Month: April 2018

Amazon and Twitch are on a role these days, giving away tons of digital goodies to Twitch users with Amazon Prime memberships. Not only do you get five free games this month and free Fortnite goodies, but you can also grab some free Heroes of the Storm loot as well.

Each month between now and July 2, Twitch Prime members will receive free in-game rewards. Starting today and ending May 1, Twitch Prime members can grab one Legendary Loot Chest that’s guaranteed to contain at least one Legendary item. During the month of May, the giveaway is a new Glitch-steed mount and five Rare Loot Chests, which are guaranteed to contain at least one Rare item. And from May 31 to July 2, players will receive five Rare Loot Chests.

Loot Chests in Heroes of the Storm contain things like heroes, sprays, skins, voice lines, banners, and announcers. These freebies for Twitch Prime members sound like a great way to build up a stockpile of digital loot without paying a cent.

To snag the free items each month, first make sure to link your Amazon Prime account with your Twitch account. Then link your Twitch account to your Blizzard account. Once you’ve jumped through those hoops, it’s time to claim your rewards. Head to Twitch and click the crown-shaped Prime Loot icon next to the search bar. There, you’ll find your items waiting for you.

Heroes of the Storm is a popular free-to-play MOBA that pits two teams of five Blizzard heroes against each another. Your primary goal during each relatively short match is to destroy your opponent’s base. In GameSpot’s Heroes of the Storm review, Tyler Hicks gave the game a 9/10, calling it “a must-play for both MOBA players and Blizzard enthusiasts… [It’s] a fantastic casual-competitive game that offers untold hours of enjoyment.”

If you’re looking to offload an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, GameStop has some good news for you. The retailer is temporarily upping the amount of trade-in credit on those consoles by between $40 and $80, depending on the model you have.

Here’s the rundown on the old trade-in values versus the new. That extra $80 for a 2TB Xbox One Slim could go a long way toward an Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, or Nintendo Switch.

But because all good things must come to an end, the trade-in value increase is only in effect between now and April 15. So hurry up and unplug those console you’re not using.

“We’re delivering on our promise to give customers better trade-in deals they can’t refuse on top products–the right products with the right deals. We’re not talking pocket change either,” said Bob Puzon, senior vice president of merchandising for GameStop. “Who doesn’t want to earn an extra $40-$80 on video game hardware that’s just sitting around the house collecting dust?”

GameStop also accepts games and other kinds of hardware you might have lying around, including mobile phones, tablets, and electronics accessories. It even takes broken or damaged items, though obviously that affects the amount of credit you’ll receive.

By Scott Collura

Word broke recently that Star Wars star John Boyega has had talks with Marvel about appearing in one of the studio’s upcoming superhero films. It makes sense, as not only do Marvel and Star Wars both fall under the corporate blanket of Disney, but also because Boyega is the perfect sort of fanboy-friendly actor to take on a role in the MCU.

Details on the discussion with Marvel are vague, but it sounds as though this isn’t something that would be happening anytime soon. It’s also not clear whether the potential role would specifically be for the MCU or possibly lap over into that kinda-MCU that’s developing at Sony for Spider-Man’s supporting characters. That said, it’s still fun to speculate about who Boyega could possibly play, so check out our list of potentials in the slideshow below…

Meanwhile, John Boyega has been busy promoting Pacific Rim Uprising lately. For more on that film, read up on what happened to the original film’s main character Raleigh Becket. Or check out Boyega responding to IGN comments.

And let us know in the comments who you think Boyega should play if he winds up in a Marvel movie!

Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!

Given the immense popularity of the battle royale genre thanks to trailblazing games like PUBG and Fortnite, many are wondering if other games will follow suit and add a Hunger Games-style mode. We know Activision Blizzard is watching the battle royale space, so could Overwatch jump aboard and add a battle royale mode?

Don’t get your hopes up. Speaking to Kotaku, game director Jeff Kaplan said he’s intrigued by the idea, but pointed out that it would be no small task to get it done the right away. Kaplan, who says he has played “hundreds” of hours of PUBG, said he’s concerned that even if Blizzard could do it, that it might feel like the game was

“A lot of times when I hear some of our fans pitch it, they’re like ‘Oh, just put a card in the Arcade one day that’s a battle royale mode,’ and I’m like ‘Fuck, that would be awesome,'” he said. “But there’s a lot of design and tech work to get us to that place and not just feel like a me-too game.”

Elaborating, Kaplan said Overwatch is “first and foremost” a game about heroes–and their balance is part of the reason why an Overwatch battle royale mode might not work.

“Part of what makes the core loop work in a battle royale game is the search, the looting, and the fairness that everybody’s sort of equal,” Kaplan said. “Overwatch wasn’t designed to be a 1v1. Every hero’s not balanced against every other hero.”

You can read the full interview here at Kotaku.

Kaplan’s response is similar to what Take-Two president Strauss Zelnick said about the battle royale genre. He’s watching the space with interest, but said he is wary of his studios at Rockstar and 2K following a trend instead of blazing their own trail.

Given how popular the battle royale genre is, we do imagine other games will add their own modes, while some new battle royale games might pop up altogether like this one. We’ll be watching, and bringing you all the news as it arrives.

In other news about Overwatch, the next iteration of the game’s Uprising limited-time event is starting later this month; here’s what we know so far.