Games

I really enjoyed *Pokemon Legends: Arceus* for many reasons, but *Pokemon Legends: Z-A* feels like its opposite. *Arceus* focused on exploration and a less-developed Sinnoh region, minimizing trainer battles and towns. *Z-A*, however, centers the entire experience in the bustling city of Lumiose in the Kalos region. While there are open areas within Lumiose, the main attraction is trainer battles, especially the nightly Z-A Royale tournament where players compete to climb the ranks and potentially have a wish fulfilled.

The new details can be found below, via Square Enix.

Many people prefer to enjoy their time alone in public – simply eating, drinking, and relaxing, often with headphones to create a peaceful bubble. But you also encounter those who are overly curious or intrusive.

According to The Mainichi, researchers at Sophia University in Tokyo have developed a system that predicts where bears are likely to appear. The system uses historical sightings and current environmental factors to estimate the risk within one-kilometer areas.

If you play *Warzone*, you’ve probably heard of Zlaner. He’s Zack Lane, and he’s a seriously talented player for OpTic Gaming. Honestly, he’s known as one of the best. It’s not just that he’s fun to watch on stream, but the guy is *precise* – his aim and strategy are just on another level. When I see Zlaner in a match, I know I’m watching someone who really knows what they’re doing.

The movie *Monster: The Ed Gein Story* features Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein, the real-life killer whose horrific crimes heavily influenced famous horror characters like Norman Bates from *Psycho*, Leatherface from *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre*, and Buffalo Bill from *The Silence of the Lambs*.

With more games now letting players use either keyboards and mice or controllers, the potential for cheating has also grown. Some cheating methods are clear – like becoming invincible or seeing through walls – while others are more subtle.

On October 13th, streamer Stodeh shared a video on X demonstrating a glitch. In the video, he repeatedly missed his target with a sniper rifle – hitting it only on his third shot despite aiming directly at it.

I was a little worried about Xbox’s future with all the talk about potential price increases, but it sounds like Target and Walmart are still totally on board with carrying Xbox consoles, games, and accessories! A Microsoft rep told Windows Central that they’re still strong partners. Apparently, the rumors started because Costco took all the Xbox stuff off their website before the price changes, which made people think something bigger was up. It’s good to know things are still looking solid with those other major retailers, though!

The Digital Foundry team analyzed the recent presentation and considered its implications for the PlayStation 6. They observed that the partnership between these companies will lead to hardware combining machine learning with ray tracing, and this work will likely influence future consoles. This shift moves traditional rasterization techniques to a less prominent role, echoing a question Digital Foundry previously asked Mark Cerny.