Pokemon Video Game Championship Rules Announced
The Pokemon Company has announced new rules for their 2018 video game championships.
A post on the official Pokemon website outlines the rules that players can try out when battling online as soon as Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are released on November 17. All live tournaments will use them beginning January 1, 2018.
Play! Pokemon has an overview at what to expect:
- All matches will be in the Double Battle format, played in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
- All Pokemon in the National Pokedex are allowed, with a few exceptions:
NVC: The Completionist x IGN Switch Talk
Welcooooooome to Nintendo Voice Chat, Episode 376! This week on our Nintendo show, Jirard Khalil, That One Video Gamer and host of The Completionist, joins the NVC panel to talk about his experience as a Nintendo-focused YouTuber as well as the latest Nintendo Switch and 3DS games out now.
Jirard joins Zach Ryan, Daemon Hatfield, and Peer Schneider for thoughts on new game announcements (Darkest Dungeon!), brand-new Switch games like Earth Atlantis, and the arrival of some of yesteryear's favorite indie hits to our beloved console/portable hybrid.
Fantastic Beasts 2 Adds Historical Figure Nicolas Flamel
A few familiar characters from Harry Potter will be featured in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel.
As detailed by Pottermore, the famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel, who was first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and discovered the Elixir of Life, will appear in Fantastic Beasts 2. The character will be portrayed by Brontis Jodorowsky.
Brontis Jodorowsky, image via Pottermore
‘Flash War’ Will Answer Who Is the Better Flash
During DC Comics’ Dark Nights: Metal/New Age of Heroes panel at New York Comic Con, three announcements for new stories and comic books were revealed.
First among them was “Flash War,” a new storyline from writer Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. Williamson explained how he always gets asked who is the better Flash, Barry Allen or the classic Wally West, so he’s going to use this story to address that fan debate. It will kick off in The Flash Annual #1, out in February.
Art by Howard Porter. (DC Comics)
The Flash: 5 Teases for Season 4
The Flash is ready to speed back into your living room with the premiere of Season 4. When the series left off, Barry (Grant Gustin) sacrificed himself to the Speed Force as a way of paying penance for his creating The Flashpoint timeline. With The Flash’s return, it's going to be very different than fans last saw it.
At the beginning of Season 4, it's been six months since The Flash disappeared from Central City. Without him, the team has moved on with their lives and their mission to be heroes. Then, as if out of nowhere, Barry returns, setting the stage for a new year of adventures. IGN spoke with The Flash showrunner Todd Helbing about what to expect from the new season, as well as the upcoming four-show crossover.
Blade Runner 2049 Earns $4 Million Opening Night
Blade Runner 2049 brought in $4 million last night at the North American box office.
Variety reports over $800,000 came from IMAX screenings of the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel, which stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. Blade Runner 2049 is tracking to open domestically this weekend with between $45 million to $50 million.
Comparatively, the original Blade Runner made $32 million over its theatrical run in 1982. The sequel has an estimated budget of $150 million.
If you're unfamiliar with the film, we here at IGN broke down the history and world of Blade Runner. Needless to say, the sci-fi film has quite the legacy.
Man in the High Castle: The Multiverse Is Real
With The Man in the High Castle heading into Season 3 on Amazon soon, the producers and cast hit New York Comic Con today for a preview of what’s to come from the Philip K. Dick adaptation. The big takeaway? The multiverse.
AOL Instant Messenger Shutting Down
AOL Instant Messenger will be discontinued on December 15.
Michael Albers, vice president of communications product at Oath, made the announcement about the messaging platform on Tumblr. He cited changes in "the way in which we communicate with each other" as the reason for shutting down AIM, which has been around since the 1990s.
He also thanked AIM users, saying they "likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists."
The door will close for the final time on AIM on December 15. (Courtesy of Oath)
DC Resurrects the Milestone Universe and Tom Strong
Some fan-favorite DC properties are making their long-awaited returns in 2018. At NYCC this week, DC shed light on their plans for the upcoming relaunch of the Milestone imprint and revealed that another Alan Moore-created property is being integrated into the DC Universe.
The revived Milestone imprint is being dubbed "Earth M." Earth M will feature a rebooted take on Dakota Universe characters like Static Shock, Icon and Rocket and take place on its own world in the larger DC multiverse. The line will kick off in spring 2018 with the ongoing series Milestone, from co-writers Reginald Hudlin (Black Panther) and Denys Cowan (Star Wars: Mace Windu) and artist Ken Lashley (X-Men Gold). Similar to The Wild Storm, Milestone will set the stage for the larger Earth M universe and the other books united under the Earth M banner.
Blade Runner Creator Philip K. Dick’s Legacy Lives on at Amazon
The late author Philip K. Dick has never been more popular than he is now, between the Blade Runner sequel 2049, which was just released today, the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle, and the new anthology series (also from Amazon) Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams -- all of which, of course, are based on Dick’s work.
That work was celebrated at New York Comic Con today with Amazon’s World of Philip K. Dick panel, which featured a look at footage from both series and cast and creator Q&As. Actor Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and executive producers Michael Dinner, David Kanter and Ronald D. Moore were on hand to discuss Electric Dreams, along with Isa Dick Hackett, Dick’s daughter and an EP on both series.