Updates from

GameSpot News

The latest News from GameSpot

In the 10/02/2017 edition:

Rick And Morty Season 3 Funko Pop Giveaway
Raise Your Game: Learn To Play Like The Pros Using Acer's Training Room
FIFA 18 Vs PES 2018 - Which Is Right For You?
More Free Xbox One And Xbox 360 Games Available Now

Rick And Morty Season 3 Funko Pop Giveaway

By Array on Oct 01, 2017 10:03 pm

In honor of Rick And Morty Season 3, we're giving away a Snowball Funko Pop! One (1) winner will be chosen after the giveaway closes on Sunday, October 1st at 12:00PM PT.

Open to US residents only, void where prohibited. If you do not win this time, you'll be automatically entered in the next giveaway.

Enter below (the additional entries are optional to increase your chances of winning):

GameSpot Universe is our official entertainment channel focused on comics, movies, TV, anime, giveaways, and more! We find you movie easter eggs, recap shows like Game Of Thrones and Rick And Morty, and tell you who the hell are certain comic book characters like Cable from Deadpool.

Raise Your Game: Learn To Play Like The Pros Using Acer's Training Room

By GameSpot Staff on Oct 01, 2017 09:30 pm

(Produced in partnership with Acer) Winning a bar fight doesn't make you a boxer. Drag racing on Main St. doesn't mean you're ready for NASCAR. Owing a katana doesn't mean you're a ninja. And being good at video games doesn't mean you're ready to compete in esports. Like any profession, there's a level of skill and discipline separating the amateurs from the elite career men and women who compete for a living. Unlike most professions, though, there has never been an easy roadmap on how to achieve digital enlightenment above and beyond the call of duty, pun unintended. That is, until now.

Enter Acer's Training Room, a full online dojo focused on training not just a gamer's hands and eyes, but their body and mind. Any fool's walkthrough can tell you where a vehicle's going to spawn in PUBG, or how to creep stack in Dota 2. The Training Room's purpose is to give PC gamers the tools they need to recognize when and why to use them, and have the mental conditioning to execute at the drop of a dime. Practice can make you the Karate Kid. The Training Room wants to help you become Bruce Lee.

The Training Room itself is an online hub packed to the brim with the kind of top-to-bottom info and resources usually reserved for the pros, and provided by the best of the best in the realms of pro gaming, psychology, and physical fitness. In the Room's first round of content, to train the body, we have Jake Middleton, who's been providing gamers with specialized workout regimens specifically to keep the adrenaline flowing, and the reflexes well-oiled, and the eyes sharp when the pressure is on. Not only does Jake know the science behind performance, detailing the advantage of a strong body creating a stronger mind, but he provides a 12 week workout regimen to kickstart the process. From minute one, players will have the perfect jumping off point to establishing a healthy routine that, by itself, will boost what anyone is capable of on- and off-screen. If you're wondering why a lot of esports players look like they could run a marathon at a moment's notice, Jake will make sure you find out.

For the mind, we have Dan Himmelstein, a specialist in esports psychology will will train players on how to not just update their skillset, but achieve a state of mind open and ready for the process of growth. Every new match, every mistake, every new strategy learned offers something to the players, and using Dan's philosophy of having a growth mindset will let players gets the most out of every second of it. Players will learn to not just processing stress in the moment, but parsing success and failure after the fact, learning to frame it all in a context that will be useful for every game after. Experiencing tranquility isn't just for Omnics anymore, folks.

Of course, there is also the game itself and League of Legends pro player-turned-coach-turned-highly respected analyst Scarra will give you full access into the mind of the pros, how to think, move, and analyze every match with the warrior's eye for strategy. Scarra's first League video is, specifically, a masterclass on Summoner's Rift, introducing the concept of pressure on the map, how to smartly make a play for the enemy's side of the lane, not just making blind fingers-crossed fumbles toward their front door then being torn apart by summoners. This is how the best of the best see the League of Legends world. You will learn how to divide and conquer when thinning the enemy side ranks, to stretch and then overstretch. You will learn the vital concepts the pros use to dominate their opponents and what your enemies plan to do before they do it.

Between these three are years of experience with the specific challenges the pros must face on and off the screen. Through an ongoing series of articles, interviews, and videos, players will be empowered to truly take their game to the next level. Maybe it'll be enough to take your particular set of skills to the pros; maybe you just want to dominate from the comfort of your own home. Either way, the Training Room is the gateway to becoming MORE.

The dojo awaits at Acer.com.

FIFA 18 Vs PES 2018 - Which Is Right For You?

By Oscar Dayus on Oct 01, 2017 07:28 pm

Football is a sport of great rivalries: Rangers vs Celtic, England vs Germany, Ronaldo vs Messi--these are all fierce contests in their own right. In the world of video games, footballing rivalries manifest in the battle between FIFA and PES.

Each year EA's behemoth and Konami's plucky challenger battle it out to see which game can win the hearts of soccer fans everywhere. FIFA is consistently popular, but PES's resurgence in the past few years has won a bunch of fans over. The question is: which is better this year?

Presentation

No matter your preference between the two footballing franchises, there can be no doubt that FIFA 18's presentation beats PES 2018's. PES's lack of licenses remains an issue, especially for those playing on Xbox since only PS4 and PC owners can install fan-made kit mods to make teams look closer to their real-life counterparts. FIFA, meanwhile, has almost every license worth acquiring, and makes good use of them with official graphic overlays, team-specific commentary lines, and more. This year, EA has improved the diversity of atmospheres you can experience in the game, dramatically changing the lighting and types of crowd noise you'll hear. Add that to an already slick set of menus, better-looking character models than ever, and the most addictive FUT pack-opening animation yet, and FIFA is a supremely pretty package.

In contrast, PES struggles to compete on the aesthetic front. Character models continue to improve (especially in the lower leagues, where some player faces are surprisingly accurate), but as a whole PES looks flat compared to FIFA's flashy exterior. Menus have not changed in years, crowds still sound lackluster, and I'm still stuck playing as Man Red rather than Manchester United.

It's safe to say FIFA 18 wins this round.

Gameplay

When it comes to how FIFA and PES perform on the pitch, it's a little more tricky. Everyone has their own opinion on which feels better to play, though our PES 2018 review awarded the game an 8/10 primarily for how fluid it feels when you get into a match. Passing feels slick, dribbling responsive, and shots gratifying. Goalkeepers are still weirdly awkward and defending can be fiddly, but overall we think PES 2018 is the most satisfying football game ever made.

FIFA has definitely improved since last year, with more satisfying shooting and slightly more responsive dribbling. Crosses are the most improved aspect of FIFA 18's gameplay, now whipping into the box with plenty of pace--and two new modifiers allow you to either loop crosses higher or drill them along the ground when necessary. Crucially, it's much easier to score from crosses and long shots now, leading to some wonderful goals.

Like FIFA 17 though, it still has problems. Dribbling--despite the improvements--still feels clunky and passing feels limp and unresponsive compared to PES. Different teams and players also don't feel distinct enough, and lower league players feel disproportionately poor compared to world stars.

FIFA 18 is on the up, but PES 2018 remains the king on the pitch.

Modes

Off the pitch, one of the main battlegrounds for soccer games is in their breadth and depth of modes. FIFA has traditionally edged PES in this respect, and this year sees another strong showing from EA's contestant. Alex Hunter returns in a second season of The Journey, FIFA's story-driven mode that's something unique to EA's series. It's not perfect--the ham-fisted appearances from real-world stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand are not exactly Oscar-winning--but it's an interesting and unique way of playing soccer.

Elsewhere, FUT continues to expand and is now almost a game in itself. This year sees the addition of Squad Battles, where you play a number of matches against other Ultimate Team clubs controlled by AI, before being ranked against other real-world players for the amount of wins you manage. Squad Battles offer another way of earning rewards, as do the new Daily Objectives, and together they flesh out the single-player side of a mode that's traditionally offered little for those not willing to play online.

Career Mode is pretty much unchanged save for revamped transfer negotiations. They now offer the ability to set up sell-on percentages and release clauses to players' contracts, and are conducted through interactive cutscenes, similar to those seen in The Journey. They don't really change much, but they're at least more exciting than seeing the same offer letter template in your Career Mode inbox for the hundredth time.

PES' Master League sees some neat enhancements: the new menu layout makes the mode easier to navigate, release clauses improve transfer negotiations, and the new Challenge Mode keeps things interesting with unexpected scenarios like players wanting to leave for greener pastures. It still has some annoying drawbacks--low transfer budgets and youth players being littered with unknown, gibberish names continue to grate--but it does a decent job of rivaling FIFA 18's Career Mode. The same can't be said of MyClub, which tries its best to distinguish itself from FUT with different features like Scout cards, but continues to appear as a knock-off Ultimate Team--which, to an extent, it is.

Luckily, PES has an amazing new way to play. Random Selection Mode returns from Pro Evo 6 with a few twists to shake things up wonderfully. You and a friend (who has to be in the same room, as the mode is local only) are each handed a squad of random players from a selection of leagues or countries you choose, so you might end up with a weird hybrid team of players from across the world of varying standards. What follows is a psychological battle of attempting to steal your opponent's star players while protecting your own. Up to three trade rounds allow you and your friend to pick a player from the other person's team who you want to pinch. You then pick a player from your own squad who you want to protect, and one you want to get rid of. Crucially, at no point until after all three are chosen do either of you know who the other person has picked, leading to a tense moment at the end of the round where it's revealed if you've successfully robbed that 92-rated striker your lucky friend got dealt. Manage to steal their top player and the bragging rights are all yours--at least until they manage to win the following match against the odds. It's a small addition that some people may never even see, let alone try, but it's the best silly party mode seen in a soccer game since FIFA 12 unceremoniously ditched Lounge Mode.

PES also adds 3v3 online co-op this year in an attempt to rival FIFA's Pro Clubs. It's not as deep, but along with Random Selection Mode it's at least a promising sign that Konami is looking to expand its range of modes each year. FIFA still has more ways to play, but PES is making good ground here.

Which Is Best?

Overall, whether or not you'll prefer FIFA 18 or PES 2018 likely depends on what your priorities are. PES 2018 is definitely a far more satisfying game on the pitch, but FIFA's presentation is exceptional, and does a better job of immersing you in the world of football than PES's flat looks. It will also depend on what your friends decide to pick up, and how important online play is to you. FIFA's online offering of FUT and Pro Clubs is superior, though PES's addition of 3v3 online co-op is welcome.

As for us? We'll be playing both games for many months to come, but we think PES 2018's excellent on-pitch showing means it edges this year's cup final.

For more on PES 2018 and FIFA 18, read our in-depth reviews below or check out everything you need to know about FIFA 18.

More Free Xbox One And Xbox 360 Games Available Now

By Eddie Makuch on Oct 01, 2017 06:42 am

Can you believe it? It's already October. Not only are we now closer to the flood of new game releases this holiday season, but the start of the month also means free games.

Xbox Live Gold members can now pick up the first of October 2017's free Games With Gold titles. These include Gone Home on Xbox One, which is free all month long, and Rayman 3 HD for Xbox 360 (October 1-15). Later in the month, The Turing Test will be free on Xbox One and Medal of Honor: Airborne will drop to the low, low price of free as well on Xbox 360.

Also don't forget that one of September's free Games With Gold titles, Oxenfree, will continue to be free on Xbox One through October 15.

In other Xbox Live news, the latest set of weekly deals are available now. You can see a rundown of what's available here in GameSpot's previous coverage.