Adorable Little Girl Wins Pokemon Championship in Australia
The world of competitive gaming is one of thrilling victories, soul-crushing defeats, and extreme skill. That said, perhaps no major video game tournament will ever result in a moment cuter than when a young girl by the name of Simone Lim won the Pokemon Oceania International Junior Championships this week.
The official Play Pokemon Twitter account caught the final moments of Lim’s hard-fought victory against her older opponent, Justin Miranda-Radbord, who actually took home the Pokemon Oceania Junior Championship in 2019. According to the tournament's commentators, this was also Lim's first competitive season and her first major tournament after winning in two regional tournaments.
Leading into the final round, the odds seemed slightly stacked against the young Lim. Miranda-Radbord himself has won multiple Pokemon championships. He managed to go 5-0 through the event, had the top seed, and seemed to have a slight advantage going into the final turns of the Oceania tournament’s final rounds.An INCREDIBLE read by Simone, leading to a victory and earning Simone the title of 2020 Oceania #PokemonVG Junior Champion! pic.twitter.com/liiJyEj09I
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) February 23, 2020
Lim herself had a tougher road to victory, going 3-2 earlier in the tournament and landing a seed 7. Managing to win one round against Miranda-Radbord, she pushed the competition to its final round, where she was faced with a tough situation: Facing Radbord’s two Pokemon (a Rhyperior and a Dusclops) with just one low-health Tyranitar. Lim managed to predict which Pokemon Radbord would use Protect on, allowing her to defeat the Dusclops first before using Superpower on Radbord’s final Pokemon, clenching a very close win and audibly stunning the audience.
Lim can be seen just barely smiling through her hands, looking somewhat embarrassed, before her friend runs up to her and hugs her, eliciting a much bigger smile.
In the post-game interview, Lim said she knew her opponent would use Protect on his Rhyperior, then thanked her friends and family while clutching onto a large Eevee plush toy.
And here’s Lim standing next to her fellow champions in the other divisions of the Pokemon Oceania tournament. Needless to say, though she might be barely four feet tall, she’s standing head and shoulders above the competition today.
Adorable Little Girl Wins Pokemon Championship in Australia
The world of competitive gaming is one of thrilling victories, soul-crushing defeats, and extreme skill. That said, perhaps no major video game tournament will ever result in a moment cuter than when a young girl by the name of Simone Lim won the Pokemon Oceania International Junior Championships this week.
The official Play Pokemon Twitter account caught the final moments of Lim’s hard-fought victory against her older opponent, Justin Miranda-Radbord, who actually took home the Pokemon Oceania Junior Championship in 2019. According to the tournament's commentators, this was also Lim's first competitive season and her first major tournament after winning in two regional tournaments.
Leading into the final round, the odds seemed slightly stacked against the young Lim. Miranda-Radbord himself has won multiple Pokemon championships. He managed to go 5-0 through the event, had the top seed, and seemed to have a slight advantage going into the final turns of the Oceania tournament’s final rounds.An INCREDIBLE read by Simone, leading to a victory and earning Simone the title of 2020 Oceania #PokemonVG Junior Champion! pic.twitter.com/liiJyEj09I
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) February 23, 2020
Lim herself had a tougher road to victory, going 3-2 earlier in the tournament and landing a seed 7. Managing to win one round against Miranda-Radbord, she pushed the competition to its final round, where she was faced with a tough situation: Facing Radbord’s two Pokemon (a Rhyperior and a Dusclops) with just one low-health Tyranitar. Lim managed to predict which Pokemon Radbord would use Protect on, allowing her to defeat the Dusclops first before using Superpower on Radbord’s final Pokemon, clenching a very close win and audibly stunning the audience.
Lim can be seen just barely smiling through her hands, looking somewhat embarrassed, before her friend runs up to her and hugs her, eliciting a much bigger smile.
In the post-game interview, Lim said she knew her opponent would use Protect on his Rhyperior, then thanked her friends and family while clutching onto a large Eevee plush toy.
And here’s Lim standing next to her fellow champions in the other divisions of the Pokemon Oceania tournament. Needless to say, though she might be barely four feet tall, she’s standing head and shoulders above the competition today.
Leaked Resident Evil 3 Remake Screenshots Show Off Nemesis and More
An impressive amount of images from the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake appear to have leaked online. The images show off plenty of new looks at Nemesis, the iconic Resident Evil monster bred to hunt down S.T.A.R.S. members, plus a look at some different environments and at least one other major enemy. Check it out in the gallery below.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-3-leak-screenshot-gallery-images&captions=true"]Posted to an ongoing Resident Evil 3 Resetera thread by a moderator known as Dusk Golem, the images show off Nemesis looming over Jill Valentine, much like Mr. X in the Resident Evil 2 remake. Nemesis also appears to be holding a massive flamethrower, brandishing it in front of Jill’s face at one point. Obviously, Capcom hasn’t confirmed any of these screenshots, so take it all with a grain of salt. The images themselves all have a watermark from the French gaming site, gamergen.com.
[caption id="attachment_2307407" align="alignnone" width="720"]
Source: Resetera/Dusk Golem.[/caption]
Another couple of images show two enemies: One that that could most likely be the amphibious Gamma Hunter, and another that might be the worm-like Grave Digger. Either way, they’re both definitely terrifying at close range.
[caption id="attachment_230740" align="alignnone" width="720"]
Source: Resetera/Dusk Golem.[/caption]
The images also show off new looks at other playable characters from Resident Evil Resistance, the multiplayer component to the RE3 remake. We see Carlos Olivera and Becca Woolett traipsing around a casino club environment rife with zombies.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/11/resident-evil-3-comparison-remake-vs-original"]
The Resident Evil 3 remake is out on April 3, 2020.
Don’t forget to check out 23 more screenshots from Resident Evil 3 that dropped last month, and here’s everything that’s changing in Resident Evil 3, and everything that’s staying the same. Follow the rest of our Resident Evil 3 coverage for more updates and previews.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/biological weapon for IGN.Leaked Resident Evil 3 Remake Screenshots Show Off Nemesis and More
An impressive amount of images from the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake appear to have leaked online. The images show off plenty of new looks at Nemesis, the iconic Resident Evil monster bred to hunt down S.T.A.R.S. members, plus a look at some different environments and at least one other major enemy. Check it out in the gallery below.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-3-leak-screenshot-gallery-images&captions=true"]Posted to an ongoing Resident Evil 3 Resetera thread by a moderator known as Dusk Golem, the images show off Nemesis looming over Jill Valentine, much like Mr. X in the Resident Evil 2 remake. Nemesis also appears to be holding a massive flamethrower, brandishing it in front of Jill’s face at one point. Obviously, Capcom hasn’t confirmed any of these screenshots, so take it all with a grain of salt. The images themselves all have a watermark from the French gaming site, gamergen.com.
[caption id="attachment_2307407" align="alignnone" width="720"] Source: Resetera/Dusk Golem.[/caption]
Another couple of images show two enemies: One that that could most likely be the amphibious Gamma Hunter, and another that might be the worm-like Grave Digger. Either way, they’re both definitely terrifying at close range.
[caption id="attachment_230740" align="alignnone" width="720"] Source: Resetera/Dusk Golem.[/caption]
The images also show off new looks at other playable characters from Resident Evil Resistance, the multiplayer component to the RE3 remake. We see Carlos Olivera and Becca Woolett traipsing around a casino club environment rife with zombies.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/11/resident-evil-3-comparison-remake-vs-original"]
The Resident Evil 3 remake is out on April 3, 2020.
Don’t forget to check out 23 more screenshots from Resident Evil 3 that dropped last month, and here’s everything that’s changing in Resident Evil 3, and everything that’s staying the same. Follow the rest of our Resident Evil 3 coverage for more updates and previews.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/biological weapon for IGN.Boston Mayor Asks Sony to Reconsider PAX Absence Over Coronavirus
It’s been less than a week since PlayStation announced it won’t be attending PAX East in Boston due to “increasing concerns” over COVID-19, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus. Now, the mayor of Boston has reached out to Sony to appeal to the company, urging them to make a decision based on “facts, not fear,” and urging PlayStation to not play into “harmful stereotypes” about Chinese people.
According to WCVB (via Eurogamer), Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has sent a letter to PlayStation CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, saying to the gaming company president that the risk of individuals contracting the COVID-19 in Boston and Massachusetts remains extremely low. Walsh also stated in the letter that anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment and misinformation have played a role in the increasing fear of the COVID-19 in the United States.
"These fears reinforce harmful stereotypes that generations of Asians have worked hard to dismantle," reads Walsh's letter. "They trigger our worst impulses: to view entire groups of people with suspicion, to close ourselves off, and to miss out on the opportunities and connections our global city provides. Boston is united in our efforts to dispel these harmful and misguided fears."
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"]Walsh specifically urged PlayStation to play a role in pushing back against these fears.
"As a large, international company, you have an opportunity to set a good example," Walsh wrote. "As a leader in technology, you can show that you are motivated by facts, not fear. As a leader in gaming and culture, you can show that you believe in connection, not isolation."
So far, only one Boston resident has been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. That resident, a man in his 20s who attends the University of Massachusetts and returned from recent trip to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak, has since been kept in isolation in his home where he is currently recovering.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/21/othercide-reveal-trailer-pax-east-2020"]Since COVID-19 appeared in Boston, Walsh has started a social media campaign focused on easing the fears of the city’s Chinatown’s business.
PlayStation has yet to publicly respond to Walsh’s letter.
An increase in racist comments and attacks has been linked to increasing fear over COVID-19. A viral video recorded recently shows a man on an LA subway train ranting at an Asian woman, saying “every disease has ever came from China.” Similarly, another video recorded at a Super 8 in Plymouth, Indiana shows a man denying a room to two Hmong men over a similar fear. Other video footage shows a man attacking an Asian woman seemingly for wearing a face mask, a common accessory in Asian communities long before COVID-19 arose.
As of February 23, COVID-19 has killed approximately 2,442 people in China’s mainland, with a total of 76,936 reported infections, according to Aljazeera. According to CNN, United States health officials have confirmed 35 cases of COVID-19 in the country. The highest concentration of individuals with COVID-19 appears to be in California, with a confirmed eight cases.
PlayStation and Facebook (which owns the Oculus VR brand) similarly also pulled out of the 2020 Game Developers Conference, which is hosted in San Francisco’s downtown district from March 16 to March 20, citing the same concerns over the coronavirus.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19… We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily," Sony said in a statement. "We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/21/game-scoop-567-400-is-the-magic-number-for-a-console-launch"]PlayStation not attending PAX East also means that a previously planned demo of The Last of Us Part II will not be available for the public.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has interrupted other gaming events as well. The Overwatch development team has announced it will temporarily relocate its Chinese teams to South Korea, and Nintendo confirmed the outbreak will impact Animal Crossing: New Horizons shipments in Japan.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.Boston Mayor Asks Sony to Reconsider PAX Absence Over Coronavirus
It’s been less than a week since PlayStation announced it won’t be attending PAX East in Boston due to “increasing concerns” over COVID-19, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus. Now, the mayor of Boston has reached out to Sony to appeal to the company, urging them to make a decision based on “facts, not fear,” and urging PlayStation to not play into “harmful stereotypes” about Chinese people.
According to WCVB (via Eurogamer), Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has sent a letter to PlayStation CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, saying to the gaming company president that the risk of individuals contracting the COVID-19 in Boston and Massachusetts remains extremely low. Walsh also stated in the letter that anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment and misinformation have played a role in the increasing fear of the COVID-19 in the United States.
"These fears reinforce harmful stereotypes that generations of Asians have worked hard to dismantle," reads Walsh's letter. "They trigger our worst impulses: to view entire groups of people with suspicion, to close ourselves off, and to miss out on the opportunities and connections our global city provides. Boston is united in our efforts to dispel these harmful and misguided fears."
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"]Walsh specifically urged PlayStation to play a role in pushing back against these fears.
"As a large, international company, you have an opportunity to set a good example," Walsh wrote. "As a leader in technology, you can show that you are motivated by facts, not fear. As a leader in gaming and culture, you can show that you believe in connection, not isolation."
So far, only one Boston resident has been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. That resident, a man in his 20s who attends the University of Massachusetts and returned from recent trip to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak, has since been kept in isolation in his home where he is currently recovering.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/21/othercide-reveal-trailer-pax-east-2020"]Since COVID-19 appeared in Boston, Walsh has started a social media campaign focused on easing the fears of the city’s Chinatown’s business.
PlayStation has yet to publicly respond to Walsh’s letter.
An increase in racist comments and attacks has been linked to increasing fear over COVID-19. A viral video recorded recently shows a man on an LA subway train ranting at an Asian woman, saying “every disease has ever came from China.” Similarly, another video recorded at a Super 8 in Plymouth, Indiana shows a man denying a room to two Hmong men over a similar fear. Other video footage shows a man attacking an Asian woman seemingly for wearing a face mask, a common accessory in Asian communities long before COVID-19 arose.
As of February 23, COVID-19 has killed approximately 2,442 people in China’s mainland, with a total of 76,936 reported infections, according to Aljazeera. According to CNN, United States health officials have confirmed 35 cases of COVID-19 in the country. The highest concentration of individuals with COVID-19 appears to be in California, with a confirmed eight cases.
PlayStation and Facebook (which owns the Oculus VR brand) similarly also pulled out of the 2020 Game Developers Conference, which is hosted in San Francisco’s downtown district from March 16 to March 20, citing the same concerns over the coronavirus.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19… We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily," Sony said in a statement. "We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/21/game-scoop-567-400-is-the-magic-number-for-a-console-launch"]PlayStation not attending PAX East also means that a previously planned demo of The Last of Us Part II will not be available for the public.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has interrupted other gaming events as well. The Overwatch development team has announced it will temporarily relocate its Chinese teams to South Korea, and Nintendo confirmed the outbreak will impact Animal Crossing: New Horizons shipments in Japan.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.Box Office: Sonic Narrowly Beats Call of the Wild
North American Box Office Estimates
Birds of Prey was third this weekend, with $7 million, finishing the weekend with an estimated $72 million total domestic take to date. The rest of the Top 10 contained Oscar winners 1917 and Parasite, which continue to do well in the wake of the Academy Awards, as well as holiday juggernaut Jumanji: The Next Level, which has now a whopping $311 million domestic haul. TruTV's Impractical Jokers: The Movie, in limited release, landed in 11th place, with $2.3 million. Here are the Top 10 North American box office estimates for the (2-day) weekend (via Box Office Mojo)- 1. Sonic the Hedgehog $26,300,000
- 2. Call of the Wild $24,820,000
- 3. Birds of Prey $7,005,000
- 4. Brahms: The Boy II $5,900,000
- 5. Bad Boys for Life $5,860,000
- 6. 1917 $4,400,000
- 7. Fantasy Island $4,185,000
- 8. Parasite $3,121,000
- 9. Jumanji: The Next Level $3,000,000
- 10 The Photograph $2,800,000
Box Office: Sonic Narrowly Beats Call of the Wild
North American Box Office Estimates
Birds of Prey was third this weekend, with $7 million, finishing the weekend with an estimated $72 million total domestic take to date. The rest of the Top 10 contained Oscar winners 1917 and Parasite, which continue to do well in the wake of the Academy Awards, as well as holiday juggernaut Jumanji: The Next Level, which has now a whopping $311 million domestic haul. TruTV's Impractical Jokers: The Movie, in limited release, landed in 11th place, with $2.3 million. Here are the Top 10 North American box office estimates for the (2-day) weekend (via Box Office Mojo)- 1. Sonic the Hedgehog $26,300,000
- 2. Call of the Wild $24,820,000
- 3. Birds of Prey $7,005,000
- 4. Brahms: The Boy II $5,900,000
- 5. Bad Boys for Life $5,860,000
- 6. 1917 $4,400,000
- 7. Fantasy Island $4,185,000
- 8. Parasite $3,121,000
- 9. Jumanji: The Next Level $3,000,000
- 10 The Photograph $2,800,000
Westworld Season 3 ARG Drops 3 New Secret Trailers to Watch
SPOILERS for Westworld seasons 1, 2, and promo material for season 3 below. Read with caution if you want to go into season 3 absolutely blind.
While we’ve all been waiting patiently for Westworld season 3, a group of diehard fans has managed to dig through a fake website tied to an ARG (augmented reality game) for the show. In the process, three new trailers for Westworld season 3 have been discovered.
According to a report from Westworld Watchers (via io9), Westworld fans dug through the real website for the very much fake Incite Inc, a shadowy company that appears to play a role in Westworld season 3. Specifically, Reddit user MTC_Chickpea found a total of three trailers hidden in various spots on the website, which looks pretty much exactly like the vaguely west coast-ish media/tech firm you’d see in any sinister sci-fi future tale.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/21/how-leaving-westworld-changes-westworld-in-season-3-comic-con-2019"]Despite being posted to YouTube on February 19, the three videos were unlisted, hence why it took a bit of internet sleuthing from fans to discover them.
None of the trailers are terribly long, but they do provide a ton of new peeks at characters old and new, plus what tensions there might be between certain characters.
The first trailer, titled “Free Will Is Not Free,” shows off characters like Aaron Paul’s character Caleb, plus Dolores, Ed Harris’ Man in Black, and Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard in various states of turmoil. It’s all intermittently broken up by various bits of text reading things like “escape is not freedom,” and “disruption is not change.”
Trailer two, which clocks in at a heftier two minutes and forty seconds, follows Dolores far more closely as she describes to Aaron Paul how the two are alike, and alludes to what they’re going to do about each other’s seemingly connected plots in life. We also see Maeve get introduced to a new, very corporate-looking gentlemen who tasks her with finding and killing Dolores. Spread out throughout the trailer are a couple more shots from what appears to be a car chase through the streets of a city.
The third trailer, “When Caleb Meets Dolores,” is definitely the weirdest of them all, and is clearly a sort of dark parody of meet-cute romantic comedy movies like When Harry Met Sally. Set to some jaunty music, Aaron Paul and Dolores meet up, Dolores teases him with a few key hints about her plans to start a revolution, and Paul remarks on how Dolores is the first real thing to happen to him in a long time. If it weren’t for the shadowy lighting, creepy parties with masked violinists, and, you know, the murder, it would definitely pass for a trailer at your local showing of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
It's unclear if this mysterious Incite Inc ARG has any other clues left to give, but rest assured that the internet will most likely find out.
While you’re waiting for more Westworld season 3 teases to drop, check out the actual trailer that HBO debuted just two days ago, or check out the official poster.
For more on Westworld, be sure to check out Westworld Awakening - a VR game where you play as a self-aware host, a behind the scenes look at season 2, and why the Man in Black's story is Westworld's greatest tragedy.
Westworld season 3 debuts on HBO on March 15, 2020 at 9 P.M. Eastern Time.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.Westworld Season 3 ARG Drops 3 New Secret Trailers to Watch
SPOILERS for Westworld seasons 1, 2, and promo material for season 3 below. Read with caution if you want to go into season 3 absolutely blind.
While we’ve all been waiting patiently for Westworld season 3, a group of diehard fans has managed to dig through a fake website tied to an ARG (augmented reality game) for the show. In the process, three new trailers for Westworld season 3 have been discovered.
According to a report from Westworld Watchers (via io9), Westworld fans dug through the real website for the very much fake Incite Inc, a shadowy company that appears to play a role in Westworld season 3. Specifically, Reddit user MTC_Chickpea found a total of three trailers hidden in various spots on the website, which looks pretty much exactly like the vaguely west coast-ish media/tech firm you’d see in any sinister sci-fi future tale.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/21/how-leaving-westworld-changes-westworld-in-season-3-comic-con-2019"]Despite being posted to YouTube on February 19, the three videos were unlisted, hence why it took a bit of internet sleuthing from fans to discover them.
None of the trailers are terribly long, but they do provide a ton of new peeks at characters old and new, plus what tensions there might be between certain characters.
The first trailer, titled “Free Will Is Not Free,” shows off characters like Aaron Paul’s character Caleb, plus Dolores, Ed Harris’ Man in Black, and Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard in various states of turmoil. It’s all intermittently broken up by various bits of text reading things like “escape is not freedom,” and “disruption is not change.”
Trailer two, which clocks in at a heftier two minutes and forty seconds, follows Dolores far more closely as she describes to Aaron Paul how the two are alike, and alludes to what they’re going to do about each other’s seemingly connected plots in life. We also see Maeve get introduced to a new, very corporate-looking gentlemen who tasks her with finding and killing Dolores. Spread out throughout the trailer are a couple more shots from what appears to be a car chase through the streets of a city.
The third trailer, “When Caleb Meets Dolores,” is definitely the weirdest of them all, and is clearly a sort of dark parody of meet-cute romantic comedy movies like When Harry Met Sally. Set to some jaunty music, Aaron Paul and Dolores meet up, Dolores teases him with a few key hints about her plans to start a revolution, and Paul remarks on how Dolores is the first real thing to happen to him in a long time. If it weren’t for the shadowy lighting, creepy parties with masked violinists, and, you know, the murder, it would definitely pass for a trailer at your local showing of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
It's unclear if this mysterious Incite Inc ARG has any other clues left to give, but rest assured that the internet will most likely find out.
While you’re waiting for more Westworld season 3 teases to drop, check out the actual trailer that HBO debuted just two days ago, or check out the official poster.
For more on Westworld, be sure to check out Westworld Awakening - a VR game where you play as a self-aware host, a behind the scenes look at season 2, and why the Man in Black's story is Westworld's greatest tragedy.
Westworld season 3 debuts on HBO on March 15, 2020 at 9 P.M. Eastern Time.
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.