Satoru Iwata Wouldn’t Have Made Nintendo Mobile Games Cheaper – He Would Have Made Them Better
Satoru Iwata once spoke about his distaste for a very mobile-centric term, just as Nintendo got into the market. “I do not like to use the term ‘Free-to-play,'” he told Time. “I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so-called ‘Free-to-play’ should be referred to more accurately as ‘Free-to-start.'” It was an admirable stance, an attempt to be more transparent than most about what players were getting into.
Perhaps in deference to its late president, Nintendo still uses to ’free-to-start’ to describe its mobile games and, as we’ve mentioned elsewhere, those games haven’t really worked out. As those games have rolled out, each to less fanfare than the last, it’s become increasingly easy to connote anything Nintendo brands free-to-start as a lesser experience than the company’s usual creations. It’s also easy to attribute that to the business model. But I’m not sure that’s the root of the problem.
Call of Duty: Mobile Is Now Live on iOS and Android
Call of Duty: Mobile is officially out on iOS and Android devices. However, some players are experiencing issues connecting to Call of Duty: Mobile servers.
Activision has been beta testing Call of Duty: Mobile since July 2019, but today marks the game’s wide release. Call of Duty: Mobile was developed by TiMi Games.
Call of Duty: Mobile is like a greatest hits of Call of Duty games. There are maps and weapons from across the Call of Duty franchise, including Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3, and Black Ops 2.
The Best Board Games of 2019
Analogue gaming is a trend that just keeps growing. Some have suggested it's a rejection of all the screen time that keeps us locked into digital worlds. Others that it's a retreat from confusing modernity into a more comfortable past. The truth, though, is that modern board game design keeps delivering better and better games.
Turns out that 2019 is a bumper year for such quality, and it isn't over yet. Some publishers save their top releases for October and the world's biggest board game event, Spiel, in Germany. A few big titles are jostling for this year's limelight. Civilization builder Tapestry, from Stonemaier Games, is currently heading the hype train.
That's the future, though, so who knows how those games will pan out? Here are ten 2019 titles of proven excellence that you can enjoy right now.
Quantum and Woody Return for New Valiant Comic Series
There are a lot of reasons to be looking forward to 2020, and you can now add the return of the World’s Worst Superhero Duo to the list. That’s right, in a few short months, Quantum & Woody will be back wreaking havoc on the Valiant Universe in a new series from writer Chris Hastings (The Unbelievable Gwenpool) and artist Ryan Browne (Curse Words).
Hastings and Browne’s artistic sensibilities are certainly in tune with the off-beat vibe of Quantum & Woody. Hastings’ series The Adventures of Dr. McNinja was a blend of deep, character driven adventure and utter insanity while Browne seems to continually pump out some of the strangest, most unsettling comics around, like his own God Hates Astronauts and the explosive Image Comics’ series Curse Words.
Borderlands 3’s Ongoing Anniversary Event Now Has 100% Win Rate for Rare Chest Events
Update 3:
It’s the penultimate week for Borderlands 3’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. Not only will Gearbox be dropping the limited-time Bloody Harvest Halloween event later this week, but there will also be the “Mayhem on Twitch” event to celebrate the fourth week in Gearbox’s five-week celebration.
During this event, any player who enables Mayhem Mode will have an increased drop rate for Anointed Gear, along with extra XP for defeating enemies, and reduced values for various Mayhem Mode penalty modifiers.
Mayhem Mode is unlocked by finishing the main story for Borderlands 3, so these rewards will be locked to you if you haven’t finished the main campaign yet.
Kerbal Space Program 2: The Science Secrets of the Reveal Trailer
The long-awaited sequel to Kerbal Space Program was the surprise announcement at Gamescom 2019! If you don’t know what Kerbal Space Program is, well… it’s part astrophysics simulator, part aerospace engineering crash course – with a heavy emphasis on the crash – and part trial-and-error rocket science that all boils down to you trying to build a space vessel that can shuttle these lil’ green cuties called Kerbals into space before bringing them home safely.
Now that Kerbal Space Program 2 has crested over the proverbial horizon, creative director at Star Theory, Nate Simpson, shared with us some of the secrets, hints, and teases baked into this cinematic announcement trailer, to give you a better idea of what to expect in the sequel. You can watch us unpack everything Simpson shared with us in the video at the top of the page!
First Look at Hasbro’s Upcoming Transformers Generations: War for Cybertron Earthrise Figures
New York City Comic Con 2019 kicks off this Thursday, October 3, and the announcements and reveals are already ramping up.
Hasbro has a new set of Transformers to show off by way of the Transformers Generations: War for Cybertron Earthrise figures. Check out Optimus Prime and more in the slideshow below:
Each figure comes with "a piece of the Transformers Universe Map," and collecting the figures allows you to complete the map in its entirety.
The line-up reveal only has Autobots at the moment, so it's probably a safe bet we'll see some new Decepticons joining the next chapter of the Transformers saga.
Transformers Generations: War for Cybertron Earthrise figures can be preordered beginning October 3 at 5 pm ET directly from Hasbro Pulse. While you visit the Hasbro Pulse website, you can also put in a preorder for the massive Transformers Unicron figure, which is close to meeting its crowd-funding goal and will enter into production if it reaches 8,000 backers.
New My Hero Academia Movie Art Revealed, Villains Teased
New artwork for the upcoming My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising movie has been released online, teasing a major team-up of U.A.'s Class 1-A as they face the threat of fresh-faced villains.
The key visual shared by Funimation places the young heroes of the hit manga series in the spotlight, with Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku "Deku" Midoriya at the forefront of the image, suggesting they will join forces to battle against their newest enemy, Nine, who looms above them at the top of the one-sheet.
According to the official character profiles on the My Hero Academia: The Movie Heroes: Rising website, Nine is set to unite with another mysterious villain known as Slice, who has the quirk to manipulate her long red locks into multiple forms, including several weapons such as swords and knives.
Mario and Sonic at the Tokyo Olympics Preview: Good Old-School Fun
I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to play Mario and Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but whatever those expectations were, this fun-spirited, doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously collection of mini-games exceeded them. And it's out soon – November 5.
Mario and Sonic is chock-full of Olympic-themed events, from the swimming high-dive to the 100-meter dash to judo and, of course, track and field. Some of them are even retro-themed so that they look like 8-bit NES sports games. One such event, for instance, was the aforementioned high dive. You have to do a series of button sequences, timed well, in order to land a great dive and a subsequent high score. A more modern attempt at that might involve thumbsticks and motion controls, but the refreshingly retro approach just makes it simple, goofy, button-based fun (case in point: check out the video below of Bowser twirling off the diving board). To be clear, however, there are plenty of events with modern visuals and more modern control methods; as an NES kid, though, I couldn't help but be won over by the 8-bit stuff. Take a look at the gameplay videos below for some looks at various events.
Check Out NECA’s Batman/Alien and Green Lantern/Predator Exclusives
October is a lot of things to a lot of people, but for comic and movie fans, it means a celebration of pop culture in New York City by way of New York City Comic Con. This year's NYCC kicks off Thursday, October 3 and runs through Sunday, October 6.
Toy makers take advantage of these events to introduce new figures and sets, as well as offer exclusive merchandise you either need to be in attendance to buy, or hope to find on an online auction site after the event is closed. Toy maker NECA is offering two different NYCC-exclusives this year: Batman vs. Alien and Green Lantern vs. Predator.
Check out the gallery below to see these NECA NYCC 2019 exclusives:
The Batman and Green Lantern figures are amazing on their own. Batman's cape is real fabric, with a quality allowing it to move and flow in a way appropriate to the figure's scale. The included Batarang is extremely pointy and solid, and there's an extra hand included for Batarang-holding action.