Saturday, June 22, 2019

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In the 06/23/2019 edition:

The Hard Costs Of Making A Game Alone

By Jordan Ramée on Jun 22, 2019 09:30 pm

Game development is a risky endeavor. Between designing, programming, QA testing, and all the other steps involved, you can spend years working on the same project. There's no guarantee that what you'll make will be well-received when it's released and, even if it is, a lack of exposure could still spell financial loss. There's a lot of pressure to succeed, and failing to meet expectations might mean there's not enough money for a next time.

And yet, despite this pressure, there are some people out there who choose to shoulder this burden alone. There are over a dozen success stories of indie developers who forged ahead with little to no outside help, managing to achieve both wide-spread critical acclaim for their work and earn enough money to make a living. It's not a very common occurrence though, and asking those who've managed to do it reveals plenty of reasons as to why that could be the case. Developing a game can already be a fairly mentally and emotionally taxing process, and doing it solo without a support system can exacerbate the stress and feelings of self-doubt. Some appreciate this challenge, but others do not.

Jonathan Blow, Derek Yu, Lucas Pope, and Joakim Sandberg each has a history of going it solo in developing at least one indie game that caught traction and went on to be both a critical and financial success. Blow is commonly cited for inspiring the indie game boom that started in late 2008 with Braid, before going on to design the critically acclaimed 2016 puzzle game The Witness. Yu's initial open-source Spelunky is also a part of that pre-2010 indie boom, and Yu is now working on its sequel, Spelunky 2. Pope made a name for himself in 2013 with Papers, Please and then went on to wow the industry again with 2018's Return of the Obra Dinn. Sandberg delivered the well-received metroidvania-inspired Iconoclasts in 2018.

Each of the four, as it turns out, express similar experiences of the emotional and mental toll associated with developing a game solo. Pope and Yu had more positive things to say about the process, while both Blow and Sandberg expressed more instances of pressure and stress that accompanied the development of their respective breakout hits Braid and Iconoclasts.

"[You] get mowed under by the sheer amount of stuff there is to do to finish a game," Blow said when asked about the hardships he had to overcome to finish Braid. "And so, you have to believe that you will be able to finish eventually, which sometimes is hard to believe… If you start believing it's too much to ever do, and your motivation starts falling, then you get less done every day. And then [you believe] there might be too much to do because your rate of progress toward the goal is not so good. And when you see that, you might get upset about that or depressed about that, and then it gets worse… There just is something fundamentally, mentally hard about working on a game where you're the main person.

"[It's] actually easier in a bigger company," Blow continued. "Because I think you can rest a little bit and you can at least, even if not everybody else is working hard, you at least feel like other people are doing something and that you're allowed to relax a little bit and the whole thing won't collapse. Whereas, if it's your project and without you it won't go forward, then it's very easy to feel like it's just going to die at any minute and that you don't have the luxury of relaxing when you need to relax. And it's just a bad combination."

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Blow's primary motivation for using Super Mario Bros. as inspiration for Braid is that Nintendo's game is simple and thus fairly easy to emulate. "3D games are a lot of work," he said. "I told myself, 'Look, I've done all these technical projects that were super ambitious, and I never finished them. So let's make a project that is technically as easy as we can make it, but put all the effort into the design because the design seems more finishable." Both Yu and Pope similarly went as simple as they could right from the start. "Yeah, I started small and I just kind of kept the scope to something that I could really do by myself," Yu said.

All four developers endorse some level of personal restriction at the outset of making a game. On the surface, this can look counterproductive, but it ensures the game is completed in a reasonable time frame--which, in the long run, can curb a lot of the pressure and self-imposed stress to finish. It's something Blow, Yu, and Pope learned through their experiences prior to their major breakout hits, as all three were members of game development teams before going it alone with Braid, Spelunky, and Papers, Please respectively. As a counterexample, Sandberg placed few restrictions upon himself when he started on Iconoclasts in 2010 (when he was in his early 20s) and the game continued to evolve and grow more complex for years, ultimately releasing when he was in his 30s and more appreciative of the wisdom found in self-imposed restrictions.

"You just have more people, and as a result, more people are struggling."

Despite the process allowing him to produce one of the more well-known indie gems of 2018, Sandberg hopes that no one ever emulates what he did. "People shouldn't follow in my footsteps," he said. "Working this hard solo and giving all their life, essentially, all their time to a project and ignoring everything else… Being that antisocial and not interacting with people enough depletes tetralin in your brain--it creates depression. If you do it for that long you're going to get depression, regardless if you have genes for it. You need to actually take weekends off, you need to not let friends disappear, you definitely need to be able to support yourself because you shouldn't go into debt making a game--which I luckily didn't."

"I kept telling myself, 'When the game is done, I can get a life again,'" Sandberg continued. "Instead I kind of collapsed afterward. Yeah, it was entirely my own fault for pushing myself that hard, but it's easy to fall into that trap. You keep saying, 'As soon as this is done, it's going to be great.' Then your body realizes that you worked a little too hard."

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Sandberg also had to break into an indie game landscape that looks very different than how it was a decade prior. None of the four believe the industry is heading towards some indie game apocalypse that will see the market implode on itself, but they agree the space has been saturated with a lot more titles in recent years--making it far more difficult for individual indie creators to find their audience and thrive. It's a problem that wasn't as nearly as big back in 2008. "You just have more people, and as a result, more people are struggling," Yu said. "I could certainly see from the perspective of people who are trying to enter the space and struggling, it does feel like there's an indie-pocalypse and they've got to work extra hard to be seen, and I do feel some of that pressure myself. And even though I know I have a leg up just having some visibility and being in this industry for a while now, everything still feels a little tenuous, even for me."

To be noticed and garner some level of critical and financial success, your best bet is name recognition from a previous success. "For someone who's just starting out?" Blow said, "I don't know, because you know, the biggest problem is just getting attention for your game. How do I get players to care that we released this game? I have that problem less than a lot of people simply because I'm already established."

"But then again, if I had made a bunch of smaller games, maybe no one would've noticed them. I wouldn't have been able to financially support myself. You can never guess."

Without the name recognition, you need to find a well-known publisher, such as Trinket Studios' Battle Chef Brigade with publisher Adult Swim, or build something that creatively explores a theme in a way that hasn't been done much (or at all) before, like Matt Makes Games' Celeste. Regardless of which strategy you go for, both are far more achievable--and thus less stressful to aspire for--when working within a team. As Sandberg can attest, you can do it alone, but it will probably take you much longer and likely lead to hours of crunch. Not ideal if you want to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Even Pope, who enjoyed his time working on both Papers, Please (which took him nine months) and Return of the Obra Dinn (which took him five years), admits that crunch is just a part of his process now as a solo developer. "I crunched for thousands of hours on Obra Dinn but it was all self-imposed and in the end, I'm happy with how the game turned out," he said. "I consider long grinds and moments of intense crunch a necessary part of my game development process."

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Blow, Pope, Yu, and Sandberg don't hate game design. They wouldn't still be doing it if that was the case. But the pressure to make something that people are willing to spend money on (while maintaining the original vision they're proud of) can make the process more stressful than they like.

"Some days I sit and think, 'How many games could I have made instead of Iconoclasts,'" Sandberg said. "But then again, if I had made a bunch of smaller games, maybe no one would've noticed them. I wouldn't have been able to financially support myself. You can never guess." On this topic, Yu said, "I think if you're making a commercial product, it's a lot easier to work on a team to shoulder that burden a little bit… Once money becomes involved, it's not just that it changes your expectations, you know it's going to change everybody's expectations. Because people are going to have to spend money on it and you know that reviewers are going to take it more seriously. You're thinking about Metacritic. All kinds of stuff come into play that don't when you're working on freeware."

As it stands, in today's indie scene, it doesn't seem very probable you'll create an indie breakout hit when you're still operating solo.

Since their breakout hits, Blow and Yu have returned to working as part of a team, though they maintain control over the overall design of their games. "Having more people just really helps," Blow said. "The Witness is a way bigger and more complex game than Braid, and part of the reason that could happen is that we had other people building the engine and making the art. If it had been mostly me, it just would not have been possible to make a game that big." Yu is currently working with BlitWorks--the studio responsible for porting Spelunky to PSN--to develop Spelunky 2. Blow and Yu's transition back to working with others is becoming a more widespread standard in recent years, as more indie developers see that a team can stave off some of the stressors that are predominantly associated with indie game development. When Eric Barone decided to put his newest project on hold to work on more updates for Stardew Valley, for example, he wrote in a blog post that he would be hiring help to "take some of the workload off," and Undertale's Toby Fox has explicitly stated he will only make the follow-up chapters to Deltarune: Chapter 1 once he's put a team together because continuing to make the game on his own is "actually impossible."

This makes Pope and Sandberg, who have continued to operate solo after their breakout hits, part of a dwindling breed. Though Pope has found success with his follow-up to Papers, Please--Return of the Obra Dinn was met with widespread success and is one of our top 10 games of 2018--he still had to scale back in terms of visuals and number of gameplay mechanics. Though, he admits he does "personally enjoy" the challenge of scaling back a game's scope far enough so that he can make it himself. Sandberg has adopted a similar approach for his next game, making a plan for something that's manageable as opposed to trying to design something that's as big as he can make it. "I don't hate the idea of [making a game] alone, but I have to start properly," Sandberg said. "I'm going to prototype [my new game] and see what happens. It's going to be an action game and smaller [than Iconoclasts], something that I can do alone and add onto later if need be. Which means, no story. The story is what makes a game huge."

As it stands, in today's indie scene, it doesn't seem very probable you'll create an indie breakout hit when you're still operating solo. Trying to do so certainly seems emotionally and mentally unhealthy as well, as there's a good amount of crunch you have to deal with on your own. Which isn't to say it's an impossible task, but if you're planning on following in the mainstream successes of popular indie games such as Dead Cells, Outlast, Into the Breach, Hollow Knight, Doki Doki Literature Club, and Gone Home, then recruiting a well-structured team (or at least finding a good partner) seems to be a far more practical course of action.


Sea Of Solitude Confronts The Topic Of Mental Health In An Empowering Way

By Alessandro Fillari on Jun 22, 2019 08:30 pm

Coming from Jo-Mei Games, Sea of Solitude is the next EA Originals title, following 2018's A Way Out from Hazelight studios. Taking an unorthodox approach to something of a well-worn adventure premise, you'll explore the ruins of a seemingly flooded world that's completely abandoned. But therein lies the hook; in this puzzle-adventure game, that sense of isolation and loneliness is palpable, which is reflected in the struggles the main character has with her own mental state. While at E3 2019, we had the chance to check out a near-final build of Sea of Solitude and spoke with the CEO of Jo-Mei Games, Cornelia Geppert, about why it's essential for more games to tackle some challenging issues like mental health.

Beginning in a rowboat, the protagonist Kay comes across a flooded city in the middle of the ocean. As she maneuvers through the canals and alleys of the town--which is loosely inspired by Berlin--she'll encounter evil blights that seem to have a deep connection to her--shouting vile insults that seem akin to intrusive thoughts. By finding the strength within herself to explore further, she will be able to restore the city, slowly raising the buildings from beneath the surface and restoring color to the different areas of town. Even from the short demo we played, it's evident that Sea of Solitude tries to tackle the complex and challenging topic of mental health, and the creator describes the game as the most important project the studio has ever made.

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"I want people not to feel so bad about feeling lonely, and that they understand that almost everyone experiences that in some way and that it's a part of human life," said Cornelia Geppert. "It's a very human story. You never quite overcome your worries and fears, and this game isn't a superhero story where everything is perfect after you finish it. But it's about how you come down and relax about life, suffering and pain is a part of life, and it's something that [Sea of Solitude] focuses on a lot."

Described as a "wide-linear" game, you'll have the freedom to explore and row about the flooded city. However, it's not quite an open world. While you do have the freedom to choose which direction to sail towards, there is largely a set path to follow through the city that leads to the key moments of the story. While there are major story threads to follow, you can also leave your boat and explore some of the abandoned buildings, letting you search through the remains of the homes that once were.

Although there's always an element of danger in Sea of Solitude--even leaving your boat to swim in the water puts you at risk of getting eaten--I found that the game had something of a relaxing cadence, despite how heavy some of the subject matter was. In some ways, this made me more drawn into what Sea of Solitude was trying to say about Kay's journey. According to Geppert, video games are in a unique position to tell exciting stories that put players in the shoes of characters that are in occasionally extraordinary, but still relatable circumstances.

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"Compared to films, you can actually experience the feels and situations of the main character in a game," said Geppert. "The main goal of Sea of Solitude is for people to experience those feelings of loneliness and despair. I also want people to see that characters like Kay are not perfect and that they have flaws, which is something we all live with. It's a very human look at the struggles of keeping up with your mental health."

Much like other games tackling the topic of mental health, the developers at Jo-Mei focus a lot on putting you in the shoes of Kay to understand her present circumstances. That feeling of empathy is a big part of Sea of Solitude, and many of the events that occurred in our brief demo were incredibly relatable in some form or another, which will undoubtedly hit close to home for some players. There's a fine line Sea of Solitude walks with its topics of mental health, and I couldn't help by be intrigued by how this game goes about its handling of a troubled woman dealing with her inner demons, and what that means for the larger adventure she finds herself on. I have a deep respect for games that at least try to talk about issues relating to mental health, and Jo-Mei Games' approach with their game is both haunting and empowering--in its own way.

Sea of Solitude will launch on July 5 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.


Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Wand Guide: How To Make Your Favorite Characters' Wands

By Kallie Plagge on Jun 22, 2019 06:39 am

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Niantic's follow-up to Pokemon Go, is now available on iOS and Android. It's a dense game; Pokemon Go players will notice a number of parallels to Go's mechanics, for example. One of the most iconic things about the Harry Potter universe is also the trickiest: wands. In Wizards Unite, you customize your own wand (in the books, the wand "chooses the wizard"). You can choose from wood types, pick a core, change the wand's flexibility, and then select the length. Having so many choices can be intimidating!

If you've read the Harry Potter books or watched the movies, you might have a passing understanding of the series' wand lore. In short, different materials are suited for different types of magic, like charms or defense (among other things), and witches and wizards have a kind of bond with their wands. While your wand in Wizards Unite doesn't affect anything in the game, it can still be fun to fully immerse yourself in the role of a witch or wizard. In that spirit, we've gathered all the details we can about famous Harry Potter characters' wands so you can match yours to your favorite witch or wizard.

For the purposes of this feature, we've referenced Pottermore for each character's wand materials and length. Some characters have complete wand information, but for those who don't, usually the flexibility is missing--so have fun with that one and make it your own! There are also some popular characters whose wands we know nothing about, so we've included some of them here for your reference.

Harry Potter: holly wood, phoenix feather core, "reasonably supple" flexibility, 11 inches

Ron Weasley's first wand: ash wood, unicorn hair core, 12 inches

Ron Weasley's second wand: willow wood, unicorn hair core, 14 inches

Hermione Granger: vine wood, dragon heartstring core, 10 and 3/4 inches

Rubeus Hagrid: oak wood, 16 inches (broken)

Albus Dumbledore/The Elder Wand: elder wood, Thestral tail hair core [not available in Wizards Unite], 15 inches

Minerva McGonagall: fir wood, dragon heartstring core, "rigid" or "solid" flexibility, nine and a half inches

Luna Lovegood: no data

Neville Longbottom: cherry wood, unicorn hair core, 13 inches

Ginny Weasley: no data

Draco Malfoy: hawthorn wood, unicorn hair core, 10 inches

Voldemort: yew wood, phoenix feather core, 13 and a half inches

Severus Snape: no data

Cedric Diggory: ash wood, unicorn hair core, 12 and 1/4 inches

Cho Chang: no data

Viktor Krum: hornbeam wood, dragon heartstring, "rigid" flexibility, 10 and 1/4 inches

Sirius Black: no data

Remus Lupin: cypress wood, unicorn hair core, "pliant" flexibility, 10 and 1/4 inches

Nymphadora Tonks: no data

Bellatrix Lestrange: walnut wood, dragon heartstring core, 12 and 3/4 inches

Dolores Umbridge: birch wood, dragon heartstring core, 8 inches

Newt Scamander: no data

Lily Potter: willow wood, 10 and 1/4 inches

James Potter: mahogany wood, 11 inches

Garrick Ollivander: Hornbeam wood, dragon heartstring core, "unyielding" or "quite bendy" flexibility, 12 and 3/4 inches

For more on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, you can find all the important details in our roundup article. We have a guide to battles, fortresses, and Wizarding Challenges, a feature on how to get more Spell Energy, and an explainer on Professions--be sure to check them out!


Pokemon Go: Shiny Spinda And More Legendaries Available In July's Field Research

By Kevin Knezevic on Jun 22, 2019 04:25 am

A new month is nearly upon us, which means Pokemon Go players will soon have a new batch of Field Research tasks to complete. Developer Niantic will be rolling out a new set of quests around the world beginning at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on July 1, and they'll give you a chance to encounter more Legendaries, as well as another Shiny Pokemon.

From July through the beginning of September, each Research Breakthrough you achieve in Pokemon Go will lead to a chance to catch one of the following Legendaries: Latios, Latias, Kyogre (which is available for a limited time right now in Raid Battles), or Groudon. Additionally, Spinda featuring a new spot pattern will be available through new Field Research tasks, and those lucky enough will be able to encounter a Shiny version.

As usual, you can acquire Field Research tasks by spinning the Photo Disc at Poke Stops. The first one you complete each day will reward you with a stamp; if you manage to collect seven stamps, you'll achieve a Research Breakthrough, which will then lead to an encounter with one of the aforementioned Legendaries. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go website.

Before the new Field Research tasks arrive, Niantic is bringing a new Pokemon to EX Raids. Beginning June 23, players will be able to encounter the Speed Forme of the Mythical Pokemon Deoxys in EX Raids for the first time. Unlike standard Raid Battles, EX Raids are invite-only; you can only participate in one if you've receive an EX Raid Pass, and the only way to do that is if you've recently won a Raid at a qualifying Gym.

As previously mentioned, you don't need to wait for July's Field Research to find Kyogre. The Legendary Water Pokemon is available in standard Raid Battles again until June 27, when it'll be replaced by Groudon. Niantic is also bringing the Legendary dog Raikou back to Raids for a limited time. To reward players for completing enough Global Challenges during the recent Pokemon Go Fest event, Niantic is holding a Raikou Raid Day on Saturday, June 29, from 4-7 PM local time.

In other news, Niantic's Harry Potter mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is now live in the US and UK. The title was slated to launch on June 21, but has arrived in both regions a day early. While its premise is very similar to Pokemon Go's, Wizards Unite also differs in a few notable ways. You can read more about the game in our hands-on impressions of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, as well as some Wizards Unite features we think Pokemon Go should take.


We Need To Talk About How Bra Sizes Work

By Kallie Plagge on Jun 22, 2019 03:44 am

As any number of women's magazines will tell you, 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. That's probably because bra shopping is hell on earth and basically impossible unless you invite a total stranger into the fitting room to help measure you properly, but it might also be a result of our society's complete misunderstanding of what bra sizes even are. If the video game discourse is any indication, most people seem to think bra sizes stop at DD and that anything smaller than "huge badonkers" is in the A-to-B range.

I'm talking, of course, about Tifa Lockhart, who has been accused of having B-cup breasts--as her character model in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake looks different from her extra-busty appearance in the PS1 era--as well as the entire female cast of Mortal Kombat 11, for that matter. Now, these are fictional women who have top-of-the-line physics engines supporting them, so it's not like they really need the extra support from an $80 Lululemon sports bra. But if we're going to use bra sizes as shorthand to talk about fake women's bodies, we're going to do it right, goddammit.

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Lucky for you, I know a thing or two about this. Bra sizes have two main components: the cup size and the band size. The cup size is denoted by letters, like B or DD, and refers to the actual breast part of the bra. The band size is a number based on the size of the person's ribcage area (right under the actual breasts), and it's secretly the more important size.

While most people tend to focus on the cup letter, it's band size that determines cup size. So if you have two people whose actual breasts are exactly the same size, but whose band sizes are different, they'll wear different cup sizes. A 36DD, for example, is the same as a 34DDD--those two people have the same size breasts, but one has a smaller rib cage, so the cup size scales up a bit. Why does Big Lingerie do this? Because the cup size represents the difference between your band measurement and your breast measurement, with one inch difference being an A, two being a B, and so on. The bigger the difference, the bigger the cup size.

Anyway, back to Tifa. Tifa is a Woman of Small Ribcage, so I'm going to guess and say she's a 28 band size. If you look at her for even two seconds, you can see that her chest is a lot bigger around than her ribcage. I'd say it's at least a six- or seven-inch difference, which puts her in the F or G range. Did you know bra sizes go up that far? They sure do!

On top of that, there's also been some discussion around Remake Tifa's bra--specifically that she's wearing a sports bra. Sports bras are generally a bit more constricting in terms of fit, and while some retailers do offer traditional bra sizing options, you'll often see sports bras sold in dress sizes (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) or in the small-medium-large metric. Because of the design and further size confusion, sports bras often make chests look "flatter" than they are. In Tifa's case, however, it looks like she's wearing a $100-plus designer sports bra that imitates the look of a regular bra. I'd argue the type of bra she's allegedly wearing has little to no effect on the perceived size of her chest... or how hard she punches the hell out of things.

So while it may be true that Tifa's chest looks smaller than it used to be (or perhaps how you imagined it), it's by no means a small chest. Even if you did think she wears a B-cup bra, though, you can still look at her and see that it is not a small chest. Now that you know how bra sizes work, you can go back to the cast of MK 11, too, and observe that they have different bodies and thus fit a variety of bra sizes. And finally, consider that there's nothing at all wrong with small boobs to begin with.

In conclusion, if you think that video games are being censored because suddenly "every" female character has A- or B-cup boobs, you're just plain wrong. And if you must complain, you should maybe consider complaining about ribcage size instead.


Pokemon Go Should Borrow These Ideas From Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

By Kevin Knezevic on Jun 22, 2019 03:40 am

Niantic's new Harry Potter game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, has officially arrived. Given its pedigree, the title is unsurprisingly very similar to Pokemon Go. Wizards Unite is clearly built around the same style of augmented-reality gameplay (albeit with a Harry Potter twist), and many of the game's elements even have direct analogs in Pokemon Go: Fortresses are Harry Potter's equivalent of Gyms, for instance, while Portkeys serve the same function as Eggs, among many other examples.

Despite their similarities, however, Wizards Unite also differs from Pokemon Go in a few notable ways. Not only has the game launched with more content and features than Pokemon Go had at its outset (with the glaring exception of Adventure Sync), Niantic has also incorporated a number of RPG-like mechanics that Go lacks, chief among them the Professions system. Once you reach a certain level in the game, you're able to select from one of three different classes for your character, each of which boasts its own distinct attributes and comes with a skill tree that can be leveled up to unlock additional skills and perks.

Elements like these help make Wizards Unite a deeper experience than Pokemon Go, and the latter would benefit from pilfering some ideas from its sister title. Of course, no proper Pokemon game has allowed players to pick a class before, so Wizards Unite's Professions system may not exactly be in keeping with the spirit of the series, but something similar could be implemented. Players have been pit against a wide variety of specialized Pokemon trainer in the mainline games, from Bug Catchers to Bird Keepers to Hikers, and these classes could serve as the basis for a Pokemon Go-style Professions system.

Other elements from Wizards Unite that Pokemon Go would benefit incorporating are daily quests and login bonuses. Pokemon Go does already have its own quest system of sorts in the form of Field Research tasks, but to acquire these missions, you must travel to a Poke Stop, and you can only have a certain number of active tasks at a time, so you can't stockpile them. Wizards Unite, meanwhile, offers players a list of daily challenges to complete, as well as a little bonus each day they log in. A combination of the two methods would certainly add more incentive to fire up Pokemon Go every day.

Wizards Unite also features a potion-brewing system. As you play, you'll encounter materials on the overworld that can be used to brew different types of potions. Potion brewing would feel out of place in a Pokemon game, but the series has allowed you to craft certain items in the past; in Pokemon Gold and Silver, for instance, you could collect different kinds of Apricorns and forge them into specialized Poke Balls, such as the Lure Ball, which makes it easier to catch Water Pokemon. A similar kind of crafting system would work very well in Pokemon Go.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is available for free on iOS and Android devices. If you're just getting started in the game, be sure to check out our full Wizards Unite coverage. We've put together guides detailing how to get more Spell Energy, as well as breakdowns of how Wizarding Challenges work and how to pick the best Professions for you.


Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's Exploration Inspired By Metroid

By jeremy winslow on Jun 22, 2019 01:43 am

After an impressive showing during EA Play at E3 2019, new details about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order have emerged. A Respawn Entertainment developer cites the Metroid series as a prominent influence on how exploration is handled in the upcoming third-person action-adventure game.

Lead level designer Jeff Magers sat down with GameInformer to discuss Jedi: Fallen Order's exploration. Magers said it's "an exploration game from the level design perspective, at its core" and that "traversal feels snappy [and] responsive." But while things like "mixing in [the] wide range of traversal tools [to] make the moment-to-moment feel really good" and "no UI objectives in the world" sound nice, things got interesting when Magers mentioned how Metroid (among other titles like The Legend of Zelda franchise and the Dark Souls games) influenced the hotly-anticipated Star Wars game.

"Metroid absolutely served as an inspiration for us," Magers told GamerInformer. "What the Metroid-style level design does for us is somewhat [of] a way to give the player guided exploration. A ton of freedom within the world, but at the same time we can deliver really handcrafted moments and really focus on the moment-to-moment." Magers then described design sensibilities common in Metroidvanias: hidden secrets, backtracking, abilities/weapons that unlock new areas. For Jedi: Fallen Order, "Force powers are lock-and-key mechanisms," meaning that behind the Force push gate you couldn't get through earlier, "Maybe there's a whole other area [or] maybe there's a little secret."

Since hidden pathways and secrets to discover abound, Jedi: Fallen Order is not really linear. "We have linear sections of the game," Magers said. "And each, I'd say 30-minute to one hour section that we call a level... will be somewhat linear, although there [are] different branching options, different choices to make, different secrets to find [and] areas to explore. But when it really opens up is kind of at a macro level. You will be retraversing through these levels that earlier was kind of more of a linear experience... with your new tools and your upgraded hero. It really aligns with kind of the goal of the game, which is to become a Jedi." It sounds like the Jedi has become the master of Jedivania.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will launch on November 15 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.


Detective Pikachu Open For Pre-Order On DVD And Blu-Ray, Includes 4K And Steelbook (US)

By Will Fulton on Jun 22, 2019 12:57 am

Detective Pikachu released to critical and popular acclaim on May 10--the box office hit is already slated for a sequel--and now the first live-action Pokemon film is gearing up for its next release in digital, DVD, Blu-Ray, and UHD/4K formats. While we don't have an exact release date for the film on physical and digital media, it's likely the physical version will release sometime in August 2019, with the digital version becoming available a few weeks beforehand, based on precedent. Pre-orders are now up at several retailers, so it's a safe assumption Pokemon fans won't have to wait much longer to own the animated film starring Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu.

In GameSpot's Detective Pikachu review, entertainment editor Michael Rougeau was impressed by how well the world of Pokemon translated into a live-action film. "Detective Pikachu should prove enjoyable for any and all Pokemon fans, young or old," he wrote. "It presents fun answers to the fantasy of what life would be like if Pokemon were real. It introduces new wrinkles to the world of Pokemon, although not all of them completely work. Still, as the first official live-action trip to the world of Pokemon, Detective Pikachu presents characters I want to see again and a setting I'd like to return to."

No special features have yet been announced for Detective Pikachu's home release, but we do know a steelbook version will be available, as it's already open for pre-order at Best Buy. An image of the Blu-ray cover does list something called "Detective Mode" as being included, but there's no word on what that entails. As soon as all those details are revealed, we'll include that info here, but if you already know you need this film in your collection, read on for where to pre-order.

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Pre-order Detective Pikachu

You have a few different options for pre-ordering the film, ranging from a digital-only version to a collectible steelbook containing digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and UHD / 4K Blu-ray formats.

Digital-only -- $20

DVD -- $20

Blu-ray + Digital -- $25

4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital -- $30

Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + Digital -- $30

Steelbook (4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital) -- $35


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