Author: Trafficblast

The second patch in as many days is now available for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. This newest patch for February 10 includes bug fixes and further tweaks across multiplayer, the newly announced League Play competitive mode, and Zombies.

For multiplayer, the Spycraft daily challenge is now fixed–previously it wasn’t able to be completed normally. In terms of the new competitive-minded League Play, the studio has addressed issues with Parties and Create-A-Class, while the UI has been changed so it now properly shows Victory Flames. Previously, this might display when the player wasn’t on a win streak.

For Zombies, there are stability improvements for situations that could previously cause the game to crash during certain rounds. Additionally, the update addresses multiple exploits, including one that could cause the player to become invincible and another that could lead to players losing their weapon.

You can see the complete patch notes below, as posted on Treyarch’s website.

The previous February 9 patch contained stability improvements for Zombies, while it also included some important restrictions for League Play.

Outside of Black Ops Cold War, Activision continues to update the battle royale game and do what it can to stop cheaters from plaguing the battlefield. The company issued a new ban wave this week, bringing the total number of bans to date above 300,000.

Black Ops Cold War February 10 Patch Notes

Gameplay

• Closed an exploit where a player could teleport out of the Village using Aether Shroud Tier III.
• Closed an exploit where a player could become invulnerable to damage after using a Molotov and a Chopper Gunner.
• Addressed a rare issue that caused players to lose their weapon when re-rolling attachments at the Arsenal.

Perks

• Tombstone Soda
  • Addressed an issue where shadow form visual effects could stay active when viewed as a spectating player.

MULTIPLAYER

Challenges

• “Spycraft” Daily Challenge can now be completed properly by hacking 5 enemy Field Upgrades.

LEAGUE PLAY

Parties

• Addressed an issue where the party leader backing out of a queue could cause the party to disband.

Create-a-Class

• Addressed an issue where League Play Create-a-Class could incorrectly revert to default Multiplayer classes instead of CDL classes after a match.

UI

• Addressed an issue where players could see Victory Flames even when the player was not on a win streak.
• Addressed an issue with “Bronze” and “Level 1” showing up in different places even though a player had not completed Placement Matches yet.
• Addressed controller-related issues with the Rank UI element being offset.

ZOMBIES

Stability

• Fixed crashes related to the Mimic and Assault Rounds.

Gameplay

• Closed an exploit where a player could teleport out of the Village using Aether Shroud Tier III.
• Closed an exploit where a player could become invulnerable to damage after using a Molotov and a Chopper Gunner.
• Addressed a rare issue that caused players to lose their weapon when re-rolling attachments at the Arsenal.

Perks

• Tombstone Soda
  • Addressed an issue where shadow form visual effects could stay active when viewed as a spectating player.

Just as PS5 consoles have been difficult to find in stock since launch, the same goes for some of the accessories. That includes the most exciting PS5 accessory, the Pulse 3D Wireless headset, which for months has been selling out minutes after retailers have gotten it in stock. It would appear the times are a-changing, because Sony’s Pulse 3D Wireless Headset is back in stock at a handful of retailers, and it seems to be staying available–at least for now (see it at Amazon).

Even though it’s been available for a day or two, it would still probably be wise to grab one sooner than later if you want one. There’s no telling when it will vanish again.

Where to Find Pulse 3D Wireless Headset

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=pulse-3d-headset&type=list”]

The Pulse 3D Headset works with both PS4 and PS5, though PS5 owners will get even more out of it. That’s because it takes advantage of the new console’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, which provides three-dimensional audio and surround sound while playing games designed to use the feature. That means you can identify where enemies are, for instance, by the sound of their footsteps.

From our Pulse 3D Headset review:

In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the ambient sounds of New York feel like they’re coming from all around you. Standing in virtual Times Square, you can hear cars and people coming and going from every angle and every distance. To simply describe it as “immersive” sells it short: The nuanced, accurate layers of sound gives the game world a volume that you cannot achieve by simply generating a 3D space. It makes the city feel more alive.

It’s a nice-looking headset that’s clearly meant to complement the PS5’s white, wavy design. It only weighs 295 grams, so it won’t weigh you down even during long play sessions. Speaking of play time, Sony says the Pulse 3D headset gets around 12 hours of use on a single charge.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/06/sony-pulse-3d-wireless-headset-review”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and 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”]

Humans colonizing the asteroid belt might sound like sci-fi – The Expanse, to be exact – but Pekka Janhunen, an astrophysicist with the Finnish Meteorological Institute, wants to make it a reality. He recently published a paper theorizing about the feasibility of a “megasatellite” settlement, tethering together tens of millions of square miles of habitats, high in the orbit of dwarf planet, Ceres.

Located hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, Ceres is found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Even powerful telescopes have difficulty getting a clear image of its surface. Janhunen envisions using its resources to build rotating habitats that generate artificial gravity by completing a full rotation every 66 seconds. A 636-mile elevator cable would help bring supplies from Ceres to the settlements.

“Ceres has nitrogen for making the habitat atmospheres, and it is large enough to provide almost unlimited resources,” Janhunen told Universe Today. Each habitat would be similar to the population density of the Netherlands (around 13,000 people per square mile), with the 56,700 residents getting around 21,500 square feet of space, each.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=gorgeous-photos-of-earth-from-space&captions=true”]

The habitat would have both rural and urban spaces. Strategically aimed mirrors would help provide sunlight, though the urban areas would be artificially lit and windowless. In addition to a way to shield inhabitants from radiation, these floating worlds would need oxygen.

Janhunen told LiveScience construction could begin within 15 years, and it would take another 22 years on top of that to actually build the elevator, power system, and habitats. It would be an enormous undertaking, and Florida Institute of Technology astrobiologist Manasvi Lingam foresees a few potential issues with Janhunen’s timeline.

“The first is a question of other essential elements, other than nitrogen,” Lingam told LiveScience. It’s not clear how inhabitants would get something like phosphorus, for example.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/15/the-expanse-season-5-exclusive-official-amos-clip”]

The 22-year estimate also assumes the operation runs smoothly, something even Janhunen isn’t sure about. “It is likely, of course, that the actual bootstrapping timescale would be longer, or much longer, and instead of physics, it would be driven by technological delays and the logistics of transporting the inhabitants from Earth,” he wrote in the paper. Another potential issue for the habitats are asteroids, though Janhunen thinks it would be easy enough to move the habitat out of its path or evacuate residents to safety.

In 2015, the Dawn space probe orbited around the protoplanet, gathering most of the information we have on its topography. Dawn’s images were illuminating, but much about Ceres is still unknown. A recent Astronomy article about the dwarf planet is full of words like “mystery, hints,” and is unclear. The first residents would have a lot to learn before starting construction in its orbit.

For more on space news, read the details of how possible signs of life on Venus were detected back in 1978, and that scientists claim they found evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backward. Studies also recently found the Moon is rusting, and it may be Earth’s fault.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Jenny McGrath is a science writer for IGN. She never tweets, but here she is @JennyMcGeez.

HBO Max has announced series orders for three new adult animated shows, including a Scooby-Doo spinoff that will tell the origin story of Velma Dinkley, and a revival of Clone High.

The original and comedic series, aptly titled Velma, will unmask the complex and colorful past of the underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang, Velma Dinkley, voiced by executive producer Mindy Kaling (The Office). Charlie Grandy, Howard Klein, and Sam Register will also be serving as executive producers on the 10-episode series, which is being produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

In addition to Velma, HBO Max ordered two seasons of Clone High, a reimagining of the Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Bill Lawrence 2002 series set at a high school for clones of historical figures. As well as writing the series, Lord and Miller will be reteaming with Lawrence to serve as executive producers on the MTV revival, with Erica Rivinoja assigned as showrunner.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/30/hbo-max-streaming-service-review”]

The streaming company further filled out its adult animation slate with Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey’s Fired on Mars, an existential workplace comedy set on the Martian campus of a modern tech company; SNL’s Pete Davidson will be lending his voice to one of the characters. HBO Max also renewed JG Quintel’s adult-animated comedy Close Enough for two more seasons.

“It is a tremendous privilege to build on the 100 year-plus legacy of ‘cartoons’ at this company. We can draw a straight line from our hundreds of childhood hours spent watching Bugs outwit Elmer to the current slate of adult animated projects we are building here at HBO Max and we think fans will agree,” said Suzanna Makkos, HBO Max’s EVP of Original Comedy and Adult Animation. “We are proud to introduce this distinctive group of series from a wide range of diverse creators that will form a first stop destination for animation lovers everywhere.”

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=close-enough-season-1-photos&captions=true”]

These new projects join an already-packed slate of upcoming adult animated shows, with the likes of Harley Quinn, The Prince, Santa Inc., 10 Year Old Tom, and The Boondocks previously announced by the network, as well as an all-new roster of HBO Max adult animated originals, including Hello Paul, Obi, Uncanny Valley, and Cover, which are all currently in development.

For more on the adult animated shows mentioned in this article, read about why we think Clone High is a binge-worthy series, check out our review of Close Enough Season 1, which we called “effective and entertaining” for a certain demographic, and then discover which other animated sitcoms we think should be given a revival series.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Bravely Default II arrives on Nintendo Switch later this month, and ahead of its release, Nintendo and Square Enix have shared a new trailer that provides an overview of the game’s unique battle system.

Like many classical RPGs, Bravely Default II features turn-based combat, but it weaves in an extra layer of strategy with its titular Brave and Default mechanics. Selecting Default makes your character assume a defensive stance, forgoing their turn to amass one Brave Point. The Brave command, meanwhile, lets you use bankedBrave Points to perform multiple actions in a single turn. As the new trailer explains, carefully utilizing both the Brave and Default commands will be vital to defeating many of the game’s tougher adversaries.

Despite the number in its title, Bravely Default II is actually the third proper entry in its series. This entry follows four heroes of light–Seth the sailor, Gloria the princess, Adele the mercenary, and Elvis the scholar–as they set out on an adventure across the continent of Excillant to restore the magical Crystals. The game was originally slated to release in 2020 but was pushed back to further fine-tune the experience.

If you’re interested in trying the title out ahead of its release, a free demo of the game is available on the eShop. The demo takes place partway through the story and lets you tinker around with several different job classes. As an added bonus, you’ll get 100 My Nintendo Platinum Points if you download the demo before Bravely Default II launches.

Bravely Default II is out on February 26. You can read more about the title in our Bravely Default II preorder guide.

Netflix is developing a feature film and TV series based on Brian Jacques’ Redwall books.

According to Variety, the streaming giant recently inked a deal with Penguin Random House Children to secure the rights to the sprawling 22-book Redwall saga, which follows the fantastical adventures of the anthropomorphic animals living at Redwall Abbey. On the back of this deal, Netflix has already revealed plans to develop an animated feature and an event series from the franchise.

Check out Pierre Breton’s visual development art for the adaptation below:

The animated film is being penned by Patrick McHale, the writer of Guillermo del Toro’s forthcoming stop-motion Pinocchio, and will adapt the first book in Jacques’ series, titled Redwall, while the TV series will be based on the character of Martin the Warrior, the mouse co-founder of Redwall Abbey, who headlined the sixth Redwall novel.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to announce this deal,” said Ben Horslen, fiction publisher at Penguin Random House Children’s.”These perennially popular stories have been etched onto the hearts of millions of readers, and we are thrilled to partner with Netflix to bring those beloved characters on screen for families worldwide to enjoy.”

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=netflix-spotlight-february-2021&captions=true”]

The deal between Netflix and Penguin Random House Children marks the first time that film rights to the entire book series have been held by the same company, and it’s the first time that any of Jacques’ works have been adapted into a feature film, per Variety’s report. However, three of the books were previously adapted for television — that animated series ran for three seasons from 1999-2002.

Netflix’s Redwall adaptations join a slate of upcoming animated features on the streaming service, including Richard Linklater’s Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Adventure, Chris Williams’ The Sea Beast, Nora Twomey’s My Father’s Dragon, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, an Aardman sequel to Chicken Run, and an all-new animated Sonic the Hedgehog series, which is set to premiere worldwide in 2022.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Valheim has already surpassed one million sales in its first week on Steam Early Access. The PvE exploration and survival game is set in a procedurally generated purgatory inspired by Viking culture. Up to 10 players can populate a single server to raise mead halls and farms, forge weapons and armor, build and sail ships, and defeat primordial bosses of myth and legend.

Valheim has been an early hit right out of the gate, with a peak of 160,000 concurrent users and over 127,000 peak viewers on Twitch. Developer Iron Gate Studio says it’s hard at work addressing some of the issues players have reported since the game’s launch on February 2.

The studio also has plans for the next year of Early Access, though details are relatively sparse right now. Valheim’s roadmap promises four significant updates throughout 2021, along with some other bonuses “If Odin wills it.” The first, titled Hearth and Home, will presumably focus on home customisation and fortification, while Ships and the Sea will improve the game’s sailing. Cult of the Wolf is more mysterious, and the final update of the year will introduce a new biome.

While PC players are currently enjoying Valheim, Iron Gate Studio says a Mac version will be released if there’s enough demand. As for a console release, the studio says there are no plans at the moment, but it won’t rule out console versions in the future.

Valheim’s not the only game to prove incredibly popular on Steam recently. The service just broke its record for the most concurrent users, topping out at more than 26 million users logged in at one time.

Quick video proof using Xbox Series X Controller, Windows 10 PC & Xbox One X. Important: Learned through feedback this does not work to switch between Xbox & Xbox Wireless Adapter. Only Xbox & Bluetooth connection pic.twitter.com/6ROCXNMI6H

— Timo Wolf (@OmitFlow) February 8, 2021

If you’re looking for a fun game to play with friends or loved ones while social distancing, there’s a new freebie up for grabs on the PlayStation Store. We Were Here, the 2017 co-op puzzle game from Total Mayhem Games, is free to download until February 23 for PS5 and PS4.

We Were Here is a two-player online co-op game set inside an abandoned castle in Antarctica. You and your partner have been separated. One player is locked away in a small area in the castle, while the other player must work through the rooms in order to find them The end goal is to escape the castle, and in order to do this, you’ll have to communicate effectively through a walkie-talkie. Along the way, you’ll solve puzzles by working together. Essentially, it’s a giant escape room, with each player assuming a unique role.

We Were Here currently holds a “Very Positive” user rating on Steam. Due to the premise, you cannot play local co-op, and a PlayStation Plus subscription is required to play We Were Here.

Make sure to snag We Were Here before February 23, and if you like what you play, the next two entries in the series will be available to purchase on the PlayStation Store that day: We Were Here Too and We Were Here Together.

For more great co-op games to play with loved ones, make sure to check out our list of the best games for couples to play this Valentine’s Day.