the best looking high-end Palico armor sets. And if you’re eager to see more armor, check out our galleries showcasing how the game’s various armor sets looks on male characters and female characters.
Destiny 2’s Crimson Days event is now live, bringing a new activity–a special 2v2 Crucible playlist–to occupy your time. But no matter what you do, you’ll be working toward unlocking the real highlight of the new update: new gear. Destiny 2 players on PC, PS4, and Xbox One now have a variety of items to acquire, but only for a limited time.
In the gallery above, you can take a look at everything that’s currently available. The Valentine’s Day-themed event includes new Ghosts, Sparrows, armor and weapon shaders, emotes, weapon ornaments, and more to acquire. These are primarily included in new Crimson Engrams, which are obtained by playing the aforementioned Crucible mode. Alternatively, if you’ve reached the level cap (level 20 if you don’t own Curse of Osiris, 25 if you do), each level up will reward you a Crimson Engram in addition to the standard Illuminated Engram. No matter how you obtain it, the Crimson Engram is guaranteed to decrypt into an item you don’t already own until you’ve unlocked everything.
While the bulk of the new items are obtained through the Engram, there are five others that are obtained through different means. You’ll need to fulfill a specific objective in order to unlock the corresponding reward (or to have a chance at earning it, in one case). Here’s how to unlock them:
Tirastrella Ghost Shell + Fire of the Crimson Days Emblem: Complete the “Welcome to Crimson Days” milestone (finish five Crimson Days matches, talk to Shaxx)
Undeterred Exotic Sparrow: Complete Crimson Days Crucible playlist matches for a “chance” to unlock this
Dieselpunk Exotic Ornament for Wardcliff Coil: Complete the Leviathan Raid or Eater of Worlds Raid Lair to find this in the final chest
Flaunting Dance Emote: Complete the Nightfall Strike during the event
Crimson Days is now live on all platforms, and it runs until the weekly reset on February 20. Check out the gallery above for a look at everything you can get your hands on until then. Even if you don’t plan on playing much, you can get a free Crimson Engram just by logging in and speaking with Tess at The Tower.
It’s the beginning of a new week, which means a new selection of game discounts are now available in the US PlayStation Store. This week’s deals are fairly slim compared to the Ubisoft and Play Anime sales available last week, but players can still find discounts on a handful of titles from publisher 2K Games across PS4, PS3, and Vita.
As always, the biggest selection of deals is reserved for PS4 owners. The critically acclaimed strategy game XCOM 2 is $19.79, while its War of the Chosen expansion is $26. In addition to that, NBA 2K18 is $39, WWE 2K18 is $30, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is $19.79, BioShock: The Collection is $19.79, Mafia III is $16, Evolve is $7.49, and Battleborn is $7.49. PS4 owners can also find discounts on the deluxe versions for many of the aforementioned titles.
Most of the above deals will only be available until February 20, giving you a week to pick up any titles you may be interested in. You can find all of this week’s game discounts on the PlayStation Store.
Square Enix released not one but two new Kingdom Hearts III trailers at D23 Expo 2018, introducing the new Monsters, Inc. world. These trailers are also packed to the brim with new gameplay and story details that are worth exploring, so let’s dive into the heart of these new glimpses both below, and in the video above.
The main D23 2018 trailer kicks off with the surprising re-introduction of Marluxia, who was leading the charge at Castle Oblivion for Organization XIII. Sora battled and defeated the Nobody Marluxia back in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but because he, Donald, and Goofy had their memories of their time in Castle Oblivion wiped, Marluxia is a total mystery to him.
