TechNews

New monsters, new quests and new cosmetics.

The eagerly anticipated first major update for Monster Hunter Rise has been detailed, sneaking in before the end of the month as it arrives on April 28th – just one day after the update was detailed in Capcom’s digital event. It brings a suite of new challenges and monsters – plus one unwelcome tweak as in-depth character editing is now locked behind a paywall.

As previously disclosed by Capcom new beasts are coming as part of the update, with Chameleos – a jittery elder dragon first introduced in Monster Hunter 2 and one that’s only made fleeting appearances since – joined by meaner, harder Apex versions of iconic bastards Diablos and Rathalos. There’s also a surprise brace of new elder dragons in the form of Teostra and Kushala Deora.

Apex monsters will now also make appearances during regular quests, and there’ll be more regular quests too, with new solo adventures as well as the introduction of timed event quests. A new suite of arena quests will also come as part of the update, plus harder rampage events and some new story missions. Layered armour is also introduced, alongside some new paid cosmetic DLC items.

This free title update for Monster Hunter Rise won’t, however, complete the base game’s unfinished story, with an 3.0 update due the end of May to introduce an all-new ending as well as a selection of new monsters. Given how the HR cap has just been lifted and there’s a whole world of new features coming tomorrow, hopefully there’s more than enough to keep us all busy until then.

Most worryingly, though, this new update seems to lock a feature behind paid DLC, with the ability to edit your character’s appearance – something you can currently do at will, albeit in limited capacity – needing a paid-for item. Capcom is giving players the first one for free, though I’m not sure that’s particularly generous given the wider picture, though it is in keeping with Monster Hunter World, which also featured paid Character Edit Vouchers.

Monster Hunter Rise came out for Nintendo Switch last month, and is already looking like one of 2021’s best games. If you’re looking how to get ready for this week’s update, here’s a quick guide for painless progress through High Rank.

After nearly two and a half, Super Mario Party is getting new online play options in a free update.

When the game first launched in October 2018, it did have online—albeit in a rather limited form. With today’s update, Nintendo is beefing up Super Mario Party’s online multiplayer modes.

This is only the game’s second update, with a previous one in March covering “fixes to the data scheduled for an upcoming release.”

Below are the latest update’s patch notes:

Ver. 1.1.0 (Released April 27, 2021)

Feature Added

You can now play the following modes over the internet:

・Mario Party

・Partner Party

・Free Play (Minigames)

Important: To play over the internet, a subscription to the paid Nintendo Switch Online service is required.

Playing over the internet

To play over the internet, select either Mario Party, Partner Party, or Minigames, then select Online Play.

There are two ways to play over the internet: Friend Match, where you can play with Friends, and Private Game, where you can play with anyone using passwords.

The combinations through which you can play over the internet are as follows:

・Up to 1 player per system (you can play with between 2 and 4 players)

・Up to 2 players per system (you can play with between 3 and 4 players)

If two players are each playing on their own systems, they cannot play with two players using a third system.

Playing over the internet supports the Invite Friend feature. If you select Invite Friend on the screen at which you’re waiting for rivals, your selected Friends can join from the Online Play Invites on their user-page icon in the top left of the HOME Menu.

・Online Mariothon does not support the Invite Friend feature.

When playing over the internet, all 20 characters and all maps are available, regardless of your current in-game progress.

When playing over the internet, 70 of the total 80 minigames are available to play.

The following 10 minigames are not available when playing over the internet.

・Strike It Rich

・Time to Shine

・Take a Stab

・All-Star Swingers

・Rhythm and Bruise

・Pep Rally

・Wiped Out

・Fiddler on the Hoof

・Clearing the Table

・Baton and On

Play data won’t be saved when playing over the internet.

Better than never, I guess!

We now live in a world where boxes of Pokémon cards are selling for over $400,000 and individual Blastoise cards for $360,000, so maybe it’s not the biggest surprise that this very rare and very cool card featuring Pokémon Company stalwart Tsunekazu Ishihara has also sold for an astronomical price.

The card, sold by Goldin Auctions, isn’t your average Pokemon card; instead of featuring a Pocket Monster ready for battle, it features artwork of Ishihara, along with some abilities that are as OP as they are fitting, considering this was given only to Pokémon Company employees for the president’s 60th birthday in 2017.

The card’s official name is “2017 P.M. SM Black Star #TPCi01 Tsunekazu Ishihara Signed Pokemon GX Promo Card”, and it’s auction description read:

Graded NM 7 by PSA, with signature graded “9” by PSA/DNA. This fantastic Pokemon card portrays Tsunekazu Ishihara, the president of The Pokemon Company, accompanied by the Pokemon Rotom and a Master Ball. Ishihara has been the driving force behind many seminal Pokemon innovations, including the original Red and Green games, as well as the Pokemon Trading Card Game and the hit augmented reality vehicle, Pokemon Go. Ishihara has signed this incredibly rare card in bold black ink. The Tsunekazu Ishihara card was originally distributed to The Pokemon Company employees to celebrate the visionary’s 60th birthday in 2017. Near Mint condition.

The card received 31 bids, with the exact winning price being $247,230.00.

Via Dicebreaker.

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Ahead of its first major expansion, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will receive a title update tomorrow introducing a raft of changes to the game, including the ability to (finally!) turn kill animations off.

Valhalla’s title update 1.2.1—which clocks in at 5.5 GB on PlayStation 5 and 16 GB on Xbox Series X—will add a toggle that turns kill animations off. To be crystal clear, the kill animations in Valhalla are cool as hel(heim). It’s just that, after 92 hours and 46 minutes, watching the same three-second cinematic over and over (and over and over) gets a little repetitive. The option to turn it off is a boon. To shamelessly steal a joke from erstwhile Kotaku EIC Stephen Totilo, with the cinematics off, that 92.75 hours might’ve been closer to 91.75.

Tomorrow’s update will also add three new skills to the game, all of which seem designed to prevent flinching in various circumstances. Cold Rage makes it so enemies can’t interrupt you while you’re performing successive melee attacks. Same goes for Eye of the North, which prevents flinching when you’re aiming your bow. Finally, Intense Rage allows you to ignore interruptions while parrying or special-attacking with your off-hand weapon.

As ever, the title update will fix more than two dozen minor bugs related to quests, world events, and side activities.

Valhalla’s first major expansion, the Ireland-set Wrath of the Druids, will come out May 13 for all platforms. It was initially planned for an April 29 release, but was delayed earlier this month, a move Ubisoft chalked up to a shift in how the company approaches Assassin’s Creed updates. Rather than introducing an update every four weeks, Ubisoft pivoted to a five-week schedule “to allow for more thorough testing and refinement,” which pushed back the timeline for both this title update and the Wrath of the Druids add-on.

When it comes to sporty hatchbacks here in the US, it has often been a case of “the grass is greener.” For the longest time, Honda wouldn’t bring the Civic Type-R to these shores. And the affordable “it car” du jour is the Toyota GR Yaris, a three-cylinder fun machine that wins over everyone who drives it. Everyone in Europe and Japan that is, because Americans will need to wait a quarter-century to find out how the Yaris handles the Cherahola Skyway, Mount Palomar, or Angeles Crest Highway—assuming you can still buy gasoline to run it.

Well, not this time. Say hello to the $32,250 Hyundai Veloster N, a bonkers little thing with asymmetric doors and handling tuned on the mighty Nürburgring Nordschleife. Shockingly, not only is it on sale here in the US, but it’s not available to our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 2020, I finally tried out one of Hyundai’s Velosters, in this case, the Turbo model. My conclusion at the time was that the fully loaded Veloster Turbo was let down by its dual-clutch transmission and that I suspected the similarly priced Veloster N would be better. As it turns out, I was correct.

In fact, it’s not just better; it’s one of those cars where you know within a few minutes of setting off for the first time that it’s something out of the ordinary.

For one thing, it gets a different engine from the rest of the Veloster range. Here, it’s a 2.0 L turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 275 hp (205 kW) and 260 lb-ft (353 Nm) that powers the front wheels. This comes with a six-speed manual transmission as standard, which apparently has an unadvertised no-lift upshift feature, but our test car was equipped with what amounts to the only option, an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) that, unlike most DCTs, uses wet clutches that help cool the gearbox and reduce parasitic drag. For once, the manual is the more efficient choice, achieving 25 mpg combined (9.4 L/100 km); the DCT is a thirstier 22 mpg (10.7 L/100 km).

Regardless of transmission, all Veloster Ns come equipped with an actual mechanical limited-slip differential, or LSD, (as opposed to an electronic LSD that brakes a spinning wheel) called the “N Corner Carving Differential.” And for model year 2021, Hyundai decided to make the Veloster N’s performance package standard equipment.

I <3 mechanical LSDs

My first experience with a front-wheel drive car with a mechanical LSD came when I put a new gearbox in the 1992 Golf GTI that I used to race with some friends, and the difference is illuminating. You can get on the power earlier, and throughout the turn, the diff apportions torque across the axle, stabilizing the car and quelling the understeer that you might normally get from a FWD hatch as you increase the power. The extremely addictive Honda Civic Type-R is another affordable FWD performance car with a mechanical LSD, and it’s partly why that car loves to corner as much as it does.

There is a pair of powder-blue buttons on the steering wheel. The one on the left, labeled Drive Mode, switches you between Eco, Normal, Sport, and Custom. Sport is pretty good, and I spent the first day or so using it and greatly enjoying myself on some empty back roads, until I tried pressing the right-hand button, simply marked with a checkered flag. Good thing I did, as this turns on N mode, which is like Sport but oh so much more. This mode sharpens throttle response even more, stiffens the electronically controlled dampers—to the detriment of ride quality, but you won’t care—engages a more severe profile for the LSD, loosens the stability control safety net, and makes the steering more direct.

I would also like to praise the communication through the steering, which provides plenty of feedback about the amount of grip available to the front wheels. I was sure that the Veloster N used hydraulic power steering, but no; it is an electrical power-steering system, although one that’s different from all the other Velosters in that the motor is mounted to the steering rack, not the steering column.

Sport and N modes also make the Veloster N sound a lot fruitier. Some may turn their noses up because the sound in part comes from the car’s speakers, but so what? It sounds good, and that’s what matters to the driver. (And really, is using a speaker to cancel some unwanted harmonics or accentuate some others really any different from OEMs that fit sports exhausts that add nothing in terms of performance?)

Do your seats light up?

All of this is accompanied by some interior and exterior bits that mark the Veloster N out from lesser versions. At the rear, there’s a biplane wing (or is it a spoiler?), and along the sides, there are more extreme side skirts. On the inside, you get a pair of sports seats that grip you well, and when you unlock the car, the N logos on the backrest light up. Despite this bit of whimsy, the seats weigh around 4 lbs (2 kg) less than standard seats. And the seat belts are the same N powder blue as the steering wheel buttons.

While I’m very impressed with the Veloster N, it’s not quite as good as a Civic Type-R. The Honda’s seats hug you better, the vehicle corners even harder, and it’s about 11 percent more powerful than the Hyundai. But it’s also $5,000 more expensive than the manual Veloster R, and that gigantic rear wing might be off-putting to some. And I’ve been hearing very good things about the Mk. 8 Volkswagen Golf R, but since the outgoing Mk. 7 already cost more than $40,000, the new one is unlikely to be as affordable as the Veloster N.

The Hyundai is not a car for everyone, but for US hot hatch enthusiasts, there’s finally a great option that we get but Europe doesn’t.

Listing image by Hyundai

We’re several months into the next generation of console gaming with the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. And if you didn’t upgrade the TV that you’re playing on before buying a new console — first off, congrats on finding one — now is as good a time as any. The latest 2021 TV models from LG, Samsung, Sony, and other companies are now shipping, and many of them are optimized for HDMI 2.1 and gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and buttery-smooth 120Hz action.

HDMI 2.1 was still experiencing early growing pains last year, with some TVs offering a mixed bag of features that omitted things like VRR or ALLM. But it seems like TV makers have done much better with their 2021 lineups.

Our top picks for the best gaming TV for PS5 and best gaming TV for Xbox satisfy two main criteria: they stand out from the pack for their gaming chops and next-gen feature support, but they also put out a phenomenal picture for video entertainment like Netflix, Disney Plus, or whatever else you’re watching.

1. LG G1 OLED

The absolute best gaming TV for the PS5 and Xbox Series X

Thanks to its more efficient inner workings and panel advancements, the G1 can get brighter than any of LG’s past OLEDs. This results in brighter HDR highlights for movies, TV shows, and gaming. But it still retains the perfect blacks and phenomenal viewing angles that OLED is known for.

In 2021, LG has also put a bigger focus on gamers in the TV’s settings menu. There’s a new “Game Optimizer” dashboard that provides quick access to settings like VRR — and you can pick between different game genres for the TV to automatically apply the ideal picture optimizations. Vincent Teoh at HDTVtest did a great review of the G1.

The G1 is meant to be mounted on a wall; it doesn’t come with traditional stands by default. But it sits practically flush with the included specially designed wall mount that efficiently routes attached cables, so the mounting process is definitely worth it.

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2. LG CX OLED

Best deal on a gaming TV

Last year’s CX-series OLEDs from LG were the best bet for people who wanted a TV that could get the most from their new PS5 or Xbox on day one. The CX line has since been succeeded by 2021’s C1 models, but I think “settling” for the 2020 LG OLED is a much smarter move for the money. You get all the key gaming features: 120Hz, VRR (including G-Sync and FreeSync), and ALLM. And every HDMI port on the CX is HDMI 2.1, which still can’t be said for some of 2021’s best TVs. That means you can plug in both an Xbox Series X or S and PS5 without losing any next-gen enhancements on either machine.

You’ll save a lot of money choosing the CX over something like the G1 or C1. And unless you’re a stickler for brightness, I think you’ll be very pleased with the fantastic OLED picture quality of last year’s mainstream LG set.

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3. Samsung Neo QLED QN90A
The best LCD TV for next-gen PlayStation and Xbox gaming

Samsung’s new QN90A series is the company’s first TVs to use Mini LED technology, which swaps out the standard full-array backlighting system for a ton more smaller LEDs crammed into the same space. This results in dramatically better contrast, even higher brightness — and LCD TVs were already beating OLED here — and less “blooming” around white objects on a dark background.

Like LG, Samsung is also paying special attention to gamers this year with a “Game Bar” that lets you quickly adjust the screen’s aspect ratio (for a wider, more encompassing view in supported games), monitor the TV’s incredibly low input lag, and check to make sure other settings like HDR and VRR are enabled to help get the most from your new console. Samsung supports all the crucial next-gen features, but unfortunately, despite the QN90A’s premium price, the HDMI situation isn’t as good as I’d like: only one of this TV’s four HDMI ports is HDMI 2.1. That said, reviews paint the QN90A as one of (if not the) best LCD TVs on the market today. So if you’ll be gaming in a bright room and have the cash, it’s still a top recommendation.

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4. Vizio OLED

A cheaper OLED gaming TV

Vizio’s first OLED TV has needed some firmware updates to resolve bugs and get to where it should be in terms of performance, but the company has done a good job of keeping at it in the months since the TV shipped last year. It’s now a fully capable next-gen gaming set with several HDMI 2.1 ports and all the key features (120Hz, VRR) checked off.

Its input lag is a bit higher than LG’s, but not enough to become a problem unless you’re the ultra-competitive gamer type — especially when you consider how much less expensive Vizio’s OLED is compared to those from Sony or LG.

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5. TCL 6-Series

The best budget gaming TV for the Xbox Series X

TCL’s 6-Series is the most affordable TV among our recommendations, but that comes with a trade-off: though this is a 4K TV, it doesn’t support 4K gaming at 120Hz. Instead, that fluidity tops out at a resolution of 1440p. (The Xbox consoles can take advantage of this resolution, but the PS5 currently cannot and falls back to 1080p for 120Hz gaming.)

If you can live without 4K at 120Hz — and remember that many games reduce resolution to even hit 120 frames per second — you’re getting a terrific 4K HDR LCD TV with impressive local dimming, Roku’s intuitive software built in, and a price significantly lower than any of our other top picks for next-gen gaming TVs.

KLab and Shanghai-based Dobala Games are jointly developing a Touhou Project spin-off shoot ’em up under official licensing from Team Shanghai Alice, the companies announced. It will be released worldwide.

The official Simplified Chinese title of the game is 弾幕幻想 (Danmu Huanxiang), which can be read as Danmaku Genso in Japanese, but an English title has yet to be decided.

Pre-registration began today in Mainland China, where the game will be published by 37 Interactive Entertainment for iOS and Gave Game for Android. The official Weibo account is available here.

Here is an overview of the game, via KLab:

About the Game

弾幕幻想 (official English title undecided) is a side-scrolling action shooter. Players can fire barrages to defeat enemies, build their characters, and play with various other elements. This game is a spin-off based on the Touhou Project created by Team Shanghai Alice through an official creator license.

The game story begins when the peace in Gensokyo is once again disturbed. A strange magical presence is invading Gensokyo and causing the yokai to go berserk and destroy everything. The girls must set out on a journey to discover the heart of this disturbance and save Gensokyo from disaster.

About Touhou Project

The Touhou Project is the name of the series created by the doujin circle Team Shanghai Alice and set in the fictional world of Gensokyo. The core of the series is the bullet hell shooting game genre and is produced by ZUN who runs Team Shanghai Alice. Almost everything from the story, characters, programs, and sounds were created solely by ZUN. In addition to the shooting games, ZUN has also written novels and original manga has been produced based on the series.

The setting of the series, Gensokyo, is a world isolated from this one, where different races such as fairies, youkai, demons, ghosts, and gods as well as humans and animals all reside. The unique character stories, beautiful barrage brought to life in the games, and the catchy songs continue to be popular and attract numerous fans not only from Japan but all over the world.

Originally published on Tesla Oracle & EV Annex.

While an affordable $25,000 Tesla remains a dream for some, this might not be the case for some in-the-know California residents. Geography is key here. Being located properly in California (and qualifying), you can actually purchase a Model 3 for around $25,000. Hey, why wait for a $25,000 compact Tesla in a few years when you can get a larger, more luxurious Model 3 for that price right now?

Photo by Zach Shahan, CleanTechnica

Even though the federal tax credit has already been phased out for Tesla, California still offers a good number of perks to significantly lower the price of a Tesla (or any other electric vehicle, for that matter). These include tax credit programs and cash rebates.

There are other states (and countries) that offer some compelling incentives for transitioning to a zero emissions vehicle, but California seems to have taken the lead in the United States.

When you order a Tesla Model 3, Y, S, or X from the state of California, your purchase automatically includes a $1,500 California Clean Fuel Reward deduction (see example below) — no need to apply for this grant separately.

After the recent price increase (note: the price tag is always changing at Tesla, so be sure to double-check at time of purchase), the price of a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus is now $38,490 — at the time this article was originally written. After the $1,500 California Clean Fuel Reward deduction, the price is then reduced down to $36,999.

California residents can also apply for a $5,000 grant offered by the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program (CVAP). This program has eligibility criteria based on individual or family income. Reportedly, approval for this grant usually takes around 2–3 months. Once you get approval, you can bring the paperwork to a Tesla store for processing.

The California Clean Vehicle Assistance Program also offers a $2,000 grant for the installation of charging infrastructure at your home. So this bumps up the total grant to $7,000 for eligible applicants.

Bay Area residents also have another option called the Clean Cars For All program. If this grant is stacked on top of the $7,000 grant noted above, the maximum of a $9,500 rebate can be available to a prospective (and qualified) Tesla buyer in California.

By the way, there’s more! It turns out that there’s another grant named the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP), and luckily, Tesla Model Y and Model 3 both are on the eligible vehicle list. This adds another $2,000 rebate if you apply online. Once approved, you’ll get a check for $2,000 sent to your mailbox — simple and straightforward.

The CVRP grant also offers an additional $2,500 rebate for low and moderate-income households in the San Joaquin Valley and San Diego County. To be specific, the California CVRP website notes, “The option to get pre-approved through Rebate Now is currently available for increased rebates to low and moderate-income residents in San Diego County and the counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley who have not yet purchased or leased their vehicle.”

The following table shows a complete breakdown of these grants to help clarify.

Above: The list and total value of currently available California clean vehicle rebate programs. (Research by Iqtidar Ali / TeslaOracle.com)

Okay. So what if you live in California and are able to qualify for these grants? What if you’re looking at purchasing a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus and, like many, you’ve got a limited budget? Let’s be honest, the most you could spend is around $25,000. Could this really work? Well, let’s take a look below.

Above: Tesla Model 3 prices after California rebates depending on various specific counties within the state. (Source: TeslaOracle.com)

Yes, it’s possible! As noted above, with the (current) lowest cost totaling $25,450, assuming all rebates and perks are possible in your specific situation and geography, a Tesla Model 3 SR+ price becomes quite competitive with a low-priced 2021 Honda Accord. Wow. And as EV price parity occurs with gas-guzzling internal combustion engine cars, Teslas (and other electric cars) will become ever-more desirable to the masses — and that’s a good thing for the transition to EVs.

Video: Ryan Shaw

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