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Halloween seems to be a holiday the team at Game Freak – rather like myself – really admires lately, given how many Ghosts and spooky happenings were slipped into Pokémon X and Y in reference to the game’s October worldwide launch – and now, Nintendo have unveiled a series of ghoulish gifts to make Halloween 2014 truly a treat.
Shiny Mega Gengar
The first of these was spoilered last month when it was revealed to be following the Diancie giveaway, but is worth a reminder anyway. Between October 15 and November 5, 2014 at participating GAME, GameStop and other stores, you’ll be able to pick up a special code card. Enter your code with the “GET WITH CODE” option in Mystery Gift and you’ll unlock a shiny Gengar to send to your Pokémon X or Pokémon Y game… but it gets better!
This Gengar arrives holding a Gengarite, the Mega Stone that allows it to become Mega Gengar during battle, bringing with it the usual Mega Pokémon stat boosts. With the Shadow Tag ability – preventing opponents from fleeing or switching while Mega Gengar remains in play – replacing the Gengar’s normal ability in Mega Form, Nintendo state this terror is “as ready for a fight as it is for a fright” – though while Nintendo also make a big deal of Shiny Mega Gengar’s new white colouration, even being the hardened Gengar fan I am, I find this very much something I could just as easily take or leave.
Super Size Pumpkaboo
If that wasn’t enough for you, how about a SECOND free Pokémon? That’s right! In another nod to Halloween, Pokémon X and Y also introduced two Kalos Pokémon based around pumpkins – Pumpkaboo and its evolution, Gourgeist. Like real pumpkins, the two Pokémon have a unique gimmick in X and Y in that they they can be caught in four different sizes, from Small to Super-size. Each size varies in rarity with the Super-Size version being the most difficult to catch – but now, for the month of October, you don’t even have to catch it to get one!
Throughout the whole month of October – that’s the 1st to the 31st – simply check Mystery Gift to collect a free Super Size Pumpkaboo to download to your copy of Pokémon X or Y. Unlike the Gengar, no code is needed – just choose the “Get via Internet” option to find the gift. The Pumpkaboo – which can be either male or female, selected randomly – will also come equipped with a Rocky Helmet, allowing it to cause recoil damage to any Pokémon that dares to attack it up close – and just to fit the Halloween theme a little more, Trick-or-Treat and Scary Face are just two of the moves it’ll know out of the box. All Pumpkaboo evolve via trade, so don’t forget to share your new pumpkin Pokémon with a friend (as long as you can trust them to give it back!) and that super-sized Pumpkaboo will become an even more super-sized Gourgeist!
As well as being a great Halloween gift, the super-size Pumpkaboo giveaway is also a clever advertisement. By having one, players are one step closer to participating in the next big treat:
Halloween Tournament!
As a special Halloween treat, the Pokémon Company is running a special online Tournament this month specifically for Ghost-type Pokémon. Between 16-24th October, players will be able to register theier Battle Box to compete in a global Trick-or-Treat Friendly, as long as their Battle Box contains Ghost-type Pokémon only. However, one of these Pokémon MUST be a Super Size Gourgeist to qualify – hence the giveaway above. Sneaky! Additionally, the Pokémon MUST have come from Pokémon X and Y – ones imported from Black/White or their sequels do not count – and Rotom or Giratina are also banned. Entries are limited to the first 50,000 participants, so make sure to register fast you want to get involved!
The tournament will take place from 9:00 a.m. Japan time on October 24 until 8:59 a.m. Japan time on October 27, with final rankings posted on the 31st and will use a Single Battle format. Complete at least one battle during the tournament and you’ll be entitled to a gift of 5 Rare Candies! Pokémon will be set to level 50 for this competition. Each battle will have a maximum length of 30 minutes. Players will have 60 seconds per turn, and 90 seconds to select which Pokémon they would like to use. They may battle 10 times a day; and “Juniors” – those born before 2000, which will be entered into a seperate division to other players – will not be able to battle from 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Japan Time.
Other Stuff
Finally, to promote the launch of the next Pokémon X & Y Trading Card Game expansion, Phantom Forces, the official site is offering a page of Spooky Stuff to download – such as backgrounds for your computer desktop, and pumpkin-carving templates to add some Pokémon fun to your Halloween party.
The racing MMO The Crew starts its console beta tomorrow according to a tweet from Ubisoft. If you’d like to participate in the console beta and you are a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One owner, you can sign up on the official site.
The PC beta is already underway, and the game is set to launch on November 11th.
One of Sundays highlights from EGX 2014 (Apart from LEGO Batman 3 of course) was HellBlade, from Ninja Theory, the studio behind DMC (Devil May Cry), Enslaved and Heavenly Sword.
Hellblade, from the look of it, is quickly shaping up as a good looking RPG in the vein of Skyrim or Dragon Age, but from a team of only a handful of dedicated, and fun people at Ninja Theory.
However the Dev session today was more about the MAKING of the game and almost Ninja Theory’s new manifesto for better games development and the future of games development going forward.
Dominic Mathews () took us through a really easy to follow, but informative chat about what they are calling, “Independent AA” Development”, basically producing triple A games but with the ethos and love of an Indie dev studio.
Not only that, but also starting apprenticeships and even training new games devs, whether those people then stay with Ninja Theory or move on to other houses, or even start their own. A very interesting call to arms for the video game industry going forward (and one desperately needed in these times of big companies buying up Indie stars like Mojang)
In their own words:
What is the Independent AAA game? It is about creating, funding and owning IP of AAA quality but with the more focused game design, lower price point and open development process that defines indie games. It’s about taking creative risks and making spectacular, exciting and unique game experiences that can compete with AAA and engages fans directly.
They did show the same teaser they showed at E3, but as the game only started development in march this year, we saw no gameplay this time. You can see the teaser here:
What we DID find out though, is that although HellBlade will start as a Playstation exclusive, we may see the game on XBox and PC later on, which I very much hope is the case.
The game, AND the idea for Independent AAA sound great and I’m looking forward to following HellBlade as it grows, so keep checking back for more news as and when we get it!
You can see the Developer session from EGX2014 below:
Ok, Relic were on hand again for EGX 2014 to talk about Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault.
We’ve talked about this already, namely in EGX Rezzed commentary from earlier this year, but Relic surprised me by making this one of the shortest Dev Sessions so far of EGX2014…
Now in March, at Rezzed, people were expecting Dawn of War, not Company of Heroes, but ho hum and Ardennes Assault is what we’re getting.
The brief game play video they showed off, showed the use of the new True Sight system, which basically means troops have true line of sight, meaning you can tell them to shoot something, but if they can’t SEE it, they won’t shoot it, which, in itself is cool, but honestly, I’m bored of WW2 games… Hell, even the FPS industry has moved away from WW2 finally
Well, the game looks fun, if you’ve played CoH2 or Dawn of War 2, you know whats on offer here, so lets let Relic explain…
Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault will feature three entirely new Companies to choose from within the US Forces, each with their own unique Officers and play-style. Players will see their decisions and actions reflected across the Ardennes landscape in this dynamic new single-player campaign. Player choices are crucial as every decision will not only impact the story but also their Company with upgrades and Veterancy carrying over from mission to mission. With limited soldiers under your command, you must manage their lives and well-being effectively or risk losing that Company for good. Will you lead your Company valiantly and emerge as heroes?
Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault is developed by Relic Entertainment and will be launching on November 18, 2014, for Windows PC and PC digital download platforms and you can see the Developer Session below:
Seems Paradox Interactive have jumped in to catch teh ball Maxis fumbled with SimCity…
The Sky is no limit!
Inhabit a world where you define the rules. Cities: Skylines invites you to create the city of your dreams in a sprawling landscape dominated by cloud hugging structures and jaw dropping architectural marvels.
Developed by Colossal Order, Cities: Skylines offers sprawling landscapes and maps with endless sandbox gameplay and new ways to expand your city. Key to progression is the ability to influence your city’s policy by incorporating taxation into districts. All this including the ability to mod the game to suit your play style makes this the definitive city building simulation.
You’re only limited by your imagination, so take control and reach for the sky!
Main features:
>City policies: Set policies to guide how the city and districts develop over the course of your playthrough.
>City districts: Personalize city districts with names of your choice for variety and personality.
>Road building and zoning
>Unlock buildings and services
>Taxation: Fine-tuning the city budget and services and setting tax rates to different residential, commercial and industrial levels and controlling what kind of areas are more likely to spawn in the zoned areas
>Public transportation: Build transport networks throughout the city with buses and metros
>Outside connections: Make industry and commercial districts flourish with new customers in the neighboring cities
>Wonders: the ultimate end-game content that the players strive towards
>Huge maps: Unlock new map tiles with unique possibilities to expand the city
>Water flow simulation: Add new challenges to water services.
>Polished visual style and core gameplay
>Modding tools: Built in feature designed to encourage creative pursuits.
