Pokémon Go‘s latest event lets players game from home, a smart move among encouragement to practice social distancing to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
A new special research story event titled “A Drive to Investigate!” starts begins Friday, March 20, at 8 a.m. and lasts through 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, March 26. Players can access the event from any location as long as they have a ticket. It also adds Genesect, the mythical bug- and steel-type Pokémon first introduced in the series’ fifth generation.
Developer Niantic extended the event to make it “playable for as many trainers globally as possible.” Players that purchase a ticket can complete tasks to get a chance to catch Genesect, which left a trail of damage behind that Professor Willow picked up on. The ticket is redeemable anywhere, so players can play from home or wherever they can experience the new mission.
Beyond research, a Genesect-themed weekend event will last from March 20 through 10 p.m. local time on March 23. Pokémon Go players can find normal-, fire-, water-, electric-, and ice-type Pokémon more often, and Jigglypuff, Magnemite, Marill, Houndour, and Snorunt are extra common during the event.
For trainers who are still able to walk around their neighborhoods, Nincada eggs are available to hatch by walking five kilometers, and Karrablast and Shelmet eggs will appear more frequently. Additionally, one- to four-star Raid Battles will feature bug- and steel-type Pokémon mirroring Genesect’s types.
To receive access to the special event, players just have to launch Pokémon Go during the event’s time period. Players can buy a ticket in the in-game shop for $8 but cannot purchase it with PokéCoins. Players will also receive bonuses such as exclusive Genesect-themed avatar items, five premium battle passes, three super incubators, three charged TMs, three fast TMs, three incense, three star pieces, one poffin, 15 rare candies, and a glacial lure. In addition, trainers will also receive an encounter with Scyther, Skarmory, Nincada, Shieldon, and Durant, the last of which is normally only available in the eastern hemisphere.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.