Studio Wildcard debuts open-world pirate MMO Atlas

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Studio Wildcard debuts open-world pirate MMO Atlas 1

Studio Wildcard made headlines with its brand new game it showed off at The Game Awards 2018. The company behind ARK: Survival Evolved has received mixed reviews with some praising the dinosaur survival game while others hated the company for releasing DLC when the base game isn’t even done yet. Regardless, they announced their new pirate … Read more

Black Ops 4 Battle Edition lets you play 2 of 3 game modes for a cheaper price

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Black Ops 4 Battle Edition lets you play 2 of 3 game modes for a cheaper price 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be releasing a new, cheaper version that gives players access to just Multiplayer and Blackout modes with the ability to add Zombies separately. This new version will retail for just $29.99 (for now) and is called the Black Ops 4 Battle Edition, exclusively for PC. Activision and Treyarch announced the news … Read more

Far Cry 5 spin-off to be announced at The Game Awards tomorrow

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Far Cry 5 spin-off to be announced at The Game Awards tomorrow 3

A new game based on the Far Cry series set in Montana will be on the way and will be announced tomorrow at The Game Awards.

Ubisoft is making a new post-apocalyptic Far Cry spin-off game. Just a few hours ago, the publisher released a new trailer for a Far Cry game with a nuclear bomb going off in the hillside in what looks like the state of Montana, which was seen in Far Cry 5. The world then burns after the detonation and there’s a character shown holding a crossbow that seems to use buzzsaws. Yup. Buzzsaws.

The spin-off seems as if they took Far Cry 5 and let a nuke explode. The setting looks the same. The theme looks the same. It’s basically the same game, Far Cry 5, with a nuke and you play in the world after.

No branding or wording in this trailer talks about Far Cry 5 though. That’s the weird part. This will be a new (probably non-canon) game that’s entirely separate from the series and not related other than the setting. It doesn’t seem like an expansion nor DLC, but rather a spin-off game for FC5.

@Nibellion posted this on Twitter and Geoff Keighley of The Game Awards confirmed:

The trailer can be seen below:

Nintendo adds 3 more classic NES games to Nintendo Switch Online

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Nintendo adds 3 more classic NES games to Nintendo Switch Online 4

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will be getting a new trio of titles to the library this December.

The three new games for December 2018 are Ninja Gaiden, Adventures of Lolo, and Wario’s Woods.

Nintendo Switch Online debuted this past September and is the official and only way to play the Switch online. Playing online for Nintendo has been a free service, but Nintendo has “switched” to the paid method of offering online gameplay.

This should improve the overall service as now members are paying for an online experience (remember SSB Brawl online?) Other than being able to play against others (and with them), players will get a library of classic titles added to the service each month similar to Games with Gold for Xbox One and PlayStation’s offerings.

Nintendo has announced that the three new NES games will be available on the Switch starting December 12, 2018. The three games are pretty awesome and allow some veterans to relive some of the frustrations growing up with these games (Ninja Gaiden in particular).

Additional games will be added in January 2019 as an ongoing basis. We’ve seen Nintendo add games in packs of 3, so it’s likely going to be another trio. Nintendo has also confirmed that the NES Joy-Con controllers will be shipped starting next week for those who bought them. These are special retro controllers made just for playing the NES titles in 1:1 fashion.

The service costs $3.99 a month, $7.99 for 3 months, or $19.99 a year. There are also additional plans for multiple people. Some pretty good games have already been made available on the paid plan, namely Donkey Kong and the original Super Mario Bros.

You can get more details about the program here.

Last Year: The Nightmare comes to PC December 18; Console versions planned

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Last Year: The Nightmare comes to PC December 18; Console versions planned 5

Elastic Games has finally revealed that they’ll be releasing Last Year: The Nightmare after two months of silence following its closed beta.

The asymmetrical multiplayer horror game will be coming out on PC on December 18 with consoles following in 2019.

Many fans have been following Last Year: The Nightmare for quite some time now as it brings a new concept to the horror genre. It’ll be a Discord Store exclusive game, meaning that the only way to play it is to buy it through the recently launched DRM platform in direct competition with Steam.

Elastic Games also sadi that they have some big plans for Last Year: The Nightmare going into next year. One of the points is that the game will come on home consoles. We don’t know which ones exactly, but we can expect a PS4 and Xbox One release for the multiplayer horror title. The Nintendo Switch may also get a piece of the action given that many developers are now releasing more “adult” games on the console.

Elastgic Games has followed trhough and will be releasing Last Year: The Nightmare within their rlese schedule of 2018 as promised. Even if its on the tail end, it’s still better than late.

South Korea’s “ELO boost law” fines boosters up to $18K (or 2 year jail time)

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South Korea's "ELO boost law" fines boosters up to $18K (or 2 year jail time) 6

South Korea has some major influence over the esports community with many highly successful players over a wide span of titles. The competitive landscape of esports must be maintained with integrity as South Korea had many problems with players using hacks and ELO boosting, which is basically a way to increase their in-game “rank” by using various means.

South Korea isn’t the only place plagued by this, but the government is looking to control the problem of unfair competition in the region. Korea introduced a new law that would fine hack distributors with a $50K fine or 5 years in jail. Now, they’re going after account boosting.

A report on ThisIsGame says that an amendment has been created that would allow penalties of a fine or jail time for players that are found to be boosting accounts for cash. ELO boosting is commonly allowing a skilled player to take over an account and raise the rank. The amendment to the Law On Game Business Development bill states that anything that has do with “disturbing the normal process of games” could be jail time up to 2 years or up to $18K in fines:

“Seeking profit in a fashion that the game business did not provide or sanction, by earning points or achievements so that it disturbs the normal process of games, as well as the promotion/offering of such activities”

The bill will attempt to stop boosting farms and enable fair competition that have ranking systems like League of Legends and Overwatch, among other games. Assemblyman Lee Dong-seop:

“This bill, if passed, will help create a healthy game ecosystem. If the bill passes then all those ads for boosting services on the major portal sites will also be illegal.” The extension of the country’s laws, which recently criminalized hacking and hack distribution in competitive gaming, is just another frontier in South Korea’s attempts to create a fair competitive gaming culture in their country.

The amendment still must go through the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before finally getting to the National Assembly on December 30th.

Riot Games Korea has responded positively saying that “boosters are already suppressed within League of Legends, but this law will help us catch them even better once it’s passed.”

Many players have already been suspended for account boosting including Team Impulse’s XiaoWeiXiao and Dallas Fuel’s OGE.

Battlefield 5’s first major content update Overture delayed

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Battlefield 5's first major content update Overture delayed 8

Battlefield 5‘s first major free content update was scheduled for release tomorrow, December 4. But due to unknown reasons, DICE has pulled the update.

Just revealed a few hours ago, Chapter 1: Overture has now been officially delayed from the scheduled launch tomorrow. Other than it being a major free content update, not many other details are known as to why the patch was pulled last minute before going live.

DICE has seemed to just push the whole thing back to a later date that’s unknown at this time. This will definitely disappoint some players, but it’s probably better than pushing out an incomplete mess (*ahem* Fallout 76).

DICE tweeted about this on Twitter, and it will report back with more updates ASAP. The AAA developer said that they’ll follow up with more news tomorrow or as “soon as we have it.”

Overture will still release sometime this week as they “don’t anticipate a long delay,” but this can’t help BF5‘s reception- given that the game has mixed reviews and many loyal fans have decided to skip this one altogether.

Firewatch coming to Nintendo Switch December 17

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Firewatch coming to Nintendo Switch December 17 9

Firewatch will be available for purchase very soon based on a tweet from developer Campo Santo.

For those who never played Firewatch, it’s basically a walking simulator with a strong narration that has received a lot of praise for its story-driven gameplay. It’s short, but a very enjoyable experience. Enjoyable enough for Nintendo to add it to their eShop given that the game sold well over a million copies.

Firewatch fans can get the Firewatch Nintendo Switch version on December 17, 2018. The bundle will be available in the US and EU like usual, but also Japan and Australian eShops. There’s currently no store page for Firewatch on the eShop, but we can assume it’ll be at most $19.99- it’s current retail price for PC. The game is set to launch as a port of the game with no exclusives at this time.

Campo Santo is the developer and this game got their name to the headlines. They’ve been bought out by Valve earlier in 2018, and recently released The Valley Of The Gods.

Firewatch is currently available on Steam for $19.99 and GOG for the same price. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both have their own copies. The Nintendo Switch port is finally coming soon. It’s nice to see developers and Nintendo partnering up to bring their games to a console that’s predominated by games for the younger audience so that older players can enjoy it just as well rather than going to another console.

You can check out a trailer for the game below:

Firewatch will release on the Nintendo Switch December 17.

Possible Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order details and speculations leaked on Reddit

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Possible Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order details and speculations leaked on Reddit 10

A leak on Reddit claims that the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be scheduled for November 2019. The post has been credited by various people working for the company, but then again, they could all be fake.

The Reddit post dumped a bunch of information regarding many Star Wars projects. As suspected, the Reddit community was skeptical as ever because of all the other rumors about this game that are circulating the web. Later, a reliable source in the Star Wars community wrote a post mentioning details about Star Wars: Episode IX. This was written by MakingStarWars- a reliable source in the community. Even though it may still be wrong, there is a good level of trust.

They reported that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be released in November of next year. And they said that the game takes place 5 years after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and is based on the main character, Cal. Cal is a padawan who survived Order 66 and has a mentor figure “who is a woman named Ceres.”

MakingStarWars claims to get their details from a Star Wars Marketing Presentation by Disney.

With these two pieces of proof, we can slightly agree that the game will be scheduled for release within the announced date and we get to see some of the game’s plot. Then again, nothing is confirmed.

Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars action-adventure project doesn’t have much information on the web since the game’s original announcement back in 2016. There have been plenty of rumors and speculation, but nothing that can debacle the upcoming action-adventure.

The only real, solid, info that fans have garnered is basically the title, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and a release window of “Holiday 2019” during EA Play this year. There will be more news released in April 2019 during the Star Wars Celebration event. With all this time and so little information, plenty of speculations have surfaced regarding the game.

Nike’s PG 2.5 X PlayStation Colorway shoes have a secret “glow” option

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Nike's PG 2.5 X PlayStation Colorway shoes have a secret "glow" option 11

A small but awesome easter egg has been discovered on the new pair of PG 2.5 x PlayStation Colorway sneakers.

For those who are unaware, this pair of kicks were inspired by the original PlayStation and they’re being made by Nike for PS fans. Right now, there are tons of pictures surfacing the web, but there’s an homage to PS4 that many people are missing. These are very hard to find right now in stores, so the best place to look is online if you’re just window shopping.

Many of the features of the sneakers pay tribute directly to the original PlayStation, such as the logo, color scheme, and even design and print. But Nike also snuck in a tribute to the current PS4 with a minor easter egg shoutout. A glowing Paul George logo with the PlayStation’s power button is found on the left shoe’s tongue. This is obvious just from any picture, but what’s not so obvious is that it can be controlled.

But what’s interesting is that the glowing logo has two options:

  • A solid blue glow
  • A rapid breathing, “sleep mode” strobe reminiscent of the PS4 before it goes to sleep

Twitter user SpongeYaDig shared this new information to DualShockers alongside a video demonstrating the effect:

For PlayStation fans, this is just pure bliss. When it comes to easter eggs, the minor attention to details is what matters. Paul George and Nike are both endorsers of PlayStation it seems since this isn’t the first time they’ve released PlayStation-themed sneakers.

The PG 2.5 x PlayStation Colorway sneakers have limited shelf availability and will likely never be found on shelves. The best way to get your hands on a pair of them is to used platforms like eBay or craigslist. I just checked on eBay and they range in price from $140 up to $600 at the time of this writing, so the limited stock release plus the special theme make these a valuable pair of shoes and definitely a collector’s item. You won’t see many people sporting these on the streets.

Hearthstone’s Ranked Play season begins; Frostwolf card comes back

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Hearthstone's Ranked Play season begins; Frostwolf card comes back 12

Hearthstone unlocked a new Ranked Play season yesterday for another round of card dealing action with Blizzard’s ever-popular card game.

This season brings back the Frostwolf card once again. You can add the card back to your collection by declaring victory in five rounds of Standard or Wild Ranked Play. But the card won’t appear right away. You’ll get Frostwolf at the end of the season in the reward chest for Ranked Play. You may also earn Arcane Dust and goldens depending on what rank you get in Standard or Wild.

The Ranked Play season ain’t the only thing that’s new this time in Hearthstone. At BlizzCon 2018, they revealed that you’ll be able to snag cards from the game’s new expansion, Rastakhan’s Rumble on December 4- this coming Tuesday. This expansion is based on King Rastakhan and his tribe of Zandalari Trolls with a new tabletop, 135 brand new cards, and the Overkill keyword.

So play well if you want to get all the cards. Your starting place for the next season will be determined by where you stand on the ladder after the season ends. You’ll reset four ranks down from the rank you ended the season with.

Rastakhan’s Rumble is currently available for $49.99 on Blizzard. This pack contains 50 card backs, Shaman King Rastakhan (of course), and the Ready to Rumble! card back exclusively available on the expansion. And for players looking for a cheaper alternative, you can pre-purchase for the Rastakhan’s Rumble Challenger’s Bundle can be sought after for just $19.99, which has 17 packs and the new card back.

Cooking Simulator delayed until Q1 2019

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Cooking Simulator delayed until Q1 2019 13

Cooking Simulator has been delayed until early 2019 based on a post on the Steam Community page.

Cooking Simulator is exactly what it sounds like- you cook. As awkwardly as possible. The game is aiming for a realistic take on cooking with realistic graphics and a bunch of awesome things you can do in the game. Of course, it’s fun to cook up meals as directed, but it’s even more fun to microwave some tin foil and light the place on fire.

Gameplay will be as expected with any simulator game. There will real representations of food and the plenty of recipes that come along with them. You can expect realistic graphics and real-life cooking recipes. There will be a career mode where you can make dishes and build up your reputation and unlock more recipes. And there will be a sandbox mode, which I’d assume is where players will turn it into their own rendition of Overcooked.

Cooking Simulator was originally planned to be released sooner, but the devs have pushed it back to make sure it’s “prepped.” No jokes, please.

They may miss out on Christmas sales, but Wastelands Interactive wants to make things right with a polished game rather than rush it out full of bugs, like *ahem* Fallout 76.

Cooking Simulator can be added to your wishlist if you want to keep tabs on the game. It’ll come out early 2019 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. Console editions will debut later. PC will debut first. And there will be a possible VR version at some point.

There’s an official trailer that you can check out below:

Fallout 76’s December 4 update will raise stash storage to 600 pounds; Full patch notes

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Fallout 76's December 4 update will raise stash storage to 600 pounds; Full patch notes 14

Fallout 76‘s rocky start will require more than just two giant patches to redeem itself.

Right now, the game is still poorly rated with a lot of mixed reviews and many 1-star reviews all over the web bashing Bethesda for releasing a rushed and empty shell of a Fallout game. Some are even threatening to sue them for not honoring returns.

Bethesda is under heat and trying to repair the game to make the whole thing a far more enjoyable experience. A new patch is scheduled for December 4 next week which doesn’t even compare to the previous patches in terms of size. From the patch notes, it’s an update built for fixing a ton of bugs and changing some elements that the community has complained about, such as increasing your storage capacity to 600 pounds.

The update is just 3GB for consoles and a mere 36MB for PC. This is the next closest schedule update to release for Fallout 76 and Bethesda has uploaded the patch notes (pasted below). There will be another update on December 11 which will include CAMP changes and some respeccing features, alongside the regular bug fixes.

At this point, the game is still in need of major repair for the plethora of bugs (some game-breaking ones) found all over the world. Afterward, they should focus on the quality of life and gameplay updates. Bethesda seems to know this already and thus is releasing bug patches first.

The patch will drop for PC and consoles on the same day.

Here are the patch notes for the December 4 Fallout 76 update:

GENERAL

  • Performance: PC framerates are once again uncapped. However, reaching very high framerates will no longer cause movement speed to increase. This was originally fixed in the November 19 patch.
  • Stability: The Fallout 76 game client and servers have received additional stability improvements.

C.A.M.P., CRAFTING, AND WORKSHOPS

  • Stash: Maximum stash storage has been increased by 50%, to 600 pounds. This is a conservative adjustment, and we plan to increase the storage cap further in the future once we’ve verified this change does not impact the stability of the game.

BALANCE

  • Enemies: XP rewards for killing high-level creatures have been reduced.
  • Bosses: Fixed an issue affecting instanced Boss loot. Players should now correctly receive 2-4 items per boss, depending on the creature’s difficulty and level.
  • Weapons: Automatic weapon damage has been increased by approximately 20% across the board.

PVP

  • Weapon Effects: Hitting another player with a Cryolator now applies a Chilled, Frosted, or Frozen status based on how many times they are hit. The duration of movement speed reductions applied by these effects have been significantly decreased.

BUG FIXES

STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
  • Console: Fixed an issue that could cause the player to encounter an infinite loading screen when signing out of their console account while playing Fallout 76.
  • Xbox: Addressed a crash that could occur when sending multiple team invites immediately after exiting Vault 76 to a player who is not a friend.
GENERAL
  • Power Armor: Fixed an issue affecting Power Armor frames that could prevent the player from exiting their Power Armor.
  • Nuke Silos: Flipboards inside Nuke Silos no longer display portions of launch codes too soon after the codes were reset for the week.
C.A.M.P., WORKSHOPS, AND CRAFTING
  • C.A.M.P.: Moving C.A.M.P. locations will now correctly move standalone items built by the player into the build menu’s Stored tab.
  • Workshops: On PS4, wires will no longer appear to float in mid-air when attempting connect two or more objects.
  • Turrets: Will no longer become invisible if the player is not present at their C.A.M.P. when their turrets are destroyed.
PERKS
  • Perk Cards: Ranking up a Perk Card will no longer cause a duplicate card to appear.
SOCIAL
  • Teams: Fixed an issue that could prevent a team from being correctly formed in a game world after creating the team on the Main Menu when both players are using new characters.
  • Teams: Display durations for social notification have been reduced when many notifications are pending. This should help address an issue in which players did not see that they successfully joined a team.
SURVIVAL
  • Mutations: The Electrically Charged and Unstable Isotope Mutations no longer provide the player with bonus Health.
USER INTERFACE
  • AFK: Players will now be disconnected from a game world after 10 minutes of inactivity and will be prompted with a timer 1 minute before being kicked.
  • Atomic Shop: On PC, cursor position will no longer be disjointed from clicks in the Atomic Shop while using 16:10 resolutions.
  • Enemies: Red crosshairs and enemy health bars will no longer persist on-screen when an enemy is no longer in view.
  • Localization: Subtitles will now appear correctly, and English voiceover will play, for game clients in languages that do not have their own localized voiceover when listening to a Holotape or interacting with robots.
  • Pip-Boy: Fixed an issue that could cause duplicate data to appear in the Pip-Boy’s Stat and Effects interfaces.
  • Respawn: Dying while severely overencumbered will no longer remove all map markers when attempting to respawn. Instead, the player can now respawn at the nearest discovered Map Marker.
  • Quest Tracker: Quest objective notifications will no longer appear for inactive Quests immediately upon connecting to a world.

Blizzard devs revealing other Diablo projects in 2019; Diablo 4 possible

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Blizzard devs revealing other Diablo projects in 2019; Diablo 4 possible 15

Blizzard’s unveiling of Diablo Immortal being a mobile game last month at BlizzCon 2018 displeased a lot of fans. The team at Blizzard has tried to reassure fans that the mobile-only game isn’t the only Diablo project that they’re developing.

A recent thread on the Blizzard forums has the Diablo developers posting a new statement that hints a little more at what exactly the “multiple Diablo projects” they keep spewing out. According to the post, there are indeed more than one Diablo projects that are being developed at Blizzard and they plan to reveal them over the course of 2019:

“We continue to read feedback and our internal discussions are ongoing. We have many plans for Diablo across multiple projects which we’ll be revealing over the course of the coming year. We are eager to share more about all of our projects, but some will have to wait as we prefer to show you, rather than tell you, about them. It’s going to take some time as we strive to meet your expectations, but now, more than ever, we are committed to delivering Diablo experiences the community can be proud of.”

The team has been saying the thing over and over many times now, yet fans are still concerned over what exactly these projects are. With this post directly from the horse’s mouth, fans can now be assured that there will be some “Diablo experiences the community can be proud of,” which means no more phone games (because that’s obviously not what the community wants.” 2019 will be the year of Diablo.

Diablo Immortal is coming soon for mobile devices, and Diablo Eternal is available already for consoles. Diablo 4 should be next- or at least we can speculate that it’ll be revealed in 2019.

Epic Games delays account merging until early 2019; Free-to-play Save the World coming

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Fortnite Season 2 has no confirmed release date.

Epic Games stated that they would let players merge accounts from different platforms into a single account starting this month. Now that we’re on the last day of the month and no word has been announced regarding this feature, it’s likely that Epic will push back the feature launch date.

Back in September, Sony gave into to allowing cross-play with Nintendo Switch, Pc, and Xbox One. Fortnite was the headliner of this change, given that it’s the most popular game on the planet right now. Epic then went ahead and said they would create an account merge feature so players can use the same account across all platforms.

Epic is aware of the lack of announcements regarding this feature and has finally given an update about it at the very tail end of this month. Today, they said we can expect account merging “early next year.”

The reason for this is technical concerns since players will be able to “combine multiple console-linked accounts to transfer Battle Royale cosmetic items purchases, lifetime wins, V-Bucks, and Save the World campaign access.” Account merging deals with purchases made with real cash, so Epic Games wants to make sure everything works before releasing it to the public.

There’s no confirmed date other than Q1 2019, but Epic Games usually delivers what they promise. This is better than losing some of your hard-earned purchases due to technical glitches. Fortnite also delayed a free-to-play version of Save the World feature until 2019. Besides these two delays, they usually listen to their fans and deliver on time.

Fortnite is the world’s most popular battle royale game and is available on PC, PS4, Xbox one, Switch, and mobile platforms.

Xbox Game Pass getting trio of titles next week

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Xbox Game Pass getting trio of titles next week 16

Xbox Game Pass will be getting three more titles in the coming week.

The first game is The Gardens, which is already available today. The game is developed by The Voxel Agents and is a positively-received puzzle game which was previously available on PS4 and PC.

The next game is Mutant Year Zero, which drops on Tuesday, December 4. It’s a strategy game similar to XCOM in some ways and comes from The Bearded Ladies Consulting Team and is set to roll out on PC and PS4 on the same day. It’s a weird strategy game that has anthropomorphized animals and humans in the same universe.

The last game of the trio is Strange Brigade, which comes on Thursday, December 6. The game is a co-op game from Rebellion, which also made the Sniper Elite and Alien Vs. Predator games.

Game Pass is Microsoft’s library of all-you-can-play games currently with over 100 AAA and indie titles. The library includes all first-party games on launch day and many other popular games including Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, Halo 5: Guardians, Hitman, and State of Decay 2. Games are rotated but can be played as much as you want for a flat rate of $9.99 per month.

This service has been speculated to be coming to the PC eventually, but details are sparse.

BioWare working on “secret Dragon Age stuff”; Possible announcement next week

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BioWare working on "secret Dragon Age stuff"; Possible announcement next week 17

With BioWare getting ready to release Anthem in 2019, you’d think they’d focus solely on that title and put other games on hold. But that’s not the case at all- they might be getting ready to reveal something in the coming month that has to do with one of their most best-selling franchise: Dragon Age.

Casey Hudson, BioWare’s GM, gave an update about what’s going on at the studio. Most of the content is reporting about their latest AAA title, Anthem, which is no surprise. But Hudson also said that they’re focused on other projects also like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Hudson said that there will be news coming about Dragon Age sooner than you may think, with a line hinting that they’ve been working on some “secret Dragon Age stuff” that’ll be revealed in December:

“If you’ve been following these blogs, or myself and Mark Darrah on Twitter, you know we’re also working on some secret Dragon Age stuff.  Dragon Age is an incredibly important franchise in our studio, and we’re excited to continue its legacy.  Look for more on this in the coming month (though I won’t tell you where to look…)”

For any Dragon Age fans, this could be a very interesting take. It could be anything from just a blunder to a mobile title (following Bethesda and Blizzard). Other than expecting the next title to add to the trio of games in the series, it could be something much less impressive. Don’t get your hopes up.

Hudson will appear next week at The Game Awards, so this is the reveal for the next Dragon Age project. The Game Awards will take place in Los Angeles with a new Anthem release trailer. Stay tuned for an update regarding both major titles from BioWare sometime next week.

The Elder Scrolls: Blades delayed Q1 2019

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The Elder Scrolls: Blades delayed Q1 2019 18

Bethesda announced their new mobile game called The Elder Scrolls: Blades at E3 this past summer, and we haven’t really heard much about the game at all other than tidbits here and there.

The game was set to be released before this year’s over, but now that’s no longer the case. Blade’s release date has now changed, and this isn’t Bethesda’s first time pushing back a game.

Today, the official Edler Scrolls Twitter account said that The Elder Scrolls: Blades is now set to release in early 2019, which is only a minor setback considering that it’s only a few months of delay from the previous release window. The game hasn’t been making headlines much other than Apple’s keynote event back in September, so not much information is known about this particular title.

The mobile game will be set to release on both iOS and Android. Most fans aren’t too excited about a mobile game, as they’ve expressed their discontent over Blizzard’s announcement of Diablo Immortal for mobile platforms.

With Bethesda currently getting a lot of negative press over their release of Fallout 76 and even threated to be sued for not honoring returns, it makes sense to push back a mobile title to both perfect it (or at least make it ready for launch day) and to deal with the mess that is Fallout 76.

The Elder Scrolls: Blades will be available via early access. You can sign up for it here.

US FTC plans to explore loot boxes in video games

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US FTC plans to explore loot boxes in video games 19

The United States Federal Trade Commission has pledged to dive in and check out the “endemic” loot boxes in video games which have long been marked as a connection to a form of gambling.

In this case, child gambling.

The issue was brought to public attention when the Belgian Gaming commission (BGC) called for the removal of loot crates from games like Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm last year. The decision was confirmed by FTC Chairman Joe Simons during an oversight committee hearing in Congress. Blizzard has followed suit and removed the crates from their games for that region, but that’s just one game in one country.

Call of Duty had a supply drop system that’s pretty much the same concept. You can dress it up how you like, but you pay to get virtual products for real cash. Hawaii State Senators also called out EA for what they referred to as a “Star Wars-themed online casino.” This is just the beginning of a long debate.

The Entertainment Software Association told Polygon in a recent post:

“Loot boxes are one way that players can enhance the experience that video games offer. Contrary to assertions, loot boxes are not gambling.

“They have no real-world value, players always receive something that enhances their experience, and they are entirely optional to purchase. They can enhance the experience for those who choose to use them, but have no impact on those who do not.”

Congress Senator Maggie Hassan states:

“Loot boxes are now endemic in the video games industry and are present in everything from casual smartphone games to the newest, high budget releases.

And that these forms of “gambling” will only appeal to more and more gamers:

“Loot boxes will represent a $50 billion industry by the year 2022,” she continued. “It’s time for the FTC to investigate these mechanisms to ensure that children are being adequately protected.”

Ninja tweets that he’s got something for Super Smash Bros. fans

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Ninja tweets that he's got something for Super Smash Bros. fans 20

The hype over Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is real. The game is just under two weeks until release and Nintendo has been teasing chain smashing in a series of 30-second videos and the game has recorded highest pre-sales in Nintendo history so far. The money’s secured even if the game is a total flop.

And now to add to the fire, a celebrity is fanning the flames- none other than Ninja himself.

The popular Fortnite streamer who has been featured on the Ellen Degeneres Show who’s exploded in popularity over the past year has tweeted something for the SSBU fans. Whether the two communities cross over and have similar audiences, it seems like many are interested with his Tweet garnering over 20K likes at the time of this writing:

Ninja didn’t say exactly what he’ll be doing, but he’s hinting that he’s got something “cooking up” for fans given that the game is so close to the game coming out. He could be doing a live stream with fans, or even giving away a copy of the game. Can you believe how easily Ninja makes the news? It’s just crazy to think about.

Regardless, we’ll get to know soon what he has in store for the fans.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases exclusively for the Nintendo Switch December 7. You can pre-order a copy on Amazon. Get your fists ready for Nintendo’s brawler on its next-gen console!

Kingdom Hearts III gets exclusive Amazon Keyblade for pre-orders

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Kingdom Hearts III gets exclusive Amazon Keyblade for pre-orders 21

Amazon announced a new Keyblade DLC for Kingdom Hearts III yesterday on Cyber Monday during an announcement stream called the Dawn Till Tusk Keyblade.

The Keyblade is a variation of the classic Kingdom key design. There’s a green overlay on the usual gold-tinted handguards and sun/crescent moon design on the top side. This may be a simpler version of the Kingdom key and may have special stats in-game. This is yet to be revealed.

Players who want this Keyblade will have to pre-order or buy Kingdom Hearts III before its release or on its release on PS4 and Xbox One on January 29, 2019. People who buy it after won’t be eligible for getting this exclusive Keyblade, and it’s only available for Amazon purchasers.

Amazon Prime members will also get a $10 credit for pre-ordering KH3. This can’t be used to take $10 off the game, but rather can be used to buy anything else on Amazon (what do they not have?). The game has already been confirmed and this really happening. After many years of waiting, we’ll get to see the next Kingdom Hearts game to create the KH trilogy!

Some new trailers have been released showing off characters from Tangled and Winnie the Pooh.

For players who want the exclusive Amazon Keyblade, they can order the game on Amazon. This is pretty awesome, but then again, some players have had KH3 on pre-order for many years now on Amazon and all they’ll get to show for it is a rusty DLC Keyblade. But it’s better than nothing! Seriously!

Kingdom Hearts 3 has gone gold, so the game will be coming out no matter what. Unless there’s some terrible delay, fans will finally be able to experience the next entry into the legendary series that they’ve waited so long for.

Nintendo releases series of videos demonstrating “chain smashing” in SSBU

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Nintendo releases series of videos demonstrating "chain smashing" in SSBU 22

Nintendo rolled out a new series of gameplay videos for the upcoming (and much-anticipated) Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo switch. A new slate of videos demonstrating “chain smashing” have been released and show off the game’s new stages and characters.

With the game coming out in just under two weeks, Nintendo’s teaser trailers help sooth the itch just a bit. They refer to these new videos as “chain smashing” because of how they function. Three videos have been released which showcase many of the characters in SSBU getting beaten up across a variety of levels.

Each video is only 30 seconds in length and is basically a collage of nonstop action that feeds the attention span with the chaotic nature of each fighter after fighter getting blasted to a new location in quick succession. I feel like a mild case of ADD is surfacing after watching all three videos in a row.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been recorded as the highest pre-sales game of any Nintendo game in history. With a franchise that debuts once every new-gen Nintendo console, fans are always itching for the launch of their favorite Nintendo and crossover characters duking it out once again.

SSBU will roll out December 7th, 2019 and will feature a roster of 74 characters and includes every level ever made in the series’ history- plus plenty of new ones. The game will also be compatible with GameCube controllers and will probably challenge Melee for its title of being the competitive title.

The three “chain smashing” videos can be watched below:

You can pre-order Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Amazon exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. We’ll cover launch day stats as they show up. See you on the field!

This post contains affiliate links where barrelrolled may receive a small commission upon sales. (This helps us feed our writers the good brand of ramen noodles rather than the generic, store brand.)

Red Dead Online public beta debuts tomorrow

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Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online mode will be available tomorrow, November 27th, for those who bought the $100 version of RDR2 (AKA Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition). Then on the following day, for those who played the game on launch day, will get a chance at the online mode- anyone who played from launch to October 29th is allowed to play in the online beta.

Then finally, on November 30, anyone who bought the game can play Red Dead Online. The online mode will feature character customization, unlike the original game where you were locked to characters from specific factions like Walton’s Gang and the Rebeldes. The Verge reports that you can also tailor abilities “to suit your playstyle” as you roam around the game.

You’ll also be able to form a posse of players to play along with.

This is a public beta, so bugs and other problems will be bound to happen. But this is your first chance to take a look at what the online mode has to offer before the actual mode rolls out.

90s FPS-inspired Prodeus releases reveal trailer

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90s FPS-inspired Prodeus releases reveal trailer 24

Remember back then in the 90s marked the era of fast-paced, gory, FPS games like DOOM and Duke Nukem?

Prodeus is a game that wants to recreate that feeling once again in the 21st century. Retro gaming is hot right now- the SNES/NES Classic, PlayStation Classic, and the slew of retro plug and play consoles like Atari and Sega releasing their own versions on shelves. Retro-inspired gaming is the thing right now, and Prodeus is another FPS game that tries to bring back the nostalgic feel of the 90s.

The game’s Twitter page has been constantly talking and giving updates to fans about the title, but the first trailer with actual game footage was released recently with a full-on look at this violent, gory, FPS retro title. From the reveal trailer, we can see that Produeus ain’t messing around.

The game heavily resembles early DOOM with updated technology and graphics with the Unity engine. The player walks out of an elevator as a baddy teleports in his field of vision. Then a gorefest breaks out and baddies get torn apart in a volley of fists.

Blood covers the walls. Enemies are dismembered. Bodies are everywhere. The game brings gore back as we’d expect. A few weapons are demoed, such as a pistol, shotgun, and even a chaingun for quickly mowing down waves of enemies. And of course, who can forget a rocket launcher for an easy dispatching of the horde?

Prodeus will release sometime in 2019 on Steam. You can watch the trailer below:

Cyberpunk 2077 will be on-par with Red Dead Redemption 2

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Cyberpunk 2077 will be on-par with Red Dead Redemption 2 25

Cyberpunk 2077 will aim to match Red Dead Redemption 2 in terms of gameplay quality. It’s currently one of the most anticipated games with CD PROJEKT RED’S impeccable history with titles like The Witcher 3.

With their reputation, speculators say that their release quality is on-par with AAA developers like Rockstar Games- which is known for masterpieces like the Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto series.

Adam Kiciński, CEO of CD PROJEKT RED, was interviewed about Cyberpunk 2077’s finesse in comparison to the recently released RDR2, which was positively received.

Kiciński, being humble enough, was asked the following question with an investor:

“Well, with The Witcher 3 the bugs took around 3 months to patch out after the release – from what I can remember – and the prevailing view seems to be that Red Dead Redemption was good enough on the day of release to merit that 97/100 score. Do you expect to be able to release Cyberpunk in a good enough state to score at least 95 points, or do you prioritize your release schedule?”

His remarks included:

“Without a doubt, quality is of paramount importance.” Kiciński insists, continuing that the company strives “to publish games which are as refined as Red Dead Redemption 2, and recent Rockstar releases in general.”

And

“Without a doubt, quality is of paramount importance.” Kiciński insists, continuing that the company strives “to publish games which are as refined as Red Dead Redemption 2, and recent Rockstar releases in general.”

He couldn’t have answered this question better. Without poking at the competitor but rather rooting it on, he sets the standard for his own title. He then talks about the future for hit titles that other gamers are hardcore fans about due to loyalty and/or time constraints with the huge amount of games out there nowadays.

Source: CD PROJECKT RED

 

Alien: Blackout trademark filed by 20th Century Fox; Kojima tweet hints at new “Alien” game

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20th Century Fox Film Corporation has filed a new trademark for the Alien: Blackout title and is targeted specifically for games rather than films. They filed it just before The Game Awards, in which the game could get an official announcement at some point during the event.

An excerpt from the trademark filing reads as the following:

“Computer game discs; software, namely, game software, computer game and video game software, downloadable computer game software, downloadable mobile application software used for playing electronic games and streaming audiovisual and multimedia content in the fields of games and entertainment, interactive game software, and downloadable software […]”

Geoff Keighley announced that The Game Awards 2018 will have a lot of world exclusive game reveals in the entire show’s history. This means lots of companies will coming out with a new game reveals that we never saw coming. The event starts on December 6th, 2018 and there will likely be as much buzz around it as E3 2018. Assuming that the Alien: Blackout game will be revealed there isn’t an over-assumption.

The official Game Awards Twitter account hasn’t hinted at any of the projects that may show up on stage next month, but they’ve responded to a tweet from Hideo Kojima, who’s a friend of Geoff Keighley. He was visiting 20th Century Fox and saw a bunch of Alien-related props from the film sets. This says something- even if it’s just friendly chat between the two producers with each other:

Alien: Blackout was filed on this Thanksgiving day, and we’ll know for sure that they’re doing something in the realm of video games because of the trademark filing category. Even though it was just a few days ago, they’ll probably announce something about the game at this years Game Awards. Be on the lookout for their official Twitter account for news.

A possibly TGA appearance is all just rumor at this point and we don’t know what’ll actually happen there. Even if Alien: Blackout isn’t announced next month, FoxNext Games and Cold Iron Studios are working together on a new multiplayer Alien game slated for PC and consoles regardless.

We’ll keep you updated for news during the event. If there’s a new Alien game coming out, “world will change!”

Agent, the unreleased PS3 exclusive, gets trademark abandoned by Take-Two

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Agent, the Rockstar Games title that’s been in “development” ever since its announcement back in Sony’s E3 2009 press conference, has finally been abandoned and has been scraped by Take-Two Interactive.

The game that’s become a running joke for the past 11 years or so finally got axed in 2018. Take-Two abaonded the trademark for this unreleased PS3 exclusive with the US Patent and Trademark Office. I guess it’s safe to say that it’s now up for grabs- should any devleoper want to pick it up.

The USPTO says that the trademark was abandoned for the following reason:

“no Statement of Use or Extension Request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was issued,”

In other words, nothing was done with the trademark by Take-Two Interactive and therefore it’s been forfeited and defaulted. Now, considering that the PS3 is outdated and the PS5 is already on the way, there really shouldn’t be any surprise as Rockstar has never really commented on the game in the past 11 years.

You can still find it being tossed around as a joke or meme on Rockstar Games and even Take-Two’s websites. Rockstar did have a former artist post a bunch of game environments on Reddit, which gave the world its first look at Agent. Now, it’s pretty much just nothingness. At least the world will know whatever happened to that one game.

Now, commence with the memes.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sets the record for highest pre-sales of any SSB game ever

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Nintendo announced during a new video posted on Twitter that their next-gen Super Smash Bros. title has broken the record for highest-pre sales in all of the game’s history. This means that no other Super Smash Bros. game has ever recorded more pre-orders than Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

This is the fifth entry into the platformer fighting series that releases one game every new console. SSBU will have a whopping 74-character roster on launch day, online play (that probably actually works given that Nintendo’s online service costs money now), and the ability to get more content via free or paid DLC.

Some players have been eyeing the Nintendo Switch and waiting for this particular game to come out, so we can also expect to see some console sales alongside the game for those who aren’t buying the SSBU/Switch Bundle.

Masahiro Sakurai, the game’s director recently commented about the selection of characters for the game’s roster. This will be the next signature title from Nintendo and includes a free Pirahna Plant playable fighter if the game is purchased and registered by January 31st, 2019.

The game will have full compatibility for handheld play- locally, online, TV mode, or even Tabletop mode. And the game will work with Nintendo GameCube controllers. There will be new and returning techniques, like directional air dodge and shield timing. And for those who want to play the original levels, SSBU will have all past stages of every SSB game ever released into one brawler game for the ages.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will launch on December 7th for the Nintendo Switch. You can pre-order the game here on Amazon.

This post contains affiliate links where barrelrolled may receive a small commission upon sales. (This helps us feed our writers the good brand of ramen noodles rather than the generic, store brand.)

Gus Martin solo developing Resort Boss: Golf; Publishing by Excalibur Games

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Game publisher Excalibur Games has announced a new simulator game called Resort Boss: Golf, which is about exactly what it sounds like- managing a golf resort.

Excalibur Games has a lot of experience when it comes to simulation games. They’re the team behind Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator. Now they’re making a simulation/tycoon game where you’ll be working as a golf resort “boss” and running a luxury golf resort. The game was previously announced as Boss Golf and is being created by none other than Gus Martin. He’s the guy behind projects like Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy XV, so there’s some level of experience going into Resort Boss: Golf.

Although the game genres in this title are very mixed and rather extreme, the experience is still there. Players will have to build a resort from scratch- starting with a one-hole golf course to a five-star getaway. The game has an announcement that shows off some of the gameplay footage. You can view it after the post.

Players will focus on managing a golf course, but will also have to take care of hotels, restaurants, and other vacation accommodations. The visuals are colorful and the gameplay looks minimalistic with an easy-on-the-eyes UI and basic layout that players will be familiar with.

The trailer shows off the depth and complexity though of managing a resort. There seems to be extensive customization and micromanagement given the tools and gameplay footage. A press release by Excalibur says that there will “expansive landscaping tools” to do things like plant trees, terraform terrain, and basically shape the land around the resort to their will. Since golf courses vary in design, having the ability to shape the environment adds a level of depth that’s endless- and this includes the usual hazards you’ll find in golfing like bunkers, water, and cliffs.

There will also be economic management like financial reports, staffing, wages, retail, and even hotel control. So if you like tycoon games and you’re up for something that’ll take you to a vacation getaway (of your creating), be on the lookout for Resort Boss: Golf. This is Gus Martin’s first time making a game solo, but Excalibur’s history of publishing games will surely help him out.

Resort Boss: Golf will be available on February 7th, 2019 on Steam Early Access. This game will be PC only as far as I know.