Between the launch of the Nintendo Switch Online service and a new sale in the Eshop, it's been a busy week for Nintendo's hybrid console. That applies to its newest batch of game releases as well. Nearly 30 titles have been released for Switch this week, from retro classics to some indie gems and the big DLC expansion for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Here are some of the highlights.
On the indie side, this week saw the Switch release of the quirky, beloved RPG Undertale. The well-received roguelike platformer Risk of Rain is now available in the Switch Eshop as well, as is Reigns: Kings & Queens, a compilation of the Tinder-like RPGs Reigns and Reigns: Her Majesty, in which you swipe left or right to make decisions on how you'll rule. The fast-paced sci-fi shoot-'em-up Velocity 2X also made its Switch debut, and early adopters can pick it up on sale for a limited time.
In addition to those titles, a bunch of retro games arrived on Switch this week, including the Capcom Beat 'em Up Bundle, a compilation of several of the developer's classic arcade beat-'em-ups. Sega also released the first two entries in its Sega Ages line, Sonic the Hedgehog and Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar. Rounding out the retro releases is a new pair of Arcade Archives games: the Neo Geo beat-'em-up Cyber-Lip, and the rare arcade version of Excitebike.
The biggest first-party release this week is Xenoblade Chronicles 2's final piece of DLC, Torna: The Golden Country. Those who purchased the game's Expansion Pass have been able to play the expansion since last week, but it is now available as a standalone purchase at retail, so even if you don't have the main game, you can pick up and play this prequel story. The Golden Country is set 500 years before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and reveals the tragic downfall of the Kingdom of Torna. It also features new environments to explore and a reworked battle system.
The next Pokemon Go Community Day is here. This month's event takes place today, September 22, and as usual, it'll give players a chance to capture rare Pokemon and take advantage of other in-game rewards for a brief window of time.
Live previous Community Days, this month's event will be held around the globe, but it will only run for three hours, and its timing will vary depending on which part of the world you live in. You can find the full schedule for each major region, as taken from the official Pokemon website, below.
Every Community Day stars a special "featured Pokemon" that will spawn much more frequently in the wild than it typically does for the duration of the event. This month, the featured Pokemon is the Gold and Silver starter Chikorita. On top of appearing in greater numbers than usual, you'll also have your first chance of encountering a Shiny Chikorita during the event.
Each Community Day also provides an opportunity to get a Pokemon with a special move that it cannot typically learn in the game. This time around, any Bayleef that you manage to evolve into Meganium before the Community Day ends will learn the powerful Grass-type attack Frenzy Plant, even if they were caught outside of the event.
Niantic will also provide a few other bonuses as an incentive to take part in this month's Community Day. First, you'll earn triple the usual amount of XP for capturing Pokemon. Lure Modules will also last longer than they normally do; any that are used during the event will remain active for three hours, rather than their typical 30-minute duration.
While you're out participating in the latest Community Day, you may also have a chance of encountering a Mewtwo. As part of the Ultra Bonus Event, the Legendary Psychic-type will appear in regular Raid Battles for the first time from September 20 - October 23. Previously, Mewtwo could only be found through the invite-only EX Raids.
Nintendo's online subscription service for Switch has arrived, and along with online play and cloud save backups, one of the benefits it provides is access to NES - Nintendo Switch Online, a library of classic NES games exclusively for subscribers. There are 20 titles available in the library right now, with more to come every month, and they all feature modern amenities such as save states, HD resolution, and even online play. If you're interested in trying out the latter, however, it may not be readily apparent how exactly to play NES games online with a friend.
If you subscribe to the Nintendo Switch Online service, you'll be able to download the NES app from the Switch Eshop or Nintendo's website for free. You'll have unlimited access to this app for as long as your remain a subscriber, and the NES games can be played offline for up to seven days, but you'll need to "check in" periodically to verify that you still have an active subscription.
Once you've installed the NES app, you'll be able to play any of the included NES games either solo or with another player. Many of the titles in the initial lineup feature a dedicated two-player mode, but some, such as The Legend of Zelda, only support one player; in these games, you and your friend will be able to share the same screen and switch between who is controlling the game at any time.
To set up an online session, you'll first need to select the Play Online option from the left sidebar. Once you've chosen that, you'll see the screen below, which displays a box of the players on your friends list who are playing the app online. Chances are the box will say it is unable to find a friend's game session; if so, select the Play While You Wait option beneath the box, and one of your friends will then be able to join you.
The user hosting the session will choose which games are played. If you select one that features a two-player mode, such as Dr. Mario or Super Mario Bros. 3, simply select that option and you'll play together just as you would locally. In any game, you can also move the right control stick on the Switch Pro Controller (or the right Joy-Con's control stick if you're playing with a Joy-Con Grip) to bring up a hand cursor, which you can use to point things out to the other player or applaud by pressing the stick in.
Another benefit Nintendo Switch Online subscribers receive is access to special offers, such as a set of NES-style Joy-Con controllers that only members can purchase. The controllers can only be used to play the aforementioned NES games and don't work in handheld mode, but they can be slotted into the sides of the console to recharge, just as regular Joy-Cons. Each set comes with two controllers and costs $60; if you're a subscriber, you can pre-order the NES Joy-Cons now.
Nintendo is offering Switch Online subscriptions in three increments: one month (US $4 / £3.49 / AU $6), three months (US $8 / £7 / AU $12), and 12 months (US $20 / £18 / AU $30). You also have the option to sign up for an annual Family Play, which costs US $35 / £31.49 / AU $55 and can be shared with seven other Nintendo Account holders. If you're on the fence about subscribing, Nintendo is offering a seven-day free trial of the service, but you'll need to opt out of automatic renewals, otherwise it'll become a one-month subscription.
With both Resident Evil 2 Remake and Devil May Cry 5 at TGS, Capcom had a lot to share with fans and press alike. During our behind-closed-doors time we had the chance to play as Nero and experiment with his arm-swapping Devil Breaker ability--which grants him access to a range of attacks based on items collected within stages--as well as fan-favorite Dante.
In the video above we outline everything we enjoyed about the demo, and discussed a few elements that caught us off-guard. In particular, we were surprised to discover microtransactions within the game. They are used in a similar manner as Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition, where orbs used to upgrade abilities can be purchased with real world money.
By and large, however, the same attitude and style that defines Capcom's Devil May Cry games is present and accounted for. There's still an additional character, V, that we've yet to play, and Capcom promises that he'll play quite differently from the other two characters. We know he uses a cane to get around and thus, relative to Dante and Nero, is potentially lacking physicality, but anything is possible in the over-the-top world of Devil May Cry.
Devil May Cry 5 is currently scheduled to release in March 2019, and since the announcement at E3 earlier this year, Capcom has slowly trickled out new information to keep fans focused on what's to come. A new trailer and a deluxe edition of the game were unleashed during Tokyo Game Show. At roughly the same time, rumors of a multiplayer mode were responded to, though not denied, with Capcom stating that "we are focused on delivering a complete single-player action experience," and that "no multiplayer features have been announced."
We recently had the opportunity to play Devil May Cry 5 at TGS. The demo shown behind closed doors featured Dante, the original star of the series who is now considered a secondary character to Nero in the new sequel. During our demo we encountered the Divinity Statue, which acts as a shop where you can trade in orbs collected during combat and exploration, and in that menu we discovered that players will have the option to spend real money to accrue more orbs if they wish to expedite the upgrade process and beef up Dante earlier than usual.
Speaking to Hideaki Itsuno, director on the game from Capcom, we asked why this system is necessary in a game like Devil May Cry 5, and the reason given was a familiar one: it's about giving players options to play the game as they wish. "With giving people the ability to purchase Red Orbs, it's something we want to give people as an option. If they want to save time and just want to get all the stuff at once, those people can do that. But on the other hand I don't feel you have to get all the moves, " said Itsuno. "You should be able to play it the way you want to play it."
It was a bit surprising to discover that such a feature exists in Devil May Cry 5, but it's not the first game in the series to feature them--they were also a part of Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition.
We also asked Itsuno about how presence of microtransactions will impact the learning process of playing the next Devil May Cry as our experience with these types of action games has taught us that gradually unlocking and learning new abilities is a far more natural means of developing your skills and earning higher performance ranks in battle.
"It's interesting because from a game design point of view there's two different things we think about when we set the prices of the moves, skills, and abilities [which can be purchased with Red Orbs]," he explained. "The first thing is the stuff that we feel people should want to get first is made cheaper. So people will think, 'Oh this is cheap so I'm just going to buy this.' But then for the stuff that's going to be harder to use and master, we make that more expensive. Partly because of you save up for that you're not going to be able to buy as many skills, so you're going to have the time to learn it. So you have to make the decision between going for the cheaper stuff or saving up, getting the thing that has a lot of application but you'll have to spend time learning and perfecting."
To really get a grasp of how microtransactions impact Devil May Cry 5 we'll have to wait until Spring 2019, when the games is released and we can get our hands on it. For more in depth impressions of our time with Dante check out our Devil May Cry 5 video preview. You can also see some new Devil May Cry 5 Dante gameplay here.
Looking in from the outside, Devil May Cry's Dante doesn't seem like anything unique. He's another roguish and charming anti-hero, firing off cheesy one-liners and making light of the latest big bad looking destroy this, that, and the other. But for fans of the character, and the series at large, Dante is also a character that is defined by gameplay.
While the earlier entries in Capcom's action series focused heavily on his attitude, with some added spice thanks to a set of stylish abilities and moves, it wasn't until Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening that the character really came into his own. In this game, Dante was at his most complex and interesting. This wasn't because of some narrative revelation, it was ultimately still a game about slicing and dicing demons, but because doing this effectively was an incredibly involved, demanding task. But those that managed to put the pieces of DMC3's combat systems together discovered a character that felt exciting, nuanced, and thoroughly satisfying to control.
Like Devil May Cry 4 before it, the fifth entry in the mainline series builds on the Dante that was established in DMC3. Although Dante is older, rougher, and a little more rugged, his prowess in combat remains just as sharp. He still has the four distinct fighting styles at his disposal; Swordmaster allows him to use his melee weapons with an expanded moveset, Gunslinger makes every projectile fired from his arsenal of firearms more deadly, Trickster gives him increased acrobatics ranging from dashes and extra jumps to a teleport that hones in on enemies, and Royal Guard allows him to absorb incoming damage and return in with greater lethality.
Individually, these four style give distinct flavours to the gameplay experience when you're in control of Dante. They can cater to different types of players, ranging from those that like to play the distance game, to the duck-and-movers, to the reckless attackers. However, the real fun lies in stringing it all together; finding the abilities that naturally create openings to switch between styles, back and forth until you're dancing around the battlefield launching enemies around, rending them in two up close, and shredding them with a hail of bullets from afar.
Devil May Cry 5's version of Dante is incredibly satisfying to play as and, for longtime fans of the series, it feels familiar. At Tokyo Games Show 2018 I got to play the game for a few hours and, within minutes muscle memory started to kick in. Some of it from Devil May Cry 3 and 4, others from fighting games such as Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, where Dante was also playable and just as complex to control.
Perhaps the most obvious, and biggest addition, is a new weapon called Cavaliere. This is a motorcycle that breaks into two buzzsaw-like blades that are surprisingly versatile. The Cavaliere's attacks are quite slow, with drawn out swings that sweep across the battlefield around Dante, catching multiple enemies and trapping them in place as the blades tear into them. They feel almost like a Monster Hunter weapon: slow, methodical, and demanding of smart timing. However, what they proved to be most effective for was creating a little bit of time that can be used to plan a few moves ahead. While the Cavaliere are slowly shredding enemies, you have the time to think about what the best style to switch to next is, and the weapon you should pair with the style to keep the momentum going. It's a fantastic way of slowing down the breakneck pace of combat for those that aren't able to bash out long strings of button presses for minutes on end.
In the video above, you can see some of this in practice. While I wasn't exactly optimizing movement and abilities to do the most damage possible and ratchet up the combo in each encounter, I managed get comfortable enough with to get an overall ranking of S for the mission, and show off some of what he's capable of along the way. Devil May Cry 5 launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 8, 2019.
Are you running out of things to watch on Amazon Prime? September is here to remedy that with a slew of new TV shows, movies, and Prime Originals for you to binge in your free time this week and beyond. Here is what you have to look forward to throughout this month.
For new movies coming to the service that you may have missed in theaters, September 29 marks the arrival of the horror movie Jigsaw, which is part of the gruesome Saw franchise. There is also Escape Plan 2--which wasn't in theaters--and while the movie's focus isn't on Sylvester Stallone as much as we'd thought it would be, it's still a solid action movie.
If you're looking something from the past, Amazon has a ton of movies you'll want to rewatch including Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, arriving on September 1. If you're getting ready a bit early for Halloween, there a few horror movies as well, including Pumpkinhead, Poltergeist II, the original The Amityville Horror, and the 1989 Adam Sandler movie Going Overboard, which may be the scariest of them all. Check out the complete list of everything coming to Amazon Prime in September below.
Everything Coming To Amazon Prime In September 2018
September 1
Asylum, Season 1
The Blue Rose, Season 1
The Broker's Man, Seasons 1-2
The Field of Blood, Seasons 1-2
Golden, Season 1
The Kevin Bishop Show, Season 2
London Irish, Season 1
The Palace, Season 1
Parents, Season 1
Rocket's Island, Seasons 1-3
Sam's Game, Season 1
Texas Rising, Season 1
The Triangle, Season 1
Trust, Season 1
Westside, Seasons 1-3
Wild at Heart, Seasons 1-8
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
A Field in England (2013)
A Good Woman (2006)
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
A Murder of Crows (1999)
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures (2010)
A Turtle's Tale 2: Sammy's Escape from Paradise (2012)
All You Can Eat Buddha (2017)
Bandits (2001)
Beowulf (2007)
Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
Blow Out (1981)
Bolero (1984)
Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police (2012)
Update: Telltale has issued a statement in which it confirms fears that the studio is at least partially shutting down. It does not address the specific fate of its games, only saying more details will be shared in the coming weeks. It reaffirms that 25 people remain with the studio for the time being, but it's unclear how long they will be employed. The full statement follows.
Today Telltale Games made the difficult decision to begin a majority studio closure following a year marked by insurmountable challenges. A majority of the company's employees were dismissed earlier this morning, with a small group of 25 employees staying on to fulfill the company's obligations to its board and partners. CEO Pete Hawley issued the following statement:
"It's been an incredibly difficult year for Telltale as we worked to set the company on a new course. Unfortunately, we ran out of time trying to get there. We released some of our best content this year and received a tremendous amount of positive feedback, but ultimately, that did not translate to sales. With a heavy heart, we watch our friends leave today to spread our brand of storytelling across the games industry.
Telltale will issue further comments regarding its product portfolio in the coming weeks.
In a tweet clarifying the statement, Hawley says the 25 people will continue for the "foreseeable" future; this isn't a complete shutdown, at least at this point. We'll report back as we learn more.
Original Story: Telltale Games, the studio behind several acclaimed episodic adventure games based on a range of popular licenses, including The Walking Dead and Batman, has been hit with another huge wave of layoffs. News of the layoffs emerged via social media as former developers announced they were no longer employed at the company.
It is currently unclear if Telltale has shut down completely or will remain operational with a reduced workforce, but it appears a significant number of developers have been let go from the company. Telltale itself has yet to publicly comment on the layoffs. GameSpot has reached out to the studio and will report back with a response.
According to a report by Gamasutra, Telltale has released all but 25 employees (out of about 250), who will remain at the company to finish the remaining episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. The outlet also reports that all of the studio's other projects, such as the second season of The Wolf Among Us, have been canceled.
Kevin Bruner, a co-founder and former CEO of Telltale (who sued the company earlier this year after being forced out), has published a blog post commenting on the news. "Today, I'm mostly saddened for the people who are losing their jobs at a studio they love," he wrote. "And I'm also saddened at the loss of a studio that green-lit crazy ideas that no one else would consider. I'm comforted a bit knowing there are now so many new talented people and studios creating games in the evolving narrative genre. While I look forward to those games and new developments, and continuing to contribute, I will always find 'A Telltale Game' to have been a unique offering."
This isn't the first massive wave of layoffs to hit the company. In November 2017, Telltale laid off 25% of its workforce, which then amounted to 90 people. According to a press release the company shared following that news, this reduction was done in order to make the studio "more competitive as a developer and publisher of groundbreaking story-driven gaming experiences with an emphasis on high quality in the years ahead."
Telltale announced a number of projects in July 2017, including the aforementioned Wolf Among Us 2. That was originally planned for release in 2018 but was eventually delayed to 2019 following the November layoffs. The studio had also announced it was developing a game based on Stranger Things, but it appears those projects have now been shelved.
News of these layoffs comes shortly before the release of the second episode of The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which is scheduled to launch for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 25. Two additional episodes are still planned for the series. We don't yet know what this news means for its previously announced release schedule; the same is true of the games it's responsible for publishing, such as Stranded Deep, which it just yesterday announced would launch for PS4 and Xbox One in October.
The first official trailer for the upcoming Captain Marvel movie is finally here, and it covers a lot of the history behind the cosmic Avenger. However, one of the scenes from the trailer--where Captain Marvel punches an elderly woman in the face for no apparent reason--has plenty of people questioning the hero's moral compass. But as anyone familiar with the character's history in comics knows, there is a good reason for her aggression.
A major part of Carol Danvers history as Ms. Marvel--before her transformation into Captain Marvel--is the war between the alien Kree and Skrull races. Carol Danvers actually gains her super powers from a Kree military captain who's named Mar-Vell and spying on the human race to see if Earth is a worthy ally in the fight against the Skrulls. We've already seen the Kree in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the blue-skinned Ronan, from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, is a Kree. As far as we know, we haven't seen a Skrull in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet because they are a race of shape-shifters. When the Kree and Skrull's war comes to Earth, many of the Skrulls try to take over the world by disguising themselves as humans.
So when Carol Danvers punches out the old lady, she's probably seen through a Skrull's disguise. Captain Marvel is one of the few Avengers who's specific power-set makes her perfect for taking on the Skrull. After her physiology is affected by Captain Mar-Vell's DNA, Carol Danvers gains nearly a dozen superpowers. One of those powers is a limited precognitive sixth sense. It's a lot like Spider-Man's spider sense, but instead of simply alerting her to danger, Captain Marvel can see a few seconds into the future when a threat presents itself. Perhaps the Skrull on the train is supposed to get the jump on Captain Marvel, but she senses the attack coming before it happens and decides to strike out first.
Captain Marvel's first official trailer details Carol Danver's transformation into Ms. Marvel, her ascendence to Captain Marvel, and her hand in putting a stop to the Kree/Skrull war on Earth. We've got a full trailer breakdown if you want to know about everything that's going on.
Bungie has updated Destiny 2 with the new hotfix 2.0.3.1 patch. The update primarily addresses several of the bugs that have plagued the game since the release of the Forsaken expansion, but also lowers the difficulty curve of certain quests.
Perhaps the most noticeable change to the game is the update made to Gambit, specifically the Cayde's Will quest. Previously, one of the steps for completing the mission and unlocking Cayde's trademark hand cannon Ace of Spades required you to kill invading players with hand cannons. Thanks to the hotfix, you can now kill invading players or general enemies to complete the quest, which is both easier and faster. Rejoin functionality has also been turned off in Gambit.
Hotfix 2.0.3.1 also updates Heroic adventures, the Dreaming City, and weapons and items. The full patch notes can be found on Bungie's main website, but we've outlined the highlights below. If you're looking for something new to do in-game, you can hit up Xur.
Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.0.3.1 Patch Notes
Heroic Adventures
Fixed an issue where Barons were providing Legendary rewards outside of Heroic adventures
Barons in Heroic adventures now reward one guaranteed Legendary per day
Subsequent kills grant Legendary rewards at a reduced rate
Dreaming City
The Offering to the Oracle now sorts to the Pursuits bucket, rather than Consumables
Removed the weekly bounty that required players to redeem an Offering for the Oracle
The Dreaming City weekly challenge now requires only two weekly bounty completions
Fixed an issue where some enemies would improperly spawn chests after being killed
Players can no longer obtain Dreaming City rewards when repeating the Awakening mission
Fixed an issue where Telesto could be used to accelerate progression of objectives in the Blind Well
Weapons/Items
Fixed an issue where players can get stuck with the Origin Story or the Last Dance weapons if they use the character level boost after obtaining them in Homecoming
Fixed an issue where BrayTech Legendary Scout Rifle dismantled into Mod Components
Destiny 2 is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Despite the bugs, we're currently enjoying our time playing through the Forsaken expansion. In our in-progress Destiny 2: Forsaken review, we gave the DLC an 8/10. We'll be updating our review after playing through Forsaken's new Last Wish Raid.
Activision has confirmed that the post-launch DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be coming to PS4 first before also launching on Xbox One and PC. That's no surprise, as the PS4 has received early access to DLC expansions on every Call of Duty game since Activision first partnered up with PlayStation for 2015's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. However, this time the PS4 has a much shorter exclusivity window.
For Black Ops 4, Activision has announced that the PS4 will only have a one week head start on the Xbox One and PC when it comes to playable post-launch content. This includes all seasonal events, as well as new specialists and maps for multiplayer. The Nuketown multiplayer map will come to all platforms in November, followed by new specialists in December. Past Call of Duty games have given the PS4 two to four weeks exclusivity on certain updates. With that window shortening so dramatically, it suddenly doesn't hurt as much to be pre-ordering Black Ops 4 on Xbox One and PC.
Prior to Black Ops 4's launch launch, Treyarch released a beta for the game's battle royale Blackout mode. The Blackout beta offered player limit counts of 80, 88, and 100, but Treyarch hasn't announced which number will be used for the final game. The beta offered several different types of modifiers as well, such as only close range weapons and a rapidly closing border circle, which taught us just how different Blackout is from other battle royale games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches on October 12 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you pre-order the Deluxe or Digital Deluxe editions of the game, you can get a head start on multiplayer with in-game Call of Duty points.
Bandai Namco has announced the network test for Dark Souls Remastered on Nintendo Switch will start later today, September 21. You'll need a Switch Online subscription if you want to participate.
According to Siliconera, the network test will be available for players in both North and South America, Japan, and Europe. If you decide to take part, you'll be able to play through Dark Souls' Undead Parish. The Undead Parish is one of the earliest areas you'll be able to visit in Dark Souls. It's the location where the game's environment really begins to open up, and also the place where many Dark Souls players encountered their first major challenges: online invaders and the Bell Gargoyle boss fight. The network test isn't only a good way for you to test Nintendo's Dark Souls Remastered servers, it's also a good opportunity to see if Dark Souls is the type of game you want to play.
The network test takes place over multiple periods. We've outlined the different times below.
Dark Souls Remastered Switch Network Test Times
The Americas
Period 1: September 21, 2018 at 5 PM PT to 9 PM PT / 8 PM ET to 12 AM ET
Period 2: September 22, 2018 at 5 PM PT to 9 PM PT / 8 PM ET to 12 AM ET
Period 3: September 23, 2018 at 5 PM PT to 9 PM PT / 8 PM ET to 12 AM ET
Japan
Period 1: September 21, 2018 at 19:00 JST to 22:00 JST
Period 2: September 22, 2018 at 19:00 JST to 22:00 JST
Period 3: September 23, 2018 at 19:00 JST to 22:00 JST
Europe
Period 1: September 21, 2018 at 17:00 UTC to 21:00 UTC
Period 2: September 22, 2018 at 17:00 UTC to 21:00 UTC
Period 3: September 23, 2018 at 17:00 UTC to 21:00 UTC
Dark Souls Remastered is an HD remaster of Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, which includes the base game and the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. In our Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition review, Carolyn Petit gave the game a 9.5/10, writing, "There's so much to do and to discover in [Dark Souls'] beautiful and frightening world. You might encounter and join one of nine covenants, each with its own benefits and agendas. You might find that one NPC has murdered another and that you can invade the killer's world as a spirit of vengeance. The genius of Dark Souls isn't just in its environments, or its monsters, its thrilling combat, or the unusual and exciting ways in which players are connected. It's in the uncompromising way it throws conventional wisdom to the wind, dropping you into its dangerous world without guidance, making you fend for yourself, and teaching you to shrug off defeat time and time again to finally earn victory."
Dark Souls Remastered is already available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Following its delay, the Switch version will release on October 19.
A new hotfix update has rolled out for the Xbox One version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The patch primarily addresses performance issues but adds a few more features from the PC version of the game--such as BP exchange--as well.
The update mostly seems to be targeted at addressing the framerate issues for PUBG when playing on Xbox One X. Both resolution and texture quality remain the same, but graphical settings have been toned down. You might notice a slight drop in quality when it comes to shadows and reflections but everything else should appear mostly the same, and the game should run more smoothly on Xbox One X. In order to address input lag while in the lobby between matches, the Customization menu has also been updated with an optimized inventory system.
New weapon skins, titled Glory and Trifecta, have also been added to the in-game Store. Glory can only be bought for the AKM and UMP9, while the Trifecta skin only applies to the Scar-L, Micro Uzi, and P92.
BP exchange has also finally come to the Xbox One version of PUBG, but there is a slight catch. You can only exchange weapon skins for BP at the moment. If there's any weapon skin you no longer want, pressing the Y button while hovered over it will transform it into extra BP, which you can then use to purchase other items to customize your character. Different weapon skins have different exchange rates.
The full patch notes can be found on PUBG's website, but we've also listed out the highlights below. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is available for Xbox One and PC, with rumors that it's coming to PS4.
PUBG September 18 Xbox Hotfix
Performance Changes
Shadow Quality (Both Dynamic/Static) lowered
Post Processing
Disabled Motion Blur
Decrease quality of Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
Disabled off Depth of Field
Disabled off Lens Flare
Decreased Eyes Adaption Quality
This is the time it takes for your eyes to adapt to the dark when you go from a bright to dark place.
Effects
Disabled Screen Space Reflection (SSR)
This is the reflection from windows and such.
Disabled Refraction
This is refracted light.
Disabled Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
This is when there is light inside an object to make it look more real.
Disabled Particle Light
This is dynamic light from different effects such as explosions.
Lowered the number of particles created
Gameplay Changes
BP exchange has been added to weapon skins.
Pressing the Y button while hovering over the weapon skin in the inventory will exchange that weapon skin for BP.
Only one skin at a time can be exchanged for BP. BP exchange price will vary with each item. The preview button has been changed to ≡ button
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where the Russian and Uzbek languages were not displaying correctly.
Fixed an issue where a "Lost connection to host" error would pop up when connecting into a match after previously cancelling matchmaking.
Netflix gains several more TV series, Originals, and movies this week. Although the number of new things to watch isn't as high as the past two weeks, there are quite a few quality titles in the mix--and if nothing is to your liking, October and its additions are on the horizon.
You can certainly tell that it's almost October, as we're beginning to see more horror and thrillers with every subsequent week. The Witch is already out on Netflix, the 2015 supernatural horror film about a 17th century Puritan family who accidentally moves their home next to a forest that's inhabited by witches. Split's Anya Taylor-Joy stars in The Witch as the eldest daughter in the family, Thomasin, who's transition into womanhood is scarred by the terrors her family must face.
On September 18, another spooky delight, American Horror Story: Cult arrives on Netflix. Cult is the seventh season of American Horror Story, and it dives straight into the political divide that erupted in the United States after the 2016 presidential election. The series stars Ocean's 8's Sarah Paulson, X-Men: Days of Future Past's Evan Peters, 30 Rock's Cheyenne Jackson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Billie Lourd, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World's Alison Phil. Even if it's not scary, it's worth noting that Scott Pilgrim was also added to Netflix.
It's also a very good week if you love animation. On September 21, both Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan and Hilda come to Netflix. Dragon Pilot is an adorably humorous anime that follows the story of a young woman who's chosen to join a secret air force team where pilots train to fly dragons that are disguised as fighter jets. Hilda is an animated series based on the famous Luke Pearson comic of the same name, that's about a small 20th century Scandinavian girl who balances her ordinary responsibilities at home and school with her desire to adventure with the trolls, giants, elves, and spirits that are her friends.
The full list of television series, movies, and Netflix Originals coming to Netflix this week can be found below. You can also check out our list of everything that's coming to Netflix in September.
Netflix U.S. Releases (September 16 - September 22)
Paying for Nintendo Switch Online does more than allow you to play online. The subscription offers a few exclusive perks as well, including free access to classic NES games. The online service launched with 20 different NES titles, and nine more will be added before the end of 2018.
Most of Nintendo's largest franchises had their start on the NES, and several of those games will launch with Switch Online. Paying for Nintendo's online subscription nets you games like Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros. You'll also get some of Nintendo's earliest sports games as well, including Soccer, Tennis, Ice Hockey, Pro Wrestling, and Baseball. The list of 20 games that launch with Switch Online can be found on Nintendo's website, and we've also outlined them below.
To help capture the experience of playing these classic titles, Nintendo is launching Switch Online member-exclusive Joy-Cons that are shaped like NES controllers. Each box comes with two controllers, as every NES title will support two-player co-op. In certain games where two player-controlled characters don't make sense, you can switch between who's controlling the game or the second player can use a hand-shaped cursor to point out hints and applaud certain actions. NES titles will also support Switch Online voice chat via Nintendo's smartphone app if you and your partner aren't in the same room.
Switch Online is now available alongside system update 6.0. Memberships can be purchased for one, three, and 12 month increments for $4 / £3.50, $8 / £7, and $20 / £18 respectively.
The FortniteFall Skirmish is on, letting players compete for their share of a huge pool of cash. Unlike the Summer Skirmish, players are divided into one of five "Clubs." You can rack up Club Points by playing in the appropriate mode, and at the end of the Fall Skirmish the winning club will get $4 million. The total prize bucket is $10 million.
The competition will play out over the course of six weeks, alternating between Duos and Solos. The first week, which kicks off today (watch the action below or on Twitch), is Duos in the Hold the Throne game mode. It will all culminate at TwitchCon, with an exact time to be announced. TwitchCon is set to take place October 26-28 in San Jose, California.
The competition will overlap with the changing of the seasons, as Epic recently confirmed that Fortnite Season 6 will begin on Thursday, September 27. This follows weeks of build-up and teases, focused mostly on a giant, slow-moving cube that was plopping itself across the battlefield at regular intervals. Most recently it fell into Loot Lake and began melting, turning the whole body of water into a bouncy environment.
Epic's mega-popular shooter has cultivated a player base that can support these competitions with lavish prize pools. In August alone it boasted nearly 80 million players, a number that many games would envy for their whole lifetime. One report estimated that the game makes $2 million per day, so sparing five days of mobile revenue on a competition isn't exactly going to drive Epic to bankruptcy anytime soon.
The next James Bond movie--known for now as Bond 25--has a new director. Following the departure of Danny Boyle last month, it has been confirmed that True Detective's Cary Fukunaga will helm the 25th movie in the long-running series, which hits theaters in 2020.
As reported by Variety, Fukunaga will start shooting the currently-untitled Bond movie in March. The film was originally set to start production later this year, with the release date set for December 2019. However, following weeks of uncertainty over who would helm the movie after Boyle's exit, it has been confirmed that it will now arrive on February 14, 2020.
Fukunaga is best known for directing the entirety of the hugely popular first season of HBO's True Detective. He also directed the acclaimed movie Beasts of No Nation and the Mexico-set thriller Sin Nombre, plus the new Netflix series Maniac, which arrives on the service this week.
Boyle left the Bond film in late August due to "creative differences." He signed on in May and the film was set to use the script he had written with his regular scriptwriting partner John Hodge. With Boyle no longer attached it is unknown whether the movie will his script, and it is possible that the producers might return to veteran Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who had been initially attached to the project.
Daniel Craig is set to play the iconic British superspy for the fifth time. There had been much speculation about whether he would return as 007 after 2015's Spectre, particularly as Craig himself didn't seem very keen on the idea. However, he confirmed will play Bond again in August last year.
The Bond series remains a hugely popular franchise. Craig's first movie, 2006's Casino Royale took in almost $600 million worldwide and Spectre made $880 million. The biggest success from Craig's run was 2012's Skyfall which grossed $1.1 billion across the globe.
We're nearing the end of Season 5, but in the meantime, Week 9 challenges for Fortnite are now available. You can see the complete list of them below, and we also have a guide to following the treasure map in Shifty Shafts. That's one of the tougher challenges in the free section, but over in the paid Battle Pass group, there's one challenge in particular that'll require a fair bit of legwork to get done. This one tells you to visit seven different Stone Heads around the map. Here are the locations of where to find them. [Update: Time is running out to complete this and other challenges before Season 6 starts on September 27.]
If you're a hardcore Fortnite player, you'll probably have a good idea of what to do and where to go, considering that the Stone Heads are always in the same position, and this kind of challenge has popped up previously. However, if you're new to the game and this challenge, we're here to lend a helping hand. Below you'll find a list of all the locations we've spotted the Stone Heads, so simply high tail it between these and you'll be done in no time. You can also watch the video above to see us do it, and follow along.
Fortnite Stone Head Locations
South east of Junk Junction
North of Tomato Temple
North west of Dusty Divot
East of Lonely Lodge
North east of Greasy Grove
South east of Shifty Shafts
West of Lucky Landing
Once you're done with this week's challenges, there's still more to do, as developer Epic Games also has rolled out Fortnite's 5.40 update. This introduces the High Stakes event, which is a new limited-time mode has its own set of challenges to complete. You can read about what the High Stakes challenges are and the rewards that you can earn by completing them. You can read the full Fortnite update 5.40 patch notes here.
If you're still working on challenges from previous weeks, head over to our full Fortnite Season 5 challenge guide to get help with every single challenge in the season thus far.
Fortnite Week 9, Season 5 Challenges
Free
Deal damage with Explosive Weapons to opponents (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Get Trick Points in a Shopping Car or ATK (150,000) -- 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Follow the treasure map found in Shifty Shafts -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
(Stage 1) Search Chests in Pleasant Park (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Destiny 2's unique Gambit mode has been the highlight of the new Forsaken festivities, but Guardians with an itch for a more traditional PvP experience can scratch it with another new mode incoming next week. Starting Tuesday, September 25, players can jump into the new Breakthrough mode in the Crucible.
Breakthrough is a multi-phase mode. First, players fight over a central zone. Whichever team captures that zone deploys the Breaker. The losing team can still fight over the zone to take control of it and deploy their own Breaker. Once the Breaker is captured it can be used to hack the enemy Vault. The first team to hack the Vault wins, and if you're in the process of hacking when the timer expires, you enter sudden death. The best of three wins the match.
The new mode will show up first as a Weekly Featured Playlist next week, and then it will be added to the Competitive playlist starting on October 2. If you're a Forsaken owner, you can play Breakthrough in private matches starting on September 25 too. It will be available on the Equinox, Firebase Echo, Citadel, Convergence maps, and for PS4 players, Gambler's Ruin as well.
While you wait for Breakthrough, you can try the Gambit Mode for free this weekend, even if you don't own Forsaken. Bungie is still rolling out regular updates and hot-fixes, including quality-of-life tweaks like making some sought-after weapons a little easier to get. Check out GameSpot's Destiny 2 Review-in-Progress for ongoing thoughts about this latest big expansion to the space epic.
The Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox recently approved a merger, creating an even larger media empire for the house of mouse. The deal cleared the way for the X-Men franchise to finally enter the Marvel cinematic universe, and now Disney CEO Bob Iger has hinted that's likely in the cards.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger was asked if Marvel would absorb the X-Men franchise from Fox, and if Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige would be overseeing it all together. His answer isn't quite a confirmation, but he certainly signaled what he prefers.
"I think it only makes sense," Iger said. "I want to be careful here because of what's been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn't be two Marvels."
That could lead to some wild combinations, of course. Fox's X-Men franchise hasn't quite matched the tone of the MCU films, especially in the cases of the gonzo Deadpool films and the moody anthology movie Logan. Asked if Deadpool could become an Avenger, Iger said, "Kevin's got a lot of ideas. I'm not suggesting that's one of them. But who knows?"
Currently the X-Men and Marvel films are on two fairly distinct tracks. The X-Men franchise has Dark Phoenix and New Mutants coming next year, while Marvel is preparing to culminate its sprawling ten-year multi-film vision with Captain Marvel followed quickly by Avengers 4. Those are two film franchises that don't exactly fit neatly into each others' universes, so we'll have to see if Marvel swallows up the X-Men--and if it justifies the transition with a story-based explanation.
Product listings for Devil May Cry 5 appear to have revealed a feature that Capcom itself hasn't announced yet. The game listings on Steam, the Xbox Store, and the PlayStation Store all list an online multiplayer component. The Xbox and PlayStation listings specify that it's for 2-3 players, while Steam says that it's co-op play.
"With Devil May Cry 5, we are focused on delivering a complete single-player action experience," a Capcom spokesperson told GameSpot." "No multiplayer features have been announced."
DMC5 isn't due out until March 2019, and Capcom has been slowly revealing more information since it debuted at E3 this year. The company could have been planning a more official reveal for the online co-op. So far Capcom has tied announcements to each of the three big press conferences. At Gamescom it announced a release date alongside a new trailer, and then a Deluxe Edition announced just this week at the Tokyo Game Show.
This Devil May Cry is very pointedly a direct sequel to 2008's Devil May Cry 4. Capcom attempted to reboot the series in 2013 with DmC: Devil May Cry. That game was critically successful but divisive for fans, which is likely why this one is going back to its roots.
As it happens, the Steam listing also revealed another important tidbit of information for avid demon hunters: the PC system requirements. You can check those out below.
System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: WINDOWS® 7 (64-BIT Required)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.4GHz or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX760 or better
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 35 GB available space
Additional Notes: *Controllers recommended *Internet connection required for game activation.
Recommended:
OS: WINDOWS® 7 (64-BIT Required)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.4GHz or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX960 or better
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 35 GB available space
Additional Notes: *Controllers recommended *Internet connection required for game activation.
We've reached the second half of September, which means anyone with an active Xbox Live Gold subscription can download two new games for free. The titles in question are the Xbox One game Livelock and the Xbox 360 game Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World. Both are playable on Xbox One.
Livelock is a top-down shooter that takes place after humanity and the rest of the organic life on Earth has been wiped out. The game puts you in the shoes of a robot fighting off hordes of enemies, with the goal of bringing life back to the planet. You can play it alone or with up to two friends in co-op mode. It's available for free between now and October 15.
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World contains ports of the Monster World/Wonder Boy series of RPGs from the 1980s and '90s. It comes with Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and Monster World IV. When this collection launched in 2012, it was the first time Monster World IV had made its way to the US. It's available for free between now and September 30.
If you haven't grabbed it yet, Xbox Live Gold subscribers can still download Prison Architect for free through the end of the month. But now that September 15 has come and gone, two September Games with Gold have gone back to their regular prices: For Honor and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.
Microsoft hasn't announced the Games with Gold for October, but we expect news to that effect to arrive in the coming weeks.
Games With Gold: September 2018
Xbox One
Prison Architect (September 1-30)
For Honor (August 16-September 15)
Livelock (September 16-October 15)
Xbox 360
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (September 1-15)
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World (September 16-30)
Each Sunday, Best Buy releases a new weekly ad that shows what items are on sale through the following Saturday. This week's deals are now live, which means you can save money on a new set of video games, consoles, and accessories both in-store and online. Let's dig in to see what discounts are available between now and September 22.
Anyone who buys an Xbox One can save $20 when adding an extra controller to their purchase. That goes for standard controllers, special editions, and even the Xbox One Elite controller. If you're in the market for a headset, you can also save $20 on the fantastic Turtle Beach Stealth 700 headset. It's a wireless headset with surround sound that links up directly to the console.
PS4 owners can pick up a wired Turtle Beach headset for $45, saving $5. Buying a PS4 lets you save $10 on a 12-month PS Plus membership. If collectible coins are your thing, you're in luck: Not only does pre-ordering Super Smash Bros. Ultimate get you a $10 reward certificate, but you also get an exclusive Smash Bros. coin. You can save $20 on select New Nintendo 2DS XL models this week as well.
In terms of games, a number of excellent ones are marked down this week, including the Call of Duty series, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls Remastered, and Monopoly (Switch edition). We have more of this week's game discounts listed below, and you can check out the full ad here.
If you've paid even a little attention to Destiny 2: Forsaken, you probably know that it's the death of your pal Cayde-6 that kicks off the expansion's events. Early in the Forsaken campaign, you'll find Cayde's Will sitting in the Pursuits tab of your inventory. It's this item that guides you through the steps required to find and repair the Exo hunter's exotic hand canon, Ace of Spades.
The Ace of Spades is a powerful weapon that can bring down hordes of enemies in PvE and deliver tons of damage to opponents in the Crucible. It's definitely worth getting, even though completing the quest steps is no easy task. Here's a rundown of how to complete each step.
1. Finish the Forsaken Campaign
The first thing you need to do is to get the Ace of Spades from Uldren Sov, the person responsible for Cayde's death. To do that, you simply have to finish the Forsaken campaign.
2. Bring the Gun to Banshee-44
If only getting the Ace of Spades were as easy as finishing the campaign. But this is Destiny 2, a game that's all about the grind. The weapon isn't in workable condition when you retrieve it from Sov, so now you have to go about fixing it. The first step toward doing that is bringing the broken weapon to Banshee-44, the gunsmith in the Tower.
3. Kill 5 Invaders with a Hand Canon in Gambit
You'll need to run some errands before Banshee can fix up the Ace of Spaces, starting with killing five invaders with a hand canon in Gambit mode. You'll want to be careful, because the step's in-game wording has been causing confusion since the expansion landed. To complete this quest step, you have to play Gambit mode and wait for invaders to come over to your side. When they do, you need to use a hand canon to get the killing shot on them. If you invade the other side and get hand canon kills, they won't count toward completing this step in Cayde's Will.
This step is a tough for a number of reasons. For one thing, invaders have an extra layer of shielding, so they require more hits than usual before they die. Invaders also tend to enter your side when they have their super charged or are loaded up with power weapon ammo, making them formidable foes.
The best way to complete this step is to play with a group of people who are willing to help you get your invader kills. They can help whittle down invaders' health, and then hand off the final blow to you and your hand canon. If you're playing solo, you can try using more powerful weapons to cut down an invader's health before switching to a hand canon for the last few shots. Alternately, you can equip hand canons in both your primary and secondary weapon slots so you can switch when you run out of bullets. Really, it takes luck, patience, and skill to complete this step.
4. Kill 250 Enemies in Strikes Using a Hand Canon
This step is pretty straightforward. Just hop into any Strike in the game and use a Hand Canon to blast through all enemies you encounter. You'll probably have to play through a few Strikes to complete this step, but it doesn't require much in the way of skill.
5. Get 25 Precision Hand Canon Kills in the Crucible
And now we come to another challenging step in the quest to complete Cayde's Will. For this one, you can play any Crucible matches you want. All you have to do is get precision kills using a hand canon. That means you'll have to aim carefully to make sure you're getting headshots, because body-shot kills don't count here.
I found Rumble to be a good Crucible mode for this step, because it's a free-for-all. With no teammates to worry about, every player you encounter is a potential notch toward completing this step. So aim for the head, get the kill, wash, rinse, and repeat.
6. Find Cayde's Personal Stashes
Before he died, Cayde hid some stashes all around the solar system. You'll need to travel to Io, Nessus, Tangled Shore, and EDZ to collect all four. The problem is, they're pretty well hidden. Here's the general idea where you'll find them.
Io -- Land in the Lost Oasis and make your way into the Wraith Mines.
Nessus -- Land in Exodus Black and head to the Sunken Cavern.
EDZ -- Land in the Sunken Isles and go to Legion's Anchor.
Tangled Shore -- Drop in at Thieves' Landing and travel to Hellrise Canyon.
If you're having trouble finding any of the stashes, it helps to watch a YouTube guide like the one above for exact directions.
7. Complete the "Ace in the Hole" Mission
The final step is to head to Titan to complete a new mission called "Ace in the Hole." The enemy encounters in the mission aren't too difficult, but you will need to find 10 chests Cayde has hidden in the environment. Thankfully, you'll get a "Cayde's Stash Nearby" notification on the left side of your screen anytime you're near an unopened chest. Find them all, and you can breathe a sigh of relief. The grind is over.
8. Visit Banshee-44 at the Tower
Once you've finished the mission, head back to the Tower and talk to Banshee-44. All of your hard work pays off as he hands you a shiny, like-new Ace of Spades hand canon. And if you pre-ordered the game, you should have Cayde's Stash, which includes a nice red-and-black ornament for the weapon.
Nintendo fans have had it good for a long, long time. Unlike Xbox and PlayStation owners, they've never had to pay to play their games online. This free period, like all good things, has come to an end. With the launch of Nintendo Switch Online--which is now live with the 6.0 system update--Nintendo has begun charging for online play, although there is a free seven-day trial available to sample it first.
As with Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus, anyone who wants to get the most out of their Switch will all but have to subscribe. (Note: this doesn't affect Wii U or Nintendo 3DS owners; online service for those systems will remain free). And while it's not ideal having to pay for something you used to get for nothing, you won't have much of a choice.
Here's a look at everything you need to know about Nintendo Switch Online.
Pricing
First, some good news: Nintendo Switch Online costs significantly less than the competition. While you have to pay $60 for a year's subscription to Sony and Microsoft's services, Nintendo only charges $20. You can order a subscription here. Here's the breakdown of pricing for a single account holder.
One month -- $4
Three months -- $8
One year -- $20
If you have multiple people in your house who want their own accounts, you'll need to spring for the family plan. It costs $35 per year and allows up to eight people to play online.
Now let's take a look at what you get for your money.
If you look at the Eshop page for online first-party games like Mario Tennis Aces, you'll see Nintendo has added a disclaimer warning that online play will require a subscription. Free games like Fortnite don't have the disclaimer and can continued to be played online for free.
Nintendo Switch Online App
Some games, like Fortnite, have voice chat built in. Unfortunately, many games--including Nintendo's first-party titles--don't. And while voice chat is a standard built-in feature for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live, that's not the case with Nintendo Switch Online.
This feature is already in place, but to talk with other players while playing online, you need to download the Nintendo Switch Online app (you can grab it here: iOS, Android). Yes, you'll need two separate devices to play and talk to people online.
Save Data Cloud Backup
If you were to lose your Nintendo Switch and buy a new one, all of your save data would be gone forever. But with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, most of your save data is backed up on Nintendo's servers.
Unfortunately, it's not all sunshine and cool breezes when it comes to Nintendo's cloud saves. Some games don't support online save data, and if you let your subscription lapse, you could lose your saves.
Access to Classic NES Games
PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold subscribers get free games each month they can download and play on their respective systems. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will get a similar benefit, but with much older games.
When Nintendo Switch Online launches, subscribers will get access to a selection of 20 classic NES titles. The games will also have added online play, so you won't need your second player to be in the same room with you. Here's the launch lineup of NES games:
Balloon Fight
Baseball
Donkey Kong
Double Dragon
Dr. Mario
Excitebike
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Gradius
Ice Climber
Ice Hockey
The Legend of Zelda
Mario Bros.
Pro Wrestling
River City Ransom
Soccer
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Soccer
Tecmo Bowl
Tennis
Yoshi
Nintendo has also announced what games are coming to the service through the end of the year. In October, we'll get Solomon's Key, NES Open, and Super Dodge Ball. November will bring Metroid, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Twinbee. In December, Nintendo will add Wario's Woods, Ninja Gaiden, and Adventures of Lolo.
Special Offers
Nintendo will also offer exclusive special deals and offers to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. So far, the company has detailed two of these offers. One is a download code for exclusive in-game Splatoon 2 gear that will be available for anyone with a 12-month membership. The other is the ability to purchase the Switch-compatible NES controllers seen above.
That's all we know so far about Nintendo Switch Online. Presumably, more information will be available as the release date nears.
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Good news, PC gamers. The online retailer GOG is giving away four games for free right now. It's unclear when they'll go back up to regular price, so if you like free stuff and you have a PC capable of rendering the pixels of retro games, you'll want to pick these up as soon as possible.
Tyrian 2000 is a fast-moving vertical shooter that has you flying through space and blasting enemy ships with a customizable array of weapons. Shadow Warrior is a first-person shooter from 3D Realms, the makers of Duke Nukem 3D. Stargunner is a side-scrolling space ship shooter, and Bio Menace is an action platformer.
Basically, if you like shooting things in the pre-polygon era, you're going to have a good time. And even if you don't care for the games, at least you didn't spend any money on them.
Each week brings a new set of deals on Xbox One games on Microsoft's digital storefront. This week's selection includes big discounts on games published by Microsoft, along with a smattering of other deals. In short, a lot of fantastic games are on sale for up to 75% off, so there's a good chance you can save money on something you've been wanting to play (though some of the discounts require an Xbox Live Gold subscription). Let's take a look at what Xbox One games are on sale between now and September 24.
Most of the killer deals this week are on first-party titles, so now's a great time to pick up any you've missed. The entire core Halo series is on sale, with Halo: The Master Chief Collection ringing in at $22.50 / £15 and Halo 5: Guardians on sale for $15 / £11. If you prefer combat of the tactical variety, you can snag Halo Wars: Definitive Edition for $10 / £8 or the sequel for $20 / £15.
Microsoft's other big shooter franchise is also on sale, with the remastered Gears of War: Ultimate Edition down to $8 / £6 and Gears of War 4 for $16 / £13. If you want to fill in the blanks between those two games, you can also pick up each of the backward-compatible Xbox 360 installments for 60% off.
Both of this year's Xbox One console exclusives are also on sale. Sea of Thieves is down to $39 / £32.50, while State of Decay 2 is just $20 / £16. And if FOMO of a certain Insomniac-developed PS4 exclusive has you down in the dumps, you can pick up the Spider-Man developer's Xbox One game Sunset Overdrive for a mere $6 / £5.
You'll find more discounts below, and you can peek at the full list of deals right here.
It's official: Blizzard's acclaimed dungeon crawler, Diablo 3, is coming to Nintendo Switch on November 2. But this isn't the vanilla version that first shipped in 2012. This is Diablo 3: Eternal Collection, which means it includes all of the DLC and expansions Blizzard has released over the years. It's the full game, and it will be playable on your TV or on the go, thanks to the hybrid nature of the Switch. If you're ready to pre-order Diablo 3: Eternal Collection for Nintendo Switch, we have all the details you need below.
What Comes with Diablo 3 On Switch?
Diablo 3: Eternal Collection on Switch is mostly the same as it is on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It comes with the core game, as well as the Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer expansions. That means you get a campaign comprised of five acts, along with seven classes of playable characters: Crusader, Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Demon Hunter, Monk, Wizard, and Necromancer.
One of the quality-of-life features of this version is that Adventure mode is also unlocked from the beginning. That means you don't have to complete the campaign before taking on the endgame activities that are geared toward loot collection and replayability.
The Switch edition also comes with some Nintendo-exclusive Zelda content. You get a Cucco companion pet, a Triforce portrait frame, and cosmetic wings straight out of Majora's Mask. You can also transform your armor to make your character look like Ganondorf.
As for multiplayer, you can play it in a number of configurations. You can play with co-op partners in shared-screen mode on a single Nintendo Switch. You can play locally offline on up to four devices, even using a mixture of TV and handheld play. Or you can play online with friends. The game also supports all controller configurations, including both single and dual Joy-Con setups.
Where to Pre-Order Diablo 3 for Switch
Ready to pull the trigger? Unfortunately, no discounts are available at the moment, but a number of retailers are selling pre-orders for the suggested retail price of $60.
A new week means a new PlayStation Store sale, so if you've been wanting to save money on digital PS4 games, now's a good time to buy. This week's discounts include a selection of games from the Lego series as well as a number of titles published by Warner Bros. Let's take a look at what's on sale and see if you find anything that's worth buying.
Maybe you've finished Spider-Man, or perhaps you're waiting for the price to come down before you play it. In either case, you can pick up games starring one of the other big comic company's most popular heroes for cheap this week. Batman: Return to Arkham and Batman: Arkham Knight are each just $8 right now. And if you have a PSVR headset, you can embody the Dark Knight yourself to solve crimes in Batman: Arkham VR for $12.
Good news, retro gaming fans: Sony has announced it will release a miniature original PlayStation console that comes pre-loaded with 20 PS1 titles. Similar to Nintendo's throwback NES and SNES consoles, it's significantly smaller than the original (about 45% smaller), but the included replica controllers will be full size. The PlayStation Classic, as it's called, is set to release on December 3, exactly 24 years after the original system launched in Japan. It will cost $100 / $130 CAN.
The unit will ship with an HDMI cable, USB cable, and two wired controllers. Notably, it does not come with an AC adapter. Also, it ships with replicas of the original PS1 controller, which doesn't have analog sticks. In 1997, Sony released the DualShock controller for PS1, which many people regard as a significant improvement, thanks to its two analog sticks and vibration function. There's no word yet on whether Sony will release DualShock controllers for the PlayStation Classic.
Pre-Order PlayStation Classic
It's unclear how many PlayStation Classic units Sony will make available at launch. But since the NES and SNES Classic consoles were notoriously difficulty to find early on, it's probably wise to pre-order the PS Classic if you're interested in picking one up at launch. Here's where you can place a pre-order.
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