Month: November 2020

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Patch Notes Revealed For November 24

Developer Treyarch has rolled out another update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S / Series X. Along with adding an ’80s-inspired Nuketown map, the patch address various bugs and gameplay stability issues.

The headlining feature is the addition of Nuketown ’84, an updated version of the classic Nuketown map flavored with a dash of the ’80s. Nuketown ’84 has been included in the Quick Play Core and Hardcore rotation list, as well as Custom Games, the 24/7 feature playlist, and Onslaught on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Treyarch has also enabled the Double XP event until November 30 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.

The update also addresses stability issues across multiplayer and Zombies, fixes hit detection issues in Zombies, irons out problems with knife camos in multiplayer, and more.

This patch comes a day after Treyarch pushed out a separate update that made some gameplay changes. This includes reducing spawns in Hardpoint and ironing out issues with Field Upgrade charges in Zombies being freely handed out, as well as stabilizing the game. Check out the full patch notes below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Patch Notes (November 24)

Global

  • 2XP + 2WXP:
    • Double XP and Double Weapon XP enabled in Multiplayer and Zombies through 10 AM PT Monday, November 30.

Multiplayer

  • Maps:
    • Nuketown ’84
      • Added Nuketown ’84 to 6v6 map rotation in Quick Play Core and Hardcore playlists.
      • Added Nuketown 24/7 featured playlist.
      • Added Nuketown ’84 to Custom Games map list.
    • Crossroads Strike:
      • Addressed an issue in Crossroads Strike that allowed players to contest a Hardpoint and Control zone outside of the intended objective boundary.
  • Camos
    • Addressed an issue where incorrect images would show for Diamond & Gold weapon camo rewards in the After-Action Report.
    • Addressed an issue where Knife camos would not progress if in the primary weapon slot.
  • Stability
    • Fixed a rare crash that could occur in Domination.

Zombies

  • Gameplay
    • Addressed an issue that could prevent zombies from attacking the player after teleporting from the Dark Aether.
    • Addressed an issue that allowed players to leave the gameplay space when teleporting back from the Dark Aether.
    • Addressed an issue that could cause a main quest item from timing out, causing a progression break.
  • Gunsmith
    • Addressed an issue that could cause the player to sometimes lose functionality at the pause menu if the Gunsmith remained open after the intro cutscene.
  • Trials
    • Addressed an issue that sometimes caused an incorrect Pack-a-Punch camo to appear on weapons obtained from Trials.
  • UI
    • Addressed an issue that sometimes caused incorrect Revive UI to appear at the end of a match.
  • Stability
    • Added various stability fixes.
  • Onslaught (PS4/PS5)
    • Added Nuketown ’84 to the Onslaught map list.
    • Added a new Onslaught Challenge with a unique Weapon Blueprint reward.

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Nuketown ’84 Map Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Save $110 with This Gaming Desk Black Friday Deal

Amazon has a ton of great deals for Black Friday 2020, and you don’t have to wait until after Thanksgiving to take advantage of the savings. There are tons of sales across the site, on all kinds of items, that are available right now.

If you have been upgrading your PC setup, or you snagged the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, you may be in need of a desk upgrade, too. Right now you can save $110 on this Eureka Z60 ergonomic desk with a special receipt on Amazon, which amounts to a 37% discount.

For other great deals, be sure to check out our Best Black Friday Deals mega-post, as well as more focused articles on where to snag a PS5, and much, much more.

Eureka Z60 Ergonomic Gaming Desk

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=eureka-ergonomic-z60-gaming-desk-deal”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

More PC Black Friday Deals

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=black-friday-mega-dell-combined&type=list”]

More Video Game Black Friday Deals

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=black-friday-mega-games-combined&type=list”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

[widget path=”ign/modules/recirc” parameters=”title=&type=articles&tags=us-shopping&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Brian Barnett writes wiki guides, deals posts, features, and much more for IGN. You can get your fix of Brian’s antics on Twitter (@Ribnax).

Black Friday Switch Deal Will Drop Splatoon 2 To Its Lowest Price Yet

Black Friday 2020 is upon us, and many retailers are offering some especially good deals on video games this year as part of their Black Friday sales. Surprisingly enough, some of the best deals we’ve seen are on Nintendo games. A bunch of first-party Switch titles are getting nice discounts during the big shopping event, including Splatoon 2.

Although Splatoon 2 features a single-player campaign (as well as a great single-player-focused DLC expansion), the game’s main attractions are its various online modes. To play these, you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and fortunately, you can find good deals on those this Black Friday as well. An annual family membership typically costs $35, but you can get one year of Switch Online for only $20 from Target.

“At first glance, Splatoon 2 seems very similar to the first game. But all the small changes, and even the bigger ones in single player and League Battles, make for a fresh take on the already unique shooter,” we wrote in our Splatoon 2 review. “If you played a lot of the original, the sequel has enough to keep you coming back, and if you’re new to the game, it’s a fantastic place to jump in.”

Splatoon 2 isn’t the only first-party Switch game getting a nice discount for Black Friday. GameStop will be selling a couple of other notable titles for $27, including Fire Emblem: Three Houses and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Meanwhile, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Super Mario Maker 2 will each be down to $30 at Walmart.

We’ll continue rounding up more Black Friday 2020 news and deals through Thanksgiving weekend, so check back often for the latest Black Friday savings. If you’re looking for more game-related discounts, we’ve also put together roundups of the best Black Friday 2020 gaming deals, including the best deals for Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox One/Series X.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Insert Coin Review

Insert Coin opens in virtual cinemas and on Alamo On Demand on November 25.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

If you walked into an arcade in the ’90s, you’ve played a Midway game. At that time, Midway was the “Sex Pistols of the gaming industry,” rebellious pioneers delivering arcade games that were loud, weird, and unapologetically violent. This video game studio gave us the flaming basketballs of NBA Jam, the promise of a Pleasure Dome in Smash TV, and the spine-ripping finishing moves of Mortal Kombat. Now all this and much, much more are dutifully recounted in the behind-the-scenes documentary Insert Coin.

Insert Coin begins in the ’80s, when the arcade market had been flooded with “rip-offs” and “garbage.” Gamers were hungry for something new and bold, and designer Eugene Jarvis was roaring to deliver. Onto a landscape littered with fantasy games, he unleashed NARC, an ultra-violent crime game with graphics that were much more realistic than the symbolic pixels of Pac-Man. When you blew a band of baddies to bits, you were rewarded with an explosion of flaming limbs. Players went crazy for it, and so began the rise of Midway. Over the course of the coming decades, a scrappy team of visionaries, misfits, and rebels made a fortune one quarter at a time by putting their wildest fantasies into arcades. Along the way, they pissed off parents, politicians, and the NBA, turning video games into the latest cultural battleground. Yet despite all this conflict, this doc is shockingly drained of drama.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/19/insert-coin-official-trailer]

The story of Midway is told oral history-style, offering an array of talking-head interviews. Jarvis and former colleagues like programmer George Petro, art director Jack Haeger, and game designer Mark Turmell, step audiences through the highs and lows of Midway, including its beginnings as Williams Electronics and a messy merger that changed its name. Video game historians, journalists, and famous gamers — like Ready Player One author Ernest Cline — give cultural context to how these games hit or missed, sharing personal anecdotes and concise explainers on controversies the company faced. Altogether, they offer a steady stream of information about this game-changing era, including tasty trivia about T2’s motion-capture models, the bowler-hatted hero in NBA Jam’s lineup, and the cheeky origins of Sonya’s finishing move. Unfortunately, the film’s contents are let down by a crushing lack of showmanship.

Director Joshua Tsui knows video games. He worked in the field for 20 years, directing franchises like Mortal Kombat, Fight Night, and Tony Hawk. His respect for Midway Games is clear in every frame of the film as he gives their makers plenty of space to tell their stories in their own words, even when those words come out in an awkward ramble. It might be this same reverence that keeps Tsui from pushing into the story’s clear points of conflict.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-ign-mortal-kombat-game-review&captions=true”]

The movie mentions how Terminator 2 drew national attention for its alleged glorifying of cop killing, how Mortal Kombat sparked a national debate about video game violence that went all the way to Congress, and how the bosses at Midway encouraged in-fighting and hostility among their employees, believing it made them more competitive in making their games the best. Yet, Tsui never digs into these issues to uncover how they impacted the workers or the work. Each is presented more like a bump in the road as opposed to a dynamic obstacle, which makes this journey a slog.

Further hurting the movie’s momentum, Tsui tells his tale in clunky chapters rather than a dramatic arc. Title cars like “Building A Smash,” “Cinematic Ambitions,” or “From Filler To Killer” proclaims a new topic is about to be presented, and the last issue is officially closed. It gives the film all the flow of a poorly curated YouTube playlist, as Tsui uses the devices as an easy out for a touchy topic. Thus, a clumsy version of “all publicity is good publicity” becomes the last word on the T2 dust-up, a conclusion that is neither informative nor entertaining. It’s just frustrating and becomes increasingly so as each chapter lumbers into another with a similarly anti-climactic end.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=worst-reviewed-movies-of-2020&captions=true”]

Napoleon Dynamite Cast Members Will Hold Virtual Reunion To Benefit World Hunger

The cast of Napoleon Dynamite will be reuniting virtually in a special re-recorded program that will be available on December 4 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET on YouTube. (There isn’t yet a specific link to where on YouTube this will be happening.) Their gathering will benefit The Hunger Project, an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger.

Jon Heder (Napoleon), Efren Ramirez (Pedro), Jon Gries (Uncle Rico), Tina Majorino (Deb), Haylie Duff (Summer), and Shondrella Avery (LaFawnduh) will be joined by “several other surprise cast members for the program.” Here’s hoping the other Tina, the “fat lard” llama might be finding time in her busy schedule to Zoom in.

While the event is a benefit, it will reportedly also be free to view. Participants who make a donation of $75 or more will be entered into a raffle to win prizes including a hand-drawn portrait by Heder, a 20-minute acting lesson via Zoom with Ramirez, a custom Uncle Rico autographed Wilson NFL football courtesy of Gries, and a gold chain plus “some surprise items” from Avery.

Napoleon Dynamite was a hugely popular 2004 comedy film directed by Jared Hess (Gentlemen Broncos, Nacho Libre). It was purchased by Fox Searchlight after its Sundance Film Festival debut and grossed over $46 million on a $400,000 budget. It also spawned an animated series on Fox in 2012 and has gone on to become a cult classic.

This is just the latest in a long run of pandemic virtual benefit-reunions this year–in the last few weeks alone, there have been similar ones from Superbad and Seinfeld. Way back in April, there was even an online Goonies reunion.

Best Buy’s Black Friday Deals on PCs and Laptops

Best Buy’s Black Friday sale is here, and it’s huge. All manner of items have gotten their prices slashed, including gaming PCs and laptops. So if you’re in the market for a pre-built gaming rig, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’re keeping track of all the best deals on portable and desktop gaming PCs. We’re also throwing in some deals on monitors, mice, keyboards, and headsets, because why not?

If you’re interested in more than just PC gaming, be sure to check out our wider coverage of Best Buy’s Black Friday deals. And if you’re willing to venture outside of the big blue retailer, take a look at our Best Black Friday Deals mega-post, where we hand-pick all the best deals available anywhere, right now.

Gaming Laptop Black Friday Deals at Best Buy

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=best-buy-gaming-laptop-deals”]

Gaming PC Black Friday Deals at Best Buy

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=best-buy-gaming-pc-deals”]

Gaming PC Accessory Black Friday Deals at Best Buy

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=best-buy-monitor-deals&type=list”]

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=best-buy-gaming-headsets-deals&type=list”]

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=best-buy-keyboards-deals&type=list”]

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=black-friday-films-tv-best-buy”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and bonafide deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

[widget path=”ign/modules/recirc” parameters=”title=&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=us-shopping&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article”]

Red Dead Online Bounty Hunter Role Getting Expanded Alongside Standalone Update

Red Dead Online, the multiplayer component of Red Dead Redemption 2, is getting a significant expansion to the Bounty Hunter class. Starting on December 1, you’ll have loads of new outlaws to track down.

Rockstar announced that the update will intorduce 10 more Bounty Hunter ranks, new Legendary Bounties, and a 100 Rank Outlaw Pass to fill out. You’ll be able to earn new Prestigious level equipment by tracking down the new slew of criminals and reprobates.

In preparation for the big Bounty Hunter expansion, all Bounty Hunter missions will earn double XP this week. That should help you catch up with the role. You can get started by finding Jessica LeClerk and Horley. You can also join up with your friends in a Posse to get out increased RDO$ and XP for any Free Roam events, on top of the Bounties.

Gallery

Red Dead Online is launching a standalone version on December 1 as well, which will cost $20. You can get in at a discount by adopting early, though–through February 15, 2021, it will be 75% off for a grand total of only $5. You’ll need a subscription to PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold to play online through their respective consoles. Red Dead Online will also offer a purchase option to upgrade it with the Red Dead Redemption 2: Story Mode, which includes the single-player campaign.

You can also claim some rewards by linking your Rockstar Games Social Club account to your Prime Gaming account. Those include 5 free Legendary Animal Pheromones, 6,000 Naturalist XP, a Wilderness Camp, and a Katata Coat crafted from the Legendary Katata Elk.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Xbox Head Phil Spencer Weighs In On PS5’s DualSense Controller

Xbox head Phil Spencer enjoys the innovation that Sony has pushed with the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, stating that innovation by any of the major console manufacturers can only be good for the industry as a whole.

“I applaud what they did with the controller, not actually for–well, I shouldn’t say not for the specifics of the controller, but more than just the specifics of the controller,” Spencer told The Verge. “I think for all of us in the industry, we should learn from each other and the innovation that we all push on, whether it’s distribution of business model like Game Pass, or controller tech, or the Wii back in the day, which clearly had an impact on us when we went off and did Kinect and Sony did the Move.”

Spencer went on to add that innovation in the console and controller spaces can be welcome inspiration for others. The key, he clarifies, is knowing whether something will “become a common part of a platform that developers and players are going to look for” or “a specific scenario on a specific piece of hardware.” Spencer said that Xbox is trying to keep its eyes open for that distinction when developing new innovations for its consoles, including controller tech and VR.

For those unfamiliar, the PS5’s DualSense is pretty cool–provided developers use it well, it could be a game-changer for the industry. The controller supports haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a microphone and speaker, a touchpad, and an internal gyroscope. All of these come together to create different sensations while you play certain games on PS5. For example, walking across sand feels different than walking on grass in Astro’s Playroom, and you can tell the difference when you’re slicing into flesh as opposed to clanging your sword against a stone wall in Demon’s Souls.

Now Playing: How The PS5’s DualSense Makes Demon’s Souls More Intense

This Elgato Capture Card Black Friday Deal Lets You Stream PS5 And Xbox Series X Gameplay

If you’re looking to record and stream your gameplay on the PS5 or Xbox Series X, then you’ll need a capture card. Thankfully, Black Friday 2020 has delivered a deal on one of Elgato’s most popular models. The Elgato HD60 S capture card is currently $142 at Amazon, down from its regular price of $180. This deal is Elgato’s first of Black Friday, though it’s unclear if the company will discount any more of its products as the sale week progresses.

$142 (was $180)

The Elgato HD60 S is capable of recording gameplay up to 1080p and 60fps, which is more than enough for your stream or YouTube video. It connects via USB 3.0, so you’ll need the appropriate ports to use it on your PC of choice.

The downside to the HD60 S is that it does not support passthrough for 4K resolutions or HDR10, nor does it capture the latter. If you want features like this and passthrough for higher resolutions and frame rates, then you’ll need to go with one of Elgato’s higher-end models like the HD60 S+ or the 4K60 S+. If you want to learn more, check out our guide to the best capture cards for streaming on Twitch and YouTube.

If you’re looking for more discounts, check out the best Black Friday TV deals and the best gaming monitor deals. A good TV or monitor is an excellent way to improve your gaming setup. There are also a number of sales on PS5 and PS4 games, Xbox Series X and Xbox One games, and Nintendo Switch games, so if you’re looking for something to stream, now’s a great time to stock up.

Batman Animated Movies and Comics: Buy 3 for 2 on Amazon

Amazon’s incredible “get 3 for the price of 2” Black Friday sale has started, and a ton of Batman animated movies, shows, and graphic novels are included. Some of Batman’s most iconic stories are included in these deals, meaning you can stock up or get a friend into the franchise without busting your bat-wallet.

There’s more deals than we can include, so click that first link to go to the whole list on Amazon. You may have to enter “Batman” into the small search bar on the right to filter items.

Black Friday 3-for-2 Batman Deal at Amazon

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=amazons-3-for-2-batman-sale”]