Warner Bros. Interactive and TT Games have unveiled the next official Lego game, and it’s, well…incredible. Literally. Lego The Incredibles is coming soon, releasing as both digital and physical editions on June 15 alongside the film’s debut in theaters. It’s coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Lego The Incredibles will feature much of the same fun the previous titles did, with an open world hub that lets you travel to locales like Nomanisan Island and Municiberg, with additional features such as “crime bosses” as you play through the hub world. As you complete additional areas of the world, you can start fighting crime in extended locations.
The campaign, however, will borrow from both movies and feature original content as well. The same familiar puzzle-solving, combat, and Lego-related building quests will be interspersed with other attacks and powers based on The Incredibles’ abilities to play into the family’s strengths. So while it’s going to largely be based on the Lego games you’re familiar with, it’ll be beefed up in the areas that count so it can feel more like an Incredibles-related adventure.
So if you’ve been jonesing for more of the superpowered family and more Lego games, this official reveal should keep you pretty excited, especially since you can go grab it the same day as you see the movie and take the magic of the family home with you.
Duke Nukem is known for two things: kicking alien ass and always being out of gum. Soon he’ll be known for a third thing: being played by John Cena in a movie.
According to CinemaBlend, producers Andrew Form (The Purge,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Brad Fuller (Project Almanac, The Purge) have confirmed that Cena, after months of negotiations, is officially attached to an upcoming Duke Nukem movie. Well, for now, anyway. Form stated the script has yet to be penned, and, as with any actor, Cena could potentially leave if he reads the script and doesn’t like it.
While the Duke Nukem movie doesn’t have a script yet, Form and Fuller are already determined to make the movie’s tone match that of Deadpool. This decision is strangely fitting since Duke is overtly sexist, but in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. Plus, his chauvinism somehow adds to his machismo charm, as odd as it sounds. Form even acknowledges the challenge of turning those normally negative personality traits into endearing ones:
You know that having a misogynistic guy in today’s world, how do you make that fun and lovable and at the same time he’s got to be an incredible badass, so those are the things that we’re struggling with and we’re going to try and come out with what I hope is a really fun ride. That’s the goal, is for it to be a really fun ride.
Some might balk at the thought of Cena being up to the task of playing what might just be the prototypical badass video game hero, but, like fellow wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson, he has plenty of experience in both action and comedic roles (and a few that are both). Plus, in sunglasses and a flattop haircut, he could potentially be a dead ringer for the character. Given his ever-growing experience as a voice actor, he could conceivably also sound almost identical to Duke’s original voice actor Jon St. John by the time filming starts.
While the movie is a long way off, we will pay close attention to this movie. With luck, it will help redeem the Duke Nukem franchise after the disappointment that was Duke Nukem Forever.
The Minecraft official Twitter has announced that local multiplayer is now up and running on the New Nintendo 3DS version of the game. After updating their copies of the game, players will be all set to play Minecraft with friends using a local wireless connection.
The New Nintendo 3DS was released back on Feb. 13, 2015. Two years later, Minecraft was released for the portable system on Sept. 19, 2017. The game features both a creative mode and a survival mode. In creative mode, players have unlimited resources with which to build their world. This sort of environment makes it easier to build the sprawling cities and landscapes that players of the game have become known for producing. In survival mode, players must explore and mine for materials to build with, as well as deal with creatures that might kill them. Since it is on the New Nintendo 3DS, the game uses the system’s touchscreen for checking the map and managing inventory. As a minor feature, the game also comes with five skin packs and two different texture packs.
The classic version of the well known game was first released to the public on May 17, 2009. The sandbox video game has since gained quite a bit of popularity. It is now available on a wide variety of platforms, including Xbox One, PS4, and the Nintendo Switch. On Minecraft’s official website, you can buy the game for PC and Mac for $26.95.
Minecraft for the New Nintendo 3DS sells for $29.99 on the Nintendo eShop. It is published by Mojang AB, and developed by Other Ocean Interactive.
Gaming consumers in the United States are dropping money on hardware and games even as February had a dearth of earth-shattering new releases. The industry is so hot right now, that it can’t help but generate year-over-year growth with $995 million in total sales, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That’s up 23 percent from $811 million during the same period in 2017.
Here are the numbers for February 2018:
Total: $995 million (up 23 percent from $811 million in February 2017)
Hardware: $316 million (up 55 percent from $204 million)
PC and console software: $397 million (flat from $397 million)
Accessories: $282 million (up 35 percent from $210 million)
“Year to date 2018 spending across video game hardware, software and accessories is up 39 percent when compared to the same period a year ago, to $2.1 billion,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “Growth has occurred across all categories, with hardware being the primary sales performance driver.”
It’s important to keep in mind that NPD’s report has some gaps in it. It does not report digital sales data for every publisher. It also does not include DLC, microtransactions, or mobile. So this is a snapshot of a wider, more dynamic market.
Let’s get to the charts.
Software
Monster Hunter: World
Call of Duty: WWII
NBA 2K18
Dragon Ball: Fighterz
Grand Theft Auto V
Shadow of the Colossus (2018)
UFC 3
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Mario Kart 8*
Super Mario Odyssey
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds**
Bayonetta 2*
Madden NFL 18
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
FIFA 18**
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
The Sims 4**
Star Wars: Battlefront II
*No digital sales included **No PC digital sales included
“Dollar sales of Console, Portable and PC Games Software combined to reach $397 million in February 2018, flat when compared to a year ago,” said Piscatella. “Gains in Nintendo Switch spending offset declines across all other platforms. Year to date, software spending has grown 24 percent, to $916 million.”
As always, Nintendo’s games have long tails that keep them selling at full price for years. That trend is continuing on Switch for hits like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
“Mario Kart 8 returned to the top of the Nintendo Switch chart for the first time since May 2017,” said Piscatella. “Nintendo was February’s leading publisher in software dollar sales, while Capcom remains the top-selling publisher of 2018.”
While Nintendo Switch is filling in the gaps left by the other platforms, Capcom’s Monster Hunter is one of the main reasons we are seeing year-to-date growth. It is once again dominant in February. This is the second month in a row that it has topped this chart.
“After leading the market in January, Monster Hunter: World repeated as the month’s top-selling title overall, once again leading on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms,” said Piscatella. “Unsurprisingly, Monster Hunter: World is currently 2018’s best-selling game.
Indie open-world role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance also made it into the top 10, which is a huge feat and shows just how well that game is performing at retail.
“Call of Duty: WWII was February’s second best-selling title,” said Piscatella. “And it remains the best-selling title for the 12-month period ending February 2018.”
Xbox One
Monster Hunter: World
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Call of Duty: WWII
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
NBA 2K18
Dragon Ball: Fighterz
UFC 3
Grand Theft Auto V
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
PlayStation 4
Monster Hunter: World
Shadow of the Colossus (2018)
Call of Duty: WWII
Dragon Ball: Fighterz
UFC 3
NBA 2K18
Grand Theft Auto V
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Madden NFL 18
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Nintendo Switch (physical only)
Mario Kart 8
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bayonetta 2
Splatoon 2
Pokken Tournament DX
Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Arms
Dragon Quest Builders
Nintendo 3DS
Pokemon: Ultra Sun
Pokemon: Ultra Moon
Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
Mario Kart 7
Minecraft
Super Smash Bros.
Mario Party: The Top 100
Super Mario Maker
Kirby: Battle Royale
Super Mario 3D Land
The best-selling games of 2018 so far
Monster Hunter: World
Dragon Ball: Fighterz
Call of Duty: WWII
Grand Theft Auto V
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds**
NBA 2K18
Super Mario Odyssey*
Mario Kart 8*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
UFC 3
The best-selling games over the last 12 months
Call of Duty: WWII
NBA 2K18
Destiny 2
Madden NFL 18
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
Grand Theft Auto V
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Super Mario Odyssey
Mario Kart 8*
Hardware and accesories
Since the launch of the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X, the PlayStation 4 has no longer dominated the hardware sales. Nintendo and Microsoft are both seeing growth as well.
“Hardware spending in February 2018 grew 55 percent when compared to a year ago, to $316 million,” said Piscatella. “Spending gains were driven by growth in Switch and Xbox One hardware sales. For the 2018 year-to-date period, hardware spending has increased 79 percent to $594 million.”
The Switch phenom story continued in February, for example.
“Nintendo Switch remains on a record-setting sales pace,” said Piscatella. “Over the first twelve months in market, Nintendo Switch has achieved the highest installed base for a console platform in history.”
But even if Sony isn’t leaving the competition in its dust, it still came out on top last month.
“Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console in February,” said Piscatella. “And it remains the best-selling console year to date.”
Last month was a record-high for February for accessories and gamecards at $282 million. That broke the previous February record from 2016.
Gamepads are an especially large category with year-over-year growth of 46 percent.
“Gamepads were the month’s best-selling accessory group,” said Piscatella. “Headsets/headphones, power supplies, memory cards, and case/organizer categories all experienced double-digit percentage growth in the month. These gains offset a 75 percent decline in interactive gaming toy sales.”
PS4’s DualShock 4 Wireless Controller in Black was the best-selling accessory of the month and of 2018 so far.
PureBDcraft is one of the best-selling pieces of content in the Minecraft Marketplace. It changes the look of nearly every object in the Minecraft world to give it a comic-book makeover. While it is extremely popular on the Marketplace today, it started as a mod way back in January 2011.
“I’m just a mix between an artist and a developer,” Sphax explained in an email exchange with GamesBeat. “I have passions and dreams, and I do my best to reproduce the ideas coming from those in my work. That’s maybe why PureBDcraft had success on day one, at least, I hope so.”
Sphax is 34 years old, and he partnered with fellow community creators Hanfox and Eskimojo14 on PureBDcraft. In a past life, he worked as a project manager in “big French enterprises” — but now he’s all in on BDcraft and other personal projects.
“I quit my job in 2013 to be fully dedicated to my own passions,” he said.
Those passions include improving PureBDcraft as well as creating other resource packs and mods. He is also actively developing Cubik Studio, which is a 3D modeler for Minecraft and other indie games. Sphax also plans to launch his own games at some point in the future.
But one of his biggest passions through the years was getting PureBDcraft into Minecraft as an official resource pack similar to the downloadable content you would find on the console versions.
“Back in the day, I did my best to nudge some guys at [developer] Mojang so I could have a chance to discuss with someone who could help me bring PureBDcraft to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3,” said Sphax. “That was my main goal at the time. I tried email, Twitter, and Minecon Paris without real success. In fact, I did it all wrong — I’m not a community manager or a marketing boy.”
Four years later, though, Microsoft reached out to Sphax to talk with him about PureBDcraft.
“I was truly excited,” said Sphax. “After several exchanges with the The Minecraft Team about the specifics of PureBDcraft — mainly its HD textures — and several Minecraft updates, PureBDcraft was ready for the Marketplace.”
This is where Sphax always felt that PureBDcraft belonged. He and his collaborators were able to get the resource pack ported to the Bedrock version of Minecraft, and they’ve updated it over time to get it as close to their original vision as possible.
He has now expanded his focus beyond PureBDcraft. The team has multiple projects in the works, but he welcomes feedback and even bug reports from people who purchase it through the Marketplace.
“By the way, I’m open for dialogue,” he said. “So if anyone wants to talk with me about Minecraft, BDcraft or indie games, they are very welcome. Many people don’t hesitate to do that already knowing my Twitter DMs are open.”
“Making Pure or any BDcraft content or project come alive by creating anything new for the player to discover is a true passion and a dream which came true,” said Sphax. “Every time I draw or develop something new, it reminds me why I quit my job and why that’s the best thing I ever did in my life before my son was born.”
PureBDcraft is available now in Minecraft on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 10, and mobile — it’ll hit the Switch when the Marketplace launches on that platform later this year.
While Pokémon Go is geared toward adults and teens, a lot of parents are playing it with their children too. I helped my kindergartener install it yesterday, and we spent an afternoon at a park looking for Pikachu. There are some safety concerns, but lots of potential for exercise and learning, too.
If you’re still not sure what this game is all about, read our explainer. It’s a free game where you walk to places in the real world to collect in-game supplies and characters. You can catch the pokémon characters almost anywhere, but if you want them to battle, you have to go to real-world locations called gyms. Supply stops and gyms are usually places like libraries, churches, and parks.
For a kid to get the most out of the game, it really helps if they can read and do simple math. You can read them the instructions at the beginning, but they’ll keep encountering creatures and objects that have names and stats.
To involve toddlers and preschoolers, you can play the game yourself, and offer the kid a chance to help at spin at each pokéstop. They can also try to throw pokéballs to catch the pokémon you find. That job takes a little dexterity, but if you have enough pokéballs, why not let them practice?
Once kids are old enough to have their own phones and transportation, they’re certainly old enough to play the game without help—but now you have to worry about where they’re going and whether they’re paying attention to their surroundings. More on that in a bit.
Set Up a Phone to Play Pokémon Go
You can install Pokémon Go on your own phone, of course, but if you hand it to a pokémon-happy kid, you may never get it back. Instead, see if you have an old phone or tablet around that has GPS capabilities. Even if it only has wifi and not a cellular data connection, you can still play the game.
You can do this by sticking to areas with wifi, of course. It’s even possible to catch pokémon without leaving home. Or you can use your own phone as a wifi hotspot, if your data plan allows, so you and your offspring can tour pokéstops together. Be aware that the iPod Touch doesn’t have GPS, so it needs to connect to stationary wifi spots (not your phone’s hotspot) to know its location.
Since Pokémon Go has lots of opportunities to spend real money, you may want to limit in-game purchases. On an iPhone, there’s a setting to turn off in-app purchases. On Android, make sure your phone is set to ask for a password for every purchase (and don’t blab the password).
I go a step further, on my kids’ phones. I have a throwaway google account that’s just for their games, and I don’t enter a credit card for payment. I just buy Play Store gift cards, so if they somehow find a way to spend money, the worst they can do is drain the $25 from their account.
Getting Started With Your Child and a Google Account
My son’s reaction to catching his first Pikachu
The first thing the app does is ask your birthdate. For adults, it then asks if you want to log in with your Google account or with a Pokémon Trainer account. For kids (13 and under), it doesn’t offer Google as an option. Unfortunately, since Pokémon’s servers are currently overloaded, it may be impossible to create a Pokémon Trainer account. You may want to create a dummy Google account (technically belonging to you, the parent) and have them log in that way.
When you begin, you can customize an avatar, and then it’s time to catch your starter pokémon. (You don’t have to wander around for this one.) If your kid’s heart is set on Pikachu, there is reportedly an easter egg that lets you catch Pikachu as your starter. It may not be easy to actually catch the little guy, though, so remind the kid that you can always go looking for wild Pikachu later.
Stay Safe—Especially Around Lures
One of these kids set up a lure before (or during?) soccer camp.
Remember everything you taught your kid about watching where they’re going, holding hands near busy roads, and looking both ways while crossing streets or parking lots? They’re going to completely forget all that when they have their eyes glued to their phone. It’s worth having a little talk with them before they get run over by a car, about how to be careful and how maybe we’re going to put some more rules into effect—like only crossing a street when their phone is in their pocket, perhaps.
If your kid is old enough to wander around on her own, remember that she may now be walking around oblivious to her surroundings (even if she promises to be careful). You may want to revisit rules in this case, too: are you still okay with her traveling to the same places she’s usually allowed?
Lures make the situation a little more complicated, from a parent’s perspective. A player can set out a lure to attract pokémon for 30 minutes, but since these lures are visible to nearby players, they have the effect of luring people too. This can be fun: a bunch of kids can catch pokémon together, or a library or museum can set out lures to help attract people for an event. It can also be concerning to parents. Who’s setting out that lure, and why?
It would be possible for someone to set out a lure to attract kids for nefarious purposes—maybe a potential abuser, or just the neighborhood bully.
Roaming around may be the most worrying part of playing Pokémon Go—but that’s also what makes it worthwhile. How many video games come with built-in exercise, education, and opportunities to learn about art and the natural world?
The exercise is a given: you have to walk to incubate eggs, for instance. Driving doesn’t count, and the app knows the difference. Parks will often have a bunch of pokéstops close together, so even if you have to drive to get there, you can walk around to monuments, statues, and historical signs to collect supplies and look for new pokémon. Different kinds of places have different pokémon. I caught a goldfish-like Goldeen today near a lake.
But there’s more. A lot of pokéstops are at interesting places, including historical markers. Yesterday my son and I visited a cannon in a cemetery (dedicated as a war memorial) and a chestnut tree nursery in a park. I had driven by those trees a million times without knowing what it was, but signs explained how the area’s chestnut trees had been devastated by a fungus and park workers were trying to protect some of the trees so they could reach maturity.
While you’re out wandering, you may even find real animals. Some wildlife experts on twitter are now monitoring the hashtag #PokeBlitz to help you identify the birds, bugs, snakes, plants and other things you might find while looking for pokémon.
The game intertwines so many interests that it’s a natural for family outings. And since you can play it almost anywhere, it works for city strolls as well as nature walks. Watch out for safety concerns, to be sure, but don’t forget to have fun.
