The mobile version of Dota Auto Chess is playable now
By Ian Boudreau27 May 2019
Dota Auto Chess, the free arcade mod for Dota 2, now has an official mobile adaptation in the works, and it’s available to play right now, as I discovered today. After downloading and installing the early access version in the Google Play store, I’m pretty impressed: This might be the definitive way to play the game.
The source material, of course, has a bit of a windy trail. Auto Chess is a mod for Dota 2, which itself began life as a mod for Warcraft III. And now this is an “official” mobile adaptation of Drodo Studio’s strange game of drafting and positioning, stripping out all of the characters that are now copyrighted by Valve, and replacing them with legally-distinct but similar versions that do more or less the same thing.
What’s great about this version of the game is that it’s purpose-built to do exactly what it does. Dota Auto Chess is fun and all, but it’s pretty clear that, like the original Defense of the Ancients, it wasn’t really meant for this game mode, so there’s some wrestling that has to happen to get it to work. Matches queue up very quickly in this mobile version, the interface is lovely and simple, and you can see all the synergies you’re working with on the right-hand side of the screen. It even highlights pieces that work with the ones you already have when the drafting panel pops up between rounds. Another nice touch: When you can upgrade your pieces, a little button will appear over their heads, and you can just tap that instead of placing all your pieces onto the board individually.
It’s currently available on Google Play, but not – at least as far as I can tell – on the App Store quite yet. When you search for it, make sure you’re downloading the app from Dragonest – they’re Drodo Studio’s partner for this mobile adaptation of Auto Chess. If you’re interested in tips on how to play Auto Chess, check out our sister site’s strategy guide for the original game – that’ll get you started.
One thing to note if you play this version: the app will ask for a strange set of permissions when you install it, including the ability to make and manage calls. Don’t grant it these permissions. It works fine for me without them, but I’m not entirely pleased that it asked for them to begin with.
A thrilling point-and-click adventure game where you play as Di Renjie, ancient China's most famous and gifted investigator, as he tracks a serial killer in the heart of the Tang Dynasty's capital city.
Overwatch Is Finally Getting A Much-Requested Feature
Blizzard has revealed that Overwatch will be updated with a new replay feature that will allow players to dive back into previous matches and watch how the action unfolded from any perspective. The Replay feature is currently available on the Public Test Realm PC, where it will be put through its paces before being officially made available on all versions of the game.
As detailed on Blizzard's website, players will be able to watch replays from the first-person and third-person perspectives, or take a bird's-eye view of it all. The action can be sped up or slowed down, and the UI can also be removed.
Replays will be accessible from the Player Profile page, where the Replays tab will appear. Overwatch will store the 10 most recent matches from all games, except for the Tutorial and Practice Range modes. However, Blizzard notes that replays will be available for the duration of a patch, so if the game is updated to a new version, replays will be reset--as is also the case for Highlights.
You can take a look at some of the tips for using Replay that Blizzard has provided on its website, below.
Here are a few tips to help you level up your Replays experience:
If you want to learn how a specific player uses a hero, make sure to spectate both them and the enemy they're attacking. This will help you understand the difference in their play styles.
Using the map overlay (Ctrl+I) to watch a match will help you understand how team fights unfold. The icons for each hero provide status indicators so you can see exactly what is happening to that player.
For the best view when using the map overlay, position your camera high in the sky and look straight down at the ground. This allows you to see an overhead map when using the tool.
Setting up static cameras in specific locations can help you view fights from multiple perspectives and better understand team rotations. Remember to bookmark your locations in each new match.
If you're creating highlight footage for videos, don't overuse slow motion. For the most dramatic effect, slow down the most impactful moments of a play or a team fight.
Overwatch Anniversary event is currently live on all platforms and runs through June 10. It has introduced a bunch of new skins, in addition to other cosmetics and rotating brawls. Blizzard is also hosting an in-game contest for Overwatch League fans. From May 27-31, players can wear an Overwatch League team hero skin and take part in Quick Play or Competitive matches. Each match completed while wearing one of these skins earns a point for the team represented. On June 3 a winning team will be announced and the winning team gets to take over the official OWL Instagram account.
Rumour: New Ubisoft IP Supposedly Leaked Ahead Of E3 2019
Spoilers ahead: A new Ubisoft IP appears to have been leaked ahead of its E3 2019 reveal. It’s called “Roller Champions” and is based on the sport, roller derby. The game has seemingly been confirmed for the Switch, after assets for the Nintendo controller layout were reportedly discovered alongside the following image of an Xbox controller:
This information comes from a private test which was supposedly conducted earlier this month. Other assets reveal an E3 logo, suggesting a more official announcement is on the way, and there are also screens of the game along with some early loading screen footage. Here’s a look at the main menu:
According to one of the sources, the game runs on Unity, will include quick play matches, ranked matches, custom matches, tournaments and is online only. There are a bunch of sound options as well – including a streamer mode – and the gameplay options menu includes two different aiming modes.
What do you make of this? Would you like to see this released on the Switch? Leave a comment down below.
These were the best-selling new releases on Steam in April
Physics-based tactics game Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and minimalist city builder Islanders were two of Steam’s best-selling new releases in April, according to data from Valve.
Keen to spotlight the “wide variety of styles, genres, and themes,” that find success on Steam, Valve compiled a list of the top 20 best-selling new releases for April, and it makes for interesting reading.
“To generate this list, we started by enumerating all the games released between April 1 and April 30. We then looked at revenue earned by each of those games in the first two weeks following that game’s release,” said Valve, explaining its methodology.
“From that list, we took the top 20 games by revenue to make our final list. Finally, we sorted the 20 games by release date.”
Although it’s disappointing that Valve hasn’t shared any revenue numbers or unit sales, it’s still fascinating to see what’s selling on the company’s massive digital storefront. You can check out the full list below.
Top Steam Releases of April 2019 (Sorted by Release Date)
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (Landfall)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission (Dimps Corporation, Safari Games)
Islanders (GrizzlyGames)
MarZ: Tactical Base Defence (doorfourtyfour)
Supraland (Supra Games)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Capcom)
Vacation Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning (Spike Chunsoft)
Pathway (Robotality)
Weedcraft Inc (Vile Monarch)
Staxel (Plukit)
One Finger Death Punch 2 (Silver Dollar Games)
Forager (HopFrog)
Pagan Online (Map Head Games)
Katana ZERO (Askiisoft)
Driftland: The Magic Revival (Star Drifters)
Paper Dolls Original (Beijing Litchi Culture Media)
Proposed anti-loot box bill has big implications for devs and publishers
Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley announced plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit the sale of loot boxes and other “pay-to-win” monetization mechanics in the United States, and now he’s drafted up a proposed bill explaining how he’d achieve that goal.
The document explains exactly what that would mean for game developers and publishers. For starters, it defines a “pay-to-win” transaction as an add-on that “eases a user’s progression through content otherwise available within the game without the purchase,” or one that “assists a users in accomplishing an achievement within the game that can otherwise be accomplished without.”
Loot boxes, meanwhile, are defined as add-ons that “unlock a feature of the product or adds to or enhances the entertainment value of a product in a randomized or partially randomized fashion.” Those definitions mean content such as story DLC, paid-for cosmetic items, and other such one-time purchases would be exempt from the new regulations.
The proposed bill would specifically prohibit the sale of microtransactions and loot boxes in “minor-orientated games,” which it defines as “an interactive digital entertainment product for which the target audience is individuals under the age of 18.”
It would also make it unlawful for game publishers and distributors to release minor-oriented titles that include pay-to-win microtransactions or loot boxes, or add them to an existing title.
The legislation would also prohibit the publication or distribution of games containing pay-to-win microtransactions or loot boxes where there’s “constructive knowledge” that any users are under the age of 18.
That places the burden on publishers and distributors to ensure their games — even those targeted at people over the age of 18 — aren’t falling into the hands of minors, raising questions about the inclusion of loot boxes and microtransactions in mature-rated titles like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, which have a tendency to find their way into the hands of minors.
“While it is true that a large proportion of game players are adults, even games with predominantly adult player bases – including games marketed primarily to adults – tend to have enormous appeal to children,” wrote Hawley in an FAQ on his website.
“The onus should be on developers to deter child consumption of products that foster gambling and similarly compulsive purchasing behavior, just as is true in other industries that restrict access to certain kinds of products and forms of entertainment to adult consumers.”
Legally speaking, the “constructive knowledge” clause would likely make it easier for regulators to build cases against companies perceived to be in violation of the proposed bill, as Georgetown Law professor Angela Campbell explained to Polygon.
“Constructive knowledge requires the operator to make reasonable inferences and at least in some cases, investigate,” said Campbell.
“For example, the operator of a social media service that says in its terms of service that it is only for use by persons over age 13, and yet anyone who uses the service can see that many young children use it to post videos of themselves, would have constructive knowledge that children were on the service. It probably would have actual knowledge as well, but actual knowledge is harder to prove.”
Deep Silver was later acquired by THQ Nordic, which is now the publisher of Dead Island 2. This week, THQ Nordic announced earnings, and it included an image of Dead Island 2's logo. This suggested that the game is still in the works, and THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors confirmed it.
"Dead Island 2 [is] still being worked on. Stay tuned," he said (via IGN).
That's all Wingefors had to say on the subject of Dead Island 2. There is no word as of yet as to when Dead Island 2 may resurface or what changes might be
Also during the call, Wingefors talked about THQ Nordic's massive development pipeline. He said the company has 80 projects in the works, including 32 titles that have been announced and 48 that are unannounced. The unannounced titles include new games from Kingdom Come studio Warhorse, Saints Row developer Volition, and Metro dev 4A Games.
Years ago, it was said that Dead Island 2 would feature a heavy emphasis on melee combat and role-playing game elements. According to Deep Silver, it will also have "never-before-seen" handcrafted weapons. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 4, and will take players to places like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Venice Beach. Another previously touted feature is "seamless" multiplayer for up to eight players that can "cooperate, compete, or simply coexist." The publisher has described this as a "new-gen multiplayer experience."
However, it remains to see what might have changed throughout the game's tumultuous development. E3 2019 is coming up next month, but nothing so far has suggested that Dead Island 2 will resurface at the gaming show.
Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda Reflects On The Original Yoshi And Pokémon Games
Game Freak has shared a new video on its YouTube channel featuring director Junichi Masuda talking about the development of the original Pokémon games as well as the puzzle game Yoshi – also known as Mario & Yoshi in Europe and Yoshi’s Egg in Japan.
For starters, most people to this day still don’t know the classic puzzler for NES and Game Boy was developed by Game Freak, simply because there are no end credits. Masuda further explained how it was Ken Sugimori who came up with the gameplay and the development team wanted to add a “realistic sounding” Yoshi voice but was ultimately knocked back by Nintendo. Many players have probably also noticed how the items in the main menu bop up and down, which was something Masuda programmed into the game himself.
The conversation shifted to storage capacity limitations and this is when Masuda began to reflect on how the development team of the original Pokémon games had quite a lot of “fun” due to the fact pocket monster names (in Japanese) had a 5-character limit. Certain tricks were also required to get all 151 Pokémon voices in the game and if it wasn’t for the fact he was the main programmer of these games, Masuda believes he would have likely been told off.
Did you learn anything new about these classic Nintendo titles? Reminisce about these simpler times in the comments below.
The N64 Version Of Joanna Dark Joins The Totaku Collection This September
If you still have fond memories of the original Perfect Dark game on the Nintendo 64, you’ll likely be interested to hear Totaku has announced a figurine based on the Carrington Institute agent, Joanna Dark.
This particular figurine is expected to join the series later on this year in September and follows on from the previous Rare entries, Banjo-Kazooie and Conker. To ease any concerns about this model, it’s based on Joanna’s original design and is packing a Falcon 2 standard-issue pistol equipped with a scope. Here’s a description from the Totaku website:
The year is 2023, and mega-corporations rule the world. As a freshly-qualified agent of the Carrington Institute, Joanna Dark must infiltrate the mysterious dataDyne Corporation and uncover its dark secrets: a dangerous superweapon, alien intelligence and a global conspiracy that threatens to destroy all mankind.
Will you be making some space on your shelf for this agent? Do you still revisit Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64? Tell us below.
Star Ocean: First Departure R Announced For Nintendo Switch
Square Enix has announced Star Ocean: First Departure R will be released on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in the near future. This particular version of the action role-playing game was first launched on the PlayStation Portable in 2007.
The enhanced PSP iteration is based on the Super Famicom Star Ocean game – published by Enix, developed by tri-Ace and originally released in 1996. The high definition versions of the remake for Switch and PS4 will include new features and a worldwide release has also been confirmed.
If you would like to learn more about this epic space adventure and its unique combat system, click here to read our review of the Super Famicom title or view the PSP remake trailer below, courtesy of YouTube channel xionlloyd:
Did you expect to see this game make its way across to the Switch? Shoot for the stars in the comments below.
