Pokémon Masters producer apologizes for lack of content, promises improvements
Pokémon Masters producer Yu Sasaki apologized to players for the game's lack of content, as well as for shortcomings on its overall battle difficulty and design. The initial hype for Pokémon Masters quickly died down due to a short main story and overpowered trainers, but improvements are on the way.
Riot Games, Epic Games walk opposite paths after Blizzard’s Hong Kong debacle
League of Legends developer Riot Games and Fortnite developer Epic Games responded differently to Blizzard's Hong Kong controversy. While Riot Games urged pro players to avoid doing what Chung "blitzchung" Ng Wai did, Epic Games said that it will not ban players for expressing their personal views.
Apple reportedly told Apple TV+ showrunners to avoid negative portrayal of China
Apple reportedly told Apple TV+ content creators to avoid negative portrayals of China, as part of the company's efforts to maintain a good relationship with the Asian country. This is just the latest example of tech companies succumbing to the demands of China, a major player in the global economy.
Apple sets very aggressive timeline: Build a 5G modem for iPhones by 2022
Apple has reportedly set a very aggressive timeline to build its own 5G modem, as it plans to have the component ready by 2022. Apple is "really pushing it" with the two-year deadline, which comes after the $1 billion acquisition of Intel's modem business and a multi-year agreement with Qualcomm.
Pokémon Go has been Pokémon No on this Greek island for past 7 months
The Pokémon Go community of Salamina, an island in Greece's Saronic Gulf, has called for help from the global community. No Pokémon has spawned in their area for the past seven months due to an issue in Open Street Maps, an open-source service that is used by the mobile game for mapping data.
Google Stadia shooting for negative latency by predicting players’ moves
Google Stadia is planning to solve the latency problem of cloud gaming by using artificial intelligence to predict players' moves and pre-render the next frames. According to VP of engineering Madj Bakar, negative latency will help Stadia become faster and more responsive than consoles and PCs.
Patent reveals PlayStation VR 2 with built-in cameras, augmented reality mode
Patent filings suggest that the PlayStation VR 2 will look similar to its predecessor, but with a few important upgrades under the hood. The headset is expected to come with built-in cameras and the capability to show the wearer's surroundings for potential augmented reality applications.
Blizzard rolls back penalties against blitzchung, but damage already done
Blizzard, facing immense pressure from various communities, reduced the suspension against Hearthstone player Chung "blitzchung" Ng Wai for expressing his pro-Hong Kong stance. Unfortunately, the damage may have already been done, with several groups reportedly planning to stage protests at BlizzCon.
Apex Legends may celebrate Halloween with new zombie-infested map
Apex Legends will reportedly celebrate its first Halloween with a zombie-infested, nighttime version of King's Canyon. The new map will start as regular Solo matches, but as players die, they will be reborn as zombies that will try to stop the living players from being rescued by a dropship.
Overwatch director offers any hero to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster
Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan said in an interview that Nintendo is welcome choose any character from the shooter to add to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Kaplan's first choice is Tracer, who was previously rumored as a DLC fighter, but there are many good choices among the Overwatch heroes.
Mario Kart Tour claims title as Nintendo’s biggest mobile launch in first week
Mario Kart Tour is Nintendo's biggest mobile game launch, with 90 million downloads in its first week after breaking records on its first day. The mobile version of the Mario Kart franchise, however, is in third place in terms of revenue, primarily because of the free two-week trial for its Gold Pass.
Bungie gives away free Powerful Engram with Destiny 2: Shadowkeep launch
Bungie is giving away a free Powerful Engram to all Destiny 2 players in celebration of the launch of the Shadowkeep expansion. Taking advantage of the offer is easy through the Bungie Reward program, but players are recommended to hold off on claiming the Powerful Engram until they will be able to maximize it.
The best way to counter drones is apparently to smash them with other drones
California-based startup Anduril Industries has unleashed the Anvil, an anti-drone drone that answers hostile UAVs by smashing into them. One of the co-founders of the startup is Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR and the designer of the Oculus Rift, but his new work involves real-life threats.
PlayStation 4 cross-play exits beta stage, finally available for developers
Sony has officially ended the beta stage of PlayStation 4 cross-play, which means that it is now widely available to developers who want to add it to their games. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare may be the first major title to take advantage of the long-awaited feature, and it will surely not be the last.
Fallout 76 public test server to arrive in 2020, over a year after game’s launch
Bethesda is looking to roll out a public test server for Fallout 76 next year, which would be a welcome addition to the online RPG due to its history of bugs and glitches. The developer did not provide a specific date for the new feature, which will arrive more than a year after the game's launch.
Studio head says PlayStation 5 will let developers focus on making games fun
Chameleon Games studio head Omar Sawi expressed his enthusiasm over the PlayStation 5's move from a hard-disk drive to a solid-state drive in an interview with Gaming Bolt. He said that developers will be able to focus on making games fun, further driving up hype for the next-generation console.
Epic Games further nerfs Fortnite mechs: Are the B.R.U.T.E. vehicles fair now?
Epic Games has further nerfed the controversial mechs of Fortnite, in response to the complaints of players since they were added in Season X. The B.R.U.T.E.'s rockets and mobility have been downgraded, and its ability to instantly harvest materials from the structure that it destroys has been removed.
Apex Legends Season 2 launch falls flat, fails to rack up Twitch viewership
Apex Legends Season 2, named Battle Charge, has so far failed to meet expectations as a Fortnite challenger in terms of Twitch viewership, despite a new character and an altered map. The lackluster start has sent Electronic Arts shares crashing, though hope remains for a bigger Season 2 audience.
Fortnite players spot exploding mechs: Is this goodbye to the B.R.U.T.E.?
The B.R.U.T.E., the controversial mechs of Fortnite, are suddenly exploding upon landing, which suggests that they are on their way out. The end of the battle royale shooter's Season X is coming soon, and it appears that whatever happens to usher in Season 11, the B.R.U.T.E. will be among the casualties.
Apex Legends cheaters and spammers will be matched up against each other
Apex Legends cheaters and spammers will be matched up against each other, as part of Respawn Entertainment's continuing fight against cheating. The developer is also working on using machine learning to create models for automatically banning cheaters, as well as enabling two-factor authentication.
Respawn will suspend Apex Legends players who abuse game-breaking Wraith glitch
Respawn will roll out a fix for the game-breaking Wraith glitch in the next patch for Apex Legends. Players who are thinking of abusing the bug while it is still available may want to think again, as the developer said that it will be handing out suspensions for those who keep exploiting the glitch.
P.T. hacker uncovers Lisa’s gruesome fate in hidden scene
YouTuber Lance McDonald continues to unearth horrifying secrets in P.T., the playable teaser for the canceled Silent Hills. A few weeks after discovering that the game's ghost Lisa is following the players the whole time, McDonald found a hidden scene that may be revealing her gruesome fate.
Crypto seeks to show the truth in Apex Legends Season 3: Meltdown
Apex Legends Season 3: Meltdown will show the next stage in Crypto's revenge against The Syndicate, which framed him for murder. The new season will also add a new Battle Pass, an updated Ranked League, and the Charge Rifle, a powerful weapon that further links the game to the Titanfall universe.
Apex Legends readies for 10-year run; heavily requested feature coming soon
Electronic Arts believes that there is a 10-year run of new content ahead for Apex Legends. The publisher also revealed that an upcoming event will introduce a heavily requested feature into the battle royale shooter without providing more details, fueling speculation on what lies ahead for the game.
Apex Legends Season 3: Meltdown has a new World’s Edge map with a moving train
The third season of Apex Legends will take players to World's Edge, a map with fire and ice elements, as well as a moving train. In addition to the new map, Meltdown will include new hero Crypto, a new Battle Pass with more skins and rewards to unlock, and a new weapon named the Charge Rifle.
God of War, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs join PlayStation Hits roster
God of War, one of the best PlayStation 4 exclusives, will be a steal for $20 as part of the PlayStation Hits collection. Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs, and four more games will be added to the collection in October, joining the likes of The Last of Us Remastered and Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition.
Mario Kart Tour drifts into record-breaking launch day for Nintendo
Mario Kart Tour sent blue shells into the competition, setting a new launch day record for downloads of a mobile game. It only ranked third among Nintendo mobile titles for first-day revenue though, which may be attributed to the two-week free trial of the racing app's Gold Pass subscription.
Nintendo Switch Lite teardown reveals same analog sticks as drift-prone Joy-Cons
A Nintendo Switch Lite teardown by YouTube channel Spawn Wave revealed that the console's analog sticks are similar to the Joy-Cons of the original Nintendo Switch. This means that the new portable console will still be prone to drifting issues, dashing hopes that Nintendo has fixed the problem.
Minecraft character creator augments skins with new body parts, accessories
The Minecraft Character Creator, currently in beta testing, will allow players to personalize their avatars beyond using custom skins. The feature will make changes to the actual models, including body size and shape, some body parts, and characteristics like the eyes, mouth, hair, and skin tones.
Nintendo Switch Lite’s $200 price tag made possible by months of negotiations
Pulling down the Nintendo Switch Lite price tag to $200 was not an easy task, as it took months of negotiations between Nintendo and component suppliers. Nintendo was reportedly even trying to get the portable console's price to below $200, but apparently, that was a goal too lofty to reach.