Since the early inception of this project, I have always equated it to Geocaching; a mobile application that lets you find items hidden all over the world, using your phone or GPS system. When Pokémon Go was announced, I was excited to see them take that same style and apply it to the Pokémon universe. Interviews early on stated, “You’ll always be within 5 minutes walk of a Pokémon.” I can confirm that is an accurate representation.

After a slew of server issues, I was able to login to the App at my house, and instantly catch Charmander, who was apparently hiding in my bedroom with my wife and I totally unaware. At the base of your screen, you’ll see a Pokéball, that will need to be swiped toward the Pokémon you want to catch.The first Pokémon may be free, the rest will require you to explore the world around you. And so with my wife and daughter in tow, I fired up my app with 51% battery, and struck on a walk to find what Pokémon lived around our neighborhood.

It took maybe two minutes for my GPS to filter into Pokémon GO to realize I was walking, and about another two minutes before I ran across my first Pokémon. My first two throws were off on either side of the Pidgey, but the 3rd one caught him. Each Pokémon you collect have their own set of stats you should (If you’re a Pokémon gamer) recognize. The key components to these are their Combat Points, Hit Points, Type, Weight, Height, and the ability to Power Up and/or Evolve them.

Evolution is based on the amount of candy you have to feed your Pokémon. Thus, the importance of duplicates arises. The more duplicates you have, the faster you can evolve your character by using the candy you get from sending your duplicate Pokémon back to the professor, or using the Stardust you collect on your journey (like I did below with Charmander, renamed as Fire Balls because you can do that.)

The longer we walked, the more Pokémon, item-stops and gyms I found. As I said in the beginning, the game doesn’t do a great job of explaining what to do, so I spent a lot of time tapping different features on the landmark I was standing at before I found out you had to swipe it to unlock it. Which gave me three Pokéballs and an egg (which you have to incubate by walking).

When it comes to Pokémon Gyms, you’ve got to become a level 5 trainer before you do. I hadn’t reached that part as of this article, but my friend, Ryan, had and shared the value of unlocking a gym.

“You will be asked to pick a team (red, blue, or yellow) then put a single Pokémon up to guard it,” Ryan said. “Others can come attack it and lower your control over the gym until it can be taken for their team. Honestly taking a gym without a fight isn’t satisfying. I need some challengers up in hurr.”

He finished by saying that the item-stops have a 5 minute cool down. So if you’ve got a good lap and some time to kill, chances are you can level up and gain items pretty quickly.

All in, this app is off to a solid start. Until more people start playing and obviously we all spend more time, we can’t really give Pokémon Go a fair shake. But it is worth noting that the App encourages you to get off your rear end and go explore your neighborhoods. And while my wife could care less about Pokémon, she enjoyed walking with my daughter and I, which builds the possibility for this becoming not only an individual pursuit of greatness, but a game that families can play together. They might not all care for the content, but spending time together is never a bad thing.

I’m looking forward to catching, training, and fighting more Pokémon in the weeks to come. A lot of my friends have downloaded the App and only time will tell when we start facing off against one another. Is this App great? No, not yet There is a lot of work to be done to speed up the interfacing. But it has a lot of potential, and the Pokémon Company and Niantic have the resources to listen to feedback, tweak, patch, and turn this into an augmented reality game loved by a new generation of mobile gamer’s. If this is a developers way of testing the waters of augmented reality, it’s a pretty solid test.

The latest interview is with Koji Oda, the director of the Resident Evil 0 Remaster and the original Gamecube release of Resident Evil 0, alongside his work on the original Resident Evil. During the interview Oda gives some insight into the development of the Resident Evil 0 Remaster, where he describes how he wanted to try new things, while also making sure it did not affect the gameplay balance.

The Resident Evil 0 Remaster also contains a specially crafted feature called Wesker Mode, which allows players to control an overpowered Albert Wesker. Oda explains that the development team decided to create this special mode to give something entertaining for players, while discussions were also underway for the player to control enemy creatures; but the idea was ultimately nixed.

Capcom will continue to celebrate the anniversary of Resident Evil throughout 2016, but until the next interview feel free to share some of your fondest Resident Evil memories in the comments below and check out the interview with Resident Evil producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi

The AFK Room will be a quiet area for people looking to relax and take a break from the busy PAX floor. The room will be staffed with volunteers and clinicians who can answer question and offer support for those taking a break from the show floor.

Take This is a US-based not-for-profit organisation, which has teamed up with PAX to bring this joint initiative down under. The AFK Room was introduced at PAX East in 2014, and has since accommodated up to 500 attendees each day during events. The AFK Room has been a permanent feature of every US PAX show, and PAX Australia is happy to replicate this feature.

“We are thrilled to bring the AFK Room and Take This’s message of healing and hope for those dealing with mental health issues to PAX Australia,” said Take this Executive Director, Russ Pitts. “Over the past year, as attendees of US-based PAX events and other shows have become more aware of the mental health issues in our community, we’ve seen a growing demand for spaces like the AFK Room and education and awareness like Take This provides. To be working with PAX to ensure that the Enforcers and attendees at PAX Aus have support for dealing with these issues is a wonderful privilege.”

“After seeing the benefits at PAX East 2014, it’s always been Russ and my goal to get AFK rooms to not only all PAXes but to all gaming events across the globe. Take This is an organization that helps gamers, period,” said Penny Arcade President Robert Khoo.

PAX Australia will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 30 to November 1. Single day passes and 3 days international passes are still available online here. It was also previously revealed Warren Spector would be appearing at the event, and ESL will be hosting an eSports Arena at the event.

Today we unbox the PlayStation 4 version of Skylanders Trap Team, which is also available for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Wii U, alongside a unique adventure for the Nintendo 3DS. Skylanders Trap Team is also available for iPad, Kindle Fire and Android Tablet  Tablet, with a unique starter pack available.

Our full Skylanders Trap Team will be published as soon as possible, so stay tuned.

Just Dance Now allows players to play Just Dance by using their smartphones as a controller, utilising any Internet-connected screen to follow the gameplay.

The game features Ubisoft’s Ubi Bluestar technology, showcased at E3 2014, allowing an unlimited number of people to play together even on different data connections (2G, 3G, 4G or WiFi).

The tracklist for Just Dance Now includes over 50 songs from the Just Dance library, including “Applause” by Lady Gaga, “Gangnam Style” by Psy and “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO, with more songs continuously added.

The app will be free, with users given the option to subscribe to the premium service to gain unlimited access to the full library of songs.

Final Fantasy Agito is already available in Japan, but this will be the first time western audiences will be able to get their hands on the title. Set within the war-torn land of Orience, players will take on the role of a cadet in the Dominion of Rubrum as they aim to become Agito, a prophesised saviour of Orience.

Agito will allows players to create a unique character, utilising character customisation options, including gender, facial features, and more. Players will also be able to interact with characters from Final Fantasy Type-0 and make decisions that will effect the course of history in game, which will then effect the worldwide player community. Your character will also be able to gain experience from minds in order to raise your level, as well as confront powerful enemies in large-scale cooperative battles.

Final Fantasy Agito will be a free download that will feature in-app purchase for iOS and Android devices, no release date for the western release was confirmed.

The Android version of PvZ 2 is the first PopCap game to utilize Google Play Game Services.

Franchise Business Director for Plants vs. Zombies Tony Leamer said, “With the arrival of Plants vs. Zombies 2 on Android, we’re effectively reaching a huge new audience of mobile players who have been eagerly awaiting the game. We’re particularly pleased that the Android iteration of the game has all the great features and functionality found in other mobile editions.”

Check out our review of Plants vs. Zombies 2 to see if this free-to-play mobile game is worth your device’s memory space.

Genre: Platformer

Developer: Ubisoft Pune

Publisher: Ubisoft

Platform Reviewed On: iPhone 5

It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a new title starring the platforming Prince.

With no official news on a new game, perhaps the entry is set to release for the next-gen consoles? It’s certainly a strong possibility considering the popularity of The Sand of Time series and the yearning for a new adventure from the ocean of sand.

Until then, Ubisoft Pune has released the mobile title Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame (Shadow and Flame), a remake of the second game in the franchise, which was originally released for the Apple II.

Shadow and Flame takes place after the events of the first game. When the Prince enters his court one day, he is seen as a peasant for unknown reasons. Moments later, it’s revealed Jaffar, who was thought to have been defeated, has cast a spell to make the Prince appear as a peasant and Jaffar as the Prince. As the palace guards chase the Prince out of the city, he escapes on a merchant ship only for it to undertake a ravaging storm that brings him to a cave filled with skeleton foes and deadly traps at every corner. From there, the Prince embarks on a journey to return to the city, defeat Jaffar and rescue the Princess from her deep sleep.

Akin to the platforming Mario games, the older Prince of Persia titles do not have much emphasis on story, but rather platforming gameplay with a dash of sword combat and puzzle elements.

As a mobile title, players are presented with two controller options: gesture-based controls and the classic virtual joystick. Let me save you the trouble by telling you to switch to classic now. The gesture controls are a neat idea, but Shadow and Flame shows why they’re not seen often – if at all – in the mobile platforming field. Trying to climb up or jump across gaps and performing a specific combo in combat simply didn’t work when I wanted it to for a majority of the time. Classic is not only easier because the controls are on the screen, but they’re more responsive by a wide margin.

It doesn’t make much of a difference with the combat though. Using three different combos, the only way you can dole any serious damage to enemies is to stand there, wait for them to attack, guard against them at the right time and perform the combo of your choice. Multiply by this by over 100 times, and it dumbs-down the gameplay. At least there are stealth options from time to time to spare you from facing opponents.

Fortunately, the larger portion of the game involves the series’  traditional platforming mechanics. Although I had to get the hang of it at first, the gameplay – with the classic controls of course – works well for a mobile platformer. Spiked walls charging for your spongy body and floors collapsing will keep you on your toes (literally) and make for some fun segements.

There isn’t much platforming to bask in though because the story clocks in at an hour and a half completion time. Expanding upon the replay of the story are medals for individual levels, 30 in-game achievements and upgrades from the shop. I was able to acquire most of the achievements on my first playthrough, but some of the higher-up achievements will require serious dedication. Dedication could mean one of two things, however. First; you spend a ridiculous amount of real money to get upgrades for the game. Second; you play through the entire game several times and collect coins from fighting enemies and discovering treasure chests. With the dull combat, it’s simply not worth it.

The medals, on the other hand, are more entertaining to rack up because a part of it encourages you to explore every inch of each level. It’s also made accessible since you can skim the area with the level map. The other medals have you completing the levels within a specified time limit and finding the permanent health increase upgrade.

Although there was only one occurrence where the game crashed, Shadow and Flame runs smoothly, looks great aesthetically and has minimum load times. The lighting from the undying flames from lit torches and sunshine beaming through from outside the caves revealing dust particles and textures add some extra eye candy while exploring the caves.

Shadow and Flame is not a perfect game nor is it the definitive mobile platforming title the gaming prophets have foretold, but for $2.99, it’s an enjoyable play. The platforming is fun when using classic controls, it looks pretty and the medals are enjoyable to get. Unfortunately, the overall fun factor is lowered with shallow combat, an astoundingly short story and items where you almost feel forced to spend real money to buy them because the boring combat gives little motivation to farm gold. Shadow and Flame is not the fresh experience fans of the series are aspiring for, but if you ever wanted to play the second game in the franchise and don’t feel like spending money on an Apple II, Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame is an adequate mobile title.

Positives

• Fun platforming
• Encourages exploring with medals
• Visually pretty for mobile title

Negatives

• Tedious combat
• Extremely short story
• Forceful real-life purchases

Score: 7.0/10

Developer/ Publisher: Telltale Games

Genre: Card Game Platform Played: PlayStation 3

Including the flop you are one card away from a straight, but you currently have a pair of 6’s in your hand. Ash has raised $2,500, so the pot stands at $6,000, so he must really like his hand. He’s probably got a hand better than a your pair but do you gamble and stay in hoping for that card which gives you your straight or do you fold and consolidate your money.

Picking your battles and making decisions like this are what happen in poker in real life and the game, you’ve got to read your opponents, what do they have. This is something Poker Night 2 does well.

As it turned out, the card for the straight came out in the river, with $32,000 in the pot I lost due to Ash having a higher straight than me. However, being aggressive in the next few hands I turned it around and became the leader at the table and eliminated Brock, that’s also part of the games downfall.

Poker Night 2 sees you playing one of the two popular types of; Texas Hold ‘em and Omaha. The only difference between the two game modes is the number of cards you have in your hand but in both you play poker against Brock, Claptrap, Ash and Sam. With Portal’s GLADOS being the dealer. Yes that’s right, GLADOS is alive and armed with her typical quips. The cast itself sums up the kind of game this is, a funny and surreal combination of characters from different games. I cannot remember a cross over like this in a game. These characters are the main reason you will play this game. The interaction between the characters, in between hands is funny with many nods to the respective games. The characters make some funny pop culture references too, which I won’t spoil in the review and let you hear for yourselves. I will admit there some of the games which I’ve not played so some of the references washed over my head but there’s still enough for me to enjoy these. It does however become a point where the dialogue begins to repeat itself which begins to grate so after a while of playing I put a podcast or music on while I played the game.

Poker Night 2 is not a difficult game by any stretches of the imagination, but then it’s not the intention of the game to be so. The game itself could be a quick hit and never played again, yet Telltale Games have got round this in a couple of ways, firstly at the end of each game you will get tokens which you can use to unlock new table felts, token and card designs. All of which are based on the games of your competitors. These tokens can also be used to buy your opponent a drink which can give you an advantage over them as their “tells” become a bit more obvious. So it’s easier for you to know if they have a strong hand or are bluffing. I felt that this wasn’t integral or important, its easy to understand by someone in the games behavior the type of hand they’ve got. When you go “all in” with a player the game goes into a head-to-head scenario with tense music playing and the odds of whoever is in winning. This adds a nice little edge to the game and it can be quite exhilarating if its even until the final card comes out. The game is full of these nice little touches, which make it a fun experience but that’s it.

My only issues with the game, which I played on PS3 for review, is that at times the game will freeze and stutter as it changes to a player about to say a one liner or cards being drawn. I found this to be very jarring and sometimes would remove the flow of the game. The other is that I found it quite easy to recoup money I had previously lost going big by being a bit more aggressive as the player with the most money at times became reckless. It lessened the challenge of the game.

Those are my only issues with the game, it’s a pretty solid game but that’s all it is. Poker Night 2 is by no means an instant classic but a game that you can easily and dip into play a couple of hands and do something else or best on a commute where you’ve got a bit of time to kill. On a console it is fine but at the end of the day it’s a game based on poker, which should be played in real life chewing the fat with your friends. If you’re playing console you’ll be playing for longer periods and I don’t believe there’s enough here to sustain you for a few hours of play. The references and interaction between your opponents is good but after a while it wears thin and when it starts to repeat itself it gets old. The core of the game is solid as I said but if you want something greater to sink your teeth into then there are other titles. I cannot fault Telltale games for what they have achieved, its dialogue is clever and the mechanics are solid enough but it lacks a real wow factor. However, if it’s a quick fix you’re after, you cannot go wrong with this title.

7/10