Raid Hour (also referred to as Legendary Raid Hour) started as an experiment in March 2019. Initially called Legendary Lunch Hour, Niantic set aside an hour on Wednesdays for Pokémon GO Trainers to find 5-Star (Legendary) Raids easier by increasing the appearance rates. After further testing, Raid Hour was renamed…
Initially announced on January 31st, 2020, Niantic announced it would begin testing new types of events during February 2020 – Pokémon Spotlight Hour and Mystery Bonus Hour. After testing and user feedback, Niantic combined both events into one and announced what Pokémon and bonuses would be featured in advance. Now,…
During the Pokémon GO’s Season of Max Out (Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024 to Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024), Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon were added to the game. This mechanic is part of Pokémon’s Generation VIII (Pokémon Sword and Shield) where Pokémon transform into “giant” versions of themselves or even new larger…
About a week out from a 3D Mario celebration, today’s the day to remember a different kind of Mushroom Kingdom throwback. Five years ago today Super Mario Maker arrived on Wii U, giving players the power to craft their own courses and share them with the world. Though it’s been…
Pokémon trainers have joined Animal Crossing in our new comic mini-series – Pokécrossing! Gotta catch them all! Every other Sunday at 8 a.m. PT | 11 a.m. ET! | Next Comic > Artist Credit: @itsraecrawford @imbrokencomics Support: Patreon.com/raecrawford
Games that try to mimic the monster-catching and raising aspects of Pokémon have become more common in recent years thanks to the efforts of indie devs, though their similarities and differences often vary a great deal. Temtem, for example, goes the MMO route and focuses entirely on double battles. Monster…
With respect to video game history as a whole, we’re reaching a point where certain, longstanding series are reaching milestones like 35th and even 40th anniversaries. Along the way have been multiple generations of systems, games flipping sides when it comes to exclusivity, and for a time there was the…
Most Nintendo console anniversaries are destined to be moments of celebration, where nostalgic gamers reminisce on the classic libraries that helped shaped their childhoods and the modern gaming landscape. Today, however, is the 25th anniversary of the Virtual Boy — a system with less than two dozen games, regarded as…
It’s easy to forget just how addictive the gameplay loop in the casual farming sim can be – every day is short enough that you can whittle down a routine set of tasks, and by the time you’re done the next day beckons. That plot of crops you planted will…
It’s a blast of a day for fans of the Blue Blur – Sonic the Hedgehog has turned 29 years old on today, June 23rd, the date that the original Sega Genesis game first released all the way back in 1991! Gaming’s speediest hero has gone through a lot of…
It feels like every year of the system’s life there are a couple of indies that manage to stand out and become my Switch obsession for a time. Games like Wargroove, Into the Breach, and The Messenger — all of which I’ve gushed over multiple times in the past. I’m…
When it comes to Warriors/Musou games, Nintendo fans are a little spoiled. Both The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem have dedicated entries, melding what makes those games special with the crowd clearing, button mashing gameplay Koei Tecmo has been doing for decades. While I may be biased towards those,…
In the same week I reviewed Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [cl-r], a lightning-fast anime fighter, I’ve also had the pleasure of playing SNK’s Samurai Shodown — the polar opposite kind of game. Samurai Shodown on Switch is a port of the 2019 reboot of the series that appeared on other…
After the bankruptcy of developer Neverland back in 2013, many wrote off Rune Factory as a finished franchise. Yet last year, two new games were confirmed for the Nintendo Switch — a port of the 3DS entry Rune Factory 4, and the all-new Rune Factory 5. While we’ve yet to…
As Nintendo fans we’re no strangers to celebrating milestones — Super Mario Bros. is going to be 35 this year after all, with many more characters and titles having significant anniversaries just out of sight. Yet today marks a celebration of a celebration, as it’s the 21st anniversary of a…
