Month: March 2020

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New Pokemon Sword & Shield DLC Details Revealed

Nintendo capped off its surprise Nintendo Direct Mini with some new information about Pokemon Sword and Shield. In particular, the company revealed more details about the games’ first upcoming expansion, Isle of Armor, which is currently slated to arrive this June.

Isle of Armor is set on the eponymous island, which lies off the coast of the Galar region. The isle is home to a Pokemon dojo where aspiring trainers learn under the tutelage of Mustard, the longest-reigning Pokemon Champion in Galar’s history and Leon’s former mentor.

When you arrive at the dojo, you’re gifted the Legendary Pokemon Kubfu from Mustard himself. As part of your training, you will eventually be able to challenge the Towers of Two Fists–the Tower of Darkness and the Tower of Waters. You can only challenge one of the towers, however, and the one you choose will influence how Kubfu evolves.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Star Wars: Jedi Academy Is Out Now On PS4 And Switch, Episode 1 Racer Coming This Spring

Another classic Star Wars game has released on modern consoles, with one more on the way soon. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is now available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer is said to be coming later this spring.

Jedi Academy puts you in the role of a custom-created student under the tutelage of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. You’ll progress down the path of the Force, earn new powers, and construct your lightsaber. You can also play online in 16-player matches including Siege, Capture the Flag, and Free For All. It costs $20.

Episode 1 Racer is based on the famous podracing scene from Star Wars: Episode 1–which is basically soapbox racing if the soapbox were attached to two gigantic rockets. No firm release date or price has been announced, but it was mentioned alongside the release of Jedi Acadmy.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Nintendo Switch Online Members Get A New Perk For A Limited Time

Nintendo surprised fans with a Direct Mini earlier today, releasing a slew of information about new and upcoming Switch games. The 30-minute video covered a ton of games, including a new perk available right now for subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online, the company’s online membership. From March 26 through April 6, subscribers can access a free trial for Arms, a fighting game released in 2017 where fighters battle using extendable, customizable arms. The free play period includes access to the full game.

The free play period coincides with news that an Arms fighter is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This will be Challenger Pack 6, the first new character as part of Fighter Pass 2. The Arms fighter will be available in Smash sometime this June.

In Arms, up to four players can choose a fighter and battle together at once. The extendable arms can perform standard actions like punching, throwing, blocking, and dodging, and each fighter also has unique combat abilities. You can also charge up your attacks and customize your arms, which have various weights and elemental attributes that affect your gameplay.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Gaming Chairs Are On Sale, So Grab a Seat

Are you sitting down? I am. In fact, I spend a lot of time sitting down. You might say I’m a fan. Most of my gaming time is spent sitting in a chair or on the couch, which is why I believe a good, comfortable chair is a critical part of the gaming experience. Even a cheap office chair beats the old wooden dining room chair I got from Goodwill (it was a long time ago), and if you’re looking to upgrade your sitting experience, there’s a great sale happening on Maxnomic gaming chairs and desks right now.

Gaming Chair Deals

Maxnomic has a licensing agreement with Microsoft, going so far as to offer its products for sale in certain Microsoft stores. Since you probably can’t just pop over to the nearest Microsoft store to grab yourself an Xbox-themed gaming chair, Maxnomic is offering free shipping and $50 off with code ‘HOME50’ on its entire selection of chairs.

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The Maxnomic code works with any chair on its site, while the SecretLab codes work as follows:

  • 25STAYHOME20 – $25 off all Secretlab 2020 Series (excluding G2 and OG edition)
  • 65STAYHOME20 – $65 off all Secretlab 2018 Series PRIME PU Leather and SoftWeave Fabric models
  • 150STAYHOME20 – $150 off all Secretlab 2018 Series NAPA Leather models
  • 30STAYHOMENC20 –  $30 all NeueChair products

The SecretLab Titan, it should be pointed out, tops the list of our best gaming chairs, making it extremely desirable in the age of work-from-home.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

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Smash Bros. Player Builds Controller That Tazes Him, Pichu-Style

A Smash Bros. player has built a special controller that will inflict the pain Pichu feels after certain special moves.

YouTuber insertcontrollerhere created a mod for a Gamecube-style controller that uses a tazer to inflict electric shocks at the same time Pichu shocks itself after using some moves. When Pichu uses the special moves Thunderjolt, Skullbash, Agility, or Thunder, they take a few percentage points of damage and now, thanks to this mod, insertcontrollerhere will feel that pain as well.

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You can check out the controller in action below:

insertcontrollerhere, whose real name is Eric Heckman, was going to upload footage of live gameplay with the taser controller hooked up, but posted last night that the recorded footage was lost after a camera issue. Heckman will be posting footage soon though, according to Twitter.

As to why someone would want to create a controller like this, Heckman doesn’t offer any answers in the video about the controller, but a quick stroll through the insertcontrollerhere YouTube channel will give you some idea why, given its focus on mods for all kinds of controllers, to do wildly different things.

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Those projects include a controller that makes Smash Bros characters “teabag” when insertcontrollerhere dips a teabag connected to a controller into water, as well as a controller that lets you rage quit with the power of salt. When you want to rage quit, poor salt into a cup of water connected to a controller and the controller will then automatically pause the match and select the quit option. It’s a treasure trove of unique controller mods.

For more controller mods, check out this ex-NASA engineer’s PS4 and Xbox One mod that makes the controllers’ vibrations 10 times more powerful.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

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Campaign for New Marvel vs. DC Crossover Builds Momentum

Writer Gail Simone is spearheading a call for the Big Two comics publishers to do another epic Marvel vs. DC crossover. Simone, best known for writing Deadpool, Birds of Prey, and Wonder Woman, wants the two companies to make it happen because she thinks it will generate buzz and bring in a new audience, which will help comic book shops recover in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has left the comics industry in a bad spot.

“When comics shops open back up as we all hope they will, I would love it if DC and Marvel could ask the lawyer to step outside, and have another big Marvel/DC crossover,” Simone tweeted. “A lot of people would love it and it would lay the welcome mat back out in a big way.”

 

While Marvel and DC have had a handful of crossovers in the past — like the Amalgam Comics crossovers that fused together iconic characters to make extreme hybrid heroes like Dark Claw (Batman + Wolverine) and Catsai (Catwoman + Elektra) — there hasn’t been one since the ‘90s and the notion of another crossover has been a distant thought for the Big Two.

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But it’s fair to say that many things have been happening lately that we all never thought were possible, so perhaps in these trying times we’ll see Marvel and DC join forces for the common good once more.

That’s the hope, at least. Simone got the ball rolling with the hashtag #PleaseMarvelDC and offered a few ideas on which characters should crossover and which creator should execute the idea: Vision/Mr. Miracle by Tom King, Thor/Wonder Woman by Donny Cates, and Superman/Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis.

 

Numerous creators replied with their dream crossovers, which built momentum for the campaign and spread the idea across social media like wildfire.

Writer Tom Taylor (DCeased, X-Men Red) wants to do a story where Harley Quinn and Deadpool team up to take down Darkseid and Thanos.

Writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy, The Amazing Spider-Man) went for a more obscure (yet no less awesome) approach.

 

Then writer Scott Snyder (Batman, American Vampire) presented a very spot-on idea for a crossover story featuring the Dark Knight.

It looks like the comics creators themselves are all on board and have plenty of exciting ideas. Even though the general public might see Marvel and DC as fierce rivals, the people that create the comics are all part of one artistic community that work in the same industry and make friends with one another regardless of which publisher they happen to be working for. In fact, most creators end up working for Marvel and DC at one point or another, sometimes both at the same time. So it all boils down to whether those in charge at Marvel and DC would ever make a deal to do another crossover. DC senior editor Chris Conroy has already cast his vote in favor of the crossover, but with one specific condition.

 

Do you want to see another Marvel and DC crossover? Which characters do you want to see go up against one another? Let us know in the comments.

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Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.