Month: December 2019

We have stacks of passes for both Sydney and Melbourne.

PlayStation has recently turned 25 years old, and the industry is looking back on Sony’s consoles and the legacy they have created. As developers who have worked with PlayStation for years taking a moment to reflect on the company’s past, some are also looking towards the future. In an interview with The Verge, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells has talked about his history in the industry, but has also discussed how the PlayStation 5 will be different from what has come before.

Naughty Dog’s history with PlayStation stretches back to the first console, and they’re responsible for series like Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us. Wells, who joined the studio after being impressed by the original Crash Bandicoot, reflects on how the PlayStation 2 was an “enormous leap” from the original, and how games now “require massive teams and lengthy development cycles.” Talking about the distinction between the first PlayStation and the PlayStation 4, Wells says “they’re barely recognizable as the same product.”

Wells goes on to talk about the PlayStation 5, and what he sees as the major change it will introduce for players. “I think it will allow us to deliver the content in a way that has no friction for the players,” he told The Verge. “They’ll never have to wait to dive back into their games.” This seems to be in reference to the system’s solid state drive, which will allow for much faster loading. It gives some insight into what developers will be able to achieve on the new system, too–it remains to be seen if more immediate experiences will change elements of how games are designed.

Naughty Dog’s next game, The Last of Us Part II, will release for PlayStation 4 on May 29, 2020.

Apex Legends recently received a major update that increased the level cap and introduced numerous other changes to Respawn’s well-liked battle royale game. But amidst these big changes, one element remained the same – the dominance of the Peacekeeper shotgun, which remained overpowered after an earlier, light nerf. Thankfully, Respawn promised that the gun would be fixed, and after a very short wait a change has been implemented.

The Apex Legends Twitter account has explained that the latest server patch curbed the shotgun’s main problem–the pellet spread and damage numbers allowed players to score cheap kills with it. After these changes, that will be more difficult.

These changes mean that the gun won’t be quite so deadly now, even if you have the Precision Choke equipped. While the gun is still very powerful, players will now need to have better aim to do the most damage possible with it. The EVA-8 has also had its bolt hit size decreased to deal with similar issues.

These changes were promised in the 3.2 patch notes, and it’s great to see them implemented so quickly. Players who jump on before January 14, 2020 can also get themselves a free Star Wars skin for Pathfinder.

Fortnite Chapter 2’s Week 9 challenges are now live on all platforms. As usual, if you complete eight tasks from the set, you’ll unlock a special loading screen that features a subtle clue pointing you to a secret item that’s hidden somewhere around the game’s map.

Up to this point, that item was a different letter that ultimately spelled out “FORTNITE,” but now that all the letters are available, this week’s loading screen leads you to an XP drop, which is essentially like the secret Battle Stars from past seasons. If you need help tracking down the XP drop, we show you where it’s located below.

Where Is The Hidden XP Drop Location?

As previously mentioned, the clue that’ll guide you to the XP drop is hidden in the Chaos Rising loading screen, which you’ll unlock after completing eight challenges from that set. The loading screen features a character gazing at different monitors. Look closely at the monitor in the middle of the image and you’ll see the XP drop beneath the infamous purple cube that appeared way back in Season 5.

As it turns out, there’s a statue of the purple cube in the Kevolution Energy Plant, which is located in the northeastern portion of Steamy Stacks–that’s where you’ll need to go to find the hidden XP drop. We’ve marked the location of the area on the map below.

Fortnite hidden XP Drop location

How To Complete The Challenge

Now that we know where the XP drop is hidden, make your way to the aforementioned Kevolution Energy Plant and the drop will appear on the ground near the cube statue, just as the loading screen teased. Interact with it as you would any other item to collect it and complete the challenge. As was the case with this season’s hidden letters, however, the XP drop won’t appear on the map until you’ve unlocked the Chaos Rising loading screen and its corresponding challenge, so you’ll first need to complete this week’s other missions before you can go pick it up.

The first season of Fortnite Chapter 2 was originally slated to end this month, but Epic recently announced it would be extending the season into February 2020. It’s still unclear if that means we still have more weekly challenges to look forward to, but in the meantime, you can find maps and guides for this season’s previous missions in our Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.

Beyond A Steel Sky, the long-awaited sequel to 1994’s Beneath A Steel Sky, has been delayed. The game, which was first announced in 2012 and was properly revealed as an Apple Arcade game earlier this year, was due to release before the end of 2019. This will no longer happen, developer Revolution has confirmed on their website, and the game will instead release in 2020.

In the post, Beyond A Steel Sky is called Revolution’s “most ambitious adventure to date,” and it’s said that more time is needed to “realise (their) vision” for it. The game is being made for Apple Arcade, PC, and console, and a release date will be confirmed early in 2020. The game’s Steam page gives us some more details, calling the game “a dramatic, humorous, cyberpunk thriller in which engaging puzzles drive a fast-paced narrative set in a dynamic gameworld that responds to–and is subverted by–the player’s actions.”

The original Beneath A Steel Sky was designed in part by Charles Cecil, architect of the Broken Sword series, and Dave Gibbons, the artist responsible for the iconic style of Alan Moore’s Watchmen comics. Both have returned for Beyond A Steel Sky, too. We gave the remastered iPhone version a 9/10 in our 2010 review, writing that “despite its sober setting, the game comes with a script full of laughs and lighter moments, and even the most inconsequential of conversations will raise a smile or hint at each character’s own little universe.”

The new trailer and opening sequence from Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn at Brazil Comic Con on Thursday. Neither the trailer nor the opening sequence is available online, but IGN Brazil was there to break down what was shown.

The second trailer begins with an overcoat-clad Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) at a bank saying she wants to “report a terrible crime”. The clerk asks: “Which one?” Harley then pulls a big rifle out from under her coat and points it at the clerk: “This one!” Breaking the fourth wall, she looks to the camera and says: “I started the wrong way.”

The next scene shows Harley Quinn walking along Gotham streets and hearing people saying she’ll never get over her relationship with Joker and that she’s going back to him with a snap of fingers. The trailer then shows Harley starting her life all over again along with interactions with Black Canary and Huntress, who is always in a bad mood. The film’s villain Black Mask is building an army, declaring “the Joker is no longer in Gotham” and that now is his time to rule Gotham’s underworld.

Continue reading…

New posters showing off the characters for the upcoming Birds of Prey film have been revealed.

The posters were displayed on the official Birds of Prey Twitter account and are tied to the panel for the movie at Brazil Comic Con. The seven images all feature one of the main characters in the same painted style as the main poster revealed yesterday.

Continue reading…

Halo: Reach has just released on PC for the first time as part of the Master Chief Collection, bringing the beloved game to the system nine years after it released for Xbox 360. The game, which was brought to Xbox One as well and is available on both systems through Xbox Game Pass, was the final Halo game made by original developer Bungie before they moved onto Destiny. Many of the folks who worked on the game are reminiscing about it on Twitter using the hashtag #reachmemory, and some interesting information has come out about the game’s name.

David Candland, who designed much of the game’s user interface, says that the original intention was to just call the game “Reach”, without a “Halo” attached to it. Microsoft objected, insisting that the game be called Halo: Reach, for “brand recognition.” As Halo was and remains a major flagship of the Xbox brand, this makes sense–but as Candland’s tweet points out, they retained their simpler name on the game’s title screen.

As Candland told USGamer, this was probably, ultimately, the right decision. “I’ll bet it did impact sales. It also made googling the game much easier.” He also reveals that the cumbersome “Combat Evolved” subtitle on the original Halo was added by Microsoft, which is why it’s not on the title screen of the original game.

Elsewhere on the hashtag, Bungie art director Jason Sussman revealed that the game’s iconic finale (which we won’t explain here to avoid spoilers) was nearly cut for time, but that “everyone knew it needed to be part of the game,” and they managed to fit it in.

The original Halo is returning to PC soon too as The Master Chief Collection continues to roll out.