IGN Video Games

IGN Video Games

Xbox Adds 20 Bethesda Games to Game Pass Tomorrow

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 10:24 AM PST

With Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda finalized at last, 20 Bethesda games are dropping on Game Pass starting tomorrow -- including some of the publisher's most popular franchises. During a roundtable about the acquisition today, Xbox announced the 20 games coming to Game Pass, which include the following:  
  • Dishonored
  • Dishonored 2
  • Doom
  • Doom 2
  • Doom 64
  • Doom 3
  • Doom Eternal
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Fallout 4
  • Fallout 76
  • Prey
  • Rage 2
  • The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
  • The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
  • The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
  • The Elder Scrolls Online
  • The Evil Within
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order
  • Wolfenstein The Old Blood
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood
  Developing... [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Borderlands 3: Director's Cut Content Delayed to Early April Launch

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 10:16 AM PST

The Borderlands 3: Director's Cut add-on has been delayed to April 8, Gearbox Software announced Thursday.

Gearbox cited the recent cold snap in Texas, where the studio is located, which resulted in widespread power outages and property damage, and at least 70 deaths according to a February post from Associated Press.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/01/borderlands-movie-casts-its-tiny-tina"]

"Thankfully, all of our team members and their families are safe and healthy," Gearbox stated. "But our work on Director's Cut was unavoidably disrupted and we've ultimately decided to shift the release date to ensure we deliver the best possible experience. We appreciate your understanding, and we're excited for you to play Director's Cut when it releases next month."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/30/borderlands-3-designers-cut-new-skill-trees-official-trailer"]

Borderlands 3: Director's Cut promises to add a new raid boss, skill trees for characters, new items, new items and more as the second half of the season 2 battle pass.

If you think this is the end of the road for Borderlands, think again. Gearbox head Randy Pitchford has said that other studios owned by Embracer Group, who recently acquired Gearbox for $1.3 billion, could make their own Borderlands universe games in the future. Don't forget that Tales From the Borderlands, Telltale Games' story-driven cult hit, is back on sale for the first time since 2019. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/vault hunter for IGN.

Square Enix Announces Nintendo Direct-Style Digital Showcase

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 09:00 AM PST

Square Enix has announced a Nintendo Direct-style digital showcase, Square Enix Presents, which is set to reveal new games, like a new Life Is Strange, and give updates on existing ones like Marvel's Avengers and the upcoming Outriders. Square Enix Presents will be the first in a new series of digital showcases for Square, with the inaugural installment airing on March 18 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET on Square Enix's Twitch and YouTube. The full lineup includes: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/10/outriders-no-turning-back-trailer"]
  • A reveal of the next Life Is Strange series game

  • Outriders

  • Balan Wonderworld

  • "The ongoing celebration for the 25th anniversary of Tomb Raider"

  • Marvel's Avengers

  • Just Cause Mobile

  • "New mobile game announcements from the award-winning Square Enix Montréal studio"

  • "A look at a few of the whimsical games from Square Enix sister company Taito"

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-marvel-superhero-game-review&captions=true"] Not much is known about the new Life Is Strange, but the Square Enix presentation will air on the same day Marvel's Avengers' new Hawkeye content, as well as the PS5 and Xbox Series versions, launch. Since the announcement of that new content, though, Avengers also announced a change to its XP Progression that has left some fans concerned about what it means for the game's grind. The presentation hits just a couple of weeks before Outriders' launch, which has recently seen a well-received demo. Just Cause Mobile was revealed in a Game Awards announcement last December, while Balan Wonderworld had a demo released earlier this year and is set to launch on March 26. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

The Outer Worlds: Murder-Mystery DLC Coming Next Week

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:57 AM PST

Obsidian Entertainment has announced that The Outer Worlds' second and final expansion - Murder on Eridanos - will be released on March 17, 2021. Alongside the announcement, Obsidian gave a fans a look at the official opening cinematic for Murder on Eridanos, which will arrive on PC, PlayStation 5 (via backward compatibility), Xbox Series X/S (via backward compatibility), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One next week. The new expansion will arrive on Switch later in 2021. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/11/the-outer-worlds-murder-on-eridanos-official-opening-cinematic"] More details were revealed on PlayStation.Blog of this new expansion that tasks you with discovering who murdered the renowned actress Halcyon Helen. Murder on Eridanos is very much a murder mystery, but the developers had to make sure they accounted for the freedom of choice The Outer Worlds allows for, including the player's skills, perks and flaws that were chosen, which companions are with you, which clues you find and who you interrogate (and in what order!), and much more. While solving this crime, players will have to interrogate witnesses, learn about potential alibis, and argue who you think murdered this actress. The ending of this DLC very much depends on your actions, and one possible scenario involves you convincing others that YOU were somehow responsible for the murder. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-outer-worlds-murder-on-eridanos-screenshots&captions=true"] Characters from The Outer Worlds like Spencer Woolrich and Black Hole Bertie will make an appearance in this DLC, and players will have access to a completely new tool known as the Discrepancy Amplifier to help in the investigation. This tool will help reveal clues around you, will unlock new quest options, and will provide "its own humorous analysis of those details." Murder on Eridanos will also arrive with new perks and flaws, scientific weapons, armor variants, and "plenty of additional quests and choices to make along the way." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/09/the-outer-worlds-peril-on-gorgon-review"] This new expansion follows The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon DLC. In our review, we said that it "is very much more of a good thing. It doesn't do much to change up combat but it tells a fun detective story and takes us to interesting new locations." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

GTA Online: Claim Double Rewards in Lamar Missions, Madrazo Dispatch Services, and More

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:53 AM PST

Loop Hero, the Surprisingly Addictive Endless RPG, Sells Half a Million Copies in One Week

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:05 AM PST

One week ago, a surprising little endless RPG about the end of the world launched on Steam, published by Devolver. Now, only seven days later, Loop Hero has sold half a million copies. Loop Hero puts you in the shoes of a hero awakening in a world entirely destroyed but for an empty, circular path infested with slime enemies. As they set out around the loop, they fight enemies and gain memories of a world back in the form of cards -- both equipment and terrain. Placing them brings back remembered elements of the empty world, creating new powers for the hero but also new monsters to fight. Loop Hero ends up being a combination of a rogue-like, a deck-builder, a strategy game, and an RPG as you place cards, change your equipment builds, fight, retreat or die, and return to camp to slowly build up your powers for your next run. With half a million players now and an average playtime of 12 hours, that makes an estimated 3 trillion hours played and 18 billion loops, at least (at least, according to Devolver. who may be exaggerating that last bit some). Its soundtrack is also the fastest-selling in Devolver history. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/loop-hero-launch-trailer"] Developer Four Quarters has released a new set of Steam trading cards to celebrate the milestone, and is currently working on further quality-of-life updates to Loop Hero such as an improved save system, new speed settings, and new rewards from bosses -- as well as more content to come down the line including new cards, classes, and transformations. "When we first encountered Loop Hero it led to a 98% drop in productivity at Devolver," the publisher said in a statement. "We can't thank Four Quarters enough for giving us the opportunity to share their incredible game with the rest of the world. They fully deserve all of the praise they've received so far, but seriously, we can't get any work done and may never recover from this." The game is out now on Steam, and in our Loop Hero wiki we have a Loop Hero walkthrough to help you survive your journeys around the game's mysterious, ever-changing path. Want to know more about the breakout success? Check out our video on the *clears throat* "gothic chiptune pixel-art story-driven deck-building roguelite idle RPG". [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Cyanide & Happiness - Freakpocalypse Review

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:00 AM PST

With a likeable loser anti-hero, colourful high school hallways full of misfit teens and teachers to meet, and a snide remark at the ready for almost every interaction, Cyanide & Happiness - Freakpocalypse has all the ingredients to bring the caustic comedy of its comic strip origins to life in videogame form. But while this adults-only point-and-click adventure initially resembles South Park: The Stick of Truth minus the turn-based fighting system, the combat isn't the only thing that it's lacking.

For starters, its story is somewhat poorly structured, with the 'Freakpocalypse' event in question relegated to a cutscene in the cliffhanger ending. It's seemingly there purely as a device to set up the two sequels that are apparently planned for a later date. I was pretty surprised to see the closing credits roll just as I thought Freakpocalypse's story had finally begun to get out of first gear, and I couldn't help but feel that – as a standalone game – Freakpocalypse comes across as noticeably unfinished, like abandoning a comic after reading the first panel in a three-panel strip.

Happiness is a Warm Pun

For the vast majority of its brisk four-hour runtime, Freakpocalypse's plot centers around social outcast Cooper 'Coop' McCarthy and his quest to avoid bullies, woo his crush, and perform odd jobs for his grandma, whose raging libido is played for cheap laughs. That's not to say Freakpocalpyse isn't genuinely funny at times, and certainly I got a kick out of the mixed metaphor-riddled pep talks from Principal McNally and the freestyled song lyrics of the guitar-strumming Warren Wonderwall lurking outside of the school. It's also endearing that desperately asking a character to be Coop's prom date is an option in just about every dialogue tree.

[poilib element="poll" parameters="id=e5bbe563-f1d6-43de-9a2a-4fb6a2ea0da6"] But elsewhere, the humour is mostly either presented in the form of corny dad joke puns — with the kid getting a drink in the hallway being named 'Walter Fountain' or another in the locker room showers named 'Hayden Shoulders' — or it's just toilet stall graffiti-style smut. When Coop eventually leaves the school and heads to Rod's Pizzeria, there's a jar on the counter labelled 'Just the Tip'... and if that's too subtle for you, there's also a picture on the wall of a towering sausage with two vegetables at its base. I appreciate low-brow humour as much as the next childish idiot, but the dick jokes here are a bit too, well, limp.

Strip Search

So too are the puzzles, which are far too basic to even tease your brain let alone wrestle it into a headlock and give it a rigorous noogie. When the school janitor's closet is locked, you go and speak to the janitor who tells you the keys are in the boiler room, and sure enough… they are. That's it. Puzzle solved. Some of these fetch quests do get slightly more convoluted later on, but at no point did they stop me in my tracks or make me ever contemplate the use of the built-in hint system. It's initially cute the way that Freakpocalypse self-deprecatingly refers to its story and side objectives as 'chores', but less so when they very quickly start to feel a bit too much like brainless busywork.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%5BPuzzles%5D%20are%20far%20too%20basic%20to%20even%20tease%20your%20brain%20let%20alone%20wrestle%20it%20into%20a%20headlock%20and%20give%20it%20a%20rigorous%20noogie."]Not only are Freakpocalypse's puzzles overly basic and lacking in variety, but there's also a slight clumsiness to how you progress through them at times. Early on I'd already stumbled upon a rope and pulley and combined them to lift up a desk in the woodshop classroom to uncover a missing library book, before I'd even encountered the librarian who tasks you with finding it. This meant that when I eventually did visit the library and open an initial dialogue with her, she sent me to search for a book that I was able to return it to her instantly, which came across as an unintentionally comedic exchange. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20106382&captions=true"] There are some moments that cleverly play with the conventions of the point-and-click genre. When you try and drag a USB thumb drive from Coop's backpack to the printer in the principal's office, for example, it doesn't fit at first and returns to his inventory upside down for you to try and use again, because that's literally the experience of inserting any USB device into any USB port ever. But such inspired instances are rare, and despite there being an abundance of objects to interact with in every corner of Freakpocalypse's vibrant small town setting, the general lack of surprise means it's mostly all click and no point.

EA Partners With a Studio Co-Founded by Assassin's Creed Origins' Bayek Actor

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 08:00 AM PST

Silver Rain Games, an interactive entertainment development studio founded by Assassin's Creed Origins' Bayek of Siwa actor Abubakar Salim, has partnered with Electronic Arts' EA Originals Label. EA Originals will provide funding for Silver Rain Games' unannounced IP and will give "guidance and support in the team's journey to bring a fresh perspective to games and to the industry." [caption id="attachment_2485178" align="aligncenter" width="720"]Abubakar Salim and Melissa Phillips Abubakar Salim and Melissa Phillips[/caption] Silver Rain was founded in December 2019 in the U.K. and it launched with the intent to "generate thought-provoking and innovative games and content across different mediums of entertainment." Salim, who also starred in HBO's Raised by Wolves, co-founded the company with Melissa Phillips. Phillips will lead as Head of Studio and has previously worked as the BAFTA Games Programme manager on BAFTA Games programs and events. Since its inception, the company has grown to approximately 20 staff members, who are all currently working remote. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/09/new-ea-originals-games-from-a-way-out-fe-devs-announced"] "In what has been a challenging year, we have assembled an extraordinarily creative and worldly team who are eager to work on projects that bring their global perspectives to life. Together we will construct an exciting universe that unlocks the power of storytelling and the brilliance that brings," said Salim. "We couldn't be happier to work with the EA Originals team, who are phenomenal partners for us as we begin this journey. Not only does each of them understand our vision to inspire and entertain, but they also welcome this exciting new age of game development." EA Originals is EA's way of working with the "best and boldest independent studios across the world to make sure these games get the scale of audience they deserve, with zero compromise on artistic vision." The label has already released such games as Unravel, Sea of Solitude, Rocket Arena, and Josef Fares' A Way Out. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/02/it-takes-two-the-final-preview"] Fares' It Takes Two, the multiplayer dodgeball game Knockout City, and the Tim Burton-esque Lost in Random are all in development and are set to release in the future by other developers under EA Originals. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Xbox-Bethesda Broadcast to Air Today

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 07:02 AM PST

An Xbox broadcast to celebrate Bethesda joining the company will be aired today, but it won't focus on providing news or revealing projects. It will likely feature announcements of new Bethesda games joining Xbox Game Pass. The broadcast is titled 'Bethesda Joins Xbox - Roundtable', and is scheduled for 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK on YouTube today. The video description reads: "A conversation with key leaders celebrating Bethesda joining Team Xbox." Xbox head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg has made clear that "this is NOT FOCUSED ON NEWS/REVEALS, but a great chance to learn more about the teams & people at Bethesda." [Greenberg's Emphasis] [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/09/microsoft-bethesda-heres-to-the-journey-official-announcement-trailer"] The broadcast follows Microsoft's official acquisition of ZeniMax, which turned eight Bethesda developers into first-party Microsoft studios. In that initial announcement, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer promised further Bethesda games would be added to Xbox Game Pass later this week to celebrate – it's likely those will be announced during the broadcast. We may not learn quite as much about Microsoft's plans for Bethesda studios, however. Spencer previously explained that more news about how Xbox's new teams will work is coming "later this year". Spencer has previously explained that Microsoft legally could not address plans with Bethesda until the acquisition was complete, so discussions may still be in the early stages. One thing we do know is that "some" future Bethesda games will be Xbox & PC exclusive after the acquisition. "With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams," Spencer wrote earlier this week, "gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

EA Sports College Football Game Seemingly Won't Launch Until July 2023

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 06:36 AM PST

While EA revealed the exciting news that EA Sports College Football would be returning for the first time since 2013, newly discovered documents reveal the first game in the revived franchise may not arrive until July 2023. As reported by GameSpot, Extra Points' Matt Brown obtained records from the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), the company EA has partnered with on this College Football game relaunch, that state the game won't be out for a while. "According to internal documentation from CLC that I obtained via Open Records request, the CLC told FBS institutions that EA Sports intends to release the new video game in 'July of 2023.'" Brown wrote on Twitter. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/13/ea-sports-boss-ncaa-lawsuit-ripped-heart-and-soul-out-of-studio-but-had-silver-lining-ign-unfiltered"] The documentation obtained by Brown also includes numerous other details about the proposal to make new college football games, and you can subscribe to read them all. Some of these details include EA visiting schools to gather reference for items that cannot be sent (like stadiums), access to logos, uniforms, costumed mascots, "non-costumed mascots/traditions," school-owned band recordings, trophies, and more. EA Sports College Football, when it does return, will include more than 100 institutions in the upcoming game, including their logos, stadiums, uniforms, gameday traditions, and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/07/05/ncaa-football-14-one-hour-of-gameplay"] While the game will not include student-athlete names, images, and likenesses, "EA Sports is continuing to watch those developments closely." For more on the EA Sports College Football saga, check out our IGN Unfiltered episode with EA Sports EVP and GM Cam Weber on how the NCAA lawsuit ripped the "heart and soul" out of the studio, but how it also had a silver lining. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Rockstar Leeds Founder Gordon Hall Dies, Aged 51

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 05:15 AM PST

Gordon Hall, who founded the studio that would become Rockstar Leeds – and worked on the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and L.A. Noire – has died at the age of 51. As reported by GamesIndustry, members of the Yorkshire development scene began discussing the news today. No cause of death has been released at time of writing. Hall founded Möbius Entertainment in Leeds, England in 1997, which worked primarily on handheld games, including a Game Boy Advance version of Max Payne. Take-Two Interactive acquired the company in 2004, rebranding it as Rockstar Leeds in the process, with Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser saying the company's work on the Max Payne game had been impressive enough to want to bring them aboard. Rockstar Leeds, with Hall as studio president, became Rockstar's handheld specialists, co-developing GTA: Liberty City Stories and GTA: Vice City Stories with Rockstar North. It also helped port a number of other Rockstar games over the years. Later, the studio led development on GTA: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS - a game we awarded a 9.5/10 review and go on to call one of the best ever games on the handheld. We spoke to Hall in 2009 about the game's development, and how Rockstar Leeds managed to fit a GTA city into the DS' hardware. In a statement to IGN, a Rockstar Games spokesperson wrote: "We were very saddened to hear of the recent passing of Gordon Hall. During his time with us, Gordon helped create some truly amazing games and was instrumental in the creation of the classic, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. May he rest in peace. Our condolences go out to his family and friends for their loss." Over the years, Hall also supported development on L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis, and more. In 2011, Hall resigned from Rockstar Leeds, later joining Activision Blizzard Mobile as chief creative officer. All of us at IGN offer our condolences to Hall's family and friends. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News.

Everywhere: Fan Theories About GTA Mastermind's New Game are 'Not Far Off', Says Dev

Posted: 11 Mar 2021 03:22 AM PST

We recently reported on fan discoveries about Everywhere, the upcoming game from ex-Rockstar president Leslie Benzies and his new studio Build a Rocket Boy. The studio has now told IGN that some of the theories fans have been putting together are "not far off" what Build a Rocket Boy is envisioning for the final project – but may not represent the scale of the game it's aiming for. In a statement to IGN, a Build a Rocket Boy spokesperson said that the company keeps a close eye on its communities, and has been impressed by what fans have pieced together using the slim number of clues available: "We love how the community is piecing together all the information they can find to build an idea of what Everywhere might be about. Believe me when I say, we're a regular reader of the Subreddits! Some of the things they found out, and you touched on in your article, are actually not far off from what we envision, but there's a lot of context and scale missing that will be really exciting for players to dive into and experience once we release. "We don't like thinking in terms of open-world, or closed-world, but rather how we can build new worlds, and exciting, new ways of playing games." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=everywhere-4-art-images&captions=true"] The spokesperson didn't go into more detail about which elements were close, but our report included a number of details drawn from patents and hidden areas of the Everywhere website. The Everywhere fan community has been drawing lines between those ideas, putting together an image of a somewhat realistic online world, within which a second virtual world exists, where players can potentially create their own minigames. "I think the first world will be something similar to GTA Online and the second world will [look] like Ready Player One," said Everywhere Discord admin Nestor, "where you can create worlds and games for the enjoyment of other players, and access them through doors or portals." Other elements included potential payment systems, perhaps even for real-world objects, in-game spectation services, a battle royale potentially tied to music tracks, and even a companion app that ties together all of the above - which can seemingly already be accessed in part. Build a Rocket Boy hasn't given any indication of when it might officially reveal more about the project. Previously, we've learned that the game will be "an immersive and large MMO experience", which recently switched from the Amazon Lumberyard engine to Unreal. "In the near future, technology has brought humanity to the precipice of a world shifting change," reads an official blurb. "There are those who want to use this technology to advantage only themselves, and those who want to use it to help all humankind. Will we look to the stars? Or stare only at our feet? Will we be inspired? Or live in fear?" Build a Rocket Boy was founded by Leslie Benzies, the "unseen mastermind" of Grand Theft Auto. Benzies worked on almost every Rockstar game from Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2001 through to Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013, and directed GTA Online. He left Rockstar amid some controversy in 2014, and announced Everywhere in 2016. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.  

Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 4 Review

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 09:36 PM PST

It's no secret licensed racing games on a yearly cadence sometimes struggle to innovate, and Monster Energy Supercross -- The Official Videogame 4 is no exception. It's certainly true that Supercross 4 looks the best the series ever has humming along at 60 frames per second on PS5 and Xbox Series X│S, and it's also true that developer Milestone has wedged in more riders, more official teams, and more items than ever before.

However, its attempt at injecting more nuance into the career mode falls short of meaningfully reinventing the experience, and the overall result honestly seems like a bit of an inessential upgrade from 2020's Supercross 3.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/08/monster-energy-supercross-4-launch-trailer]

Between Supercross, MXGP, Ride, and MotoGP, there's no doubting Milestone's enthusiasm when it comes to motorcycle games. With that in mind Supercross 4 is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a sincere and successful stab at distilling an admittedly niche motorsport into a racing game geared towards Supercross disciples. The bikes are lavishly detailed, the track atmosphere is great, and the sense of speed and danger as 22 riders hustle and jostle around the tight stadium courses is very good.

However, this was equally true of Supercross 3, and indeed Supercross 2 – and even the original. It's subsequently hard to argue that Supercross 4 does quite enough new stuff to truly soar above its predecessors.

Skilling Them Softly

Supercross 4's primary new addition is a juicier single-player career mode, which includes a skill tree to improve your rider's stats, dedicated training modules, a journal that tracks various racing feats and other cumulative bits of data, and a path that now begins in Supercross Futures – the real-world feeder system established back in 2018 for aspiring Supercross superstars and folks with the confidence to wear leather pants with the word 'Impeccable' on their bottoms.

While this all sounds good on paper, it's still quite basic compared to the deeper career modes found in games like F1 or WRC, and its application in-game is all a little uneven. In real life, for instance, Futures are amateur class races conducted on courses that are tamed down from the ones sculpted for the pros. The Futures races in Supercross 4, however, ultimately don't seem distinct from the main categories as they use the same courses and are presented in the same way. Without its own atmosphere it doesn't really feel like a unique starting point for your Supercross 4 career.

[poilib element="poll" parameters="id=395a621a-7c48-4dce-b933-35cbaafa9fe6"]

The RPG-style skill tree seems like a pretty standard inclusion for a sports game on the surface, and it works, because I definitely felt the results of boosting my rider's stats. Unfortunately, for this to be able to happen, Supercross 4 feels as if it's arbitrarily numbing the bike handling to be more sluggish in the beginning, which I found pretty unappealing as a returning player. It feels artificial to override a player's actual proficiency with the controls simply because they haven't earned enough points to check a box yet.

Between the optional training modules and the points gleaned from racing and fulfilling totals in my rider's journal, thankfully it only took less than a full season to boost these stats to the point where the handling felt largely on par with Supercross 3 again. That's despite the game's best efforts to derail me, too, because there are definitely some gremlins in the training modes. "Missing" gates while passing directly over them and the inconsistent fail states for leaving the track limits proved pretty annoying, but losing one of my limited number of weekly attempts because the AI crashed before even handing me control was extremely lousy.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/18/monster-energy-supercross-4-kick-off-trailer]

Sunday, Muddy Sunday

Perhaps one of the most peculiar problems with Supercross 4, however, is how impenetrable I predict it may be for both new players and some young players. Yes, the difficulty curve for the Supercross series has always been significant and, yes, the tracks are always unforgiving for the unprepared, and success requires carefully learning each track to maintain momentum on the rhythm sections above all. However, between Supercross 4's extremely superficial tutorial and the scaling back of rewinds from unlimited to a very finite resource, Supercross 4 has become an even more unfriendly place for less experienced players. The fact that there are five separate AI difficulty levels that all seem to be able to rip lap times within a second-or-so of each other also leaves me sceptical whether beginners will be able to fashion Supercross 4 into an experience they can scale along with their own skills. F1 2020 is a good example of a game that's made great strides opening up a daunting sim to beginners while retaining its complexity, but Supercross 4 is going the opposite direction – and narrowing the target audience seems especially odd considering Supercross is owned by the same company that runs Monster Jam and Disney On Ice.

This is a shame because ultimately Supercross 4 still feels good to play. The air control physics are still a little wonky if you waggle the wrong inputs, but the sense of weight remains very good. Additionally, Supercross 4 eases up on making grazing the trackside Tuff Blox a death sentence and the dynamics of deep, thick sand are very well-realised this time around.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-greatest-racing-games-ever&captions=true"]

Valorant Player Sinatraa Suspended Following Sexual Abuse Accusations [Update]

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 05:59 PM PST

Update: As the investigation into Jay 'Sinatraa' Won continues, the Overwatch League has issued a statement regarding the matter. Prior to playing Valorant esports, Won was a key member of the San Francisco Shock Overwatch team, where he was crowned MVP for the team's winning 2019 season. Furthermore, Overwatch will refund an Overwatch League skin for Zarya that was inspired by Won as part of his MVP win during his time in the league. The Overwatch League operates under a franchise system, and the San Francisco Shock is operated by a third-party company. In a statement to IGN, an Overwatch League spokesperson says, "The Overwatch League is aware of allegations made against former player Jay "Sinatraa" Won. We take any allegations of this nature seriously and unequivocally support victims of abuse." Overwatch League also says it will offer refunds for the "Alien" Overwatch League skin, which was designed to commemorate Won's MVP win. Anyone with the skin currently can refund the skin for 200 League Tokens (retail: $9.99 USD) and have the skin removed from their collection. The Overwatch Championship and MVP badges will also be removed from the Alien skin in a future patch. An official blog post on the Overwatch League website for how Won helped inspire the Alien skin has already been taken down and now redirects to an error page. [caption id="attachment_248505" align="alignnone" width="1280"]sinatraa_overwatch_league_skin Overwatch League 'Alien' skin for Zarya designed to commemorate Sinatraa's MVP win. Source: Blizzard[/caption] Here is the Overwatch League's full statement below:
"The Overwatch League is aware of allegations made against former player Jay "Sinatraa" Won. We take any allegations of this nature seriously and unequivocally support victims of abuse. The League is offering a refund of 200 League Tokens for the "Alien" Overwatch League MVP skin to players who request one, at which point the skin will be removed from their collection. We'll share more information on how refunds will work soon. The Overwatch Championship and MVP badges will be removed from the "Alien" skin in a future patch."
[poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Professional Valorant player Jay 'Sinatraa' Won has been suspended from the North American Valorant Champions Tour following allegations that he sexually abused a former partner. Content Warning: details on sexual and emotional abuse follows. In a statement yesterday,  Cleo Hernandez provides a detailed, graphic account of her relationship with Won, saying Won pressured her into sex on numerous occasions without her consent, even after she repeatedly told him no or expressed that she was in pain. She also accused him of being emotionally abusive and manipulative while they were together. The account includes an audio recording in which Hernandez can be heard saying "No" repeatedly while a male voice, said to be Won's, insists on continuing. Today, Riot issued a statement through its official Valorant Champions Tour NA account authored by global head of competitive operations and Valorant, Alex Francois: "We are aware of the current situation regarding Jay Won (Sinatraa) and have launched an investigation. Per our existing competitive rules and investigative process, a decision has been made to suspend Won throughout the investigation and therefore he will not be able to compete this weekend." Won's team, the Los Angeles Sentinels, has also suspended Won with a similar statement: "We are aware of the current situation regarding Jay 'Sinatraa' Won and have launched an investigation internally. While the investigation is pending, he is suspended from the team. We will provide a further update once the investigation has concluded." Won is a former competitive Overwatch player who used to play for the San Francisco Shock, before moving to the Sentinels and Valorant in 2020. Won has yet to reply to these accusations. IGN has also reached out to the Overwatch League for comment as well. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

EA Is Investigating FIFA Scandal After Employee Allegedly Caught Selling Rare FUT Cards

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 03:35 PM PST

EA is investigating allegations that an employee, or at least someone involved with EA FIFA, is selling rare FIFA 21 Ultimate Team items in exchange for real money through a kind of makeshift black market. Earlier this week, reports began spreading on social media that claimed to have screenshots of a text exchange between an alleged EA employee and a FIFA 21 player trying to purchase FUT Icon and Team of the Year cards. In the text exchange, the seller was offering rare cards for over $1,000 USD. Typically, the legitimate ways to acquire these cards require trades between players or by purchasing random loot packs, making these cards incredibly rare. And it should be noted that Icon and TOTY cards aren't just rare because of the famous players on them, but because their competitive stats are also some of the best in the game. The exchange has since been named EA Gate on social media. You can check out the alleged details in a tweet from @FutArcade below. It's unclear exactly how these transactions begin, but according to the chat screenshots, a person seeking rare FUT cards just needs to provide their PSN and EA ID, and the appropriate funds. When asked by the buyer if there's a reason to worry about being banned, the seller says there's "no risk" but can't divulge why out of concern for security. The alleged seller appears to offer a menu of items, including 3 Icon cards for 750 Euros (~$895) or 3 Icon cards and 2 Team of the Year cards for 1,000 Euros (~$1193). In a statement published on the official EA Sports FIFA Twitter account, the company says it's aware of the allegations and has started an investigation. "A thorough investigation is underway, and if we identify improper conduct, we will take swift action," says EA. "We want to be clear — this type of behavior is unacceptable, and we in no way condone what is alleged to have happened here." IGN has contacted EA and received the same statement published on Twitter. We'll have updates for when EA concludes its investigation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a News Editor at IGN.

What the Bethesda Deal Means for Sony

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 03:29 PM PST

On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation show Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano and Lucy O'Brien to discuss what implications the Bethesda deal  has on Sony's current plans, how and what we think Sony can do to keep PlayStation Plus competitive and improve it, and our expectations for the future of PSVR and its successor. Watch the new episode above! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps5-games&captions=true"] Podcast Beyond! is live every Wednesday. For more on PS5, check out our PS5 console review and our PS5 wiki guide for tips on how to best use your system. And for more Beyond, be sure to watch the first episode of our Bloodborne let's play! [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=6dd2b926-8863-4080-99b2-d08eb61f67f6"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Resident Evil Village: Capcom Warns Fans About Early Access Scam Emails

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 01:29 PM PST

Capcom is warning Resident Evil fans to be aware of any "Early access invitations" to play Resident Evil: Village as these are fake messages designed as scams. In an email that Capcom has sent out, the company advises anyone who has received an "Early Access" invitation to play the upcoming Resident Evil game should not accept as these appear to be phishing attempts from a third-party. This is not long after Capcom itself was a victim of a data breach that appears to have impacted employees. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-8-village-showcase-screenshots&captions=true"] Capcom says the sender address is displayed as "no-reply(at)capcom(dot)com" Here's Capcom's full email warning below:
Hello, We hope you're very well. We're sending this message as we've been made aware that there are currently emails circulating that pretend to contain "Early Access invitations" to Resident Evil Village. The sender address is being displayed as "no-reply(at)capcom(dot)com". We want to inform you that these messages are NOT from Capcom and appear to be phishing attempts by an unauthorized third party. If you have received such a message, please DO NOT download any files or reply, and delete the message immediately. If you are unsure of the authenticity of correspondence from Capcom, please contact us directly to verify.
Resident Evil Village will be released on May 7, 2021, and given how the release date is fast approaching these scammers appear to be taking advantage of fans' anticipation. So if you see an email from Capcom that looks too good to be true, it is. Not to mention there already appear to be Resident Evil leaks online. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/21/resident-evil-village-story-trailer"] Meanwhile, you can check out IGN's full, genuine Resident Evil Village coverage, including our interview with the developers on the design of the popular Lady Dimitrescu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

What Is Blaseball? Developers Answer as Game Enters New Era

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 12:00 PM PST

About once every week or two, someone tags me in a Discord channel or on Twitter because someone, somewhere has asked the question: "What is Blaseball?"

There are many answers to this question, ranging from the very simple to the Charlie-from-Always-Sunny-explaining-Pepe-Silvia complex. I imagine I'm getting tagged in these things because multiple times a week, I yell something on Twitter about how cool my favorite Blaseball team (the Kansas City Breath Mints, who are having a...difficult season) is.

One way to answer is to try and tell the story of what's happened in Blaseball so far is through an "official, league-sanctioned recap of the major events of The Discipline Era in the first ever Blaseball Roundup, Presented by the Internet League Blaseball Broadcasting Committee, a subsidiary of Internet League Blaseball." Thankfully, we have one of those for you:

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/10/blaseball-seasons-1-11-official-league-sanctioned-recap"]

But perhaps a better explanation for the total Blaseball novice is this succinct outline from one of the members of developer The Game Band, Sam Rosenthal:

"Blaseball is an absurdist hard take on fantasy baseball," he says in an interview with IGN. "It's kind of like fantasy baseball, [but] with more fantasy [and] tabletop role playing game dynamics. You are placing fake bets on fake teams that play 24 hours a day. And you're earning coins by placing these bets. And you're using that currency to buy a bunch of different things.

"But one of the main things that you buy are votes, which can be used every single week in our election. And we have different things up for vote that can change the course of the league and your team forever. So every single week, community organizers figure out where they want to take the game next. And that's really the core fun part about Blaseball -- no individual choice makes a big difference. But collectively, the fans coming together, it can completely change the entire way the story unfolds."

Okay, but, what IS Blaseball? Like really?

To expand on Rosenthal's explanation, Blaseball is a primarily-text based, massively multiplayer baseball management game played in your PC browser and is, for the most part, being played at all times. It's entirely free and all the money is fake; you just sign up, pick a team, and get betting. A "season" lasts a week and consists of 99 games played on the hour, every hour, Monday through Friday, with eight teams advancing to the post-season on Saturday and a winner being crowned at the end of that. On Sunday, votes are tallied, consequences meted out, and new rules ranging in absurdity from adding a fifth base to redistributing the best players from the best teams are established before a new season begins again on Monday. Fans engage, as Rosenthal said, through bets and votes, but also by picking a favorite team -- such as the Canada Moist Talkers, the Chicago Firefighters, the New York Millennials, the Ohio Worms, or you know, the Breath Mints! -- and cheering them on, as well as voting each week on buffs like arm cannons and extra limbs to help them out.

2021-03-10 (1)

Blaseball began in the summer of last year and went through eleven seasons in 2020, broken up by occasional "siestas", where play was paused so The Game Band could catch up with development as the game's popularity grew. If you're totally unaware of Blaseball, the above might just sound charmingly strange, but things get weird along the way. Over the course of those eleven seasons, a story unfolded: forbidden knowledge was accessed, players were incinerated by rogue umpires, the dead were revived, and all of Blaseball banded together to fight against a giant peanut god that threatened to destroy everything. The fans and players won, and Blaseball took a longer hiatus signalling the end of "The Discipline Era."

But now, as Blaseball transitions into a new Era, The Game Band wants to address a pressing issue: Though Blaseball is, at its core, pretty simple -- just betting on fake sports games and voting on new sports rules -- the lore and fan communities around the game have grown to be so sprawling and involved that anyone curiously peeking into the fandom might be immediately put off by how much seems to be required to understand Blaseball at all.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=You%20don't%20need%20to%20know%20what%20happened%20in%201986%20with%20the%20Los%20Angeles%20Dodgers%20to%20be%20able%20to%20enjoy%20what's%20happening%20today%20with%20the%20Dodgers"]

"So much seems to have happened in Blaseball, but at the same time it's very much a 'live in the present' type of game," Rosenthal says. "And you can jump in at any time and pick a team to follow their story. It's very much like, if you have any experience getting into a new sport for the first time, there is so much history. Like, the Los Angeles Dodgers, right? You don't need to know what happened in 1986 [with that team] to be able to enjoy what's happening today with the Dodgers."

Stephen Bell, another one of The Game Band, adds, "What do people maybe need to know, to jump into the new era from what happened before? Basically, there was a baseball league, and then the fans voted to open the Forbidden Book. And then, like 11 seasons later, they killed God. There's stuff in between, but that's where we've left off."

A New Era

Now, Blaseball is back for The Expansion Era, and concluded Season 12 last week (congratulations to our champs: the Hades Tigers). The Expansion Era has brought with it a number of new features, including a Feed on the site to help fans keep up with what's happening on their team -- wins, losses (more losses if you're, sigh, a Breath Mints fan), roster changes, players disappearing to Elsewhere, incinerations, that kind of thing. Before, much of this information was only available after it immediately happened by checking the game's community Discord server or various dedicated Twitter accounts.

The Game Band still encourages fans who like what Blaseball has to offer to check out the official Discord, especially if they want to participate in the cultural event of Blaseball beyond simply betting and randomly voting. Every team has its own channels in the server, where fans congregate to help push certain votes, which ultimately results in collective action shaping Blaseball's narrative. To give a recent example, at the end of the last Season, the Kansas City Breath Mints collectively voted to buff our beloved batter Pudge Nakamoto. We then also inexplicably voted to kick him off our team in the same election. Community voting, however well-planned, is sometimes imperfect. Like with any sport, disappointment, too, is part of the joy of being a fan. 2021-03-10 (3) As another example, at the end of Season 11 fans voted on three Decrees that were enacted: Eat the Forbidden Book, Deface the Forbidden Book, and Close the Forbidden Book. Fans didn't know what the implications of those votes were at the time, but The Game Band tells me they had new features in mind for every possible voting choice on the table. The fans picking those three resulted in the addition of concessions, Wills (basically another way to vote to influence your team each week), and the construction of stadiums for each team -- an exciting endeavor that we're voting on currently without knowing what consequences voting on Prefab options like "Rodeo" or "Boreal" or "Twede" will bring. "We treated that election like a writing prompt for this upcoming era," says The Game Band's Joel Clark. "That's what we've been working with for the past few months."

"I described it to someone the other day as, we have built a bunch of toys to play with," he continues. "And so while we have a lot of things planned out, we've planned out that possibility space, we may not know when things are going to go or when things are going to happen. Whether or not we're going to use a certain system or not, that sort of stuff will be improvisational. And we'll see what the community runs with. And we will bring out and play with our toys when the time is right."

Blaseball producer Felix Kramer adds, "Blaseball's like a cake. We have all the ingredients on the table. The fans are putting it in. And it might not be edible at the end!"

Baseball, at our Mercy

Participating in Blaseball's community elements is how a lot of the game's lore is created and established, with entire channels, Twitter accounts standing in for Blaseball players, and wikis dedicated to speculation, character development, and more. The Game Band wants to emphasize that at the core, Blaseball is very simple -- only the things that happen on the site are "canon." But they are happy to encourage fan-made content and headcanons. For example, Breath Mints pitcher Winnie Hess is a horse -- this is nowhere on the website, but most fans have accepted it as true. Or there's the lore that now-retired Breath Mints star Boyfriend Monreal is simultaneously the boyfriend of every fan of the Breath Mints that wants them to be their boyfriend, including me. Every team has their own, and it's all part of the Blaseball experience. 2021-03-10 "A core pillar of Blaseball is that everyone is allowed to have their own headcanon," Kramer says. "The community definitely gravitates towards certain representations in terms of like, [current Mexico City Wild Wings batter] Jessica Telephone is [a certain] type of person. And as Blaseball continues there are more facts that are canon, so the possibility space is infinite, but it at least hones in a little bit and guides everybody in their thinking. But a huge pillar is there is no canon in terms of the lore. We want it to be open, we want people to be able to write their own." The Game Band has largely operated with a light touch, as the game itself only includes very simple info. Player names (admittedly mostly ridiculous ones like Quack Enjoyable, Rodriguez Internet, or recently-incinerated Hotbox Sato, rest in violence), stats (batting, baserunning, pitching, defense, peanut allergy, coffee style, vibe pregame ritual, soulscream, etc), and obviously the outcome of games are all readily available. But beyond that, everything is open to interpretation. Occasionally, The Game Band will canonize something fan-made, such as when Jessica Telephone was officially equipped with her fan-imagined bat, The Dial Tone. But these moments are rare. "You still need people to buy into the collective stuff that's happening on this site," Bell says. "So I will say that, from a narrative perspective, we do sometimes have to grab the wheel again a little bit and just either remind people of what the game is, or be explicit about certain things, you know, we still are hoping that you're like reading what's on this site? Because as it continues to get bigger and bigger and bigger, you want it to at least make sense to people that are coming in."

Sustainable Chaos

The Game Band is a very, very small team -- only a handful of people. And Blaseball is a completely free game, funded largely by Patreon and weekly sponsors. It started, originally, just as a fun side project for the studio after its previous Apple Arcade title, Where Cards Fall. So when its popularity exploded last year, The Game Band says keeping up with both the technical and content demands became a challenge.

But with the Expansion Era, Blaseball and The Game Band are prioritizing sustainability, both for themselves and the fans. On the technical side, this means making sure the site doesn't crash when everyone shows up to watch a critical game, or improving the mobile experience (producer Felix Kramer says they will probably not be doing any improvements for the single person watching Blaseball in their PS4 browser).

Another way The Game Band is prioritizing sustainability is by implementing scheduled "on" and "off" seasons -- Blaseball play will now run for three weeks, or seasons, on, followed by two weeks off with no play happening. Clark says the slightly less frantic pace following the game's extended siesta over the holidays will result in a game that's "a little bit less raw," but still with the same chaotic, energetic voice as before.

2021-03-10 (4)

Blaseball has already seen far more success than The Game Band initially intended for its small, goofy side project. Aside from just the number of people cheering on teams each season, Blaseball has spawned my new favorite band, international punk group The Garages (named after the Blaseball team The Seattle Garages). They've put out 14 albums in 2020 alone, all on Bandcamp and Spotify and played on loop infinitely in my living room all day. It's also inspired a lot of charity work, including an unofficial fan-run artist collective producing Blaseball merchandise with proceeds going to charity, and a weekly fan-run effort to let a handful of teams each week highlight and promote charities local and important to them.

The Game Band attributes this success to a number of factors. Clark suggests the communal nature of the game, especially given its launch during a global pandemic and a time of general chaos around the world, had something to do with it. Bell offers that Blaseball was built around the idea of sports fans wanting to have more agency, and that many people appreciated it as a celebration of being able to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges by rallying everyone together.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20last%20thing%20that%20we%20want%20is%20for%20Blaseball%20to%20feel%20like%20this%20impenetrable%20thing"]

Rosenthal attributes some of Blaseball's success to its authentic voice, saying the team made the game out of love rather than to siphon money off of people, and thinks fans can sense and appreciate that.

"We hope it'll reach new people too," he says. "The last thing that we want is for Blaseball to feel like this impenetrable thing, where if you were there at the beginning, you're there, but nobody else is welcome. That's not our goal. We want this to be something that if you're moderately curious about what it's about, there's a place for you in it."

Blaseball is currently being played now in Season 13 of The Expansion Era, and it shows no sign of becoming normal anytime soon. Most recently, The Baltimore Crabs tried to build a stadium (the Crabitat) which caused a wave of flooding and accelerated construction on every other team's ballparks. A giant squid that played a big role last Era got promoted to Food and Beverage Director and added "wet pretzels" to the concessions menu. The Kansas City Breath Mints are playing terribly, but they're still a great team to support, if you're looking for one. The late season's when we really come alive, anyway.

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Shiny Pokémon and the Few Trainers Who Actually Catch 'em All

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 11:49 AM PST

With the largest Pokédex in the series to date, collecting all 898 pokémon is no easy feat. While catching them all is a goal that many Trainers strive for, some players push themselves even further by attempting to capture prestigious Shiny variants.

Originally introduced during Pokémon: Gold and Silver, shiny Pokémon are only found during extraordinarily rare encounters and are immediately recognizable thanks to their unique color scheme and signature sparkle. Shiny Pokémon also used to guarantee special hidden ability stats, but these bonuses were removed with the release of Pokémon: Ruby and Sapphire.

To say finding a Shiny Pokémon is difficult is an understatement. According to Serebii.net, a hub site for anything and everything related to Pokémon, every time a player discovers a Pokémon – whether in the wild or through breeding – there's only a 1 in 4,096 chance of that creature having a variant color. The original odds (starting in 1999's Pokémon Gold and Silver versions) were 1 in 8,192 but were improved with the release of Pokémon: X & Y in 2013. Despite the egregious amount of luck needed to even see a Shiny Pokémon, certain players make it their mission to fill their Pokédex with as many of these uniquely colored monsters as possible.

The span of time between shiny encounters can last days – if not weeks – meaning that players who embark on this journey have a level of patience that is unrivaled within the Pokémon community. We spoke with several hunters - ranging from casual collectors to professional Shiny hunt streamers - who discussed why they willingly put themselves through this immense endurance test.

Casual Hunting

For Pokémon Trainers like Emilee Dzadovsky, Shiny hunting is a fun accompaniment to playing each game. Like most players, her first Shiny appearance was mere happenstance, a chance encounter with a Zubat at the age of 11 while playing Pokémon: Ruby.

"I was bumbling about Granite Cave on Dewford Island early on in the game when a green Zubat popped up on the screen and dazzled me with a starry animation," she said. "I immediately recognized that the color was off and had never found a Pokémon like this before. I didn't really realize what a 'Shiny' was yet, but I knew that Zubat was special – I had to have it!"

Her collection is by no means large – only seven she found or hatched and a few more acquired in trades – but each Shiny Pokémon is an important addition to her specific team, as well as a personal milestone. Due to the ridiculous length of time it takes to find a shiny, she regularly includes each shiny Pokémon in her party as a testament to her hard work."I think what drives me most to find them is not only how beautiful many of them look," she says, "but also the sense of accomplishment and pride you feel after finally encountering one."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/26/pokmon-legends-arceus-official-trailer"]

Ash Jefferson's first Shiny Pokémon story is much like Dzadovsky's. While playing Pokémon: Fire Red, Jefferson found an Abra and thankfully managed to capture it before the creature could use Teleport. "Neither I nor any of my friends had ever encountered one," she says, "and I definitely rubbed my cool pink Abra in their faces for months after I found it."

Years later, Jefferson now has a collection of approximately 100 Shiny Pokémon, with Mimikyu being her favorite. Whether 100 or seven, the dedication required to find a shiny monster is intense. Jefferson's longest hunt resulted in hatching over 3,000 Hawlucha eggs before finally claiming her prize and, as she notes, is a great way to simply decompress. "I can absentmindedly Shiny hunt while watching a movie, listening to a podcast, or chatting with my friends on a call – which helps with the repetitive nature and boredom that sometimes comes with Shiny hunting."

Yet for other hunters, the thrill and appeal of catching them all in their Shiny form becomes a game in and of itself.

The Collectors

While casual hunters like Dzadovsky and Jefferson simply seek their favorites or hunt as a means of relaxation, certain players strive to fill the Pokédex with shiny variants. When not acting as coach of the Jamaican Jolteons in the community-created Treecko Pokémon League, David 'Lyncoln' Folkes spends his time building competitive teams. As an avid fan of the franchise and staunch collector of Shiny pokémon, Folkes views shiny hunting as another way to present a unique team.

"[W]ith the advances in Pokémon breeding over the years, simply having a Pokémon with the stats I wanted wasn't enough," he says. "I like using unconventional and rare builds and having those as Shiny Pokémon really adds to the pride of having them."

But having a full team of rare Shiny pokémon wasn't enough, apparently. "I've also now shifted to obtaining all my Shinies in luxury [Poké]balls for the extra sparkle at the beginning of the match," he says. "It's also my favorite Pokeball."

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=new-pokemon-snap-30-screenshots-and-trailer-images&captions=true"]

Folkes says he someday hopes to have a Shiny version of every Pokemon in the National Dex – a catalog of every Pokemon in every region, ever that currently stands at 898 entries. Filling the National Dex in its entirety is already a time-consuming endeavor; add on the extra layer of ensuring that every Pokémon is Shiny and Trainers can expect to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of hours mindlessly grinding through Pokémon encounters.

For other collectors, like Laura Kate Dale, filling out just a National Dex isn't enough. She's currently working on what's known as a Shiny Living National Dex, meaning that every Pokémon – including their pre-evolution forms can be selected as a Shiny. "It [feels] productive, even if it's ultimately meaningless," she says.

Dale is a more recent convert to the life of a Shiny hunter, but considers it an entertaining way to build a tangible collection that also provides a unique brand of stimulation. "I am autistic, and I have always had a part of my brain that craves completion of collections, and repetitive tasks, and doing the same thing over and over in a predictable manner," she says. "There were a few years as a gamer where I got really hooked on buying loot boxes in games, which was pretty bad for my finances and my mental health. Shiny hunting provided a safe, healthy, outlet for that aspect of my disability. I could squeeze hundreds of extra hours of play out of games that I loved, and channel my brain's need to collect, and sort, and obsessively repeat things into something harmless, that would eventually become something impressive that very few people manage."

Dale's first foray into the world of Shiny hunting occurred during a press event for Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! While demoing the game, Dale discovered a shiny Zubat. Unlike in previous Pokémon games, players see every pokémon in the overworld before choosing to enter a battle or capture sequence. This even includes shiny variations, thus streamlining the overall hunting process.

"I didn't know this at the time, so seeing this green sparkly Zubat flying around the cave took a Pokémon I usually don't care about and put it front and centre as something I desperately wanted to have," she said. "The fact I could let it out of its Pokéball so it would fly around behind me in all its Shiny glory, only solidified the moment for me."

Shiny Streamers

Whether attempting to fill the Pokédex with Shiny pocket monsters or simply searching for a specific creature, Shiny hunting can not only be a painfully monotonous experience, but also a solitary one. Some hunts have the potential to last for weeks, meaning Trainers can be left behind by friends while they attempt to capture a specific Shiny Pokémon. Yet, within the streaming community, Shiny hunting has become a popular pastime.

Dallas "TheSupremeRk9s" MacDermant began uploading Shiny hunting videos about 10 years ago on YouTube. What originated as short clips to showcase the fruits of his exhaustive hunts eventually transitioned into near-daily streams. With approximately 191,000 subscribers, MacDermant actively engages with his audience as he undergoes the repetitive task of finding a Shiny Pokémon.

"Hunting, in general, didn't even get mainstream until a good few years into making Shiny videos for me, so the fact I was able to meet and interact with so many people through it shocks me right to this very day," he said. "It feels like a fever dream more than anything to have your hobby blow up to the extent Shiny hunting has in 2021."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/how-breeding-works-in-pokemon-sword-and-shield"]

While hunters all have their own personal methods, MacDermant challenges himself by only completing what are known as "Full Odds" hunts. Rather than utilize specialized breeding methods, capture combos, or items that significantly increase the rate at which Shiny pokémon appear, Full Odds hunters instead just wander around the world trying to find a new Shiny. Not only does he say he finds this personally more rewarding, it also draws people to his streams, with some hunts requiring tens of thousands of encounters before a Shiny Pokémon is found.

"Finding a shiny instantly at the Full Odds rate is like having a mini-miracle occur, while having one take forever, like my recent Registeel–70,908 soft resets for a single Shiny–really takes dedication and time," he says. "It ultimately makes you more proud of what you've achieved by completing the hunt, no matter how long it takes!"

It's not all fun and games, though – MacDermant says pressure to keep his audience entertained can make longer hunts somewhat frustrating. Shorter hunts interspersed with longer encounters are better for his viewers – as well as his mental health, he notes.

"Shiny hunting has always been my escape and mindless hobby, so even though YouTube is my job as an adult, I make sure I keep the right mindset when it comes to doing what I love," he says. "If the hunt begins to feel like a chore, it's no longer doing what I need it to for my mental health, and I simply change the hunt, take a break from Pokémon, or take some time away from streaming altogether."

For other streamers, it's more about the community you go hunting with than the hunt itself. Music producer Courtney "GlitchxCity" Williams, who streams for fun in her spare time, is a relative newcomer within the Shiny hunting community. Even though she views hunting as a fun activity while waiting for new games to release, she enjoys interacting with the Pokémon community in her Twitch chat.

"For me it's like a limit test, a gut-checker of some sorts, and I like to take on gut-checker challenges," she said. "It also gives me a good opportunity to chat with the community and learn more about Pokémon from different [people's] perspectives."

If the challenge becomes too demanding, Williams – like MacDermant – will prioritize her mental health over finding a specific shiny Pokémon. "Sometimes it can be because you have this mindset 'I just need to get this shiny so I can move on to the next one,' but I've learned to just sit back and enjoy the journey so far."

Whether playing for an audience, trying to capture them all or searching for your favorite Pokémon, shiny hunting is a deeply personal experience. Even though it requires an immense amount of willpower, the satisfaction and sheer exuberance of discovering a Shiny is indescribable – it just requires a certain degree of perseverance. As Dzadovsky says, "The Shiny will show up eventually, but it will never appear if you stop altogether."

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Grant Stoner is a freelance writer who loves to traverse through video game worlds, because his legs won't let him do so in real life. You can follow him on Twitter @Super_Crip1994, and read more of his work at Gamer for Granted.

Deathloop: Here's What Comes in Each Edition

Posted: 10 Mar 2021 10:20 AM PST

Deathloop is set to release for PS5 and PC on May 21 (see it on Amazon). It will be available in a standard edition, as well as a deluxe edition that comes with a few digital extras. You'll find full details about what comes in each edition, as well as preorder bonus information below. Let's get to it.

Preorder Deathloop (Standard Edition)

deathloop-colePS5

PC

The standard edition of Deathloop comes with the game itself, plus the preorder bonus (see below).

Deathloop Deluxe Edition

deathloop-deluxe-editionPS5

PC

The deluxe edition of Deathloop comes with the game itself, plus the following digital items:
  • .44 Karat Fourpounder Weapon
  • "Eat the Rich" Tribunal Weapon
  • "Sharp Shooter" Julianna Skin
  • "Party Crasher" Colt Skin
  • Soundtrack Selections
  • 2 Trinkets (Equippable Buffs)

Deathloop Preorder Bonus

deathloop-preorder-bonusPreorder Deathloop, and you'll receive the following:
  • "Storm Rider" Colt Skin
  • 1 Trinket (Equippable Buff)
  • Royal Protector Machete (PS5 Exclusive)
Additionally, if you preorder Deathloop from Best Buy, you'll get a $10 reward coupon to use on a future purchase. The only catch is that you have to be a My Best Buy member to take advantage of the deal, but signing up is free.

What is Deathloop?

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/deathloop-two-birds-one-stone-gameplay-trailer"] Deathloop is a first-person shooter from Arkane Lyon, the developer behind the Dishonored series. It's about a pair of rival assassins who are stuck in a Groundhog Day-type loop where they keep living through the same day over and over again. You play as Colt, and your goal is to break the time loop by taking down eight targets in a single day. To do so, you can take advantage of a wide array of weaponry, as well as supernatural powers. As you go about your business, you're being hunted by Julianna Blake, another assassin. Julianna is controlled by the game's AI, but if you want to, you can enable multiplayer to let Julianna be controlled by another player. Or you can invade another player's game by taking control of Julianna and hunting down Colt. Despite Microsoft now owning Bethesda, the parent company of Arkane Lyon, Deathloop remains a PS5 console exclusive. As such, it takes full advantage of the DualSense controller, offering haptic feedback and using the adaptive triggers.

Other Preorder Guides

[poilib element="commerceDeal" parameters="slug=other-preorder-guides&type=list"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed. [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=us-shopping&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article"]
Posted by: at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)