According to V-Jump (via Siliconera), the newest characters to join the Xenoverse 2 roster will be Android 13 and Taipon. Both of the warriors hail from different Dragon Ball Z movies. Android 13 is the title villain in the film Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13, while Taipon is the legendary hero who appears in Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon. Both will be released as paid DLC, though the magazine didn't specify a release date or pricing details.
In addition to Android 13 and Taipon, Bandai Namco will release a slate of new costumes for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. The Universe 2 and Universe 11 battle outfits will come to the game as paid DLC. There will also be a new Hero Colosseum facility that introduces additional story content and allows players to battle each other using figures. Gematsu reports the Hero Colosseum will be a free addition to the game.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game also recently released for Nintendo Switch. The Switch version allows two players to play together using a single Joy-Con each and lets you use gestures to perform signature Dragon Ball attacks. You can read more about the title in GameSpot's Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 review.
The race is officially underway, as the delayed Leviathan Prestige Raid is now live in Destiny 2. Bungie has rolled out the harder version of the Raid, and Fireteams are now competing to become the first to conquer the challenge.
Going in, Bungie has not detailed exactly what's different. "Mechanical changes to the encounters are minimal, but they are there," it said recently. Based on early reports, players can expect to encounter eight dogs rather than six, and there may be an additional Psion to kill in the Gauntlet. Revive tokens are still active, meaning teams will need to coordinate who handles resurrecting each other. Additionally, the process of running in The Gauntlet is different, as there are only three orbs inside, rather than four. We'll report back as more changes are uncovered.
Bungie has warned players that it does "not expect everyone to be successful in completing this activity," as it's intended to be a real challenge. The developer described it as a "more punishing sandbox," but it's not intended to raise your Power level. Instead, players can expect "unique rewards to help you shine."
We teamed up with Blizzard to give away ten (10) BlizzCon 2017 Virtual Tickets! Entry is open Worldwide. Yup, you read that correctly... WORLDWIDE. Competition ends Monday, October 23rd at 12:00PM PT and ten winners will be contacted via email. Scroll down to enter below.
The Virtual Ticket let's you stream BlizzCon 2017 from the comfort of your own couch, live and in high definition. You'll get coverage of both days of the show, including panels, contests, interviews, the closing ceremony, and more, along with some in-game goodies. This year's BlizzCon takes place November 3rd & 4th.
The in-game freebies you get include:
Overwatch: BlizzCon 2017 Winston Skin
World of Warcraft: Stormwind Skychaser and Orgrimmar Interceptor
StarCraft II: Junker SCV, Probe, and Drone Skins
Heroes of the Storm: Nexus Razorback Mount
Diablo III: Murkromancer Pet
Hearthstone: Mystery Goodie
Enter below (the additional entries are optional to increase your chances of winning):
Netflix's lineup of new content for October 2017 has been announced, and it's a good month to subscribe if you're a fan of horror movies or Stranger Things. The list consists of all of the new movies, TV shows, and original series launching through the month, as well as everything that's leaving--most of which is already gone now that we're halfway through October.
With Halloween coming up, there are some scary movies to watch, like Cult of Chucky. Alternatively, you can watch something a bit lighter, with new comedies including Tommy Boy and Talladega Nights. If you're outside the US, you now have access to the early episodes of Riverdale: Season 2.
If you thought the final trailer would be your last look at Stranger Things 2 before its release, you were incorrect. A clip from the new season has debuted, after first being revealed at London Comic Con, which focuses on what happened to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the aftermath of Season 1.
When the first year of Stranger Things came to an end, the status of Eleven was left up in the air. After using her psychokinetic powers to defeat the Demogorgon, she simply disappeared. While Hopper (David Harbour) was seen leaving Eggo waffles in an outdoor lockbox, presumably for her, the character was not seen again.
In the new clip though, it's confirmed that she has been in the Upside Down, looking for a way out. When she finally finds a portal back to her world, Eleven uses those same powers to make the gateway big enough for her to fit through. She then breaks through the slimy barrier between the two worlds, finding herself back in Hawkins Middle School--the location of the battle that ended the first season.
As fans have seen in the trailers though, she won't be the only entity from the Upside Down invading the world. After being rescued from the dimension in Season 1, Will (Noah Schnapp) is shown as haunted by visions of a shadow monster from the Upside Down, which is making its way into his reality. Those visions only grow stronger as the kids and adults of Hawkins are once again forced to defend the world from supernatural forces.
Luckily, with Eleven back in the picture, they've got a secret weapon to help fight anything that comes their way.
Stranger Things 2 premieres on Netflix on October 27.
The Dragon Ball FighterZ roster continues to grow. Another pair of playable characters were revealed for the Dragon Ball fighting game in the latest issue of V-Jump magazine (via Gematsu), along with some details on the game's story mode.
The two new characters joining the roster are Nappa and Captain Ginyu, two of the earliest villains Goku and friends faced in Dragon Ball Z. Nappa can summon Saibamen during battle and fire a powerful beam blast from his mouth. Captain Ginyu, meanwhile, can call in the Ginyu Force and use his signature Body Change ability to swap characters and HP with his opponent.
The new issue of V-Jump also shared some more details about the game's original story mode, which features the new character Android 21 and a resurrected Android 16. According to Gematsu, an event during the story causes the Z-Fighters to "fall one by one." It seems that players will be "linked" to different characters during different points in the story; during the Android chapter, players will be linked to Android 18, while the Enemy Warriors chapter links them with Frieza.
Players will advance through the story mode by battling opponents, and V-Jump says you'll be able to freely focus on where you want to focus on earning experience points, rescuing allies, learning skills, and more. In addition to that, players will be able to "deepen bonds" with characters, which will give you the chance to overhear private conversations.
Update: Bungie has replaced this week's Nightfall Strike due to issues players were experiencing with Exodus Crash. For the remainder of the week, you can try your hand at the Nightfall version of Pyramidion. Along with that change, there are also new modifiers in place: Timewarp: Zero Hour (which prevents you from extending the time limit) and Torrent (increasing the rate at which your skills recharge).
Original Story: Every seven days, Destiny 2's weekly reset changes a bunch of variables within the game, from the activities on offer to the rewards available to the items on sale in shops. This week's Nightfall Strike, Exodus Crash, is set in Arcadian Valley, while Eververse have some new gear on offer.
Two modifiers are active in Exodus Crash this week, one of which again offers a way to earn additional time. Timewarp: Rings presents a set of large white circles throughout the mission for you to jump through; each one provides an additional 30 seconds of time to finish the Strike. The other modifier, Prism, rotates through each of the three elements, with the chosen element doing additional damage (and the others doing less than usual). Following the release of a Destiny 2 update last month, this now functions correctly, as the message indicating the chosen element no longer lasts for just a brief moment. Additionally, an on-screen effect helps to highlight when the element changes from one to the next.
In terms of Challenges, Speed of Dark is active as always, which requires you to finish the Strike with at least five minutes remaining. Unbroken tasks you with completing the Strike with fewer than three deaths. And finally, Faster Than Lightning asks your Fireteam to kill nine Shanks with melee attacks before defeating Thaviks.
Exodus Crash in Arcadian Valley has a recommended Power level of at least 240. If you haven't made it to that point, you may want to consider waiting until after you've raised your Power level before grabbing the Nightfall reward, which is Powerful gear. This Nightfall will be available until Destiny 2's next weekly reset, which occurs at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET / 10 AM BST / 8 PM AET on Tuesday, October 24.
Away from the Nightfall Strike, you can grab a new bundle from Eververse. Costing 2000 Silver, the legendary Golden Sevens bundle contains seven bright Engrams, seven shaders, 500 Bright Dust, and a unique Nothing Gold ship. Take a look at the ship for yourself below. [Update: It appears this bundle is no longer for sale on the Eververse store.]
Plenty more has likely changed for the week, with previous resets offering new Milestones, Challenges, and treasure maps to buy from Cayde. Sadly, the weekly reset also means last week's Iron Banner event is now over. However another event, the Leviathan Prestige Raid, goes live tomorrow, October 18, after it was delayed last week.
In other Destiny 2 news, Bungie has removed the Monty Python-inspired, high-kicking walk emote. Although the developer hasn't officially said why this has been removed, it may have something to do with the emote letting players get into some walled-off, unfinished areas.
South Park has once again returned to video game platforms with a successful mix of RPG systems infused with South Park's unmistakable character. The Fractured But Whole sees the kids go on another adventure, but things have changed a little since The Stick of Truth. Not only are they into superheroes now, but there's a new combat system to get your head around, along with a few other mechanical changes.
If you're eager to go into this 20+ hour journey well-prepared, then the above video is for you. Jess McDonell will guide you through some need-to-know information regarding puzzles, character classes, and useful consumable items. If you're already making your way through the game, be sure to comment with any other tips you might have found!
If you're curious about The Fractured But Whole, but haven't pulled the trigger, be sure to check our review. Miguel Concepcion says that "The Fractured But Whole can be appreciated as a standalone adventure, accessible to those who've fallen off the TV series over a decade ago". If you're already on the train, then find out all the details about the upcoming story DLC!
We had a chance to speak with Oculus VP of Content Jason Rubin at Oculus Connect 4 last week. Rubin co-founded Naughty Dog and has been a videogame pioneer starting from the original PlayStation era.
In our in-depth interview, Rubin remains highly optimistic about the future of VR. Setting grounded expectations, he compares it to when the videogame industry gradually transitioned from 2D gaming to 3D in the mid 90s.
The Oculus executive also says that he's confident more AAA publishers will get on board, discusses privacy concerns, and offers criticism against the competition.
GameSpot: We're roughly 18 months into the release of the Oculus Rift. What would you say is the current state of VR?
Jason Rubin: The thing that this reminds me of is when we launched PlayStation, which was effectively taking 2D gaming and turning it into 3D gaming. Some things were pretty easy. For example, virtual racers...Other things were completely untested. I said this today in my keynote. For example, bringing a character action game into 3D. People think, "Oh, you just take your character action game like Mario, or Sonic, or Donkey Kong Country and you make it into 3D. What's so hard?" It's actually really tough. On a scale of one to VR, it's a four. It was hard to make things go 3D. VR is so different from everything that came before. It's a huge challenge.
Name a title that came out before Crash Bandicoot. It came out at the same time as Tomb Raider. It came out at the same time as Gran Turismo. That first year, there wasn't that much great stuff that came out of PlayStation because people were trying to figure out how to get it to work.
Again, I think that was a lot easier challenge than the move into something utterly different like VR. We're not even a year from Touch launch. We're not even at that Crash Bandicoot moment, yet look at what we have. We have Lone Echo, we have Robo Recall, we have Wilson's Heart, we have a lot of really quality titles. We've learned a lot about the business. We also have 300 titles that are Touch-only in the [Oculus] store in less than a year. Go back and count the PlayStation titles. I don't know that they got there that quick. We have a lot going on really fast with this platform. It took a while for PlayStation to finally take off, and for people to say, "Okay, 2D gaming is kind of over. We're into 3D gaming."
Again, this is a much bigger sea change. Prices are different. Everything is just different about this. If you compare those two, I think we're doing really well on our transition. As I said in the keynote, I wouldn't have signed up to achieve what we've achieved in the first two years of VR, in the first 18 months of Rift, and the first year of Touch. I would have said there's no way I can deliver what we've achieved. If someone said, "That's your benchmark. You get a bonus if you hit it." I wouldn't have thought I would get the bonus.
Looking back, you're saying that you think you've come farther than you thought you could be now?
Absolutely. I can tell you why I think we're ahead, too. ...Most transitions are consumer lead. You make a mobile phone, make an iPhone, a year later you have an app store, there's a bunch of people on it. Developers are like, "There's got to be a way to make money there." Developers come after the consumer.
Facebook, at the time that they launched their game apps. They had like 800,000,000 users. Someone [at Facebook] said, "Hey, here's a way to put your app [on our platform]." Zynga was like, "There's got to be a way to make money here." Right? This is the opposite. It's very unique for being the opposite. You have developers, you have Insomniac, Ready at Dawn. Big publishers, Ubisoft, ZeniMax, Bethesda all of them saying, "This is what I want to do. This is clearly the future. I don't care that right now the market is growing. I'm not going to wait. I'm going to have one foot in the future and one foot in the present. It's just going to happen." This is what they want to do. It's been amazing because they're not really asking, "How many users are there on the device?" They're not asking the questions that journalists are asking. What they're asking is, "How do I make this financially make sense for my company right now?" Which, obviously is a consideration. "Even if you can tell me how I can break even, I want part of this. This is why I got into the business."
That's why I think we're ahead of where we are. I thought the hardest part of my job, and my team's hardest part, was going to developers and trying to convince them to get into VR. That wasn't the hardest part of the job. We just gave them dev kits and they said, "We're in. Tell us how to make this work." Then time will take care of itself.
Isn't the goal of every company to be profitable? Isn't it a tough pill to swallow if an optimal outcome is to just break even?
It is and it isn't. If you look at VR and you say, "This is never going to be profitable." You're 100% right. Nobody gets in that business, but if you look at history, there were amazing 2D character action game makers. Then there was Naughty Dog, which was Andy [Gavin] and I at the time making Way of the Warrior, which was a pretty half decent at best, fighting game. We said, "Wait a minute. Here's a new platform. Nobody's making a character action game for it. Maybe we'll make money, maybe we won't make money, but it's a market that we believe in."
While the 2D guys were all stuck iterating on what they knew how to do, we learned how to do 3D before them. [Crash Bandicoot] became a 3D character action game. One of the new ones, and they were too late to the market.
Take a look at mobile. Big publishers were like, "I don't know. There's not that many people on mobile. How do you make these games? Zynga, Playdum, PlayFish and all of these early movers into mobile were like, "There may or may not be a way to make money here, but we believe in it if we get in early. It's not the first title, it's not the second title, we'll do it at some point." To that point, Rovio's 50th title, I've heard 50 or 51, we're gonna call it 50. Their 50th title was Angry Birds. The other 49 failed. They looked at the mobile phone and they said, "At some point, we can make money here." They became a billion-dollar business.
The developers believe that this VR headset is the future. They're not focused on, "Am I going to make money on this specific game?" They can't lose a lot of money, because it's a rough business in developing. If they can break even and learn, they have the opportunity to be the Zynga of VR, or the Naughty Dog of VR.
There's this inflection point that happens every now and then, where the big established company doesn't move, because they're making billion-dollar games. The people that get in early, they don't make money on the first one, but they get ahead. When the money comes, they're the big winners.
Are you saying that you're confident that the big game publishers will eventually get on board with VR?
Absolutely. I said that on stage. Every time I have this conversation with a journalist. There's less and less big publishers that are holding on. As I said, Ubisoft is showing titles on our floor, right? When will they make an Assassin's Creed? That's a multi-hundred-million dollar title. They can't lose that much money, but they know that they have to be involved in this.
You have Bethesda, you have Rockstar, they've announced that LA Noire is coming out, right? If you look at VR as a whole, who isn't in it at this point? I guess EA, although of course they did the Star Wars game for Sony. I guess EA, Activision, Blizzard, there are some to be sure, but less and less, every time we have this conversation. It seems to me that the bar keeps getting moved. It's like, "Okay, you got Respawn, but you don't have this one. Okay, we've got that one. Sure. But you don't have..." There's not that many that aren't involved. That doesn't mean that tomorrow Battlefield is coming out... because the scale isn't right. It does mean that it gets harder and harder for them to ignore the business.
As a VR user, on a pragmatic level, I think one of the bigger challenges is handling movement in virtual reality. How do you move around in VR? There's artificial locomotion, which allows you to move around with a joystick, but it can cause motion sickness with people. Is that something that you feel is a big concern? Is Oculus working to address that?
Yeah. That's a complex question to answer, so let me try. On stage today, I said, "Effectively, I was wrong. Oculus was to a certain extent wrong." We thought nobody would want to play with standard locomotion. A single individual went out and proved that is actually a market. [Developer] Dante with Onward, right?
There are people that are totally fine with the situation as it is. To get to a billion people, which is Mark [Zuckerberg's] desire, I think that we do need to keep pushing forward. We do need to keep expanding upon the locomotion issue. Having said that, when we started, we thought, "You're either in place and it's okay." In place meaning you can move your own head, but you can't use [joystick] locomotion. Well, Lone Echo, because of the fact that you're pulling along [your environment] and The Climb, because of the fact that you're pulling along, totally changed the game.
When all we had was a gamepad, it was pretty binary. You were either using the gamepad, and that made a lot of people feel uncomfortable, or you were standing in place. As soon as we got your hands in there, there's something about you moving your body at the speed of your hands that connects and works. Precious few people feel uncomfortable in Lone Echo. Not 100 percent, but it's better locomotion than we had before.
I think we're going to keep chewing away at the edges of that. There's plenty of things we can do. We can make better lenses, we can start to get focal depth by tracking your eye, and allow you to focus on close things or far away things, which doesn't happen right now in our VR headsets. There's the way the lens curves around. How much field of view you have. There are all these little nuances that will make it better, and better, and better. Fundamentally, when your inner ear doesn't feel something and your eyes believe it, there's a disconnect. It's no different than being on a boat. On a boat, your inner ear feels movement, your eyes don't if you're under. That makes you feel sick. If you're in the back of a car, you're reading a book, your inner ear feels the movement, your eyes think the book isn't moving. That creates, for some people, discomfort. It's exactly the same thing.
People still use boats, people still ride in the backseat of cars. Even though some people don't like riding in the back seat of cars, it did not stop people from going out on boats. It will not stop people from doing VR. Overtime, we will get better and better at it. We will figure out how to lessen it.
You mentioned that you are impressed with where you guys have come so far. Some companies that have invested in the VR industry might not agree. We're seeing some VR companies starting to shutter. What do you have to say to companies that are thinking about investing in VR?
Yeah. I don't want to address any specific company that's shut down. In general, over the last two weeks, I've gotten multiple emails from companies that are not working in VR that have shut down or had layoffs. They're now looking to get into VR, because the 2D business wasn't working for them. There was just an article today, about the middle tier developer is having a hard time. Prices are pushing up. It's very hard for middle tier developers in 2D to make things happen. There is constant thrash and movement. In many cases, the company that isn't making it attributes their failure to some external thing. For example, VR isn't developing fast enough. Instead of looking at themselves and saying, " What are we doing wrong? Why are there companies that are thriving and are happy?" If you're looking for a story, it's easy to find a company that is failing anywhere in the business. There's companies that are coming up and companies that are coming down all the time.
Oculus just announced Dash, which is a way that allows users to use their desktop applications within the VR headset. There are some people that are concerned that Facebook might use this data to mine additional info from Rift users. And on the subject of privacy, some users are concerned that the Rift sensors can be used as cameras to spy on them. With privacy being such a concern now, can you speak to these issues?
Well let's start with the cameras. Let's go in reverse order. Any device that has inside-out tracking with cameras, regardless of which brand has created it, is using cameras. As far as I know, putting aside for a minute the non-positionally tracked stuff. ...Vive has a camera on it, all of the Microsoft things have cameras on it, [PlayStation] Move has a camera on it, Rift has cameras on it. The cameras are the sensors that are being documented. All of those can be used as cameras. It is the underlying technology. I don't think it's unique to Rift. The answer is, we're all doing what we're doing because it works. Nobody wants user camera information for anything. None of those companies are. With regards to privacy and data. I would probably focus privacy and data questions towards Facebook, but that is not our goal....I'm a content guy, so when it comes to specific privacy... I can tell you that is not why we're doing Dash. We're doing Dash because it's awesome. You get in Elite Dangerous, you're flying across the galaxy, it takes forever so you put on Spotify, throw up your music, throw some emails in. It's the future.
What do you think of what HTC, Valve, and Sony are doing in the VR space right now?
I don't want to address any of those in particular. I think, at Oculus, we have a game plan that we've been following from the beginning. We've been questioned often on that game plan. We have been very consistent with what we're doing. Specifically, we believe that the right way to launch a piece of hardware into an ecosystem that doesn't exist is to support it with as much software as possible, so that the consumer gets the best possible experience.
Facebook and Oculus have invested more in the content ecosystem than any other hardware manufacturer. I would guess, more than all other hardware manufacturers combined. We believe that as a result of that investment, that our ecosystem should get the benefit out of it. Sony agrees. Google agrees. There is one player that doesn't agree with that. They are the outlier there. We disagree with what they're doing. We don't believe that keeping the price high, adding on random bells and whistles, and never getting to a point where there's a large ecosystem of content, is valuable. We have continually defended our position that our investment is worthwhile. I think, if you look on Reddit, you look at the response of the community, it's gone from, "Everything should be for everybody." To "Oh my God, look at how awesome Oculus' catalog is. Why isn't everybody else doing this?"
We would like for everybody else to do that, because every time a developer discovers something new, regardless of who pays for it. Regardless of what store it comes out in. Regardless on whether it's on our hardware or not. That pushes VR forward. We've been very consistent with that message. We've consistently also been driving the price down. We've heard other hardware manufacturers say, "Now is not the time for a price drop." Well, guess what, they're following us.
What upcoming VR games should GameSpot, our audience, keep an eye on?
Yeah. It's hard for me to pick favorites. It's like picking a favorite child. I think From Other Suns is going to kill it. I have a great amount of fun playing Arktika, which just came out yesterday. Reviews have been good for that one. I've never been a massive strategy game player, but Brass Tactics is really pretty neat when you're moving yourself across the table, watching your army move in a real time strategy game. We have a ton of great stuff coming out. Coco's going to be amazing.
...It's pretty interesting that one year ago, roughly this week, we had another keynote, and we stood on stage. We said, we're going to deliver the following three titles: Robo Recall, promise kept. Lone Echo, promise kept. Echo Arena was a surprise, actually at that point. We didn't mention it last year at all. Arktika, shipped yesterday. Three titles, three delivered titles, all of them people are reacting very well to.
We've now said, "Here is a bunch of additional titles that are coming out on top of From Other Suns every day. The Marvel title. All of these that we're going to launch." We announce, and we launch, and we keep our promises. We're kind of alone in that space right now.
If I can just piggyback off of that. A while back you said that Oculus isn't going to be in the long term business of making games. Can you elaborate on the situation there?
Mark [Zuckerberg] says we're going to get to a billion units [sold]. That's our goal. My goal on the content ecosystem, as we get to a billion units, is to make the ecosystem self-sustaining. At that point, Facebook's desire is not to be in the game business. Not to be in the content business...
Are you going to be out of a job? *laughs*
Maybe, *laughs* but just like a billion units isn't happening tomorrow, it's gonna take a while for us to get there. This is not something that anyone should read as, "This is imminent." This is something that is in the same timeline as getting to a billion units. If we hit 100,000,000 units, there's a world in which we don't need to be funding content, because there's enough hardware out there that people are building content making a lot of money.
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo still makes games.
They do.
Even though they make hardware as well.
That's absolutely right. There is a world in which we do still make titles. I'm not sure that's the world we'll be in at that time. The most important thing to Facebook is connectivity. The most important thing to Facebook is bringing people together in the social realm. It's not game. It's not film. Again, this is way down the road, I should have made that clear. There is a world way down the road where VR is so successful that Oculus doesn't have to be in that business.
As you say, it may never happen. For other reasons, we may need to be in the business longer. I like to target getting to the point where we don't have to be. I don't think Sony has to be doing it for the PlayStation 4 to be a healthy business. I think there are other reasons why they make their own titles. I think you can make a very large title for PlayStation and Xbox as a publisher without any money from Sony of Microsoft. You can put it out there and make a very sizeable profit. Look at Grand Theft Auto. Look at Call of Duty. Look at Battlefield. These titles exist on their own. That's the world we need to build.
What do you have to say to our GameSpot readers who run the gamut from somewhat interested in VR to not interested in it at all?
Two different answers. If you're interested, go play a demo somewhere. We're about to launch a demo in November for Marvel Powers United. Best Buy has demos in various places, find a friend who has it, go look at it.
If you haven't any interest in it, the key here is, don't dismiss it until you try it. I read so many people who are like, "I have no interest in VR whatsoever." You haven't tried, you shouldn't be saying that. You may not have an interest in buying something today. You may not have an interest in changing what you do because you love it, but don't knock it until you try it.
Apparently satisfied with the results of a recent Overwatch PTR patch, Blizzard has rolled out a new update for the live version of the game on all platforms. It makes adjustments to a few areas of Overwatch, but further balance adjustments to Mercy are the primary focus.
Following Mercy's overhaul in September, Blizzard has continued to experiment with additional changes to the healer. With this new patch, her Ultimate, Valkyrie, no longer affects the cooldown of Resurrection. Instead, Valkyrie provides a second charge of Resurrect, allowing her to potentially resurrect teammates back to back. This charge only lasts for the duration of Valkyrie, and the end result is that she can use Resurrect fewer times than she could previously.
"This method makes Resurrect more flexible when used with Valkyrie," Blizzard explained in the patch notes. "For example, in the past if you wanted to resurrect two teammates, you had to revive the first target, then activate Valkyrie (causing the Resurrect's cooldown to reset), and then revive the other target. With this change, you can now activate Valkyrie and fly in quickly to resurrect both targets instantly. However, this still reduces the overall number of Resurrects that Mercy can provide, since Valkyrie no longer reduces its cooldown."
Mercy also sees her Guardian Angel ability tweaked. Using Resurrect doesn't reset the cooldown on it now, but she can use the jump key to fly past a teammate she's targeting. The only other balance change involves Lucio, who now gets a 65% speed boost after finishing a wall ride. This is meant to deal with a bug that slowed his ability to wall ride.
Finally, this patch provides an option for PC players to set their status to Online, Away, Busy, or Appear Offline. The latter option will let you hide from that friend you can't bring yourself to delete, but Blizzard warns that this won't stop you from potentially ending up in the same match together.
Players can now set their social status to Online, Away, Busy, or Appear Offline (Note: appearing offline does not prevent friends from seeing you if you are placed into the same match). This option can be found under the social menu
Hero Updates
Lucio
Wall Ride
The speed boost that Lúcio receives after completing a wall ride has been increased by 65%
Developer Comments: A recent bug fix slowed Lúcio's Wall Ride. This change compensates for the reduced speed.
Mercy
Guardian Angel
Players can now glide past a targeted ally using the jump key
Cooldown no longer resets when Resurrect is activated
Valkyrie
No longer resets or reduces Resurrection's cooldown
Developer Comments: Valkyrie no longer resets or reduces Resurrect's cooldown. Instead, it now provides an extra "charge," allowing you to revive an ally even if it is still on cooldown. If the bonus charge hasn't been spent when Valkyrie ends, it will be removed.
This method makes Resurrect more flexible when used with Valkyrie. For example, in the past if you wanted to resurrect two teammates, you had to revive the first target, then activate Valkyrie (causing the Resurrect's cooldown to reset), and then revive the other target. With this change, you can now activate Valkyrie and fly in quickly to resurrect both targets instantly.
However, this still reduces the overall number of Resurrects that Mercy can provide, since Valkyrie no longer reduces its cooldown.
Zenyatta
Added a number of additional voicelines for Cultist Zenyatta
Bug Fixes
Heroes
Fixed a bug preventing Mercy's momentum from slowing down correctly when Guardian Angel was canceled
Fixed a bug preventing the visual effects on Sombra's Pumpkinette victory pose from displaying correctly
Rare's long-anticipated Sea of Thieves is the latest game to receive an extravagant art book. Comic publisher Dark Horse has announced The Art of Sea of Thieves, a beautiful companion tome to the upcoming open-world pirate game.
The Art of Sea of Thieves will give fans "an unprecedented look at the ships, characters, and loot" of the swashbuckling title. The book features "hundreds" of pieces of art, as well as developer commentary that sheds more light on the development of the game and its world. You can take a look at the book's cover below.
Dark Horse hasn't announced a release date for The Art of Sea of Thieves, but the book is slated to arrive in early 2018. It will soon be available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Penguin Random House, and other book retailers.
Amazon Prime subscribers have a lot to look forward to from its Netflix-style Prime Video service throughout October. The streaming service debuts the third season of its comedy Red Oaks and, for anyone who's in the mood for a scare this Halloween season, Amazon's own Lore premieres.
Lore, from the producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files, brings to life the popular podcast uncovering the real-life events that spawned our darkest nightmares. It will blend dramatic scenes, animation, archive video, and narration to reveal how our horror legends, like vampires, werewolves and body snatchers, are rooted in truth.
Other non-Amazon shows will see new seasons next month, including the sixth season of American Horror Story and the fifth season of The Americans. If you're in the mood for classic Halloween horror, Texas Chainsaw Massacre II and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are coming this month too. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Arrival are among the big-name movies still to come.
Video streaming giant Hulu has announced all of the TV shows and movies coming to the platform and leaving it in October. As usual, there are a variety new movies and shows. [Update: As an added bonus, the entire series of Futurama is has arrived on Hulu, including the movies.]
Among the notable additions include the Oscar-winning movie Philadelphia and the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore comedy 50 First Dates. The Michael Crichton movie Congo, the Matthew Broderick comedy classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and the Stephen King horror film Carrie are also coming to Hulu in October. Additionally, Adventure Time's ninth season hits on October 21 and the excellent sci-fi movie Arrival lands on October 28.
As for what's leaving Hulu in October, now is your last chance to watch Apocalypse Now, Big Fish, Kingpin, Hitch, Joe Dirt, Sahara, Shooter, and Surf's Up, as they're all leaving the service at the end of October. A full list of everything follows at the bottom of this post.
With no warning, Ubisoft has released the second DLC pack for Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle as part of the game's season pass. This introduces new co-op and high-end content for players to complete.
As is to be expected from something called the Ultra Challenge Pack, the DLC introduces eight Ultra Hard Challenges that a new trailer describes as the game's "biggest challenge" yet. Specifics on what these entail were not shared, but you can get a glimpse at what's included in the video below. These are located inside the game's secret chapters, so you'll need to have completed at least a portion of the game in order to try your hand at them.
The other component of the DLC is a new co-op campaign. This includes five maps that are exclusive to co-op play and feature Chain Chomps, Tornados, Boos, and Pyroclasts to deal with.
The Ultra Challenge Pack is out now and can be purchased for $7/£5.80. Alternatively, it's included with the Kingdom Battle season pass, which costs $20/£16. That has already delivered DLC steampunk weapons and pixelated weapons, with another pack--featuring new story content--coming in 2018.
Along with their upcoming console and PC titles, Square Enix, Capcom, and Bandai Namco all had a selection of mobile games on display at their booths during New York Comic-Con. A few are already available to download from the Apple and Google Play Stores, but several of them were playable for the first time to the public at the show. Here are five of the best ones we got a chance to see.
Puzzle Fighter
Puzzle games are a natural fit for mobile devices, which makes them a suitable home for Capcom's upcoming Puzzle Fighter revival. This new installment is developed by Capcom Vancouver, the studio responsible for the recent Dead Rising games, and features characters from a variety of Capcom franchises, including Street Fighter, Dead Rising, Darkstalkers, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, and more.
As before, Puzzle Fighter is a competitive gem-matching puzzle game. You have to drag and rotate falling pairs of gems; match up three or more of one color and they'll combine into larger gems. The bigger it becomes, the more devastating it'll be for your opponent when you drop a crash gem on it. The art style may not be all that appealing, but the gameplay is fun, making Puzzle Fighter one to watch out for. The game has soft launched in some territories and will be available in more regions later this year.
Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition
Final Fantasy XV has been available on PS4 and Xbox One for almost a year now, but the acclaimed RPG will be arriving to two more platforms very soon. Square Enix is releasing a PC port of the game in early 2018, but ahead of that, the open-world RPG is being adapted for mobile devices as Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition. Unlike the original title, Pocket Edition features a much cuter, chibi-esque visual style and will not be released as one continuous adventure, but rather in 10 episodes, the first of which will be free to download.
Despite the radically different visuals and structure, Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition is a surprisingly faithful port of the home console game. The story unfolds more or less the same way it did in the original title, only this time it plays out from an isometric perspective, which is much more suitable to mobile devices. The touch screen controls also work well, making Pocket Edition a solid way to experience Final Fantasy XV if you've yet to play it and just different enough to try out if you have already cleared the original.
Naruto X Boruto: Ninja Voltage
Bandai Namco had a pair of Naruto mobile games on display at New York Comic-Con this year, and the more intriguing of the two was Naruto X Boruto: Ninja Voltage. Ninja Voltage is an isometric action game. Players maneuver their party with a digital control stick through different fortresses, navigating their traps and battling enemies to reach the boss waiting at the end. The game features characters from Naruto Shippuden and the next generation series Boruto, each one boasting their own unique ninjutsu attacks and abilities.
What makes Ninja Voltage intriguing are its tower defense elements. Each fortress you invade features a different placement of traps and enemies. You can also customize your own fortress, as well as invade those created by other players. Ninja Voltage doesn't yet have a release date, but it'll be free to download when it launches on iOS and Android and will have optional microtransactions.
Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag
Sword Art Online lends itself particularly well to video games, and Memory Defrag is a pretty substantial mobile game based on the series. Bandai Namco says the game features approximately 70 characters so far, and each has a fairly sizable skill tree that can be upgraded to unlock new skills and attributes. It also offers an extensive amount of missions to complete, which take you through the story of both seasons one and two, as well as the Sword Art Online film.
More importantly, the game is fun to play thanks to its parry mechanic. Memory Defrag is a side-scrolling action game, and its missions typically involve defeating all the enemies in a stage. You move your character by holding the touch screen where you want them to go and attack by tapping, but if you hold down on the screen and swipe up just as an enemy attacks, you'll parry and be able to switch in another character for a critical attack. Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag is available now for free on iOS and Android devices.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing
Ultimate Ninja Blazing is the second mobile Naruto game Bandai Namco had on display at New York Comic-Con, and it differs considerably from Ninja Voltage. Where the latter is an action game with tower defense elements, Ultimate Ninja Blazing is a light 2D strategy game that features characters and story missions drawn from the original Naruto series and its follow-up, Naruto Shippuden, making it an enjoyable time-waster if you're a big fan of the franchise.
In Ultimate Ninja Blazing, you take up to six characters into a battle, three of which appear on the field at one time; the remaining three can be rotated in during a mission. To fight, you drag your party members to an enemy when it's their turn and watch as they automatically attack. The gameplay is very simple, though there's some depth to it; each character has a specific attack radius, and if you manage to place them near multiple enemies, they'll attack all of them during their turn. If another one of your party members also falls in the attack radius, they'll team up to launch a more powerful tandem attack. Like Sword Art Online: Memory Defrag, Ultimate Ninja Blazing is available right now on iOS and Android devices and is free to download.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Witcher franchise, and to celebrate, the most recent game in the series--The Witcher III: Wild Hunt--is going cheap on Xbox One, PS4, and PC in Europe.
Xbox Live Gold members can currently grab the base Witcher III game for £12.50 / €15 as part of this week's Deals with Gold, or the Game of the Year Edition (which includes all expansions and additional content) for £14 / €20. The expansion pass and individual add-ons are also on offer for Gold subscribers--head to the Xbox Store to see more. These prices will go back up (to around double what they are now) on October 24 at 11 AM BST.
PlayStation 4 players, meanwhile, can grab the base game for £12 / €15 or Game of the Year Edition for £16 / €20. You don't have to be a PS Plus subscriber to take advantage of these deals. These deals are good until October 25.
Finally, the game is going cheap on Steam right now. The base game is £12.49 / €15, while the GOTY version is £14 / €20. The Witcher III is also on sale in the US as part of Sony's horror-themed Sale of the Dead. Check out all this week's PS4, PS3, And PS Vita deals for more.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt launched in 2015 to critical acclaim. We awarded the game a 10/10, with critic Kevin VanOrd calling the open-world title "incredible and sumptuous."
He wrote: "Make no mistake: this is one of the best role-playing games ever crafted, a titan among giants and the standard-setter for all such games going forward. Where the Witcher 2 sputtered to a halt, The Witcher 3 is always in a crescendo, crafting battle scenarios that constantly one-up the last, until you reach the explosive finale and recover in the glow of the game's quiet denouement. But while the grand clashes are captivating, it is the moments between conflicts, when you drink with the local clans and bask in a trobairitz's song, that are truly inspiring." Read more in our full The Witcher III: Wild Hunt review.
Today during a livestream event, Microsoft made some big announcements about the Halo franchise, including new Xbox One X patches and ongoing support for Halo 5. We already knew that Halo 5 will receive an Xbox One X update, and today developer 343 confirmed that Halo Wars 2 is also getting patched to unlock "visual upgrades" on the new console. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is also getting an Xbox One X update, while players can also expect updates that include bug fixes and improvements.
Overall, 343 wants to "bring [Halo: MCC] forward and modernize many of the game's systems to take advantage of Xbox platform advancements since its original launch." The game had its share of serious struggles at launch, so it's nice to see support continue in this way, years after release.
As part of this, 343 is launching a "flighting" program for The Master Chief Collection whereby players can test new patches. This is scheduled to begin in Spring 2018. More details on the specifics will be announced later.
The other big news about Halo Wars 2 is that it's adding support for the Xbox Arena system. This feature, which debuted in May, allows players to create their own tournaments. Additionally, 343 is adding cross-play support between the Xbox One and PC versions of Halo Wars 2. All of these new features are scheduled to launch in "late October."
As for Halo 5, 343 announced an "Overtime" program for the game. This includes a number of new features, content, and support, starting with an Xbox One X update for the game that "takes advantage of the extra power of Xbox One X to deliver higher visual fidelity for players who have compatible hardware."
In terms of new content, 343 is rolling out the Oddball gametype, featuring new medals and voice cover. Additionally, there will be a big November update for Halo 5 that introduces a series of weapon balance changes. What's more, 343 is launching a new app for Windows 10 that lets players host a local server on the same network as their Xbox One that should ideally allow for a low-latency experience.
In other news, 343 has confirmed that the Halo World Championship event is returning in 2018, and as part of this the developer is launching team skins. There will also be skins based on some of the major countries and regions in the tournament, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Electronic Arts has announced some major news regarding one of its most anticipated upcoming games, as well as one of its oldest studios. EA revealed it will shut down Visceral Games, the studio responsible for the Dead Space series, among many other titles. Additionally, the single-player Star Wars game it had been working on will be overhauled and moved to a different EA studio, leaving a major name's future uncertain with the company.
"Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe," said Patrick Soderlund, executive VP of EA worldwide studios, in a post on EA's website. "In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game. Throughout the development process, we have been testing the game concept with players, listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace. It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design."
The untitled project will now be developed by EA Vancouver, which had already been working on the game. Soderlund says it will "maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life. Importantly, we are shifting the game to be a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency, leaning into the capabilities of our Frostbite engine and reimagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore."
However, as an unfortunate side effect of this change, Soderlund said EA "will be ramping down and closing" Visceral. It doesn't sound as if its entire staff will be laid off, as EA is "the midst of shifting as many of the team as possible to other projects and teams at EA." But this still marks the end for Visceral as we know it.
Due to the changes the game is undergoing, it has been delayed. It had been due out in EA's 2019 fiscal year, which runs from April 2018 through March 2019. Soderlund said, "We're now looking at a new timeframe that we will announce in the future." He also added, "We look forward to answering more of your questions, and sharing more on our plans and timeline for this new Star Wars experience, in the months to come."
The Star Wars game Visceral had in development was being headed up by Uncharted veteran Amy Hennig. When she spoke about it last year, she said it may be "spiritually similar" to Uncharted but that it will also be its own thing. It's unclear how or if she is still involved.
Update: It seems Hennig may no longer be involved with the project. Contacted for comment about her status, an EA spokesperson told GameSpot, "[W]e're in discussions with Amy about her next move." It declined to share any additional information beyond that.
The untitled Han Solo spin-off film is untitled no longer. With less than a year to go before its release, Lucasfilm has finally shared the official name of the movie, which is simply Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Director Ron Howard shared the name in a video posted on Twitter today. He notes that shooting has wrapped, thanks the crew, and says that he hopes fans have enjoyed seeing the photos he's shared from the set. He then references the fact that they still haven't named the film, prompting Chewbacca to hand him a board with the name and logo on it.
Solo: A Star Wars Story follows the same naming convention as the first Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Further spin-offs are also on the way, though specifics have not been shared. Among the possible characters they may feature are Obi-Wan, Boba Fett, and Yoda.
Few details have been shared about Solo. One of the aforementioned images that Howard has shared suggests we may see the Kessel Run. Beyond that, we don't know much except that it will provide insight into the life of a younger Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich). Solo's release date is set for May 25, 2018.
Destiny 2's PC version is almost here. Bungie's shooter lands on PC October 24, and now the developer has released a launch trailer for it and confirmed when it will be available to pre-load. All footage in the trailer above was captured on PC, presumably on a more-than-capable rig.
The game supports 4K resolution, uncapped frame rates, and custom key mapping. PC players can also adjust the field of view and use up to three monitors. There are also quite a few settings to play around with, including anti-aliasing, foliage detail distance, film grain, wind impulse, and motion blur, among many other things.
Destiny 2 for PC launches at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on October 24, exclusively through Blizzard's Battle.net. That's notable because it's the first non-Blizzard game to be offered through the company's PC service.
Bungie also confirmed on Twitter that that Destiny 2 for PC will be available to pre-load starting on October 18. That's good news for players looking to jump in precisely when the servers get switched on.
For lots and lots more on Destiny 2's PC version, check out GameSpot's roundup of everything you need to know about Destiny 2 PC. In that feature, we cover things like the game's minimum requirements and recommended specs, along with the control setup and more.
Of all the things that could spoil Justice League, could it really be a Big Bang Theory contest that revealed a major surprise from the film? That seems incredibly possible thanks to a new promotion the series is holding, which will send a lucky winner to the movie's Los Angeles premiere.
This following story contains possible spoilers for the upcoming film Justice League.
It was first pointed out on Reddit that as part of the contest, users must spin a wheel that includes the logos for the various Justice League members--Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman. However, a seventh logo was also included, which happens to belong to the Green Lantern. That's an interesting addition because, until this point, there has been no confirmation that a Green Lantern would appear in the film.
Interestingly though, this isn't the first time it's been hinted that a Lantern showing up in the movie is a possibility. An earlier trailer for Justice League included the movie's villain Steppenwolf speaking about how vulnerable the planet was, noting there were "no Lanterns" and "no Kryptonians" to protect it. While those who saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice know Superman died at the end of the film, it's also clear that he'll be returning at some point in this film.
Perhaps the same will go with the Lantern, given that a Green Lantern Corps movie is in the works for a 2020 release. There's no better way to drum up interest in that upcoming film than to include a Lantern--or possibly more than one--in Justice League.
Whatever the case, fans won't have to wait too long to find out whether or not a Green Lantern will be appearing in the film--or who would play the character. Justice League is in theaters on November 17.
The adaptation of popular manga series Lone Wolf and Cub has found a writer to pen its script. The project, which has been in the works on-and-off for over a decade at Paramount Pictures, has hired Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker to write the film. The screenwriter used Twitter to celebrate the news, simply tweeting an image from the manga.
This news was originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter, who points out that Justin Lin--the director behind four entries in the Fast and Furious franchise--is producing the adaptation, along with Kamala Films and Marissa McMahon. THR also notes that Lin is hoping to direct the feature.
The story follows a Shogun executioner who is left devastated when his entire house is murdered--save for his newborn son. He then raises the boy as a warrior with the two becoming assassins, while seeking out revenge against those behind the plot to kill their family.
This will not be the first time the manga has been adapted. Previously, six live-action movies were released in Japan between 1972 and 1974. A seventh film, 1980's Shogun Assassin, was dubbed in English for American and British audiences. Rather than producing a new film, Shogun Assassin was edited together using footage from the first and second movies.
This film comes after another Paramount adaptation of a manga--Ghost in the Shell--was met with average reviews from critics and opened to a lackluster box office performance. Lone Wolf and Cub currently has no scheduled release date.
Nintendo Switch's exclusive fighting game Arms has a new update out now. Version 3.2, announced last week, contains some new features, some balance changes, and more. Unfortunately, the character that many believed to be a new playable mecha version of Spring Man is not, in fact, a playable fighter. Instead, he's a new boss character called Springtron who appears in the latter stages of Grand Prix if you don't lose a match.
Despite the lack of a new playable fighter, version 3.2 includes a fair amount of content. The Badge feature rewards you for completing challenges such as winning your first Grand Prix or playing a number of matches with one character. There's also a new Recent Replays feature, which saves replays from your most recent matches so you can watch them back. Make sure you watch any important matches back relatively quickly, however, since Nintendo says "replay data is automatically deleted when necessary, starting with the oldest data." Updating Arms will also delete all stored replay data.
Meanwhile Lola Pop, who was added last month in an update, has received a buff in this latest patch--her movement speed has been increased. In fact, many fighters have received boosts in speed; take a look at the full patch notes at the bottom of this article.
Receive neat badges as a reward for fulfilling certain conditions.
Wear your favorite badge and show it off to your opponent.
Added new Recent Replays feature.
Select from a list and view replays of past matches.
Replay data is automatically deleted when necessary, starting with the oldest data.
Also, future ARMS updates will cause all replay data from past versions to be deleted.
During replay playback, ZR will no longer switch between targets. The X button instead is used for all camera angle switching.
During replay playback, + - buttons no longer toggle HP gauge display, and instead now bring up the menu.
Fixed issue where, at certain timings, follow up attacks after wind attacks would not land.
Fixed issue where, after suffering an ice attack, players on a snake board could repeatedly jump and the snake board would continuously accelerate.
Fixed issue where, when battle rules are set to 1-punch KO, under certain conditions fighters would become unable to move.
We've identified an interloper who has been disrupting the Grand Prix, going after our fiercest competitors. If encountered, we advise you to dispatch them with prejudice.
Adjusted the abilities of certain fighters and Arms as follows.
Fighters / Arms
Adjustments
Lola Pop
It's already been one month since she joined Arms. Her beginner's nerves have faded away, giving her increased movement speed during air dashes. Increased movement speed during high jump. Increased movement speed when bounding. Adjusted speed when descending.
Byte & Barq
Decreased time interval between Byte and Barq's respective attacks.
Max Brass
Decreased expansion rate of attacks when buffed up. Increased distance from which he can approach targets.
Megawatt
Increased expansion rate when extending. Increased extension speed. Increased expansion rate of charge attacks.
Slamamander
Increased extension speed.
Biffler
Increased retraction speed. Increased floatiness of jump attacks.
Boomerang Coolerang
Increased expansion rate of charge attacks.
Revolver
Increased retraction speed.
Retorcher
Increased retraction speed. Adjusted path followed when extending.
Nade
Fixed online play issue where explosive damage would trigger twice.
Whammer Kablammer
Increased speed of charge attacks.
Blorb
Increased expansion rate when extending. Increased time needed to finish expanding.
Chilla
Decreased homing ability.
Tribolt
Decreased speed of charge attacks. Increased time needed to finish expanding. Fixed multiple online play issues.
A division of Sony is to publish video games for, among other consoles, Switch, the company has announced. Sony Music Entertainment has launched a new publishing label called Unties, whose upcoming projects include a game, titled Tiny Metal, that's coming to Nintendo's hybrid console as well as PC and PS4.
Unties has so far revealed three more projects: one for PS4 and two listed for "PC / TBA," hinting they could come to other platforms later on. Sony Music says the label has been set up "to unearth high-quality [indie] titles … and utilize SME's vast entertainment business wisdom in order to expose them to as many consumers as possible." It went on to say it intends "to free creators from the myriad ties that bind them when it comes to publishing their games" and "make free, limitless publishing a reality."
This isn't the first time Sony has published games on non-PlayStation consoles: Sony Online Entertainment previously published games such as PlanetSide 2 and Payday: The Heist on PC. SOE, which was separate to the PlayStation brand and Sony Interactive Entertainment, was later sold off and renamed Daybreak, no longer a part of Sony.
It's interesting, then, to see Sony--albeit, again, not the PlayStation or SIE division--entering the multiplatform publishing business once more, this time on a rival company's console. For more, check out some images of Tiny Metal above or a trailer here.
Unlike its predecessor, Destiny 2 will release on PC. Although players have had to wait longer for it, there's not too long left now. Destiny 2 doesn't launch on PC until October 24, and for those of you that didn't pick it up on Xbox One and PS4, the PC version features a variety of improvements and differences compared with its console counterparts. To help you get an idea of what to expect from the PC release of Bungie's hotly anticipated sequel, we've gathered all of the essential details below. Take a look and you'll find detailed information on everything from what's different, to recommended PC hardware specs, and how it works with Blizzard's Battle.net client.
Unfortunately, if you didn't try it already, the Destiny 2 PC beta has already passed. For more on the game, check out our Destiny 2 review. We also have tons of Destiny 2 guides, tips, and tricks for those who have already begun playing on consoles or are simply looking to get a head start on how things will work on PC.
Destiny 2 PC Release Date and Differences
The PC version is confirmed to have release date on October 24, while the Xbox One and PS4 versions are already out, having launched on September 6. Bungie has announced the game's servers will become available at 10 AM PT on October 24, which works out to 1 PM ET / 2 PM BRT / 6 PM BST / and 4 AM the next day in Australia.
In terms of actual playable content, everything is the same on PC--with one exception. Sony's timed-exclusive content for Destiny 2 affects not just Xbox One players, but those on PC. The PS4 version comes with an extra Strike, Crucible map, and some items that will not be available on other platforms for at least one year. There's no precise date for it yet, but after PlayStation-exclusive content in Destiny 1 remained exclusive for longer than expected, Bungie has explicitly stated that this Destiny 2 content will be out by the end of 2018.
Destiny 2 PC Minimum Requirements and Recommended Specs
While there may be changes made for the final release, Destiny 2's PC beta brought a list of minimum and recommended system specs. Additionally, Bungie provided a list of hardware for those looking to upgrade their systems, with CPU and GPU minimums and recommendations.
Texture Anisotropy (Anisotropic Filtering, up to 16x)
Texture Quality
Shadow Quality
Depth of Field
Environmental Detail Distance
Character Detail Distance
Foliage Detail Distance
Foliage Shadow Distance
Light Shafts
Motion Blur
Wind Impulse
Render Resolution
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
Chromatic Aberration
Film Grain
Destiny 2 PC Control Scheme
The PC version uses a relatively straightforward control scheme, which you can see in the image below. It's worth noting that the controls are completely customizable.
Destiny 2 Doesn't Use Dedicated Servers
Unfortunately, the game will use peer-to-peer servers. However, this doesn't work quite the same as in the previous game; when Bungie explained why Destiny 2 doesn't use dedicated servers, it noted that you'll never run into a host migration situation.
Destiny 2 PC Impressions
During our hands-on time with the game, we found the mouse and keyboard support to be a welcome addition. It enhanced the overall feel of multiplayer, though it did seem to make the single-player portions we played easier than we anticipated. You can check out our analysis of the PC beta for a technical look at the game; for further impressions of the PC version, watch the video below.
If you're hoping the game is dramatically different from the original Destiny, you may be in for a disappointment, but those seeking a refined version of that game will likely be pleased. You can read our impressions of the full game on console in our Destiny 2 review diary and Destiny 2 review-in-progress.
Destiny 2 Uses Blizzard Battle.net
Destiny 2 uses Blizzard's desktop app. It's the first game not directly developed by Blizzard to appear on the platform. Activision and Blizzard have changed its name several times recently, but moving forward it will be referred to as Blizzard Battle.net.
Destiny Progress Doesn't Transfer to Destiny 2
Unfortunately, Destiny 1 power, possessions, and Eververse-related items and currency will not transfer over. While your character's appearance will not be abandoned in the sequel for console owners, there's no word if it'll support any kind of transfer from console to PC.
We're now well into October, and if you haven't already done so, there's a new batch of free PlayStation Plus games for this month to claim. Anyone who subscribes to Plus have a total of six games to download, spread evenly across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Vita--although PS4 owners undoubtedly have the best selection.
October's highlight is undoubtedly the headlining PS4 game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Its predecessor, Ground Zeroes, was offered previously, but The Phantom Pain is a far more substantial experience. While not the end of the Metal Gear series--there's still the upcoming Metal Gear Survive, at the very least--The Phantom Pain is the last game to feature the participation of Hideo Kojima, who created the franchise.
Additionally, PS4's freebies include one that's perfect with Halloween coming up.Amnesia Collection is also free; it's a compilation of two different horror games: Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. An additional two games can be had for free on PS4 this month, thanks to Cross-Buy being supported by October's Vita games, Sky Force Anniversary and Hue. This month's offerings are rounded out by the two free PS3 games, Hustle Kings and Monster Jam Battlegrounds. PS3 owners also get access to Sky Force Anniversary, which actually supports three-way Cross-Buy.
Time is running out forThat's You, a freebie that has been around for a while now but exits the free rotation on October 24. Another going free game, the PSVR title RIGS, will return to its regular price on November 7.
Finally, Plus members get into the closed beta for Hand of the Gods, Smite developer Hi-Rez Studios' new game. To help get started, Plus subscribers can download a DLC pack that includes various freebies to help them get started.
All of these freebies are up for download on the PlayStation Store right now. They can be claimed either through the respective systems or on the PSN website.
After launching for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September, Bungie's Destiny 2 comes out for PC on October 24. Today, Bungie announced the game's exact unlock time and revealed the final PC requirements. Servers will become available at 10 AM PT on October 24, which works out to 1 PM ET / 2 PM BRT / 6 PM BST / and 4 AM the next day in Australia. Check out the map below to find out precisely when Destiny 2 unlocks where you live.
Bungie also today announced the final minimum and recommended specs for Destiny 2, following the preliminary specs from the beta last month. You need 68 GB of free space to install Destiny 2, while Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 are supported operating systems. You can check out the full minimum and recommended specs in the image below, which Bungie shared in its latest weekly blog post today.
The PC version of Destiny 2 will be available at physical retailers and through Blizzard's Battle.net, but not Steam or other digital stores. That's notable because Destiny 2 is the first non-Blizzard game to be offered on Blizzard's PC gaming platform. For more on the PC edition of Destiny 2, check out GameSpot's roundup of everything you need to know.
Bungie has also said it is working on fixing Destiny 2's black screen issue. In the meantime, it has detailed two workarounds that can help alleviate the issue. A new hotfix for the game--1.0.3.2.--was out this week, and it fixed issues involving The Tower crashing when players load into it. This is separate from the black screen issue mentioned above.
Also of note is that Fullbright's adventure/exploration game Gone Home is free on Xbox One all month long. You can see the full rundown for October 2017's Games With Gold lineup below. Click any link and it will bring you to the game's Xbox.com download page.
Microsoft should roll out a fresh set of weekly Xbox One and Xbox 360 deals in the next day, so keep checking back with GameSpot for more. Also, you can see October 2017's free PlayStation Plus games here.
Assassin's Creed Origins' release is drawing near, and developer Ubisoft has revealed the minimum PC specs and system requirements you'll need to play. The company says that optimizing the game for PC play has been very important, as has making the game accessible to players on a wide variety of systems.
"The PC version was developed in parallel with all the other versions by the main team in Montreal, in collaboration with our PC-dedicated team in Ubisoft Kiev," said Jose Araiza, the coordinating producer on Assassin's Creed Origins. "This approach was adopted while the game features were being designed, making PC and mouse-and-keyboard controls a full part of the equation from the get-go."
Araiza said the minimum system requirements will be the same as Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which released two years ago. "This means that the range of supported machines is wider than ever," he said.
Assassin's Creed Origins comes out on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on October 27. It's the latest instalment in a series that has been around for a decade, and if you need help catching up on the story, check out our look back at every Assassin's Creed game. In the meantime, here are the minimum and recommended system requirements.
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX-6350 @ 3.9 GHz or equivalent
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD R9 270 (2048 MB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0 or better)
RAM: 6GB
Resolution: 720p
Video Preset: Lowest
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
The next pair of Pokemon games, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, are quickly approaching their November 17 release date, and ahead of their launch, Nintendo has been giving away a ton of free items and Pokemon for the previous Sun and Moon versions. Many of the giveaways have already ended, but there are still plenty of rare freebies for Sun and Moon players to get their hands on.
We've rounded up all of the distributions that are currently running for Pokemon Sun and Moon, as well as a few that will be available for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon when those versions launch. We'll be updating this list as more giveaways are announced, so check back often to see what free items and Pokemon you can get.
Pokemon Sun/Moon Free Gifts
Mega Stones -- Ends Oct. 31
Mega Stones are exceptionally rare and valuable in Pokemon Sun and Moon. When equipped to their corresponding Pokemon, Mega Stones allow it to Mega Evolve during battle, often changing its type and giving it a considerable stat boost. Nintendo is giving away several batches of Mega Stones that aren't normally available in Sun and Moon, all of which are redeemable via a universal download code. Input the following codes in Mystery Gift by October 31 and you'll receive these Mega Stones:
Players in the US can pick up a free download code for Charizard from the electronics department in Target stores. The popular Fire-type Pokemon comes at level 50, is equipped with the Red Card item, and knows the moves Dragon Dance, Flare Blitz, Fly, and Earthquake. As with other download codes, you need to input your code via Mystery Gift to receive Charizard. The distribution runs until October 14, and you have until February 4, 2018 to redeem your code.
Marshadow -- Ends Oct. 23
For a very limited time, players can pick up a free download code for the Mythical Pokemon Marshadow. Those in the US can get the code from GameStop, while players in the UK will have to visit "participating retailers." This is the first legitimate way Sun and Moon players can obtain the rare Fighting/Ghost-type, which comes at level 50 and is equipped with Marshadium Z. It also knows the attacks Spectral Thief, Close Combat, Force Palm, and Shadow Ball.
Pikachu
To celebrate the release of the Pokemon series' 20th anniversary film, Pokemon The Movie: I Choose You, The Pokemon Company is giving away six different versions of Ash's Pikachu for Sun and Moon. To receive a Pikachu, enter the code PIKACHU20 in Mystery Gift. However, you can only receive one of the six Pikachu, and the version you get depends on when you enter the code. The full Pikachu distribution schedule is below.
Players who purchase either Pokemon Gold or Silver from the 3DS Eshop by September 21, 2018 will receive a bonus download code for the Mythical Pokemon Celebi. The code can be redeemed in Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon. We've outlined the steps you need to take to find and redeem the code here.
Magearna
Unlike other Mythical Pokemon, the Steel/Fairy-type Magearna is available not through Mystery Gift, but via a QR code. After defeating the Elite Four and completing the main story, you can use the QR Scanner feature to scan the below code. After doing so, visit the Antiques shop in Hau'oli City and pick your Magearna up from the deliveryman waiting there. The Mythical Pokemon comes at level 50 and knows the moves Fleur Cannon, Flash Cannon, Lucky Chant, and Helping Hand.
Shiny Silvally -- Ends Nov. 13
Beginning October 23, players in the US and Canada can pick up a free download code for a shiny Silvally from GameStop and EB Games stores. The distribution will run until November 13. Players in the UK will also have a chance to get the rare Pokemon at participating GAME stores from November 3-16.
Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Free Gifts
Rockruff -- Ends Jan. 10, 2018
Purchase either Pokemon Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon by January 10 and you'll receive a special Rockruff as a free bonus. This Rockruff will only evolve into Dusk Form Lycanroc, a new variant of the popular wolf Pokemon that is exclusive to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
This post has been updated.
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