[Update: Fortnite’s shopping carts have now gone live and they are definitely vehicles. The cart can be pushed and rode and, if you’ve got a friend with you, they can get inside and fire while you drive. Players have started posting footage of the shopping carts in action on social media.]
Original story continues below…
Given that it’s a game featuring jetpacks, Mary Poppins umbrellas, and building tools that make The Sims look slow, it’s not entirely surprising that Fortnite has decided to do something a little different with its very first vehicles.
In a new teaser for the game’s upcoming items, developer Epic Games let players in on the fact that it’s going to be adding shopping carts. Shopping carts that will let you “roll into battle alone or with a buddy”.
Based on what’s said in the tease, it seems likely that these shopping carts will mark the introduction of actual ride-in vehicles to the game. It’s not the usual tank or 4×4 armored truck we’ve come to expect from games, but anyone who’s seen kids hanging around parks with shopping trolleys they’ve stolen from the nearest supermarket will know they can make a very good vehicle of war.
Wheely weird
No supermarket brand is being endorsed with this addition
At the moment it’s not entirely clear how the shopping trolleys will work in the game – for example how they’ll be found, or whether they’ll expire like the recently added jetpacks.
While Fortnite’s competitor, PUBG, arguably needs vehicles for traversal, Fortnite’s map is somewhat smaller, so to some this may seem like an unnecessary addition. However, we don’t think not needing something is likely to stop Epic Games from adding it.
Vehicles, especially in the form of shopping carts, could add another fun and interesting element to the game. Build a ramp and use it to knock a group of enemies over like pins; get a speed advantage when running into, or away from, a fight. It could even be that Epic is preparing for some kind of racing element – there is, after all, a racing track on the east side of the game’s map.
We don’t know when exactly shopping carts will arrive in the game, but given they’re being teased in the in-game ‘new updates’ section, it could be as soon as this week.
Nest would like its suite of smart home products to be the center of your connected life, but if you’re in the UK, you’re going to have to wait a fair bit longer for it to become the center of your security system too.
Speaking to The Ambient, Lionel Guicherd-Callin, Nest product marketing executive, said that the UK and Europe would not be getting the company’s Nest Secure smart home security system until 2019. And that’s the earliest possible date, too.
Guicherd-Callin stated that the company wants to provide a “full security story” for Nest Secure, which it can’t currently do in the UK thanks to connectivity issues and the lack of a partnership with a security firm on this side of the pond. In the US, a $19.99 a month fee will see the security system contact round-the-clock security specialists Moni should an alarm be raised, while there’s also a cellular back-up plan for $5 a month should your Wi-Fi fail at a critical point. Nest has not been able to secure similar options for a UK roll out yet.
Cold shoulder
It’s a similar story for the Nest Temperature Sensor, which is unlikely to see a UK release at all in its current state due to core differences between how heating systems work on either side of the Atlantic.
The Sensor allows for constant monitoring of individual room temperatures throughout the house, tweaking settings so that each corner of a home is at your ideal heat. But with the likes of Hive and Tado offering these features in the UK, the Nest is starting to fall behind its rivals outside of the states.
Looking for the right smart heating system for your location? Check out our best smart thermostats round up.
Ever since Pokemon was confirmed to be coming to Nintendo Switch during Nintendo’s presentation at E3 2017 there have been plenty of rumors around what form the game will take. What most fans didn’t expect, however, was for Nintendo and Game Freak to create several Pokemon games for release on Nintendo Switch between 2018 and 2019. You wait a year for one and then…
Rumors around the titles known as Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee were circulating for a few weeks before they were confirmed during a Pokemon press conference in Japan.
Now we know that these titles will launch on November 16 2018 and will integrate features of Pokemon Go into a fully-fledged Pokemon game that’s directly inspired by the much-loved Pokemon Yellow. Though they have the look of a mainline Pokemon game, these titles are not, however, the previously confirmed core RPG release, which has been confirmed to be coming in late 2019.
Instead, they’re being used to entice a wider audience – an audience that you’ll probably still find playing Pokemon Go – to both the Nintendo Switch and the Pokemon franchise as a whole.
Cut to the chase
What is it? It’s hard to say in a succinct way. Pokemon meets Pokemon Go on Nintendo Switch feels like disservice but that’ll do it
When can I play it? November 16 2018
What can I play it on? Nintendo Switch
Pokemon Let’s Go release date
Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee and Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu will launch on November 16 on Nintendo Switch.
Pokemon Let’s Go trailers
Pokemon Let’s Go hasn’t really had a long run of teasers and teasers of teasers. Instead, the game has its announcement trailer which is pretty comprehensive in terms of showing in-game footage and explaining what you’re going to get. Watch it for yourself below:
Pokemon Let’s Go news and rumors
It’s not a core release
We bet you thought the next Pokemon game to be released on Nintendo Switch would be a core RPG release. Well, you were wrong. And so were we. Pokemon Let’s Go isn’t considered a core release in the Pokemon series. Instead, it’s another spin-off, though it’s a spin-off that’s about as close to the spirit of the mainline releases as it can get. In fact, it’s directly inspired by Pokemon Yellow according to Game Freak.
By integrating Pokemon Go gameplay and features, Pokemon Let’s Go feels like Game Freak and Nintendo are creating a bridge for mobile and casual fans to cross into the Switch releases, before the core game is let loose in 2019. It’s a sound decision that will ensure a wider audience for both the Nintendo Switch and Pokemon.
It’ll take you back to Kanto
If you’ve missed the original Pokemon map then you’ll be glad to know that Pokemon Let’s Go will take you all the way back to Kanto and its original collection of 151 Pokemon, as well as their Alolan forms.
Pokemon will be visible in the game world
Just like in Pokemon Yellow, your Pikachu (or Eevee) will be visible in the game world as you walk around. You’ll even be able to pet them and interact with them to increase your bond. Wild Pokemon will also be visible in the game world. No more random encounters in the grass, now you’ll approach Pokemon and catch them by throwing a PokeBall in a way that’s directly inspired by the mobile release Pokemon Go.
It works with Pokemon Go
Speaking of Pokemon Go, Pokemon Let’s Go will directly work with Niantic’s AR hit. It’ll be possible to transfer any Pokemon that you or your friends catch while playing Pokemon Go into the Switch game and vice versa.
You can play with a friend
One of the things that Pokemon Go was really lacking was a feeling of in-game camaraderie. Sure, in the real world you could meet other players and catch Pokemon together but after these heart-warming encounters there wasn’t much you could do together in the game.
Pokemon Let’s Go will take social aspect of Pokemon Go further by allowing you to play drop-in co-op with your friends. They’ll be able to pick up the other Joy-Con controller and they’ll appear in the game alongside you. Once there you’ll be able to catch Pokemon together and battle other trainers.
There’s still battling
Although you won’t have to fight with individual Pokemon to lower their health and catch them, there will still be battling in Pokemon Let’s Go and it looks to be largely similar to the core RPG releases. Team Rocket will be there and everything.
You can play with one hand and there’s a PokeBall accessory
This isn’t exactly going to be a difficult title to play – you only need one hand. Using one Joy-Con, you can interact with the game and throw PokeBalls to catch Pokemon.
Or you can purchase an accessory which was announced alongside the game. This PokeBall controller will do everything the Joy-Con can do. Except it’s far cooler. Because it’s a PokeBall. It’ll be released on the same day as the game, though worldwide pricing hasn’t been confirmed just yet.
It’s deliberately easy to play
For hardcore fans of the game, Pokemon Let’s Go may seem like an overly simplified way to play but it’s a deliberate decision by Let’s Go’s developers. With the release of Pokemon Go and the refresh of the anime series, Pokemon is now capturing the attention of a much younger audience that wasn’t around for the releases across Nintendo’s previous handhelds.
With the first big Pokemon release on the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon director, producer, and composer Junichi Masuda told IGN that he wanted to welcome these new, perhaps more casual and younger, players into the world without intimidating them.
According to Pokemon Company marketing manager Elvin Gee “Everything about [Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee], from the controls, to the design, the art, is made so that it’s ideal to be your first step into [the Pokemon] franchise.”
Something interesting about the PokeBall Plus accessory is that it seems like you can choose a Pokemon to store inside it and take on walks with you. It’s possible that this will work like Pokemon Go’s buddy feature and walking with your Pokemon will train them and allow them to get stronger.
