Month: May 2021

Best Memorial Day 2021 PC and Laptop Deals

From price matches to the latest and greatest discounts, Memorial Day is looking to be another brilliant weekend of deals. There are plenty of video game deals, alongside some of the very best discounts on laptops and desktop PCs available for the year. All these deals will only be available until the end of the day on May 31, so don’t miss out.

Right now, only Best Buy has a decent selection of Memorial Day deals, but this will definitely change soon, so stay tuned for more updates. Highlights from Best Buy include discounts on 2020 Apple iMacs, and discounts on 4K TVs perfect for PS5 and Xbox Series X if you’re interested.

Memorial Day 2021 Dell Sale

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Memorial Day 2021: Best Buy PC and Laptop Deals

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Memorial Day 2021 Sales

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Robert Anderson is a Commerce Editor and deals expert for IGN. Follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

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Former People Can Fly Devs Form Gruby Entertainment to Make New First-Person Shooter

A small group of staff from Bulletstorm and Gears of War Judgment developers People Can Fly have splintered off to create their own new studio, Gruby Entertainment.

A report from GamesIndustry reveals the new team is set to work on a brand new first-person shooter franchise, which isn’t a surprising move for developers with such an action game pedigree. Gruby is set to work with publisher Super.com, which has previously released games like Raji: An Ancient Epic, Retro Machina, and Alchemist Adventure.

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Alongside publishing duties, Super.com will also be providing consultation and mentorhip as Gruby Entertainment strikes out on its own. Poland-based Gruby Entertainment was founded by ex-People Can Fly developers Grzegorz Michalak, Karol Szyska, and Kamil Misiowiec in 2020.

The reason for their departure was not revealed, but according to the report, the studio is also staffed with developers with experience in a variety of games, from independent to AAA titles.

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In a quote regarding the new studio, Misiowiec said, “We are thrilled to expand our team and knowledge base, and show the world a fresh approach to action games”. The studio aims to, “create solid, high-calorie gameplay for hardcore players, granting them action-packed hours of entertainment accompanied by crucial and meaningful decisions.”

Given that the studio only officially formed last year, it’s likely to be a while before we see anything come out of the fledgling team, but if you’re interested in first person shooters, this could be a team to keep your eye on.

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Liam Wiseman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @liamthewiseman

Best Memorial Day 2021 Deals at Best Buy

Best Buy’s Memorial Day sale is finally live, and there some incredible deals to check out at the moment. With discounts on home appliances, 4K TVs, video games, and much more, there’s a little something for everyone in the sales this weekend.

All of these deals go away after Memorial Day 2021, so be sure to grab them before Monday, May 31 comes to an end.

TL;DR – Our Favourite Memorial Day Deals

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Memorial Day 2021: Best Buy 4K TV Deals

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Best Buy Video Games Deals for Memorial Day 2021

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Best Memorial Day 2021 Deals on PCs at Best Buy

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Memorial Day 2021 Sales

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

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Monster Hunter Rise Gives In-Game Gift To Celebrate 7 Millions Shipped Copies

In celebration of 7 million shipped Monster Hunter Rise copies, Capcom gave players a free in-game gift. The items, as detailed in the tweet below, include 30 mega potions, 20 well-done steaks, 10 large bomb barrels, five mega demondrugs, and five mega armorskins. You can claim the items by speaking to Senri the Mailman.

Capcom’s surprise freebies came on the heels of Monster Hunter Rise’s 3.0 update. 3.0 added two new monsters, Crimson Glow Valstrax and Apex Zinogre, to the game. From Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Crimson Glow Valstrax is an elder dragon “driven mad by its own rampant energy.” Apex Zinogre is a scale-covered monster armed with lightning attacks.

Now Playing: Monster Hunter Rise: Hunting 101 – Overview

A new event quest and challenge quest are also now available. The I Can’t Do What Somnacan quest will give Blowing a Kiss gesture to all players who defeat a Somnacanth. In the new challenge quest, players can see how fast they can defeat a Tetranadon.

Monster Hunter Rise was a big hit and continues to sell well. Moving 7 million copies while only being available on one platform–Nintendo Switch–is pretty impressive. For comparison, Monster Hunter Rise’s current sales have surpassed Street Fighter II’s total lifetime sales on SNES.

Monster Hunter Rise’s PC version is expected to arrive in early 2022.

The Monster Hunter franchise is one of Capcom’s best-selling series so far. Monster Hunter World has sold over 17.1 million units since release, topping the list of Capcom’s Platinum Titles.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Twitch’s DMCA Problems Resurface, May Cause Another Ban Or Strike Wave

Another ban wave spurred on by DMCA claims could be starting on Twitch very soon. On Twitter, esports analyst and consultant Rod “Slasher” Breslau shared an email from Twitch. According to the email, the Amazon-owned streaming service has received a massive 1,000 DMCA claims from music labels. Specifically, the claims are “for VODs, and the vast majority target streamers listening to background music while playing video games or IRL streaming.”

Of course, it’s not easy to file 1,000 DMCA claims, and Twitch believes that some music labels “used automated tools to scan and identify copyrighted music in creators’ VODs and Clips.” If that is the case, it doesn’t bode well for streamers on the platform. With a tool that sweeps through the VODs and Clips of content creators, a song that briefly plays in a piece of content from years ago can lead to a DMCA strike. This was the case for content creator Sneepsnuck, who claims to have received a DMCA strike on a VOD from 2019 because Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams was playing.

In cases like these, Twitch hasn’t been entirely helpful to its streamers. When another massive DMCA claim wave hit Twitch this past November, the streaming platform suggested that its users delete every single Clip or VOD in their library.

That being said, Twitch seems to be working with music labels and rights holders to work out a solution. “We are actively speaking with music labels about solutions that could work for creators as well as rights holders,” reads the email from Twitch. “This is our first such contact from the music publishing industry (there can be several owners for a single piece of music), and we are disappointed they decided to send takedowns when we are willing and ready to speak to them about solutions.”

The increased threat of DMCA takedowns for streamers has even impacted game development. Due to the importance of streaming in a game’s marketing, developers have doubled down on their efforts to ensure streamers will be safe playing their game on Twitch. To that end, more games are being shipped with DMCA-friendly options that can toggle off music that may be subject to DMCA claims. However, this approach doesn’t always work, as was proven by a wave of DMCA issues that hit Cyberpunk 2077 streamers.

Steam’s Download Page Could Look A Lot Different In A Future Update

Steam has slowly been updating its user interface to have a more modern aesthetic, something which can currently be seen on the marketplace and any backlog of games. The next component of the digital distribution platform that is set to receive a redesign is its download page, which will be more aesthetically in line with recent upgrades.

Here’s what the new download page will reportedly look like, as spotted by SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik and PC Gamer:

For the sake of comparison, here’s what the current download queue looks like as the best Batman game makes its way from the servers and onto a waiting computer:

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It’s undeniably similar to the current progress page for checking how far a download is before you can hop into a game, but sleeker and sharper as you watch numerous lines of data arrive. It’s worth noting that this design isn’t final and things could change before the update officially rolls out, but this should be a good indicator of where Steam is headed.

“They’re working on a new settings page as well, but it doesn’t open so easily though,” Djundik added. “Looks like Valve is slowly but surely heading towards removing VGUI.”

VGUI stands for the Valve Graphical User Interface, the software that has long been the foundation for Steam’s signature look over the years. In other Steam news, a recent leak saw the reveal of a handheld console codenamed “SteamPal” that appears to be currently in development, although there’s no guarantee that this device will ever see the light of day.

If Steam does start seriously thinking of entering into the portable gaming space though, a compact and more modern user interface could be a first step towards seeing the company shift gears and venture into a new market.

Returnal’s First Boss Is Also The Deadliest In The Game, According To Housemarque

Returnal has been out exclusively on PlayStation 5 for nearly a month now, which has given developer Housemarque a ton of data about how players are enjoying (and struggling) with its third-person action roguelite. Just how many times have players died, how many enemies have been slain by Selene, and how many hours have been played overall? Unsurprisingly, the numbers for all of those and more are all pretty high.

Over the past month, players have racked up nearly six million collectively hours of Returnal runs, which roughly translates to 684 years of gameplay. Throughout those runs, players have slain over a billion enemies, while Housemarque’s enemy AI has bested players over nine million times.

Now Playing: Returnal Video Review

Perhaps the most surprising stat that was shared concerns the game’s first boss, Phrike. It turns out this is the enemy that has killed players the most, which drives home just how challenging Returnal can be before you’ve unlocked a couple of weapon mods and found your groove with its action. Less surprising is players’ favorite weapon, with the Hollowseeker and its ridiculously powerful modifications coming out on top.

Returnal is regularly receiving updates that continue to balance the game’s exhilarating gunplay and fix persistent crashes and other technical issues, while Housemarque has stated that it is actively looking at addressing the game’s lack of a save system. It’s still one of the best games of the year despite that, with GameSpot’s Returnal review reading, “Returnal’s many moving parts coalesce into a rare shooter that grabs you with its mechanics and its story and never lets go, seducing you with its challenges and a foreboding sense of dread every step of the way.”

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Netflix Says 72 Million Households Started Watching Army Of The Dead

Netflix has revealed that Army of the Dead is on the way to becoming one of its most popular movies. The streaming giant states that the zombie heist movie has been watched by 72 million households in just a week on release.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that 72 million households have sat through all 148 minutes of Zack Snyder’s latest movie. Netflix counts the first two minutes of any film or show as a viewing–which in the case of Army of the Dead, is less than 2% of the entire running time. So we know that a huge number of people started the movie–how many finished remains unknown.

Nevertheless, even with those slightly misleading figures, the movie is clearly a success for Netflix. Last year, the service revealed its most watched films of all time. The Chris Hemsworth-starring action movie Extraction stands as the platform’s biggest hit with 99 million watches over its first four weeks, while the dystopian thriller Bird Box scored 89 million viewers in the same amount of time.

Unsurprisingly, Netflix plans to turn Army of the Dead into a franchise. A prequel movie titled Army of Thieves has already been shot, with Army star Matthias Schweighöfer directing. There’s also the animated show Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas in the works.

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to all the best originals, movies, and shows hitting Netflix in June.

New Marvel Book Detailing The Making Of The MCU Gets Huge Preorder Discount

Marvel is pulling back the curtain on the Marvel Cinematic Universe with an upcoming book that is sure to interest longtime fans of the MCU. The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a massive two-volume set that releases October 19. It has an eye-popping list price of $150, but right now Amazon is selling preorders for $90. As always with Amazon preorders, you’ll get the lowest price offered between the time you order and release.

$90 (was $150)

The Story of Marvel Studios provides an in-depth look at the creation of the now ubiquitous cinematic franchise. The book goes in chronological order from the founding of the studio all the way up to the beginning of Phase Four of the MCU. From Iron Man to Spider-Man: Far From Home, this book will have the inside scoop on your favorite Marvel movies and the process that brought them to life.

Authors Tara Bennett and Paul Terry interviewed more than 200 people who have worked on the MCU, including cast members, writers, directors, concept artists, and more. The two-volume set contains archived production assets as well as never-before-seen photography from the sets.

The premium cloth-bound hardcover books come in a decorative slipcase and feature cover art designed by Marvel Studio’s head of visual development Ryan Meinerding. The set also includes a foreword by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and an afterword by Robert Downey Jr.

WWE And New Japan Pro-Wrestling Could Be Working Together Very Soon – Report

WWE President Nick Khan has been talking with New Japan Pro-Wrestling over a working relationship, according to a report from Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The idea is that WWE will be the exclusive American company to crossover with Japan’s biggest wrestling promotion.

The report also includes that it would involve WWE sending talent and top stars to work in NJPW, but the report isn’t clear if NJPW would send its performers outside of Japan. If this colossal deal would go through, it has huge ramifications for NJPW’s relationship with American companies like Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, and of course, AEW. It’s worth noting that former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, is also the current IWGP United States Champion.

The report also stated that early talks began around Wrestlemania this year, but there is no indication as to what stage discussions are at the current time. With Japan’s strict COVID restrictions and policies, it’s unclear how transportation and promotion would work in a real-time scenario right now.

Even top NJPW stars like Jay White couldn’t come back to Japan after being in New Zealand for months when things initially went down. He couldn’t even compete in last year’s New Japan Cup tournament. While the world might be heading towards more lackadaisical responses with masks, countries like Canada and Japan are attempting to keep a tight lid on the situation.

It’s interesting to note that WWE used to cross-promote with a lot of other companies throughout the ’90s, even New Japan at one point. ECW “invaded” WWE during its heyday, and there were regular NWA appearances as well. Even Hulk Hogan back in 1993–as the WWE Champion at the time–was saying how great the IWGP Championship was and how it was the “most important belt in the world.”

Fans speculation of any sort of booking took like wildfire, and while it truly is an exciting time as a wrestling fan, we’ll have to ride this one out until it’s all signed, sealed, and delivered.