Month: July 2018

Forza Motorsport 7 will turn a year old in October, and developer Turn 10 is planning a major change to one of its more controversial systems. Prize Crates, the Forza version of loot boxes, will be removed entirely from the game in an upcoming update. In the meantime, the impact of Prize Crates has been significantly reduced.

In the announcement, studio head Alan Hartman says, “The overwhelming feedback has been that this system feels out of place in the game.” As a result, both Prize Crates will be removed and paid tokens won’t be coming to replace them. Paid tokens also won’t be a part of the upcoming Forza Horizon 4.

That said, it won’t be just a matter of yanking out the loot boxes all at once. Citing how integrated Prize Crates were into the progression system of Driver Gear, Mods, and Badges, it will take some time to remove them. The team is aiming for winter. To reduce the impact of them, though, they’ve unlocked more than 100 previously “exclusive” cars and removed cars from prize crates entirely.

“The current lineup of prize crates offer no competitive advantage and only offer Driver Gear suits, Mods, and badges, and these crates will remain in place until crates are removed entirely,” the update states.

This isn’t the first time Turn 10 had to pull a U-turn on a controversial feature for Forza 7. Upon launch, some fans were annoyed that the VIP membership wasn’t clearly communicated and didn’t work as it had in previous games. The developer quickly issued a mea culpa and changed the system, and gave some freebies as a make-good.

The removal of prize crates is a slower burn, but that may be that players were more mixed on its implementation. GameSpot’s own Forza Motorsport 7 review found prize crates a friendly temptation without feeling onerous or mandatory. Still, a year later the community has spoken, and Turn 10 is turning it around.

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Nintendo has announced another Nintendo Labo kit, this one being focused on vehicles. The Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit, as it’s called, launches on September 14 and comes with cardboard materials you can use to create things like a car, a submarine, a plane, and more.

It also includes a “key,” which you can inset into any of the vehicles. To switch between vehicles you can remove the key and slot in a new one. The pack also includes a single pedal for driving. Check out the video embedded above to see how this works, and to get a first look at some of the mini-games you can play using the Vehicle Kit.

The Vehicle Kit is priced at $70 in the United States. It follows the previously released Variety Kit ($70) and Robot Kit ($80) that came out in April. You need a Nintendo Switch to play.

Nintendo also reminded players that the Vehicle Kit supports the Toy-Con Garage, which is the set of programming tools that you can use to further customise your creations.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo Labo and racing games have come together. In June, Nintendo updated Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to let you play with Toy-Con controllers.

If the trailer for the live-action Teen Titans movie made you feel a little dark, the clip that was just released from Teen Titans Go: To The Movies will definitely cheer you up. It’s a funny, lighthearted scene that draws on the current state of cinematic superhero saturation, making fun of superhero movies, including itself.

In the clip, the Titans are on a rooftop talking to some members of the Justice League. Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Green Lantern are a little too cool for the Titans, and make them feel inadequate because they don’t have a superhero movie of their own. The heroes humbly discuss their ever-growing number of big-screen adaptations, and accuse the Titans of not being “real heroes” who are therefore undeserving of a movie. Naturally, the Titans want to be in a movie pretty badly.

The Titans are the same adorable characters we know from Teen Titans Go. They love food, they make funny faces, and they occasionally break into song. The Justice League by comparison kind of looks like the popular clique that’s too cool to hang out with the dorky Titans. The movie will also feature an unexpected cameo from Stan Lee.

It looks like Teen Titans Go: To The Movies doesn’t take itself too seriously, and a could act as a fun palate cleanser from all the dark and dramatic movies out these days.

Halo Infinite will be a joint development from 343 Industries and SkyBox Labs, it was announced today. The Vancouver-based SkyBox Labs has a long history of working with 343, as it worked on Halo 5: Forge for Windows 10 and did the work on Halo 5‘s Xbox One X enhancements. It sounds like SkyBox’s efforts for Halo Infinite will be more substantial.

In a news release, SkyBox said it will work alongside 343 on “features across the game including AI, gameplay, networking, and cutting-edge graphics features.”

Halo FPS studio head Chris Lee said in a statement that SkyBox is doing “great work” already on Halo Infinite. SkyBox co-founder Steven Silvester said in a statement that the studio is energised by Halo Infinite’s new art style and the game’s new engine, SlipSpace.

SkyBox said in its statement that “most” of the team’s 100-plus developers are working on Halo Infinite. The studio has been growing of late, while the team continues to grow, as it’s currently hiring across a number of different disciplines.

Halo Infinite was announced at E3 2018 with a trailer for the game’s engine, SlipSpace, but we have yet to see any of the game itself. The game’s new art style is meant to hearken back to the original Halo game. Microsoft has said Halo Infinite returns to the franchise’s roots, and is “bigger and bolder” than any previous Halo title.

In other Halo news, a new arcade game called Halo: Fireteam Raven is out now–and it’s pretty great.

NHL 19 doesn’t officially launch until the middle of September, but you can play a part of it right now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One thanks to an open beta that just began.

The free open beta lets you try out the game’s brand-new pond hockey mode, NHL Ones, as well as Threes drop-in, EASHL Drop-In, and Clubs modes. What’s more, the beta supports online versus play with all 31 NHL teams.

The beta also lets players check out “The World of Chel,” which is the next evolution of the EA Sports Hockey League mode. What’s new this time is that there is a “unified progression and customization system for created players.” In the beta, you can customise your skater with 15 unique traits and 21 different specialisations. Goalies can be customised with six traits and nine specialisations. What’s more, the beta lets you check out “hundreds” of customisation items such as hoodies and parkas to wear outside on the pond.

What’s more, the NHL 19 beta lets you check out the game’s “Real Player Motion” technology, which EA says will help offer the “most realistic skating experience in series history.”

The NHL 19 open beta runs through August 2, and it’s available on PS4 and Xbox One. You can send in feedback to EA Sports here in this forum. The file size is 20.77 GB on Xbox One.

NHL 19 launches on September 14, but the more expensive Ultimate and Legend editions launch on September 11. EA Access subscribers, meanwhile, can play a 10-hour trial for the full game starting on September 6.

P.K. Subban is on the cover of NHL 19, and he was also the inspiration for the game’s painful-looking hit physics.

Monster Hunter World has been available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One since January, but PC players will finally have a chance to join the hunt soon. Capcom recently announced it is bringing the acclaimed co-op RPG to Steam next month, and we got a chance to try it out ahead of its release.

In the video above, you can watch us embark on a handful of quests in Monster Hunter World’s closed PC beta. We start off by playing around with the graphical settings to give you an idea of the range of options you’ll have on PC, then we set off to explore the world and hunt some Great Jagras and other monsters. Please note that this is still a beta, so the game may change before its final release.

Monster Hunter World launches on PC on August 9. Like the console versions before it, it will be available in both standard and Digital Deluxe editions. The latter comes with a handful of bonus items, including a set of Samurai armor, three gestures, two sticker sets, and a new facepaint and hairstyle option. Those who pre-order either version will also get a bonus Origin armor set and Fair Wind Charm.

Monster Hunter World has received a variety of updates since it first launched for PS4 and Xbox One. Capcom says these will be “gradually applied” to the PC version. The publisher also notes the game will follow a different Event Quest schedule, so PC players won’t have the same set of special quests to take on as console players.

If you’re planning on picking Monster Hunter World up on PC, you can find the minimum and recommended specs here. You can read more about the game in GameSpot’s original Monster Hunter World review.