Yearly Archives: 2018
How Pokemon Cards are Made in 8 Steps
It takes an entire year from start to finish to publish a new set of the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG). The process, handled by Creatures, Inc., is involved and thorough. It’s all-hands-on-deck, as game data designers, illustrators, play testers, and even marketing personnel strive to create one of the most popular children’s toys in the world.
Creatures, Inc. works to incorporate new game mechanics and popular characters from the TV show to remain consistent with those two core pillars of the Pokemon brand, while also paying acute attention into the strategies of competitive players so that the game remains balanced and fresh. Sometimes, the way competitive players use cards entirely alter how the next expansion set is made.
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu Logo Revealed
Today, at the Pokémon World Championships in Nashville, TN, the official logo for the upcoming Pokémon: Detective Pikachu film was revealed, along with details about what fans can expect when the film releases next summer.
IGN's Senior Editor of Comics, Joshua Yehl, is in attendance and shared a screenshot of the logo, and revealed that this will be the "first ever live-action Pokémon movie."
In addition, the movie will "feature a battle between Pikachu and Charizard, and they prompted the crowd to chant for each Pokémon, shout "Critical hit!", and cheers/boo - and they recorded it to use in the actual movie."
Shigeru Miyamoto Criticises Free-to-Play Model
Nintendo developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, has criticised the free-to-play model, and says companies should "deliver games at reasonable prices" instead.
Miyamoto's comments were made at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC), with Bloomberg reporting that Miyamoto has said that Nintendo is doubling down on its "fixed-cost model" despite the lack of success with it so far.
"We’re lucky to have such a giant market, so our thinking is, if we can deliver games at reasonable prices to as many people as possible, we will see big profits," Miyamoto said.
Fortnite: Mystery Lightning Strikes Begin Hitting Paradise Palms Area
Fortnite's rift is acting oddly again, firing lightning down onto the map.
The huge rift in Fortnite's sky is beginning to shrink, but it's not going quietly. It's begun to spew lightning bolts in the desert, at a specific point in the Paradise Palms area, as Season 5 draws to a close.
Map changes this late in the season aren't unusual, what with Season 3's meteor crash and Season 4's rocket launch kicking in a few weeks before they ended.
IGN UK Podcast #449: Gamescom Special
It's been a very long week, but three intrepid podcasters made it back to the office to do a little special podcast. Those brave boys are Krupa, Rory, and Simon, and they're here to tell you about their favourite games they've played this week, as well as what takeaway they're ordering a recovery treat, not to mention all the augments they'd riddle their bodies with given half the chance.
Sorry the podcast is a little shorter than normal, but full and proper service will be resumed next week.
Fortnite Week 7 Challenges – Dusty Divot Treasure Map and Stage 1 Chest Locations
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Cyberpunk 2077 Is Now Playable from Start to Finish
Cyberpunk 2077 has hit a development milestone, with CD Projekt Red explaining that the game is now playable from start to finish internally.
In an interview with Engadget, producer Richard Borzymowski explained that the game can be played through from beginning to end, with the story in place. It's still missing assets, includes bugs and requires playtesting, but this is a major step.
"It gives you the answers to all of your doubts," Borzymowski said. "It just feels great."
Despite that step forward, Cyberpunk 2077's release date remains something of a mystery - even down to what year it will arrive in. CDPR says it's targeting current-gen consoles, which, based on recent reports, puts it at some point before the end of 2020. However, Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith has cautioned that "perfection takes time".
An Ode to the Late, Great Anime Auteur Satoshi Kon
Satoshi Kon, who passed away from pancreatic cancer at 46 on 24th August, 2010, was, to me, the boldest and most distinctive creator of Japanese animation. I was only introduced to his work a few years ago but the more I revisit them, the more his unique storytelling and animation stands out in my collection. During his decade long filmmaking career, the late anime director made some of the most viscerally animated films in the horror, romance, comedy and science fiction genres. His films blend dream and reality while providing a harsh social commentary on Japanese society, our imagination and creativity. With that in mind, here is a tribute to his legacy.
Kon began his career as a young manga artist competing in a Shonen weekly magazine competition. Shortly afterwards, he was taken under the wing of Mamoru Oshii as an animation artist for Roujin Z, collaborating with the Ghost in the Shell director on their co-created manga Seraphim 266, 613, 336 Wings. In 1995, he made his directorial debut when Akira director and idol of Kon’s, Katsuhiro Otomo, requested him to direct one of three short films featured in Otomo’s Memories anthology, Magnetic Rose.
Black Panther: Marvel’s Campaigning for Best Pic, Not Popular Film
The Academy's recently announced Best Popular Film Oscar category reportedly won't change Marvel Studios and Disney's plan to campaign for Black Panther to be nominated as Best Picture.
Marvel has already begun the groundwork for a Black Panther Best Picture campaign, including hiring a veteran Oscar strategist and putting a "significant" awards season budget behind it -- something, as The Los Angeles Times points out, Marvel had never done before.
Marvel's strategy for getting Oscar voters to consider Black Panther for Best Picture includes leaning into the movie's "creative accomplishments and the global impact it made," according to the Times. In other words, Marvel's Oscar campaign will play up the personal nature of director Ryan Coogler's accomplishment and what the film has meant to so many around the world, particularly to underrepresented artists and audiences of color. Black Panther was not only a huge box office hit, but it was also a film that mattered deeply to both the industry and to filmgoers. Marvel aims to remind Oscar voters of all that.