When he’s not paying off a loan to Tom Nook, Liam likes to report on the latest Nintendo news and admire his library of video games. His favourite Nintendo character used to be a guitar-playing dog, but nowadays he prefers to hang out with Judd the cat.

Welcome back to Box Art Brawl, our weekly(ish) contest between box art variants from around the world.

Last time, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of both that game and its host system, we looked at SNES launch title Super Mario World. Thirty years! Time has its own Magic Cape, it seems. In the end it was the Japanese cover which brought home the bacon with over half of the overall vote. North America picked up nearly a third while poor old Europe (or the few countries that used the red variant as opposed to repurposing the NA cover) came in third place.

This week we’re looking at the most modern game yet to feature in the Brawl. These days games usually get the same cover internationally, but this one is an example which had a different version either side of the Atlantic for both its Wii U and Switch releases. It’s also a relatively unusual case where Japan and North America are the covers in sync, too, so they’ll be teaming up to take on Europe this week.

Yes, the release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (which has some regional box art issues of its own) has got us thinking back to Breath of the Wild and all those Koroks we still haven’t found. Let’s return to Hyrule and see if we can’t find a few more, shall we?

North America and Japan

As the sun begins descending in the western sky, the hero looks out across the kingdom, the danger of Hyrule Castle beckoning as Death Mountain spews into a cloud-filled afternoon sky; ominous, but also inviting. The foliage in the foreground highlights Hyrule’s wilderness and Link himself looks childlike in stature standing atop the huge boulder, framed against the massive world before him…

A great logo sits over an evocative image that captures and communicates the spirit of the game beautifully. We can’t get enough of this painterly style — it makes us go all verbose.

Top marks all round. It can’t get better than this, surely?

Europe

Oh, ‘ello cheeky. In the European version we’re looking down once again over Hyrule, and Death Mountain is still erupting in the background, but it’s much earlier in the day and the blue of the sky infuses the entire top half of the image. The bottom half is filled with the bright greens of of the long grass and flora, and Link himself turns around to look at us. What’s he saying? “Ready?” perhaps. Or maybe “Who the bloody hell are you and what are you doing in that tree?”.

It’s a different look and feel, but no less evocative. The placement of the birds here — out of focus in the foreground — gives this cover a less ‘epic’ feel and conveys more of the sense of being ‘in’ it. You’re part of this adventure already. Grab your things and let’s get back to it.

Add in the same great logo and we don’t envy the choice you’ve got to make this week.

So, you’ve seen two top-class, painterly covers this week, but which is best? Pick your favourite and hit ‘Vote’ to let us know below:

Have a brilliant start to December and we’ll see you next time for Box Art Brawl #70.

Lucasfilm was saddened to learn of the passing of David Prowse, who provided the commanding presence and imposing physical performance of Darth Vader for the Original Trilogy. He will be long remembered...https://t.co/U8Yua0mmoK pic.twitter.com/m2WGGlE3r1

— Star Wars (@starwars) November 29, 2020

American publisher Tinybuild has invested $3 million into Secret Neighbor developer Hologryph.

As reported by Venturebeat, the deal will also see Tinybuild acquire a majority stake in the studio — which has worked with the publisher on multiple titles including Secret Neighbor and Party Hard 2.

Secret Neighbor is a multiplayer spinoff in the popular Hello Neighbor franchise, which according to Tinybuild has now amassed over 60 million downloads across all platforms.

Explaining what’s next for Hologryph, Tinybuild chief exec Alex Nichiporchik said the studio will look to expand its team and push ahead with an unannounced project for next-gen consoles.

Fall Guys developer Mediatonic is opening a new UK studio in Leamington Spa. The office will be led by company vice president of art, Phil Warner, and will be hiring staff across a “wide range of disciplines.”

Mediatonic currently has studios in London, Brighton, Guildford, and Madrid, and said its latest site will be an “important complement” to that existing network as it looks to continue supporting Fall Guys in the long-term.

“Mediatonic’s new studio will operate under COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines while they’re in place, but the team are eager to warmly welcome new faces once everything’s fully open,” reads a press release.

“With a long-term commitment to creating engaging seasonal content for the Fall Guys playerbase and with plenty of other exciting projects in the pipeline, there should be some great opportunities for people looking to take their next step in games with Mediatonic.”

Fall Guys has gone from strength to strength since launching on August 4, selling 10 million copies on Steam within two months of launch and breaking records as the most-downloaded PlayStation Plus title in history.

Publisher Devolver Digital also has big plans for the franchise, and recently hired a head of licensing to help put Fall Guys “on the licensing map.”

The Switch might be all about sharing the joy, but it’s also important to keep your system clean to help prevent the spread of germs and ensure your device and controllers stay in the best condition possible.

With this in mind, Nintendo suggests using alcohol-based products to disinfect its hybrid system and Joy-Con, provided you’re careful about it.

As noted on the company’s English support webpage, if you need to disinfect your products, “lightly apply” a consumer-grade disinfectant containing about “70%” alcohol to a soft clean cloth and gently wipe the product. Over on the Japanese support page, there are some additional warnings about cleaning your Switch and Joy-Con with alcohol-based products.

– Do not use alcohol that is not intended for disinfection, such as for fuel. It may damage the equipment.
– Do not apply the disinfectant directly to the device or immerse the device in the disinfectant. Moisture contained in the alcohol disinfectant may get inside and the equipment may break down.
– After disinfection, make sure that it is completely dry before use. If you use it when it is not dry, the device may be damaged.
– If the device breaks down without observing these precautions, you may be charged for repair.

Earlier this year, as you might recall, Nintendo told users to stop using products containing alcohol on Switch hardware and accessories as it “may cause the plastic parts to fade in colour or deform” – so it’s obviously changed its tune since then.

Do you disinfect your Switch and Joy-Con on a regular basis? Do you give it a regular clean every now and then? Let us know in the comments.

An amateur video game developer known as Dopply on Twitter has released reimagined remakes of the 1993 Phillips CD-i action-adventure games Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.

The games were created in Game Maker over four years and feature the original assets. Here’s a bit more insight:

“I developed these over the course of 4 years in Game Maker as an exercise to teach myself game development and fulfill an in-joke between friends. As an amateur effort, the programming got a little rough, but hey, it works, and I learned a ton in the process.”

While these are “not 1:1 remakes”, Dopply believes they “capture the spirit” of the original games. There are also some modern features – like widescreen mode, remastered mode (for less frustrating play), subtitles, improved sprites, unlockables, and apparently more.

Due to the “nature” of these games, this is the final version and there are no plans to release future updates. In related news, Zelda fans think they might have spotted a Link CD-i reference in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

Python’s built-in abs(x) function returns the absolute value of the argument x that can be an integer, float, or object implementing the __abs__() function. For a complex number, the function returns its magnitude. The absolute value of any numerical input argument -x or +x is the corresponding positive value +x.

Interactive Code Shell

Example Integer abs()

The following code snippet shows you how to use the absolute value 42 of a positive integer value 42.

# POSITIVE INTEGER

x = 42

abs_x = abs(x) print(f"Absolute value of {x} is {abs_x}")

# Absolute value of 42 is 42

The following code snippet shows you how to use the absolute value 42 of a negative integer value -42.

# NEGATIVE INTEGER

x = -42

abs_x = abs(x) print(f"Absolute value of {x} is {abs_x}")

# Absolute value of -42 is 42

Example Float abs()

The following code snippet shows you how to use the absolute value 42.42 of a positive integer value 42.42.

# POSITIVE FLOAT

x = 42.42

abs_x = abs(x) print(f"Absolute value of {x} is {abs_x}")

# Absolute value of 42.42 is 42.42

The following code snippet shows you how to use the absolute value 42.42 of a negative integer value -42.42.

# NEGATIVE FLOAT

x = -42.42

abs_x = abs(x) print(f"Absolute value of {x} is {abs_x}")

# Absolute value of -42.42 is 42.42

Example Complex abs()

The following code snippet shows you how to use the absolute value of a complex number (3+10j).

# COMPLEX NUMBER

complex_number = (3+10j)

abs_complex_number = abs(complex_number) print(f"Absolute value of {complex_number} is {abs_complex_number}")

# Absolute value of (3+10j) is 10.44030650891055

Python abs() vs fabs()

Python’s built-in function abs(x) calculates the absolute number of the argument x. Similarly, the fabs(x) function of the math module calculates the same absolute value. The difference is that math.fabs(x) always returns a float number while Python’s built-in abs(x) returns an integer if the argument x is an integer as well. The name “fabs” is shorthand for “float absolute value”.

Here’s a minimal example:

x = 42 # abs()

print(abs(x))

# 42 # math.fabs()

import math

print(math.fabs(x))

# 42.0

Python abs() vs np.abs()

Python’s built-in function abs(x) calculates the absolute number of the argument x. Similarly, NumPy’s np.abs(x) function calculates the same absolute value. There are two differences: (1) np.abs(x) always returns a float number while Python’s built-in abs(x) returns an integer if the argument x is an integer, and (2) np.abs(arr) can be also applied to a NumPy array arr that calculates the absolute values element-wise.

Here’s a minimal example:

x = 42 # abs()

print(abs(x))

# 42 # numpy.abs()

import numpy as np

print(np.fabs(x))

# 42.0 # numpy.abs() array

a = np.array([-1, 2, -4])

print(np.abs(a))

# [1 2 4]

abs and np. absolute are completely identical. It doesn’t matter which one you use. There are several advantages to the short names: They are shorter and they are known to Python programmers because the names are identical to the built-in Python functions.

Summary

The abs() function is a built-in function that returns the absolute value of a number. The function accepts integers, floats, and complex numbers as input.

If you pass abs() an integer or float, n, it returns the non-negative value of n and preserves its type. In other words, if you pass an integer, abs() returns an integer, and if you pass a float, it returns a float.

# Int returns int

>>> abs(20)

20

# Float returns float

>>> abs(20.0)

20.0

>>> abs(-20.0)

20.0

The first example returns an int, the second returns a float, and the final example returns a float and demonstrates that abs() always returns a positive number.

Complex numbers are made up of two parts and can be written as a + bj where a and b are either ints or floats. The absolute value of a + bj is defined mathematically as math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2). Thus, the result is always positive and always a float (since taking the square root always returns a float).

>>> abs(3 + 4j)

5.0

>>> math.sqrt(3**2 + 4**2)

5.0

Here you can see that abs() always returns a float and that the result of abs(a + bj) is the same as math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2).

Where to Go From Here?

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The post Python abs() Function first appeared on Finxter.

The magician Uri Geller has taken to social media to apologise for getting the pocket monster Kadabra banned from the official Pokémon Trading Card Game many years ago and has now given Nintendo permission to use it once again.

“I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago. Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It’s now all up to #Nintendo to bring my #kadabra #pokemon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!”

Back in the year 2000, Geller attempted to sue Nintendo for £60 million ($100 million), claiming the Pokémon Kadabra was an unauthorised parody of himself. He further noted how certain shapes on the pocket monster were comparable to Nazi SS markings, which he also wasn’t impressed with. This was what he had to say at the time:

“Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image. I want to tell the world before the start of the holiday season that I have nothing whatsoever to do with these violent characters.”

The Japanese name of Kadabra – Yungerer/Yungeller/Yun Geller – seemingly references Geller. The English name is also associated with magic and obviously, the pocket monster is known for bending spoons.

Speaking to TheGamer via email, Geller said he had now sent a letter to the chairman of Nintendo, giving the company permission to relaunch the “Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller” card worldwide.

“Due to the tremendous volume of emails I am still getting begging me to allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra/Yungeller, I sent […] a letter to the chairman of Nintendo giving them permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller worldwide.”

How would you feel about Kadabra’s return to the Pokémon Trading Card Game after all this time? Comment below.