Today's major Destiny update added microtransactions to the game for the very first time. We've now visited the in-game Eververse Trading Company store and can confirm pricing details for the brand Silver currency and the various emotes you can buy.
Everyone gets 400 Silver to start, which is enough to buy two standard emotes, as they sell for 200 Silver each. "Legendary" emotes, of which there are two ("the Carlton" from Fresh Prince is one of them), cost 500 Silver each. This emote is known as the "Enthusiastic" dance. Check it out in the gallery above.
You can buy additional bundles of Silver at the following price points.
500 -- $5
1,100 --$10
2,300 --$20
If you want to buy all 18 of Destiny's new emotes, it would cost you 4,200 Silver, or about $38. Check back soon for a detailed video overview of these emotes and the Eververse Trading Company.
Emotes are only cosmetic and do not affect gameplay. Bungie has not yet said if it plans to introduce items other than emotes through the Eververse Trading Company.
Destiny is undergoing big changes today. Bungie has just released the game's new 2.0.1 update, which, among other things, introduces microtransactions and implements big changes to shotgun lethality.
Today's update adds the Eververse Trading Company, the in-game store when you can now buy dancing emotes. You can even pay money for "The Carlton," as made famous from Fresh Prince. As for the shotgun changes, the update removes the Shot Package perk from all shotguns, making shotguns less lethal.
In addition, today marks the return of the limited-time Iron Banner multiplayer event--with some changes. It runs through October 19. The next Trials of Osiris, meanwhile, will be held the weekend of October 16-18.
The complete Destiny 2.0.1 patch notes are below.
General
Tess Everis has returned from her vacation and is now back at her station in the Tower
Added a new currency, Silver, that can be purchased from console stores
Tess's booth has been given a facelift to reflect her new venture with the Eververse Trading Company
Lord Saladin has returned from his hiatus and brings new wares for Iron Banner challengers
Players who may have deleted their pre-order Ghost Shells after the Taken King Launch can now obtain them again from the Speaker Fixed an issue where some Taken King Collector's Edition purchasers did not receive their Shaders
They can now be obtained from the Shader Collections Kiosk
Fixed an issue where some of the Year 1 Special Order Emblems and Shaders were not appearing in Collections
Weapons
"Shot Package" perks have been removed and replaced on Shotguns with a non-range-boosting perk
Fixed an issue where Black Spindle had an unintended +20 Attack bonus
Fixed an issue in which Rare Sniper Rifle scope upgrades did not correctly show progress
Fixed an issue in which activating the "Eye of the Storm" perk was not using correct feedback when readying weapon
Fixed an issue in which the "Second Wind" perk was incorrectly applying on the initial spawn
Armor
Players can now reroll Stat nodes and Upgrade nodes on Exotic armor via the "Twist Fate" node
Twist Fate will require Glimmer, Armor materials, and a Glass Needle, which will be available from Xur during his weekly visits
Exotics
Fixed an issue where No Back Up Plans did not consistently trigger Force Barrier on Shotgun kills
Fixed an issue where the "Air Traffic Control" perk on Taikonaut Helm did not properly increase heavy ammo drop rate with a Rocket Launcher equipped
Smoke Bombs used with Sealed Ahamkara Grasps no longer costs two charges
Quests & Bounties
Fixed an issue where Hunter and Warlock class level-up quests were not giving rewards for the correct level
Fixed an issue with some Year 1 Exotic Bounty items that were causing lingering waypoints to remain over various NPCs
Fixed several issues where some bounties were not correctly requiring players to complete Court of Oryx encounters within the stated time on the issued bounty
Affected Bounties: "Challenge the Court: Reciprocal Rune," "Challenge the Court: Stolen Rune," "Challenge the Court: Antiquated Rune"
Fixed an issue where some Vanguard bounties were incorrectly granting credit across entire Fireteams
Affected Bounties: "Heavyweight." "Specialized Rampage," "Enemy in Every Corner," "Invincible"
Fixed an issue where it was possible to not get charges on an Agonarch Rune if another Rune was completed in the same week
Strikes
Weekly Heroic Playlist now shows how many Weekly Bonus Legendary Mark awards remain
Fixed an issue where players were not transitioning to Return to Orbit upon Phogoth's death
Fixed an issue where players were not transitioning to Return to Orbit phase upon Omnigul's death
Raid: King's Fall
Increased the number of potential Shards and added additional materials in the first King's Fall chest
Blighted Light explosion size has been changed to encompass the entire Arena
Crucible
General
Shaxx's Weekly Bounties now unlock across all characters after completing the Crucible Questline on one character
Damage curves have been adjusted for all power-enabled playlists to account for the new Light levels in Year 2
Distinct audio cues have been created for teammate and enemy revives
Weekly Crucible bounty "Featured Matches" now properly progresses in weekly featured playlists in addition to daily featured playlists
Weekly Crucible bounties "Featured Matches" and "Making an Impact" now also count top 3 finishes in Rumble as wins, to be consistent with other Crucible quest and bounty steps
"Hold the Line" bounty now only requires being near only one of your teammates (instead of two)
Fixed an issue where the "Largest Multi-Kill" stat on the Mayhem scoreboard did not accumulate correctly
Playlists
Thieves' Den has been removed from the Rift playlist
Added Twilight Gap and Asylum to Elimination playlist
Removed Thieves' Den from Doubles playlist
Removed The Anomaly and Firebase Delphi from Inferno Salvage and Inferno Skirmish playlists
Iron Banner
Iron Banner is now enabled for the week of 10/13 - 10/19
Requires a minimum Character Level of 40
Recommended Light for Iron Banner is 230
Game completion rewards have been reworked to be a more valid source for Iron Banner rewards
End-of-match rewards now include both weapons and armor (including items available on Lord Saladin)
New Emblems have been added to Lord Saladin's inventory
Lord Saladin now has three daily bounties and three weekly bounties that award Legendary Marks
Gear purchased from Lord Saladin now requires Legendary Marks (instead of Glimmer)
Tempered buff is now automatically applied to your character and continues to grow in effectiveness each day of the event week
Trials of Osiris
Trials of Osiris will be enabled the weekend of 10/16-10/18
Requires a minimum Character Level of 40
Requires a minimum Light of 251; Recommended Light is 290
Winning teams now receive Trials gear rewards directly at the end-of-match completion
Players that go undefeated on their Passage will continue to be invited to The Lighthouse
Players may continue to play in the Trials past 9 wins (but rewards are maxed out at 9 wins)
Trials Passages now have a Details page containing your Boons
Player must now purchase Boons from the Details page on their Passage instead of from Brother Vance
Boons can no longer be applied to Trials passages after starting a run
Trials gear can be purchased from Brother Vance (including some items found at the Lighthouse)
Brother Vance now has Bounties that award Legendary Marks
Crucible Bounties can now also be completed in Trials of Osiris
Matchmaking has been updated to make it more competitive to reach The Lighthouse
Economy
Sources for Motes of Light have been adjusted:
From completing Public Events have been increased by approximately 100%
From earning XP post-40 have been increased from 3 -> 5
From Faction Rep packages have been reduced from 5 -> 4
From dismantling Rare and Legendary Items have been reduced by approximately 25-30%
From Daily Vanguard and Crucible Bounties have been reduced by approximately 50%
Sources for Strange Coins have been adjusted:
From Faction Rep packages have been reduced from 5 -> 4
From Daily Vanguard and Crucible Bounties have been reduced by approximately 50%
Weapon Parts from dismantling Uncommon or Rare Weapons have been reduced by around 25%
Weapon Part turn-ins at Factions increased from +50 Rep to +75 Rep per turn-in
Materials recovered by Ghost Extractor upgrades reduced (but still guaranteed)
Inventory
Ghost Shells will now be recovered at the Postmaster in your Lost and Found, if you don't have inventory space for them
Technical
Fixed multiple situations that resulted in the game client crashing, including the "Ward of Dawn" and "Firefly" crashes
Fixed some issues where audio would drop
What do you make of these changes? Let us know in the comments below.
Video games will again show up on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert tonight. As announced previously, the CBS program welcomes Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses touring concert for a performance on the show tonight, which airs at 11:35 PM EDT.
The symphony will perform a preview of a new, never-before-heard arrangement for Nintendo 3DS game The Legend of Zelda: TriForce Heroes during the show. "Highlights" from the game will be shown during the program during the musical performance.
Tonight's episode will also feature actor Elijah Wood as one of the guests. He is perhaps best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he is also a video game voice actor. Most recently, he voiced one of the leading characters in Double Fine's adventure game, Broken Age.
TriForce Heroes launches on October 23, while the Symphony of the Goddesses tour is currently running across the US and Europe. The 2016 leg of the tour, Master Quest, was just announced today. Check out the symphony's complete touring schedule here.
Jason Voorhees recently appeared in Mortal Kombat X as a DLC fighter, but now he's getting his own new game. Gun Media and developer Illfonic have announced Friday the 13th: The Game, a third-person, asymmetrical multiplayer game for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The hook is that one player controls Jason Voorhees, while seven others take control of camp counselors who are attempting to survive the night.
The game takes place in a "semi-open world" of Camp Crystal Lake from the film series. "It's a classic horror fan's dream, no shaky cam, no found footage," developers said. "We want you to know we're revitalizing the golden era of slashers, and putting you at the controls of each horrific, blood-splattered moment."
Friday the 13th: The Game is actually an evolution of Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp. It was decided to make this a Friday the 13th game after franchise creator Sean Cunningham reached out to the development team.
"That's when things got awesome," the developers said. "Sean came to us in early 2015, but we quickly discovered these weren't the normal business conversations you would have when you try to secure a license as important as Friday the 13th. It was totally different. It was a conversation built on mutual admiration and respect for what each had created.
"Sean immediately noticed the passion we had for Friday the 13th, and after several incredible meetings over the next few months, we decided to upgrade our plans for Summer Camp and embrace the Friday the 13th video game license," they added. "After several incredible meetings over the next few months, Sean surprised us by offering the Friday the 13th video game license. It was literally a dream come true for a group of lifelong fans. He knew he could trust us with the most coveted horror IP ever, and we plan to make good on that promise to both him and you, the millions of loyal Friday the 13th fans around the world."
As for why Gun Media is not seeking a traditional publisher relationship, the developer said violence, gore, and nudity "aren't just concepts to consider--they're necessities." Partnering with a publisher meant that might have meant these elements would have to be toned down.
"We don't want that. You don't want that," they said. "We're not interested in compromising what made the film franchise so popular. We're interested in building precisely what we, as fans, want. The ultimate Friday the 13th experience. Blood, guts, gore, brutal kills, and more. You want an experience true to the films, and so do we. It's about creative control and delivering the best game we can. We want to share that control, with you, not a publisher."
Friday the 13th: The Game runs on Epic's Unreal Engine 4, and looks quite nice, even in its unfinished state currently. Check out some images in the gallery below.
The game was conceived as a multiplayer-only game, but Gun Media said it will consider a single-player campaign if the Kickstarter does well enough. There are a variety of stretch goals featured on the game's Kickstarter page, but they are blurred out for now. These will be announced later.
Friday the 13th: The Game is tentatively scheduled to launch in October 2016. You can guarantee yourself a copy of the game by pledging at least $25. For lots more, be sure to check out the game's Kickstarter.
There have been twotrailers so far for the upcoming revival of iconic '90s sci-fi show The X-Files, and now a new promo has been released. This one is somewhat different however. It's a stylised animated video featuring voiceovers, but no actual footage from the new series. Check it out here:
The key voice in this clip is that of the Smoking Man, the enigmatic villain played by William B. Davis. Main stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny can also be heard, as FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.
The first episode of the six-episode season recently premiered at New York Comic Con, to mixed reviews. The new season will premiere on FOX on January 24, 2016.
The X-Files ran for nine years, and clocked up 202 episodes between 1993 and 2002. By the time the final episode aired, it had become the longest-running consecutive sci-fi series ever on US broadcast TV. There were also two spinoff movies: 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future, and The X-Files: I Want to Believe in 2008.
Over nine million people played the beta for DICE's Star Wars Battlefront, making it the "single largest beta in the history of EA," according to senior producer Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir.
Posting on the game's official website, Ingvarsdottir said the studio "could not be happier" with the amount of interest being shown for its upcoming shooter.
"Ever since we revealed Star Wars Battlefront back in April, we knew the beta would be a huge test for our game. After all, the beta has been one of the most talked about topics around the game over the last six months, and it was exciting (and a little nerve racking if I'm being completely honest) to open it up to the world.
"Like Han Solo at the end of A New Hope, we're glad you showed up," she continued. "Even more importantly than just showing up, you've been spending a lot of time playing, having a great time' and leaving us some invaluable feedback, as we continue to tune and balance the game until launch."
The Star Wars Battlefront release date has been confirmed as November 17. This is about a month before Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters in December.
Deus Ex: Revision, the fan-made mod that updates the 2000 PC game's graphics and more, is launching today, October 13, as a free download on Steam. Created by mod team Caustic Creative and authorized by Square Enix, the mod aims to offer more than a simple graphics makeover. Watch its launch trailer below.
"Where other projects fill in detail around the edges of the game by tuning gameplay mechanics or improving textures, we focus on the visceral core of the Deus Ex experience, bringing new level design, aesthetic direction, and world-building detail," Caustic Creative lead John French said in a statement.
For its part, Eidos Montreal boss David Anfossi praised Caustic's mod, calling it a "fantastic way" for both veteran fans of the franchise and newcomers alike to see what the series is all about.
Deus Ex: Revision will be available sometime later today on Steam at this page.
In addition, Deus Ex: Game of the Year edition and Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut are on sale this week for 80 percent off as part of Steam's "Stealth Sale," which runs through October 16. This sale doesn't appear to have gone live yet, as it's not published on Steam's website as of this writing.
Electronic Arts has released the full soundtrack listing for the upcoming Need for Speed"full reboot" in development at Ghost Games for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The 64-song soundtrack offers a big variety of genres, including EDM, rock, and rap. The song "Elektra" by punk band Refused is also featured.
Check out the full Need for Speed soundtrack below.
Aero Chord - "Break Them feat. Anna Yvette"
Aero Chord - "Surface"
Alison Wonderland - "U Don't Know (feat. Wayne Coyne)"
AVICII - "Pure Grinding"
Battle Tapes - "Valkyrie"
Botnek - "Here It Comes (N4S Mix)"
Botnek & 3LAU - "Vikings"
Clement Marfo & The Frontline - "Get Rowdy"
Congorock & Daddy's Groove - "Black Sun"
CP feat. Danny Cainco - "Don't Stop"
Dimension - "Move Faster"
Dirty South - "The Unknown feat. FMLYBND"
Django Django - "Shake And Tremble"
Doomtree - "Gray Duck"
Drenge - "We Can Do What We Want"
Fehrplay - "Pyara (Live Edit)"
Flosstradamus - "Don't Trip feat. Run The Jewels & Sizzy Rocket"
Genetikk - "Wünsch Dir Was"
Going Quantum - "Raw"
GoMad! & Monster feat. Matt Rose - "Under Control"
GotSome - "Vibe Out feat. Wiley"
HEALTH - "NEW COKE"
Hook N Sling - "Break Yourself feat. Far East Movement"
Hudson Mohawke - "Brand New World"
iSHi feat. Pusha T - "Push It"
Joywave - "Destruction (KOPPS Remix)"
June Miller - "Stormtrooper feat. Virus Syndicate"
Junior Prom - "Stand!"
Kill The Noise - "Lose Ya Love"
Krakota - "Ice Hands"
Lokate - "Flow (feat. Doctor & Bay C)"
Louis Berry - "25 Reasons"
Lynx - "Clap Track"
Lynx - "Into The Light"
Major Lazer - "Night Riders feat. Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, Pusha T & Mad Cobra"
Michael Woods feat. Sam Obernik - "Get Around (Roni Size Remix)"
Modestep - "Machines"
Muzzy - "Insignia"
Netsky - "Rio"
No Wyld - "Odyssey"
Phace - "Imbalanced"
Raury - "Devil's Whisper"
Refused - "Elektra"
Reso - "Callisto"
Reso - "Move It"
RiFF RAFF - "Kokayne (Video Games Clean Version)"
Rogue - "Rattlesnake"
Royalston - "Blight Mamba"
Run The Jewels - "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1"
Silversun Pickups - "Connection"
Slaves - "Hey"
Speaker Of The House - "Modern Slang"
Swim Deep - "Fueiho Boogie"
The Bots - "Won"
The Chemical Brothers - "Go"
The Glitch Mob - "Better Hide, Better Run (feat. Mark Johns)"
The One And Only PPL MVR - "Let's Take This Outside"
In addition to announcing the launch day Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer playlists today, developer 343 Industries revealed that it is opening up the game's application program interface (API) for everyone. What this means is that anyone can take player statistics from the game to build new websites or apps. 343 says giving players access to game data was a "top priority" during the course of Halo 5's development.
Halo 5's API will give developers access to the following:
Service Record (Life-to-date stats for each player)
Match History (Access to each match played)
Carnage Report (Complete statistical breakdown for each player in a match)
"Giving the community the ability to compile stats will allow developers to craft their own statistical story and experiences," 343 said.
This doesn't replace the API's existing functionality on Halo Waypoint and the Halo Channel, however.
Right now, the Halo 5 API is in private beta. 343 is working with professional and community organizations, including gaming leagues such as the ESL and MLG, as well as community sites like Halo Charts and Halo Tracker. The Halo 5 API will be available to everyone else "around the same time" that the game launches.
"We know you'll surprise and delight us with inventive and unexpected uses, and we can't wait to see what you develop and share with the Halo community later this year and beyond," 343 said.
Telltale Games, the go-to studio for episodic games based on big third-party properties, has kicked off its Minecraft: Story Mode series with the first episode, titled The Order of the Stone.
How does it fare in bringing canonical story to a game that has, until now, thrived off giving players the freedom to craft their own? We've adventured across the Internet to bring you word of the critical reception.
Below, you'll find score as well a a sample of the review text from a variety of publications. Take a look and, by the time you're done, you'll have a good idea of how it's being received.
Game: Minecraft: Story Mode - The Order of the Stone
Developer: Telltale Games
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release Date: October 13
Price: $4.99/£4.99
GameSpot -- 7/10
"It's [the] flavor that helps propel this first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode along, even when the story itself only begins to hint at the scope of the adventure ahead. It's a pleasant start, packed with individual events but featuring little in the way of narrative propulsion. When I reached the end of this episode, I wanted more. I'm hoping that, like most outstanding Minecraft creations, Minecraft: Story Mode just needs a little more time to build." -- Randolph Ramsay [Full review]
Forbes -- 8/10
"Overall Minecraft Story Mode is a great start to a new series. Although the child-like visuals will put some Telltale fans off this is to miss the huge investment and achievement so far. If the series continues in this vein it's set to be warmly welcomed by both Minecraft fans and families." -- Gil Press [Full review]
IGN -- 7.3/10
"Minecraft: Story Mode is a pleasant, family-friendly adventure that very quickly won me over and kept me invested in its twists and turns. The drama might not be as heightened as something like The Walking Dead, but I still found myself surprisingly invested in the choices I had to make about my companions, undeveloped as they may be, and smiling at the Minecrafty in-jokes. Sparse interactivity and a lack of commitment to explaining this world and its inhabitants hold Episode 1 back, but I'm still absorbed in my story, and eager to find out what happens next." -- Justin Davis [Full review]
Destructoid -- 5/10
"There is some hope for this series to be great in the future, but The Order of the Stone is just okay. The Minecraft-specific gameplay is a nice way to shake up the usual formula. The blank slate of the universe allows the tale to go wherever it wants. The voice cast is full of actors who can do great work. But the writing needs to be more engaging if Story Mode wants to be taken seriously among Telltale canon." -- Darren Nakamura [Full review]
VideoGamer -- 8/10
"Perhaps the reason why the marriage of Minecraft and story works so well is that Telltale has kept things simple. It's the most basic of hero's journey plots. A band of young adventurers tasked with saving the world by an old mentor, the sort of story that's been told so many times in so many ways that you could conceivably fit it anywhere. But there's plenty of spectacle here, and such clever use of the license that I can't help but think of all the post-Walking Dead series to come out of the studio, this may well turn out to be the best." -- Jamie Trinca [Full review]
Digital Spy -- 4/5
"Minecraft: Story Mode is off to a good start, and despite a story-less canvas and only in-game references to draw from, developer Telltale has crafted something promising." -- Matthew Reynolds [Full review]
GameInformer -- 8.25/10
"Minecraft fans should enjoy the references to the game, while Telltale fans will enjoy the traditional storytelling elements they've come to expect from the studio. The Order of the Stone grabs your attention at a number of points and sets you down the path of actually caring about what's going on in a story set in the player-driven Minecraft universe." -- Brian Shea [Full review]
With just two weeks to go before the release of Halo 5: Guardians, developer 343 Industries has now announced the sci-fi shooter's lineup of launch day multiplayer playlists.
Per IGN, the eight launch-day Halo 5 multiplayer playlists include:
Warzone -- Halo 5's new, MOBA-like 24-player mode. Matches can last 30 minutes or more, so this mode will enable join-in-progress.
Warzone Assault -- An asymmetrical variant, this mode challenges teams to destroy the power core or defend it.
Team Arena -- "Play on the very best modes and maps Halo 5 has to offer."
Slayer -- The classic Halo mode.
Breakout -- An all-new, single-life team mode.
Free-for-All -- You know the drill.
SWAT -- No shields or motion tracker; one-shot kill headshots.
Weekend Social -- Maps/modes voted on by the community and change every weekend.
Halo 5's trademark Big Team Battle mode will return in Halo 5, but it won't be available at launch. When it is eventually released, the mode will get its own dedicated matchmaking playlist. In addition, multiplayer designer Quinn DelHoyo said 343 is making new maps designed "from the ground up" for Big Team Battle.
Everyone who played the Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta on PlayStation 4 can now download their promised free dynamic theme. Activision is giving the theme away as a "thank you" to fans.
The theme is accessible through the Black Ops III "Themes" tab. There you'll find the "Morg City Zombies Theme" to download. It's based on the noir-inspired, 1940s setting of Black Ops III's zombies mode, Shadows of Evil, which stars Jeff Goldblum, Ron Perlman, Heather Graham, and Neal McDonough.
You can get a closer look at the Black Ops III zombies theme through the overview video above. The Black Ops III multiplayer beta was held in August, starting first on PS4 before coming later to Xbox One and PC.
In other recent news about Black Ops III's zombies mode, Activision has released a new Shadows of Evil trailer which sets up the story and provides a look at how Goldblum, Perlman, Graham, and McDonough look in the game.
Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens is now only two months away from release, and final details about what to expect are beginning to appear. One piece of news that has emerged is the film's running time.
Following the Nerd has reported that The Force Awakens will run 136 minutes, and in the UK carry a 12A certificate. While this has not been confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm, the site did state that they were "100% certain" that the information was correct.
This running time will put the picture in line with previous movies in the franchise. While Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back both clocked in at just over two hours, Return of the Jedi and all three prequels topped the 130-minute mark. 134 minutes will place The Force Awakens at a minute longer than The Phantom Menace, but shorter than either Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith.
The UK certificate is the same as the one given to all of Marvel's recent superhero films, and is the equivalent to a PG-13. While the US certificate is yet to be announced, it is expected to be in line with this.
Earlier this week, director JJ Abrams confirmed during a panel discussion for Vanity Fair that while he did have final cut on the film, it was still very much Disney's property. "When you do a Disney project, there's a clause in there that you kind of go, 'Well, if I were a lawyer I could probably drive a truck through it'," he said, via Indiewire.
The implication here was that Disney still had to right to take the movie from the director if they weren't happy with results. Nevertheless, in the interview Abrams was full of praise for the studio. "They're not trying to 'Disney-fy' it," he said. "They're not doing anything other than, I think, an incredibly smart thing, which is letting Kathleen Kennedy--who is a remarkable person and producer--run and lead Lucasfilm to a place where I think it wants to go. They let us make the movie we wanted to make."
Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens will be released on December 16 in France and December 17 in the UK, before rolling out across the US on December 18. It stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Max von Sydow, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill.
The full lineup of deals, good now through October 19, is listed below, divided by platform. Click through the links to start your download from the Xbox Store online.
The existence of a "Realistic" difficulty mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops III was recently discovered by the game's achievement/trophy listings. Now, Treyarch has provided more details on how this uber-challenging mode works. Producer Jason Blundell tells XboxAchievements, "[In Realistic] you have one point of life, so if you're shot once, you're dead. It completely changes the way you play the game."
He went on to say that surviving in Black Ops III's four-player co-op campaign will require the coordinated effort of all soldiers. And patience. Lots and lots of patience, it seems.
"You all have to survive as a group," he explained. "You end up respecting the level in a completely different way, and once gunfire opens up, everyone just drops to the ground, because if any one bullet hits you or a grenade goes off near you, you're dead."
Past Call of Duty games have featured Recruit, Regular, Hardened, and Veteran difficulty settings.
If you're playing Black Ops III's co-op campaign with computer characters instead of human friends, you may be happy to learn that the game's AI has been completely rewritten to "make independent decisions," Blundell explained. He added: "We have more types of AI than we've ever had before."
The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues to grow today with the release of the open-world role-playing game's first paid expansion, Hearts of Stone. The $10 add-on is available now across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Use the links below to queue up your download right now. It's also available through the $25 Witcher 3 DLC pass, which also comes with the next add-on, Blood and Wine.
In Hearts of Stone, Geralt rides into No Man's Land and Oxenfurt and must complete a contract from a shadowy "Man of Glass." According to CD Projekt Red, the expansion should take you around 10 hours to complete, though of course this depends on your specific play style.
For lots more on Hearts of Stone, check out GameSpot's video review above and written review here. GameSpot editor Mike Mahardy scored the game a 9/10. Below is an excerpt from his review.
"Hearts of Stone feels just as much a part of the narrative as any of the main game's quest lines, but stands on its own as a memorable adventure," he wrote. "It may have its negative moments and the pacing may be broken at certain intervals, but The Witcher 3's first paid expansion is well worth the return to the Northern Kingdoms.
Although nothing has been decided yet, Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games has now said it is open to the idea of supporting the PlayStation 4 horror game with DLC. In an interview with PlayStation Lifestyle, executive producer Pete Samuels talked more about some of the challenges in this area.
"The underlying 'truths' in the story are pretty sacred," Samuels explained. "If an expansion of any kind required us to change a truth then we wouldn't be happy doing it. We get asked a lot for a happy ending for one character in particular. We can't see how that could work without breaking some important truths. I'm not ruling out DLC, we just haven't yet found the right context for it."
Also in the interview, Samuels said fans hoping for a PlayStation VR version of Until Dawn should not hold their breath. It's not happening, at least not anytime soon.
"PlayStation VR cropped up in conversation a few times during development but no, we don't expect that there'll be an edition of the Until Dawn story to be playable in VR anytime soon," he explained. "Not unless somebody has a sudden rush of blood!"
Bloodborne Game of the Year Edition will be available from November 25, 2015 exclusively on PlayStation 4, Sony has announced. The package will contain the original game, along with the upcoming expansion, The Old Hunters.
As revealed during Tokyo Game Show, The Old Hunters tells the story of the "legendary hunters" referenced in the main game and is set in a "nightmare world where hunters from the past are trapped forever."
The expansion will introduce "new environments, outfits, and weapons." Ludwig, a prominent character in the game's lore, has been confirmed as one of the expansion's new bosses.
"With new story details, learn the tale of hunters who once made Yharnam their hunting grounds, meet new NPCs, and discover another side of the history and world of Bloodborne," Sony previously said, teasing the expansion's story.
On its own, The Old Hunters will be available on November 24. It will cost $19.99 / €14.99 / £11.99. A price for the Game of The Year Edition has not yet been specified.
GameSpot's Bloodborne review scored the game a 9/10: "In death there is life, and in blood, there is redemption," wrote reviewer Kevin VanOrd. "More hyperbole, yes, but for a game this theatrical, only hyperbole will do."
More free DLC is coming to Rory McIlory PGA Tour, EA Sports' new pro golf simulator. As explained in a blog post, this content will take the form of new courses (real-world and fantasy), as well as more golfers and fresh game modes. All of this content is free and will be delivered by the end of March 2016.
Below is a breakdown of the upcoming free DLC for Rory McIlory PGA Tour.
Golfers: Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson
Fantasy Course: Treasure Island
Real-World Courses: Quail Hollow (North Carolina), TPC Stadium at PGA West (California), Oakmont Country Club (Pennsylvania)
New Play Now Modes: Skins, Four Ball, Alternate Shot, and Best Ball
EA Sports has not announced specific release dates or released any images/videos for this content. The developer says it plans to share more details about this content "in the weeks ahead."
"Whether you want to call it a shank, a duff, or a whiff, all that really matters is that Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is a poor effort from a series that was looking to make a splash in its generational debut," he said.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's second paid expansion, Blood and Wine, has a new release window. Previously expected to launch in Q1 2016 (January-March), the DLC is now scheduled for first half of 2016 (January-June). The slight shift was mentioned briefly in a press release for Hearts of Stone, the RPG's first expansion, which was released today, October 13.
The Blood and Wine product page on The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's own GOG.com still shows a release window of Q1 2016 for Blood and Wine. A CD Projekt Red representative told GameSpot, "We'll be communicating more about the exact launch date of Blood and Wine at a later point in time. Stay tuned."
Blood and Wine is the more substantial of The Witcher 3's two paid expansions, said to offer around 20 hours of gameplay, compared to 10 hours for Hearts of Stone. The expansion takes place in the new region of Toussaint and will "take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret."
No further details about Blood and Wine have been announced.
"Hearts of Stone feels just as much a part of the narrative as any of the main game's quest lines, but stands on its own as a memorable adventure," critic Mike Mahardy said. "It may have its negative moments and the pacing may be broken at certain intervals, but The Witcher 3's first paid expansion is well worth the return to the Northern Kingdoms."
For many comic book fans, one of the most hotly anticipated shows of 2016 is Preacher. After years of development, the acclaimed comic is finally being adapted for AMC, produced by Seth Rogen and his regular filmmaking partner Evan Goldberg. Now Rogen has spoken about what fans can expect from the show, and how it will differ from the books.
Rogen was asked about progress on Preacher during an interview for Crave Online to promote his latest film, Steve Jobs. "It's coming along great," he said. "The writers are in Los Angeles in a big room, writing away, trying to plan the series. We're trying to plan the whole season before we start shooting and writing it. So our hope is to start filming in February and I think we'll start airing sometime next summer, basically."
Rogen was also asked about how the story was being broken down, and whether each episode would represent one issue of the comic. "No, we are changing the specifics of how the narrative is unfolding," he explained. "A lot of the building blocks we are not changing, a lot of characters we're keeping, but we want to make a show that if you're a fan of the comic, you don't know what to expect."
"There's some things that even Garth [Ennis, co-creator of the comic book] will argue, is quick to admit that we probably should not even attempt to put on television. There's some characters, we're talking about maybe we combine these two into one person.
"But to us the tangential element is one of our favorite things. The fact that it does go off into these other worlds and explore these other characters, I mean that's something that we wholeheartedly intend on indulging in because it's one of the best parts about the comic. Just the massive tapestry of f**king weirdos."
Preacher was created by Ennis and Steve Dillon, and first published in 1995 by the DC imprint Vertigo to huge acclaim. It tells the story of a smalltown preacher who is possessed by a supernatural creature and controlled by opposing forces of both good and evil. Captain America star Dominic Cooper will take on the role in the new series.
DICE has announced exactly when the Star Wars Battlefront beta will end today, October 13. The pre-release trial officially comes to a close at 8 AM PDT / 11 AM EDT / 4 PM GMT, the developer said on Twitter.
The beta lets players try out Battlefront's 40-player Walker Assault mode, as well as the smaller Drop Zone gametype and a Survival Mission. According to a technical analysis, the PS4 version outperforms the Xbox One edition, running at a better resolution and more consistent frame rate.
Customers who pre-ordered the limited edition of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone expansion in North America will have to wait a bit longer to receive their physical copies of the game. CD Projekt Red has apologised for the delayed release of the limited edition on its forums, which affects special boxed editions at GameStop stores "all over America." The developer has said the delay was caused by "logistical problems" that will affect the delivery of the games for "several days" after its release date.
The forum post goes on to apologise for the inconvenience, and that the developer is working with GameStop to resolve the situation. In the meantime, users can still purchase the game digitally if they want to play it on its launch date.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone expansion contains over ten hours of new content, including new characters, monsters, a unique romance, and a new storyline that features player choice.
The next content update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection has passed certification and is expected to launch this week, Microsoft has announced. Now, 343 Industries has posted the complete patch notes. As explained previously, this patch will introduce new penalty systems for quitting, betrayals, and idling.
Players who quit a match at any period after the start of voting up until the game ends will receive a ranking hit and a penalty to their Xbox One reputation profile. Once the update is applied, players who quit, betray, or too frequently idle during a "set period of time" will be temporarily banned from matchmaking.
343 didn't say how long the temporary bans will last. But should offending players engage in negative behavior once they are reinstated, they can expect to receive longer temporary bans.
This week's Master Chief Collection patch also makes various stability and ranking calculation improvements. In addition, in the case of a map/mode selection voting tie, the game will randomly assign a winner instead of defaulting to the left-most option.
The full patch notes are below.
Players will now receive a quit penalty and rank penalty for quitting any time after matchmaking voting begins in all matchmaking playlists, both ranked and unranked
Added matchmaking betrayal booting for Halo: Combat Evolved
Matchmaking voting now randomizes winner in the case of a tie, rather than selecting the left-most option
Made a variety of improvements to ranking calculation
Fixed an issue which could result in ranking down after winning a match
Emblems and clan tags, in addition to gamertags, are now hidden while searching for a match
Updated Team colors to always appear correctly in Forge mode
The level of menu music will now drop when other players join a lobby / are connected to other players
Fixed an issue where menu music could cut out after a game or on startup
The controller schematic for H1 "Boxer" now correctly matches the in-game control layout
Improved Classic/Remastered UI launch settings for Halo: CE and Halo 2 Campaign
Improved matchmaking messaging to players
Fixed an issue where lobby player positions could shuffle after a promotion to party leader
Fixed an issue where players could select and use nameplates that they had not unlocked
Fixed an issue where profiles could match into a game after the match started
Made a variety of fixes for players who could become stuck at the "Downloading Latest Data" screen
Fixed the glitched Who Needs Them? achievement
Improved a variety of compatibility issues
Made a variety of stability improvements
After this update is released, 343 will shift its focus to an additional playlist update. Looking further out, 343 said it plans to deliver some back-end adjustments to improvement matchmaking across the globe.
If you've already moved on, you don't have to wait long for the next Halo game, as Halo 5: Guardians arrives on October 27 for Xbox One.
18 emotes in all are being released on Tuesday, October 13. These include a mix of dances and other gestures, the best of which is no doubt the Carlton, the signature dance done by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Carlton Banks.
All of these will be for sale from Destiny's new Eververse Trading Company. This store will be fronted by returning merchant Tess Everis, who will only deal in Silver, a new currency also being introduced tomorrow. Silver can be purchased with real-world money, though Bungie also plans to give players some for free. Everything sold through the store will be cosmetic--you won't be able to spend real money to purchase guns, armor, or anything of that nature.
A high school marching band has performed music from the Destiny soundtrack--and the results are impressive. The Guyer High School Wildcat Marching Band from Texas performed the song as part of the Golden Triangle Classic festival, which was held this past weekend. Check out the video below.
This video has caught Bungie's eye. Accompany a link to the video, the developer wrote on Twitter, "The builders of the Tower should have left room for an orchestra pit."
You can watch more videos from the Guyer High School Wildcat Marching Band on the band's YouTube page, including covers of music from Batman: Begins.
The crowdfunding campaign was canceled today by Lilith, the game's developer, coinciding with news that the game will be published by Worms developer Team17.
"We have decided to withdraw the Kickstarter campaign to allow us to commit 100 percent to an opportunity that will give us the chance as a team to create the best game possible," a Kickstarter update reads. "As a newly founded studio, we've been completely overwhelmed by your encouragement and huge interest in Allison Road and we'd love to thank each and every one of you for all of the amazing support you have given us during our Kickstarter campaign and beyond. Really incredibly appreciated."
"Working with Team17 will give us the chance to make our game unhindered creatively, but at the same time will give us the resources, support, and experience that only a 25-year-old studio can give," the post explains.
The Kickstarter campaign was seeking 250,000 GBP (about $384,000). Since it launched on September 21, it had raised 145,959 GBP (just under $224,000). The campaign was scheduled to run until October 21; per Kickstarter rules, if it had not reached that milestone, Lilith would have received none of the money.
Allison Road's developer goes on to say it will "look at ways outside of Kickstarter that will allow [fans] to be involved in the game at a later date." The Kickstarter campaign had promised to keep fans apprised of how development was proceeding.
It sounds as if that may not be the case, at least for the time being, as the update states, "We will be going very quiet for a while as we focus on making Allison Road the best horror experience it possibly can be."
The original plan was for Allison Road to be released on PC before the end of 2016, followed by Mac, Linux, and console ports after that. It's unclear if that schedule remains in place.
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