Month: July 2018

GameStop puts out its weekly ad each Wednesday, with a new selection of deals on video games, hardware, accessories, and collectibles. This week’s sale has some good discounts on gaming headsets, as well as a handful of PS4 and Xbox One games (Switch owners will have to look elsewhere for deals this week). If you’re ready to unload some of the games you’ve already played, you can find some nice trade-in bonuses as well. These deals are good through July 31, so let’s dive in.

Not many games are on sale this week, but you can see the full list below. Basketball fans can grab NBA 2K18 or NBA Live 18 for $20 each. Both are fine sports games, though 2K18 came out one point ahead in our review scores. Star Wars Battlefront II is on sale for $25–not bad for a game that’s gotten many updates since its disastrous launch last year.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War recently got a big update that removed the microtransaction market from the game. It’s currently on sale for $20, and if you buy it for PS4 at a local brick-and-mortar GameStop, you get the season pass for free (the code is printed on the receipt).

In terms of hardware, just like at Best Buy, you’ll get $10 off an extra controller if you buy an Xbox One. And if you’re in the market for a gaming headset, you can save a $30 on a wireless one from HyperX, bringing it down to $130, or save $5 on a wired Turtle Beach headset for a total of $40.

If you’re looking to trade in games or other items between now and August 12, you’ll get extra cash, because cash is getting temporarily bumped up to credit value. And if you can find four used games under $10 you want to buy, you’ll get them all for $20.

Cross-platform play is one of the most buzzed-about topics in gaming today. While Microsoft and Nintendo have come to terms on cross-play between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch for games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League, Sony has not yet agreed to connect the PlayStation 4 to the competing consoles. Is it just a matter of time before Sony plays ball and lets PS4 connect with its competitors? Or will it hold its ground and weather the PR storm? In a new GameSpot feature, producer and host Jess McDonell examines the situation from all the important angles.

As explored in the video above, Sony being painted as the kid in the sandbox who doesn’t share their toys may indeed be accurate, but there is more to the story. Sony’s decision to keep PS4 out of the cross-play mix may make sense for business reasons, but the company is taking a PR hit, the impact of which has only been growing in recent months.

Additionally, the profile of the story is elevated now because Epic’s hugely popular battle royale game Fortnite is in the mix. Fortnite supports cross-play between Xbox One, Switch, PC, and mobile, but PlayStation 4 is left unable to play with Xbox or Switch. Worse still, PlayStation 4 Fortnite players are being locked out of their Fortnite accounts when trying to play on Switch due to Sony’s policies.

Our new video feature covers these topics and more in detail. Also included in the video are comments and statements from Microsoft and Nintendo about their position on the cross-play matter.

Sony, however, did not respond to GameSpot’s questions about the company’s stance on cross-play, but the company has made its intentions known in the past through media interviews and previously released statements. Its initial response to the Fortnite situation was lackluster, leading to a later follow-up where it did provide some hope. However, an ex-Sony developer has suggested it all comes down to money.

We also spoke with Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who shared his thoughts on if he believes Sony will ever enable cross-play between PS4 and other competing systems.

What do you think will happen? Is cross-play important to you? Let us know in the comments below!

Bandai Namco recently revealed the classic versions of Goku and Vegeta will be the next two DLC characters coming to Dragon Ball FighterZ. Ahead of their release next month, the publisher has shared a pair of new trailers, giving fans their first look at the two upcoming fighters in action.

Both base forms of Goku and Vegeta are modeled after their appearance from the Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z. Goku sports his original training gi and flies in at the start of the match on his Flying Nimbus. His moveset is likewise taken primarily from this era of the series. Along with the Kamehameha, he can unleash the Spirit Bomb and use the Kaioken to amplify his power.

Vegeta, meanwhile, wears his iconic Saiyan armor, complete with his tail wrapper around his waist. He can unleash his signature Galick Gun attack, as well as the Galaxy Breaker–the move he used to kill his comrade Nappa in the series. You can watch Vegeta showcase these attacks in the video below.

Bandai Namco hasn’t announced a release date or pricing details for Goku and Vegeta yet, but the pair are slated to arrive in August. Previous DLC characters like Vegito and Fused Zamasu could be purchased for $5 US / £4 / $7.55 AU each. The new fighters are also included in the Dragon Ball FighterZ season pass, which costs $35 US / £22 / $40.95 AU and gives players access to eight DLC characters upon their release.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is available now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game is also scheduled to release for Nintendo Switch on September 28. Before then, Bandai Namco will hold an open beta for the Switch version sometime in August. Players who pre-order the Switch version will also receive a digital Japanese copy of the rare Dragon Ball Z Super Famicom game, Super Butoden, as well as immediate access to Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta.

Steam has updated with revised chat features. The revised functionality was announced last month and has been available in beta, but with the recent update it’s become available to all users. It includes new grouping features, a Favorites tag, and more details on what your friends are up to.

The big Chat Update lets you set a handful of friends in a Favorites bar at the top of your list so you can always see what they’re up to at a glance. Friends will also automatically be grouped by game and by party, making it easier to jump in and play with them. The friends menu will show more specific detail about what exactly your friends are doing in a game, too. Finally, group chats can be pulled together more easily.

The actual chat features more in-line functions as well. Video, images, and tweets are visible right inside the chat space, and you can drag new friends and drop them right into an existing group chat. If you like your group, you can save it for future reference. The persistent group chats make it easier to find your friends for a game, and voice will persist while chatting before, during, and after the game. This update is available now on the Steam client, but you can also try it out on the Web client.

Steam recently revealed its mid-year charts of the top sellers and most popular games, including games like Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5, and Kingdom Come Deliverance.

Hearthstone is gearing up for another expansion, and it looks pretty substantial. This time the update comes with a theme focused all around the noble pursuit of science. At least, as noble as it can be when headed up by the notorious Dr. Boom. The dastardly doctor has assembled a team of nine class-based scientists to manage their own wild experiments, to disastrous results. The Boomsday Project will add 135 new cards, with a slew of new card types and keywords.

These nine scientists will make up the class Legendary cards for this expansion. Boomsday Project will introduce Legendary spells for the first time, which are engineered to have big and unique effects. These will not, however, specifically synergize with the new Legendary class minions representing the aforementioned scientists.

“That’s actually something that we talked about, linking them up so they work together, but we decided in the end, most of them are not going to work together,” lead designer Mike Donais explained. “We wanted you not to have to own both Legendaries to sort of build the deck that that Legendary is focused on. So in most cases, you actually don’t have any synergy between the two.”

Another new spell type, Projects, focus on symmetric effects that impact both players. The player who takes better advantage of these symmetric effects will have a huge leg-up on the competition.

New Omega cards will be playable throughout a game for a decent stat ratio, but are given extra power boosts if played once you’ve reached the 10-Mana threshold. Finally, a new Magnetic keyword will allow you to join Mechs together, inheriting their stats and any keywords or special abilities. As such, the expansion is introducing a lot of new Mechs–both Magnetic and frames that can be built upon.

The single-player component, the Puzzle Lab, will take a different tack than the last few expansions. Rather than a series of boss fights like Dungeon Run or Monster Hunt, these will focus on standalone puzzles. You’ll have to spot the lethal, imitate the opponent’s board state, or just survive, for example.

The expansion will launch on August 7, and Puzzle Lab will follow two weeks later. Two separate pre-purchase bundles are now available: a 50-pack bundle for $50 with a golden class Legendary and a Mecha-Jaraxxus card back, or an 80-pack bundle for $80 with the Mecha-Jaraxxus Warlock hero.

Above you can find all of the cards shown so far, and we’ll be regularly updating with more cards as they’re revealed.