Dauntless saw 500,000 new players within 24 hours of its cross-platform launch
Phoenix Labs’ free-to-play, cross-platform RPG Dauntless has surpassed 4 million lifetime players, a milestone that comes just days after the game’s full launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store.
Dauntless itself gathered over 3 million players while running in open beta for the last year or so, and a press release from the developer notes that it saw over 500,000 new players give the game a try within the first 24 hours of its full release.
The game launched on May 21 and notably offered support for both cross-platform play and progression on three platforms right at launch, the first console game to do so. Dauntless is also due out for Switch, iOS, and Android in the future as well.
Join the Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour in July on Xbox One
The challenge of man versus beast, the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline of competition, Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour lets you feel it all.
Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour introduces a brand-new career mode where you can take part in carp, bass or predator tournaments (or all three) and progress through the ranks from amateur to elite angler. Not only will you need to overcome the challenge of finding and catching the fish, but you will also be up against over 100 professional anglers from across the world in your pursuit of glory. You will gain social media followers and career earnings as you progress which will trigger sponsorship opportunities from over 50 licensed partners featuring in game.
Having found your favourite technique and maybe some hotspots while playing in custom multiplayer, you need to decide what kind of angler you are. Are you going to play with your friends, share your secrets and work together to hone skills further or are you going to battle it out to see who is the best? You decide as you set the parameters of your online session! Customise even further with different rule sets for each round you set up.
If career mode hasn’t got the adrenaline pumping enough then online tournaments/Dovetail Fishing League will do. Take part in different tournaments each week where you compete against different players from around, all of you competing for vital global ranking points to be crowned ‘Angler of the month’. Not only will the sheer kudos of this be plenty to boast about but in-game rewards and real-world prizes should focus the mind like a giant bass preparing to strike your lure!
Don’t fish in real life? Fear not! In-game tutorials, tooltips and easy to master controls means you can go into freedom fishing and master your skills in no time. Talking of mastery, community and mastery challenge systems give you another reason to target the 29 species found in the game across 10 different venues and unlocks exclusive items.
Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour is ready to reel you in this Summer!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-28-2019, 11:44 AM - Forum: Lounge
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After Its Closure, More Telltale Games Are Disappearing
If coping with the closure of Telltale Games last fall isn't hard enough, prepare for more heartbreak. According to digitial distribution site GOG.com, the now-defunct studio's games are being delisted from the storefront.
Tales from the Borderlands was also supposed to be cut, but according to a statement from publisher 2K Games to Eurogamer, "We are working to get Tales from the Borderlands back up on digital storefronts as soon as possible. All prior digital purchases of the game will of course still be honoured and supported."
Tales from the Borderlands and The Walking Dead cannot be purchased on Steam at this time. A handful of other titles--such as the complete Sam & Max series and the final season of The Walking Dead--cannot be bought on Steam either, while games like Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us are still listed as available for purchase. It's unclear if the rest of Telltale's games will be pulled from the platform on Monday.
With the news of GOG pulling Telltale's catalog from the platform, it's possible that the PlayStation and Xbox One stores could face a similar fate in the near future. As of now, though, both the PlayStation Store and the Xbox One store list Telltale games as available for purchase.
Rumour: Multiple Witcher 3 Listings For Nintendo Switch Appear Online
The rumour about TheWitcher 3: The Wild Hunt coming to the Nintendo Switch has seemingly re-emerged. Yes, that’s right – it seems like Geralt of Rivia might actually be on his way to the hybrid system after all.
Following on from a previous retailer listing earlier this year, a user over on ResetEra by the name of “Jim_Cacher” has allegedly found photographic evidence of TheWitcher 3: Game Of The Year Edition for Nintendo Switch. According to the user’s source, the game will be released on Nintendo’s platform this September. Here’s the translated text from the below image :
“[Breaking! Witcher 3 GOTY edition is coming to Switch in September.] According to a reliable source from distributor, Witcher 3 GOTY edition is coming to Switch in September. Chinese localization exclusive to Asia version.”
In addition to this, multiple sellers on the Chinese online shopping website Taobao.com are supposedly already listing the Nintendo Switch version of the game. Noticeably the box art is on display as well:
There are also theories this could be a potential cloud version or a title designed for a more powerful Switch model.
Grab some salt and tell us what you think in the comments below.
Soapbox: In Praise Of Save States, Rewinds And Walkthroughs
The year was 1991. My dad had gone to now-defunct UK electronics retailer Dixons and purchased a Sega Mega Drive with Castle of Illusion for the princely sum of £144.99; I know this because I still have the receipt stapled in the console’s manual. Beyond a dusty Atari 2600 which resided at my grandparents’ house, the Mega Drive was our first console and Mickey Mouse’s adventure was a fine introduction to video games. With SEGA dominating the UK market at the time, there were plenty of other games I had my eye on. Sonic was an obvious choice, and Golden Axe looked amazing to my impressionable childish eyes. I laid out my proposals for our next potential purchase and one day dad came home with a brand new game tucked under his arm. Could it possibly be? Would I be cutting my way through the evil hordes with a heroic weapon, sharp and true?…
Not exactly. Unfortunately, my old man had bought Sword of Vermilion and my disappointment was impossible to hide. He’d apparently been impressed by the label on the box advertising ‘5 MEGA MEMORY with battery backup’ and ‘106 PAGE HINT BOOK INCLUDED’. Yes, the game boasted three save slots! That was impressive at the time, but hardly enough to excite a kid eager to hack and slash with a golden axe.
I played it, of course – any video game is better than no video game – but an RPG wasn’t what I was after and I was a bit too young for it. The comparative complexity of the game coupled with my apathy meant I never got far, and over the years it grew in my mind as a mountain; forever there, taunting me with its stupid save slots, primitive first-person dungeon sections and random encounters.
So, feeling I had a score to settle, a few years ago I decided to go back and conquer it. Traditionally I would have bristled at the idea of using a guide, but this one came with the game itself and that somehow legitimised it. In my head I had to beat this game ‘properly’ or not at all and for a long time I’d seen save states as a easy way to cheat your way to victory. No, I was going to summit this peak without any of those ‘cheap’ aids!
The problem was that Sword of Vermilion is filled with random enemy encounters and the reality facing me was stark: either use save states or never find the time to finish the game. Faced with that choice, I ultimately decided to use them, and I was very glad I did. While not a classic, Sword of Vermilion has some great writing, atmosphere and music which I’d have missed completely had I been too stubborn to use the mod cons retro gaming benefits from these days.
This got me thinking about my instinctual reaction that save states are somehow a form of ‘cheating’. The obvious convenience of them still rubs up against my old-school sensibilities now and then, although it’s odd that I didn’t consider the guidebook or the save slots in the game itself to be ‘cheap’.
No developer would dream of rereleasing a classic title now without some concession to convenience. All the NES games included with Nintendo Switch Online or the Classic Mini consoles have up to four ‘suspend points’ to use, and so they should. We’re seeing time-saving systems coming to more and more games, both old and new. Rewind features can be found in games as diverse as Forza Horizon 4 and the Mega Man Legacy Collection, and they’re a godsend in modern times with so many games and so little time. They’re especially helpful in titles we’re playing for ‘historical’ value. You might be playing through one of those Mega Man games simply to ‘complete the set’, so to speak, even if you’d maybe prefer to be playing another one in the collection. There’s often a strange allure to certain games; significant artefacts that we feel we ‘should’ play, even if we’re not naturally drawn to them.
Ticking off the last few Zelda games I’d missed is one example that comes to mind. I’d never have had the patience to go through The Adventure of Link without save states but, again, I’m happy I did so. The Oracle games dragged a bit and I probably should have taken a breather after the first one, but carving out time to play them on original hardware is tough these days – save states on 3DS meant I could play and enjoy them in a much shorter period.
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest was something else I felt ‘obliged’ to play. Natural curiosity aside, I often felt a certain ‘duty’ to expand my knowledge of the medium even before I wrote about games for a living. It’s the same with any artistic medium – literature, music, cinema – and I wanted to gain a more rounded sense of the Castlevania series. Like visiting a museum, there’s a wealth of information and context to help you understand modern mechanics, not to mention old games are often fun!
Simon’s Quest is notoriously obtuse, though, with some villagers providing false information and localisation errors compounding the confusion. Back in the day these liars helped make sure you got ‘value for money’ by not completing the game in one sitting, but nowadays when time can often be more valuable than money, the game’s convoluted design is a huge barrier to entry. Simply put, I reached breaking point and would never have stuck with the game without save states. They enabled me to spend enough time in the world for the game (and its incredible music) to work its magic. I now look back very fondly on Simon’s Quest – all thanks to save states.
And walkthroughs too! Another self-imposed taboo I’ve learned to overcome, the ability to save snapshots would have been little help if I didn’t know that I had to kneel in front of the cliff with a crystal to proceed. Again, it’s strange that I never considered the ‘hint book’ that came with Sword of Vermilion a ‘walkthough’, simply because it was included in the box, but it’s absolutely a comprehensive guide. No, no, that wasn’t cheating, I told myself. Totally legit. I’m a gamer, me!
Looking back, my mental gymnastics are laughable now, but I’m sure some readers will find those thoughts familiar. It’s not something we have to contend with much nowadays; walkthroughs are often entirely unnecessary with modern games. There are certainly games that buck the trend, but typical AAA releases now are paranoid about losing you to some other game or form of media. If you have to consult your phone to find out what you should be doing, there’s a risk you’ll get distracted and not return, thus newer games have become very ‘hand-holdy’. Old games had your undivided attention, often for hours, days or weeks on end. Unfortunately, I don’t have an entire summer to devote to Final Fantasy anymore. For shame!
I feel a sneaky rewind coming on. No-one will ever know…
It’s also important to remember that all these modern conveniences are optional; the original challenge is there for those who want it. They’re also unique to video games. Want to tick Tolstoy’s War and Peace off the ol’ bucket list? There are very few shortcuts for that one, I’m afraid – perhaps a different translation might shave some pages off, or you could listen to the audiobook in the car. It’s still a hefty investment, though, and the Cliffsnotes version won’t cut it. Save states, rewinds, walkthroughs – these are different. They aren’t abridgements, they simply make the game more accessible to those who need a hand, in a way only interactive media can.
Despite ‘evolving’ to accept and appreciate these modern conveniences, there’s still a remnant of that boy in me that won’t let go of my preconceptions. I’ve found exactly 742 Korok seeds in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I’d find two or three every time I played the game until recently. Discovering these meaningless trinkets on my own has been an absolute joy as I’ve explored Hyrule, but my last few sessions have been fruitless (or seedless). I’m loath to resort to a guide because I just need a nudge in the right direction, and where’s the fun in simply ticking boxes?
What I really want is for Nintendo to release the rest of the Korok suit ‘set’. Some Korok trousers and a top would combine with the mask and give me the power to identify zones on the map where Koroks are still hiding. Not the exact spot, mind – I’ve got the mask to help me there – I just want to rule out areas on the map, to be pointed in the general direction. I’d much prefer to do it in-game, not sit there comparing my map to an online guide.
Just letting me know that there aren’t any Koroks hiding in Hyrule Garrison Ruins, for example, would be nice.
Rather than lapsing into my old way of thinking, I actually see this as simply wanting to wring every last bit of enjoyment out of the game. I knowthe reward for finding all 900 is rubbish – that’s not really the reason I’m searching for them. I just want to play the game more and the stupid gamer in me needs a tiny reason to do so. Plus, I don’t want the hassle of scrubbing through videos or navigating through umpteen pages on my phone or laptop to compare my map to theirs. Still, I’ll probably resort to an app or something if I have to.
It took me an embarrassingly long time, but I’ve ultimately come round to seeing these aids as simple tools to help climb retro peaks. They’re not conveyor belts to the top of the mountain, but rather ropes and oxygen tanks and decent gloves to help the ascent. We can look back and admire those who went before us, scaling those heights with nothing but a pair of long johns, a hip flask and a lustrous moustache, but using the modern conveniences at our disposal shouldn’t diminish our achievement or, more importantly, our enjoyment nowadays. The view from the top is the same however you get there.
Overall it’s much better to play with a walkthrough or save states than to never play a game. I’d have missed out on some brilliant stuff, otherwise. With age it’s gotten easier to extract the good bits from any media and not worry about the parts that didn’t work, so if these ‘cheats’ help me do that, fantastic. Fun is the goal, whether that involves dipping into a game for 10 minutes or methodically working through the backlog – whatever makes you happy. For me, it takes discipline and constant reminders that my mountainous backlog is a self-made mountain, just as defeating Sword of Vermilion was. With all the resources and tools at our disposal, it’s never been easier to conquer them.
Have you ever suffered from the same affliction? Are there any personal demons in your back catalogue you’ve taken on in recent times? Share your thoughts on save states, walkthroughs and rewind mechanics below…
Blood & Truth takes place in modern day London against the city's backdrop of glamour and grit, making it the perfect location for a criminal underworld to inhabit. The capabilities of PS VR puts you into the shoes of an action hero in a way you won't have experienced before. From the moment you slip on the headset, you become Ryan Marks, an elite Special Forces soldier who is on a dangerous mission to save his family from a ruthless criminal overlord. Playing as Ryan, you will come face to face with enemies, uncover secrets and experience the thrill of the chase.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-28-2019, 05:33 AM - Forum: Lounge
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The Most Influential Games Of The 21st Century: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren't the best games, and they aren't necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there's no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.
Nowadays, when a new shooter is announced or comes out there's one question that consistently pops up: is it going to have battle royale? It's one that's asked both seriously and in jest ever since the sub-genre's popularity exploded just a few years back. The fascination with large-scale multiplayer, where only one player or team per match is left standing, took off like never before when PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds hit Steam early access in March 2017. And while there were battle royale games that came before it and, of course, many that came afterward, PUBG is undoubtedly the force that thrust battle royale into the mainstream.
PUBG's creator, Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, had a history of making mods for existing games, namely the military sim series ARMA. His creation of an ARMA 2 mod DayZ: Battle Royale (a mod for a mod, if you will) seeded the first step for the sub-genre. He was then brought on as a consultant with Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Games) for the creation of H1Z1's battle royale mode. In 2016, this battle royale mode split from the survival-based version of the game and became a standalone product known as H1Z1: King of the Kill.
At the time, H1Z1 had built a dedicated player-base because of the unique thrill of having one life per match, the unpredictable variables like randomized loot and safe zones, and the intrinsic reward of besting 100+ other players. However, there was always a sense of refinement that was missing from renditions of battle royale at the time, even H1Z1. Their nature as mods really showed, whether it was because of some janky mechanics, relatively low production values, or bare overall structure.
That’s not to say PUBG didn’t carry some of that baggage when it came on the scene. But when Greene collaborated with Korean developer Bluehole to bring PUBG to early access on PC in 2017, it was readily apparent that it was breaking the barriers to entry that held battle royale back from a larger audience. The game made a slew of mechanics relatively accessible, allowing newcomers to quickly understand the premise and what needed to be done to survive in a match. Drop from a plane with 99 other players, gear up at key locations on the map, adapt to the map's ever-changing safe zones, and win those nerve-racking firefights with what you can scavenge.
While there were battle royale games that came before it and, of course, many that came afterward, PUBG is undoubtedly the force that thrust battle royale into the mainstream.
PUBG's roster of weapons also had a lot to do with its lasting appeal, thanks to their distinct characteristics of damage, range, and recoil, but the attachments system added an extra layer of tactical depth. Firefights carried an unmatched level of intensity because you truly had to understand how your weapons worked and earn your kills with proper positioning and precise aim. Combine that with tools like smoke grenades and the on-the-fly tactics of using your surroundings for cover, and it's almost as if you had to play mind games with your enemies. Thus, coming out on top would feel like its own reward. Chicken dinners were never this tasty.
PUBG even sustained popularity with only one map through most of its early access period, which is a testament to how varied the map was and the unpredictable nature of safe zones. Previous battle royales were made up of fairly barren battlefields, so with PUBG's map featuring dense city centers, varied terrain, and expansive hotspots for action, it set the bar higher for such an important aspect of the game. Thus, no two matches would play out the same and emergent situations kept PUBG feeling fresh match after match.
It was the right game at the right time, and the first fully-realized version of battle royale in video game form. PUBG leaned heavily into its military sim roots in a way that made its action play more like a tactical shooter, but struck a balance between hardcore and approachable mechanics. And although it wasn't without its share of technical issues, it didn't bear the weight of a mod's jankiness. When critics were able to have a definitive word on the game when it fully launched with a 1.0 release, it was showered with praise.
To echo the sentiments from my own review of PUBG for GameSpot, I wrote, "It's not the first of its kind, and despite glaring flaws, PUBG emerges as the most accessible, mechanically refined battle royale game to date." I capped it off by saying, "Every player has unique stories of their most memorable matches, and even after hundreds of hours, PUBG continues to inspire rousing tales of victory and defeat."
According to Steamcharts.com, PUBG exceeded 1.5 million peak concurrent players in September 2017, breaking the previous record set by Dota 2 in March 2016 with 1.3 million players. PUBG continued its meteoric rise and hit a peak of 3.2 million concurrent players in January 2018, nearly three-times that of Dota 2's highest player count. Needless to say, others took note of PUBG's increasingly wild popularity.
Sure, it hasn't been very long since PUBG busted onto the scene, but battle royale essentially went viral because of it.
A little game called Fortnite is a household name and a cultural phenomenon today due to its adoption of the battle royale game mode. Fortnite was initially a wave-based shooter with construction mechanics akin to a survival game (now called "Save The World"), but the team at Epic Games clearly kept a close eye on PUBG. Game director Donald Mustard stated that Epic loved battle royale games, including PUBG, and a separate team at Epic quite literally spun the battle royale mode for Fortnite in a span of two months. In September 2017, Fortnite: Battle Royale hit early access as free-to-play for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and soon became its own beast.
How do you even begin to describe Fortnite's position in games? For starters, the highest concurrent player count Epic has recorded during a non-event day was 7.6 million in February 2019. The game has partnered with Marvel for a limited time Avengers-themed event where players could embody Thanos. It has official NFL-themed jerseys as skins, and just recently incorporated the Jordan brand. And 10.7 million people hopped onto Fortnite for Marshmello's live in-game concert. Fortnite's massive success also provided the leverage for Epic Games to open its own digital storefront for PC games. There's a whole lot more to unpack, like its impact on streamers and esports, but this is all to say that battle royale has been an extremely powerful thing for games, and PUBG led the way.
Fortnite was just the beginning for the battle royale games that followed in PUBG's footsteps. The biggest first-person shooter franchise in the history of games, Call of Duty, did its own take on the concept with Blackout mode in Black Ops 4, which launched back in October 2018. Electronic Arts and DICE took notice as well, and brought battle royale to their long-running large-scale FPS series with Battlefield V--although it didn't launch with Firestorm, the mode came as a free update in March 2019. Publisher EA would sort of double-dip when the team at Respawn Entertainment, known for its critically acclaimed Titanfall series, came out with Apex Legends in February 2019.
Apex Legends set itself apart by merging elements of hero shooters, like Overwatch, with the core traditions of a battle royale game. However, smart tweaks to the formula such as the intuitive ping system and the incorporation of respawning teammates kept the genre's premise fresh. Apex Legends simplified the necessary mechanics for a seamless experience as well, like the automation of looting better items and equipping better attachments. In a way, it makes PUBG look ancient, but Apex's great success is nonetheless rooted in the foundation PUBG set.
Sure, it hasn't been very long since PUBG busted onto the scene, but battle royale essentially went viral because of it. While others have bested it from a gameplay perspective and in current relevance, it's still going strong. Even at the time of publication of this article, PUBG is the third-most played game on Steam with a peak of 680,000 concurrent players, just behind Valve's own CSGO and Dota 2. PUBG may not have the same popularity it did only a year and a half ago, but it didn't have to maintain that peak for it to have influenced such a large part of the gaming industry--an influence that we're still witnessing evolve.
So, what's the next big game to do battle royale? Tetris?! Oh, wait...
Review: Blades Of Time – A Wonky Action Title That Belongs In The Past
Blades of Time came out almost seven years ago, but it looks and plays like something much older. As a sequel to its so-so predecessor X-Blades, Russian developer Gaijin Entertainment took one very interesting mechanic – the power to manipulate time itself – and surrounded it with ideas we’d seen and played ad nauseam before. The controls were a little tighter, its levels a little more diverse in design and its heroine wasn’t quite so scantily clad as she was before. It was, however, still a bit of a mess, and that interesting mechanic at its heart simply wasn’t enough to forgive its myriad sins.
For reasons unbeknownst to anyone outside the walls of Gaijin Entertainment, Blades of Time has been repackaged for a new generation, with all the single-player action and co-op content included as standard. It’s based on the visually superior PC version of the game and offers Nintendo Switch adopters access to a revamped multiplayer experience that transforms its PvP component into a MOBA-style arena battle more along the lines of Smite. It’s an oddity to say the least – more so now than ever – but is it intriguing enough to warrant a purchase?
You’ll spend your time in Blades of Time as the acrobatic adventuress, Ayumi. Presumably designed as a cross between Lara Croft, Dante from Devil May Cry and a Harley Quinn cosplayer who ran out of money part way through their costume, Ayumi has travelled to a mysterious island filled with treasure and dangers alike. You start off with your basic melee moves – including a basic strike and a cartwheel kick of launching air combos – but soon you’re adding ranged weaponry to your arsenal and magical spells unleashed with certain inputs. As you progress, you’ll unlock more powers – such as the ability to flit between glowing plants for some quick-fire platforming moments – and while its myriad combat models don’t really gel, you rarely feel underpowered.
While the single-player story is passable, offering enough enemy types to contend with (ranging from broadsword-swinging knight statues to poisonous bugs that keep spawning their own backup), the lacklustre platforming and the wooden delivery of Ayumi’s voice actress makes this a far cry from the fine-tuned experiences seen in the likes of Devil May Cry and God of War, two games Blades of Time tries as hard as possible to emulate. Only its time manipulation mechanic offers anything remotely ‘different’ to what we’ve seen before a million times already. In a similar vein to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, you can use this power to undo an untimely fall to your doom; alternatively, you can utilise your past self to activate a two-point switch for a door or double up your strikes against a boss. The frustratingly unresponsive controls rob this time-related malarkey of some of its allure, but it’s a rewarding mechanic when it works.
‘Onslaught’ mode has been reworked into a MOBA-lite model, where you’ll battle other players online in a simple setup that takes the rules of the genre and simply sticks to what you’re expecting. All the items you’ve unlocked from the story carry over, including the gems which serve as a microtransaction-based currency for buying new gear, such as outfits for Ayumi. Matches don’t do much to deviate from the standard MOBA formula, so don’t expect anything with the kind of customisation and tactical nuance as Smite. It’s a better use of multiplayer, but it’s still hampered by Blades of Time’s painfully inaccurate combat engine.
For all its lofty ideas and good intentions, Blades of Time still struggles on a technical level. The original version failed to do its own combat system justice, with combos often failing to come together because of laggy input issues. When married with the consistent problem of slowdown, the game’s original release too often stumbled over itself. Today, on Nintendo Switch, the game does run a little better (there’s some slowdown, mostly caused by too many enemies being on screen at any one time, but it’s not as much of an issue as before), but pulling off melee combos and unleashing spells is still largely a game of potluck. Some actions randomly don’t work, such as the ability to heal and strike (arguably two very important functions in a game such as this).
The decision to split ranged attacks off into their own stance – where you’ll press the right analogue stick in to pull out a rifle and use ‘ZL’ and ‘ZR’ to aim and shoot respectively – makes for a needless disconnect between long-range and melee strikes. The only way to disengage from the aiming mode is to press the right analogue stick in again or press the jump button, so if you want to strike an enemy that’s closed the gap or dashed away, you’ll need to manually drop out of the stance before you can do so. It’s so disarming a distinction that you’ll likely die needlessly in boss fights where mixing either combat style is necessary.
Conclusion
As hard as it tries, Blades of Time rarely comes close to emulating the success of any of its obvious muses. Its mixture of third-person melee combat, environmental puzzles and platforming are entertaining for a while, but they lack the nuance of Capcom’s long-running Devil May Cry series or Sony Santa Monica’s refreshed God of War. Only the ability to control time, creating a co-operative element as you team up with your past self, offers something truly rewarding to use in battle or as part of a puzzle solution. The MOBA-style overhaul of the game’s Onslaught mode offers an improved take on multiplayer, but the wonky combat and lacklustre presentation are impossible to overlook.
Nintendo has announced it will be hosting a Pokémon Direct live stream next week on 5th June for the upcoming Switch release, Pokémon Sword and Shield. The presentation will run for a total of 15 minutes.
Just like the last presentation, this one will begin at 2pm GMT, so that’s 6am PT / 9am ET / 3pm CET.
There’ll also be a separate presentation happening much sooner. According to The Pokémon Company, this press conference will cover a number of topics which will be “of interest” to Pokémon fans. The live event will take place on the 28th May at 6pm PT / 9pm ET and on the 29th May at 2am GMT / 3am CET.
The Pokémon Company is hosting its 2019 Press Conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, May 28. You can watch the event live here at Pokemon.com starting at 6 p.m. PDT. The press conference is expected to cover a number of topics of interest to Pokémon fans.
What are you expecting from these presentations? Tell us below.
For some people, using GNOME Shell as a traditional desktop manager may be frustrating since it often requires more action of the mouse. In fact, GNOME Shell is also a desktop manager designed for and meant to be driven by the keyboard. Learn how to be more efficient with GNOME Shell with these 5 ways to use the keyboard instead of the mouse.
GNOME activities overview
The activities overview can be easily opened using the Super key from the keyboard. (The Super key usually has a logo on it.) This is really useful when it comes to start an application. For example, it’s easy to start the Firefox web browser with the following key sequence Super + f i r + Enter.
Message tray
In GNOME, notifications are available in the message tray. This is also the place where the calendar and world clocks are available. To open the message tray using the keyboard use the Super+m shortcut. To close the message tray simply use the same shortcut again.
Managing workspaces in GNOME
Gnome Shell uses dynamic workspaces, meaning it creates additional workspaces as they are needed. A great way to be more productive using Gnome is to use one workspace per application or per dedicated activity, and then use the keyboard to navigate between these workspaces.
Let’s look at a practical example. To open a Terminal in the current workspace press the following keys: Super + t e r + Enter. Then, to open a new workspace press Super + PgDn. Open Firefox (Super + f i r + Enter). To come back to the terminal, use Super + PgUp.
Managing an application window
Using the keyboard it is also easy to manage the size of an application window. Minimizing, maximizing and moving the application to the left or the right of the screen can be done with only a few key strokes. Use Super+? to maximize, Super+? to minimize, Super+? and Super+? to move the window left and right.
Multiple windows from the same application
Using the activities overview to start an application is very efficient. But trying to open a new window from an application already running only results in focusing on the open window. To create a new window, instead of simply hitting Enter to start the application, use Ctrl+Enter.
So for example, to start a second instance of the terminal using the application overview, Super + t e r + (Ctrl+Enter).
Then you can use Super+` to switch between windows of the same application.
As shown, GNOME Shell is a really powerful desktop environment when controlled from the keyboard. Learning to use these shortcuts and train your muscle memory to not use the mouse will give you a better user experience, and make you more productive when using GNOME. For other useful shortcuts, check out this page on the GNOME wiki.
