Month: October 2020

Apple Will Soon Give Three Months Of Free Apple Arcade With New Purchases

Apple Arcade, the iPhone maker’s huge subscription gaming service, is good enough to be a major selling point for the iPhone and other Apple products–and soon, new Apple purchases will come with an extended free trial. While you can currently test out Apple Arcade for a month free, new purchases made from October 22 will include three free months of Arcade.

This offer centers on the new 5G iPhone 12, releasing October 23, but it applies to all Apple products, including iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and Mac devices.

Apple Arcade is similar to Xbox Game Pass, except that it’s yet to lose any titles from its growing catalog. If a game is on Apple Arcade, it means it’s a mobile exclusive to that platform, and will not make its way to Android or other mobile stores. It usually costs $5 a month, so three months worth is a $15 saving.

Apple Arcade will also be part of the new Apple One service, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, and iCloud as well.

We assembled a list of the best Apple Arcade games at the program’s launch, but it’s grown a great deal since then, and now features over 130 games. Major upcoming releases include The Pathless and Reigns: Beyond.

Now Playing: iPhone 12 Details And Xbox Series X & S Enhancements | Save State

Mass Effect Remaster Rumors, Call Of Duty File Sizes, & A PS5 Remote Play Update | Save State

A new listing for Mass Effect Legendary Edition on a Korean rating website has hinted that remasters may be coming. Legendary Edition is the rumored name for the remastered trilogy, but the rating doesn’t list any details about the game.

Modern Warfare PC players are now able to uninstall unwanted game modes to free up space on their hard drives. Digital PS4 players have been able to do this for some time, and the feature is now available on PC, which is just as well, with the game’s size reaching 200GB with everything installed.

There’s a new PS4 firmware update that helps prep for PS5 Remote Play. Update 8.00 adds the option to connect the Remote Play app on mobile and PC to PlayStation 5 ahead of its launch on November 12. The update also adds new avatars and has more closely linked party chat and message groups.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Cross-Play Beta: Pre-Load, Start Times, Modes, And More

The second beta weekend for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is about to begin, and you can start pre-loading it right now. Activision has confirmed that pre-loading for PS4, Xbox One, and PC is available now, while the company has also clarified what’s in the beta and more about what to expect from it.

Pre-Loading And File Size

Pre-loading is probably a good idea, considering the file size is relatively large. According to CharlieIntel, the file sizes are as follows: PS4 — 31 GB / Xbox One — 20.5 GB / PC — 42.2 GB

You can pre-load Black Ops Cold War’s Weekend 2 beta right now, and no codes are required. Also of note, PS4 players who took part in the first beta weekend do not need to download the client again.

Start Times

The Black Ops Cold War Weekend 2 beta begins at 10 AM PT on Thursday, October 15. All PS4 players can enter the beta at this time, while Xbox One and PC players will need to pre-order to start playing then.

On October 17, the beta opens to everyone, regardless of preorder status, and it runs until October 19. Xbox Live Gold is required on Xbox One, and a Battle.net account is mandatory on PC.

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Beta Content

The new Black Ops Cold War beta features cross-play support between all platforms. Players can try out a “selection” of multiplayer maps, but a full rundown was not announced. There will be a variety of 6v6 modes as well as the brand-new 12v12 Combined Arms and the 40-player Fireteam: Dirty Bomb modes.

There will be a progression system as well so players can see what it’s like to unlock new weapons, equipment, create-a-class slots, and Scorestreaks. However, it’s expected that, as with previous Call of Duty betas, all progress will be wiped before the official release.

Activision also said players should expect “frequent updates and a few surprises” for the beta, so keep checking back for the latest.

Bonuses

Everyone who reached level 10 in the beta will get the special Mutual Animosity SMG weapon blueprint that can be unlocked when Black Ops Cold War launches in November.

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Black Ops Cold War officially releases on November 13 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Cold War’s Combined Arms Vs. Ground War

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Marvel’s Avengers Update Adds New Missions And First Cosmic Gear

Marvel’s Avengers has a new patch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and it introduces some major new content. The big new additions to the endgame are Tachyon Rifts, which contain exciting new gear, and the SHIELD Substation Zero, which promises new characters and narrative. While the patch is live now, the new content won’t arrive until October 15.

With patch 1.3.3, SHIELD has opened its Substation Zero Outpost, which will be looking into temporal anomalies. This promises “new narrative, characters, and content,” although the patch notes don’t get too specific about what this will all look like. It’ll appear in the Pacific Northwest region of the War Table once it arrives.

The Tachyon Rift missions also relate to these anomalies, hurling players into dangerous environments where Tachyon storms will damage them over time (but also charge up their Heroic energy faster). These missions require a 140 Power Level or higher, and are available once per day, rotating out daily. They will also offer up a Cosmic Gear, a new tier of high-powered gear for your Avengers.

Developer Crystal Dynamics has been promising more content for the game’s playerbase, so hopefully this update will give everyone something more to do.

The patch also adds many fixes and improvements to the game. Here’s a highlight list from the full patch notes:

  • Remote faction terminals have been added to outposts, which allow collection of faction assignments and villain sector bounties without the need to visit each faction coordinator in person.
  • Extended pickup radius for reward drops.
  • The ability to preview cosmetic vendor items.
  • Option to scale subtitle/closed caption text size.
  • Closed Captions will no longer be automatically display in cinematics when subtitles are displayed.
  • Movement speed increased in outposts when in Avengers Initiative
  • AI companion improvements, including assistance when player needs to be revived.
  • Improved Mega Hive rewards. They now are guaranteed to give two exclusive exotic gear items and an increased amounts of upgrade modules upon completion.
  • Implemented a fix that will retroactively grant Iron Man’s iconic outfit for players who previously lost it due to a bug.

The patch is coming for the Stadia version too, but isn’t available yet.

Avengers’ first DLC character will be Kate Bishop, and we’re hoping for more information on her release date soon.

Now Playing: Marvel’s Avengers Video Review

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Anchorman Director’s New Netflix Movie Has A Seriously Star-Studded Cast

Anchorman director Adam McKay’s next movie for Netflix, Don’t Look Up, has one of the most star-studded casts we can recall. Oscar-winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep, along with Oscar nominated actor Timothee Chalamet, have joined the cast for the film, and they are just the latest huge names to board the project.

The rest of the cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Himesh Patel, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Matthew Perry, Rob Morgan, and Tomer Sisley.

The comedy centers on two astronomers who are trying to warn humankind about an asteroid that might wipe out humanity. According to Variety, DiCaprio and Lawrence will play the two scientists, but this is not confirmed. Filming is projected to start before the end of the year.

McKay is known for directing the comedies Anchorman, The Other Guys, Step Brothers, and Talladega Nights, as well as more serious fare with Vice and The Big Short, the latter of which earned him an Oscar win for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. Vice earned eight Oscar nominations, winning one, for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.

Jimmy Kimmel Claims He’s Playing Spider-Man 3 Villain Kraven, So It’s Probably Matt Damon

Kraven the Hunter is a fearsome tracker who once killed Spider-Man. Who would you cast in that role? Jeffrey Dean Morgan? Manu Bennett? Joe Manganiello? Idris Elba (he’s good in everything)? Sony and Marvel have settled on comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, if the comedian’s own tweet is to be believed.

We’ve reached out to Sony directly for confirmation of this casting, but have not yet heard back as of the time of this writing. Really, this could be an elaborate ruse by Kimmel to slyly announced Matt Damon will play the role, for all we know. After all, the duo have had a long and very funny history of pranking each other.

On the one hand, searching for “Jimmy Kimmel prank” turns up 632,000 results on Google. On the other, Marvel has toyed with weird casting before. Paul Rudd wasn’t an immediately obvious choice for a superhero, but has turned Ant-Man into a household name. We raised an eyebrow when Marvel cast comedian Kumail Nanjiani in the upcoming Eternals film alongside Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie, and then he got so ripped that the collective internet paused for a minute to take notice, proving that he can at least look the part.

Kimmel is 52 years old and has a daily late show on ABC–it’s tough to imagine him getting similarly fit and ditching his successful gig. Not to mention that the Kraven in the comics almost never puts on a shirt. With that said, Kimmel is no stranger to using guest hosts when he steps away from his show.

Then there’s the weirdness of the upcoming, untitled Spider-Man movie to take into account. JK Simmons, who played J. Jonah Jameson in the first Spider-Man trilogy is back as JJ in the film, and Jamie Foxx is reprising his role as Electro from the critically-panned Amazing Spider-Man 2. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is stepping up as Spider-Man’s mentor for this third film, and his own sequel is called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while Sony’s most critically-successful Spider-Man movie is called Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

This is a weird casting possibility to be sure, but the Spider-Verse is pretty weird, too, making the casting far from impossible. If true, here’s the next question: Will he also play Kraven in the standalone Kraven the Hunter film?

Microsoft Hires Another Last Of Us 2 Dev For Its New Xbox Studio

Microsoft’s new Xbox studio, The Initiative, has hired another developer from The Last of Us studio Naughty Dog to work on the company’s first game. Lauren Garcia, who was the character shading technical director on The Last of Us: Part II is now working at The Initiative as a senior shader technologies developer.

Garcia announced the news on Twitter, saying, “This is an incredible team working on something truly special.” The Initiative’s first game remains unannounced, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer has offered a tease that it could be a reboot of a classic series.

The Initiative was announced at E3 2018 as part of Microsoft’s wider announcement of new studios and acquisitions. Based in Santa Monica and close to Naughty Dog’s offices, the company says its ambition is “about craft, creating story, innovating, and looking ahead to the next big thing.” While the company is owned by Microsoft, it claims to operate independently.

Even if we don’t know what The Initiative is working on, design director Drew Murray’s young daughter does. Murray recently let this small human play the game, and she reported that it’s gotten a lot better.

Garcia is at least the third Naughty Dog developer to have joined The Initiative. The Last of Us II sound designer Jordan Denton and Last of Us II designer Robert Ryan are also working on the new Xbox game.

All of these new hires join a team that is already stacked with talent. God of War veteran Brian Westergaard is the director of production, William Archbell (343 Industries) is the technical director, and Blake Fischer (Xbox) is director of world and narrative. Daniel Neuburger, who worked on Rise of the Tomb Raider, is The Initiative’s game director. The Initiative also hired Rockstar Games veteran Tom Shepherd, while among the other high-profile hirings include Red Dead Redemption 1 writer/designer Christian Cantamessa.

Prime Day Discounts NVMe M.2 SSD By More Than $100 Off

NVMe SSDs are the fastest storage you can put into your PC right now, and while the technology is looking forward to Gen4 speeds that rival the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X, Gen3 NVMe SSDs are still worth investing in. Amazon currently has a fantastic Prime Day deal on a 1TB WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD for $120, down from its regular price of $250.

It’s worth keeping in mind that your motherboard may not support a Gen4 SSD, so there’s actually a benefit to going with a Gen3 SSD like this one. You need compatible M.2 slots on your motherboard for NVMe SSDs, and if you put a Gen4 SSD in a Gen3 motherboard, you won’t be able to take full advantage of the SSD’s max speeds. Because of this, you can save quite a bit of money buying Gen3 NVMe SSDs instead.

$120 (was $250)

The SN750 has read/write speeds of 3,430MB/s. While the bigger deal belongs to the 1TB model, the 500GB model is also discounted to $63 (down from $80). If you order the 1TB model, please note you will have to wait a few weeks for it to ship–the 500GB model can be delivered by the end of the week.

If you are looking for an NVMe SSD that meets the speed requirements of the PS5, then you’ll be happy to hear that Western Digital recently revealed its Gen 4 lineup. That includes the WD Black SN850 NVMe SSD, which can reach read speeds of 7,000MB/s and write speeds of 5,300MB/s.

Be sure to check out all of Amazon Prime Day’s PC gaming deals for more discounts on NVMe SSDs, SATA SSDs, and more.

Call Of Duty Mobile Celebrates 1st Anniversary With A Biggest Update Ever

Call of Duty: Mobile released one year ago this day, October 15, and Activision is celebrating by updating the game with a lot of new content and activities.

The Anniversary update is out now on Android and iOS, and Activision says it represents the “biggest injection of content ever” in the game’s life.

Included with the update is a brand-new battle royale map called Alcatraz. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s inspired by the Alcatraz location in Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode. The Anniversary update also introduces a new social space called “The Club.” As its name suggests, this is a hangout area where players can take part in various mini-games like darts or various arcade games.

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The Anniversary update also introduces a new battle pass with 50 tiers to progress through to earn various cosmetics and other extras. Additionally, there is a new map, King, which can be played in the Gunfight and Duel modes. And just in time for Halloween, the update adds the map Halloween Standoff, which is a nighttime version of the Standoff map featuring jack-o-lanterns and other spookiness.

What’s more, the Anniversary update adds the Cranked mode that debuted in Call of Duty: Ghosts years ago. The twist with the mode is that, when a player is eliminated, a 30-second timer kicks off, and during this period you move faster and earn double points for kills.

For lots more on the Anniversary update, check out the image above to see what’s in the Battle Pass, while you can also have a look at Activision’s blog post for a detailed rundown.

In other Call of Duty news, the cross-play beta for Black Ops Cold War kicks off very soon–here’s everything you need to know.

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Sega Celebrates 60 Years With Limited-Time Mash-Ups, Prototypes, And More Incredible Artefacts

Sega is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary by opening up its vault and sharing some interesting internal experiments and homages with its fans. Three new titles have been unveiled, including a prototype for a cancelled Golden Axe reboot, a Yakuza/Streets of Rage 2 mash-up, and an Endless Legend-themed homage to Fantasy Zone.

The three games will each release a day apart, and while none of them are full-blown games, they’re interesting freebies. The highlight for many will likely be Streets of Kamurocho, which takes the characters of Yakuza and puts them into the gameplay of Streets of Rage 2. It’s adorable.

We’ve rounded each one up below.

Each game will only be available until October 19 at 10 AM PT, so if you want to check them out, make sure to do so before then.

Endless Zone

Release: October 16
Steam

This shooter homage to Fantasy Zone features 3D visuals that are a far cry from Fantasy Zone’s gorgeous visual style, but as a mash-up starring the Opbot from Endless Legend, it looks like fun. Despite the name, the game will not actually be endless–you can complete it.

Streets Of Kamurocho

Release: October 17
Steam

Streets of Kamurocho lets you play as Kiryu and Majima, and brawl your way through various thugs. It’s got a lovely chunky pixel art style, and while it doesn’t feature any blood, you can pick up weapons around each level and beat your enemies up with them. Streets of Kamurocho is developed by Empty Clip Studios, which also created Dead Island: Retro Revenge.

Golden Axed: A Cancelled Prototype

Release: October 18
Steam

Golden Axed is a real Golden Axe follow-up prototype, which was in the works at Sega Studios Australia before it was shuttered in 2013. As you can see from the trailer below, it didn’t get very far along in development, although the environments look quite nice. It also supports up to four players, although you’ll only have one day to play it.

Sanatana Mishra, who was in charge of the original prototype’s design and later founded Assault Android Cactus developer Witchbeam, was surprised to see his work seeing the light of day.

As part of Sega’s birthday celebrations, you can also claim free copies of both Sonic 2 and NiGHTS Into Dreams on Steam.