The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play original Xbox and Xbox 360 games on the current-gen console. But what games are available? We've rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available to the extensive list. More are added regularly, although new original Xbox games will be less common. [Updated October 16 with three more games.]
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Lineup:
Xbox
New titles are bolded
Black
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
BloodRayne 2
Breakdown
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Dead to Rights
Destroy All Humans
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Full Spectrum Warrior
Fuzion Frenzy
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jade Empire
The King of Fighters Neowave
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
MX Unleashed
Ninja Gaiden Black
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory (Europe only)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Psychonauts
Red Faction II
Sid Meier's Pirates
SSX 3
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Xbox 360
New titles are bolded
0 Day Attack on Earth
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
A Kingdom for Keflings
A World of Keflings
Aegis Wing
Age of Booty
Alan Wake
Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Alice: Madness Returns
Alien Hominid HD
Altered Beast
Anomaly Warzone Earth
Arkanoid Live
Army of Two
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed III
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Assault Heroes 2
Asteroids & Deluxe
AstroPop
Aqua
Axel & Pixel (not available for purchase)
Babel Rising
Band of Bugs
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts
Banjo Tooie
Banjo Kazooie
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield: Bad Company
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 1943
BattleBlock Theater
Battlestations: Midway
Bayonetta
Beat'n Groovy
Bejeweled 2
Bejeweled 3
Bellator: MMA Onslaught
Beyond Good & Evil HD
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
BioShock
BioShock 2
BioShock Infinite
Bloodforge
Blood Knights
Blood of the Werewolf
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Blue Dragon
Bomberman Live: Battlefest
Boom Boom Rocket
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Bound by Flame
Braid
Brain Challenge
Bullet Soul
Bullet Soul: Infinite Burst
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Burnout Paradise
Burnout Revenge
Cabela's Alaskan Adventures
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
Cabela's Hunting Expeditions
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood -- added September 25
Call of Juarez: The Cartel -- added September 25
Call of Juarez Gunslinger
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
Carcassonne
Cars: Mater-National Championship
Cars 2
Castle Crashers
Castlestorm
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Catherine
The Cave
Centipede & Millipede
Child of Light
Civilization: Revolution
Clannad
Commanders: Attack of the Genos
Comic Jumper
Comix Zone
Condemned
Contra
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Crackdown
Crazy Taxi
Crysis -- added October 16
Crysis 2 -- added October 16
Crysis 3 -- added October 16
Crystal Quest
Crystal Defenders
Cyber Troopers Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram
The Darkness II
Dark Souls
Dark Void
Darksiders
Darksiders II
Daytona USA
de Blob 2
Dead Rising 2: Case West
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3
Dead Space Ignition
Deadfall Adventures
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Deadly Premonition
Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue
Defense Grid
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Dig Dug
Dirt 3
Dirt Showdown
Discs of Tron
Disney Bolt
Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Divinity II
Domino Master
Doom
Doom II
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Doritos Crash Course
Double Dragon: Neon
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age II
Dragon's Lair
Driver: San Franciso
DuckTales Remastered
Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Dungeon Siege III
E4: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Earthworm Jim HD
Earth Defense Force 2017
Earth Defense Force 2025
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Encleverment Experiment
Escape Dead Island
F1 2014
Fable Anniversary
Fable Heroes
Fable II
Fable II Pub Games
Fable III
Faery: Legends of Avalon
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 3
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
Feeding Frenzy
Feeding Frenzy 2
Fight Night Champion
Fighting Vipers
Final Fight: Double Impact
Flashback
Flock
Forza Horizon
Fret Nice
Frogger
Frogger 2
FunTown Mahjong
Galaga
Galaga Legions
Galaga Legions DX
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Gatling Gears
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
Gears of War: Judgment
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
Gin Rummy
Girl Fight
Goat Simulator
Golden Axe
Go! Go! Break Steady
Golf: Tee It Up
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grid 2
Grid Autosport
Gripshift
Guardian Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
Guwange
Gyromancer
Gyruss
Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 3
Halo 3: ODST Campaign Edition
Halo 4
Halo: Reach
Halo: Spartan Assault
Halo Wars
Hard Corps: Uprising
Hardwood Backgammon
Hardwood Hearts
Hardwood Spades
Harms Way
Haunted House
Heavy Weapon
Hexic 2
Hexic HD
Hitman: Absolution
Hitman: Blood Money
Hydro Thunder
I Am Alive
Ikaruga
Ilomilo
Injustice: Gods Among Us + disc-only Ultimate Edition
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
Iron Brigade
Jeremy McGrath's Offroad
Jet Set Radio
Jetpac Refuelled
Jewel Quest
Joe Danger Special Edition
Joe Danger 2: The Movie
Joust
Joy Ride Turbo
Juju
Jurassic Park: The Game
Just Cause 2
Kameo
Kane & Lynch 2
Killer Is Dead
The King of Fighters '98
The King of Fighters 2002
KOF Sky Stage
Lazy Raiders
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Limbo
Lode Runner
Lost Odyssey
Lumines Live!
Luxor 2
Mad Tracks
Mafia II
Magic: The Gathering 2012
Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
Mars: War Logs
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath, and Beyond
The Maw
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Meet the Robinsons
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Solid: HD Edition (MGS 2 and MGS 3) -- added October 9
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Edition
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug XX
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midway Arcade Origins
Might & Magic Clash of Heroes
Military Madness
Mirror's Edge
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Missile Command
Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
Monday Night Combat
Monkey Island: SE
Monkey Island 2: SE
Monopoly Deal
Moon Diver
Motocross Madness
Ms. Splosion Man
Ms Pac-Man
Mutant Blobs Attack
Mutant Storm Empire
Mutant Storm Reloaded
MX vs. ATV Reflex
N+
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
Neogeo Battle Coliseum
Nights Into Dreams
Of Orcs and Men
Omega Five
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
The Orange Box
Overlord
Overlord II
Outland
Pac-Man
Pac-Man C.E
Pac-Man CE DX+
Pac-Man Museum
Peggle
Peggle 2
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark Zero
Persona 4 Arena
Phantasy Star II
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
Pinball FX
Planets Under Attack
Plants vs. Zombies
Poker Smash
Portal: Still Alive
Portal 2
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia (2008)
Prey
Pure
Putty Squad
Puzzle Quest
Puzzle Quest 2
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
QIX++ Puzzlegeddon
Rage
Raiden IV
Raskulls
Rayman 3 HD
Rayman Legends
Rayman Origins
Red Dead Redemption
Red Faction: Armageddon
Red Faction: Battlegrounds
RoboBlitz
Rocket Knight
Rockstar's Table Tennis
R-Type Dimensions
Runner 2
Sacred 3
Sacred Citadel
Saints Row
Saints Row 2
Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row IV
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
Sam & Max: Beyond Time & Space
Sam & Max Save the World
Samurai Shodown II
Scarygirl
Scrap Metal
ScreamRide
Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl
Sensible World of Soccer
Shadow Assault/Tenchu
Shadow Complex
Shadowrun
Shadows of the Damned
Shank 2
Shinobi
Shred Nebula
Shotest Shogi
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill HD Collection
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Sine Mora
Skate 3
Skullgirls
Skydive
Slender: The Arrival
Small Arms
Sniper Elite V2
Soltrio Solitaire
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic CD
Sonic The Fighters
Sonic Generations
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic The Hedgehog 3
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II
Soulcalibur
Soulcalibur II
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Space Ark
Space Giraffe
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Spec Ops: The Line
Spelunky
The Splatters
Split/Second
Splosion Man
SSX
Stacking
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Steins; Gate 比翼恋理のだーりん (Japan only)
Steins; Gate (オリジナル版) (Japan only)
Steins; Gate 線形拘束のフェノグラム (Japan-only, requires game disc)
Strania
Street Fighter IV
Stuntman: Ignition
Super Contra
Super Meat Boy
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
Supreme Commander 2
Syberia
Tecmo Bowl Throwback
Tekken 6
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Texas Hold 'Em
Ticket to Ride
TimeShift
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Torchlight
Tour de France 2009
Tour de France 2011
Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers Cold War
Toy Story 3
Toybox Turbos
Tower Bloxx Deluxe
Trials HD
Trine 2
Tron: Evolution
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
Unbound Saga
Undertow
Vanquish
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Season 2 - A Telltale Games Series
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
Microsoft has been rolling out backwards compatible games for Xbox One on a near-weekly basis, and that continues this week with another new batch of BC titles. Three more Xbox 360 games are now playable on the current-gen console, and this time, they all hail from Crytek's critically acclaimed first-person shooter series, Crysis.
All three main installments in the series--Crysis, Crysis 2, and Crysis 3--can now be played on Xbox One. Renowned for their stunning, cutting-edge visuals, each game casts players in the role of a Nanosuit-clad soldier battling against alien invaders known as Ceph. The original in particular is widely regarded as one of the best first-person shooters of its time; GameSpot awarded the Xbox 360 version an 8/10 in our original Crysis review, in which we wrote, "It's absolutely attractive on its new platforms. More importantly, shooting humans and aliens amid lush jungle foliage and frigid ravines is as entertaining as ever."
If you still have a physical copy of any of the titles around, you can simply pop the disc into your Xbox One to initiate a download, allowing you to begin playing. If you've owned any of the games digitally, they'll automatically show up in the Ready to Download section of the console's My Games and Apps menu. All three are also available to purchase from the Microsoft Store for $20 each.
Since Microsoft first introduced Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, more than 400 Xbox 360 titles and 30 original Xbox games have been made playable on the console. You can see all of the BC titles in our full list of backwards compatible games. If you need recommendations on which ones to revisit, be sure to also check out our gallery of the best Xbox One backwards compatible games.
Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man launched to a warm reception, but fans of the PS4 exclusive have long been clamoring for a New Game Plus mode. In September 2018, Insomniac teased that the mode was in the works, and now the developer has revealed New Game Plus is on its way.
In a tweet, Insomniac said that New Game Plus is "coming soon" as a part of a new update. It was initially thought that Update 1.07 would launch on October 17, but Insomniac has since clarified that is not the case.
On October 23, The Heist--which is the first piece of a three-part DLC expansion called The City That Never Sleeps--launches. According to Insomniac, the DLC adds new story missions where a robbery "entangles Spider-Man and MJ with an old flame from Peter Parker's past, Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat." Felicia is a part of a side-quest in Marvel's Spider-Man, but only appears in recorded messages. This DLC marks her first major role in the game.
The Heist also adds a new faction of enemies for Spidey to take on, as well as more challenges to complete and PlayStation Trophies to earn. Three new suits--Scarlet Spider II, Resilient, and Spider-UK--will also be added. Spider-Man enthusiasts might recognize these suits from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show and Spider-Verse comic book series. The Peter Parker from Marvel's Spider-Man recently joined the expanded Spider-Verse in Spider-Geddon and his suit shows up in the upcoming Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film.
In traditional Pokemon games, you set off on a journey to become a Pokemon Master alongside a rival, with whom you'll frequently battle as you make your way to the Pokemon League. That's certainly still the case in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, but unlike your smug foe in the original Yellow version, your rival in the Switch games is much friendlier, offering you advice and even occasionally gifting you items when you run into each other.
This isn't new for the series; while your rivals in Pokemon Red and Blue and their follow-ups, Gold and Silver, were straight-up jerks, all of them since have been much friendlier toward you--particularly Hau and Lillie from Pokemon Sun and Moon, both of whom would also frequently give you items to help you along. During our recent interview with Pokemon director Junichi Masuda, we asked why it seems like the series has been shying away from the meaner rivals of earlier games.
"I think the biggest reason that rivals were more of a jerk in the early days is that we were just limited in what we could express with the pixel graphics," Masuda told GameSpot through an interpreter. "There's not much that you can do with that kind of little sprite on the screen, so we worked harder to characterize them through dialogue and give them certain personalities.
"Also, because it's just dialogue and there's not a whole lot going on on the screen, it doesn't give as harsh of an impression even if they're jerks, I think. Now we have HD graphics and the visuals are much more impressive. If you also made him a jerk, the impression would be a lot stronger on players. Another thing, just my own personal take, is that it feels that people with those kinds of personalities these days are just not as accepted by players as they were back then."
Destiny 2 is kicking off a few different special events today, the most limited of which is the return of the Iron Banner. The special event ends on October 23 and offers a bounty of prizes for completing its challenges in the Crucible. Best of all, those challenges have been made substantially easier this time around.
The easier bounties should mean you stand a better chance at completing multiple versions of them, and you can earn a piece of Powerful Gear for each one. Each bounty you complete also allows you to buy a corresponding piece of Iron Banner gear with "curated" perks. You can see these, along with all of the Iron Banner rewards, in our gallery.
On top of that, Masterwork Cores will be easier to come by, thanks to Double Valor from October 16-19, followed by Triple Valor from October 19-23. Bungie has previously said it wanted to make Masterwork Cores more available, and soon it will be changing the name to better reflect their current function in the game.
The newly revised Iron Banner bounties are:
Lightbearer: Super kills has been reduced to 20 from 25
Iron in the Blood: Match completions has been reduced to 15 from 30
Shine On: Orbs generated has been reduced to 50 from 100
Iron Victory: Match wins has been reduced to 7 from 10
To Be Precise: Precision kills has been reduced to 50 from 100
All in a Week's Work: Kills has been reduced to 150 from 250
In the Zone: Capture 50 zones in Iron Banner (unchanged)
The Iron Banner isn't the only event starting this week. The annual Halloween-themed event Festival of the Lost kicks off today as well. It includes a story-based murder mystery quest, a spooky Haunted Forest horde mode with a 15-minute timer, Ephemeral Engrams with new cosmetic rewards, a Legendary auto rifle called the Horror Story, and lots of creepy decorations adorning the Tower. It all comes alongside the 2.0.4 update, which has some balance changes and bug fixes of its own.
With the sheer number of new Pokemon Game Freak regularly introduces to the series, there are inevitably some that get left on the cutting room floor. We recently got a glimpse at a handful of unused designs from the original Red and Blue versions, but the most shocking cut Pokemon we learned about was one dubbed "Gorochu," which was originally intended to be another evolution for Pikachu after Raichu.
Ultimately, Gorochu was cut from the titles before their release, and Game Freak would go on to introduce a pre-evolution for Pikachu instead in its follow-up games, Gold and Silver. Now that Pikachu back in the limelight thanks to the upcoming Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee for Nintendo Switch, could we see its long-lost evolution Gorochu come back in some form? Not likely, according to Pokemon director Junichi Masuda.
"None of the Pokemon that we worked on, got to a point, and then discarded them have actually ever re-appeared yet, so I would say the chances are low," Masuda explained to GameSpot through an interpreter. According to Masuda, one of the reason Pokemon such as Gorochu end up being cut is that they don't fit into the game world.
"[W]e always have this base criteria at Game Freak of being able to explain why a certain Pokemon is in the world or why it exists in that world, trying to make it feel believable within the fantasy," Masuda said. "And usually the ones that get rejected are Pokemon that we weren't able to justify, I think. Usually there's a reason for why they weren't implemented, and as long as that reason still exists, they probably won't be put in the game.
"We always say Pokemon isn't a 'character game.' It's not a game where it's just the characters, but it's a game that shows this world where these living creatures are existing in a space. That's kind of a slight nuance, but that's what we always try to go for at Game Freak. It's not good enough that they're just cute. They have to have something more to it."
With the weekly reset comes another Ascendant Challenge in Destiny 2: Forsaken. However, it appears that we've now seen every different version of this activity included in Forsaken, as we're back to the original Week 1 version of the event. Here's where to go and what to do.
As always, the Ascendant Challenge starts out with acquiring the corresponding bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City. You'll also need a Tincture of Queensfoil, a consumable item you can earn by taking part in certain activities in the Dreaming City (or you can outright buy one). Once you have both the bounty and a Tincture, you'll head to a Lost Sector, Aphelion's Rest, which is located in The Strand, just beneath the area where Petra is sometimes found. Using a Tincture will grant you a buff, Ascendance, that allows you to see a Taken portal. This one is located partway through the Lost Sector, atop a hill--it's hard to miss if you've used your Tincture.
Jumping into the portal takes you to the Ascendant Plane's Ouroborea. There, you'll have to explore the area to find four different blights. Enter the dome and destroy its core; you'll know you've done it when it disappears and the text "a seal breaks" pops up in the bottom-left corner. Once you've dealt with all the blights, you'll go back toward the center to destroy crystals (whose protective shield has been temporarily dropped). Just beware the knights who will chase you around as you do this--your best bet is to keep moving in a circle, which should let you destroy the crystals without allowing the knights to get too close.
Although the chest is unlikely to have any worthwhile rewards, finishing the Ascendant Challenge also completes the bounty you picked up from Petra. That rewards you with a piece of Powerful gear that is highly desirable, making this all worth the trouble, provided you're capable of getting it done.
Although this Ascendant Challenge is not a new one, there is a lot happening in Destiny 2 right now. Iron Banner is back for this week, and a new update has been released. Most importantly, though, Festival of the Lost is now active until November 6, bringing a new Haunted Forest activity, new rewards, and more to take part in.
The PlayStation Store's latest sale on digital PS4 games is now live, offering big savings on games like Destiny 2: Forsaken, Fallout 4, and a wide selection of PSVR titles. As usual, PlayStation Plus members get an additional discount on many of the games and expansions. Let's dive in and take a look at what games we can save money on between now and October 23.
Destiny 2: Forsaken - Legendary Collection, which comes with everything released so far for the online shooter, is down to $39. If you already own vanilla Destiny 2, you can pick up the Forsaken expansion for $34 (thankfully, you no longer need to purchase the Year 1 expansions separately to play it). This deal comes just in time to take advantage of the Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost event, during which you can collect spooky/silly masks, Ghosts, Sparrows, and other gear.
All things Fallout are on sale this week at the PlayStation Store, because the Bombs Drop Sale is running all week. You can get Fallout 4 for $15, or the game and all of the expansions with Fallout 4: GotY Edition for $30. Individual expansions are also on sale, as are the Fallout games and DLC for PS3.
One of the inherent appeals of the Pokemon series is collecting the eponymous pocket monsters, but moving your Pokemon between games has always been complicated by the fact that the franchise spans multiple generations of hardware. Developer Game Freak has made strides in simplifying this process with the Pokemon Bank service and Poke Transporter tool, allowing players to store all of their monsters in one place and access them across every mainline 3DS Pokemon title.
With the upcoming Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee games for Nintendo Switch, the Pokemon series is once again jumping to new hardware. While the titles support connectivity with Pokemon Go, giving you the ability to transfer certain monsters from the mobile game for the first time, it remains to be seen if you'll be able to carry the Pokemon you capture in Let's Go over to the next Switch Pokemon RPG slated to arrive in 2019. Asked whether Game Freak was looking at allowing Pokemon to move between Let's Go and the next core entry, Pokemon director Junichi Masuda assures that the development team is working to make that possible.
"We're definitely always thinking of that kind of forward-moving functionality, especially since we've introduced Pokemon Bank," Masuda told GameSpot through an interpreter. "Now, up to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you're able to store your Pokemon, and we know they're very important to everyone. I mean, obviously, people would be very sad if they couldn't use their Pokemon in a future game. So, it does get complicated when you talk about the details and we're still figuring it out, but we do have plans to find ways to let players use their Pokemon in the next game."
We still know very little about the 2019 Pokemon game, but The Pokemon Company announced it will release in the latter half of that year. Unlike Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, both of which streamline some of the series' mechanics to make it more accessible to newer and younger players, the 2019 game will be a "core" title more akin to those that released on 3DS, which presumably means that some of the elements that were removed from Let's Go--such as abilities and held items--will return.
The first post-launch content for Insomniac's PS4 Spider-Man game is nearly here. The Heist, the first of three planned DLC chapters in The City That Never Sleeps series, is set to arrive next Tuesday, October 23, bringing a slew of new enemies, missions, and challenges to take on. It also adds a trio of new suits, which we've now gotten our first look at. [Update: Insomniac announced on Twitter that Spider-Man's 1.07 update will not arrive on October 17 as originally planned, but is now slated as "coming soon." The story has been amended to reflect that.]
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Insomniac unveiled the three new Spider-Man suits players will be able to get in The Heist. Like most of the other suits in the game, two of them are drawn directly from the comics: the red and black suit from Scarlet Spider II, as well as the Spider-UK suit from the Spider-Verse. Rounding out the trio is the Resilient Suit, an original design by Marvel illustrator Gabriele Dell'Otto. You can take a look at all three below.
The Scarlet Spider II suit, Resilient Suit, and Spider-UK suit
The Heist centers around Peter Parker's love interest/villain, Felicia Hardy--better known as Black Cat. It will be followed by two more DLC chapters later this year: Turf Wars, which will arrive in November, and Silver Lining, which is slated to release in December. You can purchase The Heist individually for $10 USD, or get all three chapters together in The City That Never Sleeps bundle for $25.
That isn't the extent of the new content on the way to Marvel's Spider-Man. Insomniac is also planning to roll out the game's 1.07 update "soon," which will add New Game Plus mode, allowing you to play through the story again with all of the suits, gadgets, and skills you've unlocked. The update will also introduce two new trophies to earn, as well as an Ultimate Difficulty setting for an even greater challenge.
Marvel's Spider-Man was met with critical and commercial success when it launched for PS4 last month. GameSpot awarded it a 9/10 in our Spider-Man review and called it "a superior Spider-Man experience that leaves a lasting impression." The game has also been a big hit with fans, breaking sales records and having one of the highest Platinum trophy completion rates on PS4.
Epic Games has released the patch notes for Fortnite's 6.10 update, which is rolling out on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android now. The major new addition to Fortnite's Battle Royale mode is the Quadcrasher, a two-seater vehicle that has a boost function.
This new vehicle is perfect for smashing through structures, so will no doubt become key to securing those Victory Royales. It builds boost as you drive it, with the boost being usable once you've filled a meter, and running into players will send them flying into the air.
The patch also makes a variety of tweaks to the way the game performs and plays. For those on a PlayStation 4 Pro, Fortnite will now display at 1440p instead of 1080p when plugged into a 4K TV. The update also adds a new "Events" tab, where players will find in-game tournaments.
In the weapons and items department, Port-a-Fortress has been disabled while Epic figures out an issue with it. To compensate, the Port-a-Fort will drop more frequently, which should help out those who need to find one of these items for a challenge. The Guided Missile (which was recently disabled), meanwhile, no longer fires the wrong direction, which is nice, and players will no longer permanently attach to a Supply Drop when grappling to it.
Disco Domination, the recently launched limited-time mode, has changed in a number of ways. You'll no longer find bandages as often, and Common weapons are gone altogether. With respawns enabled--something that's quite uncommon for Fortnite--Epic has made some tweaks to improve the variety of places you spawn.
For those that want to see what's new with Save The World, check out the patch notes. The full Battle Royale changes can be found below, along with a video showing off the Quadcrasher.
Limited Time Mode: Disco Domination
What's New?
Reduced all bandage spawns by 50%.
Removed all Common weapons.
increased the variability of where you can spawn by 30% along your sides storm circle.
Brought in the side dance floors closer to the Storm edge.
Reduced max respawn distance by 20%.
Weapons + Items
The Port-a-Fortress has been disabled as we work to resolve some issues related to this item.
Drop rate for Port-a-Fort increased from 3.05% to 4.89% while Port-a-Fortress is disabled.
The goal is to keep the drop rate of Port-a-Fort the same as if both items were enabled to help with the completion of Challenges.
Bug Fixes
Guided Missile no longer fires the wrong direction
Players will no longer permanently attach to a Supply Drop when grappling to it.
Attempting to fire while reloading the Double Barrel Shotgun will no longer interrupt the animation.
Weapon equip animations no longer skip when simultaneously attempting to sprint and target.
Gameplay
Quadcrasher
Seats two players.
You build boost just by driving. Unleash that speed with the hotkey once you've filled your boost meter.
Smash through buildings while boosting.
Boost off ramps or cliffs to catch sick air.
Launch players into the air by smashing into them.
You can now view and change Edit Controls separately from Combat and Build Controls in the controller menu.
PS4 controller lighting will match player marker color.
You can now set building mode sensitivity for controllers in the options menu. It is a multiplier on the default controller sensitivity and allows up to a 2x increase.
Controller sensitivity slider in the options menu now allows for more than 10 values.
Added an option to Builder Pro that allows for building as soon as you switch to the piece, instead of selecting first and then placing. This allows for faster building without a preview.
Added an option that allows for edit hold timing to be adjusted.
Opening the Emote Picker with a controller will happen when the button is released, while holding the button will replay the emote that was last played.
Bug Fixes
Fixed inconsistencies with the damage trap not triggering properly.
Allow slight movement when using a consumable with Sprint by Default enabled. This will help match how it works without Sprint by Default enabled
Fixed problem with character orientation getting stuck after falling off the island in a vehicle.
Events
Tournaments can be found inside of the new 'Events' tab available in game. This tab will host a variety of online competitions which are open to everyone. Jump in and explore!
Each tournament has a series of scheduled dates and times that the competition will be run. A carousel of all upcoming competitions and times will be available for browsing, so you can plan and practice.
Every scheduled session is a completely clean slate with all players starting on an equal footing at the beginning of play.
Compete over the course of several hours to earn points by eliminating multiple opponents or surviving against the competition.
Players are matched against opponents with similar scores during the session.
Score enough points during any scheduled event session and you'll earn a golden pin for that tournament!
Performance
Weapon replication optimization for dedicated server to reduce load during rapid weapon switching.
We've made CPU performance optimizations on Switch across all threads. This results in a smoother gameplay experience and fewer hitches.
Improve multi-threading during heavy physics simulation.
Audio
Celebrate with style. The music selected in your Locker will now play after getting a Victory Royale!
Remove the Doppler effect from the audio when players are gliding.
Added an in-air loop to Grenade Launcher projectiles so you can spatialize where they're coming from.
Improved Grenade Launcher bouncing audio.
Reduced volume of medium-range Grenade explosion sound.
Bug Fixes
Cube ambient sounds no longer randomly play in the middle of matches.
Sequential explosion sounds no longer interrupt each other.
Added missing audio to the Compact SMG and SMG medium/distant fire sounds.
Audio 'pops' no longer occur when emote music loops.
Re-added the audio cue that plays before a new wave of Supply Drops start appearing.
UI
Bug Fixes
Fixed some touch issues for the controller mapping screen on Switch.
Fixed a bug where the player's banner in the top bar would not update when changing the banner in the locker.
Made the reticle hidden when skydiving.
Fixed issues with the display of the on-screen map and inventory inputs.
Fixed issues with touch functionality on the map for the Nintendo Switch
Resource buttons no longer cancel auto-run.
Art + Animation
Bug Fixes
Cosmetic items that change in some way over the course of a match are now marked as "Reactive" in-game (e.g., a harvesting tool that changes as you get eliminations).
Fixed visual display issues with cosmetic music items..
Animation pops no longer occur while in the air after using the Chiller trap.
Replay System
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue causing the first replay not be selected in the replay browser.
Fixed the nameplate distance slider not working.
Fixed an issue where firing guided missiles would start with the camera facing the wrong way in replays.
MOBILE
Major performance improvement for devices running Android 7 or earlier.
Memory improvements on iOS devices.
The first weapon you pick up will now auto-equip itself on mobile.
Touch control input now has smoothing enabled.
Tapping selected buttons on the build quickbar will once again build the selected build piece.
All elements in the Mobile HUD should now be placeable/movable in the HUD Layout Tool.
Updated visuals for independent Quickbar slots in the HUD Layout Tool.
Bug Fixes
Drag and dropping on the Quickbar will no longer select the thing you drag. Players can now adjust their inventory without interrupting other actions.
Fixing a bug causing some touch input to fall through the settings screen to gameplay.
Fixing edit button visibility issues when crouching on Mobile.
Battle royale style games took off in popularity last year thanks to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and reached new heights with Fortnite. Now, the Call of Duty franchise has hopped onto the fray with Black Ops 4's new Blackout mode. If you haven't experienced battle royale for yourself, but plan on hopping into Black Ops 4, this is for you. We'll run through some of the basics of the mode and cover the ways in which Call of Duty puts its own spin on it.
Battle Royale 101
First off, you can enter matches either as a lone wolf (solo), with a partner (duos), or a team of four (quads); you'll be matched with up to 100 players who choose the same group size option. Every player gets flown over the map in the same trajectory--visualized when you pull up the map--and it's up to you when and where to drop. Exiting the helicopter has you deploying your wingsuit, and you can glide horizontally to go further out or look straight down to drop faster.
The overall goal is to be the last player or team standing since everyone has one life, which makes combat encounters much more tense and risky compared to traditional Call of Duty multiplayer. Now more than ever, you should be aware of your surroundings; that or have a teammate watch your back. Also keep in mind that you can revive squadmates if they fall, but be sure to do so before they bleed out or take more damage from enemies.
Another basic ingredient of battle royale is the impending pressure of a deadly circle closing in on the battlefield. Every match has the circle contracting on a random area of the map, and it gets smaller as the match goes on to force remaining players into combat. If you get caught outside the circle, you'll take damage until you can get into the safe zone.
A Huge Map To Traverse
Blackout's map is much larger than any previous Call of Duty map since it has to accommodate 100 players. However with size of the map, it also induces a slower pace; so expect plenty of downtime between encounters. This change of pace may take a while for Call of Duty veterans to adjust to, but it also feeds into the high-stakes nature of combat in battle royale games since one small mistake can cost you an entire match.
There are 14 concentrated areas in the Blackout map, many of which pay homage to past Black Ops maps. For example, Nuketown Island, Estate, and Array will look and feel similar to the multiplayer maps they're named after. The in-between of these main locations is interspersed with smaller towns and groups of buildings that can have valuable loot. But vast forestry and open fields make up most of the terrain, so be on-guard when traversing between locations as firefights may break out at any moment.
The full map in Blackout mode.
Luckily, vehicles litter the map. An ATV doesn't provide much protection but it can get up to two players around from point A to point B fairly quickly. The cargo truck fits up to five players and doesn't leave the squad as vulnerable, but it moves pretty slow. Getting through the river that splits the middle of the map is quite easy with a zodiac boat, which holds up to four players. And unlike most battle royales, Blackout features air transportation via the helicopter that has five seats total. That's not the only means of air travel, though; you can deploy your wingsuit by sprinting and jumping off a building and holding the jump button.
Loot Your Loadout
You start each match without anything in your inventory and must loot all your equipment--a stark contrast to Call of Duty's tradition of letting players customize their loadouts. You're allowed to carry two weapons and have to scavenge for the proper ammo type for each as well. The following is a list of all the weapons available to loot in Blackout:
Tactical Rifles: Auger DMR, Swordfish, ABR 223, Essex Model 07
Sniper Rifles: Koshka, Paladin HB50
LMGs: Titan
Explosives: War Machine, Hellion Salvo
Zombie Weapons: Ray Gun, Galil, MP-40, Zweihander
Attachments are crucial for getting the most out of your weapons. A reflect sight or 4x scope will come in clutch for nailing precise shots with ADS, and a grip or stock will help control your recoil, but you need to scavenge for those items and get them onto your gun. Zombie weapons add a twist to combat, which can be found in zombie supply stashes after killing AI-controlled zombie hordes at certain locations in the map, like the Asylum. Even the sillier items find their way into Blackout, like the Ray Gun, Monkey Bomb, Acid Bomb, and RC Car (though it doesn't explode). Look out for blue beacons that shine in the sky as this indicates stash locations where you may get your hands on these rare items.
Inventory management in Blackout mode.
You'll also have to loot armor in Blackout; there are three levels and each one provides better protection (level 3 armor is the only one that'll protect from headshots). Backpacks open up five additional item slots, which comes in handy later in a match as you loot more useful equipment. And it goes without saying that stocking up on health items is important, too; first aid and med kits heal 25 and 50 health, respectively. Trauma kits will fully heal you and tack on an additional 50 health temporarily.
Be on the lookout for supply crates that randomly drop onto the map throughout the match; you're likely to find high-level loot, but creates a hotspot for preying enemies.
The Perks Of Call Of Duty
In another interesting twist, Blackout's take on battle royale also brings in the familiar Perks system, which act as consumable items found across the map. Each perk has a specific effect, usage limit, and duration. While some may be more useful than others, it's important to know what your equipped perk does as it can make the difference between life and death, especially in their most effective situations. The following is a perk list and what they do:
Brawler: Increases melee damage, gain 50 health for each melee attack landed. (Usage: 1, Duration: 4 mins)
Consumer: Health and consumable items activate 50% faster. (Usage: 1, Duration: 5 mins)
Dead Silence: Silent movement and less noise when opening stashes. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)
Engineer: Reveal all nearby vehicles and enemy equipment. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)
Iron Lungs: Steady aim with scoped weapons and underwater breathing time increased. (Usage: 2, Duration: 5 mins)
Medic: Health items and team revives replenish more health and with faster activation. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)
Mobility: Movement and weapon switch is faster, fire and use items while sprinting, move fast while reloading. Fall damage negated. (Usage: 2, Duration: 5 mins)
Paranoia: Audio cues for when you're targeted by an enemy via ADS. (Usage: 2, Duration: 4 mins)
Black Ops 3 introduced Specialists, unique characters that provided a variety of ways to play the game with their own attributes and abilities--akin to a hero shooter. While you can choose to play as a certain Specialist in Blackout, the equipment that was once tied to them are now items found in the field. Those abilities--such as the razor wire, mesh mines, and grappling hook--are hard to find, but they can give you a significant advantage when used in the right situation.
Tips
Those are the basics when it comes to playing Call of Duty Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. Battle royale veterans may know how the rules work, but the equipment system and map are still things that need to be experimented with and explored on your own. The most important thing to do is to play more and more matches to get a feel for how Call of Duty's take on battle royale flows. And now that you know what you're getting into, take the next step and check out our Blackout beginner's guide.
The Destiny 2 Halloween event Festival of the Lost, introducing all manner of special rewards to collect and new activities to enjoy. The activities include a murder mystery story quest and a Horde-like enemy wave area. For your troubles you can earn some loot and unique items, like goofy masks of Destiny celebs. Check out our Festival of the Lost gallery for a look at the cosmetics.
A new story quest has you solving the murder of Master Ives, a Cryptarch from the Reef. Solving the mystery will gain you Powerful loot for your trouble, along with the satisfaction of knowing you did some quality police work. The Infinite Forest from the Curse of Osiris is getting a refresh as the "Haunted Forest," which will send waves of enemies in randomized layouts. You can delve deeper and deeper into the forest to take on increasingly tough waves, but you only have 15 minutes to take down as many as you can.
All those festivities sound merry and bright, but this year's Festival of the Lost will be a little more somber than in past years. Major character and quest-giver Cayde-6 is now among the fallen Guardians. We can expect the Tower to be an even sadder place than it already was. Keep him in your thoughts as you wear your funny paper mache masks and chase down the new Ephemeral Engrams.
Another update out now increases Scout Rifle damage, decreases the drop rate of the grenade launcher Edge Transit, and fixes assorted bugs. A separate event, kicking off alongside Festival of the Lost today, is the newly revised Iron Banner. The challenges have been tweaked to be a little easier to achieve and earn your best loot. It will last through October 23.
Even some 20 years after it debuted, the Pokemon series remains one of Nintendo's most beloved and lucrative franchises, but developer Game Freak is making a concerted effort to broaden its appeal even further with Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee. Rather than continuing to build upon the mechanics that have been steadily accumulating with each successive generation, the upcoming Switch games deliberately simplify many of the series' elements in order to draw in new and lapsed fans. From what we've seen of the games thus far, this results in some genuinely welcome quality-of-life changes, but for hardcore players, it also makes the titles feel a little rudimentary compared to other installments.
We recently had an opportunity to go hands-on with a new demo of Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. Whereas the E3 build was set entirely within the Viridian Forest, this demo dropped us off at the foot of Mt. Moon. In past games, caves had always been some of the most frustrating areas to explore (particularly so in the original Red, Blue, and Yellow versions) due to how frequently you would be beset by random encounters. In the Let's Go titles, however, wild Pokemon appear in the overworld, so you're now free to choose whether you want to engage a Pokemon or continue exploring. There is still some randomness to where and when Pokemon will appear; occasionally a monster will spawn unavoidably, forcing you into an encounter anyway. But by and large, having Pokemon roaming the overworld makes traversing the Kanto region more enjoyable.
Since their unveiling, Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee have been billed as reimaginings of Pokemon Yellow rather than straight remakes, and that distinction was evident as we explored Mt. Moon. While the titles seem to follow the same general story beats as the classic Game Boy game, they also diverge in some unexpected ways, most notably in our encounter with Team Rocket. In the original Yellow version, Jessie and James first appear toward the end of the cave, after you've obtained one of the fossils. Here, you cross paths with them immediately upon entering Mt. Moon. Rather than battle you on the spot, however, the villains flee, leading you into the heart of the cave. Pokemon: Let's Go director Junichi Masuda teased that there are many other new instances like this peppered throughout the game, and Team Rocket in particular will play a more prominent role, showing up more frequently throughout the course of the adventure than they did in the original.
Another notable new feature in Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee is local co-op play. While previous Pokemon games allowed you to team up with a friend for Multi Battles, the Let's Go titles are the first to give another player the ability to drop in and join the adventure at any time simply by waving a second Joy-Con. The second player is fairly limited in terms of what they can actually do; they're not able to initiate battles nor pick up items, and the camera will not follow them if they happen to venture off-screen. Rather, their purpose is primarily to assist the main player. During battles, for instance, they'll also send one of your Pokemon out onto the field, turning the contest into a two-on-one affair. They can help capture wild Pokemon as well by throwing their own Poke Ball during the catching phase, greatly increasing your chance of success. Older players likely won't have much reason to use this feature, as it makes what is already a more leisurely take on the series even easier, but it's particularly well-suited for parents who want to adventure alongside and guide their children through the game.
The biggest difference between Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee and past games is how you capture Pokemon. As previously revealed, the Let's Go titles employ Pokemon Go's catching mechanics, meaning you won't need to battle a wild Pokemon and whittle its health down in order to capture it. Despite this, your party will still earn experience points each time you catch a new Pokemon, just as they would if you had battled it, giving you an incentive to collect as many monsters as you can. This greater emphasis on catching Pokemon also means you now carry your Pokemon Box around in your item bag. This is a particularly handy change, as you can now swap Pokemon in and out of your party from the menu screen rather than having to visit a Pokemon Center each time you want to change them out. You're also able to rename any Pokemon you capture directly from the party screen instead of through the Name Rater, another convenience brought over from Pokemon Go.
Still, while you don't fundamentally lose any of the benefits you'd typically receive from wild Pokemon battles, their absence will likely be the most divisive aspect of Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee. Wild battles have always been the perfect opportunity to raise and test out new Pokemon; without them, the only battles you'll engage in are against other trainers, who traditionally could only be challenged once. The games also eschew held items and Pokemon abilities, two other staple elements of the series. While this brings them closer in line with the original Yellow version, since both of those mechanics were introduced in later games, it removes a layer of strategy from battles.
It remains to be seen if Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee will have enough depth to sustain hardcore fans' interest, but they're shaping up to be a good entry point for new and younger players. The games launch for Nintendo Switch on November 16. Alongside them, Nintendo is releasing a Poke Ball-shaped controller called the Poke Ball Plus, which retails for $50 and comes with the Mythical Pokemon Mew. You can read more about the titles in our roundup of everything we know about Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee.
With nearly two months to go before the "Elseworlds" crossover event bridges Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, new information about what's to come is arriving at a lightning quick pace. Hot on the heels of Superman's (Tyler Hoechlin) black suit being revealed, The CW has released the first poster for the December crossover event.
In it, The Flash (Grant Gustin) and Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) are switching things up. The poster for "Elseworlds" finds Amell in a Flash suit, with Gustin wearing the Green Arrow's hood and leathers. Clearly, wherever this storyline is set in the multiverse, something strange is going on.
Interestingly, Amell tweeted out the poster himself, writing, "My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive." Based on that alone, one could speculate that Gustin will be playing Oliver Queen in the episode, with Amell taking on Barry's persona. Then again, none of that is actually confirmed.
So what do we know? It's been previously revealed that whatever the team of Green Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl are up against, it'll take them to Gotham City. That's where they'll meet Batwoman (Ruby Rose). While there, it sounds like they'll also come into contact with Nora Fries (Cassandra Amell), wife of Batman villain Mr. Freeze, as well as a scientist at Arkham Asylum.
Additionally, Superman will be joined by Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) in the event, marking that character's first appearance in the DC universe. It was also announced that the comic book character the Monitor would appear in "Elseworlds," played by Sons of Anarchy alum LaMonica Garrett.
With so many massive things happening, this is shaping up to be the most insane Arrow-verse crossover yet. However, you're going to have to wait to watch it unfold. "Elseworlds" kicks off on December 9 on The CW.
A new generation of Pokemon have now arrived in Pokemon Go. Following the game's latest update, which began rolling out to devices last week, Pokemon originally introduced in the Sinnoh region--the setting of the series' fourth-generation titles, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum--have started to appear in the wild, giving you a whole new slate of pocket monsters to catch.
To commemorate the arrival of Gen 4 Pokemon, The Pokemon Company has shared a new trailer featuring some of the newly added monsters. Like the teaser video the company released last week, this trailer shows the new Pokemon frolicking in their natural habitats; you can see Piplup swimming in arctic waters and Pikachu chasing Gen 4's ridiculously cute Electric rodent, Pachirisu, through a forest.
As was the case with Gen 3 Pokemon, Niantic will roll the Sinnoh monsters out to Pokemon Go in waves, so you won't be able to capture all of them right away. Gen 4 added 107 Pokemon to the series, and you can already find the starters Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup in the wild, along with a handful of other Pokemon like Bidoof and Kricketot.
Gen 4 was also notable for introducing a number of new evolved and pre-evolved forms for many older Pokemon, such as Electabuzz, Magmar, Tangela, Lickitung, and others. Eevee likewise received two new possible evolutions: the Ice-type Glaceon and the Grass-type Leafon. It also added a longlist of new Legendary Pokemon; one of them, Giratina, has already been teased at the end of the latest trailer.
Pokemon Go's next Community Day event is scheduled to take place this Sunday, October 21. This time, the featured Pokemon will be Beldum; as previously speculated, if players manage to evolve it into its final form, Metagross, before the event ends, it'll learn the powerful new attack Meteor Mash.
It's a big day for Destiny 2, as Bungie is releasing a significant update alongside the launch of two events: Iron Banner and Festival of the Lost. In terms of the update, it introduces a variety of welcome changes and fixes, and it's good news for scout rifle users, Iron Banner fans, and players who are sick of Edge Transit. Here's what's new.
As detailed in the full patch notes on Bungie's website, update 2.0.4 is a substantial one, even if it doesn't introduce much in the way of new features. Scout rifles, which have been suffering from low damage since around the time of Forsaken's launch, have been given a damage boost against non-player enemies. That should hopefully make them more viable than they have been in recent weeks.
With Iron Banner kicking off, you'll notice some important changes. Each Iron Banner bounty that's offered will reward you with Powerful gear, rather than just two, as was the case in September. And completing those bounties should be easier--the specific requirements for each have been lowered, in some cases significantly. For instance, Shine On only tasks you with creating 50 Orbs of Light, rather than 100.
Speaking of Powerful gear, a bug where Powerful rewards didn't drop at a sufficiently high Power level should be fixed. Bungie has also increased the Power of lower level Powerful rewards, which it says "slightly increases the average Power upgrade per powerful drop."
The Collection has been expanded and now allows you to track and retrieve more item types. The most notable are transmat effects. Any that you've gotten your hands on, used, or dismantled since Forsaken launched on September 4 will already be available in the Collection for you. Just be aware of how these are added to your Collection: simply obtaining a ship with a new transmat effect won't do the trick. You'll need to actually get the transmat effect in your inventory for it to unlock. Additionally, the Collection is now home to Ghosts tied to events, Forsaken emblem variants, and a variety of other emblems that were previously missing.
There are few guns more notorious than Edge Transit in Forsaken. It's an extremely common Heavy weapon drop, much to the annoyance of players who have gotten dozens of them. It should now drop less often, as the so-called "world Legendary pool" has added several new items: Through Fire and Flood, Zenobia D, and Crooked Fang-4fr.
One weapon that does draw more ire than Edge Transit is Sleeper Simulant. The previously announced nerf to the gun in Gambit will be coming in the patch launching on October 30. In the meantime, linear fusion rifles have been given an aim assist buff--with the exception of Sleeper. That might result in a more varied assortment of linear fusion rifles being used.
The patch is now available in Destiny 2 and will be followed by the weekly reset and the kick-off of Iron Banner and Festival of the Lost. Iron Banner runs until October 23, while the Halloween-themed event goes until November 6.
You'll notice that there are a lot of characters to unlock in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. With a total of 29 characters, the battle royale mode features a variety of characters from past Blacks Ops multiplayer, zombies, and story campaigns. If you're vying to get them all, you'll need to do a little legwork.
To unlock most of these characters, you'll often need to complete a specific set of challenges associated to them. After finding a special item for the character on the map, you'll activate this special challenge, which often includes getting kills with a specific weapon, taking out zombies, or using specific support items.
Below you can find a list of all the characters you can unlock. It's worth noting that not every character in the character select menu is unlockable yet; we assume they'll be made available at a later date. We'll be sure to update this feature as that information becomes available, as well as provide more detail on the characters we're currently missing.
If you're new to Blackout mode, be sure to check out guide highlighting tips you should know before starting. You can also read our informative feature that details Black Ops 4 as a whole in all of its modes. For folks more curious about how Blackout compares to Fortnite and PUBG, check out our in-depth comparison feature. Otherwise, be on the lookout for more Black Ops 4 guides in the coming days.
Only a couple of the Blackout characters are unlocked from obtaining their special items and completing their mid-match challenges.
Woods
Obtain the Bandanna by killing zombies or fallen player
Get in a Helicopter during a match
Win a match
Menendez
Obtain the Locket
Kill an enemy with a shotgun
Kill an enemy with a melee attack
Finish the match with the Locket in your inventory
Ranger
Unlocked at Echelon 20
Frogman
Unlocked at Echelon 40
Airborne
Unlocked at Echelon 60
Seal
Unlocked at Echelon 80
Battle Hardened
Unlocked at Echelon 80 Prestige
Zombies Characters
With the exception of Shadow Man--who is unlocked via the Blackout pass--all of the zombie characters are unlocked by discovering a special item on the map and completing the challenge objectives.
Shadow Man
Unlocked with Blackout Pass
Dempsey
Find a Death Machine
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10
Nikolai
Find a Cymbal Monkey
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10
Takeo
Find the Katanas
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10
Scarlett
Obtain the Racing Goggles and Bandanna by killing zombies or looting fallen players
Multiplayer Characters
Characters from the Multiplayer category are unlocked by finding their special item and completing their challenge objectives. It's worth noting that many of their weapons and equipment can be found and used regardless of whether you're playing as them or not. It's more of a cosmetic choice at the end of the day.
Battery
Obtain Battery's Wat Machine
Get kills with the Grenade Launcher
Finish the match in the top 15
Firebreak
Obtain the Burned Doll by looting a supply box or supply drop
Confirm a Kill or Clean up a downed player with fire
Finish the match with the Burned Doll
Ruin
Craft the Grapple Gun from missing pieces
Finish the match in the top 15
Seraph
Find the Annihilator
Get Annihilator Kills
Finish the match in the top 15
Ajax
Loot fallen enemies for Broken Armor Plating
Finish the match with three Broken Armor Platings in your inventory
Crash
Obtain Poker Chips
End the match with 15 Healing Items
Finish the match in the top 3
Finish the match with the Poker Chips in your inventory
Recon
Obtain the I Ching Coins item
Avoid collapse damage
Finish the match in the top 7
Finish the match with the I Ching Coins item in your inventory
Torque
Obtain the Note from Torque from a supply box or supply drop
Deploy two Razor Wires and one Carricade
Place in the top 7
Finish the match with the Note from Torque in your inventory
A PlayStation 4 message that was crashing consoles has been fixed, and Sony has issued a statement explaining how to take care of the issue manually for anyone still experiencing the problem. The bug allowed malicious users to send a message that would send the console into a crash loop.
The messages used an unrecognized character to force the console to crash. In some cases it would even go into a crash loop, making the console unable to start properly and run any games or apps. You can prevent future exploits like this one by changing your settings to only allow messages from friends.
In its comment on Twitter, Sony suggested deleting the offending message through the PS mobile app, then starting the console in Safe Mode and selecting Option 5. That should fix the console, and the company has issued a fix to prevent any further spread of the malicious messages. In a follow-up to another user, the PlayStation team pointed users toward the reporting tools to turn in any users found to be sending the messages.
When horror fans think of the Halloween movie franchise, the name John Carpenter always comes to mind. After all, he directed the original movie and served as a co-writer on the first three installments--even stepping in as a producer on Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Now that Carpenter is returning to the franchise with the newest Halloween film, there's something missing--a name that's been next to his in the credits of various Halloween films. Debra Hill may not be as closely associated with Michael Myers and his never-ending battle with Laurie Strode as Carpenter, but according to star Jamie Lee Curtis, she's as important to the movies as he is.
"Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without Debra Hill," Curtis told GameSpot and a small group of press at the junket for the new film. "The voice of those girls is all Deborah Hill."
The girls in question are Laurie Strode (Curtis), Lynda Van Der Klok (PJ Soles), and Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes). "John is a talented man, but he's a, you know, guy from Kentucky," the actress explained. "He doesn't speak teenage girl like Debra Hill. I think those three women are Debra Hill. That intellectual side, the snarky, smart-aleck side, and the [frisky side]."
And in writing them how they did, Hill and Carpenter created a trio of women viewers cared about--especially with Strode. Halloween was the beginning of the slasher craze that went on to view victims as disposable chunks of meat, simply waiting to be slaughtered by whatever maniac was on the prowl. Laurie was never treated that way, though, and her friends were fully-formed humans. It hurt when they were killed by Michael.
"I think she was all three of those young women, and she, therefore, is responsible," Curtis said.
We're reached the midway point of the the new month, and there remains plenty of new streaming releases. Media giant Netflix is launching a plethora of new content on its streaming service throughout the month. Starting on the first of October, new movies, TV series, and Netflix originals will continue trickling out onto the service, with new content being added pretty much daily. It can be a lot to go through, but don't worry, we will be highlighting some choice picks for you to check out. Here's what new on Netflix for October 2018.
Returning for a second season is the adult animated comedy Big Mouth. Comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney star as two adolescent boys going through puberty. The raunchy series has the duo trying to understand life, girls, and everything else while dealing with hormone monsters and uncomfortable moments in early sexuality. It's out now.
Speaking of returning Netflix originals, Castlevania comes back for a second helping on October 26. The series follows Trevor Belmont as he fights the evil forces of Dracula. Season 1 writer Warren Ellis returns, picking up on the huge cliffhanger from last year with Alucard. This season will add more episodes for a total of eight, doubling up from Season 1's four.
As far as movies and television go, October 1 saw Netflix release most of its content. Out of everything that hit that day, you'll want to watch/rewatch the classic '80s adventure movie The NeverEnding Story or the first rated-R Marvel movie that matters--sorry, Dolph Lundgren's The Punisher--Blade. Additionally, Blade II will be available as well. Also, Season 4 of Gotham is coming to Netflix as well, and you can see just how crazy this series has become for yourself.
Sadly, there are a few great items leaving the service as well. The fantastic comedy series Freaks and Geeks left on October 1, along with Sin City and The Lost Boys. Even though Halloween is right around the corner, The Babadook is headed out on October 14 and V/H/S 2 leaves on October 24.
Check out the complete list of everything coming and going from Netflix below, and if you're looking for more news from streaming services, we have complete October arrivals lists from Hulu and Amazon Prime Video as well.
Here's what's coming to Netflix in October
Available October 1
Angel Eyes
Anger Management
Billy Madison
Black Dynamite
Blade
Blade II
Blazing Saddles
Empire Records
Gotham: Season 4
Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain
Kevin Hart: Seriously Funny
Must Love Dogs
My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship
Mystic River
New York Minute
Once Upon a Time in America
Pay It Forward
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Rumble in the Bronx
She's Out of My League
Sommersby
The Dead Pool
The Devil's Advocate
The Green Mile
The Lake House
The NeverEnding Story
The Shining
V for Vendetta
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Available October 2
Joe Rogan: Strange Times-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
MeatEater: Season 7-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Available October 3
Truth or Dare (2017)
Avail. 10/4/18
Creeped Out-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Haunting of Molly Hartley
Violet Evergarden: Special: Extra Episode
Available October 5
Big Mouth: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Dancing Queen-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Élite-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Empire Games-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Little Things: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Malevolent-- NETFLIX FILM
Private Life-- NETFLIX FILM
Super Monsters Save Halloween-- NETFLIX FILM
Super Monsters: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Rise of Phoenixes-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL (Streaming Every Friday)
YG Future Strategy Office-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 6
Little Things: Season 1
Available October 8
Disney's Sofia the First: Season 4
Mo Amer: The Vagabond-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 9
Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 4-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 10
22 July-- NETFLIX FILM
Pacto de Sangue-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 11
Salt Fat Acid Heat-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Schitt's Creek: Season 4
Available October 12
Apostle-- NETFLIX FILM
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil-- NETFLIX FILM
Feminists: What Were They Thinking?-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
FightWorld-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
ReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Tarzan and Jane: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Boss Baby: Back in Business: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Haunting of Hill House-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Kindergarten Teacher-- NETFLIX FILM
Available October 15
Octonauts: Season 4
The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 16
Ron White: If You Quit Listening, I'll Shut Up-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 19
Accidentally in Love-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Ask the Doctor-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.: Limited Series-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Derren Brown: Sacrifice-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Distrito salvaje-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Gnome Alone-- NETFLIX FILM
Haunted-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Hip-Hop Evolution: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Illang: The Wolf Brigade-- NETFLIX FILM
Larva Island-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Making a Murderer: Part 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Marvel's Daredevil: Season 3-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Night Comes For Us-- NETFLIX FILM
Wanderlust-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 21
Robozuna-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 23
ADAM SANDLER 100% FRESH-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 24
Bodyguard-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 25
Great News: Season 2
Available October 26
Been So Long-- NETFLIX FILM
Castlevania: Season 2-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Dovlatov-- NETFLIX FILM
Jefe-- NETFLIX FILM
Shirkers-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Terrorism Close Calls-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 27
Girl from Nowhere-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available October 28
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL (Streaming Every Sunday)
Available October 30
Fate/EXTRA Last Encore: Illustrias Geocentric Theory-- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Only a couple years after Fallout 4's release, Bethesda surprised fans by officially announcing Fallout 76, the next entry in its beloved post-apocalyptic RPG franchise. The new game was revealed in a trailer after a series of teases, and Bethesda discussed it in more detail at E3 2018 and at QuakeCon 2018. We even got an opportunity to play the game at a recent hands-on preview event. While there's still so much we do not yet know about Bethesda's upcoming game, the company has offered some clarity on Fallout 76's most curious features and additions to the Fallout formula.
To ensure you're kept up to date on everything there is to know about Fallout 76, we've compiled all the information we have on the game so far: our in-depth preview, the platforms it's on, its online functionality, its anti-griefing features, and where the game falls in the series' timeline.
Fallout 76 is a prequel to all of the previous Fallout games. Set in 2102, you play an inhabitant of Vault 76 who emerges from the shelter 25 years after the bombs fell on America. Your task is simple: explore what remains of post-apocalyptic America and rebuild civilization.
Longtime fans will likely recognize Vault 76; although it's not a place we've visited before, this isn't the series' first mention of it. Both Fallout 3 and 4 reference it and, according to the Fallout Wikia, this West Virginia-based vault was occupied by 500 of of America's best and brightest minds. Unlike the more grotesque experimental vaults in the Fallout universe, Vault 76 is a control vault intended to be opened 20 or so years after a nuclear war. But if the Vault was supposed to open 20 years after the bombs fell, why have 25 years gone by? The story likely has a few surprises in store.
Fallout 76 uses the Creation Engine, the same engine used to make Fallout 4, but it will purportedly feature much more graphical detail than its predecessor. Game director Todd Howard has said that Fallout 76 has new rendering and lighting technology, which allows for "16 times" the detail.
Who's Developing It?
Bethesda Game Studios, the Maryland-based developer responsible for the Elder Scrolls series and both Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, is at work on the game. In addition, Bethesda Game Studios Austin--formerly BattleCry Studios--assisted in fine-tuning the Creation Engine to support multiplayer functionality.
Is It An Online Survival Game?
Fallout 76 is a much different sort of game from its predecessors. It's "entirely online," but don't worry, you'll be able to play it solo too. According to Bethesda, the idea to take this approach to open-world survival came four years ago, when it started to work on building a multiplayer Fallout experience. Howard described the game's approach to survival as "softcore," which means death doesn't equal loss of progression.
You can form a party with up to three other players. You won't be able to manage your placement in servers when you login, as you'll automatically be inserted into a session with others upon booting up the game. Of course, you also have the option simply join alongside your friends and play together.
Howard commented that Fallout 76 will have dedicated servers that will support the game "now and for years to come." At launch, there will only be public servers, but Bethesda plans to introduce private servers that will allow players to invite friends to play in order to prevent undesirable behavior.
Some classic mechanics from past games will be changing to accommodate the shift to online play. For example, V.A.T.S has been reconfigured to work in real time, while still allowing players to target specific enemy body parts. But this time around, it has been updated to be more of a tool that allows you to spot out dangers in the environment.
How Big Is The World?
According to Howard, Fallout 76's world is four times the size of Fallout 4. There are six different regions to explore, and each has its own unique style, risks, and rewards. Confirmed areas include the West Virginia State Capitol, The Greenbrier, Woodburn Circle, New River Gorge Bridge, and Camden Park. Contained within each area is a variety of new creatures to encounter, some of which are based on West Virginian folklore. You can take at the full map in the image below.
What Can You Do?
Like previous games, players will spend the majority of their time exploring and completing quests. However, Fallout 76 will not feature any human non-player characters, as all surviving humans will be controlled by active players. Instead, the game will use combination of robot NPCs, collectible recordings, and environmental storytelling in order to give players what they need to piece together quests and the story at large.
Given the game's premise of rebuilding the world, there will be base-building elements similar to Fallout 4. You will be able to set up a bases anywhere using an item called the Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform, or CAMP. These can be placed down in the world and allow you to construct an impromptu camp. At E3, we got to see the player laying down walls and decorating the base with pool tables, toilets, and other household objects. As the "mobile platform" part of the name implies, your CAMP can also be picked up and relocated, allowing you to move your base anywhere in the world.
While you can help build the world, you can also destroy it. If you have the necessary nuclear launch codes, it's actually possible to access a missile silo to fire a nuke at any point on the map. Doing so irradiates the chosen area, but it also allows for the opportunity to discover rare weapons, gear, and items. Be wary; nuking an area also causes more powerful enemies to show up, making it more difficult to survive. But don't be discouraged by this, the CAMP blueprint system makes it easy for players to quickly rebuild their homes, and if they're privy to an incoming threat, they can pack their things and move to a new location.
As an online experience, player choice is said to be incredibly important, going as far as giving players the freedom to choose who are the heroes and who are the villains. Early footage showcased multiple players engaging in combat and participating in friendly activities, which seems to indicate that players have the freedom to choose their paths in the world of Fallout 76.
How Does Character Creation And Progression Work?
You'll have similar character creation tools as Fallout 4. However, you're free to change your appearance at any point. In addition, you can also utilize the game's new photo mode during the creation process to better see how your character looks, as well as snap some shots you can share on social media.
The SPECIAL system returns and it's a bit different. Like previous games, SPECIAL encompasses the following stats: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck. You're given one point to put into any of those stats every time you level up. The first thing you do when you emerge from the vault is pick a SPECIAL and then you pick a perk in that particular SPECIAL. Essentially, every SPECIAL is a pool of points for your perks.
But unlike previous games, perks are now cards you can equip and unlock as you rank up in a given SPECIAL; though, you're free to swap cards out at any time if you want to alter your build. Each SPECIAL characteristic you develop has a perk card cap of 15. These perk cards can be enhanced further from one to five points to increase their power.
You can obtain additional perk cards via Perk Card Packs (four random cards), which you earn every two levels initially (1-10), and then every 5 after that. You can also pick one perk card per level, usually from your SPECIAL choice. There are hundreds of Perks cards you can unlock, so naturally SPECIAL ranks cap out after a while (you gain a rank up in a SPECIAL each time you level up). At level 50, you'll stop increasing SPECIAL ranks, but you'll still get card packs.
How Does PvP Work?
When you shoot someone you do a little bit of damage, which can be equated to lightly slapping them in order to challenge them to a duel. In response to this, the other player can choose to ignore or engage. If they engage in a battle with you, they'll start to take full damage. The one who is killed in this consenting PvP match has the option to seek revenge. Doing so gives that person the opportunity to get double the rewards granted they're successful.
If you'd rather choose to ignore a PvP match, there's no way to escape being killed--despite the small damage dealt to you during the initiation phases. However, if you are killed by a player under these circumstances, that player becomes a Wanted Murderer and will receive no rewards from having killed you.
A Wanted Murderer is marked on the map as a red star and a bounty is placed on their head. Players looking to cash in on this bounty aren't visible on the Murderer's map. If the murderer is killed, the money from that bounty is taken out their stock.
In order to give players time to properly acclimate to how Fallout 76 plays, PvP won't be available to players until level five. And if you perish from any PvP encounter, the only thing you'll lose is the junk you've been collecting, which can be reclaimed after death if not already picked up by other players. You can always store junk in stashes found around the world, so as to safeguard a portion of your stock. Armor and weapons are retained in your inventory after death.
How It Plays: Our In-Depth Preview
We recently got a hands-on with a build of Fallout 76. It plays similarly to Fallout 4, but it features some new additions that subtly shift the paradigm established by past entries in the series. We got to experience three hours of the game, exploring a decent chunk of the opening area while taking on quests and generally working cooperatively with the players around us. There's a lot to unpack about how the upcoming multiplayer open-world RPG, so be sure to watch the video above and read our full thoughts in our in-depth preview detailing what we got to play.
Any Voice Chat?
It's possible to chat with your teammates and even strangers you discover out in the world. It's area-based so your ability to hear other plays will vary. But if you want nothing to do with strangers, it's possible to mute their voices entirely.
When's the Beta?
Fallout 76's beta will be available exclusively to those who preorder the game. Bethesda said that it will begin selecting participants from the pool of pre-orders on October 23 on Xbox One first. The plan is to start small and expand over time with PS4 and PC to follow on October 30. For more details, you can check out Bethesda's Fallout 76 FAQ for more details on how to redeem your code.
Release Date
Fallout 76 is being developed for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is currently scheduled to be released on November 14. Unfortunately, there's no word about a Nintendo Switch release, which didn't seem out of the question after the Skyrim re-release made it to that platform.
DC fans waiting to see Ezra Miller reprise his role as The Flash from last year's Justice League are going to have wait a while longer. It has been reported that the troubled Flash movie has been delayed once more and is unlikely to hit theaters until 2021.
According to Variety, the movie was expected to commence shooting in March next year ahead of a 2020 release. However, the script is still being worked on, and it is unlikely to be ready in time to hit the production start date. The problem is that star Ezra Miller is also a key member of the Fantastic Beasts series cast and with production on the third Fantastic Beasts movie starting in July, the DC film can't start until late 2019 at the earliest.
The Flash movie has never been formally greenlit and has been through a number of directors and delays since it was first announced back in 2015. Original director Seth Grahame-Smith was replaced by Rick Famuyiwa, who himself quit in 2016, citing "creative differences." Warner then hired Joby Harold to rewrite the entire script, and at one stage, Back to the Future director Robert Zemekis was in talks to direct. In January, Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein were announced as directors.
Although it seems unlikely that we'll see the Flash film any time soon, there are plenty of other DC projects in the pipeline. Aquaman, Shazam, and Wonder Woman 1984 are all due over the next 13 months, with the Joker prequel movie now in production as well. Beyond that, Margot Robbie is set to reprise her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn in the female supervillain team-up Birds of Prey, which hits theaters in February 2020.
It was also recently reported that James Gunn, who was fired from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 in July, is a writing a Suicide Squad movie for DC. A direct sequel to 2015's Suicide Squad was expected to start shooting soon, but it has now been reported that Gunn's script will be "a whole new take" on the story. Although Gunn has only been hired as a writer, it is also possible that he might direct the film.
With the final season of Gotham premiering next year, the show's producers have already lined up the next Batman-related series to take its place. Pennyworth will focus on the early adventures of Batman's butler, and the show's star has now been announced.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jack Bannon will play the young Alfred. Bannon previously appeared in the award-winning The Imitation Game, as well as David Ayer's war drama Fury and the acclaimed TV show Ripper Street. He joins Ben Aldridge, who has been cast as Thomas Wayne in the show.
THR also provided a description for this new portrayal of Alfred, which sounds very different to the character played most recently by Jeremy Irons and Michael Caine on-screen. It states that Pennyworth's Alfred is "a boyishly handsome, cheerful, charming, clever young man from London. Honest, open-faced and witty, he's the kind of person people would never take for a SAS killer. Alfred doesn't know how to reconcile the kind-hearted boy he used to be with the cold, calculated killer he was forced to become. He's a man on the make, who doesn't know what to make of himself yet."
Although Pennyworth is written and produced by Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller, it is narratively unconnected to that show. It starts production in London next week and will premiere on Epix in 2019.
In related news, it has been confirmed that Gotham Season 5 will feature a number of time jumps. This final season will be based on the "No Man's Land" story from the DC comic books, and is expected to premiere in early 2019.
While we've known for some time that there are three Marvel movies heading our way in 2019--Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, and Spider-Man: Far From Home--it has been less certain what was to follow. This changed last week when Ryan Coogler confirmed that he was returning to write and direct Black Panther 2, and now it looks like Doctor Strange sequel is on the way too.
The news comes via the Canadian pop-culture site Pop Goes The World, reporting from Fan Expo in Vancouver. In attendance was Benedict Wong, who played Wong in both the first Doctor Strange and Avengers: Infinity War. Wong stated that he hoped to start shooting Doctor Strange 2 "at the end of the year." Check the tweet out below:
While Marvel are yet to confirm Doctor Strange 2, this isn't the first hint that it might start production soon. In August, director Scott Derrickson, who helmed the first movie, posted a cryptic message on Instagram. It was an image of Stephen Strange from Marvel's comic books, with the caption: "See you in September." It wasn't clear to what that referred--and obviously September has been and gone--but Derrickson later followed with another comment, assuring fans that "I don't tease." In addition, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has stated that a Doctor Strange sequel will happen.
If Doctor Strange 2 does start production soon, then we can expect it be released in 2020. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was originally set to start shooting early next year, ahead of a 2020 release, but that movie is now reportedly on hold indefinitely, following the controversial firing of James Gunn back in July. If Vol.3 doesn't happen, then Marvel will need to start production on other 2020 movies soon, Black Panther 2 presumably being one.
In related news, Avengers 4 directors Joe and Anthony Russo have confirmed that they have now finished production on the movie. They marked the end of shooting with a myserious image on Instagram, showing some kind of weird blue light. The still-untitled film hits theaters on May 3, 2019.
A new retro game console is on the way from Analogue, the company behind the Nt Mini and the Super Nt. The upcoming Mega Sg ($189) will play classic Sega Master System, Genesis, and Mega Drive games over HDMI, and there are plans to sell cartridge adapters for other systems down the road. The Mega Sg is also fully compatible with the original Sega CD add-on out of the box. Analogue claims 100% compatibility across all supported platforms. The console is available to pre-order now, and is scheduled to ship worldwide in April 2019.
Like Analogue's two most recent consoles, the Mega Sg is the brainchild of Kevin Horton, who is widely regarded as an expert when it comes to recreating classic gaming hardware on FPGA chips. Compared to software-based emulation, a properly configured FPGA results in a technically more accurate gameplay experience than a traditional emulator. The differences aren't massive, but for enthusiasts, the devil is in the details, and that's where Analogue and Horton have historically come out on top.
The Japanese Mega Drive-themed Mega Sg ($189), and the Black M30 Controller ($25) from 8BitDo
It's worth noting that the FPGA development scene has picked up steam with hobbyists, and the ongoing MiSTer project exists to help coordinate development around the Terasic DE10-Nano FPGA platform, which uses the same FPGA (Altera Cyclone V) as the Super Nt and the Mega Sg. There are many cores (systems) that currently function at varying degrees on MiSTer, including the Genesis, but with its support for cartridges and original accessories, including the Sega CD, the Mega Sg is poised to be the most practical FPGA-based Genesis around.
Analogue is pitching the Mega Sg as a reference-quality system, meaning that it offers clean audio and video signals without distortion or lag. Considering that the quality of Sega's original 16-bit hardware fluctuated wildly from one model or motherboard revision to the next, and that other third-party systems consistently fall short, the promise of clean audio from the simulated Yamaha YM2612 sound chip is high on the list of Mega Sg's feature set.
Thanks to the headphone port on the front, you will also have the option to connect directly to the system. Video options for the Mega Sg include the usual set of features for an Analogue system: scanline options, scaling and position adjustments, and HDMI resolutions of 480p, 720p, or 1080p.
The Mega Sg is being offered in four different color schemes, including white, in addition to versions that match the original Mega Drive and Genesis consoles released in Europe, Japan, and North America. Controllers aren't included, but you can use vintage controllers, or the newly announced wireless M30 controllers ($25) from 8BitDo, which will start shipping in February 2019.
The Mega Sg CD expansion port. Like the Famicom Disk adapter for the Nt Mini
Every Mega Sg will come packaged with a Master System cartridge adapter, and Analogue has plans to release additional adapters in 2019 for Mark III, Game Gear, Sega MyCard, SG-1000, and SC-3000 cartridges.
In discussing the upcoming console with Analogue founder Christopher Taber, we learned that the only apparent unchecked box is support for 32X games, via the original add-on hardware or otherwise. With the original 32X in mind, the necessary passthrough ports don't exist on the Mega Sg, and while Taber believes the device could be replicated on the FPGA inside the Mega Sg, he acknowledges that it isn't feasible in time for launch.
Taber also mentioned that the company's previously announced A/V digital-to-analog converter--used to connect the Super Nt and the Mega Sg to analog displays--remains in development. For a growing portion of the vintage gaming community, the ability to play old games on CRT displays is an important step towards authenticity. Nevertheless, if the Mega Sg lives up to the high-bar set by the Super Nt, it could be the first choice when it comes to playing authentic Sega cartridges on modern displays when it ships next year.
Each Monday on the Microsoft Store, the lights go out on the previous week's sale on Xbox One and 360 games and a new set of downloadable titles gets the discount treatment. This week's sale is now live, so if you're looking to save some money and want a new game to play, you'll want to check out what's available for cheap. Some of the deals require you to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription, but most are available to everyone between now and October 22.
A few big games from previous years are available for under $20 this week. If you never got around to picking up Gears of War 4, you can get it for just $16 / £13.40. Another cheap blockbuster is Fallout 4, on sale for $15 / £10. And if fighting games are your thing, you can pick up Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for just $16 / £13.
The World Series kicks off next week, meaning we'll soon be in the offseason. How will baseball fans last through the cold winter without their favorite pastime to keep them entertained? They can pick up RBI Baseball 18, which is on sale for $21 / £17.
One of the steepest discounts this week is on The Technomancer, which is 80% off, bringing it down to $8 / £7. It's a sci-fi RPG that takes place on Mars, where you use the title character's electrical superpowers to singe and destroy hordes of mutants. We've picked out some more enticing discounts below, or you can find the full list of games on sale here.
Discord announced today the worldwide launch of its Discord Store, a PC game-buying portal that'll include its own exclusive titles. The store will pack games from indie developers and at least one bigger publisher, along with titles exclusive to the store.
Previously available only to Canadian players, the new global Discord Store is all about curation. The company, best known for its gaming-centric voice and text chat app of the same name, is hoping to put games in front of players that they're more likely to want to buy and play. That curation will be carried out by the Discord team, as well as through recommendations made by players' friends on the Discord service.
According to a press release from the company, the idea is to create something more akin to a local bookstore experience for the Discord Store. That's in contrast to Valve's massively popular Steam store, which might be better compared to a big box store, or even a whole mall.
Alongside the launch of the Discord Store is a new version of Discord's Nitro monthly subscription service. The current, $5 subscription is focused on things like controlling your Discord username and offering higher resolutions for Discord's screen sharing service. The new Nitro bumps the price to $9.99 and adds a gaming component: all-you-can-play access to a catalogue of about 60 titles from partner developers like Deep Silver and Double Fine Productions. The games players get access to through Nitro include This War of Mine, Metro: Last Light Redux, Soma, Wastelanders 2: Director's Cut, INSIDE, Galactic Civilizations III, and Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition.
The catalogues of the Discord Store and Nitro seem pretty confined at the moment, which means it's not likely to threaten Steam anytime soon. But Discord might be onto something with its focus on curation. Discovery of new games is a big problem on Steam both for players and developers, especially small ones whose games are lost in the flood of titles being released. One report had it that 21 games were released on Steam every day in 2017.
Discord claims some 150 million registers users across the globe for its app, so while its store sports fewer games, it's possible the smaller, more personal approach might be an answer for developers who have trouble cutting through the noise on larger portals. Both the Discord Store and Nitro service are available to users today.
Epic Games has revealed that there's a new vehicle on its way to Fortnite on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. If you boot up the game you'll be greeted with a splash screen with the latest news and, alongside details on the new Disco Domination Limited-Time Mode and the Fortnite Android open-beta, there's an image and description of the Quadcrasher. [Update: Patch 6.10 is now available, introducing the new vehicle.]
This new vehicle seems to have been designed specifically to cause destruction and to that end it has a mean looking snowplow-like front. For good measure Epic has also outfitted it with a special boost ability. "Charge the boost to crash through structures or get some air," reads the description. A specific release date was not shared, but its appearance in the News feed says it's "coming soon." We know update 6.10 is scheduled for release sometime this week, and the Quadcrasher could be coming as part of that.
While we'll have to wait until its available to see the kind of destruction the Quadcrasher can cause, we're betting that it's going to be very useful for ploughing through any structures that other players build. This means that ultra-defensive players will have a rougher time if there's a Quadcrasher in the mix.
Fortnite Season 6, Week 3's challenges are now available and you can take a look at our breakdown to see what you need to do to complete them all. The challenge that stands out as being the trickiest involves completing time trials. We've already done the legwork to hunt down a few of them, so you don't have to. Check out our time trial location guide for all that information.
Halloween is looming, and Epic is getting into the spirit by adding some themed cosmetics to the game. The Skull Trooper skin makes its return with a few extra customization options, there also a Skull Ranger skin for the female character model, the Skull Sickle Harvesting Tool, and the Crypt Cruiser Glider. These are purchasable with V-Bucks from the in-game store. The big ticket item, however, is the Ghost Portal Back bling. To get that you'll need to complete the Skull Trooper Challenges.
When it comes to battle royale titles, Fortnite has some new competition from a big name franchise. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is available today and features Blackout, the series' own spin on the battle royale formula. You can read our Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 review impressions to see what our early impressions of Blackout are.
For a broader look at how today's biggest battle royale titles stack up against each other and an analysis of what makes each one distinct, Michael Higham has put together a feature that compares Fortnite, PUBG, and Blackout.
Fortnite v6.10 will add in-game tournaments, Epic has announced through its official site. Tournaments will be scheduled events open to all players to get in over the course of several hours and win as many points as they can. If you achieve the score goal, you'll get a pin to celebrate. Some special tournaments will use the pins as qualifiers for the next tier of a tournament or to win prizes. [Update: The new feature is now available, as update 6.10 has been released.]
Tournaments will be open to all players, but you'll need to opt in for crossplay to compete. All players participating in a tournament will be treated as equals regardless of their control input--mouse and keyboard, controller, or touch. Epic says it was carefully watching pro players during the Summer Skirmish, PAX West, and Fall Skirmish events, and have concluded that controller players can be a match for mouse-and-keyboard players. The studio will be continuing to look at the competitive landscape and may offer limited tournaments for inputs or platforms.
Matchmaking during a tournament session will match you against players with similar point standing. In the coming months, Epic will be developing tournaments to take place across multiple rounds with pins acting as qualifiers. Players can even earn a spot for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup using the in-game tournament system.
The first tournament kicks off this week, and the initial tests will be continuing over the next few weeks. Check the first round of scheduled tournaments below.
Alpha Tournament (Solo)
Dates: October 16 - October 21
Description: Participate in the first in-game tournament, spanning across several days of daily competition!
Beta Tournament (Duo)
Dates: October 23 - October 25
Description: Grab a friend and take on the world - until you are the last two left.
Friday Night Fortnite (Squad)
Dates: October 19 - November 30
Description: Join your friends every Friday and kick off your weekend with some exciting Squad action.
Salty Springs Cup (Solo)
Dates: October 27 - October 31
Description: One week and three attempts to prove you're the saltiest that Salty Springs has to offer.
Tomato Temple Cup (Duo)
Dates: October 28 - November 1
Description: Become legends of the Tomato Temple Cup.
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