Month: July 2024

Are you a fan of Pokémon Go? Well, Niantic doesn’t want you to celebrate its birthday

I hope you enjoyed it because you won’t be able to do the special anniversary mission or get the shiny Celebi anymore. Why? Well, Niantic hasn’t given a reason.

It seems like yesterday when we all went completely crazy and started going out on the streets to catch pokemons in ‘Pokémon Go’. Now eight years have passed and the game still has 81 million active users worldwide according to Niantic, enough to celebrate its anniversary in a big way, giving players the opportunity to catch one of the most coveted creatures of all: a shiny Celebi. Well. Not all players.

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Celebrate with Celebi

Imagine that you have been playing for a long time. So much so that in 2020, the year of Covid, you completed a very specific mission called ‘Distracted by something shiny’. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, because you will no longer be able to do the special anniversary mission or get the shiny Celebi. Why? Well, Niantic has not given a reason.

The good part? You will still be able to hunt the Pokémon with a party hat (there are only two new ones with this outfit, by the way, Grimer and Muk), but forget about the big event of the season, ‘Whispers in the Forest’. However, if you didn’t do ‘Distracted by something shiny’, you’re in luck, because this is a new master research that you can buy for 5 euros from today until July 3rd and it will be long, yes, but it will be full of gifts.

For example: 153 Ultra Balls, three Super Incubators, a bunch of XP, Stardust, and, of course, Celebi right at the end. All of this is great, of course. The problem is that if you have 5 euros, the desire to play, and you already did it in 2020, the game will prevent you from doing so. It’s not just that fans want to give more money to Niantic, it’s simply pure frustration to find that the reward for being a veteran player is… being completely left out of the new features. Let’s hope they don’t mess up for the ninth anniversary.

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Of course they’re preparing remakes of the first Assassin’s Creed!

Ya ni siquiera importa que la saga continúe viento en popa con nuevas entregas anuales: el dinero es más importante que todo lo demás. La originalidad, por lo visto, está sobrevalorada.

We live in a society of remakes. Dead Rising, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII… If it’s a game that was good in the past and has nostalgic fans on board, don’t worry: it’ll be re-released with improved graphics and a few changes in gameplay. Easy money, after all. It doesn’t even matter that the saga continues to thrive with new annual releases: money is more important than anything else. Originality, apparently, is overrated.

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Repeated Killers

The CEO of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot, has confirmed that there will be remakes of the original games to “revisit and modernize them” because “there are worlds in our old Assassin’s Creed games that are still extremely rich”. It should be noted that from 2007 to now, we’ve had a total of 12 main games in the saga and 17 spin-offs, with ‘Shadows’, ‘Mirage’, and ‘Hexe’ on the starting grid for the future. Apparently, it’s not enough.

Fans are already excited about the possible remastering of the fourth installment of pirates, since the Ezio Auditore trilogy was remastered pretty recently and, frankly, the first game in the saga has fallen far behind. Well, it seems the assassin-producing machine is never going to stop running at full speed.

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This player has crossed half of the United States alone to attack his rival with a hammer in an MMO

Es el caso de Edward Kang, un muchacho de 20 años que voló de un lugar a otro con una única motivación: pegar un martillazo a la persona tras un personaje de su MMO favorito, ‘ArcheAge’. Ante todo, las prioridades claras en la vida.

There are 1187 kilometers between New Jersey and Florida. It would take about 17 hours to drive the road along the east coast of the United States to get there, and you have to be very convinced to want to do it, of course. This is the case of Edward Kang, a 20-year-old boy who flew from one place to another with a single motivation: to hit the person behind a character from his favorite MMO, ‘ArcheAge’. Above all, clear priorities in life.

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Hammering for life

‘ArcheAge’ is a Korean MMORPG that was born on January 15, 2013 and, paradoxically, has closed in Europe and North America on June 27, eleven years after its launch. And the paradox is, precisely, that Kang (a name not affiliated with Marvel) committed his attack just four days before the closure, on June 23.

Kang took a plane from New Jersey to Florida, got off, bought a hammer at a nearby store, knocked on Zachary Dinh’s door, and started hitting him motivated by an apparently aggressive interaction between them within the game in question. In fact, the whole thing goes further and almost makes for a true crime documentary on Netflix.

Kang flew to Jacksonville two days before the attack, on June 21, under the pretext of visiting a friend. Upon arriving there, however, he bought, in addition to the hammer, a flashlight. He waited until early Sunday morning, dressed in black and wearing a mask, he entered Dinh’s apartment through an unlocked door and only stopped his attack because the victim’s stepfather woke up in time.

For whatever reason, Kang is in jail awaiting trial, but he has assured his mother that he had no intention of killing his opponent. However, the county sheriff no longer knows what to think: “Some things you can’t make up,” he declared. And it’s because the devil is in the details when it comes to MMORPGs.

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The plans for AirPods with a camera have a trick

The next evolution in AirPods seems to be one that few could have expected: cameras. According to a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to start mass production of new AirPods with camera modules by 2026. However, the camera is not what one would expect.

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Spatial computing is here to stay

The introduction of infrared cameras in AirPods is not just another addition, but a significant step towards a more robust spatial computing ecosystem. With the integration of this type of cameras, similar to those used in Face ID modules, these AirPods are preparing to work in conjunction with the Vision Pro. The goal is clear: to improve the spatial audio experience and our ability to interact with our devices through gestures, without the need for physical contact.

Let’s imagine the scenario described by Kuo: A user is watching a video with Vision Pro, and when they turn their head, the sound source adjusts to emphasize the direction in which the user is looking. Additionally, the AirPods’ ability to detect changes in the environment through the IR camera opens up a range of possibilities for gesture control, even potentially eliminating the need to physically touch the device to perform actions.

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Today’s report reveals, beyond a possible plan for evolving our AirPods, a point of interest for Apple. Now that we’ve fully entered the world of spatial computing with the Vision Pro, and now that the Apple Pencil Pro can rotate in the air with its gyroscopes, it’s time to continue expanding touchless interaction. AirPods capable of seeing their surroundings are an excellent step in this direction.

This is how Pokémon Black and White would be if we mixed it with the style of one of the best current RPGs

Through Unreal Engine, the user replicates the style of Octopath Traveler or Live A Live.

There has been much talk about the graphic section of video games like Octopath Traveler, Live a Live or the recent Dragon Quest III HD-2D. This is extremely eye-catching, as it combines the best of pixel art with 3D, all with a formula that at first seems not to fit, but then it is seen that it works amazingly when applied. What would happen if we implemented this style with the Pokémon saga?

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This is the question that Shemne, a YouTube user, has asked. Instead of staying on the surface, he has taken the Unreal Engine and has set to work to solve it. Why leave a question unanswered when one can find an answer?

In an impressive 17-minute video, this developer explains how he has used Pokémon White and Pokémon Black as a base to create this Octopath Traveler-style remake. He gradually explains the entire creative process that this fan work has had, which already has over 100,000 views in just a few hours. In fact, there are already requests for Nintendo to make a game in this style.

The finish that can be seen in the video is spectacular. As Shemne explains, it took about a year to create everything we see on the screen. The feat is impressive, but even more so when you know that the user had no idea about pixel art or 3D modeling. That’s what determination does.

Now we just have to wait for Nintendo not to remove the YouTube video. As it is well known, the Japanese company is very protective of its intellectual properties, even if it is a fan work without profit. Hopefully they won’t remove it.

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One of the great games of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation returns to Steam

Alpha Protocol regresa a Steam cinco años después.

Many times, games disappear from digital stores for various reasons. One of the most common has to do with the validity of music licenses, that is, when they expire and there’s no option but to remove the game from the store; otherwise, the game would be using a copyrighted song without permission. This is what will happen with Forza Horizon 4, and it’s the same thing that happened with Alpha Protocol.

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The video game published by SEGA and developed by Obsidian Entertainment was removed from Steam in 2019. The move was received as a blow by the community, as it’s a game beloved by fans of role-playing, action, and espionage games. But fortunately for everyone, the title has returned.

After appearing on GOG earlier this year, it has now arrived on Steam for a price of 15.99 euros (instead of 19.99 euros, thanks to a 20% discount).

Protagonized by Michael Thorton, this video game from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era did not achieve the expected sales success, but it was highly praised by critics. In fact, the passage of time has turned it into a cult game, which explains its current positive reception.

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Bombshell: the creator of Game of Thrones may be working on a series for Elden Ring

No one is surprised by the success of Shadow of the Erdtree, the expansion of Elden Ring. The new content of the From Software video game sold more than 5 million copies in its first 72 hours, a milestone that very few titles can reach. To the success that this expansion is achieving along with the base game, we will soon add more material in the form of a series. And yes, this comes from the mouth of the very George R. R. Martin, creator of Game of Thrones.

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The news has been given by the author himself through his official blog. In a post written on the occasion of his nomination for a Nebula Award for Elden Ring precisely, Martin has left an enigmatic paragraph that has put all the rumors in the spotlight.

“Oh! And about those rumors that you may have heard about a movie or series based on Elden Ring… I have nothing to say. Not a word. No. Not a thing, I know nothing. You have never heard anything from me. What rumor?” says the writer when nothing was known about this topic.

Unless George R. R. Martin has just pulled off the prank of the century, his paragraph in the blog hints that a series based on Elden Ring is in the works. Considering that he has been a key figure in the creation of much of the universe, the words certainly come from a reliable source.

Not long ago, Hidetaka Miyazaki commented that working with Martin was a very good experience for From Software, as it allowed them to build a better story and mythology in Elden Ring thanks to his contribution. He also mentioned that they were open to working with more writers in the future if the opportunity presented itself.

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The great success of PlayStation in 2024 is falling—it has lost 90% of its players

If a player is asked what have been the great successes in terms of video games in 2024, it is most likely that Helldivers 2 will come out of their mouth. That user is not wrong, since the Sony video game has been the fastest selling in the history of PlayStation, a milestone that becomes more relevant when thinking about rivals like God of War, The Last of Us, or Marvel’s Spider-Man.

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This incredible success attracted tens of thousands of players to Helldivers 2 to play online. The game caused such a stir that it reached a peak of 458,709 players. Not many titles achieve this number of users, but it seems that Helldivers 2 is losing quite a bit of momentum.

At the end of May, the title developed by Arrowhead reached a peak of 166,305 players, while in June the number has dropped to a peak of 91,692 players with an average of 41,860 concurrent players. As you can see, the numbers continue to decrease, to the point that today’s graph shows 35,499 players. This represents a 90% drop compared to its peak. Of course, this figure only refers to Steam, that is, it does not take into account PlayStation players.

Helldivers 2 was enjoying impressive success, but it was Sony itself that took care of killing the game and causing its downfall. In early May, the Japanese company forced Helldivers 2 buyers to have a PlayStation Network account, a quite controversial move, but one that had a double consequence: there were a total of 177 countries where it was not possible to link the PlayStation Network account to Helldivers 2, so Steam had to remove it from the store.

In the face of all these problems, Sony backtracked and the obligation to use an account was not implemented. However, the damage was already done. Precisely, there has been a significant drop in players in Helldivers 2 after these moves. A complete manual on how to burst a balloon that was flying high.

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It has been 20 years since what, for many, is the best superhero movie in history

From some time ago, superhero movies have gone from being a minor genre vilified by critics to one of the most common resources in today’s Hollywood to make money. Undoubtedly, between the big hits of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the independent films of Batman, an unbeatable state has been achieved for superheroes. But it wasn’t always like this, especially 20 years ago.

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In 2004, however, what many still consider as the best superhero movie of all time was released: Spider-Man 2 by Sam Raimi. After establishing the foundations of Spidey’s superhero universe, the director managed to create a sequel that not only lived up to expectations but surpassed its predecessor in every way. Thanks to Spider-Man 2, it became clear that superheroes had a place in cinema, paving the way for everything that came after.

The magic of Sam Raimi, squared

Today we celebrate the two decades of Spider-Man 2. But what made this movie so special? Undoubtedly, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of it is its villain: Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus. Through impeccable development, Raimi presents an antagonist with tragic motivations, making him a real and very dangerous character. The transformation of Otto Octavius into Doctor Octopus is wonderful, and his direct connection to Peter Parker adds emotional weight to the conflict.

In addition, unlike many superhero movies that focus solely on action, Spider-Man 2 explores Peter Parker’s personal struggles even above the main plot. Peter faces internal conflicts about his identity as Spider-Man and his desire to lead a normal life. In this way, the duality between his responsibility as a hero and his desire for personal happiness manages to carry the emotional weight of the film.

Furthermore, let’s be clear, the action in Spider-Man 2 is impressive. Especially the famous train fight is masterfully choreographed and they use special effects that are still admirable today. On the other hand, Danny Elfman’s music surpasses his previous soundtrack, managing to immerse us 100% in Spidey’s world.

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Undoubtedly, Spider-Man 2 is a movie that never goes out of style and makes it very clear why Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is the most beloved by everyone. As much as it hurts us, I highly doubt that Tom Holland will ever be able to reach what we felt for him two decades ago.

China has just broken 10 world records with this bridge

Last weekend, China inaugurated the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a new system of tunnels and bridges that extends across the sea, located in the Guangdong province in southern China.

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While this achievement might go unnoticed in many parts of the world, it seems that this architectural marvel has broken 10 very specific world records.

The Pearl River estuary, where it flows into the South China Sea, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. It encompasses Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong, separated by large bodies of water that greatly hinder transportation.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan link aims to remedy this situation. With a length of 24 km (about 15 miles), it connects the two cities that give the bridge its name, located on opposite shores of the Pearl River estuary.

This is not exactly a long bridge, but a submarine tunnel that runs between two artificial islands, with bridges connecting each island to the city on its side.

With eight lanes allowing speeds of up to 100 km/h, the link reduces what is normally a two-hour trip to 30 minutes. After seven years of construction, the link opened to traffic on June 30th at 3:00 PM local time.

A very specific list of world records

According to China Global Television Network (CGTN), the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link establishes 10 new world records. These are not basic records, such as the longest or largest bridge, but very specific records. Here’s the full list:

  • Longest span of a steel box girder suspension bridge (1,666 m)
  • Tallest bridge deck (91 m)
  • Highest navigational clearance for a maritime bridge
  • Largest anchorage for an offshore suspension bridge (344,000 m3 of concrete)
  • Fastest wind resistance test speed for a suspension bridge (83.7 m per second)
  • Largest steel bridge deck with hot epoxy asphalt pavement (378,800 m2)
  • Longest eight-lane, two-way immersed tube tunnel (5,035 m)
  • Widest concrete-coated steel immersed tube tunnel underwater (up to 55.6 m)
  • Largest volume of self-compacting concrete for an immersed steel tube (29,000 m3 per tube section)
  • Widest M-shaped, repeatedly foldable water stop used in the final joint of an immersed tube tunnel (3 m)

It’s also the world’s first underwater interchange for highways and airports. In addition to all this, the tunnel section has interesting safety features, such as new fire protection systems and smoke evacuation systems.

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A team of 14 robots constantly patrol the tunnel, monitoring the pipes and cables that keep everything in perfect working order. They can even monitor traffic accidents. When that occurs, the robots can allegedly direct traffic using built-in speakers and film the scene while transmitting it to a remote control center.

The wall lights are also color-coded. When everything is fine, they remain green, but in the case of an emergency, they turn red. They can even transition gradually from yellow to green inside the tunnel to guide people in the right direction during an evacuation.