Month: April 2020

The developer and publisher for Cooking Mama: Cookstar have moved to quash speculation that the game allows for background cryptocurrency mining when running on Switch.

Last week, IGN reported on the confusing release and provenance of the new Cooking Mama game, which has seen the digital version pulled from Nintendo eShop, while making its way to select stores as a boxed game. Subsequently, a tweet including a supposed screenshot from Discord chat about the game began circulating.

That screenshot alleged that, while running, the game is “Usiing your system to mine Crypto Currency and potentially handig your personal info as well [sp]“. Cryptocurrency mining (a.k.a. cryptomining) is a process of authenticating cryptocurrency payments, earning a small payment in the process – if true, this would mean your Switch hardware was being used to earn money for a third party. A reply to that original message includes a series of follow-up details, some of which are drawn from IGN’s report, and several of which are provably false.

We looked at these options as a means to allow players to trade in-game assets. However, we only explored the theory behind the concept, not the implementation. Cooking Mama: Cookstar, nor any of our other titles in the past or near future will utilize crypto technology.

— Cooking Mama: Cookstar (@CookstarMama) April 6, 2020

Following that tweet, both developer 1st Playable and publisher Planet Entertainment (through the Cookstar Twitter account) have refuted the allegation. Tweeting for the first time since 2017, 1st Playable explained: “As the developers we can say with certainty there is no cryptocurrency or data collection or blockchain or anything else shady in the code. The Nintendo Switch is a very safe platform, with none of the data and privacy issues associated with some mobile and PC games.”

The Cookstar Twitter account echoed the same point, and referred to a much-discussed 2019 press release that indicated publisher Planet Entertainment did aim to add blockchain technology to its games, including Cooking Mama – a goal it says never came to fruition.

“We looked at these options as a means to allow players to trade in-game assets”, reads a follow-up tweet. “However, we only explored the theory behind the concept, not the implementation. Cooking Mama: Cookstar, nor any of our other titles in the past or near future will utilize crypto technology.”

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Independent sources have supported the developer and publisher’s statements. Several Twitter users that reverse engineer games have reported that the game contains no code related to blockchain or cryptomining. IGN has verified with players that do own the game that claims of it causing the Switch to overheat also appear to be false, although battery drain does seem to be an issue (this could be down to any number of factors, however). Cookstar can also be played offline, contrary to claims that it was an always-online game to allow for background cryptomining.

This controversy has also has helped clear up some of the previous confusion around Cooking Mama: Cookstar, primarily who made the game, and its connection to blockchain technology. However, aside from acknowledging “distribution issues”, neither developer or publisher has addressed why the game was pulled from Nintendo eShop in the first place. IGN has, once again, reached out for comment.

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Nintendo has reduced the number of “some eggs” players will find in Animal Crossing: New Horizon’s Bunny Day event – seemingly responding to public outcry about how many freaking eggs there are right now.

The news was revealed in a set of patch notes from Nintendo, which detailed changes coming to the game as part of Version 1.1.4. “During the Easter event, the appearance rate of some eggs has been adjusted until April 11, 2020,” the patch notes read. Below, it mentions that the rate of eggs will increase again on April 12th to commemorate Easter Sunday.

It’s not immediately clear which egg types have seen the reduction in numbers, although it seems likely that eggs caught while fishing would be a target.

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If you’ve been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons recently you will have been forced into the Bunny Day event, where Zipper the ‘rabbit’ has infected the island with countless eggs, replacing many of the normal resources players are trying to collect on their daily adventures.

Despite the fact that Zipper is objectively terrifying, this eggstravaganza has caused chaos for players who don’t care much for the Bunny Day exclusive crafting items, which include an absurd variety of egg-infused furniture, and outfits that turn your islander into an egg. You can check out the full list of Bunny Day DIY Recipes here. Many players have turned to social media to address the issue, putting Zipper in the firing line.

아니…공포게임 동물의숲 pic.twitter.com/gRayrRiJHP

— 산개 (@SUPERMAGlCPlG) March 31, 2020

It’s a lot to deal with and can be overwhelming for those players who just want to go about their day fishing for Sea Bass. Water Eggs have replaced some of the fish in the water, meaning you can waste precious tools reeling fish-shaped, bait nibbling eggs out of a pond. Here’s every egg type currently in the game – It’s a nightmare.

Here’s all the fish coming to N. Hemisphere Animal Crossing players this month:

– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg
– Water Egg

— Ben Bertoli™ (@SuperBentendo) April 2, 2020

The same can be said for Sky Eggs, which replace the gifts attached to balloons you can shoot down with your slingshot. You can’t even whack a rock for iron without receiving Stone Eggs.

Luckily, Nintendo has seemingly listened to the fans on this occasion and quickly issued a fix to address the distaste towards Zipper and his insane eggpocalypse.

If you’re still striving to attain a 3 Star Town Rating amidst this egg-onomic crisis, check out our guide to help summon K.K. Slider sooner rather than later.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN who loved Zipper in Silent Hill 3. Follow him on Twitter.

Birds of Prey has received an early digital release due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing cinemas around the world, and as new viewers discover it, director Cathy Yan is looking to the future. Although a Birds of Prey follow-up or sequel has not been confirmed as of yet, Yan says that she knows where she’d like to take the sequel.

Speaking to The Wrap, Yan said that if she was given the opportunity to work on another Birds of Prey film, it would focus on Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Poison Ivy. “I would love to see Poison Ivy and I would certainly love to see the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy,” she told the site.

Poison Ivy is set to be a romantic partner for Harley in the second season of DC Universe’s animated Harley Quinn show.

Asked whether a sequel is likely, Yan said that she wasn’t sure, but does not discount the possibility. “I think people aren’t ready to let go of Harley Quinn quite yet and you know, Margot I don’t think is ready to let go of Harley Quinn yet either,” she said.

The film earned about $200 million worldwide, which, as Yan herself has said, means that it should not be labeled as a failure. The film would have continued to make money if it had stayed in cinemas longer, too.

Birds of Prey received a 9/10 in GameSpot’s review, and was praised for righting the wrongs of past movies in the DC cinematic universe: “It serves as an unexpected bridge between old and new, pulling bits and pieces from the ghosts of movies fans would rather forget and remixing them into something that feels fresh and brimming with a sense of forward momentum.”

Xbox users in the United States can now donate to the CDC Foundation to help support COVID-19 relief directly from their Xbox by playing games and more.

The Xbox home screen in the US has been updated with a tile that displays the CDC Foundation logo. Click through here and you’ll be taken to another page that explains all the key details.

To donate to the CDC Foundation on Xbox, you need to be a Microsoft Rewards member (sign up on your Xbox or online at the Microsoft Rewards website). You get Microsoft Rewards by playing games, completing Game Pass quests, renting/buying movies, and by purchasing Xbox games.

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Apex Legends is one of the biggest and best battle royale games out there, but it’s missing what many consider an important or essential feature–console crossplay, which would allow PS4 and Xbox One players to team up or fight against each other. In a new interview with Game Informer magazine (as relayed by GameSpot sister site Comicbook.com), general manager Dusty Welch and director Chad Grenier have talked about wanting to include this feature.

Welch told the magazine that they saw how crossplay is now “something that is kind of expected in the industry and is important to a game like ours.” He says that he and Grenier personally play on different systems at home, and wish they could team up.

“On a personal level, yes, we’d love to do that and party up on the weekends,” Welch says. “I think it’s an important thing to get to.”

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Disney is asking its VPs, senior VPs, and executive VPs to take paycuts as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis grinds production to a halt–some of them are not happy about it, according to The Hollywood Reporter sources.

The pay cuts range from 20 to 30 percent and are effective immediately. Some of those affected have complained that, while the contracts refer to the cuts as “temporary”, they have been given no firm end date. Employees were also given only two days to sign them. The cuts are voluntary in name, but refusing to sign could jeopardize the employee’s future career within the company.

While Chairman Bob Iger has forfeited his entire base salary of $3 million, and CEO Bob Chapek reduced his $2.5 million by 50 percent, some of those unhappy with the cuts have pointed out that both earn additional compensation in the tens of millions in a normal year.

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It’s inevitable that we’ll see another Grand Theft Auto game at some point, but over six years after Grant Theft Auto V released, we don’t know a lot about what’s coming next. Ned Luke, the actor who portrayed Michael De Santa in Rockstar’s open world game, has been asked about a theoretical GTA 6 for years, and now he’s got a message for everyone who is buying into rumors about the game.

In an Instagram live video alongside Shawn Fonteno, who voiced Franklin Clinton in the game, Luke has called out the people who make up rumors about the series, claiming that no one outside of Rockstar itself knows anything.

The video is no longer on Instagram, but one Twitter user, OhMrZack, managed to capture it. It’s embedded below.

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Some of the best content and strongest materia upgrades are hidden away in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s side quests. Here’s why it’s in your best interest to see them through.