Tag:

animal

Blatant Animal Crossing Rip-Off Somehow Lands On The PS5 Store
Game Reviews

Blatant Animal Crossing Rip-Off Somehow Lands On The PS5 Store

by admin



Unlike Microsoft, it’s hard to see Nintendo ever bringing its games to PlayStation 5. Someone’s taking advantage of that fact with a store listing for a seemingly fake game that looks an awful lot like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s called Anime Village Online, and that’s probably the most distinct thing about it.

A recently discovered store listing for the game shows what looks like a human Villager from Animal Crossing jumping into the air beneath a blue sky. The description for Anime Village Online reads like a summary of everything the Nintendo franchise is best known for. “Design and expand your own charming house, craft furniture, grow crops, catch fish, and decorate your surroundings to match your personal style,” it reads. “Wander through beautiful forests, rivers, beaches, and hidden paths. Discover resources, meet NPC villagers, and unlock new items and areas as you play.”

Anime Village Online will allegedly feature cross-platform multiplayer and arrive sometime in 2027. Who’s making it? The developer is listed as Wisnu Sudirman. According to a LinkedIn page bearing the same name, that person is a recent graduate who lives in Indonesia. Anime Village Online isn’t their only hustle either. They’re also apparently making a game called Rooted: Survival, with store page art that makes it look like an AI-generated rip-off of The Last of Us.

Sony / Kotaku

“Rooted: Survival is a brutal, atmospheric survival experience set in a world consumed by the aftermath of bacteriological warfare. A century after civilization collapsed, nature has reclaimed the earth—but it didn’t come alone,” reads the description. But my favorite part is the disclaimer: “All referenced game titles, brands, characters, and visual elements are the property of their respective owners. Any similarities are intended purely as homage or satire for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement is intended.”

Is this an elaborate troll? Someone making a point about the lack of moderation on the PlayStation Store? After all, this is far from the only AI-looking slop adorning listings seemingly meant to trick casual players just searching for whatever’s popular. Usually, those entries target popular indie games from Steam that lack the resources to police their IP rights on other platforms, not one of the most notoriously litigious companies in gaming and the owner of the platform itself. We’ll see if it actually ends up mattering.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Genshin Impact devs' next game looks so much like Animal Crossing I'm almost not sure why it exists
Game Updates

Genshin Impact devs’ next game looks so much like Animal Crossing I’m almost not sure why it exists

by admin



I am genuinely unsure if MiHoYo are capable of making a game that doesn’t heavily borrow from a different game you probably already love at this point in time. Denying The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s influence on Genshin Impact is like denying the sky is blue! Only recently was Honkai: Nexus Anima revealed, a game that takes Pokemon and shoves it into a blender with Auto Chess. And now there is Petit Planet, a game I can only describe as Animal Crossing but if it was in space, I guess.


There are a few differences between the Nintendo classic and MiHoYo’s borderline wholesale ripoff. For one, the animal people feel much more akin to fursonas than just anthropomorphic animals. And there’s the fact that, rather than living on an island like in AC: New Horizons, you live on tiny planets, of which there are a number you can visit.

Watch on YouTube


It looks like there’s a lot of customisation options too, from different clothes, to houses that can be built and interiors that can be designed. You can also visit other players’ islands, go fishing, grow vegetables. Honestly, it’s a bit hard to figure out just how different Petit Planet is from Animal Crossing aside from aesthetics. Which kind of begs the question, why does this even exist?


Well, the likeliest answer is that Animal Crossing: New Horizons was removed from sale in China following in-game protests performed by people in Hong Kong. That means there’s a wide open market for a big budget game like that! For the rest of us, it looks like just more of the same thing you already like, but with a higher chance of getting more updates than New Horizons did. Congratulations to those of you that think games that don’t need infinite updates should get them anyway!


In any case, if you are still curious about the game, and want to see if it truly is just an Animal Crossing clone, you can sign-up to beta test the game here.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
After Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, gacha master HoYoverse set its sights on the Animal Crossing-like cosy sim genre
Game Reviews

After Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, gacha master HoYoverse set its sights on the Animal Crossing-like cosy sim genre

by admin


Petit Planet – a new cosy life sim from the creators of Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail – has been announced.

The game currently has PC and mobile versions confirmed, with “additional platforms” in development according to the official press release alongside the reveal. Petit Planet has you build up and develop your own tiny planet, eventually venturing out into a galaxy filled with other planets owned by cutesy NPCs.

A reveal trailer (which you can watch below) showcases what the game will look like, with a character building up a nice little home, meeting various animal friends, before hopping in a car and taking to the stars to meet a cast of other furry fellows on their own home planets.

Here’s the Petit Planet reveal trailer!Watch on YouTube

Those interested can pre-register for the game right now on the official website, as well as sign up for upcoming beta tests. There’s no word as to when these beta tests will occur or when the sign ups will close as of writing.

Rumours around a HoYoverse life sim have been circulating for a while, with the internal name Astaweave Haven known thanks to early leaks. However, this recent reveal marks the first official word on the game as well as the first peak we’ve been able to get of polished gameplay.

There is no information on how monetisation will work for Petit Planet, though given this is a HoYoverse game the expectation is that the game will feature gacha mechanics as found in Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero.

This isn’t the only game HoYoverse has in the works. The developer revealed Honkai: Nexus Anima earlier this year, a Pokemon-style creature collector and auto-battler. Petit Planet has entered a somewhat contested genre, interestingly enough. Both Pocket Pair and Nintendo have announced their own cosy farm sims in Palfarm and Pokémon Pokopia.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
First Zelda, then Pokemon, and now HoYoverse is making its own Animal Crossing with Petit Planet
Game Reviews

First Zelda, then Pokemon, and now HoYoverse is making its own Animal Crossing with Petit Planet

by admin


Chinese developer MiHoYo (HoYoverse) has officially unveiled a new game, its first life sim adventure. It’s called Petit Planet, and it’s the second new announcement in a month, following on from the studio’s Pokemon-like, Honkai: Nexus Anima.

Much like Nexus Anima, Petit Planet is very much taking cues from established games to help the developer enter a new genre, this time being the cozy life sim genre of games like Animal Crossing, and The Sims.

MiHoYo describes Petit Planet as a “cosmic life simulation”, but it very much has Animal Crossing vibes. The announcement press release even teases how players will get to spend their time with “unique” neighbours.

It has a clever setup, where players are tasked with nurturing and growing their own planet before they can connect it with other planets to form a galaxy. There’s a big element of creativity and sharing in this, too, which we get a hint of in the trailer.

What you’ll actually be doing on your own planet is very much in-line with what you expect. There’s fishing, mining, cooking, planting, crafting and so on. You can pick outfits for your characters to wear, design homes, arrange spaces and do other Sims-like things.

Watch on YouTube

The big focus, however, is on the different connections you can make with your companions and their planets, adding an element of relationship building to the mix. In the trailer, we also get to see players leaving their own islets and venturing into unknown areas to discover new recipes and find rare creatures.

Galactic Bazaar is the game’s hub area, where everyone gets together to hang out after a long day’s work and form connections with other players.

Petit Planet is in development for PC and mobile – though specifics weren’t announced. If you’re interested, you can sign up to be among the first to play the aptly-named Closed Beta Coziness Test, which you can do on the official website.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Pokemon Pokopia Is Giving Off Serious Animal Crossing And Minecraft Vibes
Game Updates

Pokemon Pokopia Is Giving Off Serious Animal Crossing And Minecraft Vibes

by admin



One of the most surprising reveals during today’s Nintendo Direct is that Pokemon has a new game, Pokemon Pokopia, coming next year, and it’s a big departure for the franchise. From the reveal trailer, Pokopia looks like a cross between Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and Dragon Quest Builders set in the Pokemon universe.

There are no battles to fight in this cozy game, so this might be a utopia for any battle-weary Pokemon. Players assume control of a Ditto–a Pokemon that can mimic other creatures–who has taken on the form of a human. The Ditto can craft materials and buildings in addition to borrowing powers from various Pokemon to grow crops and take care of the creatures under their care.

Pokemon Pokopia will be released on Switch 2 in 2026, but it doesn’t have an exact release date yet.

Following the reveal of Pokemon Pokopia, Nintendo announced that the next game in the franchise, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, will be getting a paid DLC expansion and two new Mega evolutions. A recent video from Pokemon Legends: Z-A also introduced Malamar as an influencer in the world of the game.

Earlier this week, Nintendo secured a patent that may reshape the future of Pokemon-inspired games like Palworld. The patent covers “the fundamental gameplay mechanic of summoning a character and letting it fight another” within a video game.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata laughed at the prospect of localising the original Animal Crossing
Game Updates

Late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata laughed at the prospect of localising the original Animal Crossing

by admin



Late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata laughed at the prospect of localising the original Animal Crossing, as he believed the game was so specific to Japan it would be too difficult.


In an interview with Time Extension, former Nintendo localisation manager Leslie Swan discussed some of the challenges of the job, citing the original Animal Crossing – first released in Japan on N64 as Animal Forest, before a localised version was released in America on the GameCube – as a particularly tricky project.


Nintendo’s Takashi Tezuka, who worked as a producer on Animal Crossing, asked Swan to localise the game. She agreed, despite not playing the game herself in advance as she usually would. “But then he said, ‘No, Leslie, I’m not sure you understand, it’s going to be difficult’,” she said. “And I kept having to assure him that we would make it happen.”


She continued: “Then like a month or two later, I was in a meeting with Mr. Iwata and some other heads of the development group, and we were just kind of going around saying, ‘Here’s what we’re going to be working on’, and I just said, ‘Well, Mr. Tezuka is asking us to work on Animal Forest’ and he just burst out in laughter. He just laughed and said, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to do this.’ And it’s true, just everything in that game was so specific to Japan.”


The localisation team had to rename every character, every catchphrase, and all the events, Swan explained. “So we wanted whatever it was to be something that would be useful in as many areas as possible so we would do things like call it ‘Fireworks Day’ or something so other cultures, not just the US, would be able to use it without it being tied to Independence Day,” she said.


“Then there were also some items that didn’t make sense at all. They would have so much charm in the Japanese version, but they wouldn’t have provided the same kind of charm for Western audiences. I can’t tell you the number of hours we spent on that game, all hands on deck. We were so lucky at that point that we didn’t have other big projects, as we pretty much had the entire staff dedicated to that game.”


In addition, the legal department had to clear every name, as the team were sure merchandise would be an option if the game sold well.


“It must have been at least six months or maybe a year for us to clear the name Animal Crossing,” Swan continued. “I remember we had so many other names that we were in love with and then we would be crushed when they would be rejected. My favourite was ‘Animal Acres’, because the grids of the town lent themselves to being called acres. But again, that didn’t clear.”


Hundreds of names were considered, before finalising Animal Crossing. “We really wanted to maintain ‘Animal’ in the name,” said Swan. “And we did try to keep ‘Forest’ in the name too, but legal told us, ‘No, that’s not going to happen’.”


Swan was also the voice of Princess Peach in Super Mario 64, in addition to working in the localisation team and on Nintendo Power. Eventually, she left Nintendo and retired in 2016.


“I have to say, I was so lucky to be able to work at Nintendo,” she reflected. “It was a lot of work. It was a lot of stress. But one of the things that kept me there as long as I stayed was I just felt like I was learning something new with every single product we worked on. There was new technology and there was always something new to be learned, and the teams I worked with were just so energetic. The whole of the company was just oozing energy. It felt like such a family.”

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Dyson V16 Piston Animal cordless stick vacuum
Product Reviews

Dyson V16 Piston Animal hands-on review: a powerful new flagship, but not quite a slam-dunk

by admin



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal: two-minute review

The V16 Piston Animal is Dyson’s brand-new flagship stick vacuum, and it boasts a number of upgrades over its predecessors. Based on specs, this is the best Dyson vacuum on the market – and it should be one of the best cordless vacuums from any brand. I’ve been testing it out for a couple of days now, and I have lots of thoughts.

Based on my first impressions – I’ll be writing a full review when I’ve had more time with it – the V16 Piston Animal an incredibly good vacuum, but with one particular issue that could be a deal breaker for some potential buyers.

Let’s start with the good bits. The dust compactor works extremely well and is a logical, solidly useful addition. It gives you more cleaning time without having to empty the bin so often, and when you do come to empty the bin, the same mechanism expels the contents easily, with no need for fingers to get involved.

Dyson has redesigned the attachment mechanism so that you can connect and release attachments on the end of the wand without having to bend down. This seems like an effort-saver, and should also help those with mobility issues.

It almost goes without saying that the suction is excellent, and the battery gives you ample cleaning time without having to stop to recharge. Like its predecessors, the Gen5detect and V15 Detect, there’s an Auto mode that offers intelligent adjustment based on floor type and dirt levels. On the V16, though, it’ll adjust not just suction but also roller speed, for the most effective, battery-efficient clean.

Dyson has also given the floorhead an entirely different design – and this is where my main issue lies. The conical rollers do work well to prevent hair tangles, but the tapered shape means the floorhead comes to a slight point on the front side, which is a pain when you’re trying to clean along the straight edge of a room.

Read on for more information about the new Dyson flagship and my experiences with it so far, and check back in a week or two for my full and in-depth verdict.

(Image credit: Future)

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: price & availability

  • List price: £749.99 / AU$1,349 (US TBC)
  • Launched: September 2025
  • Available: UK and AU now, US sometime in 2026

The V16 Piston Animal was unveiled at the start of September, and is on sale now in territories including the UK and Australia. It will be available in the US, but not until sometime in 2026.

The regular version has a list price of £749.99 / AU$1,349 (the US list price will be released closer to the launch date). A Submarine version is also available, with an extra mopping floorhead, at a list price of £899.99 / AU$1,599.

For comparison, this model’s predecessor, the Gen5detect, is £769.99 / AU$1,549. The model down from that, the V15 Detect, is £649.99 / AU$1,449.

Those prices position the the V16 firmly in the premium price bracket, and make it one of the most expensive vacuums on the market. It’s interesting to note that it’s actually slightly cheaper than the Gen5detect in the UK (although that older model will attract more discounts).

I’ll make a final call on value for money once I’ve had more time to test the V16 out, but on first impressions, it looks and feels premium. It has been meticulously designed and is packed with features – including some you can’t find anywhere else on the market. I’m not going to pretend it’s not an awful lot to spend on a vacuum, though.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Weight:

7.5 lbs / 3.4kg

Bin size:

1.3L

Max runtime:

70 mins

Charge time:

3hrs 30

Dimensions (H x L x W):

10.2 x 51.1 x 9.8 inches / 25.9 x 129.8 x 25cm

Filter:

99.9% to 0.1 microns

Max suction:

315 AW

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: design

  • Redesigned anti-tangle floorhead with conical rollers
  • Manual compression lever on bin
  • Automatic power and roller speed adjustment based on floor type

The V16 Piston is a premium cordless stick vacuum with a number of useful features, many of which are brand new to this machine.

Key amongst these – and the reason for the ‘Piston’ of the name, is a compression lever on the dust cup. This can be pushed down to squish dust and hair and increase dustbin capacity, and is also designed to wipe fine debris off the inside of the cup, and to be helpful in efficient emptying.

(Image credit: Future)

A second addition is the red cuff at the top of the vacuum’s wand. This can be pushed down to release the floorhead without having to bend down. The docking section of the floorhead is designed to sit upright at an angle, so you can also snap it on the wand from a standing position.

(Image credit: Future)

Speaking of the floorhead: this looks very different to anything I’ve seen before. Rather than being tube-shaped, the rollers here are conical. The idea is that the tapering shape shifts long hair down to the narrow end where it can be sucked up, rather than leaving it to tangle. This floorhead is designed for both hard floors and carpet, and is kitted out with a laser to illuminate dirt that might otherwise be missed.

(Image credit: Future)

The main body of the vacuum has a matte finish, and Dyson has added a padded section above the hand grip for added comfort. It switches on with a button rather than a trigger, and the battery is removable and swappable.

This is the first Dyson vacuum to be properly ‘connected’, with the companion app providing cleaning summaries and offering advanced setting options. There’s a screen on the machine itself to deliver information, including how long you have left on the battery.

The screen will also provide you with real-time reports on the size and number of particles you’re sucking up, as you clean. This works with the V16’s ‘Auto’ mode, where the vacuum will automatically adjust suction and (newly) brushroll speed based on the kind of floor it’s on and how dirty it is.

(Image credit: Future)

Detail tools will vary slightly depending on which model you opt for, but there are a couple of notable upgrades. The Hair screw tool now has a rubberized band across the front to help loosen hair that’s ‘stuck’ to upholstery fabric. Hidden inside the wand are two stubby Crevice tools – one at the top, attached to the main part of the vacuum, and the other at the bottom of the wand, revealed if you remove the floorhead. Because of the redesigned docking mechanism, none of the tools are compatible with other Dyson stick vacuums.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: performance

  • Dust compaction is great, and design makes emptying super-easy
  • Suction excellent, but not notably different to previous models in practice
  • Angled floorhead is a pain for vacuuming the edges of rooms

After one whole-house clean with the V16, I’m impressed in some ways but less so in others. I’ll start with the general suction performance. As I expected, this is excellent. I tested the vacuum in a four-floor house with hard floor, plenty of carpets, and a black Spaniel, and it had no trouble sucking up impressive volumes of dust, dirt and hair.

In Auto mode, I could hear the power and brushroll ramping up and down as I moved into different areas and onto different floor types. I found the on-screen dust reports as mesmerizing as ever, although I’m still not sure they’re that useful.

Officially, the V16 has the most suction of any Dyson stick vacuum, but on first impressions, I didn’t really notice a difference in cleaning power compared to cleaning using the V15 (this house’s usual vacuum, and two models down from the V16 – despite what the number might suggest, the Gen5detect sits in the middle). I’ll run some side-by-side suction tests with all three to see if there is a difference I’m not seeing.

(Image credit: Future)

The V16 feels a little weighty in the hand, but the padded section above the hand-hold is a welcome addition and does help boost comfort. I’m in two minds about the button operation. For longer cleaning sessions, it’s nice not to have to continually compress the trigger, but for quick cleanups, it’s a bit cumbersome to have to keep a hand free to turn the machine on and off (you can’t reach the button with your gripping hand).

I’m also not entirely sold on the new floorhead. While it does work well to siphon off hair, the new design requires the front long side of the floorhead to come to a slight point rather than being in a straight line. This means you can’t approach the edges of rooms front-on – instead, you have to go in from the side. That quickly becomes very annoying.

Otherwise, it pivots well but feels a little harder to push than previous Dysons (and other vacuums I’ve tested). I did find the laser useful for highlighting dust in dingy corners, though.

(Image credit: Future)

The quick-release works well and is an effort-saver, but the joints in general are a little stiffer than on other Dyson stick vacuums I’ve used. It’s also a shame that existing attachments won’t work with the V16.

More of a success is the dust compactor. This is a solid win; the mechanism works a treat, and means you can fit in more cleaning without having to make so many trips to the trash. It also makes it far easier to empty than most cordless vacuums I’ve used.

Those are my thoughts so far – check back for the full review, including the results of TechRadar’s official suction tests, when I’ve had more time to put the V16 Piston Animal through its paces.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal: Price Comparison



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Close