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Pokémon Presents event reveals a new open-world game and Diamond/Pearl remakes

The Pokémon Company held a Pokémon Presents livestream, which revealed a brand-new style of Pokémon game and a long-awaited remake of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

The big announcement was a new open-world game called Pokémon Legends: Arceus. The gameplay shows trainers traveling around a feudal version of the Sinnoh region to fight Pokémon. Players start at a home base and can freely travel the world filling up Sinnoh’s first Pokédex.

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Nintendo describes the game as a “new approach” to the Pokémon series, calling it an action RPG. It’s gameplay iterates on the Wild Area idea featured in Pokémon Sword and Shield. The game will launch in early 2022.

Pokémon Presents | #Pokemon25

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remake the 2006 Nintendo DS games with a new “chibi” art style. The games are developed by Ilca, which worked on Pokémon Home. The games are straight remakes of the originals and don’t use the style of Pokémon Let’s Go! The remakes are set to launch worldwide in late 2021.

The new games weren’t the only announcement during the 20-minute presentation. New Pokémon Snap got a new trailer showing off how its photography gameplay and grading system works. Photos can be edited and shared via online play. The game features a new lumina orb item that makes Pokémon glow.

As part of the 25th anniversary celebration, mobile games such as Pokémon Cafe Mix and Pokémon Champions EX will have special log-in bonuses and events. Pokémon Go players can participate in raid battles featuring Mewtwo, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres. Special raid battles are also available in Pokémon Sword and Shield, where players can catch Gigantamax Pikachu.

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After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and Redfall, and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.

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The day of reckoning is fast approaching: The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop isclosing down on March 27. When that happens, you’ll no longer be able to make any digital purchases on those systems. Considering that several games on each platform only ever got digital releases, it’s creating a bit of a preservation nightmare. Hidden gems that never came to another platform, like Affordable Space Adventures, will be totally lost to time.

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Second Dinner released a road map that revealed several significant updates coming to Marvel Snap over the next couple of months, including a new competitive mode called Conquest and revamps of the mobile card game's Token Shop and ranked modes.
The developer went into more detail about all of these features in Marvel Snap's in-game blog. Conquest was thoroughly explained, and we learned it's a competitive version of Friendly Battles' health-based fights. Conquest mode will be split into multiple leagues (Proving Grounds, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Vibranium, Infinite), and players must win three consecutive battles in one to move up to the next and get better rewards. Players will be rewarded with Conquest medals, which can then be used in a new cosmetic-driven Conquest Shop. This major new feature is expected to launch in June, but some updates are coming before then.
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More modes and easier card acquisition have been some of the most-requested things from Marvel Snap players since launch, so it's great that Second Dinner will finally deliver on these fronts in the coming months. 

Looking at the long term, the road map also teases several features that are in the development in concept stages at Second Dinner. These updates include widescreen support on PC, Smart Decks, the ability to equip avatars and titles by deck, personalized shops, global matchmaking, social Guilds, card emotes and emojis, mythic variants, PC controller support, season audio, and a Test Deck mode that will let players try out certain deck builds in an unranked mode against AI.
Marvel Snap is available now for PC, iOS, and Android.

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