Julius

Nintendo Direct - March 8th The game is revealed at the end of the March Nintendo Direct. Inklings are confirmed, as was Breath of the Wild Link confirmed, though it was unclear if this was a new/replacement character for the existing Link, or a new variant of the existing Link character. Masahiro Sakurai has also confirmed that he will be returning to the franchise with this game.

3DS and Switch for Treasure Tracker? The 3DS is the console that won't die; kudos to Nintendo for sticking to their plan for the console. Edit: Okay, this is only getting better...and my wallet is getting smaller.

The game is releasing July 13th, with a special edition also releasing the same day. The special edition (known as the Wayfarer's Edition) will include a coin based on the in-game currency, a soundtrack CD, a map of the in-game world, and a pretty awesome case.

I think it’s a bit more likely that they had HD models down-ressed to 240p to run on the 3DS, than 240p up-ressed to 720p/1080p; comparatively, it would require a lot less work.

Infinity War will reportedly have a runtime of 2 hours and 36 minutes, which would make it the longest MCU entry to date.

Haven’t played any FE game yet, so this could completely break the game or be a really strange mechanic to include, but what you mentioned gave me a little idea, so I’ll throw it out there How about having fallen allies become members of the opposition — the dead army — and having a way of getting them back later on (via an elixir, for example, which becomes available in the late/post game)? I suggest it because something I frequently see is people rebooting their game to not lose characters, but losing characters in this context could have an impact on the story and they would be made available for use later on? i don’t know, just a short ramble

That’s a good point. Honestly, I think it could go either way; recently, there were some rumblings that the game might be released on March 16th for Switch, and the timing of the Direct doesn’t do too much to negate those rumours. Maybe we could end up with a Nindies Direct by then, though? Because, if I recall correctly, the last Nindies Direct was only a week or two prior to the September Direct. And, as you said, we do seem to be due one.

If by “surprise” you mean the reveal of a new first party AAA title that we know virtually nothing about, I’m inclined to agree; I think the focus has to be on what’s coming between now and E3, (which is the event for which, I imagine, they’re saving their biggest of announcements/surprises). I still expect to be surprised, though, even if the light is exclusively shined on stuff we already know about; I’d be somewhat surprised if Fire Emblem is being released by E3, for instance, or if stuff like Odyssey DLC is revealed.

Yeah, I think it’s time. They announced it at the end of last January iirc, and the games have recently been coming out between February and June (in all territories), so I imagine that it could drop within a month or two of the Direct if it is indeed featured tomorrow. Perhaps we get a Hollow Knight release date — or, dare I say it, shadow drop? — too?

Hells yeah. I’ve got to imagine that it’s time for an update on Fire Emblem Switch and potentially Project Octopath Traveller? (That’s 22:00 GMT if anyone’s wondering)

I think it says a whole lot about where PSG is at when having their star player missing makes the rest of the team look limp and lifeless, and even against an opposition which should in fact spur them on to prove themselves. The problem I think that they’re having is that they don’t have a manager who will light a fire under them to get the results, which is exactly what’s needed in the UCL when they can put out any old team and coast in the league. Emery’s reign as PSG manager is, I imagine, all but at an end, so I think that they now need to find someone with a serious heat and confidence to them — someone like Jurgen Klopp or Diego Simeone — to push this team when the going gets tough. Great result for Madrid, who didn’t look like they had to get out of second gear to get the result that they would have wanted.

I’d heard he was ill too, but this is the first time I’m hearing about this stuff. It’s a bit worrying, actually, because it feels and seems like something pretty shady is going on here, like someone’s trying to exploit him for whatever they can (whether it be a quick news story or otherwise) before it’s too late for them to do so. I want the guys over at Marvel and Disney to start speaking up, because this genuinely seems worrying at face value. Get Robert Downey Jr. to start causing a ruckus on Twitter or something; they need to bring attention to the situation before, as they implied in that article, something bad happens.

That’s awesome! As much as I love the Star Wars films, I really do think that some of the absolute best Star Wars content is tucked away in the subsidiary materials. Watching The Clone Wars before you get too far in Rebels is a good idea, because there are a lot of threads and characters that make a return, and The Clone Wars adds so much depth and nuance to the prequel era that went missing in action in the prequels themselves. Would I be right in assuming that you picked up the box set with S1 - S5, the one with Ashoka on the front? Because, if so, once you’ve completed it - and if you enjoyed it and want more - I’d actually heavily recommend seeking out the ‘Lost Missions’ Blu-Ray; as the show was cut short due to the Disney takeover, it’s a collection of 12 episodes that were planned for S6, and they alone build up the lore a few more notches, and also might give a greater closure than the end of S5 did. Both shows also absolutely have some of the best music and lightsaber fights in the franchise, so you’re in for a real treat! I don’t think you hear Sabine’s Theme until S3 (probably my favourite musical piece in Rebels), and trust me: you’ll know it when you hear it Great book selection of books, too; I have to recommend Lost Stars (a Romeo and Juliet-styled romance far beyond any we’ve seen on-screen in the franchise, which takes you from just before A New Hope up until the Battle of Jakku with the perspectives of star-crossed lovers on opposite sides of the Galactic Civil aware) and Bloodline (the main character is Leia, and it offers a lot of political exposition that was missing in TFA, and is set five years prior to the film). I hope you enjoy reading and watching them all!

Star Wars Rebels came to an end last night, and closed on the highest of Star Wars highs.

Ironically, the only goal that I remember seeing Matic score that was inside the penalty area was a screamer

Interesting interview with the game’s Creative Director, Cory Barlog.

The film will be releasing for all four current major media formats — 4K (notably the first Star Wars film to be releasing for this format), Blu-Ray, DVD and digitally — in the UK on Monday 9th April. Like with TFA, there will be two sleeve variants for the Blu-Ray release; this time around, it’s First Order and Resistance. Personally, I’m preferring the look of the Resistance sleeve this time around. Kylo looks pretty lonely with only Phasma...where are Snoke and Hux? Despite seeing the film in cinemas quite a lot times within a relatively short window, I’ve had a real itch to watch it again lately (probably because Rebels is ending later on... ), so I can’t wait to see the film again, let alone watch all of the bonus feature content! I definitely need to look into getting the novelisation of the film too. They’ve gone with the much cheaper route of putting out a canonical Director’s Cut (Rian Johnson worked with the author to include many things not included in the film), so it’ll be interesting to see if any of the deleted scenes turn up in the novel and are thus considered canon.

Easy Allies preview of the Japanese demo:

I have to agree. I’ve actually stopped listening to NVC, mainly because, while I can respect that Filip needs time to settle in, he’s just not clicking yet with me personally. I didn’t mind Jose, though he did seem to come off a bit too defensive of Nintendo for my liking at times, and thought that the trio of Peer, Zach and Brian was brilliant, because they already had an established chemistry and I already knew their opinions on Nintendo. Last time I listened (to the podcast), it seemed like Filip was trying a little too hard to settle in, so his opinions blurred in with everyone else’s, and I don’t know what angle he’s coming at a lot of this stuff with. On a similar note, I actually stopped listening to Game Scoop! a couple of weeks back, too. Someone wrote in with their predictions for E3 2018 (and cast an almost all-encompassing net), and they talked about these predictions for the majority of the show. It just felt so lazy to pick up someone else’s completely uncertified opinions and run with them as a time fill, and it felt so unprofessional (and was frustrating for me) that many of them clearly have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to what might turn up at E3. I also don’t mind podcast hosts making mistakes - I love EZA’s corrections segment - but they were just so consistent about making mistakes (whether it be game release dates, developers, publishers, etc.) that I couldn’t tell if I was listening to an industry journalist or a couple of casual gamers down a pub talking over a beer or two. The only IGN podcast that I actually still listen to is Beyond, and, for the most part, I really enjoy it. Max, Brian, Marty, Andrew and many of their guests have excellent chemistry, a deep knowledge of PlayStation, and just an overall passion for games, and a reverence for what other consoles are doing great at, which greatly contrasts with NVC - who deviate from talking about anything but Nintendo, to a degree which seems almost unnatural - and Unlocked - who seem hellbent on reviving the console wars.

Fiorentina captain and Italy international Davide Astori has passed away on the eve of his team’s match with Udinese, aged just 31. This was revealed in an official statement by Fiorentina: The match between Fiorentina and Udinese has been postponed.

Man...at face value, this is such a hard question. There are so many Pokémon that have great designs and that I have an emotional attachment to, and I think that’s a testament to just how consistent this series is. However, for my favourite three Pokémon...I don’t think it’s even close. I have so many memories and stories attached to the following Pokémon in particular that it’s no surprise that this franchise has found a way to bring me back in from my attempt/s at walking away from it. So, in no particular order: Bulbasaur Bulbasaur was my first starter Pokémon, on a game and system that I didn’t own - my friend was kind enough to let me dabble around for a few hours on the game around his house. My first Pokémon card? Bulbasaur. The Pokémon that I drew the most when I was younger — that I used to try to wish into existence? Bulbasaur. It might not be a particularly strong Pokémon, but I love it’s simple but effective design. And then, in the anime, I remember Ash getting a Bulbasaur, and it being full of conviction, but pretty quiet otherwise. Being a shy and quiet child myself, looking back, it’s no surprise that this was the Pokémon that I gravitated most towards. Sceptile Whilst Bulbasaur was my first starter Pokémon, I think it’s important to mention that the first Pokémon game that I owned was actually Pokémon Ruby — a game that I originally started with a Mudkip. I still remember my time with Mudkip. I played up to Mauville City and getting pretty stuck against Wattson; if I recall, I must have accidentally decided to not teach it to my now Marshtomp, and it not being tooled with a particularly great moveset. After some grinding and running around everywhere in the early parts of the game, I ventured back to Slateport with Mr. Briney and Peeko. I went up to the Trick House not too far north of Slateport, just past the entrance to Cycling Road, and continued my grind. One of my Pokémon must have been poisoned, because I ended up hobbling back to Slateport’s Pokémon Centre with a wobbling screen. Dashing to Nurse Joy, she healed my Pokémon, and revealed that Marshtomp had Pokérus. I was already confused and frustrated about what I should do at this point in the game, and so I exited the Pokémon Centre and saved my game. This was the tipping point. So, I decided to start the game again, but planned to not save it. I’d made loads of progress with Marshtomp, so maybe I just needed a new perspective, and so I thought I’d try out a different starter Pokémon. Not being a fan of Torchic’s design, I decided to go with Treecko, and yep, you probably guessed it: I accidentally saved over my old save file. What ensued was my most difficult but rewarding time with a Pokémon game. I say that because I remember battling May’s Blaziken and Flannery’s Slugma to be particularly hard. Sure, I understood type weaknesses, but my other Pokémon were all so weak when compared to the might of my starter Pokémon that I just stuck with Treecko, then Grovyle, and then Sceptile. Going to the Pokémon League, Sceptile must have been somewhere around Lv. 70, compared to a real pick-and-mix team of Lv. 40 - Lv. 47 Pokémon (I recall having Groudon, Pelipper, Gyarados, and a Castform). I would use the other Pokémon only on occasion, such as an obvious type mismatch or when I needed to revive or heal Sceptile. I must have tried tens of times, but I just could not beat Drake with Sceptile for the life of me, and so I went around the region training as hard as I could, battling every single trainer that I could find, and grinding a whole lot at the aforementioned Trick House. During my travels, I stumbled upon TM02 Dragon Claw at the top of a waterfall in Meteor Falls, and decided a while later to see if any of my Pokémon could learn the move. Oh, Sceptile can learn it? And with that, Drake’s Salamence, unbeknownst to me at the time, was now all but doomed. And Steven, in comparison, was an absolute cake walk. My Sceptile was Lv. 93 when I beat Drake, but might have been Lv. 94 when I beat the League. Regardless, I’d done it, but my completely underlevelled and unbalanced team would later go on to be annihilated at the Battle Tower, and accidentally deleted by a friend a short while later. I think that I have such affectionate memories of my journey in Hoenn because I made that journey during my six months living in Australia, on my first Nintendo console (only my second console and my first handheld: a Nintendo DS) with no friends interested in Pokémon at my school, and having to write back home (here, in England) for some advice from a friend (I’d always get around whatever obstacle was in my way by the time that I received his response). This was my way of maturing, and I feel like I owe it to this game that I adjusted so quickly to life on the other side of the world. I was just experiencing change, wonder, and unexpected challenges, just like my in-game counterpart. And that’s why I love Sceptile. Staraptor While I was over in Australia, early on, I was privy to something my friends over in England weren’t yet: the marketing of Diamond and Pearl. I remember seeing Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar designs featured as the main Pokémon card in some card tins. Well...I wrote them off as fake, because I had no actual way of knowing that these games were coming. I mean, some late Hoenn region stuff was only just being aired over there on TV. So, when I returned to England in August, I ended up down in Bournemouth, where my aunts worked. They’ve always been especially kind to me and my siblings, often showering us with gifts when we visit, and this time was no different. First, in the WHSmith in Boscombe, they picked up a copy of Pokémon World, which of course had a spread on Diamond and Pearl, as they’d been released only a few weeks prior. It dawned on me that those Pokémon I saw over in Australia actually were real, and that a DS exclusive Pokémon game was available, and later that day, they lovingly bought me a copy of Diamond, and my little sister a copy of Pearl. This was the last day of our holiday in Bournemouth, but we hadn’t brought our DSs with us — my mother didn’t want us to just laze around, I guess — and so I had to wait until the next day to start experiencing Sinnoh. Turtwig reminded me of Bulbasaur, so I chose it as my starter. Once in Sandgem Town, though, I accidentally spent all of my money on Poké Balls, and received a promotional Premier Ball (as you do for purchasing 10 or more Poké Balls). Well, I backtracked from there to the first route, and the first Pokémon that I found was a Lv. 2 Starly. After defeating the first gym leader, Roark (?), in Oreburgh City, it quickly became apparent during a scrap with Team Galactic to the east of Floaroma Town that Starly, not Turtwig, was to become the Pokémon that I had the greater bond with (in stark contrast to my Ruby experience with Sceptile). And my Starly, then Staravia, then Staraptor, ripped apart the gym leaders of Sinnoh, the Elite Four, Cynthia’s Lucario in particular, and then many of my friends’ legendary Pokémon in local wireless battles.

Anniversary dev talk with Shinya Takahashi: