Games

Pokémon GO gains 80+ new creatures and a bunch of new features in latest update

Pokémon GO developer Niantic Labs announced two days ago that an upcoming update would bring over eighty new Pokémon and other new features to the popular augmented reality game. Yesterday, the developer said that the new Pokémon GO 1.27.2 update containing those perks began rolling out.

It's a staggered release so you might need to wait a little bit longer if it's not live on your local App Store yet. Here's everything new in Pokémon GO 1.27.2 for iOS.

Trading and real-time player battles coming soon to Pokémon GO

Two key features missing from the initial Pokémon GO release—trading and real-time player battles—are coming soon to Pokémon GO by way of a future update, developer Niantic Labs told WayPoint in a recent interview. Niantic CEO John Hanke said that the team is working on bringing additional features and more depth to the augmented reality game, including the long-awaited Pokémon trading and player vs. player battles in real time.

Encode, ChitChat, Stabl and other apps to check out this weekend

Ready to settle in for the weekend? iDB is here to help with a new edition of our Apps of the Week roundup. This week's selections include a new app that helps you learn how to code, a new group messaging app, and an app that helps you discover new podcasts. And as usual, we've picked two great new games for you to check out.

Valentine’s Day event for trainers in Pokémon GO is kicking off today through next week

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, developer Niantic Labs today announced that a special Valentine's Day-themed event is available in Pokémon GO beginning today, February 8 at 11am PT / 2pm ET and running through February 15.

During this special  in-game promotion, players will be treated to double the amount of candy every time they catch, hatch and transfer Pokémon. Plus, their Buddy Pokémon will find candy twice as fast.

Codex, Findr, Hutch and other apps to check out this weekend

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup includes some great selections such as a beautiful scanning app, an app for finding out what kind of personal info about you is on the web, and an app that helps you redecorate. And as always, we have some great new games for you to check out.

Nintedo’s Fire Emblem Heroes is releasing on iOS and Android today across 30 countries

Nintendo is unleashing its new smartphone game upon App Store, Fire Emblem Heroes for iPhone. The free-to-download strategy role playing game comes with non-compulsory In-App Purchases as its main revenue model, allowing impatient players to buy Orbs for real cash rather than earn them through Story Maps.

“It is possible to play the game for free, but some features require the use of Orbs,” notes Nintendo.

Various booster items along with other upgrades can be bought via the In-App Purchase mechanism as well. It's a staggered rollout so the game should first launch on the US and Canada App Store before expanding to other markets.

Alto’s Adventure creators announce a game that captures the true essence of skateboarding

Just like Alto's Adventure has distilled the essence of snowboarding into a wonderfully executed iPhone, iPad and Apple TV title, their next project promises to do the same for skateboarding. Developer Snowman has teamed up with the Oslo, Norway based studio Agens to help bring their game Skate City to life.

“Together we’ve been building a game that tries to capture the true essence of skateboarding, in a way that really feels at home on mobile,” Snowman founder Ryan Cash told me recently via email.

Super Mario Run: new Easy mode, 78 million downloads, $53 million revenue

Nintendo said Tuesday that Super Mario Run for iPhone has managed to rack up 78 million downloads and generate about $53 million in revenue since its December debut on App Store, a performance analysts said was better than expected, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The game's most recent update brought out a new Easy gameplay mode which lets players explore the level at their own pace, without the timer.

The update also adds support for the Korean language and compatibility with new events while bringing changes to the game's Toad Rally mode, which now makes Toads easier to collect by reducing penalties for poor performance.

Oceanhorn 2 confirmed to use Unreal 4 engine, first screenshots look stunning

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas by Cornfox & Bros. is among the best-looking, Zelda-like action adventure games I've ever played on mobile. As we recently reported, the team is now hard at work on a sequel, titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, which will use the praised Unreal 4 graphics engine to make porting to other platforms a lot easier.

The proprietary graphics engine from the original didn't give the team enough flexibility nor has it allowed them to more quickly add new features so they've switched to arguably the most powerful game engine in the industry, developers explained.

Strategy board game Pokémon Duel launches for iPhone and iPad

Pokémon Due, a mobile strategy board game from The Pokemon Company, today launched on App Store as a free download with non-compulsory In-App Purchases.

In this iPhone and iPad title, you're tasked with collecting as many Pokémon figures as you can to make the ultimate deck. You can then compete, in real time, in online duels with players from around the world for a chance to enter the top rankings in League Matches.