Month: September 2021

Norm Macdonald, Legendary Comedian and Saturday Night Live Cast Member, Has Died at 61

Norm Macdonald, known for his acerbic wit and jabs at conventional comedy, has died. He was 61.

Deadline broke the news that Macdonald died after a nine year battle with cancer, which he has kept largely private. Producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra told Deadline that he wanted to focus on his comedy.

“He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him,” Hoekstra said. “Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”

Comedians and other influential figures on social media quickly paid tribute to Macdonald.

Macdonald is best-known for his stint on Saturday Night Live between 1993 and 1998, where he hosted Weekend Update in an era in which figures like O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton loomed large. His savage sense of humor and penchant for pushing boundaries won him many fans, among his greatest moments being his utter destruction of ESPN’s Award Show as its host in 1998. That same sense of humor reportedly resulted in his firing from SNL, as he wouldn’t stop insulting O.J. Simpson, much to the reported displeasure of NBC president Don Ohlmeyer.

Outside of Saturday Night Live, Macdonald’s work included appearances in films including Billy Madison and The People vs. Larry Flynt, as well as a recurring role in The Orville as the voice of Yaphit. As recently as last year, Macdonald hosted a YouTube talk show called Quarantined in which he interviewed various celebrities such as Chevy Chase.

Macdonald was born in Quebec, Canada. He is survived among others by Neil Macdonald, a well-known Canadian journalist.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Announced, Have Big Improvements For Games

Apple has announced its latest iPhone, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. If you’ve been paying attention to smartphone upgrades, you’ll probably have guessed that all the new features are small–the cameras are better, there’s some neat new software tricks, and the screen is slightly brighter. The iPhone 13 is no different, even with its new A15 chip. But it’s this chip that could be a big deal for mobile gaming.

With huge games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, and more, mobile gaming requires more power than ever before. Couple this with advancements in game engines, such as Fortnite moving to Unreal Engine 5, and it’s simple to understand that smartphones will need to keep up. Apple’s silicon has been ahead of the competition for years now, but the A15 makes a big deal about being better for gaming.

Now Playing: 11 Minutes of Genshin Impact Aloy Gameplay

In the iPhone 13, the A15 chip features a 4-core GPU for accelerated gaming performance, with Apple claiming that you can expect up to 30% faster performance in games. The iPhone 13 Pro is a step further, with a 5-core GPU letting you take advantage of the phone’s 120Hz True Motion display. Both models feature OLED panels, just like last year, so you don’t have to go all in with the Pro for the best-looking display, but that extra horsepower might be useful if you really need all the performance you can get.

This doesn’t just apply to native apps either. The iPhone 13, like many other smartphones, will be a great device for game streaming, whether it’s just remote play with your Xbox Series X|S and PS5 or cloud gaming via Xbox Cloud Gaming or Google Stadia (although native support for either is still missing on iOS). Having more GPU performance will only serve to make these gaming experiences smoother, and the benefit of 5G in both the standard and Pro models mean you can take advantage of the low latencies the technology offers, if you’re in a supported region.

The iPhone 13 launches on September 24 for $799, while the iPhone 13 Mini starts at $699. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max launch on the same day for $999 and $1099 respectively. All models now start at a base of 128GB of storage, and improvement from last year without a price bump.

Best Star Wars Games: 10 Must-Play Titles Set In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars is composed of dozens of different stories, many of which have been told outside of the mainline movies. One of the most prominent sources since the franchise’s creation has been video games, with studios reimagining Star Wars’ existing stories and characters or creating new ones across dozens of gaming genres, including racing games, shooters, flight simulators, and role-playing games. And though Star Wars games could stand to get a little bit weirder going forward, there have already been plenty of wonderful games that take place in a galaxy far, far away. Below, we’ve rounded up the 10 best Star Wars games.

As a quick note: These games are not listed in the order of best to worst, or vice versa. We’ve simply listed them in the order by which they launched, from 1994’s TIE Fighter to 2021’s Republic Commando Remastered and every game we loved in between. And yes, KOTOR is on the list. You do not have to keep scrolling if you came here just to make sure that we didn’t forget to list KOTOR–we got you. And with a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake for PS5/PC in the works at Aspyr, there’s never been a better time to look back on the iconic BioWare RPG. We’ll be sure to come back and update this list as new Star Wars games are released (assuming they’re good enough to knock any of these games off).

Developer Totally Games’ Star Wars: TIE Fighter is a flight simulator meets space combat game set in the Star Wars universe that wowed fans back in 1994 and surprisingly still holds up in several ways today. It begins immediately following the events of The Empire Strikes Back and continues until the final battle of Return of the Jedi, having you play as a talented TIE pilot charged with going after pirates or traitors to the Galactic Empire. It’s a shame that TIE Fighter is no longer canon, as it tells a superb story about what it was like to be an Imperial during the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. The game provides insight into “the bad guys” of Star Wars, showing that most Imperial soldiers weren’t Emperor Palpatine-level evil. It’s a perspective that other Star Wars video games–like Battlefront II and Squadrons–have tried to replicate, but have never quite done as well as TIE Fighter. Star Wars: TIE Fighter is available for PC.

Developer Raven Software’s Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is the third game in the Jedi Knight series, which began with 1995’s Dark Forces. The series follows Kyle Katarn, a mercenary-turned-Jedi who briefly embraces the Dark Side and thus can use all manner of Force abilities. In Jedi Outcast, Kyle has forsaken the Force, only to learn that he needs to reconnect with his Force sensitivity in order to combat a threat posed to the New Republic. Jedi Outcast is the point in the Jedi Knight series where combat fully transitions to a hybrid of shooter and lightsaber combat. That, along with the really good single-player campaign, makes Jedi Outcast the best of the Jedi Knight games. Jedi Outcast also sees Kyle meet with several popular Star Wars characters, like Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian, providing a look at their lives (admittedly, one that is no longer canon) after the events of Return of the Jedi. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is available for PS4, Switch, Xbox, GameCube, and PC.

See our Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast review.

Developer BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is beloved by Star Wars fans as one of the best (if not the best) Star Wars games ever made. Set thousands of years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, KOTOR sees you exploring the Star Wars galaxy in an effort to find a way to stop Darth Malak, a Sith who killed his master, Darth Revan, to take over the Sith armada and launch an invasion against the Galactic Republic and a fractured Jedi Order. Along the way, you recruit new allies, learn Force abilities, and make meaningful choices that influence both how the story ultimately ends and whether you embrace the Light or Dark Side of the Force. KOTOR also introduces some of the best Star Wars characters ever created, such as Jedi Knight Bastila Shan, Twi’lek street urchin Mission Vao, and assassin droid HK-47. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available on Xbox, PC, and both Android and iOS devices. As mentioned already, a KOTOR remake is currently in development at Aspyr.

See our Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic review.

Developer BioWare Austin’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has come a long way since its launch in 2011–this massively multiplayer online role-playing game is still kicking too, with a thriving playerbase and an eighth major content expansion, Legacy of the Sith, coming out in celebration of its 10-year run. Taking place hundreds of years after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Old Republic allows you to play through eight distinct storylines during the ongoing conflict between the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic. Each storyline sees you recruiting different squadmates, responding to different moral-based dialogue choices, wielding different weapons and abilities, meeting different characters, and having the chance to fall in love with different romance options. So you basically have eight different story-driven RPGs here, all of which feature missions you can tackle alongside well-written NPC companions or real-world players. Star Wars: The Old Republic is available for PC.

See our Star Wars: The Old Republic review.

Developer Traveller’s Tales Games’ Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a charming and fun way to once again experience the story of Episode 7. The Force Awakens introduces a lot of new ideas to the formula for the Lego games, many of which seem to be the basis of what we’ll get in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga–cover-based shooting, multiple hubs that exist as separate open worlds, and starfighter battles, for example. Star Wars fans who know Episode 7’s plot inside-and-out can find something new here too, as The Force Awakens provides backstory for details that were never explained in (or were cut from) the movie, like why C-3PO has a red arm and how Poe Dameron managed to escape from Jakku after being separated from Finn. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PC, and both Android and iOS devices.

See our Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens review.

Developer DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront II (not to be confused with Pandemic Studios’ 2005 game Star Wars: Battlefront II) made an extremely rough first impression in 2017–there aren’t many games that can claim to have a microtransaction controversy prior to their official launch on par with this one. But to the credit of DICE (and support studios Criterion Games and Motive Studios), Battlefront II got substantial post-launch content, balancing updates, bug fixes, and (most importantly) adjustments to how the in-game economy works. It’s now a rewarding game to play, with a decent-but-not-fantastic single-player campaign about an elite Galactic Empire special forces trooper defecting to the New Republic, and an expansive online multiplayer experience with plenty of awesome modes to play. Star Wars: Battlefront II is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

See our Star Wars: Battlefront II review.

There are very few moments in Star Wars that capture how terrifying Darth Vader is–the final moments of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, his few appearances in Star Wars: Rebels Season 2, and his adventures in Kieron Gillen’s Star Wars: Darth Vader are the standouts. But that overwhelming sense of fear that many feel when standing in Darth Vader’s presence wasn’t fully-realized within video games until developer ILMxLAB’s Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series. You don’t quite realize just how imposingly tall and intimidating Vader is until he’s looming over you and threatening your life. The game’s story takes place in between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, seeing you play as a smuggler who gets caught up in Darth Vader’s attempts to bring Padmé Amidala back to life. Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series is available for Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, and PSVR.

Developer Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure game that incorporates a Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice-like parry system for its lightsaber combat and takes inspiration from both metroidvania and Souls-like games for its exploration and progression. Taking place after Revenge of the Sith, Fallen Order sees you play as Jedi Padawan-turned-scrapper Cal Kestis, who goes on the run with Jedi Knight-turned-outlaw Cere Junda, pilot Greez Dritus, and droid BD-1 when Imperial Inquisitors Second Sister and Ninth Sister (former Jedi turned to the dark side and trained by Darth Vader) start hunting him. Fallen Order digs deep into some of the themes only glossed over in other Star Wars media, such as understanding yourself enough to fight against your own darkness and knowing how and when to ask for help when tackling an overwhelming adversity. There’s some excellent storytelling going on when Cal meets Nightsister Merrin and the two try to broach common ground through the trauma of watching their respective orders fall. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC, and Stadia.

See our Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review.

Developer Motive Studios’ Star Wars: Squadrons is fantastic. Though the game’s single-player campaign–which sees you alternate between the newest members of the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron and the Galactic Empire’s Titan Squadron following the events of Return of the Jedi–isn’t very good beyond acting as a decent story-driven tutorial, online multiplayer is a blast to play. Matches put you into fast-paced 5v5 dogfights where communicating with your team and managing how much energy you’re putting towards your shields, engines, or weapons is just as important as being a good shot. Squadrons is simple to learn but rewards commitment with a high skill ceiling–there are few things as satisfying as finally mastering an advanced maneuver and pulling it off at the end of a match to get the winning kill. Star Wars: Squadrons is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The PS4 and PC versions can be played in VR.

See our Star Wars: Squadrons review.

Developer LucasArts’ Star Wars: Republic Commando was one of the earliest stories to explore the identical faces but vastly different personalities of the soldiers that make up the Galactic Republic’s Clone Army. Aspyr Media’s enhanced port is the same excellent game but with prettier visuals, a better control scheme, and no multiplayer (though Republic Commando’s online multiplayer was never that good to begin with). Despite being an older game–Republic Commando first launched in 2005–it’s still wonderful to get to know the members of Delta Squad (Boss, Scorch, Fixer, and Sev) as the four take part in three special ops missions in between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Star Wars: Republic Commando Remastered is available for PS4 and Switch.

See our Star Wars: Republic Commando Remastered review.

Netflix’s Grendel Series Reveals Full Cast for Comic Book Adaptation

Netflix has added the acclaimed Dark Horse series Grendel to its ever-growing lineup of comic book adaptations. The streamer has greenlit an eight-episode season centered around the comic’s original protagonist, Hunter Rose.

Grendel will be written by Supernatural veteran Andrew Dabb, who is also serving as showrunner and executive producer. The series is also executive produced by Grendel creator Matt Wagner and Dark Horse Entertainment’s Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg and Chris Tongue.

Abubakr Ali (Power: Book II) has been tapped to star as Hunter Rose. A gifted fencer and acclaimed novelist, Rose is driven by a mixture of boredom and vengeance to become a costumed vigilante, before ultimately taking control of the city’s criminal underworld. Jaime Ray Newman (Dopesick) has been cast as Hunter’s mentor Jocasta Rose. Julian Black Antelope plays Hunter’s heroic nemesis, Argent, a centuries-old Native American man transformed into a werewolf.

The Season 1 cast also includes Madeline Zima (Californication) as Liz Sparks, Kevin Corrigan (Scenes from an Empty Church) as Barry Palumbo, Emma Ho (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) as Stacy Palumbo, Erik Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Teddy Ciccone, Brittany Allen (What Keeps You Alive) as Annabelle Wright and Andy Mientus (The Flash) as Andy Stohler.

Grendel originally debuted in 1982’s Comico Primer #2, with Wagner later expanding on his original, unfinished story in the graphic novel Grendel: Devil by the Deed. Since then, the Grendel saga has continued at Dark Horse through various ongoing and limited series, the most recent of which was 2019’s Grendel: Devil’s Odyssey. While the early Grendel tales focus on Hunter Rose’s rise and fall, Wagner’s story often jumps forward in time to explore other characters taking up the Grendel mantle and the the never-ending cycle of violence and aggression Rose leaves in his wake.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about the Grendel saga, one of the longest-running independent comics series, finally being translated into live-action for the screen,” said Wagner in a statement. “Under the sharp guidance of showrunner Andrew Dabb, our incredible creative team, sure-to-be stellar cast and Dark Horse Entertainment have teamed with Netflix to produce this provocative adaptation that will bring my characters and concepts to an all new audience and yet still provide excitement and surprises for die-hard fans. I’m especially excited to see Abubakr Ali bring the character of Grendel/Hunter Rose to life — he has the charisma, style and vital edginess that I’ve been envisioning in the role for years.”

Grendel marks the latest collaboration between Netflix and Dark Horse. The streamer announced Umbrella Academy: Season 3 in November 2020, and we have some ideas for where the story is headed next. Netflix is also developing an animated adaptation of Stan Sakai’s Usago Yojimbo comics dubbed Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Bayonetta Creator Says Older Games’ Unavailability Is “Holding Game Culture Back”

Platinum Games’ Hideki Kamiya (studio creative director) commented on the frenzy and the sky-high prices attached to certain “vintage” video games, expressing understanding but also pointing out the problems obscenely high prices attached to older games causes–it makes it harder for players to experience classic titles, and this is in his view, “holding game culture back.”

In an interview with VGC, Kamiya stated, “As a collector myself, I understand the lure of wanting to have that game in the sealed package,” Kamyia stated. “People want the value of that package and not necessarily of the game itself. But as a fan, it’s a problem if somebody wants to play a game but they can’t get it because it’s being traded in these ridiculous marketplaces.”

Now Playing: Project GG – Teaser Trailer (Platinum Games)

He continued, “And the responsibility for keeping those games available belongs to the company that owns the IP. If people want to play a classic game and they can’t, because it’s not available on new platforms and can’t be found in its original form either, that’s like a threat … it’s holding game culture back. The people who own the rights to these games should be actively making moves to preserve game culture and making games available to everyone who wants to play them.”

In the same interview, Kamiya and Platinum Games’ Atsushi Inaba (studio head) covered other ground, including the question they both probably expected: Any Bayonetta updates? Short answer: No.

It largely sounds out of Inaba and Kamiya’s hands on what Bayonetta details–including an approximate timeline–they can reveal. Kamiya commented, ” … If you remember last time, I said that even though everyone was asking about Bayonetta 3, maybe you should tell everyone to forget about it for a while. I kind of need to keep to that stance for now because ultimately, it’s not our decision what to say and when to say it.”

In other Bayonetta 3 news, original Bayonetta voice actress Hellena Taylor gave a pretty indirect, sort-of, comment on her involvement in the upcoming game. In response to a fan saying that they could not imagine anybody else voicing Bayonetta, Taylor replied, “Well you might have to.” Asked to further clarify, Taylor responded, “I’m not at liberty to say.” She later replied to another tweet asking about her involvement in the project, stating “I so wanna answer that one but I’m bound by confidentiality agreement.”

Sol Cresta–a retro vertical shooter–is Platinum Games’ next big release and will launch on December 9. It will retail for $40 and be available on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Halo Infinite’s Warthog Is Real: Here’s How It Was Made

A real-life Warthog from Halo Infinite made a splash at the world premiere of the Ryan Reynolds video game-themed film Free Guy, and now a new 10-part weekly video series on YouTube will dive deep into the vehicle’s creation.

The build comes from Hoonigan Industries, an automotive brand that is no stranger to crafting custom vehicles. The Warthog took hundreds of hours to build over the course of a year, and is capable of reaching a top speed of over 100 mph thanks to a 438ci twin turbo small block Ford V8 engine. The vehicle’s body, interior, and accessories were all hand-crafted using high-res images of the Warthog provided by Halo developer 343 Industries.

This real-world Warthog comes with fully functional off-road racing suspension and active 4-wheel steering, meaning it’s capable of climbing over rocks and rough terrain just like its in-game counterpart.

In the first first part of the ongoing series, fans get to see the early stages of the Warthog’s creation, including a discussion with Halo franchise creative director Frank O’Connor and senior Halo franchise manager Corrine Robinson. Oh, and the builders over at Hoonigan also play a bit of Halo: Combat Evolved for good measure.

Players will get their first chance to take Halo Infinite’s Warthog for a spin soon, as the game’s next multiplayer test starts September 24 and will include the game’s Big Team Battle mode. The mode will pit two teams of 12 against one another on larger maps perfect for vehicular mayhem. To get the chance to participate in the upcoming playtest, you need to become a Halo Insider.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Netflix’s Bright Is Returning in October as a Samurai Anime… With Orcs

Netflix has released a trailer and poster for Bright: Samurai Soul, an upcoming anime set in the magical world of David Ayer’s live-action, Will Smith-starring film Bright.

Netflix recently offered fans a slice of the action by dropping the first trailer for director Kyohei Ishiguro’s anime spinoff. The story revolves around Izou, a Ronin, and Raiden, an orc, who work to bring a young elf girl and the wand she carries to the land of the elves in the north during the early years of Japan’s Meiji Restoration. Check out the first trailer below:

The English-language voice cast of Bright: Samurai Soul features Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu in the role of Izou, the one-eyed wandering samurai. Netflix revealed that Liu is joined in the cast by Fred Mancuso as the orc Raiden, who attempts to redeem himself from a life of thievery; and Yuzu Harada as the young elf Sonya.

The Netflix Geeked Twitter account also shared a poster for Bright: Samurai Soul, which is set to premiere on the streamer on October 12. The upcoming anime explores an all-new setting and era while introducing a fresh bunch of characters, many of whom are featured on the poster, with the film’s human ronin, orc assassin, and elf orphan taking center stage.

Last year, Netflix announced its plans to produce more anime content after noting an exceptional uptake in anime streaming on the platform, with statistics showing that over 100 million households globally watched at least one anime title on Netflix between October 2019 and September 2020 — a noted increase of more than 50% on the previous year’s figures.

Bright: Samurai Soul is just the latest addition to a growing list of anime titles on Netflix, with many more still to come. It joins several other planned titles at the streamer, including a Tomb Raider anime series with Hayley Atwell as the voice of Lara Croft, an anime prequel series of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, and a new horror sci-fi tale called Make My Day.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Alan Wake Remastered Is Ditching the Original’s Product Placement

With brand deals for the 2010 cult classic Alan Wake long since expired, the title’s upcoming remaster will not feature its predecessor’s iconic product placements when it launches on October 5.

According to an article by Screen Rant, Remedy is set to strip the game of its real-world products when it releases next month. With brand deals having since expired for the title, a PR representative for Alan Wake Remastered confirmed that the remaster will be replacing its partnership-sponsored advertisements with generic in-universe branding.

Aside from its otherworldly tone and cult classic status, the original release of Alan Wake also became known (less lovingly) for its high number of brand deals. Product placement in the psychological thriller managed to creep its way into everything from background environment models to the title’s core gameplay elements. When exploring the quaint mining town of Bright Falls, fans will likely remember the Verizon billboards that stood proudly along the game’s forest-lined streets, even after darkness fell.

The title didn’t stop there, however, as a number of core gameplay elements also brought with them exclusive brand tie-ins. From searching far and wide for Energizer branded batteries as a vital source of power for Alan’s torch to including vehicles manufactured by Ford and Lincoln, players were never far away from encountering a familiar corporate logo in the game.

The inclusion of real-world products in Alan Wake is one that divided its fanbase. While some players balk at the idea of real-world products being pushed on consumers during a time of escapism, others found it gave the title grounding and relatability. In a Reddit thread detailing Remedy’s decision to replace the old branded products with in-universe advertisements, one fan seemed particularly repulsed by the thought of using anything but Energizer batteries to power their torch:

To see more from the upcoming remaster, make sure to check out the title’s recent trailer, which debuted at this month’s PlayStation Showcase. It’ll be interesting to see – if there is an Alan Wake sequel on the way – whether that game gets the same generic branding, or if the real-world advertisements return.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Razer’s New Wolverine V2 Chroma Controller Is Built For Competitive Gaming

Razer has unveiled the Wolverine V2 Chroma, a new Xbox and PC controller that focuses on customization, ergonomics, and competitive performance. The Wolverine V2 Chroma joins an already solid lineup of premium Xbox controllers (Elite Series 2, Scuff Instinct Pro), and it’s quite possibly the most impressive of the bunch in multiple ways. The Wolverine V2 Chroma is available to purchase now for $150 on Razer’s website. It will also be sold at select major retailers.

The Wolverine V2 Chroma has an L-shaped fulcrum design that makes it more natural to hold than previous Wolverine controllers. The front and back of the handles feature a textured rubber grip. Overall, this shape makes it feel a tad more comfortable than the conventional Xbox controller shape, especially when it comes to accessing the additional triggers and bumpers.

The Wolverine V2 Chroma is a wired controller for competitive gamers.
The Wolverine V2 Chroma is a wired controller for competitive gamers.

While the Elite Series 2 and Scuff Instinct Pro each have four back paddles, the Wolverine V2 Chroma has four in addition to a pair of extra bumpers next to the triggers on top. Razer also retooled the design of the back panel triggers, placing them in the center of the controller in an ideal position for your middle fingers to access. These aren’t traditional paddles; they are built-in buttons that have the same great feel as the standard triggers.

Razer created a dedicated app for the Wolverine V2 Chroma that can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store on Xbox and PC. The app allows you to remap inputs and save profiles.

Equipped with Mecha-Tactile face buttons and D-pad, the Wolverine V2 Chroma is comparable to clicking a mouse. The Mecha-Tactile buttons have quicker actuation than standard console controllers, which make the V2 Chroma a more suitable option for competitive gaming.

Four of the multi-function buttons are located on the back of the controller.
Four of the multi-function buttons are located on the back of the controller.

The Wolverine V2 Chroma also has trigger stop switches to reduce the length of RT and LT pulls. While the controller comes fitted with thumbsticks that resemble the Xbox Wireless Controller, you can swap them out with the included dome-shaped and taller sticks. The controller has all of the other menu buttons you’d find on official first-party controllers, including the new Share button.

I’ve been using the Wolverine V2 Chroma for the past few days and have come away mightily impressed. If it were wireless, it would likely become my main Xbox controller. Once again, this Wolverine controller is wired, though it does connect via a detachable (and appropriately lengthy) USB-C cable. Razer told me it chose to go with a wired design for competitive performance (response times). That said, the option to use this controller wirelessly would be nice for those who aren’t concerned (or wouldn’t even notice) the response time differences.

If you’re looking for a new Xbox gamepad and play a lot of competitive multiplayer, the Wolverine V2 Chroma is an excellent option and will soon join our list of the best Xbox Series X controllers. It’s also the ideal choice for those who are used to gaming on PC. It bridges the gap between mouse and keyboard gaming and controller gaming better than any other gamepad out there.

Red Dead Online’s Latest Update Gives Collectors The Big Bucks

Red Dead Online’s focus has officially shifted away from any content involving its Blood Money expansion to more run-of-the-mill activities. It’s a stance that’s reflected perfectly in this week’s Red Dead Online weekly update, which gives a suite of bonuses to players completing Collector role activities. However, there are also some extra rewards in store for players looking to finally wrap up the game’s story missions.

This week’s Red Dead Online weekly update was shared via the Rockstar Newswire, and you can find the most important details down below.

Collect ’em all

Collectors can earn twice the cash from selling collector sets this week.
Collectors can earn twice the cash from selling collector sets this week.

Red Dead Online is all about the Collectors this week, with double the rewards for any and all Collector’s Set sales. With some sets coming in at $300 as their base selling price, players can easily earn well over $600 by getting together the right collections. Simply collecting items will also give players a bit of a bonus, with twice the usual XP being paid out.

Collectors will also receive a free Collector’s Map just for logging in this week, along with an offer for 40% off a novice or promising Collector role item and a reward for 2000 club XP for completing a weekly collection list.

The fat of the land

A Land of Opportunities missions are paying out twice the cash this week in Red Dead Online.
A Land of Opportunities missions are paying out twice the cash this week in Red Dead Online.

Players who haven’t finished Red Dead Online’s A Land of Opportunities line of missions yet will have the perfect reason to this week. Completing any mission in the storyline will net players twice the cash they’d usually get. While these missions don’t historically pay out too much, they’re a great starting point for new players, and with double the rewards, they can even look forward to a good amount of money to start with.

Similarly, one of Red Dead Online’s multiplayer modes is also paying out more, albeit it’s only twice the XP. Fans of Hardcore Gun Rush can look forward to the bonus experience whether they win or lose.

Discounts on Collector gear

This week’s discounts are for the Collectors and those aspiring to join the role. Along with a discount on getting into the profession, players can look forward to additional deals on Collector gear, cosmetics, and more. A full list of this week’s deals is down below.

  • Collector’s Bag – 5 Gold Bars off
  • Collector’s Maps – 40% off
  • Pennington Field Shove – 40% off
  • Metal Detector – 40% off
  • Collector Role Outfits – 30% off
  • Rafferty Eyepatch – 30% off
  • Criollo Horses – 30% off
  • Pistols – 40% off
  • Double Bandoliers – 30% off

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.