Beat Saber is one of the inaugural titles on the brand new, wireless Oculus Quest, and no doubt one of the best titles on the platform. It is, however, definitely one of the most involved and intricate titles. It's half rhythm game, half swordfight, and everyone should know by now you don't just go around trying to slice stuff up--even little virtual reality blocks--without discipline and training. Luckily, we're here to help with a few tips to help you get the most out of your experience.
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing
Many players are too excited about the prospect of playing Beat Saber, without really considering what they're getting themselves into. Make no mistake, the game is definitely an exercise, and you should prepare yourself to treat it as such. Starting out with stretching, knowing your physical limits, and taking full advantage of the non-campaign options to slow songs down to get good and loosened up are all smart moves. Beat Saber isn't a game you should expect to binge. If you're getting tired, rest, get water, maybe even slide down to a slower/less difficult song. Your body will thank you for it.
Roam If You Want To
Of course, the big advantage of playing Beat Saber on the Quest in particular is the freedom of movement that comes from having no wires in the way. That's great in terms of not being shackled to the place where your TV or monitor is. But for Beat Saber in particular, it brings a slew of other advantages.
See, the scoring system for the game is very much predicated on the strength and angle of your sabers. Not just minute cuts, but huge swings, and their follow-through. The further away you can slice before hitting your block, the more points you can, and there's a bonus for how far away your slice ends, with 110 points per block the ideal goal. Those swings need plenty of space to happen, and its worth figuring out beforehand not just the ideal place for that, but the ideal placement. Explore your space. You can twist and turn and move with a wireless headset, and if turning your whole body is the best way to make a tricky slice, so be it.
Saturday Night Wrist
Your instinct when first starting out in Beat Saber will be swinging your arms like baseball bats to hit every block. While the game's certainly doable this way, it's also a easy way to exhaust yourself before you even really get started.
What you really want are effective swings, using the least amount of effort. And for many of those strikes, you want to use your wrist more than your arms. That's a tricky balance to strike, especially when you hit your first plateau of skill. But more often than not, if you can conserve your strength for when it really matters, you'll have a much easier time for those stretches of songs where it's mostly those kinds of notes.
I Will Be Heard
The audio straps for the Quest are surprisingly robust for being so small, and offer great spatial sound. But if you're looking for a bit of extra oomph while swinging away, headphones are still very much an option. Especially for Beat Saber, where the rhythm of each song is so crucial for timing your next swing, the most vital tools for success in the game are still your own ears.
However, keep in mind, you're still going to be more active here than your average run-through on a treadmill. If you do go with the headphone option, just make sure they're secure enough to stand up to a lot of extra movement.
Hold On, Hold On
When you first get ahold of Beat Saber, your instinct is going to be holding the controllers the same way you hold them for every other game you play, finger still wrapped around the trigger, despite never needing to use it for this game. And certainly, you can still play it that way, but you run the risk of tiring your hands and arms out easier than usual. You might want to consider getting a little more ambitious.
The Quest's controllers are designed in such a way that there are actually a few ways to hold them for a game like this. As long as they're in view of the headset, they'll still register. With your hands not needing to keep such a vice grip on the handle of your sabers, you're more likely to play a little more loosely and comfortably for longer periods.
That doesn't mean take the wrist strap off, though. Safety first, kids.
Hit The Lights
The Oculus Quest has a few different calibration options in terms of defining the play area in VR, and you can use the calibration to make things a bit easier on yourself.
After playing the game a bit, you might find that certain blocks may be harder to hit than others, especially once you starting getting into the higher difficulties and you start seeing those curveball diagonal blocks. They're never impossible to hit, but they can be difficult, depending on how the game's set up, and where the upper boundary of the screen is. The solution? When calibrating the screen, set the floor level a little higher or lower than your normal, and the playing field in-game will follow suit. High blocks in particular can be hit with a little bit less effort, low blocks can require less effort to hit a full 110pts. It's just an all around smart move.
Niantic's follow-up to Pokemon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is now available. Like its predecessor, the new Harry Potter game tasks you with walking around, interacting with real-life locations that have been translated into the game world, and collecting things--among other Wizarding World-related activities. And like Pokemon Go, it has an augmented reality component designed to bring a bit of fantasy into your everyday life.
There's a lot to learn in Wizards Unite, from how to take on enemies in combat to what you're even trying to accomplish (it's complicated!). We'll keep updating this article with the latest news, guides, and more on Wizards Unite, so stay tuned. For now, here's what you need to know.
It's Live Now
Set to launch on June 21, Wizards Unite appeared on the App Store and Google Play a day early, on June 20. Those in the US and UK--as well as Australia and New Zealand, which got access even earlier--can now download the game, which is free to play.
Microtransactions
Like Pokemon Go, Wizards Unite contains microtransactions. You can spend real money to purchase Gold, which you can then use to buy items in the game. These include potions and Runestones, which are used for Wizarding Challenges in the game.
Impressions
We were able to play the game a bit early during an event. From what we've played so far, it seems like Wizards Unite is dodging some of Pokemon Go's problems at launch.
As discovered by several players, the latest patch appears to have introduced a nasty bug. If a player began the game before the 1.02 patch was issued, installing the patch may have impacted the save file by having some treasure chests with progression-necessary items appear already opened, without their included items. The developer recommends that players impacted by the bug should start a new save file entirely.
"We have been investigating a PS4/Xbox One issue that is blocking player progress in the game," read a statement from 505 Games. "We apologize for this bug and thank you for your patience while we investigate. The issue occurs when a new game is started before downloading the 1.02 update. After the update, treasure chests will appear in the incorrect open/closed state.
"Without the items from these chests, progress is blocked. Players affected by this bug will be required to restart the game with a new save in order to properly progress. We investigated a number of options to address this issue and each fix requires a new game to be started. Despite our efforts to provide a fix that preserves pre-1.02 progress, this is the best solution to avoid future issues.
"Xbox One players will also be affected by this when the 1.02 patch is delivered next week. Switch players who have a physical copy should download the 1.02 patch before playing."
The situation is less than ideal, especially for the most passionate players and backers who jumped in and played a significant amount of the game as soon as they could. And unfortunately, the combination of the uncertain nature of the bug with the hallmarks of this genre make it especially problematic.
The bug could appear at any point in gameplay, and halts progression entirely. But the Metroidvania genre is built around non-linear progression. The entire point is finding new tools and backtracking repeatedly over the same areas, finding new pathways and entrances that then lead to more new tools and making other areas even more accessible.
As I've played Bloodstained for review since hearing of the bug, I've already had moments of second-guessing myself. The tell would appear to be already-opened chests in previously unexplored areas of the map, but backtracking means unexplored areas can appear very familiar. Have I been here before and opened that chest, or is this the bug? It's often difficult to tell. The genre is built around feeling stuck and then finding another way forward, but this is an entirely different experience when there may not be a way forward. Under the constraints of a review, restarting from scratch is a huge loss of time, but one that might ultimately become necessary.
GameSpot is currently seeking clarification on whether there is a foolproof method to tell if you have the bug. And if you haven't started the game yet or haven't put too much time into it, restarting may not be an issue. But for early adopters, the bug undermines what makes the genre great.
No Nintendo Switch owner's collection is complete until they have a dedicated gamepad, and you can't do much better than $35, especially for this striking Legend of Zelda-skinned wireless model from PowerA currently on sale at Amazon. That's $15 off from the sticker price of $50 and $35 less than a first-party controller. PowerA offers the controller in both wired and wireless variants in a wide range of designs, but none on sale for quite as much. There is no timeframe associated with the deal, so get it while you can.
PowerA's third-party, officially licensed Switch Pro controllers are an affordable, stylish option for anyone on a budget. GameSpot has tested both the wired and wireless options, and found the design, feel, and performance to be excellent. Although it does not feature the rumble or Amiibo NFC-reading of Nintendo's first-party controllers, PowerA adds two programmable buttons on the back that can be re-mapped on the fly. The only drawback is that it is powered by AA batteries, which are included. PowerA promises 30 hours of battery life, and you can take the sting off of buying replacement batteries by investing in a rechargeable battery set.
Now that the Epic Games Store has begun giving away free games on a weekly basis, Epic account holders have an even greater variety of games to add to their collection; however, the new weekly schedule means those freebies are available for a shorter time. So don't wait too long to grab Rebel Galaxy, the latest free PC game available from the Epic Store. The space trading and combat simulator is free to claim now until next Thursday, June 27, when it will be replaced by cinematic story game Last Day of June. As a reminder, you need a free Epic account to claim the game, and once you do, it'll be yours to keep.
Rebel Galaxy is a single-player, Western-style space adventure set in a randomly generated universe that involves combat, exploration, trade, and negotiation. You'll act as commander of an "immensely powerful star destroyer." The gameplay is restricted to a two-dimensional plane of movement, and while there is a story, you're free to choose your own path, whether you want to fly around and battle pirates, mine asteroids, hang out with aliens, or explore space anomalies.
GameSpot hasn't reviewed Rebel Galaxy, but the game does have 5,000 reviews and a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, so you're not losing anything by grabbing it while it's free and checking it out.
Epic just wrapped up its storewide Mega Sale, which offered steep discounts and an additional $10 off every game over $15. The free weekly game giveaways, which began during the Mega Sale, will now continue through the rest of 2019, so even if Rebel Galaxy isn't your game, be sure to check back, as Epic has already established a track record of giving away some great games for no cost. And while PC game deals are on your mind, get ready for more savings, as Steam's Summer Sale 2019 is predicted to kick off in just a few days on June 25.
Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct brought us the release date for Astral Chain, the new action game from NieR: Automata and Vanquish developers Platinum Games. We did see some gameplay during E3 2019, but Nintendo just released a full 10 minutes of futuristic cop fighting action. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo Siwtch exclusive's combat looks to have a lot in common with Bayonetta.
In the 10-minute video, there's lots of Witch Time-like dodging, fluid transitions between close-quarters and ranged combat, and flashy combo finishers. There's also exploration, character customization, and robotic dog petting. We even get a look at moves centered around the chain, like chain bind, where you wrap the chain connected to your companion around an enemy and temporarily lock them in place. It's all as stylish as any other Platinum Games title. Check out the gameplay video below.
Astal Chain was announced during a February 2019 Direct and takes place in a futuristic city occupied by special forces units paired with living weapons called Legion. The game oscillates around this core mechanic, as you pull off combos and explore with the assistance of the robotic creature. It's directed by Takahisa Taura (NieR: Automata) and supervised by Hideki Kamiya (Bayonetta), so it's no wonder Astral Chain's combat looks familiar.
Astral Chain launches on August 30 for Nintendo Switch.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the anticipated new free-to-play mobile game from Warner Bros. and Pokemon Go developer Niantic, has launched earlier than expected. The game was slated to launch on Friday, June 21, but those in the US and the UK can already download it now on both Android (through Google Play) and iOS devices (App Store) and begin playing.
Like the aforementioned Pokemon Go, Wizards Unite is free to download and features optional microtransactions. You can spend money to purchase Gold, which can then be used to buy in-game items such as potions, Dark Detectors (which reveal special items), Runestones (which are required for Wizarding Challenges), and more.
The story of Wizards Unite revolves around an event known as the Calamity, which has caused Foundables--people, creatures, and artifacts from the Wizarding World--to appear in the Muggle World, thereby risking their discovery. Moreover, these Foundables are sealed by Confoundable magic. As a member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, it is your mission to break these Counfoundable spells and retrieve the Foundables. You'll interact with Harry Potter and other familiar faces.
We recently went hands-on with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite thought it felt very much like a Harry Potter version of Pokemon Go, albeit with more content from the outset. Right from the start, the game offers a variety of quest objectives to complete, and you can add other players to your friends list (a feature that didn't come to Pokemon Go until years after its launch). The game also features an RPG-style Profession system that allows you to unlock abilities in skill trees.
Wizards Unite launched in beta form in Australia and New Zealand last month. If you're interested in getting a closer look at the game, you can watch nearly 15 minutes of gameplay footage of the beta version in the video above.
Amazon is offering a limited-time deal that should be of interest to PC gamers: up to 63% off on a selection of Logitech gaming and productivity PC hardware, including mice, keyboards, headsets, speakers, and a gamepad. The collection is listed as a deal of the day, so strike while the iron is hot if you need any of the included items to round out your rig.
For gamers in need of a new gaming mouse, your best deal will be the G300s Optical Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse for 63% off at just $15. It's a precision, wired mouse with nine programmable buttons and on-board memory for three stored profiles, giving lots of flexibility for playing every game exactly how you would like. The only controller on offer is the F710 wireless gamepad for $31.20, under the usual $50. It's not the best-looking gamepad on the market, but it's solid, programmable, and a steal at this price.
Anyone who's been a PC gamer for any amount of time is likely familiar with Logitech, which has been one of the leading makers of third-party PC peripherals since the 1980s. Logitech has a history of offering solid, inexpensive baseline for entry-level PC gamers, though in recent years they have filled out the competitive, higher-end of its offerings with the Logitech G line in particular. Check out some of our favorite deals from the sale below:
If you've picked up Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, you may be surprised at the absence of an advertised feature. Multiplayer isn't included in the game yet, but it is still on the way according to the publisher.
Both the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store list the game as having multiplayer for up to two people, matching a stretch goal achieved in the initial Kickstarter pitch. Steam and Nintendo both list it as single-player only.
For the time being, it is only single-player. Multiplayer is coming as one of several free updates, per a launch press release from 505 Games. Online and local co-op and Versus modes are listed alongside other post-launch updates that will add Roguelike mode, Boss Rush, Chaos Mode, and Nightmare Difficulty.
Bloodstained is billed as an "Iga Vania" after its creator, Koji Igarashi. It was conceived as a modernized homage to classic Castlevania games like Symphony of the Night from Igarashi. But rather than a family of vampire hunters setting out to stop Dracula, this one focuses on an alchemy-enhanced girl named Miriam fighting against demons. In a castle, naturally.
The release of Bloodstained was relatively quiet, coming just after E3 without much fanfare. The launch trailer made a splash with a promise of a Shovel Knight cameo. If you're looking for a good deal on Bloodstained you can pick it up on PC at a discount.
Blockbuster director JJ Abrams is teaming up with Marvel, but not for the next phase of the cinematic universe. This time he's writing a comic book with his son, Henry, with art from Sara Pichelli and Dave Stewart. The five-part mini-series will begin in September.
The two Abrams introduced the project with a short message on Twitter, after a countdown that has had fans guessing over the last few days. Though plot details are scant, they say this series will introduce a new villain called Cadaverous, and they told The New York Times this story will show "Peter Parker in a way you haven't seen him before."
Pichelli is a long-time Marvel artist with a lot of experience with Spider-Man, having illustrated Miles Morales in the Ultimate universe, the Spider-Men story arc, and more. JJ Abrams compared seeing her work to the experience of getting concept art during movie production.
"You have an idea for what Maz Kanata's castle will look like [in Star Wars: The Force Awakens]. It's theory for months and months, and then you go through phases and design. Then one day you walk onto the set and you're standing there. You might not be shooting, but you're just standing on the set," he told the NYT. "And to get Sara's artwork, the black and white early renderings, to get those, it's weird because you're suddenly looking at a brilliant artist's interpretation of work that you've been talking about for a long time."
Whatever this story arc will include, it's being pitched as a limited run, so presumably it will be a self-contained story instead of an ongoing series. Though the new villain, Cadaverous, could very well be adopted into the larger Marvel universe.
It's the midway point in June, but already, streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video have been revealing what what's coming out in July on their services. In the upcoming month, Amazon has plenty of content coming next month, including various original series. However, unlike Hulu and Netflix which drop the majority of their content on the first of the month, Amazon's big release date is the 31st of July.
Starting at the beginning of the month, Amazon will be releasing some new content. The 2019 Andrew Garfield drama Under The Silver Lake comes on July 1. The movie follows a man who meets a mysterious woman. The next day, she disappears, and he searches LA to find her, only to learn there is a bizarre conspiracy surrounding her.
If you're looking for something a bit more high-profile, the 2019 reboot of Hellboy comes to the service on July 23. While it wasn't critically acclaimed, it will be there for you to check out if you're interested. In GameSpot's review, Dan Auty said, "[David] Harbour remains a great choice to play the character, and it will be a shame if this is the last time we see him in the role. But ultimately this is not the Hellboy movie fans wanted to see him in."
Amazon's most anticipated release in July is Season 1 of The Boys. The series debuts on July 26, and the show follows a world where superheroes are in power and celebrities. A group of vigilantes is on the move to stop some of these corrupt heroes and put a stop to them. As you can see in the trailer above--or in the comic book series--The Boys does not pull its punches. It's violent, shocking, and is not intended for younger viewers.
The end of the month is when most of the month's content is released. On July 31, there will be plenty to watch: Dumb and Dumber, Twelve Monkeys, and a bunch of Star Trek movies hit the service. However, the movie that you need to watch is the 1995 movie Hackers. In this cinematic rave of colors and annoying EDM, a group of computer hackers find a virus that steals money from a corporation, but the hacker behind that virus is framing them, so they need to clear their name by hacking computers in the most unrealistic way possible. Hack the planet, right?
Below, you'll find the complete list for everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in the month of July.
New To Amazon In July
July 1
Under the Silver Lake (2019)
July 2
Phoenix (2014)
July 3
Peterloo (Amazon Original movie)
July 5
Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny S1B - Amazon Original series
Fortnite Season 9 is now in its seventh week, which means there are new Battle Stars to be earned. To do this you'll need to complete the latest set of weekly challenges, which will score you those precious stars, level up your Battle Pass, and unlock some new cosmetic rewards. As always, challenges are split into two categories: free and paid Battle Pass-exclusive.
For the most part, the week's challenges shouldn't prove to be difficult, though they might take a bit of time to complete. The free set tasks players with searching chests at specific locations, finding ammo boxes in a bunch of different names locations, and scoring eliminations using suppressed weapons.
For those with a paid Battle Pass there are a few more challenges to undertake. These include doing damage while riding a vehicle, visiting a number of locations as part of a multi-stage challenge, using a chest, a vending machine, and a campfire, and then nailing some enemy eliminations from a certain range. Take a look below for the full list.
Free
Search chests at Junk Junction or Neo Tilted (7) -- 5 Battle Star
Search ammo boxes in different named locations (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Deal damage to opponents while riding a vehicle (200) -- 10 Battle Star
Stage 1: Visit The Block and Loot Lake in a single match (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Stage 2: Visit Fatal Fields and Neo Tilted in a single match (3) -- 2 Battle Stars
Visit Snobby Shores and Mega Mall in a single match (4) -- 2 Battle Stars
Search a chest, use a vending machine, and a campfire in a single match (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Eliminations from 5m or less (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Fortnite's new update, 9.30, added a new item called the Chug Splash, which is a throwable that lets you heal yourself and other players. Anyone in range of the explosion will have 20 points of health or shield returned to them. The patch also vaulted the Boom Bow, Dual Pistols, and Dynamite. You can read the full Fortnite update 9.30 patch notes to get a complete overview of what's been tweaked, changed, or added.
Since it was rumored back in the heyday of Pokemon Go shortly after its release, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has piqued interest. Developer Niantic's monster-catching offering became a huge phenomenon, and the franchise power of the Wizarding World suggests a similar game could be just as significant. After spending a little time playing the augmented reality mobile game in Universal Studios Hollywood's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, what's clear is that a lot of what works about Pokemon Go is also at the heart of Wizards Unite. But Niantic's new offering is leap-frogging Pokemon Go's early struggles to offer a lot more content at launch. The game is live a day early--its US and UK release date had been scheduled for June 21--so you can try it out right now by downloading it on iOS or Android devices.
As we saw in an earlier preview of Wizards Unite, the game's big focus, like Pokemon Go, is on collecting stuff. An event called the "Calamity" has filled the Muggle World with people, creatures, and artifacts from the Wizarding World, and they're all in danger of being discovered by the magic-less population. That'd be a violation of the Statute of Secrecy, an old Wizard law that dictates poor Muggles aren't allowed to become aware of magic stuff, so as a member of the Wizarding World by way of your smartphone, your job is to collect all the magic junk ("Foundables") and keep it away from the prying eyes of normies. You do that by physically wandering around, tapping on objects on a colorful Google Maps-like layouts of real-life locations, and attempting to break the spells ("Confoundables") that contain Foundables.
Breaking spells requires spells of your own that you learn as you encounter Confoundables, and cast through tracing shapes on your screen with your finger--so the Foundables can be safely transported back to wherever (and whenever, in the history of the Wizarding World) they belong.
Click the image for a closer look at these screenshots.
From the outset, Wizards Unite engages players in the form of an unfolding story. Nobody is quite sure how or why this Calamity situation has sprung up, but they have some ideas as to who and what might be responsible. The story has you interacting with Ministry of Magic characters who are trying to solve the mystery of what's going on, including familiar faces, like the current, adult versions Harry and Hermione, as well as a few new folks. In the meantime, you go about collecting familiar magic objects like the Monster Book of Monsters, creatures like Harry Potter's owl Hedwig, and people like Sirius Black and Hagrid (both unstuck from where they belong in time in the Harry Potter universe).
Most of what we did in our brief time playing Wizards Unite was collect things, and that looks to be the main hook of the game. You have a book called the Registry that functions just like Pokemon Go's Pokedex, and every time you collect a new person or object from the Wizarding World, the game catalogs it. Filling out the Registry earns you experience points for your profile, which allow you to go after tougher, rarer Confoundables and take part in other more advanced content like battles, while scratching the completionist itch that has kept Pokemon Go installed on so many phones for the last three years.
What's evident about Wizards Unite, though, is how much Niantic has learned from its early struggles with the game's predecessor. Pokemon Go was famously short on content; there were plenty of Pokemon to find in the world, but in its early days, expected elements of the Pokemon experience like trading and raids were missing. It would be months or years before quality-of-life improvements and additional content made it into the game, but today, Pokemon Go includes features like story quests and increased social support that make it feel more complete.
Wizards Unite, by comparison, is launching with what feels like a more robust content package. For starters, there's a smattering of quest objectives to complete right out of the gate that boost your experience gains and dish out rewards like potion-brewing materials. You can immediately start adding people to your friend list, and playing along with them in some activities also offers greater in-game rewards. There are multiplayer "Wizarding Challenges" found at specific locations called Fortresses, battles to fight against dark wizards and other creatures by casting spells and using potions, and a Profession system that lets you unlock abilities in RPG-like skill trees, which can make you more effective against certain types of enemies.
Click the image for a closer look at these screenshots.
All in all, there's just a lot more in Wizards Unite than there was in Pokemon Go, while maintaining many of the aspects that made the latter such a compelling AR experience. The bones of Niantic's two games are pretty much the same--join up with other people to walk around the real world, zapping things you only see on your phone--but even after playing for just a short period, it's clear there's a whole lot of depth in Wizards Unite.
The question that remains after our short time with the game is how well having much more stuff to do in a mobile AR game will hold players' attention. There are several limitations on what you can do while playing. You have a limited amount of "spell energy" that runs out as you cast spells on Confoundables, for instance, and while you can recharge it a bit by visiting "inns" (the Wizards Unite's version of Pokestops), it's not clear just how much your energy level might stall you out as you play. And it seems like you need to continually earn a lot of special items at all times to keep making progress. You need Gold and Silver Keys to unlock Portkeys, the Wizards Unite take on Pokemon eggs; potion ingredients to brew power-ups that'll help you beat tougher enemies and Confoundables; scrolls to advance your professions; spell energy to keep plugging away at capturing Foundables; Dark Detectors to find and unlock the rarest Foundables; and Runes to access fortress battles. That's a whole lot of stuff to manage, and while the early going of the game inundates you with everything you need to help you get moving, it's tough to tell how steady the flow of rewards will be after a month, a week, or even a couple of days.
That said, for fans of Harry Potter and Pokemon Go, there's plenty of promise in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. This is obviously a much bigger, better thought-out AR game than Pokemon Go was at its launch, with impressive production values that include its slowly unfolding story, a voice cast peppered with soundalikes of the well-known Harry Potter cast, and detailed characters and animations you interact with that capture the look and feel of the movies and books. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite might not be able to usher in the same kind of surprisingly sweeping cultural moment its predecessor did, but it should at least be the kind of complete, robust mobile game that moment deserved.
Alpha Protocol, one of my favorite games, has been removed from Steam and other PC storefronts and is therefore unavailable to purchase.
It was initially believed Sega's rights to publish the game had expired. However, the company clarified to GameSpot that this is incorrect; it still owns the Alpha Protocol brand and intellectual property--just not some of the music within the game.
A Sega spokesperson told GameSpot: "Due to the expiry of music rights in Alpha Protocol, the title has been removed from Steam and is no longer on sale."
Alpha Protocol is also unavailable to purchase on the PlayStation, Xbox, and Humble stores, though Sega has assured fans that existing owners of the game (on any platform) will still be able to redownload it in the future.
Alpha Protocol was released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2010. Although it received a mixed critical reception at the time, it went on to gain a cult following thanks to its deep RPG mechanics and glamorous spy fiction. I once called it the best James Bond game ever, despite 007 not actually being in it.
Russell Crowe has some serious drinking stories. He once got drunk and then bought a dinosaur skull from Leonardo DiCaprio.
The actor recalled the story during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. He said he bought his for his kids, who were really into dinosaurs at that time in 2008 or 2009.
"I bought it for my kids, and you know, cut myself a little bit of slack here, there was a bunch of vodka involved in the transaction and it happened at Leonardo's house," he explained (via EW).
As Crowe tells it, DiCaprio was in the market for a new dinosaur head so the Catch Me If You Can actor was looking to offload his other one. Crowe says DiCaprio was "pretty cool about it" and only asked him for what he paid for it, which was 30 or 35 grand.
In 2018, Crowe set up an auction to pay for his divorce, and one of the items he was looking to offload was the dinosaur head. According to the listing, it's the head of the massive lizard relative Mosasaur, and it dates back to around 65 million years ago.
Some of the other items in the auction include swords and equipment that Crowe won in Gladiator, as well as his boxing equipment--including his jock strap--from Cinderella Man. can see all of the items in the auction, called "The Art of Divorce," here on Sotheby Australia's website.
The one Microsoft showed off at E3 this year is reportedly the high-end model codenamed Anaconda, while a second, lower-spec model supposedly known as Lockhart, was also said to be in the works. Now, it appears things might have changed. Or possibly not.
This all goes back to E3 2018, where Xbox boss Phil Spencer said on stage that Microsoft was working on multiple new consoles. Spencer now tells BusinessInsider that Microsoft has already shipped a new console, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, and announced a second one with Project Scarlett. So that's two right there.
"Last year we said consoles, and we've shipped a console and we've now detailed another console. I think that's plural," Spencer said.
"Technically that is plural," he added with a laugh. "Right now, we're focused on Project Scarlett and what we put on stage."
In this interview, and others that Spencer gave at E3 2019 that we noticed, he never explicitly states that Project Scarlett is the name of one console or multiple systems. The release of Project Scarlett in Holiday 2020 is still a while off, so it appears plans could change, as people are speculating.
There are more and more reports coming in that the leaked next-gen Xbox two SKU strategy is put on hold for now and Microsoft might go into next-gen with one SKU. I have no updates on this other than the fact that yes, obviously 1 1/2 years before release plans can change.
One of the big announcements from Nintendo's E3 2019 briefing was that CD Project Red's celebrated RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is releasing on Nintendo Switch this year. Now, Nintendo has shown more of the game by way of releasing new screenshots.
Images posted on Nintendo's website show a series of characters, including Geralt, in a variety of environments and situations. he images are stamped with the message, "Captured on Nintendo Switch." You can see them all in the image gallery below.
The Switch is a comparably less powerful console than the PS4 and Xbox One, and the game only runs at 540p in handheld mode and 720p while docked with dynamic resolution. UI coordinator Alvin Liu told Video Game Chronicle that Saber had to make "hardware trade-offs" for the Switch edition, including shorter draw distance and less foliage. That being said, Liu said CD Projekt Red is "really happy" with how The Witcher 3 plays on Switch.
While the game might not look as good on Switch, it contains all of the content from The Witcher 3's other versions on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It's coming to Switch with the Complete Edition that includes the base game and all DLC, including the major expansions Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
The Witcher 3 launches for Switch sometime in 2019 though a release date hasn't been announced yet.
The sequel to the cult classic basketball movie Space Jam is still in production, and now it's been reported that it'll have a stellar cast of famous basketball players. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reports that a series of NBA and WNBA stars will join LeBron James in the movie.
Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson will feature in the movie alongside WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike, and Chiney Ogwumike. "Several more" NBA and WNBA players will have roles in the film, Charania reported based on unnamed sources.
Sources: Space Jam 2, starring LeBron James, is expected to feature key roles for Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson and WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike. Several more NBA and WNBA players, including Chiney Ogwumike, are expected to play roles in film.
The 1996 original Space Jam featured the world's biggest basketball star at the time, Michael Jordan, in the lead role. Now it's James, who is also considered to be one of basketball's biggest names. Actress Sonequa Martin-Green plays James' wife in Space Jam 2, but no other actors have been confirmed for the movie.
The original film featured numerous famous basketball players of the time, with Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and others joining Jordan. They teamed up with Looney Tunes characters in a very high-stakes basketball game. Bill Murray was also in the movie.
Klay Thompson recently tore his ACL, but it's not clear what effect--if any--this may have on his supposed role in Space Jam 2.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is set to produce Space Jam 2, with Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) on board to direct.
The director of the original Space Jam, Joe Pytka, doesn't think a sequel is a good idea; he thinks it's "doomed."
E3 was a good week for retailer GameStop. The company announced that it saw a 63 percent uptick in pre-orders during the week of the big show covering titles that were announced or shown off more at the event.
New game consoles from Microsoft and Sony are in development, but the head of Bayonetta developer Platinum Games is not all that excited by them, apparently. Studio head Atsushi Inaba told Video Game Chronicle that the new systems, the PlayStation 5 and Project Scarlett, are "more of the same."
"It's OK. And by that I mean, I'm sure that things will move faster, graphics will be better and maybe it will be easier with less wait times… that's good for the consumer," Inaba said. "But it's more of the same, quite frankly, compared to previous generations. It's nothing that's disruptive or super innovative, if you ask me."
Inaba went on to say that in the past, game consoles formerly featured "custom chips" that were not possible on PC. But today? "Now you look at it and they're just grabbing stuff that already exists," Inaba said.
He pointed out that the Nintendo Switch uses the Tegra chip that was used in other systems before it, even if it was updated or changed in some ways. The PS5 and Project Scarlett, meanwhile, feature custom chips from AMD. We don't know all the specifics yet about each console, but both companies have said their new systems will offer things like backwards compatibility, ray tracing, and faster load times, while they will also apparently feature faster load times thanks to solid-state drives.
Inaba said he's more excited about cloud gaming instead of "stuff that kind of already exists but has been repurposed to a certain degree."
"That's why for me, things like cloud platforms represent innovation and something very, very different--they're platforms that excite me and where I feel there is a lot more innovation happening," he said.
Project Scarlett is launching in Holiday 2020, while Sony's PlayStation 5--which has only been revealed at a high-level--is said to also release around that time.
Platinum is currently working on a number of projects, including Bayonetta 3 which is coming to Nintendo Switch.
During the NHL Awards on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, EA Sports officially announced NHL 20, the next entry in its hockey video game series. The developer is promising some big changes for this year's instalment across gameplay, presentation, modes, and more. It appears to be one of the biggest and most substantial changes to the NHL series in years. EA released a lot of details about NHL 20, and to help make sense of it all we've broken it down by section into the key categories of things you need to know. That includes its September release date on PS4 and Xbox One, new battle royale mode, cover star, and much more.
Auston Matthews is NHL 20's cover star
NHL 20 Cover Star
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs--a three-time All-Star and 2016 No. 1 overall draft pick--graces the cover of 2019's game. He had a monster debut season, scoring 40 goals and taking home the Calder Memorial Trophy for best rookie. In February 2019, the Leafs invested heavily in Matthews' future on the team when they signed him to a five-year, $58 million deal.
RPM Changes And Improvements
Moving to new gameplay features, EA Sports updated its Real Player Motion (RPM) technology with new "Signature Shots." This brings the unique shots of NHL superstars into the game, including Matthews' toe-drag wrist shot and PK Subban's heavy and powerful slapshot. Alexander Ovechkin's smooth-as-butter one-timer has also been brought into the game for NHL 20. Overall, EA Sports is promising "hundreds" of new shot animations.
What could be a bigger update are changes to passing and puck pick-ups. In the past, players had to slow down to execute passes or perform skill moves. But now, these happen faster and more fluidly, according to EA Sports. Creative director Will Ho tells GameSpot that EA's playtests show that the speed of play feels faster, even if it actually isn't in practice. The overall aim is to replicate the speed of the real NHL, Ho says. Additionally, goalie AI has been changed with a "full offensive threat analysis" so players won't get as many cheap or scrappy goals.
Doc And Eddie Are Out
On the presentation side, EA is changing things up substantially. Famed NBC commentators Eddie Olczyk and Doc Emerick are out, and the entire NBC licensing package is gone. The new commentators are Ray Ferraro (who appeared in previous NHL games as a rink-side analyst) and hockey broadcaster James Cybulski. Ho, the game's creative director, tells GameSpot that EA went with new commentators because they better represent the kind of youth and energy that fans want to see. Not only that, but they were able to record 300 hours' worth of commentary compared to 30 hours for Doc and Eddie due to their relatively busier schedules. Doc and Eddie are based in Chicago, and this was not very convenient for EA. Not only that, but Doc and Eddie were likely expensive, given their history in the league.
Doc and Eddie are two of the biggest and best-known commentators in hockey, so some fans will surely miss them, but this is not uncharted territory for EA Sports. EA's Madden NFL series dropped Jim Nantz and Phil Simms from the franchise's broadcast booth in favor of lesser-known, more youthful commentators in recent years. With NHL 20, Ho says Cybulski and Ferraro have a more playful and lighthearted banter that comes across as more natural-sounding.
Celebrity Commentators And New Graphics
Another interesting element of NHL 20's broadcast package is that EA plans to bring in celebrity guests. Hockey fans will no doubt recall Snoop Dogg and Will Ferrell as his Anchorman character Ron Burgundy doing commentary for L.A. Kings games. It helped bring more attention to the sport of hockey, and EA appears to be attempting to do something similar with NHL 20.
The developer isn't confirming any celebrity guest appearances yet, but a slide shown to GameSpot included people like Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Drake, and Wayne Gretzky.
Also in terms of presentation, NHL 20's graphics and scoreboards will look different this year. You'll immediately notice that the scoreboard is now on the bottom of the screen, while there are brand-new overlays and motion graphics, too. Additionally, there are new sequences that aim to showcase the flashiest and most exciting moments in NHL 20. This includes "play of the period" and "play of the game" highlights that showcase those moments, as well as new celebration animations.
NHL 20 Adds Battle Royale
Moving to game modes, NHL 20 is adding battle royale--yes, really. Called "Eliminator" in NHL 20, this competitive mode is a "winner-take-all competition inspired by battle royale," EA says. It comes in two versions: Ones and Threes Eliminator.
In Ones, 81 players compete against each other--though not at the same time--in what EA calls a "survival tournament" that plays out until one player wins. The Ones mode was introduced in NHL 19, and it features groups of three players duking it out solo. These matches will continue until one player is crowned grand champion. In the Threes variation of Eliminator, which is basically Squads from battle royale, teams of three will compete until one team remains.
One of the biggest criticisms of NHL 19 was that its pond hockey mode, Ones, was only playable through online multiplayer. NHL 20 adds an offline, local multiplayer mode for Ones where players can compete against other humans or the computer. Also new for Ones this year is even more outdoor ponds to skate on, including one set on a glacier and another based on the Rideau Canal in Canada.
Hockey Ultimate Team Adds Squad Battles
The Hockey Ultimate Team mode, meanwhile, adds a feature called Squad Battles. Similar to Squad battles from FIFA Ultimate Team, this has players competing with their fantasy team against squads made by famous people like singers, athletes from other sports, and hockey influencers. Additionally, more Icon players are being added to Hockey Ultimate Team mode, bringing the total number of them up to more than 400.
New Stuff For World Of Chel
Finally, the online hub, World of Chel, is updated in NHL 20 with new weekly in-game events, called Chel Challenges, that players can complete to earn customization items and character XP. Some of the newly added items include ski goggles and various caps. In total, NHL 20 will offer more than 2,000 customization items for players to create a unique character.
Hockey Is A Bruising Sport
One element of ice hockey that is synonymous with the game is hitting and general physicality. It makes the sport exciting to watch in real life, and in the game the physics and collision engine adds to this as well. At the same time, there is a human cost to hockey's physical nature, as demonstrated recently and on a longer timeline with regards to head injuries and concussions.
We asked Ho for his thoughts on EA's responsibility as a developer to making NHL 20 fun to play but also a game that respects and demonstrates how dangerous the game can be.
"As developers, we want to the game to mirror the real-world sport as closely as possible, while still being fun first," Ho said. "Physicality is definitely an element that adds to fun gameplay and so it's an important part of our game, just as it's an important part of hockey. That said, we do have a responsibility not to encourage or celebrate the negative side effects of physicality, like injuries; which is why we take great care to make sure our game enforces rules, the same way the NHL does, and doesn't celebrate those negative consequences.
"We think the NHL has done a great job of prioritizing player safety in the real world and we want to do the same. We're proud to be able to provide players with a really fun, physical experience that doesn't come with any risk of injury in the real world."
Franchise Mode Updates
There are a number of granular changes coming to NHL 20 in regards to the Franchise mode. Scouting was introduced in NHL 19, and in the new game you can hire--and fire--coaches. Additionally, there is a new "line chemistry" feature that allows players to select players who match the right chemistry for a particular line to have the most success. NHL 20 also adds a new Trade Finder feature that should make the trading process easier. It was a laborious process in NHL 19 to make a trade, but now the CPU will auto-propose trades and then you can choose to accept or reject. Alternatively, players can also propose their own specific trades.
No Nintendo Switch Or PC Versions
NHL 20 is confirmed to launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Fans have been clamoring for years for EA to bring the game to PC, but it's not happening--at least not this year. Additionally, there is no Nintendo Switch version, though Ho tells GameSpot that EA is constantly thinking about which platforms are the right fit for the NHL series.
NHL 20 Release Date
NHL 20 launches on September 13 for PS4 and Xbox One. The NHL 20 Deluxe and Ultimate Editions, which come with various digital extras, unlock three days early on September 10. Additionally, EA Access subscribers can play a trial of NHL 20 starting on September 5.
Cyberpunk 2077 is finally releasing in April 2020, and it appears launch will be just the beginning for The Witcher developer's next big RPG. The game's UI coordinator, Alvin Liu, told Prima Games that he expects the game to receive expansions after launch, just like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
"We want to make sure everything's complete, but we also want to build open worlds," he said. "I know when I was playing The Witcher 3 and I finished everything, I still want to know what everyone was up to. I think we're going to have opportunities like that as well for Cyberpunk 2077."
Throughout Cyberpunk 2077, players will encounter characters and see them develop over time. The ending to the main game will be "rewarding," Liu said, though there may still be room for additional storytelling just like The Witcher 3.
"So I don't want to spoil anything right now, but very satisfying story arc, right? You're going to see characters and you'll see them develop," he said. "You're going to see them go through conflicts and resolve those conflicts. It'll be a very rewarding ending. We're not withholding content, we're not withholding story for the future to try to, you know, monetize it or sell it in pieces or anything like that. You're going to get the whole, full value game here."
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt offered heaps of free DLC before it released two major paid expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
CD Projekt Red has yet to officially announce any expansions or post-release content for Cyberpunk 2077, which makes sense given the studio is focusing on preparing the base game for release.
Executives from Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, and mega-publisher Electronic Arts, appeared in a United Kingdom government committee meeting today where they got grilled by lawmakers over loot boxes and microtransactions in their games.
The game executives, which included EA vice president of legal and government affairs Kerry Hopkins and EA UK Country Manager Shaun Campbell, as well as Epic executives Matthew Weissinger (director of marketing) and Canon Pence (general counsel) spend more than two hours answering all manner of questions about their games and how they handle loot boxes and microtransactions.
EA's VP of legal and government affairs refuses to use the term 'lootboxes' in favor of 'surprise mechanics', compares them to Kinder Eggs, says they are not gambling and 'quite ethical'https://t.co/IbRqMwvJeapic.twitter.com/bJ8t3Fkib6
In one particularly interesting breakout, Hopkins says she sees loot boxes not as gambling, but instead as "surprise mechanics." This is similar to things like toys that come with surprises such as Kinder Eggs and Hatchimals. You can watch the breakout segment in the video embedded above.
She also described EA's loot boxes--which are most popular and prominent in EA's sports titles with the Ultimate Team mode--are "quite ethical." She added that EA believes loot boxes do not constitute a form of gambling, as gambling commissions around the world have already said. People enjoyed being surprised, and this is no different in video games with loot boxes, she said.
The executives from both EA and Epic also confirmed during the committee meeting that neither company works with psychologists or behavioural scientists to understand the mental state of the player.
Fortnite's executives added during that they were taken aback by Prince Harry's comments about Fortnite being addictive. They also discussed how they are not interested in maximizing profit in the short-term but instead they aim to offer microtransactions that are "generous" and "sustainable."
You can watch the entire broadcast here, and you really should to get a full and complete idea about the context surrounding their comments. It is a fascinating examination of loot boxes, microtransactions, and other topics that is well worth a watch for people interested in these subjects and hearing from two of the biggest companies in gaming.
Earlier this year, the UK government announced it would launch an investigation into things like loot boxes, as well as game addiction and more, and this hearing was one part of that. This was only an oral evidence session, so it remains to be seen if any legislative action will take place.
Season 2 of Apex Legends is just around the corner. The new season of Respawn's battle royale game kicks off on July 2, and as EA revealed during E3 2019, it'll introduce a new playable character to the game, as well as new skins, other cosmetics, and a few new weapons, which we've now learned some more details about.
In a post on Reddit, Respawn's principal weapons designer on Apex Legends, Sean Slayback, discussed some of the weapon changes coming in Season 2, starting with the L-Star LMG--a returning weapon from Titanfall. The L-Star fires slower projectiles than other guns in the game; however, these projectiles are also much larger than normal, allowing players to get good hits in even if their aim isn't completely accurate.
Respawn warns the L-Star will also overheat if you hold the trigger down too long; when this happens, the gun's lens will break and need to be replaced. The developer says this process "takes some time," so you'll need to be careful using the weapon. The gun also comes with a limited supply of ammo, and you won't be able to find additional rounds for it, so once you've run out, you'll no longer be able to use the gun.
Beyond the L-Star, Respawn is also introducing two new hop-ups to the game in Season 2. The Disruptor Rounds are compatible with the Alternator and RE-45, and they dish out more damage to shielded enemies; the Hammerpoint Rounds, on the other hand, can be used with the P2020 and the Mozambique, and they deal increased damage to unshielded foes. Respawn is also adding new Energy Mag attachments for the Havoc, Devotion, and Triple Take guns.
Additionally, Season 2 will introduce a new set of gold weapons in King Canyon; Respawn says the full list of these will be shared in the Season 2 patch notes. The developer is also making some other balance tweaks to the Arc Star and adjusting ammo stack sizes. You can read more details on Reddit.
Season 2's new Legend is Wattson, a young technology prodigy who can lay down electrical walls and pylons. Like Fortnite, Season 2's Battle Pass will also be challenge-based, and Respawn is adding a new competitive Ranked mode. Season 2 is still a couple of weeks away, but ahead of it, dragons have started appearing in the game, potentially heralding some kind of world event ahead of the new season.
Having issues signing into Xbox Live right now? It's not just you. Microsoft has confirmed the service is down and suffering from issues right now, often producing the error code 0x87DD0006. This could mean you're unable to get online or play games on Xbox One, PC, and any other devices that rely on Xbox Live. These problems have lasted for several hours now, and we don't yet know how soon a fix might be implemented. [Update: Microsoft says it's beginning to see improvements, so you might now have luck getting online.]
The news was confirmed on the Xbox Support Twitter account, which initially acknowledged reports of sign-in issues before delivering a more recent update that states, "We're currently still investigating error code 0x87DD0006 when attempting to sign into our services across devices, we appreciate your ongoing patience. We'll update again here, as well as our status page, when we have more info."
We've caught your reports of sign-in errors on Xbox One and have sent this over to our engineering teams. We will update everyone here when we have information to share. Thank you for reporting.
The status page referenced in that tweet has slightly more encouraging news, stating, "We believe we have identified the issue causing some members to have problems signing in to Xbox Live. Thanks for your patience as the team works to resolve the issue." That update was posted at 1:58 PM PT.
The page identifies the issues as impacting Xbox Live's "core services," which includes things like the ability to sign in--which is obviously essential for doing anything that relies on Xbox Live, such as playing games online or even accessing certain online-only games, like Fortnite: Battle Royale and Destiny 2.
There's no word on when Xbox Live will come back online. We'll update this story when more details are shared. In the meantime, catch up on all the recent Xbox One news.
After a long wait due to several delays, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has finally released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One (with its Nintendo Switch version dropping on June 25). If you're planning to grab the Metroidvania-style game on PC, here's a deal to put on your radar (or send to any friends who haven't bought the game yet). Bloodstained is $40 at full price, but Fanatical is currently offering the game for 21% off, which drops the price to $31.59. Plus, new Fanatical customers can save even more with GameSpot-exclusive promo code GAMESPOT25, which slashes an additional 5% off the price. If you've never shopped at Fanatical before, that means you'll get Bloodstained for $29.98--not bad for a new and highly anticipated game.
To claim the deal, just add Bloodstained to your cart, and during checkout, you'll see a place to "redeem a coupon code" in the righthand sidebar. Enter GAMESPOT25, and you'll see the price drop to $29.98. But even if you're a Fanatical regular, it's worth noting $31.59 is still a great price (Steam is currently offering the game for $36). After completing checkout, you'll receive an officially licensed Steam key for Bloodstained that you can redeem right away.
Both the on-site deal and promo code discount will be valid until June 27 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET (and 1 AM BST on June 28).
Created by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been marketed as a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in terms of gameplay. The 2.5D, side-scrolling RPG follows the story of Miriam, an orphan who must fight her way out of a demon-filled castle using powers derived from cursed crystals on her body. Aside from Miriam, you'll also be able to play as Zangetsu from Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon at launch. A recent launch trailer also revealed Bloodstained will receive 13 free DLC updates post-launch, adding features such as local and online multiplayer, three new playable characters (including Shovel Knight), "nightmare" difficulty, speed run mode, character customizations, and more.
The third annual Pokemon Go Fest took place in Chicago this past weekend, and as usual, developer Niantic held a series of Global Challenges during the event. As a reward for completing these challenges, the studio is making a variety of bonuses available in the game for a limited time, and it's also bringing the Legendary Pokemon Raikou back to Raids for one day only.
From now until June 25, players will receive twice the usual amount of Candy for capturing and hatching Pokemon. On top of that, Pokemon Eggs will hatch at half the distance they normally require. You're also guaranteed to receive one Rare Candy each time you participate in a Raid.
Then, on Saturday, June 29, Niantic is holding a special Raikou Raid Day. On that day, the Legendary dog will reappear in Raid Battles from 4-7 PM local time, and you'll have a chance of encountering a Shiny Raikou. You'll also be able to receive up to five free Raid Passes during the event hours, which you'll need to participate in Raids. You can read more details about the Go Fest rewards on the official Pokemon Go website.
In the meantime, you'll have another chance to catch Kyogre. The Legendary Gen 3 Pokemon has returned to Raid Battles until June 27, and this time, you may encounter its Shiny form when challenging it. Kyogre marks the second of three Legendary Pokemon Niantic is bringing back to the game. The final one, Groudon, will appear from June 27 to July 10.
Niantic has two more Pokemon Go Fest events lined up this summer. The next one will take place in Dortmund, Germany, from July 4-7, with an event in Yokohama, Japan, following August 6-12. Even if you can't attend in-person, Niantic will hold Global Challenges during each event. Meanwhile, the game's next Community Day is scheduled for Sunday, July 21, although no further details have been announced yet.
Destiny 2's Eververse Store has caused some derision since the game's release almost two years ago. Most of the items in the premium currency shop, which includes cosmetic items you can purchase with real money, can be earned by playing, but the most efficient way to get many of them was to take part in a convoluted scheme of spending money and converting in-game currencies. Starting in September, though, that'll no longer be the case; while changes have been made to Eververse before, Bungie is planning a significant overhaul to how it works and how the Bright Dust currency is acquired and spent.
In a new post on the Bungie blog, game director Luke Smith detailed how the developer intends to change the Eververse Store starting on September 17 with the release of the game's next expansion, Shadowkeep. One significant change deals with Bright Dust, one of the currencies used in the Eververse Store, which you can earn as you play. Because of the way the Eververse Store is set up, some items are purchased with Silver--the premium currency you purchase with real money--and others with Bright Dust. As Smith details in the blog, the best way to get Bright Dust right now is to buy items in the Eververse Store and "dismantle" them, which gives you Bright Dust in return--which you can then spend on new stuff in the store.
That results in players spending money on stuff they don't want, so they can potentially unlock stuff that they do. Bungie doesn't want that, so starting with Shadowkeep, Bright Dust will stop coming from Eververse items; instead, it'll only be a currency you earn in-game for playing. You'll still spend your Bright Dust in the Eververse Store on cosmetic items, but the difference is, you won't have the incentive to spend money on Silver, to get Bright Dust, to unlock the items you want.
You also will no longer have to spend Bright Dust to regain items you previously purchased. As it stands now, reclaiming Eververse items from your "Collections," the big database of everything you've unlocked in the game, requires Bright Dust. That won't be the case going forward; you'll instead re-buy your previously unlocked gear with Legendary Shards and Glimmer, the currencies you earn as you play.
Another change comes with some of the items you can buy at Eververse. The store's current version of cosmetic armor pieces, which you earn in-game from random drops or purchase with Bright Dust, is going away--and that'll make it easier to get spiffy premium clothes for your Guardian.
Right now, Eververse armor includes various perks, just like armor you earn in-game. But as Smith noted, Bungie has worked to make Eververse armor perks kind of, well, bad. That's to avoid a pay-to-win system, where if you were willing to put up real cash, you could unlock better armor than other players earn just for playing. As a result, a lot of the armor in the Eververse Store gets ignored. Starting in September, Eververse armor will instead get changed to "ornaments," or items that alter the look of other items. When you get an Eververse armor ornament in Shadowkeep, it will just change the look of the existing armor you're already using. You'll keep the perks and mods of the armor you got for playing while transforming its appearance to that of the Eververse item.
Those changes fit with a recent overhaul to the Eververse Store that came with Destiny 2's last content update, the Season of Opulence. Bungie changed the store to offer a lot more one-off items for purchase with both Silver and Bright Dust, streamlining the process of buying the things you want, and lessening the game's reliance on Bright Engrams, which are a bit like loot boxes.
It sounds like the changes coming in September will further separate Silver and Bright Dust items, so there's less overlap between them. That should make Bright Dust items a lot easier to earn just by playing while making real-money purchases a bigger part in acquiring premium cosmetic items.
Tripwire Interactive's first-person shooter, Killing Floor 2, is free-to-play now on Steam through Tuesday, June 25. The free weekend kicks off this summer's Back & Kickin' Brass event, which adds a new mode, map, and weapons, running through July 31. As is usually the case with Steam free weekends, if you like the game and want to keep playing, you can purchase it at a 67% discount to keep it in your library after the weekend ends, retaining any progress that you made.
Back & Kickin' Brass adds a new gameplay mode called Objective, in which players must defeat waves of enemies while also completing particular objectives, such as delivering an object from one point on the map to another. It also adds a new map, the Steam Fortress, which is compatible with the Survival, Weekly, Endless, and new Objective gameplay modes, as well as new weapons, such as the Seal Squealer, which launches exploding harpoons.
First released in 2016, Killing Floor 2 picks up from the story of the first game, in which a mad scientist unleashed an army of clone soldiers onto the UK. Several months following the events of that game, the plague of Zeds had spread around the world, causing global chaos. Most of the action comprises taking on waves of enemies, often culminating in a boss. In his Killing Floor 2 review, GameSpot's Miguel Concepcion found the single-player gameplay to be a little thin, but as a suite of multiplayer modes the game was perfectly satisfying.
It's not easy keeping up with every new trailer, announcement, gameplay reveal, and rumor in the gaming industry. This is especially true in the wake of E3, when the internet is flooded with news.
To help out any Xbox fans out there, we've compiled this cheat sheet on the most important news in relation to Microsoft or the Xbox One family of consoles. Don't worry, cheat sheets for Nintendo and the Switch as well as Sony and the PlayStation 4 are in the works as well.
The information below is a general overview of the largest announcements from the past few weeks. That said, there are plenty of links in the text that will take you to articles that provide more in-depth analysis and information breakdowns.
In comparison to Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Switch, Microsoft's Xbox One has struggled to deliver as many quality first-party console exclusives. Microsoft aimed to flip the script by revealing information about 14 upcoming first party games at E3 2019. Though we still don't have gameplay for many of them, the roster of titles looks like it will strengthen the game library of Xbox One.
Several new first-party titles were announced though. One of the more notable announcements came from Ninja Theory (a developer Microsoft acquired last year): the reveal of a new 4v4 melee combat-focused game it's been working on called Bleeding Edge. A technical alpha for the game starts this month.
Plenty of Xbox fans want to know what Microsoft has planned for its next-generation family of consoles. We learned a little bit more about it at E3, including confirmation that its codename is Scarlett, but Microsoft is still keeping some details close to the chest.
We do know that the console is currently scheduled for a Holiday 2020 release, that Halo Infinite will be a launch title, and that Microsoft claims it will be "four times" more powerful than an Xbox One X. Specifically, Scarlett contains a custom-engineered AMD processor capable of 8K resolution at 120fps, supports ray-tracing, comes equipped with a solid-state drive, and has a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, Radeon RDNA architecture, and GDDR6 RAM. Details such as price point and hardware design are, for now, unknown.
Microsoft delivered an expansive E3 press conference with announcements, new trailers, and gameplay reveals for dozens of third-party titles, all coming to Xbox One. The showcasing was huge, with more than a few surprises.
The three major highlights were the gameplay reveals for Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (both at EA Play and Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference), release date announcement of Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds, and a first look at From Software's Elden Ring--an open world Souls-like game designed in collaboration with George RR Martin. During Microsoft's E3 press conference, the company also showcased new trailers for Cyberpunk 2077 and Tales of Arise, and also announced Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming to the West.
E3 was a pretty big showcasing for upcoming Xbox One indie games too. The most notable of the lot probably comes from Layers of Fear 2's Bloober Team, which is making Blair Witch, a spooky-looking game based in the same world as the 2016 horror movie. 12 Minutes--a psychological thriller about a man stuck in a time loop--also looks very good, as does Afterparty and Spiritfarer (both of which tackle the concept of death in unique ways).
After acquiring over half a dozen studios last year, Microsoft announced during E3 2019 that it's acquired one more. The studio in question is Double Fine, which is responsible for Psychonauts and Grim Fandango. During E3, Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer showcased the first gameplay trailer for Psychonauts 2.
Game Pass Just Keeps Getting Better
Game Pass continues to be one of the best subscription-based game services out there. Over the past few weeks, Microsoft has continued to expand the service, launching a PC version, bundling it with Xbox Live Gold, and adding several stellar titles to its lineup.
Google Stadia isn't the only cloud-based game streaming service scheduled to launch this year. During E3 2019, Microsoft announced Project xCloud would release this October, a month before Google Stadia launches. Pretty much no other details have been supplied, so we'll have to wait and see how exactly xCloud ultimately stacks up against Stadia.
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