Some Regional Exclusive Pokémon Might Soon Swap Locations In Pokémon GO
If you’re a keen Pokémon GO player, you’ll no doubt be aware that some of those elusive critters can only be obtained in certain parts of the world. While it hasn’t been confirmed just yet, it looks like some of those exclusive to particular regions could be about to have a bit of a swap around.
As reported by Serebii.net, a recent newsletter received by some Pokémon GO players contains a special note about a New Year Surprise. The newsletter states that something strange is happening which could affect the migration of certain Pokémon, specifically mentioning the region of Hoenn. No more information has been provided, but this certainly hints towards a location swap for several Pokémon.
This has happened before – Seviper and Zangoose have been known to switch places, as have Solrock and Lunatone – so there’s no reason to believe that this wouldn’t be the case once again. Other Hoenn regional exclusives include Torkoal, Relicanth, Illumise, Volbeat, and Tropius; perhaps these Pokémon might benefit from a swap this time around?
We’ll keep an eye out for more information on this as it happens but, until then, let us know if you’d like to get your hands on some different regional exclusive Pokémon in your game in our comments section below.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Xbox Celebrates Your Year in Gaming This is our favorite time of year when we can all come together and celebrate community shenanigans. We marvel at how one million of you managed to reach the top 10 in a battle royale without panning anyone, just as much as we relish… Read more
New Games with Gold for January 2019 Welcome to another Games with Gold reveal for Xbox One and Xbox 360! In January on Xbox One, play the highly acclaimed platformer Celeste, then show off your mud-driving skills in WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship. On Xbox 360 and… Read more
Celebrating Gaming, Community and What #MyXbox Can Mean for You Xbox recently hosted a celebration of gaming with a #MyXbox holiday event at the Flagship Microsoft Store in New York City. I’m on the Xbox Community Team and had the pleasure of serving as event emcee and helped lead this gathering that… Read more
Operation Absolute Zero Brings a New Kind of Cold War to Black Ops 4 Hello, Xbox fans! Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Operation Absolute Zero starts December 18. This second free season of content introduces a new Specialist to the line-up, along with tons of gameplay and customization items. In Blackout, winter has arrived… Read more
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is the journey of a broken Celtic warrior on a vision quest to save the soul of her dead lover from Viking Hell. Hellblade was developed and published independently by a small team with a limited budget. As such, our developers… Read more
What’s Hellfront: Honeymoon and How to Be Really, Really Good at It Now that Hellfront: Honeymoon has launched on Xbox One, it’s time to ask yourself: What is it, and more importantly, how do you get better at it than your friends? No worries! The developers of SkyGoblin are here to help answer these profoundly important questions… Read more
39 Days to Mars Coming Soon to Xbox One I’m excited to announce that 39 Days to Mars will be coming to Xbox One in 2019! 39 Days to Mars is a co-operative steampunk puzzle-adventure game, that’s been designed from the very start to support two people playing together. You step into the shoes… Read more
Journey to Find The First Tree, Available Now on Xbox One I never thought I’d say this, but after all the blood, sweat, and tears, The First Tree is available today on Xbox One. Why is that unbelievable? I started this project as a simple way to tell a story and deal with the ideas of death, loss, and hope, and I didn’t think… Read more
State of Decay 2 Soundtrack Available on Vinyl Today As 4 million players have been writing their own survival story in State of Decay 2, they’ve been enjoying BAFTA award-winning and Billboard / MTV VMA nominated Danish composer’s Jesper Kyd soundtrack, which is available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon… Read more
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Now Available with Xbox Game Pass As if you needed any more reason to pick up Xbox Game Pass – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is now available for Xbox Game Pass members! With its release into the catalog today, Xbox Game Pass members will have the chance to join Senua… Read more
Today we’re unveiling lists of the top selling and top played games on Steam in 2018! Like last year, we’ve built five lists – Top Sellers, Top New Releases, Top Selling VR Titles, Top Early Access Grads, and Most Played Games.
Top Sellers
We started with the basics by looking at overall Top Sellers. This is a list of the games that earned the most revenue in 2018, which includes all different kinds of Steam revenue; game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC. The resulting list includes a mix of free-to-play and premium games.
This page highlights the 150 top-selling games released in 2018, split out by their month of release. To build this list, we looked at a combination of first-week revenue and overall revenue in 2018 to create a list of games that had achieved a sizable level of commercial success, regardless of when during the year each title released.
We find it pretty interesting how much variation there is from month to month. For example, December is a busy month and a lot of activity to compete with, so it’s understandable that it might be a less desirable month to release in. But April only had 5 releases that made our list and July only had 6, whereas February was the busiest month with 22 popular releases.
This year again saw over 1,000 new releases with Virtual Reality support, with almost all of those (over 900) being VR-only experiences. Top VR sellers included new releases such as Beat Saber, Blade & Sorcery, Budget Cuts, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, plus some of last-year’s top hits including Fallout 4 VR and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. There were even some classics appearing in top for the third year in a row, such as RAW DATA and Arizona Sunshine.
Our list this year highlights the leading VR titles by sharing the 100 top selling VR titles of 2018, plus a new section on the page for the top 20 VR releases of 2018.
This year’s batch of notable titles launching through Steam Early Access includes the hugely popular games Raft and SCUM, and the VR-only experience Beat Saber. Meanwhile many popular titles such as DayZ, The Forest, and RimWorld made their transition from Early Access to full release in 2018.
We wanted to recognize the games that have worked hard to build happy communities and make the transition from Early Access to full release this year. So, we’ve put together a list of the top 50 games that transitioned out of Early Access to full release during 2018, as measured by revenue earned during 2018 (during Early Access and after full release).
The Most Played Games list contains games that had more than 15,000 simultaneous players at some point during the year. To fully recognize the games that have built a significant community and player base, we’ve excluded a number of games that only had short-term spikes in player count due to running giveaways.
We don’t disclose specific revenue for the lists, but top sellers are broken into four categories in order to give you an idea of how they placed:
Platinum: 1st – 12th Top Seller Gold: 13th – 24th Top Seller Silver: 25th – 40th Top Seller Bronze: 41st – 100th Top Seller
Thanks for reading, and for another great year on Steam! We’re constantly surprised by the amazing new games that seem to come out of nowhere, delight their audiences and end up on these lists (and in our Steam libraries) by year-end.
Also, don’t forget to check out the Steam Winter Sale, on now through January 3rd. Many of the titles in the lists above are on great discounts, and these lists are a great way to see which games were resonating the most with players this year.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-05-2019, 09:05 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Player Support Report – 1/3/2019
Things are just beginning to spin back up here at Bungie. Team members are slowly returning from holiday break, and This Week at Bungie will return on January 10 when we’re at full force. Until then, the Player Support team is here with an update on our current investigations.
Helping Hands
Ghosts of Dawnings Past
With the Dawning in the rear-view mirror, here are a few notes we’d like to make about the inventories of participating players.
Eva’s Holiday Oven has been removed from the Pursuits inventories of all players.
Along with Eva’s Holiday Oven, all ingredients for Dawning recipes have been removed from the inventories of all players.
Incomplete Dawning Cheer Sparrow upgrades have been removed from the Pursuits inventories of all players.
Leftover Essences of the Dawning have been removed from the Consumables inventories of all players.
The Dawning Cheer Sparrow perks “Happy Dawning” and “Dawning Dare” are no longer active following the conclusion of the Dawning.
All incomplete or unclaimed Triumphs from the Dawning have expired, and have been hidden in the Triumphs screen.
If dismantled, eligible players may reclaim the following Dawning rewards from their respective collections: the “Dawning Cheer” Sparrow, the “Affinity’s Gift” ship, and the “Holiday Treats” and “Delicious Benefactor” emblems.
Dawning armor from the Winterdrift Engram, which feature randomized perks, cannot be reclaimed from collections if dismantled.
Players encountering other issues following the conclusion of the Dawning should report to the #Help forum.
Destiny 2: Forsaken and Season of the Forge Vital Information and Known Issues
In addition to the items listed above, Destiny Player Support would like to remind players of the currently tracked vital information and known issues which players should be aware of in Destiny 2.
Forge Key Issues: We are investigating an issue where forge keys may not be counting toward the Mysterious Box, and players aren’t able to obtain another key.
Ada-1 Weapon Frames: In addition to the existing issue where players may lose access to weapon frames during the week, we are investigating another issue where weapon frames are not received when a player’s Pursuit inventory is full, but materials are consumed anyway.
Calculated Trajectory: We are investigating an issue where the Calculated Trajectory medal is not appearing in Iron Banner.
No Feelings: We are investigating an issue where the No Feelings Scout Rifle does not correctly track kills when Masterworked.
Ace of Spades: We are investigating player reports indicating that Memento Mori is cancelling early when reload is initiated, then interrupted by sprinting.
Braytech RWP Mk. II: We are investigating player reports stating that the Braytech RWP Mk. II Scout Rifle cannot be infused above 600 Power.
Blast Furnace: We are investigating player reports describing Blast Furnace losing extra ammo on trigger pull when its magazine is overloaded by Ambitious Assassin.
Through the remainder of the week, I’ll be deep in the Destiny 2 and Feedback forums on Bungie.net, collecting your thoughts to pass on to the team. Have feedback on the Forges, Iron Banner, or other topics? Sound off!
Alright, Alright, Alright. 2019 on the field. Be notorious.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-05-2019, 08:55 AM - Forum: Lounge
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TickTock Studios acquired by Rebellion and rebranded as ‘Rebellion North’
Sniper Elite and Strange Brigade developer Rebellion has acquired Yorkshire-based studio TickTock Games for an undisclosed fee.
TickTock will become Rebellion’s fourth UK studio — joining Rebellion Liverpool and Rebellion Warwick as sister studios to the company’s headquarters in Oxford — and will be known as ‘Rebellion North’ moving forward.
For those unfamiliar with TickTock, the company has recently worked on a couple of Rebellion titles including Rogue Trooper Redux and the Switch version of Battlezone Gold Edition.
“Bringing more great people to the company is a great way to start 2019,” said Rebellion CEO and co-founder Jason Kingsley OBE in a press release.
“The company continues to grow and it’s important we bring in the right people as part of that process. We’ve worked with the team at TickTock Games for a while now, and we know they’ll continue to prosper as Rebellion North.”
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-05-2019, 08:55 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Blog: Four ways my video game habits changed in 2018
In 2018, I experienced one of my biggest shifts in video gaming behavior over the past decade. Overall, the industry is going through some interesting changes with the introduction of Epic and Discord’s game marketplaces, and an explosion of games available on Steam and new storefronts. Personally, it was a big change of me, because I moved in with my fiancée, got married, and overall had less time for my old gaming habits. Instead of playing mostly new games, I’ve played a mix of new and old games over the past year. Here are some of the trends in my gameplay habits that I noticed in 2018.
Wonka’s World of Candy (Zynga)
More Casual
I started working for Zynga in June, and shortly before then I started exploring mobile games such as Words with Friends 2. My commute also changed over the past year, and I have more time commuting on the train that I can now spend playing games. One of the genres that I’ve kept on my phone throughout the year is match-3 titles, including Crazy Cake Swap, Wonka’s World of Candy, and Candy Crush Friends Saga. This is the first year that I really got into mobile gaming, and I’ve even started playing some of these games outside of my commute.
Another trend in my gaming habits that I’ve noticed in the past year is playing games on easier modes. Since I have less time to play games, I want to get through games quicker, rather than constantly replaying sections of a game. I found myself setting the difficulty level on Wolfenstein II to easy mode, so that I could make progress through the game more quickly. I still enjoy challenge in games, but like the ability to take shortcuts to progress the story.
Descenders (RageSquid)
More Experimental
Procedural content generation (PCG) has already seen huge success with level generation in MineCraft, and weapon creation in Borderlands. But this year was the first time that I experienced a game using PCG for creating high-fidelity 3D levels. I started playing the Descenders game preview on Xbox One, and really enjoyed the feel of the generated levels. While the early game levels became repetitive after a bit, the later zones in the game added enough terrain configurations to keep the levels diverse and interesting.
I also tried out some new genres of games this year, including Gone Home. This game has been out for awhile, but I finally took the time to play it, after downloading it when it was offered through Xbox Live. I enjoyed the pace of the game and the focus on narrative, and it aligned well with my focus on more casual gameplay experiences.
Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition (17-BIT)
More Subscriptions
As mentioned with Gone Home, I’ve purchased fewer games directly over the past year and have taken advantage of more of the games available through Xbox Live and PS Plus. One of my favorites that I replayed this year was Skulls of the Shogun, where I played through the DLC content for the first time.
Over the past year, I’ve kept my number of gaming subscriptions steady, while decreasing my number of video streaming subscriptions. EA’s been exploring subscription services for a few years now with EA Access and Origin Access, and Xbox Game Pass is shaping up to be a great service as well.
Dark Souls: Remastered (From Software)
More Classics
I’ve also been replaying some of favorite games over the past year. Remastered editions, such as Dark Souls, provided a great nudge to encourage me to revisit these classic titles. Between remastered titles, Xbox backwards compatibility, and classic console releases, there’s several options for going back and enjoying older games. This is a trend in my gameplay habits I blogged about back in 2015, and it’s been great seeing more availability of classic titles.
The new year is upon us, which means yet another year has gone by in which Linux has not found itself dominating the desktop. Linux does many things very well, and in the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at the some of the very best distributions to suit your various needs, but for now, let’s take a step back and revisit this old issue.
For some, the idea of Linux dominance on the desktop has fallen to the wayside; instead, users simply want what works. The Linux operating system, however, does “just work.” And when you stop to realize that the typical user spends the vast majority of their time working (or playing) within a browser, it stands to reason that Linux (with its heightened security and reliability) is primed to become the dominant platform on the desktop market.
And yet it hasn’t. Why?
That’s the question that has confounded so many people for so many years. And, the possible answer five years ago would have been completely different from the answer today. To that end, I’ve come up with seven things that could help Linux gain traction on the desktop space. My suggestions are not necessarily easy or popular. No. What you’ll find here are seven ideas that could seriously help Linux stake its claim as a dominant player on the desktop market.
One Distro to Rule them All
I’ve been saying this for some time, but it’s not quite what you think it is. The distribution fragmentation within the Linux community is doing more harm than good. Consider this: Company X has a piece of software that already runs on Windows and Mac OS, and it’s incredibly popular. When asked to make their software available for Linux, the company says, “We’d love to do that, but it’s just too complicated.” When pressed further, it becomes clear that Company X refuses because there are so many permutations of Linux to consider. Which distribution? Which package manager? Which desktop? Which toolkit? The list goes on.
Because of this, I believe Linux needs to come up with a single “official” distribution — one that all Company X’s can focus their efforts on. Say that official distribution is Debian with the GNOME desktop. All Company X needs to then do is make their software run on that combination. If you, as a user, want to run the software from Company X on Linux, you know you’d have to do so on the official distribution. That doesn’t mean all other distributions go away. Nay, nay. It just means there’s an official distribution that companies can focus their efforts on.
I realize this is not a popular idea, but it’s one that should seriously be considered. Otherwise, Linux will continue to miss out on the likes of Photoshop, Adobe Premier, MS Office, etc.
A Viable X.org Replacement
X.org has served its purpose, but the replacement is long overdue. Canonical tried — and failed — with Mir. Wayland has been under development for quite some time, but it’s not ready for prime time yet. Because X.org has been around for so long, it carries with it a lot of baggage, some of which could be considered a security risk. Think about this: Linux is growing and evolving quite rapidly. How fast can the desktop evolve if it relies on antiquated technology? Instead of continuing to stand on that aging GUI foundation, Linux needs something that can bring much more agility to desktop improvement. Is that solution Wayland, or is there another option available? Who knows. But, Linux software continues to evolve (from the kernel to the user-space apps) at a rapid pace, and the X Window system can no longer keep up. The feasibility of something new coming to fruition and being ready for deployment this year is a pipe dream, but we need to see some solid progress in 2019.
Culling the App Herd
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve opened up a Linux app store and searched for a tool, only to find apps that are no longer being developed, haven’t been updated in a very long time, or have broken or deprecated dependencies. This will not do. Those responsible for the curation of apps in the various app stores need to get rid of the cruft. The last thing Linux needs is out of date, non-functioning, insecure apps for users to install. I realize that one reason many of these apps remain is to keep the numbers high. But saying there are tens of thousands of titles, when a good percentage shouldn’t be there is misleading. Those outdated, deprecated, abandoned apps need to go.
Real-Time Antivirus and Anti-Malware
This is where I might lose some people … but stay with me. I cannot tell you how many times I get asked, “Does Linux need antivirus or antimalware software?” My answer is always, “No, at least not yet.” Why the “not yet”? Because when Linux starts pulling in the numbers that Windows and Mac OS currently enjoy, you can bet the Linux desktop will become a target. But beyond that, what about users who receive email with malicious payloads, who then (unwittingly) send those payloads on to others? Or what about web browser phishing attacks? Linux has tools like ClamAV (and ClamTK), but they don’t do real-time scanning. The Linux community needs to start planning for the future, which means developing a real-time, open source antivirus/anti-malware solution.
Prosumer-Grade Apps
Linux has plenty of apps for the average user. It also has plenty of apps for IT pros. What it doesn’t have is apps for prosumers. For those that don’t know, a prosumer is an amateur who purchases tools that are of professional-grade quality. That’s where the likes of Adobe Premier, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Avid Pro Tools, and others come in. Linux doesn’t have the equivalent of any of these. Sure, Linux has an abundance of consumer-grade software (such as Audacity and OpenShot), but those tools are nowhere near prosumer-level. You’re simply not going to be editing a full-length film with OpenShot, or mastering an album with Audacity. Until Linux lands a few serious prosumer-grade tools, it’ll be ignored on that level of usage.
Better Font Rendering
Linux font rendering has come a long way, but it’s still light years behind that of Mac OS. If you use a MacBook Pro or iMac for a while and then come back to Linux, you’ll see the difference. A big part of this has to do with the fact that Linux is still relying upon X.org (see above). And, although this may seem like an afterthought to many, the beauty of a desktop is one of the first things that grabs a user’s attention. If a user looks at a desktop and sees an inferior result, that love affair won’t last long. And, to add injury to that insult, when you stare at a Linux desktop all day, as I do, you may find that poor font rendering can overwork your eyes. Linux needs some serious effort to provide superior font rendering.
More Companies Shipping Quality Products
After visiting System76 (to see the new Thelio factory), I have become convinced the future of the Linux desktop depends on companies like that. System76 is creating a holistic approach to Linux, such that the hardware they ship works seamlessly and beautifully. That’s exactly the experience we need for Linux. Someone who wants to use Linux should be able to purchase a laptop or desktop, connect it to their peripherals, and everything work out of the box… with zero effort. That’s what System76 delivers. Linux needs more companies doing that same thing, with the same level of proficiency. Period.
A Place to Start
Linux doesn’t have to have all seven of these ideas fall into place at once. But if we want to dominate the desktop, this list would be a good place to start. Are there more areas in which Linux can improve? Of course. But let’s begin with the obvious and go from there.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-05-2019, 04:45 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Another Walking Dead Character Is Joining Fear The Walking Dead - Report
The line between The Walking Dead and its companion series Fear the Walking Dead is about to get a little more blurry. At the beginning of Fear's fourth season, Morgan (Lennie James) was moved to the series from the original, creating the first crossover between the two shows. Now, based on reports, it looks like he's getting some company.
ComicBook.com is reporting that Austin Amelio, who appeared in Seasons 6-8 of The Walking Dead as Negan's right-hand man Dwight, is set to pop up on Fear. The character was last seen in the Season 8 finale of The Walking Dead when he was banned from ever returning to the Alexandria safe zone.
While it remains unclear exactly how major this crossover will be, Entertainment Weekly notes that co-showrunner Ian Goldberg previously revealed that new characters would come into play during Fear's fifth season. Should Dwight be one of those, he could serve as a very interesting ally to Morgan.
The addition of Amelio takes Fear even further from its origins. At this point, only one of the show's original cast members--Alycia Debnam-Carey--remains. The first half of Season 4 saw the characters played by Kim Dickens and Frank Dillane killed off. Meanwhile, new cast Maggie Grace, Garret Dillahunt, and Jenna Elfman were added this year to round out the show.
As for future crossovers, that might become tricky. Early in Season 9 of The Walking Dead, following the departure of Andrew Lincoln, the series jumped ahead 6 years. Unless Fear were to match that at some point, chances are it'll be a while before another character moves from one show to the other.
Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season later this year. The second half of The Walking Dead Season 9 premieres on February 10 on AMC.
Linux Storage, Filesystem & Memory Management Summit
April 30, 2019
Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino
San Juan00907
Puerto Rico
The Linux Storage, Filesystem & Memory Management Summit gathers the foremost development and research experts and kernel subsystem maintainers to map out and implement improvements to the Linux filesystem, storage and memory management subsystems that will find their way into the mainline kernel and Linux distributions in the next 24-48 months.
Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann recently left, and was recently named the next CFO of Netflix. And now, Blizzard CFO Amrita Ahuja has left the company to join mobile payment company Square as its new CFO.
Jack Dorsey, Square's co-founder, said in a statement that Ahuja "brings us a deep understanding of ecosystem businesses, and she's purpose-driven, disciplined, and has a strong growth mindset."
Ahuja was with Activision Blizzard for more than eight years, where she held a number of finance-related positions including VP of Finance and Operations and VP of Strategy and Business Development, before becoming CFO. Before joining Activision Blizzard, Ahuja worked at Fox Networks, Walt Disney and Morgan Stanley.
Ahuja's departure from Blizzard comes not long after the company's controversial announcement of Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon late last year. Kotaku reports that there has been increased friction between management at Activision and Blizzard, and the report also states that Blizzard is trying to cut costs.
