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Most Recent: Mobile
Mega Man Mobile re-releases coming to iOS and Android devices today
Capcom has confirmed that Mega Man‘s NES adventures will be available to download for mobile devices beginning today. The re-releases are launching for all iOS and Android devices, and each game can be purchased for $1.99 apiece:
- Mega Man Mobile – The evil Dr. Wily must be stopped in this classic action platformer, the original Mega Man!
- Mega Man 2 Mobile – Dr. Wily resurfaces to threaten the world again! Only Mega Man can stand in his way.
- Mega Man 3 Mobile – Fight berserk robots on uncharted planets. Mega Man must set a course for space to resolve this mysterious crisis.
- Mega Man 4 Mobile – A year has passed since Mega Man’s battle in space. A new enemy appears – Dr. Cossack.
- Mega Man 5 Mobile – Manic robots cause chaos in the city. How is Proto Man involved? Only Mega Man can find out!
- Mega Man 6 Mobile – The Global Robot Alliance is formed, but this newfound peace is threatened by a new foe – the enigmatic Mr. X!
Unfortunately, Capcom decided against including controller support in any of the Mega Man Mobile games. Instead, each title will feature touchscreen controls with the square NES image in the center of the screen. You can get a good look at how it’ll work in the trailer embedded above.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Mega Man, Mega Man 2
Inside leads the way with six nominations at 2017 GDC Awards
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be held on March 1 at 9:30 (Eastern Time). Playdead’s Inside tallied six nominations, including “Game of the Year,” “Best Narrative,” “Best Design,” “Best Visual Art,” “Best Audio,” and the “Innovation Award.”
Competing with Inside for “Game of the Year” honors this year is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Blizzard’s Overwatch, Arkane’s Dishonored 2, and Campo Santo’s Firewatch.
Double Fine’s Tim Schafer will host the GDC Awards this year for the sixth time. He previously hosted the ceremony in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The full list of nominees, and a huge number of Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
The Video Game Canon: An Introduction and The Top 100 (Version 1.0)
The Video Game Canon is a statistical meta-ranking of dozens of “Best Video Games of All Time” lists that began in 2017 with Version 1.0, and the ranking has been updated several times since then. Which game is #1? There’s only one way to find out…
Is it possible to rank the greatest video games of all time in a “scientific” way? Do you just throw the question to so-called experts and let them hash it out in a no-holds-barred debate? Or is there some way to create a “Video Game Canon” that the wide-ranging community of developers, critics, and players can all agree on?
Probably not. But we can try.
Since gaming’s earliest days, dozens of publications have tried to sort through the noise and compile their own list of “The Best Video Games of All Time.” By analyzing all of these attempts at ranking the greatest games and combining them into a single list, we can apply a little scientific rigor to the process and possibly create a “Best Video Games of All Time” list that everyone can agree on.
Before we go any further, let me just say… no matter how we try to justify it, it’s impossible to prove, by “science” or otherwise, that one game is definitively better than another. My attempt at adding “science” to the mix is just a way to add some zing to the numerical formula doing all the work behind the scenes.
Ideally, this project will give us the chance to look back at the history of video games reflected through some the medium’s greatest titles. The list itself will serve as something of a road map to help us learn how the best games of all time are connected to each other, to better appreciate how players interacted with video games in the past, and to explore what video games might become in the future.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Pokemon Go “Year-End Event” begins on Christmas Day
Niantic is launching another seasonal event for Pokemon Go and it’s going to take fans all the way into 2017. The Year-End Event kicks off tomorrow and the developer discussed what players can expect to find during it on their official website:
Don’t miss out on an increased chance to hatch a Togepi (and other Pokemon)! Starting the morning of December 25, 2016, and through the afternoon of January 3, 2017 (PST), PokeStops will award one single-use Incubator each day after your first Photo Disc spin. As you visit PokeStops during this time period, there will be a greater chance of finding Eggs that hatch Togepi, Pichu, and several other recently found Pokemon, originally discovered in the Johto region. Special Pikachu wearing festive hats will also be staying around a bit longer! You are more likely to find these limited-edition Pikachu during the time period of this celebration.
The Year-End Event will continue through January 8, and players will be more likely to encounter certain Pokemon, and they’ll receive bonus time when using Lures:
In addition, from the afternoon of December 30, 2016, through the afternoon of January 8, 2017 (PST), the first partner Pokemon and their Evolutions, originally discovered in the Kanto region, are more likely to be encountered. This means a greater chance to catch Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur, as well as Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, plus Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise! As a way to increase your chance to encounter one of these Pokemon, Lure Modules will also last for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
Finally, Niantic revealed that Pokemon Go players have walked an astounding 8.7 billion kilometers (about 4.5 billion miles) and caught 88 billion Pokemon since the game’s launch this Summer.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Pokemon Go
Super Mario Run Review: Nintendo’s Got A Winner After Plumbing New Depths on iOS
Whether you’re a video game fan looking for more games on the go or a stock market analyst fixated on profit margins, you’ve likely spent the last few years wondering when Nintendo would finally break into mobile game development. Earlier this year, the consolemaker dipped their toe into those waters with the Miitomo communication app, but now they’re finally ready to dive into that big blue ocean with their first mobile game, Super Mario Run. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, Reviews, Top Story
Tagged Super Mario Run
Super Mario Run tallies 40 million downloads in 4 days; Friendly Run mode launches
While fans still don’t know exactly what to make of the it, Super Mario Run was destined to become a financial success from the second it was announced. And this morning, Nintendo made it official, announcing that the iOS-exclusive game was downloaded 40 million times in its first four days of availability.
According to Apple’s Phil Schiller, Super Mario Run’s launch weekend performance set an iOS App Store record for most downloads in a four-day period.
However, the publisher didn’t reveal exactly how many of those curious iOS owners purchased the $9.99 “Full Upgrade” option to unlock all of Super Mario Run’s content. And for those that haven’t taken the plunge yet, perhaps a new mode will do the trick.
This morning, Nintendo pushed out an update for Super Mario Run that adds a Friendly Run mode to the game. Similar to Toad Rally, Friendly Run mode is an asynchronous multiplayer race that lets players challenge their friends without using their limited supply of Rally Tickets (but the mode also makes it impossible to win more Toads). Even without any stakes, players are still limited in the number of Friendly Run races they can compete in per day (up to five if you’ve completed World 2).
Super Mario Run was added to the iOS App Store on December 15 and it’ll be available to download for Android devices sometime in 2017.
UPDATE: Nintendo announced (via Twitter) that Super Mario Run just passed 50 million downloads. And as a thank you, all players will receive 10 free Rally Tickets.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Super Mario Run
Nintendo won’t release post-launch DLC for Super Mario Run
Million of people have downloaded Super Mario Run since it launched on the iOS App Store last week, but it looks like Nintendo doesn’t have any plans to add additional content to the game in the weeks and months ahead.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a Nintendo representative said, “The company [doesn’t] plan to release additional content, either free or paid.”
However, Nintendo did release a series of holiday-themed Decorations for the game’s “Kingdom Builder” mode earlier this week, so perhaps this decision isn’t as set in stone as it sounds.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Super Mario Run
Mega Man’s NES adventures will be released on mobile devices in January
It’s hard to be a Mega Man fan nowadays, and that’s because the Blue Bomber hasn’t starred in an original game since the release of Mega Man 10 all the way back in 2010. But after the successful launch of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection last year, Capcom has announced plans to bring the character’s NES adventures to mobile devices in January 2017.
Revealed yesterday on the Capcom-Unity blog, the games will be available for Android and iOS devices, though it’s currently unknown how Capcom plans to tone down the brutal difficulty of Mega Man’s classic adventures and make them playable with a touchscreen:
- Mega Man Mobile – The evil Dr. Wily must be stopped in this classic action platformer, the original Mega Man!
- Mega Man 2 Mobile – Dr. Wily resurfaces to threaten the world again! Only Mega Man can stand in his way.
- Mega Man 3 Mobile – Fight berserk robots on uncharted planets. Mega Man must set a course for space to resolve this mysterious crisis.
- Mega Man 4 Mobile – A year has passed since Mega Man’s battle in space. A new enemy appears – Dr. Cossack.
- Mega Man 5 Mobile – Manic robots cause chaos in the city. How is Proto Man involved? Only Mega Man can find out!
- Mega Man 6 Mobile – The Global Robot Alliance is formed, but this newfound peace is threatened by a new foe – the enigmatic Mr. X!
Capcom is encouraging fans to sign up for a Pre-Registration List to receive “special offers” and “to be one of the first to be notified when the game is available.”
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Mega Man, Mega Man 2