Video Games

Nintendo’s latest video game hybrid console the Nintendo Switch is doing well, doing what it does. It’s not without a few design issues. Including the issue of the Joy-Cons de-syncing. As for the docking mechanism, effectively to charge the portable handheld and turn it into a more conventional home video game console with added HDMI and USB, it is quick and efficient. If not somewhat lacking in the potential nostalgia factor. Fortunately a tech-savvy someone has taken to YouTube, where Tettzan Zone has modified a Nintendo 64 to use instead of the usual Switch dock. USB ports now substitute in place of the controller ports. While the N64 mod, the Nintendo Switch 64 dock, doesn’t allow for the Joy-Cons to be attached to the Switch while docked, it may be a small trade-off for some big nostalgia.

Similar to selfie sticks and the Ghostbusters reboot, it’s something few may want while everyone else is left to find the entertainment in it. It’s apparently the most unlikely of combinations: Tony Abbott and video games. Make that a parody video game about Tony Abbott called: Tony Abbott and the Quest for the Suppository of Wisdom Absorbing knowledge amidst crap in a private and somewhat personal way, the game draws its inspirational name from one of Australia’s former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s greatest gaffes. Guided by the Tutorial Onion, the RPG sees Tony Abbott argue against a ‘journalist’. Basic attacks of arguing allow the battle to continue until someone’s willpower (WP) is reduced to zero. Tony has a few special attacks hidden in his budgie smugglers as well. Such as nodding silently. Which apparently confuses journalists. With some rather large ears and not one to table periodic elements, for fear ...

The Nintendo Switch is officially revealed as the previously codenamed Nintendo NX console. Nintendo’s newest console is due for a March 2017 release. As had been rumoured, the Nintendo Switch is something of a hybrid portable handheld device, which via the dock is also designed to connect to the television like a more traditional video game console. The dock is not the Nintendo Switch console, rather the dock is intended to make it near seamless to transition between playing on the big screen of the TV to the portable mode for the handheld console. It’s also used for charging the Switch console, which holds the LCD screen. Nintendo are yet to announce whether it will be a touchscreen. However, the company has confirmed that amiibos will work with the new Nintendo Switch and its games. Confirming a long-suspected feature of the new console, the Nintendo Switch will also utilise cartridges ...

Retro gaming fads come and go, and for video game companies re-releasing their back catalogue of classic games can be somewhat of a boon. Case in point, Nintendo. Not content with digital or physical game re-releases, the company is taking it a step further with the release of the NES Classic Edition later this year. The Nintendo Classic Mini comes with 30 classic NES games loaded on the mini console, and includes the option to view the games in their authentic and original 8-bit blocky pixelated glory. While Nintendo has apparently forever abandoned competing in the video game console arena purely based on computational power, at the time of its release the 16-bit SNES was an advanced piece of technology and generally more powerful than its 16-bit Sega competitor. What that has to do with miniaturising the NES is seemingly nothing, but for the fact that a tech-savvy Nintendo fan ...

For those who’ve gotta catch ‘em all, trawling through the source code of Pokémon GO can be as important as walking around and actually finding the pocket monsters hidden throughout the land. Don’t throw that caught Magikarp away, it might evolve into something far better later on (like a Gyarados). Combing through the source code with such an attitude helped to reveal the Pokémon and McDonald’s team-up before it was officially announced. Now the code has revealed something else: A Buddy System. Perhaps fearing the repercussions of: “If the buddy system can fail, I don’t know what to believe in.” This time, developer Niantic has been very quick to officially announce the Buddy System for Pokémon GO. Players will be able to select their favourite Pokémon from those that they’ve caught. The Buddy Pokémon will then follow their avatar around (much like Pikachu in the cartoons or in Pokémon Yellow). ...

The Legendary Pokémon, Articuno, reportedly surfaced in Pokémon GO, only to subsequently be removed from players’ accounts by the game’s developer Niantic. One such claim of owning Articuno, came from gamer Kaitlyn Covey in Ohio, USA. Purporting that Niantic gave her the Legendary Pokémon, Articuno. Videos of Articuno have been posted to both Facebook and Twitch to offer up proof of the rare Pokémon’s existence. Discussion on Reddit, along with screenshots, has also sort to corroborate (or falsify) the legitimacy of Articuno’s appearance. However, the claims have been questioned, including that it’s a standard hoax, in addition to suggesting that the Pokémon GO code may have either been hacked or the appearance of Articuno was a glitch. Niantic subsequently released the following statement to IGN about the matter: “We recently noticed that a few Legendary Pokémon got into a few accounts when they shouldn’t have. To preserve the game’s integrity ...

There’s secret sauce and secrets in the source code of Pokémon GO. Hinting that the app, developed by Niantic, may have Pokémon GO partnering with McDonald’s in the near future. For those who’d like fries with that, evidence of the order is evolving. Spotted by industrious Redditors using Reddit (obviously) and reported by Gizmodo, the Pokémon GO game code makes reference to “Sponsor.MCDONALDS.POKEMON_STORE” as shown below: Image Credit: Bryan Menegus / Gizmodo The Pokémon GO app is free to download (available from the App Store and Google Play), and is what Niantic describes as a “real world game” requiring players to walk around physical locations for the full Pokémon catching experience. Niantic’s CEO John Hanke has previously mentioned the use of sponsored locations as part of the monetisation strategy used on the business side of things for Pokémon GO, in addition to the more traditional in-app purchases. While Hanke was ...

Pokémon GO has unwittingly caused some woes for players who have signed in with their Google Accounts. Amongst the early adopters, some unknowingly gave the game’s developer Niantic full access to their Google Accounts. While it is false that Niantic can send emails from players’ Gmail accounts, giving Pokémon GO full account access does allow Niantic to do almost all other things across someone’s Google Account with the exception of the ability to change their passwords. Niantic has since released patches for both Android and iOS users to fix this. However, some players may be unaware of the need to manually revoke Pokémon GO’s “Full account access” status and reset the app’s permissions to “Basic access” status. The latter means Niantic can only access the player’s name and email address. To revoke the Pokémon GO app’s full access status to your Google Account do the following: First, log in to ...

Pokémon Go is being praised for many things. Apart from the game itself, it’s also encouraging people to go outside and walk around, actively searching for Pokémon in the augmented reality (AR) experience of Pokémon GO. Indoors and outdoors, video games and physical activity, are all somehow coming together nicely. The official release of Pokémon Go has also been thanked for the near 9 percent jump in Nintendo’s (TYO: 7974) share price on Friday, 8 July 2016. If only cause and effect were so easily established in the real world where it’s not like the simple but random matter of evolving an Eevee, but that’s beside the point. At hand is a fourth choice. A fourth way. A fourth starting Pokémon. And that starting Pokémon is none other than Pikachu himself. (Assuming Pikachu is a male. The issue of an individual Pokémon versus collective Pokémon gets a bit muddled, and ...

Pokémon GO represents one Nintendo’s early forays into developing games and apps for smartphones, and away from Nintendo video games appearing exclusively on Nintendo consoles. Nintendo, however, have been branching out a little more, including rumours of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. It’s this latter area that Pokémon GO and the Pokémon GO Plus accessory are likely laying the foundations for. Nintendo outlined and demonstrated Pokémon Go at E3 2016; the game has also been playable in various beta tests. The Pokémon GO Plus accessory is a wearable piece of technology which communicates via Bluetooth with a smartphone that has the Pokémon GO app installed. Using the accessory will allow for attempting to catch wild Pokémon in AR, at the press of a button in the real world, all without needing to check the smartphone. The device will flash green and vibrate to indicate the presence of ...