Get ready for some pixel pew-pew platforming – the stylish action-adventure-platformer Olija has finally been given a release date! On January 28th, we’ll all be able to figure out the various mysteries that the trailer presents. What’s that shipwreck all about? Where exactly is this strange place filled with monsters? And just who is Olija?

Armed only with a (legendary) harpoon, your swashbuckling avatar, Faraday, must slay foes in order to save him and his washed-up crew from being marooned far from their homes. The platforming in the trailer looks sharp and dynamic, so there’s a chance Olija will join the likes of Flinthook and Celeste in the ranks of jumpy-dashy games that we like very much. Interested players can grab the free demo on Steam right now to check it out for themselves!

Most importantly, though, the game has magic hats. Any game with magic hats is alright by us.

These first look pictures from #Coming2America feel like if only the people we wanted to see showed up to our high school reunion. pic.twitter.com/0QTsQaouwB

— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) December 17, 2020

© The Pokémon Company

It’s Thanksgiving and time for the Macy’s Parade in New York. After float upon float showing various things, in comes a familiar yellow friend. Multiple Pikachu have come and started dancing to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, at the end, something is uncovered… the Pokémon 25th anniversary logo. That’s right, it’s almost Pokémon’s 25th anniversary!

So, as we approach 2021 and this momentous occasion, let’s think about what Pokémon fans the world over might have to look forward to in the coming year.

A Look Back – Pokémon20

Just five years ago was the Pokémon 20th Anniversary celebrations (that’s right, we did the math). It feels like almost yesterday and also a lifetime ago. What exactly did we get during that year?

In the West, the celebrations went full on and we had a “Mythical Year”. Each month during 2016, there was a celebration of a Mythical Pokémon with distributions for Pokémon X & Y/Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, as well as TCG products and merchandise. The main games were building towards the start of the 7th generation with Pokémon Sun & Moon and Pokémon GO hit right in the middle and brought PokéMania back to the forefront in a mainstream manner not seen since the late ’90s. It made Pokémon truly a household name again. It was a great way to celebrate two decades of the series, but the question now is: How can the 25th anniversary possibly match it? Let’s look at some possibilities point-by-point.

Main Series Pokémon Games?

Main series games are always the focus for fans, the driving force of the franchise. They dictate how the next three or four years progress. However, unlike the 20th anniversary, this year we are in the middle of the eighth generation and it’s unlikely we’d be building up to the next one. With Pokémon Sword & Shield being the best selling Pokémon games this side of the year 2000, we should think about how Game Freak and The Pokémon Company can follow it up.

© The Pokémon Company

Enhanced versions are no longer on the table and have been replaced with DLC, so that leaves a remake of a previous game (a new Let’s Go! version of the Gen II Johto games seems like a no-brainer, at least from a business perspective) or something entirely new but still running on the same engine as Sword & Shield.

The fan community thinks Diamond & Pearl remakes are next, and have been thinking it since 2017. Will this year be the time it happens? We must also remember that Game Freak do like to surprise us, so the possibilities are endless!

Spin-off Games

There are four different spin-off titles that we know of in development at the time of writing, and several of them are likely to hit in 2021.

First up is the Nintendo Switch title, New Pokémon Snap. This is the sequel and follow-up to the much beloved 1999 Nintendo 64 classic. While we don’t know much about what it will contain, it’s highly likely we’ll be getting this game during Pokémon’s 25th anniversary year.

Pokémon Sleep is a mobile game that got unveiled in 2018 that is one of the most enigmatic games we can even conceive of. Details are very scarce for this game but the concept of it is to track your sleep utilising the Pokémon GO Plus + and to use it to interact with and catch Pokémon. It’s possible that development of the game has stopped (it was originally supposed to launch this year) which is why we’ve heard nothing since, but it is possible it will come out and could even be — wait for it — a sleeper hit.

© The Pokémon Company

Also revealed in 2018 was Detective Pikachu ‘2’ on the Nintendo Switch. When it was announced, it was clear that it was early in development (it didn’t even have an official name yet), so whether it will be ready in 2021 is a valid question. With the movie based on its 3DS predecessor being a massive success, it’s certainly a game to look forward to.

There’s also a very contentious game that is likely to come out next year. Pokémon UNITE is a mobile and Switch title developed by TiMi Studios & The Pokémon Company and has you play with four other players against another team of five in a huge battle arena game. With Pokémon being the largest media franchise in the world and MOBAs being the biggest video game genre in the world, the game arguably has the potential to hit Pokémon GO heights of engagement and activity, especially in the markets in Asia. However, the game’s reveal in the West did not go down well for a variety of reasons, so whether it will be able to break through in all territories remains to be seen.

Existing games such as Pokémon Masters EX, Pokémon Café Mix and Pokémon GO will also likely have various events to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Pokémon GO just announced one for February, the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto event where you can catch all Kanto Pokémon in the day and complete research to get a Shiny Mew.

There are definitely going to be things going on in these titles during the celebration year, and — who knows — we could get some surprises there, too.

Anime & Movies

Pokémon Journeys is continuing onwards in Japan and it in itself feels like a full celebration of the franchise with Ash & Goh going to various regions in the Pokémon World in their stories. Whether or not it’ll have any celebratory episodes with old characters remains unclear.

In terms of movies, the events of this past year have potentially changed things up. 2020’s movie, Secrets of the Jungle, is only coming out in Japan on December 25th 2020, and we’ll undoubtedly get it in 2021. The next question is, will the 2021 movie be still on-track? Will Japan get it in Summer 2021 or will it be delayed? Only time will tell.

© The Pokémon Company

Pokémon Trading Card Game

Pokémon itself is not the only thing celebrating the 25th anniversary. 2021 is also the 25th anniversary of Pokémon Trading Card Game. For the 20th anniversary there were two sets that focused on the past: Generations was a set focused on Kanto Pokémon, while Evolutions provided reprints of many of the original cards brought up to the new power levels of the game. We already know that in February, one week before the 25th anniversary, we’ll get Shining Fates, the latest set built around Shiny Pokémon. Besides that, will we see a bespoke 25th anniversary set? Some retailer listings imply that we will but they’re often unreliable so it’s hard to say at this point.

Lovely Pokémon Merchandise

Merch is the area where it’s going to get interesting. Typically, Pokémon merchandise is focused towards the younger audience with plush, toys and so forth, although over the past few years, we’ve been getting more and more adult apparel and recently, a new merchandise line was announced; a premium Poké Ball replica in conjunction with the Wand Company available Pokémon Day (27th February) for $100. This indicates we may get more premium merchandise for the older audience in addition to the products for younger Poké fans.

So with all that in mind, it does seem like there will be a lot for Pokémon fans of all areas of the franchise. Is there anything you’re looking forward to? Anything you want to see? Let’s celebrate Pokémon!

Serial RPG publisher Kemco has announced a brand new sale on Nintendo Switch, Wii U and 3DS which discounts ten role-playing titles (and a bonus rhythm game) for your consideration.

The sale is live across the North American, European and Australian Nintendo eShops, with discounts reaching as high as 50% off for a limited time. Check out all the games included below:

Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God
40% off | Nintendo Switch

Patty’s brother has been possessed by the God of Poverty and the whole family has become poor, with huge debts… This is the beginning of Patty’s struggle! To pay back the debts, let’s open a tavern in Marenia, gather ingredients, and start cooking!

Miden Tower
30% off | Nintendo Switch

After Miden Tower is invaded by the Alroval Empire, the mages who call it home find themselves cornered on its upper floors. This sets in motion a series of tragic events that lead to a counteroffensive being launched to take back the tower and to get revenge for the wrongs committed against them.

Seek Hearts
30% off | Nintendo Switch

With questions swirling in his mind about why he was created and by who, Izen sets out on a journey to discover his origins. However, as he and those with him pursue answers to this mystery, they fail to notice a shadow creeping up upon them with the intent to stop them dead in their tracks…

Yodanji
40% off | Nintendo Switch

Yodanji is a coffee-break roguelike themed after Japanese folklore tales. Get the ability to summon and trap yokai – numerous spirits that have been living hidden among us (until now). Admire them and give them witty nicknames and then put them through the brutal ever-changing dungeon to try and summon even more yōkai! Spooky cute graphics and powders made from various body parts included.

Illusion of L’Phalcia
40% off | Nintendo Switch

Overwhelm your enemies with beautifully animated skill chains and magic in turn-based 3D battles! Acquire Gems throughout the adventure and attach them to a character’s Rune like a puzzle to enable learning magic, as well as gaining status boosts. Explore the unknown through dungeon crawling, subquests and many other challenges!

Bonds of the Skies
40% off | Nintendo Switch

Times are changing, and the existence of the Grimoas has become less relevant in everyday life. The young Eil is in the middle of his Coming-of-Age ceremony when suddenly his town is attacked by a demon and engulfed in flames. In the midst of this confusion, Eil enters into a pact with the Air Grimoa, Nogard, in order to save everyone…

Hide & Dance!
10% off | Nintendo Switch

You can enjoy a comical rhythm & dance game pressing the buttons to the rhythm of the music and making combos. If your mom tries to enter the room from behind, try to avoid her with a hiding action!

Asdivine Hearts
50% off | Wii U

Asdivine Hearts boasts of groundbreaking visual quality, plenty of subquests, a battle arena, treasure to dig for, and an enemy guide to complete. By taking puzzle piece-like jewels and setting them in a box known as a rubix, players are able to customize characters! How far can you level and how many millions of damage can you dish out? All these challenges await you and more!

Revenant Saga
50% off | Wii U

After being turned into an immortal being known as a Revenant and learning of the existence of a demon within him, Albert sets out on a journey to make the person who did this to him pay with their very life. However, as he runs into others dealing with their own figurative demons along the way, will he find the answer?

Alphadia
50% off | Nintendo 3DS

Employing an orthodox turn-based battle system, Alphadia evokes a feeling of nostalgia with its classic RPG style. Its refined game balance and simple to use interface make this game accessible to players of any skill level while at the same time offering 30+ hours of gameplay. Come experience Alphadia and witness its dramatic story unfold!

Crystareino
50% off | Nintendo 3DS

As always, the protagonist is training hard with his teacher, Eppol, in order to become a respectable hero. After a training session, a mysterious light appears in front of them, engulfing the two. Summoned to another world, the two are bewildered by the situation and begin a journey to find a way to get back to their home world.

Are you a sucker for RPGs? Will you be grabbing any of these titles while they’re reduced on the eShop? Let us know in the usual place.

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Remote

Here at Playco, we make games that bring the world closer together through play.

Our ideal teammates are thoughtful, humble, and passionate professionals who can both zoom into the details and zoom out to embrace the big picture. We are inspired by makers and tinkerers, who are unafraid to experiment with a healthy disregard for constraints. We hope you’ll enrich our team with your enthusiasm and passion, both for games and for life.

We are looking for passionate and highly creative game designers to help connect over 1 billion gamers worldwide!

Responsibilities

• Guard larger world economy against unbalanced features and LiveOps proposals.
• Creating economic models that show the impact of tuning changes and new features.
• Constant analysis of live game data to develop proposals to improve targeted KPIs.
• Working with a global, cross discipline team to grow products by adding new features while also continuously improving the existing game experience.
• Keep up in a fast paced environment with near-daily releases.
• Ongoing competitor analysis and game tear downs to share insights with the larger team.
• Evangelize original new designs or researched conclusions.

Qualifications

•  5+ years of game design experience with 3+ years focused on designing economies.
• You create clear documentation using wireframes, flows and spreadsheets that can guide product development and respond to questions or pivots as features are developed.
• Ability to leverage economic modeling tools that can be used for analysis and tuning.
• You are a skilled speaker and capable of collaborating with developers, product managers and executives.
• Experience using data to develop and ship features for a casual free to play game, tuning free to play game economies, extensive knowledge of industry trends and developments in the free to play and virtual goods space.

Preferred Experience

•  Knowledge of casual, social and facebook games.
• Knowledge of SQL.
• Have a strong secondary skill set (like creating user flows, using prototyping tools, art or programming).
• Strong math skills.
• A desire to always be learning and improving yourself.

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

Google has officially launched its game streaming service Google Stadia on iOS devices but, like many of its competitors, had to bypass the App Store to do so.

Players hoping to use an iOS device to play data center-hosted games through Stadia can do so using an iPhone or iPad’s Safari browser, so long as the device is updated to version 14.3 or higher. From there, loading up Stadia’s website will direct them to a web app that’ll then stream games directly to their phones.

Many game streaming services have had to look to web apps in order to launch on iOS like this. Apple itself doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of cloud-based game services setting up shop on its tightly controlled App Store, at least judging by the complicated set of rules it rolled out for streaming apps earlier in the year.

Despite this, Apple has yet to crack down on or really weigh in on the subject of apps launching on iOS through alternative means like this, making it a valuable gateway for services like Stadia, Microsoft’s Project xCloud, or Amazon Luna that want to tap into iOS’s massive user base.

Static methods are special cases of class methods. They’re bound to a class rather than an instance, so they’re independent on any instance’s state. Python’s built-in function staticmethod() prefixes a method definition as an annotation @staticmethod. This annotation transforms a normal instance method into a static method. The difference between static (class) methods and instance methods is that they don’t require an instance to be callable.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you one of Python’s little-known secrets that separate the intermediates from the experts: static methods. A static method is a special case of a class method. You may know the difference between an instance method and a class method conceptually. (If you don’t, this tutorial is for you.) But do you also know how to create a static method in Python?

If not, read on, because this tutorial will show you!

Syntax Class Method

Syntax: staticmethod(function) # <--- This is considered unpythonic

@staticmethod # <--- As a prefix before the used method

You can declare a static method is the following decorator syntax—this is the most Pythonic way:

class C: @staticmethod def f(arg1, arg2, ...): None C.f(arg1, arg2, ...)

How to Call a Static Method?

There are two ways of calling a static method:

• You can call it on a class such as C.f(arg1, arg2, ...), or
• You can call it on an instance such as C().f(arg1, arg2, ...).

In contrast to a class method, Python doesn’t implicitly pass a reference to the class itself as a first argument.

Static Method Application — Factory Pattern

You can use the static method to allow people to create different variants of a Coffee class:

class Coffee: def __init__(self, milk, beans): self.milk = milk # percentage self.coffee = 100-milk # percentage self.beans = beans def __repr__(self): return f'Milk={self.milk}% Coffee={self.coffee}% Beans={self.beans}' @staticmethod def cappuccino(): return Coffee(80, 'Arrabica') @staticmethod def espresso_macchiato(): return Coffee(30, 'Robusta') @staticmethod def latte(): return Coffee(95, 'Arrabica') print(Coffee.cappuccino())

print(Coffee.espresso_macchiato())

print(Coffee.latte())

This is called the factory pattern: the static methods are instance factories—they produce new instances according to their implementations. For example, the Coffee.cappuccino() method creates a special type of Coffee with an initial selection of 80% milk and Arrabica beans.

The output of this code snippet is:

Milk=80% Coffee=20% Beans=Arrabica

Milk=30% Coffee=70% Beans=Robusta

Milk=95% Coffee=5% Beans=Arrabica

Interactive Example Static Method

The following interactive code shell allows you to play with this example and deepen your skills.

Exercise: Can you create another coffee specialty?

Static Method is a Function Decorator

Decorators help to add functionality to existing code without having to modify the code itself. Decorators are so-called because they decorate code, they do not modify the code, but they make the code do different things using decoration. Now that we have understood closures, we can work our way step by step to understanding and using decorators.

The @staticmethod is a function decorator. It’s short for calling staticmethod(m) for the method m that you would decorate.

Here’s an example without using a decorator and by using staticmethod() instead:

class Coffee: def __init__(self, milk, beans): self.milk = milk # percentage self.coffee = 100-milk # percentage self.beans = beans def __repr__(self): return f'Milk={self.milk}% Coffee={self.coffee}% Beans={self.beans}' def cappuccino(): return Coffee(80, 'Arrabica') cappuccino = staticmethod(cappuccino) print(Coffee.cappuccino())

The output is the same:

Milk=80% Coffee=20% Beans=Arrabica

However, this is not the recommended way—use a decorator with the @ annotation instead!

Related Article: Decorators

Static Method vs Instance Method

If you don’t use the @staticmethod annotator, you obtain an instance method per default. The instance method requires that the first argument self is a reference to the instance itself on which the method is called. The static method doesn’t pass any implicit argument. Thus, the difference between static methods and instance methods is that Python passes nothing in the first case while passing the instance (object) as a first implicit argument in the second case.

Here’s a minimal example of a static and an instance method:

class C: @staticmethod def f(): print('hi') # instance method def g(self): None # call static method:

C.f() # call instance method:

C().g()

Static Method vs Class Method

You may know static methods from programming languages such as C++ or Java. They’re methods that exist independently of whether or not you created an instance of the class. That’s why they don’t use any instance variable in the method body. If you want to use a static method in Python, you need to use the @staticmethod annotation rather than the @classmethod annotation. The difference is that static methods don’t expect a reference to either the instance or the class as an implied first argument.

Here’s an example comparing class methods, instance methods, and static methods:

class C: @classmethod def f(cls): None # instance method def g(self): None @staticmethod def h(): None # call class method:

C.f() # call instance method:

C().g() # call static method:

C.h()

Static Method vs Class Method vs Instance Method

To summarize, here’s the difference between the three different types of methods:

• Static Methods,
• Class Methods, and
• Instance Methods.

Related Video: Python Class Method

Summary

Static methods are special cases of class methods. They’re bound to a class rather than an instance, so they’re independent on any instance’s state.

Python’s built-in function staticmethod() prefixes a method definition as an annotation @staticmethod. This annotation transforms a normal instance method into a static method.

Do you want to boost your Python skills in a fun and easy-to-consume way? Consider the following resources and become a master coder!

Where to Go From Here?

Enough theory, let’s get some practice!

To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?

Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!

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The post Python staticmethod() first appeared on Finxter.

Following quickly on the heels of last months Facebook Sponsorship of Blender, today it was announced Blender has a new corporate sponsor, Amazon AWS. This sponsorship is a bit different, in that it is aimed at improving a very specific aspect of Blender, character animation. The sponsorship will enable Blender to hire multiple developers to work over a period of 3 years on improving character animation tools in Blender.

Details of the announcement from the Blender news:

Today Blender Foundation announced that AWS has joined the Blender Development Fund as a Patron Member to support continued core development and innovation for Blender. AWS committed to a period of three years, specifically to support character animation tools development.

“We’re excited to continue to expand our support for open source solutions for our customers in the digital content creation space.” said Kyle Roche, GM of Creative Tools. “The Blender Foundation has been an industry leader in providing production-grade open source software solutions, and we look forward to helping our mutual customers work more efficiently than ever before through continued improvements in Blender.”

Two years ago, Blender Foundation started a project to redesign and upgrade Blender’s character animation system for the coming decade. Nicknamed “Animation 2020” it has a number of specs that were reviewed by character animator and industry veteran Jason Schleifer, now Creative Director at AWS.

“It has always been my preference to work closely with industry talents on improving Blender,” said Blender chairman Ton Roosendaal. “Thanks to AWS’ support we can recruit additional top developers to help us bring character animation in Blender to new heights.”

Blender Foundation will start recruiting in the course of Q1 2021, pending the current travel and meeting restrictions being lifted or relaxed.

Amazon AWS, or Amazon Web Services is the massive cloud services portion of Amazon, which provides a great deal of the backbone of the modern internet. They also have gaming divisions including owning Twitch, as well as the recently updated Lumberyard game engine. Blender is an open source cross platform 3D application that supports modelling, animation, texturing, rendering, sculpting and more. Improvements to the character animation tools will be a welcome addition. Blender development is supported by the Blender Development Fund.

You can learn more about the Amazon AWS sponsorship in the video below.