There's a stage in Pokkén Tournament called Neos City, where if you take your eyes off the fighting game action for a moment, you can see a much larger Pokémon world beyond the arena. Pokémon and humans walk side by side down the street, and there are shops, signs, vehicles, and billboards that hint at Pokémon living and working together alongside humans. In another stage, a Magikarp Festival is in full swing. And in another, Pokémon and humans laze about an old city square. There's a serene Wobuffet laying on a bench in the background.

Revisiting these scenes, it's far less surprising that Bandai Namco was tapped for New Pokémon Snap, a game about portraying Pokémon not as static figures across from one another in a battle arena or wandering aimlessly through tall grass, but as real, living creatures. Both games seem to me to be part of a growing trend where The Pokémon Company lends its license to third-parties with the aim of creating worlds exactly like this, where Pokémon are portrayed seamlessly with the real world. Think the Detective Pikachu movie, or Pokémon Go.

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Speaking to IGN, New Pokémon Snap director Haruki Suzaki confirms that Bandai Namco's treatment of the Pokémon world in Pokkén Tournament directly led to its involvement with New Pokémon Snap -- though that doesn't mean the original Pokémon Snap developer, HAL Laboratory, was left out entirely.

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"Pokkén Tournament utilized Bandai Namco Studio's strengths and it made Pokémon appealing in a new way," he says. "Because of this, we got another opportunity to do something together again and this led to the development of New Pokémon Snap. We were able to talk with the developers [from the original game] and the project started with the involvement of many people."

Suzaki also affirms that my theory about making Pokémon a seamless part of the world is correct. The original Pokémon Snap did this, of course, but was at the time limited by the technology available at the time. 22 years later, New Pokémon Snap can make better-looking monsters interact in more believable ways with a better-looking world.

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"The main focus was to build the world where wild Pokémon actually live in this game," Suzaki says. "To do this, we first set out to create an exciting world by thinking about the environment in which Pokémon live, creating scenery in detail, and also using Switch hardware's capabilities to the fullest. While doing so, we tried to make Pokémon the star of the game by making them move naturally and with the feel of presence so that it's fun to just watch them and it's even more fun to take pictures of them."

Suzaki says that another key focus of the team in creating a sequel was increasing the number of Pokémon available. The original Pokémon Snap only had 63 of the then 151 Pokémon. Now, with somewhere over 800 Pokémon in existence across every Pokémon game (the number varies depending on whether you count different forms separately), New Pokémon Snap has the opportunity to feature even more -- over 200, in fact, as Suzaki has told Game Informer.

Pokémon Snap is 22 years old now, and the announcement of a sequel seemed to come out of nowhere. After all, what game gets a sequel that long after the fact? After years of silence but for the quiet release of the original Pokémon Snap on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2017, New Pokémon Snap was received with a wave of social media excitement upon its announcement last year, especially from fans with fond memories of the original.

Suzaki suggests Bandai Namco was well-aware of global fan interest in Pokémon Snap, and points to the capabilities of the Nintendo Switch as a key reason why now was a good time to make a new entry. But he also notes that "the idea of photography has changed so much in the last 20 years," indicating that these shifts were also a significant motivator in bringing Pokémon Snap back. Though he didn't elaborate on this point, it's already at least somewhat visible in the photo editing mode we've seen in prior Pokémon Snap previews, as well as the shift from printing out photos at Blockbuster kiosk (remember THAT?!) to sharing them on social media via the Switch's built-in image share features.

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Another key change from the original Pokémon Snap that fans may have picked up on already is the lack of "Pester Balls," which were little balls that exploded in a purple gas when thrown at Pokémon, irritating them. More subtle is the shift from "Apples" to "Fluffruit" as an item thrown to entice Pokémon, and in our preview I was told that Fluffruit explicitly does not hurt Pokémon if it hits them when thrown. Put simply, there's a bit more of an emphasis on treating Pokémon like, well, actual living creatures who don't deserve to have noxious irritating gas or painful solid objects lobbed at them when they're just vibing in their natural habitats.

Suzaki didn't put it quite so bluntly but, yes, there was a humane angle to these changes.

"Of course, we also thought that some modern changes would need to be made," he says. "The Pester Ball was an important element to bring out Pokémon's reaction in the Nintendo 64 Pokémon Snap, so we decided to add the role of the Pester Ball to the Fluffruit in New Pokémon Snap. Even though Fluffruit doesn't hurt when it hits a Pokémon, it'd make sense that some Pokémon don't like being hit by Fluffruit. So we designed the item to leave it up to players whether they place it near a Pokémon or throw it at a Pokémon."

It seems there are far more changes to what fans of Pokémon Snap might expect than are immediately apparent on the surface. In our preview, we saw the introduction of branching pathways, and in the aforementioned Game Informer article, the developer revealed that as the player's research level increases, new Pokémon might appear in areas they were not seen previously, or exhibit new behaviors that weren't available before. With all the Pokémon in existence to choose from and a planet's worth of potential ideas for Pokémon habitats, New Pokémon Snap seems like it could be ripe for DLC or expansions down the line -- unfortunately, Suzaki responded to my question about this by simply telling me they had nothing to share on this topic at the time.

But the very fact that New Pokémon Snap already feels so open to expansion goes to prove my point -- Pokémon no longer seems like a series built solely around inventing new monsters to throw into the same turn-based battles. Those monsters are now just as exciting for their behaviors, and their agency, and their relationships with both humans and the environment, and The Pokémon Company appears to be acknowledging that in a new string of media. Just as these newer projects take pains to show Pokémon living with humans, games like New Pokémon Snap feel designed to allow us humans to live a little closer to our Pokémon.

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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Just two weeks after its enormous 1.2 patch, Cyberpunk 2077 has received a 1.21 hotfix, designed to improve game stability, and fix any issues that could block game progression. Announced and detailed on the Cyberpunk 2077 website (you can read the full patch notes at the bottom of this story), the hotfix is out now for PC, consoles and Stadia. At least some of these fixes target problems that appeared after the 1.2 patch, including fixing the bizarre issue that caused the entire world to be covered in a sandstorm weather effect. CD Projekt Red has described the 1.2 patch as 'a step' towards bringing the game back to the PlayStation Store, where it has been missing for well over 100 days. The 1.21 hotfix will presumably be another step on that journey. We tested the game extensively after the 1.2 patch in our Performance Review, and found definite improvements on older versions, without being able to say that the game felt truly finished. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/cyberpunk-2077-ps4-ps5-xbox-series-xs-console-performance-review-patch-12"]

Quests & Open World

• Fixed an issue in Gig: Getting Warmer... where the player was unable to lower 8ug8ear's body temperature.
• Fixed an issue where being unable to pick up the "Send a crew" shard in Cyberpsycho Sighting: Discount Doc could block progression. Reading the shard is now an optional objective.
• Fixed an issue in Down on the Street where Takemura would get stuck in Japantown Docks after player chose to go to Wakako alone and left the area too early.
• Fixed an issue where the clues in Cyberpsycho Sighting: Bloody Ritual would not count if the player scanned them before talking to the wounded NPC.
• Spray Paint should now trigger properly when player approaches Brendan.
• Fixed an issue in Play it Safe where upon connecting to the Access Point the screen could become black, blocking further progression.
• Fixed an issue where Reported Crime: Dredged Up would not complete if the player opened the container before scanning the blood trail.
• Fixed an issue where a Maelstromer could spawn in an area unreachable for the player, blocking progress in Losing My Religion/Sacrum Profanum.
• Fixed an issue blocking progression in one of the Assaults in Progress in Japantown.
• Addressed an issue where the game could crash during Gig: Hippocratic Oath if the player jumped through the window after breaking it.
• Fixed various issues with enemies clipping through objects and floating in the air in Suspected Organized Crime Activity: Privacy Policy Violation.
• Fixed an issue in Suspected Organized Crime Activity: Privacy Policy Violation, where progression could be blocked due to enemies being stuck in a hangar.
• Holocalls from Mitch should no longer get stuck and repeat if the call was interrupted before.
• Fixed Johnny's appearance in various quests.
• Dennis' car should now spawn correctly in Big in Japan.
• Players can now enter Dennis' car from the right side in Big in Japan.
• Windows inside the shack should no longer break upon opening the container in Big in Japan.
• Big in Japan will now fail if the player leaves Haruyoshi instead of carrying him to safety after opening the container.
• Fixed an issue where player could become unable to use weapons and consumables after getting out of Takemura's van in Down on the Street.
• Player can no longer call Takemura during the meeting with Oda in Down on the Street.
• Fixed an issue where Oda could be found on the bridge between Watson and Westbrook before going to Takemura's hideout in Search and Destroy.
• Fixed an issue in Down on the Street where Oda could crash into player's car if it was parked in his way.
• Fixed an issue where Burning Desire/Night Moves could get stuck on the "Wait for a call from distressed man" objective after player failed the quest.
• Fixed an issue where the door to Cassius Ryder's ripperdoc shop would not open, preventing the player from completing The Gig.
• Saul will no longer follow the player around the world if they leave the quest area after freeing him in Riders on the Storm.
• Fixed an issue where sandstorm could be present in the city if the player fast travelled there during Killing in the Name or Riders on the Storm.
• Riders on the Storm will now fail if the player leaves the Wraith camp before rescuing Saul.
• Gig: Severance Package should now trigger properly after approaching the quest area.

Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where, after the player commits a crime on the roof of a building, NCPD officers would spawn behind the player's back.
• Fixed an issue preventing the player from climbing ladders out of water.

Visual

• Fixed various issues related to clipping in NPCs' clothes.

UI

• Added back the icon above NPCs, who are under the Distract Enemies quickhack effect.
• Scanning UI is now less cluttered.
• Fixed an issue where Japanese/Traditional Chinese text could disappear if the player changed the interface language from English to one of these languages.

Stability and performance

• Various memory management improvements (reducing the number of crashes).

Console-specific

• Players should now be able to select stickers in Photo Mode using the Circle button in the Japanese version of the game on PlayStation 4.

Stadia-specific

• Fixed some graphical issues on a bridge in Mikoshi in Belly Of The Beast/Changes.

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch is working on a new project that it describes as a “spectacular multiplayer game”. The news arrives in the form of a job advertisement on Sucker Punch’s job recruitment website. The developer is seeking a multiplayer/network programmer to join its team in Bellevue, Washington. “Our talented multiplayer designers create awesome game team experiences, and you’ll be pivotal in bringing that creativity to life in a spectacular multiplayer game,” reads the job description. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/16/the-first-18-minutes-of-ghost-of-tsushima-legends"] Little more can be inferred from the role’s description and requirements; no mention is made of what form of multiplayer game is being worked on, and so we can’t ascertain at this stage if the project is PvE co-op or PvP. All other details presented are fairly standard discussion of programming for online multiplayer. This won’t be the first game Sucker Punch has created with multiplayer, of course. Ghost of Tsushima has a co-op multiplayer mode in the form of Legends, which was added not long after launch. As for if this new project is a Tsushima multiplayer game, Sucker Punch has recently advertised for a writer with a "desire to write stories set in feudal Japan." We can’t tell if these projects are related or separate right now, but take from that what you will. If new games from Sucker Punch don’t quite capture what you want, then be sure to check out the news that a Ghost of Tsushima movie is in development. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

A new post on the Call of Duty Twitter feed has announced a time and date for what it describes as “the end”, seemingly suggesting that the much rumoured Warzone map-nuking event is imminent.

4.21.21.

The end is near... #Warzone pic.twitter.com/M3CVYCC4BC — Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) April 13, 2021

The short video clip, which displays the screen of a Cold War-era computer, displays a glitching image of a skull that is quickly replaced with “04.21 12PM PT”. This clip is accompanied by the text “The end is near…” For quite some time now, rumours and leaks have pointed to Call of Duty: Warzone’s Verdansk map being ‘blown up’ by a nuclear bombardment, allowing it to be replaced with a Cold War-era version of the landscape to better tie into the current Black Ops Cold War storyline. It appears such rumours were correct, and that the nuclear event is set to happen at 12pm PT on April 21. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/08/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-and-warzone-season-3-trailer"] In recent weeks Activision issued a DCMA takedown to a website covering Warzone map leaks, which did suggest that they were in fact legitimate leaks. Then just a few days ago nuclear missiles were spotted soaring across Verdansk in-game, but not doing any damage. It’s unclear if these missiles are a bug, assets simply delivered too early, or an actual tease from Activision. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Disney has updated its dress code for theme park employees to include gender-inclusive hairstyles, visible tattoos, and more. On Tuesday, Josh D'Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, announced a loosening of restrictions on the company's dress and style code for cast members, as part of the company's commitment to foster a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace, which enables employees to "better express their cultures and individuality at work." Under the new appearance policies, employees will be offered "greater flexibility with respect to forms of personal expression surrounding gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewelry, nail styles, and costume choices." In addition to these changes, cast members at Disney's theme parks will now be permitted to show up at work with "appropriate visible tattoos." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/06/we-rode-star-wars-rise-of-the-resistance-at-galaxys-edge"] "Moving forward, we believe our cast, who are at the center of the magic that lives in all our experiences, can provide the best of Disney's legendary guest service when they have more options for personal expression – creating richer, more personal, and more engaging experiences with our guests," D'Amaro wrote on the Disney Parks Blog on Tuesday. The announcement comes as part of a wider effort by the company to incorporate inclusion as one of the key principles in the employee blueprint that guides staff on decisions and the approach they bring to their interactions with others. The key of "Inclusion" joins the other four keys of "Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency," which have all served as pillars for guest services for more than 65 years. The appearance policy changes for cast members at Disney's theme parks are just one in a series of adjustments that the company has implemented over the past few months. Disney previously announced plans to update its Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World after receiving years-long criticism over the ride's outdated and insensitive depictions of cultures. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-spotlight-april-2021&captions=true"] Jungle Cruise is not the only theme park attraction to be getting a revamp either. Splash Mountain is set to be "completely reimagined" as a Princess and the Frog ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World after fans petitioned to overhaul the ride because it was inspired by (and still includes) imagery from Song of the South, a movie featuring racially insensitive depictions. The Walt Disney Company has also drafted in a group of experts to advise and assess its content and ensure that it accurately represents global audiences. As such, Disney+ has removed access on kids' profiles to several titles that usually come with content advisory notices, meaning that titles like Peter Pan and Dumbo will no longer stream on Disney+ profiles that are specifically set up for children. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Nvidia has said that it expects to suffer graphics card shortages for much of 2021. During the company’s annual Investor Day, Nvidia’s Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress commented on Nvidia’s graphics card inventory: “Overall demand remains very strong and continues to exceed supply while our channel inventories remain quite lean. We expect demand to continue to exceed supply for much of this year," Kress said. The struggle of average users to pick up Nvidia GPUs throughout the semiconductor shortage has been well-documented, and only made more difficult by the cryptocurrency boom. Sadly, it doesn’t look like the issue will be fully remedied anytime soon. Kress previously said in January of this year that RTX GPU‘s will remain in short supply “throughout Q1” of 2021, but it seems like this outlook has been tempered. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-founders-edition-review"] Here’s our review of the RTX 3080 Founder’s Edition from its launch in September of 2020. We scored the card a 9, calling it a “powerful GPU that offers big gains.” If you’re trying to figure out which graphics card would suit your use case, check out our piece covering the best graphics cards of 2021, with options for every budget. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Riot is planning for a League of Legends cinematic universe, and has already begun recruiting for the staff required to lead this new live-action venture. Over on the Riot Games career pages, there are two new roles being advertised for: Global Head of Live Action TV and Global Head of Live Action Film. Those are pretty clear-cut job positions, but the descriptions provide a little more detail regarding Riot’s plans. “You will lead the film creative development team and all work related to the development of feature films for the League of Legends cinematic universe and new franchises,” the posting explains for the Head of Live Action Film. The description for the Head of Live Action TV is near identical, just focused on television. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/07/league-of-legends-yone-champion-spotlight-gameplay-trailer"] “You will help build the strategy for Riot's Live Action Content Creation business, an endeavor that is just beginning,” reads the post. Riot appears to be aiming high with the projects, and are searching for applicants well-connected to big players in the film/TV world. “You have deep relationships within the industry and are well-versed in top artists - writers, directors, producers, and actors.” The roles are both substantial in their responsibilities, and involve “very meaningful collaboration with your counterparts” in film/TV/animation departments, which points to a potential interconnectedness between Riot’s TV and movies, much like Marvel’s MCU. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-video-game-movie-in-development-almost&captions=true"] As you’d expect for a major venture into film and television, Riot are looking for people with over eight years of experience in the entertainment industry and with experience in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. This points to the next expansion of Riot beyond the company’s position as a games developer. The company has already put significant efforts into its position as a music label, creating a successful K-Pop group among other acts. And as League of Legends grows, it is expanding into new gaming genres, such as an upcoming RPG and MMO. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Justice League filmmaker Zack Snyder has confirmed that there's only one cut of Army of the Dead and that's the director's cut. To celebrate the release of the first full trailer for his upcoming zombie apocalypse heist action movie, Snyder participated in an Army of the Dead Q&A hosted by Netflix on Tuesday morning, where, per Insider, he was quizzed about his experience of working with the streamer and the possibility of further cuts of the movie arriving on the platform in reference to the Snyder Cut of Justice League. In response, Snyder packed on the praise for Netflix and assured fans that the Army of the Dead movie releasing on Netflix and in select theaters on May 21 is the director's cut and that there are no other cuts of the movie — unlike Justice League, which made its way onto HBO Max after a legion of fans coalesced into an online collective that, ultimately, a major motion picture studio could not ignore. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/13/army-of-the-dead-official-trailer"] "This was the most gratifying experience making this movie," he said, touching on his collaboration with Netflix. "This is the movie. There are no other cuts of the movie. I didn't have to fight them. It was the opposite. This is the director's cut, and you're going to see it first. You don't have to see the bastardized version first, there's just the awesome version." That "awesome" version appeared in Netflix's sizzle reel for 2021, with the promise that at least one new movie a week will be released throughout the year. Time is ticking for Army of the Dead, which is coming to the streamer next month, and the ragtag crew at the center of the corpse-filled chaos, who will be given 32 hours to retrieve $200 million from a vault situated beneath the zombie-infested strip. In addition to Dave Bautista, Army of the Dead's killer ensemble cast includes Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Garret Dillahunt, Raúl Castillo, Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Samantha Win, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, and Hiroyuki Sanada, as well as Raúl Castillo, Huma Quereshi, Samantha Win, Richard Cetrone, and Michael Cassidy. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=zack-snyders-army-of-the-dead-behind-the-scenes-photos&captions=true"] Although there won't be any other cuts of the movie, there will be a prequel film and an anime series at Netflix, with Shay Hatten onboard to write both scripts. Schweighöfer is attached to helm and star in the international prequel movie, which is said to follow his Army of the Dead safe-cracking character, while the anime series, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, will chronicle the origins of Bautista's Scott Ward. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.