The Pokémon TCG can be tricky to get to grips with, being both very similar and very different to the mainline games. Since its beginnings with the Generation I cards, it’s forged its own path, altering and/or simplifying concepts such as typings to make for a dynamic TCG. One major thing you’ll notice about the card game is that it invents outlandish new moves for Pokémon. Some are super strong, while others are weak or just plain weird....
The PlayStation 5 has finally been released globally, meaning gamers worldwide have access to Sony’s most powerful console yet. While owners of the news system are currently preoccupied with several reputable launch titles, others still are waiting to see what games have yet to be released. Those waiting for an increased game library look towards 2021, a promising year for the next-generation console. 2021 looks to be the true start of the next gaming generation....
10 Limited Customization Star Wars: Squadrons, unlike most recent games in this series, features customizable characters although the options are limited. There are ten faces to choose from and gender is pretty much assigned from the get-go. Even the voices can be ambiguous as traditional male voices could be used on a female character and vice versa. The other option comes with the names which are randomly generated although through a limited selection....
One of the main problems with the discussion surrounding the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School by Adam Lanza - or any other isolated incident of mass violence - is that the broader picture is often missed in favor of playing Sherlock Holmes, trying to find a single culprit behind the tragedy (other than the person holding the gun). Movies, music, and video games have all had their time spent in the spotlight as potential causes of violent behavior....
By now most gamers have heard plenty about the differences between the Xbox One and the PS4. Some games apparently run better on one system while for the others the opposite is true. The concept of resolution parity is likely not going away any time soon, but there are developers who are taking strides to ensure multiplatform versions of their game look the same on both consoles. One such game, as we have just recently learned, is Alien: Isolation....
It goes without saying that, if you are planning to give yourself the ultimate Battlefield 3 experience, you’re going to want to pick up the PC version of the game. But, with the game’s release a few months away, there might be some gamers who are wondering if they should give their PC an upgrade in order to even be able to run Battlefield 3. Thankfully two sets of specs (both minimum and recommended) have been released to give hopeful Battlefield 3 PC players an idea of just how taxing the game might be on their rig....
It’s been a while since video game violence has appeared in the news, but animal rights group PETA has decided to call out Battlefield 3 for apparently causing players to participate in animal cruelty. Players may recall a level from the Battlefield 3 single player in which players execute a rat with a combat knife before tossing it aside. While such an action may seem harmless, PETA believes that the scene has more dramatic effects than some are willing to believe....
Mod community fans will most likely be upset upon hearing the news of Battlefield 3 not including mod tools. Surprising? Maybe, but from all the released footage of the game so far, modding BF3 seems like it would be more than a full time job for all but the most experienced modders. According to the game’s publisher, the technology at work is going to be too much for anyone but the development team to handle....
It just wouldn’t be the fall without a new Call of Duty. Keeping any annual franchise fresh and engaging is always going to be challenging, even one that has the weight of a massive, devoted multiplayer community behind it like Call of Duty. These days CoD fans at least have a little variety in the form of multiple different sub-franchises within the games, including the Modern Warfare trilogy, the future-set evolution Advanced Warfare, Ghosts (assuming they ever make another one), and Black Ops....
Over the next few months, gamers will likely be hearing a lot about Destiny, the latest game from former Halo developer Bungie, and for good reason. With Destiny, Bungie is trying to craft an MMO-like experience that caters to a wide variety of gamers and is not easily summarized in a few sentences, screenshots, or trailers…although there have been plenty of those. Early previews of the game have shown us that Destiny is an ambitious undertaking - one that, if done well, could influence the future of game development in the next-gen....
Eidos is sharing some new information about its upcoming cyberpunk RPG Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - but fans will have to work to get it. In a new, interactive trailer, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s executive art director JJB teases something called the Titan Shield, one of main character Adam Jensen’s new cybernetic augmentations. Elias Toufexis, the actor who plays Jensen, wants to know more. Unfortunately, the design is locked away behind a level-8 non-disclosure agreement, and JJB isn’t talking....
As each new year sees the arrival of games taking the RPG and fantasy genres to new heights, there’s a fair bit of pressure on Dragon Age Inquisition to perform. Not only because it’s the first BioWare RPG coming to next-gen consoles, or that many fans felt that the previous game was a step in the wrong direction. But when the developers freely admit that Skyrim changed everything for fans and makers of open world RPGs, living up to expectations has never been harder....
High school horror title What Happened has just launched to Steam, ready to place players into an LSD-fueled nightmare of the troubles that come with being a teen in modern America. The release comes alongside a new launch trailer that gives players an idea of exactly what to expect from the horror on both a psychological sense and a physical one, not unlike the recent Carrion launch trailer. Published by Katnappe and developed by Genius Slackers, What Happened is lining up to be the debut title for the new indie studio, stepping out strong with a strange new horror title....
With the release of The Elder Scrolls Online now just two tantalizingly short months away, ZeniMax Online Studios is attempting to ratchet up the hype. Having already detailed everything from character creation, to personal leveling, kill-stealing to subscription fees, the developer is now turning its attentions towards the real meat and potatoes of online combat - group questing. As the latest in a long line of developer-led commentaries, the studio’s newest video, titled ‘ESO Group Content’ breaks the typical dev diary mold, by offering an extended look at the game in action....
It may not have been completely grasped at the time, but there is a very strong chance that when history looks back on this generation of gaming, Left 4 Dead will be one of the properties pointed to as an embodiment of more than a few breakthroughs. Pitting four cooperative players together against endless waves of zombies and special enemies, and relying on communication and teamwork over macho machine gunning, few other games are as straightforward (or nuanced)....
Though last year’s FIFA 12 brought with a fantastic new animation and collision engine, dubbed the impact engine, the facial animations for each player still were lacking. For this year’s iteration, however, that is a key focus for EA Sports, one that they have been working on since as early as 2009. By partnering with Dimensional Imaging, EA Sports hopes that the facial animations, or at least the 3D likenesses, for FIFA 13 will be the best yet....
While Halo: The Master Chief Collection isn’t exactly the brand new Halo adventure that many fans had hoped would release this fall, it’s still no slouch either. Developer 343 Industries has ensured that every element from the past four Master Chief adventures makes the jump with no quality lost; in fact, they’ve sought to improve upon those prior games in some pretty significant ways. With Halo 2, for example, 343 is rolling out their Anniversary treatment yet again, updating Bungie’s seminal sequel for current-gen platforms....
Halo 4’s Spartan Ops mode — a weekly dose of 5 or so missions for players to experience solo or with up to 3 other friends — is taking a brief hiatus over the Holidays, but it will be back. As developer 343 Industries has likely been neglecting their significant others and families during the yearlong push to get Halo 4 out on time, they deserve some time off from generating weekly content....
Following the official reveal of the PlayStation 4, Sony showcased their next-generation tech with an epic in-game presentation of Killzone: Shadow Fall. The title once again follows the battle between humanity and the Helghast but swaps out bro-shooter protagonists Rico Velasquez and Tomas Sevchenko in favor of a more personal storyline - a storyline that also happens to provide reason for new combat mechanics and expanded gameplay approaches. In Shadow Fall, players take control of a “special” character known as a Shadow Marshal: a highly-trained operative tasked with keeping the tenuous piece between Vektans and the Helghast....
Gary Haase, who refers to himself as King Pokemon, has whipped up quite a frenzy in the Pokemon TCG community after he insulted one of the collection’s original artists. In case you hadn’t noticed, Pokemon cards have once again become big business in the past few years. Original cards in good condition are selling for tens, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of the community’s most famous collectors is a man called Gary Haase who refers to himself as King Pokemon....
