Digital Foundry has returned with a new technical analysis. This time, it’s Sonic Mania that receives the focus.
The first part of the video shows how Sonic Mania is an evolution from the original games in the series. Many techniques and subtle improvements are used that you may not even notice. Part of this is due to Sonic Mania featuring aspects that weren’t possible during the SEGA Genesis days.
Sonic Mania features full object scaling and rotation, for example. The special stages here have a much smoother frame rate. Also included are additional background planes, a much broader color palette, more complex sprite work, and more.
GameStop is hosting a distribution for Pokemon Sun/Moon that can net you a new Salazzle. If you visit the store by September 4, the Pokemon can be yours. View a trailer for the distribution below.
Best Buy has updated its official Switch product page with a tool that will definitely come in hand for consumers. A “Check Stores” option is now present, allowing you to see if a unit is in stock nearby.
Simply enter a ZIP code or city / state. You’ll then be presented with nearby locations, if there are any. I happened to check and noticed that a few consoles are around my area, so it definitely does work.
You can access Best Buy’s Switch page here.
Sonic Mania is currently suffering from a couple of technical hiccups on Switch. Multiple users have experienced issues with taking screenshots, accessing the Home Menu, and using the power button. The response times are either very slow, or completely nonexistent.
Kotaku says that the issues stem from playing in portable mode, but some players have reported encountering the same problems while the system is docked as well. The site adds that it isn’t happening for everyone, and can be intermittent.
We’re hoping it won’t be too long until an official fix is issued via an update. Thankfully, the issues don’t really affect gameplay.
Ubisoft has now come out with a new Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle trailer specifically focusing on Rabbid Luigi. Watch it below.
Game Informer’s latest piece of Pokemon coverage is all about Pokemon spin-offs. Game Freak co-founder, director, and producer Junichi Masuda and Pokemon Sun/Moon director Shigeru Ohmori were both asked about their favorite ones.
As for Masuda, he went with Pokemon GO, though he’s unsure if it’s actually a spin-off game. Ohmori went with Pokemon Snap. He said that one of the best aspects of the N64 title was printing out the photos in real life.
Team17 and developer Mouldy Toof published the newest trailer for The Escapists 2 today. The video shows three of the ten prisons in the game, all of which share something in common: all three are different types of prisoner transport vehicles.
In the Escapists 2, inmates will need to act quick and employ their stealth skills in order to escape the new timed prisons. These feature a variety of transit methods for the pixelated prisoners including:
The latest episode of the IGN Show featured Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Creative director Davide Soliani stopped by, and a new co-op map was shown. Find the relevant segment embedded below.
It has taken quite awhile for SmileBASIC to reach Europe. In North America, the 3DS programming app hit the eShop back in 2015. The wait has been even longer if you consider the Japanese release, which took place a year earlier.
But we do finally have some news: SmileBASIC arrives in Europe this week. Nintendo’s website lists it for a Thursday launch.
SmileBASIC is a portable version of a programming language known as BASIC. BASIC is a programming language designed to help beginners learn to program.
As soon as you start SmileBASIC, you can begin programming! When you’re finished, you can play the game you’ve made! Enjoy intuitive, trouble-free programming.
A range of versatile instructions
- Pictures and words that pop-out from the screen!
- Information obtained from various different sensors. Voice input and playback via the microphone
- Versus play via Local Play
- Draw instructions for lines and circles, filling, and more
- Music composition using MML
Useful tools
- SMILE Tool (for checking SE and character numbers)
- Paint Tool (for drawing characters and background images)
- Animation Tool (for creating flipbook animations)
- Mapping Tool (for arranging tiles to create maps)
- Waveform Tool (for sampling and creating waveforms)
Rich sample library
- Characters and background images that can be used in a variety of contexts
- Over 100 sound effects and 40 BGM tunes
- Simple programs for helping to learn BASIC
- Technical samples that allow the user to check the execution results for each instruction
- Game samples created using advanced techniques
Natsume is kicking off a new Harvest Moon: Light of Hope video series today focusing on the game’s various features. The first entry introduces the rebuilding aspect.
Here’s the video:
And some background information:
