Assassin's Creed Origins is about to get its first DLC expansion. Called The Hidden Ones, it will introduce several hours of new story along with side quests, events, and items. Ubisoft has now confirmed the expansion will release on January 23 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
The Hidden Ones is a story-driven expansion that shares more about the growth of the Brotherhood. It takes place four years after the events of the main game in the Sinai, where players will clash with an occupying Roman force. The expansion increases the level cap to 45 and introduces two new legendary weapons, a new outfit, two new mounts, and multiple new weapons to the game. If you're a season pass owner, you can download the game at no extra cost. For others, the DLC will cost $10.
Ubisoft also revealed more information about Origins' second DLC, The Curse of Pharaohs. Unlike The Hidden Ones, Pharaohs will introduce a brand-new storyline, separate from the main game. This DLC will pit players against famous pharaohs and Egyptian beasts, and tasks you with investigating the cause of a curse that has brought the dead back to life. The expansion will come with new outfits, gear, and weapons, all themed around classic Egyptian mythology, and will raise the level cap to 55. The Curse of Pharaohs releases on March 6, and if you don't have the season pass it will cost you $20.
In addition to the two DLC expansions, Ubisoft has also announced a new mode, called Discovery Tour, which will allow players to learn more about Ancient Egypt without the pressure of quests or combat. It's designed specifically as an educational experience, and it'll let you see the entire world at your own pace. It releases on February 20 and will also cost $20. Meanwhile, a new patch was released today that improves the behavior of tamed animals and allows you to sell back outfits.
God of War's release on PS4 may still be months away, but we're getting an early look at the game's special edition, courtesy of a listing on GameStop's website. Although the game does not yet have an official release date, this version is listed as coming out on June 30 for $150. It includes bonuses like a statue, carvings, a digital comic and artbook, and more, in addition to the full game.
The star of the special edition is undeniably the nine-inch statue of Kratos and Atreus by Gentle Giant, but there's also several smaller carvings to get fans of the series excited. Check out the image below.
In addition to the full game, there will also be several pieces of digital content that comes with the special edition, including an in-game armor set and shield, along with a digital comic and digital artbook. Here's a full list of what the Stone Mason Edition will include:
Full God of War Game
Nine-inch Kratos and Atreus Statue by Gentle Giant
Steelbook Case
Two-inch Huldra Brothers Carvings
Exclusive Lithograph
Cloth Map
Stone Mason's Ring
Mimir's Head Talking Keychain
Two-inch Horse and Troll Carvings
Digital Contents:
Defender of the Chosen Shield
Death's Vow Armor Set
Exile's Guardian Shield
God of War Digital Comic #0 by Dark Horse
God of War Digital Mini Artbook by Dark Horse
Dynamic Theme
The upcoming God of War takes Kratos to a land dominated by Nordic gods and monsters, and will be a more intimate story about Kratos and his son. The game is also going to be much longer than its predecessors, taking 25-35 hours to beat. There were previous reports the game would be released in March, but officially the game is scheduled to release some time in 2018.
It's been 15 years since Lara Croft last appeared on the big screen, but that will change in March, when the Tomb Raider reboot movie is released. The film stars Alicia Vikander as Lara, and a new trailer has now been released.
The trailer features plenty of the expected action, but it also puts the emphasis on Lara as a character, as she searches for her long-lost father on a remote island. And as with the first trailer that was released in September, and it lives up to director Roar Uthaug's earlier suggestion that the 2013 reboot game is a big influence. Check it out above.
Tomb Raider also stars Dominic West (The Wire) as Lara's father, Walton Goggins (Sons of Anarchy) as the villain, and Daniel Wu (Warcraft) as a ship captain who works with Lara on her adventure. It hits theaters on March 16, 2018.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, Vikander spoke about taking on the role of Lara Croft and what would set her apart from both the Lara of the games, as well as Angelina Jolie's previous movie portrayal. "She has all the fierce, tough, curious, intelligent traits," she said. "But we've stripped away all of her experience. She hasn't gone on an adventure just yet. She thought she was a stuck up businessperson living in the modern youth culture of suburban London, but then this whole box of information. This is the beginning."
Nintendo distributed a regular stream of free items and Pokemon for Pokemon Sun and Moon in the months following their release, and it looks like the series' latest installments, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, will likewise enjoy a lot of support over the next few months. The Pokemon Company is dubbing 2018 the "Year of Legendary Pokemon," with a ton of Legendary-themed Pokemon products and giveaways on the way this year.
Throughout 2018, Nintendo will give away free Legendary Pokemon for the series' seventh generation titles. Beginning in February, players can receive a new Legendary in Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon each month depending on which version you play. The Pokemon you can get and the games they debuted in are:
The first pair of Legendaries, Dialga and Palkia, will be available in the US exclusively from GameStop from February 2-28, while players in the UK will be able to receive them from participating Game stores. Players will need to redeem the download code they receive by May 23. Dialga and Palkia's levels and movesets will be different depending on which game you receive them in: the two Pokemon will both be level 100 in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, while they'll be level 60 in the original Sun and Moon versions.
The trailer above shows off some familiar faces from the books and films, including Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Hagrid. The game will see you personalize your avatar and attend classes with these teachers, while outside of lessons you'll make friends and battle against rivals. It's set in the time between Harry Potter's birth and his enrolment at Hogwarts, but you'll be faced with some of the same tasks those students did--developing your skills will help you solve mysteries and unlock new locations, spells, and abilities.
The game's coming to iOS and Android this spring, with another Harry Potter game, Wizards Unite, also on the way this year. That separate title, developed by Pokemon Go studio Niantic, will see you roaming the real world collecting power-ups, defending locations, and exploring your environment. Warner Bros. has also teased that a new Harry Potter game is in the works for consoles, but nothing else is known about that project for now.
Nintendo held a surprise Nintendo Direct Mini just last week, during which it revealed a bunch of new games for its Switch console. But the company isn't finished yet: it's now teasing something else for Switch, with a full reveal scheduled for just a few hours' time, on Wednesday, January 17 at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM GMT (that's 9 AM AEST on January 18). [Update: The new game, Nintendo Labo, has been revealed.]
"Tune in to discover a new interactive experience for Nintendo Switch that's specifically crafted for kids and those who are kids at heart," read a post on Nintendo's website. Nothing else has been revealed about the new game so far, but it sounds as if it's to be a new family-centric title.
O'Shea Jackson Jr. has a promising acting career so far, despite only appearing in three released films (Straight Outta Compton, Ingrid Goes West, and now, Den of Thieves). He also has the Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron comedy Flarsky, not to mention Godzilla: King of Monsters, coming up.
But during an interview to promote Den of Thieves in LA this week, Jackson revealed his real dream: to work in video games.
We talked about that, plus training for the heist movie Den of Thieves, getting chased by kaiju in Godzilla: King of Monsters, his favorite WWE superstars, and more.
GameSpot: What are you playing lately?
O'Shea Jackson Jr.: NBA 2K, of course. You know, I like my VR Skyrim right now, and then Grand Theft Auto V just keeps f***ing updating itself so how could you not. That is like the grown-up version of The Sims.
You got a Switch?
No. I really just need it for Odyssey. I really want to play Odyssey. Nintendo always gives you one exclusive title that makes you have to get their s***.
I wanted to ask you about the training for the movie since you didn't have as many action scenes. Your stuff was more low key.
Yeah exactly. You know, when I read a script one time I don't like to keep going over it. If you know too much it can mess up your performance--at least for me, you know, I'm still trying to get my feet wet a little bit when it comes to acting. But I like staying in the realm of not knowing what's going to happen next.
I came to a realization during the training, of "Do I shoot my gun in this movie?" And then I realized, no, I'm just working to work. I'm all for team bonding, and chemistry is so important in a film, but you know, I didn't get to shoot this s***! I'm waiting to do something cool, and by the time we got ready for the [climax], they looked up the scenes, and they're like, "Yeah O'Shea, guess you can sit this part out." And it was the longest part of training! So yeah, I bitched.
You'll probably get to shoot in the next one though?
Lord willing, of course, I will always be ready for any film, but I got to kill like eight people in Godzilla.
Are you like a giant monster movie guy?
Oh dude, Godzilla is--I listed him as one of my five heroes as a kid.
Was that cool getting to work on that?
That was the biggest thing, I think personally, for me, in my life, to be a part of Godzilla--it made you feel like you're on the right path when you start connecting with things you've always loved. With Straight Outta Compton, I got to sit courtside at a Lakers vs. Thunder game. And Kobe came up to me, gripped me on the shoulder, and he said, "You finally made it, huh?' And it was just like, oh my--I've been waiting for my f***ing hero to tell me this my whole life!
And then my agent, Brad Slater--the man--he's The Rock's agent, so I got to go to Wrestlemania and meet The Rock and talk to him. I was like, OK, my dreams are happening kind of fast. I think I'm about to die or something. And then you get Godzilla. So it's really, you know, if I meet Sonic the Hedgehog some kind of way, life will be good. The only two people left are Sonic and Goku.
Super f***ing jolly giant. You know he's like 6'4", he's like a door.
Speaking of big dudes, were you ever actually scared of Gerard Butler when you were shooting some of those scenes with him, where he's like slapping you around?
No, no, never. I'm the new guy in more ways than one with the other thieves, and I really had to stand my own. I really needed to show that I'm here to play. You see actors, and a lot of times you have to get in that mode, you have to keep yourself there. You don't really like too much interaction, because you're trying to focus on however your character feels at that moment. And until you hear "cut" you don't like to break that. So what I was trying to do on set, I would show them that they were killing me and doing all that stuff, and making it look gruesome, and spitting everywhere, and hurling everywhere, and then when I hear cut, you know, I'm back to talking and normal.
So it would throw them off--I could see that it was like "This dude's f***in crazy!" And I love that. That was my psychological warfare. So to hear him say that in the press conference, it worked. During that scene where people were like "O'Shea, are you alright?" I'm like "Yeah, dude, I'm fine." You know? I watched WWF. I know what I'm doing. I've been choked out before--I'm a little brother! If I had to make a highlight reel of my career, that scene right there, I knew this was where I had to bring it. And if I can kill this like I see it in my head, it would mean a lot to me and a lot for me. So I'm glad I could make Gerard's big ass uncomfortable.
Was that the most intense scene you've done? Or is there something more intense yet to come, like in Godzilla or something else?
That's definitely the most intense scene I've done. Den of Thieves is by far the hardest film I've worked on. Well, I'm not gonna say "by far," Godzilla is right up there, because Godzilla we had a lot of--not as far as the performance, but there was just things that we had to deal with that were more challenging, like, you know, there's supposed to be this giant storm in Godzilla, so in the movie, it's three scenes, but when you're filming it, you're getting wet all day from a hose all day. Your feet are pruning, just for them to start peeling, and then when you get to your hotel, you have to come back and get wet again.
So it definitely had its hard days, but Den of Thieves, I really had to show my skills. I really had to show that I'm here to stay.
Did you have to do a lot of green screen stuff in Godzilla?
I said green screen, and I got there, and they were all blue! It's all blue screens. And it's hard running from s*** you can't see. You know, it's just more difficult to be like, "No, O'Shea, look at the [marker]!" You get wind and rain in your face, and you're trying to find it, so it's a lot of eyeline issues, but yeah, we still went through it. We had to run through epsom salt that looks like snow in the film, but its epsom salt because we're in Atlanta. It challenged my body more than my mind.
Have you seen any of it yet?
Just the dailies. They have this cool process, pre-vis, which is pre visuals, and they kind of have it mapped out, the whole scene mapped out, with the monsters in it, so you can kind of watch at first, but it looks like the old Goldeneye graphics, like from Nintendo 64, so everybody's a little blocky, everybody's a little pixelated, but you get the idea. And that's the only way that I've seen the film. So I'm excited about that. I'm just trying to get into Kong vs. Godzilla.
Do you want to do more comedy after Ingrid Goes West?
Hell yeah. I did Flarsky, with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. That's a comedy. I play Seth's best friend, I sold an app so I'm like a billionaire, so that's a cool role you'd want. And with stuff like Ingrid Goes West, I definitely like smart comedies that have a deeper meaning than what they're showing you, and Ingrid really had a message of what today's times are doing to society as far as safety and as far as mental health of others and how people have to go through a battle that we may not see every day. And I got to make out with t on the first day! So it was like yeah, I would f***in do Ingrid Goes West 1,000 times.
Who are your favorite wrestlers right now?
The Rock. Listen, The Rock is the great one, but I will say this for the record: The greatest WWE or F superstar is Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels through time has always been--HBK! I'm also a fan of Triple H--when he had long hair, not short hair--of course Taker--Vince you should have never let him lose to Lesner--I feel like that was the biggest mistake of the company if there's any I can list--and I feel that Stone Cold and The Rock are the top dogs, but HBK is the greatest of all time. So if I had to list it: Rock, Stone Cold, Taker, HBK, and I really don't want to give it to Triple H, but if I had to, I would say Randy Orton.
Are you up to date? Do you have Rumble picks?
Dude no, but I really want to see the lady Rumble. I found out that they're about to do, I guess the 25th anniversary of Raw or something, but it's gonna be Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler at the thing again, so that's dope. And Goldberg, shout out to Goldberg, for getting into the WWE hall of fame.
Do you want to do any work in video games?
Dude. I went to USC to screenwrite, and everybody hears that and thinks that I thought film. I want to write scripts for video games. That's my dream job. I'm just trying to get famous so people will listen to me in meetings. That's really it.
[Update 2] The Metal Gear Survive beta is now available on both PS4 and Xbox One. The beta runs through January 21 and features two maps, three missions, and live events, according to Konami. As described below, those who play the beta will receive in-game bonuses in the full version, should they decide to purchase it.
[Update] Konami has clarified on Twitter that, as of yet, the Metal Gear Survive beta is not available for PlayStation 4 in America. However, it is now available for both PS4 and Xbox One in all other regions.
Quick update everyone. Metal Gear Survive's beta is unfortunately not yet available for PS4 in the Americas. The beta is available in all other regions for PS4 and available globally on Xbox One.
Survive's beta will run from January 18-21 inclusive on both PS4 and Xbox One; publisher Konami says the beta will provide an opportunity "to jump into co-op mode to build, defend, and fight alongside friends online."
Those who participate in the beta will receive bonus items in the full game. These include a FOXHOUND name plate, a Metal Gear REX head accessory, and a bandana. It's unclear if there will be a way to unlock these without having played the beta, or if they'll be available at all in the PC version, which isn't receiving a beta.
Nintendo enjoyed a great deal of success throughout 2017 thanks to Switch, and that didn't change during December in the United States. Ahead of NPD Group publicly releasing its sales report for the month, Nintendo has shared some figures from it that paint a positive picture for not just Switch, but 3DS as well.
Switch was December's best-selling game system in the US, with 1.5 million units sold during the NPD's reporting period (which covered a total of five weeks). Life-to-date sales for the console now stand at 4.8 million in the US alone; Nintendo's press release reiterated what it claimed recently about how this makes Switch the fastest-selling system ever through its first 10 months.
As for 3DS, combined sales across the "3DS family," which includes the 2DS, reached 750,000 during the December report period. That was an increase of 27% compared with December 2016, and it marks the system's best-selling month in the US since December 2014. US lifetime sales for the 3DS family now stand at 21 million.
Nintendo also noted that combined sales for Switch, 3DS, and SNES Classic Edition were 2.6 million in December, meaning the classic micro console sold roughly 350,000 units. The three represented more than 50% of total hardware sales during the month.
On the software side, Nintendo also highlighted its platforms' games that cracked the NPD's sales charts. When looking on a per-game basis (meaning different versions of multiplatform games are counted individually), Super Mario Odyssey was No. 3 during December, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was No. 4, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was No. 9, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon were Nos. 13 and 14, and Splatoon 2 was No. 16. Earlier this month, Nintendo discussed the high attach rates of some of its first-person Switch titles, revealing that Super Mario Odyssey is the system's top seller in the US.
We'll have more on US sales during December once the NPD shares its full report. In the meantime, you can read all about Nintendo's surprising new cardboard-based Switch game, Nintendo Labo.
Update: Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is now free on PS4 as well as PS Vita in the US. However, you may have to 'purchase' the game on PS4 and PS Vita separately, since it is not normally part of Sony's Cross-Buy scheme. The below text has been altered to reflect the change. Original story follows.
It's the start of a new month--and a new year--which means more free games are now available for PlayStation Plus subscribers. January's allotment of free PS Plus games are out now on the PlayStation Store, meaning that titles like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Batman: The Telltale Series have temporarily dropped to the low, low price of free for paying subscribers.
Mankind Divided is the headlining PS4 freebie this month. The dystopian cyberpunk role-playing game casts you as Adam Jensen and tasks you with catching a terrorist group, which you can do by being a stealthy detective or a tech-enhanced killing machine, or some mixture of both.
As for Telltale's Batman game, this is the first season of the story and puts players in tricky situations as both Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego. The decisions you make will have some consequence on the relationships around you, and the overall story.
Other PS4 freebies in January include the wacky and fun party game That's You! (if you're outside of North America) and StarBlood Arena (which requires PlayStation VR). Additionally, PS Vita's free games, Uncanny Valley and Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness, are both free on PS4, too. You may have to 'purchase' Psycho-Pass on PS4 and PS Vita separately, however, since it is not normally part of Sony's Cross-Buy scheme. Note that in Europe and Australia, Psycho-Pass is only free on PS Vita, not PS4. Finally, PS3 owners get Sacred 3 and The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 for free.
You can see January 2018's full PS Plus lineup--covering PS4, PS3, and Vita--below, or you can claim them on the PlayStation Store.
Civilization VI's first big expansion, Rise and Fall, is coming soon, and today developer Firaxis showed off more of what you can expect from the DLC. Rise and Fall adds a bunch of new systems, and a new video details what those will do and how your experience will change.
These new features include Dark Ages, a Loyalty System, Governors, and Emergencies. Golden Ages have been a mainstay of the Civilization series for a while now, but Rise and Fall adds a counterpart with Dark Ages. If your Era Score isn't high enough, you can enter into a Dark Age, which reduces citizen happiness and can cause your cities to revolt or secede. However, Rise and Fall also adds Dark Age policies which can affect your progression positively; in addition, it is easier to achieve a Golden Age when coming out of a Dark Age.
Loyalty, meanwhile, can affect your civilization's borders and resource production. Low loyalty can cause rebellion in certain cities, which can lead to them declaring independence. The new unit type, Governor, can affect Loyalty, as well. These units can help improve tiles and give other bonuses.
Finally, Rise and Fall adds an interesting new cooperation system called Emergencies. When something happens on a map--such as a city-state seizure, or a nuclear attack--it can trigger an Emergency, which prompts non-allies of victim civilizations to band together. These temporary teams are given a quest to complete in a certain amount of time.
Final Fantasy XV is coming to PC at last, and it'll launch with a bunch of new content alongside all of the previously released DLC. But console players won't be left out: Square Enix has also revealed the Royal Edition for PS4 and Xbox One, which is essentially a Game of the Year edition that comes with every piece of additional content. [Update: Square Enix has now clarified that pricing for the Royal Pack has yet to be confirmed.]
The Royal Edition comes with the base game, the four big DLC packs from the season pass (Episode Gladiolus, Episode Prompto, Episode Ignis, and the Comrades multiplayer expansion), and the new DLC launching with the PC version. It also features new box art from series artist Yoshitaka Amano, which you can see below. It'll cost $50 / £40.
If you don't want to re-buy the game again, Square Enix will also sell the Royal Pack, which comes with the new content. Pricing has not been announced. This includes a new dungeon, boss fights, a new vehicle, and additional features like a first-person mode.
The Royal Edition and Pack launch on March 6. The PC version launches on the same day and comes with several PC-exclusive features like native 4K support, high-quality ambient occlusion and advanced hair support. It costs $50 in the US; check out Final Fantasy XV's PC requirements here.
Battlefront II's 1.1 update is headlined by a couple of pieces of new content. Specifically, the patch adds a version of the planet Crait built for Blast mode. In addition, Iden Versio's TIE Fighter has been added as a playable Hero ship in multiplayer. Its special abilities include Afterburner, which gives it a burst of speed; Laser Barrage, a rapid-fire and high-damage barrage; and dual Proton Torpedoes.
There's also a suite of Star Cards added alongside the new ship that provide perks and bonuses. For example, one decreases Afterburner cooldown time, and another increases Proton Torpedo damage. You can see the full list of abilities and Star Cards below.
Additionally, the patch rebalances some Hero and class-specific stats; a few weapons have been tweaked, too. Alongside general bug fixing and performance improvements, the update specifically fixes problems with the Officer's Recharge Command and Finn's Big Deal abilities. Check out the full patch notes below.
In other Battlefront II news, the game was recently nominated for two DICE awards. It's up for Outstanding Achievement in Character and Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design.
Patch Notes
New Content
Blast on Crait Map
Iden Versio's TIE/In fighter
Afterburner--Gives the starfighter a temporary speed boost and breaks enemy missile lock. The Afterburner can be cancelled after a short time
Laser Barrage--Charges up a rapid fire barrage which deals high damage
Dual Proton Torpedoes--Fires two proton torpedoes which track the locked target and deal high damage
Inferno Leader--For the duration of Inferno Leader, all enemies within a radius are revealed to allied players. These enemies receive increased damage from all sources
TIE Fighter Star Cards:
Engine Heat Dissipator--Decreases the Afterburner cooldown
Nintendo promised news on a new "experience" for Switch, and it has indeed delivered--albeit with a look at a strange new project called Nintendo Labo. It appears to be a sort of mini-game collection that involves creating real-life cardboard accessories that come with the game.
Details are still scant, but based on the debut trailer, you'll take part in activities like fishing, playing piano, racing a bike, and wreaking havoc as a giant robot. This is all done by detaching the Joy-Cons from the Switch itself and using cardboard to construct the aforementioned accessories, which take the form of a fishing pole, piano, camera, and so on. Instructions for building these are provided on-screen.
Yes, you literally are purchasing a game and actual cardboard to create what Nintendo calls Toy-Cons. There are two separate bundles that have been announced: the Variety Kit ($70 USD/£60/$100 AUD) and Robot Kit ($80 USD/£70/$120 AUD), which are outlined below. They'll both be available on April 20 in the US and Australia, or April 27 in Europe. A separate, $10/£9 Customization Set includes stencils, stickers, and colored tape to help you design your Toy-Cons.
The official website for Labo talks about being able to customize your creations by painting them or affixing stickers to them, but more intriguing is a line about "dream[ing] up new ways to use your Toy-Con creations...and bring[ing] them to life." It's unclear if there will be a way to create original games in Labo or if Nintendo's simply talking about waving the accessories around and using your imagination.
Those eager to try Labo out ahead of its launch will have the opportunity to do so in New York City or San Francisco, provided you can make it there and have a child 6-12 years old. You can submit an application to attend here.
Below, you'll find the different things that can be built with each of the two announced packs, with descriptions provided by Nintendo.
Variety Kit ($70USD/$99.95AUD)
Toy-Con RC Car: Insert the Left and Right Joy-Con into your newly built RC Car and control its movement using touch screen controls on the Nintendo Switch console. The HD Rumble feature in the Joy-Con controllers will cause vibrations that move the car in the direction you choose. Materials to construct two RC Cars are included.
Toy-Con Fishing Rod: Construct the Fishing Rod with an active, rotating reel that is attached by string to a cradle holding the Nintendo Switch console. Catch one of many exotic fish shown swimming on the Nintendo Switch screen by casting your Fishing Rod and unwinding the reel to lower the hook. Once you feel a vibration from the Joy-Con inserted in the reel, you must tug the Fishing Rod upward and crank the reel quickly to try and complete the catch!
Toy-Con House: By inserting various assembled blocks into openings in the sides and bottom of the House, you can interact with, play games with and feed a cute creature on the front-facing Nintendo Switch screen. Each differently shaped block is detected by the IR Motion Camera on the Right Joy-Con inserted on top of the House.
Toy-Con Motorbike: Insert each Joy-Con into an assembled set of handlebars to drive a motorbike on the Nintendo Switch screen. Pressing the ignition button starts the engine, while twisting the right handle activates the throttle. Leaning your body or turning the handlebars left and right controls the motorbike.
Toy-Con Piano: After assembling a beautifully crafted 13-key piano and inserting the Nintendo Switch console and Joy-Con, you can experiment with your own musical creations by pressing different keys. You can even insert different assembled knobs to create new sound effects and tones!
Robot Kit ($80USD/$129.95AUD)
Toy-Con Robot: Create a wearable Robot suit, and insert the Left and Right Joy-Con into the designated slots on the backpack and visor to assume control of the robot, which is shown on the TV when the Nintendo Switch console is docked. Enjoy a variety of fun game-play experiences, including Robot mode, in which you can destroy in-game buildings and UFOs.
Destiny 2's latest Faction Rally event is a significant one, as it is the first to take place since Season 2 kicked off with the release of the Curse of Osiris DLC expansion. As a result, it features the addition of new gear and items for players to get their hands on, but it turns out that exactly what can be obtained right now isn't what players had assumed.
Despite the addition of multiple new Faction weapons, players found they couldn't be obtained through Faction Engrams. Following a day of confusion, Bungie has confirmed exactly what's available during the current event, and it turns out that a number of new weapons won't actually arrive until subsequent Season 2 Faction Rallies.
In a post on its forums, Bungie explained that there are five new weapons for each of the three Factions. "These weapons become available over the course of the season, and cannot be earned through Faction Engrams immediately," it said. In other words, none of them are available right now by cashing in Faction Tokens, as players assumed they would be. The only one of the weapons that will be available during the current event is one of the Faction-specific auto rifles pictured below, which will be for sale during Victory Week beginning on January 23.
Those auto rifles, known as the Winner's Offering, will then rotate to a new set of weapons during the second Faction Rally of Season 2. The auto rifles will be added to the Faction Engram for that event along with one other weapon. During the third and final Faction Rally of the season, the Winner's Offering will rotate again to another new set of weapons, while the second Winner's Offering set and another weapon will be added to the Faction Engram. "This brings the total to four weapons within the Faction Engram, and a final Winner's Offering for Factions to compete for over the course of the event," Bungie said.
The revelation hasn't gone over with at least a hardcore segment of fans, who want to be able to obtain all of this immediately. Some have noted this provides little incentive to participate in Faction Rallies until the final one of the season, as you're more likely to obtain previously available gear currently.
Faction Rally is the first big event of the year for Destiny 2, with the first Iron Banner of Season 2 set to arrive on January 30. That's also when we'll see the release of Masterwork armor, with numerous other additions and changes--including those to Eververse and quality-of-life improvements--still to come.
Only a few days remain until Dragon Ball FighterZ makes its worldwide debut on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but Bandai Namco still has one more surprise announcement in store for fans ahead of the game's launch. The publisher unveiled another character who'll be playable in the highly anticipated Dragon Ball fighting game, and it's one we've already seen before.
Some potential Dragon Ball FighterZ spoilers follow.
In the latest issue of V-Jump magazine (via Gematsu), Bandai Namco revealed that the mysterious Android 21 will be playable in Dragon Ball FighterZ. We've known about Android 21 for quite some time now; she was first revealed back in September and is an entirely original character designed specifically for the game. Up until now, however, the publisher had only confirmed that she plays a central role in Dragon Ball FighterZ's story mode and has some hand in reviving Android 16.
What's most surprising about Android 21's addition to the roster is her appearance. While the scientist is generally seen wearing a white lab coat, the scans from V-Jump magazine reveal an entirely different look for her. It appears Android 21 can transform into her own Majin Buu-like form, complete with pink skin and the ability to turn opponents into candy. According to V-Jump, Android 21 can also absorb another fighter's energy and use their moves; by absorbing Goku's energy, for instance, Android 21 can unleash a Kamehameha.
Following a relatively brief maintenance period, Epic Games has released the new 2.2.0 update for Fortnite on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. As detailed previously, it deals primarily with Battle Royale, adding a newly updated version of the map, pre-game voice chat, and more.
Updates to the map are the most significant component of the patch. New areas have been added, primarily to the western half of the map, which had been somewhat sparsely populated before now. This includes a new city section and underground mines. Existing areas also receive a makeover, with Epic providing more differentiation between the various biomes. As lead systems designer Eric Williamson said recently, "The swamp feels swampier, the mountains feel more mountain-y. Really, the different areas of the map feel more unique."
Epic has also rolled out a new level-streaming system. Although it doesn't directly have an effect on gameplay, Epic says it "enabl[es] a richer map and improved performance." Load times on consoles have been "greatly reduc[ed]" and there should be less hitching in general. A variety of visual improvements have also been implemented, with new water and grass/foliage effects now in place.
Other new features include the addition of voice chat in the pre-game lobby, an update to the killfeed to show the distance on sniper rifle kills, and a revamped version of the Scoped AR's sight. Another key change, the removal of friendly fire, was implemented recently, although it may only be a temporary measure as Epic evaluates what impact it has on the game.
The full patch notes can be found on Epic's website. Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free download, while access to the Save the World mode remains in paid early access.
Pokemon Go developer Niantic recently announced a new recurring event for the game called Community Days, which will be held every month and give players a chance to snag double bonuses and exclusive Pokemon. The inaugural Community Day event takes place this Saturday, on January 20, for players around the globe.
Unlike the Pokemon Go Fest and Safari Zone events that Niantic held in the US and across Europe last year, Community Days aren't situated at a specific location, but rather occur at a designated time, encouraging players to meet at local parks and other public places during that window to catch Pokemon together with other players. Saturday's Community Day takes place at the following times:
Asia-Pacific: Noon to 3:00 PM JST
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM UTC
The Americas and Greenland: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM PST
Players will be able to earn double XP and other bonuses during the event, while Lure Modules will last for an extended three hours. Most notably, each Community Day will feature a special Pokemon that will only be available to catch for a few hours. These rare monsters will know a move they can't typically learn in the game. During this month's Community Day, players will have a chance to capture a Pikachu that knows Surf, just like the one you could obtain in the classic Pokemon Yellow.
In addition to the Community Days event, this month saw the arrival of a new Pokemon Go Legendary: Kyogre from Pokemon Sapphire. Kyogre marks the second Gen 3 Legendary to be added to the game, following Groudon, which was available from December to January 15. Kyogre will appear in Raid Battles at certain Gyms until February 14.
Niantic recently rolled out new updates for Pokemon Go that introduced an improved AR mode and a weather system. However, the developer also announced it will soon drop support for some older iOS devices such as the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c. Those will no longer be compatible with Pokemon Go beginning February 28.
A new Fable game is in the works at Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, according to a new report. Eurogamer's sources say the new title will be a "story and character-focused open-world action RPG," as opposed to a spin-off such as the multiplayer-centric Fable Legends or motion-controlled Fable: The Journey.
Regarding the rumors, Fable co-creator Simon Carter told Eurogamer he has "slightly mixed feelings." He continued: "On the one hand it's great for the UK games industry, and very pleasing that Fable isn't dead; indeed, it will be lovely to play one as a punter without coming out in hives.
"On the other hand it is a little curious to get rid of the team that is uniquely expert in making Fable, and then try and make Fable. Fable is a weird game, and a tough one to deconstruct for a new team. That said, the team in question is very talented, and I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job."
Fable was created in 2004 by Peter Molyneux's company, Lionhead, and its sister company Big Blue Box. Each further game in the main series was made by Lionhead until Microsoft closed the developer down in 2016, canceling Fable Legends in the process. Fable has been dormant since, though Microsoft still retains the rights to the series and is therefore free to task other developers with making new entries. Eurogamer's report states Microsoft's desire to revive Fable was in part inspired by Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn and its critical and commercial success.
Playground's last game was 2016's Forza Horizon 3. The company has released a new Forza Horizon title every two years since 2012, and that pattern would suggest a fourth entry in the spin-off series would be due this year. A second team could allow for the development of both a new Forza Horizon title and a new Fable game concurrently, however as yet the company has not officially confirmed either title. The studio's founder, Ralph Fulton, has said Playground would not be abandoning racing games altogether.
"Our business with Forza over the last six, seven years has been great for us," he said in February 2017. "It remains the cornerstone of our business--we're not running away from racing, we still feel passionate about making new racing games and delivering new experiences for our players.
"Horizon 3 was a watershed game for us--it's certainly our best-reviewed game critically, it's our most commercially successful game as well. It's the first time we've experienced that commercial breakout hit phenomenon--the other games have been successful but not on the level of this one. We want to keep doing that. In a way, that game took six years to make. So we want to keep developing that skillset and pushing new boundaries."
The art to a good heist movie is usually in revealing just the right amount of the heist itself, leaving the plan partially obfuscated and keeping audiences guessing how the crew will pull it off in the end. The other big factor, as any Ocean's 11 fan will tell you, is having a likable cast of characters the audience will root for, even as they break the law and maybe even endanger or harm innocent bystanders in the process.
Using those two criteria, Den of Thieves is only half successful. The heist itself--masterminded by Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber), Donnie (O'Shea Jackon Jr.), Levi (50 Cent), and Bosco (Evan Jones)--is popcorn-munching fun, as the crew orchestrates a complex and inventive infiltration of the Los Angeles Federal Reserve. These characters themselves, however, as well as Gerard Butler's gruff and dirty cop "Big Nick" Flanagan, are mostly anything but likable, despite some small attempts on the movie's part to humanize them.
Den of Thieves is bookended by two seat-gripping action scenes, the first opening the movie cold in a donut shop parking lot as Merrimen's crew hijacks an armored car. The rest of the movie is mostly spent simply observing as the characters plan the heist and Big Nick tracks their various moves. It culminates with a high-powered street level shootout that will make you sweat if you've ever daydreamed this exact nightmare while stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the way home from work.
That's a quirk of living in Los Angeles, a setting Den of Thieves eagerly informs us is the bank robbery capital of the world (which maybe isn't true anymore, but whatever). The city certainly comes through as a character, though this isn't the cheesy version of LA we're used to seeing on the big screen--more like the parts you drive through on your way home from the airport. It's both refreshing and slightly depressing to see this side of LA onscreen.
The crew themselves all come from a military background, and the actors clearly put in some hard work training for the action scenes. It paid off; the shootouts are the most engrossing parts of the movie, and the physicality exhibited by Butler, Schreiber, and 50 Cent does a lot to make these scenes believable.
Den of Thieves' main problem will rear its head if you're hoping to identify or sympathize with any of the protagonists, on either side of the conflict. They're miserable saps, one and all, gruff and coarse and selfish as can be. Butler's character, in particular, is just a real piece of work, a drunk who cheats on his wife and kidnaps and abuses suspects without a moment's hesitation.
By the end you won't much care whether any of them make it through alive, especially when Schreiber's character sets up a massive SAW machine gun on the hood of his truck and starts chewing through gridlocked cars by the dozen. It's established earlier that these "elite" bank robbers only shoot "uniforms," not innocents, but that apparently goes out the window once they're cornered; the bystander body count in the scene must be astronomical, although the movie gets too squeamish in the end to show any of that collateral carnage.
Of course, every heist movie doesn't need to be helmed by dashing George Clooneys and charming Channing Tatums. Den of Thieves comes off feeling more realistic and less like a magic show than some of its contemporaries as a result. It's a depressing reality in which to exist. But as Butler and the movie's director and writer, Christian Gudegast, asserted during a recent press conference, you have to be half bad guy yourself to take down criminals at this level (the LA Sheriff's department's Major Crimes division). That's the idea, really: that the guys on both sides of this conflict aren't so different.
O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s Donnie is the one exception, besides the movie's scant female characters, who include the protagonists' wives, daughters, and prostitutes, plus victims of their crimes. Jackson plays a slightly more hapless member of the crew, outed early on by Big Nick and caught in the middle between both sides. He's instrumental to the heist, but he also gets slapped around quite a bit, and Ice Cube's son proves once again he has impressive acting skills, despite this only being his third movie ever (after playing his dad in Straight Outta Compton and Aubrey Plaza's landlord in Ingrid Goes West).
Den of Thieves is ultimately a gritty, realistic, engrossing LA heist movie with a couple of glaring flaws that will make it a little too difficult to stomach for some viewers. If watching super beefed up Gerard Butler and Pablo Schreiber go toe-to-toe in an ever-escalating gun-measuring contest of balls and wits is your ideal moviegoing experience, though, you'll likely find little to dislike.
The Good
The Bad
Heist is complex and exciting
Few likable characters
Action scenes feel grounded and realistic
Climactic scene of gun violence lacks realistic consequences
Great performances from Schreiber, Butler, and rest of the cast
PlayStation 4's latest system software update is available to download now, but don't expect it to do all that much. According to Sony, firmware update 5.05 "improves system performance." The patch weighs in at around 375 MB, and it's mandatory to install--just turn your PS4 on and the update should begin downloading automatically.
System performance is the subject of many PS4 updates, but an upcoming patch promises to be a little more substantial. Sony is currently taking registrations from players who want to beta test a "major" PS4 update in February, though we don't currently know what will be included.
The most recent big PS4 patch was update 5.0. It included new features based around the console's in-built streaming capabilities, as well as an enhanced Friends List, more versatile Quick Menu, and overhauled parental control features.
A lot of uncertainty currently hangs over the DC movie universe--there are currently three movies scheduled for release, but many more in various stages of development. One of these is the standalone Flash movie, which will focus on the Flashpoint story from DC's comic books. The film has already lost two directors, but it has now been reported that replacements have been found.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are in talks to direct Flashpoint. Daley and Goldstein wrote the screenplay for Marvel's Spider-man: Homecoming, as well as the comedy hit Horrible Bosses. As directors they also helmed 2015's Vacation and the upcoming comedy thriller Game Night.
The title Flashpoint was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017. It's a reference tothe 2011 Flash comic event that put Barry Allen, The Flash, in a very different universe than his own.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, fans had much to celebrate, not least that a new series of movies in the blockbuster franchise was on the way. There was however one decision that many fans were less happy with--the decision that the Expanded Universe of spin-off novels, comic books, TV shows, and video games was no longer to be part of Star Wars canon. Now, Star Wars Story Group member Leland Chee has spoken about what he believes was one of the main reasons for this decision.
The Star Wars Story Group is a division of Lucasfilm dedicated to overseeing ongoing franchise storylines and maintaining continuity. Speaking to Syfy's Fandom Files podcast, Chee suggested a reason why the entire 30-year-old Expanded Universe was rebranded as Star Wars Legends, and no longer part of "official" franchise story chronology. It's down to the death of one central character--everyone's favorite Wookiee, Chewbacca.
"For me it came down to simply that we had killed Chewbacca in Legends--a big moon had fallen on him," he said, referencing the 1999 novel The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, in which Chewie sacrifices himself to save Han. "Part of that [original decision] was Chewbacca, because he can't speak and just speaks in growls, he was a challenging character to write for in novels. Publishing had decided they needed to kill somebody, and it was Chewbacca."
"But if you have the opportunity to bring back Chewbacca into a live action film, you're not gonna deprive fans that," he added. "There's no way that I'd want to do an Episode VII that didn't have Chewbacca in it and have to explain that Chewbacca had a moon fall on his head. And if we were going to overturn a monumental decision like that, everything else was really just minor in comparison."
Chee subsequently clarified that this wasn't an official Lucasfilm statement on the decision to retire the Expanded Universe. "Chewbacca and the Legends decision is my personal rationalization," he tweeted. "The decision was made long before I joined the Story Group."
A new patch is available now for the PC edition of PUBG. This is not the biggest or most significant of patches following the 1.0 release in December, but it does include some notable changes and fixes. Starting off, it includes a client optimisation that should improved general performance when a lot of players are in the same area simultaneously. If players are bunched up like this, you can expect there would be a big firefight, so it's good to know performance should now be better in such an important time in your gameplay session.
There are also two bug fixes included with the new PUBG PC patch, the first of which fixes an issue where your character could be "instantly stopped and adjusted." The second fix is for a problem where the way your character moved during a replay seemed off. These are minor but welcome changes, and it's good to see developer PUBG Corp. continue to release updates to address the feedback fans have been sending in.
In the developer's blog post announcing this patch, the studio also said it hopes to provide an update on what's next for PUBG in the near future. That's all PUBG Corp. had to say on the matter; we will report back when those details are announced.
A huge new patch for World of Warcraft has arrived. One of the topline new features is level-scaling for the whole game, an exciting new feature that was announced back at BlizzCon.
With the new patch applied, every area in game now features level-scaling. Previously, this was only available in the Legion expansion, but now it's online for the full game. According to Blizzard, "This new scaling system greatly increases the amount of options you have when deciding where to quest and when to move on to the next zones." Additionally, corresponding dungeons are scaling as well, including the rewards you get from beating them.
As you may be aware, before this update, WoW's levelling system put beginning players in a starting zone from level 1-10 or thereabouts. After that, they'd move on to higher level area in certain level brackets. But now, as explained by Kotaku, the starting area now features level-scaling from level 1-20, and when you reach level 10, you can move to many other areas that range in level from 10-60. After that, new zones will be available every five levels. It's a little more involved than that, and you can see a thorough breakdown of the new level-scaling feature here at WoWhead.
Today's new WoW patch goes much further than just adding the new level-scaling system. It also makes the in-game S.E.L.F.I.E. camera easier to get and adds more filters for it. A new Battleground, Seething Shore, is also added, while there are some changes to WoW's various classes as well. You can see the full patch notes below, as posted on WoW's website.
WoW's next expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is coming later this year on PC. Check out GameSpot's in-depth report here to find out all about it.
World of Warcraft 7.3.5 Patch Notes
New Features
A SCALING WORLD
Every zone in Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend, Pandaria, and Draenor now use the level scaling system introduced in Legion. This new scaling system greatly increases the amount of options you have when deciding where to quest and when to move on to the next zone.
All corresponding dungeons and the rewards therein now scale as well.
ULDUAR TIMEWALKING
A long-forgotten evil has awakened once more. Travel back in time with 10-30 other adventurers to cleanse Ulduar of Yogg-Saron's evil influence. While you journey through this memorable Wrath of the Lich King raid, your character will be scaled to player level 80.
Your fate is sealed. The end of days is finally upon you and ALL who inhabit this miserable little seedling. Uulwi ifis halahs gag erh'ongg w'ssh.
SILITHUS: THE WOUND
Players who have completed Antorus, The Burning Throne will be summoned to your capital cities, from which you'll travel to Silithus to investigate the strange events surrounding the impact of Sargeras' blade. Look for this new questline upon logging in.
NEW BATTLEGROUND: SEETHING SHORE
The Alliance and the Horde fight over a precious new resource, Azerite, in this new 10v10 battleground. Seething Shore is a king of the hill battleground where the first faction to collect ten pieces of Azerite from randomly spawned nodes, wins.
The Seething Shore will become available as the story in Silithus unfolds.
Updated Features
LEGENDARY ITEMS
Arcanomancer Vridiel's hard work has paid off, and he now offers a token that transforms into a random Legion legendary for your specialization, for 1000 Wakening Essences. Activities now award six times as many Wakening Essences as before, and you can also continue to come to Vridiel to upgrade the Legion legendary items you already have for the cost of 300 Wakening Essences.
MYTHIC KEYSTONE DUNGEONS
Combat resurrections mechanics in Mythic Keystone dungeons now closely mirror how they function in a raid encounter. When you start a Mythic Keystone dungeon, you will begin with one charge, and accumulate additional charges every 10 minutes. All combat resurrection spells now share a single pool of charges to a maximum of 5 charges.
HOLIDAYS
Holiday dungeons are now available to all players starting at level 20. Items that drop from these dungeons will scale to your current level. In addition, keep an eye out for new items in many upcoming holidays, such as new Lunar Festival hats and a sturdier Sturdy Love Fool.
S.E.L.F.I.E
Self-oriented photographers rejoice! Your S.E.L.F.I.E. camera is now easier to obtain, and it has new background filters. Selfie Cam Mark I is available at level 15 in Stormwind or Orgrimmar via a quest, and you can upgrade to the Mark II Selfie Cam after completing a new level 30 group quest.
We've also added the following backgrounds, but you'll have to figure out how to unlock them.
Argus in the Sky
Twilight Sky
Sha Sky
Firelands Sky
Frostmourne Sky
Changes
ACHIEVEMENTS
With the update to Ulduar difficulty, the following changes have been made to Achievements that are obtainable in Ulduar:
All existing 10-player and 25-player Ulduar Achievements have been moved to the Legacy -> Raids tab.
New Achievements have been added to the Dungeons & Raids -> Lich King Raid tab. Anyone who earned either the 10- or 25-player versions of these Achievements should receive the new Achievement upon logging in.
The new Glory of the Ulduar Raider Achievement should now award both the Rusted Proto-Drake and the Ironbound Proto-Drake mounts.
CLASSES
Touch of the Grave (Undead Racial) damage increased by 25% for Undead Death Knights, Hunters, Monks, Rogues, and Warriors.
Hunter
Beast Mastery
Cobra Shot (Rank 1) damage reduced by 50%, and cost increased to 50 Focus (was 40).
Cobra Shot (Rank 2), learned at level 3, reduces cost by 10 Focus.
Cobra Shot (Rank 3), learned at level 52, now increases damage by 100%.
Survival
Raptor Strike (Rank 1) damage reduced by 29%.
Raptor Strike (Rank 2), learned at level 52, now increases damage by 40%.
Monk
Windwalker
Blackout Kick now costs 3 Chi (was 1) when it is learned at level 3. The Chi cost is reduced to 2 with an upgrade at Level 12, and reduced to 1 Chi with another upgrade at Level 22.
Windwalker, Misweaver
Rising Sun Kick (Rank 1) damage reduced by 41%.
Rising Sun Kick (Rank 2), learned at level 36, now increases damage by 70.
Priest
Discipline, Holy
Smite (Rank 1) damage reduced by 33%.
Smite (Rank 2), learned at level 16, now increases damage by 50%.
Rogue
Shroud of Concealment should now properly apply to Hati in addition to your party's Hunter's normal pet.
Assassination
Sinister Strike damage increased by 30%.
Shaman
Liquid Magma Totem, Healing Stream Totem, and Healing Tide Totem slightly changed to inherit stats properly.
Warlock
Affliction
Shadow Bolt damage increased by 100%.
Warrior
Arms
Mortal Strike (Rank 1) damage reduced by 38%.
Mortal Strike (Rank 2), learned at level 38, now increases damage by 60%.
Slam (Rank 1) damage reduced by 38%.
Slam (Rank 2), learned at level 38, now increases damage by 60%.
Developers' notes: All damage changes to class abilities listed above are for low-level balance, and are neutral at level 110.
DUNGEONS
All dungeons now reward Personal Loot.
ITEMS
Uncommon, Rare, and Epic quality items now have the same potential item budget at every item level. Weapon melee (white) damage is now the same for uncommon, rare, and epic weapons at all item levels.
Developers' notes: This changes the power of lower item level weapons and armor to modern standards; all items above item level 463 have always functioned this way.
TOYS
A few toys that cause players other than the caster to take involuntary action (such as the Piccolo of Flaming Fire or Tickle Totem) no longer function on targets outside the instigator's party or raid group. The Neural Silencer is also more effective against several of these toys.
Fixed a bug that caused player characters to not look into their S.E.L.F.I.E. cameras directly.
Sony has rolled out a new selection of game deals in the PlayStation Store. As was the case last week, this week's batch of deals is very slim, with only a handful of discounts available on PS4, PS3, and Vita, but players may still find something worth picking up on their console of choice.
Space Hulk is also discounted on PS3, running for $14 on the older console. Vita owners, meanwhile, can also pick up Windjammers, Claire: Extended Cut, and Corridor Z--all of which support Cross-Buy with PS4--for their aforementioned prices. You can find the full list of this week's discounts on the PlayStation Store.
Revealed during Blizzcon 2017, the next big map for Overwatch finally has a realease date: Blizzard World is set to arrive on January 23. The official Blizzard Twitter account is distributing tickets to the fictional theme park that you can download here, just in case you want to feel like you're going on an actual amusement park vacation. However, as we learned during last year's Blizzcon Overwatch interview, Blizzard World is not a real place that the company is secretly building--not yet anyway.
The Blizzard World Overwatch map has a theme park style with attractions modeled after various Blizzard properties, including Starcraft and Warcraft; you can check out our initial impressions after playing in it for the first time here. The map has been available on PTR since last year, but its move to the official game means it will finally be available for Xbox One and PS4 players to try out.
In addition to the new map, game director Jeff Kaplan mentioned recently that even more characters, maps, and events are on the way to Overwatch in 2018. And the next big event coming up is based around the Lunar New Year, which will likely launch around the time of the Chinese New Year on February 16.
Following the latest round of maintenance, a new update is now available for Destiny 2 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, while the new Faction Rally event is live. As expected, the hotfix patch doesn't make any sweeping changes, though it does make an important tweak for some players. Here's exactly what it does.
The patch notes consist of only a single sentence: "Players who do not own Curse of Osiris now have the ability to earn Season 2 rewards within Faction Rallies and Iron Banner." This was an expected adjustment, but it's nonetheless good news for anyone without the first DLC expansion, Curse of Osiris.
Bungie's plans for seasonal content were originally much different and would have required players to purchase DLC to continue accessing them. This resulted in a great deal of anger in December after the release of Curse of Osiris, when non-DLC players suddenly found they had access to less of the game than before. The month's Faction Rally event was canceled as Bungie worked to reverse course on how seasonal content would work. However, The Dawning went on as planned, albeit with all players allowed to participate.
As a result of that cancellation, we have not seen a Faction Rally or Iron Banner event since the start of Season 2, which began with Curse of Osiris's release. The first Season 2 Faction Rally is now underway, bringing with it new gear for players to earn. Season 2's first Iron Banner will begin later this month, on January 30.
Likewise, 2018 is shaping up to be a great year for the hybrid console, too. In the video feature above, we run through the year's most anticipated games. There are those that we already know well, like Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2; sequels to beloved niche games, such as No More Heroes follow-up Travis Strikes Again; and those that we know virtually nothing about, like Fire Emblem, which is an exciting question mark given the franchise's pedigree. We also have a gallery looking at these games, as well as dives into the most anticipated PS4 games, Xbox One games, and PC games of the year.
Xbox One may have had a slimmer lineup of exclusive games than either PS4 or Nintendo Switch in 2017, but the new year is certainly shaping up to be a busier one for Microsoft's console. Following the launch of its powerful Xbox One X last November, Microsoft is turning its attention to expanding its roster of first-party titles, with a solid selection of games that can only be found on Xbox One (and PC, thanks to the company's Play Anywhere program) lined up throughout the year.
In the video above, we take a look at the most anticipated games coming exclusively to Xbox One in 2018. On top of some titles that we've already known about for quite some time, such as Sea of Thieves, the anticipated pirate game from storied developer Rare, Xbox One owners have a slate of exciting games to look forward in the coming months, from high-profile releases like State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3 to some intriguing indie titles like Ashen and The Last Night. You can also see all of the year's big Xbox One exclusives in our gallery.
Those certainly aren't the only big games coming to Xbox One this year, as a number of major multiplatform releases like Red Dead Redemption 2 are slated to arrive in the next few months. Microsoft will also continue to bolster the Xbox One's library by making even more original Xbox games backwards compatible. The first batch of original Xbox games arrived back in October and added classics like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Ninja Gaiden Black, and Microsoft has said that another selection will be available sometime this spring.
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