7.20b:
==
* Meepo: Agility gain reduced from 2.2 to 1.4
* Meepo: Poof damage reduced from 80/100/120/140 to 70/90/110/130
* Meepo: Ransack hero steal reduced from 8/12/16/20 to 6/10/14/18
* Meepo: Level 10 Talent reduced from +15 Damage to +10
* Meepo: Level 15 Talent changed from +10% Lifesteal to +15% Evasion
* Meepo: Level 20 Talent changed from +15% Evasion to +10% Lifesteal
* Meepo: Level 25 Talent reduced from +600 Health to +400

* Luna: Lunar Blessing reduced from 8/14/20/26 to 6/12/18/24
* Luna: Level 15 Talent changed from +14 Lunar Blessing Attributes to +30 Movement Speed

* Slark: Now only steals agility when he kills the enemy himself
* Slark: Pounce leash duration from 3.5 to 2.75/3/3.25/3.5
* Slark: Pounce leash range from 325 to 350
* Slark: Shadow Dance cooldown increased from 60 to 80/70/60
* Slark: Level 20 Talent reduced from +3s Pounce Leash to +2s

* Dazzle: Poison Touch manacost increased from 80/90/100/110 to 80/100/120/140
* Dazzle: Bad Juju debuff duration reduced from 10 to 8

* Sand King: Sandstorm cooldown increased from 34/28/22/16 to 40/32/24/16
* Sand King: Sandstorm manacost rescaled from 60/50/40/30 to 60

* Underlord: Intelligence gain reduced from 2.6 to 2.3

* Lone Druid: Spirit Link attack speed reduced from 30/50/70/90 to 20/40/60/80
* Lone Druid: Spirit Link cooldown from 42/34/26/18 to 44/36/28/20

* Wraith Band: Attack speed bonus reduced from 8 to 7

* Drow: Base agility increased by 4
* Drow: Precision Aura increased from 20/36/52/68% to 20/40/60/80%

* Outworld Devourer: Base Intelligence increased from 24 to 28
* Outworld Devourer: Equilibrium mana restore from 60/80/100/120% to 80/100/120/140%
* Outworld Devourer: Equilibrium slow from 8/16/24/32% to 12/20/28/36%
* Outworld Devourer: Equilibrium cooldown from 20 to 18

* Clinkz: Burning Army base attack time improved from 1.8/1.65/1.5 to 1.65/1.5/1.35
* Clinkz: Burning Army cast range increased from 800 to 1200

* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike cooldown from 8/7/6/5 to 7/6/5/4
* Chaos Knight: Phantasm damage increased from 40/70/100% to 50/75/100%

* Centaur: Retaliate max stacks increased from 10 to 13

* Ember Spirit: Fixed a bug with multiple Fire Remnant instances not doing damage properly
* Ember Spirit: Sleight of Fist damage increased from 30/60/90/120 to 35/70/105/140

* Medusa: Agility increased from 20 + 2.5 to 22 + 3.4
* Medusa: Level 15 Talent increased from +20% Mystic Snake Mana Steal to +35%

* Treant Protector: Nature’s Guise fade time reduced from 4.75/4/3.25/2.5 to 4/3.5/3/2.5
* Treant Protector: Nature’s Guise total damage increased from 30/80/130/180 to 30/90/150/210
* Treant Protector: Nature’s Guise movement speed increased from 10/15/20/25% to 14/18/22/26%

* Storm Spirit: Electric Vortex duration from 1/1.5/2/2.5 to 1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6
* Storm Spirit: Electric Vortex cooldown from 21/20/19/18 to 22/20/18/16
* Storm Spirit: Overload attack speed reduction from -50 to -80 (matches movement speed now)

* Sven: Warcry shield health increased from 100/200/300/400 to 110/220/330/440

* Venomancer: Poison Sting slow from 11/12/13/14% to 11/13/15/17%

It’s time for our biggest sale of the year. The Linux Foundation’s annual Cyber Monday event means you can get trained and get certified at a huge discount.

And, you’ll get a free T-shirt with every purchase!

Through the limited-time Cyber Monday training sale, we’re offering prep course and certification exam bundles for just $179.

This offer includes the prep course and exam for the following certification options:

• Linux Foundation Certified Engineer (LFCE) — This option is designed for the Linux engineer looking to demonstrate a more advanced level of Linux administration and engineering skill.

• Cloud Foundry Certified Developer (CFCD) — This program will verify your expertise in using the Cloud Foundry platform and building cloud-native applications

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — This program assures you have the skills and knowledge to perform the responsibilities of Kubernetes administrator.

• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) — This option certifies that you can design, build, configure, and expose cloud native applications for Kubernetes.

• Certified OpenStack Administrator (COA) — This program provides essential OpenStack and cloud infrastructure skills.

Sign up now to take advantage of this special training offer from The Linux Foundation.

We’ve got some unexpected excellent news as Arc System Works has revealed that Kill la Kill: The Game -IF-, its latest venture into the world of anime fighting games, is making the jump to the Nintendo Switch.

While there is still no confirmation that this will be released in the West, this news hopefully means we will not have to endure a nine month wait between Switch and other platforms, as was the case with their previous anime brawling effort Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The company also confirmed that baddies Nui Harime and Ragyō Kiryūin will join the playable roster of previously fan-favourite character reveals Ryūko, Satsuki, Sanageyama and Gamagoori. While there are no screenshots or gameplay videos of the Switch version as of yet, please take a peek at the latest PlayStation 4 build gameplay presented at the latest Evo.

Are you a fan of this 2013 cult anime? Are you looking forward to add yet another anime brawler to the Switch growing library of the genre? Don’t make us Kill la Kill you in the comments below.

Yooka-Laylee originally began life as a Kickstarter project and went on to become the fastest video game project to reach the one million dollar mark on the crowd-funding platform. This followed with its eventual release on the Nintendo Switch and multiple other systems in 2017

According to a tweet by the official Playtonic Games Twitter account, Yooka-Laylee has now been played by more than one million people. As no other details were provided, we can only assume this latest milestone translates to the combined digital and physical sales across all platforms.

Here’s the tweet below:

In the short period this spiritual successor to Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie has been available, the chameleon and bat have come a long way – making a cameo in Brawlout and even receiving their very own comic.

Are you one of many people who have played this game? Did you buy it when it was released on the Switch? Let us know below.

Another Saturday has crept into view, with yet another chance for us to discuss our weekend gaming plans. Just like last week, you can expect plenty of Pokémon entries from Team Nintendo Life this time around, although we also have a healthy dose of competitive online play and even world domination to attend to. So make sure to give our thoughts a read before leaving your own in the comments below. Oh, and join in the fun in our poll, too. Enjoy!

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

I find myself quite torn this week. If I had to place a bet on which game I’ll end up playing over the next couple of days, it would probably have to be Pokémon: Let’s Go, but I’m not exactly sure how far to go with it. Playing through the main story and beating the Elite Four was a wonderful nostalgic adventure, but I’m actually finding the idea of beating every single Master Trainer too daunting. Similarly, I’m not sure if I can really be bothered enough to put all the effort into completing the Pokédex, but that probably says more about me and the general lack of free time we have than the game itself.

I’ve really started to understand the desire for quick and easy games that don’t take up too much of your time in recent years; as a child, I’d love nothing more than sinking countless hours into huge games, but nowadays there are far too many games and nowhere near enough time. Slightly shorter, but top-tier quality adventures, are certainly more my thing now, so perhaps I should allow myself to resist beating every single aspect the game has to offer?

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

It’s wombo-combo weekend for Splatoon 2 and ARMS events in Europe, and I’ll be doing my finest to represent my choices on both playing fields. Starlink: Battle for Atlas is out (sequel, please!), Warframe is in. Did not take much to figure a game featuring space ninjas would be up my alley. Valkyria Chronicles 4 is firmly on the road for a climatic ending but I am unsure I will be able to clear the final chapters this weekend alone… but it won’t be for the lack of trying. Now I only need to figure out where I will be able to sneak in a few Road Redemption fatalities and GRIP races in here.

My game of the week goes to SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. Bit of a cheat since its a compilation of several classic games from the ’80s but there has never been any better way to revisit the formative years of SNK prior to Neo Geo hardware than this delightful Switch exclusive.

Gavin Lane, contributing writer

Assuming I can tear myself away from Civilization VI, I plan to check out the snazzy gold edition of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle this weekend. After picking up Dark Souls, Inside and Night in the Woods, I thought I was set until Christmas… but the Cyber Sale (and that Grant Kirkhope score) proved too tempting. My Banjo-Kazooie Totaku figure also arrived this week, so I’ll spend a significant amount of time holding that while wearing a big grin.

Ditching Civ is easier said than done, though. Teddy Roosevelt, that culture vulture, stole victory from me last night – I wasn’t best pleased and he needs to be taught a lesson.

Glen Fox, guides editor

I haven’t contributed in a while because I got hideously addicted to various PS4 titles – blasphemy aside though, I’ve actually dusted off my Switch this week to invest a bit of time into Pokémon: Let’s Go. As Nintendo Life readers will be well aware by now, I’m not the biggest fan of Pokémon. So I can’t tell you in intricate detail how it’s not as good as Diamond and Pearl or whatever but as someone who’s dipped their toe in the water with Pokémon GO, Sun and Moon, and X and Y, I do have an idea of what it does well and not so well.

The stuff I like mostly involves the streamlining. I like that you basically just leave your house and you’re off on an adventure – no faff. I like that you can check a Pokémon’s stats with ease and later pick up the ‘Judge’ ability to get a solid idea of how good your Pokémon is. I like that you can catch Pokémon in a chain to get a much higher chance of nabbing a ‘mon with the best IVs. It all just seems to make sense and be accessible in a way Pokémon wasn’t before and as a relative newcomer, I really appreciate that.

The stuff I don’t like is pretty much related to the controls. Playing with a single Joy-Con is a fun little novelty at first and the motion controls (when they work, at least) do offer a nice new way to catch monsters. It’s a bit annoying that you can’t use your Pro Controller at all though – what’s that about? Surely it could function in a similar manner to playing in handheld mode? I don’t see myself investing a lot more time into it if I’m perfectly honest, as it feels a bit like a shell of a game. Battles seem pretty easy for the most part so I don’t feel the need to go out and hunt stronger Pokémon and I don’t really feel the need to dig into it after already playing Sun and Moon or X and Y. Just feels a lot like a retread.

Liam Doolan, news reporter

I’ll likely be playing Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! over the next few days. A week on and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a huge fan of the latest entries. If anything, they’ve reinvigorated my interest in the long-running series. One aspect about these new games that I truly appreciate is how Pokémon are now visible in the wild. This cuts potentially hours out of the journey and the grind, and throws the random encounter system out the window – to some extent. It’s great when you’re searching for a particular pocket monster or you want to avoid the lot of them.

There are a lot of other ‘quality of life’ changes that I would like to see carry across to future entries as well. The fact the entire Pokémon Storage Box is no longer fixed to a computer terminal makes the adventure so much smoother. It has also encouraged me to switch my party up throughout the game, instead of sticking with a select six. Once again, I could carry on all day about everything I love in these new games, but you get the point – this weekend I’ll be exploring Kanto. Expect another update next week.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer

This weekend you can bet I’ll be spending more time in Warframe. Check out my review if you haven’t already – it’s not perfect but it’s the closest we’re ever likely to get to having Destiny on Switch. I’ll also be embracing some retro vibes in my next review, Rock Boshers: Director’s Cut DX. Chiptunes for the win!

As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a vote in the poll above and a comment below with your gaming choices over the next few days…

TwitchCon, the annual gathering held for Twitch streamers and the community, is heading to Europe for the first time next year as TwitchCon Europe.

As detailed in a press release, the event will be held at at CityCube in Berlin, Germany from April 13-14 for the European Twitch community, containing much of the same elements as its United States counterpart. 

The company selected Berlin as the location for TwitchCon Europe based on its centralized location, and Germany’s reported status as one of the top performing countries in terms of both streamers and viewership.

In addition, Twitch sees the city as ideal based on proximity to attractions and accommodations, and its accessibility to those traveling from out of the country.

Additional TwitchCon Europe details will be shared in the coming months.

With highly stylized enemy characters in DOOM, the success in “selling” the characters is usually tied directly to the quality of the animations, and the combat AI in DOOM relies heavily on straightforward full body animations.

However, this meant that the AI animation controls needed to be more robust and flexible than simple naive playback. So how did the developers manage? 

In this GDC 2017 talk, id Software’s Jake Campbell explains some of the techniques that were used to make the full-body AI animations of 2016’s DOOM 2016 in a modern game environment.

It wan insightful talk that’s definitely still worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company Informa