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Pokémon GO can benefit players through favorable health behaviors, according to a recent study published in JMIR Serious Games, “Examining Motivations to Play Pokémon GO and Their Influence on Perceived Outcomes and Physical Activity”. This should be great news to those of you who have been tracking and capturing Pokémon since the release of the worldwide phenomena, but there is more to the story than that by what motivates players to play in the first place.

Dr. Marquet and fellow researchers sampled a group of US college students who play Pokémon GO through online surveys, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) tools and step counters on their smartphones. EMAs involve repeated sampling of a subjects’ current behaviors and experiences in real time by prompting players with a set of questions on playing behavior and physical activity 3 times per day. This helps by minimizing recall bias (ie, recalling what you did based on short-term vs long-term memory) that can occur with an online survey, for example.

Three factors of motivation for playing Pokémon GO were extracted from the subjects based on their responses: Pokémon and video game fans, physical activity seekers, and curious & social. More than half of the players were motivated to play the game because they were Pokémon or video game fans. This group of players also had a higher number of total daily steps reported when playing Pokémon GO when compared to days that they weren’t playing. Not surprisingly, the physical activity seekers group had the most steps at the end of the day when playing Pokémon GO when compared to the other groups.

What about the curious & social group? Interestingly, the curious & social group found more enjoyment from the game than the other groups. However, all groups could agree that catching Pokémon is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.

So whether it be catching Pidgeys or discovering new places, people play Pokémon GO for different reasons. I don’t think that there is any argument that walking and physical activity have health benefits. However, in order to attain these benefits, people have to get up and actually go do it, which to some this can be challenge. Therefore, finding motivation is the key, and for some, they have found that motivation in Pokémon GO.

You can read the journal article yourself by visiting http://ift.tt/2y341O6

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High Hell from Devolver Digital released just at the right time; it’s a demon-themed fast-paced first-person shooter that you can complete in a few hours. It’s one of those games you can play during Halloween when you just want to turn off your lights and not pass out candy to kids. I mean, you’re probably going to need the candy to hype yourself as you plow through multiple playthroughs.

Nothing beats a good adventure. Done well, big expansive, exploratory games can suck you in better than literally anything else. We’ve explored virtually every environment you can think of over the years and loved every minute of our time doing it. One thing I can’t think of too many titles focusing on properly, however, is the sky. Not space, we’ve done that loads of times, no, I’m talking about that big cloudy blue thing above us. Daedalic and Forgotten Key have obviously been thinking the same thing as they are planning on remedying this with AER – Memories of Old.

As much as I love VR, there’s a trend I’m noticing. I absolutely love the games I’ve played thus far but for the most part I’ve noticed that there is a bit of an absence of triple A titles. Personally, this isn’t a big issue. I really like the Indie scene and games from smaller teams are often proving to be the way forward for innovation. The issue for me is that it might take a few really big triple A releases to elevate VR from cool to absolutely dominating. Archiact have made an announcement that might change this and I’ve got the news about Evasion.

This weekend at PAXAus, attendees can get a first look at some upcoming Bandai Namco titles.

PAX Australia is on this weekend, starting on the morning of Friday the 27th of October and running until the afternoon of Sunday the 30th of October. Visitors to the Bandai Namco booth will be able to get a sneak peak at the hotly anticipated sequel to Ni no Kuni: Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. Also available for sticky beaking is Dragon Ball FighterZ and upcoming action RPG Code Vein.

Bandai Namco will be found in booth 1030 in the Expo Hall.

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As many on the internet are more than aware of by now, being a kid in the 90’s was a pretty special thing. In a decade that gave the world everything from grunge rock to campy kids shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, there’s just so much to love and it shows with nostalgia for the time reaching an all-time high. If you, my dear reader, are anything like me, you probably have a history with the Power Rangers. I, like many others, have spent many a childhood afternoon smashing two Megazord toys together and imagining the most epic battle in history was being played out at my will.

This colorful, robotic-punchfest childhood dream now becomes a reality thanks to a new content update to the mobile fighting game Power Rangers: Legacy Wars. This update adds the iconic Megazords from the extensive 24-year history of the spandex clad warriors; which marks the first time in history a player has been able to engage in Megazord on Megazord combat.

While just the addition of Megazords is certainly enough to grab attention, this update adds in a whole new game mode for current players of the mobile title. This mode is an alliance-based real-time battle for leaderboard positions, which in turn pays out in sweet rewards like Zords that can be used to unlock a customizable Megazord that you can take into battle with other alliances.

Power Rangers: Legacy Wars is available to download for free on iOS and Android devices and has been downloaded over 23 million times since its release, so there should be no shortage of players to ally yourself with and take down those leaderboards. If you just can’t get enough Power Ranger action, but you want a console-based experience, you can also take a look at Power Rangers Mega Battle or the heavily Power Ranger inspired Chroma Squad.

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Working at a AAA developer is not all that it’s cracked up to be, it seems. In the past week, company review website Glassdoor.com has seen an increase in negative reviews from former employees of the Polish game development company CD Projekt Red, many of whom reference poor management, long working days, and “fake goals.”

Studio head Adam Badowski and co-founder Marcin Iwinski have responded to the reviews with a joint statement that doesn’t so much placate as it does shrug off the issue. They explain that the company has doubled in size since 2015, clocking in at some 400 employees – and though management are always seeking to keep those employees happy, the “reinventing the wheel” approach that they take in the development of their games is not for everyone.

The open letter addresses in a roundabout manner some of the finer points mentioned in the Glassdoor reviews: suggesting that the magic happens outside of the comfort zone, Badowski and Iwinski are making no apologies for the unusual (and presumably work-intensive) attitude they adopt during the creative process. The closing statement reads:

“As always, many thanks for being so engaged in what we do. It shows us it’s all worth the hours we put in.”

If that isn’t a subtle dismissal of one of the major complaints under contention, then I don’t know what is.

The gentlemen responsible for CD Projekt Red have neglected to comment on allegations of low pay and misleading targets. In fact, the letter doesn’t really address the core of the problem at all; rather, it highlights the challenge presented by delivering quality AAA titles, and holds close to that age old mantra: if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

CD Projekt Red aren’t the only ones dealing with unhappy workers. An ex-employee of Uncharted developer Naughty Dog has come forward this week with allegations of a wholly more shocking sort: in a statement on Twitter, David Ballard has admitted that he was fired from the company after filing a sexual harassment complaint.

Ballard’s statement explains that he “had a mental breakdown at work,” as a result of the “extremely toxic” work environment created in the aftermath of the harassment itself. Sony’s HR department got involved, offering Ballard a substantial sum to leave the company. Of course, what Sony could not have foreseen was the powerful effects of the open floodgate that is currently causing such a stir in Hollywood. In his concluding words, Ballard writes:

“I’m speaking out now because of the strength I’ve seen in others coming forward about their experiences in the TV/Film industry. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I will not let anyone kill my drive or love for the video game industry, my passions or life.”

Naughty Dog have since responded to the allegations, insisting that they could find no evidence of Ballard’s harassment complaint. “Harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog,” the statement reads; one can only hope that the situation is resolved to the best interests of both the accuser and the accused, I guess.

Harassment in the workplace is undoubtedly a miserable thing to endure. With any luck, though, the recent revelations at these titans of the gaming industry will force a little light to be shed on any further issues. I expect dog-tired developer employees, at CD Projekt Red or elsewhere, are nodding their heads in a sort of wan agreement right now.

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VR is something that I genuinely believe to be a massive success. We’ve seen so many “innovations” over the years that have wound up being little more than fads but I really believe VR to be something that is here to stay. With this being said, whenever a new game is added to the collection for any VR enabled platform it’s really interesting to see what it’s going to be offering. In this particular case I can tell you that The Talos Principle VR is now available on Steam for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

Croteam, the same group behind Serious Sam VR, and our pals over at Devolver Digital, have announced the release of The Talos Principle VR. As mentioned this is compatible with the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift at a price of $39.99. As a nice little addition … if you buy the game you’ll also receive the four – episode Road to Gehenna VR expansion absolutely free.

The game is a Virtual Reality re-imagining of Croteam’s critically acclaimed first-person puzzler which is created in the tradition of philosophical science fiction. Redesigned from the ground up, The Talos Principle VR features roomscale VR support, multiple movement modes and fully customizable VR controls that take full advantage of the HTC Vive.

“If you thought solving puzzles in the Talos Principle made you feel like a genius then you’re going to pee your philosophical pants in The Talos Principle VR,” noted Devolver Digital CFO and virtual reality visionary Fork Parker.

So if you’ve played the original game, loved it, and have VR then this could certainly be a very sensible way to go. Of course, if you haven’t played the first game, are VR capable and fancy giving the old brain cells a bit of a work out The Talos Principle VR may well also be a brilliant way of doing it. Either way, if this is something that’s peaking your interest you can find out a bit more here.

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One of the most anticipated games this fall by far is Star Wars Battlefront II. With the huge success of Star Wars Battlefront and all the hype around the next installment from EA, a story mission has a lot of Star Wars nerds and gamers alike excited for November 17, 2017, myself included.

Today, EA has released the single player trailer for Star Wars Battlefront II and if you’re anything like me, you’re really going to want to check it out. To watch the trailer, you can check it out here: