Niantic has announced details for this year's Pokemon Go Fest--the annual live meet-up of Pokemon Go fans from around the world--with this year's festivities taking place in London, Osaka, and finally in New York City.

The first two legs of Pokemon Go Fest 2023's live events will happen simultaneously in London, England and Osaka, Japan August 4-6, while the final stop on the live tour will be Randall's Island Park in New York City August 18-20. A worldwide in-game event is scheduled for the following weekend, August 26-27.

Diancie will debut in Pokemon Go during Pokemon Go Fest 2023.

A new blog post on the official Pokemon Go Fest website has released full details on what players can expect during the New York event, which includes the following:

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The live-action Transformers franchise has had its own hits and misses since the first film in 2007, but with Rise of the Beasts, it seems to be following Bumblebee's path of success by giving Transformer fans what they've always wanted: classic Transformers.

The final trailer for the film, coming to theaters June 9, sprinkles in praise for the latest entry as well as more shots of the fights we've seen so far, including more Unicron. Although, our own review was less than kind.

There's also more action featuring Maximus Prime (Ron Perlman) fighting Scorpinok and more chaotic all-out machine-on-machine violence. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a worldwide adventure in the 1990s with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for Earth.

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We're now in the deep end of Not-E3 season, and between showcases from some of the biggest names in the industry, livestreams for wholesome games, and Devolver Digital planning something, Ubisoft Forward is making a return. This is the French company's biggest summer show, an annual blowout of trailers and new game debuts that inform fans of what they can expect in the months to come.

As usual, Ubisoft has a lot of games in development across PC, consoles, and mobile devices. Some of these titles are already confirmed to be arriving later in 2023, others are coming out next year, and everyone's waiting to see if Skull and Bones gets yet another delay. We've rounded up all the information below on when you can catch the Ubisoft Forward presentation and what you can expect from it.

When is Ubisoft Forward?

Ubisoft Forward will air on June 12 from these times:

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Season 4 of Halo Infinite, entitled Infestation, is landing on June 20. Among the new features is a new, entirely free progression system called Career Ranks.

The Career Ranks system takes obvious inspiration from prior games in the series, such as Halo: Reach and the Master Chief Collection. Each rank has its own symbol and military-style designation--such as cadet, gunnery sergeant, and general. Every individual rank contains three grades. Additionally, you can progress through multiple tiers of ranks, from Bronze to Onyx. For example, while a Bronze Corporal and an Onyx Corporal both have the same designation, the Onyx-ranked player is in a much higher tier.

A visualization of each rank and tier in Halo Infinite, from Bronze all the way to Onyx.

You rank up by playing Halo Infinite; every completed matchmade game adds progress to your rank. Additionally, you can earn ranks just by putting the time in, but if you perform better, you will rank up faster. There are no CSR barriers for any particular rank. It also will not incoporate your previous play history when the progression system launches.

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If you’re thinking about branching out from video games into the wonderful world of board games, now is a great time. More than a dozen board games based on hit video games are discounted at Amazon, giving you a chance to step away from the TV and hunker down at a table for a night of old-school gaming.

Resident Evil 3: The Board Game might be the most enticing option right now, as it’s discounted to just $53 (down from $100). A single game can take up to two hours to complete, as you and up to three other friends work together to try and find a way out of Raccoon City. It’s a pretty intense game--the age recommendation is 14 and up--but no doubt it’s a great option for fans of the series, especially at this new low price. You’ll also find Resident Evil 2: The Board Game available for $70.

For more family-friendly options, consider checking out the Kingdom Hearts: Perilous Pursuit Board Game for $30 (down from $60) or the Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game for $47 (down from $60). The Cuphead game is a charming and fast-paced ode to the video game, with a retro art style and gameplay that sees you battling against iconic enemies from the game. The Kingdom Hearts spin-off is a bit more complex, although you’ll still encounter plenty of familiar faces and a single game should take less than an hour.

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In just four days, Diablo 4 has become Blizzard's fastest-selling game of all time, Blizzard has, however, not revealed what the sales figure is thus far. Since its early access launch on June 1, the game has been played for 93 million hours, combined.

This comes by way of a press release shared on Businesswire, which notes that this major milestone is based on all platforms combined prior to June 5. Diablo 4 launched in early access on June 1 for players who purchased Deluxe and Ultimate Editions of the game. The standard version of Diablo 4 launched worldwide today, June 6.

Blizzard did not specify how many copies of Diablo 4 were sold since June 1, but for comparison, Diablo 3 sold over 3.5 million copies on PC within 24 hours. Diablo 3 did not launch on consoles initially.

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Levelling up all three starters in any Pokemon game takes time and effort, but Nintendo is offering a convenient shortcut for Pokemon Home users.

Receive a Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly with Hidden Abilities as Mystery Gifts in the mobile version of #PokemonHOME!
Transfer a Pokémon from #PokemonScarletViolet into Pokémon HOME for the 1st time & you’ll receive these Pokémon to transfer into your #NintendoSwitch game. pic.twitter.com/qMHd0Z6leH

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 5, 2023

As announced in the above tweet, if you transfer a Pokemon from Scarlet or Violet into the mobile version of Pokemon Home, you'll receive all three starters from that game: Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. What's more, those Pokemon will have hidden abilities such as Mystery Gifts, which is a nice perk.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet finally got Pokemon Home integration last month via a patch. Players can now put their beloved Pokemon from Scarlet and Violet into their collection. They can also put Scarlet and Violet Pokemon into previous games like Sword, Shield, and Legends: Arceus if those Pokemon are in the game's cast already. Some fans were upset that it took six months to add this feature, but it's better late than never.

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DreamHack, a gaming-focused convention series with stops all around the world, came to Dallas this past weekend and it was another big-time event that hosted a lot of activities and events.

DreamHack Dallas took place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center over the course of three days from June 2-4, featuring tournaments, cosplay, meet-and-greets, and much more.

According to one of the show's organizers, DreamHack Dallas brought in more than 44,000 people from dozens of states and countries. You can see more of their favorite moments from the show in the thread below.

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There's no shortage of events taking place during Not-E3 season, and next week, you can tune in for a Capcom Showcase. Capcom has had a terrific 2023 so far with its critically acclaimed remake of Resident Evil 4 and the launch of Street Fighter 6. The upcoming showcase, which has squeezed in between the PC Gaming Show and Ubisoft Forward, will be a short-but-packed livestream detailing what's next on the Capcom calendar. Here's everything that we know about it so far.

When is the Capcom Showcase?

You'll be able to tune in on Monday, June 12, to see what Capcom is cooking up. The show is expected to run for around 36 minutes and will contain "new information about Capcom's upcoming releases and future titles."

• 3 PM PT
• 6 PM ET
• 10 PM CET
• 11 PM BST
• 8 AM AET (June 13)

How to watch the Capcom Showcase

You'll be able to watch the showcase on Capcom's Twitch and YouTube channels.

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The annual Xbox Deals Unlocked event is now live, offering massive price cuts on select games until June 19. Tons of hit titles are included in the catalog, making now a great time to pick up a new RPG, FPS, strategy game, or anything in between. In fact, many of these prices are the lowest we’ve seen in months--and if you’re not looking forward to paying full price for new games like Diablo IV or Street Fighter 6, there’s bound to be something in the Deals Unlocked event that’s a nice alternative.

If you haven't picked up Dead Island 2 yet, you can grab the recently released game for $56. Do you like zombie games and want to play one with one of the coolest zombie-killing combat systems ever? Then Dead Island 2 is worth checking out.

Prefer something a bit more tactical? Xbox is currently discounting Marvel’s Midnight Suns: Enhanced Edition to $35 (down from $70) and Anno 1800 Console Edition to $30 (down from $40). The best deal, however, might be for NBA 2K23, which is on sale for just $7 (down from $70). So if the playoffs have you itching for some virtual hoops, consider checking it.

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Dead Cells is one of the successful indie games of all time, and it now seems that the studio behind it is turning its attention to new projects. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Evil Empire CEO Steve Filby said that the studio is working on two "massive video game franchises" from third-party IP owners. Unfortunately, he didn't reveal what those franchises were.

According to the interview, this is something that Filby has wanted to do since the early days of Dead Cells' development at its original developer, Motion Twin, where he served as the CEO. However, Motion Twin was more interested in working on its own intellectual property, even though several large players offered to let the developer work on external IP. Filby explains that now that Dead Cells' stewardship has switched to Evil Empire, that path is now open.

"Eventually people actually started asking me directly, saying 'Well, look, you guys are doing all this work on Dead Cells now, you have taken over things and what you're doing is fantastic, why don't you make the next game in X awesome series that you've been playing since you're a child?" Filby said in part. "And so from there, we ended up signing with two third-party IP holders to make the next installments in these really massive video game franchises."

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The next game from Link's Awakening remake developer Grezzo is hitting Apple Arcade on June 16. Jet Dragon lets players raise, train, and race dragons in the fantasy world of Venerusa. Players will build a racing team out of their own dragon stock, challenge a variety of courses, and combat rivals in the skies.

Developer Grezzo is probably best known for its work on the Legend of Zelda franchise, namely Orcarina of Time 3D, Majora's Mask 3D, Tri Force Heroes, and the Switch Link's Awakening remake. However, it was also a support studio on Final Fantasy XI and developed the Miitopia Switch port.

A example of racing gameplay in Jet Dragon.

Other games launching on Apple Arcade include: Bold Moves+ (a match-3 word game), Retro Bowl+ (a Tecmo-Bowl-style football game), Retro Goal+ (a retro-themed soccer sim), as well as Millionaire Trivia: TV Game+ (where players can test their knowledge is a classic trivia game format).

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Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble brings its heavy motion-control gameplay to Nintendo Switch as part of the latest retro game additions to Nintendo Switch Online. With the system (or even a Pro controller), players can roll the pink puffball around stages in the Game Boy Color classic.

But a new Kirby game isn't the only big name now available on Nintendo Switch Online. Harvest Moon for SNES has also arrived on the subscription service. Players oversee a farm in the game, growing crops and raising livestock. You can also interact with other townspeople. The series served as an inspiration for Stardew Valley.

Four classic games are now live for #NintendoSwitchOnline members!#NES – Nintendo Switch Online:
☑️ Mystery Tower#SuperNES – Nintendo Switch Online:
☑️ Harvest Moon#GameBoy – Nintendo Switch Online:
☑️ Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
☑️ Blaster Master: Enemy Below pic.twitter.com/3TLGUTnRRK

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 6, 2023

The other two new games are Mystery Tower on NES and Blaster Master: Enemy Below on Game Boy. Last month, Nintendo brought a trio of Super Mario Advance titles to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass, the premium tier of the subscription service. All four of these newly announced games are part of the basic tier, which costs $20 yearly.

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The top-downloaded PlayStation games for the month of May 2023 have been revealed. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which launched in late April, was the most-downloaded PS5 game across the US/Canada and EU during May, making it one of the most popular games of the year so far.

Grand Theft Auto V was the second-most-downloaded PS5 game in the US/Canada and EU in May. It's a notable entry considering it's an enhanced version of a nearly decade-old game. Elsewhere on the list, Dead Island 2 continues to succeed, this time, taking the third spot across the US/Canada (and the fourth spot in the EU).

Hogwarts Legacy topped the PS4 charts, as the last-gen versions of the game launched in May. The current-gen edition came out in February, and is already one of the best-selling games of the year.

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The creator of the anthology series Black Mirror tried using AI to write an episode of the freaky futuristic series, but it didn't go so well. Charlie Brooker told Empire, "The first thing I did was type 'generate Black Mirror episode' and it comes up with something that, at first glance, reads plausibly, but on second glance, is sh**."

The AI technology couldn't come up with a good idea for an episode because all it did was look up past episodes and "mush them together," Brooker said.

"Then if you dig a bit more deeply you go, 'Oh, there's not actually any real original thought here,'" Brooker said.

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Amnesia: The Bunker is now out, adding a new entry of sinister scares to the Amnesia series. To celebrate the release, GOG has announced that Amnesia: A Machine of Pigs is currently free on that platform for PC gamers. To claim it, all you'll need to do is log in to your GOG account--or sign up for free--navigate to the game page for this Amnesia title, and add it to your basket. This special is only for three days, and it ends on Thursday, June 8.

What is this? A machine for pigs? See on GOG

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs was originally released in 2013, and takes place in London at the turn of the 20th century. As Oswald Mandus, a rich industrialist/adventurer who awakens at the beginning of the game in his mansion with no memory of his recent past, it'll be up to you to dig through his troubled past as you explore his spooky mansion. A word of warning: This Amnesia game is not for the faint-hearted, and even though it's a decade old, it contains some incredibly effective frights, an unnerving setting, and a sound design that'll send chills down your spine.

Fast-forward to today, and Amnesia: The Bunker is also earning positive reviews. "Through countless imitators and even a few sequels, Frictional Games has had its formula repeated, but Amnesia: The Bunker is not the latest in that lineage," Mark Delaney wrote in GameSpot's Amnesia: The Bunker review. "It plays quite differently, though it still feels like a classic Amnesia game in vital ways, and it's this combination of old and new that helps make it the studio's scariest game since The Dark Descent."

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StackCommerce has a bundle deal on a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Pro 2021 and Windows 11 Pro for just $60 (valued at $419). That’s a huge 85% discount on some great, integral PC software. We don’t know how long this deal will be around, so be sure to grab it while you can.

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While both products are worth picking up, the lifetime license for Microsoft Office Professional 2021 is definitely the highlight. This package includes a suite of popular Microsoft Office apps:

• Microsoft Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• Publisher
• Access
• Microsoft Teams
• OneNote

Unlike the cloud-based Microsoft Office 365, all Microsoft Office Pro apps are installed directly on your PC, and some can run offline (you will need internet access to install and activate the product keys).

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The desert area of Dry Steppes in Diablo 4 is where the majority of Act 2 takes place during the campaign. This area is filled with vast deserts and cave systems, with 33 Altars of Lilith hidden throughout the area. These altars provide boosts to your characters, if you can find them. Luckily, we have you covered, with two maps below that show the location of all Dry Steppes Altars of Lilith.

All Dry Steppes Altar of Lilith LocationsNorth Dry SteppesThere are 20 Altars of Lilith in the northern section of Dry Steppes.South Dry SteppesThere are 13 Altars of Lilith in the southern section of Dry Steppes.

Like the Altars of Lilith in other regions of the map, these are typically tucked into the small corners of the map. If you reach an area where one is and can't find it, check for small off-shoots on the map. The altars can also be hidden behind breakable objects or inside buildings as well. Some Altars are also located inside Strongholds, which serve as tough over world dungeons. For those altars, just keep in mind you do not need to complete a Stronghold once you start it, so you can grab the altar and leave.

What do the Altars of Lilith do?

Collecting an Altar of Lilith in Diablo 4 provides two types of benefits. The first is the more immediate bonus, which provides a permanent benefit to all of your characters in that same world. This bonus can include increased maximum health, increased maximum Murmuring Obols capacity, and flat stat boosts, like +2 Dexterity.

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The Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeons are a type of endgame activity. By obtaining special consumable items, you can turn your previously visited stomping grounds into more challenging delves, with better rewards than before. Here's our guide to help you with Nightmare Sigils and Nightmare Dungeons in Diablo 4.

How to Get Nightmare Sigils and Complete Nightmare Dungeons in Diablo 4Nightmare Sigils and Nightmare Dungeons Requirements

The Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeons and Nightmare Sigils become available as mechanics once you've cleared the Cathedral of Light Capstone Dungeon. You should also switch to World Tier 3: Nightmare.

While playing on World Tier 3, there's a chance that your loot drops include Nightmare Sigils. This can occur while you're doing Whispers of the Dead bounties, Helltide Events, good ol' freeroam exploration, and even while you're inside actual Nightmare Dungeons. All it takes is a bit of luck with the RNG drops.

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The lowly Move deck. One of the core deck archetypes in Marvel Snap has long been starved for new tools, forcing it to languish near the bottom and mid-tier ranks. That could all be changing with the next season, a loose tie-in with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse called (what else) Spider-Versus. As a match for the wallcrawler's legendary agility, this next season looks squarely focused on movement-based abilities, and that could shake up the meta in ways we haven't seen since the game launched.

Move decks are some of the earliest archetypes you gain in Marvel Snap, earning most of the major tools while still at a relatively low rank. They make for a good learning tool--Snap is a zone-control game at its heart, so movement-based abilities help illustrate the core mechanics and give beginning players their first taste of a tricky strategy that can make good use of bluffs. Experienced Move deck players know not just when to play Heimdall as their big finisher, but also when not to, letting their opponent overcommit to a location that isn't really being contested.

All that said, movement-based decks haven't remained viable for high-level play. Perhaps because movement is such an obviously strong ability for a zone-control game, developer Second Dinner has been incredibly scarce with adding new movement-based cards. The very first season pass when it came out of beta was Symbiote Invasion, which introduced Miles Morales. Miles is a decent enough Move staple, with a huge cost reduction if another card has moved. More recently Snap introduced Jeff, an adorable little shark who can move anywhere regardless of effects that restrict movement. He's seen plenty of play, but not in movement-based decks. Instead, Jeff mostly exists as a tech card to counter other popular strategies revolving around Spider-Man and Professor X, who otherwise lock down locations.

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